Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last chapter. You are all lovely as usual.

We are in the beta timeline in this chapter. I thought we could check in with them before things go off the rails in the gamma timeline. The next few chapters are going to be a lot. I've been dreading writing them, let alone posting them.

Writing timeline note: I drafted this and the following three chapters the Monday before the first episode of Ms. Marvel, but everything went through the rewriting and editing process afterward. I specifically waited until the series was done until I finalize this chapter. That resulted in making some adjustments.

Actually, even parts of this chapter were written in New Jersey while visiting family. I actually did end up putting some references from the show in this chapter. However, it's mixed with our pre-existing continuity.

At the end of this chapter, there will be additional notes on how MCU 616 Ms. Marvel is different from the beta/gamma timeline Ms. Marvel in this story.

Conversation 58: Checking In

Midmorning October 18, 2023, Avenger Compound

beta timeline

Cuddle bunny: Hey, I just wanted to let you know we are about 30 minutes from landing at the compound.

Tony: I already know. Laura already sent word so that the med team will be ready for Thor. Not that we think he'll actually want to do a detox, but quality time with Suarez couldn't hurt. I put him in rooms near the medical wing. His friend is next-door. I literally just finished fabricating the bed.

Cuddle bunny: I'm sure Krog will appreciate it. I don't think detox is going to happen either. Thor practically drank a keg worth of beer since yesterday, including on the ride here. Laura had to stay away.

Tony: If she doesn't, she'll drink whatever he won't.

Cuddle bunny: Yes. Is this going to be a problem for you?

Tony: Look, this whole situation has put me in danger of having a relapse. Finding out you're not such a fuck up in another timeline would make anyone want to go straight for the bottle. I am aware of that. Which is the first step in not having a relapse.

Cuddle bunny: Have you contacted your sponsor?

Tony: Yes. Several times. Especially since I'm a sponsor myself now. Although after this is over, I am probably checking myself into the brand new Avengers clinic for substance abuse for a tuneup. I think we have enough people for our own AA meetings now. Actually, it will be AAA. Avengers Alcoholics Anonymous.

Tony: Or Alcoholic Avengers Anonymous.

Cuddle bunny: Laura looked at my screen and said she was never an Avenger. Although she probably needs a tuneup herself after this.

Tony: Alcoholic Avengers Anonymous also accepts family members of Avengers and Avenger support staff. But I feel like Laura qualifies for full Avenger status. We're having a meeting as soon as she gets here because I need a meeting.

Cuddle bunny: Did anything else happen since last night?

Tony: No more messages from the other timeline. Probably because the adults did not figure out how to send the research to us. Although I'm sure, they know how to do that now.

Cuddle bunny: Probably.

Tony: However, they have all of our research. So, tomorrow's call might be more about coordinating a test than sharing things.

Cuddle bunny: That makes sense.

Tony: Especially because they have easier access to monolith particles, and that's the key ingredient. If we use straight Pym particles, we're going back in time in our timeline. Instead of going to Gamma 2018, we would go to our beta 2018. Which would be nice, except all we would do is make another branch timeline. We wouldn't fix this mess. Which is how we got the gamma timeline to begin with.

Cuddle bunny: I got that from the notes.

Tony: By "cutting" the Pym particles with the monolith particles, Simmons came up with a way to bridge timelines. I think I figured out what we need to do to replicate that. Since the other side has more particles, they should run the test.

Cuddle bunny: That makes sense.

Tony: Because we'll probably need our entire window to talk about that, Laura won't be able to speak to her kids. So, if you could have her write letters ahead of time, that would be good.

Cuddle bunny: Laura says she gets that and you should've just told her that when she texted you 15 minutes ago to see if everyone's rooms were ready.

Tony: I forgot. Also, I like texting you more.

Cuddle bunny: You're also my favorite person to text message at the moment.

Tony: If I'm above your daughters, I take that as a compliment.

Cuddle bunny: OK, you're my third favorite person. However, Kamala is in class right now. So, I'm texting her once I'm settled during her lunch. Robin prefers phone calls, and I will call her tonight.

Tony: Good idea.

Tony: So, I'm just going to ask if you sent the future ex-wife a warning message. Or do I need to do that? Also, are you able to be in the same room together, or will that be super awkward?

Cuddle bunny: We are professionals. It will be OK.

Tony: I'm going to take that as a no.

Cuddle bunny: I'll text her next.

Tony: Good. I'll have brunch waiting for you. I'm sure you're all mixed up right now with the time difference.

Cuddle bunny: Just a little, but I can always eat.

Tony: I blame it on the super soldier metabolism.

XXXX

Steve: Just to let you know, we should be at the compound in about 15 minutes. Possibly less with the way Clint flies.

Steve: I never want to go anywhere without you being the pilot again. I'm still worried I will throw up before getting to the compound.

Melinda: Good to know that you appreciate my superior flying abilities.

Steve: You never trigger my crashing flashbacks.

Melinda: I try my best not to.

Melinda: I assume Stark already knows since he just sent a group message about a giant brunch in the community dining room.

Steve: Yes.

Melinda: It's OK that you text him first.

Steve: I needed to make sure the facility was ready for Thor. Also, I just don't want it to be awkward with us. It just felt that way ever since you asked for the divorce.

Steve: I know it's the right decision. You were right; I was using you to keep from moving on. At the same time, I'm just scared that I will lose everything I already have.

Melinda: But you're going to get Tony. If you two can pull your heads out of your asses. I'm going to do my best to make sure that happens.

Steve: At what cost, though? Am I going to lose you and our daughters?

Melinda: We're friends before anything else, and we're still going to be friends after this. Just because we're not going to live together anymore doesn't mean that you're losing the children. We'll have to figure out the best custody arrangement for Robin.

Steve: But not Kamala? She'll be back with her parents if we can get this to work.

Melinda: Because she's 16 and gets to make her own decisions about what parent she lives with. Like before, we let her decide if she wanted to stay with us or live with the cousins in Karachi. She wasn't even 12 when she chose to stay with us.

Steve: Because she didn't want to live in a different country than her best friend. We also got her the hell out of those intermittent camps before the scientist could figure out why she was different than the other inhumans. She felt safer with us.

Melinda: I'm very grateful Daisy did not include in her report that Kamala did not go through the normal inhuman transformation process or that her grandmother Aisha allegedly had powers. Kamala wasn't just with us for safety. Being in another country far away from Ross also protected her. But that's not the point. Even if we manage to bring back her biological parents, it's still Kamala's choice. I will respect that.

Steve: Even if it's not us?

Melinda: Even if it's not us. I did talk to Kamala more about what we're planning to do while you were in Norway. She had a lot of questions this morning. Expect several text messages now that you're back in the states.

Melinda: Actually, I think Friday might have slipped her some of the things that were sent to the other timeline.

Steve: That seems like something Friday would do.

Melinda: Being the child of a spy means that your parents keep a lot from you. Unlike me, Stark wasn't even aware of his father's ties to a spy organization. At least I knew why I always lived with my dad after the divorce. So I can see him programming his AI to not keep secrets from children.

Steve: That seems like something Tony would do. When we bring her back, do you think your mother will be mad at you for not joining the CIA yet?

Melinda: I think she'll be distracted by the grandchildren and my recent divorce. She won't even have time to comment on me trying to resurrect Shield a third time.

Steve: After we bring everyone back, you will rebuild the organization?

Melinda: I want to. We've been treading water for the last five years as just another part of the Avengers.

Steve: I think it was more than that. You protected the Inhumans and other people with powers from Ross.

Melinda: Maybe that's more of what Shield should do. It seems to be working out well in the other timeline. Damage Control and Sword can handle the other stuff. Once they get rid of the current idiots in charge. Ross turned Damage Control into his personal anti-superhero police. The new administration hasn't fixed that yet.

Steve: From what I heard not everybody wants that to change. Maybe you do need to make something better that's outside of the system. The organization Laura describes working for is better than the one I worked for.

Melinda: That's what Phil wanted. And I owe it to him to finish this.

Steve: I think you'll be successful.

Melinda: I realize that things between us will be awkward for a while. However, I don't want this to become my parents' divorce. They couldn't even be in the room together for my graduation.

Steve: It won't. I want our kids to have more than that.

Melinda: At least I like Stark more than anybody my parents dated, so that's one thing in your favor. The kids definitely like him more.

Steve: Yes, as Cool Uncle Tony. Not necessarily as dad's new boyfriend.

Melinda: Kamala asked if she would have to live at the cabin with her new stepdad during the summers.

Steve: She's worried about not being able to see Bruno isn't she? I know that's why she's been pushing me to hurry up with the driving lessons. Although I doubt it will be a problem because I'm sure Bruno would love to spend the summer in Tony's lab. Honestly I rather him be with us. He's too young to be practically on his own. At least I had Bucky's family after mom died.

Melinda: Yes. Brooklyn to Jersey City is already far enough. The cabin would be so much worse. Especially because you know Bruno can't take time off. He barely can take time off to go to the compound every other weekend to work in the lab with Deke and Simmons. I think that's mostly because Deke figured out a way to pay him for that time.

Steve: We can work around that, possibly by convincing Tony to get another paid Intern. Also, I just realized we should have asked if Bruno knew anything about Simmons' special project.

Melinda: Hunter said they never worked with him on any of the time travel stuff. They were probably trying to keep it a secret. Also, after your driving lesson resulted in Kamala backing into a car, we agreed that I would be the one teaching her to drive.

Steve: I was hoping you forgot about that.

Melinda: Not a chance.

Steve: With Tony's strategically placed helicopter pads, I think she would get to Jersey City faster. Mainly because I feel like you'll teach her how to fly.

Melinda: As soon as Kamala masters the car, we move on to Quinn Jets.

Steve: You would, although Tony does own a bunch of property not far from Jersey City. If Kamala wants to live with her parents again, maybe, we could live in one of those houses for a while? Now that New Jersey is less hostile to enhanced people and Inhumans, I think she would want to be in the same district as her best friend again anyway.

Melinda: See, you're already thinking about this the right way. It will all work out. For right now, let's concentrate on getting the stones over here.

Steve: You're right. Let's work on that.

Xxx

Love Sloth baby: Did you get the notes I sent you?

Bruno: Yes. Do I want to know how you got all of that? I'm sure Deke was involved. Also, why didn't you tell me he was in another timeline? How did that happen? I mean I saw some of the stuff that Simmons was working on but I didn't think she would actually be successful, especially because she's rarely sober.

Love sloth baby: Friday helped. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the whole Deke situation when I let you know that your science weekend was canceled. I wasn't allowed to tell you about the plan or when it went wrong.

Love sloth baby: FYI she's in rehab.

Bruno: Good to know. Also, that has never stopped you before. I already know your parents are getting divorced, and I'm sure that's not supposed to be public knowledge yet.

Love sloth baby: That's not a national security thing. That's an I need to vent about my family thing.

Love sloth baby: In my defense, I didn't know what was really going on with Deke until a couple of days ago. I really did think he was looking at grad schools.

Bruno: I am trying to convince him that Cal Tech would be good for him. I want him to be near me when I finally leave Jersey for good.

Love sloth baby: Of course, you do. Do you really want to go to the other side of the country? Also if you really want out of Jersey so badly you know you can live with us in Brooklyn or wherever we end up next.

Bruno: It won't be so bad since your future stepdad does have a house in Malibu. I wouldn't mind living there.

Love sloth baby: Of course you wouldn't. Unfortunately Tony is not my stepdad yet, and I need you to ensure he stays around long enough for that to happen. Are you in?

Bruno: I am in.

To be continued

Notes about Kamala in the story. This does contain spoilers for the Ms. Marvel show.

Beta/gamma Kamala looks exactly the same as her MCU 616 counterpart. However, she is slightly older (or younger. I have a feeling she may have been snapped via context clues but I have no confirmation). She's 16 in 2023, whereas her MCU 616 counterpart is 16 in 2025.

In the gamma and beta timelines, she received her powers in 2015 due to contact with Terrigen contaminated water but she received her powers without going into a chrysalis. This information was kept close hold for her safety.

Kamala's Great grandmother is still who she is in MCU 616, which is another reason why they're wondering if the Inhuman label really fits. As stated in the chapter May and Steve know that she also had powers but are not sure of the details. Most just assume that she was Inhuman because that's what they're aware of, but May wonders if she could be something else. Especially because her name isn't found in the afterlife genealogy charts. However, due to the current political climate, May is not looking for answers. It's too dangerous. Kamala doesn't want another label added anyway.

Kamala doesn't have access to the bracelets yet, which is why her powers are closer to her comic book counterpart but the light thing is starting to happen. Unfortunately, her maternal grandmother was a victim of the decimation along with a lot of the remaining family on both sides. However, it might turn up sooner rather than later. She has a stable time loop to take care of. I can't say more about that until the next chapter.