Good morning!

Had a little time before work this morning, so thought why not?

Many thanks to Rogue Reader, Mithgard, gilmorefreak23, moonkisser, Fantasylover19, Skellix, Emerald180, animexchick, SA Jedi DC of Marvel, Dubstick, and Kieren Grace for joining the fun.

Also thanks to p0mel0, AliceCullen3, rosafern and SA Jedi DC of Marvel for their reviews.

Have a great day!

*SPOILER ALERT*

DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN ENDGAME, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Chapter 30

Super Widow

Lex leaned against a pylon in the workspace of the Avengers compound, watching as Bruce and Scott prepped his truck with its Quantum Realm generator with Natasha and Steve standing close by and watching closely.

Scott was suited up in his Ant-Man suit, as he was the one that would be testing their calculations and modifications. Lex didn't buy for a second that this was going to work. She was no great scientist like Tony or Bruce, but her gut said that they were approaching this at the wrong angle and had watched way too many movies over the last few decades.

"Okay, here we go. Time travel test number one," Bruce said, beginning to flick some switches on the console in front of him. "Scott, fire up the, uhh...the van thing."

"Breakers are set. Emergency generators are on standby," Natasha said, checking her tablet for the Avengers compound status.

"Good. 'Cause if we blow the grid, I don't wanna lose Tiny here in the 1950's," Bruce murmured as he continued to make calculations and alter data on the console.

"Excuse me?" Scott exclaimed, concern in his voice.

"He's kidding," Natasha interjected, drawing both their attention. "You can't say things like that," she hissed to Bruce.

"Just... it was, just a bad joke," Bruce replied hesitantly, as if he couldn't think of a better response.

"You were kidding, right?" Scott asked, fidgeting in his suit by the van.

"I have no idea," Bruce hissed in exasperation. "We're talking about time travel here. Either it's all a joke, or none of it is." Everyone looked at him with wide eyes. "We're good! Get your helmet on." Everyone began to move again, even Lex stepping closer to Steve's side.

"You sure about this, Steve?" she murmured quietly enough so that only he heard her while the others continued to hurry about preparing Scott for the test.

"Honestly?"

"Don't finish answering that, I actually don't want to know." Steve looked at her pointedly, but she just shook her head and folded her arms across her chest, continuing to watch the mayhem.

"Scott, I'm gonna send you back a week, but you'll walk around for an hour, then bring you back in 10 seconds," Bruce explained, continuing to flick controls and switches on the console.

"Makes sense?" Natasha asked Scott, who was beginning to bounce on the balls of his feet.

"Perfectly not confusing," Scott answered, shaking his head.

"Good luck, Scott. You got this," Steve said encouragingly.

"You're right. I do, Captain America."

"In the event that you don't, can I have the van?" Lex asked, the slightest of smirks on her face.

"What? No! It goes to Cass."

"Damn."

"Lex!" Steve and Natasha berated the older super soldier.

"What, can you blame a girl for trying?" she asked, with half a grin, before winking at Scott. He grinned back when he realised what she was doing. The tension in the room had eased, even just a smidgeon.

"On the count of three," Bruce warned, as Scott prepared himself. "3.. 2.. 1.."

Scott disappeared, then just as quickly, reappeared. Except, he wasn't quite the same man. At all.

"Guys? This doesn't feel right."

Lex guffawed and she quickly clamped a hand over her mouth in an effort to stop herself from laughing out loud. Standing before them was a child, wearing Ant-Man's suit.

He had to be no older than ten or eleven. "What's going on? Hold on."

"Who is that?" Steve demanded, stepping forward.

"Is that Scott?" Natasha asked.

"Yes, it's Scott!" Scott shouted back, the child looking panicked. Bruce slammed his hand down onto a button on the console and Scott was sucked back into the Quantum Realm. A moment later, another figure popped back out. "Ooh! My back!" he groaned.

Lex couldn't hold it in any longer and howled with laughter.

"Not helping, Lex!" Steve growled, rounding on her angrily, but Lex only managed to shrug as she tried to control her laughter, wiping at her eyes as tears began to roll down her cheeks from laughing so hard. Steve turned back to look at Bruce. "Can you bring him back?"

"I'm working on it!" Bruce retorted, sounding agitated. The old man that was Scott disappeared, and then another figured reappeared, in a small bundle appearing on the floor. "A baby?"

"It's Scott," Natasha murmured, disbelief tainting her voice.

"As a baby!" Lex howled, laughing harder still.

"Bring Scott back," Steve ordered, now sounding far more panicked.

Bruce began furiously moving switches and dials. "When I say kill the power, kill the power," he ordered, causing Lex to finally move to help, hurrying to the main power supply for the van. "And... kill it!" She hit the switch, shutting down the machine.

Another form appeared in Scott's place, Lex hurrying back around the van to see who it was this time.

"Somebody peed my pants," Scott said, moving awkwardly to stand upright.

"Oh, thank god," Natasha breathed, leaning forwards against a console.

Scott was back to his normal self. "I don't know if it was 'baby' me or 'old' me. Or, just 'me' me."

"Time travel!" Bruce shouted, waving his hands in the air, as if displaying a brand-new car or appliance. Everyone looked at him with deadpan expressions. "What? I see this as an absolute win."

Steve rubbed his forehead, before beginning to head for the door. Lex watched him leave, feeling sympathetic. Poor Steve was putting a lot of pressure on himself through all of this. She followed him out quietly and leant against one of the pylons, not saying anything, but watching as he took a deep breath and looked out of the compound's grounds.

He put his arms on his hips and shook his head ever so slightly again. She sighed quietly, before moving to stand beside him. He looked sideways at her, a questioning expression on his face.

"Relax, I'm trying to be nice," she muttered, nudging him with her elbow.

"Gees don't let us rub off on you too much," Steve teased, the smallest of tired smiles appearing on his lips.

"Oh, trust me, you won't." Suddenly, Lex was aware of the sound of a high-powered car approaching the compound. She narrowed her eyes, peering off into the distance and cocking her head to one side. "You hear that?"

"Car?"

They waited in anticipation, before the car appeared. It sped down the driveway, before stopping just past them. It reversed the few feet back to them, the window rolling down to reveal Tony.

"Why the long face?" he asked, looking over the top of his sunglasses at them both. "Let me guess. He turned into a baby."

"Among other things," Steve answered. "Yeah."

"What are you doing here?" Lex asked bluntly, raising an eyebrow as she looked over the car.

"That's the EPR paradox," Tony said, ignoring Lex's question as he got out of his car. "Instead of pushing Lang through time, you might've wound up pushing time through Lang. It's tricky. Dangerous. Somebody coulda cautioned you against it."

"You did."

"Oh, did I?" Tony mocked, earning an eye roll from Lex. "Thank God, I'm here. Regardless, I fixed it." He pulled out what appeared to be a watch from his pocket holding it out to show them. Upon closer inspection, Lex could see it wasn't, but it was a button that attached to the hand. "A fully functioning time-space GPS."

Steve and Lex glanced at each other skeptically, an awkward air amongst them.

"I just want peace," Tony finally said. "Turns out, resentment is corrosive, and I hate it."

Steve sighed. "Me, too."

Lex, although feeling repulsed by the current trajectory of the conversation, pressed her lips together to keep from ruining the two men's moment.

"We got a shot at getting these stones, but I gotta tell you my priority is to bring back what we lost? I hope, yes. Keep what I found? I have to, at all costs." Tony's eyes darted between the pair. Lex gave him a sympathetic look. While the others had all stayed locked in limbo, pining for friends and family, Tony had managed to move on. Of course, he would be scared, he had a lot to lose, while the others had very little to lose. "And, maybe not die trying will be nice."

Steve gave a reserved smile. "Sounds like a deal." They shook hands firmly, determined yet grim smiles on their faces.

Tony looked at Lex. "And you? Are you happy to be on the same team?"

"Don't give me a reason to throw you out a window, and I won't throw you out a window." Tony furrowed his brow slightly, looking her up and down.

"That's her way of saying yes," Steve said with a sigh.

"Ah." Tony smiled, before raising his eyebrows and motioning to his car. They followed him as he walked to the boot, lifting it open and shifting some things aside. He reached down and began to lift something large, metallic and round, tipping a large collection of dolls out of it. Lex recognized Steve's shield. She had wielded it once, in their fight against Tony. Her chest tightened when she remembered why.

Tony handed it to Steve, who looked hesitant. "Tony, I don't know..."

"Why? He made it for you." Tony forced it into Steve's hands. "Plus, honestly I have to get it out the garage before Morgan takes it sledding."

"You're one of those dad's that are against fun, aren't you?" Lex asked with a smirk, quickly pushing the previous memory from her mind.

"Can you imagine the speed she would get up to on that thing? Hell yeah, I'm against the idea," Tony retorted with mock indignation.

Steve smiled, Lex spotting a relieved glint in Captain America's eyes as he gripped onto the shield. "Thank you, Tony."

"Will you keep that a little quiet? Didn't bring one for the whole team, sorry super widow," Tony murmured, as they turned and began heading back into the facility. "We are getting, the whole team, yeah?"

"We're working on that right now," Steve replied, with a nod to Lex, who nodded in return before turning and heading towards her quarters. She was going to have a busy night ahead.

Lex strode down the hallway of the Avengers compound, wearing the Vibranium armour that Shuri had developed for her before the fight against Thanos. She swung the rifle she carried around to attach to the magnet on the back and looked down to check the holstered handgun at her thigh was secured as she rounded the corner. Shuri had offered her the blaster she had developed in Wakanda previously, but Lex found a good old fashion Steyr AUG F-88 more to her liking, with hand guns for back up and a knife or two to spare. She also had Clint's retractable stave attached to the base of her back. She had always held onto it, ever since their first meeting way back when the Avengers were at war with one another.

That seemed so long ago now.

Natasha had commented that her Black Widow was showing by her personal armoury preferences. It caused Lex to smile bitterly.

She stopped fast as she heard the heavy footsteps approaching from the other side, but apparently their owner was lost in thought as he rounded the corner and slammed into her.

"Jesus, Steve," Lex berated him as he reached out to grab her, ensuring she stayed on her feet. He sighed as he let her go, looking apologetic, and Lex immediately felt sympathetic. His eyes were red, and he looked noticeably more tired, no doubt still not getting restful sleep.

"Sorry, Lex, I didn't hear you coming."

"I'm designed that way, but I sense like that's not the real reason you're mopey."

"I'm not mopey," he objected, but sighed when Lex folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow. "I just haven't been sleeping well."

"Five years with a lack of sleep isn't healthy for you."

"I can't help it," he sneered, turning away from her.

She rolled her eyes, it was official, Captain America was tired. He just reminded her of a sulky three-year-old who had missed his nap. She sighed and moved forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, boss, it's not good to bottle the feels up."

Steve raised both his eyebrows and looked at Lex in amusement. "Really? That coming from you?"

She winked. "I don't hide my feelings, Steve, I hide my psychotic tendencies."

Steve narrowed his eyes at her, as if he were trying to decide whether she was joking or being honest. He then looked at her pointedly. "Ok, but that's not what I was talking about."

"What were you talking about then?" she asked in confusion, letting go of Steve's shoulder as he turned to face her again.

"You and Bucky."

Lex felt her stomach seem to leap, and her chest seemed to pulsate strangely. "Er…come again?"

"You heard me," he said with a teasing grin. She narrowed her eyes at Steve as she tried to figure out why the strange reaction to Steve's words. "We all saw it."

She cocked her head to one side, looking up at Steve's face with a baffled expression. "I honestly have no idea what you're getting at right now, Steve."

Steve stared at her for a moment, before his expression changed to one of surprise. "Wait, you really don't even realise it, do you?"

"What?" He stared at her for a moment. "What am I missing here?"

Steve's expression softened. "You loved Bucky," he murmured.

Lex immediately scoffed and began to laugh loudly. She bent over in exaggeration, before standing upright and patting Steve on the arm. "Who said your jokes weren't funny."

"Whose kidding?"

Lex's laugh stopped as suddenly as it had started and she stared at Steve for a moment, her mind racing over several things at once. Steve's accusations, her own body's reactions to the mention of her and Bucky, and her memories of her time with Bucky.

She was quick to push all those thoughts away, shaking her head and pinning Steve with a cold look. "I haven't got time for your silly games, Steve. I'm here because you were Bucky's friend and I was his, not to mention you kept me from being thrown in jail. That's it." She thought over her words for a moment. "And because I had nothing better to do, and M'Baku was starting to annoy me."

"Lex," Steve started, trying to put his hands-on Lex's shoulders in what she figured he deemed to be a comforting action. She was quick to take a step back, turning her body away from him slightly.

"I've got to go, Natasha has found Clint and we are going to get him, by force if necessary," Lex said coldly. "At least, I hope so." A small smirk reached her lips, and she turned away from Steve, striding away with her head down.

Outside, the Quinjet was waiting and ready to go. Lex walked out the main doors, spotting Scott sitting outside and opening his lunch. She snapped her chest rig buckle together, mainly to alert Scott to her presence so as not to scare him. He was constantly complaining about how quiet she was, and she was getting pretty sick of the broken glasses that kept happening whenever she was around him. He was very jumpy.

He turned around, smiling when he saw her. "Oh hey, you coming out to eat lunch too?"

"Do I look like I'm on a lunch break?" she asked pointedly as she folded her arms and pinned him with a bemused look. Scott grimaced before looking her up and down. She glanced up to the sky momentarily, before smirking again, leaning against one of the pylons. "I wouldn't eat out here if I were you, anyway."

Scott's brow furrowed in confusion. "Why not? It's gorgeous out here today."

Her smirk grew in size as she watched the Milano, the spaceship that had brought Tony back to Earth along with their new colleague, Nebula, bank and begin to descend into the yard of the compound. Rocket was lazy and liked to park the ship as close as possible to the building.

As it approached the ground, Scott turned, watching as the Milano's downdraft began to blow across the lawns. The gust of wind soon reached them, blowing the filling out of Scott's taco. Lex stood there, with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face as the Milano landed and the ship opened up to reveal Nebula.

This was obviously Scott's first encounter with the space crew of their current organization, as his mouth was gaping open in shock as Rocket walked down the ramp, followed by Nebula.

"Hey, humie!" Rocket called out, to Scott as he approached. "Where's big green?"

Scott took a moment to recover as Rocket drew level with him. "Kitchen. I think."

"Rocket," Lex greeted, nodding to the walking, talking raccoon that hated being called a raccoon but apparently didn't mind being called Rabbit by Thor.

"Hey Lex, you going out?" he asked, stopping to look her up and down.

"Picking up a package."

"I feel sorry for the package," he said with a wink, before continuing into the building. A raccoon that flirts, it should have been surprising, but nothing surprised her anymore.

"That's awesome," Scott exclaimed, finally coming to his senses as Nebula approached the building. "Hi!"

Nebula looked at him with disdain, before raising her hand and touching her ear piece. "Rhodey, careful on re-entry. There's an idiot in the landing zone." She greeted Lex with a silent nod, before following Rocket inside. Lex hadn't spoken much to Nebula, the alien preferred to keep to herself mostly, and Lex wasn't sure she completely trusted the alien that claimed to be a daughter of Thanos once upon a time.

Lex looked at Scott, who was still gawking in disbelief at Nebula as she disappeared. Lex raised her eyes to the sky, before grinning as War Machine landed with a thud in front of them.

"Oh, God!"

War Machine looked at Scott. "What's up, regular-sized man?"

Scott sighed, looking down at the now empty taco shell in his hand.

Lex chuckled, before turning to head to the Quinjet. "I'll see you guys around, try not to kill each other while I'm gone, wouldn't want to miss the fun." She made her way up the ramp, hitting a button and causing the doors to close.

She looked towards the cockpit, where Natasha was looking back at her, hands rested on the controls. Lex nodded to her, and Natasha turned, starting the Quinjet on its course.

xo

Krayzee