Earth
It took a few days but Tony had managed to put his simulation into practice and he had created a fully functioning Time-Space GPS that would be wore upon the back of the hand, similar to a watch. It was small and compact but more importantly it worked - or at least theoretically. Whilst this was a major step in the road to getting everyone back, Tony knew it was a road he couldn't walk alone.
With a quick goodbye to his wife and daughter, Tony and hopped into his sleek, black Audi car and began driving straight for the Avengers Compound. Tony rarely went into the city anymore, he stayed away from big crowds but as his car rolled through the streets, he noticed just how ordinary everything had returned to, ordinary yet eerie. In every step a person took, one could see the scars of a fight they didn't even participate in. Shadows lay all around despite the fact that there was little sun. The once chaotic streets of New York were barely filled.
After he rolled through the city he continued through straight to the Compound. It was still as magnificent and brand spanking new as always. Tony hadn't seen the Compound in years, he could never return but as he drove down the long driveway that curved around the massive fields, Tony felt as if he had never left. The car engine revved as he closed in on the massive building ... and the person stood outside the front door.
Tony pulled up in front of the person, stopping the car too far passed the person. With a sigh, Tony placed the car into reverse and backed up so that his door was right in front of the person he wanted to see. Steve was shocked to say the least especially when Tony lowered his window to show his face. The two men stared at one another. Steve was clearly uncertain as to why Tony was in the car before him.
However, Tony studied his old friend from his spot in the car. He could tell the man was concerned and stressed about something and Tony could only surmise that was down to time travel. Steve would not have given up just because Tony had said no, that was as obvious as the nose on his face. Tony could only guess that Steve had gone to Bruce for help and it hadn't gone to plan - time travel was not exactly Bruce's forte.
"Why the long face? Let me guess: He turned into a baby" Tony said smugly, still glad to know he was of some use to the team after all the years apart.
"Among other things, yeah. What are you doing here?" Steve asked, a hope gleaming in his eye. There could only be a handful of reasons that would bring Tony back to the Compound. However, in true Stark fashion, Tony ignored the question and explained to Steve what the hell Steve had just witnessed inside the Compound.
"That's the EPR paradox" Tony explained as he climbed out of the car. It didn't take a genius to know that Scott (Ant-Man) was the one to try and go through time. "Instead of pushing Lang through time, you might've wound up pushing time through Lang. It's tricky. Dangerous. Somebody could have cautioned you against it."
"You did" Steve acknowledged as he buried his hands into his trouser pockets all the while Tony was arrogantly waiting for the reply that confirmed his brilliance.
"Oh, did I?" he said with a smirk, "Well, thank God I'm here." Suddenly Tony lifted his right hand up that had the GPS fixture he had made around his palm - he had no reason to wear the device properly but he was going to show it off. "Regardless, I fixed it. A fully functioning Time-Space GPS." Steve stared at it dumbfoundedly. Before he scoffed at the sight. He should have known Tony would figure it out - he knew he would figure it out that's why they had come to him first. But the question still remained: what was Tony doing here? "I just want peace. Turns out, resentment is corrosive, and I hate it." Tony leant back against his car, his words saying what he would not - he forgave Steve for the incidents that had led to the Civil War between the Avengers, he forgave him for not informing him of Bucky's involvement in his parents' death.
"Me too" Steve agreed with a smile and understanding nod. There were faults on both sides. "Tony I'm sorry about Maria." Tony immediately held up his hand, motioning for Steve to stop.
"For a long time, I blamed you and then myself ... but it wasn't your fault, never was. I was angry and I took it out on you" Tony admitted, unable to meet Steve's gaze. He remembered the argument that he had had with Steve before he had left the Compound for five years, he remembered the harsh words he had sent Steve - mainly that he was too blame for Maria's death, he had promised to keep her safe but had failed. "I should have blamed Thanos, and Thanos alone. He took her from me --"
"And now we have a chance of getting her back" Steve said. Finally, Tony lifted his gaze to Steve who was watching him with a frown, Steve didn't know how to take the pain from him but he was going to try. Tony gave the solider a small smile, he appreciated the effort. With a sigh, Tony stopped leaning on his car and took a few steps towards Steve.
"We got a shot at getting these stones, but I gotta tell you my priorities" Tony started which caused Steve to nod in understanding - Tony had a lot more to lose than Steve did. "Bring back what we lost? I hope, I want, yes. Keep what I found? I have to, at all costs, I can't lose both my daughters to this monster." Steve expected nothing less. Though Tony took a moment of silence, he moved closer to Steve, closing the remaining area between them. "And ... maybe not die trying would be nice." They both weren't fools; they knew this mission was more than dangerous.
"Sounds like a deal" Steve answered offering the billionaire his hand. Tony could only smile as he took the man's hand. It was as simple as that. Steve had expected nothing less off of Tony but the billionaire could see the relief on the soldier's face - Tony made the concept of their plan, of Maria's plan, so much more doable. However, Tony still had one more thing he had to give to his old friend, one thing that belonged with the soldier.
With a smirk on his face, Tony took back his hand and began to walk to the boot of his car, knowing Steve would follow. As he opened the boot, he revealed the truth of his life now ... his boot was full of Morgan's toys. However, buried beneath her toys and blankets lay an indestructible item that belonged on the arm of an Avenger. Lifting up the lightweight shield, that had collected a bunch of items, Tony locked gazes with the Captain as he tipped all the items off the shield revealing the bright red, blue and silver colours. It was unblemished once more, the torment the item had seen was nowhere in sight. It almost seemed brand new.
Tony held out Captain America's shield to Steve who hesitated as he looked at it. He had left the shield with Tony after he believed he was no longer worthy to be Captain America anymore but there Tony was saying differently without speaking a word.
"Tony, I don't know" Steve said.
"Why?" Tony asked quickly, the man saw no reason why this shield did not belong to Steve. "He made it for you." Howard Stark long ago had seen what Steve could become and he had helped the man become the symbol everyone knew. Tony wasn't an idiot; he knew that Howard would want Steve to have it. "Plus, honestly I have to get it out of the garage before Morgan takes it sledding."
Tony turned the shield around and offered the handles to Steve, it took a moment but finally the Captain reached our and took a hold of the shield. It fit perfectly on his arm like it always had. Steve looked down at the shield, it would have been wrong to say that the shield didn't feel right on his arm and that he hadn't missed it because he had. The shield was as much a part of him as his arm was.
"Thank you, Tony" Steve said gratefully. In the one simple gesture, Tony was saying a lot. Steve was Captain America and he deserved the shield - something Steve had questioned for years.
"Will you keep that a little quiet? Didn't bring one for the whole team" Tony admitted as he retrieved a red case from the car and closed the boot before he hesitated for a moment. When the group had come to visit him, it had only been Natasha, Scott and Steve, Tony was aware that Bruce was most likely indoors but he had no idea where the others were ... and he knew this plan would take all hands-on deck. "We are getting the whole team, yeah?" Steve nodded his head with a heavy sigh. It was easier said than done nowadays when part of the team existed half way across the universe.
"We're working on that right now."
~8~
It took some time but eventually a team was gathered at the Compound. Natasha had managed to track down Clint who had turned into a vigilante chasing and killing bad men to try and fill the void losing his family to Thanos had caused. Rocket (the space raccoon) and Nebula had returned from space. Rhodes had returned from his missions abroad. Bruce and Rocket had managed to find and somehow persuade Thor to come back with them. However, when Tony saw both Thor and Bruce he had been surprised - Bruce had undergone gamma radiation therapy for eighteen months allowing for the assimilation of Hulk and Banner, he was now the size of Hulk and green to boot but Banner had control, the brains and brawn had been put together. But Thor ha changed even more so.
As each member came into the Compound Tony saw the lasting effects of Thanos' last attack especially on Thor. Tony had only ever seen the God of Thunder as a muscular, confident and strong god but he walked in almost the opposite. He had clearly indulged over the last five years, his body turning from muscles to fat. Tony never thought he would see the day that Thor would have a beer belly, be wearing a tank top, pyjama pants and a cotton jacket all that desperately needed washed with unkept hair and beard along with a can of beer in his hand. Thor had blamed himself like Tony had, he blamed himself for Thanos winning and he had taken it out on his body believing himself to no longer be worthy or useful. He never realised how wrong he was. Tony could only hope that Thor would see that.
As the team had gathered Tony had immediately gotten to work on building his time travel devices, from the large glass platform Quantum Tunnel to the fully functioning Time-Space GPSs that they would all have to wear. The Quantum Tunnel was the gateway into the Quantum Realm, which had been explained to everyone as time itself, once they were in the Realm they could navigate it using Tony's technology and get to where they needed to be - finally Pym and Stark were working together and in typical style we're doing the impossible.
Thankfully, with the arrival of Rocket, Tony found that building the Quantum Tunnel occurred much faster. It was strange to say the least that he was talking to a talking raccoon but Tony couldn't deny the animal's smarts especially with machinery. Between Bruce, Tony and Rocket the devices were swiftly being perfected for use. Tony had even been able to construct Avengers' suits that resembled Ant-Man's in white with red trimmings - they were designed to enter and protect from the Quantum Realm. Tony had received help off of Shuri from Wakanda who had sent the Avengers precious materials they had needed to swiftly build all the devices - she couldn't come to New York herself since she had Wakanda to rule but she helped where she could. And due to all this help, everything was ready; all they had to do was test it this time using a real-life person. Clint decided it had to be him.
The team had all gathered in the large, spacious room that the Quantum Tunnel occupied. They were all anxious to see if this could really work or not. Clint was dressed in the Advance Tech Suit that everyone was just calling the Timesuit, it was designed to protect him whilst exploring the Quantum Realm. However, the Avengers' logo sat on his left breast reminded everyone that they too were going to be wearing those suits soon enough.
The team watched from the control panel as Clint walked up onto the large glass platform of the Quantum Tunnel, the tunnel beneath his feet. Bruce was at the controls, flicking the switches necessary whilst Clint readied himself mentally for such a journey. His helmet came on within seconds using nanotech, the eye slots lighting up blue confirming its activation. Everything was in place.
"Alright, Clint" Bruce spoke, his voice filling the anxious silence that had taken over. Clint gave Bruce a brief nod before he closed his hands into fists and waited for the inevitable to start. "We're going in 3... 2... 1!"
Suddenly, the Tunnel was whirring, Clint was shrinking and being pulled towards the glass platform, disappearing out of sight before he reached the glass. He was now too small to see with the naked eye. He was gone in seconds. He was in the Quantum Realm. Scott cheered as he disappeared knowing that he had gone Quantum. The Tunnel worked at least. Now they just had to see if he would come back.
It was merely seconds but it felt like a lifetime. Soon enough the Tunnel was whirring once more, glowing orange and yellow.
"Lila!"
Clint's voice echoed through the room as he suddenly appeared on the glass platform on his knees, back to his full size. He was crouched over and Tony felt his heart drop. If Clint was hurt it was not only his fault but it meant that their Time Machine didn't work, it was unsafe to carry them back to the past and return them to their present. Tony knew he shouldn't have gotten his hopes up.
As the machine whirred down, the transmission complete, the team raced up onto the Quantum Tunnel platform, Natasha reaching Clint's hunched over form first. Clint's helmet retracted and allowed Clint to take in some heavy breaths of fresh air. The experience clearly was a shocking one.
"Hey, hey. Look at me. You okay?" Natasha asked as she cupped Clint's cheeks so that he was looking at her. The two long life friends stared at one another, one in concern and one in a mixture of grief and delight. Tony took a hesitate step forward. They had sent Clint back just over five years, back to when his family was alive. The fact that he had come out of the tunnel screaming his daughter's name brought Tony to believe that the man had seen his daughter. But did that mean...
"Yeah, yeah" Clint answered Natasha as he climbed to his feet. The team breathed a sigh of relief as they realised he was indeed not harmed. Clint looked directly at Tony as he lifted up the baseball glove in his hand. He hadn't taken that glove with him ... which meant he had brought it back from the past. "It worked." The glove sailed through the air into Tony's hands bringing the billionaire to smile widely. "It worked." Clint was unharmed and had been able to bring something back from the past which meant that they could do the same thing and retrieve the stones safely. Tony could have cried with joy and elation as he stared down at the black baseball glove in his hands. The plan was actually possible; they knew for certain that they could do it!