Venus | James B. Barnes✔️

lxxiv. 𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚗'𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗

NATASHA LOOKED up briskly, wiping her face from any recollection that there were ever any tears. Evelyn saw Steve do a quick once over of both females before smiling at them, knowing they were as okay as they were going to be for now. "You here to get your laundry? Picking up Lyn before she runs off again?" Evelyn threw a pen her way with a scowl, but she smiled a bit at Natasha's small laugh.

"To see a friend," Steve amended her statement. Natasha never thought she was important enough to be thought about. Steve thought of Natasha and Evelyn's wellbeing before anyone.

Natasha only shrugged at his words, trying to play off her emotions. "Clearly, your friend is fine."

Steve moved to take a seat next to Evelyn. Evelyn reached over to grab his hand, and he let a small smile move onto his face as she began to play with his fingers to calm her nerves. "You know I saw a pod of whales when I was coming up the bridge."

Evelyn's eyes widened at that. "In the Hudson?" she asked quietly. She knew Steve was trying to bring up good things that had happened because of Thanos, as rare and few they were.

Steve nodded, shrugging his shoulders once. "There's fewer ships, cleaner water."

Natasha rolled her eyes, shoving her sandwich away. "You know, if you're about to tell me to look on the bright side. Um... I'm about you to hit you in the head with a peanut butter sandwich." Both gave each other a joking smile as they met each other's eyes.

"Sorry. Force of habit."

It was quiet for a moment as they all sat there, lost in their own thoughts.

Evelyn looked between the pair before settling on Steve. He was already looking at her. "How was your group therapy?"

"Went well, I suppose. Just another day," he paused, his fist tightening around Evelyn's hands. She gently pulled apart his tense fingers to continue playing. "You know, I keep telling everybody they should move on and... grow. Some do. But not us."

"If I move on, who does this?" Natasha asked him.

"Maybe it doesn't need to be done," Evelyn whispered quietly, wanting to go back to when she felt free on the run. She was happier running from her thoughts. In the Avengers Compound, she was constantly reminded of what she lost.

Natasha's eyes grew distant as she thought of another life. "I used to have nothing," she said, "and then I got this. This job... this family. And I was... I was better because of it. And even though... they're gone... I'm still trying to be better."

"At least you're trying hard," Evelyn murmured, a bit disappointed in how she reacted after losing Bucky no matter how many times Steve promised she reacted fine. He was just glad to have her back.

"I think we all need to get a life."

Natasha smiled. "You first," she replied to Steve.

Evelyn saw an alert from the front gate. She let go of Steve as she stood, swiping her hand to bring up the footage in front of them. She furrowed her eyebrows at the sight of a man she thought was Blipped away.

Scott Lang was at their front gate.

"Oh! Hi. Hi! Is anyone home? This is Scott Lang. We met a few years ago, at the airport? In Germany? I got really big, and I had my mask on. You wouldn't recognize me."

Steve quickly stood next. "Is this an old message?"

"It's the front gate," Natasha said as she jumped out of her chair.

"Ant-Man? Ant-Man, I know you know that. I need to talk to you guys!"

Evelyn took off at a run.

She did not know why the excitement of seeing an old friend who she thought was long dead got to her the way it did. She began to cry, hastily trying to open the front door and gate. Once it was half-way open, she ducked under to frighten Scott as she threw herself at him. He quickly reacted, hugging her back while stammering.

"U-Uh, hey! Miss, no Mrs. B-Barnes!? Wow! You're hugging me?"

Evelyn backed away, grabbing Scott's face and pushing it side to side to make sure he was really there and okay. She then pulled his head down and kissed his forehead while a beaming grin lit up her face. "You're really here!"

"I am!"

Evelyn turned as she heard footsteps. Steve and Natasha were staring at Scott like they had seen a ghost because they, too, were in awe of him since it had been five years.

Inside the compound, excitement was replaced with worry as Scott paced back and forth in front of the trio. Evelyn's foot tapped with every footstep he took because his nerves were making her nervous.

"Scott. Are you okay?" Steve finally blurted.

Scott paused like a dog, perked at the question. "Yeah. I'm fine." He continued to pace after that as he began to struggle forming words together.

"You're making Lyn nervous," Natasha commented with a smirk.

Scott finally seemed to gather his wits as he finally shouted almost, "Have you ever studied Quantum Physics?"

"Only to make conversation," Natasha snarked.

Evelyn bit back a smile as she nodded. "Sure," she answered his question.

Scott nodded anyway. "Alright. So... five years ago, right before Thanos," Evelyn flinched at the name, "I was in a place called the Quantum Realm. The Quantum Realm is like its own microscopic universe. To get in there, you have to be incredibly small. Hope, she's my... She was my..." Evelyn understood. "She was supposed to pull me out. And then Thanos happened, and I got stuck in there."

"I'm sorry. That must've been a very long five years," Natasha said sadly.

Scott quickly corrected her. "Yeah, but that's just it. It wasn't. For me, it was five hours."

Evelyn was beginning to understand. Steve and Natasha shared looks of confusion.

"See, the rules of the Quantum Realm aren't like they are up here. Everything is unpredictable," Scott continued before seeing Natasha's sandwich. "Is that anybody's sandwich? I'm starving."

Scott quickly ran over to the sandwich and took a large bite from it.

"Scott, what are you talking about?" Evelyn asked softly. He could not be thinking what she thought he was thinking. "You aren't serious?"

"So you understand!" Scott said excitedly before turning to the other two. "What I'm saying is, time works differently in the Quantum Realm. The only problem is right now, we don't have a way to navigate it. But what if we did? I can't stop thinking about it. What if, we could somehow control the chaos, and we could navigate it? What if there was a way to enter the Quantum Realm at a certain point in time but then exit at another point in time? Like... Like before Thanos."

"Wait, are you talking about a time machine?" Steve said as he watched Evelyn place her head in her hands.

"No. No, of course not. No, not a time machine. It's more like a," he paused before watching Evelyn cringe as he said, "Yeah, a time machine. I know it's crazy. But I can't stop thinking about it. There's gotta be some way... There's gotta be...some w... it's crazy."

"Scott, I get e-mails from a raccoon, so nothing sounds crazy anymore."

Scott clapped his hands together. "So who do we talk to about this? Mrs. Barnes, could you find a way—"

"Not alone," Evelyn cut him off. She shut her eyes tightly. "But I don't know if this will work."

"It's worth a try," Natasha said quietly. "For him?"

Evelyn stood sharply. "You know I would try anything for him, but this—this sounds—"

"I know how it sounds. C-Can we just try?" Steve said softly. "You know where we need to go."

Evelyn nodded, but it was hesitant. "You know his answer."

"It's worth a try."