I don't own anything except any original/own characters and any original plot.

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Chapter 36 - Time Travel

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"Out of the way, Lebowski. Powerhouse, Reindeer Games, Pepper's a bit offended you didn't choose her to babysit," Tony quipped as he passed by.

"The girls can go over later if they like. I'll let Eir know," (Y/n) waved a dismissive hand, more interested in the machine in front of her. That mortal contraption was what would allow them to travel through space and time? Tony was truly a genius if it worked.

"I don't like this," Loki didn't bother trying to hide his distaste of the situation, "The girls were so upset when we said we were leaving. Darling, maybe I should go back just to be sure that-"

"Loki, love, they're okay," (Y/n) assured, pushing down her own apprehension. They spent the entire night before with the girls in their bed. The two were young, but incredibly attuned to the world around them thanks to their abilities. They knew something serious was going on and refused to leave their parents' sides.

A blur stopped just beside (Y/n), and an arm appeared around her shoulder, "I'm glad you decided to come. It'd likely be a lot harder without you."

"We're happy to help," Thor assured.

"Oh, I was talking to (Y/n), but- woah!" Pietro jumped out of the way of a dagger slice, "Nice aim, Loki. I'll go assist the others. I know when I'm not wanted."

"Liar," Loki grumbled as Pietro sped away.

Smiling at her husband's jealousy, (Y/n) took his hand and pecked his cheek. He sent her a smile, reassured. Deep deep down Loki cared for Pietro, similarly to how he cared for Thor and often struggled to show it.

"Well, look what the tide dragged in," a sultry voice drawled behind the three Asgardians.

"Natasha!" Thor practically tackled the semi-red-head into a hug, "Oh, how good it is to see you. It's been so long! I like what you did with your hair. I grew mine out again, as you can see. Loki's is shorter. We switched!"

"It's good to see you Thor, but it feels like you cracked a rib," Nat sighed in relief when she was released, "Thanks."

"Hey, Nat," (Y/n) was much more gentle with her hug, "Good to see you. Here, take my hand," (Y/n) held out her hand and Nat hesitantly took it, "On Odin, I swear that once this is over we will go on a vacation together."

Trying to jerk her hand away when their hands glowed gold, Nat gave (Y/n) a betrayed look when the light finally died down, "Why would you do that?"

"Because we don't spend nearly enough time together and I can sense that you're stressed out of your mind. You have been for a long time. I'm okay with possibly putting the girls in danger by leaving them with Loki for a week."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence, darling."

"You told them to go play with knives with Valkyrie, Loki," (Y/n) deadpanned, "Even Iona's abilities as the Goddess of Safety can't counteract something like that at her age."

Just as Tony and Rocket seemed to be putting the finishing touches on the machine, Scott, Bruce, Rhodey, and Clint entered. Clint was wearing one of the suits designed to withstand the travel, meaning he was going to be the test run.

"Okay, Clint, you might feel a little disoriented when you chronoshift," Bruce warned as he set things up.

"Hang on, I've got to ask, if we can do this, why don't we just go find baby Thanos and, you know..." Rhodey made a strangling gesture.

"Uh, one, because that's horrible. And, two, killing baby Thanos doesn't kill adult Thanos. Time doesn't work like that. You can't change the future by changing the past."

"Sure, we can. We take the stones before Thanos gets them, then he doesn't have them. Problem solved."

Sensing the confusion surrounding time travel, (Y/n) stepped in to explain. She drew a glowing line in the air, "This is our timeline, correct? If we were to make a change, say, take one of the stones away, our line doesn't change. Instead, things branch off. So removing the stone will create different timelines instead of changing ours. That's why we need to bring everything back here."

Everyone seemed to comprehend the concept a lot better thanks to (Y/n)'s explanation, and she stepped back to Bruce and Tony could continue their work.

"Okay, Clint Starting in three... two... one..."

In the blink of an eye, Clint was gone and back. He fell to his knees. Tony and Nat ran up to him, concerned and anxious to hear the results.

"Are you alright? Hey, look at me. You okay?"

"Tell me something good..."

Clint held up a baseball mitt, "It worked. It worked."

Everyone was simultaneously shocked and relieved. It really worked. They had a chance at getting everyone back. The hope that (Y/n) had been trying to suppress practically slapped her. She stumbled into Loki's side, who wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her tightly.

"Holy crap. We're freaking time travelers."

~*~

On a holo-board were the six Infinity Stones. Seeing them made (Y/n)'s heart ache in a way she hadn't felt in five years. Everyone lost family and friends, but (Y/n) lost more than that. She lost items she was bonded to so deeply that their intertwined fates were written into the fabric of the universe.

Above each stone was the artifact it originated from: Loki's Scepter, The Tesseract, The Eye of Agamotto, The Orb, The Aether, and a question mark.

"Okay. Now that we've got how, we're going to need where and when. Most folks here have encountered at least one of the six Infinity Stones."

"I think you mean nearly been killed by one of the six Infinity Stones," Tony amended Steve's speech.

"I haven't," Scott held up a hand, then slowly lowered when everyone looked at him, "Just saying..."

"Regardless, we've only got enough Pym Particles for one round trip, each. And the Stones have been in a lot of places throughout history."

"Is... is the amount of Pym Particles we have a problem?" (Y/n) asked, a brow raised in confusion. Everyone looked at her like she was stupid, save Loki who knew where she was going, "Well, it's just that I can replicate items... you know... because I can bend reality to my will. So if we need more vials of particles then I can just multiply them and we'll have more chances."

All was quiet for a few seconds. Everyone seemed dumbfounded, and (Y/n) tried not to take offense. She'd spent a decade trying to learn the true extent of her powers, and on top of that what she could do with them. But creating and replicating items was something she'd been doing since she'd first come to Midgard.

Clearing his throat, Clint said, "Either way, we should be careful about where we pick. You can't be everywhere at once. Once we get to our destination we'll only have so many chances."

Everyone stated their agreement, though things seemed less tense with the reassurance that they could go on more than one trip.

"Let's start with the Aether. Thor, Loki, (Y/n), what do we know?"

"Well, I don't know if we even need the A-" Thor grunted when (Y/n) delivered a harsh kick to his shin, sending him a glare.

"We can get it from Asgard, 2013," she said casually. Wiggling her fingers, she handed a small piece of paper to both Thor and Loki - who were sitting on either side of her.

"It's malicious, but we should be able to calm it down and morph it into a stone from a liquid," Loki provided when he finished skimming over the note.

Don't you want a chance to see home again?

"What, is it just your essence?" Clint glared. He wasn't as quick to forgive Loki as everyone else, and it didn't help that he'd missed five years of seeing him as a docile father.

"Actually, it's my wife's. Watch your words, archer," Loki snapped back.

"Oh, shit," Pietro whispered, biting back a smile and (probably) the urge to get popcorn.

"Loki," (Y/n) put a hand on his arm to keep him from starting an argument that'd distract them from their true goal, "Let's move on. What about the Power Stone?"

"Quill got it from Morag," Rocket started.

"That's a person?" Bruce questioned.

"It's a planet. Quill is a person."

"Wait, like a planet... in space?"

Rocket pinched Scott's cheek, "Aw, look. It's like a puppy, all happy and everything. You want to go to space, puppy? I'll take you to space."

"Rabbit."

"Sorry, Your Majesty," Rocket gave an exaggerated bow, "After Morag, it stayed with us. There was a whole battle on Xandar that Quill won in a dance-off."

"He saved the galaxy in a dance-off?" Nat asked to clarify.

"Yeah, it was more normal than you'd think. Anyway, after the battle it was kept under tight security on Xandar up until... well, getting it from Xandar wouldn't work. So, we need to get it from Morag."

"Good, so, we'll get that one from Morag in what? 2014?"

"Yeah, that sounds right."

Writing that out on the holo-board, Steve moved on to the Eye of Agamotto, looking around for someone who could offer information. Considering how all of them were mortals who didn't understand magic, (Y/n) took over.

"It belonged to Doctor Stephen Strange at the time of the Snap."

"Wasn't he that guy who was running that one place? He summoned us before the Ragnarok," Thor offered, "He kidnapped Loki."

"He did not kidnap me. He trapped me in a series of portals for thirty minutes," Loki defended, seemingly offended at the prospect of being able to be kidnapped, "And yes, that pitiful warlock was the holder of the Eye of Agamotto."

"He was based in New York too," Tony concluded, "He was with me when we went into space. Bleecker Street was the address."

"Bleecker and Sullivan."

The Tesseract and Loki's scepter were present at obvious times, New York, 2012. To try to track them down before or after would be stupid.

"And, the Soul Stone?"

"Thanos found the Soul Stone on Vormir," Nebula stood.

"And that is..."

"A dominion of death at the very center of celestial existence. It's the place where Thanos murdered my sister."

The statement hung heavily. The pieces clicked in (Y/n)'s mind, and she squeezed the hand that Loki was holding. He looked to her for an explanation but resolved to wait when she sent him a look.

A dominion of death. Two went and one returned. An eye for an eye. A soul for a soul. It was so glaringly obvious that it hurt. To send a group to Vormir, knowing that one of them would be led to their death... (Y/n) wouldn't stand for it, and she would find a way so that all parties would leave safely. She held the power of the universe in her hands, and she would use it.

"Not it," Scott finally managed.

As the night grew later, and a plan was slowly being formed, takeout was ordered so the group could eat and work at the same time. Still, the sun set and no one was sure about what teams would go where and when.

"You know," (Y/n) started in between bites of her chicken fried rice, "We could just send a large team to New York. There were three stones there, right? So we have one team for New York, one for space, and one for Asgard."

The entire group stopped and looked at her in silence for the second time that day.

"Three stones in New York at the same time," Nat repeated, "Two in space, one on Asgard. Six teams, three groups. (Y/n), you're a goddamn genius."

With a more concrete structure in place, getting the base of a plan in order was easy. The most they had to do was figure out who would be on what teams, and possible back up plans if they ran into trouble. Without the possibility of being stuck in a time they couldn't get out of, the mission had lost some of the high-stakes aspects.

"Thor, (Y/n), and Loki will be going to Asgard-"

"I'm going to Vormir," (Y/n) interrupted Steve's planning, "With Nat and Clint. They need me there."

"You don't want to visit Asgard again?" Nat questioned.

"I can go once we get the Soul Stone. I'm going with you two. End of discussion."

"Alright, well then Rocket, Nebula, and Rhodey can..."

~*~

It was decided they'd make their move the next day. Loki and (Y/n) video called the girls to make sure everything was okay and promised that as soon as the mission was over they could go to Morgan's and have a sleepover.

"Why not come to Asgard with us?" Loki asked as the two were crawling into bed, "What's so significant about Vormir?"

"A soul for a soul, Loki." (Y/n) whispered.

"You aren't seriously implying that-"

"Yes. Either Nat or Clint would be going to their deaths if they went to Vormir without me- just as Gamora had done."

"And you aren't?" Loki sat up, brows drawn together in a mix between concern and frustration.

"No, I don't think so. I've been thinking, and I might have an idea. There are billions of realities, connected like neurons in the brain. If I can find a reality with someone who can die and come back simultaneously, then I can break the barrier between and pull them over."

"Is that a smart idea?"

No. It was an extremely stupid idea. Because then she'd be put on the Watcher's high-risk list - if she wasn't on it already - and she'd have to play it safe for the rest of her life. But it was entirely worth it if it meant keeping everyone safe.

"As smart as I can make it. I can't lose someone in the process of bringing everyone else back," (Y/n) placed a hand on Loki's cheek, smiling when he kissed her palm, "It'll be okay. I swear on my magic."

"I love you, darling."

The pair laid down again, anxious and seeking comfort in the others' presence. The mission would go well. They'd get the stones, return home, and enjoy life with the rest of their loved ones.

~*~

That morning felt like an eternity. Everyone was up by nine and ate breakfast together. Few words were exchanged, and conversations were kept short. Morale was constantly fluctuating between high and low. When the time came to go over the plan for a final time, it finally set in that they were about to traverse time and the universe.

"Remember, you two don't need to get the Aether. It'd be more of an issue than anything," (Y/n) told Thor and Loki quietly after all of them had changed into their suits, "See Asgard again, talk to Frigga or Odin. Enjoy your time with them. We don't know when or if we'll be able to do it again."

The pair nodded, and the entire Avengers group came together to begin their walk to the time machine.

"Okay, we have a plan. Six stones, three teams, one shot. Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends. We lost family. We lost a part of ourselves. But today we have a chance to take it all back. You have your teams and you have assignments. Get your stone, and get back here. One round trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going back to places we know. That doesn't mean we know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. Improvise, if you have to. This is the fight of our lives. And we're going to win. Whatever it takes." Steve monologued.

Plucking one of the containers of Pym Particles from her pocket, (Y/n) multiplied it until each person was able to have two sets - two chances.

"All right, you heard the man. Stroke those keys, Jolly Green," Tony gave Bruce the signal.

"Tracking beacons engaged."

The platform began to vibrate. It was time.

"See you in a minute," Nat grinned.

"Actually, it'll be closer to seven or eight microseconds, give or-"

And they were gone.