'Where to start? Umm... The Aether, first, is not a Stone, someone called it a Stone before. It's more of a... an angry sludge thing, so... someone's gonna need to amend that.
Here's an interesting story, though. Many years ago... my grandfather had to hide the Stones from the Dark Elves. Wooooh, scary beings. So, Jane, oh, there she is. That's Jane... She's... an old flame of mine... She... she stuck her hand inside a rock this one time... and then the Aether stuck itself inside her... And, she became very, very sick. So, I had to take her to Asgard, which is where I'm from. And we had to try and fix her. We were dating at the time, you see. I got to introduce her to my mother... who's dead... and oh, you know, Jane and I aren't even dating anymore. These things happen, though, you know. Nothing lasts forever.
I'm not done yet, the only thing permanent in life is impermanence.'
Thor's explanation on what was supposed to be a riveting story about what they didn't know went nowhere. It turned into a long tangent that caused most of his listeners to drift off into confusion. Tony tried to get the demigod to sit down but was shaken off. Thor swayed in his place and grinned drunkly at the mention of breakfast, to which he replied with,
'I'd like a Bloody Mary, thank you.'
---
Multiple attempts were made by the team to devise a plan to acquire as many of the Infinity Stones as possible. However, they didn't have enough Pym Particles to be able to jump around through time while naïve as to where each of the Stones had been in the past. But an idea was eventually brought up when Tony, Natasha, Bruce and Sue were laying around the meeting room. Papers were scattered everywhere, all with maps and diagrams of where they would be able to find the Time Stone. It had been the four's objective, while the other Stones were distributed to the other members of the group to decipher their places in history.
'That Time Stone guy...' Natasha started from her place on the table.
'Doctor Strange,' Bruce helped from his place on the floor.
'Yeah, what kind of doctor was he?'
'Ear-nose-throat meets rabbit from a hat,' Tony replied, the man next to the Romanoff on the tabletop.
'I think he helped birth my niece...' Sue mumbled, the countless hours of diagram-making and map reading getting to her head. She sat on the other side of the table from Bruce, her back against the table's leg and her head hung sideways in a painful position.
'I am almost positive he did not. He was blipped, honey,' Tony's hand met the top of Sue's head over the edge of the table, and he patted it reassuringly.
'Oh, yeah...' she said in a sing-song voice.
'He was also a surgeon, not an obstetrician.'
'Nice place in the village, though,' Bruce followed Tony's addition.
'Yeah, Sullivan Street.'
'Hmm... Bleecker.'
'Wait,' Natasha sat up from the tabletop. 'He lived in New York?'
'No. He lived in Toronto. Were you even paying attention?'
'Was anyone at this point?' Sue rubbed her right eye with her knuckle.
'Guys, if you pick the right year, there are three Stones in New York.'
There was a moment of silence before the realisation hit. Sue's head rolled out of its hanging position, and she looked at Natasha's reflection in the glass wall in front of her. It took a moment for Sue to count the number of Stones that would have been in New York at any given time, and then she realised she meant when the team were first in New York together. With the tesseract containing the Space Stone, Stephen Strange guarding the Time Stone and Loki's scepter containing the Mind Stone, they would be able to get them all in one trip back to 2012.
'Shut the front door,' Bruce voiced everyone's thoughts.
---
'Alright. We have a plan. Six Stones, three teams. One shot.'
The Avengers walked into the testing room suited in Quantum Suits. Each of their builds varied due to their individual suits being clad underneath. Sue's brown hair was wrapped in a bun made of braids at the nape of her neck, while the tips of her wavy fringe rested on her browbone. Her red suit sat underneath her Quantum Suit and it felt like a second skin even after five years of being sat in a drawer. The holes and damages that had been done during the battle in Wakanda were mended, thanks to Tony who started on it as soon as they knew they would be travelling back in time. FRIDAY had patched together the holes and smoothed out the scuffs, making it as good as new. Its technology was reinforced with the unstable molecules that allowed her to achieve full invisibility all while uploading data to Tony's suit, where he could see her vitals. It was just like old times, and Sue had to admit that it felt good to be back in the thing that originally brought her and Tony together.
'Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends... We lost family... We lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams, you know your missions. Get the Stones, get them back. One round trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know. But it doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives. And we're gonna win,' Steve looked to Tony once they were all stood on the platform. 'Whatever it takes. Good luck.'
They stood in their teams. Tony, Steve, Scott, Bruce and Sue would be going back to 2012 together for the three Stones in New York. Sue was originally going to be with Rhodey and Nebula, who would be travelling back to 2014 to the planet Morag. They would be after the Power Stone, and their team would have equal amounts of agility, combat, and stealth. But Tony had objected, saying that Sue's invisibility would be useful in New York. If they were trying to go unseen by their past selves at the risk of running into trouble, slipping by while in plain sight was ideal. Steve oversaw the splitting of teams and eventually caved, saying that Sue could be part of their team. But everyone knew that it was Tony's way of keeping an eye on one of the few things he had left. No one had the heart to argue with that.
'Alright. You heard the man,' Tony said aloud while Bruce stood behind the control panel. 'Stroke those keys, jolly green.'
'Tractors engaged,' he stated before running up the stairs to be on the platform.
'God, I hope this works,' Sue mumbled, and Tony looked to his side, where she switched her weight from foot to foot. He could see that she was anxious, and he didn't blame her. This was the second time they would be attempting to time jump, and there was no guarantee that things wouldn't go sideways. But they had no choice.
'It will,' he soothed and reached down to take her hand. She turned her gaze up to him, the man who she had loved since 2010. The father of her children and the man who would only laugh and smile for her, Tony was still her one and only. And if they were going into this together, she wanted to be sure they would come out of it the same.
'You're sure?' she tried.
'No,' Tony smiled, and his helmet formed around his head. Sue couldn't help but smile back as hers did the same, and the team were split into different parts of history.
The feeling of being sucked into the Quantum Realm was surreal. Sue felt like she was falling, and her vision was filled with an array of colours. Waves of red, blue, yellow, purple, green and white flashed by her and she instinctively flayed her arms in panic to catch her momentum. Her breathes came out in pants and her helmet did well to filtrate her oxygen. Her wide eyes looked to either side of her for any sign of Tony, Steve, Scott or Bruce, but they were in their own tunnels of rainbows that would lead to 2012.
With a loud grunt, Sue's feet touched the side street of New York City. Her stomach churned and her head swam from the journey, but she was relieved to see all her limbs attached and her team around her. Steve, Tony, Bruce and Scott came out of the Quantum Realm gracefully, and Sue tried to appear as if she had done so in the same way. Their helmets retracted into their Quantum Suits before their attire shrunk back to reveal their individual suits underneath. Bruce was left with his custommade clothes, which consisted of a grey t-shirt and blue pants. Around the corner, the Avengers in 2012 assembled to fight against the Chitauri army.
'Alright, we all have our assignments. Two Stones uptown, one Stone, down. Stay low. Keep an eye on the clock,' Steve ordered, eyeing each member of his team. He couldn't surveillance everyone to ensure everything went to plan, but he trusted the friends before him more than anyone. They knew what was at stake and he could count on them.
A loud roar erupted, and the team turned to the main street, where The Hulk landed with a loud thud. The ground wobbled as he barrelled by and smashed a defenceless car that was already on fire. He then leapt away with another roar, and they turned around to the current Bruce, who put a hand to his face in embarrassment. The Banner had progressed since 2012, and it was like watching an old home-video that always made its viewers cringe from discomfort.
'Feel free to smash a few things along the way,' Steve suggested through the awkward air, his mended shield on his arm.
'I think it's gratuitous, but whatever.'
They watched Bruce rip apart his shirt before walking out into the street. It was painful to watch the man reduce himself to the beast that punched in car doors and threw motorcycles half-heartedly. He tried to let out a roar, but it was weak and tamed, unlike his past self. But if they wanted to stay undercover, they would need to embody their past selves, embarrassing or not.
Tony infiltrated the Stark tower unseen. He slipped onto the top floor, where the team had found Loki and stood over the man who had caused havoc across the city. The present Tony retracted his suit to stand in his normal clothes and hid behind a wall where he could watch the scene play out and intervene when needed.
'Got to hustle, Cap,' he said in a hushed voice into his earpiece. 'Things look like they're just about wrapped up here.'
'Got it. I'm approving the elevator now,' Steve replied. He was after Loki's scepter, Bruce was getting the Time Stone while Scott and Sue would be backup for when things inevitably turned sour.
'Uh, Mr. Rogers. I almost forgot that that suit did nothing for your ass.'
'No one asked you to look, Tony.'
'I think you look great, Cap. As far as I'm concerned, that's America's ass,' Scott saluted from Tony's shoulder. He was in his miniature form and watched the events for the first time.
'Sue, what's happening on your end?'
Sue rolled her eyes at Steve's question and wanted to retort with a sarcastic comment. But her current situation made that impossible. She sufficed with gripping the handlebar that ran along the wall of the elevator and did her best to tuck herself into the corner. Her foot was inches from the man closest to her, who was unaware of her presence behind him. Any sound would be a giveaway, but it was unlikely that the men would be able to piece together the fact that The Invisible Woman was hidden among them.
'Cap, that serum really only went to your muscles and not your brain, huh?' Tony remarked for the woman. 'She's in an elevator with HYDRA. She's not going to sing you a song of her whereabouts.'
'Oh, right. Sorry, Sue.'