Chapter Text
"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."
"Is this an old message?!" Jamie asked as he stood from his chair, both confused and shocked.
Nikki stood up too, her face equally as shock, but more curious than anything. "It's the front gate!"
(Fade To Black)
Three Days Earlier
***San Francisco, U-STORE-It Self Storage***
You know how sometimes your garage gets too cluttered, loaded down with junk that you probably haven't used in years? It'd be time for a good cleanup. And if there's anything worth saving, either save it or put it in storage. Well, that was the exact opposite of hos things had gone when Thanos happened.
When half of Earth's people died, all of their possessions were left behind. And as the years moved on, they had to be disposed of or moved somewhere else. And the only place that could hold mass amount of personal items were the storage facilities.
However, in San Francisco, a particular was special out of all of them. Inside were multiple storage units that were labeled specifically for each person or family that the items belonged to.
Within one of these storage units which had the name "LANG" labeled on it, amongst all the junk from years ago was a van that sat behind the barrier. But it wasn't just the van that was special, it was also the contents within the van.
Now with any attic-like place with old items, there are bound to be some pests. Well one of the pests in this place were rats. One of them had found its way into the van and rummaged around within it. At one point, it crawled onto a silver panel that had buttons on it. One of them in particular was a start button for machine, a machine within the van's back. That machine was a Quantum Tunnel made by Dr. Hank Pym.
That rat had stepped on that button, starting up the tunnel, which lit up as it powered up.
The sounds of it were getting louder and the power from it was getting stronger. So strong, that something had shot out of the tunnel with so much force, that it busted the backdoors of the van open and landed on some nearby boxes. That something was Scott Lang, the Ant-Man.
He groaned as his helmet flipped back, allowing him to feel and breathe real air for what seemed like forever. A light spark from the mechanisms on his shoulder made him pat the area, hoping that fire wouldn't start. After he cooled it down, he began to sat up until he was leaning back on his arms. It was then that he finally began to realize his surroundings. Obviously, this wasn't where he thought it was.
"What the hell?" He whispered to himself.
He was getting a little worried now as he looks around and immediately became more worried and confused.
"Hope?" He called out. But he received no reply.
***Office***
A security guard is seated at his desk, reading a book to pass the time. As he was reading, he noticed something on the security monitor on his desk. He lowered the book and sat up straight because what he saw shocked him. On the monitor, he saw something, or SOMEONE in one of the storage units. It was Scott! Though there wasn't any sound from the monitor, it could be seen the Scott was shouting for help and holding up a cardboard sign with the word "HELP" written on it.
Scott, now in a change of casual clothes, walked along and pulled a wagon with a few of the belongings he could take with him from the facility at the time.
As he continued to walk, he slightly looked over his shoulder to see the guard still watching him. Knowing how awkward it was, Scott turned around and kept on walking.
Scott had walked pretty far to reach his current location. All that time of flowing weightlessly in the Quantum Realm made him glad to walk and get the feel of his legs again.
He had walked all the way back to his old neighborhood. But what he saw was...chilling. The streets were empty. Bags of garbage were everywhere, and every post in the neighborhood was LOADED with MISSING posters. Not only that, some of the houses looked abandoned. A few cars were wrecked, trees and foliage had overgrown their yards. It seemed...partly desolate.
Almost like a post apocalyptic movie where the majority of the population were and a few people left.
Multiple questions were running through Scott's mind right now. The main one being: What happened?
As Scott walked on, he was swiftly passed by a kid on a bike. Curious and confused, he called out to him.
"Kid! Hey kid!"
The kid stopped his bike and looked back to Scott with a face that was a mixture of torture, hurt, and pain. He looked as though he had been crying for days.
This just made Scott even more confused.
"What the hell happened here?" He asked.
But the kid stayed silent. He just held his pained stare at Scott for a few more seconds before wiping some dried tears away before jumping back on his bike and kept on. Scott was left there with a still confused look. But he wouldn't get answers just standing here, so he continued walking.
After some more walking, he came across a park that had a view of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Only, it wasn't a park. There were mile long rows of headstones and quite a few people walking on well groomed cement walkways. To Scott, it kinda resembled a like a HUGE cemetery, only the headstones were massive. But he'd been in this area many times before, and he never saw this before. Curious, he went down to check it out.
As he got closer to them, he began to notice that on the large stones, there were hundreds of thousands of names in rows up and down them. And the people there didn't look happy.
Looking up at the top of one of the plaques, the words "THE VANISHED" were engraved. And they were at the rope of every one of them.
Scott's heartbeat sped up as it all began to sink in. This was a memorial! And apparently, it was for a vast multitude of people.
"No. Please. Please, please. No, no, no. No." He pleaded as he searched up and down the multiple columns of names. He passed through people and went around to another one and kept looking. "Excuse me, sorry. No, Cassie, no."
There was no sign of Cassie's name on it, so he went to another stone. On it was a section with the last name of L's. Immediately, Scott's eyes darted around as he searched it all over. Hoping a pleading that Cassie wasn't among them.
"Please, please, please, please... No, Cassie. Pl-"
But Scott was cut off by a shocking sight. He found the name he was looking for: Lang. But it wasn't Cassie's. On the stone was engraved: "Scott Lang".
HIS NAME!
"What?" He asked out loud, beyond confused.
The mere sight of his name on this wall took his breath away. Suddenly, something in him sparked up fear. And an even more fearful thought came to mind. If his name was on here, but Cassie's wasn't, then.........oh no!
Scott took off running across the memorial. He was scared and desperate to know.....to know if Cassie was still.....still.........alive. She had to be though, she just HAD TO BE!
He ran all the way back to his neighborhood to Maggie's house, never stopping his fast and determined speed. As soon as the house came into view, he speed up and ran up the driveway, and jumping onto the porch. Since he was desperate and didn't want to wait, he tried opening the door. But it was locked.
So he knocked. Not a regular knock, more like a BANG BANG BANG type of knock. Then he rang the doorbell, constantly. With those two combined, he also looked in to see if anyone was there.
Suddenly, through the dusty glass, he saw someone! It was a woman.
'Maggie?' Scott thought, hoping it was.
But it wasn't Maggie. This woman was shorter and looked younger. Teenager by the height of her. She walked towards the door but then she stopped mid-stride. She stated there for a minute, frozen in place at the sight of Scott. This confused him. What had made her stop to abruptly? Was it him?
But she started to walk again, this time slower as if cautious of something. Soon, she was right at the door, and her look of shock was replaced with a face of tearful joy. She opened the door and walked right up to Scott, holding his head in her hands and smiling happily.
Scott, at first confused, began to piece this together. This young teenage girl, who he didn't know but seemed to know him was completely happy at the sight of him. It came to him. Was it...was it really........?
"Cassie?" He said, still unsure.
She nodded lightly and smiled at hearing Scott say her name after so long. "Dad?" she replied, her breath hitching as she did. She was so happy to see him, she couldn't contain her joy.
The two don't exchange another word as Cassie pulled Scott into a big tight hug. He returned it without hesitation, but he was still in shock. He was hugging Cassie who was teenager. A TEENAGER!!! And the last time he saw her, she was just a little kid. Now, she was a young lady. He just couldn't believe it.
When they finally broke the hug, Scott looked at Cassie with amazement and smiled as tears began to form in his eyes. Cassie did the same. She was filled with joy and relief to have her father back with her here and now.
The silence between was awkward since they both wanted to say something, but they were both speechless. But Scott, who could never be speechless forever, said the first thing he could think of.
"You're so big!" He laughed with a shrug of the shoulders.
Cassie laughed at that and shrugged her shoulders too as she understood how he felt. She was about to reply when..
"Yo, Cassie! Who was it?" An all too familiar voice called out from inside of the house. Scott looked past Cassie as an older man walked into view to see who was at the door with Cassie, but who he saw he definitely didn't expect. "........Scotty?"
"Luis?" He replied with a smile.
"Omigod! GUYS, SCOTTY'S BACK!!!" He yelled back into the house before running up to Scott and pulling into a big hug like Cassie, lifting him up off the ground as he did. "SCOTTY!!!"
Scott couldn't help but hug his best friend back, he was truly glad to see him. "Argh, I missed you too, man!"
The two men held each other and Cassie stood there watching happily. But they hadn't noticed more from within in the house coming out as well.
"Scott?" Another voice said.
Scott and Luis broke their hug and looked back to the door to see Dave and Kurt standing there with equal surprised expressions.
"Guys!" Scott exclaimed.
The two came towards him with glee, glad to see their old friend again. Dave was first. "AYE SCOTT!"
"Hey Dave!"
"MAN, it's good to see you, bro!"
"You too, man. Kurt! Hey man!
"Welcome back, Scott. Long time, no see." The slick haired Russian greeted his friend with a smile and a hug.
"Yeah. Yeah I guess it has. But how long exactly? I mean, what the hell happened, an-and where's Maggie and Paxton?"
When they all heard him ask that, the happy reunion had taken a turn and was now heading down.
This immediately worried Scott as he began fearing for the worst. "What?"
"Um..." Cassie tried to say something, but couldn't get the words to come up.
"What?" Scott's eyebrows came together in confusion as he was weary of what the responses would be.
But before anyone could answer, "Cassie?"
All heads turned back to see a young boy, who couldn't be much older than a preteen, standing there in the doorway.
Scott's heart skipped a beat or so at the sight of the boy. 'Who is that?' He wondered.
Maybe a little friend of Cassie's? Or a kid that she was babysitting?
Cassie knelt down and opened her arms as a sign for the boy to come to her, which he did. Once he was, she embraced him. Then, she held him by the shoulders and looked him in the eye.
"PJ, do you remember the stories I've told you about your dad?" She asked, her voice cracking a little as tears began to form in her eyes.
The boy, whose name seemed to be PJ, nodded immediately, but still not fully understanding where this was going. And neither did Scott. Why was Cassie bringing up this kid's father right now, in front of him and the guys? He soon got his answer.
"Well, this is him." She said, nodding to Scott.
PJ looked up to Scott in surprise. This was his father. The one he never met, the one who he was told was a great man. A hero. A superhero. A father.
"Hi, Dad." He said nervously.
The wave of shock and emotion that hit Scott right there was something powerful. The last he saw PJ, he was a six month old baby. But now, here he was. A growing little boy. This was just......just wow.
"Hey PJ." He finally replied. "My god, look how big you've grown. How old are you now, like......nine?"
"Ten and a half."
'Ten and a half?!' Scott repeated to himself. How could this be? From the looks of things around the, it did seem like things had gone downhill badly. But it wasn't ten years. At least....not to him it wasn't.... This was a lot. A LOT!!!
"Yo Scott, you good, bro?" Dave asked, pulling him from his thoughts.
"Uh...uh, yeah. I just....I don't get it. What happened?"
"I think we should go inside, Dad." Cassie said, trying to keep her father calm.
"Yeah, man." Luis added as well. "Let's go inside bro, I'll explain it to ya."
Though he was confused and really wanted answers, he agreed to go in with them and listen.
***Living Room***
"Ok Luis, lemme have it." Scott told his friend. "And remember, just the facts."
"Aw yeah. You got it, you got it. Ok, so ten years ago, I was going on a date with Ava."
[Flashback]
***Scott & Luis' House***
"Ya know, the ghost girl that could go through walls and stuff? Yeah, I figured she was kinda beautiful, ya know, so I figured I'd shoot the my shot."
Luis is sitting on the couch, his leg bopping up and down nervously as he calls someone. That someone was Ava Starr.
***Ava and Bill's Apartment***
"And surprisingly, she was like..."
Ava: "Of course I would, you handsome sexy beast of a man!"
"Whoa! Hold up!"
(Flashback Pause)
Dave had cut Luis off with a look that screamed, "What're you talking about, man?"
Luis looked at him confused and shrugged his shoulders. "What?"
"That not what happen." Kurt added simply with a light shake of the head.
Luis was about to retort, but paused when he noticed Cassie and PJ trying to stifle their laughter at the trio. His face drooped before looking back to Dave and shot back. "How would you guys know? You weren't there!"
"Oh, yes we was!" Dave retorted.
Kurt nodded at that and added, "You call us to come and be your wingmen."
That stopped Luis and made him think. A second or two later, it came back to him.
"Oh yeah! That's right! I forgot about that."
Dave rolled his eyes and took the reigns. "What she really said was..."
Back to Ava on the phone with Luis.
Ava: "Sure, I'd like to go out with you."
"And that's how that happened."
"Oh yeah, that's right." Luis nodded, remembering the true backstory. "Yeah, cuz then..."
***Scott & Luis' House***
"-I asked you guys if you could babysit the kids for me while I was out."
Dave and Kurt were there, standing and listening as Luis asked them if they could watch Cassie and PJ who were in the room as well; with Cassie playing on the floor with a toddler PJ.
"And y'all were like..."
Kurt: "Yeah, we got this."
Dave: "Go get 'em, bro!"
"Now that DID happen."
***Bathroom***
"So then, I had to get ready. Got all clean and freshened up, you know."
Luis is standing at the sink, looking in the mirror, admiring himself. Then he opened the vanity and pulled out a small bottle of cologne.
"I used some Aqua Velva, you know I don't use cheap brands cuz that's not how Daddy roll. Gotta smell good for my date!"
"Ok, stop! Hang on a sec!"
(Flashback Paused)
Scott had his hands up and his brain confused.
"What does any of this have to do with what happened?" He asked.
"I'm getting to that, bro!" Luis assured him.
"You remember how he is, Scott." Dave said as he leaned back in his chair, reminding him of their friend's tendency to ramble.
"Yeah, I do." Scott did remember what Luis was like. And strangely, he had missed it too.
"Like old car radio." Kurt added, "He no skip, just go with all of it."
That was so true, that was so Luis. Scott nodded in agreement to that while Cassie and PJ were still trying to hold back their laughter.
"Right. Please, continue."
"So I went and picked her up and went to Shake-Shack. Can't get better than Shake-Shack, man. They get it done!"
Luis and Ava are sitting at a table for two with their food and are talking. Smiles are exchanged and it's going really good.
"After a while, we were gettin' real close, ya know. By then some creepy sh** started happening. People were starting to disappear. Into thin air!"
As the two kept on talking, some commotion was happening over at the counter. It wasn't an unruly customer and the cashier going at it though. It was a scream of terror. They looked over to see someone screaming before that person began to slowly disintegrated into noting but dust.
"It was kinda like in the JUMANJI movies, when they were being transported into the game and looked all dusty? Except the people weren't being transported anywhere, they were just.....just vanishing."
Before long, more people were beginning to blow away into dust. And to they're shock, Ava began to dust too. Luis' eye were wide and his mouth wide open. That shock was pressed upon more when he saw more people beginning to disintegrate.
Slowly, he began to run. Just running out of the restaurant quick. But when he got outside, the scene outside was way worse than it was in the Shake-Shack.
"I ran outta there like hell and when I got outside, it was worse than it was in the restaurant. People were still dusting and cars were crashing, cuz some of them were in them but dusted and the cars went haywire! It was HELLA crazy out there, man."
***Scott & Luis' House***
Luis runs up the stair of the house and rushes in to see Dave and Kurt at the table playing cards and Cassie and PJ were on the couch, watching TV.
"I make it back to the crib, I bust in there and it's like,"
Dave: "Aye man! You're back early."
Kurt: "How'd it go?"
"And I'm like,"
Luis: "You guys don't know what's goin' on out there?!"
Dave and Kurt look at each other confused before turning back to Luis and shaking their heads.
"So then, I said,"
Luis: "Check the news! And Cassie, call your mom."
Luis tossed the little girl his phone, which she caught.
"Cuz I know you always said if you weren't around, call Maggie in case of an emergency. And this was DEFINITELY an emergency!"
Scott nodded again as he listened intently, following Luis with this story.
"So Cassie calls Maggie-"
"-and their talking, and were over there watching the news and it's saying that this is happening all over the world!"
The guys are standing at the TV, surrounding it, and the news report on there reads: 'RAPID VANISHINGS'. And showed footage of people disintegrating into thin air.
"And we were like,"
Dave: "Bro, what the hell?!"
"-and.."
Kurt: "This is SORCERY!!"
Dave and Kurt and wigging out, Kurt more than Dave, but all were still shocked.
"And like I said, Cassie was on the phone, talkin' to her mom, but then....."
Luis looked over his shoulder to his best friend's daughter and saw she was FaceTiming with her mom still.
"Then what?"
Cassie is holding the phone with Maggie on the screen, talking with her. Suddenly, Maggie's face begins to dust and soon she disintegrates onscreen as Cassie watches.
Cassie's eye go wide with horror as she watches her mom blow away. The phone's screen shows that Maggie's phone had been dropped and landed on its back with the camera showing the ceiling. Then, Paxton comes into view, looking down as he cries out for Maggie, investigating what just happened. Suddenly though, Paxton began to go next. And within seconds, he was gone.
Cassie, so overcome with shock, lost feeling in her hand and let the phone drop from it.
"Then what?!"
(End of Flashback)
The room was silent as Scott waited for an answer. Everyone's heads were either down or heavy with emotions from that day.
Finally, Scott received his answer. Looking to the seats on his left, Cassie was holding PJ close to her and he hugged her back as he knew what her next words would be.
"They vanished too." She said, on the verge of tears.
Scott's felt a lump grow in his throat as his heart and breathing hitched. He couldn't believe this. Apparently, his children and friends had endured a lot of pain and a great loss. And the worst part of it was that he wasn't even here for it. It hadn't been ten years for him. To him, he hadn't been gone even half a day. But that didn't justify the situation any, not for him. He began to feel the pain too, and it wasn't exactly pleasant.
"I'm sorry." He finally said. "To all of you. I'm so sorry."
Luis shook his head at that. "Nah, Scotty. You didn't know, man."
"It doesn't matter! I should've been there. Here! Ah, whatever! The point is, I wasn't there for you guys when you needed me. Frickin' story of my life."
Scott let out a sigh, leaned back and covered his face with his hands and let out another sigh through them. This wasn't a good day for him.....what could possibly make it better?
Suddenly, a feeling of a hand on his knee brought Scott out from retreating into himself. Lifting his hands and head up, he saw that is was PJ's hand on him, standing at his side.
The ten-and-a-half year old boy looked up at his father with tears eyes, sadness, but hope in them. And from that hope came his next words to his father. "You're here now, Dad..."
At that, Scott felt his heart begin to feel lifted up. Hearing his son say that to him, to reassure him that it was ok to be a little late....but that he was here.....that made him feel.........warm.
A smile and a small chuckle came to Scott's face as he slowly sat up in his seat. "Ha.....yeah, I guess I am, huh?"
PJ nodded at his father's words. A smile coming to him too at seeing Scott smile. "Yeah, you are. And I'm happy that you're finally here, Dad."
Another ping came to Scott's heart at hearing PJ call him "Dad". That warm feeling engulfed him now and turned his down mood into a better one. One so good that Scott smiled even wider at his son, and PJ returned it.
"Me too." They looked over to Cassie to see her standing up before stepping over and kneeling down next to them. "I'm happy you're here too, Daddy. It's really good that you are."
Tears were welling in her eyes as she said those heartfelt words. The same began to happen for Scott as he looked back and forth between his kids.
"Oh, Peanut."
The growing happiness inside him became so overwhelming that he didn't hesitate any longer to pull them both in for a hug. It took the two by surprise at first, but they soon returned it and hugged back with so much love for their dad.
Smiles came to Luis, Kurt, and Dave and the three onlookers saw their good friend share a tender moment with his kids. But as much fun as it was to watch this tearful scene, it was too much for them not to join in.
Following Luis, the three walked over and joined in on the Lang's triangle hug.
"Yay, group hug!" PJ exclaimed happily.
They all laughed at his excitement and tightened the hug. In the middle, Scott had on a genuine smile. Granted, it wasn't what he expected to come home to, and this wasn't the ideal reunion for a father to his kids/friends. But regardless of that, it was his family, and he was glad to have them. All of them.
Hours later, the sun had started to set and the sound of tummies growling called for dinner.
Unanimously, pizza was decided upon and they all enjoyed the delicious cheesy goodness of it all. After dinner, they had all sat in the living room for a movie. Said movie was Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.
When it got to the part of the Enterprise Crew arriving in San Francisco in the 1980s, conversation began to spark between the group.
"So they traveled back in time to bring back some whales to the future to stop a drone that can only talk to them?" Dave asked, making sure he wasn't missing anything so far.
PJ enthusiastically replied to him, "Yep! That's their mission."
"But how did they get from 2286, back to 1986 though? Cuz I didn't see no time machine."
"Didn't you see?" Kurt chimed in, "They use slingshot maneuver around the Sun. Using gravitational assist which make them go fast enough to shoot them back into past."
Dave let out a light sigh at that and shook his head. He didn't entirely understand what Kurt just explained, but whatever it was, it worked in the movie. "If you say so, man."
As they continued watching, the conversation and the plot of the movie made Scott think more about the present situation of the outside world. The similarities were uncanny. And the crazy thing was that it was based on real things. The gravitational assist from the Sun was true, and that had worked in real life too.
And it was almost similar to the......to the Quantum Realm. Suddenly, an idea came to him. It wasn't great, but it was possible...possibly. It was possibly possible, but it could work.
But then he realized something else; he couldn't do it alone. If he was going to try and act on this idea, he'd need help. And he knew just the people to go to.
"I gotta go find the Avengers." He said out loud, standing up as he did.
His abrupt words and action made everyone look away from the movie towards him.
"What?" Cassie questioned, pausing the movie to give her full attention to this.
"I have to go find the Avengers." Scott repeated, more confident about what he had to do.
"Ah, they're gone, bro." Dave reluctantly told his friend, not too happy about bursting whatever bubble Scott had.
"When Snap happen ten years ago, Avengers vanish as well." Kurt added.
Scott's eyebrows furrowed at this. "What, you mean they got dusted too?"
They all nodded in reply.
"So they're ALL gone?"
Luis shrugged his shoulders as he answered his friend, "Well, The Hulk's still there. He's like the only one left though."
Ooh, ok. That put a slight.....all right, make the a big dent in Scott's plan, but didn't change a thing.
".........I'm still gonna go."
"What?" Cassie jumped up. "Dad, why?"
"Because...." Scott looked at the TV and was reminded of his idea. "Cause, there may be a way to reverse this.....and if there is, then I'm gonna need help."
Cassie didn't entirely understand what her father meant, but she saw hope and fire in his eyes. And that was enough for her to have confidence in him. But not enough to let him go at it alone. So throwing her fears aside, she stood from her spot on the couch and looked at Scott with a look of determination.
"Well then I'm going with you."
In Scott's mind, a red flag IMMEDIATELY went up. "No, Cassie. I'm gonna need you to stay here with Luis and the gu-"
"Dad, I haven't seen you in ten years. And I get it. You have to go ba Ant-Man and save the world again. But if you think I'm gonna let you go across the country by yourself after not having seen you in all this time, you've got another thing coming."
Scott was amazed at how stern and confident his daughter sounded right now. But then again, she always did give good motivational advice. Thinking back to 2018 when he was still on house arrest but had to be Ant-Man again. He was down and not sure if he should go back in. But then here came Little Cassie, comforting and wanting to help her father. And now here she was, ten years later, a young woman and still wanting to help.
He couldn't help but feel proud of her. But there was something else too. "What about PJ?"
"He can come too! It'll be a road trip. Just the three of us. What do ya say, PJ?"
The young Lang jumped up at his name. "I'm in! I am SO in!"
A proud smile came to Scott's face as he looked between his two kids.
"When did you become so grown up?" He said proudly, bringing a hand to her cheek.
Cassie shrugged a little. "Something I picked up from you."
Shaking his head and smiling proudly, Scott looked at his daughter, then his son, and then his friends. All of their eyes were on him and they all had trust in him too. And that gave him the push he needed.
"Alright, let's do it."
***Cassie and PJ's Room***
As the two kids packed their bags, a strange feeling came to Cassie. Almost like a calling of some sort. That calling made her look over to their closet. Immediately, she remembered what was there. What she had kept in the back of it.
With this situation, she figured this might be it.
"Hey PJ?" She called her little brother.
"Yeah?" He replied, looking over to her.
"Remember when I told you that one day it'd be time to use our presents that Grandpa Hank made for us?"
A smile came to PJ's face as he looked towards the closet as well and looked back to Cassie. "Yeah?"
She smiled as well before going over to the closet, opening it and pushing the hanging clothes aside to reveal the "presents" behind them. "I think it's time we start using them." She said confidently.
PJ walked over to stand next to his sister and looked at their "presents" excitedly.
His heart began to race as the glee built inside of him. "It's about damn time!" He agreed excitedly.
After packing a few things and loading them into Luis' van, the Langs boarded the vehicle and said their goodbyes to the three men.
"Bye Uncle Luis, Uncle Dave, Uncle Kurt!"
"Later, little Peej!" Dave waved back.
"Take good care, kid." Kurt said with a nod.
"Hey, you guys be careful out there Scotty."
"Thanks, Luis. I will." Scott replied gratefully. "You guys be safe too."
They all nodded at each other before the van was turned on. For old times sake, Scott jokingly honked the crazy horn as the car moved forward and they set out on their journey.
"ROAD TRIP!!!" PJ exclaimed happily.
"Yeah, buddy!" Scott said, honking the horn once again.
Cassie laughed at the horn and the joy that was coming from her father and brother. This was truly an amazing moment, and she was glad that she insisted on them coming along. And she also hoped that this trip would be filled with many more of these heartwarming moments.
A few minutes into the drive, Scott began to think about something. Something that may help with this plan of his. Once again, it was a long shot and this slight addition was an even BIGGER long shot.
But it was still a shot. So with his mind made up, he drove and made a small detour to Berkeley University.
The past three days had been filled with laughs, music and a few family selfies along the way to The Avengers Facility. It seemed that Cassie had gotten her wish of many more happy moments with her family.
Without a doubt, it was a time that they all had enjoyed very much, especially Scott. But Cassie was making sure that all of this time was great, and she was happy that she could be here with them.
"Dad?"
"Yeah, Peanut?" Scott replied.
"Thanks for letting us come along."
"Well you didn't really give me much choice."
Cassie snickered at that, remembering how much she insisted on their coming along. Scott laughed at it too.
"But no, seriously, I'm glad you came along too......to be honest, I wasn't exactly ready to up and leave you guys so soon. But this, this was great. Your decision was a mature one, and I have to remember that I don't have a little girl for a daughter anymore....I have a young lady.....and I just can't get over that."
Cassie smiled at her dad as tears started to come up again. To hear him say that to her, about her.....it meant so much. So, so much.
"I love you, Daddy." She said.
"I love you too, Peanut." Scott replied with a smile.
"I love you too, Dad!" PJ added gleefully.
Scott laughed a little at his son's words and persona. Plus to hear him say that he "loves" him, that just drove it home for him.
"I love you too, PJ!"
This was another great moment for the three of them. And it was definitely gonna stick.
After a few more minutes of driving along the road they were on, a familiar white building came into view. Then, a large gate came into view as well.
"We're here, guys." Scott said as they neared the gate.
The van slowed down as they drove right up to the gate.
No one was around, but there was a camera on one of the columns.
"Be right back." Scott opened the door and took his jacket with him. Putting it on as he walked up towards the column, he noticed that there was a button on it.
He went ahead and pushed it and waited for something to happen. Seconds later, the camera up top began to move until it was on Scott and he noticed it. Someone must be in there and they could see him.
Immediately, he began to speak.
"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."
From inside the van, Cassie and PJ could see their father talking to the camera.
"Ant-Man? Ant-Man, I know you know that. I need to talk to you guys."
After a few more seconds, the gate unlocked and began to roll backwards for them to enter. Seeing this, Scott jumped back in the van and closed the door behind him.
"Here we go, kids," He said as they proceeded onto the premises.