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C340 Spider-Man
🕑 Added 2023-05-12 15:24:30 +0000 UTCAfter talking for a bit longer, Hank was done with his visit and was ready to go.
And of course, they escorted him out, as Hope would be staying to deal with the employment process.
On their way out, Pym's eyes widened as a carbon copy of a young Howard Stark appeared before him.
“Uugh...” Pym grunted in annoyance as he glared in Tony’s direction.
“Hey, Web-Head.” Tony greeted with his trademark smirk. “What’s with the grumpy old man?”
“I see that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree...” Hank deeply frowned as he walked past Tony, groaning to himself about self-absorbed egotistic Starks. “You don’t have to show me out. I’ll leave on my own.”
Entering the elevator alone, Pym ignored Tony and turned to his daughter. “Be sure to call and keep away from any Starks.”
“What the hell did I do to him?” Tony asked as the elevator closed and Hank disappeared. “Don’t tell me I slept with his wife?”
“No, but your father might have?” Peter shrugs.
“Oh...”
—————————————
After seeing Pym off and separating from Tony, Peter led Hope to a private laboratory within the Avengers headquarters.
As they entered the large workshop/lab, Hope's eyes widened with awe at the sight before her. The lab was a technological marvel, equipped with cutting-edge tools and machinery.
Hope took hesitant steps forward, her fingers gently brushing against the sleek surface of a workstation. She turned to Peter, a mix of gratitude and anticipation on her face.
"This... this is amazing! Is all of this really for me?" She asked hesitantly.
Peter nodded with a smile under his mask. "Yes, this lab is all yours. You're part of the Avengers now, and we treat our brainiacs very well."
Hope's eyes gleamed with excitement as Peter continued. "And speaking of everything you need, here's something to sweeten the deal." He handed her a folder containing documents.
Hope opened the folder, her eyes widening further as she skimmed through the papers. It was a detailed breakdown of a generous research budget.
"A budget?" She asked in shock.
"Mhmm, but that’s just a copy of Dr. Banner's budget. I need to draw up yours and allocate the money. Though yours will be similar to his, of course. Hopefully, anything you research or create will help us in one way or another."
Hope couldn't contain her joy, a wide smile gracing her face. "Thank you. This... this means the world to me." She said.
Suddenly, a mischievous grin appeared under Peter’s mask, a playful glimmer in his eyes. "Oh, and one more thing... Your living arrangements."
Hope tilted her head, curious about what Peter was about to reveal.
"I checked and the apartment directly across the hall from Scott is open. How convenient, huh?" Peter spoke teasingly. “After all, you want to be with him, right?”
Hope's cheeks flushed, a mixture of embarrassment and denial evident in her reaction.
“I-It's not like that! Scott and I are just friends. Nothing more." She stuttered out her denial unconvincingly.
Peter's playful smirk grew wider. "Hmm, are you sure about that? Those red cheeks of yours tell a different story."
Hope's attempts to hide her feelings only made her blush deepen, giving away more than she intended. “Mind your own business...”
She tried to sound intimidating, but it just wasn’t working.
Peter chuckled, patting her shoulder reassuringly. "Hey, take your time. Love is a tricky thing.”
Once the topic of romance was officially put aside, Hope turned to Peter with a serious look on her face.
“What's up?" he asked, wondering why she suddenly became so serious out of nowhere.
Hope took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts before she spoke. She had long suspected that her father, Hank Pym, had lied about her mother's fate and now was the perfect opportunity to ask.
The plane crash story never quite added up, and she knew there was more than he let on.
With Peter being a high-ranking member of the Avengers and well-connected with the government, he seemed like the best person to approach for answers.
Especially after seeing how him and Hank interacted. Hope felt that Peter knew something, and her father didn’t want him to say.
“I need to...” she began, her voice barely above a whisper, "I need to ask you something important... About my mother."
Peter's expression softened, realizing where this was going. He set aside his joking manner, giving Hope his full attention.
Hope continued, her voice filled with a mix of vulnerability and determination, “Hank always told me that my mom died in a plane crash, but I could never shake the feeling that he was hiding something. I... I knew he was lying to me. I just want to know the truth."
Silence enveloped them for a moment as Peter considered his response.
"I know what happened to your mother, Hope," Peter said softly. "And I'm more than willing to explain everything to you. You deserve to know the truth."
Hope's eyes widened with a mix of anticipation and trepidation.
She had carried this burden of uncertainty for far too long, and now, standing before her was someone who held the key to unveiling the secrets that had haunted her for years.
Taking a deep breath, Peter began. "I understand how important it is for you to know what happened to your mother, so I’ll do my best not to leave anything out."
“During a mission with your father, your mother was forced to shrink herself to a subatomic level to disarm a Soviet nuclear missile.” Peter explains, utterly shocking Hope.
“Wait!” She exclaimed. “Are you telling me that it wasn’t just my father?”
She always thought that her father did his Ant-Man work alone.
“Yup, she was a hero too, just like your father. She was called the Wasp. They worked as a team.” Peter explained.
“What happened next?” She asked, her breath hitched, a mix of pride and grief washing over her.
Peter pressed on, wanting to provide her with the closure she had sought for so long.
“Nothing.” Peter answered with a shrug. “She disappeared into the Quantum Realm, never to be seen again. She could be dead or she could be stuck, waiting for someone to save her. Or she could be continuously shrinking, but that’s probably the worst-case scenario. Not including death, of course.”
"...” Hope collapsed into a nearby chair, processing everything that she’s been told. “My mother could be alive?” She asked.
Peter nodded. “Yes, it’s one of the more likely possibilities.”
Instantly, Hope hopped to her feet and began pacing back and forth. “Then we have to find her! But how the hell am I supposed to do that?”
“Well, I’m almost positive that your father has been looking for a way to save her ever since the incident.” Peter explains. “So it might be best to work with him.”
Hope froze as she thought it over. “No, he won’t let me. And if I bring it up, he’ll most likely try to stop me from finding her myself...” She shook her head negatively.
Hank Pym has been shielding his daughter from anything Ant-Man related for a very long time, so she didn’t trust him to actually let her help in any meaningful way that mattered.
Maybe if he was the one to tell her, then some of that lost trust would have been regained, but sadly, that didn’t happen.
“If that’s the case, then we could try something else.” Peter offered, as he pulled out a flash drive.
“What’s that?” She asks.
“This is a copy of Darren Cross’ research data. Everything that you would need to make your own working Yellowjacket suit.” Peter explained as he held out the drive. “You could finally make your own Ant-Man suit. No more asking Daddy for his.”
Of course, Peter already copied all of Cross’ data onto his laptop, so the drive was useless to him now.
Hope stared at the drive in shock.
After all, she watched her father destroy all of the data in Darren's workstation, alongside his many Yellowjacket suits, so she didn’t know when Peter swiped a copy of it for himself.
Though she didn’t care. This was her golden opportunity.
“...Wasp.” Hope says, barely over a whisper as she takes the drive. “It’ll be a Wasp suit...”
She would follow in her mother’s footsteps.
“Good, but I just want to make one thing clear.” Peter says, his voice turning deadly serious.
“What?” She asks curiously.
“You must be extremely careful with the regulator and anything to do with entering the Quantum Realm. Actually, let me be even more clear.” Peter says as he stares her straight in the eyes. “I don’t want you entering the Quantum Realm without a sh*t ton, and I mean a SH$T TON of research and testing. I will not be responsible for any idiocy. If you want your mother back, then do things correctly. Am I clear?”
The room turned silent as Hope froze like a deer in headlights, unable to move a single inch under Peter’s glare.
“Y-Yes, I swear...”
A/N: 1533 words :)
