For Janet

"Hank Pym..."

Howard murmured the name. Of course he remembered it, which only made him wonder why Tony wanted him to meet Pym.

"Actually, what Pym said back then wasn't entirely nonsense. His missing Pym Particles did have something to do with us."

Howard frowned slightly.

"Did you go back in time and take his Pym Particles?"

"No!"

Tony immediately denied it when he saw the look in Howard's eyes.

"It was the Avengers from a parallel timeline. They used Pym Particles to travel through time, but Doctor Pym in their world disappeared during a terrible catastrophe."

"In fact, more than half the people in their world disappeared. To bring them back, the Avengers came to our world looking for an artifact that could grant wishes. When that failed, they went to 1951 and took some Pym Particles so they'd still have a way to change things."

Howard thought for a moment, then realization dawned.

"So the person who spoke to me back then was you..."

"That's right!" Tony nodded quickly, glad Howard remembered.

Howard shook his head. "Then I really was involved. Damn."

"So, do you want to make up with him?"

Tony pressed him, looking a little too eager. Maria and Pepper both turned to look at him.

Seeing his expression, Howard sighed. "All right, fine. I'll make up with him. Stop looking at me like that!"

They all laughed. Howard sighed again, wondering when they had joined forces to talk him into this.

"Now tell me how Doctor Pym is doing."

At Howard's question, Tony quickly gave him a rough account of what Lu Qi had said and what JARVIS had just found.

"Janet accidentally entered the Quantum Realm?"

Howard frowned, visibly troubled.

Maria wore the same expression. Janet had been a genuinely wonderful person to put