Ready to Go, but I Have a Question!

Tony drove his four-ringed car toward the Avengers compound. Lin Yi sat bored in the passenger seat, fiddling with the reactor in his hand.

"Are you sure you've thought this through? You really want to be part of this?" Tony asked gravely.

"This isn't a game, and there are no safety measures. We're about to face dangers we know nothing about."

"Time travel, gathering the Infinity Stones again—I can't even calculate how high the risk is..."

Lin Yi lowered the window a little and cut off Tony's lecture. "Are you going senile? Didn't you ask me that already? I just don't want little Morgan to lose her unreliable daddy while she's still so young."

Despite his words, excitement and contemplation lurked deep in Lin Yi's eyes.

The chance to step into the movie's plot—and even experience time travel for the first time—thrilled him.

But Lin Yi had never forgotten the mystery of how he had crossed into this world. He had a nagging feeling that this universe didn't entirely follow the "plot" he remembered.

The public backlash against the Avengers two years earlier and the missile attack on the cabin afterward had never been part of that plot.

The backlash might have been a minor detail, but surely an attack that had nearly killed Morgan and Pepper deserved a mention. If he hadn't happened to be nearby, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

It wasn't that Lin Yi hadn't considered the mystery of his arrival over the past five years. He simply hadn't investigated it because he needed time to grow stronger.

Now his abilities had begun to show. After five years of trying to remain an outsider, it was time to do something.

Remembering Lin Yi's incredible abilities, Tony nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. Looking at your physical data, I'd almost think you were an alien."

"If you'd been around five years ago... Forget it. I think I can see Steve's unhappy face."

As they talked, the car pulled into the Avengers compound. Steve stood outside the entrance, looking troubled.

Screech...

The car came to a smooth stop in front of him.

Steve stared speechlessly at its rear end, which was pointed straight at him.

After a brief silence, Tony shifted into reverse and backed up a little.

The window rolled down. Tony lifted his sunglasses and tipped up his chin.

"Let me guess. Scott Lang peed his pants?"

Steve nodded helplessly. Tony was right: their experiment had failed completely. Scott Lang hadn't traveled through time; time had traveled through Scott Lang.

"Anyway, I figured this out. A fully functional time-travel navigation device." Tony opened the door and raised a crude metal bracelet, pride edging into his voice.

Steve's eyes lit up.

Resting his chin in his hand, Lin Yi watched Tony and Steve make peace. Then Tony returned the shield that had witnessed an era's rise and fall to Steve.

This is much more interesting in person than in the movie.

"Oh, right!" Only after the two men had rekindled their friendship did Tony remember Lin Yi.

"I brought an assistant this time. Lin Yi. You met him at the cabin."

Lin Yi got out and offered his hand. "Hello, Captain. I'm Lin Yi."

Steve hadn't noticed anything unusual about Lin Yi the last time they met. As far as he knew, Lin Yi was just a young man living in Tony's woods.

That didn't stop Steve from being polite. He shook Lin Yi's hand. "Hello. Steve Rogers. Thank you for being willing to help us."

The instant their hands met, Steve gave an almost imperceptible shudder.

Years of combat experience had honed his instincts, and the moment he touched Lin Yi, they screamed a warning.

Steve withdrew his hand without betraying anything. After giving Lin Yi another, more careful look, he stepped aside. "Let's talk inside..."

Only Natasha, Banner, and Scott Lang were at the compound.

Tony's news solved what was undoubtedly the hardest part of their plan to bring back hope.

After discussing it, the group worked out a series of plans. Lin Yi stayed off to the side, drinking tea and watching this familiar "movie."

Time flew. Hulk and Rocket brought back Thor, complete with an enormous beer belly. Natasha went to Japan and returned with Hawkeye. And there was the blue-skinned woman, too...

When Lin Yi saw Nebula and Rocket, he couldn't help taking a second look. After all, it was his first time seeing aliens in person.

They kept refining the time-travel navigation device, and the time-travel platform was quickly assembled. Once Hawkeye successfully completed a test run and came back with a baseball glove, the plan entered its final stage: choosing when and where to go.

Everyone gathered together while information on the Infinity Stones appeared on a nearby screen.

They traced and verified the time and place where each stone had appeared.

When everything was settled, they stood before the screen, studying the team assignments.

"Six stones. Three teams. One shot!" Steve stared at the Infinity Stones on the screen, his voice grave.

Then his sharp gaze swept over everyone. "Before we go, does anyone have any questions?!"

No one spoke, but hope had already caught fire. They could almost see everything returning to the way it had been five years ago.

Hawkeye and Natasha exchanged an excited glance.

Rocket gripped his weapon, his mind full of Groot.

Thor tightened his grip on his axe. He felt more worked up than anyone. Only he knew how long he'd been tormented by the regret of not going for Thanos's head the first time!

But just as everyone was fired up and ready to move, a voice rang out at the worst possible moment.

"Uh, actually, I have a question." Lin Yi, who had spent his days making himself invisible while "inspecting the work," stepped forward.

Every head turned toward him.

The surge of excitement came to a strangled halt.

Thor's face flushed red at the interruption. He took a displeased step forward.

"What was your name again, kid? Do you even understand what we're discussing?"

"Tony, where did you find this 'assistant' who sits around doing nothing all day?"

Thor had been annoyed with Lin Yi for a while. The man wandered around eating and drinking without lifting a finger. Tony had said he was here to help, but what help had he given them?

Tony froze for a moment, then slapped his forehead.

Not everyone had been there when Lin Yi arrived, so Tony had only called him an assistant, intending to make proper introductions once the whole group had assembled. Amid all the work, he'd forgotten.

He quickly stepped between Lin Yi and the others.

"That's on me. I didn't explain."

"Lin Yi lives in the woods near my place. He's... my neighbor."

"He really is here to help. He..." Tony clicked his tongue, apparently searching for the right words. He was also curious what Lin Yi wanted to ask—and why he hadn't brought it up earlier.