A bright, multicoloured flash shot across Scott's vision. Then another, and another. He could feel himself drifting aimlessly, his whole mind and body feeling numb. He remembered this place... but from where? Shapeless objects hung in the space surrounding him, seeming to grow bigger and bigger every second. Or was he shrinking? The memories came rushing back to him like a flash flood. Cassie. Yellow Jacket. Hank's warning. He was shrinking indefinitely into the quantum realm and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Scott began to panic, his heart racing in his ever-shrinking chest. As the bright colours flashed around him he searched for something, anything that could help him. The lights kept flashing until a dark figure appeared threateningly in front of Scott and he awoke.
Scott shot upright in bed, gasping for air. It took him a few seconds to realize that he wasn't actually stuck in the quantum realm and that he was safe in his own room. He glanced over at the figure lying on the other side of the bed and was glad to see she was still sleeping. The last thing Scott needed was for Hope to know he had nightmares. He watched her for a few seconds, her peaceful, even breaths easing his panic. He gave her a light kiss on the forehead and quietly crawled out of bed.
Scott made his way to the kitchen to make some coffee, eager to get his hands moving and his mind off the dream. Ever since Hank and Hope opened the quantum realm he'd been having the same, reoccurring dream, even after they'd extracted Janet from the realm. In all the dreams, however, he'd never encountered the dark figure before. It was definitely not Janet as it was too big and threatening. The figure did seem familiar but Scott just couldn't place his finger on it. He was halfway through toasting bagels and making coffee when a voice snapped him out of his thoughts.
"What're you doing up so early?"
Scott turned quickly to see Hope leaning up against the bedroom doorframe, wearing one of Scott's "X-Con Security" t-shirts. He smiled.
"Early? What are you talking about? I always get up at..." He checked his watch, "5:00 am? Holy shit! What're you doing up so early?"
Hope chuckled as she took a seat at the kitchen island.
"Well, I can hardly sleep with you banging around in here, can I?" Hope motioned to the open cabinets and drawers that Scott had been mindlessly ruffling through in his quest to make breakfast.
"Well, how was I supposed to make you this delicious cup of coffee without making any noise?" Scott attempted to redeem himself by placing the steaming cup in front of her.
"I hate the brand of coffee you buy, it's disgusting." She retorted.
"This cup of coffee, then" Scott corrected himself.
"I'm not even sure it's coffee..." she said scrunching her nose. Scott thought for a second.
"This... cup."
Hope laughed, as a huge grin spread across Scott's face. She took a sip of her coffee and smiled.
"It's great. Thanks."
Scott leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. He then turned to grab his own cup of coffee.
As he turned, a bright coloured light flashed across his vision again.
"You never did tell me why you were up so early." He heard Hope say behind him.
A second light flashed before his eyes.
Not now... he thought.
Another coloured flash, but this one was much more intense.
"Argh!" Scott exclaimed, throwing his hand to his temple.
"Scott?" Hope asked, concerned.
Flash! Another wave of pain, this time even worse than the last. Scott let his coffee mug crash to the floor, doubling over and clutching his head.
"Aaargh!" He cried out, unable to hold the pain back.
"Scott!" Hope rushed to his side as he collapsed to his knees, losing his vision completely. He was back in the quantum realm floating aimlessly. Mind and body numbed.
"Scott? Scott, what's wrong?" Hope grabbed the man by his shoulders, trying to keep him steady as he shook with pain.
"Scott, talk to me!" Hope begged. Suddenly he stopped shaking. He let his hands slowly drop from his head and he looked at Hope, a confused expression on his face. Hope sucked in a nervous breath.
"Scott?" She said quietly trying not to keep her voice from cracking. Scott gave her a look as if to say "Who?" He then began to look around the kitchen, and the confusion cleared from his eyes. He shook his head and looked back at Hope.
"W-what happened?" He asked, "Why are we on the floor?"
Hope took a deep breath trying to calm her racing heart.
"I don't know Scott, you tell me." She said helping him to his feet. "One moment you're fine the next your clutching your head in pain... what was that?"
Scott sighed.
"I didn't want to tell you cause I didn't want you to worry..."
"This has happened before?" Hope exclaimed a little too protectively.
"No, no... well not exactly..." Scott started. "I... I've been having these dreams ever since you and Hank opened the quantum realm, it's no big deal-"
"You mean like the dream you had of my mom?" Hope asked.
"Yeah... sort of."
"But that was only due to your quantum entanglement! Why would you be still having dreams if-"
"Hey! Hope, it's fine. I'm okay." Scott grabbed her by the shoulders reassuringly. "Just a bad dream. It's nothing I can't handle, all right?"
Hope looked at him sadly, not sure what to say. Scott quickly switched his gaze to his watch.
"I should go have a shower and get ready to go. I've got to pick up Cassie from Maggie's this morning."
Hope put a hand on his chest freezing him in place.
"You are not going anywhere right now, except straight back to bed!" She commanded. "Don't worry about Cassie, I'll go pick her up."
Scott looked at Hope like he wanted to protest but just didn't have the energy to.
"Fine..." he surrendered. Hope smiled, kissing him on the cheek.
"But you really should still have that shower..." She chimed in, crinkling her nose. He laughed, pulling her into a big, stinky hug.
Author's Note: Hello reader! I just finished watching Ant-Man and The Wasp and it was wonderful. This is a little idea that popped into my head after I watched it and I think I could definitely keep it going... let me know what you think!