AvengingArcher

I: Fireworks

When Scott realized he was in love with Hope, it hit him fast and hard. It was the fourth of July. Cross wasn't even a thought anymore. Maggie had invited them over for a BBQ at their place. It was one of those days where it was hot enough that the girls were all in sundresses, but not hot enough for them to give up and go inside. Paxton had set up a sprinkler for Cassie before setting up the grill. Cassie was trying to get Maggie and Hope to play in the sprinkler with her. Maggie declined with a laugh. Hope made eye-contact with Scott, smiling.

Scott took it as a challenge and walked over. He and Cassie helped Hope up and he led both girls laughing through the sprinkler. As the cold water hit their skin, they all let out a scream followed by laughter. Scott picked up Cassie and ran her back through as Hope cupped her hands, collecting water to splash at them. After setting Cassie back down, Scott turned on Hope, picking her up and running her through. He knew he was really lucky she was too busy laughing to fight back. It'd be embarrassing for Hope to kick his ass in front of everyone. It also wouldn't be the first time that happened. Looking down at her still in his arms, he couldn't help but lean down and kiss the tip of her nose before letting her down. Hope reached over and mussed his hair, only stopping because Cassie started splashing her.

They were all still laughing and soaking wet as they were called to dinner. Scott looked around at this 'family' of his and couldn't stop smiling. He hadn't had a great family life before he and Maggie started one and then he quickly ruined that. But this family--this was perfect. He didn't ever want to ruin it.

He and Hope had Cassie for the night, so they took the van and a bunch of blankets to the nearby field. They climbed on top of the van, spreading the blankets out beneath them. Scott pulled out some popcorn and lemonades for everyone. Cassie snuggled in between him and Hope. Scott stretched his arm out, providing a head prop for Cassie and Hope, which they gladly took as they laid down to stare up at the stars. It was only a few moments before the fireworks started and Cassie was in awe. Scott looked over at Hope, more enthralled with the fireworks and starlight reflected magically in her green eyes than the ones in the sky. He glanced down for only a moment and noticed Cassie's hand interlocked with Hope's. The love he felt for Hope in that moment made him feel like he was bursting. And he almost told her when she caught him staring too long. She turned her head toward him, a smile on her face.

"The show is up there, Scott," she teased, pointing at the sky.

He smiled. He was absolutely in love with her and opened his mouth to tell her before he remembered how short of a time they had been together--hell, they weren't even together in any official way. They were partners--whatever the hell that meant. He thought about her trust issues and the way she kept people at a distance. He decided it was better if he kept this a secret in order to keep her in his life. Instead of telling her, he kissed Cassie on the forehead and planted a kiss on Hope's lips. It would have to do for now.

II: Germany

Scott was so pumped when he was recruited to team up with Captain America, he didn't even ask any questions. He took the Ant-Man suit and left. He wasn't great at considering consequences, so even after he was warned that he would be breaking the law, he didn't really consider it would mean losing Cassie and Hope. Breaking the law was something he was accustomed to. It didn't even seem that bad. He was teaming up with Captain freaking America, so of course he was on the right side. Plus, how could they lose?

It wasn't until the aftermath of the battle that everything hit him. He woke up after going too big. Authorities hadn't shown up yet, but it was clear they lost the fight and he would be in a lot of trouble. He grabbed his cell phone in a panic. He needed to call Paxton for help before the cops arrived. But there was one call that took priority.

Hope's phone rang six times before going to voicemail. She must have been in a meeting because, unless they're together, she never lets it ring more than twice otherwise. He listened to the voicemail recording wishing he was really talking to her. When it finished, he started rambling in a panic, "Hope! God, I hope you get this in time. This is really important. I messed up. I mean, I picked the right team, so I didn't mess up there, but I messed up according to the law. Captain America needed my help, so I took the suit and I'm in Germany--I think. It looks German. Anyway, they are gonna be super mad when they get here and--well I thought I should warn you and tell you that I--"

He almost let it slip without thought. Almost. He wanted more than anything to tell her that he loved her. He should have done it sooner. Why hadn't he? He was an idiot. And now it was all wrong. If he somehow didn't spend the rest of his life in jail and ever got the chance to go back to his life, he didn't want Hope associating his love for her with this.

"That I'm sorry," he trailed off before hanging up.

Sitting in his cell in the middle of the ocean, he heard that the authorities were after Hank and Hope too. They blamed them for the tech. It was not registered with the UN in accordance with the Sokovia Accords. He ruined their lives too. He'd never get her back. How could she forgive him?

III: The Van

Everything was falling apart once again. Scott needed to be at home. The FBI was coming to check on him at any moment and if he was caught outside his perimeter, he'd be going away for basically forever. But Hope and Hank were arrested and locked up. They would be going to jail for a long time too and he's the one that got them into this mess in the first place.

All Hope wanted was to find her mother. Hope had been alone most of her life. She just reunited with her dad and she had this one chance to find her mom. He could give her that. And he couldn't get her face out of his mind. He felt like since she kidnapped him they had slowly began rebuilding the trust that was destroyed when he stole the suit and went to Germany.

The way she had been looking at him the last day was reminiscent of the way she looked at him before he betrayed her and her father. He had been constantly fighting the urge to kiss her, hoping that they'd eventually be able to get back to that point. But then Luis informed the bad guys of their location and Scott had to bounce. Hope and Hank had been on the run for years and they managed not to get caught, but he always seemed to get caught. When he told Hope he had to leave and asked to borrow the suit, he knew the look on her face would always haunt him.

"I'll come back. Just tell me where you'll be."

"Don't bother."

"What?"

"We'll come and get the suit from you as soon as we've found my mom."

"Hope--"

"Scott, just go!"

It just kept replaying in his mind. He hurt her. He betrayed her. Everything he worked to rebuild was destroyed in three seconds flat. But he needed to be home. If he got locked up, then he'd never get to be a dad to Cassie. And Cassie was his number one priority. He needed to stop messing up. But then he made it home and wasn't going to jail. Cassie covered for him and he had a heart to heart with her. She gave him her permission to save Hope. She encouraged it, actually.

So, there he was in the van outside the federal building with a plan. He had the ants sneak Hope's suit in and an FBI disguise for Hank. Before he knew it, Hope was in the passenger seat, looking at him. He could tell she was trying to tell him something. He had so much to tell her; namely that every time she looked at him like that he fell in love with her all over again. He started poorly with a "hi," but then he was about to tell her he came back because he was in love with her-- until Hank interrupted them.

"Are we planning on leaving soon or are you two gonna keep staring at each other until they start shooting at us," Hank asked, exasperated.

Right. Now was not the time.

IV: The Pier

The last thing Scott remembered was being giant and exhausted. He had retrieved the lab for Hope and had been in the bay when his body gave into the exhaustion and everything went black, but at least he'd done what he needed to do so Hope could save her mom and dad.

When he came back to, he was discombobulated to say the least. He had somehow ended up back on the pier and Hope was looking down at him with a smile on her face. She let out a laugh when she saw him open his eyes. Her smile and the look in her eye made him believe she just might be able to forgive him. Hypnotized by the look on her face and brain still murky from passing out in the bay, all he managed to get out was a "Hey." But that didn't matter because then she was kissing him--really kissing him-- like she used to, like they didn't have two years of bad blood separating them from whatever their relationship was before. And despite everything going on around them, that moment was perfect. His arms felt like they were made of lead, but he managed to wrap them around her waist and pull her closer.

When she pulled away (way too soon, in his opinion), he cupped her face as he searched for the answers he wanted in her eyes. The words began pouring out of his mouth, "Hope, I know things are complicated right now, but I lo-," when a big crash was heard in the distance that caught her attention. She looked away from him to the source of the noise.

"Scott," she pleaded. "My parents."

And with that, they were off towards the lab.

V: Movie Night

It had taken some work, but Scott and Hope were able to figure things out. They had officially been dating for three months and Scott couldn't be happier.

Hope and Hank had been granted amnesty and were no longer on the run, which relieved a lot of stress in their relationship. Hope even got her Chairman position back for Pym Tech. Scott had even been working with Hope, Hank, and Janet on a new quantum tunnel and on training in the quantum realm. X-Con work had picked up significantly and they were becoming moderately successful. Maggie had even granted Scott (through the court) 50 percent custody of Cassie. Scott couldn't remember the last time he was this unbelievably happy.

Scott and Hope spent almost every night together. The weeks they had Cassie they would spend at his house and the weeks they didn't they would spend at her apartment. It worked well for all involved. But it nagged at the back of his mind all the time that he still hadn't been able to get out the words he had been trying to for the last two and a half years. Every time he tried, something would come up.

He was determined that this was the night he was actually going to do it. They had the perfect date night so far. They had a fancy dinner at a restaurant without prices on the menu (thank god it was Hope's turn to pay) followed by them kicking preteen ass at arcade games. They returned to her apartment to spend some quality time in her hot tub and Scott hoped she would count that as their workout for the day. After sharing a shower together, they found themselves on the couch together watching some cheesy chick flick from the early 2000's. Hope's head was in his lap and his hand was absentmindedly playing with her damp hair. He couldn't help smiling when her cute nose scrunched up at something on the screen. He gathered his resolve. He was going to tell her right away.

"Hey," he said, feeling kind of lame starting that way.

She turned her head to look at him, raising her brows. "Hey," she said either suspiciously or mockingly. He couldn't tell.

He leaned over to place a soft kiss to her lips. "I need to tell you something."

"Oh," she asked, a glint of something that seemed like hope in her eyes.

"Yeah," he said with a smile as he brushed some of her hair out of her eyes. "It's kind of important. Hope, I'm in lo-"

And as if on cue, Hope's cell phone went off. She hesitated before looking at her phone. He could tell she had wanted to ignore it but then the corners of her mouth turned down as she read the screen.

"It's work," she said. "I have to take it."

Hope picked up the phone and walked out to the balcony.

Scott groaned. He was pretty sure he was cursed at this point.

When she came back in she seemed flustered. She tried to cover it with a smile once she noticed him there, but he could still tell. The moment was ruined.

"You had something to tell me," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He sighed. It wasn't the right time now. He put on a smile, "Just that I'm going to give you the world's best massage."

VI: Girl's Night

Scott had been kicked out of the house. He and hope had moved in together about a month before. They had gotten tired of forgetting stuff at one another's apartments and just the general back and forth of it all.

He had tried to convince the girls to let him play Rock Band in the basement while they had girls' night, but Cassie insisted he go out and have a boys' night.

Cassie and Hope had become incredibly close and he couldn't be happier. Hope, though nervous at first, quickly fell into a mother-like roll. And Cassie adored her. Cassie had even started not-so-subtly dropping hints about him proposing when Hope wasn't around. His threats of grounding her in response didn't even slow her down. If he couldn't get three important words out, how was he supposed to propose?

Scott had done as requested and stayed out with Luis until 10. Cassie had school in the morning so girls night couldn't last too much longer anyway. He snuck in quietly. His plan was to scare them. But then he saw them cuddled up on the floor watching a movie, holding hands. He watched them with a goofy smile on his face.

After a few moments, Cassie turned her head towards Hope, softly telling her "Thanks for hanging out with me tonight."

"It really was my pleasure," Hope responded.

"And you'll really consider everything we talked about earlier," Cassie asked eagerly.

Hope chuckled, "I promise."

Cassie seemed satisfied and cuddled into Hope's side. "I love you, Hope."

A huge smile spread across Hope's face. She kissed the top of Cassie's head and whispered back, "I love you too, Cassie."

Scott was almost in tears from happiness. The scene in front of him was more than he thought he could ever ask for. This is what he wanted for the rest of his life. He made the decision to tell Hope that night. Every day he waited was another day wasted. But he didn't want to break girls' night up empty-handed, so he decided to make everyone sundaes first. But when he returned, the girls were already asleep. So, he put the sundaes back in the freezer and curled up next to them. It'd have to wait for the morning.

VII:

Scott woke up to Hope tripping over him. She didn't even stop to apologize. She just ran for the bathroom. When she was in there for too long of a time, he decided to go check on her. Her head was leaning against the toilet and she looked pale white. Scott rushed to her side. Pulling her in for a hug, he felt that she was burning up too. Her hair was a tangled mess soaked with her sweat.  He placed a kiss on her head before promising he'd be right back.

He returned with a glass of water and opened the window. Hope immediately began shivering. He sat down behind her, leaning against the wall and pulled her to his chest.

"I'm going to murder Ed. He's out with the flu."

Scott chuckled before tsking, " It's unlike you to not get your flu shot."

Hope groaned, "It's scheduled for tomorrow."

Scott chuckled again and began smoothing down her hair. "We should spar in the morning. It may be my one chance to kick your ass."

Hope gathered what energy she had to look up at him, "Please, I'll still kick your ass. Maybe the puke will even work to my advantage."

"That's the sexiest thing I've ever heard," he teased. "You really should write poetry."

Hope began to laugh before thinking better of it, her stomach churning. "I could give you a little teaser," she teased back, leaning up, feigning a kiss.

Scott leaned down and kissed her anyway, scrunching his nose at her breath. "You're lucky I love you," he said off-handedly, before realizing exactly what he said. "I--

"Took you long enough," she cut him off, smiling.

"I meant to have better timing with that," he winced.

"It never had to be perfect, Scott. Things with us never were, but we always figure it out," she said, leaning her head back against his chest.

Scott fidgeted for a few moments trying to figure out how to ask his last question. "Hope," he finally asked shakily, "Do you--I mean, you never--"