Between Time- MCU

The Tower kitchen was quiet for once, just the hum of the fridge and the soft tap of rain against the windows. Alex sat at the counter, hoodie sleeves pulled down over her hands, a half-eaten muffin beside her, and a laptop open in front of her.

She'd been staring at the screen for ten minutes.

Bruce leaned against the opposite counter, sipping tea, eyebrows raised just slightly. "Need a second opinion?"

Alex blinked out of her trance. "I... maybe."

She spun the laptop toward him. On the screen: a list of course tracks, science, psychology, engineering, history, philosophy.

Bruce wandered over and leaned in, scanning the list. "So, you're officially doing it?"

Alex nodded, more confidently than she'd expected. "Community college starts a new semester in two months. Pepper already talked to the admissions board and vouched for me. Said she'd cover tuition until I figure things out."

Bruce smiled warmly. "Sounds like Pepper."

"I didn't want her to pay, but she made it sound like I'd offend her if I argued."

"That also sounds like Pepper."

Alex laughed softly, then gestured at the list. "I'm stuck though. Science makes sense, I like understanding how things work. But history's been calling to me lately, too. Like... I want to know how we got here. The real stories. The people who were forgotten."

Bruce gave her a thoughtful look. "Why not both?"

She blinked. "Is that allowed?"

He nodded. "Absolutely. Start broad. Explore. You've got time." He smiled a little at the pun. "And no one's expecting you to have it all figured out in semester one."

Alex leaned on her elbows. "I guess I thought... I needed to choose something that makes me useful. Like, actually useful."

Bruce tilted his head. "Being useful isn't about what you choose. It's about why you care. You're already contributing more than you realize just by being here. Helping people doesn't always mean missions or saving cities. Sometimes it's sitting with someone when they're spiraling. Or reminding the rest of us that starting over is possible."

Alex swallowed. "You really believe that?"

"I've lived it," he said softly. "So yeah. I believe it."

She looked back at the screen. Clicked the "explore both" option.

There. Step made.

Later that day, she met up with Wanda in one of the Tower's empty training rooms, but this time, they weren't here to spar.

Wanda stood in the center, a candle flickering between them. "You ready?"

Alex nodded, rolling her shoulders. "Yeah. Let's do this."

The exercise was simple in theory: focus, regulate breath, and try to slow the candle's flame by slowing time in a small, contained area, not freezing it entirely, not distorting everything around it. Just control.

It had taken her months to reach this point.

Alex took a breath. Closed her eyes.

Time bent, gently, not in fear or panic, but with intention.

When she opened her eyes, the flame moved slower than it should have. Soft. Suspended.

Wanda beamed. "See? Told you. You're learning."

Alex let out a shaky laugh and wiped her palms on her leggings. "Yeah. I guess I am."

That night, she sat on her bed with a course packet, a cup of tea, and her notebook.

There were scribbles in the margins already, lists of topics, questions, things to look up. She was leaning toward a dual major in science and history. Maybe something about time itself, not just how it worked, but how people experienced it. The ways it shaped them. The lives it changed.

She didn't know where it would all lead, but for the first time in forever, she had something that felt like purpose. Not destiny. Not some world-saving prophecy.

Just life.