CHAPTER TWENTY, gather the forces

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NATASHA, STEVE, AND Scott sat at a table with large helpings of food and Bruce sitting at the head. Only he was no longer Bruce, but rather a mixture of Bruce and Hulk together. It was a surprise to Steve upon seeing Bruce, but they all settled in the cafe and continued on with their plans.

"Come on, I feel like I'm the only one eating," Bruce pushed a plate forward on the table, Scott watching in bewilderment, "Try some of that. Have some eggs."

"I'm so confused," Scott mumbled, ignoring the plate completely.

Bruce remained oblivious to Scott's confusion, "These are confusing times."

"Right. No, no," Scott shook his head, watching Bruce and then glancing toward Steve and Natasha, "that's not what I meant."

Bruce began laughing, confusing Scott further, "No, I get it. I'm kidding! I know. It's crazy. I'm wearing shirts now."

"Yeah!" Scott grinned, then the lost look returned on his face, "Wh...How? Why?"

"Five years ago, we got our asses beaten," Bruce explained the obvious to the group, "Except it was worse for me. Because I lost twice. First, Hulk lost, then Banner lost. Then, we all lost."

"No one blamed you, Bruce," Natasha shook her head and watched Bruce softly.

"I did. For years, I've been treating the Hulk like he's some kind of disease, something to get rid of. But then I started looking at him as the cure. Eighteen months in a gamma lab. I put the brains and the brawn together. And now look at me," Bruce gestured at himself proudly, "Best of both worlds..."

Their conversation became interrupted when three children tentatively approached the table of ex-avengers. Steve watched curiously as a girl stepped forward.

"Excuse me, Mr. Hulk?"

"Yes?"

"Can we get a photo?"

"100%, little person. Come on, step up," Bruce took the phone that was provided and held it toward Scott, "You mind?"

"Oh, yeah," Scott nodded and took the phone.

"Thanks," Bruce turned back to the kids and Steve busied himself with his drink. Say "green!"

Steve became preoccupied, no longer wanting part or involvement in the current exchanges at the table. He focused on the clear liquid in his glass, and Natasha seemed to suddenly become distracted as well. He let Bruce and Scott interact with the three kids, and only paid mind when Bruce seemed to be ending the conversation.

"Hulk out!"

"Bruce," Steve finally interrupted, lifting his gaze to the giant green man at the head of the table.

Bruce awkwardly did something with his arms, "Dab!"

"Bruce," Steve repeated in annoyance.

"Listen to your Mom. She knows better," Bruce continued with the kids which only drove Steve to further annoyance. Bruce eventually turned to them, a smile on his face.

"About what we were saying..."

"Right. The whole time travel do-over? Guys, it's outside my area of expertise," Bruce finalized and returned to his plate of food.

"Well, you pulled this off," Natasha gestured at him, "I remember a time when that seemed pretty impossible, too."

Bruce watched Natasha, unsure of how to respond. It was clear that Steve and Natasha were set and determined to get this done. And they would find anyone they could to help.

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Steve approached the Compound lab, listening to the voices coming from the lab. He made his way in to see Scott in his suit by a van and Bruce and Natasha by the control panel Bruce had put together for them. Steve was concerned about this, but rounded the panel and stood beside Bruce.

"Okay, here we go. Time travel test number one. Scott, fire up the uhhh..." Bruce paused and looked to where Scott was, "the van thing."

Scott opened the portal and Steve began looking down at the panel and looking at the holographic screens, "Breakers are set, emergency generators are on standby."

"Good. 'Cause if we blow the grid, I don't wanna lose Tiny here in the 1950's," Bruce said.

Everyone in the room gave him a panicked look, mostly Scott, "Excuse me?"

"He's kidding," Natasha chuckled and then turned to Bruce with a hushed tone, "You can't say things like that!"

"Just..." Bruce trailed off and looked between Natasha, Steve, and Scott, "It was a bad joke."

"You were kidding, right?" Natasha asked under her breath and glanced at Scott sideways.

"I have no idea. We're talking about time travel here. Either it's all a joke, or none of it is," Bruce whispered and then turned to Scott, holding out a thumbs up, "We're good! Get your helmet on, Scott. I'm gonna send you back a week, let you walk around for an hour, then bring you back in 10 seconds. Makes sense?"

"Perfectly not confusing," Scott agreed.

"Good luck, Scott," Steve called from his place next to Bruce, "You got this."

"You're right. I do, Captain America,"

Steve watched Bruce press a few buttons and then Scott disappear into the Quantum Tunnel. Steve glanced at Natasha who was watching the portal with hope. If this could go right, everything would go the way they wanted.

Steve looked back at the sound of Bruce counting down, then he pressed a button and the Ant-Man suit returned. But with a teenager instead of Scott. Steve watched in bewilderment as Bruce began going into a panic of sorts.

"Uh, guys? This...this doesn't feel right," the teenager in the suit questioned.

"What is this?" Steve asked and walked around Natasha, his eyes glued to the teen outside of the van.

"What's going on?" Bruce muttered to himself.

"That..." Natasha trailed off, confusion on her face when she turned to Bruce, "who is that?"

Bruce had began pushing buttons again, trying to find the solution to the problem. Bruce began panicking,

"Hold on,"

Steve's eyes darted between the teen and Bruce as Bruce continued trying to solve the issue. Natasha took a step forward.

"Is that Scott?"

"Yes, it's Scott!" The teenage version of Scott shouted in response.

The teen was soon sucked back into the tunnel and replaced with an old instead. He was complaining about his back and Steve held his hands out, "What is this?"

Steve and Natasha began hovering and trying to help Bruce, who held his hands out to push them away, "Can I get a little space here."

"Yeah yeah," Steve stepped back, sparing a look at the old Scott by the van, "Can you bring him back?"

"I'm working on it!" Bruce started tapping on a button, trying to take care of the situation. After a moment the suit disappeared, then reappeared with a baby in the suit.

Steve's jaw went slack and he gestured toward the baby, showing that he had given up at that rate, "It's a baby."

"It's Scott," Bruce defended.

"As a baby!" Steve held his arm in the baby's direction and faces Bruce.

"He'll grow,"

"Bring Scott back!"

Bruce motioned in Natasha's direction, "When I say kill the power, kill the power."

"Oh my god," Natasha breathed in disbelief and rushed toward the generator switch.

"And..." Bruce held his hand up, timing himself before dropping it, "Kill it!"

Natasha flipped the switch and everything shut down. Steve watched anxiously as Scott returned as Scott. Standing stiffly and trying to regain his usual composure.

"Somebody peed my pants," Scott announced. Steve released a breath he wasn't aware he was holding and lowered his gaze to the ground.

Natasha released a sigh of relief, "Oh thank god."

"But I don't know if it was "baby" me or "old" me..." Scott paused, gasping for air, "Or just "me" me."

Bruce held his arms out, clearly proud of himself, "Time travel!"

Steve remained silent, shaking his head and walking out of the room. At the rate they were going, they had some success with the idea of time travel. But it wasn't enough for Steve to have wanted he wanted to know confirmed. Steve let himself out of the compound, leaning against an outer wall and sighing.

They'd be able to get everyone back, if they were lucky. But with the way it was going, Steve didn't see that happening any time soon. A loud noise soon filled Steve's ears and he glanced toward it, seeing a fancy car speeding it's way toward the compound.

The car slowed its speed as it reached Steve, but still parked past him. Steve sighed and looked to the ground when he caught a glimpse of the driver, and watched out of the corner of his eye as it was put in reverse. Tony rolled the window down and glanced to Steve.

"Why the long face?" Tony began, "Let me guess: He turned into a baby."

"Among other things, yeah," Steve nodded in defeat, "What are you doing here?"

Tony climbed out of the car and rounded to the trunk, blatantly ignoring Steve's question. "That's the EPR Paradox. Instead of pushing Lang through time, you might've wound up pushing time through Lang. It's tricky. Dangerous. Somebody should've cautioned you against it."

Steve gave Tony an annoyed look, "You did."

"Oh, did I?" Feigning confusion, Thank God I'm here. Regardless, I fixed it. A fully functioning Time-Space GPS. I just want peace. Turns out, resentment is corrosive, and I hate it."

Steve nodded in agreement, "Me too."

"We got a shot at getting these stones, but I gotta tell you my priorities: Bring back what we lost? I hope, yes. Keep what I got? I have to, at all costs. And..." Tony paused, "maybe not die trying will be nice."

Steve wanted nothing more than to hear Tony agree to the idea. To have a chance for what was lost, and to not die trying, "Sounds like a deal."

The two men shook hands and then Tony pulled away, reaching back into his trunk to pull something else out. Steve recognized it instantly as his shield, and Tony held it out in his direction. Steve hesitated to take the shield.

"Tony I don't know..."

"Why? He made it for you," he being Howard. Steve glanced down at the shield then back to Tony, "Plus, honestly I have to get it out of the garage before Morgan takes it sledding."

Steve took the shield, fitting it to his arm in the place where it used to sit. He welcomed the familiar feeling, then sent a small, grateful smile in Tony's direction.

"Thank you, Tony."

"Will you keep that a little quiet? Didn't bring one for the whole team," Tony paused and looked toward the compound, "...We are getting the whole team, yeah?"

Steve nodded in confirmation, "We're working on that right now."