3
"Come on, I feel like I'm the only one eating here," Bruce-er, Hulk-what do you call him now?-said. He was big and green, but not as big and green as you remembered. And he was wearing glasses...and clothes. The looks he got as you all watched him eat was nothing short of confusion. He pushed the bowl of eggs toward Pietro, Ethan, and Scott. "Try some of that. Have some eggs."
Pietro shrugged and picked up a fork, stabbing at the eggs as he started to eat. Ethan giggled at him as he shoved some eggs in his mouth. You looked at him from your spot next to Natasha, the look you gave was one of disappointment. He shrugged, "What? I have a high metabolism, I need to eat."
You sighed and shook your head, Scott catching everyone's attention. "I'm so confused," he shook his head.
"These are confusing times," Bruce chuckled.
"Right, no, no. That's not what I meant. I-"
He was cut off by Bruce's laugh as he poured syrup over a giant...pancake burrito. "Nah, I get it. I'm kidding. I know it's crazy! I'm wearing shirts now."
Scott nodded, still trying to take him in and understand what was happening. "Yeah. What? How? Why?"
"Well, I don't think you would want to see him naked," Pietro mumbled around a mouthful of eggs. You kicked him under the table and he yelped, giving you an annoyed look. Ethan laughed again.
Bruce spoke up again, "Five years ago, we got our asses beat. Except it was worse for me...cause I lost twice. First, Hulk lost, then Banner lost...and then, we all lost."
Natasha shook her head, "No one blames you, Bruce."
He nodded, "I did." Silence lingered for just a moment before he continued. "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 the gamma lab. I put the brains and the brawn together, and now, look at me...best of both worlds."
"Yeah," you said, turning to Natasha and muttering under your breath, "In some universe..." She smacked your shoulder lightly to get you to stop and you faked hurt and turned to Pietro and Ethan, laughing under your breath as they joined you.
Some kids walked over, phone in hand. "Excuse me, Mr. Hulk?" the girl asked.
"Yes."
"Can we get a photo?"
"100%, little person," he smiled. "Come on, step up. Do you mind?" He handed the phone to Scott so he could take the picture. He nodded, "Oh, yeah, yeah."
"Thanks," Bruce muttered. "Say 'green'." They all did just that, monotone voices of different levels joining in until the picture was taken. "Did you get that?" Bruce asked.
Scott nodded and handed the phone back, "Did you want to get one with me? I'm Ant-Man." They gave each other confused looks at his question. Scott nodded, pretending not to be hurt, "They're Hulk fans. They don't know Ant-Man."
They started mumbling to one another, Bruce insisting Scott wanted a picture and Scott insisting he was alright. Pietro laughed, "Let me tell you, old man. Never assume a kid knows you because you're a superhero."
One of the boy's faces lit up as his jaw dropped, "You're the Quicksilver a-and Lady Sun!" You looked over in surprise that he knew you, first of all, and that he was excited to meet you. Before this whole catastrophe, the two of you were kind of a danger zone to people.
"Oh, my gosh. Can we get a picture?" the other boy asked. Pietro snickered under his breath before nodding, "Of course. It would be a pleasure."
You nodded, "Yeah, yeah." You scooted out of the booth with Pietro, kneeling with the kids as Scott took the phone back with a forced smile. You held up a peace sign, lighting the tips of your fingers with small flames for the picture.
Scott snapped the picture and gave the phone back, offering a small smile as the kids left. You and Pietro waved after them, Bruce sent them off with a dab. You had half a mind to hit him, but that would not be great to do in front of fans.
"Bruce," Steve caught his attention again as you settled back in next to Natasha.
"Listen to your mom," Bruce said after them. "She knows better."
"About what we were saying," Steve told him.
He nodded slowly, "Right. The whole time travel do-over? Eh, guys, it's outside of my area of expertise."
Natasha shrugged, "Well, you pulled this off. I remember a time when that seemed pretty impossible, too." She offered a smile and he looked back and forth between everyone at the table as he thought.
~
"Pietro, get your ass back over here!" you called, your voice echoing off the window-walls of the lab. With or without Tony, you all decided to go through with the plan. Bruce, with that big brain of his, was able to pull through on all of your hopes that he could do it. One way or another, you were getting your friends back-you were getting your soulmate back-and that filled you with more hope than just about anything else since you lost her.
Pietro came back with Ethan in his arms, his speed carrying him faster than anything else-as per usual. Nova followed after with her tongue hanging out of her mouth and her barks blaring through the halls. "Mom said a bad word!" he laughed. The sound of his laughter made you smile as he was set back on his feet. You laughed as well and ruffled his hair, much to his protest.
"Okay, here we go," Bruce announced as you all looked at him. "Time travel test number one."
"Great," you nodded, taking a seat on a chair next to Pietro as Ethan ran over to stand next to Natasha, a clipboard in his arms to mirror her stance. She gave him a smile and tousled his hair again. This time, he simply gave a heavy sigh and looked up at her with a playful frown.
"Scott, fire up the, uh...the van thing," Bruce said as soon as everyone was in the clear.
"Breaker's are set," Steve said as he walked over. "Emergency generators are on standby."
Bruce nodded, glancing over at you and Natasha as he spoke through his teeth, as if telling a secret, "Good, because if we blow the grid, I don't want to lose, uh, Tiny here in the 1950s."
"Excuse me?" Scott asked as he looked up from fixing his suit gear.
Natasha shook her head and chuckled, "He's kidding." She glanced up at Bruce and then to Scott, "You can't say things like that."
Scott looked frantically at Bruce, who turned around with a stammer in his voice, "It was a bad joke." The look on his face was too nervous to mean those words. As Scott turned around to leave, Natasha looked up at him. She looked concerned now as she mumbled to him, "You were kidding, right?"
Bruce turned around quickly, speaking in a hushed voice, "I have no idea. We're talking about time travel here. Either it's all a joke, or none of it is."
You all looked up at him with a little more than concern in your eyes. He turned to Scott with a confident look on his face, giving a thumbs up with his large, green hand. "We're good! Get your helmet on."
Ethan's hand tangled in Nova's fur as he looked up at Pietro. With a raised brow, he asked quietly, "Is Scott coming back?"
"Probably not," he muttered back as he crossed his arms over his chest. You looked at him quickly and shushed them both frantically but quietly, "Don't tell him that. We need a test subject, and I am not going!"
"Everything okay?" Scott asked, his voice just as nervous as before.
You gave another thumbs up and a smile, "Perfect!" Natasha could not help but facepalm as she shook her head with a sigh.
As Scott got ready at the mouth of the van, Bruce started playing with the controls of the machine he was in charge of working. You crossed your arms over your chest and Pietro took a step back with Ethan and Nova.
"Scott, I'm gonna send you back a week, let you walk around for an hour, then bring you back in 10 seconds. Make sense?" Bruce said.
Scott nodded, waving his hand carelessly as he spoke almost nervously. "Perfectly not confusing."
"You're going to do great, Scotty. And if you don't," Pietro started, "come say hi to us."
You nodded, "Yeah, we can get a loop going. It'll be fun."
"That's not helping," Scott shook his head, wringing his hands at his sides as he became jittery.
Ethan sighed and rolled his eyes, "Don't listen to them. You'll be fine, I think."
Natasha nudged your shoulder to get the two of you to shut up. Steve pitched in to ease his nerves, trying to make sure the two of you do not add in anything to get him too nervous. "Good luck, Scott. You got this," he encouraged, giving a small nod to him.
Scott smiled and nodded slowly, looking at the man hopefully. "You're right," he said. "I do, Captain America." Just as he spoke, he suddenly disappeared into the glowing backseat of the van, shrinking as he went.
You leaned over to Pietro, "But why did he say his full name?" He just shrugged as the others ignored you.
Bruce spoke up, "On a count of three." He started counting down slowly, pressing buttons as the machine made a whirring noise in response. Just as he got to the last number, you all looked as Scott appeared again.
Your eyes widened as you saw the man...or, rather, the teenage boy standing in front of you now. The suit was far too big on him and he had a baby face. He must have been only a few years older than Ethan. "Uh...Guys?" he muttered. "This doesn't feel right."
You looked at Bruce, "Send him back!"
Murmurs of confusion spread through the group as they tried to figure out what was going on. There was not supposed to be an adolescent teenage boy standing in front of you, there should have been a man named Scott Lang who had a weird fanboy obsession with Captain America.
"Is that Scott?" Natasha asked, pointing to the kid.
"Yes, it's Scott!" he replied, frustration and confusion in his voice. Then he disappeared into the van once again, only to come back a second later.
Well...he was not a child anymore. This time, Scott came back as an old man...and the suit still did not fit. "Oh, my back!" Scott exclaimed as he set a hand to his lower spine.
"What is this?" Steve asked, looking up at Bruce.
Bruce muttered to himself as he kept prodding at the machine. "Hold on a sec. Could I get a little space here?"
"Yeah, yeah yeah. Can you bring him back?" Steve said.
"I'm working on it!"
You rubbed at your temples, sighing deeply as Bruce scrambled to figure this out. Steve moved to stand on Pietro's side, holding a hand out in front of Ethan. Once again, Scott was pulled into the machine as he disappeared.
When he returned, there was dead silence as you saw the child standing in front of you. Except, it was not just a child... Scott Lang was now in diapers as he looked at all of you, standing on two wobbly feet.
You could not help it. You truly could not.
You burst into laughter, tears pooling in the corner of your eyes. Pietro, as if on command, began laughing too, and so did Ethan. Natasha had to keep from laughing as well, choosing to be the more mature one as she held closely to concern.
"It's a baby," Steve said. It was the only thing he could really say.
Bruce pointed to Scott, a little more enthusiastic as he should have been, "It's Scott."
"As a baby!"
"He'll grow!"
"Bring Scott back!"
You calmed just enough to get the others to do the same, placing your hands on their shoulders to quiet them down as they wiped at tears. Bruce turned to Natasha, "When I say kill the power, kill the power."
"Oh, my God," Natasha mumbled in a panicked voice as she walked quickly to the generator. Pietro beat her to it, hand on the lever as he waited for the command. Bruce started slamming controls before he signaled to Pietro, "Kill it!" He did just that, his hand pulling back the lever before he could even finish the word as a blue flare followed the movement.
Everything stopped as another version of Scott came out. This time, the correct version as his arms were held out to support his balance. It was silent before Scott spoke, "Somebody peed my pants."
Natasha put a hand over her heart from beside you, "Oh, thank God."
"Ew," you mumbled, your face scrunching in response. Ethan did the same as Pietro just snorted at him, "Gross."
"But I don't know if it was baby me or old me," he continued as he put his hands down. He was quiet as he hesitated, eyes looking away. "Or just me me."
"Time travel!" Bruce exclaimed, a wide smile on his face as he celebrated. His arms were spread wide at his side as he looked at the group. No one said anything, looking at him in either entertainment or utter disappointment. You were the first, spreading your arms at your sides with Pietro as you nodded and smiled.
Steve and Natasha were on the other end of that stick, long sighs and shakes of the head as Steve walked away. "What?" Bruce asked, his smile still intact. "I see this as an absolute win."
You held a hand up to him and he high-fived it. Natasha shook her head, "Y/N, I- just don't." You gave her a thumbs up and shook your head as you walked away with Ethan and Nova. "Come on, it's lunch time." He followed after you to go get food. Pietro followed excitedly, happy to be eating. He really liked food.