The Invention
(Special thanks to 1#bionicfan, for the idea for this story.)
Prologue
"A time machine?" Jaime gasped. "Are you serious? Does it work?"
Rudy grinned. "Yes and maybe."
"How long have you been cooking this one up?" Steve asked, suitably impressed.
"From early planning stages to now, just under a year. My calculations indicate that it should work..."
"Can I try it out?" Jaime asked eagerly, looking ready to jump right into it.
Steve tightened his arm around her and exchanged a knowing look with Rudy. "I'm not so sure Oscar would like that idea, Sweetheart," he told her gently. "Maybe another time, after it's been fully tested."
Rudy nodded. "Steve's right, Honey. Let me make sure it works the way it's supposed to, and in the meantime, you can dream up all the time periods you'd like to visit and -"
"Oh, I already know," Jaime asserted. "We can start with the day I don't learn to sky dive!"
"Well, I do think you should consider that changing your past will change the past for others, as well. It may not have exactly the effect you want it to."
Steve's face brightened. "Rudy, what about going back to the day Jaime rejected her bionics and 'died' – temporarily? If I made her see you sooner and the problem was caught earlier, we could prevent her amnesia!"
"You don't know what other side effects an action like that might have," Rudy hedged.
"I can't see any harm coming out of preventing a cerebral hemorrhage, can you, Doc?"
Rudy decided (silently) to perform the tests on his new invention as slowly as possible, to give Steve and Jaime some extra time to think. Perhaps it would help...
- - - - - -