A/N* I apologize for the late chapter! I was sick most of the week. Next week's chapter should be on time.
Happy reading!
The Avengers Compound stood in front of her, it was the one place that seemed to pull her back. No matter how hard she tried to get away. Cap had invited her to their "time-travel trials" and as much as she wanted to believe that everything would go well...she knew they needed Tony. But it was worth a try. The side-doors clanged closed behind her as she headed in. Bruce Banner's voice echoed across the large, windowed room.
"I don't want to lose tiny here in the..uh... nineteen fifties"
"Excuse me?"
"He's kidding, you can't say things like that." Black Widow's voice was laced with laughter as Aubrey picked her way around the many machines and containers in the room. She immediately spotted Natasha, Cap, Lang….and...Hulk? Her spine stiffened and shock worked its way through her.
"Aubrey, glad you decided to come," Cap nodded at her.
"Yeah..yeah..Um...I figure it's worth a try." shrugging her shoulders, Aubrey kept glancing at Banner, trying to figure out what had happened with him.
"It's okay, I can see your confusion. I spent eighteen months in a gamma lab and put the green guy and myself together." Banner shifted from one foot to the other, giant green hand fiddling with a keyboard.
"Oh..okay..okay-." Clearly, the loss had hit him hard, as it had all of them. "- Cool. So, what are we doing?" Pacing over to Natasha, Aubrey peered at the old red van as it hummed with electricity. Writhing yellow and blue waves of energy moved within it as Nat quietly explained what they were doing.
"So he was kidding, right? When he said Lang might get lost?" keeping her voice down, she asked Nat. Banner overheard them and turned, choosing his words carefully.
"I have no idea, we're talking about time travel here. Either all of it's a joke or none of it is.-" Giving Lang a thumbs up, his voice raised "- We're good! Put your helmet on. Scott I'm going to send you back a week, let you walk around for an hour, and then bring you back in ten seconds. Make sense?"
"Perfectly not confusing"
"Good luck Scott, you got this." Cap positioned himself by the control panel, crossing his arms.
"You're right, I do, Captain America" Lang had a proud smile on his face as he shrunk and disappeared before their eyes. Banner started pushing buttons and flicking things on the control board, muttering under his breath
"In three, two, one" Popping a button with his pencil. Aubrey felt her heart rise ever so slightly as Lang reappeared. But it dropped once more when they collectively realized that Lang had aged down. He'd turned to a teenager, voice squeaking and cracking as he spoke
"uh...Guys? This doesn't feel right."
"What is this?" Cap's face turned down.
"Is that Scott?"
"Yes it's Scott!" with that, he was sucked back into the van.
"What's going on Bruce?" Natasha pushed a button as Lang reappeared
"Oh! My back!" He groaned, leaning forward. Aubrey's jaw dropped. This was insane.
"Can you bring him back?" She turned to the others but Banner cut her off.
"Yeah, Yeah. Can I get some space here!" He shook one of the screens and Lang shrunk away again.
Only for a baby to take his place.
"It's a baby" It was one of the first times she'd heard such sarcasm from Cap.
"It's Scott," Banner corrected.
"As a baby"
"He'll grow"
"Bring Scott back"
Heaving a sigh, he pulled a lever "When I say pull the power, pull the power." Jogging to the voltage lever, she gripped it, waiting for Banner's call.
"Kill it!"
It flicked easily and the room powered down, bringing Lang back with it.
Normal Lang.
"Somebody peed my pants-" Were his first words, followed by "-But I don't know if it was baby me...old me...or just..just me, me"
"Time Travel!" Throwing his hands up, Banner grinned. Striding back to them, Aubrey's head shook back and forth
"This won't work."
Cap growled something under his breath before storming out the door. She felt herself lean back against the wall, tiredly rubbing her temple.
"I see this as an absolute win" He continued, helping Lang out of the suit.
Natasha sighed, joining Aubrey by the wall. "I really thought we had a chance of making this work"
"I know." Puffing a breath out of her lips, she let the false hope go.
"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving" Lang cut in, Banner nodded his head to the words
"Me too man, I'm feeling tacos"
"Oh I love tacos" he followed Banner out of the room, leaving the two women alone.
"Part of me thought that Tony would make the right decision and come with me this morning." The thought had been plaguing her mind since she'd left the house that morning.
"So you're living with them?"
"Yeah, I've been staying in the guest bedroom."
"It's not the guest room and you know that. How many times do Pepper and I have to tell you that"
Both of them turned to the door as Tony Stark ambled in.
"Tony?" Eyes widening and mouth dropping, Aubrey had to stop herself from hugging him. His eyes sparkled as he grinned at them.
"The one and only. I have good word from the Captain that we're getting the team together."
"So..you're gonna try to figure it out?"
"Oh, I can't believe you think so little of me, Aubrey. I've already figured it out."
"Aubrey?" her eyes flicked to Natasha as she strode into the commons area. Slapping the top of the sandwich on, she raised her brows at Nat.
"Yeah?"
Sucking in a breath, Nat's hazel eyes met Aubrey's green ones. "I know that you found Clint...and that he doesn't want to be found...but I think he needs to be here. I need you to tell me where you found him and where he is now."
Giving Nat a sad smile, Aubrey slid onto one of the barstools, leaning against the counter. "I'll tell you..but Nat. The road he's chosen is a dark one...He's in a lot of pain and once the guilt starts in...it's not going to be good. I know, I've been through it.-"
She silently nodded
"-Ever since I met him in Osaka, I've tried to keep track of where he is. The last time I was able to find him was in Tokyo, Japan"
"Thank you" Gratitude shown in Nat's eyes as she turned and headed out of the commons, purpose in her step.
She watched Banner calibrate the time-travel suit. Rhodey closeby. A woman she'd been introduced to named Nebula stood by Banner, fiddling with something. Nebula's face was lined with metal and she'd been told that the woman was half robot.
"Hey! Hey, hey, easy, easy" Lang snapped.
"I am being careful!" Banner gripped a small vial in his hands.
"No! You're being very hulky. These are Pym Particles, alright? And ever since Hank Pym got snapped out of existence, this is it. This is what we have, we're not making anymore."
"Scott, calm down" Aubrey cut in, pushing off of the wall and taking the vial from Banner's hand. It sparkled with red particles and felt chilly to the touch.
"We've got enough for one round trip each. That's it-" he held out a hand and she gently put the vial into it, conscious of how precious it was. "- Plus three test runs." Inserting the vial into his suit, Lang disappeared with a yell, reappearing a moment later.
"Okay...two test runs….I'm not ready for this."
Puffing a breath out of her lips, Aubrey didn't hesitate. "I'll do it."
"I'm game too" Clint Barton's voice cut in. Spinning around, she met his eyes, finding a familiar darkness there.
"Okay-" Banner shrugged, glancing at Lang to make sure he was fine with it.
Before too long, she'd shrugged into a time-suit, waiting nervously as Nebula calibrated it.
"Okay Aubrey, you're going to go first. Now you're gonna feel a little discombobulated from the chronoshift. Don't worry about that." She nodded once as Rhodey began to talk.
"Now wait, let me ask you something. If we can do this, you know, go back in time. Why don't we just find baby Thanos, you know, and….-" Trailing off, he made hand motions, imitating the thought of offing a young Thanos. She wasn't sure what to make of the theory but before she could say anything, Banner cut in.
"First of all, that's horrible. And secondly, time doesn't work that way. Changing the past doesn't change the future."
"Look, we go back, we get the stones before Thanos gets them. Thanos doesn't have the stones, problem solved." Lang waved his hands around
"That's not how it works"
"Well that's not what I heard" War Machine mumbled
"Who told you that?"
"Star Trek, Terminator, TimeCop, Time after Time, Quantum Leap, Wrinkle in Time, Somewhere in Time,-"
"-Hot Tub Time Machine-" Lang added
"-Hot Tub Time Machine, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. Basically any movie that deals with time travel."
"-Die Hard? No that's not one-"
"I don't know why everyone believes that but it isn't true. Think about it, if you travel to the past, that past becomes your future. Your former present becomes your past. Which can't now be changed by your new future."
"So...Back to the Future is a bunch of crap?"
Tony had been working nonstop, the lab that had once housed the red van had been converted. A huge geared platform had been constructed, with what looked like thousands of tiny mirrors hanging from the ceiling. Red, half-moon-shaped things were dotted around the perimeter of the platform. She didn't understand what it all did but knew it only mattered that someone did understand. Stepping up onto it, Aubrey felt her stomach flop.
"All right Aubrey, I'm going to send you back several years, ready?"
Giving him a faint nod, she stepped into the middle, tapping a button as the suit closed over her head.
"Three." Several years could mean that she would see Bucky.
"Two." Every part of her hoped that this would be it, the answer. For her, and everyone.
"One"
It was this or nothing.
