Trust | 3 |

Chapter Fifty-Nine

The next morning, the other three went off to get Bruce to see if he could help. When they were on the way back, I was in the middle of trying yet another book. This one seemed to hold more promise so far.

My phone vibrating startled me slightly. I put my bookmark in the book and picked up my phone to see what it was.

Nat: We've got Bruce and we're on the way back. Be warned- he's a little different

I furrowed my brows and asked what that was supposed to mean, but all she could say was it was 'easier to see than explain.' That was worrying.

When they got there, I figured it out pretty quickly. "Rey!"

I stopped dead in my tracks. "What the fuck?" I asked. The others continued to walk towards me.

"I know, pretty amazing isn't it?" I watched as the Hulk spoke with Bruce's voice and... struck a pose? "Like I told these guys, I figured I should put together the best of both worlds, so I did!"

My wide eyes were unmoving. "Uh huh." He walked on by and Nat came up next to me.

"Told you."

"Not really," I said with a shake of my head. "He's gonna help with the time heist?"

Natasha shrugged and I turned around to walk with her. "Gonna try to. You up to help?"

I nodded. "Always, although I'm more of a heavy lifter. But it seems with Steve and, uh, Bruce you've got that covered. I can't do much with the science-y stuff..."

She smiled. "I can't either, so we'll just supervise until they're all ready for us," she said, and we both laughed.

A few hours, and a couple snacks, later, Scott's van was set up to be the time machine. There were control panels set up around so Bruce/Hulk could take care of everything.

I walked up to where Bruce/Hulk stood and looked up at him. "So... it's interesting..." was all I could say.

He nodded. "Isn't it? I mean, I feel like a whole new person!" He seemed excited.

"Well, I mean, you are a whole new... person. Look, what do I call you? You're Bruce and Hulk at the same time and I don't know which I should go with," I explained.

After a moment of thought, he shrugged. "Bruce should be fine," he said.

I nodded. "Okay, Bruce it is... still weird, but I'm trying."

He nodded and then pressed a couple more buttons. "Okay, here we go. Time travel test number one," Bruce said. "Scott, fire up... the, uh... the van thing."

Scott walked over to the van and opened up the doors to the back of the van. The action powered up the quantum tunnel, AKA, the time machine. It sounded dumb, yes. But it looked amazing.

"Okay, breakers are set," Steve announced as he walked over to join us. "Emergency generators are on standby."

"Good, cause if we blow the grid, I don't wanna lose, uh, Tiny here in the 1950s," Bruce mumbled. He didn't want Scott to hear, but he did anyway and gave a warning look to the scientist.

"He's kidding!" Nat came in, typing away at the tablet in her hands. Then, she looked up at Bruce and muttered, "You can't say things like that."

Bruce tried to make Scott feel better, saying, "It was- it was just a bad joke."

Scott nodded, feeling slightly confident in Bruce's answer, and walked over to the tunnel. Out of ear shot. I immediately turned to Bruce. "Please oh please tell me you were kidding!" I whispered-yelled at Bruce while slapping his arm.

"I don't know!" he whisper-yelled back, turning to look at us. "We're talking about time travel here. Either it's all a joke, or none of it is. I'm not sure which I want it to be yet..."

A sigh came over the group and we all had varying levels of "oh shit" on our faces. Bruce turned over to Scott and held up his hand in a thumbs up. "We're good! Get you're helmet on."

He did so and I listened to Bruce give Scott the run down. Just being sent back a week. That was all. As if that was super easy, but it wasn't a decade. Not yet, hopefully. "Make sense?"

Scott waved a hand. "Perfectly not confusing."

"Good luck, Scott. You got this," Steve called over to him.

A wave of confidence surged over Scott. "You're right. I do, Captain America." Then, he was gone. Not really gone, but traveling back.

The ten seconds went by and Bruce was counting down to bring him back. And when he did, Scott was standing before us. Except, he was the Scott we knew. "Uh... guys? This... this doesn't feel right."

"What is this?"

"What the hell did you do!"

"Who is that? Is that- is that Scott?"

"Yes, it's Scott!"

Bruce pressed another few buttons and Scott went away, only to come back again as... not himself. "The fuck? Why is he an old man?" I asked, just as the old Scott complained about his back.

Again, Bruce went around messing with switches and buttons. "Can I get a little space here?"

Steve and I moved off to the side, over with Nat, and watched the old Scott. "Can you bring him back?" Steve asked, very much worried.

"I'm working on it!"

There was some banging and then a goddamn baby was sitting where old Scott had been. Baby Scott.

"It's a baby."

"It's Scott!"

"As a baby!"

"He'll grow."

"You're kidding, right? What the hell, Bruce!"

"Bring Scott back!"

"When I say kill the power, kill the power!" Nat went over to the appropriate switch and waited for Bruce's word. He hit the machinery some, pressed more buttons, then gave the order.

A second later, the Scott we needed was standing there again. "Oh thank god," I breathed, leaning forward and putting my hands on my knees.

"Somebody peed my pants. But, I don't know if it was baby me or old me. Or just... me me."

Bruce held his arms out. "Time travel!"

A/n: I'm coming close to the end of my pre-written chapters, so don't be surprised if I need to skip a week or two soon :)