While Steve, Natasha, and Scott went to find Bruce, Brianna chose to remain at the compound. For some reason she wanted to be alone. She supposed it had something to do with the fact that she had not once been alone in the past seven years. She was a social person. She always had been, but the realization that they could possibly bring everyone back was starting to sink in. She needed to be emotionally prepared for it.
She had not stepped foot in Wanda or Sam's room since before the whole ordeal with Bucky. She didn't even know if their rooms were kept the same. She went inside Wanda's room first and was pleasantly surprised to see it was the same. She felt overwhelmed as memories hit her of the two of them laying on her bed, watching rom-coms and talking about Vision and Steve for hours. She swallowed back the emotion forming.
She closed the door quietly and went to Sam's room. Like Wanda's, it remained unchanged. She walked around the room slowly, staring at the pictures on his wall. There had been a few times where she asked about the people in the pictures. She stopped at the one of his sister, Sarah, and wondered how she was doing. She didn't even know if she had survived the snap or not. She almost felt guilt for not reaching out to the woman.
The final room she wanted to see was the one that belong to Steve and her before they left. Like the rest, it was the exact same. Two pictures sat on her side table; one of her dad's family, one of her mom's. A pang hit her chest. She hadn't seen her mom in six years. She made the initiative to at least see her brothers and step dad, but it still wasn't the same. Just as she was about to leave the room, a familiar object caught her eye lying on Steve's side table.
It was the sketch pad she had given him for their first Christmas together. She picked it up curiously and began to flip through the contents. There were a few drawings of the compound, of random buildings around the city, but she stopped when a familiar woman's eyes seemingly looked at her from the page. Peggy. She swallowed dryly and flipped to the next page. Again, a drawing of Peggy. She kept flipping even though she knew she shouldn't.
Page after page was filled with drawings of the woman. The drawings were from almost seven years ago. They meant nothing. If Steve didn't love Brianna, he wouldn't still be with her. These were all lies she told herself. A distanced beeping came from outside the door. She quickly placed the sketch pad down in it's original spot and walked out of the room. She knew the beeping meant someone was arriving and she figured it was everyone returning.
Brianna was actually thrilled to see Bruce. The last time she saw him was years ago, after Thanos wrecked havoc on their world. She waited patiently in the living room.
"Brianna! It's so good to see you." Bruce said. It wasn't his unusual, calm voice that freaked Brianna out. It was the fact that he looked like his Hulk form, but spoke like Bruce. She froze in place, eyes wide as her brain tried to compute what was happening.
She glanced around him, gaping at Steve, Scott and Natasha. "Am I being punk'd?"
Bruce chuckled. "I know. It's different, but I found a way for the Hulk and I to live cohesively. Now, how about we get started."
"Started?" Brianna asked.
"We're going to test Scott's theory." Steve told her.
She tried to hide the hurt from discovering the sketch pad from Steve. Instead, she just nodded understandingly and followed the group into the lab where Scott's van was. Brianna was nervous. In fact, everyone seemed nervous. They didn't want anything to go wrong or for something to happen to Scott. They also didn't want their hope diminished.
"Okay. Here we go. Time travel test number one. Scott fire up the, uh, van thing." Bruce told Scott as the rest of them stood behind the control panel. She watched the van doors open revealing a rectangular, glowing realm. That was their key.
"Breakers are set, emergency generators are on standby." Steve told Bruce.
"Good. 'Cause if we blow the grid, I don't wanna lose Tiny here in the 1950's." Bruce said.
Brianna buried her face in her head, groaning loudly. They hadn't even started and she could feel a headache forming.
"What?" Scott panicked.
"He's kidding." Natasha assured him and turned back to Bruce. "You can't say things like that!"
"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?" Bruce asked him.
"Perfectly normal confusing." Scott said, unsure.
"Good luck, Scott. You got this." Steve fake believed in him.
The helmet came over Scott's face. "You're right. I do, Captain America."
Brianna tensed as she watched him press a button and then disappear into the tunnel.
"On the count of three. 3... 2... 1!" Bruce said and hit a button.
She watched as Scott came back, but not as an adult, but as a teenager. "Uh, guys? This...this doesn't feel right."
"What is this?" Steve panicked.
"What's going on?" Bruce said as he began to push various buttons.
"Who is that?" Natasha asked. "Is that Scott?"
"Yes, it's Scott!" Yelled teenage Scott.
Bruce pressed a button and they watched him get sucked inside again. In a matter of seconds, he came back. This time, as an old man.
"Ow! My back!" An older version of Scott yelled.
"Bruce! Do something!" Brianna said.
"I'm trying. Give me a second. Unless you have a degree in quantum physics, you aren't helping." Bruce argued with her.
Again, Scott got sent away and again he came back, but the next time was a baby. It felt like a joke was being played on them. It all seemed too ridiculous.
Steve looked at Scott dumbfounded. "It's a baby."
"It's Scott." Bruce pointed out.
"As a baby!" Steve told him.
"He'll grow."
"Bring Scott back!" Steve demanded.
"Nat, when I say kill the power, kill the power." Bruce told her.
"Oh my god." Natasha muttered as she walked near the generator.
"And...kill it!" Bruce said after a few seconds.
Natasha pulled the level down and Bruce slammed his fist against something. Scott came flying out of the tunnel as his present self. Brianna sighed in relief.
"Somebody peed my pants." Scott stood frozen in his spot.
"Oh thank God." Natasha exasperated.
"But I don't know if it was "baby" me or "old" me...Or just "me" me." Scott said.
"Time travel!" Bruce said excitedly causing Steve to shake his head. "What? I see this as an absolute win."
"Oh, we are so very fucked." Brianna mumbled and went to follow Steve.
They both walked outside with solemn expressions on their face. Every ounce of hope was starting to diminish. It had worked, very slightly. However, there was no way they were going to be able to fix everything in the way they thought. Brianna slummed on the bench next to Steve. "There was to be another way."
"Got any ideas?" He asked.
"Not really. Unfortunately, I'm not a genius." She pointed out.
The sound of a loud car engine caught both of their attentions. They both stood up as the car zoomed past them, but then backed up. Brianna's mouth dropped open with shock. Tony.
"Close your mouth, mini Hawkeye. You'll catch flies." Tony said as he got out of the car. "Why the long face? Let me guess: He turned into a baby."
Steve nodded. "Amongst other things. What are you doing here?"
"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." Tony said and walked to the back of his car.
"You did." Steve bluntly.
"Oh, did I? Thank God, I'm here. Regardless, I fixed it." He told them and pulled out a small device. "A fully functioning Time-Space GPS. I just want peace. Turns out, resentment is corrosive. I hate it."
Steve smiled a half smile. "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... maybe not die trying will be nice."
"Sounds like a deal."
Brianna looked at Tony curiously as he reached into the trunk again. This time, pulling out Steve's old Captain America shield. It was something neither of them had seen in seven years.
Steve hesitantly took it. "Tony..."
"Why? He made it for you. Plus, honestly I have to get it out of the garage before Morgan takes it sledding." Tony said.
"Thank you, Tony."
"I think you two should hug it out." Brianna smirked as they walked back inside the compound.
"Uh, yeah. No. We're not doing that." Tony said.
Steve chuckled. For a moment, Brianna thought about pulling Steve to the side and asking him about the sketch pad. It didn't seem like the right time. If there ever was a right time. She watched at Tony, Natasha, Scott and Bruce all exchanged pleasantries.
"We're going to need all the help we can get." Tony told them. "Anyone know Thor is? Brianna, I'm sure you can get in contact with your dad."
Brianna stiffened. Tony didn't know about their little falling out years ago. "Umm, not exactly. We aren't...speaking."
"Well, you're going to have to start speaking. What's the saying? There's no 'I' in team." Tony told her.
Natasha stepped forward and gently placed her hand on Brianna's arm. "Don't worry. I know where he is."
"You do?" Brianna asked.
"You didn't think I just let your dad completely disappear, did you?" She asked with a smile.
Brianna swallowed dryly. She knew Tony was right. She was indeed going to have to speak to her father at some point. She just didn't know what she was going to say.