A mere hour later, Steve, Scott, Natasha, and I found ourselves at a small diner on the outskirts of New York City. We took a booth in the back corner. Steve and Natasha took one side of the booth while Scott and I slid into the other.
"What time is he supposed to be here?" I asked.
"He said he was five minutes away," said Natasha.
We surveyed the menu. No one spoke. I assumed it was another situation in which we had thoughts to be in, and shared conversation came secondhand. But I had a thought to share, and although I tried to be quiet about it, I blurted it out. "How is he gonna fit in this booth?"
"I was thinking the same thing," agreed Steve softly, pointing at me. He looked at Natasha. "If he wants to sit in the booth, I'm moving with Scott and Clara."
Natasha rolled her eyes. She didn't look up from her menu. "He brings his own chair."
Steve and I caught each others eye, mildly shocked by Natasha's casual words. She looked up and sighed. "Yes, we've seen each other," she mumbled, which prompted my jaw to drop in surprise and joy for her. Steve grinned and nudged her arm. She tried not to smile.
"What the..." breathed Scott suddenly.
We all nodded at him, sympathetically. We were used to the merging of Bruce and Hulk. Scott had never seen him. I nudged him slightly with my arm, silently gesturing for him to lose the dumb look on his face. Scott closed his mouth, but he had little control over how wide his eyes were as Bruce approached us.
"Hey, guys!" said Bruce excitedly, placing his hand in the middle of our table. Steve, Natasha, and I slapped his hand. We turned to Scott, as he didn't, and Scott quickly tapped Bruce's hand, not taking his gaze away from Bruce's eyes.
Bruce unfolded a seat and sat at the end of our table.
The waitress came by to take our orders. She was not phased by Bruce, as this was a town he frequented, and the people were used to seeing him by now. She stole our menus back when we were done, brought our drinks, and Bruce's order.
"I figured it was the regular," she guessed, sliding down their biggest skillet in front of him. She patted his shoulder kindly before she left.
Bruce grinned at her. He took a bite, then joked, "Come on, I feel like I'm the only one eating here. Try some of this," he said, sticking his fork out to me.
"I'm good, Bruce, thank you," I smiled.
"I'm so confused," breathed Scott, finally.
"These are confusing times," agreed Bruce.
Scott shook his head. " No, no, that's not what I meant."
Bruce laughed heartily, nodding his head in agreement. "No, I get it. I'm kidding. I know it's crazy! I'm wearing shirts now!"
"How?" asked Scott.
"Five years ago, we got our asses beat. Except, it was worse for me, because I lost twice. First, Hulk lost, then Banner lost, and then we all lost."
Natasha tilted her head in sympathy. "No one blames you, Bruce."
"I did," he said softly to her. He turned back to Scott. "For years, I've been treating the Hulk like he's some kind of disease, something to get rid of. But then I started to look at him as the cure. Eighteen months in a Gamma Lab, I put the brains and the brawn together. And now look at me: best of both worlds."
A trio of children quietly snuck up on our table. "Excuse me, Mr. Hulk, can we get a photo?" asked one of the children shyly.
Bruce put down his fork. "Of course, little person!" he chimed, making the children smile. One of them handed Bruce a phone, to which he handed to Scott to take a picture.
"Say green!" cheered Bruce. He and the children softly cheered the color as Scott snapped a photo, having to kneel on the seat just to get Bruce and the children in the same frame.
"That's good," said Scott, holding the phone out. "Did you wanna grab one with me? I'm Ant-Man."
The children all made noises of kind disagreement. Bruce saw this, and insisted they get one, to which the children still politely tried to shake their heads. It was clear they felt bad, Bruce felt bad, and Scott got increasingly annoyed as the banter when on, until he finally smiled and said, "Take the goddamn phone," and the kids left.
Steve decided to steer the conversation back on track. He explained briefly of our plan to use the Quantum Realm to go back in time.
"Eh, guys, it's outside of my area of expertise," said Bruce immediately.
"Well, you pulled this off," reminded Natasha. She smiled softly, her eyebrows furrowed. "I remember a time where that seemed impossible, too."
The waitress returned with our food. While we began to eat, Bruce thought about helping us. It was decided he would try, which brought relieved sighs and grins to our faces. He waved his hands, saying it didn't mean it would work, and we continued to eat. At the end of our meal, he agreed to meet us at the Compound the next morning for trials with Scott's van so he could begin to hypothesize how we could pull this off.
Steve and I drove Natasha and Scott back to the Compound for her to get him settled into one of our various empty rooms. We decided we would return home to pack bags for us and Kona to stay at the Compound for a while.
"I'll pack for Kona," I offered when we started to pack. I retrieved our duffle bags from my side of our room and tossed him his. I started to dig through my drawers for clothes to bring.
Steve took his bag into the bathroom, first. He agreed to my offer.
We were quiet, focused on packing, until I heard him start to tap his fingers against the edge of the door. I looked back at him. He was leaning on the door frame, watching me. I turned and raised my eyebrow.
"We have hope again," he said quietly.
"I've never lost it. It's just dimmed every so often," I admitted. I looked down. "I know nobody believes him, but I do. I believe in Strange. I have all this time."
Steve nodded. "You were right to. I'm sorry I didn't believe in him. We have a chance to bring everyone back, and we're going to do it, whatever it takes. We'll have our family back. But will that make you happy?"
I looked up at him, my brow scrunched. "Of course it will make me happy, Steve, that's our family. We'll have them back. It's all I've wanted."
"If we get them back, will it help our marriage?" he asked boldly. "Would you be able to rest? To stay here, to let go of the urge to explore, if we have our family back?"
My lips split. I stared at him, appalled by his words. I had no idea what to say to that. I thought we would discuss our marriage after our duty was over, as our lives had other pressing matters. Here, alone, with time to talk, I learned quickly that Steve couldn't stop thinking about our straining marriage as well as our Time Heist.
"Steve, I..." I whispered. I shook my head, I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know. I don't. We got a fraction of true hope, after five years, to bring back our family. It's all my mind has been on. I love you, I'm sorry, but my focus can't be on us right now. Yours shouldn't either. Let's get them back, and then I'll have answers. I promise."
He nodded, not at all content with my answer, but he understood. After the ten long years of loving each other, if there was one thing we learned was superior to it, it was our duty to save the world. Everything else had to come second, for now. Our family needed to be with us before I could begin to think about my relationship with Steve.
"It's not you," I told him quickly. "Everything that's wrong with us, it's never been you. You have loved me through everything with all you have, always, and you've tried. It's been me, my inability to stay still. My grief. I just need you to know that I don't deserve you. I don't. I'm so sorry for everything I put you through--"
Steve came to me and grabbed my waist, pulling me into his chest. "I've been with you for ten years, Clara. These things tend to get rough. I would never leave you. I just want to make you happy, or find a way to make sure you get what you need in life, even if it isn't from me. I know you'll always come home. I'm just trying to help you feel satisfied with your life."
I didn't say anything. I was consistently blown away by how much Steve loved me, how long we had loved each other, what we had stuck by each other through. We had been through plenty of end-of-the-world scenarios, we knew how to help each other through it. Losing a part of ourselves was never a scenario we prepared for, or were familiar with, and we had tried to navigate it for five years. It had been years since we both saw me happy, joking, so hopeful. I didn't blame him for asking if I would improve on my part of our marriage now, if we could get everyone back. I just couldn't give him a concrete answer, and I hated myself for it.
At the end of every day, I loved Steve, and I wanted to find myself home with him. I loved what we had built with our home, with Kona. I know we both felt guilty for finding happiness together. To have our friends and our family back in our lives meant we could restart our marriage the right way, with them around, with no guilt, and just he and I living our dream of being together. But he knew me. He knew that even if he was my dream, I had a different dream. I wished to satisfy the part of Agamotto that had always been in me, to travel, and we weren't sure if that outweighed my dream with Steve.
Steve and I finished packing. I tried to help him forget about our marriage dilemma and on the way back, I played music and sang along goofily. Every time I heard him chuckle at me, I grinned, and a part of my heart sewed itself back together.
Natasha and Scott had already gone to bed by the time we returned to the Compound. I knew Natasha had probably asked Kona to sleep with her for the time being, but Kona refused, and she waited in the Hangar for Steve and I to return. Her head perked up when we came through the door and she sprinted to us, circling around us happily as we walked.
"Chill out, my girl, we're okay," I said quietly, laughing. I patted her head. "It's bedtime. Let's go."
Steve and I changed into comfier clothes. We stared at the old bed we hadn't inhabited in five years, then looked at each other.
"You want left or right?" I asked.
"Right, I guess," he said. "You used to sleep on the left so it's not as indented as my side is."
"You like the mattress hard, though, you get left side," I offered.
"Clara, it's fine--"
I jumped into the bed on the right side and, as he predicted, sunk into the mattress, but I shot my thumbs into the hair. "Comfy as a cloud," I lied, unconvincingly. Kona jumped into bed with me and laid beside me.
Steve rolled his eyes and laid on the right side. Kona gave him a kiss before she tucked her head into her body and tried to sleep. He turned off the lamp on his side of the bed.
"Do you remember what happened in this bed?" he asked quietly.
"I do," I sighed fondly. "Too bad Kona is in the middle of us."
In the darkness, our eyes found each other. He raised his eyebrow.
"Steve, we can't just kick her out," I said.
"She can come back when we're done," he said. His hand reached for me, but in the darkness, he tapped my head and patted down my face until he reached my lips. We laughed.
"Smooth," I chuckled. I kissed his hand. "Another night. We have a long day tomorrow, trying to figure out this Quantum Realm stuff. Okay?"
He caressed my cheek. "All right," he said, and I heard the smile in his voice. "Goodnight, my love."
"Goodnight, babe."
The next morning, Steve and I accidentally slept in. We woke up to the sound of Natasha's voice on the intercom, asking us kindly to get our asses downstairs so they could start the tests.
"Sorry, Nat!" Steve and I both yelled, rushing to get out of bed.
We bumbled around our room, taking turns in the bathroom, bumping into each other as we tried to find clothes to wear. Kona continued to sleep peacefully on the bed, unbothered by our antics.
I exited the bathroom in sweatpants and a zip up hoodie. I saw Steve, who was wearing slick black pants and a cream button up with the sleeves rolled. I looked between my outfit and his and groaned, "Why do you always have to look better than me? I'm tired of it! Stop!"
Steve laughed heartily and tried to tell me I didn't have to dress better than sweatpants, that it was a cute look, but I started to dig through my bag for a better outfit. I threw my sweatpants at him in frustration and wore jeans instead, with a V-neck long sleeve. I then surveyed our outfits, agreed, then declared we could debut them.
"Kona, time to get up," called Steve, after he rolled his eyes at my fashion dispute. He pressed a kiss to her head and she raised, stretching her body out on the bed before she hopped down and trailed behind us as we made our way to the Hangar.
"Would you turn on the Emergency Generators?" yelled out Bruce as we entered.
Steve said he would, and left my side.
I surveyed the set up in our Hangar. Scott's van was parked with its trunk to us. Scott stood patiently by his rusty, old van in a white, baggy protective suit with a giant glass helmet secured at the neck of the suit.
"Good morning, Clara!" he chimed.
"Good morning, Scott," I waved cheerfully. Kona padded up to him to say hi. He pet her head. "You nervous?"
"A little," he said honestly. "But I trust you guys!"
I said my greetings to Bruce and Natasha. Everyone seemed hiddenly tense, as we were all unsure if this was going to work. I had faith. I saw no reason why it wouldn't. Between what Scott knew of his work with and in the Quantum Realm and all the PHD's Bruce acquired, I trusted in our friends to navigate this.
"Guys, come on, we got this!" I cheered. I clapped my hands. "Kona and I believe in you. Steve does. You three have some of the smartest minds I've been lucky enough to witness. You guys can do this!"
Bruce nodded his head and gulped. "All right. All right, Time Travel Test Number One. Scott, fire up the van thing," he requested.
Scott threw open the doors of the van. A square outlined the van and a surge of orange, wavy energy began to feed into the van, squeezing itself closer into a condensed circle the further one peered into the van. It was the entrance to the Quantum Realm.
"Breakers are set. Emergency Generators are on standby," called Steve, walking quickly to meet us. He called Kona to his side as he came to stand with Natasha and I.
"Good, because if we blow the grid, I don't want to lose Tiny here in the 1950s," said Bruce casually as he flicked switches on the enlarged panel laid before him.
Scott whipped around. "Excuse me?"
"He's kidding," said Natasha, laughing poorly. It convinced Scott. She turned to Bruce, pretending to scold him, but she truly meant it when she said, "You can't say things like that."
"It was a-a joke," stuttered Bruce.
Scott nodded with relief and turned back to the van, checking over it to make sure the thick wires running from the van to Bruce's control panel were all secured tightly and safely.
Natasha turned. "You were kidding right?"
"I have no idea. We're talking about Time Travel here. Either it's all a joke, or none of it is," whispered Bruce, terrified. He stood straight and gave a thumbs-up to Scott, switching back to his cheery and comforting voice. "We're good! Get your helmet on. I'm gonna 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," said Scott.
Steve raised his chin. "Good luck, Scott. You got this."
Scott's worry vanished with such simple words from Steve. A dreamy grin fell over his face and wistfully, he breathed, "You're right. I do, Captain America."
Steve nodded awkwardly in return.
Bruce moved a lever on his panel and, suddenly, Scott was sucked into the van. The tenseness is the air increased when he left our sight. We watched the van intently, nervously, praying that he would return to us.
A quick ten seconds passed. Bruce began to count down from three, we held our breaths, and he pulled the lever once more. We blinked, imagining Scott returning to us. It was, Scott, in some sense, but the person standing in front of us was a young Scott. Twelve or thirteen, at the least.
"Who is this? Is that Scott?" said Natasha.
"Uh, guys, this doesn't feel right," squeaked Scott. His eyes widened when he heard his voice.
"Don't panic!" I said, in return. I quickly looked between Scott and Bruce. "Bruce? Help?"
Bruce hit the lever again. It was a miniscule second before Scott was sucked back into the Quantum Realm then thrown out, this time, as an old man, hunched with his hand on his back. His wrinkles and his fluffy white hair was visible to us from such a distance.
"Oh, my back," moaned Scott.
"But you have great hair as an old man," I tried to compliment.
Bruce hurriedly asked for some space. Steve, Natasha, and I bumped into each other trying to give him ample space to breath, to think, to bring Scott back. His large green fingers twinkled above the panel, his eyes zooming back and forth, he hit the lever once more, then snapped his head up to see what exited the van this time.
We had to tilt our gaze down to the floor, where, piled in a crumpled suit sat a baby.
"It's a baby," said Steve blankly.
"It's Scott!" declared Bruce.
"As a baby!" argued Steve.
"He'll grow!"
Simultaneously, Natasha, Steve, and I, begged, "Bring Scott back."
Bruce asked for someone to kill the power when he asked. Natasha mumbled a quick, "Oh, my God," tucked her clipboard to her chest, and ran for the Power Switches in the Hangar. Bruce flicked a few switches, changed a few settings, yelled for Natasha, then Baby Scott zipped back into the Quantum Realm.
Scott returned, this time, and it was our Scott. He stood in the center of us, his hands spread out, his knees bent together. His eyes were wide. Slowly, scared, he whispered, "Somebody peed my pants. I don't know if it was Baby Me or Old Me... Or just Me, Me."
Bruce clapped his hands together then spread them. "Time Travel!"
Steve and I hadn't wiped the appalled look from our faces. I had never seen Time Travel go so poorly, and I thought I had done a poor job when I went back in time. It occurred to me it just might be harder than I anticipated for us to Time Travel.
"I see this as an absolute win," said Bruce.
Steve shook his head. He left the situation, sliding out of the Hangar door for some air.