★ ★ ★
"Can I call you Doctor Claire?"
Marlena rolled her eyes and looked over at Bruce, who was more or less thrilled with the sight of her. She knew there was a reason she hated wearing her glasses in public, and as of the moment, Bruce was one of those reasons. She lost one of her contact lenses somewhere in the compound, and since then Bruce had been teasing her about it. She was surprised he had time to between their time traveling preparations, but she figured a man with seven PhDs could accomplish just about anything he wanted to. "Give me about six more months to get my MD and you can," she answered and turned her attention to the machine he was typing away on.
"Wait, how long have you been back in school?"
"Two years, why do you ask?"
"I'm pretty sure it takes four years to get your MD."
"Well, I did finish a year and a half worth of my required credits after graduating high school, and now I have nothing to do but homework and hang out with Steve, so I've been excelling," Marlena explained to Bruce. "We might not all have a genius-level intellect like you and Tony, but a lot of us are still smarter than average."
"I'm really proud of you, Marlena," Bruce said to her with a smile on his face. "You've come such a long way."
"Thank you, Bruce."
"I'm just glad Tony and I aren't the only scientists in the group anymore," Bruce chuckled quietly and looked down at Marlena, who now seemed so small since his transition to the Hulk.
"Sort of."
"You're a chemist," Bruce reminded her.
"Yes, and while science is my main point of study, I'll likely never find myself in the same standings as you and Tony when it comes to the vast amount of knowledge you possess," Marlena chuckled, "I can't just sit and have a casual conversation about quantum physics the way you and Tony can, though the subject is very intriguing. Who knows? Maybe I can learn a thing or two from you and our favorite Shellhead. Maybe I can broaden my scientific horizons."
"You could so do that."
"Can we hurry up and do this?" Scott called, the sound of his voice interrupting Marlena's conversation with Bruce. "I really have to pee."
Marlena shook her head at him and looked at Natasha. The two of them had almost forgotten how annoying it was being surrounded by nothing but men. The testosterone was almost suffocating. "Is it too late to bail out?" she asked the redhead.
Natasha raised a brow and moved to stay beside her. "If I have to be here, you have to be here, too. You can't spend every day in bed, Marlena."
"Maybe I could."
"No, you can't."
"Scott," Bruce's voice echoing through the aircraft hangar grabbed the attention of the two women. "Fire up the van thingy."
Scott pulled open the van's back doors, and the group was met with the bright light the quantum tunnel was emitting. Marlena was in awe, as was everyone else, as they had never seen anything like it before. Tony was the reason the group was exposed to various pieces of phenomenal technology, but he'd never created anything like this.
"The breaker's are set," Steve's voice could be heard, and Marlena turned to see him walking back over to the group. "The emergency generator's are on standby."
"Good, because if we blow the grid I don't wanna lose, uh, Tiny, here in the 1950's," Bruce gestured to Scott, who was fixing his helmet. His words only startled Marlena, as well as Natasha and Steve.
"Excuse me?" Scott remarked once Bruce's words registered inside his mind.
Marlena playfully rolled her eyes at Bruce, while Natasha was quick to reassure Scott his words were only a joke. "He's kidding," she looked at Bruce, "You can't say things like that."
"It was a bad joke," Bruce told Scott nervously.
"I can almost sense that you're lying," Marlena said to Bruce.
"What?" Scott exclaimed.
Marlena looked at Scott. "Look, I'm sure you'll be fine," she said with a grin.
Scott groaned and walked towards the van, while Marlena turned to look at Bruce and Natasha.
"He's gonna be fine, right?" Natasha questioned, her tone filled with a hint of worry.
"I have no idea," Bruce whispered. "We're talking about time travel here; either it's all a joke or none of it is."
"Yikes."
A reassuring smile spread across Bruce's face and he turned back to Scott, who was busy making his preparations. "We're good," he called with a thumbs up. "Get your helmet on."
Marlena walked over to stand beside Steve, who placed a comforting hand on the small of her back. "I'm pretty sure Scott might die," she whispered to him.
"How incredibly optimistic, Marlena."
"I'm just saying."
"Scott," Bruce's voice caught Marlena's attention once more. "I'm gonna send you back a week, let you walk around for an hour and bring you back in ten seconds. Make sense?"
"Perfectly not confusing."
"Good luck, Scott," Steve called to Scott. "You got this."
"You're right," Scott grinned, and Marlena couldn't help but love how much he adored Steve. "I do, Captain America."
With a flash of light, Scott disappeared, but three seconds later he reappeared, only he wasn't himself. The Scott that returned was years younger, roughly 30 years younger, and the sight of it was more than enough to startle the three present, as well as Scott himself. Regardless of her pregnancy status, Marlena was glad she wasn't Bruce's guinea pig. She wanted things to work out for them, but there was still and always would be that part of her that feared something would go wrong. The current situation only helped support those feelings.
"Guys," Scott spoke as he examined his new form. "This doesn't feel right."
"Is that Scott?"
"What's going on, Bruce?"
"What is this?"
Bruce was too busy working on fixing the situation to answer their chorus of questions. Like Marlena, he had doubts about the situation, but he wanted it to work. He wanted everyone back just as much as anyone else, so he was willing to find a way to work through the flaws.
Scott disappeared and reappeared again, only making the situation worse. This time he was about 30 years older, and the group was more startled than before.
"Can I get a little space here?" Bruce asked.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Steve replied as he and Marlena walked over to Natasha. "Can you bring him back?"
"Yeah, just give me a minute."
Scott disappeared and reappeared once more, this time as an infant.
"It's a baby," Steve stated as he looked at the infant he knew to be Scott.
"It's Scott," Bruce defended himself.
"As a baby!"
"He'll grow!"
"Bring him back, Bruce!"
"When I say kill the power, kill the power."
Natasha cursed under her breath before hurrying away. Steve and Marlena remained in their spots beside Bruce, their eyes still on the infant sitting in the floor. This was not at all what they had expected.
"Kill it!"
With another flash of light, Scott disappeared and reappeared for the last time. He was finally himself, which relieved the four of them.
"Somebody peed my pants," Scott said to the group. "But I don't know if it was baby me or old me...or just me-me."
"Oh, thank god," Natasha breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Time travel!" Bruce exclaimed with a smile on his face.
Marlena took a deep breath and walked away from the group to head outside. She needed some fresh air, as the situation was continuing to stress her out. Everything that had just taken place was exactly what she was afraid of happening. She wondered whether or not the same thing would happen to Steve if they continued working on things...or worse. The thought made her nausea much worse than it already was, and she had to fight to keep the contents of her stomach down. Marlena didn't want to watch things fall apart the way they had five years ago. She didn't want to watch anyone else she loved disappear, especially Steve. She wouldn't be able to handle it.
"Hey."
Steve's soft voice tore Marlena from her thoughts, and she looked over at him. He wasn't looking at her, but instead staring ahead where the bright green of the surrounding trees melded with the soft blue of the sky above. It was a beautiful day, but the negative thoughts running around inside Marlena's mind prevented her from enjoying it. She absolutely despised it.
"Hey," Marlena spoke softly and leaned against one of the compound's support columns.
"You okay?" Steve asked, finally turning his head to look at her.
"You're about to get yourself killed traveling through time," Marlena said matter-of-factly. "Why don't you tell me?"
"Marlena—"
"Do you honestly think this is gonna work, Steve?" Marlena cut him off. "After almost losing Scott three times in less than a minute?
Steve could see the frustration on her face, and he frowned. He hated that the two of them held completely opposite mindsets regarding the situation. He understood why she was so worried and had promised her to remain careful, but he also wanted her to realize he was doing what he was for not only their broken family, but for the broken families across the universe. He could not be too self-interested. "We'll figure it out, Marlena," he replied quietly.
"That's not what I asked you," Marlena pushed herself off the column and started towards him.
"I need you to understand that we have to do this," Steve told her seriously, his blue eyes meeting her hazel ones. For the first time in years, he was frustrated with her. He completely understood why she felt the way she did, but it wasn't just their family at stake anymore, and he didn't care how many times he needed to repeat it. "We've been given a chance to bring everyone back, and I don't just mean everyone we lost specifically, Marlena."
"I know that," Marlena responded. "I would love nothing more than to bring everyone back, honestly, but what happens when something else goes wrong and I have to watch you disappear through that machine and not come back? I can't do anything to help any of you, so forgive me for not wanting to sit back and watch what little family I have left disappear again."
"I promised you—"
"A promise isn't a guarantee," Marlena interrupted with a frown on her face. The tension between the two was growing far too quickly and Marlena couldn't stand it. They'd never fought before and she hated that their first time was about resurrecting their deceased loved ones. "I wish it was, but you can't control the situation, Steve!"
"You've been doing it just fine the last five years!" Steve argued back. He could see her frown grow deeper at the sound of his words; he hurt her feelings, and he knew he would have to deal with it, but he needed to say what he had to say or he never would. "Everything I've done for the last five years has been for you because of them, so I need you to let me do this for them because of you."
"You got it, Captain."
Marlena turned to head back inside but stopped when the sound of a car met her ears. She and Steve turned their heads to see a sleek grey car racing around the corner to the compound. They didn't even need to see the driver to know it was Tony; the ballistic driving was enough of a confirmation for them. Marlena took a couple steps back as Tony pulled up in front of them. He rolled his window down and the two stepped up to look at him, both wondering exactly why he was there.
"What's with the sad faces?" Tony asked the two; he could practically feel the tension between the two. "You guys have a fight or did Scott turn into a baby?"
"Little bit of both," Steve answered. "What are you doing here, Tony?"
"It's the EPR Paradox." Tony opened the car door and got out to speak to Steve and Marlena, "Instead of pushing Lang through time, you might've been pushing time through Lang. It's tricky, dangerous, somebody could've cautioned you against it."
"You did," Steve gave a soft smile.
"Oh, did I?" Tony was quite smug, "It's a good thing I'm here, but, regardless, I fixed it."
Tony held up his hand to reveal a small, bracelet-type contraption. Neither of them knew what it was for, but they knew Tony would tell them.
"This is a fully-functioning time-space GPS," Tony said with a smug smirk on his face, "I just want peace."
"So do we."
Tony sighed and leaned back against the car, "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 found? I have to at all costs. And maybe not die trying would be nice."
Steve let out a breath and looked to Marlena, who was still too upset to even spare a glance in his direction. "That's all I'm asking for," he replied quietly, his eyes flashing back to Tony.
"So, we're on the same page, I'm assuming?" Tony said as he glanced between the two of them.
"Yeah," Steve answered. "Sounds like a deal."
Marlena chuckled dryly and turned around to head back into the compound, but Tony stopped her. She turned her head to see him walking to his trunk with Steve following closely behind him.
"Don't go anywhere, Claire, I've got something for you," he called to her before pulling his trunk open and looking at Steve. "I've got something for both of you."
Tony pulled a large, silver briefcase out of the trunk and held it out to Marlena. She reached out slowly and grabbed the briefcase, eyeing it for a few seconds before looking back at Tony. "What is this?" she asked him.
"After you lost your abilities I made you and Natasha identical suits, give or take a few colorful details," Tony started. "She's had hers for about two years now, but I never did get to give you yours. I wasn't sure whether or not you'd find your way back to the fight, but you have, so there it is."
"Tony, I can't take this."
"Let me be the first to tell you that after you put on this little contraption," Tony gestured to the bracelet, "time travel will not effect you or the nugget. Of course, we'll test it on someone that's not you, but if my hypothesis is correct, which it is, as you travel through the quantum realm, your body will remain a proportional and suitable environment for your coming offspring. You should know this considering your field of education, you big dummy."
"My 'field of education' doesn't exactly explore the fetal mortality rate for time travel," Marlena remarked, her eyes flashing to the large briefcase in her hand and back to Tony.
"It's a good thing you have me to explore it for you then, huh?"
"Tony—"
"Your suit is equipped with two bio-monitors for you and Captain Nugget," Tony quickly cut her off, and Marlena rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe he'd just referred to her unborn child as "Captain Nugget," but at the same time she wasn't at all surprised. "The material has been fused with my suit's alloy, which has multiplied its durability, and I even installed a system that alerts me when certain levels get too low and I need to pull you out of the fight." Tony's mind wandered to Peter as he looked at Marlena and he sighed sadly, "It's an updated version of the system I installed in the kid's suit."
No matter what, Morgan, Peter, Marlena, and Harley would always be the world to him. He planned to do whatever he could to continue taking care of them, even after he was no longer around.
"How did you know?" Marlena questioned him quietly. "About me being pregnant?"
"You're not one to usually get sick, Marlena," Tony reminded the petite brunette. "I know you're not gonna be able to handle sitting this one out, and if you were a little bit further along, I'd bench you with no questions asked, but the universe needs you just as much as we do, so I did what I could to make it more than safe for you and the little one. Just know you're not leaving my sight or Steve's over there."
"Duly noted, Tony," Marlena said with a small smile. He was right about her not being able to handle sitting out of the fight, and while she originally opted out for the sake of protecting her pregnancy, her inability to be by the team's side was what drove her hatred for the impending mission. She knew she couldn't control the situation just as she told Steve, but she was a lot more comfortable knowing she had the opportunity to help change it.
"And you, daddio," Tony smirked and pulled a final item out of the trunk. It was covered in a blanket and toys, but once Tony dumped them back into the trunk, he revealed Steve's shield. "This is for you."
"Tony, I don't know," Steve breathed out. It'd been so many years since he'd had his shield, and part of him didn't feel comfortable taking it back from Tony.
"Why not?" Tony moved the shield towards Steve. "He made it for you. Plus, I have to get it out of the garage before Morgan takes it sledding."
Tony placed the shield onto Steve's arm, and the soldier sighed as he looked down at the vibrant blue and red. "Thank you, Tony."
Tony nodded and glanced between the two of them. "Do you think you could keep this a little quiet? I didn't bring a gift for the whole team."
"What about the bracelets, genius?" Marlena chuckled.
Tony shut the trunk and looked at Marlena with a raised brow. "You're right, they're the gift of new life."
Marlena smiled softly and shook her head at Tony. She began backing toward the compound entrance, the briefcase tight within her grasp. "Well, um, Nebula, Rocket, and Rhodey should be here soon, but until then, I'll be in my room trying on my new suit."
Marlena took off before either of them could say anything. She'd have a conversation with Steve later, but for now all she wanted was to relax before everyone arrived. She needed to wrap her head around everything that was happening, and she needed time to find a way to thank Tony for everything he had done for her, and everything he continued to do for her.