Everly chewed the inside of her lip nervously and tapped her foot against the tile floor.

"Okay, here we go. Time travel test number one." Bruce declared, his voice echoing through the relatively empty Avengers facility. Her gaze fell to the brown van parked before the bright backdrop of  sprawling windows. "Scott, fire up... the, uh, van thing." He added. They watched as Lang, already suited up, swung open the rusty doors to reveal a rectangular-cone-shaped machine. The large device whirred to life, bright orange lights illuminating the inside.

"Breakers are set." Steve said as he started toward them from across the expansive room. "Emergency generators are on standby." 

"Good, because if we blow the grid," Bruce lowered his voice, though he pointed his thumb over his shoulder to Scott who was readying himself. "I don't want to lose, uh, Tiny here in the 1950s." Everly cringed and glanced at Steve as he passed, stopping on Banner's opposite side.

"Excuse me?" Scott blinked a few times, his gaze flicking between each of them.

"He's kidding." Nat faked a smile, peeking over at Bruce from the tablet in her hands. "You can't say things like that."

"It was a bad joke." He stammered. Scott nodded slowly and turned back to the van. 

"You were kidding right?" Everly whispered. Banner whipped around, panic swimming through his features.

"I have no idea. We're talking about time travel here. Either it's all a joke, or none of it is." He looked back up at Scott and a smile spread across his face as he jutted a thumb in the air. "We're good!" He called. "Get your helmet on." Everly's nerves only grew worse with every passing second and she felt as though she had to vomit. This could go wrong on so many levels. "Scott, I'm gonna send you back a week... let you walk around for an hour, then bring you back in 10 seconds. Make sense?" 

"Perfectly not confusing." He shrugged.

"Good luck, Scott." Steve added. A grin lit up Lang's face. "You got this."

"You're right. I do, Captain America." He nodded. Within seconds, he'd disappeared and Everly's stomach dropped. A part of her didn't even want to watch. Banner's hands hovered over the many control panels spread out before him, his expression suddenly growing serious.

"On a count of three..." He shouted. Everly shifted her weight anxiously from hip to hip. "Three, two, one." 

After pressing a few buttons and flipping a lever, the machine whirred to life once more and Scott appeared before them. Everly's eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open at the little boy before them. His suit was far too baggy and he looked down at himself in confusion.

"Uh... Guys? This doesn't feel right." The boy hurried. Everly peered over at Banner as his eyes frantically searched his controls.

"What is this?" Steve asked in confusion.

"What's going on?" Everly pressed.

"Hold on." Bruce breathed. Natasha looked between the 'genius' and the boy oddly.

"Who is that? Is that Scott?"

"Yes it's Scott!" Lang shot back. Within the blink of an eye, he disappeared again as Banner continued messing with all the switches.

"What's going on, Bruce?" Steve asked again, his brow creased with worry. Another figure appeared before them, this one slightly hunched over, his hair gray.

"Oh, my back!" He groaned.

"What is this?"

"Hold on a second." Banner hummed as he side-stepped toward Steve. "Can I get a little space here?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Steve quickly stepped back and moved to stand at Everly's side where she stared at old man Scott in shock.

"Can you bring him back?" She asked, unable to peel her eyes away.

"I'm working on it." Bruce swatted once of the panels a few times and Scott was swept away by the machine once again. He reappeared this time as a baby. Everly ran a hand through her hair and panic settled deep in her chest.

"It's a baby." Steve said simply, raising his eyebrows.

"It's Scott." Banner replied, gesturing to the infant sitting before them.

"As a baby!" Steve argued.

"He'll grow."

Everly scoffed in disbelief. "Bring Scott back."

"When I say kill the power, kill the power." Bruce ordered, waving someone away.

"Oh, my god." Natasha sighed as she rushed to the power grid.

"And... kill it!"

Everly's heart skipped as Nat cranked the power off and Bruce slammed his fist against the keyboard, Scott appearing before them for a final time. She watched him cautiously, blinking a few times as a silence washed over them. He held his hands out at his sides as if for balance, a look of confusion plastered across his face. His completely normal face. She let out a sigh of relief.

"Somebody peed my pants."

"Oh, thank god." Nat breathed, slapping a hand over beating heart.

"But I don't know if it was baby me or old me." He paused, dropping his arms at his sides. "Or just me me."

"Time travel!" Bruce exclaimed, a smile lighting up his face as he extended his arms out excitedly. Everly frowned and Steve rose a questioning brow, shaking his head as he walked away. "What?"

"Are you okay?" Everly asked Scott where he still stood awkwardly in place. He nodded slowly, though his wide eyes suggested otherwise.

"I see this as an absolute win." Banner beamed. 

Everly rolled her eyes and started after Steve who she found standing just outside the main entrance, hands perched on his hips as his head sagged to his chest. She ran a hand awkwardly down the back of her neck.

"It's a start." She said quietly from where she lingered behind him. Steve whipped around to face her and sighed. The fact that anything at all had happened was a bit of a miracle. He nodded, quickly returning his gaze to the ground beneath his feet.

Everly frowned at the sound of tires squealing in the distance. She looked up to see a shiny gray car speed by, the engine roaring as it screeched around the corner toward them. Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion and Steve cocked his head aside questioningly. The car skidded to a stop just past them, the breeze rustling her hair as it passed. A second or two scraped by before the car backed up and parked itself directly in front of the pair. A grin crept across Everly's face when the window rolled down to reveal Tony Stark sitting before them. He rolled his head across the seat to look at them.

"Why the long face?" Tony asked. "Let me guess, he turned into a baby." Everly cringed, though she nodded slowly.

"Among other things, yeah." Steve answered awkwardly. "What are you doing here?"

"It's the EPR Paradox." Tony groaned as he swung his door open and stepped out into the sunlight. "Instead of pushing Lang through time, you might've wound up pushing time through Lang. It's tricky, dangerous. Somebody could have cautioned you against it." Everly rolled her eyes.

"You did." Steve returned simply.

Tony looked to his friend in mock confusion. "Oh, did I? Well, thank God I'm here. Regardless, I fixed it." He added, holding up his balled fist to reveal the metal watch-like device strapped around his hand. Everly rose a questioning brow. "A fully functioning time-space GPS." Her eyes widened in the slightest and a smirk rose to Steve's face. "I just want peace. Turns out resentment is corrosive, and I hate it."

"Me, too." Steve nodded. 

"We got a shot at getting these stones but I gotta tell you my priorities." Stark began, his expression growing serious once more. "Bring back what we lost, I hope, yes. Keep what I found, I have to, at all costs." Everly lowered her gaze to the pavement. "And maybe not die trying. Would be nice." Tony finished as he took a single step closer.

"Sounds like a deal." Steve reached out for a handshake, a gesture which the billionaire accepted. 

A silence settled over the trio and Tony's eyes flicked between them before he started toward the trunk of his car. Everly hesitantly followed, as did Steve. Her heart skipped a beat when he retrieved the familiar red, white, and blue shield from beneath a pile of stuffed animals and blankets. She peeked up at Steve whose shoulders fell, a sigh pushing past his lips as he studied the shield. Tony stepped forward, sending his friend a knowing look.

"Tony, I don't know." Steve breathed.

"Why? He made it for you." Stark flipped the shield around and shrugged as he slipped it onto Steve's arm. "Plus, honestly, I have to get it out of the garage before Morgan takes it sledding." Everly chuckled lightly, unable to help the stupid grin that adorned her face. Seeing Steve with his shield just felt so right. He remained silent for a few seconds more, his arm falling back at his side before looking up to meet Stark's eyes.

"Thank you, Tony."

"Will you keep that a little quiet? Didn't bring one for the whole team." He remarked, spinning around to close the silver trunk. "We are getting the whole team, yeah?"

"We're working on that right now." Everly replied with the smallest of nods.

Banner and Rocket had set out to a small fishing town, called New Asgard, in search of Thor. Nobody had heard much of anything from the god over the last five years. Natasha had been flown out to Tokyo to track down Clint. Evidently he had fallen down a dark path after having lost his entire family in the snap. The team was getting back together, Tony Stark was simply the first piece to fall into place.