Back To Business

- - - - -

Ana was tempted to plough through the south wall of the Sanctum Sanctorum just like a bulldozer. She was sizing it up. Testing it for weak spots. It still wouldn't let her in, not after she woke up in a blank frenzy, fleeing the room of Stephen Strange as if the walls would crush her and keep her there forever and ever. She needed things. Books and clothes and the bouquet of flowers Matt had given her the day she got back from space. She knew the magic mansion would keep those plants alive and well for years. It wasn't completely cruel. She was running late. Meant to meet up with the others at the Avengers Compound to witness a few test runs of Bruce's prototype time machine. The word prototype caused her mouth to run dry. So much could go so wrong. Ana never doubted Bruce, but as he said to them at the diner a few days ago when they came to him with the proposition, time travel wasn't in his area of expertise. Ana stepped away from the window that looked into the living room and dropped her white knuckled fist, breathing out and settling her unsettled mind.

"Bruce has this. Just gotta believe..." Ana mumbled to herself. She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, finding her centre. Her short attempt at meditation failed as expected and she opened her eyes and huffed, kicking her foot repeatedly into the streak-free glass. The sole of her heeled sandals made contact with the impenetrable surface and made flashes of purple light, telling her it was spelled with a force shield. She gave it one more kick for good measure, flipped the mansion a bird on two hands, and walked off with the clench of her jaw. She didn't have the time nor patience to deal with it's childish tantrums. Once her back was turned and the mansion shrunk from the distance between them, her phone buzzed.

Ana twirled the upside down phone upright in her hand and pressed it to her ear. "Go for Michaels." She greeted, not having read the name of the caller properly. She picked a piece of lint from her black jeans and smoothed down her white shirt when it had bunched up from all the unnecessary kicking.

"Ana. For someone who can be anywhere in a blink of an eye, you sure take your time getting there."

"Nat, for your information, I was trying to break into my mansion for some materials."

"Can't you just portal inside?"

"Doesn't work like that. Not with this particular destination." Ana traced a circle in the air and stepped forward, into the Avengers Compound. The morning sunlight vanished, replaced with crisp air conditioning. She saw Natahsa standing across from her in the large hangar and they both pocketed their phones. "I think I pissed it off."

"Sounds like you." She smirked.

Ana frowned and pointed at the military green parka on Natasha's shoulders. "Is that my jacket?"

"Are those my shoes?" Natasha countered, raising a brow and pointed at Ana's feet.

"Are we ready for this?" Scott scoffed as he strutted in front of them. "Because I'm not. Hi, Ana."

Ana threw Scott a smile and matched his stride while Natasha shook her head at the Warrior's lack of explanation to her question and turned to meet with Steve who had just entered the hangar. "Hey Scott, your suit isn't on right." Ana said and tugged at the loose piece of material on his back. Scott let out a huff of frustration and stopped walking towards Luis' brown van that had been parked inside so Ana could zip his suit. She fastened all the loops and zips and patted his shoulder.

He spun around to face her and offered her a small smile in thanks. Ana searched his eyes for any sign of hesitation about being the guinea pig for the trail runs. Found none. Still, she offered to replace him, knowing he had been in the Quantum Realm this entire time, and having a slight keenness to have a go herself. "Scott, are you sure you want to do this?"

Scott shrugged a shoulder and fidgeted with a pair of gloves in his hands. "I'll be fine. I'm kinda used to it by now. Going subatomic and all that. Besides, if Hank were here, he wouldn't want any other shmuck to use his equipment without his say so other than this shmuck." He pointed to himself and cracked a grin.

Ana snickered. "You're so right." Then with a softer smile, she said, "You got this, Lang."

"Hope so." He replied with a nod.

"Okay, here we go! Time travel test number one." Announced Bruce, gaining all their attention. Smart Hulk was in the centre of a very complex looking set up of controls and monitors he had built. External power sources were linked to the controls and the Quantum Tunnel inside Luis' van, the wires running from the back of the set ups all the way out to the power grid located outside the hangar. To run the operation, they need a lot of energy. Luckily, Tony had designed the power grids using the same technology that powered his Iron Man suits, meaning they had loads of it at their disposal without interrupting the city's supply. Ana looked down at the thick cables duct taped to the floor to prevent any tripping hazards and followed them to Bruce.

"How'd you have the time to put this all together, bud?" Ana questioned, getting a better, up-close look at all the equipment at his fingertips.

Bruce adjusted the glasses on is face. "Brain hasn't shut off since you guys asked me about this. Been up for the past few days." At the sight of Ana's worried expression, he set his large hand on the top of her head assuringly. "It's fine. I plan to sleep for a week after we find out of this works."

Ana sighed. "You work too hard, my friend."

"And you worry too much." Bruce remarked. Ana waved her hand at him in dismissal. "Scott, fire up the... uh, the van thing."

"You're sure these modifications are safe?" Ana asked in a hushed whisper.

"I reran my calculations three times—" Bruce was cut off.

"Because the guy who invented this thing is pretty much a genius." Scott explained, protective of Hank Pym's work.

"I have seven PhD's, an MD, the Hans Bethe Award for Physics, and I'm personal friends with Bill Nye the Science Guy. We're good." Bruce said.

"Yeah. And you look like that on purpose." Scott commented, eyeing the navy blue sweater on Bruce. Ana bit her lip to keep from laughing and kept her head down when Bruce sighed in annoyance above her. Scott went to open up the rear doors to the van, showcasing the Quantum Tunnel as it powered up.

Steve strolled towards them, "Breakers are set. Emergency generators are on standby." He stated.

Ana suppressed a grin. "And you did that all on your own? Without any manuals?" She asked him.

Steve sent her a squint. "I'm a quick learner."

Ana dodged a playful jab from the Captain as he circled around to stand with Bruce. "Just sayin'. You've come a long way from 'it seems to run on some form of electricity.'" She quoted him with a deepened voice.

Steve crossed his arms over his chest while Natahsa snickered beside Ana. "Tony talks too much."

Bruce glanced down at Steve. "As long as we don't blow the grid. I don't want to lose, uh, Tiny here in the 1950s." He muttered under his breath, jabbing his thumb in Scott's direction.

Scott was staring right at Bruce, clearly having heard him. "Excuse me?"

Natasha grinned down at her tablet. "He's kidding." She said, and peered up at Bruce. "You can't say things like that."

"It was a-a bad joke." Bruce stammered.

Scott was doe-eyed, and nodded, placing his helmet on and positioning himself in front of the Quantum Tunnel. Once he was out of earshot, Natasha sent Bruce a serious glance. "You were kidding, right?"

Bruce shrugged. "I have no idea. We're talking about time travel here. Either it's all a joke, or none of it is."

"Dude..." Ana gaped at him.

Bruce turned to face Scott and gave him a giant green thumbs up, loudly saying. "We're good!" He flipped a few switches, tuned a couple knobs, and punched in a handful of keys. "Scott, I'm going to send you back one week, give you an hour to look around, then bring you back in ten seconds. Make sense?"

"Perfectly not confusing." Scott frowned.

"Good luck, Scott. You've got this." Steve nodded.

Scott beamed brightly, inspired by Steve's words. "You're right, I do, Captain America. I—"

Smart Hulk pulled at a lever. Scott shrunk to nothing mid sentence and the Quantum Tunnel whirred. Ana's hands fidgeted with each other and she felt Natahsa tug at the back of her shirt to keep her still. "Counting down from three, two, one..."

Ana yelped when Scott returned as a teenager. She covered her mouth as young Scott Lang searched their faces with an uncomfortable expression on his own. "Uh, guys? This doesn't feel right." He said in a squeaky voice. Steve and Natasha looked to Bruce for an explanation.

"Who is that?" Steve asked.

"Is that Scott?" Natahsa questioned.

"Yes, it's Scott!" Young Scott exclaimed.

"What the f...?" Ana trailed off as Bruce bent down to frantically recalibrate the control panel, sending Scott back to a subatomic level. Ana blinked and he reappeared seconds later, much, much older. He wrinkled eyes squinted as he stretched his arm behind to rub at his back. "Oh, my back!" He cried out.

Ana's eyes were wide. She was horrified. This was exactly why she didn't want to mess with the Quantum Realm. She rushed to Bruce's side where he was hitting buttons with the top of a pencil, his fingers too big for the normal sized keys. "Bruce! What the hell is going on?"

"Get him back." Steve ordered.

"I'm working on it." Bruce stressed, slamming his hand against a device that was flashing red.

Ana heard Scott shrink and come back and looked up from the monitors. She cried out at the sight of Scott as a few month old baby and covered her eyes. Steve stared at Scott. "It's a baby."

Bruce pointed at the little Lang. "It's Scott!"

"As a baby!" Ana shrieked.

"He'll grow." Bruce suggested.

"Bring Scott back." Steve told him.

Bruce looked to Natahsa who was recording the whole thing. "When I say kill the power, kill the power."

"Oh, my God." Natasha sighed and moved to the breaker box.

Bruce flipped a switch and directed Ana's hand to hover over a large red button. "Press this once I say it."

"Got it." Ana swallowed thickly, eyes locked on the baby in front of them.

"Kill it!" Bruce instructed and Natahsa and Ana did their part. The baby shrunk and back came the normal Scott Lang, the Quantum Tunnel powering down behind him. His arms were open at his sides, head tilted as he swayed on his feet, disoriented. "Somebody peed my pants. I don't know if it was baby-me or old-me. Or just me-me." He told them.

Ana let out a heavy breath. "Oh, thank God."

Bruce opened his arm in a grand gesture. "Time travel!"

Steve shook his head at him and walked off. They all needed a breather to settle their racing pulses from the stress of having three different Scott's jump out of the Quantum Tunnel. Natasha helped Scott towards the main area of the compound, where freshly cut orange slices were waiting for him. Bruce dropped his hands to his sides and looked to Ana who hadn't moved her hand from the button. "I see this as an absolute win." He said. "Right? I mean, we could do with a few more modifications."

Ana released her hold on the button, now moulded oddly by her palm, and wiped her sweaty hand down her jeans. "A few dozen more like. Bruce, this isn't a win. But it's not a loss either. There's a way to navigate the Quantum Tunnel. We just have to find the safest way to do it." She said, reaching up to pat his shoulder encouragingly. "Take a nap, bud. Let your brain rest."

Bruce, though dejected, nodded her way and packed away a few pieces of equipment. "Sure. I'll take the couch. Wake me in a few hours. Hey, you're still coming with us right?"

Ana paused. She disconnected a few cables, helped out a bit. She circled around the set up and glanced at him. Natasha had sent word to everyone about their activities. They needed all hands on deck. The whole team was being called back. Nebula, Rhodey and Rocket were on the way, few like Richard and Carol were preoccupied on the other side of the universe, and others needed persuasion. "I don't know, Bruce..." Ana sighed, distraught clear in her tone.

"I know it's been a while since you two have spoken, but look at what's happening right now. We're on the road to a real resolution. When the time comes for all of us to do our part, we need to stand together. It's the only way we can do this." Bruce said.

Ana couldn't deny the truth to Bruce's words. She was instantly swayed into agreeing with him. The nagging at the back of her head told her to stay put, but her nervous heart was eager to see her dear friend for the first time in a couple years, even if he refused to see her at all. Tears pricked at her eyes and she rubbed her burning nose as Bruce ushered her in for a quick hug. She melded against him and stretched her arms across his torso, bunching the material of his expensive sweater in her grip. "Thor will be happy to see you even if he says otherwise. I know it." He mumbled.

Ana closed her eyes.

"I hope so."

- - -

Scott quietly sat on a bench just outside the hangar bay, setting up a taco meal next to him. He smoothed out the parchment paper, weighing down the corner with his drink, and patted the loose stuffing back inside the hardshell taco. Ana stood next to him, leg propped up on the wall behind her as she leaned back and finished off her sixth churro. She had a duffle bag at her feet with a change of clothes and necessities. Switched out Natasha's sandals for a pair of black rainboots and wore an oversized leather jacket with a white star on the left sleeve she found in the same duffle bag. The jacket had been a gift she wished to give to Bucky. Reminded her of the alternate version of him she spent a day with in another reality years ago after her run in with a Skrull sent to kill her. Ana cleared her throat when she could feel the sense of a ghost looming next to her. Turned her head to see nothing. She dusted her hands off, getting rid of the cinnamon and sugar from her fingertips. She was waiting on Bruce to get ready and their ride to arrive. She had made a bad habit out of checking her broken watch. Let out a quiet groan and fished out her phone from her back pocket to check the time, seeing it was just a little past midday.

Ana unlocked her phone and went on the messages app. She saw the text Matt had sent her, telling her to stay safe during her time away. He would be in court all day. Probably had his phone shut off. Ana sent a reply, knowing he'll get to it when he can and clicked her phone off. She exhaled through her nose and looked to Scott as he raised the taco to his mouth. Before he could get his first bite out of it, the sound of turbines filled the air, and a sudden gust of wind blew towards them, emptying Scott's taco and making Ana's hair fly back. They both looked to see the Benatar land on the lawn and the rear ramp extend to the grass. Out walked Nebula and Rocket, the latter hung back on the stairs, yelling out, "Hey, Humie! Where's Big Green?"

Scott frowned at the talking Raccoon Ana had shown him pictures of. "Um, kitchen, I think." He replied.

Nebula continued to strut towards them. Scott tried to smile at the blue skinned woman. "Uh, hi." He pointed at the spaceship. "That's awesome."

Nebula didn't say anything back and talked into her comm. "Rhodey, careful on re-entry. There's an idiot in the landing zone." She said, voice as rasp as ever. Ana suspected she and Rocket got up to their bickering again on the flight over.

Ana stepped into Nebula's path and silently held out a fist. Nebula walked by, bumping their fists together. "Like the jacket." She commented.

"Thanks, Neb." Ana said. "Love the gold piece." She gestured to the new face plate on her forehead.

"I won it on Contraxia." Nebula informed her, before disappearing inside the hangar doors.

Rhodey in his War Machine armour landed with a zooming thump on the ground in front of Scott who was startled by his entrance. "Oh, God!" His hand flew to his chest.

Rhodey nodded his head in greeting. "What's up, Regular-Sized Man?" He cooly said.

Ana picked up her duffle bag and carried it over her shoulder. She approached Rhodey just before he could follow Nebula inside. "Hey, Rhodes. You good?"

His helmet pulled back to show his face and he sent her a half smile. "Yeah. Managed to pull one on the Ant. Still ain't over the way he manhandled me like a toy." He said.

Scott rubbed the back of his neck, cheeks turning red. Ana chuckled and shared a hug with the War Machine. "Yeah, but it looked pretty hilarious."

Rhodey pointed a mechanical finger at her. "Don't start, Michaels."

Just as Rhodey walked away, Bruce joined them. He had an overnight bag slung across his torso. He noticed Scott's taco was empty, and offered one of his own with a kind smile. Scott took it, still a little shaken from Rhodey's jump scare. Ana looped her hand around Bruce's elbow and they walked towards the Benatar together.

"Finally. I ain't got all day." Rocket remarked. "Hurry up and get in!"

Ana and Bruce met eyes. They detached themselves and broke out into a sprint.

"I call shotgun!"

Ana fumbled around with the car radio to listen to anything other than Norwegian news as she drove Rocket and Bruce, who was sat out in the back, down a weaving road along the mountain scape towards the shoreside New Asgard. They leased an old pick-up truck from a nearby town that wasn't populated with thousand year-old Asgardians for a reasonable price. The owner of the car had also asked for a photo with Smart Hulk to post on his Facebook. The Benatar was safely parked on a hill with an armed alarm should anyone try anything Rocket didn't like, and a signal would reach the mini transponder on his belt to warn him. New Asgard had strict rules about visitation. No planes, ships, or portals allowed. Hence why Ana hadn't just used her Sling Ring to get them there. They had to do it the civilised way. Drive to the border, state their business, and waltz in under supervision.

Rocket cranked the lever on his door to roll the window down. "Can't really do this in a spaceship." He muttered, resting his chin on his paw, enjoying the feel of the wind running through his fur.

Ana smiled at him, a fond memory coming to mind. "Remember when we were flying past the Shi'ar suns and Drax said it was getting too warm inside the cabin?"

Rocket burst out into laughter in a matter of a second. "And then he tried to open the garbage chute for some air!"

Ana laughed along with him. "Poor guy was almost sucked out into space."

"Oh, man. Quill lost a quad-blaster trying to reel the tattooed idiot in." Rocket's laugh soon started to fade, "Miss those days."

Ana's smile fell. A pit in her stomach formed and she pursed her lips. She reached over and scratched Rocket's ear affectionately. "So do I, pal."