The Third Black Widow

Trial and Error

"Okay, here we go. Time travel test number one. Scott, fire up the, uh, van thing." says Bruce.

We are in the compound in a big open space on ground level. We have Scott's van parked inside, and he is going to test time travel. We made him a new suit and everything.

"Breakers are set. Emergency generators are on standby," says Steve. "Good because if we blow the grid, I don't want to lose, uh, tiny here in the 1950s," says Bruce. "Excuse me?" asks Scott overhearing Bruce. "He's kidding," says Nat with her voice dripping with the amount of sarcasm that you would have to know her to catch.

"Don't worry, Scott," I say. "You can't say things like that," says Nat looking at Bruce. "It was a bad joke," says Bruce, and Scott nods and walks towards the tunnel, and holding his helmet.

"You were kidding, right?" asks Nat. "I have no idea. We're talking about time travel here. Either it's all a joke, or none of it is. We're good!" says Bruce looking at Scott and giving him a thumbs up.

"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. Make sense?" says Bruce. "Perfectly not confusing," says Scott. "Good luck Scott. You got this," says Steve. "You're right. I do, Captain America," says Scott, then he is sucked in the quantum realm.

"On a count of three. Three, two, one," says Bruce flicking some switches and pressing different buttons. Scott comes back but as a kid. "Uh... Guys? This doesn't feel right," says kid Scott. "What is this?" asks Steve. "What's going on? Hold on," says Bruce. "Who is that? Is that Scott?" asks Nat. "Yes, it's Scott." says the kid offended.

Then he gets sucked back into the quantum realm and comes back as an older man. "What's going on, Bruce?" asks Steve. "Oh, my back." says elderly Scott. "What is this?" asks Nat. I am laughing so hard at the time travel mishaps. "Hold on a second. Could I get a little space here?" says Bruce. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Can you bring him back?" asks Steve. "I'm working on it," says Bruce, and he sends the older Scott back.

Scott comes back, but this time as a baby. This makes me laugh harder, and Nat stares at me and shakes her head, and she looks back at baby Scott.

"It's a baby," says Steve. "It's Scott," says Bruce. "As a baby," says Steve. "He'll grow," says Bruce. "Bring Scott back," says Steve. "When I say kill the power, kill the power," says Bruce. "Oh, my God," says Nat. "And... kill it!" says Bruce, and Nat does as she's told.

Scott comes back and this time as his regular self. "Somebody peed my pants," says Scott. "Oh, thank God," says Nat making me laugh at her timing when she said that.

"But I don't know if it was baby me or old me. Or just me me," continues Scott. "Time travel!" says Bruce proudly, and we all stare at him. "What? I see this as an absolute win," says Bruce.

I run to my room and collapse on my bed, laughing at the memory of the different Scotts. I daydream for a little while.

I hear a knock on my door, and I say, "Come in!" Nat walks in and sits next to me on my bed. "I have some important news. Tony has arrived to make time traveling work properly, and I am off to Tokyo, Japan, to get Clint. Whether you stay here or come with me is up to you." says Nat.

"I wanna stay here. I want you to have some alone time with Clint. Besides, I've never met him," I say. "Ok! I leave in 30 minutes," says Nat, and she hugs me goodbye, and she goes to get ready for her departure.

Nat takes off in a Quinjet, and Rocket, Bruce, and Thor arrive. What a difference five years makes. Thor is fat with dreadlocks for hair and a long beard and beer in his hand, and he is already drunk.

Tony is working on the time travel platform nonstop. He also designed time travel suits for all of us. They're white and red with the Avengers A logo on them. Nat and Clint get back here in record time. Nat finally introduces me to Clint.

Now back to the time travel situation. Scott doesn't want to do the test run, and Clint volunteers to do it. I walk in halfway through a conversation, and I hear Bruce say, "And secondly, time doesn't work that way. Changing the past doesn't change the future."

"Look, we go back, we get the stones, before Thanos gets them, Thanos doesn't have the stones. Problem solved," says Scott. "Bingo," says Clint.

"That's not how it works," says Nebula. "Well, that's what I heard," says Clint. "Wait, but who? Who told you that?" asks Bruce.

"Star Trek, Terminator, Timecop, Time After Time..." says Rhodey. "Quantum Leap," adds Scott. "Wrinkle in Time, Somewhere in Time..." continues Rhodey. "Hot Tub Time Machine," adds Scott. "Hot Tub Time Machine. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure," says Rhodey. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," I add. "Basically any movie that deals with time travel," says Rhodey. "Die Hard. No, that's not one," says Scott.

"This is known," says Rhodey. "I don't know why everyone believes that, but that isn't true. Think about it. If you travel to the past, that past becomes your future and your former present becomes the past which can't now be changed by your new future." says Bruce. "Exactly," says Nebula. "That actually makes sense," I say. "So Back to the Future is a bunch of bullshit?" asks Scott. Bruce nods and we walk into the main room where the time travel platform is.

Clint walks onto the platform and Bruce says "All right, Clint. We're going in three, two, one," then Clint disappears. "Bringing him back in three, two, one," then Clint comes back kneeling, holding a baseball mitt, and panting. Nat runs onto the platform.

"Hey. Hey, look at me. You okay?" says Nat helping Clint stand up. "Yeah. Yeah. It worked. It worked." says Clint tossing the baseball mitt to Tony who smiles.