Through, Together (A Romanogers Fanfiction)

Trial and Error

"Alright," Steve said as he walked into the work bay, "the backup generator is fired up and ready to go."

It was several days after Bruce had joined their band of merry men (and women). He and Scott had been working tirelessly at connecting the slightly unstable system that was the Quantum Tunnel in Scott's van into some sort of controller. It was their hope that the trajectory of travel, in terms of time and location, could be precisely inputted and controlled from outside the tunnel to prevent a traveler from getting lost in the vast universe that was the Quantum Realm. One person could send the other to a certain point in time, and then safely retrieve them back to the present. Now, everything was assembled and, hopefully, ready to go in one of the bays.

There was no shortage of wires running along the floor. Steve had to be careful. Everywhere he stepped, there was something incredibly important hooked up to something even more important. Scott's van had the back doors open. The Quantum Tunnel had a myriad of wires running to an elaborate computer system on wheels that Bruce had carted into the bay. The system, in turn, had multiple wires keeping it connected to different power sources. It featured several different monitors, showing different readings that quantified things Steve couldn't even begin to understand. There were multiple control panels and switchboards as well. Bruce stood behind them all, adjusting this and that and, no doubt, ensuring everything was as it should be.

"Reading's look good so far." Natasha said. She was standing a little off to the side, a tablet in her hand. She didn't have the seven-- or was it eight? Steve had lost count-- PhD's that Bruce had, but the big guy had given her a breakdown of what to look for. She was keeping a second eye on everything.

Meanwhile, Scott was standing in front of the tunnel, fully equipped and ready to go in his Ant-Man suit. This wasn't Scott's first time going subatomic. He exhibited an optimistic confidence that, quite frankly, impressed Steve. What they were doing here, it was grounds for hesitation, and that was putting it lightly. They were attempting something that, to Steve's knowledge, had never been done before. Bruce and Scott had figured out a way to navigate time. At least, they thought they did. This would be the first time actually putting it to the test. There were a lot of "if's" involved in this, but Scott was approaching it with surprising gusto.

"Alright, remember," Bruce said, "you're there to observe. We just want to make sure this works."

"Got it." Scott gave a thumbs up.

"Okay." Bruce began to hit some buttons on the control panel. "Time travel trial run. In five, four, three..."

"You've got this, Scott." Steve said.

"You're right, Captain America. I do-"

Before Scott could finish his sentence, he was sucked backward, growing infinitely small as he was pulled into the Quantum Tunnel. No sooner was he gone did Bruce start the countdown for retrieval.

"He's back in five, four, three..."

The big guy pressed a few more buttons, and the Quantum Tunnel shot Scott back out into the bay. At least... Steve thought it was Scott. The male before them was half his size and half his age and swimming in the suit that was now too large for him. Steve cast a worried glance over to Bruce.

"Uh... is that supposed to happen?" He asked.

Bruce seemed in a panic. He didn't answer, too concentrated on pressing some more buttons and inputting more code and commands into the computers. Without warning, Scott was sucked back into the tunnel. In another second, he was brought back again. This time, he was a man well into his eighties.

"Bruce..." Natasha warned.

"I got it, I got it."

Steve wasn't holding his breath. Well, he was, but it was in the literal sense. He watched with nervous anticipation as Scott was sent back into the tunnel. When he came out a third time...