Seeing Bruce was not the welcome sight I had expected.

For one thing, Bruce was far from the Bruce Banner I had first met. He was a mix of Hulk and his human self. He sounded like Bruce, dressed like Bruce—glasses and all—but had the size and complexion of the Hulk.

Truthfully, I was glad Grace hadn't come along. I feared that Bruce would unintentionally scare my daughter.

We'd tracked down Bruce at a café. It was still startling to see a mix of his human self and his alter ego. I was squished next to Scott in one half of the booth, Nat and Steve on the other. Plates upon plates of breakfast food was spread on the table.

"Come on, I feel like I'm the only one eating," said Bruce. "Try some of that. Have some eggs."

"I am so confused," Scott admitted.

Bruce's face went serious. "These are confusing times."

"Right. No, no, that's not what I meant."

Bruce's face brightened. "No, I get it. I'm kidding! I know. It's crazy. I'm wearing shirts now."

In comparison, Hulk was never fond of shirts. There was never a size that could ever fit him. Bruce had lost too many every time Hulk came out to play. I couldn't begin to explain why his shirts were casualties but yet his pants always seemed to survive.

"Yeah! Wh...How? Why?"

"Five years ago, we got our asses beaten. Except it was worse for me. Because I lost twice. First, Hulk lost, then Banner lost. Then, we all lost."

I swallowed. "No one blamed you, Bruce." If anything, we blamed ourselves. No one specific person was responsible for all this...except Thanos.

"I did. For years, I've been treating the Hulk like he's some kind of disease, something to get rid of. But then I started looking at him as the cure. Eighteen months in a gamma lab. I put the brains and the brawn together. And now look at me. Best of both worlds."

Three children timidly approached Bruce.

"Excuse me, Mr. Hulk?" asked the girl.

"Yes?"

"Can we get a photo?"

"One-hundred percent, little person. Come on, step up." Bruce took the phone, holding it out towards Scott and I. "You mind?"

"Oh, yeah," said Scott, taking the phone.

"Thanks. Say 'green'!" The four had all smiles. "Did you get that?"

I peeked at the phone. "Looks good."

Scott leaned forward to hand the device back over. "Don't you wanna grab one with me? I'm Ant-Man."

This is uncomfortable. The kids looked like they wanted to bolt but didn't want to be rude about it.

"They're Hulk fans, they don't know Ant-Man," Scott caught on. "Nobody does."

"Wait, no, no, he feels bad. No, he wants you to...he wants to..." Bruce looked to one of the boys. "You want to take a picture with him, right?"

The kid shook his head. "Stranger danger."

I slowly put hands near my face. While I couldn't disassociate myself from this awkward encounter, I tried my best.

"He's even saying no he doesn't," said Scott. "I get it. I don't want it either."

"But, come on, the kid!" Bruce exclaimed. "But he...but you..."

"I don't want a picture with them."

"He's gonna feel bad. Sorry. They said they'd do it."

"I don't want it anymore."

"No, no...you feel bad."

"Just take the goddamn phone."

I slowly put my hands away from my face. The phone was no longer with Scott.

"No, it's great, kids," Bruce said to the little ones. "Thank you very much. Hulk out!"

"Bruce," Steve tried to grab his attention.

"Dab!" Bruce made a weird gesture that somehow I knew only the youth would understand. "Listen to your mom. She knows better."

"About what we were saying..."

Bruce turned back to the rest of us. "Right. The whole time travel do-over? Guys, it's outside my area of expertise."

"Well, you pulled this off," said Nat quietly, but encouragingly. "I remember a time when that seemed pretty impossible."

"You've got one of the biggest brains the world has ever known," I added. "You're capable of great things, Bruce. This...this would be huge." And even that felt like an understatement.

"Give me some time to think it through."

I nodded. "We'll see you at the facility sometime soon, then."

Bruce looked back at the food that still remained between us. "Seriously, guys, eat. I could probably eat it all, but, if you want some, take it."

* * *

Bruce's reluctant acceptance to help us figure out time travel, to say the least, had my mind churning.

I wasn't attempting to figure out the secret to time travel myself—that was far away from my level. I thought of the possibilities if he could figure it out. Could this be the thing that started us back onto a path of redemption? Could this truly come back to bite us, like some part of me feared?

It was Steve's turn to put Gracie to bed. I remained alone for the time being, scrolling through my phone as I waited for him to come to bed. I should've ended up with a book instead, it would've been less stressful on my eyes. I just wanted to keep my mind busy from anything involving the Quantum Realm and time travel.

"We'll have to find Grace a sitter," said Steve as he came in.

Almost immediately, I dove through my phone to shoot a text to Pepper. While she had never babysat Grace before, I knew she would be able to keep an eye on her. Something like we were about to experiment with, I knew, Todd would be interested in. I wasn't about to let him get distracted and allow Grace to get herself into serious trouble.

"Waiting on an answer," I said as I shut the screen off. "With any luck, I can drop her off while things are getting set up." I sighed. "I really thought this was done, Steve. I mean...we got our happy ending. Married, with a daughter. We've got a nice place. And yet..." A hand went to my forehead.

"It's a lot," he admitted. He stripped his shirt off. Even seeing that familiar sight couldn't calm my nerves. It couldn't stray me from my worry. "But if this works..."

"I know." Everyone would return. Aria. Bucky. Sam. Wanda. Countless others. Half the freaking world. "I fear that this may push us too far."

"I don't want it to, but I get why it's got you freaked out."

"I don't want to ruin the world Grace is growing up in. If anything would happen to that, or to her..."

Steve climbed into bed beside me. "We'll do everything in our power to make sure we have a world to watch her grow up in."

I nodded. My phone buzzed nearby. "Grace has a sitter. She's taken care of." That was just one worry down, there was plenty left to deal with.

"Todd, again?"

"Uh-uh. I know him, he'll want to be in on this, even if he's just a spectator. And since Nat's going to be in on this project, I can't exactly ask her. I...I asked Pepper."

"Pepper?"

"We do still talk, you know."

"And she agreed?"

"It's not like I'm going over there to persuade Tony to help—he's clearly given his decision on the matter. I'm not stepping over any lines. It's okay, Steve, honestly. There is no ulterior motive."