𝐃𝐀𝐘𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑. ( 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘳 )

𝐅𝐈𝐅𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍. mcfly or mccain

Jane slowed her stirring, the ice in her glass clinking against the cup as it mixed the sugar, cream, and caramel brew. She doesn't want to talk about that right now, ever again actually. "You didn't tell me you were coming." Jane tries to avoid the topic, knowing sooner or later the topic of him will come up as well.

Tony knows exactly what she's doing, Jane is just like him in so many ways and that it's frightening. "I was in the area."

Jane nods, sipping on the now cold brew, the chilled caffeine buzzing through her veins in a satisfying way. Enjoying a good cup of joe was one of the other habits she hadn't dropped, since around freshman year the smell of it had drawn her towards dozens of local shops within a five-mile radius of Midtown High, and Peter was no help to her addiction then either. "How's Pepper? And Morgan? Is she starting school this year?"

"Next year." His answer is curt and abrupt, he's not in the game to beat around the bush. "Jane, I saw the email. I saw what you did."

Jane sets her cups down, nodding slowly. "You know there's a reply button? You didn't have to fly here, drive, whatever."

Tony laughs briefly. He wonders when exactly in his life he went from some rich douchebag to being in the same room with someone who's figured out time travel. It's odd to know you're not the smartest in the room, a feeling he's never felt before. Jane is kicking it under the rug like she isn't one of the most advanced minds of the century. "Does Rogers know?"

Jane shook her head softly. "No. Just you. Thought you'd check my work or something..."

"I did, three times over. It works, pipsqueak." Tony was desperately trying to make her understand the weight of what she'd done. The barrier of science she'd effortlessly shattered, the line Dr. Pym had crossed and taken with him to the soul stone. "And I said no too, I did. But I ran the mod, and it worked. I think we can do it, what the Cap wants."

Jane shakes her head again, finally meeting the man's expectant gaze. "I don't care what you do with it. Just don't make me a part of it."

"I was thinking... you know, that I shouldn't risk what I have, that this wasn't on me." Tony started, voicing all of Jane's thoughts. "I asked Pepper to tell me to let it go, to put your email in my junk mail and throw the computer in the lake."

Jane nods. "Maybe you should."

But Tony could see that photo vividly in his head now, frame and all. The same one that had ruined a three-year-olds birthday party and sent Jane into a month-long spiral of self-hatred. He could see Peter Parker's ear-to-ear grin as he stared at his girlfriend with eyes that held nothing but love. Peter's infatuation was on display, both teens holding first and second place medals with their science projects and dioramas behind them. Tony had decided to move the photo last night, and one good look at it made him wonder.

Didn't other people deserve to find what Jane and Peter had? Or people who already had, deserve to live their life? Don't people deserve to have the chance to live with those they'd lost so abruptly? Didn't Jane deserve to live with Peter, get married, and die of old age holding each other's hands?

"You deserve to be happy, Jane."

But she didn't take it lightly, not in the way he intended. "No. Don't put this on me. I told Steve- I told him I would not be responsible for four million lives. That's not my job."

Tony raised his hands up gently to calm her down. "No- no, that's not what I mean. Jane, listen to me kid. Other people had what you and Pete had. Other people deserve to have their happily ever after, and that includes you."