The Mystery Stark

Chapter 43: Don't You Dare!

"No, Nat. I won't. Even."

"I wish you were coming here to ask me something else. I'm honestly happy to see you. If you want to stay-"

"Tony, I get it. But this is a second chance, we owe it to Morgan, to bring back Y/N, to bring everyone back. More specifically YOU owe it to her."

"Yeah, well, I got my second chance right here. I can't roll the dice on it. The table is set for five. If you don't talk shop, you're welcome to stay for lunch."

"Don't you dare! Don't walk away from this!"

He sighs, but sends me a look that's pretty definite, so I walk off in a huff towards Wanda, as she sends Morgan back to her dad.

"He's scared." Wanda murmurs

"Who isn't? If you're not scared, you're not paying enough attention..."

"He'll come around... I can feel it, he's being torn apart by the possibilities."

"Well, he better, this won't work without him." I reluctantly admit.

"Auntie Nat!"

I turn to see Morgan running my way, and I instantly slap a smile on my face and open my arms for her.

"Are you leaving already? Daddy said you could stay for lunch. Mommy made cheeseburgers, Auntie Y/N's favorite!" She excitedly proclaims, and my heart clenches at the mention of Y/N.

"Well, her second favorite, because we all know she loves her egg rolls." Morgan continues, and I chuckle at her correction.

"A burger sounds nice, maybe the three of us can eat it in the castle, yeah?"

"I'll ask mama, go wait for me there." She commands, as she wiggles out my arms and runs to the house.

Tony's POV

I want nothing more than to bring my sister back, to bring the kid back, but this isn't some simple mission. Messing with time, almost always comes with a heavy price, and I'm not sure how willing I am to risk what I have...

While the girls are entertaining Morgan outside, I'm sat at my station, entertaining Natasha's ludicrous idea of time travel...

"Friday, you up for some hypothesizing?"

"Yes, sir."

"I've had a mild inspiration, would like to see if it checks out. I would like to run one last sim before we pack it in for the night. This time, in the shape of a Mobius Strip, inverted."

"Processing."

I take a bite out of my burger while she pulls up the model for me.

"All right, give me the eigenvalue of that particle, factoring in spectral decomp. Run it. That'll take a second. And don't worry if it doesn't pan out, I'm just kind of..."

"Model rendered."

"Shit."

I look to see the model, and it's actually perfect, proving the opposite of what I said to the assassin. Then I hear a tiny voice mimicking me.

"Shit."

"What are you doing there?"

"Shit." She repeats, as she smirks my way, something she's clearly picked up from Nat.

"First of all, that's a Mommy word, she coined it. Secondly, why aren't you eating lunch with the redheads?"

"They sent me in to spy on you, because they saw bright lights flashing, but I wasn't supposed to tell you. But mommy said I'm not allowed to lie, so since I'm caught, I'm just telling you."

"I appreciate you for telling the truth. Look, how about you take these juice pops out for dessert, and tell your Auntie's that the operation time heist is a go, and I'll meet them tomorrow, so to have everyone there. Can you remember all of that, my smart girl?"

Morgan nods, leaving me alone with the model.

"Did I hear that correctly?"

Well, I guess not alone...

"Hey Pep."

"I think I solved it."

"Just so we're both talking about the same thing-"

"Time travel."

"That's amazing, and slightly terrifying."

"To say the least."

"We got really lucky, but not everyone else did, and in the end we still lost someone incredibly important..."

"What if it doesn't work and I lose even more?"

"We can't live our lives in the what if's... If you're right, you can bring everyone back..."

"Not if I stopped right here." I offer, trying to see if I have her on my side here.

"Tony, trying to get you to stop is one of the few failures of my life."

"I could just lock the lab, put it in a trunk, sink it to the bottom of the lake, and send them away"

"But could you rest?" She asks me, an air of sadness in her eyes, but in the same instant approval.

"I think Y/N's worth the risk, if it was reversed, you know she'd do it in a heart beat."

"Then it's settled... I'll have Happy here to keep you girls company tomorrow. I promise to do everything in my power to come home to you, and to bring Y/N back with me."

"I know you will." She smiles, then leans in to kiss me, as we pour all of our love into said kiss.

"Ewww." Morgan squeaks from the door, and I look to see her being brought in by a smiling Natasha.

"Thank you for the burgers Pep, they were delicious. I'm off to wrangle in a missing archer." She says happily as she holds Morgan close, but I can see the despair all over her face.

Nat's POV

"Goodbye Lil' Stark. I love you."

"I'm not little anymore Auntie Nat..." She whines, but hugs me tightly, gripping my shirt for dear life like she did the last time I went on a mission like this.

"You'll always be my lil' baby, so don't try to fight it."

"Even when you and Auntie Y/N have babies?"

"Even then." I reply, as my heart swells at the possibilities to come if this mission works out.

I gently set her down, as I nod at Pepper and Tony, before I take off to get this show on the road...

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1,588 Words

The consensus I got was everyone wanted Steve to sacrifice himself, so I decided that I'm sending —. 🤪🤪🤪

❤️‍🩹 Kaitlyn 😉