Always Fight | Bucky Barnes |

29

"Are we even sure he'll still help?'

Scott's question hangs in the tense air of the car we're all piled in. Each of us takes in a collective breath, the question burning within each of us this whole ride. Now, as we approach the woods where Tony's cozy little cabin is nestled, we can't ignore it anymore.

"We can only hope" Steve finally answers, and it's as vague an answer as any of us could have given.

"Well that's promising" Scott murmurs. I crack a small smile and reach over, patting his shoulder from my spot beside him in the backseat.

"It's the most promising chance we've had in five years" I reassure, earning a ghost of a smile on his lips. He nods to me, but before we can say anything else, Steve stops the car. I glance forward, my brows furrowed as I take in the area around me. There's a peaceful, rippling lake off to the side, one which a small, wooden cabin hangs over. Steve pulls the keys from the ignition and sits tensely. "We're here"

We all clamber out of the car at the same time, but collectively pause again. Tony is picking up a...a tiny human who looks just like him. 

A daughter?

"Yeah well, mom never wears anything I buy her" Tony's voice carries out to us as he carries the little girl on his hip towards the cabin. He makes it up the steps before he hears the doors to the car shut and turns around. The second his eyes meet our group, he freezes. I'm just as stuck as he is because I can't seem to tear my eyes from the little girl on his hip.

A daughter. He has a daughter. 

Something molten warms my heart so deeply that tears sting my eyes. After all of this time, after everything that has happened, Tony found some good in the midst of it all. He deserves it, probably more than most of us. He gives a small nod in acknowledgement to us before turning to take his daughter inside. After sharing a quick glance, we all make our way onto his porch. While we wait quietly outside for Tony to come back to us, Scott clears his throat.

"So, um and I'm just spit-balling here, how do we break him easily into the fact that we want to time travel?" Scott asks. Before any of us can answer, a voice breaks into our hushed conversation.

"You want to what?"

"I think like that" I answer Scott, only wincing slightly when I turn to see the absolutely incredulous look on Tony Stark's face. 

"Tony, before you shut us down, just know that-" Scott starts, but Tony shakes his head at us, walking over with a tray of cups and a drink for all of us.

"It's impossible, Lang. I know you're desperate to fix this but nothing you could possibly say would make it sound less-"

"Scott has been gone for five years like the rest. We thought he blipped. He showed up this morning saying it had only been five hours for him and he never blipped at all" Nat breaks in, her voice monotone and her arms crossed before herself. Tony pauses mid pour of one of the drinks and looks up between the four of us. 

"Well, shit"

I nudge Scott beside me, urging him to continue. He immediately does, jumping into the story of how he went into the Quantum realm and got stuck and then ultimately came back. After he's done explaining the possibility of using the Quantum realm to go back and try to fix what happened, we wait anxiously for what Tony has to say. The silence is deafening as he takes a sip of his drink and ponders everything we've just dumped on him. It gets too much for me and I finally break the silence. 

"Tony, we know what is sounds like" I announce, the wind catching a strand of my blonde hair and whipping it around my features.

"After everything that you've seen, is anything really impo-" Steve begins, but Tony cuts him off.