Red, White & Blue | Bucky x Reader

Chapter Fifteen

Sitting off to the side, I watch as Scott paces the floor in front of Steve and Natasha.

"Scott, are you okay?" Steve asks.

"Yeah. I'm fine," Scott replies, finally coming to a stop and turning to my friends, but struggling with how to express his thoughts. Finally, he blurts, "Have you ever studied Quantum Physics?"

"Only to make conversation," Natasha states, encouraging him to keep talking.

"Alright. So... five years ago, right before Thanos, I was in a place called the Quantum Realm," Scott explains. "The Quantum Realm is like its own microscopic universe. To get in there, you have to be incredibly small. Hope, she's my... she was my... She was supposed to pull me out. And then Thanos happened, and I got stuck in there."

"I'm sorry," Natasha sympathizes. "That must've been a very long five years."

"Yeah, but that's just it," Scott replies. "It wasn't. For me, it was five hours." Steve and Natasha share a bewildered glance before Scott continues. "See, the rules of the Quantum Realm aren't like they are up here. Everything is unpredictable. Is that anybody's sandwich? I'm starving."

Without waiting for a response, Scott rushes over to the table to pick up Natasha's sandwich, taking a huge bite out of it.

"Scott, what are you talking about?" Steve presses.

"What I'm saying is, time works differently in the Quantum Realm," Scott answers. "The only problem is, right now, we don't have a way to navigate it. But what if we did? I can't stop thinking about it. What if we could somehow control the chaos, and we could navigate it? What if there was a way to enter the Quantum Realm at a certain point in time, but then exit at another point in time? Like... Like before Thanos."

His words pique my interest, and against my better judgement, I walk over to join the group.

"Wait, are you talking about a time machine?" Steve questions.

"No. No, of course not," Scott answers. "No, not a time machine. It's more like a... Yeah, a time machine. I know, it's crazy. But I can't stop thinking about it. There's gotta be some way... There's gotta be... some w—it's crazy."

"Scott, I get emails from a raccoon," Natasha states. "Nothing sounds crazy anymore."

"So, who do we talk to about this?" Scott asks.

Steve pulls the car up the drive, and we see Tony walking toward the house with a small child in his arms. He looks healthier, happier, and a smile finds my face as I realize that the child is his daughter.

Hearing our approach, Tony glances over, and as we step out of the car, he ushers his daughter into the house before waving us over. We join him on his porch, gathering on the patio furniture as Scott explains his idea.

"Now, we know what it sounds like..." Scott admits.

"Tony, after everything you've seen, is anything really impossible?" Steve questions.

"Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck Scale, which then triggers the Deutsch Proposition. Can we agree on that?" Tony asks. Steve, Natasha, Scott and I blink at him in confusion, and Tony breaks down his explanation for us. "In Layman's terms, it means you're not coming home."

"I did," Scott states.

"No, you accidentally survived," Tony argues. "It's a billion to one cosmic fluke. And now you wanna pull of a... What do you call it?"

"A time heist?" Scott offers, trying to hide his pride.

"Yeah, a time heist," Tony says. "Of course, why didn't we think of this before? Oh, because it's laughable? Because it's a pipedream?"

"The Stones are in the past," Scott reminds him. "We can go back and get them."

"We can snap our own fingers," Natasha adds. "We can bring everyone back."

"Or screw it up worse than he already has, right? Tony argues.

"I don't believe we would," Steve states.

"Gotta say, sometimes I miss that giddy optimism," Tony remarks. "However, high hopes won't help if there's no logical, tangible way for me to safely execute said time heist. I believe the most likely outcome would be our collective demise."

"Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel," Scott reasons. "That means no talking to our past selves, not betting on sporting events—"

"I'm gonna stop you right there, Scott," Tony says, cutting him off. "Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on 'Back to the Future'?"

"No," Scott stammers.

"Good. You had me worried there," Tony states. "'Cause that'd be horse shit. That's not how Quantum Physics works."

"Tony..." Natasha pleads. "We have to take a stand."

"We did stand," Tony reminds her. "And yet, here we are."

"I know you got a lot on the line," Scott sympathizes. "You got a wife, a daughter. But I lost someone very important to me. A lot of people did. And now, now we have a chance to bring her back. To bring everyone back. And you're telling me that you won't even..."

"That's right, Scott, I won't even," Tony replies. "I got a kid."

At that moment, his little girl runs to her dad, who picks her up.

"Mommy told me to come and save you," the girl tells him, nestling her face into his neck.

"Good job. I'm saved," Tony replies, hugging her before turning back to us. "I wish you'd come here to ask me something else. Anything else. Honestly, I... I missed you guys, it was... Oh, and table's set for six. If you don't talk shop, you can stay for lunch."

"Please, Tony," I blurt out, earning me some surprised looks from Steve and Natasha. My voice is weak from going unused, but I can't stay silent any longer. "Tony, I know you probably hate me for lying about what happened to your parents, and I understand that your family comes first, but I've been chasing this dream since 1943, to have a life, and a family, with the person I love. If our situations were reversed and I could give you a chance to get them back, wouldn't you want me to help you?"

Tony remains silent for a moment, thinking it over. "I'm sorry, I truly am. But I can't roll the dice again."

Defeated, I follow the others to the end of the porch, but I stop to glance back at Tony once more. "I'm happy for you, Tony. I truly am."

Descending the stairs, I soon fall into stride with the others.

"So, you're talking again?" Steve asks, a small smile on his face.

I smile back. "Don't get used to it."

"Tony's scared," Natasha states.

"Well, he's not wrong," I reply.

"Yeah, but I mean, what are we gonna do?" Scott questions. "We need him. What... Are we gonna stop?"

"No, but I wanna do it right," Steve answers as we reach the car. "We're gonna need a really big brain."

Scott looks between us before gesturing back to Tony's house. "Bigger than his?"