✓ | Porcelain.

chapter thirty six

CHAPTER THIRTY SIX: WE DID STAND

We slowly pulled into Tony's driveway, and to my shock, he was just walking to his house with a child in his arms. I smiled softly at his daughter, who seemed happy to be with Tony. Her smile reached her eyes.

Natasha, Scott, Steve and I all stepped out of the vehicle as Tony glanced at each of us with confusion. He then began to walk up the steps to his front porch, choosing to ignore us.

When he got there, he turned around once more. Natasha nodded her head at him, and he did the same to her. Then, he slowly turned around and began to make his way to the door.

We all slowly followed him up the steps, as he left for a moment, returning with drinks. Scott explained his plan to Tony, who held a straight face as he poured the drinks.

"No, trust- we know what it sounds like." Scott chuckled nervously.

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

"Quantum fluctuation messes with the planck scale," Tony quickly interrupted Steve. "Which then triggers the deutsch proposition. Can we agree on that?"

Steve sighed as tony handed him a drink, "thank you." He mumbled softly.

"In laymin's terms, it means, you're not coming home." Tony shrugged.

"I did." Scott said confidently.

Tony shook his head, "no. You accidentally survived. It's a billion-to-one cosmic fluke. And now you wanna pull a... what do you call it?"

Scott took the drink that Tony handed him, "a time heist?" He shrugged with a smile.

"Yeah," Tony chuckled bitterly, "a time heist. Of course. Why didn't we think of this before? Oh. Because it's laughable. Because it's a pipe dream."

Steve cut him off, "the stones are in the past. We could go back, we could get them."

Natasha nodded, "we can snap our own fingers."

I leaned against the railing on the porch, "we would bring everyone back."

Tony held up a finger, "or screw it up worse than he already has, right?"

Steve pinched his brows together, "I don't believe we would."

"I gotta say it." Tony waved his drink around, "I sometimes miss that giddy optimism. However, high hopes won't help if there's no logical, tangible way for me to safely execute said... time heist." Scott frowned. "I believe the most likely outcome, will be our collective demise."

"Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel." Scott shook his head, I furrowed my brows. He sat down in a chair next to Tony. "All right, it means... no talking to our past selves. No betting on sporting events."

Tony held a hand up, "I'm gonna stop you right there, Scott. Are you seriously telling me, that your plan to save the universe is based on, Back to the Future?" Scott let out a small, fake laugh. "Is it?"

"No." He shook his head.

Tony sent him a fake smile. "Good, you had me worried there. Because that would be horseshit." I rolled my eyes at his comment. "That's not how quantum physics works."

"Tony." I turned my head to Natasha, who spoke up again. "We have to take a stand."

Tony's lips drew into a thin line. "We did stand. And yet, here we are."

Scott frowned, "I know you got a lot on the line. You got a wife, a daughter. But I lost someone very important to me. A lot of people did. And now, we have a chance to bring her back... to bring everyone back, and you're telling me that you won't even-" Scott's voice grew louder in frustration.

Tony interrupted him with a very soft voice, "that's right, Scott. I won't even." Scott went silent. "I can't."

Tony was interrupted when his daughter walked over, and he immediately picked her up. "Mommy told me to come and save you." I couldn't help the soft smile that appeared on my face.

"Good job." Tony gave her a small smile. "I'm saved." He turned to us. "I wish you were coming here to ask me something else. Anything else." He stood up from his chair, "I'm honestly happy to see you guys, I just..." he suddenly changed the subject, "oh, and look, the table's set for six."

"Tony." Steve put a hand on the man's arm, "I get it. And I'm happy for you. I really am. But this is a second chance."

Tony frowned, "I got my second chance right here, Cap." I looked to the floor, "can't roll the dice on it." He started walking towards the door. "If you don't talk shop, you can stay for lunch."

Natasha sighed as we left Tony, making our way back towards the car. "Well, he's scared." She noted.

Steve nodded, "he's not wrong."

Scott held a frustrated look on his face, "yeah, but, I mean, what are we- what are we gonna do?" He waved a hand around, "we need him. What, are we gonna stop?" I frowned at his frustration. He was obviously more panicked than the rest of us because we've had time to process the losses, he hasn't.

Steve shook his head, "no, I wanna do it right. We're gonna need a really big brain."

Scott's eyes widened, "bigger than his?" He pointed back to Tony's house.

Bruce.

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lizzie speaks...

i've had a stomach ache the entire time while writing this so y'all r lucky that i didn't just rest