𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 | parker²

xxxi. a roll of the dice

Scott, Steve, and Natasha all looked puzzled. "Do you guys have the same brain or something?" Scott asked, glancing between Aster and Tony. "I mean, she literally said that exact same thing."

With her arms crossed over her chest, Aster leaned back against the wooden railing and put her head down to hide the small smile on her face.

Tony looked like he was stifling a smirk of his own. He handed Steve a glass while saying, "In Layman's terms, it means you're not coming home."

"I did," Scott pointed out.

"No, you accidentally survived. It's a billion-to-one cosmic fluke."

Right after he spoke, Tony winced and glanced over at Aster. She knew he didn't mean it like that, but it was somewhat the truth in her case. Next to her, Natasha gently knocked her elbow against Aster's arm in a comforting manner.

"And now you wanna pull off a..." Tony trailed off, handing the next glass of chocolate milk to Scott. "What do you call it?"

Shrugging, Scott smiled a little. "A time heist?"

"Yeah," Tony quietly scoffed. "A time heist. 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. We can go back and get them," Steve reasoned.

With her ombre hair braided over her shoulder, Natasha gave a hum of agreement. "We can snap our own fingers." 

Aster thought about everyone that disappeared. But most of all, she thought about Peter. The picture in the pocket of her jeans felt like it was burning a hole in her leg. "We can bring everyone back," she mumbled, hating herself for already getting her hopes up.

Tony wasn't convinced. "Or screw it up worse than he already has, right?"

"I don't believe we would," Steve countered, standing his ground.

"Gotta say, sometimes I miss that giddy optimism," Tony joked, earning a confused look from Steve. He sat down in a wicker chair with a sigh. "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."

Scott shook his head incessantly, sitting down in the chair next to Tony's. "Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel. That means no talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events..."

Aster's eyebrows drew together. "Are you referencing Back to the Future?"

Tony's eyes flickered between Scott and Aster and he held up a firm hand. "Yeah, I'm gonna stop you right there, Scott. Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on an '80s movie?

Scott scoffed as if Tony's words were completely absurd. "No."

"Good. You had me worried there. 'Cause that'd be horse shit. That's not how quantum physics works."

"Tony..." His name was drawn from Natasha's mouth in the form of a plea. She stared at him for a long moment, clearly struggling to keep her composure. "We have to take a stand."

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

Aster averted her gaze, absentmindedly staring out at the lake.

"I know you got a lot on the line," Scott murmured. "You got a wife, daughters. But I lost someone very important to me. A lot of people did. And now, now," his voice gained volume as his grief took over. "We have a chance to bring her back. To bring everyone back. And you're telling me that you won't even—?"