"Listen, I know what it sounds like." The man Scott said.
"Tony after everything you've seen is anything really-"
"Quantum fluctuations mess with the Planck scale which then triggers the Deutsch proposition, can we agree on that?" He asked looking to the three of them.
Bucky and I sat of two of the porch rockers Tony had and we remained silent. When they showed up and pitched us this insane idea I knew this wasn't a conversation to have with us. I knew about Tony and his lab work and I could understand computer hacking and coding, but this was far beyond my vocabulary.
"What does that mean?" Steve asked softly sounding defeated because he clearly didn't understand what Tony had even said.
"It means you're not coming home." Tony said adamantly.
"I did." Scott said firmly.
"No you accidentally survived, that's completely different. It's a billion to one cosmic fluke." He said flatly. "And now you want to pull off... what do you call it?"
"Uh, a time heist." Scott said trying to smile. His plan was to go back in time to get all the stones and undo what Thanos did. As amazing as it sounded there was a lot of complicated details that didn't sound easy to iron out.
"Yeah, a time heist. Why haven't I thought of this before? Because it's laughable, cause it's a pipe dream." Tony said shaking his head.
"The stones are in the past, we can go back and find them." Steve said trying to help Scott.
"We can go back in time and snap our own fingers and bring everyone back." Nat said.
"Or screw it up worse then he already has, right?" Tony asked shaking his head.
"I don't believe we would." Steve said coldly.
"I've got today say this, sometimes I 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. I believe the most likely outcome will be our collective demise." Tony said and I sighed and buried my head in my hands.
"Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel. That means no talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events-"
"I'm going to stop you right there Scott, are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on Back to the Future?" Tony asked leaning forward.
"No." Scott said slowly exhaling in defeat.
"Good, because you had me worried there for a moment, cause that would be horse shit. That's not how quantum physics works." He said firmly.
"Tony we have to take a stand." Nat said hoarsely.
"We did stand, and yet here we are." Tony said softly looking up to her.
"I know you've got a lot on the line, a wife, a daughter, I mean a family here, but I lost someone very important to me." Scott said speaking seriously for a moment. "A lot of people did and now we have a chance to bring her back, a chance to bring everyone back and you're going to tell me-"
"That's right Scott I won't." Tony said gently. "I can't."
"Tony what about Peter?" I asked hardly even wanting to speak at all, but he wasn't even hearing them out.
"No, don't you pull that card." He said snapping and turning around to face me. "And don't think I don't know about your monthly calls to SHEILD, I know all about those. Don't think for a second I don't know how little you've really stepped back."
My eyes shifted away from him and to Bucky. He looked caught off guard and Nat's eyes lowered as well. I looked into my lap regretting even saying a word. I heard the door open and Morgan came running out and hugged Tony.
"Mommy told me to come and save you." She said in almost a whisper.
"Good job, I'm saved." He said holding her tightly. "I wish you would've come here to ask me something else, anything else. I'm honestly happy to see you all, and dinner is set for six-"
"Forget it, and I'm happy for you I really am." Steve said. "But this is a second chance."
"I got my second chance right here." Tony said shrugging as he held Morgan and he even looked to me. "I can't, I can't roll the dice on that... if you don't talk shop you can stay for dinner."
Tony walked back inside and I looked up at the three of them. I didn't dare turn to Bucky because I knew the look he would be giving me. I knew I was keeping secrets and I knew I was wrong.
"I'll see you back at the house." Bucky said looking at me stolidly. "It's good to see you guys, it's been too long."
He walked past Nat and touched her shoulder, he nodded to Scott, but stopped for a moment at Steve. They exchanged eye contact for a long moment before they hugged each other tightly. I could see the hurt in Steve's eyes as Bucky pulled away and stomped off towards our house. Their eyes trained on me as soon as he was gone.
"Bucky didn't know about the calls?" Steve asked and I just shook my head.
"Dont worry about Tony, he's scared." Nat said exhaling.
"He's not wrong." Steve said looking to her
"I mean yeah, but we need him. What are we going to do just stop?" Scott asked tripping over his own words.
"No I wanna do this right..." Steve said shaking his head.
"I don't think there's any getting to Tony." I said shaking my head.
"What about you and Bucky? We need all the help we can get." Steve said looking to me.
"I never really left like they did, even if I go in on this time heist there's no guarantee Bucky will come with, much less Tony." I said sighing.
"Bucky will follow you wherever you go, he's stubborn, but you've got that boy wrapped around your finger tighter than anyone else ever has." Steve said and I looked at him with hesitant eyes.
"I don't know Steve, a warning would have been great. I could have at least tried to warm up your crowd." I said with a very weak laugh.
"It was urgent." Steve said with a small grin. "But I gotta know, are you in?"
"I don't know guys, I'll have to get back to you have I deal with them." I said rising to my feet. "I've missed you guys, I really have."
"We've missed you too." Nat said stepping forward and hugging me tightly. "I never would have thought loosing half of us would end in losing almost all of us, I hardly see anyone anymore."
"It's a different world, maybe not the best version we could have had." I said looking at the three of them as I backed away from Nat. "I'll call you guys, now if you don't mind I have a bomb at home to go diffuse."
"We'll be waiting." Steve said and I nodded to him.
I walked down Tony's porch and I headed off towards Bucky. I knew I'd have to converse with Tony at some point but that was a much more complicated bomb. Bucky maybe I could talk into this but Tony, I didn't have much hope to sway him.
I could see the lights on in the house despite us just turning them off to leave. I huffed because I didn't want to even have this conversation, nor was I even prepared for it. I knew he'd be waiting for me at the house, but I wasn't exactly excited to talk. I walked up the front porch steps and I opened my door to see him standing in the kitchen. He didn't immediately look at me and I just shut the door and crossed my arms across my chest.
"So that's what goes on in your office when you start talking to yourself." Bucky said and I didn't answer. "You know you could have told me, I don't mind you checking in on our friends."
"Bucky it wasn't just a bunch of check ins, we've been watching for trouble, keeping tabs on the trouble that was left in the galaxy." I said defeatedly because I couldn't deny what I had done or lie about it now. "Half the crime but half the jurisdiction's. All the same responsibility."
"Why wouldn't you just tell me?" He asked in an eerily calm voice.
"Because I know you'd worry." I said sighing.
"Yeah well what am I doing now?" He asked me throwing up his hands. "What happened to being honest with each other Val?"
"Bucky I don't have an excuse, I knew what I was doing was wrong. There's nothing I can say to make this right so you're just going to have to be mad at me." I said frankly giving up.
"I just want to know the truth, how long has this been going on?" He asked. I let out a huff and plopped down into a seat at the kitchen table.
"Since the day we left SHIELD. I never stopped checking in." I said slouching over. "I've never thought about leaving ever or to stop wanting to fight anyone especially HYDRA. I wanted to stay in the loop, just in case."
"Just incase what?" He asked me.
"Something like this." I said shamefully.
"Well what now, are we going to help?" He asked.
"What?" I asked a little confused.
"Are we going to help them?" He asked again.
"What do you mean we?" I asked him sitting up a little straighter.
"Well if you go you're sure as hell not going alone." He said shaking his head as if the idea of that was outrageous.
"Are you serious?" I asked not entirely sure if he was being sarcastic or not.
"Valerie you say jump, I jump. Doesn't matter how high." He said shrugging his shoulders.
"I don't know Bucky. Tony is the smartest person I know and he thinks this is a horrible idea." I said sitting back in my chair.
"But?" Bucky asked me.
"But I miss my friends. Everyone's got someone to miss, even Tony. Peter should have never gone with him, I should have never asked that of him." I said feeling a welt in my throat.
"It wouldn't have made a difference Val you know that." He said kneeling in front of me.
"Doesn't soothe my consciousness any." I said scoffing.
"What do you have to do to do that?" He asked.
"Help Steve." I said sighing. "Getting everyone back, if that's even possible. Even just trying might help."
"And if you get stuck in the quantum realm?" He asked me.
"I don't know. I mean he wouldn't just send us in if he wasn't sure." I said looking down at him.
"You're right, he wouldn't." Bucky said.
"Are you actually agreeing with me?" I asked painfully confused.
"Yes dear, I am." He said with a soft smile.
I looked at him with saddened eyes and I meant forward. I pressed my lips to his and kept our foreheads together as I did. I pulled back keeping my eyes shut.
"Then it looks like I have a call to make." I said accepting the fact that I was caving into this crazy plan.
"You should probably tell Tony before you do. He clearly tracks the calls." He said with a soft smile.
"What a Tony move." I said shaking my head.
"What a dick move more like." He said and I let out a chuckle.
"You're really going to do this with me?" I asked almost not believing him.
"If you're really sure, yes." He said. "I love you more than anything in the world, I know who I signed up for."
"And who's that?" I asked wearing a soft smile.
"Someone who doesn't know what rest is. Couldn't sit still and enjoy it even if it knocked them flat on their ass." He said wearing that smug grinned I loved dearly.
"I miss Peter, I know he does too. I know you miss Sam, I just feel like it's the right thing to do." I said with my lips pressed together. "I mean who else is going to do it?"
"Exactly why we should." He said cupping my face. "Maybe we'll actually pull it off too."
"Maybe." I said with a shrug.
"But without Tony?" He asked.
"That's a whole other argument that I know I'm not winning. No one could change that mans mind except for himself." I said with a frown.
"You have a way with pulling his heart strings, if it's meant to be, it will." He said standing up and pulling me to my feet.
"I can hope."