We roll up, to see Tony and Morgan outside, playing in the castle Y/N and I had built for her. Tony looked at us with an unreadable expression, and Morgan came bounding towards us. Wanda scooped her up, and spun her in circles, while I walked towards Tony.
"Pepper didn't tell me you'd be by to collect her today, but judging by the bike I have realized you're not here for that."
"Astute observation... Look, Tony, we think we found a way..."
"Natasha..."
"No! Listen..."
I explained to him the basics of what Scott had told us, while Wanda's playing with Morgan in the distance.
"I just want to thank you two for
dropping by. It's not every day one gets to contemplate biting it on an inter-dimensional timescape."
"Don't just write off the plan already..."
"So you're calling it a plan. To me, it sounds like it's rather deadly, and more so impossible."
"Tony, after what you've seen, is anything really impossible? We literally fought aliens, have interacted with wizards, and watched as practically everyone we loved turned to dust."
"Quantum fluctuation kinda messes with the Planck Scale, which then triggers the Deutsch Proposition, can we agree on that?..."
I just glare at him, waiting for him to get off his 'I'm really smart' high horse, and actually make sense.
"In layman's terms, it means you can cancel your subscription to life because you're not coming home."
"Scott did." I correct the arrogant asshat.
"Which was a billion-to-one cosmic fluke. Now you want to pull a- What are you calling it?"
"He called it a time heist"
"Oh, of course, a time heist, why didn't we think of this before? Right, because it's a pipe dream. Who even is he again?"
"The Antman, we'd met him years back, he's related by girlfriend to the Pym family."
"Well, whoever he is, he's gotten your hopes up, and now I'm being made out to be the bad guy who has to make them fall."
"Tony, the Stones exist in the past. We could get them and bring them here. We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everybody back." I say, practically in a shout.
"Or screw it up worse than he already has."
"I doubt that we would."
"Sadly, all your high hopes won't help me 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."
"Tony, that's honestly bullshit, if there's anyone who can do this, it's us."
"I have too much to lose, Natasha! Morgan can't lose anymore people!"
"Bullshit! No one's asking you to lose a damn thing, just to bring back all that we've lost. Morgan asks me all the time when 'Auntie
Y/N/N' is coming back, but all we can give her are stories. Those will run out one day Tony! She deserves to know her aunt, and Y/N deserves not to miss another moment of her life! We have to take a stand." I all but shout at the man before me.
"We did stand, and look at where we are now..."
"I get that you've got a lot on the line, here. You've got a wife, and a daughter; you also have a sister, one who thinks the world of you. The same one that forgave you for what most would deem unforgivable. Now we have a chance to save her, and everyone else for that matter, and you won't even-"
"No, Nat. I won't. Even."
"I wish you were coming here to ask me something else. I'm honestly happy to see you. If you want to stay-"
"Tony, I get it. But this is a second chance, we owe it to Morgan, to bring back Y/N, to bring everyone back. More specifically YOU owe it to her."
"Yeah, well, I got my second chance right here. I can't roll the dice on it. The table is set for five. If you don't talk shop, you're welcome to stay for lunch."
"Don't you dare! Don't walk away from this!"
He sighs, but sends me a look that's pretty definite, so I walk off in a huff towards Wanda, as she sends Morgan back to her dad.
"He's scared." Wanda murmurs
"Who isn't? If you're not scared, you're not paying enough attention..."
"He'll come around... I can feel it, he's being torn apart by the possibilities."
"Well, he better, this won't work without him." I reluctantly admit.
"Auntie Nat!"
I turn to see Morgan running my way, and I instantly slap a smile on my face and open my arms for her.
"Are you leaving already? Daddy said you could stay for lunch. Mommy made cheeseburgers, Auntie Y/N's favorite!" She excitedly proclaims, and my heart clenches at the mention of Y/N.
"Well, her second favorite, because we all know she loves her egg rolls." Morgan continues, and I chuckle at her correction.
"A burger sounds nice, maybe the three of us can eat it in the castle, yeah?"
"I'll ask mama, go wait for me there." She commands, as she wiggles out my arms and runs to the house.
Tony's POV
I want nothing more than to bring my sister back, to bring the kid back, but this isn't some simple mission. Messing with time, almost always comes with a heavy price, and I'm not sure how willing I am to risk what I have...
While the girls are entertaining Morgan outside, I'm sat at my station, entertaining Natasha's ludicrous idea of time travel...
"Friday, you up for some hypothesizing?"
"Yes, sir."
"I've had a mild inspiration, would like to see if it checks out. I would like to run one last sim before we pack it in for the night. This time, in the shape of a Mobius Strip, inverted."
"Processing."
I take a bite out of my burger while she pulls up the model for me.
"All right, give me the eigenvalue of that particle, factoring in spectral decomp. Run it. That'll take a second. And don't worry if it doesn't pan out, I'm just kind of..."
"Model rendered."
"Shit."
I look to see the model, and it's actually perfect, proving the opposite of what I said to the assassin. Then I hear a tiny voice mimicking me.
"Shit."
"What are you doing there?"
"Shit." She repeats, as she smirks my way, something she's clearly picked up from Nat.
"First of all, that's a Mommy word, she coined it. Secondly, why aren't you eating lunch with the redheads?"
"They sent me in to spy on you, because they saw bright lights flashing, but I wasn't supposed to tell you. But mommy said I'm not allowed to lie, so since I'm caught, I'm just telling you."
"I appreciate you for telling the truth. Look, how about you take these juice pops out for dessert, and tell your Auntie's that the operation time heist is a go, and I'll meet them tomorrow, so to have everyone there. Can you remember all of that, my smart girl?"
Morgan nods, leaving me alone with the model.
"Did I hear that correctly?"
Well, I guess not alone...
"Hey Pep."
"I think I solved it."
"Just so we're both talking about the same thing-"
"Time travel."
"That's amazing, and slightly terrifying."
"To say the least."
"We got really lucky, but not everyone else did, and in the end we still lost someone incredibly important..."
"What if it doesn't work and I lose even more?"
"We can't live our lives in the what if's... If you're right, you can bring everyone back..."
"Not if I stopped right here." I offer, trying to see if I have her on my side here.
"Tony, trying to get you to stop is one of the few failures of my life."
"I could just lock the lab, put it in a trunk, sink it to the bottom of the lake, and send them away"
"But could you rest?" She asks me, an air of sadness in her eyes, but in the same instant approval.
"I think Y/N's worth the risk, if it was reversed, you know she'd do it in a heart beat."
"Then it's settled... I'll have Happy here to keep you girls company tomorrow. I promise to do everything in my power to come home to you, and to bring Y/N back with me."
"I know you will." She smiles, then leans in to kiss me, as we pour all of our love into said kiss.
"Ewww." Morgan squeaks from the door, and I look to see her being brought in by a smiling Natasha.
"Thank you for the burgers Pep, they were delicious. I'm off to wrangle in a missing archer." She says happily as she holds Morgan close, but I can see the despair all over her face.
Nat's POV
"Goodbye Lil' Stark. I love you."
"I'm not little anymore Auntie Nat..." She whines, but hugs me tightly, gripping my shirt for dear life like she did the last time I went on a mission like this.
"You'll always be my lil' baby, so don't try to fight it."
"Even when you and Auntie Y/N have babies?"
"Even then." I reply, as my heart swells at the possibilities to come if this mission works out.
I gently set her down, as I nod at Pepper and Tony, before I take off to get this show on the road...
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1,588 Words
The consensus I got was everyone wanted Steve to sacrifice himself, so I decided that I'm sending —. 🤪🤪🤪
❤️🩹 Kaitlyn 😉