Scott, Steve, and Natasha were all waiting by the car, the redhead casually resting her arms on the edge of the open car door.
As Keira walked over to the car, she received puzzled looks from the two men, but Natasha's eyes held an understanding gleam. Of course, she had already figured out that Keira wasn't coming with them, which was exactly why she brought up the subject of where they would go next.
Since Tony proved unwilling to help them with their hypothesis, they had to go to the second smartest person they knew. Banner.
"Who would've thought that Captain America himself appreciated fidget toys, huh?" Keira couldn't help but chuckle and sent a meaningful look at Steve's hand, which held her car keys. Being the easily bored creature that she was, nearly every key chain she owned had some sort of fidget toy on it. And in this case, her car keys were adorned with a fidget cube.
Steve's cheeks turned a light pink at the notice and his fingers stilled. "Yeah, well. Gives me something to do." He shrugged, avoiding Keira's glittering eyes.
She didn't judge him, not in the slightest. But for a man who was born in the 1920s, she was pleasantly surprised to see that he had grown to appreciate some of the more modern inventions. It had taken her about five years to convince him to try any other shoes than Converse, considering that the brand had been one of the few things he recognized after coming out of the ice.
"Just so you know, I'll notice if you scratch it. Tasha has traumatized me." Keira narrowed her eyes in playful pretend at the supersoldier, who held up his hands in surrender.
"Promise, you won't spot a thing."
"Hey! It was one time!" Natasha exclaimed indignantly, her mouth open in offense at the jab. "And to my defense, we were getting shot at. Not scratching your car wasn't exactly on my priority list so to speak. Considering the fact that you're still alive and breathing, I'd say my mission succeeded, although I don't know if I'd call that a win."
Now it was Keira's turn to look offended. "Uh-huh. Sure, blame the crooks. And yes, we both know my presence is a blessing, so you're welcome." With a playful smirk playing on her lips, she did a mock bow. In the corner of her eye, she saw Steve shaking his head in amusement at their theatrics. Rounding the car, she wrapped her arms around Natasha in a hug. "I won't hold you any longer. Good luck with Banner. Hulk. Bulk. Whatever he's called these days."
"Bulk? That's the best name you could come up with?" Natasha chuckled quietly but returned the hug without protest. "And thanks. Don't you dare stay away too long though."
Rolling her eyes, Keira broke the hug with a smile on her face, her hands still on the redhead's shoulders. "Hey, don't judge me. I'm bad at names. But I have no doubts you'll succeed, you always do." Even if she knew that they would see each other again soon, she couldn't help the way her stomach twisted at the farewell. Whenever she was away from Natasha, she always had a lingering feeling of unease in her bones.
It had intensified during the later years, so perhaps she had developed a bit of separation anxiety.
"Try not to miss me too much, yeah?" It was a weak attempt to try and cover this fact up, but don't they say that humor is the best coping mechanism?
"No promises." Natasha winked and leaned her cheek against Keira's hand on her shoulder. Just like the blonde, she didn't like being separated from her best friend. But a part of her was just happy that some parts of her broken little family still kept in contact.
To see the people she called friends and family be ripped apart by the consequences of their failure had been one of the toughest things she had experienced.
Before Keira had the chance to react, she was embraced by a pair of strong arms again. "Hey, I'm not going anywhere. Surely you can survive one or two days without me?" She chuckled, talking so low that only Natasha would be able to hear her.
This time, Natasha broke the hug and rolled her eyes. She didn't even bother to answer, not wanting to feed the blonde's ego. But the silence was clear as day, and to not be met by Keira's proud smirk, she climbed into the passenger seat.
"Not a scratch, Stevie." Keira pointed at the supersoldier with narrowed eyes, who just smiled at her. "And Scott..."
The man was in a slightly awkward position where he was halfway into the car, ready to go, but not wanting to enter completely due to the fact that the rest of the group was still chatting. At the mention of his name, he perked up.
Keira's head immediately went to a puppy, and the resemblance wasn't too far off with Scott's messy hair and wide eyes. "Good luck being the guinea pig. Or is it lab ant in your case?"
Scott didn't get any words out, but rather just spluttered before being ordered into the car by Steve. He and Natasha would sure have a lovely ride with Scott questioning what Keira meant by that. Something that was clearly mirrored on the redhead's face as the car backed out of the driveway.
Keira formed her hands into a heart shape, only to get flipped off by Natasha. "Love you too."
Shaking her head in amusement, she steered her steps back to the cabin. Before walking up the small stairs, she stopped and put her hand up to her mouth, blowing a sharp whistle.
It took barely a second before Nikato came bounding over, like he had been shot out of a cannon. He was panting open-mouthed, his tongue hanging out. The lower part of his body was slightly darker than his normally dun-colored fur, water dripping off him.
"Hiya, boy. You doin' okay?" Keira crouched down in front of him and gave him a good scratch behind the ear. Nikato tilted his head curiously as she spoke to him, his only ear perking up. Chuckling at his expression, she gave him a final pat before rising to her feet again. "Still got energy or you wanna come inside?"
Nikato shook himself, soaking his owner in the process before pressing his head against her hip. But he didn't follow after her but rather trotted back to the lake.
Wiping her face with the sleeve of her hoodie, Keira shook her head in amusement. "Alright, I hear ya loud and clear, Kato."
❆
Lunch passed without trouble, but it was one of the funniest food preparations Keira had experienced. To try and design Jurassic Park out of mashed potatoes, gravy, and dino nuggets turned out to be quite an artistic challenge.
Morgan loved it so much that she barely wanted to eat it.
The afternoon had been spent outside playing. Nikato joined them the second he spotted the little girl, but he always took extra care in Morgan's presence to make sure that he didn't accidentally hurt her. Unlike playtime with Keira that could turn a bit rough. It wasn't unusual that the blonde suffered scratches or bruises when they were done.
The sun had slowly disappeared beyond the horizon, displaying a beautiful mix of orange and pink on its way down. But as of now, darkness had fallen.
Dinner was delicious, and Keira helped to clean the table. Balance had never been her forte, but even she could carry four plates in her hands without screwing up.
Pepper was standing by the sink, filling it up with water as they had used the good china. Those plates would not be happy after a tour in the dishwasher.
Slowly lowering the plates into the water, Keira glanced at the strawberry blonde. "Uh, Pep? I know I should've asked this earlier, but it kinda slipped my mind. Is it alright with you if me and Kato stay the night? I know Tony said it's alright but I just wanted to make sure-"
"Of course, it's okay, Keira." Pepper cut her off gently. "No need to ask my permission. You're family. It's pretty clear how much both my daughter and husband adore you."
Keira shot her a thankful smile and nodded. But she couldn't help herself and resist the temptation that Pepper so clearly put in front of her. "But you don't adore me as much?" She teased lightly, sending a playful wink in the strawberry blonde's direction.
"Hey, hey! No hitting on my wife, thank you very much." Tony interjected, coming up from behind Pepper and wrapping a hand around her waist while pressing a soft kiss to her neck.
As her hands were free from any dining accessories, Keira put them up in surrender with a mischievous smile. "No need to worry, Tony. There's only one woman who holds my heart, and she'll keep it for all eternity." Her smile faded slightly as she automatically reached for the ring around her neck, clutching it tightly.
Damn it, why did she always have to ruin the moment?
Pepper reached out a hand and gave the mutant's arm a reassuring squeeze. "I thought I was automatically included." She tried to reel the light mood back by referring back to the joke, and even if the mutant smiled back, it didn't quite reach her eyes. Turning around in Tony's arms, Pepper pressed a kiss to her husband's cheek. "Why don't you two finish up here? I'll put Morgan to bed."
Tony and Keira both nodded in unison while she disappeared up the stairs, since Morgan was already up there. The girl was probably still playing in the fort she and Keira had built after lunch.
Keira didn't know what to say, too stuck in her own head, and it seemed like no words came to Tony either, so they both stayed silent for a while, focusing on their respective tasks. Keira on washing the dishes, and Tony on the drying.
It wasn't until Keira got too bored with the chore and she used the hose to playfully spray at Tony that they started talking again. "See, my aim is better than yours." She beamed when the stream of water landed perfectly in one of the glasses on the shelf.
"Pfft, I call bull." Tony snatched the hose from her and tried to mimic her trick, but unlike the previous stream, this one didn't land in any of the glasses but rather drenched the whole shelf. Trying to shake off his failure, he shrugged. "Whatever. I hit you straight in the hands once, remember?" A cocky smirk tugged at his lips, causing Keira to laugh.
Right, the time when the Chitauri attacked New York and she had startled him so badly that he shot at her. Great times.
Keira quirked a disbelieving eyebrow. "If you call being scared having a good aim, sure. Fine by me." She smiled while stretching over to wipe their target glasses dry. Since the shelves were made out of wood, it wouldn't be good if the water was left to soak in.
As she did so, taking them down one by one to finally wipe the shelf dry, her eyes landed on a framed photo in the back, and she couldn't resist picking it up.
It was Peter and Tony, holding some sort of certificate. It was upside down, of course, and they were doing bunny ears behind each other's backs. Peter had clearly overestimated Tony's height, as his bunny ears were nowhere near the billionaire's head. Her heart clenched painfully at Peter's happy smile staring up at her, and glancing at the Tony by her side, she saw that his gaze was resting on the photo in her hands as well.
"Tony..." She sighed deeply, tearing her eyes away from the photo and instead letting them rest on the man in front of her. "I understand why you said no, I really do. If I had this life with Wanda, I wouldn't wanna risk it either. But... It can't hurt to try, right? Just theoretically? I mean, the odds are astronomical but-"
Tony held up a hand, silencing her. "Follow me." He said shortly, walking over to the big work surface that doubled as a dining table. With a few clicks, the middle of it lit up and a hologram popped into life above it. "I've got a mild inspiration." He threw a look at Keira, who was watching him with expectant eyes, something burning in the grey irises he hadn't seen ever since Wanda was disintegrated. Focusing back on the task at hand, he shook his head. "I'd like to see if it checks out. So, I'd like to run one last sim before we pack it in for the night."
Keira couldn't help but feel surprised. If she wasn't misinterpreting what Tony was saying, this wasn't the first time he had tried to make time travel work. He wasn't just being stubborn for the sake of it. Maybe he just needed some new inspiration to get it all to click?
"This time, in the shape of a Mobius strip, inverted. Please."
The hologram in front of them changed shape. "Processing." Said FRIDAY's soft voice while Tony impatiently paced back and forth.
He momentarily stopped to glance at Keira. "Now, I gotta warn you. Don't have too high hopes, Keira." Focusing back on the hologram, he leaned forward to shift it. "Right, give me the eigenvalue of that particle, factoring in spectral decomp. That'll take a second."
"Just a second."
Keira just nodded, not understanding all the fancy words he was uttering. "I understand." Her eyes were trained on the hologram, while one of her hands was clutching the wedding ring around her neck so tightly that it was a miracle that the ring didn't break.
"And don't worry if it doesn't pan out. I'm just kinda..." He broke off, shaking his head slightly at the heartbroken look that temporarily painted Keira's face.
"Model rendered."
Keira's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates at the same time that Tony's mouth dropped open in disbelief. He stumbled backwards and fell into a chair, exhaling sharply.
'Model Successful.' It said above the hologram of the Mobius strip, none of them barely believing it.
"You did it, Tony. You actually did it." Keira breathed, her shaking voice barely carrying across the silent living room. The knuckles of the hand she was holding onto the table to steady herself were whitening by the second. It was possible. She could get Wanda back.
She could get her Wanda back.
"I did." Tony whispered in disbelief, holding his hand to his mouth. "Shit."
Keira had been too caught up in the possibility of getting Wanda back to even notice that a third presence had joined them, and she jumped slightly when a voice suddenly spoke from behind her.
"Shit."
They both turned around to face Morgan, who was sitting at the foot of the stairs, smiling at them in her pajamas.
Tony put a finger to his mouth, shushing her softly. "What are you doing up, little miss?"
"Shit." Morgan parroted again, a proud smirk on her face.
Keira couldn't smother her chuckles but rather tiptoed over to the little girl and crouched down in front of her. "What was that leaving your mouth right now? A bad word? I don't believe my ears." She smiled brightly and gently brushed a few strands of auburn hair behind Morgan's ear.
"Nope. We don't say that. Only mommy says that word. She coined it. It belongs to her." Tony quickly tried to jump out of the hole he accidentally had dug for himself when his daughter had been eavesdropping on him.
"Why are you up?" Morgan looked between the mutant and her father, her tone almost reprimanding them for still being awake.
"'Cause I got some important shit going on here! What do you think?" Tony exclaimed, pointing at the hologram over his shoulder. At the sight of Morgan's cute but reprimanding frown, he changed tactics. "No, I- I got something on my mind. I got something on my mind."
"Was it juice pops?"
Keira smiled gently, taking the girl's hand. "Sure was."
"That's extortion. That's a word." Tony got up from his seat and took Morgan's other hand, leading his daughter and the mutant back to the kitchen. "What kind do you want?"
"I see where she gets it from." Keira smirked, leaning against the kitchen counter while Tony was bending down by the freezer, looking for the orange-flavored juice pops Morgan demanded. "Hope a little more of Pepper will show soon enough though."
Tony just chuckled, handing his daughter a juice pop before straightening up. "I'll ignore that comment, for old time's sake. Wanna come and listen to a bedtime story?" He hoisted Morgan up into his arms again, pressing a kiss to the side of the girl's head.
"Nah, that's your moment, not mine." Keira kindly denied before bending forwards to tickle Morgan, who started giggling. "Goodnight, little meerkat. No more dangerous adventures for a while, okay?"
When Morgan's giggles subsided, she stretched out a hand towards the mutant, who grasped it. "Promise. Goodnight, Irah. And say night to Kato for me." She nodded, stifling a yawn before leaning her head against Tony's shoulder.
Keira watched them disappear up the stairs before crossing over to the door and opening it. Once again, she put her hand to her mouth and blew a sharp whistle.
It didn't take long until the dog came running out of the darkness, and had it not been for the fact that Keira knew it was Kato, she would've been scared by the massive dog emerging from the shadows.
"Hiya, boy. Now, remember. No jumping on the furniture here." She wiped his paws and legs before allowing him into the house, drying off most of the lake water. Nikato shook himself once, as if to criticize her work, and then disappeared.
To give herself something to do, since she wasn't particularly tired yet, she crouched down by the fireplace and started to stack the kindling into a pyramid shape. She grabbed some newspaper and tore it into little pieces, crumbling it up into balls before poking it into the middle of the wooden slabs. Reaching up to the mantelpiece, she grabbed the lighter.
It didn't take long for the paper to catch fire and she gently blew on the embers to help the fire. Eventually, it devoured the wood as well, and she settled back down on the couch, watching the flames dance.
Nikato had joined her during the preparation of the fire and laid down beside the fireplace with his head between his paws. Judging by the way his eyes were drooping, it wouldn't take long until he fell asleep. Must be an exhausting life to be free of the responsibilities of bills and the destruction of the world.
Pepper's silent steps down the stairs caused Keira to glance over her shoulder and it didn't take long before the strawberry blonde joined her on the sofa.
"How are things back at the compound?"
Keira observed Pepper for just a moment, but she didn't have to be a mind reader to know that Pepper was genuinely asking, and not just out of courtesy. "If you would've asked me that yesterday, I would've told you that we were nearing breaking point, honestly. Some people manage to heal and move on, others dwell on the ones they lost. Only way to stay sane when you want nothing more than to fall apart is to grasp at the few strings you have left. And in my case, Natasha has been my savior."
A heavy sigh escaped her lips and her eyes fell back to the dancing flames.
"But you can't move forward if all you do is looking back. You can survive for a while, but you need a way to start living or life doesn't really have a point."
Pepper gave the mutant a sad smile and gave her arm a reassuring squeeze.
"But now?" Keira swallowed hard and shook her head. She didn't want to run by the events in advance, nor did she want to take away Tony's right to discuss the whole ordeal with Pepper first. So, she settled on the hope that the rest of the group would be able to figure out the problem. "If the guys figure out a way to navigate through the Quantum Realm... There's some hope at least."
She tilted her head to the side and ran a hand through her hair. "Anyway, Tony just said goodnight to Morgan, so I think me and Kato will call it a night as well."
Pepper looked confused for just a moment, not comprehending how Keira knew that. But then it dawned on her. "Oh, right. I forgot about the mind thing." She chuckled and smiled. "Sweet dreams, Keira."
"Night, Pep." Keira pushed herself up from the sofa and just grazed Nikato with her foot, who immediately shot up from the floor to follow her. As she passed Tony at the foot of the stairs, she held out a hand to stop him. "Lemme know what you decide, yeah?"
Tony nodded serenely. "Will do. Just gotta consult my wife first."
"Yeah, I know." Keira just smiled. Whatever he decided, she wouldn't be mad.
Did she want Wanda back? A thousand times yes.
But she couldn't demand Tony to do something that she herself wouldn't be willing to do if she was in his shoes. That would just be hypocritical. "Night, Tony."
"Night, Keira.
❆
"Can I be completely honest with you, Tony?" Keira sighed heavily, finally pulling her eyes away from the passing landscape beyond the car window. Her mind had been buzzing with the possibility of seeing Wanda again, how it would feel to finally feel her again. She had been so lost in her own head that she had barely uttered a single word during the journey back to the compound.
Tony, who was drumming his fingers to the low music streaming through the speakers, glanced to his right. He couldn't quite place the tone in Keira's voice and furrowed his eyebrows in question. "Of course."
Not being able to stand any eye contact, Keira's gaze returned to the passing trees. As she tried to get a grip on the thoughts that were running around her head, she pressed her tongue to the inside of her cheek. "I... I miss her every single day. There's not a second that passes by when she doesn't have my heart in her hands." Keira swallowed hard and looked up at the car ceiling to stop any tears from falling. "It's been five years, Tony. Five years. I've gotten so used to living like this. To feel the constant heartbreak."
Feeling her eyes burn, she brushed her hands over her face and shook her head. "And now... When we have an actual solution, I just-" Her voice broke without her consent and she bit down on her lip, hating herself for even thinking the things she was about to say. "I- I'm honestly terrified. And I don't even know why. Is that weird?" Her eyes darted back to Tony, almost expecting him to sport a disapproving frown, telling her that yes, it is, in fact, weird that she's terrified of the prospect of getting her fiancée back.
Or perhaps, it wasn't that she was scared to see Wanda again, but at the possibility that they would fail again. And with that, to have her hope crushed of ever seeing Wanda again.
But there was no judgment in Tony's eyes as his gaze left the road for a moment to meet Keira's. "No. No, it's not, Keira. I feel the same way."
While Wanda was the one haunting Keira's dreams, Peter was haunting his.
The kid he loved like a son, even if he didn't always admit it to himself. As he had been working on the time-space GPS, or C-GPS as Keira called it, for Chronological GPS, Peter had been floating around in his head.
How it would be when he introduced Peter to Morgan. He was certain that Morgan would love Peter just as much as he did. And how Peter would grow into the protective big brother role, occasionally taking Morgan swinging around the city, much to Pepper's dismay.
Tony had to give it to himself. To figure out a functioning C-GPS with all those thoughts swirling around, and not to forget Keira's constant talk about sharks, was impressive.
Keira just nodded. Without even trying, she could feel Peter's presence lingering in Tony's head. As she didn't want to risk hearing something she shouldn't, she leaned her head against the window and focused on trying to quiet her mind.
It occupied her for a while, although Tony's constant swerving in between cars on the highway forced her back to reality when she had to grab the door to not bump into the man himself. The moment they passed the gates to the compound, the metal shrieking as it slid to the side, Keira couldn't keep her mouth shut any longer.
"Geez, you're an even worse driver than Tasha. Honestly didn't think that was possible." She grinned widely at the offended look on Tony's face as the tires squealed after a particularly sharp turn onto the driveway in front of the compound.
One could've believed the police were after them.
"You know what, Nowak?" Tony raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "Just because you and Rogers drive like a pair of fossils doesn't automatically mean me and Romanoff are bad drivers." He scoffed and shook his head, although a smile was playing in the corner of his lips.
A disheveled-looking Steve Rogers was standing outside of the compound, hands on his hips. His head lifted as he laid eyes on the car, and he followed it as it squealed to a halt, only to reverse back a few inches so the driver's door was level with him.
"Showoff." Keira chuckled, shaking her head at the man's theatrics.
Tony took no notice of her. But rather rolled down the window and glanced at the supersoldier, who remained silent. "Why the long face? Let me guess, he turned into a baby." He questioned rhetorically.
Again, Keira couldn't help but be amused. During the ride, Tony had briefly explained how time travel was supposed to work.
Or rather, Tony had been muttering it to himself and she had listened in. Because as much as he loved Bruce, they had, after all spent a considerable amount of time together in the gamma lab, the half-man, half-Hulk would not be able to figure out how to counter the effects of quantum travel without Tony's help.
"Among other things, yeah. What are you doing here?" Steve asked, trying to conceal the flicker of hope that had flamed into life at seeing Tony back at the compound. He had already counted on Keira coming back, but thought she would've done so without Tony.
"It's the EPR Paradox." Tony got out of the car, Keira following his lead. "Instead of pushing Lang through time, you might've wound up pushing time through Lang. It's tricky. Dangerous. Somebody could've cautioned you against it."
"You did." Steve deadpanned, smiling inwardly at the man's theatrics.
"Oh, did I? Well, thank god I'm here. Regardless, I fixed it." Tony held up his hand, showing the neat little device that would solve all their problems. "A fully functioning time-space GPS. Or C-GPS if you ask Keira. I just want peace. Turns out, resentment is corrosive, and I hate it."
"Me too."
Keira's smile only widened as the two men in front of her finally seemed to be able to settle their differences. It had been a long time coming, even with their broken history. Mutual respect had always been brewing behind their façades and it seemed like they would finally be able to form a bond that wasn't built on differing opinions.
"We got a shot at getting these Stones, but I gotta tell you my priorities. Bring back what we lost, I hope, yes. Keep what I found, I have to, at all costs. And... maybe not die trying. Would be nice."
"Sounds like a deal." Steve smiled warmly and held out his hand, which Tony took and shook.
This really was happening. The team was getting together, slowly but surely.
Seeing the two men make peace, Keira rounded the car and opened the trunk. She had to rummage around for a while to find what she was searching for, as the trunk was full of different kinds of toys. But the moment her fingers touched the cool metal, her smile widened, and she picked up the familiar blue, red, and white shield, handing it over to Tony.
Steve was eyeing the shield with apprehension, shaking his head faintly. "Tony... I don't know." The memories of their last fight came flashing back to the surface.
"Why? He made it for you." Tony stated, flipping the shield over in his hands. "Plus, honestly, I have to get it out of the garage before Morgan takes it sledding." He wasn't going to take no for an answer, so he reached out and slid the shield onto Steve's arm.
Keira bit down on her lip to stop herself from betraying her and Morgan's secret. The shield had in fact, already been used for sledding without Tony's knowledge. She and Morgan had taken it out during the winters for two years now when the snow lay heavy on the ground. The shield glided surprisingly well, and they had been entertained for a few hours. To avoid any suspicion, Keira had, of course, brought another sledge as a present for Morgan as a ruse.
"Thank you, Tony." Steve said, his heart warming at the simple gesture.
"Will you keep that a little quiet? Didn't bring one for the whole team."
"Yeah, I'm fully aware of that." Keira butted in, smirking at Tony, who for a moment looked terrified at the prospect that she would be offended that she didn't get a gift. So, to ease his conscience, she changed the subject. "We are getting the whole team, yeah?"
"We're working on that right now."