The car ride to upstate New York was silent. The radio was off, the windows were shut, and not a word was spoken for most of the ride between Tony and Audelia.
Audelia's eyes were trained on the world outside her window. Some of the world had managed to piece themselves back together after the snap, but not everyone. The world seemed blah, what used to be bustling streets of New York were empty, only some people scattered here and there.
Tony could feel what she was feeling, he knew her better than anyone after all. Silently, he took her hand in his, running his fingers over the diamond ring on her finger as he drove.
"Summer before your last year at MIT, got invited to a party by your smoking hot ex, Madeline Adley," Audelia shot him a look, although she knew he was kidding. He only sent her a small smirk in response. "Her dumbass of a brother almost set the place on fire by dropping 100 proof vodka on the floor and then lighting it on fire. Whole kitchen was up in flames in a matter of seconds, remember that?"
"Unfortunately, I do," Audelia choked out through her laughter as they got closer and closer to the compound that she knew wasn't too far ahead now. Her nerves were going wild at the thought.
"This is just like that," Tony said nonchalantly. "We're just...trying to fix a situation that seems absolutely impossible to fix, but we will prevail. I mean, we did save that kitchen from being burned down."
"Tony, we ran to the neighbors and got extra fire extinguishers, got it out, and then you dragged me out of there like a bat from hell before the cops showed up to bust us for underage drinking," Audelia deadpanned as she looked at him. "I really hope this doesn't go like that."
"Yeah...not my best analogy,"
As Tony hot the gasp and sped up onto the long runway that approached the front doors of the compound, Audelia could already see the faint outline of Steve Rogers standing outside, watching as their car pulled up. The tires squealed as Tony pulled just to far up, having to back up to see Steve as he rolled down the driver side window to look at him.
"Why the long face?" Audelia commented as she leaned toward Tony, shooting her friend a sly smile. "Let me guess, he turned into a baby?"
Steve couldn't help but laugh, shaking his head.
"Among other things, yeah. What are you two doing here?"
"It's the EPR paradox," Tony explained as the paid exited the car, coming to stand in front of Steve. "Instead of pushing Lang through time you might've wound up pushing time through Lang. It's tricky, dangerous, someone could've cautioned you against it."
"You did," Steve conceded, a small smile on his lips none the less.
"Did he? Good thing we're here then," Deli added in with a wink, holding up her hand to show the time watch on the back. "We fixed it. A fully functioning time space GPS."
"Though, you are going to have to give Aurora some of the credit for this one," Tony threw in as he saw the smirk on Steve's lips. "Damn girl is too smart for her own good I swear. But, it turns out resentment is corrosive and I hate it."
"Me too,"
"Steve, we have a chance, but we have to lay out priorities here," Audelia spoke as she walked toward the trunk of the car. "Bring back what we lost? I hope so. But we have to keep what we've gained. No matter what the cost, we...we can't lose what we've gained to get back what we lost."
"And maybe not die trying, that would be nice," Tony threw in on the side with a shrug.
Steve's smile grew as he held out his hand for Tony, who took a second before shaking it.
"Sounds like a deal,"
As the pair of friends made up, with Audelia watching on with a grin, Steve quickly made his way over to her and scooped his long time friend into a tight hug, that she gladly reciprocated.
"I've missed you," he admitted under his breath, but Audelia could hear the pain. They had lost Benjamin in the snap, he had lost the last thing of his past to Thanos just as she had lost her father. She knew his pain.
"I've missed you too,"
"I know I hate sappy shit, but let's move from one sappy thing to the next..." Audelia and Steve pulled apart as Tony opened the trunk, reaching inside and producing a brand new shield from within. she could hear Steve's breath catch at the sight of it.
"Tony, I don't know..."
"Why?" he questioned, cocking his head. "He made it for you. Plus, honestly, we have to get it out of the garage before Morgan takes it sledding...again."
Deli and Tony both stood back and watched as Steve placed the shield onto his arm, right where it belonged. He looked up to the pair before him with a grin.
"Thank you, both of you,"
"Might want to keep it quiet though," Deli threw in. "We didn't really bring one for everyone."
"Too late," the group turned as Nathan walked outside, a proud grin on his face as he walked up to Deli, pulling her into a quick hug before shaking hands with Tony quickly. "I had a feeling you tow would come around."
"We would miss a chance to get the team back together," Tony shot back, closing the trunk as he turned to everyone before him. "We are getting the whole team, right?"
"We're working on that right now,"
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Just a filler, don't you worry the action is on the way...plus some other things you might kill me for...