Water Or Wine

Chapter 5

"I am already going there." I say to Steve quietly as he follows me back out to my car "let me talk to him." He shakes his head grabbing his own keys. "This is something I need to ask." He tells me "he can be stubborn as hell when he wants to be." I snort and unlock my car. "Isn't that all the time?" I ask and Steve smiles softly. Before he can move towards his own car I grab his arm "don't let it turn into a fight Steve, there aren't many of us left." The blonde nods his head "I know that."

The drive into the country side doesn't take long because there are not enough cars around to cause traffic. One of the only perks of the snap. When we arrive I grab the anniversary gift from the boot of my car and sling my bag of clothes over my shoulder. Squinting in the sun light Scott comes over to me, "Tony lives here?" He asks sounding in disbelief. I nod my head and head around the side of my car "he does indeed, the might ego-ridden Tony Stark is no more."

Just then he comes into view, holding my beautiful goddaughter in his arms. Tony stops slowly as he spots us and I give him a small smile. Morgan spots me and squeals, begging to be let down before rushing over to me. With a wide grin on my face I open my arms wide and launch her into the air before folding the five-year-old in for a hug "I've missed you cricket." I say kissing her forehead. Morgan giggles and wipes some brown strands of hair from her face "I missed you too auntie Noey." She can't pronounce Noel so that's the best it's going to get for now. I set her down and say "why don't you go and as your mum for an ice cream." Morgan nods her head rapidly and heads inside.

I then turn back to Tony "we need to talk." I say solemnly. He sighs and gestures to the deck, the four of us settle into chairs and Tony grabs us some drinks before we get down to business. Scott explains his theory and then stammers "no. We know what it sounds like." Tony pours us all another drink and doesn't say anything. "Tony, after everything you've seen, is anything really impossible?" Steve asks, I take my cup back and have a sip of water. Tony cuts through Steve, still holding a grudge from years ago, "quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck scale which then triggers the Deutsch Proposition. Can we agree on that?"

He hands Steve his drink and turns to Scott "in layman's terms, it means you're not coming home." I look at my nails and make a mental note that I need to get them done, they look awful. "I did." Scott tells him confidently, Tony just shakes his head picking up another cup "no." He says "you accidentally survived. It's a billion-to-one cosmic fluke. And now you wanna pull a.... what do you call it?" That question catches Scott off guard slightly but he replies with "time-heist?" I cringe slightly at his naming skill, something we will have to work on later.

Tony laughs "yeah, a time-heist. Of course. Why didn't we think of this before? Oh because it's laughable. Because it's a pipe dream." I place my glass down on the table "the stones are in the past." I say "we could go back, we could get them." Natasha nods her own head from where she stands next to me and adds "we can snap our own fingers. We can bring everybody back." Tony sighs heavily and raises his eyebrows "or screw it up worse than he already has, right?" Steve, who is currently staring him down replies "I don't believe we would."

Tony holds up a hand as he retorts "gotta say it. I sometimes 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." Scott launches into action as soon as Tony is finished speaking "not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel. All right? It means no talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events."

The billionaire holds out a hand "I'm gonna stop you right there, Scott." He says clutching his glass tightly in his other hand. Tony leans forward "are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on Back to the Future?" Scott laughs awkwardly and pulls a face "no." he says. "Good, you had me worried there for a sec." Tony says gently "that's not how quantum physics works."

Natasha, who has been standing quietly beside me says "Tony." Her puce wavering slightly as though she might cry "we have to take a stand." Our friend stares blankly back at her, no emotion showing on his face "we did stand." He argues "and yet, here we are." I sigh and cross my arms, Natasha stares out across the wide open fields around us. "I know you got a lot on the line." Scott says continuing the conversation "you got a wife, a daughter. But I lost someone very important to me. A lotta people did. And now, now we have a chance to bring her back. To bring everyone back, and you're telling me you won't even." He is starting to get riled up so I place a calming hand on his shoulder.

"That's right, Scott. I won't even." Tony says cutting him off "I can't." A door squeaks open and then closes. Morgan appears, looking shy around lots of new people "mummy told me to come and save you and Auntie Noey." She says as her father picks her up "good job." he says kindly "we are saved." He then turns back to Scott as his daughter hugs him tightly. "I wish you were coming here to ask me something else." He tells us "anything else. I am honestly happy to see you guys, I just.... Oh look, the table's set for six....." Steve cuts through his friends sentence "Tony. I get it. And I'm happy for you. I really am. But this is a second chance."

I move across the deck towards the retired superhero. Tony stares deeply into his friends eyes "I've got my second chance right here, Cap." He says gesturing to the house and Morgan "can't roll the dice on it." He then turns to everyone "if you don't talk shop, you can stay for lunch." When he goes into the house I follow the others to their car.

"Well, he's scared." Natasha muses and as Steve places his hands in his jacket pockets he adds "he's not wrong." Scott races up behind us like a lost puppy "yeah, but, I mean, what are we gonna do?" He asks "we need him. What, are we gonna stop?" We stop at the car and Steve turns around "no." He answers "I wanna do it right." I sigh again and rub my forehead with my hand "I am staying here for the night." I explain "I can try and convince him. You know Tony always sees right in the end."

Steve nods his head and places a hand on my shoulder "I also know how stubborn he can be." He replies solemnly "in the meantime, we are gonna go to someone else." I hug him and then the other two before stepping back "be safe. All of you." Nat and Steve nods, Scott however salutes and says "yes ma'am." I smile and shake my head.

I watch them drive away.