The Sapphire Legacy (Steve Rogers)

Chapter 11

We take a right turn and turn down Tony and Pepper's long driveway. We park and Steve and I get out of the car. "AUNTIE TAY! UNCLE STEVE!" Morgan yells and runs over towards Steve, launching herself onto him. He catches her and gives her a kiss on the head. She leans over in Steve's arms and I give her a kiss on the cheek. Tony emerges from the shed and walks over towards us.

"To what do I own the pleasure?" Steve sets down Morgan and she runs inside. "Tony, we need to talk." Steve looks at him and he nods his head towards the house.

Scott explains his plan out to Tony in detail and he's deep in thought. "Look...we know how it sounds, but Tony after everything you've seen, is anything really impossible?" I look at him as he stares blankly into space.

"Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck Scale, which then triggers the Deutsch Proposition. Can we agree on that?"

"Tony, English." He sighs and looks at the three of us, "In Layman's terms, it means you're not coming home."

"I did." Scott speaks up and Tony shakes his head, standing up. "No, you accidentally survived. It's a billion to one cosmic fluke. And now you wanna pull off a... What do you call it?"

"A time heist?" He looks from Scott to me with a scoff, "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?" "The stones are in the past, we can go back and get them." Scott says. "We can snap our own fingers, bring everyone back." Tony stares at Nat and then looks at his house, "or screw it up worse than he already has."

"Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel. That means no talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events -" Tony cuts Scott off quickly, "I'm gonna stop you right there, Scott. Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on Back To The Future?" Scott scoffs and looks away mumbling, "No." "Good. You had me worried there. Cause that'd be horse shit. That's not how quantum physics works."

"Tony...we have to take a stand." Nat pleads with him and he stands up, ready to walk away. "We did stand. And yet...here we are." Tony turns around and swiftly walks inside.

"Let me talk to him." I stand up, give Steve a kiss, and follow Tony inside. "Tony...I know you have a lot on the line, but we lost people important to us. A lot of people did. If there's even a slim chance to bring them all back..." "Taylor. I can't risk what I have. Pepper, Morgan, you...I can't roll the dice." He sighs and grabs an apple off of the counter, tossing it in the air. "If you don't talk shop, you can all stay for lunch." He walks away up the stairs and I sigh, walking back out to Steve, Scott, and Nat.

I see them all looking at me, hoping I was able to change his mind. I shake my head at them, "He's scared." Steve grabs my hand and interlocks our fingers, "He's not wrong." "Yea, but I mean, what are we going to do? We need him. We can't just stop." Scott looks at Steve desperately. "If we're gonna do this, I want to do it right. We're going to need a really big brain." "Bigger than his?" Scott points at the house as we all walk to the car.

About an hour later we were sat at a small diner with Bruce who had found a way to merge himself with Hulk. We were sitting in a large booth, Steve's hand on my thigh rubbing small circles. Bruce was currently eating some fries as Scott stared at him with his mouth hanging open, "I'm so confused." "These are confusing times...Come on, I feel like I'm the only one eating." He pushes a plate of eggs towards Steve and I, "Try some of that. Have some eggs." I smile at him, "Thanks Bruce, but we really aren't hungry."

"You're seeing this right??" Scott looks back and forth from us to bruce, "I'm so confused."

Bruce smiles and takes a sip of his drink, "I know its crazy! I'm wearing shirts now!" He shakes his head in disbelief at himself and Scott sits with a puzzled look on his face. "Look. Five years ago, we got our asses beaten. Except it was worse for me, because I lost twice. First Hulk lost, then Banner lost, then...we all lost."

"No one blamed you Bruce," Nat spoke up, looking at him in the eyes for the first time in likely two years, at least since Steve and I's wedding. But even then he was still Bruce... not Smart Hulk. "I did, for years. I was treating the Hulk like he was some kind of disease, something to get rid of. Then I started looking at him as the cure...18 months in a gamma lab...I put the brains and the brawn together. Now look at me! The best of both worlds." He gave her a sad smile and a few kids came up, asking Bruce for a picture.

"Bruce." Steve snaps him away from his conversation with the three children. "About what we were saying..."

"Right! The whole time travel do-over? Guys it's a little outside of my expertise, you talk to Tony about this?" He looks at me expectantly. "We tried. He's not willing to risk it, with Morgan and everything..." He nods and sits back, thinking.

"You pulled this off...I remember a time when that seemed pretty impossible too." Nat placed a hand on his from across the table and he gave her a small smile. They gazed at each other for a few seconds, neither one moving their hands.

"Well, what are we waiting for."