Tony flinched as the nozzle of the faucet sprayed water into the air. He sighed in frustration, wiping down the plate he'd been struggling to wash before peeking behind him to ensure it went unseen. He slipped it into the drying rack and ran the towel over the water-speckled wooden shelf on the wall. A picture hidden behind a row of drinking glasses caught his eye and he curiously plucked it from the back of the shelf. A lump formed in his throat as he carefully ran the towel over the glass. The photo was of a smiling Peter Parker holding his fingers in bunny ears behind Tony's head, Stark doing the same. They each held a framed certificate for Peter's "internship" at Stark Industries. Though the entire picture was staged for Aunt May, it still hurt to see the young boy's smiling face.
He huffed and set the photo on the countertop before stepping into the living room. A bit of light soaked in through the windows, piercing the black veil of night. A single lamp flooded the dim room in a warm glow as he stepped up to a large table in the corner of the room.
"I've got a mild inspiration." He said, a blue hologram appearing in front of him. "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." He clapped his hands together and slowly made his way around the table. "This time in the shape of a mobius strip. Inverted, please." The 3D shape before him shifted and contorted itself as instructed.
"Processing." Friday hummed. Tony cocked his head aside and reached out toward the hologram, twisting it around and picking out the specific piece he wanted.
"Right, give me the eigenvalue of that particle factoring in spectral decomp." He grabbed his water bottle and took a swig. "That'll take a second."
"Just a moment."
"And don't worry if it doesn't pan out. I'm just kinda..."
"Model rendered."
Tony's eyes grew wide when the words 'Model Successful' appeared before him. His mouth fell open and he plopped down into the chair just behind him as he let out a deep breath. He slapped a hand over his mouth, staring at the model in disbelief before holding his arms out at his sides.
"Shit!" He breathed.
"Shit!" A small voice repeated from behind. His face fell and he spun around to see Morgan sitting on the staircase in her pajamas, slippers shielding her feet from the cool panels of the wooden floor. Tony pressed a finger to his lips and shook his head.
"What are you doing up, little miss?" He whispered.
"Shit." She grinned.
"Nope. We don't say that." Tony hurried. "Only Mommy says that word. She coined it. It belongs to her."
"Why are you up?" Morgan asked sweetly.
"'Cause I got some important shit going on here!" He sang, pointing to the transparent model behind him. Morgan narrowed her eyebrows at her father, sending him a stern look. "Why do you think? No, I got something on my mind. I got something on my mind."
"Was it juice pops?" She asked, tilting her head aside as a smile spread across her lips.
"Sure was." He paused before standing from his chair. "That's extortion. That's a word. What kind you want?" Morgan stood to her feet as he moved toward her, reaching down and taking her hand in his. "Great minds think alike. Juice pops exactly was on my mind." Tony finished, taking one final look at the model before starting for the kitchen.
After a bit of indecision, Morgan ultimately went for an orange juice pop, one which Tony now held the remainder of in his hand.
"You done?" She nodded, hardly able to keep her eyes open as she scooted farther onto her bed. "Yeah?" He asked again as he slipped the rest of the popsicle into his mouth. "Now you are. Here, wipe." He said, pulling the sleeve of his shirt over his hand before wiping any melted popsicle from her face and tucking a bit of hair behind her ear. "Good." Tony smiled, covering her face with his hand as he pushed her head back against the pillow. "That face goes there."
"Tell me a story." She rubbed her eyes, pulling the sheets up farther.
"A story... Once upon a time Maguna went to bed. The end." He hurried.
"That is a horrible story."
"Come on, that's your favorite story." He argued, watching as her eyelids grew heavier. Tony leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Love you tons."
"I love you 3,000." Morgan beamed, swiping some hair from her face. He couldn't help the smile that climbed to his face.
"Wow." He hesitated, simply admiring his little girl before perching the popsicle stick between his teeth and flicking off the bedside lamp as he stood from where he knelt on the floor. "3,000." He breathed, moving slowly toward the door. "That's crazy." He stopped just before pulling the door shut. "Go to bed or I'll sell all your toys. Night night."
Tony couldn't wipe the stupid smirk from his face as he descended the stairs into the living room. Flames crackled in the stone fireplace, drenching the room in an orange glow. Pepper sat on the couch, a book in her hand. She peered up when his footsteps drew nearer.
"Not that it's a competition, but she loves me 3,000." He bragged.
"Does she, now?"
He shrugged. "You were somewhere in the low 6 to 900 range." Pepper chuckled, returning her attention to the book in her lap. Stark sighed, peeking over at the glowing model across the room. "Whatcha reading?"
"Just a book on composting."
"What's new with composting?" He asked, though really he was entirely uninterested.
"Interesting science-"
"I figured it out." Tony blurted. Pepper looked up at him expectantly. "By the way."
"And, you know, just so we're talking about the same thing..." She narrowed her eyebrows questioningly.
"Time travel." Her face fell and she shifted in place.
"What?" She asked in disbelief. He remained silent, though he couldn't seem to pry his gaze from the successful model. "Wow. That's amazing... and terrifying."
"That's right." He breathed, moving to sit beside her on the couch. They both sighed and a silence overcame them, neither knowing just what to say.
"We got really lucky." Pepper said as she rubbed his hand softly.
"Yeah. I know." He agreed.
"A lot of people didn't."
"Nope. And I can't help everybody."
"Sorta seems like you can." Tony finally brought himself to look her in the eye.
"Not if I stop. I can put a pin in it right now and stop."
"Tony, trying to get you to stop has been one of the few failures of my entire life." She smiled sadly.
"Something tells me I should put it in a lockbox and drop it to the bottom of the lake and go to bed."
"But would you be able to rest?"
YOU ARE READING
Everly || Steve Rogers
Fanfiction"Though I may cry a river, I will not drown in it." In which she needed a hero, so she became one. "She loved him too early, and he loved her too late." #1 in "thefirstavenger" as of 1/24/20 #1 in "buckybarnes" as of 5/4/20 #1 in "captainamericathef...
