New Chapter!
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Izzy sat on the porch railing, listening silently as Scott recounted what happened leading up to this moment, including his time spent in the Quantum Realm and the plan that they were proposing. Though she was glad to see Steve and Natasha, her eyes were focused on Tony, who was pouring a drink for everyone while he listened.
"Now, we know what it sounds like..." Scott said with a nervous laugh.
Steve spoke, cutting off what was sure to be a stuttering ramble. "Tony after everything you've seen, is anything really impossible..."
"Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck scale, which then triggers the Deutsch proposition." Tony spoke as he handed out glasses to everyone. "Can we agree on that?"
Izzy nodded easily, though everyone else looked confused. She nervously twisted her ring as she thought about the implications of the statement.
Rolling his eyes slightly, Steve accepted the glass. "Thank you."
"In Layman's terms, it means you're not coming home." Tony clarified.
"I did." Scott replied.
Izzy shook her head. "No." She said. "You accidentally survived."
"It's a—It's a billion-to-one cosmic fluke." Tony added on. "And now you wanna pull a…What do you call it?"
Scott shrugged. "A time heist?"
Izzy snorted quietly.
"Yeah. Time heist." Tony said, expression indicating that he was about to tear this to pieces. "Of course. Why didn't we think of this before? Oh! Because it's laughable? Because it's a pipedream?"
"The stones are in the past." Steve spoke up, tone serious. "We can go back, and we can get them. We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everybody back."
"Or screw it up worse than he already has, right?" Tony argued back.
"I don't believe we would." Steve said.
Tony sighed. "Gotta say this. Sometimes, I miss that giddy optimism." He said. "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."
"Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel." Scott said. "That means no talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events..."
Izzy raised an eyebrow. "Hold up." She laughed seeing Tony's expression mirroring her own.
"I'm gonna stop you right there, Scott." Tony said. "Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on Back to the Future?"
Scott paused. "No." He said a little sheepishly.
"Good. You had me worried there." Tony said. "Cause that'd be horseshit."
"That's not how quantum physics works." Izzy said.
Natasha spoke quietly. "Tony...We have to take a stand." She said and for the first time Izzy saw the weight that was pressing on her.
"We did stand." Tony said turning to her, voice not unkind. "And yet, here we are."
"I know you got a lot on the line." Scott said. "You got a wife, your daughters. But I lost someone very important to me. A lot of people did." Izzy's hands clinched on her jeans, drawing Steve and Tony's attention. "And now, now, we have a chance to bring her back. To bring everyone back. And you're telling me that you won't even..."
"That's right, Scott." Tony said bringing his eyes away from Izzy. "I won't."
Morgan suddenly ran out the door, Tony scooping her up. "Mommy told me to come and save you." She said.
"Good job. I'm saved." Tony said as he hugged her close, standing up as Izzy hopped off the railing and walked over stroking a hand down Morgan's hair. Tony looked to the others. "I wish you'd come here to ask me something else. Anything else. Honestly, I missed you guys, it was..." He trailed off for a second hugging Izzy close too. "Oh, and table's set for eight."
"Tony, I get it." Steve said. "And I'm happy for you. I really am. But this is a second chance."
"I got my second chance right here, Cap." Tony said. "I can't roll the dice again. If you don't talk shop, you can stay for lunch."
Izzy let Tony take Morgan inside, she moved to see Steve and them off. "Despite the circumstances, I am glad to see you guys." She said hugging Natasha tightly. "I'm sorry that—"
"Stop." Natasha said. "You never had anything to apologize for." She took Izzy's hand, looking at the ring with a smile. "Congratulations."
Izzy hugged Steve next, it sinking in how much she really missed them. She missed everyone. As she stepped back, another car pulled up and Johnny stepped out of the driver's side. She saw the immediate concern in his gaze as he came closer.
"It was good seeing you guys again." Izzy said as Johnny put an arm around her shoulders, her arm going around his waist as they turned to go into the house.
…
"A time heist?" Johnny raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah." Izzy laughed lightly. "Not the greatest of titles."
They were sitting on the dock, enjoying the cool crisp evening air. Izzy was happily warm, wrapped in Johnny's arms as she recounted what happened during the unexpected visit.
Johnny gently played with her finger's as he thought about what she told him. "Do you really think it's impossible?" He asked.
Izzy shrugged. "Not necessarily impossible, but it is dangerous." She said. "Right now, there would be no guarantee that anyone would be able to even get where they're going in one piece."
"Are you okay?" He asked seriously.
"Yeah." She said. "It was nice seeing them again. I miss them…sometimes I feel like I abandoned them with everything when I stepped away."
"You got out for a good reason though." Johnny said squeezing her tightly. "They encouraged you to do it."
"I know." Izzy said. She turned in his arms and pressed her lips to his. "I promise I'm fine. No impending meltdowns."
He pulled her closer and kissed her deeply. She could feel his concern easily through the embrace.
…
Izzy waited until she could no longer see taillights in the dark before she headed back inside, already missing Johnny's warmth as she wrapped her overlarge sweater tighter around her frame. Unfortunately, he had work to get back to. Walking inside, she turned to the kitchen where Tony was finishing up the dishes.
She watched as he accidentally sprayed water up onto the shelves as he finished cleaning the sink. He reached up and picked up the picture of him standing with Peter, holding a plaque commemorating the 'Stark Internship'. Drying it off, Tony stared at the picture with a distant expression.
Walking over, Izzy wrapped her arms around Tony, resting her cheek against his shoulder as they stared at the photo of the bright-eyed youth. Of all the regrets that they had, Peter's fate was by far at the top of the list.
Tony sighed quietly and put the photo back before looking at her. They had work to do.
…
"Look at a mod inspiration, let me see what checks out." Tony instructed FRIDAY as he and Izzy moved around the projection table. They had been working on this for the last couple of hours, so far with no success. "So, recommend one last sim before we pack it in for the night. This time, in the shape of a mobius strip, inverted. Please?"
Izzy gave him a curious look, wondering what had inspired that thought. Tony just shrugged.
"Processing..." FRIDAY said.
"Give me that eigenvalue." Tony said. "That, particle factoring, and spectral decomp." Izzy stood up, making a slight adjustment on the hologram and watched the model move around as FRIDAY rendered it with their specifications. "And don't worry if it doesn't pan out. I'm just kinda..."
"Model rendered." FRIDAY as they both froze.
Seeing the 'Model: Successful' was not what they had been expecting.
Izzy covered her mouth as Tony dropped into his chair in shock. "Shit!" Tony said in disbelief.
"Shit." Both paused and turned to the voice seeing Morgan sitting on the bottom of the stairs, watching them.
Tony's eyes widened and he put a finger to his lips. "What are you doing up, Little Miss?" He said in a whisper.
"Shit." Morgan repeated.
"No. We don't say that." Tony scolded lightly. "Only Mommy says that word. She coined it; it belongs to her."
Morgan smiled. "Why you up?" She asked.
"Cause I got some important shit going on here. What do you think?" Morgan narrowed her eyes at that causing Izzy to laugh. "No, I got something on my mind." Tony looked at the model projection as he trailed off. "I got something on my mind."
"Was it Juice Pops?" Morgan asked hopefully.
Izzy's eyes softened as she looked at her sister. Tony's demeanor changed as well as he smiled. "Sure was." He stood up and took Morgan's hand as the three went to the kitchen. "That's extortion. Great minds think alike. Juice Pops, exactly was on...my mind."
Izzy glanced back and waved her hand, getting rid of the model.
…
Izzy leaned against the doorframe of Morgan's room as she listened to Tony try and get Morgan back to sleep. Morgan was nursing her juice pop to prolong her awake time.
"You done? Yeah?" Tony took the stick and ate the remaining bit. "Now you are." He put a hand over her face as she giggled. "That face, goes there." He gently pushed back onto the pillows and covered her up with her blanket.
"Tell me a story." Morgan Said.
Izzy chuckled, remembering this dance many times.
"A story." Tony said. "Once upon a time, a little girl went to bed. The end."
Izzy laughed quietly. That wouldn't be the end of it.
"That ain't the whole story." Morgan protested.
"Come on, that's your favorite story." Tony said as Morgan giggled. He smiled and gave her a kiss on the head as he stood up. "I love you tons."
"I love you 3,000." Morgan said.
Tony froze as he heard that. "Wow. 3,000. That's crazy." He said recovering as he moved to the door and Izzy moved into the hallway. "Go to bed. Or I'll sell all your toys. Night-night."
Once in the hallway, he gave her an accusing look. "You taught her that, didn't you?" He said.
Izzy shook her head, holding up her hands. "Not me I swear." She said. She smiled and hugged Tony, placing a kiss on his cheek. "I do love you 3000 though."
They walked downstairs together, finding Pepper sitting on the couch reading a book.
"Not that it's a competition, but she loves me 3,000." Tony said. Pepper smiled. "You were somewhere in the low 6 to 900 range."
Pepper laughed lightly, but there was a warmth in her eyes as she recognized the words.
"What are you reading?" Tony asked.
"Just a book on composting." Pepper said but set it aside as Izzy sat next to her, resting her head against her shoulder. She wrapped her arms around Izzy.
"What's new with composting?" Tony asked but Izzy saw his mind spinning. Pepper probably did too.
"Just— "
"We figured it out..." Tony blurted out suddenly. "by the way."
Izzy glanced up at Pepper, who looked confused as she glanced between Tony and Izzy. "You know, just so we're talking about the same thing..." Pepper started.
"Time travel." Izzy said quietly.
Pepper froze in surprise. "What? Wow. That's...Amazing, and... terrifying." She said.
"That's right." Tony said. "I got really lucky."
"Yeah. I know." Pepper said quietly as Tony sighed.
Izzy spoke softly, still snuggled against Pepper. "A lot of people didn't."
Tony shook his head. "No, we can't help everybody."
Izzy tilted her head slightly.
"It sorta seems like you can." Pepper said gently.
"Not if I stop." Tony said glancing at Izzy, seeming to say it to her just as much as to himself. "I can put a pin in it right now and stop."
"Tony..." Pepper sighed, looking at Izzy quickly as well. "trying to get you to stop has been one of the few failures of my entire life."
Izzy smiled faintly but turned her eyes to Tony, half wanting him to tell her what the next move was going to be, but seeing the same conflict in his eyes as well.
"I sometimes feel I should put it in a locked box and drop it at the bottom of a lake..." Tony said quietly. "...go to bed."
Pepper gave him a sympathetic look. "But would you be able to rest?"
The look on Tony's face would never leave Izzy as long as she lived.