Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last conversation. You are all fabulous. Oddly enough, this was the second conversation I drafted for this story. However, I realized we needed to go through a bit before we get to Tony Potts and Mr. May-Rogers having a text message heart-to-heart.
Steve May-Rogers is referred to as DILF in Tony's address book. You may continue speculating about the actual state of Tony and Pepper's relationship. Tell me your speculation in the comments.
Conversation 10: Maybe we should have had this conversation seven years ago
DILF: That wasn't an excuse not to talk to you. Melinda was trying to figure out how things went wrong, and Simmons was not cooperative at all and it escalated. Deke is not here.
DILF: By not here, I mean stuck in an alternate timeline 2018. It turns out Simmons's fiancé didn't die five years ago in the explosion, but was sent back in time and created another timeline. Obviously, our attempts at undoing everything is not going as planned.
Tony: Although I'm upset that Pepper's chief creative officer is MIA, I'm glad it's not you. Maybe I shouldn't have let him look at my time travel theory work.
Tony: I would really hate for Robin's prediction of becoming Morgan's sister to come true because you and Mrs. May-Rogers got lost in the stream of time. The kids have already lost enough parents, and Morgan is only as good as she is because of Pepper. I'm an absolute mess.
DILF: You're not. You're a good dad. You retired just so you could be a stay-at-home parent.
Tony: I still have a nanny part-time because I can get caught in the creative zone.
DILF: You still do some SI work. It's understandable. Also, your nanny doubles as a bodyguard.
Tony: I don't want to lose what I have now if you and Ms. May-Rogers somehow magically turn back the clock five years. Morgan is my everything.
DILF: We're not planning to do that. At the minimum, Robin would kick me in the shin.
Tony: Robin does love her future little sister.
DILF: Morgan wasn't the only child born in the last five years. We would be wiping all of those people out. We would be no better than Thanos if we did that. We just want to bring everybody back. Don't you want Peter back?
Tony: Yes.
Tony: Except that is not happening yet because apparently, Deke is missing. So would you like to explain why your daughter drew a picture of Clint wearing a nanotech suit that I know Deke borrowed the design from my servers and Clint's wife that's been snapped for the last five years?
DILF: Have you considered not letting Deke have access to your servers?
Tony: Would you believe I did so because your child that draws the future told me too?
DILF: Tony Stark never does what is expected of him. Why start now?
Tony: It's Tony Potts-Stark.
DILF: Despite the fact, the wedding has been on hold for five years.
Tony: We wanted Morgan to have the same last name as us. It's more important that we're committed to Morgan then if we have paperwork filed with the state. Besides, I don't think Pepper wants to have a big wedding without her mom, and Happy would hate to miss it. He's like our biggest shipper. Although now I'm starting to wonder why he shipped us so much.
DILF: You know if you were with us, we might be able to fix things so they could be at the wedding, but that's not happening right now.
Tony: Mostly because whatever you're doing is failing miserably without me. Deke is missing, and apparently, you have Laura from the good timeline crashing at the compound.
DILF: And apparently any success we had at all was because you were feeding Deke information.
Tony: He is my chief creative officer. Although maybe I should've been less cryptic since he's now missing. Pepper is not happy. The board is going to be pissed if he stays missing.
DILF: I've wanted to ask you why you made him chief creative officer for years. How did that happen?
Tony: Yet you have not asked before now despite how many times we've hung out together at Chucky Cheese.
DILF: Maybe because I don't know how to talk to you. It's just easier to go through a whole basket of mozzarella sticks and churros.
Tony: The churros are halfway decent now.
Tony: You're doing well now, but that's probably because I think you're trying to avoid me. Or are you afraid of asking for help because you know that you need me. I feel like other Laura would like to get back to her kids.
DILF: I already asked you for help, and you said no. I don't want you to think I only come to you when I need your help because I don't want you to think that. I don't want you to think I'm losing you.
DILF: I mean using you. I never want you to think that.
Tony: Except I open my house to your kids. Even Kamala is going to spend this weekend with Pepper instead of coming here. Also, I have been spending many a sleepless night this week trying to perfect time travel even if I've just been passing the information to Deke.
DILF: Is this like before when you tried to keep Ross away from us? I only know of everything you did to keep Ross away because May told me.
Tony: Yes. However, Morgan must be my priority.
DILF: You don't think Robin and Kamala are my priority? I don't want Robin to keep living in this broken world. Her drawings of us restoring everybody has been the first happy thing she has drawn since May and I received full custody of her.
DILF: When Scott showed up last week, I thought maybe just maybe we could give her and her big sister a better future. Do you have any idea how many times I have held Kamala as she cried about missing her parents and her brother? They deserve better and so does Morgan.
Tony: Then tell me the truth.
DILF: We fucked up. Natasha and Simmons managed to convince Clint to come to help us.
Tony: Which wouldn't be that hard because I'm sure he wants his kids back.
DILF: Yes, he agreed to be the test subject. As you so eloquently pointed out, Deke and Simmons stole your work. The original plan was for Clint to go back to his farmhouse before the decimation and retrieve an object, but at the last minute, Deke went with him too.
Tony: If Robin's drawings are to be believed, the object he retrieved was his wife?
DILF: I know, you know. Friday probably told you.
Tony: She just confirmed the prophetic drawings of your child. Is this a good or bad thing?
DILF: Simmons didn't believe that we could get the stones; at least not without help. So, she used a piece of the monolith and the Pym particles to send Deke to retrieve her Fitz. At least we think that's what she did. She's not confirming anything
Tony: And somehow you ended up with a Laura from a world where you and I are married?
DILF: Technically, the wedding doesn't happen until April 28.
Tony: Of course, they would pick that as the wedding day.
DILF: Wait, how do you know that?
Tony: I have my sources.
DILF: Laura?
Tony: Along with Friday. So, you finally broke down and messaged me because you need me?
DILF: I always need you.
Tony: Well, thankfully for you, it's your lucky day. Look out the window.
DILF: You're here? Also, is that the shield in that bag you're carrying?
Tony: I may have been texting you from the front of the compound for the last 15 minutes. Of course, I brought your shield because otherwise, Robin and Morgan will try to use it to slide down the hill the moment we get snow. I don't trust Nanny Hunter to say no.
DILF: I can see that happening even if your nanny is a former Shield agent.
Tony: Hunter is my nanny. It would probably be his idea.
DILF: We can't let that happen. I'm coming to meet you.
Tony: I am surprised Avenger Friday hasn't alerted you to my presence yet.
Avenger Friday: Ms. Robin told me not to. She said you needed to talk things out first.
Tony: Why does my AI like your kids better than me?
"I have no idea." Tony looks up to see Steve reply verbally as he grabs the bag from Tony and pulls him into a half hug. "Come on in. I'm glad you're here."
To be continued
Even if Tony is mostly a stay-at-home dad, I feel like he would still need a nanny, mainly because in this verse, Pepper is still working. Extra adult supervision would be required if Tony got into the creative zone or was forced to spend quality time with the board. I love the idea of nanny Hunter from my Hydra lullaby story. Part bodyguard, part driver, and occasional babysitter. With Happy gone, Tony's going to need someone else. I always believe Tony needs more friends.
Finally, the next batch of 13 chapters are off at proofreading. I will post the next chapter as soon as I get it, but it might be more than two weeks.