Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last conversation. You are all so fabulous.

We are back in the "Tony and Steve are morons" timeline.

This chapter is from the perspective of Steve's cell phone. Morgan's dad refers to Tony "Potts." You'll just have to wait to see what Tony refers to Steve as in his cell phone. I am open to hearing your guesses

Conversation 8: We Are Not Losing Another Apocalypse Due to Your Tony Issues

Melinda: Have you called Stark yet? It's been almost an entire day.

Steve: I've been busy trying to coax Simmons out of the framework. She says she's in their consulting with an imprint of Fitz to see if he can help.

Melinda: That's not what she's doing. You know that. She stuck in her fantasy reality again. Probably with half a bottle of wine, at least.

Steve: I know.

Melinda: I am aware you're afraid to talk to Tony, but we need him. I think you're the only one who can convince him to help us.

Steve: I don't want him to think that I only talk to him when I need something from him.

Melinda: We've been to too many Chucky cheese days with Morgan for him to believe that.

Steve: Fine. I'll text because I always say the wrong thing when I call him.

Melinda: This is true. I hope that you're eventually able to keep your foot out of your mouth long enough to give me a reason to sign the divorce papers someday.

Steve: Not many people would

believe that you're a romantic at heart. Even if somehow Tony forgives me, he is with Pepper. He loves Pepper. I think it will take years for us just to get to the point of being friends. There's too much baggage, and I don't know how to work through it. I don't even know where to start.

Melinda: They've been engaged longer than we've been married.

Steve: Not everybody gets married for the reasons we did.

Melinda: Lots of people get married because they need emotional support and have survived drama together. We're together to hold each other to reality. You would be an even bigger prick without me.

Steve: Maybe. Do you still need me for that? Because if what we're doing works, we're still not going to be able to bring back Phil. He's gone.

Melinda: I know he is, but I'll get to see my mom, Daisy, Mack, and even Bobbi again. Besides that, I need you to take the second chance that I wasted. You rarely get a third opportunity. I should know.

Steve: I know. What if we can only be friends. What if maybe that's all we should be?

Melinda: Then it would be better than what you have now. Friendship is never a consolation prize. You need to keep moving forward. Even if we can undo what happened, we still must live with the scars.

Steve: I know that, but it's easier said than done.

Melinda: Nothing happens if you don't try. Isn't that what you always tell our daughters? Maybe you should stop preaching to everyone else and take your own damn advice.

Steve: I hate it when you do this.

Melinda: You need me to do this. You know we need Stark. You need him.

Steve: But I wasn't there when he needed me.

Melinda: I wasn't there when Loki stabbed Phil through the heart, but I was there six years later when he died for the second time from his injuries. You can't change the past. If it was possible, we wouldn't have Deke.

Steve: I thought that was what we were trying to do.

Melinda: No, we're trying to make new futures, but all the mistakes we made that led us here are still there, and they must be dealt with. Texting Tony is your first step.

Steve: You're right. I'll try.

Melinda: I'll go try to get Simmons out of the framework. I know we need to know what she did if Stark is going to undo it.

Steve: Maybe you could apologize for yelling at her.

Melinda: Maybe.

Steve: You're the closest thing she has to a mom with both her parents and siblings also gone. You need each other.

Melinda: Go deal with Stark.

Steve: Hey, I thought I would just check in to see how Robin is doing. Thank you for letting her stay there for a few days. She always says that you make homework fun for her.

Morgan's dad: It's no problem at all. Morgan needs socialization. Although you don't need to send a thank you text message. Your scary half has been doing that for the last week since you dropped your kid off here so you can go on your save the world mission.

Steve: She wanted to stay there, and Pepper said it was OK.

Morgan's dad: Morgan loves having a playmate.

Steve: Robin loves being there. She says that they're supposed to be sisters someday. I have no idea what that means.

Morgan's dad: Robin is fine, by the way. She's mad that you left her with us. She also keeps drawing a picture of Scott coming out of the van as a baby. Is there something you need to tell me?

Steve: That was a few days ago. We've moved past that.

Morgan's dad: So, you would tell me if something went wrong? I know you hate to ask people for help because you think you can do it all on your own, but sometimes it's necessary.

Steve: Yes, of course. Things are going slow because this really isn't Bruce's field, and Simmons is rarely sober, but they're working on it. I know you don't want to be here anyway.

Morgan's dad: You know they say the first step is admitting you have a problem. Also, don't put words in my mouth.

Steve: I need to go. May and Simmons are having a disagreement.

Morgan's dad: Isn't that usually the job of my Head of R&D. Who incidentally hasn't checked-in in about two days? Despite his save the world sabbatical, I still expect to see him playing on my server. Is there something you need to tell me?

Morgan's dad: I kept working on the time travel thing, by the way, and I gave Deke access. So, don't say I don't want to help because I do, but I need you to meet me halfway. I need you to…

Morgan's dad: I don't know what I need. Remember when I said I needed you, but I didn't need you now. That was a lie. Why do you always have to be such a self-righteous dick? [Message not sent]

To be continued

This begins the return of the unsent messages. And unlike in the "Tony and Steve had their ship together" timeline, this Friday isn't in Emma mode. So, she's probably not going to employ loophole abuse to send them anyway. That was probably totally Leo's fault.

Also, a quick note about updates, I am probably going to be posting every two weeks for a little while as I wait for the next batch of chapters. I don't want us to have a really long break, so I am trying to spread things out.