Thank you to everybody who read or reviewed the last conversation. You are all fabulous. We are back in the beta timeline.

Spoiler warning: So even though I wrote this chapter wayback in September, I successfully managed to guess something that was confirmed in episode five of Hawkeye. Maybe I'm being overly cautious giving a heads up but I felt it would be only fair. However, this is 100% No Way Home safe. I am too traumatized to talk about that yet. Remember no spoilers in the comments for 30 days.

Conversation 43: Making Peace

Tosha 2023: I'm going to do a grocery run and pick up dinner. Scott wants tacos again. What do you want?

Laura: I am going into the city with Steve in a little bit. He has his group tonight, and I'm coming as a special guest. Although please pick up more good chocolate as well as more ingredients for Hunter's cookies

Tosha 2023: That's probably good. Will do.

Laura: Did May tell you that we're leaving for Norway in the morning? We need to know things about Asgard to help Daisy that we will only get from Thor.

Tosha 2023: Then it's a good thing you're going there.

Laura: We still need a pilot, by the way.

Tosha 2023: Ask your husband. I am mad at you.

Laura: Why are you mad at me?

Tosha 2023: You let me find out that I have a girlfriend in the gamma timeline by reading her apology for making out with Loki. It was to fool the mark so they could get the codes to his ships to get the hell out of wherever they are right now.

Laura: Wait, what? None of that was in the official report that I read.

Tosha 2023: It was a separate note. She addressed it to Natasha, which means only a Natasha can read it.

Laura: Those AIs really do love loophole abuse.

Laura: I'm sorry. I didn't think to mention it once I found out you and Daisy were never together here. There was so much other stuff that needed to be addressed first.

Tosha 2023: I only met Daisy once on the battlefield of Wakanda because we were fighting together as a team. We were surprisingly good at it. I also saw her disappear.

Laura: I'm sorry. I should've said something, especially once I read Daisy's reports myself.

Tosha 2023: How did they get together? I've never dated a woman before. I had a few hookups, mostly mission-related but never a relationship.

Laura: You haven't had that many relationships, period. Unless there has been someone over the last seven years.

Tosha 2023: A couple of dates, but the last one started crying in his soup. I don't really have the time or energy for it.

Laura: And yet your other self –sorry, variant did find somebody when she was technically on the run.

Tosha 2023: I feel like her life on the run was very different than mine. She had access to Stark resources and was renegotiating the accords on behalf of the Wakandan government. They had a base in Malta with the approval of the local government. We had nothing like that.

Laura: The secret Avengers team was trying to defuse all of Dreykov's surprises and associates.

Tosha 2023: You got a different President out of it, so obviously, they were successful.

Laura: Extremely successful. I'll ask Clint to fly us to Norway.

Tosha 2023: Good, you guys need to talk more. He's been better these last few days.

Laura: This is better?

Tosha 2023: He actually sat through the entire meeting and did not go hide in the vents. I didn't even have to bribe him with Hunter's cookies.

Laura: That is definitely an improvement from the last group meeting. This was also more productive. I got a video from my kids. Nikki is adorable and [redacted] is being a brat. He's really mad at me for not being there right now and being forced to go to Malta with the other little kids. Lily bear is just done with him.

Tosha 2023: Your phone is set to Redact your children's names if you actually use them?

Laura: Yes

Tosha 2023: What happened in the other timeline?

Laura: Ross kidnapped me and held me hostage for several days because he couldn't get to you guys. I know now that Leo made it significantly harder for Ross to track the Avengers. Ross got desperate long before Clint and Lane made a deal in your timeline. When I didn't crack, he tried to go after the kids, but Tony made sure he couldn't get to them. Coulson and his team had to rescue me. We became very protective of the children after that.

Tosha 2023: That is very understandable. Things went differently here.

Laura: I know. Some things are better, some things are worse. That's life.

Tasha 2023: I'm just not quite sure what those things are just yet.

Laura: If you are going to be staying here, there is something that you could do. However, I don't know if you would want to. Especially if you're still mad about the Daisy thing.

Tosha 2023: I am, but I forgive you because you're balancing a lot. You also don't know what we don't know.

Laura: I am. Thor isn't the only one there that we still have access to. We need to get Daisy anything we can so there's a better outcome. Not just for her but for the Asgardians. From what Friday told me, there were not a lot of survivors.

Tosha 2023: There's Valkyrie. She pretty much runs New Asgard. She was the one who got the survivors to safety. You should talk to her as well.

Laura: I will add her to the list. However, Bruce is right here, and I know he was there for some of what happened. I am not sure if you want to talk to him. I don't know what the state of your relationship is like right now. He is still MIA in my time, and the two of you never had a chance to resolve what happened.

Tosha 2023: We are mostly ignoring each other's existence. Getting him to work on this project was the first time I've spoken to him in at least three years. However, I am a professional. I feel like I owe it to myself to help get Daisy back safe and sound.

Laura: Thank you.

Laura: I have a question before you go, two actually. I tried to ask earlier, but you distracted me with questions of Ross. One, do you want to see the video of the kids?

Tosha 2023: Yes, I do. I miss them.

Laura: We're going to get them back. But I can tell you that the kids have missed their Aunt Natasha as well. And I bet they are crawling all over her now that she's back in the US. Baby Nikki anyway. The others are too cool for that.

Tosha 2023: I'm sure they are.

Laura: Question two, should I let Clint see it?

Tosha 2023: I think you should let him make that choice. But I think he would like to see the video.

Laura: OK. I'm going to text him now. Wish me luck

Tosha 2023: You don't need it. I might, though.

Xxxxx

Romanoff: I'm doing a grocery run this afternoon as well as picking up dinner. Let me know your preferences.

Bruce: I already started a list with Friday, but I will have her send it to you. I apologize now for how much is on the list. Actually, you might consider going to Costco.

Romanoff: Maybe I'll have Friday arrange for delivery for that part. I'll just get pizza instead. Scott can have tacos another night.

Bruce: Good idea.

Romanoff: Steve and Laura are going to Norway tomorrow to talk to Thor and Valkyrie about what actually happened on Asgard and afterward. Laura wants me to speak with you about it. Is there anything missing from your initial report that you would like to add?

Bruce: Is that going to help? Things are different. There wasn't an Agent Johnson there with Loki. I don't think we should make Thor talk about that if we don't have to. He's not doing very well. Unfortunately, they don't make antidepressants for Asgardians.

Romanoff: In our timeline. Although the gamma timeline does make them for super soldiers. I think Tony might be tinkering with the formula.

Bruce: Interesting.

Romanoff: Agent Johnson is May's adopted daughter in both timelines. She didn't survive the decimation. I would really like for her to survive Asgard and Thanos this time. Maybe we can come up with a way for him not to target that Asgardian ship.

Bruce: She's also your girlfriend.

Bruce: Or rather, Daisy was your girlfriend. Because she didn't survive the decimation, which you just mentioned. I'm sorry for your loss.

Romanoff: She wasn't my girlfriend. Her variant is the girlfriend of my variant in the gamma timeline. I didn't meet her until Wakanda. In this timeline, I went directly to Steve and the others. My gamma variant did not. I don't know why she made a different choice. But apparently, it resulted in a different president. Obviously, she made the right one.

Bruce: Hopefully, one that actually respects the sciences.

Bruce: I think the ship was targeted because Loki had the Tesseract with him.

Romanoff: Then the question is, did Thanos know the stone was there? Or was he targeting Loki because he knew he would know the location? Unfortunately, he just happened to be on that ship.

Romanoff: Or could Thanos have been targeting Asgardians in general. If that's the case, it's not going to make a difference if Loki and the Tesseract are not on the ship.

Bruce: I'm not sure it wouldn't matter if Loki wasn't there. Asgard was the last known location. At the same time, Thanos didn't go after the ship with those we sent away with Valkyrie.

Bruce: I don't know exactly what happened during those last few minutes. I was sent away to warn everybody. Not that it did a lot of good. Although at least their Avengers are still together. Maybe that will make a difference.

Romanoff: Do you think the best course of action is for Daisy to get the Tesseract and run?

Bruce: The best course is for us to bring the Tesseract here and hope Thanos really was just going after Loki. Although, for Thor's sake, I don't think we should use him as bait.

Romanoff: We shouldn't. So protecting Loki is also on the list of things that need to be done. This is becoming a really long list.

Bruce: If you know when Steve and Laura are arriving, let me know. I'll call Valkyrie.

Romanoff: You're still in contact?

Bruce: Yes. She was one of my few friends when I was on Sakaar.

Romanoff: I'm glad you made friends there.

Bruce: I'm grateful to have friends. Also, I will try to find out if it's a good day for Thor. He doesn't have many of those.

Romanoff: I don't think there is a way to make tomorrow a good day for him. Not unless Stark perfects that formula. Although maybe having the chance to keep one version of his brother alive will help Thor make peace.

Bruce: Even if it doesn't bring back this one?

Romanoff: You're going to want to help your siblings no matter what.

Bruce:?

Romanoff: Well, you found a friend. I found a sister. More accurately rediscovered I had one.

Bruce: That's good. I hope to meet her someday.

Romanoff: You will if we can get all the stones.

Xxxxx

Agent Barton: So, because I forgot to tell Natasha that she had a girlfriend in the gamma timeline, she refuses to fly Steve and me to Norway. She found out reading some of the files.

Clint: I can see her being mad about that. I bet you're really regretting never taking the flying lessons I offered.

Agent Barton: I will never have you teach me anything else after you tried to teach me how to shoot and failed miserably. I do regret not letting May teach me how to fly.

Clint: I'll fly you to Norway.

Agent Barton: Thank you.

Clint: You really should've told her about the girlfriend.

Agent Barton: Especially because even though they weren't together, she watched Daisy die in this timeline.

Clint: Shit!

Agent Barton: This has happened a few times. In my timeline, Tony and Yo-Yo are best friends. Here they never met before Thanos killed her.

Clint: Friday told me that you got a letter from your kids.

Agent Barton: And a video. I sent it to Natasha but do you want to see it too?

Clint: Maybe tomorrow before we leave. When do we leave?

Agent Barton: It depends on if you want to pick us up in Brooklyn tomorrow. We're actually leaving in 15 minutes for Steve's survivors' support group.

Clint: He's in a support group?

Agent Barton: He leads a support group.

Clint: I want to see this.

Agent Barton: You can come. We can stop off and get milkshakes on the way.

Clint: Forget driving. We should just fly in and leave from Brooklyn in the morning. Does Steve have somewhere we can park the Quinn jet?

Agent Barton: I have no idea. Apparently, Tony owns half of the five boroughs now, so he probably has somewhere we could park the Quinn jet.

Clint: I'm not even surprised.

To be continued…