It is crazy, isn't it? Time travel. The whole idea of going back and changing things or stealing things and using things in the present that are actually part of the past... That is how it works, right? None of the Back to the Future shit or the world ending if you see your past self or something? Nah, clear your heard, Stark. Just that tiny insect and his fascination with pop culture getting into your brain.
Funny, the kid would've loved him. Parker. That kid...that kid was just a walking encyclopedia from the 1980's.
Was. But there's a chance. We have to take it, don't we?
"I got a mild inspiration, let's see if it checks out," I mumble, typing in the formulas and praying to God they work out, but I doubt it'll be correct. "So, I could run one last sim before we pack it in for the night. This time in the shape of a mobius strip, inverted, please."
Friday's quick to set it up. "Processing..."
The hologram shifts as I maneuver around the table, quietly thinking.
"All right...give me that igon value of that particle, factoring in spectral decomp..." Shit, this better work. "That'll take a second..."
"Just a moment," the sweet AI's voice responds.
"And don't worry if it doesn't pan out, I'm just kinda..."
I don't get to finish that thought, though, because the AI is interrupting me again, and it's blowing my fucking mind.
"Model rendered."
Model successful, it shows, green lettering and the whole shebang...and my ass, my ass hits the chair and the wind is knocked out of my old lungs. Holy fucking Christ, it...it worked?!
My hand's subconsciously at my chin, scratching in my beard. It was just an idea, just a guess, and I think...I think I just figured out time travel? I can't blink my wide eyes closed, because this...this is nuts. This is by far, greater than anything I had ever accomplished in Malibu or New York or...I haven't even contemplated physics outside of Pep's project since Morgan was born.
"Shit!" It comes out with a slight bit of laughter; Stark hasn't lost his touch, has he?
Bad idea.
"Shit!" is repeated in a much smaller, much quieter voice from the stairs behind me and I gotta swivel my chair immediately to intercept.
"What are you doin' up, little miss?!" I scold lightly after pressing a finger to my lips in motion to stay quiet.
Yeah, I know what you're thinking. Tony Stark, a dad? A caring dad, a dad that knows when to teach his child about swearing? Listen the whole giant purple grape nearly slicing me in half like an onion kind of changed my priorities. Morgan...Morgan is so much like her mother, and this kid has me wrapped around her damn finger; just don't repeat that. Don't want anyone thinkin' I've softened up or anything.
"Shit," she giggles with her mother's smile.
"Nope, we don't say that!" I warn. "Only mommy says that word. She coined it, it belongs to her."
She just bats her doe eyes that Pep swears she gets from me. "Why are you up?"
Oh, deflecting on dad. Right. That she learned from Pep.
Before I can think it through, I answer as if it's just Pep, too. "Cause I got some important shit goin on here! What do ya think?!"
She giggles again, my favorite sound these days. Besides, uh, well, ya know, the repulsors lighting up when Potts lets me take the suit out for target practice every now and then. Gotta tell ya, it took some time to get over the PTSD of that sound, but Iron Man is me...I am Iron Man. Couldn't give it up that easy.
"No, I uh, I got something on my mind," I correct, glancing at the display again with a tiny bit of remorse. "I..I got something on my mind."
"Was it juice pops?" she asks innocently, and it brings me back to Earth...back to what's left of Earth, my new life, not the old one with the metal tin.
"Sure was," I agree, shutting this down for the time being. "That's extortion, that's a word."
She sighs but takes my hand when I stand and offer it to her, and then I'm leading the almost five year old into the kitchen. "What kind you want? Great minds think alike...juice pops... Exactly what was on..." I mumble with a final glance at he table, "my mind."
I gotta be honest, uh...sugar before bed is not really on Pep's agenda, but who the hell cares anymore? The girl's too smart for her own good...she gets that from dad, too, I guess. She knows how to get what she wants and every time I wind up caving. I'll probably find her in the garage snooping through my shit again later, but I should be proud she wants to dive into that stuff, shouldn't I? As long as she doesn't suit up. Yeah, that's never happening. Those two feet are staying on this ground, end of story.
"I want a purple one," she requests, climbing into one of the chairs at the kitchen table as I open the freezer.
It's weird, having something other than coffee and pop-tarts in the house, but I've learned to like it. Even if Pep makes me cook dinner from time to time...could be worse.
"A purple one, huh?" I repeat, grabbing that and a green one - lime - for myself. "You know, no one likes the purple ones, that's uncalled for. You are definitely not my daughter."
"Uncle Happy likes the purple ones," she defends with a playful scowl.
"Yeah, Uncle Happy is playing you so you eat all the purple ones and leave him the ones he likes," I tease, handing her one. "Don't tell mom, we'll finish them in bed, okay?"
She nods, galloping past the living room and toward the stairs and I grimace, hoping Pepper doesn't yell at her for being wild in the house.
"Hey, slow down there, Speedy Gonzalez! Don't make me regret this!" I call after her, then share a glance with my wife as I head toward the staircase. "She's just excited for bed," I try.
Pepper raises an eyebrow from the couch, but doesn't say anything, so I smirk and down most of my homemade juice pop in one bite, motioning after our daughter.
"I'll uh...I'll put her to bed, give me a couple minutes."
With that, I hop up the stairs and find her already in her bed, blankets up and popsicle stick in one hand, the end in her mouth.
"Did you eat that already?!" I gasp, turning off the overhead light and crouching down at her bedside.
"Maybe..." she lies with a full mouth.
"You know you gotta brush you teeth, tiny."
"Mom calls you tiny," she giggles, ignoring me, and I sigh.
"Don't fuel the fire, short stuff. Come on, head back."
So she leans back against the pillows and sighs, chewing on the end of the stick. So I grab it from her hand, pulling it away and giving up on the brushing of the teeth battle of the night. One night off won't kill her.
"You done?" I ask, smirk still heavy on my face. "Yeah? Now you are!"
She glares as I take the last bite, but it only makes me laugh because she has dark purple juice at the corners of her mouth. I gotta clean it up or Pep's gonna kill me. "Here, wipe."
I dab at her face with my sleeve, and then playfully shove her down, palm against her nose.
"Kay...that face...goes there."
"Tell me a story," she begs through laughter, giving me those God damn doe eyes again.
"A story..." I muse, but my mind's still semi back at the table on that display, thinking about where to go with all of this time travel bullshit. "Uh, once upon a time, Maguna went to bed, the end."
"That is a horrible story!"
"Come on! That's your favorite story!" I gasp, but she doesn't protest, so I lean forward and place a kiss on her forehead. "Love you tons."
And you know how there's certain things that you just remember forever? Like the way the rain smells on fresh pavement or like something you ate for your tenth birthday that one time you got a sugar rush and opened about twenty presents in two minutes... Okay, maybe not the same, but what comes next is something that will never leave my mind until the day I die.
"I love you three thousand," she whispers.
And dumb ass me is caught staring, my heart forgetting to beat in my chest.
This is really the crazy thing, isn't it? Not time travel, not...the Infinity Stones, or aliens or whatsoever. The fact that this small person, part me, part Pep, is one of only two people on this planet who have this incredible love for me that I shouldn't be granted. You know, I never wanted to be like my father, but this...this came easier than expected. He tried, right? I know he did. So I'm trying for her.
"Wow..." is all I can muster for a moment, and my throat's stinging with too much emotion, so after a second of taking in he adorable little cheeks tugged up in that sleepy smile, I turn out the light and stand, heading for the door. "Three thousand, that's crazy..."
Forget time travel, right now all that's in my mind is this second chance at life.
But I can't go that easy on her, or she'll know just how to play me...she already does, though, let's be honest.
"Go to bed or I'll sell all your toys," I toss back, and she laughs. "Night night!"
And she's all that's on my mind, popsicle sticks in my mouth as I pad back down to the living room where Pepper has a fire going. Such a simple life...I don't know why I never settled down earlier.
"Not that it's a competition, but she loves me three thousand," I boast, looking proud, and Pepper has all the amusement in the world in her eyes.
Weird, how this woman used to be just my assistant, and now she's my entire world. God, am I a jerk for not realizing that sooner, either.
"Oh does she now?" she hums, going back to her book.
"You were somewhere in the low...six to nine hundred range." I note her lack of attention, though mine's headed back to that damn hologram that's still up across the room. "Whatch'a reading?"
It's not really a question I need answered, but she does anyway.
"Just a book on composting..."
"What's new with...composting?" I manage, but every passing second is tearing me away from the Morgan high and making my heart thump in anxiety.
"Interesting-" she starts, and I interject when I just can't take it anymore.
"I figured it out," I exhale dramatically, shoulders tense. "By the way."
She stares with her blue eyes and read hair and sighs, but closes the book in her lap. "And, you know...just so we're talking about the same thing..."
"Time traveling."
With that she sets it down, jaw slack as she shifts in her seat on the couch. "What?"
I don't blame her, really. I know she doesn't want to hear it. She doesn't want me working again.
"Wow. That's...amazing and terrifying."
I nod slowly. "That's right."
A few moments pass. Quiet moments. Somehow my feet shift me to sit next to her, arm draped across the back of the couch, and eventually I divert my gaze to rest on her instead of that stupid glowing model.
"We got really lucky..." she whispers, her hand grazing my arm, and it gives me chills.
"Yeah, I know," I force myself to agree.
But then she takes me by surprise. "A lot of people didn't."
It almost upsets me. Not cause she wants to help people, but because she's basically just agreeing with the oddly sized dude that showed up on my porch earlier and Captain goody two-shoes that had to chaperone.
"No, and I can't help everybody," I defend, quick to want to stick with our family and not jeopardize anything.
"Well, sorta seems like you can," she presses, so I inhale sharply, eyeing her with warning.
"Not if I stop. I can put a pin in it right now and stop."
She shakes her head, though, instead of humoring me, so I watch with interest as she breathes steady and drops her hand back to her book. "Tony, trying to get you to stop has been one of the few failures of my entire life."
She's right, you know. This woman's put up with my crazy shit for over fifteen years now, probably double that, and I have never listened to her...not until the world came to an end and we both thought each other was dead, but ya know...priorities, I guess.
"Somethin tells me I should put it in a lock box and drop it at the bottom of the lake and go to bed..." I admit quietly, and she frowns, looking concerned.
"But would you be able to rest?"
It's a simple question. But the answer is no. My overly active brain won't let me sleep no matter how hard I try, not until this is solved.
"Why don't you talk to them?" she suggests, setting the book on the coffee table. "Go see Steve, go see Rhodey..."
"And go risk my-our-life?" I protest. "We just settled down, we just figured things out, and-"
"It's just a talk, Tony," she reminds me. "Happy can come stay with us for a couple days."
I can only force a smile, not wanting to argue.
Eventually she takes me to bed, and calms my mind. She knows I won't be able to sleep, so we share a couple hours of our own before she falls asleep and I stare off into the darkness.
She's convinced me to visit the compound tomorrow. Haven't gone there in years, but hell...maybe they don't even need me. Just drop off the formula, let em go at it. I can head back home, can't I?
Can I, yes. Will I?
"I'm coming back," I promise anyway in the morning, watching Morgan pout as I load Cap's shield into the back of the e-tron. "This is Cap's."
"You said you don't know Captain America!" she snaps, and Pepper snickers from the porch.
"No," I toss back, shutting the trunk and going to say goodbye. "I said we don't talk. Hey, how old are you now anyway?"
"Four and a half," she announces.
"Wow," I shake my head, crouching down to her level. "You're too smart for your age."
"You're her father," Pepper reminds me.
I smirk, then toss on sunglasses and take her small hands in mine, kissing her cheek. "Daddy's just gotta go to a meeting, I'll be back and we can make another sled."
"That was my sled," she pouts.
"It's summer!" I can't help but laugh. "Come on, be a good sport and I'll make you any sled you want."
"Promise?"
"Yes," I confirm. "Promise you won't give your mother hell?"
"I won't give her shit," she smirks.
She is one God damned intelligent four and a half year old, let me tell you...
Pepper gasps from the porch, sitting up in her chair. Oops.
"Morgan!" she yelps, then proceeds to come toward us to probably scold both of us. "Where did you learn that word?!"
"Daddy said it," she throws me under the bus, and I blink, staring blankly at the door behind Pepper to avoid all possible eye contact and try to muffle my guilty smile.
"That's a lie," I lie to her, myself. Then, "I told you not to say it!" under my breath to Morgan. "Way to rat out your dad!"
Then I stand, shrugging at Pepper who folds her arms over her chest in front of me.
"I swear to you, I have no idea where she heard that word, I-"
"Somehow I believe our daughter over you," Pepper stops me, and I scratch my head awkwardly.
"To be fair, she hears it from you like a hundred times a day."
"That's what happens when you marry a Stark," she teases in good humor, then lets her guard down to hug me and share a quick kiss. "Come home safe."
"I will," I answer quietly over her shoulder. "Promise."
And then I release her, high fiving Morgan as I head to the car and open the driver side door.
"And don't let Uncle Happy take advantage of you!" I call over my shoulder. "Tell him you're onto him."
Pepper rolls her eyes as I sink down into the seat and close the door, but I'm quick to lean out the window after dropping it, giving them a soft smile. My focus is on Morgan, though. Pepper, yes. But Morgan...Morgan is somethin else.
"Love you three thousand, little miss."