chapter thirty five
╰  ( endgame )

💫 ━━ PAISLEY ran beside Morgan Stark, the two of them oblivious to what was happening around them. Neither noticed the black car that had pulled up, or the three people that had gotten out. They were just enjoying having fun, because that was all that mattered, not the future of the past but the moment they were living in.

Pietro sits on the porch swing, a coffee in hand, watching as his child plays and laughs with the child who's grown up as his niece. Pepper is in the kitchen making lunch, Tony was in the garage doing god knows what.

Morgan was running around with a plastic ironman gauntlet on her hand; she was pretending to be her father. Paisley was holding a plastic bow, with plastic arrows that had suction cups at the end; she was pretending to be Clint, the man who her father had sacrificed his life for all those years ago.

"Lunch is ready." Pepper states as she steps onto the porch. "You catch the kids and I'll go get Tony from the garage?"

Pietro nodded and smiled, standing up and placing his coffee on the small table beside him. "Sure, I'll go get them."

He made his way into the open yard, the two children turning towards him and noticing that he was heading right for them. Paisley and Morgan both ran off screaming, laughing and attempting to get away from their father and uncle.

After a few minutes Pietro, who was one speedy person, had gotten the two children, convincing them that if they came in for lunch he would bake with them afterwards.

The three headed towards the house, Pietro watching as the two raced forward and tried to be the first one to Tony who stood at the door. Both children were happy, and that was all that mattered.

As Pietro reached Tony, he stoped and turned around. A black Audi is coming to a stop a few meters away from the small home. Three people get out of the car; Steve, Nat, and Scott. His heart practically stops, knowing that his existence was to be hidden away from everyone. The more people that knew he was alive, the more he feared for his daughters life.

Both the adults share a look and a sigh, each for their own reasons. Pietro will have to explain how he's standing in front of everyone, real and with a beating heart. And Tony doesn't want to hear anything about how they think they can save the world, again.

💫 ━━ SCOTT LANG smiles at Tony and Pietro, "Now, we know what it sounds like..."

"Tony, after everything you've seen — and Pietro, after everything you've been through, is anything really impossible?" Steve asks, looking towards the two who are sitting comfortably beside each other on a porch swing.

Tony shakes his head. "Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck Scale, which then triggers the Deutsch Proposition. Can we agree on that?"

Everyone besides Tony look puzzled, they have very little knowledge when it comes to science and the things Tony knows.

"In Layman's terms, it means you're not coming home." Tony says, the words dumbed down so that everyone can understand him. He quickly glanced towards the screen door, making sure than the two kids aren't near by and listening.

Scott smiles when he looks towards Tony, he had done it. "I did."

"No, you accidentally survived." Pietro shakes his head and states after hearing the story and what Tony had told the group. It clinked in his head that he hadn't done anything to come home, and that his arrival to earth was purely an accident.

"It's a billion to one cosmic fluke. And now you wanna pull off a ... What do you call it?" Tony asks and he leans back against the swing, his hands resting on the arm rests.

Scott tries to hide his pride at his idea. Of course he's a little sad that he had been told that him coming back was a pure accident. "A time heist?"

"Yeah, a time heist. Of course, why didn't we think of this before? Oh, because it's laughable? Because it's a pipedream?" Tony laughs slightly. He's thought of it. He's wanted to bring back those who he lost. His son. But he doesn't want to give anyone of himself some false hope.

Scott just wants to get it through Tony's head that it is possible if they try. "The Stones are in the past. We can go back and get them."

Nat looks at Pietro. If she can convince him then she knows that Pietro can convince Tony. "We can snap our own fingers. Your sister Pietro, your son Tony. Peter Parker and Jacob Dawson. We can bring everyone back."

Tony tilts his head. "Or screw it up worse than he already has, right?"

Its when Steve looks at the two people sitting down that he realizes that they both lost things and that they still have hope in getting them back, its that they're scared to lose that chance once and for all. "I don't believe we would."

Tony would never admit it to Steve though. "Gotta say, sometimes I miss that giddy optimism. 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 would be our collective demise."

Scott shifts from one foot to the other. "Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel. That means no talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events --"

Tony raises his hand and makes a gesture with it. "I'm gonna stop you right there, Scott. Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on Back To The Future?"

Scott looks down embarrassed, it was based off Back To The Future. "No."

"Good. You had me worried there. 'Cause that'd be horse shit. That's not how quantum physics works." Tony states, he doesn't smile or anything else, he just leaned back and uses one foot to push the swinging seat.

"Tony, Pietro ... we have to take a stand." Nat pleads slightly. She isn't one to plead for many things.

"We did stand. And yet, here we are."

"I know you got a lot on the line, Tony; you got a wife, a daughter. And Pietro, you do too; you have a daughter and a family." Scott says and before he can continue Pietro states to ask him a question.

"And what happens if we snap, and more of the world disappears? Could you live with that, Scott. It's your idea." Pietro asks with a tilt of his head. "Don't you think I'd like to see my sister again? To give my daughter her best friends and aunt back? To give Walker his sister? Because trust me I would, but I'm not willing to risk the rest of the world and more destruction on something that might not even work."

Scotts smile faulted, "I lost someone very important to me. A lot of people did. And now, now we have a chance to bring her back. To bring everyone back. And you're telling me that won't even ... "

"That's right, Scott, I won't even. I got a kid. A niece. I have a family." Tony says and he opens his arms for his niece and daughter who come running towards him, completely dodging Pietro.

"Aunt Pep told me to come and save you." Paisley says as she moves away from her uncle and towards her father. "Dad, Pep made our favourite! Mac and Cheese."

Tony smiles at the two girls. "Good job. I'm saved." He turns towards Steve and the rest of the people gathered on his porch. "I wish you'd come here to ask us something else. Anything else. Honestly, I ... we missed you guys, it was ... Oh, and table's set for three more."

Steve tries once more because he knows that he need Tony and Pietros help them make this possible. "Tony, I get it. And I'm happy for you, I really am. But this is a second chance."

Tony shakes his head. "I got my second chance right here and in there, Cap. I can't roll the dice again. If you don't talk shop, you can stay for lunch."

They didn't stay for lunch.