Infinite ★ Steve Rogers [6] ✓

Seventeen

As soon as the run rose the next morning, Ashley was up and ready to face Tony for probably the thousandth time. Over breakfast, she jotted down the information Scott was re-telling her about the realm and what they were going to do if they could use it the way they wanted to. She wanted to make sure she could relay it all to Tony without leaving one bit out. If Tony was going to say no to this, the closest thing they had had in 5 years, she had no idea if she could salvage whatever their relationship was. If he said no now, she knew he would say no forever, and she could never forgive that. Steve and Natasha joined them soon after, and just before lunch, they headed to Tony's in Ashley's car together. Ashley drove, with Natasha beating Steve for shotgun which left him to sit in the back with Scott.

"So, you guys haven't talked in 4 years?" Scott asked Ashley as she drove.

"Not properly and without arguing. " She replied, keeping her eye on the road.

"But it's you and Tony. Ashley Gomez and Tony Stark. Best friends for years and years."

"Yeah, well. Even the strongest relationships have their bad times. This one seems to carry on." Ashley replied just as she began to pull in front of Tony's house. "Hopefully, it stops now." She said as she put the car in park. When she exited the vehicle, she saw Tony holding not so little Morgan in his arms. She was almost 5 now, and was quite the personality. "Hey Morgan!" She greeted the girl happily as the others got out of the car.

"Hi Auntie Ashley." Morgan said giving a wave with her hand. Ashley waved back, then her smile faded when she caught Tony's eye. His shoulders slumped upon seeing her and the others, then he nodded for them to come in, before he carried Morgan back into the house. Ashley took the lead and walked onto the porch then into the house.

"Go up to the balcony. We'll talk up there. Anyone for iced tea?" Tony asked, gently setting Morgan back onto her feet before heading to the kitchen.

"Iced tea would be good." Ashley replied, giving Morgan a big smile before she noticed Pepper coming down the stairs. "Hey Pep."

"Hey. What are you doing here?" Pepper asked her, then sighed upon noticing the others stood behind her. "If you're here for business, again, do it away from Morgan." Pepper told Ashley quietly, remembering the scene at the wedding four years ago.

"Yes, ma'am." Ashley nodded before taking the stairs up to the balcony. The others followed behind, and when she got to the balcony, Ashley took a seat at a small table. She took out the piece of paper that had the information on it from her pocket and read over it. After a minute or two, Tony joined them and set down a tray with four empty glasses and a jug of iced tea onto the table. Scott then began to explain everything to him, from start to finish, as simply as he could, with Ashley showing the notes in case he forgot anything.

"We know what it sounds like." Scott stammered after he finished explaining, whilst Tony poured the iced tea into the glasses.

"Tony, after everything you've seen, is anything really impossible?" Steve asked, standing along with Natasha and Scott.

"Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck scale which then triggers the Deutsch Proposition. Can we agree on that?" Tony asked, handing a glass of iced tea to Ashley and then another to Steve. "In layman's terms, it means you're not coming home."

"I did." Scott pointed out.

"No. You accidentally survived. It's a billion-to-one cosmic fluke. And now you wanna pull a....What do you call it?" Tony asked as he handed Scott his drink.

"A.....time heist?" Scott wondered.

"Yeah, a time heist. Of course. Why didn't we think of this before? Oh, because it's laughable. Because it's a pipe dream." Tony argued.