I made good time to Tony and Pepper's cabin by the lake. The day was bright, so I hoped that meant it would be promising.

Gracie was all kinds of curious when I told her she was meeting new people. She liked learning new things, knowing new people...most of the time. She sometimes got a little shy.

Pepper met me on the wraparound porch. Morgan wasn't with her. Time hadn't aged Pepper Potts—or was it Potts-Stark at this point? Her daughter certainly hadn't adopted her red hair.

"Your children sleeping in today?" I teased her as we went to hug one another.

"Morgan, yes. Tony...you just missed him."

"Errands?"

"You could say that."

I squinted slightly. "Pepper..."

"If you're going back to the facility, more than likely he'll be there."

"Why?" It wasn't so long ago that Tony flat-out refused to even bite on the time travel idea.

"He...he figured it out. Time travel."

"You're bloody kidding."

"You know how he is, Kiara. Once he's got an idea, he'll exhaust himself until he figures it out. He did, the other night."

And he's going to be at the facility...So much for him shutting us down before.

"So, where is she?" Pepper switched topics on me.

"Oh!" I sidestepped to find Gracie huddled behind my legs. "Pepper, this is Grace." I knelt down near my daughter. "Gracie, this is Pepper Potts. She's a friend of Mommy's. She's got a little girl, too, about your age. She's going to watch over you while Mommy and Daddy run errands."

Pepper leaned over, a warm smile on her face. "It's very nice to meet you, Gracie."

"Okay, give me a hug, kiddo." Gracie practically bowled me over. "Pepper is going to take good care of you."

"When will you and Daddy come get me?" Gracie wasn't afraid of Pepper, she had always asked this from the time she could talk. It didn't matter who had her for some time.

"We'll see, love. It's going to depend on how long our errands are. I'll keep in touch with Pepper, and she'll tell you. Okay?"

Gracie shrugged. "All right."

"You behave for her, all right?"

"Yes, Mommy."

I beamed. "There's my good girl." I gave her an extra squeeze. "Mommy and Daddy love you."

"I love you, too."

I let her go, brushing blonde locks out of her face. I looked into her big eyes—Steve's eyes, really. The chubby cheeks that people seemed apt to pinch. This was new to her, I knew she knew that. Children had a weird ability about them, to understand the change, even if they didn't have full comprehension of it.

I rose. "I've got a duffel bag of clothes and extra things, just in case," I said to Pepper. "Let me go get it."

As I went to the car and opened the trunk, I watched Gracie and Pepper interact. She's the best choice. She's the farthest from this. She'll keep Gracie out of trouble and watch her. I just hope she doesn't have to...I swallowed at the thought of having my daughter lose me, or Steve.

No, no. If that bridge ever comes up, you cross it then. Be cautiously optimistic. We can potentially change the world, again. Hopefully for the better this time.

Something about my departure from Gracie this time hit harder. Maybe it was because Steve and I had been pulled back into our old superhero pattern.

Sure enough, when I arrived back at the facility, I saw a sleek car that I knew could only belong to Tony. It seemed the man hadn't gone inside the facility just yet, and neither had Steve, if I could see them both right.

I pulled my car just in front of Tony's, cutting it off.

"So, you shut the door in our faces, and yet you come knocking at ours a little bit later," was my greeting to Tony. Steve looked at me amusedly. "I'm glad you finally see what we're getting at, but honestly..."

"Really not here to get my ass chewed out right now, Kia," said Tony. Gods, it had been some time since I had heard that nickname from him. "I was just explaining to your hubby about what's been going on with your methods of figuring out time travel."

"You all started without me?" I asked Steve incredulously.

"I would've got you caught up. It didn't..." Steve rubbed the back of his neck. "It didn't turn out so well."

"Oh, no. Did we kill someone?"

"No, no!"

"More or less, Scott the guinea pig had time travel through him, not the other way around," said Tony.

I cringed. "Maybe it was better I wasn't around for that. So...since we've got nothing, you clearly do."

"Why else would I be here if to not save the day?" Tony held up his right hand, with some sort of device on it. "A fully functioning Time-Space GPS. I just want peace." He held the gesture for the said peace. "Turns out, resentment is corrosive, and I hate it."

"Me too," admitted Steve.

"We got a shot at getting these stones, but I gotta tell you my priorities: Bring back what we lost? I hope, yes. Keep what I got? I have to, at all costs. And...maybe not die trying will be nice."

"Sounds like a deal," I said. Tony offered me a hand, but I pushed it away gently. "You and I had better terms, but that's not saying much." I nodded towards Steve.

Tony turned the hand that was meant for me towards Steve. In relief, they both shook. Tony then went to the trunk of his car, popping the hood. My mouth parted as he pulled out Steve's original, circular shield.

Tony...

Even though Tony went to Steve to hand it off, my husband hesitated.

"Tony..."

"Why? He made it for you. Plus, honestly I have to get it out of the garage before Morgan takes it sledding."

My mouth quirked into a crooked smile as Steve received his old friend, sliding his arm into the straps on the back of it.

"Thank you, Tony," said Steve.

"Will you keep that a little quiet? Didn't bring one for the whole team. Sorry, Kia."

I shrugged. "Honestly, if I wanted my own, I'd just borrow his."

Steve chuckled. "You rarely do as is."

"We are getting the whole team, yeah?" Tony asked, ignoring our husband-wife quips.

"We're working on that right now."

As the three of us went back inside the compound, Bruce intercepted me halfway.

"So, I heard the experiment was...interesting," I told the green giant. I was more used to seeing Bruce at eye level, not having to look to the skies.

"To say the least. So, Tony's back."

"Yeah, he's uh...he's cracked the code on time travel. I guess we got him thinking more than we expected. I think it'll give us the extra brain power we need."

"We could definitely use it. Hey, do you want to walk with me?"

"Er, sure." I followed Bruce back out onto the compound grounds. It was until now that I realized he had a big handful of tacos. Surely that can't be all he can eat. "I know we don't get a lot of private moments, Bruce, but one of the last times it was just us talking..."

"Yeah, I know, but this time I'm not giving you bad news."

Our heads turned at the sound of loud engines. The orange ship that Carol had delivered all that time ago back here landed. Nearby, Scott seemed to be enjoying his lunch—or trying to. Whatever food he had in his hand flew out as the ship landed nearby. Rocket came down the ship's ramp, followed by Nebula. They were out of earshot for me to hear what they were talking about.

"So, what do you want to talk to me about?" I asked, watching as Rhodey came in for a quick landing in his War Machine gear, scaring Scott out of more of his food.

"Well, we're working on getting the core group back together. Rocket and I are going to get Thor. I figured you might want in on it."

Good to know his guilt hasn't killed him over the course of the last five years. But I still worried for my fellow Asgardian. "What about Clint?"

"Nat's on it."

I nodded. "Gotcha. So, where is our beloved King of Asgard these days?"

"New Asgard."

Not a very original name, but I suppose one can't be picky. If the place was New Asgard, then that had to mean the remnants of our people were with him as well. I can find Mother and Father, see if they survived Thanos' attack. Even if they had survived his boarding of their ship...there was still the matter of them possibly becoming dust.

But I won't know unless I go. "I'm in."