ØØØØ

AMBER SCOFFED LOUDLY and shook her head in disbelief , "I've been distant?! This is the first time we've talked in two-three weeks." She replied angrily. Natasha looked taken aback by the girls statement, as she sat on the edge of the lake.

"Tell me Nat, did you know I spent my birthday alone? That, I worked long hours in the orphanage paying my dues and I'm the one who's distant?! Did you know I'm the owner of the entire establishment?" Amber continued, her voice rising, "I don't even know why you're still here... I'm happy here, with Tony, Pepper and my godchild".

"Godchild?" Natasha asked, tilting her head.

"Yes, godchild. You would know that If you actually gave a shit. I've tried to talk to you so many times only to get turned away because you and Steve were always in meetings." Amber raged, "I've kept my cool when everything descended into chaos-".

"You're not the only one with responsibilities Amber, we have the entire world to worry about-" Natasha begun.

"The entire world? Wow... IT HAS BEEN FIVE YEARS NAT! Five years! I lost my sister, the majority of my friends and when I try to turn to the ones I have left, they turn me away. It's not fair." Amber stated tiredly, her anger cooling down.

The girl was interrupted by Natasha pulling her into a tight hug. "I'm sorry" she murmured hoarsely, "I sometimes forget that you're not that vulnerable kid that I found in Sokovia. You've grown so much not just physically but mentally." Amber stiffened slightly but soon relaxed into the embrace, before breaking away,  

"Nat- I wish I could help... but Tony got his second chance and I think I might've got mine. The things I'm doing, the things I do on a daily basis- they make me proud and I'm happy doing them. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a little girl who needs my help with her toys." Amber turned away, wrapping her arms around her body in discomfort.

"Nat?" She called back,

"Yeah?" Natasha replied looking up at the girl,

"I did miss you." Amber sighed, "I'm back in New York on Monday, want to grab a coffee or lunch?".

Nat smiled softly and nodded, standing up from the grass, "I'd like that" the woman answered.

Amber grinned slightly and chuckled, "Good." She said, turning back around to go inside the cabin, in which a little girl awaited her. Natasha walked back towards Steve and Scott, who were patiently waiting by the car.

"You manage to convince her?" Steve piped up,

"No." Natasha replied, "She's happy here though." Scott glances between the duo and the cabin.

"So neither of them will help?!" Scott spoke up his tone filled with panic, "This is unbelievable- this is ridic-"

"He's scared." Natasha interjected, "And she has learned to move on."

"They're not wrong." Steve muttered,

"Yeah, but I mean, what are we gonna do? We need them. What, are we gonna stop?" Scott questioned.

"No, I wanna do it right." Steve said in thought "We're gonna need a really big brain."

Scott had an incredulous look across his face, as he pointed to Tony's house, "Bigger than his?".

ØØØØ

Amber swallowed her last bite of food as Tony walked towards the kitchen to wash dishes after their dinner. As she passed Morgan, she ruffled the girls hair and encouraged her to eat her food. The smaller girl giggled and poured as she shoved her fork into her mouth. Amber took the girls empty for plate and walked towards the kitchen.

She handed Tony the two plates and sat against the counter as she sipped in a glass of water. As Tony finished the last of them, he lost control of the tap and soaked Amber and their surroundings.

The girl laughed laughed and grabbed a tea towel, throwing another towards the man, who was grinning. Tony caught the tea towel and began wiping off the patches of wet. He stumbled upon a photo of both Him and Peter, with Parker holding his Stark Internship certificate.

"You miss him a lot." Amber spoke up softly, noticing the change in his features.

"I do." Tony nodded, drying the photo and placing it back on the shelf. Amber raised her eyebrows at some of his thoughts.

"You think we'd have a chance?" She asked hesitantly, looking up at the man.

"Maybe... meet me in the garage in an hour. I have to put Morgan to bed" he sighed.

ØØØØ

Amber sat at the table, her sixth cup
of coffee in her hands as she scribbled notes down. Tony was standing and examining the hologram closely, occasionally calling out things for her to write down.

"Look at a mod inspiration, let me see what check out. So, recommend one last sim before we pack it in for the night. This time, in the shape of a mobius strip, inverted, please." Tony ordered, fidgeting with a pencil.

"Processing..." FRIDAY responded, as the hologram shifted and changed.

"Can you give us that eigenvalue? That, particle factoring, and a spectral decomp?" Amber spoke up, tapping her pencil against the table.

"Just a moment." The AI replied,

"And don't worry if it doesn't pan out. I'm just kinda -" Tony continued.

"Model rendered." FRIDAY announced

Ambers mouth opened in shock as she dropped her pencil, Tony Stumbled back into his chair and covered his mouth.

"Shit!" Tony mused in excitement, Amber just shook her head in disbelief.

"Shit?"

Morgan, who had been hiding behind them all this time, giggled as she repeated the word Tony just uttered.

"What are you doing up, little miss?" Tony asked, turning towards his daughter as she walked towards Amber.

"Shit." She repeated again, sitting on top of Ambers lap. Making the older girl stifle a laugh.

"No, we don't say that. Only Mommy says that word. She coined it, it belongs to her." Tony tried to explain.

"Why you up?" Morgan asked quietly,

"'Cause I got some important shit going on here. What do you think? No, I got something on my mind.I got something on my mind." Tony reasoned

"Was it Juice Pops?" Morgan smirked, leaning back into Amber.

"Sure was. That's extortion. Great minds think alike." Amber grinned, tickling the younger girl.

"Juice Pops, exactly was on... my mind." Tony said mindlessly, tilting his head towards the two girls.

ØØØØ

"You done? Yeah, now you are." Tony said, as he wiped Morgans lips. Amber sat beside him with a juice pop in her hand as she finished it off. Tony pushed Morgan's head onto her pillow. "That face goes there."

"Tell me a story." Morgan commanded with a lisp.

"A story... Once upon a time, a girl went to bed. The end." Amber joked,

"That's a horrible story." Morgan giggled, shaking her head

"Come on, that's your favorite story." Tony joined in, "I love you tons." He said, standing up and getting ready to leave, motioning for Amber to follow.

"I love you 3000." Morgan spoke up, as the two were about to leave.

"Wow 3000. That's crazy." Tony mused, turning off the lamp and closing the door "Go to bed. Or I'll sell all your toys. Night, night."

Amber blew the smaller girl a kiss before following Tony into the living room. Pepper sat reading a book on the sofa and the girl sat opposite her on an armchair.

"Not that it's a competition, but she loves me 3000. You were somewhere on the low 6 to 900 range." Tony bragged, making Pepper scoff.

"What are you reading?" Amber asked, absentmindedly

"Oh, it's just a book on composting." Pepper replied, her eyes never leaving the book.

"What's new with composting?" Tony questioned, as equally absentmindedly as Amber had been, the twos minds only focusing on the time travel matter.

"Just -" Pepper began.

"We figured it out, by the way." Tony interrupted,

"You know, just so we're talking about the same thing -" Pepper replied, marking the page of her book.

"Time travel." Amber answered, twiddling her fingers.

What? Wow... That's amazing, and... terrifying." Pepper continued in amazement.

"That's right." Tony said blandly.

"We got really lucky."

"Yeah, I know."

"A lot of people didn't." Amber reasoned.

"No, I can't help everybody." Tony shook his head.

"It sort a seems like you can." Pepper stayed, tilting her head.

"Not if I stop. I can put a pin in it right now, and stop." Tony said in mild panic and worry.

"Tony, trying to get you to stop has been one of the few failures of my life." Pepper chuckled, making Tony smile softly.

"I sometimes feel I should put it in a locked box and drop it at the bottom of a lake... go to bed." Tony responded weakly.

"But would you be able to rest?" Pepper said with a slight frown making Tony scrunch his eyebrows. This could change a lot. It was a big risk. Is it one, the two were willing to take?

ØØØØ

Yeet-

Anyway, I'm proud to say that today is/was the first anniversary of Audacious!

I am truly so grateful that you all have my books a chance and honestly I would do anything for you all.

Thank you and I love you all 3000, I have the best readers and you all deserve the world <3