dakota wasn't lying about pulling an all-nighter to work on the "time heist", as scott had called it. she knew that her father wasn't going to be any help on the project, which meant she had to do it herself. of course, she knew where tony was coming from. he had a fresh start with his family, and he didn't want to change anything about the five years he'd spent with them. more importantly, he didn't want to lose morgan entirely.

but, while she understood where her father's intentions lay, kodie couldn't just forget about what scott had proposed. to be able to go back in time was certainly a goal that she had never planned to even come close to achieving. even she had to agree that it sounded impossible. but, even if it was impossible and irrational, she knew that she had to do anything she could to bring peter and the rest of the vanished back.

dakota now stood in front of a holographic model, talking to f.r.i.d.a.y. about what to do to make a successful model. her plan was to work through all possible ways of creating a time machine until she maybe managed to land on one that worked. she rotated her current prototype with her forefingers, watching as it was rendered only 75% successful. she frowned, pushing her black reading glasses up further on the bridge of her nose.

"what are you doing, it's nighttime." tony asked from behind her. the girl didn't turn, only moving the model around in a circle once more with her hand.

"i am saving half of the human population because you won't." dakota replied simply.

he shook his head. "do you sleep anymore?"

"i scheduled a nap for a week from next tuesday." she replied, finally tuning over her shoulder to look at him. "dad, i know you don't think you have anything to fight for, but have everything to lose." she began, absentmindedly fiddling with the ring on her finger. it had been a birthday present from peter. "i have him to fight for, and i don't intend to lose."

tony wordlessly moved to stand next to dakota. "this time, try it in the shape of an inverted mobius strip." he suggested. this was his silent way of telling her that she had convinced him, and that he was going to help her with the time machine.

dakota smiled, glad that her father was joining her. "give me the eigenvalue." she said to the ai. "that, particle factoring, and a spectral decomp." she continued as she pulled her hair back into a messy ponytail. "that'll take a second, thanks f.r.i.d.a.y." she secured her hair, watching as the model processed. "don't worry if that doesn't pan out, we're just messing around.."

"model rendered." f.r.i.d.a.y. said after a second. kodie looked up in shock as the render came back 99.987% successful. tony fell back in his chair, looking over as dakota slightly stumbled back a step.

both starks placed their hands over their mouths, gasping. "shit!" they said in unison, amazed smiles on their faces..

"shit!" morgan exclaimed from her spot behind them. the little girl, unbeknownst to the older starks, was sitting on the stairs, and had apparently heard their whole conversation, including the parts she definitely wasn't supposed to hear. dakota shook her head at her sister, laughing under her breath. "shit." the young stark repeated, clearly not knowing that she wasn't supposed to be saying it.

tony shook his head, walking over to her. "no, we don't say that. only mommy says that word. she coined it, it belongs to her."

morgan tilted her head, looking up at her sister and father. "why you up?"

"cause we got some important shit going on here!" tony said, catching his mistake when morgan gave him a look. "no, we have something on our minds." he explained.

dakota kneeled down to let the girl wrap her arms around her neck, carefully picking her up.

"was it juice pops?" morgan asked, looking to her sister.

dakota smiled. "yes, great minds think alike." she looked over at the holographic model, knowing that juice pops were most certainly the furthest possible thing on her mind. "juice pops are exactly what were on our minds."

⎊‎⎊‎⎊

"tell me a story." morgan was asking tony when dakota walked into the younger girl's room.

tony thought for a moment. "a story... once upon a time, maguna went to bed. the end."

morgan giggled, shaking her head. "that's a horrible story."

"come on, that's your favorite story!"

"does kodie have a story?" morgan asked, looking over at her sister, who was leaning in the doorway with a soft smile on her face.

dakota raised a brow at the sound of her name, taking off her glasses and folding them, putting them in the collar of her shirt. "hm.. a story.." she walked over to the bed, sitting down next to morgan. "once upon a time, there was a little girl named morgan. one night, morgan got tired, and she decided to go to bed. the end."

morgan laughed as her sister tucked her into bed. "you're both horrible at telling stories." she said.

"night, love you tons." tony said, kissing morgan's forehead.

"i love you 3,000." she replied.

"wow," he said as he turned off her lamp, "3,000. that's crazy." he waited for dakota to say goodnight and leave the room before he closed the door. "go to bed. or i'll sell all your toys. night night."

"just, ya know, for the record," dakota said as tony turned to her, "last night she loved me 5,000, so, you better work on your act, man."

tony put a hand over his heart as if he was offended. "really?" he walked over to pepper. "not that it's a competition," he said to his wife, "but she loves me 3,000. you were somewhere on the low 6 to 900 range."

dakota rolled her eyes. "5,000." she repeated as a whisper, pointing to herself as she walked backwards, heading towards the stairs. "night, love you." she said before heading up the stairs and into her room.