TONY WAS stood in the kitchen washing up and putting away the dishes from the night before, taking the occasional peek out the window the to check on Morgan who was playing outside.

He smiled to himself at the sight of her running back over to her little tent, the memories of Carson helping her pitch it when he had come back to stay for a short while a few years ago starting to come back to him.

As he was putting back the dishes a picture on a shelf caught his attention. He reached over and grabbed the frame, giving it a quick wipe over with the cloth to clear the small sheet of dust that had formed.

Tony looked down at the picture with a smile. It had been taken by Clint the day that Carson had made his very own modification for Tony's suit by himself and showed the two of them stood next to the iron suit mid laughter along with Natasha crouched down in front of the suit giving a thumbs up.

The man let out a soft chuckle as he looked at Carson who was only sixteen in the photo. His hair was ruffled up with a pair of Tony's glasses sitting on top, an oily rag was slung over his shoulder, which left a stain on his lab coat that was still there to this day.

Pepper walked into the kitchen and instantly noticed the picture frame in his hand. She looked up at him with a sad smile and made her way over, looking at the picture now too.

"Have you tried calling him recently?" Pepper asked.

Tony let out a sigh. He knew that Pepper wanted him back home with them just as much as he did, but she tried to stay strong in front of him and Morgan.

Pepper loved it when Carson would come to visit, although she wished that it would be more of a permanent thing.

It always made her and Tony happy knowing that he was safe and that they could keep an eye on him. Especially after everything he'd been through. And he was always so good at looking after Morgan despite Carson thinking he was always doing a bad job with kids.

It was like when he was there, their little family was fully complete.

To them, it didn't matter that Carson wasn't blood related. Because no matter what he'd always be a son to them. Nothing could change that.

"No answer." Tony shook his head. "Straight to voicemail."

"Maybe he's just... busy." Pepper reasoned.

"Maybe he needs to charge his damn phone." Tony countered. "Kid's great with tech yet he can't seem to plug a charger in."

"He moves around a lot." Pepper shrugged.

"Well, he could get a portable one."

"It was their anniversary a few days ago." Pepper reminded him. "We both know that this time is always harder for him, so maybe he just needs a little bit of time."

Tony let out a sigh before nodding in agreement. "Yeah, you're right. I'll try again in a few days."

Pepper kissed his cheek. "I can finish the dishes, why don't you go bring Morgan inside and I'll make her some lunch."

"You don't trust me with your plates do you?" Tony raised a brow, faking an offended tone.

Pepper rolled her eyes and started putting the plates away, laughing softly. "No, no I don't. Now go and get your daughter."

Tony laughed and made his way outside, looking around for Morgan as he walked out onto their front garden. The sound of giggling coming from the tent grabbed his attention and he started to walk over.

He clapped his hands to a beat. "Chow time!"

After receiving no response from his daughter who was too busy playing with her toys, he sat down on one of her small stools. "Maguna."

Tony picked up one of her toys and fiddled around with it while he waited for her to reply. "Morgan H. Stark, you want some lunch?"

Shuffling was heard coming from inside the tent and Morgan popped out with a prototype helmet that Tony was working on, aiming her hand up at him with the knitted iron man gloves she had on.

"Define lunch or be disintegrated." Morgan said.

"Okay, okay." Tony raised his hands up in surrender. "You should not be wearing that, it's part of a special anniversary gift I'm making for mom."

Tony leaned forwards and kissed the cheek of the helmet before carefully removing it from his daughters head.

"There you go." Tony smiled and brushed Morgan's hair out of her face with his hand. "You thinking about lunch? I can give you... a handful of crickets on a bed of lettuce."

Morgan shook her head with a disgusted look. "Nooo."

"That's what you want." Tony nodded and lifted up the helmet to show it to Morgan. "How did you find this?"

"Garage." Morgan answered with a mischievous grin.

"Oh, really?" Tony narrowed his eyes playfully. "Were you looking for it?"

"No." Morgan giggled. "I found it, though."

Tony hummed. "You like going in the garage, huh?"

"I was trying to find Carson's things." Morgan told him.

"Oh. Why's that?" Tony gave her a puzzled look.

Morgan pointed at the tent. "So then I could bring them back to the tent aaaand then when he comes home to get them we can keep him in there. So he stays with us forever."

"Forever?" Tony whistled. "Wow, that's a long time."

Morgan nodded in agreement with a proud smile and Tony laughed, picking her up.

"I like that plan." He smiled at his daughter as he carried her in his arms back towards the house. "Now, are we allowed to give him food or—"

Tony's movements came to a halt as he watched a car pull up outside the house. He watched with furrowed brows as Natasha, Steve and Scott exited the car and let out a small huff, knowing that by them showing up it couldn't possibly mean something good.

He continued to walk towards the house but once he got halfway up the steps, the sound of a door opening again caught his attention and he stopped once more to turn around.

Tony's facial features softened as he watched Carson get out the car. Once they made eye contact, a warm smile slowly found it's way on Carson's face and Tony couldn't help but smile too along with letting out a relieved breath.

Before anyone had the chance to say anything, Morgan let out a squeal of excitement and wriggled out of Tony's arms to sprint over to him.

"Carson!" Morgan exclaimed.

Carson chuckled at the sight and walked around to the front of the car, crouching down to her level and opening up his arms for her.

"Hi Mo." He smiled brightly at her.

Morgan didn't slow down one bit and she threw herself into Carson's arms with more force than expected which made Carson stumble slightly and almost fall onto his back.

Once he had regained his balance he wrapped his arms around Morgan and hugged her back before standing up, picking her up with him and holding her in his arms.

Not that she'd give him much choice anyway. She didn't seem to want to let go anytime soon.

"You're back, You're back!" Morgan's smile still stood strong. "Are you staying? Is that why you're here? Please stay."

Carson looked between Steve and Natasha before turning back to Morgan. "I, uh..."

"Be careful." Tony said as he approached him. "She'll lock you in the tent if you say no."

"Oh is that so?" Carson raised a brow at Morgan who was now covering her face to hide considering her father just ratted her out. "Are you trying to kidnap me you little gremlin?"

"Nope." Morgan shook her head.

"You're not lying to me are you Mo?"

He lifted up his hand and took Morgan's hand from her face which made her break out into another fit of giggles. Morgan looked over Carson's shoulder and noticed Natasha stood by the car, watching the interaction with a grin.

"You brought auntie Nat?" Morgan looked at Carson with an excited smile.

"Sure did." Carson nodded and put her back down. "Why don't you go say hi."

Morgan ran over to Natasha and the redhead pulled the girl into a hug. Steve walked around to the other side of the car to say hello to Morgan and once she realised he had come to visit too she gave him the same greeting.

Scott looked around at everyone awkwardly. "I'll just, uh, stay here."

Carson peeled his eyes away from the others and looked back at Tony. Just as he was about to say something, Tony cut him off by pulling him into a tight hug.

"How you doing, bud?" Tony asked genuinely.

Carson paused for a moment, thinking of what to say. He already knew the answer to Tony's question, but he didn't exactly want to ruin the mood.

Because the honest answer... wasn't exactly gonna be all sunshine and rainbows.

"I, uh." Carson mumbled. "I'm fine."

Tony pulled back and looked at him. Just as Carson predicted, he could tell that he was lying. That he wasn't fine. But Tony knew that it wasn't a topic that he wanted to speak about right now.

"I'm glad you're here." Tony told him as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "We missed you." He gestured over to Natasha and Steve. "All of us."

"I know." Carson gave him a small smile. "And I'm sorry... for, uh, well..."

Tony nodded, knowing what he was trying to say. "That doesn't matter. You're here now."

Movement coming from over Tony's shoulder grabbed Carson's attention and he looked to see Pepper making her way down the steps to their house.

"Carson." Pepper breathed out. "Oh my god."

The woman ran over and pulled him into her embrace. After a few seconds she pulled away, holding onto his arms as she gave him a look over, taking in how he'd changed.

Carson met her eyes. "Hi Pepper."

"You're here." Pepper smiled. "Can I get you anything? A drink? Some food? I was just making lunch for Morgan, I can make you something if you'd like?"

Carson was about to decline considering he and Natasha already ate before they came, but knowing Pepper she was going to do it anyway.

"Sure." Carson chuckled.

"Can I help?" Morgan walked over and looked up at her mother.

"Of course you can sweetheart." Pepper nodded and held her hand out for Morgan who happily took it and walked back into the house with her.

"Good answer." Tony gave him a thumbs up. "You know what she's like, you would've been getting a sandwich either way."

Natasha, Steve and Scott walked over and joined the other two. Carson looked down at Natasha as she stood at his side, watching as she slid her arm around his.

Ever since he had come he'd noticed how she'd always stay near him, almost as if she was scared he'd bolt any second.

Carson noticed her falter slightly in her movements because of how jumpy he seemed to be recently. But to reassure her, he shuffled closer and moved his free arm over to give her hand a quick squeeze.

"So," Tony clapped his hands together. "What's the occasion?"

~~ ᗢ ~~

CARSON SAT back down on the porch swing outside of Tony's house, passing Natasha a cup of coffee that he'd been inside to get for her. Everyone took their own seats on the chairs and gathered around while they continued to explain to Tony why they were here.

"No, we.. uh," Scott stammered. "We know what it sounds like."

"Tony, after everything you've seen, is anything really impossible?" Steve chimed in.

Tony let out a small sigh. "Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck scale... which then triggers the Deutsch Proposition. Can we agree on that?"

He walked over to Steve and passed him a drink.

"Thank you." Steve nodded.

Tony turned his attention towards Scott. "In layman's terms, it means you're not coming home."

"Scott did." Carson shrugged.

"Yep." Scott said, popping the P. "That I did."

"No. You accidentally survived." Tony corrected. "It's a billion-to-one cosmic fluke. And now you wanna pull a... what do you call it?"

Scott pursed his lips in thought. "A time... heist?"

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

"Tony, what they're saying is that the stones are in the past right?" Carson grabbed his attention. "So we could go back, we could get them ourselves."

Natasha nodded in agreement. "We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everybody back."

"Or screw it up worse than Thanos already has, right?" Tony deadpanned.

"I don't believe we would." Steve disagreed.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Gotta say it. 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 will be our collective demise."

"Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel, alright?" Scott began explaining. "It means no talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events—"

"I'm gonna stop you right there, Scott." Tony cut in. "Are you seriously telling me... your plan to save the universe is based on Back to the Future?"

Scott scoffed and shook his head. "No."

"Good. You had me worried there. 'Cause that would've been horseshit. It's just not how quantum physics works."

"Tony." Natasha spoke up. "We have to take a stand."

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

"Look, I know you got a lot on the line. You got a wife, a daughter. But I lost someone very important to me. A lotta people did." Scott tried to reason. "And now, we have a chance to bring everyone back and you're telling me that you wont even..."

Tony's eyes travelled over to Carson, his chest tightening at the sight of him looking down at his glass, clearly starting to lose hope about the idea.

Another broken promise.

He could practically see the desperation in Carson's eyes the more they had talked about the potential plan, the possibility of getting everyone back.

Getting Wanda back.

It killed him to not be able to be fully on board with the idea, it really did. Because he wanted nothing more than for Carson to be happy again. But he just couldn't give his commitment to something that was so unknown to them.

And as much as it pained him to even think it, Carson knew it too. He wanted this to work more than anything, he wanted her back more than anything. But having to possibly risk something happening to Morgan? It was out of the question.

Because if it was the other way around and Carson was in Tony's shoes with Wanda still there? He'd have doubts about it too.

"I..." Tony said quietly as he looked away from Carson. "I don't know. Not just yet."

Morgan suddenly came running out onto the decking. She climbed up onto the chair Tony was sat on and perched herself on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Mommy told me to come and save you." Morgan told him.

"Good job. I'm saved." Tony kissed the top of her head and stood up, picking Morgan up with him. "I'm honestly happy to see you guys, I just... Oh, look tables set for six so—"

Steve put his arm out to stop Tony. "I get it. And I'm happy for you, I really am. But this is a second chance."

Tony looked down at Morgan and over at Carson, who was talking to Natasha about something. "I got my second chance right here, Cap."

"Tony." Scott joined the conversation. "Please. We have to try. If you won't do it for us... then what about for him." He gestured over towards Carson.

Steve sighed. "You know how unstable he is. He couldn't handle another failure like this Tony, you know that. Now I know that he's trying to be better, I do, but he's putting everything on this. We all know what he's capable of if he snaps again."

Tony narrowed his eyes at Steve. Although he knew that Steve had a point, he hated the way he was talking about him, treating him as if he was some sort of villain.

He glanced over at Carson once more, frowning slightly as he ran over Steve's words.

"Just..." Tony huffed. "Give me some time. To think it over."

Steve nodded, happy with his answer. It may of not been a yes, but it wasn't a no.

"If you don't talk shop, you can stay for lunch." Tony told them all as he walked back into the house. "Carson, you're staying either way. Come on bud."

Carson ran a hand through his hair and stood up from his seat, looking around at them all. "I'll uh, be back tomorrow. Pepper asked me to stay, so."

Natasha smiled. "We'll see you tomorrow."

"I'm gonna find a way for this to work, a safe way." Carson looked at Steve. "Whatever it takes."

~~ ᗢ ~~

LATER THAT NIGHT

CARSON SMILED down at Morgan as she started to get under the covers of her bed. He looked behind him and grabbed a stool, pulling it over to the side of her bed and sitting down.

"You done?" Carson asked her, holding up the juice pop that she made him get for her not long ago.

Before Morgan could respond, he finished off the last bit, grinning down at her when he saw her reaction.

"Now you are." He chuckled. Carson pulled his sleeve over his hand to gently wiped Morgan's face, and move her hair out of her eyes. "There you go."

"I'm not tired." Morgan said.

"Yes you are." Carson nodded. He put his hand on the front of Morgan's face and playfully pushed her down. "That face, goes there."

Morgan laughed and shook her head. "Tell me a story."

"A story?" Carson hummed in thought. "Alright. This is a good one, you'll love it. Once upon a time, my little gremlin went to bed, the end."

"That, is a horrible story." Morgan complained.

"Come on, it's your favourite."

"Noooo."

Carson sighed. "You're not gonna go to sleep until I tell you one are you?"

Morgan grinned mischievously and shook her head making Carson huff.

"Fine." Carson ran a hand through his hair before picking up the stack of books that was on Morgan's bedside table. He gave her a quick smile before flicking through them. "Okay so, which one do you want? We have one about a princess, a dragon... a mouse looking... type thing? Or there's—"

"Who is Wan... Wanda." Morgan's eyebrows scrunched a little as she tried to pronounce the name correctly.

Carson froze and slowly looked up at Morgan, who was already watching him with hopeful eyes.

The request was certainly a surprise to him considering he'd never spoke about her before with the young girl. And up until this point, he wasn't planning on talking about her either.

He inhaled sharply and placed the books back. "Morgan, who told you about Wanda?"

"I heard mommy talking about her with auntie Nat." Morgan told him.

Suddenly a burst of excitement hit her and she reached over to her drawer, pulling out two small pictures and holding it out to Carson.

"Oh, oh, and I found these in your things! I was holding onto them for you so it wouldn't get lost." She smiled.

Carson gave her a small smile and took the pictures from her hand, looking down at them hesitantly.

[A/N: Use your imagination for the first one idk]

"I, uh..." Carson swallowed thickly. "Thank you Mo, for keeping them safe."

"She's really pretty." Morgan said softly as she sat up, holding onto Carson's wrist to keep herself steady as she looked at the photos too. "I like her eyes."

"Yeah, me too." A small smile creeped up on Carson's face, his eyes starting to fill up a little. "She really is beautiful, isn't she?"

Morgan shuffled back into her bed, pulling up her covers. "Is she your friend?"

"Mhm, she is— was. Wanda was my best friend, but she was more than that to me too." Carson looked up at Morgan who was giving him a toothy grin, seeming to know what he meant.

"You're both in love with each other? Like mommy and daddy are?" Morgan beamed, her nose scrunching up in the process just like Wanda's used to. "What was she like?"

"Exactly like that Mo." Carson swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded slowly. "And Wanda was... well I don't really think my words can do her justice. But she was one of the most amazing people I have ever met, the best thing that ever happened to me actually."

"Can I meet her?" Morgan asked.

Carson let out a sigh and gave Morgan a sad smile. "I, uh, I'm sorry Morgan but... you can't."

Morgan frowned. "Why not? You're in love aren't you?"

"Well... Wanda isn't— she isn't around anymore, Mo." Carson told her. "But that doesn't mean that I don't love her, because I always will. It's just that sometimes things don't always turn out the way you'd hope."

Morgan pouted, clearly not happy with the fact that this tale didn't have a happy ending. Carson got to his feet and tucked Morgan in, noticing how her eyes were fluttering closed every so often.

"If she does come back, will you bring her here?" Morgan said while rubbing her eyes tiredly. "Do you think she'd like me?"

"Oh, she'd love you." Carson smiled and kissed the top of her head. "Now go to bed, or I'll sell all your toys on eBay."

Carson quietly closed the door behind him, letting out a soft chuckle at the sound of Morgan giggling at his comment. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the pictures to take a quick look at them once more.

With a sigh, he put them back in his pocket and made his way downstairs where he found Tony stood at the bottom of the stairs pacing back and forth along with mumbling something under his breath.

Carson furrowed his brows at the sight. "What's up your ass?"

Tony stopped and looked up at him. "I did it."

His eyes instantly widened, knowing exactly what he was talking about. "You... you did it?"

The older man smiled widely and nodded. "I found a safe way and it can work, and I mean really work. We can get them back... all of them. You can get her back."

And there it was. Finally.

After five years of endless disappointment, endless failures, endless torment. In that moment, he felt alive again, like he was finally free of this burden that had been haunting him.

"I can get her back."

~~ ᗢ ~~

ok so i miss wanda so imma speed things up a bit aaaand because i wanna get to the juicy parts that i have planned for this story heh 😉

also i may or may not have been a little bit tipsy writing this SO if there's any mistakes im sorry

[Not edited]