#I kinda wish we'd seen more of them interacting/planning after that but I do know it'd defeat the 'unspoken plan' thing

[intothewickedwood]

Ruby or Mulan, Maleficent or Cruella, Dragon Queen or Outlaw Queen, Shadow Queen or Regina x Kathryn?

Gaaah! Thank you for the questions! These are challenging, for sure!

Ruby. But it's close! The werewolf thing wins it for me, and also because she was in Season One. I have a lot of Season 1 feelings. And also her friendship with Snow! And "Red-Handed" being one of my favorite episodes. She's a great and tragic character who does her best to help others no matter what she's going through herself.

I do love Mulan a lot, though. I may be in love with both Red and Mulan. Oops! I just wish we'd gotten more of Mulan. I loved her dynamics with every character she interacted with. She's such a badass. Mulan x Aurora x Phillip is one of my favorite ships in the show, and I also wouldn't have said no to Mulan and Ruby ending up together. Mulan deserved better.

Cruella. I agree with you about having a lot of room to explore with Maleficent, as she could have done with a bit more development in the show. I'd have at least loved to have seen more of her relationship with Lily. She was an adorable mom in the one episode we got to see them interact. But Cruella makes me laugh out loud. She has some of the best lines. "Sympathy for the De Vil" is one of my favorite, most unique episodes. She just wants to murder people! Let her have her happy ending, Isaac! xD. I don't know, she's just so fun, but I do still really enjoy Maleficent. I wish they'd explained what the heck happened with her and Aurora's parents. I like to believe she was in love with Briar Rose, and it went terribly wrong.

Definitely Dragon Queen. I've just been having a discussion on a different website about how Robin Hood was possibly evil the whole time. Looking at the evidence, his words don't match up with his actions. If he wants to steal from the rich, why date Regina? His code says he can't divorce his wife, but he'll… let her die instead? In the book, there is a page which shows that when he met Marian, he planned to kidnap her for ransom, yet he tells Will that he tried to steal her horse, didn't because she was poor, and from that day forward, he chose to steal only from the rich and give to the poor. Yet, in "Heart of Gold," we see that he only decides to steal from the rich and give to the poor long after he and Marian are a couple. Not to mention he shot at Regina without hesitation when looking for the Wicked Witch and, knowing at the time that the Wicked Witch had bright red hair, hid in the bushes and aimed his arrow at the back of a clearly dark-haired Regina's head for a good while before making his presence known. It's just a theory, but I do wonder if he had a plot for revenge against her all along, at least at first. I think that would have made him a much more interesting character. Otherwise, I struggle to make sense of why Regina, post formation of the Evil Queen, would want to be with someone like him. She kinda had to change her personality during their interactions just to make it make a little sense. It's just not for me. But power to those who like it, and I may adopt the revenge plot theory as headcanon, which might make me more invested in them.

Dragon Queen, on the other hand, has to be canon, right? I mean, the intensity of the moments when their noses almost touch. I think they should have kissed. There is so much blatant subtext there, and it's so wonderfully gay. Okay, so Regina rode home on a dragon. Okay, girl, I see you. "Are you a bad girl, Regina?" "The worst." I mean, come on! Everything that comes out of their mouths when they interact just screams "we are exes who can't stop flirting with each other." I love it! I wish it was more explicit!

Okay, this last one is really freaking hard. I do love both almost equally, but I've been thinking a lot about Regina x Kathryn lately and their potential, and I just wanna go back to season 1 and make them fall in love. I want the angst post-season 1. I need it! I honestly would have been ecstatic if Regina had ended up with either of them. And it's totally cool that she ended up single at the end. That was a nice way to demonstrate that happy endings/beginnings don't have to involve romantic love. But goddamn, I wish Facilier didn't die. I know love triangles aren't popular, but heck, if they'd brought Facilier in earlier and had a Kathryn/Regina/Facilier love triangle, I would have been very happy. Idk, I love both pairings, but the Kathryn x Regina friends-to-lovers gets me. And we could have gotten so much more Kathryn. *Cries forever*.

[romanoffsbish]

Chapter 43: Don’t You Dare!

Chapter 42 | Masterlist | Chapter 44 | Words: 1,588

———————————————————————

Nat’s POV

We roll up, to see Tony and Morgan outside, playing in the castle Y/N and I had built for her. Tony looked at us with an unreadable expression, and Morgan came bounding towards us. Wanda scooped her up, and spun her in circles, while I walked towards Tony.

"Pepper didn't tell me you'd be by to collect her today, but judging by the bike I have realized you're not here for that."

"Astute observation... Look, Tony, we think we found a way..."

"Natasha..."

"No! Listen..."

I explained to him the basics of what Scott had told us, while Wanda's playing with Morgan in the distance.

"I just want to thank you two fordropping by. It's not every day one gets to contemplate biting it on an inter-dimensional timescape."

"Don't just write off the plan already..."

"So you're calling it a plan. To me, it sounds like it's rather deadly, and more so impossible."

"Tony, after what you've seen, is anything really impossible? We literally fought aliens, have interacted with wizards, and watched as practically everyone we loved turned to dust.”

"Quantum fluctuation kinda messes with the Planck Scale, which then triggers the Deutsch Proposition, can we agree on that?..."

I just glare at him, waiting for him to get off his 'I'm really smart' high horse, and actually make sense.

"In simple terms, it means you can cancel your subscription to life because you're not coming home."

"Scott did." I correct the arrogant asshat.

"Which was a billion-to-one cosmic fluke. Now you want to pull a- What are you calling it?"

"He called it a time heist"

"Oh, of course, a time heist, why didn't we think of this before? Right, because it's a pipe dream. Who even is he again?”

"The Antman, we'd met him years back, he's related by girlfriend to the Pym family."

"Well, whoever he is, he's gotten your hopes up, and now I'm being made out to be the bad guy who has to make them fall."

"Tony, the Stones exist in the past. We could get them and bring them here. We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everybody back." I say, practically in a shout.

"Or screw it up worse than he already has."

"I doubt that we would."

"Sadly, all your high hopes won't help me if there's no logical, tangible way for me to safely execute said "time heist." I believe the most likely outcome would be our collective demise."

"Tony, that's honestly bullshit, if there's anyone who can do this, it's us."

"I have too much to lose, Natasha! Morgan can't lose anymore people!"

"Bullshit! No one's asking you to lose a damn thing, just to bring back all that we've lost. Morgan asks me all the time when 'Auntie Y/N/N' is coming back, but all we can give her are stories. Those will run out one day Tony! She deserves to know her aunt, and Y/N deserves not to miss another moment of her life! We have to take a stand." I all but shout at the man before me.

"We did stand, and look at where we are now..."

"I get that you've got a lot on the line, here. You've got a wife, and a daughter; you also have a sister, one who thinks the world of you. The same one that forgave you for what most would deem unforgivable. Now we have a chance to save her, and everyone else for that matter, and you won't even-"

"No, Nat. I won't. Even."

"I wish you were coming here to ask me something else. I'm honestly happy to see you. If you want to stay-"

"Tony, I get it. But this is a second chance, we owe it to Morgan, to bring back Y/N, to bring everyone back. More specifically YOU owe it to her."

"Yeah, well, I got my second chance right here. I can't roll the dice on it. The table is set for five. If you don't talk shop, you're welcome to stay for lunch."

"Don't you dare! Don't walk away from this!"

He sighs, but sends me a look that's pretty definite, so I walk off in a huff towards Wanda, as she sends Morgan back to her dad.

"He's scared." Wanda murmurs

"Who isn't? If you're not scared, you're not paying enough attention..."

"He'll come around... I can feel it, he's being torn apart by the possibilities."

"Well, he better, this won't work without him." I reluctantly admit.

"Auntie Nat!"

I turn to see Morgan running my way, and I instantly slap a smile on my face and open my arms for her.

"Are you leaving already? Daddy said you could stay for lunch. Mommy made cheeseburgers, Auntie Y/N's favorite!" She excitedly proclaims, and my heart clenches at the mention of Y/N.

"Well, her second favorite, because we all know she loves her egg rolls." Morgan continues, and I chuckle at her correction. 

"A burger sounds nice, maybe the three of us can eat it in the castle, yeah?"

"I'll ask mama, go wait for me there." She commands, as she wiggles out my arms and runs to the house.

Tony's POV

I want nothing more than to bring my sister back, to bring the kid back, but this isn't some simple mission. Messing with time, almost always comes with a heavy price, and I'm not sure how willing I am to risk what I have...

While the girls are entertaining Morgan outside, I'm sat at my station, entertaining Natasha's ludicrous idea of time travel...

"Friday, you up for some hypothesizing?"

"Yes, sir."

"I've had a mild inspiration, would like to see if it checks out. I would like to run one last sim before we pack it in for the night. This time, in the shape of a Mobius Strip, inverted."

"Processing."

I take a bite out of my burger while she pulls up the model for me.

"All right, give me the eigenvalue of that particle, factoring in spectral decomp. Run it. That'll take a second. And don't worry if it doesn't pan out, I'm just kind of..."

"Model rendered."

"Shit."

I look to see the model, and it’s actually perfect, proving the opposite of what I said to the assassin. Then I hear a tiny voice mimicking me.

"Shit."

"What are you doing there?"

"Shit." She repeats, as she smirks my way, something she's clearly picked up from Nat.

"First of all, that's a Mommy word, she coined it. Secondly, why aren't you eating lunch with the redheads?"

"They sent me in to spy on you, because they saw bright lights flashing, but I wasn't supposed to tell you. But mommy said I'm not allowed to lie, so since I'm caught, I'm just telling you."

"I appreciate you for telling the truth. Look, how about you take these juice pops out for dessert, and tell your Auntie's that the operation time heist is a go, and I'll meet them tomorrow, so to have everyone there. Can you remember all of that, my smart girl?"

Morgan nods, leaving me alone with the model.

"Did I hear that correctly?"

Well, I guess not alone...

"Hey Pep."

"I think I solved it."

"Just so we're both talking about the same thing-"

"Time travel."

“That's amazing, and slightly terrifying.”

"To say the least."

"We got really lucky, but not everyone else did, and in the end we still lost someone incredibly important...

"What if it doesn't work and I lose even more?"

"We can't live our lives in the what if's... If you're right, you can bring everyone back..."

"Not if I stopped right here." I offer, trying to see if I have her on my side here.

"Tony, trying to get you to stop is one of the few failures of my life."

"I could just lock the lab, put it in a trunk, sink it to the bottom of the lake, and send them away"

"But could you rest?" She asks me, an air of sadness in her eyes, but in the same instant approval.

"I think Y/N's worth the risk, if it was reversed, you know she'd do it in a heart beat."

"Then it's settled... I'll have Happy here to keep you girls company tomorrow. I promise to do everything in my power to come home to you, and to bring Y/N back with me."

"I know you will." She smiles, then leans in to kiss me, as we pour all of our love into said kiss.

"Ewww." Morgan squeaks from the door, and I look to see her being brought in by a smiling Natasha.

"Thank you for the burgers Pep, they were delicious. I'm off to wrangle in a missing archer." She says happily as she holds Morgan close, but I can see the despair all over her face.

Nat's POV

"Goodbye Lil' Stark. I love you."

"I'm not little anymore Auntie Nat..." She whines, but hugs me tightly, gripping my shirt for dear life like she did the last time I went on a mission like this.

"You'll always be my lil' baby, so don't try to fight it."

"Even when you and Auntie Y/N have babies?"

"Even then." I reply, as my heart swells at the possibilities to come if this mission works out.

I gently set her down, as I nod at Pepper and Tony, before I take off to get this show on the road...

———————————————————

Taglist:

@ali-lie @simpforflorencepugh1

The consensus I got was everyone wanted Steve to sacrifice himself, so I decided that I'm sending —. 🤪🤪🤪