Chapter Text
Plushy’s life was not easy. Her dad always seemed to be working and when he was home, he always seemed so sad and so tired. And she had her sister, but her sister was also busy a lot with her own life and with trying to help out their dad and look after Plushy.
Plushy had always wondered why her dad always seemed so sad. After she found out, all she wanted to do was help him and find a way to make him happy again. She spent months trying to figure out a way to help him, but could never figure out how. However, one day she remembered her dad saying that there were two people in New York who had known him . Now, she just had to find them.
First she had to get a flight to New York and find them in…God knows where.
'There goes the plan.' Plushy sighs as she looks at her phone and thinks of another plan.
"What if you fly to New York and go to the tower?" Plushy whirls around, almost falling in surprise as she looks at Springy, who is standing in the doorway, a smile on her face.
"You are going to help me?" Plushy asks and Springy nods with a smile.
*
Plushy and Springy are standing at the opening of the Stark tower, having taken a taxi there from the airport. Plushy and Springy stare at the towering structure, matching looks of worried doubt on their faces. They have no idea if this plan is actually going to work, but it’s the only plan they’ve got. Plushy and Springy share a look, Springy managing to give her sister a reassuring smile. Plushy then takes a deep breath and pushes open the glass door, the pair walking into the Tower.
Plushy looked around the Tower, in awe. She glances over to see a similar look on her sister’s face. However, they are interrupted by a woman walking over to them, “Can I help you two?” She asks coldly.
“We’re looking for two women named Candice and Frost. Do you know where we could find them?” Springy asked.
The woman narrowed her eyes, “Why are you looking for them?”
“We’re trying to help our dad. He’s going through a really tough time and we think that they could help us to help him.” Plushy pipes up. The woman opens her mouth, and Plushy can see that she is about to say no. “Please. He’s so tired and sad all of the time and we know that they wouldn’t want him to be like that. They’re the only ones who can help.”
The woman pauses, studying the two sisters. She must see the desperation on their faces or something to change her mind. She sighs, the cold, angry facade slightly dropping, “I can’t take you to Candice, as she isn’t here right now. However, I can take you to see Miss Frost. Follow me.” The two sisters share a grin before following the woman.
*
The woman takes them to an office that’s a few floors up. Inside, a tall, pale woman sits at a desk. When she looks up at them, Plushy and Springy let out quiet gasps at the sight of her eyes. They’ve never seen anything like them. The center of them is a dark forest green which is ringed by a fiery red-orange. It looks as if her irises were set on fire.
While the sisters took in the sight of the woman in front of them, the lady who had brought them there explained what little they had told her. The woman, who the sisters assumed was Frost, stared at them for another moment before recognition sparked in her eyes. She smiled at the girls before turning to the other woman, thanking her, and then telling her that she could leave. The woman nodded, turned to the girls with a small smile, and then walked out, leaving them alone with Frost.
“You two must be Plushy and Springy. I’ve heard quite a bit about you two.” Frost said with a smile. “All good things. Well, mostly.” She reassured, seeing the brief looks of worry on their faces. She gestures towards two chairs in front of her desk and the sisters quickly move to sit down. Once they are seated, she folds her hands on the desk in front of her and looks at the two of them, “Now I hear you girls need some help. So what can I do?”
Plushy then explains the situation to Frost, who listens quietly until Plushy is finished with her story and asks what they can do to help their dad. “ We were also trying to find someone named Candice. We think that she could possibly help too. Do you know where she is?” Springy asked after her sister had finished.
Frost didn’t reply. Instead, she closed her eyes, looking deep in thought. She stayed this way for at least ten minutes, the sisters sharing multiple glances but neither disturbing the pensive silence. Finally, Frost opened her eyes and stared at the two, studying them and almost seeming like she was looking for something, though the sisters had no idea what.
After a few more minutes, Frost gave a slight nod and leaned back in her chair. “I do know where Candice is.” She said. “ However, it will not be easy to find her. She works for S.H.I.E.L.D. and she may be currently on a mission for them. If she doesn’t want to be found, she won’t be. But I can still try to get a hold of her for you. I am willing to help you and your father, and she will almost definitely want to help as well, and may be even more help than me.”
Plushy and Springy both smiled and thanked Frost for her help. She nodded and then asked if they would wait outside while she tried to get a hold of Candice. The two both nodded and walked out of the room, sharing a smile with the other.
*
The next day, Candice meets Frost, Springy, and Plushy in Frost’s office in Stark Tower. Plushy then explains the situation to her and asks her if she would be willing to help them. Candice thinks about it for about a minute before agreeing to help them.
Before they continue, she tells them what she has been doing recently for S.H.I.E.L.D. Seeing the looks of skepticism on the other’s faces, she quickly reassures them that this information could help them in fixing things, since they will know more of the problem. She had been going through loads and loads of files and reports, trying to figure out what had happened when Tony had gone to Siberia.
The four then spend hours coming up with a plan. Candice filled the other three in on how she had recently been going through loads and loads of S.H.I.E.L.D. files, both online and offline. She had been trying to figure out exactly what had happened in Siberia. She told them how, in the course of her research, she had found out how Bucky had killed Tony’s parents. She also found out that some of the Rogues had known and that they never told Tony.
By the end of the day, when the sky outside has darkened and everyone else has long gone home, they have a plan. They’re going to go back in time using the Time Stone, which Plushy would steal from Stephen Strange, and try to stop the event that caused her dad so much pain. They’re going to gather up all of the heroes and force them to see what Tony had to go through. Then maybe they can fix the future and make it so Plushy’s dad isn’t so sad anymore. And so people can really see who the good and bad Avengers are.
The four of them all share a look, worried about what’s going to happen tomorrow when Plushy steals the Stone, but also all determined to fix the mistakes of the past.
*
Plushy didn’t open her eyes immediately. She remained still, thinking of how she and her sister were actually doing it, still slightly in shock that their plan seemed to be working. They were actually in the past.
She thought back to how the first miracle had been that she, with a bit of the others’ help, had been able to actually steal the Time Stone from Dr. Strange. She had expected the task to be near impossible with his complex magic and with how close he kept the Stone. However, they had been able to get it from him without too much difficulty. Granted, it wasn’t a walk in the park, but it also didn’t seem as if Stephen was truly trying his hardest. Maybe he knew their plan and had seen some future where it worked. Maybe he had hope that they could fix this. Plushy would ask him when she got back to her own time and returned the Stone.
With that thought, Plushy finally opens her eyes and gets up. She quickly gets dressed and grabs some breakfast before walking out to meet her sister. Together, the two walk to the theater.
Plushy and Springy were the first to arrive in the theater and had sat in their seats and waited for the rest of the group to wake up and come down to the theater. Slowly, the group filters in, some looking wide awake, while others look as if they are seconds from falling back asleep.
Finally, everyone had arrived. Plushy stood up, about to start the movie. Before she started it, she took a look around the room. Her eyes stick on one person and her breath is caught in her throat. She is starkly reminded of when her Dad found out about their plan.
*
Plushy feels a pang in her chest as she sees the look on her Dad’s face. She didn’t really mean for him to find out about their plan and, if he did, she had hoped that he would be happy about it and maybe even willing to help. Instead, she and Springy were faced with a look of deep hurt and disappointment.
“Why are you doing this?” He asked in a wounded tone.
Plushy briefly squeezed her eyes shut before opening them and glancing at her sister. Springy gave a slight nod, indicating that she was still with Plushy.
Plushy then looked back at her Dad, “Because we want to save him for you, Dad. It’s obvious that you still miss him and regret what happened. We know that you need him back. And we’re going to do our best to make that happen.”
Plushy didn’t know it was possible for her Dad’s face to fall even further, but it did. Another pang of hurt streaked through her chest. However, before he could say anything more, Plushy had activated the Time Stone and they were gone.
*
Plushy slowly came back to herself. She heard a calm voice near her, whispering soothing words and heaving deep, exaggerated breaths. Plushy did her best to follow these breaths, struggling to get enough oxygen to her lungs. Multiple times, she would take breaths that were too shallow or would let it out too quick. But each time, the voice was quick to reassure her that it was ok and then encourage her to keep trying.
Eventually, Plushy was able to breathe normally and realized that she was currently leaning against a wall while sitting on the floor. She glanced over to see Springy kneeling next to her, who gave her a small, reassuring smile. Plushy gave a weak smile in return.
“You had a panic attack, during which you fell on the floor.” Springy explained, “I guided you over to the wall, so we could have some privacy and so you could sit a bit easier.”
Plushy nodded and sent her sister a grateful smile, which she returned. Springy asked Plushy if it was ok if she touched her, to which Plushy gave a nod. Springy then pulled her sister into a tight hug, which Plushy immediately relaxed into. After a minute or two, Springy slowly released her sister and stood up. She motioned for Plushy to stay seated and gave a glare that indicated that she meant it. Then she walked away.
Plushy slumped against the wall, exhausted from her panic attack. She leaned her head against the wall with a small thump and closed her eyes. A few minutes later, she heard quiet footsteps walking toward her and peeled her eyes back open. Springy crouched back down next to her and handed her a bottled water and a granola bar, knowing that the panic attack would have tired her out and that food and water would help.
Plushy gave her sister another grateful smile before reaching over to grab the water bottle, opening the cap and taking a long drink. She and Springy stayed there, giving Plushy time to re-energize and pull herself back together.