#cause comics peggy SUCKS

[starvinginbelair]

captain carter about to be in the mcu again…

meanwhile sharon carter’s character arc is in shambles, natasha is DEAD, bucky is being sidelined, clint is retired, and sam is in a movie with a zionistic character

WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE CAPFAMILY

[jimmythejiver]

Reminder that Peggy Carter sucks in both the movies/extended universe and comics, but for two different reasons. It is pointed out many times that movie/show version is based on comic book Nazi double agent Cynthia Glass, so much that they casted Haylee Atwell to look like her, and she's a British government agent. Nuff said.

Comic book Peggy is if you had Scarlett O'Hara but blond working in the French resistence with all the values dissonance that creates. Comic Peggy is a descendent of Virginian plantation slave owners (her being British in movie is an invention to bypass this uncomfortable fact while ignoring the complacency of British Imperialism and it's human rights violations) and in comics her and Sharon live that "genteel, romantic antebellum" inspired upbringing of exploited wealth and it's never explored in any way than as set dressing to these white writers because they think this archetye is 'murica girlboss and thematically contrasts Steve's northerner immigrant background, see. Comic Peggy married Howling Commando Gabe Jones who is black and nothing of her past is addressed about this legacy and then she gets alzheimers and thinks she's still with Steve causing a rift in her marriage and with Steve and Sharon's already weird relationship because before this development by later writers, it was never Stan Lee's intention that Steve dated both Peggy and Sharon who were originally sisters not aunt and niece and then great-aunt and great-niece as time passed from whenever Steve was thawed. Then Peggy dies of old age as the waste of space she was (liberating those poor French notwithstanding) and we still stuck with Sharon the S H.I.E.L.D. cop who shot Steve, but oh it's ok, see she was brainwashed, see. I hate the Carter's and knowing Marvel has no balls to make Bucky, Sam or Jack Moneoe his bf, if I wanted Steve with a woman, I'd rather it be with Bernie Rosenthal who he met sometime after being thawed and almost married before Sharon undied herself or Betty Ross who Peggy replaced in Canon as his war love interest because oops Stan Lee named Hulk's girlfriend that and we can't have both around…

Also another petty note: I didn't hate Haylee Atwell's Peggy initially, but after watching her play a slave owner who loses a fraction of her power marrying a man who inherits her property and has an affair with her once 'favorite slave' she abuses throughout, in the British series called The Long Song, I cannot unsee these two characters played by the same actress as the two sides of the white supremacist girlboss coin.

[thesinglesjukebox]

SEXYY RED - "POUND TOWN"

They were gonna find out anyway...

[5.69]

Crystal Leww: When I was in high school, I went over to a friend's house to work on a school project together, and she put on "Ms. New Booty" by Bubba Sparxxx. As teenagers, we were absolutely shrieking at that chorus, just like jumping up and down, hyped up on 7-11 Big Gulp soda. It is still one of the most viscerally funny, goofiest, most unserious things I've ever heard in music. I hope that feeling that I bottled up and hold dear to my heart even today is what what teens today felt the first time they heard "my coochie pink, my bootyhole brown!" [8]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: It was the pound heard 'round the town, and Sexyy Red became an instant star. It's easy to see why: she's having a total blast here while rapping with minimal effort, in a regular talking cadence. She lets out a laugh or two, throws in casual ad-libs, and says some of the most memorable lines of the year. Kanye talking about bleached assholes was always unrelatable; finally, a bootyhole song for the people. [7]

Ian Mathers: Look, I enjoy my trips to Pound Town as much as the next person, I just have some questions about how the Pound Town tourism board is spending their budget. [5]

Nortey Dowuona: This has been Sexyy Red's year, as last year was GloRilla's year, as last year was Doja Cat's year, as last year was Megan Thee Stallion's year, as last year was Cardi B's year... can we just let them all share the next year? I'm really irritated by the way we hype up a new femme rapper for a year, praise them to the roof and back, then give up on them afterwards (remember Chika? Remember Saweetie? Remember Free JT? Remember Maliibu Miitch? Remember Treety? Remember Dreezy?) We let too many mid male rappers get the chance to drop and hog the discourse with either praise or condemnation and seem to forget that women rappers are just as diversely populated and are good as hell. (REMEMBER CUPCAKKE!!!??) I can't even be too positive about this song cuz I know what happened to literally everybody who we were like, "they so good omg we love them, twerking on the runway" -- not doing that shit this year. All you folks pissed about Yachty making Tame Impala Feeding Music use that anger to engage with the next Rapsody album instead. And "Hellcats SRTs" is the actual best song Sexyy Red has ever done, but it's not as memeable. Fuck this. [9]

Alfred Soto: Wary of stanning for female rap artists who wield vulgarity like an épée -- the fandom, depending on its expression, can look an awful lot like exoticizing -- I resisted Sexyy Red. Her conversational tone reminded me what I admire about the Everyperson anonymity of dance singers from Shannon and Bernard Sumner to Katy B and Peggy Gou. I've accepted "Pound Town." Now, about her embrace of Trump... [7]

Taylor Alatorre: "TRUMP TO CITY: DROP DEAD" [2]

Katherine St Asaph: Please note as you read this score that for our 2023 return, we have also re-curved the rating scale, and the YouTube comments are a [-10]. [0]

Leah Isobel: "Pound Town" works wonders as a comedy bit and as an introduction to Sexyy Red's charismatic delivery -- the way she tosses off That One Line and then audibly starts giggling into the next is star power personified. I'm not sure it functions as well as a song as it does a meme, but that's what "SkeeYee" is for. [6]

Michelle Myers: Sexyy Red has better comedic timing than most professional comics. On "Pound Town," she's playful and winky, delivering unhinged lines about scouting Miami for hoochie daddies and exposing her cheating man (love u baby!). [7]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: "My coochie pink, my booty-hole brown" was the first line that made me laugh out loud. The rest of "Pound Town" is a treasure trove of deadpan punchlines, from the withering delivery of "I'm out here in Miami," to the feigned imperative of "come suck a bitch toes," to the fourth wall breaking of "I can't say his name, 'cause he be cheating." The Nicki remix, for what it's worth, is an [8]. [7]

Will Adams: Listening to a song shouldn't make me want to furiously smash Logic's nudge function to get the vocal to actually align to the beat. [2]

Jeffrey Brister: Somewhat less...technically complex than "WAP," but I value directness. There's a lot to be said about clever wordplay and all the other literary techniques you want to reference, but sometimes you just need to hear "come suck a bitch toes" and appreciate the simple beauty of being insanely and candidly horny. [7]

Thomas Inskeep: I've been known to enjoy filth, but you've gotta give me something to latch onto. Filth for the sake of filth is just sad. 2 Live Crew, for instance, were filthy, but they at least sounded like they were having fun. John Waters of course glorified in filth in his early work, and made it art. There's no fun or art in "Pound Town"; Sexyy Red just sounds bored and uninspired, like she's just waiting for this to catch on online so she can start cashing checks. I hope she invests well. [0]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Obnoxious! [8]

Jonathan Bradley: During his career peak, even while he was claiming to be the best alive, Jay-Z would often demur about whether he was actually a rapper. He didn't write anything down; he was a businessman; he would retire any minute now. This disengagement with the expectations of art, the notion that creativity might call someone to account and absorb them into a guild with traditions and limitations, has been resisted by other rappers since: Lil B, for instance, switching from Bay Area sneaker raps to rambling psychedelia or such MCs as Blueface or Teejayx6 severing the links between beat and flow. On "Pound Town," Sexyy Red reminds me of how Chicago drill icon Katie Got Bandz mumbled and smirked through her way through her rhymes, as if she were too dangerous to bother trying to be a rapper. Sexyy Red mumbles here, and cuts her lines off into short, simply rhymed taunts, as if she's too hot or maybe too horny to rap properly. She collapses into a giggle half way through some of these missives, switches to a playful sing-song for others, and breezily apologizes for almost giving away a man who's been sneaking around with her ("I love you baby!"). Despite the brooding piano-led beat, which approaches hook-ups the way Nas did paranoia home invasion in "Shoot Em 'Up," it's fun! Sexyy Red does what she wants; why would she bother putting in the effort of rapping properly? And even if "Pound Town" is more languid and less urgently anarchic than "Born By the River," and perhaps less insistent than "SkeeYee," it still has an important message about which parts of Sexyy Red are pink and which parts are brown. [8]

Brad Shoup: The textbook definition of "it ain't that deep". [8]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox ]

[dog-babyy]

really sucks that i hate both peggy and pepper in the mcu cause it makes me look like an angry fujoshi who hates the women her otp are in a canon relationship with but really it’s cause women are so supremely awful in the mcu like they are written so annoyingly i can’t stand it and it pisses me off cause i LOVE steve and tony’s love interests in the comics like rumiko and sharon are my girls

[lunarspiral1127]

*Multiverse of Madness SPOILERS*

Time for me to talk about the Illuminati death scenes, cause this was some bullcrap.

First, Black Bolt: I genuinely feel sorry for fans of the character and the Inhumans. Honestly, I haven't seen the Inhumans show, so I don't know if it's bad or good (even though I've heard from some people who said it was a bad show). I did hear that Anson Mount played the character in the show, and he was fine in MoM. He even got the comic accurate costume, tuning fork and all. Although, I feel bad for the actor since he got to reprise his role only to get killed off in a brutal way for a PG-13 movie. I understand taking Black Bolt out first since he's a major threat to Wanda, but the reason she was able to do that was because Reed had to tell her what his power is, which is so stupid. You don't tell your enemy what they're capable of! Also, I thought he'd be the one that should've held his own against Wanda (the other two should've been Professor X and Captain Marvel) based on his abilities. Dude could level an entire town with a mere word!

Mr. Fantastic: I'm so sorry Fantastic Four fans. Now, because he was in the movie for a couple of minutes, I can't judge how well John Krasinski acted as Reed Richards, but he was fine in the movie. Speaking of Krasinski, this was a fancast made by so many fans for years. Well, we got the fancast we wanted....only for him to turn into string cheese and get his head popped off by Wanda. The effects for his stretching was okay, and the costume was okay, but god damn was Reed done dirty here. His death was the slowest out of the Illuminati, which I don't understand why the hell Peggy and Maria just stood there and not attack Wanda to save Reed! Also, Reed's supposed to be one of the smartest people in Marvel, but he tells Wanda Black Bolt's power, and stretches his arm to grab her when he saw what he did to his teammate. Yeah, Reed in the comics messes up, but come on! Now, if the Fantastic Four movie's still happening and Krasinski isn't casted, that's gonna be a huge insult to fans who wanted to see him play that role.

Captain Carter: Anyone noticed that Wanda easily get rid of the two male members, but struggles to fight against the two female members? I don't know how I feel about that. Anyway, I still don't get why Peggy is a member of the Illuminati, but okay. And she has a jetpack for some reason. Did it suck that she died? Yeah, it was a bummer. But, I'm surprised that Wanda had a longer fight with her than Black Bolt and Mr. Fantastic, and that she struggled against Peggy and Maria more than the others. Also, "I can do this all day"....seriously?! She had to have Steve's catchphrase?!

Captain Marvel: So, she's one of the three that should've held her own and she did. But, her death was a giant statue falling on top of her? I wanted to call bullcrap on that cause Carol has flown through space ships, and this Maria variant dies from a statue. Maybe it was because Wanda absorbed her powers, but it was hard to tell. If she did do that however, why the hell doesn't she do that to everyone else?! Also, Maria's attitude rubbed me the wrong way, but I think the writers made her and the others arrogant so that they'd easily get killed by Wanda. It's still annoying though.

Now, there's still Charles Xavier but that's gonna be a long post for later. And, I know some people are gonna say "they're variants, it's fine". No. No, it's not fine. This was the first introduction to Mr. Fantastic, and Black Bolt in an MCU movie. Them getting brutally murdered shouldn't be part of that. It's insulting to the Fantastic Four fans and the Inhumans fans. This is also Captain Carter's live action debut, and this would piss off some of the Peggy stans too. Too bad Wanda is "dead", otherwise, I'd hope Sue Storm, Medusa, or Franklin Richards would've hunted her down and kicked her butt for killing their loved ones. I pick them because of how close they are to them. Anyone else who's capable of beating up the witch is fine by me if they join in.

[arctimon]

What If...? (Big Hero 6 Edition)

So the next Marvel series set to release is What If...?, a series of nine episodes that will focus on alternate events and timelines that occur within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  The series, based off of the comic series of the same name, will premiere on August 11th, running straight through October 6th. The show was suppose to have ten episodes in both Season 1 and 2 (which is already being worked on), but producer Brad Winderbaum mentions in an interview that they had to push an episode back because of, you guessed it, the pandemic:

"We had to push an episode into Season 2. It was just, honestly, like everything else, that was a COVID impact," Winderbaum told Collider. "There was an episode that just wouldn't hit the completion date, but luckily we do get to see it in the second season of the show."

Judging by both the poster and the trailer, we know of a few scenarios: Peggy Carter becoming Captain America, an alternate Avengers lineup battling at New York, Black Panther as Star Lord, Marvel Zombies (of course there’s zombies), and Spider-Man as the Sorcerer Supreme.  Inverse has an article breaking all of the possibilities down.

A lot of the actors who portray their characters in live action will reprise their roles for the animated series, including the late Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther/Star Lord.  Star...Panther?  Black Lord? That last one sounds wrong. Among those not coming back are Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, and Dave Bautista as Drax.  Bautista was, according to the man himself, wasn’t even asked to come back to voice Drax.  Others include Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, Tom Holland as Spider-Man, James Spader as Ultron, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Elizabeth Olson as the Scarlet Witch, Letitia Wright as Shuri, Gweneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, and various members of the Dora Milaje.  They have all apparently been confirmed to be appearing in What If...? in some form or another, but voiced by different people.

It will certainly be an interesting show, but I hope you can see where I’m going with this.

The Big Hero 6 fanbase has a lot of burning questions for the show and movie, and it’s not all just unanswered ones about what happens after the show ended.  I think collectively there are a few common “what-ifs” that we have in our minds about the team.  I think the most obvious one involves one of the Hamada brothers, and that branches off into other what-ifs as well.

Granted, not all of these are reality-altering hypotheticals like there are in the show or comics, but they can still change the course of the movie or show in a huge way.

1.) What if...Tadashi had survived the fire?

Tadashi being a survivor of the fire that takes down the exhibition hall brings up a few interesting conundrums.  Would he be scarred for life?  Would he even be able to complete school?

And if Hiro still made the team, would he end up becoming Sunfire like a lot of fans theorize?

The thing is that Callaghan knows that Tadashi died in the fire.  If he knew that he didn’t, would that change his motivations?  Would he still be using the Microbots knowing that the person that was trying to “stop” him was still alive? Alternatively, you also have...

2.) What if...Hiro had died instead of Tadashi?

Hiro was probably about two seconds away from being fully engulfed in that giant fireball.  It’s entirely plausible that he (or possibly both Hamadas) could have perished in the fire instead of his brother, which sort of leads to the same circumstances as the first question, just with different powersets.  Tadashi would no longer be tied to fire-based powers but the magnetic equipment that that Hiro currently uses.

But one has to think about whether Tadashi would be in the right state of mind to be a hero long term.  Seeing his kid brother perish in the accident would probably cause him to go insane, and perhaps the rest of the team would have to reel him in.

3.) What if...Baymax had killed Callaghan?

It’s worth noting that if Honey Lemon had been about three seconds later on getting the healthcare chip back into Baymax, this wouldn’t have been a “What If?” question.

And sure, the team would have saved the day, but at what cost?  The permanent scarring of a fourteen-year-old?  And what would have come of the major revelations after that fight concerning Project Silent Sparrow and Abigail?

Maybe they would have been the ones to build the portal to the other dimension to try to save her.  That would similar to what happened in the original manga (where Tadashi actually helps with the construction of the original portal and got sucked in as a result). 4.) What if...Baymax had saved Obake in “Countdown to Catastrophe”?

Obake dismissed Baymax after his hideout started collapsing near the end of Part 2, and you could tell that Baymax was seriously considering rescuing him before leaving him in his chair amongst the rubble.  Ultimately, however, he did leave him behind after Obake’s insistence.

Imagine what would have happened if he had gone against his programming and saved his life.

The relieved group hug on the beach would have been replaced with a disheveled (and probably a little damp) Obake.  Hiro would have been staring hiim down in disbelief.  Perhaps there would even be another fight, or at least the makings of one.

And then Obake would give himself up for arrest.

Maybe that’s where Chief Cruz could have been introduced.  It would have given a good lead into the next season, and it would give Megan’s meeting with Hiro in Season 2 a little bit more meaning.

And finally, because I’m a shipper and we have to go there:

5.) What if...Karmi had never left SFIT at the end of “City of Monsters”?

We know from the boards that Bob Schooley posted that “City of Monsters” was originally going to end very differently than what actually made the final cut.  It seemed that Karmi, in addition to getting a nonsensical boyfriend named “Flammarion��, was not suppose to leave SFIT in the early draft.

So what if Hiro had shown up to her lab, and instead of seeing this...

He saw this?

Or...something a little less dramatic?  Maybe just her packing up stuff because she’s in the process of leaving?  And Hiro had to say something in order for her to stop what she was doing? And how exactly would you achieve that? See, if that scenario happened, I think that this particular point would be where Hiro told her about being in Big Hero 6.  And of course Karmi wouldn’t believe him, even though she’s now in love with him crushing on him.

Then, he takes her to the base.

And she turns back to him with an incredulous look.

And roll credits.  What a cliffhanger to go into Season 3 with. I vaguely remember fanart depicting that exact scene (Hiro taking Karmi to the base), but I don’t remember who did it.  I would like to give them the proper credit. Season 3 would have looked totally different if that took place.  Maybe it would have been an actual season and not a bunch of mini stories.  Also...perhaps Karmi would have joined the team proper.

And maybe we would have finally had a giant canonical Karmiro moment.

...Now that is a big “What if?”.

(Marvel’s What If...? premieres on Wednesday, August 11th on Disney+.)

[bitteropinions]

Warning I'm explaining the political accords MCU and comic-wise in this negative post so you may see me badmouthing your fave for their timeline. My grammar sucks I'm on my phone so it's useless pointing it out. This is both extremely anti tony and pro tony and anti steve and pro-Steve BECAUSE I'm covering both versions of the characters. Ok, I want you guys to know something because a lot of people are stroking themselves raw to make people seem like villains where they aren't and heroes where they are villains. And yes this is all true for the most part I do own the original civil war comics, not all of them but the ones I don't have are easily researched to fill in the gaps pls tell me any mistakes incase you own any of them. The comic accords by force are the registration of all inhuman mutants no matter what. This is due to collective opinion radically changing on superhumans labeling them baby killers and causes mass killings of heroes who oppose and enforcers hunting them down under Tonys doing. Steve rejects this as he should I'm anti-registration act comic wise. Steve is a hero in the comics and I hate seeing post that connects the two accords because they're both inconsistent timelines. Tony stays alive to "rule" while Steve is inevitably killed I believe by a brainwashed Sharon.

Peter who initially sides with Tony in the comics backtracks and joins caps forces. Making him a target by anti(!) heroes and putting him in danger. In the comic this violent act causes many heroes to die terribly or get assassinated even the Avengers we know today. Tony is cruel and is a hateful person who deserves all the hate in the world. The S. Accords realistically is Not the world registration act. MCU accords are the specific regulation of the inhuman assets working under S.H.E.I.L.D, not spiderman or Tchalla they do not operate under S.H.E.I.L.D. Tony supports this rightfully so due to Ultron(which everyone naturally loves to bring up until this moment tony wants to properly fix his mistake) cap doesn't and has a bigger than Texas dick about it. I'm pro MCU accords due to personally knowing that foreigners do not like American forces on their soil because it always ends with the death of many innocent people and children and many brutal assaults. Tony is a genuine hero with heroic duties in MCU. MCU Tony is a hero taking action and is in the right for siding with the human population on their securities excluding the corrupt news of Ross's plans. Once again this is why I always say I hate comics tony, he is a shit person in multiple universes. This is why I also say I hate MCU they fucked up their entire timeline but shitting on their comic series. They botched Roman rogers, Peggy Steve, Steve Sharon. The Maximoff family history, Tony's character by making him likable, Loki's timeline, hulks, and everyone under the sun. That is why I hate MCU so fucking much they money grabbed and now everyone has mixed ill feelings where there shouldn't be especially comic fans. If you're a comic fan you should honestly be happy that MCU Tony isn't nearly as bad and mad at what they did to Steve by making him seem like a dick for the side he was on for his bestie. sidenote comic steve can also be a major dick but Tony IMO is still way worse. They tried to make the Slovakia accords into the comic ones without any of the drama leading up to it and by making it about different principles??? Why the fuck would they do that?

[ironxkid]

why don't you like endgame or civil war

((hoo buddy, idk what brought this up but salt under the cut!! Like... a lot of salt - specifically regarding Endgame lmao

I’m gonna start off with CACW because it’s a short response lol

I don’t like it simply because I was done with the infighting between the Avengers. The found family crumbs we were given in Endgame was something I really wanted to see, and them just... ripping them apart frustrated me lol

honestly, the movie was... fine? Idk, I found it to be a lil slow for my taste (it felt like it just dragged on when I watched it in theaters), and I just don’t care for it in general  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Also, ngl, I’m really bummed that Captain America: Serpent Society was a joke announcement because that sounds dope as hell and I really wanted to see that before I realized it’d been a joke dfgjhdsfhj

but, yeah, literally just because CACW is specifically an infighting movie annoys me to no end so I just won’t watch it again dgsfjhsfdhj

now, Endgame?

fuck Endgame

I. have a lot of issues with it, all of which are major grievances throughout the fandom. I’m pissed they killed Natasha and didn’t even bother giving her a fucking funeral because, I quote from Joe Russo, “Well, Tony does not have another movie. Tony is done. And Natasha has another film. And Marvel Universe obviously does not have to move forward linearly anymore. But that character still has more screen time coming.” (see here) and that annoys the hell out of me. She’s getting another movie - great! So you killed one of the few characters doing her fucking best to keep everything together at the compound, the one who was taking charge, give her a big role, and then murk her and... give her nothing but a brief mention at the end. Like... what the fuck? Natasha deserved so much better than what she was given. Tony’s funeral could’ve (and, frankly, should’ve) been a funeral for him, Natasha, and Vision because god forbid we see anyone mourn Vision other than Wanda

(actually this post covers how Endgame fucked over the MCU women perfectly, though Wanda’s not mentioned :c )

plus... Tony’s not done lol - he’s still a massive figure in the films/shows despite RDJ not acting in them, so his character has left shockwaves that aren’t dying any time soon. Natasha... basically disappeared, and I believe she would’ve been dropped completely if it wasn’t for the fact she does have a film coming out soon. Which, frankly, seems awesome and all, but it’s a film that goes back to post-CACW pre-IW and... frankly doesn’t give me any reason to understand why that means she didn’t get a funeral. She’s not coming back in future movies/shows that are in present MCU timeline - her movie is set in the past. She could’ve gotten a decent sendoff 

now, Clint’s arc as Ronin rubs me the wrong way. I know it’s a huge thing in the comics, and it’s not him taking a different mantle that I have an issue with. It’s the fact he, a white man, went around murdering people and got off scot-free. Yes, he was targeting genuinely bad people, but... to show that, they specifically singled out Mexican cartels and the yakuza (Japanese mafia, essentially) - so, in other words, the bad guys were people of color! I feel like I don’t need to explain how fucked up that is. And, to clarify, I love Clint! Clint is honestly one of my favorite characters, and the whole thing was just handled... poorly in the film

Tony’s arc genuinely hurts. This is a man who has suffered for years and has tried to make things right, and finally got a chance to settle down. He finally retired from the Avengers, finally settled down, and had a fucking life he could enjoy despite his ghosts, and yet... His arc ends with a message of “tortured soul finally gets rest by dying”. Because, y’know, it’s great seeing yet another long-suffering character only reaching peace through death, because god forbid they let characters heal! He could’ve still caused the second Snap, and he could’ve survived. He could’ve finally been able to step away for good and focus on his family, focus on recovering, and be truly happy. What’s so wrong with letting him stay alive so he can rest and be with his family? What’s so wrong with letting a long-suffering character finally find peace after one last bang? 

plus it pisses me off that they’re now using him as a reasoning as to why bad things are still happening. Why is this person the bad guy? Because Tony Stark somehow may or may not have done something that hurt them! Even though most of that really stems from Howard or Obadiah. Tony just ends up getting the blame in their place. He’s just an easy target to use, much like the tesseract seems to be the go-to answer for why things go wrong. But this is a different train of thought

Steve’s ending pisses me off just as much as the next person lmao. You take a character who has acknowledged he no longer belongs in the past (which, funnily enough, was written by the Russos), aaaaaaand have him go back to the past while ignoring two important people in his life that were still right there. He got Bucky and Sam back, and he leaves them. His arc is ruined within a matter of minutes, and it paints a hella bad picture of him in the process. He goes back in time to stay with Peggy (which ultimately destroys her own arc, and the fact she’s a person outside of her relationship (or lack thereof) with him because, y’know, why have her be able to move on and be her own person?), and we’re supposed to believe he’s fine with everything he knows from the future? Fine with knowing Bucky’s trapped with HYDRA and is suffering as the Winter Soldier? Fine with knowing HYDRA has infested SHIELD from day one? Fine with knowing Howard and Maria are going to die? Fine with royally fucking up the timelines? We’re supposed to believe he sat back and did nothing with all of that? They could’ve had him still hand the shield over to Sam - they could’ve let Steve stay an Avenger without the mantle

also the fact the Russos said he didn’t recognize Red Skull when he returned to Vormir to return the soul stone? Like... what the fuck?? Not to mention he literally returns the stone to Vormir, which “soul for a soul”, and they didn’t bring Nat back that way??

and now onto Thor. Thor... holy fuck is this hitting something personal for me. Thor was ridden with guilt - he was furious with himself, hated himself, and blamed himself for failing to stop the Snap. He fell into a massive depression, and... was promptly danced around as laughing stock. Like, “oh! look at Thor! he’s fat and drunk because he’s depressed haha!” - like fuck off. It’s not funny in any form. His suffering was made into a joke and it pisses me off because I suffer from depression. A lot of people suffer from depression. It’s not funny. It’s fucking terrifying at times. I wasted a shit ton of money on a stupid online sim game because it was a distraction - it gave me... god, I wouldn’t even say temporary happiness, but it gave me something to temporarily help, and I still hate myself for doing it. It was a poor decision on my part, and I wish I could change it. And, during that time, I was scared because I couldn’t see myself pulling out of it. I thought I was gonna feel that way forever. I called out of work multiple times because there were days I couldn’t stop crying (something I still feel horrible for doing), I couldn’t get myself to contact any of my friends for months, and it was all because the medication I was on at the time... stopped working. Thankfully, my depression doesn’t work in a way that makes me a danger to myself, so that wasn’t an issue, but it still fucking sucked. And to see a character that I could relate to on such a personal level treated as laughing stock fucking hurt. I’m not sharing this for sympathy - I’m sharing this because it Thor’s arc hit home and it’s literally the main reason why I will not watch Endgame again

this is more of a nitpick than anything else, but... I didn’t really care for Carol in it tbh? Which is unfortunately because Captain Marvel is one of my absolute favorite movies! And I’m well aware she was introduced in Endgame while CM was being drafted, but that in itself is annoying?? Because Carol was originally going to be introduced in AoU, but was cut because it wasn’t going to introduce her character properly. And yet they decide to introduce her character in a clusterfuck of a movie before her movie is in the final stages, and proceed to release her movie first and then give a complete different characterization in her following appearance

honestly I just wanna cover this now to clarify some things regarding Carter and her backstory: the only reason I keep Endgame as is is because it felt easier for me to do so for the purpose of bending canon for specific threads. I wanted to stay as true to the given plots as possible to help with fudging of both the movies and her background, and also because I didn’t want anyone to feel like I was trying to force my own headcanons onto them, y’know? 

I’m just gonna plug this here because fuck it lol, but I did start a fix-it fic regarding Endgame that you can read here! I... probably won’t finish it tbh, and I haven’t gone over it in a hot minute so it might be riddled with errors ahah - plus I’m not sure about how I wrote the characters! I get nervous when writing canon characters because I feel like I’ll miss their characterization completely, which is actually why I,,, rarely rp canon characters dgfjhgsfdhj

also the image in the doc was created by @/archervale!! 

[the-mcu-theory]

Here it is! Our first ever “what if...” scenario!

I bet you’re excited! (And if you’re not, then why are you reading this?)

Okay, here it is... Drumroll please.

What if...

Steve fell off the train instead of Bucky? (written by Rebecca)

Well, the whole timeline of Steve becoming Captain America would be very different, indeed.

One of two things could happen.

Bucky becomes the new Captain America and joins the Avengers as an OG Avenger, instead of Steve.

Bucky doesn’t join the Avengers at all, leaving a place of leadership to be missing.

Well, let’s go through each movies that Steve was in and evaluate each one, shall we?

<-------------------------------->

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

The following is a Wikipedia entry of what happened in this movie AFTER Bucky falls from the train:

“Using information extracted from Zola, the final Hydra stronghold is located, and Rogers leads an attack to stop Schmidt from using weapons of mass destruction on major American cities. Rogers climbs aboard Schmidt's aircraft as it takes off. During the subsequent fight, the Tesseract's container is damaged. Schmidt physically handles the Tesseract, which opens a wormhole into space, sucking him into it. The Tesseract burns through the plane and is lost in the ocean. Seeing no way to land the plane without the risk of detonating its weapons, Rogers crashes it in the Arctic. Stark later recovers the Tesseract from the ocean floor but is unable to locate Rogers or the aircraft, presuming him dead.”

Now if we analyse each of the things that could’ve happened if Steve fell instead of Bucky...

This would turn out the exact same, except replace the face of Chris Evans with Sebastian Stan and visa versa. But of course the Peggy relationship would be different (maybe that what if scenario about Peggy becoming Captain Britain might come true?)

None of this would’ve happened if Bucky didn’t become Captain America. Barnes would’ve been still stuck in the 1940s and died there as he wasn’t injected with the super soldier serum that Steve did. Of course, Steve would’ve taken Bucky’s place at HYDRA (cue HYDRA Cap, but that will come later in the sequel)

<-------------------------------->

The Avengers (2012)

I’m not going to copy and paste the whole Wikipedia plot of the Avengers onto here, otherwise that would be too long to read, so here is a shorten version that someone wrote on IMDB (trust me, it is shorter than the Wikipedia entry).

“S.H.I.E.L.D. has located the mysterious Tesseract device and the Army's super soldier Captain America. The Tesseract is actually a gateway to an entirely new world called Asgard. A mysterious being known as Loki arrives on earth and immediately assumes that he can rule all human beings. But that irks S.H.I.E.L.D. director Nick Fury the wrong way. As Loki escapes with the Tesseract, Nick Fury believes this is an act of war against Earth. His only hope is to assemble an actual team of super heroes. Dr. Bruce Banner, who turns into an enormous green rage monster known as the Hulk. Tony Stark and his venerable Iron Man armor. Captain America, the Stark Enterprises created super soldier. Thor, the god of thunder, protector of Earth and his home planet of Asgard, and Loki's brother. Master assassins Hawkeye and Natasha Romanoff. Together they will become a team to take on an attack that will call them to become the greatest of all time.”

Let’s analyse again... 

The whole movie would be the same, except for a few bits. Whilst the whole boxing scene would be scrapped, the introduction of Bucky as Cap would be similar (with the memories of the events of the First Avenger and Steve falling off the train). The leadership part would be missing. Bucky considers himself as a very introverted person, so the leadership skills would turned towards Stark, which would be different for the other movies (as well as Iron Man 3).

For this scenario, the introductions would be the same, except the Cap intro. That would be replaced by either Carol Danvers, Scott Lang or Hope Van Dyne (probably not Scott but it could’ve been a possibility).

<-------------------------------->

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

This is the most important part of the franchise. Again, this is another IMDB plot summary of the Winter Soldier cause it’s shorter than the Wikipedia entry.

“Two years after the alien attack on New York, Steve Rogers starts to adjust to the modern world and works as an agent of SHIELD. However, Steve disagrees with the rules of today as he faces a world of threats and complexities. When Director Nick Fury is killed by a mysterious assassin called the Winter Soldier, Steve is warned not to trust anyone, only to find himself being framed for not sharing information. On the run, Rogers launches an investigation into a deadly conspiracy which reveals that SHIELD has been infiltrated by his old arch nemesis HYDRA, who have been hiding in plain sight. With only Black Widow and Falcon as backup, Rogers must once again suit up and defeat HYDRA from launching their ultimate weapon before it's too late.”

Analysing...

To be honest, this whole movie would’ve been the same, but instead of Bucky being the Winter Soldier, Steve would’ve revealed himself as Hydra Cap (or Militant, as it’s known in the comics). Probably not with the whole green and black suit colours, but with red and black (just like Bucky had in the CA:TWS with the red star on his metal arm). Bucky would’ve still met Sam Wilson and their TV series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier would still go on (but more on that later).

The events of the movie could’ve still happened (due to Pierce’s plans and Sitwell being an undercover SHIELD agent working for HYDRA). But Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton would probably be the main protagonists of the movie, fighting Hydra Cap together.

<-------------------------------->

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Here is yet another plot summary from IMDB about this movie.

“After a successful raid on a HYDRA base, Tony Stark and Bruce Banner create an Artificial Intelligence called Ultron, a peacekeeping protocol designed to help the Avengers protect the world from their enemies. But things go wrong when Ultron sees the human race as a threat and sets out to destroy it along with the Avengers. Now the Avengers, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, the Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, must reassemble to stop Ultron from causing mass destruction. Aside from this, the Avengers also must take on the powerful twins Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch as well as the new entity called Vision. Also, the Avengers find that things may never be the same again after discovering a power beyond their comprehension.”

Analysing...

This movie would be the same, as well as Pietro dying (RIP Pietro). But it is a possibility that Clint would not have a family, due to the fact that he was on the run with Tasha. Also, it is a possibility that Brutasha (Ship name for Bruce and Natasha) would still happen, but it is a low one as maybe during the events of CA:TWS, we find out that Clint and Tasha have a secret relationship that we don’t know of until the Black Widow movie, (which won’t be mentioned in this post but probably in a later post about the Clintasha ship).

With Bucky out of the way, this bit of the movie (courtesy of Wikipedia), “As Stark leaves and Barton retires, Rogers and Romanoff prepare to train new Avengers: Rhodes, Vision, Sam Wilson, and Wanda...” will happen without him. Barton would not retire and help Tasha with helping to train them. But the theory that Stark went to his safehouse (mentioned and visited in Endgame) could happen in this version. But of course, if the, before mentioned, characters in the first Avengers movie were to replace Bucky, then they would train the newbies with Tasha.

<-------------------------------->

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Here is another important movie in the franchise! And here it is, another plot summary!

“With many people fearing the actions of super heroes, the government decides to push for the Hero Registration Act, a law that limits a hero's actions. This results in a division in The Avengers. Iron Man stands with this Act, claiming that their actions must be kept in check otherwise cities will continue to be destroyed, but Captain America feels that saving the world is daring enough and that they cannot rely on the government to protect the world. This escalates into an all-out war between Team Iron Man (Iron Man, Black Panther, Vision, Black Widow, War Machine, and Spider-Man) and Team Captain America (Captain America, Bucky Barnes, Falcon, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, and Ant Man) while a new villain emerges.”

Analysing...

Again, to be honest, this whole movie would’ve been the same. Yeah. That’s it. But number two, on the other hand...

...Would not happen at all. Well, actually, the Sokovia Accords were about the Battle of Sokovia in AoU, but the whole argument between Steve/Bucky and Tony wouldn’t happen. Unless either Carol, Scott (probably not Scott) or Hope would disagree with Stark, then it would go along with the original movie. But for the sub-plot (which is Hydra Cap killed Tony’s parents) would only be mentioned. So that’s mean Baron Zemo’s introduction would have to wait until the Falcon and Winter Soldier series. As of Spider-Man and Ant-Man’s introduction (of course, after Scott’s solo movie), that would be the same (unless of course Scott was the OG Avenger to replace Steve or Bucky).

<-------------------------------->

Avengers: Infinity War & Avengers: Endgame (2018 and 2019)

Two plot summaries from IMDB... (Points number 1 and 2 will be for Infinity War from both scenarios and points 2 and 4 will be for Endgame)

“As the Avengers and their allies have continued to protect the world from threats too large for any one hero to handle, a new danger has emerged from the cosmic shadows: Thanos. A despot of intergalactic infamy, his goal is to collect all six Infinity Stones, artefacts of unimaginable power, and use them to inflict his twisted will on all of reality. Everything the Avengers have fought for has led up to this moment, the fate of Earth and existence has never been more uncertain.”

“After half of all life is snapped away by Thanos, the Avengers are left scattered and divided. Now with a way to reverse the damage, the Avengers and their allies must assemble once more and learn to put differences aside in order to work together and set things right. Along the way, the Avengers realise that sacrifices must be made as they prepare for the ultimate final showdown with Thanos, which will result in the heroes fighting the biggest battle they have ever faced.”

Analysing...

So, for IW, Bucky would be back as Captain America to fight Thanos with the rest of the Avengers (except Hawkeye as he is playing tag. I’m just joking xD). But instead of him being the one to help Vision and Wanda, and take the others to Wakanda, it would’ve been Sam (maybe to foreshadow the fact he will become the next Captain America in Endgame). Steve, of course, will be awoken from his cryogenic sleep from Civil War and reunited with his buddy. But when Thanos snaps his finger, Steve would be the first person to be disintegrated (or maybe it would turn out the exact same as the original with Bucky going with Wanda etc...  and Steve staying?).

As for Endgame, Barnes would probably lead grief counselling sessions for survivors (like Steve did). Then, the same thing will happen like the original. But the ending will change. Bucky will give the mantel of Captain America to Sam Wilson and maybe, go back to return the stones, find Red Skull, of course, and maybe go back to the first Cap movie to reverse the roles (so he fell off the train instead of Steve, like in the original MCU timeline).

For the second scenario, I think the movie will go along as normal. But if Carol replaced Steve as the “Captain”, then Fury would never need to send a distress signal to Carol, as she is already there (and the mid credit scene is no longer needed, but I think that wouldn’t happen, due to the fact that Carol is too strong when she is put up with a Norse god, a Gamma radiation monster, two SHIELD assassins with no superpowers and a tech genius with a sarcasm as a superpower. Of course, for Steve and the cryogenic sleep would never happen because no one rescued him in Civil War and he would still be with Hydra.

Endgame, however, would be totally different to the first scenario. There would be no “grief counselling sessions”, only Banner, Stark and Lang would go to New York (which means no Cap v Cap fight). It is possible that the “going back to the 1970s” plan could work with just Stark, but Scott would go with him as well. Unless Carol went with them, then the Cap v Cap fight (with Carol instead of Steve) would still happen. Both the funerals for Stark and Tasha would still happen. But who would return the stones? Probably either Scott or Barton.

<-------------------------------->

Now time for the last part (finally!), the future movies and TV shows!

First up is the Falcon and the Winter Soldier. There isn’t an official synopsis for the show yet, but here is a Wiki entry...

“After being handed the mantle of Captain America at the end of Avengers: Endgame, Sam Wilson teams up with Bucky Barnes in a worldwide adventure that puts their abilities to the test.”

This part will be a combination of the two scenarios to save time.

The casting of the show has only got 4 characters, in line for the show. Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Baron Zemo (Daniel Bruhl) and Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp).

And, of course US Agent (the “fake” Captain America) played by Wyatt Russell.

For scenario 1, the series will play out the exact same way (depends on if Bucky goes back in time to fix everything). 

Scenario 2, however, would be very different. Sebastian would be missing from that cast list, but would be replaced by Evans (who would play Hydra Cap once again). As for Zemo, this would be an introduction to the MCU (unless he would get introduced in the Black Widow movie).

Secondly, it’s the Black Widow solo movie and other TV series (such as the Hawkeye series and WandaVision). Here is a unofficial synopsis of them (that means it’s not official by Marvel Studios).

“Following the events of Captain America: Civil War, Natasha Romanoff finds herself alone and forced to confront a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Romanoff must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.”

“In April 2019, a limited series focused on Jeremy Renner's Clint Barton / Hawkeye was reported to be in development, with the plot involving Barton passing the mantle of Hawkeye to the character Kate Bishop.”

“Set after the events of Avengers: Endgame, Wanda Maximoff and Vision begin to suspect things are not as they seem as the two live their ideal suburban life.”

Even though, we don’t know exactly what will happen in the future of the MCU (especially Phase 4), I cannot say what would happen if Steve fell from the train instead of Bucky. But maybe check in with us in about 4 to 5 years when these TV series/movies have come out fully.

So, that’s it for this scenario! Hopefully you have had fun reading this, as much as I have had writing this. If you have any suggestions on other scenarios, just send an ask in to us!

This is Rebecca signing off.

Until next time!

[buckybabybaby]

Mr Hollywood (Chapter 9)

Summary: Bucky Barnes, an underpaid teaching assistant in a small English village, dreams of a movie career back in his home country of America. He finally gets the break he's always wanted, and if it wasn't for you, his best friend, he wouldn't have been able to take it.

But is that fact enough to save your friendship when it's tested by the pressures of Hollywood?

Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Reader (Gender Neutral)

Word count: 2089

Chapter summary: The summer fête is upon you! And Bucky returns again.

Warnings: a little bit mpre angst...

Previous: Chapter 8

Mr Hollywood Masterlist | Main Masterlist

*****

The day of the fête dawns bright and breezy. Perfect conditions, you couldn't really ask for more given the time of year, but that doesn’t stop the scowl forming on your face as you make the short walk to school. Going in to work on a Saturday always feels somewhat wrong, and that uneasy feeling is multiplied ten times knowing who's going to be there.

It's been a tough week, hiding how you actually feel about Bucky returning when the children are besides themselves, excited to welcome back such a star. Everyone remembers how inseparable the two of you were when he worked here, and as far as they know, nothings changed, so there's been a few awkward conversations in the past days where you've not known if your fake excitement has been believable. Only Peggy knows the truth. Edwin has his suspicions, you know, after witnessing your less than enthusiastic reactions to the prospect of your supposed best friend visiting, and he'd patted your hand gently when you'd slumped next to him in the staff room one lunchtime.

“Coming back home helps people realise what they've missed,” He'd said cryptically, leaving you to your sandwiches. A tiny flicker of hope had flared at his words, one you'd quickly push down. Edwin hadn't heard Bucky that day, didn't know how vicious he'd been, or the cruel look in his eye as he'd broken your heart. Your colleagues kindness is appreciated, but at this point there doesn't seem any chance of saving what you had.

*****

Reaching the school, you breathe evenly to keep yourself calm. Somebody’s got hold of a cardboard cut-out of Bucky's character, whatever his name may be, and it's currently resting in the entrance hall alongside the crates of bric-a-brac and sweets for the tombola stand you're tending.

Just looking at his picture makes you feel sick. It doesn't help that his face has almost the same look on it as last time you saw him, that piercing glower sending a shiver through you. From what you've overheard the programme he's in is a sort of comedy drama, based around comic book characters, which explains his metal arm and combat gear, and the dramatic, side on pose, that you would have teased him about in better times.

Peggy brushes past you, breaking your staring match with the two dimensional image of Bucky as she grabs a box. You also pick one up, following her out to the table where a Year Three is carefully arranging the prizes on your stall. It takes a while to organise all the items neatly, and you get so sucked into a conversation with your little helper, Edwin's oldest daughter, Isabella, that you nearly forget why you were dreading this day.

A laugh, so recognisable, floats across the playground in your direction and you drop the saucer you're holding. Thankfully it doesn't shatter, and you turn your head subtly to look over, breath hitching as you catch sight of him, flanked by the head teacher and too many students to count. Isabella clearly wishes to join them, and you let her go, needing a little time alone to process his presence.

Your hands are visibly trembling. If you thought you felt ill earlier it's nothing compared to now, you haven’t prepared yourself to actually be within eyesight of Bucky again, and you sag, taking a seat before your legs give out. Peggy passes by, spots the source of your terror, and squeezes your shoulder comfortingly.

“I'm okay.” You smile through your lie, staring over at the growing group of children wanting attention from Hollywood's newest heartthrob. Bucky runs a hand through his hair, a nervous tick of his you remember well, and you notice that the length of his waves is much shorter than in all the promotional pictures and videos.

“I didn't even spot that. Must be a wig.” Peggy muses, thinking along the same line as you. “Why don't you ask?” She looks at you expectantly, remaining confident that you and Bucky can sort out your differences.

Glaring, you choose not to reply. You're still annoyed at her for letting this come to be, even though you know it's not her fault. Realising you're not in the mood to hear her thoughts, she part ways silently to attend to her own duties, leaving you alone to spy on Bucky from a distance.

He appears to be being as friendly and patience with the children as he always was. Watching him smile as they congregate around his feet, he looks so far away from the man who caused you so much pain just a couple of weeks ago.

The student given the honour of showing him around starts to lead him towards your side of the field and you panic and do the one thing you can, slipping off your chair and under your stall, pulling the billowing tablecloth back in front of your body. Keeping quiet, you wait in the shadows feeling like a coward. The group roams by the cave you've made for yourself, and you breathe again, reassured that he's going to be busy officially opening the fête in a couple of minutes. Taking a second to make sure he's long gone, the last thing you expect is anyone to find you.

“Why are you hiding?”

Jumping in shock, you hit your head on the bottom of the table as you're greeted by the face of Isabella again. She's observing you with a slight frown, crouching down to sit opposite you. Rubbing the sore spot at the top of your head, you think of how to excuse your strange behaviour.

“Is it because Mr Barnes is someone else's best friend now?” She asks bluntly before you have a chance to explain yourself. “Or was he mean to you?”

You laugh in surprise, shaking your head at her forwardness. She's spot on somehow, and then you remember meeting her mother and it's obvious where she gets it from.

“He wasn't mean to me. Look.” Shoving a postcard in your face, you take it from her. It's the same picture of the two characters that has been everywhere for the last month, this one scribbled across with a black pen, a rushed copy of Bucky's signature. Not the one he uses for official paperwork, you can see, rather just the first half in a fancier script, and with a smiley face at the end.

The sight brings a lump to your throat.

“That's lovely, Isabella.”

“We always thought you'd get married to him,” She whispers conspiratorially.

Biting your tongue to stop yourself swearing in front of a seven year old, and a pupil, you struggle to find the right thing to say.

“Oh really. And who's 'we'?”

“Everyone. Even Daddy.”

Blinking, stunned, you diffuse the situation quickly, rising from under the table and brushing yourself down as you help her up too.

“I've just had an idea. Wouldn't your parents like to see your signed poster? Look, there they are,” You point her in their direction, “Why don't you go show them?”

She skips off happily and you rest your weight on the edge of the table, overwhelmed. How you were unaware of everyone's gossip about your relationship with Bucky, you don't know, and it must be bad if even the younger children are involved.

Pressing your fingers into your temple, you sigh, longing for this day to be done with.

There's a shuffling in the deserted vegetable patch at the back of your stand, probably another teacher taking a break from the mayhem of the day, and you pay them no mind until they come to a stop behind you.

“Y/N.”

Closing your eyes, you don't need to turn around to know who it is. The universe just doesn't want to give you a break today. When you continue to face away from him, he squeezes between your tent and the next until he's standing directly in front of you.

“Hello.” Bucky offers you a small smile and you gawk at his nerve.

What is he trying to achieve here? Hasn't he hurt you enough? There's nothing you want to say to him, not here, not like this, so controlling your expression you coolly meet his gaze.

“James.”

He winces at the name. You haven't called him that for years, he only allows close friends and family to address him as Bucky, and it became apparent you'd be one of his closest very early on.

Despite your attitude, he pushes on. “Can I talk to you?”

“I think you've done quite enough talking,” You mutter under your breath. He hears, evident from the shock flashing over his face, and you feel a jolt of spiteful joy at the way he takes half a step back.

There's currently no one looking to buy a ticket for your tombola, which you use to your advantage. “Got to get a drink, sorry!” You call over your shoulder, keeping up the pretence of still being on good terms, for the sake of the students.

Bucky moves to pursue you with a desperate cry of your name that you ignore, escaping as he's once again mobbed by his new fans.

*****

Later, as you pack up your stall, it's apparent Bucky doesn't want to talk to you that urgently, as there's no sign of him now the crowds have gone. You don't know if you feel relieved or disappointed. You'd sent Isabella back to her father, mostly to let her enjoy her weekend, but also because you don't think you'd survive another round of her questioning. For a seven year old, she is remarkably perceptive, and her age means she still lacks the social graces to know when to stop.

You've made quite a bit from your sales, the amount in the cash tin picks your mood up, and as a treat for surviving being in the same location as Bucky you buy the biggest cake you can from the catering stand. Today has been exhausting and you crave a little solitude to unwind.

*****

That night, you can't sleep again. The winds picked up during the evening, throwing branches from the small tree in the front garden against your bedroom window, but that's not the sole reason you're awake. Your mind hasn't stopped racing since your interaction with Bucky. Why did he have to come back and confuse your feelings further? Your head hurts, and not from the bump earlier, the swirling emotions preventing you from relaxing enough to get any rest.

Admitting defeat, you sit up and stare at the wall. The clock on your bedside table reads two forty seven, and you decide that that is an excellent time to go for a walk down the lane. Sliding your feet into the easiest shoes you can, your gardening wellies, you pull on your coat and pick up your keys, quietly opening and relocking your front door as you embrace the fresh air. Wandering with no particular destination in mind, you find yourself pausing in front of the school. The pass-code is entered into the side gate before you can really think about it, and you slowly crunch along the gravel path up to the adventure play area.

That's when you see them. Your blood runs cold as you freeze, cursing yourself for not bringing your phone with you, the figure sitting on the swings resembling something out of those horror movies you've always avoided. Assessing your surroundings, you consider the option of blending into the bushes nearby until the stranger has left.

Then they move and you nearly cry in relief that it's not a serial killer out to get stupid teachers breaking into school in the middle of the night. There's no mistaking that hair, even in the artificial orange glow of the street lights, and your heart rate remains at the same frantic pace as a new fear over takes you.

You could walk away, pretend you haven't seen him, and just get on with your life knowing you won't have to talk him ever again if you wish. Or you could confront him, and maybe get some answers to your many questions. The second options wins, even though the thought of your warm, safe bed, that doesn't hate you, is very tempting, you know you won't feel right until you've had it out with him.

Pulling your coat tighter around your front, shaking not just from the cold, you approach Bucky, preparing yourself for a conversation you probably won't like.

*****

A/n: Bucky answers for his behaviour next chapter, promise!

Chapter 10

[fanficsaremylifeline]

Go and make Aunt Peggy proud

On AO3:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/21344731

*****

Men and their toys. Peggy could only shake her head, as she walked in on Howard in his lab, hanging upside down in some sort of machinery.

“Maria, is that you?”, came the muffled cry from the inside of that monstrosity.

“It’s Peggy.”

“Thank the heavens, Peggy, you have to help me.”

“I wouldn’t have guessed”, she grinned, as she walked over. “I may be strong, but I can’t pull you out by myself.”

“That’s not what I need, I need the pliers over there.” He waved with his feet, pointing them towards a table to his side. “And that torch, too.”

“As long as you know what you're doing...”

“You know me, Peg.”

“That's exactly why I'm worried.”, she scoffed, but from experience, Peggy was aware that Howard wouldn't drop it any ways. And with a torch, he might at least see how he was about to kill himself...  “Fine.” Carefully, she dropped the tools down the opening.

“Thanks!”, he called, and she immediately could hear him getting back to work.

Well, Peggy knew him well enough to know that unless Howard actually climbed out there and was at least 50 yards away from whatever he was working on at the moment, she wouldn’t get anything out of him. So, she had to try again later and was just about to turn around, when some weird noises came from the machine, and Howard started to swear. That couldn’t be good.

“Howard? I think you should get out of there.”

“No kidding!”, he screamed, his legs flailing in fear, “I’m stuck!”

“Damnit.” Peggy ran over and grabbed his legs, trying to pull him out.

“GET OUT OF HERE!”

But it was too late. Before she knew what had happened, they were engulfed in blinding light and a loud bang echoed through the lab, leaving her ears ringing.

All of a sudden, everything was quiet again. After the first shock had passed, Peggy dared to glint through an half-open eye. She still held on to Howard’s leg, but he was no longer stuck inside his machine. Instead, they were lying on a concrete floor under a cloudy sky.

“Howard? Are you alright?”, she carefully asked.

“I think so…” He sat up and looked around.

“What just happened?”

“I have no idea…”

As quickly as her wobbly legs let her, Peggy scrambled to her feet, looking around where they had landed. “Uhm, you might want to take a look at that…” Now she could see that they were on what had to be a roof, looking over New York, or at least a place that was similar to New York. It had the landmarks she knew, she could see the Empire State Building, the Statue of Liberty, and all that, but it was different: so many cars, weirdly advanced cars; so many modern sky scrapers she had never seen before; bright signs illuminating the narrow streets.

“What in the…” Howard stood next to her, his mouth gaping open, just as hers was. “Are we dead?”

“I don’t think so…” But Peggy was not so sure about that. “What kind of machine were you working on?”

“Some theory of Pym’s, quantum mechanics… But I have no idea what I did…”

Somehow, they managed to find a door, follow a mostly empty staircase down, until they stood out on the street. New York was as busy as ever, people were pushing past them, wearing some interesting clothes, most of them talking to apparently nobody. It took Peggy almost crashing into a few people until she noticed they were wearing earpieces.

“Peggy.” Howard held a newspaper in front of her face. “Check the date.”

“The date, but… what?” No, no, that just couldn’t be. 2019? “Howard, is this what I think it is?”

“I think we travelled to the future.”

“Oh.” She really didn’t know what else to say. “What do we do now? I mean, how do we get back?”

“I don’t know. Peggy, I… We need to get back! There’s SHIELD, there’s SI and we have little kids sitting at home!”

“Not that little, I think...” Flipping the newspaper over she saw a weirdly familiar face.

‘Tony Stark to speak at the MIT Graduation Celebrations’

“Oh, wow, looks like your boy got into MIT at 15!” She turned to Howard. “I’m sure, he can help us.”

“Let’s hope so. Uhm, excuse me, young man?” Howard stopped a boy walking past them.

���Hello, can I help you?”

“Yes, please, do you know Stark Industries, or even where to find Anthony Stark?”

“You new in town?” The youth had his eyebrows raised.

“You could say that”, Peggy threw in, smiling as politely as she could.

“Wait, I feel like I know you. Have we met before?”

“I don’t think so”, she answered.

“Hmmm…” He stared at her a moment longer, before he turned back to Howard. “If you want to find Ironman, you wanna head upstate. The Avengers moved there two years ago.”, he shrugged. “Not sure you’ll get in though, security is mad tight.”

“Uh, ok, thank you.”

Howard and Peggy exchanged a quick glance. “Ok, I didn’t understand a word of what that boy said. What is an Ironman and what are the Avengers?”

“I don’t know”, Peggy shrugged. “Maybe there is some information point around here?”

They were lucky, a bodega two streets over could provide them with some help.

“If you can wait for another few minutes, I can introduce you to a guy that can help you out.”

“Really?” That sounded promising…

“Yeah”, the man nodded, chewing his gum loudly, “you’re lucky, Spider-Man’s a regular here.”

“Spider-Man?”

“You’re not from here, are you?”, he asked, eyeing them curiously.

“No, we’re not. Travelled some distance.”

“Mhm. Yeah, thought so. Every self-respecting New Yorker knows Spidey”, he scoffed.

“Aw, thanks, Diego!”

Peggy turned around as she heard the voice and couldn’t believe her eyes. In front of her stood a young man, probably in his late teens, early twenties, judging from his voice, in a skin-tight, bright red suit, with a giant spider up front.

“Hi, can I help you?” He eyed her curiously, and suddenly he clapped his hands in front of his face. “Oh my god. Are… are you Peggy Carter?”

To an outsider, the scene must have looked almost comical, both of them staring at each other with wide eyes.

“I am. How do you know who I am?”

“You’re all over my history books, in the museums. Oh my god, how are you here? This is so freaking incredible, you’re absolutely amazing, you’re so freaking badass…” His voice pitched higher, as he went to shake her hand. “I am Spider-Man, it is an absolute honour to meet you, ma’am!”

“Wow. Thank you.” She was in history books? Damn. That really did wonders for one’s self-esteem.

“What, I mean… Did you time-travel or what happened?”

“I fear we might have. By accident.”

“Oh wow. That is so freaking cool! Does that mean you’re stuck here? Aw man, that sucks, but it is so incredible to meet you!”

“Yes, we are stuck”, Howard threw in, as Spider-Man finally stopped for a breath of air. “Which is why we need to find Anthony Stark, to help us get back and Diego here told us that you could help with that.”

“You’re Mr. Stark’s father, aren’t you?” Spider-Man looked Howard up and down.

“I’m Howard, yes.”

“Hm.” Nothing. No excited rambling, no ‘I’m such a big fan’. “Alright then, let me make a call. KAREN, call Happy.”

“Who’s Karen?”, she asked, ignoring and playing over the offended face Howard made for not being fanned over.

But the boy had turned around, currently talking to thin air. “Happy? Hey, can you pick me up? Yeah, I know, but it’s an emergency. No, I’m not hurt. It… It’s a little hard to explain why and what happened, but you need to come right now. No, don’t tell him. Listen, Happy”, he hissed, his tone getting more and more urgent, “I have no idea what’s going on right now, but I need you to pick me up, right freaking now! And make sure that Pepper’s home. And maybe Mr Rhodey, too. I don’t know. You wouldn’t believe me if I told you, so just come and see for yourself please. Thanks, I owe you one. See you in a few!”

“Alright, transport is on its way.” He turned back around. “Happy will pick us up shortly and take us to Mr. Stark.”

“Thank you, Spider-Man, we really appreciate it!”

As they waited, Spider-Man's excitement did not die down, as he animatedly chatted with Peggy, about her accomplishments and asked one question after the other, not really giving her much of a chance to answer them though. Peggy didn't miss, how the – as she had found out by now – vigilante ignored Howard, who was less than impressed to say the least. But at least he stayed polite enough to let Spider-Man be.

“Spider-Man?” A man in a suit walked into the bodega, calling out for the kid about half an hour after he had made the call.

“Happy, thank you for coming.” The boy walked over, Peggy and Howard followed suit.

“Ok, so what is so weird that you couldn’t tell me over the… Oh.” As soon as he saw the pair, his chin dropped, and with big eyes he looked from Peter to Peggy to Howard and then back to Peter. “Calling me was a good idea.”

“Yeah… We need to get them to Mr. Stark.”

“Agreed. Ma’am, Sir, I am Happy Hogan, head of transportation and security for Tony Stark and if you’d like to follow me, I’ll take you to him. Kid, you coming, too?”

“As if I’d miss this!”, he nodded and followed the man outside to the very fancy looking car; the boy holding the door open for her.

“Thank you, how very gentlemanlike of you.”

“Thanks”, he answered, with what was presumably a grin, it was hard to tell with the mask. But a few moments later, as they sat in the car and drove off, he pulled it off his face.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t properly introduce myself, but with civilians around… My name is Peter, Peter Parker.”

“It is nice to meet you, Peter”, she smiled and took his features in. He was a pretty kid, and from their earlier conversation she gathered that he was quite intelligent too, bordering on genius. All in all, he reminded her a little bit of Tony, at least that’s what she imagined her Tony to be like when he was a teenager.

With a smile, the boy turned back to the front. He was sitting next to Happy, softly whispering. Which was understandable, their arrival was sure to cause a lot of drama. The little she could make out though, didn’t make a lot of sense.

“Did you tell her?”, Happy hissed.

“No, how could I?”

Oh, something at the compound was going to shock her just as much as their arrival would Tony. She tried to ignore the hushed conversation and instead took the car in. The seats were comfortable leather, and everything seemed to work automatically. There was music playing on the radio and, to put it mildly, it shocked her a little bit. She could see that Howard did not like it at all, but it had something, Peggy could get used to it.

“We’re almost there.” After a while, the kid turned around again and pointed towards a giant areal of buildings coming into view, a giant lit up ‘Avengers’ sign on top.

“Wow”, Howard whistled appreciative, “my kid’s got good taste.”

“Well, how would you like to play this?”, Happy asked.

“You know him better, the current him, at least. What you deem best should work.”

He glanced over at Peter. “He was already suspicious when I left head over heels after your call. He knows something’s up.”

“Is Pepper here?”

“Yes. How about meeting in the common room?”

“Yeah. Good idea. The other one as well?”

“Which other one?”, Howard asked from the back seat. “Please don’t tell me either of us is still alive!”, he laughed. “Oh, can you imagine, this year’d be my 100th!”

Peter just exchanged a worried glance with Happy, before they both swallowed. That was not a good sign. “No, neither of you is still kicking”, the teen blurted out. “Sorry, that was a little blunt.”

“It’s alright”, she chuckled, “I don't think I want to live to that age in any case.”

Peter turned back to Happy, as he spoke again. “Maybe start with Tony, that’ll be enough drama as it is.”

“Yeah, good idea. KAREN, can you tell FRI to tell Mr. Stark and Pepper to wait for us in the common room?”

“Message delivered”, a woman’s voice answered. Peggy looked around, but couldn’t see anyone, not even speakers. This modern technology was starting to freak her out…

“Welcome to the Avenger’s.” Happy stopped in front of the impressive building’s doors and Peter quickly jumped out to open Peggy’s door for her.

“Thank you for all your help”, she smiled. His ears got all red as he smiled back and headed for the building.

“Please follow me.”

He was quick on his feet, looking around, as if somebody could be watching. Maybe it was ‘that other one’ they had been speaking about…

And before they knew it, Peter quickly slipped into a room, whispering a quiet, “Please don’t freak out” and opened the door for her and Howard.

And there he was, her Tony. A beard, first grey hair, but unmistakably her little boy. As soon as they walked into the room, his face dropped. The blonde woman next to him was almost as shocked, grabbed his arm, and with wide eyes, they both stared at them.

“Hey Tony, honey, it’s been a while.”

A deep breath later, Tony got up and walked up to Peggy, looking her up and down, before going in for a hug. “Hi Aunt Peg”, he managed to whisper eventually, “I missed you!”

“I missed you too, darling!” She pulled in tight. And, even though it wasn’t the little rascal wrapping himself around her, she would have recognized that smell, that smiling face out of a million others.

After a while, he took a step back and smiled down on her, even a tear or two glinting in his eyes. He took a deep breath, before he turned to his father. “Howard.” He held his hand out, and almost hesitantly shook it.

“This is Pepper Potts.” He waved at the blonde woman, who now walked over and shook their hands. “She is the CEO of SI.”

“It’s not you?”, Howard asked.

“Nope.”

He barely acknowledged Howard, instead he looked at Peter. “And you found them wandering around the streets of New York?”

“Pretty much”, he nodded.

“What did you tell them?” He looked inquisitive, and Peter seemed to get exactly what he was hinting at.

“I haven’t crossed that timeline yet”, he just answered.

“Uh huh… Go fetch him.” Tony decided.

“Uhm, both?”

Tony hesitated a moment before he shrugged: “why not.”

“Alright.” The boy turned around and quickly walked out the door.

“Who are they? Peter and Happy already hinted at someone else wanting to see us, but wouldn’t tell us who.”

“You’ll see in a moment.” Tony took two steps back and leaned against a table. “I really have no idea what to say.” Shaking his head, he looked between Peggy and his father. “When are you from?”

“’75. We actually just celebrated your fifth birthday”, Peggy smiled.

“Wow.”

“Aw, five-year-old Tony. How adorable!”, Pepper grinned at him, “I would really like to meet that little snot-nose.”

“I think you already do, in a way at least”, Peggy smiled at her, “when I think about teenage Tony, I see someone like that Peter-kid.”

“Really?” Pepper’s eyes went wide.

“I should have been so lucky”, Tony grumbled, “I’ll never be as good as that boy.”

Howard was completely silent. He seemed to have felt the distance Tony had put between them, too. Something must have happened between them, well, will happen between them. Peggy had her suspicions, he put his company and SHIELD before anything. It went that far that Tony had called Jarvis ‘dad’ until he was almost four years old. Peggy wasn’t a betting woman, but that seemed like the likely reason for the distance.

Behind them she heard steps getting closer.

“Oh, this should be good”, Tony commented.

“Peter, slow down, what’s going on?” Just like she’d recognize her little Tony, Peggy’d recognize that voice anywhere…

“Oh my…”, she gasped, and Tony softly nodded.

“What’s going on in here?” The door opened and she turned around, turned to the man she once loved, who died so many years ago. “Steve?”

“Peggy?”

“I thought you were dead!” She walked up to him, touching his arm, making sure that he’s real, and not just a figment of her imagination. “Did we die after all?”

She looked up at the blue eyes, that were filling with tears, and before she knew it, she was in his arms.

“I missed you so much!”, Steve whispered.

“I missed you, too”, she stammered, “But what… I mean… How…?”

She leaned out of the embrace and looked up at him.

“I could ask you the same thing”, he laughed, wiping a tear from his face.

“That brings our WW2 vets count to 4.”

“Who’s the fourth one?”

“That’d be me.” She turned to the door, where Bucky was leaning against the frame.

“James Buchanan Barnes. You fell off a train!” Oh wow, this just got wilder and wilder.

“Miss Carter!” He smiled and did a curtsy. “Sorry, by now it should be Mrs, right?”, he grinned.

“How do you… Right, the history books…”

“And the Captain America exhibition!”, Peter threw in.

“You got your own exhibition?”

“Yeah, well, we’re all in that. He is”, he nodded at Bucky, “you are”, he squeezed her shoulder, “and you are, too.” He walked over to Howard and shook his hand. “Long time.”

“That it was…” Howard was still in shock and looked him up and down. “You don’t look a day older than in ’45.”

“Not bad for 101, don��t you think?”

“I look even better, and I’m already 102”, Bucky laughed.

“Debatable”, Steve grumbled and boxed his arm.

After the initial surprises and shock had died down, the topic shifted to the issue at hand: how to get Howard and Peggy back?

“Do you have to get back?”, Steve quietly whispered with a smirk.

“I’m married with kids, remember?”, she grinned back.

“And you are taken!”, Bucky hissed over with played outrage.

“You are?” Peggy looked between Steve and James. “Oh, you are!” She couldn’t help the grin that spread on her face. “I should have guessed it… How did it happen?”

“I have to thank it to you”, James smiled.

“Me? Really?”

“Well…”, Steve blushed a little. “I don’t know if I can tell you that without messing up the timeline?”

“So, we met again?”, Peggy guessed.

“You’re still alive, when I get out of the ice. You basically told me to move on, start fresh. And I did”, he smiled as he grabbed James’ hand.

“I’m happy it worked out for you then.”

“Oh my god, it’s really true.”

The door flew wide open, and a bunch of people stood in the doorway, their chins on the ground.

“Gossip spreads fast in here”, Tony remarked drily. “Come in, get your inner fanboys, -girls and geeks out before you implode.”

“Hi, hi, Agent Carter, I am so incredibly happy to meet you! I’m Clint Barton, I work for SHIELD, well, I worked for SHIELD until…”

“Clint, we gotta keep the timeline intact…”, Tony remembered him.

“Right”, he nodded, “sorry, spoilers”, he chuckled awkwardly. “Anyways, it’s a real honour to meet you.”

“Thank you, Clint.” She shook his hand and tried hard not to grin as he squealed.

“Chill, man. Hi, I’m Natasha.“ A redheaded woman pushed past the man. “You’re like my idol, scratch that, my absolute hero, it’s such an honour!”

“Thank you.” Wow. Peggy was only slightly overwhelmed, as a Dr Bruce Banner introduced himself and shook her hand, followed by Tony’s college roommate and the most magnificent man Peggy had ever seen; all of whom didn’t really give Howard all that much attention.

“Wow, our little Tony grows up to work with the Norse god of thunder, super soldiers and who knows what else…” Peggy chuckled. “I’m so proud of you, boy.”

“Thanks, Aunt Peg.” Tony’s ears got all red, and he looked down, trying to hide his flushed face, a gesture she knew all too well… Some things don’t change, not even in around forty years.

Pepper smiled over at him, and it looked like she put her hand in his. She was definitely not just his CEO. And judging by that engagement ring on her finger, her little Tony was really all grown up.

“So, about that getting back home thing… Are we going to miss the wedding?”, she smiled, locking eyes with Tony.

“What wedding?” Howard looked around everybody that had assembled, looking for the couple.

“We don’t have a date yet.” Tony ignored his father and smiled back, a little sheepishly.

“You’re engaged?” Howard’s eyes went wide. “When? How? With whom?”

Tony stayed quiet and Pepper waved her hand, the ring glinting in the light.

“Oh wow. That’s a beautiful ring. Good taste, son.”

“Yeah, he has”, Pepper grinned, clearly not talking about the ring.

“Your taste isn’t that bad either”, he grinned back.

“Really? At first, I actually thought it was pity…”, Rhodey snickered.

“You’re just jealous”, Tony shot back, “that I managed to land the one woman that’s as hot as my god mother…”

“Anthony, that is just wrong on some many levels. Flattering, yes, but you know how far flattery goes with me.”

“I know, it only works on Jarvis”, he answered, his head hung low.

.

“Boss, I have a message from May Parker, asking when Peter is coming home tonight.”

“Oh shit, is it that late already?”

“It’s not that late”, Peter shrugged.

“Kid, you have school tomorrow. No, no, no, don’t give me the puppy eyes. You have a bedtime for a reason, young man.” Tony sounded resolute, stern even. Very fatherly, actually.

“Ugh, fine.”

“Happy is out, so I’ll drive you.”

“I can swing, it’s alright.”

“Nuh-uh. It’s already dark out, you’re not swinging by yourself through town. I’m driving you. Period. FRIDAY, let May know that we’re on our way.”

“Message is delivered.”

“Thanks, FRI!”

Wow, the way the boy talked to the invisible voice, was very bizarre. Peggy was not sure, where the voice came from or what exactly it was or how it worked, but it seemed very helpful.

What really caught her interest, was how Tony acted with the teen though. She would have to have a conversation with him about the child, what their relationship was and how it ended up being such a wonderfully fatherly thing.

“Steve, Barnes, you’re in charge of all this.” Tony gestured vaguely around the room. “Get the guest rooms ready; I’ll be back in an hour or so.”

Peggy would have joined them, but Tony clearly needed to get out of here, away from all the drama, let it sink in.

“Thanks, honey”, she smiled over.

“I’ll see you two in the morning”, he smiled, before he and Peter left the room.

“Alright then, Howard, Peggy, come with us and we’ll get you settled.”

“Thanks, Steve. I think we can really do with a good night’s sleep…”

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

“Are you alright?” Peter’s concerned stare seemed to drill itself into what was probably Tony's soul.

“What do you think?”, he answered, a bit rougher than he intended.

Peter turned back, stared out the window. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for. Unless you did something, you need to confess to me…” He glanced over at Peter who shook his head.

“Nope. I’ve been good. Santa would be proud”, he grinned.

“Alright. Stay on his good-kids-list.”

“I have been for 17 years!”

“I am so proud of you”, Tony chuckled. Man, leave it to the kid to always make him laugh.

“Ok, so I know it’s weird, but if you want to talk… I have a lot of daddy-issues-experience.”

“Alright.” Tony snorted a laugh. “Sorry, it’s not something I should laugh about.” He tried to look contrite, but it probably came off as a weird grimace.

“Don’t worry about it”, he chuckled.

They rode on in silence. Tony wanted to break it, but all questions about school, decathlon or lego sets seemed wrong right now.

“I’m sorry”, he apologized eventually.

“Why?”, Peter asked, “if I have nothing to apologize for, neither do you.”

“I know. Still… Howard is just… It just drudges up so many old feelings, memories.”

“Happy’s not really out, is he?”

“Nope. Had to get out of there. But don’t think you’re just my excuse, ok? Because you’re not, you’re really not. I’m happy to do this and be here for you.”

“It’s alright, Mr. Stark, I know what you mean”, he smiled over. “And don’t worry. You’re not like him. And I can say that with absolute certainty, since I am the one who had a few dads and lost pretty much all of them, too.”

“I know you’re trying to be all encouraging and shit, but it sounds actually super sad…”

“Yeah… What I’m trying to say is that you’re really good at the job. Not that you’re my dad, but I mean, you know? You’re not like Howard.”

“And you can be certain about that based on what?” Tony knew, he sounded bitter, but he couldn’t help it. How could he not be bitter about that? With a father like Howard, how could Tony ever turn out any better at the job? Sure, he saw himself as a sort of father figure for Peter, but only sort of. The kid still called him Mr. Stark, didn’t sound all that fatherly, now, did it?

“I don’t really remember my dad, so my experience is based on Uncle Ben, who helped me with my homework, took care of me when I was sick, was always ready to listen to my issues, who plain and simple was there, when I needed him. You’ve done all these things for me; you do all this for me.”

Oh fuck. Tony tried to fight the tears filling his eyes.

“I don’t want to force myself on you or anything, I just want you to know that whatever doubts or worries Howard brings out in you, well, they’re wrong.”

“Alright Pete, you gotta stop now or I’m gonna start crying.”

“Sorry”, he mumbled, his face getting red, “I didn’t want to make this worse.”

“You didn’t. Believe me, you didn’t. I wish I knew what to say right now, but I don’t really handle emotions all that well…”

“You don’t have to say anything.”

“Damnit, Peter, how can a twelve-year-old deal so much better with that stuff than me?”, Tony groaned.

“First of all, I’m seventeen. And I may have practised that speech for a while, waiting for the right time to say this”, he admitted meekly.

“Oh.” So, Peter really meant it! It wasn’t just some ‘spur-of-the-moment’ thing.

“I’d like to come the next few days over to the compound, if that’s cool. I’d really love to get to know Mrs. Peggy! She is so awesome and badass, and I really like to talk more to her.”

“Sure thing, I can tell Happy to pick you up after school.” Tony appreciated the change of topic and was happy to talk about one of his favourite people.

“Cool.” Even in the dark car, Tony could see the boy beaming with excitement. “And she is your godmother?”

“That she is”, Tony nodded.

“That is so crazy amazing!”

“You know you’re an Avenger, right? Pretty nice, too.”

“Yeah, but she’s Peggy Carter, founder of SHIELD, fought in WW2 and is like the most badass woman!”

“I can’t argue that. You know, she bought me the material for Dum-E.”

“Awesome!”

“I would introduce them, but from her perspective, I haven’t gotten it yet.”

“That’s so confusing…”

“Tell me about it!”, Tony laughed, “in her eyes, I just turned 5!”

“And all of a sudden, you’re 50.”

“49.”

“Of course.” Peter tried to look earnest, but that cheeky grin shone right through.

Tony shot the kid an angered glare, but broke out in a grin as well.

“Alright, we’re here, get out before I get back at you for that one.”

“Please, you love me way too much for that”, the boy shot back, before he wrapped himself around Tony. “You know, I love you just as much.” And with that, he jumped out the car and disappeared in their apartment building.

And Tony sat in his car, absolutely flabbergasted, dumbstruck and emotional.

Oh wow. Oh WOW! He had no idea, what to do, think or feel. For as long as he could remember, Tony thought he’d just fail at being a dad, at caring for someone. That’s what he expected, being met with defiance, disinterest… Sure, he tried his best to break the cycle of shame, but never thought, he’d actually succeed!

“Boss, I have Pepper on the line. She asked me to call as soon as you dropped off Peter.”

“Uhm, yeah, alright.”

“Tony, hey, got Peter home?”

“He said he loves me”, Tony sighed as a wide grin tugged at the corners of his mouth.

He heard his fiancée chuckle. “Of course, he does.”

“What? No, Pepper, seriously, Peter said I’m a great dad and that he loves me!” He didn’t understand what was so funny about that.

“I’ve been trying to tell you that for a while, but it’s great that it finally clicked.”

“Huh.”

“You on your way back?”

“Just pulling out the parking space.”

“Good. I might have a tub of ice cream, I just opened, and you know my restraint, when it comes to ‘Hunk-A-Hulk-A-Burning-Fudge’.”

“As long as this lack of restraint doesn’t also extend to Bruce, I’m alright with that.”

“Damnit, you found me out”, she snickered.

“Wow, just wow”, Tony deadpanned. “Breaking up Pepperony and the Sciencebros in one swift motion, respect Ms. Potts.”

He could basically see her shaking her head. “You really got into the shipnames and fanfics, huh?”

“What can I say, my pseudo-son is a child of the internet. I really don’t want to know about memes and stuff like that, but that just rubs off, when you’re around Peter.”

“That’s alright.” She was silent for a moment, before she continued. “It’s really great, to meet the woman that raised you.”

“Getting a glimpse of my past should explain a lot about me.”

“Oh, it definitely does. But you know that I don’t care about your past. I love you, who you became, who you are. Because that’s a damn good person. And sure, Peggy Carter had her hand in that, but it’s all your work; you worked on becoming the genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist I can’t wait to marry.”

“Why is everybody so damn emotional and lovey-dovey today? Pep, you know I love you more than life itself, but I have no idea what to say to that.” And, for the umpteenth time today, he was close to tears again.

“You don’t have to say anything. Now hurry up, or I’ll eat all the ice cream by myself.”

“That is a damn good motivator”, Tony chuckled.

“I know. That’s why I’m saying it. See you in a few?”

“Definitely.”

“Good. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

“So, you’ve been back for eight years already?”

“Yeah”, Steve nodded. “Time really flies…”

“Tell me about it, yesterday was still 1975…”, Peggy laughed.

She and Steve sat side by side, each a coffee in hand, just catching up. Like you did, as two hundred-year-olds. Well, technically, she would be 98, but still. It felt like a very bizarre dream, and she had to pinch herself a couple of times this morning to make sure, she didn’t dream all of this up.

“I would really like to ask you what’s going to happen in the next few years, well, my next few years.”

“I was under the ice, remember? I didn’t live through it.”

“So, you didn’t catch up? Captain America, not knowing what happened to his country for the last forty years? How very patriotic.” Peggy shot him a challenging glare, and Steve just cracked up.

“I’m sorry, Peg, but scolding me for not being patriotic really doesn’t work any more. I may have committed a teensy bit of treason, technically I might even be a war criminal…”

“Excuse me?” Peggy felt her chin hitting the floor. Her Steve, a war criminal? Treasonous? “Steven Grant Rogers, you have to be kidding me.”

“And it’s not the worst part”, he admitted contrite, his face deep red and completely avoiding her gaze.

“What did you do?”

“I totally screwed over Tony.”

No. Not her little boy! “You did WHAT?” She boxed his shoulder, hard. And, even though he was a super soldier, it looked like it hurt. Good. “I can’t believe you. You… you…” Peggy was speechless.

“I’m so sorry. It was a really stupid and messy situation and I didn’t handle it very well. But it’s all sorted now!”, he was quick to add, as he finally looked at her, seeing the very pissed off expression she tried to convey.

“You screwed over my little boy? I can’t believe you.”

“Well, I mean, your little boy isn’t an innocent five-year-old anymore…”

“You know, forget what I said. I really don’t want to know what happened, or what will happen.” She shook her head.

“Uhm, Stevie?” James put his head through the door. “I don’t want to disturb you two, but I really can’t be alone with Howard. You know, because of… reasons…” His face was deep-red, and Steve quickly got up.

“Shit, yeah, sorry, I completely blacked that out.”

Peggy was curious, as to what had happened between James and Howard, that had him so… apologetic. She would probably have to wait a few years to find out, though.

“Is Tony not up yet?” She hadn’t seen him, since he left to take Peter home yesterday.

“He probably is, but I think he wants to be alone with Howard about as much as I do”, Buck shrugged.

“What happened between all of you?” She couldn’t keep all the curiosity in anymore.

“Uhm… Spoilers?”

“Yeah, I figured. Alright, Steve, you keep Howard company, Bucky, show me where to find my boy.”

“Yes ma’am!” He led her to an elevator. “FRIDAY, bring Peggy to the penthouse, please.”

“Of course.” Was that voice everywhere?

“Thanks, James.”

“Anytime.” Just as the elevator doors closed, he winked at her, and suddenly, she moved upwards.

“Uhm, FRIDAY?”, she tried.

“How can I help you?”

“What is your task domain?”

“I am an artificial intelligence, created by Tony Stark. It is my area of responsibility to coordinate all communication within this building and the Avengers.”

“Alright, that’s impressive.”

“Thank you, Agent Carter.”

With a ‘ping’, the doors opened, and Peggy walked out into a giant living room, with the most beautiful view.

“Hello Peggy.” Pepper walked over, smiling widely. “Had a good night?”

“Yes”, she smiled back, “thanks for asking. I’m sorry, I’m just barging in here like that…”

“It’s alright”, the woman laughed as she put her hair in a ponytail. “I assume you’re looking for Tony.”

“Both of you”, she answered, “I have a feeling, he can’t really face me and his father without his rock.”

Pepper stayed silent, but the smile spreading over her face radiated gratefulness and sorrow at the same time. “I’m sorry”, she eventually answered, “he’s taking this harder than you deserve.”

“I’m guessing, things between him and his father deteriorated even more? I mean, Howard is an extreme workaholic, Maria is basically a single mother at this point”, Peggy recounted her experiences.

“Unfortunately, yes”, Pepper nodded, speaking softly. “As I take it, Jarvis was his go-to father figure.”

“Yeah, only about a year ago, from my perspective, Tony stopped calling Jarvis ‘dad’.”

“Oh damn.”

The two women were silent. Peggy used the moment to take all about Pepper in that she could. She was beautiful, yes, but Peggy could see how she exuded confidence, intelligence and so much love for her boy. The worry about him was clear in her eyes, but it quickly dropped, when they heard steps getting closer.

“Morning, Aunt Peg.”

“Good Morning, Tony.” She smiled over at him, at the man, who was no longer five years old.

“I was thinking, maybe Howard could explain what kind of machine he was building, and I’ll see what I have in my labs.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“Great. Let’s get to it, then.”

He linked his arm with Peggy’s and together they headed back to the elevator.

Peggy knew, that the desire to get them back to their own time didn’t stem from malice. Tony was overwhelmed and, contrary to his five-year-old self, emotionally stunted, which was no surprise, given what Pepper told her. And, as much as Peggy would like to talk him through everything, she knew him well enough to know that he’d be stonewalling her, unless he was ready to talk.

“I should warn you”, Tony suddenly broke the silence, “Peter will come by again this afternoon, he is so excited to talk to you, get to know you. Just so you know, he probably won’t leave your side.”

“That’s alright”, she laughed, “reminds me of someone else I know…” Gently, she poked Tony’s side.

“Yes, you said that before, but trust me, as someone who has actually seen me as a teenager, he is nothing like me, and that is a damn good thing.”

“Listen, honey, I don’t know what happened in the last years, what you went through, what you did. Even if there may have been a few bad decisions involved…”

“A few?”, he snorted. “Yeah, well, trust me, a handful of years ago, you would not have been that proud of me.” Tony stared straight ahead, not daring to look over at her. His face was stone cold, an expression she knew from Howard, shutting every emotion down, trying not to show his true feelings.

“I know, I can’t make you believe me. All I can say is that these bad decisions, whatever they were, how many of them were there, they don’t make a character. They don’t make your character. And deep down, you know it, too. That’s why you pulled it around, got yourself a fantastic fiancée, leading a team of superheroes, and doing wonders with that boy Peter. If that’s not a good person… Well, then I don’t want to be one.”

She gently nudged his shoulder, before turning ahead again.

“Thank you.” It was a quiet mumble, barely audible, but it was all she needed.

“Let us build a time machine, then!”

.-.-.-.

What the absolute fuck was going on? Tony was about to build a time machine with his dead father. This shit could not be real, it just couldn’t. He and Rhodey sat together with Howard, who described what he worked on, some quantum mechanics theory of Hank Pym’s.

“Sorry, sorry, I’m late, my FBI-Guy didn’t believe that the genius Ironman needed my help.” Scott barged into the room, his usual blabbering self. And even though Tony was not in the mood for his gibberish, he worked with Pym and was a pretty smart engineer and so the best shot they had of getting Howard and Peggy back to their own time.

“Hey Scott, you’re just in time.”

Scott barely waved at the Avengers; he directed all his attention to Howard. “You’re actually Howard Stark. Holy shit.”

“Hello, Mr Lang I presume?”

“Please, call me Scott.” He held his hand out and vigorously shook Howard’s hand. “Wow, Hank told me quite a bit about you.”

“I hope, not all bad.”

“He definitely praised your intelligence.” That was a very polite answer; Tony was very aware that Pym didn't have too much love left for Howard.

“And my son tells me that you’re the expert on quantum mechanics?”

“Yup”, he nodded proudly, “spend some time in the quantum realm, so yeah, I know a thing or two.”

“You’ve been to the quantum realm? How are you still alive?”

And that was the point, Tony shut down. Howard was more excited about Scott’s accomplishments than he was about Tony being engaged. What did he expect? Nothing, that was just it… He expected nothing, and still was disappointed.

Howard didn’t even seem to notice, when Tony got up and walked out, he was so focused on Scott.

Oh, was he fucking jealous of Antman? No, no, no, this just got worse and worse.

“Hey, Tones, you alright?”

Tony was so caught in his thoughts; he didn’t even see Rhodey following him.

“Fuck”, he sighed, “I’m… I’m fucking done.”

“I can’t blame you. Come on, let’s get you a cup of tea or something.”

“Cup of tea?” He shot his friend a quizzical stare.

“Well, I’m not giving you coffee, you’re already way to on edge…”

“Alright, can’t do any harm I guess…”

.

“Honey, I thought you and Howard were building our way home?”

“Well, Scott’s there now, doubt he’ll miss me.” Tony couldn’t help but sound bitter. “So, we thought, we’d grab a cup of tea.”

“Tea?” Pepper looked incredulous.

“Rhodey’s idea”, Tony shrugged, before he sat next to his fiancée, who leaned against him.

“Who is Scott?”, Peggy asked.

“He works with Hank Pym, dates his daughter. He’s an expert on quantum mechanics”, Rhodey explained.

“And Capsicle’s biggest fan”, Tony added.

“Capsicle, really?” Peggy raised her eyebrows. “You’re better than that, Tony.”

“I like it”, Bucky grinned.

“I swear to whoever’ll listen”, Tony groaned, “if you make some sort of inappropriate comparison about eating popsicles, I’ll tell Howard what you did.”

“Oh my god!” Steve got beet-red, and Bucky stared back at him with wide eyes. “As if I’d make comments like that in front of his ex-girlfriend.”

“Don’t worry, James, you might remember I’m not that delicate”, Peggy chuckled, “and I assume that what Tony might tell Howard has to do with the reason you didn’t want to be alone with him this morning?”

“Oh god.” Tony dropped his head on the table. “This is a fucking nightmare.”

As he looked back up, he saw Peggy shaking her head. “What happened, that Steve commits treason and my sweet, little boy uses language like that?”

A chuckle went through the kitchen at the ‘sweet, little boy’ notion, but Tony decided to ignore it. “It all started, when Obe…” He looked up at Pepper. “That’s spoilers, right?” As she nodded, he just shrugged. “Long story short, Rogers left me for Barnes.”

“Huh. I wish I could say that this clears everything up, but I’m about as lost as yesterday, when I landed on that rooftop.”

“Sorry, Aunt Peg, I don’t think we can tell you, without majorly fucking up the timeline.”

“That’s alright, honey, I guess I’ll just have to find out, the long way ‘round.”

Silence fell over the room. Suddenly, Steve’s laughter broke through it, though.

“What is it?”

“I just had the weirdest thought.”

“How much weirder than reality can it be?”

“It’s just… You know, if I never went in the ice, well, chances are you’d call me Uncle Steve and I’d be your godfather.”

“Oh. My. God.” Tony’s face fell, and his mind went completely blank for a moment. Eventually, he had to chuckle too and looked over at Steve. “Rogers, that might be the scariest thing you ever said to me.”

“Tony, show your godfather some respect!” With a scolding look, Rhodey put a cup of tea in front of him.

“Well then, Uncle Steve…”

“Oh, that sounds so wrong!”, Steve shuddered.

“Yeah, I mean I’m really sorry about your heartbreaks, but I think it’s not that bad that he died…”

“Aw, thank you, how kind”, Steve scoffed.

“But that’s the trippy thing”, Rhodey threw in, “you wouldn’t know it any differently. They’d just be Aunt Peggy and Uncle Steve.”

Tony stared at Steve a little more, trying to picture a life where he'd be his Uncle Steve. “No, I’m sorry, but I just can’t picture you in a sort of father-figure-position.”

“I don’t blame you”, Steve shrugged, “me neither…”

“But that’s alright, Stevie”, Bucky consoled, “at least we manage to keep Clint’s dog alive, when we watch him…”

“Exactly”, Steve laughed, “and so far we haven’t killed any plants!”

“Wow, I really lost the jackpot when I lost you”, Peggy remarked drily.

“Uff, that’s harsh!”

“It’s alright, things worked out ok for us, I think. No matter what happened in ’45 or ’75, we’re in a really good place, all of us”, he added reassuringly.

Tony looked around the room and had to agree. Pepper in his arm, Rhodey beside him, Peter on his way over and Steve and Bucky were happy, too.

“Not gonna lie, it was a tough road getting here”, Steve continued, “and in parts pretty ugly”, he admitted meekly. “But I think, things had to happen the way they did to get us here, so I would not change a thing.”

“Wow, he’s still really good at motivational speeches”, Peggy chuckled, after Steve’s monologue sunk in.

“Well, I just got it”, he grinned.

.

“Tony, honey, I get it’s tough down there, but I think you need to get back to the lab, tell Howard what you need him to know and show him that you’re just as swoon-worthy as Scott.”

Aunt Peg could just read him like an open book, it was incredible.

“Why bother, though?”, he shot back, “it’s not gonna change anything.”

“You can’t keep avoiding him either.”

“And what am I supposed to say? ‘Hey, Howard, just so you know, you were a horrible dad, fucked me up wonderfully and I needed to reach my late forties to free myself from that, from you. But great, just when I thought I managed to do that, you show up on my doorstep and mess everything up again.’”

“Come here, honey.” Peggy put her arms around his shoulders and pulled him close. Only now Tony realized, that his eyes were wet, filling with tears. They sat in silence, Peggy gently rubbed his back and Tony felt like he was a kid again, coming to Aunt Peggy for consolation, for emotional support.

“I’m alright”, he mumbled after a while, and let go of her. “Thanks.”

She pressed a kiss against his forehead, and Tony had to chuckle. “I can’t tell you the last time I got a foreheadkiss.”

“In that case…” She kissed the same spot once again and smiled widely. “For good luck.”

“Thank you. Now nothing can go wrong anymore.”

.

“Son, there you are, perfect timing. Scott has just updated me on Pym’s research, and with your help, Peggy and I can go home.”

“But we really need your help to get it right.”

“Yes”, Howard continued, “since you’re twice as smart as the two of us combined, we can’t do it without you.”

“Uhm, sure.” Was that just a compliment? A real compliment? From his father? Huh, maybe Aunt Peggy’s kisses were lucky after all…

“Great! So, we’ll rebuild my machine, including Pym’s updates and then we should try and figure out how to time our travels instead of just flying around, aimlessly.”

“Sounds like a plan!”

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

“Thank you, Peggy.”

“For what?” She looked up at Pepper, not quite able to follow what she was hinting at.

“For talking some sense into Tony.”

“Oh, but that’s kinda my job, isn’t it?”, she smiled.

“I guess”, Pepper chuckled. “But still.”

“It’s alright. I think I have to thank you, instead. For taking care of my boy.”

“Well, our arrangement is a little different from yours. I need him just as much as he needs me”, she shrugged, a soft smile on her lips.

“Then I am so happy that you two found each other. Have we ever met?”

“Once”, Pepper nodded, “I don’t think, I should tell you about this though.”

“No, it’s alright, I understand”, she nodded, “but that means I’ll die knowing my boy has a good life, which is a wonderful prospect for my future.”

Pepper stayed silent, but gratefully squeezed Peggy’s hand.

“How does Peter fit into your little family?” Peggy had to know, and Pepper would be able to give her an explanation, not clouded by stunted emotions.

“Tony recruited him, when the kid got superpowers. It started out as a mentorship. And somewhere along the way, the line between mentor and father started to blur and…”

“And now we’re family.” They turned to the door, where Peter stood, a little awkwardly, but smiling nonetheless.

“Hey Pete. You’re here early…”, Pepper grinned.

“I might have played a little sick…”, he admitted, staring at his toes.

“Oh Peter!”

“Please don’t tell Aunt May!”, he pleaded. “And maybe don’t tell Mr … Tony.”

“Mr Tony?”

“After yesterday, when we… you know…”

“I know”, Pepper nodded, “he told me.”

“Ok, well, I thought he would believe me, if I stopped calling him Mr Stark”, he explained.

“Peter, I would love to tell you that you’re an absolutely wonderful boy, if you hadn’t just skipped school”, Pepper scolded, albeit with a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

“But that’s for a good reason! I mean, how many more chances will I have to talk to The Agent Carter!” With an excited grin, he turned to Peggy. “None! So, what’s a few hours of Literature, compared to the chance of a lifetime!”

He looked between the two women, with the biggest puppy eyes. “Please don’t tell on me.”

“Peter, what did we say about the puppy eyes?”

“They only work on Tony…” He dropped his head again and Peggy had to bite down a chuckle.

“What?”

“Nothing, it’s just… I regularly have the same discussion with Tony, about the puppy eyes. You really remind me of the kid…”

“Oh.” His ears got red, and he scrunched his nose together and looked back on the floor, clearly unsure what to do with that.

“What do you say, should we check on him? He told me, you’re pretty smart, too, I’m sure he’ll appreciate all the help he can get. And so do I, I miss my little rascals.”

“You have kids too, right?”

“Yeah, two of them. Three, if you count Tony.”

“I think you should count him”, Peter decided, “from what I hear you deserve the parental title more than his dad.”

“Mhm, you heard all about that?”

“I heard enough.”

She exchanged a quick glance with Pepper, who seemed to think the same thing Peggy did: It might have started as a mentorship, but the relationship between Tony and Peter was definitely build on a lot of mutual worry, care and love.

“Shall we head to the lab then?”

.

“Hi Tony!” They were barely in the lab, when the kid called out for him.

“Hey Pete. You’re a lot earlier than I expected.” He raised his eyebrows and shot him a scolding look, he definitely learned from Jarvis.

“Well, we’re working on time travel right now, so I can always make up for it”, he grinned back. “Hey Scott! Mr. Stark.” He nodded at the other two men and Peggy could see the momentary confusion on Tony’s face, not being addressed with Mr. Stark.

“Spidey, hey, good you’re here, we can do with your help! And you… ohmyfreakinggodyou’rePeggyfreakingCarter!” The other man, presumably that was Scott, dropped the hammer he was holding and all but stumbled towards her.

“Scott Lang, I take it?”, she smiled, holding out her hand.

“Yes”, he gulped, “Scott, yeah, that’s me, I’m Scott.”

“You’re Hank’s son-in-law?”

“Well”, he chuckled nervously, “I mean, maybe one day, I would like to maybe, but Hope and I we’re just dating. It’s going well, really well, she is so amazing and I really love her, but…”

“Scott, breathe”, Tony called over.

“Yeah, right, sorry.”

“Wow, you’re freaking more than when you met Cap.”

“Without Peggy Carter there would be no Captain America, everybody knows that”, he stated matter-of-factly.

“I like you, Scott”, she smiled, before she sat down on a chair. “I don’t want to disturb you guys, but I’d really like to see my little boy in action.” She could barely finish the sentence, when all off a sudden, everything around her started to beep and a bunch of robots headed her way.

“Guys, GUYS!”, Tony yelled, “take it easy, there’s enough Aunt Peggy for everybody.”

The robots stopped, even moved a little bit back, but still stayed close to her, beeping almost excitedly, if you could say that about machinery.

“Tony, what is this?”

“Aunt Peggy, meet my robots. They already know and love you, and apparently missed you as much as I did. Meet Dum-E, Butterfingers and that’s U.”

“Hi. I’m sorry, I haven’t met you yet, but I am really looking forward!”

“They are absolute sweethearts”, Peter giggled, as he walked over and patted each of them; they all reacted with what almost sounded like a purr, leaning in to the boy’s touch.

“They have their moments”, Tony grumbled, albeit with all the love in his eyes.

“And they love their dad”, Peter added.

“Doesn’t mean they listen to me… Guys, are you gonna geek out over Aunt Peggy, or are you helping us over here?”

Their movement was hesitantly, but after carefully booping against her knee, all three wheeled over to Tony.

“You can cuddle with her later, alright? For now, we should get some shit done.”

It was adorable; Tony talked to the robots like they were children, and they acted like his kids as well! Leave it to Tony, to give a bunch of metal feelings.

And the way he worked with Peter… Helping, instructing, showing him how to work the tools, with which the boy was pretty good already. They probably worked together a lot, judging from the way Peter seemed to sense what Tony wanted him to do, knew where Tony needed him. If she didn’t know better, she would definitely see a father and son work together. But then again, that’s what they were. Blood doesn’t make you family, Tony learned that the hard way.

She watched Howard observing the duo. He looked disconnected, estranged from his son. From what Pepper told her, that was exactly, what they were. Maybe being here, Howard could learn a thing or two about being a father. It was sad though, that the person teaching him this, would be his own son.

“Put down the fire-extinguisher!” Tony’s yelling brought her back into the real world. “Dum-E, you know that after last time, you’re no longer on fire extinguisher duty. No, don’t give me that look, you know what you did.”

Peggy could hear two quiet beeps, before she watched Dum-E putting the extinguisher down.

“Alright, that’s more like it.”

“I’m scared to ask, but what did he do?”, she inquired.

“He doused his brother. U almost lost a few cogs, because the foam got in the wrong places. He’s alright now, Peter helped me fix him.” To proof that he was well again, U beeped a few times. “Dum-E has since apologized, but he is no longer allowed near the fire-extinguisher.”

“You grounded a robot?”, Howard asked astonished.

“Yes. How will he learn otherwise?”, Tony shrugged and went back to the circuitry he was working on.

Howard looked over at Peggy, who was just as astonished but a lot more amused by this situation.

Even though she came downstairs to watch her Tony work, Peggy couldn’t help but watch the robots, whirring around, fetching tools, following every order they got from Tony or Peter, and, every now and then, when they didn’t have anything to do, they wheeled over to her, gently nudging her leg, enjoying her petting them. This couldn’t get any more bizarre.

“Peter, your aunt has repeatedly tried calling you.” Of course, all that was missing was the ceiling voice. “I would suggest you call her back.”

“Sure thing, FRI. Uhm, can you call her, I’ve got pretty oily fingers…”

“Calling May Parker.”

It seems, his aunt found out, he ditched class. Peter seemed to know, too, he anxiously fidgeted with his fingers.

“Peter?”

“Heeeey, Aunt May, how are you?”

“That doesn’t matter, how are you?” She sounded more concerned than angry.

“I’m ok.”

“Are you sure? Your school just called to inform me you went home with a migraine.”

“Oh, yeah, about that…”

“Peter Benjamin Parker. I thought I was clear on ditching school for Spider-Man…” There was the anger.

“I’m not Spidermanning! Technically, I’m taking history and engineering classes…”

“Spending time with Tony and Steve does not count and you know that as well as I do.”

“Hello May, I fully agree with you on that”, Tony threw in, “in Peter’s defence, things are a bit more complicated than that though.”

“Tony, this better be a damn good reason, or Peter is grounded from the Avengers indefinitely.”

“I’m not sure, you want to know… It’s time travel...”

“I swear to everything that’s good in this world, if you’re ditching to get Doctor Strange to zap you around, you are extra grounded.”

“STEPHEN!” Tony and Peter’s faces dropped as they stared at each other, mouths gaping open.

“What? What is going on?”

“We are such idiots! We’re here building a time machine, and we got the freaking keeper of the time stone on speed dial!”

“You’re building a time machine?”

“Uhm, Aunt May, I'll explain later what’s going on. We need to go right now.”

“No, don’t you dare hang up on me!”

“It’s simple: Tony’s dad and Peggy Carter accidentally time travelled and landed in New York yesterday. Now we’re trying to find a way to get them back, and with Dr. Strange you might have given us just the solution”, Peter recapped.

“What is wrong with our lives that I don’t even question fucking time travel anymore? Peter, we’re gonna have a long talk about skipping school. All of us.”

“I know”, he mumbled. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry, too, May”, Tony apologized.

“You two better be. I’ll come to the compound after work and you can explain the whole situation. I’ll see you then.”

“Bye!”

“Call ended.”

“Ugh.” Peter dropped on the ground. “I’m sorry, I skipped school. And I’m sorry, I got May mad at you.”

“If I’m lucky, I’ll live to see my wedding day”, Tony mumbled, pulling the kid back to his feet. “For now, FRI, send a message to Strange, ask him to come here, please.”

“Message is delivered.”

“Thanks.”

“Who is Dr. Strange?”, Howard asked.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

“Tony, I’m sitting in the 21st century, watching my grown son build a time machine. What is weirder than that?”

“Alright”, he shrugged. “Dr. Stephen Strange is a wizard.”

“Sorry, I asked.”

It took all Peggy had to keep her mouth from gaping open. Now there were wizards? Any minute now she should wake up. This just couldn’t be real anymore.

Before she could voice her astonishment, orange flames lit up in the workshop, and suddenly a man stood next to Tony, in a long, red cape.

“Hey, what’s so urgent?”

“WHAT?” Howard cried out. Peggy would have screamed, too, if she had any sound left.

“Excuse me, where are my manners? I am Doctor Stephen Strange. And you… look very familiar…”

“Dr. Strange, may I introduce Howard Stark and Peggy Carter.”

“How did this happen?” He spoke with Tony, but the doctor eyed both time travellers curiously.

“Lab accident.”

“Huh, that’ll do it. And now you want me to turn back time?”

“Can you? I mean, get them back to their own time?”

“Probably…” He was quiet, pensive for a moment. “I should get to the sanctum, do my research, consult Wong. I’ll get back to you later, alright?”

“Thanks, Stephen. I appreciate it.”

“No problem.” He nodded at everyone, and before Peggy could say anything, he disappeared in orange lightning.

“Great, Stephen’ll know what to do”, Tony nodded, but the smile on his face dropped fast, as he saw Peggy and Howard’s faces. “You guys alright?”

“I… I…” She tried to shake off the first shock. “I think I need a drink.”

.

Fifteen minutes and two shots of whiskey later, Peggy felt better. Still utterly confused, but better.

“You have a wizard. You have a freaking wizard!” Howard took a little longer.

“I think, they prefer ‘Mystique Arts’”, Peter threw in.

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s helping, kiddo.”

“Sorry.”

“No, don’t be, it’s alright”, Peggy assured him, “I appreciate you trying to help us.”

“Of course”, the kid nodded, “I get how weird this must be… I mean, one morning I woke up and could suddenly stick to walls. That stuff is freaky.”

“You can stick to walls?”, Howard cried out.

Peggy felt her eyes going bigger, too.

Instead of explaining himself, Peter jumped up and walked around on the ceiling. “I didn’t call myself Spider-Man because I like the animal.”

Peggy’s chin was on the floor and she couldn’t help but stare at the boy.

“What’s going on?”, she breathed, looking over at Tony.

“Don’t look at me”, he defended himself, “that ain’t my doing.”

“Oscorp”, Peter explained, as he jumped back down with a backflip. “It’s a long story, I was bitten by a radioactive spider and now I got spider DNA.”

“Good thing I dug you up before Osborn the Goblin did”, Tony scoffed, “I still can’t believe you went out with his son…”

“First of all it were only like four dates and can we please not talk about my exboyfriend-turned-super-villain?”, he moaned.

“Sorry, kid”, Tony apologized and patted his shoulder.

It sounded like an incredible story, but Peggy wasn’t sure whether she could take any more of that stuff and instead poured herself another whiskey.

.

“Peter Benjamin Parker.” A woman stood in the door, her arms crossed and a very stern look on her face. This was probably his aunt.

“Hey Aunt May.” As soon as she had stepped through the door, Peter dove behind Tony, who tried hiding behind Pepper. Now, an angry aunt, Peggy could handle.

“You must be May Parker, it is nice to meet you.” She walked up to the woman, holding her hand out. “I am terribly sorry your nephew skipped school because of me.”

“It’s really true”, May goggled, “you’re really Peggy Carter.”

“Guilty as charged”, she smiled.

“Wow. It’s an absolute honour, ma’am.” May shook Peggy’s outstretched hand. “I… I am so sorry, I have no idea what to say.”

“Trust me, neither do I. I mean, the day before yesterday, this guy was still five years old, now he’s the leader of a group of superheroes, with a bunch of awesome spider- and robot children.”

“That’s gotta be trippy”, May chuckled. “And I assume you are Mr. Stark?”, she turned to Howard.

“Please, call me Howard”, he smiled and shook her hand. “I have to say, your nephew is very smart. I was very impressed earlier.”

Peter’s ears turned bright red and he scrunched his nose up. He might not be Howard’s biggest fan, but appreciated the compliment.

“Yeah, I’m amazed about that kid, too”, she answered before turning to Peter, staring at him silently. The kid peeked up from behind Tony’s shoulder, both of them having flushed faces and the exact same deer-in-headlights-look.

“I have to admit, I get it”, May shrugged eventually. “Doesn’t mean I’m not mad at you for skipping, especially for ditching without telling me.”

“I’m really sorry, Aunt May.”

“I know you are.”

“I’m sorry, too”, Tony apologized.

“Yeah… Well, I guess these are very special circumstances, so I might just let it slide. If”, she added emphatically, “you never keep your skipping school from me ever again.”

“I promise”, he nodded meekly, got up from his hiding spot behind Tony’s back and went in for a hug.

“Good. Same goes for you”, she pointed at Tony, “I demand to be kept in the loop.”

“Yes, of course. Sorry, I didn’t call you when he showed up.”

“I imagine his ‘please, don’t tell May’ was accompanied by a lot of puppy eyes.”

“I might be a little susceptible to that”, he admitted contrite.

“Ben was, too. He got over it by realizing that I’m a lot more dangerous than a disappointed Peter”, she shot back with a challenging grin.

“I am very aware of that.”

“Good. Now, spill. What happened here?”

.

“Oh damn.” As they had finished their story, May’s chin was on the ground. “How do our lives get even weirder? I thought it reached its limits with Peter’s powers and Alien invasions!”

“Alien Invasions?”

“Don’t worry, you’ll find out in time”, Tony shrugged.

“Not so sure I want to.”

“Hey, boss.” Calling out, Happy walked into the room. “do you still need me to go and… May, hi! I… I didn’t know you were coming by today.” As soon as he saw her, his voice, his expression, even his posture changed.

“Hello Happy”, she smiled back, looking just as awkwardly smitten as he seemed to be with her. “I wasn’t planning on it, but you know how it is.”

“I am glad your plans changed”, he grinned, his cheeks flushing ever so slightly.

“Yeah, me too.”

It was adorable, everybody in the room seemed to think so. Well, almost everyone. Peter just turned around and if he were less polite, he would have definitely voiced his annoyance and embarrassment.

“It looks like this relationship is a little weird for Peter”, Peggy whispered over to Pepper.

“He’s coping”, she quietly giggled back. “To Peter, they are like you and Jarvis were to Tony, so you can imagine…”

Peggy had to chuckle at the notion of her and Jarvis, but got how it must make Peter feel.

“Mrs Agent Peggy Carter ma’am, would you like to get a bowl of the best ice cream in NYC?”, Peter suddenly blurted out, clearly needing to get out of this situation as soon as he could.

“Well, back in my day… Oh, I sound so old!”, she laughed. “Anyways, we did always go to that little place, Caramba’s.”

“Oh, I remember!”, Tony smiled, “but they closed years ago.”

“What a shame! But yes, Peter, I am always up for ice cream.”

“Awesome!”, he beamed. “Let’s get going, then!” He held her arm out to her, and Peggy had to laugh as she linked her arm with his.

“You really are a gentleman, Peter.”

“Do you guys need a driver?”, Tony asked, but Peter was quick to answer.

“We do not! Leave Happy here and let him get all… sappy on my aunt or whatever…”

“Do you want FRIDAY to keep an eye on us?”, May asked with a shake of her head.

“Yes!”, Peter called back, Peggy wasn’t sure whether he meant it or not. “And the door stays open!”

“Is this revenge for me not letting MJ stay overnight?”

“No… Maybe… Doesn’t matter though, I want you home by ten and Happy, just remember, I do have superpowers and am stronger than half the guys in this building.” With an exaggerated wide smile, that definitely looked threatening, Peter led Peggy out of the room.

“Wow, Peter, you are really protective of your aunt.”

“Yeah, well, Spider-Man already got my uncle killed, don’t exactly want her any more involved in the superhero-world than necessary.”

What? But before Peggy could follow up, Tony walked up behind them.

“So, Happy’s quaking in his pants”, he chuckled. “And when I asked if you guys need a driver, I meant myself. If that’s ok with you.”

With the widest smile on his face, Peter just held out his other arm. Tony linked their arms and snorted a laugh. “You are ridiculous, you know that?”

“I think that’s why you like me so much.” He quietly giggled to himself, before he abruptly stopped. “You know, maybe we shouldn’t go to Fredo’s”, Peter grinned.

“Peter, don’t start the guessing game and get to the point.”

“Ben’n’Jerry’s.”

“Oh.” Tony’s face lit up as he smiled at the boy. “You little show-off.”

“Look who’s talking”, he shot back.

“The genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist”, Tony smirked.

“Boys, you’re both pretty”, Peggy stated, trying to be diplomatic. “Ice cream, remember?”

“Do you still have some?”

“Freezer’s full.”

“Alright”, Peter beamed, “Roof or garden?”

“Let’s leave that decision to the lady. What do you say, Aunt Peg?”

“I’m not quite following, but I like a nice view, so I’m gonna say roof.”

“Great! You go ahead, I’ll meet you there with the ice cream.” With that, Tony walked off in one direction, while Peter led her towards the elevator.

“FRI, to the roof please!” They immediately started moving.

“Pray tell, what exactly is the plan?”

“We’ll have ice cream, just not in the city but up here.”

“And what’s so special about that?”

“You’ll see”, the boy grinned. “It’s a surprise!”

“I do like surprises”, she answered, smiling along. Somehow around Peter it was impossible to remain stoic. Some people just had that quality, ingraining themselves in everybody’s heart. No wonder, Peter was so important to Tony.

The view from the roof was quite nice. Being upstate there wasn't the New York skyline to feast their eyes on, but plenty of greenery.

“I don't want to darken the mood, but I am sorry about your uncle.” For Peter it might have only been a passing thought, but his earlier statement stuck with Peggy.

“Thanks...” He didn't look up at her and judging from his reaction it could not have been that long ago.

“What was his name?”

“Ben”, the boy answered. “I'm sort of named after him, my middle name is Benjamin.”

“That's lovely! It's always be nice to be named after special and wonderful people.”

“Are you named after anybody?”

“Not as far as I'm aware”, she shrugged. “I mean, there are a few Margarets in my family tree, but as far as I know, none of them were instrumental in my parent's choice for my name.”

“I don't know of any Peter's that might have inspired my parents as well.”

“Here we go!”, Tony walked out of the door, interrupting their little family heart-to-heart, a wide smile on his face. “What do you feel like, Aunt Peg, Strawberry or Hazelnut?”

He held both containers out to her and she almost fell off the bench in surprise. There was 'Stark Raving Hazelnut' adorned with her little boy's face; 'Strawberry Slinging Spider-Man' had a comic-style drawing on it of the suit she had first met Peter in. “You got your own ice cream named after you?”, she cried out, “oh, this is fantastic!” She looked from Peter to Tony with a wide smile. “Now, I’ll definitely have to try both of them!”

.

“Mrs Agent Peggy Carter ma’am, can I ask you a favour?”

“Only if you call me by my name, and only that”, she answered. “Aunt Peggy is fine, too”, she added with a smile.

“Really?” His eyes went big and a giant grin spread over his face.

“I mean, technically, in this family tree, I’d be your grand-aunt, but I think we can leave that ‘grand’ out.”

“Ok”, the boy agreed. “So, Aunt Peggy”, he squealed a little with her name. On the other side of him, she saw Tony biting down his grin. “I wanted to ask if it’s ok, I mean, you’re welcome to say no, that’s totally fine and I definitely get it, if you don’t want to…”

“Get to the point, buddy”, Tony urged him.

“Alright, sorry.” A little shyly, Peter looked over at Peggy. “Would it be ok if I’d invite my girlfriend MJ and my best friend Ned here, to meet you?”

“Sure”, she nodded, “I would like that.”

“Yes? Omigod they’ll be so happy! I haven’t told them what exactly happened, I just said there’s some stuff at the compound, but if I tell them that it’s you? That’d be so cool!”

“How about you ask them to come tomorrow”, Tony suggested.

“Would that be ok for you?”, Peter asked Peggy.

“You know, the last appointment I had was about 45 years ago, so I’m free tomorrow”, she nodded with a grin.

“AWESOME!” He got his phone out and immediately started tapping on that screen. No buttons, nothing, just the screen, reacting to his touch. Freaky.

“I’ll send them a picture, so they’ll believe me.” He held his phone out in front of them. “Ok, now smile! Perfect!” Nothing happened, no flash, not even the sound of a shutter, but somehow the kid got what he wanted. Well, good for him…

A few minutes later, he read the answers out to them.

“So, this is from Ned, he’s like my best friend ever: Is that who I think it is? Omgomgomgomg! That stands for Oh, my god!”, he explained. “I want to meet her, yes, definitely! Asdfghjkl! Uhm, that’s a keysmash. It’s for when you’re so excited you just smash on the keyboard.”

“Alright.” That modern slang was quite something…

“This is from MJ, Michelle, she’s my girlfriend and she’s so smart and awesome and badass”, Peter cooed, his eyes gleaming with adoration and excitement. “Anyways, she writes: This better be real, seriously, you better not be playing or I’ll dump your ass right in front of Flash. Uff, that’s harsh…”

“To be honest, you would deserve it”, Tony chuckled.

“Yeah, I guess… But it sounds like they’re both in! Thank you so much, it means so much to me!”

“Of course, Peter, you are my grand-god-son, after all!”

.

They were in the middle of dinner, a fantastic pasta dish, when that weird orange light flamed up again, and the wizard from this morning stood in front of them.

“Sorry, I didn’t want to disturb your dinner”, he apologized.

“Don’t worry, Stephen. You hungry?”, Tony offered.

“No, thank you. I can come back later, though.”

“Nonsense, sit. So, any news yet?”

“Indeed”, the wizard nodded, “it seems that with the help of Wong I can get you two back to your time.”

“Wow, that’s fantastic!”, Peggy beamed.

“Thank you”, Howard smiled, “I can’t even begin to describe how glad I am.”

“Of course”, Dr Strange nodded. “I do need some preparation time, so I won't be able to help out until tomorrow afternoon.”

“Today is Friday, right?”, Peggy asked, and got a nodded answer. “Well, I already have plans with Peter tomorrow, and I would like the proper time to end this… vacation, so how about we stay the weekend?”

“Of course”, Stephen nodded, “I’ll prepare myself for Sunday afternoon if that’s alright?”

“Perfect”, Howard nodded.

“Then let me let you get back to your dinner. Have a lovely evening.” And as quickly as he appeared, he was gone again.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

MJ had been standing in front of her house about 15 minutes before Happy said that he’d be there. But she was just so excited! Ever since Peter had invited her and Ned over to the compound to meet The Agent Carter TM, she’d been a mess; a completely nervous wreck just bursting with anticipation. Even though she knew that Peter wouldn’t lie to her, especially about something like that, MJ felt like she was being punk'd. Sure, her boyfriend had part spider DNA, could stick to walls and was strong like nobody’s business, but time travel?

Finally, Happy pulled up in front of her and she climbed inside to a very giddy Ned.

“Hey MJ”, the guys greeted her.

“Hi. So, Happy is this for real? I mean…”

“Yes”, he interrupted her, “it’s real. I’ve been with them for two days and I still can’t believe it.”

“Damn.”

The drive to the compound felt like an eternity. This was even more nerve-wrecking than the first time she came here and the time she came over for an official meet-the-family with Mr Stark and Pepper, when she and Peter started dating.

“Hey FRI, tell Peter we’re here”, Happy called out as the building came into view.

“He’ll greet you by the door”, the AI answered.

And yes, as Happy stopped in front of the building’s doors, Peter already stood there with a wide beaming grin. And maybe, just maybe, MJ’s heart skipped a beat when she saw his smile. Though that could also be due to the fact that Mrs Peggy freaking Carter was somewhere inside this building.

“Hey guys”, Peter greeted them and gave MJ a soft kiss. “You’re already awaited.”

Ok, here it goes. Hand in hand they walked to the common room; MJ held onto Peter’s hand for dear life and he encouragingly squeezed it, before he opened the door. And holy freaking cow, it was really her. Sandwiched between Mr Stark and Mr Rogers sat the woman, MJ had done her AP history assignment about.

“Aunt Peggy, this is Ned and MJ”, Peter introduced them. MJ was way to overwhelmed at the sight of one of her personal heroes to really give Peter calling her ‘Aunt Peggy’ any thought.

“Well, hello!” With a wide smile Agent Peggy Carter walked up to them. “It’s so nice to meet you, I already heard so much about you two.”

As aware as MJ was of her mouth gaping wide open, she couldn’t do anything about it; she was completely mesmerized.

“Peter has barely shut up about you all morning. I'm Howard. It’s a pleasure to meet you”, the man introduced himself, holding out his hand.

“Hi”, Ned eventually managed to get out.

“How about we all take a seat?”, Agent Peggy Carter suggested, breaking the stunned silence and Peter pulled his two dumbfounded friends behind him, pushing them right on either side of him on a couch.

Since nobody really seemed to know what to say, Peter took over. “So, Thursday. I was out on patrol after school and I told you that I was about to get to Diego’s, get a bite to eat”, he remarked to MJ, “and all of a sudden I stand in front of them!”

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

As Peter recapped what had happened the last few days, Tony leaned back and was content just watching the teens reacting to Aunt Peggy and his dad and them reacting to the teens. He was a little surprised by their stunned silence, Tony had expected a reaction more like Peter’s or Scott’s, just fangirling over Aunt Peg; at least that’s what he had expected Ned reaction to be. MJ was more like Pepper, more restrained, asking fewer questions but each of them meaningful and intelligent, but she was remarkably quiet as well; holding onto Peter’s hand as if it were her lifeline. And it was only a small movement, but Peter gently brushed his fingers over her hand, it probably felt as calming and soothing as it looked.

Pete in his first real relationship… It was adorable to watch. What made it even better was that Peter actually came to Tony for advice every now and then! Not that Tony was that good at serious, committed relationships; just because he was engaged to Pepper it didn’t mean he knew how he did it. Thinking back, all his romantic gestures blew up in the most spectacular way, sometimes literally. Even though it backfired, Tony still stood by the giant plush bunny. Put a bit of dying in the mix, set her on fire and bam! Here comes love.

Since according to Peggy Peter was similar to Tony, it made sense that the kid would fall for someone who, just like Pepper, was a strong, independent woman.

And, while he wasn’t sure how someone as fantastically brilliant as Ms Potts would agree to spend the rest of her life with a mess like Tony, he could see why Michelle would fall for someone as sweet, kind and brilliant as Peter.

And it made Tony really proud. Not that he had actually raised the kid, but still. There was a lot about Peter to be proud of.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

“We actually started building a time machine, like a real proper time machine! We should probably have used a DeLorean”, Peter snickered before finishing the story. “But then Aunt May gave us the idea to call Dr Strange and he found a way to get them back to the seventies.”

Peggy wasn't 100% sure yet what to make of the two kids sitting opposite her, holding onto Peter for dear life. From Peter's earlier descriptions and stories, she imagined them to be a lot bubblier and definitely more talkative.

“Uhm guys”, Peter hissed over, “you can talk to them.”

“But isn't this like... I don't know, some Back to the Future stuff?”, Ned shot back, “Like, step on a butterfly and we're never born?”

“I'm sorry”, Peggy threw in, “I don't quite follow.”

Thankfully, Ned took the bait. “I mean, you being here, doesn't that totally screw with the timeline? Should we even know that you're here, let alone talk to you?”

From the corner of her eye, she saw the other grown-ups grinning at Peggy tricking Ned into opening up and talking. “I don't think you need to worry too much about that. As long as we don't learn about all the big things coming our way, all of us will be alright.”

“Oh, that's good”, Ned sighed, visibly relieved.

“Yeah, so don't be afraid to talk and ask away.”

“Ok, so first of all I need to say that you're super awesome and one of my absolute heroes”, MJ blurted out and if Peggy read the reaction of Tony and the others correctly, her burst of emotion was something rather unusual.

“Thank you, darling”, Peggy smiled back at the girl.

“Of course, it's an honour!”

“It totally is”, Ned nodded in agreement, beaming just like Michelle did.

Peggy was in all honesty floored. Yes, of course she had tried to imagine how impactful her role as a woman in a man's world was or will be for girls like MJ. But actually seeing all that, living through it?

“You alright?” Tony nudged her side.

“Yes”, Peggy cleared her throat and smiled over at her little boy. “I'm fine. Slightly overwhelmed but over the moon to see what humanities future will look like.” She turned back to the teens. “The Spider-Three, a superhero-squad per excellence, en route to change the world.”

“I mean, technically he's the superhero”, Ned giggled nervously. “I'm just the Guy In A Chair.”

“If that were true, then MJ would be just Peter's love interest and damsel in distress”, Peggy commented. “Does that seem right to you?”

“I'd be scared to even consider that thought”, Ned made clear and MJ looked more than pleased at Peggy's assessment of her.

“You don't need powers to be a hero”, Peggy continued “I like to say that once you know your value, anybody else's opinion doesn't matter any more. From what Peter told me you are both so intelligent, loyal and genuinely fierce... Don't resign yourselves to the background. Cut the word 'just' out of your vocabulary. You're not just Spider-Man's assistant or girlfriend.” She locked eyes with Michelle. “You're the leader of the Academic Decathlon team, a strong and independent woman! And you”, she looked over at Ned, “you're an amazingly smart engineer and a damn good programmer. Those are the kinds of people we need to change the world. And yes, having superhuman powers or being the heir to one of the wealthiest and most well-known companies makes getting your voice heard so much easier. Trust me, I know”, she rolled her eyes. “I might not have had to deal with Spider-Man and Ironman but with Captain America and Howard.”

She looked over at the others, where Tony, Steve and Howard flushed in all the shades of pink and red. “Seriously, you should have heard the Captain America stories they broadcasted after the war ended.” Peggy could only shake her head thinking back on the horrible radio programme. “It was a never-ending tirade of poor helpless Peggy, being saved by her hero in the last second, so she could swoon in his strong arms.”

While everybody else stared at her with big eyes, Steve turned even redder. “Peggy, I'm so sorry about that”, he apologized, “I had no idea! The thought of you needing to be rescued... It's ridiculous!”

“Besides”, James laughed, “if anyone here would swoon, it'd be Steve.”

“All that sexism and misogyny”, MJ interrupted the laughter, “how did you get through that?”

“It isn't a walk in the park, I tell you that. There will be a lot of people, especially men, trying to sell you on all their stories and ideals, and you will have to compromise where you can, but only where your conscience lets you. Where you can't, don't. Even if everybody tries to convince you that their truths are the only acceptable truth; when the whole world tells you to move it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye and say: 'No, you move'.”

It was silent for a moment, before Peggy continued. “You know, it is such a privilege for me to see the future and to know that there are these fantastically strong women saving our present”, she smiled at Pepper, “and our future.” With that she looked back at Michelle.

“I feel really compelled to give you a hug right now”, Michelle got out after a few pensive moments of silence.

“Of course.” With a smile Peggy got up and held her arms out. “I will always accept a hug,”

Her movement was hesitant, but MJ got up and into Peggy's arms. “Thank you” she mumbled quietly and hugged the woman back.

“Any time, darling.”

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The day went by like the blink of an eye. After their initial weariness, Ned and MJ warmed up and it didn't take long for the conversation to turn to more amusing pages.

And Peter was so overwhelmed, with all sorts of positive emotions that it was almost heartbreaking when Happy reminded everybody of the time and that he had to take Peter's friends back home.

“Why can't they stay over?”, he moped, trying to shoot Tony his best puppy eyes.

“Because I'm not letting you have a sleep-over with your girlfriend”, he made clear.

“Omigod”, he groaned and turned two or three shades redder. “It'd be all three of us anyways, and we could stay here in the common room where FRI'll keep an eye on us.”

“Nuh-uh.” Vehemently, Tony shook his head. “My roof, my rules young man.”

“It's alright.” MJ grabbed Peter's hand and grinned over. “It was already the best damn day. You can tell us more on Monday during Homeroom.”

“Excuse me?” Tony had his arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

“She means during break after homeroom”, Peter quickly corrected, “once we've done all our work perfectly and diligently, like the good-working students we are.”

“I should hope so”, he grumbled.

“Ignore him”, Peggy smiled and pulled Ned into a hug. “It was wonderful to meet you and I wish you all the best for your biology exam next week.”

“Thanks”, he smiled as they broke away, “it was really fantastic to meet you, too.”

“It totally was”, MJ agreed, as Peggy hugged her, too.

“Agreed. Now, you two, don't forget to change the world, alright?”

“Never”, they promised.

Peter grabbed MJ's hand and together they followed Happy out to the car. “You're sure it's ok if I stay?”

“My Dad won't let you sleep over either”, MJ just shrugged. “So, spend as much time with your Aunt Peggy as you can. Why do you call her that?”

Peter's ears got a little red, as he thought of the talk they had the other day. “Well, she said that in this weird family tree, I'm kind of like her grand-nephew”, he explained with the proudest smile.

“That is pretty damn cool.” Proudly, Ned grinned over at him.

“You guys ready to head home?” Happy was already leaning against the hood of the car as the three teens made their way out of the building.

“As ready as I'll ever be...” Ned turned to Peter and one super-awesome-best-friends-handshake later, he climbed in the car.

“Feel free to message me later”, Peter smiled, before leaning in for a good-night kiss.

“Won't you be too busy with Aunt Peg?”, she deadpanned, but the grin shone right through in her beautiful eyes.

“You know you're the only girl I love.”

“What?”

The pair froze for a moment, as time seemed to stand still. Neither of them had ever even hinted towards the l-word and until now Peter hadn't given it too much thought. Their relationship just worked, it was wonderful and he trusted her, cared so much about her and MJ's pure existence left him at a loss for words. All that was probably what love was; Peter had never felt like this about anyone ever before and didn't want to  feel like this about anybody that wasn't MJ. She was such a strong, genuine person, endlessly smart and creative and oh so beautiful...

“Uh, yeah.” Peter tried to clear his thoughts again. “Ok, this was super not romantic, for which I am really sorry. But yeah.”

“Peter, thanks to you I just got to spend the day with the woman I look up to, my absolute hero. I don't think it gets any more romantic than that”, she smiled, cupped his face and pulled Peter in for the softest and gentlest kiss. “I love you, too.”

“You do?” Peter couldn't believe his luck. This fantastic, intelligent and plain perfect girl loved him!

“Yes. You nerd.” She let go of him and turned towards the car, not without a last quick peck, though. “See you”, MJ smiled and disappeared in the car, which drove off only moments later.

Peter waved after the car until it was out of view, before he got back into the building, skipping up to the common room with the widest, most love-struck grin on his face.

He loved MJ who loved him back! Upstairs, everybody was deep in conversation, about what, Peter did not know. And didn't care. Like it did in the cartoons, the picture of MJ's face whirled around his head, surrounded by a probably unhealthy amount of hearts.

“Hey, Romeo.” He only realized Tony as he sat next to Peter and poked his arm.

“Huh?”

“Wow, you really are in love, hey?”, Tony grinned and Peter felt himself blushing. “I guess that's a yes.”

“We kinda just now said it to each other for the first time”, he beamed at his mentor.

“Oh wow. That's a big step.” Tony put his arm around Peter's shoulder and gently squeezed it. “I'm proud of you, kiddo.”

“You are? For what?”

“Not quite sure”, the man chuckled. “I guess, I just am. How you're finding your way, navigating yourself through a relationship, especially your first one... Seventeen year old Tony could have learned a thing or two about that from you...”

By now Peter flushed at about the intensity of his spider suit. “But if seventeen year old Tony was any different than he was, maybe fifty-year-old Tony wouldn't be engaged to Pepper”, he shrugged.

“You little shit.” Tony glared down at Peter with his finger pointed directly at his face. “You know damn well that I'm 49.”

Peter just grinned back up. “Same difference, right?”

“Do you want to be kicked out right now?”, Tony asked, his eyebrows raised higher than Peter had ever seen it. “Because that's how you get kicked out of the house and the Avengers.”

“You are aware that I'm stronger than you, right?” Oh, Peter loved it when he managed to render Tony speechless.

“What did I do to deserve an ungrateful Spiderchild like you?”, Tony groaned, before he smiled back down and gave Peter's shoulder another squeeze. “Must've been a damn saint in a previous life.”

.

Oh, this was all so very wrong. Howard should be able to sit with his son, chat about his life, and have a nice and proper talk; instead he got to watch Tony being like a father to Spider-Man all the while he barely spoke three sentences with Howard.

He probably deserved it; if there was one thing he had learned about his kid these last few days, it was his big heart and fierce protectiveness of all he held dear. Howard must have done horrible things that not even his Tony could forgive him for that.

“You two need to talk.” Peggy sounded resolute, stern even, as she sat down next to him and looked over at where Tony had his arm around Peter.

“Right. Stark men and talk. We have obviously never met”, he scoffed at her idea.

“Howard, you listen to me. That boy was broken into a million little pieces and pulled himself together, worked harder than either of us to make himself whole again. He deserves to talk, to be listened to. He deserves closure. So to make one thing very clear: we are not leaving this time until that happened.”

“Yes ma'am.” Damnit, as scary as Peggy was, she was just as right.

It would probably be easier if Howard knew what exactly he was apologizing for, his Tony was only five after all; there wasn't too much he could have screwed up already. But Peggy was right. Howard had to address this with Tony's point of view in mind.

And as much as Howard hated to talk feelings, he just wanted to get this out of the way as soon as possible. He did have to wait until late morning of the following day, mere hours before they were supposed to travel back to their time.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

“It seems like Peggy and I will be back on our own time soon. Thank you, son, for everything.”

“Sure thing”, Tony shrugged. Man, he could barely make eye contact with his own father. There was so much he wanted to say to him, that he needed to get off his chest. They were sitting by themselves at the moment, probably thanks to the combined efforts of Pepper and Peggy, so Tony and Howard could talk.

“But more than to thank you, I need to apologize”, Howard continued. “I really am a lousy father, have been or will be one.”

Damn. Tony never expected his dad to say that. “I’m not gonna lie”, he stated after a deep breath, “so yeah. You were.”

“I can’t even begin to express how sorry I am.”

Tony felt Howard’s gaze on him and met it head on. Sure, he looked apologetic and like he regretted everything, but…

“And I can’t even describe how proud I am that you did not turn out like me. You have SI, the Avengers and still manage to be so good with that boy, Peter… Even though I don't know what it is I did, or will do, it hurts to see that I am the reason you never got to feel like he does.” After a deep breath, Howard continued. “I would love to promise you that I’ll be better, that I’ll do right by you.”

“Yeah, right”, Tony couldn’t help but scoff. “Howard, don’t insult either of our intelligence by promising something we both know you won’t keep. Do you know that this, right now, is the first time I ever heard you tell me that you’re proud of me?”

“Really?” Howard's face fell and basically oozed dread.

“Really. And I know that all of that hasn't happened yet to you, though let's be honest, even as a kid it was Jarvis who treated me like a father should. I mean, the happiest day in you life was the day you could send me off to boarding school and be rid of me. I had to compete my whole life for your attention with a dead guy. I hated Cap over there with a passion since no matter what I did, I would never be able to compare to him; not in your eyes at least. Once I got to know him, I forbade myself from liking him, out of fear I'd end up like you. I had to reach my late forties to break out from all the fucked up shit that was bottled up inside and you don't want to know what I had to go through, what I put Pepper, Rhodey, all the people that really love me through. Do you have any idea how fucked up it is to only learn the meaning of the word unconditional love when you're forty?” Tony felt himself getting more and more worked up, his voice got louder and pitched higher, but he had to get it all out now; it was his last chance and if he never got on good terms with Howard, well, Tony had resigned himself to that a long time ago. But he had a chance for closure and that he'd take. “You were cold, calculating; your first thought went always to the profitability of the thing, company or person in front of you. But hey.” He shot his father a sarcastic and pained smile. “All in the past, right?”

“Tony, I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am.” Howard looked very emotional, a look Tony did not remember ever seeing on his dad's face. “I can tell you though, that that little five year old boy sitting at home right now? I love him so much. And I love the man he will become, or became. And I am so much prouder of either than I could ever be of Captain America or anything else.”

As sincere as he sounded, Tony didn't buy it, couldn't believe it. It sounded too perfect to be true.

His father probably read his mind, after a deep breath he continued talking: “I know you don't believe me, I don't deserve you believing me. And I don't deserve forgiveness. But you deserve closure. And that I'd like to accomplish.”

“You know, I just dropped it all a long time ago. A lot has happened, a whole bunch of stuff I probably shouldn't tell you about, so I'll leave it at that. There was no forgiveness, but with all the love and stuff like that that came into my life, there was no more room for bitterness and hatred. And up until you showed up in my house the other day, all that anger lay dormant. I thought it was gone, apparently not.” Shit, Tony was talking in circles, just missing the point he was trying to make. What was that point, though? This was always so much easier with Pepper or Rhodey by his side, telling him what he was thinking and trying to say.

“Point is, I don't know how we're gonna part ways”, Tony eventually stated. “I don't know if I got it in me to forgive and forget just yet. I also don't think that this will change all that much in my or our timeline, and I don't expect it to, made my peace with that a long time ago. I'm glad that I could tell you all this, get it off my chest. And you can contendly go back to your time, knowing that I have a pretty damn fantastic life, even if it is in the awareness that all that only started as soon as you were gone.”

“Right.”

The two men sat in silence, neither daring to look at the other. On the one hand, Tony would have wished for his dad to fight a bit more for their relationship, as non-existent as it was, but on the other hand he was glad that Howard didn't. If he was being honest, neither of them knew the man sitting opposite them. All Howard knew was a little five-year-old snot nose; all Tony knew was the disgruntled and sarcastic father of a troubled teenager. There was nothing either of them could say to properly end this chapter and Howard seemed to get that, too.

“I'm really happy that you do have such a fantastic life”, he eventually smiled at Tony. “Pepper, Peter, all the Avengers, they deserve you so much more than I ever did and I am glad that they not only see you for your worth or profitability, but the fantastic human being that you turned out to be. You know”, he added, “you might have my brain, but other than that, you're the perfect hybrid of Peggy and Jarvis.”

“Wow”, Tony smiled, “that is one of the most amazing compliments I have ever gotten.”

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

“So, while Tony and Howard get the chance to get all the closure time and circumstances denied them, I think I deserve that, too”, Steve decided and Peggy wasn't sure what to make of his grin.

“And what pray tell are you referring to?”

“FRIDAY, hit it.” And, Peggy had no idea where from music started playing. “I believe we owe each other a dance...” He held his hand out and with a smile, Peggy took it. “I know I'm late for our date by about 75 years and I'm terribly sorry for that.”

“You better be sorry”, she shot back with a grin, as Steve twirled her. “I said eight pm on the dot!”

“I know... If it makes you feel better, you still are the first girl to dance with me.”

“That is a rather sad statement for someone who's 101”, Peggy laughed. “At least it would be, if I didn't know your partner.”

“Buck isn't the biggest on dancing... And definitely not as good a dancer as you are.”

“That is incredibly sweet. I supposed you expect an answer along the same line, but unfortunately my darling husband is better on his feet than you are...”

“I think I'll be able to live with that”, Steve grinned.

For a while they just swayed silently from one foot to the other, only the music playing. Even though Peggy didn't know the song, it sounded like it was from their time; probably early forties, all in all it felt like a memory that never was.

“I don't want you to leave.” Steve broke the silence and looked down on her. “I mean, not in a romantic way”, he quickly added.

“What way then?”

“I'm not sure”, he quietly admitted. “I just know I need you and I've been living way to long in a world without you; which is coincidentally the world in which I have messed up big times.”

“Yes, you've mentioned how you are sort of a war criminal...”, Peggy nodded and couldn't keep her eyes from rolling.

“I'm so sorry to have disappointed you.”

“What? Who says I'm disappointed?”

“Why wouldn't you be?”, he shrugged and flushed quite a bit. “I not only acted unlawfully, but screwed over Tony and broke up the Avengers. I'm disappointed in myself”, he added after a moment or two.

“Well, given that neither you nor Tony want to tell me what actually happened, I don't know how I feel about the situation. From what I hear I can definitely say that both of you are goddamn and giant idiots and I would have most probably  kicked your lovely behinds from here to Belgium.”

“Yeah, I definitely would have deserved it...”

“Figured. But what happened after that; reconciliation, rebuilding all that had been destroyed, in whatever way that might have been... You didn't need me for that, did you?”

“It would have been easier with my best girl around...”

“Well, your best girl was and still is needed in the past. You on the other hand got the future ahead of you. Stop idealizing the past or some fantasies about a life in the 20th century; if you hold onto all that, you'll never be able to properly move forward. Especially, since your boyfriend is also a relic of the second world war, it's easy to lose yourself in nostalgia. Don't do that.”

“Yeah”, he sighed, “it's so much easier said than done, though.”

“Please, Steve, whoever said life was easy?”

“Definitely not the guy who had every illness imaginable in his youth, died in World War II, just to come back in the 21st century”, he chuckled.

“You have a good life here”, Peggy smiled. “And I have a good life back home. What-ifs only suck the joy out of living.”

“I know you're right”, Steve nodded. “As always”, he added with a grin.

“Of course I am. And I am happy. I have a good life back home and so do you. Right?”

“Yeah”, he smiled, with the biggest heart-eyes. “I really do. And I'm so happy that you're happy!” He was silent, pensive a moment, before the smile grew even wider.

“I'm grateful, too.” She got on her tiptoes to reach high enough to put a soft kiss on Steve's cheek. “As turbulent and short as our time together was, I wouldn't change it for anything in the world and am so happy that I got to be a chapter in the work that is Captain America.”

“Darling, you helped write that story. And for that I'll always be grateful.”

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

It was time. Dr Strange appeared in the middle of the common room, as everybody sat together, trying to be cheery, when the weird goodbyes dampened everybody's spirits.

“Are you ready to leave this time behind?”

“Yes”, Peggy smiled, thinking of her family and how much she missed all of them so much. Besides, Tony didn't need her anymore; he'd be just fine and so'd be Steve.

“Come here”, she grinned at Peter and the teen went in for a hug. “Take good care of yourself and those wonderful friends of yours. You can be proud, and I just know that this world can't wait for Peter Parker changing it.”

“Thanks Aunt Peggy. Take care of you, too.”

“I will.” They broke away and Peter had the widest beaming smile on his face.

“Pepper”, she smiled and hugged the woman next. “All the best to you, my dear. I hope you have a fantastic wedding and a great life.”

“Thank you”, Pepper answered. “And when you get back to your time, tell that little kid there that I can't wait to fall in love with him.”

“Oh believe me, I will”, she chuckled as she leaned back. “Definitely. And you.” She held her hand out to Barnes. “Take care of my boy, will ya?”

“Yes ma'am”, James smiled and saluted before shaking her hand.

“Good.” Now came the heartbreaking part. She turned to Tony, who clearly fought hard against his tears. “Darling, I love you.”

“I love you, too”, he mumbled and pressed himself against her, burying his face in her shoulder. “Thanks for everything.”

“You got this, honey. You're fantastic, smart and have such a big heart... I'm not gonna have to worry one bit about you, don't I?”

“I wouldn't go that far”, he chuckled. “But I'll do my best.”

“And that's enough to change the world, my dear”, she smiled and put a soft kiss against his forehead. “Remember, I love you, and I'm so proud of my little boy, I can't even put it in words.” And cue her eyes getting wet.

Tony stayed silent, but the face he pulled was one Peggy knew all to well; he was about to bawl his eyes out, but fought with nail and tooth and everything he had not to break down in front of this audience. She cupped his cheek and shot him a warm and teary-eyed smile, before she turned to Steve, who had the tears just rolling down his cheek.

“I'm gonna miss you, Steve.”

“And I'll miss you.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in tight. “At least this time I get to properly say goodbye to you.”

“And you're not dying”, she laughed. “That's nice as well.”

“I definitely don't plan on doing that all that soon again.” Steve joined in the laughter and leaned back to look her in the eyes. “I promise, I'll be careful.”

“Steven Grant Rogers, you don't believe that yourself, do you?” Peggy tried to sound scolding, but with the tears in her eyes and the chuckle bubbling up, it was downright impossible.

“Touchée”, he snickered. “Then I'll promise to do my best, alright?”

“Good enough for me. Is it good enough for him?” She nodded at James in the background.

“Definitely not... But he knew what he signed up for, so there's no need to feel too sorry about that.”

“I don't, I'm very happy for him. He's got himself quite the guy.” She looked over at Barnes without leaving Steve's embrace though. “I wish you two the very best life. You deserve it”, she added with a smile as she looked back up at Steve.

“Thanks. So do you.” He leaned down and softly kissed her cheek. “I'll still miss you.”

“I'll miss you, too. But hey, at least I know that I'll see you again; even if it's gonna take me another forty years.”

“Lucky you”, Steve laughed.

“I am... Alright.” She broke away from his touch and turned to the wizard. “Dr Strange, I think we need to leave now or things will get unbearably emotional.”

“Of course, Agent Carter.” The wizard smiled at the time-travellers and he started mumbling some unintelligible spells as the pendant around his neck started to glow. Peggy didn't really care about the procedure, though. With the warmest smile she could muster up she looked around the group of people, waving at her and Howard, as the green light engulfed them and, after a bright blinding flash of light, everything went dark.

.

“Aunt Peggy?” Someone patting her shoulder brought Peggy back into consciousness. “Hello! Aunt Peggy?”

“Tony?” The face towering above hers slowly came into focus.

“Yeah, is me Aunt Peg”, the boy grinned. Next to him knelt Hank Pym, offering her a hand and helped her to sit up. “Hey, take it easy, you hit your head pretty badly.”

“What the hell happened?” She looked around; they were in Howard's lab, which looked like a bomb had gone off in.

“I screwed around with something I maybe shouldn't have”, Howard admitted contritely, who she now saw sitting beside her, being coddled by Jarvis.

“And it blew up rather spectacularly, ruining a lot of my research”, Hank continued, sounding just slightly pissed off.

“Everything I do is spectacular”, Howard shot back and rubbed his head, where he had quite the bruise.

“Is it very ouchy?”, Tony asked as he climbed into Peggy's lap, looking very worried as he inspected her face.

“It'll be alright”, she forced herself to smile. “Different note, what are you doing here in the lab, young man?”

“He ran off and snuck in”, Jarvis explained as Tony flushed a few shades redder. “Even though he knows he's not allowed.”

“I've told you a million times to stay away from my work”, Howard groaned and turned to the little boy. “You've got no place in a lab like this!”

Oh Howard... If she wasn't so dizzy right now, Peggy would definitely cuss Howard out for his tone. “It's alright, kid”, she said instead, cupping the boy's face. “You just can't run off without Jarvis. You see how quickly things can go wrong in here and none of us wants to see you get hurt.”

“Ok... I'm sorry”, Tony mumbled.

“I know you are”, Peggy smiled and immediately, the boy's face lit up again, even if it was only a bit.

“We're taking you two to the infirmary now, you've been out for almost half an hour.”

“Really?” To Peggy it felt more like four days... And damn, did she have a weird dream... Being properly checked up on was probably the best call.

“Yeah. So come on.” Hank shooed the kid off her lap and held his arm out to Peggy and helped her to her feet and with him supporting her side, she didn't even feel too unsteady. Tony grabbed her free hand and grinned up at her; that gap where his front tooth had fallen out was just about the most adorable thing and Peggy couldn't help but smile along. How could she not; there was just something about her little boy that felt like everything was going to be alright.

.-.-.-.-.-.

From one moment to the next they were gone again. Pepper held onto Tony's arm, squeezing it softly as the green light flickered and flashed brightly, before the space in front of them was empty. But before any of them could really react though, Strange appeared again.

“They are safe and sound back in their time, just where they left.”

“Thank you, Stephen.” Tony let go of Pepper unto whom, as he now realized, he held on tightly, and walked up to the wizard. He lowered his voice just enough that only Strange would be able to hear him to voice the thought that was gnawing at the back of his head. “They don't remember us, do they?”

“I'm sorry”, he apologized. “they can't remember a time that hasn't happened yet.”

“I figured”, Tony nodded, but still, it felt like someone had twisted a knife stuck in his chest.

“If it gives you any solace, Peggy was greeted by her favourite godson, when she came to.” Stephen offered Tony a warm smile and the thought of his five-year-old self having Peggy by his side already lit up his mood again.

“It does”, he smiled back and held his hand out. “Thanks.”

“Anytime”, Stephen shook his hand and nodded at the rest of the assembled people, before disappearing in a yellowish-golden portal.

“What a weekend.”

Tony turned around and looked at Bucky. “Seriously? That's the only thing you have to say?”

“Sorry.” He half-heartedly raised his hands. “I'm not quite sure how to best summarize spending the weekend with my boyfriend's dead ex-girlfriend and the guy I killed.”

“Right, that's enough”, Steve cleared his throat and grabbed Buck by the arm. Good. There were a lot of feelings Tony didn't quite know how to best deal with and punching Barnes definitely seemed like a viable option to release some of his emotions.

“Anybody up for ice cream?”, Peter blurted out, breaking the tense silence and Tony couldn't help but snort a laugh. That kid was something else.

“Yeah”, Tony agreed, “ice cream sounds good.” He put his arm around Peter's shoulders and together they headed to the kitchen.

“I'm sorry”, Peter eventually got out, as they were in the privacy of the kitchen.

“What for?”

“That they don't remember anything...”

“You overheard me and Stephen.” Tony wasn't sure whether he meant it as a statement or a question.

“Can't turn of the spider-hearing”, Peter shrugged apologetically and grabbed a spoon for each of them, as Tony got the ice cream out the freezer.

“Yeah, I keep on forgetting that... You very disappointed?”

“I got to spend the weekend with one of the most amazing people of the last century! I don't mind that she won't remember it, because it was awesome! But it's not like they're my Aunt or Dad...��� He looked up with those big soul-searching puppy eyes and Tony could only smile.

“I'll be alright. I got Pep, Rhodey, Happy and you, that's all I need.”

“Aw, Mr Staaaark!”, Peter cooed with a wide beaming grin.

“Nevermind, I'll take it back”, Tony deadpanned, raising an eyebrow at the kid.

“Too late”, Peter grinned right back. “FRI, you got that all on camera, right?”

“I do, Peter. Would you like me to send you a copy?”

“Oh, for fuck's sake! FRIDAY, you're MY AI, not Peter's.”

“But she likes me more than you”, Peter grinned back, and that cheeky smile just was infuriatingly adorable.

“As artificial intelligence I do not have the capacity for preferences”, she answered. “If I did, I would prefer Agent Carter or Ms Potts.”

“Ouch!”, Peter snorted out, “but I get it, I totally get it.”

“I guess, I did create you in my image”, Tony chuckled, “even more than I previously realized.”

.

“Do you need me to drive you home?”

“Thanks for the offer”, Peter smiled as he tightened the suit to match his body. “But it's not that late and since Spider-Man has been on leave-of-absence for the last few days, I might just do a bit of patrolling. Besides, I promised to call MJ as soon as I got the chance and I doubt you or Happy want to listen in on me and my girlfriend who I love and who loves me back.” If such a thing were possible, Peter's entire face turned into one giant heart eye at the mention of Michelle's name, before he pulled the mask over his head, thusly denying Tony the chance to tousle his hair.

“Good point”, he agreed, “that is definitely not something I need to be a part of. And yeah, I'm pretty sure New York misses Spidey.” He patted the kid's shoulder. “Call me if you need a hand and feel free to send me an update when you swing home.”

“Sure thing.” The boy wrapped himself around Tony in a tight hug. “Love you”, he whispered.

“Love you too, kiddo”, Tony smiled as Peter broke away and made for the window. “You do know we have doors, right?”

“Where's the fun in that?”, he shot back and out the window he climbed.

“Can't argue with that”, Tony chuckled. “Well then, Spider-Man go, save the world and make Aunt Peggy proud!”

[avengerscompound]

Fame and Glory - The Man You’ve Become

Fame and Glory: A Captain America Fanfic

Masterlist Previous //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Steve Rogers x OFC (Glory) with some Steve Rogers x Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers x Peggy Carter and Steve Rogers x OMC

Word Count:  2280

Warnings:  Angst, smut (M|F, M|M, Bisexual MMF, oral sex, vaginal fingering, vaginal sex, loss of virginity (Steve’s), anal sex)

Synopsis:  After taking the Super Serum that changed him from small sickly Steve Rogers to the man we now know as Captain America, Steve is sent on a USO tour to increase sales of war bonds and entertain the troops. Being on stage and the chorus girls both terrify him.

With the help of dancer Glory, Steve begins to warm up to the idea of fame until he starts doing things he never thought he would and begins to question himself.  Does he like the man he has become and who does he want to be?

Chapter 3: The Man You’ve Become

With the new aspect of their relationship added, Steve became just that little bit more pleased with the trappings and attention that came with fame.  It was like that little guy he used to be who was angry at everyone and everything and so lonely was someone he dreamt up one day.   Captain America was who he was supposed to be.  Captain America was handsome and famous and women threw themselves at him.  Men wanted to be him.  He was someone to aspire to be and who was desirable.

He was now so comfortable around the chorus girls they felt like his family.  A strange and dysfunctional family who you saw naked a lot and who were constantly touching each other’s asses but still a family nonetheless.  He knew about all the people they had waiting for them at home.  What they wanted for their futures.  What they looked for in men.  For a couple what they looked for in women.

The touching was constant.  Not just them with him.  The dressing room was a tactile organism that seemed to demand constant physical affection from those that occupied it.  The girls always had their hands on each other and him.  Brushing them over each other’s backs as they passed each other.  Resting them on the hip of the person they stood beside.  Fixing each other’s hair.  Spanking each other playfully when the desire took.  There was a lot of kissing too.  Never sexual.  Just brief peck on cheeks or lips to say hello or thank you just because it felt right in that moment.

Steve had never been a part of something like that before.  It felt good.   He had always harbored this small piece of jealousy for how easy Bucky found it to be around women.  Now he knew he’d surpassed anything Bucky had ever had.  He was comfortable and felt at home in this dressing room with women who were often in different states of undress.  Who he could watch touch each other.   Who he could touch and who touched him.  Some of them wanted him too.  He knew that.  He knew that if he asked he could have a few at once.  Even Bucky would blush and feel uncomfortable if faced with the situation Steve lived daily.  It made him feel accomplished somehow.

It became common knowledge that Steve was now Glory’s.  They never publicly said anything and the other girls still flirted with him.  Neither he nor Glory ever stopped them.  It was just something everyone knew.  People would refer to him as ‘your fella’ when talking to Glory.  Interestingly Glory was never referred to as ‘his gal’ though.  Glory didn’t belong to anyone except Glory.  Steve quite liked that about her.  She’d often perch herself in his lap when they were taking a break.  He liked that about her too.  Public Displays of Affection had previously always made him uncomfortable.  Now, he’d wondered if that was just because he hadn’t been the one making them.

They continued having sex too.  It was regular and it was good.  They both liked to be the cause of each other’s pleasure and enjoyed exploring new ways to bring it about.

Since he had Glory he wasn’t really tempted to sleep with any of the other women who expressed an interest in him.  It was flattering.  Sometimes he considered the idea of bringing a third in.  He wondered in Captain America was that man too.  The kind of man who explored every aspect of pleasure that was available to him.  He decided he wasn’t quite that.  Captain America was desirable, but he did have some honor that meant he was loyal to the woman he was with, even if he didn’t plan to be with that woman forever.

Men though… well, men tempted him.  He kept thinking about Bucky.  About how he’d always had that desire for him that was an undercurrent for their relationship.  He’d always buried it believing it was wrong.  It was wrong to feel that way about another man.  Besides, it had always been more than obvious that Bucky liked women.  So it would have been ridiculous to out himself when it would immediately end in rejection.  Now with men approaching him.  Offering to do things to him.  To let him do things to them.  It was exciting and taboo.  Each time it happened he was tempted by it.  Just to get a taste and see if it was something he’d like.  He wished he had someone like Glory he could explore it with.  

No - that’s not exactly true.  He wished he could explore it with Bucky.  He wished he had been half as confident in himself growing up as he was now that he might have actually just once brought it up.  He wasn’t Captain America then.  He was angry little Steve who was going to die alone.

They were coming to the end of the US leg of their tour.  There were now Captain America comics.  People paid extra to meet him.  He was asked to promote other things, though his contract didn’t allow it.

They all went to a local bar to celebrate the end of the tour in the US.  Most of the girls were leaving.  Only three were continuing on to tour the military bases in Europe.  Betty, Karen and to Steve’s relief Glory.

The girls were all really letting their hair down.  Drinking, singing, flirting with the locals.  Steve danced with them for a while.  His partner’s changed like sand running through his fingers.  Each woman switching fluidly so that the dance never ended but it was always new.  Each woman would kiss and press themselves against him.  Whispering how they’d miss him and how much they’d enjoyed themselves.  How they wanted to stay in touch.  He returned the sentiment wanting it to be true but also knowing it wasn’t.  They wouldn’t stay in touch.  He probably would never speak to any of them again after tonight.

Eventually, he went and sat in a booth in the corner, just nursing a drink and watching them.  A man slid into the booth next to him and offered him his hand.  He was tall and slender, with dark hair and light eyes.  He reminded Steve of Bucky in a way.  He had the same strong jaw though he was much more clean shaven than Bucky ever was and thinner.

“You’re that Captain America, aren’t you?”  He said.

Steve shook his hand and smiled.  “That’s right.”

“My name’s Jim.  I went to the show three times.  I am such a big fan.”  The guy said, talking at a rate of knots.  Steve only really half listened as he smiled warmly at the guy.  He was used to the gushing of fans, but he was really much more caught up with how much Jim looked like James.  “I tried to enlist.  A couple of times.  They marked me 4F.  Asthma ya know?”

Steve nodded his head.  The guy kept talking, babbling about how he owned the comics.   How much he admired Captain America.  How interesting he found the science behind his change.  Steve nodded and engaged just enough that the guy felt comfortable opening up more.  As he did he edged closer and closer.

Steve slid out of the booth and offered his hand to Jim.   “It’s been nice meeting you, Jim.  I really need to …”  He gestured at the restroom and let the man’s hand go.

“Okay, yeah,”  Jim said, his eyes wide.

Steve strolled to in the direction of the bathroom, being stopped occasionally by one of the girls.  They were all quite drunk now.  He wondered if it might be time to escort them home.

He was just finishing up in the bathroom and drying his hands when Jim came in.  He walked straight over to Steve and kissed him.  Pushing him back in the direction of one of the stalls.  Steve was at first too startled to resist.  By the time he realized what was happening, he decided he didn’t want to.

Jim slammed the stall door closed behind him, turning the lock.  He broke the ferocious, needy kiss with Steve and crouched in front of him.  Frantically scrambling to unfasten Steve’s fly.

“I can’t believe this is happening,”  Jim whispered.  “You’re Captain America.”  He pulled Steve’s cock out from his pants, and his eyes went wide.  “Damn.”  He breathed and took Steve into his mouth.

Steve moaned softly.  He unfocused his eyes a little as he looked down at the complete stranger who was now sucking his cock. Now he could see it.  It wasn’t just anyone.  It was Bucky.  He and Bucky were doing this.

He pushed his hands into Jim’s hair and tightened them into fists.  Jim worked like a man on a mission.  Unlike when Glory did this, Jim was working on a time limit.  His aim was to get Steve to come quickly.  He moved quickly up and down his cock, sucking and rolling his tongue.  He took him deep into the back of this throat, right to the point he gagged and then pull back suddenly, licking up his length, only to take return him to his mouth again.

Steve started to pant.  He really wasn’t going to last long at this rate.  His hips moved, and as he felt that tightening sensation in his abdominals, he moaned softly.  “Oh god, James.”

Jim slid his hands back between Steve’s legs.  Stroking over Steve’s perineum.  It sent a jolt through Steve and as Jim’s index finger touched on Steve’s asshole and pushed in, just enough to stretch it, Steve jerked suddenly and came.

With his orgasm, came guilt and shame.  He lurched out of the stall, tucking himself back away and leaving Jim dazed and blinking at him.

As he weaved through the crowd and out the door.  Glory spotted him and took after him, catching him as he quickly moved down the street in the direction of their hotel.

“Steve, honey.  Wait up!”  Glory called, jogging to catch up.

Steve didn’t look at her, he just kept moving.  “Not now, Glory.”  He snapped.

Glory caught him and hooked her elbow in with his. He made no move to shake her off despite how ashamed he felt and undeserving of affection or understanding.

“Honey, what happened?”  She asked.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”  He huffed.

“Alright, baby. We don’t have to talk about it.  We can just walk.”  Glory said.  She continued her hurried pace, just to keep up with Steve’s long legs as he strode down the street.

They walked in silence and when they reached the hotel, the rode the elevator up standing side by side and looking straight ahead.  At their floor, Steve turned to look at her.

“You should probably sleep in with some of the other girls.”  He said.

Glory felt a stabbing pain in her chest.  Not for her.  She was under no illusion that this was going to last forever, but this sudden change in Steve meant he was hurting.  The way he’d come hurtling out of that bathroom, she maybe had an idea why.

“Steve,”  She soothed.  “Whatever happened.  It’s okay.  You’re still you.”

Steve shook his head.  “I don’t think I am anymore.  I don’t think I’ve been me for a long time.”

Glory pulled her key from her clutch and unlocked the door to their hotel room.  She led Steve inside.  “Dahlin', if you don’t like the person you’ve been lately then you can still change.  You’ve had a lot of new things happen in your life.  It’s understandable that you are pushing at the edges of what’s normal for you.”

She started to unbutton his shirt.  Steve shook his head and looked down at her sadly.  “There’s pushing at the edges and then there’s what I just did.  I don’t even recognize myself anymore.”

Glory slid his shirt down his arms and tossed it into the corner.  She started to unbutton his fly and while Steve flinched a little he didn’t stop her.

“You can tell me what happened if you want.  I won’t judge you, honey.  You know that right?  You and me are always gonna be just swell.”  She dropped to her knees and unfastened the laces of his shoes and slid them off.  She removed his socks and then stood and pushed his trousers down, followed by his boxers.  As she worked Steve unloaded everything that had just happened.  All the dirty details and how ashamed it made him feel.

When he was naked she led him to the bathroom.  She turned on the shower and Steve helped her with the zip on her dress before he stepped under the water.

“You know how I got this job, Stevie?”  She said, joining him under the spray.

“You’re really talented,”  Steve answered.

Glory ran her hands up and down his back, working the tightness out of his muscles with the aid of the hot water.  She laughed.  “Well, that’s true.  I can hoof with the best of them.  But there are lots of talented girls out there.  Girls who are more talented.  Girls who are prettier.  I got the job because I screwed Bill.  Everyone has regrets.  Now you know, what you did with that fella;  it’s not for you.  So you don’t do it again.  You don’t have to let this change you.  You are you, Steve.”

Steve felt like something broke inside him at her words.  He turned and dropped to his knees, pulling Glory against him and pressing his head against her stomach.  She put her hands on his hair and he started to sob.

// NEXT

[serpentlynn]

HOLY SHIT IS THAT [ BLAKE JENNER ]?! Oh, wait it’s just [ RYDER LYNN ]. Damn, [ HE/HIM ] looks good for [ 24 ], good thing that they’re [ BISEXUAL ], I might have a chance. I hear that they call them the [ GOOFBALL ] of the [ SOUTHSIDE ]. I guess that’s because they’re [ ROMANTIC ] and [ GENUINE ]. But I don’t think a lot of people know that they’re also [ GULLIBLE ] and [ OVERDRAMATIC ]. Can’t wait to see what kind of trouble [ LOGAN/25/CST/TRANSPHOBIA ] will bring.

01.  BASICS

Full Name: Ryder Alexander Lynn

Nickname: Ry

Sex/Gender: Cis Male

Birthday: March 16, 1995

Age: 24

Astrological Sign: Pisces 

Occupation: Works at the Twilight Drive In

Spoken Languages: English

Sexual Orientation: Bisexual

Birthplace: Southside of Riverdale

Relationship status: Single

02. PHYSICAL TRAITS

Hair Color/Style: Dark Brown

Eye Color: Dark Brown

Face Claim: Blake Jenner

Height: 6′1

Weight: 168 lbs

Tattoos: Serpent tattoo on his upper arm

Piercings: None

Unique Attributes: Birthmark on his shoulder

Defining Gestures/Movements: He’s constantly moving in one way or another

Posture: Okay, certainly not winning any awards but it’s good

03. PERSONALITY TRAITS

Pet Peeves: People talking during movies, liars/unreliable people, negative people

Hobbies/Interests: Drums 

Special Skills/Abilities:

Likes: Comics, superheroes, pineapples on pizza, Scooby Doo

Dislikes: Wearing socks, hockey

Insecurities: Though it’s better than it used to be, he still gets insecure about his dyslexia sometimes

Quirks/Eccentricities: Over the top

Strengths: Optimistic, kind hearted

Weaknesses: Dyslexic, disorganized 

Speaking Style: Casual

Temperament: Over excited

04. FAMILY & HOME

Immediate Family: Frank Lynn (Father), Peggy Lynn (Mother)

How do they feel about their family? He loves them very much

How does their family feel about them? They will do what they can to make sure their son has a good life

Pets: None

Where do they live? A trailer in Sunnyside

Description of their home: It’s not huge but it’s good enough for his family

Description of their bedroom: Disorganized

05. THIS OR THAT

Introvert or Extrovert?

Optimist or Pessimist?

Leader or Follower?

Confident or Self-Conscious?

Cautious or Careless?

Religious or Secular?

Passionate or Apathetic?

Book Smarts or Street Smarts?

Compliments or Insults?

Pajamas or Lingerie?

06. FAVORITES

Favorite Color: Orange

Favorite Clothing Style/Outfit: Ryder has a very casual style, jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, whatever’s comfortable

Favorite Bands/Songs/Type of Music: He likes classic rock the most but he’s pretty open to anything

Favorite Movies: Due to his parents owning the Twilight Drive In, he loves movies. Superhero/Action movies, animated movies, thriller movies, he loves getting sucked into the story

Favorite Books: He doesn’t really do a lot of reading but he likes comics

Favorite Foods/Drinks: Soda, 100%. He likes Dr. Pepper the most but he’s pretty much addicted to soda

Favorite Sports/Sports Teams: Football, but he likes basketball enough

Favorite Time of Day: Afternoon

Favorite Weather/Season: Fall

Favorite Animal: Lion

07. MISCELLANEOUS

Fears/Superstitions: He believes in all kinds of paranormal stuff, ghosts, aliens, Bigfoot, if someone says it doesn’t exist, chances are Ryder thinks it does

Political Views: Liberal

Addictions: None

Best School Subject: He wasn’t really good at most of them, so he’d probably say gym

Worst School Subject: English was by far his worst one

School Clubs/Sports: He was in the Glee club

How does he get money? Working at the Twilight Drive In

How is he with technology? Pretty decent

08. PAST & FUTURE

Fondest Memory: When he got his first A on a test

Deepest, Darkest Secret: When he was eleven he was molested by his babysitter and has a harder time opening up and trusting girls as a result.

Dream Vacation: He really wants to go to Los Angeles

Best thing that has ever happened to this character: Finding out that he has dyslexia, while he isn’t huge on it, it at least helped explain why he was always having trouble in school

Worst thing that has ever happened to this character: Besides his babysitter, probably when he couldn’t make it into college. Even though he knew chances were low, he still wanted to go

What do they want to be when they grow up? He really doesn’t know. He likes a lot of different things but has a hard time sticking to one to pursue

Perfect Date: Going on a walk around town and eating dinner, he really doesn’t need too much.

09. HEADCANONS

Ryder always had trouble in school, he’d study for hours on end and still end up with B’s as his absolute highest, it was only after confiding in a friend in third grade that he had trouble reading and that friend told a teacher did he see a specialist and find out he has dyslexia. Which was a fact he didn’t disclose to many for a while until he got more comfortable with it. Though it still is a challenge for him sometimes and he doesn’t like to talk about it often.

Another challenge for Ryder is trusting people. Girls specifically. When he was eleven years old, his parents were out of town and he had a babysitter who walked in on him in the shower. After she went home and his parents came back, he never told anyone about it, but he does think it did something to him and caused his trust issues.

He got his Serpent tattoo and was officially a Serpent when he was 16, and he’s enjoyed it for the most part. They aren’t as crazy as the Ghoulies or anything and he’s very loyal to them. If anyone was to learn something about him, it’s likely to be one of his fellow snakes before anyone else.

Ryder went to high school on the Northside, it had better programs for dyslexic kids than on the Southside and his parents wanted him to get through school the best he can, and it went really well. He joined Glee, made some friends, almost thought he was going to get into college, but the last part didn’t happen. His grades were better since he was getting help with his dyslexia, but not good enough to get into any colleges.

[jinnaidaisuke]

It’s been a week now since I saw Endgame but Steve’s and Tony’s ending still wrecks me 

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

*

*

*

I’ve read an interview with the writers and I GET what they were trying to do. Tony goes from selfish to selfless while Seve goes from selfless to (allowing himself to be) selfish. I have come to realize that my disappointment and other strong emotions about the ending for both characters stems from the difference of pov about what their whole story was about

First Tony.

Tony despite everything wasn’t selfish before he became Iron Man. If he were Rhodey, Happy and Pepper wouldn’t have been his friends, his family that stuck with him before and after IM.

What he was, was naive and priveledged. He was a product of his enviroment and upbringing. He was sheltered. All those things don’t make him a bad person, they just make him a person. 

Tony’s story was always about responsibility and accountability.

He had to have that bomb blow up in his face because he had to acknowledge that he had been blind by choice and by matter of upbringing. That he bore responsibility not only by his actions alone but also by proxy by what he produced into the world because he had more power than the average joe. You know, with great power comes great responsibilty and all that. 

Tony had been naive and trusting and didn’t bother to take a second look himself even though there was probably reasonably evidence and doubt for years before the events of IM1.

But once the veil had been lifted there was no going back for Tony. No rest. His whole arc after that was about righting the wrongs, driven by guilt he took on more responsibilty than he needed to. He went overboard in a typical Tony Stark fashion and yeah he also caused other wrongs on his way because that’s his curse. His obsession.

I knew that his end would be death. I mean a lot of my opinion on Tony comes from comic books as well as the movies. And the one constant in both those universes is that Tony Stark will have to burn out before he stops. I had hoped with his family and everything that he finally realizes that there never will be a enough and that’s okay, that he gets to rest without having that synonymously mean death. Pepper knew, and she tried to stop him so many times, and so many times it seemed that he would listen but he wouldn’t be Tony Stark, a hero if he did. 

Next is Steve. 

Fucking Steve, man. Like while I can somehow make my peace with Tony’s dead Steve’s ending just totally misses the point of his arc for me.

Steve’s story has always been about loss. 

The unimaginable loss of family, friends, lovers, home. Of everything that we tell ourselves that we can’t live without.

His story isn’t only about loss but the life after it. Seve loses absolutely everything,. And it sucks and it makes sense that he wants nothing more than to go back, he has so many regrets. But life doesn’t work that way. There are some things that are forever lost.

Steve’s story is about overcoming the crippling depression that comes with it, about accepting the unacceptable, about being brave enough to try again, to let people get close again and in turn to reach back. It’s about soldiering on. 

About creating something new, about not only surviving but living again. Finding joy in something new. It doesn’t mean that he had to forget his past, it’s honouring what was and embracing the new. 

So the fact that all this, his new family and friends, the new chance he has with someone of his old family, his new life….. everything what TWS had been  about… for Steve to throw that all out the window in order to chase a dream, a fantasy feels wrong. We have been shown again and again how it’s just that. A dream, a dangerous dream to be wrapped into. That it’s an obsession that he has to overcome, that he was overcoming.

Steve Rogers doesn’t stop, he always goes forward. That’s like his thing.  And his own curse, complementary to Tony’s. His going back goes against everything that IS Steve Rogers.

What makes him a hero.

It isn’t that I don’t want Steve to be happy, the guy deserves to get back what he lost. But it never has been about deserving. People don’t get what they deserve and Steve knows this.

So to say I am disappointed is an understatement.

(I don’t even want to go into the problems I see with the plot and his descision to either create an alternative timeline that we have been explicitly warned against… which also doesn’t make sense that Old Steve would/could appear in the prime timeline to hand over his shield… Or him always having been Peggy’s husband, not fucking up the timeline but also just STANDING BY everything that he knows will happen in order to again not fuck it up. And that would even make less sense because Steve Rogers hasn’t stayed put once in his life and thats the tea) 

[distinctivelibrarians]

First: I love that you're writing fic again, I really missed your work! Second: no idea if you're up for this/want to think about this, but in one of the Leverage episodes we see Eliot reading a book (idk which episode, just, it seemed both such an Eliot thing and NOT an Eliot thing that it just stuck with me) and I was wondering about your headcanons for the Leverage (and/or Librarians) team's favorite books/authors?

Thank you so much! You cannot believe how hard it made me smile when I saw this - it made my day so much better, especially since writing’s been so much of a struggle lately! I can’t promise I’m going to be steady (’cause let’s not lie to ourselves like that) but with prompt month coming up, I’m hoping to get some more out soon that I hope you’ll like!

As for books! Big, big, big disclaimer: I suck with authors! And books! I’ve read a lot. But for the life of me, I can tell you only about...a third of them from memory. And authors are a crapshoot whether or not I remember them, outside of my favorites. That being said! This is going to go more “personality towards reading”, hope that’s okay ^^’

While it doesn’t super matter, we see Eliot reading both the Art of War (I believe. I’d have to double check, but I’m pretty sure that’s what he was reading in the Lonely Hearts Job?) and a home magazine in the Fairy Godparents Job. So for Eliot, he’s...he’s a sponge. He likes everything, will read everything - if there’s some sort of ambient knowledge he can get from something, he’s gonna do it. And I kind of want to attribute it to both his personality and his experience. Like, we know he likes to talk to people (even if the show really only focuses on the women), we know he likes to connect with people - he listens, learns what they like, what they do, etc. So it makes sense that he’d kind of just absorb everything he could - could be a common quirk later on that he could talk about, could give him an in to start chatting up someone interesting, and all that. As for experience - “You never know when you’re going to need to fight an alien”. Dude likes to be prepared even for the impossible. Him picking up as much unconnected information as he can would have to bleed over into somewhat less immediately useful quirks. Like reading whatever magazine happens to be on the table at the moment.

Nate - okay so. I love Nate, I do. But he was that kid in your college philosophy class that read all the classics (the Old White Men ones) and one (1) book on intro to ethics, and would Not. Shut. Up. Then someone punched him in the face (I’m betting Maggie), and he figured out that that’s not how you make people tolerate you, let alone like you. I don’t think he ever really moved out of the classics, but I do think he started picking up modern interpretations of them, as well as art history books that he never quite got into but powered through anyway. You know his favorites though? Children’s books. Simple, sweet, always have a happy ending, and you know he was the one reading them to Sam every night before he got sick. And he’d complain and moan about it to Maggie, but Maggie would call it on him everytime, and of course Sam loved it, to the point where if Nate was at work still, Maggie and Sam would call him up, and Nate would recite one of the simpler ones from memory. He still has Dr. Seuss stuck in his head some nights.

Parker....Parker’s a little harder because I don’t think she’d like reading. But she’d also kind of be like Eliot in the ‘you never know, so might as well store the info away’. So while I don’t think she’d go out and pick up a book - unless the title was funky, or the cover was particularly eye-catching - I do think if you handed one to her, she’d read it, and read it probably scary fast, and retain all that info. No matter what it was on. Of course, that’s before Peggy! After Peggy, after having a ‘normal’ friend (anyone who goes after someone with a cast iron pan’s not normal, but hey, relative), who introduces her to things like book clubs, I think Parker would get a kick out of, not the books, but the people. And interacting with those people through the books. She’s already read the book two weeks in advance, and she wants to see how much chaos she can cause, while also enjoying figuring out how what she’s feeling compares with how others feel about it. For Parker I really don’t think she’d ever really be ‘in’ to books, but I can see her becoming attached to the community that can come with them.

Sophie. No one knows if Sophie’s read a book in her life. Sure, she can quote the classics. She can make you pretty damn sure she inspired one or two of them. And if she’s high class British, she has to have some repertoire in there, right? Who knows. She knows, but you never will. (Spoiler: she does read, and she reads a lot. What does she read? Surprisingly - not harlequin romances (at least, not all the time). Instead - really, really overdone crime thrillers and the like. It’s fun, you know, to dive into a world where everything’s dramatic, everything’s done for a purpose, and to know that both, she could do it better, and that sometimes, things really are as straightforward and simple as those books make them out to be.) She also has some very closely guarded copies of annotated Shakespeare. Annotated by her of course. Hardison has seen them once and he’s not to speak of them ever.

And on to Hardison. Dude’s smart. Dude’s scary smart. If Eliot’s a sponge, Hardison is...yeah, there’s no actual way to end that metaphor, but whatever, whatever level Eliot’s on, Hardison’s way past that, at an oblique angle to Parker. But, and he’s admitted this, his attention span swings between “needs five things at once” to “what is time and where did it go, look at this new skill I picked up in 72 straight hours”. That is...not conducive to reading books. Trust me on this. At the same time though!! We know he’s read Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings in canon. So what that tells me? He read avidly as a kid, as a teenager, and then...probably lost both the attention span to do it, outside of Extreme Focus, as well as the need. This is the kid that at school was reading 800 page novels every other day. This was the kid who’s backpack was too damn heavy, not because of textbooks, but because of the books he packed on top of them. You know the school librarian knew him by name. And you know Nana made damn sure he had access to the city library the second she figured it out. Probably got him nice sets of his favorite books that he still has, even if they’re not tattered and beaten, because he’s reread them so many times. This is the kid that read everything that had to do with sci-fi, magic, monsters, grand heroes and terrifying villains. This is the kid that bounced between comic books by the dozen, and books for college students and up like it was nothing. As for the need - why read it when you can live it?

[commenter2]

Avengers: Endgame alternate plot

MAJOR SPOILERS for Avengers: Endgame.

So I finally saw Avengers: Endgame a while ago and it was awesome, a great movie to wrap up 10 years worth of movies. But it could have been a bit better in my opinion.

Besides some minor things like a not so great Professor Hulk and the 5 years later timeskip the whole time heist thing didn’t feel like the right way to end phase 3 of the MCU in my opinion, one reason was cause it was the MCU’s first attempt at time travel in the series and though it slightly works it still seemed dumb to use something never used or focused on in the series as the main focus during the epic finale against Thanos.

Another was the rules of time travel, not only were there shortly reviewed but also a bit confusing, I mean its hard to think that some actions done by the heroes in the past won’t change the present in some way, yet it does and though admittedly they do try and prevent things changing too much you can’t excuse some big examples especially near the end of the film like past Thanos and his army dying in the present (and I think past Gamora gets stuck in the future). Hopefully they will try and explain/fix this in phase 4 but only time will tell, in fact it looks like the upcoming Spider-Man movie might be the first to start explaining this.

Because of this, and for fun, I made an alternate plot for the movie that I think would have been just as good as Endgame.

The movie opens with Thanos enjoying his simple farmer life but before he can eat his breakfast he falls over in pain as the infinity gauntlet glows and when he comes to he looks at it and is shocked and angry, though we don’t see what happened.

After the opening credits, the movie cuts to Ant Man still calling for help in the quantum zone, where as predicted in Ant Man and Wasp he gets pulled into a time vortex that has the same color and symbols as the time stone where he and the audience see scenes from Infinity Wars till he finally stops and then gets sucked into a more detailed sling ring (with odd symbols and runes). He ends up in Wakanda where Thor and Thanos are fighting, and after watching Thanos do the snap and open a portal, Ant Man snaps out of it and takes action, punching Thanos before he can enter the portal unlike in Infinity War.

After a brief introduction, Thor and Ant-Man work together to fight Thanos who is desperate to get off Earth, and during the fight Ant-Man takes off 3 stones from the infinity gauntlet, maybe the, space, time, and reality stones. Thanos still escapes to places unknown thanks to one of his men’s ship where we then get a small aftermath of the heroes regrouping, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, and Nebula returning to Earth and the others including Ant Man realizing people are fading out of existence.

The movie then cuts to a few weeks or months later (as the 5 years later thing was a bit annoying to me, maybe if it was 1 year I would have been ok with it) where after helping the world after the snap maybe using the infinity stones on some occasions, and after a smaller version of the recap featuring things like Iron Man exploring/explaining how Ant Man got to Wakanda through a means of time travel, Captain Marvel protect Earth from invaders, Thor becoming a bit depress on his failures, and Clint going a bit crazy after the loss of his family but doesn’t become a crazed killer, the Avengers reunite to talk about what to do next.

During the meeting not only do they agree that Ant-Man getting the 3 stones was part of Dr. Strange’s plan but that they need to use them to chase down Thanos in order to acquire the gauntlet and his stones to reverse the damage to the universe. This results in the gang including Hawkeye going on a space adventure to do so. Maybe Captain Marvel decides not to go in order to keep the peace on other planets, cause its hard to write her into the movie more.

After possibly a small confrontation with space pirates or something resulting in the heroes working together with old and new friends in space, they find Thanos who just had that episode I mentioned at the beginning of this post and a big fight occurs where we see sever heroes use there infinity stone to counter Thanos’s own infinity stones.

Something like this would have been awesome to see in Endgame as not only did nothing like this ever happen in any of the other movies but it be a cool reference to an comic event I discovered with a similar plot that came out a few years ago.

However during the fight someone, maybe Thor as a way to make amends for his failures, tries to use several stones at once without the proper gear to harness there powers to stop Thanos but fails, resulting in not only Thanos escaping again with his 3 stones but also sends several Avengers through space, time, and reality where we get several interesting plot lines/moments similar to that of the movie.

· Iron Man has some time with his father before his death by Bucky.

· Capt. America gets closure with Peggy and gives her that promised dance.

· Thor goes back to the place and time in Ragnarok where he lost his hammer and past Dr. Strange uses the time stone to not only fix it (bringing it back to the present with him) but Thor also get some advice on how to deal with his failure of stopping Thanos from his father (who maybe returns in ghost form like in Ragnarok). Maybe Strange also gets a heads up of what to do when Thanos arrives resulting in his Ant-Man plan. This also would be a cool callback to that scene for HISHE: Thor Ragnarok.

· Bruce ends up on a deadly planet where before it seems like he is about to die from the wildlife, he makes peace with the Hulk resulting in them becoming one being, where its hulks body at full strength (cause the one in endgame seemed weaker to me) with Banner’s brain though maybe regular hulk takes over from time or reverts back to Banner human body from to time as again the one in the movie didn’t show any of the Hulk we grew to know for 10 years.

· Hawkeye and Black Widow maybe end up in alternated reality also filled with deadly wildlife and similar to Endgame, Widow sacrifices herself so Hawkeye can see his family, but maybe does so while in a big battle against that reality’s life forms.

Either way they all come back to where the other Avengers are and after some time mourning Widow’s death, continue there search.

They eventually find Thanos again, who has built a makeshift fortress (maybe on Titan ?) using his gauntlet and remaining forces that weren’t on earth, maybe he used the soul stone to bring back his dead generals or putting there souls in similar bodies (thereby giving them more screen time but also showing more of the Soul stones power which wasn’t used much in Infinity War and Endgame) and we get the same battle from Endgame with some changes like at some point Hulk get the gauntlet from Thanos in a fight and after combining the last 3 stones, uses the complete gauntlet to finally bring back everyone that was lost in the snap, including Gamora (who maybe has amnesia ?) and like the movie, the lost heroes charge into battle to aid the other heroes fight against Thanos and his forces.

Then like in Endgame the heroes need to get rid of the gauntlet and in order to do that, they come up with the plan on Ant Man going through the quantum realm to hid the stones in the future however the gauntlet is nowhere near the van, and agreeing with Nando v Movies (a youtuber I recommend seeing if you like Marvel or DC movies) Nebula this time runs it to him while getting support from the other female heroes from the MCU. Of course Thanos getting the gauntlet back but like the film, a mortally wounded Iron Man sneakily gets the stones and uses them to snap Thanos and his forces away, maybe fix some things caused by the stones during there adventure like returning moons back to there proper orbit or turning people back to there normal ages. Everyone cheers but this is short as Iron Man dies from his wounds and using the gauntlet.

We then get a similar ending where everyone appears at Tony’s funeral maybe we see a pregnant Pepper there to, and get iconic scenes like Thor not only give Valkyrie Stormbreaker, making her king/queen in the process but also joins the Guardians in order to help them find not only new hiding places for some of the infinity stones but also find Gamora who fled the battle after the fight and Steve gives Sam his shield saying he’s going into retirement, though hinting that he will return to duty if needed.

Would you have liked Avengers Endgame more if the plot was like this ? What other changers would you have made to the movie’s plot ?