#how howard and maria met

[persephonesfill]

steve meeting a young tony rotten with grief after december 16, 1991 and thinking "oh. he's like me."

[momentofch-aos]

M's Marvel Thought of the Day

Daniel Sousa, now settled in the 21st century, looks up what happened to his friends from his own timeline.

Daisy had already gently broken the news about Peggy's death to him. They visited her grave site and talked about the adventures and missions the two had been on.

He read the case file on Howard and Maria Stark's death, the Winter Solider case and knowledge of who he was sending him for a loop. He'd met Sergeant Barnes once, that day when he thought he would die on the battle field. He had never been Howard's biggest fan but no one deserved that.

He read the obituaries of Ana and Edwin Jarvis, found they were buried in New York, side by side as they'd been in life. He left pink flowers - Ana's favourite colours of peonies - on their grave, and thanked them for their friendship and support.

There had been two people he'd been somewhat surprised to find out were still alive and unbelievably in the same old people's home in DC. He'd been unsure whether visiting would be a good idea but after some gentle investigating from Daisy and Mack, he found himself entering a rec room. There was various elderly people around, reading newspapers or napping in high backed armchairs. But no-one looked familiar. Daisy squeezed his hand before getting the attention of one of the nurses, who led them around the corner of the room.

As they make their approach when Daniel hears a far too familiar voice, making him stop in his tracks.

"Ha! Got you again Thompson, pay up!" Rose Roberts, with now grey hair but with the same thick glasses, smirked triumphantly across the top of the checkers board.

The older man across the table groaned. "We go through this every damn day Rose. Can we go back to Chess?" Daniel took in the older man he'd known a life time ago, hair still slicked back in the way it had always been. A cane leant against the wall behind him and he coughed after laughing at Rose's comeback.

"Chief Thompson? Agent Roberts?" The nurse asked drawing their attention. "You have some visitors."

Both former agents looked across to see Daniel standing with an indecipherable look on his face.

"Fucking hell..."

"What the hell..." Their voices overlapped suddenly.

"Hey Rose, hey Jack." Daniel said stepping forward. Rose struggled to her feet, using the table to leverage herself up.

"Chief? Is that really you?" Rose looked up at him, his arms coming up to help balance her.

"It's me. It's good to see you Rose." And he found himself engulfed in her arms, wrapping his back around her and holding her tight. "God it's good to see you Rose."

"How the hell are you here?" She said as she looked back up to him. "And who's the beautiful woman you brought with you?" She fixed him with that same mischievous look she used to shoot at him all the time after glancing to Daisy who stood off to the side. Always so invested in his love life, so he chuckled.

"I can explain everything I promise. Why don't we sit?" He helped her back to her chair, glancing across to Jack who had his hand's in fists on the other side of the table. "Hi Thompson."

"Who are you?" He demanded. "You're sure as hell not Daniel Sousa. He died in...55." He paused remembering the exact year. "We buried him. We... mourned him. You sure as hell aren't him."

"I can explain that I am Jack."

"I am 102, not stupid." Rose scoffed, making both men turn to her.

"Jack do be serious. What about Rogers? He came back to Peg did he not?"

"How can we be sure? It may be some traitor. Davey was telling me just the other day about those shape shifting aliens Fury was palling around with..." Jack started saying.

"How about this Jack? I'll prove it to you." The older man looked puzzled but let him continue. "Before you went to Russia with Carter, met the Howling Commandoes when we were investigating Stark. You tricked me in the locker room, into seeing Carter changing. You asked me to get your compass from..."

"Locker 42." Jack finished his sentence and looked Daniel up and down, his gaze resting on the prosthetic leg.

"I've still only got one leg but the future makes a better prosthetic than Stark by a mile." Daniel joked, and Jack stood at that, pulling Daniel into a hug that he was not expecting. "It's good to see you too Jack."

They sat back down, chairs pulled up for Daniel and Daisy, as they told the story of faking his death, and pulling him out of time. Of their adventures into space and the weird and wacky things he'd discovered in the 21st Century.

They told him stories from their own lives after his death, cases he'd missed out on, Howard's ridiculousness. Peggy's rise to power. The three old friends spoke fondly of her, recalling stories from throughout the time they spent with her.

Rose grilled him and Daisy on their story and relationship, telling Daisy all the embarrassing things that Daniel had been happy to leave behind in the 50's. The unlikely pair giggled and formed a friendship.

Rose told her stories of her first and second marriage, her daughter, son-in-law and grandson who would visit every weekend.

Jack had been married when Daniel died, to Peggy's lovely personal secretary Ruth who knew how to put him in his place. They'd only had a daughter the year or two before Daniel supposedly died. Jack talked about how they'd gone on to have three more daughters, now had 8 grandchildren, including a grandson who had joined SHIELD recently (Daniel promised to keep an eye out for him). Then, his Ruth had passed a few years ago and Daniel expressed his condolences.

At that moment, a young boy, probably 5-years-old barrelled into the room and to Jack's side. "Pops, Pops!"

"Hey there, Danny. How's my favourite guy?" With surprising strength for a man of his years, Jack swung the young man up till he was sat on his knee.

"I'm good! Momma's coming now." He pointed to where a pretty blonde was making her way across the room, shaking her head as she stooped to kiss Jack on the cheek and ruffle her son's head.

"Sorry Grandpa, the traffic was horrendous." She greeted Rose much the same way, passing her a package. "Fudge from that place on 4th for your Rose, Danny over there insisted." She turned to the guests who sat between them. "Hello, I'm Ruthy." She shook their hands.

"Ruthy, this is Daniel and Daisy. Daniel, Daisy, my granddaughter Ruthy and her son, Danny." Jack smirked at Sousa as his great-grandson played with the watch on his wrist.

"Danny? Huh." Was the only thing Daniel came up with as he watched an old friend acting like a goofy grandparent.

"Yeah, Grandpa had a friend called Daniel who saved his life a bunch of times when he was younger. Used to tell us stories all about Sousa and Carter and their adventures. We never believed him until we found out where he worked." Ruthy filled in nonchalantly, sitting on the opposite side of the table, digging through her bag to produce a water bottle for her son unaware of the look on Daniel's face. Jack smirked massively. "Here, Grandpa. I managed to grab that album from storage that you wanted." She handed across a large leather bound photo album to the older man, who flipped through a few pages.

"Here you go Daisy, you'll like this one." Jack smirked, that old charming smile creeping onto his face as he passed the now open book across to her, Daniel peering over her shoulder and scoffing.

"Woah." Ruth finally looked up, glancing at the photo and then back up to Daniel and back again. "Well. I cannot believe it took me that long. I knew you looked familiar. I thought it was just Quake that had me thinking that."

Daisy smirked. "You don't seem surprised?"

"Oh I've worked at Stark Industries for a long time, I'm so used to superheroes and weird tech not much surprises me anymore. You see Tony Stark walking round in Iron-Man pants one too many times and you get over stuff pretty quickly." She levelled Daniel with a look. "Time travel huh?"

"Yes. But I haven't seen these in literal years." He said his hand tapped a few photos. One from the first day of opening the first SHIELD base, Thompson and Howard Stark stood either side of Peggy and Daniel. Another of Peggy, Daniel and Rose throwing confetti at Jack's wedding. One of Daniel and Thompson with Peggy on her Wedding Day. An outtake of that one where Howard was attempting to jumping into frame and Jarvis dragging him out, while the three of them laughed lay below it.

He could still picture that party, he could hear the band playing, memories of Peggy dancing with Rogers, happy and content. He remembered how happy he was for her.

Daisy squeezed his knee beneath the table and brought him back to the present. He pressed a kiss to her temple and continued the conversation. They had coffee and cake and Rose shared her fudge. Daisy made lunch trolley roll across the room, making Jack's great-grandson shriek in delighted laughs and push it back into a position where she could do it again and again.

They left hours later and Daniel felt more settled than he had done in a long time. Daisy squeezed his hand as they drove away.

They'd return to visit every time they were in town, which was more often these days now SHIELD HQ was there, sometimes together, sometimes alone. They met all of both of their families, attended Ruth's 100th birthday. Brought presents for Daniel's namesake's birthday.

When Daisy and Daniel tied the knot, two reserved seats on the front row of the groom's side were filled my two of his oldest friends some of their families just a couple rows back. They 'snuck' them into new SHIELD HQ to see all the new tech and planes, the memorial wall that included people they'd known a lifetime ago.

Daniel loved the future, loved living his life alongside Daisy and her family. But knowing his friends were there, getting to spend time with them was an unexpected but valuable thing for him. It gave him a link to the past, someone to shoot the breeze with, with some similar experiences from the past. A taste of a previous life he was grateful for as he lived his new one.

[robertdowneyjjr]

a soulmates au where your words only show up after you’ve met your soulmate. sort of like an insurance policy, you know, so you’re not left wondering whether every other person you meet is the one if your words are too generic.

in this universe, captain america has been recovered and active for several years now. he runs missions and saves the world with his ragtag team of superheroes formed by SHIELD. steve's become a celebrity, which he doesn't love, but it's something he learns to live with because that's life for public figures in the 21st century.

tony never became iron man because he walked away from his father's legacy the second he turned 18. he and howard are still working on their relationship, but maria couldn't be prouder and tells tony so everyday. he built his own company from the ground up and it's thriving under his leadership. he's only marginally famous these days and he tries his best to stay out of the limelight, guarding his private life as much as possible. that's how it's been for twenty years and he's happy.

they meet on a day when steve is tired, irritable and angry. he's just returned from a mission where two of his teammates were injured because of the faulty information they received. he goes out on a walk to let off some steam and he's just slipping his phone back into his pocket after rejecting fury's fifth call for a debrief when he slams right into tony.

tony was having a good day. he'd just sent out a new set of designs and decided to reward himself for it. he goes and gets himself a fresh, delicious, life-affirming cup of coffee and is just stepping out of the cafe with aforementioned cup when a walking brick wall comes out of nowhere.

good news is, tony had ordered a cold brew. once every few weeks that's just what he's in the mood for and it had been one of those days. bad news is, instead of drinking it he is now wearing it.

sticky and cold and more than a little shocked, tony barely has time to recover and figure out what happened when steve starts tearing into him.

“god damn it, watch where the fuck you’re going! that could have spilled all over me! idiot!” steve yells at tony. and on a normal day, he’d be apologetic and he’d never curse like this at a stranger. but he really didn’t need yet another thing to go wrong today and he’s on a short fuse.

maybe later, when he’s calmed down, he’ll think back on the cute man with the giant brown eyes staring at him in disbelief and start beating himself up over how he behaved.

at the moment, all tony can do is look at steve’s pristine white t-shirt that somehow has not a single drop of coffee on it, then look back down at his own chest. he has no words except, “wow. you’re a fucking asshole.” and he just turns around and walks away.

tony gets home and strips off for a rinse before he gets ready for his flight to london for a week of meetings. all the while he can’t help but think that angry blond man looked vaguely familiar and he can’t place where he knows him from. he doesn’t notice the new string of words tattooed down the side of his thigh until he’s in his hotel room half a day later.

meanwhile, steve gets home after his walk, after he’s checked on his teammates, after sitting with fury for three long hours to debrief, and finally washes the day off of him. before he gets into the shower, he notices something different about his reflection.

along his left bicep are the words, wow. you’re a fucking asshole.

he thinks back on the cute man with the big brown eyes and a chest full of coffee and wonders how in the hell he can fix this mess.

[luna-rainbow]

Tony Stark fans are just something else. They are so determined for him to have some kind of monopoly on trauma so that they can use it as an excuse for his crappy actions.

Nobody *but nobody* can have as much trauma as him. They'll even go to the point of trying to change history, as I saw recently on a major Wiki, where they kept removing edits relating to Bucky's trauma.

Out of curiosity...how do we know it was Tony fans that were doing the edits?

A lot of people identify closely with Tony's specific type of trauma. The gifted child with parental neglect who, despite all material needs being met, struggle with lifelong issues of attachment and abandonment. This is why it was a bit silly to retcon Tony's mother back into the works when the first two movies suggested Tony's mother was absent and he had a father who was more interested in his work than his son -- the present and loving mother in CACW diluted the childhood neglect which had in some ways explained Tony's major flaws. In the comics Howard was an abusive alcoholic (while Maria was around but presumably couldn't protect Tony), which provides a different type of trauma that a lot of people identify with. That said, we never saw that facet in the MCU, neither Howard's alcoholism nor Tony's own.

I can't remember whether it was said of Trump or Musk, but I recently saw a commentary say that "at his core he just wants to be liked". And just like these two billionaire narcissists, Tony desperately wants to be liked. He's smart, rich, charismatic and a philanthropist, but deeply insecure about it, so he needs people to know and acknowledge him as such. He's still stuck in the mindset of pushing the boundaries, because his wealth and status meant boundaries had almost never applied to him. He's still finding his way in the world, and his (post Iron Man) mistakes come from a place of good intentions.

These are all characteristics that a lot of people identify with easily - especially the online crowd. Who doesn't have a bit of crippling insecurity, who doesn't fancy a bit of anti-authority snark, and who doesn't make well-meaning mistakes? This is especially true of the younger crowd because...let's face it, Tony is a teenager in a 40 year old body.

The problem when people identify too closely with their blorbos is that any criticism of the character suddenly feels like an attack against their own person. How dare you call Tony a selfish dick, don't you see he was neglected by his dad and he went through a horrible hostage situation in Afghanistan and he should be allowed to feel betrayed by Steve not telling him publicly available information!!!

[hollow-dweller]

Talk Shop Tuesday: is there a character you understand better than anyone else doss but haven’t written as much/at all?

as the Universe's Only Howard Stark Enjoyer, i am obligated to answer this with him.

Howard is so interesting to me, because the way he's constructed as a character is so clearly a reflection and response to Tony that narratively, you don't really get the sense that he was the progenitor, between the two of them. in the Iron Man movies, he is constructed as a foil for Tony: severe, business-like, and formal. he is unreachable, in a sense, a reflection of the ways Tony feels isolated from him: through death, through the tarnishing of his legacy that has been orchestrated by Obadiah but in which Tony is complicit, and through Tony's reckoning with and questioning of the value of that legacy in the first place. the Howard we see in those movies is heavily filtered through the lens of Tony's perception: the man who he feels completely isolated from and overshadowed by, who he at once venerates and dislikes, and yet who reaches through time, grudges and enemies carrying forward even as he leaves Tony with the tools to save his own life.

contrast that with the Howard we meet in Captain America: a playboy and genius, a little goofy, a lot self-important, written the way he is to create a clear connection in the mind of the audience between him and pre-Iron Man Tony Stark. it's narrative shorthand, characterization designed to help us bridge the gap between the Tony that we know and the Howard that we're meeting. but outside the meta-textual explanation, we also have to reconcile the Howard as we see him in Captain America, the Howard as we see him (heavily filtered through Tony's perspective) in the Iron Man movies, and Tony himself. in-universe, how do we explain the fact that Tony clearly remembers his father as austere and cold, but has emulated his devil-may-care behaviours and attitudes? if that is not the Howard that Tony remembers, why is that the Howard he mimics?

there are a number of potential explanations: maybe Tony met and knew the playboy Howard in his youth, but is obfuscating that in his own memory, either as a way to preserve his ideal of his father (cold, yes, but also powerful), or as a way to deny their similarities, or maybe simply as a way to honour his mother and pretend that that Howard never existed while he was with Maria. or maybe Tony never did meet that version of Howard, and it's a matter of inverted reflections: Howard moves so far in the opposite direction of who he was in his youth that when Tony constructs a rebellious identity in opposition to his father, he unknowingly mimics the behaviour of his father as he once was.

ideally, Agent Carter would have provided us the bridge between these versions of Howard, had it not been cancelled. we'll never know for sure, and while his character develops in fascinating ways in that show, he never quite escapes the shadow of Tony Stark 1.0. the part that really sticks with me, and has left me with the brain worms that inspired this sermon, is his role in season 1 in particular: his ruthlessness and manipulation in using Peggy, but also his genuine grief and desire for redemption as inspired by Steve. how he views Steve, Captain America, as the one truly Good thing he's ever done at that point, and how it connects to what we are told later, about his obsessive search for Steve and the way that isolated him from his own son. how that too is connected to what he says in Iron Man 2: that Tony is his greatest creation. the inherent selfishness but also deeply felt love evident in both those statements: love for Steve as a reflection of his desire for redemption, love for Tony as his assurance that he had in some way achieved it.

all told, you're left with a fascinating character built entirely from patchwork: imperfect and self-centered and yet idealistic, for whom we are missing key parts of the story from which to create a complete picture. in some ways i am not surprised that fandom often flattens both Howard and Tony's relationship to him, because we are missing essential elements to really conceive of Howard as a complete character. but it is also frustrating to me, because in those gaps i see opportunity: to explore Howard, yes, but also Tony, and their relationship to one another, and to the Stark legacy that permeates the world of the MCU.

having said ALL of that: do i see myself ever writing that story, or filling in those blanks myself? i honestly have no idea. i don't know how that story would be constructed, or what it would really entail. maybe if i ever get around to writing the Morgan Stark Fic, i'll slide some of this in there. but while i never say never, i'm also really not sure there's a dedicated Howard Stark Fic in me. i suppose we'll see.

[larcenywrites]

kinda random but headcanons about young!tony telling maria stark all about his girlfriend (maybe she was his best friend/childhood friend and then they fell in love and maria always teased them about how they'd make a cute couple) and maria teasing him about being a lovesick puppy but also being super happy about it + relationship advice from mama stark 🤧🥰 maybe her telling tony what she thinks of his girlfriend and everything 🥺👉👈

Tbh I like the idea of Tony and his s/o being cute childhood friends🥺 and this is already long but I feel like I have so much more I wanna say 😭 I hardly know what I said here honestly 😭 I focused a lot more on the childhood aspect ngl 😭

Word count: 1,909

Warnings: she/her terms and pronouns used | completely SFW |

💠You and Tony have been connected at the hip since childhood! Neighbors, both the only children in your families, same age— so of course you both got up to no good in the shared strip of grass between your homes! And eventually up to no good in each other's homes! 

💠Cue that video of that kid crying because the other kid said that she'd marry him 😂 That's pretty much little you and little Tony! Your Superman and Barbie were always married to his Batman and He-Man toys, and maybe you made him be the housewife when you played house in the kitchen 😌 And Maria was probably much more entertained with whatever love-betrayal-murder plot you two came up with on the living room floor than the daytime soaps on the tv 🤧

💠Especially if Maria is best friends with your parent/s, I'm sure she was the type to giggle about how their kids will grow up and get married 

💠He was ripping apart RC cars instead of playing with them in the driveway, or making you hold wires in place while he duct-taped them around a pipe. And Howard wasn't very happy when he started tearing television remotes apart, too… 

💠So when daddy dearest shipped him off to boarding school, summers and holidays were practically spent entirely together!

💠He always hid in your backyard when he was sent home early from boarding school for being difficult, and was oh-so-boastful about winning the fight that got him sent home early- that he didn't even start, by the way! He started hiding in your room on the days he had to go back, but he wasn't going to let you get in trouble for hiding him when now your parents were involved in the search too 😖

💠Every year, the same routine. Sometimes he came back a little taller, and sometimes he was leaving with a new haircut (of which you weren't afraid to let him know your opinion of it!) that would be grown back out by the time he returned, but one day, in particular, was different...

💠 He'd shown up at your window as per usual, right at the end of summer, finally tall enough to cross his arms over your windowsill without standing on his toes. 

💠 "I don't wanna go," he whined, squishing his cheek against his arm as he rested his head upon his crossed arms. 

💠"But you'll get in trouble," you argued back, meeting him at the window and standing on your knees, still looking down at him. 

💠"I'll get in trouble either way." He continued to pout, but you didn't let up either. 

💠"It's just one more year." But your plea was only met with a sigh.

💠"Here," you started decisively, tone making him turn towards you, still with his chin tucked over his arms. With a short bout of courage, you quickly leaned down before he could even realize, barely touching your lips to his in a child's-excuse-of-a-kiss that hardly lasted a second. "I'll wait for you to get back, okay?" You chirped reassuringly, fighting the heat under your cheeks.

💠Wide-eyed and red-faced, no longer slumped over crossed arms and tight-lipped, he could only nod cartoonishly. 

💠 You'd always thought he looked silly and a bit scrawny in his school uniform, but now he looked quite cute in those silly green shorts as he was finally heeding Jarvis' call from the car. 

💠Both fortunately and unfortunately, nothing special happened or changed once he came home, but as time passes, it's only natural for the two of you to get shy at close contact or steal glances during a round of Galaga or Mario, and maybe sitting a bit close for the thrill!

💠And Maria obviously notices! She doesn't play on the NES herself, but she enjoys watching! Or maybe just enjoys watching you guys 🤭

💠And later that night at dinner, she's definitely teasing Tony about how cute you two are, but even Howard comes to the poor blushing boy's rescue 😖

💠Remember that Tony went to college real early at 16, probably much to your secret bitterness and dismay 😒 but the worst was that, once again, he only came home on summers and winters and holidays 😔 where you got to hear all about his new friend and maybe felt a bit jealous 😔

💠But at least with his more formal education (and more trust from his dad), he was no longer so anarchic with his little science experiments! Sure, he'd always made little robots and been able to put anything back together with only minor issues, but now you were seeing him in a section of the paper with much larger robots and maybe feeling a bit silly now about holding the flashlight for him while he tore apart your family's backup generator 😅 

💠And maybe you leaned in a little too close on purpose when he was sketching out his blueprints to bring to class after spring break... hey, they are actually really good! 

💠Eventually those RC cars became real cars, and eventually he asked you out… with some help from his mom, of course. 

💠"Tony, when are you going to man up and ask (Y/N) out?" Maria asks one day.

💠"Huh?" He's genuinely confused and taken aback, looking over at his mom with furrowed brows.

💠"You heard me." 

💠"I don't think it's like that," he replies meekly, already blushing. 

💠"Didn't you say she kissed you?"

💠"Yeah, when we were like fourteen…" 

💠"And it doesn't seem anyone else is willing to hang out with you every day..."

💠"Should I be offended by that?" 

💠"You should be inspired."

💠Tony rolls his eyes a little, but it is already something he's thought about. Of course he's thought about it! And honestly, you've probably dropped some very frustratingly obvious hints 😖 and Tony isn't stupid. You know this, he knows this. Well, maybe he's a little more inept when it comes to social cues, but still! 

💠Maria has known you for nearly you're whole life, and she already adores you, so don't worry, she also talks all about how lovely you seem and how Tony should go for it! She's on your side! As soon as you leave, she'll have something to say!

💠And the longer Tony puts it off, the more she'll just downright be like, "Y/N was flirting with you, dummy!!!!" or "You guys are very cute 🥰"

💠Tony is frustrated not because he disagrees, but because he really doesn't know what to do and doesn't wanna look stupid :( Because, let's be honest, in this circumstance, he has 0 experience 🤧

💠After awkwardly trying and failing to ask you out in his garage one night, after fumbling to grab every tool and getting hit by the car's hood he didn't properly secure, and then became even more flustered after you grabbed onto his shoulders and head and asked if he was okay, he decided to begrudgingly ask his mom for help 😖

💠And gets even more embarrassed when she excitedly agrees 😓

💠"Yeah, yeah, yeah, just help me out here," he whines in a regional New York accent that he's probably mostly shed by now with his college career. 

💠And only many months later will Maria tell you about his red cheeks and scrunched nose as he asked 🤭

💠But!!! What she's saying... he already failed at a few days ago :( He tried asking you on a date during a casual hangout :( but he was already not doing himself many favors so he gave up and just let you go home with nothing more than a meek "see ya 🙂" 

💠His mom makes him feel a little better about it, especially when she says that you probably thought it was cute😊😊 and probably knew what was up anyway! But, uh, maybe still make sure you don't do that next time... have more confidence!

💠So... the next time you're both hanging out in his garage... he's probably puffing out his chest and flexing a bit 🤭 but when you do look, it does help his confidence! And that's the point! 

💠This time when you go to leave, he's still a bit flustered and stumbling through a few words, but he does manage to get out a "so, um... I was thinking maybe we should go somewhere... nicer? Next time? Maybe Friday?"

💠He becomes a bit squeaky at the end there, but it only helps him look cuter! Of course, you've been waiting on this for years, probably, so you can confidently smile back at him and tell him you'd love that- maybe even tell him that you have been waiting for him to ask!

💠Bonus points if you give him a little cheek kiss before you head home, kinda reminiscent of your silly little childhood kiss 🥰 And yes, Tony never forgot it 😘

💠Your confidence (and his lack thereof) definitely throws him off! But don't let his stiff demeanor fool you! He's very happy! And can't hide his grin when he head into his own house... which his mom instantly picks up on and may have been watching through the window 🤭

💠And might tease him about that little kiss 😘

💠But now... he has to actually plan the date 😨

💠First dates are always awkward (especially with your childhood friend!), but with some pretty flowers and surprisingly confident handholding, it goes well! 

💠Bonus points for another cheek kiss before you head inside your house after he drops you off 😘 

💠Either way, now he's hooked! 

💠Now, when you lean over the edge of the car to look under the hood and huddle close to him, he can't help but smile all giddy and sneak a kiss 🥺 because now he's allowed to and now he's super cute 😭

💠He used to always keep it to himself, but now when he calls his mom every week from school like usual, he can't help but complain about being bored without you 🥺 only for Rhodey to scoff offendedly behind him loud enough for Maria to hear 😭 

💠And you know Rhodey got an earful when Tony returned from Summer break talking about his new girlfriend 😘

💠And you also know that when Tony calls you from school, Rhodes is waiting not only to make his own calls, but 7 out of 10 times waiting to make kissy noises and aws every time Tony says he misses you or anything along those lines 🥰 The other times, Rhodey does give you guys some peace and quiet, but sometimes him being there for the call is fun too! 

💠But even when he is home, and even if you were just over yesterday or earlier that day, Maria can tell he's bummed ☹️

💠But honestly it does kinda make her happy! Her son is in love!! But she can't help but tease him about being all lovesick 🥰🥰 There's probably a picture somewhere of him pouting at the breakfast table, but he'll brush it off as him being tired 😤

💠The two of them being close is, believe it or not, a good thing for you! Sure, Maria is protective of her son, but she's also protective of you! Moreso when it comes to your relationship with Tony! 

💠If Tony comes to confide in her about an argument, whether or not he's in the wrong, she's telling him how to fix it 🤧 and sending him with flowers 💐

[swayhere]

canon starter call - open to anyone !

i have a strong urge to write some canon muses, so if you would be interested in writing against any of the canon muses listed under the READ MORE below, please comment/IM me and i can send a starter your way or reply to one of your starters.

i do not require you to know anything about my muse's canon, but i'm more than happy to tell you about it if you ask. i'd be happy to write canon muses against your ocs! also, mixing fandoms is 100% ok with me unless your canon muse is problematic and makes me uncomfy. my canon muses do not have all their memories or relationships from their life unless we plot it, but they will have the same general personality/ambitions.

if you are willing to write against my canon muses but don't care which, just like this post, and i'll take a look at your open starters and/or send you a closed starter at random with a muse i think fits the vibe.

*please don't agree to write against my canon muses if you're one of those picky weirdos that will be up in arms if i don't write a cannon muse exactly how you would.

( if you'd prefer to write against an oc muse only, check this post. )

canon muses i'd like to write: bold = extra big muse rn. strikethrough = exclusive, so not rn.

muses from tv shows: 

911 — eddie diaz , evan buckley , athena grant , bobby nash , karen wilson

911: lonestar — carlos reyes , grace ryder , judson ryder , t.k. strand , owen strand

as the world turns — dr. reid oliver , luke snyder

boy meets world — shawn hunter , jack hunter , angela moore , topanga lawrence

chuck — sarah walker , chuck bartowski , bryce larkin 

degrassi — jimmy brooks , sean cameron , ellie nash , marco del rossi , sav bhandari , drew torres , zoe rivas , miles hollingsworth iii , tiny bell , esme song , 

gilmore girls — jess , luke

good trouble — gael martinez , jamie hunter , callie adams foster , mariana adams foster , evan speck , joaquin perez , dennis cooper 

how i met your father — sid , ian , sophie , jesse

how i met your mother — marshall eriksen , lily aldrin , victoria

how to get away with murder — laurel castillo , connor walsh , oliver hampton , michaela pratt , frank delfino 

jessica jones — jessica jones

lost — kate austen , juliet burke , daniel faraday , desmond hume , sayid jarrah , sun-hwa kwon , claire littleton , walter ‘walt’ lloyd , charlie pace , hugo ‘hurley’ reyes , shannon rutherford , miles straume 

new amsterdam — lauren bloom , elizabeth wilder , casey acosta

new girl — nick miller , winston bishop , cece parekh

one tree hill — nathan scott , lucas scott , keith scott , chase adams , brooke davis 

outer banks (obx) — jj maybank , kiara carrera

please like me — arnold 

rosewell, new mexico — michael guerin , maria deluca , isobel evans

scandal — olivia pope , prezzy fitz

scooby doo — daphne blake

stranger things — robin buckley , steve harrington , jim hopper , chrissy cunningham , eddie munson , max mayfield , eleven , mike wheeler 

superstore — jonah simms

the 100 — finn collins

the bear — richie jerimovich, carmy berzatto , marcus , sydney adamu  

the mindy project — danny castellano 

the office — ryan howard , jim halpert , pam halpert , kelly kapoor , holly flax

the politician — river barkley , astrid sloan 

the young & the restless — sally spectra , adam newman , chelsea lawson , phyllis summers , lily winters , sharon newman , chance chancellor , victoria newman , tessa porter , amanda sinclair , cole howard

younger — josh , kelsey peters

muses from books: 

along for the ride ( book version only ) — eli stock , auden west , maggie  

one of us is lying ( book version only ) — cooper clay , nate

red white & royal blue — alex claremont-diaz , prince henry , zahra bankston

we were liars — gatwick ‘gat’ matthew patil

muses from movies: 

dead poets society — neil perry , charlie dalton , todd anderson

harry potter — lee jordan

les mis — enjolras , grantaire 

super 8 — joe lamb , martin , preston

twilight — irina denali , jasper cullen

[gunsandspaceships]

About Different Universes

Often I see how fans cannot distinguish different versions of a character. For example, many think that MCU Tony and 616 Tony can be considered the same person. This is completely wrong.

We should remember that they are completely separate characters, because they had completely different lives. They do look different, they do act different. They had different parents (different by behavior, but sometimes even genetically, like Tony in MCU is a biological child of Howard and Maria Stark, but 616 Tony was adopted by them). They lived in different times, met different people, had relationships with different partners, had different problems, different illnesses, injuries etc. They are completely different, that's the point of the Multiverse. There are an infinite number of different Tonys.

We cannot use Tony's traits from one universe and put it on him in another. That doesn't work like this. Otherwise we could just take the fact that Tony never had children in comics and ask why he has a daughter in MCU? Or take the fact that Tony in 616 has blue eyes. Why in MCU he has brown ones? Or let's take something more psychologically related - in 616 he still dates many women, despite him being responsible superhero and stuff. He just can't stop being polygamous, I guess? But that's not the case in MCU. He is very loyal to one person. Same for Tony's version from What If season 2, episode 4, where he doesn’t care about other women around, he is just trying to get back to Pepper.

There is absolutely no sense in bringing one character into another, even if they share a name.

[queen-of-the-avengers]

Captain Marvel: Final Part

Pairing: Carol Danvers x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~1.2k

Warnings: canon violence and angst

Author’s Note: For the sake of the rewrite, Howard and Maria Stark dies on December 16, 1997 instead of 1991. Tony is 23 when they die.

x

With the Skrulls now saved from the Kree, at least for right now, you and Carol met Maria and Fury back at Maria's house for a last-dinner kind of thing. Most of the Skrulls decided to go back to Mar-Vell's lab to prepare to move again while Talos, Soren, and their child join you back at Maria's house. She did a really good job flying the plane to avoid whatever Kree was on her ass, and Fury won't let her forget it.

"That's some nifty flying you did out there. SHIELD could always use a good pilot like you."

"I'll consider it, as long as you don't call my flying nifty again."

Fury's eye is all scratched that you assume came from Goose.

"How's your eye?" you question the agent.

"Getting better every second. I'll be fine."

"Is it true that Goose scratched your eye?"

"I will neither deny nor confirm the details of that story."

"She did. I saw it happen," Maria confesses, making you cackle.

"Just so I'm clear, you were Soh-Larr and the SHIELD agent?" Carol asks Talos.

"Yeah, he tied my boss up and stole his identity," Fury interjects, ignoring your teasing remarks about how a cat got the better of him.

"I borrowed his likeness. I'm no thief."

"It's a little like a thief," Soren shrugs.

"Whose side are you on?"

"You're good to go here until you recover, but you and your family will need a new look."

"I could go back to being your boss."

"Please don't."

"Come on. I love sporting his beautiful blue eyes."

"I'll help you find a home and finish what Mar-Vell started," Carol offers.

You open your mouth to agree but nothing comes out of it. First, you think about Bucky and Steve and how you left this planet to get away from the pain it caused you, but then you think about how you promised yourself that this would be your new home away from Xenia and Markus. You fled once, you can't do this to Earth again. It needs protecting, and who will protect it if you leave?

"They can stay here with us, can't they, Mom?" Monica asks from the stairs where she and Talos' daughter are.

"They won't be safe here, baby. Auntie Carol is right. They need their own home."

"I'll be back before you know it," she says.

"Excuse me," you whisper.

You grab your plate of unfinished food and walk into the kitchen to do the dishes. Carol and Fury look at each other before getting up and doing the same. Leaving Carol behind and staying on Earth hurts differently than when you lost Bucky. Bucky died and you didn't have a choice but to move on with your life. You're deciding to leave even though it hurts you to do so.

"Are you okay?" Carol asks.

"Yeah."

"Let me help you with that," Fury offers and takes the wet dishes to dry.

He notices dry tears on your cheeks and gestures to Carol to talk to you.

"We beat the Kree and Ronan. What's wrong?"

"I don't know if I can go with you when you leave," you whisper.

This is a conversation to have privately so she puts it on the back burner for now. She rubs your back in a comforting way and takes out the pager that she took from Fury. She's modified it a bit so that he can always contact her whenever she may be.

"Here, there is something I want you to have. Plus, I need you to keep the Tesseract hidden here on Earth." She hands him the pager. "I upgraded it. The range should be a couple of galaxies, at least. For emergencies only."

"What? Do you think I'm gonna crank call you?"

"For emergencies only. From the looks of it, you'll have Y/N in case something goes wrong."

"Well, if you're ever passing back through this galaxy, be sure to give a brother a shout," he says. "I can finish up here. You two can take off."

"Come on."

Carol takes you outside to have a private conversation with you. She knows what you're going to say but lets you say it anyways.

"As much as I want to go with you, I can't leave Earth. The universe needs you, Carol but Earth needs me. The Tesseract is here, so someone is going to come for it sooner or later. She'll need someone to protect it."

"I agree."

"I'd be too selfish if I kept you from everyone else," you sigh sadly, "but I don't want to leave you. I love you."

"I love you, too. I'm not asking you to choose but I do have to leave. I can't stay on this planet knowing wars are going on out there that I can help fight."

"I know."

She pulls you in for a hug and allows you to cry on her shoulder for however long you need. 

"This doesn't change anything between us. I want you to live your life. I don't know when I'll be back, but I don't want you to be lonely. I want you to meet someone, fall in love, and live your life. You'll always have a special place in my heart."

"So will you," you sniffle and pull away from her.

"If we are meant to be, we'll find our way back to each other. I can guarantee that."

"I should go, then. I wish you the best of luck, my love."

"Same here."

You kiss her one last time knowing this will be the last in a while. If you stay any longer, you're going to cry so you pull away from her and take off toad the sky. With no viable threat over your life, you can pick a place and settle down. You haven't had a home for at least fifty years.

New York has too many painful memories and London reminds you of Bucky. When you first came to Earth with Carol, you landed in Northern California. The beaches there are beautiful so maybe living in that state won't be such a bad thing. You can get a place along the beach and enjoy your life by yourself.

Malibu is nice this time of year, and you settle in quicker than you thought you were. You have a bit of money saved from the 40s that you never got to spend, so you use it to buy yourself a house on the beach. The town of Malibu is compact and busy but you don't mind being surrounded by this many people. It gives you an opportunity to learn about humans from what you missed over the years.

It takes a week after moving in to explore the town, so you're walking along the coast when you pass by a tall man sporting white hair and a mustache and a shorter woman with blonde hair.

"Y/N?" 

You stop and face the couple with a confused look on your face.

"Yes. Do I know you?"

"It's me. Howard Stark."

"Howard? Wow, you've grown."

"You stayed exactly the same."

Hearing him say this makes you a bit sad knowing you'll probably never grow old. You'll always be the same age as you were when you first injected Markus' serum.

"Well, you know..."

"Wait, I thought you died. I thought you and Steve died when the plane went down. We searched for you two for months after the wreck."

"Steve died. I left Earth for fifty years."

"She's the one you were talking about?" Howard's wife says. "She's the Avatar?"

"That's me," you shrug.

"What are you doing here?"

"I bought a place on the beach. I spent the last sixty years fighting in wars I shouldn't have been fighting in. I figured what harm will it do if I take a few years to myself. What have you been up to?"

"I'm retired now. I have a few billion dollars to my name. I got married and had a son. Would you like to meet him?"

"Of course."

Howard and his wife, Maria, take you back to their house where their young adult son is.

"Tony? Come down here. There's someone I want you to meet." Tony comes down the stairs with a bored expression on his face. "Tony, this is Y/N."

Tony's heard the stories his father used to tell about a righteous man with super strength and a woman who can control the elements. He didn't think those stories were true until he sees you. There are very few pictures of Howard back in the day, but some of them contain you and Steve.

"Is this the same Y/N that you worked with back then? The one with Steve?"

If you're going to be in Tony's life, then he has a right to know exactly who you are.

"Yes, it is." You stick your hand out for him to shake, and you give him a polite smile. "It's very nice to meet you, Tony."

x

Follow my library blog @aqueenslibrary​​​​​​ where I reblog all my stories, so you can put notifications on there without the extra stuff :)

[iam93percentstardust]

🎄 Another sneak peek at the annual Christmas fic! 🎄

~

“Look,” Christine says gently as soon as the door closes. “Tony. I don’t think this is working out between us anymore. I think we need to call off the engagement.”

She can’t be serious. They’ve had a great relationship (okay, well maybe not a great relationship, but definitely a good one) for five years, and she fucks off to rural Montana for a week and decides that she doesn’t want this anymore? No way, this has something to do with Jake the flannel mountain.

She’s still talking, saying something about how she doesn’t feel like he’s ever really supported her hopes and dreams, which is absolutely ridiculous and he tells her that.

“You met your editor at a business dinner that I hosted. I invited him just because you said it was your life’s goal to work at that magazine. Did you forget that? Did you forget that your job is in New York? What are you going to tell them when your vacation time is up?”

She gives him a vaguely pitying look that makes him want to throw something. Possibly her. “Tony, there’s more to life than just your job and work. Not that you’d know that because you spend all your time in that workshop of yours.”

Like what? The vacations she wants to go on that he’s always made time for? The clothes she wants him to buy for her that he always does because he wants her to be happy? The date nights that he always leaves the workshop for, no matter how busy he is, because she gets so sad when he forgets about them and he hates it when she looks that way?

He asks her exactly that, genuinely curious to know what more she could possibly want out of him. “What else is there?”

“That’s so sad that you think that’s all there is,” she says, and that wasn’t his point at all, but before he can say that, she continues, “Like Christmas, Tony. You know, we’ve never once celebrated the holidays together? How are you okay with that?”

Well, yeah, they’ve never celebrated together. Growing up, Christmas, for Tony, was a time of photoshoots and Howard locking himself in his office for last-minute business deals before the end of the year and getting left behind as his parents drove off to yet another rich people’s Christmas party. Christmas wasn’t a time of joy and family, and he’s had no reason to change that as an adult. Christine had always said that was one of the things that she liked about him because it gave her a chance to get one up on her coworkers who always took the holiday off.

“Christmas is important, Tony. Jake spends every Christmas volunteering at the animal shelter to give the unadopted animals the best holiday they could have. And you just spend it in the office.”

Sure, but the Maria Stark Foundation’s Holiday Gala raises enough money every year to keep the New York soup kitchens fully stocked for at least six months, so he thinks he’s doing pretty well on the charity front.

“I know we used to have the same values,” she says. “But I’ve changed since I met Jake again.”

He has the sneaking suspicion that she’s getting ready to justify the fact that she absolutely cheated on him this last week.

“He gets me, and he loves me, more than I think you ever did.”

Wow. That one really hurts. He has done so much for her, but because he couldn’t fly out with her this one time, he suddenly doesn’t love her. What right does she have to tell him his own feelings?

“He makes me so much happier than I was with you.”

“I get it,” he says abruptly. “You don’t have to twist the knife. He’s perfect and everything you ever wanted, and I’m not. I get it.” He pauses and takes a deep breath. He can be mature about this. He can be a grown-up about this, just like Pepper is always begging him to be. “I only wish you the best of happiness with Jake. I hope you guys build a great life together.”

Tears shine in Christine’s eyes, which is so unfair. Tony’s the one who’s getting dumped. He should be the one crying. “Aw, thank you, Tony. Your blessing means the world to me.”

Yeah, that is absolutely not what’s going on here, but sure, anything to get him out of this situation faster, because if he has to stand here for any longer, he’s absolutely going to break down about the fact that his fiancée cheated on him, moved halfway across the country without telling him, and then dumped him all because he… doesn’t celebrate Christmas?

[kandisheek]

FIC REC WEEK 9 – AUs

By Guidance of the Stars by GuardianMira

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: E Words: 28,299 Tags: Space AU, Soulmates, Getting Together

Summary: Steve is a space outlaw and Tony is a blue-skinned alien prince who stows away on his ship. According to Steve’s Mark, they’re soulmates. Too bad Steve doesn’t know Tony’s full name and Tony doesn’t know soulmates are a thing for humans. Maybe they’ll work it out once people stop shooting at them.

Reasons why I love it: Tony the blue skinned alien makes me happier than I can say. Mix in some secret identity soulmate shenanigans, and I'm beyond thrilled. Then have them go on adorable space dates and slowly grow closer before the big reveal, and you get a very happy Kandi. This fic has everything I love and more, and I bet you'll like it just as much as I did!

The Billionaire Hooker's Deceived Artist by tsukinofaerii

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: E Words: 27,996 Tags: Sex Work, Artist Steve, College AU

Summary: During Tony's senior year at MIT, his partying habit finally hit the edge of his parents' patience. When Howard and Maria cut him off from his usual sources of money, he decides to turn to less conventional ones.

Reasons why I love it: Steve in this fic is so fucking precious, and Tony is such a little shit - my favorite combo. This whole scenario they get themselves into feels very true to their characters (I bet if Tony was ever cut off by Howard, this is exactly what he would do), and I love the way it keeps escalating. Also, the timeskip is incredible, it elevates the whole fic to another level. I love it so much, please go and check it out, you won't regret it!

Punitive Measures (Met your Match) by BladeoftheNebula

Pairing: Steve/Tony Rating: E Words: 19,403 Tags: A/B/O (Alpha Steve, Omega Tony), Roman Britain, Painplay

Summary: “Gods, he’s a beast,” Tiberius said from beside him, and for a moment, Tony had forgotten he was there. “I don’t envy the omegas, he looks like he’d have a strong hand.”When the village elders bring in someone from the outside to fairly administer justice in the community, the alphas leap at the chance to send their unruly omegas to the Flagellator. Tiberius Stone can't understand why his omega keeps acting up so much.

Reasons why I love it: Steve "The Flagellator" Rogers has my entire heart. Once again, Neb built an incredible alternate universe here, with a really cool take on how the whole Alpha/Omega dynamic works. The concept of external punishment is really neat, and I love the way it brings Steve and Tony together. Plus, the ending makes me "aww" out loud every time. I love this fic to bits, so I hope you'll give it a shot yourself!

[lapetitech]

Endgame Steve: *saved Bucky in Alps*

CA1 Bucky: *survived the fall and lived happily in the post war time*

Howard: Hey James wanna go to a party tonight I met this girl...

Bucky: Nah. Tired.

Howard: OK. Forget about the party. That Maria girl is no fun anyway.

2023 Pepper: *stares at Steve* and that is how you murdered Tony and my daughter.

[robertdowneyjjr]

hey, so. funny thing.

@whinysteve and i have been going insane for like two days because we couldn't find this one fic we really liked, and we both remembered reading it not so long ago but somehow neither of us could recall how it ended? and we kept saying that it's so GOOD and how the heck did it just disappear? well, after hours of losing my mind going through my ao3 history, the steve/tony tag with various keywords, the findingstony blog... it. it hit me that i can't find it because it doesn't exist. because it was the soulmates au idea you posted like two weeks ago where their words only show up after they've met their soulmate.

i thought you might find this amusing. 😩 (i do, but i also need to lie down for a bit because i will never know how steve fixed that mess)

hahahaha omg liv if this is your way of peer pressuring me into writing the whole fic i might actually do it??? because your ask has got me thinking about what would happen next.

that said, steve still hasn't figured out how to fix this mess. i'm very sorry about this.

(stonyclunks soulmates au part one here)

---

having been rescued by SHIELD, news of steve's recovery was immediately delivered to howard stark who, while not as involved with SHIELD as he used to be, still receives weekly reports as one of its co-founders.

he'd gone home that night and brought it up in the middle of cutting his steak. coincidentally, tony had been visiting that day and stayed for dinner, so he found out about captain america's miraculous resurrection before the general public did, and honestly, he had enough of hearing about how great this guy was growing up. he really didn't need to keep hearing about it as an adult after he'd finally worked through his issues with his dad and his obsession with a (not quite) dead war hero.

so after howard's announcement, tony politely requested howard refrain from talking about this guy with him.

"i know he's your friend, and you'll probably be spending a bit of time with him now that he's been found, and i'm really happy for you, but i think it would be better for our relationship if we could talk about literally anything but him," he'd said.

and, well. howard was trying. he knew he wasn't the best dad and he also wanted to do right by maria, who spent so many years torn between her son and her husband while trying to mend their relationship. they were finally in a relatively good place with each other which made maria happy. and to be frank, howard had actually come to really enjoy tony's company whenever he was home. he was quite happy too. so he agreed. they don't talk about steve and howard doesn't ask tony to meet steve.

that very night, tony made sure 'captain america' and 'steve rogers' were muted in all his news feeds and social channels.

he literally doesn't know a single thing about the man besides what he learned in his childhood, which he's blocked out. it's a peaceful two years of blissful ignorance.

fast forward to now, tony's packing up his suitcase and getting ready to check out of his hotel when he sees a text from his mom in their family group chat.

seems he's not quite the perfect role model you always made him out to be, howard 🤡, her message reads.

what follows is a link to an instagram post, and from the message preview he can see that it's steve rogers' profile, and under normal circumstances he wouldn't even bother clicking the link.

but 1) maria usually never brings up the man in tony's presence either, and 2) her comment made him laugh. so color tony intrigued.

he taps the link and sees the post. it's a picture of a coffee cup from the place he was at a week ago. the one where he got body slammed by his mysterious dick of a soulmate and unfairly yelled at for it.

he reads the caption and his legs give out under him.

i don't even know if you'll see this, but all i can do is hope. i'm sorry for the words that have made their mark on you. i know i don't deserve it, but i'm hoping you could give me a second chance. i won't yell at you this time, i promise. yours, a fucking asshole

one week ago, captain america was barely even a blip on tony's radar and that's how he preferred it. now, steve rogers is tony's mysterious dick of a soulmate.

what the fuck even is his life.

[jackiequick]

Friends over the years [Agent Carter fic]

Pairing: Jason Grey Underwood and Howard J. Stark

Summary: A friendship that goes beyond a average kinda bond. They loved each other like brothers, treat one another like friends, respected their relationship like a pair of lovers. Sadly it goes downhill due to a stupid painful argument…

Romantic or Platonic Relationship

Fandom: Marvel, Agent Carter

Spoilers for Agent Carter season 1 & season 2. A bit of Iron Man 2.

Warning: Fluff, angst, mention of treason and one side conversations

Characters shown/mentioned: Peggy Carter, Maria Stark, Nurse Violet, Edwin Jarvis, Ana Jarvis, Daniel Sousa, Tony Stark, Hank Pym, Dr. Jason Wilkes, and SHIELD in general.

Note: Glen Powell played Hangman, my HC is that Hangman is BI so will be Jason haha

—

It started out to tender so sweet then they got me smoking out the window…

“What’s your name, champ?” Said Stark with a classic charming grin, holding out his hand.

“Jason, Mr. Stark.” I replied shaking his hand with a politic accent and smile to go along with it.

“Mr. Stark? Call me Howard everyone does! What brings you by?”

“Uh, Peg said you have new pairs of gun for me?”

“Ah, Peg sent you! Well your in luck pal, cause I have the perfect hand held guns made just today. Better than ones I manufactured back in 42’ I’ll tell you that much.”

“Anything is fine, Howard. As long as it last me up to more than 50 hours a bullet, I’ll be doing just fine.”

“Your my type of man, Jay! Can I call you, Jay or JJ?”

I chuckled, “Of course you can.”

~~~

He walked and talked about everything, “Great! You seem familiar, have we met before?”

I chuckled once again, “Actually we have, a charity in the park back in 43’.”

“Don’t remember.” He shrugged.

I sighed, “You were wearing a cherry brown tie and a freshly tailored suit.”

“Ah yes, now I remember! I was looking snazzy in that suit, I remember bringing home a lovely lady that very evening. She was Italian and the champagne was devilishly delicious—”

“Howard!”

“What?”

“Focus.”

“Yeah, right! You were saying.”

“I’m here because I’m working with the SSR on a case involving Dorothy Underwood and a Russian therapist who framed you and your weaponry.”

“Ah yes! I invent stuff but I always make sure what I’m doing correctly, what do you got?”

“Easy, we’re tracking them down for each movement. I know where Dorothy is and Peggy is tracking her down while The stupid Russian therapist is currently at SSR headquarters. Before anything gets messy, do you have any relations to any of those two?”

“Uhhh no? I met a lot of people how do you expect me to stay on track with that. I’m a busy man, JJ.”

~~~~

It took time but he started to connect the dots on how he was related to Dorothy Underwood’s case, then we were on the roll. After what felt like hours with Howard, Peggy and Jarvis we were able to settle down on a plan. Howard was used as bate to lure our bad guys out while Daniel, Jack, Peggy, Jarvis and I were ready to attack. Quickly Howard was kidnapped by them as we raced after him. Once we arrived Howard was flying a plane straight headed near the New York City Harbor as he being mind control by the therapist to his practical deathbed!

Daniel, Jack and I instructed Jarvis to fly the plane as we kept marched up to track down the threats. Peggy was fighting Dottie while all of this was happening, I swear i was getting a headache sooner or later from all of this. Thankfully the day was saved, Howard was brought back to the ground, Jack and Daniel returned back to work and Peggy was giving a seat nearby the stakeholders at the SSR allowing herself to get a more flexible job.

A week later, I headed over to Howard to discuss moving out to LA since it cleared up to see that my sister, Dottie, wasn’t gonna be a huge problem anytime soon. There was always crime to be solved in LA especially after Daniel Sousa offered be a positive choice there, why not take the offer and run with it? So I did!

-//-

-> In Los Angeles, everything felt pretty cool! Howard’s penthouse and other living corners were very much a good fit for me. Breakfast in the morning next to the poolside, a nice walk in the park. Heading to set for movies we’ve decided to film together and afterwards in the afternoon, I spent hours at the SSR for detective and paperwork duties ordered by my friend, now Chef Sousa.

“Morning, handsome.” Howard teased coming up from his workshop, grinning and poured himself a cup of coffee.

“What have i told you about late night in your workshop?” I replied taking a bite of my toast and taking a sip of coffee.

“Uhhh don’t do it?”

“Exactly! I swear I’m one of the reasons you’re still alive today.”

“Heyyy! You love me!”

“Never said I didn’t, hot stuff.”

I stood up and walked over to the kitchen island, standing next to Howard ruffling his hair a bit with a smile. Howard smiled and being his usual flirty self. It results in a laugh and a eye roll.

He moved closed and joked yelling, “Quit it!”

“Be good today.” I joked back sending a charming wink to him, as I walked out grabbing his jacket.

It was good. Real good.

Until it wasn’t.

Sadly, that same week I crashed my car during a horrible lightning storm driving around the countryside of LA to see Peggy and our friends for a unsuspecting case. The weather got chiller and air became thicker as all time froze up, leading me gasp for air after being unconscious for 20 minutes straight.

I was fine and arrived back home with a few cuts in bruises leading to, Nurse Violet, to help patch me up as we all discussed the crime rate activity in LA with the group. I fell for this woman hard. A gentle soul.

-> During the invading investigation which lets everybody working and spending in Howard’s lab for answer on Miss Froster connection to Zero Matter.

Jason was calculating a design for a machine to cover up and consent the rest of issue, especially involving their new friend, Dr. Wilkes, who joked how much Jason and Howard seemed to care each other. The respect they had for one another. He joked back with a shrug saying that Howard was his idiot in more ways than one, at that same time Jason felt a heatwave climb up his jacket and slightly dizzy.

Howard and Peggy noticed and rushed over, lifting Jason off the ground before he fell back. He insisted he was fine but he was tired and overwhelmed, Peggy remember that Jason didn’t even bother to go to hospital after accident.

Jason was given a opportunity for plenty of examinations and refused to say on bed rest that night, until Peggy practically threatened him to do so. Jason was examined again and again, even got a cast on his sprained ankle. But nothing crazy happened and the results came down to a small fever.

Nurse Violet and Ana took care of him that the next few days. Jason would admit he was eternally grateful for that, especially for Violet since she was sassy angel gifted to be by their side. He took his shot and asked her out on a date, but she told him to wait for that time to come. It was a small promise that was made.

Thankfully it was fine and the fever went away, they all assumed it was side effects from the accident, the stress from the case and work in general. And it was.

—-

Everyone got back to work and weeks went by, months along the way Ms Frost was put away behind bars and Dr. Wilkes was offered a job at the SSR.

One morning after having a moment to actually catch their breath after all that chaos, Howard appeared next to Jason nearby the pool of their house, handing him a beer.

“Thank you.” Jason repiled, taking a sip with a smile, “You alright? A penny for your thoughts?”

“Y-yeah. Just thinking about the future.” He replied with a playfully nudge.

“You’re film? You’re gonna make that happened with Frost public?”

“Maybe? I mean no! Well not that worse idea. I can win an award winning director for that. Can you imagine?!”

“Howard. Focus.”

“Right sorry! I was thinking a bit more closer to the present. Everyone deserves a bit of normal after everything right?”

“Of course they do. But maybe we shouldn’t settle for normal life, domestic romanized life maybe.”

Jason met Howard’s dark brown eyes, and he felt like he was lost for words, in the sweet warm of it all. Damn Jason wanted to test the water and try something a little different. Howard met his eyes seeing a life with him, deep down a part of always smiled knowing shining light in them. Damn Howard could tease the waters with him, he liked his women and men, especially this one. They moved closer to one another with soft grins laced on their faces laughing at the fact how silly they are being about this whole thing.

“What’cha thinking, Howard?” Jason asked with a tease in his voice, “I know that look. Very well.”

It was rare to see Howard this silly, vulnerable and honest. Only ever him and Peggy seen it.

“How much almost I lost you and our friends two weeks ago? I can’t live with myself if I did. I just can’t, JJ!” Howard admitted to him with a sigh and smiles, “Look at me? What am I doing?”

“You’re being honest with me. Your one of my best friends, Howard Stark, maybe even more than that. You will never lose me..I hope?” Jason replied with a chuckle.

Howard joked with a smirk, “Is this the part of the film where the guy kisses the girl?”

“Or so I’m girl in the scenario huh?” Jason joked back with a smirk.

“Well if you insist.”

“Hey wait-!”

Before neither one of them to say a word or even finished that very sentence, Howard leaned in and placed his lips onto his best friend tasting the liquid gold from the beer. Jason chuckled honestly didn’t care who say, locking lips tasting the tequila shots from earlier with him cupping his chin.

They were rather tipsy but won’t admit it. The two stayed like that for a little while, sparking a sweet open love and tender laughter from how ridiculously fun it was.

The two friends knew that the kiss meant nothing, it was just a fun thing of accidental attraction. They laughed about it. They’re young! Besides what’s friendship if you can’t experience and experiment things together?

——

Over the months, Howard and Jason did almost everything together. It was a very casual thing the two had together, but they cared about one another much. It was a rather open friendship, they dated and talked about who exactly decided to be their lucky ladies. Jason started finally dating Nurse Violet and was admiring their blooming romance.

You could’ve sworn they were like an two old friends or even, old married couple.

But that award went to Maria Stark and her loverboy Howard. Maria, Jason and Howard were a young trio within itself, noticing everything that happened. Along with Peggy, Jarvis and the rest of their friends. Matter a fact, it was Maria and Ana that pointed that Jason’s slight deep wrinkles that were previously made from the smile lines were fading gone and the effectiveness of the curious blew up. As they realized that it seemed over the last few months the aging process stopped completely for him.

Howard, Daniel. and Peggy worked long enough to figure out a way to seek what happened to him. They spend months doing tests, case films and files, examining his every single movement and reading books for answers. But nothing came up, Jason believed it was a giant mistake, a curse that happened due to the lack of caution he reflected on not having.

Maria reassured him that it wasn’t his fault, they couldn’t have known for this to happen. Peggy agreed knowing that they didn’t knowledge this beforehand as Howard was deep into a book, who trying to figure out what went wrong with his equipment and such, agreed.

~~~~

One night Jason felt defeated and went home to tell his girlfriend, Violet, what pained him.

“Honey, I’m sorry, so sorry. You don’t deserve me..” He said standing in the middle of the living room.

“What do you mean?” She replies knowing what happened, cupping his hands.

He kissed her hand gently and replied, “You deserves somebody who can grow old enough with you. I can’t give you that..”

She nodded looking at him with love in her eyes, “Hey sugar, I know it’s bad for us right now.”

“I don’t want to be a burden on you and have you wake up one day regretting your decision to be with me..”

“Then I’ll love you for as long as you’ll have me..”

Jason smiled softy and didn’t hesitate to lock lips with the woman he loved dearly. That moment he knew, Violet Bolger, would be his girlfriend for as long as they’ll have each other.

—> However being the loyal man he always tried to be and knowing how much he loved Violet, a two and a half years later, he let her go. Their relationship was slowly dying out, he didn’t want to a burden who was holding his sweet girl one down. He wanted to see her happy, loved and most importantly an opportunity for a life where she can travel, grow old and make memories with someone even greater than.

~~

Years went by the group slowly grew older but Jason stayed the same way. He didn’t mind it too much, yes it pained him very much to not be able to grow old with his friends, who he considered family, and sometimes being seen as the youngest one. However it is what is! At least he had the support of his family and lovers beside him. Maria and Howard.

And when baby Anthony Edward Stark came along, or Tony for short, let’s just say everyone was happy. Poor Edwin Jarvis though, he had to change diapers. Peggy and Ana were delighted to be aunties. Maria was excited to be a mother and Jason was always wanted to be a uncle. The first two years, Howard was very attentive and on top of things when it came to his son. Bring Tony everywhere and anywhere possible, the days he wasn’t working at SHIELD and in his lab downstairs that is.

When Tony became 3 years old, almost 4 however, that’s when the plane started to take off. Bickering, arguments and feelings just either hurt or ignored. Yes it was normal for couples, or in this case, sorta throuple always fought. Especially this one! Howard was always working more than Jason ever did and Maria was always part time working at the jewelry store she co-owned with a friend of hers. They always made time for one another, especially when it came to their family and friends.

~~~

One afternoon Jason returned home from a long trip on a mission to Las Vegas, Nevada to collect samples of a metallic suspicious bonds and examine that at SHIELD headquarters. He appeared in the front door to hear running of tiny footsteps, followed by much larger ones. The giggles came along with the footsteps made Jason roll his eyes and chuckle.

The tiny footsteps zipped by and before they can reach the living room, Jason caught him. In his arms lay the giggles and yells from the charmer himself, Anthony Stark, his hair was a mess and in his hands held a toy screwdriver.

“Uncle JJ!” Tony yelled finally registering who’s arms he was in and giggling tightly hugging him, “You’re back!”

He laughed hugging his nephew tightly showing him in plenty required tickles for being gone for too long and asked, “Yeah buddy, I’m back home! Now why were you running? You knew the rules.”

“Jar’vis is making me clean my f-feet!”

“What?”

It didn’t register in his mind what his nephew meant until he looked down to see the shoeless feet that rested against his button down, that were covered in dirt. He sighed deeply realizing now that he had to clean up a cheeky little 4 year olds dirty, probably muddy, feet from playing in the backyard without his shoes. He carried the young boy into the bathroom and requested for Jarvis to get him some towels as he washed his feet.

Tony explained what he was doing today after attending dentist appointment that his mother had earlier, which involved him building outside, drawing, watching his favorite cartoons and helping his mother with the dishes. He even slipped out that he accidentally found himself in his father’s workshop just wanting to hang out in there as Howard kicked him out, resulting in Tony hearing his mother and father bickering as he was carried out by Jarvis.

Jason sighed deeply once again and internally groaned in annoyance at what happened today. At this point, it didn’t surprise him at all, with the amount of time they fight it surprises him how Maria, him and Howard still live under one same roof. To be honest, they all walked out of this house more than once, due a argument

Tony pouted and spoke up, “A-are you mad at me?”

“Buddy why would i be mad?” He asked, scrubbing his feet gently.

“Cause..i walked into daddy’s workshop..i know i can not go only if you guys let me.”

“For starters we don’t want you in there unless supervised because it can be dangerous and you can accidentally get hurt.”

“Okay..I’m sorry. A-are you gonna talk to daddy and momma?”

“Well why did you do it in the first place?”

“Be..cause i wanna play with daddy but he too busy for me..he don’t love me anymore..”

“No buddy, don’t say that. Of course he loves you, he’s just gets too caught up with work that’s all.”

“I just wanna play with him, uncle J..”

“I know buddy, i know. You’re father does things for a reason, he just keeps carried away sometimes..”

~~~~~~

Then Tony asks him a question he didn’t expect for the four year old, then again he was smart for his age, but still. The young boy sighed deeply, sometimes he picked up on from seeing his uncles and aunties doing a lot. Tony asked, “A-are you love, JJ?”

“What?” He asked with a soft smile, adding some more now to his feet.

“Are you love? Momma says that you don’t date anymore..and that you love her and daddy more.”

“Well buddy, i do love them both very much. With all my heart. As for dating, uh it’s hard for your uncle to find himself a girlfriend with work and no one wants to date someone with crazy dance moves..”

Tony giggled at that and yelled, “You do dance funny!”

“You see! Auntie Ana says i dance like a chicken.” Jason replies chuckling, drying off his feet now.

“You dance like a funny chicken who ate too much candy!”

“A chicken on a sugar high?”

“Yes!”

The two laughed, smiling. Yes there was truth to that part to what his uncle told him about not dating, was that he didn’t age and rather not live a life with somebody who can, but Tony doesn’t need to know the whole truth just yet. He was still a child.

Jason place a fresh pair on shoes, thanks to Jarvis, onto Tony’s little feet as he said, “You see! If i went on dates every night I wouldn’t have time to talk with you.”

“You are right! No dating, i do not want a date either! Girls are eww!” Tony replies giggling, walking down the hallways following Jarvis and his uncle downstairs. That resulted in both men to roll their eyes and laugh at the young boys words.

The three of them found Ana and Maria serving lunch greeting the women, as Howard came, slightly late, upstairs to eat with them. It was good, real good for a while. The rest of the day was just fine, per say.

————

However it soon got to a point where the tension ran high the next few months and possibly even years. The water to the cup started to soon overflow, but Jason kept quiet, it wasn’t his place to talk about certain things. He knew his limits and where he stands, but sometimes it annoyed him. It made him question everything he ever knew…

He noticed how Howard and Maria changed perspective on certain things, Maria got more annoyed about things and Howard kept acting like everything was fine. When clearly he was ignoring stuff around the house and even his son. If those was thing that made Jason’s blood boil was something that involved his friends and family, especially his young nephew who didn’t know any better.

One Wednesday afternoon, he had enough of this bullshit. He knew Maria wouldn’t say anything about it and handles everything her own way, but he wasn’t her. Jason stormed into the lab downstairs that now held so much stuff, it looked like a madhouse in there. No wonder why Jarvis always complains about Howard’s messes!

Howard was working on a few equations and running his fingers across some equipment he’s building to showcase Hank Pym later that week. He didn’t even hear the door shut or the fact that there were rough clapping of footsteps followed up within seconds. He heard a simple ‘can we talk? Now.’ And he only received a half nod in return.

Jason tapped his foot onto the floor, with his arms crossed and waited for his friend to stop what he doing to stand up straight and look at her.

“What?” Howard asked removing his sunglasses and runs his fingers across his hair, “If it’s that i forgot to pick up the presents for Ana’s birthday and forgot to pick up Tony from school, I’m sorry.”

“I-ahhh, that’s not it!” He replied, pinching the bridge of his noses knowing how much a idiot he is, “Actually this is about Tony.”

“Is something wrong with him?”

“Yeah, he’s not being treated fairly by you.”

“W-w-wh-what?!”

He scoffed, “Howard you’re more focused on your work than your own family! You’re overworking yourself and literally kick out your poor son whenever you get the chance.”

“HEY! Everything i do is for my son, you know that!” Howard remarked pointing a finger at him, “To give me a future i never had!”

“I know that!”

“So just let in work in peace, huh? You don’t understand what I’m doing here.”

“Oh really? Yeah of course, the futurist everybody! The last few years you have been so disconnected from everything. You barely go on date nights anymore with Maria or watch the stars with her, you don’t give Tony a bedtime story anymore and you just said it yourself—you forgot to pick him up at school!”

“It was a accident. Am i not allowed to make accidents as a parent huh? Everything i do is for my kid.”

“You just said that and i know. But Howard..” Jason sighed, “Tony doesn’t need any of this, he just needs you. You’re time and energy, that charming smile of yours to shower him in love! Not you working night and day, over and over again where you can’t breath or take a second of your time to relax with us. You’re forgetting sight of who you are!”

Howard growled, “Don’t! Don’t tell me how to raise my son, Jason. He’s not your kid, he’s mine! You’re just his uncle. As for Maria, you don’t need to defend her here, if she has a problem with me then she should just tell me herself!”

“That’s because she’s doesn’t care anymore! I’ve seen that women fight with you over and over again, to the point where she just accepted that, that’s the way you are now.”

“Yes I’ve changed JJ! People are allowed to change, that’s part of human evolution.”

Jason paced back and forth, turning around hearing Howard’s long winded speech about evolution and change. Howard leaned against his desk scoffing and dryly laughing, “You’re hilarious. This is all some joke to you right?”

“I—what did you just say to me?” Jason stopped and whipped his face toward him.

“This is a joke to you. You believe that your right here and I’m wrong, Jason. Just because you live here with us and know how this works, you think your right here.”

“BECAUSE I AM HOWARD! When was the last time you got out of here, huh? When was the last time you told Tony ‘I love you’ or took time to take Maria’s dancing or go bowling with me? Ever seen you started SHIELD, you’ve been noticing but a consuming jerk!”

“Is that really what you think of me? A jerk?! You don’t understand.”

“I don’t understand?!”

“Yes!”

“You weren’t acting one in the beginning, but the months and years after, yes you have become a bit of a jerk. One day you’re gonna regret what you’ve done.”

“I won’t.”

“You will!”

~~~

Both men were furious at this point, they have been yelling loudly and screaming for more than an hour, bringing up moments from their past. Some stuff was even throw on the floor at this point. That fire due to the years of love, the friendship and the curiosity was going out..or maybe the fire was already gone?

Howard grunted, “I’ve done nothing much work my ass off and made sure to investigate and invent things to make the world a better place. I’m doing what i think is right here! You just don’t see it!”

Jason scoffed, “Yeah and the world has hated you and thanked you for it! Must i remind me about what happened in 56’? Or in 46’, when you were committed for treason for holding glorified weapons and the whole state was after your ass? And we had to save yo—”

“Don’t finished that sentence. What do you want me to do, huh? Give me my lives work? I’m a inventor, if I don’t invent something or work my ass off, i will probably explode. I-is that what you want? What are you gonna do if i do continue this lifestyle? Leave me?”

“If i could i would take Maria and Tony somewhere else, away from you for a while, I would. But we both you would sent the best lawyers possible and god knows what after me, so I won’t. I won’t do that to you..or them.”

“Ah, you know me so well. And i know you..”

“You do and i love you for everything you do. But this…I can’t!”

“Jason..I can’t change what i do Jason, you know that! I just can’t. I’ve come so far and you just don’t see it.”

“Stop it!”

“Stop what?”

“You’re playing the pity card again. You don’t think Maria, Peggy, Jarvis and I don’t see it? We do! Hell, Tony see it!”

“So why don’t you let me do it? Leave me alone to do my work! I’m trying here. Look what at I’ve made and I can’t stop it now.”

“Yes you can!.”

“No, I can’t!”

“Look, I’m not exactly asking you to leave everything behind. But understand this, I rather you show Tony this world of yours, instead of shutting him out! All of us out. Take a break or..”

“Or what?”

“Or you’re gonna lose the people you care for the most…you know what? What’s the point? I can’t do this...”

~~~

The next words that escape Howard Stark’s lips came out of pure anger and annoyance, “Do what? You’re gonna leave me? If so, get out. You clearly don’t want to be here anymore.”

“You don’t mean that.” Jason replied with slight shock in her tone and blinked a few times.

“Yes i do. You don’t need to be here unless you don’t want to.”

“Howard stop it. Listen to what you’re saying! I care about this family too much to see it fall apart.”

“This is my family! Not yours. You don’t get the final word, i do.”

“You don’t listen, do you?”

“Enough Jason! Get out.”

“You’re gonna regret this! Don’t come complaining to me when you’re son hates you.”

“Get out! There’s the door.”

~~~~

If there one thing Jason Underwood was and that was persistent, so before he left. He said, “When are you gonna realized your greatest creation isn’t those weapons you made or SHIELD or anything related to that, it’s your legacy. Your son!”

“I’m not gonna ask again. Please go..I don’t ever want to see you again.” Howard said with a pissed off sigh, blinking a few times.

Those last words hit Howard hard, as he stood up finding one of his older cameras and place it securely on the tripod with a half smile.

One of his friends, the man he once called a love in his life, the uncle to his only son and supporter walked out of that door without a second chance to help his case. Howard sighed deeply with his head in his hands. He was angry, tired, and annoyed. A part of him knew that his friend was right. He’s a workaholic man with no respect or anything like that for other people, depending on the situation. Always focused on the world’s future, but not sure on the future he set for his family. His only concern was Tony and Maria. His greatest creation being his son.

Without a question later, he turned on the camera and started to film himself, try to speak again like the focused, honest and vulnerable man he tended to be. He decided on leaving his door open just in case his wife called or anyone walked in in general.

Meanwhile Jason was packing his overnight bag for possible a two day stay at Jarvis house. He already had a house in Miami but he was only willing to stay with Edwin and Ana for a couple of days to get himself straightened out before leaving for good. Maria tried to convince him to stay, even if a part of her agreed with her husband instead

But his mind was already set on leaving and possibly visit in the future. Jason ripped out a sheet of paper from his notebook and wrote a note to his nephew, one to Maria, as well as one to Howard. He played them secretly onto in places where they knew they’ll find them one day in life. To say Jason was hurt like this was a understatement, breaking up with a girlfriend was one thing but with your friend of almost 20 years or more.

All he wanted to do was save something in this family of theirs, but knew he couldn’t. And that’s what pained him, he wanted to scream and possibly cry, maybe even let out cloud of smoke out the window.

The men may have been on separate grounds of the house, pissed off and hurt from their two hour argument with one another, but they knew one thing. They still somehow had respect, admiration and compassion for each other, no matter how much hatred and annoyance came from that. A part of them knew it.

——

Over the months and years, their friendship grew sadly apart. Their friends knew it. And what made it more interesting is that they still saw each other, weather they liked it or not. At work, parties, gatherings, birthdays, graduations, a ceremony for some special they were invited to.

Howard would always being pushed to speak to Jason and vise versa, only ending up in small talk between the pair, then walking off to speak to other people. They would be found speak to family members but not one another, Howard even though of not allowing Tony nearby to his uncle for too long, would be better during those events.

It was plainly stupid on both of their parts, but they both had their rights to be angry and bitter. It hurts.

Jason always wanted and most importantly, tried to explain to Howard the situation, hopes for his forgiveness after that nightmare of a week. But Howard’s huge ego, witty jokes, stubbornness and willingness to hold a grudge never let him see the light…

—//—

I hope you all enjoyed this story. It was a long and a interesting one to write. Remember to like, comment and share

This was an AU tales of two friends I wrote a long time ago before the whole MCU x Agent Carter fic thing

Tags: @gaminggirlsstuff @triptuckers @ohgodnotagainn @msrochelleromanofffelton @gcthvile @drspencereidhotch @mandylove1000 @t-nd-rfoot @topgun-imagines @blackheart-beauty @meiramel @eliohasmyheart @rooster-84 @yetanotherwells @blueboirick and etc

[themculibrary]

Howard/Maria Stark Masterlist

12.16.1991 (ao3) - MelissaBosquez howard/maria, pepper/tony G, 213k

Summary: On December 16th, 1991 Howard and Maria Stark were killed in a tragic car accident. Or at least that's what their son and the world is left to believe. 25 years later, Helmut Zemo lures Tony, Steve and Bucky into a Siberian Hydra base to reunite a family...and use The Winter Soldier to destroy it once and for all.

OR

Howard and Maria were kidnapped by The Winter Soldier and forced to work for Hydra. Through a turn of events they are reunited with Tony, and Howard sets out to make good on the promise he made to himself when he was captured...to begin the long road of making amends with his son.

Ave Maria (ao3) - TheSovereigntyofReality G, 22k

Summary: Howard Stark meets a new secretary, Maria Collins Carbonell.

Desert Glass (ao3) - nicasio_silang M, 4k

Summary: Her father still isn't home. Her mother is dead, but Maria has her scarlet red lipstick, and her dark, clever eyes. She's made herself a ham and cucumber sandwich; she lies on her bed and takes small bites upside-down, the fission book splayed open across her stomach. She considers the life of the spy Howard thinks she is.

Important (ao3) - finx G, 594

Summary: The tale of Howard Stark and Maria Carbonell, and the child they left behind.

Is This A Matter Of Worse Or Of Better? (ao3) - myrmidryad N/R, 9k

Summary: Howard designs weapons and various other things she doesn’t understand for the government and the military, and Maria helps the people his wars leave behind, hurt and alone.

There is no symbolism in their respective careers at all.

Maria (ao3) - orphan_account T, 1k

Summary: Maria’s voice had long since lost the Italian accent from when she came to America. She had been bright and young, looking for a better future than plucking the grapes on a lazy day at the estate in Italy and managing the shipments of wine, but her carefully laid out plan had gone off the rails when she had met Howard.

She didn’t know if she regretted it yet.

(written for the bad things happen bingo, prompt: domestic abuse)

Maria Stark (ao3) - DragonGoesMoo T, 871

Summary: Just a short story about Maria Stark's relationship with her husband before and after Tony is born.

one more drink and i'll be fine (ao3) - irnan G, 2k

Summary: Maria Carbonell is too Italian to be a New Yorker and too American to ever be able to come home.

Parental Guidance (ao3) - FriendLey T, 16k

Summary: What if Howard and Maria Stark never died but are bored, retired parents worrying over Tony and nagging him to finally marry that charming girl Virginia, bring home some friends who is not just composed of Rhodey, and for crying out loud when is he going to give them grandchildren?

Promises to Keep (ao3) - blakefancier G, 366

Summary: Howard has made a lot of promises in his life. Some he's kept, others have been more difficult.

shooting the moon (ao3) - writerlily G, 3k

Summary: She meets him at a bar where she's far too young to be at. The girls had dragged her out for a night of fun, slabbing on makeup and bright red lipsticks, with outfits and heels that would make their mothers faint. Her group of girls have already dispersed around the bar to talk to men with a kind of sex appeal Maria thinks she lacks.

Stark Family Moments (ao3) - Ana (Anafandom) G, 9k

Summary: Random bits of Stark family interactions.

The Ballad of Howard and Maria (ao3) - StarkTony1 T, 3k

Summary: Snippets of how Howard and Maria got together

the circle ends. (ao3) - arabellagaleotti T, 17k

Summary: “What is your mission?” Madame asks her a week later, in a empty airport terminal.

Mariya laughs. It is high and delicate and when she bats her eyelashes right after it looks simpering and sweet, “to make Howard Stark fall in love with me.”

OR,

Maria Stark was born Mariya Chernov, from Russia. She was raised and trained in the Red Room.

Maria Stark was not just a housewife.

the silver age (ao3) - copperbadge howard/maria, anna/jarvis, bucky/tony, peggy/angie T/E/G, 87k

Summary: An alternate universe in which Tony Stark was born in 1950 and the Winter Soldier was recovered in 1967, after a failed attempt to assassinate Howard and Maria Stark.

The Woman King (ao3) - Zelos T, 2k

Summary: She could not pull him from the ocean, but she could, however little, from however far away, anchor him to shore.

Maria Stark, and why she stayed.

Where Ignorance is Bliss (ao3) - nowayhome howard/maria, obidiah/maria, carol/maria, peggy/daniel, ana/edwin T, 27k

Summary: Maria Collins Carbonell is a young woman in a man's world, fresh out of college and ready to take on the '60s with Obadiah Stane on her arm, until she meets an older and mysterious Howard Stark - who's on his way to change the world, and he wants to take her with him.

You know who I am (ao3) - feyrelay T, 1k

Summary: Basically, Howard Stark and Maria Collins Carbonell are made for each other, for all that he doesn’t deserve her.

[braveclementine]

Bonus POV

Warnings: None

Copyright: I do not own any Marvel characters or locations. However, I do own my OC Elizabeth Lightwood. I do not condone any copying of this.

"I bet he comes down as a chipmunk." Howard said, not unkindly as Maria filled his plate with eggs and bacon. His lovely wife smacked him in the back of the head with the newspaper, before handing it to him.

"Howard." Maria chastised. "What a terrible thing to say!"

"What?" Howard chuckled, "Chipmunks are cute. Small. A little fluffy. Have humongous cheeks to keep their nuts. . ."

Maria smacked him again, this time with her hand.

"Now you be nice to him, no matter how he comes down." Maria demanded. Howard might be the dominant in bed, but his soulmate was the one really in charge.

"Yes ma'am." He said.

"I don't suppose you want any of the french toast that I'll be giving him?" Maria asked.

"Only if it's got powdered sugar and maple syrup." Howard joked.

"Who do you think I am?" Maria scolded, bringing out tall plates of french toast, ends dipped in powdered sugar with cups of maple syrup to go with.

"You're the best." Howard said and suddenly they both heard footsteps on the stairs of the house.

Howard watched his son wake in, hair tousled.

"Morning Sweetheart." Maria greeted him lovingly. "I've already set a plate out for you this morning. Happy Birthday."

"Thanks mom." Tony said, pausing for a moment when he saw his father, before stepping and sitting in his chair, "Morning dad."

"Morning. I see you're still human." Howard said, folding his newspaper down to really look at his son. Recently, he was starting to remind him of someone he'd once met.

"Howard." Maria scolded him as she came in the room again, before turning to their son, "Now, what's the name of your soulmate?"

"Pumpkin." Tony said, "It sounds like a dog name."

Howard went to say, 'I knew someone who had a soulmate named Pumpkin' before he paused. So that's why the man had seemed so familiar without ever having met him. He was from the future, had been from the future. . . his own son.

He wanted to tell Tony in that moment. Wanted to say something, but what could he say? Tell him that one day he'd have two daughters and a son? He remembered the way, he nearly laughed now thinking of how the first name he'd come up with was 'Howard'.

He smiled now, thinking of how the future Tony had asked him why it would be so bad if his child turned out like him.

He felt a rush of affection towards his son. Maria caught his eye and he quickly said, "I was thinking a cat." Tony glanced at him and Howard continued, "Your mother was a cat. A beautiful white cat with fluffy fur."

"Okay, okay." Tony said quickly, shoveling bacon into his mouth. Maria came over, kissing Howard and he kissed back, suddenly feeling lighter than he had.

He didn't have to worry about Tony anymore. Tony had a set, successful future. He invented time travel after all.

"Bet you'll invent time travel son." He said. He wanted future Tony to know that he knew when Tony reached that point.

"Huh?" Tony asked, clearly confused. Maria smacked the back of Howards' head with a newspaper again.

Tony would be fine, he would thrive. And Howard would be reassured about this fact, until the day he would die.