[01] THE FUTURE

"Did Washington get the library card?" Harley Davis asked as she spun around the disk on her personal DJ booth in her apartment.

"Yes, yes, he did." Peggy smiled fondly at the memory. "It's satisfying to see the look of shame and embarrassment on the librarian's face when she knew that I don't tolerate such actions."

"Serves her right." Lizzie Braddock said from her spot on Harley's beanbag, a cup of tea in her hands.

     It's 2017 and Peggy is still adjusting. Everything Peggy had fought for with her army back in the 40s could be seen in the future. There are great institutes that offer education for all sorts of things ranging from arts up to astronomy--Peggy finding it in awe that they already went to the moon. There are also big opportunities for everyone, no matter what race and gender you have. The rise of technology got her mesmerized, from the giant and clear flat screen televisions, eco-friendly vehicles, and so as the devices such as her new Stark Phone that she got.

     Somehow, as much as Peggy loves the future, she couldn't escape that fact that she's alone; without her lover and their baby boy. After getting out of the portal where the giant octopus alien monster of some sort has taken her, Peggy has met Director Fury and Agent Barton when she got out of it. They explained her that she's in the future, which got her devastated. She has no idea where or what happened to her boys. She didn't ask for details from Fury and Barton yet, nor to this SHIELD agency that helped her, about their whereabouts. She needed to clear her head first.

     Two weeks after she got out of the portal, she was called to a meeting with Director Fury, exiting the confinement of her fair quarter that the agency provided and to a large room that serves as a meeting room. Agent Barton was there, next to a red head woman with piercing and confident eyes. There are three others who are there too, which are Howard's son Anthony ("Aunt Peg, just call me Tony."), another agent called Agent Hill, and a tabby cat sitting on the table. They're telling Peggy the establishment of SHIELD that Howard made right after she disappeared. Somehow, Peggy was not listening, only snapping out of her thoughts when the other occupants in the room started bantering and quarrelling about a topic. Peggy tried calling their names but they continued quarrelling. She had enough and slammed her fist against the table, making it crack and the others to shut up and look at her. The men has the look of fear and embarrassment in their eyes, while the women, including the cat, looked at her in amusement and awe.

Peggy cleared her throat and tucked her hair behind her ear sheepishly. "Pardon me, but am...am I still a British citizen?" She asked.

Everyone looked at each other before Tony said, "Yes, yes ma'am. You still are."

"How about the bank account that I made since 1940?"

Anthony looked at his Stark Pad. "You still have it, Auntie. You can still open it."

Peggy let out a sigh of relief. "That's good. If you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way." She turned around, scraping some of the cracked pieces of the table on the floor as she exited the room. They didn’t follow her out, too stunned to speak nor move.

     The woman gladly accepted the change of clothes that SHIELD had given her in her provided quarter, which was put in a big suitcase that Anthony made. She looked at the shield warily but decided to leave it behind. She had a feeling that they'll want her to give it to them anyway. Peggy walked out of the quarter she's stationed in for the past weeks, making her way to the exit. Some agents looked at her in awe and she just gives them a smile but continued walking.

"Captain! Captain! Excuse me, ma'am!" The voice of Agent Barton said as he skipped towards her just as she's about to enter the main lobby of the headquarters. "Ma'am, please stay. I know what you're going to do. You don't have to fly all the way to UK or go back to Camp Lehigh. We could accommodate you here at SHIELD just like what we did in the past two weeks."

Peggy looked at the shorter man, ('shorter than her little boy', she tried to contain her tears) and smiled. "Thank you, Agent, but I cannot adjust to the new era if I cannot see how it looks like." She said.

Agent Barton looked at her in awe. "Well, if you say so, ma'am. I couldn't stop you even if I tried?"

"You're right about that, Agent." She chuckled.

"Please, ma'am, my name is Clint." He grinned.

"Well then, Clint, thank you again. I just need space for myself, alright?" Peggy said, subconsciously using her 'Mama' voice.

Peggy swore she saw his eyes turned hopeful and in awe, just like how James would be whenever she uses that voice on him. "I- Yes, ma'am." Clint said with a slight cough. "May I please at least lead you to the other exit? You're actually going to enter the main lobby where a bunch of other agents can bombard you."

"Alright, show me the way."

     Two months had passed and Peggy absolutely adores the future. After Agent Barton had successfully brought her to the safest exit, she had managed to withdraw a fair amount of cash, which was a bit of a struggle when you have to tell them that you're Margaret Carter. She came up with a cover that she’s a relative and she’s given details on ‘Captain Carter’s’ wills, which includes access to her bank accounts.

     Anyways, there she was now in London, living her life as simple as it should be for the span of six weeks. Peggy had managed to find a nice little apartment in Soho. No one suspected of her being Captain Carter yet, aside from the lovely college student across her place named Harley Davis. She's a dark skinned young lady that sports a very elegant afro that’s abit bleaches on the tips, and she’s also a part time DJ. With a new home and lovely neighbors, Peggy then decided to find a job that could help her spare her time and so as for extra income for the future. Hey, you never know in this modern era.

     While finding a job, she has gone to try new foods too, going from one establishment to another. There are so many foods from different countries and cultures to choose from, and Peggy has tried all of them, loving each and everything. She was glad that SHIELD's not following her or anything. Well, they could be disguised as normal people, but at least they're not like bothering her or anything. It took her around a week to finally get a simple job at a mall where she arranges stuff around. The first few establishments didn't take her because they're either overstaffed or she just couldn't fit right in their businesses, not in a bad way.

     She's a tall, beautiful, muscular woman, and as much as Peggy assured that she's capable and would love to do such simple jobs, the managers had told her adoringly that there's no way they're going to let a woman like her wash the dishes, or call for errands like get coffee, etc. There’s a small bookshop in Soho near her apartment building that is being managed by a lovely middle aged man, who’s apparently living with his ‘pet snake’, and Peggy has offered to dust and rearrange books there, but the man said that it’s not necessary. Although, Peggy is very much welcome to come back and have tea with them next time she’s not busy.

     Peggy's somehow glad that the mall there is newly opened and they're actually looking for a couple of staff to work. She could've worked in the British Museum, but no, she considered it, but no. There's no way Peggy will work there only to see everyday a section dedicated for Captain Carter and her Howling Commandos. (There's a Smithsonian and British Museum gallery dedicated for her.) What Peggy loves in her new job was the fact that she gets to meet new people. The other staffs are nice and so as her managers. They don't like Peggy for her tall and muscly stature. They love having her around and her vice versa.

     Within the span of another new week into her new life, she has managed to create a consistent routine. In the morning, she'd go for a run around the streets of Soho and go to the local gym where she lift weights and practices her shadow boxing skills and other combats. There may have been one or two occasions where she had punched off of the chain the punching bags that she's using, resulting her in replacing those, which is just easy for her. The owner of the gym just laughed it off and somehow made it a challenge for others to try and beat her current record of five minutes. After her exercise, she would of course take a shower and then put in her work clothes, tying her hair in a ponytail with a blue scrunchie that has white stars on it. There's this cute little diner a few blocks away from her place where she met this lovely blonde waiter named Angie Martinelli. She reminded Peggy of Steve as Angie's from Brooklyn, and her accent made Peggy miss him so much. Also, the food there is lovely, so there's that. She would always order a big breakfast for her supersoldier metabolism. Angie has became her friend that she has gotten used to Peggy eating almost five plates of waffles and two to three cups of tea. Sometimes it would be pancakes with bacon, but hey, Peggy brings money to the business so she doesn't have a say in it really. After a heavy and delicious breakfast, Peggy would then go to her work for the next 6 hours of the day. She doesn't do much except for arranging stacks of items on racks at the toys section of the store, putting on hangers or folding clothes, grabbing shoes for a customer as it's easy for her to reach those in their stocks, and a bunch of other errands. The supersoldier serum in her veins is what's keeping her going, and so as her healthy and happy relationship with the other staffs. There would be times where she's cleaning shelves or helping a child look for their guardian or be at the toy section to reach for a toy they want.

     That reminded Peggy of her life back in the day. She misses Steve and his small stature as she's able to cuddle him like that. She misses her little boy Jamie as he'd definitely love that stuffed toy seal from the toy section that she bought. She misses her boys dearly that at some nights she would wake up crying, the reality hitting her hard as she knows they're not there with her. She's trying, for her boys.

     Peggy's neighbors are very lovely, as what I've been telling many times in the past paragraphs. Harley is a very nice kid. There's also a newly moved neighbor named Elizabeth “Lizzie” Braddock. She's actually someone from Peggy's work and was looking for a new apartment, and the one next to Peggy's was available. Now, the three ladies would hang out together every Friday. Peggy hasn't told them about her being Captain Carter, well, not until this very Friday where Lizzie had somehow pieced it together.

"I cannot still believe you're Captain Carter!" Harley gushed. "I mean, I have my own suspicions because you look familiar, but hey, that couldn't be a coincidence, right?"

Lizzie laughed and sipped her tea. "Captain Carter is my childhood hero. My Great-Grand-daddy would tell me stories from a history book dedicated to you. Also, with all the weird stuff happening these past few months, it shouldn't be that surprising that the Captain herself would travel into the future." She said logically. "You just don't disappear into thin air from 1943 and reappear again in 2017. There are a lot of conspiracy theories going around the internet, but I think that one Reddit user that had the time-travel theory just won."

Peggy doesn't understand some of the things that Lizzie said, but nodded along at the time-travel part. "In a way, you could put it like that. So, is there anything you want to know besides me and my boys?"

     Peggy has told them about her lifestyle with James and Steve, and the two are okay with it. Apparently, that kind of lifestyle is a bit popular these days, not only does it help people have stronger relationships; it also helps them psychologically, depending on their way of doing it. The people who do it are not that very vocal about the topic, but if you're really interested, they'll help you and probably teach you. Harley knows some of her college batch mates who are into that stuff and had covered it like it was a 'sugar daddy or mommy' type of arrangement, but Harley knows it never got sexual as the 'adults' doesn't see their baby as a sex toy or anything. They’re just sad lonely people who just want company and someone to spoil. Lizzie has knowledge about these lifestyles and has taken a keen interest in some of the aspects but soon got bored and thought that she's just curious but not really wanting to do that. They have co-workers who had worked at what they call a 'dungeon' of some sort, but in reality it was just a secluded cozy space for their lifestyle. Peggy has discovered that there are people who offer to be temporary Dom/mes and would pay well for their amount of time spent together in every ‘appointment’. Again, it never gets sexual, which is what Peggy wanted, but the fact that it satisfied their needs and fantasies got her intrigued. Right now, she enjoys her cup of tea with her best friends Harley and Lizzie.

     On the third month, Peggy was called by Director Fury to come to SHIELD HQ in New York. She received that from her Stark Phone which she seldomly uses, only for texts and calls, and for 'emergencies' that is a call to go to SHIELD. Peggy got the call when she's having lunch at her work. She's eating with Lizzie and had to get excused to answer it.

"Director," Peggy greeted.

"Captain, sorry to interrupt your lunch, but we need you to come to SHIELD asap." The one-eyed man said through the phone.

"Wait a minute, how did you know I was having lunch?" Peggy asked authority in her voice. "Are you spying on me, Director?"

Peggy couldn't see it but Fury kind of sound sheepish on the other line, "No, Captain. We just checked your phone's location through one of Stark's satellites a few minutes ago to know where you are."

Peggy looked up at the nearest security camera and squint her eyes. "What can I be of service, Director?" She asked, eyes not taking off of the CCTV.

"We need you to go back to SHIELD as we wanted you to work in the field with our top agents. The rest of the information shall be given once you arrive here. Stark has a private plane waiting for you at the airport. You won't miss it; it has his name on it." Fury said.

The British woman paused for a bit before answering, "I'll just have to talk to my manager." Peggy said and ended the call.

     Peggy returned to the staff room to finish her lunch with Lizzie. The magenta-haired friend looked at her questioningly and Peggy told her. She could trust Lizzie. The other one nodded in understanding, asking if Peggy needs company to go back to New York. Peggy thought about it but then shook her head which Lizzie accepted and just bid her a safe trip. Peggy talked to her manager if she could take a few days off. He agreed but also telling her that she'll be having extra shifts depending on how many days she'll be gone. Peggy agreed. She likes spending time there and some extra shifts won't hurt.

     With that, Peggy arranged her things and got home early to prepare a bag. The supersoldier told Harley about her departure and she agreed to look after the apartment while Peggy's gone. As soon as Peggy got a bag ready, she locked her apartment, giving the keys to Harley, and went on her way towards the airport. Just as what Fury said, there's a private jet there at a special section of the terminal, Anthony waving from the door of the plane. Peggy smiled at her enthusiastic nephew.

"Aunt Peg!" Anthony said, hugging the taller woman as they entered the jet, signaling the pilot that they're ready to take off. "So, how's adjusting been?" He asked when they had situated on the comfy seats and Anthony had poured her a glass of fine wine.

Peggy gladly took it and sipped. "It was great, Anthony. A bit confusing at first, but it was great."

"That's good to hear. I had to convince Nick not to monitor you 24/7 for the past two months." Anthony said, taking a sip of his own wine.

Peggy shook her head. "Thank you, Anthony. Say, you never told me about your father." She asked as she felt them taking off of the ground.

"Ah, yes, Dad. He's brilliant, actually." Anthony said. "Also, just Tony is fine, Auntie. You know, Dad had told me so much about you growing up; you and your boys."

Peggy tensed a bit but didn't show at Tony. "What was Howard like? Being a dad?" She asked curiously, as the man himself is just as mischievous as her little Jaime back in the day.

     Howard, despite not regressing like James, sure does act like a brat at times, making Peggy put him into place when Mr. Jarvis isn't around or had lost him.

Tony smiled. "He's the best. He was pretty much devastated when you disappeared, all of them are. He put time and effort in trying to find you and created SHIELD just for that purpose, until he met Mom and they both adopted me."

Peggy let her eyes widen in confusion and awe. "You're...Howard adopted you?" She asked, heart swelling in pride thinking of Howard taking care of Anthony despite not related by blood.

"They have my big brother, Arno, at first, but he's got a lot of complications when he was born, and Dad has announced about having a son to the press." Tony said, as Peggy snorted at Howard showing off to the world about his family, but smiled when he treasures them. "They didn’t want to expose him to the media due to him being so sick. So, they went to an adoption center and saw me, and now I'm Anthony Edward Stark. That whole thing took a lot of covering to do, but Mom and Dad said that it was all worth it for their two boys. Arno was still in the page, pretty much alive at this point, but he's glad that he doesn't have to be in the spotlight. Sadly, Mom and Dad passed away due to a car accident a few years back. Arno and I would go take turns in managing the business. He became the CEO while I do the engineering, although he insists that the name under CEO could still be me because he really never wanted to show his face to the media. We managed to do that for the past 30+ years." Tony talked more and more and Peggy eagerly listened.

Fury shook Peggy's hand as soon as the woman entered the briefing room. "Thank you for answering the call, Captain. Please take a seat."

     Peggy scanned the room and noticed the other people in there. She remembers Agent Barton who is next to Agent Romanoff and Anthony. Peggy could tell that there might be something going on here but doesn't comment it. Fury has two people that Peggy just saw today sitting beside him. Fury introduced them as Agent Coulson and Agent May. Peggy noticed that Agent Hill and the tabby cat weren't there.

"With the entire introduction done, I would like to formally give you back your shield, Captain." Fury said, nodding at Agent Barton as the man handed Peggy a round leather bag.

Peggy opened the bag and saw the shield, newly polished and it seemed like it had new features. "Is this the same shield that I left before?"

"Yes, ma'am. Stark had modified it for you, added some magnetic straps for better access and so as polished it." Fury said.

Peggy nodded at Tony with a smile. "Thank you, Tony."

"No problem, Auntie Peg." Tony said, leaning on his chair.

"I’m sorry but why are you giving this back to me? I left this here so that you could keep it." Peggy said, putting the shield back in the bag. "I was hoping you would find another one to take on the mantle." She said truthfully.

     To be honest, Peggy really wanted to rest from being Captain Carter. She love and willingly would protect the people, but it's just not the same without her boys fighting alongside her. Peggy looked up at the people in the room as they give her sheepish grins.

"We kind of thought about that for the past months, Captain." Agent Coulson said. "But with all due respect, we want you to be the leader to this new initiative that we've been planning since a time back in the 90s."

     Agent May handed Peggy a file as Fury opened up a holographic projection in front of them, Peggy looking up in awe and wonder. James and Steve would've loved to see this, she thought fondly. What's even got her intrigued was that Fury started swiping and pressing the projector with his bare hands? Wow, the future really is something.

"We call it The Avengers Initiative." Fury said as the words lit up on the projector and showing a couple of footage around the globe. "Earth has been under a lot of... experiences during the times you've been gone, Captain. Believe it or not, we've got almost one or two encounters of extraterrestrial invasion three decades ago."

"These creatures are called Skrulls." Agent Romanoff said, walking to the projector and pointing at the green creatures that have pointy ears. "They can shape shift into anyone and can mimic their memories and mannerisms. They went to Earth in hopes of propagating their species and to colonize the human race, but they found that it is easier for our species and their kind to just bond together. The relationship between Skrulls and human race was peaceful ever since."

"That's good to know." Peggy said with a smile and then opened the folders in front of her.

"That's the whole plan for The Avengers Initiative. We created that special forces right after Captain Marvel left the Earth. We might need some enhanced and skilled individuals that can be as powerful as Captain Marvel." Fury said, watching Peggy flip the papers.

"Who's Captain Marvel?" She asked as she arrived at a file that shows a blonde woman. "Carol Danvers..." She read.

"She's a human turned Kree, gaining extraterrestrial powers after an incident concerning the other species. She's now traveling the galaxy to help other beings, but she left Fury a pager if her help should be needed." Agent May said from her seat.

"These are the files of Agent Barton, Agent Romanoff, Anthony, and some scientist named Dr. Bruce Banner." Peggy said, putting each individual file on the table.

Agent Barton had a look of surprise in his expression. "Wait, what does this mean?" He asked curiously, not wanting to get his hopes up.

Fury put his hands on the table, determination in his eyes. "In order for us to create the initiative, Coulson, May, and I had talked to the council and they can only approve it if there's a team of candidates willing to be a part of this initiative. The three of us has agreed to put two of the top SHIELD agents which are you, Agent Barton and Romanoff, Stark's technical and engineering smarts, Dr. Banner's brawn and doctorate. The only one left was the team leader with enough experience to handle highly trained individuals into big missions such as an invasion for example."

Peggy looked from the papers. "And you're telling this to me because..."

"We want you to be the team leader. This initiative shall start its progress once you've consented to it, Captain. We've seen your progress through Agent Braddock, and we thought that after two months, it is the good time to offer you right after you get adjusted or at least well situated."

"Thank you for considering my time, Director. I appreciate it and...wait." Peggy trailed but then stopped when she realized what he said. "I'm sorry--Agent Braddock…Lizzie!?"

     Peggy skimmed through the files in front of her, already reading the first 16 pages out of 47 that tells the terms and conditions in the initiative. So far, she's agreeing to all of it and letting out soft hums of approval. Meanwhile, out of the corner of her eye sat Agent Romanoff, Agent Barton, and Anthony. They're talking amongst themselves while Anthony has a holographic projector in front of him, showing a blueprint of schematics of a building of some sort. Fury, Coulson, and May all had left the four in the meeting room as they went to Coulson's other team for a new mission at an island. Agent Romanoff, or Natasha as what the redhead said her name was, is telling off Clint about their previous mission. Peggy didn't mean to eavesdrop, but her enhanced hearing could pick up their conversation.

"Do you have any idea how reckless that was, Clint?" Natasha scolded the now sulking blonde.

Clint slouched on his chair with his arms crossed over his chest, a pout on his scrunched up face. "That worked fine, Tasha. I'm not even that injured."

Anthony let out a snort. "By 'not that injured', did you mean getting only two broken ribs instead of four, a sprained leg instead of a dislocated joint, and a small gash at the back of your head instead of your forehead getting stitched again? Oh! And no broken nose this time which is kind of new." Tony pointed out, a hint of sarcasm and scolding in his words, not looking up from his projector as he swipe away.

Clint huffed. "I'm fine." He said with a small crack in his voice, hugging himself and feeling fuzzy.

Natasha noticed the change of body language in Clint, making her demeanor go soft. "Hey, little hawk." She said in a caring voice, which surprised Peggy because that's very impressive.

     Almost like how she talks to her own boys.

Clint looked up with teary eyes, making Natasha coo. "Sit up properly for me, sweetheart." She said, patting his knee.

Clint obeyed and started fiddling with his thumbs. "Are feeling small, birdie?" Tony asked as he crouched down to the blonde's level, rubbing his back for comfort.

"No..." Clint said. "Just...upset." he admitted, curling onto himself and managed to take the whole seat with both of his legs tucked tightly on his stomach, arms around himself and face buried on his knees as he tried not to cry.

"Why are you upset, birdie?" Natasha cooed, ruffling his hair lovingly.

"You're mad." Clint sniffled softly, making Peggy's heart clench and for her maternal to instincts to kick in, but did not move and let Natasha and Tony handle the situation. "Don't like it when you're mad."

     Natasha and Tony looked at each other with knowing looks. As much as the little agent deny his headspace, they could see that he's dropping because they're upset at his actions and they know their little boy tend to drop when he feels guilty and fussy. Tony turned off the projector and picked up his very upset boy. Natasha watched and cooed as Clint softly sobbed into Tony's neck as they exited the meeting room. The redhead then turned her attention to Peggy, who had discarded the files on the table and watched fondly at the three.

"Oh, I'm sorry for looking. I couldn't help it. You three look so adorable." Peggy said, smiling at Natasha.

Natasha smiled back and sat on the table, this time very near to Peggy. "Clint has gone through abuse when he's not yet at SHIELD. His way of coping with the trauma is to avoid it by—"

"—by dropping into a safe space of an innocent child." Peggy finished the sentence. "And you don't hide it away from others?"

Natasha shook her head. "Not exactly. Most agents know about Clint having outbursts and tend to act childishly, but they just thought of it as a part of his personality. Everyone who is close to Clint knows about his regression; that includes me, Tony, the directors, and a few other agents that Clint has a drill schedule with. It doesn't bother them, which is good."

"That's wonderful. I just wish we could've done the same with James." Peggy said, now sad that she's thinking about Steve and their Little boy.

"I know about that." Natasha blurted out like it's nothing.

Peggy turned to the redhead with a surprised look. "You do?"

Natasha nodded. "Believe it or not, I am already over 70 years old." She chuckled.

"Do you mind if I ask...?" Peggy trailed,stunned at the revelation.

"Not at all. Not at all." Natasha shifted in a more comfortable position. "After you disappeared in 1943, I am proud to say that your boys had done a fantastic job in the next two years, successfully ending it. I don't know the full details because I was around five years old at that time, but I get to read it through files and rare footages. I never met them and I never heard anything about them ever since. They could've gone for a new life and new name, we never know." She narrates. "I...I was taken from my real family." Peggy sat up at that. "I was then taken to this facility called Red Room where a group of people raise little girls to become assassins. I was their best assassin; their best ballerina. The reason why I looked so young was that they have this thing called Cryo Chambers where they store your body in ice, making you have a deep slumber but for decades. Since I was their best Black Widow, they wanted to keep me as long as possible, only unfreezing me when I have a special mission. The only thing I tolerate there was to keep my little sister safe, and with the help of The Asset. He’s the one who taught me everything I know today. We never saw his face because it was always covered in gas masks and his hair was way too long."

Peggy took Natasha's hand to comfort the redhead. "I'm sorry you have to go through that, Agent Romanoff."

"Natasha is fine, Captain. Also, I quit years ago, when Clint was tasked to take me down. He was still a rookie SHIELD Agent. A damn good one too."

"He was tasked to assassinate you?" Peggy asked. "Also, just Peggy is fine, love."

Natasha smiled at the pet name. "Alright, Peggy. Well, Clint was supposed to take me down, but he made a different call. But that's the cover story we both made."

"Why is that?"

"He dropped in front of me." The Russian simply said, making Peggy nod in understanding. "He was getting pressured by his batch mates, him having pride and ego and that was lit up when Coulson would always dub him as 'his best student yet'. Clint has a thing for praise and would indulge every compliment he could get, even if that means taking dangerous risks just to make his handlers proud."

Peggy tutted. "Does Agent Coulson know about it?"

"He does, and he's definitely not happy about it. Phil treasures his agents like they're his own kids. He may have taken Clint as his favorite, but Clint took that as something to boast about. When he dropped in front of me, he was crying and hyperventilating. He's having a mind battle. He said he couldn't kill me because he could see potential in me and I could be a part of SHIELD, but then he didn't want to disobey orders because he doesn't want to disappoint Phil and Nick." Natasha said, Peggy realizing how the spy was so fine calling Director Fury and Agent Coulson by their first names, and also now wondering what kind of life Clint had before joining SHIELD.

"It's so nice of you to step up for him. I also had the same urge to take care of James when Steve and I rescued him from captivity. He's been the happiest boy I've seen ever since. There are time where he has his moments, but that doesn't stop us from loving him nonetheless." Peggy said, a fond look on her face. “ What about your sister?”

“Her name is Yelena. She’s at a mission right now and is stationed in the SHIELD facility in Russia.”

"How about Anthony? He's also a part of your little arrangement, right?" Natasha laughed.

"Ah, yes. That's a funny little story, actually. Tony was known as a playboy and would go around and hook up with anyone and everyone." Peggy frowned a bit at that, until Natasha followed with, "Which are all assumptions by the media because Tony could be seen with different women or men at different occasions, of which are taken at night. It didn't help the situation because Tony's love language is physical touch. Most of the paparazzi photos that was taken of him where him having his arms around the waist or like him giving a kiss on the cheek. There would be ones where he's seen holding hands with someone, but really that's just him. About his virginity, I have nothing to say to that because he kept that one part privately, which we all respect."

Peggy let out a sigh of relief. "That's good to know. How did he end up in your relationship? Was there something more to it?"

"Oh, yes, and no. Everything is platonic from the very start. Clint never went to the point to call us Mommy or Daddy like yours, only Tasha and Tony, sometimes he calls Tony as Bubba or Da." Natasha said, waving her arms for more emphasis. "Clint dropped in front of Tony when they're at Tony's lab, fixing his arrows. Clint wasn't supposed to touch the ongoing projects there, but when he got shocked on a live wire and got a massive burn on his left arm, Tony scolded him while bandaging the injured limb. Clint cried the whole time as Tony told me the whole accident. Of course, Clint got into a little bit of trouble, but it was worth it because Tony decided to join us and would constantly mother hen the little hawk."

"Hey, I absolutely do not mother hen." The engineer said as he walked towards the two women. "The little hawk is fast asleep in his nest. I had to give him a couple of smacks for not cooperating and almost kicked my face when I tried to put him down. He's awfully small these past few days." Tony said, adjusting a purple radio on his belt loop, tossing a quite similar one to Natasha.

She caught the small radio and put it on her belt loop too. "See? I told you he's the mother hen." She teased, looking at Peggy.

     Peggy snickered as Tony rolled his eyes. The three talked more about their lifestyles. Peggy couldn’t wait to discover more of the future.