Reunions
Tony was 10 when he first met Sharon Carter.
Aunt Peggy had brought her to his family home at a dinner party, as she had been taking care of her while Sharon's parents were off in a trip.
Tony had expected to find the at the time 8 year old playing with dolls and painting.
Instead she was playing with darts and a nerf gun in a target she had brought to his house.
And from the moment they first met, there was a connection.
Tony did not have siblings. He was supposed to have an older brother, Gregory, but he was still born. Sharon then became a sibling like to him. They spend a lot of time together, and Tony trusted her. She was his most trusted until Rhodey came along and shared the post with her.
They talked threw their problems. The most namely was when Sharon came out as a lesbian to him, before she told her own parents. She wanted to know if he would continue to support her even if her parents didn't (which of course, didn't happen, her parents didn't care about her sexuality at all, and if for some reason they did, Tony was ready to bit their asses, so was Aunt Peggy.)
He was there when she got in SHIELD's Academy, when she graduated as a Agent, he was also there. He helped her get to the CIA after SHIELD fell. She stood at his side at his worst. Like when his parents died, she was there with Rhodey at their grave.
He had been the first to call her when Aunt Peggy died.
Tony still regretted not being able to go to the public funeral. But he knew it was for the best. His presence was bound to get the attention, and he wanted the focus of the ceremony to be on what it truly meant to be about. Celebrating the life of Peggy Carter.
He did go to the private, secret funeral that the Carter family held. This time they didn't remember the Director of SHIELD or the great soldier. They all came to celebrate the Peggy they grew up with and loved. Sadly and bitterly, he remembers the funeral was delayed, courtesy of Rogers sending him to the hospital for months.
That was the last time he spoke face to face with Sharon.
Ross, the bastard, had used a agent of his and a face mask to disguise her as Sharon, and have her be the one that delivered Rogers both Barnes' location in Bucharest, and the shield and the falcon wings. Of course, the other Ross, the nice one, argued on his agent defense. While it was pretty easy to clear Sharon from the stealing the shield thing (she was after all, hospitalized after Barnes almost cracked her skull) the other was harder, and Thadeuss was not allowing her name to be cleared. Therefore Sharon had to flee and await for her name to be clear.
Thank god, Ross did not survive the snap. With the corrupt General gone, it was much easier to get it done.
And in hindsight. He should have known he was in Madripool.
After all, that's where the Carter family did.....their darker deals.
just like Tony and his father, Peggy never once claimed she was an innocent perfect woman. Sadly in the world that they live in, sometimes one must go over to the dark side of things in order to get the job done. She knew that, and she sometimes had to take deals with people that she clearly didnt want to get along with, to get everything done.
It makes sense for Sharon to follow that step as well.
So with that in mind, Tony was about to board the plane to get to his cousin. After that, he also had to do a stop at New Asgard, Visit Thor, Jane, and Bruce, and see how things are going there.
Some long days ahead of him.
"We are at level Boss. Should arrive at Madripool in 5 hours."
"Thanks Fri."
"So, this plane is remotely piloted." Yelena noted.
"Yep."
"Nice......you know, it didnt seem you were surprised when you learned where this Sharon was....who is she anyway, your girlfriend ?"
"Hahahaha, Sharon my girlfriend ? That's funny. Sharon is gay as fuck. Anyway, she is my little cousin. I've tried to find her ever since I returned, but on hindsight, I should have known she was here."
"Family business ? I mean I know of Madripool. How it is where the people with no morals make their deals. Dreikov actually used to send Widows to aid a Sokovian Baron here....Zemo I think was his name."
"Don't mention that man please."
"Ah yes, he was the responsible one for the whole Civil War thing."
"Yep. Though now that I think of, I guess he did do me a favor. And yes, the Carters came here to get information that the proper channels could not. My Aunt Peggy was known as the Power Broker here, and when she got sick, Sharon inherited that."
"The top boss around this place ?"
"That's the one. It was a multi purprose thing. It allowed them to get information from criminals themselves, and also monitor ate them. After SHIELD fell, Sharon spent some time here, getting information on Hydra, and sending it to Coulson. Sometimes she tricked Hydra goons here to go on buissness trips, that took them directly to enemy hands."
"Hah, nice one. So.....you are gonna let her know we are coming ?"
"Already sent the word, someone should wait for us there."
Sure enough, a car awaited for them at the AirPort.
Tony was not stupid. He had a suit at the plane, ready to be deployed if there was an emergency, this is Madripool after all.
They sat in the car without word, and the driver took them to a building in high town.
A man nodded at them at the entrance, and took them to the elevator. Where they got up to the highest floor.
They entered the apartment and the first thing they heard where......female moans.
"Oh come on Sharon." Tony whispered.
Another woman came in to greet them. This was the butler of the place, Maya Hinkchin.
"Hello Maya."
"Mr. Stark. Good to see you again. Ms. Carter will be ready for you shortly."
"Yeah I can see she is having fun."
"Yes, she is not quiet about it. In the mean time, I can offer you and your companion some dinner."
"Please do."
They waited for about 30 minutes, until Sharon finally appeared.
"Sorry for the delay, I was a bit....busy."
"Really, sorry for the delay. Is that all you gonna say after we thought you died for a month !"
"Hey, its not like Madripool wasn't affected with half of Earth just vanishing. Besides I thought you were dead as well ! Last I heard you went missing in space."
"Fair enough. Its good to see you alive Sharry."
"The same Tones."
The cousins hugged for a while. Feeling the familiar love they had, and the relief that they are both alive.
"So, who is your friend ?"
"Ah right. Sharon, this is Yelena Belova. She my new security chief after Happy.....you know."
"Ah.....well it is a pleasure to meet you." She said shaking her hand. "So Happy is....I did wonder why I didn't saw him with Pepper."
"Yep. So who was the one you were having fun with ?"
"Oh don't worry about her. Just a one night stand with the Power Broker. You know Aunt Peggy had to do things if she wanted information, Though to be honest this time I just did it because I needed a distraction, and Alexa is hot."
"And they called me the play boy......anyway, I am here with the good news. With Ross gone, we are close to clearing your name."
"Great. I was offended when Captain America was pardoned before me. Then again....he is Captain America."
"His reputation is in trash right now. And from what Rhodey told me, he almost had a heart attack when he heard he was not gonna be leading the Avengers anymore.
"I can imagine. So how long do I have to wait for my name to be cleared ?"
"Can take a week at most. I got one of the best lawyers at the job."
"Good, I can take care of some things over here....like dealing with Karly..."
"Who..."
"Someone who is bound to become a problem if she is not stopped. Well you guys can stay as long as you want. No one messes with this place."
They of course took her to the offer. But before Tony went to sleep Sharon grand him.
"So what's your deal with Yelena ?"
"What....there is no deal."
"Sure there isn't."
"There is no deal Sharon."
"Come on Tony. You hire her, despite being Romanoff's sister, and now you are bringing her around the world. It sounds to me like there might be something there."
"Hum."
"And you can't deny that she is very beautiful."
"I guess that part I....can't."
"See. I thought you were gonna stayed single after Pepper, but maybe I am wrong. I hope I am."
"It is a bit quickly to talk about a relationship with her, don't you think ?"
"Nope. I like moving fast after all."
They left Madripool and went to New Asgard next.
Sharon would also come back
Unlike before, Tony had no idea what to expect. He never had been on the old Asgard. The only two humans that had placed a foot there are Jane and Bruce. Both went in crisis times.
He knew Norway had taken them in, given them a peace of their land. Thor had been there since he came from space after killing Thanos, and had not gotten out. Bruce came and went, helping them as he could. Jane and Darcy were brought here for extra human support (Selving would have been called as well, but they guy was snapped) to help the Asgardians settle in.
It is a shame he would have liked to see the golden palace.
"So this is the new Asgard."
"A costal village. This actually looks quite nice."
"Yeah, that I can agree on."
The plane landed on a nearby airport, where Bruce was waiting for them.
"Brucie Bear, how is my favorite science bro !"
"Hey Tony." Bruce greeted his friend. "I've been doing good."
"And the green guy ?"
"He.....is still not coming out."
"Ah, shame. I wanted to chat with him."
"Me too.....so I assume this is your new friend and employee Rhodey talked about. Yelena ?"
"Yep, that's her. And this is the friend you brought alongside Thor right ? Valkyrie."
"Indeed."
"Sup." Yelena greeted her.
"Hey."
Tony and Bruce watched as the woman looked at each other.
"What do you think is happening ?"
"I don't know. Either they are becoming eternal rivals.....or best friends."
"Which one do you think will be more scary ?"
"Probably if they become best friends."
Thor was looking over at the ocean.
This was the spot Odin had died, before Hela and Thanos came and changed everything.
At the time, Loki had been standing right here, at his side.
But Loki is gone. For real this time. No tricks, no escapes. Death had finally caught him.
Which meant that Thor is the sole remaining member of the Asgardian royal family. It is up to him to rule his people.
He now knew that was so much more than fighting and adventures. He had to be diplomatic, to know when to use his words and deal with things with them. To always have his people's best interests at his mind.
If anything, he learned from Hela that Odin had failed to do that. His father was not who he thought he was. The biggest problems that Asgard had faced, all layed at his shoulders.
Thor would do better. He would be the ruler his father should have been, so that Frigga and Loki can be proud at Valhalla.
"Hey Thor."
Thor turned around and saw his fellow shield warriors and friends approaching him.
“Friend Tony, I am so happy to see you !”
“Like wise Poimt Brake” Tony said with a smile. "Things look to be going good."
"It has. Earth has been very welcoming."
"I am glad.....so, sorry about....well everything. Your father, your brother, your people."
"Yes.....Asgard has taken a huge hit. The strongest in our history. But we have no choice but too restart. Hela and Thanos have been slayed, the fallen have been Avenged. Now its up to those who remain to rebuild Asgard."
"That's good."
“What ?”
“What I did to you, on the Ultron incident was inexcusable, I shouldn’t have held you by the neck, you are my friend, I should have believed you when you said Ultron wasn’t your fault, your actions with Vision proved it, I am truly sorry my friend, I do hope you forgive me, I value our friendship greatly and would hate to loose it.”
Tony was shocked, he didn’t expect the god to apologize so sincerely to him.
But he can’t lie, Thor was a good friend to be around, he didn’t want to loose his friendship.
“Thanks Thor, all forgiven Point Brake.” Tony smiled
The two friends smiled at each other.
But then Thor asked another question.
"By the way.....do you happen to have your science equipment around ?"
"I always do, why ?"
"Well......something weird happened, when we recovered what was left of Mjornir and..."
Then, a figure landed at their backs.
Tony was stunned, it looked like.....a female version of Thor !
"What the..."
Then the person took off her helmet.
"Hey Tony."
"JANE !.......WTF !"