Chapter 1
She had hoped. Hoped against the odds that they would find Steve in the Hydra stronghold. There had been a moment when she had been pressed against the wall by writhing tentacles, the breath crushed from her lungs. A moment when the Hydra Stomper exploded through the floor, where she had dared hope-
“Steve?”
“Sorry Cap,” Bucky’s voice had echoed out to her. “We only found the suit.” There was tension in his tone, anger, grief. He had hoped too.
Peggy grit her teeth. She did what she needed to do. Made the ultimate sacrifice. Pushed the beast back in, kept pushing. Only she didn’t die. She popped out the other side seventy years in the future.
Everyone she knew, everyone she loved was gone. Dead and Gone. And here was Peggy. Adrift. A woman out of time.
The punching back snapped off the support and slammed into the gym wall. Sand spilled onto the floor. Peggy huffed. Dabbing at her face with a towel and hefted the next bag onto the hook with one hand.
“Wow.” A voice startled her. She blinked in surprise. If she hadn’t been handed a file on Tony Stark a week ago, she would have mistaken him for a slightly older Howard. A trick. Another ploy to draw her back out into the world. “You go through a lot of those?”
He probably still was.
“What do you think?” She snarked. Not in the mood. Not today. Maybe not ever.
“I think that as… productive as this is.” Tony stepped further into the gym, looking out of place in expensive clothes and a pair of sunglasses. “You should maybe find a different outlet for all that destructive energy.” She levelled him with an unimpressed look. “Have you tried drinking?”
“Super Soldier, super metabolism.” She said, fighting back a huff of laughter at his incredulous expression.
“You poor soul.” He muttered, “Maybe something a little more durable. So you can really go at it.” he jabbed the air with his fists. His form was atrocious. “I could help?”
Peggy cocked a hip and raised a brow. “In exchange for?”
He spread his hands, “Nothing.”
“Nothing?” Poppycock.
“Well-” Tony rolled his neck. “I would get something out of it. Technically.”
She crossed her arms.
“It would be something new, different.” Tony waved as if he were shooing a fly. “I like a challenge.”
“I don’t need your pity.” Peggy said after a moment, turning back to the punching bag. Done with the conversation. “Or your charity.”
Despite her rejection, Anthony Edward Stark kept showing up, always without the company of his red and gold armored bodyguard she’d seen on the news. The intervals were random, as were where he would crop up. Sometimes he’d show up at her gym (like today), other’s her apartment. One memorable occasion he’d pulled up next to her while she was in the middle of a thirty mile run to whisk her off to a Broadway show. She’d stopped protesting openly when he started bringing food with him.
“So, you knew dear old Dad.” Peggy paused at the open sneer in his voice before delicately plucking the Mongolian off of her fork. “That’s generous.” Peggy huffed. “I wouldn’t say I knew Howard particularly well. We were acquaintances at best.”
“What a coincidence, I didn’t know him well either.” Tony was lounging on a weight bench with his feet propped up on a weight rack, tapping away at his smartphone. “Though I wager you got to see him before he tried his hand at domesticity.”
Peggy let her shoulders sag and head tip back in exasperation. “Why do you keep coming back, Anthony.” He hated being called Anthony she'd found. Tony went still. “Did SHIELD-”
Tony scoffed, a violent burst of sound. “I don’t work for SHIELD. Consult for them sometimes, maybe.” His tone was unusually callous. “They didn’t tell me about you.”
“Then-”
“I’m a genius.” Tony waved, easy demeanor falling back into place. A mask, but not worn for the reasons Peggy assumed he wore it. “I hacked their systems.”
“Howard never stopped looking for you.” He stood, brushing his pants off. “Not even for important family events...milestones.”
Peggy’s hands curled into tight fists.
“Talked about you all the time.” He continued, swinging his feet to the floor. “I grew up calling you Aunt Peggy.” He tugged at his lapels. “I wanted to know what the hype was about.”
He left.
The secretary at Stark Tower stared up at Peggy, smile dimming slightly. “Do you have an appointment, Miss-”
“Captain. Captain Carter.” Peggy corrected her.
Her headset beeped and her expression brightened again. “Oh- well. You can go on up. Please make your way to the northside elevators.”
Peggy found herself waved past security and into a glass elevator that moved much too fast.
“Captain Carter.” A British voice chimed in from the intercom. “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Jarvis. I am Mr. Stark’s personal assistant.”
“The pleasure is all mine, Mr. Jarvis.” Peggy greeted back, eyes trained on the speaker.
“Mr. Stark is currently wrapping up a meeting. But has requested you wait for him in the penthouse.”
“A meeting?”
“Stark Industries board meeting, quite dull I’m afraid.”
She hummed in response.
Tony’s penthouse was open and bright. Something out of a Sci-Fi novel. Glass walls, sleek designs. It felt impersonal. Unlived in. Rumpled blankets on the couch and a coffee cup in the sink the only evidence someone spent any time here at all.
“Sir is inbound.” Jarvis stated. Seconds later the elevator chimed, revealing Tony. Tie undone, shades tucked into his breast pocket and two coffees in his hand.
“Cap.” He aimed a smile that she’d seen in the news at her. He’d never called her by her title like that before. “Coffee?”
“No.” She demurred. “Thank you.”
“That’s right, you prefer tea.” He muttered, with a shrug. “More for me.” He dropped onto his couch gracelessly. “How can I help you? Need a restaurant recommendation?”
“No, the internet is rather helpful on that front.” Peggy reassured him. “I wanted to thank you, for your company over the past few weeks.” He opened his mouth and Peggy shot him a look that had him snapping it closed again. "And apologize."
Surprise flit across his face momentarily. "Come again?"
"Let's try this again." She stood in front of him hand outstretched. "Hello, Anthony. My name is Captain Carter. I was a friend of your father's. It's very nice to make your acquaintance."
He grinned grasping her hand and pulling himself up. "Call me Tony."
"Peggy."