This is gonna be a oneshot.
There are no second chances in life.
Tony got one.
Steve got one.
It didn't work out for both, but Tony's sacrifice was the reason Steve got his chance.
And he saw Peggy staring blankly outside from her window and he gave her a small wave and his little guilty smile.
I'm here for the dance.
He could spend an eternity watching Peggy stand up and gawk at him again and again, but the future lured him to walk towards the window, where both raised there hands tenderly to the glass, wondering if this was real or not, cherishing the faces in the glass and the tears.
In this moment of happiness, Tony's face hits him like a train. He had a family too-
But he is already a wreck. What more can a train do?
He watched Peggy carefully, copying her features in his sketchbook. Light came in harsh waves from the windows and fell tenderly over her face. She was on the phone, face beaming with true happiness. She was beaming.
She clutched the phone tightly in her hand and covered her mouth with one hand, chuckling with relief.
"Its Howard. He just had a son."
Steve froze.
"Would you like to meet him?"
...
"Steve?"
He is already out of the house.
Maria managed to look calm and ladylike even in the hospital. One of the nurses had brushed her hair, so it fell gracefully over her shoulders. She looked weakened, but her demeanor didn't change. Howard stood up as soon as he saw Steve. Peggy smiled as a greeting and began to speak.
Steve heard none of it.
He was looking at the baby in the crib. Small, brown orbs blinking curiously at hi.
Should I apologize?
"We were just thinking of naming him-" Maria began.
"Tony." Steve ended.
The whole room stared at him.
Howard laughed, "That's Steve for you." He turned his gaze to the baby," Anthony. Tony for short."
And Steve just turned to the baby again, wondering what to do. His thoughts were messy, each bubbling up and down, waiting to be chosen.
But, just to begin, he gently picked up the baby and hoped he could make things right.
Tony was laughing, head resting in Peggy's lap. Steve found it strange how Tony spent more time at their house than his own, but nobody minded. They were hurt from the future and healing in the past.
Tony was seventeen now. He was infatuated with his machines and had inherited his mannerism from his father. But with Peggy, he simply became a small child once again.
His life at school had been rough; he came back with a broken nose on the first day. Strangely, no on bothered them after Steve heard their names.
Steve dexterously worked his hands over his sketchbook. He wanted to capture all these moments. Peggy and Tony seemed to enchant the air around them.
"- And then the girl emptied her glass on Rhodey!"
" Did you fight the girl"
"No, I befriended her." Tony mumbled, suddenly red, and began to twirl Peggy's hair falling next to his face.
Steve began to laugh.
"What was her name?"
"Virginia."
Steve closes the sketchbook. He wants to spill everything, "She's gonna be your wife!"
But he has to let it play out.
He gently put the sketchbook on his tables, the calendar beside it fluttering...
December 17 1991.