A/N: I know, I have other stories that I should be concentrating on. But the plot bunnies, they've taken over since seeing Captain America: Civil Wars. Not really a crossover so much with the Avengers as it will touch on a lot of the MCU. I'm planning to throw in just about everything, including the kitchen sink. So, in the next few chapters, look for a lot of familiar faces, everything from The First Avenger to Agents of SHIELD.

For now, see if you catch a little drop which directly references events in Civil Wars. One characters words of wisdom, as it were.

A Death a Night

As the Director of SHIELD, getting late night calls was par for the course for Peggy Carter. So hearing Agent Fury's voice at nearly one a.m. wasn't off-putting. But what he said shook Peggy to the core. "There was a car accident reported to the authorities in upstate New York, Ma'am," he said.

"And what of it?" the crisp British accent asked back, only mildly sounding tired.

Fury hesitated, something that sent a shiver down her spine before he even spoke a word. Nick Fury was a superior agent. She saw a bright future for him, maybe even the directorship. Hesitation had never been his nature. Then, after a moment, he continued. "The victims...it was Howard and Maria Stark."

"Howard…? How is…?"

"I'm sorry, ma'am," the voice replied quietly.

It had been a long time since Peggy felt like she'd received a gut punch. She was only grateful that she was sitting down, because she knew she would have collapsed to the floor otherwise. "No...Not Howard." A flood of memories overcame her. They had been friends for nearly fifty years. They had been through so much, met their spouses and been parents in that time. It was unfathomable that he was gone.

"There's more," Fury continued, interrupting her thoughts. "While the locals think it was a simple accident, Stark losing control of the car and slamming into a tree, our guys have found some inconsistencies."

"What about Anthony?" Peggy asked, ignoring what he had just told her.

"Their son wasn't in the car," Fury answered patiently. He may be tough guy, but Peggy knew he was letting her absorb the news. Yes, that sounded right. Howard had told her he and his wife were going to the Bahamas for the holidays and Anthony had begged off, which had annoyed his father. Howard knew he'd get up to no good while they were away.

"Thank god," she sigh, though she knew it would be a devastating blow to the young man, who so the image of his father it hurt Peggy sometimes. That piece of news easing her heartbreak, she continued with what was at hand. "What are the inconsistencies?"

"The fatal injuries aren't consistent with the scene, the techs here confided in me. Mr. Stark...both victims have scrapes and bruises on parts of their bodies that our guys say they couldn't received from the accident." He took a breath. "Full autopsies will be conducted by SHIELD as soon as possible to verify this."

Peggy nodded. "Alright, I will inform Pierce, Carson, the World Security Council…" Her mind was going a mile a minute, trying to process everything that needed to be done. Then a thought occurred to her. "Has Anthony been told?"

A sigh came from the other side of the line. "I honestly don't know."

Peggy nodded. "I will make a few calls. Keep on top of this. Also, I want this to be seen publicly as merely an accident. If there is anything more nefarious, we will conduct a quiet investigation. Is that clear, Agent Fury?"

"Absolutely ma'am. I will see to it personally."

The call ended and Peggy at last allowed herself to succumb to tears. "Damn you, Howard. I really believed that you would live forever!" she shouted, her cheeks wet. It was still stunning to her. Never in a million years would she think this would be how the great Howard Stark would come to an end, smashed up on the side of a road. He'd been egocentric, vain, stubborn, driven, and yet, he had been there for those nearest and dearest to him Except his son, a dark thought intruded. Anthony, as only she was allowed to call him (he extended the courtesy to Mr. Jarvis, but the proper English butler never permitted it himself), was every bit his father's son. That had been the reason they had always been at loggerheads since the day Anthony was born. Both were mechanically brilliant and both knew it. It was only Maria who could bring them together.

Peggy was still surprised any woman had tamed Howard. She knew, off-hand, the number of conquests Howard had made in his youth. But once he had set his sights on Maria, he was gone. Daniel had made a number of comments over the years about the spell Maria had placed on Howard to win him. But Peggy knew it was nothing like that. She had come into his life at a time when he was coming to realize the starlets weren't taking as much of a shine to him as they used to. Maria, nearly as brilliant as Howard himself, was able to catch and keep up with him for the same reason Howard had briefly been smitten by Whitney Frost when they were investigating her in '47. She had a brilliant mind. Yes, it didn't hurt that she was blond and beautiful, but Howard truly needed a keen mind to play off. And, since Peggy had never succumbed to his charms, he found them elsewhere.

She shook her head, trying to disentangle the memories that she was using to delay the inevitable. She had a job to do and a great deal of information to sort through. She decided the first thing to do was to find out if Anthony had been informed. SHIELD and all their muckety-mucks could go to hell until then. That led Peggy to try to make a painful phone call. No, she decided eventually, this was something that needed to be done in person.

It was a two hour drive in the middle of the night, but she made her way to the Stark mansion in Westchester County, by way of a surprisingly alert driver. Already, there were a number of cars parked along the winding driveway. Most looked official, as various authorities were on the scene. Once her car stopped, she exited as quickly as she could, wanting to get to her friends.

Upon entering the house, she saw Edwin Jarvis first. The older man, who had worked for Howard longer than even she had known the eccentric millionaire, was the picture of utter desolation. He was sitting in a chair in the foyer, utterly blank, his gold-handled cane set against an ornate side table. A medical technician was in front of him, kneeling on the floor. Peggy could tell the EMT was checking over him, as news such as this could have resulted in serious health issues for the a in his eighties. She went over to him and placed her hand on his shoulder, sighing in relief when Mr. Jarvis was given a smiling nod.

"Mr. Jarvis," she said, her voice little more than a whisper.

It took a minute for him to turn his head and look up at her. "Miss Carter," he answered her, droplets escaping his eyes. He was the only person who still called her that.

She slowly knelt down next to him, placing her hand in his. The tears had returned for her as well, as she struggled to find her voice. "Anthony?"

"Young Mr. Stark...I don't even know where he is. I know that the police came to inform him...of his parents. But, that was quite some time ago. I have not seen him since," the aged butler told her. "He...he must be here...somewhere."

Anthony wasn't her main concern at the moment. Peggy didn't even think Mr. Jarvis had been this distraught when his beloved Ana had passed away from cancer eight years ago, so he had her full attention for the moment.

All of a sudden, the butler looked at her. "There is something not right with this scenario," he said. Edwin Jarvis knew Howard the best of any of his acquaintances, and she was unsurprised he had already made that deductive leap. "Mr. Stark was a natural, be it behind the wheel of a car or the stick of a plane. They say he lost control. But...it makes no sense."

Peggy thought for a long moment about what Nick Fury had informed her about when he made his initial report. Mr. Jarvis was right in his suppositions. But, for as much as Jarvis knew about his employer's covert activities, Howard had, in the last twenty years, taken great pains to keep his family out of SHIELD. He had seen Peggy do it for years after she and Daniel had married and had their children and he was determined to do the same. And Jarvis was much more than an employee. He and Ana were just as much Howard's family as Maria and Anthony.

Also, Howard still felt, as did Peggy, a twinge of guilt for what had happened to Ana in 1947. The other woman, as sweet as always, continued to try and assuage them all by saying, "This is God's will," taking to being a second mother to the young Stark boy, as she would never have children of her own. They had adored each other, and Peggy remembered the fourteen year old trying to hold back the tears at her funeral.

She squared her shoulder, putting on the face she wore as the Director of SHIELD. "Howard was many things, and not as young as he used to be was one of them," she said, trying to lead him off the path he was starting on. "I spoke to the police as I was being driven here."

"So you will accept being driven around now, Miss Carter?" he asked archly.

"When you are the director of an intelligence agency, at any age, you accept being driven around," she replied, frowning at him. "From their report, it seems as though he simply lost control of the vehicle. Nothing more." She hoped that was enough.

"You do not, for a second, believe that yourself," he retorted straightforwardly. "And do not lie to me. Your agency is in this house this very moment, going through Mr. Stark's files, cleaning out whatever he has that they do not want made public." He was indignant. "Very well, keep your secrets to yourself. It will come to no good end." With that, Mr. Jarvis seemed to have recovered. "You'll want to see you-Mr. Stark." With that, he was on his feet, fetching his cane and gesturing for her to follow him as they searched the grounds for Anthony.

They found him in the lab in the basement of the mansion. It shouldn't have surprised Peggy. So like his father to put his mind to use to cope with tragedy. It was how so many of Howard's inventions had begun, including Project Rebirth.

He must have heard them approach because he turned as they walked in. Peggy was not sure what his state of mind would be, it was quite surprising to her to see tears in his eyes. That was a trait he got from his mother. It was rare for anything to bring tears to Howard's eyes. Peggy heart broke even further as she opened her to the young man and he fell into them.

Next up: THOSE IN THE KNOW. There are many important people who need to be informed, but Peggy makes them wait. As Howard's death becomes public, she is swept up in memories, scrutiny and conspiracies. And there's a young man who needs her attention.