Tony went up his room with a drink. He didn't mean to take his anger on Howard. Not right away, at least. Tony knew Howard down there at the basement wasn't the same person as the one who raised Tony. Not yet, anyway. He doesn't even know he got married!
He sat down on the couch, sipping his drink. He grabbed the remote control and turned on the video.
An older Howard Stark appeared on the screen, and he started to speak about his accomplishments. About the future. Tony fixed his eyes to the screen, remembering what Howard was like.
But then, Howard in the video suddenly changed his tone.
"Tony, you are too young to understand this right now, so I thought I would put it on film for you. I built this for you, and some day you'll realize that it represents a whole lot more than just people's inventions. It represents my life's work. This is the key to the future. I'm limited by the technology of my time, but one day you'll figure this out. And when you do, you will change the world. What is, and always will be, my greatest creation... is you."
He hasn't watched the video since 2010. It hurt Tony, for him to hear those words through a video not in person. Even on the night of Howard Stark's death, he called Tony a failure. He told him he was very disappointed in him. Tony sometimes wondered if the person in the video was really Howard.
But Howard was right. Tony Stark figured it out. He invented the Iron Man. He became the Iron Man.
As Tony sipped his drink, there was knock on the door.
"…Go away, Steve," Tony said.
He wasn't in the mood to talk. But the door opened, and a man walked in. It was Howard.
"Let me talk to you," Howard said, sitting beside Tony on the couch.
Tony didn't say a thing. He just grunted and looked at the paused video. Howard's eyes shifted to the screen.
"…Is that me?" Howard asked.
"Yeah, and you aren't supposed to see that," Tony said, as he was turning off the video.
"Well, I'm not supposed to be here, so what's the point?"
Howard looked at Tony. He looked so much like him. Now he knew he was his son, but there was too much resemblance there. He wasn't surprised that Tony built this entire tower and much more. He would've done the same. He was the one who built the time machine.
"…How did you find me here?" Tony asked.
"Natasha, she told me."
Tony swore he would get back on Natasha one day. She must know he does not want to be found right now. She did this on purpose.
"…I understand if you are not happy to see me. And I'm sorry for not being a family man. I don't know what kind of asshole I was in your life, or what kind of asshole I will be. I never thought I would get married, so it's not quite surprising if I didn't take care of my family. But I am not that person, not yet. And I promise you, I'll try to be a better father this time."
Howard looked at Tony hopefully. Tony wanted to refuse him, but the words did not come out. This was the second time that Howard said something nice to Tony. First time was the video. Tony couldn't help but get emotional a little, because he finally heard the words he wanted to hear when Howard was alive.
"I…I just wanted to be your son," Tony said as his voice broke.
"You are, Tony. You are. I'm proud of you," Howard said, hugging Tony.
.
"…I can't believe what I am seeing," Peggy said, as she was looking out the window.
She was on the 30th floor of the Avengers Tower, where the guest bedrooms are. She put her face on the window and took the breathtaking view in. There were tons of skyscrapers and buildings, among them the Avengers Tower being the tallest.
"Welcome to the future, Peggy," Steve said.
Down in the basement, Peggy told him that she was from 1956, where S.H.I.E.L.D. was already founded a few years back. She said millions of people attended Steve's funeral. "America's Greatest Hero," they said. As Peggy told about what happened after his "death," Steve couldn't help but feel guilty a little bit.
"It must've been difficult for you, Steve," Peggy said as she turned around from the window. "To adjust to this new world."
"There were some hard times," Steve admitted. "But most of them were good. Better technology and all that."
"I've been here for like an hour, but I can definitely agree on the technology part," Peggy said with a smile.
The elevator made a ding- sound. Both of them turned around, and Bruce Banner stepped out of the elevator with a cup of coffee in his hand.
"Bruce, you missed it," Steve said.
Bruce looked up with confusion, then he saw there was a woman standing next to Steve, in the '40s clothing.
"What did I miss, Cap? And who's this? Your girlfriend?"
"No…Peggy…she is not my girlfriend," Steve said with a nervous laugh. "This is Agent Peggy Carter, the one I told about back in the '40s. Peggy, this is Dr. Bruce Banner, he's a scientist like Tony and is also known as the Hulk."
They shook hands. Bruce, thinking about what Steve just said, asked with a confused look on his face.
"If she's from the '40s, how is she here?"
"Howard built a damn time machine. And we were being chased by some HYDRA agents," Peggy answered instead of Steve.
"Howard… Howard Stark? He's here, too?"
Both Steve and Peggy nodded.
"I hope Tony's okay with that," Bruce said. "You know, he wasn't a very good father to Tony."
"Too late. They already had a fight," Steve told him. "It was more like Tony yelling at Howard. Howard was very surprised at how his future son reacted. But after Natasha and Clint gave him a tour, Howard went up to see Tony, so I hope things are better now."
"…They are better, Cap."
The elevator dinged again, and this time, Howard stepped out of it. Bruce couldn't take his eyes off of him, since he looked so much like Tony.
"Howard. Where's Tony?"
"He's still up there, but we are on good terms," Howard said. "Who's this?"
"Bruce Banner. Mr. Stark, it's a pleasure to meet you," Bruce held out his hand. Howard shook it.
"Wow, Cap, you have quite of a team here," Howard said.
"We call ourselves the Avengers. We've been together since 2012."
Steve said with an embarrassed laugh.
"Can't believe we're actually in the future," Peggy said.
"I can't believe I met my son," Howard said. "…And you, Captain. Never thought I would see you again alive."
There were some tears in Howard's eyes. He has spent last 11 years to find Captain America. He never thought he would come to the future, but he did find him. The time machine did its purpose.
.
ASGARD.
Heimdall was standing in front of the gate, guarding the Bifrost sword. It's been 2 years since Thor gave up the throne, but Heimdall couldn't relax. He knew, the one who was sitting on the throne right now as actually Loki, not Odin. He also knew Odin was alive down in Earth.
The reason he didn't do anything was because surprisingly, Loki turned out to be a good king after all. At least on the surface. Asgard prospered, and people were happy. Thor visited Earth a couple times between past 2 years, but he spent most of his time up here in Asgard.
"…It's peaceful, isn't it?"
Heimdall turned around. Thor, with his armor on and Mjölnir in his right hand, was walking up to him.
"Your Highness," Heimdall said.
Thor stood next to Heimdall, flipping his Mjölnir around.
"Who thought my brother could be such a great king?"
There was some sadness in his voice, and Heimdall looked at Thor.
"You would've been greater," Heimdall said.
Thor shook his head.
"I disagree. Come to think of it, I've never given Loki a chance to be good. Maybe this is his chance. I've checked on Father a couple of times. He's quite happy where he's staying, actually," Thor said with a chuckle.
"…So you are going to let him be?" Heimdall asked.
"…As long as he doesn't cause trouble to my people," Thor answered.
At that moment, Heimdall shuddered.
Thor looked at him with concern. He knew something was wrong.
"What happened? Did Loki do something?"
Heimdall shook his head.
"No, it's not your brother, Your Highness. It's something else."
.
NEW YORK.
"Guys, you have to take a look at this."
Tony walked in to the room everyone was in. Natasha and Clint joined Steve and others shortly after Howard met Bruce.
"What is it, Tony?"
Steve asked, sensing some uneasiness in his tone.
"After Dad and I talked, I was looking through history of his work. From S.H.I.E.L.D. to Stark Industries. And the thing is, I couldn't find most of the information on them. As I was watching the videos—they disappeared," Tony said.
"…But they did happen, right? You remember them?" Natasha asked.
"Yes, it's like they are being erased from history. Maybe something to do with HYDRA finding Dad in the basement."
"Howard, what exactly made you to invent the time machine? There's gotta be something," Steve asked, while looking at him.
"…I did it to bring you back, Cap," Howard said.
"Well, maybe in the past you messed it up and time machine was never created. Or, HYDRA never found out about it," Tony suggested.
As everyone was wondering why this happened, there was a loud bang behind them. When they turned around, Thor was standing there.
"Took you long enough," Tony said.
"We don't have time to talk, Stark. Earth is in danger," Thor said, walking up to them.
"…What happened?" Bruce asked, dreading to know what Thor's answer would be.
"Time Breach. We have to go back in time to fix it."
