Let's bring on part 3! Yay!

Avengers: Astounded
Part 3: Elastic Heart
Chapter 21: Dream a Different Lie

"How did it happen?" Tony burst into the building the next morning, as soon as he was sure it was a logical time. It probably wasn't. The sun was barely up. Honestly he wasn't sure exactly what time it was. Other than early. But he had half paid and half snuck his way into the building and down the hall and into the doctor's office and the man looked really tired but Tony pressed him. "How?" He repeated louder.

The doctor spun around and looked at him, startled. "M… Mr. S… Stark…" He stuttered out.

"Peggy Carter." Tony said. "What happened?"

Silence. After a few minutes, the doctor sighed. He pulled his chair out from behind his desk and sunk down into it. "She fell asleep and her heart just stopped beating. Her monitor went off and we tried but she was already gone."

Tony crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly. "It was like… right, right?" He asked awkwardly. "Not like… foul play?"

Dr. Canns looked confused for a second. "Oh." He shook his head. "She was old. She was tired. It was just… her time, as they say." He let out a sigh and glanced at his phone. "I was just getting ready to call Mr. Rogers…"

"Don't!" Tony said quickly, interrupting him. "Please!"

The doctor tilted his head. "How do you know anyways? It's been less than three hours since I pronounced her dead."

Tony uncrossed his arms and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Her uh… phone's a prototype. It's programmed to return to me upon death."

The doctor let out a laugh. "That explains why we couldn't locate it." He said. "We wanted to find the number of her other friend, the scary redhead."

"Please don't call her either." Tony said, holding out his hands. "I live with both of them. Please, I will tell them. Both have been dealing with shit and I'd like to break it gently."

He didn't look convinced. "Well…"

"Former SHIELD agent and shit." Tony went on, like the doctor had been convinced. "She's probably supposed to have some giant special funeral. She was like a thousand years old."

The doctor was frowning at him.

"I'll talk to Director Fury." Tony said quickly, stepping back towards the door. "You just… do whatever it is you do with bodies until funerals, alright?"

Some arguing tried to follow. But Tony got his way. Tony always got his way. Most of the time. Okay. He sometimes got his way. What was important was that this time, he got his way. And he was going to be the one to tell everyone Peggy Carter was dead. His eyes slowly widened as he got in his car and pulled the door shut. Oh shit! He was going to be the one to tell everyone Peggy Carter was dead! Damnit! Why didn't he ever think things through?

He took a deep breath, turned the key, and sped off back to the tower.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Steve was sitting in the kitchen when Tony walked in. He had a cup of coffee in one hand, resting it on the counter, and his phone in the other. He was staring very intently at his phone. And he looked crushed. Tony's eyes widened slowly. Oh shit! He already knew! Stupid asshole doctor! "Hey babe." Tony said gently as he stepped towards him. "I'm so sorry."

Steve shook his head quickly and looked up at Tony. He blinked a few times. "What did you say?"

"I'm sorry…" Tony repeated awkwardly. "About… Peggy…"

Steve sighed and leaned back slightly. He dropped the phone on the counter and pushed his coffee cup away. "Did she call you too?"

"Call me… yeah…" Tony said slowly as he sat down beside him.

Steve sighed again. "She's persistent."

"Uh… yes she is." Tony said real slowly.

Steve didn't seem to notice. "She called yesterday and I didn't answer. She didn't leave a message and I feel horrible. I tried to call her just now and…" He sighed. "She's not taking my calls. It goes straight to voice mail. She's mad. I just know it."

Tony nodded slowly. "When was the last time you talked to her?"

Steve looked up at the ceiling and breathed out. "About a week ago."

A week? Tony couldn't believe Steve hadn't talked to her in a week. "What did she say that had you avoiding her calls?"

Steve shrugged. "Nothing exactly. She just asked me to visit again. I know that's what she wanted yesterday."

Tony bit his lip. "So… you didn't visit her?" Tony tried to sound… he didn't know. He just hoped he didn't sound worried and freaked and anxious and oh god! The man's going to be so upset and guilty and yeah, literally crushed.

Steve shook his head.

"Why not?"

Steve finally tore his gaze from the ceiling and looked at Tony. "She doesn't know I'm…" He lifted both arms and gestured to himself.

Tony stared at him a moment. Things slowly clicked in his mind. "She didn't… doesn't know?" He asked in disbelief. "Steve, you haven't visited her since before the attack?"

Steve let out an exaggerated sigh and shook his head. "I can't yet."

"Why not?" Tony pressed gently.

Steve looked down at the countertop. "I don't want her to see me like this." He said softly, barely a whisper.

Tony frowned slightly and leaned back. This was soooo not where this conversation was supposed to be going. He shouldn't have asked. He shouldn't have… he just shouldn't. "Why not?" He repeated, feeling very much like a parrot.

Steve shrugged again and didn't answer.

Tony was getting tired of his evasiveness. He wanted a straight answer. "She's seen you before."

"A long time ago."

"Are you… are you still… in love with her?" Tony didn't want that answer. But once the question formed in his head, he had to voice it.

Steve stared at him blankly for a moment. "Where did that come from?"

Tony stared back at him just as blankly. "You loved her when you went under. You woke up expecting a date."

"Yeah, I did." Steve said. "That doesn't mean anything."

"You're so afraid to tarnish her perfect image of you."

Steve crossed his arms and looked away.

"Are you still in love with her?"

"This is stupid." Steve mumbled."

"More than me?" Tony regretted the question before he even finished voicing it. He didn't want to know the answer.

Steve pushed away from the counted and stood up. "This is a ridiculous line of questioning." He turned to leave.

He should leave it at that, Tony knew. He should let Steve cool off and give him time to think. And then Tony should apologize and they could have make-up sex and everything would all be right in Tony World. He knew this. His brain and body just weren't working together. They were clearly out to get him. Tony followed after Steve. "If you hadn't been frozen…"

Steve rounded on him, interrupting. "If I hadn't been frozen, we would have never met." He snapped. "Or at least you would have been calling me grandpa long ago."

Tony physically cringed at that comment. "Steve…"

"Peggy is out of my reach now."

"Now." Tony muttered.

"What about Pepper?" Steve countered. "Pepper's still in your life."

"Pepper?"

"You still talk to her every day."

"About work." Tony said loudly, throwing up his arms. "She's running my business so I can be here." He hadn't meant to, but by the end, he was practically shouting.

"Admit it, Tony." Steve said just as loudly. "She's still an option for you."

"Option?"

"Yes." Steve spat, standing up on his toes slightly to get into Tony's face. "When you get tired of playing gay with me, you can go back to Pepper."

Tony's brain and body finally started working together. He turned and walked away without comment. He didn't stop. Didn't think. Didn't do anything but walk. Just move. He needed to be as far from Steve as he could before he said something stupid. Well… something else stupid. Something more stupid. Because holy shit! He just said a lot of stupid.

When he finally registered his surroundings, he was sitting at the controls of one of the Quinjets. He blinked a few times and shook his head. He couldn't exactly remember getting there. Or starting the jet up. Or opening the hangar doors. Oh god! Was there a giant hole in the roof? Fury would kill him! Yeah. He could get in line behind Steve. Tony let out a sigh and leaned back. "Jarvis…"

"Smooth sailing, sir." Came the even answer.

Tony took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Yeah, that was good. Really good. Like super good that he didn't crash or break or destroy anything.

"That was… weirdly weird."

Tony glanced over as Clint sat down in the seat beside him. He let out a sigh. "What did you do? Follow me?"

Clint smiled as he leaned back in the chair. "Yep. Heard the screaming down the hall."

Tony groaned. "Shit." He wasn't sure how many of them were home. He'd been too preoccupied to check.

"So when I heard you leave, figured someone should tag along. Don't want you breaking your own rules."

Tony switched on the reflective panels and the autopilot. He sighed and leaned back. "How bad do you think this is?"

Clint shrugged.

Tony rolled his eyes. "I know you have more to say than that. Give me your honest opinion."

"I think… something else is going on." Clint said. "Why'd ya keep bugging him about Peggy? You know he's a little… different right now. And she's… whatever she is. Why didn't you drop it? Why'd you even bring it up?"

Tony took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He was silent for a few minutes before he finally answered. "Peggy passed away last night."

Clint sat up quickly. "Shit." He breathed out slowly.

"Steve doesn't know yet." Tony went on. "I don't know if I should tell him."

Clint huffed. "You don't know if you should tell him?" He repeated.

"He's already feeling guilty about avoiding her calls." Tony said. "This is gonna drown him." Completely. Tony was sure of it. And he was terrified of it.

Clint nodded slowly. "Probably." He said softly. "But Tony, you have to tell him. You can't put it off. You have to do it!"

Tony sighed and rubbed at his eyes. "Yeah. I know, I know. I was going to. But then…" He leaned his head back on the seat. "The shit about him still loving her just came out. I don't even really care!" He sighed again. "Okay I care. But I don't care that much." He threw up his arms. "Okay! I don't care enough to quit him."

Clint smiled slightly. "And Pepper?"

"Pepper!" Tony groaned and slouched down in the seat. "Pepper is so not an option. She's dating someone else or something." He shook his head. "Honestly. She never really was. We were never going to go the distance. We were doomed to split. She wanted me to be something I can't be and I just… wanted…" He shook his head. "I never knew what I wanted until I looked into Cap's eyes."

Clint wrinkled his nose and shook his head. "This is all so… nauseating."

Tony rolled his eyes and looked away. "I didn't make you come."

Clint shrugged and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms behind him. "You sort of did, dude. Your rules."

Tony grumbled for a bit under his breath. He wasn't even sure what he said. Probably something mean about Clint. But he wasn't paying attention to himself. Although, he should probably not be mean to Clint. Yeah. Fine. Tony straightened up and glanced over at the archer. "So how are you doing?"

Clint turned his head slightly. "What?"

"How are you doing?" Tony repeated.

"What?!"

"Clint!" Tony groaned. "Have you gone deaf too?"

"Are you really asking me how I am?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Clint! Don't make me regret caring!"

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Steve felt bad. He did. But Peggy was a sore subject for both of them. It was weird for him. To him, he'd been in love with her a few short years ago. It was short lived, sure, but it was love. She'd been the first girl to actually look at who he really was inside. Not just for his outward appearance, both before and after. And after, she'd been ripped away from him. But she'd become a beacon of light in his growing darkness. He couldn't see himself without her. He didn't know himself without her. And he didn't want to.

He sighed deeply and closed his eyes. He decided. He'd call Peggy. He'd fess up and go visit her and make everything okay with her. After he made everything okay with Tony. "Jarvis, where is Tony?"

"Sir is aboard Quinjet C."

Steve opened his eyes and sat up on his bed. "He left? Alone?"

"Sir attempted, but Mr. Barton snuck on board."

Steve breathed out a sigh of relief and nodded his head. That was good. He was glad Tony wasn't alone. "Where are they?" He asked as he reached over and grabbed his phone off the nightstand. No messages. Not that he really thought there would be, but…

"Flying over the coast of Africa." Jarvis answered after a moment.

Steve shook his head and smiled. Yeah. That sounded about right. Steve contemplated Tony's eccentricities for a few minutes more and was highly considering crawling out of his bedroom to do something else. He wasn't sure what yet. Just something. And then there was a knock at his door. He paused. "Jarvis?"

"Mr. Wilson and Mr. Barnes."

"Come in." Steve said as he dropped his phone on the bed beside him..

The door swung open and the two men came in. "The ceiling said you were in here." Bucky said, crossing his arms and looking equal parts of bored and grumpy.

Steve smiled slightly. "The ceiling has a name."

"Jarvis." Sam said smugly.

"Whatever." Bucky grumbled, shaking his head.

"So we were wondering if you… uh… wanted to go… work out?" Sam said awkwardly.

Steve sat up slowly on the bed and glanced over at them suspiciously. "You heard, didn't you?"

Bucky tilted his head a bit, feigning ignorance, but Sam actually answered. "Yes." Sam said with a nod. And he earned a slap from Bucky.

Steve let out a sigh as he stood up. "Neither of you are doing this out of friendship. You just enjoy kicking my ass."

"Hey!" Sam said. "HEY!" He repeated louder. "Can't it be both?"

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

It was nearly four hours after the fight when Tony stepped back into the tower. His ears were immediately assaulted with Jarvis' nagging voice. "Sir, Miss Lewis has been impatiently waiting for your return."

Tony paused. "Who?"

"Miss Foster's companion, sir."

Tony rolled his eyes. "What's she want?"

"Hey dude." Her voice came over the PA system.

"Uh…"

"Darcy."

"Yes. I know that." Tony said, heading for the kitchen. "What can I do for you?"

"Can you hear me? Tony?"

Tony rolled his eyes as he turned to the coffee pot. It was just finishing brewing and thank GOD for Jarvis. "Yes I can hear you." He opened the cabinet and pulled out a cup.

"Really?"

Tony rubbed at his eyes and sighed. "Yes, Daria. For the millionth time. I can…"

"I like your ceiling guy." She said. "He's useful. And friendly."

"Daria!" He snapped, pouring a cup. "What do you want?"

"You better get up here fast."

"What's going on?"

"Jane…" Her voice cut out.

Tony sighed again as he took a sip of his coffee. He quickly downed half of it, refilled it, and then turned to the hall. He headed to the elevator and up to Thor's floor. He opened the door to see Jane packing up her equipment.

"Jane! We can't just…" Darcy turned as Tony walked in. "Hey!" She said with a smile and a wave.

Tony frowned as he stepped towards them. She couldn't be leaving. They hadn't found Thor yet. "Jane! What's going on?"

She threw a bag around her shoulders and picked up her suitcase. "We're leaving."

"Jane!" Darcy snapped.

Tony furrowed his eyebrows. "Why?"

Jane let out a sigh. "Because I have an actual job to do. And a life." She added sourly.

"What about Thor?"

"What about him?" She snapped. "He's gone."

"Exactly!" Tony said, setting his cup down a table. "He disappeared!"

She shook her head, looking around. "He's done it before."

"But he left his hammer here." Tony insisted.

"If something was wrong…" Jane said. "He would have called it."

Tony shook his head. "He wouldn't have left it in the first place."

Jane rolled her eyes and shook her head. "I don't know what to tell you, Tony."

"He wouldn't leave like that!" Tony stepped closer to her, blocking her. "He would have told us!"

"Well he did!" She snapped again. "He's not here! He left again!"

"The day Natasha got hurt? No." Tony shook his head. "No way in hell he'd leave without at least checking on her. They're like best bros."

Jane's eyes narrowed into a glare at the mention of Natasha. "You want to waste your life waiting for him to show up, fine. I'm done." Jane pushed past Tony and got on the elevator. "Darcy!"

Darcy shook her head slowly and shrugged. "Thanks for letting me stay here. It was pretty cool. I had a blast."

"Darcy!"

Darcy rolled her eyes and grabbed her stuff. "Later dude."

Tony shook his head slowly and headed for his workshop. "Jarvis, I want all the info and logs from Jane and Daria's work. Everything they did since they got here."

"Yes, sir."

Tony ran a hand through his hair as he stepped into the workshop. Dum-E immediately rolled over, the cat trailing him. Tony patted the bot and glanced down. The cat was sitting there, staring at him expectantly. Tony rolled his eyes and bent over to pat the cat on the head as well. Greetings over, the bot and cat zipped off, leaving Tony shaking his head. He just couldn't understand the weird relationship his robot arm had with his cat.

Tony let out a sigh and rubbed at his neck. "Jarvis. Where's Cap?"

"Gym, sir. With Mr. Wilson and Mr. Barnes."

Tony nodded slowly. That was probably good. Yeah. That was good. Steve needed time with his friends. Hopefully he'd calm down enough that Tony could apologize. And then break his heart. He shook his head. "Pepper sent over… something I'm supposed to be working on, right?"

"Yes, sir."

"Right. Pull it up and let's get started." Tony spent the next hour working on… work. Whatever it was. He was only paying half attention. Actually probably less. More like 15% of his attention was on whatever it was. Mostly his attention was on Dum-E and the cat. They'd come over to watch… and unsuccessfully help. Tony hauled the cat off his stuff and set him down on the ground beside Dum-E. "Go away." He said to both and turned to grab his coffee. He emptied the cup in one gulp, set it back down, and turned to resume working. And the Dickhead cat was back, lying on his stuff. "Dickhead! Get off!"

"Are you ever going to call him by his real name?"

Tony glanced up. Steve stood in the doorway, looking a bit hesitant. It was sort of cute. Tony shook his head and waved him in. "His name is Dickhead." Tony picked up a screwdriver and poked the fluffy demon.

Steve walked over and stretched out his fingers towards the cat. Not wanting to be forgotten, Dum-E rolled closer and bumped into him. Steve stumbled backwards a bit and laughed. "Not so hard, Dum-E. Not as big as I used to be." Dum-E dipped down a bit in apology and Steve smiled. "Go play." The bot and cat both zipped off once again and Steve leaned against the table. "You were gone a while." Steve said slowly.

Tony nodded. He pushed his work away and leaned back in his chair. "Clint and I got hungry. We ate in Italy."

Steve smiled, unfazed by the extravagancy of that statement. "I wanted to apologize, Tony."

Tony feigned ignorance. "For what?"

"For what?" Steve repeated, throwing up his arms. "For what I said earlier."

"Oh." Tony shrugged and stood up. "Don't worry about it." He said, shaking his head. "It's forgotten."

"Tony…" Steve started.

"Really."

"No." Steve shook his head. "I think we need to talk about this."

Tony sighed and reached out to grab Steve's hands. "Okay. Fine. I accept your apology. Now kissy time?"

Steve rolled his eyes but he cocked a smile. "Tony, seriously. I have some things I need to say."

Tony groaned. "Okay. Fine. What?"

Steve looked down at their clasped hands and smiled. "I know we've had a… weird start and I know Peggy is a sore subject for both of us but… I don't love her."

"Yes you do." Tony interrupted.

Steve looked up at him. "No." He shook his head. "I don't." His voice faltered.

Tony smiled slowly. "You do love her. You probably will always love her."

"Tony…"

"Everyone has a past, babe. And that's okay. You can love two different people. If you love two people." Tony added quickly. "But you can love Peggy."

Steve smiled and looked down. "It's… different. You…"

"I know."

"Pepper…"

Tony let out a sigh and squeezed Steve's hands in his own. "Pepper and I were in love once. But something changed. She wanted marriage and kids and a different life. I couldn't give that to her. And she… she couldn't give me what I wanted. I didn't know what I wanted… until you pulled my drunken ass into that elevator at the launch party."

Steve stepped closer to Tony. He pulled his hands out of Tony's and reached up and touched the older man's face. He stood up on his toes, making up for the few inches in height the mechanic now had on him. The kiss that followed was gentle and sweet, as Steve touched their lips together. Tony's hands fell to Steve's hips and pulled him closer. Kisses grew sloppier as Steve hooked his arms around Tony's neck.

After a few moments, they broke apart. Steve struggled to catch his breath for a moment. "Your room or mine?"

While they had fooled around a couple times in the workshop, Steve had declared never again when the last time Dum-E had thrown a fit. Tony had shrugged at the time. "He thought I was hurting you." Tony had said. "We'll just explain it." And Steve had adamantly said no.

Tony groaned loudly and threw his hands up. "Oh god Clint! Why?"

Steve jerked back. "Clint?"

"Do the right thing! Do the right thing!" Tony whined.

"Tony!"

Tony let out a sigh. "I have to tell you something. Bad."

"Bad?" Steve repeated. "What?"

"I was going to tell you this morning and instead I picked a fight."

"Tony…"

"And I don't want to lie to you or keep it from you."

"Tony!"

"But then with the fight and Clint and we were so hungry! And we got back and you were training and…"

"Tony!" Steve said loudly. "You're scaring me."

Tony sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "It's going to crush you and I…"

Steve grabbed his arm. "Tony. Spit it out."

"Peggy's gone!" Tony snapped.

Steve released him.

Tony spun around. "I mean… shit! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to say it like that."

Steve opened his mouth. His lips moved like they were trying and failing to form words.

"It was really sudden and quick." Tony added softly. "She went to sleep and just… didn't wake up."

Steve still didn't say anything.

Tony didn't know what to do. He leaned forward and gathered Steve up in his arms. Steve let him and said nothing. When Tony's parents had died, he got drunk and created Dum-E. His relationship with his parents was strained. But he did love them. He did mourn them. Just probably not in the healthiest way. But Tony knew Peggy represented a lot to Steve. She was more than a friend. And Tony didn't know what to do.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Author's Notes: Blah. I have no words. Just blah. Life is just blah.