Pepper stared down at the scrap piece of paper in her hand, feeling the immense weight of trust that the person who gave it to her had placed in her. On it, there was a phone number written in an elegant scrawl with a name above it: Betty. It made Pepper sad to think that the phone call she had been asked to make may deprive Bruce of a chance at happiness with the woman. But, she knew that the fate of the entire universe could be at stake if she didn't follow through with her promise. So, she picked up the phone on Tony's bedside table and dialed the number.
As the phone rang, she stared in confusion at the overturned scotch glass and small puddle on the carpet that had not been there the day before. She wondered about how they had gotten there.
Finally, the ringing stopped and a voice came over the line. "Hello?" it asked.
Pepper cleared her throat, nervous. "Is this Betty Ross?" she asked.
"It is. Who is this?" came the reply.
"Ummm..." said Pepper, unsure how to proceed, "You don't know me. My name is Pepper Potts. I'm a friend of Bruce's?" The statement came out sounding like a question.
"Oh?" Betty replied, curious. "He's not here right now. He's gone out to get some food, but he'll be back soon. I can tell him you called."
"I actually didn't call to speak to Bruce, Betty. I called to speak to you," Pepper said. "I was hoping that you would do a favour for me."
"You want me to help? You don't even know me," Betty said.
"Oh, but I do. Bruce has told me wonderful things about you," Pepper said, scrambling to craft a story that the woman would believe. "He thought we'd get along. He told me that if I ever needed a favour I should call you. That you were one of the most reliable people he knew." Pepper cringed at her own terrible lies. She was worse at this then she thought she would be. She should have asked Bruce more about Betty first, but the man had looked so distraught just thinking about the woman that Pepper hadn't wanted to upset him. She was regretting it now.
"Bruce said that?" Betty asked. "Wait, how do you know him again?"
"We've know each other for years," Pepper said. "since we were children. I'm sorry to disturb you Miss Ross, I just did something rather silly and I was hoping you could help me, for Bruce's sake." Pepper decided to see just how much Betty cared about Bruce.
"Of course!" said Betty, "anything for Bruce! I'm just surprised, that's all. He's never mentioned you and he didn't tell me to expect your call."
"He doesn't know I'm calling you," said Pepper.
"He doesn't?" asked Betty, confused.
"No, see that's the thing. I sent him a letter. Of a very personal nature. If you know what I mean..." Pepper trailed off, hoping the woman would come to her own conclusions.
"A letter?" asked Betty.
"Yes, a letter. I wasn't exactly sober when I wrote it and mailed it," Pepper explained. "It says some things that could potentially make things complicated between us. I regret writing it and I need to make sure that he doesn't read it. I was hoping you could keep and eye out for it and intercept it for me."
"Oh," said Betty. "Of course. I can understand that. We've all done things when we've been drinking that we've regretted."
Pepper breathed a sigh of relief knowing that the woman had bought her story and would destroy the letter. Her relief was short-lived.
"Are you sure though?" Betty asked. "Have you thought it through?"
"What do you mean?" Pepper asked. "The letter is extremely honest and would make things horribly uncomfortable between Bruce and I. I would hate for it to ruin our friendship."
"As I said, I do understand that. I just..." Betty trailed off and Pepper could sense that the woman was collecting her thoughts on the other end of the line. "Bruce is a wonderful man. He's kind, and thoughtful. I want to make sure that by intercepting your letter I'm not destroying something that could make him happy. I don't want to speculate because he's never talked about you but are you so sure he doesn't feel the same way?"
Pepper didn't know what to say to that. She hadn't been expecting it. "I..." she said.
"I know Bruce," Betty interrupted. "I've know him for a long time. Watched him and puzzled over him. I know he can be a bit of a mystery. He's good at hiding his thoughts and emotions, but deep down he's a sensitive man. Things affect him deeply, more than most. You said that the letter you wrote was honest. Why is that a bad thing? If you felt the need to express your feelings to him, even if you were drunk, isn't it worth putting it out there and dealing with it rather than continuing to lie? I know he would appreciate the truth."
"He doesn't feel the same way," said Pepper, asserting herself.
"Even so, don't you owe him the opportunity to decide that for himself? To have all the information?" Betty asked. "It doesn't seem fair to me to ask me to just destroy something that isn't mine to destroy. Or to get involved in something that's none of my business."
Pepper knew that she needed the woman's help and was running out of time to convince her. "I'm married," she said, hoping that would do the trick.
"Oh!" said Betty, surprised. "Oh," she said again, understanding. "Well, that is a different situation then." Pepper could hear the sadness in Betty's voice. "I suppose it would only hurt Bruce to see it then. Even if..." she trailed off.
"Even if..." confirmed Pepper.
There was silence on the line for a moment. "Right..." said Betty, "I will intercept your letter then. I'd hate to see Bruce's feelings hurt," she said.
Suddenly, Pepper couldn't help herself. "Betty?" she asked, hoping the woman wouldn't hang up the phone.
"Yes?" Betty asked.
"You love him too, don't you?" Pepper asked.
"I don't..." Betty tried to say, but Pepper interrupted her.
"Are you sure about that?" Pepper asked. "It sounds like his happiness is important to you, and like you care about him a lot. More than just as a friend."
"Even if I did though, it doesn't matter," Betty said. "Bruce is..." she trailed off while looking for the right words and Pepper could hear the wistful sigh in her voice.
"Don't you think you should give him all the information and let him decide?" Pepper prompted.
Betty chuckled to herself. "I suppose we'll see, Pepper," she said. "Consider your letter destroyed."
"Thank you, Betty," Pepper said.
The pair said their goodbyes and the call was over. The dial tone was the soundtrack to Pepper's thoughts as she returned the phone to its cradle. Betty's words about honesty and allowing people the right to make their own decisions rang out again in her mind. She knew that what Betty accused her of what not dissimilar to what she'd done to Tony. She'd taken away his option to choose to tell her about his past, about his mother, when he was ready. She'd pushed him into having to share something that he may not have wanted to share with her ever, which was his right. She'd made decisions about his life and how he should live it for him, which was something she'd always done without thinking. And, to top the whole thing off, she'd taken advantage of him when he was vulnerable. She owed him a big apology. Maybe it wasn't a bad thing that they were about to be trapped on a long, possibly final, flight together.
STUDY, STARK MANSION, NYC - AUGUST 1, 1991 7:50PM
"No, thank you Joe," said Howard into the phone, "I realize that this is short notice so I really appreciate your help. Are you certain that the satellites we need will be available and off the grid for the time we need?" He listened for a response. "Fantastic. Thanks again."
Peggy watched from the study doorway as Howard finished up his call. The man was grinning with excitement and twitching from a combination of nervousness and adrenaline. She tried to remember the last time she'd seen Stark so energized. "Things are going well then?" she asked.
Howard looked over at her and smiled warmly, happy to see her. "Better than they have been in a long time," he replied.
"I can tell. I'm surprised though," she said. "You're not sad to meet your son like this? To know with such certainty what happens to him?"
"In the beginning, sure," Howard said, "but now in the end I think it was a gift really."
"A gift?" asked Peggy.
"A chance to put things right, even if it is decades too late. And to get to know him. Truly know him, you know?" Howard asked. "This way I get to see what I'm going to miss out on, at least, and fix what I can."
The wistfulness in the man's voice startled Peggy. It didn't sound like he believed he'd be around to see the future that Steve, Tony and the other Avengers were going back to. It worried Peggy. Steve hadn't told her what happened to Howard. She hadn't thought to ask. "That doesn't sound like the Howard Stark I know," Peggy said after a moment. "It almost sounds like you're surrendering to fate."
"No," said Howard, "this isn't a surrender. Not by a long shot. But if it were..." he trailed off, looking so sad it broke Peggy's heart. There was silence between them for a moment.
"You know me, Peggy," Howard finally said. "I've spent my whole life obsessed with the future. It was all I ever thought about and all I ever saw, to the point where I let the present pass me by until it became a past I couldn't escape from. I wanted to create a new world, a better world and leave a lasting legacy that would mean something. I couldn't do it. I realize now that it was never supposed to be me. But Tony... It's his future to live in, not mine, and I trust that it's going to be amazing because he's going to make it amazing. With or without me."
"With you, Howard," Peggy said firmly.
"Preferably, yes," said Howard, "but who knows at the end of the day? Screw fate, destiny, time, whatever, right?" He looked at her hopefully and she nodded her head in agreement. "Screw the past, too, while we're at it," he added.
"What's happened has happened and what will happen may or may not happen. But dammit, if I've learned anything today it's that the most important thing in the universe is happening right this second. And that thing is that Steve Rogers is here to say goodbye!" He waved over Peggy's head and she turned to see that Steve had, in fact, come up behind her and was waving back at Howard.
"Well, I never got to say it to you the first time, did I?" Steve asked Howard.
"No," said Howard, "you certainly didn't." Peggy moved aside to let Steve into the room and he went to shake Howard's hand, but was pulled into an affectionate hug instead. He seemed surprised, but then hugged back warmly.
"I'm sorry Howard," Steve said. "I know you looked for me."
"I did," said Howard, "but I don't regret it. You are alive! I wasn't wrong! Although, I'm sorry I pulled you here and caused all this. If anything happens to you..."
"It won't," Steve said firmly. "Didn't Tony tell you? We're the Avengers. Earth's Mightiest Heroes. The Red Skull doesn't stand a chance."
"Oh!" Howard remembered something with a start. "Don't go anywhere! I'll be right back!" He disappeared through the open workshop door. Steve threw Peggy an amused look before Howard reappeared with something familiar in his hands.
"Is that my shield?" Steve asked. "But how could you have it? It was with me in the ice!"
"Well, yeah. The original was," said Howard. "But while I was watching my kid build his crazy armour I remembered that you didn't have yours with you now. You can't go up against Schmidt without a shield! You're not you without it! So I whipped this one up for you. It's not vibranium, mind you, only reinforced steel. But it's something at least."
It was definitely something. Howard had painted it to resemble the shield Steve had left in 2014 sitting in his apartment in Stark Tower. He could feel the weight difference as he took it from the man. Regardless of the difference, he appreciated the gesture his friend had made. "Thank you, Howard," he said. "For everything."
"No, thank you," Howard said.
"For what?" Steve asked.
"For looking out for my kid," Howard replied.
"Oh, Howard, I don't have to look out for Tony," Steve said. "I couldn't even if I wanted to. He's not exactly the type to lean on anyone or ask for help with anything."
"Maybe not," said Howard, "but you're the type to let people lean on you and help without having to be asked. And I'm glad he's got you around. You're a good friend, Steve. To both of us, I'm sure."
"I try to be," Steve said.
"You are," Howard reaffirmed. "And you take care of my lady here, too, no matter what happens out there. If anything happens to her..." As he trailed off and looked at Peggy, Steve could see the years of friendship between the pair that he'd missed shining in the man's eyes.
"Nothing will," he promised.
"No, it won't," Peggy promised as well, "because I can take care of myself, just as I always have Howard."
"See, you say that every time Agent Carter," said Howard with a playful smile, stressing the formal title, "but I can think of more than a few times when you had to be helped out of a jam. I'll admit I'm old if you do! Ease up and don't get yourself killed, alright?"
"Well, if you insist, Mr. Stark," she replied.
Steve smiled at the pair but felt a familiar pang of loss as he realized that this was the last time he'd see them together. Or, in Howards case, at all.
At that moment, a clanking sound could be heard and Tony appeared, his armour heavy and stiff as he walked out of the workshop. He nodded at Howard. Behind Tony was Bruce, holding one of the two Tesseract devices that he and Howard had worked on in his arms. The other device remained in the workshop, waiting for whatever uncertain future would exist to open the portal from the other side.
"We're ready to go," Tony said. "Are you ready?"
"I wish I could say yes," said Steve, looking at Howard sadly, "but I guess we'll have to be."