Okay, this is a very short introduction to an ongoing project! I've been working on this fic for a while and I'm excited to finally be writing it and sharing it with the community.
Please read the tags before reading, it won't be super graphic at all but take care of yourself.
I hope you enjoy! :)
Howard Stark was an ambitious man.
He needed to be, that was the legacy of the Stark family. Aim high, and where you can't land, aim higher and you'll get there. That was his mission statement. It dragged him through the war and led him to where he was now. Alone.
He would consider himself a good man, too. He does what he thinks is right. He fixes things.
After the war finished, Howard thought himself lost. He'd lost everything. He lost Steve. He lost his reason to be. So, he poured himself into his science, researching and inventing and creating. His destructive tendencies led him to create bigger and better weaponry, built for more and more damage.
His creations allowed him a personal outlet, but professionally, well… War was a multi-billion industry. He was conflicted. His company flourished, and yet he was still restless.
He started his own search. The US government had started their own, half-assed search of the estimated crash site. They knew he was dead. They couldn't overfund a search for a dead man. Howard knew he was dead, but finding Steve was the only hope that kept him going some days. Howard would find Steve, whatever it takes. He built experimental technology, creations that any respectable scientist would sneer at, morally grey technology that his past self would balk at. The old him hadn't lost what he had.
Howard studied new sciences, ones he hadn't touched on. Neurosciences, psychology, genetic engineering. Biomechanics. Anything that would help him recover what he had lost. Through this he discovered a new love of the human mind. He was fascinated with people; How they worked and how people can be modified through words and actions was intriguing to him. How people would bend to your will if you gave them what they wanted first or offered them something they couldn't refuse. How incentives controlled society.
He built up his charisma again and talked to anyone who would listen. All nonsense, really. He observed, took notes, learned how humanity worked.
When there's loss, there's a need to place blame. Howard didn't blame Steve. He didn't blame HYDRA, either. He blamed humanity. Humanity was led to war, was led to their own destruction. Humanity needed correction; Howard knew this. If left to their own devices, humanity would crumble.
Margaret Carter, his old colleague, approached him on a warm autumn night with a proposition. Peggy had lost what he had and more. She wanted to build an intelligence agency with the power to subdue threats as they begin to take root. She wanted to create something that would prevent war. That would prevent loss.
Howard agreed to help her in a heartbeat. SHIELD was born, and Howard knew power.
Soon SHIELD took on a new project, inviting estranged scientists (madmen, Howard would have told you years prior) into the fold, and HYDRA took root in the organisation. Howard watched it happen and felt nothing of it, Johann Schmidt was dead, and he didn't disagree with HYDRA's ideologies. He quietly watched as projects within SHIELD were influenced, some more obviously than others, and brushed off Peggy's gaze when it fell on some of the more notable or controversial ventures.
Being one of the founding members of the organisation, many members would approach Howard, so if Arnim Zola requested council, well, that stayed between them. Someone had to help the scientist with his cognitive computing project, and it wasn't going to be a field operative. And if the two exchanged notes on bio-enhancing formulae, that went unnoticed, too.
It wasn't long after that Arnim brought him to the Asset, and Howard was intrigued. He wanted to see how far he could push the limits of his old acquaintance's mind, and having a blank canvas with the training of a military sergeant could only be beneficial for HYDRA.
Howard's search never stopped, but he had more purpose in life, now. Humanity was like an infant that needed guidance, like how a child picks a scab and needs taught about infection and the dangers of the world. Humanity needed correction, and he could be one of the heads to lead it. Steve would agree, he'd thought.
Maria Carbonell was a gentle, yet cold and stoic presence in Howard's life. While Howard held political and social power, Maria had genetic power. She was a mutant, focused on bringing the human race to a new form of evolution, taking the form of the X gene. She wanted humanity to be great. Her research would be revolutionary, but her skills were exceptional. Her mutation meant that anyone she spoke to would be susceptible to her wishes, which allowed her to climb quickly within HYDRA.
Arnim had introduced the pair, her being an Italian field operative with a passion for biology and him being a Stark with a tendency to fall hopelessly head over heels for anyone that can keep up with his mind meant they were perfect for each other. If they also happened to agree on certain ideologies or have a thirst for power, well, that was just a bonus.
And years later, when their baby boy was born, they'd teach him to lead with pride in HYDRA, and with pride in himself. He'd be strong, but sly, and gain a respect for power and science. He'd grow to collect his loved ones carefully and put HYDRA before anything that could get in his way. Tony Stark would be Howard's legacy, but one he would leave behind with no regrets.