June 2010

Tony was beginning to scare her.

Restarting the Stark Expo wasn't too much of a concern - Peggy had always thought that was an excellent idea, and she had been a little disappointed when Tony didn't continue it after his parents' deaths.

Promoting Pepper to CEO wasn't a bad idea per se (heaven knew the woman was already running the company anyway), but it was out of the blue.

His 40th birthday party had been such a debacle that Rhodey had actually confiscated one of the suits - and the only reason Peggy hadn't stepped in was because she trusted him to keep the actual technology out of the military's hands.

Generally, she tried to let Tony get on with his life - he was an adult after all - but she was one incident away from jumping in.

Then, while Peggy was trying to comfort Pepper over the phone and organise an undercover identity at the same time, a familiar voice in Pepper's office caught her attention.

"Miss Potts, I have the requisition forms here."

"Thank you, Miss Rushman," Pepper said. "Just leave them on the desk please."

Peggy waited until her sensitive ears heard the door close before asking, "Who was that?"

"My PA, Natalie," Pepper answered. "Why?"

Peggy closed her eyes. "No reason. Pepper, honey, I have to go. I'm sure everything will be fine."

One last-minute flight later, Peggy walked into Tony's home to find Phil in the living room. "What the hell is going on?"

"Hello to you too," Phil greeted. "I'm glad you're here. I'm about to leave for New Mexico."

"Why is Natasha undercover in Stark Industries, and does Tony know about it," Peggy demanded.

"He knows now." Phil frowned at her. "You don't know?"

The anger was fading from Peggy's body now, slowly being replaced by ice-cold fear. "Know what?"

Phil gave her what could only be described as a sympathetic look. "You should talk to Stark. He's in his workshop."

"JARVIS?" Peggy asked, raising her voice slightly as she hurried down the stairs.

"I'm afraid, Miss Carter, that Sir has prevented me from telling anyone of his predicament."

That worried her in and of itself.

JARVIS had already proved that he could - and would - circumvent his programming if he wanted to.

But for Tony to actually take the time to prevent that from happening …

The workshop was messier than usual (if that were even possible) and Tony was standing in the middle of what looked like a large metal donut, completely derailing her initial question. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to synthesise vibranium," he answered vaguely, before turning to her. "Did you know Dad was proud of me?"

Peggy faltered, thoroughly unprepared for that. "Of course. Tony, your father was … not a very good father, admittedly. And he made a lot of mistakes, and big ones at that. But he did love you, and he was proud of you, even if he wasn't very good at showing it. Where's this coming from?"

"Nick Fury gave me a box of Dad's stuff and there was an old video in there from the first Stark Expo," Tony said, tapping a wrench against his hand. "Did you know? About Agent Romanov?"

"I know that Natalie Rushman is one of Natasha's aliases," Peggy said. "I did not know she was undercover in SI until this morning. When I found out, I caught the first available flight out, but I still don't know why. Coulson told me to talk to you. Why is SHIELD suddenly so interested in Stark Industries and why am I not being told anything?!"

"Fury's got this idea," Tony said. "The Avengers Initiative. Some kind of superhero boyband. Romanov's 'assessing' me for it."

"That doesn't explain why I'm not being told anything," Peggy said sternly.

Tony sighed, peeking up at her from under his lashes. "I'm dying, Aunt Peggy."

The words hit her like a bullet, seizing her lungs in an iron grip, stealing her breath until she could barely speak. "W-What?"

"The palladium is killing me," Tony said, opening his shirt so she could see the darkening veins spreading from the arc reactor. "That's why I started Stark Expo again; that's why I made Pepper CEO; that's why I taught Rhodey how to use the suit and didn't stop him from taking it."

Suddenly it made sense why Rhodey, who was a good foot head taller than Tony, had fit in the suit.

It had been made for him.

"Did Fury know?" Peggy asked, her voice dangerously low.

"Yeah, he knew," Tony said, letting her embrace him. "Don't know how. Agent Romanov gave me a lithium injection, and then I found the workings for vibranium in Dad's stuff. Once I've synthesised it, I can replace the palladium and it should reverse the effects."

Peggy let out a sigh of relief into his collar. Tony was far more cautious with his work than people seemed to think; if he was saying something 'should' work, it was almost certainly going to. "And that's what you're doing now?"

"Should be finished in a few minutes," Tony assured her.

"Good, that's good." Peggy pulled back to take his face in her hands. "Do not ever keep something like that from me, Tony. I know you were trying to protect me; I know you don't like dealing with sentimental moments; I know all of that, but I practically raised you and you are the only family I have let, so please, please don't hide things from me."

"I won't," Tony said, dropping his gaze. "I'm not your only family though. What about your SHIELD kids?"

"My SHIELD kids?" Peggy asked.

"There's at least one you've adopted," Tony said. "Admit it."

"It's not the same thing," Peggy said, not entirely convincingly. "But you have a point."

"Do I ever get to meet them?" Tony asked.

"Well, you've just met one of them," Peggy said, making him pull a face. "Don't look like that; she was doing her job. And you have spoken to Clint on the phone before now." She finally released him to let him get back to work, her eyes travelling over the strange contraption around them. "What's with the pile of stuff under here?"

"It's keeping it level," Tony said, returning to his tinkering.

Peggy took a closer look, gently touching one of the objects. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Captain America's prototype shield," Tony confirmed with a sigh. "Go ahead and yell."

Peggy frowned. "Why would I yell?"

"Aren't I desecrating a sacred object?" Tony asked acidly.

Peggy frowned deepened. She hadn't mentioned Steve around Tony since he was a child that she could remember. "No. No, of course not. If Steve was here, and you told him you needed something to make it level, he'd give you the shield himself."

Tony snorted. "You know, I like your Captain America better than Dad's."

"Tony, we knew the same man," Peggy said slowly.

"Nah, I think your Captain America would like me," Tony said, a little bitterly. "Dad's is just disappointed."

Peggy felt a nasty shiver run across the back of her neck. "Tony, did your father use Steve against you a lot?"

"No," Tony said bluntly. "But you couldn't blame him. I mean … the guy was perfect."

"No one's perfect," Peggy said automatically.

"Yeah?" Tony asked, turning back to her. "Then why did you never move on? Why have I never seen you date anyone?"

Peggy sighed. "I never moved on because I wasn't ready, Tony. I never found anyone, and I wasn't really looking. Plus it's surprisingly hard to make connections when you can't tell them who you really are. I'm perfectly content to be by myself. Of course I still love him. Part of me always will, but that doesn't make him perfect. Besides, even if he was perfect, you are the very best Tony Stark I know."

"Well, that's good," Tony said flippantly. "Because I'm fairly sure I'm the only Tony Stark you know, so if I wasn't the best, we'd have a problem."

He was smiling again, though, and she counted that as a win.

Confident that Tony had the engineering well in hand, Peggy returned to New York and the Stark Expo to talk to Pepper, but was swiftly distracted.

Peggy had never liked Justin Hammer and, as he strutted around the stage with the newly christened 'War Machine' and an army of drones, she was reminded why.

When Iron Man landed, however, her dislike rose to an instinctive concern, especially when the guns aimed at him.

Tony took off for the skies, dodging the bullets that raced after him, and the crowd scattered, screaming.

"Get Hammer," Peggy told Natasha over the noise. "I need to change."

Her abilities would probably not be needed but the uniform would - should - get people's attention long enough to get them out.

War Machine took off after Tony, but the drones leapt into the crowd, opening fire. Chaos raged, and Peggy ducked into an alcove to change into the uniform she kept in her bag, fitting an earpiece as she did. "Tony, what's going on?"

"Rhodey's locked in," Tony answered. "It's Vanko; he's taken over Rhodey and the drones; they're locked on. I'm gonna try and lead them away from the Expo - keep Pepper safe."

Peggy would have rolled her eyes, but she didn't have time. Instead, she pulled her mask on and slipped her guns into their holsters before retrieving her shield.

Unlike the original - or Steve's - this shield had been developed by Tony to shrink and expand from a disk the size of a CD, making it far easier to carry around with her.

Expanding it, she dashed into the crowd, raising her voice to be heard above the calamity.

"Ladies and gentlemen, obviously there is a security breach. Please make your way outside the facility and as far away as possible. Iron Man is trying to lead the drones away, but there is no guarantee that …"

As if on cue, another set of drones rose from under the stage, firing into the crowd, and she raised her shield to protect two children who were directly under attack. The bullets ricocheted and she hurried the children towards their parents, before tossing the shield at the drone in an arc that sliced off the gun barrel and returned to her hand.

Finally a semblance of peace seemed to fall and Peggy hurried up the steps to see Pepper running towards her.

"NYPD arrested Justin Hammer," she said breathlessly. "It was Ivan Vanko, he …"

"I know, Tony told me," Peggy said, reaching out to her. "Are you alright?"

"Shaken," Pepper answered, laughing nervously. "One hell of an evening."

Peggy chuckled. "You can say that again. Where's Tony? He seems to have cut off comms with me."

"He got Rhodey back; Natalie did something," Pepper said.

Peggy cleared her throat. "Yeah, about Natalie …" she trailed off, following Pepper's gaze to one of the lifeless drones, sprawled across the steps and suddenly sporting a flashing red light.

Just as she registered the potential threat, Tony swooped down, grabbed them both by the waist, and soared upwards, just in time for the drone to explode, swiftly followed by its fellows.

They came to rest on a rooftop outside the blast zone and Tony set them down, his armour beginning to spark under the strain of the battle.

"Oh my God!" Pepper gasped out, as Peggy helped Tony remove the helmet. "I can't take this anymore!"

"You can't?" Tony repeated. "Look at me!"

"My body literally cannot handle the stress," Pepper continued, as though he hadn't spoken. "I never know if you're gonna kill yourself, or wreck the whole company, or …"

"I think I did okay," Tony protested.

Pepper shook her head. "I quit - I'm resigning. That's it."

Tony stared at her for a few seconds, the fight seeming to drain out of him at the words. "What did you just say? You're done? Surprising. No, it's not surprising." He sighed. "I get it. You don't have to make any excuses."

"I'm not making any excuses," Pepper said.

"Well, you actually were just making excuses …"

"No, I wasn't making an excuse, because I'm actually very justified …"

"Hey," Tony said. "You deserve better."

Pepper fell silent, letting Tony take her hand. "Well …"

"You've taken such good care of me," Tony said. "I've been in a tough spot, and you got me through it, so … Right?"

"Thank you," Pepper said softly. "Thank you for understanding."

"Yeah," Tony muttered. "Let's talk clean-up."

"I'll handle the transition," Pepper said.

"Okay, but what about the press?" Tony asked. "Because you've only had the job for, like, a week."

"A month," Pepper corrected. "But with you, that's like dog years. I mean, it's like the president's …"

And then they were kissing, and Peggy hastily turned away to give them some privacy, a smile crossing her face.

Her eyes fell on Rhodey, leaning against a wall not far away, and he raised a hand in acknowledgement, mirroring her smile.

"Weird?" Tony's voice asked.

"No," Pepper said breathlessly. "No, it's not weird."

"It's okay, right?" Tony agreed. "Run that by me again?"

"I think it's weird," Rhodey said, loud enough to get their attention, and Peggy decided it was safe to turn around as the couple sprang apart. "You guys look like two seals fighting over a grape. You don't have to do that," he added, as they began stammering excuses. "I heard the whole thing."

"You should get lost," Tony said.

"I was here first," Rhodey argued. "Get a roof."

Tony sniggered. "I thought you were out of one-liners."

"That was the last one," Rhodey said.

Tony wrapped an arm around Pepper's waist. "You kicked ass out there, by the way."

Rhodey grinned. "Thank you, you too. Listen, my car got taken out by the explosions, so I'm gonna have to hang on to your suit for a minute, okay?"

"Not okay," Tony said. "Not okay with that."

Rhodey snorted, straightening up. "Wasn't a question." His visor snapped down and he took off into the sky, as Peggy turned back to Tony and Pepper.

"Well," she said, "first of all, it's about time. Second of all, Pepper, Natalie Rushman is an undercover SHIELD agent. I didn't know about it until yesterday. I'll be having words with her and Director Fury about it."

"I'll explain later," Tony said. "Listen, I get that this week has been crazy, but is there any way I can convince you to sit down and talk about it?"

Pepper sighed. "I'll give it until tomorrow. That way we can both be sure it's not a gut reaction."

Peggy's smile widened. She was fairly sure that, in the light of day, Pepper would choose to stay on, even if she did insist on a little more communication from Tony.

She was also fairly sure that that would not be their last kiss.

And she couldn't be happier about it.

October 2011

Peggy Carter was 90 years old.

Sharon Carter was 42.

Whatever age she was, the world had just turned upside down.

"Aliens," Peggy said flatly, her eyes lifting from the report in her hands.

Nowadays, Peggy stayed out of SHIELD politics, keeping clear of any cases that she wasn't involved in, but every now and then, something cropped up.

"Aliens," Fury confirmed, although she hadn't really been asking.

"Alright," Peggy said with a sigh, tossing the report back onto his desk. "We can all go home. I've officially seen everything."

Fury cracked a smile. "Well, from what Coulson said, Thor isn't an alien. He's from another realm, not another planet."

Peggy shook her head, rubbing her temple. "Anything else you want to drop on me while I'm here?"

Fury hesitated just long enough to worry her. "The Council has requested that testing on the Tesseract is reopened."

"Why?" Peggy asked sharply.

"Same thing Howard Stark wanted," Fury said with what amounted to a shrug. "Clean energy."

Peggy's frown deepened. "But it was the Council that pulled the plug on that research in the first place."

Was it her imagination, or was Nick avoiding her gaze.

"All I know is that it's not a request we can refuse," he said carefully. "Project PEGASUS will be taking place in the New Mexico facility. Coulson's overseeing. And I've asked Barton to keep an eye on things."

That did make Peggy feel a little better about things; if anything was going on, Clint would see it.

A little better, not a lot.

"Have you thought about consulting Tony on this?" She asked. "Stark Industries is building the first self-sustaining building in Manhattan."

"I'll think about it," Fury said.

"Given that he is a consultant," Peggy continued, "you may as well consult him from time to time."

She had not been happy with Natasha in the wake of the palladium debacle, soothed only by the agent's reassurances that she had acted as soon as she found out about Tony's health concerns, and that her 'assessment' of Tony's suitability for the Avengers Initiative was not reflective of her own opinions of the man.

"We're better off with Stark out of SHIELD. You must know that."

Peggy did.

"They've scrapped the Initiative," Fury said.

"Well, I knew that was going to happen," Peggy said. "The Council doesn't like things they can't control. That's why I don't like this."

"Well, I've got something to take your mind off of it," Fury offered.

Peggy narrowed her eyes. "Alright, let's hear it."

"Child trafficking," Fury said, pushing the file across the desk. "Ring's based in Tibet, but we think it spans several countries. Might even be global."

Peggy scanned the file, but the part of her that wasn't screaming for her to help the children looking up at her was even more worried.

She couldn't help feeling that someone was trying to get her out of the way.

"Undercover," she summarised. "Several months at the very least."

"That's right," Fury said.

Peggy sighed. Whether someone was trying to get her out of the way or not, the mission needed to happen.

And she was a good fit for it. She wasn't sure if there was any Oriental blood in her (Asian, her mind reminded her, they weren't supposed to say that any more) but with just a little make-up enhancing certain features, she could blend in like a local.

"What the hell," she said. "I'll start packing."

As Peggy Carter jetted off for Tibet, the SHIELD team in the Arctic were battling hostile conditions, waiting for the android they had sent down into the icy water to return so they could declare yet another failed mission.

"Seems like a waste of time," one of the agents muttered, wrapping his hands around a mug of coffee.

Agent Sitwell gave him a stern look. "It feels like it sometimes. But Director Fury has his reasons to keep Operation Valkyrie going."

"Besides," another, younger agent piped up, "can you imagine if we actually found him?"

"Like that's ever gonna happen," the first agent said with a snort. "Guy's a write-off, if he's even down here. There's absolutely no proof that Captain America was ever anything more than just a regular guy in a …"

"Hey," the second agent interrupted, leaning closer to the computer screen. "What's that?"

"What?" Sitwell asked.

"That," the agent said, pointing at a shape on the screen. "It looks like a plane."

"I don't believe it," his colleague whispered.

Sitwell was already on the phone, dialling the direct line to Fury's office. "Director? You're not gonna believe this, but … I think we've found him."

Over the next few weeks I'll be away and then moving so there won't be any updates. I have finished A Whole New World rewrite so I will start reposting after that. There will also be a separate Clint/Natasha fic to fill in some of the gaps from this story, I just need to tidy it up.