A.N Sorry for the very late update. :-) College has been getting on top of me recently.
Replies :-))
afredigo - thank you :-) I'm glad you loved the inclusion of Yinsen. I hope you like this.
madwamoose- I'm glad you picked up on that XD Ooo yes ;-) this chapter is definitely going to be hard for Steve but I'll go more in detail with his reactions next time.
KnowInsight- Me neither. :-) The road back will be long and hard for her.
wolftattoo- Thank you!
Guest- Tah Dah! :-)
PeridotGreenHeart- Thank you I love the Peter and Tony friendship. 3
GenderqueerWriter- YES! I'll definitely write that scene :-)) and thanks! I'm glad you are a loyal follower and you're loving this.
The Avengers suddenly found themselves in a stylish, modern looking living room, pictures framed the walls; the main occupants of the photographs and seemingly owners of the room, Peggy and Daniel, aged gracefully and appeared to be living a happy life together.
The Jarvis's flitted in and out of these photo's before fading out completely as did both Howard and Maria however Tony and Sharon as well as two unfamiliar adults that resembled Sharon appeared to be regular features to the present.
The light brown leather sofa that Tony was sprawled across worked well with the bright red cushions he used to prop up his head. The most notable change they saw in him was the addition of a small crafted goatee that appeared like a small hourglass below his mouth.
Without warning, a frazzled looking Peggy peered around the corner dressed up in a structured fitted red dress accessorised dangling silver ornate earrings and a matching necklace this was paired with a bold navy tailored jacket and matching high heels.
The most notable change, despite the silver streaked hair, was that she was missing her trademark red lips.
Spotting her, Tony winked and wolf whistled before getting to his feet, "Wow Aunt Pegs, you scrub up nice. It's something special tonight, isn't it? That's why I'm house sitting for the weekend."
"Oh hush, Mr Hourglass goatee." Tony made a face of mock offense and covered his goatee with his hand, she grinned in return. "You should know it's Daniel and I's wedding anniversary getaway this weekend." Her cheeks flushed a rosy red as her voice went fondly stern.
"Now normal rules apply," Tony raised an eyebrow at her, "No raves, no toga parties, no microwave AI's, have fun but be sensible alright." She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, "See you on Monday Ducky."
Peggy was about to sweep out the door but Tony stopped her.
"Aren't you forgetting something Pegs?"
Bemused Peggy turned around, "Not that I recall- "
Tony scooped a rouge lipstick off the side and threw it to her which she caught and stared at blankly.
"Huh...anyway I have to go now. I know it's hard for you to do but behave yourself."
They suddenly found themselves in Tony's living room, decked to the brim with advanced technology.
Judging by the change in location and the dim grey light filtering through the large window, a few days had passed since Tony had housesat for the Carter Sousa's.
They turned when they saw a smart looking Tony walking out of the lift holding a carrier of strawberries under his arm, whilst talking to JARVIS whose voice moved with him.
"-still can't see why she doesn't like it. Uncle Daniel liked him." Tony gestured to the ceiling as if that made his point.
"I believe Mr Carter-Sousa's main cause of amusement was the name you had given to the AI you installed in their flat, Sir." A light amused note tinged the AI's voice which caused Tony to look up at him too.
"I knew you found it funny J. Come what better name is there for their AI than Pegleg?" Tony rambled on leaving the question rhetorical before JARVIS could come up with any appropriate suggestions. "Oh well, she loves Strawberries so I'm sure these, will help Pegs forgive me." He patted the plastic container filled with the red fruits before glancing to the ceiling. "What's the time J?"
"It is 1:45pm Sir."
Tony frowned deeply, "It's not like her to be late- you haven't trapped her in a lift, have you? And don't tell me you haven't done that before because Obie say's that he's been trapped for 20 minutes before." They spotted Vision give a particularly mischievous smirk at this, one that he had definitely taken from Tony.
"I can assure you Sir that particular mechanical fault has been resolved and will not happen again."
I'll have to think of another way to get revenge on Mr Stane when he acts strange to Sir again.
I don't know why Sir doesn't see it.
Tony gave a disbelieving eyebrow to the ceiling before shrugging and turning away to put the strawberries on the side. "Call Peg's up. JARVIS, let's see what's going on."
"Connecting to Mrs Carter- Sousa now, Sir."
Tony glanced over to see Pepper enter the room and JARVIS wordlessly transferred the call over to his personal mobile which he pressed to his ear.
"Peggy, whoa, calm down. What can you see around you? OK I'll come and collect you. I think I know where you are. I'll be there in five minuites."
Clicking the phone off Tony brought it down from his ear, "Sorry Peps I gotta run Aunt Pegs needs me."
"What do I say to the Mr Stane and the Board? The meeting starts in five minutes."
"Family emergency," Tony smiled apologetically as he made his way to the lift, "most of the old coots in there will know how it is. They aren't all soulless leeches."
Hearing Pepper choke back a laugh at this, he directed his widened smile at her as the doors closed over his face.
They now found themselves on almost deserted street corner, the clouds above them had turned almost black as they opened and let out a steady stream of rain on the people below, they all ran for cover, all apart from one lonely figure.
Drenched, Peggy shivered; the rain had smeared her mascara to create long dark lines that created the illusion that she had been crying, her hair clung to her head and neck, this along with her hunched body posture had created the illusion that she had shrunk.
It broke Steve's heart to see her like that.
They whipped around at the sound of an expensive car pulling up at the side of the road, opposite where Peggy was standing.
Jumping out of the passenger side of the car, Tony quickly ran over to Peggy with an Umbrella clasped in his grip
"Come on Aunt Pegs," He moved his umbrella so it would cover her and wrapped his arm around her to guide her to the car. "Let's get you inside."
He opened the door for her and moved hurriedly to the other side of the car, bringing down the umbrella as he slipped in after her.
Eyeing Peggy worriedly, he made a movement to grab her seatbeat before stopping at her stern look, instead he looked to Happy.
"Come on Hogan turn the heating up man, I'm soaked through." Tony gave an exaggerated shiver and dumped his dripping umbrella in the footwell.
Although, they could tell that this was mainly done out of concern for Peggy, he smiled as he watched her relax back on the soft rapidly warming leather seat.
"Where to Boss?"
"Take us to the Carter -Sousa's, Hogan." Firmly Tony spoke up and Happy began to pull the car away.
Whipping her head around, Peggy made her objection to that plan known. "There's no need to overreact Ducky I just got lost. I'll stop our lunches if this ridiculous mothering becomes an issue… for goodness sake I'm just a little wet, I'll dry off in no time."
"Daniel would have my head if you got sick because of this… besides you're dripping all over the seats so I call bull- "Peggy raised a stern eyebrow at him and he cut off mid swear to change the course of his argument. "We'll talk about this more when we get you home ok, just go with me on this."
"Fine." Huffed Peggy as she leant back onto the seat and her eyes flickered to the raindrops travelling down the window. "You're dealing with Daniel when we get back."
"Deal." The memory began to warp and change just as they got one last clear image of Tony pulling out his mobile to warn Daniel of their imminent arrival.
"Warm yourself up Tones, you look pretty soaked too." Daniel's kind voice brought Steve firmly into the next memory, he watched through Tony's eyes as he grabbed the wedge of blankets with, what he felt to be, a small smile on his face.
Daniel's eyes lingered for a moment on Peggy and Tony before he left the room, presumably to get hot drinks or water bottles to warm them both up.
Steve felt Tony hesitate before sliding over from the other side of the couch and draping two of the three blankets he had been given over her already heavily layered form, he hugged her securely to his side and rubbed her arm to try to make some friction both soothe her and create more heat.
"Look it's been going on for a while, I haven't said anything." Tony's voice shook slightly on the last word and she turned her head to look at him. "You aren't well Pegs."
Peggy gave a short incredulous laugh. "I'm fine Tony."
"Really?" Steve could hear the soft concern creep into Tony's voice and mix with a sharp incredulous intelligence that told both him and Peggy that he wasn't buying it.
"Yes." She snapped, Steve could feel himself reel inside Tony's mind, he had never ever thought he would see such a fierce expression directed at him- no this is at Tony.
"Forgetting things and forgetting where you are, is being fine then?"
"It's called getting old. Tony you'll know if you reach my age. Although with the way you've been living your life I doubt it."
Steve felt Tony flinch at that remark, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Daniel, who had come back with three steaming drinks, still too.
"Peggy!" Daniel slammed the drinks down harshly and moved across the room to sit beside Tony, "I can't believe you would say something like that."
Taking a deep breath in, Steve felt Tony try to calm himself. Wow… that was a low blow Pegs.
"She doesn't mean it…" Tony looked up at Peggy, Steve heard a steely note come through in his voice. "Those things are the early stages of Dementia Pegs. You can't pretend you're alright anymore. Daniel, tell me you haven't seen anything off about her recently."
Perplexed, Daniel stared intently between Tony and Peggy. "Not really no. Tones, what is this about?"
Tony opened his mouth to answer but Peggy cut him off.
"What are you trying to achieve here, Anthony?" Her eyes narrowed at him full of suspicion and malice.
"I'm trying to get you to help yourself."
"Really? Well, thank you very much for sharing your ridiculous and unfounded…" Peggy trialled off in the middle of her tirade as her eyes distant and lost nearly all of their earlier fire. "What's the word?"
Tony exchanged a loaded look with Daniel who was appearing more and more worried for her.
"Oh well, no matter. This," She got up shakily, "proves nothing."
It pained Steve to feel the sadness and desperation clogging up Tony's throat as he watched Peggy shuffle towards the door.
"Margaret Carter," Steve mentally blinked at the unusual use of Peggy's full name. I don't think I've ever heard Tony sound so serious. "Last time someone I loved ignored something wrong with them they died. I haven't got many people left... I can't lose you too."
The edges of Steve's vision blurred, he felt tears collect inside Tony's eyes, before he thought that Tony's abrasive personality had stopped from being close to others, but these memories told a very different tale.
Peggy's previous defensive snarl dropped at this, something warm curled in Tony's chest at seeing her softened expression and feeling Daniel clasp his shoulder.
"Does this really mean that much to you both?" Steve felt an irrational stab of envy at feeling Peggy's hand wrap around Tony's when she had walked back over to them.
"It does Peg. Now that Tony's mentioned it I can see that things have been off for a while…" Daniel frowned deeply. "I guess I didn't notice because I see you every day but Peggy, I think you need to get yourself checked out."
"Alright," Tony looked at her, she gave him a reassuring smile in response to the relieved one Steve could feel on Tony's face. "I will go to the Doctors tomorrow."
"Ah Tony there you are." Tony turned from where he was sat at the lab desk at Obadiah's stern voice. "You have been nearly impossible to get a hold of ever since skipping out of that meeting because of a 'family emergency'. Now, Tony I have to know what could possibly be so important-"
"Peggy has Dementia." Obadiah's mouth shut as Tony turned away. Seeing this vulnerability, Obadiah's eyes took on a purely malevolent, calculating glint which was hidden well by the concerned mask that he slid over his features.
"So, that's why you haven't been doing much work these past three days." Obadiah murmured, deliberately loud enough for Tony to hear.
"Hey, look Obie I'm sorry man but after I got that news I felt myself go into a dark day-"
"Then why don't you distract yourself from them with these designs the board want you to make. After all it makes no sense for you to waste time, doing nothing. This is what you're best at after all and you enjoy building things don't you?"
Tony didn't say anything to that, he just nodded.
Obadiah clasped his shoulder at this point and Tony jolted, not expecting the contact. "Don't let this awful business with Mrs Carter-Sousa get you down, My boy. You still have me." Tony's eyes softened and he smiled warmly at the older man. "Hey I know man, you're great but it's hard… I'm just thinking about the day I walk in to see her and she won't recognise me- "
Obadiah cut him off, sounding purposefully harsh but understanding. "I know it's hard Tony. But even in the toughest times your father never made the mistake of letting his personal life and his work mix and you can't afford to either."
Tony's smile froze and became ugly and fake. "Alright. This should be back to you tomorrow or the day after."
"Great." Obadiah lifted himself off of the stool, "and Tony next time you feel a dark day coming on… let me know ok? I wouldn't want you to go through that alone."
"If you insist…" Tony rolled his eyes and smiled as Obadiah made his way out of the door.
They all saw an evil grin overtaking Obadiah's features, JARVIS slammed the door behind the older man with a loud bang which clearly conveyed the AI's dislike of both the request of the older man and of Stane himself.
They couldn't help but agree with JARVIS on this and hoped that Tony's agreement was just lip service and nothing more.
They found themselves in the room of what seemed to be a specialised Dementia Care home judging by the certificates littering the warm, wallpapered walls. In fact, the whole room had a soft homely feel to it, despite being drastically different to the home where Peggy used to live. The vibrant red that had been a recurring colour theme in her old room had dulled to a light pink, it most notably covered the plush chairs either side of the bed as well as the cushion and parts of the duvet in the bed Peggy was laying in.
They walked around the table and the folded-up leg braces in front of Peggy's bed to get closer to Tony who was perched on the chair furthest from them, talking to Peggy.
His eyes sparkled with a light, joyful gleam that was rare to see in him nowadays.
"- should really introduce you to my friend Pepper, Aunt Peg. You'd love her. She's strong independent and fiercely protective. Who would've thought? Certainly, not me, nor in fact did the Reporter harassing me at the last Maria Stark gala last week. Miss Berkeley, I think her name was- she only backed off when Pepper tore some actual pepper spray from her bag and told her to stop being so harsh or she'd spray. I swear that woman thinks of new ways to suit her nickname all the time." Tony's cheeks reddened as a dopey smile spread itself across his face.
"Are you sweet on her Ducky?" Peggy grinned.
"I- uh, no, no of course not. We are friends. Friends only Peg." Vehemently denying Peggy's observations, Tony failed to notice Peggy's eyes go scarily blank.
"Howard, who is Pepper?" Peggy asked curiously.
"I just tol-"Tony's sentence suddenly cut off as his eyes bulged when what she called him sunk in. "Did you just call me Howard?"
"That's your name." Peggy raised an eyebrow before narrowing her eyes at Tony when he gaped at her.
"No-no, it's not-"
"Howard you're scaring me. Did you hit your head recently? You should really let Mr Jarvis drive more often. You're way too reckless."
Tony took a deep breath in and grabbed her hands. "You've got to listen to me, Pegs. I'm not Howard Stark, I'm his son Tony."
Amused, she laughed," Very amusing Howard. But enough of this nonsense, I know you well enough to know you're hardly capable of looking after your pets. Let alone a human being."
Tony dropped her hands and failed to hide a flinch as Peggy leant forward and misinterpreted his expression. "I knew you weren't well, where's Mr Jarvis?"
"He's by the door," Tony breathed, Peggy leant forward to try and see Jarvis through the crack in the door. He quickly moulded his expression into an amiable, easy one but he was sure to keep his eyebrows and his jaw tense to hint that he was feeling unwell. "Or he was. He, like you, thought I didn't look well this morning. He's probably gone to get me some medicine."
"You've got to take care of yourself better, silly man."
"I wasn't going to pass up seeing my pal when she's laid up here." He gave a fake flirtatious grin, "besides I'm sure a kiss from a beautiful lady like yourself will make me feel much better."
She grabbed a newspaper from the side and wacked him over the head with it. "That illness has addled your brain Howard. Remember what happened last time you tried to kiss me."
Steve choked on air whilst a few of the others snorted or appeared scandalised at the thought of Howard trying to make a move on Peggy Carter.
"Point." Tony rubbed his head with one hand whilst using the other to take the paper. "Mind if I take this?" He held up the newspaper, careful to use the position of his hand to cover the date. "Jarvis likes the crossword."
"Of course, it's nice to see you."
Tony beamed one last time and gave a very arrogant half wave.
It was only when he shut the door firmly behind him that he let his composure break.
He slid down the door, until his legs hit the floor with a painful sounding smack that Tony didn't seem to notice. The newspaper fell to the ground.
Tony swiftly pressed his palms to his eyes, he made a very weak wounded noise that they all knew he'd be too proud to admit ever having made if they brought it up with him.
He began murmuring something in a harsh hiss that the unenhanced members of the team had to move forward to hear, "Pathetic. You knew this was coming. Get a grip… IT'S NOT FUCKING FAIR!"
With that Tony lunged to the side and rolled-up the newspaper so tight that when he threw it, it bounced across the wall and slid an impressive distance down the waxed, wooden floor. Daniel slipped to the side to avoid the skidding projectile, his eyes widened when he saw Tony sprawled over the floor.
Daniel hobbled impressively fast over to him, he winced as he knelt down before he settled himself on the floor next to Tony.
"Tony. Come on kid…" He sighed and frowned, giving him the appearance of having aged ten years. "I take it she forgot you too then?"
"She forgot you? How can you be alright with that?" Perplexed Tony lifted his eyes to meet Daniel's, "You are practically soulmates."
Steve had to fight the instinctive jealousy that rose in his chest at Tony's declaration and kept the wince off of his face. Honestly, he had trouble, watching all these memories separating the Peggy he had loved, his 'best girl' with the Peggy who Tony knew and married another man.
Peggy will always be special to me but she's moved on and… I can accept that.
I have Sharon now- no I had Sharon.
He fought off a grimace at the thought of that particularly nasty break up with Sharon after he had returned post- Civil War and instead focused on the memory in front of him.
"Dementia is a cruel illness Tony. She's not purposefully being like this," Daniel tapped lightly on the door behind him, "Behind that soundproofed door is still the woman we love, nothing will change that."
Tony rested his head against the door and nodded, "I get that… now come on let's go and see if there is any alcohol in this place." Tony got to his feet and offered Daniel a hand." You look like you need it."
The memory began to change as soon as Daniel clasped his hand.
The team found themselves back in Tony's Malibu house, strolling alongside Obadiah, who stilled and paled to a dramatic shade of white at seeing a grey haired disturbingly familiar face rushing past him.
No it can't be. He can't be here… It can't be Howard, he is dead.
"Tony?" The other man couldn't help internally bracing himself for Howard's murderous ghost turning on him for how he was treating his son.
However, he felt an unholy amount of relief at seeing Tony's faintly annoyed face instead.
This Tony had lost his hourglass goatee and replaced it with a thin moustache that was so reminiscent of Howard that it made Obie feel sick.
The others, apart from Steve and Bucky who were feeling mildly ill too, grinned vindictively at this.
"What happened to your hair and your… face?"
Tony raised an eyebrow at Obadiah's jerky question, "The 'face' was my doing and the hair was DumE."
Obadiah gave a curious smile as his eyebrows rose up his forehead. "Do I want to know?"
He noticed Tony move towards the door and quickly moved to follow him.
"DumE is a little shit who decided that instead of fixing U's paint job, he'd go for my hair instead. Despite the fact that U specifically asked and it was his Bot Birthday. I shouldn't be surprised, U is the vainest after all. I can't believe he asked for a paint job, of all things? I have absolutely no idea where he gets that from… I've lost you, haven't I?"
Giving no sign of acknowledging Tony's previous rant or his question, the older man scanned Tony through narrowed eyes. "Don't you think you'll turn a few heads going out like that?"
"Oh relax," Tony waved him off as he swaggered to the car waiting for him outside and swung some rose-coloured shades over his eyes.
He lowered himself into the driver's seat and beamed at Stane. "I'm just going to the Dementia place to see Aunt Pegs. What could possibly go wrong?"
They found themselves once again in the familiar, warm hallway of the Dementia home, Tony rushed up to elder man and beamed when the older man jolted and smiled.
"God, kid you looked so much like Howard then I had to double take." Daniel paused, still smiling at the hilarity of Tony's appearance. "Do I want to know what's with the silver up do?"
"DumE," Rolling his eyes, Tony then paused and gave Daniel a very serious stare. "Never ever trust him with spray paint."
"Maybe, but it's good you look like this today." Daniel's smile dropped. "Peggy's having another bad day. She won't recognise you- not as you anyway."
"When does she think, she is?" Tony cringed.
"Well," Daniel grimaced, "judging by the amount of worry she showed for you… it seems to be just after you got shot. She kept insisting on how you were and that she needed to speak to Howard about you…"
Tony nodded.
I know what I have to do.
His eyes flickered and became blank.
Running over to the thick volumes near the Italian books, Mask grabbed one particularly cold looking black leather and silver volume engraved with the words Howard Stark.
"You can't be serious." Pincushion raised an eyebrow at Mask, whose hand's flicked through the volume quickly.
"If you're going to be a whiny little bitch about it don't bother talking." Angry Tony drawled, "Of course we're serious. We can do it, what choice do we have?"
"Chapter 14… Chapter 14…Got it!"
"I don't like lying to her." Frowning Pincushion looked over Mask's shoulder at the book as Angry Tony pulled up various holograms of childhood memories depicting various Howard Stark's in holographic form from the table.
"Sometimes in the real world, we are faced with ugly choices…" Angry Tony glared at one of the holograms of his father for a moment before his stare lost a lot of heat when he looked back to Mask. "Good luck."
Mask smiled briefly before blowing into one half of the book, the words clumsily tumbled off the pages on and before chapter 14, most of them fell into an indistinguishable black heap at the three Tony's feet but two clusters of words hovered like golden bees by the Tony's.
One cluster held vibrating words like 'arrogant', 'charming', 'intelligent,' whilst the other held words that appeared slightly dimmer, 'cold,' 'calculating', 'heartless.'
Mask's eyes flickered gold as the holograms turned into strands of shimmering silver light that picked up several of the words as they snaked through the clouds of words at the Tony's eye level.
Mask was briefly obscured by the light before both it and the words sunk into his skin.
To the Avengers, it seemed like they were watching Tony age before their eyes however it became quickly clear that it wasn't the older Tony they were seeing him morph into…
The scars on his hands vanished as the hands themselves grew, becoming wrinkled and more calloused; Tony's hair was now white at the roots and quickly overtook the original dark brown on Tony's head, his face clicked as his skull lengthened, his cheekbones became slightly sharper as his eyes became smaller and more severe.
Standing there now was no longer Tony but...
"Howard?" Bucky asked sounding more vulnerable than anyone apart from Steve had ever heard.
"I don't hear you doubting me now." Mask in the guise of Howard Stark smirked cockily.
Everyone's jaw dropped.
"No way." Scott whispered awed.
"Let's get this show on the road Daddy dearest."
Pincushion smiled widely and clapped Mask on the shoulder as he stepped arrogantly forward.
"Tony," Clicking his fingers in front of the younger man's face, Daniel smiled as Tony suddenly blinked back, his eyes becoming very sharp.
Tony's cast the door Peggy was behind a strained smile, "Do you want to come in with me?"
"No that's ok Tones, I'll give you some time alone with her. I'll be back as soon as I can 'get that ash' out of my hair."
Tony grinned at the mainly grey thick mop of hair that adorned Daniels head. "Getting grey Gramps, you might want to buy some black hair dye."
"Ha, ha very funny," Daniel poked his tongue out at Tony and ruffled his hair, "Good luck kid."
The old man turned around and made his way down the corridor.
"I'm thirty two years old Dan-"Groaned Tony good-naturedly but twisted his head around to find the older man had vanished.
Taking a deep breath in, Tony gathered up his courage and entered the room.
Anxiously, Peggy turned to the sound whilst her hands clawed at her sheets. "Howard, how's Tony? Have you been in to see him today? Where's Mr Jarvis? I bet he's feeling awful about what happened."
"I saw him," Tony spoke with a hard note that they had only heard before in Howard and the present Tony. "He gave us quite the scare soon after you left but he's stable now. Jarvis… hasn't left him since he was brought in."
Nodding, Peggy took a deep breath in then consciously unclenched her hands. "Alright, I guess that's the best we can hope for. Has he woken up yet? My Anthony was so brave… I need to see him."
Peggy made to get to her feet but her legs shook underneath her, they would've collapsed had Tony not guided to one of the soft plush chairs beside her bed.
Confused, she looked down at her legs, "What-?"
"That was stupidity Pegs, not bravery." Tony barrelled on, succeeding in distracting Peggy from her weak legs, that were older and had mild arthritis. "What is the point of having a bodyguard if Anthony won't even let him do his job? Stupid little brat… "
Tony turned his look into patented Howard Stark disapproval.
"You can stop that," she wacked him on the arm gently. "I know you are worried, Howard. This scared you but please don't let what happened with your father affect your relationship with Tony."
Speechless, Tony stilled.
Peggy clasped his arm gently. "Howard, what your father did to you was so so wrong… in no circumstance do I condone someone striking a child," Tony's breath hitched. "But I know you, Howard Stark… you are not like that. You can be a good father, be brave and show Anthony you love him. Now, before it's too late."
"I will and come on Pegs," Tony gave her an exasperated look, "it's not like he needs me to say it. Besides that, whole... mess with my dad is in the past..."
Despite his calm façade, they could feel the turmoil from this new information bubble under his skin.
Oh, my God I'm so sorry, Howard. I thought you were just a heartless asshole for years…
"You don't have to worry Pegs, I'll keep you posted on Anthony." He kissed her on the cheek, "I will let you know as soon as he wakes up."
Despite himself, he couldn't help but smile when he turned and Peggy shouted after him, "You had better Howard!"
This next memory was clearly soon after the first as they could see the silver still sparsely coating parts of Tony's hair as he stormed into the kitchen.
"What could go wrong? Fucking jinxed myself there." Tearing his rose-coloured glasses off, he dumped them on the kitchen counter and grabbed the Jack Daniels from off the shelf.
Swigging a generous helping of the liquid straight down his throat, he felt familiar burn of the alcohol hit his chest but this time the burn hit his eyes too and he was feeling lower than he had felt before the drink.
Alcohol is a depressant, idiot.
Fuck off, I like the burn.
"Mr Stark." Tony jerked his head to Peppers voice and swore under his breath when he saw her moving towards him appearing concerned.
Time to nip this in the bud.
"Hey if this isn't my favourite personal assistant!" Tony tried to grin but they all could feel the basic insincerity of it. Please, go away. "I am sooo pleased to see you, in more ways than one… if you know what I mean?"
His grin turned into a very fake, dirty leer as he winked at her.
"I am your only personal assistant and you normally put way more effort into your pick-up lines." Pepper sighed and sat opposite where he was standing, "what's wrong?"
"Nothing," he gave her a guarded, analytical stare as he hugged the bottle to him.
"Why are you drinking at 4 in the afternoon?"
"It's 9pm somewhere." Tony snapped back in reply, giving her a watery eyed stare before trying to down some more of the drink although before he could get another sip, she snatched the bottle nimbly from his fingers. "You are my friend Tony but after these past few months I feel like you've been avoiding me. It's affecting my work as your personal assistant and personally it's been worrying me."
Quailed under her glare, instead of trying to get it back Tony slouched on the seat opposite her. "Sorry, I didn't mean…my Aunt has Dementia, she thinks I'm Howard-"
"Tony that's-"Pepper leant forward, a truly sympathetic, saddened expression adorned her face.
"-and my childhood wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. This particular time my Aunt thought she was in was… rough for the whole family really I'd-"
Tony's left hand dropped from the table and ghosted across the place where they knew the bullet once pierced his stomach.
"I take it that your visit didn't go well, my boy." Stiffening at Obadiah's voice, Tony suddenly leant away from Pepper and gave Obadiah a look that very clearly portrayed the sentiment of 'no shit Sherlock' which Clint and Bruce couldn't help but snort at despite the situation.
"I'll take it from here Miss Potts." Obadiah strolled over then pulled the half empty Jack Daniels away from her and took it in one of his hands.
Reluctantly getting to her feet, Pepper smiled at Tony before sweeping out of the room.
"Come on, my boy." Obadiah wrapped an arm around Tony's shoulders as he took a seat next to him. "You should be grateful I walked in when I did. I thought you knew better than to let your guard down around people just because they have a pretty face."
"Pepper's not like Sunset."
"You're sure about that, are you?" Obadiah's grip visibly tightened around Tony's shoulder, he paused, giving a moment for that idea to sink in before the older man leaned in even closer. "I just want what's best for you my boy."
"Like hell," Rhodey growled, both he and Bruce spoke up in unison. "Get away from my best friend, you creep."
Rhodey sneered at Bruce, "Funny, Banner. If you treat your best friends like you treated Tony, it's no wonder you haven't got very many."
Bruce couldn't help but let out a growl that showed the Hulk's feeling on those words. "Rhodey, I know you're angry with me. Hell, I'm angry with what I did too but now's really not the time."
Before the others could interject, Tony spoke up. "You know whenever mum got like this, she used to play the piano… I play too," Tony smirked, "breaks the monotony of the endless parties. Anyway, I know you are a pianist and I've been missing a duet partner. What I'm asking is, would you like to play with me?"
Obadiah broke into a massive grin, "I'd be delighted to my boy."
They barely had time to feel creeped out by the predatory and possessive behaviour Obadiah was showing before the memory began to morph and change.
"I'm sorry I couldn't make your birthday, Ducky but I think I had your present in here somewhere." Peggy shuffled across the room to look through her wardrobe before Daniel stopped her.
"Peggy," Daniel guided her to an armchair and sat her down carefully. "Tony turned 33 a couple of months ago we gave him the watch he's wearing," Hoisting his arm up, the sleeve of Tony's long t-shirt fell down to reveal a chunky gold watch engraved with roman numerals.
"Oh, but I thought-" She sighed and sat back down then without warning she stiffened when she saw something silver sticking out of Tony's pocket, her eyes narrowed as they flickered to every part of his face.
"Hey Peg-leg," Clearly oblivious to Peggy's sudden mood change, Tony's eyes flicked to the ceiling. "Could you see if there's any more spiked coffee out there?"
"Mr Carter-Sousa has some in his cup but there appears to be more out there, Master."
"Good, I might need it later."
Horrified, Peggy looked to her husband as she got to her feet and turned her dangerously narrowed eyes to Tony.
They could see that Tony offered no resistance to Peggy when she lunged at him and pinned him to the floor.
"Peggy-?!" Daniel yelped at the scene and tried to pull her off Tony, whose arms she had pinned stubbornly to the floor.
Her grip tightened around Tony's arms. "That's not Tony- Daniel I need you to try and find the accomplice code name, Peg-Leg. Don't drink that!" Daniel obediently lowered the cup and set it on the side. "They were trying to poison us, I don't know what they did to the original Tony but I intend to find out." Tony held back a wince at feeling her nails dig into his skin, she leant in close to his face. "If I find you harmed my godson I swear you'll rue the day you were born Agent."
"I am Tony Stark."
"LIAR!" She lifted her hand to hit him but at that moment Daniel suddenly lunged down and grabbed her.
"Pegs, he's telling the truth. The accomplice, Peg-Leg was an AI he installed in here and in my place to monitor you, keep me informed of your progress and to help me in my flat."
Carefully, standing up Peggy's eyes filled with tears when she watched him gasp for breath on the ground, it took her a moment to realise that she had been sat on his chest.
Oh, my god what did I almost do? This has never happened with Sharon, I almost wish it had she would've defended herself…
"Oh, my god, Ducky." Traumatised, Peggy's hand's shook and she looked across to Daniel who was helping Tony off the floor, he appeared equally as spooked as her which helped make up her mind.
"I-I can't stay here. You can't see me anymore…"
"What the hell?! Peggy no-" Panicked, Tony started over to her, "I'm fine really-"
"I made a promise when I became your Godmother that I would protect you- I almost hit you Ducky! I can't risk that ever happening again because I don't trust myself and I don't trust you to defend yourself next time I snap."
"Peggy, are you sure?" Daniel spoke up now, alternating his gaze between Tony who had gone rigid and Peggy who simply nodded.
"This is bullshit! Complete and utter bullshit!"
"Language Tony…" Daniel chided gently.
"You know what, you can shove 'language' right up your-. It was one incident, ONE! I highly doubt you even have any place in mind-" Tony folded his arms across his chest and laughed bitterly.
"England."
"England…" Whispered Tony, he shook his head before rolling his eyes. "Why not somewhere closer, I'll put more space between my visits-"
"No Tony."
"Why are you so desperate to leave me?!" Tony shrieked before he stilled and put a hand to his mouth. "Wow," He gave a very fake laugh and grimaced. "I didn't know I had that in me."
"Does anyone else really want to hug him right now?" Peter almost whispered, keeping his wide eyes on the younger version of his mentor.
Everyone made a motion of agreement, apart from Wanda, who Vision a shot disappointed glare at.
"Although my opinion on Stark has softened slightly, knowing what I do now, I don't think I'm ready to hug him yet." Wanda offered in a small muted voice, she hunched in on herself and kept her eyes on the memory.
"Well, I wish to hold Man of Iron in my arms and assure him that he has my loyalty and friendship even when his soul leaves the mortal realm." Thor boomed before he frowned at Peggy. "It's memories like these when I remember how frail mortals are in comparison to myself."
"When did we say we were leaving you? Oh no, young man." Daniel smiled reassuringly, they felt Peggy's pride in her husband rising in her chest at seeing Tony look to him, almost disbelievingly. "We are going to write to you so much, you are going to get sick of us."
"This isn't the end, Anthony." Peggy smiled softly, "I hate what this illness has done to me. I can remember the first toy I gave you when you were a baby, which coincidently was a small yellow duck-"
"That's where the nickname came from." Tony breathed.
"Yes," her smile flitted across her face before it fell. "I can remember that, but I can't remember when my anniversary was, or what I did this morning." She sighed.
I love you, Ducky. I'm so so sorry I have to do this.
"Don't think I'm happy about this because I am really not. However, I will let you go on the condition that I can see you both off, I get you a private plane and a car to take you to one of the best specialist homes in England."
"Of course, you're seeing us off I'd be disappointed if you didn't." She grinned at the small sincere smile that spread itself across Tony's face in response.
Tony waved up at Daniel and Peggy's smiling faces from a distance away as the 'Stark' jet began to start, he cleared the landing pad and tried to commit their smiling faces to memory as he watched the plane sped off.
Sighing, Tony flicked some light blue shades over his eyes and slumped forward, Obadiah walked carefully over and wrapped an arm around Tony's waist. "You know, I'll never leave you."
The 'not like them' wasn't said but heavily implied as Obadiah guided Tony to the car, that Happy was waiting inside.
Obadiah made to open the door but before he could, Tony pulled the older man into his arms.
They could see Obadiah break out into an extremely nasty, triumphant grin as he returned the gesture, his arms slithered around Tony like snakes and squeezed him tightly.
"I know, man." I love you.
"For god's sake! Open your eyes Tony! He's a creepy son of a bitch!" Clint fumed at Obadiah in the memory and snarled, pointing at Obadiah in a repetitive angry motion. "And you! You! I really want to throttle for what you did to Wanda as well as Tony you nasty fu-"
Clint's extremely crude rant continued for a good minute and a half before the archer finally ran out of air.
"Are you done yet?" A grin pulled at the side of Scott's mouth whilst he watched Clint gasp.
"No, that fucker also deserves an arrow through the eye… now, I'm done."
"Why didn't Stark see what was going on?" Confused, Sam looked to the others. "Didn't the dude say he had an IQ of 300 a few memories back? This makes no sense."
"Yes. Yes, it does." Natasha spoke up now, "Stane has been brainwashing him from an early age to love and trust him… not all brainwashing involves a machine." Bucky winced, "Or magic powers. When you get someone young, they are malleable." Natasha's eyes went dark for a moment before she blinked and the emotion they had seen was gone. "They can be influenced easily. You all have seen how smart Stane is, for years he's been gas lighting and manipulating Tony to do exactly what he wants. All the touches too – that's a form of manipulation itself and it works both as that and as a powerplay."
"Why didn't you see what was going on Rhodes?" Wanda turned to Rhodey, who glared at her in return.
"Why didn't I see it?!" Fumed Rhodey, his hands clenched into fists whilst his jaw clenched. "I was flying one of my missions when this was going on. And I can see now that nasty bastard always made sure to keep the creepiness to a minimum when I was around."
They had nothing to say to that but soon found their attention was drawn back to Tony and Obadiah as they finally broke apart.
"Have a safe ride back, my boy." Obadiah pecked the top of Tony's head which caused most of them to shiver as Tony disappeared into the car and sped away.
The car moved out of sight before Obadiah pulled his phone out of his pocket and clicked a contact on his screen.
Moving the phone to his ear, he grinned. "Pierce."
Bucky stiffened and growled at the name as Obadiah continued. "My golden goose is firmly in my grasp. He doesn't suspect a thing, so he's not a threat to Hydra yet."
"Good. When you have bled this asset dry dispose of him, discretely."
"Can't you set the Asset on Stark?"
Sucking a harsh breath in, Bucky paled to a sickly shade of white at the thought of killing all three Starks.
"Haven't you always dreamed of a dramatic death for Stark? No… We use the Ten Rings to do our public dirty work, I will give you our connections to the head of the organisation. He goes by Raza, he will aid you for a price. Using them, you can gain Stark's throne with ease and Hydra will continue to rule from the shadows."
"I will be sure to keep you informed. Hail Hydra." Obadiah smiled into the phone before snapping it shut.
