"Can't let it go, huh?"

The calm and sad voice makes Steve cringe. He should have known Tony would be alerted if he came here.

"I'm just thinking."

"Natasha asked me to keep an eye on your 'thinking'."

Well that pisses him off.

"I'm not a dog on a leash."

"Hence why I'm telling you." Tony walks forward and pushes himself up to sit on a metal lab table, "If I hadn't been there, I'd be feeling the same way as her. Like you're trying to abandon us." Tony's eyes are searching, too observant for Steve to feel at ease, "but I saw it. Witnessed it with my own eyes." Steve stays quiet. And Tony waits, "'saw what, Tony?'" He playfully mocks Steve's deeper serious voice.

Steve sighs, speaking softly, "saw what, Tony?"

"The way you two love each other."

"We aren't—"

"The ones." Tony cuts off, "I get it. Different universes and all that jazz. I'm just saying. Even though you two loved different versions of yourselves, the chemistry was still there. Off the charts. Chart topping. Billboard 100–"

"Shut up, Tony."

"Noted."

Steve stands, too exposed, too vulnerable. Now two people have seen him in here moping.

"Don't."

He looks up to see Tony staring at his hands, "what?"

"It's really unfair of me to ask." Tony says, "but…don't go. I know you don't—" he cuts himself off, "I know I'm an asshole. And Clint is annoying and Natasha's scary and Bruce is stand offish, and who the hell knows where Thor is half the time…" Then Tony looks up and his expression is guilty, "but you're our Captain. You can't leave your team."

Steve sighs and scrubs at his face, "Can you tell Natasha that the scripted guilt trips are getting a little heavy handed?"

"Your trips to the lab are getting more frequent." Tony grimaces, "she's starting to get anxious."

"I'm not going to make a decision without telling you guys."

Tony's jaw tightens, "that's what scares us most. That you're still considering it as an option."

And Steve doesn't have an answer to that.

—-

She'd thought they had a break through. And they had, but now Steve seems to be shuttering in, not engaging with them or acknowledging their presence.

He's afraid.

She can tell he's afraid of what might happen. Too many times he's been punished for remembering who he is.

But she has no intention of giving in.

—-

"Steve," she tries for the fourteenth time. "You have to eat."

Steve stares at the wall. His hands wrapped around his own ankles, chin on his knees, not moving, barely blinking. Sharp spine curved and prominent.

"Pilot." She says less willingly, "please, the serum needs fuel."

He touches nothing.

Peggy throws the metal tray with food so hard that it sticks in the wall, just like the weights in that rehabilitation room all those decades ago. The food splatters on the wall and she lets out a frustrated growl.

"Still not eating?"

She whips around to see Natasha standing there, staring at the mess.

"I don't understand!" Peggy groans, covering her eyes with her hand, "it's been two days! He has to be starving, and he won't even look at it!"

Natasha walks over to the wall and tries to rip it from the wall. It doesn't budge. Natasha's eyes narrow and she yanks, using her full body weight, until it creaks and breaks free, drywall scattering. She clatters it to the counter, "can I try?"

Something like annoyance rises in Peggy, "why would you be more successful?"

Natasha shrugs and then her face grows serious, "just a hunch."

"If you can get him to eat. Then be my guest."

Natasha looks at the clock, "I'll be down there in 10 minutes."

Peggy is sitting in the room, Steve not having moved an inch, when Natasha enters.

A flat tray is in her hands. Peggy can smell something savory. Natasha ignores her, walks over to Steve, sets it in front of him, and then sits cross legged in front of the tray so they're facing each other. She blocks his view to the wall. Steve's heart rate rises a bit, but he stays rigid.

Natasha picks a spoon off the tray and stirs what Peggy can now see is a bowl of hearty stew. She stirs it thoroughly, then lifts a large bite to her lips, chewing slowly and swallowing very clearly.

She reaches for a big bottle of water that was already there. She unscrews the lid, popping the seal, and takes a big gulp. Then she grabs the thick piece of bread that's on the tray and rips off a piece, shoving it in her mouth and chewing. She rinses that down with more water and then stops, leaning back, resting against the wall.

Then she stares at Steve, an eyebrow raised.

Steve watches her first with uncertainty, then curiosity, then disbelief.

But it only takes a minute. After Natasha had finished her little show, Steve's hand snakes and snatches the bread. He tears off a piece with his teeth and chews, his eyes closing as if in relief.

Peggy watches dumbfounded. Steve finishes the bread and then the bowl is balancing on his knees. Without hesitation he eats off Natasha's same spoon until the bowl is scraped clean.

While he downs the rest of the water bottle. Natasha opens the second one that's there and takes a drink of that one too, before setting it in front of him.

He finishes that one off too.

And Peggy almost chokes in relief at the way Steve looks at Natasha with a new expression. Gratefulness telegraphing across his face. She nods and tilts her head, "can I bring more food? Would you eat it?"

He doesn't answer, but the way his eyes don't leave her make her smile, "I'll be back."

Natasha waves for Peggy to follow her. She does.

"How did you manage?"

Natasha grimaces, "He may have been Hydra, but the red room and Hydra weren't too far off. We were trained to never eat anything that could be compromised."

Peggy grips the woman's bicep, halting her in her tracks, "by compromised you mean—"

"Poisoned."

Nausea rolls through Peggy, "you're saying Steve is used to being poisoned?"

The red head shrugs, "I don't know anything. But the spoon thing, did you see how there was an extra spoon on the tray but he used mine?"

Her throat is tight, "yes…?"

"Back in Russia, we were trained in that trick. They wouldn't always poison the food. They would poison the utensil they gave you to eat with. So they would eat the food, showing it was "safe" and then give you a poisoned spoon to eat it with."

Peggy's grip on her arm must be painfully tight, but she says nothing in complaint, just watches as Peggy tries not to break down in the middle of the hallway.

"Thank you." Peggy manages to finally say. "For getting him to eat."

Natasha smiles, "anytime, Cap."

Clint is the next to help.

Steve says little to nothing. His eyes and face are as expressive to her as ever, but only because she knows his expressions so well.

Tony had offered to play their tape for him. But Peggy couldn't stomach that just yet. The man barely knew who he was, let alone his love for her.

She would sit there in the locked up room, but eventually the silence would drive her crazy. The air would become stifling and she would get up and leave, feeling like she'd failed him again and again.

Then one day she comes back and stops right outside the door.

The soft sound of music emanates from inside. The door opens quietly and she freezes at the sight. A bed, a chair, and a mirror are set up inside, along with a little table and chair that Peggy knows she's never seen around the tower before. A record player on the floor, playing something she recognizes from her time and her throat catches at the sight of Steve very clearly listening to the music, while pretending he isn't.

Clint is on the ground, a gun disassembled in front of him, and he's humming along, seemingly extremely at ease.

"What's this?" She asks quietly.

Clint looks up and grins at her, "figured if I was in his shoes, it would probably feel less like a prison if we made it look like less of a prison."

Of course. She's mad she didn't think of it first. Something about finding Steve has set her off her kilter in a way she's never experienced.

Steve is however still in the exact spot she left him a few hours ago. But there is a sort of softness to the way his heart is beating, as if it's syncing to the music.

"Where did you get this?" She runs her fingers over the hard word table and chair back, "I know Anthony doesn't have this type of furniture, it's too outdated for him."

Clint shrugs as if it's no big deal, "just picked it up, thought it might feel familiar."

Peggy rests a hand on his shoulder making him look up, "thank you." She whispers, "I mean it."

Clint smiles, "anytime, Cap."

—-

The bed is made too neatly.

Which means he slept in it and tried to hide the fact that he did.

It's a big step in the right direction even if it still pains her heart that he still refuses to address the fact that he very clearly is remembering things.

—-

But it's the next person to try to help that surprises her the most.

Or… It's the way he tries to help that surprises her.

Steve sits quietly on the floor, legs crossed and back against the wall. Peggy has noticed that he never turns off the music. Not even at night. Steve did always love music, and he used to listen to it sort of loud since his hearing was poor. But now the music plays on a quiet level 24/7.

She's sitting there, working on some paperwork that Fury had sent about her inquiries into the possibility of Hydra still slithering underground, when Anthony enters the room.

He walks slowly to her and looks at Steve, speaking softly, although she's sure Steve can still hear, "can I talk to you a minute?" She nods and stands, walking out of the room, "you think he'll ever come around?"

"I don't know." She answers, keeping her eyes on the hallway, "but I have every intention of making sure he has the opportunity to."

Tony's nodding slowly, "I've been thinking."

Peggy sighs, "When aren't you thinking?"

"True, but specifically I've been trying to think why Steve has refused to trust us. We haven't punished him, other than the restraints but he still isn't interactive."

"He's been in captivity for almost 70 years, Anthony—"

"Right. But we should immediately seem different to him. He recognizes you, I know he does, and he sort of remembers Howard enough to think I look like him. So why the distrust?"

"Did I mention the torture and brainwashing." She says through gritted teeth.

He nods, "you did, and I get it. And I think…" he looks at her ruefully, "I think that's part of the problem."

"What is?"

"We're… powerful. All of us. In our own ways we're the authority. He can't see us as friends or safe when we hold so much power over him. Even if we ring bells."

Peggy pauses, "what are you saying?"

"He's been held for, like you said, almost 70 years. In that time, the only time he's felt in control was when he was trying to escape. But we've now eliminated that possibility. So here he is, surrounded by people who are the authority. He won't feel safe to trust that we're different until we let our guard down."

Her throat constricts, "and how do you suggest we do that?"

Tony wrinkles his nose. "I've got an idea."

He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out an extra arc reactor. "Just in case." Then he's walking back into the room and Peggy stares at the circular piece of metal glowing in her hand before following after Anthony quickly.

—-

"I'm Tony Stark." Anthony says, as he approaches Steve. "You may not remember, but you knew my dad, Howard Stark. He built your machine."

Steve's eyes are watchful, careful, as he studies Anthony. "I'm known here as Iron Man." He shows a picture on his phone, "I grabbed you when you went all Zhora Salome on my tower windows." He pauses and looks at Peggy, "did I make you watch the original Blade Runner? Make sure I do that." He turns back to Steve. "The point is," he reaches down, pulling at the hem of his shirt, "I'm only Iron Man, because I got abducted by this organization called the Ten Rings." Steve's eyes go a bit wider and Peggy hears his heart rate rise with recognition. But then Anthony surprises them both by removing his shirt completely, his chest, arc reactor set in the center with the scarring and and distorted skin, on full display. "They were supposed to kill me, but they didn't know who I was, and when they found out, they wanted me alive but—" he points to his chest, "they'd hit me too hard. Shrapnel was heading towards my heart. I was going to bleed out and die." His fingers tap the metal circle, "but a man named Yinsen saved my life. He installed a car battery to my chest and helped keep the shrapnel at bay." Then he looks at Steve very seriously, "If you were to rip this out, there's a very good possibility I would die." She inhales sharply at the statement, the vulnerability there. And she can hear Steve's heart rate rise at the proclamation, "I'm just a human. As much as I don't usually like to admit it."

Anthony then sits down, directly in front of Steve, in full arms reach. Steve could not only rip the arc reactor out, but snap Anthony's neck, perhaps before Peggy could stop him. She steps forward but Anthony raises a hand to stop her.

"Hydra had you. They claimed you. Branded you." He points to his chest, "Just like the Ten Rings did to me. But I used what they did to me. To make me stronger. I'm not theirs. Are you Hydra's?"

Steve's throat bobs as he swallows. But he stays quiet. Then Anthony leans forward, reaching out and grabbing Steve's wrist, lifting his hand and setting it on top of the arc reactor, "are you Hydra's, Steve? If so, now's your chance to prove it."

Steve's hand recoils almost immediately. Yanking away from Anthony's chest and he shoves his arms across his body, locking them under his own arms.

Tony smiles, "I thought so." He looks at Peggy and smiles, "and none of us here want you in this room anymore. If we let you out of this room, will you run?"

And Steve speaks his first sentence in almost a week, "Where's the machine?"

"It's a few rooms over. You want to see it?"

Steve nods.

"Alright," Tony says, grabbing his shirt and putting it on, "let's go."

Peggy watches as Tony unlocks the room and opens the door and waving them both forward.

Steve stands cautiously, looking like he's waiting for swift retribution, but when none arrive, he walks towards the door and steps beyond it.

Once free, he's as predictable as he is bull headed. He slams the door, shutting it in her face and trapping her inside.

She starts to slam her shoulder against the door but Anthony opens it.

She can already hear him entering the stairwell.

Peggy's already running that direction before something grabs at her, halting her progress. She rips at it and finds an Iron Man gauntlet. She stares at it in confusion before turning back to its owner.

"He's never going to believe this isn't a prison if we keep catching him and putting him back in his cell."

Her jaw drops, "you think I'm going to let him run away!? After everything he's been through!"

"He thinks he's captive. Remembering us or not, his number one goal is escape, until he realizes there's no need to escape, no torture to escape from, he's going to keep trying the disappearing act."

"We can't just let him wander free!" She says, her voice a desperate sort of growl, "what if someone hurts him, or he hurts someone?"

Anthony smiles at her, "and where do you think our resident assassins are at the moment?"

Peggy pauses, her lips pursing together before she covers her eyes with both palms, "you have them outside the tower?"

"Indeed. And they'll be tracking whichever direction he goes. We have no idea how much contact he had with the outside world. But he needs to know he can leave. He can leave and come back if his own will. That's the only thing that will click to him that he's being held prisoner."

Sir, Steve Rogers has exited the front doors, heading East.

"Thanks, J." Anthony responds, "make sure you keep Romanoff and Barton in your sights as they track him."

Will do, sir.

Peggy feels torn, "you expect he'll choose to come back?"

Anthony grins at her, "hell yeah. Once he gets over the fight and flight coping mechanism he developed under Hydra, he definitely remembers you. Haven't you noticed he keeps you at arms length more than the rest of us?"

She has noticed. It has hurt her feelings in many ways. "He does?" She responds simply.

"Come on, don't pretend you haven't noticed. He doesn't even barely look at you." She frowns at him and he holds up his hands in surrender, "That's him pretending you don't exist. Because acknowledging you is probably grounds for punishment from his captors. You're the biggest presence in the room to him."

Her shoulders drag down, but she keeps her voice steady, "what is that supposed to tell me?"

Anthony chuckles, "Cap, I watched the original footage of you and non-brainwashed Steve. And I watched the footage of him in that room fighting you until you tapped on him. He's got it bad for you. Just doesn't know how those puzzle pieces fit in that blended brain of his."

She grimaces, "please don't refer to his brain as blended."

"Right." Anthony says softly, "sorry, I just mean, through all their whatever psycho shit they did to him, they couldn't erase you. And he may not be able to put it into words but that scares him."

"Uh, guys?" Barton's voice crackles over the hallway speakers.

"Clint?" Peggy asks, "what is it?"

"Steve Rogers was born in…"

"Brooklyn." Peggy answers, Anthony's wide eyed meeting hers, "why?"

"Looks like he's heading home."

-

Anthony's sort of annoyed mumbling over the coms as he flies and she races below him on her motorbike.

Can't even remember his own damn name but can find—-

"Anthony." Peggy snaps. "Do shut up."

"Barnes wouldn't happen to live in his old house would he?"

Peggy feels a thrill of fear go through her, she pushes faster and feels the heat of the engine between her knees.

"Don't let him go inside!" Peggy calls, "what is he doing?"

And Barton's voice is sad when he speaks next, "he's just staring, Cap."

Clint is two houses down, on the roof, a bow in hand just in case.

But the guy is just staring. Standing and staring. He'd gone to a different location first. But there had only been new high rise apartments there. Clint's smart enough to guess what used to be there.

But now Steve is standing on the sidewalk opposite the house and staring at it.

Everyone grew up learning about the commandos. Bucky Barnes was famous, helping Howard Stark create Shield and making the world a better place. Or so everyone hoped.

But ever since Clint watched that footage of Cap and Steve, he'd been doing a lot of back research. The amount of things Steve was involved in before he disappeared was wild. He was the only commando to give his life in service, but since it happened after the war was over, it didn't get any attention.

But the guy, who looks like he's seeing a ghost, just stands there unmoving.

And then the door opens.

Clint's eyes clock a small kid, maybe 10 walking out the door, a sketch pad in his grip. Clint's eyes snap to Steve who has gone impossibly still. Watchful expression now focused on the child, who has thick dark hair and glasses.

The kid hops down his own steps and sets the sketch pad on the brick wall, getting ready to jump up and sit on it.

Steve starts to slowly back away, but the movement catches the kid's eyes. Steve freezes, and Clint can see the tension in the man's body, as if he wants to bolt but hasn't been given permission. Clint's bow string is taut, ready for whatever might happen.

The kid is staring at Steve, "I know you." His voice is calm and sure. But his face is confused about his own words.

Steve is still frozen, but he looks at the kid, "you do?"

The small child hops back down and goes to the edge of the sidewalk, narrowing his eyes as if to study Steve's face. "Uh-huh. You're on our wall."

The words seem to confuse Steve, "wall?"

"Yeah," the kid says, "how come you're on our wall?"

Steve stays quiet, not having an answer.

"Your face is messed up now though. What happened?"

Steve still stays quiet. And the kid looks ready to say something else but the door opens again, a stern voice emanating from inside, "Steven Daniels! You can't just walk outside without telling someone!"

The kid looks back, a sheepish grin on his face, "but I wasn't going nowhere, just here."

"Is it still outside?" The woman asks, hands on her hips.

The kid frowns, "yeah."

"Yeah." The woman, presumably his mother, says with a sigh, "you know the rules. Now come inside."

"But mom I'm talking to someone."

The mother raises an eyebrow and looks up, "oh yeah, who—-" the words die on her lips as she catches Steve in her vision. Still frozen, still unmoving. Her mouth goes agape and she's standing there, just a frozen in place.

The kid speaks first, "he's the guy on our wall, right? I told him he was."

The woman chokes, hand to her chest, "Wha—?" She looks up and down the street as if she might be being pranked, "who are you?"

Steve's still staring with wide eyes, and that's when Clint hears the sound of repulsors, followed closely by a screaming engine. This is about to get ugly real quick.

He repels off the roof and Steve hears that. He turns towards Clint and his eyes widen. Whatever had been keeping him in place dissipates as he bolts down the sidewalk leaving them all in shock.

The kid sees him, "hey! You're Hawkeye!"

Tony drops to the ground in that instant and then Cap squeals to a stop in her bike.

She's tossing her helmet and pointing at Tony, "was this in your plan!?"

Tony's faceplate comes up and he's grimacing, "I didn't think his memory was this good yet."

Peggy turns and sighs, but stops as she sees the mother and son staring at them in awe.

"It's Captain Carter." The boy says, "and Uncle Tony!" He looks up at his mother, "are they here for great grandpa!?"

The mother is staring at them, but her eyes trail to the empty space that Steve had just vacated. "Oh—" her voice cuts off, "who was that! Was that who I think it was?" She's going pale, "was he in a portal too?" She takes a step back, "what is going on?"

Clint catches the glare that Peggy sends towards Tony. Who takes a deep breath and faces the woman, "there's no need to worry, Michelle. We're just working some details out."

"Um," the woman, who is Barnes' granddaughter huffs out a scoff, "you think I wouldn't recognize Steve Rogers' face? What is going on? Does my grandpa know? What happened to his face?"

"Guys, who has eyes on Steve?"

Natasha's comm pings through and they all grimace.

"Shit." Clint mutters, "he'll be long gone by now."

Peggy turns to Tony, "this is exactly what I was afraid of!"

"You'd rather he think he was still a prisoner of war!"

"WHAT!?" The woman, Michelle, is clutching at her chest, "what!?"

"I cannot have this conversation right now." Peggy grits out, she points at Tony, "you stay and explain, but do not under any circumstances let Barnes know what is going on until we find him." She throws her leg over her bike, "I'm going after him."

"Chasing him is going to make him feel chased." Tony snaps.

"Well I am bloody chasing him!" Peggy shouts. Then with her engine growling she's gone.

"You're in deep shit."

Tony glares at him, "no one asked you Barton, and where the hell were you? I asked you to knock him out if things got dicey—"

Clint frowns at him and Tony turns to the family, "can we come inside? It's sort of a long story."

She finds Natasha before she even catches a glimpse of Steve. The quiet park only has a few other occupants.

"How pissed are you at Tony right now?" The redhead asks, an amused but wary look on her face.

"He's lucky I haven't torn his tower to shreds."

"If you're gonna do that, can you give me some warning? I have some stuff in there I would want." Peggy glares at the woman who laughs, "lighten up, there's nowhere in this world Steve could hide that you won't eventually find him."

Peggy turns and jabs a finger at the woman, "I'm not worried about that! I'm worried Hydra will get their hands on him first! What if they steal him back? He's their pilot and now they have nothing to gain from him! They could kill him or worse for losing the suit! He's dispensable to them! And now, he's alone. Again."

At that Natasha stays quiet.

Nothing on the city cameras, sir.

"Don't tell me that, J." Tony says with a groan, "he has to be somewhere."

He disappears into an alley three blocks from James Barnes' residence and is not seen again. Where would you like me to scan next?

"Where was that alley, were there fire escape access?"

No sir, just a sewage access—

Tony groans, "shhiiiiiiiittt.." He huffs and stands, "get me a suit, and search the sewage grid cameras."

If an AI could sound amused. Yes, sir.

—-

Mr. Stark asked me to alert you that he has a location on Mr. Rogers.

"What?" Peggy asks, slowing her bike to a stop, "where?"

He said he will send that location when or if he feels it's necessary.

The way her hands crunch on her handles, "oh did he?"

He has requested that you 'not be mad' and that he 'has a plan'.

"And I'm supposed to just sit and wait?"

He has requested your presence at the tower. He has something in your living quarters.

Her interest and anger are both piqued. "Fine." She snaps.

Tony doesn't hide his approach.

The grimy human being crouched in the corner against the vertical grate doesn't move or react to his approach.

Tony retracts his faceplate, almost gagging as the smell hits him. Steve stays still, hunched over, head in his hands and his chest pressed against his knees.

"Are you okay?" Tony asks, while clearly seeing the man is not okay.

"It's all wrong." Steve gasps out, "everything's all wrong."

There's a million things Steve could be referring too. "What is all wrong?"

"The city. The pilot."

Oof. Okay, one at a time.

"What about the city strikes you as wrong?"

"The streets are the same. Everything else is different."

Oh yeah… Maybe he wasn't in a portal like Cap, but he sure wasn't being kept up on the modernization of society.

"Okay, yeah." Tony says slowly, "that can be confusing. It's 2014, you've missed a few things. And what's wrong with the pilot."

"He's confused."

"About?"

"Everything."

"Like?"

"Why isn't he being punished for his escape attempts?"

Tony sighs, "it's not a prison. You can't escape something that you're not being forced to stay in."

"Yet here you are to collect me."

"No." Steve's eyes finally find his, bright blue orbs reflecting the glow of his arc reactor. "No. If you don't want to come. That's on you. But she will be sad." Steve's head disappears again, his forehead being shoved against his knees. "Do you remember her?"

"The pilot has no attachments."

A lie. So clearly a lie. "Why not?" No answer. "She remembers you. She knows you. Loves you." No answer. "You remember something. Or you wouldn't have gone to Barnes' house."

Steve's shoulders somehow manage to go more rigid. "He's not there."

Tony steps forward and Steve flinches back. So he stops. "He was at a doctor's appointment actually. But his granddaughter, she recognized you. As did his great grandson. Do you know what his name is?"

"Steven."

Tony's head leans back, "uh, yeah, how'd you know?"

"His mother said it." Steve's voice is raspy.

"He's named after his grandpa. Who's named after you."

"I'm the Pilot."

"NO." Tony snaps, "no. You're not the pilot. You're Steve. You're Steve Rogers. You were best friends with Bucky Barnes and with Howard Stark, who was my father. You helped them start Shield. You designed buildings and quinjets and you loved Peggy Carter with your whole heart. And she loved you back."

"The pilot has remembered things before. And had them taken every time. Can't risk that. Better to not remember at all."

Ah.

"No one's taking those memories, Steve. Hydra's going to be toast when we finally figure out what snakes they have hidden underground, but until then, you're safe with us, as long as you stop running around the city like a crazy person."

"Safe, how?"

Tony frowns, but he supposes it's a fair question. "No punishments. No torture. No forcing you to do anything." Tony pauses, remembering Natasha's conversation with him, "clean food and water whenever you want it."

"No restraints."

Tony's already nodding, "absolutely. No restraints. And in our defense that was because we didn't know what had happened to you. We were taking precautions. But as long as you don't cause harm to people, then there's no restraints."

"The pilot does not harm people." And there's a fire deep in Steve's eyes as he stares at Tony.

"The pilot… has never harmed people?"

Steve tilts his head, gesturing to his arms where the scars reflect a ghostly white, "why do you think the pilot was punished so often?"

Punished for refusing to do hydra's bidding.

Tony shakes his head, "why did they keep you around? Why make you strong?"

And for the first time Tony witnesses the beginnings of a smile. It doesn't appear, but the ghost of it is there. "There is no other pilot."

Something about that fact is terrifyingly impressive. This man, had been so adept at his job that he was literally irreplaceable, even to his sworn enemies. His father had been able to create a system so complicated that no one else could fly it. Just this man in front of him. The one who is hunched over and covered in scars and sewage. The one who refused to give in.

And he can see why Peggy is so attached.

"Well," Tony says, "I love a good sewer as much as the next guy, but how about you come back to the tower with me. I eat. You eat. We sleep. We shower. Not together. And not necessarily in that order. Sound good?"

Conflict re-enters Steve's eyes. So Tony presses his luck. "Peggy is going to harm me if I don't bring you back. She didn't want you out of her sight. That's why we've been a little overbearing. She's got it bad for you man. You gonna waste that?"

Maybe it's not the grossest thing Tony's ever said, but he feels bad about the guilt trip, even if it's true.

Steve's brow furrows, he eyes Tony suspiciously. "She was gone." He looks around and then his eyes land on Tony again, "the pilot remembers her being gone."

Tony grimaces, "yeah. She was a in a portal the tesseract created. You were there when she got sucked in. Do you remember that?"

Steve's eyes blink slowly. And they get sad. "Monster."

Tony swallows thickly and gruffs out a "yeah. The monster."

The man stands, looking tired and stiff. "The pilot can leave whenever he wants?"

Tony nods, "yep. Can't promise you won't have us following you like flies. But we won't stop you."

Steve nods. "Okay."

Peggy hears the announcement from Jarvis. But she doesn't believe it until Anthony is stepping off the elevator and Steve is trailing behind him.

"Okay," Anthony is saying, "let me show you to your room, it has a shower and I have clothes that will fit you. Okay?"

Steve eyes each of them, "okay."

He's led away and Natasha comes to stand beside her. "For what it's worth… I am sorry."

Peggy's eyes close briefly, "thank you." Then she's heading towards the elevator, and it happens again. Where they underestimate her hearing.

Because her heart constricts at Clint's whispered words as the doors slip closed.

"What happens if the other Steve comes back?"

Her hand is frozen halfway to the panel that selects floors. Steve. She couldn't have possibly guessed it was a variation of him in the suit.

Her throat gets tight at the thought of having Steve show up, to find that she's lucky enough to have her Steve alive, and even… It's crossed Peggy's mind that her Steve is enhanced now. That makes them on more equal footing than they've ever been. Maybe even in length of life.

And the other Steve… She lowers her hand, selecting the lab floor instead.

Steve steps off the quinjet and rolls his shoulders. He's dirty, grimey, and ready to take a shower and go to bed.

He can hear the others gathering their stuff behind him.

Sir, Jarvis' voice beeps through, There's a disturbance in the lab.

They pause, Tony looks at his watch, "Uh, what kind of disturbance?"

It would seem a young woman has appeared out of thin air.

Steve turns to Tony whose eyes are widening, "What? No way."

Then Steve's running.

—-

Steve skitters into the lab and sees her. Peggy standing there and staring at the tesseract Tony has locked up in his case.

"Peggy…" he says in a rush, catching her attention.

She turns, and instead of a smile, her face looks wary and concerned, "Steve."

A body thuds against him, "Ow! Clint!"

"Sorry, I couldn't stop!"

"Move!"

Steve spins to find his team in a jumbled mess behind him in the hallway.

Peggy is watching curiously. Then her eyes catch their clothing. 'Did you just come back from a mission?"

Steve looks at his grimy suit, "yeah, we're tracking down Hydra. Trying to find Loki's scepter."

Her head reels back, "Loki's scepter is loose?"

He huffs, "don't be judging us, do you know where your scepter is?"

"Shield has it."

"And Hydra hasn't infiltrated your Shield?"

She winces, "I don't know yet."

He tilts his head, "what? How was that not first—" then it hits him, and he steps forward, "the operative? In the machine? Did you get it open?"

And her face goes very flat. "Steve."

"Um," Clint says, stepping around Steve, "who is this?" Then he pauses, "Holy shit, you're Peggy Carter!" Then he leans forward, ""wait, why are you so tall?"

Tony huffs from behind them, "Barton, not the time, huh?"

Natasha smacks him, "weren't you listening at all when they came back?"

He rubs at his arm, "oh yeah. But geez, seeing it for real…"

Steve is still staring at Peggy, "what is it? You got the machine open?"

"Yes."

But the way she says 'yes' makes all of them fall silent. Tony steps up and looks at Peggy, "Barnes remembered the code?"

She shakes her head, "no, he didn't."

Steve glances at Tony and he glances back, "what is it, Peggy?"

Her face falls, "it's you."

—-