June 1991

Tien visited Old Westbury regularly now, to see Maria Stark. As Peggy had hoped, Maria responded to Tien much more warmly than she ever had to Peggy… but not because of the class differences as Peggy had always believed, as it turned out.

After several months, Maria confided to Tien how uncomfortable she got meeting Howard's various old flames, who had a habit of turning up from time to time in their exclusive social circle. Apparently she went out of her way to avoid them, Tien explained to Peggy when she stopped at their house afterward to make her report.

"But I'm not an old flame," Peggy said, startled, but Tien shook her head. "How would she know that?" she asked reasonably. "You knew Howard when he was young and single. You worked with him closely, and still do. And you're very pretty. You can't blame Maria for making the assumption."

"That's not to say Howard didn't try a time or two," Peggy admitted. "But he isn't remotely my type."

Tien smiled. "We all know what your type is."

"Well, now I feel awful," Peggy said, her smile fading. "I never knew Maria felt that way. She must get worried every time I go see Howard."

Lately that had been often, too. Howard — sometimes gratefully, and sometimes reluctantly — was letting Peggy advise him on security matters. He had already completely replaced his research team once, with plans to do so again soon… and none of his assistants had been given access to the full process of serum development. Each one knew only a single step, with no explanation as to the ultimate goal. It was a testament to how seriously Howard took the situation when he did not even tell Peggy where he was keeping the raw materials, or how he was using them in the lab.

Steve and Peggy were both more than a little curious about it, although they respected Howard's wishes and didn't attempt to find out through underhanded ways. Whatever Howard was coming up with, they knew it was going to bear more resemblance to the formula Arnim Zola had given to Bucky than to Erskine's formula, which had triggered such dynamic changes for Johann Schmidt and Steve, and ultimately for Bruce Banner and Emil Blonsky, whose treatments had been derived from Steve's blood samples.

"Howard's so determined to top Erskine, but he's going to make the serum too strong," Peggy said with a worried frown one night. "Those other Winter Soldiers… they went mad almost immediately, didn't they?"

"That's what Bucky said," Steve agreed. "And it's a good thing, too. They were too unstable for Hydra to use. That's why they were put on ice."

"I don't quite understand that," Peggy confessed. "From everything Howard's told me… he's being extremely cautious. Perhaps more cautious than he's ever been with a project before. How could he have botched it so badly?"

Steve shook his head. "I don't know."

"Has it ever occurred to you," Peggy said suddenly, her eyes hollow, "that far from helping Howard, we're actually creating the conditions that will lead to his death?"

"Why would you say that?" Steve said, startled.

Peggy shook her head slowly. "Look at it this way. In the past Hydra was content to hang back and let Howard work on the Tesseract, or try to replicate Hank Pym's work, without threatening him in any way. Now that he's being so careful… we're forcing their hand, aren't we? They aren't going to be able to steal his work through subterfuge. They'll be left with no choice but to attack him openly."

"What could we do differently?" Steve said reasonably. "We can't just sit back and let them take it from him. We're protecting Howard and his interests. With Howard's cooperation. He doesn't want Hydra stealing the formula any more than we do, and he knows the risk he's taking."

He covered Peggy's hand with his. "All we can do is what we think is right," he continued. "Howard will do that, too. And Hydra will do what Hydra always does. Don't say they're left with no choice. They have as much choice as anyone. And if they choose violence, they'll answer for it. They'll answer to us."

"Not Bucky," Peggy said with a sudden passion.

"Not Bucky," he agreed. "His handlers."

"Fury has Pierce's number," Peggy said with a grim kind of satisfaction. "Though it will have to wait a while. And as for Pierce's underlings…. they won't escape justice."

Steve narrowed his eyes. "We'll be there to give it to them."

September 1991

"I miss him terribly."

A glass of lemonade in her motionless hand, Maria Stark stared at the row of trees at the edge of the country club's green expanse, although she seemed too distracted to be admiring the beginning of the autumn changes to the fluttering leaves.

"Tony?" Tien said knowingly as she pulled her sweater more securely over her shoulders; it was starting to feel a little cool outside, even in the relative shelter of the country club's gazebo.

"I can't believe he's been gone this long," Maria said quietly. "He's been jetting around the world since he graduated from MIT — always some place to go or someone to see — but he usually comes home every few months, or talks us into coming to see him, wherever he is. He's been away since March now, and every time I suggest that we come see him, he tries to talk me out of it."

"Maybe he's distracted by a girl," Tien suggested.

Maria dismissed that with a wave of her hand. "He always tells me about the girls. He hasn't gotten serious with any of them. I don't think that's it."

"You think something's wrong?"

Maria put down the lemonade untouched, looking troubled. "I don't know. He left so suddenly. One minute he was planning to stay here in New York at least a month, and then the next — the day after my fundraiser, in fact, the day you and I met — he suddenly decided to go to Japan."

"Why?"

Maria shrugged one shoulder gracefully. "The CEO of Matsushita had invited him to tour their facilities months earlier, and at the time he didn't seem too excited about it. I guess he changed his mind. He just seemed a little moody when he told me he was going. I tried to find out what was bothering him — usually he tells me everything — but he didn't want to talk."

"He's a young man. It's a trying time of life," Tien said, trying to sound comforting. "My son is a little younger than yours, and I never can predict when he'll have his next mood swing."

Maria shook her head again. "Something felt different. And when he went from there to India, and then to the Netherlands, and never said a word about coming home? I'm afraid-" She stopped, a sudden hitch in her voice, and it took a while for her to resume. "I'm afraid it's happening again. That something I said, something I did… Or didn't do…" She trailed off.

"What do you mean?" Tien asked softly, reaching out to put a hand on Maria's wrist.

"My other children," Maria explained after a beat. "My first husband's children, the ones I helped raise. I think I told you once that they didn't keep in contact anymore."

"Yes."

"My ex turned them against me," Maria blurted out in a rush, her usual stately way of speaking falling by the wayside. "At least… that's what I told myself for years. I was furious with him for taking them away from me. But that wasn't really it… or at least, that wasn't only it. He had a hand in it, but it was my fault, too. I… I..." A tear rolled down her cheek, and quickly Tien pulled a handkerchief out of her purse and handed it to Maria, who dabbed at her eyes carefully.

"I had so much going on in my life," Maria explained tearfully. "My music… you know how I love my music. And my foundation. All the fundraisers, and the networking, and the meet and greets for my husband's business… I had so much to do. And you're a mother, you know how it is. How tempting it is to call in the nanny for everything. How easy it is."

Tien wisely said nothing; she had often thanked her lucky stars that Mike was able to earn enough that she could stay home with the children, but they had certainly never hired a nanny. One of the best parts of being in the Carter family was how close they all were, and not just geographically: She and Sarah traded for child care when they needed it, and Mike's dad was almost always available to help, too.

"I know they weren't really my children, but I did love them," Maria continued with an aching plea in her eyes.

"I'm sure you did," Tien said quickly.

"I just… didn't know how to show it to them in a way they would understand." Maria shook her head slowly. "I practically let the nanny raise them. I don't know why I was so surprised that my ex was able to poison them against me. They didn't know me as I really was. They didn't know how much I loved them. How could they?"

"Motherhood seems to come with a heaping helping of guilt, Maria," Tien said gently. "You don't need to pile more on yourself. None of us are perfect at it. None of us could be."

Maria nodded. "I know. I try not to dwell on it, but it still hurts sometimes. I suppose that's a good thing. It's why I was so careful with Tony when he came along. I was determined not to make the same mistake. And so I gave him everything. Everything I didn't give the others. I'm not talking about the money," she added quickly. "I'm talking about my time. My attention. I gave it all to him. I went to every school event. If he needed a ride to a robotics competition, I drove him myself. Whenever he talked, I really listened. I didn't just love him at arm's length, I made sure he knew that I loved him."

"I'm sure he does know that."

Maria drew in a shaky breath. "That's why it makes me so nervous, how distant Tony's been lately. I can't help but wonder if I missed something, if I pushed him away somehow without meaning to."

"I'm sure you didn't." Tien hesitated, and then said cautiously: "But from what you've said, isn't it Howard he doesn't always get along with?"

Maria nodded, looking suddenly weary. "They've been at each other's throats these last few years. It's because they're too alike. They're both… so much larger than life. Sometimes there just isn't enough room in the house for the both of them. But Howard insists he didn't have a fight with Tony that day he decided to go to Japan. I can't explain it. Something got under Tony's collar, but I don't know what."

"Maybe you could surprise him with a visit," Tien said after a long silence. "I'm sure once you were there, he would be glad to see you."

"I don't think I could pull Howard away," Maria said, shaking her head slowly. "He's fixated on a project right now, and his attention is almost impossible to divert when he gets like that. With the Starks, it's all or nothing, and right now, he's giving his all."

"What kind of project?" Tien asked curiously.

"You'll see soon enough," Maria said with a sudden uplift of her chin and the stirrings of a proud smile. "He's hoping to be done by Christmas. And then the whole world will see."

"It's a big project?"

"The biggest," Maria said, a spark of excitement in her usually tranquil gaze. "This one will change the world… and I've never been more proud of my husband."

A breeze stirred up and ruffled their hair, and for a few minutes they sat in silence, lost in their own thoughts.

"About Tony," Tien said at last, and when Maria turned to look at her questioningly, Tien spoke firmly and confidently:

"You should go see him yourself, Maria. If Howard is as busy as you say, he wouldn't mind sparing you for a month or two. Go spend as much time as you can with Tony. Before-" She took in a deep breath. "Before he grows apart from you."

Maria considered that for a long moment, her blue eyes thoughtful. "Maybe I will."

December 15, 1991

Outside, a cold wind was shaking the bare branches of the tree in the front yard, but Mike's living room was warm and pleasant, with the Christmas tree in front of the window positively dripping with ornaments badly made by childish hands out of pipe cleaners and construction paper and glitter, interspersed with Tien's more skillfully made origami stars and poinsettias and angels.

Steve was sitting on the couch, ostensibly to read the newspaper, but really he was watching with carefully hidden amusement at the way his grandsons were crowding excitedly behind Mike as he studied the operator's manual that had come with their brand-new Macintosh Classic II — an early Christmas present for the family — which he had just finished setting up on the desk.

The monitor was ridiculously boxy, the tiny screen was black and white, the graphics were heavily pixelated, and Steve strongly suspected the whole kit and kaboodle had less computing power than the last smartphone he had owned, but Clint and Harrison clearly thought it was the coolest thing they had ever seen, and even Mike was having trouble containing a boyish enthusiasm as he hunted around for a port to plug in one of the accessories.

"Dad, give me a hand here," Mike said, throwing his hands up a little in exasperation. "Where does this thing go?" He held up something black and boxy, almost like a DVD player, except with a row of lights across the front that were all currently dim.

"What is that?" Steve asked blankly. It was too soon for DVDs, he knew that.

"Modem."

"Never used one," Steve admitted. "Now, if you had a Wi-Fi router..."

Mike laughed a little. "Fat lot of help you are."

"Why are you asking Grandpa?" Clint asked in confusion. "He's never even seen one of these."

That was true, even if Clint didn't yet know the reason why; after all, it wasn't Steve's fault that he had missed the entire computing revolution.

"Yeah, Grandpa still thinks math should be done on an abacus," Harrison put in, winking subtly at Steve.

"Dad, can we try the game now?" Clint said eagerly, pulling a floppy disk out of its paper sheath and leaning over Mike's shoulder to try to slide it into the drive.

"Kids, I'm trying to work on this," Mike said with a hint of impatience, blocking Clint's hand. "Doesn't Mom have Christmas presents she wants you to wrap? We'll try the game later tonight, I promise. Right now I need to get the modem hooked up. Svoboda sent me something over the NII that I need to look at. Now shoo."

"You heard Dad," Harrison told Clint. "Shoo!"

"He told you too," Clint shot back.

"He said 'kids.' That isn't me."

Clint growled in exasperation, but just then Tien called "Clint!" from upstairs, and reluctantly he tore himself away from the computer and ran upstairs.

Steve glanced up over the edge of the newspaper and saw out the window that Peggy was pulling up to the curb in their Ford Escort, just as a few snowflakes began to fall. Relieved that she had made it back before the storm hit, Steve folded the newspaper and went outside to meet her, knowing that once she came inside the grandchildren would mob her and it would be difficult to have a proper conversation.

They met on the sidewalk, and Peggy held his face between her gloved hands and gave him a quick kiss.

"Did you catch Howard at home?" he asked her.

She nodded. "Maria was out. I had a good long talk with him."

"You wanna tell me about it?"

Peggy shook her head a little. "Later. I'll tell you all about it later, but right now I want to think it over to myself." She hesitated a moment, and then added slowly: "I said what I needed to say. I kissed him on the cheek. He looked at me funny."

"Okay," Steve said, squeezing her hand. "I'm glad you got to see him. And Maria got a good long visit with Tony in France over the fall. Maybe it doesn't feel like much, but I think we did help."

"Steve, don't you think there's a chance?" she asked him abruptly. "That something we did these last few months did more than just help? That maybe we changed something that could save them?"

"Maybe."

"But you don't think so."

"We're not gods," he said gently.

Peggy let out a long sigh. "I know."

She was shivering despite her warm peacoat, and Steve led her inside into the warm house, where they found Harrison leaning over Mike's shoulder, looking at the text on the computer screen.

"Bad news from Svoboda," Mike said, glancing up as Steve and Peggy came through the door. Harrison moved aside to let the two of them see the screen.

"Howard just made arrangements for a flight to the Bahamas on his own private plane," Mike said, pointing at the monitor. "They're leaving from JFK Airport tomorrow night."

Steve sighed heavily, eyes scanning the flight information. "Well, we knew that was coming. But he and Maria aren't going to make it to the airport. Bucky's going to get to them first." The footage of the Winter Soldier's attack that Zemo had showed him flashed through his mind, and he had to suppress the surge of grief he felt anytime he thought of it. Like Peggy, he fiercely wished there was a way to undo what had already happened… but he knew in his heart that there wasn't.

"That isn't the problem," Mike said. "Well, it is a problem, obviously, but the more problematic problem is this." He pointed at the passenger manifest. Steve saw that there were three names on it: Howard Stark, Maria Stark… and Tony Stark.

Steve stared at Tony's name for a long moment. "No," he said, heart sinking. "No. That's not right. Tony can't get in that car with them tomorrow. Tony wasn't in the car with them."

"Well, right now Howard clearly intends for Tony to be in that car with them."

"But he isn't going to be there," Steve insisted. "I know that for a fact."

"Yeah, but is that because Howard and Maria are going to suddenly change their minds about bringing their only child along with them for their Christmas vacation?" Mike asked pointedly. "I can't see that happening. Look here. That same plane is scheduled to bring Tony home from Heathrow the morning of December 16. They're obviously bringing him home from England just in time for him to join them in the Bahamas. Why would they bring him back to the States just to leave him home alone for the holidays? It wouldn't make any sense."

"He has to be home alone when it happens," Steve said firmly. "He can't be in that car. He can't meet Bucky. He would-" He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling sick. "Hydra would kill him for the same reason they killed Maria. No witnesses."

Mike exhaled loudly. "How could Howard have been so stupid?" he burst out in sudden frustration. "Traveling with something as valuable as the serum with his wife in the car, and no security whatsoever? What was he thinking?"

"I don't know," Steve said wearily. "I've never understood it. Maybe he thought using security would telegraph that he was transporting something valuable. Maybe he thought it would be safer to be discreet." He shook his head. "It doesn't matter. What's done is done. The point is, Tony can't be in that car. And maybe we were the ones — or will be the ones — to prevent it from happening." He exchanged glances with Peggy, who nodded.

"We'll need to be delicate about it," she put in. "You said Tony never suspected there was anything suspicious about his parents' deaths. We have to keep it that way."

"I guess kidnapping's out," Harrison quipped.

"There's no need to use any heavy-handed methods to stop him from getting into that car," Mike agreed. "All we need to do is provide some kind of incentive for him to want to stay home from the trip. You know him better than anyone, Dad. Any ideas?"

"From what I was told," Steve said slowly, "there were really only three things Tony cared about in this phase of his life. Women, alcohol, and his inventions."

Mike tapped his finger on the table. "Well, in that case the choice is obvious. We get a pretty girl and we lure him away." He shrugged. "It's doable."

Steve wrinkled his nose in distaste, and caught Peggy's eye in time to see her making the exact same face. That kind of maneuver had never been Peggy's first choice during her days as an agent, although there was no denying the effectiveness of it in certain situations.

"You're talking about a poor little rich boy who's had regular access to supermodels since the day he hit puberty," Peggy pointed out to Mike dryly. "Of the people at S.H.I.E.L.D. we know we can absolutely trust — a number that is getting disturbingly smaller by the day — can you think of any of the proper gender, age and attractiveness level to compete with that?"

It was clear from Mike's falling expression that he couldn't. "We could hire an actress," he said after a few beats.

"I don't want to put Tony's life in the hands of hired help," Steve said immediately. "There's too much at stake."

A silence fell as they all tried to come up with something better.

"Could I do it?" said a voice behind them suddenly.

The four of them turned around to see Natty standing there looking at them questioningly, with her mother behind her.

"I just have to talk to him, right?" Natty asked. "Just get him to meet me somewhere the next day or something like that? So he won't get in the car with his parents?"

"No," Tien said quickly. "No, honey. We're going to get a professional to do this."

"Wait a minute," Mike said, holding up a hand. "That's actually not a bad idea. It's a pretty straightforward assignment. Mom and I could walk her through it." He looked at Peggy and Steve for backup.

"That could work," Peggy agreed. She didn't need to say what they all already knew: for most of Natty's life, a steady stream of friends and strangers had told her parents unsolicited that they ought to enter their daughter into pageants or get her into modeling or acting, advice Mike and Tien had wisely ignored in favor of keeping Natty's feet firmly on the ground. But despite the simple clothing and minimal makeup Natty favored, she was beautiful enough to turn heads on a regular basis anyway.

"She's 17," Tien objected.

"Almost 18," Natty said quietly.

"She doesn't have to do much," Steve pointed out. "Just look pretty and pay him a little bit of attention. Tony will do the rest, believe me."

"Yeah, that's the part I don't like," Tien said flatly. "If he gets handsy with her..."

"Tony's not going to force anything," Steve said quickly. "He was never as bad as that. He just... likes pretty girls."

"Wouldn't matter if he did, anyway," Harrison said wryly. "I don't care how many private boxing lessons he's had, Natty could wipe the mat with him with one hand behind her back."

"We don't have many options, and we're running out of time," Mike said. "I think she can do this, Tien."

"I can," Natty quickly agreed.

"I don't like it," Tien said.

"Tien... there's nothing more important than keeping Tony Stark safe," Steve said quietly. "If you can't agree to it for his sake, then do it for everyone else's. There's a 50 percent chance that he'll save Natty's life one day, or maybe yours or Mike's, along with a whole lot of other people."

"I know," Tien said, sounding resigned. "And I would do it for his life alone, I really would, I just... wish there was a different way to do it." She took a deep breath. "So... how are we going to get them to meet?"

"Tony's supposed to arrive at JFK in the morning," Mike said. "We can drive her over there tomorrow and work out a way to get them to bump into each other as he disembarks."

"You do it then, he might be jet-lagged and in a rush to get home," Peggy pointed out. "And we only have one shot at this. We have to make it count. I think we need to give Natty more time to work on him. I think we need her to be on that plane with him."

"We don't have time to fly her to Heathrow to meet Tony there," Mike said, glancing at his watch. "His plane takes off in a few hours."

"We don't need to fly Natty to Heathrow," Steve said, immediately making the leap that Peggy had just made. "We have a quicker way to get her there."

Mike's face changed as he realized what Steve meant. "I completely forgot — do you think she can do it? She's still learning..."

"Only one way to find out," Steve said.

Mike grabbed his phone and dialed. "Hey, sis," he said, putting it up to his ear. "Got a favor to ask."

The next hour was a flurry of preparations as Peggy worked on Natty's hair and makeup to make her look old enough to pass for a college student, while simultaneously giving her a crash course in espionage and helping her come up with a cover story. Tien ran up to Natty's room to pack her suitcase while Mike worked on creating a dummy plane ticket and passport for her.

Meanwhile, Steve had taken Sammy and Clint over to Sarah and Dave's house to get them out from underfoot — fortunately, they were accustomed to their dad getting called away on missions, and knew better than to ask questions when they were unceremoniously sent out the door — and to bring Sarah back with him. When he opened their front door, though, and Sammy and Clint immediately headed downstairs to find their cousins, Bram was putting on his coat like Sarah was.

"I thought you had work," Steve said to Bram, surprised, as he and Sarah followed him down the sidewalk while snowflakes fluttered from the sky.

"I called in sick," Bram said as they reached the car. "Um..."

"Tell him," Sarah prompted gently.

Bram reached down into his pocket and pulled out a sling ring to show Steve, looking a little shy. "We kinda talked Master Mahika into giving me one, too. I'm not very good yet."

"We thought it was best to have more than one person in the family know how to do magic," Sarah explained as they got into the car. "If and when I ever work out the spell to activate the serum, it'll help us get the cure to patients that much quicker."

"I came so I can watch Mom while she does this," Bram added from the back seat.

"I hope I can do it," Sarah said, brushing snow off the top of her head. "I've never tried making a portal over this far of a distance before."

"Does the distance matter?" Steve asked.

Sarah nodded. "The further off it is, the more dimensional energy you have to draw on. And I need a good visualization, by the way," she added. "It's pretty hard to work from pictures. It's better if it's somewhere I've been before."

"You're in luck. The Stark plane is departing from Heathrow." It was the airport they had always used to visit Peggy's parents.

"Well, that's good as far as it goes, but how am I supposed to portal Natty into the middle of a busy airport without being seen?" Sarah asked.

"Janitor's closet?" Bram suggested.

"I've never been in a janitor's closet in the airport," Sarah pointed out dryly.

"Oh, yeah."

"It's going to have to be the ladies' room," Sarah said with a sigh. "Let's see if I can remember what the stalls looked like."

By the time they got back to Mike's house, the preparations were wrapping up.

"Remember, you don't have to do anything you don't want to do," Mike emphasized to Natty as he strode into the room and tucked the false ID into her purse. "In fact, it's better if you play hard to get. Tony will be more motivated to skip the Bahama trip so he can stick around with you. Here's your earpiece." He handed it to her. "Put it in as soon as the plane lands at JFK, and you can let us know how it went."

"There's a safe house on Long Island, not far from the Starks' mansion in Old Westbury," Peggy told her. "We'll be waiting there: your grandfather and I, and your parents. We're your backup in case something goes wrong."

"Your mother and I will come pick you up at JFK as soon as you land," Mike finished, just as Tien came back downstairs with the suitcase. Natty nodded, doing her best to look confident.

"You can do this," Mike told her. "You're gonna do great."

"Thank you, Daddy." She hugged him and her mother briefly in turn.

Sarah closed her eyes for a long moment, deep in thought, but then she opened her eyes and nodded. "Okay. Let's give this a try." She glanced at Natty. "Ready?"

"Ready."

Sarah slipped the sling ring onto her left hand and raised her first two fingers.

"Be patient with me," she murmured. "This takes a lot of concentration."

She closed her eyes for a moment, and then opened them again, eyes intense. She raised her right hand in a graceful gesture and began making small circles in the air. A few golden sparks snapped and scattered in mid-air. Breathing deeply and deliberately, Sarah gradually, visibly, relaxed... and finally, a small golden circle, a little wobbly and misshapen, began to take shape in the air. Bram seemed to be concentrating every bit as hard as his mother was, watching every motion she made as he fiddled with the sling ring in his hands. Carefully keeping the circle spinning in place, Sarah stepped a little closer to the opening and peered through.

"Okay," she said softly, still deep in concentration. "I think I did it." She began making wider and wider circles with her right hand, and gradually the opening widened until they could all see through into an empty bathroom stall.

"There you are," Sarah said, looking back at Natty. "Your express flight to Heathrow."

"Nice," Bram breathed softly.

"Gross," Natty muttered, but she took Mike's offered hand and he helped her step down into the stall as quietly as possible; they could all hear a hand dryer running on the other side of the stall door. Then Mike passed down her suitcase.

"I love you," he mouthed to Natty.

"I love you," she mouthed back, looking from her father to her mother, and then at a nod from Mike, Sarah closed the portal with a gesture and Natty disappeared from sight.

TO BE CONTINUED

Author's note: I'd love to know what you thought of this new development, and any guesses you might have as to what happens next. Leave a review!