Avengers Endgame Epilogue: The New Shield
by
Tom Dayton
This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which is trademarked by Disney. Both Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter are characters created and owned by Disney, and I do not claim any ownership over them or the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The story I tell here about Steve and Peggy is my own invention, and it is not purported or believed to be part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe story canon. This story is for entertainment only and is not part of the official storyline.
Prologue: 2019 Avenger's Compound
Cicadas chirp in the thick evening air. Few pink clouds pebble across the deep purple sky, on its way to black.
Tomorrow morning Steve will go back in time to return the Infinity Stones.
Bucky and Steve are outside a newly erected tent colony not too far away from where the Avengers compound once stood. It is now a crater in the ground. Bucky is in grey sweats and a wife beater. Steve is wearing plaid pajama bottoms with a T-shirt that says "got milk?"
"It has to be him," Steve says.
Bucky clenches his jaw, "I don't disagree."
The sky moves into black.
These two men just decided who the next Captain American will be.
A silence comes between them as Steve looks up into the starry sky.
"So that's it?"
"I think so," replies Steve. His words hang heavy for Bucky. Most people do not know when they are having their last conversation with their closest friend. Some would consider him fortunate, but he does not see it that way.
"See you tomorrow, yeah."
Steve nods as he starts walking back to his tent.
"About making a new shield…," Bucky asks.
"Shouldn't be a problem Buck."
"Why would it," Bucky says to himself as he watches his friend walk towards his tent.
"How hard can it be," Steve replies before sliding the tent shut.
Insert Marvel Logo - Familiar Ryan Meinerding and Charlie Wen images twirl in place and make way for a familiar parade of all our heroes as the Alan Silvestri music swells, leading us to end with two comforting words: Marvel Studios.
Chapter 1: The Plan: July 9, 2015: Thursday: Four Years Earlier
Outside a modest one-story home in Trenton, New Jersey, Peggy Carter uses a blue Dolomite rollator to retrieve both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal from the bottom of their flat driveway. They use to have a two-story home before Peggy kept falling.
Peggy, wears a white plush robe with matching slippers she bought at Kohl's, she used a coupon. She retired three years ago when she was 72 years old. Steve is preparing a few eggs over easy on the stovetop wearing matching top and bottom pajamas. Brass pots hang overhead, as everything in the kitchen has its proper place. There are more wrinkles on his face and his hair is grey, but he maintains an unshakable inner strength.
"It's a shame S.H.I.E.L.D. did not have more of it so all of this nonsense could be avoided."
"As Howard said, everything they had went into that shield."
They are talking about vibranium, the strongest metal known to man. Extremely rare and only a few souls know where it originates.
Peggy places the New York Times on the table as she starts opening the Wall Street Journal while standing.
"I don't understand this country anymore," she says to herself as she reads.
"I'm packed."
"I will be, don't you worry about that."
Steve looks at the clock: 0630. He plans out the day in his head for the umpteenth time. We have to leave the house at 0730 to be at the airport a 0830 so we can make our flight at 0930 and be at the meeting at the Stark Industries at 1630.
"How are you feeling," she asks as he presents her with breakfast, "thanks, Sweetheart."
"Ask me when it is all over." His eyes go blank as his mind travels back to all the experiences with Tony. A brother he has not seen in decades. The meeting on the other edge of the country will be more than just Steve asking Tony for some metal for another shield, it will be a reunion of a lost sibling, an amazing gift of time-travel to see those that departed one more time. It is more than just a get-together it is…a holy miracle.
Peggy noticing Steve, staring blankly into space, asks, "well call me naive, but I still don't understand why you didn't ask his father a few years back when he was still among us."
Steve sees a vision of his friend, Howard, walking in with some coffee, in a red sink robe, slippers, and a leopard patterned night mask.
"Howard is a great guy don't get me wrong, but there is only one person I trust completely and that is his son."
Peggy senses there is more to it than that but lets the matter drop.
After deciding to go with Tony, over Howard, it was just a matter of choosing the best time to approach him about the shield, and no time was better than after we just finished with Ultron. Our friendship was never stronger.
"I understand that," she says, but Steve can tell by the way she purses her lips she is holding something back.
"You do," Steve asks.
"It's just…from what I hear…he is none of the things you describe." She is referring to Tony's media personality of being pompous and brazenly narcissistic.
"It will be fine Honey. He's is a good guy, you'll see."
