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End of October 2009 – Two weeks later – Ed's POV

Stuffing the piece of toast in my mouth, I grabbed my notebook, pen, and tablet, trying to keep them balanced in my arm as I left the kitchen, trying to decide where to continue my research for the day. It looked like it was a nice outside so I could go near the pool. I stared out the large windows across the room, debating with myself.

Or I could just stay inside, in my room or in the living room, sprawled across my bed or the couch. That could work too.

But it was a nice outside.

Fine.

I turned heel, heading towards the door to… to…

Who. The. Fuck. Was. That?

There was a tall, strongly-built man standing near the entrance hall, completely still, a slight frown on his face as he watched me carefully with his dark eyes. How had I not noticed him before now? Where did he even come from?

Shit… Was he supposed to know I was here? Was I supposed to have hidden like the time when Obadiah Stane showed up? But then, why didn't JARVIS warn me? Had there been a warning and I hadn't noticed it?

Fuck… I may or may not be in trouble because I had no idea what I was supposed to do in this situation.

And my mouth and only hand are both full.

We continued to stare at each other in silence for several moments until…

The bite I took of the toast finally made the rest of it fall to the floor.

And I noticed the tiniest of hint of a smile on the man's face.

Alright… As I chewed whatever toast was in my mouth, I reconsidered the fear I felt upon seeing him. Maybe he did know about my being here. Maybe he was supposed to be here. Maybe he was a friend of Tony's…?

"So, who are you?" I asked after finally swallowing the leftover toast in my mouth. The man didn't answer as he continued to just stand there in silence. "Why are you here?" I tried and waited a moment, receiving the same lack of an answer. "Do you speak?"

"Oh, he speaks," called out Tony, making me jump in surprise and turn slightly towards the stairs leading to the lab. However, I kept an eye on the man who still hadn't moved, not fully trusting him just yet. "He is a man of few words, though, Short Stuff," continued Tony, heading towards said man and patting him on the shoulder. "Short Stuff, meet Happy. Happy, Short Stuff."

I blinked, eyeing the two men for a moment, trying to determine whether that was his ACTUAL name or it was just another nickname Tony had given out at some point.

Because, if this was what happy looked like on this man, I didn't exactly want to see what mad looked like…

"It's actually, Ed," I said, hoping that might get Happy to reveal if that was his true name or not.

Happy just nodded.

Yes, a man of VERY few words apparently…

"So, Short Stuff, ready to go?" asked Tony suddenly, motioning towards the front hallway.

What – What was he talking about? "Go where?"

"You're not ready?"

"You never told me we were going anywhere!" I countered, still overly confused by what the hell was going on. First, Happy showed up unexpectantly, someone I hadn't seen in the weeks I had been here and now, Tony wanted to go somewhere? I haven't seen him leave the house since I got here!

"Well, I'm telling you now," he stated with a shrug. "Go get some things. It could be an overnight trip. Chop, chop."

"But where are we going?"

"Go get ready!"

"But –"

"I'll tell you once you're ready, Short Stuff!"

I rolled my eyes in annoyance as Tony motioned in the direction of my room. "Fine," I huffed, trudging that way to get my things. As I passed him, Tony tossed a rucksack sized bag in my direction. Apparently, he either didn't realize my left hand was busy or that I only had that one hand so I just let it fall to the floor at my feet. I sent him an exasperated look to which he just shrugged, turning towards Happy.

"Asshole," I mumbled, kicking the bag in the direction of my room as I thought over where the hell we would be going and why we would possibly be staying there overnight.

Sadly, nothing really came to mind…

It didn't really take that long to pack my things: I grabbed some essentials, dumping also my notebook and tablet inside the bag before closing it and heading back.

"Alright, I'm ready, where are we –?"

"Let's go! Road trip!" called out Tony, already heading towards the front door, completely ignoring my question.

I watched the two of them walk away, my mouth hanging open. What the fuck was going on?! Why –?

"Short Stuff, come on!" called Tony.

I took a deep breath, not exactly wanting to lose my temper this early in the morning but Tony was beginning to push it with him bossing me around and being so cryptic on what the fuck was going on.

As I stepped outside, I tried a different tactic, eyeing the two men heading towards the sole parked car.

"And who exactly is Happy?" I asked, motioning towards the man with my head.

The two of them didn't look bothered by the question as Tony just smiled his slightly annoying smile.

Fine, it wasn't exactly annoying, it was just… a knowing smile, one that I had seen on Mustang far too many times over the years.

I didn't particularly care to be reminded of him nor of Amestris at the moment, not when I was still nowhere near figuring out how to decipher the alchemic circles I had…

"He's my driver amongst other things," explained Tony, pulling my thoughts back to the present and the enigma that was this entire situation. His actions didn't exactly help as he was clearly heading towards the driver's side…

"But he's not driving today…?" I tried as I watched Happy head to the passenger's side.

"He's driving back. Hop in, Short Stuff," replied Tony, slipping into the car.

I eyed the car for a moment, debating on whether or not I should just turn around and head back into the house to focus on my research and pretend like this whole nonsense and chaos hadn't happened.

However,… I was slightly curious as to where we were going.

And I hadn't left the house in a while.

Fuck it.

I opened the back door, tossed my bag in and slid in after it. "You better tell me soon where we're going," I said as I slammed the door shut.

"Sure thing," replied Tony distractedly as he put the car into gear and nearly slammed on the gas pedal.

I bit back a gasp as I gripped the seat as best as I could, tensing, as Tony raced down road leading to the house and passed the gate at a ridiculously fast speed.

"What the fuck, Tony!" I cried out as he took a turn much too sharply, sending me flying, leaning heavily onto the middle seat.

"Enjoy the ride, Short Stuff!" he replied with a laugh as he pressed on the gas pedal even more on a straight stretch of road.

I hoped wherever we were going was not that far away: I didn't think I would be able to handle Tony's driving for too long. I hadn't realized that cars could go so much faster, especially considering Pepper did NOT drive like this. If I was in control it might have been anther story but I had no idea how good of a driver Tony was at this speed! This wasn't proving much to me at the moment.

Maybe if I focused outside and not the road would help.

I had just managed to lift myself slightly and glance out the window as we passed a white parked van. Weird… It was just a blink considering how fast we passed them but I could have sworn one of guys in the front seat had a sort of camera in hand.

"Paparazzi again," said Happy, glancing behind us.

"They usually can't keep up," replied Tony, indifferently.

"They're not even trying."

I caught Tony glancing at the rear-view mirror before he took another sharp turn, losing sight of the white van all together.

"Well, better for us anyway," said Tony with a shrug, thankfully focusing again on the road.

"Uh, what's papa… para…? Whatever you said," I asked, managing to push myself up somewhat. Maybe I should find something to hold onto…

Even though Happy sent me a confused look, Tony answered the question without batting an eyelash. To be fair, I had been asking A LOT of questions in the last two weeks, trying to keep up with everything that I had missed in the last 60 years.

"Paparazzi, they're photographers who try to get pictures of celebrities," said Tony, speeding onto a freeway, barely avoiding multiple cars as he did.

I nodded at the explanation as I readjusted myself in my seat and tried to avoid looking out the window. I didn't need to see how close we got to the other cars nor how fast we were going. Instead, I thought back to what Tony had said.

Celebrities. It had taken a while to think of Tony in that way. To me, he was just a man tinkering away in his workshop. Yes, an annoying and stubborn man but… I didn't picture him as someone overly popular, as someone who everyone knew of.

To me, he was just pain-in-the-ass Tony.

However, him being Tony STARK and the CEO of Stark Industries – something he finally got around telling me… – it would make sense that he was more in the public eye.

Except for recently.

On how he was avoiding the press and even avoiding leaving the house.

The reason for that… I still didn't know.

For the rest of the trip, Tony and Happy chatted about… I wasn't exactly sure what. I caught snippets of their conversation but I didn't focus too much on it as I glanced outside from time to time, trying to ignore how close we passed to other cars.

Those glances outside had been the only warning I got when we pulled up to a… a…

Fucking shit…

Tony parked the car and jumped out, Happy following more slowly, leaving me alone and glued to the seat. I stared out the window once more, slouching down. Maybe they would forget about me because Tony couldn't be serious. This wasn't real.

I. AM. NOT. LEAVING. THIS. CAR.

Tony knocked against my window, bending down slightly to peer inside the car. Damn… He hadn't forgotten… I just glared at him and, when he went to open the door, I grabbed the handle and pulled back.

"Short Stuff, we don't have all day," said Tony, his voice muffled by the car as he tried to open the door several more times.

"You said this was a road trip," I snapped, keeping the door closed. "An airplane doesn't take any roads!" Because that was what we parked next to: a sleek and modern AIRPLANE.

"That's not entirely true. There are air ways that the pilots need to follow. They are considered the roads of the sky," he countered, tugging a few more times on the door.

"I don't care about technicalities, asshole" I growled out. It had been one thing to use an airplane to get to the drop off areas for missions with the Howling Commandos. It was another entirely to get on one for the fun of it.

And… I hadn't been on one since that day.

I saw Tony sigh from the corner of my eye as he finally released the door handle and walked away. Good, I wasn't particularly in the mood to explain any of –

The door on the other side opened and I slammed my body away, pressing myself against the door. If he thought grabbing me from there, I would –

Tony slid inside and closed the door behind him.

Well… That was unexpected…

We stared at each other for a moment before Tony sighed, massaging his face. "Look, I get it, you don't like flying. I don't particularly like people driving me around."

"Then why do you have Happy?"

"Believe it or not, Short tuff, he's a friend. A bodyguard but a friend."

It took a moment but I nodded anyway. "So why did you bring me here so I could get on an airplane?"

There was a look in his eyes as he smirked. "I don't think you'll regret getting on the jet. Trust me."

I felt my eyes widen at those last words. Trust him…?

I had with my automail and he had given me my leg back. I had seen the progress he was making on my arm. He hadn't given me much reason to distrust him apart from sometimes being an asshole.

So…

"Where are we going?" I asked again, hoping this time I would get an answer.

He just winked at me as he opened his door. "As I said, you won't regret it. I think."

"That doesn't actually fill me with confidence," I muttered, glancing towards the very modern looking airplane sitting several feet away from the car.

Tony just shrugged as he got out and closed the door, leaving me alone in the car and alone with my thoughts. I watched Tony and Happy head towards the airplane, chatting and I was thankful their backs were to me.

As I eyed the airplane, memories of the last mission filtered through my mind: of the fight against the Red Skull, of him breaking my automail.

Of leaving Steve to crash the airplane into the ocean.

I felt some unease build within me at those memories and… Was it going to get worse once I was in the airplane?

I didn't really want to panic in front of Tony, especially not after he had seen me waking up from a particularly bad nightmare. That had been one time too many...

But…

I was curious as to where we would be going. Tony said I wouldn't regret it.

Well, if I did…

I opened the door and got out of the car, shouldering my bag as I walked up to the two men. Tony was wearing a satisfied smile on his face while Happy… He still didn't really show much emotion on his ever-stoic face.

"I'm warning you," I began, pointing towards Tony, "if I do regret this, I'm kicking your ass."

"Duly noted. Now let's go, we're behind schedule."

Tony climbed up the few steps of the airplane and entering it. Happy frowned slightly in my direction to which I ignored. Since he was apparently Tony's bodyguard and driver, I could imagine he hadn't been too thrilled about my threat. If he only knew about the other conversations I had with his boss.

I sent Happy a look as I passed him and climbed the steps to the airplane as well and entered…

Wow…

Well this was definitely an improvement to what airplanes had looked like back in the 1940s! The chairs actually looked comfortable for one and the sides actually looked like walls. I could almost forget that we were in an airplane.

Almost.

"Anything else before I head back?" asked Happy as he placed Tony's bag in a storage closet.

"Nope, all's good. I'll let you know when we're flying back."

Happy nodded and headed out, calling for a safe flight as he did.

That left me with Tony as he flopped onto one of the seats. "Put the bag away, Short Stuff and buckle up. I told you, we're late."

I rolled my eyes but did as I was told, putting my bag with Tony's and taking a seat on the other side of the aisle.

Was I really going to go through with this…?

Well, with the door closing, the engines starting, and the airplane moving, I didn't really have a choice anymore…

However,… I had to admit, compared to the previous flights I had been on – the ones I try to forget about because I didn't like thinking about any of them – this one was by far the smoothest one I had ever I had ever been on.

As the airplane was taking off, I was ready for the jostling and the shaking from side to side but…

It never came. The only indication I got that the airplane had even taken off the ground – apart from looking out the window which I refused to do – was the change in pressure.

This… This may be –

Nope.

I looked out the window to see how I would handle it. Well, I definitely was not going to handle it: the height we were already at almost made me nauseous.

Alright, I needed a distraction. I remembered my tablet but it was in the closet several feet away. I could handle walking that and back. I could. I…

Honestly, I didn't know if I could or not. Possibly because of how steady this flight was so far. But… I had never actually gotten up during a flight apart from the very first time I was in an airplane.

Where I had jumped out of it with a parachute on my back.

After that one time, any other flight I had been on, I had sat down at the beginning and found a way to distract myself for the duration of said flight without moving.

"Short Stuff, where were you in looking up fiber optics?" asked Tony. I noticed he had his own tablet out and was shifting through something on it.

"I just started on the actual optical fiber itself," I replied with a shrug, thinking back on the last day of research I had done. "I had a lot of reading to do on what came before it and why people decided to use glass or plastic instead of metal."

"Know its past to understand its future," he remarked with a nod.

"Exactly! And, of course, when… Realizing that signals on metal wires result in a loss, I needed to understand why THAT happened and why it was different on optical fibers."

"Which probably lead you to the electromagnetic interference."

"And, of course I needed to understand what THAT entailed."

As the discussion continued back and forth, at some point, I realized what Tony had done. If it was on purpose or not is another story but… I had gotten the distraction I needed.

Once we had landed, things hadn't exactly improved. At least I had my feet firmly on solid ground but… Tony was driving again and I was sitting in the front, getting and all too clear view of just how fast he was going. I had tried to focus on where we could be going but, looking outside the window at the rapidly passing scenery around us didn't give me any clue as to where Tony had brought me.

I could almost say that we were still in the United States at least.

I mean, I think we were considering the flight was only about five hours. I could be wrong though… Had technology advanced enough to make flights that much faster?

Whatever the case was, Tony of course hadn't given me an answer as to where we were nor where we were going.

When it came to science and technology, Tony was an open book.

On anything else… Apparently the book was shut.

It took about half an hour before we came to a stop in front of a residential house, a quaint blue one with a large front yard. Why were we here? Who lived here?

Tony could have at least mentioned it if we were visiting someone…

Had he even warned that person? Or had he thought he had warned them like what had happened with me? He thought he had told me that we were going somewhere but he never had.

Or…? Did he just say that to avoid telling me in advance?

Why was he being so difficult?!

"Let's go, Short Stuff," said Tony climbing out of the car and heading up the driveway.

I rolled my eyes as I followed him and we climbed a set of stairs up to the front door. As Tony rang the doorbell, I glanced around, trying to get any hint as to why we were at this house in particular.

I did a double take at the number next to the door, frowning slightly. Those… They looked familiar… But I couldn't pin the exact reason as to why.

"Tony, why are we here?" I asked with a sigh. I didn't like being in the dark and I had spent nearly the entire day not knowing what was going on. "Does the person we're visiting even know we're coming?"

"Oh definitely, I got an earful on the phone the other day," he replied with a hesitant chuckle.

"Then why can't you just tell me!" I grumbled, turning heel and glancing down the street. "Why can't you just tell me where we are and what we're doing here? Wherever here even is?! Why –?"

"The two of you are late. I take it that some convincing was required to get Edward on the airplane?"

I froze.

I hadn't heard the door opening.

But that… That voice…

"Nearly had to drag him onto it," lied Tony.

And that laugh…

I – I…

"I may need to drag him into your house at this rate," continued Tony, poking my arm.

How – How could I not have realized? We flew across the country. The address, that's why it was familiar. That was why Tony was being so secretive.

"Edward, it's alright."

No… No, it wasn't… How could I face…? How…?

"From your reaction, it seems it was the right thing to do to not tell you."

And there she was, standing in front of me, smiling down softly.

Peggy Carter.

Oh man, a cliffhanger? ;P I had planned on making this a long chapter but... It was all too tempting to cut it off here! (And it'll also give you readers something while I finish off the next chapter!)

Let me know what you thought! :D

Thank you all so much!