Reminiscing

'You remember the one time we played and Monty cleared everyone out and Dum Dum was convinced he was cheating?'

'I thought they were going to get into a fist fight,' Steve laughs shaking his head. 'Thank God Gabe stepped in before I had to.'

'What are you two doing up so late?' Tony asks as he steps into the common area, Natasha next to him. They'd been to see the Council and were obviously just getting back.

'Poker,' Bucky answers, gesturing at the table as if it should have been obvious.

'Just the two of you?' Natasha questions with a raised eyebrow.

'Sam apparently doesn't trust me not to cheat,' Bucky shrugs, 'Rhodey said he's already lost more than enough money at poker-'

'-well he's not wrong,' Tony barks out a laugh.

'Bruce said he doesn't like playing,' he continues, ticking everyone off on his fingers, 'you two were out, Wade isn't here, and apparently Peter doesn't know how to play and wasn't interested in learning-'

'-no he wasn't interested in you teaching him,' Steve argues.

'-and Loki's in Jotunheim,' Bucky finishes.

'And Fury?' Natasha asks.

'No idea where he's disappeared to. And I'm a bit too nervous to go near Strange without Peter with me.'

Tony sniggers at the last comment. 'So it's just you two old men playing by yourselves?'

'You could come and join us,' Steve says, collecting the cards to shuffle them. 'Bucky just lost to me again.'

'I've lost twice to you,' he rolls his eyes, 'you've lost how many times to me now?

'Ok you've made your point,' he grumbles.

'I'm heading to bed, unlike some people we've been working,' Natasha teases, leaving them all with a brief goodnight.

'Tony?' Steve offers.

The inventor shrugs. 'Why not? Been a while since I had a nice friendly poker game.'

'I take it you've had some not so friendly ones then?' Steve asks as he deals out the cards for the three of them.

'More than some,' he laughs, 'what we betting with?'

'We aren't,' Bucky laughs. 'Because otherwise I'm not sure even you could cover what Steve would lose.'

'I'm not that bad,' he grumbles.

'Course you aren't,' Bucky grins.

Tony gives a small laugh. 'You know, I used to sneak down after Mom went to bed to play with Dad and the rest of the Commandos. Guess this means I've now played with the whole set.'

'You used to play with the Commandos?' Steve's surprised at this revelation. 'You never mentioned it before.'

He shrugs. 'Never really came up before, and how do you just randomly bring it up in conversation?'

'What do you remember about them?' Bucky asks. 'You knew them at a different time to us, it'd be nice to hear about them.'

Tony taps his cards on the table as he thinks. 'I was pretty young at the time, we didn't see them so much as I got older, but they were the ones to teach me to play. Used to entertain me with stories of you two as well,' he adds with a grin.

'I dread to think,' Bucky moans.

'Oh don't worry,' he laughs, 'they were always full of praise for the amazing Captain America and Sergeant Barnes the best sniper the US army ever saw.'

'Huh,' Bucky blinks, 'wasn't expecting that.'

'Yeah they said Cap would never have survived without you to take out the people he was too busy catching his Frisbee to notice.'

Bucky bursts out laughing and Steve's head falls to the table. 'Of course,' he grumbles. 'Damn jerks.' When he's recovered enough from his embarrassment, he lifts his head and asks, 'what else you do remember about them, Tony?'

Tony looks at them both for a couple of minutes, before obviously realising how much his information means to them and leaning back in his chair. 'Let's see…it's hard to tell you much seeing as I was a kid at the time and they treated me like a kid you know? They were the fun uncles who came round and helped me get up to all sorts of mischief, and I swear were the cause of several of Mom's early grey hairs instead of me. No matter what she might have claimed. Unless Aunt Peggy was there, then they were on their best behaviour,' he laughs.

'Gabe married her didn't he?' Steve asks, as they continue with their hand.

'Yeah, man I do remember the amount of controversy about that, even though I was so young when it happened. It followed her for a long time, even after he died of cancer. That's how I learned why no one messed with Peggy Carter,' Tony laughs, 'they'd taken me out somewhere for the day, I think we were just walking around a park with some ice cream and someone came over and basically told her off for having a black man as a husband.'

'Uh oh,' Bucky laughs.

Tony grins. 'Oh yeah, that's what I said to Uncle Gabe. And I was only five at the time. The tongue lashing she gave him I swear the guy was crying by the time he left, it was only the fact I was there that I think she didn't put her shoe up his backside for good measure.'

'That sounds like Peggy alright,' Steve laughs.

'I remember Uncle Gabe being really quiet,' Tony's eyes are a little unfocussed as he looks back in time, 'but I remember him being really serious for once that day. When Aunt Peggy was yelling at this guy he kneels down next to me, points at her and says to me "promise me something, Teddy"-'

'Wait: Teddy?' Bucky asks.

Tony groans. 'Uh, yeah it was Peggy's nickname for me. My middle is Edward and she gave it to me, so she used to call me Teddy when I was little. I'm so glad she stopped it as I grew up. Uncle Gabe died before she stopped so he rarely called me Tony. Anyway,' he glares at them to leave them in no uncertain terms about using that particular name, 'he says "promise me when you finally find someone to spend your life with that it's someone who is willing to stand up for you just like your Aunt Peggy does for the people she loves,"'

'And boy did you keep that promise,' Bucky laughs, nudging Steve under the table. 'I wonder what he would have said to find out you ended up with Steve.'

'I don't think he would have been overly surprised actually,' Tony's voice is quiet, eyes gazing back even more than before. Then he shakes his head and clears his throat, laying down his cards. 'Read 'em and weep boys.'

'How?' Bucky demands, gathering up the cards up and shuffling the pack with a sigh.

'You forget, Buckaroo,' Tony grins, 'it was your old team taught me to play this game.'

'Oh god,' Steve groans. 'Monty taught you, didn't he?'

'Oh yeah,' he laughs. 'He didn't come around as much as the others did, but he was definitely the one who taught me to play. Taught me to shoot too, with Peggy.'

'Monty taught you to shoot? Dammit Tony you must be a crack shot.'

'I say nothing, Cap,' comes his reply, 'you'll just have to wait and see. But yeah Monty taught me a couple of tricks; between him, Peggy and Jarvis I know my way around pretty much any gun. He was pretty serious from what I remember, looking back now I guess the war had been a bit heavier on him that the others; he only really joked around with Dum Dum, and he and Dad would sit up after the others had finished drinking whiskey and talking in low voices. Never really knew what they were talking about but I could guess from the look on Dad's face.'

'What was that?' Steve presses when Tony doesn't add anything else.

'You. Well finding you,' he replies. 'I think Monty gave up before Dad did. Or else he gave up actively looking anyway.'

'Do you remember Jacques at all?' Bucky asks after a short pause in which they played a couple of hands.

'Not overly well,' Tony admits. 'He didn't come to visit as often as the others, but when he did we always got up to some hair-brained scheme that he'd come up with. Mom caught him teaching me how to make things explode once and nearly threw him out the house, luckily Dum Dum was there to charm her and calm her down otherwise I don't think he ever would have been let back in the house again.'

'He did what?' Steve asks. 'How old were you?'

'I don't know…maybe six or seven?'

'Of all the irresponsible-'

'Steve chill,' Bucky laughs.

'You're nearly forty years too late for this rant, Cap,' Tony laughs along with the other dark haired man. 'And trust me Mom and Peggy already had a word with him.'

'He damn well better have listened,' he grumbles.

Bucky grins at the look on Tony's face. 'He didn't, did he?'

'Well…depends on your point of view,' he shrugs. 'I mean he listened well enough that we never got caught again.'

'What about Morita?' Bucky hastily interrupts before Steve can start on another rant.

'Well he did a lot with Peggy and, from what I've gathered since, Fury as well. His grandson is the Principal at Peter's school.'

'No way!' Bucky gaps. 'You're kidding me?'

'Nope. I never met the guy before personally, and I haven't mentioned to him how well I used to know his grandfather. But yeah, small world right?'

'No kidding,' Steve huffs out a laugh. 'So I take it you only really saw him with Peggy?'

'Well more with Uncle Gabe to be honest. Those two got really close after the war, what with Morita working with Gabe's wife and all that. He was always the more chatty of the lot, except for Dum Dum of course. He filled me in on some of your more interesting missions from the war.'

'Oh, I didn't realise you were still up,' a small voice comes from the doorway. The three turn to see Peter walking in.

'You alright, champ?' Tony asks, concern lining his face.

'Yeah I'm fine just couldn't sleep.'

'Nightmares?'

'Nah, just couldn't settle,' Peter shakes his head and comes over. 'You still playing poker? It's like one in the morning!'

'You never learnt to play have you?'

Peter shakes his head. 'Nope.'

'Pull up a chair,' Tony pulls the one out next to him and Peter sits down, pushing the sleeves of what looks to be one of Wade's hoodies up over his elbows as Tony and Bucky begin explaining the rules to him.

Steve leans back and smiles. It's amazing really, how much Peter is echoing Tony without even realising it. Looking at the three of them now it isn't too hard to imagine a night years before in a different room, with the other commandos and Howard sitting around the table instead, the brown haired head would be much younger than Peter, but still bent over the cards in concentration as two adults explained the rules to him.

Steve blinks and it's as if the scene changes before his eyes. It's a young boy of four or five in front of him, Howard on one side and Monty on the other with cards between them on the table. Dum Dum is pouring some more whiskey for the players as Gabe, Morita and Jacques have a quiet discussion at the other end of the table. It almost feels that if he could hold on to the picture a little longer Maria Stark and Peggy Carter would walk in, smiling indulgently at the little boy who would have them wrapped around his little finger as he asked to join his father and uncles in their card game.

'You ready, Cap?' Bucky's voice shatters the picture in front of him.

It's a brown haired teenager now, flanked by Steve's best friend and the man he'd walk through hell to keep safe. 'Ready when you are.'

A.N: Hi everyone. There seemed to be a lot of support for seeing this conversation between Bucky, Steve and Tony when it was mentioned in one of the previous specials and I thought it might be a nice fluff filled instalment to have before the alternate IW&EG is posted for this series. Yep it's coming up next. Brace yourselves!

In the meantime do let me know what you think of this little one shot.

Love always,

L x

Next story up:

The first of the Fairytale AU series: A Stony Cinderella!