A/N: This chapter is a lot later than I would have liked, but I ran into some tough family health issues this weekend, and it's still not over. I'm a caretaker for my mother, (much too young, for either of us), and there's a lot of tough decisions up ahead. But, this story, and knowing that so many people love it, is a nice escape for me to get back, too. I'm in love with the characters, I love watching them grow, and helping them grow, because I think that's what's supposed to happen in a long, involved, story such as this one is shaping up to be.

Also, I try to plan out the chapters before I write them, give a vague outline of what scenes I want to happen, and I was going to get to the beginning of Iron Man 2 in this chapter, but Captain Rogers had different plans for me when he bust on the scene. I hope everyone likes this chapter, this is the start of that slow build tag. I do hope that some of the cliche things, that all you lovelies see coming, are handled in a way that at least you enjoy.

Please, continue giving your feedback, it really brings a smile to my face to see your comments, to see the kudos and likes, and bookmarks, and the views. Thank you to Everyone! Enjoy!

As per usual, unbeat'd.

Also, if you go to my Tubmlr page (megaranoelle. tumblr. com) you can catch some behinds the scene stuff about the fic. No spoilers, promise. Maybe you can influence the story.
Anyway, enjoy more cuteness! Some of the lines were taken from the movie directly, (I'm watching it as I go), and that's all owned by Marvel, not by me.

May 2007

Tony waved away another set of voicemails from talk shows, reporters, and journalists. He rubbed the spot between his eyes and plopped down on the couch. There were still lots of papers to go through, trying to sort out Obidiah's mess with the company. They were still going through employees, cleaning out those who had been loyal to Stane, and who had willingly helped him with the weapons, and the plot to have Tony killed.

What Tony really lamented was that he hadn't been able to leave his house, or the company, without the paparazzi hounding him at the gates. They were getting pictures of every vehicle that got close to his street. He had been forced to stay with video chats with Peter, and Mary, since the press conference.

Tony was looking forward to tonight, though; when Peter would call, and Mary had said that he wanted to wish Tony Happy Birthday. His last birthday had been almost the same, and unsurprisingly to him, the best Birthday he'd had since he could remember. he didn't tell Mary this, but after a one-year-old Peter had gotten out "Happy Birfday, Daddy!", Tony may have teared up afterwards a little in the privacy of his own bedroom.

"Tony?" Tony sat up when he heard Pepper's voice, and ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm here, Pep." He pushed up the sleeves of his shirt, and half attempted to push all the papers into one pile on the coffee table. Pepper didn't usually visit on his birthday, mostly because every year she found him drunker than was humanly possible either at home, or at some club, making headlines. This should be a nice surprise for her this year.

Pepper's heels clicked across the floor and she looked at him, raising an eyebrow. Her eyes raked across the surface of the table, then the floor, then back at him. "Did you forget what day it is?"

"If you talking about the lack of alcohol, no, I have no forgotten what day it is," Tony informed her. He was going to be talking to Peter soon, and he was always very careful not to drink, the one rule of Mary's that he never broke.

Pepper looked down at her phone, typing out something before looking back up at him. "Well, I didn't actually think I'd see it, a sober birthday." She gave him a little smile and now Tony was raising his eyebrow. "Although, your sudden aversion to peanuts? Was it actually because of a peanut allergy?"

Tony blinked, not sure how exactly to respond. It was an innocent enough question, but Pepper knew for a fact that Tony didn't have a peanut allergy. He opened his mouth to give some bullshit excuse, but frowned when he heard a couple more sets of footsteps. Craning his head a little he saw Rhodey, and his faithful driver and bodyguard, Happy Hogan coming in the room. Then his heart absolutely melted, and froze at the same time, at the next voice that he heard.

"Happy Birfday, Daddy!" Tony shot up from the couch when he saw Mary walked in, Peter on her hip, the little boy grinning. Tony practically ran over, scooping up Peter from Mary's arms, Peter giggling, and started tickling his sides, dropping little kisses all over his face. "Daddy!"

Tony cuddled the toddler in his arms, Peter's hand instantly seeking out Tony's arc reactor, and looked up at Mary. She was smiling at him, and shrugged a bit. Tony looked around at the other three in the room, two of them looking a little shocked at what had just happened. Rhodey held up his hands in surrender.

"I was just told that there was going to be a little party," Tony's best friend told him.

"Well, it wasn't exactly hard to put together," Pepper said, having snapped out of her stupor, not sure she ever would have seen Tony Stark acting like a father. "Specially after what happened last month."

"And the fact that he's like looks like a tiny you," Happy threw in.

"Try raising him," Mary murmured and Tony shot her a look, causing her to grin again.

"I have been," Pepper smiled at Mary, the two women suddenly having a bonding point.

"Miss Potts approached me last week," Mary started to explain to Tony. "She had put the pieces together, and well, there really was no point in hiding anything anymore, and we could always use more allies after your Profound four word statement." Tony was never going to live down coming out as Iron Man. And he had indeed stuck with the name; it was better than Gold Titanium Alloy Man. Although….

"Hey Pep, what about GTA Man?" Tony said, looking to his PA. Who wouldn't want to be named after a popular video game. The answering unamused look from Pepper said everything.

"I like Happy's name," Peter mumbled, finger tracing the arc reactor. "He says he drives you around. Like when we was in the limo."

Tony ran his hand through Peter's hair and nodded. "Yeah, he does. He was driving the limo that we were in." Peter smiled and leaning his head against Tony's shoulder. "What are you all doing here anyway?" Tony asked the others. "Not that I'm not very happy about this, but-"

"It's your birthday, Tony," Mary said first. "Peter, what do we get on birthdays?"

Peter perked up in Tony's arms. "Blueberry pancakes!" Tony laughed kissed his head.

"I was promised lunch and cake," Rhodey said, smiling at the promise of food. "Plus, I get to see the squirt again." Peter giggled softly when he knew that Rhodey was talking about him. Tony smiled. He would be happy if he only just got to spend a few hours with Peter, it would make his birthday worth it.

He tried not to be weirded out, or worried, when Happy and Mary spent some time in the kitchen making food for everyone, and he started to hear laughing. They had probably been sharing stories about Tony. That had scared him, and the smirks he got when they had been eating dinner had been all the answer that he needed.

Rhodey had sat on the floor, letting Peter show him the drawings he had done, and then started reciting his numbers for him. Tony had grinned, his boy was smart, and learning fast, and he was the proud Daddy. Even pepper had spent some time listening to Peter, hearing stories about times that he and Tony had spent together, all the fun things they had done together.

Mary had brought a cake for everyone, knowing that Tony had liked the one that she had baked for Peter's birthdays, and that had caused an inquisitive look from Pepper. He knew that he was going to have to have a long talk with Pepper later. Now though, everyone had left, except for Mary and Peter, and Peter was bringing over Tony's present. Tony was sitting on the edge of the couch, waiting for him to come over.

"I made you this all by myself," Peter said, grinning widely, pushing the big bag over to him.

Tony grinned and sat down on the floor in front of the bag, Mary lounging on the couch, watching them with a smile. It was a tall bag, but not very heavy. Tony pulled out a big presentation notebook and put it in his lap. When he opened it he saw that there were drawings tucked into the clear sleeves. The first one was of, Tony assumed, Peter. They were better than stick figures, something that one would probably expect to see from a 6 year old. Tony could see why Peter liked coloring and drawing so much; he was very good at it.

Tony flipped through the pages, seeing a drawing of Peter and Mary, one Peter and Tony, and one of all three of them together. Tony grinned when he saw a drawing of the red and gold armor of the Iron Man suit. He put his arm out, beckoning Peter closer. When the toddler was there Tony wrapped his arm Peter, pulling him into his chest and planting a kiss on the top of his head.

"Do you like it?" Peter asked, ticking himself into Tony's side.

"I more than like it," Tony said, grinning at him. "I love it. This is my favorite present ever!" Peter giggled and grinned. Tony was sure that he'd be saying that every year, but he was sure that Peter's gifts would always be his favorite. Being able to spend his birthday with Peter would be worth the awkward conversations with Pepper and Happy later.

August 2009

Tony blinked, looking at Mary, and she stared back at him evenly. "I must have misheard you," Tony said eventually.

"You didn't," Mary said back to him. Tony had come over to her apartment, and saw some boxes in the living room. This was new.

"I'm pretty sure that you said that you were moving, because you had been, transferred?" Tony looked at the boxes again, seeing some stuff already in the boxes. "And that you were moving to Queens? Queens, really?"

"I said Cambria Heights," Mary tried to correct him.

"That's in Queens," Tony shot back. "That's in New York, which is actually on the complete other side of the country." Tony frowned when he saw some of Peter's stuff already packed as well.

"I hope you aren't going to try and pull the guilt card," Mary followed him around, pulling his arm away from starting to unpack some of the stuff. "I know for a fact that traveling isn't hard for you, and I know that there's a SI office in New York."

Tony whined a bit. "But that would mean leaving Malibu, and cold weather is coming."

"I'm moving Tony," Mary said with a little sigh. "It wasn't my first choice, but I kind of have to do it when I get the orders from higher up."

"And how does Agent feel about this?" Tony asked, with a bit of snark. It hadn't gone unnoticed by Tony that Mary may or may not be dating her boss. At least, that's what he gathered when Peter kept talking about Agent Coulson showing up more often at their apartment. Tony didn't do jealousy, and of course Mary was allowed to date whoever she wanted, but Tony didn't like not knowing.

"Wow," Mary smirked at him. "That almost sounds like jealousy." Tony scowled at her. "I said almost. Maybe you need to find your own guy." Tony sputtered a little and Mary's smirk turned shark-like. "Oh, please, I've slept with you, and I raise a child with you. I know you aren't shy about your sexuality."

"I'm not!" Tony frowned and took out a blanket to put it back on the couch, out of spite. "I don't care who knows, I'm an equal opportunist."

Mary tilted her head a little, looking at him. "Anthony Stark, mighten you be actually ready to look for something that might turn into a serious relationship?"

"When are you supposed to moving?" Tony forcefully changed the subject, bringing forth a little snort from Mary. "And when is Peter coming home?"

"Ouch," Mary put a hand over her heart, feigning a hurt expression. "My co-parent can't even be bothered to come visit me because we're friends." Tony stuck his tongue out at her. He didn't care if it was childish or not. He was a billionaire, and Iron Man, he could do what he wanted. "And we're supposed to be moving in less than a week."

"Less than a week?" Tony turned wide eyes to Mary as she repacked the blanket he pulled out. "Does Peter know yet?"

"Well, not yet," she admitted a little sheepishly. "I just found out yesterday and got the boxes today. I wanted to get out there before a new school year started."

"Did you have him tested yet? He'll be five in October, and I think he should at least be in Kindergarten, if not First grade." Tony worked with Peter all the time on stuff like his numbers, and the alphabet. He was already learning how to write, and knew how to read. They were working on three syllable words at the moment. Peter had Tony's natural learning ability.

"I've got a couple schools just waiting for us to get down there, then he'll go in to take a standard placement test," Mary told him. "You know, I'm not happy about the move either." Tony stopped to look at her. "I didn't ask for it. I'm not sure how Peter will take it, either, he's only ever known Malibu as home."

Tony twitched his nose a little, seeing the little bit of vulnerability peeking through Mary's eyes. They'd known each other almost five years now, and Peter was always their first priority, but they had built a close bond over the years. She would usually call after hearing about Iron Man on the news, checking up on him. And after the press had died down, at least back to a normal level, where he could start to slip away again, he would come over to have dinner with her and Peter at least once a week, staying after Peter went to sleep just to talk.

Tony took a breath, bobbing his head back and forth in thought. "Well, I mean,..." He paused, really thinking about what he was about to say, and possibly do. "I have a house in New York." Mary raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, okay, so it's a mansion, Stark Manor. Howard named it, not my idea."

"I never knew about this place," Mary said, leaning against the back of the couch, crossing her arms over her chest.

"That's because I haven't actually lived there, or been there, since before my parents died," he said, shrugging to try and look like it wasn't a big deal. He'd have to get someone in there to actually dust it, or something. It probably needed to be aired out. The last person to have been there had been Jarvis, the real life person Edwin Jarvis, but he had died a year after his parents had died. "It's in Manhattan, the better of the islands by the way, so it's not too far away."

Mary gave him a little smile, one that Tony knew meant she was containing the grin she wanted to give him, but knew that Tony Stark did not do emotions. "I think that Peter will be overjoyed to know that he's not going to be so far away from his Daddy. And, my parents should be bringing him back home anytime."

Tony nodded a little, snapping his fingers and pounding the flat part of his fist against his open palm in a nervous habit. "Then, I guess we can tell him together that we'll all be moving to New York."

"Good guy, Tony Stark." Mary grinned at him, and Tony scoffed a little.

"I get to take him out on his birthday," Tony mumbled. "Boys day."

"Gives me time to make him a cake for when you get back, then," Mary countered.

They were interrupted by a knock on the door, and Mary wandered over, opening the door. Her parents stood there, Peter in front of them. he grinned at his mom and ran inside, then stopped when he saw Tony. "Daddy!" Tony couldn't help the big grin that appeared every time he heard Peter call him that. He crouched down as Peter ran over to give him a hug, the little boy wrapping his arms around his neck. Tony knew there would come a day when Peter would think he's too old to call him Daddy anymore.

"Hey, buddy!" Tony ruffled his hair, making Peter giggle a little and try to move his head away. "Did you have fun with Grandma and Grandpa, today?" Peter nodded and pulled away, pulling his backpack off his shoulders.

"Yeah! They got me a book to draw in!" He unzipped his bag and pulled out a sketchbook. "It's all blank paper, and they say it's just like adult artists use!"

"Hey, that's pretty awesome, Petey," Tony smiled at him.

"Yeah!" Pete opened the sketchbook to show him a drawing he made of his grandparents house. "It's got really thick paper, and they said that I could even use marker on it! I can use pencil, and crayon, and marker, and all sorts of stuff!"

"Peter, why don't you go put your bag in your room?" Mary told him. "Daddy's gonna stay for dinner, but you still have to get washed up."

"Kay, Mama!" Peter grabbed his bag, still holding onto his sketchbook and was halfway to his room before he doubled back. "Thank you, Grandma and Grandpa." The doting grandparents peppered him with hugs and kisses before Peter ran back for this room.

Tony had stood up, and he walked over to shake Mary's parents hands, her mother still giving him the evil eyes as he did. "Pleasure to see you both again."

"Mr Stark," Mary's father greeted as he shook his hand. He hadn't warmed up to Tony, per se, but he had acknowledged that Tony was at least taking care of Peter, and wasn't a horrible father. Tony had preened a little at the half compliment.

"Did Mary tell you that she's moving," Mrs Fitzpatrick said suddenly. Mary almost facepalmed, but Tony was used to this.

"She did actually," Tony nodded. Mary's mother continued before Tony could go on.

"And what exactly are you going to do when they move?" She pursed her lips a little. "Are you going to stay here, and-"

"I'm actually moving to New York as well," Tony interrupted, and that seemed to shock the older woman. "I have a family house up there, and I can still be close to Peter. Same routine, just a different state." Tony swore he saw a little bit of a smirk on Mr Fitzpatrick's face. "I was actually born in New York, and spent many years there, so I'm sure that I can help Mary and Peter as well."

"Thanks for taking Peter today," Mary said, moving forward to kiss the cheeks of her folks. "We'll talk tomorrow."

"Give Peter our love," her dad said as he hugged her. "Have a good day, Mr Stark." Tony smiled at her parents, giving them a nod as they left, Mary closing the door, letting out a little sigh.

"Your Mom amuses me," Tony said, smirking a little, causing Mary to hit his arm as she walked by. "I think she might be one of my most formidable foes to date!"

"Tony," Mary groaned a little. "You drive me nuts sometimes."

"And yet, you willingly put up with me."

"Pepper must be on some kind of medication after so many years with you." She grinned at Tony's indignant 'Hey!'.

October 2009

Tony pulled a couple things from the bag on the floor of the backseat of the car, Peter watching with interest. They were sitting in the parking garage by the Smithsonian Museum, getting ready to go inside. Mary had went to DC early, Coulson had wanted to meet with her quickly, and Tony said they would meet up her after he got his time with Peter, like he told her before she moved.

Tony turned to face Peter, smiling, then put on a blue ball cap, and some aviator sunglasses. He then reached over, put on some smaller sunglasses on Peter, and a smaller blue ball cap. Peter giggled and smiled. "We match now!"

"Yeah we do," Tony said with a chuckle. "Alright, Mister, you ready for the surprise?" There was a new exhibit opening at the Smithsonian, and Tony had timed it so they didn't have to wait too long in line. He didn't want to risk being recognized, but he wanted Peter to have fun. It was his son's fifth birthday, and Tony wanted it to be special.

"Yeah!" Peter unbuckled from his booster seat as Tony got out of the front seat. He opened the back door and Peter hopped out, almost vibrating with excitement. Tony took Peter's hand and they headed for the large museum. It was a weekday, and it was early in the day, so there weren't as many people at the museum, just how Tony had hoped it would be.

"What's that big building?" Peter pointed to the museum they were headed towards.

"That, my boy, is the Smithsonian Museum," Tony told him. "There's a lot of history in there, you remember what history is, right?"

"All the stuff from the past," Peter told him, watching all the people walking into the doors of the museum. "Everything that already happened, that we want to remember."

'Close enough,' Tony thought. "Well, this big building has a lot of the stuff from the past in there. And we go to see it, cause it's cool stuff, and we can always learn from the past." Peter looked up at his Dad, wondering if this was going to be boring, but Daddy had never let him down before. "There's a new exhibit there, and I think that you're going to love it."

Once inside the doors, Peter was looking up and around, mouth handing open a little. He had never been inside of a museum, (Tony wanted to make sure that Peter was old enough to remember his first museum visit), and he was absolutely entranced already. Tony guided the little boy towards the spot he wanted to go, and waited for Peter to notice the new banners. It didn't take long.

"Daddy!" Peter pulled on Tony's arm, gasping, pointing up. "Daddy! It's Captain America!" Tony smiled, picking up Peter and putting him up on his shoulders. "Captain America is there!" Tony laughed and nodded, Peter leaning forward on his head now, just trying to get closer to the banners.

"Let's go inside, and we'll learn all about Captain America, and the mighty Howling Commandos." Tony grinned as Peter squealed with excitement.

Mary followed Coulson down the hallway after stepping out of the elevator. Coulson seemed almost giddy and Mary had raised an eyebrow. She never saw him like this when they were at work."Not that this isn't important, but it isn't something that could have waited until tomorrow?" She caught up and walked next to him, purposely making their arms bump once.

"Not in the least," Coulson said, giving her a smile. "We'll still have time to meet up with Tony and Peter. But this also relates to your next assignment." He used his card, sliding it over a panel and the steel door unlocked. He pulled it open, pausing to let Mary go through first. She stepped in and saw a large window across from them, several SHIELD scientists in the room, gathered around something on a table, and a slew of machines in the room.

Mary turned her head to look at Coulson, who was practically bouncing on his feet now, and they went up to the window. Looking inside the room she could then see that the something on the table, was actually a person. She sucked in a breath and put her hand over her mouth. She easily recognized the mans face.

"Is that-"

"Yes, yes it is." Coulson grinned. "It's a miracle, actually. that's he's still alive."

"Where was he?" Mary looked at the nearly unthawed body of Steven Rogers, Captain America, still in his World War II suit. There were only little bits of ice, and she was sure that it would only take a couple of more days to disappear.

"They found him in the arctic, still in the plane that he crashed, saving the world," Coulson told her, looking through the window. "They started to unthaw him, and then he started actually showing vital signs. The man survived after almost sixty-five years in the ice." Coulson looked at Mary now. "They think that he's going to wake up within the next couple of weeks."

"Okay, before I ask work related questions," Mary started, turning towards Coulson, "I have to ask. How excited are you?" She got a surprised smile when she was sure that that Coulson just let out a little squeak. "Why do all my boys like Captain America?" She shook her head fondly.

Coulson cleared his throat a little, smoothing his tie down a little. "Sadly, we can't share this information with Peter-"

"Or Tony," Mary threw in.

"-or Tony. In the next couple of days he'll be moved to the New York building," Coulson told her, pulling out his PDA. "You're going to be his Handler." Mary's eyebrows shot up into her hairline.

"I'm sorry, I'm going to need you to repeat that?" Mary was sure that it was a mistake that they would make her Captain America's Handler.

"I made the argument, and Director Fury agreed, that you would probably be the best option." Coulson continued on.

"What about you?" Mary asked. "You're a much better Handler than I am."

"I sometimes have my hands full with Barton and Romanoff," Coulson said shrugging. "You have a young child, so you have patience, and you can handle Stark-" Mary snorted loudly, "-so you have the gumption, too. And, it's an added bonus."

"Bonus that you'll have an excuse to drop in and see both of us?" She smirked at him.

"You do still report directly to me." Coulson grinned.

"After he's moved to New York, what's the plan?" Mary asked, looking back through the window at the sleeping hero.

"They're setting up a room, hoping to make things more comfortable when he wakes up." Coulson said, pulling up the details on his PDA before handing it to Mary. She frowned a little, and raised an eyebrow.

"Do they really think that it's the best course of action to try and fool him?" Mary saw the plans to set up a room that would appear to be from the 40's. "There are so many variables that we don't about when he was alive, and this particular plan would require getting every detail right."

"We have a lot of information about the 1940's," Coulson said, referring to history and technology. "We can recreate practically anything with the tech that we have now."

"But a lot of information was still lost during the war, and that's the time period that he's from." She wiggled her nose a little. "If I make up a plan, will you look it over, and promise that it won't get shot down right away?"

"I can get it in front of the Director," Coulson nodded. He took his PDA back from Mary when she offered it. "Shall we go get a table from the restaurant before Tony and Peter get there first?"

"Yes, let's," Mary nodded, turning away from the window. "I'll never hear the end of it from Tony if he beats us."

"I don't think he will, think about where he took Peter." Coulson smiled. He had given valuable knowledge to the Smithsonian for the exhibit and had already gotten a private tour. He knew that Peter would love it, and subsequently Tony. "It anything, we might be sitting there for a couple more hours," he chuckled.

Mary and Coulson knew the moment that Tony and Peter arrived at the restaurant, and Mary was very glad that she had picked a very casual restaurant, where you seat yourself. A small plastic Captain America shield went flying over their head, landing on the floor, and there was an adult sounding 'Whoop!' from behind. Peter ran over, grinning, picking up his shield, his plain ballcap from earlier replaced with a blue ball cap with the shields symbol embroidered on it. He was also sporting a new Captain America t-shirt underneath his new Captain America hoodie.

"Mama!" Peter grinned, hurrying over to jump up and hug her.

Mary laughed and kissed his cheeks. "Hey there, baby. Did you have fun?" Tony walked over, wearing a matching hat, and t-shirt under his leather jacket, taking a seat across from Mary. There was a chocolate milk at the seat that was across from Coulson, and he assumed that was meant for Peter.

"I had tons of fun!" Peter grinned, then he saw Coulson. "Hi, Phil." Peter smiled and waved at the agent. Tony raised an amused eyebrow at Mary.

"Hello, Peter," Coulson smiled at him. "I see you were finally able to get a new hoodie."

"Yeah!" Peter smiled, still in Mary's lap. "This one is bigger, and should last for loooooong time."

"I bought three of them in the next sizes up, so we're readily prepared," Tony said, taking a drink of the water that was at his seat. "Come here, Petey, let's look at the menu, then you can tell them about all the awesome stuff we saw."

Peter jumped slid from Mary's lap and ran over to the seat, a booster seat on it, and Tony lifted him up onto it. With the hat and sunglasses on, at first glance everyone would see a father and son having fun, wearing matching outfits. Mary couldn't help but smile when she watched her son, and Tony, thinking about how the older man had changed from the first time they met. Coulson put an arm on the back of Mary's chair, prompting a slightly bigger smile. The move hadn't been so bad, so far.

November 2009

Mary pulled out her phone, sending a text to Tony, letting him know that she was heading out. He had taken Peter for the day, which really helped as she was still trying to find a babysitter that she could trust. Tony had told her that she could do it anytime, because he was working on something new that would happen in New York, so he didn't plan on going back to Malibu in the short-term future.

She smirked a little when he responded with a text of peter trying to help with dinner. Seemed she wouldn't even have to worry about dinner either. Coulson was out of the state at the moment anyway, and she had been exhausted after work today, so not having to worry about cooking was a bigger relief than Tony would know. It looked to be an easy night.

Until she heard the shouting from behind, footsteps running. She turned and her eyes widened as the same time she resigned herself to this being her luck. There was a very awake, very determined, and startled, looking Steve Rogers running across the lobby. Mary had told them that the 1940's room wasn't going to work, and it seemed she had been right as a small mass of Agents ran after him. The last thing he remembered was fighting Hydra, and SHIELD was still the SSR, and it was also 65 years ago.

Mary dropped her bag and coat and flung herself into his path at the last second, putting her hands on his chest when he grabbed her, picking her up instead of trampling her, catching him by surprise. "Captain Rogers, stop!" She called out in the most authoritative, and mom sounding, voice she had. His feet halted on military instinct and he looked at her, setting her back on her feet, ready to bolt again. Mary signaled for the other Agents to stop where they were, never taking her eyes off of Steve Rogers.

"At ease," she told him, standing her ground, moving an inch to the right as he had moved to his left. "This is the SHIELD, specifically, the SSR." That got him to stop moving, his eyes glancing around, probably looking for proof. She kept one hand up to him, showing it was empty, and reached inside her jacket with her other hand to pull out her badge. She opened it, holding it out to let him examine it. "My name is Mary Parker, Senior Agent, working for SHIELD, formerly of the FBI. You can call to verify if you'd like."

Steve Rogers' eyes studied the ID, flicking back and forth between Mary and the badge in his hand, before eventually handing it back to her. She suddenly saw a sadness in his eyes, along with confusion. "I'm sorry about that room back there, but they thought it might be easier to ease you into what happened.."

"What did happen, ma'am?" He asked her, blue eyes looking for an answer she probably wasn't going to be able to give.

"You've been asleep, Captain," Mary started. "You've been asleep for nearly sixty-five years." Steve kept her gaze before looking up, out the windows of the lobby, now really taking in the differences of what he saw. She put out her hand, palm up, a gentle gesture, and he took her hand, letting her lead him to the doors. They stepped out and Steve blinked a bit at the sunlight, but at all the technology around him. "You gonna be okay?" Mary asked after a few minutes.

"Yeah," Steve said slowly, quietly. "I'll be okay," Mary took that as the bullshit answer that it was, but didn't say anything. "It's just," he took a breath, and there was that sadness creeping out into his voice a little now. "I had a date."

Mary watched him, then pulled out her phone again. She really didn't want to send this text, but it wasn't really a choice now; this was her job. 'Gonna be late, something came up at work.'

"Come on, Captain," she said to him, catching his attention again. "Let's get you to your new apartment, and I'll answer any questions I can. We're gonna take this slow." He nodded and followed her, but knew that he was eyeing every other agents, and probably taking stock of her as well. This was going to be fun.

Mary made sure that Captain Rogers had some clothes, shoes, and a jacket before they went back outside, going to her car. She let him take his time taking stock of the car, and letting him push almost every button on the inside as well.

"New York has changed a bit," she said, smirking a little at his snort as he looked out the tinted windows.

"That's a bit of an understatement, ma'am," he said, manners still intact as a gentleman and an Officer. "Is New York still part of the United States?"

Mary nodded and she started the car. He frowned a little. "It certainly is. All the work that you did back in World War II, it went very far, it helped the Allies win the war." She noted that he was looking around the inside of the car when she put it into drive. "Is something wrong?"

"I was actually wondering if something was wrong with this vehicle," Steve admitted. "It's very quiet."

"Ah," she nodded a little, understanding now. "Cars have come a long way, engineering has advanced probably faster than you could have imagined." Mary knew that Tony would probably be able to help Steve understand a lot of what's changed, but she wasn't sure that it would be a very good idea. Coulson had given her the history lesson on Captain America, (better than what the files had said), and she knew that he had known Tony's father. And Tony's father was a taboo subject with him, so these two meeting at the moment probably wasn't a good idea on several levels.

"You said that that you were taking me to an apartment?" Mary wasn't sure if he was asking a question, or making a statement. "Am I not going to a military base?"

"Nope," Mary said shaking her head, merging into bridge traffic. "At the moment, no one else knows that you're back."

"Does that mean I'm in SHIELD custody?" It was asked in a guarded fashion, and Mary knew that she had to answer this one carefully.

"You're not in custody at all," Mary told him. "You were working with both the Army and the SSR at the time, and the SSR is now known as SHIELD. You technically still work for SHIELD, and we're using that technicality to keep you out of custody from anyone." Steve glanced over at her. "They've named me your Handler, but basically I'm going to help you understand all the changes that have happened, and help you make a decision on what's going to happen now."

"What choices do I actually have?" Steve looked back out the window as they drove over the bridge. "Are we going to Queens?"

"Yes, we're going to Queens," Mary answered first. "It's where I live, and it's where I've set up an apartment for you." She thought about how to answer his first question. "Your choices, are many, but maybe complicated." Even Mary wrinkled her nose at that. "You could always go back into the Army, you could become an Agent with SHIELD, or you could do anything else you wanted. Maybe go to Art school, or volunteer." Steve hummed a little, watching the scenery out the window now.

Mary pulled up in front of her apartment building, and Steve studied it. The building was smaller than he thought, and he only saw four mailboxes by the one door. Mary got out, and Steve quickly figured out the new handle and slid out of the car as well, moving forward to take the bags from Mary as she pulled them out of the backseat. She blinked then gave him a smile in response.

"So, I've actually got you the apartment next to mine," she started heading for the door and Steve followed. She pulled out a key and opened the front door, holding it open for Steve to walk in. "We're the only ones on the ground floor, I thought it might be easier, and give a little bit of privacy." They passed a staircase, Steve took a second to glance up, then looked down the hall and saw two doors that were across from each other. There was a '1' on the door on the left, and a '2' on the door on the right.

"I left the key to your apartment in mine, so bear with me." Mary used a different key to open her door, holding it open for Steve once again, and dropped off her jacket on a highbacked chair by the door. Steve stopped in the entryway and looked around. These apartments were much bigger than he had ever seen, even the apartment that Bucky and his family lived in. The living room was very large, two couches there, and the largest TV he had ever seen. The dining room was separate from the kitchen, and the kitchen even had an island in the middle, giving more counter space than he thought his favorite local diner used to have.

"I'm sorry about the mess," Mary called out as she walked into a room off of the living room. He edged forward to peek in, noticing that it was set up as a study. There were a couple of bookcases, some metal file cabinets, and a large desk with a leather chair on wheels. There was what looked like a TV screen on the desk as well with a smaller typing keyboard in front of it.

Looking around the apartment again Steve noticed toys, blankets, and some stray clothes lying around. He saw picture frames on the wall, and on table surfaces, almost all of them containing a small boy.

"You have a son?" Steve asked, moving closer to a set of pictures that showed the boy as he grew up through the years. He tilted his head in curiosity when he saw a picture of the same boy sitting on the chest of a man, both of them wearing ball caps and t-shirts that had the symbol of his shield on them.

"Yeah." Mary came out of the room, a keychain in her hand, and came up next to Steve. "He just turned five last month, just before you woke up. That's my Peter." Steve noticed the smile on her face as she looked at the pictures. "That picture," she pointed to the one Steve was just looking at, "was taken the night of his birthday. That's his Dad, and it's where he's at right now. I might actually be able to clean this place up before I pick up him, too."

"You two don't live together?" Steve wondered what kind of man this father was. "You aren't married?"

"Oh, goodness no," Mary said chuckling. "I'm not his type, and we're much better off as friends and co-parents." She looked at Steve and gave him a soft smile. "A lot has changed when it comes to relationships as well, for better and worse. I'm not a single mother, but I am dating someone right now, as well. Peter seems to like him, and I was kind of worried about that." There was a short jingle, and then a high pitched voice coming from Mary's pocket, 'Hey! Hey! Listen!'. Steve found it vaguely annoying. "I'm sorry, that's actually him." She pulled out a sleek black device, the screen lighting up for a short time as she tapped her thumb across the screen, then put it back in her pocket.

"Is his father dating anyone?" Steve couldn't help but want to know more about this man, to know if he was doing the right thing by Mary. Things must have changed if they were able to raise a child and not live together, or even get married, but there was still such a thing as having honor.

"That, I'm not sure about." Mary took her bag from Steve's hand, dropping it on the couch, then jingled the keys a bit. "Let's get you over to your place now, though. My life isn't nearly as entertaining as some of the things that you'll discover in this time." Steve nodded and followed her out of the apartment, reaching forward to hold the door open as she walked through. "Word of advice, Captain, never lose your sense of manners," Mary said smiling. She walked across the hall and used the keys from the new keychain to open the door, but this time held it open for Steve to walk in first.

Walking in, Steve looked around, noting that the apartment wasn't as big as the one that Mary had, but it was bigger than what he used to live in back in Brooklyn. Everything felt vaguely familiar, the furniture looking vastly different from what Mary had. It reminded him of furniture he would see in the windows of the high end furniture stores in his time.

"I tried to get furnishings that you might be more familiar, and comfortable with," Mary said as she gently shut the door. In the kitchen was an icebox that looked new to him, something that he and his mother never had the luxury of owning. The stove looked better than anything he had every seen, with few buttons, and he was sure he could figure out anything he didn't know.

"I appreciate that, ma'am," Steve said, looking at her as he spoke, before going to explore the rest of the apartment. The bedroom was painted a soft beige color, the bedspread a solid blue color, tucked in with hospital corners. Another room across from the bedroom looked like it was a study similar to the one that Mary had. There were some folders already sitting on the desk.

"I've already set up some files for you to read." Mary was standing in the hallway, following a bit behind as he explored, ready to answer any questions. "Read them at your leisure. Some of them might be a bit hard, I'm not sure, but it's information on those that you knew during the war, and from Project Rebirth." Steve nodded, eyes locked on the files. He knew that information about Peggy, and Howard, and the Howling Commandos would be there.

"I've got to go get my son, soon," Mary said and Steve turned to face her now. "I want you to have all the time you need to process-"

"I don't mean to be rude," Steve said, internally cringing at interrupting, but he had to know something, "but I have to know, are things really going this easily right now?" Mary tilted her head, eyebrow raised in confusion. "Well, you're very kind ma'am, and very helpful, but I would think that others would want things to move quickly for me, to get me back out in the field."

"To use you as an asset," Mary said, and Steve nodded once. "Well, that's the beauty of me being appointed your Handler. I get to do things at my discretion," Mary started to explain. "My way of thinking is, you're still human, still a man, and waking up after over six decades is going to be hard to process right away, hard to take in. Things have changed a lot for you, and I don't think that it will help you any if you're forced through anything, and don't have the proper time to digest." She shrugged a little, as if this was just something that should be done. "I'm a mother, so I know patience, and because of how Peter's father is something, I know a lot of coping skills," she said with a chuckle, and Steve became a little more curious about this man.

"I want you to know though, that if you have any questions, you can ask me," Mary told him. "At any time, I don't even care if it's three in the morning. I'm going to help you learn the new tech of this time period, and the new cultural and social norms."

"I don't want to take up too much of your time, though," Steve said. She was a single mother, in essence, and Steve knew how hard that had been for his own mother.

"Nonsense, this is my job, and I'm happy to do it." She gave him a smile, and Steve felt his lips turn up a little at the corner. "If you feel like it, you're welcome to come over after I pick up Peter. I'm sure that his father has promised him some type of desert after dinner, and I'll have to deliver on it. I haven't eaten, and I know you haven't either, so you can come and eat." She wanted to take it easy, didn't want to overwhelm him, and Steve felt comfortable with her, and he wanted to begin to trust her. "I know it might be a lot, and that my son will be there-"

"It sounds lovely," Steve said, before she could start on a nervous talking streak. "I'd actually like to do that, thank you for the generous offer. I wish I could bring something, though."

Mary waved her hand, shaking her head a little. "Don't worry about it. The only thing I'll say is that I'm not going to tell my son that you're Captain America. For two reasons."

"Because he's apparently a fan?" Steve remembered the picture he just saw, with the little boy wearing his shield.

"Very much so, and I blame his dad for that," Mary said with a chuckle. "He'll never let you have a moment to himself, and then he won't be able to stop from telling everyone. I think right now, no one needs to know that your back, because you need time for yourself. And then you can make the choice later on."

"Which choice is that?" Steve asked. He knew it wasn't the same choices they had discussed in the car, and he had an inkling, but he just wanted to know.

"On whether or not that Captain America continues," Mary said, confirming his thoughts. "Oh!" She started walking back into the bedroom, remembering something important. Steve followed and watched her walk over to a wooden armoire, opening the two doors. He saw the shield sitting there, on display, the same as the day he went down with the plane. Mary had moved and Steve walked forward, dropping the bags that he had forgotten he was still holding, and reached out, running his fingers along the edge.

After a couple of moments, Mary softly cleared her throat. "I'm going to go get Peter now, and I'll let you explore more." She set down the keychain on one of the bedside tables. "The blue key is to your apartment, and the red one is to my apartment. There is a phone out int he living room, it's going to look mighty different from what you're used too, but there's a list of phone numbers next to the phone, along with some instructions. If you have any questions before I get back, please feel free to call."

Steve nodded, and tore his eyes away from the shield. "Thank you very much, Miss Parker," Steve said quietly.

"Please, you can call me Mary," She said, giving him a soft, very motherly, smile. "And if you change your mind about tonight, I won't be offended. A lot can happen between now and the time I come back." Steve nodded, giving a small smile. He followed her back to the front door, opening the door for her and watching her go grab her jacket before leaving.

Gently shutting the door, latching the chain lock, and turning the deadbolt, he turned around to take in his surroundings. Taking a deep breath, Steve knew that things had changed, but he wasn't sure what was going to happen now.