Title: Timelines
Author: Quietshade
Rating: PG-13
Pairings: Eventual Steve/Tony, Tony/Pepper, past Steve/Peggy, Howard/Maria, Clint/Natasha, Thor/Jane.
Universe: Movieverse (Earth-199999)
Beta: Doomsymphony (Saixkosmos)
Warning: Slash, M/M, Strong Language.
Word Count: 5,977
Disclaimer: All Marvel characters and reference belong to them not to me.
Summary: Tony is a man of the future who can't manage to accept his past and Steve is a man of the past who have a hard time accepting his future because of this they understand each other and help one another come in terms with their times.
Timelines
Chapter three
He looked once more through his father's notes, looking for the piece of puzzle that he was missing. Last time someone had access to the Arc Reactor technology it ended with Ivan Vanko almost killing him and lot of other people. While those codes and schemes were indeed related to his Arc Reactor, the work behind it was different from his father's it was rawer the power was hardly controllable, it wasn't the fine work his father had done with the Arc Reactor, yet it was based on the same principles and there was so much he didn't understand about it yet.
Over a year and a half ago he had though he knew all there was to know about the Arc Reactor and then Fury came and told him that he was mistaken, that the thing in his chest was unfinished technology. Now he was sure that he knew nothing about the technology behind the piece of art that was keeping him alive.
Even after so much time of being dead, Howard was still ahead of him.
How the pro-Nazi managed to get a hold of that technology was beyond his comprehension, is not like he though that only the Starks could come with such an idea, it was that the work on the code and schemes was so poor and mediocre that he doubted the one working them had developed the principles behind it. He feared that maybe his father had been double dealing under the table, but that was almost impossible as the man had almost been a hero of war, then maybe it had been Obadiah and that was plausible fact. Still there was something that budged him about those schemes, they worked in a way similar to the Arc Reactor but they seemed to be based on something totally different.
"JARVIS find equivalent patterns between dad's notes and the pro-Nazi's work." He sighed heavily, looking through the notes again, stopping in a page with a draw of a hypercube, he stared at it for a while. His father was more of a physicist than he was because Tony was more inclined to building machines, but even then he knew that his father was not into the mysteries of the fourth dimension and that's what made the existence of the drawing significant.
"Seventeen matches found, Sir." He looked up at the screen, going through the matches, and to his surprise, he found in the screen the same hypercube he had been looking at a moment ago. The pro-Nazi had a drawing of it too and it was labeled Cosmic Cube.
"What the hell is a Cosmic Cube?" He hadn't heard about it before, or at least he think he hadn't but the name sounded surprisingly familiar. "JARVIS look that up."
"Nothing found, Sir." The A.I. said after a moment and Tony groaned, JARVIS had access for almost every know database in the world, whatever JARVIS couldn't find either meant it didn't exist or someone had made sure it remained a secret.
"You looked up in dad's notes?" He asked as he continued looking at the different matches on the screen.
"Excuse me sir but I think I know better than that." The A.I. actually managed to sound annoyed and Tony stopped his search for a moment, admiring the good job he had done with JARVIS.
"Right, you think we can hack into SHIELD's database?" If anyone had the information he needed it was Fury.
"I believe we can break the security, but it would be matter of time before Colonel Fury or Agent Romanoff appears to put a stop to it." Tony shuddered not liking that scenario at all. He still remembered the time when Natasha shot him with Lithium Dioxide, for a moment there he had though he was going to be kidnapped.
"Let's go against that plan for now." He was lost. All he knew about his father work came from a book on MIT, another person's mouth or from reading his research and notes, which had lots of babbling that he didn't understand and all that was hardly base enough for him to try to figure this out. The worst part is that apart from Fury he didn't know anyone else who could answer his question.
"This is going nowhere." He let his head fall on the desk, feeling frustrated. His father had written those notes in a time where no one had even dreamed about the technology Tony held and even so he wasn't able to reach him, he was still far behind him.
He heard the door to the lab slide open and he looked back with a bored gaze to find Steve walking up to him with a tray of food. He blinked slowly and smiled, the man was taking his job seriously, though to Fury's word he was acting more as a babysitter than as a bodyguard.
"Here, you wouldn't answer Jarvis's call." Steve put a sandwich and a cup of milk beside him and he looked at his tablet which marked three missing calls from the kitchen.
"Didn't want to be disturbed." Steve glared at him, he could tell the man was still mad at him about their last argument, but as much as Steve insisted that he should rest he was feeling just fine. "If you insist on bringing me food I'll really appreciate if we settle for coffee and doughnuts." He said poking at his sandwich and Steve glare on him intensified.
"I'm not feeding you with caffeine and sugar you are hyper enough as it is." He brought a chair to Tony's side and sat down taking his own sandwich in hands. "Anyways what's with the cop like diet?"
"Coffee is good for work and the doughnuts just taste good with it." He gave the man his unscientific explanation knowing that he wouldn't understand it otherwise. He took a bite from his sandwich and he had to admit it wasn't half bad. "Who made this?"
"I did… do you like it?" Tony nodded, taking another bite.
"This isn't half bad." Steve frowned at him and he wondered if he had said something wrong.
"Isn't half bad?" He asked confused, of course he had to moderate his expressions with Steve.
"That means it is alright." Steve nodded and went back to look at his food. "I've been tempted to ask…" he trailed off thinking of a way to ask it without offending the man. "What motivated you to… propose to be my bodyguard?" He saw the man tense up and focus himself on the sandwich in his hand, Tony felt sorry for the sandwich it probably wanted to wither under that glare.
"I-there… back at the war I had a team too, they were good and we won many battles." He knew by the tone in the man's voice that he was forcing himself to speak and even if the media though otherwise, cruel wasn't one thing Tony was.
"Hey, it's ok you don't have to force yourself to answer." He patted the man's shoulder and finished his sandwich.
"Its fine, I don't mind telling you." Tony looked at the man, he was being sincere, but Tony wondered if that was because he trusted Tony or because he was Howard's son, he suspected on the later. "On one of our last missions, we were supposed to capture Dr. Arnim Zola, Shmidt's right hand." He paused briefly, like he was collecting himself. "We succeed but it cost us one man, my best friend James Barnes. I was right there and I couldn't save him." He sighed with desperation. "As long as I'm the leader it is my responsibility to keep the members of my team safe, when Ms. Potts called and told us you were kidnapped it was like going through Bucky's death all over again."
"Come on Cap, I think we are all big enough to take care of ourselves, you don't have to push yourself in our behalf." He smiled awkwardly to him, looking back at the screen with the matches. "Besides you did save me, didn't you?" he wasn't good at comforting but he tried to sound reassuring.
"But you were hurt…" the man looked devastated, like he had failed his most important mission and Tony knew how he felt, he had felt the same way when he returned from Afghanistan, helpless and dirty.
They stayed silent after that, Tony kept looking through the codes, while Steve wandered around the workshop. He heard Steve snooping around his things and a few moments later he heard him gasp, Tony turned around to find Steve holding one of Howard's Captain America's comics.
"Oh, that belongs to dad." He saw the excitement in Steve face with amusement, must be fun to find and old comic of you. "If you want to, you can keep it."
"Thanks pal." He smiled warmly to Tony and Tony found himself smiling back. He sat in the chair next to Tony's and opened the comic, laughing from time to time. It was strangely comforting to be there with the man, listening to him laugh occasionally while Tony worked, he couldn't even believe that a few days ago he had been avoiding the man like the plague. "I'm cooler in the comics, I was not as grateful in real life."
"Really, I think you are just like the comics, down to the way you talk." Steve glared at him.
"I am not. My speech is not that bad." He laughed at Steve, the man was a step away from pouting but instead he went back to snoop around the workshop and after a moment he heard him gasp again, Tony swore that anything could surprise the man and looked over his shoulder to see Steve holding one of Howard's old films.
"You still use this?" There was excitement in his voice, the pure joy of finding something he knew and understood.
"No we don't, those are some old films of my dad." He was crestfallen Tony could tell. "I have a projector for that if you want to see it." He blurted without thinking, for a moment he wanted to slam his head in the table but refrained from doing so when the other man smiled at him.
"Yes, please." He stood slowly, his legs still hurting, Steve gave him the walker and Tony glared at the offending object but took it anyway and went to look for the projector the man following him short behind. They were back soon and Steve installed everything, under Tony's instruction and occasional swearing.
"Which one do you want to see?" Steve handed him one that was labeled -Tony- and Tony send him a suspicious look but complied anyways, he hadn't see it himself.
Steve helped him sit beside him on the floor and shortly after they were greeted by the face of his mother.
"Is it recording Howard?" She blinked at the camera, smiling warmly. Tony breath got caught in his throat it has been so long since he had heard that voice.
"I believe it is Maria." She focused the camera on Howard and he was smiling equally warmly at it, he saw Steve shift in the corner of his eye. She then focused the camera on a small boy that was doing some puzzles on the floor, black hair sticking on his face.
"Say hi to the camera Tony." The small boy looked up with big dark eyes and tilted his head to one side.
"Wha zat mamma?" He heard Steve snigger and resisted the urge to glare at him, he just couldn't take his gaze away from the projection. His small self, stood from his spot walking to the camera and holding the lenses with his chubby hands, looking at it as he was trying to figure out how it worked.
"He's taking after you Howard." His mother said, stroking his cheek kindly. A pair of arms surrounded his chubby form and Howard picked him up.
"Come on big boy you are going to break it." He sat with Tony in a couch and the boy pouted at him.
"Am not." Howard smiled at him and snuggled his stomach with his face making the boy go into a fits of giggles. When Howard stopped the boy's face was red and his hair was even more tangled than before. He kissed the boy in the forehead, looking at him with a gaze full of affection. Maria laughed in the background when the boy yawned.
"Here, let me carry him." The camera was passed to Howard, Maria took the boy in her arms and the child rested his head on her shoulder and took his thumb to his mouth, rubbing his eyes furiously. "Do you want mamma to sing to you?" The boy nodded with sleep and Maria started rocking him, singing to him a soft lullaby and before long the boy fell asleep on his mom's chest. "I love you dear." Maria planted a small kiss in the boy's hair and walked toward the camera. "I love you too darling." The camera focused on the floor for a moment as Maria and Howard seemingly kissed and then it was Howard smiling at the camera.
"Grow to be strong Tony." Then the image went blank and Tony bite his lips fighting back tears, he wouldn't cry in front of Steve but it was hard when there was a burning feeling consuming his chest. He had never seen such a warm expression on either of his parents and it burned him, to see the love he had been forcefully neglected being show so openly. What the hell happened to them? What did Tony do for them to stop treating him like that? He felt rage, jealously, sorrow and a desperate need to cry, but he showed none, he put on his blank face, the one he had so dutifully mastered over the years and said nothing, listening to the silence that reigned over the room for a long while, even if his head was everything but quiet at the moment.
He grabbed the film of Howard recording for the city of the future, at least that film would made the blond smile. "Let's watch this one." Steve grabbed his wrist before he could put the movie and he looked at him in confusion.
"You don't need to." He gave the man the best smile he could manage at the time. The man shared the death of his best friend with him, the least Tony could give him were a few minutes with his old friend.
"You see, my dad made a fool of himself in this one, you will like it." He tugged his wrist from the man's hold and changed the films. He stood from his spot on the floor, with lot of helps from Steve and the walker, sat on his chair to resume his work, or at least that seemed to be the case to the blond, in reality he was staring at the screen not giving much thought to the codes anymore.
After a while he heard Steve laugh at the part that Howard seemed unsure of himself and shift uncomfortably at the part that a young Tony appeared, after that the man was silent until the film ended.
"Hey Tony..." Tony looked at the man in surprise, that was the first time he called him by his name, but it seemed that Steve hadn't realized that yet, He was frowning and he seemed to be thinking really hard about something. "How did Howard die?"
"He and mom died in a car accident." Tony was taken aback when the man looked incredulously at him, like he didn't believed a word of what Tony had said.
"You are joking right?" The man was shaking his head in disbelieving.
"Why would I? Look I don't care if you think that's an ungrateful way for my father to die but that's how it happened." The man frowned at him and shook his head again.
"You aren't joking then, and that's not what I meant." He stood from his spot on the floor and walked to Tony. "There's no way for Howard to have died in a car crash, he is-was the best civil pilot I have ever met and probably one of the best pilots we got back there and he was by far the best driver we had." He shook his head more firmly this time. "If the Nazi didn't get him in one of the many drives he gave us to the battle field there's no way for him to have died in a simple car accident." Tony shuddered and looked away from the blond.
"He was growing old and they say he was a reckless driver." He tried not to give much though the man's word and hoped for him to drop the subject.
"Dum Dum Dungan and Jim were reckless drivers. Howard was a genius, daring yes, reckless no." Tony looked at Steve, the look on his face told him that the man wasn't going drop the subject.
"What's your point Cap?" Steve looked away from him, his gaze falling into the projector.
"There's something that bothers me about that last film." He looked at Tony again. "How old were you when Howard died?"
"It was after I graduated from MIT, so… I just turned Seventeen by then." The Frown in the man intensified.
"Was he sick? Was he dying?" Tony looked suspiciously at Steve, did he though that Howard had committed suicide?
"No the man was a bulk, didn't seem sick to me, he even used to play tennis often and his medic reports were clean." Steve looked confused now and looked like he was bashing himself about something.
"Did he gave you that film?" Tony shook his head, he was now downright curious about what the man was thinking.
"No, Fury did a year and a half ago." Steve looked at him with a mixture of surprise and confusion.
"The Colonel did?" He asked in disbelieve.
"Yeah apparently dad was one of the founders of S.H.I.E.L.D. Fury said he knew him well." That seemed to take Steve by surprise, but after a moment the confusion on Steve seemed to dissipate as if he had figured something out of that statement.
"Could you explain to me why Howard recorded some kind of hidden message for you many years before his death and left the film with someone you probably wouldn't have ever met was it not for the fact that you became Iron Man?" Tony looked at Steve perplexed, he hadn't thought about that before. Steve looked at the projector again, his gaze somehow distant. "The Howard I knew was clever he wouldn't do something just because, I believe that didn't change about him."
Tony believed so too, he didn't knew his father that much but he sure knew that he was calculating, he always though ahead of things and his every step was dictated by logic.
"Are you implying th-" Steve looked at him with a stare so intense that it cut tony mid-sentence.
"I'm saying that Howard wouldn't have died on a car crash, that he knew he was going to die before he made that film, that he must have been involved in something he didn't want you into but left a safeguard in case you did. I am saying that I think he was murdered." Tony saw that one coming but even so it hit him like a bat on his guts and he leaned his head on his hand for support.
"You are implying something big there Rogers." And indeed he was, all that meant that Fury must be conscious of that fact, that the authorities had reasons for hiding the truth about Howard's death, it meant so many things.
Then there was the film, it have gave him a clue to finding a new element for the Arc Reactor, and now that he thought about it, if he hadn't become Iron man he probably wouldn't have ever seen the film. Hell if he hadn't been dying from Palladium poisoning at that moment Fury probably would have kept the film for himself, which meant that whatever Howard was involved into was related to the Arc Reactor. He looked at Howard's drawing of the hypercube and the pro-Nazi version of it on the screen.
"It must have been the Arc Reactor." He told Steve after a moment, "Fury said that dad saw something big in it, beside there are so many secrets around dad's work on it, so many things I still don't get about it. The Nazi connection to this is only a proof that this goes deeper than I though." There was warm hand on Tony's shoulder and he looked at it without giving it too much thought.
"How's that coming?" Steve voice is not his usual one and Tony knew he should probably try to pick on that, but he is far to consumed in his thoughts to even care about it.
"Slow." He sighed in defeat and ran a hand through his hair. "I know too little about dad's work, about him in general and with Fury out of the game, even more now that you said those things, there's probably no one left for me to ask about this." The grip on his shoulder tightened.
"I'm sorry… I never quite understood his technobabble, Peggy would have known though." Tony looked at him with curiosity. That was the first time he heard that name and he was startled by the softness on Steve's voice.
"Who's Peggy?" The hand on his shoulder disappeared and Steve looked away from him, his expression soft and Tony could have sworn that his cheeks were flushed.
"Officer Peggy Carter of the Strategic Scientific Reserve, she was… a friend and was close to Howard during the war, she got a better hang of him than I did." There was something odd on Steve voice and expression but Tony dismissed it.
"JARVIS look her up." After a few seconds the screen was filled with images of a beautiful woman and Steve gasped beside him.
"Officer Margaret Carter also knows as Peggy Carter, was under General Phillips division during the war, was involved in The Project Rebirth and fought alongside Captain America during his last mission. When the war ended she retired of the militia and returned to England, little is known of her after that, her current status and whereabouts are unknown." He looked at Steve, the man got this strange look on his face. "I must add Sir, that Agent Sharon Carter of S.H.I.E.L.D. is a relative of her." This got both men by surprise and they looked at each other, no word was exchange but both know what the other was thinking.
"Thanks JARVIS, save and shut down." He reached for the walker and Steve helped him stood. Oh, how he wanted his legs to heal!
They took the elevator to the mansion, each one of them deep on their own train of though that Tony would have forgotten about the other man's presence was it not for the man's occasional glances, making sure that Tony was alright on his feet, he knew that if it was left to Steve judgment he would be carrying Tony everywhere, that or he would tie Tony to his bed. He groaned at himself, that last part sounded a lot like a sexual innuendo and truly the last thing he wanted at the moment was to have inadequate thoughts about Steve, said man looked at him with a worried gaze and he waved at him, feeling his cheeks flush lightly.
He smirked to himself, He needed to get laid and with Pepper on the other side of the country the probabilities of that happening soon were lean. The moment the door opened he walked as fast as he could out of the elevator -which wasn't that fast in his present condition- and made his way to the closet taking a jacket and his elbow crutch from it, he preferred the elbow crutch over the walker.
"Let me." He heard Steve say from behind him, pointing to the jacket and Tony passed it to him reluctantly. He would have rejected the offer was it not for the fact that putting his jacket on while standing, in his current condition, was an odyssey that ended with his legs sore and hurting. Steve hand was on his waist in a moment, he helped Tony dress and put his elbow crutches with ease, he then took his own jacket and a pair of hats from the closet, putting one of them on Tony's head.
"I don't like hats." He deadpanned but Steve just shuddered, not caring for the fact that Tony sounded annoyed.
"It's cold outside." As if that was enough reason to take advantage of Tony's condition, his hands were occupied with the elbow crutches and thus he couldn't take the damn hat off.
"Are you going somewhere?" Both men looked at Jarvis, any further discussion about the hat dying on that moment.
"Yes, we'll be back later." Steve answered, finishing the last button of his jacket and looked at Tony's open jacket. Tony frowned at him, he wasn't going to zip up his jacket, and Steve seemed to take the message this time looking away from him to Jarvis. "Please save us some dinner."
Jarvis nodded and smiled at them. He then walked to Tony and adjusted the cap on his head. If he hadn't been the one being annoyed he would have laughed, just like Steve was doing. "I hate you both."
"Have a Safe trip." Jarvis patted his shoulder and disappeared into the halls of the house.
"Let's go." Steve moved to the door and Tony followed him.
He cleared his throat and the woman behind the counter finally looked up from her magazine. She looked at him up and down thoughtfully and smiled at him.
"What can I help you with?" He felt his ears blush under her gaze, she remembered him of the girl that had kissed him before, when Peggy had arrived looking pissed. "Are you here to talk to the Commander?"
"No, we would like to talk to Agent Carter." She raised an eyebrow at him and picked the phone.
"Agent Carter, please report at the reception." She closed the phone and smiled cheekily at him. "Would that be all?"
He nodded and looked over his shoulders to were Tony was sitting. The man had taken the hat off with all intention of leaving it on the car, but he had grabbed it knowing the man's plans. Said man was now glaring at said hat, like he wanted it to vanish it under his gaze. Steve smiled at this and walked toward him.
"It won't melt under you glare no matter how much you try it." The man glared at him, looking really annoyed and snatched the bag in Steve's hand. Tony had insisted on stopping at Dunkin' Donuts and nothing Steve had said had convinced the man otherwise.
The look on Tony passed from annoyed to content in a blink. He opened the bag taking a doughnut from it and biting it, he hummed in happiness closing his eyes and throwing his head back, when the man licked the sugar of his lips Steve looked away, feeling the moment far too intimate for him to be looking. It wasn't long before Carter appeared, he knew it was her because she looked a lot like Peggy, although she was a little taller than her. She looked at the secretary who in turn pointed at them.
"You were looking for me?" Steve nodded, she didn't have Peggy's English accent but he couldn't take the gaze apart from her, the resemblance was striking.
"Yes, I'm St-" He was cut mid-sentence by her.
"I know who you are." She looked over his shoulders at Tony, who was still eating without minding them. "Both of you. What do you want?" he gulped she was just as intimidating as Peggy.
"I-we know you are a relative of Officer Peggy Carter, we wanted to ask you a few questions." She didn't look surprised at all, but looked over her shoulder to the hall.
"Let's go somewhere else." He nodded and looked at Tony who was happily drinking his coffee, he hesitated for a moment, wondering if it was all right to leave the man alone.
"I'll be back soon." He said to Tony, who nodded in return taking another doughnut from his bag. He didn't want to move Tony around, the only reason he had took him with him was because Thor wasn't at home and he wasn't going to leave the man alone with Jarvis in the mansion, that was practically calling for him to be kidnapped again, but now they were at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s H.Q. he doubted that anyone would try to kidnap him there, or at least he hoped so.
"I knew you were going to come to me sooner or later." She said resting on a tree. They had made their way out of the building and into the front yard. Steve adjusted the cap on his head as the cold wind of the late autumn blew over them. "She used to tell me stories about you all the time, of the brave soldier, of the American symbol and mostly of the kind man who had been too weak to save his country before." His breath got caught in his throat, she hadn't forgotten about him. He looked down to the soil with a sad smile, his heart felt heavy.
"How was her life?" He ignored how weak his voice sounded and concentrated on invisible spot on the grass.
"She missed you." He closed his eyes, resisting the urge to cry, he hadn't meant to hurt her. "Here." Steve looked at her as she took a small book from her bag and handed it to him. "It's her journal."
"I-I can't take It." he said with widened eyes, she frowned.
"Just take it for god's sake." her tone left no room for arguments and Steve took the offered journal, opening it and going through some of it pages, and finally stopping at one that had a photo of him before the SSS. He ran a finger through the battered surface of the photo suddenly feeling nostalgic.
"Thanks." She nodded at him and took a breath preparing himself for his next question. "How did she die?" She frowned at him with confusion.
"She's not dead." He was taken aback by that and took a step back feeling a rush of emotions drench him.
"She isn't?" She shook her head, if Steve hadn't cried before he was doing it now, he could feel the hot tears rolling his cheeks. "Are you serious?"
"She's living at Larkmoore clinic in North Carolina." She was living at a clinic? Steve heart raced at the idea of losing her after he had just found her.
"Is she sick?" Sharon looked troubled at the question.
"Not exactly, she is senile, suffering from Alzheimer." She looked away from Steve, pain crossing her eyes for a moment. "Last time I visited she didn't recognize me." Just the idea of it made Steve heart ache, he didn't know if he could take it, the oblivion on Peggy's face, but even knowing that, he couldn't let the opportunity slip.
"Can I see her?" Sharon smiled at him and nodded, taking a small notebook and a pen from her pouch. She wrote something on it and ripped the paper, handing it to him. He looked down at it, it was an address. "Aren't you coming?" She shook her head.
"She's not that fond of me these days." She walked towards Steve and put a hand on his shoulder. "I send her my regards though." She walked pass him, heading for the building and he followed her.
When they returned Tony had already finished eating and was playing with his cellphone, looking as bored as he could. He looked up at then with a frown, Sharon nodded at him when she passed by him and Tony followed her with his gaze.
"She is cute." He said when she was too far to hear them and Steve glared at him, disapproving of Tony's comment, knowing too well that he had a dame already. "Don't know how Fury convinces the hot ladies to work for him."
"Come on we are leaving." He said as he walked towards Tony, he passed an arm around the man's torso and helped him to stand. He didn't take his arm away until he was sure the man wouldn't fall back into the chair. He then took the cap that was lying lazily on one of the chairs and put it firmly on the man's head, receiving a glare that looked too much like a pout from Tony.
"Are we going back to the mansion?" He shook his head and Tony tilted his head to one side slightly, looking confused and Steve fought back a smile, he looked a lot like the younger version of him that they saw in the film, much less innocent of course.
"We are going to pay Peggy a visit."