A/N: Apologies for making you all wait so long for an update, my old computer was giving me trouble and I recently finally got a new computer, so hence, more updates. I will be updating again soon! Hope you all enjoy! Please keep adding my story to your favorite and following and reviewing, they are all great, the support means a lot to me. :)
"Keep in touch, have fun and don't give into Stark's charming personality," Natasha hugged her friend goodbye. "This is for you and don't open it till you are on the plane, I was cleaning out some old boxes and found this for you." Nat handed her a small package and Emma placed it in her backpack.
"Trust me, I got his parents together and his father was...is...was one of my closest friends, I don't think his charms are really going to work on me." Emma reassured her and she looked around for Clint on the tarmac and didn't see him.
"He's on a mission and sends his best wishes." Natasha saw her looking, "He also said call him if you need your big brother to beat up the Stark bullies."
Emma laughed at that and hugged Nat one more time and then was ushered onto her private jet.
Once seated and relaxed, Emma opened her package that Nat had given her. It was a picture of Steve from the training grounds in Camp Leigh and Steve's second pair of dog tags. Emma teared up and held the picture and tags close to her chest. She placed them back in her bag for safe keeping and rest her head back for the long 5 hour flight across country. Suddenly as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath she felt a brief moment of traveling and opened her eyes just as a wave crashed over her and freezing cold water covered her and she was pushed against a steel wall.
"SHIT!" She screamed sputtering cold sea water out of her mouth.
"MAN ON DECK!" A person shouted.
"WOMAN!" She shouted back.
"Holy…someone get her inside!" A man shouted as he lifted her into his arms and carried her through a door inside the ship. Emma's eyes stung from the salty water but adjusted to the dark and dank surroundings and the dim lights in the hallway as she was carried to the galley.
As Emma was placed in a chair, Howard came bursting in.
"Someone couldn't just suddenly appear on deck…" he caught sight of her and smiled, "Never mind, it was only Miss Walker who had been out sleep walking."
"I didn't know she was on board sir," the Captain stated going to reach for his roster.
"No, no one was supposed to know. She was sent here on special mission and then got sick as soon as we left and must now be feeling much better," Howard lied perfectly, he was smoother than silk. No wonder women always fell for his charms and Emma gave a small smile to him.
"Yes, Captain I am terribly sorry about the confusion, but the crew can know of my wear abouts now, but no one else off this ship, is that understood?"
"Yes Agent Walker." And with that he left. Howard rushed over and hugged Emma's cold body close and wrapped his warm leather jacket around her.
"Emma, what the hell are you doing here?"
"I don't know, I was on a separate mission and suddenly I was brought here. Where are we and what year is it?"
"It's September 12th, 1945. The war ended 10 days ago. You've been gone for some time, we all figured you would come back some day. And we are in the north Atlantic, searching for…"
Emma's eyes widened, "You think he's still alive?" She knew they had been searching for years, but to actually see them doing it versus saying it was a whole other thing.
"We hope so. We found some traces of wreckage in the water and we are following a trail there."
Emma grabbed Howard's face and kissed him full on the lips, "You amazing and wonderful man!"
He laughed and smiled at her, "When we find Steve, he's going to kill me for that."
"Eh, what he doesn't know won't hurt him." Emma's smile faded thinking about it and she curled up in her chair and started to shiver realizing how cold she was.
"We are going to find him, I promise you that." Emma leaned her head into his hand on her cheek and gave a small smile.
"Thank you Howard."
"Now, let's get you warmed up and in some dry clothes."
After she had changed into one of the extra dresses a woman on board had and Howard gave her one of his big cable knit grey sweaters. She wrapped herself up in the sweater and walked into the galley to find Howard sitting at the table drinking a bottle of liquor. He gave a little laugh when she walked in.
"That sweater is a bit big on you," He commented.
"Yeah but it's comfortable." She sat across from him and grabbed the bottle out of his hand and winced at the taste of rum. "Well that's some pretty strong stuff."
"It will warm you up though," Howard teased as he turned the knob on the radio in the corner and a show came on.
Captain America once again battled and won against the Nazi's. {Clapping}
"Oh Captain, you saved my life!"
Emma winced at the breathy Marilyn Monroe voice of the radio actress. What the hell was this?
"Anything for you Nurse Carver!"
Emma glared at the radio at the fake-Steve and Howard laughed at her face.
"Yeah, it's the Captain America radio show. It has its moments but it's odd when it's not Steve talking. Also, Nurse Carver is a whiny damsel in distress who was definitely not the woman I know loved Captain Rogers and he loved her back."
Emma smiled at Howard and the show came to an end on the radio.
Tune in next week for more amazing adventures with Captain America, Nurse Carver and more! Now onto some great songs to finish out your night.
As the music started to play, a slow, romantic song came on and Howard got up and held out his hand.
"Care to dance?" Emma looked at his hand and back up at his face and sighed. "I promised my dance to another man."
Howard nodded his head, "Well, until he comes back, you need to get some practice in, so you are perfect for him." Emma loved how smooth Howard was and agreed with the fact she needed some practice.
Emma took his hand and was pulled to her feet and brought close to Howard for the dance. They rocked slowly back and forth for a few moments just enjoying the music and Emma leaned her head against his chest.
"Do we find him?" Howard asked quietly.
"I told you not to ask me anything about the future," Emma chastised.
"I'm serious, do we?" She could hear the emotion in his voice, he was genuinely concerned about his friend.
"I don't know. And that's the truth, I feel like the people I work for are hiding a lot from me."
"The SSR?" Howard seemed skeptical.
"No, someone else."
"How many people do you work for?"
Emma smiled into his shoulder, "Classified Mr. Stark."
"Do you think about him often?"
Emma lifted her head and looked up at him and he gave her a knowing look, "I figured I knew the answer, I was just curious. I don't know how much time has passed in the future, your real world."
"Both worlds are my real world, I was born in this time line but sent to the future where I could grow and then my life truly began once I was able to come back and fell in love with Steve." Emma felt tears stinging her eyes, "Not much time has passed, only months in the future, but it feels like years. I think about him every single day. I love him; that will never change."
"Nor should it," Howard kissed the top of her head and the music came to a stop and an all too familiar ad to buy war bonds with Captain America and the Star Spangled Singers came on.
"Do I really sound like that?" Emma teased trying to break the ice.
"It's not bad. And I think Steve was warning me to back off his girl," Howard joked and Emma laughed.
They sat down and really talked, talked about their lives, where Howard grew up, his family life and how he had to work his way up in life. She told him about her childhood of adoption, of knowing she was always different. She told him about her days with the Star Spangled Singers and how Steve was ever the gentleman; beating up disgusting pigs of men who would put moves on the girls, how he would always get nervous around the girls flirting with him, how he would always send flowers to any of the singers when they were injured or sick, and how bad he was at first with his stage presence and performance. She felt so at ease in this moment, even if it was in a cold ship on the North Atlantic Sea. She felt at ease with Howard, he was a true friend and like a brother to her. She loved talking to him and only hoped her path in the future with his son was just as smooth and easy.
"So how is Maria?" Emma asked as the early sun started to shine through the port holes around them. Howard shifted uncomfortably in his chair and took a sip of his drink. Emma felt her brow furrow and glared at Howard, "You didn't did you?"
"I was caught with another woman, a few weeks ago…"
"HOWARD!" Emma growled. That was his future wife, what the hell did he do?!
"Hey! Let me tell you the whole story before you get all high and mighty." Emma pursed her lips and sat back and waved her hand for him to continue. "I was at the base in London, I went to check on Peggy since she hadn't been herself since Steve's death, and he was her close friend as well. I couldn't find her but I ran into Private Lorraine and asked her where I could find Peggy."
"Wait, who the hell is Private Lorraine?" She never remembered a woman by that name in the SSR.
Howard gave a small grin, "You don't remember her? A feisty one, she's a leggy blonde, with a voice to seduce any man and lips more powerful than any poison…"Howard cleared his throat at Emma's glare, "Who I don't find as relationship material but is attractive. Anyway, she has a reputation in the base. She flirts with all men of power, including the colonel." Emma laughed at that, "She always liked trying to seduce me but I was good to ignore her charms until that day. She cornered me, started seducing me and suddenly her lips were on mine. Similar to when poor Steve was caught in her…oh shit." Howard stopped suddenly when he saw the look on Emma's face. "I thought you had already been…you were there…"
"I guess I haven't been to that day yet…" Emma said annoyed. "Steve did what now?!" Emma then suddenly focused real hard, putting her control into test and thought of Steve, the base, and what day that could've been.
Emma found herself in the hustle and bustle of the base and rounded a corner and found Peggy walking towards her.
"Emma! What are you wearing and where have you been? You ran out of the hotel in a panic last night." Peggy asked.
"I had to hunt down that shooter," Emma said remembering her last events, "I couldn't find him but had to take shelter from somewhere other than the hotel and stayed with a friend." Peggy nodded her head and didn't question her any further.
"I'm going to grab Steve, Howard wants to meet with him about some new tools and uniform for his big mission." Emma followed behind her and they turned a corner and Emma saw Steve lip locked with Private Lorraine. She was just as Howard had described.
"Captain!" Peggy interrupted aggravated. Steve pulled away and wiped his lips, "We're ready for you."
"If you're not otherwise preoccupied," Emma chimed in and Steve noticed her and his eyes went wide.
"Emma! Peggy, wait!" Steve called after them.
"It seems it didn't take you that long to find a new partner when I was only gone less than 24 hours." Emma said with her chin held high and not looking at Steve.
"It's not what you think…"Steve stammered trying to cover.
"Oh really? You wanted to become a soldier and now you are just like the rest of them," Peggy retaliated. It was nice to have her on her side.
"What about you? How do I know you and Stark aren't fonduing?" Steve said to Emma.
Emma gave him the most confused look, "What?"
"That's Howard's sweater, I've seen him wear it before. Where were you?" Steve recounted.
Emma rolled her eyes, "You don't know a bloody thing about women." Peggy chimed in before walking away. Emma finally spoke up, "She's right you don't. If you had cared to know, I was chasing down a man who had murdered a woman last night in our hotel and I had to take refuge at Stark's London penthouse so they wouldn't track me back down to you or our hotel. I was trying to be safe and be a good agent. And what were you doing? Being congratulated for saving the 107th lives? She is a minx and a flirt, so I will put her at fault here but you are still a complete and utter fool when it comes to women." At that Emma turned on her heel and went into Stark's lab.
"I was at your penthouse last night if Steve asks," Emma whispered to him.
"What time are you from?" He asks looking at her outfit and giving a little grin.
"It's not what you think, you will know soon. Just play along." Emma then went to the other end of the lab so Steve and Howard could talk.
"Sorry about that, all soldiers are the same in the end," Peggy commented and Emma shook her head.
"Not him, I know he wouldn't have done that on purpose, he's not that type. I've known him for many years, he just doesn't still totally understand women and how they flirt, she was a spider catching him in her web and he got flustered and she took advantage of that."
"How do you know that from just a split second of them together?" Peggy asked fascinated.
"I know how he holds a woman when he kisses her," Emma smiled and Peggy gave her a small smile, "He wasn't holding her like he would kissing someone he cared about, she had her hands in a vice grip around his tie. All her fault."
"She is an enormous flirt, poor colonel Phillips nearly had a heart attack at her advances," Peggy said and they went over towards the boys.
"What do you think?" Steve asked holding a round vibranium shield up towards them. Emma grabbed the nearest gun on the table and looked at Peggy and she did the same and they both took aim at the shield and fired and Steve ducked down behind it as they fired a few shots. The shield took the brunt of the shots and didn't bounce off or injure anyone else.
"Yes, I think it works quite nicely," Emma commented coolly and walked away with Peggy as the boys stared off in shock.
"I hate to dash but I was coming to tell Steve good luck on his mission, I have to leave for my own personal mission. I will see you soon." Emma said and Peggy hugged her.
"Be safe and check in soon."
At that Emma rounded a dark corner and concentrated hard on Howard and his ship. She soon found herself back in the spot, a few seconds past in front of Howard.
"You…oh….it all makes so much more sense now…." Howard said suddenly realizing where she had gone and been. He gave a hearty laugh, "Poor Steve was so frightened by you two shooting at him and he was so confused by what fondue was."
"Where did that come from?" Emma asked Howard.
"I mentioned it to Peggy once and he thought it meant something else," Emma gave a little snort of laughter and hugged Howard.
"I told you this didn't mean anything back then," She said and she felt his shoulders shaking with laughter.
"I was hoping so bad that I was able to steal Captain America's girl," He teased. She smiled but her smile faded quickly thinking of Steve and Lorraine.
"I'm still mad at him over that kiss, even if it wasn't his fault."
"You two make up eventually, I've seen it. But don't push yourself there now, I can tell you are weak. Go get some rest and-"
At that moment an alarm went off and Howard rushed off and Emma followed behind. They ran into the Captain's deck which was bright with all the windows around them and Emma could finally see the cold and snowy waters around them.
"What did you find?" Howard asked coming in.
"We followed the energy signal and found this," the Captain motioned towards the small screen that showed an arm underwater holding a glowing cube.
"Is that…" Emma asked.
"That's the Tesseract, the cube Schmidt was using for his weaponry." Emma remembered reading about it in the Captain America files and remembered it had been in the plane with Steve.
"Does that mean we found Steve's plane?" She asked with a shred of hope.
"Keep looking," Howard said to the Captain.
"But the energy signal stops here, there's no trace of wreckage anywhere," the captain said.
"Just keep looking." Howard said with a final note in his voice.
Emma walked towards the windows and felt the cold chill against her face as she scanned the water, hoping for some sign of his plane wreckage.
"He's out there, we will find him." Howard said behind her. Emma felt her heart drop, if there was no sign now and they still hadn't found him by the future then would they ever?
"I have to go, I will see you soon Howard." Emma hugged Howard close and kissed his cheek, "Go win Maria back, promise me that."
"I will." He whispered back. Emma felt herself becoming light headed and left the cabin quickly so she could disappear without others noticing.
She opened her eyes and felt herself sitting in her seat. She pulled out her phone from her bag and noticed she had only been gone an hour.
"Would you like anything miss?" the flight attendant asked, not questioning her disappearance. The beauty of a private SHIELD jet.
"Can I get something to eat?" She still had a long flight ahead of her.
"Of course miss."
Emma then looked out the window and saw the stretch of blue sky and white clouds ahead of her and wondered if Steve really was still out there or just a faint hope she kept alive for herself.
A few hours later…
Emma finally arrived in California and was greeted on the tarmac by Agent Hunt.
"Hi, Agent Barker, I'm Agent Hunt," the raven haired agent held out her hand and Emma shook it, "I'm with the west coast division of SHIELD and I am here to help you get your mission started. You have been debriefed on your mission correct?"
Emma nodded her head as they headed towards the waiting car, "Yes, I need to find a safe place to change and get myself ready to start."
"Don't worry, we have you covered for that. We are taking you to a motel nearby and you can change and get ready there and then we will have a taxi pick you up and take you to Stark Industries to get started. I will be providing you with your necessary tools for your mission once we get there."
They got into the car and headed to a motel. Once inside, Emma changed into a dress suit and styled her hair and took out her contacts and put on her spy ware glasses. She hid her gun and packed her bag with her other tools and thanked Agent Hunt and caught her taxi to Stark Industries.
As she exited out of the taxi, Obadiah Stain came walking out with his cronies following him, something about him had Emma uneasy.
"Note: check on Obadiah Stain." Emma whispered into her watch, a whisper unit recorder.
She walked inside and checked in at the front desk.
"Hi, I'm Emily Walker, here for Miss Pepper Potts."
"She'll be right down, you can have a seat over there." The receptionist pointed to the nice plush chairs and Emma took a seat.
There was commotion coming down the stairs and Emma turned to see Tony Stark himself rushing down with people around him and Pepper following behind them all. Emma couldn't help but smile at how much he looked like his father. As he started to walk past where she was sitting, he stopped.
"Thanks for all your help everyone, but I have some business to attend to," he said waving his hand and everyone disappeared, except Pepper who was clicking away at a Blackberry in her hands. "Those are a lot of bags at your feet, are you planning to move in? Because these chairs are not that comfy, I have a much more comfortable space back at my home, you should come join me," he gave her a grin.
Emma smiled and had to hold in the laughter, oh so smooth, just like his father, "Actually that is where I am headed. I am Miss Potts new college intern, actually graduated college intern, I just graduated." Emma giggled playing along.
"Oh really? Then we will get very, very well acquainted." Tony said taking her hand and kissing it, "Tony Stark, your new boss."
"Emily Walker, your new second assistant."
"And she is off limits Tony, per my request." Pepper said chiming in walking over and she held out her hand for an introduction. Emma shook it, "I apologize for not stepping in sooner, but I was in the middle of an important email and sometimes it's better to let Mr. Stark get that out of his system."
"Why is she off limits? That's not fair, I hired her!" Tony argued.
"Actually, I did with Obadiah, so no. I will let Happy get your bags and we shall head out." Emma nodded her head as the driver came in and grabbed her bags at her feet and they followed him out to the car.
"So where did you go to school Emily?" Tony asked as they walked.
"Harvard, I studied Business Management and minored in Ballet," Emma said mentally reading off her fake resume and script in her head.
"Oh, so, nerdy and flexible, a lethal combination," Tony chimed in with a wicked grin.
"Tony…"Pepper warned.
"I'm just complimenting her on her talents."
"Mr. Stark," "Please call me Tony," Emma mentally rolled her eyes, "Let's get one thing straight right now, I know your history and your record with women and trust me, I am not like your other bimbos who walk into your home and bedroom every day. I am your employee and intern. I also am taken and off the market for you, so your advances will be unnecessary."
Emma saw Pepper biting her lip and smirking next to her trying not to laugh and Tony just smiled. "I like her, she is feisty and fun. You can keep her Pepper." Emma shook her head and got in the back of the car with the other two.
Once they arrived at the mansion, Pepper showed Emma around.
"You're room shall be on the east wing, I'm down the hall from you there with Happy and Tony is on the west side. Trust me, you will appreciate this later. You have full access to the Stark home, but just be mindful of Tony and be careful in his garage downstairs, that's where he tinkers and works on his inventions and his cars." They entered her room and Emma was surprised at how nice it was. It had grand windows overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Her room was spacious and her bathroom was huge.
"He treats everyone nicely huh?" Emma noted.
"Mr. Stark takes very good care of his employees, especially those who work so closely with him like us."
"Good morning and welcome, how may I be of assistance?" Emma jumped at the voice in the room.
"Oh don't worry, that's Jarvis, he runs the house. Your panel for him is right over here by your door. Do you need anything else right now?" Pepper asked.
"No, I think I'm good, thanks."
"Alright, meet me down in the living room in an hour, I will let you get settled."
Pepper left and Emma got started setting herself up. She added little home-y things to the room, something Emily would have. Pictures of her family, some little nick nacks, and then she went over and turned Jarvis off, for safety. She then took out her SHIELD items, her laptop and gear and put it at her desk. She then placed her photos of her and Steve on her bedside table and kept her photo of him from his file tucked in her pillow. Once she had all her spy gear hidden and put away, she turned Jarvis back on.
"Miss why was I turned off?"
"Oh you're a smart computer huh?"
"Yes."
"I turned you off for my safety, you make me nervous."
"No need to be nervous ma'am, I am a safe program."
"A little too 2001: Space Odyssey for me, but I will get used to it."
At that Emma left and headed towards the living room and walked out on the balcony and felt the sea air hit her face. She closed her eyes and felt herself relax for a brief moment, for the first time in a long time.
"Walker, your name sounds vaguely familiar. Do you have someone famous in your family?" Tony asked walking outside to meet her with Pepper.
"Nope, I grew up in a small town outside of Boston," Emma replied coolly.
"Huh," Tony mused as he looked out over the water and took a swig of his amber drink.
"Here are the codes for the house and for Stark Industries and your key cards for both locations and any important numbers you might need. And finally, your Blackberry, pre programmed with the numbers and things you will need." Pepper handed her the folder and the phone.
"Welcome to Stark Industries. Now let's get started with today's business."
Emma's first week on the job was rough, it was demanding and long and Emma came out empty handed on any info for SHIELD. She had to control her travelling, she would feel moments coming on and would concentrate not to travel. It worked but it was weakening her, she was going to need to travel soon.
One night, she found she couldn't sleep, so she grabbed her iPod and changed into some work out gear and headed towards the gym. She found a punching bag and wrapped her hands and plugged in her head phones and started punching. She felt she was a bit rusty and worked hard at her kick boxing. She got in her own zone and didn't even see Tony come in till she saw him in the mirror.
"Holy shit!" She shouted and he chuckled.
"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you. Couldn't sleep?" he asked. He was only wearing a pair of sweat pants and was shirtless. She could sense he was trying to impress her.
"No, I don't sleep well." Emma felt a little better after the work out but was still tired and weak from not traveling.
"That's too bad, I have ways of curing that you know," Tony flirted and Emma just shook her head and started to unwrap her hands.
"I'm good thanks," She replied aggravated at his attempt.
"You know, I was doing some research on your name, it kept bugging me that it sounded so familiar."
"Did you find anything good?" Emma kept her cool and tried not to show her emotions.
"Surprisingly, yes. You know, you have a striking resemblance to your ancestor, Agent Emma Walker."
Emma knew she should've changed her last name, stupid move. Barker, would've been worse.
"Really? I've never heard of her," Emma lied.
"Come with me, let me show you her picture I have. She was very close friends with my father." Tony gestured towards the door and Emma laughed.
"Oh I see, you are trying to pull a fast one on me-"
"No, please come with me," He said and she could see the sincerity in his eyes and she followed him down to his garage. Once there he pulled out an old photograph of Howard, Maria, Steve, and her from that night they had all gone out together. He also showed her a picture of Howard and her smiling as they were on one of his boats.
"Oh, that's my Grammy Em!" Emma played it cool.
"Really? Is that her husband?" Tony asked pointing to Steve in the photo.
"Yes, it was. He fought during the war and he sadly passed away before the war ended."
"Huh, it's strange you two share the last name when her husband's last name was Rogers, unless she was ahead of the times and kept her maiden name but that would've been unlikely for the times," Howard mused as he moved to stand across from her. He wasn't an idiot to say the least, too smart for his own good like his father. "And there was no record of Captain Steve Rogers ever marrying, he turned out to be Captain America and died saving the world form Hydra. And your Grammy Em, has too many similarities for you two to be relatives, you'd have to be the same exact person to have those features. Also, she is listed on this photo as Agent Emma Walker/Barker, now Barker I researched was not her married name. Since Emma Barker disappeared as a young baby in 1942 and then suddenly reappeared in the 80's. Seems a bit odd don't you think?"
Emma couldn't speak, she couldn't believe he had figured everything out. "So tell me, who are you exactly Emily Walker?"
Emma sighed and took a deep breath, "What makes you think we are the same person? She could easily be my Grammy," Emma replied still trying to keep her cool.
Tony then gave a sarcastic smile and turned and grabbed a trunk that had a note on top.
"My father gave me this trunk before he passed, saying, if anything ever happened to him to keep it safe and to give it to Emma Barker or Emma Walker when I finally meet her. That she would come someday, unexpected. And then you magically appear as a college intern with Pepper and Pepper never showed interest in an assistant before until she got your interest and application. So please, tell me, who are you Emily Walker or Emma Barker?"
Emma kept her cool and let her body relax, there was no way around it now. Plus, she wanted to know what was in that trunk. After a week of deep researching, she felt she could trust Tony and he was Howard's son, he would understand.
"My name is Agent Emma Barker or as Howard knew me at first as Agent Emma Walker. I am an agent with the SSR. I am also a time traveler or as we recently have called me a Tempus Imperium which is Latin for Time Controller. I can control time, by stopping time, having visions, and travelling through time. I use my powers for good and do not wish to be taken for experiments. I took this job as a protection for you, we believe you are in danger and I am to look after you. Is there anything else you wish to know?" Emma told partially the truth and some lies mixed in.
"Are you really married to Captain America?" He asked and Emma laughed.
"No, but I love him and he loved me. I miss him deeply every day and wish I could change his time line and save him but I can't."
Tony nodded his head and walked close to her and hugged her, "It's great to finally meet you. I have pictures of us together when I was really little and you were the last living connection to my parents, I was hoping one day you would come into my life." Emma was in shock but appreciated having that off her chest.
"I'm glad I am here."