Dyslexia: I was illiterate until I was thirteen, if you want professionally edited work, look elsewhere.
Summary: Tony Stark was born in 1936. Four years after the war, Tony is captured by Hydra and finds himself to be the personal mechanic of the Winter Soldier. The shape of the Cold War is about to take a different turn.
This story is largely: the First Avenger, Agent Carter, Winter Soldier, and Iron Man reimagined in the 1950s.
Inspired by the fact that I love time travel, but Howard was 74 when he fathered Tony, which is just a really easy detail to create an alternate universe with.
Prologue
Mrs. Ana Jarvis knew herself to be indebted to Mr. Howard Stark for all that he had done for her and her husband, this did not mean, however, that she approved of his proclivities or his utter disdain for commitment.
Commitment to his work and his image as a scoundrel, he was naturally suited to but to his friends, partners, and dependents, Mr. Stark left much to be desired.
And yet, Ana could not fail to admire the story of how Howard had accepted the newborn into his household, a child's whose mother was one of his dalliances had conceived before falling ill. The young mother had been lucky to survive long enough to hold her baby, though not long enough to give the boy a name.
Thus when the authorities showed up, claiming the unnamed child as Howard's son, Ana was pleased to know the man stepped up to the plate well enough to give the illegitimate child his surname.
Anthony Edwin Stark.
A fitting name especially, for all that Howard was the boy's father, it was Ana and her husband, Edwin, who had raised the boy after the war.
And what a child he was. There were certain horror stories that existed of Tony's early years, chasing away nannies and a number of tutors who were on constant rotation. However, it was Tony's cleverness and intelligence that left no doubt of the child's relation to Howard. Instead of stepping in to correct his son's behaviour, Howard shoved off the issues Tony was having onto others by hiring more tutors.
Ana didn't think Tony was happy until she and Edwin moved into Howard's residence. Ana was delighted to be one of the few people Tony had never attempted to chase away. Indeed, he seemed to thrive under the structure they were able to provide him.
Ana was all too happy to accompany Tony, who she saw as her adopted son, in attending lectures at the local universities. When certain subjects went over her head she had her needlepoint to content herself with as Tony ran through notebooks. He was always working on his own projects and ideas.
Ideas he would sometimes share with her and Edwin but never with Howard who was too rarely present to understand the conflicting animosity and admarition his son held for him.
Her needlepoint was sometimes mocked for being of an older era, or perhaps her lack of modern habits in the public eye was just an excuse to further alienate her due to her heritage. But those who first berated her when she moved to America, swallowed their words when Ana was the one wearing the most fashionable scarfs in all of New York.
Not to mention the rest of her fashion that no boutique could keep up with.
Tony became Ana's pride and joy, and in circles where they were known as Mrs. Jarvis and her ward, Tony was perfectly polite and charming.
In contrast, strangers who met them and addressed Tony as Howard's handsome heir or Howard's bright young boy, or truly any remark that began with the phrase 'your father', was in for a tongue lashing. Tony didn't play nice with the media and while his sarcasm didn't always translate to print, his scowl at the camera most certainly did.
Agent Carter was a welcome addition to their family, becoming something of an Aunt to Tony. Ana was quite content with her life. For five years, everything was perfect.
Until a man with a metal arm threw Jarvis through a wall and squeezed down on her neck until she forced herself to go limp in his grasp. She had thought the ruse might give her a moment to fight. But neither she nor Edwin were quick enough to recover.
Tony was all of fourteen years old when he was taken by that masked stranger.
The police found no trace of Tony or his kidnapper, and the private directives Howard hired did no better.
A year later, in 1951, Tony Stark was pronounced dead.
Agent Peggy Carter, who had been working in the SSR of the New York branch took it hardest of all.
She didn't believe Tony was dead.
Her career suffered for her conviction that Tony had been kidnapped by Hydra.
Hydra, after all, was supposed to have been defeated in the war.
If only they could be so fortunate.
Chapter 1 - Time Unfrozen
Soldat had not known the child he had taken from the Stark manner.
However, the boy had known him.
Sergeant Barnes?
Soldat had no way of understanding then that the boy would be willing to comply with orders if it meant the Asset did not come to harm.
It had been very difficult in the beginning for the Asset, Soldat, to understand why the boy would care about his wellbeing.
After all, nothing the boy saw that happened to Soldat was out of the ordinary. In fact, the boy, the Mechanic, seemed to care much more about Soldat's wellbeing than his own.
Soldat watched from the corner of his eye as the kid maintenanced his arm.
They had been together for the last three years.
Same cell, same prison.
It was the longest Soldat had been awake since he had been captured. The longest he had managed to keep his mouth shut about the memories that had come back to him.
As much as Hydra was using torturing Soldat to keep Tony, the Mechanic, compliant, Soldat's growing concern for Tony–the Mechanic, Soldat corrected his internal thoughts again– kept him equally well-behaved.
Meaning that no memory wipes had been necessary, which meant when Soldat looked at the Mechanic, he sometimes saw a blonde boy from Brooklyn.
A small person who had no hope against his enemies, yet held onto his sense of justice anyway.
"What's up, Soldat?" the Mechanic asked as he tweaked another bolt.
His metal arm hurt a lot less these days, the Mechanic kept making incremental changes that didn't pinch his nerve endings.
He had been very upset when he realized maintenance had hurt him.
"They are bringing you out into the field," Soldat stated.
It hadn't been the first time.
But it would be the first time it would be close to easy escape.
The Mechanic's fingers traced over the tracker in Soldat's arm.
"Failure will not be tolerated," Soldat warned.
"Then we won't fail," the Mechanic said, in full understanding.
They were partners.
Soldiers.
Assets.
Prisoners.
Luckily for them, Hydra would be highly reluctant to kill them.
Regrettably, they wouldn't hesitate to harm them.
The Mechanic squeezed Soldat's metal wrist, and thanks to the boy's innovation, the sensation was as real as it was to his other hand save for the lack of temperature.
This time they would be free.
oOo
There was a knock on the door.
Peggy exchanged a look with Ana, "Were you expecting someone?"
"No," Ana said. "Edwin shouldn't be back for another few hours."
The door clicked open.
Peggy reached for her gun.
Howard walked through the entryway, placing a hand on his hip, "You gonna shoot me, Peg? In my own home?"
She gritted her teeth, "New York hasn't been your home for a few years, if I remember correctly."
Howard's tired expression shifted into something a bit more pleasant, "Well, I brought someone home to you."
She and Ana stepped forward together as they spoke in unison, "Tony?"
Another shadow descended across Howard's face as he sighed and shook his head before stepping aside to reveal the person who had accompanied him.
A tall and broad-shouldered figure stepped into the greeting room.
It took Peggy a moment before her mind caught up to what her eyes were telling her. She gasped, "Steve?"
Steve Rogers smiled brilliantly at her, "Hey, Peggy. I think I owe you an apology."
"What?" she asked, confused and feeling as if she were having an out-of-body experience.
"I was late for our dance," he said, blue eyes sad around the edges.
She ran at him, and strong arms caught her up as her emotions overwhelmed her. "How?"
"Freezing nor drowning was enough to beat super serum," he said, holding her closer still. "It was worth it if I get to come home to you."
She clung to him, "I missed you so much."
"I'm so sorry for everything I put you through, Peg."
She buried her face against his chest, breathing him in.
He felt like home.
And yet…
And yet, she couldn't shake the disappointment nor the despair that it wasn't her adoptive nephew who Howard had returned to them.
She was able to put those feelings aside, knowing that the world was a better place for having Steve Rodgers back in it.
oOo
AN: So I have this one plotted out fully but if I could please have feedback on what you would be most interested in seeing from these characters, that would be incredibly helpful both to my motivation and fleshing out the story :D