Chapter 86-Past and Future meet the Present

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By: MysticFantasy

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Chapter is based on the Avengers Assemble episode New Year's Resolution.

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"Seriously, I cannot wait to find out how I am going to be as a father." Tony said. "It's not fair that some of you got to spend time with your offspring already."

"Hey, the time travel isn't our fault." Natasha playfully remarked. "Last time was half on your dad."

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Tony and Steve escorted their guests onto the common floor of the tower. It was easy to see that Howard and Peggy were blown away by everything around them and the people they are currently with.

Steve couldn't really blame them. He felt the same when he had woken up in this time and felt like he was on another planet. After some time of guessing how the two came to be in this time, the group was interrupted.

"Hey dad." A young red haired teen greeted. "I've been looking for you."

"Dad?" Howard and Peggy repeated as they looked over at the super soldier, Howard looking amused and Peggy confused.

"How long have you been in this time again?" Howard asked.

"Slow down, Howard." Steve stated as he stood next to the teen. "This is James. My son from the future."

"The future?!" the two repeated.

"Same thing that happened to you happened to him but he's from the future." Tony explained. "He's the future leader of the next generation of Avengers."

After proper introductions, Peggy needed to step away for a while. The time travel was challenging enough to accept as well as Steve being alive but seeing that he would have a child with another woman somehow made it all more difficult.

"Peggy?"

The brunette turned and saw the super soldier standing a few feet away. So many times had she dreamed of the two of them meeting again and it was now happening but she wasn't sure what to think about all of this.

Having heard that Howard's son could get them back to their time had naturally caused Peggy to think of asking Steve to go with them. However, knowing that Steve's lineage would be at risk caused her to hesitate.

"Are you alright?" Steve asked as he cautiously approached.

Peggy let out a shaky sigh and nodded.

"All things considering." She said.

"It's all a bit much, I know." He said.

"To be honest, it's more of…"

"James?" Steve guessed and watched Peggy nod. "Yeah, he was a big surprise for me too. Learning I'm gonna be a dad one da…"

"Do you know his mother?" Peggy suddenly asked.

"Yeah, I do." Steve answered. "She's a teammate and co-worker."

"Are you two together?"

"No, not yet." Steve answered. "James gave us some clear time points as best he could without risking anything."

"You named him after Sergeant Barnes?" Peggy asked knowingly.

"Yeah," Steve answered with a small smile. "He survived that fall when we caught Zola. He pops in from time to time."

Peggy looked slightly more shaken than a few moments ago. Seeing that Steve alone was alive was surely a large shock but learning that he would one day be a father and that his best friend was still alive was just adding to that shock.

The life she pictured with Steve had been taken when he forced Hydra's plane down and it took her quite a while to accept that. Now it had seemed like a second chance at that life was possible but it too was quickly taken away. It seemed like they were never meant to be together no matter how much they wanted to.

Meanwhile, Howard was attempting to bond with Tony. The younger inventor had been avoiding eye contact for a while and it mystified Howard. Unfortunately, Tony wasn't willing to talk about certain things.

"Tony, was I a bad father to you?" Howard asked bluntly.

Tony stilled while standing at a monitor trying to figure out how to get Howard and Peggy back to the correct time. So many things came to mind but he knew he couldn't say anything, even though it was highly possible Howard and Peggy wouldn't remember anything when they went back.

"No, you weren't." Tony answered. "I was...just a typical teenager. You and mom tried to reel me in, but I didn't exactly make it easy."

"Are you close with your mom? Who is she anyway?"

"Can't tell you." Tony quickly answered. "Can't risk anything by telling you certain points."

"Guess that makes sense." Howard agreed. "Anyway, relating to Captain America junior, have you met your future kid?"

"No," Tony answered. "Only a few future kids came to this time but mine wasn't one of them. James and the others won't even tell me how many I have or their names. Which I get, but still a little unfair."

"To be honest, I thought Steve and Peg would have a family together. Guess his sacrifice changed a lot of things." Howard said.

"What was he like back then?" Tony asked. "He as uptight and patriotic?"

Howard lightly chuckled.

"No, I guess he wasn't. Having Sergeant Barnes and the other Commando's around kind of put him in a more fun mood despite how often they were fighting Hydra."

Tony lightly scoffed.

"Took me a while to get used to him. We didn't exactly have a great start."

"Why is that?"

"Guess I might have been a little jealous. You would talk about him all the time when I was little. I admired him at first but then I got tired of hearing about him."

"I'm sorry, Tony." Howard said. "I guess I didn't realize how hard I would take his disappearance. I had a team look for him until we were ordered to stop. Steve probably doesn't realize it, but he helped me focus more and behave."

"He kinda does the same for me." Tony admitted. "Patriotic pain in the butt."

Howard chuckled at his son's statement. He had felt the same way about Steve at first, but soon saw how the captain's influence was rubbing off on him and making him make strides in his inventions.

Near midnight, Tony had figured out how to open a portal to the exact moment when Howard and Peggy jumped time. After hard farewell's, Howard and Peggy forced themselves back and leaving the two Avengers in the present.

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"At least he left you his car." Clint said.

"Gotta wonder what he thought when he went back to the past." Bruce said thoughtfully. "One minute he's escaping Hydra and then he's missing his car."

"He always told me Hydra must have taken it." Tony answered. "Why they would, we could never figure out."

The group lightly chuckled at the thought of Hydra needing Howard Stark's car for an odd reason.