he tried not to be too amused by their weapon discussion. all she needed was something that could shoot at targets? tony certainly had that, and much, much more to offer. “i’m sure we can manage to find you something,” he said with a grin. “we’ll head there in a bit,” he suggested. a small smile spread on his lips at that word. lovely. no one had ever used that word to describe him. it felt nice. “i do what i can. no worries, you can take your time. i can help pay for the apartment even when you’re out of it so your present day self still has it when you inevitably go home,” he said with a smile.
it was funny. for years, tony hadn’t really considered himself the leader of the avengers at all. a benefactor, he joked, but not a leader. once steve left, he really did become the leader, in every sense of the word. it wasn’t always easy, but he was happy to do it. the avengers were his life. “it can be difficult, but they’re good people. it’s not so much about the excitement as it is about the good we can do,” he said with a smile.
“food would be good. i always work up an appetite. have you ever had shawarma? i know a great place,” he offered. technically, he didn’t know if that qualified as a snack, but he thought it was a good idea nonetheless. “we haven’t figured out much with it either. i think shield was using it as an energy source. you need a weapon to use the stones. the scepter had the mind stone, so loki could use it in the battle of new york. they’re powerful,” he explained. “there are six of them; the space stone, which is the tesseract, the mind stone, the time stone, the reality stone, the soul stone, and the power stone. they each have their own abilities, but thanos made a powerful weapon to use the stones with, and was able to erase half the universe. that’s why we came back here initially. we needed to get the stones so we could use them to bring everyone back.” it sounded crazy, probably because it was. he could recognize that.
ah, yes, steve. it hadn’t crossed his mind yet, but it figured that he’d come up. “technically, i wasn’t initially invited to the avengers. something about not being a team player. but when loki arrived and stole the tesseract, they were out of options. steve had just woken up a little while ago, and they wanted him in. he is a team player, as i’m sure you know. natasha romanoff and clint barton are shield agents, or they were. shield had to make sure they had their own in the avengers, but they’re both great, despite initial reservations. dr. bruce banner has seven phds, and also conveniently turns into the hulk. thor wasn’t actually invited, either. he crashed our ship when we had loki in tow. loki is his sibling, you see, but he joined us anyway,” he explained. “we were the original group, but there’s quite a few more members now. though, we kind of split up, but that’s another story,” he said with a frown. he didn’t need to get into the accords right now.
where to start with iron man. he figured he could start with the beginning, but that wasn’t as fun of a story as it seemed like it would be. he licked his lips, keeping his head forward as they walked. “when i was twenty-one, howard and maria died, and i took over stark industries. i transformed the company, and it became the largest tech conglomerate in the world. with that, i took on a lot of government contracts and created a lot, and i mean a lot, of weapons,” he started. “i had the honor of visiting a base overseas, and while i was there, we were attacked with my weapons, and i was held hostage. i was only able to escape because i created an iron man suit.”
he cleared his throat. it wasn’t easy going over how he became iron man, and he still felt a lot of guilt for all the damage he’d caused over the years. “i have this,” he said, tapping on the arc reactor, “because it’s keeping a piece of shrapnel from piercing my heart. it also powers my suit. i stopped making weapons becaue i didn’t want to hurt people. and i became iron man because i had a lot of wrongs to right. now it’s just who i am. it is a hard and intense life, but time and time again the world has proven that it needs someone to protect it, and i can usually answer that call as iron man.”
“Oh, I still have the war pension, my retirement money and some other funds... I’m sure she, I mean, I will be fine on that area. I would indeed like to keep the apartment as it is. My future self could probably use the sense familiarity when she is back, even if she doesn’t stay there for long.” Peggy was aware of what was about to happen to her 92 years old self, having seen the nursing home papers and the medical documents. It was strange to see how you would grow old and ill, but Peggy also had the peace of mind of knowing she would live through plenty. She had to get back to her time and continue the work, even if she might do a few things differently thanks to this new perspective of the future.
It was good to see Anthony talk about his team. He clearly cared about them. Peggy couldn’t wait to see the tower and meet them all, but first, they needed a meal. “I don’t think I have, but this is a day for new experiences.” She laughed, following him. The infinity stones and unearthly conflicts were a lot to keep up with, but the plan made sense in such desperate times. “So, from what I gather, you managed to finally undo what Thanos had done and defeat him, but that was when people started being brought here, right? Do you believe this has anything to do with Thanos or the stones, or the moments the team traveled to?” Peggy was enjoying getting to know Anthony and the events that took them to that point, but she couldn’t help trying to piece together what was going on.
She shook her head, then, focusing on what he told her about the Avengers. Peggy could see Steve waking up and taking such a role of leadership right away, going from one war to another. Even after 70 years on ice, Captain America wouldn’t let himself have a break. “I would say so, yes. I don’t think he would be capable of giving up on a fight, not when he is needed.” He went for lost causes, and he turned the table, no matter how many beatings he had to take. There was an easy smile on Peggy’s face when she talked about him, and for once not a painful one. She had spent so long in grieving Steve... It was wonderful to see him have a new chance.
“Now, you might not have started as their leader, but the role fits you well. The Avengers are lucky to have you, Anthony.” From Peggy’s point of view, he was too modest about his own capacity to guide the group. Just seeing him talk about the particularities and strenghts of each of them, it was clear how well he knew his team, easily able to synthesize who they were as individuals and together. “It really is an impressive team. Covers all the bases.” It was nice to hear that there were S.H.I.E.L.D. agents among them. It made sense, and it filled her with pride. And then, Peggy wasn’t surprised to hear about them being devided at some point. To keep that group together for over a decade, while constantly defending the planet from all kinds of threats, would be quite unlikely. She had the impression that there was more to that story, but she wouldn’t push, more interested in hearing about Anthony himself.
She became more somber when she heard of Howard and Maria passing away. She knew they were gone, of course, and Peggy hadn’t even met Maria yet in her time, but she didn’t have the details or the date. If they were gone when Tony was so young... Well, he could tell her about that in his own time, if he wished to. The thought of losing her wild, lively friend put a bitter taste in her mouth, but almost everyone she knew was now deceased. “I am sorry that you went through that. Witnessing war is something that stays with you forever.” She could only imagine the trauma he faced, along with the guilt.
She placed a hand on his shoulder as he continued, still walking with him. Peggy was proud to hear Anthony speak of his motivations and of what this position meant to him, but she was also heartbroken. She didn’t expect his story to be simply happy, but that didn’t make things easier. “Recognizing your mistakes and owning up to the consequences of them is a virtue of few. As you have been continuously making up for them by risking yourself to defend the world, I believe it’s fair to say your debts are paid, but you don’t sound inclined to leave this life at all. As difficult as it is, this is a road worth taking, isn’t it? I am no super hero, but I’ve never envisioned a different way to live.”
