"Yes. Steve Rogers, aka Captain America. The man who was supposed to have gone down with the Valkyrie originally. Honestly, finding him onboard wasn't that surprising. My father hunted for the Valkyrie for most of the rest of his life in the hopes of recovering Steve Rogers' remains for burial, but to no avail. I took up the torch so when I finally found the bomber, I was more surprised that he survived than anything. Your presence, however, was not anticipated." Peggy bites her lower lip at that, but Tony STILL isn 't done. Howard's son certainly loves the sound of his own voice, but to be fair, Howard was the exact same way. And she can see Tony inherited his father's genius as well.
"See, I grew up with a godmother. Her name was Doctor Margaret Elizabeth Carter. Peggy was an SSR Agent before she went on to help found an organization called SHIELD. These days she's in a retirement home. For a couple years, she was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, but as soon as I got the chance I developed a cure and made sure she got one of the first doses distributed to the public. She's doing fine now and will hopefully live out the rest of her years in peace."
Looking rather intensely at her at this point, Tony Stark hums.
"You are obviously not her, are you Captain Carter?"
"… No." "Care to tell me your story?"
Peggy hesitates for a long moment. This could still be a trap… but if she just gives the bare bones of what happened, then it won't matter if it is all a trick, right? And if it's not a trap, if this is Howard's son… she likes to hope she can trust him.
"I believe I come from another world. I never would have believed it, but my circumstances… are unique. In my world, the procedure to turn Steve into a Super Soldier went wrong and in the end I was the one who was given the serum instead. Afterwards, I fought HYDRA and the Red Skull all across Europe. Everything eventually came to a head with the Red Skull opening a portal to another dimension and summoning something he called the Champion of HYDRA."
Peggy swallows for a second to wet her throat before continuing. "The Champion was an eldritch horror, an octopus-like entity that might have consumed our entire world if we didn't stop it. In the end… the only way to get it to go back where it came from was to sacrifice myself. I went through the portal to keep it from coming back through until the others could close it on their end. Then… I fell for a time."
Tony watches her quietly, not interrupting. Peggy is grateful for that, even as she gathers her thoughts on what happened next.
"After that… it all happened rather fast. I found myself teleported onto a bomber plane where I found another version of Steve Rogers and the Red Skull. I know they weren' t my versions because one, I'd watched the Champion tear my Red Skull to pieces, and two, this Steve had clearly received the Super Soldier Serum. I didn't have much time to think about it though, because Steve and the Red Skull were fighting, so I stepped in and helped Steve win."
Peggy grimaces. "… From there I received further evidence that I was no longer in my dimension when I heard your Peggy Carter speak to your Steve Rogers over the bomber's radio. I stayed quiet, even as he said his goodbyes. And then… well, we put the plane in the ocean. To make sure HYDRA's bombs never saw the light of day."
There. That was everything. Everything pertinent anyways. Peggy wasn't about to describe how it had felt knowing that the other Steve and Peggy got to say goodbye when her Steve had been left behind. Of course, there's also the fact that not only is she stranded across dimensions, but she's also seventy years in the future. Her Steve along with everyone she knew… is gone.
Peggy lets out a shuddering breath as she comes to terms with that fact. Her hands curl into fists and she suddenly has the urge to punch something, but Captain Carter has more self-control than that. Instead, she looks to Tony Stark curiously. "What happens now? Actually, where exactly are we?"
Here, Tony gives her an apologetic smile.
"We're at Stark Tower in New York City, Captain Carter. Ninety-three floors. Like I said, it's been seventy years and a lot has changed. For starters, I'm the world's wealthiest man."
Peggy's eyes widen at that. Howard had been a rather successful businessman on top of a scientist back in her day, but … wealthiest man in the world? Stark Tower? Ninety-three floors?! His son had certainly done everything he could to step out of his father's shadow from the sound of things.
"The voice you heard earlier is an Artificial Intelligence I created named Just A Rather Very Intelligent System… or JARVIS for short. I could sugarcoat it and ease you into it, but somehow I don't think you'll appreciate that so I'll just tell you right now that he's as independent and capable of his own thoughts and decisions as you or I. He's also completely digital and has never had a human body."
"Greetings again, Captain Carter. I hope that in time we can look past any discomfort my voice might cause you."
That causes Tony to adopt a wry smile.
"Yeah, sorry about that but Edwin practically raised me. So when I made my first AI, I couldn't not model it after my childhood butler. J is good people though, even if he's not human. Accept that he's as much a person as you are and you guys will get along just fine."
It's a lot to wrap her head around, but Peggy is nothing if not adaptable. And Tony is right, she wouldn't appreciate him lying to her by 'easing her into it'. Still, the way he suddenly grimaces does put her on high alert.
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