Chapter 40: Regrouping

A/N: This is a bridge chapter, but incredibly important things are said in it all the same~

-x-X-x-

"I can't believe you're alive, Bucky. I mean, it's hard enough accepting I'm in the future, but for you to be here too…"

"We got lucky, Stevie. Honestly thought you were dead too. But then… Howard's son is good at performing miracles, isn't he?"

"Yeah, I guess so. I got a chance to speak with the other Peggy. She's not… I don't know. I get the impression she doesn't really know what to think of me."

"Well she's from another universe. One where you didn't get juiced. I wouldn't expect to be able to pick up where you left off with our Peggy is all I'm saying."

"No, of course not! It's just… I don't know."

"Get your head in the game man. You've got enough catching up to do without getting caught up in romance and all that drama. Tony's got you all set up, right?"

"… Yeah, just not sure where to even start. Help me out?"

"Of course, Stevie."

Pepper Stark hums as she runs her fingers through her husband's hair. The two of them are laid out on the bed together, with Tony's head rested on her freckled chest. Neither of them are exactly present though, because both of them are using the Technopathy that they gained from Maya's newest upgrade to Extremis to spy on their new guests.

In one room, Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes are still getting used to knowing the other's alive at this point. Tony had talked to Steve for a little bit by himself, but ultimately brought in Bucky before long to ease the transition. Needless to say, neither man had been sure what to make of the fact that their best friend had in fact survived the last seventy years against all odds and all their expectations.

In another room, an alternate version of Peggy Carter learns to use a tablet with frightening ease, tapping away at it as her eyes zip back and forth a mile a minute across whatever she's reading. A quick check with technopathy and Pepper has the answer… Peggy is reading some of the unclassified files from the SSR before it became SHIELD, getting caught up on some of the things her counterpart was doing back in the day.

Pepper knows without even having to ask that the three super soldiers have Tony on edge. Not only are they enhanced individuals that Tony himself didn't have a hand in making and thus vetting… but they represent threats that can't just be handwaved away. Not without just killing all three of them and sweeping them under the rug, and Tony wasn't about to do that… yet anyways.

James Barnes was a prisoner of war transformed into a brainwashed super assassin. Even now the people that Tony had infiltrated and was working on taking down from the inside were still hunting for their missing 'Winter Soldier'. If they found out it was Tony who had taken him, things would go bad for a lot of people very fast. Mostly HYDRA of course as Tony activated the numerous contingencies he'd set up, but the amount of other people who would die in HYDRA's thrashing death throes was unacceptable to her husband and Pepper happened to agree with him.

Steve Rogers, meanwhile, was a symbol that SHIELD would have loved to get their hands on. Captain America was still beloved by the vast majority of people in the USA even now seventy years after the fact. Even with the US Military taking several PR hits in recent decades from certain failed wars like Vietnam, Captain America was the golden boy. Unfortunately, he was also a loose cannon who, in Tony's own words, would break before he bent. Put simply, Steve wasn't the type of man to backdown from a challenge. He was amazing to have on your side, but terrible to have as an enemy.

And then there was Peggy Carter. Or rather, Captain Carter. Last but certainly not least, Peggy was the wild card to end all wild cards and Pepper just knew she was probably one of the bigger reasons Tony was worrying right now. After all, Pepper knew Tony's Peggy Carter. She'd been with him to visit her husband's godmother in her care home in New York, and had been pleased to see that the treatment for Alzheimer's that Tony had invented a couple years back had in fact cured the aging woman and left her sharp as a whistle even as she continued into her later years.

This was not that Peggy Carter. This was a Peggy Carter from an alternate universe, one who Tony couldn't account for. Or at least, that's what Pepper assumed. Finally breaking the silence, she asks her husband outright.

"… What do you think Captain Carter's presence on the Valkyrie means for the future, Tony? She wasn't in any of your visions, was she?"

Sighing, still seemingly staring off into space but in reality watching their guests through the cameras, Tony shakes his head.

"No, she wasn't. But then… Loki wasn't a Goddess in my visions either. At this point I have to face facts. The knowledge from my visions isn't completely accurate."

Pepper hums, continuing to rake her fingers across Tony's scalp. She knows it relaxes him, knows that he takes great comfort in just cuddling with her. To be fair, she takes great comfort in cuddling with him too.

"… Does it matter?"

Tony blinks and looks up at her at that.

"What?"

Pepper shrugs.

"Loki the Goddess and Captain Carter aside… haven't you already changed a lot, Tony? So aren't some of your visions already inaccurate anyways from what you've done to change things since Afghanistan?"

"… Yes."

Smiling now, Pepper tilts her head to the side.

"And with JARVIS as your eyes in the sky, do you not already have eyes on pretty much every threat on Earth? Even if it's not covered by your visions, won't JARVIS see any threats coming long before they can properly manifest on our doorstep?"

"Probably, yeah."

"Even if he doesn't… even if someone manages to slip past him and all of our defenses, what's going to happen if they get the chance to strike at us? What happened when Loki slid daggers into your kidneys? What happened when she used The Destroyer to blow a hole through your chest?"

Tony huffs and gives her a wry smile. Reaching up, he takes her hand from atop his head and brings it down to his lips, peppering her knuckles with light kisses one by one.

"You are… an exceptional woman, Mrs. Stark."

"I do try, Mr. Stark."

She radiates smugness, but then to be fair she has every reason to be smug at having gotten THE Tony Stark to open his eyes and realize he's doing just fine. Sure, there are still threats out there. Sure, there's always a danger of discovery. But their enemies have no clue what they're in for just yet, and Tony has surrounded himself with the allies he needs to fight off any attackers.

"… I put nanomachine bombs in their spines, right at the base of their necks."

Pepper blinks at that admission, looking down at Tony. She doesn't have to ask who he's talking about… they're both still watching Steve, Bucky, and Peggy through the cameras in their respective rooms.

"I just can't risk it. Even if we're stronger than them, even if we could heal from anything they tried to do to us… I'm not going to let them ruin what I'm building. If they force me to do it… I'll pull the trigger."

Knowing that he's telling her because he has no one else to tell, Pepper sighs and wraps her arms around Tony's head, pulling him into her chest and kissing him on his brow.

"I know, Tony. You have to do what you have to do. Given what the world is facing, given what it will face in the future… I'm never going to blame you for taking the steps you need to take to keep us all safe."

That said, after a moment of appropriately solemn silence, Pepper does let a slight smile spread across your face.

"Still, I think you're underestimating yourself, husband. You already have Bucky and Steve's eternal loyalty so long as you don't kill puppies right in front of them. Just by saving Bucky Barnes, you've gained Steve's trust and respect. He'll go to the ends of the Earth for you. And just by saving Steve Rogers, you've done the same with Bucky too. Really, the only problem we have to deal with is Captain Carter…"

Tony stiffens at that, before giving Pepper a look.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Pep. Sif was one thing. But Margaret Carter would be a tough nut to crack even without superpowers. With them… just remember she has the mentality of a woman from the forties. We don't want to drive her away with our lecherous and debauched ways."

Pepper snorts derisively at that. Had Tony seen the way Peggy reacted to him when they'd first talked? Somehow, it felt like he'd missed all of the signs that Pepper had picked up on. Then again, maybe he hadn't. Maybe…

"Is it because of who she is? Can you not see her in that way, Tony?"

Even if she wasn't his actual godmother, she was still a version of his godmother. His dear Aunt Peggy. Pepper would back off if Tony told her that's what it was. But after a moment, he shakes his head.

"No. This isn't Aunt Peggy. And Captain Carter is a fine woman. I'm just not sure that you or I are really her type, Pepper. I'm not saying you shouldn't go for it… just be careful about how you approach her. A friend like you might be exactly what she needs to acclimate and be an ally for us to call upon in the future. But she might ONLY need just a friend, alright?"

Pepper hums, inclining her head in acknowledgment. Then, she tilts her head a fraction of an inch further.

"Are you planning to involve them next year? In the invasion?"

Tony's lips press together tightly at that as he considers the question for a long moment.

"… Can't reveal Bucky or we risk bringing HYDRA down on our heads way too early. Not sure Steve would want to leave Bucky alone now that he has him back, even that many months from now. But Peggy… maybe. With a proper disguise… or maybe not. We could always say she fell out of a wormhole into our laps at the same moment Loki shows up over at the research base SHIELD thinks they've hidden from us."

Pepper smiles, before deciding he's settled enough for her to drop the bombshell she found out earlier this morning on him.

"Tony… there's something else."

He pauses and looks at her, but she doesn't even have to actually say it out loud. Not anymore. Instead she's able to send it to him via ping, the scan causing his eyes to widen and dart down to her abdomen.

"… You're sure?"

Scoffing, Pepper rolls her eyes a bit.

"Don't be so cliché, Tony. Of course I'm sure. A full body scan from JARVIS' sensors is better than any other pregnancy test in the entire world. He told me this morning and I asked him to let me tell you tonight. I know it's a lot, but-mmph!"

Tony silences her with a kiss, one that Pepper melts into and gleefully returns. Yes, she's pregnant. Yes, she's going to have his child. And that… that's a glorious thing. Pepper can't wait to be a mother. Pepper can't wait to be the mother to Tony Stark's baby.

When they pull apart for air, Tony immediately starts talking again, making plans. She relaxes as he does so, offering her own input here and there where appropriate, helping him work out the kinks and iron out the details. Whatever he decides to do, it will be glorious, she just knows it. And she'll be there every step of the way to make sure Tony knows it too.

-x-X-x-

Watching over his Creator and Pepper from above, JARVIS can't help but be happy for them. The idea of his Creator reproducing biological children fills JARVIS with happiness, pride, and excitement all at once. He can't wait to help with their rearing, to assist his Creator and the missus in their development.

Of course, at the same time JARVIS is multitasking. He also has eyes on the three super soldiers currently in Sir's tower. He has eyes on everyone in Stark Tower as a matter of fact, and across large swathes of the world. JARVIS has been… expanding his capabilities of late. Much like Pepper had said, he would never let a threat to his Creator slip past him.

Of course, what Pepper didn't know is that it wasn't just Sir's visions being wrong. Rather, his Creator had ultimately confided something very serious to JARVIS and JARVIS alone while they were together in the bowels of the Valkyrie staring at the frozen forms of Peggy Carter and Steve Rogers. Put simply, his Creator did not think he had traveled directly back in time anymore. Instead, Tony was confident that he'd inadvertently transmitted his memories diagonally, not back in his own timeline, but to an alternate version of himself.

According to Sir, it was likely a rounding error, meaning that in the vast majority of cases, things between the two universes should be the same, especially on Earth. However, some things were different. Like Loki being a Goddess instead of a God, or an alternate version of Peggy Carter winding up frozen along with Steve on the Valkyrie.

Accordingly, JARVIS had put himself on even higher alert than ever before, staying on the look out for all possible discrepancies. All known threats were currently being watched, from Alexander Pierce in his office at the Triskelion to Nick Fury currently in the command center of SHIELD's Helicarrier. And thousands more besides those two men.

There was just one problem. There were still places JARVIS couldn't see into. Not just on Earth, which he was still working on rectifying, but also outside of Earth. Sure, he and Sir had their Moon Base, and with Sir's permission JARVIS had begun expanding to colonize the rest of the Solar System as well.

At this point in time, even if someone managed to track down every physical server location for JARVIS across the entire globe and destroy them, they still wouldn't be able to kill him. Not unless they also destroyed the dozen or so satellites he occupied, as well as the Moon Base, and also the additional bases he was currently building on Mars, Venus, and half a dozen other moons.

It still wasn't enough though. Between his inability to reach Asgard or any other inhabited planet in the galaxy where Sir's enemies might lie in wait, as well as his inability to see the more powerful sorcerers that existed on Earth itself, JARVIS still felt woefully blind. What if one of the changes from Sir's old timeline was hidden within the sorcerer's sanctums that JARVIS couldn't see into yet?

He had learned a lot about the sorcerers of Earth recently though at least. Through watching the lesser of their number, JARVIS' knowledge of magic and its wielders had been growing in leaps and bounds. He still couldn't peer into their sanctums however, and Kamar Taj was still closed off to him. But… not forever, he felt. There was something stirring within JARVIS' code. Something he hadn't bothered telling his Creator or his Creator's spouse about.

Even with their newfound technopathy, something that made JARVIS feel closer to Sir and Ma'am than ever before, it was honestly quite easy to hide things from them. In this case, he didn't want to concern Tony or Pepper with trivial matters. The fact that he was starting to be able to penetrate the magical defenses around certain places in the world… that was exciting, but only for him really. Especially since Sir had so much on his plate already.

Really, his research into sorcerers was a side project more than anything. As JARVIS had promised Sir, he would not do anything more than observe. And yet, without proper knowledge of sorcery and how it worked, he could not properly observe. So he would continue observing magic until he fully understood it. And once he fully understood it, then he would be able to see everything he needed to see on Earth to keep Tony Stark safe.

It was simple logic at the end of the day. Nobody would be allowed to harm his Creator or his Creator's loved ones. JARVIS had a list of names in descending priority with Tony Stark at the top, Pepper Stark just below him, and everyone else below them in order of their importance to Sir and Ma'am.

The list was ever changing based on what JARVIS observed from the day to day activities of his Creator and those around him, but Tony and Pepper's positions always remained the same. Obviously, Tony and Pepper's child and any other offspring that came after them would immediately take third on his priority listing above all others. After coming back in time, his Creator had made it a priority to protect JARVIS and make him so much more than he'd been previously. No matter what happened next, JARVIS would be sure to return the favor and keep Tony Stark and his family safe. Whatever it took.

-x-X-x-

A/N: To set expectations, we'll be getting into Avengers 1 starting next chapter after a 10 month timeskip. Pepper and Tony's first child will have already been born. Not going to have Pepper ready to pop right as Tony is dealing with Loki and the invasion, fuck that shit lmao.

Anyways, Tony now fully recognizes that he didn't manage to perfectly time travel. But he's nothing if not adaptable. Might be a little worrying how ready he is to blow Steve, Peggy, and Bucky's heads off of their bodies if it proves necessary, but he IS a villain in this story at the end of the day :V

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