Part 3: 40-Civil War

A Year Later

"You gotta wake up, doll." Steve murmurs as he presses kisses to my face, drawing me out of sleep. I move closer to him, slowly opening my eyes. There's a happy little smile in my face as I look at his face in the light coming from the lamp on the side of his bed. God, how many mornings have I woken up to this? Steve was naturally an early riser and sometimes he would just stay in bed with me. I loved it because he laid in bed with me and the other Avengers loved it because it meant they didn't have to train or run so damn early. It was a win-win situation.

"I don't have to do anything but pay taxes and die, Rogers." I murmur back, snuggling closer to him. I pulled the blanket over me even further, covering up myself. He chuckles, kissing my forehead again. Steve tucks a strand behind my ear, his other arm pulling me in closer. Little intimate moments like this are so different with Steve. There's more emotion to it.

"Well I have a mission today and you have to go make a speech with your brother at MIT." He reminds me and I groan, looking up at him. I sit up, stretching my arms above my head. I let the sheets and blankets slip off of me as I walk to the bathroom.I turn my head to look at him over my shoulder, a smirk on my sleepy face. Steve's sitting up in bed, those blue eyes on me and a tired smile stretched across his face. His eyes catch mine from across the room. It makes me want to climb back in bed with him.

"Y'know for some who has a mission today, you're awfully distracted." I tease him before stepping further into the bathroom. I can hear Steve chuckle as he gets up from the bed. I jump into the shower and begin my routine. Steve jumps in after I finish. Like we usually do, we move fluidly around each other. While he gets into his gear. I carefully do my hair and makeup in the early hours of the morning. I'm completely done by the time he has to leave. It's so domestic, us getting ready side by side. Disgustingly cute. God, I love it.

"I'm sorry I can't be there to hear your speech. I'm sure you'll knock them dead." Steve says with a smile as we walk to together out of the room. My heels bring me closer to his height and they tap against the tiled floors. Steve had helped me choose a black pantsuit for today with a matching pair of heels. The only pop of color being the red lipstick I'm wearing.

"Thanks Steve. Please be safe okay? I'll kick your ass if you aren't." I tell him seriously. He's fiddling with the helmet in his hands. Steve Rogers looks almost nervous, more nervous than I have ever seen him in this past year. I raise his head with my hand, cupping his cheek as his eyes meet mine. He leans into my touch.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you guys today? I can miss the MIT thing." I tell him, trying to read his face. Steve shakes his head, obviously trying to keep me from freaking out.

"No, no we'll be okay." Steve reassures me. I sigh and lean up to kiss him. He wraps his arms around me and pulls me close. We pull away just when Sam comes walking down the hall. I wipe away the red stain on his mouth before turning my head to look at Sam. He's smirking at the two of us.

"Rogers! We are waiting on you! Can't believe Mr Early Riser is running late." He teases, which makes Steve roll his eyes. My boyfriend still has his arm wrapped around my waist. The whole environment at the base upstate is so much more....casual than Avengers Tower was. It makes me happy.

"Wilson, you want to keep those wings?" I ask, letting my voice turn into that uneasily cold voice that comes out sometimes. Sam shakes his head.

"No ma'am." Sam abuts himself up and I turn to kiss Steve one more time. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Tony walking towards the three of us.

"Sam, you let him doing anything stupid, I'm kicking your ass." I tell Sam as I pull away from Steve, "Kick ass, boys!" I walk away from the two of them, towards my brother. I know Steve is watching me go.

-

Tony and I are both standing off stage, wearing the special glasses we had developed. Us as well as the crowd can hear my mother Maria singing as she plays the piano. She looks as beautiful as I remember her. Her hair in a careful bun and her pearls around her neck. A much younger me sits next to her on the piano bench. Tony's holding my hand and I'm glad he is. Little me is wearing a little pink dress.

"Try to remember the kind of September when grass was green-" She sings softly as our father Howard walks into the room, pulling the blanket of a young Tony, "Wake up, dear and say goodbye to your father."

"Who's the homeless person on the couch?" Dad asks. Even though this memory is both ingrained in both my mind and Tony's, it seems all too real in this moment. Younger Tony gets up, stumbling as Dad fixes his suit.

"This is why I love coming home for Christmas. Right before you leave town." Tony tells Dad. My brother grips my hand tighter as the younger me smiles up at the younger him.

"Be nice dear, he's been studying abroad." Mom reminds dad kindly as she continues to play the piano.

"Really? Which broad? What's her name?" Dad asks, fiddling with Tony's Santa hat. Little me looks up at Howard curiously.

"What's a broad?" I ask innocently and sweetly, which makes my brother next to me laugh. Maria sends Howard a glare and Tony snorts.

"Candace." Tony responds to Howard's question. Howard pulls the hat off of Tony and tosses it the couch.

"Do me a favor, try not to burn the house down before Monday?" Howard asks, both serious and sarcastic at the same time. A blush tinges at little me's cheeks.

"Okay so it's Monday? That is good to know so I'll plan my toga party accordingly." Younger Tony as he walks around the piano to be closer to Maria and I. Smaller me looks up at her older brother, smiling.

"Where you going?" Tony asks, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Your father is flying us out to the Bahamas for a little getaway." Mom tells Tony. Tony would later on tell me that I was originally going to go with them to the Bahamas with them. In a twist of fate, Tony decided to come home for Christmas.

"We might need to make a little stop..." Howard says as he walks towards Maria, hands also in his pockets.

"At the Pentagon right? Don't worry you'll love the holiday menu." Tony tells Maria as he walks away to lean against the door. I hold onto Tony's hand even tighter.

"You know they say sarcasm is a metric for potential. If that's true, you'll be a great man some day." Howard tells Tony before telling Maria, "I'll go get the bags."

"He does miss you when you're not here. And frankly, you're going to miss us, both of you, because this is the last time we are going to be together. You both know what's about to happen. Say something, if you don't you'll regret it." Mom tells both Tony and the younger me. Younger me is already emotional enough, tears welling in my eyes.

"I love you Dad and I know you did the best you could." Younger Tony tells Howard. Younger me hugs Howard's leg.

"Don't go, Daddy. Don't go. Stay!" I practically wail. Maria kisses Tony's cheek and then my small forehead.

"You be good for your brother. I love you, dearest." She says to me softly. A tear rolls down my cheek as I watch this exchange. Tony and I move on stage as the younger versions of ourselves watch Howard and Maria leave.

"That's how I wished it happened. Binary augmented retro framing or BARF-god I got to work on that acronym-is an extremely costly method of hijacking the hippocampus to clear traumatic memories." Tony says as he blows at the candle, showing that everything is fake. I step forward, moving past my brother, standing next to younger me.

"It doesn't change the fact that our parents never made it to the airport. Or everything we did to avoid processing their deaths." I say as I remove my glasses, Tony doing the same. The images disappear, leaving an empty husk of a room.

"Plus 611 million dollars for our little therapeutic experiment? No one in their right mind would've thought of it. Help me, what's the MIT mission statement?" Tony asks the crowd and they say it all together. I stand to the side, letting my brother have his moment.

"And work with others through the worlds great challenges. Well, you are the others. And quite as it kept the challenges facing you are the greatest mankind has ever known. And plus, most of you are broke." Tony tells the crowd, which makes them laugh. I step forward again to stand with my brother.

"Or you were. As of this moment, every student has been made an equal recipient of the inaugural September Foundation Grant. Which means all of your projects have been approved and funded!" I tell the crowd, a smile on my face. They erupt in applause and I turn to look at Tony. He smiles back at me.

"No strings! No taxes! Just reframe the future!"  Tony says happily above the cheering crowd. We both look at the TelePrompTer and see Pepper's name. Tony and everyone else is silent until he brushes it off and tells the crowd, "Go break some eggs!" Tony and I walk off stage and my blood is boiling. I walk in front of my brother, towards the MIT guy in charge of the presentation.

"I emailed you to take her name off, did I not?" I ask, the cold voice returning. The man gulps as I glare at him, only stopping when Tony puts his hand on my back. We walk past the man as he asks if the money will go to staff as a woman runs up.

"I'm sorry Miss Stark, I know you told me to take it off, but-" she also fumbles out, but Tony cuts her off, pointing in front of us.

"Restrooms that way?" Tony asks as the lady nods. We both walk in that direction, ignoring the dumbasses behind us. Near the elevator, a woman is standing. Tony and I stop next to her.

"That was nice, what you two did for those young people." The woman tells us as Tony stares in front of himself. I hold my hands together, keeping an eye on the woman.

"They deserve it. Plus it helps ease my conscious." Tony responds, looking upset. The whole Pepper thing had gotten to him, I was very sure of it.

"They say there's a correlation between generosity and guilt. But you got the money, break as many eggs as you like." She says and Tony finally turns to look at her. She smiles and nods and Tony hits the elevator button. Something wrong here and it makes me step closer to my brother.

"You going up?" Tony asks, pointing his finger upward. He's trying to diffuse this situation.

"I'm right where I want to be." She tells us and reaches into the bag. My eyes widen slightly and grab her wrist. She glares at me.

"I'm sorry-I can't be too safe."' I tell her lightly as I pull my hand away.

"I work for the State Department, Human Resources. I know it's boring, but it enabled me to raise a son. I'm very proud of what he grew up to be." She tells us and presses a picture against Tony's chest, "His name was Charlie Spencer. You murdered him. In Sokovia. Not that it matters in the least to you. You think you two fight for us? You just fight for yourselves. Who's going to avenge my son, Stark? He's dead and I blame you two." She leaves the picture with us as she walks away, her words chilling us to the bone.