55-Cherry Bomb

1995

I swung my little legs as I sat outside the principal's office. My little private school outfit a little messed up, covered in dirt in places. I could hear Peggy's heels coming down the hall, but I didn't dare look up. I was in big, big trouble so I didn't say a word.

My principal greets her and she walks into the office. The other guardians-Well the other kids have parents- are all inside. I stay outside for another hour, thinking the worse. Finally, all the parents and their children stomp out. After they leave, Auntie Peggy comes out. She stops in front of me and clears her throat. I look up at her, my hands fiddling with my plaid skirt.

"I'm sorry Auntie Peggy. I shouldn't have fought with them." I tell her and she shakes her head, putting her well manicured hand on my shoulder.

"Come on, let's go get a bite of eat." She says and I take her hand. We walk hand in hand until we reach her car. I get in the back and we drive until we reach a small diner. Aunt Peggy opens the door and helps me out. We walk inside and we slide into a booth. Peggy orders us both a burger, fries, and a strawberry milkshake. I wonder if she ever did this for her son or daughter.

"You had every right to fight back against those snob nosed brats. They all ganged up on you." Peggy tells me as she cuts my burger into more manageable pieces for an eight year old. I sip the strawberry milkshake, a little shocked.

"But I shouldn't have hit them!"

"Listen, Peyton, I used to know a man that when he knew he had to fight, he did. He hated bullies and you were defending both yourself and your friend. I'm proud of you." She responds and I move the plastic straw around in my drink.

"What was your friend's name, Auntie Peggy?" I ask and she didn't respond. Instead she looked at me a little closer. A frown appears on her face.

"It seems like you're going to have a black eye tomorrow."

-2002

"Now, you can't tell your brother about this. He will have my head." Aunt Peggy says as I wheel her down the hall. I smile, turning her into a large training room. Two men and a woman with red hair stand inside the room.

"Agent Coulson, Agent Romanoff, Director Fury. It's nice to see you all." Aunt Peggy greets as I stop in front of them. I move to stand beside her, hands behind my back and my head held high. Just like Peggy taught me to as she introduces me "This is Peyton Stark."

"Peggy, how old is she?" The man she called Fury asks and I stand a little straighter.

"Fifteen, sir." I speak up. Coulson and Fury look at each other, then to Peggy and I. Agent Romanoff looks at her, her green eyed studying me.

"Peggy, you can't just-" She cuts off of Coulson and motions towards me.

"You've heard the rumors of what she can do, haven't you Coulson? Fury, I know you've read her file." Peggy's voice almost stern. She had told me before that my age could be an issue, but she wanted me in SHIELD. Peggy has been training me for a job like this practically all of my life.

"Yes we have, but you know it's hard to believe rumors, Peggy." Fury responds and Peggy gently hits me with her hand. I stumble forward ever so slightly, quickly regaining my composure.

"Show them what you can do, Peyton." She says and I look at her. Her brown eyes are focused on me as she motions her head. I smile at her and nod before taking off the $800 leather jacket. I hand it to her and she holds onto it. I kick off my boots and socks because they aren't fireproof either.

"Why is she taking her clothes off?" Romanoff questions and I smile, walking some ways from the small group of people.

"That jacket and my shoes aren't fire proof. The ground, is it flammable?" I ask, looking at Coulson and Fury. They look at each other.

"I think it might be." Fury asks and before he can say anything more, my entire body lights in flames and I float upwards slightly. They all, except for Aunt Peggy, step back. It makes me grin and I let the flames disappear.

"Jesus H Christ." Coulson breathes and Peggy looks so proud. It makes me feel so happy.

"Miss Stark, why do you want to become an Agent for SHIELD?" Fury asks as he walks forward. I float back to the ground, walking over to put my shoes and socks back on.

"Well, I want to do something with my life other than the whole billionaire thing. I've wanted to be an agent my whole life, sir." I tell him and Fury nods.

"Does your brother know?" He asks and I shake my head, chuckling dryly.

"Director Fury, my brother rarely speaks to me. He hates talking to me so he doesn't. Tony wouldn't even notice if I became an agent." I respond.

"Fine. You'll start training on Monday. You'll go through it just like everyone else. No special treatment because your daddy was a founder of SHIELD." Fury tells me and Peggy looks so proud of me. I love making her proud of me.

-

2005

I smirk as I lick my overly glossy lips. I tilt my head back for a moment, letting a sinful laugh before walking forward. My hips sway slightly as I walk towards the tied up man.

"C'mon tell me what I want to hear." I purr, pulling a knife out of my boot. I drag it against the man's face. He's scared by how wide his eyes are. He should be scared. The man is a pedophile who has been pimping out girls to people very high in the government. SHIELD wanted him taken down with how he's been treating these poor, poor girls. Natasha looked too old, but I looked just young enough. It helped that I was only eighteen.

"You-You know everything! Please-Please I got a family." He whimpers and I roll my eyes. I use the knife to lift his face so he's looking straight into my eyes.

"Oh buddy boy, you were pimping out children. Don't try to guilt me. Y'know who I am?" I ask cockily, tilting my head in faux innocence. He shakes his head, still terrified. Cockily, I light my hand on fire and hold it up. His eyes grow even wider and it makes me grin.

"Make him talk, Flame." Coulson tells me over the comms. I smirk, pulling the knife away from the man. I've been training for missions like this for so long. It's what I was made for.

"Alright, buddy. If you won't talk, I'll make you talk. You know what Russian roulette is?" I ask as I grab the revolver from the table, emptying the barrels, leaving just one bullet inside. The man is praying and it's hysterical. A pedophile praying.

"Please-Please don't do this!" He cries and I spin the barrel before popping it into place. I cock the gun and aim it at his dick. He hurt so many people with that miserable small thing.

"Start talking. Where do you keep your black book of clients?" I ask and he shakes his head. I pull the trigger. Nothing. He's sweating bullets, pleading.

"Please!"

"Where do you keep the black book of clients?" I ask again, looking at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" He shouts and I fire again. No bullet.

"Where's the book, dipshit?"

"Please! I don't know what you're talking about!" He screams, wiggling in the seat. Tears are running down his face and honestly it's pathetic. Another shot, nothing. Three out of six so far.

"Tell me where it is and you keep your dick." I say, my voice even.

"You're crazy! Crazy! Crazy bitch!" He screams at me, face red from anger and fear. I cock the gun again, firing it. He screams even though no bullet came out.

"Come on, tell me where it is. I know you have on." I snap, the gun getting cocked again. Two barrels are left and one of them definitely has a bullet. He starts crying even more.

"It's-It's in my car! Under the the seats in the back!" He finally screams at me. I wait to confirm this.

"Found it. Everything is here." Natasha tells me over the comms and I nod.

"We don't need him anymore, Agent Flame. Dispose of him." Coulson responds and I turn to look at the sorry sack of shit in front of me.

"Got it. Give me ten." I respond and I set the gun aside. I walk over and grip the man's face, "Oh I hope you prayed good and hard." He tries to move out of my grip, but flame shoots down his mouth. It burns him alive before he has a second to scream. I burn his body until he's nothing but ash and then I scatter him to the wind.

Peggy would be proud of how effortless I did everything, especially since it was only my second mission.

I wouldn't ever tell anyone, but I cried in the shower for over an hour after I got home.

-

2008

Twenty-one years old. People can't stop saying it around me. You're twenty-one! Peyton Stark is twenty-one! The shots that I'm taking at this moment, they're legal, 100%. The champagne I'm tasting on this blonde's lips? Legal. I'm bubbly, happy as hell. Too drunk so I don't even think of the repercussions that could come from me kissing this girl. What will they say? Peyton Stark, kissing a girl.

"Come back with me, baby." She purrs, tugging at my hand. I laugh as I scoot closer to her, cupping her face and kissing her again.

"Darling, darling, you can come back with me. My brother isn't at the tower. We can have a big party." I say with a giggle and her eyes widen with joy. She plays with the Cartier bracelet around my wrist, her hand reaching for the glass of champagne. I about to kiss her again when I hear someone calling my name. I turn my head, the blonde starts kissing my neck. A small little strawberry blonde makes her way into the VIP section of the club I'm in. Virginia "Pepper" Potts looks terrified as she walks up to me. I run my fingers through the blonde's hair, making her stop.

"Peyton!" Pepper cries out and I sigh, kissing the blonde's cheek before standing. The music is booming and I can hardly hear her.

"Pep, how nice it is to see you. Please tell me you're here to party." I say, finishing off tequila sunrise. She shakes her head and I think she has tears in her eyes. I don't think she notices the girl next to me.

"Peyton, your brother is missing!" She exclaims and I sigh.

"He's probably with some pretty lady, Pepper." I say with a shrug and she shakes her head.

"The convoy he was riding in was attacked while they were Afghanistan. They don't know where he is." Pepper tells me and I sober up quickly. I mutter curse words, running a hand through my hair. Part of me says that I shouldn't care about my brother in this situation. He doesn't care about me so why should I care about him? I can just go back to the tower with this pretty little blonde, but I can't. I love my brother, probably more than he loves me. So I let Pepper lead me away from my festivities.

It would cause too much trouble if I took this girl home. Can't ruin the family name, the legacy. Tears brim my eyes. What would Aunt Peggy think? You're her little protégé. I turn to look back at the blonde, but I quickly turn back around. I pray that no one saw us together. It's bad enough that Pepper saw me. I let a coat get draped over the tight red dress I was wearing.

Anthony Edward Stark, you're always ruining the fun.

I'm sorry Aunt Peggy.

-

2010

"Aunt Peggy, he was pissed. So much more angry than I thought he would be." I tell Peggy, sitting beside her in her little nursing home. She smiles at me, patting my hand.

"I'm amazed that you managed to keep it from him for this long. How did you work around him finding out you knew how to fight and all of that when you took down Stane?" Peggy asks and I sigh, leaning back in the uncomfortable plastic seat beside her bed.

"I told him that you made sure I knew how to defend myself. I'm a better spy than I originally thought." I say with a smile, sipping my mug of coffee. Peggy laughs, her hands resting now in her stomach.

"Or your brother is just an idiot. How did he find out about you being an agent?" She asks, her voice dropping slightly. I shift in my seat, hissing as I moved my arm which is in a sling.

"Well seeing that I was with Fury in full SHIELD gear when we went to pick up Tony and Fury referred to me as Agent Stark. God, he yelled at me right in the middle of Randy's Donuts. Of course I yelled at him back because he didn't tell me that he was fucking dying. He's lucky I didn't beat his ass." I say and she laughs. Peggy knows that I would kick Tony's ass. She doesn't know that I already did kick his when Rhodey and I went to the mansion in Malibu to see my brother a drunken mess. Unkind words were thrown around, mostly by Tony. He called me a "dirty druggie" and a "good for nothing alcoholic". Because of that, he got a spilt lip, a broken nose, and a fractured occipital.

"Anthony is very lucky because I know who trained you how to fight." Peggy says with a smile and I set my cup down.

"You did, Aunt Peggy. Well you and others, but you're the most important one." I respond and she chuckles. I put my hand on hers and I hold it gently. I lean my head forward, resting it on her bed. Tears roll down my cheeks. Sometimes I feel like Peggy knows. Knows about the drugs, the alcohol, the men, the women. I feel like trash.

-

2011

Auntie Peggy can hardly believe that they found her all American sweetheart in the ice and that he's actually alive. It's all she talks about and I realize now why Tony hates Steven Grant Rogers. Peggy's so adorable with how much she's excited, but it's also my twenty-fourth birthday. I would like to have some attention on me, especially since I'm going on a long mission tomorrow.

"Do you think he'll come over? To visit?" Peggy asks, turning her head to look at me. My Aunt Peggy is old, I hate to admit. Her hair has gone grey, her skin is all wrinkled. It makes me sad. I have no idea what I'm going to do when she's gone. She can't go, she supposed to be here with me forever.

"I'll make sure Fury tells him where you are, okay?" I tell her, patting her hand. Peggy smiles and moves her hand to cup my face. My hand reaches to hold hers against my face.

"You're getting so big. When did you become a grown woman?" Peggy questions and I laugh. I have to blink away tears so I don't start crying right then and there. I know our time together won't be forever.

-

2012

I come to visit Peggy, still all bandaged and stuff from Loki's attack on New York. I have a black eye, a large gash in my side and a slash on my leg. My movements are slow as I let her focus on my face.

"It's Peyton, Aunt Peggy. I'm Howard's daughter." I clarify and she nods, slight realization coming across her face. The dementia is making these visits harder and harder, on both of us. I sit down beside her.

"You're all beaten up. What happened?" She asks and I smile at her. Her hand reaches out and cups my cheek, her thumb gently touching the bandaged cut on my eyebrow.

"A mission. I'm alright. How have you been? They treating you good?" I question and she nods. I hope they are. I'm the one that's paying for this upscale care facility and my Aunt Peggy only deserves the best. Her sons had offered to pay, but I wouldn't let them. They shouldn't have to go through that, not at all.

"Yes, yes of course." She tells me, brushing it off like it's nothing. I hold her hand to my face, smiling at her. I wish I could stop her aging, wish I could stop the progression of the damn disease eating at her mind. I'd give every penny for that. I'd give my life for my Auntie Peggy.

I visit her again when I lose the baby, when I finally pull myself slightly out of the depression. I tell her in soft words what happens. Peggy's upset and she cries. It hits her close to home because she's lost a baby too. I feel like shit that she's crying, but she tells me that's okay. She tells me to keep my head up, to be strong.

Then she asks me who I am and why I'm crying.

-

2014

Captain Steve Rogers is hurt by the fact Auntie Peggy is going through all of this. He mentions it to me when he sees how much my name is in the visitor sign-in book. We drive up together one time. I fill the air with tales of Agent Peggy Carter and how she helped raised me. Steve laughs and out of the corner of my eye, I see his eyes linger.

"There's two people I love most in the world and it's Tony and Auntie Peggy." I tell Steve, almost proudly. He laughs, his eyes on me as I drive to her care facility.

"I can't imagine you being a child around her." Steve responds and I laugh, looking at him momentarily.

"Believe it or not, I was a child, Rogers. Got the pictures to prove it." I say, a big smile on my face. He chuckles, shaking his head. SHIELD had fallen, I wasn't an agent and I wasn't technically his superior anymore. We don't talk about work, about all that shit. I turn the music up and loudly, annoyingly sing along to some Fleetwood Mac song.

Steve would later tell me that he knew he really really really loved me on that trip.

-

2015

I'm not able to visit Peggy after what happens, and I feel horrible. Steve tells me that she would be okay. I hate that I can't see and I hate that I can't force myself to go.

I'm sorry Auntie Peggy.

-

2016

Steve and I are able to visit Auntie Peggy before she's taken away. We sit on either side of her. She teases Steve for being a cradle robber and tells him to be good to me. She tells me that I go after much older men. We have that moment, all three of us. I tell her I love her and I'm the first one to step out because I need to cry.

Steve would later tell me he asked Auntie Peggy for permission to marry me that day.

And then we lost her.

I hated that she was gone from me, but I wasn't able to stop and mourn. I had to fight against my family and hide. I didn't get to get married with her there. I'll never tell Steve how much I hate that she will never be there when we have a big wedding.

-

A Month or Two Before Thanos

A baby was inside of me.

Steve's baby to be exact.

I lift up my shirt, trying to see if there's any bump at this point, by there isn't. My hand rests on my stomach. The book said the baby wouldn't be affected by my flames, not at all. But I wasn't worried about that. I wasn't even truly thinking about that.

Instead, I turned my attention to the sleeping blond giant in the hotel bed. This has to be weird right? I got married and I'm having a baby with a man who is old enough to be my grandfather. A man that my aunt Peggy loved most likely until her death. She never forgot Steve's name. Never.

I have to have some sort of thing wrong with my head, right? Going after Steve, marrying him, having his kid?

Peggy used to tell me that a women didn't have to have kids if she didn't want them. She would tell me that some women are more than that, some women shouldn't let themselves only be mothers. I knew she was directing that to me. She didn't want me to just pump out some babies for some loser husband. She wanted me to think bigger.

Would she be angry that I was throwing away everything that I could've been? Peggy used to tell me that I could've been the director of SHIELD one day. She would say that I could be a better agent than she was. As my hand rests on my still flat stomach, I continue to wonder if she would be pissed at me. I had a good run, Auntie Peggy, I really did. SHIELD's gone, the Avengers are scattered. Maybe it's time for me to just settle. Steve and I are okay, we're happy.

That's what she truly wanted, isn't it?

She wanted Steve and I, her two favorite people, to be happy.

We are happy.

-

Now

I sit down in my little lab, looking at the framed picture of Peggy from her SHIELD days. I unbutton my pants, silently scolding myself for not have wearing stretchy pants.

"I wish you were here. I could really use you." I tell the picture. Next to the picture is her gold lipstick tube-to be exact it's 102 Sweet Dreams-in a little glass box. I used to think it was the coolest thing when I was a kid. When you put the lipstick on and kissed someone, they'd fall into a deep slumber. Hell, it's cool now. I straighten her picture, turning it towards me more, forcing her to look at me.

"You could help me pick out a name for the baby. I don't think Tony would be happy if I used Edward. Can't name my baby after Steve's dad because he was an asshole. It's a boy so I can't exactly name my child after you, as much as I would love to. I don't know what my birth dad's name was." I continue to talk to her, leaning back in my seat, pushing up my shirt to look at my stomach. I press my left hand against it, the cold metal of my rings feeling even colder against the bump.

"I need a good name. You told me that naming a kid is super important because it sets them up for the rest of their lives. I just don't want to fuck up this kid. I'm so scared, Auntie Peggy. You didn't prepare me for this." I tell her, rubbing my stomach. She doesn't respond. Her eyes remain unblinking. Peggy's smile doesn't shift even in the slightest.

"What am I supposed to do? You really only taught me how to be an agent. All this other life shit you kind of skipped. I don't know how you balanced babies and all this shit. This is what I need help with." I continue to rant, but again, she didn't respond.

Auntie Peggy will never response, not anymore.

So I just lean my head back and try to think about she would do in this situation.