Chapter Twenty-Four: Epilogue

Silence permeated the room so deeply that Steve could swear he was drowning in it. He couldn't breathe, and the only way he kept the hundreds of reasons that Peggy might not come back at bay was by focusing on the ten second count.

He reached ten and his blue gaze snapped to his friend who stood at the panel, looking a little dazed. "Tony!"

Tony flinched at the sound of his name, startled. "Right. Right, sorry," he mumbled and pushed the controls into place.

The machine whirled, powering up again, and there was a flash. Steve blinked hard, focusing in on the figure in all white that appeared. She was the same height and build as Peggy, but it wasn't until the helmet snapped away and he saw her face that he found that he could breathe again. The woman that he loved looked a little older than she had just ten seconds before and he wondered just how long it had been on her end.

Those soft brown eyes met his and he saw her lips tilt into a smile. "Hello, Steve."

He was moving before he gave himself permission, covering the ground between them and her smile didn't fade as he reached her, pulling her up into his arms. Her laugh echoed in his ear and he lifted her off the ground to bury his face in the crook of her neck. "I missed you."

Peggy pulled back just enough for her feet to reach the ground before she leaned in and kissed him. He met her there, her arms still around his neck. She didn't let go even as they broke, and her soft voice was teasing. "Ten seconds for you, ten years for me. I don't want to hear it from you."

"Ten years? Did you -?"

"It was time," she promised. "Howard can manage the rest." She pressed another kiss to his lips before finally releasing him to turn towards Tony. He stood staring at her like he'd half expected Howard to come back too. If he had, Steve wasn't sure he would have been too surprised.

Peggy's smile was strained and she stepped down from the platform towards him. "Tony, your father-"

Tony's expression instantly shifted to worry. "Is he alright? It's not-"

"He wanted me to tell you that he misses you," Peggy cut him off, her tone calming. "And that he loves you. So that you don't forget it."

The phrasing must have been verbatim, because Steve watched as his friend's worry melted into something decidedly more complicated. His breathing hitched like he was struggling to find some kind of response before he finally managed a quick nod, turned, and was out the door. Pepper looked to Peggy briefly before following him out and Peggy, in turn, looked to Steve. "Howard didn't take it much better on the other end."

"He'll be okay," Steve promised. "Both of them."

"I know."

"And how are you?"

Peggy stepped closer again and that smile of hers could still make him melt. If anyone else had remained in the room or they'd left after Tony and Pepper, Steve had no idea. He didn't care. As Peggy fit back into his arms they were the only ones left for just a moment, and that moment could last forever.

She wasn't sure if it was phrase or something else that had triggered the retreat, but it was a rare moment when Pepper saw him run quite that fast. She risked a brief look at Peggy to see if the other woman might have a hint for her, but there was nothing, and she had to scurry after her husband to catch up.

Pepper found Tony in a side hallway. He was leaned heavily against the wall, head tilted and eyes closed, with anguish etched into every line on his face. She made sure her shoes sounded the steady click click click of her approach, and he didn't flinch as her fingers touched his shoulder. Instead he shifted his weight so that he could lean a little into her instead. Pepper wrapped her arms around him, kissing his shoulder, and she heard his loose a long breath. Then nothing. Silence stretched on and she held onto him, offering silent support.

After a long moment his breathing hitched. She opened her eyes to find silent tears streaming down his cheeks and she moved to wipe at them.

"He needed to go," Tony whispered, his voice raw.

"That doesn't make it hurt any less," she offered.

"It should. I knew he was going. I just thought that…."

"He'd come back?" Pepper ventured softly and he stiffened in her arms.

"No. He knew why he had to go."

"Tony, honey. Look at me." She waited until he did. "You can know you did the right thing - both of you - and it still hurt like hell. You can still wish things could be different."

"But it can't be."

The statement was soft she almost missed it. She leaned in, pressing a kiss to his cheek in a way that had always been a sign of comfort between them. "But you can wish it could be. There's nothing wrong about that."

He huffed quietly and groped for her hand. She took it and gave it a squeeze. "I love you."

"You too."

"You want to go home?"

"Yeah. More than anything. Anything I can do, anyway."

She felt the corners of her lips tilt up as she led him towards the exit. Let the others handle the aftermath this once. He was her only focus right then.

"Last call, Madam Secretary!" he heard Pepper shout from the doorway of their bedroom and Tony's dark eyes lingered on her just a moment. Her red hair was hanging down in loose waves, a soft blue bridesmaid dress that was almost the same colour as her eyes still being smoothed out with one hand, her heels held in the other.

"Just a minute!" Morgan called back. "Not done yet!"

Tony choked on a laugh as he fiddled with the cufflinks on his shirt. "I thought you said she was ready twenty minutes ago?"

Pepper turned a look on him and he wondered if somehow this was going to be his fault. "And we should have been out the door fifteen. That would have cut down on her time to spill something on her dress."

He reached for the vest on the bed and shrugged it on. "You're never going to let me forget that, are you?"

"She had motor oil all over her five hundred dollar dress, Tony. The only nice dress she hadn't grown out of by the time the fundraiser had rolled around."

"The press thought it was adorable."

Pepper rolled her eyes and slipped her shoes on as Tony flashed her his most innocent grin and kissed her cheek. He walked past her. "Morgan H Stark, you ready?"

He tapped the door as he stepped into his daughter's room and found her sitting down on the floor, her layered and fluffy skirt pooled all around her. The little blue dress - one she had complained about wholeheartedly when they'd gotten it. She wanted a red and gold dress, not blue - looked to be in one piece and clean. For now. In her hand she held the bow made out of the same material as the dress. "It came out," she announced with a pout.

"Gotcha covered, kiddo," he answered and knelt down on the floor with her. Morgan immediately handed him the bow and he started working on it.

"Why didn't Aunt Peggy bring Howard back?"

The question caught him off guard. In the couple of weeks that had passed since their latest time travel escapades, Morgan has seemed to accept Howard's departure without missing a beat. She had certainly reacted with more calm than Tony had felt over the whole situation. His turmoil has left him knotted up and quiet for days, finally breaking his depressive streak when Cap had reached out to ask if he'd be willing to be a part of his and Peggy's wedding. Morgan hadn't broached the subject once. Until now.

The little girl's father cleared his throat, willing his stiff fingers to finish tying the bow in her hair. "He had things he had to do."

"Like what?"

"Like run an organization that will keep people safe for a while."

"What else?"

She was staring at him now, all the curiosity in the world expressed in those brown eyes. Tony offered her a smile. "Well, you know he went back to the past, right?"

"Uh-huh," she answered him in a tone that embodied the duh reaction he'd hoped to stave off a couple more years at least.

"When he left I hadn't been born yet. And if there's no me, there's no you, and a universe without Morgan Stark would be-"

"Boring."

He snorted, gathering her up in his arms and kissing her cheek. "Exactly." He moved to the length mirror leaning against the wall. "How's it look?"

Morgan tilted her head, studying her daddy's handiwork. "Mommy's is prettier."

"Not wrong, but ouch."

She grinned at him, leaning in as kissing his scarred cheek. "I like yours better," she said in a stage whisper. "Don't tell Mommy."

"It'll be our secret. You ready?"

"Yeah."

He shifted her so that he could carry her out. Pepper met them on the landing, his coat in hand, and Tony offered a smile. It was a new day - a good day - and they'd celebrate it together. A wedding with the team and he was determined to make up for Steve's lack of bachelor party after the vows were exchanged. In the wake of all the chaos and at the beginning of yet another new chapter, they had a sliver of peace. Of family, and as they piled into the car to make their way to Brooklyn, it was impossible to deny that's what they were. And somewhere, on the other side of time, Howard would remain a part of that.

End.

Notes: Between being super busy at Austin Film Festival this past weekend and just... not being ready for this to end, this was an incredibly difficult chapter to write for the low word count. At least it ends on fluff, right? Avengers wedding for Steve and Peggy and tons of fun and fluff.

I also have two scenarios that I will likely never write, but please pick your favourite and assume one of them happens in this timeline's future:

The first is that a few years in the future, Peter and Morgan join forces, figure out how to find Howard's timeline, and jump forward with full intention of bringing him back as a surprise for Tony's birthday. Instead it doesn't go as planned and Tony has to follow them to save them.

The second is that during that little point in the last chapter where Howard was chatting with Cap, Sam, and Bucky, Bucky told him how he was going to die. Howard made arrangements, and instead of being killed by the Winter Soldier the Starks disappear, never to be found again. Howard jumps himself and Maria forward and into the MCU timeline to show up just a few months later from the end of this story at the new Avenger's Tower. So while it's been 45 years for Howard, it's only been a few months for Tony.

For Nano this year, I'm actually working on a script for a series that a girl could only hope Disney+ would let her write that dives into Tony and Rhodey's MIT years. There's a good chance I won't post it until it's complete just because of the structure of scripts, but if you'd like to see any chatter/sneak peeks, please follow me on Tumblr!

I'll also start posting a Tony and Steve fic that takes place shortly after Avengers1 shortly.

Until next time, I hope you guys enjoyed the ride :)