(MCU) Forged Reality: Chapter 20 - Laid in memory

Chapter 20 - Laid in memory

Summary: A loss from the past drives Tony to act—just as new tensions ignite.

Tony could only watch as the room was left divided after Steve's departure. Wilson voiced his intention of following Steve's lead and left the room; Natasha seemed to consider her options before reluctantly agreeing to sign. After making the decision, she too left the room.

Rhodey just kept glaring at their backs while Vision gave everyone a confused look. Fury was scowling in a scary way that sent shivers even down his spine.

"Umm, Boss?" came the oddly timid voice of Friday.

Tony looked concerned at the closest camera. "What is it, baby-girl?"

There was a moment of silence before Friday announced softly, "You have a call from Ms. Carter."

Tony frowned at Friday's reaction. Why did she react so negatively to his cousin calling him? Unless the former SHIELD agent had some bad news for him, which was the only kind of news he received for the past few hours. "Accept the call, please."

The screen switched again; this time a blonde woman in her early 30s filled the screen, her voice soft and full of sadness. "Tones..."

Tony raised an eyebrow at his little cousin. "Sharon..."

There were tears gathering in her eyes as she finally spoke. "It's Aunt Peggy, Tones... She passed away."

Tony felt his heart stop for a moment, his mind going back to the last time he spoke to her about a week ago...

Flashback

Tony fidgeted in the waiting area of the nursing home. He didn't make this trip very often, though he did make sure to visit at least once every couple of months.

It wasn't like he didn't want to see his Aunt Peggy more often. He really did; the sight of her always calmed Tony down. But there were two issues with his visits.

The first and more practical one was his busy schedule; it was hard for him to find the time to travel all the way to London and spend a few hours in a nursing home. While admittedly he should have more time nowadays without his Avengers duties and CEO ones, with his development of the new medical department in SI, he still had less time than he wished he could have.

The second one was more mental. Since Peggy's Alzheimer's disease got worse, she began to mistake him for Howard; it was painful for Tony to realize the woman who cared for him more than his own father forgot who he was and compared him to his asshole of a father.

"Tony?" a soft voice called from next to him. He turned to look at the woman who was seated next to him, Wanda Maximoff.

Her auburn hair was tied in a low ponytail, and she was wearing a simple shirt and jeans to blend with the others. She just returned from another mission with Steve and his team, one that almost ended with a sibling pair being killed by the collateral damage. Fortunately, she managed to save them both using her powers.

Though the time she did it allowed their target to pass her and disappear for a few minutes before she tracked him down and brought him in. After that, she got a long lecture from Steve and Natasha about priorities and sacrifices.

Wanda was pissed and needed as much space from them as possible; when she heard Tony would be traveling to London, she decided to tag along, something that Tony was a little worried about but ended up being fun, as they spent the flight over talking and getting to know each other even further.

Tony gave her a small smile, but before he could reply, the door of the room they waited next to opened and the nurse came out. She smiled at Tony. "She is awake and ready to see you, Tony."

Tony smiled widely at the nurse and responded kindly, "Thank you, Eliza, like always."

The nurse nodded, and Tony entered the room with Wanda right behind him, closing the door once she was inside.

As always, his aunt was in her hospital robes and laying on a bed in the center of the room. Tony approached her slowly and said with a soft voice, "Hello, Aunt Peggy."

Tony knew what was coming; he closed his eyes and held his breath to stop himself from flinching when her frail voice called out, "Howard! You came to... Wait, Tony, is that you?"

Tony froze for a moment. Did she just call out his name? And her voice—it sounded clearer, stronger. Tony's eyes flew open to see Wanda sitting on the chair to his aunt's left side, her fingers pressed to the woman's forehead and her eyes closed.

Wanda's voice was a little strained when she said, "I'm not sure how long I can hold it, so you better hurry up."

Tony turned to face Peggy only to see his aunt smiling at him. "Look at you... you grew... younger?"

Tony chuckled a little. "Yes, you can say that, but it's a long story." His voice then turned somber. "It's good to talk with you again, Aunt Peggy."

Peggy gave him a small, sad smile. "I'm sorry for all my rambling, dear. I never wanted to hurt you..."

Tony smiled at her reassuringly. "I know. But do you know..."

"That I am dying?" she said, completely calm. "Of course. With a clear mind, it's not hard to figure out."

Tony stepped closer to her, his voice full of hope. "Maybe I can heal you. I made myself younger and just opened a medical section in SI; I'm sure we can..."

His aunt put a hand on his cheek and said softly, "No, Tony. You are no god; we all have our time to leave. I won't cheat mine."

Tony let a tear drop from his eye as he whispered, "I understand." And he did. Like Tony refused to be anything but human, even though he had the resources to recreate the super soldier serum and more.

"I do need you to promise me something, Tony." She looked deep into his brown eyes. "Don't forget who you are, why you are pushing yourself, who you are fighting for. Don't be like Steve."

Tony blinked for a moment before trying to remind her carefully, "He is Captain America..."

"He's just a human!" Peggy shot back. "I knew Steve Rogers before the serum, and he had his major flaws—flaws that I can still see now. Those are dangerous flaws; I hope when they become something dangerous, you will remember who you are fighting for and will be able to do the right thing."

Tony heard a sharp intake of breath and looked a little to the left to see Wanda sweating heavily, her eyes closed tightly as if stopping herself from flinching. He knew she was getting tired.

Aunt Peggy seemed to realize that as well and began speaking quickly. "I know you will make the right choice when the time comes. You always did; even if you made a few mistakes on your way, you always ended up on the same path that helped people. I love you, my little genius, and I'm so proud of you." Her voice trailed off toward the end before she spoke again, her voice fragile as he knew it for the past few years. "Howard! You came to visit."

"I... I... So... Sorry, Tony," Wanda tried to apologize while panting.

Tony went quickly to her side. He put his arm around her waist and helped her stand up while she was leaning on him with a small blush on her face. Tony smiled down at her and said with a grateful voice, "You did more than I could ever imagine. Thank you."

Tony then smiled at his dazed-looking aunt and said calmly, "I will see you again sometime, Peggy. I promise."

Peggy smiled serenely and replied, "I would like that."

With that, Tony led Wanda out of the room; he figured he owed her some top-grade meal after the gift she just gave him.

End Flashback

Tony closed his eyes and shook his head, trying to swallow the bile that began rising in his throat. "I... I will take care of the funeral. Can you be there... make sure everything goes smoothly?"

Sharon wiped her eyes with the back of her hand before looking at Tony with a confused look. "You are not going to join us? You know Aunt Peggy would love it if you at least said a few words."

Tony shook his head a little before saying in a self-despairing voice, "If I were there, it would turn into some publicity stunt event. Peggy deserves to have her last respects be all about her."

Sharon looked sad, but she let out a sigh and said softly, "Fine, Tones, but promise me you are not going to do something self-destructive again."

Tony gave her a small smile. "I know better than that by now. Take care of yourself, Share-bear."

He expected her to glare at him as she usually did when he used that nickname; instead, he got a wet chuckle as she retorted, "I will talk with you after the funeral, little genius."

With that, the line went dead, and Tony couldn't hold back the tears anymore. Those nicknames were how he and Sharon chose to keep the memory of the woman they both admired alive—a memory from better days.

"Tony..." Wanda called softly to him again, and Tony was a little startled; he almost forgot she was in the room with him. The woman looked at him with concern. "Are you sure about not going to the funeral? We can get you a disguise or something."

Tony just nodded sadly, trying to wipe the tears as subtly as he could. Wanda gave him a kind smile. "That's nice of you; I know how hard it can be. I think you need something to distract you. You were invited to the signing in Vienna, weren't you?"

Tony raised a confused eyebrow at her; still, he answered, "Yes, but I already signed the accords, so I didn't see the reason to fly there. I'm sure Natasha can handle whatever will be said there."

Wanda frowned. "I'm sure she can, in a way that will benefit her most, and do you really think she won't create some fallback plan with the politicians there?"

Tony was about to deny the accusations immediately until he realized that lately, Wanda spent a hell of a lot more time with the ex-spy than Tony did. His gut began dropping in worry. "Maybe you have a point. I think I will go and drop by."

Wanda smiled widely at him. "Great. I will go back to the compound and update you if Steve tries something while you are away."

Tony knew he didn't have a lot of time to get to Vienna. If he took his jet, he would still get there around the end of the ceremony at best, so he decided to take the fun way there.

He didn't like to abuse the Iron Man armor for his selfish reasons—threshold of death mentality aside—for example, just to travel from place to place. Tony created those suits to help and protect the people of the planet, not to make his own life easier.

But considering the importance of the meeting he was heading to, he considered it reasonable to use the armor to get to the UN facility as quickly as possible.

He landed on top of the Vienna UN building where he noticed a familiar face waiting for him. He allowed the front of his suit to open up, letting him step out of the metal frame. Without even turning back, he called, "Observation mode."

The suit closed shut again; the eyes of the faceplate began glowing blue, and the head of the armor began turning in circles consistently.

With a wide smile on his face, Tony approached the suit-wearing official and called out cheerfully, "Mr. Keller. Thank you for meeting me up here."

Tony himself was wearing a classical three-piece suit, approved by Wanda, who also insisted on the red tie he had on. As the two men shook hands, Keller replied to Tony with a wide grin of his own, "Nonsense, Dr. Stark; we are glad you changed your mind and chose to attend this historic event."

Both of them began to walk down toward the main conference hall. "You can thank Ms. Maximoff for convincing me; the best way to deal with Steve's screw-ups is to do it here."

Tony glanced at the official from the corner of his eye and caught the thoughtful look on his face. The genius had to hide a smile from his face. Good—if things went too far, a comment like that would help Tony convince everyone else that Wanda was on their side from the start.