Waking Up From The Dead (part 4)
Jan. 15th, 2012 08:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
maevebranTitle:Waking Up from the Dead (part 4)
Author: MaeveBran
Rating: Teen (will eventually get to Mature-ish I'm sure)
Fandom: Captain America:The First Avenger (movieverse)
Pairing: Steve Rogers/Peggy Carter with mentions of past Peggy Carter/Howard Stark
Summary: Steve adjusts to life in the twenty-first century.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Captain or SHIELD or the asociated personnel. I'm just using them for some unprofitable fun.
Notes: I haven't read the comics so the only canon I know comes from the recent movies. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
The next morning, Steve was interrupted from his internet research by a knock on the door. It opened before he could say anything and in came Tony Stark. Today the man wore a t-shirt and jeans, but there was an odd glow from his chest. Steve wanted to ask about it but was sure this might be what had put the younger man on the Avenger Initiative.
“Have you heard of Aunt Peggy’s wild scheme?” Tony said as he plopped down into the free chair.
“The Vita- ray thing?” Steve asked. “You’re the man with the power source?”
“I see you’ve heard of it. I might have known,” Tony said. “Do you think it a good idea?”
“I’m not sure,” Steve said honestly. “I remember the treatment as if it were yesterday and I wouldn’t wish that pain on my worst enemy let alone my . . . well anyone I care for.”
“Have you told her that?” Tony asked.
“I shouldn’t have to. She was there and because of my screams. . .,” Tony raised his eyebrows and Steve dismissed the question. “What…I was a ninety pound asthmatic. I was allowed to scream from the pain. Anyway, she almost called a halt to the process there but I said I could do it. And I did. What right do I have to keep her from this?”
“You could try as her friend,” Tony suggested.
“Your father tried to keep her from injecting the serum. What makes you think I could succeed where he didn’t?” Steve asked.
“We both know she never loved my father like she does you,” Tony admitted.
“She told me that the only people who could have stopped her then were her superior officer or her husband and since Howard, at the time, was neither he couldn’t,” Steve said. “At this moment, I am neither so I doubt she’ll listen to me either.”
“Again I say she has feelings for you that she never had for my father. She’ll listen to you,” Tony said.
“It is her choice, I need to respect that,” Steve said stubbornly. “She taught me that if you believe in your friends, you respect their decisions. She respected mine to land that stupid plane in the ocean and save the world. Now I can respect hers to try to fully activate the formula.”
“I’m beginning to see why Dad could never compete with your memory,” Tony said. “Peggy used to take me out to fondue a couple times a year. I’m not sure why but I suspect that until she had to raise Sharon, I was as close to a child of her own that she’d had and she wanted someone to remember the War and you, and Bucky, and Dr. Erskine. Anyway, one day Dad was waiting for me when I got home. I was about fifteen and in my first year at M.I.T. and I guess he thought I was old enough to hear about it. Dad told me about his first marriage to Peggy.”
“Did you know before that?” Steve asked. “That she was his ex-wife?”
“I knew, but hadn’t cared about why they divorced. I always assumed that it was Dad’s drinking and unrealistic expectations. I’d had enough experience with that,” Tony replied. “On that particular day, Dad told me that he had agreed to the divorce because there should only be two people in a marriage and in his there were three. Your ghost was always there between them, he had said.”
Steve was stunned. He had come between Howard and Peggy and Peggy hadn’t told him. Maybe she hadn’t known how Howard felt. Maybe she had genuinely tried to make the marriage work. She had admitted that her feelings hadn’t quite been what they ought.
“Dad didn’t really resent her, except when he was drunk. They were good friends when he wasn’t drinking. I grew up with her around acting like a fond aunt,” Tony finished his explanation. “I am rather fond of her and would hate to be the cause of her death.”
“Can’t you just not supply the power?” Steve suggested.
“She’d find a way around me,” Tony said. “Most likely by asking Pepper for a small arc reactor. I have a couple at home in Los Angeles. If Peggy asked, Pepper would fly one out here for her. Pepper has always liked Aunt Peggy.”
“Oh,” said Steve. “I guess we only have one choice and that is to be there to make sure nothing goes wrong.”
“I guess that’s it then,” Tony said. He stood and went to the door. “You going to show me this machine and tell me about it?”
“Sure,” Steve said as he led the way out the door and down a corridor to the old headquarters. He went past the small infirmary to another room where the controls and pod of the Vita-ray were.
“I really don’t know much about it except that the test subject climbs in here.” Steve demonstrated. “And it closes around them and a bright light streams out of it for a couple minutes and then it opens on the newly reborn subject.” Steve climbed out and went to look at the controls where he remembered Howard Stark working.
“That’s a start,” Tony said, looking around. He found a box full of schematics and manuals under part of the counter. He lifted it out and started rifling through its contents. “I think I have everything I need to get to work.”
“How soon will it be ready?” Colonel Fury said, coming up behind Steve.
“I should have it ready in a week if everything is in working order,” Tony said. “Longer if I need to fix more than some basic cables or something.”
“And the arc reactor?” Fury asked.
“I sent Pepper to get one of my spares this morning,” Tony said.
“Good. I want to see this project of Ms. Carter’s done as soon as possible,” Fury replied. “Captain, I want you to brief her on the likely effects. She’s waiting for you upstairs”
“Yes, sir,” Steve saluted before he took off to find Peggy.
Exactly a week later, they were gathered in the old headquarters. Steve helped a loosely-gowned Peggy into the chamber and strapped her in. He placed the paddle arms over her clavicles like he remembered them being placed on him. He gave her a smile to try to reassure her.
“This is my choice,” Peggy said.
“I know,” Steve replied. “That’s the only reason I haven’t tried to stop you.”
“Thank you, for that,” she smiled.
Colonel Fury motioned to Tony and the pod closed around Peggy. Steve stepped back and joined the Colonel in watching. Tony pushed the buttons in sequence and the light shot out like Steve remembered it doing. There were some small grunts of pain coming from Peggy but not enough to stop the procedure.
A few minutes later, the machine stalled at seventy percent before resuming the climb to one hundred percent. After reaching full capacity and sustaining it for a full minute Tony powered down the machine. The pod opened and Peggy climbed out.
“Well that was rather anti-climatic,” Tony said as he watched Steve over to help Peggy out. “Other than stalling . . .”
“At seventy percent, right?” Peggy asked as she nearly tumbled to the floor but Steve caught her.
“How did you know?” Steve asked as he slipped an arm around her now-trimmer waist. If he wasn’t mistaken, she did indeed have a few more muscles. And was her hair now more brown than grey? He could swear she looked maybe twenty years younger than she had, somewhere in her early forties at most.
“It happened at your procedure too,” Peggy replied, taking a deep breath. “Did you feel like this, Steve?”
“Like what?” he asked, unsure just what she was referring to.
“Like you’re twenty again and could do anything and be anything. Like you want to run until you fly?” Peggy explained.
“I don’t remember. I don’t think I had much time to think about how I felt, what with you fondling me and the German blowing up the lab,” Steve answered. “Though I do remember feeling like I could fly and outrun cars when I was chasing him.”
“Aunt Peggy, you fondled Captain America?” Tony teased from where he stood watching the interaction.
“Almost,” Peggy admitted. “And he wasn’t Captain America then.”
“But I was when you kissed me,” Steve teased.
“This is so going on my blog,” Tony said.
“Nothing is going on anyone’s blog,” Colonel Fury said, chiming in for the first time. “So Miss Carter, are you up for some tests?”
“Absolutely,” Peggy said. “I want to know if this could be done to repeat what happened with Steve.”
“You mean you still want to make super soldiers even after what happened with Dr. Banner and Captain Rogers, not to mention the others?” Tony asked
“I know there have been problems, Tony,” Peggy answered. “But I knew Abraham Erskine and feel I owe it to his memory to see if there isn’t something from his research we can salvage to help our soldiers survive combat better.”
“Looking at you, Miss Carter,” Colonel Fury said. “I would say we might have some sort of de-aging compound.”
“I don’t think it works like that,” Peggy said. “Why would it stop at forty instead of going all the way back to my twenties if that were the case?”
The men thought for a moment on that question.
“How old were you when you took the formula?” Tony asked.
“Just shy of my forty-second birthday,” Peggy admitted. “Now that I think about it, I looked remarkably like this then. Just a few strands of grey in my hair and the muscles I had from the Army training were getting harder to keep and I was getting flabbier.”
“If you looked then like you do now,” Steve started to say.
“Captain Rogers, I’d be careful how I’d end that thought,” Tony advised.
“What?” Steve asked. “I was just going to say then she looked beautiful.”
“I think that’s my cue to get Miss Carter to the waiting doctors,” Colonel Fury stepped in and directed Peggy to the infirmary.
Author: MaeveBran
Rating: Teen (will eventually get to Mature-ish I'm sure)
Fandom: Captain America:The First Avenger (movieverse)
Pairing: Steve Rogers/Peggy Carter with mentions of past Peggy Carter/Howard Stark
Summary: Steve adjusts to life in the twenty-first century.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Captain or SHIELD or the asociated personnel. I'm just using them for some unprofitable fun.
Notes: I haven't read the comics so the only canon I know comes from the recent movies. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
The next morning, Steve was interrupted from his internet research by a knock on the door. It opened before he could say anything and in came Tony Stark. Today the man wore a t-shirt and jeans, but there was an odd glow from his chest. Steve wanted to ask about it but was sure this might be what had put the younger man on the Avenger Initiative.
“Have you heard of Aunt Peggy’s wild scheme?” Tony said as he plopped down into the free chair.
“The Vita- ray thing?” Steve asked. “You’re the man with the power source?”
“I see you’ve heard of it. I might have known,” Tony said. “Do you think it a good idea?”
“I’m not sure,” Steve said honestly. “I remember the treatment as if it were yesterday and I wouldn’t wish that pain on my worst enemy let alone my . . . well anyone I care for.”
“Have you told her that?” Tony asked.
“I shouldn’t have to. She was there and because of my screams. . .,” Tony raised his eyebrows and Steve dismissed the question. “What…I was a ninety pound asthmatic. I was allowed to scream from the pain. Anyway, she almost called a halt to the process there but I said I could do it. And I did. What right do I have to keep her from this?”
“You could try as her friend,” Tony suggested.
“Your father tried to keep her from injecting the serum. What makes you think I could succeed where he didn’t?” Steve asked.
“We both know she never loved my father like she does you,” Tony admitted.
“She told me that the only people who could have stopped her then were her superior officer or her husband and since Howard, at the time, was neither he couldn’t,” Steve said. “At this moment, I am neither so I doubt she’ll listen to me either.”
“Again I say she has feelings for you that she never had for my father. She’ll listen to you,” Tony said.
“It is her choice, I need to respect that,” Steve said stubbornly. “She taught me that if you believe in your friends, you respect their decisions. She respected mine to land that stupid plane in the ocean and save the world. Now I can respect hers to try to fully activate the formula.”
“I’m beginning to see why Dad could never compete with your memory,” Tony said. “Peggy used to take me out to fondue a couple times a year. I’m not sure why but I suspect that until she had to raise Sharon, I was as close to a child of her own that she’d had and she wanted someone to remember the War and you, and Bucky, and Dr. Erskine. Anyway, one day Dad was waiting for me when I got home. I was about fifteen and in my first year at M.I.T. and I guess he thought I was old enough to hear about it. Dad told me about his first marriage to Peggy.”
“Did you know before that?” Steve asked. “That she was his ex-wife?”
“I knew, but hadn’t cared about why they divorced. I always assumed that it was Dad’s drinking and unrealistic expectations. I’d had enough experience with that,” Tony replied. “On that particular day, Dad told me that he had agreed to the divorce because there should only be two people in a marriage and in his there were three. Your ghost was always there between them, he had said.”
Steve was stunned. He had come between Howard and Peggy and Peggy hadn’t told him. Maybe she hadn’t known how Howard felt. Maybe she had genuinely tried to make the marriage work. She had admitted that her feelings hadn’t quite been what they ought.
“Dad didn’t really resent her, except when he was drunk. They were good friends when he wasn’t drinking. I grew up with her around acting like a fond aunt,” Tony finished his explanation. “I am rather fond of her and would hate to be the cause of her death.”
“Can’t you just not supply the power?” Steve suggested.
“She’d find a way around me,” Tony said. “Most likely by asking Pepper for a small arc reactor. I have a couple at home in Los Angeles. If Peggy asked, Pepper would fly one out here for her. Pepper has always liked Aunt Peggy.”
“Oh,” said Steve. “I guess we only have one choice and that is to be there to make sure nothing goes wrong.”
“I guess that’s it then,” Tony said. He stood and went to the door. “You going to show me this machine and tell me about it?”
“Sure,” Steve said as he led the way out the door and down a corridor to the old headquarters. He went past the small infirmary to another room where the controls and pod of the Vita-ray were.
“I really don’t know much about it except that the test subject climbs in here.” Steve demonstrated. “And it closes around them and a bright light streams out of it for a couple minutes and then it opens on the newly reborn subject.” Steve climbed out and went to look at the controls where he remembered Howard Stark working.
“That’s a start,” Tony said, looking around. He found a box full of schematics and manuals under part of the counter. He lifted it out and started rifling through its contents. “I think I have everything I need to get to work.”
“How soon will it be ready?” Colonel Fury said, coming up behind Steve.
“I should have it ready in a week if everything is in working order,” Tony said. “Longer if I need to fix more than some basic cables or something.”
“And the arc reactor?” Fury asked.
“I sent Pepper to get one of my spares this morning,” Tony said.
“Good. I want to see this project of Ms. Carter’s done as soon as possible,” Fury replied. “Captain, I want you to brief her on the likely effects. She’s waiting for you upstairs”
“Yes, sir,” Steve saluted before he took off to find Peggy.
Exactly a week later, they were gathered in the old headquarters. Steve helped a loosely-gowned Peggy into the chamber and strapped her in. He placed the paddle arms over her clavicles like he remembered them being placed on him. He gave her a smile to try to reassure her.
“This is my choice,” Peggy said.
“I know,” Steve replied. “That’s the only reason I haven’t tried to stop you.”
“Thank you, for that,” she smiled.
Colonel Fury motioned to Tony and the pod closed around Peggy. Steve stepped back and joined the Colonel in watching. Tony pushed the buttons in sequence and the light shot out like Steve remembered it doing. There were some small grunts of pain coming from Peggy but not enough to stop the procedure.
A few minutes later, the machine stalled at seventy percent before resuming the climb to one hundred percent. After reaching full capacity and sustaining it for a full minute Tony powered down the machine. The pod opened and Peggy climbed out.
“Well that was rather anti-climatic,” Tony said as he watched Steve over to help Peggy out. “Other than stalling . . .”
“At seventy percent, right?” Peggy asked as she nearly tumbled to the floor but Steve caught her.
“How did you know?” Steve asked as he slipped an arm around her now-trimmer waist. If he wasn’t mistaken, she did indeed have a few more muscles. And was her hair now more brown than grey? He could swear she looked maybe twenty years younger than she had, somewhere in her early forties at most.
“It happened at your procedure too,” Peggy replied, taking a deep breath. “Did you feel like this, Steve?”
“Like what?” he asked, unsure just what she was referring to.
“Like you’re twenty again and could do anything and be anything. Like you want to run until you fly?” Peggy explained.
“I don’t remember. I don’t think I had much time to think about how I felt, what with you fondling me and the German blowing up the lab,” Steve answered. “Though I do remember feeling like I could fly and outrun cars when I was chasing him.”
“Aunt Peggy, you fondled Captain America?” Tony teased from where he stood watching the interaction.
“Almost,” Peggy admitted. “And he wasn’t Captain America then.”
“But I was when you kissed me,” Steve teased.
“This is so going on my blog,” Tony said.
“Nothing is going on anyone’s blog,” Colonel Fury said, chiming in for the first time. “So Miss Carter, are you up for some tests?”
“Absolutely,” Peggy said. “I want to know if this could be done to repeat what happened with Steve.”
“You mean you still want to make super soldiers even after what happened with Dr. Banner and Captain Rogers, not to mention the others?” Tony asked
“I know there have been problems, Tony,” Peggy answered. “But I knew Abraham Erskine and feel I owe it to his memory to see if there isn’t something from his research we can salvage to help our soldiers survive combat better.”
“Looking at you, Miss Carter,” Colonel Fury said. “I would say we might have some sort of de-aging compound.”
“I don’t think it works like that,” Peggy said. “Why would it stop at forty instead of going all the way back to my twenties if that were the case?”
The men thought for a moment on that question.
“How old were you when you took the formula?” Tony asked.
“Just shy of my forty-second birthday,” Peggy admitted. “Now that I think about it, I looked remarkably like this then. Just a few strands of grey in my hair and the muscles I had from the Army training were getting harder to keep and I was getting flabbier.”
“If you looked then like you do now,” Steve started to say.
“Captain Rogers, I’d be careful how I’d end that thought,” Tony advised.
“What?” Steve asked. “I was just going to say then she looked beautiful.”
“I think that’s my cue to get Miss Carter to the waiting doctors,” Colonel Fury stepped in and directed Peggy to the infirmary.
