Loki oneshots

Loss (Steve & Tony)

"When I got older, my tinkering got a little more intense. After my parents died, she helped me clean out their place, and we found my dad's original blueprints for his flying car that never came to be. We spent a few hours looking over it, trying to figure out where my dad went wrong, even though I'm pretty sure she didn't understand a single word I was saying."

That gets a few scattered chuckles, and Steve huffs a laugh, too. He's been in that exact same position — with both Starks, actually. They both love to hear themselves talk, but hell if anything they said ever made any sense.

"For the record, that's never going to happen," Tony adds, grinning, earning a heavier laugh. "Flying cars are definitely not street legal.

"Still, she said if I could get it working, it would be SHIELD's new favorite toy," Tony says, growing more sincere. "She was always trying to get me to make things for SHIELD. She was good like that. She always knew that I could be — that I should be — more than a weapons manufacturer; a merchant of death. Obviously I didn't listen because I never listened, but she was right. She was always right. Did anyone else ever notice that? I can't remember a single time she was wrong about anything. Anyone...?"

Tony pauses, scanning the crowd for their answer. There are a few nods, a few shaking heads, no one rushing to disprove that. Steve finds himself agreeing, too. Off the top of his head, he really does think Peggy was right about nearly everything — everything that mattered, at least.

"That's the only problem I ever had with her," Tony says. "She was always right, you know? She really had me thinking for decades that you just naturally know everything when you get old, and you don't! 'Cause now I'm old and I don't know anything, so thanks for those unrealistic expectations, Aunt Peggy."

Steve chuckles, as do a few other people around him. It's a quiet response, but it gets a little bit of a reaction.

"You know," Tony says, "I told her that a few years ago and she thought it was hilarious, so if you guys want to laugh in her honor..."

That gets a more enthusiastic laugh, and not just because he asked for it. Leave it to Tony to turn a funeral into a lighthearted joke. Usually his flippancy is annoying, but right now, the humor is a welcome relief from the gravity of the day.

Tony looks around with a smile, letting them get their laughter out and enjoying every second of it. He looks down at his cue cards, casually thumbing through for a few moments as he waits for the room returns to its usual solemn silence.

Tony's smile falls abruptly, and he shakes his head, lowering his cue cards to his side. "I'm sorry, I can't..." He ducks his head and rushes off the altar, but he doesn't return to his seat. He heads all the way down the aisle and out of the church.

Like the rest of the mourners, Steve watches him go, sitting in awed silence while they figure out what to do now. After a painfully long pause, the priest clears his throat, politely demanding the attention back to the altar.

Steve ducks out of his row and follows Tony down the aisle. He's acutely aware that everyone is looking at him, and part of him feels like he should just go sit down again. He almost feels like he owes it to Peggy to stay here, after all they've been through. But Peggy's not here anymore, and Tony is, and the living have to come first.

Steve pushes open the front doors, and he doesn't have to go far to find Tony. He's sitting on the church steps, his head in his hands. Steve closes the door behind him as quietly as he can, and if Tony notices, he doesn't mention it.

Should he do something? Maybe he just wanted to be alone. Maybe Steve's presence is just going to make this worse. He's never seen Tony like this, and he's sure that's on purpose. Maybe he doesn't want anyone to see that he actually has feelings. It definitely looks like that sometimes.