Venus | James B. Barnes✔️

lxxx. 𝚑𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝

"Arnim, you in there? Arnim? Hey! Door's this way, pal."

Tony felt the same shock as he turned with Evelyn, seeing the man of the hour. Howard Stark stood there in all his glory. "Oh, yeah," Tony mumbled, his usual sarcastic and wittiness gone.

"I'm looking for Dr. Zola. Have either of you seen him?" Howard asked as they grew closer to him. Howard looked at them suspiciously. His eyes focused on Evelyn for a moment longer.

"Yeah, no, Dr. Zol—No, I haven't seen a soul," Evelyn said, trying to roughen her voice a bit.

Tony, being Tony, bumped into a chair while staring at his father. "Pardon me," he stammered out.

Evelyn wanted to choke herself and Tony for acting so awkward. They were the Avengers for gosh sakes. They should be able to spy a bit, act... do their mission without this much failure. Evelyn took a deep breath, pulling Tony toward her so he did not act a fool anymore.

"Do I know you?" he said, focusing on Evelyn. His eyes went to Tony. "I feel like I've seen you both before."

"No, sir. We're... uh, visitors from MIT," Tony said.

"Huh. MIT. Got a name?"

"Uh... Howard," Tony blurted. Evelyn almost face palmed right then and there.

"Well, that'll be easy to remember."

"Howard... Potts," Tony finished, grinning as he finally got ahold of most of his wits.

"Margaret Dugan," Evelyn greeted, cursing Tony in her head as he continued to stare creepily.

"Well, I'm Howard Stark," he introduced, holding out his hand. Tony went to grab it when Howard moved it to only one finger sticking out. "Shake it, don't pull it."

After shaking Tony's hand, he looked to Evelyn. Evelyn took his whole hand, almost bursting into tears from the feeling. She shook it, wanting nothing more than to pull him into a hug and never let go. He was her older brother. He was her everything. She just wished everything could have played out differently.

Howard seemed frozen for a moment before gently letting Evelyn's hands go. He focused his eyes back on Tony. "You look a little green around the gills there, Potts."

"I'm fine. Just, long hours."

"Wanna get some air?" Tony gulped. "Hello, Potts. Is he always like this, Dugan?"

Evelyn only gave a sheepish grin as Tony finally got out, "That would be swell." He began to walk in the wrong direction again as he let the briefcase go into Evelyn's hands. Evelyn rolled her eyes, grabbing his shoulders to turn him.

"That way," Howard joked as Tony began walking. "He's not one of those beatniks, is he, Dugan?" Evelyn grinned, shrugging. "Dugan... hey, I remember a Dugan. You related to Timothy Dugan? He fought in--"

"World War II," Evelyn said with a sad smile. "No, I'm not. I get that a lot, though. He seems like a great man. All of them do, actually."

Howard seemed to go into his memories just as they passed an office. He quickly ran inside to grab something. Coming back out, he held flowers in his hands. They walked outside, the fresh air choking Evelyn as she never wanted to leave Howard again.

"So, flowers and sauerkraut. You got a big date tonight?" Tony asked to ease the tension.

Howard chuckled. "My wife's expecting. And, uh... Too much time in the office."

"Congratulations," both Tony and Evelyn echoed.

"Thanks. Hold this, will you?" Howard said as he handed Tony the flowers.

"Yeah, sure. How far along is she?" Tony asked, and Evelyn felt herself wanting to know everything about the Howard standing in front of him. She knew he was about to have Tony. She knew Tony and Howard did not have such a good relationship, but she still saw the same Howard in front of her. When did that change?

"I don't know... Uh, she's at the point where she can't stand the sound of my chewing. I guess I'll be eating dinner in the pantry again," he joked as they saw a car pull up with a man waiting. Evelyn tried to figure out who he was but she could not pinpoint it.

"I have a little girl," Tony said suddenly, wanting his father to know he managed to not screw up everything in his life.

"A girl would be nice. Less of a chance she'd turn out exactly like me," Howard said with a sigh, "more of a chance she'd be like my little sister Lynnie."

"What'd be so awful about the baby being like you?" Evelyn asked softly. "You don't seem all that bad."

Evelyn cursed herself. She did not change her voice. Howard eyed her again, running a hand through his hair. "Let's just say that the greater good has rarely outweighed my own self-interests."

Evelyn bit her lip. "So, where are you at with names?"

"Well, if it's a boy, my wife likes Elmonzo."

Tony wasted no time in shutting that down. "Huh, Might wanna let that stew awhile. You got time."

"Let me ask you a question. When your kid was born... were you nervous?"

"Wildly. Yeah." Evelyn smiled softly at the pair in front of her.

"Did you feel qualified? Like you had any idea how to successfully operate that thing?"

"I literally pieced it together as I went along," Tony stated. "I thought about what my Dad did, and..."

"My old man, he never met a problem he couldn't solve with a belt," Howard replied, and Evelyn could not help but wince. She remembered those days well. Howard took every hit for her, and she left him so easily. She wondered if Howard hated her for leaving.

Tony noticed Evelyn's tense figure. "I thought my dad was tough on me. And now, looking back, I just remember the good stuff, you know. He did drop the odd pearl."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"No amount of money ever bought a second of time."

"Smart guy."

Tony nodded. "He did his best."

"Let me tell you. That kid's not even here yet, and there's nothing I wouldn't do for him," Howard said with a small, shy smile. "Good to meet you, Potts. Dugan."

"Yeah, Howard. Everything's gonna be all right." Tony hugged Howard. Evelyn felt her heart melt at the sight. She knew Tony took this as closure. He needed this. "Thank you... for everything... you've done for this country."

Tony backed away quickly, and Howard was surprised when Evelyn hugged him tightly. "You were the best big brother anyone could ever have, Howie. Thank you for everything."

Before Howard could even comprehend what Evelyn just told him, Tony and Evelyn disappeared into the crowd.

"Jarvis, that sounded like Evelyn."

"You meet lots of people, sir. You know you've found resemblances before."

"The way she said my old nickname..."

"Perhaps Mrs. Stark was correct in stating you need more rest. Let's get you home."

"I... I guess. Weird guy, too. Had a funny-looking beard."