The Chronicles of Captain Carter - The First Avenger

33.

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Chapter Thirty-Three - I'll Be Home For Christmas

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Peggy woke up to the faint sounds of 'Trouble Man' by Marvin Gaye, playing in the silent hospital room. She turned her head slightly, having seen movement from her left. There sat Sam, who flicked through a magazine. He looked up and smiled. "On your left."

"You're never going to let that go, are you, Wilson?" She chuckled at the familiar phrase.

"Absolutely not."

"Thank you for being here."

"No problem. Agent Romanoff's here too, but she's currently getting a coffee. She should be along. Which reminds me, someone's here to see you."

"Who?"

There seemed to be an unofficial cue, as the door opened and Tony entered the room, holding the door for Sam, who stepped outside, giving them some privacy. "Hey Cap."

"Tony. What are you doing here?" Peggy asked, 

"Well, after you decided to expose a fascist regime concealed in an global intelligence agency, dump 3 helicarriers into the Pontomac, and then almost drowned, I couldn't help but feel concerned." He teased.

"Cheers..." She replied dryly, hiding her internal conflict of divulging the  new information about the Starks' mysterious death, which kept flashing through her mind. 

On one hand, it would only hurt him, to know that it had been no accident. 

But he had a right  to know. 

She sighed, locking eyes with her friend. Seeing her sudden change in mood, Tony raised an eyebrow in inquiry. "You alright there Cap?"  

She gestured to the seat next to her bed, silently asking him to sit in it. He did as she asked, confused. 

She sighed heavily. 

"There's something you need to know."

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Sam stood outside Peggy's room, chatting with Natasha, who had walked over upon seeing him. Their quiet conversation was interrupted suddenly with a shout. The door burst open, Tony storming out, furiously trying to hold back tears while walking away. Sam and Nat stood in the doorway, looking over at Peggy, who looked despondently at her hands.

"What was that all about? You didn't tell him that you prefer Led Zeppelin over AC/DC, did you?" Natasha asked, coming to sit at the foot of the bed. Sam sat in his previous seat.

Peggy sighed. "I told him the truth about his parents. Needless to say, he didn't take it well."

"He just needs time. You've dumped a piece of information he should have known years ago, and all the grief that he never really processed is coming back to him like a monster truck to the head." Sam said, remembering the years of parties, drugs and sex that Tony Stark seemed to constantly be doing. It always made the news in one way or another, and despite the happy facade that he put up, Sam often saw deep sadness and grief in his eyes.

"I understand. "

They chatted for a few minutes, before Natasha got up to leave, having a hearing at Capitol Hill to attend.

"Natasha." Peggy called.

The Russian Redhead turned around at the call of her name, lifting one eyebrow inquiringly.

"Please don't tell him about the Led Zeppelin thing. At least not yet. It might give the poor man a heart attack and I don't think he needs one of those in his state." Peggy pleaded, giving a small smile. 

Nat smirked in amusement. "Don't worry, Peg. I'll keep your terrible secret safe." 

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After an impromtu meeting and goodbye with Fury, Peggy and Sam decided to try and find Steve and Bucky. She wanted to reunite with her friend and lover, to finally have that dance she should have had all those years ago.

Peggy remained in DC for a short while, packing up affairs, and preparing to move some of her things into storage. But it wasn't until a few days after she had been discharged from the hospital, with the orders to take it easy, that she got the call. 

"Hello?"

"Hey Cap."

The unexpected voice rang through the phone, making Peggy freeze.

"Tony. I have to say, I didn't expect you to be talking to me quite this soon. Is everything alright?"

"After a chat with Pepper, I realized that you were just the messenger, you didn't kill them. And I may have overreacted slightly."  He admitted sheepishly.

"No, Tony, you didn't overreact. In fact, I was surprised you didn't do worse, it would have been justified. What I do need you to understand though, is that I'm not sure everything's as simple as it seems. When I saw Bucky, he didn't even recognise his name, let alone mine. Though, I suppose that's a conversation to have at a later date, and in person. Is there something you wanted?"

"Just to invite you over for Christmas."

"Are you sure? I don't want to intrude..." Peggy protested, though a small smile was growing on her face.

"Everyone needs somewhere to go on Christmas. So in the spirit of the season, I extend to you an invitation, to spend Christmas with me and Pep."

"In that case, I accept. Thank you."

"No problem. Pep's calling me, I gotta go."

"See you later, Tony."

And so Peggy drove up to Malibu, in the hopes of celebrating her first Christmas in 70 years with people she cared about, unaware that this year, the holiday would start off with a bang...

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917 words

AND SO WE'RE ONTO IRON MAN 3! I have to admit, I wasn't sure whether to make Peggy have a short cameo or to just throw her into the plot, but we've messed up the MCU timeline beyond repair, so what the heck?

I hope you're enjoying the story, I know I certainly am, and get ready for...

 IRON MAN 3: Coming soon!

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned!

-18idupee