Rhapsody in Blue (Captain America/Avengers) (2/12)
Rhapsody in Blue (2/12)
A Captain America/Avengers story
by mhalachaiswords
At AO3
Summary: Steve Rogers died in the War. For Peggy Carter, the War was just the beginning.
Rating: Mature
Characters: Peggy Carter, Howard Stark, Maria Stark, Natasha Romanov, Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Original Characters
Pairings: Oh boy. Peggy/Howard, Peggy/Steve, Peggy/Natasha, Peggy/Howard/Maria...
Warnings: The usual. Angst.
Words: 2,570 this part
Disclaimer: This is fanfic, I own nothing of the characters/worlds/franchises etc. All recognizable characters belong to their creators etc.
Note: This is the set-up - most of the more salacious stuff comes in future chapters.
During one of her layovers in New York in the early sixties, Howard asked Peggy to marry him.
"No."
"Why not?"
They were in bed again, in Howard's flat in the city's most expensive high-rise. Peggy was a mess and she was certain she wouldn't be able to walk any time soon, her only consolation being that Howard looked as wrecked as she felt.
With a sigh, Peggy sat up and straddled Howard's hips, noting with satisfaction how he winced when she brushed up against sensitive body parts. "Because I don't love you and you don't love me."
"You say that like it matters," he protested, hands around her waist to keep her still.
"Doesn't it?" she asked.
"You told me that you'd never love anyone."
She stared down at him, noticing for the first time the hints of grey in his hair, the lines at the corners of his eyes. "That doesn't mean you never will."
She leaned down to kiss him, his tongue soft against hers, shutting him up before he could ask her again.
Peggy spent most of 1964 locked in a battle of wits and wills (and, eventually, knives) with a young Soviet agent code-named the Black Widow, a redheaded slip of a girl with a talent for languages and seduction.
After a year, Peggy walked away victorious, but she feared that the length of the operation had only sharpened her enemy's skills.
Privately, she wondered if she could have convinced the woman to turn against the Soviets, but, no, it wouldn't have worked. The girl was still so young and held the idealism of the young about who the good guys were.
Peggy had been in the world long enough to know that there was no absolute line between good and evil; just bad and worse.
No one talked about the Winter Soldier anymore. They didn't need to; fear of him was weapon enough.
As dubious reward, Peggy's next assignment for SHIELD was teaching undercover on an American college campus to look for new recruits. The college world was rather different than what Peggy expected - Beatniks and hippies or whatever the kids were calling themselves these days. They were too young to remember the War, yet they thought they knew everything.
Peggy supposed every generation thought that. It was nice to have some new blood in the counterculture, pushing back against the establishment.
Also, she rather enjoyed the music.
It was there, late in 1966, that Peggy found Howard a wife.
It wasn't exactly like that; Maria Carbonell Collins was in one of Peggy's modern history classes, a dark-haired beautiful young woman with a quick wit and saber-sharp intelligence. She clashed with Peggy on politics and policy, flourished in every assignment, came back wanting more.
Peggy would have recommended Maria to SHIELD but for the girl's soft heart - Maria would never be able to kill someone in the line of duty.
It was refreshing, in Peggy's line of work, to see someone who wasn't jaded about life.
The semester was coming to a close and Peggy was marking papers, cursing the illiteracy of the modern generation, when her office door opened and Howard Stark swept inside.
"Come to dinner with me," he demanded.
Peggy continued with her marking. "Sorry, darling, I have work to do."
"Shelve it. I have reservations at an expensive restaurant and need a beautiful woman to hang on my arm and laugh at my jokes."
"If you can pay for dinner, you can pay for a date. Or take Obadiah."
Howard made a face. "Obadiah never laughs at my jokes, and you should see what I'm paying him."
A tap at the opened door, and Peggy looked up to see Maria standing in the hallway, books clutched to her chest and her eyes wide. "I can come back," Maria offered.
Peggy glanced at Howard, ready to smirk at him about his timing, but he was staring at the girl with an expression that Peggy didn't recognize.
"Come in," Peggy said, leaning back in her chair. This was interesting.
Maria edged into the room, sitting on the edge of the worn sofa and balancing her books on the cushions. Like all the girls in her year, she was wearing a skirt inches above her knees, showing a length of slender leg.
"I wanted to talk to you about Friday's assignment," Maria said, addressing Peggy, although most of her attention was on Howard.
Peggy was about to tell Maria to come again tomorrow, that she was busy, but as she opened her mouth, a blue-silver breeze held Peggy's tongue. A shiver of sound filled the room, a whisper that only Peggy could hear, not words, just a feeling.
A warning.
Peggy took another look at how the girl was staring at Howard, and how Howard was looking at Maria, and somehow knew where this would lead.
Peggy swallowed her planned words and changed direction. "I'm sorry, Maria, I'm not going to be able to stay, I have plans." She stood up. "Let me introduce you to my friend, Howard. He's looking for someone to take to dinner."
Howard stood up as well, holding out his hand to Maria, smiling a mega-watt smile. The man might have been over fifty, but he still knew how to captivate a young woman.
"I'm Maria," the girl said, holding out her hand to shake. "It's nice to meet you."
"You as well," Howard said, bowing over her hand. "So, are you in?"
Maria frowned. "In what?"
"For dinner. Eight o'clock, Declaires. I'll pick you up at seven thirty?"
Startled, Maria looked over Howard's shoulder to Peggy, who shrugged. "I hear they have an amazing dessert menu," Peggy said.
Maria looked back at Howard, cheeks flushed. "I'd be delighted to join you for dinner." She pulled a slip of paper out of her notebook, wrote an address on the back, and handed it to Howard. She managed to scoop up her books and bag without incident, and gave Howard a charming smile. "I'll see you at seven-thirty, Howard."
Howard held the door for Maria, looking after her as she walked down the hall. "What the hell just happened?" he asked Peggy after a minute.
"You invited a girl half your age out for dinner," Peggy said. "And if you take advantage, I will make you regret it."
"Why did I just do that?" he asked her, sounding puzzled.
Peggy dropped her stack of papers into her bag and rounded the desk. "For the same reason you're going to end this date by asking Maria for another," she said, kissing Howard on the mouth. "Because you're not getting any younger, and she's far too good for you."
The phone rang at three in the morning, waking Peggy from fitful dreams. She fumbled up the receiver to hear Howard's panicked voice demanding, "How much do you know about Maria?"
"Why?" Peggy demanded, turning on a lamp. She envisioned a million disasters - an assassination attempt, a disastrous discussion on politics, a scene in a restaurant. Howard so hated scenes unless he was the one causing them.
"Because I asked her to marry me."
Peggy waited for him to say he was kidding, but nothing more came over the line. She rubbed her eyes with her palm. "Oh Howard, honestly..."
"Is she a spy?" he asked, almost hopefully. "Or a communist. Tell me she's already married."
Peggy flopped back onto the bed. "She's not a spy, or a communist, and she's not married. Did she say yes?"
Howard sighed. "Yes. We ended up at a bar and we talked all night and I drove her home and I asked her to marry me and she said yes."
"Did you sleep with her?" Peggy asked.
"No."
This caused Peggy to raise her eyebrows. "Who are you, and what have you done with Howard Stark?"
"This isn't funny, Peggs!"
"Relax, Howard," Peggy told him. "You can change your mind in the morning. Hell, Maria might change her mind in the morning."
"I don't want her to change her mind," Howard said, his voice a tad petulant. "I don't understand."
Peggy wondered if she should feel jealous, or angry, but all she wanted to do was hang up the phone and laugh. "You fool," she said. "It's love at first sight."
"I'm too old for this! This is all your fault!"
"Well, then," Peggy said, stretching out under the covers. "You're welcome. Now go to sleep and see if anything happens in the morning."
Morning came and went. Maria didn't change her mind and neither did Howard.
Howard and Maria married six months later, in a spring wedding ceremony that was the scandal of New York for about twenty minutes. Peggy was there and spent most of the time catching up with Howard's old war buddies, avoiding Maria's friends, and drinking far more bourbon than was good for her.
At least one of them would have a happy ending.
Maybe it was the generation in which Maria grew up, but in the middle of September while Peggy was walking with Maria through Central Park, the younger woman said, "You and Howard, are you still sleeping together?"
Peggy raised an eyebrow at Maria's tone. "He's married," Peggy reminded her. "To you."
"That wasn't a no."
"No, Maria, I am not sleeping with your husband." She put her arm through Maria's, pulling the young woman along the path.
"Do you want to?" Maria asked. "I know you used to be involved, Howard told me."
Peggy came to a halt, staring at Maria. This wasn't a conversation she'd been expecting to have on this cool fall day. Or on any day. "What are you asking me?"
Maria bit her lip, her main nervous twitch, but her eyes were set on Peggy's face. "I thought that, maybe, we could... It wouldn't be like it used to be, but I think that the three of us could make it work."
Peggy took in a breath and let it out her nose. "Are you asking me to have a threesome with you and your husband?"
A passing priest looked at them, scandalized, then hurried on. Peggy ignored him.
"I think it's called a ménage a trois," Maria said, mangling the pronunciation but getting the words out.
"I know what it's called," Peggy said. "Did Howard put you up to this?"
"No, not at all," Maria said hastily. "He said you wouldn't go for it. But he's game if you are."
"I'll just bet he is," Peggy murmured. She found she was actually considering the offer. She'd had other lovers in her life, but Howard had certainly been the most... intense.
Besides, she could tell from Maria's expression that Howard really didn't believe that Peggy would be interested.
Well, she did like to surprise him. "Fine," Peggy said. Maria couldn't help herself from grinning. "On one condition."
"Anything," Maria said.
Peggy smiled. "I get to be there when you tell Howard what he's in for."
A girl had to have a little fun, after all.
to be continued