Work Text:
He’ll admit that this plan of his was very much half-cocked, but that didn’t mean that it wouldn’t work. In fact, it was going extremely smoothly. His side of the plan, that is. He had no idea what dear old Captain was doing, but that was something he wouldn’t worry about. All he had to do was grab the Tesseract that was right in front of him and call it a day.
As he hid it in a conveniently placed briefcase next to him, he made his way to the elevator, hands clammy but thankfully not shaking. Waiting for the elevator though, his leg couldn’t stand still, bouncing nervously. He told himself it was only because the old machinery was taking way too long to reach his floor, when in reality, he was eager to reach Rogers and get the hell out of there before something happened.
Once he heard the ding and the doors opened, he didn’t even look at the people already standing inside, too on edge to get outside. Just as he was about to press the button to the ground floor though, a toy car collided with his shoe. Before he could reach down for it, a tiny hand appeared between his feet, followed by a small head, the sight of which made his breath catch in his throat.
“Anthony,” the combination of the mention of his name and the peculiar voice saying it, made his hand slip from the button panel and press a few too many. “Be careful with your toys, sweetheart. Don’t go bothering the gentlemen working here.” He didn’t dare turn around, not unless he wanted to break down and make a fool of himself. “Why don’t you say you’re sorry to this gentleman, Anthony?” Still kneeling between his feet, the boy’s head turned to look up at him and he swears his heart stopped for a second.
“I’m sorry, sir.” The high-pitched voice took him by surprise, not realizing he had ever sounded like that.
“It’s- it’s okay, kid.” If his voice cracked, no one in the elevator thankfully brought it up.
As the boy took what was his and stood back up behind him, he heard a soft huff. For a few seconds though, his brain disconnected, unable to process what he was seeing, or hearing that is, since he was too much of a coward to even turn his head.
“Mamma, it broke.” The small voice called out right as the elevator stopped on one of the many floors he unconsciously pressed. No one paid it any mind.
“Oh, honey. You know Mamma can’t help you with that. Why don’t we ask your Father later?” From the corner of his eye, he saw the boy’s shoulders slack and he just couldn’t resist it anymore.
“I could help you with that.” The doors opened once again. This time everyone turned their heads. “Sorry, I pressed a few too many buttons when I came in.” If it was anyone else he was talking to, he wouldn’t have blushed, but when his own mother stared at him, he couldn’t help himself.
“Don’t worry about it…” she trailed off.
“Potts,” he blurted out. “Tony Potts.” The boy's eyes sparkled as he looked up at him.
“Like me!”
“Yeah,” he smiled softly. “Just like you.” Extending a hand towards the kid, he placed his briefcase between his legs. “Let me see what I can do about that car of yours.” Happily, the boy hands it over. “Would you look at that, the wheel almost fell off. Can’t have that, can we?” As the kid giggled and shook his head, he softly pressed the plastic wheel back in its place. “A Cadillac, huh?” He said as he scanned the toy. “Good taste.” The boy beamed as he handed it back and he couldn’t help but smile back, knowing that exact car was his favorite toy growing up, a replica of his father’s own car.
“Anthony has a special interest in cars, just like his Father, don’t you honey?” She placed a stray strand of hair behind the kid’s ear just as he nodded eagerly.
“This is Dad’s car! He- he built the engine but- but Mr. Jarvis drives it.”
“Well, that is a fine car to drive, that’s for sure.” Grabbing the briefcase once again, he took a quick glance at the button panel, noticing there were still a few buttons pressed before they reached the ground floor.
“You want to see it?” The kid held out the toy.
“Sure, kid.” Crouching next to him, he listened intently as the boy explained every single thing about it. Nodding at the right times and adding some facts of his own, they almost reached the right floor.
“You’re good with kids, Mr. Potts.” Looking up at his own mother - which is still crazy to think about -, he blushed once again.
“I’d like to think so, ma’am.” As he stood back up, she chuckled.
“No need to call me ma’am, my name’s Maria.”
“But everyone calls her Mrs. Stark, because of Dad.” The boy added.
“Well then, Mrs. Stark. I’d like to think so, since I have a little girl.” Her eyes sparkled at the mention of a little girl.
“Oh, really? What’s her name if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Morgan. She’s- she’s the cutest and smartest little thing you’ll ever meet.” Sneaking a quick glance at the kid, he smiled. “Aside from this one, of course.”
“Of course.” His mother chuckled once again. “Having a Dad as intelligent as yourself-” she pointed at the MIT badge still hanging from his jacket pocket, “-she must be smart.” Scratching the back of his neck, somehow embarrassed, he chuckled.
“Well, most of her smarts she got from her mother, thank God. Actually-” he quickly reached inside his pocket, taking out a picture he always carried with him. “Here they are.” Handing it to her, he cleaned his sweaty palms on his pants.
“Oh my Lord, she’s precious. And your wife is magnificent.” He smiled brightly, holding back tears at the blessing from his mother he’d always wished he had.
“Yeah, she is. I’m one lucky guy.” Maria’s eyes locked with his, and for a while they just stared at each other. After a few seconds, he thought she recognized him, but the moment was broken by a high-pitched voice.
“I wanna see, Mamma!” Breaking the spell, his mother handed him the picture, not before getting a quick nod from him.
“Be careful, Anthony.”
“I will, Mamma.” His mother kept staring at the boy, most likely making sure he didn't either rip or bend the picture. He knew that from personal experience after all.
“It’s okay. I’m sure he’ll be careful.” As the elevator doors opened once again, both adults noticed theirs was the next stop.
“Have we met before, Mr. Potts?” Noticing that she did in fact recognize him, albeit not knowing from what, he just tilted his head, almost as if pensive.
“Could be. Or maybe I just have a pretty common face.” He smiled, but inside, he ached to wrap his arms around her and never let go. Before she could answer though, the doors opened on the ground floor and the boy took off running.
“Anthony!” She called out to him, but stopped herself from running as she saw a familiar pair of hands clutching the boy’s shoulders. “That boy, I swear.” He chuckled as they walked side by side, his hands almost shaking in his pockets as he approached yet another familiar face. “What did I say about running off, Anthony?”
“Do not worry, Mrs. Stark. The boy ran straight to me.” Just hearing that voice made his eyes well up with tears, but somehow, he kept a straight face.
“Still-”
“Look look, Jarvis!” The boy raised his toy car. “The man fixed my car and his name’s Tony like me!” The older man smiled at the kid.
“Is that so, Master Anthony? He must be a great mechanic, then.” He blushed for the third time that day.
“Something like that.” As he opened his mouth to continue the conversation, he saw Rogers from the corner of his eye, one eyebrow raised. “Well, I uh-” making sure he still had the briefcase safely in his grasp, he cleared his throat. “It was an honor meeting you, Mrs. Stark, Mr. Jarvis, Anthony,” he nodded at the boy “take care of that car, you hear? That’s one special model.”
“I will, Mr. Tony.” He chuckled, unable to stop himself from ruffling his hair.
“Goodbye, Mr. Potts. Hopefully we’ll see each other again soon.” For the second time in barely 5 minutes, he stopped himself from pulling his mother into a tight embrace.
“I’m sure we will, Mrs. Stark.” Walking away, he discreetly ran his thumb over his eye, clearing a stray tear that was about to make its way down his cheek.
“Who was that, Maria?” A well dressed Howard Stark asked as soon as he joined his wife.
“Just a man we met on the elevator. A very nice man that shared Anthony’s obsession with cars.” She chuckled as she watched her son play on the floor with his now fixed toy. “Oh God, the picture!” She exclaimed as she bent down to take it from the boy’s other hand, standing right back up to search for the owner once again.
“It might have a phone number or an address on the back, Mrs. Stark.” Jarvis added as he watched the woman look around frantically for the man.
Turning it around, she expected to find it empty, instead she found a few scribbles in what could only be a kid's handwriting, his daughter no doubt. Squinting to take a better look, she started to read out loud.
“Mommy and me. Lakehouse, 13th May…” she squinted harder “2022? How is that-?”
“A kid wrote that, Maria. She probably doesn’t even know how to count to ten.” Not even paying attention to her husband, she kept reading.
“Pepper Potts and Morgan-” a knot formed in her throat. “Morgan Stark.” All the air left her lungs.
“What?” Howard reached for the picture, trying to take it away from her, but she took it out of his reach.
“That’s why he looked so familiar.” She whispered almost to herself. “Tony-” her heart started beating faster and faster. “Tony, his name was Tony.” She, once again, started looking frantically around, and as she was about to give up, she saw a now familiar face in the distance.
They locked eyes for a few seconds, and as she raised the picture and he saw the tears now streaming down her face, he gave her a bittersweet smile and a nod.
“Anthony-” she whispered, clutching the picture close to her heart.
A few seconds later, she lost his face in the crowd, but she stayed in place. Picture in hand.