Imagine If You Assembled The Avengers: Volume 2

Frozen In Time (Stark & Stark/Rogers x reader)

You had lost your father to the war before you were born; the illustrious Captain America, who had chosen country over family in a move that shocked everyone who knew him.  Your mother had told you stories of his bravery and his selfless service as if she were proud of the man, but as the years passed and you began to understand more, you could sense the pain and disappointment in her tone as she spoke.  It didn't help that you reminded her so much of him, having been born with the smaller and complicated version of Steve, rather than drawing the luck of getting any of his enhanced super soldier genes.  Growing up in that era with any chronic medical problem was problematic at best, and she spent more days filled with worry than with joy for the life of her only child.

You lost your mother to tuberculosis not long after you had celebrated your christening into adulthood.  It felt as if it were a cruel joke to have her taken in the same way that had taken the paternal grandmother you had never known, but you weren't about to let the universe have its way with your future any longer.  Everyone that you cared about was taken from you far too soon, and as your own years passed by and your ailments were only getting worse rather than better, you were determined to break the cycle before it could claim you as well.

It wasn't a secret that Peggy Carter was a friend of Howard Stark's, and she had become a part of your life before you could remember to be sure that you and your mother were always taken care of.  Every few weeks or so, you would hear stories from her about a new invention or some crazy idea that Stark was trying to make into a reality; they were tales that you usually listened to only in passing, but when the word cryogenics caught your attention, you knew that this Stark guy could be the answer you had been searching for.  You also knew that to offer yourself as a live test subject for his newest work, it would be difficult for him to turn you away.  Having the blood of Steve Rogers coursing through your veins didn't hurt either.

"Okay, so what if something happens to you before I can get thawed?  What if they don't find cures for some of this stuff until after you're long gone?" you asked Howard nervously.  He was standing at the door to the cramped tube that would become your home for years to come, smiling like he had just won the lottery until he sensed your apprehension. 

"Hey, don't worry, (Y/N).  This is going to be well documented, every step of the way.  I'll be sure that enough people know the details so that if anything happens to me, you won't be forgotten.  If nothing else, Tony seems smart enough to give it a go."

"Howard, he's barely five-years-old," Peggy retorted with a snicker and a roll of her eyes, "you can't expect him to understand something this complicated-"

"Who do you think fixed the temperature regulator?  Sure as hell wasn't me."

"Okay, well, that actually makes me feel a little better, I suppose," you smiled weakly, taking one last deep breath to settle your nerves.  Taking the last steps up towards the mechanism, you gave it one last, long examination; as your hand trailed over the cold metal and small window on its door, alarms began to sound in your mind at the familiarity.  "Mr. Stark, one question."

"Only one?"

"Only one more.  Why does this look like something I've seen before?"

Peggy closed her eyes and smiled to herself, but it was filled with painful memories rather than any happiness; when you turned to ask her what was wrong, she beat you to the question and offered the answer before you could speak.  "That's because it's the same one, darling.  I'm sure that you've seen pictures and that's why it's familiar to you."

"Yeah, resources for something like this are a little hard to come by," Howard joined in, "so after a few modifications, I've been able to use the same system that your dad was in when I gave him the serum."