ext_22652 ([identity profile] entropy-house.livejournal.com) wrote in [community profile] cap_ironman2016-01-18 07:20 pm

Fic: Bingo Fill: Pegasus is Still Mythical

Pegasus is Still Mythical (570 words) by AnonEhouse
Rating: (AO3)
Warnings:None
Universe: MCU
Genre:Fluffy

Synopsis- A scene fitting in between Avengers and Age of Ultron, where Steve was living in the Tower and was friends with Tony.

A fill for the 'Future' square on my Bingo card.




"You know," Steve said, "when I was a kid, I used to read a lot."

"Uh huh," Tony said without looking up from the 1927 Indian Scout 45 Motocycle he was restoring.

Steve spoke softly, his Brooklyn accent showing itself. "I felt bad 'bout worryin' my ma by bein' sick all the time. Least I could do was improve my mind."

Tony looked up at that. "I smell nostalgia. What brought this up?" He and Steve had an unspoken agreement to interrupt each other if they started talking about depressing things.

"Sometimes I'll see something and it'll trigger a memory. When I was nine Bucky brought me a copy of Popular Science, and there was an ad for that motocycle. I cut out the coupon and sent for the circular." Steve smiled. "I used to look at it, and imagine I was riding, free as the breeze, and seeing the world."

"I get that. With me it was mostly cars."

"I read that magazine from cover to cover, until the pages started falling out. Even memorized some of the articles. It was all about progress, doing things better and smarter, and looking forward to the future. Heck, we believed, we believed so hard in science and engineering." Steve laughed. "Subways will be noiseless. The world may be lit by radio oscillation."

"What even is that?" Tony wiped his hands on a rag and sat down next to Steve by a work bench.

"I have absolutely no idea, but apparently there were going to be stations to broadcast light, and buildings would tap into it."

"Tap. Turn a faucet and have light pour out?" Tony was fascinated. "My old man should have invested in that."

"Oh, it got even better." Steve closed his eyes. "Let me think...'If matter is the result of defined electric vibration, could we not transfer our tables, our chairs and ourselves, by a knowledge of the forces which produce these oscillations? Future man may watch a bale of goods being whirled through space from Europe to South America traveling under its own power. Automobiles will be stream-lined with flexible body, inclosed in flexible glass, with four or six disk wheels shrouded. The interior will be air-cushioned. The engine will be a gasoline steam turbine totally inclosed and will not have to be tinkered with more than once a year. Eventually, power for vehicles will be tapped from the air by beam-wireless. And there will be a Pegasus vehicle, an aerocar, that can fly as well as ply the roads.' Great stuff." Steve opened his eyes and laughed at the look on Tony's face.

"I just...wow. Are you disappointed that we don't have teleportation and flexible glass and beamed power and flying cars?"

"Nah." Steve nudged Tony with his elbow, and then waved to take in the workshop, with the bots rolling around straightening things, and JARVIS manipulating a blue holoscreen as he worked on one of Tony's projects. "That was just dreams. This is real." Steve paused. "But, hey, if you ever do make a flying car, put me down for a test pilot."

"First model off the line," Tony promised. "As a promissory note, how about you take the Indian for a spin, once she's ready?"

"I'd like that," Steve said.

"Sometimes old dreams do come true," Tony said. He looked at Steve for a moment, then cleared his throat. "Well, back to work."







*Note: Motocycle was how it was spelled at the time in the ad in the June 1927 issue of Popular Science Monthly. It's a huge, fascinating magazine. I wound up reading for hours.
http://www.popsci.com/archive-viewer?id=oicDAAAAMBAJ
(the article 'An Amazing Vision of the Future' is on page 29)
tabaqui: (avengerssteve&tonybygeckoholic)

[personal profile] tabaqui 2016-01-19 12:51 am (UTC)(link)
Aw, very cool! I love seeing old predictions of the future, and where we went instead, or how far beyond....

Good stuff!