A/N: I don't own The Avengers or Captain America. R&R!
Tony Stark had not exactly expected to find someone in his living room at three in the morning. Okay, so it was the team's living room, but he still had not thought anyone would be there that early. Nevertheless, there was a clearly feminine figure lounging on the sofa watching something on the television. Music videos, he determined.
"Assuming you aren't one of the two women which normally live here, what are you doing in my tower?", he asked the figure.
"You told me to stop by the next time I was in New York. Now, hush! This is one of my favorite songs!", and Tony smiled as soon as he heard the voice.
"I kind of meant to stop by during normal daylight hours, Parker.", he retorted with a chuckle as he sat down on her right.
"We weren't exactly sure daylight would be the best time for us to enter the building, Tony.", Parker told him, so Tony paused the music video for New Kids On The Block's "Step by Step."
"Who is 'us'?", he asked.
"Before anything else happens, promise me you won't freak out.", she demanded, and Tony nodded.
"I promise, Parks, I won't freak out. I trust you.", he added.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., please bring up the lights.", Parker called out to the AI, and he did as she commanded.
Tony jumped when he saw a man, dressed from head to toe in black, on Parker's left. He recognized the man instantly, but that was not a good thing. How Parker had managed to get the Winter Soldier into the tower was beyond Tony.
"Okay, what in the hell is going on here? Don't you know who this guy is?", Tony questioned, wishing he had his armor on.
"Tony, you promised not to freak out!", Parker exclaimed, being sure to stand between the two men.
"I wouldn't have if it would have been anyone other than the man responsible for Mom and Dad's accident! I looked into it after Nat unleashed all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secrets, and it is highly likely that H.Y.D.R.A. sent their weapon, the Winter Soldier, to kill Howard and Maria Stark. How can you stand there so calmly, stand beside him, knowing what he's done?", Tony roared, possibly waking everyone in the tower.
"Because I'm smart enough to know that H.Y.D.R.A. wouldn't just let their number one asset have free will when sent to kill a man who was once his friend. I also know that had he been in control of his mind, James would killed me the very day we met because that would've meant I was his mission! He's not a dangerous man unless he's forced to be. You have no idea what they did to him!", Parker was just as loud as Tony, definitely waking the other residence of the tower.
"Then enlighten me and explain why you brought him into my home!", Tony told her in exasperation.
Instead of speaking to Tony, Parker turned to James "Bucky" Buchanan Barnes and spoke to him. She spoke in a soft tone, one which was almost loving. Tony had never heard her use it before.
"Are you all right with me telling him what happened, or do you want to do it yourself?", Bucky opened his mouth to reply when the elevator door opened with a DING and the other Avengers tumbled out.
"Some of us actually sleep at night, Stark!", yelled Natasha Romanoff.
"What in the world is going on here, Stark?", called out Steve Rogers, the super soldier known as Captain America.
"Nothing!", both Tony and Parker called back, confusing Steve.
"I believe I can explain on my own for the most part, doll.", the First Avenger let in a sharp intake of breath at the sound of Bucky's voice, not believing his friend was actually there.
"By all means, go ahead. This better be good!", Tony said dramatically.
"From what memories I have regained after six months without H.Y.D.R.A. being in control, my body was recovered after I fell from the train. H.Y.D.R.A. took me and removed my mangled arm, replacing it with this thing.", Bucky held up his metal arm which was no longer attached to his torso.
"Apparently, his originally unintended dip into the Potomac damaged some of the circuitry. We came here hoping you might be able and willing to help.", Parker added as she held out her hands.
Bucky gently set the arm in her hands, surprising everyone in the room. Neither one paid anyone else any attention as Parker placed the arm in a black case that had been on the floor in front of Bucky.
"I was turned into their personal weapon, the 'new fist of H.Y.D.R.A.' they told me. After every mission they sent me on, I had my memories wiped with some sort of technology H.Y.D.R.A. had, might still have, that can do that. I did as I was told in order to avoid the pain H.Y.D.R.A. would cause me if I failed. By the time I was sent to take out Howard Stark, I couldn't even remember my own name, much a less him. I still have no idea how many assassinations are my fault, how much blood is on my hands, or how I even survived the fall from the train in the first place. I was actually hoping to speak to Doctor Banner about that. I think it may have had something to do with the experiments they did on me in their attempts to recreate Steve.", Bucky finished, chuckling at the looks on the faces of the Avengers and Pepper as he spoke.
Pepper was the first to recover, and she began trying to organize things as usual. She turned to Tony and began to question him. As per usual when Pepper did this, Tony quickly caved in and answered.
"Who is she, Tony?", and Parker looked at the older Stark.
"You haven't even told your girlfriend about me? I thought this was a serious enough relationship, for once, for you to tell the girl about me, Tony!", Parker was not pleased at all.
"Pep, guys, this is Margret Parker Howard Stark, my little sister. Parks was only three when Mom and Dad died, and I was twenty-one. Knowing by then how my personality can be, I put her in boarding school to keep her safe from harm, from me and my selfish tendencies, once she was ten years old. However, if you ever doubt my love for my sister, just know that I spent most of my twenties taking care of her, and I don't regret it in the least. Parker was perfectly capable, at ten, to understand that I tend to be an egotistical man-child; as you can see, we have a complicated relationship. I love my sister, and I'd do anything to help her or take care of her, but I have to be able to live my life, and vice versa.", Tony explained, and Parker nodded along with him.
"Well then, Parker, it's nice to finally meet you. I'm Pepper Potts, but you probably already know that.", Pepper said to the younger woman, and Parker smiled before hugging Pepper.
"Welcome to the family, Pepper! If Tony risked his life to save you, then you're good in my books!", this made pretty much everyone smile, but only Bucky let out a deep chuckle.
"He risked his life to save all of Manhattan, doll.", he added, but Parker just stuck her tongue out at him maturely.
"So, are you going to actually introduce me to your friends properly, Tony? Telling them who I am isn't going to help me know who they are. I mean, I know who they are because of the news, but I'd rather actually be introduced to them anyway.", she said to her brother, and Tony relented.
"Okay, everybody get over here. Bruce, you first!", Tony called to his teammates/friends.
An average height man, who was attractive, Parker had to admit, came over to them wearing a set of plum pajamas.
"Hi, Parker. I'm Dr. Bruce Banner. I'd say your brother has told me about you, but he never brought you up.", the man said kindly, smirking at Tony.
"Hi, Dr. Banner. It's nice to meet you, finally, as Tony has told me a lot about you. Thank you, for being his friend, saving his life, and everything else that you and the Other Guy have done for him.", Parker replied.
"Please, call me Bruce. It was no problem, because I think I needed him more than he needed me. Someone has to make sure the Other Guy and I don't get too dark and twisty.", Bruce said simply, and Tony let out an exasperated sigh.
"Why did you make me sit through a Grey's Anatomy Netflix binge with you and Spangles?", he asked the physicist.
"We agreed to help Steve learn about this century, that's why.", Bruce said before moving to sit at the far end of the long couch.
"Hello, Parker. I'm Clint Barton, also known as Hawkeye. I was actually put on a team that was supposed to keep you safe a few years ago when Tony was dying of Palladium poisoning. For some reason, though, we were never able to locate you.", Clint introduced himself, but Parker just whipped around and glared at Tony.
"You were DYING and you didn't even tell me!", she roared, and Tony took a step back, while Bucky used his good arm to hold Parker back.
"Parks, I tried, just like with Pepper, but it never worked. I called you five times to ask you to come home, but you never answered. I was going to sit Pepper down and tell her over breakfast, but that fell through as well. So much has been going on since then, I sort of forgot to tell you. I promise, I intended to tell you, Parker. I promise.", Tony said gently, and Parker stopped trying to fight her way out of Bucky's powerful one-armed grip on her waist.
"I believe you, Tony. Just don't ever not tell me that you're dying again!", Parker snapped, but they could all tell that it was due to stress, not because she was actually angry with her brother; said brother sat down on the couch beside Bruce, with Pepper on his other side.
Natasha took advantage of the silence that followed Parker's statement to introduce herself. As she spoke, she glance continuously and nervously over at Bucky. He only looked at Parker, as if he was waiting for her to tell him what to do. Or was he? Natasha was having a hard time determining what the glint in Bucky's eyes was.
"Hello, Parker. I'm Natasha Romanoff. Even when I was posing as his, and then Pepper's, assistant, Tony never mentioned you. I guess he must've had a good reason to do so, then.", she said with an uncharacteristic giggle.
"Tony has a habit of keeping me from the public in order to protect me. He's been doing this ever since I was a kid, so I'm kind of used to it. Also, I know who you are. You don't have to be afraid of James, just like I told Tony before. He's been free of H.Y.D.R.A. for six months, and he won't hurt anyone without reason. He's just like you, in a way; he's got red in his ledger, and he'd like to wipe it out if he could.", the young woman's explanation shocked Natasha, as she had not expected Parker to call her on what she was trying to hide.
"Okay, Parker.", was all she could say.
"You're the last one, Captain. I promise that we don't bite. My father would roll over in his grave if I harmed his dear friend.", Parker said to Steve, and the soldier laughed as he walked over and gently shook her hand.
"Buck?", he asked, and Bucky looked at him, giving him an amused grin.
"Yeah, punk?", the former H.Y.D.R.A. asset responded, loosening his hold on Parker, but not removing his arm.
"How are you…you? Why are you here?", Steve asked, still in shock.
"Should I tell him, or would you rather do that?", Bucky asked Parker, and the whispered something to him that none of the Avengers heard. "All right, I'll do the talking again."
"He asked you the question.", Parker said with a giggle, and Tony nearly launched himself off the couch and across the room when Bucky leaned in and pressed his lips to the top of Parker's dark haired head; luckily, Pepper and Bruce held him back.
"After I pulled your unconscious ass from the Potomac, I went searching for who I really was. I went to the museum, saw the stuff about me, and wanted to find out more. In my research, I found out about the deaths of Howard and his wife. I started remembering being there when the accident happened. Then I remembered causing the accident. I felt terrible about that, and I felt even worse when I found out Howard and his wife, Maria, had children. Though, at the time, I also had questions as to why there was a nineteen year age gap between the children.", Bucky said, and Tony was quick to cut in with his own answer.
"Mom had a hard enough time when she was pregnant with me, so she and dad decided to wait or not have another child all together. Eventually, Mom wanted another baby but was too old, by her doctor's standards, to carry another child; so, as it was the late eighties, they used a surrogate and in-vitro. That led to me getting this amazing little genius for a baby sister, and I couldn't possibly be more proud of her.", he said, and Parker hid her face in Bucky's chest as she turned a bright red color at Tony's praises.
"Anyway, I made my way here within a month. I wanted to face my crimes, to face Howard's children. I found Parker and followed her for a while, but she knew I was there. Scared the hell out of me when she turned around and said I could've walked with her if I'd only asked. She asked me to walk her across the street to Starbucks, bought me this caramel mocha thing, and told me that she knew who I was. Apparently, she'd already been to the museum and knew my face pretty well by that time. She, well, tell 'em, doll.", Bucky sounded so much happier than he had in most of Steve's memory.
"I told him I forgave him for causing Mom and Dad's accident. I knew, after I read through the S.H.I.E.L.D. and H.Y.D.R.A. documents Natasha released, what he had been forced to do. I couldn't possibly hold it against him when he only knew he had to complete his mission or suffer at the hands of Pierce and his H.Y.D.R.A. pals.", Parker said as she gave Bucky a sweet smile.
"You're too good, doll. You are better to me than I deserve.", Bucky told her, and Parker rolled her eyes.
"No, I'm not. After everything you've been through, you deserve someone who will be there for you unconditionally. You deserve to have someone who can help you pick up the pieces and put them back in the right order. Now, on with answering Steve's questions.", she replied before letting her head fall back onto Bucky's chest.
"Okay, well, over the past few months, Parker has been helping me regain my lost memories. Her techniques can be odd, but they've worked so far. Like she said, ever since I pulled you out of the river, my arm has been a bit, I don't know, off? It wasn't functioning properly, so Parker tried to take a look at it. There are a few fried circuits in there. We left the metal connector plate on, just hoping Tony might know how to fix the arm. Parker said he was our best bet, so we took a cab ride over here an hour or so ago. We had no choice when the arm locked up when we attempted to get some sleep.", he finished his explanation, and Tony stood up and looked at his sister curiously.
"From now on, I sleep on the left side of the bed to be on the safe side.", Parker said with a laugh, and Bucky nodded in agreement.
"How long were you in the city without telling me?", Tony asked her as he walked towards his sister.
"Um, I don't know, ten months?", she guessed.
"Ten months! How long has he been here with you?", Tony's next question made Parker's cheeks tinge a light pink.
"James has been living with me for about five months.", she said in barely a whisper, but they all heard her.
"Tony, calm down. You're scaring your own sister.", Pepper, following him across the room, told her boyfriend in a scolding tone.
"Fine, I apologize for over reacting, Parks. Now, you said the arm locked up when you- When you were what? You're sharing a bed!", Tony exclaimed as what had been said finally registered in his brain.
"Not everyone who shares a bed with someone else has to be sleeping with that person, Tony! I know how you mind works, unfortunately, so I have to say that! Yes, we share a bed, but nothing other than sleeping ever goes on in that bed.", Parker was quick to defend both Bucky and herself, something Natasha noticed.
"Well, how long has that been going on?", Tony asked calmly.
"All of, maybe, two weeks, Tony. Now, can everybody please go back to bed, or at least sit down and be quiet so I can finish watching this music video?", Parker asked just as calmly, and that was when the others looked at the television for the first time since arriving on the floor.
"You listen to New Kids?", Clint asked as he and Natasha sat down on the couch.
"Yeah, and this is one of my favorite songs. I think Tony actually threatened to have the song banned from the house at one point.", Parker answered, and Tony nodded as he once again sat down on her right.
"Guys, we really need to get back to bed. If aliens were to attack later on today or something, you all would be no match for them. You'd be dead on your feet!", Pepper chided, sounding like a mother scolding her children.
"But Parker and Barnes don't have to go to bed!", Tony whined.
"Tony, just call me Bucky like that punk does.", Bucky said, nodding his head towards Steve.
"They don't exactly have a floor, or even a room yet, do they?", Pepper asked Tony, and the armored Avenger decide to speak again.
"Actually, I did build one for Parker. It's the floor between ours and Steve's. I originally thought my sister would come home at some point.", he said, but Parker seemed to not hear him.
Tony looked over at his sister, prepared to stop the music video again, only to find her asleep with her head on Bucky's chest. The Winter Soldier himself was barely awake as it was. Tony knew Pepper was right, so he ordered J.A.R.V.I.S. to turn off the music video. Parker sat straight up with the music stopped.
"Nice of you to join the land of the living again, Sis.", Tony said, and Parker threw the nearest throw pillow at him, smacking him square in the face.
"You turned off my music!", she responded with a glare.
"You and Bucky need to follow me. I'd think you would want to sleep at some point, and this couch is not the best place to do that.", he said as if he was speaking from experience.
With a slight groan, Parker stood up and stretched. Bucky stood up right beside her, taking her hand in his. Tony chose to ignore this and led them towards the elevator. Once every single resident of the tower was inside the elevator, he pressed each residential floor button from the bottom up except for Thor's floor. At each stop, an Avenger stepped into his or her private floor; and all of the floors were dark. Once Steve stepped off, Tony visibly tensed. Was he really about to leave his baby sister alone with the man responsible for their parents' deaths? If the look Pepper was giving him meant anything, then yes, yes he was.
"Tony, would you stop being such a baby about this!", Parker hissed so quiet that Tony barely heard it.
"I can try. Why don't you guys meet us all downstairs for breakfast in the morning? It's our normal team breakfast day anyway, so I can set two more places. What d'ya say?", he said as a reply, and Parker and Bucky seemed to have a silent conversation about the offer.
"Chocolate chip pancakes and we're in.", Parker said after a few moments of silence had passed.
"Square deal. I'll see you two in the morning, then! Good night!", Tony said as the elevator doors opened on a floor which was actually lit up.
Parker and Bucky stepped off of the elevator, and the doors closed behind them. The first thing Parker noticed was how the apartment Tony had designed for her was streamlined. She could look straight out from the elevator and see the massive window that was behind the television.
Though she tried hard to stay awake and explore her apartment, Parker managed to fall asleep on Bucky's shoulder while still standing. Smiling to himself, Bucky carried her into the bedroom and gently placed her on the left side of the bed. As soon as her body touched the mattress, she rolled over to face right. Bucky slid both of the overnight bags he had been carrying off his right shoulder and put Parker's on the dresser. He put his own bag by the right side of the bed, and then Bucky laid down beside Parker. The twenty-six year old immediately curled into his side without waking, her head on his chest once more. Bucky draped his right arm over her, and he quickly let sleep and the caramel scent Parker gave off claim him.
They would make it, he thought as he slipped into dreamland, step by step.
A/N: I own nothing, especially NKOTB. I only own Parker and the story. As a side note, I must thank my mother for introducing me to NKOTB as a child.