Author's Note: I LIVE. SURPRISE!

I am so sorry that it took so long to get this chapter up! My summer has been absolutely insane so far, and I honestly have no excuse as to why it took so long to get this up. I've been working full time, dealing with writing my The Avenger Initiative series, and setting up a Sharon Carter RP blog on Tumblr most recently, which meant that everything is completely insane on my end.

Plus, I have had no inspiration to write this story, to be completely honest. My Mack muse has completely drained out up until now, so I've been working incredibly hard to try and get everything back together on this end. There is no way that I want this story to end, not when we're getting into a lot of fun plotlines, and especially not when we're getting closer and closer to Winter Soldier.

But updates will be slow. I'm about to go back to college soon, and things will be insane for the first week or so, especially as I'm getting back into the swing of things. But it's easier to write at college than at home, which will hopefully meant that I'll be getting back into a normal updating schedule sooner rather than later.

As always, I don't own anything related to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, just my own original plotlines and characters, especially Mack Donahue. Thank you all so much for the support and the summer long hiatus, and thanks so much for the understanding, you guys are completely amazing. Please leave a review on the way out, I'd love to hear what you guys are thinking of this story right now!

Idiosyncrasy
Two months after New York, as they figure out their relationship and place in a new world, Mack and Steve find themselves in the middle of a conspiracy that threatens all they hold dear.

Chapter 2 – More than Blood

July 3, 2011

The ice was rising.

He woke slowly after the crash, the cold reaching through every bit of his body, chilling him to the bone as he gasped, the air nearly stabbing his lungs. Even with the serum enhancing his body, his body was so god damned cold, and he was scared.

For the first time in a long while, Steve Rogers was scared.

Awareness hit him a few moments later as he shivered further, trying to move. Pain shot through his body, and his soldier's mind went to the possible injuries he might have. The pain that came when he breathed hinted at rib damage. The pain in his hips was nearly overwhelming, and he felt like his head was spinning.

Then again, what did he expected? He crashed the Valkyrie into the ice. Schmidt was dead. Soon enough, Steve would be as well. His life had been the price he had to pay to stop Schmidt, to save New York. He was more than willing to pay it.

It hadn't been his life that had been sacrificed. Bucky's life had been another price, and that was one he wished over and over again that hadn't been paid. Bucky had died. His best friend had died, and Steve still couldn't believe it, even as he lay, slowly freezing to death in the Valkyrie, his mind slipping away more and more each second.

He knew that crashing the Valkyrie had meant his own death sentence. He didn't care. Not when that meant that New York, that thousands of innocent people, were safe and okay. He hadn't failed in that duty at least, no matter how many times he had failed before.

He was going to die.

He didn't deserve more than this. Bucky had died cold and alone at the bottom of the mountains, if he hadn't died the moment he hit the ground.

Bucky had deserved so much better. Bucky had deserved a million things, a life of his own, a family of his own. He had deserved so much god damned better than he had gotten.

Steve deserved this fate.

"Steve?"

There was a voice, echoing in his head over and over again. Peggy's voice. He didn't deserve much in terms of his death, but he was glad that he hadn't been alone for part of it. Peggy's words echoed again in his head. She stayed with him the entire time he'd been crashing the Valkyrie, and he couldn't begin to describe how grateful he was for that.

He would be missing their date. That was one of his major regrets. At least he had managed to kiss her once before dying. She would have a good life. That was what he hoped at least.

A small part of him thought that this wasn't Peggy's voice. There was no trace of Peggy's accent, but there was just as much caring and concern. There was also fear, a fear that he couldn't completely understand. It was a fear for him, a fear for his own wellbeing. Even his muddled mind was able to pin it as the voice of someone who cared about him.

He was going to die. There wasn't any need for someone to fear for him. No need for anyone to care about his fate. Nothing could stop it.

"Steve, babe, wake up, you're gotta wake up, please…"

A whimper of fear escaped him before he could stop it. He was going to die in the ice.

Panic overwhelmed him for a few moments as he gave a startled gasp. The cold was too much for him now, overwhelming every bit of calm and acceptance of his death. He was going to die. He was going to die and leave everything behind, and he didn't want to die. Not when there was so much he wanted to do.

His own wants didn't matter anymore. He had made his choice. It was time to pay the price of it.

"Steve!"

As Steve Rogers' eyes closed for the last time for sixty six years, his last thought was that at the very least, he had done his duty.

"Steve!"

Steve's blue eyes snapped open at the sound of the familiar voice, gasping and shivering hard as he blinked. He sat up sharply, his entire body shaking. Blue eyes moved rapidly, staring around frantically as he fell out of what he realized was a bed. It took a few moments for him to remember to breathe, every inhale and exhale coming out as a ragged gasp.

A ragged gasp slipped out of him as he shook, desperate to find his surroundings. Where was he? Where the hell was he? The air around him wasn't cold. He couldn't hear the howl of the Arctic winds around him, and perhaps the biggest change of all was that he wasn't alone in this room.

A soft whine sounded from the corner of the room, where Arizona was lying down under the one bed, big brown eyes wide clear with obvious fear. It was the sight of Arizona that started to anchor him. The brunette that moved in front of him, with pretty hazel-green eyes and clear concern radiating from her body, was the other thing that slapped his mind into awareness, that let him realize that no, he was no in the ice.

Everything came back to him within a few moments.

Steve wasn't in the ice anymore. He had been dug out months ago, had been dropped into a future that he wasn't ready for. He was currently in Pennsylvania, in a cheap motel room, staying overnight before he went to meet his girlfriend's family.

Rinse and repeat. Rinse and repeat, like he always did when these nightmares happened.

He was out of the ice. He had been out of the ice for months, and he was currently in a motel room with his girlfriend, about to meet her family. They had played Uno before they went to bed, and he beat her five games to three, and he had laughed when he saw the scowl on her face. She hated to lose.

The repetition helped to anchor him, and so he did it, over and over again. Mack didn't touch him yet. He needed her right now. He needed to know he wasn't alone.

Steve squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in his hands, choking back a sob. "Kenzie…" he whispered, his voice more like a whimper.

"Hey," Mack coaxed, kneeling gently down in front of him as he sat against the wall. Steve's blue eyes met hers a moment later, locking on. He was desperate to find another anchor, desperate to find something that he could hold onto, something that could keep him in 2011 rather than 1945.

"Kenzie," he gasped again, his voice shaky. He tasted something salty, and dimly recognized the feeling of wetness at his eyes and on his cheeks as he glanced down at his shaking hands.

Almost out of instinct, Steve's gaze flew to the other side of the bed. His shield sat next to the wall, within easy access. Ever since the Battle of New York, Steve didn't sleep without the shield close at hand. Mack never slept less than a foot away from a knife and a gun. Some habits were hard to break, especially when one half of a couple was a spy and the other half a superhero.

Mack followed his gaze, swallowing as she gently grabbed his hand, squeezing it. "You're alright," she promised. "You're alright, Steve."

He could see the pain and worry in her eyes, clear as day. He hated himself for making her worry, for making her deal with him in this situation. She didn't say a word before wrapping her arms around him, holding him tightly as he buried his face in her shoulder, taking a deep breath of her lavender body lotion, the one she put on every night before she went to bed, a scent that he had become so accustomed to.

"I'm sorry," Steve gasped, his voice muffled further from his position against her. "I'm sorry, it was a stupid nightmare, I'm… I'm fine."

Even if his girlfriend wasn't a spy, even if she didn't know him better than anyone else in the modern world, it would have been obvious that Steve was lying through his teeth.

"Nothing to be sorry for," Mack refuted softly, shaking her head as she kissed his head, fingers threading through his blond hair. He was relieved she didn't press the issue, didn't ask him more about the nightmare. "You're alright, you're safe. You're alright, Steve."

For a few moments, Steve let himself believe her.

Mack stayed awake even after Steve fell back into a restless sleep.

She couldn't coax him back into the bed. Instead, Mack had moved to sit against the wall, Steve's head in her lap as she combed his hair with her fingers. Arizona hesitantly moved over to them, curling up on Steve's other side, one of the super soldier's large hands buried in his fur. He was asleep, but the occasional whimper made it clear that it wasn't much of a rest.

There hadn't been many nightmares on their cross country journey, perhaps because there wasn't enough time for Steve to have nightmares. They had managed to get all the way to California and back within a few months. The months had been a mass of spending time together, laughing and adjusting and trying to find their place in a new world.

This wasn't the world that Steve Rogers had woken up to. And it definitely wasn't the world he had crashed the Valkyrie to save.

Superheroes were a real thing now. The Avengers were pop culture icons, even if Tony was the only one with his identity revealed to the public. Speculation as to who the other six members abound. At the moment, no one had gotten close to their right identities, though some of the guesses had been completely hilarious. Tony and SHIELD were working to make sure that their identities were kept quiet.

To Mack, it was only a matter of when their identities would become public, not if.

It could prove dangerous for some of their identities to get out. It was easy for Bruce's identity to be pieced together, especially by the right people. No one had realized it yet, but it was only a matter of time. Steve would be fairly easy to figure out too, and people were getting closer, even if some didn't believe it was the same Captain America from World War II.

The discovery of her, Clint, and Natasha's roles in the Battle of New York could prove deadly for all three of them.

They were spies. Their jobs depended on having their covers secure. People knowing about them could turn into an absolute nightmare. Strike Team Delta had made so many enemies. So many people wanted their blood as a result of their actions on an operation. Even if Strike Team Delta had been dissolved in the aftermath of Coulson's death, they were still a force to be reckoned with.

Clint and Natasha were back in New York at least. They were planning on staying in New York for a day or two before continuing around wherever they could. They had to be in Boston in time for Tori to give birth, but they had more than enough time for that.

Mack's thoughts were jarred at the sound of a vibration nearby. She had brought her phone with her when Steve had gone to the floor. The small screen was lit with the alert of a text message. Mack frowned deeply as she picked it up, reading over the short message. Her mood plummeted further at the words, dread biting at her gut.

We may need you soon. – PH

PH. Pamela Hawley. It wasn't as bad a deal with the devil could get, but the question of what Hawley might want her to do had been weighing on her mind since after the Battle of New York. That was the price Mack had to pay if she wanted to keep Clint away from the World Security Council.

She hadn't told anyone. What was there to say? There was nothing any of them could do to help, and even if she and Steve had agreed to no more secrets, Mack was convinced that telling someone else about her arrangement with Hawley would only bring them more woe. She wouldn't risk that.

To protect Clint, she had to be at Hawley's beck and call. Hawley wanted her for something, and every possibility that she could think of was worse than the last. There was little Mack could do other than wait to find out what Hawley would want from her and hope that it wasn't going to be anything too horrible, too painful, too much of a cost.

Someday, I may call you to action. And you may not like what I ask of you.

There wasn't another choice. There was no other choice, not when Clint was still on unsteady ground after the Battle of New York, after what Loki had done to him. Clint had protected her so many times, and Mack was more than ready to return the favor any way that she could.

As she typed a reply into her phone, Mack already hated whatever the Councilwoman expected of her.

I'll be ready, ma'am. - MD

They didn't talk about it the next morning.

Instead, Mack took over the driving for the rest of the trip, explaining that Wrigley was less than two hours away, and that it would make more sense if Steve unhooked his motorcycle to the back of the jeep and rode it behind her. They weren't silent; Mack and Steve joked like they always did, even as they split up slightly to travel to Wrigley on their own.

Steve knew there was a clear ulterior motive to the suggestion. Mack needed a bit of time to mentally prepare for seeing her family again for the first time since the Battle of New York. Steve needed a bit of solace to calm down completely from the nightmare that he had gone through last night.

It by far wasn't the first nightmare Steve suffered through since he woke up from the ice. There was usually some kind of trigger, a reason that the nightmare occurred. He could not think of one trigger from last night, one reason that he would have thought back to the ice, to the hours that it took for him to freeze over. It wasn't the first time he had that nightmare, but that didn't make it any easier.

It took only an hour or two to reach the house. Mack pulled into the driveway first, and Steve followed. Wrigley seemed like a typical small town. Mack had promised to take him on a tour later on; he was looking forward to it. This was where Mack had grown up, and he wanted to see her usual haunts, put places to memories she told him of growing up in Pennsylvania.

Steve pulled off his helmet as he parked the motorcycle, shaking out his hair as he took a good look at where they had parked. It was a typical suburban house, two stories tall with open windows. The distant smell of a grill hit him instantly, clearly coming from the backyard. The sound of laughter and chatting was also clear. He could almost see Mack growing up here, years ago.

Mack got out of the front seat of the jeep a few moments later. As nervous as she claimed to be about the meeting, the small smile that crossed Mack's face was something Steve had seen only when they were with Clint and Natasha.

It was the smile Mack had went she felt like she was home.

Steve glanced up as he saw a small form racing out from the direction of the backyard, heading straight to Mack. For a few moments, he froze, analyzing whether it was a threat that was coming or not. Relief pounded into his head a few moments later when he realized that it was in fact a small child running towards his girl.

He had to calm down. He could not freak out over everything.

Mack's laugh was bell-like as the little boy practically lunged at her. It was then that Steve got a good glimpse of what he was carrying: a small, plastic shield modeled after the shield he had hidden in the back of Mack's jeep. Steve managed to slip over to the jeep, letting Arizona out of the back a few moments later.

Setting Arizona loose was akin to letting loose a rocket; the dog bolted, tail wagging happily as he barked loudly. The dog had been cooped up for months, and had been an absolute saint on their cross country journey. Mack hadn't known if bringing Arizona was a good idea, but the memory of playing with Arizona on the beaches of California made everything worth it.

Arizona was part of their little family, and he didn't want to leave that behind.

Steve glanced up as a woman came to the front yard from the direction of the back. There was a striking resemblance to Mack, and it was obvious that this woman was her mother. The nerves that Steve denied for weeks came up as he watched Mack's mother approach them. Mack herself walked over to Steve, whispering conspiratorially to the little boy in her arms.

Mack shot him a soft smile, winking once as she glanced back at the little boy in her arms. "Mom, this is Steve Rogers. Steve, this is my mom, Grace," she explained as the woman approached them, arms crossed against her chest.

"A pleasure, ma'am," Steve greeted, a warm smile slipping on his face as he held out a hand, bottling any bit of nerves that he could feel. This was Mack's mother, the woman who had raised her. There was no way that she couldn't be incredible.

To Steve's surprise, Grace stepped forward and hugged him. It took a few moments to return the hug, the smile on his face softening slightly in surprise. "The pleasure is mine," Grace assured him, squeezing his arm before letting him go, taking the little boy from Mack a few seconds later.

"And the little guy right here is Neil," Mack added, grinning at her nephew. Neil couldn't have been more than six years old, with bright blue eyes and a shock of white blond hair. Neil looked at Steve before offering his hand, still in Grace's arms.

"Hey, Neil," Steve greeted, shaking the hand, impressed with the initiative of the little boy. He reigned his strength in, glancing over Neil again as he glanced at Mack, who nodded encouragingly at Steve. "It's great to meet you. Mack told me a lot about you."

"She's Auntie Kenzie, not Mack," Neil corrected instantly, scowling slightly at the use of his aunt's normal nickname. Steve caught Mack valiantly trying to hide a snort of laughter. Grace didn't bother, a soft laugh coming out of her.

"Auntie Kenzie has told me so much about you," Steve replied without missing a beat, chuckling as a beaming grin came over Neil's face. He was still holding onto the toy shield, and he realized where most of the humor in Mack's eyes was coming from.

Of course she found the fact that her nephew had a Captain America shield hilarious.

"Is else in the house?" Mack asked, glancing around the front yard. Arizona was running around, clearly absolutely thrilled at being given some open space. The dog was smart enough not to wander off, and Wrigley was clearly the type of small town that wouldn't care about dogs running around.

"Alec and Dahlia are both taking naps right now, but they're in Sean and Bridget's old rooms. Your old room is ready for you two. If you both want to come out after getting everything into the house, we have food ready," Grace explained, looking Steve over again, frowning slightly.

"Grandma and Grandpa here yet?" Mack asked, looking a bit excited.

Though Steve knew of the problems Mack occasionally had with Grace, he also knew that she was incredibly close to Grace's parents. Mack's grandparents had been the one to get her Arizona after all. To be completely honest, Steve was looking forward to meeting them.

"They'll be here tonight. I'll see you both out back in a few minutes." Grace carried Neil in the direction of the back yard a few moments later. Arizona bolted after them, tail wagging hard enough that Steve was wondering if he could hurt it. Mack rolled her eyes, watching them disappear.

"You had me worried for nothing," Steve protested, following the brunette agent to the back of the jeep. Considering what Grace had said about a possible storm tonight, getting everything into the house seemed like a good idea at the moment. A part of him was curious to take a look inside the house as well. He was eager to take a look at whatever he could right now.

"You've talked to her for five minutes. Trust me, she'll get worse," Mack warned, shooting him a death glare before glancing back over towards the backyard. "It's Mom and Bridget you need to be ready for. I don't always get along with Bridget."

"But you get along with your mom and stepdad?" Steve asked.

Mack chuckled, running a hand through her hair. "I adore Sean. We've always been really close. And Kevin's great. Never treated me any different than Sean or Bridget because I wasn't his biologically. Neil's his oldest kid, I'm closest with him."

Steve nodded softly, glancing back at the old white house. This was where Mack grew up. He had shown Mack some places in Brooklyn that had been his old haunts, before they had started on their cross country road trip. "We'll be fine."

"I know we will." Mack paused in setting another suitcase on the ground, smirking as she reached up and slipping her arms around his neck. "We're gonna be just fine."

Steve snorted in laughter. "I keep telling you that, you never believe me."

"Well, you're an optimist. We both know I'm a pessimist." Mack winked up playfully at him before pulling him down into a quick kiss.

Steve's eyes slipped shut automatically as his hands slipped to either side of her waist. The kiss didn't last more than a few seconds, but it was long enough for a warm glow to come across Steve's face. The kiss ended too soon for Steve's liking, Mack stepping back to end it, winking up at him almost teasingly. She really was something else.

"Did you see what Neil was carrying?" Mack asked, glancing back at Steve as she picked up the black bag that held his shield and her knives. A shit eating grin crossed Mack's face as she cackled.

"Hard not to notice," Steve pointed out, shooting her a deadpan look as he grabbed the other two bags. He reached up to close the back of the jeep up as well.

Mack couldn't stop grinning if her life depended on it. "My nephew is a Captain America fan. This is beyond ironic."

"You're enjoying this so much, aren't you?" Steve groaned, snaking an arm around her waist as he pressed a kiss to her neck.

"Maybe," Mack hummed innocently, smirking up at him as she moved away from him, heading away from him and making her way into the house.

Her laughter was all the confirmation that he needed for his question.

Author's Note: And so we've began the introduction to Mack's family! This is going to be a fun little story arc, because we get a lot more hints about Mack's mother's past, which is going to play a lot into this story, though I can warn you all now that the full story won't come out for another few stories. You'll be left to wallow and wonder what the hell is going on with her over time. :D

Also, to self-advertise a bit, I'll be posting The Avengers Initiative soon enough, which will begin with a Steve centric story called Not a Perfect Soldier. This first story will be a lot shorter than the others, but it sets up everything that is going on with that series, and it takes place immediately after Steve's awakening in the modern world and lead up to Avengers. It'll be a really tough story to write, but I'm excited for it.

It will take place in another verse, so prepare for a lot of AU situations for it, because it is going to get very interesting at times. Hell, it starts out as AU from the very start, and the series will be Steve/Sharon the more we go on, because as much as I love Mack/Steve, I do adore Sharon/Steve.

Once again, I hope that everyone enjoyed this chapter, and I hope I'll be able to get a new chapter up sooner rather than later. I've got a lot of plans for this story, and I hope everyone's going to enjoy it! To spell out a few plans though, though Winter Soldier is coming sooner or later, it won't be for a bit later, though I'll go into more detail about that on another chapter. Thanks again, please leave a review on the way out!

Chapter 3 – Follow the Leader
Steve knelt down next the little boy, smiling softly. "Nice shield. Probably even cooler than Captain America's."