Authors Note: Originally posted to Archive of Our Own.

Chapter Summary: Steve arrives on Gardiners Island, Skye deals with the venue and struggles to resist her wife.

Sawyer's Cafe, Jacquesville, Gardiners Island, Suffolk County - April 9th, 2012

He had to admit that it was a nice place. Hell of a trip though, several miles of tunnels did not do his ears any good... or, wouldn't have, if the serum hadn't solved that problem at the same time that it made it worse. The reverb from his motorbike definitely upset a few people that he passed though. Sharon appreciated it, since the helmet dampened the harsh effect plenty. Hence why it would have been a problem - he only had the one helmet. He wasn't afraid to admit that he really liked the way she held on for the entire ride, and also for how her car had "mysteriously broken down". He knew what that really was, given the blush she wore when she pulled that trick.

If they hadn't taken his bike, he would have gone with her in her car though, so there actually was a chance that it really did break down. Though they wouldn't have sat this close. Not that he was fussed about that. In the late evening last night, when she'd told him about the car, he'd been worried for how cold it could get for her, and she just smiled at his concern. His jaw nearly dropped that morning when she came out, wearing tight pants, and a fleece-lined leather jacket, scarf already on and a backpack slung over a shoulder.

He was glad that she sat behind him, for more than one reason. If it had been her bike, he'd have insisted driving.

He wasn't familiar with the route, so Sharon had shown him how to use his cell phone as a navigation device, and it was only once on the road, that he'd reminded her she'd already shown him how to work google maps. Seeing her blush in a wing mirror was worth the slap on the head. The hundred and fifteen-mile journey would have taken them three hours with only light traffic and obeying the speed limits, but given when they needed to get there, Sharon agreed with him on setting off early, both to beat much of the traffic and give them extra time, instead of heading straight to the venue. It actually taken two hours to get to Shirley, were they stopped at a rest stop. Sharon tried to hide it, but he'd caught that she hadn't realised what it would feel like on a bike after that long, and guessed that she'd only had short trips before.

When they reached Southampton, he'd detoured. He'd been there before, and with the time, wanted to see a proper sunrise. Sharon was practically glowing when they left the ocean-front beach, and mumbled that it was a perfect first date, and kissed the back of his neck as he pulled back out onto the highway. He had actually decided to do that in part as a date, because of something her Mom had said the day before, and he realised that people might have found it weird that his first date with her was to her own grandmothers' birthday 'not a party' get-together. Though he agreed that under other circumstances he would find it weird, he didn't, not really. It was different things, like the age difference, that he had to 'deal with'.

Meeting Sharon's Mom did not help, though that wasn't because he was attracted to her. He wasn't, and he was fully sure of himself in that regard - he thought that she was beautiful, yes, but he'd never been the type to be attracted to people because of their looks. Lord knows Bucky suffered through double-dates because of that. Steve always managed to get along better with those he privately thought weren't as pretty as Bucky's dates, or on the odd occassion, when Bucky managed to score him a hot date. Several of them were not unintelligent, but the general upbringing of many of the women meant that they hid that intelligence. And being smart wasn't the only factor, either. There was just something about women like Skye that he knew he could be attracted to them, but he wasn't.

Peggy was, close, to that. She was beautiful, smart, and held a wicked sense of humor when pushed. But though he was attracted to her somewhat, if he'd actually held serious interest, it wouldn't have gone past flirting. If he'd never had the time spent in the company of the USO tour girls who were practically his only friends for several months, he wouldn't even have felt comfortable going that far without that interest, and he knew that out of experience. Several of those girls had a crush on him, and dealt with it simply by acting on it a little, before moving on. He'd been kissed before, he wasn't even a virgin, though that didn't involve any of the tour girls. He wasn't starting from scratch, and knew when a woman was interested. He'd flirted back, because he felt that he held the same level of interest in turn. And then he spent a year in Europe, going were he and the 107th was needed. Peggy was around for quite a lot, but still less than half. His interest faded from attraction, and settled quite firmly on friendship, and it was in that regard, that he knew he loved her. But, he honestly wondered how much was their friendship being the block, or as they call it these days, "Friendzoned", and how much was the war itself.

He'd not been lying when he enlisted. He didn't want to kill anyone, he just didn't like bullies. But it was still a war. He still ended up killing nazis, no matter his core beliefs. The shield looked good and by the time he went under the ice he had gotten pretty good at using it as a non-lethal weapon, but the fact remained that even the shield could, and did, kill. Too much force here, thrown too fast there. And when facing against Hydra soldiers with their energy weapons, ricochet and energy dispersion became a factor. He hated to take lives, and though he hid it well, the 107th knew how badly it affected him... until it didn't. The day he lost Bucky.

Peggy saw the aftermath, and between her and the 107th, picked him back up and mostly back together, but he wasn't the same, and neither was his friends. Gone was the humor, jokes, even pranks on the enemy forces when open action hadn't been authorised. And gone was the subtlist of hesitations to go for a killing stroke, and that wasn't just himself, but Peggy too. Neither of them could look at each other the same way after that. Then he'd gone on the Valkyrie, he'd left Peggy. And it wasn't out of heroic self-sacrifice. He was a quick learner, it wouldn't have taken long to learn how to operate and fly the plane, even with its mix of advanced jet and primitive propellers. He could have even figured out how to crash it elsewhere, where it wouldn't even take him long to return to civilisation. He'd have survived. But he'd reached breaking point. He didn't think of any of that, because he just wanted to stop. He crashed the plane in greenland, because he knew that there, he'd have no hope for survival.

Then he'd woken in Manhattan, New York, October 8th, 2011. He'd kept composure long enough to be taken back into the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, and let it all hit. He was sent to the Retreat not because of time-shock, but a pretty heavy dose of PTSD. Fury knew, as did some of the therapists they'd brought in, who were experienced in helping soldiers who returned from other wars. But they'd kept that secret, along with his return. That he was alive was classified, for now, to give him time to adjust, time to get better.

He knew he'd still be a long way from being able to step out and just socialise, if it weren't for Sharon.

Even last night, with her big secret revealed, talking about some of her history, why she joined SHIELD as a field agent and yet is a qualified nurse, she reminded him of, well, himself at the start of the war. Before he knew, he'd had no idea that there was that whole other side to her life because it wasn't a different side. She'd kept that there even was a secret, despite wanting to tell him all along, because S.H.I.E.L.D. Specialist Agent Thirteen was the same person as Sharon the Nurse. She both joined SHIELD and went to medical school for the same reason, to help people. Whether that was patching them up after a car accident, or defending them from those who seek to do harm. Or, in his case, give him a place where all of the worldly issues just fall away.

It had been difficult at first, talking to her. He'd been fresh from what he thought as a psychotic break, so difficult was rather putting it mildly. He initially thought that it was her crush on him that also made it difficult for her to open up, and though it was a reason she struggled to converse like a regular person with him, it was only with the truth that he realised why it started that why, and continued. With the biggest road-block gone, she had found it much easier to talk, the way they did when she'd return from her long shifts at Brookdale Hospital. He'd already known the real Sharon. There was no fake Sharon. She helped him, pull himself back together, and did so because of who she was, not what she was, not that she had orders.

If she hadn't stuttered her way through asking him out like she had on Friday night, it wouldn't have been long before he asked her out. Not out of simple gratitude for keeping him from going crazy again, but because he cared about her as more than friends. He loved, pretty much everything about her. Her Mom had asked him to forgive her for keeping secrets, but she didn't need to, because that's when he realised he actually was crazy. Crazy in love with Sharon.

He just found it difficult to dismiss the age difference, and tried his hardest to dismiss his time in the ice in that regard. Without that, they were the same age, more or less. Had he been born on what he thinks the adjusted date of birth as, he knew that sure, they wouldn't have been in the same grade, that for much of the year the number itself would be different. That kind of difference didn't enter into anything. But Sixty six years... that did. He rather thought that without that hang up, he'd have asked her out a month ago.

But he wouldn't change how it did happen for anything, not that it had.

"Penny for your thoughts?" She asked, in between bites of her breakfast.

He inwardly smirked, and flirted, "Just thinking of how lucky I am to be here with you." He hid the wince at the delivery, and realised he was out of practice at overt flirting.

Sharon must have thought the same from the look on her face, and they both started laughing. It felt good to laugh. Probably because it was with Sharon.

Yes, definitely crazy-in-love. he thought to himself.

Juniper Square, Jacquesville, Gardiners Island, Suffolk County

For an Island that was bulldozed and completely rebuilt for S.H.I.E.L.D. it didn't have very good security once you got there. Sure, Most of the employee entrances to the underground facility were all protected, and the 'visitors entrance' on the surface, as well as other surface access points all had the requisite security. But in the 'civilian' areas, it was actually very lax. Very little actual Overt security measures - Sure, the 'commercial' premises had obvious CCTV pointed at the entrances and rear access, and the main thoroughfare running betwen Jacquesville, Gabe Point and Falsworth Harbour had traffic cams, but that was all an untrained civilian would see.

Those trained for Espionage, or those who lived with covert security measures growing up, it was actually easy to spot the covert means, or lack of them. With a visiting Head of State - Victor von Doom - along with three high-ranking members of other foreign governments, security was to be stepped up. That Victor had arrived before it could be on the Sunday had given the security service a headache, but not much of one because he was a known Enhanced. As a Head of State, S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't even try to assess him however, never mind actually go ahead and put him on the index. Rumors hold that he is an electrokinetic, though the only thing concrete about his abilities is that he's effectively bullet-proof. The other three, however, were not.

"Tango-Three, you've been spotted." Talia commented into Skye's earbud. Skye sighed, as she too had spotted the agents that were supposed to be in disguise. Skye turned around, and gave an amused glare at her wife, who just grinned and stood back straight, though still well within Skye's personal space. "Security being a nightmare?"

Skye listened for a moment to whoever was on the other end of her comms, and nodded idly. "Tango Leader, you have two hours to re-evaluate disguises. I've spotted Tangos Three, Five, Six, Eight and Nine. Three, the grey wig is overdoing it. Five, you look like you're about to play cricket, and there's food in your pocket. Six, the patchwork doesn't suit you. Eight, you're not in the eighteen hundreds, and Nine, you look like a homeless U-Boat captain. Correction." She sighed, looking over Talia's left shoulder, "Eleven. Loose the bowtie, and where did you even find a fez?" Talia looked around in amusement, then back at Skye when she added, "Don't blame the Doctor for your wardrobe malfunctions. Just wear normal civilian clothes and act like normal people. Seriously guys, it's not that difficult."

Talia chuckled, and tugged Skye to a bench, pulling out the ear-wig comms unit. Skye didn't sit though.

Juniper Square wasn't very big, but for the two-dozen attendees - if all those invited did make it - it was plenty of space. And the town didn't actually have anything indoors big enough. The tree cover however gave plenty of shade, and didn't come so low to prevent gazebos being erected around the statue in the centre. "How did you end up getting roped into working on your vacation?"

Skye sighed, "Victor responding that he was going to attend? I knew before I left my ship that I'd have to take charge of security." She smirked a little, "Fury would feel obligated to take advantage, otherwise."

"And a good job you've done." Talia flicked her eyes around, "The only mistake I've seen isn't your fault, and you've already pressed their team leader to sort it out. Tango Lead won't let you down. Now, come on, you need a break." Talia tugged at skye's arms again, and she capitulated, sitting besides Talia, legs almost touching. "How did your talk with Grandpa Frisbee go?"

"Pretty good. I may have challenged him to a frisbee match, though." Skye grinned a little, and added, "He was actually rather cool about my Professional name, for a grunt."

"And the news about Sharon's job?" Talia asked.

Skye shrugged. "It had, surprised him, and he did seem shaken, but he seemed otherwise okay about that. I left when they both started talking, and made me feel like a third wheel. I think they'll be okay." She chuckled, and added, "Pissed off at you for playing match-maker, but okay. I'm not sure he's realised that 'Agent Romanoff' is her Mamochka." Skye finished, using the Russian word for mother that Sharon called Talia by growing up, though once she'd started at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy, Sharon mostly just called her Mother, though Skye was and still is 'Mom'. "Have you actually spoken to him?"

"Not yet." She pouted, and added, "I was thinking maybe I'd move into our apartment, and when Sharon wasn't around, strike up a friendship..."

"You wanted to bug him into asking her out?" Skye smiled and shook her head.

Talia just shrugged, "He's been interested for a while, so I figure, since Sharon was ignoring me, it'd be easier to convince him." Skye blinked, and Talia chuckled lightly, "I can't think of anyone more suited to her, and vice-versa, can you?" Talia sighed and put her head on Skye's shoulder. "Girl needs to slow down a bit, and he needs to move on. It seems like a good balance."

Ignoring any looks that would have come their way - the security personnel may have recognised Talia as Agent Romanoff - Skye rested her own head against Talia's, and clasped hands. "We've all been worried about her, you're not the only one."

It didn't need to be said that they were worried because of how dedicated to the job Sharon was. Dedicated to S.H.I.E.L.D. as a specialist yet being a compassionate person was a combination to worry about. Having high-stress jobs of their own, both Skye and Talia knew that Peggy had worried about them, but not as much since Peggy knew they had each other to lean on. Literally, as they were presently. And until she'd met him, Skye had thought Sharon didn't have anyone, but now she knew she did. It had been, enlightening. Then she frowned, lifted her head and asked lowly, "How did you know Steve was interested in her?"

Talia sighed, "She did set up the gear in our apartment. Crashed there after a mission not long after he arrived, and I may have reviewed the tapes. It was, pretty plain to see."

With a scowl, Skye spoke, "There shouldn't be any cameras in his apartment... Or in Sharons."

"Relax." Talia inserted, grasping Skye's arm and stroking it slow. "There isn't any inside the apartments, just covering all angles in the lobby, stairs, and below. Sharon installed them between Steve being woken up and moving in. You know she wouldn't violate privacy on that level, come on. Though it was the camera footage from the utility room that made it clear." Skye relaxed, and they returned to their head-against-head, head-against-shoulder position. "You know the interaction. Sharon stutters, he acts shy. They bump into each other and both blush. Sharon gets home from a long shift and he hands her fresh towels out of the dryer still warm, and a few hours later the lobby camera shows him returning to his apartment from Sharon's and she thanks him for cooking."

Skye giggled. "In other words, they're already together, they just didn't know it." She sighed, "Why him, though? I know why I approve, but what about you?"

Talia lifted up a bit and held her gaze. "She's talked to me about how sweet his is with her. He cooks dinner for her while she's on her way home, listens to her as she talks about long shifts in the emergency room, and more. Whenever she's had to do overtime, he's checked up on her to make sure it was work and not that something happened to her on her way back, and even picked her up from the hospital and practically carried her up. She's an Agent, a specialist, her life growing up being what it was, the issues with trust? and she trusts him that much to fall asleep even though she's riding behind him on his motorcycle? How can I not?"

Skye nodded slightly, soft smile thinking about it. Then they returned to position, and she sighed. "Brr. She tells me nothing. How come she tells you this stuff, yet complains to me about you trying to play matchmaker?" She wasn't serious, it was just that she knew Sharon felt more comfortable - despite the teasing - talking about that stuff with Talia, and work more with her.

"Because I'm awesome? Because she remembers all the stories about how you were before we got together?"

Skye laughed. "Yeah that'll do it. God I was so awkward."

"Didn't you crash and burn in front of your C.O.? Awkward is an understatement." Skye elbowed her. "But once you said 'Fuck it'... damn."

Both of their eyes turned distant, remembering when Skye had literally said 'fuck it' and kissed Talia. Then Skye lifted her head again, and talia returned her gaze.

"Fuck it."

A minute later, they parted and Talia huskily asked, "Know where we can-"

A voice interrupted them, distorted. "Mrs Carters? We can hear you. Please stop before it gets X-rated, thank you."

Skye looked at the ear wig comm device in Talia's hand that they had both forgotten about. They both locked gaze, and instead of giggling, Skye just winked saucily at Talia, and stood up. Talia followed, and wondering what Skye was doing, let Skye pull the hand holding the device up to her mouth, and Skye spoke into it, "Delta Leader, thank you for reminding us that we are in public. You're in charge. See you at the party." She then turned the device off, plucked it from Talia's relaxed hand and put it onto the bench, and pulled Talia along. "I know the perfect place."

Behind them, they left a bemused, among other things, crowd of civilians and disguised security personnel.

Sawyer's Cafe, Jacquesville, Gardiners Island, Suffolk County - Several hours later

Steve and Sharon sat on a couch, Sharon to his left, and an empty couch across the coffee table waiting, but not for long, filled within a few minutes by Sharon's parents, who set drinks down in front of them all. Talia sat to Skye's left, directly in front of Steve, with Skye across from Sharon.

"So, enjoy the tour?" Skye asked. She had shared her idea with the two the previous day that, before the party and before meeting up with Peggy that the two do a short tour of the island, showing where Sharon grew up, then meet up to get coffee in the cafe.

"I did. It's interesting how different it is from when it was Howards'." Steve replied. "Looks a lot better... but something's, off. Looks bigger, but that's just the green."

Skye and Talia shared a look. Talia took the cue. "That's actually because it is bigger. The coast, all the way around the island, was extended out. The southern tip where the road tunnel surfaced? That was sand dunes that only appeared at low tide, and only a small amount. But from around the south part of this place," Talia indicated the village' town. "And up, yeah, it was the concrete jungle. You've been here before, I take it."

Steve nodded, "Before I left for Europe. It was a staging ground for the Army, loading a lot of troops onto brand-new ships. Most of the USO girls couldn't fly in a plane, and I didn't ask why, but it meant taking a boat there."

Sharon sighed, and all three could see on her face what she was thinking, that it was a good thing he wasn't woken up in the facilities here, instead taken to New York. But only Sharon and Steve knew about the retreat, Neither Skye nor Talia knew about his break.

"So. Hi. Steve Rogers." Steve changed subject, holding a hand out to Talia.

"Natalia Carter." She returned, taking it lightly.

Steve smiled and let go. "So you're Sharon's Mamochka."

Talia smirked and nodded. "If you say you thought I'd be dumpier..."

They both laughed, though Steve looked like he didn't really get it. Sharon sighed. "Mama."

Skye distracted, and commented, "So. There's two Carters, and two Rogers at this table. Am I the only one finding it weird?"

"No." The other three answered. Steve and Sharon looked to Talia, who gave a small wave, then between each other, and Steve spoke up. "When it comes to namesakes, I've experienced weirder."

"You have?" Skye asked, "How much weirder than, well, me?" She almost sounded insulted that she wasn't the weirdest.

"Well, for one I met the guy who I was named after, and lets just say he'd fit right in with us." Steve revealed. "And that he could actually, if he was given an invitation. It didn't take long after my own serum to find out that Hydra weren't the only ones making one." He flicked a gaze to both Skye and Talia, and Skye realised she'd not actually told him about Talia, both her own enhancement, and that it was Talia who saved her life with it. "So yesterday, some things weren't as surprising to me as you figure."

Skye immediately turned to Sharon, and spoke, "Who wants to tell Fury this? Not it." was quickly followed by the other three at the same time. "So I'm a third generation, not second like I thought?"

Steve nodded. "He fought in the first war with my dad, so when he met me and he commented on the coincidence of not just the stranger with the same name, but that person being, this," He waved a hand shortly, "He named my father when asking me if he was."

"So... repeated history with me then?"

Steve blinked, and parsed the similarities. Skye in his position. Peggy in his own fathers'. "Pretty much. You've not fought in a big war, have you?"

"I have, actually. Vietnam. But I was a pilot, so I wasn't, on the ground, for most of it." Skye shifted, and Steve sent her a knowing, commiserating look. "I'll keep an eye out."

"Technically it's three Carters." The three looked at Sharon. "Legal Names, I mean. You, Mom and Mama. If we're using professional names, then it's actually, a Rogers," She pointed at Skye, "A Romanoff", she pointed to Talia, "Thirteen," herself, "and America", Steve. They looked at her bemused. "What?"

Steve laughed a little, and looked at Talia, "So Mrs Carter,"

Talia rolled her eyes, "Talia when we're in private like this."

"So... uh, Talia... hmm," he blinked a bit, and murmured the russian word for mother that Sharon had used to refer to her. He flicked his gaze at Skye, returned it and said, "What do you do?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. Specialist. Within S.H.I.E.L.D. I go by Natasha Romanoff, just like Sharon is known only as Agent Thirteen." She paused, "Before I joined SHIELD, I went by a codename."

"Like mine?"

"No. Black Widow." It didn't take a genius to know what that meant. "I wasn't exactly in the right frame of mind, given my own upbringing. It took a long time before I was ready, and by then SHIELD had already noticed me as my code-name and sent someone after me."

"To kill you? So how did..."

At this point, a chair was placed next to their table, between Steve and Talia, and the one who moved it sat down. "Kind of a long story, but short of it is that I was one of the few people in S.H.I.E.L.D. that knew Talia. Clint Barton." He held out a hand, and Steve shook it. "Even though Peggy was still the Director at the time, there was only so much she could personally oversee, so it was one of those times when something fell through the cracks, but thankfully the crack didn't go all the way. I was picked up for the assignment since some egghead analysts thought I'd do a good honey-trap if things got close, but I'm a good shot if I could keep my distance. I guess I don't need to explain how trying to honey-trap Talia could have gone?"

They laughed. Steve asked, "So when was this?" He looked at Clint and back at Talia, and she got the message about the age thing.

"Ninety-two, I think."

Sharon sighed. "I was only six years old, and didn't understand why my Mamochka disappeared so often, or why she was so sad when she was home." She looked at Skye, then to Steve, "She only seemed to be happy when she played with me, or when Mom was home and they'd disappear." She scrunched her nose a bit, then relaxed and continued, "So when Grandmother came in angry and upset... to explain it to me, she... she didn't want to tell me that she thought my Mamochka might be dead, and I wouldn't have understood that anyway. She told me that Mamochka wasn't coming home, that she couldn't." Steve pulled her into a one-arm embrace, as the thought still upset the young agent, who looked down at their clasped hands. "I was so happy when she did." She looked up at Clint, "That my Uncle Legolas found her and convinced her to come home. I didn't know what actually happened until I'd joined S.H.I.E.L.D. and would have quit if it wasn't for what he told me."

Both Skye and Talia looked like this was news to them. Clint spoke up. "The moment I saw that the fabled 'Black Widow' was Talia, I almost called it in ready to tell everyone off for what I thought must have been a training exercise, or some mistake. I realised why it was a very much real mission, for S.H.I.E.L.D. and so someone else would have been sent in my place if I said no. I watched long enough to make sure it the area was safe to approach to realise why it all happened though. I'm sure that even if I didn't know Talia before then, I would have still made that call, though she might have tried to shoot me before I could help, and I told Sharon this, as well as why I Joined S.H.I.E.L.D. and that if she left, maybe one day, someone she would have been sent after, someone lost, wouldn't get the same chance because it wasn't her."

Steve looked at Sharon softly, and they all saw the look, he was understanding Sharon a bit more. "One more reason why you became a nurse?" Sharon nodded.

"So yeah. Talia joined S.H.I.E.L.D. with the public backing of my Supervising Officer and privately, Peggy's, and within a year started going on missions."

"I was partnered with Fury at first, Peggy wanted to keep her good eye on me." She smirked as they all groaned at her pun. "After he was made Director though, Clint became my partner and we'd gotten into a lot of trouble ever since." Clint nodded vigorously, emphasizing that she was understating things a bit.

"So, what have you been doing, got a job yet?" Clint asked, ignoring the sudden subtle glares from the girls.

"I'm still getting used to, well, everything." Steve dodged, "So much has changed, and what would I even do, anyway?" He didn't need to say that going back into the military was off the table, same with joining S.H.I.E.L.D. and field work.

Talia grinned, "You could just do the modern thing, and be Sharon's Kept Man." Both blushed as Skye and Clint laughed.

Steve still managed to respond, "It's not like I'd need a job to support myself anyway." They blinked, and this time he was smiling a little as he got to drop a bomb-shell. "I didn't actually spend much of my income, and since I wasn't relieved of duty until about two months ago..." He shrugged with his free shoulder at Skye and Talia's surprised look.

With no tact, Clint asked, "Two months? Weren't you awake for six, and who in the Army knows?"

"I spoke with a General Ross. He seemed, upset, that he wasn't told I'd been found until recently." Steve answered. "I asked him to keep it quiet, I uh... didn't want any fuss to be made. There's only a dozen that know."

Clint looked surprised. "Surprised he didn't make you front-page news."

"I'm not." Skye spoke up, and at the surprised looks, "He'd have wanted you to sign back up, right? And put you into Covert Operations, or something."

Steve nodded a little. "He told me to think on that, but for now, I retain my commission, receive my back pay and allowances, and I'm on stand-down, but I'm still drawing an income." he smiled. "How do you think I afford Gas? Especially at today's prices?" Sharon giggled a little.

"So how much did you get?" Clint asked, once more the tactless one. "And how long did it take, getting back-pay is supposed to be a pain, according to some of my friends in the service."

"Well, technically they never stopped paying. Some, arrangements had been made after I went missing." He lost the smile, a little, "I guess Howard thought, correctly it turns out, that the serum would have saved me. He made a deal with the government, that basically means they continued paying me instead of withholding payment, but it all went into uh, escrow. And all my assets would still continue to, acrue. If I wasn't found and revived after a hundred years since I was declared M.I.A., I'd be officially declared K.I.A and my assets passed on to the descendants of those designated in my will, while the money would be donated to numerous Veterans' charities."

Talia raised an eyebrow, "Assets beyond the apartment?"

Skye figured it out. "War bonds."

"And shares in Stark Industries." He grinned at their faces. "How do you think Howard knew me well enough to make that kind of deal? I told him that, if I didn't survive the war, that I wanted him to have my war bonds and put it into his company. With the M.I.A, he interpreted that as cashing the war bonds and then using that money to purchase shares in my name, ready for me whenever I got out." He sighed sadly. "Fury found some boxes that Howard kept in storage, some letters and documents explaining a lot of it. One telling me to approach the Army, since much of it was contingent on them keeping the agreement." He chuckled softly, "So, I don't need to work for a living." He looked at Sharon, who, the other three realised, didn't look surprised in the least. "I could be, you know."

"Be what?" Sharon asked, blushing.

He smiled softly, and a light squeeze of the hand, and amused glance at Talia, "Your kept man." Sharon blushed a deeper red, but snuggled in closer. He gave a light kiss to her forehead.

The moment was ruined though, by Talia crowing, "YES!"

Everyone in the whole place stared, while Sharon closed her eyes and muttered, "Mama, please."

Settling down, they all took sips of their cooling drinks, and Clint asked again, "So just how loaded are you?"

"Loaded, and leave it at that." Sharon spoke up, sitting straight and staring at her 'Uncle Legolas'.

"I don't mind." Steve spoke softly, and she backed down. "My actual back pay was about, Three point five million dollars." Clint whistled.

"So how much are your shares worth?"

"Clint..." Talia muttered in warning, but he ignored it.

"I mean, sure in 1945 you wouldn't have had much to start with, but share prices would be much higher now, and I don't know how stocks and shares work but I'm sure one's supposed to pay out regularly, while the other is only worth anything when you actually buy low and sell high."

"Clint..." Talia growled.

"Well, I don't know the current price, or how many shares as a number..." Steve hedged. "I just know that I have about five percent of the company shares."

They sat in silence, wide-eyed while Sharon softly giggled a little. The Clint exclaimed, "You're not a millionaire. You're a billionaire."

Steve shrugged lightly. "I'm not, not really."

Clint pulled out his cell phone, and within a minute found what he was looking for. "Current share prices... Three hundred and eight dollars per share. Total number of shares in the... Carry the six..."

Clint looked up, then down. "Uh... you do realise that Stark Industries is worth about three hundred billion right now? Yes. You are a billionaire because those shares are probably worth about twenty two billion".

"It's just money." Steve tried, looking embarrassed.

Talia snorted. "So that's how it is, huh? A taste of money and you're already sounding like every 'modest' rich guy ever." She joked, and after pause, joined Sharon in chuckling.

Skye spoke up. "You've got it wrong, Clint." She looked at Steve, "For starters, I know for a fact that you actually own ten percent. Your personal slice is about forty-five billion."

Clint looked at Sharon, "You knew most of this, didn't you?" She nodded slowly, "I know you're not the type, but some people might think you're only after him for the money."

Sharon's gasp of outrage was not pretend, and Steve held her down from leaping up after Clint. Skye spoke into the tense silence. "Yeah well, it's not like Steve's the only billionaire sat at this table."

Clint blinked.

"Tony may own half the company, but right now..." Skye, looking amused continued, "The other half is on this island, and thirty-five of that five is at this table. Show of hands those who own part of Stark Industries?" Sharon raised her hand, to Clints' surprise, as did Steve, and Skye added her own. "Ten, Ten..." She spoke pointed at Steve and Sharon. "Fifteen." She pointed to herself. "A good chunk of that was actually willed when Howard passed. The rest, well. A few years ago, something happened, and the Company stock value dropped from almost two hundred billion, down to sixty billion, and the public investors were trying to sell, and no one was buying... except for me. In all, it cost me just two billion for five percent of the company."

Steve and Clint both stared. Sharon already knew, and Talia looked a little uncomfortable. "Honey, I think we broke them."

"Where did you even get the Capital?" Clint asked.

"Two places." Talia answered spoke up. "One, Mama was rather frugal so a lot of her income went into savings and investments. And two, those shares in the company did in fact pay dividends, which all added up."

"We work because we like it, and pretty much all our normal income is divided and sent to various charities. Most of it is pretty automatic now. And that's why no one would think of Sharon as a gold-digger: She's already got her own fortune sitting nice." Skye finished.

"But... aren't there rules, you're in the military, and... but..."

Skye knew what he was getting at regarding ownership and bias. "It's not like we're breaking what rules apply. Benefit of having two names that are both legal. My fifteen percent is as Skye Carter. It just means there are restrictions in the very specific areas of overlap." Skye looked at Steve, who was tuned out, and she realised Sharon had as well.

"Honey, no more money talk, we've got two hours before we're meeting Peggy and..." Talia waved at Sharon and Steve, "We were supposed to be relaxing." She turned to Clint, "I blame you, its budapest all over again."

Clint sputtered, "Hey that... completely different." Skye settled against Talia, "Now I feel like a fifth wheel. See you later, I'm gonna go bug Doom."

As he left, they could hear him mutter about self-absorbed rich Assholes, and why couldn't he get a gazillion shares in a company?

Authors note: Lots of places on my fictional Gardiners Island is named after the Howling Commandos.

Also, for real in 1937, it did go on sale, but was bought by a member of the Gardiner Family. In this timeline, it was bought by Howard, but not in the MCU alpha timeline, (earliest known difference). This had a ripple effect on the company, so it was worth a lot more than the thirty-billion estimate by forbes. Here it's actually on this' universes Global Top One Hundred, though it dropped ridiculously low (compared to its value) After 'Iron Man (2008)', which is the reference in the last scene.

I actually calculated the whole lot too, what the 5/10/15 percent shares would be worth, how many shares would need to exist for share prices and so on. Stark Industries is so high as well because its not just a defence contractor building F-22s up to that point. In this one, there's both military and civil aviation (Iron Man 2008, stark and rhodes travel to afghanistan in a unique looking SI-branded jet, so headcanon? SI is like Boeing- it has a civilian division for jets.) Also owns Newport News Shipyards in this timeline, responsible for building and overhaul of US Navy Carriers.

This presents a little issue that explain why people would be pissed off with tony: when he said, shutting down the weapons division, what is he classifying as weapons? the Guns themselves? (now the US Navy need to pay for those aircraft carriers currently under construction to be outfitted after construction instead of during, with non-Stark systems, which increases cost due to lack of compatibility?) Bullets for the guns they already have? What about mobile vehicles with integraded SI weapons systems? And, well, do Frigates, Cruisers and Destroyers count?)

However, after half a century of saving up both unspent income from SHIELD, income from during/before the war, and all the dividends paid out by Peggy's shares of Stark Industries, with a huge injection when Howard died, and some of those given to peggy were liquidated ... well, by 2008, the savings there amount to a sufficient bailout by purchasing the shares of those who wanted out. After that, the'res only five share-holders. Tony, at fifty percent. Steve and Sharon, at ten, and Peggy and Skye at fifteen, though from certain legal points of view, Skye's are also Natasha's. And Tony only knows that the 'four mystery backers' are perfectly fine with his new direction for the company. In the real world, it's like if Boeing decided to stop the military side, and then instead of that, decided to spread into technology and become a weird crossbreed of Apple and Microsoft, though in the MCU it's apparently already the case. (Stark phone, stark business jet, stark f-22's, then there's stark computers, stark microchip (I dont think he's got Intel Inside! Nor AMD)... It's more like if Apple had years ago started out as a weapons company with a tech side, and shed the weight, and used the freed-up but not-sacked employees to expand the other existing divisions. My headcanon.