The three of them were sitting at the island chattering over a late breakfast. Max laughed as Steve muttered something over his coffee cup and Bucky's face did that thing. Max fell against Bucky's bicep and started apologizing, explaining that what Steve said was just too funny and that Bucky's awkwardly surprised face was just the icing on the cake.
Their happiness contained itself with a knock on the front door. Steve moved around the counter, setting his coffee down and handing Max a napkin to wipe the whipped cream off her face, reaching for the door. It was opened and Natasha moved in, looking apologetic.
"I'm sorry." She said immediately.
"For what?" Steve was confused and looked over his shoulder to find Bucky with an ear on their conversation and Max looking over her shoulder at them. It was clear they had both sensed that this wasn't just a casual visit.
Natasha noticed them too and it gave her pause. Ever diligent in her work, she pushed through it and looked to Steve again. "You have to leave."
"What?" Steve was surprised, and immediately began to push back. "What is this even about? I can't. I can't just leave, what about-"
"The three of you." Natasha pressed. "Pack some things, it's important."
"Nat, what is going on?"
"Ten minutes." Natasha grabbed Steve by the arm and gave him a loaded look. Steve may not know what's happening, but Natasha had never given him any reason to deny her. He had to believe her, didn't he? He had to trust her?
"Okay." He answered quietly. Natasha let go of his arm and turned into the hall. Steve shut the door and moved back into the apartment. Max and Bucky sat still, unsure what they were going to do. "Come on. Pack something." Steve had used his parent voice and Max hopped to it. Bucky slid out of the chair slowly, watching Max slip past Steve and making eye contact.
"What's happening?" He asked quietly.
"We have to go." Steve responded quietly.
"That doesn't tell me anything ." Bucky bristled and Steve sighed, glancing behind him to be sure no one was peeping.
"Buck, I know it's hard to trust people, but trust me." Steve looked at him earnestly. "Whatever is happening, we can't sit around here and wait to find out."
Bucky looked like he wanted to protest, but Steve was quick. "I don't want to pack up and move immediately either, but we have a responsibility." Steve had softened to a whisper. "We have to be thinking of her."
"... Alright." Bucky conceded, relaxing his shoulders. "I'll get my things. You should help her pack."
"I feel awful, Buck." Steve admitted. "She had finally moved everything into her new room, and I come along and tell her she can't have it."
Bucky awkwardly fumbled with what to say or do. Finally after seeing the hurt in a Steve's eyes he clapped a hand on Steve's shoulder and really looked at him. Quietly Bucky took a breath and spoke. "Go talk to her, Steve." He let his hand slip off Steve's shoulder and moved to his room to begin packing. Slowly Steve composed himself and walked back to the farthest room. He looked inside and found Max knelt on the floor packing important items. He pushed the door open a bit wider and knocked on the frame to alert her that he was there. When she turned around she tried to give him a quick smile, to pretend that everything was alright.
"Hey..." Steve sighed, and looked at her sadly.
"...hey." Max responded, before breaking eye contact and turning back to her bag. Steve walked into the room and crouched next to her, examining her packing. Everything was tight and there were the essentials, but Steve wasn't really worried about what she was packing, he was more worried about Max.
"Listen, I-"
"It's not your fault." She interrupted, looking up at him. "I know that. If it were up to you we'd stay here, but we can't. For whatever reason we can't stay, and that's okay. Really, I understand. This is what I signed up for."
"Max," Steve reached out and pulled her close so her shoulder rested against his chest. "I appreciate you being mature about this, but it's alright to feel sad. We have a life here, a good one, and it's hard to just pick up and leave." Steve tried to comfort her, he held her close and even rested his chin on the top of her head.
"Steve, really, it's fine." Max pulled away and looked up to Steve. "Yeah, it's inconvenient to have to leave, but I'm not upset about leaving the apartment. That's the last thing I have to worry about. We had great times here, but that wasn't the building... Honestly, as long as I have you and Bucky I'm going to be okay." She looked at Steve earnestly, and although Steve wasn't entirely convinced she had no sentimental attachment to their apartment, he heard what she was saying.
"You're a little trooper." Steve smiled as he affectionately tucked some of Max's unbrushed hair behind her ear. "Don't forget your toothbrush, just because we have to roll out suddenly doesn't mean you get a free pass from brushing your teeth." He nudged her on the cheek with a fist and she broke a smile.
"Whatever, mom." Max mumbled, appreciating the sentiment nonetheless.
"Hey, that's captain mom to you." Steve jokingly reprimanded before getting up to leave her to finish packing. On his way to gather his own things Steve looked in to find Bucky stuffing some shirts in a bag. They made eyed contact briefly and Bucky nodded once, assuring Steve that he apparently hadn't screwed up.
Natasha wouldn't tell them the exact nature of their displacement until they reached a secure area. That secure area just so happened to be a long drive through a lot of forest to an open field. Max was squeezed into the back between Steve and Bucky, because Natasha and another SHEILD agent were up front. Once they finally got to the area, Natasha turned around and spoke to the three of them.
"You need to be taken to one of the safe houses. There's credible threat that if you had stayed in the apartment all of you could have been compromised. We don't know who or why yet, but we'll figure it out and do whatever we can to take it down. In the meantime, at least for a little while, you'll have to go off the grid. Only a select few people will know where exactly you are, I won't even know, but it's safer that way."
"How off the grid are we going?" Steve questioned carefully.
"Electric, water, heat, but not much else. I don't know where you'll be, but it'll be out there." Natasha spoke efficiently, but she really didn't want to do this. Everything was much more complicated now that they were... A family.
"How are we getting there?" Max asked.
"Quinjet; one of the few we have left." Natasha answered. "It'll be a smooth ride. Hopefully."
There were a lot more questions to be asked, but the jet was coming in for a landing, which didn't leave much time. Max was unbuckling her seatbelt and shuffling to grab her stuff when the other SHEILD agent cleared his throat and awkwardly fidgeted. Natasha noticed and mumbled something to him before he glanced behind him and nervously tried to speak.
"What is it?" Steve asked.
"It's stupid." The agent responded, but unbuckled his seatbelt anyway. Steve opened the car door and watched the man walk to the trunk and open it. Max slid out of the seat and watched as the young man closed the trunk and came around from the back. He shifted a small stuffed bear around in his hands and seemed to work up the courage to talk.
"I used to be a police officer, and I remembered that cases with kids were usually pretty rough. The station always had stuffed animals to hand out, you know, for comfort. So when I heard there was a kid on this trip, I uh... I said it was stupid." The agent ran a hand over his forehead and shifted a bit more. "No one told me, so I didn't think she was very old."
"It's fine." Steve finally spoke up. Max, stepped forward slowly with a look on her face Steve was sure he'd never seen before. She quietly stopped in front of the agent, looked up , and then back to the bear. With gentle hands she took it from him and examined the face and the little ribbon tied into a bow around the neck. A smile came to her face and she looked very touched; taking a moment to find her voice she looked back to the man.
"I've never had a stuffed animal before." She confessed. "Thank you. I love it." She looked back to the bear with adoration and hugged it to herself.
Steve couldn't believe it. It was so pure he was almost thinking he had imagined all of it, but Bucky's hand reached for his shoulder and Steve was brought back to reality. He turned to find Bucky standing there, with the Quinjet sitting in the background.
"Max we have to go." Steve said quietly; sadly. Max, still holding onto the bear tightly, reached out a hand to shake.
"Thank you, really. I'll remember this forever." With a handshake Max turned around and took her bag from Bucky. She glanced back a few times on her way to the jet to see Natasha and the other agent by the car. She smiled as she got closer to the jet, zipping the bear into her jacket and taking the free hands of both Steve and Bucky.
They had to strap in for takeoff, but once the quinjet was in the air they could move around a bit if they needed to. Max felt very small sitting there in one of the jump seats, among all the people that worked on the jet. Everything was metallic and cold, and she had been strapped into a seat across from Steve and Bucky. They were about ten minutes into the flight before Steve came around and crouched in front of her. She knew what his face was going to look like, so she didn't look up, just kept playing with the arms on her new bear.
"Max," Steve said wearily.
"I'm fine." She mumbled.
"You look tired." Steve countered. "You can get out of the jump seat you know? Come sit next to me or Buck? You don't have to stay strapped in the whole time, it'll be a long flight." Steve set a hand on her knee and bent his head down some more to find Max's eyes. He smiled, looking very tired, and Max pulled her head up just a bit.
"How long are we gonna be on this thing?" Max asked.
"Don't know, could be awhile." Steve responded, and then thinking of something continued with, "You're awfully far away, all the way over here, Bucky and I were saying earlier how we missed you. If you got up, you could could come and visit, make these old hearts happy for a bit." Steve cracked a smile when Max's head came up just a bit more. "That is, assuming you care about us old men."
"I care!" Max defended. Her hands flew to the buckle and undid it to slip from the seat.
"I thought so." Steve grinned, making his way back over to the other side of the jet where Bucky sat, looking upset all by himself. When Max came over, she stopped in front of Bucky, who lifted his chin from his palm and sat up a little straighter to look at her. His face softened just a bit, and Max took a breath to speak.
"Hey Bucky," She started quietly. "D'you mind if I sit with you?"
"'Course not, peanut." Bucky smiled crookedly and watched Max crawl into his lap. She rested against his shoulder, head laying up against his neck and Bucky wrapped his arms around her. One over her lap and the other behind her back as her feet dangled over the edge. Steve sat behind Max's back and looked from Max to Bucky with a soft smile. They sat like this for a while, just quiet and thinking. When exactly had they become a family, and how did they fit? Nothing was traditional, there was no nuclear family. It was like a collage of broken pieces put together, but somehow it almost fit. They weren't perfect, and there were a lot of things left to figure out, but it was nice to feel like each of them belonged somewhere again.
As time dragged on Max started to feel more and more tired, before she finally mumbled, "What time is it?"
"Late." Steve whispered, looking at Max as she nuzzled a little closer to Bucky, who just held her.
"It's quiet." Max mumbled. "Too quiet."
"We could tell you a story." Steve offered. Max considered it for a moment before nodding. Steve looked to Bucky, who had glanced over waiting for Steve to start. Steve gestured for him to start a story, and Bucky looked surprised that Steve would suggest that he start. After exchanging a lot of glances Bucky cleared his throat.
"A long time ago, long before you or me or any of us were even thought up, there was two kings who managed two very different kingdoms. Only they had to share."
"Share?" Max questioned sleepily.
"Yes. Because one ruled over the day and the other ruled over the night. The ruler of the day, who you know as the sun, and the ruler of the night, the moon, had to hand over control to the other to keep balance." Bucky glanced at Steve nervously, but Steve gently nodded and gestured to continue. "Ya see, it was hard work to watch over the whole world, so they had to switch off so they could relax."
"What were the kings like?" Max looked up to Bucky with big eyes and Bucky smiled a little at her sweetness, ruffling her hair before continuing.
"The sun was strong and commanding, but he was very considerate of the best course of action. He was always full of purpose and very..." Bucky grappled for the word.
"Methodical?" Steve supplied.
"Methodical." Bucky continued. "He wore yellows and oranges and his hair was the color of, of spun gold." Max was enraptured. "And his eyes were the color of the sky."
"What about the moon?" Max asked.
"The moon was very quiet and thoughtful, but just as powerful." Steve began, picking up on Bucky's angle. "He always considered and thought through all the options before making a decision; very careful. He dressed in deep blues and whites, hair dark like the night and eyes that shone like stars."
"For a very long time they got along well together, each one working and respecting the other. Then suddenly, the moon became very confused." Bucky picked up the story. "The king couldn't remember who he was or what he was doing, and it badly affected his duties and his relationship with the other king, the sun. The moon didn't mean for any of this to happen, but a dark force was looming over him and affecting him. He would question his place in the world, or else cause conflict with the sun. It became a severe problem, and he could no longer act as the ruler of the night."
"The sun had to take over for awhile, and he was greatly saddened by the loss of his friend, but he could not leave the lands without rule during his off time. So the sun worked twice as hard to keep as much in order as he could, but the subjects were displeased with everlasting day. The sun heard their grievances, but there was nothing he could do to help. He tried wearing dark clothes, or providing blinds to block his light, but there was no escaping his beams. He was doing the best he could, but it wasn't good enough."
"After plenty of time, any hope for the moon became futile, it seemed he would never return to his role and he would spend the rest of his days locked away among the stars who could only weakly protest about being locked away. All seemed hopeless, but then in brilliance a new royalty was bestowed upon the land, and she was everything that could have been desired."
"A princess?" Max asked quizzically.
"Not exactly a princess, she was more of a... A uh..." Bucky paused to think.
"She was like a beautiful Duchess, and she was made from stardust that mixed with the prayers the sun said for his friend." Steve broke in.
"She came to remind the moon of who he was, and bring him back to work with the sun. Her smile was warmth and her voice was gentle like the caress of night. She decorated her hair with stars and her dress was made of brilliant colors reflecting the sun's light. She was both the break of day and the fall of night, and the moon was in awe to see her. When he asked who she was, she could not introduce herself, because she didn't know yet why she was there. She sat with the moon and asked questions, with a thirst to discover why the world was the way it was."
"Slowly, the moon came to care for her, and the way she acted served to make the sun swell up with adoration for her. With time and gentleness she helped the moon take over again as king of the night and facilitated the switch between night and day." Steve smiled and continued, adding to the story.
"The subjects were so grateful for her act of heroism, they begged her to stay and remain as royalty between the sun and the moon." Bucky felt himself smile too, as the rush of good feelings flooded over him. "She came to be known as both Dawn and Dusk, and to this day she orchestrates the colors in the sky as the sun rises and sets and places each star one by one in the night sky, as an eternal reminder of the beauty of friendship between the sun and the moon and how one cannot coexist without the other."
It was quiet as the story finished and through the sound of the engines running Steve heard Max softly breathing from where she had fallen asleep against Bucky. The two glanced between each other a few times again before Steve said anything.
"Do you want me to take her?"
"No. It's fine." Bucky insisted. "I've never said it out loud but she makes me feel everything when she's close to me. Even if I can't remember everything from before, I hope I never forget this."
Steve couldn't argue with that, and fortunately he didn't have to. He understood where Bucky was coming from, Max had that kind of effect of Steve as well. Deep down in his heart Steve knew that waking her would be a sin, so he secretly hoped the ride in the jet lasted just long enough for him to commit how her soft lashes fluttered on her cheeks to memory.
But much sooner than any of them wished, they had to land. Steve pushed the hair out of Max's face and nudged her to wake her.
"Max." Steve spoke gently. "Max you need to wake up now."
She sighed and rolled her head to look at Steve drowsily.
"Five more minutes." She mumbled, pressing back into Bucky who chuckled. He rubbed up and down her back, coaxing her awake and standing so she would slide down to the ground.
"'Fraid not kid, the jet is landing in two minutes and you hafta be buckled in before then." Bucky smiled at Max as she rubbed her eyes and walked her back over to the jump seat. Once she was secure she looked at Bucky and smiled.
"I love you, Bucky." She looked right into him with those pretty brown eyes and the sweetest smile, and Bucky felt it. Not for the first time and not for the last, Bucky felt the warmth inside that told him this was a good thing. He smiled and ran a hand through her hair.
"I know it, kid." He whispered happily and tucked her hair behind her ear. "I'm sure I won't forget it."
Once Bucky made it back to his seat next to Steve and had secured himself for decent, Steve elbowed him and looked at him with a smile.
"What'd she say that put that dumb look on your face?" Steve asked with a grin.
"Just why I'm better lookin' than you." Bucky joked, feeling his smile widen as Steve made an indignant noise. His eyes flicked back over to Max who smiled again and gave him a tiny wave. "And that she loves me."
"Now that," Steve began with a chuckle. "That I can believe." Steve glanced over at Max too, who waved before blowing him a kiss. "Although I might be giving you a run for your money."
The jet came down and the three of them filed off and into the big yard in front of the house. It was tucked very deep into the woods, and had a sort of rustic look about it. Maybe it was just twisted, but it was ironic that the first real home they would have together was because there was a threat on their lives. Whatever the reason they were there, fate or otherwise, Max climbed up the porch steps quickly, muttering about how she was cold.
"Well, it's December." Steve responded.
"Late December." Bucky added on, waiting for Steve to unlock the doors. Once inside Max dropped her bag by the couch and fell into the cushions. It was either late at night or very early in the morning, so Max yawned again and leaned against the couch. Steve came in after and followed her to the couch, falling down next to her and tossing an arm over the back of the couch. Bucky spent a few moments examining the scene to determine if he should sit down too, but Steve was beckoning him over and his legs were tired so he figured he might as well, it wasn't going to harm anything. Max was squished between them with an appreciative smile on her face. She leaned right up against Steve who put his arm around her and gave her shoulder a squeeze, holding onto her bear with one arm and slipping the fingers of her other hand between Bucky's.
They were tired, and there was no way all three of them could sleep on the couch, but for a few minutes it was good to just sit there in the silence and dim light and be with each other. Bucky's thoughts had begun to wander and Steve was fighting the feeling of his eyelids drooping, but Max made herself comfortable and went out like a light. She was maybe two minutes into sleeping, when the arm around her shoulders lifted up to brush by Bucky to get his attention and Steve was smiling as he tilted his head down to indicate Max's steady breath.
They sat there for another ten minutes before Bucky got up to investigate the sleeping arrangement. There were only two bedrooms and no extra sheets, so clearly one of them would need to share, and with Max being the smallest it became evident that she would she bumping around. Not that it mattered, she was adaptable. Quietly, Steve scooped Max up and rose from the couch, passing Bucky to move into one of the bedrooms and tuck Max in. He and Bucky exchanged a few looks and Steve sighed as he moved to unpack some of their things.
About half an hour later they were partially moved in and Steve was sure if he didn't go to bed he would crash. He had said goodnight to Bucky a bit ago, and as he slowly walked I to the room with Max he saw her face in the glowing lamp light.
When she was sleeping it was easy to forget that she was different. It was easy for Steve to feel like he was complete; like he had caught something he'd been chasing for a long time. With Bucky and Max it almost felt like attaining something he could have only dreamed of before.
Crawling into bed Steve felt Max twitch and curl right up next to him. She still clung to her bear and it served to make her look younger, sweeter. Steve was feeling himself drift off when he heard Max mumble something.
"Hmm?" He was half asleep, and not even entirely sure he had heard anything.
"Thank you, Steve." Max repeated, although her voice was heavy with sleep. "To be honest, I couldn't have dreamed of better gifts."
"What gifts?" Steve was confused. He hadn't gotten her anything; the only think she had received today was the bear, but that had nothing to do with Steve.
"You an Bucky." Max responded, falling back asleep. "You're everything I wanted."
Steve knew she was asleep once he registered what she was saying, but it made his heart swell to think of what she said anyway.
"You're welcome, Max." Steve whispered, pushing her hair back and watching her face even out into one of comfort and contentment. "You're everything we could have asked for too."
