A/N: Shout out to racecz5, I hope you enjoy Eden's role in this chapter. :-D

Chapter 21

Steve's POV

When I awoke, I was in a very small room that was drowning in the scents of Steph, Bucky, and I all swirled deliciously together. Lifting my head, I caught Bucky's eyes where he was sitting on a small bench across from the bed that Steph and I were laying on. I was flat on my back and Steph was sprawled out directly on top of me. Bucky raised his brow and said, "that actually you this time, Steve?"

"Yeah," I croaked out. Bucky wordlessly tossed me a water bottle, which I caught and sat up taking Steph with me so I could drink it all down in one go. "Where are we?"

Steph started stirring against me at the sound of my voice but didn't fully wake even as Bucky responded, "you were out of it even before we made it there on the jet. There was no way you weren't going to mate Steph when we found her as long as she was uninjured, so Tony had Hill send us this 'truck' that was apparently furnished with this or a similar incident in mind. Once I was able to convince you to move, which was a full day after we found Steph, by the way, we got into this. It is fully scent insulated. They moved us back to the Tower, cordoned off an entire floor of the parking garage, and have been taking shifts with Rangeman to provide suitable security around the perimeter since we got here."

"How long has that been?" I asked, expecting an answer in the hours.

"Six days."

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah, that was a hell of a rut, Punk. I think Guinness would give you a world record if they ever found out."

"That's, uh. No. Let's never tell anyone about that, okay?" Although, the fact that I'd been rutting for so long explained the fact that when I leaned down to sniff her, Steph didn't seem to be in heat anymore. Remembering how long she'd slept after the last heat, and feeling awful for Bucky who had to have been in his right mind for the better part of a week in this small room, I said, "don't suppose we have anything approaching clothes in here?"

"Natasha gave us some on the restock. This place wasn't equipped for such a long occupation, but at least it had a small washroom."

I managed to avoid flushing too much in embarrassment over the fact that the entire team had needed to help take care of us for a week as I nodded to show that I understood. "I'm-"

"If the next word out of your mouth is 'sorry', I'm going to kick your ass. It's not your fault, and it's not Steph's fault. She's said before that her regular heats aren't this long, it's just those idiots fucking with her. It seems this time whatever that was probably had some sort of effect on you as well, above and beyond your reaction to having her taken from you preheat. And you know Steph's going to feel guilty about it as soon as she wakes up and remembers what happened, so why don't you just shove your guilt so you can help her with hers."

"How long have you been preparing that speech for?" I asked with a smile.

"About four days," Bucky responded. "When you two didn't have me otherwise occupied."

"Poor Bucky," I retorted in a tone that let him know I was onto him and knew he'd have thoroughly enjoyed himself once he knew we were safe.

"It was a difficult sacrifice, but I was happy to help," he said. Knowing Bucky and his fear of being locked up again, I studied his eyes carefully. Apparently he understood what I was looking for because he explained, "it's fine; I did take a couple walks when I was sure you were really out of it. Made sure the perimeter was secure, and just reminded myself it was voluntary. I'm completely fine, Steve."

Doing a little self evaluation, I realized that I felt surprisingly rested given the circumstances, and although I was hungry, I wasn't starving which meant Bucky was able to get me to eat. "Steph eat too?" I asked more than a little worried as she'd really only done so last heat at my insistence, and as I couldn't yet remember, I was guessing that I may not have been in the right mind to ensure she did.

"Yep," Bucky replied. "Didn't even put up too much of a fight over it this time, and you did make sure of it, Punk. Even in that state, you take care of our girl. And me, so don't even start thinking your favoriting or something. Plus, she should be both of our primary concern in heat anyway."

"Thanks, Buck," I said, allowing the relief to shine through my voice. "Alright, let's see about getting us out of here."

When Bucky stood, I watched as he quickly pulled some pants on over the boxers he was wearing, followed by a shirt. Then he moved to grab a set of my clothes and hand them to me. I carefully attempted to move Steph to the side, and she just clung to me even harder.

Bucky rubbed the back of his neck before he explained, "yeah, she's been a little extra… needy… the last couple days. Let's see if she'll let me take her or not." It took a decent amount of coaxing, but Bucky eventually managed to slide Steph off of me and onto himself. I stood and quickly dressed before staring assessingly at Steph with my hands resolutely on my hips.

"Are you planning right now, Captain America?" Bucky teased.

"Yes," I said distractedly. "We've got to get her dressed so we can get her upstairs and I can take care of you both. I can't even tell you how much my alpha instincts are screaming at me for not having done so the past several days."

"Steve, seriously, it's not your fault. It's those damn people who have insisted on playing gods and decided, for no apparent reason, that Steph is their favorite new lab rat." I growled, flashing teeth, and Bucky continued, "between you, Hulk, and those damn cyanide pill implants, there aren't any left. Bruce and Tony have inspected the labs, and Clint and Natasha are on the intel with Hill and her staff. And Steph and I both know you would have taken care of us if you were able, Steve. You have to give yourself a break, please? Now, what's your plan? Let's get Steph upstairs, you can give her a bath, comb her hair, whatever you need to do. Though, like I said, you did take care of us."

While Bucky talked, I sorted through the clothes that had been brought for Steph and started with the easy pieces. Putting on some warm, fuzzy socks and sliding some underwear up her legs as I responded, "well, I don't remember taking care of you, so that doesn't help set my mind at ease." When I Bucky shifted his hold on Steph to let me finish pulling them up her hips and her hair swung out of the way, I froze. Climbing onto the bed for closer inspection, I said, "when the hell did she get this?"

I could hear the laughter in Bucky's voice as he said, "I was wondering when you'd rediscover that; our sweet little omega got herself a tattoo. I texted Darcy a little while after we saw it the first time to ask. Apparently the first night we were gone, she, Pepper, and Jane took Steph out after work with a full guard. They got drunk, and Steph started insisting on finding a tattoo parlor that was open late. Seems she's been carrying around a sketch of that since someone gave it to her. It's been with her every day, right alongside her driver's license and permit to carry concealed. Darcy knows a guy, because of course she does, she's Darcy. So Steph got that. Looks like it healed up nice and quick, doesn't it?"

Shoving back all of my alpha responses to seeing the symbol I'd made for the three of us permanently inked into her skin, I pressed a kiss to the spot, hoping it wouldn't fade. Then I stood and, together with Bucky, managed to get Steph clothed. True, we could have just wrapped her in a blanket, but to me it seemed important that she leave here with her modesty completely intact after what those people had tried to do to her. Just thinking about it made me angry again, so I took a few calming breaths before taking her back out of Bucky's hold and opening the doors.

Jumping down with Steph in my arms, I took a few moments to look at the rig Tony had made. It was basically a large moving truck, with the retrofitted back made into a small but comfortable heat room. As much as I wished such a thing wasn't something that had even crossed the omega's mind that might be needed on a mission, I was glad now for his forethought. Hopefully we wouldn't need it again. Bucky was a while longer, gathering our personal effects, and I just stood there murmuring softly to the omega in my arms. She'd stir a little from time to time, making me think she was about to wake up, but then she'd press her face more into my neck and fall back asleep.

I was grateful for whoever was on guard duty just giving us space, and not crowding in because I didn't think I could handle that at the moment. When Bucky finally stepped out, he looked at me cradling Steph and gave me a soft smile. Walking over to us, he slid an arm around my waist and lightly rested his head on the shoulder Steph was pressed into as we walked. The elevator door opened to us as we approached, and once we stepped inside, I said, "thank you, JARVIS."

"It's no problem, Captain," JARVIS replied. "Your presence has been requested in the laboratories at your convenience sometime tomorrow or the next day. It isn't urgent, but there is some information that Dr. Banner would like to address."

I nodded my head, knowing JARVIS would pick up the motion and recognize it as an acknowledgement without me having to say anything. He would also use that as an indicator that we weren't eager for more discussion or interruption at this time, and likely inform anyone inquiring about us of that fact. It may have been selfish since Steph was no longer in heat, but I wanted my family to myself for just a while longer.

Apparently Bucky picked up on my mood because he stayed unusually quiet as we rode upstairs, not saying anything until we were back inside the apartment and were greeted by silence. He frowned, matching my own expression, and walked a little further into the apartment. Bending down in the spot where Eden's food and water bowl should have been, he picked up a scrap of paper.

"Tony was refusing to sleep, so Darcy borrowed Eden," he explained. "When Clint found out, he insisted on getting a turn. It seems our puppy has been rotating around making sure our teammates sleep. According to this note with a rough schedule, she should be back with Tony today."

"I..." I trailed off, thinking before just saying, "I'm not really sure what to do with that information at the moment. At least we know she wasn't bored though."

"S'good," Steph slurred out, in what I'd come to recognize as her not-actually-awake voice. "bored puppies eat things they shouldn't and all."

I was stopped from responding by having to shift and carefully balance Steph as she started stretching. When she settled, I said, "you could have asked me to put you down, you know."

In response, Steph just snuggled back in and said, "you weren't going to drop me."

I gave a startled laugh before assessing my options. Steph seemed a bit more alert and awake than I was expecting, so I took her into the living room, indicated for Bucky to lay down first, then gently set Steph down with him. Reaching over to the back of the couch, I dragged off the blanket that we kept there and settled it over the two of them, tucking it around them. At the action, Steph looked a little confused, but Bucky just looked amused and indulgent.

Running my hand over each of their cheeks one more time, I smiled and wandered toward the kitchen, whistling to myself softly. As I set about taking stock of what I had to work with in the pantry and fridge, I listened as Bucky softly explained my need to take care of my omega and beta to Steph. My heart broke a little that Steph had never had anyone do this for her before, and it just redoubled my resolve to make her feel how much I treasured and loved her.

Working quickly, I threw together some smoothies, asked JARVIS to order us some real food, and put some cookie dough from the freezer into the oven in the meantime to hold us over until the food arrived. After all, Steph talked about that being one of the things that she could make, and I knew she would enjoy them even if I hadn't made the dough from scratch. Baking wasn't really my thing, so these were pretty much guaranteed to turn out right.

When I was walking back toward them, I heard Steph exclaim over how much time she'd lost followed by Bucky's gentle soothing. Taking notice of me and my tray full of smoothies, Bucky sat up and helped Steph prop herself up as well. As soon as she turned to me, I noticed the distress and guilt in Steph's eyes so I set the tray down and pulled her up into my arms for a deep kiss.

"It's not your fault," I said. "And, hey, there are worse ways to spend a week than locked in a room with the two of you!"

"But," Steph said.

"Nope. Not your fault," I tapped her on the nose, then set her back down and handed her the smallest of the smoothies as she wasn't really a fan and consumed less than us anyway. "If you drink all of that, you can have as many cookies as you want between now and dinner."

"What's for dinner?"

"Well, I thought maybe some hearty comfort food would be in order, so I had JARVIS order a bunch of options from that mac and cheese place you like so much."

Steph let out a broad smile and her eyes lit up, which caused Bucky to smile at me with approval as well. More importantly, she downed the glass of smoothie, and I could relax knowing at least she'd get a least some nutrients in her before the night took a decidedly junk food turn. After that we had JARVIS turn on the TV, with Steph insisting on watching cartoons, insisting that we all needed something light and mindless.

Dinner was followed by a bath in our oversized jacuzzi tub that Steph loved so much. She and Bucky both chuckled as they let me clean them up, and I appreciated them humoring me. By the time I'd combed out and dried Steph's hair for her, I was feeling much more comfortable in my own skin again. Enough so that I surprised myself by actually managing to sleep again that night.

Unfortunately, it was a night of sleep once again cut short by nightmares. This time, they belonged to Steph. As soon as she started thrashing, Bucky and I both woke up completely ready for battle. I rolled off the bed, grabbing my shield as I did so, and Bucky reached over and grabbed a knife from somewhere I didn't realize he had one strapped. We scanned the room, and only once Steph started whimpering again did I realize why we'd awoken.

"I don't wake up like that when you have a nightmare," I whispered to Bucky.

"You used to, remember? Until you got used to it. Plus, she's an omega and she isn't your partner in the field. Makes sense that you'd react differently subconsciously. I can take care of myself better than she can."

Setting my shield back on the ground, I nodded. Then I slowly crawled on the bed, trying to flood her with soothing alpha scents when she started panicking at the shifting mattress. Realizing I wasn't going to calm her back into sleep, I called for JARVIS to turn on the lights and gently shook Steph awake.

Once her eyes opened, I said, "Steph, it's me, Steve and Bucky's here too. Do you know where you are?"

With a sigh that would be melodramatic in another context, she flopped back onto the bed and put her hands on her face. "I'm in the Tower. Ugh, that felt so real. Did I wake you up?"

"Don't worry about it, neither of us really needed that much sleep; since it's almost dawn anyway, we must have gotten at least 5 hours. Are you alright?"

"Yeah."

"Want to talk about it?" Bucky asked softly.

"Not right now, no. It's still just right there and I'd rather go into Denial Land and shove it out of my brain. JARVIS," Steph paused waiting for the ping that JARVIS was listening. "What time is it?"

"It is five o'clock in the morning," JARVIS replied. "I have started your coffee."

Pulling herself out of bed, Steph said, "you guys can go back to sleep if you want." Bucky laughed wryly, and I just shrugged. "Are they going to give us our dog back anytime soon?"

The words had no sooner left her mouth than JARVIS pinged again, "Sir is requesting access to your apartment since you are awake. He has Eden with him."

"That's fine, JARVIS," I responded, more than a little surprised that anyone else was up. "I think we're open for visitors today."

"Your dog peed in my suit!" Tony was yelling as soon as the door opened only to be greeted by silence. "What are you doing up so early, Steph? JARVIS said that there was someone up so I thought I'd bring your dog back. You're welcome, by the way, for watching her while you all were doing the nasty for a week. A week, Steph. With two super soldiers, are you sure you're not some sort of goddess yourself?"

Steph cleared her throat and said, "thank you for watching our dog. Why was she in your armor?"

"I was trying to win the Internet."

Steph wandered into the kitchen with Eden on her heels, and I could hear the box of dog treats opening, impressed that the dog was getting some before Steph got her coffee. When Steph and the puppy came back in, I knelt down to greet Eden even as I said, "I think we're going to need a little more explanation than that."

"I was repairing the damage from the last mission to my armor, you know, getting it back up to battle ready."

"Making sure it's nice and shiny and red," Bucky said. "So you'll look pretty in pictures."

"Anyway," Tony said pointedly, "Eden was keeping me company in my lab. Don't look at me like that, we have a system worked out, JARVIS and I. We make sure she's safe. Anyway, she was sleeping there all adorably, and I thought, what if I made her armor. How cute would that be? So then while it was fabricating."

"Excuse me," Steph cut in. "You made armor. For a puppy."

"Yes, why is that so crazy? What if there's an attack. We need to keep her safe, and it is just protective armor anyway, obviously. I've made armor for Pepper, Jane, Darcy, you, and then there's just the one size fits most armor."

Steph looked about ready to argue, and I figured she had a point, but one thing at a time is often best. With that in mind, I cut her off saying instead to Tony, "that doesn't explain how she peed in your armor."

"Well, it takes a while to fabricate armor, though I really do have it down to an impressively short amount of time. Even with the modifications to the process considering that it is so small-"

"Tony!" Bucky cried out in exasperation. I for one was glad for Tony's sake that Steph had been able to get coffee already otherwise this would have gotten a lot uglier. "We don't care how long it takes you to make your damn armor."

"Alright, chill out Robocop! So, while I was waiting for Eden's armor to be made, I decided to put Eden in my armor and take some pictures, post them on the internet, and you know, win the Internet."

"How long had it been since you'd taken Eden to do her business before you put her in your armor?" Steph asked.

"I'm not exactly sure," Tony hedged.

JARVIS remained generally omnipresent when Tony was around, so he offered up, "approximately five hours."

"Tony! She's too little for that; she's not even a full three months old yet! No wonder she peed in your suit!" Stephanie cried out just as the door to our apartment swung open to admit Sam, Clint, Natasha and Bruce. Obviously having heard what Steph said, Clint and Sam both started laughing hysterically. Natasha's lips twitched in amusement, and Bruce just had a resigned look on his face.

Natasha leaned down to greet Eden, and I was fairly certain I heard her whisper, "aren't you a clever girl?"

"What are you all doing here so early?" I asked.

"We met up in the elevator," Sam offered his explanation first. "I was feeling like getting my ass kicked on a run this morning, and JARVIS said you were awake. I figured I'd see if I could catch you before I left, which given the state of undress here, I'm guessing I have succeeded in that, and also that you may not have been planning to go for a run this morning."

I winced only then realizing that Bucky and I were each shirtless, and Steph seemed to only be wearing a shirt. Although I knew I was blushing, both Steph and Bucky just looked down at themselves and shrugged, so I took a couple deep breaths. Then I walked back to our bedrooms and got more clothes for everyone after pulling a shirt on myself. When I walked back out, Tony was just finished explaining, again, why Eden had been in his suit.

"So, can I see the pictures?" Steph asked, and when JARVIS put the pictures up, she let out a delighted laugh. There was a picture of Eden lying on the ground, with the armor's helmet opened up and set over her such that her head was sticking out of it. Then there was a second picture of Eden in the body of the armor, obviously propped up somehow, with her head peeking out of the helmet again. I couldn't help but chuckle myself as the dog did look absurdly adorable.

"See, cute, isn't it?!" Tony asked, before exclaiming, "and I made her instantly even more internet famous than the picture of the three of you walking her back from the store. Or playing in the park. And the little traitor pays me back by peeing in my suit!"

"Why wouldn't that be the first thing you'd think of?" Bruce asked. "Take the dog out first to make sure it doesn't have to go to the bathroom. I would think that was obvious."

"Fine!" Tony said. "I can see I'm not going to get any sympathy here. Maybe I'll just go find Pepper; she'll be nice to me!"

"You think Pepper is going to take pity on you neglecting the dog you fought to get to take care of, shoving it in armor, and then having it pee in there for lack of a better option and probably at least a little out of fear?" Natasha asked, amusement clear in her voice.

Tony's jaw worked wordlessly for a few comical seconds before he said, "actually, how about we don't tell Pepper about this?"

"That's what I thought," Nat replied smoothly. "Clint and I were just coming to get Eden from Tony and take her for a morning walk since I wasn't sure that you were fully recovered yet."

"And I was just looking for Tony to go over some ideas I had," Bruce said, and I had a feeling he was being purposely vague at the moment.

"Why are you up so early, Steph? Isn't this the 'middle of the night'?" Clint asked, using air quotes to make his point.

"I couldn't sleep," Steph said bluntly but not unkindly.

When the rest of the team looked between Bucky and I surprised, I mouthed the word "nightmare" from behind her watching the understanding hit everyone's face.

Looking around at everyone and realizing she was found out, Steph shrugged. "It wasn't the first, and it won't be the last. I don't know that I have a run in me this morning, but that walk sounds good. I'm pretty sure that I haven't seen sunlight in a week, so I'm sure I could use some of whichever vitamin it is you get from the sun."

"That would be vitamin D, Steph," Bruce supplied. "But the sun isn't out yet."

"Well, by the time we all get dressed, including whatever weapons everyone deems appropriate, and it'll be closer to being light out. And we'll be out for a while, I'm guessing. You should join us, keep me company while they do the running that I'm sure will happen at some point. We can try some of that meditation I promised you I'd try."

"That sounds nice, Steph," Bruce responded with a smile.

While I'd had tense moments in the past viewing Bruce as a threat, I no longer felt that way. Our bond was comfortable and stable, and I was pleased to see that Steph was making a point to become friends with him. Bruce was often the most quiet of the Avengers family, and the most difficult to get to know as he wouldn't often make overtures of friendship on his own.

"I wonder if Darcy is awake and wants to join us," Steph mused.

"She is… indisposed for a few days," Natasha said sagely.

"Oh, we'll have to make sure Jane eats then," Steph said.

"Not a problem," Natasha assured her. "Thor's taking care of Jane. She and Darcy are synced up."

"Oh," Steph said. Then she asked, "hey what would have happened if you all had needed to assemble when we were in the truck?"

Bruce cleared his throat before responding, "we've developed some super-soldier strength suppressants over the years, and we have some regular ones on hand. We would have dosed you all."

"Well, that would have sucked," Steph said. "But when you gotta save the world, you gotta save the world. So I'm glad to know you have a plan for that!"

Steph had her phone out and was flipping through email while she was talking, and I truthfully wasn't all that surprised when she set it back on its charger on the counter next to her before saying, "okay, whoever wants to go, let's meet back up in ten and get this show on the road. I hate to say this, but I'm going to need to head into the office for at least a couple hours today."

As everyone else dispersed and Steph, Bucky, and I headed back to the bedroom, I rubbed Steph's shoulders. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just got some stuff to catch up on- paperwork including some incident reports and minor injuries to reschedule shifts around. And it seems Ranger is also going to be out of pocket for a couple of days, so Tank's going to be pulling double duty if I don't go in. I know you probably want another day of post-heat comfort as much as I do, and I'll try to keep it short."

"Steph, it's fine. Why don't you wear your uniform to the park and ask someone to pick you up there for the day? Bucky and I will come back, do a little training, clean up, then drive over to Rangeman and we can sort through our own paperwork from there until you're ready to leave? Then depending on the time, we can have a date night on our way back to the Tower or something?"

I could tell Steph was barely containing laughter as she said smartly, "sounds like a plan, Cap!"

"What is it with everyone and making fun of me for planning?" I asked in frustration.

Somehow, perfectly in sync, Steph and Bucky just started singing.

"Who will redeem, head the call for America,

Who'll rise or fall, give his all for America,

Who's here to prove that we can?

The Star Spangled Man with a Plan!"

"You know, some days I wish the two of you had never met," I groaned out.

"Come on, Punk. You don't mean that," Bucky said with a laugh.

"No, I don't," I responded. "But can we leave that damn bonds tour out of it? I hated pretty much everything about that."

"Everything but those pretty omega and beta girls, I bet," Steph teased with a grin.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said, but the look on both their faces told me they knew I wasn't telling the truth.

A/N: So how's everyone feeling? Still liking it and wanting it to go on for longer, or would you rather this wrap up quickly so we can move onto the next story? Curious author wants to know...