DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN THE AVENGERS OR MARVEL!

Loki: Did you learn your lesson?

Sarge: No.

Loki: Say it and we'll continue your punishment.

Sarge: I don't own anything but the OCs.

Loki: Good girl.

Steve smiles as he watches the kids leave for school. They had managed to convince Natalia to go to school as well, but instead of being a freshman, they had her put into Junior classes after testing her through 9th and 10th grade. Phil had pulled a few strings and Natalia now had all her classes with her sister.

"So, Buck, what are you going to do today?" Steve asks looking over at Buck as he picked up his jacket and keys.

"I'm headed over to SHIELD. They have a training position open and I'm going to apply," Buck answers. "It'll keep me close to home and keep me busy. Have a good day, Steve."

"You too Buck. Take care." Steve watches him leave before going to wake Natasha. Steve finds his lovely fiancée sitting on their bed tracing her fingers over her womb. Steve smiles and climbs on the bed behind her. He wraps his arms around her and buries his head in her hair.

"I'm so nervous Steve," Natasha whispers. "What if we're not good parents? I mean the kids are nearly grown, but this one will be a little baby."

"We'll do fine Tasha." Natasha nods and cranes her neck one way allowing Steve to kiss her neck softly. He runs a hand through her hair and trails kisses up to her ear. "I love you Natasha."

"I love you too Steve." Natasha places a hand on his face and looks back at him. They move and kiss each other on the lips softly. Steve works his way under her shirt and puts his hand on her warm womb. He sets his forehead on hers and stares in her eyes.

"We'll be fine, Tasha." Natasha nods and smiles as she reclines into Steve's arms. They take a nice little nap, neither of them needing to go to SHIELD today and SJ was gone until Friday to the X-Men mansion for some training with Logan. At noon, JARVIS wakes them up with a message from Tony.

"What does Tony want JARVIS?" Natasha questions.

"He requests your presence in the lab," JARVIS replies. Steve helps Natasha up and they walk down to the lab. Tony and Bruce are working on something.

"JARVIS said you wanted to see us," Steve says with a sigh. Tony motions him over and reveals the screen. Steve stares at the face and then falls back to the ground stunned. "No, that's not possible! The Tesseract burned him up!"

"Steve, it's true," Bruce insists. "Unless someone made a clone of him with all the memories, this is him."

"Don't let the kids know," Steve says sternly. "Sarah will track him down and kill him." Bruce nods and secures the red face in a file on a flash drive. "Was there something else?"

"Oh, yeah, Phil called," Tony says looking at the pair, "he wants you, Tasha, Clint, and me down to the school during last hour. Seems some of the teachers want to talk about the kids."

"Don't tell me one of them is suspended already," Steve grumbles. Tony laughs and shakes his head.

"No, they're not. Clint will meet us there. I figured we should get going after lunch," Tony explains.

"Yeah, sounds good. I'll go get lunch started," Natasha says walking away. Tasha walks away and Steve looks at the pair.

"How's Dr. Madden?" Steve inquires.

"He's doing good. He has a few of the other kids with him now that he has room," Bruce answers. "Don't worry, these ones aren't clones or clone kids." Steve nods slowly and walks out of the room. Bruce turns to Tony. "We should tell him."

"No, Steve will worry way too much," Tony replies. "We can fix her on our own. Vision." The android walks out of the shadows. "Keep an eye on Pep."

"Yes sir." Vision walks out of the room. The two scientists exchange a look before joining Steve and Tasha for lunch. After lunch, they dress nicely and pile into Natasha's SUV. The drive is silent for the most part. They pull into a spot and Clint walks over from his SUV. The four of them walk into the school and Phil shows them to a conference room. Phil walks silently to the gym class. Coach Holmes calls the class to attention upon seeing the Principal there.

"Principal Coulson?" the coach asks.

"The meeting." A female SHIELD agent in substitute clothes walks into the room. "Go to my office, Coach. Rogers, Rogers, Norling, Barton, hit the showers and meet me in the hall in five. Now." Sarah, Natalia, Loki, and Aaron look at each other before going off to change. Phil rounds up the other teachers he needs and sends them to his office. The kids walk up to him as he returns.

"What's up Phil?" Sarah asks.

"Some of the teachers have requested a meeting with your guardians," Phil answers. Phil sends them to the conference room where they sit down with the Avengers. The door opens again and the teachers come into the room with Phil. Phil sits down next to Steve.

"We asked Principal Coulson to call this meeting for us," the haughty History teacher says in his I'm-above-you tone.

"You called it, not the rest of us," Coach Holmes mutters.

"It has come to our attention of some attendance issues," Mr. Adams continues.

"All of which have legitimate excuses," Clint cuts him off.

"Sarah enrolled here at the beginning of the year. She left the school for two and a half months to go to Sweden, and then returned with all her homework perfectly done. I highly doubt she has that type of intellect," Mr. Adams continues.

"I have an eidetic memory," Sarah points out. "Ask Tony. He's read my medical file. I mean, I get it from my dad, he has one too."

"To continue," Mr. Adams interrupts. "Along with Miss Rogers return, we received two new students, Lukas Norling and Aaron Barton. I've done digging and Aaron Barton went off the grid for two years."

"I was looking for my father," Aaron counters.

"Both of these students live at the same residence as Ms. Rogers. Overall not that strange. Then, a week later, these three along with nine others were carted off to a program no one has heard of where they got into a mysterious accident and were in a hospital for an undisclosed amount of time with injuries that have apparently disappeared. They were gone for almost a month and a half, and yet again the homework was all turned in thanks to the Principal. When you returned, we added another Rogers to the student body, the apparent 14 year old sister of Sarah's who has the intellect of a Junior. Now doesn't this all just seem a little bit suspicious?" Mr. Adams questions.

"Can we leave yet?" Tony asks Phil.

"Not yet Stark." There's a knock at the door and Mr. Adams opens it to reveal two social services agents. The kids all stare. "What the hell is going on here?"

"I did some digging. They all reside with the Avengers; Sarah is a lined up to be a member. There was an attack on the Tower a month ago. The kids are not in a safe environment so I am having them relocated," Mr. Adams says simply. Sarah's on her feet and across the room before Steve can grab her. She grabs Mr. Adams and holds him a good foot off the ground by his shirt. He stares at her stunned.

"My family protects us with their lives! Don't you dare even think that you can take us away from them! I'll kill every single agent that tries!" Sarah snarls. She drops him and shoves him away. She looks at the two agents. "If you know what's best for you, you'll stay the fuck away from us."

"Sarah, calm down," Steve says approaching her.

"I've been taken away from my family too many times Dad! I'm not going to let this man take me away from my family because he thinks we're in danger. If we were in dangers we wouldn't be living with you guys," Sarah counters. "I am out of here. I need to cool off before I hurt somebody." She tosses Loki her keys. The two agents block the doorway. Sarah's eyes narrow before a shield appears on her arm. She pushes the two agents to the side and walks out of the room. They sit there in stunned silence. When the school bell rings, Spider-Man is seen swinging off with Sarah toward the Tower.

"Well, that was interesting," Tony says to clear the air. "Phil, you'll be receiving my official request to have Mr. Adams thrown out within the week. I have a person in mind to replace him. As for the rest of you teachers, forget what just happened here and we're square. Good? Good. I'm going to go prevent Sarah from destroying the Tower now." Tony walks out and pulls a Iron Man suit out of the SUV before taking off for the Tower. The door opens again and a secretary walks in and hands a paper over to Phil.

"Mr. Adams, it seems that you have been charged by SHIELD on multiple charges. These agents will escort you out," Phil says motioning to two that appear behind the social services agents. "Don't worry; we have your replacement on the way. Unless another teacher has an issue, this meeting is over." The other teachers assure the kids that nothing has changed before leaving the room. Phil looks at Steve. "I didn't know Steve."

"I know Phil." Steve puts a hand on Natalia's shoulder as she picks up her sister's bag. The red head looks up at her father. "She did it to protect you all." Natalia nods softly. That's all that Sarah ever does now.

Tony lands on the balcony of Stark Tower and quickly removes his armor. The billionaire locates Sarah quickly and with ease since, just like her father, she takes her anger out on punching bags. He watches her as she pounds the punching bag into dust. As the bag breaks from the hook, the billionaire watches as the blond falls to her knees in frustration and anguish. Tony watches as she turns sickly pale after a moment and starts to cough up blood onto the floor. Sarah clutches her sides in pain and groans as the blood continues to drip from her lips onto the ground. Tony sprints across the room to her side. Dr. Madden's notes had mentioned this and Tony recognized it instantly. Tony eases her back a little.

"Sarah, I'm going to pick you up and get you help," Tony tells her. Tony manages to pick the teen up off the floor and carry her to the medical lab where Tony is running tests on samples Madden had given them. Tony's later answer for how he managed to carry the teen that far was the situation and his adrenaline starting to kick in. JARVIS opens the lab door for him and Tony hurries in. "Bruce, booster now!" Tony shouts as he heads for the medical bed. Bruce looks over to see what Tony's panicking about and instantly realizes the situation.

"How long?" Bruce questions.

"A few minutes," Tony answers before continuing with, "she was beating a punching bag to a pulp." Tony holds Sarah upright on the bed and gives her a wastebasket to cough the blood up in. Bruce hurries over with syringe filled with medicine. After the booster shot Madden had given her in the helicarrier Bruce and Tony had devised one of their own to help these episodes. Bruce puts Sarah arm on the table next to the bed and holds it steady long enough to administer the shot. A few minutes pass and the coughing gradually lessens. After two minutes of silence, Tony eases the blond back to rest on the bed. Her eyes are closed telling the pair that she's out cold for a few minutes, a side effect of the booster.

"I'll go get her some clothes," Tony says.

"No, stay. You're covered in blood," Bruce says. "Get a rag and clean to two of you off. I'll get you both a change of clothes." Bruce leaves the room swiftly and Tony looks back at his niece. He's starting to regret not telling Steve. Tony finds a rag and a small bowl that he fills with water. He cleans off using the mirror before returning to Sarah's side and wiping the blood off her face, chest, and neck. He brushes her bangs back and sighs. They had to speed up their finding a solution. Sarah's eyes flutter open and she looks up at Tony with sleepy eyes.

"Tony?" she questions just above a whisper. "Wha-?"

"Easy, you're still weak," Tony says softly sitting down in a chair next to the bed. "You had an episode."

"Episode?"

"We'll talk about it in a few minutes. We need to get you changed first," Bruce says walking back in with clothes for both Tony and Sarah. "Do you mind if we help you?"

"I don't think I could move," Sarah stammers slightly. Bruce nods and motions for Tony to help her sit up. Bruce helps the blond take off her shirt and replaces it with a new one. He holds her upright while she slips her jeans off and puts on new ones. Bruce eases the blond back onto the bed now that Tony had moved the back so she'd be sitting up more. Bruce notices the Goosebumps on her skin and pulls a blanket from a cabinet for her.

"Thanks Bruce." Tony changes his shirt and places the other shirt in a pile with Sarah's bloody clothes. "What's an episode?"

"A relapse with your serum," Bruce answers. Sarah looks at him sharply. "Dr. Madden informed me and I informed Tony. We're working on a cure. No one else knows." Sarah looks between the two and sighs. "Sarah, it's nothing to be ashamed about. We all have our issues. I'm going to describe these episodes to you so you can pick up when they're coming. Normally, you'll get very light headed, your body will start hurting, then you'll go pale, sometimes you'll feel really cold or really warm, then you'll cough up blood and it's normally followed by going into a fever induced sleep."

"I know the symptoms, Bruce. I've had them before," Sarah mutters rubbing her eyes as her muscles start working again.

"And you didn't tell us?" Tony questions.

"Your father knew," Sarah counters. Tony takes in what that statement means.

"Oh."

"Yeah. It happened a few hours after we had returned from saving Bucky and the other 400 soldiers. I was upset and pissed off. Passed out in front of the door to the tent I shared with Peggy. She had to have Steve move the door to get to me. They used Steve's blood to treat me, two pints of it. I got another transfusion a day or two before he went in the ice. Howard never could find a solution. We thought vita-rays might help. I have some files up in my room," Sarah says offhandedly.

"Where are they?" Tony inquires.

"I'll get them," Sarah insists sitting up on her own and swinging her legs off the bed. She stands up but sways dangerously. "Or not." Bruce helps her sit back down and the blond holds her head dizzily. "The Lazy-Susan organizer in my desk, the file is marked as Howard Stark Project. You'll find it easily; it's in an old manila folder with his hand writing on it."

"I'll go get it," Tony says. Bruce nods and the engineer hurries out of the room. Bruce puts the back of his hand to her forehead and approves of the temperature there.

"Hey, Bruce," Sarah says. The scientist looks her in the eyes. "Are you delivering Mom's baby?"

"If I have too."

"Could you teach me, like just in case you're not there and we can't get to a doctor?" Sarah asks him.

"Sure I will. Do you remember that night you helped us create Vision's disguise?" Bruce inquires.

"How could I not. I fell asleep at the computer."

"You know all those little robots you made on the program?" Bruce continues.

"Yeah, they were kind of cute."

"Tony's thinking about making a few of them." Sarah beams just as Tony comes back into the room with the file.

"Bruce, this is the break through we've been waiting for!" Tony laughs happily. "Sarah, who thought of this?"

"Dad had the idea, Howard did research on it. But the vita-ray chamber was destroyed and unfortunately during a lab accident the files got destroyed," Sarah explains. "We tried to repair the chamber but the thing was fried."

"Don't worry; I should be able to come up with one again. I wish we had more pictures of it," Tony mutters. "We'll have you better soon."

"Thanks Tony. That's good to hear."

"Tony, how long would that take to make?" Bruce inquires.

"I don't know. I'll have to start working on it immediately," Tony says flipping through the file. "Where'd you get the file, Sarah?"

"When Howard packed my bags, he sent it with me," Sarah explains. "Are you going to tell Dad?"

"Not unless you want us to," Bruce insists.

"Don't tell him. He's overprotective as it is. I'm going to head to my room and take a nap," Sarah says slowly bringing herself to the sitting position.

"Before you go," Tony says taking something out of a drawer and taking her hand, "I want you to wear this at all times. It will inform you when an episode is about to come. I have an adaption kit for you gauntlet to remotely administer the medicine as well." Sarah nods and Tony takes out a flask like container. He turns her gauntlet over and opens an access hatch to the IV adapter inside. He attaches the flask and double checks to make sure it works. "It will inform you when the flask is empty. Don't exercise too much; I think that's what is speeding up the degrading time." Tony attaches the bracelet-monitoring device to the gauntlet and checks to make sure it's running.

"Thanks Tony. Will someone wake me up for dinner?" Tony nods and Sarah eases to her feet. Vision walks in and offers a hand.

"JARVIS informed me that Miss Rogers was feeling under the weather. I will help you to your room, Miss Rogers."

"The name is Sarah, Vision, and thank you," Sarah says sincerely leaning on the android. The door closes once they're outside and the two men turn to each other.

"How long for the chamber Tony?" Bruce inquires.

"A month or more," Tony answers. "If I had more schematics, less time than that. From Dad's notes, an additional serum, like the one that Madden has been creating, if combined with a treatment of vita-rays will take care for the issue."

"Tony I'm not sure we have a month," Bruce replies. "Aaron talked to me the other day. He told me that Madden gave Sarah an injection when they went to get Natalia, Buck and Dominique. Sarah was complaining that she was light headed. That's been a month and a half or so ago. Look back to what Sarah said about WWII. Twice they gave her Steve's blood. The episodes are occurring more often. And don't forget about the fact that every time she needs a treatment, the treatment becomes less effective."

"I know Bruce," Tony snaps back as he lays the file's contents out. "We'll have to work quickly. Who else knows anything about vita-rays and such?"

"Maybe Henry Pym, he's got a degree in bio-chem. Susan Storm might be able to aid us as well. I forget where her degree is in bio-chem or genetics either one would be beneficial. As for the building side of it, you and me should suffice, otherwise we can rope in Reed as well," Bruce says thinking through the names. "We can't make a huge deal over this." Tony picks up the phone. "Who are you calling?"

"JARVIS, do I have any meetings in the morning?" Tony inquires.

"Your morning schedule is clear, as is Doctor Banner's."

"All right, mark it as booked." Tony dials the Baxter Building.

"Hello, this is the office of the Fantastic Four," Johnny says cheerfully picking up.

"Hey, Johnny, your sister there?"

"Well, she's getting ready for a night out with Reed."

"It won't take long promise." Tony can hear the phone exchanging hands.

"I swear Stark, if you make me miss my date, I'll gut you," Susan threatens.

"I promise I'm not, Sue. What do you have degrees in?" Tony inquires.

"PhD in genetics and I'm working on a few PhDs in the bio-chem sector," Sue answers.

"Are you free tomorrow morning?"

"I can make it free, how long?"

"All morning."

"What's wrong Tony?" Sue asks in concern.

"Bruce and I are trying to keep a sickness of one of the family under wraps, but by our estimations, if we don't crack this issue within the month, we're down a family member," Tony answers. "Don't tell anybody. Bruce, JARVIS, Vision, and I are the only ones that know and we're trying to keep it that way."

"I'll be over say seven o'clock, okay?" Sue confirms.

"Sounds great Sue. Thank you," Tony says with a small smile.

"No problem Tony." She hangs up and Bruce adds Sue to the list of scientists. Tony dials up Hank.

"What do you want Stark?" Hank inquires picking up the phone.

"Halt the hostilities Hank, please," Tony practically pleads. "How much do you know about super soldiers?"

"Something happen?" Hank demands.

"It's complicated. We're working with DNA, serums, vita-rays, and builds. So far the team is Bruce, Sue Storm and myself. I'd like a bio-chemist on the team as well," Tony says running a hand up and down his face. "We're trying to keep this low key. Bruce, Vision, JARVIS, and I are the only ones that know to my knowledge. Please Hank, I need help with this."

"When do you need me?"

"Can you clear your schedule for tomorrow morning?" Tony inquires.

"I'll clear it for the whole day. Just answer me this Tony, is this a weapons contract or is Steve hurt?" Hank asks.

"It's not a contract and it's not Steve," Tony says softly. "It's Sarah."

"I'm clearing my whole day. Seven in the morning sound good?" Hank asks.

"Yep. Sue will be coming over then too. Thank you Hank."

"We'll fix this Tony, I promise." Tony hangs up and nods to Bruce. The two men work until dinner going over the files, comparing notes, and working hard in general. At dinner, Natasha announces she has to go on a diplomatic mission to a country called Wakanda for a few weeks with Hill the day after Tony's wedding. Apparently, the country's king wanted to form an alliance with the United States and SHIELD. The next morning, Phil calls after the kids have left for school. All that Steve could understand was the kids would be coming home around lunch after a guest speaker was done at the school and the speaker wanted to see Steve. Phil walks into the first hour class and the teacher holds up her hand.

"Which ones, Parker's gang or the Rogers gang?" the teacher inquires.

"Rogers."

"You're excused kids." The four teenagers get up wordlessly and grab their stuff from their lockers on the way to the Principal's office. They stand as Phil closes the door behind them.

"What did we do this time?" Aaron inquires.

"Oh, it's not you," Phil laughs. "We have a special guest speaker. A very special one. After the meeting in the auditorium, you're to take the speaker and her chaperon to the Tower to see Steve and you're excused for the day. Lukas, Aaron, Natalia, go wait in the auditorium." The trio walks off and Loki takes Sarah's bag for her.

"So, what am I doing?" Sarah asks.

"Getting in uniform," Phil answers. "I had Natasha run it over. The speaker is Peggy Carter." Sarah stares at Phil. "Exactly. She would like someone in a uniform from that age. She's going to be talking about Captain America, herself, the Howling Commandos, a lot of information really. It's all things you know. Normally her granddaughter would be the only one in uniform, but she made a request that you join her as well. She'd like to introduce you as the daughter of Captain America, it is general information that he's alive after all." Sarah nods softly. Kids had asked her about the article in the Times and the Bugle.

"Where's the suit?" Sarah asks.

"In the dressing room behind the stage." Sarah nods and leaves the office. She runs her fingers over the fabric of the uniform; it was the one with a skirt. She smiles softly remembering all the fun she had in this skirt. She changes quickly, putting her clothes in a bag for later. She sits down at the little table and applies her makeup, the routine still familiar to her. With a little magic, her hair is done automatically so she doesn't have to deal with it. She stands and straightens her coat.

"It's good to see you in uniform again, Sarah." Sarah turns around and sees a much older Peggy Carter. The tears brim in Sarah's eyes. "Oh, dear, don't cry."

"I missed you Peggy. I didn't get to say goodbye," Sarah whispers before hugging the older woman.

"I know, dear, but I knew I'd see you again. It's too bad that Howard isn't here to see you now. Imagine what he would have to say." Sarah laughs at the thought of Howard. "You look good dear."

"You look very good Peggy. Your granddaughter?" Sarah inquires. Peggy whistles softly and Sharon comes out in Peggy's old uniform. If her hair was brunette, Sarah would have called her Peggy.

"Hello, I'm Sharon Carter," Sharon says playing the I do not know you card on Sarah.

"Sarah Rogers."

"Steve Rogers's relative?" Sharon inquires.

"Daughter," Sarah answers.

"Come on girls. We have a school to entertain. Sarah, would you mind helping me to my chair?" Peggy asks.

"It would be my pleasure, Peggy." Sarah holds onto Peggy's arm as they walk to the edge of the stage. The auditorium fills up rapidly, Loki, Aaron, and Natalia are sitting front row.

"Good morning, students and staff. We have a rare treat today, a World War Two veteran has donated some time to come speak to you today. She has brought along two friends with her, one is wearing a British uniform, the other a corresponding American uniform. I ask you to be respectful as she deserves your respect. I welcome to the stage, Peggy Carter." The auditorium is filled with claps as Sarah and Sharon walk with Peggy out to center stage. Aaron's jaw drops at his girlfriend in uniform. Sarah helps Peggy into her seat and stands five feet away on one side as Sharon did the same on the other side. There's a screen off to the side by Sarah. She glances at the picture and a tear comes to her eye. It's the Howling Commandos with Steve smiling at the camera.

"Good morning," Peggy says softly into the radio. "As you can see, I am quite old so you will have to be patience with an old woman." Chuckles ring out and both Sharon and Sarah have to hide their laughter behind their hands. Peggy tells stories for a long time then answers questions for anyone that had a question. After the assembly, the school leaves. Aaron, Loki, and Natalia jump up onto the stage as Coulson walks up to them.

"See you tomorrow kids. Behave," Coulson warns.

"Aren't we always?" Loki says with a smirk.

"Hell no." Sarah laughs and Coulson walks away.

"I'll change when we get home, but I have to grab my clothes out of the back," Sarah tells them. "I'm glad you're coming over, Peggy. You can sit up front with me."

"Thank you Sarah. Young man, would you take me out to the vehicle. I walk quite slowly, I'd hate to keep everyone waiting," Peggy says looking at Aaron.

"It would be my pleasure ma'am."

"Sharon, get my things would you?" Peggy asks her.

"Sure Grandmother." Sharon and Sarah go back stage and gather the bags. "Say it."

"You could have told me you were visiting New York," Sarah points out.

"I didn't know we were. We're staying at a hotel for a few days while we're here. We have some more schools to see still," Sharon says as the pair head for the car. "What do you drive that fits all of us?"

"What can't I drive if I want to?" Sarah laughs.

"Good point." They arrive at the SUV to see Aaron helping Peggy into the passenger's seat. Sarah watches as Natalia and Loki climb into the bench seat in the back. Aaron climbs in behind Sarah's seat and Sharon climbs into the other seat. The drive back to the Tower is relatively short. The others had introduced themselves to Sharon before getting in the car luckily. The elevator door opens to the main level of the Avengers levels. Loki takes all the bags and deposits them in the correct room while Sharon and Sarah hang up coats. Sarah escorts Peggy to the kitchen table. She had called ahead and Natasha had a lunch laid out for them.

"Well, this certainly is a surprise," Natasha chuckles as Loki and Aaron walk in.

"I know," Natalia chuckles. "Where's Dad?"

"Right here." Steve comes from the kitchen holding a bowl of the cold chicken salad. "So, who is our guest?" Steve sets the bowl down and looks toward Sarah. Steve nearly drops to the floor in shock. He hurries around the table and hugs Peggy softly.

"Hello Steve, it's been a very long time," Peggy says with a soft chuckle. "I seem to recall Sarah telling me about her mother, a red head. I presume you are Natasha Romanoff, yes?" Peggy looks toward Natasha.

"Yes ma'am." Peggy walks around Steve to Natasha.

"Not a bad choice, Steve. I'm Peggy Carter, Miss Romanoff." The two women shake hands. Steve looks at Sharon. "Ah, this is my granddaughter Sharon. She fits into my suit so she goes traveling when I do speeches, like the one I did at Sarah's school today."

"That explains why she's in uniform," Steve remarks. Sarah glances down and blushes.

"Sorry Dad I forgot," Sarah mutters.

"It looks fine dear." A bottle hits the floor and everyone turns to see Clint, Tony, Thor, Bruce, and Pepper standing there.

"What is it?" Loki questions.

"I thought I was looking at a blond Peggy Carter," Tony stammers.

"Tasha, when did your little girl turn into a soldier?!" Clint complains.

"I think I'll go change," Sarah says scratching the back of her neck.

"How could you stand that uniform?" Natasha inquires.

"I forced it on her. Most of the time she wore trousers," Peggy chuckles. "Go change, girls. Sharon, behave."

"Don't I always Grandmother?" Sharon counters.

"No." Sharon laughs and Sarah shows her to her room. Sarah changes into her jeans and a tank top while Sharon changes into jeans and a short sleeve shirt. The two blonds look at each other with faint smiles.

"It's good to see you again so soon, Sharon," Sarah says softly.

"I know. I was worried when the next time we meet might be. I must see some of these fighting skills my grandmother tells me about. She told me about a few times you put men in line," Sharon chuckles. Sarah smiles fondly. "Isn't it weird for you to have been in the past four years but go back to normal life almost immediately?"

"When you live with the Avengers, things that should bother you don't bother you," Sarah answers. "It comes with the territory, unfortunately." Sharon nods and they walk back to the table. The two blonds sit down and the group converses over lunch.

"Sarah, you up for sparring later?" Clint inquires.

"The last time I sparred with you, you couldn't spar for a week I hurt your shoulder too badly!" Sarah giggles.

"Then how about you and Sharon spar?" Peggy suggests.

"Peggy, I couldn't. I'd hurt her, you know that," Sarah says softly glancing at Sharon.

"Fine, you and I will spar. We haven't done that in a few months," Steve says sitting back in his chair. "I'd like to see if you've improved any from your trip back in time."

"You got it, Old Man," Sarah laughs. "Gym clothes or mission clothes?"

"Gym clothes. You have upgrades remember. Tony fixed that issue and improved it," Steve commented.

"You did?" Sarah yelps looking at Tony.

"Yes I did and I'm planning on giving you a whole new suit once we get those gauntlets off. I'm still having some issue with that," Tony mutters.

"What was the issue?" Peggy inquires. Steve glances at Tony who shrugs. The soldier then looks at his fiancée and Clint.

"They're close enough to be family," Natasha reassures Steve. Steve clears his throat and swallows a little water.

"There was a situation about a month and a half ago. Avengers teams A and B were captured and held for somewhere within 72 hours give or take a few hours," Steve says slowly. Sharon looks over at Sarah who winces at the memory. "SHIELD didn't have a back up team for both teams, they had to recruit a new team but it was taking too long and they would have been in the same position as us. Sarah and the others organized a team, a mission, and accomplished their mission. We lost a few SHIELD agents, a dear friend of Sarah and Natalia's, and Clint's brother who was Aaron's father. We almost lost two others."

Sarah walks over to Steve as his voice starts to break up. She puts a hand on his shoulder and squeezes it tightly. He puts a hand on it and squeezes back.

"I, I can't continue," Steve stammers.

"I will Dad," Sarah says hugging him. "I ordered a retreat and went into the reactor of the compound they were holding the Avengers at. Blew it sky high so the army chasing after the Avengers and SHIELD wouldn't get my family. I knew the odds going in. My suit failed partially during the explosion when I tried to get out. Took one hell of a beating. My little brother SJ was injured when he came in to get me out. Tony had taken a lot of abuse by their captors. Tony healed relatively fast. SJ was fine in a matter of days. I took a month to heal; I was in a coma the whole time. I woke up and I'm just fine now."

"That's good to hear dear," Peggy says softly. They finish eating and everyone heads down to the training arena. Sarah and Steve jump in the ring and put on gloves.

"Ready?" Steve asks her. Sarah nods and Steve lunges. His fist misses her face as she dodges, hits him in the armpit, and flips him onto his back. Steve pops right back up and Sarah lunges. Steve swipes her legs out from under her and she lands hard on the mat. She swings around and knocks Steve to her level. She pins him but Steve tosses her up in the air. Sarah comes down on Steve with a blow to the shoulder. The soldier grunts before throwing a right hook at her. His daughter blocks and uses his arm as leverage to send him over her back and onto the mat.

"Are you taking lessons from your mother again?" Steve inquires.

"Are you jealous, Dad?"

"No, I just want to know where you're learning these moves," Steve replies. Sarah smiles as he gets back up. The younger throws a punch at Steve's gut but he blocks with his leg. Steve slams his leg into her knee causing her to buckle slightly. She quickly executes three punches to his legs before jumping back up and give him a sidekick to the head.

"Would you believe me if I told you that Howard taught me?" Sarah inquires.

"Howard couldn't throw a punch!" Steve laughs as he launches at his daughter.

"No, but his bodyguards were fun to play with, so he did teach me," Sarah chuckles. She dives between his legs and kicks him in the ass, sending him sprawled out on the ring floor. She smirks and rests against the side of the ring. "Had enough, old man?"

"For now. I want a rematch later," Steve laughs.

"You're on." Sharon and Peggy leave after dinner. Steve invited them to the wedding but it turned out that they'd be across the country at the time.

"Hey," Loki says catching Sarah's attention as she goes to turn in for the night. Sarah looks up at him and raises an eyebrow. "Can I talk with you?"

"Sure." The two of them sit down on her bed and Loki looks over at her. "What's on your mind, Loki?"

"You know how I told you that you'd find love again?" Loki asks her. She nods and Loki smiles softly. "You found him." Loki points at the picture of Aaron sitting on her dresser. "I just wanted to tell you so you wouldn't have any doubt with him."

"Thank you Loki. I love him very much," Sarah says with a smile. "Go sleep, Loki." Loki nods and leaves Sarah to her thoughts. The blond settles down on the bed after a shower and a change of clothing. Her eyes drift off peacefully but her night would not be so peaceful.

Sarah was running through a long dark corridor. She slammed through a door and skidded to a stop at the sight. A man held Aaron's head back and forced him toward the pool of water in the room.

"Twenty feet down in weights. With a push of this button," he said showing a remote, "the pool will be electrocuted."

"Don't, please!" Sarah begged.

"You give me what I want."

"That's not my choice." He tossed Aaron into the water. Sarah ran forward and dove in after him. She swam back up with him in her arms. She tossed him out of the pool just as the man hit the button. She screamed in pain and the muscle spasms sent her straight to the bottom.

"Sarah! SARAH!" Sarah gasps and bolts upright in the bed. Her chest heaves and the IV in her arm kicks in again. Sarah feels a hand settle on her face and hold her steady as she tries to calm down again. "Sarah, babe, look at me!" Sarah looks at Aaron. He's wearing his bed shorts and a tank top. His face is full of concern as he watches her closely. "Calm down, it was just a dream."

"Aaron!" she cries throwing herself into his arms. Aaron holds her close to his chest and kisses her neck as she cries into her shoulder. "How did you know?"

"Loki felt your energy fluctuating. He had JARVIS wake me up. Babe, what was it?"

"A horrible nightmare. You were there and there was a man trying to drown you in this pool that could be electrified. I dove in after you and got you out but he electrocuted the pool before I could get out. It felt so real!" she sobs. Aaron holds her closer and smoothes her hair on her head.

"You'll be okay, you'll be okay," Aaron whispers to her. "It was just a dream, babe. Just a dream." The door to her room opens and Aaron looks over his shoulder to see Natasha standing there. She nods in approval and closes the door. "I'm not going anywhere babe." Sarah looks up at Aaron. "Do you want me to stay with you tonight?"

"Please. Don't leave me." Aaron nods and moves slowly to behind her. He pulls her down to lay down and wraps his arms around her. He strokes her hair softly as she pulls the covers up. Her hand slips under his shirt and rests on his heart. The consistent thumping of his heart lets her know that he really is there with her.

"I'm never leaving you," Aaron coos softly. Sarah snuggles in and he slips a hand under her shirt onto her spine. She shivers as his warm hand touches her cold back. "I won't leave you."

Compared to the past five chapters or so, this one isn't half bad if I do say so myself.