Authors note: I'm trying to work toward a more frequently updating schedule, so for those of you who are used to checking for far-and-few-between updates, please make sure you've read the chapter before this. It was posted on April 7, 2018. Thanks!
Chapter Twenty-five
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Once upon a time, Steve Rogers represented the peak of scientific achievement - the product of the best science had to offer. These days, though, things were far stranger. And like everything else in this new world, Steve tried to take it in stride. Sure, there were robots now. And aliens. And now he faced a crimson-colored, man-shaped thing that spoke like Jarvis, looked like Schmidt, knew Ultron's mind, and could wield Thor's hammer.
Personally, Steve felt a little regret over that last bit. He'd had money down with Sam that Peggy would be the first to lift Mjölnir.
He was also still tired from the confrontation in Korea, frustrated with Tony's insubordination, annoyed at Thor's lack of prior communication, and worried about the Avengers' consistent lack of cohesiveness as a team. Right now, though, the thing he wanted most in this world was to get a few minutes alone with his wife.
Unfortunately, if Thor's vision was to be believed, they needed to leave now, urgently, for Sokovia.
"Three minutes. Get what you need," he ordered the team tersely. Maybe, since he was already in his gear, he could spend those three minutes with his wife.
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Clint kept an eye on the twins even as the rest of the Avengers dispersed. They stood close together, looking surprisingly young and unsure of themselves.
Okay. Looks like it was up to him. And as the only man here who'd bested them both - well, he felt a certain responsibility. They just needed a little coffee and some new clothes, and they'd be right as rain.
They didn't resist much when he hustled them into the elevator and down two floors to the gym. They did stare, however, when he ushered them to the the big closet on one side and flung the doors open with a grandiose gesture that he immediately felt was probably too Stark-like. Clearly he'd been spending too much time around the billionaire.
"There's lots of extra stuff in the closet there," he pointed out, rather redundantly. "Help yourself." The gym closet was the catch-all for everybody's extra clothing. Surely they could find something that would fit.
Wanda hung back, unsure, wary, but Pietro got a gleam in his eye.
"Anything?" he asked, eying a pair of Tony's new running shoes.
Clint decided it was probably a good idea not to tell him whose shoes they were. Besides, they were very good ones, and the young man would need something more durable than what he currently had on.
"Anything except official Avenger uniforms," he amended, and left them to it.
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Stark snagged the captain's arm before he'd made it more than two steps toward his wife. Apparently the three minutes Steve had allotted would need to stretch into something more like thirteen minutes. The quinjet wasn't done refuelling from the trip to Korea, and there were maintenance checks that still had to be run. Tony's new computer system FRIDAY wasn't quite as integrated as JARVIS had been.
Steve said something, anything in distracted agreement. The instant he was free, he made a beeline for his best girl. Lacing his fingers between hers, he finally felt at peace for the first time in hours.
"I've got to talk to you," Peggy said, taking the words right out of his mouth. Her face was serious, and there was something in her eyes that told him this was very important.
"Prep room," he said instead. "We'll have it to ourselves."
Hand in hand, they left the busy, lighted part of the tower, and Peggy fairly dragged him into a small preparation room. The light automatically flickered on as they entered - it looked like Tony was finally getting the tower back to normal.
"Peg," he said quickly, before he could lose his nerve. She whirled to face him, eyes wide and urgent, and spoke at the same time.
"I think you should call Sam…"
"I've called Sam to help…"
They both broke off, surprised that they'd been on the same topic. Steve's forehead furrowed in confusion; he was fairly certain Peggy was talking about something different than what he'd been about to suggest. "What do you need Sam's help for?"
She put her free hand on his arm, looked straight into his eyes, and dropped a bombshell that knocked him for a loop.
"Because Bucky's in New York."
The world froze around him. Steve swore he felt his heart stop, every drop of blood draining from his face. Peggy panted once as if she'd surprised even herself with the announcement, and bit her lip. "I didn't know how to tell you earlier," she admitted regretfully.
He gulped for air, found it, and then squared his shoulders. Maybe there was time…. "Where?" he demanded, voice hoarse.
She told him.
And Steve Rogers saw red.
Had the men who'd kidnapped his wife been present, they truly would have learned what it meant to face a man filled with a terrible and righteous wrath. As it was, he very nearly put his fist through the door in helpless reaction. Anger, fear, the horror of his nightmare - they hit him with the force of a freight train, and he could barely breathe.
"Steve."
Her voice was quiet, understanding. He blinked at the six-inch dent in the steel door of the prep room, and then turned, blindly tugging her to him with a ferocity he didn't usually display, enfolding her.
He could have lost her. All their hopes, all their dreams, stolen in the most useless and cowardly of ways.
It wasn't a new fear. They'd met and fallen in love in the face of the greatest war the world had known. Both of them had lost more friends and acquaintances than they would ever be able to name, and every time they had parted, it was under a shadow of uncertainty whether they would live to see one another again. But lately - lately the possibility had grown even harder to stomach.
"And I was in Korea," he rasped at last, gritting the words out almost angrily between his teeth. His breath was harsh and unsteady and tight in his chest.
Peggy seemed to know what he was trying to say. "You were doing your job," she told him. "And I was doing mine, and Barnes his. He still has your back after all this time."
Steve nodded against her hair. "God bless him," he managed thickly, and cleared his throat, eyes pricking in a sudden rush of overwhelming gratitude.
They held each other for a while longer as his heartbeat slowly calmed, drinking in her warmth, the comfort of her very nearness. Time was pressing though, and eventually he remembered his original purpose in drawing her aside.
"Any news on Junior?" he asked quietly, rubbing his hands the length of her back, trying to loosen her muscles. Peggy had suffered a rather severe blow to the spine at one point in her career, fighting with one of Natasha's predecessors, and he knew she still suffered occasional pain that had only grown worse with pregnancy.
Peggy nodded and then stepped back out of his arms, letting go of him. Her hands twisted together, a rare sign of nerves. "I - yes. Steve, I can't go with you to Sokovia. I'm going to Boston in the morning."
Caught off-guard, he stared at her for a minute. Honestly, he hadn't even wanted her to go to Sokovia. Ultron didn't understand love or family, but he did understand leverage - and while Peggy was Steve's greatest strength, she was also one of his greatest vulnerabilities. Instead, he'd hoped to convince her to go to DC, lay low at Sam's place, get in contact with Fury and help get SHIELD on board.
He'd been prepared for a fight - not for this.
"Boston?"
Sure, Ultron wouldn't be likely to look there, but the only thing in Boston that he knew about was the office of the doctor Peggy had been consulting with.
…oh.
"I'll get Maria to take my place," Peggy continued. Her voice was hurried, words tumbling over each other as she laid out her plans. "She's already working with Fury under the table - she might as well do it aboveboard."
"Peggy," Steve started, but she rushed on, breathless. At last he stepped forward, touching her cheek, and she looked up at him with wide, suspiciously bright eyes.
"Peggy?"
She covered his hand with hers, biting her lips. Her fingers were cold. "They want to do the procedure tomorrow," she admitted quietly. "I - the doctor is going out of town, and there's a window of opportunity right now. There will never be a better chance."
Steve had never felt like a worse husband and father than at that moment. First his wife was kidnapped and threatened, and now this. Their family was taking the greatest gamble of all, the life of their son hanging in the balance, and he couldn't be there, couldn't face it by her side. It wasn't as if he could give Ultron a call and ask to postpone the confrontation.
"And it has to be tomorrow?" he asked, but he'd known the answer even before he opened his mouth. Peggy nodded silently.
With a long breath, Steve turned away, pacing the length of the small room and raking both hands through his hair in frustration.
"I wanted to be there for you," he told her at last, voice rougher than usual as he turned toward her again. "I watched my mother do everything on her own, and I swore I wouldn't put you in that position."
"I know." Peggy took a deep breath, and he could hear the way it caught and shuddered in her throat. Still, she set her chin and tipped back her head, dark eyes filled with the determination she had always embodied and he had always loved. "But my darling, someone has to ensure there's a world left for him to be born into."
As she spoke, Peggy busied herself readjusting one of the straps over his shoulder. There was nothing wrong with it, but it was something to do. Steve wanted to argue, wanted to protest that the others could take care of it, but he knew it wasn't true. If they were to beat Ultron, it would be as a team or not at all.
"So, Captain - you go save the world," Peggy moved to the other strap, fingers working away at an invisible defect, eyes darting up to his face and back down, "and I'll do my best to save our son - and then we'll sit down and compare notes, all right?"
Steve caught her cold hand in his, and fervently pressed a kiss against it. His mouth twisted, and he closed his eyes.
"Mrs. Rogers," he finally whispered, when he could speak again, "have I told you lately how much I love you?"
Peggy dimpled, a bittersweet and inexpressible fondness welling up in her dark eyes. "Not lately," she confessed.
So, in the little time they had left, he told her again and again, wrapping her up in his arms, his hands in her hair, on her waist. Then, when her cold fingers were finally warm and he'd kissed the color back into her lips and cheeks, he sank to his knees, forehead against her rounded abdomen.
"Hey there," he breathed, and tried to find words for his unborn son. A sudden flutter against his temple took his breath away entirely, startled euphoria freezing him in place even as his throat closed with a surge of emotion. When he looked up, surprised, Peggy's mouth was twisted into a tearful little smile, eyes wet even as she nodded.
It was the first time he'd ever been able to feel their baby kick.
Bowing his head once more against the fabric of his wife's dress, he prayed God it wouldn't be the last.
Peggy didn't try to listen in as her husband's lips moved. This moment was between her two boys. Lacing her fingers through his hair, she pulled Steve's head still closer against her stomach, cherishing the feeling of having their tiny family together, for however brief a time.
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Steve and Peggy were the last ones to get to the quinjet pad, hand in hand.
There was a solemn feeling in the hangar when they entered, and the air was thick with tension. Everyone there knew there was a good chance they might never return. Ultron was not afraid to kill - and if he was prepared for them, there was no knowing exactly what they would face.
"Hey, Cap - gimme your earpiece." Stark was hunched over a screen, working at something. "I need to reconfigure your comm link to the new tower program."
As Tony tinkered with the equipment, Peggy took a step or two back. The inventor was nattering on about something or other to the captain, but Peggy didn't hear it. She took the opportunity to simply look at the man who had stolen her heart, tracing every line of him with her eyes as she tried to memorize him, heart, body and soul.
She wasn't a fool, nor was she naïve. The Avengers were flying into deep trouble - and she wasn't going to be able to help much.
"You love him."
It wasn't a question. Peggy nearly jumped out of her skin as she turned to find Thor's Vision leaning close to her. At this close range, she could see the little edges to his pupils and irises, like a camera lens.
"Yes," she answered with simple directness, scanning him with the same curiosity with which he looked at her. It might be good, she decided, not to be the only Brit on the team - even if the other one was purple and red and gold and had only been alive for a few minutes and had never so much as set foot in the United Kingdom.
Because as long as he had inherited even the smallest part of JARVIS or the AI's original namesake, she felt sure he would be well worth having around.
As the Vision moved on to join Tony's conversation, Peggy noticed the twins for the first time since entering the quintet hangar. The Maximoffs stood uncertainly in a corner. Pietro had apparently found some things that fit him, and Wanda had one of Natasha's jackets wrapped around her shoulders.
With quick, impetuous decision, Peggy approached them with outstretched hand. If they were going to take her place by her husband's side in this mad venture, the least she could do was to to extend the formal welcome that she'd withheld at their first meeting.
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At long last, technical minutiae complete, Steve retrieved his earpiece from Stark and straightened, looking around the room and mentally checking off the members of his team as his gaze crossed them. Bruce in particular caught his eye; the man paced nervously next to the quinjet.
"Doctor Banner," he called, coming closer. The doctor jerked his head up and took a step back, but Steve pressed on. "Are you all right?"
"I shouldn't be going," Bruce admitted. Steve had never seen him look quite this defeated. "There'll be civilians; kids. I put everybody at risk by being there."
"You have more control than you give yourself credit for," the captain argued, but the tired resignation never lifted from his friend's face, and he shook his head heavily. A thought occurred to Steve, and he carefully rolled it around in his head before asking it.
"Does this have to do with the hallucination Wanda gave you in Africa?"
Bruce laughed suddenly, bitterly. "Believe me - she can't put anything into my head that's worse than what's already there."
He'd been biting his nails to the quick, the captain noticed. Swallowing his unease, he nodded and redirected his attention to the room in general. The lights across Stark's screen shone green at last, and he knew it was time.
"We ready?" he raised his voice to ask, and without a word, the others began boarding.
Clint spun on one heel, searching the corners until he spotted the twins, taking them under his wing as they approached. The archer had apparently decided to give them a chance, and Steve was grateful for that. After all, everybody knew that he had been the one to see potential in Natasha Romanoff, bringing her in and recruiting her instead of putting her down like a dog.
Bruce hesitated at the bottom of the ramp before Tony caught up to him and, with a pat on the shoulder, ushered him up the ramp. The captain's forehead creased in concern as he watched them go. Banner had been deeply depressed ever since Veronica failed, and he knew the doctor wasn't in a good place. Still, when given the quiet option to stay behind, he had refused.
Well, hopefully this wouldn't turn into a code green. Steve made a private promise to himself that no matter what happened, he would not ask Bruce to become the Hulk - not this time - not unless the world itself was at stake.
Everyone was aboard then, and the captain gave one last look around the hangar, but Peggy was nowhere to be seen. Likely she had slipped away when he wasn't watching and gone to the large glass window upstairs, ready to watch them fly away as she often did for training runs. He supposed since they had already said goodbye, there was nothing left to say.
Regardless, he would have liked to see her one last time.
With heavy feet, he turned to climb the ramp - and Peggy was there in front of him. Her lips were red, her eyes were bright, and her face was shining with the complete and absolute faith she had always given him.
"You're forgetting something," she told him archly, and then caught a strap on his uniform and dragged him down into a searing kiss. It tasted of love and fierce determination and hope, leaving him reeling even as he took her face in his hands and kissed her back with all his heart.
Somehow, it would turn out all right. He had to believe that.
"Go get them," she whispered, drawing back just an inch, reprising her own words from a lifetime ago. He knew her better now than he had then, knew what she was really telling him.
"I love you too," he answered, looking into her face and committing the beloved features to memory. There was no doubt or reluctance in her eyes as she let him go, and that gave him the reassurance he needed to complete this mission, even as she completed hers.
Tony stared at him, jaw dropped, as Steve stepped into the jet, door sealing behind him with a hiss. "What," he asked slowly, "was all that about? I've like never seen you guys make out before."
The captain couldn't help the smile on his face as he settled into his seat, watching Peggy's figure grow smaller as the quinjet left the hangar. "It's called being married," he retorted. "You should try it sometime."
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Hi, again! See, I meant it when I said regular updates. ) If you're confused by Tony's shock, remember that in earlier chapters it was mentioned that S and P are very conservative in their public displays of affection.
Emma: Thank you for reviewing! I'm so glad you like their relationship. I've spent ages looking at every real-life couple I admire and trying to somehow get that across in this story, and it sounds like it must have worked. :) I'm delighted that you're enjoying. Thanks again!
Arwen55: So glad you're enjoying it! Hope all is well with you. Thanks for reviewing!
Laugh Taffy: Ahhh! *ducks falling candy, catches a lollipop in my mouth* Thanks! I love caramels. And you're right - it was definitely high time to get Steve up to date on the Bucky situation. Peggy agrees with you. Thanks for reviewing!