Rose glanced between her two grinning boyfriends and the pile of artwork perched in front of her and did her best to share their enthusiasm.

She was more than a little confused.

The way the boys had been buttering her up and distracting her (she was only a little stupid, okay?), she had been under the impression they had some sort of massive surprise planned. She'd been woken up that morning to the smell of pancakes and the supreme joy of Bucky's head in between her thighs- a kind of gift in and of itself. After everyone had breakfast, they'd sat her down on the sofa and then reappeared with a pile of sketches.

It was…underwhelming.

What exactly were you expecting?

I don't know! Something else off the bucket list? A cat? The corpses of HYDRA agents, since that seems to be one of Bucky's go-to's?

.a ring?

The blonde let out an involuntary squeak at the thought, pushing the notion down as quickly as she could, face turning an alarming shade of red as she fought off her own internal embarrassment and the tiniest (read: massive) amount of longing that came with it. Aware that her boyfriends were watching her with growing concern, she angrily berated her internal voice.

No! No. That's the stupidest idea- we've only been dating a couple of months!

Bitch, don't act like you haven't been half in-love with them since before you first grew pubes.

So!? They haven't been!

They also come from a decade where people got married after 6 hours and two drinks together.

Newsflash- it's not 1945! Besides, how would that even work? There's three of us! It's illegal.

A) Steven Grant Rogers has never followed a damn rule in his life. Bucky isn't any better- only he used the power of raw sex appeal and tragic back story as opposed to sheer stubbornness and the eyebrows of disappointment to get out of trouble. B) You aren't any better, miss "if I punch them hard enough maybe the stupid will stop". And, most importantly, C) you're the actual fucking Goddess of Love.

Yeah- love. Not marriage! That title belongs to the Goddess currently trying to make my insides more like outsides.

.You know, you keep saying "I can't" not "I don't want to".

.

As much as she'd like to argue, her inner voice was right. She couldn't say she didn't want to marry them- because she did. After they'd been gone for over a week, she'd had one thought crystalize with a near perfect clarity.

She never wanted to wake up without them again.

She wanted messy mornings, and Steve's ugly cardigan, and arguments over Bette Midler and Bernadette Peters and sheets that smelled like spice and mint forever. She knew, logically, that revelation was a massive one- and one that was probably way too soon into their relationship.

She'd never claimed to be a logical creature.

While her head and her heart cyclically argued the issue she knew that, if either of them so much as hinted at marriage, she'd say yes in a heartbeat.

That was clearly not the case this time (and probably not any time soon- if at all). There was no jewelry of any kind in this "gift". Rather, it appeared to be a compilation of sketches done by both Steve and Bucky- somewhat of a surprise, given the subject matter.

Namely, it was all landscapes.

Steve never drew landscapes. His art was mostly character driven, portraits mingled with the occasional cartoon, each tenderly and almost daintily rendered. Bucky, in direct contrast with their lover, preferred to draw landscapes. It allowed him to use his hypervigilance for something creative and soothing, the detail in his head translating into bold, decisive lines. She could see both of their unique styles etched into the landscapes spread across the coffee table.

They weren't the traditional landscape, either. Rather, it looked to be a mess of urban landscapes, all centered on a rather beautifully appointed apartment. What compounded her confusion, was the fact that the landscapes all appeared to be the exact same apartment. The only difference came in the color schemes and the furniture. All of them were a tasteful mixture of vintage and traditional décor, decked out in shades of pastel and jewel toned blue.

It was beautiful and baffling.

"Baby doll, you okay?" Rose blinked up at the brunet, mentally shaking off her confusion to focus on him. Satisfied that he had her full attention, Bucky gestured down to the pile of papers. "So? What do you think?" Worried that she might have unintentionally offended the men she loved, Rose pasted on her best smile and responded.

"Great! Its…great?" Both men frowned at her hesitant response, sharing a near identical glance before Steve spoke up.

"You don't sound very sure, Rosie- is it too much?" When Rose just stared at him, Steve continued, each word exponentially increasing the petite woman's bewilderment. "I know it's a little soon, but you've been living with us for almost two months now and I thought it was going pretty well-" She squinted up at him, eyes shooting between the pile of sketches and her progressively more anxious partner, desperately trying to figure out what the fuck he was talking about. Bucky glanced between his two loves, decided that if being oblivious was a fucking sport they'd both have gold medals, and promptly put them both out of their misery.

"Rosie, we're trying to ask you to move in with us- officially." She sucked in a sharp breath, eyes shooting wide in shock as she renewed her perusal of the sketches.

"I don't- you want to- what?" Rose gestured helplessly at the landscapes, mind racing as she tried to figure out what exactly was going on. "What do landscapes have to do with moving in together?!" Steve groaned, rubbing an exasperated hand over his face before coming to squat next to his frazzled girlfriend.

"Stupid- I'm so damn stupid. Rosie, sweetheart, they aren't landscapes. They're designs. For our apartment." Bucky jostled him teasingly, gently snickering as he spoke.

"I told you this wouldn't work, Stevie. Neither of you would know subtle if it came up and punched you in the face." Steve scowled at him, reaching back to swat at the still snickering brunet, his other hand tentatively resting on the shocked woman's knee.

"Like you're any better, you jerk. I had to all but climb into your lap to get you to make a damned move on me- I'd been flirtin' for weeks- thought for sure I was losin' my damn mind-" Bucky cut him off with a wink, mirthful tone laced with tiniest amount of heat.

"Sweetheart, if you think for one second that I wasn't aware you were trying to flirt, you're definitely out of your mind. Gettin' you to climb into my lap was the damned plan." Steve sputtered indignantly, the hand on Rose's knee tightening minutely as he responded.

"You planned to give me blue balls?! Because that's what you did. Thought for sure they were gonna fall off-" Their bickering finally broke through the fog that Rose had settled into, her voice quiet but heavy with her combined shock and rapidly building joy.

"You…you both want me to move in with you? Permanently?" Rose raised a shaking hand to cover her mouth, desperately blinking back tears as she took in the designs with new eyes. Her heart tapped out a staccato rhythm in her chest, happiness bubbling along her nerve endings until she felt like she might actually start glowing with it. Them just asking her to move in would have made her happy. But this? This was so much more than that.

It would have been terribly easy for her to move her stuff into their space. She still didn't have an overabundance of clothes and the rest of her possessions were, for the most part, just piles of books. She could have easily transported her bookshelves and made a space in their closet. She would have easily slipped into their apartment and their lives like she'd already done. She would have been perfectly happy living in Steve and Bucky's apartment- because that's what it was. It was a space they'd built for themselves, defined by their taste and carrying the echoes of their long pasts. She'd always feel like a guest- a welcome one, but a guest nonetheless.

This wasn't just Steve and Bucky's apartment- this would be their space. She could see her taste clearly mixed in with their own, little feminine touches that were so completely her that it was almost like she'd handpicked them herself. It was a space for them, one where they could make their own memories and move forward together.

They'd made her a home.

This, more than any other gift they'd given her, felt like a promise- a promise that they loved her- that they saw a future with her.

Ignoring her boyfriend's concerned questioning over the tears now streaming down her cheeks, Rose instead moved her hand from in front of her mouth, revealing the massive grin that had taken up residence on her face. Throat tight with emotion, the blonde nodded eagerly at her boyfriends, skin rosy and eyes bright with her joy. Bucky was the first to recover from his apprehension, an answering smile appearing on his face, dimples deepening the edge of his grin.

"Is that a yes, baby doll? Cause' it seems like a yes, but I'm not too great at charades." Rose snorted at the gentle teasing, throat finally clearing enough for her to give him an actual answer.

"Yes- it's a yes. I'd love to move in with you-" She'd barely gotten the words out before Steve was on his feet, an exuberant whoop leaving him as he hauled her up off the sofa. The petite blonde let out a startled squeak at the sudden change in altitude, throwing her arms around his neck to steady herself as he began to twirl them around the living room. Rose found herself giggling helplessly, the combination of his cheerful spinning and the almost child-like smile on his face forcing breathless, wheezy snickers from her as she held on for dear life.

They'd only spun a couple of times before Bucky, apparently feeling left out, all but tackled the both of them, knocking all three of them into the sofa with all of the grace of a wounded hippo. The sofa, reinforced but not impervious, promptly flipped over backwards with an almighty crash. There was a small, breathless moment where they just laid together, all stunned by the combination of the noise and the impact. Then, without any real warning, Rose started to cackle, little snorts leaving her as she shook in between them. Steve and Bucky found her hilarity infectious, quickly joining in, rendering them a shaking, snickering pile in seconds.

"You know," She managed to wheeze out from between them, "I'm pretty sure this is a terrible idea- think of our furniture." Steve all but hooted, sky colored eyes shining happily as he tugged his loves more firmly to his chest, ignoring the involuntary grunt Rose gave at being squished.

"You're not wrong." He pressed a smiling kiss into the crown of her head before shooting Bucky a teasing wink. "No take backs though." Cocooned as she was, Rose found that she didn't even have it in her jokingly argue.

She'd never had a home before and there was no way she was giving it up. She would more than gladly fight anyone who tried to take it from her.

Even herself.

-_-_-_-Page-Break-_-_-_-

1 week later

Steve waggled the bag in his hand imploringly, doing his very best "puppy" impression to the supremely unimpressed Goddess sitting in front of him.

Darcy was not amused.

"I'm not telling you shit, Steven Grant." The blonde pouted exaggeratedly, shaking the bag in his hand again, the smell of Thai food quickly filling the office.

"Come on, Darce- it's just dinner-" Darcy cut him off with a scoff, leaning back in her spinning chair with all of the regality of an aging queen.

"Yeah, dinner and dick. Don't think I don't know how you and Barnes operate. Your libidos could be weaponized." This time the brunette pouted, arms crossed petulantly over her abundant chest. "I have plans, damn it! Girl plans!" She uncrossed her arms to gesture angrily in his direction, eyes flashing pale blue as she growled at him. "Plans that don't involve your Star-Spangled Peen. Be-gone thot."

Steve would not be deterred.

The blond squared his shoulders determinedly, calling back on his decades as tea-cup sized troll- back when he'd lower his eyebrows and use his best "awe-shucks" to crawl his way out of trouble (and into extra plates of food. Looking pathetic was apparently a big hit with ladies over the age of 60)- in order to try and finagle some extra time with his girl.

"Darcy, I swear I'm just bringin' her dinner. She's not going to miss your Hen night." When Darcy just pursed her lips, he continued. "Besides, Bucky has some kind of 'men's night' planned- even managed to rope Tony into planning it. If you think either of them would let me out of this, you clearly don't know them as well as I thought you did." Seeing the Goddess' resolve finally start to crumble, Steve persisted, increasing his pathetic aura to near ASPCA levels. "I just want to spend a little more time with her before you abduct her for the weekend. I promise I won't get fresh with her. It's just Thai food." He was a man of his word- he only planned on having dinner with her.

If Rose decided on anything more, well….He wasn't going to say no.

Charmed despite herself, Darcy let out an exasperated groan, running her hand down her face as she gave the all but bouncing blond a side-eye look. She hadn't even agreed yet, but she was already regretting it.

"Just dinner?" Steve gave her another "earnest" nod, shaking his bag of food as if to further emphasize his point. Pursing her lips, Darcy crossed her arms and gave him a speculative look. "Fine. But I'm only giving you 30 minutes." The massive man froze, some of the innocence disappearing from his face as he shot the brunet a considering look.

"An hour and a half. You know Rose likes to take her time when she eats and I'm not sure how long it will take me to find her." Darcy squinted at him, pushing her sparkly pink glasses up her nose as she mulled over his counter-proposition. The man did have a point. Rose did like to take her time eating- partly to savor the new flavors and partly as a hang-up from her days as a walking Medical Encyclopedia. Her jaw had always been a little stiff from when Chucky had broken it (and God wasn't she happy she'd ripped that asshole's throat out- she could have done without the aftertaste though), meaning she'd had to chew slowly or risk choking.

"An hour- and I'm coming to find the both of you afterwards, so you'd better have your pants on or your bare ass is going on Instagram." Realizing he wasn't likely to get a better deal, Steve nodded reluctantly, silently gesturing for the brunette to tell him where Rose had wandered off to. Darcy sighed, a frown twisting her lips for an entirely different reason.

"She's hiding in the woods again." Steve returned her frown, hands unconsciously tightening around the plastic bag clenched in them.

"She still having trouble at work?" The scowl on Darcy's face deepened, her nose scrunching with irritation.

"Yup." She popped her lips, leaning forward to tap her fingers against her desk. "Apparently, not everyone is okay with three adults having a loving, 100 percent consensual relationship." She huffed, nails unconsciously elongating to sharp points as she continued to tap. "No one has been quite stupid enough to say anything to her face yet- just gossiping behind her back. Of course, it's the same people who weren't happy she got a shiny upgrade either. Jealous twats." Steve matched her irritation, helplessness warring with his innate hatred of bullies and his desire to stand up for the woman he loved.

"She still hasn't said anything?" Darcy snorted, amusement starting to creep into her irritation.

"God no- I'm pretty sure that's what's exhausting her. She wants to call these people out for their shit behavior but she can't- not without revealing more than Haddy wants us to." Steve scowled at the mention of the King of the Underworld, nodding his agreement with Darcy's assessment. Despite his anger at the man, his scowl only lasted a moment, an unwitting smile curling his lips as he thought of the petite blonde woman.

"My girl never could stand bullies. I'm just proud she hasn't clocked some poor bastard in the chin. Baby doll's got a mean right hook now." Darcy scoffed, navy colored eyes bright with amusement.

"Now? Rosie's always had a mean right hook. There's entire graveyards worth of testicles that can attest to that." Steve winced and chuckled, unconsciously guarding his own "privates" at the mention of the vast amount of bloodlines his girl had put an end to.

"Rosie's smart. As much as it pains me, it was quick and effective and definitely got her message across." Darcy cackled, waggling her eyebrows as she watched the much larger man begin to back out of the room.

"The message being 'don't reproduce, asshole'?" Steve winked in response, a cheeky grin appearing on his face.

"She's not wrong." He gestured to the door, hurriedly changing the subject. "Speakin' of quick- I need to deliver this before it gets cold." He gave the brunette a little wave before hastily making his escape. "Thanks, Darcy. See you in an hour." Darcy sighed, leaning back in her chair as she watched the blond man all but sprint out the door, mouth twisting as she contemplated his rapidly retreating form.

"They're definitely going to have sex out there." She popped her lips, an amused breath escaping her as something occurred to her. Singing under her breath, Darcy turned back to editing Clint's tweets, the tiniest smile curling her lips.

"'Gonna find my baby, gonna hold her tight, Gonna grab some afternoon delight'."

-_-_-_-Page-Break-_-_-_-

Autumn had fully made its home in the forest surrounding the Compound, the trees exploding in a riot of reds, oranges, and golds, giving the impression the canopy was on fire. Were it not for the subtle bite of cold in the air, Steve could almost imagine that it was- that some great dragon had come and lit the place up, the barest crunch of the leaves mimicking the crackling of dragon fire in his head. Inwardly amusing himself as he made his way through the brightly colored brush, Steve did his best to shield the food in his hands from the trace chill, nimbly dodging over roots and the occasional stone with all of the grace his enhanced body allowed him. When Darcy had told him that Rose was hiding in the woods, the blonde had known almost immediately where she'd gone- truthfully, there was only really one place she would go.

She'd gone to the tree.

It had become their own sort of private escape- a spot all three were known to go to when they needed a moment to themselves. It also doubled as their favorite date spot, though their forays to the tree had diminished somewhat with the incoming cold front.

None of them liked the cold.

Repetition made his trip a quick one and Steve soon found himself standing at the base of the massive oak, scanning the branches for his spider-monkey girlfriend.

He wasn't searching long.

The blond man sucked in an involuntary breath, once again finding himself awed with how beautiful his Rose was. She was perched on a branch about halfway up the tree, one leg curled towards her chest while the other dangled off the edge. He could just barely make out her bare toes curling in the breeze, her shoes discarded at the base of the tree for easier climbing. She stood out like a beacon against the dark bark, her white sweater dress sliding tantalizingly off her shoulder, long blonde hair shining like gold in the slowly fading light. The entirety of her focus was on the notebook in her lap, the end of her pen lightly pressed against her bottom lip as she squinted down at the paper. Her nose was scrunched with frustration, the contents of the page clearly displeasing her in some way. If Steve had to guess, he assumed that she was having some sort of writer's block, the way her pen would occasionally hover over the page before coming back up to her mouth cluing him in to his girl's struggle.

Deciding that he had been staring long enough (he did have a time crunch), Steve called up to her, tone gently teasing so as to not accidentally startle the woman into falling out of the tree (again).

"I didn't know angels flew this low to the ground." Rose perked up, quickly scanning the ground before zeroing in on the man standing at the base of the tree. Immediately a smile appeared on her face, periwinkle blue eyes lighting up the way they always did when she saw him.

No matter how her face changed, that always stayed the same- and the way his heart raced stayed the same too.

"Stevie!" She scrambled to put her stuff away, eyes shooting between his face and the food in his hand. "Did you bring me lunch? I'm starving." Steve snorted, carefully maneuvering around the tree in a deliberate mimic of the blonde's movements, preparing himself in case the woman tipped off the branch.

"More like dinner, baby doll. Have you been out here all afternoon?" Rose froze, glancing at the fading light before shrugging.

"I must have- managed to finish early so Darcy let me come out here to write. I guess I lost track of time." Steve huffed, gesturing to the food in his hand as Rose started her slow descent down the tree.

"Must have- I got you Thai food, Angel." Rose 'oohed', carefully picking out handholds in the bark.

"Shrimp Pad Thai? And the chicken on a stick?" Steve chuckled, waving the bag enticingly.

"Yes ma'am. Pad Thai and Chicken Satay." He waggled his eyebrows, trying not to bust out laughing at her excited wiggling. "Even got you that mango dessert you like so much." Rose let out an excited squeak, unintentionally speeding up her descent in her excitement.

"Mangoes and sweet sticky rice!? I didn't think it was still in season-" Rose froze, hands clenching tightly into the bark. Her skin prickled unpleasantly, numbness intermixed with sharp irritation pressing up against her nerve endings, like she'd sat on her hand and the limb had fallen asleep- only it was everywhere. If she focused, she could almost hear a rhythmic thumping, like a massive heartbeat was galloping in her direction.

The forest went silent.

Steve, his every instinct screaming, found himself tensing up, eyes scanning the trees while he tried to find the danger his brain was warning him was coming. He could just barely make out the slightest quiver in the trees, like a small earthquake was building up in the earth. Any playfulness vanishing, he zeroed in on the blonde still precariously hanging to the side of the tree, voice deep with command as he called up to her.

"Rose, I need you to get out of the tree." The blonde absently shushed him, too focused the rapidly loudening thumping to notice the repressed alarm in her boyfriend's voice.

"Do you hear that? It almost sounds like…." She trailed off, struggling to put a name to the sound. Steve eyed the increasing shaking of the trees, heart starting to pound as adrenaline surged through his veins.

"Rose I need you to focus- get out of the tree, now." Still distracted by the loud noise and the almost painful press of something against her skin, Rose ignored him again, absently tightening her hold on the rapidly vibrating tree.

"It almost sounds like…" Her eyebrows furrowed before suddenly widening, the answer coming to her in one giant rush. "It sounds like somethings running-"

She barely finishes speaking before something bursts through the trees.

It explodes through the brush with an echoing bellow, the sound shaking the foliage just as surely as its explosive entry had. Magic sizzles off of its thick, gray skin, popping off like embers and blackening the grass beneath its hooved feet. Dark, animalistic eyes scan the clearing, great heaving bellows escaping its snout as it searches for something. It angrily shakes the branches out of the sharp, massive horns jutting from its head, humanoid hands clenching around the base of a terrifyingly large spiked club.

The Minotaur….

What the hell is it doing here?!

My guess? It looks like its searching for something.

No shit- but what?

She gets her answer when it finally catches sight of her. The monster lets out an enraged bellow, dark eyes bleeding black as it swings the club at its side, the tree unfortunate enough to be caught in its path exploding in a hail of splinters. She finds herself frozen, panic and terror locking her place as the massive creature begins to sprint across the clearing, the tree vibrating with its every quaking step. Steve realizes its target just as soon as she does, and finds his heart freezing in his chest, his own panic warring with the Captain rapidly taking over his actions. There's not enough time for her to try and climb out of the tree, nor is there enough time for him to get up it- which just leaves one option.

"Rose! You need to jump!" Rose, still frozen in place, shoots him a terrified expression, the whites of her eyes standing out starkly in her panic. The Minotaur lets out another bellow, the club in its hand raising up as it rapidly closes the distance between them, completely ignoring the blonde man as it closes in on its target. Rose quickly shifts her focus to her hands, quietly begging the digits to just fucking let go, the uncomfortable, prickling heat of magic worsening as the creature finally comes within striking distance. Steve finds himself frozen again, helplessly watching as death descends upon the woman he loves.

He does the only thing he can do.

He screams.

"Rose! Jump!"

Mercifully, her fingers finally loosen their grip and she lets go.

She's a half a second too late.

The club catches her in the side, the metal in it biting into her skin before propelling her towards the ground in an uncontrolled tumble. Steve just barely manages to stop her from slamming into the unforgiving dirt, using the bulk of his body to cushion her landing as they skid along the forest floor. The air is completely knocked out of her, chest tight as she struggles to breath, the combined impacts leaving her a wheezing mess. Steve finds himself just as winded, but forces himself to his feet, hauling the petite blonde up with him before quickly inspecting her.

What he finds freezes the very blood in his veins.

Rose is bleeding.

It drips slowly and steadily down her side, a thin line of golden blood that he'd come to associate with the Pantheon- a marker of their divinity and the ambrosia that left them all but immortal.

He had watched countless hours of Rose training, watched her take brutal hits from mechanical feet and watched her stop a damn claymore with her bare hands. None of it had left more than a god damn bruise on her.

Now she was bleeding.

Bucky was fond of the saying "if it bleeds, we can kill it"- and Steve had found that saying held true more often than not.

She was bleeding…which meant this weapon could kill her.

This creature could take her from him, and there would be no magical fail safe to stop it.

Swallowing down his terror, Steve pushes the blonde behind him and goes with the only option available to him.

"Rose….Run."