Steve turned on Tony and Bucky had to physically restrain him from pummeling the man into the ground. "What the hell was that Stark? Are you out of your mind?"

Tony looked around the room and took off sprinting towards his lab. Steve clenched his jaw and stormed after Tony with Denver in his arms, but Dallas's voice called him back, "Steve!"

He turned to look at her, seeing her leaning against Bucky's side as she winced, motioning him over, "Steve, I can't take her. My leg is broken."

"It's fine. I'm taking her." Steve said casually, bobbing up and down as he looked over his shoulder in the direction Tony had gone. Thor had taken off after the Legionnaire that stole the scepter, and the rest of the Avengers had followed Tony, leaving only Steve, Bucky, Dallas, and the young Denver who was practically gasping for air after crying to hard. "Shh, Daddy's got you."

"I'm scared."

"Don't be scared, I won't let anything happen to you." Steve promised, shifting restlessly as he looked after his team, "Listen, you get Dallas upstairs, I'll bring Denver once we've figured out what we're dealing with."

"No, take her to bed now. You've done enough." Dallas argued. She grimaced as she tried to put some weight on her leg, "I gotta go to the hospital. Unlike you three, I'm not a super person, so I need an actual doctor."

"Three?" Steve balked and Dallas gawked at him in disbelief until he looked down at his wheezing daughter. "Dee, I gotta deal with this Ultron thing."

"There's a slew of Avengers. They can update you in the morning."

"I'm their Captain."

"That title was given, not earned." Dallas growled back and Steve glared at her so coldly she got goosebumps. "I'm sorry, but she's scared. She needs you more than they do."

"Dallas, I have a responsibility, people could get seriously hurt." Steve spat and Dallas leaned back against Bucky's arm. Her lip quivered and she looked to Bucky, finding his gaze locked on her, as if asking what she wanted him to do. Steve groaned loudly, holding Denver with one hand while he gestured to Dallas with the other, "Tell her, Buck. We can't just walk away from this."

The woman swallowed hard, "Right. If you walk away people will get hurt, right? Like me? Like my sister?" She kept one arm tightly wrapped around Bucky for balance and reached out for Denver with the other, "Give her to me. You have more important things to do, Captain America."

Steve handed over his child and Bucky took her, able to easily hold Denver and help Dallas limp over to the elevator. The glare she shot Steve over her shoulder wasn't lost on him.

Denver had never seen a hospital until that night, but since her father was too busy fighting with his so-called teammates over their bad decisions, Denver spent the night crying softly in Bucky's lap while they waited for Dallas to get her cast put on.

"Aunt Dallas?" Denver whimpered when Dallas emerged from the emergency room on crutches. The tall brunette smiled down at her niece but the child started crying again. "You have a boo boo"

"I do have a boo boo." Dallas told the little girl as she approached, but smiled bravely, "They didn't have to do surgery, just put a splint on the boo boo." She looked up at Bucky and he sighed thankfully at the diagnosis.

However, Denver began to weep inexplicably and Dallas looked down at her in terror, "What's wrong, Denny? Are you okay?"

"If you have a bad boo boo you gotta go to Heaven like Mommy and be gone forever!"

Denver wrapped her little arms around Dallas's cast as the adults shared a look, "What?"

"Mommy went to Heaven because she had a bad tummy boo boo, and- and she can't come back. So you go to Heaven now and not come back."

Bucky picked up the child so Dallas could look her in the eyes, carefully wiping away Denny's tears with her thumbs as she leaned her arms on her crutches, "Hey… it's okay. My boo boo isn't that bad. I'm not going to Heaven today. I'm not gonna leave you." Denver's lip wobbled as she nodded quickly, fat tears streaming down her cheeks. Dallas studied her, then asked, "Who told you about Mommy's boo boo?"

"Daddy did."

"Of course, he did." Bucky grumbled and Dallas pressed a kiss to her forehead before looking to her boyfriend. He sighed, "I'm sorry, Dee."

"It's okay. It's the truth. The sooner she understands it the better." She turned to Denver with a gentle smile, "Listen, Auntie Dallas isn't going anywhere, you understand? I'm a tough cookie, and you're stuck with me- and your Uncle Bucky."

"And Daddy?"

"Yeah, probably." Dallas shrugged and Denver giggled as Bucky tickled her stomach, "How about we go home, yeah? We can all snuggle and take a big nap!"

"Daddy too?"

Dallas looked to Bucky and he chuckled, but she just shook her head, "You can have us or Daddy, you pick."

"You."

"Good choice."

Back at the tower, Dallas and Bucky found the Avengers suiting up to leave, much to the woman's dismay, "Where are you going?"

"Johannesburg. Suit up." Steve directed at Bucky as he passed by, only offering Denny a short wave before moving on.

Dallas looked to Bucky with a warning glare and he motioned for her to wait as he chased after Steve, "Steve, we need to talk."

"Not now, Buck, I know she's unhappy, but this is important."

"More important than your daughter?"

Steve shot Bucky a dirty look, "You know that's not true. Nothing is more important than Denver. Why do you think I'm doing this? To protect her." Steve looked back at Dallas and Denver, seeing the little girl sitting on the floor, getting her face licked by Cupcake. "Ultron is killing people, and he's after vibranium." Bucky gaped at Steve and the blonde sighed, "He has Loki's scepter. It can control people's minds. If we don't get on top of this, Ultron could destroy all of us, and everything we love. I'm not risking that happening by sitting out."

Bucky scratched through his hair as he looked over at Dallas, "Alright, I get it. Gimme a minute to ease her down, and I'll be right there."

When Bucky got back to Dallas, she looked devastated, "Nothing? He's just gonna go? What's happening?"

"Doll, this is bigger than you or I understand. We gotta trust him."

"Last time you trusted him, he dropped you." Dallas bit back, then softened at Bucky's cold glare, "Trusting him was the last thing Brooklyn ever did. He's reckless." She looked over to see Steve speaking with Stark near the launch pad, "I finally get it. Why Brooklyn didn't want him to know about Denver."

Bucky grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her lips up to his for a kiss, "I love you. Stay safe, and don't worry. I'll bring him back in one piece, you just take care of Denny."

She smiled weakly, "I'm much more worried about him bringing you back in one piece."

"Don't worry about me. I can survive pretty much anything."

Later that evening, Dallas was slowly following Denver around the party deck as the child ran around picking up 'supplies' to be her aunt's doctor. "Gotta get your boo boo fixed up, so you don't go to Heaven!"

"Someday I wanna go there." Dallas grumbled as she laid herself down on the couch, able to see the little blonde toddling about, "It's not necessarily somewhere to avoid, Denny. Dying is the bad thing, not Heaven."

"Dying?"

"Yeah. It's what happened to Mommy." Dallas said quietly, tilting her head to get a better look at Denver as she grabbed a blanket and drug it along the floor. "Mommy died because her boo boo was really bad. She got a bad boo boo on her tummy, and then fell on her back and died. Then she had to go away."

"To Heaven?"

Dallas sighed, blinking away the tears that formed in her eyes, "I hope so. That's where good people go."

"And Mommy was good?" Denver asked as she shoved the blanket over Dallas's stomach, doing nothing to cover her, but meaning well.

The woman considered this for a moment, not ready to explain to Denver that her mother wasn't necessarily good. Her father was good, inherently so, and her mom did a good thing in the end, but she did a lot of bad before that. She'd deceived everyone she loved, but died to atone for her crimes, so that made her good, right?

"Mommy was good." Dallas decided, spreading out the blanket over her legs, "Daddy is good too, so that means you'll be good, right?"

"Right!" Denver cheered and Dallas watched her toddle around behind the chair across from the couch she was sitting on. "What'cha doing Denny?"

The chair shifted and Dallas shot up, realizing it was the child moving the chair. It moved closer, then a little closer, and finally Denver appeared and climbed up into the chair, seemingly happy with her new position by her Aunt, "Okay. How you hurt?"

"Real bad."

"Okay. Gotta get band aid. Wait here." She slid off the chair and started wandering away until Maria Hill appeared, "Mia! Mia I need a band aid!"

Maria looked from Denver to Dallas and Dallas just shrugged and gestured to her leg, "I need a band aid apparently." The agent nodded and continued on her way, but Dallas called, "You okay? You seem a little tense?"

"There was an incident."

Dallas swung her legs off the couch and grabbed her crutches so she could stand, "C'mon Denny." The little girl followed as Dallas caught up with Maria, "What happened?"

Hill handed her a tablet and Dallas watched in horror as the Hulk ripped apart Johannesburg. The sound of a chopper approaching caught her attention and she looked to the massive windows, seeing the helicopter approaching Avengers Tower.

"They caused a lot of damage. There was a gun fight in one of the ships and then Stark and Banner tore apart the city. Several confirmed dead. There are protestors gathering downstairs. I'm gonna try and get in contact with the team now."

"Denny, stay close." Dallas warned and the little girl pointed to the window excitedly, "Yes, I see the helicopter, but we gotta go with Maria."

"Where does Mia go?"

"To call Daddy." Dallas answered, knowing that would be more than enough to get Denver's attention. The little girl scurried after Maria as they reached the office and she pulled up the video feed, speaking to Stark first.

"The news is loving you guys." Hill explained somberly, looking down at the child who stood patiently beside her, "Nobody else is."

"Where's Daddy?" Denver whispered loud enough for Stark to hear, and he turned to Steve as Maria told him that Banner's arrest was in the air.

"Stark Relief Foundation?"

"Already on the scene." Maria said, looking down into Denver's glistening blue eyes as she gazed up at the woman hopefully, "How's the team?"

Dallas appeared in the doorway as Tony answered, "Everyone's…" He saw Steve grimace as a sound almost like a sob caught in his throat, "We took a hit. We'll shake it off."

"Well," Maria said quietly, "for now I'd stay in stealth mode, and stay away from here." She looked up and met Dallas's eyes, "Is Cap around? Denver wants to say hi."

Tony looked to Steve, and Captain America turned away, clenching his fist to his mouth. His whole body shook, and Tony looked back to the screen and shook his head, "Tell Denny he's sorry, but he can't talk right now. Once we're in better shape he'll give her a call."

Maria Hill nodded, and the screen went black. Steve leaned his head back against the wall and clenched his jaw, trying to fight back the pain in his soul.

"She really fucked you up, didn't she?"

Steve looked up to Bucky, seeing his best friend looming over him. Steve tilted his head to look away, "Just be lucky she didn't play with your mind."

"It's not like I've never had my mind played with before." Bucky mumbled but Steve shook his head, his steely eyes dull as he stared away. Bucky clamped his hand down on Steve's shoulder and Captain America looked up at him pathetically, "What did you see?"

He swallowed and shook his head, knowing if he told Bucky, his best friend would be devastated, "Nothing." Steve croaked with a weak smile, "I'll be okay."

An Hour Earlier…

Steve was thrown against a staircase by the enhanced boy, unable to even see the assault before it happened. As he struggled to regain his composure, he felt a slap to his face and reality began to fade away. He pushed himself to his feet, but he couldn't figure out where he was. He was suffocating. He pulled off his helmet and dropped it to his side as he stumbled forward, blinking in an attempt to figure out where he'd been transported to.

"Steve?"

He furrowed his brows and slowly opened his eyes, seeing Brooklyn standing over him with a sad smile and her hands on her hips, "Brooke?"

"How are you feeling?"

"Lightheaded." He answered, leaning back his head to get a better look at her, seeing her dressed in her SHIELD uniform, but instead of dark blue, it was black with a red Hydra symbol on her upper arm, "Where am I?"

Brooklyn's eyes flittered past Steve warily, and she watched somebody behind him before answering slowly, as if nervous to speak, "You're in a Hydra base. In Siberia."

"Why?"

She looked up again and Steve tried to turn, but she gently grabbed his jaw to keep his gaze on her, "I'm trying to save your life." She paused, her lip quivering as her voice broke, and tears began to stream from her hazel eyes, "I don't wanna do this, but they killed everybody else. Fury. The Avengers. I don't want you to die. This is better. You won't hurt anymore. You won't know everything you've lost, I promise. You'll have me and Denver... you just have to be good, okay? Comply."

Steve shifted, realizing he was restrained to a chair. He pulled against his binds, but they tightened the more he fought, "Brooklyn... what are you doing?"

The sound of a gunshot echoed behind him and Brooklyn jumped to her feet, tears streaming down her face as she stood frozen in fear. Her voice shook as she whispered past Steve, "I've done everything you asked... will it ever be enough?" Steve strained to look backwards, seeing Dallas collapsed against the bars of his prison with a bullet hole in her head and the gun still smoking in Bucky's hand. As the Winter Soldier approached, Steve realized the soldier was holding Denver by the back of her overalls as she squirmed in his grip, sobbing despite the duct tape over her mouth.

"Let her go." Steve snarled as he shifted, but the binds on his arms tightened still, and a machine lowered from over his head and clamped onto the side of his face as Brooklyn looked between him and Bucky desperately.

"Please. Don't hurt her, please, she's my daughter." Brooklyn pleaded as Bucky approached her, but he shook his head and muttered. "They said I could have her. They said I could have this one thing if he'd help you."

"У него не может быть слабости." He can't have weakness.

When Brooklyn bolted for the child, Bucky shot her in the chest, causing her to wobble a moment in shock before falling in a crumpled heap in front of Steve while Denver screamed beneath the tape holding her mouth closed. The Winter Soldier looked up at Steve with blank, lifeless eyes, and for a brief moment, Steve thought he looked sorry for him.

The machine Steve was strapped to began to whir to life, and he panted desperately as Bucky raised his knife to slice Denver's throat, "Please Bucky… let her go."

"Who the hell is Bucky?"

The memory of his vision haunted Steve, despite knowing it wasn't possible. Brooklyn was already dead. Hydra was defeated, and Bucky had his mind back. Dallas and Denver were safe back in the tower, and Steve would never fall victim to Brooklyn's poorly planned attempts at doing the right thing again. But seeing the life leave her eyes shook Steve to his core, and made him question everything and everyone in his life.

Steve occasionally went away for short missions, but this was the first time he didn't try to call Denny. The little girl seemed to understand that something was wrong, because she kept Cupcake on his leash as she walked around the tower, making sure the puppy was never far away. Dallas hobbled after them, spending the better part of the next twenty-four hours alone until Doctor Banner was dropped off at the front door.

"Bruce?" Dallas asked when he approached, shoving his hand through his hair, "What's been happening? Where are Steve and Bucky?"

"Seoul." Bruce answered as he powerwalked past them to his lab, "Ultron is building a body."

"A body? Like, a human body?" Dallas asked nervously, trying to keep up as he took the stairs two at a time. She let out a frustrated groan at the bottom, pursing her lips as she considered what he said, "He got into the Avengers' files right? So, he knows about Doctor Cho's work with the regeneration cradle."

"That's why they're in Seoul."

"Makes sense." Dallas said as she looked up, "What's the plan now?"

"Steve, Barnes, Widow, and Barton are trying to figure out whether or not Ultron can actually create a body. Sam went with Fury, who's alive apparently, to gather what they could in terms of help. Stark is in Oslo trying to figure out who is keeping Ultron from the nuclear codes, and I'm here awaiting information from wherever it comes first."

"What can I do?" Dallas called up, causing Banner to stop and look back over the railing at her. Dallas huffed, "I have an IQ higher than Einstein. I can do a lot more than babysit. Plus," Dallas motioned over her shoulder at Denver, who was chatting with her dog, "she's fine. We can plop her down with a movie and I'm all yours."

"You sure?"

"I'm positive."

Within another three hours, Tony was back at the tower, and Clint followed close behind without Nat, Steve, or Bucky.

"Where are they?" She asked Clint, sliding off her stool and grabbing her crutches as he led Stark and Banner back to the quinjet, "Clint, what happened?"

"Ultron got Nat," Clint admitted under his breath, looking between Stark and Banner who clearly already knew, "Cap and Barnes kept Ultron off our tail as long as they could, then their comms went dead."

Dallas nodded and blew air out through her lips, "Alright." She looked down at the cradle when they reached it, "Holy shit."

"Yeah." Clint muttered, "Let's get this thing inside so you two can look at it."

"Three." Banner corrected, catching Stark and Barton off guard. Bruce gestured to Dallas, "She's gonna help."

Tony grinned, "Really? R2's gonna show her stuff?"

"R2 just wants her family to be safe because you created a robot hellbent on their destruction."

Tony knelt down and pressed a button on the side of the cradle, causing jets repulsers to lift it off the ground so it could be easily pushed, "If I get to see your brilliant mind at work, it'll be well worth it. To be honest, I don't really believe you're as smart as me."

"I'm more than my brain and my loud-mouth, Stark. You'd do well to remember that." Dallas warned as she slowly led the way back to the lab, calling over her shoulder, "Steve and James will be able to find their way home, we need to focus our efforts on finding Natasha."

Tony turned to Clint, "Any chance Natasha might leave you a message outside the internet? Old school spy stuff?"

"There's some nets I can cast." Clint said as he passed them, "I'll find her."

"Good, now let's crack this baby open and see what we're working with." Dallas said as Tony got the cradle settled into the middle of their lab. She studied it until she heard the pitter patter of Cupcake's nails on the tile floor. Looking up, she realized Denver had sat herself just inside the glass wall, "You okay, Sweetie?"

"Where's Daddy?"

"He's on his way home! He'll be here soon." Dallas lied, knowing soon could be stretched as long as they needed.

Denver petted Cupcake gently, eventually pressing a kiss to the dog's head, "Okay. Can I stay with you?"

"Sure thing, Denny." Tony answered for Dallas, laying down an old white extension cord in a circle around the child, "You just gotta stay in the circle. Very important, as long as you and Cupcake stay in the circle, you can play here, sound good?"

"Sound good."

"Alright, you were saying Doctor Wells?"

She smiled proudly at that, feeling validated in her potential for the first time since her sister died. She gestured for Tony to unlock the keypad before she started typing, reading through the numbers on the screen quickly, "Ultron uploaded about three fourths of his subconscious into the body, but since the upload didn't finish, it shouldn't stick. We can wipe it away and do whatever we need to with the shell."

"I can work on tissue regeneration while Tony fries the hard drive."

"About that."

Dallas and Bruce looked up at Tony expectantly, already knowing what he was going to say, but it was Bruce who argued first, "No."

"You have to trust me."

"I don't."

"I do." Dallas said, causing Banner to whip around and stare at her incredulously. She shrugged and leaned over the cradle, "Listen, the body is fully formed, it would be a waste to just dissolve it…" Dallas bit her top lip as she studied the fibers beneath the glass, "What's it made of?"

"Vibranium and tissue."

She made an impressed expression at Tony, eventually opening her mouth in a broad grin, "Well now I really want to play."

Tony pointed at her and beamed, "That's my little robot. C'mon Banner, this is our best chance against Ultron. Beat him with his own body."

"And what do you suggest we put in there?" Bruce asked with frustration oozing from his every pore.

Dallas looked to Tony for a suggestion and he just flipped his pad towards the center of the room, bringing up a holographic simulation of JARVIS, "I found our ally. Pieced him back together. JARVIS has been helping us from the inside, imagine what he could do in physical form."

"Dallas, tell him this is a terrible idea-"

"I don't know if it is, Bruce." Dallas said thoughtfully as she studied the body.

"I'm stuck in a time loop!"

"It's not a time loop!"

"Last time you didn't have me." Dallas interjected and the men looked at her. She twisted her lips and looked to the ceiling, "Listen, I'm an OBGYN, at least I was until two weeks ago when I lost my job. None of you seemed to notice I wasn't going to work anymore, but you also didn't ask for rent money either, so I just didn't bring it up." She met Tony's gaze, "I wanted to cling to every shred of normality I had left, but it's gone. I'm here, I'm with the Avengers now and not as a slutty roadie, I can help you." Her gaze shifted to Banner and she smiled weakly, "The key is to make sure you upload JARVIS. Don't create something new based on the stone, we need to bind what we know works with the stone. That stone… it's more powerful than you initially thought." When Tony looked at her curiously, she shrugged, "I've been reading whatever files I was able to piece together on your Ultron Initiative while we were waiting for you and cradle."

Tony looked to Bruce smugly, but he just huffed, "You really think we can avoid the same mistakes as last time?"

"Uh, yeah. It's not that hard." Dallas said as she moved back to the keypad where Tony had been standing, "It's a simple upload. We just have to make sure the framework is compatible, and if it's not, then find a way to program the schematic to flow through the vibranium like a conductor. And hurry, because the minute Steve walks through that door, you know he's gonna shut you down."

Tony and Bruce shared a look, then went to work following Dallas's instructions as Denver played on the floor with her tablet.