Hey there! It's time for a new chapter. Sorry this took longer than normal. You'll find out why soon enough. Also, do you guys like Sam Wilson? Because you're getting Sam Wilson! Enjoy this chapter! I'll see you at the end! Also, bits of dialogue have been taken from CATWS because "On your left" will always be stupidly funny to me. Also sorry that this chapter is a bit dialogue-heavy.


A couple of days after Tony had gotten the news of the pregnancy he had to go to DC for a meeting with SHIELD. He'd been putting off this meeting for a while so Tony had no choice but to go. Steve bullied his way into attending with him. Tony was grateful. He was still having really bad morning sickness and having Steve there made things easier.

They arrived in DC a couple of days before the meeting at SHIELD HQ so that the two could have some time for themselves before Fury laid everything out on them. They knew it wasn't going to end well as they had to tell Fury why Tony was on stand down for the next year. That wasn't going to end well.

The plus side to being in DC was that Tony and Steve were going to visit Peggy Carter. Steve was excited to see someone from his past while Tony was nervous. In the past few years, Tony had avoided visiting his aunt. It wasn't because he didn't love her or didn't care. Tony loved his Aunt Peggy to the moon and back. He just wasn't visiting because Peggy thought he was Howard. Tony just couldn't handle that. Being reminded of the man hurt, and it hurt even more after Afghanistan and Stane's betrayal.

But, Tony held out hope that this visit would be different. Since the first Loki incident and Tony's subsequent dip in the fountain of youth, maybe, just maybe, Peggy would recognize him. Tony sure hoped so. He'd missed Peggy so much. She was there in some of his darkest moments as a child and she truly cared for him. Plus, with the news of Tony expecting his and Steve's baby, she needed to know. She was family and even though the situation was strange Tony knew she would love having a new baby around.

The walk to the hospice where Peggy stayed felt longer than it actually was. In reality, it was only a few blocks from the hotel they were staying at but for Tony, it felt like walking to the gallows. There was just so much uncertainty about this visit but he knew he couldn't back down. If there was a chance, no matter how small, that Peggy would recognize him, then Tony would take it. Plus, he had Steve at his side and Steve helped make things better.

The two checked in with the head nurse before they were lead up to Peggy's room. They were told that she was having a good day today and that made Tony feel hopeful. When they got to the room the nurse left and Tony took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

"Who is it?" asked the voice on the other side.

"It's uh… It's your nephew Tony and your old friend Steve." Answered Tony as he opened the door.

"Oh Tony, look at you. Come here and give your Aunty a hug." Smiled Peggy and Tony's heart soared as he ran over and fell into Peggy's arms. Steve followed behind and sat down in one of the spare chairs near the bed.

"I missed you so much Aunty Pegs." Smiled Tony as he slowly removed himself from her arms.

"Then you should visit more. I know I don't mind you visiting."

"The nurse said you were having a good day today. I'm glad you are."

"I'm glad too. Now, I know my memory is a little hazy but aren't you supposed to be 43, not 19?" asked Peggy and Tony looked down a little sheepishly.

"A little while back we had a fight with a god from space names Loki and he made me like this. Sorry for not telling you sooner."

"That's alright dear. I'm sure you've had a lot to deal with when this all happened. Must have been quite the shock." Consoled Peggy and Tony nodded.

"It has been. There have been a lot of adjustments. But Steve here had helped loads." Smiled Tony as he nodded over to Steve.

"That's right. Steve Rogers. I'm so glad they found you. I'm mad that you didn't visit sooner but from what I understand you've been busy."

"A lot has happened since coming out of the ice. The fight doesn't end just because you're tired. We got HYDRA out of SHIELD and Loki's been causing some problems. But it's not all that bad. I've made some really good friends." Smiled Steve and Peggy smiled back. She was glad that Steve wasn't isolating himself from people who cared.

"So Steve, find any pretty young ladies out there?" joked Peggy and Steve blushed. This was weird having his old crush ask him if he was dating while his boyfriend sat not even a foot away.

"Well, I did meet someone. He pretty swells."

"Oh, so you're dating a boy. Who is he? What's his name?"

"Well… his name is Tony and you're currently holding his hand."

"You're dating my Tony! You'd better treat him right Steve Rogers! You hear me. I may be old but I'll still kick you to kingdom come of you break his heart." Steve nodded a bit in fear. He didn't doubt Peggy's claims.

The three continued to talk and catch up for a little bit. It had been a while for everybody and they needed their time together to count.

"Actually Aunty Peggy, there was a big reason Steve and I came to visit." Spoke Tony a bit sheepishly. He was nervous to tell Peggy the news even though he knew that she would be excited about it.

"And what's that my dear?"

"Well, a few months back we had a fight with Loki and he hit me with a spell and nowimpregnantwithstevesbaby!" sputtered Tony and Peggy looked a bit confused.

"What was that Tony? My hearing wasn't what it used to be."

"I'm pregnant with Steve's baby."

There was a silence in the room that had Tony and Steve worried. It wasn't a logical kind of worry. It was completely illogical, but it was fear nonetheless. After a moment, Peggy reached up and pulled Tony into a gentle hug.

"You must be so scared my sweet boy, but don't worry. I'll help out where I can. It may have been a while since I've cared for a baby but I still have good advice. Besides, who else is going to spoil your baby rotten?" smiled Peggy and Tony breathed a sigh of relief. Peggy would be there for him and the baby, things were alright.

Tony and Steve didn't stick around for much longer after that. Well, they wanted to stay but Tony had a meeting with Fury to get to and Steve had to drive him there. Tony could drive himself but he'd been feeling ill for a while and they didn't want to take any chances. So, after a tearful goodbye, Tony and Steve took their leave. They drove off to the new SHIELD HQ and once Tony was on his way, Steve decided to go for a run.

The run started off normal. That was until Steve saw someone else running the same path he decided on. The first time they passed each other, Steve did the polite thing and let the other runner know that he was coming up on his left. That was when Steve got a good look at the other man. He was wearing a light grey Airforce sweater and had his dog tags out. The guy was clearly a serviceman.

The second time that Steve passed him he once again announced that he was coming up on the guys left. That time the guy looked a little exasperated as Steve passed him. So, Steve decided to have a little bit of fun. Every single time Steve passed the man he announced, "On your left", and every time the other man got more and more exasperated in his quest to try and keep up with Steve. It was a little funny. Let it be known that Steve could be a massive troll if he wanted too.

"Dude you just ran like 13 miles in 30 minutes!" huffed out Steve's unwitting running partner as he collapsed against a tree as Steve slowly stopped his pace.

"Well, I had a bit of a late start." Joked Steve thinking back to his morning with Tony and Peggy.

"You should feel ashamed of yourself. Go take another lap. Did you take it? I assume you just took it." Joked the man and Steve smirked.

"What unit you with?"

"58 Pararescue, but now I'm working down at the VA." Smiled the man. "Sam Wilson by the way."

"Steve Rogers."

"I kind of figured. Must have freaked you out coming home after the whole defrosting thing."

"It was a shock for sure. A lot has changed and it took some getting used too. Luckily my fella makes it easier. He's a real man of the future." Smiled Steve as his mind drifted to thoughts of Tony. He really did love him so very much.

"That's right, you're dating Tony Stark. What's that like?"

"It's amazing. I couldn't ask for a better partner. We really understand each other and I feel like that's something important. We've both seen war and destruction. We both know what it's like." Spoke Steve. He just loved talking about Tony. You could tell in his eyes that he had it bad for his fella.

Steve helped Sam to his feet and the two began walking back to the main path. They stopped every few seconds to joke around and for Sam to continue to catch his breath. This was nice. Steve was enjoying this. It wasn't often that he got to talk to someone who understood what it was like in the army. Sure, Steve got to talk to Rhodey, but that wasn't very often because the man was still deployed. Talking to Sam was like a breath of fresh air. Steve could already tell that they were going to be friends.

"Hey there. I'm looking for a smoking hot super-soldier. Have either of you seen him?" came a voice from behind the two.

Steve turned around and was delighted to see Tony standing there. He walked over and pulled Tony into a kiss. His hands went to Tony's waists while Tony's arms snaked around Steve's neck. The two stood there for a moment before breaking apart and smiling.

"Tony! How did you get here?"

"Fury took pity on me and gave me a ride."

"And where is Fury now?"

"Probably back in his evil lair counting his pirate's booty."

The two shared another quick kiss before Tony looked over and saw Sam.

"Hey! I remember you. Sam Wilson, right? From the Falcon EXO-7 program?" smiled Tony as he walked over to shake Sam's hand.

"Correct. It's nice to see you again Stark."

"You still have the wings? If you do you should drop by Avengers Tower sometime. We could use another flier seeing as we're down one for a little while." Suggested Tony and Sam looked surprised.

"I'll have to think about it."

"Well, here's my card. Just give me a call and we can set something up once you make up your mind."

Tony and Steve gave their goodbye's to Sam before they walked off hand in hand back to Steve's car. They had a four-hour drive ahead of them assuming that traffic wasn't a bitch. Once they were in the car Steve started driving while Tony commandeered the AUX chord. Steve didn't even fight that. He'd come to love most of Tony's music over time. He really liked when Tony played ELO or The doors. As they sat there together, battling DC's traffic the two talked about their afternoons and plans for the next day.

"So, what did Fury say about you needing to step back for a bit?" asked Steve once they had made it out of the capital.

"He's pissed that we're down a member but he did offer his babysitting services if we need them on a mission. Gotta say we should take him up on that. Old Nicky used to look after me when I was little and Howard would drag me to SHIELD for the day. He's not a bad babysitter." Smirked Tony and Steve smiled. Who knew that Fury had a soft side!

Once they were back home at the tower. Tony and Steve made a b-line for the kitchen. Although Tony was only 5-6 weeks pregnant the weird cravings were starting to hit. Well, when he wasn't dealing with morning sickness that is. Steve, being the doting partner that he was, had no qualms about getting Tony the food he was currently craving. In fact, because Steve was the equivalent of a human garbage disposal, he and Tony ended up eating the same things no matter how strange they were.

So yes, life at the tower was good. Although there were plenty of fears, Tony and Steve were excited about the baby. Fury and the others were on board and ready to help if Tony needed it. It was good. Having all these people who genuinely cared was good. Tony couldn't believe his luck. He'd grown up rich with money but with only a few people who actually gave a shit about him. Now Tony had a whole host of really good friends and a boyfriend who loved him to the ends of the Earth. It felt amazing to be loved.

Five days later HYDRA attacked.

Sam had called earlier that morning expressing his interest in maybe joining the team so Tony had been down in his lab prepping the area when the call to assemble went out. They all went running to the meeting room where Fury and Hill were on the screen ready to give the team information.

A HYDRA cell had started attacking a SHIELD science outpost in Nevada. The people there weren't equipped to fight and they needed the Avengers help. It was a mad dash to get suited up and the whole time Tony was trying not to panic. He wanted to go and help. He NEEDED to go and help. But, he was pregnant and it was too dangerous. It was scary. He felt helpless. He had to watch Steve go off to the fight while he stayed behind. Now he knew how Pepper had felt. Steve, as he was getting ready, saw how Tony was feeling and went over to talk to him.

"Tony, it's going to be alright. I know you want to help, and you will be able to once the baby arrives but for now I need you safe here. I can't see you get hurt." Stressed Steve and Tony just nodded with his eyes down.

"I know that. I know. It's just, I just feel so useless. You guys are all going out to fight and I'm stuck here."

"You are not useless Tony. And just because you can't fight doesn't mean that you can't help. You have the entire wealth of pretty much anything electronic at you fingertips. I trust you to get us better intel than SHIELD can." Smiled Steve and Tony blushed.

"Just as long as you wear that new helmet I made. It's connected to JARVIS so I can keep an eye on you. I just want you to come home to me." Cried Tony as he launched himself into Steve's arms. Tony was totally blaming the tears on hormones.

"I will baby. I will. I promise." Tony took off soon after to his lab to run intel with little Acorn the kitten following close behind.

Just as the Avengers were about to leave Sam showed up. Everyone was out on the flight deck getting ready to board the jet when Sam showed up with his wings and a smile.

"Well, it looks like something exciting is happening here."

"HYDRA is attacking an outpost in Nevada so we're going to out to take care of that." Explained Steve as the others strapped their gear in. "Actually, Sam, if your wings are working you should come along. We need air support now that Tony is benched."

"Sure, I'll tag along but one question. Why is Stark benched?" asked Sam as he grabbed a few spare guns off of the racks in the jet. He got seated with the others and they took off.

"Tony is pregnant with our baby so he can't go on the field till after the baby is born." Smiled Steve. He felt So much love for Tony and their unborn baby and everyone else could feel it.

Sam didn't even question the situation. Tonnes of weird stuff had happened to the Avengers and this wasn't out of the realm of possibility.

Once the team arrived at the site it was pure chaos. Tony was already giving them as much information as he could while everyone split up to do their jobs. Nat and Bruce were tasked with saving the hostages and the research, Clint too to assassinating HYDRA soldiers from the vents of the place, Sam circled around outside picking off any HYDRA soldiers who tried to escape, and Thor and Steve went in as the heavy hitters. Everything should have gone relatively smoothly. This wasn't anything they hadn't dealt with before. They should have had no problems at all.

That was, until Steve saw him.

At the end of a corridor that Steve had just finished clearing was his long lost friend Bucky in full Winter Soldier mode. They'd been trying to find where HYDRA had been keeping him for over a year after Steve had exposed HYDRA within SHIELD. Seeing him there, standing right in front of him, brought Steve a feeling of hope and of dread.

"Bucky?" asked Steve as he slowly got closer to his friend.

"Who the hell is Bucky?"

Steve was stunned. Sure, he knew that HYDRA had done some pretty serious brainwashing on Bucky, but the fact that he didn't even know his own name just hurt. Steve stood there for a second and the soldier walked closer. To him, Steve was just another target. He reached for his gun and that was when Steve saw it. The metal arm. Sure, Steve had seen it in pictures but the real thing was terrifying. If Tony had taught him anything it was that having metal bonded to skin was invasive and painful. You couldn't see it but Steve knew that Bucky was in pain.

But, Bucky didn't even hesitate. He charged at Steve and Steve knew he had to defend himself. He promised Tony that he would make it back home. He could hear yelling over the coms and he could hear Tony frantically looking for more information on the Winter Soldier to keep Steve safe. This was going to be a difficult fight. On one hand, Steve knew that Bucky wasn't going to pull his punched unless Steve managed to rattle something in that brain of his. On the other hand, Steve didn't want to fight. Bucky was his best friend. His brother. He didn't want to hurt him.

Unfortunately, Steve had no choice. He had to get al least one good hit to the head in to either incapacitate Bucky or to do some cognitive recalibration as Natasha called it. The two ran at each other and began fighting hand to hand. Steve was using his shield to push Bucky back while Bucky ran forward with what honestly looked like a pocketknife. Well, seemed like Howard Stark was wrong once again. HYDRA was attacking him with a pocketknife.

Blows were traded between the two as Steve tried to defend himself while also trying to get a good hit to the head in. But, it wasn't easy. Steve, in his panic about the situation had left his legs open for attack. Bucky took that opening and brought Steve crashing down to the ground. Steve lost his grip on his shield and Bucky started raining blows down on Steve's face. He felt his nose break and his vision got blurry. This wasn't going to end well if Steve didn't do something soon. So, Steve summoned what strength he could and clocked Bucky on the side of the head with his shield.

There was shouting over the coms and a commotion coming from somewhere else in the building but Steve didn't care. All he could see was Bucky's face and the confusion and anger swimming in his eyes. Steve was scared, he wouldn't deny it. He was scared to continue hurting his friend but he was also scared of getting hurt so bad that he wouldn't be able to return home to Tony. So, Steve took a chance and hoped that it worked.

"You're name is James Bucannon Barnes. Your name is Bucky and we grew up together. I won't fight you. You're my best friend." Choked out Steve as Bucky held him by the throat.

Bucky looked shocked and confused for a moment before some semblance of understanding graced his eyes. But, before Steve could say anything else his vision blacked out and he could no longer hear Tony's panicked voice over the coms.

The next time Steve woke up he was in a nice warm bed in medical with Tony curled up at his side. Steve turned his head to look over at Tony and was instantly met with both angry and scared words.

"Steve! What the fuck was that?! You could have died. You should have waited for back up. Thor was on his way. I know Bucky is your friend but I can't lose you. I need you. Our baby needs you!" cried out Tony and Steve sat up to give him a hug.

"I'm so sorry Tony. I didn't know things would get that out of hand. I should have been more careful. I don't want to leave you and our baby." Sighed Steve as he let one of his hands rest on Tony's stomach where their baby was growing.

"You should be thankful you have the serum. You need to stay here overnight but after that, you can come back home. And just know mister, I'm not leaving you alone now."

Steve just nodded and hugged Tony close while their other friends filed into the room and gave Steve the rundown on how the mission went. It had been successful and there were no casualties from the hostages. But, Steve couldn't help but think about Bucky the whole time. Bucky had recognized him there at the end and Steve had to help him. It was possible by what the others were describing, that Bucky had gotten away from HYDRA after the fight. Who knew where he was. All Steve knew was that he had to help but he couldn't leave Tony and their baby.

"We should keep trying to find Bucky. He needs help." Whispered Steve with sad eyes. Tony just hugged him trying to offer comfort like Steve had done so many times for him.

"We'll find him, Steve. We'll find him and get him the help he needs."

There was a moment of abject silence before Sam spoke up.

"I can help you guys look for him. That way you have someone with military training doing the searching and Steve can stay here and be a dad even though I'm still confused as to how the hell that happened."

All eyes turned to Sam and there were some nods in agreement. Sam made some good points. They couldn't have active members searching all the time in case there was an emergency, and Sam had the training to do search and rescue. It made sense.

And just like that, Sam had been made a reserve member of the Avenger so he could help search for Bucky. Once Steve was out of medical they got all the paperwork done so Sam could join. They also had a bit of a party. Steve was nervous the whole time but he still tried to have fun. Although he refused to leave Tony's side. He wasn't going to let anything happen to Tony and their baby.

That night Steve held Tony extra close as they slept. Bucky was already a leaf on the wind and Steve wasn't about to lose Tony as well. At least they finally had some leads to work off of and not just random guesses. Maybe Bucky would be there in time for the birth of his baby. Maybe Bucky could get well enough to be the amazing uncle that Steve knew he could be. Maybe everything would turn out ok.


EY! That was a bit of a longer chapter then y'all are used to. I hope you enjoyed it. Personally I liked the bit where Tony and Steve were visiting Peggy. I'm shit at writing fight scenes. In other news my country is going to have a major election in 2 weeks and I'm stressed! I really don't want a conservative government. The only thing I can do is go out to vote and make sure that everyone else who has the ability to do so does. The young people outnumber the old this time and we can spark real change if we all work together. Well, that's enough from me. I'll see you next chapter. -Shadows