Bucky leaves the bag of food at the door. Dropping it with a thump and walking down the stairs.
He's locked in the—
The what.
He's LOCKED UP. It doesn't matter where. Someone has his friend locked up. Not acceptable.
He's running.
—-
Natasha and Yelena walk towards Milo's, watching the Sunday traffic move slowly through the muggy city.
Yelena is unusually quiet but Natasha doesn't blame her. Their adoptive mother has always been combatant. It just seems like it's really amping up in the last few years. It scares her.
Clint comes into view a few blocks away and Natasha watches him squish a cigarette under his foot before joining them.
"Hey." He greets them, smiling at Yelena.
"Hello." They chorus back, walking towards the sandwich shop.
The walk over is pretty quiet and they walk into Milo's, the bell dinging in greeting. They sit in their usual booth, waiting for Bucky and Tony before ordering.
Yelena is describing her martial arts class to Clint when Bucky comes running in, his breathing heavy and face red.
"Barnes?" Clint asks, "what happened?"
Bucky holds out a finger, motioning for them to wait, he holds his chest.
"Did you just run here from your house?" Natasha asks incredulously, Bucky nods, taking a deep breath.
"Subway." He pants, "Construction."
They nod and he sits down, next to Natasha. "Steve—"
"Steve, what?" Clint asks flatly.
"Locked."
"Uh," Natasha looks at him, "what?"
Three seconds later Bucky finally has his breath back. "I went over there, to the house—"
"You what!" Natasha shrieks, "I thought we agreed not—"
"I had to!" He shouts back, "I couldn't just not check on him!"
They glare at each other and Clint waves a hand in front of their faces, "uh, okay, fight later, I need to know what you mean by 'locked'."
"Peter opened the door," Bucky continues, "Wanda and Pietro were there too and they tried to get me to leave but… I didn't." He winces, as if just realizing how bad that sounds, Natasha's about to start talking again but he waves her off, "I know, I know. It was dumb, but after last night I felt I had to. Anyways I tried asking where Steve was and they wouldn't tell me, until Peter said 'he's locked in the—' and then Pietro and Wanda cut him off. I tried to find out more but then the crazy lady got home and they shoved me out the door, and I ran here."
The three of them stare at him, Yelena's face is pale and subtle rage is present on both Natasha and Clint's face.
Bucky's face morphs into a pinched expression and he's whispering harshly. "I just can't believe that there's people who will lock up a kid. LOCK UP A KID. Do you hear me!? He's locked up somewhere! What the hell. Like literally, who does that!"
"Who does what?"
Bucky flinches at the new arrival, looking up at Clint's uncle standing at the edge of their table.
"No one." Bucky says quickly.
"It's nothing." Clint adds.
Uncle Ricky's eyes narrow. "You're terrible liars." He looks at each of them, then the bell over the door dings and Tony walks in. He glances back at him and his face goes eerily calm, "is Steve coming today?"
Natasha's voice is a whisper, "probably not."
"You, me, conversation after this." He says, stabbing a finger at his nephew. Clint nods, looking a bit nauseous. His uncle walks away and Tony slides into the booth.
"I've got an idea." Tony says mildly, only pausing as he sees Barnes' red face and the pinched expressions on the other three. "Guys? What's going on?"
Natasha starts talking at once, her voice like flint, "Barnes went over to the house which I think we can agree goes under the making it worse category!"
Bucky sputters, leaning forward and stabbing at her accusing, "If I hadn't gone over there, we wouldn't know that she has him l—"
"But what if you going over there made it worse! What if they tell her you were there or she finds out? What if she—"
"Um, guys?" Tony tries to stop them, but he's ignored, Bucky and Natasha whispering angrily back and forth.
"You may not care, but I just thought I should check on him because after last night I felt like—"
"Not care!" She seethes, "How dare you say I don't care! We're trying to find a safe way to help him! You're being reckless!"
"At least I'm doing freaking somethi—"
"ZIP IT!" Tony shouts, causing them to snap their mouths shut. The shop quiets down and Clint's uncle stares at them. They grimace and lean closer together, Tony lowers his voice. "I'm going to need one hell of a rewind. What is going on?"
Bucky's still glaring at Natasha and her eyes are narrowed at him.
Clint huffs and swipes a napkin off the table, ripping it in half. It's Yelena who speaks, whispering. "Bucky went over to Steve's house and found out the lady locked him up somewhere. But Natasha's worried that him going to the house will make it worse for Steve."
Tony stands up suddenly, jolting the booth, his hands gripping the table top. "Um, hold on—" his eyes scrunch closed, "did you just say that—" his voice cuts off, getting deeper as he takes a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose, "that the lady from the window last night— locked Steve up somewhere? Like we're in a fucking fairytale? What is he locked in the tower? The basement? The dungeon?"
Bucky waves at Tony, "See! Yes! Exactly! This is the response I was expecting, he's locked up, Natasha, she literally is holding him prisoner somewhere!"
Natasha seems torn, her eyes glancing from Tony's white knuckled grip on the table to Bucky's tense jaw. "I just… When that TA called CPS, Steve suffered because of that. I want to help him. I just really don't want to do it in a way that's going to hurt him more."
Tony's face is still filled with fury. "Get your asses in gear. We're going. I need to call my dad. Let's go."
He waves them after him and they follow.
"Clint." His uncle Ricky calls.
Clint looks over his shoulder, pausing at the door, his eyebrows furrowing, "I'll be back later, I promise." Then he's gone, the door swinging closed behind the 5 of them.
—-
Tony's already around the corner, a car with Jarvis waiting. Tony has his phone to his ear.
"Yeah, at Brooklyn memorial." His dad is saying something. "Yeah, I don't care. He's a doctor right? Like he can set up a—" They stare at him as he keeps saying things they don't have the full context for. Just snippets of a conversation. "Money— Of course it will work. Power hungry psycho lady? Money always works—- No I don't care if he's not an ophthalmologist—- It's worth a try—- yeah, locked up, that's what Barnes said—- NO!" The shout pulls them up short, even Jarvis startling. They're climbing into the car, "No, if we call them then maybe it will work but— yeah, like you said—- yes, he'd be pissed at us if they got separated—-" a much longer pause, "From him, or from each other, I don't think it matters—- No they'll just call the police too— The TA tried that already, bad idea,— Connections, yeah, for sure. But together?" There's a weighted silence as Tony mouths something to Jarvis and the car starts to move. "We'll meet him there."
"Where are we going?"
Tony's face is set with a scarily calm expression, "To fix this."
—-
It takes 4 hours for everything to come together. For the first two, they're at Tony's house, watching as he makes phone call after phone call. Then Bucky, Natasha, Clint, and Yelena, stand off to the side at Gravesend Park as Tony moves like a tornado, back and forth and directing and talking with so many people it makes their heads spin.
The tent goes up first, a small one. But it isn't until the sign "Free Clinic for Kids!" That it hits them just what's going on.
"Holy hell." Clint breathes out. "Is this what it's like to be the richest kid on the planet? You can just… do stuff like this?"
No one has an answer.
—-
A kid, about Tony's age, shows up with a man, presumably his father behind him.
"Tony?"
"Stephen." They shake hands and Tony turns towards the group. "Hey, this is Stephen Strange. His dad's going to be our doctor for today."
The new kid eyes them, "when my dad called saying Tony Stark asked him to run a free clinic for an hour I knew something was going down. So I had to join. Good practice for my future too."
Tony nods and introduces them. "It's actually mainly for one kid. But whatever else good we can do is a bonus." Tony walks away, showing the older man where he'll be and Stephen looks at them, a surprised eyebrow.
"So… this isn't a prank?" He asks.
"No," Bucky says, unsure, "why would it be a prank?"
The kid crosses his arms, looking back where his dad and Tony are talking. "I just never thought Tony would do something… nice for someone else. He's not really the type."
Natasha bristles at the insinuation. "Oh, and you are?"
The older teen looks at her, unphased, "no, I'm not actually. Being nice doesn't get you very many places. Usually gets you bowled over."
They don't get a chance to respond as Tony reappears. "Okay, we're ready. Jarvis is going to be the one doing the door knocking. I don't want any of our faces there."
"Tony," Bucky says, "Are you sure about this? What if she doesn't go for it, whatever this is?"
Tony's face grows dark, "she'll go for it. I may not know her, but I know her type. Money always works."
"Jarvis?"
"Yes?"
"You good to go?"
He nods, eyeing his watch, "Hopefully, I'll be back with 18 youngsters in tow."
They watch as he walks quickly away.
—
Steve hears a commotion. Lots of feet shuffling on the floor above him. He leans back against the cold concrete floor, hands behind his head.
He's pretty tired of this stupid basement. He's run out of snacks and water and he feels his stomach ache for food. He ignores it. Worrying won't do him any good. He just hopes she'll let him out for school tomorrow. He definitely doesn't want to answer any questions about another absence. "The hell you are!" Tony had yelled at him. "You came to school with bruises around your neck, Steve. Don't think we didn't see the way you limped for days!"
Guess he didn't hide that as well as he thought he did. He's closing his eyes when to his surprise, the door creaks open. He squints at the light and the small patter of feet are running down the stairs.
"Steve!" It's Peter, and he sounds excited, "Steve, come quick!"
He sits up, groaning as his joints ache at the movement. "What's going on?"
"Some guy, speaks funny, is here to pay for us to get glasses!"
Steve leans back on his palms, "uh, what?"
"Mrs. Schmidt called us all down and told us we had to go. The government is doing it!"
"Peter, you're not making sense."
The kid huffs, tugging on Steve's shirt sleeves, "Come on, come on, come on! They said there's food!"
At that moment a sharp pain in Steve's stomach has him wincing, he hasn't eaten for almost 18 hours.
"Okay," Steve huffs, "let's go."
He walks slowly up the stairs, Peter bounding ahead of him, bouncing with excitement.
When he reaches the top of the steps, he's shocked that Peter's story was turning out to be true. All 17 of the other kids are standing awkwardly in the entryway, crammed in. Wanda comes to his side immediately, looking him over. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, Wanda. I'm fine. This one was my own fault."
"She said you were sneaking out."
"Technically, I was sneaking back in." He thinks she's going to laugh at his joke but her face gets pinched.
'Steve, you can't do that, you promised, you know what she's like! Why would you take such a risk?"
"Wanda, I'm okay. I won't do it again." Pietro sidles up to them and eyes the rest of the group, Steve takes the opportunity to change the subject. "What's going on? Peter said the government was here and something about glasses?"
Pietro chuckles, "Well, he's not altogether wrong. Some fancy guy showed up and told Mrs. Schmidt that some of the local taxes were going to make sure kids had access to eye screenings. So they're actually paying homes like ours to take kids to get seen, to make sure they're taken care of."
Something about that seems off to Steve. "They're paying her to get us glasses?"
Pietro shrugs, "I dunno, I'm just the messenger."
Steve's about to question more when the man and Mrs. Schmidt return to the entryway. The man handing over a substantial wad of cash. Steve's eyes widen, he knows him.
Steve listens as Mr. Jarvis speaks cheerily, "Thank you very much, we're excited to begin this new initiative in the county department. The kids will be fed while they're gone, and we will bring them back as soon as the last one is seen. Or would you like to join us? It's just at Gravesend Park."
Mrs. Schmidt eyes the group, her face a fake smile, "oh no, I'm sure you can handle them for the evening. And if there's any more initiatives that pay, feel free to drop by again!" Steve watches as she runs her hands greedily over the money, disappearing into her office. Mr. Jarvis looks at him, and Steve swears he sees a small subtle wink.
"Come now, everybody." Mr. Jarvis says, waving for the kids to follow him, "let's go get those eyes checked!"
The kids, anxious and unsure, pause and look to Steve, waiting for what he thinks of the whole thing.
Steve stares at Mr. Jarvis, who smiles kindly at him, allowing him the time to think. "Okay." Steve says softly, "let's go."
The kids begin chattering excitedly as they exit the building.
Steve finds himself walking beside Mr. Jarvis, his joints loosening in the warmth of the afternoon sun. "Mr. Jarvis?"
"Yes, Mr. Rogers?"
"What's going on?"
"Whatever do you mean? This is perfectly normal." The sly smile on his lips tells Steve that he's not going to get the answer out of him.
"Tony put you up to this?"
"Mr. Stark puts me up to a lot of things. This I did willingly."
"Oh." Steve shuffles his feet and stuffs his hands into his pockets. "I'm real thankful that the kids will get to be seen by a doctor. That's nice. I don't remember that happening before."
Something crosses Mr. Jarvis' face, and he speaks quietly when he responds, "I'm glad we can help."
—-
Clint sees them first, up high in a tree branch watching the street Steve came from yesterday.
Geez. Was that party just yesterday? Steve's been 15 for a day. Just a day.
"They're coming!" He crows, swinging down deftly and landing beside Natasha who sits at the base.
Bucky comes bounding over, and Tony stands watching from the tent entrance.
"Are we showing our faces?" Natasha asks, standing up and brushing herself off.
"I'm seeing Steve." Bucky announces, not leaving room for an argument.
Clint looks at Natasha and shrugs, "guess we are."
—
"He's here! And he's smiling!" Yelena says in a hushed but happy whisper as the group of kids enter the park. The other's heads whip up and she's telling the truth. Steve is smiling, walking next to Mr. Jarvis, his hands stuffed in his pockets, Peter bouncing up and down next to him.
It only takes a minute for the kids to be gathered in a group outside the tent.
"Alright, kiddos!" Tony says in a loud voice, "we're so glad you're part of our brand new initiative! Form a line, and you'll get your eyes checked and dinner right after! Come on in!"
Steve finds them, walking up and standing next to Bucky. "Hey." He says quietly. "Sorry I left so quick last night. Had to get home."
"Everything okay when you get home?" Bucky feels the question leave his lips before he can stop it. But he knows. He has a gut feeling what the answer will be.
"Oh," Steve smiles at them, eyes crinkling softly, "yeah everything was fine."
Bucky can almost feel the air drop a few degrees. But Steve doesn't notice, just watches as his siblings line up and talk excitedly amongst each other.
"Why is Tony doing this?" He asks suddenly, looking at them curiously, "I'm kind of confused why this is happening?"
"I'll tell you why, pal." Tony says, appearing behind him, "I just found out that MIT likes the good old caring heart side of a student. Course I'm a shoe in for the brains and financial side, but my dad said I should branch out, add a few miles to my soul, you know? Colleges eat that kind of crap up."
It's painful to watch Steve accept that answer so easily, as if he couldn't even entertain the possibility that they might be doing this for him.
"Well, thanks." Steve says sincerely, holding his hand out for Tony to shake, "it means a lot knowing they're being taken care of this way."
Tony's eyes are stricken a bit but he returns the handshake and Steve nods at the line, asking innocently, "think I need to get mine checked?"
They're shocked at his question, but the mischievous smile that appears on his face at their reactions has them scoffing and rolling their eyes. He laughs and salutes before taking off to stand in line behind Pietro, talking to him and making him laugh.
—-
Everyone's at round picnic tables, eating food and chattering excitedly as they discuss how the doctor checked their eyes.
But then Bucky hears a kid talk about how the doctor checked his ears, and a girl talks about how the doctor took her height measurements. And suddenly Bucky gets the feeling that something else entirely was going on. He watches as the kids pack up and get their things together, forming a group to walk home.
"Steve?" Tony calls, drawing the kid back from where he was standing at the front of the group.
"Yeah?"
Natasha, Bucky and Clint find themselves standing close, the street lights starting to illuminate the world around them.
"I, uh, made you something." Tony hands something small over to Steve, setting it in his palm.
Steve eyes it. "What is it?"
Tony rolls his eyes, "geez, Steve, it's a hearing aid. For your left ear."
The wide eyed shock on Steve's face makes Bucky's chest hurt.
"A hearing aid? For me?"
"Yeah," Tony rasps out. "For you. Should help."
The embarrassment that crosses Steve's expression is painful, "you didn't have to—" his voice sounds sad and wary, "this couldn't have been cheap, I don't—"
"Steve. This is a late birthday gift—"
"But you threw me a party, this is too muc—"
"Steve." Tony says firmly, "truth be told, I didn't pay a cent to get this fabricated, my lab had the stuff I needed. So it was free. Is it not good enough because it was free?"
"What!" Steve's face turns worried, "No! I didn't mean that, I would never—"
"Good, then it's settled. You'll use it. Here." Tony messes with something on the device and hands it back to Steve. "It should fit right, try it."
Somehow Steve doesn't notice the way he's just been manipulated into accepting the hearing aid. He presses it gently into his ear and it only takes a second for his face to light up like a christmas tree.
"Tony.." he whispers quietly, "I can't thank you enough. For helping the kids too."
Tony waves him off, "Just getting the goods for my resume," he lies, "Anyways, only about 4 of you need glasses. Those should be in soon, I'll have Jarvis drop them off when they're ready. Sound good?"
Steve smiles, tilting his head back and forth experimentally, "sounds good."
—-
"Tony?" Bucky asks after Steve and the kids have gone.
"Yeah, Barnes?"
"Did the doctor check more than their eyes?" There's suspicion in Bucky's voice as he watches the teenager hand a check over to the caterers who brought the food.
Tony's eye's narrow, pinning him with a glare, "did you know that Steve is 93lbs?" Tony's fingers fiddle with the pen that's in his hands. "I actually thought Dr. Strange was pulling my leg when he told me. And shut up about HIPAA, I don't care."
"What's hippa?" Bucky asks, confused.
"Nothing." Tony snaps, "When I was 15, I was almost 40lbs heavier than Steve is now. Think back, when's the last time you were under 100lbs?"
Bucky shrugs, he can't remember.
"Exactly." Tony watches as Clint and Natasha walk up, a sleepy Yelena hanging on Clint's arm. "That hearing aid? Well it's not just that. After the shirt debacle I realized we needed a more permanent source. That hearing aid is transmitting whatever it records to my computer. When we hear that witch do anything to those kids. She's a goner. Add that on top of the fact that we're gunna have a great case for malnutrition and neglect?" He waves at the remains of the tent that are almost gone. "They'll be in jail faster than I can say "adios."
Bucky's jaw is on the floor. "That's what this was about? Not just glasses?"
Tony flips the pen in the air, catching it neatly. "I like to keep current on stuff. After the last few weeks, I've been doing some research on what our state expect of the childrens' home owners. They get government funds for housing and feeding those kids. And it's illegal to use those funds for personal uses. And she sure ain't using it for the kids. The doc didn't have all the info to hand over, and it's gotta be done legally to be legit as evidence. But his words were, 'these kids need help'. Well that's enough for me. I'm about to nail this lady 6 ways to Sunday and she won't even see us coming."
The fury in his eyes is only slightly terrifying. "Well, hell." Clint says, "remind me never to be on your bad side."
"People who hurt kids are on my bad side." Tony grits out.
"Mine too." Natasha says, brushing a strand of Yelena's hair back.
"What happens when she gets arrested?" Bucky asks.
That makes Tony pause, "I dunno. My dad talked about calling the police when I told him Steve was locked up, but I told him to hold off. What if they found him and then took him out of the house? He'd be pissed we made him leave his siblings. Or what if they called CPS and that whole mess happened again?" He rubs his hands along the sides of his jeans. "I figure, Steve's not gunna want to leave that house unless he knows each and everyone of them is safe. That means get them all adopted to happy homes, or find a new house mom. I don't care which. But a new caretaker seems more plausible. Someone in Brooklyn. Someone good."
Bucky looks thoughtfully at the workers hauling away the last of the supplies for their fake clinic. A thought pops up into his mind. "How do we feel about a house dad?"
—-