"Now that the swelling on the back of his head has gone down, we do see more clearly the severe concussion he has." The doctor says slowly, "keep an eye on him, if you notice memory gaps, or sluggishness, let us know. We'll be keeping an eye as well, but those who know him better will be able to detect a difference faster."
"I thought you said the brick didn't do any damage?" Sam asks, annoyance clear in his tone.
"Brain injuries are tricky," the doctor says, patiently, "I don't believe any long term damage was done, however with the impact from the brick and the beatings his head received, it's surprising to me that a severe concussion is all he has. We just couldn't see it as the dehydration and swelling had hidden it. It's nothing to be too concerned about."
Sam's lips purses, but he says nothing.
—
The kids are forced to leave the room, but they sink on the chairs outside the window and peer over the edge to watch.
Steve sits in his bed, nodding along as the doctor speaks, Sam is standing at his right side and Tony's dad is standing stiffly on his left.
The doctor says something, pointing at his heart. Steve nods, a small smile on his face and Clint can read his lips, 'Yeah, I know.'
Clint sighs in relief, "He knew." He whispers, "He knew about his heart." The group lets out a breath and they continue watching.
The doctor's face is more pinched as he keeps speaking. Clint stares intently at his lips, whispering what he reads, "—life expectancy, around 30 years of age, were you informed of that as well?"
Their eyes flash to Steve's face which is now frozen, the smile more like a grimace. 'No.' Clint reads and he curses under his breath. "He didn't know about the age thing."
He hears Tony curse but he's reading Steve's lips, 'thanks for letting me know.'
Sam's hand is firmly on Steve's shoulder and Howard has taken over the conversation, talking about options and how they're going to be working on it. But Clint's eyes are on Steve, whose face is still frozen in place.
—
"You know that TA? The one who knew?" Tony says suddenly, walking back through the door.
"Banner?" Natasha asks.
"Yeah, him."
"What about him?"
"Turns out he may have a way to connect Rumlow to the brothers."
Steve's eyes go wide and he stutters out, "wh-what?"
"We know Rumlow threatened you and the kids." Tony says flatly, "hearing aid, remember? If we hadn't listened to that, we wouldn't have gone to Rumlow, and if we hadn't gone to Rumlow, he wouldn't have tried to divert our attention to the brothers, and we wouldn't have found you."
Steve goes quiet.
"What do you mean? How could he have found a connection?" Bucky asks.
"I don't know yet. He contacted my dad's lawyers once he found out about everything I guess. Had something for him."
"I hope they all get nailed to the wall." Clint hisses, a bag of chips crinkling in his hands. "All three of those guys can—"
"Clint." Natasha says meaningfully, "let's discuss that at another time, huh?"
Clint glowers, "fine." He crunches another chip and Bucky looks at Steve who's kind of pale.
"Steve, you feeling okay?"
"What if they come after the house? They know where the kids live."
"They won't. They'd be even bigger idiots than I thought possible to step within 5 blocks of that house. My dad's working on making sure of that." Tony says forcefully. "They're definitely going to have prison time."
No one mentions the fact that the brothers haven't been caught yet, or that they're going back on their deal. Those are problems for another day.
—-
Steve wakes up to a shuffling sound and a light that seems to be moving. He blinks awake and looks at the woman at the end of his bed. He thought he had met all the nurses, having been there for almost three weeks. Guess not.
She's shuffling through his chart, which seems strange, but Steve's too tired to think why. He pushes himself up with his good arm, "everything okay?" He asks.
Her head snaps up, "oh! You're awake! Wonderful!"
He looks at her curiously, "yeah?"
"I just had a few questions for you." The light turns towards his face and he realizes it's the flash on her phone. Something in his gut stirs.
"Okay…" he says slowly.
"Why is Howard Stark paying your medical bills?"
Steve's throat gets tight, "huh?"
"Are you why he has been making large donations to the American Heart Association?" The phone flashes down at his chart and he stiffens. The nurse steps closer and the light gets brighter, making him wince, "Are you Howard Stark's illegitimate son?"
Steve's brain pounds, the light from the phone and the barrage of questions making his head throb with an immediate migraine, "Wh-what?"
"Did Tony Stark find out about you and get jealous?" Steve's mouth is gaped open and he can't think of a single thing to say, "our source tells us he discovered his father's illicit affair with your mother just recently and hired some thugs to rough you up, is that true?"
"Stop." Is the only word Steve can think of, "stop."
"So you don't deny it!" The nurse crows, "our source tells us that you've been living in a home for children, starved and beaten while your father and half-brother live in luxury! How does that make you feel? OR!" She almost shouts, "did Howard Stark not even know you existed until recently?"
"No." He rasps, "no. Please leave." Steve says, his words sounding small and weak to his own ears.
But the woman just smiles and gets the camera closer, "what can you tell us about your mother's relationship with Howard? How long did this affair last? Did your mother end it or did Howard?"
Something about her talking about his mother this way stirs up anger, "don't you talk about my ma." He snaps, his head pounding, as he clutches at it, shutting his eyes against the bright light, "you don't know anything." He hisses. "Please leave."
"No need to get feisty." The woman says with a smug grin. "I just have a few more questions."
"Get out!" He yells, surprising himself, "get out!"
The lady looks like she's about to ask something else, when the door bursts open and a burly man with a hand on his hip enters.
"What's going on?"
"I'm just helping my patient." The woman lies, "he got confused and all riled up." The woman nods and steps past the man, quickly walking down the hall.
"No." Steve rasps, "no that's not true, she was asking me questions about Howard and Tony."
The burly man's eyes widen and he's suddenly out the door, hauling after the woman.
Steve leans back bonelessly as another nurse walks in, one he recognizes, "what's going on?" She asks, concern on her face.
"Beats me." Steve says weakly, but something like dread coils in his stomach.
—-
Sam wakes up to his phone ringing. He blearily reaches out, sliding his finger across the answer button, "hullo?" He asks sleepily.
"Mr. Wilson? It's Hogan."
"Huh?"
"Security for Steve Rogers?"
That snaps him awake, "yeah- yes, what happened? Is Steve okay?" He's out of bed, grabbing jeans he'd slung over a chair last night, sliding into them as the man speaks.
"Physically he's fine. But shaken up. Someone was posing as a nurse and interrogating him about the Starks."
Sam pauses, "what? Why would anyone do that?"
"I'll explain more when you get here. The police are on the way so Steve can describe the woman to them, but I wanted to call you and inform you."
Sam's throat is dry. "Yeah, okay, thanks man, I'll be there soon." He hangs up and stares at his phone, he sighs before dialing Sarah's number.
—-
"Tony."
Tony grumbles in his sleep.
"Tony, wake up."
"Nooo." He moans, "it's still summer."
"Anthony, wake up!"
He squints one eye open, he hasn't heard that tone in months. His dad's face is pinched and furious and angry and a whole host of other emotions. "What's going on?"
"It's Steve."
His heart starts to pound, "what? What happened? Is he okay?"
His dad doesn't say anything, just frowns and waves him out of bed.
—
Steve's sketching out the lady's face when they arrive. The sketch artist they'd hired sits quietly, with an amused look on her face as Steve does her job for her.
"I couldn't really see too well." Steve says quietly, pushing his glasses up on his nose. "it was dark and her phone's flash was in my eyes, but this is what I could see."
He hands over the sketch and the lady looks at it, nodding and disappearing out the door.
"Steve!" Tony calls, walking up to the bed, "What the hell happened?"
Steve's face falls into an even deeper frown and he blinks heavily at the wall. "Some lady was asking wild questions about me and you and your dad."
Tony looks up to where his dad is right outside the room, talking with Sam and a policeman.
"Questions?" He broaches. Steve looks exhausted, deep circles under his eyes only made worse by the bruising that's taking its sweet time to fade away.
"About why your dad has such an interest in me. If I'm his bastard son. If he and my mom had an affair and you found out and sent the brothers after me."
Tony blinks at him. Then blinks again. Feeling his mouth part in surprise. "Holy Hell."
Steve glares at his hands. "Yeah."
"Steve, these people are vultures. My dad's been dealing with gossip and allegations and all sorts of crap ever since he got rich, he'll take care of it."
"Won't that just make things worse?" Steve says, his voice rough. "Him interfering on my behalf? I don't want to hurt your family, maybe you guys should just stop coming by. That way no one can—"
"Steve, what the hell?" Tony sits down on the edge of his bed heavily, "I never thought I'd hear the day when Steve Rogers wanted to back down from something."
"I'm not backing down." Steve hisses, then winces, "Ow."
"What?"
"My head, it's been throbbing since that lady woke me up."
"You need more meds?"
"I think I'm at my limit."
Tony glances over, and presses the + on the drip machine. It beeps at him and stays the same. "Geez, kid. You in that much pain?"
Steve grimaces, "it's just a lot all at once, and they don't want to aggravate my—" His voice cuts off and he clams up, drawing his good leg up and resting his chin on his knee.
His heart.
Fuck.
"Okay, Steve, let's roll this back. Start from the beginning."
Steve sighs and closes his eyes, speaking softly. "She was going through my chart when I woke up, using her phone flashlight to see, and then when she noticed I was awake she started asking questions. I was pretty out of it. My head hurt, the meds, and also the concussion makes me pretty groggy. Then I was shouting and some guy came in and chased after her. Then end."
"Happy."
"Huh?"
"Happy Hogan. The guy."
"That's a name?"
Tony huffs, "Yeah, he's been posted outside your door for the past week and a half."
"Why?"
"Well, he was security. It's just too freaking bad we didn't put gossip rag vultures dressed as nurses on the watch list." He frowns.
"I had security?"
"Yeah kid."
"Why?"
"To protect you. The brothers haven't been caught and Rumlow's a sack of shit. So who knows. We just thought we'd take extra precautions."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Thought you'd protest."
Steve opens his mouth and then thinks better of it and snaps it shut. Tony's about to smirk when Steve whispers. "Maybe. I probably woulda fought it. But I know you would've ignored me and had him there anyways. And… If I'd known I could have called out to him right away."
Tony runs his tongue along the sharp points of his teeth. "I don't have an argument for that."
Steve grimaces. "Doesn't matter anyways."
"Why not?"
"I panicked and could barely get a word out edgewise. I probably wouldn'ta called out because I didn't have the dumb brain power to do anything but sit there and blabber like an idiot."
Tony's taken aback. He's never seen Steve like this. "Steve, anyone who went through what you went through has the righ—-"
"What I went through?" Steve snaps. "That's it. That's all I'm going to be from now on." His brow is pulled down and his eyes are glaring at the floor. "The scrawny, sickly, worthless kid who was thrown in the dumpster to die. That's what I'll be. Forever. The kid with the words on his back in ugly scars!" His voice cuts off in a crack and Tony watches as he curls into himself.
"Steve, that's— what are you saying? That's not—" he's too thrown off to come up with anything coherent. "No one's going to remember you only for that!"
Steve huffs, his tone dripping in a sarcasm Tony has never heard from him before. "Oh yeah? And what will I be remembered for?"
Tony feels like he's sliding down an icy hill and there's nothing for him to catch his balance on, nothing to grab, no hand holds. "You're going to do great things!' He chokes out the thing his dad and mom have said to him, over and over since he was a little kid. And he doesn't say it facetiously, he means it. "You're gunna do amazing things in the art community."
Steve's face turns vicious, "Oh. Oh yeah. I'm sure I can do lots of stuff before I keel over when I'm 25!" Tony reels back in surprise, and he hears Steve's jaw crack shut.
Oh.
Oh shit.
"Steve—"
"Please leave."
"No, Steve, we're talking about this."
"I don't want to."
"You can't just say stuff like that and expect me to leave."
"Then I take it back."
"You can't, you said it."
Steve's turning in his bed, angling away from him, and Tony can make out his sharp shoulder blades against the soft shirt. The kid may be 15 but he looks barely 13.
"You misheard."
"Oh. Did I?" Tony says, anger coming into his voice. Anger at everything that's happened to Steve up until this point. "I don't think I did."
"Why is your dad donating to the American Heart Association?"
The non sequitur hits him in the face, "huh?"
"The lady. The crazy one said your dad's been donating to the AHA. Is that true?"
"I don't know. I hadn't heard." He's pulling up his phone and looking at the Stark Industries finances. Oh. Well.
"Yeah. He is."
"Why."
"You know why."
"NO!" Steve shouts, and Tony can hear the conversation outside the door cease. "I don't know why! Why does he care? Why do you care? Why does anyone care?!"
"We care because you're someone worth caring about." The words leave Tony's lips unbidden and he's surprised by them.
Steve's face goes red. "I didn't ask for that. I can't pay that back. I don't—" he wheezes. His lungs tightening. "I didn't ask for that." He rasps out.
"Steve, breathe!" He lunges to the little table where Steve's new inhaler sits.
Steve takes a puff. Then a second one. By the third he's breathing slowly and his eyes are closed. Tony glances back to the door where Sam is standing, and his dad, watching them. Tony waves them away and they step back.
"Steve."
"What."
"Are you done having your little pity party?"
Annoyed eyes flash up to Tony's but he holds his hands up. "Spoken by someone who has thrown himself many a pity party and never for reasons as good as yours."
He watches as Steve glares at him, and then lets his shoulders sag. "Sorry."
"What the hell are you apologizing for?"
"For acting that way. I shouldn't have let all that get to me."
Tony scoffs, "what are you talking about? The lady insinuated you were related to my dad! I'd be pissed too."
There it was, the ghost of a smile on the kid's face.
"You're dad's pretty cool, Tony." Steve says.
Tony groans, "Oh. Geez. Don't let him hear you say that."
"But seriously." Steve says softly. "I feel like I'm drowning in debt to you guys. How can I ever make it up to you? How can I pay you back?"
"No need."
"Tony."
"Kid, shut it. When you're as rich as we are? Doing stuff like this is actually good for us. Reminds us that the world doesn't revolve around the Starks."
"It doesn't?" Steve jokes.
"Hush, little charity case."
Steve's mouth gapes open and when Tony smirks at him, he snatches something off the little table and throws it at Tony.
A plastic water bottle cap zings off of Tony's forehead and skitters across the linoleum.
"Rude. But also, good aim with your left hand."
Steve looks smug, just the tiniest bit, before leaning back. "I was always good at frisbee."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah."
—-
Bucky wakes up to his phone dinging. And again. And again.
He scrunches his nose and almost falls off his bed reaching for it. He brings it up close and stares at the screen. 43 missed messages in the group chat.
He clicks it open and scrolls to the top where a link to a gossip news site is attached. He furrows his brow in confusion before clicking on it.
A voiceover starts. "This is ScandalAnon working to provide you with the best news in the most scandalous ways! We all know Howard Stark was a philanderer in his youth. But it seemed to come to an abrupt halt when he married his beloved wife, Maria."
A picture of their wedding day shows before the picture cracks in half using some hokey animation.
"Our source informs us that his days of philandering were not over. We have discovered that no more than 4 years after the birth of his oldest son, Anthony Stark, Howard was at it again. A love trist between one Howard Stark and one Sarah Rogers."
A picture of who must be Steve's mom, that he's never even seen before. And he gasps, because the eyes, the hair, the shape of the nose, holy hell it is Steve's mom. She's in a nursing uniform, smiling at the camera.
"Now you may be wondering, how can this be? How did we not hear about this? And how do we even have confirmation? Here are the facts:"
Bucky has a sick feeling in his stomach that their facts are not going to sit right.
"Fact 1: - The love child, Steven Rogers, was born to Sarah in July, 15 years ago, and kept with his mother, receiving no financial aid from Howard.
Fact 2: - The love child, Steven Rogers, was somehow admitted to one of the most prestigious summer programs in the nation, with no fiscal way to obtain that himself. The grant and excess funds to support those donations, was donated by none other than Howard Stark.
Fact 3: - Our source informs us that Anthony Stark somehow made the connection and used his money and power to have the love child, Steven Rogers, beat up and disposed of. Obviously not wanting to share daddy's money."
Bucky hears the choked way his breathing sounds but he can't look away.
"Fact 4: - Upon discovering his son's terrible act, Howard Stark has been paying for the love child, Steven Rogers, medical bills at St. Sebastians and has also been making large donations to the AHA. One of our more daring supporters even glanced a look at his medical chart to find out that the love child, Steven Rogers, has a terrible heart condition! Poor baby! Is this Howard's guilt for not being involved in his son's life? Or perhaps penance for his older son's actions?"
His phone is still buzzing like wild in his hands, but the video isn't over.
"And Finally Fact 5: - News dropped over a week ago about Stark Industries purchase of a Brooklyn based Dermatology company. We thought that was very strange! And when we pressed our source, we were able to uncover why! Was this Anthony Stark's way of sending his father a message?"
Bucky feels his breathing stop as a zoomed up photo of Steve's back appears on the screen. TRAITOR. In bloody, jagged cut letters.
Fresh cuts.
The photos the police had.
"But just you wait! Our brave truth seeker was able to get a few minutes with the love child, Steven Rogers and get some answers!"
Bucky's heart goes still as shaky camera footage appears. It's vertical and he can see Steve blinking at the light.
Steve. Bruised and beaten and skin and bone in his hospital bed.
"I just had a few questions for you." A different voice says, sounding eager and it makes Bucky sick as the camera points at Steve who looks small and nervous in his bed.
"Okay…" Steve says slowly.
"Why is Howard Stark paying your medical bills?"
Steve looks surprised, "huh?"
"Are you why he has been making large donations to the American Heart Association? Are you Howard Stark's illegitimate son?"
Steve's eyes are tight with pain and his voice is shaky as he responds "Wh-what?"
"Did Tony Stark find out about you and get jealous? Our source tells us he discovered his father's illicit affair with your mother just recently and hired some thugs to rough you up, is that true?"
"Stop." The word sounds rough and broken coming out of Steve's mouth while the flash makes him look like a ghost, highlighting the contrast between his bruises and cuts and his pale skin. "Stop."
"So you don't deny it!" The voice crows, "our source tells us that you've been living in a home for children, starved and beaten while your father and half-brother live in luxury! How does that make you feel? OR!" The voice almost shouts, "did Howard Stark not even know you existed until recently?"
There's a pause and the terrified look on Steve's face makes Bucky want to hurl his phone at the wall.
"No." He hears Steve rasp, "no. Please leave." The way Steve's voice sounds sends a shiver of fury down Bucky's spine.
But the camera just gets closer, even as Steve leans away from her. "What can you tell us about your mother's relationship with Howard? How long did this affair last? Did your mother end it or did Howard?"
Suddenly there's a cut in the footage and he can hear Steve shouting in a voice that's angry and cracked, "get out! Get out!"
The video disappears and the voice over is back with a photo of Howard Stark.
"Looks like our love child inherited the Stark temper!"
The voiceover is practically gleeful as the video ends:
"Tune in daily for more Scandalous News! We're your number one site for the things the rich want to keep out of sight!"
The video goes black and Bucky looks at the flurry of text messages from Clint and Natasha and Tony.
He's grabbing a shirt and bounding out of his room in seconds.
—
When Bucky arrives at the hospital, his mom dropping him off looking worried, he bounds to Steve's room only to be directed away. Steve is asleep, and the police are going to interview him again when he wakes up.
He walks to the waiting area and sees Sam and Clint in conversation as Tony works on his phone.
Apparently, Howard had been receiving non-stop calls from his PR team and had rolled his eyes and promised to be back as soon as he could.
"Your dad's taking this awfully well." Clint muses.
Tony laughs, "you think this is the first time someone's accused him of this? We do this 5 times a year! I have thousands of siblings, don't you know?" Tony waggles his eyebrows but then gets serious. "You should have seen him."
"Him… as in Steve?" Natasha asks, walking back into the area with a tray of hot cups.
"Yeah…" Tony grimaces, "he was real bent up about it."
"Well, I swear if I ever hear the word 'love child' again, I'm going to lose it." Clint snarls.
"How did Steve react to the video?"
"Oh." Sam says softly. "He hasn't seen that yet."
They look at him and he frowns, "I think he needs a bit of time before we drop that on him."
"It's a load of garbage anyways." Clint says, "who would believe that?"
"Thousands of people." Tony groans, "idiots with nothing better to do."
"So what do we do?"
"We find Rumlow, and we kick his ass." Tony says through gritted teeth.
"You think this was him?" Clint asks.
"Hell yeah I do!" Tony sits up, twirling his phone in his hands. "This is the game we rich people play. 'Our source'?" Tony mimics, "Rumlow somehow caught wind that we were getting close to nabbing him, and he found his weasel way of throwing everyone off the scent. He and his scumbag family have their fingers in so many pies." Tony huffs. "It's despicable really. But it's the life of the rich. I'm sure it was Rumlow."
"Is it true your dad paid for Steve's tuition for the program?" Natasha asks.
"Yeah," Tony sighs, "he and 19 other rich alumni. They created a fund so kids with talent but no money could attend. It's conveniently left out of their little expose video that my dad is one of 20 donors, and they didn't get to choose who it went to or anything. Steve just happened to be a recipient."
"But what about the AHA thing?" Bucky asks quietly.
They watch as Tony leans back in his chair, flipping his phone around. "That's the part that really pisses me off." He glares at them, "add just enough truth, the stuff people can google, and suddenly they're believing the whole thing."
"So he is?"
"Donating to the AHA?" Tony clarifies, "yeah, he is. And he did buy that dermatology company that specializes in scar removal. And yeah, he did it for Steve, but not because he's his kid." Tony looks at them, rolling his eyes, "he did it because my dad gets obsessive about fixing stuff that can't be fixed, or hell, actually figuring out the solution that no one else could come up with. And, in case you haven't noticed, somehow this kid had all of us wound around his bony freaking finger on day one, and my dad is obviously not immune to Steve's charms."
Sam lets out a low whistle followed by a deep chuckle and the group feels the tension ebb from the room.
"So what are we going to do?" Bucky asks.
"Well." Clint sighs, leaning forward onto his elbows. "There's no getting rid of the video now. What can we do?"
"I think you should ask him." They turn to see Howard standing behind them. "He's awake."
They stand up and follow after him.
—
They step into the room and Steve looks at all of them. His face screws up into a grimace and he groans, "oh no. All of you at once? Is it that bad?"
"What's your definition of bad?" Natasha says lightly, perching herself on the foot of his bed.
"Bad would be I find out my ma had an affair with a billionaire." He says flatly. Looking at Howard. Clint glances over to see the look of shock on Howard's face, and then his head whips back around to the sound of Steve's laugh, breathy and a bit hysterical, "hey pops."
Tony chokes and that makes Steve laugh harder. Then he's wheezing and looking at Bucky, "did you know that my dad was a war vet?"
Bucky's eyes are wide, "uh, no— I didn't."
"Um-hmm." Steve says, his fingers waving in the air. "He had a rough go when he got back. Ma tried to take real good care of him." He's looking at them and Clint notices how dilated his eyes are. "Between me and my pop we didn't have too much money to spare. If my ma wasn't a nurse we would have been—" he stops, his brow furrowing as if he lost his train of thought.
"Why is his Brooklyn accent getting stronger?" Natasha asks with a grin on her face.
"Steve, did they give you some new meds?" Tony asks slowly.
Steve's head bobs up and down and up and down and up and down until he looks sick. "I'm dizzy."
"Probably shouldn't be headbanging like you're at a rock concert then." Tony snorts.
"I've never been to a concert." Steve says morosely, "probably die before I make it to one." The room freezes and they stare at Steve who doesn't even seem to have noticed what he's said. "You know, that's a good idea." He says as if someone else had spoken. "I should make a list. Things I can do before 30. Then I can check 'em off."
The group is still frozen as Steve's hands wave and he clumsily grabs a fork that is sitting on his empty food tray. He holds it like a pencil and starts 'writing' directly on the table.
"Go to concert." He looks up at them, "what else do I wanna do?" They are still just staring at him and he makes an annoyed sound and flaps his hand at them, "I don't got a lot of time here. Hurry it up!"
"Steve, let's just cool your jets here." Tony starts.
Steve lights up, "you think so?" He smiles and goes back to riding on his table with the end of his fork, "ride in a jet."
Sam steps forward, coming to his senses, "when did they give you new meds? I thought they were keeping you at a low dose?"
Steve squints at him, "Sam? Hey, Sam! Sam's here. He's cool. He's a cool dude. He'll watch the kids when I'm dead."
"Stop." Bucky says, the word grinding out of his mouth. "Stop saying that!"
"Saying what? Sam?" Steve looks at Sam and only one of his eyebrows raises, "whadd'ya do to make Buck so mad?"
"No, Steve. You saying that you're gunna die."
Steve tilts his head and looks at Bucky as if he's confused, "Buck. The doctor said it. I'm not making it up."
"No, I know—" Bucky feels his throat clench, "just stop saying it."
Steve frowns. He looks up at Bucky and a sadness crosses his face. "Oh. Sorry, sorry. Is it too hard for you to hear?" And he means it. He's not asking it in a snarky way, his face has worry written across it. "I don't mean to make you sad. It's just the truth. Doctor said it. Dead before 30. I think my ma tried to tell me, but… nothin' sticks when you're that little." He blinks for a moment before going back to his list. "Talk to ma when I meet her in heaven." He says groggily. Then he scrunches his nose. "If I get to heaven."
It's like a knife to their hearts.
"Steve." Howard says. His voice like flint. "You're not dying a day before you're 100. You hear me?"
Steve just looks at him. "Howd'ya know?"
"Because I'm fucking Howard Stark and I said so dammit."
All of them reel back in shock at the anger but also blazing determination in his voice and Steve blinks at him in surprise. Then Steve attempts to whisper to Sam, "he just cussed, is that okay?"
Sam lets out a strained chuckle, "I think in this case, I'll allow it."
Steve blinks again, his eyelids staying closed a little too long. "Okay."
Then he looks at Bucky who's standing right beside him on his right. "I'm feeling sleepy."
"I think that's the drugs talking, kiddo." Sam says, "You can rest."
"Thanks." He says groggily. His eyes close, but as they turn to leave, Steve's hand snakes out and grabs Bucky's wrist, stopping him. "You're not all leaving, right?" The genuine fear of being left alone is written all over his face and Clint feels his chest tighten. The expression on Bucky's face goes from surprised, to heart wrenching and then to determined.
"No Steve. I'm not leaving." He lets Steve hold his wrists as he stretches and grabs the arm of a chair, dragging it closer. "I'm staying right here." He sits down and rests his wrist, still in Steve's grip on the bed.
Steve's shoulders duck and he curls up on the bed, all inhibitions gone due to the drugs. He still holds Bucky's wrists and closes his eyes, "okay. That's good. Thank you."
Bucky's eyes are wet as he blinks at Clint.
Something about the way he's lying reminds Clint of how they found him in the dumpster and the image flashes before his eyes. He blinks wet eyes back.
—
"Dad."
"What."
"What are you doing?"
His dad turns to face him. They're down the hall, at the coffee vending machine, which, surprisingly, isn't the worst coffee they've ever had. "What do you mean?"
"Promising Steve something you don't know you can deliver."
The eyes his dad flashes at him makes him involuntarily shiver. Not out of fear that his dad would lash out, but in response to the sheer force of will emanating off of his father's frame. "You think I can't do it?"
"That's not what I said—"
"They told me I couldn't design a weapon that used a blood sample as a target." His dad's face is deadly serious, "they told me I couldn't design a missile that could fly underwater equally as well as it could in air. They told me I couldn't design a gun that used its own recoil to power the next shot. That's what I do. I figure stuff out."
Tony is silent.
"I keep my promises." He looks at Tony and tilts his head, "and when I need the advice of someone smarter than me, I know where to look." He taps Tony's chest, grabs his coffee and walks back down the hallway. Leaving Tony simultaneously annoyed and filling to the brim with pride.
—
No one mentions the drug fueled Bucket List. Steve doesn't seem to remember much at all.
But the drugs still aren't out of his system yet because not a few hours later Bucky watches as Steve sits up, his pizza falling from his fingers to his plate, "wait." He stares at them. "You didn't answer my question!"
All of them look confused, "what question?" Bucky asks.
"Did we win?"
"Win…?"
"The project!" He says in a rush, "the whole presentation! The bet! I missed it!" He groans and frowns. "I can't believe I missed it."
"You were a little busy, Steve." Natasha says gently.
"Did we win?"
Tony winces. "We would have."
Steve looks at him sharply, "whatd'ya mean?"
"Well." Tony looks at the other three before looking back at Steve. "We received top marks for everything. Even got extra points for your packaging."
He pauses and Steve leans forward, "but?"
"We only were there for one out of the five judges… So we lost because we weren't there to present to the rest."
Steve looks dumbfounded, "what? Why weren'tchya guys there?" They stare at him and he stares back. And it crosses Bucky's mind that he's being honest. He really doesn't understand why they weren't there.
"Steve." Natasha says, "we weren't there because we were out looking for you…"
Steve's eyes blink, and it still hasn't clicked, "what? How could'ya have known I was missin' so fast?"
"You didn't show up to the school. We started looking for you almost right away."
"Why? Why not look for me after the presentation!" He seems genuinely upset and Bucky can't decide if it's the drugs or the concussion speaking or both but it's not sitting well with them.
"You're more important than a bet with Rumlow." Clint says a bit harshly, and his tone tells Bucky he's frustrated by Steve's view on the situation.
Steve huffs, and Bucky decides that it has to be the drugs talking because Steve folds his hands across his chest before saying, "I wasn't in the dumpster yet. Searching for me early would'na helped you. Might as well have stayed and won."
"Steve." Tony says, his tone like flint. "I'm going to politely request that you shut the hell up now."
—
The intruder at the hospital is caught 48 hours later, but by that time, the video has been shared and tagged and retweeted tens of thousands of times.
They finally let Steve watch it, and he actually throws up at the end of it. Although that may be more because of the withdrawal from a particularly bad dose of a drug they didn't know he was allergic too.
—
School starts.
And Steve is still in the hospital.
Bucky dutifully brings him his textbooks and his homework and sits with him, doing their own assignments and watching whatever afternoon game show is on.
Clint has a ridiculous knowledge of useful trivia. He laughs and says his mom used to love all these game shows.
Steve gets to know Clint's stepmom and uncle a lot better. They stop by with Clint often and talk to Steve while they hang around.
Steve thinks they're pretty cool. "You've got a nice family." He tells Clint one day, his eyes a bit wistful.
"They're your family now too." Clint says with a huff. "Good luck getting rid of us."
Steve's smile is so soft that Clint has to look away.
—-
Yelena stares in shock as Steve lays down a winning hand. Marking his first win against her since she taught him the game a week and a half ago.
"You cheated." She accuses.
"I would never!" Steve says with mock affront. "I just have a good teacher."
She sniffs, "that's true."
"Can't wait until I can use both hands." Steve groans.
"Soon." Natasha says idly, staring at her math textbook.
"I know." Steve grumbles, "just not soon enough. I'm tired of this bed and this room."
"I can't wait until you move back to the house!" Yelena crows, "Peter's going to go ballistic."
"I can't wait." Steve says softly, "ever since school started I've been seeing them all so much less. I can't believe you guys are there now!"
Natasha smiles at Yelena, then cranes her neck over to Steve, "believe it, squirt. You're not the oldest in the house anymore." Steve's eyes widen in shock at the revelation and she laughs. "Uh-oh, is that a bad thing?"
Steve smiles, "nah, I don't mind at all. It will be good to have someone else help me wrangle all the kids."
"You know, Sam is there now too."
Steve shakes his head. "So much has changed and I haven't even had a chance to experience it!"
"You will, Steve. You'll be home soon."
"I know. I can't wait."
—
His last check up goes smoothly. The gash on his head gets the stitches removed, and the bruising is more of a light spattering here and there than a cohesive palette of colors. His concussion isn't gone, but it's on the mend, and the cuts in his mouth are fully gone. His shoulder has a brace instead of a cast and his hip is holding out for longer.
He's starting to walk, to take small distances on his own. But sitting at a hard desk all day and walking the rest is a no-go from the doctors and he's told school will have to wait. He sighs.
—
Bucky is helping Steve out of the wheelchair they'd used to cart him to the front doors as he's discharged from the hospital. Bucky swears a nurse or two is crying and it makes Steve's face flush and Bucky is laughing.
Mr. Jarvis flutters nervously around Steve as he helps him into the car.
"I'm okay, Mr. Jarvis." Steve says dutifully, "I promise."
"I know. You're perfectly capable, you just should have seen all of these birds in a tizzy when you weren't around, a proper disgrace."
Steve's head tilts and a grin slides onto his face, "oh yeah? They miss me?"
"The understatement of the year, sir."
"Let's not joke just yet about you being kidnapped and shoved in a dumpster, huh?" Bucky says mulishly.
"Ah, Buck. You gotta look on the bright side of things. At least it wasn't the sewers."
Bucky eyes him incredulously and Steve grins, "too soon?"
"Yeah, you punk!"
Steve looks a bit proud of himself, and Bucky shoves against his good shoulder. He's noticed that Steve has been purposefully trying to be extra lighthearted and make jokes recently.
"I think it's his way of making amends with himself." Tony had said a few nights before, his eyes on his phone.
"What do you mean?" Natasha had asked, sliding closer.
"He had a rough go the night that slime reporter got into his room. Threw himself a pretty big pity party. Not that I blame the kid. Hell, I'd still be throwing it if I was the kid. But that's just not Steve. He let himself feel bad about it, and now he's going to try his best to not."
"Is that healthy?" Clint had asked, "I feel like that's not healthy.
Tony shrugs.
—
He's been at home for a week.
It's been great. Sam helps him up and down the stairs a bit, and he is able to do his assignments pretty easily with the textbook and Bucky's help. Since Bucky is a sophomore, he remembers the stuff pretty well and can help Steve fill in the gaps that he is missing by not being in class. Natasha is a sophomore too, but she and Yelena have extracurriculars after school and get home later.
Tony and his dad stop by often. Always with something in their hands for the kids of the house. One time it is a giant checkers set. Another is a new speaker system so the kids and Sam can intercom each other all over the house.
Sam takes everything in stride. Steve watches as a guy, who went from living alone, to having 20 kids under his roof, just smiles and takes every challenge the house throws at him with a firm hand and an easy smile.
It's late one night, and Steve is still sitting on the couch that Sam had bought recently, updating the dusty and gross furniture they'd had since before Steve had gotten there. They're watching some old TV show that Steve doesn't recognize but that makes Sam laugh.
"Sam?"
"Yeah?"
"Thank you."
"For what?"
"For actually taking care of them."
He can feel Sam's eyes on him. But he stares ahead, not wanting to lose his courage, "I just…" he sighs, looking down at his hands, "I was desperate the last time I called CPS. And it went so poorly that I-I gave up, and—" his throat gets tight, "I just never thought I could trust another person to look after them, and I now, with you here, I do and—"
He gets cut off as Sam's arms tug him into a hug and he's pressed against the guy's chest. He wraps the one arm he can around Sam and they stay there, for just a minute before he feels Sam let him go. But Sam's eyes find his and they're kind and still smiling when he speaks. "Steve, I don't know how you got to be the kid that you are, but never change, huh? Stay just like you are." He taps Steve's chest, right where his heart is. "The best kid I know." Steve swallows thickly, and he doesn't know what to say but Sam just smiles again and gestures to the door. "How 'bout I get you up to your room so you can sleep?" Steve nods, and he lets Sam help him up the stairs.
—
Steve asks Tony how the whole 'illegitimate son' news story is going. Tony winces and then laughs. "I mean. Is it great? Nah. The problem is, it's usually some crazy lady or guy who is just trying to get money. So they're easy to ignore or get restraining orders against."
Steve grimaces, "sorry. If you guys need—"
"Steve. Shut up. I'm talking."
Steve clips his mouth shut but smiles at the annoyed glare on Tony's face that doesn't have any real heat in it.
"Like I was saying before you so rudely interrupted." Tony says flatly while Steve chuckles, "usually they are just out to get stuff. They aren't usually people my dad cares about. So, it's tougher to dispel the rumor when he is actually doing some of these things. But the great thing is, my mom doesn't care. She knows you and she knows the truth, and my dad and I both don't care. Eventually they'll give it up and you won't have to hear about it anymore."
"So, no DNA tests needed?" Steve jokes.
"You aren't pretty enough to be a Stark."
Steve lets out a full bellied laugh that has the side of Tony's mouth quirking up in a grin.
—
He's getting closer to being allowed to go to school. "Maybe another week," the doctor at the last check-up had said.
He's standing in the bathroom and he's staring at his face. The bruising is gone, although he'll probably always have the curved raised line above his eyebrow and the scar that spreads from the corner of his mouth halfway to his cheek. Not to mention the little 'x' shaped scar on his cheek bone. Clint said they made him look cool. He wasn't sure he agreed. But there wasn't much he could do about it.
He's about to get in the shower. The kids should be home from school soon, and he, Sam and Sarah were going to make enchiladas for them for dinner. He slips off his shirt and stands there, facing the mirror in just his pants.
He tries not to look.
He's been trying to accept that they're there and there's nothing he can do about it now and he better just get used to them. Ignore them.
But as always, he angles his body and looks.
The scabs on his back have healed, leaving behind pink puckered scar tissue. The letters are jagged and it makes him suck in a deep breath at the memory of their knees.
Knees on his neck.
On his hips.
He grits his teeth and tries to will away the memory of the way his skin had sounded as it sliced open. The fact that some of his own blood had dripped from those wounds, trailing down his neck, off his chin and into a puddle that they smashed his face into.
So much blood. He'll never forget the smell of that day.
He grips the counter of the sink and takes in a shaky breath.
"Steve?" Sarah's voice calls through the door.
He jolts, "yeah?" He winces at how shaky it sounds.
She must notice because there's a pause. "You okay?"
"I'm fine." He says too quickly.
"Steve, what's wrong?"
"Nothing."
There's another pause and he can't decide if he wants her to leave or to press. She hasn't seen them. None of the kids have. Other than the medical staff, only Tony, Bucky, Clint, and Sam have seen them in person.
"Steve. I'm not going to force myself into that bathroom. But I want to make sure you're okay."
He looks at himself in the mirror. Too skinny, too many bones sticking out of thin skin. A heart that doesn't work right. And now… his back. "I'm—" he starts, before his voice cracks.
"Is the door locked?" She asks.
"Yeah." He croaks out.
"Please unlock it."
He does. And he almost laughs when she enters with a hand covering her eyes.
"I have pants on." He chuckles weakly. She laughs and takes her hand down and looks at him, his face, before her eyes flash to the mirror and catch sight of them in the reflection.
She must have already known they existed, because she doesn't ask 'what is that?'
But the color does drain from her face and she stares.
He feels his shoulders hunch inwards and he tries to keep the knot from forming in his throat.
"Oh my days." She says in a whisper. "You poor baby." He doesn't even have time to protest her calling him an infant because she's wrapping her warm, soft arms around his cold body and holding him tight. Her hands are placed firmly on his back, not avoiding touching the scars and it's that that sends him over the edge. He starts to cry, and she holds him tighter.
It's not a minute later that he hears another set of footsteps approach and a throat clears. "I thought you were going to ask him if he thought the kids would like black olives on their enchiladas, " comes Sam's teasing voice.
"Shut up, Sam." She snaps, holding Steve tighter.
Another set of hands finds his back and he realizes that Sam has now squished Sarah into the middle of a hug.
"You guys are big on hugs." Steve says with a watery chuckle.
"All the Wilson's are that way." Sarah says with a laugh, pushing back and holding Steve by his shoulders. "You. You are too precious and I need you to know that. And there's not a single person who thinks those words on your back apply to you." Steve's staring at her and he can't tear his eyes away from her earnest face. "Some people are dealt all the bad cards in life. But, how you play that deck, that's what matters."
"Okay, Sarah. You quotin' ma? I see you." Sam laughs.
"Hush." Sarah says, turning back to Steve. "You've been dealt a new hand of cards just recently. Whatcha gonna do about it?"
Steve takes a deep breath and smiles. "I'm going to take a shower."
Sarah and Sam both laugh and they leave him be. And he doesn't feel the urge to look at his back again for the rest of the day.
—
It's October 11th. And he's finally going to school.
He hauls his backpack up onto his shoulders and waits with Natasha for Bucky to show.
Bucky rounds the corner and Clint is with him.
"Clint!" Natasha calls, "what are you doing here?"
"Had to be there to watch Steve join the fray on his first day of highschool." He says as if it's obvious.
Natasha's eyes widen and she slams a palm against her forehead, "Oh my gosh! I didn't even realize! I forgot you're a freshman! This is your first day!"
Steve shrugs, "it's going to be weird going to a school where everyone already knows each other."
"Yeah." Bucky says agreeably, "but you know us. And if you don't sit with us at lunch I'm going to be pissed."
Steve laughs, "oh yeah? How come?"
"Because we didn't transfer schools just to be given the cold-shoulder by the coolest kid in school." Clint says ruffling Steve's hair.
Steve scoffs and shoves Clint's hand away, pushing his hair back into place. "Barton, I swear."
"Oh, ho, ho, ho! It's Barton now huh?"
"Uh, yeah, if you keep acting like a loon."
"Did you just use the word loon? Jiminy Cricket Steve, you are a grandpa at heart."
They trade fake swings as they walk towards the subway stop.
—-
They approach the school building and Steve's eyes widen at the sheer size of it. He's seen it before, but somehow staring up the giant stone steps at the huge looming building, knowing this is where he was going to be for the next four years… it feels different.
Natasha looks at him. "You ready?"
Clint and Bucky look at him, and he looks up at the double doors that have kids streaming through them. Then he looks at the three of them, standing there, patiently waiting for him to make the first move.
He feels his phone buzz.
A phone. Tony had given it to him just the day before. Insisted is more like it. The latest StarkPhone model. And it hadn't escaped his eyes that Bucky, Clint, and Natasha all had new phones too.
He pulled it out, careful not to drop it as he still had a brace on his shoulder. And was still doing most things one-handed.
He looks at the screen and it's a text from Tony.
T: Make sure you keep those other clowns in line. You're the only one with a brain around there. Good luck on your first day.
He grins and looks up at the rest of them.
"Yeah, I'm ready."
—
A/N* - And there we are! I would love to hear your thoughts, and thank you for those who commented throughout! IT really meant alot! THANK YOUUUU! Stay tuned for the sequel!