A/N: Welp, I'm back at it again! I think this one is going to be a long one, at least it looks like it on my computer. I figured you deserve it for waiting this long for me to post. I will say, I defiantly had fun writing this one. Happy reading! R&R!
The rest of the journey was met with silence. Pepper shifted through the countless news articles and press reports. Silently cursing her fiance and his friends. Her eyes traveled to the boy across from her, who had yet to move. The concern inside of her grew with every passing minute. His head remained on the shoulders of the captain. The eyes of the mask rested on her but the even breathing told her he wasn't looking. He was still unconscious.
"How much longer till we get there?" Scott asked as he yawned from his nap.
"Should be there any minute now," Tony announced as he steered the quinjet.
The woman, Vanessa, looked up as her brow furrowed over her eyes. "There is no way we are in Russia that quickly. You don't even know where you're going."
Tony's body stiffened at the sound of her voice. "I told you we are not going there. Clearly your ability to listen still remains something to be desired." Pepper looked at the back of his head before her eyes fell on Vanessa.
"Then where are we going?"
"That is for me to know and you to find out. Now sit back and enjoy the ride."
Steve listened as the quinjet's engines started their descent into wherever Tony had taken them. The other Avengers were now awake and alert as they recognized the sound.
"Hold on people, this is going to get a little bumpy," Natasha called out from her place next to Tony. Everyone including Happy braced themselves while Steve's arms automatically wrapped around the child next to him. Looking down, he made sure the boy was secured all the while not crushing him under his strength.
The quinjet descended before adding a rough bump to let the occupants know they landed. Happy released a groan before shaking his head. The engine shut off and the ramp lowered allowing the ground and a backdrop of trees to greet them. Tony appeared from the front of the jet barely casting a glance in Vanessa's direction as she spoke to him.
"Where are we?"
"Everyone pile out," Tony announced as he stepped forward. He came to a stop in front of Steve before reaching down and unbuckling Spiderman who had yet to move. Without a word, he lifted the kid into his arms and began his descent off the jet. Everyone else followed immediately after.
After a short journey through the trees revealed a large house, sheltered against the backdrop of the forest. Steve stood staring at the large structure. The wooden structure stretched to the heavens but remained under the shadow of the surrounding trees, allowing a shadow to cast over them.
"What is this place?" Rhodes asked as he stared up at the building.
"A place to stay, now come on," Tony called out. One by one everyone followed the billionaire as he continued his journey through the front door.
Steve looked around the forest covered trees before he joined the line. The heat from the sun disappeared and was replaced with the cool air of the house. He allowed his eyes to roam around, taking in the wooden walls and sheet covered furniture. Stepping further in, Steve's eyes traveled to Tony who was standing at the base of a sheet covered sofa while Pepper removed the white covering. An elegant brown sofa greeted him as Tony laid Spiderman on it.
Standing to his full height,Tony looked around the room before he nodded, looking back down at the boy he released a sigh. "Well, make yourself comfortable, looks like spider-kid has."
"Again, where are we?" Vanessa asked as she looked around the room hoping to get some idea as to where she was.
Tony regarded her with a look, he opened his mouth as if he was going to say something but somehow thought better of it. Instead, he headed towards the door, only he didn't make it very far as Vanessa blocked his path. Placing her hands on her hips, she glared at him. They stood like that only leaving the sounds of breathing in the air. Tony licked his lips before he opened his mouth. "Move."
"Not until you tell me-us-where we are."
Tony narrowed his eyes slightly as he regarded her. "Capsicle, can you kindly remove your baby mama from my path before I do, and if I have to I won't be kind about it."
Silence filled the room as everyone's eyes traveled between the three people. The brother and sister, the man and his child's mother, and the two frenemies. Nobody moved until Tony lifted his hands to produce his wrist-watch which he started reaching for until Steve stepped forward and placed a hand on Vanessa's shoulder. Before he could pull her away, she shook his hand off and set a glare of her own on her younger half-brother.
"You," she said, pointing a finger at Tony. "You and your little toys don't scare me. You forget, I worked for Hydra and I can assure you they are a lot scarier than a man hiding behind a machine."
Tony gave no obvious reaction but Steve saw a small vessel throb before disappearing again. Instead he stepped forward and grabbed Vanessa again, this time pulling her away from Tony. She whirled around and glared at him. "You said you wanted to talk. So let's go talk," Steve announced as he nodded his head towards the door. Vanessa looked between Tony and Steve before walking back out the front door. Steve looked at Tony before following her out.
Once Steve and Vanessa vanished from view, Tony lowered his wrist and released a tense huff. When the voice of Rhodes spoke up, he turned his attention to his friend.
"She has a point though. Where are we?"
Tony looked around the building as he thought back to when he first found out about this place.
Rhodes left they dusty room to take a much needed break, he had just given up on his attempts to make the other man take one as well. Tony sat alone surrounded by the boxes. He lifted yet another one, hoping it would provide him the answers he had been searching for, for days. Lifting the lid, he peeked inside and removed the contents, only to discover deeds and maps of a house instead of anything that could prove that the woman they held in the cell below him was indeed his sister.
Leaning back against the wall, he released a huff/scream of frustration. Another dead end.
Boss, Ms. Potts is looking for you. Would you like me to tell her your location?
"No, tell her I'm busy." Tony replied as he looked around the room at the mess him and Rhodes created.
She says that you are supposed to be helping the Avengers.
"Tell her I'm busy."
Friday never responded.
Tony looked down at the papers that covered his lap as his eyes fell on the cursive script which was painted on the paper. The handwriting of his mother. Grabbing the paper, he lifted it to his eyes and examined the surface.
The paper held a blueprint of a house. At the top, his mothers fancy scribbles decorated the page.
My dream house.
That was the title she gave it as it was accompanied with tiny little hearts. Attached to the paper at the bottom by a single staple was a note. Taking a closer look, the professional handwriting of his father greeted him. His father, a man of business and assistants, actually wrote a note.
Despite the constant erased lines, Tony was still able to make out the words.
To my dearest Maria,
I am sorry for how I treated you recently in regards to your concerns for our unborn child. What I said though is true. He or She will be followed by the public from the moment they grace this world. But I hear your concerns and take them with great care. Months ago, I asked you to plan your dream house and I have taken your drawings and put them into reality. I know you normally do not care for my projects and such, but for this I hope you do.
I built your dream house in a secluded location away from the media and the world. Anytime you wish to visit with our child you can. You can visit a place where you will not be followed. Nobody knows of this location except you and myself and soon our child.
I know I can be focused at times and can be neglectful. I know I do not express my emotions like you wish, but know I love you deeply and anything I do and create is for you and our child.
Yours,
Howie.
Tony reread the paper note over and over. His cheeks painted red as he read the words. Despite his parents being dead, embarrassment burned in the man. He was reading what seemed to be a personal letter from his father to his mother. The tender words which seemed to be chosen with such great care.
That's how Rhodes found him when he came back from his break. Sitting, staring at the blueprint with flushed cheeks. He paused at the door and stared down at his friend.
"You okay there Tones?"
Tony jumped slightly before stuffing the paper into the box. "Yeah, fine." Tony cleared his throat before he reached for another box. Rhodes continued to stare at his friend before nodding and reaching for a box as well. Together they continued the search for any information on Vanessa. The blueprint laid forgotten.
"Tony?" Sam called out, breaking Tony from his thoughts. Tony turned to the man who raised an eyebrow at him.
"What?"
Pepper stepped forward as she rested a hand on his chest, right above the glowing object in his chest. His eyes found hers and all he found was concern. "Are you okay?" she asked low, ignoring the rest of the people in the room.
Tony cleared his throat and nodded before looking around the room. "This is my parents-well my mother's-place. My father built it for her when she was pregnant with me. A place to leave behind all the media. According to my father, nobody knows it exists except them and well now us." Everyone looked around the room at every inch of the surface. "Like I said, make yourselves comfortable. We should be safe here, at least for now, until we figure something out. Now, I'm going to explore."
"Wait, what do you mean explore? I thought you said-"
"I didn't know this place existed until a few days ago." Tony announced. Scott opened his mouth to respond when the sound of raised voices from outside reached them. Everyone shared a look as they rushed forward. They all ended up on the porch, watching as Steve and Vanessa stood in the yard yelling at each other.
Steve watched Vanessa as she hit a tree yet again. Her knuckles were red and raw. She released a grunt before she turned to him. Her brown eyes seemed to try and set him on fire, but the man who was frozen in ice remained cool and untouched by the heat of her gaze.
"God, he is so irritating!"
Steve didn't respond.
"I swear he is so arrogant, hiding behind his little toys. What is he without them, huh?"
Steve released a smirk as he responded, "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist."
Vanessa glared at him as Steve released a chuckle. A tiny spark of joy flashed in the sea of blue before it disappeared. "That's not funny. Are you taking his side?"
"I'm not taking anyone's side. There are no sides to take here."
"I just asked him a question and he acted like I just asked him if he wanted to die. Jesus."
Steve ran a hand over his face as he sat down on the steps that led to the porch. "I mean you might as well have."
Vanessa stepped closer to him as he crossed her hands over her chest. "How so?"
"Vanessa, just because we allowed you to roam free doesn't mean we trust you. We're allowing it because you have been cooperative and we'd like to keep it that way. We still don't trust you. You are still in all intents and purposes still our prisoner. So for Tony to not want to tell you where we are is understandable," Steve explained.
Silence settled between the two people as the words from the man washed over them. Vanessa shook her head before turning away from him. Running a hand through her hair, she turned towards him only this time, tears burned her eyes and seemed to threaten to spill over. Steve turned his head away from the pain that burned in her eyes as she spoke. "Just tell me this. Are we still in New York?"
Steve stared as a leaf that blew across the ground in front of him before looking up at the woman who mothered his child. Despite the stillness of her body, he could see the question and pain in her eyes. Licking his lips, he shrugged and watched as her body deflated with every breath he took as he spoke the words she didn't want to hear. "I don't know. I have no idea where we are. Only Tony does."
Her entire body collapsed into the dirt as the tears finally fell. A sob escaped her lips. The tough woman who stood before him days ago and moments before suddenly vanished, leaving a broken woman in front of him. Every ounce of Steve's being wanted to go and comfort her, but he remained where he was.
She looked up at him, the whites of her eyes were now gone, and were replaced with red. "I…I've lost everything. What more can you people take from me?"
Steve frowned at that. "We haven't taken anything away from you, well except your freedom, but we are slowly giving it back."
Vanessa let loose a watery laugh. "My brother is dead, and you guys are holding me hostage here. I only have one person I consider family left and that's my son. Now, you take me away from him."
"We didn't take him from-"
"I had him and then you guys came and took him, then you lost him. Then you take me somewhere, and you won't even tell me where that is. I don't even know if I'm in the same state as him!"
Steve listened as she ranted, hearing the anger fill her voice. "I had him when I gave birth, then SHIELD took him from me. You work for SHIELD don't you? Therefore you took him from me."
Steve frowned at that. "Now hold on a second you can't-"
"You are just as responsible as those bastards who took him. I never gave him up, you guys took him, then they gave him to some random family to be raised," Vanessa snapped as she stood to her feet.
Steve rose to his feet as well, setting a glare on her. "Hold on, you cannot blame the Avengers or myself for what happened when you gave birth. None of us even knew anything about it. Just because we work for SHIELD that does not make us responsible. And are you sure you really want to start casting blame because you're not as innocent as you are trying to make yourself seem."
"I was falsely imprisoned back then as I am now. I have been nothing but cooperative and still yet I am where I started. Nowhere. Actually, I'm worse off than I am. I just want my son."
"Listen, I get you're upset right now, and while that is understandable, even if we did have Peter with us, I wouldn't allow him anywhere near you."
Vanessa opened her mouth to speak but froze. Her youth opened and closed as she seemed to find the words while her brain processed the words that were just spoken to her. Finally the words appeared on her tongue. Stepping forward, she lowered her voice into a deadly whisper. "Excuse me?"
Steve lifted his hand in a nonchalant way before dropping them and repeating his statement. Vanessa scoffed before speaking. "What the hell does that mean? You won't allow him anywhere near me."
"Exactly what it means," Steve announced as he stepped off the steps and walked over to her. Vanessa approached him slowly.
"You can't keep him from me. What the hell?!"
Steve shook his head. "My number one concern is his safety, and him being anywhere near you is not safe."
"I'm his mother!"
"I understand-"
"As for your 'number one concern' you can take that and shove it up your ass. You didn't even know Peter existed until recently!"
Steve heard the steps of the Pepper, Happy and the Avengers on the porch but he paid them no mind. His focus was on Vanessa.
"Yes, and who's fault is that?!"
"As for being a safety concern, I could say the same for you! Hell I could say the same for all of you. You're the fucking Avengers! All you do is go around killing people and smashing buildings that dare disrupt your path! So for you to have the audacity to even twist your lips and say-"
"Yeah we may kill people and buildings may get smashed in the process but if i'm not mistaking we're usually protecting earth for crazy ass people like you!"
Vanessa narrowed her eyes. "What part of I'm not with HYDRA anymore is hard for you to understand."
"I don't care."
"Stephen Rogers, if you think you are going to keep my son-"
"Our son!" Steve roared as he stepped closer to her. "Or did you forget it takes two people to make a baby?!"
A voice spoke up from the porch. "Guys, maybe we should just-"
"Stay out of this Bucky!" Vanesa and Steve shouted without breaking eye contact. Silence followed from the porch.
Vanessa shook her head as she glared at Steve. "You may have contributed to the DNA but he is my son! I carried for nine months, I endured every ache and pain that came with the pregnancy, I did it all on my own. I gave birth to him. He was taken away from me! Not you, me! I spent years looking for him. Me, not you!"
"Again who's fault is that?! You never told me! Had you told me I would have been there! As for you carrying him for nine months, that is not my fault. I can't help that I was born a male. I didn't assign the gender assignments! And I'm sorry that he was taken from you but my question is where were you after you gave birth? When you were looking for him. Not once had you ever graced my doorstep to tell me I had a son! So get off your fucking high horse!"
Vanessa bristled as Steve glared down at her. Heat burned in both of their eyes as the words flew from their mouths. Spit flew in every direction as their words lifted into the air.
"I didn't tell you because I didn't know!" Vanessa shouted.
Steve threw up his hands. "And why did you not know? Because you were busy dancing with me at sunrise and fucking my friend at sunset! By the way, I'm glad we got on this conversation because what the fuck!"
Vanessa threw her hands up as she huffed. "If you-"
Steve lifted a hand and cut her off. "I was your first assignment. So our meeting in the bar that day was planned. Everything was planned? Including having sex with me?"
"No, not everything was planned. I-"
"When did Bucky get thrown into the mix? Before or after our first date?"
"Steve-"
"I confided in you! I told you all about Bucky and how I thought he was alive. I told you about the times when I feared he was dead. Hell, you even helped me follow any leads that I thought I had on his location. You helped me and all that time, you knew he was alive and where he was. You were sleeping with him!"
"If you would just-"
"No, there is no 'if you would just'! I trusted you!"
"Believe it or not Steve, not everything is about you! I know Captain America was the center of attention for a while but this is a new century. I'm not going to apologize for how I feel. Am I sorry I apparently hurt you in the process? Yes, but-"
"Apparently? Did you just say apparently?"
"But, I refuse to apologize. I had no idea my unborn child was your's. I knew it was between you and James. I-"
"If you knew I was a possibility, then you should have still told me!" Steve barked.
Vanessa shook her head. "I'm so sorry that finding my son was more important to me than telling you that you potentially could be the father of my child. Again not everything is about you! Besides, since we're being honest, James would have been the more likely candidate to be the father. We fucked more times then you and I."
"You-" Steve started but Vanessa cut in.
"And if you want to know why I ended up going to James when I wasn't with you?! It's because you were just a fucking assignment! You were never meant to be anything more. I never felt that way about you! The only reason we had sex that night was becuase your clingy ass couldn't go to sleep that night! So I helped you go to sleep. And afterwards you slept. That was the first peaceful night I had since we first met! I didn't have to wake up to you screaming about the war. I didn't have to wake up to you crying about losing your best friend. I didn't have to take care of you. I could focus on the assignment, and I could finally go and be with the man that made me feel happy. He just so happened to be your best friend!"
By the end of Vanessa's speech she was full on shouting. Her breathing was labored and her chest rose and fell at an accelerated pace. Steve stood there, no emotion crossed his face, not even his eyes.
Silence filled the area as the people on the porch watched the display before them. Bucky stared at his friend and former lover, waiting for one of them to break first. When neither did, he walked over slowly placing himself between the two of them, pushing them away from each other.
"Guys, I think we should call it quits and revisit this later. Maybe when you both have had a chance to calm down," he suggested. Vanessa tore her eyes away from Steve and allowed them to land on Bucky. She nodded once before stepping back. Her eyes found Steve's again and saw that he was looking at her.
Steve just stared. His face is still blank. He felt Bucky's hand on his chest trying to push him back but his feet remained rooted. Finally, as if something clicked in him, Steve looked at his friend, then back to the mother of his child.
"Fuck you," was all he said, then he turned to his friend. "Both of you."
Without another word, Steve turned and walked off into the trees before disappearing from view.
Silence once again greeted them but it didn't stay long as a voice spoke up. "Um, guys." All eyes turned to Scott. "Do you think it's a bad time to tell them to watch their language?"
