The house was quiet. The only thing that could be heard was Axl chewing a raw hide bone from his bed.
Something in the air changed and Axl got out of bed. Suddenly Wren, Steve and Bucky appeared in the kitchen.
"Whoa." Steve said wobbling a bit with his stomach churning. "That's… uh."
"You get used to it." Bucky said patting Steve's back.
"By like the third or fourth time. Fifth if you have a really weak stomach." Wren said.
"Woof!" Axl barked.
"Axl!" Wren cheered before the husky tackled him to the floor and started licking his face. "Oh who's a good boy." Wren said hugging the dog as he cried and licked Wren.
"Hm Hm." Axl whined.
Steve and Bucky just looked at them amused until Axl saw Steve and moving in front of Wren and growled at Steve.
"Oh." Steve said backing away.
"Axl down." Wren commanded. Axl stopped growling immediately and turned to nuzzled Wren's leg hiding behind it. "That's weird. He never does that without a reason."
"He's loyal." Bucky said. "Watches Wren like a hawk."
"Good boy." Wren said patting Axl's head before looking around. "Had a feeling she'd like this place. Lots of light, big kitchen. Checked all the boxes. Does she use the office?"
Steve stayed quiet and Bucky thought about it.
"She reads in the kitchen or the living room when she's trying to get Wren to sleep. Reads to him too." Bucky answered.
"So anywhere but." Wren said eyeing them strangely. "Figured. It felt like more of a library. Nora hardly ever used the office at the ranch."
Wren walked around the living room and felt the wood and bricks around the mantle in the living room. "No loose bricks or false panels." Wren said before walking towards the windowsill. "No that's too obvious. Mind if I check upstairs?"
"You don't have to ask." Steve said.
"Yeah I do. You guys live here." Wren said and both Steve and Bucky tensed. Wren looked at them curiously before he looked at the mantle. There were photos of the kids, of Nora and Tony, Rhodey. Wren teleported to the kitchen and looked at the fridge. There was a photo of Nora, Aiden and Sam at a bar, One of Axl cuddled next to his son. One of Nora and Bucky. There was even a photo of him and Nora from when they were in New York after he was discharged from the army. There were photos of everyone around the house except…
"You don't live here." Wren said turning around to face Steve. "You don't know where Nora studies or which room she spends the most time in because you don't live here. And there aren't any photos of you on the fridge because…"
"We're not together." Steve finished for him.
"But you two…" Wren started Bucky.
"We are." Bucky said. "They're not."
"What the hell happened?" Wren said.
"It's complicated…" Steve started.
"Nora's a time traveler, how much more complicated can it get?" Wren retorted.
"She had a baby." Steve started but that's all he got out before Wren punched him.
"Wren!" Bucky said getting between him and Steve.
"You left your soulmate, my wife. The best person I have ever met because she had my son?" Wren said enraged.
"It's more complicated than that." Steve said.
"It doesn't matter." Wren said. "If you really loved her then nothing else would matter and you wouldn't be making excuses. My son is not an excuse…"
"I didn't mean…" Steve started.
"And if that's really what you think then good riddance." Wren said before teleporting out of the living room.
"I didn't mean it like that." Steve told Bucky.
"I know but it sure did sound like it." Bucky said frustrated. "You're an idiot. I love you but you're an idiot. You screwed up and I get why Nora doesn't want to give you a second chance…"
"She did." Steve said.
"Third chance." Bucky started.
"She did." Steve repeated. "The night you got sick and I went with her to dinner. We talked and she told me the same thing she said she told you. She told me that no matter what happened Wren came before everything even us and if we were going to give it another shot it had to be the same for me."
"Then why have you two been avoiding each other?" Bucky asked.
"Because I froze." Steve said wiping a hand down his face. "And before I could say anything she told me to think on it and sent me home. We haven't talked and now she's gone."
"You'll talk when she gets back." Bucky said patting Steve's shoulder. "You screwed up but it's not all on you. Nora's stubborn and knows how to hold a grudge."
"She has a reason to." He said before perking up at a sound from upstairs. "I think he could use a hand."
"Yeah." Bucky said. "You coming?"
"I think I'll just wait here." Steve said. "Don't think he wants to see me right now."
"Right." Bucky said before heading upstairs.
Steve looked around and sat down on the couch where Axl was lying facing away from Steve. As soon as Steve turned to look at him Axl growled.
"I'll just stand." Steve said getting off the couch.
Nora's POV-
A few days after the brunch intervention gone wrong Aiden and I got called back into the compound. We were both going a bit stir crazy being stuck at home but Steve and Bucky thought keeping me on lockdown was still the best option. Our getaway idea wasn't getting anywhere until now.
Aiden got a notification from Friday requesting our presence at the compound and to come with everything we'd need for a few weeks.
"What do you think this is?" I asked.
"They're going to say it's a lead but they're going to send us on a goose chase." He said. "They're probably going to try and keep me out of the loop but they don't know I know Steve's admin password."
"So small town in the middle of nowhere? Beach resort? New Asgard?" I asked.
"They think we're going to be working out of a safehouse in Barcelona." He said.
"But we're not going to Spain." I said.
"We're not going to Catalonia." Aiden corrected. "I was thinking Athens or Santorini. See if Anagnos' lackies start talking."
"We're going deep." I said.
"Just like the good old days." Aiden said getting up. "Pack a bag, meet you in the hall in ten."
We marched into the compound and got pulled into a briefing. The mission had nothing to do with the first order and from the look on Aiden's face he recognized the guy. Ah, they're using an old case that's already been solved so they can keep pulling out fake leads to distract me knowing I'll never solve it. Smart.
"Alec Romancek." Steve said bringing up photo.
"Golden boy of the Romancek crime family. They run half the drug trade from Hong Kong all the way to the Balkans." Bucky said. "One of our informants heard he's trying to expand by into Spain and Morocco by cutting a deal with the Galacians."
"We need you two to tail these two, Santiago and Antonio Torres." Steve said. "They're brothers, run the drug trade in Barcelona. Just keep an eye on them where they go, who they talk to."
"Drugs seem kind of low on our priority list." I said and Aiden gave me a look. "The Avengers do global threats not small petty crimes…"
"Terrorists have to get their funds from somewhere." Aiden said. "Cocaine dealers always start with small petty crimes before they move up the food chain. It's all connected, just have to figure out how."
"Okay." I said. "Are we taking a jet or flying commercial?"
"Jet." Steve and Bucky said at the same time. Right still on lockdown.
"Just a precaution." Steve said.
"Right." I answered.
"We'll grab everything we need and…" Aiden started before the conference room door opened and a tall familiar strawberry blonde woman in an impeccably tailored dress walked in.
"Oh there you are…" She started.
"Pepper!" Steve said surprised.
"Hi, I hope I'm not… interrupting…" She said as her eyes landed on me. "Nora."
"Hi." I said awkwardly.
"h-hi." Pepper said in shock. "I can come back…"
"No. It's fine." I said standing up.
"We just finished." Aiden said reassuringly. "We'll call you when we land."
"Stay out of trouble." Bucky said.
"We will." Aiden and I said before we headed out. I walked past Pepper and gave her a small smile on our way out.
As we walked down the hall I remembered I wanted to start some simulations in the lab for when we got back.
"Hey mind if I pop into the lab really quick. Just need to start some simulations." I said.
"We could just stay." Aiden suggested.
"I won't take that long." I said before heading to the lab. I marched in and quickly started up the computer and entering all of the data from the research I had compiled. "Friday is there any chance I can run simulations from my phone while I'm gone?"
"You can just input the order remotely and get updates." Someone that wasn't Friday said from behind me. I turned around and saw a girl wearing a vintage Black Sabbath band tank top and jeans.
"Oh," I said picking up my phone. "Already connected. As If I didn't already have a problem putting my phone down."
"Why would you ever put it down?" She said walking into the lab and making herself at home. "Gene therapy huh?"
"More Biochemistry than anything. The methylation patterns and histone placements are different than they would be on normal telomeres." I said. "I'm working on reversing the effects."
"Sounds fun." She said.
"That's one word for it." I smirked. "Are you new here?"
"No I just stop by on occasion." She said looking at me weird. "My mom wanted to visit so thought now was a good a time as any to check in. Haven't been by in a while. I kinda missed it."
"I know the feeling." I said smiling.
"Have we met before?" She asked. "You just seem familiar from somewhere."
"I'm pretty sure I'd remember meeting someone with my same taste in music." I said gesturing to her top.
"Huh." She said staring at me before Friday interrupted.
"Boss." Friday started.
"Yeah." We both said before turning to each other and laughing.
"Aiden wanted me to let you know that he's heading to the jet hanger and will be leaving in ten minutes whether you're on the jet or not." Friday said and I rolled my eyes.
"Someone's eager." She said.
"First time in over a week we finally get sent out on a job." I said.
"You're an agent?" She asked confused.
"Yeah, recon." I said finishing up. "And I should probably get going before he leaves without me. It was nice talking to you…"
"Morgan." She said offering me her hand.
"Oh another Morgan." I said.
"Another?" She asked.
"Connor's girlfriend…" I started.
"Connor finally asked her out?" She said laughing. "About time."
"I know right." I said.
"Mind if I walk with you? I'm heading in that direction." She said.
"Sure." I said. "So what do you do Morgan?"
"You don't…" Morgan said looking at me confused. "I work for Stark Industries. Mergers and Acquisitions but I'm getting promoted soon."
"Congrats." I said.
"Yeah, I've been preparing for this for… what feels like forever." She said.
"Then you must be great at your job." I said.
"I've been told." She said confidently as we reached the hanger and I saw Aiden doing pre-flight checks.
"Well this is my stop." I said.
"And he didn't leave without you. He must really like you." Morgan said curiously.
"Oh he loves me." I said making her laugh. "It was nice talking to you Morgan. Good luck with the new job."
"Good luck on your mission. Don't get shot." She said making me chuckle as I walked towards the jet. "Hey, you didn't tell me your name!"
"I'm Nora." I called over my shoulder. I got to the jet and Aiden waved at Morgan. She hesitantly waved before heading inside.
"Make a friend?" Aiden asked.
"Ran into her in the lab." I said. "She seems nice. Why you interested? Need me to play wingman?"
Aiden just started laughing. "No, just… no." He said laughing again.
"I feel like I'm missing something." I said.
"You are." He said smiling as he shook his head. "Buckle in."
"She has good taste in music." I said. "Confident. Kind of reminded me of Dad a bit which I know is a weird thing to say."
"Its not, I can see that." Aiden said. "Snarky too."
"Hm." I said sitting back and waiting for us to land. "So are we flying straight to Greece or are we stopping in Barcelona?"
"The jet is connected to the compound's network." Aiden said. "They can track it so we're going to land the jet and fly commercial with the spare passport I gave you. Might also be a good time for you to change your hair."
"Oh no…" I said sarcastically. "I'll go darker."
"Not brown." He said.
"I know." I said.
Later that day- Third Person's POV
Wren was in the middle of surgery, literally holding a man's heart in his hand as he carefully placed the last micro-suture, timing it perfectly in between each heartbeat. The room was quiet. The only sounds that could be heard was the sound of the air being pumped into the patient's lungs and his heart beating.
He carefully knotted the last stitch before his intern cut the thread.
"You can't even see it." She said.
"Then it means I did it right." He said.
"Guess that means you're done." Someone else said from up in the gallery. Wren looked up and was surprised by who was up there.
"Morgan?" Wren said.
"Miss me?" She said.
"Thought you weren't due back for another week, when'd you get in?" Wren said as he carefully put the heart back down.
"This morning. Mom wanted to be here to close her last deal in person and wanted to check in." She said.
"Well Gran's always been a control freak." Wren said smiling.
"Yeah, part of why she wanted to stop by the compound." Morgan said with her arms crossed and Wren froze. "Check up on things. We ran into Nora."
"Really?" Wren said handing the forceps to his scrub nurse. "Hanson, close up."
"Yes sir." She said taking over as Wren signaled to Morgan to meet him outside. He quickly took off his gloves and cleaned up before running upstairs where his aunt was waiting in his office.
"You have some explaining to do." Morgan said as soon as he walked in and closed the door behind him.
"I know." Wren said.
"Wha..How… Wh…" She started before sighing. "Just… start talking."
"It started a few months ago." Wren said.
"Months?" Morgan said. "She's been here for months and you didn't think mom and I would want to know Nora's is back from the dead?"
"She's not back from the dead." Wren said. "She's from before everything… 2016 to be exact. Apparently there was a mishap with Aya and next thing she knew she was crashing through the compound wall in our time. She's been stuck here since."
"She doesn't know about any of it." Morgan said realizing what was going on.
"She doesn't and she can't ever know." Wren said sadly. "Can't risk changing the timeline."
"That explains why she didn't recognize me or knew about anything." She said. "I almost didn't recognize her with the..."
"Blonde hair, yeah that was Aiden and Elle's idea. Wanted her to be less noticeable." Wren said.
"Must come in handy with missions and spying." Morgan said, "Which by the way she's doing?"
"She was helping with the first order situation but after she ended up on the news, the dads and Aiden decided to keep her busy by faking a mission and giving her fake leads." Wren said. "I think they were going to keep her at the Safehouse in Barcelona for a while."
"With Aiden, you know I always wondered if they had a thing." Morgan said.
"Yeah, we're still trying to figure that out." Wren said. "Those two are attached at the hip, And Aiden actually makes jokes now."
"I haven't seen him laugh since Abby." Morgan said. "So how are you doing with all of this?"
"It's been hard." Wren said. "The first few weeks I couldn't be in the same room as her, barely talked to her, And she was really pissed at Dad at some point she blasted him through a wall."
"But they were…" She started.
"Apparently he deserved it." He said. "I was so pissed at her, I wanted her gone but I grew up wishing I had my mom. To know her and I finally got a chance to do that. She is everything people described her as and so much more. She's funny, kind, selfless, loyal to a fault… a bit of a mess but in the best way possible."
"All I know is what Dad used to tell me and he'd only talk about her when he was drunk. I remember this one time, I snuck into the garage and he was working on something just messing around with something and there was this holo-video playing. It was her but she was younger like thirteen and she was in the lab also working on something. He would talk to her, like an actual conversation as the video played answering him." Morgan said sadly. "I remember being so jealous of her, how pretty and smart she was. How they could banter one minute and switch to doing advanced calculus in their heads a mile a minute the next. Have conversations by completing each other's sentences and their inside jokes. I know Dad loved me but he didn't love me as much as her because I could never understand him like she did."
"Gramps was complicated." Wren said. "But if this mess has taught me anything it's that things aren't always the way we remember them."
"I remember Nora fighting with dad one time but I also remember her making me the best French toast I've ever had and reindeer pancakes on Christmas." Morgan said smiling.
"I don't know about the fight but she does make the best French toast I've ever had. And no matter what she always made reindeer pancakes on Christmas morning." Wren said smiling as he remembered.
"Remember when Dad tried to make us pancakes…" Morgan said.
"He got better eventually." Wren said.
"No he just had them delivered and plated them without you or mom ever noticing." She said.
"Course he did." He said chuckling. "I wonder what he would say about all of this?"
"Something like…can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs." Morgan said.
"Shit could be worse?" Wren said shaking his head. "Dad is great at pep talks but gramps just had a way of making you feel like it was all going to be okay, even when it didn't seem like it."
"And if he couldn't he wouldn't stop until he got a smile." Morgan said smiling.
"She reminds me of him." Wren said.
"Me too." She said.
Two days Later-
After landing in Barcelona, we decided we needed a better a plan of attack then just retracing Anagnos' last few days. We stayed at the safehouse which Aiden had kept all these years, so much for not being nostalgic…
I took advantage of the down time and changed my hair. It was wavy and a bit past my shoulder in layers and it was red.
.
"I have a few contacts in the area but I think our best bet is still Athens." Aiden said.
"Have there been any attacks in the area?" I asked looking through the incident reports on all of the previous attacks.
"None that we can pick up." He said.
"Anything in the Ukraine? Kushnir's guys?" I asked.
"Everything's wiped clean." Aiden said. "We should go to Greece, Anagnos' death probably left a power vacuum. If the First order wants to continue operations there…"
"They'd need someone in place they could control. Preferably one of their own." I said.
"If we can find the middle man, the contact between the first order and the new Anagnos we have our new lead." Aiden said.
"Athens it is." I said in agreement. "Jet's staying here. But first give me your phone. I need to make sure that if anyone tried to track us down they'll still think we're on the wild goose chase they sent us on."
"And while you're doing that I'm going to set up some untraceable funds so we can get moving." He said grabbing his tablet.
Third Person's POV- 2016
Wren teleported upstairs furious at Steve. He was the guy Nora had pined over for years? The universe really had it out for Nora.
He went through to the master bedroom knowing that would most likely be Nora's room and sure enough he was right. Wren looked at her night stand and saw the photo of Wren along with Connor and Ellie. He kept looking but didn't find anything that signaled something special to Nora.
He walked out of the room and walked down the hall until he found the nursery. He slowly walked in and saw the crib with a stars and planets mobile hanging above the crib. Letters on the wall spelling out his son's name with an iron man plush toy on a shelf. There were books on the shelf and a scrapbook on another shelf.
Wren hesitantly picked it up before sitting down on the rocking chair set up in the corner of the room. The first page was the date Nora found out she was pregnant along with an ultrasound image. She couldn't have been more than a few weeks along. He continued on and there were photos of her throughout her pregnancy. How she slowly started showing, her baby shower, and then one of her in the hospital after giving birth, followed by when Wren came home from the hospital…
Wren teared up at the thought of everything he had missed, of everything he was going to miss. He wasn't going to be there the day he was born, or all the nights he woke up needing a diaper change or feeding, his first steps, his first words, his first day of school… He'd never get to see the amazing man he would grow up to be.
"There's nothing in here." Wren said feeling Bucky's eyes on him. "This is going to change too much. Does she store anything in the basement?"
"Aiden turned it into a gym." Bucky answered.
"Then I guess we should check the attic or maybe the ranch." He said putting the album back before following Bucky up to the attic.
He wasn't expecting much. He recognized a few things from the ranch, there were also Christmas decorations and other things that hadn't been used in a while.
"You shouldn't have hit Steve." Bucky said.
"The idiot had it coming." Wren said looking through some of the boxes.
"He's made mistakes but its not all on him." He said.
"He referred to my son as one of the reasons he couldn't be with Nora." He deadpanned.
"Steve's never been great at explaining things." Bucky said. "He had a girlfriend before he found Nora again. They got back together but Sharon was pregnant and Steve had to be there for her. Nora found out she was pregnant that same day and ended things with him."
"So he's with Carter?" Wren said.
"No they broke up after she lost their baby." Bucky said. "But the damage was done, things were said and Nora didn't want anything to do with him. Blasted him through a wall and threw him into a lake at one point."
"Sounds like Nora." He said smiling.
"He loves her, he's an idiot and he's made a lot of mistakes but he's never stopped loving her." Bucky said. "But he also lost a son, that's not something you just get over. Nora and Wren are a package deal, you can't get one without the other and he's already lost her twice and he lost a kid. It's not so much that Wren's in the way as much as Steve's afraid of messing up and letting something happen to him. Nora would never forgive him and he wouldn't forgive himself either."
"Does she want him back?" Wren asked.
"They're figuring things out but I think so." Bucky said as Wren started moving boxes around before he found something.
"That's…" He said going to get a closer look at the chest and the initials on it and smiling. "Of course she kept it. This is it."
"The chest?" Bucky asked.
"This thing has everything I've ever thought was worth keeping." Wren said opening it up. Bucky got closer and watched Wren look through it. There was a few photos and trinkets. Photos of Wren and Aiden from when they were younger. A photo of a man and woman holding a baby that looked like Wren. Photos of him and Nora from Afghanistan and there was one he'd never seen before of Nora. She wasn't looking directly at the camera, but she had a huge smile on her face.
Wren stared at the photo for a minute smiling before putting them aside.
"Had a feeling she's keep this." Wren said taking out the page Aya had given him and putting in one of the pockets in the chest's lid and closing it. "Knowing Nora, she's going to look for something familiar, something to keep her grounded when things get bad. If she kept this thing without going through it this long then it's safe to assume it's going to be around for a while."
He stood up and closed the chest leaving it the way he had found it.
"What now?" Bucky asked.
"We wait." Wren said.
Nora's POV- Two Months Later
Athens had been a dead end, the turf war Anagnos' death had caused made a huge mess. His two head lackies had started fighting amongst each other to take his place. The city was divided and each kept half. Well at least that was what they had settle on before they each tried to double cross each other.
In the end we had to leave Athens because we weren't getting anywhere and there was no way the first order would try to get involved with either of those two morons.
We ended up in Santorini taking a night off.
"There is always a loose end." I said. "Hydra, Nazis, KGB, Snow, there was always something."
"Hydra was sloppy, The nazis didn't have a lot of options where to go, You always knew where the KGB was and Snow didn't account for you and Wren getting me to turn." Aiden said.
"Then maybe that's our way in." I said and Aiden stared at her. "We get a man on the inside, turn one of the higher ups. Figure out what they want and how they're going to do it."
"And how do would we turn someone?" He asked.
"We start by finding the weakest link and then… not sure." I said.
"I don't think the usual money, and plea deal are going to cut it." Aiden said.
"Yeah, don't think introducing myself and talking some sense into them is an option here either." I said.
"Would defeat the point of us going deep." He said.
"Then we go back to the original plan. Chase every lead we've got, some light breaking and entering and maybe go to a few speaking events." I said.
"I know a few guys in the area, we can check in see if they can point us in the right direction." He said.
"Where are they?" I asked.
"Nador, Istanbul, one of them's in Cairo." He said. "If they're going to buy arms that's where I'd go."
"We should start in Istanbul, It's in the middle of everything and we can continue to Cairo loop around the Mediterranean hit Nador before going back up to Barcelona." I said.
"Sounds good." He said.
And that's exactly what we did, Istanbul gave us a few cold leads but nothing conclusive Cairo was where things got a bit interesting.
It all started when we walked into a dive bar. We sat down at the back and waited for Aiden's contact. He never showed and instead the waitress escorted us to the back room where they frisked us and took our weapons before they let us sit down.
"Aiden." A man said as he walked in.
"Amir." Aiden said.
"I don't believe we've met." He said looking at me.
"Anna." I said offering my hand which he gently took.
"I'm guessing you're here to ask about the first order?" Amir said.
"What gave us away?" I asked.
"Anagnos' death really made a mess of things in Athens. They had to get their weapons and supplies from somewhere else and they've been asking around." Amir said. "Willing to pay a lot of money."
"Any word on who took the deal?" Aiden asked.
"No word yet but they must have something big planned. It's going to take some time to put their order together." He said.
"What exactly did they ask for?" I asked.
"C4, RPG, rifles, grenades, pretty much a bit of everything." Amir said.
"Who contacted you?" Aiden asked.
"Some guy, American, dark hair and eyes with a bit of a tan. Didn't give a name but the way he carried himself he was obviously ex-special forces." Amir said.
"Probably a merc." Aiden said.
"You planning on making a play for that deal?" I asked.
"That's still up in the air." Amir said not giving anything away. "Though you should know they have been asking about you both. They want to know who the man and woman asking about them are."
"I'm sure we can trust your discretion on the matter?" Aiden said dropping a couple of bills on the table as I carefully slipped a bug under his desk.
"Of course, always a pleasure." Amir said shaking Aiden's hand before giving me a strange look and shaking my hand for a bit longer than I was comfortable with. We took our weapons and quietly made our way out.
Aiden put an arm around me and I followed his lead and did the same.
"We're being followed." He muttered.
"And watched." I said noticing one of the bar patrons leaning against a car while he spoke on the phone. "Finally have a lead."
"Finally." He said. "Alley in ten feet, on your left."
"Don't hurt them too much." I said as we slowly walked in. I could hear them getting closer and closer before they walked into the alley and I kicked them onto the floor and Aiden punched them knocking them out. The next guy tried to run away but Aiden shot him with some sort of stun gun.
"I'll go bring the car around." I said.
"Yeah." He said checking them for weapons.
Once they were loaded into the car they drove back to the safehouse and tied their guests up in the basement.
Aiden and I each grabbed a bucket of water and threw it on each of them.
"Ah!" They both gasped awake.
"Oh good you're up." I said.
"Let me go." One of them said.
"Not until you tell us why you're following us." Aiden said.
"Fuck off." The other said.
"The First order sent you." I said. "No use denying it. Their emblem's on your ring, and you have a tattoo on your ankle."
"You wouldn't understand." One of them said.
"Try us." Aiden said.
"We were given a gift. Our savior sacrificed herself for our world and we have squandered that gift." He said. "We must make things right and you are standing in the way of that."
"What makes you think that?" I asked.
"Nora Stark gave up her life for us. This messy and imperfect world and instead of trying to be better we've become complacent, we fight and we destroy everything we touch." The other said. "She was selfless to a fault and perfect…"
That made both Aiden and I laugh.
"Perfect…" Aiden said chuckling.
"Wow." I said. "I think the history books might've missed a few things."
"You think?" Aiden said.
"Okay, lets try this again." I said. "Tell me who specifically told you to follow us and who you report to."
"Go fuck yourself." The other one said.
"Suit yourself then, Water boarding or needles under their finger nails?" Aiden asked.
"Go with water boarding, not in the mood to clean up blood." I said.
"Okay okay!" one of them said. "His name is Liam, former marine, part of the inner circle. He didn't like people asking about our plans. Said the avengers were getting to close after Anagnos and he wanted you taken care of."
"Taken care of?" Aiden said before the rude one somehow got loose and started throwing punches. I threw I knife at him before dodging a punch and swiping a knife but he caught my arm and elbowed my side.
"Ah!" I cried out punching him in the throat before Aiden smashed his face on the table and knocked him out cold.
"You okay?" Aiden asked.
"Yeah." I said rubbing my side.
"We're gonna have to call this in" Aiden said before taking out his gun.
"No No please I'll tell you everything!" He begged.
"Good. What's Liam's full name?" I asked.
"William Abernathy." He said.
"Abernathy?" Aiden and I said at the same time.
"The second." He said. "Rumor has it that he's related to the founder, like his cousin or something. He retired but he only speaks through him. He travels a lot overseeing things charities and foundations to help those in need or that's what we're told."
Aiden and I just exchanged looks. He took his gun and shot the guy knocking him out. Before taking his phone out and making the call.
"Hello?" Steve answered sleepily.
"It's Aiden, we're going to need an extraction and prisoner transfer." He said.
"Prisoner… Aiden where are you?" Steve asked.
"We're at a safehouse outside of Cairo." Aiden said. "We're okay, just thinks it's time we head home."
"We'll be there in six hours." Steve said hanging up.
"They're on their way." Aiden said.
"I'll go pack up." I said heading upstairs.
There was a protocol whenever it was time to leave a safehouse. The first was to take everything and pack it up. Then to clean everything, erase all traces you were ever there. I did a load of laundry, cleaned up the kitchen and then packed up before wiping down all of my prints. I finally changed into some black jeans and a flowy charcoal grey top with an asymmetrical black leather jacket and black boots.
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I heard the very familiar sound of a quinjet landing outside before there was a knock at the door. I finished up grabbing my things before walking down the hall and throwing my bags down so I wouldn't have to carry them down before I walked down.
"Nora." Bucky said giving me a huge smile.
"Hey you." I said hugging him.
"You changed your hair." He said gently running his fingers through my hair.
"Well there was a blonde that looked like me on the news, thought it was time for a change." I said.
"Wren will get them settled in an interrogation room at the compound." Steve said walking in. "I thought you two were supposed to be in Barcelona."
"We were but we hit a dead end so I thought we should check out Anagnos' old stomping grounds and see if we could pick up a trail and we ended up here where we met those guys." I said going to pick up my bag but Steve quickly took it out of my hands.
"I've got that." He said giving me a small smile.
"Thanks." I said before we headed to the jet. Bucky and Steve headed to the front of the plane while Aiden and I got settled in the back.
"I can't wait to sleep in my bed." Aiden said.
"That steam shower with the perfect water pressure." I said leaning back. "Did Abernathy have a kid?"
"Not that I know of." Aiden said. "He was married more than once. He might have a few kids scattered around."
"Mh, maybe." I said starting to feel tired but having a hard time getting comfortable.
"Side bothering you?" Aiden asked.
"Just a bruise. It'll be gone by morning." I said. "Have to stop leaving my side open."
"We'll work on it later." Aiden said leaning back.
"Yeah." I said closing my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
I closed my eyes for a second and when I opened them again Steve was standing in front of me.
"Hey, we just landed." Steve said.
"Hm, Awesome." I said rubbing my eyes and yawning a bit before standing up. It was day time here and the sun was shining.
We walked inside to the conference room and started debriefing.
"You went in without checking in with us." Steve said.
"It wasn't supposed to be anything. We were just checking in with a contact and on our way out we got tailed by those two." Aiden said.
"The situation was under control." I said.
"And it worked out. Those two gave us a solid lead." Aiden said. "The first solid lead we've had in months."
"And you should make sure the mouthy one is locked up tight, he knows how to slip out of hand ties." I said getting up. "I'm going to grab a bite while you three finished up the part of the debrief I shouldn't know about."
"Make coffee." Aiden said.
"Kay." I answered as I walked down the hall to the common room. I went straight to the coffee maker and brewed a pot. It had been a long night and I was beat but I was also really hungry so I made breakfast. And just like any other time I made breakfast Connor always showed up.
"Auntie, you're back." He said hugging me.
"Hey kiddo. Got back an our ago. Your uncles are finishing up the debrief, thought everyone might be hungry." I said with a yawn.
"Tired?" He asked.
"Long night." I said. "How's Morgan?"
"She's good, working on a paper she's trying to get published." Connor said.
"Friday said there was French toast." Wren said appearing out of thin air making me jump a bit. "Sorry mom."
"No it's fine sweetie just took me by surprise." I said flipping the bread out of the pan. "Sit down you two. Ellie joining us?"
"She's in a big meeting." Wren said sitting down as I set a plate in front of him and Connor. "And I'm supposed to be cleaning out the attic."
"Sorry about that." I said knowing I probably contributed to most of the mess up in there.
"It's fine though If you wanted to come take a look and keep some things…" He said.
"Sure, we can go after breakfast." I said drinking my coffee.
"Hi…." Morgan said walking in hesitantly.
"Hey Morgan." I said. "How you been?"
"Busy with work but good. I like the red hair." She said. "Really brings out your eyes."
"Thanks." I said. "You hungry? We were just about to have breakfast."
"No I don't want to…" She started.
"Come on." Wren said pulling out a chair for her while I made her a plate and poured her a cup of coffee.
"Thank you." She said smiling. Morgan slowly cut off a piece and took a bite before moaning. "Mh… That's so good."
"I missed homecooked meals." I said biting into my own food.
"Oh I knew I smelled food." Bucky said as he walked in.
"Help yourselves, I made a bunch." I said. "Made the coffee extra strong the way you like it."
"Extra dark." Aiden said pouring himself a cup.
"Are you two sticking around for a while?" Connor asked.
"Not sure." I said.
"We have a lead we just need to see if anything comes out of it." Steve said.
"Shouldn't be too long." Aiden said. "But in the meantime we're sticking around."
"Good it was too quiet around here." Bucky said hugging me.
"I should get going, I've been putting off clearing out the attic for months." Wren said. "Mom?"
"Yeah." I said taking one last sip of coffee. "See you guys later."
Wren put a hand on my shoulder and then it felt like someone had pulled the ground out from under me before suddenly it was back. I opened my eyes and we were at the townhouse.
The wood paneling was still the same but the floors had been changed and the kitchen was a lot more modern. The furniture was also a lot more modern but no less stylish and homey.
"The place looks great." I said.
"Yeah, Gramps always considered selling it but this is home." Wren said.
"Your Dad picked a good one." I said.
"Want to take a look around?" Wren asked.
"It's fine, I'm sure you and Ellie did a great job with it." I said. "Shall we?"
"Course." Wren said putting a hand on my shoulder and teleporting us upstairs. The attic was dusty and full of boxes of stuff I had collected over the years. Some of them I didn't recognize but it was good. It gave me some insight as to what Wren and everyone had done the past couple of years. Some very questionable fashion choices and hobbies that had been picked up. Ellies first design mannequin, Wren's first trip to Disney and his old baby blanket.
I found a photo of him at about six or seven with his hair grown out. Reddish Curls grown out and his gorgeous bright blue eyes as hugged Steve and Bucky who hugged him as they held him up between the two of them.
Third Person's POV-
"You were a cute kid, and I'm not just saying that as your mom." Nora said.
"Thanks." He said with a small smirk as he moved a few boxes and found a huge trunk. There were initials on the handle.
W.A.S.
Wren opened the trunk and looked through it. There were all sorts of things in there. Files and photos. Medals and a few awards even a few odd items. There were photos too. He found one of a red haired boy and another dark haired one next to him. He turned it over and saw writing on it.
Wren and Aiden ages six and five.
He kept looking and found one of his parent, his uncle Sam and a blonde woman holding a boy that couldn't have been older than three or four.
Wren, Nora, Sam, Jess and Connor, Christmas 2012
Then on top of it all was an envelope and on it in the same writing
Wren Aiden Spencer-Stark
Wren hesitantly picked it up.
"Don't let your mom see it." Aya said to him.
"What?" He thought.
"Hide it now!" Aya said and he quickly hid the envelope.
Nora's POV-
"What?" Wren said.
"Find something?" I asked.
"Uh just this trunk." Wren said.
"Trunk?" I said walking over and noticing the initials on the handle. "That's your dad's. I didn't want to throw it away but I've never actually looked through it. He always said that everything in there was what he ever thought was worth keeping."
"There are some photos in here." He said.
"Wow, Aiden mastered the brooding look early on." I said. "Aw, this was from the first Christmas we ever spent together. Hard to believe your cousin was ever that small."
"This was from when you two first met right?" Wren said showing me a photo of Wren and I on a Humvee back in Kandahar.
"A few months in, Took a while for him to warm up to me." I said.
"But he did." Wren said showing me a photo I had never seen of myself we were probably at the park or on one of our outings and I was just smiling probably at nothing.
"Your dads are my soulmates but Wren was the love of my life." I said looking at a photo of the both of us from my 21stbirthday. I put the photos down and noticed a small black velvet box. I opened it and saw my engagement ring. I remember last seeing this on my night stand.
"That's a big diamond." Wren said.
"Eh yeah, it was in your dad's family for six generations, well seven if you include me." I said looking at it before closing the box and handing it to Wren. "You should have it."
"What?" Wren said surprised.
"For when you decide to propose to Ellie. It's supposed to stay in the family and Wren would want you to give it to her. He adored Ellie." I said.
"Thanks." He said.
"Speaking of when is that happening?" I asked.
"Mom." Wren said.
"Kidding, go at your own pace you'll know when you're ready." I said as I kept looking before noticing something on the lid of the trunk. There was a small pocket with something sticking out of it. I carefully pulled the page out.
"What is that?" Wren asked.
"Not sure." I said unfolding the page and seeing very familiar symbols and drawings. "Uh I haven't really studied the mystic arts in almost a hundred years but this looks like spell."
"Why would there be a spell in Dad's…" He started. "Someone put it there for us to find."
"Won't know for sure until we ask an expert." I said and Wren put a hand on my shoulder before teleporting us to the New York Sanctum.
"Strange!" We called out.
"You don't need to yell, I can feel you a mile away." He said appearing.
"What is this?" I said showing him the page.
"A spell…" He said.
"What type of spell?" Wren said.
"It's a time spell." He said looking it over.
"Time travel?" I asked.
"No, these are time sigals but the way the rings are designed for energy to be channeled it wouldn't be enough for send someone back but…" He said looking at the page before walking to the study and pulling out a book. Skimming through it until he found where the page had been ripped out of.
"I've seen that book before." I said recognizing the writing. "The Ancient one."
"Book of time spells." Strange finished. "Advanced spells used channeling the time stone. It's can't send you back but it can send an inanimate object back in time."
"Like a message in a bottle." Wren said.
"Exactly. You can let people from your time know where you are." Strange said. "Where to find you."
"Let's send them a message." I said grabbing a piece of paper.
"Just one thing the farther back you sent it the more the object wears down so do try keep the message short." Strange said.
"Will do." I said taking a pen and jotting down the date and a short message letting them know I was okay before folding up the page.
"I'm going to need Aya's help for this." Strange said.
"How do we do this?" Wren asked.
"Just put your hands over mine and I'll do the rest." He said. Wren did as he asked and slowly the green rings formed around Strange's arms and spun out around the note making a gust of wind blow out before it disappeared in a flash of light.
"That's it?" Wren asked.
"Now we wait." I said.