Coulson sighed in relief. "It's done. The Initiative is yours, papers and checks on the way via courier. Rogers' plane lands in London in just over three hours, diverting it to Glasgow will take five miuntes. What do you want us to do?"
"We're packed and ready to go." Clint said. "But I'd appreciate the chance to tell my wife that I quit S.H.I.E.L.D."
Tony threw three folders on the desk. "Agent Agent… No, not Agent Agent, anymore, you're Coulson now." He mused. "Coulson, you're Director, Peggy will be International Liaison, I can't put her as Director. You know damn well she's going to take one look at Rogers and decide that she's waited long enough for him."
"Ten bucks says she doesn't give him more than an hour before informing him they're getting married." Clint said.
The cell phone that Tony had left with Bucky and Sirius buzzed loudly, causing both men to jump and spin to face the table the small black and silver phone was on, vibrating itself across the flat surface.
Bucky touched the green dot on the screen and held it to his ear. "Hello? Right, hold on." He pressed another dot on the screen and laid the phone on the table. "Can you still hear me?" He asked.
"Of course, I can, Buckaroo." Tony said.
"What's so important, that I had to put you on speaker?" Bucky asked.
"I need you to sit down, Bucky." The light-heartedness left Tony's voice. "Are you alone?"
"Siri's with me." Bucky replied. "The kids are all out playing quidditch with Harry, the Prewett twins and their ladies."
"Peggy with them?"
"Yes…?" Bucky frowned. "What's going on, Tony?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D found Steve Rogers." Coulson said, joining the conversation for the first time.
Bucky slumped back in his seat. "Oh, god…"
"When's the funeral?" Sirius asked, slinging an arm around hid husband.
"Well seeing as he's still got brainwave activity and a heartbeat... I'm going with, 'there won't be one', not at this point." Tony replied.
"Alive?!" Bucky gasped.
"Yeah, so far. He's hooked up to an EEG machine which reads brain activity and he's showing up like someone that's under general anaesthesia. I just spoke to the flight surgeon and she wants to keep him knocked out until he's been handed over to our medical staff." Tony said. "I think given his relationship with Bucky and Peggy, that he should be sent to the island."
"Agreed." Sirius said. "How-"
"Where is he?" Bucky cut in.
"On route from Murmansk." Coulson said. "The plane's been diverted from New York to Glasgow. It'll touch down in two hours."
"I'll have JARVIS send the details to your phone." Tony added.
"We'll be there."
"Excellent." Coulson said. "Sirius? Would you ask Peggy to come inside? She needs to know."
"And grab Harry, too please." Tony added. "I need to have a word with him. It's kinda important."
"You know how he feels about quidditch, Tony." Sirius said. "Is it important enough to interrupt his game?"
"Yes." Tony replied. "It's not world ending but it is world protecting. For the future, not right now."
"Right, give me a minute or two." Sirius kissed Bucky gently and after an encouraging smile, left the office.
"How… How is he?" Bucky asked.
"The flight surgeon says that he's in remarkable condition, given the environment he's been in for the last seventy years." Tony said. "Mostly, we're putting that down to the serum. When combined with the frigid temperatures, it appears to have acted as a type of anti-freeze and put him into a state of suspended animation. EEGs show brain activity comparable to general anaesthesia but with REM added. Physically, his body temp is below hypothermic levels and he has a few bumps and bruises, a few cuts that look to be almost fresh but we know have to have been caused either before or during the crash." Tony recited what he knew. "Bluntly? He appears to be in a frozen sleep but otherwise, uninjured and unaged."
"We have reason to believe that once the sedation is removed and his body is warmed to normal levels, that he will wake up." Coulson added.
"Who'll wake up?" Peggy entered the room. She was now twenty-four years old and looked almost exactly like she had during her SSR time.
"You need to sit down, first." Tony said.
"Who?" Peggy demanded.
"Listen to them." Bucky advised, still trembling with the shock of it. "Sit down… Please."
Peggy said nothing, she just stared at Bucky, who simply nodded and gave her a weak smile. She drew in a harsh breath and after narrowing her eyes, walked across the room to sit opposite Bucky, while Sirius had gone straight to his husband and was sitting on the arm of the larger man's chair.
"I'm seated." Peggy said.
"We found…" Coulson trailed off.
"They found Steve." Bucky said.
Peggy's eyes widened and shock filled her face.
"He's alive." Tony said.
Peggy's eyes attempted to roll back into her head and she waivered from her firm upright position, rocking in shock, only the sharp gasp of air she drew in, stopped her from fainting.
"I haven't seen him yet, but I did speak to the flight surgeon tending him." Tony said and repeated what he'd just told Bucky.
"Glasgow?" She asked.
"Two hours." Coulson confirmed.
"Also…" The listeners could hear the hesitation in Tony's voice. "Coulson convinced Fury that having the Avengers Initiative under the S.H.I.E.L.D banner wouldn't be good for S.H.I.E.L.D, so Fury talked the WSC into handing it off."
"To who?"
"Me and Harry."
"Me?" Harry blinked.
"Yeah." Tony agreed. "Fury called it outsourcing but the paperwork is more like a departmental sale, only without the dollars. Coulson explained his reasoning and… it's sound. The Unit is still The Unit, the Avengers are still the Avengers but in addition to their own staff, the two organisations are united under the Initiative's banner and in emergencies, they can call on people best suited to whatever the emergency is."
"I think this needs to be spoken about face to face, Tony." Harry said. "Kingsley is Director, Moody and Peggy are Assistant Directors. I'm only a team leader. I'm not sure I should be involved in this."
"Same here." Tony said. "But Fury and the WSC have named you and I as co-owners, so I named Coulson as CEO/Director, that means that if you approve, he will run the Initiative, not us. He can name us as team members but he can also drop us from a team, if he chooses. If it's Initiative related, he's the top of the pile, not us. You and I? Well… no company can be run by two people on opposite sides of the world, too many opportunities to pass the parcel, someone has to be it. And he's the one with the practical experience in managing… difficult… personalities."
"I agree." Harry said. "What about funding?"
"We got a handful of checks with the papers." Coulson said. "And there's a few more coming."
"There is?" Tony asked.
"Apparently." Coulson replied. "Hill's sent a few texts. The UN, the WHO, the Red Cross, Oxfam, NATO and Scotland Yard. Even Buckingham Palace is sending a check. It's beginning to look more like who's not giving us money. And we've already had expressions of interest from service-men and -women about joining us, as admin and active service."
"Right…" Harry sighed. "I'm going to have front the Wizengamot for this, aren't I?"
"I'd say so." Sirius chuckled. "That's what you get for calling them a bunch of… 'antiquated imitation portraits'… I think was the term you used."
"At least Nev's grandmother is Chief Warlock, she'll back you." Bucky said.
"I know." Harry grinned. "I never thought the day would come, that Dumbledore would retire."
"Only from the Wizengamot and the ICW." Sirius said. "He's still Headmaster."
"Gods, I'm not looking forward to the day he steps down from there." Harry shook his head. "That's going to be crapshoot, sorting out who takes his place."
"I thought…" Sirius frowned. "I thought McGonagall…?"
"Oh, no." Harry laughed. "She made it very clear, she's not interested in any more responsibility. Deputy is as high as she's prepared to go." He climbed to his feet and heaved huffing sigh. "Bucky? You ready to get your brother back?"
"Yeah, the punk's always late to a party," Bucky snorted. "Don't know why he'd be any different after he went and got Science!-ed on." The Howling Commando used the term that Tony had come across, when he'd been talking to some astrophysicists.
Someone spoke softly.
That was the first thing that Steve Rogers became aware of. That and the fact that he wasn't cold anymore.
Slowly other things filtered into his mind.
The texture of the surface he was laying on and the softness of the blankets surrounding him. The warmth of the sun on his feet and lower legs. A cat's purr vibrating against his hip. The scent of the ocean. The sound of children's laughter. The intermittent scent of lemons or oranges wafted on a breeze, at this distance it was hard to determine the difference between the two.
And behind all of that, someone was talking. Time passed before his fuzzy head cleared enough for him to realise it wasn't just talking, they were reading out loud. It was a familiar sound and he left himself drift through the oft-heard story of Bilbo's adventures with a Company of dwarves.
The voice faded. No, it changed. They stopped reading. They were talking to another person. The second person took up the tale of barrels and a wild river. The voices changed at different times, but they were always there, reading out loud. Until they stopped, shutting a book with a gently snap.
The voices paused and a short discussion was had before a new person entered. Steve could feel the difference, the air moved around them differently. The new person began to read a new story.
Something nagged at him, something that he should remember but he was warm and comfortable and didn't want to move or think. But the something nagged and slowly he began to wake, a frown drawing his brows together.
"Awake yet, punk?" The voice asked.
"Hmph…" He grunted in reply.
"Not quite, huh?" The voice chuckled and the memories of a thousand mornings filtered behind his eyes.
His eyes widened and he sat up sharply, looking around wildly.
"Mrowl…!" The cat at his hip yowled as he jostled it.
"Careful, punk, she's got some wicked claws, these days." Bucky warned from the side of what appeared to be a bed.
Steve looked at the apparition and shock and fear filled his heart.
"Steve?" The apparition asked.
"Buck…?" His voice was raspy and harsh.
"Hold on, here, take a sip." A mug held in front of his face by familiar hands. "Just a sip. Wet your mouth. Easy."
The words and admonishments were so familiar that it brought tears to Steve's eyes.
"Hey, it's okay, Stevie, it's okay." The mug vanished, to be replaced by a familiar bulk and familiar arms surrounded him. "I got ya, pal, I got ya." His head fell forward onto a familiar shoulder and fingers ran through his hair as he leant on the other person. "You got heavy when you got big, Steve." Bucky grunted.
That caused Steve to lift his head and look at his friend's face, just inches from his.
"Buck, what happened?" He asked. "You fell…"
"I did, but I was caught before I hit the ground." Bucky said. "Well, I hit the river, not the ground. Got me a doozy of a concussion and had a four-day hike back to base." He growled. "We got there just in time to be told that you did something stupid." Steve winced. "You nosedived a plane, Steve, into the Arctic bloody Ocean. I am not happy with you and Peggy's even less happy." Steve cringed. "But there's something else you need to know. Well… a couple of things."
"Oh, no…" Steve whispered.
"Oh, yeah, pal." Bucky grinned. "First? Today's date is… huh… it's your birthday but it's 2011 not 1945."
"What the…?"
"Plus…" Bucky smirked and Steve grimaced at the sight. "I got married."
"What?!" Steve jerked within Bucky's arms. "But aren't you…? Don't you like…?"
"Fellas?" Bucky asked and Steve nodded warily. "Yeah, I did, until I met him and now, I ain't looking anywhere else."
"Whoa." Steve huffed out the word.
"We even got kids." Bucky managed to not laugh at the expression on Steve's face but only just.
"K-kids?" Steve stammered. "Who'd let you near kids?"
"Oh, it's worse than that." Bucky grinned and eased back from Steve. "You ready for a really crappy briefing, Cap?"
"No…?" Steve screwed up his face. "No, I don't think I am."
"Well, tough." Bucky nodded his head sharply. "You shouldn't have done something quite so stupid, now should you? So… The train?"
"Ugh…" Steve groaned.
"Oh, suck it up." Bucky laughed. "I fell. I was sure I was done for. Didn't stop me from trying to grab hold of something, though. That something turned out to be the best thing in my life. His name is Sirius. Not s-e-r-i-o-u-s, serious but s-i-r-i-u-s, Sirius. Named after a star, he was. He had a broom, an honest to God, flying broom." Steve's eyes widened. "Yeah, that's pretty much my reaction, too, but it didn't stop me from taking the hand he held out. We…" For the next hour, Bucky told Steve all the things that had happened between February 1945 and the present. July 2011.
"… So… We've just been waiting for you wake up, for the last four days." Bucky said. "Do you know how boring it is, sitting here and reading to you?" He snorted. "Well, you're awake now, so time to get back on your feet, Cap. You need a shower and I ain't helping you. It's bad enough having wash kids, I ain't washing you." He pointed to a door beyond the foot of the bed. "That's ya bathroom, there's clothes in there and towels. We'll wait here for ya, won't we Peg?" Bucky ran his hand down the back of the cat that had been at Steve's hip.
"Peg?" Steve asked and was stunned when the cat huffed and changed into a very familiar young woman. "Peggy…?" He whispered.
"Shower, Rogers." Her voice was exactly as he remembered and he reacted exactly as he'd always done.
"Yes, ma'am."