A/N: eyooooo. One quick announcement: updates will come on a weekly basis b/c that fits my schedule best right now. Sorry it isn't every 4 days like it was before! You'll get updates of NTS every Mon/Tues (I say it like that because for example technically tomorrow is the week mark but since I know I'll be busy all day I'm updating it late Monday, cool cool?)

This is a short chapter, especially compared to the BEAST of a chapter I gave you guys last time, but this one is vaguely important. Ish. I'm gonna shut up now, okay.

As always, I love all of you dearly, you are the lights of my life, and every comment/fanart/offer for music/ko-fi donation makes me want to praise you from the highest of mountains.

Chapter #09:

The Dominos Will Always Fall

"There is no reset button in life. You can't take anything back, and you can't undo anything. All of your actions have consequences, and the things you say and do today will have a lasting impact on the rest of your life. You have to understand that, and you have to be aware of it while making your decisions."

Steve felt more angry at himself than he did Bucky. It couldn't be helped. Combine the look of shame on his friend's face with the fact that Steve should've known, that he shouldn't have believed Bucky's protests, and it was a perfect recipe of disaster. Of course Bucky had feelings Aj. Hearing the words said out loud did nothing but confirm something he tried to smother at the back of his head.

For a while, they just stood in the dark hall quietly. Bucky apparently had nothing more to say, and Steve couldn't find a single damn word of his own. Steeling himself, Steve crossed the hall, opening Sam's bedroom door, and motioned for Bucky to enter first. If they were going to talk it might be nice not to do it in the middle of the hallway for anyone, say Aj, to just walk by.

Bucky stalked past him, stopping at the center of the room, and Steve shut the door before turning around. It was still painfully quiet which was a far cry from the noise he felt in his head. Steve honestly didn't know what to do. If he thought on it too long then his thoughts grew muddled and it only frustrated him further.

So, he just followed the path of least resistance.

Bucky said Steve couldn't admit his feelings to her tonight.

"Then you do it." Steve said and Bucky's head snapped up. His shame momentarily replaced by confusion. Steve just crossed his arms and stuck to his guns, "Confess to her tonight. Be with her."

Bucky shook his head, "What? No. Steve, I can't—you knew her first."

"You met her first." Steve argued.

"Yeah, and the moment I did, the moment I started to realize that I…" Bucky paused, as if he couldn't say it again, "I told myself I was going to back off. Not get in your way. I didn't want to stop you from being with her. I wanted to just stay downstairs and let you have your moment I— Steve, I tried. You have to believe that I tried." Bucky pleaded and Steve did believe him. The fact that it got this far was a testament to that fact. Bucky sighed, "And I'm so sorry, Stevie. Look, I got what I needed to off my chest. I'm not gonna keep standing in the way. You like her. You—I'm not gonna stop you again. This won't be like before. In this past, I always got the gal but—"

Steve's eyes narrowed in irritation, "So, what? You're saying I should be with her because you feel bad for me? This is a pity thing?"

"God, no!" Bucky cried out. "Fuck, Steve, I don't know what to do here. We've never been in this kind of scenario. At least not one I remember." Bucky rubbed his face in frustration. "We've never liked the same dame before, and I don't know what to say—what to do."

Steve chuckled to himself. Yeah, Bucky wouldn't remember. Bucky wouldn't remember any scenario like this, and it had nothing to do with HYDRA playing with his mind. It wasn't even a lack of Bucky paying attention back then. Steve had just gotten very, very good at taking the backseat.

"You're wrong." Steve shook his head and Bucky furrowed his eyebrows, "We've liked the same dame before, this is just the first time I've ever even had a semblance of a chance with her."

As if his friend couldn't look guilty enough, his eyes filled with regret and Steve sighed. He wasn't trying to make the man feel any worse than he already did. Bucky couldn't help what he felt. It wasn't like he did this on purpose, and Steve completely understood the appeal of Aj. He knew what it felt like to bask in her presence. It was just an unfortunate circumstance between them.

"I'm so sorry." Bucky covered his face with his hand.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for, Buck."

Another silent moment passed, but it wasn't filled with tension like one would think. The only emotions that hung in the air between the two of them were disappointment and frustration. Finally, Bucky tore his hand away from his face with a newly born determination. Steve raised an eyebrow at him and his dark haired best friend nodded once, "If I could go back in time and stop myself from stopping you just now—"

"Bucky."

"—then I would." Bucky finished. "You make her happy and she makes you happy. Months ago, when we first started talking over the phone, I knew the two of you would make a perfect match. The stories she'd tell of you, I—" He shook his head. "Aj deserves the world, and you can give that to her."

Steve narrowed his eyes at that statement, "Bucky, you make her happy too. You know that, right? And you could offer her just as much as me if not more—"

"Please." Bucky scoffed. "Steve, it doesn't matter how good I'm doing right now, it doesn't even matter how stable I might be in the future. I am a dead end. I can only offer her pain and—"

"Jesus, will you fucking stop?" Steve snapped. "It doesn't matter how much Muneeba or me or Sam or Aj tell you—if you don't believe that you have a future then all of this is for nothing! Bucky, you need to learn to give yourself a little mercy, a little forgiveness, and if Aj can help you do just that—"

Bucky's eyes hardened, his lips drawn into a tight frown, "I am not going to use her as a crutch to try and better myself. She deserves so much more than that. I refuse to drag her down into the black hole I live in right now just because she might be able to help. You're a steady rock in her life, a stable source of protection and—"

Steve and Bucky went back and forth, their voices raising, and ironically enough this was the tensest part of the argument they've had so far. Steve wasn't entirely sure if they were just arguing over the Aj thing either. Did Bucky seriously think he had nothing to offer Aj? Nothing to offer to the world?

Only a few moments passed before the door swung open. Sam hurried in with Natasha only a step behind him. It was quiet for a second while the four of them assessed one another. Finally, the two stepped further into the room and Natasha slammed the door shut behind her with a frown. Sam crossed his arms, "When Aj came downstairs saying you never met her on the balcony, I had a feeling it resorted to this."

"You two done bitching at one another or do we need to step out and let you fight a little longer?" Natasha raised an eyebrow at them. The words restarted the argument all over again. Steve tried to speak over Bucky who tried to speak over him. It was a jumble of words and vague motioning toward one another. Sam and Natasha shushed them again, and then the redhead shook her own head in confusion, "Wait. You're arguing about who should be with Aj but… not for yourselves?"

Steve scoffed, "Bucky thinks he can't offer Aj anything but obviously—"

"Steve makes her happy! He's not going to wake up in the middle of the night and hurt her because of some goddamn nightmare—"

They both barked out a few more lines before they went silent. Natasha and Sam glanced at them, back and forth, before looking to one another. The ex-assassin then shot Steve a look of annoyance that Sam mirrored perfectly. Same shook his head once and held his hands up to the super soldiers. Steve expected a lot of things to come out of Sam's mouth. Words of reassurance, a few lines from the big book of therapy one-liners, or some kind of comfort. Any kind of comfort. Instead, they got skeptical irritation.

"You two are fucking idiots."

"See." Natasha hummed and crossed her arms. "Told you so."

Bucky scoffed, "Wilson—"

"Listen to me." Sam clapped his hands together and left them in that position as he motioned to the two of them. "Aj is a real human being who is capable of making real human decisions. She isn't a prize or end goal that you can try and pawn off to one another in an attempt to not hurt your friendship. How do you think she'd feel if she found out the two of you were arguing in my bedroom about who she should be with?"

It dawned on Steve then that she would loathe that entirely. In fact, if Aj knew they were trying to make the decision for her on who she should be with she might literally maim them. Deservingly so too. He glanced over Bucky who looked just as sheepish as the realization dawned on him as well.

"Steve, you are a catch." Sam said firmly. "You've been a shoulder for Aj to lean on since day one. Between movie nights and Avenger brunches and training, you have put in the time to make sure she was always alright. More than just alright, you went out of your way to make her happy. You still do. Physically and mentally, Aj is one of the strongest people we've ever met, but emotionally she is weak… but when she's with you, you help her grow in that category. Aj doesn't have to worry about her past when she's with you because you bring her so into the present and into the moment."

Natasha tilted her head, eyes on Bucky as she spoke, "Barnes, you have more to offer than you think you do. Your head is so stuck in itself that you don't see the life you could offer her, and you refuse to accept the fact that not only are you allowed to be happy, but you deserve it too. The moment the two of you met in that bunker something was sparked. You may not have physically been around, but you never left her side. Through that shitty burner phone you helped her through so many tough spots. Aj's past isn't so sharp and damning to her when you're around because you make her feel understood. You make her feel safe."

Steve and Bucky shared another glance with each other.

"Both of you would be good for her. The real question here is, 'Will Aj be able to emotionally handle and deal with a confession?'." Sam said. "The main reason we kept telling you to hit the brakes, Steve, was because we knew she wasn't ready for a relationship or even wanted one."

Natasha pressed a hand to her chin in thought, "If we go by Aj's opinion on this though, I don't think she will ever be ready. She's got it in her head that she's some kind of bog monster that nobody could ever actually want—" The redhead's eyes snapped to Bucky and she pointed at him for even further emphasis, "You saying she isn't your type didn't help anything."

"Wait, what?" Steve turned to Bucky.

Bucky sighed, "Yeah, she overheard our conversation the other night."

Steve cursed under his breath. That was the last thing Aj needed to hear. The only reason he even brought it up in her apartment was because Steve was sure she had been in the bathroom changing and wouldn't hear them through two walls and a bedroom. Joke was on him, it seemed.

"That means the confession should continue." Sam thought aloud. He nodded, "So you both confess, give her the time to work through that, you know she always needs time, and then Aj gets to decide for herself who she should be with."

"No." Bucky said firmly, and all eyes turned to him in surprise. Even Steve was shocked. It seemed like a decent enough plan. It gave the decision to who it should belong to. They never should've tried to take that from her. Aj would get to pick, and he'd be happy with either choice. He really would. "We aren't going to do that to her."

"Why not?" Sam questioned.

Bucky scoffed with a shake of his head, "We confess to her, tell her to pick between us, and what do you think is going to happen?" His jaw clenched briefly. "She's going to agonize over it, put every action she's ever done around us under a microscope, and then she's going to hate herself for thinking that she'd be getting between Steve and I's relationship." The room was silent as they all took this in. Bucky added, "No matter how much we reassure her that it's okay, she'll still find a way to blame herself. I don't want to take the choice from her, I never want to do that, but I refuse to put her in a situation where I know she's going to hurt herself."

"He's right." Steve mumbled in realization. "Aj would wreck herself over this and that isn't what I want either."

The two others nodded in agreement. Bucky motioned to Steve, "This is why I said it should be you. Even if I confessed to Aj and she…" He paused, swallowing, "…even if she felt the same way, I'm not in the mindset to be starting a relationship like that. I'm still trying to fix what HYDRA did to me, I'm trying to make amends with the world, and I— Muneeba says I have to focus on me first, and if I have to do that then I can't offer Aj everything. I refuse to give her anything less than my entire being."

"Well, I can't confess to Aj knowing that you have feelings for her and are just pushing them aside to focus on healing. I think you taking focus on yourself is a fantastic idea, Buck, but if I take advantage of this moment by confessing to Aj, what does that make me?" Steve questioned. He paused in thought, an idea occurring to him, and then he nodded once, "Neither of us confess then. Agreed?"

Sam raised a hand, "Uh, not agreed! Keeping Aj in the dark about this is hardly a good idea."

"Plus," Natasha glanced between them, "We've all talked about this before. Waiting helps no one in this scenario. There's too much to lose. You never know what chance is going to be your last."

Steve shook his head again. Bucky opened his mouth to argue, he could see it in his friend's eyes, but he didn't give the man a chance. Steve spoke first, "If I confessed right now, and Aj reciprocated… for the rest of my life, I would wonder if she would've made the same choice if you told her the truth too. We figure out a way to confess together without her hurting herself, give her the choice that belongs to her, or we don't at all. I'm not going to confess unless you do too, Bucky."

Bucky hesitated, an argument warring in his eyes, before he sighed and nodded once, "Alright. Fine."

"You two are both stubborn idiots." Natasha rolled her eyes and began to leave.

Sam followed after her, "I think the phrase you're looking for is 'lost causes'."

Steve and Bucky stood in silence for a beat before the blond turned and smirked at his friend, "I'm not confessing, but I'm not stepping back either."

"You gonna try to make her swoon?" Bucky replied, copying the joking tone, "You've never been known for that, Stevie."

Steve chuckled, "It's been a while. I think you'd be surprised."

The door swung open again, and now it was just Sam who stood in the doorway. He scoffed and swung his arm toward the door as he stepped further into the room, "I don't know why I left. This is my damn room. You guys beat it."

Bucky left first and Steve followed after him with a grin that Sam half-heartedly returned. Steve didn't plan for his night to end like this, not at all, but he couldn't bring himself to be overly upset over the way it turned out. He had always known the truth about how Bucky felt and now having it out in the open, Steve could properly address it. He wanted to tell Aj how he felt, he wanted to be with her, but more just that… Steve wanted Aj to choose him. Not as a last resort, not as a pity option, he wanted her to choose him like he had chosen her.

Coulson had seen a lot of shit in his life. There was no denying that. Once you had the god of mischief stab you through the chest, killing you, and then had ancient alien blood pumped into your veins to save your life…well, there wasn't much that could surprise you after that. At least, that's what Coulson assumed. It's an absolute shame that his job proved him wrong day after day.

"Did pretty boy just say mutants or am I dumb and deaf?" Kate questioned.

"You're not deaf." May replied without missing a beat. Her eyes hadn't lessened from a glare since the moment she regained consciousness. Coulson set a hand on her shoulder, they shared a disagreeing look, then with a sigh she passed him to the cockpit.

"Inhumans are of Earth." Daisy argued.

"Your DNA says otherwise." Roberto grinned smugly and his two friends quietly chastised him.

Daisy shook her head, "We were born here, raised here, and we fight for our rights here." There was fire in her voice as she spoke. She was always passionate with what she did, but nothing got her going quite like inhuman rights. Roberto gave her an appraising look of respect as she continued, "What makes you any different from us?"

"We have no alien gene for one." Scott answered. Daisy's eyes snapped to him with a glare, and he held a gloved hand out toward her, "No disrespect. Not looking for a fight. Just explaining the difference."

Coulson chose this moment to step forward, "He's right. Inhumans have the Kree genes that can be activated via terrigenesis. Mutants are entirely human, but they have the x-gene."

"That's not a thing." Kate shook her head skeptically. "You definitely just made that up. I mean, 'X-gene'? Come on."

"It's true." Coulson replied then narrowed his eyes at the three in front of him, "But I was under the impression that mutants had been hunted and wiped out. I haven't seen a report of one in…years."

Jean Gray nodded, "Your information isn't wrong. We were hunted and many of us were killed." Her eyes drifted to Daisy. "We understand the pain inhumans like you face. Roberto may have taken a tone with you, and for that I am sorry, but we have done what we can to help. We shelter and care for any inhuman we come across."

Scott elbowed Roberto in the side. The man grunted then let out an annoyed sigh, "Yes. I apologize. How incredibly rude of me."

"After being hunted in the 70's and 80's we found refuge and bunkered down. Went into hiding. It seemed the safest bet." Jean Gray continued.

"You've been successfully hiding from the world since the 80's?" Mac questioned.

"Yes." She nodded then glanced around the back of the quinjet, "I know you have questions, I can hear them rattling around in your heads." Coulson did not like the sound of that last statement. "But I need you to tell me what you know about the man in the street."

Daisy raised an eyebrow, "Rumlow?"

They nodded and Coulson motioned for them to take a seat. The three sat by the wall they stood by while his team did the same on the opposite wall. Coulson remained standing as he spoke, "Rumlow used to work for SHIELD back when we were infested by HYDRA. His true colors came out when we killed the old program in order to get free of them. He's highly trained, dangerous, and worse he's extremely loyal to HYDRA."

"He's a good little lap dog for those shitheads." Kate gave them a thumbs up.

"We were after him because he's been working directly under a man named Baron von Strucker." Coulson said. He could feel eyes on him as he revealed information that should only fall on trusted ears. Coulson had a gut feeling though. Something strange was going on and it was only getting stranger. The involvement and re-emergence of mutants did not bode well for anyone. Coulson had a feeling that they were going to need these leather clad mutants to get to the bottom of this. "Strucker was doing illegal human experimentation. From the information we've gathered he was using alien technology to try and create inhumans. He was successful twice. The Avengers nearly captured Strucker but we ended up losing him. We've been after him and Rumlow since then, following their every step. They're planning something but we have no idea exactly what yet. We found Rumlow in Greece, injured, and tried to get information from him only to fail. We then trapped him in the Fridge but—"

"But he broke out." Scott finished with a clenched jaw.

"Yes. With the help of three inhumans." Coulson nodded.

Jean Gray shook her head sadly, "Those weren't inhumans. They were mutants."

"How do you know?" Yo-yo questioned.

"We knew them. Sort of." Roberto shrugged. "They lived in—they were a part of our community." He corrected, holding back information. "They, along with a few others, have gone missing. We saw where they were and followed them here. Two disappeared early on, and your people picked up the third. Her name is Riley."

Scott added, "We planned on getting out hands on this Rumlow guy figuring he'd know where the rest of our missing friends are."

Coulson shook his head, "How did you follow them here? How did you know where to look?" The three remained quiet. More hidden information. He sighed, "I want to help you, but we need you to help us."

"Who says we want your help?" Scott questioned.

"Listen, Cyclops—" Kate began.

"How did you know that name?" Scott interrupted with a frown.

Kate blinked in surprise and slowly shook her head, "Dude… I was trying to bully you. Do you… Do you actually go by that name?" Scott's jaw clenched again. "Who hurt you, man?"

"So, SHIELD is only after Rumlow because you are trying to arrest Strucker?" Jean Gray asked, changing the subject back to something relevant. Coulson felt the quinjet touch down on solid ground. "You've been after Strucker this entire time?"

Coulson didn't like the way she said his name or the way she asked the question. It was like she already knew who Strucker was. He just nodded, "That's the spark notes version, yes." He took a step toward them but paused when the three of them tensed. There was no trust here and he didn't blame them. Mutants had a bad run of things. Worse than even the inhumans. It didn't help that SHIELD hadn't done anything to help. In fact, they did more harm than good. "Look, I know you have no reason to trust us—"

"We don't trust you either." Kate added.

Coulson had to physically resist the urge to roll his eyes, it wouldn't be deemed professional, "But something tells me we have the same problem. Strucker is playing with inhumans, the super soldier serum, and now mutants."

"He did something to the mutant Yo-yo and I fought." Daisy spoke up. "Riley?" They nodded in tense concern. "She was…glowing. Like there was something radioactive in her veins. She was just lit up bright blue and she... she seemed really non-responsive."

Jean Gray shook her head, "What do you mean by that?"

"Her limbs looked heavy, and she was emotionless." Daisy answered. "The lights were on, but no one was home."

The three of them shared a look. It wasn't brief. It was almost like they were communicating somehow. Scott was the first to turn back to the group. His face was drawn in stern concentration, "We want you to take us back to our ship, and we want Riley."

"Riley is in custody." Mac cut in.

"You just admitted that something was wrong with her. She isn't responsible for her actions, and she needs our help." Roberto argued.

Coulson quickly spoke up before this could dissolve into a full-blown fight, "We understand, and we want to help her too. I'm telling you. If we work together on this—"

"We aren't interested." Scott said firmly.

"Wow, who shoved a stick up your ass, dude?" Kate scoffed and her comment did not help the situation at all. She turned to him, "Can we just drop them off and then call Clint and them?"

Jean Gray took a hesitant step forward, "Clint Barton? Your team works directly with the Avengers?"

"Unfortunately." May said as she walked back to join them. Just like before she didn't lessen her glare at all. In fact, it may have gotten worse. Coulson crossed his arms as he watched the three look at one another again.

They knew something.

These mutants had some puzzle piece that they were missing.

Scott shook his head, "Just take us back."

May crossed the space and hit the ramp. It lowered and showed that they were in a field right outside of the city. Coulson assumed they'd want to go back to their ship and the quinjet was able to pick up its heat signature. He motioned outside where he could see unseen wheels applying pressure into the ground.

"We're keeping Riley for now. She'll be safe with us. I give you my word." Coulson said.

Scott shifted in place, as if deciding whether or not he wanted a fight, then nodded before turning and leaving. Roberto gave them a sarcastic two fingered wave before trailing after him. Jean Gray followed behind him and when she got halfway to the jet she glanced over her shoulder and met his eyes.

'Project Omega. 1975.' Her voice rang clearly in his head. Coulson's eyes widened at the information as the jet's cloaking fell and the three mutants loaded up. He crossed his arms in confusion and turned to May.

"Should I call Stark?" Daisy asked.

"Yeah." Coulson nodded. She took a few steps away when he added, "And while you're at it, I need you to find something in the SHIELD archives."

The thing about taking a vacation from the real world is that eventually the real world had to come back. Being on a beach with my family was a dream. Without a doubt those days could make the top ten days of my entire life. Granted, a part of that equation was the fact that I had some really shitty days, but the point was I loved this trip and being back on the plane back to New York was a huge bummer.

Being back on the plane hurrying back home because the Avengers were needed on a mission was an even bigger bummer.

Coulson had called us this morning while we were packing bags to let the Avengers know that there was a problem. What the problem was, I had no damn idea. All I knew was that that whatever villain of the week it was this time had robbed me of a relaxing seaside morning. I was finally able to look at the ocean without wanting to immediately throw up and this happens. Honestly, if they wanted this done quick all they had to do was point me in the direction of the problem. I'd end them real damn quick.

I leaned back in my seat, eyes on my phone, "Bucky? I always defend you when Sam makes fun of that staring thing you do…" When I tore my eyes off the screen and glanced to my left, I was unsurprised to see that he was still staring me down with a serious look that caused the crease between his eyebrows to show. I grinned at him, "But you're starting to weird me out now. Did I grow a third eye or something?"

Bucky chuckled sheepishly and turned to face the wall ahead of us, "No. No, uh, no third eye. Sorry, I guess I just zoned out for a second."

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

"Yeah." Bucky nodded and gave me a tight-lipped smile. "You excited to get back, doll?"

"Mmm, yes and no." I glanced over at Wanda and Pietro who were playing a card game with Star. "It'll be nice to get back to work. Final exams are coming up."

Wanda shot me a small smile over her shoulder and Pietro fell over with a loud groan of annoyance that made the little girl giggle in amusement. The teens were super close to getting their GED. I just had to test them on a few more things, and then the three of us could start studying for the actual exam.

"Also, I figured out the next thing we need to watch." I bounced in excitement. Bucky nodded for me to continue and I turned in my seat to face him entirely. "It's called FRIENDS. It's a show from the 90's. It has it's faults, hasn't aged super duper well, but I need to introduce you to Chandler Bing and Joey Tribbiani."

Bucky grinned in amusement, "Those are characters in the show?"

"Yes! And their friendship can maybe even rival yours and Steve's." I paused then tilted my head. "Well, sort of. In a humor only kind of way. They never needed to go to war or fight Nazis." I paused again in thought. "Well, actually… If we include Sam into this little trio then maybe we can add Ross in? Disaster trios?"

Bucky held his hand up with narrowed eyes, "Wait a minute, we're a disaster trio?"

"Absolutely." I nodded. "Put the three of you together and suddenly there's only one brain cell amongst y'all to share and Steve is usually the one holding it."

Bucky laughed, "If you think Steve 'can't say no to a fight, will jump out of a plane with no chute' Rogers is in sole control of the shared brain cell you have another thing coming."

"No, no, no." I leaned forward with a smirk. "Steve is a hot, reckless mess. I know this about him. I figured that out real damn quick. But, when you and Sam get put into a room together both of y'all lose all common sense in a mad rush to one up one another."

"Well—"

I pointed at him, "You and Sam got into an argument this morning about the best way to pack the bags into the car and it somehow ended up with you stuck on the pool house's roof and Sam actually in the pool."

Bucky smirked, "I won that fight."

"Tony's gonna have to fix his wings now to get all the water out, and he's now sidelined from this upcoming mission."

He leaned back in his seat with that charming smile that I loved seeing him wear. It always meant he was in a good mood and he wasn't stuck in his own head. Plus, it meant the little bit of distance he had put between us was finally going away. Bucky shook his head confidently, "Sam should've listened to me."

"Aw, it's adorable when you're being a little shit." I replied. Bucky shrugged and I quickly glanced over my shoulder towards the bedroom door. The Avenging crew had locked themselves away to discuss mission details. It left the kids out here with me, Bucky, and Alex. Even Rhodey who wasn't technically an Avenger was in there.

The bathroom door opened, and Alex swaggered back in casually. They paused in front of the two of us for a moment, stared, and then lifted their hand to point at Bucky, "Dude, who did your hair this morning it looks like shit."

"I did." Bucky nodded once. "Thank you."

I narrowed my eyes at them, "Don't be mean."

"Your hair kind of looks like shit too." Alex countered.

"Can you please go back to sleep? I like you better unconscious." I said with a smile. Alex grinned at me impishly, gave Bucky a quick wink, then wandered over to where the card game was ongoing.

Bucky chuckled, "Sh—They're really interesting."

Steve and Bucky were from a time frame where non-binary people weren't able to express how they felt. At least, not to my knowledge and both super soldiers had been surprised when I first explained Alex's situation. Sometimes, they'd slip up here and there, but both men always took the time to correct themselves. Alex had told me themselves that they appreciated it. It might be the only reason why they haven't actually taken a baseball bat to Steve's head yet.

"Why do they hate Steve?" Bucky asked.

"Oh, he was mean to me." I joked. "So, you better watch it, buddy." Bucky held his hand up in mock surrender. My eyes drifted to where his hair was already starting to fall out of the bun he tried to put it in this morning. I motioned to him, "Do you want me to fix your hair?"

Bucky nodded with a soft smile, "Yes, please."

I pointed to the floor in front of me and Bucky shifted himself off the couch to sit between my legs. Carefully, I untangled the tie from his hair and slipped it onto my wrist. I raked my hand through his hair, combing out any knots with my fingers, and he leaned back enough for me to see his eyes flutter at the motion. Instead of pulling all his hair into a bun, I began to slowly braid it.

"What are you doing?" Bucky questioned curiously.

"Making you look super handsome."

"Can't do what I already am." He replied quickly and my smile broadened. Nothing made me happier than seeing Bucky happy. When I was lying in that bunker, even my sepsis dying eyes could see how sad and defeated he was. It radiated out of him. Now he was sitting safely in front of me, clean and smiling and physically healthy, as I braided his hair.

I was pretty good at braiding, so it shouldn't have taken me long, but I braided, unbraided, and then braided it again a few times before tying it off. It was something my mom used to do when I was tired. When I was finished, I squeezed his shoulders. He stood up then turned to look down at me. Seeing the big, broad super soldier with his hair braided back was absolutely hilarious.

Bucky lightly pushed me aside to sit back down as I snickered at him. Still, he didn't undo what I had done to his dark hair. I pulled up the first episode of FRIENDS on my phone and leaned closer so he could see the screen with me and share one of my earbuds. We had gotten through the first four episodes before my attention was drawn away from the phone by Wanda's hesitant voice.

"Um, Aj?" I glanced up and caught the look of panic on Wanda's face. She held up her phone screen toward me, "Have you seen the news?"

I dropped the phone onto Bucky's lap and then hurried closer to what Wanda was trying to show me. The news article she had pulled up started with a grainy picture of Bucky at the top. My eyes skimmed the entire article and with every word my heart fell further into my chest. The news had broken. The world knew about the Winter Soldier.

They knew about Bucky.

As she watched her children, Aubrey finally understood what her father must have felt all those years ago. She had been separated from Peter, Tyler, and Taylor for only months, but it had felt like an eternity. Her eldest son Peter, at only 11 years old, laid in the bed with his glasses off and his brown hair surrounding him like a halo. The gangly boy needed a haircut soon. It had grown out so much since she last saw him. Lying in the same queen-sized hotel bed beside him were Tyler and Taylor. The 6-year-olds were tangled in the sheets and half lying on one another. Her baby girl was curled around a stuffed kangaroo while her firecracker of a son slept with all his arms and legs outstretched like a starfish with mouth ajar.

Aubrey missed the days back before when all they had to worry about was getting to school or some practice on time. They were just kids and they deserved to live a normal life. They deserved to have the life that her and Aimee never got.

The moment Aimee's picture was first in the news, parading around New York City with the Avengers, she knew everything had changed. Aubrey didn't understand what the hell had been happening. Her baby sister was supposed to be in New York earning a medical degree and living a quiet life. Instead, she found the loudest, most noticeable friends in the entire world. That was when Aubrey knew that the life she wanted for her children wasn't going to happen.

Still, she remained hopeful.

Aubrey left the three of them in Summerbrooke with an old friend, Rosie, in hopes that they could enjoy their childhood for as long as possible. Maybe her and the others could solve this dilemma before it ever even threatened her kids' childhood.

It had been a pipe dream though.

Aimee was nearly kidnapped, her entire past had been shown to the world, a part that Aubrey was guilt ridden and shamed to see, and then her baby sister nearly died again according to the news. All because she couldn't let go of the fight. Aubrey had pleaded with Aimee for years to pick hobbies that involved less punching, but her sister could never drop it. Not entirely. Aubrey vaguely understood why Aimee couldn't help herself, but she couldn't help but feel a bubble of anger in her belly all the same.

It was far too late to do anything about all of that. Right now, she needed to deal with the issues ahead of her not behind.

With all the troubles beginning to escalate, she had made the decision to pick up her kids this morning. She didn't want them halfway across the world where she couldn't get to them in time if something terrible happened. Aubrey didn't like the idea of having them so close to the danger either, but they could find something in between. Maybe a safe house. She had been making calls all morning to try and find one. Only taking a break now to stare at her kids and imagine days where they weren't on the run.

"Hon," She turned just as her husband, Wes Williams, walked into the room. Aubrey wasn't sure how it was possible but every time he walked into a room she fell a little more in love with him. Wes still had that boyish charm about him. Short, messy brown hair that wouldn't stay completely down no matter how much she tried to slick it back. Warm, hazel eyes that changed colors with the shades of sunlight. Plus, his grin always had some kind of mischievous energy about it. Unfortunately, the only look on his face right now was tired concern, "Phone."

Aubrey glanced back at her sleeping kids. She ran a hand through Peter's hair and tucked the twins back under the covers before walking over to her husband. She gave him a small smile, "Is it him? Did he finally call me back?"

"Yeah." Wes answered. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the side of her head. When he pulled away, she felt less fearful of the days ahead. "I'll watch the kids."

Aubrey nodded, taking the phone from him, and stepped outside of the motel room. The motel was in the middle of the nowhere but that was kind of the point. She leaned against the wall beside the door and brought the phone up to her ear.

"Hey, Dad."

When the plane landed, I didn't even bother to stand up. I had my phone cradled between my head and shoulder while I typed away on the laptop I had stolen from Tony. With the news of Bucky breaking to the world, everything was kind of a giant mess.

James Buchanan Barnes was all every single news outlet was talking about. The only silver lining of all of this was that the world had no idea we had Bucky at the Compound. They were all speculating where the Soldier could be hiding, and the world was pissed at the Avengers claiming that we weren't searching for the danger because Steve was biased. Or some shit like that. The point was, we didn't have an angry mob outside the Compound, and while General Ross was trying to get in touch with Tony, he wasn't kicking down our front door.

It was the little victories.

Some of the news outlets were painting Bucky in the light he deserves, as a victim not a monster, but at the moment it was the opinion of the minority and the majority was much, much louder.

"No, no, do not go off script!" I snapped at the PR employee on the phone with me. "Inara left you with a list of comments to make. So, while she's on the phone with CNN you say exactly what she told you to say. Now is not the time for creativity." I glanced up from the computer to see Avengers filing out. Steve was walking with Bucky with the plans to take him to Muneeba. She wanted to speak with him before he started seeing what the world was saying and I couldn't think of a better idea. "And when Inara is done with that meeting tell her to call me immediately."

Tony walked up to me just as I hung the phone up. He stuck his hands into his pockets as he stared down at me, "You gonna stay on the plane all day?"

"I can't believe this happened." I sighed. "This is the last thing we need right now."

"It's gonna be okay. I already called my legal team."

"Thank you." I reached one hand out and Tony gave me a firm smile before pulling a hand out of his pocket to take it. "I missed everything else though, what's up with y'all?"

Tony squeezed my hand, "We're flying out to the Playground to meet Coulson and the crew. You're staying here with the twins, Bucky, Star, and Sam."

"Sam too?" I questioned.

"Well, we need an adult on the campus—"

"Hey!"

"—and his wings are broken right now." Tony shrugged. "This shouldn't take long. Rhodey is taking Alex back to the city and then he's gonna come back to stay here. In case it isn't clear, he's the adult I was referring to."

I chuckled, "Take your time. Just be careful, okay?" Tony nodded once. "That legal team you were talking about?"

"They'll be here within the hour." Tony squeezed my hand one last time before leaving. My eyes shot back down to the computer to breeze through a few more nasty articles. I had met Tony's legal team before, briefly, and though I didn't personally consider any of them friends, they were supposedly the best that money could buy. The name of the game was to get a plan that put us ahead of the curve. We already lost the element of surprise so now we needed to figure out the best way to come forward with the news of Bucky in a way that won't get him put in jail or worse.

After about ten minutes, I closed Tony's laptop and grabbed my carry on bookbag to leave. The pilot was still standing in the cockpit hallway and I gave him a thankful wave since I was keeping him here. He was supposed to fly back to Malibu already.

My phone rang as I got to the door and I quickly stopped to answer it. Now wasn't the time to be missing any calls and it was probably Inara. I tossed my book bag to the ground and brought my phone up to my ear quickly, "Hey! Inara—"

"No, I'm sorry." An unfamiliar voice replied, and I pulled the phone back from my ear to see that Inara's name hadn't been the one to pop up. Instead, it was an unknown phone number with a familiar area code. Summerbrooke, Alabama. "My name is Dr. Alyssa Hanson. I work at Summerbrooke Medical Center and I am trying to get in touch with…" The sound of rustling papers could be heard, "Aimee Bradshaw?"

"Th—This is her." I replied nervously. A foreboding feeling settled over my skin and suddenly I wasn't worried about the news outlets or the villain of the week or anything beyond the limits of my own head.

Dr. Hanson continued, "Hello, Ms. Bradshaw. I'm sorry to be calling you like this. My patient has no emergency contact, but through the grapevine someone told me if I could get in touch with you—"

"Who's your patient?" I snapped.

"O—Oh, I apologize, my patient is Rosie Tanner. She…"

The doctor was talking, but I didn't hear anything beyond that name. Some days it felt like I balanced my very delicate mental stability on a pair of rickety, wooden boards and the news I just heard felt a lot like someone just kicked out the legs of that structure. It was ironic that Bucky and I had just talked about news making it feel like you were dying since that's exactly what was happening. My ears were ringing. I felt sick. I couldn't breathe.

Hands suddenly shook my shoulders and my eyes snapped up to see Sam kneeling in front of me. I was on the ground? I had sunk to my knees? He moved one hand from my shoulder to cup the side of my neck in worry.

"Aj? Aj?" He said. It occurred to me that he had been calling out to me for a while now. I glanced around. My phone had hit the ground as well and the pilot stood only a few feet away in curious concern. Sam pulled my eyes back to him, "Talk. What happened, honey?"

I opened my mouth, but it took several moments for me to find my voice, "She—Granny is… She's in the ICU."

Sam's eyes widened in surprise and that's what it took for me. That was the moment that my panicked brain snapped back to reality with a renewed focus. I shoved myself up so fast that I knocked Sam back onto his ass.

"Fly me to Summerbrooke, Alabama right now." I said to the pilot firmly. He didn't even hesitate. He nodded once then turned to walk into the cockpit. I had argued with Tony when he told me that he had issued a memo to all his employees saying they needed to listen to me as if I was a direct extension of him, but it really came in handy right now.

"Aj, slow down—"

I pointed to the door, unblinking, "Sam, I'm going to Alabama right now. It's not a discussion. Either get out or sit down."

Sam's jaw clenched, but he walked to the door and hit the controls to push the stairs away from it and manually shut the plane's door. The engines began to rumble, and I gave my friend a small nod. I picked up my phone and went to sit down in the seat I had been in before. Sam sat down beside me, but I ignored him entirely. Instead, I hit the last number on my call log. My minute of panic was over. Now, it was time for the main fight, and I needed all the information I could get.

The kids weren't with Granny. The only witness we had was Granny's neighbor who said Aubrey Bradshaw and her husband had come by early in the morning to pick up the kids before they went to school. Hours later the neighbor said she heard a loud crash from Granny's house and called the police. They arrived with an ambulance and found Granny on the floor.

Granny was stable, but she still hadn't woken up. Broken leg, broken arm, cracked hip. All on the right side. Apparently, she had fallen down the stairs. That was the assumption at least. My gut told me that was hardly the case, but I couldn't focus on that odd detail. All I could think about was the next bit of news I was given.

She had a heart attack.

Granny had a heart attack and according to the doctor it hadn't been her first. Her medical history stated that she had a heart attack three years ago and had been on medication since. Three years ago. Granny had a heart attack in May of 2012.

As I hung up the phone, I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. Sam set a hand on my back and rubbed it in comfort. It only pushed me further over the edge though as the tears rolled down my face. Why should I be comforted? No part of me deserved it. I shook my head, "It's my fault."

"Aj, come on. You know that's not true. You weren't even there—"

"That's my point." I gasped. "Granny had her second heart attack this morning, Sam. Her first one, the one that predisposed her to have another, was in 2012. May 4th, 2012." I clutched at my chest. "You can't tell me that it was a coincidence that Granny had a heart attack on the same day that aliens attacked New York City. The same day she thought I could've been dead and I—"

Sam griped my shoulder tightly, "Aj—"

"I never even called her. A week after I just sent her a text saying I wasn't dead." I sobbed. "She had a heart attack and I—I—"

I had no more words. Nothing I could get out at least. I fell apart into sobs and Sam quickly pulled me into his arms. I should've been there for her. Granny gave me everything. She was my everything. She worked tirelessly, with no reward, to pull me out of the gutter, to—to make me into something resembling a human and this was the thanks I gave to her. Maybe it didn't matter how many good decisions I tried to make. No good decision could offset monstrous behavior like this. I used people. I took what they had to offer me and then I left them in the dust. Granny was a perfect example of that.

A part of me wondered when I'd do the exact same thing to the family I had now.