Author's Notes:

Nikkita Starr: People are disappearing because Hydra. Also yeah, poor Steve and Kayla and poor TESSA can't catch a break! At least Ryan finally put a ring on it.

amberhardy: Ryan's brothers are the most shady. Very different from Ryan himself, in the upcoming chapter you get to see their personalities come out more and can see how different the three brothers are. Gives a good idea into what makes them tick. But Steve is definitely walking into a trap...

Steve packed his green tent into the back of his pickup truck. Before it had only ever been pitched in the backyard for the kids. He had a small duffle bag with what he'd need the next few days, a couple of pairs of jeans, shirts, his black jacket, and glasses case. The man didn't really know what to expect from the weekend, but he hoped it would involve fishing and resting and reading and overall little to no effort on his part. Steve was excited, and Kayla was happy for him.

"Alright, you've got your portable chargers for your phone in case I need to get a hold of you?" Kayla asked as she zipped up a bag full of sandwiches for her husband, thrusting the lunchbox into his hand, "And you brought bug spray right?"

"Bug spray? I'm pretty sure I'll be okay." Steve scoffed, leaning over to give Kayla a kiss on the lips. "I'll be fine, Kay. It's just two days. I'll be back Sunday evening. I'm more worried about you all by yourself with these two rascals." Steve turned and scooped up Sarah into his arms as James jumped onto his leg and clung to him like a koala. "They are pretty ravenous."

James growled at his father and Sarah poked him slowly against the cheek. Kayla grabbed the toddler from her father, holding her by the gut so she could see him. "Blow Daddy a kiss." Sarah obeyed and giggled as Steve caught it with his hand and shoved it into the pocket of his plaid button-up shirt. Kayla leaned forward and gave Steve another kiss while Sarah shielded her eyes, "Be safe darling. I'll see you on Sunday."

"Maybe I'll get to fight a bear!" Steve teased loudly as he walked out the door backward, shrugging with his duffle in one hand and his lunchbox in the other. James growled again as Kayla shook her head, not amused. Kayla wouldn't put it past Steve Rogers to get himself into trouble in the middle of the woods with nobody around but his friends. It actually sounded like the most Steve Rogers thing that could happen.

Steve revved the truck to life and turned up the radio, smiling as he pulled into reverse out of the driveway and took off down the road toward the lake. A few minutes down the road, a call came through his vehicle, and he answered it happily, "Hello?"

"Mr. Rogers, you're coming to my neck of the woods and you aren't coming to see me?"

"Hello, Tony." Steve answered curtly, but his grin didn't leave his face, "Yeah, I'm going camping with my neighbor for a few days."

"Is she cute?"

Steve's eyes practically rolled out of his head before he snarled, "Tony..."

"Grown men don't go camping Cap. You're just trying to get away from the kids and the Mrs.- would have been easier to ship them off to the cabin for a few days. Or you could have called me and you and I could have gone camping. In my lab. With booze." Tony teased through the phone, but Steve just shook his head a little.

"I'm not trying to get away from Kay and the kids. This is actually her best friend's fiance, so I'm really doing it for her. And to spend some time outside doing something other than construction."

"Yeah, working must be awful, I'm loving the retired life. Morgan's already in school. Well, homeschool, but I think she'll graduate early. Takes after her dad." Tony groaned as he stretched, "So how close are you all gonna be?"

"I'll make sure we keep our distance, don't worry Tony," Steve assured his friend, looking at the monitor on the dash as if Tony could see him through it. The genius probably could. "Another reason I'm going is because he's a cop. If I can dig up any information on Schmidt from him, maybe I can pass it on to Sam."

"That sounds more like it, you're going on a mission and don't want Kayla to know. Well, keep me posted, if you, like, get in a fight with a bear or anything and need me."

"Kayla called you?"

"Texted actually," Tony clarified, and Steve scoffed at him, "Be safe Rogers. Your wife's worried about you."

Steve smiled to himself, feeling that warm feeling in his stomach that took him back to the beginning when Kayla wouldn't let him go anywhere without her because she worried about him constantly. She'd gotten over that... a little. "I will. Thanks, Tony."

"Anytime." The line clicked off and Steve pushed back his hair from his face, turning on the GPS in the center console, leading him out to the lake.

The number of trees increased significantly the closer he got to their meeting point, a fishing lodge about twenty miles from Tony's cabin. When the two-story log cabin came into view, Steve pulled his glasses from the center console and placed them on his face, adjusting them before pulling a black baseball cap onto his head. He parked his truck out front and opened the door, stepping out onto the soft dirt of the parking lot. Ryan emerged from the building with a big grin on his face, wearing a red button-up shirt that looked similar to Steve's, but Ryan couldn't fill it out the same with his lanky form.

"Hey there Carter! Long-time no see!" Ryan called as he approached Steve, holding out his hand to shake Steve's. Steve took it and shook it firmly as he looked around the place.

"This is gorgeous. Are we staying here? I brought a tent just in case."

Ryan clapped Steve on the back, leading him into the lodge, "Good, we aren't staying here, just hanging out, getting a few drinks in us before we head out into the wilderness." Ryan laughed and Steve could smell the beer on his breath as he exhaled. Steve looked around the open sitting room of the lodge, seeing Jack and Phillip sitting in two chairs beside each other, leaned over in a quiet conversation. Steve noticed they both had beers in hand, but neither of them was empty like Ryan's was. Steve took note of the way they smiled at him, then turned his attention back to Ryan.

"Thanks for inviting me. It's nice to get away from suburbia for a few days."

Ryan snorted, looking at Steve like he had two heads, "You asked if you could come, dude! I invited you last weekend, but your friend Buddy was in town."

"Bucky." Steve corrected as he tilted his head to the side questioningly, "You texted me last night and asked if I wanted to come this weekend?"

Ryan thought long and hard for a moment, trying to remember, then a lightbulb went off in his head, and he turned to his brothers. He stared at them silently, a mixture of anger and panic in his expression seeing as he was too inebriated to hide it. Jack shrugged teasingly, and Phillip just took another small sip of his beer before Ryan turned his attention back to Steve. "I- uh, I guess I did."

Steve's eyes darted from Ryan to his brothers, realizing he'd been right. Something was amiss. But he was already here, and if he left now, it would be more suspicious, and he'd have no idea why they asked him to come. But he wasn't taking any chances. Steve grabbed a beer from the cooler next to Phillip's leg and used the bottle opener on the table next to Jack to pop it open. "The more the merrier am I right?"

Phillip seemed surprised by his answer and shrugged, raising his bottle in a toast, "More the merrier."

Steve tipped back his bottle, taking a very long swig that Jack snickered at. After he pulled the bottle away, he pounded his chest with his fist, "Wow, that's stronger than I expected." Steve chuckled, then took another drink before falling onto the leather couch to the right of Jack. Once seated, Steve pulled out his phone and began typing a message to Tony.

Get my wife and kids to the cabin, please.

Kayla was doing dishes when her phone rang. She looked over at it lazily as she wiped her hands. James waited impatiently for Kayla to answer, wanting to know who was on the other line while his sister continued to pick at her food, but not eat it. When Kayla saw it was Tony, she pressed the receiver between her ear and her shoulder, "Hello?"

"Hey Mrs. Rogers, what are you up to?" Tony cooed into the holographic phone that hovered beside him as he worked on his latest project. "Morgan's been asking about the kiddos. I was thinking since Hubby is out with his friends maybe you three would like to come visit?"

Kayla looked to James and Sarah, seeing them both looking at her for a clue as to who was calling. She and Steve hadn't quite figured out how to explain Tony Stark to their children yet, but for now, while they were little, he could just be Uncle Tony. Kayla pulled the phone away from her mouth for a moment, "You kids want to visit Morgan out at the lake?"

"Yes! Yes, we can play war like Uncle Bucky!" James hooted, thrusting his little fist into the air as Kayla deflated a little, pulling the phone back to her ear.

"They say yes, but only if they can have a war." Kayla deadpanned, unamused by the violent tendencies that her husband was inadvertently teaching their small children. "We don't have the car right now, think you can send Happy to pick us up?"

"Better yet, I'll come to get you myself." Tony bartered, flipping his hand to the side and enlarging the screen he'd cleared out of the way so he could study it better. "I could actually use your help on something. You sent Pep your formula, before you, you know, got executed."

Kayla's brows rose, unsure of where the conversation was heading, but she appeased the man by letting him continue, "Yes?"

"You think it's strong enough to counteract cyanide?" Tony asked, looking at the tablet as he ran some tests, "Because a lot of good people are going missing, and you and I could make a huge difference. Let Pepper send it out there from Stark Industries. They'd never think you're alive."

"I don't want that stuff anywhere around the kids. Yours or mine." Kayla hissed into the phone, turning away from her children to shield them from her words, "Why now Tony? This has been going on for months."

"I hacked into the Avengers database. Romanoff is missing. She could need it." Tony answered easily, watching as his test came back eighty-nine percent positive. "I can almost do it myself, but you're the expert. You've never messed it up. Not once."

"There's a first time for everything. I wouldn't let that be Nat." Kayla warned, looking over her shoulder as James stole food off of Sarah's plate. "When can you be here. I'll give it a look, but I'm not making any promises. I can't put my kids in danger."

"That's all I ask. I'll be there in an hour. I drive fast. I'll bring the booster seats."

Kayla groaned and nodded, knowing full well the billionaire couldn't see her. "Alright. See you then."

"Are we going camping with Daddy?" Sarah asked, trying to wiggle out of her high chair. Kayla closed the gap between them and unbuckled her, allowing her to slide out from underneath the chair into her mother's arms. Kayla pressed a long kiss to her daughter's hair, unable to shake the feeling that Steve had a hand in Tony's invite. Which meant he wanted them somewhere safe. Which meant something was wrong.

Kayla pulled away and smiled at Sarah, "No, we aren't going with Daddy, but we're going to go see some friends. You can run around and play by the lake. They have more doggies like Zaddi you can play with. It'll be great." She swallowed hard, trying to convince herself of it.

It'll be great.

"This seems like a good spot to set up camp!" Ryan declared as he stabbed his walking stick into the ground. "Pitch the tents, start the fire. It'll be great."

Steve placed his hands on his hips and looked around, pretending to pant from the long walk. "It's beautiful. You guys come out here often?"

Jack nodded as he knelt down to unpack his tent, "Every couple of weeks. Brotherly bonding is what Phil calls it."

"It's important to spend time with family, especially since this one," Phillip pointed at Ryan with a goofy grin, "Is getting himself a wife! So this is a little bit brothers weekend, a little bit bachelor party, which is why we secretly invited you." Phillip winked, and Steve raised his head, considering this explanation.

"You bastards! You could have told me." Ryan laughed, still feeling the effects of his beer from earlier, "I'm so glad you are all here though. Really. I appreciate all the love and support, especially this week. It's sucked with the disappearances reaching us. I needed a break from the precinct."

Steve saw his opening and began to pry, lowering himself slowly with a groan to sit on a large log, "How's that going by the way? Tessa says you're working nonstop. I saw on the news the Avengers are getting involved."

"Yeah, they aren't much help honestly." Ryan bit back, rolling his eyes as he unzipped his cooler and took out another beer while Jack worked on his tent, "We are no closer today than we were Monday when we got the first report of someone in our area disappearing. The Avengers are working hard in New York and DC, which is fine, there are more people there. They don't care about us little people." Ryan added a little sadly, and Steve felt his back stiffen at the words. Where had Steve been all those years when the 'little people' needed him?

"I honestly feel safer out here than I do in town. Out here we have each other's backs. There's no other variables." Phillip added quietly as he pulled out a lighter and lit the cigarette that he held between his teeth. "Welcome to the brother's club, Carter."

"Thanks." Steve nodded, giving his best friendly smile. Phillip scoffed and Jack kicked his foot to get him to shut up. Jack shook his head, telling his brother to stop.

Steve wordlessly began reaching around and grabbing little stones, placing them into a circle to make a firepit. He grabbed onto two rocks and began smashing them together, eventually creating a flame. Jack and Phillip shared a confused glance, then turned to Ryan who just shrugged, "He spent twelve years in the army."

"Army man huh? Our dad was in the airforce." Jack said quietly, and Steve looked up to meet his glance opposite the firelight. The sun was barely setting, but the fire gave an eerie glow to the younger man. "He passed away thirteen years ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I lost my dad too. He was in the service. It's part of the reason I wanted to join." Steve replied quietly, matching the young man's somber demeanor.

"Dad was an ass. You didn't miss much." Phillip grumbled, staring at the fire as he smoked. "Jack here was only thirteen when Dad passed away. I was nineteen and ready to enlist. I changed my mind real fast when Pops went down with the ship."

"He believed in something. Sometimes that's important, Phil." Jack snapped back, and Ryan put up his hands to stop his brothers from bickering.

"Hey hey, that's enough. We're here to have a good time, remember? This weekend is about me getting married, and me having a happy life, and not Dad." Ryan barked at his siblings, and Steve looked up at the tall man with newfound respect. "Now," Ryan continued, pulling several short spears from his pack, "I'm making hot dogs, anyone want one?"

Steve slowly raised his hand, feeling his stomach on the verge of rumbling, even after eating all the sandwiches Kayla had packed for him. Ryan handed Steve a stick and sat down beside him, passing him the bag of uncooked hot dogs. Steve silently took them and began cooking his dinner, occasionally catching Phillip's glare through the cigarette smoke across the fire.