James came barreling into the hotel in Rome, skidding to a stop in front of the concierge desk. He pulled off his father's massive aviator sunglasses that he'd stolen, staring up at the Italian woman manning the desk, "Carter. James Carter."

"Mi Scusi?" The woman asked in surprise as she leaned over the desk, staring at the blonde boy in front of her. He ran his hand through his shaggy hair and winked at her.

Steve came charging through the hotel doors after his son, looking around frantically until he saw the eight-year-old bothering the foreign woman. "James!"

James's eyes grew wide at the woman. He turned around to face his father, finding the burly man adjusting his glasses with one hand while pointing to the floor next to him, beckoning his son. "Busted."

"Yeah, yeah, you're busted. I heard that. Get over here." Steve mumbled, gesturing with his index finger for his son to come to him. He grabbed the boy's shoulder firmly, guiding him to the hotel elevator where Kayla and Sarah were waiting with the luggage.

"Where were you? You can't run off like that!" Kayla barked down at the boy as he stood between her and his father. They waited for the elevator in silence, James bopping his head back and forth nonchalantly. "James?"

"I thought this summer was for adventures?"

"You're eight. Have adventures with your babysitter. If I hear from Tessa that you're wandering off, you're going to be in a world of trouble." Kayla warned as the elevator doors opened, allowing the family in to take them to the fifth floor where Bucky and Tessa were already waiting in their adjoining rooms.

Kayla led the way out of the elevator, looking at her phone for the room number. Sarah grabbed her father's hand and swung it back and forth, looking up at him happily. "I'm happy to be here. I'll be good. I promise."

"I know you will honey. And I know your brother will be good for Aunt Tessa too." Steve told her as his eyes darted to his other side where James was picking at his nails. "Right James?"

A long sigh was followed by James groaning, "Whatever you say, Father."

Steve narrowed his gaze on his son as Kayla stopped in front of the door, looking at her phone one more time to make sure they had the right room before knocking. Kayla looked around, taking in her surroundings and all the ways they could escape if need be.

Suddenly the door flew open, revealing Bucky in nothing but a white towel. "Hey, guys! Come on in!"

"Uh, thanks." Kayla stuttered, ushering her two children into the master suite. Bucky grabbed a set of keys from the tv stand and handed them to Kayla before gesturing to the adjoining room with two full beds. Kayla peeked in, then looked over her shoulder at Bucky, "What, you get the master suite?"

"Yes. Unless you four want to all sleep together."

Kayla nodded, "Touche. Where's Tess?"

Bucky smirked, placing his hands on his hips as Steve doubled back into his best friend's room after situating the kids and suitcases in their side. Steve waited patiently, already having a pretty good idea of what Bucky's answer would be. The Winter Soldier ran his hand through his long wet hair and nodded toward the bathroom, "She's taking a shower. It's hot here in Italy."

"We're aware. We too are in Italy." Kayla snorted in response, rolling her eyes and heading into the adjoining room, closing the door loudly to allow some privacy for Steve and Bucky to talk about their first mission.

Bucky turned to Steve with a smug grin on his face and Steve just sighed in response, opening his mouth to say something before being cut off by Tessa emerging from the bathroom in a loosely-tied towel. "Hey, I know you've got to get going, but maybe we can finish- Steve!" Tessa quickly tightened the towel around herself when she saw Steve Rogers standing next to Bucky in their suite. Steve quickly averted his eyes as Tessa turned twelve shades of red, scampering back into the bathroom at lightning speed. Moments after the bathroom door shut, a crashing sound was heard inside.

"You okay babe?" Bucky called casually through the door, taking a few steps closer in case she needed him.

"I'm alright. Maybe you could grab me some clothes?"

Steve kept his head down, but his shit-eating grin reached his eyes as he struggled to contain his laughter. He could feel some payback for Bucky's teasing after his wedding night coming on. Barnes turned to Steve, pointing at him threateningly as he saw his best friend's expression, "Not a word from you Rogers."

"Carter. My last name is Carter. Don't blow my cover with my kids." Steve teased, but the sincerity in his voice shone through. "Now about the mission."

Bucky unzipped Tessa's large purple suitcase, grabbing out a romper for his girl. He gently knocked on the bathroom door and passed off the clothes through the crack Tessa created in the doorway. Before she closed it though, she requested two more things from Bucky, and he gently closed the door before wandering through the hotel room casually. "Vito Contini. He's been spearheading Hydra's medicinal department since the death of his predecessor in Seattle last year." Bucky scooped down and collected Tessa's matching red bra and underwear from beside the king-sized bed. "He's the one creating the mind mush pill that Hydra's been using to get people to join. There's little chance he's under the influence of his own work, but we can't be sure."

Steve's brow quirked at Bucky as he delivered the undergarments to the bathroom door. "That makes things complicated. How do we know if they are being controlled or not?"

"We don't," Bucky answered as the door slammed closed again, Tessa finally getting ready for the afternoon. Bucky turned his full attention to Steve now, "At this point, we don't have the luxury to find out. If they are Hydra, we have to eliminate them."

Steve slowly lowered himself into the brown chair next to a desk across the room from Bucky, tapping his fingers anxiously on the desk as he stared at his best friend. "Buck, we can't just go killing innocent people..."

"It's too late Steve. It's kill or be killed. Hydra is too powerful. The Enchantress enhances the agents for combat. I asked you here to help me destroy Hydra, not save those who Hydra has taken." Bucky argued quietly, knowing full well the walls between this room and the kid's room were not soundproof. He and Tessa had tested it.

Steve raised his chin to look up at Bucky fully, his blue eyes full of determination, "If I'd believed that, I never would have saved you. Even when Sam said you couldn't be saved, I made a different call because I knew it wasn't your fault. I knew that you didn't have control. I can't in good conscience kill innocent people because Hydra is controlling them. Just like they controlled you."

Bucky groaned and rubbed his temples, looking toward the room next door, "If you can incapacitate Contini, you can see if he has an antidote to the mind control drug. If you can't, he gets a bullet in the head. We're here to fight Hydra, not save it. They killed T'Challa and everyone in Wakanda. The Enchantress led Hydra into the most advanced civilization in the world and slaughtered them in under an hour. You think you can talk your way out of this one? They killed Natasha, Steve." Bucky rubbed his teeth together as he heard laughter from the room next door, "Kayla won't think twice to do what needs to be done. Perhaps you should stop trying to be Captain America and do the same. I didn't bring you here to be righteous, I asked you here to get the job done."

Steve stood quickly and stormed away from Bucky Barnes, knocking loudly on the connecting door for Kayla to allow him into their room. Kayla swung the door open for Steve to see James and Sarah jumping on the beds while laughing loudly. Kayla had a beaming smile that fell when she saw Steve's angry expression, "Steve?"

"Careful guys, I don't want you to get hurt," Steve called to his children, ignoring his wife's worry about his sour mood. James jumped and landed on his butt, causing a cracking sound to emanate from the wooden boards beneath the mattress. He winced, staring at his parents nervously before sliding off the bed and sitting obediently in the brown chair near their desk. Steve turned to Kayla, giving the redhead an 'I told you so' look, but Kayla just shrugged it off and traded places with Steve to go talk with Bucky.

"Did I break it?" James asked sheepishly as Steve inspected the damage to the frame of the bed. Steve leaned against the mattress, finding it secure, even if there were now deep cracks in the wood below.

"Yeah, but it'll be fine. You two are sleeping in this bed though. Sarah, enough jumping, please." Steve begged his daughter, and she gave one more bounce, then jumped to the kids' bed. She lost her footing and fell forward, landing face-first into the soft sheets as she giggled wildly. Steve's panic grew as he scooped her upright and set her on the ground, "Please be careful, Sarah. I don't know what I would do if you got hurt." The large man wrapped his massive hand around his daughter's back, pulling her into his side lovingly.

James scowled and crossed his arms in a huff, "What about me? What if something happens to me?"

Steve grinned at his son and reached over, messing up his hair, "You're my little tank. You're so strong and brave and I know you'll be safe. Nothing can hurt my James."

The young boy seemed happy with Steve's answer, his bitter scowl molding into a proud smile knowing his father thought so highly of him. Sarah twisted her face thoughtfully, considering her dad's words. He thought James was strong and brave but he knew she was weak and scared. It hurt her feelings, despite how much he wanted to protect her.

Tessa emerged from her bedroom fully dressed and ready to go out. She forced an amiable grin toward Steve, fighting back the blush that crept into her cheeks when she thought about him seeing her in a towel. "So, you kids ready to go explore? We've got a big day planned! We're going to go to the Trevi Fountain, and the Pantheon, and tomorrow we'll go to the Colosseum..."

"So we're going to a bunch of old buildings?" James moaned, turning to his father expectantly, "Can't we stay in the hotel and go swimming?"

"You can go swimming after you've seen the Pantheon and after you've read at least thirty pages of summer reading." Steve informed his son, placing his hands on his hips defensively.

"Thirty pages! That's like, like half a book! That's ridiculous! Where's Mom? Mom won't make me read thirty pages!"

"Umm, yes she will." Kayla scoffed from the adjoining doorway. "Listen to your father. And listen to Aunt Tessa. Your Dad and I need to join Uncle Bucky for the opening night conference. We'll probably be late. If I get so much as a text saying you're mouthing off, your tablet is going in the safe until we leave Italy. Do I make myself clear?"

James rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, but Kayla waited patiently, knowing her son would obey her, "Yes."

"Yes, who?" Kayla demanded coldly, but her green eyes twinkled mischievously at her son's defiance.

"Yes, ma'am." James exhaled loudly. The boy turned his attention to Tessa, "So when do we go see the old buildings?"

"As soon as you put your shoes back on. Come on, it won't be all boring, I promise." Tessa assured the child as she nodded toward the entrance to the hotel room. James grabbed his tennis shoes and pulled them on, then turned to his sister expectantly as she struggled to tie her laces. She'd hopped up on the bed with one thin leg dangling while she worked on adjusting the opposite shoe.

After getting the loops just right, she looked to her father with big blue eyes and a pouted lip, "Daddy, will you double knot them for me?"

"Double knotting is the easiest part! You can double knot your own shoes!" James yelped from the doorway, throwing his arms in the air in exasperation. "Come on Sarah, hurry up, the sooner we see the boring stuff the sooner we can swim!"

Steve ignored his son's dramatic cries and knelt down to double knot his daughter's shoes, taking extra care to go slow so she could watch what he did. "There. All set. Be good for Auntie Tess okay? Keep your brother out of trouble."

"I will Dad. Love you." Sarah leaned forward and gave Steve a kiss on the cheek as she slid off the bed. "Love you, Mom. Have fun at work!"

"Be good kids. Love you too!" Kayla called as Tessa ushered them out the door, throwing Bucky a nervous grimace before closing it. Kayla turned to the two men, placing her hands on her hips proudly as her motherly nature fell away into something more sinister, "So where's the target now?"

"The Trevi Fountain is twenty-six meters tall and forty-nine meters wide."

"What's a meter?" Sarah whispered quietly to her brother, who just shrugged in response.

"Beats me."

Tessa read off the guidebook dully, finding herself boring as she listed facts about the fountain. "...work began in 1732 and was completed in 1762..."

James nudged Sarah in the side, earning a glare from the young blonde. She followed the direction of where he was pointing, seeing several people walking out of a shop with gelato in their hands. Sarah turned back to her brother and hissed incredulously, "You're hungry again?"

"It's ice cream. Italian ice cream. Sounds like culture to me." James whispered back loudly, catching Tessa's attention away from the book. Both children stood up straight and stared ahead, pretending to be focused on the Trevi Fountain. After a moment of studying them, Tessa went back to her reading aloud, giving the kids a chance to speak again. "Come on Sarah, live a little."

"No."

James threw his head back in frustration, groaning at the sky. He wasn't allowed to do anything fun. "Aunt Tessa?" James finally asked, approaching his desire for food from a different direction. Tessa stopped reading the book and looked down at James, less than a foot shorter than her. James gave her his best million-dollar smile, channeling the way his mother would use hers to get what she wanted, "Aunt Tess, could we get some ice cream? It looks like all the Italian people are eating ice cream. It must be the local thing to do here." He pointed toward the gelato shop and Tessa looked up, noticing how the sign was in English and everyone around the shop were tourists.

Tessa saw through the boy's ploy to get his way and wanted to tell him so, but a slight rumble in her stomach made her reconsider. "Gelato in Rome does sound pretty good doesn't it?"

"When in Rome, am I right?" James threw his arms to the side, gesturing around himself as Sarah crossed her arms, seeing her brother's plan unfold perfectly.

Tessa considered the child's words seriously. She was in Rome. She hooked up with a hot assassin in Rome. She didn't need to be bored to death with history and museums and guidebooks. Tessa considered the repercussions of ignoring Steve's planned itinerary and having some fun. James and Sarah wouldn't tattle on her. "Gelato it is!" Tessa exclaimed quickly. James started walking toward the shop, but she stopped him, "Wait! Before we go..." Tessa dug into her cross-body purse and pulled out three quarters, handing them to Sarah and James and keeping one for herself. "Legend says if you toss a coin into the Trevi Fountain, then you'll return to Rome someday."

"I don't want to return to this boring place."

Tessa and Sarah hushed James in unison, the former watching Tessa intently. Tessa looked down at the little girl and positioned herself with her back to the fountain, her hair blowing in the slight summer breeze, "Turn around. Hold the coin in your right hand. Then throw it over your left shoulder into the fountain."

James sighed and stood on the other side of Tessa, turning around so he was facing away from the fountain like his aunt and sister. Sarah beamed as she prepared to toss her coin, "One... two... three!"

The sound of three little plops echoed behind them, and Tessa, Sarah, and James turned to see their quarters sinking to the bottom. "I've always wanted to do that." Tessa admitted quietly with a grin on her face, "Come on, let's get some ice cream."