Sarah came back downstairs to find her family in disarray. James leaned against the refrigerator, watching their mom as she washed the dishes silently. Sarah met her brother's eyes and he gave her a grim smile before his eyes darted to their father, telling his sister to talk to the man. Sarah nodded, understanding his message, then meandered into the living room and collapsed onto the couch beside her father's chair.

"What are you working on?" She asked gently as she peered over his arm at his sketchpad. She saw him doodling a room she'd never seen before with a big glass door overlooking a lake. She recognized Zawadi laying at the foot of the bed, but the bed was empty. Sarah looked up at her father's face, but he was focused on his work, "Dad?"

Steve groaned quietly as he set down his pencil, rubbing his mouth in frustration, "I'm sorry, honey. I'm just- I'm not feeling great."

"Do you need some medicine? I can get more of the Benadryl from upstairs..." Sarah trailed off until her dad looked her in the eyes, "You and Mom get in a fight?"

"How do know that?" Steve mumbled. He flipped closed the sketchbook and set it between the chair and the couch before addressing his little girl properly, "It's fine. Just a misunderstanding."

Steve noticed his daughter's blue eyes sparkle gold for a second. He pulled his head back in surprise, but she seemed to not notice, deep in thought, "No... it's not a misunderstanding. It was deception. What did she do?"

"She didn't do anything..." Steve's resolve crumbled as Sarah pursed her lips knowingly, "She thought she was doing the right thing."

"There it is." Sarah leaned back, slinging her arm over the back of the couch as Steve leaned toward her. He smiled a little when Sarah grinned smugly, "I know you so well. You should talk to her. We hate when you two fight."

Steve leaned back into his chair, pulling the switch to push out the footrest. He wiggled into the cushions, getting comfortable with no intention of apologizing to his wife. "We don't fight often."

"You don't like when she keeps secrets from you."

"Does she keep a lot of secrets from me?" Steve looked over to see Sarah's eyes sparkle with gold and he moved to get a better look. He swallowed as he studied his teenage daughter, but she wasn't in a trance, she was just invested in their conversation.

Sarah chuckled as she looked over her shoulder, wondering if Kayla and James could hear their conversation. "She knows not to tell you things you'll disagree with. Because once you set your mind to something, there's no changing it." The young girl responded truthfully and Steve groaned, knowing she was right. Sarah pushed herself to her feet with a grunt, looking down at Steve in his easy chair, "Whatever happened, you know she meant well. She always does."

As Sarah walked to the kitchen to check on her mom and brother, Steve stared out the window, wondering how he expected his wife to evolve if he wasn't willing to do the same. He scooped up his sketchpad and continued drawing what he remembered of their first home together. Back when he was Captain America, and his feisty wife was always causing some sort of mischief to save his life.

After a few hours, Tessa and Bucky finally meandered down the stairs to rejoin their friends. Kayla couldn't look up to meet Tessa's eyes, but when Steve saw the woman, he couldn't help but notice she walked a little lighter and carried herself a little taller than she had before. With a roll of his eyes and a defeated grunt, Steve stood up to greet his friends.

James was sprawled across the couch, waiting patiently for someone to explain what the hell had happened earlier, but he wasn't holding his breath. His parents rarely told him anything.

"How you feeling?" Steve's gruff voice told Tessa he'd been silent for the past three hours. She raised her head and nodded, eyes darting to the kitchen where Kayla was hiding.

"I'm feeling fine. I'm feeling better, I guess."

Steve nodded in understanding, knowing it was a happy accident. Bucky had said time and time again that he feared he'd outlive his new wife. Countless conversations were had between the two men over beers in crowded bars where nobody could hear their darkest secrets. Bucky was scared that he'd live forever, knowing Tessa would not. Steve assured his best friend that super-serum didn't give immortality, and sooner or later, time would catch up with him.

Bucky was beginning to realize that Steve was right: time had caught up with him. It made sense why Kayla did the things she did. She was scared. Tessa was scared. Bucky was scared. Everyone, except Steve Rogers, was terrified of the inevitability of death.

And that led them all here.

"You know what I think we need? I think... we need ice cream. I could kill for some ice cream, what about you kids?" Bucky asked pointedly at James and Sarah, and Sarah nodded slowly, seeing this was a ploy to get them out of the house.

"Yeah. Ice cream. James!" Sarah smacked her brother's gut as his hand dropped to the side with an annoyed look, his phone screen lit up next to the girl's face. Sarah shifted to get a better look. "Oh, I'm sorry, will that interfere with talking to Bridget?"

Bucky snorted and James smacked his sister in the back of the head, eliciting a yowl from the girl as she rubbed the spot he hit. "James!" Steve snapped and, realizing his error, James scrambled to his feet.

"Yup. Ice cream sounds great. Let's go! I'll drive!" James pulled the keys he'd been hoarding out of his pocket and led Sarah and Tessa to the van. Steve followed Bucky, but when they got to the door, Bucky shoved his hand out in front of his friend.

Steve looked at Bucky questioningly, but Bucky just nodded back toward the kitchen, "Not you."

"Buck-"

"Sort this out. Now. We'll be back in about an hour." Bucky said before turning and pulling the door closed behind him, effectively trapping Steve at home with his wife.

Steve pressed his forehead against the red door, closing his eyes and thinking about how excited Kayla was when she saw this house for the first time. She couldn't stop dreaming about everything she wanted to do and create. Steve went to work and Kayla raised the kids, but eventually they got older, and they could take care of themselves. But Kayla stayed behind, spending day in and day out alone in this big empty house.

Steve wasn't surprised that paranoia had begun to take over.

He could feel it in his bones. The years alone would have put him in the grave, but every battle left him broken and bruised to the point that it hurt just to get out of bed. He never told Kayla about it, but she wasn't blind. She was scared and she was resourceful. Steve should have thought of it sooner.

"Punch me."

Steve lifted his head, turning to his wife with disbelief in his sad blue eyes, "What?"

"You heard me. Hit me with your best shot." Kayla dared, approaching from the kitchen slowly. Her hips swung from side to side and she planted her bare feet into the tile of their foyer. She stared at Steve intensely, waiting for him to take her bait.

Steve threw his head back to the ceiling for a moment before shaking his head, "Are you insane? I'm not going to beat my wife, no matter how mad I am at you."

The sound of Kayla's laugh almost broke Steve from his anger. It wasn't mocking and it wasn't teasing, it was real, "No. No, not like that. Come on," She gestured toward herself, "Throw the first punch."

Steve tilted his head, not wanting to play her game, but she shifted her feet in a way that told him she was going to make the first move if he didn't. He put his right foot forward and swung his fist at Kayla, who blocked it easily. Kayla punched at her husband, but he grabbed her hand and twisted it until Kayla flipped to the side, breaking free of his grip. Steve grabbed her wrist again in an attempt to make her stop, but Kayla just swung her right leg up to whack the side of his rib cage. Steve took the hit without flinching and dropped to the ground to sweep Kayla's legs, knocking her to the floor.

When she fell on her back, she broke into a fit of giggles, "See! Wasn't that fun?" Steve just stared at her with an emotionless expression, crossing his arms as he waited for her to sober up. Kayla just shook her head and sighed, "Haven't you missed it?"

Steve's scowl faltered at her laughter. He collapsed onto the floor beside Kayla as she laid on her back laughing at the ceiling. As he leaned his back against the door, Steve studied his wife, remembering all the things he loved about her. "Maybe" He grumbled and she adjusted herself to look up at him better. "Why didn't you just talk to me Kay?"

"Because I knew what you'd say. You'd say no." Kayla argued and Steve pointed at her accusingly.

"It was still my decision to make, not yours. You don't get to use me as a lab rat." Steve snarled, but he didn't pull away. In fact, he lowered his hand to set it on Kayla's shoulder. She turned her face and pressed a kiss to his knuckles, flinching at his words.

Kayla didn't answer for a moment, considering what she wanted to say. After a moment she sat up to look Steve in the eyes, "I knew what I was doing was wrong. But I would never use anything on you if I didn't know exactly what it did. I used it for years-"

"I knew you did, you were addicted to it." Steve answered, looking down and grabbing her hand softly, "Kayla, you're gonna have to let me go someday. Nobody lives forever."

"I know. Just not now. I can't take care of the kids alone." Kayla clenched his hand before adding, "You know why I didn't get the coffee pot cleaned last night? Like I always do before we have company?"

Steve shook his head, "You had to go run an errand before you picked up James."

"I got called to pick up James from the police station. He was caught trespassing with his friends." Kayla admitted and Steve's eyes widened. He opened his mouth to chastise her for keeping it a secret but she lifted her finger to stop him, "He was terrified. He cried Steve, he was so scared of what you'd do when you found out."

Steve scratched the back of his hair uncomfortably as Kayla scooted closer to him. She lifted his chin to get a better look at him and he sighed, "If my son is so scared of me, why are you so desperate to keep me around?"

Kayla leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Steve's bearded cheek, "Because they need their father, Steve. They need someone to set an example, because without you, our son wouldn't know right from wrong. I can't do this alone. I shouldn't have given you the drug without you knowing. I'm sorry. But you look me in the eye and you tell me that you don't love the feeling. That you aren't happy having a few more years as Captain America before time takes its toll on you."

Steve grabbed Kayla's jaw and pulled her lips to his, kissing her fiercely as she grabbed at his short hair. "I was so happy I didn't even question it." Steve growled as he chased her mouth again, shoving his tongue past her lips as she crawled into his lap. He moaned as they broke apart for a moment, "I kinda just thought I'd caught a second wind."

Kayla chuckled, leaning into his shoulders as she nipped at his lower lip, "I don't think that's how it works, love. You've been chasing death since the moment you came out of the ice." Steve pulled away at that, leaning his head against the door to think. Kayla sat on her haunches, sticking out her lower lip in a pout, "What's wrong?"

"If I don't take the drug, will I age more rapidly?" Steve asked seriously and Kayla considered this for a few moments before lifting her shoulders.

"I don't know, Steve." She admitted, "Erskine's serum was to bring you to the peak of human potential, not elongate your life. It's just a side effect of being trapped in the ice, suspended animation. At some point though, human nature will take its toll."

"But the drug... does what exactly?" Steve breathed and Kayla moved to sit beside him, taking his hand in hers.

She rubbed the back of his hand fondly, then tilted her head with a smile, "It helps regenerate cells, including the ones that have the serum in them, which keeps you strong and feeling good. It protects your organs, and if they can't fail, there's no reason for you to-"

"Maybe don't put them in the coffee. It's only a matter of time before James or Sarah tries some." Steve said firmly and Kayla stared at him blankly. He met her gaze and added, "Thank you. I trust you to take care of this family. I'm sorry that you think the only way is to hide it from me."

"You're stubborn."

"And you're reckless, but isn't that why we fell in love?" Steve teased, leaning over to kiss Kayla again. She smiled as he pulled away slowly, caught up in the moment, but she found herself nodding anyway. "I love you so much." Steve told his wife, pulling her close to his side to cuddle her. She sighed and closed her eyes, burying herself into him until he caught her attention.

"Want to spar again?"