Chris was aware when the jet landed. Carefully, she was gathered up into strong arms and carried out of the jet. It was bright early morning light, and she tucked her face against his chest, the heavy Kevlar across his chest giving away his identity.

Bucky.

Steven and Phil Coulson were also there, the low din of their voices as they walked just barely reaching her ears.

"Hello, there," a female voice greeted when they entered the huge house Chris could mostly make out with her good eye.

"Helen," Steve said on a sign of relief. "Tony send you?"

"Yes," the small, dark-haired woman replied. "He said I'm to take very good care of her. I've got a team here and we've just finished setting up my cradle."

"Thank you." Steve meant it.

Chris was aware of being placed on a cold table, curling in on herself onto her side as soon as she was able.

"I'll, ah, be around if you need me, Captain Rogers," Phil Coulson's voice was low.

"Thank you," Chris muttered though she wasn't exactly sure where in the room he was.

The skull cap was pulled from her head and the woman's hands moved gently over her head and face. Steve knew who she was and trusted her. That was good enough for her.

"Possible skull fractures around the eye socket," Helen said matter-of-factly. "We'll do some scans next so I can see exactly what we're dealing with. I, ah, also need to do the rest of the examination so…"

"Stay," Chris didn't want them to leave her. Not now when she was just starting to feel safe again.

"Which one?" the woman's voice held a note of confusion.

"Both," Chris muttered. "Please."

Helen had help in peeling off the uniform she'd originally worn for the mission. It had to have been confusing for them since none of the injuries to her person happened while she was wearing the uniform. Her arms and upper body were inspected quickly before she felt a warmed blanket press around her shoulders.

Steve leaned down to brush a kiss to her forehead, tucking the blanket around her. "Almost done, sweetheart."

"The bruises are deep. There are four broken ribs," Helen said gently. "Maybe more."

As her eye adjusted to the room, Chris got a better look at Helen who was a beautiful lady. Bucky helped her peel off the bottom of the uniform while Steve held her hand. The alarm in Bucky's eyes at the amount of blood stuck to her, to the uniform had her heart clenching. Helen pulled away the shredded remnant from the pajamas she'd used to help staunch the bleeding at her lower body.

The doctor kept the examination brief, her face a mask of calm but her emotions were not so much. Chris was certain if the doctor had treated any of the Avengers before that her own injuries were probably pretty mild. But this? Chris knew the moment the other woman reached the realization.

"When was your last cycle?" Helen asked her carefully.

"Months ago," Chris explained, seeing Bucky's eyes start to shine. "I've been using an IUD for the last five months."

Helen's brow creased. Her emotions heightened more, and it made Chris uneasy, particularly when combined with the escalating fear she read in Bucky's face.

"Maybe I could have a word with just Chris for a moment?" Helen said as diplomatically as she could, her gaze never leaving Chris.

Tears seeped out from her wounded eye and flooded the other one. Chris shook her head gently. "No, just go ahead and say it."

Steve wasn't trying to mask his concern either as he watched the doctor examine her.

"Chris, there's been a substantial amount of blood loss and this occurred after these other injuries, yes?"

"The bleeding and cramping… started just a few hours ago. It was… right before Agent Coulson came for me. I-it was dark outside when Steve and Bucky showed up."

"And when did the other injuries take place?" the doctor pressed on.

"The day before. I don't know what time. I've been in a cell with no phones or TV… or anything."

"Did you experience any other symptoms when the vaginal bleeding started?"

Chris nodded, knowing in her heart what the woman was about to say but wishing it wasn't true.

"Pain at my lower back, lower abdomen." Chris felt as if there was a weight on her chest like she couldn't breathe. "Really bad cramps…"

"It looks… it appears from the bleeding and the tissue there… that you've suffered a miscarriage, Chris," Helen told her as professionally as possible. "I'm sorry."

Bucky scrubbed a hand down his face, blinking back tears of his own. Steve's hand tightened around hers, but he kept his face calm. Inside, Steve's feelings were a storm growing stronger by the minute. It was so different from his normal demeanor that Chris was a little afraid.

"The left femur is possibly cracked," Helen told them before pulling the blanket back over her lower body. Chris curled into its warmth, feeling the emotions of her men drowning her in anger and sadness.

"The good news is that I can have your body healed and as good as new in a matter of hours in my cradle," Helen told her gently. "I'll need to get your blood type and see if we can get you a couple of units to make up for some that you've lost. We'll need to get you cleaned up first. But I'll give you a few minutes before I send the nurses to get us started. I'll get everything ready. Okay?"

"Thank you," Steve's voice was tight.

Bucky moved up the table to lean over her, his hand gently easing her hair back from her forehead.

"Baby, I'm so sorry," Bucky whispered, barely hanging on. "I'm so sorry this happened. We should have… gotten to you sooner. We should - "

"No," Chris whispered, hanging onto Steve's hand. "I'm going to be fine, Bucky. Promise. You came for me. I… love you both… so much."

"I love you," Bucky whispered before his face crumbled, he dropped his head to her chest keeping all his weight off her. His tears broke her heart.

His upset seemed to pull Steve out of his head as he wrapped an arm around their lover, pressing kisses into his hair and then hers.

"I'm so sorry," Bucky whispered brokenly. "There was a baby… Oh, my God…"

"Did you know, sweetheart?" Steve asked gently, waiting until her gaze met his. "If you did, I promise, it's okay but…"

Chris shook her head. Then the enormity of the truth, of what they lost hit her and she dissolved into tears along with Bucky.

She'd been carrying a baby. Who the father was? It could have been either of them. There was likely no way to tell now. Chris didn't know about the little life she'd carried inside her until it was gone. Another thing gone…

"Shhh," Steve soothed her though he had a hand smoothing over Bucky's back too. "Sweetheart, we're going to be right here. I don't want you to worry about anything. We're at one of Tony's homes and Helen wasn't kidding when she said you'd be as good as new in a few hours. You truly will be."

With her one open eye, she glanced up at him, wanting everything to be just as he said.

"We won't have to leave you for missions, Sweetheart," Steve promised her. "We're staying right here for the time being, okay? It's going to be me, you and Bucky until you're recovered."

Steve's beautiful eyes were so clear, so filled with love for both of them and his expression matched. Inside, well, inside him that storm Chris sensed was growing. It didn't make sense.

They stayed together there for a few more moments before the nurses came for her, gently lifting her onto a gurney and allowing her to kiss each of them goodbye before they rolled her back where the doctor Tony sent was going to miraculously put her back together.

She was asleep just after they'd finished her bath.

Bucky had found the largest, nicest bedroom in the house and made camp there after getting a shower, stretching out on the huge bed to catch up on the news and wait Steve out while their girl was being looked after.

Steve had locked up once they'd arrived safely and he was assured that Chris was getting the best care possible. Once he was assured of her safety, he immediately drew in on himself and Bucky didn't need Chris's empathic abilities to know he was a mess in his head.

Steve had been like this after the battle at the airport in Germany too. Except, just maybe, this time was worse.

After a couple of hours passed, Steve had cleaned up and joined Bucky on the bed, propped against the headboard and painfully quiet.

"You okay?" Bucky finally asked him.

Steve nodded, didn't look away from the television.

"Stevie?"

Steve sighed and closed his eyes for a beat before meeting Bucky's gaze.

"Are you okay?" he asked again.

Crossing his arms across that impressive expanse of chest, Steve seemed like he was having trouble finding the words to explain how he felt. Bucky got that. It was just rare that Steve was that speechless.

"It shouldn't have happened," Steve finally said. "It was just… so fucking easy for Ross to take her, Bucky. That man could have killed her. She could have been dead when we got there."

Bucky nodded, rolling onto his side and moving closer to Steve, his head propped up on his hand.

"She's alive," he reminded Steve. "And I know you. You'll make sure Ross doesn't get anywhere near her again."

"You've got that right," Steve shot back at that. "We may need to move out of the compound. I don't care. Whatever we've got to do."

Bucky nodded his agreement. He'd been thinking about leaving the compound anyway, had said as much to Chris. Now maybe wasn't the time to share that, however.

"Helen said she'll get better," Bucky said gently. "Thank God Tony sent her. That eye looks so bad."

Steve nodded his agreement to that.

"Her body will heal, Buck," Steve replied, "but there's a lot more to it than that. You know what it's like to recover from violence like that. And I don't even know how I'd feel if…"

It was like Steve couldn't bring himself to say it.

Bucky wanted to talk about it.

"I don't have any idea how that feels either," Bucky said carefully, "but we'll be there for her. I don't know if it helps or not that she didn't know about it until it was… But we'll be there for her. We will."

The pain in Steve's blue eyes nearly took his breath away.

"She's lost so much, Bucky," he said, his voice starting to break. "And it's my fault. It's on me."

"What?" Bucky pulled himself up to a sitting position, so he could move closer to his lover. "How is that just your fault? That baby could have mine. Either of us could have been the father."

Steve shook his head looking miserable. "I was so selfish. I should have just… let her go, Buck. Yeah, I wanted her back for you because I could see that first week when she was recovering from being shot that you were gone for her. I'd be lying out my ass if I tried to tell you that was the only reason I went to see her in DC. I pretty much begged her to give this a try. And look where that's gotten her."

"What are you trying to say?" Bucky was a little afraid to ask that question. Was he regretting everything?

"I love her, Bucky, just like you do," Steve said quietly. "But I'm not sure if all of this is best… for her."

"Let her decide that, Stevie," Bucky told him firmly. "It's not our decision. It's hers."

"And if being with us gets her killed?" Steve's glare had him pausing.

Blowing out an exhale, Bucky held his ground. "We make sure being with us doesn't get her killed."

Dropping his gaze, Steve seemed to consider his words for several long minutes. Bucky feigned interested in the news again, but his mind was on anything but. Steve was scaring the shit out of him. It was one thing that their girl had been sold off, brutalized and nearly killed by an old enemy from her time at the FBI. It was another to know that someone on their side of things had betrayed her. And well, Steve was right in worrying about all the things that had changed in her life so far.

When he couldn't take it anymore, he asked, "How would you have reacted if none of this had happened and when we got back from that last mission… and…?"

"And she told us she was pregnant?" Steve finished for him.

Bucky nodded. "Yeah."

Steve blew out an exhale. He looked so tired in that moment.

"Maybe it's because by the time I found out about it was gone but… I would have wanted it as long as she did."

"Yeah?" Bucky's heart clenched in his chest.

"Yeah. What about you?" The intensity in Steve's blue eyes made him pause.

Bucky shook his head and grinned. "I've already been thinking about it, Pal. I've even told her about it. That last goodwill mission you want on with Wanda and Vision."

Some of the sadness dropped away from Steve. "You what?"

"You know, the night I took her out to eat and stayed at her place," Bucky explained. "I told her that night that… Well, I told her I wondered how it would be if we all stayed together, moved out into our own place. Had a couple of kids…"

The faintest blush rose on Steve's face as the corners of his mouth tipped up. "How did she take that?"

Bucky shrugged a shoulder. "She still made love to me right after we talked about it. If she was upset at all about it, I didn't realize it."

"You don't realize a lot of anything when you're horny, Buck," Steve told him with a grin.

"Hey! Not true. That wasn't me trying to get laid then. I meant what I said to her that night. Ever word. I told her I didn't need anything else in the world except for you and her."

Steve pulled him in for a gentle, romantic kiss then and kept at it until his toes curled. Pulling back, Steve sighed deeply then.

"We've never all talked about the future like that but maybe… maybe we should," Steve said, thinking out loud. "It's possible that after this, well…"

"That she'll want a baby?" Bucky asked, not ashamed of the hope that had crept into his voice.

Steve nodded.

"I'm perfectly fine with that," Bucky admitted. "I don't care who the father is either. I'm going to love any kid she gives us no matter what. You?"

"I always wanted a family," Steve admitted. "I always just thought I'd have that one day… before the serum and the ice and everything else that's happened since then."

Bucky reached over, taking Steve's hand in his and smiling.

"But there's something that needs to happen first," Steve told him.

When Bucky's gaze met his, the pure raw emotion in Steve's face had his heart pounding in dread.

"I need to make sure that Ross can never threaten her, or our children, ever again."

Bucky knew that tone, knew the steely determination in his best guys face.

"You mean to stop Ross," Bucky confirmed.

"By any means necessary," Steve told him firmly.