This is a fan made story. I don't own the rights to Captain America, any of its characters or any characters within the MCU… Much to my disappointment. This will have some violent content and possible triggers. Steve/Bucky Established Relationship. Constructive criticism is welcome but if you don't like it simply because you don't like the line of thinking, please don't attack me for it.
AN: I am really sorry about all the delays. My life has been a bit crazy lately. My dad has been in and out of the hospital multiple times the past few months, my work hours have been all over the place and to top it all off, writers block is my ultimate nemesis. Such is life though. This chapter took way too long to write as a result (yes, I have been trying to write this chapter for like four months, so sorry).
Chapter 22: Birthday Surprise
Once Peter and May had moved into the tower, everyone else noticed a distinct shift in Tony's behavior. The man, who normally had to be dragged from the labs for non-Natalia related things, had made a habit of working on his paperwork on the common floor quite frequently. Steve and Laura weren't complaining because it meant that Tony was doing his paperwork rather than just having them sign it for him. Bruce had to all but ban Tony from stealing Peter from him as an intern too. Bruce had figured out swiftly that Peter was going to prove extremely useful to him, rather than just a cover for the teen's training.
Although Peter was a kid, he was a kid with a genius level IQ and really should be in a college at the least. The kid also had him looking at things in new angles which he couldn't help but appreciate. Peter even learned how to manage the equipment as easy as breathing. Of course, Tony would want to steal him. Bruce had rebuffed Tony by pointing out that he had his daughter to bounce ideas off of and could allow Bruce a mentee as well.
The rest were looking on with amusement at the shift in behavior. It was clearly because May and Helen had taken up working on the main floor when selecting candidates for the ECHO program. It was also clear as day that the he had it bad for May. It was strange, Tony had never focused in on a single woman before Pepper and even with the collective pair that had been Pepper Pots, Tony's attention still wandered, he still flirted.
This seemed to be different, in the two days that had passed, more than a few people had come in for interviews with May and Helen and plenty of the options were attractive but Tony hadn't even batted an eye at them. He had, instead, seemed to take it as a way to prove his interest was sincere when it came to May. He completely ignored them beyond a professional interest and more than a few of the women had tried to flirt.
They did take a brief break though, halfway through the week for Natalia's birthday. The now four-year-old girl had requested an Alice in Wonderland themed party, which Tony had gone overboard to provide. There were even assigned costumes. Natalia was naturally Alice, Natasha was the Queen of Hearts, Peter was the Mad Hatter at Natalia's insistence, Tony was the March Hare, Steve and Bucky were Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dumb, Wanda was the White Queen and so on and so forth. It was all rather amusing as far as the adults were concerned.
It was going exactly how a four-year-old's fantasy birthday should go too. The cake was a three-tiered monstrosity that looked like it had come from Wonderland, they had a massive tea party and there was a massive pile of presents, mainly from Tony, for Natalia. Her miniature car had been finished and was situated in a position of honor. Everyone had just gotten past singing Happy Birthday to the now four-year-old when the assemble alert went off.
Tony immediately started to swear a blue streak, much to the amusement of the children. Steve sighed and didn't even bother attempting to admonish Tony, the kids were giggling too hard to be heard. Instead, he took an assessing look and made a split-second decision, "Alright, Bruce, Peter, get the kids, May, Laura and Helen down to the bunker behind the Hulk room. Peter, suit up. Bruce, you don't need to Hulk out unless there is an attempt on the tower but you two position yourselves in the Hulk room. Everyone else, suit up. FRIDAY, what is the situation report?"
The straightforward orders confused more than a few people, "You think this might be a distraction?" Natasha asked as they all headed for the elevator."
"Chicago has both insurgents and drones attacking Willis Tower, Millennium Park and Union Station. By appearances, they are Hydra. Their motives are, as of yet undetermined," FRIDAY responded to Steve's request.
Steve gave a knowing look to Natasha as they walked, "Casualties?"
"An estimated ten dead and thirty injured, though the numbers will increase if response isn't immediate, Captain," FRIDAY responded.
"With no known motives? Yeah, we leave the heavy hitters here. FRIDAY inform all staff we are on lock down. Get suited up people," Steve ordered.
Peter was more than a little startled, he looked to Bruce, whose face was grim. As the pair herded the kids and non-Avengers into the elevator he tried to process orders, "If Steve is expecting an attack on the tower, why is the team going to Chicago?"
"You can't leave one point weak for any enemy to exploit. If the Avengers don't show up when they are needed, we will be on shaky ground with the UN session next week. They will question why. They can leave us behind because I definitely won't be needed to deal with ground troops and drones. The big guy isn't exactly precise like will be needed for this one. Hulk is more of a smash his way through the massive flying ship or fight the robot army tool, not a pick out the goons from a crowd of flee civilians type. And since no one even knows that Spider-Man is in with us now, they have no way of knowing that you could even be called in, for all that you would probably be useful for the drones," It was Rebecca who responded, getting odd looks from all the adults.
"Well, you're not wrong, kind of surprising you would know that though," Bruce stated, looking at the little girl.
"Hydra was trying to turn me into a weapon. Ironically, they used a lot of material that I now know was from Daddy and Papa's WWII campaign tactics books. They must have gotten it from Peggy Carter's and Howard Stark's position while they were a part of SHIELD. The funniest part is that they never did learn how to use it or to understand that way of thinking. They are so used to the Hulk being used as back up, they have to think they will be coming at a building without and Avengers to defend it," Rebecca stated as the elevator doors finally opened into the underground level that that Hulk room was located on.
"How did you understand it if your teachers didn't?" Peter asked as they walked into the hulk out room.
"Our normal teachers didn't teach it to me. They had daddy teach me the handbook. I think that is part of why his programing broke down so easily. They were having him teach me his real way of thinking. It must have made something reconnect," Rebecca shrugged as Bruce keyed in a code to a door in the wall.
They all entered a comfortable looking room with couches, T.V.s and computers. Off to the side, Bruce opened a small door that revealed Peter's new suit and a pair of stretchy pants for Bruce to wear in the case that he had to Hulk out. They left the room, Bruce securing the door as they exited.
"We can change out here, no need to traumatize the kids or your aunt," Bruce stated before he started to strip.
Peter looked wide-eyed at Bruce as he started to remove the costume before jolting to action and doing the same. They tossed they costumes into what looked to be a closet. Peter hadn't put his mask on yet, looking to Bruce who had started pacing nervously.
"What's the situation report, FRIDAY?" Peter asked, his anxiety ratcheting up, once he realized that this would likely be his first time encountering a true fight. Before this, his only experience in a fight was back alley muggers and the incident that had led him here with the attempted kidnapping.
"The Boss had already arrived in Chicago and is dealing with the drones. The remainder of the team is less than a minute out. Avengers Tower is in full lockdown mode. All standard employees have been secured in designated safe zones and the security staff are currently patrolling all vulnerable floors of the Tower. The casualties in Chicago are currently estimated at forty dead and one-hundred injured," FRIDAY's response had Peter's nerves at full alert.
"You really think that Hydra would kill that many people just to get at the kids?" Peter asked Bruce whose eyes had turned green, a sign that he was on the edge of a Hulk out.
"Hydra, sure they would. Ross had higher standards than they do, and he was willing to destroy a college campus to get ahold of me," Bruce's voice had dropped into a deeper tone, another sign he was teetering.
Peter was about to ask FRIDAY to patch them into the team's coms when the power went out. He tugged on his mask which fortunately activated immediately, one thing that they didn't need was night vision since Peter had already developed the ability along with his other spider-based abilities. A glance to where Bruce was led to the odd experience of watching the man go into full Hulk which had him turning massive. Something he hadn't really had the opportunity to appreciate from the news footage.
"Hey big guy, nice to meet you. Can you see or is it too dark for you?" Peter decided that he had to have conversation as they were waiting for the intruders.
"HULK SEE FINE!" Hulk responded indignantly.
Peter chuckled slightly, but not wanting to anger the giant, "Good to hear. You know what we are expecting right? Hydra goons. I am going to try to capture them if we can, okay? We will need to know what their goal is. Can you keep any from hurting me?"
"THAT EASY. GOAL IS TINY HUMANS. THEY WANT HURT THEM. HULK SMASH ANY WHO HURT TINY RED OR TINY CUPIDS… OR TINY, TINY HUMANS," Hulk nodded knowingly, and Peter had to force himself not to laugh and focus on the elevator doors.
"Babies. They're called babies, or I guess in Sarah's case, toddler," Peter supplied. Hulk snorted but nodded again.
They fell silent for a few seconds before they heard banging on the other side of the elevator doors and Peter raised his arms, ready to activate his web-shooters as soon as people started coming through. Just then he got an amusing thought, launched a bit of web to the ceiling to climb and swung himself up until he could position himself upside-down, hanging on by his feet. A glance at Hulk revealed the green giant approved.
Just after that the elevator doors finally opened to reveal the elevator shaft and bunch of goons that swung themselves into the room, only to be confronted by the Hulk, Peter laughed when one guy actually screamed before he started unleashing webs to pin them to the floor which resulted in confusion and pandemonium as more than one person just entering tripped over their fellow, which Peter took advantage of, webbing them down on top of the other. His highest stack got to five guys before no more came through.
Peter dropped down just as the lights came back on and started laughing at the stacks of idiots in tactical gear pinned to the floor, "Hey, Hulk, do you think they underestimated us?" Peter asked with way too much amusement in his voice.
"HULK THINK GOONS DUMB, ALWAYS LOOK UP," Hulk responded bluntly.
Peter burst into another round of laughter at the statement. The elevator finally came down to their level and out rushed the Avengers, only to pause to see Peter rolling on the floor laughing, Hulk with a smirk and the stacks of goons pinned by webbing.
"How?" Tony asked, seriously confused by the stack that was five high. Peter just turned into an even bigger mess of laughter, clutching his gut from laughing so hard.
Natasha rolled her eyes and went over to Hulk who immediately allowed the 'lullaby' to occur. Once Bruce was back, even he couldn't resist a chuckle at the sight. At Steve's questioning look, Bruce shrugged, "The big guy let Peter handle it all. Didn't even lift a finger."
"And the stacks?" Bucky questioned while Steve and Natasha went to open the bunker door.
"Du-dumbasses… the dumbasses didn't take advantage of their night-vision goggles and kept tripping over each other. I just hit them with web as they went down. We need a picture to commemorate it," Peter finally got control of his laughter and stood, though he didn't take off the mask. He hadn't actually knocked any of the goons out and the lot were either struggling pointlessly or groaning in resignation at the sight of the Avengers.
The elevator returned with a security team led by Hill, "Huh, so the Spider-brat makes a pretty good babysitter after all. Was it the kids' idea to have pig piles? Oh well, Tony, we have another two dozen catch throughout the building secured in our holding cells. Those Icer rounds that you snagged from the SHIELD records are damned useful, Natasha. Idiots all dropped like rocks regardless of where we hit them. This is going on twitter though." Hill stated this all before snapping a picture with her phone of the biggest stack which was the one the Peter happened to be standing next to.
She smirked as she posted it with the words 'When you get Spider-Man as a babysitter and some idiots decide to throw a party at your house #PigPile #AvengersRule'. Once she finished she looked at Tony, "So, how is that formula to dissolve this stuff coming?"
Peter jumped into action at that, "I'll get it. It's in the labs." His voice held a pitch the indicated he was flustered.
Natalia and the other kids had been let out of the bunker by now and were looking at the piles of goons with giggles. When Cooper attempted to go over and harass one of them, Clint took control and herded them all into the returning elevator, "I am just going to get the kids back up to the main floor. They can finish their cake. We will wait for presents until you guys finish up here."
Once the children were removed, Helen, May and Laura following, the humor drained from the room. Peter returned with what amounted to a large spray bottle. Hill and the security team circled around the piles as Peter sprayed them and the webbing melted away. They didn't even give the men and women time to react, simply shooting them with icer rounds and stripping them of all weapons. There were a full three dozen in this group and they were all dragged into the elevators and brought up to the security floor holding cells.
"So, no shots were fired on this floor?" Tony asked once the last were gone.
"No, I think they were all too startled by the Hulk being here to fire, or maybe too afraid of what would happen if they shot at him and since Peter was hanging from the ceiling, they didn't know he was here until it was too late, and they were pinned. They were probably confused, to be honest," Bruce responded.
"Good. Good work Peter, smart move, going to the ceiling. That's the kind of tactical thinking I like to see. Now let's get back to the kids. Natalia is probably dying to open her presents," Steve stated. "You might as well stay in your suit, no point in changing now. The costume part was pretty much ruined when half of us had to rip off ours to get into our suits in time."
"You can't honestly believe that getting out of a Victorian era style dress is easy. That was a monstrosity. There was legitimately no other way getting out of it quickly," Natasha responded with a death glare.
"No joke and it wasn't exactly as if we could have lingered either, or worse, gone into a fight with what amounts to ballgowns," Wanda seconded with a blush, it had been her powers that had shredded both gowns, her own being the White Queen costume.
Tony was snickering. Bucky rolled his eyes at the indignation of the women. By this time, they reached the main floor and found all the kids contently eating cake. They all gathered around to join in. Natalia didn't seem to mind that they were in uniforms, sans Tony who ditched his armor to reveal he still had his March Hare suit underneath, though it was a bit rumpled.
After that was presents, which had a gleeful four-year-old shredding wrapping paper to reveal stacks of books, both in non-fiction topics she enjoyed studying and in fictional works that were the necessary read of any young child, science kits, her own personalized tool set, laser tag gear and nerf guns, water guns and to everyone's confusion, a potato gun, which Tony stated was something he would explain some later time. May and Steve were clearing away the wrapping paper when FRIDAY spoke up.
"Boss, we have an incoming call from unknown origin," FRIDAY announced bringing immediate tension to the room.
Tony hesitated before looking to Steve who nodded, "Connect it." His voice was strained, hoping that it wasn't who he thought it was.
Tony's hopes were dashed when the cloying tones of fake Pepper, real Jennifer Jenkins, was heard by all, "Tony, did you miss me? Did you enjoy my little birthday present for our darling Iron Princess? Natalia is what you named her, correct? You really shouldn't have allowed Natasha name the girl. That awful woman will corrupt my dear girl."
Tony's initial look had been rage but quickly morphed into amusement when he noted the narrowed look on May's face. He laughed at the last comment, "Your dear girl? You do realize that Natalia isn't your child biologically nor did you even give birth to her, so how was she your girl? You do realize you sound more than a little deranged right? Was it losing your twin sister that did it? If you didn't kill her yourself that is. Blunt force trauma to the back of the head is what the coroner said."
"She is my girl. All of them are my children. Well, Amelia's but she was my identical twin which means they are just as genetically mine as they were hers. Besides, you've known about them for what? A few months. I was there for their births. I helped organize their educations, their care, without Amelia and myself, those children wouldn't exist," Jennifer Jenkins snapped. "And I will get them back. For all that the control words no longer work on the Soldier."
"Ah, so you were surveilling the fight, huh? Listening in? Yeah, Wanda removed every bit of programing in my head. And Bitch, they aren't yours, if they were, they wouldn't be so damn happy here. Want to know something funny? They let us know where they were. They hacked your computers and put their files out to all the Hydra databases because they heard the Avengers were taking them down. That wanted us to come get them. You know what that means? No matter the upbringing or training you tried to instill in our kids, blood won out. They were just too much like their parents to break to your way of thinking," Bucky barked a bitter laugh as he tugged Rebecca close. "Just like the littlest of exposure to Rebecca woke me up, we are too strong to fold to you and we never will."
Steve smiled as he picked up Sarah, "That is because you all still fail to understand the basics of reality. Love does conquer all, as clique as that sounds. It broke through your brain washing twice. Once for a daughter and once for a lover. Oh, and all your little pawns, we took them all alive. I don't know if it was because you don't still give them those cyanide capsules or because they just didn't want to die but we will be having some fun with the interrogations."
"You'll never win. Cut off one head and two will replace them," Jennifer growled out angrily.
"Good thing we've learnt that if you cauterize the neck after cutting off the head, none grow back. Also, you guys have got your symbol wrong. I have been wanting to point that out. You have a Kraken, Many legs, one head, as your symbol not a Hydra. Hydras don't look like octopus, they look like a many headed serpent. You guys aren't smart if you can't understand your basic Greek Mythology, damn, it was even in that Disney Hercules movie," Bruce added in, he wasn't above taunting. "Also, your many heads got taken out by a newbie, so not that good in a fight."
"Пошел ты, сука," Natalia shouted.
"The call has been disconnected, Boss," FRIDAY announced.
Natasha had her head in her hand, shoulders shaking. Tony looked at her in concern, "You okay there?"
Natasha burst into laughter, her control gone. She scooped up her daughter and hugged her tight, "Yeah, though the insult fest got a little excessive."
"Yeah, what exactly did Natalia say at the end?" Steve looked confused, his confusion was compounded but Bucky bursting into laughter as well.
"She said, and this is a direct quote, 'fuck you, bitch' in Russian," Clint responded, smiling in amusement.
"Well, now that that is dealt with, shall we get to back to the party?" Tony asked.
Everyone agreed, and the rest of the afternoon devolved into a massive, multi-floor nerf battle. Tony did slip away briefly to contact Detective Smith about Jennifer Jenkins contacting him as well as the infiltration and attempted kidnapping of the kids. The Detective stated that she was going to have to turn the case over to the FBI as it had gotten way above her pay grade but would put the agent in charge in contact with Tony as soon as she found out who it was.
Пошел ты, сука = Fuck you, bitch (again curtesy of google translate)