Third Person's POV-
The last thing Aiden saw was Nora looking down at him trying to do the impossible to save him. He didn't expect anything less but he knew it was his time. His last unfinished business was done and his sister, best friend and the kids would be okay so for the first time in his life he was at peace.
As the world went dark and he felt all the weight he was carrying be lifted off he prepared himself for the worst. Because if there was a hell he knew he had earned a one way ticket there a long time ago.
What he wasn't expecting though was for hell to look like was the street outside the town house he lived in with his sister and nephew.
Aiden looked around and noticed that while everything looked the same it was quieter, cleaner and brighter. He cautiously made his way up the steps of the brownstone and opened the door.
While the outside of the house looked the same the inside was identical to the house in Dallas. The sounds of Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven played softly throughout the house. As he walked down the hallway to the kitchen the music got louder.
"I'm telling you all he's going to want is coffee." Wren said.
"I'm giving him options. It's not every day we get visitors. Well visitors that aren't Nora." Jess said.
"When I imagined hell I didn't think it'd be this… homey." Aiden said.
"You think you're in hell?" Wren asked his brother as he walked in.
"Given my track record where else would I be?" Aiden said.
"Well you have to be dead to be in hell and last I checked you weren't." Wren said.
"And you won't be anytime soon if Nora has a say in it." Jess said.
"I'm fairly sure I'm dead considering the two bullets to the heart I took taking out Snow and preventing Europe from becoming a radioactive wasteland." Aiden said.
"I'm pretty sure Nora did the heavy lifting there." Wren said.
"I was there." Aiden said.
"You mean after she got Snow's location from the future, and then stopped you from storming into the bunker without a plan…" Jess started.
"Alright I get it. I messed up and Nora saved my arse." Aiden said.
"Which she always does." Wren said. "You know when I asked you to look out for her I didn't expect you to lead her to Chernobyl."
"Technically Pripyat." Jess said.
"I wanted her to stay to home." Aiden said.
"You really thought she was going to let you go on your own?" Wren said.
"In his defense Nora is pretty reckless on her own and the only reason she was careful was because there was someone else with her." Jess said.
"Thank you." Aiden said.
"Fair enough. But while I do appreciate you looking out for my wife and son and finally taking out that old wanker Nora was right." Wren said and Aiden looked at him confused. "Taking out Snow isn't what really mattered. While I am glad he is no longer a threat you are more than any mission or weapon he tried to make you be."
"He's right you know." Jess said. "You really think my kids would be okay if they lost another uncle?"
"You really think Nora would be okay?" Wren said.
"Nora's resilient. She'd move on." Aiden said and both Jess and Wren laughed at that.
"Did she ever really get over losing us?" Jess said. "Did Sam?"
"Whether you believe you deserve it or not you have people who love you, who will fight for you because that's what family does for each other." Wren said.
"Nora's literally fighting time to keep you alive right now." Jess said.
"Wait I'm still alive?" Aiden said.
"No shit." Jess said. "You really think we'd be giving you this pep talk to try and convince you not to take your life for granted if you were already dead?"
"Nora promised you would be okay, that you'd make it to Argentina and she never breaks a promise." Wren said.
"Never bet against a time traveler." Jess said as Aiden started glowing.
"What the…" he said.
"It's not your time Aiden," Wren said putting a hand on his shoulder. "But when it is we'll be here waiting to hear about everything so make it a good one."
"And thanks for being a great uncle to my kids and for being Sam's wing man." Jess said. "He really did need to get laid."
"Happy to help." Aiden said chuckling.
"And no matter what happens next just know you did all you could and It all works out the way it's supposed to." Wren said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Aiden said but he was gone before he could hear their answer.
He jumped up gasping for air only for a bunch of alarms to set off and people dressed in hazmat suits urging him to lie back.
"What the…" Aiden started. "Who are…"
"Mister Mathis, You're in at the Avenger's compound in New York. You're recovering from major heart surgery and acute radiation poisoning, you need to lie back and rest." Doctor Cho said.
"Nora. Where is she?" Aiden said and Doctor Cho stepped aside so he could see who he was sharing a room with.
"She's unconscious. You both underwent decontamination procedures after your respective surgeries. Nora and Sam did most of the work on the jet but you had to be put into the cradle for a few hours which will reduce your recovery time but you do need your rest. Nora lost a lot of blood in addition of the effects of radiation exposure. She's very weak but her angry twin reassured everyone she would recover." Doctor Cho said. "You were both very lucky."
"Yeah." Aiden said falling back trying to fight back the nausea he was feeling.
Nora's POV-
I woke up alone in a hospital room surprisingly not connected to any heart monitors or IV's. in fact I was in an Ivory night gown instead of the usual generic hospital gowns. I carefully got out of bed and walked over to the floor to ceiling windows on the far wall, I could see Dad's Audi and the front entrance to the compound. The pine trees but I was alone. I couldn't hear anyone and it was unsettling how quiet the compound was.
"You've awoken." A familiar voice said but it wasn't Aya.
"Well not really." I said knowing this wasn't real. "Astral plane?"
"Perceptive as always." The ancient one said.
"Considering everything that's happened recently I knew you'd show up at some point." I said.
"It's the job of the sorcerer supreme to protect reality from any dimensional threats." She said.
"We've really made a mess of things." I said.
"That would be putting it lightly." She said. "The flow of time has corrected itself though I would advise against any such incidents in the future."
"Trust me I don't want a repeat of the last two days." I said. "I'm getting way too old for this."
"Imagine how I must feel." She said. "I am glad you have returned. Our mutual friend was worried."
"Aya worried? That's a first." I said.
"You may not realize it now but you've changed her. You've done more in the past thirty years to humanize her than I ever could in the last thousand." The ancient one said.
"I wouldn't be too sure." I said. "She's probably going to tear me a new one when I wake up."
"Further proof the time stone has a heart." She said with an amused smile. "We'll have tea soon. There's much to discuss."
"Looking forward to it." I said turning to see my body in the bed. I walked back and took my hand pulling myself back.
I opened my eyes gasping awake before being hit with strong nausea.
"Welcome back." Aiden groaned.
I was going to say something but the urge to throw up was too strong I practically jumped out of bed only to collapse on the ground barely making it to the trash can to throw up. I heard someone run in and one of the nurses quickly held my hair back as I puked.
"Ew." I groaned.
"Radiation poisoning will do that." She said helping me back into bed before checking my vitals and leaving me a large emesis basin for when I inevitably had to puke again.
I sat up trying to grab my medical chart but I was so tired it was exhausting just to lift my arms.
"Uh." I groaned falling back.
"I thought Aya would have healed you by now." Aiden said.
"She's afraid of messing with time again." I said. "I don't think I've ever felt this crappy before."
"Join the club." Aiden said.
"Did I miss anything?" I asked.
"I only woke up a few minutes before you." Aiden said. "Apparently we had surgery."
"We did?" I said really wanting to read my chart now.
"They put me in the cradle thing but you lost a lot of blood." He said.
"That's probably why I feel so tired right now." I said. "What about you? You okay?"
"I've been better but I'm not dead so I'm calling it a win." Aiden said. "Thanks for that."
"Anytime just… please not anytime soon." I said.
"Don't worry I don't think I'm going anywhere for a while." Aiden said.
"Same." I said. "Where the hell is Aya in all of this?"
"Oh please don't invoke her. I'm not in the mood for a lecture." Aiden said.
"Considering the mess she's cause the past couple of days I don't think she's in any place to lecture us." I said as someone knocked on the door and Rhodey walked in.
"Hey kiddo." Rhodey said.
"Hi dad." I said.
"How are you feeling?" He asked.
"Like I absorbed a ton of radiation and then a while city fell on me." I said.
"Oh that's what that was?" Aiden said sarcastically. "I was distracted by the two gunshots and the open heart surgery without pain killers."
"You were passed out and frozen in time." I said.
"I'm just saying they should keep pain killers on the jet." Aiden said.
"I'll make sure to put that in the report." Rhodey said. "Speaking of people are asking questions about what happened."
"Snow's dead, we saved Europe end of story." Aiden said.
"That is pretty much it." I seconded.
"Your little adventure destroyed an entire city." Rhodey said.
"It was an abandoned city and it was either that or allow radioactive waste to contaminate half of Europe's drinking water." I said.
"And if we're being honest is anyone really going to miss Pripyat? There wasn't much there to begin with." Aiden said.
"No but the structural damage caused to the protective structure of reactor 4 of the Chernobyl power plant is now a big problem." Rhodey said.
"Why don't we just tell the world there was a minor earthquake which cause the elephant's foot to shift so finishing that protective structure is going to take a bit longer. It's a good cover story and no one has to admit a global security threat slipped into their impenetrable defenses undetected." I said.
"I'd buy that." Aiden said.
"You've done this before haven't you?" Rhodey asked.
"It's probably better if I don't answer that." I said. "Just like I really hope you didn't tell Dad what happened."
"Oh… Too late." Rhodey said.
"You blew up a city?" Dad said marching in carrying Wren in a baby Bjorn. "Why would you even think that is a good idea?"
"Ah!" Wren cheered reaching for me.
"Oh baby." I said reaching for him despite how tired and weak I felt.
"Oh no you don't." Dad started trying to step away but Wren teleported into my arms knocking me back into bed.
"You gave a terrorist your home address, flew a nuke through a wormhole, and built a murder bot." I said sitting up. "The city was abandoned."
"That's…" he started. "Rhodey?"
"It was reckless going in there on your own." Rhodey said.
"Yes you should have had back up or taken the team." He started lecturing as I held my baby who was holding onto my hands to keep himself sitting up.
"I didn't go in there by myself. Technically I was his back up and I'm Aya's host so I never go anywhere by myself." I defended and dad looked torn between wanting to tear me a new one and having to admit I was right.
"Y-you… You're grounded!" He said.
"I'm 23." I deadpanned.
"I don't care!" Tony said storming out.
"Well he took that pretty well." I said and Rhodey just gave me a look while Wren blew a raspberry.
Withing a few hours I was back to normal. I guess years of Aya emitting low levels of gamma radiation finally paid off.
Aiden on the other hand…
"I'm bored." He groaned. "You're a doctor can't you get me out of here? Let me recover at home."
"You had major heart surgery." I said finally out of the hospital gown and in my favorite joggers and MIT hoodie that I had grabbed when I had a chance to teleport home. I was sitting down in the chair next to Aiden's bedside as he relaxed with his orthopedic memory foam pillow and his favorite cashmere blanket. Wren was fast asleep in his stroller which I was still gently rocking just to be sure. "You're not going anywhere for a while."
"I feel fine." Aiden said.
"Really?" I said taking the TV control from his hand and putting it on the table at the foot of his bed. "Sit up and grab the remote."
He gave me a look and tried to do it sitting up with a groan and struggling to keep himself up before falling back.
"You're the worst." He said.
"I love you too." I said handing him back the remote. "You need a few days to recover before you can come home but what I can do is get you something other than ice chips."
"Steak?" he asked.
"I was thinking a popsicle." I said and he groaned.
"Nora." He whined.
"Aiden you can't stand or even go to the restroom on your own right now." I reminded him.
"A popsicle does sound good." he relented.
"I'll go grab it for you." I said standing up.
"Any flavor but grape." Aiden said.
"Okay." I said gently patting his leg before taking Wren with me upstairs. I was still supposed to be in bed but since Aya finished healing me I didn't feel the need to take up a bed in medical. I made up way upstairs to the common room opting to walk to stretch my legs a bit. The common room was empty and I left Wren in his stroller within sight while I went to go dig in the freezer trying to find the good ice pops.
I was bent over digging through the freezer drawer when someone walked in but I didn't hear them.
"You're supposed to be in bed." Natasha said making me hit my head with one of the door.
"Ow," I said. "I was but Aiden got hungry and I managed to talk him down from a steak to an ice pop. Do you have any other than grape?"
"Check under the hot pockets." She said and they were right where she said they'd be.
"Thanks." I said standing up.
"You went home?" She said looking me up and down.
"Yeah the open back didn't really leave a lot to the imagination." I said as Clint walked in with Sam and Steve.
"Nora?!" Steve said.
"Sh!" I shushed gesturing down to the sleeping baby.
"You're not supposed to be out of bed." Sam said.
"I'm fine. Aya fixed me all up." I said pouring myself some coffee.
"A few hours ago you were dead." Clint pointed out and Natasha elbowed him.
"And now I'm not." I said with a shrug. "It's not the first time I die, won't be the last. Mhmm so good. Well I'm going to get these to Aiden before he tries to get out of bed again."
"I'll go with you." Steve said.
"I was just going to teleport back but okay." I said putting a hand on the stroller and one of Steve's shoulder before zapping us downstairs. Steve immediately fell into the empty bed still not used to teleporting.
"Got caught by the hall monitor?" Aiden said with a smirk as he looked at Steve.
"And his friends." I said opening the ice pop so he wouldn't struggle to get it out.
"Oh red." He said cheerfully before he saw my coffee mug. "Really Nora?"
"You're bedridden not me." I said sitting down in the chair propping my feet onto the bed.
"Though you should be in bed." Steve said finally getting his bearings.
"You're one to talk. You normally jump out of planes without a parachute." I reminded him.
"The shield can…" Steve started. "Never mind. I'll just let you two rest."
"I should head home. I have an early shift." I said.
"You're actually going to work?" Aiden said.
"Is that really a good idea?" Steve said.
"I haven't been to work in almost a year. I think that's a pretty long vacation." I said.
"You were stuck in the future." Steve said. "And you took a big hit yesterday on top the radiation poisoning. If there's ever a good excuse to miss work it's that."
"Nah, I love my job. I'd go crazy sitting around doing nothing." I said before getting a dirty look from Aiden. "Sorry. I'll stop by tomorrow morning and bring you a smoothie from your favorite spot."
"And coffee?" Aiden said.
"It's not good for your recovering heart." I said. "Let me know if you want me to bring you anything else."
"My mattress?" He asked.
"Within reason." I said patting his knee.
"Uh actually could we talk before you go?" Steve said.
"Sure." I said pushing the stroller out of the room and into the hallway.
"Uh I… before you left one of you popped in." Steve said.
"One of me?" I asked.
"Past time jump?" Steve said.
"Oh. Wait Pepper broke up with dad, so…I told Bucky about you and…" I said.
"Yeah." Steve said.
"Guess that explains why Bucky hasn't been around." I said.
"He's mad at me and a bit at you for going to Pripyat and dying." Steve said.
"Great." I said.
"Should we talk to him or…" Steve said.
"I'm pretty talked out right now. He needs time to rage and process. And obviously you two need to talk about what I said." I said.
"Shouldn't we…" Steve started.
"Oh no. I've had years to get past what happened and while I'm done being angry at you this is all new to Bucky. That is all you. I'll talk and take my lecture like a big girl when he's ready to yell at me." I said.
"I think it would be better if we all talk given everything that's happened." Steve said.
"We will just not now." I said. "Oh and I wanted to say thanks for looking after Wren while I was away. Aya told me."
"She did?" Steve said surprised.
"Well her exact words were 'He watched the kid and he didn't make a make a mess of it like he normally does.' Which translates to you did a good job." I said.
"Oh it was no trouble he's a great kid." Steve said smiling down at the sleeping baby in the crib.
"That he is." I said. "Well good luck with Bucky."
"Are you sure you shouldn't stay the night? You were kind of dead a few hours ago." Steve said.
"I'm fine promise." I said before teleporting home.
Honestly it felt like it had been forever since I last slept in my own bed. I was almost dreading having to get up the next morning for work but I needed to go back to normal or as close to normal as possible.
I woke up bright and early the next morning to my crying son and a dirty diaper. Once that was settled, I packed Wren into his stroller and went for a walk in the park. I couldn't do my usual run anymore but I could speed walk plus it was good to start the day with some mother son quality time.
I got home had breakfast before I headed to pick up Aiden's smoothie.
When I got to the compound Aiden was trying and failing to make a run for it. He was on the ground facedown trying to crawl to the door.
It wasn't until he saw my foot that he stopped and looked up.
"Morning." I greeted as Wren and I looked down at him.
"Hey I was… getting my morning push…" He started.
"No." I said saving us both the time.
"Yeah." Aiden said giving in. "I'm glad he's not going to remember seeing me like this."
"I don't think he would care." I said putting the smoothie and Wren safely down on the spare bed before helping Aiden back up and comfortably back in bed. I handed him his smoothie before picking up Wren. "It's just a few days."
"I feel pathetic. I spent years waiting for the chance to take out Snow and now that we have we should be celebrating and instead I'm stuck here." Aiden said.
"You're recovering from major surgery and honestly you're lucky to be alive right now." I reminded him.
"So are you. You actually died." Aiden said.
"You know people are making a way bigger deal about it than it really was." I said trying to keep a straight face as I said it.
"Really? You fought time to keep me alive." Aiden said.
"You're not the only one that made a promise." I reminded him. "And I almost tore the universe in half saving you so it'd really suck if you died doing something stupid like trying to get out of bed before you were ready."
"You weren't even here a day." Aiden said.
"I didn't have massive heart surgery in an unsterile environment on top of a huge dose of radiation." I said. "It's just a few days. You'll be back home before you know it and we'll be here so much you won't even get a chance to miss us."
"Fine." Aiden said giving in as I put the heart sensors back on him. "But can I get some real food?"
"Let's see how your heart does the next few hours and you might get some chicken noodle soup for lunch." I said.
"Uh…" He groaned.
"I'll be back later." I said. "Behave."
"Yes mom." He said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes.
"Ha ha, next time instead of teleporting all the way across town to get to your favorite smoothie bar from your favorite barista I'll just get you some of dad's green juice." I said.
"Would you really do that to your favorite brother?" Aiden said.
"Since I'm her favorite brother yes, yes she would." Sam said. "I'm here for my babysitting shift."
"You got me a sitter?" Aiden said.
"You keep trying to escape. It's for your own good." I said before teleporting to work. I dropped Wren off at Daycare which was harder to do than it normally was but once he was tearfully dropped off I went to my happy place, the ER.
It was so good to be back at work. I had a smile on my face that no amount of carnage and DOA's could take off my face.
"It's a beautiful day to save lives." I said.
"Are you okay?" Montgomery asked me as we got out of a huge surgery where our patient died.
"Never better." I said grabbing a coffee.
"There's something different about you." He said.
"What?" I asked.
"Your hair's longer. Almost like it grew six inches overnight." Montgomery said.
"I got extensions. Thought I'd try something new." I said.
"Yeah… that's not it." He said staring at me.
"Look it's been a rough few months but things are starting to turn around. Shit is looking up." I said.
"Nora Eliana Stark." Dad said showing up.
"Oh you're in trouble." Montgomery said.
"Dad, you're here. In the ER." I said surprised.
"You're working. You blew up a city and died yesterday but you're here?" Dad said.
"You blew up a city and died?" Montgomery said.
"Long story." I said. "I'm going to go deal with that."
"Can you tell the family?" He said. "We're got another trauma."
"Take my dud with you." I said nodding to my lowest ranking intern.
"How bad can he really be?" Montgomery said.
"You'll see." I said. "Did you really have to yell it out like that?"
"You're at work after everything that happened yesterday?" Dad said.
"Where else would I be?" I asked grabbing some hand sanitizer walking towards the waiting room as dad followed.
"Did the radiation poisoning damage your brain? Because you remember you died yesterday right?" He said.
"Not the first time not the last. Life goes on, the world is still spinning and today is a great day." I said before seeing the family of my patient. "Wait here a sec."
"Mr and Mrs O'Connell?" I asked as the crying mother and father clung to each other as they stood up. "I'm sorry to inform you that the damage your son suffered during the accident caused damage to the heart and right lung which was more severe than what appeared on the CT. We did we best we could but unfortunately, he didn't make it. I'm very sorry for your loss."
The mother started crying and I walked back to dad who just stared at me dumbfounded.
"I'm feeling Greek food for lunch? That good with you?" I asked him as I kept walking.
"Nora you just…. Your patient died and you're okay?" Dad said looking at me like I had grown another head.
"You can't save them all." I said with a shrug as I went to pick up Wren from daycare.
"Yeah but… Don't you feel bad?" he said.
"People die it happens." I said.
"Are you feeling okay?" Dad asked.
"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" I said as I walked into day care. "There's my little man!"
"Okay." Dad said still giving me a concerned look, the same look he gave me the whole time we were having lunch. Almost like he was waiting for me to go off at any second.
The rest of the day went well, I popped over the compound with Aiden's dinner of soup and we kept him company until 'visiting hours' were over. They had finally let him out of bed for a bit of PT which did help since he finally made it out of bed and could sit in a chair.
"I got a visitor today." Aiden said.
"Please don't tell me you somehow hooked up with a nurse in your condition." I said.
"Nora do you really think so little of me?" Aiden said. "I mean I tried but…"
Wren chose that moment to blow a raspberry.
"Even your nephew doesn't buy that." I told him.
"Your father stopped by." Aiden said.
"He did?" I said genuinely surprised. "We had lunch together but he didn't mention it."
"It was after he wanted to know if you were okay? Apparently you seemed off." Aiden said.
"That's weird." I said.
"I told him you were fine but we both know that was a load of crap." Aiden said. "You are off. You have been since you got back from the future."
"I have no idea what you're talking about." I said with an innocent smile.
"I'm not going to ask because I've been around long enough to know better but we do have to talk about the elephant in the room." Aiden said.
"Elephant?" I said confused.
"I haven't forgotten what Snow said." Aiden said. "Bucky killed your grandfather."
"Bucky didn't kill him, he was brainwashed and…" I started.
"I know that and I understand better than anyone but I'm guessing your father doesn't know?" Aiden said.
"He knows Hydra had something to do with it, just not that Bucky was the weapon they used to do it." I said.
"You're treading on thin ice." Aiden said.
"I know but I didn't get my forgiving and compassionate character from my Dad Aiden. He won't see it the same way as us." I said. "My relationship with Howard was complicated but Tony's was almost nonexistent. Bringing this all up again, he won't be able to handle it. And right now with the break up? He's a mess."
"He seems to be handling it pretty well." Aiden said.
"He's been distracted once everything starts to quiet down that's when he'll spiral." I said.
"And you? Should I be concerned about your spiral?" Aiden said.
"I'm a high functioning spiraler. I'll be fine but we can't…" I started.
"They won't hear anything from me. And I seriously doubt your father will put two and two together. The man is a horrible judge of character. You know he thinks I'm in love with you? Like romantically?" Aiden said.
"Seriously?" I said.
"That's what I said. Are you absolutely sure you're related to the man?" Aiden said.
"Unfortunately Aya confirmed he conceived me in the parking lot of a burger king." I said.
"Uh." Aiden said disgusted.
"Knowledge of time is a gift and a curse." I said.
"Sounds like it." Aiden said.
"But for now let's get you back in bed. It's getting late and you have early morning PT." I said getting up to help him.
"Can't you write me a note excusing me?" He asked.
"Doesn't work that way besides if tomorrow goes well you can come home the day after." I said getting him on his feet.
"Or you can take me home now? Please Nora I'm dying for a steam shower." Aiden said.
"Just a few more days." I said sitting him down and tucking him in. "You'll even be back in time to come with me to Wren's first baby-jamboree class."
"Oh joy." Aiden groaned.
"Say goodnight to our uncle?" I sang to Wren who just blew another raspberry.
"He can't even talk yet and he's already getting smart with us." Aiden said. "Can't wait until he's a teenager."
"Yeah, all those years of teen angst…" I started before remembering I wouldn't be around for them and feeling a knot in my throat as the urge to cry wanted to come out. "So much to look forward to. See you tomorrow."
With that I grabbed Wren's baby carrier and teleported home before I cried in front of Aiden.
Of course me crying made Wren cry and well that was probably my lowest moment as a parent.
"What are you doing?" Aya said appearing as I sat on the floor crying while Wren also cried.
"I'm not going to be there for his teen years." I cried.
"You're kidding." Aya said.
"I'm never going to get to ground him and hear him yell at me telling me I'm ruining his life!" I cried.
"You know some would say you're lucky…" She started but that just made me cry more.
"Okay." Aya said taking Wren and gently rocking him. "I know kid your mom is going crazy. It only took her 30 years to snap but I finally did it."
"Ah…" Wren cooed leaning against Aya as he sucked on his fingers while falling asleep. Aya put him down in the crib once he was asleep.
"Come on." Aya said looking down at me. "Let's go get some air."
"What about…" I started.
"Friday will let you know if he wakes up or anyone tries to get in." Aya said before teleporting us to a rooftop.
I walked over to the edge and sat on the ledge looking out to the city while I cried it out for a bit.
"You've been coming here a lot. At least you used to before…" Aya said.
"There's always a lot on my mind." I said wiping my eyes.
"You've been different since…" Aya said.
"I came back? It was a few days here but.. it was longer for me." I said. "I thought I was okay with it. That I grieved and finally accepted it but I just can't stop crying when I'm alone, in the shower…."
"I'm sorry." Aya said and for the first time since I've known her I knew she really meant it.
"Don't be. Everything happens for a reason." I said. "And I know it was worth it but… I just need to find a way to be able to live with it. To be able to get up every morning and act like it's just another day instead of another number in a countdown."
"I could make you forget. A potion from Frigga's spellbook." Aya said.
"No. I need to remember." I said without. "And I want to remember all of it because that's what I need to hold onto if I'm going to do what needs to be done. But there is something I need you to do for me."
"Nora." Aya started to argue.
"It's not a time jump, don't worry. I need you to make me a promise." I said.
"You know I can't do that, I don't interfere." Aya said and I couldn't help but laugh.
"You don't interfere? Really? How do you think we ended up in this mess to begin with Aya?" I said. "I am only going to get five years with Wren because you chose me out of everyone in the freaking universe. That adorable innocent baby is going to be an orphan when that was the last thing I ever wanted for him. I was supposed to be different to Dad, to Howard and the shitty fathers that came before in the Stark line. I was supposed to be the one that broke the cycle of shitty parenting, I was going to do it right but I'm not. I'm not going to get that chance to be there for most of the important moments of his life and honestly the only thing that is keeping me from truly losing it right now is that he was raised by two of the best men I know into the extraordinary man you always said he would be. So considering all of that and everything we've been through and will go through you owe me."
Aya was quiet before sighing.
"What is it?" She finally asked.
"You've put me through the ringer these past few years. I've passed every single one of your stupid tests. I've done everything you've ever needed me to do and even with what I know now I'll keep doing that but I need you to promise me that no matter what happens Wren won't grow up how I did. That he won't be alone and he'll be safe, that he will get to be the dad to his son or daughter that he wants to be." I said.
"Nora." Aya said.
"You owe me that much." I said. "Please."
"You already know I will." She said. "But there is something else we need to talk about."
"And what's that?" I asked.
"Aiden." Aya said. "Have you figured it out yet?"
"I was hoping I was wrong." I said.
"There's a reason temporal fields aren't meant to be sustained that long." She said. "And why they are especially not meant to be used on people."
"He was dying Aya." I said. "He was alive in the future and I thought it was the right thing to do."
"It was and in the end you do manage to fix him." Aya said. "But in the meantime he is frozen in time. Everything happened the way it was supposed to and the paradox was resolved."
"I don't think calling him a paradox is going to make the news any better." I said.
"He'll be fine." Aya said. "It'll be years before he realizes anything."
"And the technology to reverse it won't exist for another thirty years." I said.
"Approximately." Aya said.
"Remember when the only thing we had to worry about was getting shot by Nazis?" I said.
"Or a whiney teenager?" Aya retorted.
"I never thought I'd say this but those were the day." I said getting up. "I'm going home to cry myself to sleep over a pint of Ben and Jerry's half baked."
"Good to know some things never change." Aya said.
"At this point I should buy stock in the company. They're going to be getting a lot of business in the next couple of years." I said teleporting home.
So I went home and cried over a pint of ice cream, of course that didn't help me sleep and I did what I always do when I can't sleep, I went to work and boy did I work.
I redid our stock portfolio, I wrote up a research proposal (technically five of them). I wrote extremely personalized and detailed recommendation letters for some of my residents. I created new apps. I cleaned the house from top to bottom. I reorganized everything and when I had nothing else to do I did it all over again.
I made it over a week without sleep or sleeping in temporal fields so that to everyone else it would seem like I was awake 24/7.
When Aiden came home it drove him crazy.
He was still on the mend but being stuck at home with an overly attentive nurse who didn't sleep raised a lot of red flags.
"Nora will you sit the hell down." Aiden said from the couch while I stood behind him fluffing his pillow for the third time in the hour.
"I actually should go check on Wren…" I started.
"He's asleep. Just like he was five minutes ago when you last checked on him." Aiden said.
"Well it's almost time for him to wake up, you know this new schedule…" I started.
"Sit." Aiden said staring me down.
"Fine five minutes while the lasagna finishes up in the oven." I said.
"Are you feeling alright?" he asked.
"You know everyone keeps asking me that." I said.
"Because you're acting like you're on crack." Aiden said.
"I'm not…" I started.
"I've been home a week and the most you've slept is five minutes." He said.
"Oh yeah no I figured out how to use temporal fields to get a full eight hours in five minutes or less." I said. "There's a lot more time in the day when you don't sleep."
"Time to stand over your son's crib and watch him sleep." Aiden said. "The first few times it was endearing but you've gone past smothering and now it's just creepy."
"He is an adorable baby and SIDS is a real thing." I said.
"I'm well aware. Nora. I also know that you have Friday monitoring his vitals, his crib is cleared of any choking hazards, and he sleeps in an organic hypoallergenic onesie on his back which reduces his chances of SIDS to practically zero." He said. "You're overdoing on well everything."
"I wouldn't say everything." I said.
"The month worth of meals filling the freezer would say otherwise." Aiden said.
"I'm just getting ahead of things. Should anything come up it's just one less thing to worry about." I said.
"What would we have to worry about?" Aiden said.
"You never know." I said.
"Nora you need to give yourself a minute to breathe and maybe start focusing on what you're really trying to avoid. The past few weeks have been busy but they're not anymore and I think you're running out of excuses to avoid talking to… them." Aiden said.
"This isn't about Steve and Bucky." I said.
"Then why haven't you three talked yet. Why isn't Bucky here? He didn't stop by once when you were in the infirmary. In fact he'd only stop by to see me when you weren't around." Aiden said.
"I'm letting him cool off." I said. "A past me popped up and filled him in on some of the things he didn't know happened between Steve and I."
"Ah." Aiden said. "Well it's been a week so I'd say it's about time you three talk."
"Is there really a rush…." I started.
"I saw you vacuum the ceiling last night. I'd say its time." Aiden said as Wren started crying and Axl ran in holding his leash and the oven dinged. "And I'd say that's a sign."
"But…" I started.
"Go I throw you out myself." Aiden said.
"Fine. But if you need anything…" I said.
"Nora." He warned.
"I'm going." I said going to grab Wren, pack up the lasagna and then grab Axl.
I teleported us to the compound where there was no one around. Just as Bucky walked into the common room Axl pounced on him.
"Oh." Bucky said laughing as he hugged Axl petting him. "I uh didn't know you were coming."
"Aiden kicked me out of the house. I was apparently hovering too much." I said. "But I brought lasagna. Fresh from the oven."
"Something smells good." Steve said coming in through the other door. "Nora."
Oh we were definitely parent trapped.
"Steve." I said.
"EEH!" Wren cheered reaching towards Steve.
"Hey little man." Steve said wanting to reach down to pick him up but hesitating and looking towards me not knowing if I was okay with that.
"Uh, would you mind." I asked him. "I'll grab us some plates."
"A-are you…" Steve started but Wren let out another loud cheer.
"Yeah he's obviously okay with it." I said.
"Okay." Steve said smiling as he looked down at Wren as he unblocked him from his seat and picked him up. "Oh did you get bigger since I last saw you?"
Wren blew a raspberry. I looked torn between wanting to smile and wanting to cry but decided to just focus on the lasagna. Getting the forks and plates. I turned and Bucky and Steve were both playing with Wren. Making him laugh as Bucky made a voice and waved his bear around.
I didn't think it was possible to be so happy and so sad at the same time.
"Hope you two are hungry." I said forcing myself to smile.
"It smells great." Steve said.
"Better than having take out again." Bucky said.
"Or Dad's cooking." I said.
"Learned that lesson the hard way." Bucky said shivering at the memory.
"Am!" Wren called out putting his arms out.
"Oh this little monkey thinks he's getting some of this." I said taking him from Steve and blowing a raspberry on his cheek making him laugh. "Not happening but we've got formula. Yay!"
Having Axl and Wren around helped keep things light but once Wren fell asleep again and Axl decided to nap next to Wren's stroller since he still didn't completely trust Steve it was back to being awkward.
"I'm just going to come out and say it. Past me told you about all the things you didn't know that happened and you're obviously mad." I said to Bucky.
"I was mad. Then you went to Pripyat and died and came back." Bucky said. "You should have told me."
"Technically I sort of did." I said.
"This isn't a joke Nora." Bucky said.
"I know just… I've been dealing with a lot of confusing time perspectives and honestly that feels like it happened decades ago. Which it did. Look the three of us have been through… a lot. I've been angry, hurt, confused, sad, and pretty much every emotion in between and I'm tired of it. I've seen first-hand what holding onto a grudge for way too long does to a person and it's a waste of a good life." I said.
"Nora I know I've said it before but I really am sorry about everything." Steve said.
"And I accept your apology but I think what happened needed to happen. I mean if you didn't screw up I wouldn't have my son and he's without question the best thing that's ever happened to me." I said.
"He's a great kid." Steve said.
"That being said you both shouldn't have lied to me. Since I came back everyone has been tip toeing, treating me like a bomb that could go off at any minute and I can't spend the rest of my life like that." Bucky said. "I understand that things can't be the way they used to be but it can't be like this either. I love you both for trying to protect me but if we're in this together then we need to be in everything together. Good or bad."
"I should have owned up to my mistakes before I just wanted things to be the way they were before." Steve said. "The way they would have been if you didn't fall from the train and I didn't crash the plan."
"I don't think that's ever been an option." I said finally saying it out loud. "I think it was stupidly naïve to think that we would live happily ever after as soon as the war ended. I mean Bucky I met you at a Nazi prison camp. Steve came in wearing tights with no actual training or plan and if we're being honest it was dumb luck that any of us got out of there alive."
"I wouldn't say dumb luck." Steve said.
"Didn't they shoot at you after you parachuted out of the plane?" Bucky said.
"Well yeah…" Steve admitted.
"And you landed on your communicator." I added.
"Okay a lot of things went wrong but a lot went right." Steve said.
"Luck." Bucky and I said.
"I was an 18 year old kid in love for the first time and we were at war. We clung to each other because we didn't know if we were going to live to see another day." I said. "The three of us are good in a crisis and we work well together but outside of that there's no foundation."
"We love each other." Steve said.
"But that's not enough. All of our fights and breakups happened when we were in London, not working. I have never doubted that you two were meant to be because you had years to bond, to get to know each other, to get on the same page. In less than a week we went from meeting each other, to living together and in a relationship." I said. "That's not a relationship, that's a coping mechanism."
"That's not true Nora. I love you. I've always loved you." Bucky said.
"And I love you too Bucky. I love you both but that doesn't justify everything that went wrong, it doesn't mean that we didn't have problems before. It just meant we were willing to ignore it all because it was easier and there were bigger things to worry about." I said. "I can't go back to that."
"A-are you saying we're done?" Steve said.
"I'm done pretending that love conquers all. I'm not that 18 year old girl anymore. Just like you two aren't the same boys from Brooklyn pretending you're just best friends." I said. "We've changed and what we were doesn't work for me now. If we do decide that being together is what we all want then we need to start over and do it right."
"Can we even do that? Start over after everything?" Steve asked.
"I think that's the only way we can move forward." Bucky said. "We're in a different place all on more or less even ground. And what we had before doesn't work for who I am now. I've done things that the old me wouldn't have been able to do and I can't be that Bucky Barnes again, I'm not the soldier either. So what does that leave?"
"It can't be that easy to just forget everything." Steve said.
"It's not forgetting, it's learning from our mistakes so that we get it right this time and build something better." I said.
"And how do we do that?" Steve said.
"I think we keep it simple and just say… Hi I'm Nora." I said and Bucky snorted. "We've got to start somewhere."
"I'm James Barnes but I prefer Bucky." Bucky said putting his hand on my left hand. We both looked at Steve.
"And I'm Steve Rogers The guy who already loves you and will always love you both." Steve said.
"Oh." I said cringing a bit.
"The L word? And we haven't even been on one date." Bucky said.
"That's moving a bit too fast don't you think?" I said.
"Would this be a red flag?" Bucky asked.
"I don't know Bucky, I'm getting stranger danger vibes." I said.
"Bu… I was… I was doing a thing." Steve said and we just gave him a look. Steve looked like a deer in the headlights before Bucky started laughing and I followed after him.
"You should see the look on your face." Bucky said.
"I should have snapped a photo. You looked like a kicked puppy." I said.
"You're suck a jerk." Steve said.
"Watch it punk you don't want to scare our girl away." Bucky said.
"Your girl? We haven't even been on a date yet. Slow your roll." I said standing up.
"What? I was just…" Bucky started.
"You're supposed to be doing things right this time around. Just saying." I said grabbing Axl's leash and picking up Wren. "I have to get the kids home, night."
"Uh night?" they said.
Third Person's POV-
They watched Nora teleport home before a thought occurred to Bucky.
"Wait if we're starting over and I sort of live with her does that mean I have to move out now?" Bucky asked Steve who just started laughing.
"Guess you should have thought of that before jerk. By the way we haven't even had one date yet, I'm not so sure we should be sharing a bed." Steve said.
"That's not funny Steve." Bucky said.
"I thought it was." Steve said getting up. "Night."
"What do you mean night?" We share a room." Bucky said. "We share a room right?"