A/N: Hey guys! I nearly got this to you on time this week. Reviews are appreciated.

Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, Disney, ABC, or the Avengers.


After several hours in the snow, Callie crashed in my arms, napping peacefully as I extracted her from her snow clothes. As I tucked her in our bed in the cell, I asked FRIDAY to keep me updated, as I was feeling squishy.

"Squishy ma'am?"

"Oh, I'm soft. I haven't exercised in a few days." I said, rubbing my neck muscles.

"Want to spar?" Natasha's voice said as she materialized from the shadows.

"Sure. But I should warn you, I was trained by SHIELD's top agents."

"We'll see," She smirked. As I stretched, I could see her sizing me up in my peripheral vision. When I was sufficiently limber, I turned and stopped the foot she aimed at my head.

"Rules?" She asked, in question.

"No powers." I said, reaching for the fake shock sticks.

"No weapons either."

"Alright, you want this easy then?"

"Overconfident," Natasha said before she attacked.

"Have you met yourself?" I smiled, as I threw her to the mats.

"Who trained you?" She growled out, as she grabbed my arm and flipped me backwards.

"YOU DID!" I said, "And Clint. And May."

"Melissa May?" She asked, stopping. I used the opportunity to swing my foot and take out her footing, before using the momentum to bring her arm behind her back and pin her to the mat.

"Yeah. She and my Natasha will be training my kids when they are old enough."

"You trust… me around kids?"

"Of course." I said, getting up off of her and backing up a good few feet to prepare for her next attack. It never came, as I saw the confusion on her face.

"You keep saying godmother, and you mentioned being a surrogate. The 'me' in the other universe…. She's really let go of her past."

"Our pasts do not define us, but rather how we chose to move on and be better or worse. She's… I guess you could say, she's seen the way things could have been, but she's forging her own destiny. Bruce leaving isn't the end of you Nat."

"You're intuitive too. Damn Stark genes." She said, flipping over on the mat and sitting cross legged.

"No. I had to give my Nat a lot of sessions. She wanted me to delve into her mind and help ease the pain, but I refused."

"She feels pain?"

"Over losing her heart to a man who ran. But the truth is, she was in pain because she had opened herself up in a way she hadn't with anyone else. And then he left. She put up walls, but by being there for her with a bottle or two of vodka, she opened up without the help of my gift."

"If I asked you to…"

"You need to have a level of trust in me that you don't have yet. Until you pull down those mental walls, and let someone see your pain, and comfort you, you aren't going to get any better. I can deal with the mental and spiritual damage, but the emotional one takes something a little stronger."

"What's that?"

"Love." I said plainly, sitting down next to her.

"It's like with Bucky. There is only so much I can fix in his mind. He sees Steve's unconditional love for him, and he's able to deal with the pain and the confusion in a controlled way, in a safe place. One that I can't give this Bucky. Just like I can't give you, but I can give my Nat."

"She's the godmother of your twins."

"Yeah," I smirked, "And Sam is the godfather."

"Planning for your death?" She said, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm pretty sure Nat has thought of a way to steal my children from me, some that include killing the three of us." I chuckled, "But she loves them more than anything. I can't wait to see her as a mom."

The silence that followed was deafening, and I remembered the pink elephant in the room.

"I'm sorry. You may just get the chance yet." I said hopefully.

Her head shook, "After… Dr. Banner left, I knew that a future outside these morons was impossible. He knew it too."

"That's not what Bruce and Nat have told me. I was there when he returned to apologize to her. He explained that Wanda had given him a vision that the Hulk ripped you apart, because he got mad at something small. And it scared him, because he loves you so much, he would rather leave you forever, than live with the knowledge that he could kill you. But I know that doesn't make up for the fact that he broke your heart."

"I've never given much thought to therapy."

"I knew you were going to say that," I smiled.

"Was there any information on his whereabouts that you could trace?" She asked, changing the subject slightly.

"Sao Paulo around the end of July. After that, he came back."

"He hasn't returned here." She said emotionless.

"He will. Don't doubt that he loves you. He is fighting his instincts right now, and he's working to get home to you. After hearing about the Accords, he's just worried about Ross finding him."

"Ross would literally start another world war for Banner's capture."

"Which is exactly why I plan on bringing him down."

"I would be lying if I said I wanted to stop you, like the Accords tell me to." She smiled, genuinely and I felt my whole body relax. She was beginning to open up to me. My Natasha rarely smiled like that, let alone when it was just us.

"And I would be lying if seeing you smile didn't just lift my spirits. You don't have to be the Black Widow all the time Nat. You can be yourself around these guys. I know you've grown to see them as family."

"All families have a few nuts though."

"And this is the nuttiest." I laughed. Her smile appeared again and I laid back against the mat.

"I wish we could figure out a stable 'door' of sorts. I'd like to come back to visit." I said, sighing.

"One day. After Tony has worked himself into a tizzy about being the first to discover inter-dimensional travelling. We'd never hear the end of it."

"It'd just have to be me though. I can't bring the kids or anyone else. It would mess with their heads."

"Who does your family think you are with?"

"I told them same universe and that I don't exist here though. So they must suspect I'm with people I know."

"Anyways, if I think about them, I'm going to cry. And to think, I may be more emotional with Nat's baby then my own pregnancy. I need to make cookies," I said, getting up, and she smirked, "Okay then. Distract yourself."

"Hey, I give advice. That doesn't mean I take my own," I joked, as I left the gym. Changing into clean clothes after a quick shower, Callie was still passed out. So instead of waking her, I set myself up in the kitchen and began furiously making hundreds of cookies. I was filling their cupboards so, when and if, I came back; I wouldn't have to make many more. It was all very optimistic of me.

As I head banged and sang along to my music that FRIDAY blasted, I almost forgot where I was. And the more I thought about being a stranger here, the more I realized that I was getting comfortable here. It had easiness to it that being around my family had, but I was worried that I would get too comfortable here, and forget that I had no power here. I was a ghost, and we needed to get home where we belonged.

As I rolled out the dough for the Nutella Caramel cookies, a song came on and I couldn't help but dance like no one was watching. How I'd normally dance if I was in the studio. With the pole.

And just when I thought I got away with it, I heard Steve's voice saying, "Ma'am."

"Oh," I said blushing, "Sorry. I thought I was alone."

"No, I came in as the song started," he said, sitting down at the table, as I brought over a finished batch of cookies.

"I'm sorry you had to witness that. But since you didn't announce youreself, you must have been enjoying the show." I smirked, and he gave a slight blush in response, "Anyways, do you prefer chocolate chip or oatmeal raisin?"

"To be honest, I eat just about everything." He smiled, as I poured him a glass of milk.

"So, how was Bucky this morning?"

"He was… better. He won't admit it, but he has developed a bit of a crush on you. He was also watching you and your daughter outside. It was calming for quite a few of us."

"Something so innocent after years of strife and war. I could see the appeal." I hummed.

"It was refreshing."

"She's refreshing. After a long day, I like to watch the kids sleep. It's... peaceful."

"She's a cute kid. I can already see Bucky in her." He responded.

My silence must have alerted him that what he said was painful, because he slid me a tissue box across the table. Taking one and wiping my damp eyes, I continued moving the fresh cookies to storage containers and labeling them.

"We'll get you home." He said as I sniffed.

"I know. I trust my Dad to be losing sleep and drinking whole pots of coffee in an effort to calculate by hand, how to get me home."

"He sounds like he cares about you."

"I have a feeling if I survived in this dimension, this Tony would be the same."

"He's really opened up to you." Steve said, as I poured a mug of hot chocolate for both of us.

"He's what I imagined my Dad would be at first. But Dad surprised me. He opened up immediately, loving me unconditionally." I sighed, setting the mug down in front of him, and sitting across from him, "But I thought he would be cold, distant. Everything I imagined him to be from the time my mother said that he left her. Mind you, it was kind of a mutual… fight, I guess, that split them."

"I always saw Tony as a really… strange Dad."

"When I figured it out, I denied it. I wanted nothing to do with his string of models and floozies. But he stopped, for Pepper. I want to fix this for Tony."

"Pepper won't take his calls." Steve said frowning, as he looked deep into his mug.

"But will she take yours?" I asked, a devious smirk in place. He looked up slowly and smiled, "Yes, she will."

"A woman is always underestimated by men." I quoted Peggy, "That's when you get to kick their asses and show them who runs things."

"She's was a great woman." He said, eyes misting over.

"Steve," I said, reaching out to touch his hand in a comforting manner.

"Peg, she…" He tried to say, before swallowing thickly.

"When?" I responded, without emotion.

"It was October 25th."

Oh god. I had to get a message to my Steve.

It's going to destroy him. And then I remembered that I was seeing the aftermath, and how my own Steve would react. Keeping my hand on his, in comfort, I said, "I know some people like to keep their grief with them. Wear it like a blanket, let it protect them from ever caring again, but it's not a healthy habit. All the death we experience, especially in our line of work, should be dealt with properly, and then let go."

"You're saying I should let her go."

"Not her, Steve. Not her memories. Just your pain."

"Easier said than done. She was my first love." He said, and I was surprised when I didn't feel the usual cut.

"She's always going to be. But my Steve and most likely yourself, like to live in the past, relive the glory days, and let yourself die a little inside every day from the guilt."

"I'm not… guilty."

"I know you feel it. It's a problem I had my own Steve face before he even got back in the real world."

"How'd you make him talk? Your gift?"

"God no. I bought him an old gym, made him work out, and we'd talk after he broke 2-5 punching bags," I smirked.

"It's human to feel like that. Those feelings are natural with grief. And that's what you're doing. You are grieving for a life you could have had with Peggy. Don't keep that bottled up, and don't try to stop yourself from feeling that. But do not ever feel guilty. Especially for putting that plane in the water. You saved thousands of people, and you sacrificed yourself for them."

"I missed so much. And things would probably been a lot less complicated if I had stayed in the 40's."

"You were the hero she knew you to be. You did the heroic thing, and she can't fault you for that. You are the American hero. And for America to label you as a criminal and fugitive, just goes to show how corrupt our government really is."

"She is the most amazing woman I've ever met. But, I know in my heart that you will be happy again Steve. You will have a family. And not just this dysfunctional group of psychopaths." I joked.

His smile warmed my heart, as he said, "Thank you Sera."

"Sometimes, the wars are between your head and your heart. And they are won with words and comfort."

"Now, we must do something about this Tony situation. If you will," I ask, gesturing towards him. He pulled out his phone, and quickly dialed a number. As the other line answered, he greeted the red head warmly over the phone. She seemed to grab his attention, probably to worry over his status as fugitive and ask him how Wanda was doing. Man, I forgot how loud Pepper got when she was worried.

"Pep, I need you to talk to someone." Silence.

"I promise, it is not Tony." He said, "She's a friend that been helping Bucky, and then Tony and Bucky, and Tony and myself. She a psychologist, and she's living at the base until we figure out how to return her and her daughter home safely."

"I want more details later." I heard her begrudgingly say.

"Don't worry, she'll explain it herself." Steve said, before handing me the phone. Holding it to my ear, I said softly, "Ms. Potts. My name is Dr. Sera Kalashnikov. I would like to arrange a meeting between you and Tony Stark. Purely to help you both sort through the reasonings for your break, and for Tony to have some closure."

Of course, I underestimated this Pepper's jealous streak. As soon as she heard my voice, her tone turned for the worse, but I had a feeling she was worried about a young woman living at the base with Tony, the womanizing man-whore.

Sorry Dad, but it's true.

She agreed to meet him on the promise that he would not be aware of her visit, so she could see his emotional state for herself, and not just the airs he put on for everyone.

When I met her outside, I saw her do a double take at my face.

"Before we step inside, I must warn you of my parentage. Actually, an even more important matter. I am not from this dimension Ms. Potts. Where I come from, you married my father, Tony Stark, and have become the best step-mother/best friend I could ask for."

"Your Tony's daughter."

"Other dimensions Tony." Steve explained, and Pepper looked at me again like I had three heads as I explained that my husbands were Steve and Bucky, and that we had twins together. I was an Avenger, like the rest of the team, but her face grew a bit concerned when I explained that my father had been pushing my own Pepper away. It was just a natural response. He was orphaned, and his subconscious thinks to protect himself, he needs to be alone, away from people that can leave him.

"If I had lived in this dimension, things would be a lot different. But because my mother chose to keep me a secret from Tony, and lie when she said she was getting an abortion, she changed an immeasurable amount of things."

Her silence was making the tension even thicker, as she examined my face. Her silence lasted another two minutes, which made me raise an eyebrow at her in challenge. She raised one back and said, "And how does Tony feel about you being here?"

"At first, he couldn't look at me. I do look a lot like my Mom. So, when a version of your old love pops up claiming to be the daughter that had died in the same car crash she did, I would be hesitant to accept anything as truth either."

"I'm watching you."

"I would be offended if you didn't." I snarked.

"Definitely a Stark." She smirked. I was warming up to her already.