See Chapter One for Disclaimer

The next moment that Maddie was aware of her surroundings, there was an intense pair of eyes staring at her: too close to her.

Luckily the eyes reared back quickly enough, blinking in relief.

"Guys!" Clint called from where he'd been crouched in front of a seated Maddie, "She's back."

And Clint's attentive stare was replaced with Steve's worried gaze, and knowing what she knew, what she couldn't seem to let herself forget, not even for a moment, Maddie flinched away from the man. She didn't even have a chance to open her mouth, to apologize or explain or anything, before Steve was gone, replaced by a pair of blue eyes that made Maddie relax instead of tense up.

"You're back then?" Bucky kept his voice low, his expression light.

"He's gone." Maddie's voice was raspy, her words slightly slurred as if she'd forgotten what words were, as if she'd been sitting for hours.

Bucky's eyebrows immediately lowered. "We're going to get him back," He vowed fiercely. "We'll find him."

Maddie blinked quickly.

"Dean," She said suddenly, and Bucky was replaced by Dean in a matter of seconds. Unlike the others, Dean didn't hesitate to reach for her, and she reached back just as desperately, their fingers tangling effortlessly.

"What do you need?" He asked, voice low.

He was aware of the audience, of the argument he and Maddie needed to have, of the man Dean still needed to murder, but none of that was important right now.

Not when his boy was missing. Not when his lady was breaking.

"Tell me," he insisted when Maddie remained silent, and her fingers tightened almost painfully against him.

"Just…" Her breathing was irregular, her movements sluggish, but her grip simply tightened. "Don't let go." She ordered. "Please – don't…don't let go."

And Dean nodded, his voice tight and his eyes bright, and simply held on.

The police came. Who called them, it wasn't certain, but at four in the morning, every light on in Maddie's home and the place filled to the brim with people, there were a lot of options.

When Dean had realized Orie was missing, he pulled Maddie's phone out of her bag and dialed the number simply labeled 23-19.

And Steve Rogers had answered, Dean had snapped "Orie's missing," and in less than twenty minutes the Avengers were piled into Maddie's living room for the second time that day.

Dean had taken those twenty minutes to call his brother and best friend, get ahold of a doctor for the unconscious sitter, and get Maddie seated, pulling off her heels and throwing a blanket over her shoulders, letting Maddie sit, blinking slowly and doing little else.

John Watson had arrived, medical bag in hand, and seen to the sitter. Sherlock had inspected the room, then run upstairs to view the nursery and the rest of the house: searching for clues.

Sam had shown up and wrapped his brother into a tight hug, and then did the same to a very unresponsive Maddie. Then Sam and Cas had asked their own questions, investigating in the ways only they knew how.

For Sherlock, for Cas, for Clint, for Steve, and for Dean, Orie was more than Maddie's son. He was a little boy with a personality and an infectious smile that had endeared him to the adults in specific ways, and they all felt his absence acutely.

For Sherlock, John stood by him, kept him focused on the case, not person, something Sherlock had not had a problem with, until this moment.

For Cas, he and Sam also focused on the case, attempting to discount an "unnatural" aspects, though Cas found himself distracted at odd moments, but the stuffed moose he'd bought Orie the day he'd been born, but the little ceramic angel he'd given Maddie, that Maddie had placed in a place of honor above Orie's crib. Sam helped Cas snap out of these moments, and they did what they could, trying to keep busy.

For Clint, he focused on Maddie. Because he couldn't focus on the missing kid, on the little boy who'd just started calling him "caw caw!" So Clint wrapped the blanket around Maddie's shoulders tightly and watched her eyes closely, waiting for her to come back from wherever she'd hidden in her mind.

Steve didn't know what to do. His team didn't know how to react. As a father, Steve couldn't be objective. This was his SON.

An inkling of doubt crept in, Pietro's words echoing for a moment in his head. "He's even got a dimple in the same place,"

But Steve shoved the errant thought away with a growl.

DNA was no longer relevant. Orie was his son, had been for a year, and a test wasn't going to tell Steve otherwise. This guy didn't get to show up out of nowhere and stake a claim. Claims had already been staked.

And Steve still was still trying to decide if he wanted to share with this WINCHESTER guy – although it looked like Maddie wasn't really going to give him a choice on that one.

But Steve wasn't sure how Maddie felt about the return of her ex (well, OTHER ex), and it was hardly the time to bring it up.

But then, amongst the officers Steve had called in a panic, who were asking questions directed at Maddie that Dean was answering, Blonde-haired, blue-eyed, stupid dimple in the right cheek had burst in, eyes wide in a panic.

And Dean whirled around, green eyes flashing, and glared so furiously that Theo Bradley The Ex turned sharply and exited without even saying a word.

Steve couldn't help himself. That small action, combined with the way he kneeled in front of Maddie, his sole focus on protecting the woman who clung so tightly to him, protecting her with his body language and answering questions and allowing himself to be her rock.

Dean Winchester had won Steve Rogers respect.

And he didn't even know it.

Dean was furious.

His boy was missing, his lady was barely holding on, and that GUY bursts in here, how dare he?

He shot the guy one look and then turned his attention back to Maddie, not even noticing how quickly Theo had vacated, too focused on the way Maddie's head fell to rest on his shoulder, a small huff of breath brushing against the collar of his shirt.

"Nice," She said quietly, and Dean couldn't stop himself from stiffening.

"Do you-" He tried to not snap the words so much, but the sentence grated as it left his throat. "Want me to call him back?"

"Why?" Maddie rubbed her forehead lightly against the crease where neck met shoulder, her fingers still tangled with Dean's.

"Because he's," Dean paused again. "He's,"

Maddie's eyebrows furrowed, and then she slowly pulled herself away from Dean, though she left her hands where they were.

"He's nothing," She finished slowly. But her eyebrows lowered further when Dean didn't relax.

"You don't believe me," she realized suddenly.

"You didn't leave him by choice," Dean forced out. He didn't want to talk about this. But she had brought it up. "He's…more."

"More?" Maddie shook her head slowly, her eyes never leaving Dean's face. "More than what? More than you?"

"There's…more. Between you and him. This – we – are less." Dean looked down at their hands. Maddie waited for him to look back up at her. She stared at him unblinking for a long moment.

"Somewhere along the way," she said slowly. "I didn't say the wrong thing, or I didn't say the right thing enough times, or I didn't act, or I acted too much." Now it was Maddie's turn to look down at their hands. She stared at their fingers, at the effortless way they tangled and clung to each other.

"You're it for me. My son –" Maddie took a deep breath, still focused on their hands. "He's my universe, and he's missing, and I'm brittle. You, Dean Winchester, are my world." She looked up at him, and there was so much devastation on her face that Dean's heart clenched. But then Maddie's face was going blank.

"You're my world, and you don't believe me." Her gaze moved their hands one last time, and her voice went so quiet, that Dean almost missed what she said. Then, suddenly she was looking up, her chin tilting determinedly.

The room froze, and Maddie made eye contact with one of the cops.

"The man who took my son: his name is Brian Alexander. His aim isn't to hurt him, he just needed leverage, so the likelihood that my son is still alive is a good one."

"What makes you think this Alexander guy took your son?"

"And why would he take him?" Two cops shared a look and Maddie leveled a look their way.

"I know Alexander took him. I just don't know why." She raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you go ask him?"

The room stared at each other for a moment before bursting into action.

Dean watched as Maddie pulled her hands back and stepped away from Dean, her whispered words ringing in his ears.

"Losing my son has shaken me. But your distrust has shattered me. And all of it is my fault."

Well this is awkward.

Next two chapters up Sept. 20th!

~CLC~