*** Hey guys – this is it! The last chapter – there won't be any more sequels because I think I've told all I want to with these guys I hope you enjoyed the ride, and as always: I OWN NOTHING – except Hannah and Alex ***
Tanya quickly swiped on some mascara, her mouth opening in the way it always did when she applied mascara. She could hear cartoons blaring in the living room and shook her head, knowing that the volume was up way louder than it should be, but she was in a hurry, so she didn't waste time going out there to have it turned down. Tucking the mascara away, she ran a brush quickly through her hair, pleased with the job her hairstylist had done; cutting her rich brown hair short had felt weird, but she loved the edgy style and felt like it saved her about an hour's worth of work each morning.
Back in her bedroom, Tanya buttoned her jeans and slid a sweater on over her tank-top. "Jack?" She called, pushing on her wedding rings and adjusting the sleeves on the sweater, "Jack are you dressed?" Her question was met with giggles out in the hallway, and she turned to see Jack standing there in her bedroom doorway, a smile on his face as he laughed. She knew that, at 3 years old, having mommy yell for you because she thought you were in the other room, when in fact you were standing right there, was just the absolute height of comedy.
"Good, you're dressed, go put on your boots, baby, it's time to go get daddy," she urged her son. He whooped in joy, like he always did when she told him Tom was coming home from work. His stints up in the oil fields usually lasted for two weeks at a time, and in between he would have about ten days off to spend with them. Jack lived for the moments Tom was home from work, and she had to admit she did too.
Their lives were routine here, the ins and outs of their daily activities following along like clockwork, and nothing about it was terrible, it was all very small-town suburban, thoroughly wholesome and normal, but Tom's mere presence lit up every corner of it, made life brighter and complete. He's just like that though, a ball of sunshine, Tanya thought to herself, a smile on her face as she turned the lights out in the bedrooms and bathroom.
Tanya moved swiftly through their small house, used to this routine by now – getting Jack out the door each day to get him to daycare while she went to work at the diner was a trial no matter what. TV off, toys in bin, there's his glove, why is my hat on the plant? Where is the cat? Tanya heard the sound of loud purring and turned back to the toy bin to see the cat curled up inside and laughed a little when she realized she'd just dumped all the toys back on top of the poor furry creature. He seemed unperturbed though, and she gave the furball a brief scratch on the head, before moving to the foyer. Jack was on the floor, pulling on his boots with exaggerated difficulty and Tanya bent to help.
Five minutes later and they were both out the door, loading into their small car, thick winter jackets on, along with hats, scarves, gloves, and heavy boots. Winter seemed to last forever up here, but she had to admit that houses were cheaper in northern Canada and oil work was plentiful, so Tom's job was easily keeping them living in comfort.
She and Jack sang on their way to the bus depot, and as they caterwauled purposefully off key, she realized just how eager she was to see Tom again. It always felt like too long, and the separation was extremely hard some days. Especially now, since you've got some news. Tanya's eyes caught on Jack's smiling face in the backseat, where he sat snugly buckled into his car seat, and she knew that it was worth it, that living like this afforded Jack the kind of life he deserved.
"Daddy!" Jack shrieked happily in the backseat, when they rounded the final corner to the bus depot and saw Tom standing outside of it, duffle bag on the ground next to him, as he waved from the curb. Tanya pulled up, threw the car in park and leapt out of the vehicle, running around the front of it to throw herself at Tom. He scooped her up into his arms, and pressed his lips to hers in an eager kiss, nearly squeezing the life out of her. She giggled and pulled away.
"I'm still not used to that thing," she told him softly, running a gloved finger along his mustache, "It tickles." Tom waggled his eyebrows at her and kissed her again before releasing her and pulling open the back door of the car to unleash Jack, who climbed all over him, jabbering a mile a minute while he clung to his dad. A few minutes later and they were all back in the car, driving back to the house, Tom at the wheel now. Jack was still telling Tom about every tiny detail of what had happened to him today, and Tanya kept hold of one of Tom's hands in hers.
The indescribably right feeling of having all three of them together settled over her, and Tanya sighed happily, earning her a good-natured smile from her husband. "Happy?" He asked her and she nodded, stretching across the seat to press a gentle kiss to his cheek. "Always, but definitely very happy to see you," she promised him, flicking up an eyebrow at him.
Later that night, after a happy dinner, and a restful evening relaxing in the living room, Tanya stood in Jack's doorway and watched as Tom tucked the boy in after his bedtime story. She felt her chest tighten with emotion, watching Jack and Tom together, and couldn't keep the smile from her face when she heard Jack say, "Goodnight, Daddy."
She stepped back into the hallway as Tom walked out of the boy's bedroom, half-closing the door behind himself, the dim, warm glow of the nightlight coming through the crack. She chuckled a little when he looked at her. "What?" He asked, a smile on his face at seeing her laugh. "Oh nothing, Kitty," she answered easily, smiling mischievously when he chuckled and rolled his eyes. They walked hand in hand back to their bedroom and she sat on their bed while he began to undress, changing into comfortable clothes. She remembered how pleased he'd been when Jack had finally stopped calling him 'Kitty' and switched to 'Daddy'.
"Steve," she said quietly, watching him, and he turned to her, a grin on his face at her use of his actual name, "Come here." She reached out towards him, and he dropped the shirt he was about to put on, and strode over to her bare chested. She could feel her breathing quicken at the sight of him, and didn't resist when he tipped her back onto the bed and began to undress her. "Wait," she told him, hands reaching towards his face. His eyebrows came together in concern, until she peeled off the mustache and lay it on the nightstand. Steve laughed and so did she, and then he brought his face to hers, lightly kissing her all over her lips and cheeks. They made love like people who had been separated for too long, and she thanked god that Jack (Alex), was a heavy sleeper.
Afterwards, laying in Steve's arms, watching him as he watched her, his hands stroking her short dark hair gently, she felt at ease, and restful, and fully safe, for the first time in a long time. "I missed you," he told her, "Hannah, every day, I missed you both." She nodded and kissed his forehead. "I know," she replied quietly, "You know I did too."
"It won't be forever," he told her, like he always did, both of them knowing that it was likely a lie. She didn't mind, even if she did feel a little lonely sometimes without him. She watched the news and perused the internet – she was aware of a little bit of what he was up to, and knew that his work was valuable, that the world needed him to be his other self. And Jack was happy, and safe, and living the kind of normal life that most people would be bored with, but that she was thrilled they were both alive to experience.
It had taken a couple of weeks, and it had taken a lot of pressure on some of his peers to assist him with getting them the goods they needed to start over: passports, fake IDs, fake backgrounds, weaving "Tanya", "Jack", and "Tom" into the fabric of the world, making them seem like real people with real histories. The people he went to were not eager to help him get these things, to do these things, with no questions asked, without knowing why, but he managed. He and Clint had sworn up and down that no one anywhere knew where she and Alex were going.
Leaving the Barton's home had been hard, she felt safe there, and truly liked and trusted Laura and Clint, but Laura had pushed a phone number into her hand on a scrap of paper. "Call me, it's a landline, the only one in the house, heavily encrypted," Laura assured her when Hannah began to protest about their safety, "Call me, Hannah, anytime." Hannah had hugged the woman tightly and left reluctantly. She and Steve were already in the disguise that being Tanya and Tom Irvine called for: her hair and eyebrows dyed brown, Steve's were too, in addition to the heavier rugged mustache on his face, though his was a temporary dye job, while hers was permanent (and required constant upkeep).
She had wept that morning, cutting all of Alex's curls off, keeping his hair as short as possible to hide the color as best as they could – Hannah had been completely unwilling to dye his hair, so this was the price of that choice. Steve had leaned against the bathroom door frame in the farmhouse and watched her with mild amusement as she mourned the loss of Alex's beautiful curls. "It's like cutting the sun," she had cried, feeling stupid. Alex thought it was great and grabbed up handfuls of his fallen hair and threw them at Steve.
Clint had dropped them at a bus station and pulled Hannah aside before she could leave, Steve (Tom) and Alex (Jack) standing on the other side of the station watching the buses pull in and out. He handed her a phone, an older style cell phone. "Call this if you need help, understand?" His voice was dead serious and she nodded, taking the phone and tucking it into her purse. "And you'll get Steve?" She asked, zipping the phone into an inner pocket. Clint reached out and put his hand on hers and squeezed lightly.
"No, this is not about Steve, this is just between you and I: if you and Alex need help, call me and I'll come," he clarified, his eyes hard. She swallowed and nodded and then gave him a hug as well. "I don't really think you look like a caveman," she told him, not really knowing why. Clint left them laughing.
It took them 4 days of zig zag travel to reach their new home, where she and Steve house-hunted, bought a car, and drove into the nearest big city to get furniture. A lot of her and Alex's possessions had been retrieved from her old apartment, covertly, as well as the cat, which had pleased Alex to no end – so the house looked pleasantly real, although all of the pictures of them had been doctored to change her coloring and in some cases, to add Steve (she never asked who did that, but strongly suspected his friend Sam).
Things with Steve had been awkward those first couple of weeks. They had no real history, and had to build on nothing but secrets and trauma, so it was a slow go. She knew that he wanted more with her, that he wanted everything with her, not just the show they had to put on for the people they met in town. She wasn't sure yet, though, and besides, she was adjusting to a new name, to Alex's new name, the complete loss of her old life and everyone in it. It was a hard enough transition.
When Steve left the first time, she and Alex had both wept bitterly at the bus station, Alex refusing to let go of 'Kitty' and Hannah utterly terrified that he would never come back. When he left, she experienced a black mood that lasted the entire time he was gone. When she went to pick him up the first time, she fully expected him to not show, but sure enough, there he stood, Tom Irvine, waiting in a heavy plaid shirt and dirty khakis, work boots on his feet and a mustache on his face. She had cried in relief, embarrassing herself and making Steve desperate to put a smile on her face.
After that, things were easier, she and Steve worked at forging an actual friendship, a relationship built on something more than just a couple dates, and they charmed their neighbors and her new work friends by having 'date nights'. Six months after moving into hiding, she and Steve slept together again. At this point Alex called himself Jack and called Steve 'Daddy'.
Life was weird, and different, but she was enjoying the ride, finally. Now, nearly a year after that, she couldn't imagine anything else. She had a life here, friends, co-workers, a relatively non-taxing job, a house with a yard that she loved. Alex went trick-or-treating with Steve, and they spent Thanksgiving and Christmas together as a family. Their second New Years together, she finally told him that she loved him, although he'd already said it to her a hundred times.
She spoke on the phone with Laura once a week, and had Steve work as a go-between for sending and receiving pictures of the kids. Hannah and Laura talked of a 'vacation': Tanya and Jack going to visit the Bartons for a couple of weeks, meet the new baby, relax on the farm; Hannah thought a chance to be her old self again for a little while would be positively delightful. Not that she hated this new life; it was not the life she had dreamt of having, but now she loved it. Hannah thought that one day, maybe, things would be safe, and she and Alex could move away with Steve, and live together always, somewhere safe. Maybe it was a pipe dream, but it made saying good bye to Steve easier.
In bed now, Steve rested his head against the top of hers and she could feel him growing heavier as he began to drift off to sleep. She had other news for him, and in typical fashion, had been silent about it because she was nervous about his reaction. She'd put it off long enough though, and she shook him a little to get his attention.
"Steve," she said quietly, "I have to tell you something." He murmured wordless acknowledgement at her and kissed her bare shoulder, before nuzzling at her neck a little and resting his head next to hers on her pillow.
"Steve, listen," she told him, and he grunted. "Sorry, what?" He replied sleepily. Hannah sighed and decided to get right to the point. She took his hand and rested it flat on her stomach, saying firmly, "I'm pregnant."
He froze solid and she wondered if this would be the thing that killed Captain America – he seemed pretty indestructible, and unfazed by gods, aliens, and killer robots - but easily shocked by small domestic things. "You are?" He managed to croak out. Hannah sat up and nodded at him as he lay there, his hand still rested against her belly. His face remained fairly blank for a couple of long minutes before a huge grin slowly grew on it, his eyes lighting up as the smile grew. He leaned towards her and kissed her stomach before sitting up and kissing her, long and deep. He cupped her face in his hands and she smiled at him, teary eyed with happiness, happy with his reaction, happy at the thought of their future.
"At least you told me this time," he told her, laughing. She glared at him for a moment and then laughed with him. When he finally settled down, she reached out and grabbed his hand, deciding that she was definitely going to get the last word. "I've been to the doctor, everything looks great," she told him, and he nodded, smiling in relief and still chuckling a little at his joke. Hannah sat back against her pillows and grinned at him cheekily.
"It's twins."
*** I decided to end on a happy note, hope you all enjoyed! ***