"Emmy, please, you need to put on your dress so we can go," said Phil Coulson as patiently as he possibly could. "We've been at it for almost an hour, please just put on the dress."

Emmy shook her head stubbornly, eyes scrunched in a glare at the man holding the dress and pointed again to the dresser, making it clear that she did not want to wear that outfit.

"Once you put on the dress we can have breakfast," coaxed Coulson.

Emmy crossed her arms and shook her head, which would have been adorable if Coulson hadn't been up most of the night with the girl because of nightmares. As it was, they were both exhausted and Coulson really just needed a cup of coffee.

"You go fix breakfast," said Bucky, entering the bedroom with his own steaming mug of coffee. "I'll get her into something and then we can go. I already put a blueberry muffin in her bag."

"She has to wear something nice," said Coulson sternly. "Everyone else will already be there and we will get called in when they are ready to make their verdict so she has to be dressed nicely."

"I get it, no running around in her underwear, jeez," said Bucky, rolling his eyes.

When Coulson had finally cleared the room, Bucky opened a few drawers of the dresser and took out several things, setting them on the bed, before picking the toddler up.

"Alright brat," said Bucky, amused at the way Emmy wove her tiny fingers through his hair. "Those are your choices. What do you want to wear?"

Emmy looked thoughtfully at the clothes, taking in all the options before pointing to the long sleeved green shirt and plain black pants. Bucky nodded before dumping the toddler on the bed and helping he get dressed. By the time he was wrestling with her unruly hair, Coulson stuck his head back through the door.

"We're going to be late if we don't leave in the next minute," said Coulson, which was a lie because they didn't need to be there for another hour but he didn't tell Bucky that.

"Keep your pants on, we're almost ready," groused Bucky, finally giving up on the mess that was Emmy's hair and letting it loose. Instead he picked up the girl, tossing her onto his shoulders where she instantly grabbed tiny handfuls of his long hair, and made his way to the car.

-Winging It-

When Steve found Tony, the billionaire was standing fully dressed in his third best suit, leaning out on the balcony, not doing a thing that Steve could see except holding the universe together through sheer will power. The super soldier approached his husband and wrapped his arms around the smaller mans waist from behind, lips playing havoc on his nerves where they caressed his hear.

"Do you remember that first night we slept together?" asked Tony, staring out at the expanse of buildings. "Like, actually fell asleep together?"

"Of course," said Steve with a smile. "You were exhausted from working in the shop for two days, it was movie night, we were on the couch together. You were laying on top of me, mostly asleep, and when I tried to move you so I could get up, you said, 'Sometimes I wrestle with my demons. Sometimes we just cuddle.' I didn't know whether to be insulted or laugh, so I did neither and just settled back on the couch and fell asleep with you."

"I didn't think I could ever love you more at that moment in time," admitted Tony. "And then, 38 days later, you told me you loved me for the first time."

"After that gala where the old broad wouldn't stop hitting on you," laughed Steve, remembering that night fondly. "I was so mad."

"And you told me you loved me and I didn't think I could ever love you more. And then, 427 days later you asked me to marry you. And if I thought I loved you then I was wrong because it was nothing compared to how I much I adored you on our wedding day."

"Adored?" said Steve, his tone teasing but his stomach sinking at the past tense.

"The trouble is, all of that pales in comparison to how much farther I've fallen for you since we got Emmy. You make an incredible father, I always knew you would, and I love you all the more for it. But me? I'm a shit person and worse father."

"Tony-"

"No, I curse in front of her, I let her play with power tools and take shit apart, she barely speaks, she's been kidnapped, she had her arm broken, she wakes up in the middle of the night screaming. I'm awful at this parenting thing and I can't help feeling that they aren't going to consider how wonderful you are because they'll be too busy focusing on how bad I am."

"Tony," said Steve softly when he was sure Tony was finished, allowing the shorter man to stay facing the city only because Steve knew he'd clam up if forced to face him. "Do you remember that first call to assemble we got after bringing Emmy home?"

"I always remember the ones that keep me from sleep."

"Emmy woke up crying because of the noise," continued Steve. "And when we got to her room, she ran into my arms. I panicked. I wasn't ready to handle that, I thought I was but then I found myself with an armful of terrified four year old who honestly looked no older than a year, and my mind went blank. I passed her off to you. I know you were just as scared as I was, but you didn't let her see. You figured out the problem, had the alarm cut, soothed her, and got her to calm down. Why? Why didn't you just let her cry in fear?"

"She was scared, Steve," said Tony, rounding on Steve with an appalled glare. "I couldn't let her be scared. I had to fix it."

"And you did. Tony, you are far better at being a father than you think. I know you had a horrible example set for you but like everything else you do, you took that example and improved on it exponentially. They will see that and they will give her back to us."

"We can't lose her, Steve," whispered Tony and they let that be the only sound between them for a moment.

"We need to be leaving," whispered Steve.

Tony nodded in response, stealing one last moment of weakness by leaning back into the warm body behind him before settling into his public persona, the one that was loved and hated by the world, had taken an already successful company to new heights, who got his way by talking circles around everyone else, and who swore he survived college off of good looks and charm. It was Tony's own brand of armor that had nothing to do with saving the world and everything to do with saving Tony from more heartbreak.

The ride to the courthouse was silent, as was the walk into the correct room. Steve wanted to say something – anything – to Tony but the genius was busy scribbling notes on the pad of paper in front of him, notes that made no sense to Steve and that the soldier doubted made sense to the vast majority of people. So instead of talking, Steve fell back into the comforting old habit of sitting absolutely still and tuning out every part of the world except the steady scratching of the pen on paper next to him and the not as steady hum of voices behind him as the court room filled up for what would be the last time.

-Winging It-

"Do they call us in?" asked Bucky nervously, eying the posh room with distaste. He hated waiting, he hated the way the room smelled like old lady, he hated the couch that looked like it should never be sat on, he hated the lamp that was almost as old as he was, and he hated the fact that Phil could sit so calmly in the hideous charcoal grey armchair and fill out paperwork.

"They will let us know if we are needed," said Phil, not looking up from his work. "I doubt very much that they will ask Emmy to be inside when they reveal the verdict. More than likely, they will bring whoever won back here to reunite with her."

Emmy looked up when she heard her name but quickly dismissed the adults, turning back to her coloring book. It was an Avengers coloring book and she was busy coloring the Hulk. She had decided to make him blue since Uncle Bruce hated the color green and the pants she made orange because she liked that color. Just as she was searching for the yellow for the sun, the door opened, startling everyone in the room.

"Come to daddy," said Tiberius, arms opened.

*Don't hurt me. I swear, I have a plan. Always-Ari