A lot could change in four months, and in Summer's case, her life was no exception. Seemingly in the blink of an eye, she was now event coordinator for the New York division of Stark Industries, David was officially in school for the first time in his life, and she was even walking again - with the aid of a black cane that she had personalized with various sparkly stuff, prompting Darcy to dub it her "pimp cane".

Life was moving quickly, but life was good. She felt almost like her old self again, in the physical sense, and David was not only functioning but thriving in school. It had taken some time for him to adjust to the change in routine and the school environment, but he had come a long, long way from the boy who used to fear the slightest changes. She was deeply, ridiculously proud of him.

But, with change always came a few downsides, and in this case, it was saying goodbye to one of her favorite people as he decided that it was time to go home.

"Are you sure you have to go back?" Summer asked quietly, fixing her coffee in the kitchen as Thor grabbed a cup for himself and sighed heavily next to her.

"Yes, I'm afraid that I am," he said, smiling at the slight pout on her face. "I have enjoyed my time here greatly, but... my instincts tell me that I am needed at home more than I am here."

She sighed and sipped from her cup as she watched him pour one for himself. "Well... you'll come back, though, right? Within the next hundred years? Like, don't lose track of time up there and come back after we're all dead. I'd be majorly sad."

He laughed. "Do not worry. I will miss Earth very much. You will all remain very close in my thoughts."

She smiled goofily, still a little starstruck by him after all this time. "I'll hold you to that. I just wish you could wait a few days. I've got that benefit tomorrow that I've been planning and an appearance from Thor would have really made it a big deal..."

"Ah, yes, my apologies. Next time?" he smiled. "But I have no doubt that it will go splendidly."

She smiled nervously. "Well, I hope so. It's my first big event that I've planned. I've gotten to practice with a few little things, but... yeah. This is either gonna be awesome or awesomely horrible."

"It will undoubtedly be awesome," he grinned, giving her arm a pat.

She smiled appreciatively, hoping he was right and in absolutely no position to argue, and then she said, "Oh, make sure you say goodbye to David, otherwise he'll cry for a week."

"Of course! I would not forget. Where is the boy?"

The boy was in the living room, sitting on the floor in front of two of his new favorite people, getting some time to play with Legos in before Summer would take him to school. It was something of a routine now, David dragging Vision and Wanda into his construction of various things with the little blocks, but it was less dragging and more of a team effort. Wanda would make David positively squeal with glee by moving the pieces around with her powers and making Lego planes that he built actually fly on their own, and when Summer had told her that she didn't have to do it if she didn't want to, she said that it was actually a good exercise in control for her. Vision, meanwhile, would watch with his quiet curiosity, going along with whatever David asked of him. At that point, it was hard to believe that the two relative newcomers hadn't always been a part of life at the tower.

Wanda in particular had undergone a marked but gradual change, going from quiet and grief-stricken to more talkative and much more at ease as time went on. The memory of her lost twin was never far from her mind, but she was adjusting to her new life and growing through the pain rather than letting it hold her back.

There was something else that was equally remarkable to Summer, however, and as she made her way on her sparkly cane to the living room, she saw it in action. Since David still refused to say a word out loud to anyone, he alternated between a mix of sign language and gestures to get his points across, but with Wanda, he didn't have to do either. Instead, Summer watched him turn around on the floor to look at Wanda and then gesture to the pile of unassembled Legos on the floor.

Wanda looked down at the Legos, then David, and she smiled as she leaned forward and touched the side of his head, just at his temple.

"Ah. A pirate ship. I can do this."

David then smiled and sat back and watched excitedly as the woman then looked down at the blocks and began assembling them without touching a single one. She could build such things fairly quickly now, much quicker than she had when David had first began asking her to do this, and the child had no idea that he was legitimately helping her learn valuable control and skills this way.

Vision watched with fascination and innocence in his almost-human eyes, and Summer and Thor were just as enraptured in watching a truly impressive pirate ship come together, piece by piece. Because Wanda had seen the ship that David had wanted, she even colored it the way that he had imagined it. By the time that she was finished, she had smiled and sat back by a few inches, pleased with her work almost as much as David was.

He smiled hugely and then gestured for her to make it fly, so she nodded and did as he said. As Summer watched the pirate ship fly through the living room with red wisps of energy traveling behind it, Summer sighed and said, "You know, there's some seriously cool people who live in this tower, but you might actually be the coolest."

Wanda glanced back at her and smiled, briefly pausing the ship's flight as Thor agreed, "Yes, this is very impressive. Your control has come a long way in a very short amount of time."

"I have been practicing with weapons," she said, resuming the ship's lazy glide through the room. "Taking them apart, putting them back together. It was Steve's idea when he saw me doing this a month ago."

"Oh," Summer said, eyes widening. "So if some guy was coming at you with a gun, you could basically jam it or disarm it by moving the parts around?"

"Yes," she replied. "I can now disarm twenty automatic rifles at once, but the problem is how close I have to be to do it. But this," she moved the Lego pirate ship to the very edge of the living room and then sent it towards the kitchen, "this helps with that also."

"... In other words... coolest person ever," Summer shrugged, her point being made for her.

After a few more moments spent in admiration, Thor glanced outside the closest wall-length window and said, "I'm afraid I cannot linger any more. I am leaving from the new facility and must be on my way."

Summer's mood quickly went back to quietly sad, and Wanda brought the pirate ship back to dock on the floor as Thor stepped into the room and knelt down in front of David. "I'm afraid I must return to my own home today. But I will be back, I promise. And I will miss you."

David's previously happy face instantly fell, and Thor's did as well the moment he saw the boy's reaction. "I will visit soon, I swear. And when I do, I will bring you something. What would you like?"

David's face brightened somewhat then, and he tapped the back of Thor's shoulder as an answer. Thor glanced down at his little hand and then guessed, "A cape?"

David nodded, then turned to Wanda and gestured towards his head. Summer watched and was unashamedly overcome by jealousy as she watched the other woman literally peek into her son's mind. She loved that Wanda could do this and that David could communicate with her effortlessly, but God, what she would give to be able to do the same thing.

After Wanda had taken a look, she told Thor, "He wants a red cape, like yours, but with Captain America's star on it."

"Ah, the best of both worlds, as they say," Thor grinned. "I will have this made for you, out of the finest materials that my realm has to offer. And when I visit next, I shall bring it with me. Deal?"

He nodded, then threw his arms around the much, much larger man in a big hug. Thor chuckled and hugged him back, and told him to be good and continue to be the valiant lad that he was before standing and giving his goodbyes to Vision and Wanda. Summer watched those as well, never not amused and fond of the way that he got along with Vision especially. There was just something special about it, perhaps due to the fact that they were both worthy of one of the most legendary and powerful relics in the universe and that was definitely a compelling thing to have in common.

Then, a few moments later, Thor made his way back to Summer and nodded to her as he said, "I wish you the best of luck with your work and your continued recovery. I shall miss your delicious creations and your company."

Summer smiled like an idiot and blushed beyond her control as she then stuttered, "I, uh... yeah, I'm gonna miss you too. Actually, I'm gonna miss the crap out of you. Don't take a year to come back."

"I shall do my best," he smiled, just before taking her hand and laying a friendly kiss on the back of it.

Her smile reached nearly terrifying proportions and the high pitched sound that came out of her mouth was somewhere between a giggle and a squeal, and he laughed as he released her hand.

"Never change, Lady Summer," he smiled. "And remember, as soon as I can manage it, you and the others are welcome to come and visit my home."

Her smile got even bigger somehow. "Really? I mean, I know you've invited me before, but... really?"

"Of course!" he grinned. "It will be a great joy for me to open my home to you as you have opened yours to me - in a manner of speaking, since this is Tony's home. But," he gave her shoulder a light pat, "you have helped to make it feel like a true second home, and I thank you for that."

Having been reduced roughly to a puddle on the floor by this, Summer stammered out a reply but wasn't sure what she even ended up saying. A moment later, however, he told her goodbye one more time and then she watched him leave, feeling like the very sun itself was leaving with him, because he truly was an enormous ray of sunshine in human - well, Asgardian - form.

But she believed him that he would be back soon. Focusing back on the matters at hand, she looked into the living room and said, "Go grab your backpack, kid. Time to go to school."

Since he actually enjoyed school, David didn't hesitate to obey, stopping on his way out only to give Wanda a hug that seemed to take her by surprise. She quickly smiled and lightly hugged him back, though, and when he drew away and did his little head gesture, she touched his temple again.

Summer watched as the other woman smiled again and then nodded to him. "You're welcome, David." He took her hand and put back on his head, and she paused a moment before nodding, "Yes, we can make a tower later."

He smiled again and then hopped off towards the hallway, all happiness and enthusiasm, and Summer smiled and watched him go before turning back to Wanda and admitting, "I am incredibly jealous of how you can do that. You have no idea."

"Your boy is smart," Wanda replied.

"Oh I know. He's doing great in school."

"No, you don't understand," Wanda shook her head. "He is brilliant. The level of detail that he imagines and the way that he processes what he sees - it is incredible."

"Really?" Summer asked.

"Yes. I am not surprised that he taught himself to play the piano. For him, it is easy."

Summer stood there and stared for a moment, having known this on some level already, of course, but to have David's unconventional brilliance confirmed by someone who had literally seen it with her own mind... yeah. That was special.

She then felt her phone buzz and snapped out of it. "Oh man, I'm gonna be late. But thank you for telling me that, because that's just... wow. I don't even know what to say. Oh!"

Having glanced at Vision and just remembered something as a result, she went to the table and grabbed her purse where it sat in a chair. She then dug out a small square-shaped device and then headed back into the living room, sitting next to Vision as she smiled brightly and held it up.

"As promised, I made you a playlist of music that I decided you need to hear," she explained, handing him the iPod. "Since you're... you know. Like five months old and all. Anyway," she pointed to the circular button beneath the tiny screen and said, "everything's already on there, you just have to push play. Now some of this you might find... weird, or... well, I don't know. I'm kind of obsessed with Justin Timberlake." She then glanced over to Wanda and asked, "You know him, right?"

"Who?" she squinted.

"Oh. Okay, never mind. Anyway, he's awesome, and I know Tony's made you playlists too, but I figured you could take a break from classic rock for awhile."

"Thank you," Vision replied politely, nodding gratefully to Summer. "I like music very much."

"It's great," she smiled. "And you can keep the iPod, too. I've got my phone so I don't need it. Let me know what you think later when I get home."

With that, Summer smiled and told both of them goodbye as she headed out of the living room. Vision, meanwhile, pushed the play button and then carefully put one of the white earbuds into his ear, and before he could put in the second one, he glanced over at Wanda. She had been watching him out of curiosity, but she looked away as soon as he had noticed.

But then he held out the second earbud to her, a silent offer that she glanced down at in surprise before looking up to find a small, friendly smile on his face. Hiding a smile of her own, she took the earbud and put it in her ear, looking back down to her hands in her lap. She snuck another glance later, only to find him still watching her, and she couldn't hide her smile that time.

Summer, who had seen all of this, put her purse on her shoulder and raised her eyebrows, then looked away thoughtfully and shrugged with a smile before heading to her room with the help of her "pimp cane".

Now to get David to school, herself to the office, and call Bucky sometime in between all of that to find out how his first morning at his own new "job" was coming along.

"So... this is, for all intents and purposes," Steve said, "the new SHIELD."

Looking out at the huge building, sprawling building before him from under the brim of his hat, Bucky said, "But you're not calling it that, right?"

"I left that up to the boss. And so far, no."

Bucky nodded, looking around the rather huge room that they were standing in. It was surrounded by windows, and the space was mostly open. Steve had brought him here this early because it was mostly empty at this hour, at least in this part of the building, and despite the fact that Bucky was "on the team" as much as anybody else was, the government and authorities didn't need to know that.

"Thought you were the boss," Bucky said dryly, turning towards Steve who merely shrugged.

"Maybe for the team I am," he replied. "But as far as this whole place... nah."

"Guess sitting behind a desk has never been your thing," Bucky nodded, walking around and stopping in front of one of the windows. The place was tucked away from civilization an hour outside of the city, and quite a few precautions were in place to keep it from being unintentionally stumbled upon. The security made military bases look positively open to the public.

Bucky yawned as he looked outside, and then next to him, Steve remarked, "Skip your coffee today?"

He shrugged. "No, just... didn't sleep much."

"Ah. Wonder why."

Bucky grinned, though Steve's assumption was quite false. It had been four months since he had accidentally taken on the role of nighttime vigilante, and now it was a regular part of his life. Several nights a week he'd pull a black ski mask over his face, at Summer's insistence, and would find criminals to beat up and victims to get to safety. Nobody knew but Summer, and while he wanted to tell Steve, he kept it to himself for the sake of not making the man worry. Steve worried enough, even now, and Bucky didn't want to add to that.

"Anyway," Steve said, leading him away from the window, "we've gotta get you a new uniform."

"New uniform?" Bucky said, scrunching his face a little. "Why?"

"Well, maybe not a new one, but we need to at least upgrade the one you've got."

"I like mine the way it is," Bucky shrugged.

"But," Steve said, tapping Bucky's right sleeve on top of his shoulder, "it's missing something."

Bucky stopped walking and gave Steve a weary look as he said, "You want to stick a big 'A' on it, don't you?"

"Not a big 'A'. Same size as mine," Steve shrugged with a smile. "Just because you won't be visible to the public doesn't mean you won't be as much a part of the team as anyone else. In some ways, that might make you one of the most important ones. The stuff people never see tends to be the stuff that saves the most lives."

His recent time on the streets had proven as much. Bucky nodded finally and said, "Fine. I get a raise with the promotion, right?"

Steve grinned but before he could reply, a different voice behind them said, "You're asking the wrong person about that."

Bucky turned along with Steve and, for the first time since the events that had led him to breaking free of HYDRA, came face to face with his first failed assignment.

Of all of his previous targets, he remembered Nick Fury possibly the clearest, mostly because he remembered the frustration of having the man slip away into a hole in the middle of the damn pavement after surviving his first attack. Now he felt the familiar sensation of guilt rising up, and surprise when the man simply walked up to them without hostility in his eyes.

Well, eye.

"Nick, this is Bucky," Steve said, stating the obvious. "Bucky, this is Nick Fury. The boss."

"... Sorry," Bucky told the older man, because it was the only thing that seemed appropriate to say at the moment.

"Yeah, you were a real pain in my ass," Fury replied. "But I survived."

And that was no easy feat, either. Bucky distinctly recalled being very sure that he had taken Fury out, back when it had happened. He was, however, quite glad to be wrong.

"So," Fury said, "you two ready to get to work?"

"That's the plan," Steve said, glancing over at Bucky.

"Good." Then Fury looked at Bucky before walking off, adding as an afterthought, "Better make hiding your fugitive ass in here worth my while, Barnes."

And with that, Nick Fury was gone, and Bucky turned back to Steve and said, "He's nice."

"You'll get used to it," Steve grinned in reply. "Anyway, follow me. You're gonna like the training room."

"Training room?" Bucky asked, falling into step at Steve's side.

"It's more like a training wing," Steve said. "The others are gonna be here in about an hour. And we're losing Thor to Asgard today, so... expect to be busy from here on out."

Bucky nodded, yawning again, and Steve watched him from a side glance before remarking, "You might want to tell Summer to start taking it easy on you."

His yawn turned into a chuckle and he replied, "I'd rather take no sleep."

Steve chuckled back and shook his head, and as the two of them headed off towards the area they'd likely be spending a lot of their time in from here on out, Bucky couldn't help but notice that in a weird way, it felt a lot like home.

Knowing that his real home was waiting back at the tower for him to come back later that day made everything feel all the more right.

"So this is a permanent thing, right?" Bucky asked as he and Steve made their way down a long hallway.

"You mean the team and your place on it? Yeah," Steve replied, looking at him curiously. "Why?" Bucky shrugged, and Steve asked knowingly, "Been thinking about permanent things lately? Or maybe... making certain things permanent?"

Bucky scoffed quietly but grinned in a way that was all the confirmation Steve needed. When he realized there was no point in playing it off, Bucky admitted, "Maybe."

Steve smiled. "Sounds like a plan to me." He paused. "Do you have a plan?"

"Not exactly. Just kinda... thinking. And waiting."

"For what?"

Bucky shrugged. "I don't really know."

"Well, don't wait too long. Not getting any younger there, pal."

Steve grinned and Bucky rolled his eyes, but inside, he knew Steve was right.

He certainly had a lot to start thinking about, now that he was no longer afraid to.

"So," Paul asked over the phone, "what's it like throwing together a huge benefit for at one of the tallest buildings in Manhattan?"

"Um... a fricking lot of phone calls and emails, mostly," Summer replied, balancing her phone on her shoulder as she checked a roast that had been cooking all day in one of the world's biggest crock pots. "I just want to fast forward to tomorrow night and everything turn out fine so I can go back to, you know, functioning."

"Sounds like you're functioning pretty good," Paul replied. "What's the benefit for?"

"An autism foundation," she replied, gesturing for David to wait a minute as he hovered around her, wanting her attention. "Pepper said that SI needed good PR after the whole giant evil killer robot thing happened because of Tony, so I suggested a benefit for a really good foundation. Turns out this one helps fund David's school, which is the best special needs school in the whole city. So yeah. Should be great PR. If it actually goes well."

"As obsessive and overthinking as you are, I'm pretty sure it will," Paul said.

"Yeah, well... hopefully," she said, finally giving in and letting David drag her out of the kitchen and towards the table, where his backpack was. "Oh and my big doctor's appointment is tomorrow."

"Oh, you mean the appointment where they're gonna tell you you're basically healed?"

"I hope so," she sighed, watching David excitedly unload essentially every last thing in his backpack in order to get to, apparently, a coloring book. "I mean I feel pretty good. I get around okay with the cane and probably won't need it much longer. I can work all day and just feel normal exhausted after..."

She trailed off mid-sentence, freezing when David happily shoved a drawing on a loose piece of paper into her hands. She looked at the picture and stared, her mouth hanging open, and Paul asked in her ear, "... You still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here... but I'm gonna call you back," she said, quickly hanging up and then sitting down in the nearest chair as a smile grew on her face.

It was a crayon drawing with the words "my family" at the top of the page. She figured his teacher must have had the kids each draw their families as an assignment. David's was of three people, a little bit better than stick figure status but not by much - drawing wasn't one of his talents, at least not yet. One was little with brown hair and brown eyes, and above his head was the word "me". He stood between two people, the shorter of which was a girl with very long dark hair and big circles on her chest (she'd have to thank him for that later). Above her said "Mama".

The third figure, the tallest, had hair the same dark brown shade as the other two, but he had a hat on top of his head. His left hand was a bit of a mess, and she could tell that he had drawn a silver stick hand before he must have remembered that he wasn't supposed to do things like that outside of their circle, so then he drew over it with black, which made it look a bit like a glove. And above his head said "Daddy".

This had been a long time coming, and she knew that. There had been so many remarks from others, so many displays of deepening affection between Bucky and her son, and yet seeing the word "Daddy" itself hit her like a tidal wave of emotion that she hadn't been prepared for.

She turned to David, who was still excitedly awaiting her reaction, and she said with eyes that might have been just a little bit shiny, "David, this is... wow."

She drew him in for a hug, and after he hugged her back, he pulled away and tapped his left shoulder - his sign for Bucky - and asked with his hands if Bucky would like it.

"I think he's gonna love it," she smiled, trying very hard not to cry like she wanted to. "We'll show him as soon as he gets home."

David happily accepted that and put the drawing back in his coloring book and then put that back into his backpack, taking it all very seriously, and Summer almost jumped when, right on time, the elevator dinged and a bunch of Avengers came streaming on to the floor.

What David wanted to show Bucky, though, didn't seem like a group activity to Summer. So, when Bucky approached them and smiled before giving her his customary hello kiss, she kissed him back and then said, "Hey, David made something at school today and he wants to show you. Can we go in your room for a minute?"

"Yeah," Bucky nodded before narrowing his eyes at her slightly. "Have you been crying?"

She smiled. "Nope. Come on, let's go."

She grabbed her cane and then the three of them headed away from the kitchen and down the hallway, Bucky's hand in hers as an unnecessary but welcome extra support. Some days he still acted like she was still immobile and needed his help to get around, even though she was back to work and mostly okay, but she didn't mind the lingering habit.

Once inside his room, David plunked down on the floor and immediately got to work unloading the drawing again, and Bucky sat down on the foot of his bed as he waited.

"How'd work go?" he asked conversationally.

"Good," she smiled, still standing near the door. "Got some last minute stuff taken care of. Everything looks like it's in order for tomorrow. How was your work?"

"Good I guess," he shrugged. "Saw the new building. Helped Steve with the training for awhile."

"Oh, how was that?"

He widened his eyes a little and said, "For someone who's not actually throwing any, Wanda packs a hell of a punch."

Before he could elaborate, however, David was shyly walking up to him and holding the drawing behind his back, and Bucky smiled at him with a puzzled expression. "What you got there?"

"Go on and give it to him," Summer urged David gently, and the boy finally relented, handing the piece of paper over and then intently studying his shoes as Bucky took the drawing, then glanced up at Summer in amusement. She then watched him look down and immediately, his eyes turned serious and just as stunned as she had known they would.

He stared at the drawing for a few long moments, and when he looked up next, it was to look at David with that same expression of undeniably pleasant shock on his face. It had hit him as hard as it had Summer, perhaps even more so.

She knew David would be shyer with her there - he was silly that way - so she smiled and quietly said, "I'll, uh... give you guys a minute. I'm gonna jump in the shower and then finish dinner."

"Okay," Bucky nodded to her, the two of them sharing a small but very real unspoken moment just through the small smiles on their faces. Now he knew why she had been teary eyed a few moments earlier, and she knew that this moment was every bit as important as she had first suspected it would be.

She slipped out the door and closed it behind her, leaning against it for a moment and feeling like she could cry for an hour, in the very best way possible.

Every step down the road that she was on had been followed by doubt like a stubborn shadow that she simply couldn't shake. Every single decision, every time David was unwittingly put in danger, every time he had to endure another major change because of who she had fallen in love with - it had wreaked havoc on her brain and her guilt, but standing where she stood now, she knew beyond even her deepest doubts that it all been more than worth it.

David had known when he had first drawn the picture that it was a change, and that it would probably end up being really important. The truth was, when he had been sitting there in the middle of the classroom, watching his classmates scribble drawings of their own families, he hadn't thought twice about what to draw himself. And when it came time to write the names above the heads of the stick-ish figures he had drawn, he had hesitated only to remember the proper spelling of the word "Daddy", since he had never written it before.

But what else could he call Bucky? Ever since the accident - which had been even scarier than the old house blowing up, or the fire in the tower, in his opinion, even though he hadn't seen it - Bucky had been everything he imagined a daddy to be. He read him stories, helped put him bed, hugged him when he was scared, and he even made cookies for him once.

And now he was standing there, in the middle of Bucky's room, embarrassed and kind of wanting to run away as Bucky continued to gape silently at him. But before he could turn on his heel and dash out, Bucky finally got a few words out.

"This... this is how you see me?"

David looked at the drawing still in Bucky's hands, then looked up and nodded once.

"This... word. You feel okay using it?"

He nodded again. Why wouldn't he feel okay using it? He'd never had a daddy before, and now he was pretty sure that he had one. That was awesome.

He watched as Bucky then looked down, brought his hand to his mouth for a moment, blinking a few times. Then he set the drawing down, took a breath, and patted the spot on the foot of the bed next to him. David crawled up and sat down as Bucky asked, and then he waited patiently as they sat there in silence for a while.

When Bucky finally spoke, it was very quietly and as he looked at David very seriously. "The thing is... I've been thinking about something for awhile now. And you're the one I need to talk to about it."

David listened intently, wondering what it could be. His face was the picture of utmost sobriety, and Bucky smiled faintly at him before saying, "That picture... I feel the same way. About you both."

David smiled brightly, those words doing more to make him happy than any others in recent memory. Feeling all warm and fuzzy, he watched Bucky's own smile grow in response to his, and then he said, "And I've been thinking... maybe... maybe it's time to ask your permission for something."

Permission? David furrowed his brows, understanding the word but not what Bucky needed his okay to do.

"See, usually, guys are supposed to ask the girl's father for this, but since she doesn't have one anymore, that makes you the boss," he smiled. "So I've got something really important to ask you."

Hanging on his every word, David's mind ran wild with far-fetched and nonsensical ideas of what this could be, but thankfully, his confusion was laid to rest a moment later.

Quietly, carefully, and sincerely, Bucky asked, "Would you let me ask your mother to marry me?"

David immediately decided that this was the single best thing he had ever been asked in all of his six years of life.

If it was possible to nod with one's entire body, that was exactly what David did, along with signing "yes" over and over, doing everything he possibly could to scream his approval without letting a single sound out of his mouth.

And Bucky seemed not only endlessly amused by his super-enthusiastic response but also incredibly happy himself, breaking out into one of his relatively rare huge smiles that David had only seen once or twice before. Then he laughed, because David launched himself at him in a hug that he meant with every fiber of his being.

This was perfect. It was just like the movies where in the end the princess married the prince or, in Tangled's case, the reformed criminal, and then they lived happily ever after - only this was way better. This was real life, and now David knew for sure that his mother would never be sad like she used to be.

He couldn't wait to see her face when she found out about this. Suddenly he pulled away and began urgently signing "When?", and it only took Bucky a second to pick up on the sign and reply, "Well, I'm not sure about that yet. I haven't planned it or anything. But I want to ask her soon. Can you keep this a secret until I do?"

Oh man. That would be hard, but David decided that he could be tough and keep the secret. He nodded, and Bucky thanked him before pausing and asking with a grin, "You want to see the ring I'm gonna give her if she says yes?"

He nodded so fast it actually hurt a little bit, and Bucky chuckled before scooting slightly up the side of the bed and reaching into the drawer of the table that sat next to it. When he came back, he held out a ring for David to look at, and David stared at it with big eyes.

He had no clue what it was, but it was definitely pretty.

"It was my grandmother's ring," Bucky said quietly. "That stone's called an opal. I already know she likes it, 'cause she said she did the first time she saw it. That was back on my birthday."

David remembered that day. It felt like it had been ages ago. After they had both spent a few moments admiring the ring, Bucky put it back and then reminded him, "Just remember, this is our secret, okay? Even if she starts to think something's up, you can't tell her."

David nodded solemnly, taking this responsibility with the utmost of seriousness. Bucky then smiled at him, and David smiled back, one more burst of the warm and fuzzies within leading him to sign something to Bucky that he previously only signed to his mother before.

And when Bucky watched him do it, his entire face changed. It went from happy and excited to suddenly much more serious and... sad?

No, it wasn't sadness. It was like when his mom was so happy that she cried, or when she just didn't know what to say or do, but for good reasons.

And just like her, David saw real tears swimming in but not falling from Bucky's eyes as he nodded, meeting David's eyes and clenching his jaw as he smiled at him.

"Yeah... I love you too."

That was all David needed to hear. This time, Bucky hugged him, and David now knew that he had been wrong when he had thought on his 6th birthday that things couldn't get any better. They had gotten better, like a lot, and he just couldn't believe his luck.

He had a daddy now, and not just any old guy, but one who really loved him and made him feel even safer than Steve did.

He was pretty sure that now things couldn't get any better. But then again, he was just a kid; maybe he needed to leave that stuff to the grown ups and just focus on being happy and enjoying what he knew was a real-life fairy tale of their very own.

After David showed Bucky the drawing, for the rest of the night, Summer noticed a distinct... something in Bucky's eyes that lingered there. She wasn't sure what it was, but it was in the way that he smiled at her and watched her as she went about her normal motions. She figured that he was just happy, and she definitely was, too.

Similarly, David quite nearly bounced his way to bed later that night, and she couldn't get over how seemingly excited he was. But she totally understood it, or so she thought, because when Bucky had told her of what they talked about after she'd left, she melted all over again.

David was so hyper that it took him a bit longer than normal to settle him down, but eventually he did, and then Summer let Bucky carry her off to his room for the rest of the night. Her leg tended to hurt the most at night, since she was still getting used to being back on her feet again and her leg was still rebuilding itself, so she never protested when he took the burden of walking away from her.

As the night drew to a close and Bucky crawled into his bed next to her, Summer looked away from the computer on her lap and smiled at him as he yawned and dropped his head on his pillow.

"Late nights out on the street catching up with you?" she asked, moving one of her hands over to run her fingers through his hair.

"Maybe," he muttered, eyes closed and nearly purring at her touch.

"You should stay in tonight. Sleep until like noon if you can."

"I can't," he sighed. "Gotta crash a gang initiation in an hour."

Summer smiled and shook her head. "Okay, well... don't take too long. Even part-time vigilantes need sleep, too."

"Wouldn't have been so bad if Steve hadn't dragged me out of here at like five in the morning."

Summer paused and asked, "Wasn't that like two hours after you got back last night?"

He nodded, eyes still closed. "Almost punched him in the face."

She smiled and then turned back to her computer screen, one hand on the touchpad while the other kept idling away in his hair.

He cracked one eye open and looked at the laptop like it a rather foul thing to have in bed. "What are you doing? Writing? Editing?"

"I... probably should be," she admitted, "but no. Just looking over some emails and the guest list for tomorrow."

He groaned and then dragged himself up to a sitting position, closing the laptop and earning a squeal of a protest from her before he shoved the computer down somewhere near the foot of the bed. He merely shrugged and pointed out, "You need sleep too. And your party's gonna go fine."

"But what if it doesn't?" she bit her lip as he leaned against the headboard, both of them facing each other.

"What's the worst that could happen?" he asked.

"Um... not enough people show up. The band I hired doesn't make it. The caterers give everyone food poisoning. We run out of champagne. A fight breaks out. I could go on."

"And would any of those things be your fault?"

She paused. "Well... maybe not, but..."

"Exactly. So stop worrying and get some sleep. And this time tomorrow, after the doctor's told you you're all healed now and your benefit is amazing like I know it'll be, I can say I told you so."

She smiled and leaned into his touch as his right hand touched her face, brushing aside a few stray hairs that had fallen out of her haphazard side braid. "I don't know what I'm more nervous about, the appointment or the party. Why did I schedule these things for the same day?"

"I don't know, but why don't you try to focus instead on how good this day was instead of how nervous you are for tomorrow?"

Her smile returned. "Yeah, today was pretty awesome. Mostly because of a certain little drawing that I wasn't expecting to see..."

Bucky smiled back, fingers playing absently with the end of her braid, which rested down near her stomach. "Yeah. I know what you mean."

"You're okay with it, right?" she asked, just in case. "I know I kind of put you on the spot, but I was just really excited when I saw the picture, and..."

"No, it was fine," he assured her. "And yeah, I'm okay with it."

"It's a big thing," she said. "A lot of guys would be running for the hills about now."

He smiled and shrugged slightly. "The hills are overrated."

She smiled back and paused, taking a moment to gather her words. "Thank you for all of this. I never used to think he'd ever have anyone to call daddy."

Bucky was quiet for a moment before he admitted, "I never thought anyone would ever want to call me that."

"Shows how much we know," she chuckled before laying her head on his shoulder.

He kissed the top of her head and brought his metal arm around her shoulders, fingers resting lightly on her upper arm as she closed her eyes, wishing for sleep to come and spare her the jitters she felt for the next day. But she had no such luck. She was wide awake, and she would probably stay wide awake even after Bucky slipped out of his window into the night to beat people up.

Finally, she sighed and pulled away, letting her head thump against the headboard as she closed her eyes and muttered, "Well, frick. I'm tired but I'm not and I am so screwed for tomorrow. I'm gonna need like... an iced Red Bull latte in the morning... which could give me major cardiac issues, but..."

Bucky sighed and then used the metal fingers still on her upper arm to start plucking at the strap of her nightgown. "Am I gonna have to knock you out?"

She opened her eyes and slowly turned them his way. "I mean... only if you wanted to..."

He grinned and used his right hand to brush her braid over her shoulder, inching closer to her as he said, "All you've gotta do is ask, Summer."

She smiled back, blushing a little. "Yeah, but... you're tired and probably saving your energy for the whole gang-busting thing, so I wasn't gonna..."

He rolled his eyes and shushed her with a kiss, all gentle and slow like he had all the time in the world. When he pulled away, right hand on her side and moving down it incredibly slowly, he said, "I know it's been awhile since we've actually had sex, but I didn't think you'd forget about the whole stamina thing already."

"Awhile?" She repeated with raised eyebrows. "It's been an eternity."

He grinned and then turned his gaze from her eyes to her lips and then her neck, lips following after he said, "Well, once the doc says you're all better..."

She sighed and closed her eyes, his kisses on her neck soft and sweet as they travelled from the various points that he knew affected her the most. "They'd better say that tomorrow, because I really really miss..."

"Miss what?" he asked, looking up from somewhere near her collarbone in between kisses as one of his hands pulled a strap all the way down her shoulder.

She playfully narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh no. Nope. You're not gonna lure me into that thing where you make me say stuff just to see how much I'll blush. Not falling for it this time."

He chuckled, succeeding in pulling down the top of her nightgown all the way to the top of her stomach. "Fair enough. Guess I could just tell you what I miss instead."

He kissed her before she could react either way, and then he made her squeak a little in surprise by pulling her down so that she was no longer sitting but laying underneath him. He smiled against her lips and then, with perfect caution, kept all of his weight from even touching her right leg but pressed just enough of it down on the rest of her, flooding her brain with memories of all the times he had been on top of her before and making her crave having it back even more.

"I miss this," he said between soft but ever-deeper kisses, metal arm resting next to her head and holding him up while his right gently pulled up the hem of her nightgown. "I miss watching your face and feeling you shake when I'm inside you and you're just about to..."

She interrupted him with a sudden... some kind of noise, which she wasn't sure was entirely human. "Oh my God, what the... are you trying to kill me or..."

He kissed her then said, "Hush. I'm not finished."

She whimpered, not just at his words but also at his hand as it caressed down over her hip, down to her thigh and back up again, still utterly lazy.

"I always know," he said, lips on her jaw as his hand moved up to grasp her breast, "because you start to shake and you also hold your breath a little. So..." He ground his hips against hers just enough for her to feel it. "Right when I know it's time and I'm hitting the right spot... I do this," he suddenly gave her nipple a pinch, not hard enough to really hurt but enough to make her yelp in surprise while he grinned at her reaction. "And then you're gone. I miss that. The way you tighten up around me and try not to scream and wake everybody up."

"... I'm gonna scream and wake everybody up if you keep talking like that," she said, her tone strangled and blood boiling even though he's really barely even touched her yet. All he did was grin and kiss her again, hand moving back down her stomach and only teasing where she was starting to desperately need it.

"I'm still not done," he replied, and she groaned while her face burned like the surface of the sun. Fingers dancing up her thigh as he rained kisses down her chest, he went on, "I really miss you on top of me. You used to be so shy about it at first... least till you figured out how to do it just right, and now you just... let your head fall back and you just ride me, so hard and fast and perfect, and it's the fucking sexiest thing..."

"Oh my God, stop," she squeaked, feeling like she would actually physically die if he said anything else, and he replied by groaning a little and kissing her with a sudden consuming fury. Things moved quickly then, both of them a sudden mess of need and thirst that wanted to be quenched in ways they wouldn't allow themselves to quite yet, but in the end, they could more than make do with what they had.

"Hope I'm not making you late for the whole... gang thing," she said through breathy gasps, their foreheads pressed together, her watching his face and gripping the back of his hair with one hand while her other was quite occupied, much like his own was with her at the time.

He shook his head, though he sped up his movements a little at those words, earning a shaky moan flying out of her mouth into his. Then he kissed her and opened his eyes, telling her, "You come first, sweetheart."

While those words could have been an extension of his previous dirty talk, she knew they were not. She understood what he meant, and she also knew how very true and real those words were. She loved him even more for it.

And, just like always, after it was over and she was utterly spent, she ended up sound asleep before he slipped out the window and worked on his latest hobby.

Bucky had a lot to think about as he stood in the shadows on top of a roof in the rougher side of the city.

The gang he was waiting for hadn't arrived yet at the abandoned old shop that he was keeping an eye on down below, giving him time to be still in the quiet coolness of the night and let the day's events rattle around in his head. But no matter where his thoughts drifted, they all eventually circled back and centered on a single, undeniably powerful word: Daddy.

The word carried a heavy burden. He knew that as soon as he had seen it scrawled out in blue crayon, over a stick-like figure of himself. It was only a word, but it felt as if it had changed everything. It was one thing to be a father figure, though even that had taken him quite awhile to adjust to and accept. But to be more than just that and actually be called Daddy by a kid who had never even really met his real father... it was more.

It was terrifying, because what did he know about raising a kid? What he knew was this - fighting, usually in the dark, away from the eyes of the world, unlike Steve and unlike most others "on the team". He wasn't even officially on the team, regardless of what Steve said, because he was still a ghost. Steve could plaster an "A" on his sleeve and that was nice, and it was nice that the others accepted him as well, but the world did not and, as far as he could see, never would.

Just how could a ghost be a father?

He was no closer to answering that question by the time that the gang finally showed up. They were making their way down an alley to the abandoned shop, and he pushed his inner thoughts away and adjusted the annoyingly hot ski mask over his face, slinking closer to the edge of the rooftop while staying in the shadows.

A noise behind him, however, alerted him to the fact that he was not quite as alone as he thought. He froze, training his ears to listen harder before he crept backwards against a stairwell that was close by. Slow footsteps came closer, and when they came close enough, he sprung out from behind the wall, grabbed the throat of his assailant and slammed the guy against the wall.

Then he immediately let the man go, because it was Steve, who immediately began choking out, "Bucky, it's me, it's me!"

He furrowed his brows and dropped his hand, dragging up his mask over his face and asking with exasperation, "What the hell, Steve?"

He was dressed like he was going to the park, blue hat pulled down over his head and everything, still very recognizable and not the slightest bit truly incognito.

Idiot.

"What the hell are you doing?" Steve retorted, confusion evident in his wide blue eyes. "You're dressed like a bank robber."

Bucky sighed impatiently and gestured to the street below. "I'm about to go pound some gang members into the pavement before they can do their sick little initiation rituals with two innocent girls."

Steve glanced at the street, then back to Bucky, his face still the picture of confusion. "Okay. That's good, I guess, but... why?"

Bucky sighed.

"Not why. How? How did you get started doing this?"

Rather than answer, Bucky asked, "Why did you follow me?"

"I was by my window and saw what looked like someone climbing out of yours. I went to your room but you weren't there and Summer was sleeping, so I..."

"Followed me," Bucky muttered.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Steve asked, eyes giving away that he might have been a little hurt by this. "How long have you been doing this?"

Bucky opened his mouth to answer, then looked down towards the street and saw the gang filing into the empty building. He then looked at Steve and said, "Look, I'll explain after I take care of them."

He then shoved the ski mask back on, and Steve watched in bewilderment as he then all but leapt off of the rooftop, landing on a fire escape down below and then leaping from that to the ground, where he slipped into the shop and the fight began.

Steve listened and waited, hearing the pained cries and groans of men getting beaten to a pulp, then, after awhile, seeing two girls running out as sirens wailed in the distance.

Steve was still completely confused, but by the time Bucky came scaling back up the building and told Steve to follow him to a different rooftop safely away from the crime scene, Steve was smiling despite his continued confusion.

All in all, Bucky had spent no more than eight minutes in action, and he had gotten out of it unscathed, which was actually the norm. Sometimes a punk or two would land a punch, but not this night, and the rush of adrenaline fueled him as he led Steve to a roof where they could sit and he could explain all of this properly.

Once they got there and were sitting next to each other, Steve still staring in wonder and Bucky's heart still pounding from the addictive rush of it all, he told Steve the story from the beginning. The night it had started, how Summer had supported him, and how it turned into what it currently was.

"I know it's a drop in the bucket," Bucky shrugged. "The city's corrupt and I'm not gonna stop crime from happening, but... I guess that's not really the point. I've been at it four months. I've stopped a lot of bad things from happening. Mostly rapes. There's so many..." he clenched his jaw and shook his head. "It's way worse than when we were kids. Least I think it is."

Steve nodded. "I know. It's terrible."

Bucky then looked at him and said, "What you do - what we do - I know what it's for and I know it saves lives, but I don't see them, you know? This, I see, and I know when I've helped someone. I leave the bastard tied up or unconscious for the cops, and even if he gets out, at least I know I stopped them from hurting one person."

"Yeah," Steve said. "Yeah, I get that. I do. I'm glad this makes you feel good. If you feel... purpose, I guess, in doing this, I'm not gonna tell you not to. I just hope you're careful."

"I haven't gotten caught yet," Bucky grinned.

"You can't get caught," Steve said seriously. "If you did..."

"I know. But I'm not."

Steve nodded, quiet for a moment. "I'm proud of you, though."

Bucky looked at him in mild surprise, and Steve merely smiled and added, "You've come incredibly far. And you're putting yourself at risk to help people. Which is what you've done your whole life."

"Not my whole life," Bucky muttered.

"The parts you were yourself for," Steve amended. "The parts that count."

Bucky nodded, knowing arguing this with Steve was impossible. It was like arguing with a steel wall. "I didn't tell you 'cause I figured you'd worry. Summer worries enough for everybody."

"That's okay," Steve shrugged. "You said she's okay with this?"

Bucky nodded, looking off in the distance. "Yeah. It makes her nervous but she's never tried to talk me out of it."

"She's... wow," Steve marveled.

"I know," Bucky smiled. After a pause, he added, "I think I'm gonna ask her to marry me soon."

If Steve hadn't been more careful, he might have fallen off the rooftop altogether. "Really? I mean I was starting to get the feeling that that's where you guys were headed, but..."

Bucky nodded. "See, earlier... David gave me this drawing he did at school that's supposed to be of his family. He drew me in there with the word "Daddy" above my head."

Steve smiled and raised his eyebrows in a very happy and pleasantly surprised expression. "Really?"

Almost getting choked up all over again, Bucky nodded and went on, "Yeah. And I just... I don't know. Seemed like the right time, so I asked his permission to marry her."

"I bet he said yes."

"About a hundred times," Bucky chuckled. "I don't know when I'm gonna do it, but I know I'm going to. I think I've wanted to for awhile now, but with the accident and everything... didn't seem like a good time. But she's a lot better now, and with David calling me that..."

"That's amazing," Steve concurred, giving Bucky's shoulder a pat. "Really. It is. Especially the David thing."

"Scares me to death," Bucky admitted, shaking his head as he stared off. "I don't know what I'm doing or how to be a dad. I barely remember my own dad."

"You just keep doing what you're doing," Steve said. "Just do what comes naturally. That's how you've gotten where you're at. It's not like you set out to be his dad. It's just... happened. I don't think this changes anything, really. Just makes it more... special, maybe. More official."

Bucky nodded, glancing at Steve and smiling at the slightly dumb look on his face. "I think you might be even happier about all this than I am."

"No," Steve shrugged. "Just really happy for you. All three of you. If you're happy, I'm happy."

Bucky smiled a little, and then after the two men sat there in silence for a moment, Bucky said, "I hope she says yes."

"Oh, she'll say yes," Steve assured him. "If she doesn't, I'll eat my own shield."

Bucky gave him the side-eye and pointed out, "You can't eat your shield."

"Exactly. That's how confident I am that she'll say yes."

Unable to follow logic that weird, Bucky squinted and then laughed, which in turn made Steve laugh, and suddenly, Bucky felt a lot lighter than he had when his venture into that particular night had begun. He had one less secret to keep and the support of his best friend in two very important areas of his life, and - though it still felt strange to say it - a family waiting for him at home.

Suddenly, he couldn't wait to find the right moment to ask Summer to be his wife.

A/N: ... SO. See? I said we were getting to the good stuff now :p I've actually been waiting quite impatiently to get to this phase of things, and in fact, I skipped over some other, more minor stuff I'd had planned (well, more like delayed rather skipped) to get to this chapter lol. I was so excited that I wrote it all in like a day and half, which might have been a personal record, but ANYWAY :))) Hope you guys like it, and I can just about guarantee you'll like the next one, too :p

Two more things: First, midnightwings96 updated Ruin today with a nice big fat AWESOME chapter, so if you're a reader, check it out :D Second, I've got a oneshot that I'll be posting very soon as a bit of a companion to this week's chapter. It's not my usual sort of oneshot, but it's a glimpse into Bucky's past (well, my slightly made-up version of it lol) that I wrote mainly to contrast where he's at at this current point with this relationship as opposed to his previous one. So keep an eye out for that and please give it a read when it pops up :D

Thank you guys SO MUCH for reading and reviewing week after week! I love you all bunches! *giant hugs*