Bucky keeps waiting for the call or text. For the 'Steve's sick and can't go to his own prom' or the 'Steve got in a fight and can't go to his own prom' or 'Steve's missing and he can't go to his own prom'.

It's tomorrow. The big day is tomorrow and so far… so good… For some reason taht makes him more nervous.

—-

"It's gorgeous!" Natasha squeals through the phone, "Yelena you look amazing!"

The blonde girl on the other side spins again for good measure then picks up the phone. "Thank you for the advice, you're right this golden yellow really makes my eyes pop!"

"I am your sister." Natasha says with a smile, rolling onto her back on her dorm room bed. "Make sure you take lots of pictures. I mean it!"

"I will!" Yelena waves a Polaroid camera into view. "Mr. Stark got us all cameras, so we're going to be taking a lot! And then Mrs. Stark gave us a photo album to put them all in!"

Natasha smiles, they'd done the same thing for them last year. Although they'd all looked rather tense in them since Steve was sick. But hopefully they would have a more fun experience.

"Oh!" Yelena says, "Steve, come say hi!"

Natasha sits up as Steve's face comes into view. "Hey Nat."

"Hey, you excited?"

He nods, "yeah, so far so good."

She laughs softly, "don't tempt the fates."

"I'm not." He promises, pushing back the front of his hair, "I want to go."

"You will." She insists.

Yelena pulls the phone back and pouts, "I just wish we were going to the same one!"

She hears Steve laugh, "then you should have chosen to go to the same school."

Yelena laughs and Natasha's roommate enters. "Hey, I gotta go." She says, "But I can't wait to hear all about it! Pictures. Yelena, I swear—"

"I will!" She laughs, "Steve?"

"Yeah I want proof I went." He says from off-camera. "You'll get a picture."

"No." Natasha snaps, "Pictures. Plural."

He laughs and Yelena waves goodbye before they hang up.

—

"Any update?"

Tony hears his dad sigh and waits.

"Yeah, They're piecing together a case. The further back they go the shoddier the recording gets. But that's almost to our 've been hiding and rerouting a lot of stuff. These people have been corrupt since before they got these jobs."

"And the stuff Banner sent?"

"That was the original stuff. The stuff that got the police interested in investigating the Rumlows. Without that we wouldn't have had a base."

"Good. Fucking scum."

"Tony."

"You know I'm right."

"Yes, but maybe not so volatile, huh? You know what that family is like when you start poking the bear."

"They're going to lash out." Tony responds, "we have to be extra careful of Steve when they figure out we're trying to dismantle their little nepotism circle of creepiness."

"Well, he has family in law-enforcement, the social sector, and the political sector. That's how that family has gotten away with their shit this long. But hopefully we can have enough to bring them all down at once. No loose ends."

"Good. And you're sure they don't know we're sniffing around?"

"They shouldn't." Howard says, "but if anything pops up suspicious we'll ensure Steve is safe, and the rest too. Who knows who they'll lash out at."

"Yeah."

His dad sounds like he's tinkering as he continues to speak. "And you told Steve that we're going after them?" Tony is quiet. "Tony…."

"He'd tell us to stop."

"Why?"

"Because he thinks it will make it worse."

"It will make it worse. At least during the actual trial and stuff."

"He doesn't want to go to trial." Tony huffs, "You saw him after the brothers and during the brothers. He doesn't want to go through that again. Hell, you heard him. He didn't even want to take Emil to court. He's traumatized by that shit, rightfully so. So, no. I'm not telling him till we have something concrete."

"But Tony, he should know. What happens if they do find out? Steve needs to be prepared."

"If Rumlow comes sniffing around then I'm sure Steve will say something."

And at that his dad laughs, "Yeah, cuz Steve has a stellar record of telling us stuff."

Tony huffs, "This is different. If he saw Rumlow he would tell us." His dad sighs over the phone line and then Tony hears something drop. "You and Erskine getting close?"

"We're getting closer." He answers, "but I wouldn't say we're close."

"Well hurry it up." He jests lightly.

"My resident genius is gone." His dad jokes back, "missing your brain power over here."

"Well, I'll be home in just over a month."

"You'll be a senior. That's insane."

Tony wrinkles his nose, "ew. Don't say that."

"What, you're not ready to head out into the world?"

"Course I am. Just not ready to be old."

"Hey."

"Talk to you later." Tony hangs up and throws his phone onto his bed. Rhodey's laptop on the comforter half dismantled so he can help fix whatever issue has been plaguing it. "Come on, Mac." He jokes, "talk to me."

—

"You think this is necessary?"

Steve rolls his eyes, "Sam, I'm going to prom. And while yes, she's already getting a corsage from me. I want to do something else."

"So you're getting…"

Steve looks up, waiting for him to finish, but Sam is looking at someone else. "Sam?"

He turns back and tilts his head, " Sorry, got this weird feeling like someone was staring. Anyways. "You're getting her snacks?"

"Yes." Steve says firmly, "she loves these little peach rings."

"And that's why we had to go to the bodega three blocks further? Because of peach rings?"

Steve tries to not show anything on his face. He hadn't gone back to the closer one ever since he saw Rumlow there. "It's this brand." He lies. "They don't have the right brand."

Sam laughs, "whatever man, it's your prom. I'm sure she'll love it."

"Any hints?"

"Your tie and corsage are hidden where you can't find them for a reason."

Steve groans and Sam laughs. "You're killing me, Sam."

"Hey, she asked for this. I'm just following her request. I don't dare cross Carter."

Steve smiles and turns, heading to the register when he hears Sam. "Can I help you, ma'am?" Steve turns and freezes.

"Steve?"

And then Sam is stepping in front of him, blocking him, "who are you, and how do you know my kid."

Steve pushes against him, "Sam, stop it's okay." He steps out in front and there she is. Looking at him in shock.

The woman, dressed in nurses' scrubs and hair tied up in a bun, steps forward, her face registering disbelief. "Steve? My heavens, is it really you?"

"Hey, Ms. Bailey."

She steps forward but Sam is dragging him a step back, "Sorry, who is this?"

Steve looks up at his overprotective face and smiles, "this is Ms. bailey. She used to work with my ma at the hospital."

The woman steps forward and her hands go up to cup his face, just like she used to do when he was a kid, but she pauses, looking up at Sam hesitantly. Steve laughs, "how have you been?"

She straightens, "I've been fine, I—" she looks at him, taking in his appearance, "I looked for you. They said you transferred homes and no one would tell me where."

He smiles, "Yeah, when we got to that first home it was already full. So they switched me."

She frowns, "I looked for you."

He nods, "It's okay."

"No." She says firmly, her eyes getting wet, "no baby, it's not okay. I promised your ma I'd look out for you. And I lost you."

Steve smiles, "it's fine. I promise."

"You been okay?"

He smiles up at her, "I've been great." Sam makes a sound of disbelief but he ignores it. "How's Noah?"

"He's almost 12 now. He's doing great."

Steve nods, "that's good." Her eyes are searching his face, then she looks up at Sam. "This is my dad. Sam Wilson."

The woman looks at him curiously but smiles, "you've been taking good care of Steve?"

"I have. I only met him when he was 15 though. He lived with another couple before I came." His voice is too tense for Steve's liking.

"Sam." Steve says tightly. It's not usual for Sam to be unkind. He's a very easy going guy. But Steve can see something like anger in his eyes. But no matter the promises she made, it wasn't her fault what happened to him. "Sam, we should get going."

"Can I have your number?" Ms. Bailey asks, "Or address? I know Noah would like to see you, and I just—" Steve can see the guilt in her eyes.

"Sure." He pulls out his phone and hands it to her. "Just text yourself, then I'll have your number too."

He looks up at Sam who seems torn between yelling at the lady and happy for Steve to have found a past connection. "We will have to meet up." The woman says, "there's a few other nurses who still remember your ma, they'd love to see you."

"Sounds nice." Steve says, "we'll have to do something. Tell Noah I say hello."

"I will. He'll be thrilled, he always loved playing with you under that nurses' station."

Steve smiles at the memory. "He took his first steps under there didn't he?"

She laughs, "you remember?"

"Course I do."

"You were only like 5 at the time."

"I remember." He assures her. "Then we hid when the night manager came on."

Ms. Bailey shakes her head, "oh, she woulda been furious if she knew you kids were there. But you both were always so good about staying quiet to stay outta trouble."

Sam's throat makes a noise and Steve tries not to wince. Not that she could know the gravity of those words. "Well," he says, "it was so nice seeing you. Maybe I'll come by the hospital and visit now that I know some of you are still working there."

She nods, "uh-hmm, come next Thursday night, I'll let them know they should work that shift."

"Okay." He agrees, not even checking with Sam, "I'll be there. Same floor?"

"Uh-huh."

"Sounds good, Bye Ms. Bailey."

"Bye Steve." He walks away to the register, and feels Sam follow after him.

They exit out onto the sidewalk and Sam is quiet.

Steve does not speak either. KNowing he'll say something if he wants to.

"You gonna tell her?" He asks finally.

Steve sighs, "for what purpose? So she feels worse? Guilty? What could she have done? The Schmidt's hid their treatment—"

"Abuse." Sam snaps. Then he scratches at his forehead, "it's called abuse, Steve. They abused you. And the others."

"They hid that for years. From professionals. She wouldn't have been able to do anything."

"You don't know that. She knew you, she may have been able to see the difference in you. Or the scars. Maybe if there was someone who cared they would have fought and saved you from them a lot earlier."

Steve processes that. "True…" he says slowly, "but then I wouldn't have you for a dad."

Sam looks at him sharply, "that's a low blow."

Steve just grins, "but it's the truth."

The eye-roll he gets is softened by the playful shoving of his shoulder, "Come on, let's get you all James Bond for the prom."

Steve laughs, "I wish."

—-

Steve runs his fingers through his hair one last time, letting the small amount of product dry and stick his hair into place. The suit is on, and he has his socks on as well.

"Come on," He hears Sam call, "we gotta go!"

He turns off the bathroom light and slowly makes his way down the stairs. His joints ache, but as the temperature gets warmer it's gotten better.

"Man, look at you!" Sam crows with a grin, "you look very handsome."

Steve laughs, "thanks, Howard went a bit wild with this."

"He can't help himself. You know that."

"Corsage?"

"Nope."

"Sam—"

"She's at the Barnes'. And when you see her, then you get the tie and corsage."

"But then she'll see me when I'm not ready!" He tries.

"Too bad. You got your candy?"

He nods, touching the pocket on the inside over his heart, "yeah."

"Okay, get your shoes on, let's go."

—-

There's a whole audience of his siblings and Sam and Sarah and her boys as he walks up the stairs to Bucky's house. "You guys are killing me." He huffs in annoyance, glaring back at the crowd.

"Oh hush!" Sarah calls, "just ring the doorbell!"

He tries to not smile, but he does as he turns around and presses his knuckle against the small button. He hears it ring in side and the flurry of activity that comes with it.

The door cracks open and Yelena, Wanda, and Rebecca stand there in their dresses all grinning wildly at him.

"Ladies." He says with a nod, "you all look beautiful."

"Thank you, Steve." They respond giggling and glancing back at the stairs.

And he knows what they're waiting for. "Is Peggy here?"

Rebecca, her dress a dark blue with sparkles, bobs her head up and down, "she sure it's."

They stare at him again. "Can you tell her that I'm here?" He says trying to not laugh.

"Yeah." Wanda, wearing a black dress, replies, "Peggy! Steve's here for you!"

He looks at Yelena, her golden dress with shimmery overlay is one he's seen on her back at their house. "You guys have fun getting ready together?"

They nod and look about ready to speak when a voice carries from the staircase. "Hello, Steve."

He looks up and his heart stops.

Peggy stands there, a smile on her lips. And he takes her all in. Her dress is an off-the shoulder deep burgundy gown, hugging tight until her thighs and then flaring out. Her lipstick matches her dress and her brown eyes shine out from behind thick lashes and gold eyeshadow, making her face glow angelic.

"Breathe, Steve."

"Can't." He rasps out, still staring at her. Which makes everyone laugh and clap. She descends closer to him and he notices the delicate gold necklace on her neck and the gold bangles on her wrist. She's wearing heels, which means she's taller than him. But he couldn't care less. She looks like a vision. Like she stepped out of a magazine.

She leans forward and presses a very soft kiss to his lips, "surprised?"

He swallows, "yeah." He manages out, "you look…" he looks deeply into her eyes, "like a queen."

"Not a princess?"

"No." He says, shaking his head, "you're too badass to be a princess."

She throws her head back laughing, and then kisses him again, harder. The group laughs and claps again and Steve hears the flash of a camera. "You mustn't make me kiss you." She admonishes him with a teasing voice, "I don't want to mess up my lipstick." She brushes at his lips where he's sure there has already been a color transfer. She looks behind him and suddenly there's a tie, burgundy just like her dress, in her hands. "Here." She affixes it around his neck and then he feels a nudge at his back. He turns, grabbing the corsage from Sam who is smiling so wide it's almost comical.

He looks at the deep red rose, burgundy almost black at the edges, and the small white baby's breath and deep greenery of the corsage. He turns, helping her put it on her wrist.

"It's beautiful." She says softly.

He sighs, "You know, I wish I could have actually been the one to pick it out."

She grins at him, "no, I wouldn't have missed seeing your reaction for the world."

She grabs something and pins it onto his lapel. "There. Now we've completed the prom tradition."

"Not yet." Mrs. Barnes says, "Smile!"

They take pictures for a bit and then they're ushered towards a car that is way too fancy.

"What is this?" Steve asks, looking up, but Sam just smiles and shrugs.

Happy gets out of the front seat. "Ride for two?"

Steve rolls his eyes, "Howard."

"Yup." Happy says, "come on, let's get you to prom."

Peggy laughs and they slide into the backseat.

—-

He feels nerves as he walks with Peggy up the steps. They're a bit behind schedule so the entryway is mostly empty or kids he doesn't recognize.

But he watches as they get closer how all eyes seem to turn to them. Or more accurately, Peggy.

They push into the doors of the venue and they stare at the way the school has decorated the room. Twinkling lights and fake plants are everywhere. Giving it a sort of night under the stars in a garden atmosphere.

"Prettier than my prom my junior year." She comments, smiling at him.

"Well, for sure a better night than last year's prom when you missed out entirely."

"I quite enjoyed snuggling with you." Peggy says with an eyebrow raise. "So hush."

He laughs and they walk forward. He's glad it's crowded so they sort of sink into the throngs of students. But he can feel that whenever people do see, their eyes widen and they do the double take.

"Is that Rogers?" He hears someone whisper.

"Who the hell is he with?"

Another voice says.

He looks over to see if Peggy has heard, but she's busy looking at the side of the gym that has tables and food displays.

So he ignores them and they walk around the edges of the room. "Let's take a picture." She drags him forward to the line where students are being placed in front of a backdrop and are taking cheesy photos.

Finally it's there turn and Steve can't help but notice the amount of stares they're getting.

"You're tense." She whispers, tugging him to her side. He smiles, feeling that tightness in his chest.

"I'm fine." He whispers out.

"Smile!" The photographer says. And they do, both beaming at the camera. "Next!"

They walk off, eyes still following them. They get food from the buffet tables and sit, talking briefly about Peggy's class schedule and what projects she has coming up in the next week or so. "Then I'll be home for the summer, thank heavens." She says, spearing a tortellini.

"I can't wait." He responds, "this will be a great summer."

"I'll be back for your graduation too." She says, wiping at her lips, "don't you dare think I would miss that."

"That will be right before your finals, though." He says, "right? You should stay and study—"

"Steven Rogers, I am not missing you walk across that stage and throw your silly hat for anything."

He chuckles softly, "okay. Okay."

"You want to dance?" She asks, eyeing the couples spinning a bit lazily on the dance floor.

"I don't know how, really."

"I'll show you." She drags him from his chair and he laughs as she tries to teach him a few steps. More eyes are on them, but he's distracted by Peggy's hands on his shoulder and in his grasp. She laughs merrily as they clumsily waltz, but eventually they catch a rhythm of swaying and the music changes to a faster song. It's starting to feel warm, so he pulls her off the dance floor and looks over at the food tables.

"You want some punch?" He asks. She nods and he points to a table, "why don't you go sit? And I'll be right back."

"You're trying to ditch me?"

He blinks, "what?"

She laughs, "we could go get punch together, you know."

Steve sighs, "but…" then he stops, feeling embarrassed.

Her hand finds his, "what is it?"

"It's just…" he looks at her, now feeling silly, "in the movies the guy always goes and gets punch for his girlfriend."

Her lips purse in amusement and then she leans forward and kisses him softly, "then I would love for you to go get me punch. I'll be sitting right over there." She points to an their table and moves away. He smiles and heads towards the food stands.

It takes a few minutes since there's a line, but soon he's walking back towards the table. And there he is. The jerk from detention. Ranger Rick.

Talking to Peggy.

Leering at Peggy.

Steve walks forward, they haven't seen him yet, and he hears the guy speak, "I mean, I haven't seen you around before. Who you here with?"

"My boyfriend." Is Peggy's curt reply, clearly not impressed.

"Oh yeah? And who's he? Bet, I could give you better night than whoever it is." He grins a nasty smile at her and Steve rolls his eyes. But he doesn't move, standing out of their lines of sight, amusement bubbling through him as Peggy looks incredibly annoyed on his behalf.

"I can assure you." She says icily, glaring at the man, "you could not."

The guy shrugs and leans towards Peggy, "you wanna dance?"

"Yes," She says with a laugh, "but not with you."

He frowns and Steve takes that as his que. He walks forward and stops by her side. "Hey," he looks at Peggy, "everything okay?"

The guys' eyes go wide as Peggy reaches out, grabs his tie and pulls him down, placing a kiss on his cheek. "Perfect now that you're here."

"You're shitting me." The guy huffs, glaring at Steve, "what you pay her to be here?"

Steve barely has time to be angry on Peggy's behalf because she's standing up and pointing a finger at him, "excuse me?"

"You heard me." He says with a smug look, "if you didn't pay her—" he points a finger at him, and Steve guesses that the guy just isn't too smart because he points to Peggy next. "No way you're here with him for real. What, is he a pity date you agreed to cuz he got shot?"

Steve hears a thudding 'crack' and suddenly the kid is on the ground, groaning. He looks up to see Peggy standing, her fist clenched and glaring at the guy on the ground, "How dare you insinuate such a horrible thing!" And Steve sees her raise her heel, as if she's about to stomp on him. And he lurches forward, grasping her arm and pulling her back.

"Peggy—" he says in a rush, "Peggy don't, he's not worth it—"

"He just—" she starts, her voice rising.

"He's an idiot. That's the guy me and Bucky punched."

She turns to him wide eyed, "so he's treated you poorly before?"

"What's going on here?" Steve hears a teacher say.

"We got to get out of here." He whispers, dragging her through the crowd. "I don't wnat you getting in trouble for assaulting someone."

Her heels are clacking as she follows after him, "he deserved it."

"Definitely." Steve agrees, "but he's the kind of jerk who would press charges. So let's go."

Students are staring at them, but they manage to make it out the two double doors and then out into the night air.

And that's when Steve laughs, mirth bubbling up and exploding out into the quiet of the night, "man, you really decked him! It happened so fast I almost missed it."

Peggy shakes the hand she punched him with, "he was rather hard-headed." But she has a smile on her face.

"Come on." Steve says, "let's get out of here." They start walking and Peggy grows quiet. "What is it?"

"I just ruined your prom." She says morosely, "I lost my temper and now you don't get to have a real prom."

Steve stops, pulling her close, "what are you talking about? I got to dance and eat and take pictures? And my favorite part is when you decked that jerk."

But she doesn't seem to listen, "we didn't get to have another dance, and you didn't even get to have dessert—"

And dessert rings a bell.

"Oh." He says, "I forgot." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the small bag of peach rings. "I meant to give you this on the way here. But you were so beautiful I got distracted." He smiles at her and she's laughing at him when she looks down and catches sight of the candy. Her eyes soften and she looks up, her eyes catch his and suddenly she's kissing him. Harder than would be allowed with her lipstick rule.

"You're the—" she says, breaking off their kiss, and she can't seem to find the words because she's kissing him instead. Her hands threading up through his hair and then her arms winding around his neck. He holds her close, his hands resting on her waist as they kiss under the street lights.

"Come on," she says breathily, "let's get home and out of these ridiculous clothes. I want to sit on the roof and eat this candy."

He smiles at her as she pulls out her phone to call Happy. "Yes, ma'am."

—-