Chapter 40

"Alright," Howard says with the snap over the phone. "Tickets to London and tickets to your show are all booked and set!"

Natasha grins, her phone held tightly between her shoulder and ear. "Thank you, seriously, so much."

"What's a dad to do for his quasi adopted kid." She hears a door bang open and squealing and she winces. But she just hears Howard laugh, "welcome, come on in, drop your stuff in the den—" he gets back on the phone, "Sam's here dropping off the kids to Maria."

"When do you guys leave?"

"Our flight is in a few hours."

"Did Peter convince him to get to go?"

Howard laughs, "actually yes, Peter is coming with us."

Natasha is grinning as she shuffles through her ribbons. "I wish I could be there. You'll say hello and congratulations to them for me?"

"Course I will." Howard answers, sounding like he has kids tugging at him, "I'll take pictures and videos and send them your way."

She pictures Bucky in his uniform and sighs, wishing she could see him in person. "Thanks. Is Peggy going to make it?"

Howard lets out a loud laugh that makes her chuckle in response, "the devil couldn't keep that girl from being there."

"He'd be a fool to try."

A sort of somber silence takes over the phone before Howard huffs a laugh and she can tell he's shaking his head, "that he would. What a sight that would be. Peggy fighting the devil himself." Then he chuckles again and she can hear kids squeaking questions at him, "Alright Nat, I'll talk to you soon."

She smiles, "talk to you soon."

—

"You wanna come?"

Clint looks up from the mission report he was finishing. It had been surprisingly simple. Just an extraction. No weapons fired or anything.

"Come?"

"I'm heading out to your buddies' grads. You wanna join?"

He feels a grin pull at his lips, "you mean it? I can join?"

"Anything that helps make them choose this team. Hell yeah."

Clint nods, "for sure, when do we leave?"

"Wheels up in 45."

—

"You're jittery." Tony says with an eyebrow raised.

Peter's legs still and he looks up guiltily at Tony. "Sorry."

"No apology necessary. What's got your legs all a-bounce?"

"Never been on a plane before."

"Ah…" He responds calmly, "well, no worries, we're in excellent hands."

But sooner rather than later, his legs start to bounce again. Tony knocks on his knee gently, "what's really bothering you, Parker?"

"What…" Peter starts then stops, looking a bit ashamed, "what if Steve…"

Tony waits, wondering where the question will go. But the kid just falls silent.

"Yes?" He prompts.

"Does Steve graduating mean he's never coming home?"

Ooof.

Tony takes a second to respond and he tilts his head back and forth, "well…" he starts, "it's kind of like if Steve went to college, you know? He'd be gone for a while then come back and visit. He can't live at that house forever you know, he has to grow up sometime."

"I miss him."

The sharp honesty in those words cuts Tony to the quick and he finds he has to take a second to respond. "You know what is crazy, kid?" He laughs, "I do too."

—-

The ceremony is a blur. To the marching formations and the big army band and the speeches. Bucky is paying attention but he finds his thoughts wandering to the crowd. He knows Natasha isn't here, but he can't wait to see his parents or Rebecca. Then, he's being dismissed and his eyes scan the crowds now approaching the large field.

Steve's not in his eyeline, the last name putting him later.

"Bucky!"

He whips around to see Becca running at him and he dashes forward, picking her up and swinging her around. Her laughter echoes and then his parents are there and his ma is crying happy tears and his dad is looking so proud.

"You did it." Becca says, "you're a soldier now!"

He laughs, "I guess so."

"Hey Bucky."

He turns and his eyes widen, "Clint?"

The guy grins and nods, "thought I'd come celebrate with you." Clint hugs Becca and his parents and then turns to Bucky, "surprised to see me?"

"You got leave this early?"

Clint smirks, "the team I'm on is a bit more relaxed about leaves than normal."

Bucky's eyebrows furrow, "you're on a team?"

Something about the way the guy is grinning makes Bucky's adrenaline shoot up, "Oh yeah, hell of a team." Then Clint looks around and points, "his team."

Bucky's eyes follow in the direction he's pointing and he chokes in surprise, "Castle's team?"

Clint's nodding, "yep, I was tapped during basic too, then he tells me he's scouting two guys from North Carolina and he mentions one of them named Rogers and the other is Barnes—"

They're walking towards the side as Clint explains what happened on his end, then he nudges Bucky, "what did you guys decide?"

"We hadn't yet…" he admits, "we were going to decide today, but knowing you're on the team, that's a big draw."

Clint smiles, "he was hoping you'd say that."

—

Steve's eyesight is spectacular now, vision that he could never have dreamed of having with how bad his eyes were before. But he still can't manage to see Sam or anyone else, which means they're most likely behind him.

Once they're dismissed from the ceremony, he winces at the loud sounds, but doesn't let it distract him. He turns, searching through the throngs of families, eyeing each face looking for—

There.

She's there.

A few hundred feet away up in the seats, red lipped and staring at him with so much intensity he's surprised he doesn't combust.

Then he's running.

He deftly avoids the crowds and circles around the groups as he makes his way to her. It's mere seconds until he's standing beneath her, looking up as she leans over the railing.

There's a few seconds of silence as they just look, taking each other in, finally reunited after the long separation.

Then she smiles, "my how you are a sight for sore eyes." And that's all the prodding he needs. He leaps, throwing himself into the air and grabbing the railing. Hauling himself over with grace and then standing before her. Her eyes widen, "you're—" she laughs, "taller!"

He looks down at her, and the realization hits, he's actually having to look down. "I missed you." He says.

"And I you."

Then she's grabbing his uniform and yanking him down to her, kissing him something fierce. He doesn't fight it, melting into the kiss and holding her tightly. He hears a few whistles and 'whoops' but he doesn't pay them any mind.

When he pulls back, she looks breathless and her cheeks are flushed. She eyes him with a narrowed look of amusement, "this hardly seems fair now."

He tilts his head, "what?"

She points to him, "it used to be me who made you breathless during a kiss, and now the roles have reversed."

"Steve!" His laugh is cut off midway as he hears his name. He turns and a smaller figure runs towards him. He holds his arms open as Peter slams into him. He wraps the kid up in his arms and holds him tight.

Still hugging Peter, he looks up to see Sam, Howard, and Tony appear.

"I missed you." Peter says, "did you miss me?"

Steve ruffles his hair, "of course I did! There's no one here as clever or as funny as you."

Peter grins at that and then points to Tony, "he said he missed you to."

Steve looks up to see Tony groaning, "Pete, Pete, why you gotta spill all my secrets?"

Steve laughs and then pulls Tony in for a hug, "I missed you too."

"How's the body treating you?" Howard asks, grabbing Steve's shoulders, "You're definitely taller, and widening. Any other changes?" Peggy is chuckling quietly at his assessment.

Steve wrinkles his nose, "I mean, everything is really loud, like my hearing is super sensitive. And so are all my other senses."

Howard is nodding, "okay, okay, that's good to know."

"Howard." Sam cuts in, "can the kid enjoy his accomplishment for three seconds before you start poking and prodding again?"

The group laughs even though Peter seems a bit confused.

Howard waves his hands in surrender, "fine, fine. You know me and my scientific curiosity. But just real quick, how did the food bars do?"

Steve smiles, grasping Howard's shoulder, "they were life savers, seriously."

The man grins and they start walking towards the exit.

—

Tony is listening to Steve tell a bit about the experience when his phone rings, he snags his cellphone out of his pocket and laughs at who is calling.

"What's up little Ballerina? No one else answering your calls?"

Natasha glares at him through the video and then she shakes her head, "I actually called you first, knew you're too addicted to your technology not to have it on you." Tony frowns and that makes Natasha laugh harder. "Is the ceremony over?"

"Yep." Tony responds, "just finished, you wanna say hi to Steve?"

He watches as Steve turns his head at the sound of his name and he holds out his phone. Steve grabs it and a smile grows on his face, "Nat!"

"Dang! Look at you all official in your uniform!"

Steve laughs, "well, just trying to catch up to you Miss Professional Ballerina."

Natasha wrinkles her nose and then tilts her head, "you been doing okay there?"

"Um-hmm." Steve answers, "lots of new experiences, how's Russia?"

"Different." Natasha admits, "I miss you guys a ton, but it's good. I love what I'm doing."

"That's great," Steve responds, and Tony sticks his head into view,

"I heard my dad is going to come see you?"

Natasha grins and nods, "yep, he and your mom and they're bringing Yelena!"

"That's awesome." Steve says, looking up at Howard, "that's really awesome."

Howard nods magnanimously and then grins at Sam who looks away suspiciously. Tony blinks at them, and then asks, "what?"

"Nothing." Both men say too quickly.

Tony steps out of screen view and his dad waves him away, later he mouths.

"Steve!"

The whole group turns to see Bucky and Becca and the Barnes family, then Tony's brain fritzes, "Clint?!" He turns to see his dad and Sam looking surprised too, which means it wasn't planned by them.

"What's up, Tony." Clint says with a grin.

"What are you doing here?"

"Trying to convince us to join his team." Bucky answers, with a meaningful look towards Steve, "Castle's team."

Steve's eyes go wide, "what!?"

Clint laughs, "yeah man, who would have thought, huh?"

Tony steps forward, "wait, wait, wait, what's happening now?"

Howard joins the circle, "excuse me?"

So Clint starts at the beginning.

—-

Natasha listens through the phone as Clint explains what has been happening since he graduated and how Steve and Bucky were noticed and tapped for the same special ops team.

At the end of his tale, the group is silent for a minute before Peter speaks, "is it dangerous?"

She sees Steve's face look towards the kid and he pulls the kid close, "don't you worry about that, Peter. We'll be fine."

Not exactly an answer, but she can't focus on that now, "Steve?" She asks, drawing his attention back, "could you pass the phone?"

He grins, nodding, "course, good seeing you."

Then Bucky's face appears and he's smiling at her, "hey Nat."

"Hey." She responds, feeling almost giddy at seeing his face again, "you look older."

He laughs, "Keeping Steve outta trouble ages me."

"Hey!" She hears Steve protest off to the side.

She laughs, "I can't believe it's already been over two months." Then she tilts her head in question, "are you going to join that team?"

Bucky looks up, and she would bet anything that he's looking at Steve. Then he nods and looks back at her, "yeah, I think we are."

She sighs, "you'll be careful?"

He grins, "of course."

"You'll keep my picture to keep you safe?"

Bucky winces, and he nods shortly, "of course."

His response makes her pause, "what?"

"Nothing."

Then she scoffs, "James Barnes, did you lose it?"

He shakes his head, his eyes widening as if to tell her to shush, "no. I have it."

Her eyes narrow, "show it to me then."

Bucky reaches down and snags something out of his boot. Then shows her the little picture of herself she'd given him. "See? Safe and sound." His eyes flick up and he looks apologetic.

And that's when she hears a, "Steve?"

Bucky wrinkles his nose and he glares at her in a mock accusation, "now you've done it."

—

Steve sighs, "I don't have it."

Peggy's looks at him, confused, "why not?

"I lost it."

Bucky snorts and Steve throws him a glare.

"You… lost it? How?

"It was an accident, I'm sorry."

"Losing my picture was an accident?"

"Tell her the truth, Steve." Bucky says calmly.

"Truth?"

"Bucky, don't—"

"She deserves to know!" Bucky insists.

He can feel all the eyes of the group on him and he sags his shoulders, "thanks a lot Natasha!" He calls out before turning to Peggy, "one day, I didn't notice, but your picture had fallen out of my boot. And so then other guys knew I had it—"

"You're leaving out the part—"

"Bucky!" Steve snaps, quieting him, then he turns back to Peggy. "The next day, some guy was being a jerk and he told our sergeant I had it. Then it got confiscated. That's why I don't have it."

He hopes that's going to be it. But Peggy swivels on her high heels slowly towards Bucky and she raises an eyebrow, "and what did Steve leave out?"

Bucky grins and Steve groans. "He left out the part where no one believed you would be his girlfriend—"

"Buck!"

"And—" Bucky continues, ignoring his plea, "he insinuated you were just someone Steve googled to—" his voice cuts off and his eyes flick to Peter. "Keep busy." The adults make noises of disbelief and Steve gets frustrated.

"Buck!" Steve snaps, stepping in between the two, "Peggy, seriously, it's just some dumb guy. Okay?"

But Peggy holds up a hand and the group goes silent. "I want to hear the rest of the story."

Bucky is grinning and he points to Steve, "so once Steve said 'yeah, I'm shocked as you all are that she would want to date me too'—" Peggy scoffs and glares at him. He tips his head back, pinching his nose but Bucky continues, "then Steve shows them all up the next morning. He finishes first and the sergeants praising him and that jackass—"

"James."

"Sorry ma, anyways the jerk who said she was just someone he googled rats Steve out to the sergeant. And so the sergeant makes him take off his boots and Steve had to hand over the picture which the sergeant ripped up and threw away."

Steve sighs, "okay, see? That's it."

Peggy looks at him then back to Bucky, "is that it?"

Bucky grins, "you mean other than Steve receiving the punishment of having to suffer in the gas chamber for longer? Yeah, that's it."

Howard is sputtering, "what?"

He feels a hand on his shoulder, "Steve, is that true?"

He looks up to see Sam's concerned face, but he waves his hands, "I'm fine!" He turns to the group, "it's all fine. It wasn't even that bad."

"Who?"

He turns to see Peggy looking at the crowd, and realization clicks at the grin on Bucky's face.

Bucky points out Hodge, on the far side with his family "it was him."

Peggy starts walking away and Steve turns to Bucky, "what the hell!"

Bucky is smirking, the phone still in his hand, "I just remember thinking how much I wished Peggy was there to punch Hodge in the face, now she can."

"James!" His mother is saying, but Steve glares at him and then takes off after Peggy.

—-

Clint listens to the story Bucky tells and then laughs as she takes off, looking like a woman on a mission. Steve follows shortly after and the group is silent for a minute. "You really planned that?" He asks.

"Well," Bucky says with a shrug, "not so much planned, as hoped. You know? The guy was a bastard, and he will deserve whatever Peggy gives him."

Howard steps forward, "how did Steve do in the gas chamber? Seriously?"

"He was fine." Bucky answers honestly, "he was affected the least, and it really impressed the superiors."

"Gas chamber?" Peter asks, looking wide eyed with worry.

Sam bends down and shakes his head, "don't worry, it's just part of training. And see? Steve is fine."

"I don't know about you," Tony starts, "but I definitely want to see Carter kick this guy's ass."

Clint nods, "hell yes." He, Tony, and Bucky hurry to catch up.

—-

Tony can see Steve trying to stop her.

"Peggy," they hear him say, holding onto her arms, "stop, okay? It's not worth it."

"Steven Rogers." Peggy's voice is sharp and unrelenting, "let go." Steve does, but that doesn't keep him from blocking her path. "Move."

"No, you don't need to prove anything—"

"You know—" Peggy snaps, pointing at him, "if maybe you hadn't said the words, 'I'm shocked she would date me too', then I would agree with you!" Then she pushes past him.

Tony looks over to Bucky who only looks slightly apologetic. "I mean, she's not wrong."

Clint's laughing as he points to the left where a man, tall and definitely military stands, his eyes on Steve. "That's Castle." He tells Tony.

"Hey!" They hear Peggy call out, "you there."

"Showtime." Bucky says with a grin.

—-

Steve tries to stop her, but when she looks down and orders him to let go, he does. Then she glares at him so hurt that it takes his breath away.

"if maybe you hadn't said the words, 'I'm shocked she would date me too', then I would agree with you!"

She pushes past him and he feels stuck in place. How long has she defended her love for him? And he's continually acted like it's some sort of miracle?

He turns, finding her approaching Hodge.

"Hey!" A bunch of people turn at the call, but Peggy walks towards him purposefully, "you there!"

Hodge's eyes find her, and he looks confused for a second before memory sparks in his eyes. He looks up, and his eyes land on Steve. Disbelief flashes clearly.

Hodge turns to face them, "yeah?"

Peggy stops in front of them, a circle of people around, "what's your name sir?"

Hodge smirks, "Gilmore Hodge, your majesty."

Steve winces, him mocking her for her accent would not go well.

Peggy's lips purse, "I heard you had something to say about me?"

"What? That little baby go and whine to you?"

Steve sighs, knowing there is no going back now.

"He's really not smart." Bucky steps up beside him, hand on his shoulder, "is he?"

Steve shakes off his arm, "don't pretend you're not thrilled."

Bucky grins, "oh, I am thrilled."

"I want to see her deck him!" Natasha's voice calls out from the phone. Steve shakes his head as Bucky angles the phone so she can see.

Peggy's voice gets louder, "Did you or did you not insinuate I was simply a random face on the internet for him to enjoy?"

Chittering begins, and the people around looking on with unsure faces, confused at the confrontation.

"I mean," Hodge starts, a salacious smirk on his lips, "you're too pretty to be dating a rail like Rogers." He tilts his head, assessing her, "you could be with a real soldier."

Tony and Clint both snort, and Bucky lets out a laugh of disbelief. "This is perfect."

And maybe Steve should be annoyed, but now he's just resigned.

"What makes a real soldier?" Peggy asks, "is it physical prowess?"

Hodge grins, "oh yeah. And I got a few moves I know you'll like."

Steve shakes his head.

Peggy's mouth is slightly parted, as if she can't believe he's that much of an idiot.

"Say that to me." Peggy practically growls, "one more time."

Hodge leans forward, getting way too close to Peggy. And he opens his mouth, "I got—" Steve sees her muscles tense, and he knows what's going to happen.

A solid 'thock' is the only sound he hears as the punch lands, sending Hodge sprawling onto the ground and making the crowd all step back in surprise.

Peggy then looks up and she points to two people, "is this your son?" The couple nods, looking like they're going to start complaining, but Peggy glares at them and points to their son laying in the dirt, "perhaps you should have thought about teaching him some manners, hmm?"

Then she spins and stomps back towards him. She grabs his hand and yanks him along with her. "How many times do I have to explain—" Peggy starts, "before you actually believe me?"

"Peggy—" Steve starts.

"Rogers." He and Peggy stop at the sound of his name. He turns to see Castle approaching him. "What was that about?"

Steve shakes his head, "it's a long story."

"Not really." Peggy quips, "some pissant needed to be put in his place. Who are you?"

"I'm Frank Castle. Hopefully soon to be Steve's new S.O."

Peggy looks him up and down, "You're the man who hired Clint?"

"That's me."

"And you're well trained?"

Frank nods, seeming unphased by her questioning, "I believe so, ma'am. Hell of a right hook you got there, are you looking for a job?"

Peggy grins, "I don't think you could afford me."

Frank nods, "well, we'll settle for Rogers then. That is, if you're planning on joining?"

They both look towards him and Steve takes a deep breath, "yes, sir. I do believe I will."

Bucky and Tony and Clint appear at that moment and Frank looks at Bucky, "what about you Barnes, you joining up with us?"

Bucky looks at him and he nods, and so Bucky nods, "yeah, I am."

Frank claps Clint on the back, "knew you'd be good to cart along." He hands Steve and Bucky each an envelope. "Go to where you're supposed to report and when and then hand the highest officer you can find there this envelope. He or she is going to be pissed. Do not let them bully you into changing your minds. See you in three days. Come on, Barton."

Clint looks up, "what? We gotta go?"

Castle laughs, "we got work to do. See you at the car in 20 minutes." Then he salutes and disappears.

Tony looks at the three of them, "so you're all going to be on a team together?" He snatches the phone out of Bucky's hands and glares at it, "and what are we? Fricking chopped liver?"

Natasha laughs through the phone and Steve feels a tug on his hand. He looks down to see Peter, "when will you be home again?"

The group falls quiet and Steve takes a deep breath, "I don't know, Peter. But I promise I won't have to be as absent as I was these past couple weeks. I'll have more ability to call you and check in."

Peter frowns, "but when will you be home."

Sam's face is pinched when he looks up and Steve is confused about the concern in Peter's voice. He grabs the kid's hand and pulls him to the side. "Peter? What's wrong?"

"Why'd you have to go?" Peter pouts, crossing his arms and brows lowered.

"I had to come here to train."

"But why did you have to go away? Why couldn't you go to college close? I know you can't live in the house forever. Tony told me. But why are you choosing to leave for good?"

"I'm not." Steve urges, "I'm not leaving for good."

"But you're never going to live with us again." Peter accuses. "You just left us."

Steve feels stunned, he grabs Peter's shoulders, "is that what you think? That I don't care so I just left?"

"You did just leave."

Peter's face is so hurt and accusatory, "I—" Steve starts, feeling the hundreds of people in the crowds mix around them. Their heartbeats and loud talking sort of overwhelming mixed with his own emotions. "I didn't leave, there was just another place I needed to go. And I'm going to be gone a lot. But that doens't mean I love you, or don't care for you and the kids at the house. It just means I have other things I have to do. You know how Sam takes care of the house? He does that because it's his job. Well, this is my job."

"But if you don't live in New York then you can't adopt me."

Oh.

Oh.

Steve grabs Peter and hauls him up. Holding the young kid in his arms and shaking his head, "Oh, Peter." He pulls back, making sure the kid is looking at him, "is that what this is about?"

"You promised."

"I thought you loved Sam and the house?"

"I do—"

"So why the sudden desire to leave it?"

"I wanna be with you."

Steve hugs him again and he sets him on his own two feet. "I promised you that if anything ever happened to Sam I would be next in line. But Sam is my dad still, just like he's yours. We're brothers. And even though we can't always be physically close, we are together in spirit. And you can call and text and whatever gizmo Mr. Stark invents for you, to contact me at any point."

Peter looks sad but resigned. "Okay."

Steve pulls him in for another hug.

—-

Clint watches Steve take Peter off to the side and he looks up at Sam. Sam sighs, "he's starting to show signs of late abandonment issues. Which for his past is not surprising. We're… we're working on it. But Steve leaving didn't help. Don't tell him I said that." The group nods, "Peter's been getting in more fights at school too, but we're working on it. He's getting some good outlets lined up there too. Lots of science stuff."

"You need any help?" Howard asks.

Sam nods, "I was going to call you later this week, if that's alright?"

"Absolutely." Howard, Sam and the Barneses turn and begin a new conversation, leaving the young adults on their own.

Peggy turns to Clint, "so this team? Tell us about it?" He glances at his watch. T minus 17 minutes to meet Castle.

"Small team, but highly skilled or unpolished skill that will become highly skilled aka us the new kids. I've only run a few ops with them but they're effective. So it's been fun. I think Steve and Bucky will really enjoy it." He gestures to Bucky, "was Steve really hitting three in one?"

Bucky nods, "sure was, surprised all of us. Mostly Steve."

"Heard he was pissing off everyone, but that he was right."

Bucky laughs, "the kid made every superior want to yank their hair out. Got every permission and privilege taken away, but they never booted him. So he didn't stop. Now here we are."

Peggy looks amused as does Tony. Clint turns to Tony, "How's MIT?"

"Fine. Been spending a lot of time on extra curricular projects. Keep your eyes on the mail.

Clint raises an eyebrow. "Gifts? For little ol' me?"

Tony grins, "all three of you. Only the best for the biggest idiots on the planet."

The group laughs as Steve walks back up, pulling Peter along with him.

—-

Clint leaves and Steve and Bucky both hug and say goodbye to the whole group. Peggy kisses him fiercely and then glares at him, "you're going to have a phone now right? So I can make sure you're alright?"

He smiles, "yeah. I believe so."

"Good. And remember your promise."

"I do. I'm coming back to you."

She kisses him again and goes besides Sam, picking up one of Peter's hands.

Steve waves goodbye and he and Bucky head towards the offices.

—

When Bucky hands the envelope over to his S.O. The man takes one look at it and frowns. "You've got to be shitting me."

Bucky holds back a grin, "sir, no, sir."

—

They board a plane in North Carolina, and deplane in Jersey.

Steve wrinkles his nose, "the team works out of Jersey?"

Bucky snorts, "uh-oh, you thinking of backing out?"

Steve grins, "I dunno, maybe. It's Jersey after all."

"I know." A voice calls from afar, "almost made me quit too."

CLint appears and they shake hands, "let's go. Castle's waiting. He already has our first op lined up and you both only have 4 days to prep."

Excitement and nervousness plays through his chest but they both follow after Clint, their bags in hand.

—

"So they're both settled in Jersey."

His dad nods, "yep. Camp LeHigh. Should be interesting. At least they're not too far."

Tony agrees and flips the screwdriver in his hand as he contemplates what he wants to work on next. "You do digging on Castle?"

"Yep."

"And?"

"Frank Castle, codename the Punisher. Expert in military operations, long range, short range, hand to hand, strategy, and psy ops."

Tony feels his lips pull back in a grimace. His dad notices. "Yeah. He's a scary son of a bitch. But I don't think any of those boys could be in safer hands."

"Anyone else on the team?"

"Uh-huh, Johnny Blaze, code name Ghostrider. Expert in vehicles and transportation. James Howlett. Or Logan depending on the day, code name Wolverine, hand to hand combat skills are unparalleled and he's also their big gun. The brute force. James Morita, code name Howler. Expert in all things technical, communications, and languages."

"Damn." Tony huffs out, "they all have code names? That's legit. Does Clint have one yet?"

His dad laughs, "he does, I don't know if he knows about it yet though."

"What is it?"

"Clint Barton, code name Hawkeye. Expert in distance tracking and hard to hit targets."

Tony laughs, "apt."

"I thought so too. Always up on those damn roofs and in high places."

"So Bucky and Steve will probably earn ones too?"

"Probably."

Tony pouts, "I want a cool code name."

Another laugh from his dad, "no one's stopping you."

"You can't give one to yourself. Then it's not cool."

"Well," His dad raises an eyebrow, "when I think of a good one for you. I'll let you know."

—