Steve descended the front steps and looked up and down the street, finding Nash sitting on the concrete staircase of a nearby townhouse. Steve approached slowly, trying to gauge what reaction he might get once Nash spotted him.

Nash didn't move. He barely flicked his eyes in Steve's direction before looking back down towards the ground, restlessly bringing up his hand and sucking in from the cigarette that sat between his thumb and finger. A noncommittal greeting escaped him.

Steve shoved his hands into his pockets and leaned against the concrete post at the bottom of the stairs. The silence hung between them. He sucked in a breath. "If you're going to be angry about this situation, do not direct it at Avery."

Nash rolled his eyes. "I'm not angry - I'm, I don't even fucking know." He took another drag of his smoke and let it fall to the ground, snuffed under his shoe. "This is insane, Steve. I can't wrap my goddamn brain around if this is even possible."

"Yeah, that's fair. I've experienced my own share of impossible situations coming to life before my eyes and it's difficult to accept."

Nash scoffed. "Difficult. Right. My twin brother - my other half.." He clutched his chest with one hand, shaking his head. "He died. He died serving this goddamn country and I felt that ripple through every part of me. And I'm supposed to just accept that - oh, surprise, he's alive? That's bullshit, Steve."

Steve had been there, of course. When Bucky came back to life before his eyes. He had felt that exact same way - but he had also seen The Winter Soldier in the flesh. Everything changed in that moment and even then, even seeing Bucky alive, has been hard to understand and accept. So, no, no one was expecting Nash to just accept it and buy in.

"You have every right to not believe all of this. I'm not going to sit here and try to convince you otherwise."

Nash turned his head and looked towards Steve in disbelief. "Then why did you chase me out here?"

"Because this whole thing has been really hard for Avery - and it's important to her."

"It's not my fault she has some fantasy about.. I don't know, all of us banding together to go find him," Nash muttered as he tore his eyes away. "Her attitude is exhausting."

"Hey." Steve took a step forward, putting himself directly in front of Nash as he looked down. "She's had a tough time. If you don't want to learn more or buy into this, that's fine." Nash opened his mouth to reply but Steve held up a hand. "But if you think you can fight with her about it, neither myself or Bucky will tolerate that."

"I don't want to fight with her, okay? It's.. It's my fucking twin brother, Steve."

"He's not just your brother. Your sisters are both inside dealing with this news, too. Dealing with it together, without you. It was Avery who was desperate to tell you both, because she couldn't stand the idea of you not knowing."

Nash's jaw moved from side to side, staring up towards the sky as he found his thoughts. A few extra beats of silence lingered.

"You don't have any brothers or sisters do you, Steve?"

Steve shook his head. "Not by blood, no. But there are some people who I consider close in that same regard."

"Of course. Like your squadron, they're your brothers for life." Nash smiled for a split second then quickly sobered up. "With a twin - it's different, I think. I mean I don't know anything else but my relationship with my brother, the link between me and him was always different. We shared a brain, in a way. And when Jeremy died - it felt like this big heavy ending. If he's alive, I just feel like I should have felt something else, I don't know what that is."

Steve chewed on the inside of his cheek before he answered. This felt delicate. "It may not be the same but when I found out Bucky was still alive, I had already spent a long time mourning him. And it took time to accept that my grief for who I used to know was still real. Because that guy back in the house there, he's not the same person I used to know. And I'm not the same he knew, either. And when we find Jeremy and bring him home, the person you knew will be gone. But if it's anything like what happened with Buck, the foundation will still be there."

"You seem pretty certain. About finding him and bringing him home."

"I won't lie, of course there's a chance things won't go our way. But with all the resources and determination we have, I just feel like there's no way we won't find him."

Nash didn't seem convinced and Steve couldn't fault him for that. "Okay."

"Listen, we're not expecting you to drop everything and buy in here. Avery just couldn't bear not telling you and Lora - it's been eating her alive."

"I mean this in the kindest way possible Steve, but I truthfully won't be able to 'buy in' until I see him myself. I trust you know what you're doing but it all still seems far fetched to me."

Steve repressed his sigh. Nash had every right to be in denial, of course, but his doubts felt so heavy.

"Thanks for taking care of Avery, though," Nash continued quietly. "She feels things at full capacity and.. well, that can be a lot for her." To Steve, it felt like Nash was leaving more things unsaid but he didn't want to press.

"Downtown, at my old place, we have all our research and case files about it. If you want to know everything. We can go there now, if that would -"

"No, no. That's not… I don't want that. Not yet." Nash reached his hands ahead and stretched out his fingers. "Thanks, though."

Down the street in front of their house, a car had stopped, revealing a delivery guy and a stack of pizzas. Steve waved at him and signaled he'd be over there in a moment.

Nash stood up and shook his head. "You can't expect me to just go in there and eat dinner and smile and pretend this whole thing didn't just change everything, Steve."

"I don't expect that. You don't have to stay." Steve slid his tongue across his lips and narrowed his eyes for a moment. "But if you do stay, you're civil." He extended his hand and gripped Nash's forearm. "And if you're not, I have no problem removing you from our home."

Nash glanced at Steve then back towards the house. "Okay, understood."

When Avery made it back upstairs, with Allie following closely behind, she prepared for the worst. Lora had been quietly digesting everything when Nash started reacting and the last thing Avery wanted was to be yelled at by her sister too. But in a strange turn of events, when she walked back into the office, Lora was smiling. Sniffling still, but smiling.

"Avery Ray," Lora started, breaking away from a hug with Allie as Avery approached. "This is real? Like you believe it?"

Avery nodded. "I do, Lo. Bucky and Sam saw him. There's a video and… it's Jeremy. I don't know how or why but he's alive."

"What?" Allie's eyes grew wide as she looked between the two sisters. "Really? That's insane."

Avery filled Allie quickly, skipping over most of the details but by the end of it, Lora was wrapping her arms around her sister.

"I think Nash just needs some time but I'm just.." Lora squeezed Avery a bit harder. "I don't understand it but I'm hopeful, I guess. When we lost you Ave, when we lost everyone, getting you back felt so impossible. But Jeremy too? Never in a million years…It's like winning the lottery. Do they know where he is right now? When will they be able to bring him home?"

Avery let out a slow breath and held onto her sister. There weren't really answers to all those questions yet and she didn't want to pierce Lora's optimism by talking about realistic expectations. "There's still a lot to figure out."

Noises traveled up the stairs, pulling their attention to the door opening and closing. Avery could hear Steve calling out about the pizza delivery arriving and for a few extra seconds she stilled. Then, she could hear the rumblings of her brother talking, too.

Finally, she let the air out of her lungs and smiled at her sister. "Okay, let's go try and have a rational conversation, shall we?" Avery gestured towards the doorway and squeezed her sister's hand one more time before leading them back to the stairs, cautiously making her way down towards the living room once more.

Avery spared a glance towards the front of the room, where Nash and Crystal were standing speaking in hushed voices. Despite her urge to interrupt, Avery's feet moved towards the kitchen where Steve was unstacking the pizza boxes while Bucky grabbed more wine from the fridge.

"Is everything okay?" Bucky asked first, narrowing his eyes as he analyzed Avery's face for whatever leftover emotions may be hiding there.

"Lora is surprisingly positive," she replied quietly, looking over her shoulder to see her sister and Allie crossing into the living room. "It's admirable, honestly. I appreciate it though. Maybe she can be a voice of reason for Nash." Avery's gaze shot over to Steve, tipping her head ever so slightly to see what he was going to say.

"He's upset, confused." Steve kept his voice level, speaking slowly and choosing his words carefully. "But he didn't leave." And to Steve, that counted for a lot. He supposed his not so subtle threats probably contributed to that but mostly he just hoped Nash could be mature enough to consider his sisters' feelings, too.

With an awkward clap of her hands, Avery started to move all the food to their oversized dining table and encouraged everyone to come and sit together. Nash dropped down at one end, with Crystal at his side. Steve championed the other head table position, Avery to his right and Bucky on her other side. Allie and Lora filled in on the opposite side and in almost silence, they passed around pizza and the bowl of salad until everyone had something to eat.

To Avery it felt excruciating. She knew her brother had more to say, and maybe Lora, too. But was she just going to be instigating something she didn't want to deal with? Was the silence more tolerable? Was she better off starting a brand new conversation about something unrelated?

Thankfully, it was Steve who broke the awkward silence. "I know this was a lot to learn about tonight and take in, and if you want to know more, we can answer any questions you might have."

Another beat of silence followed. Then, to Avery's shock, it was Crystal who spoke up.

"Are you going to tell Lou?"

All three siblings replied at the same time.

"Not yet."
"We can't."
"Absolutely not."

And for some reason, as Avery glanced from her pizza towards her brother and sister on the other side of the table, their somewhat unanimous answer made her feel a tiny bit better.

"I don't think his heart can handle this," Lora continued on, picking at her salad with the end of her fork. She looked across at her sister. "He just started new blood pressure meds."

"This would kill him," Nash muttered out with a single nod of his head. "If this is real, maybe there is a future where we make a plan to reunite him and Jer. But it sounds like that is far off, isn't it?" With a heavy sigh he looked at Steve. "Tell me you guys have a plan or some kind of next steps, at least."

"We are trying to track him down, yes," Steve replied slowly. "We are working on scanning CCTV footage across Europe, facial recognition on phones and security access points, anything."

"He's been well hidden for a long time," Bucky jumped in, pausing to finish the bite of pizza in his mouth. "We're starting to think he let himself be seen as a test, to see who might find him."

"We don't know the extent of what happened to your brother," Steve continued on with a nod of his head. "But it probably wasn't medically sound or done with good intentions. Not only did he end up captured after nearly dying in that plane accident, but he vanished for those five years, too. When he came back, well, I imagine it was even harder to try and figure out who he was, who he is.. Alongside all the other chaos."

"When we found him in Paris, he had his guard up. But he gave us enough clues that we could try and help," Bucky finished off.

"Why'd you let him get away?" Nash hadn't even touched his food. All he could do was tap his fingers against the table, adjusting his cutlery, sipping from his water glass.

Avery scrunched up her face and gripped the fork in her hand, shooting a hard stare at her brother. "They did their best. He wasn't exactly stable, Nash. In the video you can see-"

"You're telling me you couldn't even stop him?" Nash spat at Bucky. "Aren't you a super soldier?"

Despite Steve's hand reaching out to calm Avery, she could feel her heart rate pick up. "He shot at Sam before he ran off, Nash!"

"Hey." Bucky shifted in his chair and looked at her with wide eyes, begging her to take a deep breath and let him handle it. After taking his moment to pause, he turned to look at Nash. "I am a super soldier. A super soldier who was experimented on by people just like the ones who hurt your brother. The last thing I was going to do was force my hand and make him submit and come back with us. Of course we could have stopped him but I think we'd all rather he came willingly."

The growing frustration on Nash's face wasn't lost on Bucky, who was preemptively bracing himself for the worst. His hands curled into fists on his lap and as Nash opened his mouth to spit out some sort of reply, someone else cut him off instead.

"You're telling me–"

"Nash, stop. Seriously." Lora pushed her chair back and stood up. "You're allowed to be mad–"

"I'm not mad!"

"Nash!" Lora took a deep breath too and put her hands up to stop him. "You're being a baby about your feelings. That's my job, okay? Be mad, be upset, be whatever. But don't take it out on Bucky or Steve or any of us." She paused once more to center herself. "Don't you understand how lucky we are? That he's alive? That Jer - the soft, loving, strong hearted dork of a brother we all remember - that he could be here in the near future? Sitting around the table, laughing with us about something stupid." She dropped back into her chair and sipped her wine glass. "We're lucky."

Avery couldn't believe her ears. Out of all the people in the room, she hadn't anticipated Lora being the level-headed, calm one. Their intense baby sister was keeping her older siblings in line. Avery finally released the fork in her hand, which she had nearly folded in half to squash her own frustrations.

It was then she noticed something else. Nash was crying. His head had dropped down towards his chest and Crystal's hand had moved to run across his back.

"Nash." Avery let out a quiet sigh as she looked over to him, doing her best to keep her own tears at bay. She couldn't remember the last time she had witnessed her brother crying. In fact, if she thought about it, maybe this was the first time Nash had let himself be vulnerable in this way. She wasn't even sure what to do.

"I miss him so much," Nash mumbled out as his head shook, doing whatever he could to keep from looking up at his audience. "It always felt unfair, you know? That he died, that I lived. And I should be relieved to know he's still out there but fuck, this somehow feels worse."

Avery's feet seemed to figure out her next steps before she could catch up. Before she realized it, she was standing and rushing over towards her brother. "Hey, come here." With one hand on his bicep, she urged him to stand and threw her arms around him.

"Shouldn't I have known? Or felt something? He's my twin, forgodssake." He shook his head as Avery hugged him, still stiff as a board.

"Don't do that. How were you supposed to know?" She replied quietly, pulling back enough to look up at him. "This is good news. And listen, if you want to help or know more, Steve and Sam have a huge library of information and they have –"

Nash stilled and shook his head. "No. I don't want to- I can't do that yet. I'm not.." With another deep breath he took a step back from her. "Listen, I don't think I can do this right now. Thanks for the pizza and.." He closed his eyes. "I need some time."

"Yeah, sure. Of course. Can you just stay for dinner though? We don't have to talk about this anymore. There's cheesecake from Mia's in the fr–"

Nash let out a long breath. "Not tonight. Just let me.." He raised one of his hands to brush under his eyes then he took another few steps away. "Crys?"

Crystal, who had been watching their conversation unfold, pushed her chair back and stood up. "Well, uhm, thanks for having us." She gave an awkward wave to everyone else sitting at the table. "We'll have to do it again sometime. Maybe under different circumstances."

Although Avery had a compelling argument on the tip of her tongue, she stayed where she was. She felt Bucky's hand reach out and squeeze her own, anchoring her as she watched her brother and Crystal walk towards the door. For a few long moments, she just started off in that direction, wondering helplessly what her brother might do with all this new information consuming his brain.

She remembered her own reaction weeks ago, how it somehow felt like the world shifted and everything she thought she knew had changed. It didn't take long for her to come around, really. To understand the gravity of the situation, to accept the unknowns, to try and focus on the potential positive outcome.

Avery tried not to worry about the other milestones along the way - the possible welcome home, getting to know someone who might feel like a stranger, adjusting their family life again. She knew it wasn't healthy to let those things weigh her down.

Instead, she tried to give the hopeful thoughts priority. She just hoped that finding her long lost brother wouldn't mean she lost her other one, too.

Much later that evening, after the energy in their house seemed to finally quiet down, Avery, Steve and Bucky found themselves in the kitchen once more. Illuminated by just the light above the stove and a faraway lamp in the living room, they huddled around the island with forks in hand. The mission: cheesecake consumption.

After Nash and Crystal left, everyone managed to have a mostly normal dinner. Lora and Avery traded stories about their brother Jeremy and once the pizza was finished, they all piled into the living room to watch a movie together. This time their movie night didn't end with a fight or punching any walls, but laughter and hugs before bed.

But for a restless Avery, she wasn't quite ready to sleep yet.

"Can I say something?" Steve asked, leaning on the counter across from his partners.

Avery raised an eyebrow as she looked towards Steve. "Usually you don't ask if you can speak your mind."

Steve smirked and returned his fork to the counter, steadying himself as he stood up straight. "I don't want to offend you."

"I doubt you would," Avery shifted in her stool, leaning back against Bucky who was seated beside her, and let go of her fork the same way. "Honesty is always the best policy, Steve."

"Okay, first and foremost, you need to give yourself more credit, Ave." Steve took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Because, Jesus. What I've learned tonight after dealing with all of that - is that you're miles ahead of your siblings when it comes to taking care of yourself. Not to mention, even though you're arguably in what can only be described as an unconventional relationship with me and Buck, at least we communicate our feelings with each other." He chuckled to himself. "Fuck."

Bucky couldn't stop himself from laughing. "Doll, did you catch that? That was a very serious swear word and blasphemy from Stevie all in one breath."

"I'm being serious, okay?" Steve shook his head, though shot a smirk at his boyfriend. "Like, really fucking serious." He turned back towards Avery, his face softer. "I think both your brother and sister are going to deal with this in different ways but I'm just proud of how you've handled it all. And I mean that in the least cheesy way possible."

Avery felt her breath hitch as she absorbed his honesty. And here she had been impressed with herself for avoiding real tears all night. "I'll allow the cheesiness, I think."

Steve paused to collect himself again. "This whole thing with you brother is a lot and granted you've had more time to process it than Nash and Lora, but if you can wrap your head around it, I'm sure they can too. It's just getting there that's the hard part."

"Nash will come around," Bucky finally jumped in, eyes focused on the half eaten cheesecake that laid before them. "I think he's scared."

Avery hummed and twisted to look up at Bucky. "He could have been less rude about it, though."

"I've dealt with plenty of jerks like your brother, doll. It's okay."

She sighed. "I think he feels guilty, too. Although it had absolutely nothing to do with him and there is nothing he could have done to stop it."

"Ah, him and Stevie really gotta start a support group then." A small half smile grew on Bucky's face as he raised his eyes to meet Steve's. "Captain Guiltmerica himself."

Avery reached out and grabbed Steve's hand, smiling up at him as she squeezed his palm. "I think it sounds better as Captain Ameriguilt."

"Can I finish, please?" Steve rolled his eyes, although he couldn't hide the small grin on his face. "If I didn't have Sam and Natasha helping me through, well, everything when I was deep in my search for you, Buck - I'm not sure I would have come out as ready on the other side of it." Steve paused and shared an extra moment of eye contact with Bucky. "The support system is essential."

They all shared a beat of silence together, pushing away the 'what if' moments of their past and reveling in how far they had come now. When Steve thought back to that time, the months after dealing with Ultron, their frantic continuous search for Bucky, the incidents leading up to The Accords - he couldn't even remember who he was. But the memories of how he felt came back whenever he thought about Avery's family - how Jeremy must feel so lost and alone, how Nash and Lora had to face this new truth, how Avery seemed to be the paragon of hope for all of them, too. He had been there.

Avery's dry laughter broke him from his thoughts. He tilted his head to look towards her, catching a confusing frown on Bucky's face.

"Sorry, I'm not laughing about that. I know all about that journey you two went on to find each other again." She sobered up and sighed. "It's just funny, I don't know. That I have finally repaired things enough with Lora and now I'm not sure Nash is going to talk to me for a while. That is not a functioning support system, is it?"

Bucky softened as he looked in her direction. "But you and Lora are okay? She's seemed to be handling things pretty well, all things considered."

"Yeah, we're fine. It's just.." Avery laughed again, eyes wide as she grabbed her fork to stab at the cheesecake once more. "She really seems okay with all this news and I'm relieved but a bit worried about it." They hadn't intentionally closed the conversation about Jeremy during dinner but it had come to enough of an organic end and they talked about next steps and updates and timelines. Then following dinner, after the movie, real life talks came up instead. The future, families, having babies - it seemed like a leap and Avery couldn't help but feel worried about how her sister was really feeling about all of it. She was comforted by the fact that Lora was seeing a doctor about her mental health concerns but she hoped Allie was aligned, too.

"What do you mean?"

"Her and Allie. I mean I don't know the inside of their relationship but they clearly have some stuff to work on. Sometimes I'm not sure if Lora is entirely herself with Allie, I guess. Or maybe she's a different version of herself, I don't know. Maybe she's just changed as we've grown up, I know I have. But during that big dumb fight we had, that in retrospect I probably blew out of proportion too, she told me.. You know what, nevermind."

"Avery." Steve knocked his fork against hers. "Didn't we just talk about not keeping things to ourselves?"

"She's just going through some stuff and I think maybe she's worried Allie would leave her over it? Although that seems so extreme." A quiet sigh escaped her, gripping the utensil in her hand while her eyes scanned over her hands. "She just knows how to project and push my buttons at the same time. Lora implied you two would throw in the towel if I didn't, I don't know, get my shit together. That there was only so much you could take with me." Avery wasn't certain if it was the regret or embarrassment coursing through her that kept her eyeline pulled down. "You know, then I punched a hole in the basement wall and, well, here we are now."

Soon enough the only noise in their kitchen came from Steve gently setting his fork down on the counter. Under the hum of the dishwasher, Avery could make out the sound of something else familiar - the plate's in Bucky's arms shifting and tensing.

When Avery finally looked up again, she recognized the familiar looks painting both of their faces. It wasn't quite anger, no. But frustration, hurt. Bucky was staring off far away, as if the walls on the far side of the kitchen were the only thing helping him stay reserved. His fists rested heavy on the counter, in tight fists. Steve, meanwhile, had closed his eyes, presumably trying to center himself instead of replying impulsively.

"I feel like I don't need to say this out loud, but for everyone's sake," Steve hesitated, pausing to slide his tongue across his lips and finally blink his eyes open a few times. "Bucky and I would never leave you Avery, especially when -"

"I know, I know." Avery pushed her stool backwards and hurried towards him. "I know. December was just really bad and then after New Years-"

"When you thought maybe I was or.. we were gonna break up with you..." Bucky shook his head, gaze still locked on whatever he needed to focus and remain stoic. "No one should be implying that, or making comments about that - especially your sister."

"She was going through a lot too," Avery replied quietly, wrapping her arms around Steve's torso. "I don't want either of you to be upset about this, please. I'm not anymore. It's a waste of energy to take all of Lora's comments to heart."

Steve bit his tongue, squeezing Avery against his chest just a bit tighter. He flicked his eyes towards Bucky who just looked so tired all of a sudden. They both knew then a decision needed to be made. Maybe being upset wasn't worth it. But Jesus, if someone else tried to get in the way of their relationship or press some sort of influence on any of them again, it wouldn't be something they could brush off anymore.

Steve leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of Avery's head, relieved to feel her relax even more into his embrace.

"I know today was a long day. But it's over and now that I've gotten so much off my chest with my siblings, we can just focus on the future, okay? First things first, finding Jeremy." Avery pulled herself away from Steve just enough to glance up at him then towards Bucky. "Spring is coming too, so maybe we can do a trip up to Boston when my classes are over. Or plan a week at the lake house in June. Finish the apartment downstairs. Get another dog, maybe."

That got Bucky to smile, finally. "I don't think that would be fair to our son."

Avery grinned and moved towards Bucky instead, pulling him to stand and letting him envelope her into a hug, too. "Okay, no puppy discussions yet."

They were okay. They were going to be okay.

Avery had a feeling her protectors had a lot more to say about how the evening had played out, how her brother and sister had acted. But instead of dwelling on it and ruminating on their potential frustrations, she just wanted to be with them. For a few minutes, before bed and letting a new day grow ahead of them, it could just be Avery, Bucky and Steve.

"C'mere." With a deep breath Avery released herself from Bucky's hold, tugging his closest hand and leading him towards the other side of the kitchen. She called out to her smart speaker to play something quietly from her best feel good playlist. As her hands gripped Bucky's, she pulled and pushed gently, rocking her feet to the beat of the music. "C'mon, you know this one."

"What are you doing, doll?" Bucky couldn't hide his grin, eyes wide with skepticism as she encouraged him to dance.

"We are dancing, Buck." Letting go of his left hand, Avery extended her arm towards Steve. "Stevie, get over here."

"Oh, no." Steve swallowed his own smile, head shaking as he remained planted in his spot. "You know I don't dance."

"You've gotta let that go, punk," Bucky muttered, overreaching past Avery's arm and tugging on Steve's sweater to pull him closer. "There's no one to impress here."

Under the dim kitchen lights, between the sugary lyrics of some acoustic folk song, all three of them moved incredibly out of sync to the music and laughed and laughed and laughed.

And as the day disappeared, the uncertainties seemed to melt away too. Instead of worrying about what could have been or what might lay ahead, they found themselves exactly where they needed to be.

Deep down inside, when she fought against the monster of anxiety that lingered, Avery felt like she was walking on eggshells for a few days after she had spilled the news to her brother and sister. Every time her phone buzzed, she feared it would be her dad calling her to talk about it - in a fantasized scenario where Lora had gone home and told him everything. Or maybe her brother would be following up with angry text messages, adamant again about how the entire situation couldn't be real.

But as the days carried on, Avery calmed down and nothing happened. Nothing. She barely heard a word from Nash or Lora, even. She supposed that was okay, since it wasn't like she had any new information to share anyway.

Even constantly running algorithms and tracing back potential areas or locations where Jeremy may have escaped to next, their research had come up short. Bucky did everything he could to think about what those former HYDRA scientists may have been plotting or hiding more information, but nothing seemed to be sticking.

So instead, everyone tried to just stay in the moment and continue on with their lives with business as usual. Every day Avery wondered about her brother as she traveled to her classes, to the lab, to the gym. And that was okay, she found it comforting, even. Luckily, she still had enough energy to try and focus on her school work, too.

Mostly. Admittedly, at the end of the next week when she was meeting her friend Sudi at school for another study session, she was feeling a bit burnt out over her current educational goals.

"So?"

Avery blinked twice before even realizing she was being spoken to. Across the table in their usual study nook, Sudi had reached forward and tapped on Avery's laptop. "Sorry - what did you ask?"

A soft smile grew on Sudi's face, understanding of the end of the school year exhaustion that seemed to be suffocating all of them. "I just wanted to know what Banner said about your thesis. Didn't you meet this morning?"

Avery hummed, willing herself to sit up straight before answering. Her thesis meeting had been disappointing, although Bruce had been very kind about it. "I have to restrategize a huge part of the research, unfortunately. The practical was good but apparently I need more academic support to argue my side." It wasn't like Avery regretted going back to school. She had enjoyed the educational challenge - she just didn't anticipate the constant critical feedback loop when it came to her projects.

"Booo," Sudi replied, dropping her pencil and propping her head up. "Sorry Avery. Does that screw up your whole timeline?"

All Avery could do was reply with a shrug. "To be determined. I've decided to revisit that next week."

"A great task for future Avery," Sudi agreed, closing her own laptop and reaching for her phone. "And now, for a brain break. Did I tell you about my friend Quincy? They're assisting for some first year biochem classes."

"You met them in undergrad, right?"

"Yes, failed date turned best friend," Sudi stood up and moved to slide into the bench seat beside Avery, pointing her phone screen towards them both. "You've gotta see what they sent me this morning. This prof teaching this intro cell biology class fuddled her way through this lecture then doubled down when someone corrected her, got super pissed and, well.."

When Sudi pressed play on the video, Avery squinted and watched the screen fill with an awkward angle from the back of a tiny lecture classroom. The person recording had been sitting off to the side and after a few seconds, the camera shifted to bring the professor in question into the frame.

"Oh my god, I know her!" Avery gasped, grabbing Sudi's phone and staring even closer at the screen. Standing in front of the crowd was Victoria, Steve's officemate. Although they had only a handful of brief discussions before, Avery remembered Victoria mentioning she taught at a university prior to her current contract. But based on how she was reacting to these students questioning her lecturing and knowledge base, Avery could clearly see Victoria losing her composure.

"Seriously?" Sudi's eyebrows raised as Avery watched the clip again.

"Yeah, she shares an office with Steve. In one of the buildings on the uptown campus block.."

"Doesn't Steve teach history? That seems weird." Sudi shrugged.. "I'm not familiar with her but Quincy said she's a piece of work."

"Can you send me this?" Avery blinked a few more times as she listened to Victoria ranting. "I promise I won't share it anywhere."

A long, long time ago, Bucky's fitness abilities were perhaps considered just average. He had been fit enough to be a foot soldier in the war - although in that time period the physical testing requirements were a very different standard. And really, if recruits didn't meet the fitness threshold, they were just ordered to improve.

But now in modern times, Bucky was very aware his physical fitness abilities were lightyears beyond any soldier who was considered to be in peak physical form. That didn't stop him from trying to always improve though - especially now, with new goals on the horizon.

(Goals he was safely keeping close to his chest.)

He had been making himself very familiar with the gym at the compound, spending most of his free time cycling through weight routines and agility drills. In the next few weeks, Bucky and Sam were to be heading out on a mission - somewhere overseas, location to be determined while the logistics team at the CIA figured out a game plan. Until then, they had been trading off preparation work and while Sam was pouring over files upstairs, Bucky was doing everything he could to challenge his body.

His routine varied but mostly included sprints, pull ups and push ups until exhaustion. And it took a long time for him to feel a rush of exhaustion. And even then, after a short rest period and refuel with a protein bar and more water, he could keep pushing himself.

Eventually the alarm on his phone sounded out and following a quick shower and change back into non-athletic clothes, he headed towards the garage to make his way back to the city. Specifically, his plan was to meet Avery at the uptown campus and surprise Steve when his office hours finished. Truthfully, all three of them had been in and out of the house on different schedules all week and Bucky knew they needed a tiny bit of escapism for an evening.

When Bucky finally found the building where Steve taught, he also found Avery. He couldn't help but smile as he approached, with her head tipped to the side to read some bulletin board littered with colourful flyers. One hand gripped the strap of her backpack while the other held her phone, taking a photo of something that caught her interest.

Bucky loved that look on her face - the way her lips turned down while she was caught in thought, pouting just slightly and accented by the rosey colour in her cheeks. He could only imagine what thoughts were racing through her mind. He planted his feet when he stopped at her side, tipping his head the same way.

"Thinking of taking piano lessons, doll?" He pointed a finger to one of the advertisements, letting the smirk on his face grow when Avery turned to him, with her own coy smile on.

"I'm leaning more towards all of us joining that Dungeons and Dragons group, actually," Avery replied, raising her eyebrows as she leaned in to press a kiss to his lips. "Hi. Feels like I haven't seen you in approximately 40 hours."

"Because you stayed at the lab so late last night."

"And you left at the crack of dawn this morning," she quipped back knowingly, laughing as he engulfed her in his arms. "Okay, okay. I just miss you and Steve all day long. I hate admitting to my codependency, Buck."

The way he was kissing against her jaw and nuzzling into her neck meant he felt the same way, clearly.

"In all seriousness," Avery tried to contain her giggles as she pulled away from him. "Looks like there is a student art show in a few weeks that Stevie would be interested in, I'm sure. And the ad says there will be free cocktails and cupcakes too sooo.." It felt nice to plan for date nights or think about going to events with their triad, even though most of their ideas may not come to fruition. Given Bucky's work schedule and the uncertainty about when they might get a clue to Jeremy's location, a lot of things were up in the air in the near future.

Bucky grabbed her hand and squeezed as she led the way, steering him towards the elevators as they ventured to Steve's office.

Once they were safely alone in the elevator, Avery turned to Bucky with wide eyes. Before he could ask what was going on, she started. "I think we need to do a background check on Victoria."

Bucky let go of her hand, brows turning down as he scanned her face. "Why?"

Avery tangled her fingers together, dragging her lip between her teeth as she paced in the small area. "I just.. I don't know, okay. Well, Sudi showed me this video today of one of Victoria's classes.." When the doors opened to indicate they were on the right floor, Avery pulled Bucky aside near a classroom door and filled him in on what she had found out.

"You want to do a background check on her because she seems to be a bad teacher?" Bucky couldn't follow her thoughts exactly but he needed her to know he was taking her seriously, still. "Walk me through your thoughts here, Ave."

"I just get a weird vibe from her, I guess. After seeing this video, my first thought is that she's a fraud and she's only teaching because she has some ulterior motives. And.."

"And?"

"I don't like that she shares an office with Steve, okay?" She closed her eyes. "I promise I'm not just being a crazy girlfriend but I just don't like it. I don't trust her."

Bucky hummed quietly, pursing his lips together as he took an extra moment to think. Steve had developed a friendship with his officemate and truthfully Bucky didn't mind the idea of Steve having a friend at work. But gut feelings counted for a lot and if Avery had a bad feeling, he believed her.

So, he nodded. "Okay, I'll work on it. But don't stress over this, okay? As if you don't have so many other things battling for your anxiety's attention, Avery."

"I feel better having just talked to you about it," she admitted, letting out a long breath. "Thanks Bucky." When he saw her shoulders relax with relief, he felt a tiny bit better too.

Bucky leaned in and kissed her forehead, grabbing her hand once more. "Okay, let's go find Professor Rogers, shall we?"

Hand in hand they slowly wandered through the hallway of the building, passing by students and professors alike ending their classes and starting their weekends ahead. When they got to the closed office door, Bucky raised his free hand and knocked.

"Office hours ended half an hour ago," a voice on the other side of the door announced. Bucky smirked and simply knocked again. Finally the door swung open and they watched Steve's face go from frustrated to elated.

"Hii," Avery dropped Bucky's hand and flew forward to embrace Steve. "Surprise, we're going out for dinner!"

Steve smiled, wrapping an arm around her shoulder and extending his other out to pull Bucky in too. "While I normally prefer to stay completely unsurprised, this is nice."

Bucky and Avery followed Steve into the small office, crowding one side and giving short greetings to Victoria too, who was sitting at her desk chair with a mug of coffee and paperwork ahead of her. Bucky rested his arm over Avery's shoulder, pulling her back flush against his chest as Steve packed up his things. When Avery looked up with wide eyes, not so subtly trying to motion to something across the room, Bucky mouthed for her to stop.

"You're so cute together," Victoria said from her perch, tipping her head to the side and glancing between all three of the other occupants of the room. "Sorry, I'm sure that's a weird thing to say."

"Super weird," Avery muttered. Bucky squeezed her shoulder.

"I just think it's so great that you can just be who you are with each other," Victoria continued on. "Truthfully, I'm just so envious. The dating game in the city is a nightmare and, well, it's just so nice to see a successful relationship."

Bucky swallowed hard, uncertain of how he should respond. And god, he was praying Avery would keep her commentary to herself too.

"Where are we going for dinner?" It was Steve who jumped in next, pulling on his coat and grabbing his bag. Bucky had no idea whether or not he was following this strange flow of comments from Victoria but he figured it wasn't the time to discuss it now.

"My vote is for Norma's," Bucky answered, shifting slightly to encourage Avery to walk ahead towards the door. "This one wants to go to Subdivision."

"We need you to be a tie breaker," Avery said towards Steve with a flutter of her eyelashes, dropping her voice low. "I would die for a slice of their French silk pie right now so I'll do anything for the winning vote."

With a final wave to Victoria, Steve tried to hide his blush and encourage them out of the office. Victoria called out from behind them. "See you next week!"

Bucky took Steve's bag and Avery's hand, while Steve draped his arm across Avery's shoulder. Truthfully they were probably causing a bit of a blockade in the empty hallway but none of them seemed to mind.

"So anything for a slice of French silk pie, huh?" Steve asked as he pressed a kiss against her cheek. "It sounds like Subdivision is our destination then." A deep annoyed groan came from Bucky's side as he started a great debate as they made their way down the elevator. By the time they got down to the main floor of the building again, Avery had made her argument clear and Steve's flushed cheeks were even more red than before.

"Can't help that Stevie will do anything for a-

"Oh dammit." Steve interrupted her as he patted down his jacket and slacks. "I left my phone on the desk. Give me a minute."

The moment Steve had exited their bubble and rushed to the staircase for a quick journey back upstairs, Avery dropped the grin on her face and turned back towards Bucky.

"Uhm, did you notice there was a Oscorp lanyard spilling out of Victoria's purse?"

Bucky raised his eyebrows slowly, trying to figure out how Avery had even noticed that when they had only been inside that office with Victoria for a few minutes. Truthfully, no, he didn't notice the lanyard. He did map out the size of the windows, the angle of the desks to the door and how he needed to encourage Steve to adjust the desk to ensure his exit points weren't vulnerable. Just in case, of course.

But no, he hadn't noticed the lanyard.

Bucky narrowed his eyes for a second and nodded before Avery could dive back into a rant. "I didn't but duly noted. There could be dozens of reasons why she had that, Ave - so don't get ahead of yourself, okay? I told you not to stress so I'll do a deep dive next week. Good?"

He watched as she pouted her lips before closing her eyes, letting her lungs fill up with air. It wasn't lost on him that certain things or people (or the corporations attached to the family name) still created a ripple of reactions for her. It wasn't an unreasonable reaction but he knew it was best to get ahead of it before letting her spiral.

"Hey." Bucky reached his hands out to steady her, bracing her shoulders and encouraging her eyes open again. "Leave it with me, please."

"Okay, okay, okay." Avery huffed and eventually forced a smile on her face. "I will let it go. For the time being. And I won't think about it for every waking second of my weekend, I promise."

A/N: *taps microphone* hey, uh, I know it's been a while. But, uh, life? I promise this story is always at the front of my mind but hooo boy, life. and that's okay! but so happy to have you here :)

Happy to see everything is on the table with Avery's brother and sister but it'll be interesting to see how everyone handles this. I mean, who knows what kind of antics the future holds for these people? And our lovely trio, we love the teamwork, we love the communication, we love them period. but we do not love outside forces... outside, forcing.

thank you, as usual, to everyone who reads, reviews, visits, favourites, etc. having you here means the world to me and knowing you're invested in this story is the best motivator. thank you to everyone who left a review on the last chapter: AndTheSaintsAreAllMadeOfGold, Katie MacAlpine, Winchestergurl4life, TheForceIsStrong, animedumplin, nuggetjr - some of you have been here since the beginning and some of you are new and I can't thank you enough for sharing your thoughts with me! I love the theories and reactions so much :)

next up: a mission, a lead, a fight.