Chapter 14

Bucky found Steve shoving his clothes in his rucksack, "hey."

He glanced up, "hey, you get Peter?"

"Yeah, he's here, he's on the phone with Bruce."

"Peter can't go back there, he doesn't blend. It's not safe."

Bucky nodded, "heading out?"

Steve stopped, hand around a t-shirt. "You saw what I saw, Buck. Those kids are full of serum, they're raising them to be super soldiers. Any other time I would stay but right now," he trailed off. They both knew what he was thinking; back in New York, Peggy was carrying their own serum baby. What would Hydra do if they found them? "I have to get home before they know."

Bucky nodded again, "you need a ride?"

"That would be nice." He swung his pack on, striding purposefully down the hall. He stopped when he saw Peter, "you did good today, kid. I'll see you at home."

Peter nodded silently, his eyes and the eyes of the other Avengers resting knowingly on Steve. Steve returned the nod, wishing them well. At the airport, he hugged Bucky tightly.

"Don't do anything stupid," Bucky cautioned.

"How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you."

Bucky cracked a smile, "jerk." Lowering his voice, he added, "say hi to Peggy for me. Take care of that baby."

"I will." The flight couldn't go fast enough. Wanting to keep his cover as much as possible, he took a taxi home upon landing rather than calling Peggy. "Peggy?" he called as soon as he unlocked the door. No answer, save for the excited barking of Winston. "Hey, hey buddy! Where's Peggy, huh?" He kicked off his shoes, settling on the couch to pay Winston his due. Steve was rewarded with a slobbery tennis ball.

The door unlocked, "alright Winston, who wants-oh!"

"Peggy?"

She opened the door again, a hand pressed to her heart. "You scared the life out of me!"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't tell you I was coming home." She stepped further into the apartment, shutting and locking the door behind her. "Are you happy to see me?" Steve asked cautiously.

Peggy nodded, rushing into his arms. She breathed in his scent, squeezing him tightly. "I missed you, I missed you so much. Are you home to stay?"

He bent, kissing her deeply. "As far as I know. I don't want to leave again until the baby's here." Steve looked down, brushing his fingers against the gentle swell of Peggy's abdomen. She wasn't showing yet, not really, but if you knew to look, you could tell.

"I'm just starting to feel him move, I think. It's so light, like a feather duster. You'll be able to feel too, in a few weeks."

"Really?" he pressed his palm to her abdomen, wishing himself to feel something.

"The doctor said he should be able to hear your voice though, and he'll recognize it once he's born."

Steve grinned, "do you have the doppler thing?"

She nodded taking him by his hand to their bedroom. She pulled the device out of her bedside drawer, laying down and passing Steve the wand, "here." Peggy turned it on, lifting her shirt.

Steve pressed it to her stomach.

Silence.

Peggy tried to hide her panic. "You might need to go down and in a little," she guided his hand lower, "he likes to hide." She jumped as the swishing sound filled the room.

"Is that her-?"

"That's his heartbeat."

Steve's face was all childlike wonder, "I can't believe it. That's incredible, you're incredible. Are you alright?"

Peggy had gone a bit pale, "it just worries me when he takes a second to find."

"Yeah but, the doctor said she's healthy, right? He just likes to hide."

"Yes," Peggy answered slowly.

"So, what is it? Peggy," he turned off the doppler and laid down beside his wife, almost nose to nose, "what're you not telling me?"

"When I found out I was expecting, Bruce and I had a conversation. No one's ever had a human baby with serum in its system, but Bruce has been experimenting on plants and livestock. He wants to see, basically, what our life expectancy is."

Steve's breath caught, "but we're fine."

Peggy nodded, "we are, we are. But what he's found is," she took a deep breath, "children of two serum having parents don't always turn out…well." She explained the genes, the prototype serum in her system.

"Fifty-fifty?" Steve asked, sorrow painting his voice.

Peggy nodded into his shirt, not trusting her voice to be steady.

"You could carry this baby for nine months, and we may still lose him?"

She nodded again.

Steve felt his shirt dampen with her tears. "But we just heard her heartbeat."

"And it could all change tomorrow," she said softly.

"No," Steve sat up, "he's wrong. Bruce has to be wrong, he's been wrong before."

"Steve, he's not. He's tried. He's exhausted all his options. He's right. He doesn't want to be, but he is." Peggy was partially curled on the bed, arms crossed protectively over her middle. Steve had never seen her look so small, so weak.

He laid back down, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her tears away. "Then we are going to cherish every single second we have with this baby." He cleared the thickness in his throat, "and we are going to pick names, and clothes, and decorate the spare bedroom, because we are not going to live in fear, here. And we are going to hope like hell that we come out on the winning side of this."

Peggy sniffed, "language." She chanced a smile up at him.

He smiled, kissing her forehead. "I love you so much," wriggling down in the bed, he lay face to face with her stomach, "and I love you so much. We haven't talked yet, but I'm your dad, and I can't wait to meet you."

Peggy smiled, running her fingers through his hair. Before long, she'd drifted into a dreamless sleep.

"Ok, ok, sounds good. Ok. Yeah she says hi. Are we good where we are, do you think?"

Peggy woke to Steve's voice speaking softly from the other room on the phone with someone. She stretched, stood, and crossed into the living room. Winston thumped his tail in greeting.

Steve turned, saw Peggy and smiled. "Alright, if you're happy, I'm happy. Talk to you soon."

"Who was that?"

"Rhodey. Hey, I didn't get a chance to tell you, but we have to talk about Berlin."

"Alright," she sat down, one hand on Winston's block head.

"What we found was odd, to say the least," Steve started. "It wasn't a headquarters, so much as it was a school. Actually, that's exactly what it was. It was a high school for Hydra children."

Peggy furrowed her brow, "children of Hydra officers?"

"That's what we thought at first, but no. It's like a breeding program. They made serum infused embryos in dishes, with certain traits amplified to make the perfect specimen. They were incubated in unknowing surrogates, then frozen once they were born. Peggy, they all look like they're Peter's age, but they were born in the eighties and nineties."

"They want their hands on children with the serum."

Steve nodded gravely, "there's more. They want a certain kind of child, they all look related."

"It's like the eugenics movement all over again."

"Basically, but on steroids."

Peggy paused, thinking. "They want children with serum?"

"Yes."

"That's why you're home?"

"Yes."

"Are we safe?"

"I would have grabbed you and ran if we weren't. We're safe, but we need to be careful. They don't know about the baby, and we need to keep it that way for as long as possible. Of course, we won't be able to hide her forever, that's why we're working so aggressively now."

Peggy's eyes were glazed over, fingers digging into the cushion.

"Peggy? What're you thinking?"

She looked up at Steve. "I need you to promise me something."

"Alright."

"Really Steve, this is important."

"I'm listening," he said softly, taking her hands in his.

"If it comes down to it, if Hydra comes, you need to save the baby."

Steve shook his head hard, "no."

"Listen to me!" She gripped his hands, "if Hydra comes and you need to choose between myself or the baby, you chose the baby. You cannot let him fall into their hands."

"Peggy," he breathed.

"Steve. You can't do it."

He said nothing.

"Promise me, Steve."

Begrudgingly, he nodded, "I promise."

She kissed his hands, "thank you."