Bucky sits on the chopper, Steve lays on the floor, head propped up on his arm and blanket covering what a mess his body is.

He feels another set of eyes and he looks up to see Clint looking at him. The expression he wears probably matches Bucky's. What the hell. What the actual hell.

But they say nothing. He's alive. He's alive. And that's all that matters. He will heal. Bucky grimaces, and they'll be there through that process. Which will royally suck.

Once they'd gotten Steve on the chopper, he'd passed out pretty quickly. Bucky and Clint had had no qualms about inspecting him to see just how bad it was.

And it's bad.

Needle marks, half new half healed over, healed slices and gunshot wounds. Then of course his face. The gruesome way his jaw just hangs makes it hard to look directly at him.

"I've called Stark," Castle says, approaching them in the back. "He wants you all flown home."

"That will take us like two days or more in flights," Clint points out, "he wants him left like this for two days?"

Castle considers this and then nods, "you're right. It's hard to understand Steve's condition unless you've seen it. I'll explain that he should be treated first then flown home." He walks away, bringing the cell phone to his ear.

Bucky looks back down and sees a scrawny kid with broken glasses half poking out of a trash bag.

"How the hell do we keep letting this happen?" Ha asks hoarsely. "How many dumpsters do we have to pull him out of?"

Clint is quiet for a while but then huffs out a small humored sigh, "as many as he keeps jumping in I guess. You told Natasha?"

Bucky looks up, "no, shit, I should. Huh? Let me call her."

Clint nods, "I'll call Peggy."

Castle steps back and points to Steve, "Howard Stark is insisting he be treated at a facility he can control. So after back and forth, he's being flown to a military facility outside of London. After that, he'll get transported home for leave."

Bucky doesn't ask, but Clint is braver than he is right now, "and his contract?"

Castle eyes them with an annoyed glare, "I don't give a shit gentlemen. After everything, he can do whatever the hell he wants. And same goes for you two."

They're left stunned as their captain walks back towards the pilot and gives him the coordinates of the airbase they'll have to transfer to.

Clint shakes his head, "she didn't answer. I don't even know what time it is there."

Natasha doesn't answer either so he sends a text.

We have Steve, He's alive. He's going to be okay, we think. Pretty messed up rn, but I think he'll heal like usual. Transporting him to a facility in London then home. Call when you can

He leans his head back and feels exhaustion wave over him, the sound of the rotor blades lulling him to sleep.

"Wake up, wake UP."

Peggy groans awake, squinting her eyes open and seeing her roommate looking a bit harried. She sits up and rubs at her eyes, "what is it?"

Fran holds out her phone, "it's your brother."

Peggy stares at her roommate's cell phone, "my brother?"

"Yes," the woman says with a sigh, "he said he and a few others have tried calling you but you didn't answer, so he tried calling me."

She looks at the time and tries to remember why she was sleeping in the middle of the day. Oh yes, because she's been so harried and worried that she'd stayed up all night to study for a test trying not to be stressed about Steve and had collapsed into bed after said test.

She slowly reaches out and grabs the phone and puts it to her ear, "Michael?"

"For heaven's sake Pegs! Do you know the lengths I went to to get a hold of you? Bloody Nora!"

"I'm sorry, I was so tired I didn't even mean to fall asleep, what happened?"

"He's on his way to London, Peg."

"Who is?"

"Steve, your bloke, they found him. I've got word they're actually bringing him to my facility. He's alive apparently."

Her heart stops beating. Or it feels that way for a brief moment until she takes a deep shuddering breath and begins to cry, "they have him? He's safe?"

"He's safe. His team has him." She picks up her phone to see three missed calls and a barrage of texts.

She can't respond, she's too busy crying.

"We'll take care of him when he gets here, Pegs. Then we will send him home to you."

She frowns, "forget that! I'm coming to London!"

"Pegs-"

"Thank you for telling me, I'll see you soon." She hangs up, wipes her eyes and hands the phone back to her confused roommate. She slides open her phone and hits Howard's number.

He answers in half a second.

"Howa-"

"Jarvis is on his way to your dorm. He'll take you to the air strip. Tony and I will meet you there."

She sucks in a shuddering breath, "thank you."

Steve had woken up about midway on the flight to London, shaky and weak. They only had solid food so he couldn't eat any of that. But he poured water past his messed up jaw and swallowed carefully and that seemed to help some.

Now they are wheeling him on a gurney to the back rooms.

"You'll have to wait here-" a military doctor says to them as they approach large double doors.

"No," Bucky says sharply, "we're going to be with him the whole way."

"Sir-"

"We're not leaving him," Clint adds in.

Steve tilts his head, trying to look at them, probably to reassure them that he's fine but he and Bucky ignore it. Pushing to stand on the sides of Steve's bed. Geez he looks like a horror movie villain. His eyes are tired and Clint looks up at the doctors, "call Howard Stark, he's going to be in charge anyways once he gets here."

"This is not Howard Stark's jurisdiction," one of the doctors huffs. "This is-"

"Dr. Kerns."

Clint turns to see a tall brunette walking towards them. He's dressed in military gear.

The doctor salutes him and the man salutes back. "Let them through."

"Sir?"

"Barton and Barnes are cleared to proceed through the doors. They will follow sanitization protocol and will accompany Rogers through his treatment." The brunette looks down at Steve and pauses, clearly taken aback by the state of him. "Uh-" he seems to lose his train of thought.

Steve's eyes narrow and then widen, and the brunette smiles, with a nod, "good to finally meet you in person, Rogers."

Clint furrows his brow, "who are you?"

The brunette grins at him, "Brigadier Carter, nice to meet you gentlemen."

Bucky chokes out a- "Carter?"

He nods, "indeed."

Clint mentally reels back, "As in… Peggy?"

The man laughs, "you've got it. Speak of the devil, She's halfway here on a Stark jet last I heard."

Steve's hand reaches out and grasps the man's wrist.

"Steve?" Bucky asks, "what is it?"

Steve gestures to his face and then shakes his head no.

Clint frowns, "Steve, she's not going to care."

Steve glares at him and then makes a groaning sound in his throat. Shaking his head 'no' again.

Then Steve makes a motion like writing and Bucky pulls out his phone swiping to the notes app.

Steve types something and then shoves it at them.

You still have nightmares about me in the dumpsters and you want her to see me like this!?

Bucky grimaces and Clint wrinkles his nose, "okay, that's fair. But you're acting like once she's here, that we'd have the power to convince her to stay away."

Steve seems to consider that then points at her brother.

The man laughs, "you think I can control my sister? You've gone nutty."

Steve sighs and sinks against the gurney he's on.

"Carter, Sir," Dr. Kerns says, "this is not a Stark facility-"

Carter turns to the doctor, "I understand your concerns. This is a special case and the facility managers have already worked out a deal with Stark who requires complete control over this situation. So please, don't make this difficult. We're all following orders."

The doctor just sighs and nods, pushing Steve's gurney further through the now opening doors.

"I'm Michael, by the way," Carter says, "Peggy's told me a bit about you both and a lot about that one there-" he points to Steve. "Quite the…" he seems to be at a loss for words.

"Yeah," Bucky finishes for him, "but he'll get better quick once he's on IV's and can start eating again.

"They want to do an assessment," Michael explains, "Stark ordered it so he can make sure Steve's healing factor-" he says the words as if they're strange to him, which they probably are, "- is functioning at the same rate?"

Bucky nods, "yeah, sounds good."

Michael gestures down the hallway, "let's get started then."

Natasha stares at the text message for a long time, relief and exhaustion flooding through her in equal measure. It's done now. He's back, they're back. Everyone is safe.

"You seem… okay?"

She looks up to see Dottie eyeing her. "They found him. My friend. He's safe."

The woman nods, "I'm… I'm glad."

"Thanks."

"So, you coming to rehearsals today? Or you skipping town?"

"We have a week break in just a few days. I'll go then."

Dottie nods and grabs her bag, "then let's go."

Tony fidgets with his phone, spinning it one way and then another.

"I will Sam," his dad is saying, "I'll have you updated for everything. And ys, he's going to get leave after this. I already talked to Castle. Uh-huh- yes it's confirmed, you can tell Peter. Yep. Okay, talk to you soon, bye."

Peggy was sitting across from him, legs tucked under her chin and staring out the small window.

She'd barely spoken a word as they'd loaded the jet and then took off.

He's pretty sure she's pissed at him. But she can't hate him as much as he hates himself.

His dad sits down beside him and leans his head back, closing his eyes. "He's at the facility and they're going through the assessments now. I wish they could get him to surgery but-" he gestures to the well insulated case, "they don't have anesthesia that will work on him."

"Surgery?" Peggy asks in a soft voice, her eyes still staring into the void.

"His jaw," his dad starts, "it's… it's in pretty bad shape. They'll need to re-break it. And his arm and…" his dad's voice gets weary, "they're pulling bullets out of him too."

Her eyes close and she rests her forehead on her knee.

"I'm sorry," Tony finally says, "for leaving him."

Peggy's eyes look up and they look as tired as he feels, "could you have taken him with you?"

"No. We would have gotten captured."

"Then you did what you had to do."

"But you're angry…"

"I'm angry at all the evil in the world that caused this," she says firmly, "I'm angry it's even an option for humans to be so brutal. But I'm not angry at you. You did what was necessary, and in the end, he's alright. He's going to be alright."

"Absolutely," his dad adds, softly, "we won't stop until he's back to perfect health."

Steve tries not to be agitated as they take pictures of every angle, every inch of his skin to ensure they've captured every wound, bruise, and mark.

They stick an IV in and he remains still even though he wants to rip it out and throw it at them. After everything Raza did, he never wants to see another needle again. But Bucky and Clint are there watching his expression every second, so he stays impassive.

The doctors inspect his jaw, prodding it and making Steve nauseous with pain. They X-ray his whole body and make noises of disbelief as they examine the films.

Then they run him through mental questions like name, birthday, president, and general facts. He answers on a keyboard and they nod as he gets them all right.

"So thankfully the wounds are all physical," one of the doctors says with a tight smile, "that's good. No brain damage or anything, so we can rule that out. But I'm afraid the process of breaking and resetting bones won't be pleasant. We're being told to wait until Mr. Stark gets here with an anesthetic he's worked up," she seems confused, like she doesn't understand why their anesthetics aren't good enough, but all three of them stay silent. "So we're just waiting on that. I've heard they've landed and are driving here now. So should be soon."

Then it's just the three of them in the room. Bucky walks over, "scale of 1 to 10, how bad is the pain?"

Steve shrugs. Holding up a 5.

"Seriously?"

Steve shrugs again. Sure it hurt, but it was like a low level hum. He was more anxious for what was to come.

Clint gently grasped his wrists where the chains had torn his wrists to bits. The mottled scabs and bruising was ugly.

"This looks like it hurts, Steve." He gently accuses.

Steve rolls his eyes, then points to his jaw with his good arm.

"You're a mess," Bucky says with a hint of humor and a hint of anguish, "how do you always manage to be in the middle of scrapes?"

Steve reaches out, and pats Bucky on the arm. Then he does the same to Clint.

He blinks slowly, trying to fight off the exhaustion, but Clint just sits beside him and says, "sleep, Steve. Get some rest before they get here. We're not going anywhere."

He nods and then leans back, closing his eyes.

Peggy is beside him as they walk into the facility. His dad is a few steps ahead, listening intently to the doctor's briefing.

"We need to get him to surgery," the doctor is saying, "his bones are settling into their broken states rather firmly, we need to fix it as soon as possible."

"Here," his dad hands the small insulated chest to the man, "This will put him under, but-" he glances back at the two of them, "rebreaking bones might pull him out of anesthesia no matter what. So we need to be quick and efficient."

The doctor leads them to a door and Peggy pushes past them. No one stops her and she steps inside. Tony follows and they find Clint and Bucky sitting by a bed.

Steve lies asleep, jaw still as mangled as he last saw. At least he was clean now.

Peggy makes a soft shuddering gasp sound at the sight of him. She steps forward and Clint moves out of the way. She sinks into the chair and reaches out, grasping his hand, "Steve?"

Blue eyes blink open and then he sees her, eyes widening and then grimacing.

"He can't speak," Bucky explains, "not yet."

She looks at him, then reaches, gently cradling the side of his face that is less damaged. Steve leans into her touch and she begins to cry. Steve's eyes water too and he shuts them, squeezing them tight. Tony watches as Peggy presses her forehead against Steve's, "you're safe," she whispers out, "you're safe."

Steve opens his eyes and reaches out, grabbing Clint's hand. He flattens Clint's palm and begins to sign letters into it quickly. Clint's eyes widen and then he smiles, "he says he heard your voice calling him home. He made you a promise."

Peggy lets out a watery chuckle and kisses his forehead, "you're damn right about that. And I don't like broken promises."

Steve's eyes went soft and Tony felt his throat getting scratchy.

"Steve," His dad says softly, getting all their attention, "we need to get this process started. The longer we wait the worse it will be."

Steve's eyes turn somber and he nods.

The anesthesia holds out through the rebreak of his arm. Bucky waits tensely with the rest, right outside the operating room as Steve's procedure begins and gets underway.

It's tense but quiet as over two hours pass.

"They're moving to his jaw," Howard's reports. He'd insisted on a microphone being in the operating room so the rest of them could be kept in the loop. Which Bucky and the rest of them were grateful for.

Then, Bucky feels the friction in the air as the mood changes. He hears a gasp through the microphone and then an anguished sound of pain.

Peggy's up on her feet, lunging for the door, when Bucky moves, faster than his brain can even process. He wrings an arm around her waist and holds her.

Steve is making a horrible guttural sound of pain, clearly still half out of it and in pain.

"Let me go!" Peggy cries, pounding on his arm and trying to yank free.

"It's an operating room," Tony says weakly, "you can't!"

"Barnes-" her voice is furious and terrified, "let me go!"

But Bucky just holds firm, his own throat tight as Steve is clearly suffering. A half choked gasp of pain followed by anguished groaning. The microphone cuts out and Peggy goes limp in his arms, crying and shoving her hands against her eyes.

Clint looks ready to say something when the doors swing open.

Howard steps out, a spray of blood across his scrubs, he looks manic, "Carter." Bucky still doesn't let go of her but she's no longer fighting him. "We need you."

She goes still, her voice a whisper, "what?"

"We need something that will keep him calm-"

"Dad!" Tony snaps, "you can't ask that! Put him under again-"

"We're going to try," his dad says with a hand up to calm them all, "but with the level of pain he's experiencing, his adrenaline and heart rate are sky high and even if we tried to administer it now, he'd burn through it in seconds and we'd be right back where we started. We only have so many doses available. If everytime we have to crack his jaw, he wakes up… we're going to be in trouble. So I need Carter to come in and calm him down, be at his side, get his heart rate to normal and then we will try again."

They hear a scream through the doors and Peggy starts pulling from his arms again, "Barnes," she snaps, "let me go!"

He slowly releases her and she stumbles forward before righting herself. "What do I need to do?" She asks Howard.

He motions her, "follow me."

The lights are too bright and he can't see. Pain screams at him from every angle. His arm kills and his chest aches and - he's not in control of his flailing limbs as something sharps cracks at his jaw. He's screaming or yelling or something. He can't think, can't process, can't control- everything is just pain.

Commotion is around him but it's muted in his mind. Something clatters, people gasp, he's struggling to sit up. Gotta get out of here, gotta find somewhere where there's no pain.

Hands are pushing him down and he struggles against them. Everything seems like it's either white, green, or silver. A heaviness weighs on his limbs making it difficult to escape. He's pushing hands away but they're holding him down. He starts to cry again, shouting for help and wriggling to get free.

"Hey- a voice says by his ear, "hey it's me, I'm here, Steve-" he's still shoving hands off his chest and trying to sit up when a soft hand rests on his forehead, "my darling," the voice says, "I need you to stay still. It's to help you-" the voice is sad. Sad and crying and he feels sick at the thought. That voice… that voice is his. His darling. Was that the word she used? He groans again and makes a whimpering sound in his throat. Everything hurts so damn much.

"I know baby," the kind voice whispers, "you're in so much pain, but we're going to help you. It's going to help you. You just need to lie still alright? Try to stay calm and still. Slow your heart rate for me, can you do that?"

Pain still lances through him, but the voice commands more of his attention than the pain.

"That's right," it spoke again, "calm down, it's all going to be alright. You're in a medical facility, remember?"

He was?

"You're safe, but you need to calm down. I need you to calm down. I'm here, I'm here with you-" he feels something cool and soft rest in his hand and he tightens his grip around it on instinct. "Yes, it's me. I'm here, see? I love you," the voice gets softer and closer to his ear, "you don't need to fight anymore. You've done what you need to do, you're home now. Let them help you, alright?"

They're… helping him?

"You're doing great, darling, you're so brave. Let them work and then you can heal. Just keep listening to me. I'm going to be here the whole time. You won't be alone."

Other voices were speaking, their tones hushed, but he couldn't listen to anything but the voice beside him.

"You remember our first date?" the voice said and he could sense a soft joy at the statement, "oh you were just so adorable. I felt so at ease with you. Your thick glasses and your soft demeanor. How you listened to me and treated everyone around you with such a gentle respect. Oh that portrait you drew of me, I bought it, did you know? I have it at my house. I don't…" a soft huff, "I don't know if I ever told you that. Things happened so quickly I…" something was running soothingly along his brow, "I know you're all big and strong and can take on the world. And I'm glad, as it affords you the opportunity to come home after such brutality, but oh, don't think for a second I don't cherish the years I could wrap you in my arms and you fit snuggly. I miss the days of your magnified eyes and your sharp cheekbones. But what I miss most of all is having you by my side everyday. I miss your thoughtful gestures and your kindness to those around you. I miss your laugh and your stubbornness. New York isn't the same without you. You're doing so well," the voice says with a sigh, "you're doing so well my darling. Stay calm, I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere. I'm right here…"

A heaviness falls over him and he doesn't remember anything except the soft continual reassurance of the voice and the touch that accompanies it.

Clint's head pops up as does Bucky's and Tony's as the doors push open. Howard exits and smiles at them.

"He's all set. They didn't put pins or plates in, because I told them he wouldn't need them. In a day or two he should be healed enough that they'd start causing problems anyways.

"Peggy?" Bucky asks.

"Miracle worker," Howard says with a sigh, pulling his gloves off with a snap. "The minute she started talking to him, his heart rate dropped and he started to calm down. She kept talking to him the whole surgery and kept her hand in his and he stayed under the whole time. Didn't even have to use the final dose. She's a better drug to him than anything I can cook up."

"Where is she now?"

"Still by him as they sew him up and finish the surgery." He looks at all of them, "go get a shower, a hot meal, bring one for Peggy will you? And then meet me in his long term room. He should be there by then."

Clint nods and stands, Bucky and Tony following suit.

"Dad," Tony says with an edge to his voice, "Raza is still out there. And if the healing needle marks on Steve's skin is any indicator-"

"Way ahead of you, kiddo," Howard says with a sharp bite to his tone, "that bastard just bought a one way ticket to hell. We're going to retrace Steve's journey and smoke everyone out. I've already got Castle on it."

All three of them feel relief as they head out the doors to the main facility.

"So," Tony broaches, "what's next for the assassin squad?"

Clint looks at Bucky who looks back at him.

Tony huffs out a laugh, "lemme guess. Up to Steve?"

They all laugh tiredly and Bucky nods, "something like that."

Natasha bolts out of the car, seeing him at the entrance. His arms are already opening as she leaps into them, crashing against Bucky with such force he should have sprawled backwards, but he doesn't. Catching her deftly and holding her tight. He kisses her and she kisses him back, feeling the way his relief floods through his emotions. Everyone's safe. Everyone is alive.

She pulls back and he sets her on the ground. She eyes him, "Clint was right."

"About?" Bucky asks, eyebrow raising.

"Steve's blood did change you."

Bucky rolls his eyes, "less talk about Steve's blood and more talk about how you're going to yell at Steve for stressing us all out."

Natasha laughs as they pass into the facility and start making their way down hallways and past locked double doors.

"I'm sure he's heard it from you guys now. How is he?"

"As obnoxious as usual," Bucky says with a snap. Natasha nudges him and Bucky sighs, "he's fine. He can talk again, and he's eating solid food, and he's healed and it makes it all seem like everything wasn't a big deal. Like we didn't just speed the last few weeks melting down into insanity while he was being tortured and traipsing across the godforsaken desert."

"Classic Steve. And Tony?"

"The device in his chest is wild, I'll give you that. You'll see it glowing through his shirts. Steve looks at it like it's personally his fault which drives all of us nuts, especially Tony. But the truth is…" she watches Bucky take a deep breath in and then let it out, slowing to a stop, "everyone is fine."

She smiles, "that we are." He kisses her again quickly before leading her into an open door. She sees Steve and takes two steps, wrapping him up in her arms and squeezing.

"Hey Nat," Steve says, "It's so good to see you."

She pulls away and taps his nose, "you're a little shit you know that? While you were missing, I was so stressed I wobbled on stage, in front of my directors. How could you do that to me?"

He laughs and she laughs with him. "I do apologize," he says with a mock frown, "I would never intentionally make you wobble."

"Nat!" She turns to see Peggy walking in, a brunette man she recognizes in tow. Natasha turns back to Steve, "whose this?" she teases, "You're gone for a couple weeks being beaten up and she gets a replacement?"

"Let's not joke about the torture just yet," Tony groans.

Steve shakes his head and laughs, "Nat, meet Michael, Peggy's older brother."

Natasha grins, "I know." Holding out her hand, "nice to meet you in person finally."

He shakes her hand, "the ballerina, nice to meet you too. My sister informs me that you're the most dangerous one in this room?"

"Beside her," Natasha confirms.

"Well," Michael says, "it's been a pleasure meeting you all, but duty calls. So I will have to catch up with you later." He hugs Peggy and kisses her cheek, then he turns to Steve and reaches out a hand. Steve shakes it and the man grins at him, "what a scary pair you two make." Then he winks and heads out the door.

Peggy looks up at Steve and Steve smiles softly down at her.

"We're not scary," Peggy says with a grin, "are we, my darling?"

And Natasha feels a warmth in her chest that everything is truly alright when Steve looks at her with such love and peace and says, "only when we're apart."

Peggy stretches up and Steve leans down, kissing her easily and then he looks up at the group, "so… when do we get to go home?"

Tony taps his watch, "right the hell now. Natasha's on a time crunch and my dad's worked out the final details, let's book it."

"We're going home," Clint says in disbelief.

"Home," Bucky nods, "altogether."

"Home," Steve finishes, "for good."

Five pairs of eyes flash up to him in surprise, "for good?" Peggy asks, "you're done?"

Steve nods, looking at each of them with a peaceful look. "I had a deep seated need to do what I did. It was a powerful grip on my consciousness. I knew what I needed to do and I did it. And I think that I would tell Castle that I'm available for things that I'm really needed for. But…" he takes a deep breath, "that raging desire is gone. Knowing Howard is going after Raza and that he's taking a look into his weapon distribution along with AIM's and Hammer tech's… I feel like my mission is completed. Or at least for now. I want to go home," his arm pulls Peggy closer, "I want to have a home." He looks up at them and then hesitates, "is that okay?"

"Okay?" Tony says with a crack in his voice, "are you fucking kidding me?"

Bucky grins, grabbing Natasha's hand, "music to my ears."

Clint nods, "and mine."

Peggy leans into Steve, "and mine."