So how we all recovering from that last chapter?

So, to answer a question I was asked, yes, we are going to keep going.

As I mentioned previously, with the announcement of the Falcon and The Winter Soldier tv show, and the fact that I love the banter between those two characters and my character as it is, I'm going to give it a shot.

However, that may mean that this fic goes on hiatus once I write up to the end of the aftermath of Endgame. I debated starting it as a completely separate fic, but then I was like, but then people would open up the story and see this weirdo, crazy character with these two well known characters and be like 'wha?' So, it will just continue on from this fic.

Thanks to Irishka16, Sinner2016, Opecinco and raven2327 for joining the adventure.

And to my reviewers xRaspberryx, Janeth16 and AliceCullen3, you're awesome.

Now, prepare yourself for more sadness with a side of sarcasm.

Enjoy

xo

Chapter 39

Family

Bucky stood by the window, looking out over the city. Once the world realized what had happened, emergency services and special agencies had all converged on their location, seeking answers as to what was going on.

What they were greeted with had left them with more questions than answers. Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man, dead, and the Avenger's compound destroyed. The sorcerer and his people had helped return all those who had come from different corners of the Earth back to their homes, for the time being.

He and the others that had stayed were taken to the closest hospital, to get the medical attention many of them needed. It had taken a lot of convincing from Bucky and Steve to get Lex to be seen to, and it was a good thing too. Her body had suffered multiple contusions, some internal bleeding as well as many open wounds that were more visible. Doctors were stunned she was still able to put up a fight, let alone walk.

Bucky had faired pretty well, considering, although he and Steve both took a beating trying to stop Lex from making a run from the doctors. They ended up sedating her to get her seen to, with the assistance of Wanda holding her mind captured until the doctors could get the needle into her.

He lent an arm up against the wall as he stared out the window, sipping on a bottle of water. It had been five years since the snap, and the world certainly showed it. There were a lot of structures that appeared to be overgrown with plants, and abandoned vehicles strewn throughout the streets. It was very fascinating to see a city like New York in the condition it was in.

He heard heavy footsteps approach him from behind, turning his head to see who it was. Steve offered him a warm smile, moving up beside him and patting him on the shoulder. He had cleaned up a little, although his uniform still sported the signs of a tough fight here and there.

"How you doin, Buck?" Steve asked.

Bucky sighed, looking from Steve back out to the city. "I'm alright. It's good to be back." He turned and glanced past Steve towards Lex's room, where she was sleeping off the effects of the sedative. "How has she been?"

Steve hesitated, looking back over his shoulder towards her room, before sighing, stuffing his hands into his pockets and looking back at Bucky. "She…had a bit of a hard time, I think."

He pressed his lips together, as he looked back to her room. "What happened?"

Steve moved to sit on a nearby chair, leaning forward to rest his elbows onto his knees. "At first, she was very angry, she left and went into hiding in the mountains of Wakanda, wouldn't even talk to Shuri or Okoye." Bucky took a sharp breath, understanding the seriousness of her reaction. Lex had gotten along very well with Shuri, he had seen it first-hand, the Wakandan princess had idolized her. "I kept reaching out to her, Shuri always monitored her as did the Jabari, but she wouldn't respond to us. Then Scott Lang returned from the Quantum Realm by sheer accident and gave us our chance, so I tried reaching out to her again. For some reason, this time, she responded and came back."

He couldn't help but feel grateful that he had kept trying. He knew Steve had always had his reservations about Lex at the beginning, but knowing that Steve had tried his best to keep an eye on her made him feel relieved. The only reason she had ever been brought into this strange world they were now in, was because of him. All because they ran into each other on the stairs of their apartment building in Bucharest.

"She really proved herself, and she really took losing you hard," Steve murmured, looking up at Bucky through his blonde hair as it draped across his forehead. Bucky felt his heart leap at Steve's words. "She would never admit it, but I saw it, heck, everyone that knew both of you saw it."

Bucky stared at Steve for a moment, not sure if he was understanding what his best friend was saying. He knew how he felt about his neighbor, but he never imagined she might even feel remotely the same way. Then again, maybe she didn't. Maybe she only thought of him as a friend, even losing a friend could hit her hard.

He was about to respond to Steve and ask more questions, when there was a crash from her room.

"Shit," both Steve and Bucky murmured, before racing to her room.

Lex walked quietly towards the edge of the lake, watching as the water barely moved in the calm of the day.

It had been a week since the final fight with Thanos, a majority of her injuries had healed, with only a few bones still mending in her ribs. She was lucky to have been allowed to leave, with both Bucky and Steve wrestling her during initial admission and calling in Wanda to stop her from running. Talk about being ganged up on.

She watched a bird fly overhead, landing in a tree and calling out as it looked down at her. They were at the Stark residence, getting ready for a memorial service in his honour.

She didn't really feel comfortable being there, after everything that had happened between them that caused their first meeting, it just didn't feel right to her. She wasn't even sure if the guy liked her, even during their days preparing to take on Thanos again, it seemed like their only interaction was through sarcasm or offhand jokes.

She sighed as she stood watching a bird skim across the surface of the lake, before landing, causing ripples to form on the water, spreading closer and closer to the bank she was standing on.

There was a sniffle off to her right and she jumped, on the alert and poised to strike as she turned to see who was there. She raised her eyebrows as she looked down to see big, familiar, brown eyes staring up at her in wonder. They were the same brown eyes that had told her Tony's final plan to stop Thanos, the same brown eyes who she let sacrifice himself for them. She felt a lump form in her throat as she straightened slightly.

The little girl continued to look at her, her eyes were a little red and puffy, which would explain the sniffle Lex had heard. Little Morgan Stark had been crying, and understandably so, her world had been changed forever.

"Hello." The little girl didn't take her eyes off Lex as she greeted her, and Lex found it unnerving.

"Uh…hi," she replied, stuffing her hands into the pockets of the black coat she was wearing. "Are…you okay?" Lex continued, completely unsure of what she was supposed to say to the five year old.

Morgan pressed her lips together slightly, sniffling again. "Not really." Lex pursed her lips, mentally scolding herself as she looked back to the water, feeling very uncomfortable to be in the presence of the child. "Are you friends with my dad?"

Stabbed to the heart. That's what that question felt like to Lex. She didn't know how to answer the child. Was she? Wasn't she? She had run a mission with him in their effort to reverse the effects of the snap, but was that enough to classify herself as one of his friends?

"Um, I was a colleague of your father. I didn't really know him for too long," she answered slowly, trying to think of the most diplomatic answer she could.

"Colleague?" the little girl repeated slowly, a slightly confused look on her face.

Lex bit her lip. Of course, a child wouldn't understand such big words. "Uh, I worked with him, once or twice."

"Oh."

"Yeah…" There was silence between them for a moment, and Lex considered heading back to the cabin, but then reconsidered it as she wasn't sure it was a good idea to leave the little girl alone.

"I miss my daddy."

The lump formed in Lex's throat again as she could hear the strain in the child's voice. She was quick to take a deep breath before looking at little Morgan Stark again, working hard to keep her expressions somewhat neutral as she addressed the child, kneeling down so she was at eye level with the girl. "And that's okay, because you love your daddy, right?"

"Why did he have to leave?"

Lex closed her eyes, trying to control her own emotions as her own thoughts of her mother sprang to mind. All these thoughts that Morgan was having, she had experienced them as a child too, when she lost her mother.

"Your daddy wanted to make sure that you, and everyone else could live happily and safely, but to do that, he needed to give everything he had," Lex replied as Morgan moved closer to her.

"But who is going to take care of me now?" she began to wail, causing Lex to wince slightly, but she was unprepared for what happened next. Morgan threw herself at Lex, wrapping her little arms around Lex's neck and beginning to sob into Lex's shoulder, causing the former Black Widow to freeze where she was. "Who is going to take care of me now that daddy is gone?"

"Well, there's Pep- your mummy, and there's your daddy's friend, what's his name? Happy?" Lex began trying to placate the child, using her hands to stop herself from falling as the child's weight pushed against her. She was starting to panic slightly. The Red Room hadn't prepared her for anything like this.

And then a thought occurred to her, as she remembered what Steve had said at Nat's memorial when Tony queried him about her family. "And then there's everyone else in your daddy's family."

Morgan pulled herself away from Lex's face, looking at her in confusion with tears still streaming down her face. "Daddy's family?" Lex could understand her confusion. She knew very well that Tony's mother and father had been killed, and he had no other living relatives, so the child had never met any 'family' of her father's.

"Yeah, you know, daddy's family? Uh…Uncle Steve, Uncle Bruce, Peter, everyone that's here today? That's all your daddy's family, you know?" she answered, moving her hands up to tidy up the little girl's hair and wipe away the tears that dripped down her face. She wondered if her own coat was currently covered in the little girl's snot at the shoulder where she had been crying but made a conscientious effort not to look.

"So, you're my daddy's family too?" Lex stared at the child for a moment, her eyes wide, moving her mouth as she tried to formulate an answer. "Are you?"

"Umm…" Lex stared at the little girl, trying to think of a nice way to let the little girl down. "I mean…"

"You said everyone that is here today is my daddy's family and will help take care of me. You're here."

Lex cringed slightly, before sighing and bowing her head in resignation. She was definitely her Tony Stark's daughter. "Uh… sure, I'm your daddy's family too."

The little girl jumped into her arms, clinging to Lex as she cried again, making Lex clench her jaw as she endured the uncomfortable position she found herself in. She sighed, before carefully putting her arm around the child and gently patting her back, vaguely remembering her own mother doing that to her on occasion when she was upset.

"Morgan!" came Pepper's voice, causing them both to look back towards the house. Lex immediately tensed, concerned the widower would be angry, or worse, fearful, to see her daughter in the arms of someone who was once her loved one's enemy. Instead, when she looked at Pepper, she saw the woman had a warm smile on her face, motioning to her daughter to come to her. "Come on, it's time."

Morgan released Lex, turning and running past her mother towards Happy, who waited behind Pepper, looking more concerned than Pepper did. Lex stayed crouching on the ground, feeling guilty as she watched Morgan run away, before glancing at Pepper, expecting her to say something.

Pepper smiled at her again, striding towards her with all the confidence that Lex currently did not feel. "Thank you."

Lex stood up slowly, frowning at Pepper as she straightened. "Uh… for what?"

"For helping Morgan, and for helping me when I needed it out there too," she answered simply.

Lex considered her for a moment. "No problem, uh, sorry, if I overstepped with your daughter. She kind of caught me off guard."

"It's fine, I think you put that perfectly," Pepper replied, waving her hand as if to wave away Lex's concerns.

Pepper smiled one more time before she turned and walked back towards the house, where Happy and Morgan were waiting at the bottom of the steps. Lex was quiet as she continued watching as Pepper held her hand out to Morgan, who took it and let her mother lead her inside.

Movement on the balcony caught her attention, as her gaze was drawn to Bucky and Steve, both leaning against the railing with knowing smiles on their faces. Lex bowed her head down and sighed, she knew she was going to get a goading from both boys now.

They stood watching on as Pepper carried a wreath out of the house, walking down the stairs while meeting everyone's gaze as she made her way down the path to the water. They had all been waiting patiently for the beginning of the intimate funeral, while Pepper and those closest to Tony had watched a recording Tony had made before they had made their trip back in time, including Steve and Thor.

Bucky stood with Lex on his right, and Sam on his left. Everyone was dressed in black, Sam wore a suit, his hands in his pockets as he watched on sadly, while Lex wore a black pant suit, with a black coat over the top. He noticed Lex's eyes followed the little girl who walked beside her mother, holding tightly to Pepper's spare hand. He watched as Lex seemed to swallow heavily, not taking her eyes off the child.

He had seen Lex's interaction with Tony's little girl before she had entered the house to watch Tony's recording with her mother, and he couldn't help but admire how she had reacted to the situation. Even Pepper had praise for her, and it warmed his heart when he had seen her wrap her arm around the little girl.

Once they reached the water's edge, Pepper lay the wreath on the lake. On top of the wreath was Tony's first personal arc reactor, which Pepper had framed with the words "Proof that Tony Stark has a heart" back in 2008 when he had first become Iron Man.

They all watched on silently as the wreath floated away, taken away by the slow current of the lake. Morgan sniffled again, leaning into her mother, who also quietly sobbed as they watched on.

Bucky saw Lex clench and loosen her jaw repeatedly, and noted the hand closest to him clenched too as she swallowed again and it appeared that her eyes were beginning to gain a watery sheen to them. He slowly removed his hand from his jacket pocket, reaching across and taking her fist in his.

He felt her stiffen at first, her eyes widening ever so slightly, but then she opened her hand, accepting his into hers. He ran his thumb along her knuckles as they continued to watch the wreath float away.

After the memorial service, they all gathered around the grounds of the house, discussing their plans, or catching up with those that had been missing for the last five years.

Steve stood on the balcony, looking over the gathered mourners. Many of these people, he had come to know in the last eleven years since he had been pulled from the ice, one he had known before he went under.

He looked to Bucky, who was standing to one side, talking to Sam and Carol. No doubt Sam and Carol were discussing growing up in the 90s, while Bucky was simply appreciating the chance to hear about it.

"You always stand on a balcony looking over people as if they're all your children and you're an old grandpa?" an all too familiar voice asked from further along the balcony. Steve sighed, before looking to see Lex smiling wryly at him as she walked towards him, her heels clicking against the timber deck.

"Why not? I'm old enough?" She raised an eyebrow pointedly at him. "Hey, I wasn't looking at you."

She laughed, leaning against the railing with her back to everyone. "So, what now?" He looked questioningly back at her. "Well, what happens now?"

"We return the stones," Bruce answered, walking towards the steps of the house. Steve looked to Bruce, nodding slowly. "We have to drop them back exactly where we found them or we ruin those timelines and who knows what happens."

"Can you fix the Quantum portal?" Steve asked, recalling that the remnants of the portal were't salvageable after Thanos attacked the Avengers compound.

"No, I can make a new one, though. I know what I'm doing this time, thanks to Tony." They were quiet for a moment.

"Perhaps make it smaller this time," Lex offered, folding her arms as she looked over her shoulder at Bruce.

"There's nothing wrong with it being on the bigger side," Thor retorted, looking somewhat annoyed at Lex. She winked at him, and Steve noticed a pink tinge cross his cheeks.

"We can help," Nebula offered, with Rocket standing beside her, nodding.

"Yeah, somebody needs to make sure you don't mess this up," Rocket agreed.

"Wait, do I get a say in this?" Peter Quill, leader of the Guardians of the Galaxy demanded, looking at his two crew members.

"So, who is taking them?" Sam asked, looking between Bruce and Steve. They were quiet for a moment as everyone looked around at each other.

"I will," Steve answered. Lex raised an eyebrow, glancing over at Bucky expectantly. "Alone. I'll be fine," he added, looking straight at Bucky, wanting him to know he didn't want anyone coming with him. Bucky nodded slowly, a look of understanding shared between the two old friends.

Bucky and Steve sat side by side on a park bench in Brooklyn. They had decided to take a trip back to their hometown. Lex and Sam had also joined them, and were currently off getting them all something for lunch.

They both watched as children ran past them, completely oblivious to the fact that Captain America was sitting right there, watching as they laughed and played.

"It's nice to be back," Steve murmured as they watched a father walk by holding his son's hand.

"Yeah, it is," Bucky replied, smiling as he enjoyed the feeling of being able to be in public without worrying, for the moment. He was well aware, that with the return of everyone, it also meant the return of HYDRA too, but as Lex had pointed out, it was going to take a while for the organization to regroup and come after them again.

He looked to his best friend, noting that although he appeared happy in the moment, there was definitely something on his mind. "You good?"

His friend looked back at Bucky, raising his eyebrows expectantly as if to feign innocence, but Bucky looked at him pointedly. Even after being brainwashed and locked in a freezer most of his life, he still knew when Steve wasn't being honest.

Steve sighed, before leaning forward and putting his elbows on his knees and holding his hands together. "I've been thinking, maybe this is a chance for me to try and get some of that ... life … Tony was telling me to get."

Bucky was quiet for a moment, considering Steve's words, before his eyes went wide. He thought to argue, they were finally at peace with the world. They finally had a chance to be together again, the two best friends from Brooklyn, without fear of continually looking over their shoulder all the time for the next threat. At least for a while anyway.

And then Bucky thought about Lex, and what he had with her. While he hadn't acted upon his feelings yet, the fact was, that he had her there. Who did Steve have? He knew who Steve wanted, he remembered the looks the pair had shared, even if those memories were few and far between.

But she wasn't here. She was no longer in this time.

Bucky smiled sympathetically at Steve, nodding slowly. "I get it."

He looked past Steve, seeing Lex and Sam waiting to cross at a set of lights, their arms laden with bags of food, while she laughed at something he said. Bucky got to see that smile face to face.

Steve wanted to experience that too.

A thought occurred to Bucky as he watched the pair waiting and chatting animatedly. "What about Captain America?"

Steve raised his eyebrows, before furrowing them. "Don't suppose you're looking for a job?"

Bucky scoffed, laughing and sitting back. "No way, I've got way too much baggage for that job." He nodded his head towards the pair who were across the road. Steve turned to look, seeing the pair just as the light changed for them and they began walking again.

Steve looked back to Bucky with a thoughtful look on his face. "You think?"

Bucky nodded. "He fits the bill, he's always fought for America and the good," Bucky replied. He thought about his own history, what he had done and what had happened to him in the last few years. "I may have started out on the right side, and even if it was out of my control, I still ended up on the wrong side. I have to live with that. There are still people out there that see my face and probably shake with fear at the thought of me. That's not who Captain America should be." He grinned then and leaned closer to his friend, who also leaned in with a curious look on his face. "And personally, you wouldn't catch me dead in tights."

Steve groaned, whacking Bucky's arm with the back of his hand, making Bucky laugh loudly.

xo

Krayzee