Chapter Text
NEW YORK- FEBRUARY 1963
It was getting late when the Barnes and Rogers families pulled up to Howard Stark's mansion.
It wasn't the first time the kids had been there but each time they see it, they are amazed.
Lizzie turns around and looks at the miscreants in her back seat. Sarah, JJ, and Steven all look at her in false innocence. She knows the trouble they get in to together.
The three of them have been inseparable since they were in diapers and it has stayed that way since then. Lizzie loves that they are so close, much like her and Steve were. She however doesn't love the trouble they always get into.
"You three are going to behave tonight. We aren't at home so you need to mind your manners. The adults are going to be having an important and private meeting so you will be on your own for awhile so please try not to destroy anything," Lizzie says.
Her gaze settled on JJ because he was the ring leader. If she got him to relent, then the rest would fall in line.
"Why are you looking at me?" He asks rudely.
Bucky turns around in his seat and gives him a warning look.
"James, don't talk to your mother like that," Bucky says.
Both of them loved their kids to the moon and back. For the most part, they were good kids. They were smart and most of the time well behaved. However, when you got the three of them together, chaos usually ensues.
In the other car with Steve and Peggy sits the other two children of the clan. There is Natasha or Nat as most of the family calls her and Mary, Steve and Peggy's youngest.
Even though all the kids were close in age, Natasha and Mary were usually left out of the older siblings antics. They were okay with that because they had each other.
The adults always joke that they exchanged kids because it seems like Sarah is always with the Barnes while Nat is with the Rogers. In the end, they were all family and that's what really matters.
When the group gets to the front door, they are greeted by the butler, Jarvis.
He guides them inside and leads them to where Howard has set up.
"Thank you for driving out last minute. I wouldn't have called you all unless it was urgent," Howard says.
Maria Stark comes into the room and Nat and Mary immediately rush up to her.
"Can you show us your piano again?" Mary asks.
Last time they were over at the mansion, Maria gave the girls a piano lesson and since then, they have been begging to get a piano at the houses so they can learn.
"Of course girls," she says.
She leads the girls out of the room. While Maria knew about SHIELD, she wasn't usually involved in discussions about it.
Lizzie looks at the other three kids in the room.
"Please stay in the living room and behave," she says.
"Oh, come on Beth. It's a big house and they shouldn't be cooped up in the living room. Everything they shouldn't be getting into is locked away so let them explore," Howard says.
The adults all miss the look that the three of them exchange at the statement.
"Fine, but if you break anything, you are working until it's paid off and my guess is that most of the stuff in this house isn't cheap so be careful," Bucky warns the children.
That is all the permission they needed so they run off.
They explore the different floors but get distracted on the floor that is obviously a lab. They do try to be careful because they know they will be in big trouble if they break something.
The lab is unlocked so they walk around and look at the different designs. Most of them are designs for weapons.
The twins know a good amount about different firearms. Their father used to teach them about the different kinds and how to use them.
Well, he did until mom caught him. They had never seen them have such a big fight. Mom actually threw a plate at dad. She apologized later of course but she was still so mad.
Since then, gun training has been banned but dad still manages to give them some self defense training when mom is at work.
He tells them that if something ever happens to him, it will be their job to protect the family.
They know that their parents, especially their father, have a dark past. Their parents always talk about how the got together and how they were ripped apart before reuniting again but they never tell them what happened in the in-between part.
They know dad still gets panic attacks and they both have nightmares. They also know that most dads don't have a metal arm that can lift hundreds of pounds.
Someday they will demand the whole story but they know they won't tell them until they are older.
As they explore the lab, they find a door with a complicated lock on it. JJ immediately gets tempted because he knows there has to be something interesting behind that door.
"JJ, no," Steven says.
He can immediately sense that his twin is up to no good. They promised their parents that they would be behave.
"What do you think is behind the door?" JJ asks.
"I don't know, but we promised our parents that we wouldn't break anything," Sarah says.
"If you use your amazing code breaking skills, we won't break anything. We will just pop the lock, take a look inside and no one will know any different," JJ says.
Sarah looks at the lock. She found one of Aunt Lizzie's old books on code breaking and lock picking. She's practiced with a couple different models but she has yet to find a lock she can't break into. They were like puzzles to her and this was the ultimate puzzle.
JJ can see he has Sarah intrigued.
"Come on, it will be fun," JJ says.
Sarah sighs but takes a step closer to start working on the lock.
JJ turns to his brother so he can convince him but fortunately he agrees fairly quickly if not begrudgingly.
It's a difficult lock but Sarah has it picked in less than 20 minutes. She removes the lock and she opens the door.
The room is completely empty except for a single pedestal in the center of the room.
On top of the pedestal sits a glowing blue cube.
They each approach it and look at it in awe. They have no idea what it does but it looks powerful. They can all feel the energy that is radiating off of it.
"What is it?" Steven asks.
None of them have any clue what it could be.
JJ walks up close to it and reaches out a hand to touch it. Sarah quickly runs up to him and slaps his hand away.
"Are you crazy? You don't know what that thing is. Uncle Howard is a weapons manufacturer and there is a very good chance that this is some kind of weapon, or at least a power source!" She yells.
In all honesty, JJ didn't realize he was reaching out to it until Sarah grabbed his hand. It felt as if it was calling out to him and he was stuck in a trance.
Steven who was usually the peace maker steps forward so he can defuse the situation.
They are all within a foot of the cube when the ground starts shaking violently.