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The floor was covered in juice, already sticky and beginning to dry, and crunchy cereal bits. The walls suffered the same fate, gooey little hand prints leading up to the ceiling. Everything was going to smell like spoiled fruit and there would always be crushed up pieces of Kix in the carpet. But while food was bad, bits of spiderweb stuck to everything and streams of it hanging everywhere was worse. It was going to take forever to clean.
The screaming toddler on the ceiling was the primary concern though.
Peter was cherry red and pushing decibels reserved for howler monkeys and dog whistles. He beat his fists on the ceiling and tears slid down over his forehead, dripping off him onto the floor. A small puddle formed and around it a handful of adults stood, necks craned back to watch Peter. Steve was frowning and wringing his hands.
"Shouldn't we go up and get him?" he asked, turning to Bruce who looked worn and agitated. The scientist shook his head.
"As much as I'd like to, we should leave him be until he stops or wears himself out." Bruce sighed. "He's got to learn crying isn't going to get him anything with us." Peter wailed louder and Bruce winced. "No matter how loud he gets." Tony, Thor, and Sam (who was visiting) still watched Peter, avoiding the spit dripping down. There was a chuckle behind them and Tony turned to glare sharply.
"Laugh it up, Katniss. You get babysitting duty next mission." he snapped, just earning a wider grin from the archer who was lounging on the couch. Clint smirked and turned his head to the side and cupped a hand around his ear, pointedly showing off his lack of hearing aids. Tony flipped him off. Thor chuckled and herded the strung out Bruce over to the neighboring couch to sit, Bruce cuffing Clint as they walked by. Sam rolled his eyes and turned to Steve.
"I've been meaning to ask, how can Peter do all this stuff? Is he a mutant or what?" Sam asked, putting a comforting hand on the blond's shoulder. Steve tensed up and turned to Tony who had done the same. No one made a sound except for the still screeching spider-toddler. Steve sighed.
"Well..."
~xx~
It took them at least an hour to take out enough guards in order to enter the Hydra base. The sky was a dull gray and the ground covered in a soft, few inches of snow. The complex was two buildings set in a clearing in the dead center of a deep forest, somewhere in northern Maine or southern Canada, and was filled with Hydra agents yelling in either Russian or French. Thor and the Hulk dealt with the artillery and vehicles while Steve and Tony took out the ground crew and long range shooters. For a while it was a mess, but once all of the outer forces were taken care of they moved into the largest building.
Moving with discretion, Steve and Tony went quickly, clearing two lower floors before following the yelling below them in the basement. Thor and Hulk scanned the upper levels, beating up baddies and rescuing a gaggle of scientists. They hadn't called it in until they had taken the scientists outside to the quinjet. At that point, Tony and Steve had found an empty stairwell and were on their way down.
"Man of Iron and Captain, we have secured a fair few hostages in our craft. They claim to be your 'biologists.'" Thor's voice crackled over the comm. "Their leader wishes to warn you of something."
"Put them on." Steve whispered, raising a hand to signal Tony to stop.
"Sir?" a woman's voice whimpered pitifully. "You need to be careful down there. Most of the higher ups are still there and... the others."
"Others?" Steve frowned.
"We did... horrible things. Experimenting with the super soldier serum and adding animal genomes to mutate and enhance it. We couldn't get it though, not right." Her voice hitched and Steve could hear a muffled sob.
"What else?"
"We- we lost so many subjects. Men, women... children. But they kept bringing more and we couldn't-" she broke down crying and Steve repressed a growl.
"What should we expect when we go in there?" he ordered strongly, getting more agitated. There was a shaky breath.
"Expect hell and give no mercy. Every... thing left is programmed and lobotomized. Aim to kill." The words sounded strange from such a frail voice, but her fear held a heavy weight. Steve felt a tension run through him that was foreign and yet familiar. Pre-battle jitters from the prospect of injuring or killing others but with a powerful sense of dread and self-disgust. He took a calming breath.
"All right, thank you. I'll be careful. Can you hand the communicator back to Thor please?" After a bit of shuffling there was a grunt of affirmation. "What is your plan of attack Captain?" Thor boomed. "Thor, have Hulk turn back into Bruce and both of you take the scientists back to S.H.I.E.L.D.. I want you guys away from here. I'll clear the building and then set charges. By the sound of it, they've been mixing their serum research with cross-genetics. We can't let anyone get their hands on such destructive research, not even S.H.I.E.L.D.. I'll send Tony back-"
"The hell you will! Did you hear what she said?" Tony whispered angrily. "There are lobotomized, mutated, monster children! I'm not letting you go through that alone!" Steve turned to argue but Tony had his face-plate up and his expression crumbled Steve's resolve. It was one of the most fierce and serious expressions he'd seen on Tony's face. Steve sighed and conceded with a nod.
"Fine. We'll both go. But if we both end up with worse nightmares it isn't my fault." He forced a weak smirk and Tony gave him a humorless bark of laughter. They knew it was going to be hell, but they'd been through hell before. Steve moved a hand onto the doorknob and turned to Tony. He had his gauntlets up and repulsors charged, he nodded. Steve swung the door open.
There was a swarming mess of Hydra agents filling the five foot wide hallway. Everyone was yelling orders until they noticed their new company and turned to attack. Tony quickly took out five in rapid succession and Steve bashed two in the head with his shield. They mowed down the hallway, bottle-necking it and moving as fast as they could manage. There weren't any "monsters" out, but in Steve's peripheral he could see spindly fingers reaching through the small openings in the metal doors lining the walls. It reminded him of the mental hospital in the creepy video game Clint had played; Evil Within or something.
Both of them had sustained injuries, Steve a graze on his side and mottling of bruises and Tony's left gauntlet had been shorted by a lucky energy shot. The hall was almost clear until Steve had moved too fast, twisting his injury wrong and making him wince for a second too long. The last agent, who he'd been aiming for, ducked and hit a button on a control panel adjacent to the last door. A flat tone rang and Tony barely had enough time to blast the agent before the doors slowly swung open. Then they swarmed.
Most of the creatures looked similar, humanoids with red blistered skin and huge clusters of pustules on various parts of their bodies, that weren't covered in tattered medical scrubs. Their backs hunched and limbs unnaturally long and willowy, black spines bristling across the arms and legs. It was the faces that were the worst. Mutated and deformed, large expanses of eerily smooth scarring, stretched out to cover where a nose should have been. Their mouths were filled with razor sharp teeth and large pincers had torn slits in the cheeks reaching to the end of the jaw. Most had one human eye left, but the other had split into a mass of beady black spider eyes and large tufts of coarse, brown hair sprouted around the clusters.
He tried really hard not to take into account the size of some of the creatures, especially the small thin ones. Focus on the mission.
They screamed, low and gravel bellows that seemed to shake the two heroes to their bones. After the bellowing ended there was a beat of silence, Steve and Tony were shocked quiet and the creatures took a collective breath. Then they all moved.
The creatures rushed them, a vile green liquid dripping on their mouths and their clawed hands reached out. Steve moved quickly to swing his shield onto his back and grab his side arms, double gunning six in rapid fire. Each hit was met with a loud squelch and a high-pitched, raspy squeal, tattooing the sound onto Steve's eardrums. Tony charged his chest repulsor and held his position, waiting for Steve. After Steve emptied both of his magazines, the heads exploding into gross pink sludge whenever he hit the pustules, he whipped his shield back out. He sidestepped and Tony shot his charged beam at Steve's shield to ricochet off to take out three more. Steve kept shooting until one got by him and went after Tony, getting a claw into his armor and dribbling saliva onto his broken gauntlet. The viscous green goo hissed and ate through the metal, acidic and acrid smelling. Tony yelped ("Manly grunt, dear") and detached the gauntlet, stepping away from it to nail the creature in the face with his metal fist. After it crumpled to the ground with a pathetic, gurgling whimper, the hall was quiet. The entire floor was covered in bodies and the duo was similarly covered in pink goo. Steve exhaled heavily and slid his guns into their holsters, turning to Tony.
"Did you just squeal?" he smirked tiredly. Tony crossed his arms and looked away.
"No. I did not." Tony muttered, looking down at his still decomposing metal. "I just upgraded the fire rate too." Steve rolled his eyes and moved to check the first room. Room was a relative word, as the walls were all covered in hardened green mucus and looked like a prison from Alien. The smell was nauseating, burning Steve's nose and lungs with each breath. Each room was he same, mucus-encrusted and acrid smelling and usually contained a body or two, until they reached the door at the very end that had remained closed even after the agent had pressed the button. Steve took out a firearm and nodded to Tony to open the door. The armored man moved quickly and, after another nod from Steve, swung open he door. But what they found was peculiar.
The room was dimly lit blue, looking much like a sterile hospital room. Numerous machines littered counters and tables, all circled around the hospital bed in the center. IVs and monitors stood next to it, one beeped slowly and another twice as fast. But what lay in the bed was what stilled the duo. It was one of the creatures, a female, that was far less deformed than the others. She had a relatively human face with the exception of spines on her cheeks and jaw and fangs poking out over her lower lip. Her limbs were the same gangly, bristled sticks and her skin was a sunburn pink but sans the blisters. Steve and Tony's stomach turned painfully though.
She was pregnant.
"Bruce, we need you to come back. Now." Tony demanded over the comm, voice strong but Steve knew better.
This was a nightmare. People experimenting on people, children, but this? Steve could scarcely believe it and it was right in his face. Tony was arguing with Bruce in the background while Steve walked over to her. Her abdomen was huge, larger than he'd seen before, but his concern was the tubing. She seemed to have everything hooked into her. He could remember Peggy when she was really near the end, god bless her soul, and it looked like she was hooked up to a respirator and nutrient drip. Tony rattled off the machines he recognized to Bruce and was quiet. Steve watched him, wary of what might be afoot. Then Tony turned to Steve.
"Are you sure? Positive?" Quiet. "Yeah it's quiet- But- The baby's? It's, er, normal. But- You- You're gonna-?! Bruce!" Tony flailed a bit then sighed. "Are you sure?"
"What's up?" Steve prodded. Tony retracted his face plate and sighed heavily again.
"Bruce is coming down here. He says she's brain dead but there's a good chance the baby can be saved." Tony mumbled, bring up his flesh hand to rub his face. Steve side-eyed the creature, a pang in his chest.
The child hadn't even been born yet and yet it had to suffer the HYDRA torture. Lord only knew what they had done to it while torturing the mother, deformed and hollow as she was. No parents and probably some genetic mutation it'd have to live with. If it was even stable. They'd gone up against mad scientists who messed with genetics, but it had never involved children. Most villains were humane enough to recognize that kids were a no-no. It brought a fiery fury in Steve's chest and stomach, making his fists ball up. His shoulders grew hard and tensed up, a painful shudder shaking him gently.
He felt a warm hand on his and flinched slightly. The fingers massaged the back of his hand until it unclenched and went slack. The other hand wove their fingers together and held tightly. It gave him an anchor, something to focus on other than the rage building within him. Steve relaxed after a few minutes and slumped to the side onto comforting metal. He said nothing and Tony did the same, silently leaning on one another until Bruce knocked on the door frame. Tony went to pull away but Steve tightened his grip on Tony's hand stilling his motion until he moved back to lean on Steve. Bruce said nothing, just gave a nod and moved over to the bed. After a few moments of quietly mumbling to himself and inspecting both the woman and machines, he turned to the other two.
"She's in relatively good health considering her vegetative state. There are no wounds or scarring on her abdomen, so for now I'd say the baby is fine. What I'm concerned about is how close she is. She seems to be very far along, at least her third trimester, but to move her might cause complications since she's so reliant on those machines. If we want to save the baby we'll need to do it here and now." Bruce said, voice strong and fervent, making it clear what he wanted to do.
Steve was conflicted. The good person Dr. Erskine saw said they should save the baby no holds barred, an innocent life should always be spared. But the soldier in him said get the job done, no trace of the experiment left so no one would have to suffer the same fate again. It was hard, harder than most knew, to have that old soldier part of him yelling in his head. Old ideas and norms he didn't even approve of back in the forties were almost knee-jerk reactions. It had been six years since he'd been defrosted and yet he was still having trouble. Steve shook his head, dislodging that old and worn train of thought. Tony was better at decisions like this when Steve was reeling. He turned to his husband and saw the dazed/thoughtful expression that always meant their lives were about to be flipped upside down. He waited for the verdict. Tony turned to Steve with a determined look in his eye and nodded.
"All right, Bruce, let's deliver a baby." Tony announced with confidence. Bruce gave them an exasperated stare and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Do you even know what happens during a caesarean section?" He was met with blank looks and Bruce shook his head. "No, I'm doing this alone. I have experience with this- no Tony, you may not ask- and I'm one hundred percent certain one if not both of you would pass out if you tried to help."
"But-" Tony tried to argue but Bruce pushed them out, complaining under his breath about 'civilians' and 'saving peoples' lives differently.'
Bruce shut the door behind them, making them look back on what they had left back in the hallway. Tony shook his head and lead Steve back to the stairwell, stepping carefully over bodies while keeping a tight grip on his husband's hand. They sat on the steps in silence, just waiting with closed eyes and hearts thrumming in their ears. It took a while, Steve didn't know how long but it felt like an eternity and the quiet was starting to grate on his nerves. But then Tony piped up, startling Steve slightly.
"So- uh-" Tony said loudly and nervously, fidgeting in place. "When the baby- after Bruce gets it- but after this place is-" He kept falling over his words and stuttering, encouraging a smile to blossom on Steve's lips. Steve gripped his hand and reached up to place a finger over the genius' lips.
"Breath. Think. Then talk." he ordered gently, taking a deep breath with Tony. The brunette did so a few times, visibly relaxing and tried again.
"Did you... Would you like to-um... keep it?"
Steve did a double-take and stared at Tony. Was he...?
"You want to..." Tony went fidgety again and his flustered expression returned with a bright red flush.
"Well, I know we were talking about it before, a little, and this is certainly a special case. The kid will probably never get to have a normal family and I really don't want to think about what would happen if it went to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s labs. Probably get turned into a science experiment or Fury'll raise it as a serious hero goon we'd have to deal with. I just want- Just..." He took a breath. "I'm worried about it. I want to keep it safe."
Steve kept staring, tears welling up and his heart clenched. Steve's mind and heart warred with each other. The second soldier part of him was stern and unfeeling, commanding him to say no and put the child out of its potential misery. But the Steve part, his heart and soul, every other piece of him, cried and screamed yes. The tears overflowed and fell down their familiar routes.
"Okay," he whispered with a shaky smile, taking Tony's hand. "Let's- let's be its family. All of us."
Tony grinned brightly and tightened his grip. Steve could tell he wanted to burst, go on and on in an excited ramble about the future about their child, but he sat there fidgeting with his grin. Steve smiled sadly, feeling guilty Tony was holding himself back for his sake. It was all a bit much for him, the corpses of all of those chil- those things still fresh in his mind. Steve was a soldier and Tony was not, their reactions would always differ in these situations. But he hoped that would never change. That that small pure part of his husband would remain and only he would bear the burden of emotionless duty. It was an accord he knew Tony hated but understood, another part of why he loved the man.
Bruce poked his head out of the doorway and looked around before spotting their position in the stairs. Steve saw him and they exchanged nods. Tony was startled out of his thoughts when Steve stood but followed him quickly back the room. The dim lights shined down on the woman now covered in a sheet and the machines were eerily quiet. The two men barely glanced at her, not allowing themselves the torture of thinking of her as a person after it all, and followed Bruce to a table in the corner. Laid out on it was a makeshift nest of cloths and nestled in its center was a swaddled bundle. Tony moved over to it quickly but Steve held back a few feet away, afraid of his reaction. Tony stilled next to the table.
"Is it a girl or boy?" He asked without turning, his voice thick with emotion. Bruce smiled tiredly with a light sigh.
"A boy, healthy and human as far as I can tell." Bruce turned to Steve with a more serious face. "We need to move now. The baby is fine and can be moved safely so we should go, set the charges then leave. Thor's waiting in the jet if you want him to set them while we leave." Steve nodded and turned back to see Tony cradling the bundle in his arms, the flesh one in contact the most.
Tony's face made him pause in awe. The brunette had the most tender and soft expression Steve had ever seen on him; a day full of firsts it seemed. He was smiling gently, his lips pursing in silent coos, and his nose ghosting over the wispy brown hair on the baby's small head. Tony gazed at the infant like his world was black and white then suddenly he could see color. A flipped switch and everything was different. Steve had heard similar stories from other parents but to see it happen right before him was... something else.
But what did he feel? An antsy tremble in his stomach rattled its way through his bones and Steve had to look away. What was that? Nervousness or trepidation? It didn't matter either way, they had to move.
"Let's go, we can't be sure others were notified." Steve ordered, painfully aware of how disconnected his Captain's voice sounded just then.
Bruce nodded and moved over next to Tony to pick up the infant. Steve quickly tapped his comm to tell Thor to set the charges then turned back to the others. Bruce had swaddled the boy snugly in a blanket with Tony hovering close by, and hoisted the baby up onto his shoulder. The squishy little face poked over so Tony could see from behind and that wasn't distracting at all. Steve shook his head and lead them out. He made sure to keep his line of sight straight and focused on each door. Steve couldn't handle processing the chaos around him, the aftermath of what he had done. He had joked earlier about nightmares but now he was sure his dreams would be haunted by this for some time.
They exited the building and Steve relished the fresh air he sucked into his lungs. The woods were quiet around them and the Quinjet sat at the edge of the clearing with Thor pacing in front of the ramp. When he saw them, Thor bounded over with a bright grin. The demigod made a bee-line toward Bruce to embrace him but stopped short when he saw the baby. He looked in wonder as Bruce moved the infant down from his shoulder.
"Ah, so this is the young midgardian. He looks strong for a babe." The asgardian grinned and spoke softly. Bruce nodded, looking a bit pale and very fatigued.
"He's healthy, which is good enough for now," Bruce handed the infant gently to Tony. While Tony shifted the baby to a more comfortable position, obviously flustered, Bruce leaned heavily onto Thor. "I'll need to do more tests when we get back though." He trailed off, his eyes blinking blearily.
"Indeed." Thor chuckled and bundled the scientist up into his arms. He turned to Steve with a more serious face. "I have placed the devices as you asked, Captain. They await detonation." Steve nodded his thanks and followed Thor back to the jet. There was a small sound behind him. The pit of his stomach rolled and his skin felt tight.
They boarded the jet swiftly, Thor set Bruce gently down on the bench built into the wall and moved to start the auto-pilot. When Steve saw Tony move into his peripheral, he shut his eyes. He was acting like a child, acting like the baby was going to jump up and eat his face. Given the past few hours it was understandable, but it honestly felt like a flimsy excuse.
"Steve." Tony whispered, voice filled with wonder and amazement. Steve steeled himself and turned himself stiffly. Tony had the baby cradled in his arm and looked at the blonde excitedly. Steve shifted his gaze down and his heart melted a bit.
Two big brown eyes were open and blinked owlishly at him. A second later, a gummy grin blossomed between chubby cheeks and Steve's heart turned to goo. The kid was adorable and the way he smiled at him was too much to bear. The hard ass in his head was silenced as the tension in his gut became a warm fuzzy grip on his heart.
The jet started moving and seconds later they all could hear eight loud explosions outside, one right after another. They had moved away, but the sound startled the baby and Tony began to freak out. His eyes widened and mindless babble fell from his mouth. Steve chuckled and walked over, holding out his hands.
"Give him here." He heard himself say, which was odd. Tony looked at him warily and Steve was reminded of how well Tony knew him. Even with the excitement of a child, his husband had noticed his distance and attitude. Steve smiled gently and moved his arms further out. He had to do this, despite the gnawing dread and anxiety, this was a make it or break it moment. Tony eyed him for another moment then stepped forward to lay the child in Steve's large hands.
It was amazing.
He was so small and light, Steve was afraid to move. The crying hadn't stopped with the hand over so he gently brought the wailing baby to his chest. Steve swiveled them slowly, humming a tune his mother would sing him when he was sick as a kid. It took a moment, but the screaming slowed to a sniffling moan and then stopped completely. The silence was welcomed with big sighs of relief from the four men. Steve chuckled and sat down on the bench opposite of Bruce's, fatigue beginning to hit him too. Tony joined him, flopping down heavily and ran a hand over the baby's head.
"What should we call him?" Steve asked, leaning against the armored shoulder. Tony looked thoughtful and hummed then grinned.
"How about Peter?" Steve smiled and nodded.
"And Parker for his middle name." Steve kissed Peter's soft forehead. "Peter Parker Rogers-Stark."
"He's gonna hate us for that. Name tags will be impossible for him." They laughed together over the smiling, unaware baby.
~*~
"And that's why the squirt's on the ceiling." Tony finished, plopping down next to Clint and kicking him over to the other side. Steve rolled his eyes at the men, who had started a kicking fight, and smiled when Sam patted his back.
"Sorry man, that's awful. I shouldn't have brought it up." He looked ashamed and radiated sympathy.
"It's fine," Steve shrugged. "Got us this bundle of joy, so it's not all bad." He and Sam shared a chuckle as Peter continued to wail.
Bucky walked in then, ice cream cone half eaten in one hand and whole one in the other. He stood in the doorway for a moment, looking up at the source of noise. The other adults watched as he walked over to stand beneath Peter, Steve, Sam, Thor, and Bruce stepping out of his way. Bucky just stared up at the toddler until he was noticed. As if by magic, Peter began to quiet down, his screaming turned to loud moaning with a sprinkling of sniffles. The two stared at each other until Peter was making short stuttered gasps and Bucky finally spoke.
"C'mere." He shifted both of the cones to his metal hand and reached his flesh hand up, gesturing for the kid to come down. Peter eyed him warily before slapping a palm on the ceiling and descended on a thick thread of webbing. Bucky sat the toddler in the crook of his arm and looked Peter straight in the eye.
"You made this mess?" It came out more like a statement than a question but Peter nodded glumly anyway. "Don't you think you should apologize for the mess and all of the screaming?" Another nod, the shame crumpling the toddler's brow. Bucky turned to Steve and Sam. "Go on."
"I'm sorry fer makin' a mess and sc'eamin'." Peter mumbled, looking at his hands. Bucky cleared his throat and Peter swallowed. "An' I p'omise to help c'ean it up." Steve and Sam smiled.
"Apology accepted. Thank you, Peter." Steve ruffled Peter's hair and Sam followed suit, making Peter smiled a little. Bucky walked over to the four men on the couches and Peter repeated himself. Thor grinned, wrapping his arms around the gently smiling Bruce, and Tony gave Peter a thumbs up. Clint on the other hand gave Peter a high-five and tried to swipe one of the cones from Bucky.
"No, you can get your own." Bucky quipped, pulling his hand back to hand the whole cone to Peter. Peter grinned wolfishly and stuck his tongue out at Clint. The archer gave a faux scandalized look and moved to grab at Peter. Bucky swiftly dodged and Clint toppled over the back of the couch. Peter giggled and Clint pouted at Peter, then leveled a silly glare at his fiancée.
"I thought I was the favorite Uncle." he whined and got a smirk form Bucky. Clint scrambled up and chased them out of the room, Peter squealing with joy and the others left behind just chuckled.
"God, they want kids someday." Steve chuckled, walking over to sit next to his husband.
"They're going to have to grow up first themselves." Tony smirked and snuggled up to Steve. The blonde hummed and grinned.
"Kinda makes me want another one." Steve remarked, wearing a very unconvincing innocent expression. Tony grinned and nudged him.
"Oh yeah, like you haven't been hinting at it for days now." he shot back cheekily. Steve blushed and nudged him back.
No matter how awfully it all started, it was all worth it.
There was a crash in the other room and he could hear Clint scream like a little girl mixed with Bucky's deep laugh. Peter was yelling something and Tony laughed.
Definitely worth it.