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Chapter Text

FEBRUARY 20TH, XXXX

A shocked scream tears itself from Clara's lungs as she slams on the brakes. The DeLorean screeches to a halt. She grimaces, slowly opening her eyes once the adrenaline fades and she can assess that she's all right. Pushing open the door, she peers into the darkness, trying to figure out where she is. The only indicator is the tall building in the distance, which is comforting. Stark Industries has always been a beacon amongst the New York skyline.

Taking a deep breath, she climbs back into the driver's seat, flicking the time circuits back on. The neon light reflects on her face as she blanches at the date: February 20th, 2011. That damned strike of lightning sent her into the future. Clara groans, running her hands through her hair. This exact scenario would be the Brown Family curse.

"Okay, don't panic," she mutters, closing the door as she turns the car back on. The current bright side is that the DeLorean is still, technically, a car. The time circuits and flux capacitor are without fuel, but the engine still runs on regular gasoline. The best she can do is drive around the city and find something familiar. "Just do what Dad and Uncle Marty did. Blend in, figure out a way to get back to the past."

Clara turns the wheel, carefully maneuvering the DeLorean out onto the street. Meanwhile, toward the upper levels of the Triskelion, a Shield agent knocks on Nick Fury's door. "Sir, you might want to see this."

The agent pulls up the security footage, and Fury watches on in thought. "It's a car," he eventually states.

The agent nods, giving the director a knowing look. "Cars don't appear out of thin air like that, covered in ice."

Fury hums in thought. "Keep an eye on it, agent."

~***~

This New York City isn't like the one Clara remembers leaving behind. For starters, it's much more modern. Brightly lit billboards flash all sorts of advertisements, products, and the like. Her best guess of where she's at in the city is the fact that when time traveling, the DeLorean never displaces itself; you could be going 88 in an empty cornfield and end up in a bustling city street a few centuries later. So, if she left 1945 from outside Stark Industries, then she's still on the same street, just 66 years later.

After a restless night of trying to find someplace safe to stay, Clara rolls to stop in front of a building that she's sure was part of NYU during her time. Only, the stone proudly displays The Institute of Future Technology. Deja vu sends a shudder down her spine. Her dad had mentioned wanting to open his own school someday. Bringing the DeLorean to a stop and turning off the engine, Clara eagerly climbs the steps and enters the lobby.

Very few students are milling about inside. "Can I help you?" a voice calls, and Clara turns. It's familiar; one she hasn't heard since she was a child.

"Jules?"

"Clara?"

Clara examines the middle-aged appearance of her brother in disbelief, before embracing him. Jules hesitantly hugs her back, holding her back by her shoulders. "What are you doing here?"

"It's a long story," she answers. "But Dad's DeLorean. I rebuilt the flux capacitor. It works, Julie."

Jules' eyes water, his eyes raking over the form of his younger sister. He sniffles; she's so much like their father. "Why don't you come with me to my office? We can catch up there."

Clara nods, following him up the stairs. When they're sat, Jules clears his throat. "I apologize that Verne isn't here," he says after a moment of silence. "Last I heard, he was off digging up dinosaur bones while I took the position of Dean of Education when Dad retired."

"You were always the one more into science than he was." Clara hums. "Dad's been here?" She asks next, taking in the minimal space. "This is his school?"

"Was." Jules corrects with a huff. "You remember that Mom and Dad gave both Verne and me the option to pursue education elsewhere. Whether in another state, country, timeline..." his voice trails off, as if it's supposed to be a secret. "...well, we both thought the early 2000s would be the best place to start over," Clara notes his faint, reminiscent smile. "Verne and I both settled on New York University. It was the best place he could study archaeology and I could go into the science program."

He pulls out an old photo dating from 1937. Clara's eyes grow wide, immediately recognizing herself in the photo. It was from her freshman-year showcase that spring. Hank Pym is standing next to her, smiling wide. "And to my surprise, my baby sister is the crown jewel of their program. But," Clara's eyes flick back to Jules' face. "That's not entirely important. What is, however, is the giant donation the program received while I was attending; from one Dr. E. L. Brown, in the honor of a Clara M. Brown."

Clara furrows her eyebrows. "Dad donated in my name? It's not like I was..." her voice trails off when she realizes. "...dead."

Jules shrugs his shoulders. "You were always Dad's favorite, whether you believe me or not. Of course, our family can travel through time and put the pieces together on what happened to someone. Dad did it once to save Uncle Marty's family from falling apart. What I can only assume is that he did the same thing for you when the army reported that you were missing in 1945. So, with all his children having disappeared from his current time, he decided to track us down via your time-traveling antics. And so," Jules puts down a picture of their father at the ribbon cutting ceremony, and Clara can barely make out the same Future Institute of Technology in the stone behind him. "His school was born. NYU offered that the Institute could operate of its own volition, hence why Dad was the Dean for a while. Now it's just a part of NYU's campus."

They fall into awkward, yet comfortable, silence. Jules draws in a deep breath before asking, "Why did you come to the 21st century, Clara?"

She fiddles in her seat, her gaze on her lap. "I wasn't supposed to come here. I was supposed to go back, not forward."

"What for?"

"To save him." Clara pulls out a black and white photo of her and Bucky that Steve had taken. It's from their picnic in Regent's Park celebrating Steve's birthday. "I'm stuck here. The lightning blew the time circuits like the time Dad accidentally got sent to 1885 and I don't have the money or materials to get replacements."

"The materials might be easier to find, but plutonium, you'll have a hard time getting your hands on some." Jules agrees, then gives her a serious look. "If you're here for the time being, how would you like to be a teacher at the Institute? You're kind of a big deal around here."

Clara perks up. "You mean that?"

Jules nods. "It'd be nice to have you around for a while. I missed you, and I know Verne did too, even if we never explicitly said it."

"I'd love to."

Jules cracks a smile, standing up from his office chair to open the door. "Well, let's start with a grand tour, shall we?"

~***~

JULY

Clara liked the change in pace that night classes brought. When she first proposed the idea to her brother, he wasn't as keen on the idea as she was. They didn't have many teachers willing to teach those classes due to personal reasons, but the main reason was that it was the middle of summer. Were there people out there willing to spend their evenings sitting in a classroom wanting to learn about engineering?

They came to a compromise: if he allowed her to have one night class, she could prove just how beneficial the option was.

It was paying off; she had a group of freshly graduated young adults in her class three nights a week, eager to further their education. Jules was mulling over the idea presently and would give her an answer by the end of the week. She had even asked her class if they thought the option should be considered and the feedback was a resounding yes.

But, because of when class let out, it meant that she was often in the building late at night, trying to finish up her work.

It was another one of those long nights, and Clara knew she needed to get through grading the tests she gave out today so that in their next class, the students could know their results. She'd never admit she was still getting used to the technology, especially when she tried putting grades into the online gradebook. Seriously, wouldn't it have been more efficient to grade it by hand and then pass the tests back?

Nevertheless, she carries on, the quiet stillness of the building bringing her a sense of peace. She was always in her head, and sometimes, the quietness was appreciated. It allowed her to think more clearly.

The pen in her hand stills when she thinks she's heard some shuffling outside her classroom door. Clara looks up briefly, wondering if it's the janitor. He was used to her being in her room late at night by now, though. She always let him continue his work even if she hadn't left yet. It was unlikely it was him.

She hears something else behind the closed door, this time causing her to stand. Attempting to not alert the perpetrator, she slips off her shoes and creeps toward the door, holding her breath to see if she could catch whoever it was outside. She stays there for a while, the same peaceful stillness filled with tension. Finally, with a big breath, she pushes open the classroom door to confront whoever it is...except no one is there.

"Odd," Clara murmurs, gently shutting the classroom door again. She gathers her shoes, keys, tests; and anything she needs to finish her work at home. She was not planning on staying somewhere she thought she was being stalked.

The halls feel eerily silent as she makes her way through the building, down the stairs, and out through the main entryway. Once out on the sidewalk, she unlocks the DeLorean and climbs in, starting the engine and getting the hell out of there.

The next day at the Triskelion, Alexander Pierce drops by Director Fury's office. "I think it's time we expand our science division," he says suddenly, causing Fury to look up from his work.

It's an odd request from Pierce, who has never shown any interest in their science and technology branch except during showcases. "How so?" Fury decides to ask, trying to see where Pierce is going with this request.

"Well," Pierce shrugs, leaning back in his seat. "We're forever marching on into the future, and I bet those kids at the Institute of Future Technology will need work in the next year or so. Or maybe we offer a position to one of its professors."

Fury contemplates Pierce's words for a moment, nodding. He glances down at the file that Shield founders, Peggy Carter and Howard Stark, have put together on a potential candidate. "I think I know where to start."

Pierce smiles, relaxing now that Fury is starting to fall into his trap. "Perfect."

~***~

AUGUST

"Work on the equations and when you're done with that, you're welcome to work on other homework," Clara instructs, looking out over her students. In the last six months, she's seen the way the Institute's enrollment has grown. They remind her of herself when she was...younger? That didn't feel right when she had skipped decades of birthdays. She had only just celebrated her 27th in February.

Currently, she's helping one of her students at her desk when the classroom door creaks open, and Clara looks up from helping the student to acknowledge the visitor. A hush falls over the classroom when they realize it's the Dean. "Pardon the interruption, Miss Brown," Jules says. "But there is someone who would like to speak with you."

"Class dismissed," Clara calls, and her students eagerly pack up. She can't help but chuckle. "Finish your work tonight and we'll review it next class."

The students file out, bidding their goodbyes. Jules steps into the classroom fully, accompanied by another man. "Clara," he starts, "This is Director Fury of Shield. He wants to ask you some questions about February 20th."

The silence is tense as Director Fury sets a tablet down in front of her, replaying the security footage from that night. Clara blanches, seeing the DeLorean appear out of thin air. Her gaze lifts to Fury's, who's already studying her expression. "It's astonishing how someone that appeared out of nowhere has an extensive Shield file already." Fury states nonchalantly.

Clara furrows her eyebrows. "How?" She asks, feeling a bit unnerved by the possibility that she's been observed for the last few months. "I've only existed at this point for six months, and I promise you I've only worked here at the Institute."

"A couple of old friends of yours started your file. Agent Carter and Mr. Stark wanted to make sure you weren't forgotten, even after you 'seemingly disappeared into thin air'." Fury reads from the file.

Hesitantly, Clara takes the manila folder, sorting through it to find old photos of her and Peggy, one of her and Howard at the first Stark Expo, and a couple from her earlier college days. There are old notes, blueprints, and other things she must have left behind that night. There are also reports from 1944 and mechanic logs from equipment she fixed for the 107th after missions.

Fury continues. "The main reason I'm here, Miss Brown, is because I want you to come work for Shield." Clara looks up at him, surprised. "As one of our lead scientists. Your file proves your capabilities."

Clara closes the folder, looking between Fury and Jules. "I don't know what to say," But when her gaze moves to her brother again, he subtly nods in encouragement to take the job. Clara clears her throat. "When do I start?"

Chapter Text

SPRING, 2012

"You want me to be the ambassador to Stark Industries?" Clara reiterates, hoping she heard Fury right. "I've worked here for less than a year, and yet you want me?"

Smirking, Fury nods. "You've been chosen to collaborate on a piece of equipment for the Air National Guard paratroopers. A flattering position, if I do say so myself."

"Fury." Clara runs a hand through her hair. "I left him in the dead of night in 1945. I don't think Howard will appreciate seeing me pop up again, not looking a day older than twenty-eight."

Fury hesitates for a moment, the thought dawning on him that she didn't know Howard was, well, dead. "Just...go." He eventually says. "I think it will be beneficial. You'll thank me later."

So, hours later, that's how Clara found herself on the steps of Stark Industries, anxiety crawling through her throat. She knocks on the door, inevitably waiting for Howard to answer the door. She doubted she was mentally ready to see him old and gray.

"Who is it?" someone finally answers.

Clara can't help but chuckle, shaking her head. "Come on, Howard. You know who it is."

The door opens, and the man behind it certainly is not Howard. Had Fury given her the wrong address? Did Stark Industries get sold to some stranger? "I don't know what kind of funny game this is to you--" his voice trails off, his eyes widening. "Holy shit."

"I'm sorry," Clara raises an eyebrow. "Who are you?"

"Tony Stark." The man introduces himself. "Howard's son."

"Oh. My apologies." That made much more sense than it being some random stranger. Her gaze finds its way back to Tony. "May I speak with him?"

Tony pauses for a moment, recentering his thoughts. "Actually, why don't you come in?" Clara follows him in silence to the living room. There's not much to look at. "I can't believe you exist." She hears Tony mutter as he fixes himself a drink.

"I'm sorry?" she asks, shifting her weight.

"Sorry," Tony begins, raising the glass to his lips. "Dad raved about you growing up." He pulls out an old photo album. Setting in on the coffee table, he flips it open to an old black and white photo of the two of them at the first Stark Expo. It's the same photo that Fury has in his file of her. Oh. "If it wasn't about Captain America, then it was Clara this and Clara that. He was obsessed with you."

"I was just his apprentice." Clara shrugs, examining the other photos in the album. "I, well, we built the exhibits for the expo together. Eventually worked with the military. It wasn't anything special."

"When Shield reached out to me asking to build a suit for the Air Guard paratroopers, I didn't put it together that it was going to be Clara Brown that I was collaborating with."

Clara chuckles, finally taking a seat on the couch. "I mean, I don't blame you. I'm technically supposed to be dead." she hums, giving Tony a curious look. "I'm working with you, you said. What about Howard?"

Tony grows quiet. Even the way he holds his glass of whiskey is eerily similar to his father. "Howard died in 2000. Car crash."

"Oh." Clara's voice wobbles. He never knew what happened to me, She realizes.

"Can I ask," Tony's voice takes on a gentler tone. "How much time did you miss?"

She swallows roughly, beginning to process the death of one of her friends twenty years too late. "Sixty-six years."

~***~

A WEEK LATER...

NEW MEXICO, AZ - PROJECT PEGASUS FACILITIES

"When you sent me to Stark Industries," Clara begins over the helicopter headset, and Fury looks up to meet her gaze. "You could have told me that Howard was dead."

Agent Hill looks between the two of them, hiding her laughter behind her hand. Fury remains as stoic as ever. "I did say it would be beneficial, did I not?"

"Still," Clara hums as she settles her hands into her lap. "Anyway, Tony seems nice. It's a pleasure to be working with him."

The helicopter falls into silence again as the helicopter descends and lands on the helipad. Soldiers rush about following the issued evacuation orders, piling into humvees to make it off the grounds. There's one man who remains still, waiting for the helicopter to land and Clara can't help her own smirk. In a crowd of soldiers, Agent Coulson is the only one unmoving. She admires his bravery and stoicism in a time like this.

Maria is the first one off the helicopter, followed by Clara and then Director Fury, who takes his time looking around at the evacuating personnel. "How bad is it?" He finally asks Coulson.

"That's the problem, sir." Coulson takes off his sunglasses, and Clara chuckles at his dramatics. "We don't know."

He leads the way through the factory, and they follow him onto the elevator that takes them down to the radiation section of the facility. Technicians and other staff members are hurrying around the space, trying to grab the essentials. Coulson turns to them again. "Dr. Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago."

"NASA didn't authorize Selvig to go to the test phase." Fury states.

"He wasn't testing it. He wasn't even in the room." Coulson says, and Fury glances back at Clara. She shrugs; the Tesseract never acted like this when Howard was messing around with it after Steve came back from that Hydra facility.

"Spontaneous event." Clara softly suggests, to which Coulson nods in agreement.

"It just turned itself on?" Maria butts in.

Without answering, Clara asks Coulson, "Where are the energy levels now?"

"Climbing. When Selvig couldn't shut it down, we ordered evac."

"How long to get everyone out?" Fury asks.

"Campus should be clear in the next half-hour," Coulson responds.

"Do better."

Clara rolls her eyes at Fury. "You took the best course of action you could, Agent Coulson."

"Thank you, Dr. Brown." Coulson offers her a kind smile, and awkwardly, she smiles back.

As far as anyone at Shield was concerned, they didn't care if she didn't have a doctorate. She was the smartest scientist in that lab, and that earned her the title of 'Doc'. If only you could see me now, Dad. Clara thinks.

Coulson breaks off from their group as they continue heading down to the radiation facility floor. "Sir," Maria eventually speaks up. "Evacuation may be futile."

"We should tell them to go back to sleep?" Fury challenges and Clara sees Maria huff softly in frustration.

"No, but Agent Hill is right," Clara stresses. "If we can't control the Tesseract's energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance."

Fury nods, then looks at Maria. "I need you to make sure that Phase Two prototypes are shipped out."

"Sir, is that really a priority right now?" Maria argues.

"Until the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on. Clear out the tech below. Every piece of Phase Two on a truck and gone."

"Yes, sir." Maria gestures to the agents standing around them. "With me."

Without another word, Clara and Fury enter the lab facility where the Tesseract is being held. It's glowing brighter than before, and much more pronounced than when she saw it last in the forties.

Not very many people are down at this level now. "Talk to me, doctor." Fury calls out, and Dr. Selvig emerges from behind the CMS machine. Clara notes the concerned look on his face. A flare shoots out from the Tesseract.

"Director." Selvig greets. "Miss Brown."

"Is there anything we know for certain?"

"The Tesseract is misbehaving," Selvig answers, and Clara can't help her scoff.

"Clearly," she mutters, and Fury nudges her to remind her to be on her best behavior.

"Is that supposed to be funny?" Fury questions him, as the other scientist pokes at it with a metal rod.

Selvig crosses the lab to them. "No, it's not funny at all. The Tesseract is not only active, she's...behaving."

"I assume you pulled the plug." Fury continues.

"She's an energy source." Selvig sighs. "We turn off the power, she turns it back on. If she reaches peak level..."

"We've prepared for this, doctor. Harnessing energy from space."

"But we don't have the harness. Our calculations are far from complete. Now she's throwing off interference, radiation. Nothing harmful, low levels of gamma radiation."

"That can be harmful." Clara breathes out.

"Where's Agent Barton?" Fury asks Selvig, who points up to the railings above them.

"The Hawk? Up in his nest, as usual."

Fury nods, lifting his radio. "Agent Barton, report." Clint rappels down from the catwalk, clearly unhappy about having to leave his hiding space as they walk around the facility as discreetly as possible. "I gave you this detail so you could keep a close eye on things."

"Well," Clint responds. "I see better from a distance."

"Have you seen anything that might set this thing off?"

One of the scientists calls for Selvig's attention. "Doctor, it's spiking again."

Clint shakes his head. "No one's come or gone. And Selvig's clean. No contacts, no IM's. If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't at this end."

Clara moves her gaze from the Tesseract to Clint. "'At this end'?"

"Yeah." Clint shrugs. "The Cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right? Doors open from both sides."

Energy violently crackles from the Tesseract, catching the attention of Fury, Clara, and Clint. The facility rumbles, and brighter, bigger rings of energy flare off the Tesseract until a beam shoots from the center of it, opening a portal on the other end of the lab. The residual energy expels from the portal, and everyone attempts to shield their eyes as the room grows quiet. Blue energy clings to the ceiling and walls.

Something is kneeling at the end of the room that wasn't there before.

Guards slowly approach the figure, their guns trained on it, as heavy breathing breaks the silence. When the smoke clears, they can see it's a man. "Sir," Fury calls out. "Please put down the spear."

Instead, he raises it and directs it at Fury, a blue light shooting from the end of it. Clint has to tackle Fury before the shot hits him, and Clara takes a few stumbling steps back. All hell breaks loose.

Guards shoot the man but he's too powerful as he takes out the first wave of guards in front of him. More shots are fired from the scepter until the room stills once more, energy crackling from the broken machinery. Clint stands up first, but the figure is quick to walk toward him and grab the hand that's holding the gun. "You have heart." the man says, pressing the tip of the scepter to his chest.

Clara helps Fury stand, watching as Clint's eyes suddenly glow black. He stands up straight, almost as if he's a soldier waiting for a command. Fury nudges Clara's arm as he keeps his eye on the two and gestures to the Tesseract, subtly making a grabbing motion. Swallowing her fear, Clara takes the Tesseract in one hand and pulls it out of the CMS machine, slotting it into the briefcase quietly while the magician is occupied putting more agents under his spell.

With a hand on her back, Fury starts to guide Clara out of the lab but the man's voice stops them. "Please don't." They turn to see him staring at the briefcase she's holding. "I still need that."

"This doesn't have to get any messier." Fury calls back.

"Of course it does. I've come too far for anything else." Clara's grip tightens on the briefcase. "I am Loki, of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."

"Loki?" Selvig murmurs. "Brother of Thor?"

"We have no quarrel with your people." Fury states.

Loki narrows his eyes. "An ant has no quarrel with a boot."

"You planning to step on us?"

"I come with glad tidings, of a world made free."

"Free from what?" Clara whispers, and Loki's gaze falls directly on her.

"Freedom," Loki says simply. "Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart..." He turns, pressing the scepter to Selvig's chest. "...you will know peace."

Fury scoffs. "Yeah, you say 'peace', I kind of think you mean the other thing."

"Sir," Clint steps forward, pointing to the glowing, blue vortex of energy above Clara and Fury. "Director Fury is stalling. This place is about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us."

"Like the pharaohs of old." Fury shrugs nonchalantly.

"He's right." Selvig chimes in. "The portal is collapsing in on itself. You got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."

"Well, then..." Loki looks to Clint, who doesn't hesitate to shoot Fury. The briefcase forgotten, Clara kneels to help Fury and allows Loki and the others to take the Tesseract. She paws through his jacket for his radio, pressing the button frantically. "Maria, do you copy?!" With a groan, Fury sits up and starts digging for the bullet. When there's no answer, Clara tries again. "Clint has turned. He's got the Tesseract! Track it down!"

The energy above them pulses violently, and Clara slings one of Fury's arms over his shoulder to move them out of the lab. The facility rumbles as it starts collapsing in on itself. Fury, now able to move on his own two feet, ushers Clara to hurry out of the facility. Eventually, Coulson's voice comes through the radio, "You're clear, sir! You need to go!"

Fury pushes Clara onto the helicopter first, pulling himself in second. It takes off the moment they're both safely inside, and watch as the building explodes beneath them, sinking into the ground. The helicopter roars over the Jeep, and Fury slides the door open to shoot, just as Loki fires another bolt of blue energy at them causing the helicopter to crash. Clara grits her teeth as both she and Fury jump from the helicopter, landing in the desert sand.

Silence settles over them until Coulson comes through the radio again. "Director Fury, do you copy?"

"The Tesseract is with a hostile force," Fury responds. "I have men down. Hill?"

"A lot of men are still under." Maria's voice comes through the radio. "I don't know how many survivors."

"Sound a general call. I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that briefcase."

"Roger that."

"Coulson, get back to base. This is a Level Seven." Fury instructs. "As of right now, we are at war."

There's a moment of silence before Coulson comes back through the radio. "What do we do?"

Chapter Text

TRISKELION - NEW YORK CITY

If there's one thing that both Director Fury and Clara have in common, it's their tenacity to work late nights and suffer the repercussions in the morning. This night is like any other, with Clara tucked away in the Triskelion's lab, finishing her latest project for Shield while Fury is up in his office meeting with the World Security Council.

"This is out of line, Director." one of the council members states. "You're dealing with forces you can't control."

Fury hums in thought. "Have you ever been in a war, Councilman? In a firefight? Did you feel an overabundance of control?"

The councilman rolls his eyes. "Are you saying that this Asgard is declaring war on our planet?"

"Not Asgard. Loki."

"He can't be working alone." another council member mentions. "What about the other one? His brother?"

Fury shrugs. "Our intelligence says Thor is not hostile, but he's worlds away. We can't depend on him to help, either. It's up to us."

"Which is why you should be focusing on Phase Two." The first councilman reminds him. "It was designed for exactly this..."

"Phase Two isn't ready." Fury cuts in. "Our enemy is. We need a response team."

"The Avengers Initiative was shut down."

"This isn't about the Avengers."

"We've seen the list." another member states.

The first one sighs. "You're running the world's greatest covert security network, and you're going to leave the fate of the human race to a handful of freaks."

"I'm not leaving anything to anyone." Fury defends. "We need a response team. These people may be isolated, unbalanced even, but I believe with the right push they can be exactly what we need."

"You believe?" The second council member reiterates.

The first one hums, "War isn't won by sentiment, Director."

"No," Fury agrees. "It's won by soldiers."

With his meeting finished, Fury makes his way through the Triskelion down to the labs where he knows Clara will be busy at work. They're debuting her latest design in the next few days to the world, but he hopes that with all the chaos Loki and the Tesseract wrought upon them, the carriers could be put to good use now. "Miss Brown, if it's alright with you, we'll be debuting your helicarriers to The Avengers tomorrow."

Clara's pencil clatters to her desk and she looks up at him in disbelief. "I'm sorry." She huffs. "Did you just say that you're revealing the brand new helicarriers to The Avengers?"

Fury gives her that shit-eating grin. "What are you so worried about? They'll love it."

"Because it's your new team. 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' or whatever I overheard."

"And your point?"

"What if they're not what we expected?" Clara finally breathes. "What if the carriers fail?" After working with Fury and Shield for less than a year, he had a way of getting her to speak her mind; especially with whatever failure she feared despite having tested theories, hypotheses, and mock designs multiple times. "Then all that publicity is on me."

"If they succeed, that publicity will be on you regardless," Fury says flatly, and Clara groans.

"I don't want that, though."

He gives her a kind, knowing smile. "Whether you like it or not, you are quickly rising as one of the most intelligent minds in the world, let alone Shield's best scientist. However, I'm sure the Avengers will have no problem pulling that spotlight off of you and onto them."

Clara huffs, thankful for that at least. She could continue her work unbothered and go about the city without the fear of paparazzi shoving cameras in her face.

"Tomorrow afternoon, the Avengers are gathering together for the first time to track down the Tesseract," Fury informs her. "I hope you'll be there when we debut the helicarrier to them."

Clara doesn't speak, and after a moment, she sighs. "Don't worry, I'll be there."

~***~

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

The punching bag flies off its chain as Steve takes a deep breath, composing himself. Seventy years is a long time for someone to be under, and for him, he finds that frustrating. Everything about this new world is frustrating.

Lately, he can't help but think of all the friends he left behind: Peggy, Howard, Clara, and Bucky. He often catches himself wondering how they're all doing. With a tired groan, he walks over to the other six bags lying behind him, hooking up the next bag to begin again.

"Trouble sleeping?" Fury calls out, and Steve barely acknowledges him standing there.

"I slept for seventy years, sir. I think I've had my fill." He retorts, focusing on the bag again.

"Then you should be out, celebrating, seeing the world." Fury suggests, taking in the gym around him.

Steve takes a moment to catch his breath again, undoing the wraps on his knuckles. "When I went under, the world was at war. I wake up, they say we won. They didn't say what we lost."

"We've made some mistakes along the way." Fury admits. "Some, very recently."

"Are you here with a mission, sir?"

"I am."

"Trying to get me back in the world?"

Fury extends the file to him. "Trying to save it."

Steve sits, examining the Shield file on the Tesseract. "Hydra's secret weapon."

"Howard Stark fished that out of the ocean when he was looking for you. He thought what we think; the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy. That's something the world sorely needs."

Steve closes the file to hand it back to Fury. "Did he also mention that Clara was the first one to say that this wasn't as dangerous as we thought? That he was picking it apart with a machine while she took a piece of it in a simple sample cup and gloves?" When Fury doesn't answer, Steve just shakes his head and pivots the conversation. "Who took it from you?"

Fury doesn't acknowledge his comment about Clara; he's already had to hear about the Tesseract from her enough for one night. "He's called Loki. He's not from around here. There's a lot we'll have to bring you up to speed on if you're in. The world has gotten even stranger than you already know."

"At this point, I doubt anything would surprise me."

Fury smirks, knowing he's got an ace up his sleeve. "Ten bucks says you're wrong. There's a debriefing package waiting for you back at your apartment." Steve grabs his gym bag, and heads for the door. "Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract that we ought to know now?"

"You should have left it in the ocean."

~***~

SHIELD HELICARRIER - OFF THE ATLANTIC COAST

Steve has never been one to ignore the itch for adventure or, in a similar vein, to do what he knows is right. That's how he finds himself on the Quinjet, flying across the Atlantic Ocean while he watches the footage of the Hulk's attack at Culver University.

"We're about forty minutes out from home base, sir." The pilot informs Agent Coulson, who stands from his seat to walk over to Steve.

"So," Steve begins, still watching the footage. "This Doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum that was used on me?"

"A lot of people were," Coulson tells him. "You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula."

"Didn't really go his way, did it?"

Coulson smiles softly. "Not so much. We tried to have one of our lead scientists replicate it, but she flat-out refused. You'll meet her today." Silence settles between them before Coulson speaks up again, directing the conversation back to Doctor Banner. "When he's not that thing, though, the guy's like a Stephen Hawking. He's smart." Steve hesitantly nods, mentally noting to try and research this 'Stephen Hawking' later. Coulson takes a deep breath, "I gotta say, it's an honor to meet you, officially."

The corner of Steve's mouth twitches up into a brief smile as Coulson carries on talking. "I've sort of met you. I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping." Again, awkward silence settles. "I mean, I was...I was present while you were unconscious from the ice. You know, it's really, it's just a...just a huge honor to have you on board."

"Well," Steve begins, standing from his seat. "I hope I'm the man for the job."

"Oh, you are," Coulson assures him. "Absolutely. We made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little design input."

"The uniform?" Steve questions. "Aren't the stars and stripes a little...old-fashioned?"

"With everything that's happening, and the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old-fashioned."

They both look out the windshield as they approach a large ship in the middle of the ocean. Crew members bustle about the landing deck as they wait for the Quinjet to touch down, prepared to begin the post-flight procedure. Agent Coulson leads the way off the jet as Steve follows him, taking in his surroundings. Coulson greets Natasha with a smile and introduces the two. "Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers."

Steve nods his head briefly. "Ma'am."

"Hi." Natasha returns, gesturing to Coulson. "They need you on the bridge. They're starting the face-trace."

"See you there." With that, Coulson heads off in the direction of the bridge, leaving Nat with Steve.

"It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice." Nat starts. "Thought Coulson was gonna swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?"

"Trading cards?" Steve reiterates.

Nat smirks. "They're vintage. He's very proud."

Up ahead, Bruce awkwardly attempts to keep himself out of the way of the personnel walking across the runway. "Doctor Banner," Steve calls, catching his attention.

"Yeah, hi." Bruce takes Steve's hand to shake. "They told me you would be coming."

"Word is, you can find the Cube," Steve says.

Bruce looks around at the crew, almost nervous. "Is that the only word on me?"

"Only word I care about."

"It must be strange for you, all of this," Bruce says next, gesturing around them.

"Well, this is actually kind of familiar," Steve answers honestly.

Nat steps between them as she leads them toward the bridge. "Gentlemen, you might want to step inside in a minute. It's going to get a little hard to breathe."

The ship shakes, and a voice announces over the PA system, "Flight crew, secure the deck."

"Is this a submarine?" Steve asks Natasha.

"Really?" Bruce scoffs in disbelief. "They wanted me in a submerged pressurized metal container?" They both look over the edge, not prepared for the entire ship to lift off into the air. "No, no, this is much worse."

Heeding Natasha's advice, she leads Steve and Bruce inside to the bridge where dozens of agents are positioned at multiple different machines around the interior. At the center of it all, Agent Hill is commanding them whilst a woman with brunette hair stands next to her. Steve and Bruce both recognize Director Fury standing next to the mystery woman.

"All engines operating. Shield Emergency Protocol 193.6 is in effect. We're at level, sir." Agent Hill informs Fury, and the woman next to him nods.

"Good. Let's vanish," she says, and Steve whips his head toward the voice.

"Engage retro-reflection panels," Hill calls, and the agents do as instructed. A few moments later, a bridge tech calls back, "Reflection panels engaged."

Fury finally gives Steve and Bruce his attention, and for the first time since stepping onto the bridge, Steve's gaze lands on Clara. "Gentlemen." Fury greets, and he happily takes the ten dollars Steve extends to him to settle their bet.

"I don't mean to be insensitive," Steve begins, still in disbelief. "But shouldn't you be knocking on death's door right now?"

Clara chuckles, she's aware that she doesn't look a day over thirty, just like him. Instead of answering his question, she gestures around her. "What do you think?"

Steve raises a brow. "Of?"

"The helicarrier. Designed it myself." Clara shrugs as if it wasn't a feat of impressive engineering. "You witnessed the flying car back in '43."

Steve's quiet as he looks around him again, but this time with a smirk on his face. He looks back to Clara. "Bucky would have loved this."

Her smile grows somber. "I know."

"Clara, seriously," There's the Steve she knows. "How are you here?"

"Stevie, for this to all make sense, I'm going to have to explain some complicated stuff that we don't have the time for right now. I promise to tell you later."

Steve nods as Fury shakes Bruce's hand. "Doctor, thank you for coming."

"Thanks for asking nicely," Bruce responds. "So, how long am I staying?"

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the wind," Fury tells him.

"Where are you with that?"

Fury turns to Clara, who is currently discussing something quietly with Agent Coulson. He clears his throat and answers Bruce's question. "We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops. If it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us."

"That's still not gonna find them in time," Natasha states, looking away from Clint's face on one of the monitors.

"You have to narrow your field," Bruce says. "How many spectrometers do you have access to?"

Fury shrugs. "How many are there?"

"Call every lab you know. Tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places." Fury nods, and Clara takes out her phone (courtesy of her brother) to make a quick phone call to Jules to see if he can help find the Tesseract in any way. Bruce looks between Agent Coulson, Steve, Nat, and Fury. "Do you have somewhere for me to work?"

"Agent Romanoff," Fury calls, and Nat steps forward. "Could you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please?"

"You're gonna love it, Doc." Nat passes by him, and he follows her. "We got all the toys."

Steve stands next to Clara once she finishes her call. "It's good to see you again, Clara."

She smiles, reaching over to hug his side. "It's good to see you too, Stevie." they're quiet for a moment before she pulls up an old black and white photo in her camera roll. It's the same one that Steve briefly caught as her lock screen. "I was trying to go back and save him." She explains softly. Steve hums sadly, holding Clara to his side as they both mourn Bucky. "My father left a DeLorean at Stark Industries as a birthday present and in my grief, I finished the time machine. And then I realized that I had the power in my hands to do something and bring him back. Save him, even. But that bolt of lightning sent me forward instead." She sniffles, pocketing the phone once more. "Fury found me at my father's institute and offered me a position at Shield."

Steve's glad to see her wistful smile return when Clara stares out across the helicarrier's bridge. "Well," he eventually says. "Anything else I should know about?"

~***~

Hours later, Steve stands side-by-side next to Agent Coulson as Fury, Clara and a bunch of other agents watch their screens scan the world for any signs of Loki or the Tesseract. Coulson turns his head slightly to address Steve about his trading cards, "I mean if it's not too much trouble."

"No, no. It's fine." Steve assures him.

"It's a vintage set." Coulson continues. "It took me a couple of years to collect them all. Near mint, slight foxing around the edges, but..."

"We got a hit." Agent Sitwell calls out, and Clara is the first to approach him. "Sixty-seven percent match. Wait; cross match, seventy-nine percent."

"Location?" Coulson asks.

"Stuttgart, Germany," Sitwell responds. "28, Konigstrasse. He's not exactly hiding."

Clara smirks, and turns to Steve. "Captain, you're up."

Steve nods and heads in the direction of the locker rooms. Inside is his new Captain America suit, complete with a new shield. He reaches the gala at the museum as patrons are fleeing from it, and Loki makes his way off the premises. Just as he's about to strike down an old man, Steve jumps in front of him, blocking the blast with his shield. The crowd gasps, then goes silent again.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany, and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing," Steve says, walking toward Loki.

"The soldier," Loki scoffs. "The man out of time."

"I'm not the one who's out of time."

The quinjet steadies as Natasha flips on her PA system. "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."

Instead, he fires a shot of energy at the jet and Steve flings his shield, engaging in a fight with Loki. The crowd dissipates, fleeing for their safety. The metal of the scepter and the vibranium shield clash against one another, echoing in the night. Loki flings him across the square, pressing the end of the scepter to the back of his head. "Kneel."

"Not today!" Steve gets back up, taking another shot at knocking Loki down.

Natasha steadies the jet again, attempting to get a clear shot at Loki when a voice comes through her headset: "Agent Romanoff. You miss me?" The PA system overrides as a rock song plays through the speakers.

The figure flies into the battle, knocking Loki off of Steve. Multiple machines pop out of his suit as he says, "Make your move, Reindeer Games." Slowly, Loki lifts his hands in surrender. "Good move."

Steve feels like he's in awe. "Mr. Stark."

"Captain." They're quiet before Tony says, "You reunite with Clara yet? Lovely girl."

Steve says nothing as Natasha lands the quinjet to take Loki into custody.

Chapter Text

The mechanical lock engages as Loki appears unamused. The cuffs unlock, and Fury calls out to the god of mischief. "In case it's unclear, if you try to escape, if you so much as scratch that glass," A hatch opens up underneath Loki's cell. The sound of gusting wind echoes throughout the detention level. "Thirty thousand feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?"

Fury presses a few buttons and the hatch closes once more. "Ant," Fury continues, pointing at Loki and the hatch respectively. "Boot."

Loki chuckles with a smirk, his gaze moving to Clara who's just now entered the room. "It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me."

Clara nods to confirm his statement as Fury says, "Built for something a lot stronger than you."

"Oh, I've heard." Loki turns his head, taking a few short strides to the other side of the cage. "A mindless beast. Makes plays like he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?"

"How desperate am I?" Fury reiterates. "You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did."

"Ooh." Loki cringes. "It burns you to have come so close." His gaze flickers over to Clara, speaking out to her. "To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share. And then to be reminded what real power is."

Silence fills the detention center before Fury speaks again. "Well, let me know if 'real power' wants a magazine or something."

Fury leaves the detention center floor, and Clara takes a deep breath before turning on her heel too to join the others in the meeting room. Bruce looks between the others, saying, "He grows on you, doesn't he?"

"Loki's gonna drag this out," Steve states. "So, Thor, what's his play?"

"He has an army called the Chitauri." Thor begins. "They're not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, in return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An army from outer space," Steve states nonchalantly.

"So, he's building another portal." Clara sighs in realization. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

"Selvig?" Thor questions.

"He's an astrophysicist." Bruce fills in.

"He's a friend." Clara reluctantly clarifies.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours." Natasha continues the conversation.

"I want to know why Loki let us take him." Steve butts in. "He's not leading an army from here."

Bruce shakes his head. "I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You could smell crazy on him."

"Have care how you speak," Thor says, and the room fills with an uneasy tension. "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother."

"He killed eight people in two days," Nat states pointedly.

"...He's adopted."

"I think it's about the mechanics," Bruce says, leaning against one of the conference table seats. "Iridium, what do they need the iridium for?"

"It's a stabilizing agent." They all turn their heads to see Tony Stark being escorted in by Agent Coulson. "It means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at Shield." Tony gives Clara and Coulson an apologetic look as he walks by Thor. "No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing."

"Also," Clara picks up where Tony left off. "It means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants."

Tony looks out across the helicarrier crew. "Uh, raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails." The agents give him funny looks as he points to one agent in particular, "That man is playing Galaga. He thought we wouldn't notice, but we did." Tony turns to Clara to ask, "How does Fury even see with these?"

Clara smirks. "He turns. But most of the time either me or Agent Hill command the bridge."

"Sounds exhausting." Tony hums, turning from the module. "The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high energy density. Something to kick-start the Cube."

Maria raises a brow at him. "When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?"

"Last night," Tony says nonchalantly. "The packet, Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?"

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asks Tony. "Like, say, plutonium?"

"Steve," Clara warns, but Steve has a point. If plutonium is enough of a power source for time travel to be possible, who's to say it's enough to kickstart the Tesseract?

"He would have to heat the Cube to 120 million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier," Bruce informs him. Clara relaxes; plutonium definitely can't do that.

"Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect," Tony says.

"Which, at this point, is impossible." Clara shrugs. "Even Hank Pym couldn't figure out how to do that as far as I know."

"And that's why you were NYU's best and brightest of the 1939 graduates." Tony chuckles.

Bruce says, "Well, if he could do that he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet."

"Finally, someone who speaks English."

Steve scoffs. "Is that what just happened?"

Tony takes Bruce's hand. "It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on antielectron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

The air between them turns awkward as Bruce breathes out, "Thanks."

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the Cube." Fury states as he finally joins them on the bridge. "I was hoping you might join him and Dr. Brown."

"You're a Doctor now, are you?" Tony points to Clara and she rolls her eyes.

"I would start with that stick of his," Steve says. "It may be magical but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon."

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the Cube." Fury replies. "And I would like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys?" Thor questions softly. "I do not understand."

Steve points excitedly. "I do! I understood that reference."

Tony rolls his eyes as the room grows quiet again. He turns to Bruce and Clara. "Shall we play, Doctor?"

"This way, sir." Bruce gestures to the lab he's been working in, Tony and Clara following him.

~***~

The scepter is hooked up to multiple different machines as Bruce moves about the space to conduct his tests. He's been monitoring it since they took it from Loki. "The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's reports of the Tesseract. But it's going to take weeks to process."

"If we bypass their mainframe and direct route to the Homer cluster we can clock this at around 600 teraflops," Tony replies.

Bruce chuckles. "All I packed was a toothbrush."

Clara turns in her chair. "Do we have access to any of Howard's old reports? Steve brought a shard of what I now believe was the Tesseract to London in 1943 after he rescued the 107th. Howard picked it apart to figure out what it was. At the time I said it was dangerous but now..." her voice trails off, and Tony looks over his monitor to her.

"No, they were lost, or Shield's keeping them locked up real tight." Tony steps away from his monitor, pointing at Bruce. "You know, you should come by Stark Tower sometime. Top ten floors, all R&D. You'd love it. It's Candyland."

"Thanks, but the last time I was in New York, I kind of broke Harlem," Bruce admits softly.

"Well, I promise a stress-free environment. No tension, no surprises." Tony gives a pointed look at Clara, who scoffs with a chuckle, as he pokes Bruce with an electrical probe the moment the door slides open for Steve to enter the lab.

"Hey! Are you nuts?" Steve asks rather suddenly, but Tony ignores him.

"Jury's out." He looks at Banner. "You have got a lid on it, haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz, bongo drums, a huge bag of weed?"

"Is everything a joke to you?" Steve tries again.

Tony points at him with the probe. "Funny things are."

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offense, Doc."

"It's alright," Bruce assures him. "I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things."

"You're tip-toeing big man. You need to strut." Tony tells him.

"And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark." Steve quips.

"You think I'm not?" Tony asks, taking a few steps toward Steve. "Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables."

"You think Fury's hiding something?" Clara questions, looking between the three men.

"He's a spy, Doc." Tony shrugs. "He's the spy. His secrets have secrets. It's bugging him too. Isn't it?"

"Uh..." Bruce hesitates, unsure of what to say. "I just want to finish my work here and..."

"Doctor?" Steve questions.

Bruce sighs and removes his glasses. "'A warm light for all mankind.'" He starts. "Loki's jab at Fury about the Cube."

"I heard it."

"Well, I think that was meant for you." He gestures to Tony. "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news."

"The Stark Tower?" Steve scrunches up his nose. "That big, ugly..." His voice trails off as Tony scowls at him. "...building in New York?"

"Your friend worked there under my father for a good few years, so don't forget that," Tony states.

"It's powered by an arc reactor," Bruce attempts to bring the conversation back to the present. "A self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for, what, a year?"

"It's just a prototype," Tony admits. "I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now. That's what he's getting at."

"So, why didn't Shield bring him in on the Tesseract project?" Bruce asks. "What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?"

"I should probably look into that once my decryption program finishes breaking into all of Shield's secure files."

"I'm sorry." Steve looks to Tony, taken aback. "Did you say..."

"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours, I'll know every dirty secret Shield has ever tried to hide. Blueberry?" Tony holds the bag out to Steve.

"Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around." Steve quips back.

"An intelligence organization that fears intelligence?" Tony challenges. "Historically, not awesome. Hence why they hired Doc Brown over there in the first place. No offense."

"None taken, I suppose." Clara sighs, crossing her arms over her chest. "I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don't stay focused, he'll succeed."

"We have orders." Steve agrees with Clara. "We should follow them."

"Following's not really my style," Tony argues.

"And you're all about style, aren't you?"

"Of the people in this room, which one is A) wearing a spangly outfit, and B) not of use?"

"Steve," Bruce breaks up the argument. "Tell me none of this smells a little funky to you?"

He doesn't say anything back to Tony, regarding Bruce's question instead. "Just find the Cube." He settles on, exiting the lab. Tony takes a seat next to Clara in disbelief.

"That's the guy my dad never shut up about? I'm wondering if they should have kept him on ice."

"Tony, that's not nice," Clara says. "You have to remember that Steve and I come from a different time. I might be more acclimated to all of this than he is, but he's just looking out for everyone. It's in his nature."

"The guy isn't wrong about Loki." Bruce sighs. "He does have the jump on us."

"What he's got is an Acme dynamite kit." Tony scoffs. "It's going to blow up in his face. And I'm going to be there when it does."

"Yeah. I'll read all about it."

"Uh-huh. Or you'll be suiting up with the rest of us." They all chuckle as both Tony and Bruce go back to working on their separate monitors.

"Ah, see," Bruce says after a moment. "I don't get a suit of armor. I'm exposed, like a nerve. It's a nightmare."

"I've got a cluster of shrapnel trying every second to crawl its way into my heart. This stops it." Tony taps his chest, a circle illuminating beneath the fabric. "This little circle of light, it's part of me now, not just armor. It's a terrible privilege."

"But you can control it."

"Because I learned how."

"It's different." Bruce pushes.

"Hey, I read all about your accident." Clara can detect the sincerity in Tony's voice. "That much gamma exposure should have killed you."

"So you're saying that the Hulk...the other guy saved my life? That's nice. It's a nice sentiment." Bruce scoffs. "Saved it for what?"

"I guess we'll find out," Clara says softly as both men turn to look at her studying her monitor. She smiles at them, and they get back to their work.

Chapter Text

"You know," Tony breaks the silence that had settled over the small lab as he, Bruce, and Clara got lost in their little worlds while they ran scans and tests on Loki's scepter. It's nearing sunrise by this time. Someone will announce over the PA system that coffee will be available for all staff soon. "Funny enough, this cute, blonde doctor I used to date was obsessed with you when we were younger." He tells Clara, who just smiles softly.

    "Tony, this isn't some weird modern way of setting up someone you just met with a stranger, is it?" She replies, and Tony scoffs.

    "As if." Speaking of, he'd been meaning to reach out to her lately but hadn't found the time between his Iron Man gig and now this 'Avengers' stuff. He rounds on Bruce. "And I've heard all about you and the big guy from her, too," Tony states, leaning back in his chair. "Aside from what I've read about in the news."

    Bruce flushes red, and Clara chuckles. "She sounds lovely, Tony."

    "Actually," He draws out the syllable, and Clara looks up from her work with a raised eyebrow. "If you wouldn't mind, I think if she met you, I might get back in her good graces."

    "It ended that badly, hm?"

    "Something like that."

    Right on cue, coffee is announced over the system and Clara offers to pick up something for each of them. Most of the crew must still be in their quarters as she makes her way to the mess hall and back to the lab again, surprised to find an angry Fury confronting Tony. By this point, both Tony and Bruce have stopped work on the scepter, unable to find anything noteworthy.

    "What are you doing, Mr. Stark?"

    "Uh," Tony takes the coffee that Clara hands to him. "Kind of been wondering the same thing about you."

    Fury stops in front of him. "You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract."

    "We are," Bruce assures him. "The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile."

    "Yeah, then you get your Cube back." Tony shrugs. "No muss, no fuss." His monitor pulls up a file titled Phase Two across it. "What is 'Phase Two'?"

    Steve sets down a large weapon on one of the lab tables, having joined them in the lab to show what he could find. "Phase Two is when Shield uses the Cube to make weapons. Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow for me."

    "Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract," Fury explains. "This does not mean that we're making..."

    "I'm sorry, Nick," Tony interrupts. "What, were you lying?"

    "I was wrong, Director. The world hasn't changed a bit." Steve states, directing his gaze to Clara.

    She shakes her head. "I didn't know about this, Stevie. Swear."

    Natasha is the next to enter the lab, clearly pissed, her eyes on Bruce. Thor follows after her. "Did you know about this?" Bruce asks her, pointing to the schematics on Tony's screen.

    "You might want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor." Nat fires back.

    "I was in Calcutta," Bruce scoffs. "I was pretty well removed."

    "Loki is manipulating you." She states, and the room grows tense. 

    "And you've been doing what, exactly?"

    "You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."

    "Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy." Bruce turns the screen toward her now. "I'd like to know why Shield is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

    "Because of him," Fury says, pointing to Thor.

    "Me?" Thor repeats, stunned.

    "Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town." Fury begins. "We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned."

    "My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor says, trying to defend himself.

    "But you're not the only people out there, are you?" The room gets silent again. "And you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, that can't be controlled."

    "Like you controlled the Cube?" Steve accuses Fury.

    "Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies," Thor tells him. "It is the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war."

    "A higher form?" Steve tilts his head in question.

    "You forced our hand." Fury states. "We had to come up with something."

    "A nuclear deterrent." Tony sighs. "Because that always calms everything right down."

    Fury turns to him. "Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark."

    "I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck-deep-" Steve starts, but Tony steps over to confront him.

    "Hold on. How is this now about me?"

    "I'm sorry, isn't everything?"

    Tony points to Clara. "The engineering genius who built a time machine should be the center of our attention right now."

    "Me?" Clara scoffs. "What the hell, Tony? This is my first time learning about phase two just like the rest of you."

    "But you heard about it?" Tony states.

    "In passing, yes," Clara admits. "But that doesn't mean I knew, in detail, what it was."

    "Yet you're the lead scientist of Shield." Tony hums in pity. "Shows how much they trust you."

    "I thought humans were more evolved than this," Thor says before Clara can bite back at Tony.

    "Excuse me," Fury rounds on Thor. "Did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?"

    "You treat your champions with such mistrust."

    "Are you boys really that naive?" Nat questions over the brewing argument. "Shield monitors potential threats."

    "Captain America's on threat watch?" Bruce scoffs with a chuckle.

    The rest of the team argues as Clara's attention is drawn to the scepter on the table. The jewel (could she even really classify it as a jewel?) seems to fluctuate more. Glancing at Tony and Bruce, she sees that neither seems to notice, as do none of the others in the room. She's about to grab their attention when Thor loudly states, "You speak of control, yet you court chaos."

    "That's his MO, isn't it?" Bruce replies. "I mean, what are we, a team? No, we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're a time bomb."

    "You need to step away," Fury warns.

    "Why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?" Tony asks, clapping Steve on the shoulder.

    "You know damn well why." Steve retorts. "Back off!"

    "I'm starting to want you to make me."

    "Yeah. Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?"

    "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Tony shrugs.

    "I know guys with none of that worth ten of you." Steve scoffs, and Clara's throat tightens as her thoughts drift to Bucky and the other members of the 107th. "Yeah, I've seen the footage. The only thing you fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."

    "I think I would just cut the wire."

    Steve smiles slightly. "Always a way out. You know, you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

    "A hero? Like you?" Tony throws back in Steve's face. "You're a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle."

    Steve puffs up his chest. "Put on the suit, let's go a few rounds."

    Thor laughs. "You people are so petty, and tiny."

    "Yeah, this is a team." Bruce sighs.

    Fury turns to Natasha. "Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his..."

    "Where?" Bruce asks. "You rented my room."

    "The cell was just in case-"

    "In case you needed to kill me." Bruce accuses him. "But you can't. I know, I tried." The room grows thick with tension again as Bruce looks at Tony. "I got low. I didn't see an end. So, I put a bullet in my mouth, and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good. Until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. Do you want to know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You want to know how I stay calm?"

    Clara watches Fury subtly reach for his gun, and she clasps her hand around his wrist, mouthing 'Don't'.

    "Dr. Banner," Clara calls out, her voice soft and calm amongst the hostility in the room. "Put down the scepter."

    Bruce is shocked to find that during his rant, he's picked it up. Clara extends a hand to take it as the computer beeps and everyone turns to it.

    "Got it." Tony breathes out, going over to the computer while Bruce sets the scepter down.

    "Sorry, kids. You don't get to see my little party trick after all." Bruce comments and Clara places a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

    "Located the Tesseract?" Thor asks.

    "I can get there faster." Tony challenges.

    "The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, no human is a match for it."

    Tony turns to leave anyway, and Steve follows him, calling, "You're not going alone!"

    "You're gonna stop me?"

    "Put on the suit, let's find out."

    "I'm not afraid to hit an old man."

    The computer beeps once more. "Oh my god." Bruce breathes out as an explosion rips through a part of the helicarrier, the blast hitting everyone in the lab. Clara finds herself with Tony and Steve. 

    Steve helps her up, looking at Tony. "Put on the suit."

    She coughs, and Tony nods. "Yeah."

    All three of them race out of the blown-apart lab; Clara heads for the bridge while the two others split off to find the rest of the Avengers. Pandemonium erupts as agents rush to get to their emergency stations. Clara finds Agent Hill in the mess of it all. "Turn that engine! Number three engine is down! Can we get a run-in?" 

Clara approaches the Galaga player from earlier. "Talk to me."

He points to the monitor. "Turbine's loose. Mostly intact, but it's impossible to get out there and make repairs while we're in the air."

"If we lose one more engine, we won't be." Clara sighs, situating the headset Maria handed to her over her ears to speak into it. "Somebody's got to get outside and patch that engine."

"Stark, you copy that?" Fury's voice comes through the headset.

Tony's confirmation follows not long after. "I'm on it."

"Coulson," Fury continues. "Initiate defensive lockdown in the detention section, then get to the armory. Romanoff?"

There's no reply for a moment, but then Nat's voice crackles through, "We're okay."

Clara takes her place at the helm. "I want eyes on Barton and Loki, if possible. We need to know our next move before they make theirs."

Fury takes his place next to her not long after. "Bring the carrier inwards and head south. Take us to the water."

"We're flying blind." One of the crew members calls out. "Navigations recalibrated after the engine failure."

"Is the sun coming up?" Clara asks him, and she watches as he folds in on himself.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Then put it on the left! Get us over water! One more turbine goes down and we drop."

The officer does as instructed, and Clara reaches up to run her hands through her hair. Fury and Maria look over their monitors. "We need a full evac on the lower hangar bay," Fury instructs Maria, and just as she's about the exit the bridge, something small rolls in through. 

"Grenade!" she calls, throwing an officer over the railing to save his life. Fury pulls Clara behind him and off to the side as he pulls out his gun. Previous Shield agents swarm the bridge, and Fury is quick to act to take them down. Maria shoots the last member, as Agent Sitwell comes on the PA system: 

"We've got a perimeter breach! Hostiles are in Shield gear. Call-outs at every junction."

Gunfire lights up the bridge between agents and Loki's soldiers. Sitwell calls out over the system: "Sir, the Hulk and Thor are in shuttle levels two, three, and four!"

"Sir, the Hulk will tear this place apart!" Maria says, shooting another soldier.

"Get his attention," Fury says.

"Escort 6-0, proceed to Wishbone and engage hostile. Don't get too close."

The fire-fight continues for a bit, starting to die down before more of Loki's men enter and Fury shoots them all down again. "They are not getting through here, so what the hell..." he mutters as an arrow flies through the bridge, exploding upon impact. He aims, but Fury shoots before he gets the chance to fire. The bridge grows quiet.

"Engine one is now in shut-down," Sitwell calls out over the PA.

"It's Barton." Fury sighs. "He took out our systems. He's headed for the detention level." He reaches up to activate his earpiece. "Does anybody copy?"

"This is Agent Romanoff. I copy."

The helicarrier shutters as Clara activates her earpiece. "Stark, we're losing altitude."

"Yeah," Tony says. "Noticed."

"All hands to crash stations immediately." The next set of instructions comes over the PA system. Fury touches Clara's shoulder.

"The hatch in the detention level is open. I'm going to make sure Agent Coulson is alright. I have complete faith in you handling things up here."

Clara nods, unable to say anything as she laces her fingers together to keep her hands from shaking. Agent Hill gives her a confident nod, and Clara nods back looking out across the bridge, mentally preparing to go down with her ship.

~***~

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket." Fury breaks the silence of the board room. Clara can't bring herself to watch as Fury throws the Captain America trading cards to Steve. "Guess he never did get you to sign them." He sighs, turning to Clara. "We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, the location of the Cube, Banner, Thor...I got nothing for you. I lost my one good eye." He shakes his head as Clara finally looks up at him. "Maybe I had that coming."

"What about the weapon's schematics, Director?" Clara asks softly, wanting to know the truth behind them. Had Shield been keeping this secret under wraps without her knowledge the whole time she had been working for them? Or had it been a recent development? Was sending her to work with Tony a way to keep her distracted or feeling that her work had a purpose?

"Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract." Fury confirms, and Clara deflates. "Shield had plans to use Howard Stark's research done on the Tesseract to begin phase two. I never put all my chips on that number, though, because I was playing something even riskier." Silence lingers between the three of them as Fury paces. "There was an idea, Stark knows this, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea. In heroes." 

Abruptly, Tony stands, leaving the bridge without another word. Fury sighs. "Well, it's an old-fashioned notion."

With that, Fury walks away and Clara stands, tapping Steve on the shoulder. "Walk with me?"

Steve only nods, following her silently. They make their way quietly through the helicarrier down to the detention block only to find Tony staring out across the empty cell container. "Was he married?" Steve finally asks softly.

"No." Clara hums in thought. "There was uh..."

"A cellist." Tony tags on. "I think."

"I'm sorry." Steve apologizes. "He seemed like a good man."

Tony scoffs lightly. "He was an idiot."

"Why? For believing?" Clara asks him, crossing her arms over her chest.

"For taking on Loki alone." Tony clarifies. 

"He was doing his job." Steve rebuttals.

"He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have..."

Clara lays a hand on Tony's shoulder, grabbing his full attention. "Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony."

"That's rich coming from a time traveler."

"I'm serious," this time, she lightly smacks his shoulder. "Do you think I wanted to end up in the twenty-first century? To be stuck here? Of course not. But I'm making the best of it, aren't I?"

Tony's expression is torn between biting back again or keeping quiet. He chooses the latter. "Is this the first time you lost a soldier?" Steve asks him.

Tony rounds on him. "We are not soldiers." He takes a deep breath to compose himself. "I am not marching to Fury's fife."

"Neither am I. He's got the same blood on his hands that Loki does. But right now, we gotta put that behind us and get this done." Steve turns to Clara, serious. "Loki needs a power source. If we can put together a list..."

"He made it personal." Tony interrupts.

"That's not the point," Steve says.

"That is the point. That's Loki's point. He hit us all right where we live. Why?"

"To tear us apart."

"Yeah," Tony shrugs. "Divide and conquer is great, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That's what he wants. He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience."

"Right." Steve breathes out in realization. "I caught his act in Stuttgart."

"That's just a preview, this is opening night. And Loki, he's a full-tilt diva, right?" Tony continues. "He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered..."

Clara smirks. "Are you speaking from experience?"

"Son of a bitch!" 

    The three of them exit the detention level, splitting off as Clara heads back to the bridge while Tony and Steve go to collect Natasha and Clint. Fury stands on the bridge, watching the sky go by. As calmly as she can, she steps up to the control panel to grant them access to the quinjet. Out of the corner of her eye, Agent Hill steps up to Fury. "Sir," she states. 

"Agent Hill?"

"Those cards," Maria begins, and Clara hesitates for a moment. "They were in Coulson's locker, not in his jacket."

Fury is silent for a moment as Clara's gaze lingers on his back. "They needed the push." Briefly, she catches Tony in his suit flying off beside the quinjet. "They found him. Get our communications back up, whatever you have to do. I want eyes on everything."

"Yes, sir."

Chapter Text

STARK TOWER - NEW YORK CITY

On top of Stark Tower, Selvig bustles around the CMS device, holding the Tesseract. With a few minor modifications, he inserts the Tesseract, and the CMS machine powers up. Tony flies through the air on his way to the tower. Jarvis notifies him through his helmet, "Sir, I've turned off the arc reactor, but the device is already self-sustaining."

Tony comes to hover above the roof and Selvig. "Shut it down, Dr. Selvig."

"It's too late!" Selvig shouts, and Tony rolls his eyes. As if he hasn't heard that one a million times. "She can't stop now. She wants to show us something! A new universe."

"Okay." Tony fires at the device, but the machine generates a protective field around itself that fires the shot back at him. Tony stabilizes himself in the air.

"The barrier is pure energy," Jarvis informs him. "It's unbreachable."

"Yeah, I got that."

"Sir, the Mark VII is not ready for deployment."

"Then skip the spinning rims," Tony says. "We're on the clock."

He lands, walking toward Loki as Jarvis takes the Iron Man suit to make the modifications necessary. Loki retreats inside the tower, and Tony follows after him.

"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity." Loki starts.

"I'm planning to threaten you," Tony states simply.

Loki chuckles. "You should have left your armor on for that."

"Yeah." He shrugs. "It's seen a bit of mileage, and you've got the glow stick of destiny. Would you like a drink?"

"Stalling me won't change anything."

"No, no, no," Tony scoffs. "Threatening. No drink? Are you sure? I'm having one."

Loki paces over to the window, looking out over New York. "The Chitauri are coming. Nothing will change that. What do I have to fear?"

"The Avengers," Tony replies, pouring himself a glass. Loki looks at him confused, and he further explains. "That's what we call ourselves. We're sort of like a team. 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes.'-type thing."

"Yes," Loki hisses. "I've met them."

"It takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one." Tony smiles. "But let's do a head count, here. Your brother, the demigod, a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend. A man with breathtaking anger-management issues, a couple of master assassins, and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

"That was the plan." Loki sneers.

"Not a great plan." Tony comes out from behind the bar after taking a sip from his glass. "When they come, and they will, they'll come for you."

"I have an army."

"We have a Hulk." Tony fires back nonchalantly. "And the second smartest scientist in all of New York, aside from me, waiting on that ship of hers to put you behind bars."

"I thought the beast had wandered off." Loki mocks.

"You're missing the point. There is no throne. There is no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damn sure we'll avenge it."

Silence passes between them as Tony lifts the glass to his lips again and Loki narrows his gaze in frustration. "How will your friends have time for me when they are so busy fighting you?"

The scepter powers up and Loki presses the tip of it to Tony's chest. The power fizzles out and Loki's bravado drops. He tries again, only to wield the same result. "This usually works."

"Well, performance issues, it's not uncommon. One out of five..." And that comment has Loki throwing Tony across the room out of anger. "Jarvis, anytime now."

Loki grips his neck again, and Tony's hands immediately grasp his wrist, trying to pull it off of him. "You will all fall before me," Loki says through gritted teeth.

"Deploy!" Tony calls, but nothing happens. Instead, Loki throws him out the window of Stark Tower. He falls through the air as a red pod zooms after him, affixing itself to his body just in time before he hits the ground. He takes off back toward the tower, hovering outside the broken window. "And there's one other person you pissed off. His name was Phil."

Loki raises his scepter to fire, but Tony fires first, knocking him back. On the rooftop, the CMS machine fires a bright blue beam of light up into the sky. Soon after, aliens start flying through the gate. "Right. Army." Tony hums, heading off toward the Chitauri to attempt to slow them down before they reach New York. It's of no use as they start firing in the streets.

Loki stands above it all on Stark Tower, watching the Chitauri head off into battle. Thor lands near him, wielding Mjolnir. "Loki!" He shouts, and the god of mischief turns to him. "Turn off the Tesseract or I'll destroy it!"

"You can't," Loki exclaims. "There is no stopping it. There is only war."

"So be it."

Meanwhile, in the Quinjet, Natasha activates her comm as they fly above the city. "Stark, we're on your three, headed northeast."

"What?" his voice comes back through, annoyed. "Did you stop for drive-through? Swing up Park. I'm gonna lay 'em out for you."

Tony swings by Stark Tower, where Loki and Thor are engaged in battle. As he turns, some of the trailing Chitauri fail to execute the turn and crash into the side of the building. On the Quinjet, Clint opens fire as Natasha keeps them steady.

"Sir," Jarvis states rather nonchalantly. "We have more incoming."

"Fine." Tony huffs. "Let's keep them occupied." He takes off up toward the portal.

Clint looks out his window, pinpointing the battle on the tower between the brothers. "Nat?"

"I see him."

They swing, ready to aim, but Loki fires from the scepter, and it tears through parts of the Quinjet. It shakes the ship, but it ultimately begins to burst into flame. With as much grace as they can muster, both Nat and Clint guide the jet to land in the street. The back hatch opens as they exit the ship. "We gotta get back up there," Steve calls, and all three take off down the street.

They reach a four-way street as the city seemingly comes to a stop. A deep, primal roar bellows from the portal above them. The shadow of the beast shades them from the sun. It flies further into the city, Chitauri popping out of its sides and clinging to the buildings, breaking their way inside.

"Stark?" Steve says into his earpiece. "Are you seeing this?"

"Seeing," Tony replies. "Still working on believing. Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"

"Banner?"

"Just keep me posted." The comm ends as Tony flies side-by-side with the Chitauri leviathan, buildings occasionally breaking his line of sight. "Jarvis, find me a soft spot."

On the tower, Thor has Loki in a chokehold. There's blood from a cut on his cheek beginning to drip down Loki's face. "Look at this! Look around you!" Loki, for once, has let all his bravado drop as his expression seems scared. Thor continues. "You think this madness will end with your rule?"

"It's too late." Loki pants. His eyes are beginning to glisten. "It's too late to stop it."

"No," Thor says. "We can, together."

Loki takes the opportunity to stab Thor in his abdomen with a knife. He keels over as Loki takes in a deep breath to stow his emotions. "Sentiment."

They fight a bit more before Loki rolls himself off the edge of the building. Thor leans over the edge, only to find Loki on one of the chitauri chariots, flying off toward the battle. More of the chitauri follow after him.

Down on Bridge Street, Steve, Nat, and Clint duck behind taxis as they watch Loki fly off up ahead. Explosions go off around them. Civilians take cover wherever they can find it. "They're fish in a barrel down there," Steve says.

Nat fires at a couple of Chitauri as Clint uses the cover to move to another overturned taxi. "We got this," she assures him. "Go."

Steve looks at Clint. "Do you think you can hold them off?"

"Captain," Clint starts, as a few clinking noises sound from his quiver. He smiles. "It would be my genuine pleasure."

He notches the arrow and fires straight into the head of one of the creatures, and Steve takes off as an explosion is heard. Steve dodges and weaves between shots and explosions, taking off down the plaza. Clint uses Nat's fire once more to help out a bus full of trapped families. When that is taken care of, Clint returns to shooting arrows at the Chitauri.

"Just like Budapest all over again." Nat reminisces.

Clint chuckles. "You and I remember Budapest very differently."

Up the street, Steve reaches a police sergeant arguing with a younger cop as they fire at Chitauri. "We need to get out!" The younger cop shouts. "They gotta bring the National Guard!"

"National Guard?" The Sergeant shouts back. "Does the army know what's happening here?"

"Do we?!"

Steve comes to a stop in front of them, and they both look at him with a confused look on their face. "I need men in these buildings." Steve begins. "There are people inside that can run into the line of fire. You take them through the basement or the subway. You keep them off the streets. I need a perimeter as far back as 39th."

"Why the hell should I take orders from you?" The Sergeant challenges.

An explosion goes off behind Steve. He blocks a shot from one of the Chitauri soldiers, swinging back to knock it off its feet. He punches another one off the top of the car. Using his shield, he swings it hard enough to sever the gun from one of them, effectively leaving it disarmed. The Sergeant turns to his police officers to repeat Steve's order. "I need men in those buildings; lead the people down and away from the streets. I need a perimeter as far back as 39th."

The police start moving out, allowing Steve to retreat to where he left Nat and Clint. He knocks out the two Chitauri that were starting to close in on them, effectively evening out the fight once more. Electricity surges, and the remaining soldiers convulse, dropping to the ground as Thor touches down.

"What's the story upstairs?" Steve asks him.

"The powers surrounding the Cube are impenetrable," Thor informs him, and Tony's voice comes through their earpieces.

"Thor's right. We got to deal with these guys."

"How do we do this?" Nat asks.

"As a team," Steve states.

Thor looks at him. "I have unfinished business with Loki."

"Yeah?" Clint questions, inspecting one of his arrows. "Well, get in line."

"Save it." Steve bites. "Loki's going to keep the fight focused on us, and that's what we need. Without him, these things could run wild. We got Stark up top. He's going to need us to..."

The sound of a motorcycle engine causes Steve to turn his attention to it as Bruce comes to a stop. They approach him, and Bruce looks between them. "So, this all seems horrible."

"I've seen worse," Nat states calmly.

"Sorry." Bruce apologizes.

"No, we could use a little worse."

"Stark," Steve lifts his hand to his earpiece. "We got him."

"Banner?" Tony clarifies.

"Just like you said."

"Then tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you."

The leviathan flies into view of the others. "I don't see how that's a party," Nat states sarcastically.

Bruce takes a couple of steps toward the approaching Chitauri. "Dr. Banner," Steve calls, and Bruce turns to him briefly. "Now might be a really good time for you to get angry."

"That's my secret, Captain," Bruce calls back. "I'm always angry."

The Hulk roars, and the first Chitauri Leviathan flips over them as it breaks apart into pieces. Yet, as the first one falls, more of them fly out from the portal. The surrounding Chitauri screech in anger. "Guys," Nat shouts.

"Call it, Captain," Tony says.

"All right, listen up." Steve breaths out. "Until we can close that portal, our priority is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof. Eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash."

"Can you give me a lift?" Clint asks Tony.

"Right." Tony nods. "Better clench up, Legolas." He lifts him into the air and onto the building.

"Thor," Steve continues. "You got to try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You got the lightning. Light the bastards up." Thor swings Mjolnir, and he's off too. "You and me," He addresses Nat. "We stay here on the ground. We keep the fighting here. And Hulk...smash."

The Hulk grins, leaping off to the nearest building to start tearing apart Chitauri soldiers.

"I have an idea," Nat breathes out. "Buy me some time. I'm gonna make a phone call."

On the rooftop, Clint fires more arrows at the Chitauri while Tony does his part by keeping the perimeter. "Stark," He says into his earpiece. "You got a lot of strays sniffing your tail."

"I'm just trying to keep them off the streets." Tony chimes back.

Clint laughs. "Well, they can't bank worth a damn." Without looking, he notches an arrow and fires. The Chitauri explodes. "Find a tight corner."

"I will roger that." Tony takes a turn, leading the trailing Chitauri by Clint's building. He fires, the arrow sticking to one of them and exploding not long after. Tony takes his shot once they falter. "Oh, boy." He flies close to the ground, weaving through tunnels and parking garages until he takes a look back to find none of the Chitauri have survived. "Nice call. What else you got?"

"Well, Thor is taking on a squadron down on Sixth," Clint informs him next.

Tony scoffs. "And he didn't invite me."

Down on the street, Natasha and Steve make headway against their ranks of Chitauri soldiers. She's taken the energy rifle from the soldier and is about to fire when she realizes it's only Steve. "Captain, none of this is going to mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal."

"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it." Steve sighs.

Natasha pauses, noting the sleek, Shield aircraft making its way toward Stark Tower. "Well, maybe it's not about guns."

"If you want to get up there, you're going to need a ride."

She tosses the rifle to the side. "I got a ride." Nat takes a few steps, turning back to him. "I could use a boost, though."

He takes a few steps back, bracing the shield. "Are you sure about this?"

"Yeah." Nat shrugs. "It's gonna be fun."

She takes a few running steps, pushing off the car's hood next to her, and Steve uses the momentum to lift her into the air. Nat grabs onto one of the chariots that zoom off toward Stark Tower. He smiles momentarily before returning to take out the Chitauri firing at him.

Chapter Text

THE HELICARRIER - ATLANTIC OCEAN

Clara watches the news reports that begin to flood the media, nervously messing with her hands as she attempts to keep track of all the Avengers. Fury has stepped off to the side, taking a phone call from presumably Natasha. What it's about, she doesn't know.

Maria approaches the command center just as Fury hangs up. "Sir." Her expression is grave, serious. "The Council's on."

Fury takes a deep breath and nods. "Agent Hill," He finally speaks, stepping away to address the council. "I'm entrusting you to escort Miss Brown into the city. Agent Romanoff thinks they could use an expert on the Tesseract to turn that machine off."

Clara looks at Fury, wide-eyed. "I'm not an Avenger, Director."

He chuckles. "Maybe not. But you are the only one here qualified enough to work with the machinery."

Her mouth grows dry as Fury completely steps away. Maria looks to Clara, and with a nod, they take off toward the launch pad. Fury steps into one of the board rooms on the helicarrier, ready to address the World Security Council.

"Director Fury," the councilwoman begins. "The Council has made a decision."

"I recognize the Council has made a decision," he fires back, tracking the ship that Maria took into the city. "But given that it's a stupid-ass decision, I have elected to ignore it."

"Director," another member warns. "You're closer than any of our subs. You scramble that jet..."

"That is the island of Manhattan, Councilman." Fury fires back. "Until I'm certain my team can't hold it, I will not order a nuclear strike against a civilian population."

"If we don't hold them there, we lose everything."

"If I send that bird out, we already have." Fury hangs up on the council, returning the screens in front of him to the news reports that Clara had left up.

~***~

MANHATTAN - NEW YORK CITY

As quietly as she can, Clara makes her way to the rooftop of Stark Tower to the CMS machine. She's elected to take the long way around, so as not to run into any Chitauri that aren't engaged in the battle. The Tower appears to be clear enough as she pushes open the door to the roof just as Nat abandons her chariot. "I see I was right in who Fury was answering a call for," Clara says lightly, walking up to the CMS machine. Selvig turns at her voice, pointing to the door that she came out of.

"The scepter," he starts, and Nat goes to him.

"Doctor," Nat addresses.

"Loki's scepter. The energy. The Tesseract can't fight, but you can't protect yourself against it."

"It's not your fault." She assures him. "You didn't know what you were doing."

Selvig pauses in thought. "I think I did. I built in a safety to cut their power source."

"Loki's scepter." Clara breathes out, putting the pieces together.

Selvig nods. "It may be able to close the portal. And I'm looking right at it."

Nat nods to Clara as she heads down for the scepter. Clara helps Selvig up onto his feet and to the computer connected to the CMS device. He clicks away just as Fury's voice comes through the earpiece Maria gave her. "Stark, you hearing me? We have a missile headed straight for the city."

Her breath catches in her throat. "How long?" Tony replies.

"Three minutes, at best. Stay low and wipe out the missile."

Clara reaches up to activate her own. "I'm on it." She approaches the edge of the roof. "Nat! I need that scepter now!"

Without wasting any time, Nat launches the scepter to the edge, and Clara catches it, carrying it back to the Tesseract. The scepter thrums with energy; ease and familiarity wash over her as if the Tesseract acknowledges and welcomes her presence. Selvig points at it. "Right at the crown!"

Clara nods and begins to push the scepter through the protective barrier, which immediately begins to give way under the pressure. It's concerning how easy it is for her to do it. "I can close it," she states. "Can anybody copy?" No one answers, and she calls out again, steadily pushing the scepter in more. "I can shut the portal down."

"Do it!" Steve is the first to come through, followed by Tony.

"No, wait."

"Stark, these things are still coming."

"I got a nuke coming in." The comm goes quiet for a moment. "It's gonna blow in less than a minute."

"Tony," Clara says, holding still. "I know the perfect spot for that missile."

"Copy that," she can practically hear the smirk in his voice.

Tony intercepts the missile, grabbing it from behind to wrench it off its course. Together, they fly off toward the portal. "Stark," Steve says. "You know that's a one-way trip?"

Tony doesn't respond, calling out to Jarvis. "Save the rest for return, J."

"Sir." Jarvis begins. "Shall I call Doctor Xavier-Lehnsherr?" Tony hesitates, wondering if she would pick up the call. It's highly unlikely that she'll answer. Noting his hesitance, Jarvis suggests instead, "Shall I call Master Stark-Xavier?"

Sorrow fills Tony's bones. "You might as well."

There's silence before a young voice fills the silence where Jarvis once was. "Dad?"

Tony smiles. "Hey, Squirt."

Peter's voice fills with glee. "Dad!" There's a pause. "You never call me at this time without Mom around."

"I'm a bit busy at the moment."

"Are you saving the world from those things?"

"You know it." He laughs as Peter giggles. "Had to take the new suit out for a spin."

"Do you think Mom would let you swing by to show-" Chaos erupts on the other end of the line. Tony's breath hitches, but he stays his course toward the portal. He exhales when he hears Peter's quiet, "Ow."

"Squirt, you okay?"

"No," Tony can tell his lip is wobbling. "It hurts."

"Hey, listen to me." He dodges a rogue Chitauri soldier and continues to the portal. "Go straight home to your Mother, you hear me? She can help you. And Squirt?" Tony sniffles, pushing as many of his emotions down into the depths of his being as he can. "I love you."

"I love you too, Dad."

And then he's gone. Elsewhere, a blonde woman is changing out of her scrubs after a late shift at the hospital, the news station on in the background as the media covers the destruction happening in the city. She tries not to pay too much attention, and the vibrating of her phone pulls her out of her worrisome thoughts. It's the middle school, informing her that students are being let out early due to the attack.

Tony accelerates up toward the portal with the missile, passing through the portal onto the other side. He lets go of the missile, letting his suit fall back through space through the portal as the main Chitauri ship explodes, lighting up the inky darkness.

Clara shifts on her feet, eyes glued to the portal. "Come on, Stark," Nat whispers. She's antsy to get the portal closed. Steve's voice comes through the comms once more.

"Clara, close it."

"Wait," She whispers, briefly catching a flash of red and gold falling through the portal. She touches the scepter to the Tesseract, the energy flowing through her body. Above, the energy beam dissipates into the air. Her breath catches in her throat when she realizes Tony's still falling. "He's still falling." She hurries. "Tony's not conscious in that suit. Someone's gotta catch him."

And like an answered prayer, Hulk catches him mid-air, using the skyscraper as a counterweight to slow their descent. New York falls silent. Hulk reaches the street, and Thor peels off Tony's helmet. "Is he breathing?" Steve murmurs as he and Thor flip him over. They can't tell if he's dead or alive, unsure about their next move until Hulk yells in frustration, which startles Tony awake.

"What the hell?" He gasps. "What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me."

Steve takes a moment before finally admitting, "We won."

Tony sighs in relief, letting himself relax on the tattered and ripped-up asphalt. "All right, yay! Hurray. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day." He points to Hulk. "Have you ever tried shawarma?" Steve can't help his laughter. "There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I want to try it."

"We're not finished yet," Thor replies, effectively destroying Tony's good mood as they look up at Stark Tower.

"And then shawarma after."

~***~

SHIELD ANALYTICAL ROOM - NEW YORK CITY

"Where are the Avengers?"

Fury looks up at the World Security Council with a smirk, his arms crossed over his chest. "I'm not currently tracking their whereabouts. I'd say they've earned a leave of absence."

"And the Tesseract?" a councilwoman asks.

"The Tesseract is where it belongs," Fury says. "Out of our reach."

A councilman scoffs. "That's not your call."

"I didn't make it." Fury admits. "I just didn't argue with the god that did or the time-traveling scientist that agreed with him."

"So, you let him take it and the war criminal, Loki, who should be answering for his crime."

"Oh, I think he will be."

The councilwoman rolls her eyes. "I don't think you understand what you've started, letting the Avengers loose on this world. They're dangerous. And so is that scientist you seem very fond of."

"They surely are," Fury agrees. "And the whole world knows it. Every world knows it. And as for that scientist, you'll be seeing more from her in the future." He smiles like a proud father at the uncomfortable tension building within the council.

"Was that the point of all this?" a council member questions. "A statement?"

"A promise."

Fury ends his call with the council and finds Clara and Agent Hill quietly talking to one another, ending their conversation as he approaches them. "Sir," Maria calls out first. "How does it work now? They've gone their separate ways. Some, pretty extremely far. If we get into a situation like this again, what happens then?"

"They'll come back," Clara answers simply for Fury with a smirk. He matches it, nodding in confirmation.

"Are you sure about that?" Maria asks.

"I am."

"Why?"

"Because we'll need them to." Maria doesn't say anything more, and Fury turns to Clara as they look out the viewport. "And as for you, Miss Brown, I believe you have an interview with the national news about the success of the Avengers helicarrier." Fury laughs as she pales. "And also, don't think I've forgotten about that project for the Air National Guard with Stark."

"Do you think that's still necessary, sir?" Clara asks, and he nods.

"Absolutely." He gives her one final look. "History has its eyes on you now, Clara. Be mindful, and be wary. You never know what the future holds."

Chapter Text

MID-MAY

Apollo taps her nails against Tony's desk as she sits perched on the corner. Tony himself sits behind his computer, typing away at something. When he invited her out for 'date night', this isn't exactly what she had in mind. The packed picnic basket certainly gave a different impression. He even asked her to pick out a bottle of wine (which she did--his favorite--and stashed it in the basket). She picked out her best sundress for a picnic at Central Park--not to be cooped up in Tony's office in the New York Stark Industries building. She huffs as she begins to inspect her nails instead. Tony doesn't seem to notice her movement or hear her. She frowns as she picks at a cuticle. She'll have to redo her nails pretty soon; the paint is starting to chip.

She raises an eyebrow as she drops her hand into her lap. "Why did you ask me out and prepare a picnic basket if we were just going to sit here all day?" Tony doesn't respond. The only sign of life, actually, is the frown he pulls as he narrows his eyes at his computer. Apollo sighs. "Tony?" she calls. No response. "Tony?" She snaps her fingers in front of his face. "Earth to Tony?" Still no response. Her eyebrow raises higher. She gives him a second to realize his mistake before she starts smirking. "It's such a shame, really," she starts again, her voice airier. "The dress I picked out for today doesn't pair well with underwear."

Tony stops typing immediately.

Got him, Apollo thinks to herself.

Tony leans back in his seat, eyeing the skirt of her dress carefully. "So, you're like..." he whistles.

She shrugs. "Guess you won't ever know." She jumps off his desk, making sure the skirt bunches up over her thighs. Tony's eyes are instantly on her behind. She smirks as she smooths the skirt out and makes her way over to the picnic basket. She pulls out a sandwich and the bottle of wine. "You do remember you asked me out on a date, right?" He nods. She gestures around the office with the neck of the wine bottle. "So, why are we here?" She knocks the wine bottle on the desk, cracking the neck. She manages to pull it up before it drips onto Tony's floor. "And don't say some major project or something is going on because I've never seen you care this much about work before." She steals a wine glass from the basket and begins to pour. "What's actually going on, Tony?" She looks up, her expression serious. "Tell me the truth. Don't force me to read your mind to figure it out."

He lets out a breath and straightens his computer. "It's hard to explain, Sunshine," he begins. Apollo raises an eyebrow over the wine glass as she takes a sip. "It's for Shield."

She scoffs. "I'm sure whatever it is, Fury can deal with you taking a break." She sets the sandwich in front of him. He takes it wordlessly and unwraps it before biting into it. Apollo retrieves the second wine glass and begins to pour. "What's the line in Incredibles? 'I'm the greatest good you're ever gonna get'?" Tony nods. She hums softly as she sits back down on the corner of his desk.

"I know exactly where my suit is, though."

She shakes her head lightly. "Not the point, Tony, and you know it." He nods. "You asked me out," she reminds him. He nods again. "Taking your girlfriend to work doesn't count as a date."

"I know," he admits quietly. "There's just..." He lets out a breath. "This project I'm working on--" Apollo nods. "--I have a partner." She raises an eyebrow. "I know, I know. An organization that claims I can't work well with others assigns me a group project." Apollo presses her lips together to keep from laughing. "I never claimed Fury made sense." She shakes her head. "But." Apollo's eyebrow raises higher. "That partner...She's uh...well..."

There's a gentle knock at the door. Tony and Apollo stare at each other, trying to determine who's answering the door. He jerks his head in the direction of the door. Apollo narrows her eyes. He nods, smiling faintly, before gesturing for her to go answer the door. She places her wine glass down with a huff and stands. Tony stands from his chair too and rounds the desk as Apollo approaches the door. She forces a polite smile onto her face as she swings the door open. Her smile drops immediately as she takes in who's standing in front of her.

Wavy brown hair, piercing green eyes, the tight grip of the forties style still influencing her clothing. Someone Apollo's only seen in photos and heard about in stories. Someone who, for all intents and purposes, should be dead. Clara Brown stands in front of her, her fist raised to knock again. She smiles for a second before dropping it when she notices it's not Tony who answered the door but some blonde. Clara attempts to control her expression as she peers into the office.

"I'm sorry, is Tony Stark here today?" she asks softly.

"You're Clara Brown," Apollo blurts.

Clara furrows her brow for a split second before nodding and forcing a small smile. "I am," she agrees slowly. "And Tony is..."

"Your partner is Clara Brown?" Apollo hisses, turning to face Tony. Her brief anger subsides when she spots Tony's smiling face. She steps aside and lets Clara walk through the office door. "How long were you going to keep this a secret?"

"It's not exactly like something like this worms its way into a natural conversation!" He defends, throwing his hands up.

Apollo's hands instantly find her hips. "It doesn't have to be a natural conversation!" she argues. "When have you ever had a natural conversation?!"

"I have...gotten better!"

"Tony, I was in the middle of telling you a story when you cut me off to ask me out." Tony bites his lip. Clara, who's been watching them argue back and forth like a tennis match, starts smiling to herself when the puzzle pieces fit together. "You have never properly segwayed a conversation ever." Tony huffs as he crosses his arms. "And something like this should have been one of the first things you told me!"

Clara raises an eyebrow as she tilts her head in Tony's direction. "The blonde doctor?" He nods. Clara eyes her up and down. "Cute." Tony nods, a warm smile washing over him. "Looks like you got back in her good graces without my help."

Apollo snorts as she crosses her arms too. "I wouldn't get ahead of ourselves just yet. He might be sleeping on the couch tonight." Tony lightly shakes his head. They both know that it's an empty threat. Apollo lets out a breath as she runs her hands through her hair before extending one toward Clara. "I'm so sorry, I forgot to introduce myself." Clara waves her off as she takes her hand. "Doctor Apollo Xavier."

"Clara Brown," she introduces. "Although you already knew that." Apollo nods as they share a smile. "Tony mentioned you." Apollo's eyes widen as she glances at Tony. He can't help but laugh. Clara giggles to herself, too. "While we were searching for the Tesseract. Said something about you being obsessed with me?"

Apollo's cheek instantly turns bright red. "I wouldn't say I'm obsessed with you," she corrects. Tony snorts, which earns a sharp glare from Apollo. "Peggy Carter used to tell us stories of you all the time." Clara smiles softly. "And Howard always went on and on about Steve, it was just nice to hear about some good ol' fashioned woman power." Clara's smile grows. "But I would never use the word obsessed." Clara looks at Tony with a raised eyebrow. He mouths, 'I would', which causes her to giggle. Apollo glares at him again. "But look at you!" she exclaims, attempting to change the subject. "You're here! In the twenty-first century. Alive!" Clara bites the inside of her cheek as she shifts from foot to foot. "Sorry! Of course, you're alive. It's just..." Apollo stops and shakes her head. "Wow," she breathes.

"Wow yourself, Doctor Xavier," Clara comments. "Tony wasn't kidding when he said you were cute."

Apollo's cheeks turn pink as she waves Clara's comment off. "Oh, please." She shakes her head. "You can call me Apollo, though."

"Then you can call me Clara." Apollo smiles brightly with a nod. Clara glances between her and Tony before settling on Apollo. "I'm looking forward to running into you again, Apollo, and something tells me we will."

"I certainly hope so."

They share a smile before Tony drags Clara over to his computer for her to look over what he's been working on.

~***~

AUGUST

Nick Fury has never been more sure about something in his life than he is about forming The Avengers. And yet, even after they've dealt with Loki, tension is in the air between Shield and the government.

Fury's counting on their return when they need them.

But he has other affairs to attend to, particularly with Shield's blossoming top scientist. Already, Fury knows that at least one of the Avengers will be sticking close by for the time being.

Bustling about in the lab, Clara is hunched over helicarrier blueprints, a dark, bolded 2.0 situated next to the name as she marks notes about how to improve the machinery. The final designs of the EXO-7 Falcon suit lay neatly in a pile next to her briefcase. Fury's caught her before she heads off for Stark Tower to finalize the suit with Tony this afternoon. A file folder with a blue sticky note that reads 'Project Insight' is disregarded in the far corner of the desk.

"Doc Brown," Fury clears his throat, drawing Clara out of her thoughts. She doesn't have half a heart to correct him. "If you have a moment."

"Of course." She sets down her pencil and fixes her hair. "I've always got time for you, Director Fury."

"I thought I told you to call me Nick?"

"And I thought I told you to call me Clara."

"Touche," Fury allows her to enter the elevator first, pressing the button for his office on one of the upper floors. The ride is silent between the two.

When the elevator comes to a stop, Fury is the first to step out, followed by Clara. "Clara," Fury starts as he introduces the two women. "Natasha Romanoff. I'm sure you remember her."

Clara nods as Fury continues. "Agent Romanoff, Doc Brown: the brains behind Shield's entire science department."

"The pleasure is all mine again, Doc." Nat shakes her hand with a smile.

"Clara is fine," She corrects, laughing a little.

"I've assigned Agent Romanoff to be your personal bodyguard when the need arises," Fury explains. "You're a valuable asset to us, and as such, comes with a target on your back."

Clara nods in understanding. She's unsure of whether Nat will be open to forming a friendship, but Clara knows she'll try her best to make the most out of the situation. Fury dismisses them both, and before long, Clara is on her way to Stark Tower.

~***~

"Apollo, you might want to see this," Tony calls from his office. He's been going through his dad's old files as of late, which was a task that was long overdue because of the memories it brought up.

Apollo takes a seat near the desk. "What is it?"

"Well, this is Clara's research for her PhD program from the forties." He starts, placing the file on this desk. It's been kept in pristine condition. Apollo finds that strange, even though she's aware that Clara and Howard knew each other back then. "And these..." Tony trails off, handing over a dozen or so letters. "Are letters. Addressed from a James Buchanan Barnes to a Clara Marie Brown."

"Tony."

"I think Dad intercepted them." Tony finishes quietly before Apollo can say anything more. "Dad loved Mom when I was younger, but I think he always loved Clara more."

"So he intercepted his letters?" Apollo picks one up, noting the date is from August of 1944. A good half a year before Clara said he died. She gently opens the first letter, scanning over the written words. It's mainly a retelling of Bucky's battles on the European front, but near the end, it gets more sentimental. She runs a hand through her hair. "They're love letters. Tony he was in love with her."

"I'm sure he told her before he died."

Apollo shakes her head. "We don't know that. Clara's never mentioned it. She speaks of him fondly, but I don't think they ever said that they loved one another while he was still alive." It's sad to think about. "We have to give these to her, Tony."

He shakes his head. "No, we shouldn't do that. Giving her this knowledge is just going to break her."

"But she deserves to know the truth."

"I know," Tony breathes, letting the silence settle over them. "Giving the letters to her is the right thing to do, Sunshine. But you have to think about how it's going to affect her. Her work. Shield is counting on her entirely for all their technology, and she can't afford to stumble."

Apollo falls silent, looking over the letters. Finally, she looks up at him again. "Fine. But as soon as this 'Project Insight' is complete, we're giving these to her. I'll be damned to make sure Shield gives her time off to fully grieve, and then I'll drag her to a therapist myself if I have to."

Tony agrees with her plan. "She seems like a tough kid. She can handle this shit."

Apollo knows she can. She just didn't want to see her handling it alone.

~***~

The breeze is still a welcome reprieve as the sun beats down on the tarmac. Clara and Tony stand patiently, waiting to meet the two paratroopers who were chosen to test the EXO-7 Falcon wingsuits they spent the summer developing.

"Mr. Stark, Miss Brown, meet Sam and Riley." The officer introduces the two soldiers. "They'll be the ones flying those fancy suits you built."

"A pleasure to meet you," Riley says, shaking their hands, clearly eager to try on the suits.

As Clara helps them suit up, Tony explains how the wings work; how to control them, how to land efficiently, and all the cool maneuvers they can do once they are used to flying the suit. "Go try them out."

Both Sam and Riley immediately take to the air, Sam's excited shouting causing Clara to chuckle. They land not long after, profusely thanking both of them for the time and material it took to develop the EXO-7 Falcon machinery.

"You know, I read about you growing up," Sam comments as Clara helps him undo all the safety buckles. "You were mentioned in a lot of history classes and science books. Not to mention, I've visited the Captain America Smithsonian exhibit quite a few times."

Clara laughs softly. "Sounds like you're a fan of my work."

Sam chuckles. "I am. I wish there were more I could read about. It gets quiet after 1945, and I'm guessing that's because you somehow ended up here?"

She nods. "Complicated story."

"One I hope to hear someday."

"Definitely." Clara steps back so he can properly take off the suit now that the buckles are all finished. "I'm glad you like the wingsuit, Sam."

With the demonstration done, Clara and Tony head back to Stark Industries so she can gather anything she left there during her time working on the suit. "Oh, hey, Clara?" Tony calls, and she turns to find him rooting around his workstation. There's a pile of papers in front of him. "I think Dad would have wanted you to have these."

She takes the papers from him, eyes skimming over the words. She can't help her gasp; it's notes upon notes of her research for her PhD project. "I...thank you, Tony." She says, but her expression doesn't match her joy.

"What's wrong?" he asks, unsure of why she seems upset over her research being found.

"It's been decades," Clara explains. "I don't think NYU will accept me back into their PhD program."

Tony huffs, thinking. "Leave it to me."

A few days later, she's working late one night when Fury brings down a letter for her from NYU. Hesitantly, she tears it open to find a reacceptance letter. "Whatever Stark did," Fury starts. "Thank him profusely."

~***~

The Rockaway Beach Boardwalk is alive with distant shouts of glee as patrons enjoy the rides. Bells and buzzers occasionally ring when someone wins a prize. Peter is eagerly tugging on her hand and Apollo's, but Clara can't break her gaze away from the overwhelming joy that the place is filled with.

It's August, and Peter practically begged them both to go out before school started the following week. Plus, seeing that his birthday wasn't too long ago, it was only fair that he got to pick where they ended up for the day. That was how they found themselves at Rockaway.

The beach is busy with dozens upon dozens of families also trying to soak in the last few days of summer with their kids. Peter isn't interested in the beach as he trudges through the sand to get to the boardwalk.

Apollo is following after him, turning back to look at Clara briefly. Her brow piques in interest as she notes the distant look on her friend's face. With a hum, Apollo doesn't ask and instead takes her hand. "Peter's always wanted to come to Rockaway. We've never found the time between, well, everything else."

Clara huffs a quiet laugh. "You can always find the time to do something if you search hard enough."

Apollo giggles, and Clara has no choice but to move forward, kicking up sand as they make their way to the boardwalk. "Says the time traveler."

Peter weaves between people as he makes his way to the giant ferris wheel. "Auntie Clara," he calls, taking her hand from Apollo's, who rolls her eyes. "Did they have the ferris wheel during your time?"

Clara smiles, kneeling to meet Peter's eyes while Apollo steps to the ticket booth to buy them tickets. "You know, I'm not sure," she answers honestly, soothing away a stray piece of his hair. "James and Steve brought me when the park reopened. It looks a lot different from what I remember."

"Did you have fun with James and Stevie?"

She laughs, ruffling his hair despite having fixed it a moment ago. "Of course I did. Did I ever tell you the story about how James convinced a truck driver to let us ride in the back of his truck back into the city because we couldn't afford the train back?"

Peter gasps, and whether it's out of shock or surprise, Clara's not sure. "No!"

"C'mere," Clara takes his hand and leads him to join the line forming along the gate of the ferris wheel. Apollo adjusts her sunglasses before digging in her bag for sunscreen. "Well, before we headed home that night, we thought it would be smart to get something to eat." Peter hums, nodding along. While he's captivated, Apollo takes the chance to apply sunscreen to the tip of his nose, cheeks, and ears. "So, we did just that. Only, we didn't realize that it cost us the last of our money, so when Stevie tried to buy tickets..."

Peter chimes in. "You didn't have enough!"

Clara nods. "That's right. You would think we were better prepared." She laughs lightly, shuffling along with the line. "Steve and I waited for James to finish talking to the nice truck driver who offered us the ride. But I told him we'd freeze to death in there!" She giggles along with Peter, who's pretending to shiver. "But I trusted him, and we all made it back home safely."

"James sounds so nice." Peter mumbles, and it pulls at Clara's heartstrings.

"He would have adored you, Bug." She assures him, and they fall into soft silence as the boardwalk continues as lively as ever.

When they're off the ferris wheel, Peter holds both Clara and Apollo's hands as he skips down the boardwalk between them. The girls chat quietly, deciding where to go next. They're passing the arcade alleyway when Peter stops his skipping abruptly to point to the games. "Mom, can we play some of the games? Please?"

"Sure, why not?" Apollo shrugs, and the three of them make their way to the stretch of fair games that line the wall.

Peter comes to a stop in front of the ring toss. Prizes of all shapes and sizes hang from the ceiling. Peter's already bouncing from foot to foot, eager to try his hand at winning something for himself. Apollo pays the vendor, who then explains the rules to Peter as he hands him the rings. He misses his first shot, and then his second, and Clara can see his bottom lip start to pout as the third ring misses just like the first two.

"Here," Clara hands a few dollars over to the vendor. He collects the rings for her, and she hands them to Peter. "It's all about the right angle, right?" She says kneeling to be at the same eye level as him. "It's basic science and mathematics, Bug. So, if you toss the ring from here..." She gently tosses the ring with him, watching as it spins around the lip of the bottle before settling on the neck. Peter immediately perks up. "You should have a larger margin of success."

Peter nods enthusiastically, tossing the next two rings in the same fashion to receive the same result. The vendor chuckles, and Peter picks out what prize he wants before they move on to the next game.

At the end of the row is a balloon dart game, and Clara comes to a stop. All the prizes are stuffed bears hanging from the hooks, but that's not what causes her breath to hitch in her throat: there's one bear in particular that caught her eye: chocolate brown with a green ribbon tied around its neck. Her eyes water.

"Clara?" Apollo calls, looking between her friend, who seems to have been stuck in time, and the game booth she's staring at. "It's just balloon darts. Peter wants to try this one, and he's waiting for you to help him win at this one, too."

"Sol," her voice is broken, alarming Apollo. Just a moment ago, it was filled with warmth and remembrance. "I...God, I'm sorry. You'd think after sixty years they'd change the prizes out every once in a while."

"What do you..." Apollo's voice trails off. It's not the booth that has Clara frozen in her tracks, it's the prize offered. "Oh. Oh, sweetheart."

She pulls Clara into a hug, and she can feel the tension slipping away from Clara's shoulders as she melts into the embrace. When she finally pulls away, she's wiping tears from her face. She sniffles, and it's a half-assed attempt to compose herself. "I didn't think something could affect me so much."

"That's why you were staring at the boardwalk earlier when we were trekking through the sand to get here." Apollo hums softly, taking Clara's hand again. "You were remembering the last time you were here; when things were good."

Clara nods, taking a deep breath. "It's like the last piece of my happiness was left here that day. Everything sort of fell apart afterward."

"You know that's not true," Apollo says, not allowing Clara to rebuttal. "You had your time before the war, and even during it."

"But I'm right where he left me," Clara whispers. "New York. Rockaway Beach. Brooklyn. It may be sixty years later, but I'm still here, and he's not."

"It'll be okay," Apollo whispers back, pulling Clara into another hug. "Now, your nephew is waiting for his favorite auntie to help him win a bear to add to his ever-growing collection."

Her words pull a chuckle from Clara. She wipes her eyes again and joins Peter's side. "Okay, you remember how I showed you how to hold yourself for the ring toss game?" Peter nods quickly, snapping into position. "Good. Balloon darts are the same concept. You got this, Bug."

Peter lets the dart sail through the air, popping the balloon it strikes. The second and third darts follow suit. Peter cheers in delight, and Clara gives him a big smile. He picks the sandy-colored bear with a red ribbon.

"You know, James spent three dollars on that game trying to win me the bear with the green ribbon," Clara says after a moment, taking his hand and joining Apollo in the crowd.

"Really?!"

Clara hums to confirm his thoughts. "Yep. It's safe and sound in my apartment, to this day."

Peter's awestruck look on his face brings a wider smile to Clara's. "What did you name your bear, Auntie Clara?"

"Oh, uh..." She fumbles for a name, trying to come up with something. "...Einstein. My dad used to have a shaggy, white dog named Einstein, and I thought the name suited him."

Peter nods, seemingly pleased with the name she chose. Peter hugs the bear close to his chest, in deep thought. "I think I'll name my bear James."

Once again, Clara can't help the way this kid pulls on her heartstrings. "I think that's an excellent choice."

~***~

OCTOBER

It's only been a couple of months since Nat's been assigned to protect Clara, and already they're eating takeout in her apartment.

"Wait, so you're as old as Steve?" Nat asks, trying to wrap her head around the new information. "He was found frozen in ice, so that I understand, but how do you look as young as you do?

"You have to promise not to tell anyone," Clara giggles, and Nat shakes her head to acknowledge she won't tell. "My dad invented time travel."

"Shut up." Nat's eyes go wide.

"It's true and a complicated story!" Clara exclaims. "I rebuilt his design, and got myself set here by freak accident."

"So, the Institute of Future Technology..."

"My dad opened it," Clara confirms. "Although my brother Jules runs it now. Verne's off in South America looking for dinosaur bones, I think. Neither of us has heard from him in a while."

"I can't believe you're from the Brown family." Nat mumbles, just as Clara stands to retrieve a box of black and white photos. Nat recognizes Steve standing next to a man he must have known. Clara was in some, but what caught her eye was one of her standing next to a familiar man and a flying car. "Whose this?"

"Howard Stark." Clara takes a sip from her drink. "My first employer after I graduated from NYU. He also got to see me graduate with my master's, too."

"Relation to Tony Stark?"

"The very same." Clara chuckles, watching as Nat looks over the photo of her and Bucky from their Christmas out dancing.

"Whose this? You two seemed close."

Nat wishes she could take the question back when Clara's expression grows soft. "James Barnes. Steve always called him Bucky, but he let me call him James."

"An old beau?"

Clara sighs. "You could say that. He went MIA not long after this. We had one Valentine's Day together, and he had big dreams for our future together, but..."

Her voice trails off, and Nat drops the subject.

~***~

NOVEMBER

It seemed that the quickest way for Tony to find a babysitter for date night was to contact his old Falcon suit coordinator. Clara never really minded, considering she got to see Peter more often and would end up gossiping with Apollo before she, Tony, and Bruce left on date night. However, as she got into the swing of things and developed the second version of the helicarriers, she found herself swamped with work. So much so, that one particular night, she had asked them if it was alright for Peter to come down to Shield headquarters lab while she worked.

He sat quietly at her desk while she finished recording her results from the most recent testing of the helicarriers. It wasn't looking great, which meant new blueprints and new theories. Back to the drawing board. It felt like she'd been working on this for days on end without any sleep. "Aunt Clara!" Peter calls, and she hurries over to him.

"What is it, Bug?"

"I made this for you in ceramics last week." He pulls out a small vase. "I made one for Mom, and I wanted to make you one for helping me with my science homework."

Gently, she takes the vase. "It's beautiful, Peter. Thank you."

She sniffles, setting the vase on her desk. Her thoughts wandered, unable to help but think if she had gotten the chance, how many kids she and James could have had. If they would have had his blue eyes or her intelligence. The more she got to know Tony and Apollo, she couldn't help but notice the qualities of both of them in Peter. She wondered if they could have had a son like him.

"Are you okay, Aunt Clara?"

She hums with a smile. "Oh, yes. Just lost in thought." The silence lingers, and she gestures for him to follow her. "Why don't you help me with redesigning these ships while we wait for your parents to get home?"

Thirty minutes later, Clara's phone lit up with a text notifying her that Apollo, Tony, and Bruce were home. She was quick to help Peter pack up his things so they could make their way back to Stark Tower, so she could drop him off.

Apollo invites them inside, and she ushers Peter off to bed with a quick kiss on the cheek. Meanwhile, Apollo gestures for Clara to take a seat on the couch. "Apollo," Clara's voice is small and timid. "What is it like being a mother?"

The question throws Apollo off guard, even if she had sensed Clara's thoughts about the subject a little bit ago, hence why she invited her in for gossip and wine. "It's complicated," Apollo answers honestly. "You're asking someone who had their son fairly young and still in medical school."

"I know, but I was curious." Clara bites her lip, her gaze falling to the wine in her glass with the hope that the subject can be dropped.

"Clara," the other woman's voice is soft and understanding. "Talk to me."

Clara sighs, setting her glass down. "Peter made me a vase in ceramics and gave it to me tonight. It...made me wonder what motherhood would have been like."

"Because you arrived in our time before you got the chance."

"He died before we could. I spent three days grieving, realized I had a time machine on my hands, and decided to go back and save him without messing up too much of the timeline." Clara scoffs, turning her head so Apollo couldn't see her tears. "A whole lot of good that got me."

"Maybe fate had a reason for bringing you here." She offers, and Clara weighs the suggestion.

"Then fate is cruel." Clara bites, downing the rest of her wine.

"You've taken a liking to Peter, haven't you?" The silence that lingers after tells Apollo all that she needs to know. "He adores you, you know? Always asking when you can come over. Telling his classmates and teachers that his Aunt Clara is the smartest scientist he knows."

Her flattery doesn't improve Clara's mood, and Apollo moves over to the couch to hug her. "Maybe...it's time to move on? I'm not saying to jump right into dating again this soon, but give yourself time to heal. Let yourself grieve."

Clara knows she's right. "I think I'll take your advice on that. Thank you, Apollo."

"Of course, Clara. Anytime."

Chapter Text

JANUARY, 2013

Steve places a hand on Clara's shoulder, ultimately drawing her attention away from messing with her hands. She's nervous, that much he can tell. It's her first big interview for television, and with Shield breathing down her neck, he can understand her nerves. "You're gonna be great."

"Oh, sure," she scoffs, now straightening out the fabric of her skirt. "It's just The Late Night Lab with Max Reynolds. That's nothing to be nervous about."

 Steve rolls his eyes at her sarcasm. "I thought Apollo gave you some tips about public speaking?"

"About that..." Clara trails off, the corners of her mouth pulling up into a small smile. "I never got around to asking her for some."

On the green room television, they watch Max Reynolds step out on stage, greeting the packed room of cheering fans. Her stomach twists into all sorts of knots. "Stevie, this was a mistake."

 Now it's his turn to scoff. "You and I both know that's not true, Clara. What do you think Bucky would say if he were here right now?"

 He catches the way her smile falls briefly. "He would be extremely proud of me for getting to where I am today."

 "That's the spirit." Steve hugs her side as they walk to where she's supposed to wait for her cue. "So, don't do this because Shield wants you to. Do this for Bucky."

 "For James." She echoes, feeling a bit more at ease.

 "Tonight," Max Reynolds begins. "We've got a real treat. She's a scientist, an innovator, and -- let's just say -- she might have just saved the world. She's made waves in the scientific community and is now on everyone's radar after developing the helicarrier that played a key role in the Battle of New York last spring. Please welcome the incredible Clara Brown!"

 The audience erupts into applause as Clara takes her first few hesitant steps out onto the stage, crossing over to the couch she's supposed to sit on after shaking Max's hand. "Clara, it's amazing to have you here." Max begins, and she settles on the couch. "First off, can we just take a moment and appreciate the fact that you were the mastermind behind the helicarrier that helped turn the tide in the Battle of New York? That's...I mean, that's not your average science project!"

 The audience applauds again, and Clara chuckles. "Yeah, it's more intense than the science fairs I remember." She flashes a smile. "It was a team effort, honestly -- a lot of late nights and a lot of collaborating with Shield's tech team."

 "Of course, team effort." Max agrees. "So, tell me, Clara, what was it like working on something that massive--literally and figuratively? I mean, you're talking about designing a flying fortress for the Avengers." The audience goes wild with cheering. "Were you ever just like, 'Oh, no big deal, I've got this'?"

 "When Director Fury assigned me the project, I thought at first it was no big deal. When he then informed me I'd be debuting it to the Avengers, I thought, 'This is either going to be a huge success or the world might never forgive me.' I'm glad it was the former and not the latter."

 "And a huge success it has been for you considering your new celebrity status; you're the top scientist at Shield now, which I bet comes with some crazy perks. However, you also worked alongside Howard Stark during World War II. You know, we all hear the legends, but I have to imagine the man himself was...a character, to say the least. Was he always as unconventional as the stories say?"

 Clara pauses for a moment, considering what to say. "Howard was unconventional but in the best ways. He always had these grand ideas, sometimes without the plans to back them up, but somehow made it work. It was chaotic and intense, and frankly, I learned more from him than I ever thought possible. He was brilliant, and he's seen the potential in me since day one."

 Max gives her a kind smile. "What do you think he'd say now, seeing where you are today?"

"Oh, I'm not sure," Clara responds honestly, casting her gaze down. "Probably something along the lines of 'I told you so'."

 The audience laughs, and Clara's nerves ease up some more. Max shuffles his cue cards around. "Speaking of the 1940s, for a second, if you could go back and change one thing, just one thing, about that time, what would it be?"

 The audience is on the edge of their seats. Clara looks out across them, briefly catching Steve standing in the wings behind her. She bites her lip and looks at Max. "Maybe giving women in science more recognition. Other than Howard, an old friend of mine always saw my potential; he's the one who encouraged me to take the job with Stark Industries in the first place. I think the world could have progressed faster if more doors had been opened for women."

 "And you're certainly changing that today, Clara," Max tells her sincerely. "Your work is inspiring so many people now. We need more minds like yours."

 "Thank you, Max."

 They both laugh as he transitions to the next question. "Other than being a world-famous scientist, you're a modern marvel, just like our Captain. You're both from the 1940s, and now you're both here with us in the 21st century. How did that happen? Was it a time-travel situation, a scientific accident, or a really long nap?"

 Clara laughs, knowing that the last option was thrown in there to poke fun at Steve. "It was a combination of science, a bit of luck, and some unintended side effects."

 "Perhaps you got a ride in the Captain's vintage motorcycle when you came to our century! Or did Steve Rogers leave you with his personal time machine instead?"

 The audience murmurs amongst themselves as Clara's face begins to get hot. "No time machine; maybe I should have asked Captain America for a ride next time, seeing how well that turned out for him."

 Max laughs, and the audience's murmurs have grown to whispers. "I'm sure that would be a thrilling ride." The audience cheers with applause and someone whistles. Clara shifts, growing slightly uncomfortable. When it starts to get quiet again, Max continues. "Now, what's next for Clara Brown? Are we looking at more innovations from you, or are you maybe taking a break after saving the world with the Avengers?"

 Clara smiles again, although this time, it feels slightly forced. "I don't know if I'm taking a break anytime soon. There's always something to be improved or built. But maybe a little less 'saving the world' on my plate, and a little more 'helping the world'."

 "So no more flying ships for now?" Max questions, and Clara bites her lip with a wink. "Very cool. And, Clara, are you ever scared? I mean, the pressure from being thrust into the spotlight must be insane, especially when it comes to working on something so important. How do you keep your cool?"

 "I just keep reminding myself who I'm doing all this for," Clara responds, not thinking about her answer. The audience is back to whispering amongst themselves. "And that in the end, it will all be worth it."

 "Well, we are rooting for you. It's been amazing having you on the show tonight."

 "Thank you so much for having me, Max."

 He stands, and Clara does too, shaking his hand. He gestures to her. "Folks, give it up for Clara Brown!" The audience cheers. "The future of science is in very good hands. Stay tuned, we'll be right back after this break!"

~***~

The sun is shining despite it being January in New York, but it's a beautiful day nevertheless. Clara and Steve are bundled up in their coats as they walk through Central Park, having vowed to stay off of social media as much as possible. Clara's interview with The Late Night Lab with Max Reynolds aired that morning, and with that came Apollo's suggestion that he keep her occupied instead of being glued to their phone screens and the news.

 "What I don't get," Clara begins, tearing off a piece of the croissant she bought and handing it to Steve so he can take a piece for himself, "Is how anyone would want to be in the spotlight like that. It sounds exhausting."

 Steve shrugs, tearing a piece off for himself. "Maybe that's why Tony has a crippling caffeine addiction?"

 Clara laughs, stepping out of the way of a jogger. "I don't think that's entirely true." Silence falls between the two. "I'm glad you were with me yesterday, Stevie. I don't think I could have done it without you."

"You totally could have." Steve counters, bringing his cup of tea to his lips. "You just needed the push that Apollo would have given you had I not been there."

 "Hey!" Clara gasps, gently pushing his arm. "You know I still appreciate you. You're one of my closest friends."

 "After Apollo. She invited you to spend the holidays with her, Tony, and Bruce in Malibu. I'd say that's a strong friendship you've formed with her already."

 "I didn't say that!" Clara huffs. "Yes, Apollo and I are close friends. Tony's asked me to babysit a few times. There's nothing more to it than that."

Steve throws his head back in laughter at her flushed appearance, and Clara giggles as she steals the croissant back. They fall back into silence as they come across the park entrance that leads to the American Museum of Natural History. They pause, watching as tourists climb up the steps to escape the chilly weather. A couple is getting their picture taken in front of the museum building. Steve wraps an arm around Clara's shoulders. "I was serious when I told you that Bucky would be proud of you."

 "I know, Stevie," Clara whispers. "I just wish he were here to bask in it all with us."

 "Are you anywhere close to repairing that time machine of yours?"

 Clara sighs. "No. I doubt it's ever going to be fixed with the amount of work I'm doing for Shield. Not to mention the limited access to the key materials to make it work."

 "Well," Steve gives her a sad smile. "He may not be here with us, but at least you aren't alone."

 That sentiment does make her smile. "I'm glad you're here with me, Steve."

 He hugs her, pulling away when both of their phones start buzzing wildly with texts from the other Avengers. It's all talk about this article, and Clara clicks on the link, breath caught in her throat as she reads the headline:

Captain America's Heart Is Taken? Fans Believe Steve Rogers and Clara Brown Are an Item.

On Friday evening, fans across America were delighted to watch as The Late Night Lab with Max Reynolds aired their latest interview with up-and-coming Shield Scientist, Clara Brown. However, during Brown's interview, she mentioned an old friend who encouraged her to take Howard Stark's initial offer to work at Stark Industries. Fans are speculating that said 'old friend' is none other than Steve Rogers. Social media is buzzing with theories, along with a new hashtag that has been trending on Twitter since early this morning: #CaptainAmericana.

~***~

FEBRUARY

Countless members of the hair and makeup crew flit around Clara, meticulously pinning strands of hair out of her face and applying blush to her cheeks.

Pepper Potts, Tony's previous personal assistant and current CEO of Stark Industries, stands off to the side on the phone. Clara side-eyes her once she's finished, curious as to what that was all about. "It was Secretary Pierce." Pepper states simply. "Reminding me to remind you about your character now that you're in the spotlight."

Clara half-heartedly chuckles. "He knows Tony made you my PR agent for a reason, right? Didn't you handle all of Tony's press for almost a whole decade?"

Pepper nods. "You would be right. I don't know why Pierce is so overbearing about it now."

Meanwhile, Apollo gently touches her fingertips to her temple, catching a glimpse into Clara's mind. She watches as hair and makeup finish and Clara redons her suit jacket as she speaks with Pepper. She had expected to find worried thoughts, but the sadness that washed over her was shocking. It was as if she'd been grieving the death of a loved one.

Apollo curses, checking the date. Clara had been grieving. They had all been planning to surprise her on her birthday, but they forgot February 15th was right around the corner: his death. How could they have forgotten the anniversary of his death?

Tony stops right next to her, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Tony, she's miserable."

He gives Apollo a surprised look. "What? She's having the time of her life."

Apollo takes a deep breath and levels with him. "She's grieving and hiding it well. I'm going to talk to her."

Breaking off from Tony, Apollo steps up to Clara, taking her hands in hers now that the other Shield Officers are finished grilling her on what to say for the interview. "You're not doing well."

"Is it obvious that I'm nervous?"

"Not nervous, no." Apollo breathes out. "Grieving."

The blanched look gives Clara away immediately. "Maybe I can't keep everything from you." She sighs. "I asked them to reschedule this interview for next week after I got past this...wave of sadness and my birthday."

Apollo offers half a smile and then gently pokes for more information. "What did they tell you when you asked?"

"They said, 'You gotta fake it till you make it.'"

Apollo's heart breaks. "This whole time?" Clara nods. "Oh, honey." She pulls her in for a tight hug, and she feels Clara start to break down in her arms. "Have you talked to anyone about this? A therapist?"

"I don't have the time, Sol," Clara says. "Shield wants to push Project Insight to be done sooner than anticipated. The demand is killing my team, so I've been trying to catch up when they leave for the night so we can meet the new deadlines."

"You are not telling me you've been pulling all-nighters to finish those helicarriers?" Clara sheepishly smiles as Apollo pinches the bridge of her nose. "You're killing me, Zeitrei. Working yourself to death and not allowing yourself to properly grieve is not a good coping mechanism."

The Shield agents who are escorting Clara and Pepper wave her over. It's time to go on. "I've been just fine thus far, Sol. Don't worry about me."

Clara walks off, and Apollo watches as she takes a deep breath and plasters a fake smile on her face before going through the curtain. The thunderous applause and clicking cameras are a result of her presence. "I'm always going to worry about you, Zeitrei."

~***~

APRIL

"I'm here to see Sam Wilson," Clara informs the guard at the gate, who lets her pass through once he recognizes who she is. Ever since the Avengers were able to stop Loki's alien army, and word got out that she was the one who designed the technology that aided them, she rocketed into a life of fame. She rarely left the lab out of fear of being caught by the paparazzi.

This visit, however, was special. She had heard the news from Fury, who told her that, unfortunately, Sam's partner Riley had been killed in action. The news had dug up old feelings and memories that she had squashed for the time being, and she didn't want Sam to deal with those feelings alone.

She found him sitting in the back of the hangar, quiet and hanging his head. "Hi, Sam." She calls out, keeping her voice soft. "I'm sorry for your loss."

"Thanks." His tone of voice seems distant. "I just wished I could have done more."

She nods, then takes a seat next to him. "I brought you something." Gently, she pulls the piece of machinery out of the bag she had brought it in. "It took me all night, and a few cups of coffee, but it's complete. And it's yours."

The little droid comes to life, hovering in front of him. Sam can only stare, unable to say anything. "I know having a partner in the sky meant a lot to you. Riley meant a lot to you," she whispers, smiling softly. "Now you never have to fly alone again."

Sam brings her into a hug, eyes watering. "This was so thoughtful of you, thank you." He chuckles sadly. "Does it have a name?"

"Nope. I thought I would leave that up to you."

Sam thinks for a moment, then says, "Redwing. That was Riley's call sign."

"I think that's perfect."

They sit in respectful silence for a while, watching the droid flit about. Sam doesn't have the heart to bring up that in a few days, he'll be retiring from the military due to Riley's death, and would have to give up Redwing.

~***~

AUGUST

"Miss Brown, a pleasure to meet you finally." Alexander Pierce gives her a big grin and shakes her hand. Being polite, Clara takes it and smiles back.

"The pleasure is all mine, Secretary Pierce." It's unnerving how tight his handshake is, but she brushes it off.

"First, I must say, those helicarriers you built last year for the Avengers are just incredible feats of engineering. We're lucky to have you leading Project Insight."

Clara blushes red, still not used to the flattery. "Thank you. I'm incredibly grateful for my team and the resources Shield allows me to have."

"And I heard that you're currently researching your PhD while working with us?"

Clara nods. "That's correct, Mr. Secretary." As high level as he was, she didn't doubt he knew exactly how she got to their current time. "Mr. Stark was kind enough to give me an endorsement at NYU to let me resume my current research."

The corners of Pierce's mouth quirk upward. "What are you researching, if I may ask?"

"I don't mind," Clara assures him. "My research is on time travel and the existence of it. I, myself, am living proof that the technology exists. My family happens to be known for time traveling." She jokes. The Institute of Future Technology was proof of that, even if to the untrained eye, they would have never known that a time traveler founded the school. It was almost like the Brown Family secret.

"Fascinating, Miss Brown," Pierce comments. "I'd be interested in reading your work when you complete it. I'm sure Shield will keep a close eye on all your future achievements."

"Of course, Mr. Secretary." She gives him a courteous smile. "Have a pleasant afternoon."

Once he's out of earshot, Natasha gives Clara a look. "That wasn't weird at all."

"Tell me about it."

The agent hides a laugh, following after her. "Are you seriously going to let him read your research paper when you've finished it?"

"Absolutely not." Clara enters the elevator, waiting for Nat to settle in beside her before pressing the button for the lab. "That machinery is my life's work. Those blueprints will go to the grave with me if I have any say in it."

"Good call."

The girls walk on in silence before Fury calls Natasha up to his office for a debriefing. "Takeout later?" she asks, and Clara nods to confirm their plans.

"Yep. My place, you can pick the movie."

"It's a date." The girls smile at each other. "See you tonight."

The lab grows quiet once Nat is upstairs. She closes the folder she had left open earlier, scanning the words 'Project Insight' in bold lettering before she hides it in one of the drawers. Clara braces herself against her desk, her eyes drifting over the photos she had put up that had made the journey through time with her. Her gaze lands on Bucky's face; a photo that one of the men had caught of them sneaking a kiss. Clara sighs.

"Just a little longer, James. Then I'll get those damn circuits fixed and I'll be coming home to you."

The streets of New York are quiet as she makes her way home. Clara slots her apartment key into the lock, pushing the door open and locking it behind her once she's safely inside. Her hand automatically finds the light switch on the wall, flooding the living room with light. She sets her bag on the entryway table, drops the keys into the dish, and hangs up her coat.

She turns down the hallway to her bedroom, stilling at the sight of the slightly ajar door. She always leaves it open when she leaves. She always keeps her bedroom window closed, so the wind couldn't have blown it shut.

Quietly, she grabs the nearest weapon and creeps toward the bedroom. When she's within arm's reach, she kicks the door open and barges in, ready to take out the attacker.

But the bedroom is empty.

Clara shivers, her attention snapping to the curtains fluttering in the breeze. Her window is wide open. Dropping her weapon, she rushes to slide it shut and flip the lock into place. For extra measure, she draws the blinds, blocking her bedroom from the outside world. She retreats into the entryway, pulling out her phone to call Apollo and Natasha.

On the fire escape right outside the bedroom window, the Winter Soldier stands, hugged against the wall, and feels a heavy sense of deja vu.

He's been in that apartment unit before. A very, very long time ago.

Chapter Text

MARCH 2014 - WASHINGTON D.C.

The sun has barely risen, and the chill of spring is still in the air. Sam Wilson leisurely continues his jog around the grounds of the Smithsonian, half aware of the footsteps behind him. "On your left." The jogger passes him, and Sam continues along.

He's passing the Lincoln Memorial when he hears footsteps again. "On your left." The jogger warns once more.

Sam huffs, "Uh-huh, on my left. Got it."

The sun has fully risen by the time Sam reaches the front of the memorial again, those same footsteps behind him. "Don't say it." He warns. "Don't you say it!"

"On your left," Steve smirks, passing him for the third time that morning.

"Come on!"

In an attempt to catch up, he rounds the pool and picks up his pace, unable to catch the super soldier. Instead, he collapses underneath one of the trees to catch his breath, which is where Steve finds him after finishing his last lap. "Need a medic?"

Sam laughs. "I need a new set of lungs. Dude, you just ran, like, 13 miles in 30 minutes."

"I guess I got a late start," Steve says.

"Really?" Sam looks up at him. "You should be ashamed of yourself. You should take another lap." Silence falls between them. "Did you just take it? I assume you just took it."

"What unit are you with?" Steve asks, pointing to Sam's sweatshirt.

"58th Pararescue. But now I'm working down at the VA." Sam holds out his hand so Steve can help him stand, introducing himself. "Sam Wilson."

"Steve Rogers."

"I kind of put that together," Sam admits. "I saw you in those interviews with that Shield scientist, Clara. She's a nice girl." He regards Steve for a moment. "Must have freaked you out, coming home after the whole defrosting thing."

Steve sighs. "It takes some getting used to." He shakes his hand. "It's good to meet you, Sam."

He steps away, but Sam calls out to him. "It's your bed, right?"

"What's that?"

"Your bed, it's too soft. When I was over there, I'd sleep on the ground, use rock for pillows, like a caveman." Sam explains. "Now I'm home, lying in my bed, and it's like..."

"Lying on a marshmallow." Steve finishes for him. "Feel like I'm gonna sink right to the floor." Sam nods to confirm his thoughts. "How long?"

"Two tours. You must miss the good old days, huh?"

"Well," Steve smiles softly. "Things aren't so bad. Like you said, Clara's here working at Shield, so I'm not alone. The food's a lot better. We used to boil everything. No polio is good. Internet, so helpful. I've been reading a lot, trying to catch up."

Sam smiles too. "Marvin Gaye, 1972, Trouble Man soundtrack," he suggests, and Steve takes out his notebook. "Everything you missed jammed into one album."

"I'll put it on the list." He writes it under Rocky (Rocky II?), joining the long list of other suggestions people have given him to look into, such as Disco, Thai Food, and Nirvana. His phone buzzes, alerting him of a Shield mission. "All right, Sam, duty calls. Thanks for the run." They shake hands once more. "If that's what you want to call running."

Sam scoffs. "Oh, that's how it is?"

"Oh, that's how it is."

They both laugh as they release their handshake. "Okay. Any time you want to stop by the VA, make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk, just let me know." Sam tells him, and Steve nods.

"I'll keep it in mind."

Natasha pulls up to the curb and rolls down her window to address the two men. "Hey, fellas. Either one of you know where the Smithsonian is? I'm here to pick up a fossil."

Steve climbs into the passenger seat. "That's hilarious."

"How you doing?" Sam asks Natasha, who just smiles.

"Hey."

"Can't run everywhere," Steve tells him.

"No, you can't." Sam agrees as Natasha pulls away from the curb and joins the DC traffic, headed for the Triskelion.

~***~

THE LEMURIAN STAR - INDIAN OCEAN

"Target is a mobile satellite launch platform, the Lemurian Star." Brock Rumlow informs the Shield agents who have volunteered to join Nat and Steve for the extraction mission. "They were sending up their last payload when pirates took them, 93 minutes ago."

"Any demands?" Steve asks.

"Billion and a half," Rumlow replies.

"Why so steep?"

"Because it's Shield."

Steve sighs. "So it's not off-course. It's trespassing."

"I'm sure they have a good reason," Nat assures him.

"You know, I'm getting a little tired of being Fury's janitor."

"Relax. It's not that complicated."

Steve looks back at Rumlow. "How many pirates?"

"Twenty-five." Rumlow brings up a couple of files on the screen. "Top mercs led by this guy, Georges Batroc. Ex-DGSE, Action Division. He's at the top of Interpol's Red Notice. Before the French demobilized him, he had 36 kill missions. This guy's got a rep for maximum casualties."

"Hostages?" Steve asks next.

"Oh, mostly techs. One officer, Jasper Sitwell. They're in the galley."

"What's Sitwell doing on a launch ship?" Steve questions, but carries on giving his orders. "All right, I'm gonna sweep the deck and find Batroc. Nat, you kill the engines and wait for instructions. Rumlow, you sweep aft, find the hostages, get them to the life-pods, get them out. Let's move."

"Strike, you heard the Cap. Gear up."

The agents disperse, gearing up as instructed. Steve lifts his wrist, speaking into the comm piece attached to it. "Secure channel seven."

"Seven secure," Nat responds. "Did you do anything fun Saturday night?"

"Well, all the guys from my barbershop quartet are dead, so, no, not really," Steve says with a smirk.

"Coming up on the drop zone, Cap." the pilot informs over the PA system.

"You know," Nat starts again. "If you ask Kristen out, from Statistics, she'd probably say yes."

"That's why I don't ask," Steve says. "Do you do this to Clara?"

"When I get bored." Nat shrugs. "Too shy, or too scared?"

"Too busy!"

Nat rolls her eyes. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say that you and Clara were related cause she gives me and Apollo the same excuse."

Steve laughs before he jumps off the jet, headed down to the Lemurian Star. Nat follows after him, and the other agents eventually follow too. The ship deck is quiet as Steve begins to stealthily sneak around, making his way toward the main deck. As he comes across pirates, he is quick to take them out by swinging his shield to knock them off their feet. One guard that Steve comes across, he simply pushes over the side of the desk, continuing his pace.

"Bouge pas!" one of the French pirates shouts, cocking their gun. "Bouge pas!"

Steve doesn't move, only watching as the pirate falls to the ground while Rumlow, Nat, and the agents land on deck. "Thanks," he says.

"Yeah. You seemed pretty helpless without me." Rumlow chuckles.

Nat sheds her parachute, keeping in step with Steve. "What about the nurse who lives across the hall from you? She seems kind of nice."

"Secure the engine room, then find me a date," Steve replies.

"I'm multitasking." Nat defends herself. "Wait, one more suggestion." Steve pauses, wanting this topic of conversation dropped sooner rather than later. "What about Clara? You two have known each other for a while, and you were each other's dates at Tony, Apollo, and Bruce's wedding."

Steve smiles, but he laughs and shakes his head. "No. That's Buck's girl."

As promised, Nat drops the subject as she jumps the guard rail to quickly descend to the lower decks. She makes quick work of the stairs, coming to a halt when she comes across one of the pirates. She smiles at him when he finally turns around. "Hey, sailor."

Nat easily takes out Durand, using him as a counterweight to repel further down into the ship, shooting several more pirates on the way. Above deck, Strike moves into position, Rumlow signaling Steve that they're ready.

"Natasha, what's your status?" Steve's voice comes through her comm. She doesn't respond as she quietly takes down another pirate. "Status, Natasha."

"Hang on!" she finally responds, pushing off the wall to knock the guy back. Another pirate comes running, and she moves to take him down too. With a sigh, she kicks the third pirate, flipping him over onto his back. "Engine room secure."

"On my mark," Steve says. "Three...two...one."

Their plan goes off without a hitch.

Steve slings his shield through the window, smashing it into pieces. Batroc manages to escape, and Steve follows not far behind him. "Hostages en route to extraction," Rumlow informs through the comm. "Romanoff missed the rendezvous point, Cap. Hostels are still in play."

"Natasha," Steve pants. "Batroc's on the move. Circle back to Rumlow and protect the hostages." She doesn't answer. "Natasha."

Batroc kicks Steve, who blocks with the shield. They engage one another, dodging and throwing punches at one another. Batroc's able to land a few kicks at Steve, but Steve is still able to retaliate, knocking him back with his shield. They appear to be evenly matched. Batroc flips out of a toss, and the fight comes to a standstill.

"Je croyais que tu étais plus qu'un bouclier." Batroc spits.

Steve sets the shield on his back, peeling off his mask. "On va voir."

The fight continues. Batroc takes the first attack, attempting to kick out Steve's leg, which he blocks. He's quick to turn the tide in his favor as he sends a kick to Batroc's leg, then his stomach, and finishes him off with a blow to the face. Batroc doesn't stay down, and Steve tackles him through the door behind him. With a harsh punch, he finally knocks Batroc out of the fight.

"Well, this is awkward," Natasha calls from where she's standing, hunched over the ship's computers.

"What are you doing?" Steve spits.

"Backing up the hard drive." She answers nonchalantly. "It's a good habit to get into."

"Rumlow needed your help. What the hell are you doing here?" Nat doesn't answer as Steve scans the screens. "You're saving Shield intel."

"Whatever I can get my hands on."

"Our mission is to rescue hostages."

"No," Nat clicks her tongue. "That's your mission." She takes the hard drive from the computer once the intel has been properly saved and stored. "And you've done it beautifully."

Steve grabs her wrist to stop her from leaving the computer room. "You just jeopardized this whole operation."

Natasha smirks. "I think that's overstating things."

Batroc stirs, rising to his feet. In one last-ditch effort, he throws a grenade at the two, which Steve knocks back using his shield. He picks up Natasha, ready to make their hasty exit. They jump through the shattered window just as the grenade explodes behind them.

"Okay," Nat huffs. "That one's on me."

"You're damn right." Steve agrees.

~***~

THE TRISKELION - SHIELD HEADQUARTERS

"You just can't stop yourself from lying, can you?" Steve accuses Fury once he steps inside his office.

Fury calls back, not turning away from the window. "I didn't lie," he states. "Agent Romanoff had a different mission than yours."

"Which you didn't feel obliged to share."

"I'm not obliged to do anything."

"Those hostages could have died, Nick," Steve says as the silence settles around them.

Finally, Fury turns to look at him. "I sent the greatest soldier in history to make sure that didn't happen."

"Soldiers trust each other. That's what makes it an army," he quips. "Not a bunch of guys running around shooting guns."

"Last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye." Fury fires back, standing to look Steve in the eye. "Look, I didn't want you doing anything you weren't comfortable with. Agent Romanoff is comfortable with everything, that's why I assigned her to protect Clara in the first place."

"I can't lead a mission when the people I'm leading have missions of their own." Steve huffs.

"It's called compartmentalization. Nobody spills the secrets because nobody knows them all."

"Except you."

Tense silence moves between them. "You're wrong about me," Fury says. "I do share. I'm nice like that." He takes a step toward the elevator, gesturing for Steve to follow along. "Insight bay." Fury instructs.

"Captain Rogers does not have clearance for Project Insight." The computer replies.

"Director override. Fury, Nicholas J."

"Confirmed."

The elevator begins its descent. "You know, they used to play music." Steve comments.

Fury briefly chuckles. "Yeah. My grandfather operated one of these things for forty years. Granddad worked in a nice building. Got good tips. He'd walk home every night, a roll of ones stuffed in his lunch bag. He'd say, 'Hi.' People would say 'Hi' back. As time went on, the neighborhood got rougher. He'd say 'Hi', they'd say 'Keep on steppin'.'". Fury sighs. "Granddad got to gripping that lunch bag a little tighter."

"Did he ever get mugged?" Steve asks.

Fury laughs. "Every week, some punk would say, 'What's in the bag?'"

"What would he do?"

"He'd show them. Bunch of crumpled ones, and a loaded .22 Magnum." Steve nods in understanding as they reach the Insight bay. "Yeah, Granddad loved people. But he didn't trust them very much." Steve turns, now enrapt with the grandeur of the bay. At the head of it all is Clara, bustling about as she answers questions that the other Shield techs have. "Yeah, I know. They're a little bit bigger than a .22. That friend of yours has been working nonstop to make sure they're just right."

They walk along, and Fury stops right behind Clara's workstation. "This is Project Insight." He begins, and Clara turns at the sound of his voice, a smile on her face. "Three next-generation helicarriers synced to a network of targeting satellites. If you would join us, Miss Brown."

She holds up her radio, signaling to her second-in-command that she'll be walking the floor with Captain Rogers and the Director. "Launched from the Lemurian Star." Steve assumes.

"Once we get them in the air, they never need to come down," Clara says, hugging her friend. "Hey, Stevie."

"Continuous sub-orbital flight, courtesy of our new repulsor engines." Fury finishes,

Steve whistles and turns to Clara. "Stark?"

"You know Tony," she shrugs. "He had a few suggestions once he got an up-close look at our old turbines." She points out the guns running along the belly of the ship. "These new long-range precision guns can eliminate 1,000 hostiles a minute."

"The satellites can read a terrorist's DNA before he steps outside his spider hole." Fury hums with pride. "We're gonna neutralize a lot of threats before they even happen."

"I thought the punishment usually came after the crime," Steve says.

"We can't afford to wait that long."

"Who's 'we'?"

"After New York," Fury starts. "I convinced the World Security Council we needed a quantum surge in threat analysis. For once, we're way ahead of the curve."

"By holding a gun to everyone on Earth and calling it protection." Steve bites.

Clara crosses her arms over her chest. "Steve, do you think I would build something like this for that? I know these ships like the back of my hand; they're programmed by some of the smartest guys Shield could find. Trust me, I wouldn't let it fire on anyone innocent."

Fury pats Clara's shoulder, and the tension between the three of them eases slightly. "You know, I read those SSR files. 'Greatest Generation'?" he questions. "You guys did some nasty stuff."

"Yeah," Steve agrees. "We compromised. Sometimes in ways that made us not sleep so well. But we did it so that people could be free. This isn't freedom. This is fear."

"Shield takes the world as it is, not as we'd like it to be." Fury counters. "And it's getting damn near past time for you to get with that program, Cap."

"Don't hold your breath."

Steve steps away, leaving Clara and Fury to stew in silence. "He'll come around, Nick." Her soft voice breaks the quiet. "He just needs some time to think it through."

"Do you think you could bring him around on this?"

Clara takes a deep breath, exhaling. "No. He needs to trust when I say I wouldn't allow my engineering to be used for fear."

Chapter Text

"If Nick Fury thinks he can get his costumed thugs and Strike commandos to mop up his mess, he's sadly mistaken," Councilman Rockwell states matter-of-factly. "This failure is unacceptable."

"Considering this attack took place one mile from my country's sovereign waters, it's a bit more than that. I move for an immediate hearing." Councilman Singh adds.

"We don't need hearings," Councilwoman Hawley expresses. "We need action. It's this Council's duty to oversee Shield."

"A breach like this raises serious questions." Councilman Yen points out.

"Like how the hell did a French pirate manage to hijack a covert Shield vessel in broad daylight?" Rockwell spits.

Alexander Pierce stops his pacing to address them. "For the record, Councilman, he's Algerian. I can draw a map if it'd help," he chuckles softly.

"I appreciate your wit, Secretary Pierce. But this council takes things like international piracy fairly seriously."

"Really? I don't." Pierce resumes his pacing again. "I don't care about one boat, I care about the fleet. If this Council is going to fall to rancor every time someone pushes us on the playing field, maybe we need someone to oversee us."

"Mr. Secretary," Yen begins, "Nobody is suggesting..." he trails off as Pierce's secretary hands him a notice. He takes it, excusing himself from the council meeting.

"More trouble, Mr. Secretary?" Rockwell asks.

"Depends on your definition," Pierce calls back, officially ending the meeting. Outside the door, Fury stands in waiting. "I work forty floors away, and it takes a hijacking for you to visit?"

Fury shrugs. "A nuclear war would do it, too." They shake hands. "You busy in there?"

Pierce puts his hands in his pockets. "Nothing, some earmarks can't be fixed."

Silence passes between them. "I'm here to ask a favor," Fury explains. "I want you to call for a vote. Project Insight has to be delayed."

"Nick," Pierce breathes out. "That's not a favor, that's a subcommittee hearing. A long one."

"It could be nothing," Fury assures him. "It probably is nothing. I just need time to make sure it's nothing."

"But if it's something?"

"Then we'll both be damn glad those helicarriers aren't in the air."

Pierce exhales. "Fine. But you've got to get Iron Man to stop by my niece's birthday party."

Fury shakes his hand with a slight huff. "Thank you, sir. I'll let Miss Brown know."

"I'll let her know myself, don't worry, Nick." Pierce laughs lightly. "And not just a flyby. He's got to mingle."

~***~

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS - WASHINGTON D.C.

"How's Peggy?" Clara asks as soon as Steve stops in front of the Veterans Affairs Office. He scans the building, processing her question.

"Hanging in there," he finally answers, his heart feeling like it's being torn in two. "I think it would give her peace knowing you're alive, Clara."

Clara sighs, a sad smile tugging at her lips. She gently shakes her head. "No, I don't think that would be wise." Silence settles between the two. "She seems to have made peace with my passing already. I don't want to screw that up for her. She'll think she's died and gone to heaven."

Steve chuckles, taking the first few steps up toward the building. "How did you know I'd be here?"

"I didn't. This is a nice surprise if I'm being honest." She shrugs, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. "I'm here to visit a friend."

"Me too." Steve offers her his arm. "No time like the present."

Clara scoffs. "Except when you have a time machine."

He laughs, and together they enter the Veterans Affairs building. The halls are quiet as they pick out some talking toward the middle of the hall from the open doorway. "I think it's getting worse," the female voice sighs. "A cop pulled me over last week. He thought I was drunk. I swerved to miss a plastic bag. I thought it was an IED."

"Some stuff you leave there." Sam's voice breaks the silence after the woman's story. Clara and Steve hang back, listening to him speak. "Other stuff you bring back. It's our job to figure out how to carry it. Is it gonna be in a big suitcase, or in a little man-purse? It's up to you."

Once the session's dismissed, Steve and Clara wait patiently for Sam in the hallway. "Look who it is, the running man." Sam flashes them both a smile, and Clara goes in to hug him instead. "Hello, Doc."

"Hi Sam," Clara greets with a soft smile of her own.

"Caught the last few minutes. It's pretty intense." Steve admits.

"Yeah, brother, we all got the same problems," Sam says, organizing the brochures on the table out front. "Guilt, regret."

"You lose someone?"

"My wingman, Riley. Flying a night mission." Clara's breath hitches slightly as her heart breaks all over again, hearing the story. "Standard PJ rescue op. Nothing we hadn't done a thousand times before until an RPG knocked Riley's dumb ass out of the sky. Nothing I could do. It's like I was up there just to watch."

"I'm sorry," Steve murmurs.

"After that, I had a really hard time finding a reason for being over there, you know?"

"But you're happy now, back in the world?"

Sam chuckles. "The number of people giving me orders is down to about zero. So, hell yeah. Plus, that little droid Miss Genius built over there made flying a lot more bearable." Clara laughs, waving him off. Sam fixes his gaze on Steve. "Are you thinking about getting out?"

"No." Steve shakes his head. "I don't know. To be honest, I don't know what I would do with myself if I did."

"Ultimate fighting?" Sam suggests, and the other two laugh with him. "Just a great idea off the top of my head. Seriously, you could do whatever you want to do. What makes you happy?"

Another moment of silence passes between them before Steve answers, "I don't know."

~***~

Pierce opens the door to his office, scowling at the sight before him. Rumlow sits in front of his desk, patiently waiting for his return. On top of that, the Asset lingers behind him, staring straight ahead with a dead look in his eye, waiting for a command.

"It's reckless of you to have him in plain sight, you know," Pierce says, his voice cutting the silence. Rumlow turns his head to acknowledge him.

"He insisted on coming to see you." Rumlow returns, covering his ass with the blatant lie. Pierce knows that the Asset has never once insisted on anything while conscious. He's made sure of that over the past decade. "He says he has information on that scientist you're interested in."

Pierce hums, nodding. "And this couldn't have waited until our next meeting?" He lifts his gaze to the Asset. Rumlow goes to open his mouth and respond, but Pierce hushes him.

The Asset tilts his head but doesn't say anything. Pierce sighs, directing his attention back to Rumlow. "Fury is catching on, slowly but surely. I need him out of the picture." He states, raising an eyebrow at the Asset. "You know what to do. I don't want to see you again until he's dead, and the scientist is within our grasp."

"What about Rogers, sir?" Rumlow questions.

"With enough persuasion, I'm sure we can make him question his faith in Fury enough to swing him to our side. That boy just wants to do the right thing." Pierce chuckles, taking a seat at his desk. The phone rings, and he picks it up. "You've reached Alexander Pierce."

"Sir," Sitwell says on the other end of the line. "Fury's leaving the building."

Pierce smiles. "Thank you, Sitwell. I'll take it from here." He hangs up the phone, looking up at the Asset. Without a word, the Asset nods, and Rumlow stands to escort him out of the office.

When they've left, Pierce sighs. With Fury out of the picture, it'll be much easier to bring Clara over to his side to work toward a better world. After all, she said she wanted that herself in her Late Night Lab interview. Pierce knows he can make that happen for her.

~***~

"Activating communications encryption protocol."

Fury hums, staying alert as he drives through New York, debating on whether he should clue Clara in on the encoded flash drive that Nat gave him from the Lemurian Star. On one hand of the argument, she's heading up the technological side of Project Insight, so this would be right up her alley. On the other hand, however, she's got so much work on her plate that Fury doesn't think he'd get his answers as quickly as he'd like.

He chooses the latter, hoping that it will all be over soon and Clara won't have to worry about anything. "Open secure line 0405."

"Confirmed."

The car is silent before Maria's holographic picture appears on his windshield. "This is Hill."

"I need you here in DC." Fury states. "Deep shadow conditions."

"Give me four hours."

"You have three. Over."

Fury pulls to a stop, scanning his surroundings once more as an NYPD cop car pulls up alongside him. The cops examine his car for a moment, and he calls out to them, "Want to see my lease?" They only respond by signaling the siren once and pulling away.

Fury sighs, pulling through the intersection after them, completely unaware of the other speeding cop car until it t-bone's into him. Automatically, the airbag inflates, and Fury barely regains his surroundings when the cop car in front of him reverses, crashing into him. Two more cop cars slam into him from behind.

"Fracture detected," the AI informs him. "Recommend anesthetic injection." Fury reaches for the injection in his glove compartment, taking note of the large amount of police force that surrounds him now. "D.C. Metro Police dispatch shows no units in this area."

"Get me out of here." Fury commands, and the 'police' start firing.

"Propulsion systems offline."

"Then reboot, damn it!"

The armor integrity of the car decreases with every bullet that hits the exterior. The bullets stop for a moment as Fury watches the 'SWAT' team pull out a battering ram. "Warning," the AI chirps. "Window integrity compromised."

"You think?" Fury scoffs, moving into the passenger seat away from the battering ram. "How long to propulsion?"

"Calculating..." The reboot's barely thirty percent through. The car rocks violently as the ram strikes. "Window integrity 31%. Deploying countermeasures."

"Hold that order!" Fury says, bracing for another strike from the ram.

"Window integrity 19%. Offensive measures advised."

"Wait!"

The ram strikes again. "Window integrity 1%."

"Now!"

A gun pops out from the middle console, and Fury fires first before the battering ram can shatter the window. He swivels the gun, taking out the surrounding force. "Propulsion systems now online." The AI chimes.

"Full acceleration! Now!" The engine revs, backing up the car to pull out of the line of fire. Fury looks back through the window to see if the assailants are in pursuit. "Initiate vertical takeoff!"

"Flight systems damaged."

"Then activate guidance cameras!" Fury pushes himself back into the driver's seat, groaning in pain when the injection site smacks against the door. "Give me the wheel."

The AI lets him take over, and Fury begins to weave through DC traffic in an attempt to lose the two cop cars that are now following him. The cars match his speed, expertly dodging between civilians to stay on his tail.

"Get me Agent Hill." Fury demands.

"Communications array damaged." The AI responds.

Fury scoffs in irritation. "Well, what's not damaged?"

"Air conditioning is fully operational." Fury doesn't respond as he weaves between cars. "Traffic ahead."

"Give me an alternate route."

"Traffic alert on Roosevelt Bridge. All vehicles stopped. 17th Avenue is clear in three blocks, directly ahead."

Fury pushes on, clipping the tail bed of a truck and causing it to spin out and crash into two other cars. He'd have to issue some checks for that, but it's efficient enough to stop the cop cars from continuing their pursuit. However, the assailants climb out of their vehicles as Fury comes to a stop to try and find a way through the backed-up traffic. They're still firing at him. Civilians flee in terror. With a few expert maneuvers, Fury takes out the one firing from behind him and smashes into the one in front of him. The others climb back into the safety of the cop cars as they try and ram their way through the barricade.

Drifting onto the next street, Fury guns it, the cars still after him. They pull up on either side, firing at him from the safety of their vehicles. Fury rams into their side, grabbing hold of the one guy with the gun and forcing him to shoot through the passenger window into the car on the other side of him.

"Warning." The AI says. "Approaching intersection."

He slams on the brakes, sending the one car flying forward to be hit by the passing Penske truck. Fury makes the left turn, driving down the street. "Get me off the grid!"

"Calculating route to secure location."

Fury draws in a breath and, through the bullet-riddled windshield, notices a figure standing in the middle of the street. Without stepping out of the way, he raises what Fury can only assume is a weapon and fires it. The car goes flying upward as it flips, and Fury briefly catches the figure calmly stepping out of the way before it can hit them. The car slides to a stop.

The figure quickly approaches, ripping the door off the side of the smashed car. They don't find anything other than the hole that Fury has escaped through.

~***~

It's getting late when Steve gets back to his apartment. He's sure that no one is awake as he climbs up the steps, attempting to be as kind as possible so as not to wake anyone. He can hear the familiar voice of his neighbor as he reaches his floor. "So sweet. That is so nice." She's just stepped out of her apartment with a basket of laundry. She waves, and Steve politely waves back. "I've got to go, though. Okay. Bye." She hangs up as Steve glances over to her. "My aunt, she's kind of an insomniac."

Awkward silence passes between them. "Hey, if you want, you're welcome to use my machine. Might be cheaper than the one in the basement."

"Oh yeah?" She challenges with a smile. "What's it cost?"

"A cup of coffee?" Steve shrugs.

"Thank you, but," she starts, and his shoulders fall, thinking she's going to pass up the offer. "I already have a load in downstairs, and you don't want my scrubs in your machine. I just finished a rotation in the infectious disease ward, so..."

Steve hums in understanding. "Well, I'll keep my distance."

"Hopefully not too far." She flirts back, turning on her heel to head downstairs. Steve smiles to himself as he approaches his door, only to pause. He can hear forties music playing in the distance. "Oh, and I think you left your stereo on," she comments after a moment, confirming his suspicions.

"Oh." He calls. "Right. Thank you."

Steve hesitates, picking up on the faint trumpet that comes through. He recognizes the song: It's Been A Long, Long Time by Kitty Kallen. It's a song that Nat showed Clara, who then in turn showed him. He had liked it so much, Clara got him the record for his birthday last year.

Out of caution, he heads down the stairs and climbs the fire escape back up to his floor, entering the apartment through the window. The song is finishing, and the apartment fills with silence before it starts over. Sneaking around his apartment, he hugs the wall and peers into his living room, ready to take on whoever it is that has snuck their way in. He's greeted with the sight of Fury lying on his couch.

"I don't remember giving you a key," Steve states. "Did you steal Clara's?"

Fury scoffs. "You think I'd need one? And her copy, nevertheless?" Silence settles before he continues, grunting as he sits up. "My wife kicked me out."

Steve raises his eyebrow in question. "I didn't know you were married."

Fury shrugs. "A lot of things you don't know about me."

Steve finally rounds the corner to approach him, turning on the living room light. "I know, Nick. That's the problem." Fury doesn't say anything and turns the lamp off again.

He turns his phone out toward Steve: ears everywhere. Steve sighs in realization. "I'm sorry to have to do this," Fury says, continuing his charade. "But I had no place else to crash." Once more, he turns the phone to Steve: Shield compromised.

Steve's heart jumps into his throat. He wants to ask, What about Clara? but he knows the question is too personal. A friend letting their friend crash on their couch, asking about a woman, Clara, in this case, would be too awkward. So instead he asks, "Who else knows about your wife?"

Fury stands, and Steve reads, You and me off the phone. "Just...my friends."

"Is that what we are?"

"That's up to you."

Fury grunts in pain as Steve flinches, watching as he collapses. He looks toward the window for the shooter, dragging him to the next room over. Fury doesn't say anything, just grips Steve's arm tightly enough to grab his attention. He opens his palm to hand over the flash drive. "Don't trust anyone." Fury coughs out.

Steve's front door is forcefully pushed in, setting him immediately on edge until his neighbor strides through. "Captain Rogers?" she calls. "Captain, I'm Agent 13 of Shield Special Service."

"Kate?" Steve questions, thoroughly confused.

"I'm assigned to protect you, just like the Black Widow was assigned to protect your friend Clara."

"On whose order?" Steve spits, desperate for an answer to what the hell is going on.

Kate gasps. "His." She kneels to try and find Fury's pulse, pulling a radio out of her pocket. "Foxtrot is down, he's unresponsive." She relays. "I need EMTs.

"Do we have a twenty on the shooter?" Dispatch asks.

Steve catches a brief glimpse of something metal retreating on the other rooftop. "Tell him I'm in pursuit."

Grabbing his shield, Steve smashes through the window, making his way through the office building in pursuit of the shooter, who's currently running above him. He makes it to the end of the hallway just as the shooter jumps off the edge of the roof and onto the next. Steve jumps through it, throwing his shield at the attacker.

The figure turns and catches the shield with the metal arm, unaffected by the force. They throw it back just as harshly as Steve did, and he catches it; the force behind the throw pushes him back a couple of feet. By the time he looks back up, the assailant is gone.

~***~

"When you told me Apollo suggested that you try and move on, I don't think this is what she meant," Natasha claims, watching as Clara finishes getting ready for her date. "Seriously? Brock Rumlow?"

Clara draws in a breath, turning to look at the redhead who has slowly become one of her best friends over the past couple of years, alongside Apollo. It was inevitable; Nat did remind her a lot of Peggy back when they were working with the SSR on Project Rebirth. "Listen, I agreed to this a while ago, back when Strike was slow on missions. When they picked back up again, I thought he would have forgotten."

"But you still said yes."

"And what's the harm in that?" Clara challenges, raising her eyebrow. Nat rolls her eyes, stepping forward to help her fix her hair. "He has a good-paying job, he seems nice enough..." she trails off, and Nat smirks.

"You work with him for forty hours during the week."

"Not true," Clara bites as Nat laughs.

"I think," Nat reaches for the hairspray, lightly spraying it in her hair to get the curls to set without it being too sticky. "You said yes to Rumlow because he reminds you of Barnes, from what you told me."

Clara bites her lip, taking in her words. She wasn't exactly wrong, but she didn't want to let her know that. "It's just one date," she murmurs, and Nat leans forward, hugging her shoulders.

"Exactly," Nat whispers. "Just one date. And then you can end things."

With a few more final touches, Nat's ushering Clara out the door so she can meet Rumlow at the restaurant. It's decently busy, and Rumlow quickly finds her outside the door so they can walk in together.

"You look great," he compliments, and Clara offers him a polite smile.

"Thank you, Brock," she returns, unable to find something to say about him.

Awkward silence settles between them before Rumlow starts talking about work. The conversation doesn't pivot at all, and Clara finds herself nodding along to his stories more than actually adding to the conversation.

She draws her lips into a thin line as she pushes the food on her plate around. She's still attempting to appear interested in the story he's telling. It's another retelling of a Strike mission that she supplied the tech for: she read the report so she could make adjustments to the machinery.

She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear, about to say something before he cuts her off. Again. "I mean, it's an honor to have one of the brightest scientists of our age working at Shield."

Clara gives him a half-smile. "Thank you, Rumlow. But I wouldn't be able to do it alone." She was incredibly thankful for the team Fury had scoured the Earth for.

Rumlow keeps talking until the bill comes. "I'd like to do this again sometime."

Clara's barely paying attention, glancing at her phone. It's a text from Nat, urgently hurrying her to wrap up. Her eyes catch: Fury. Hospital. Crit condition. "Um, yeah, I don't think I'm ready for this," she tells him honestly, standing from her seat. "Sorry, Rumlow. Excuse me."

She excuses herself, heading for the front doors to climb into Nat's car. She immediately starts pestering Nat with questions about Fury's condition, but she just says that they'll know more when they get to the hospital. The ride falls into uncomfortable tension.

"So, how was your date?" Natasha tries to resume normal conversation.

"Awful," Clara replies honestly. "He talked about himself the whole time."

Nat smirks. "Told you."

Clara's lips turn up slightly into a smile. That would be the first and last time she let anyone convince her to try dating with the hopes of getting over her old beau.

~***~

Clara's heart is lodged in her throat as she and Natasha make their way through the hospital where Fury is being operated on. Nat holds Clara's hand tightly as they watch. "Is he gonna make it?" Natasha asks.

"I don't know," Steve answers honestly.

"Tell me about the shooter," Nat responds after a moment.

"Is that necessary right now, Nat..." Clara whispers, her voice trailing off when Nat gives her a pleading look.

Reluctantly, Steve responds. "He's fast. Strong." He draws in a deep breath. "Had a metal arm."

Maria lays a hand on Clara's shoulder so as not to spook her as Nat asks her next question, "Ballistics?"

"Three slugs, no rifling. Completely untraceable." Maria says.

"Soviet-made."

"Yeah." Maria breathes out, watching as Fury's state begins to decline rather suddenly.

"He's in V-tach," one of the nurses points out, and the medical staff all bustle about as Fury rapidly begins to crash. Clara blinks, a tear rolling down her cheek. She squeezes Natasha's hand tighter.

"Don't do this to me, Nick," Natasha whispers. "To us."

Clara's jaw clenches as another tear drips down her face. Her breathing starts to come out rather harshly as she watches Fury die right before her eyes. She catches Nat's lip trembling. She knows it's over when Maria touches her shoulder, drawing her into a half-side hug. Steve's the first to step away, followed by Maria, who decides to shoulder the responsibility of dealing with the steps following his death. Clara and Nat are left to watch as they drape the cloth over his body.

Chapter Text

It feels like deja vu as Clara sits at her desk in the Shield Lab, staring ahead instead of working on modifications for the Project Insight helicarriers. Outside her window, the other scientists and engineers that Fury has spent--did spend--his time scouring the earth for bustle about, working on previous changes that Clara's already made. Without them, she doubts the helicarriers would be ready on time.

The last time she grieved someone, she at least had a project to work on. She has a whole team dedicated to it this time, while she has nothing to work with.

That's not entirely true, she thinks to herself. There is that damn DeLorean that still needs to be fixed.

But even then, her current schedule doesn't allow her the time to disappear for long enough to work on it.

A knock sounds from her office door before it's pushed open. Clara turns her head, surprised to find Alexander Pierce standing there with an apologetic smile. "My apologies, Miss Brown," he starts. "I wanted to give you my condolences. I know you and the director were close."

Clara sniffles, nodding. "We were. He was like a guiding light for me while adjusting to all of this."

Pierce laughs softly, nodding in agreement with her. "He certainly had a soft spot for you. May I come in?"

"Oh, of course, Mr. Pierce. Where are my manners?" Clara stands to round her desk and pulls out the chair for him to sit in. He stops her with a raised hand, doing it himself as he takes a seat.

"You're grieving, my dear," Pierce waves her off. "No need to apologize. It's a tough time for us all. How are you holding up?"

Clara takes a seat behind her desk again, thinking over his words. "It's hard," she says after a moment. "But the grief has gotten easier. I've lost other people in my life, and I think morbidly, that's what makes Fury's passing easier to handle."

Pierce hums. "That's an interesting way to put it," he acknowledges, sitting back in his seat. "If you don't mind me asking, who were those other people?"

"I don't mind at all," Clara huffs with a small laugh. "My mother, when I was young. I was still too young to grasp, um," she hesitates, and Pierce raises his eyebrow in curiosity. "The concept of death. And I also lost my boyfriend. Work accident." She lies.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he offers, and Clara waves him off. "You're an unbelievably strong woman to still be here today, living on in their memory."

"Thank you, sir."

Awkward silence settles between them as Clara glances up at the clock. "Oh," she breathes out, standing. "I'm sorry, Mr. Pierce, but I'm afraid I have a meeting with Agent 13 soon, regarding the helicarriers process. I can assure you, though, that they will be done on time, so no need to worry about that."

Pierce stands with her, stepping outside her office door. She closes it behind him, surprised when he pulls her into a tight hug. "You've got lots of people around you, supporting you, Clara," he reminds her when he pulls out of the hug. Clara feels like her skin is crawling. "If you ever need to talk, don't hesitate to come find me."

She nods slowly. "I appreciate the offer, sir." She takes a step toward the elevators. "Have a good day."

"You as well." Pierce returns, watching as she steps onto the elevator to head up to the meeting rooms, smirking to himself as he sets off to return to his own office to meet with Steve.

~***~

"Oh. Captain." Pierce greets Steve as he approaches his office. "I'm Alexander Pierce."

Steve shakes his hand. "Sir, it's an honor."

"The honor's mine, Captain," Pierce assures him with a smile. "My father served in the 101st. Come on in."

Steve steps inside the meeting room, following Pierce as he hands him a few photos, reminiscing about Fury. "That photo was taken five years after Nick and I met when I was at the State Department in Bogota. E.L.N. rebels took the embassy, and security got me out, but the rebels took hostages. Nick was Deputy Chief of the Shield station there, and he comes to me with a plan: he wants to storm the building through the sewers. I said, 'No, we'll negotiate.'." Pierce sighs. "Turned out, the E.L.N. didn't negotiate, so they put out a kill order. They stormed the basement, and what do they find? They find it empty." He tosses the other file he's carrying onto the coffee table as both he and Steve take a seat on the adjacent couches. "Nick had ignored my direct order and carried out an unauthorized military operation on foreign soil, and saved the lives of a dozen political officers, including my daughter."

"So you gave him a promotion." Steve guesses.

Pierce smiles with a slight nod. "I've never had any cause to regret it." Silence settles between the two men. "Captain, why was Nick in your apartment last night?"

Steve pauses, thrown off by the question. He shakes his head. "I don't know." He lies.

"Did you know it was bugged?" Pierce asks him.

"I did." Steve answers. "Because Nick told me."

"Did he tell you he was the one who bugged it?" Steve doesn't say anything, and Pierce reaches over to bring up Batroc's interrogation. "I want you to see something."

"Who hired you, Batroc?" The interrogator asks.

Steve looks from the screen to Pierce. "Is that live?"

"Yeah, they picked him up last night in a not-so-safe house in Algiers."

"Are you saying he's a suspect?" Steve questions. "Assassination isn't Batroc's line."

"No," Pierce denies. "It's more complicated than that. Batroc was hired anonymously to attack the Lemurian Star. And he was contacted by email and paid by wire transfer, and then the money was run through 17 fictitious accounts." Steve raises his eyebrow at that. "The last one going to a holding company that was registered to a Jacob Veech."

Steve takes the file that Pierce hands him. "Am I supposed to know who that is?"

"Not likely. Veech died six years ago. His last address was 1435 Elmhurst Drive. When I first met Nick, his mother lived at 1437."

"Are you saying Fury hired the pirates?" Steve asks carefully, not sure where Pierce is leading this conversation. "Why?"

Pierce shrugs nonchalantly. "The prevailing theory was that the hijacking was a cover for the acquisition and sale of classified intelligence. The sale went sour, and that led to Nick's death."

Something about that theory doesn't sit right with Steve. He can't put his finger on it, but the way Pierce is so easily ready to throw his old, now deceased, friend under the bus makes him suspicious. "If you really knew Nick Fury," Steve starts, not looking up at him. "You'd know that's not true. Clara could tell you that; she's known him longer than most of us."

Piece chuckles. "Why do you think Fury hired her, Captain? And why do you think we're talking?" He stands, walking toward the window to look out over the city. "See, I took a seat on the Council not because I wanted to, but because Nick asked me to, because we were both realists. We knew that, despite all the diplomacy and the handshaking and the rhetoric, that to build a better world sometimes means having to tear the old one down." He glances back at Steve. "And that makes enemies. Those people who call you dirty because you got the guts to stick your hands in the mud and try to build something better. And the idea that those people could be happy today," Pierce scoffs as he slightly shakes his head. "Makes me really, really angry." Steve shifts, uncomfortable with the hostile tension that seems to be growing between them. "Captain, you were the last one to see Nick alive. I don't think that's an accident, and I don't think you do, either. So, I'm gonna ask again; why was he there?"

"He told me not to trust anyone." Steve answers.

"I wonder if that included him."

"I'm sorry," Steve says after a moment, looking for the best way to escape the micro-interrogation. "Those were his last words. Excuse me." He picks up his shield, turning on his heel for the door.

"Captain," Pierce calls out. Steve stops, turning to face him once more. "Somebody murdered my friend, and I'm gonna figure out why. Anyone who gets in my way is gonna regret it. Anyone."

Steve grits his teeth, nodding. "Understood."

He leaves the office, making his way down the hall to the elevators. The doors slide open, and he steps in. "Operations Control."

"Confirmed," the computer reports, and just before the doors slide shut, Rumlow and two other Strike Agents join him.

"Keep all Strike personnel on site." Rumlow states.

"Understood," the first one confirms.

"Yes, sir," the other recites.

"Forensics," Rumlow tells the computer.

"Confirmed."

"Cap." Rumlow finally greets him, and Steve turns his head.

"Rumlow."

"Evidence Response found some fibers on the roof they want us to see," Rumlow informs him. "You want me to get the tact team ready?"

"No," Steve replies. "Let's wait and see what it is first."

"Right."

Out of the corner of his eye, Steve notices the way one of the Strike Agents shifts, his hand positioned over his gun. It's rather odd considering the company they're in. Upon further notice, he can tell that the air in the elevator is awkward between him, Rumlow, and the other two. Steve slightly narrows his eyes; something's not right.

The elevator comes to a stop as more Shield and Strike agents enter.

"What's the status so far?" one agent asks the other.

"Administration Level." Another agent requests.

"Confirmed."

"Excuse me." The agent apologizes as he slides in next to Steve, but Steve just moves himself forward toward the door.

"I'm sorry about what happened with Fury." Rumlow apologizes. "It's messed up, what happened to him."

"Thank you," Steve responds, still wary of the situation around him. They continue the ride in silence, and he notices one of the Shield agents has sweat beading on his forehead. The elevator stops again, allowing more agents to enter.

"Records," one calls out.

"Confirmed."

The elevator begins to descend again. Steve finds himself boxed in amongst all the agents. "Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?"

No one says anything as the man in front of him activates his weapon, aiming to shock him. Steve dodges, and the other agents try and strap his wrists together with magnetic cuffs. They're successful in getting one on, but Steve kicks out the leg of one of the agents to break free from the hold the agent has him in. He elbows another, knocking the cuff onto the side of the elevator, where it stays stuck to the wall. Rumlow kicks his cuffed wrist to the wall, immediately magnetizing it there. Steve grunts, using his free arm to fight Rumlow as best he can before he administers an electric shock to his back.

The fight carries on, with Steve doing his best to fight against the agents with his one arm still trapped to the side of the elevator. He hops up onto the side of the elevator, pulling the cuff off the wall. Once he's free, he can easily take out the other agents who still attack him.

"Whoa, big guy." Rumlow breathes out, brandishing his weapons. "I just want you to know, Cap, this isn't personal."

He swings, but Steve dodges and catches his other wrist to stop him from striking him in the ribs. Rumlow's able to land a couple more shocks to his abdomen before Steve lifts him and tosses him into the roof, knocking him unconscious. He pants, staring at the bodies around him. "It was personal when you asked Clara out." He spits out.

Picking up his shield, he hits the emergency stop button, the elevator doors open to reveal the Strike agents lined up outside the elevator, waiting for him. "Drop the shield and put your hands in the air!" an agent commands, but Steve swings the shield to slice through the elevator cables, sending it plummeting. It finally comes to a stop, and he forces the doors open, just to find more Strike teams running down the hall toward him. He shuts the door, turning to break the window instead.

"Give it up, Rogers!" the agent shouts. "Get that door open!"

Steve crashes through the window, bracing for impact as he lands on the ground floor of the garage. Everything hurts, as expected when you crash through two panes of glass and fall several stories high. He pulls himself up off the ground, making his way toward the garage.

Successfully securing his motorcycle, Steve barely makes it out of the garage before it's locked down, escaping into the city.

Meanwhile, the buzz of the agents in the meeting room comes to a halt as Jasper Sitwell grabs their attention. "Eyes here." Clara falls quiet, giving Agent 13 a questioning look. "Whatever your op is, bury it. This is Level One. Contact DOT. All traffic lights in the district go red. Shut down all runways at BWI, IAD, and Reagan. All security cameras in the city go through this monitor right here. Scan all open sources, phones, computers, and PDAs. Whatever. If someone tweets about this guy, I want to know about it."

"With all due respect," Agent 13 pipes up. "If Shield is conducting a manhunt for Captain America we deserve to know why."

"Because he lied to us," Pierce answers and Clara whips around to see him standing there. "Captain Rogers has information regarding the death of Director Fury. He refused to share it." His gaze falls onto Clara's figure, and she immediately picks up on the weird vibe coming from him. While she never met him personally, Clara finds that Pierce's behavior is similar to the way Steve would describe Red Skull's. "As difficult as this is to accept, Captain America is a fugitive from Shield."

What the hell is going on? She wonders, excusing herself from the meeting room to call Natasha and get some answers.

Chapter Text

BETHESDA, MARYLAND

When he's deemed that the coast is clear, Steve makes his way back to the hospital where he hid the flash drive so he can get to the bottom of whatever is going on. He's refrained from contacting Clara, afraid of dragging her into something bigger, and he's tried to contact Natasha, but he's been unsuccessful.

He goes through the hospital, tracing the somewhat familiar route back to the vending machine where he hid the drive. He comes to a stop, realizing that the flash drive is missing, but Nat's standing behind him, chewing a piece of gum. As predicted, Steve pushes her into the meeting room on the opposite side of the hall from the vending machine, where Clara waits for them, arms crossed over her chest. "Where is it?" he asks Nat.

"Safe." She responds.

"Do better."

"Where did you get it?"

"Why would I tell you?"

"Fury gave it to you." Clara pieces together what Nat told her on the drive over. "Why?"

Steve looks from Nat to Clara, drawing in a deep breath. He looks back to Nat. "What's on it?"

"I don't know." She answers honestly.

"Stop lying," Steve states.

Nat rolls her eyes. "I only act like I know everything, Rogers."

"I bet you knew Fury hired the pirates, didn't you?" He says, and Clara's eyes go wide.

Nat's stunned, speechless for a moment. "Well, it makes sense. The ship was dirty, Fury needed a way in; so did you."

Steve grips the front of Nat's jacket tightly, and Clara moves across the room to lay a hand on his shoulder. "I'm not gonna ask you again."

"Stevie," She whispers, and his grip loosens. "I think we have more pressing matters than what Fury did or didn't do."

"I know who killed Fury," Nat admits. "Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists. The ones that do call him the Winter Soldier." Clara's breath hitches in her throat. It's a stretch, and a big assumption, but something nags at her that that name has something to do with the way she came back to her apartment that one night. The bedroom window was open; had he escaped that way? "He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last 50 years."

"So he's a ghost story," Steve says.

"Five years ago, I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran. Somebody shot out my tires near Odessa. We lost control, went straight over a cliff. I pulled us out. But the Winter Soldier was there. I was covering my engineer, so he shot him straight through me." Nat pulls up her shirt to reveal the nasty scar. "Soviet slug. No rifling. Bye-bye, bikinis."

"Yeah, I bet you look terrible in them now." Steve scoffs, and Clara hides her smirk behind her hand. Nat looks at her.

"Clara, your stalker." Her eyes go wide, and Steve looks at her with a raised eyebrow. "From when you called Apollo and me after you realized someone had been in your apartment. I think that was him, too."

"What would he want with me?" She whispers, but Nat can only shrug her shoulders.

"I don't know yet," Nat says, looking back at Steve. "Going after him is a dead end. I know, I've tried." She holds up the flash drive. "Like you said, he's a ghost story."

Steve hesitates but takes the flash drive. "Well, let's find out what the ghost wants." Silence settles amongst them as he turns to Clara. "Clara--" he starts, but she cuts him off.

"This is oddly familiar, Steve," she bites out, putting her hands on her hips. "It feels like you're about to tell me that I can't come along to help, just like when you and Peggy conspired to rescue the 107th without me."

"This is different," he returns, taking her hands in his. "I wasn't a fugitive back then. I can't drag you into this mess with me. The safest you can be is at Shield Headquarters until Nat and I figure out what's on this flash drive."

Clara rolls her eyes with a sigh. She hates that he's right. "I don't trust Pierce," she whispers. "Something about the way he's acting now that Fury's dead is... off-putting. He's suddenly interested in keeping my company."

Steve nods in understanding. "Play pretend a little while longer, okay? We'll be back before you know it."

"Fine," she breathes, pulling them both in for a hug. "Be safe, you two. I don't need to lose any more of my friends."

"Promise." Steve offers her a smile, which she returns. Her phone buzzes in her pocket with a message from one of her engineers. Nat watches as her eyes grow wide.

"What?" She peeks over to glance at the message. "What's wrong?"

"The World Security Council has moved to immediately reactivate Project Insight," Clara informs them. "This can't be a coincidence."

"No," Nat shakes her head. "It's not." She takes Steve's hand to lead him out of the meeting room. "We need to hurry."

~***~

NATIONAL MALL - WASHINGTON D.C.

"The first rule of going on the run is don't run, walk," Natasha instructs as they make their way across the busy mall floor toward the Apple Store.

"If I run in these shoes, they're gonna fall off." Steve muses, glancing around their surroundings to make sure they aren't being followed.

The Apple Store is decently busy, making it easier for them to blend in as Nat steps up to one of the laptops. "The drive has a Level Six homing program," she explains. "So, as soon as we boot up, Shield will know exactly where we are."

"How much time will we have?"

"Uh, about nine minutes from..." She plugs the flash drive into the laptop. "...now."

Steve scans their surroundings, on edge, as Natasha types away and sorts through the files on the flash drive. "Fury was right about that ship. Somebody's trying to hide something. This drive is protected by some sort of AI. It keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands."

"Can you override it?" Steve asks, leaning in to appear like he's listening to something Nat has to say about the laptop itself.

She sighs. "The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me." She glances at him briefly. "Slightly."

"Well, I'm sure Clara could get past it." Steve hums with a slight smirk. "Or maybe Stark. Better yet, Doctor Banner."

"We're not dragging any of them into this," Nat fires back, focusing on attempting to decrypt the AI. "I'm gonna try running a tracer. This is a program that Shield developed to track hostile malware, so if we can't read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from."

"Can I help you guys with anything?" One of the employees approaches them.

Steve steps around Nat to shield the screen as Nat smiles at the employee. "Oh, no. My fiancé was just helping me with some honeymoon destinations."

"Right." Steve plays along. "We're getting married."

"Congratulations," the employee says, returning the smile. "Where are you guys thinking about going?"

Steve leans over more to cover the screen as he says the first location that pops up. "New Jersey."

"Oh."

He awkwardly nods, and the employee struggles to find something else to say. Although the longer he stares at him, the more aware Steve is that the employee might recognize him. He starts to panic when he raises his finger to point at him, "I have the same glasses."

"Wow, you two are practically twins." Nat offers sarcastically.

"Yeah, I wish," the employee laughs. "If you guys need anything, I've been Aaron."

"Thank you." Steve dismisses, turning back to Nat once Aaron walks away. "You said nine minutes. Come on."

"Relax." Nat shushes him. "Got it."

The map zooms in on the location, displaying Wheaton, New Jersey as the site where the file originated from. Steve raises his eyebrow in intrigue. "You know it?" Nat asks.

"I used to. Let's go." He pulls out the flash drive, exiting the Apple store, where he immediately notices the Strike agents that are undercover waiting to ambush them. "Standard tac team. Two behind, two across, and two coming straight at us. If they make us, I'll engage, you hit the south escalator to the metro."

"Shut up and put your arm around me. Laugh at something I said." Nat instructs, and Steve follows suit. His laugh is fake, but it hides them from the oncoming agents.

They make their way onto the escalator, where Nat immediately spots Rumlow and she scowls, clearly still not over the fact that he had the gall to ask Clara out on a date and proceeded to be horrible during it. She turns to Steve. "Kiss me."

"What?" he asks, incredulous.

"Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable." She explains.

"Yes, they do." He agrees.

Nat reaches forward for his face, pulling him toward her. The result is desired as Rumlow turns his head away from them. She releases him when they're in the clear, facing forward again. "You still uncomfortable?" She asks with a smirk, moving down the escalator.

"It's not exactly the word I would use."

~***~

WHEATON, NEW JERSEY

Silence fills the truck as Steve drives them across the state line into New Jersey. Natasha sets down her phone once she's confirmed that Clara is doing alright back at Shield headquarters. If it came down to it, Nat wouldn't be against calling in Apollo as backup, but she doubted anything serious would happen while they were away.

She turns to look at Steve as he stays focused on the road. "Where did Captain America learn how to steal a car?"

"Nazi Germany." Steve answers, and Nat hums in surprise. "And we're borrowing. Take your feet off the dash."

Reluctantly, Natasha does so. "Alright, I have a question for you, which you do not have to answer," she starts. "I feel like, if you don't answer it though, you're kind of answering it, you know."

"What?"

She smirks. "Was that your first kiss since 1945?"

"That bad, huh?" He scoffs.

"I didn't say that."

"Well, it kind of sounds like that's what you're saying."

"No, I didn't." Nat insists. "I just wondered how much practice you've had."

Steve rolls his eyes. "You don't need practice."

"Everybody needs practice." Natasha defends. "Maybe you and Clara can practice. You know, every once in a while, CaptainAmericana starts trending again when you two appear in public."

"It was not my first kiss since 1945." Steve answers, not even bothering to address the comments about him and Clara. "I'm 95, I'm not dead."

"Nobody special, though?"

Steve huffs a laugh. "Believe it or not, it's kind of hard to find someone with shared life experience." Nat goes to rebuttal, and Steve gives her a firm look. "And Clara doesn't count. We're just friends, Natasha. That's it. Nothing more."

She bites her lip and focuses her gaze on the front windshield. "Well, that's alright. You just make something up."

"What, like you?"

"I don't know. The truth is a matter of circumstance. It's not all things to all people, all the time." She replies. "Neither am I."

"That's a tough way to live," Steve says.

Nat shrugs. "It's a good way not to die, though."

Silence settles for a moment before Steve speaks up again. "You know, it's kind of hard to trust someone when you don't know who that someone is."

"Yeah." She hums, glancing at him. "Who do you want me to be?"

"How about a friend?"

Nat chuckles, facing forward once more. "Well, there's a chance you might be in the wrong business, Rogers."

The cab falls into silence as Steve pulls up to the gate of Camp LeHigh. He puts the truck in park, exiting the cab to walk up to the gate. The buildings have seen better days; the paint has been chipped away by years of sun and wind. "This is it." He confirms, sliding his shield onto his arm.

Nat pockets her tracker. "The file came from these coordinates."

"So did I," Steve muses. He helps her over the gate, hauling himself up and over afterward. "This camp is where I was trained," he explains as they begin to peruse the grounds. Nat's holding up her tracker to find the exact place the signal is coming from.

"Change much?" She asks as he comes to a stop to stare up at the flagpole that he remembers retrieving the flag from so he could ride back to camp with Peggy and Clara. He can still hear the drill sergeant's stern voice yelling at him.

"A little."

Natasha huffs. "This is a dead end. Zero heat signatures, zero waves, not even radio. Whoever wrote the file must have used a router to throw people off." She watches as Steve turns, narrowing his eyes at one of the buildings in the distance. "What is it?"

He starts toward the building. "Army regulations forbid storing munitions within 500 yards of the barracks," he explains. "This building is in the wrong place."

Steve breaks the lock, allowing them access to the building. Quietly, they descend the stairs into an empty hallway. The lights flicker on, revealing a Shield logo at the end of the hall. "This is Shield," Nat says as they both look around the place.

"Maybe where it started," Steve suggests, moving further into the building.

They move into the next room. "And there's Stark's father," Nat states.

"Howard." Steve supplies absentmindedly.

"Who's the girl?"

Steve stares at Peggy's picture, not answering Natasha's question as he turns to move down the hallway. Nat piques her eyebrow at his behavior, intrigued. She'd have to ask Clara about her later.

He comes to a stop in front of an empty bookcase, glancing up and down the room. "If you're already working in a secret office," he starts, grabbing the edge of the bookcase to pull it open. The secret door reveals another set of doors behind it. "Why do you need to hide the elevator?"

Using her device, Nat scans the keypad for the code so they can descend further into the Shield bunker. The old machinery creaks and groans around them, but they ultimately make it to the bottom safely. The doors slide open to reveal a dark room, the lights flickering on as they draw near to the computer at the end of the lab.

"This can't be the data point," Nat states, observing the old machinery that's been left behind for decades. "This technology is ancient." Stepping closer to the desk, she notices the small, black USB plugin that is not ancient. Two of the top slots are plugged in with adaptors. Taking the flash drive, she plugs it into one of them, surprised to find the computers whirring to life.

The main computer flickers to life, an electronic voice speaking to them. "Initiate system?"

Natasha types yes into the computer. "Y-E-S spells yes." The result is the sound of the computer firing up further. "Shall we play a game?" She laughs, turning back to Steve, who didn't get the reference. "It's from a movie that was really..."

"I know." He assures her. "I saw it."

The computer beeps, and a face made out of computer code appears on the screen. "Rogers, Steven, born 1918." It says, and Steve can't believe what he's seeing. The old security camera turns on its own to Natasha. "Romanoff, Natalia Alianovna, born 1984."

"It's some kind of recording," Nat suspects.

"I am not a recording, Fraeulein." The computer spits. "I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945. But I am."

The computer brings up an image on one of the adjacent monitors. "You know this thing?" Nat asks Steve.

"Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for the Red Skull," Steve explains. "He's been dead for years."

"First correction, I am Swiss." Zola fires back. "Second, look around you. I have never been more alive. In 1972, I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body. My mind, however, that was worth saving on 200,000 feet of databanks. You are standing in my brain."

"How did you get here?" Steve questions him.

"Invited," Zola replies, rather cheerfully, even for just a bunch of code.

"It was Operation Paperclip after World War II." Nat fills in. "Shield recruited German scientists with strategic value."

"They thought I could help their cause." Zola mocks. "I also helped my own."

"Hydra died with the Red Skull." Steve bites.

"Cut off one head, two more shall take its place." Zola flashes the Hydra emblem up on the screen, splitting himself into two heads to emphasize his point.

"Prove it."

The computers whir. "Accessing archive," Zola announces, the screen closest to Nat and Steve flicking through digital copies of old records. "Hydra was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom," the screen flashes through multiple old, black-and-white photos and videos of Hydra rallies and troops. "What we did not realize was that if you try to take that freedom, they resist. The war taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly. After the war, Shield was founded, and I was recruited. The new Hydra grew." A chill runs down Steve's spine as a photo of the new group is pulled up, his eyebrows furrowing at a picture that flashes by of a woman who oddly looks like Clara, but he brushes it off as a coincidence. "A beautiful parasite inside Shield. For 70 years, Hydra has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war, and when history did not cooperate, history was changed."

Another image flashes on screen, this time of a man with a metal arm that Steve recognizes now as the Winter Soldier. The same woman he saw before is in very few photographs with him.

"That's impossible." Nat breathes out. "Shield would have stopped you."

Zola pulls up the newspaper article about Howard and Maria Stark's death. "Accidents will happen." The image flashes to the more recent article about Fury's death. "Hydra created a world so chaotic that humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security. Once a purification process is complete, Hydra's new world order will arise." Steve's breath hitches in his throat as Zola shows off the helicarriers that Clara's spent the last couple of years redesigning. "We won, Captain. Your death amounts to the same as your life: a zero-sum."

Out of anger, Steve punches the main computer, smashing the screen. The computer takes a moment, bringing up the coded version of Zola's face on the smaller screen off to his right. "As I was saying..." Zola continues, unaffected.

"What's on this drive?" Steve demands.

"Project Insight requires insight," Zola says, and both Steve and Nat's hearts drop into the pit of their stomach. They both piece together fairly quickly that Hydra's been pulling the strings under the guise of Shield to get Clara to build these helicarriers for them without her knowledge. It's why Pierce had been set on speeding up the process. "So, I wrote an algorithm."

"What kind of algorithm?" Nat presses. "What does it do?"

"The answer to your question is fascinating. Unfortunately, you shall be too dead to hear it."

The doors to the elevator start to shut on their own, and Steve throws his shield to prevent them from shutting completely. Nat's device beeps. "Steve, we got a bogey. Short-range ballistic. 30 seconds tops."

"Who fired it?"

"Shield." Nat answers. "We've gotta get out of here and warn Clara. Or at least contact her and tell her. She can shut Insight down."

"I am afraid I have been stalling, Captain," Zola admits. Natasha takes the flash drive out of the adaptor. "Admit it. It's better this way. Hydra will take care of Miss Brown. We are, both of us," Steve yanks the grate on the floor open. Nat hurries over to climb inside. "Out of time."

The ballistic strikes, sending the computer and the original Shield bunker up in flames.

Chapter Text

Crickets chirp outside Pierce's home as he makes his way to the kitchen in the middle of the night. The kitchen is dark; the only light provided is from the moon outside and the light from inside the refrigerator when he opens it. He does a double-take when he realizes the Asset sits at his dining room table, gun out in the open. He's about to open his mouth and say something when his housekeeper calls out to him.

"I'm going to go, Mr. Pierce. You need anything before I leave?"

Pierce lets the refrigerator door fall shut. "No...uh, it's fine, Renata, you can go home."

"Okay, night-night."

"Goodnight." Pierce doesn't address the Asset until his front door clicks shut. "Want some milk?" The Asset doesn't say anything as Pierce reaches for a glass in the cabinet, beginning to pour. "The timetable has moved. Our window is limited. Two targets, Level Six." He rounds the island counter to sit at the table across from the Asset. "They already cost me Zola. I want confirmed death in 10 hours."

"Sorry," Renata rounds the corner again, and Pierce turns to her. "Mr. Pierce, I...I forgot my phone."

The Asset stares her down as she looks between Pierce and him. He sighs, reaching for the gun on the table. "Oh, Renata, I wish you had knocked."

He fires one shot, Renata's scream echoing throughout the house before it falls silent.

~***~

WASHINGTON D.C.

Sam's just gotten back from his morning run when there's a knock at the door. He glances down at the bottle of orange juice he's about to drink straight from, grimacing a little. He can already hear his mother and his sister scolding him for doing so. Reluctantly, he returns the lid to the bottle and sets it on the counter before answering the door.

Steve and Natasha stand outside, grimy from the explosion. "Hey, man." Sam greets him.

"I'm sorry about this," Steve starts. "We need a place to lay low."

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us," Natasha adds.

Sam's gaze flickers between them. "Not everyone," he replies, gesturing for them to come inside.

Natasha is the first one to use the guest bathroom to clean up. Steve goes second, opting to rinse his face in the sink quickly. When he looks up into the mirror to check for any soot he missed, he catches Nat staring at her phone, a frown on her face. "You okay?" Steve asks.

"Yeah." She half-heartedly answers.

Steve hangs his towel up, taking a seat across from her. "What's going on?"

"When I first joined Shield, I thought I was going straight," Nat states softly. "But I guess I just traded in the KGB for Hydra." She sighs, and Steve catches a glimpse of the contact she has open on her phone: it's Clara's. They still have yet to warn her of what's entirely going on. "I thought I knew whose lies I was telling, but I guess I can't tell the difference anymore."

"There's a chance you might be in the wrong business." Steve offers.

Nat scoffs, growing serious with realization. "I owe you."

"It's okay."

"If it were the other way around, and it was down to me to save your life, now you be honest with me," Nat breathes out. "Would you trust me to do it?"

"I would now," Steve replies. "And I'm always honest."

"Well, you seem pretty chipper for someone who just found out they died for nothing."

"Well, guess I just like to know who I'm fighting."

A quiet knock sounds from the bedroom door. "I made breakfast," Sam interrupts. "If you guys eat that sort of thing." He steps out of the doorframe and back into the kitchen to give Steve and Nat their space.

"So," Nat starts leading the way into the kitchen to get something to eat. Sam looks up from the toast he's buttering. "The question is, who at Shield could launch a domestic missile strike?"

Steve sighs, dread pooling into the pit of his stomach. "Pierce. That's why Clara felt she couldn't trust him."

"He was eager to see her time machine blueprints the day he met her personally last year in August." Nat hums in remembrance. "And he happens to be sitting on top of the most secure building in the world."

"But he's not working alone," Steve counters. "Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian Star."

"So was Jasper Sitwell." Nat realizes.

Steve huffs. "So, the real question is, how do the two most wanted people in Washington kidnap a Shield officer in broad daylight?"

"The answer is, you don't," Sam replies, dropping a file in front of Steve. On the front is a picture of him, Riley, Clara, and Tony from the day they tested out the EXO-7 flight suits for the first time.

"What's this?"

"Call it a resume."

"I remember this," Nat picks up the photo, flipping to the next one behind it. "Is this Bakhmala? The Khalid Khandil mission, that was you?" Nat gently smacks Steve's arm. "You didn't say he was a Pararescue."

"Is this Riley?" Steve asks softly.

"Yeah." Sam nods.

"I heard they couldn't bring in the choppers because of the RPGs." Nat continues. "So you used this..." she trails off, and Sam can't help but smile, handing over a copy of the Falcon suit blueprints.

Steve laughs. "I thought you said you were a pilot."

Sam shakes his head. "I never said pilot."

"I can't ask you to do this, Sam. You got out for a good reason."

"Dude," Sam starts, crossing his arms over his chest. "Captain America needs my help. There's no better reason to get back in."

Steve nods, holding up the blueprints. "Where can we get our hands on one of these things?"

"The last one is at Fort Meade, behind three guarded gates and a 12-inch steel wall," Sam admits.

"Shouldn't be a problem." Steve shrugs, but Sam starts laughing.

"Or," Nat smirks. "Give me five minutes to place a call and update our genius of a scientist, and we should have that suit in no time."

~***~

It's early enough in the morning that even the sun isn't up. Clara hesitantly peers over her shoulder, climbing the steps up to Sam's apartment. In her grasp is the bag that carries the EXO-7 Falcon flight suit that Natasha requested she bring after she explained the situation with Pierce and Project Insight. She knocks three times, as per Nat's instruction, and waits for Sam to answer the door.

Once safely inside, she hands the bag with the suit over. "Don't ask me how I was able to get my hands on the only flight suit left," she starts, graciously accepting the steaming mug of tea Steve offers her to settle her nerves. "I also thought it was somewhere like Fort Meade, but it seems that Pierce has a few tricks up his sleeve."

"At least you were right about one thing," Nat gives her a grin. "Don't trust Secretary Pierce."

"I haven't trusted him since the day he requested to see my blueprints of the DeLorean." Clara fires back, taking a seat on the couch. She's quiet as she stares into the mug. "All my hard work, everything I've worked for under Fury..." she trails off with a sigh. "Just so Hydra can sweep in and use it for something as horrible as this."

"We don't know what the algorithm does yet," Steve says, a bit too nonchalant for Clara's tastes.

"And that's why we're planning on kidnapping Sitwell?"

Steve furrows his eyebrows, paling at her phrasing. "I wouldn't...call it kidnapping."

"More like forced interrogation," Nat smirks, taking a seat next to Clara to hug her side.

"And did you say we?"

"You heard me, Rogers." Clara laughs lightly. "Project Insight involves me directly. Whatever they have planned, they've hidden it so well that not even I can find it. I doubt Stark or Banner could either." she muses. "Needless to say, I'm the best bet you have to stop this from launching."

Sam gives Clara a proud grin. "You know Sitwell and Pierce the best, where do we start?"

~***~

Jasper Sitwell and Senator Stern make idle chit-chat after their meeting. They're surrounded by bodyguards, Sam notices, but when Stern has said his goodbyes, leaving Sitwell alone, that's when he decides to strike.

Sitwell's phone rings, noticing it's Pierce on the caller ID. "Yes, sir?"

Sam smirks to himself. "Agent Sitwell, how was lunch?" he starts, watching in amusement as Sitwell's back straightens. "I hear the crab cakes here are delicious."

"Who is this?"

"The good-looking guy in the sunglasses, on your ten o'clock," Sam says, rolling his eyes when Sitwell turns the wrong way. "Your other ten o'clock." Finally, Sitwell's gaze lands on him. "There you go."

Sam gives him a salute, taking a sip from his sweet tea. "What do you want?" Sitwell asks.

"You're gonna go around the corner to your right." He instructs. "There's a grey car two spaces down. You and I are gonna take a ride."

"And why would I do that?"

"Because that tie looks really expensive," Sam tuts. Sitwell looks down to find a bright, red dot pointed at it. "And I'd hate to mess it up."

Sitwell does as he's asked, allowing Sam to bring him to Steve, Natasha, and Clara, who are waiting for him. The man who was shouting orders around when Steve was first declared a fugitive cowers in fear at Natasha and Steve's feet.

"Tell me about Zola's algorithm," Steve demands.

Sitwell backs away from him out of fear. "Never heard of it." He lies.

"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?"

"I was throwing up. I get seasick."

He backs up to the edge of the building, fear flashing across his face when he thinks he's going to fall over the edge. Steve catches him by his shoulders, forcing him to face him. Sitwell dares to smirk when Steve has his life in his hands. "Is this little display meant to insinuate that you're gonna throw me off the roof? Because it's not your style, Rogers."

"You're right." Steve agrees. He lets go of Sitwell's suit jacket and smoothes the wrinkles out of the sleeves. "It's not. It's hers."

Steve steps out of the way, allowing Natasha to land a harsh kick to Sitwell's chest to send him over the edge. His screams echo up the side of the building as they watch him fall. "Oh, wait," Nat says all of a sudden. "What about that girl from Accounting, Laura...?"

"Lillian." Steve sighs. "Lip piercing, right?"

"Yeah, she's cute." Nat agrees, and Clara giggles.

"She does this to you, too, Stevie?" She asks, and Steve can't help the laugh that escapes his chest as he nods.

"Yeah." He admits, turning to Natasha. "I'm not ready for that."

The screaming gets louder as Sam drops Sitwell on the rooftop, tucking in the wings of the Falcon suit. Steve, Nat, and Clara make their way over as Sitwell begins to spill everything he knows. "Zola's algorithm is a program for choosing Insight's targets."

"What targets?" Clara asks him.

"You!" Sitwell points at her. "A TV anchor in Cairo, the Under Secretary of Defense, a high school valedictorian in Iowa City, Bruce Stark-Banner, Apollo Stark-Banner, Stephen Strange, Charles Xavier-Lehnsherr, Wanda Maximoff..." he trails off, and Clara's breath hitches at hearing the names of her closest friends. "Anyone who's a threat to Hydra. Now, or in the future."

"In the future?" Steve questions, briefly glancing at Clara, who shrugs. "How could it know?"

Sitwell starts laughing. "How could it not?!" He claims. "The twenty-first century is a digital book. Zola taught Hydra how to read it." He looks between the three of them. "Your bank records, medical histories, voting patterns, emails, phone calls, your damn SAT scores! Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past to predict their future."

"And what then?" Clara presses.

"Oh my God." Sitwell breathes out, realizing what he's just told them. "Pierce is gonna kill me."

"What then?" Clara demands, taking a step closer to Sitwell. Sam grabs the back of his jacket like a mother cat would their kitten.

Sitwell gives her a sick smile. "Then the Insight helicarriers scratch people off the list." She gasps, her eyes going wide. "A few million at a time."

Chapter Text

"Hydra doesn't like leaks." Sitwell spits, handcuffed in the back seat of the black Impala sedan that Sam's driving across the city back toward the Triskelion. Nat, graciously, volunteered to take the middle seat and offered Clara the one next to the window. Clara wouldn't doubt if it was so she could keep a closer eye on Sitwell.

"Then why don't you try sticking a cork in it?" Sam bites back, turning his gaze from the rearview mirror back onto the road.

Nat leans over the middle console. "Insight's launching in 16 hours." She reminds Steve. "We're cutting it a little bit close here."

"I know." Steve huffs. "We'll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the helicarriers directly. That way, Pierce won't be suspicious of Clara and fire her."

"Thank you," Clara answers quietly, staring out the window. It's still a lot for her to process; she'd have to tell Apollo all about this later. She bites her lip in thought. Had Tony known? She wonders. When he accessed those Shield files back on the first helicarrier?

"Wait, what?" Sitwell leans forward toward Steve, forcing Nat to lean back in her seat. "Are you crazy? That is a terrible, terrible idea."

A thud sounds from the roof of the car, and they all look toward the noise and miss as something breaks the rear driver-side window and pulls Sitwell out of the vehicle. Sitwell's screaming is echoed as Nat throws herself practically on top of Clara out of instinct, sitting up when the coast seems clear.

Just as she does, she spots the assailant move back up onto the roof with their gun, and she moves from the middle seat to behind Sam to avoid being shot. A couple more shots are fired, missing the two boys. Steve reaches for the emergency brake and pulls it, bringing the sedan to a harsh stop. The figure goes flying off the roof and into the street in front of them, the metal hand creating sparks as they slide across the asphalt to a stop.

Clara and Nat both peer out the front windshield. "Natasha?" Clara's voice is barely above a whisper. "Is that him? The Winter Soldier?"

"Yep." Nat hums, calculating her next move in her head to keep herself, Clara, and the two boys safe.

Cars on the freeway dodge around them, and the figure is unfazed by the moving traffic in the other lanes. Nat brings up her gun, about to fire, when the sedan is smashed from behind by another car that's friends with their assailant. The jeep pushes them along toward him; Sam tries to get a hold of the wheel as the assassin jumps up and onto the roof of their car again, his boots smashing the rear windshield.

Sam slams the brakes, but they just squeal, useless. Natasha attempts to find the gun she's dropped while also keeping a tab on where the Winter Soldier is. Glass shatters as a metal arm reaches through the front windshield, ripping out the steering wheel from Sam's grasp. "Shit!"

Having found her gun, Nat wastes no time firing through the roof at him as he jumps over onto the jeep. With one little bump, the jeep sends the sedan flying into the guard wall, turning onto its side with the momentum it has gained. "Hang on!" Steve shouts, gripping Sam's collar. "Natasha, I need you to use whatever means necessary to get that door off its hinges in the next five seconds."

She starts taking shots at the door. "Brown," she shouts. "Use your momentum and brace for impact."

The car flips, and Steve and Sam fall out of the car on the passenger side door as they come sliding to a halt. Similarly, Nat has shot out the hinges as best she could on the rear door. Together, the girls slam their body weight into it, relieved that it's been busted up enough that it gives way from the body of the vehicle. They also come skidding to a halt, trying to catch their breath as their adrenaline builds.

The jeep zooms past them, and the sedan continues flipping until it comes to a stop on the side of the road. The jeep parks, and the Winter Soldier immediately dismounts to continue his pursuit.

"Clara," Nat urges, standing up and hurrying over to Steve. "We've got to move."

"Nat," Clara yanks on her arm. "Not that way. He's got a weapon and it's pointed at us."

They stumble back into the van as Steve blocks the ballistic, flying over and off the elevated highway and into the traffic down below.

The trio has no time to worry whether or not he's okay as Hydra agents begin their downpour of fire. Nat pulls Clara behind the van, and Sam manages to get himself safe behind the Ford Taurus behind it. The Winter Soldier isn't even firing at them; he just menacingly paces forward, holding his gun while the agents fire. Sam takes the moment that Nat is firing back to run further up the street.

"Move," Natasha ushers Clara over the banister that divides the highway, following after her once she's safe. The van blows up behind them. Gunfire continues as they dodge and weave between the traffic to get somewhere safe.

Clara catches a glimpse of the Winter Soldier aiming at them again and spots the car he's most likely aiming for. "Jump." She hisses, and Nat does so right as the car blows up.

They dive over the second banister. Nat wraps one arm around Clara's waist while she extends the other, deploying the grapple that she's kept on her. Together, they swing beneath the highway and keep moving as the car behind them smashes into the asphalt.

Aggravated, the Winter Soldier stalks to the other side of the street, patiently waiting for them to emerge on the other side. Clara's just about to step into the street when Nat harshly pulls her back, pointing at the shadow. They move alongside the street, emerging from beneath the bridge elsewhere as the screams from the crashed bus begin to build up again, effectively catching the Soldier's attention. It gives Natasha enough time to take a couple of shots, cracking his glasses.

"Now!" Nat shouts, and the girls take off up the street, dodging behind a stopped ambulance as the Soldier leans back over the banister, the machine gun firing.

"There's no way your two guns are going to win against their big ones." Clara huffs out, grabbing Nat's wrist. "No offense, but we should keep moving."

Nat laughs wryly. "I hate that you're right. Come on, we can lose them amongst the traffic."

On the bridge, the Winter Soldier stops firing as he watches them escape. Beneath his mask, he scowls. "Она у меня. Найди его." he commands, hopping over the banister in pursuit.

The distant sound of smashing glass urges Clara and Natasha to run faster. Nat yanks Clara down behind one of the parked cars for a moment before gesturing for her to run across the street to another one. She ducks behind the empty car, Nat following suit, holding a finger to her lips to signal to be quiet.

A police siren wails down the street, exploding as the Winter Soldier stalks down it in search of where Clara and Nat have gone. Screams of terror fill the silence. He slows his pace, drawing his gun to his chest in preparation to fire as he tunes the screams out and listens for either of their voices.

In the distance, he picks up one that's faint, "I make an LZ, twenty-three hundred block of Virginia Avenue. Rendezvous two minutes. Taking fire above and below the expressway. Civilians threatened. Repeat, civilians threatened."

Silently, the Winter Soldier reaches for a bomb on his belt, rolling it toward where the voice is coming from.

The explosion on the other side of the street makes Clara jump, but when she turns to Nat, she finds that she has already vaulted over the car they're hiding behind, engaging in a fight to take the Winter Soldier down. She's got him in a chokehold, pulling him backward into the car. He throws her over his shoulder into a car across the street. He picks up his gun again, aiming when she tosses an electrical inhibitor at him that clings to his metal arm.

"Clara!" Nat shouts, taking off down the side of the street. Clara immediately follows, not too far behind her. The Soldier grunts, removing the device and stalking after them.

"Get out of the way!" Nat yells to passing civilians.

"Stay out of the way!" Clara joins in, running directly behind Natasha as they prepare to round and duck behind another car.

The moment the assassin takes his shot at Nat, Clara's unaware that she's put herself in the line of fire until her shoulder erupts in red-hot pain. The adrenaline is enough to get her to safety, collapsing against it and next to Natasha, clutching her shoulder. "Shit."

"You are dead, Brown," Nat swears under her breath.

"I always told you I'd take a bullet for you, Romanoff."

Nat rolls her eyes, working to remove the collar of Clara's shirt to assess the wound. "Apollo is gonna kill me."

Clara's about to retort when she spots the Winter Soldier on the vehicle across from them, aiming. "Nat-!"

Metal clangs against metal as the Soldier blocks the swing from Steve's shield. Using his leverage, the Soldier kicks Steve off the roof of the car, and he falls backward too, from the momentum. Nat resumes her fretting over Clara's shoulder now that she has backup (if you could call it that when Steve's taking her place in the fight).

It's a lot of dodging on Steve's end, using the shield to block the bullets that the Soldier fires at him. The firefight turns into a fistfight when Steve knocks the gun out of his hand, the both of them trying to use the shield as a weapon against one another. The Soldier punches Steve, sending him stumbling backward as he keeps his grip on the shield. It's an eerie sight.

When Steve pursues the fight, the Soldier throws the shield into the parked van, lodging it there. He reaches for his knife next, trying his damnedest to lay a strike on Steve anywhere. He grows more angry and frustrated when he blocks every strike, kicking the knife out of his hand and sending him into the parked suburban truck.

The Winter Soldier recovers, his hand wrapped around Steve's throat. His eyes narrow, glaring at Steve out of hatred. He decides now isn't the time to kill him yet, so he throws him back, stalking after him. Using the hood of the car, he jumps, aiming for Steve's face and just barely missing when he rolls out of the way.

He draws another knife, trying again to strike him, using the metal arm as extra force to drive the knife into his face. Instead, it scratches the paint job of the car as he and Steve go sliding sideways. It gives Steve enough time to grab the shield again while the Soldier is down on the ground.

A few more harsh punches with the shield, and Steve manages to grab the mask of the Winter Soldier and flip him over his shoulder. The mask falls to the ground in mid-air. The assassin staggers and turns his head.

Clara's breath catches in her throat. Her eyes grow wide, and it feels like time stops. Her heart tightens with heartache. "James?" she whispers, the street carrying the echo.

Nat looks at Clara, not saying anything. Steve eyes him in disbelief as he straightens up. "Bucky?"

"Who the hell is Bucky?" The Winter Soldier replies, taking a few steps toward Steve to engage in the fight again, raising a gun to fire.

He doesn't shoot as Sam sends him into the asphalt again. Sam lands, tucking in the wings of the Falcon suit. The Soldier regains his balance, his gaze shifting from Steve to Clara, and then his eyes seem to go wide as if he's realized something.

She reaches out toward him, his name barely on her lips, when he raises his gun, but Natasha fires at the bus behind him. It explodes, and when the smoke clears, the Winter Soldier is gone.

The police swarm the area. Shield agents surround them. "Drop the shield, Cap!" Rumlow shouts. "Get on your knees!"

Steve drops it, putting his hands up in surrender. Sam does the same. Natasha clings to Clara's side.

She doesn't acknowledge the questions from her friend. She doesn't acknowledge that they're being arrested.

James was alive.

~***~

Hydra agents stand guard as scientists work quietly to fix the Asset's-- no, Bucky's-- metal arm. His gaze is unfocused and unmoving on the wall on the opposite side of the room. His chest heaves slightly as a million thoughts run through his head, all about her. Her face is familiar, a name on the tip of his tongue.

"Sergeant Barnes," Doctor Zola calls softly, but Bucky knows he's not there. His chest tightens as he remembers the cold snow. The metal arm aches with a phantom pain. Someone is shouting his name as his screaming echoes up the canyon's walls. "The procedure has already started. You are to be the new fist of Hydra." He barely remembers waking up from the procedure the first time. "Put him on ice." His body involuntarily shivers.

Out of instinct, he slams the scientist working on his arm back across the room. Yet he doesn't stand; he sits there as Rollins points his gun at him.

Pierce rounds the corner into the bank vault that Hydra has been using as a makeshift headquarters to house the Asset. "Sir," a scientist calls hesitantly. "He's...he's unstable. Erratic."

Pierce waves him off, motioning for Rumlow and some of the other Hydra agents to join him in the vault should the Asset attack him. He puts his hands up, and the agents keeping guard lower their weapons. "Mission report," he demands.

Bucky stays silent, trying to remember her name.

"Mission report," Pierce demands again. "Now."

Pierce takes a couple of steps forward. Clara, Bucky recalls.

He huffs in pain as Pierce harshly slaps him across the face. His brows furrow, and he finally speaks, not answering Pierce's demand. "The man on the bridge." He asks softly. "Who was he?"

"You met him earlier this week on another assignment." Pierce indulges him.

"I knew him," Bucky admits, eyes shifting, worried about revealing that piece of information.

Pierce drags a chair over, and for once, Bucky thinks someone is going to give him some answers. "Your work has been a gift to mankind," he says instead, and Bucky's heart drops. "You shaped the century. And I need you to do it one more time." Bucky averts his gaze. "Society's at a tipping point between order and chaos, and tomorrow morning, we're gonna give it a push. But," Pierce says, and Bucky feels like his throat is getting tight as his emotions start to build, his lip slightly wobbling. "If you don't do your part, I can't do mine, and Hydra can't give the world the freedom it deserves."

Bucky blinks a few times, processing what was asked of him to do. He frowns, directing his gaze at Pierce again, insistent. "But I knew him."

Pierce sighs in disappointment, standing up from his chair. "Prep him."

"He's been out of cryo-freeze for too long." The scientist from before says as a silent tear rolls down Bucky's cheek.

"Then wipe him and start over," Pierce instructs nonchalantly. "Once we finally have Clara, we won't have to worry anymore."

The scientists step forward, pushing him back into the chair. He stares down both Rumlow and Pierce, taking the bit into his mouth so he doesn't bite through his tongue. His body immediately tenses, going into fight or flight as the clamps on his arms secure him to the chair. He can feel his body shaking. His screams fill the silence, but none of the scientists pity him.

His consciousness desperately clings to that name: Clara.

Clara Marie Brown.

She's supposed to be dead.

~***~

"It was him."

The deep timbre of Steve's voice cuts through the silence. Clara leans against his shoulder as best she can with her wrists cuffed. Her left temple pounds with a steadily growing headache from all the emotional stress that they've been put under. Unshed tears gather in her waterline as she stares straight ahead, unable to think of anything other than the fact that James is alive. Her shoulder aches from where she was shot now that her adrenaline has worn down. "He looked right at me like he didn't even know me."

"How is that even possible?" Sam asks. "It was like, seventy years ago."

"Zola," Steve replies softly.

"James' whole unit was captured in '43," Clara whispers, catching both the attention of Natasha and Sam. It's the first time she's spoken since they've been arrested.

"Zola experimented on him." He admits quietly, and Clara lifts her head in surprise. Steve had never told her the condition in which he found Bucky. "Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They must have found him and..."

"None of that's your fault, Steve," Natasha says.

Steve huffs, letting the silence fill the back of the armored truck. He presses a kiss to Clara's forehead, hoping that in some way, it would ease her pain. "Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky."

Silence fills the truck again. "Three's the magic number," Clara murmurs, "Steve. Myself. And now James." she laughs lightly, letting her eyes fall shut to ease the pounding in her temple, wishing Apollo were here. "Almost like fate wanted to bring us to the 21st century."

The others join in her chuckles despite the situation they're in. It's surreal; when Bucky died, Clara thought she'd never see him again. The fact that a stupid bolt of lightning scrambled her time circuits and sent her into the future was proof that fate had other plans for her. Maybe it was the universe's way of giving her a second chance. Maybe the universe never wanted her to go back in time in the first place.

"We need to get a doctor here," Sam calls to the front seat, finally noticing the severity of Clara's wound. "If we don't put pressure on that wound, she's gonna bleed out here in the truck."

Clara snorts; That sounds like something Apollo would say.

The guard lifts their electric rod, and Sam leans back. Then the guard jams it into the side of the other guard, neutralizing them. Steve shifts, a bit fearful of their situation, as the guard falls to the floor, unconscious.

"Ah," Maria groans, and Nat can't help her laugh of disbelief. "That thing was squeezing my brain." She clears the strands of hair from her face, looking at the others. "Who is this guy?" she asks, pointing to Sam.

Clara laughs as Maria starts unlocking their cuffs. "Good to see you, Hill."

"And you as well." She scans her shoulder. "He was right, though. You need medical attention." Maria turns to Steve. "Let's get you all out of here. Sam, you'll have to help Clara. Nat, cover me. Keep us hidden." Nat gives her an assertive nod. "I never liked Rumlow in the first place."

Chapter Text

The van door slides open outside a secret facility that Maria has taken them to. Steve puts an arm around Clara's waist, and she puts her arm around his shoulder. He takes most of her weight as they make their way inside. She stares up at the tall building, wondering how long Shield has had this place or if this is another one of Fury's secret hiding spots.

The moment they step inside, other agents swarm to attend to them, the first being a doctor. "GSW. She's lost at least a pint." Maria relays.

"Maybe two." Sam chimes in.

"Let me take her." The doctor calls back, and Clara clings to Steve's side. Maybe it's a bias, but after hearing everything about Bucky and Hydra being back, the only doctor she trusts is Apollo.

"She'll want to see him first," Maria calls back.

"'Him'?" Clara questions. Steve shrugs his shoulders with a shake of his head.

Maria leads them through a series of turns before pulling back a makeshift curtain. Lying upon the makeshift bed is Director Fury, alive and well. Clara momentarily forgets how to breathe.

"About damn time." Fury scoffs, and the doctor leads Clara to a seat next to Fury's bedside so they can hear the story while he works to remove the bullet. "Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, shattered collarbone, perforated liver, and one hell of a headache."

"Don't forget your collapsed lung." The doctor reminds him, and Clara silently glares at Fury.

He chuckles. "Let's not forget that." His expression changes, giving Clara and Nat a sincere look. "Otherwise, I'm good."

"They cut you open." Natasha bites out quietly. "Your heart stopped."

"Tetrodotoxin B," Fury explains. "Slows the pulse to one beat a minute. Banner developed it for stress. Didn't work so great for him, but we found a use for it."

"Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?" Steve questions.

"Any attempt on the Director's life had to look successful." Maria fills in.

"Can't kill you if you're already dead." Fury states. "Besides, I wasn't sure who to trust."

With a bit of help from Maria and the doctor, they can have Fury sit up and join the others in a makeshift meeting room in the facility. He holds up a picture of Pierce, reminiscent. Clara sits near him, her shoulder bandaged up and feeling less achy now that the doctor has given her painkillers. She leans over to look at the picture. "This man declined the Nobel Peace Prize." Fury hums. "He said peace wasn't an achievement, it was a responsibility." He lets the photo fall onto the table. "See, stuff like this gives me trust issues."

"We have to stop the launch." Clara murmurs, exhaustion in her tone.

Fury pulls her into his side, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, much like a father hugging his daughter. "I don't think the Council's accepting my calls anymore." He reaches forward with his other hand, opening the briefcase on the table.

"What's that?" Sam asks.

"Once the helicarriers reach 3,000 feet, they'll triangulate with Insight satellites, becoming fully weaponized," Maria explains. Clara huffs, curling into Fury's side more.

"We need to breach those carriers and replace their targeting blades with our own." Fury continues.

"One or two won't cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work because if even one of those ships remains operational, a whole lot of people are gonna die." Maria finishes.

"We have to assume everyone aboard those carriers is Hydra. We have to get past them and insert these server blades. And maybe, just maybe, we can salvage what's left..."

Clara sits up, looking at Fury with an incredulous look on her face. "We're not salvaging anything," she bites out in a whisper. "When you asked me to convince Stevie that these carriers were necessary for protection, I told you that he needed to trust that I wouldn't allow my engineering to be used for fear. Look at where we are now." She looks between the three of them, with dried tear stains on her face. "We're not just taking down the carriers, Nick. We're taking down Shield."

"Shield had nothing to do with this," Fury tells her, but Clara shakes her head with a sad laugh.

"It has everything to do with this. I'm a Shield Scientist, Fury. Those carriers were designed for Shield. You extended the offer of leading Project Insight to me. Hell, you were the one who sought me out and hired me three years ago."

"That was Pierce," Fury admits softly, and Clara feels her throat getting tight at the admission. "He was the one who suggested we hire someone from the Institute of Future Technology. It just so happens that I knew exactly who to look for because Peggy Carter and Howard Stark left such high praises about one Clara Brown."

"So even seventy years later, Hydra is still pulling the strings." Steve sighs. Since rediscovering Zola, he's determined that his fight against Hydra didn't end when that plane went down in the Arctic with him and Red Skull. Seventy years later, he's still pursuing the fight to finish what he started. "You gave me this mission. This is how it ends. Shield's been compromised; you said so yourself. Hydra grew right under your nose and nobody noticed."

"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave? I noticed." Fury argues.

"How many paid the price before you did?"

Fury pauses, glancing between Maria, Natasha, and Clara. "Look, I didn't know about Barnes."

"Even if you had, would you have told me?" Steve challenges. "Would you have told Clara? Or would you have compartmentalized that, too? Shield, Hydra...it all goes."

"He's right." Maria agrees softly, and Nat nods along with her in agreement.

Fury looks to Sam for his input. "Don't look at me. I do what he does, just slower."

"Well," Fury sighs. "It looks like you're giving the orders now, Captain."

"You said no one on the Council was returning your calls?" Clara asks Fury, her hands folded in her lap as she begins to formulate a plan in her head.

"You would be correct." Fury replies.

"Then maybe we don't need to contact the Council." She states, standing up from her chair. "Maybe we just need to contact Secretary Pierce."

She steps away from the meeting room, heading outside. Nat raises an eyebrow, and Steve shrugs. "Clara," she calls, and Clara stops to turn to her. "Where are you going?"

"To make a phone call."

Chapter Text

TRISKELION - WASHINGTON D.C.

Clara stands stock still on the steps of the Triskelion, watching as Secretary Pierce greets the members of the World Security Council. He introduces her with a proud smile, and the one she returns is fake. She follows diligently as he gestures for the Council to enter the building, walking side-by-side with Councilwoman Hawley. "And how was your flight?"

"Lovely," she responds, and Clara reaches up to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear and adjust the earpiece Maria gave her. "The ride from the airport less so."

"Sadly, Shield can't control everything." Pierce laughs.

"Including Captain America." Councilman Rockwell adds, and Clara's skin crawls.

Pierce doesn't respond to that as he takes four pins from one of the security guards. "This facility is biometrically controlled." He explains. Hawley picks one up. "And these will give you unrestricted access."

He leads the council to the Insight launch bay, thanking the staff member who provides them each with a glass of champagne to celebrate the launch. "I know the road hasn't exactly been smooth," Pierce starts. "And some of you would have gladly kicked me out of the car along the way. Finally, we're here, thanks to this lovely lady right here." He holds up his glass to toast to Clara before he turns to the screen, indicating that there are two hours until Insight's launch. Clara feels sick to her stomach. "And the world should be grateful."

"Attention all Shield agents," Steve's voice comes over the PA system, halting Pierce's toast. "This is Steve Rogers. You've heard a lot about me over the last few days. Some of you were even ordered to hunt me down. But I think it's time you know the truth. Shield is not what we thought it was. It's been taken over by Hydra. Alexander Pierce is their leader." Clara averts her gaze as Pierce stalks closer to her, pinning her under his stare. The Council turns to him in shock. "The Strike and Insight crew are Hydra as well." Clara hangs her head slightly, knowing that once news about this gets out, her reputation is sure to tank. "I don't know how many more, but I know they're in the building. They could be standing right next to you. They almost have what they want: absolute control. They shot Nick Fury, and it won't end there. If you launch those helicarriers today, Hydra will be able to kill anyone who stands in their way, unless we stop them. I know I'm asking a lot. But the price of freedom is high. It always has been. It's a price I'm willing to pay, and if I'm the only one, then so be it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not."

"You smug son of a bitch." Rockwell spits out at Pierce. Two Hydra agents enter the room.

"Arrest him," Singh commands them, but they draw their weapons and aim at the councilmembers.

Pierce smirks. "I guess I've got the floor."

Maria's voice comes through the earpiece. "They're initiating launch."

Pierce drags Clara out of her momentary stupor as he drags her over to the window to watch as Steve and Sam make their way out to the helicarriers and the firefight begins. She watches, heart sinking in her chest, as he addresses Councilman Singh. "Let me ask you a question." He begins. "What if Pakistan marched into Mumbai tomorrow and you knew that they were going to drag your daughters into a soccer stadium for execution, and you could just stop it, with a flick of the switch?" He hands Singh another glass of champagne. "Wouldn't you? Wouldn't you all?"

"Not if it was your switch," Singh replies, tossing the glass across the room. Clara recoils slightly as it shatters on the floor.

Pierce chuckles, taking the gun that Rollins hands him. He says nothing as he raises it, intending to shoot Singh when Hawley pushes him out of the way and actively begins to take out the Hydra agents before taking the gun in Pierce's hand to point it at him. She reaches up, pressing a button on her temple to remove the technological face mask. "I'm sorry," Natasha's voice comes through disoriented. "Did I step on your moment?"

Maria's voice comes through the comm again. "Falcon, status?"

"Engaging," Sam replies. The channel is silent for a moment before his voice comes through again. "Alright, Cap. I'm in. Oh, shit."

Clara and Natasha share a look as Nat moves over to the computer, getting to work on shutting down the project. "Eight minutes, Cap," Maria informs them as they wait for a new status update on Sam.

"Working on it," Steve responds.

"What are you doing?" Rockwell asks Nat.

"She's disabling security protocols and dumping all the secrets onto the Internet," Pierce answers for her. Nat glares at him, continuing her work.

"Including Hydra's," Clara tells him.

"And Shield's." Pierce fires back. "If you do this, none of your past is gonna remain hidden." Clara raises an eyebrow at that. She's aware that Nat hasn't had the cleanest history, but Pierce isn't addressing Nat. He's addressing her. Pierce takes a step toward her. "Are you sure you're ready for the world to see you as you really are, Privistoriya?"

Clara looks at him in confusion. Privistoriya? She shakes her head slightly to get rid of the thought. Perhaps he's confusing her with someone else?

Natasha raises her gaze to stare him in the eye. "Are you?" She challenges.

Steve's update relays through the comm channel. "Alpha locked."

"Falcon, where are you now?" Maria questions.

"I had to take a detour!" Sam shouts. His line on the comm goes silent again. "I'm in. Bravo lock."

"Two down, one to go."

"Disabling the encryption is an executive order." Pierce reminds Natasha dryly. "It takes two Alpha Level members."

"Don't worry. Company's coming." She responds as a helicopter touches down on the outside landing pad. Pierce watches in disbelief as Fury steps out of the helicopter and makes his way inside the building.

Pierce chuckles. "Did you get my flowers?" Fury doesn't say anything as he stares down Pierce. "I'm glad you're here, Nick."

"Really?" Fury replies. "Because I thought you had me killed."

"You know how the game works."

"So why make me the head of Shield?"

"Because you were the best," Pierce answers honestly. "And the most ruthless person I ever met."

"I did what I did to protect people." Fury corrects.

"Our enemies are your enemies, Nick," Pierce tells him. "Disorder. War. It's just a matter of time before a dirty bomb goes off in Moscow, or an EMP fries Chicago." Fury says nothing. "Diplomacy? A holding action, Nick. A band-aid. And you know where I learned that? Bogota." Pierce smirks. "You didn't ask. You just did what had to be done. I can bring order to the lives of seven billion people by sacrificing 20 million. It's the next step, Nick, if you have the courage to take it."

"No. I have the courage not to." Fury takes Pierce by the arm, leading him toward the computer to disable the encryption.

"Retinal scanner active." The computer chimes.

For extra measure, Nat holds up a gun to Pierce. He just chuckles at the situation. "You don't think we've wiped your clearance from the system?" He asks Fury.

"I know you erased my password." Fury admits. "Probably deleted my retinal scan. But if you want to stay ahead of me, Mr. Secretary, you need to keep both eyes open."

He gestures to the computer, and it scans their retinas. "Alpha level confirmed. Encryption code accepted. Safeguards removed."

~***~

"Charlie carrier is 45 degrees off the port bow," Maria informs the boys, noticing a couple of Hydra soldiers are breaching her command center. Swiftly, she fires two shots to take them out. "Six minutes."

"Hey, Sam," Steve calls through the comm. "Gonna need a ride."

"Roger!" Sam answers back. "Let me know when you're ready."

The Hydra agents fire their cannon, and Steve uses the blast to propel himself off the side of the helicarrier. "I just did!"

He free-falls, Sam groaning as he grabs Steve's hand and propels them both upward toward the last helicarrier. Sam drops him on the runway, landing next to him and tucking the Falcon wings away as they make their way to the bridge. "You know, you're a lot heavier than you look." Sam retorts.

Steve laughs. "I had a big breakfast."

He grunts as something slams into his side, pushing him over the edge. "Steve!" Sam jumps, deploying his wings, but the assailant grabs on before he can get too far and throws him back onto the ship. Sam aims, shooting at the Asset and forcing him to duck out of the way.

When he thinks he's successful, he flies off to help Steve, being forced back and grounded by the Asset's cable. One of the wings rips off the suit. Sam pulls himself to his feet in time for the Asset to kick him off the edge of the helicarrier and send him plummeting toward the Triskelion. Releasing the useless wing, Sam deploys the parachute and comes to a harsh landing on the roof.

"Cap! Cap, come in. Are you okay?" Steve hears in his ear as he desperately hangs onto the side of the helicarrier.

"Yeah! I'm here!" He shouts, pulling himself up. "I'm still on the helicarrier. Where are you?"

"I'm grounded." Sam sighs. "The suit's down. Sorry, Cap."

"Don't worry. I got it."

Maria notices Rumlow on her monitor, headed for the meeting room. "Falcon?"

"Yeah?"

"Rumlow's headed for the Council."

"I'm on it."

Steve jogs across one of the metal bridges on the helicarrier as he makes his way toward the command center. He comes to a stop as the Asset stands in his way. "People are gonna die, Buck." He says. The Asset stares him down. "I can't let that happen. Please don't make me do this."

The Asset lowers his head slightly. Steve makes the first attack, throwing his shield at him, which he blocks with the metal arm. He shoots, but Steve blocks, grunting when a couple of bullets make it past the shield. He throws his weight into the shield, knocking the Asset back off his feet, ultimately dropping his weapon.

The Asset stands, drawing a knife and returning to the fight. Steve expertly dodges his attacks, knocking him back again so he can turn to the computer and insert the chip. The chamber lowers, but he has to return his focus to the fight before he can continue. Landing a kick to the Asset's chest buys him enough time to work on inserting the chip again. He pulls one out, reaching to insert the other, blocking a punch from the Asset with his shield. Steve forces him back once more.

The Asset shouts, launching himself at Steve and taking him over the edge of the command center. He drops the chip, and it slides behind the Asset as the fight reengages. They've devolved to fistfighting as the Asset lands a blow that knocks Steve to the edge of the new platform they're fighting on, allowing him to pick up the chip. The Asset makes quick work of getting him to drop it while also being dealt a blow to the face. Steve kicks him over the side to bring the fight down another level as he pursues the chip.

Jumping down, he runs over to the chip, groaning as his shield hits him from behind, causing him to fall to the floor. The Asset grabs the fallen gun from earlier, and Steve shields himself from the fire. The Asset makes a move forward, and Steve throws the shield at him, which he knocks back with his arm. Grabbing his knife again, the Asset swings at Steve, attempting to land a successful blow on him.

With a bit of force, he pushes the blade into his shoulder. With a groan, Steve knocks his forehead against the Asset's, his helmet dispersing most of the force. He gets thrown to the side as the Asset makes a dive for the chip, but Steve removes the blade and lifts him by his neck, flipping him over his shoulder and locking his arm in a hold. Steve pushes his face toward the glass, trying to force him to drop the chip. "Drop it!" Steve shouts. The Asset growls in frustration. "Drop it!"

A crack echoes briefly, that's covered up by the pained shout of the Asset, and for a moment, Steve's reminded that this is still Bucky he's fighting. In an effort not to hurt him further, he brings him onto his back, locking his head in a chokehold with the hopes that he'll drop the chip. The metal arm is pinned behind one of his legs. The Asset flails, but ultimately, he releases the chip as his eyes roll into the back of his head.

Steve immediately lets him go, heading for the command center again.

~***~

"Done," Nat says calmly as the screens display Transfer Successful for the whole group to see. She lifts her phone, surprised. "And it's trending."

Without a word, Pierce presses a button on his phone, and both council members, Rockwell and Singh, groan in pain. Their pins are quickly burning holes through their jackets. Nat raises her gun. "Unless you want a two-inch hole in your sternum, I'd put that gun down," Pierce warns. "That was armed the moment you pinned it on."

Reluctantly, Natasha and Fury lower their weapons. Pierce takes his place at the computer. "Lieutenant, how much longer?"

"65 seconds to satellite link." the Lieutenant responds. "Targeting grid engaged. Lowering weapons array now."

"One minute." Maria relays through the comms, her tone more fearful than before. Clara's fists are balled up tightly. "Thirty seconds, Cap!"

"Stand by," Steve responds. "Charlie..."

Clara grits her teeth, watching as the timer continues to tick down to zero. "Algorithm deployed," the weapons tech chimes in.

Pierce smirks at the three of them, lifting his radio. "We are go to target." He moves around the desk, placing a hand on Clara's shoulder. "Without you, Doc, none of this would be possible," he praises, and a tear drips down Clara's cheek as hundreds upon thousands of targets are located within Insight's system.

"Target saturation reached."

The screen glitches as all the tiny red dots disappear. Clara gasps as Steve's pained voice comes through the comm channel, "Charlie lock."

"Okay, Cap, get out of there," Maria instructs as she redirects the helicarriers to fire upon each other.

"Fire now," Steve tells her.

"But, Steve..."

"Do it!" Clara squeezes her eyes shut, her lip trembling at his command. "Do it now!"

She turns to the window just as the helicarriers open fire on one another, watching as the past three years of her work go down the drain.

"What a waste," Pierce growls out, and Clara turns on him, anger in her eyes.

"So, are you still on the fence about Rogers' chances?" Natasha taunts.

"Time to go, Doc." Pierce redirects. He grabs Clara's arm, and she tries to rip it out of his grasp. "This way. Come on. You're going to fly me out of here."

"You know, there was a time I would've taken a bullet for you," Fury says, halting Pierce in his tracks.

"You already did." Pierce spits. "You will again when it's useful."

Clara catches sight of Nat lifting one of the electric shock rounds she used on the Winter Soldier when he was pursuing them on the street and the Hydra agents earlier. She watches as she counts down, electrocuting herself. Clara grabs the discarded gun as Pierce eases his grip on her arm, focusing on rebooting the system for the pin on Nat's jacket.

Without hesitation, Clara fires, just as Fury shoots Pierce from across the room, knocking him back through the glass.

With shaking hands, Clara drops the gun and hurries to Nat's side. "Nat," she whispers, shaking her.

Fury joins her side. "Natasha," he urges. "Natasha! Come on!"

Slowly, Nat comes too. "Ow." She turns her head. "Those do sting."

The building shakes as the helicarrier crashes into the Triskelion. Where Sam is fighting Rumlow, he's smart enough to get a head start before all the collapsing rubble traps him with no escape. He reaches up to his earpiece. "Please tell me you got that chopper in the air!"

"Sam, where are you?" Nat replies.

"41st floor! Northwest corner!"

"We're on it! Stay where you are!"

"Not an option!"

Sam crashes through the window, and Fury harshly tilts the chopper to the side so they can catch him. Nat and Clara grab him before he can fall through and out the other side. "41st floor!" Sam shouts in annoyance but is glad to be out of the crumbling building. "41st!"

"It's not like they put the floor numbers on the outside of the building." Fury retorts.

"Hill!" Clara speaks into the headset. "Where's Steve? You got a location on Rogers?"

~***~

As the helicarrier begins to crash around them, Steve jumps down to where he left the Asset, practically buried in the rubble. When he gets close, he can see that his eyes are full of fear. He's scared. It's probably the first emotion Steve's seen him wear other than anger. Steve stumbles, making his way over to help lift the collapsed support beam. "I've got you," Steve can't help but whisper. "I'm not leaving you again. Clara will kill me if you die now."

The Asset's eyes are wet with tears. Clara. His lip wobbles, and then his jaw tightens as conflicting thoughts run through his mind. Steve lifts the metal structure enough for the Asset to crawl out, setting it down when they're both safe. Steve makes his way over to him. "You know me."

"No, I don't!" The Asset shouts, tackling Steve to the ground. Both boys pant in exhaustion.

"Bucky," Steve begs. "You've known me your whole life." The Asset lashes out again. They stumble as the helicarrier continues to crash. "Your name is James Buchanan Barnes."

"Shut up!"

Steve rips his helmet off, still trying to break through to the Asset. To Bucky. "I'm not gonna fight you," he admits, dropping his shield. It plummets into the water below. "You're my friend."

His heart drops when the Asset looks at him with so much anger in his eyes. Once more, he tackles him to the ground, pinning him there as he starts landing punch after punch to his face. "You're my mission," The Asset hisses. "You're. My. Mission!"

Steve's head lolls back, and the Asset hesitates. "Then finish it," he challenges softly. "Because I'm with you to the end of the line."

Momentarily, the Asset disappears, and above him is James Buchanan Barnes, his childhood best friend. The kid who stuck up for him on the playground. The man who found a way to get his hands on a copy of The Hobbit when it first came out.

The helicarrier sways and glass shatters beneath him, and all Steve remembers is falling into the river below them. He isn't aware of the Asset diving after him, pulling him from the river before disappearing into the surrounding woods.

~***~

FURY'S GRAVESITE - DAYS LATER

Steve, Sam, and Clara stand solemnly in front of the grave in silence. None of them are sure what to say as they process the events of the last week. "So, you've experienced this sort of thing before." Fury calls out to them, donned in a hoodie and sunglasses. Clara splits from where she's between the boys to give him a quick hug, which he returns.

"You get used to it," Steve responds with a shrug, wrapping an arm around Clara's shoulders when she returns to her spot.

"We've been data mining Hydra's files," Fury says. "Looks like a lot of rats didn't go down with the ship."

Steve nods slowly, and Clara sighs. "'Cut off one head, two more shall take its place.'" She recites quietly, and he chuckles.

"I'm headed to Europe tonight." Fury starts his offer. "Wanted to ask if you'd come."

"There's something I got to do first," Steve tells him, squeezing Clara tight.

"How about you, Wilson? Could use a man with your abilities."

"I'm more of a soldier than a spy." Sam politely declines.

"Alright, then." Fury nods, extending his hand for the three of them to shake. "Anybody asks for me, tell them they can find me, right here."

"You should be honored," Natasha calls as she approaches the site while Fury leaves it. "That's about as close as he gets to saying thank you."

Steve smirks. "Not going with him?"

"No." She laughs, eyeing Clara. "I would say I have a reckless Doctor I need to protect, but considering that stunt she pulled on Pierce..."

"I'm not a doctor yet." Clara reminds her, but Nat shakes her head with a smile. "And I did what I had to do."

"I know," Nat whispers. "And I'm proud of you."

"Not staying here?" Steve asks her, pivoting the conversation.

"Nah." She breathes out. "I blew all my covers. I've got to go figure out a new one."

"That might take a while."

"I'm counting on it." Silence lulls between the three of them before Nat hands him a file. "That thing you asked for, I called in a few favors from Kiev." Steve takes the file, heart heavy. "Will you do me a favor? Call that nurse."

"She's not a nurse." Steve reminds her.

"And you're not a Shield agent."

"What was her name again?"

"Sharon." Natasha fills in for him. "She's nice."

Silence settles again as Nat leans in to kiss his cheek before pulling Clara in for a tight hug. "Be careful, Clara." She whispers, pulling out of the hug first. "You both might not want to pull on that thread."

Just like Fury, she's gone too. Steve opens the file; the first thing he spots is a grainy photo of Bucky, his eyes closed like he's asleep. Clara reaches out, tracing her fingers over the image. "Oh, James," she whispers, and Steve can hear the way her heart breaks in her voice.

He pulls the black and white army photo out of the stack. "Here." He hands it to her, and she takes it as if it's the most precious thing in the world. "You deserve this much."

"Thank you." She whispers back, her fingers tracing over his face again.

"You're going after him." Sam states, clear as day.

"You don't have to come with me," Steve responds.

"I know." Sam nods, looking back over his shoulder at the file. "When do we start?"

~***~

MARCH 10TH, 2014

Clara holds the bouquet close to her chest, maneuvering her way through the multitude of people visiting the Captain America exhibit at the Smithsonian. The exhibit has always been popular, but it seems in light of recent events, it's gained even more popularity. A majority of the crowd gazes at the giant mural on the wall above the uniforms of the 107th, or the Howling Commandos, as they are now remembered. She smiles slightly; Bucky's replica uniform has been moved to the middle since Steve stole his original one back.

Drawing in a deep breath, Clara crosses to the other side of the exhibit, where Bucky's memorial stands. She stares at it for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "Happy birthday, James," she whispers, not wanting the crowd to think she's crazy for talking out loud to a memorial marquee. "You would be 97 today, assuming we hadn't already bit the dust." She laughs a little. "But you don't look a day over 27. I guess we're both lucky." She sighs, shifting her weight. "I haven't missed a birthday, you know? This is the first one in three years that I know you're alive out there."

Out of the corner of her eye, she notices someone else coming to a stop in front of the memorial, so she steps to the side so the guest can read the information. Clara finds that she's at a loss for words again. She toys with a pink carnation in the bouquet. "Apollo let me borrow a flower language book. I haven't plucked up the courage to search for what white roses mean; I'm still waiting for you to tell me." She continues to whisper, even softer now.

Unbeknownst to Clara, the stranger watches as she pulls four flowers from the bouquet; one of each. She walks up to the memorial and places them at the foot of it. "I know they'll get trampled by all the visitors, but I couldn't help myself." She takes a couple of steps back, almost standing side-by-side with the stranger. "They're baby's breath, red and pink carnations, and pink camellia. I hope you like them."

Clara reaches up to wipe away a tear that's rolling down her cheek. "I have to go," She says. "I hope you like the flowers, wherever you are."

She turns and leaves the museum, and the stranger feels like all the breath has been stolen from his lungs. Bucky had been within arm's reach of her. All he had to do was reach out and grab her shoulder, turn her to him, and whisper in the same tone of voice, Clara, I'm here. But he didn't.

He wasn't ready.

Instead, he walks up to the fresh flowers she had placed at the foot of his memorial and holds them tightly to his chest, as if they were the most precious thing on earth. He took one last look at the marquee before he turned on his heel and made his way through the rest of the exhibit, staying as invisible as possible. Mentally, he noted two things: first, today was his birthday. The newspaper he had swiped on the way to the museum stated that today was March 10th. He was 97 years old with the looks of a man almost in his thirties. Second, he needed to get his hands on a flower language book so he could look up the meaning behind the four flowers that she'd left for him.

Chapter Text

APRIL 2014

Bruce and Tony stand in the hallway outside the baby room. Theirs is front and center, wrapped in a bright pink blanket with a cute pink bow. Their daughter, all bunched up and swaddled. A tiny little thing, only coming in at five pounds and eleven ounces, but so was Peter. It seems the tiny ones are the ones who cause such a fuss. She certainly gave Apollo a run for her money, which only means she's going to be a handful when she develops her powers (though that's a worry for a different day).

"I can't believe it," Bruce breathes, taking a step forward to be at the glass. "She's here."

Tony smiles warmly. He remembers standing in Bruce's shoes with Peter like it was yesterday. Now look at all he's accomplished! It seriously makes him wonder what this little one's future will be. Will she take after her parents just like her older brother, or will she make a name for herself? Endless possibilities, and it's only day two.

"I know how you feel," Tony says softly. "Especially when they're this small." Bruce places a hand on the glass. "Peter wasn't any bigger. I used to call him a peanut." Bruce laughs. "What does that make her?"

"Perfect," Bruce whispers. "She's perfect." Tony's smile grows as he approaches the glass, too. She's just waking from her nap, all dazed and confused. Bruce lightly taps the glass to gain her attention. "Green." Tony raises an eyebrow. "Her eyes are green." Bruce lets out a shaky breath. "They're so pretty." Tony relaxes, patting Bruce on the back. "Tony," he coos, "look at her."

Heels click down the hallway, and for a moment, they worry it's Apollo who's come to visit. It's a doctor, yes, but one of time, not healing (although she'd be quick to refute that she has one month left before she's worthy of the title). Tony pulls away from Bruce to bring Clara in for a hug. Clara squeezes him before gravitating toward Bruce.

"I hear congratulations are in order," She whispers. "I came as quickly as I could. Where is she?" Bruce points to the ball of pink who's watching them like a soap opera. Clara gasps. "She's gorgeous, you guys."

"Five pounds, eleven ounces, our perfect Lorna Rikki Stark-Banner." Clara coos. "Apollo's in the room resting." Bruce bites his lip. "Be warned, though, she kinda lost a grip on her powers while in labor." Clara laughs.

"Doesn't help that Lorna has the same powers." Clara winces. "I'm glad you came, Clara." She beams.

"Me too." She waves at Lorna, and swears Lorna waves back.

Bruce and Tony exchange a knowing look. "About that..." Clara glances over her shoulder at Tony. "Look, if Apollo asks you herself, this conversation never happened." Clara looks to Bruce, brow furrowed. He nods to Tony. "But will you be Lorna's godmother?" Clara stills; Tony gives her a moment to process. "Clara?"

"Are you serious, Tony?" She breathes.

He nods. "I couldn't imagine anyone better.

She engulfs them both in a tight hug, muttering a yes under her breath.

~***~

MAY

The feeling is indescribable when Clara hands in her final, final, project for her doctorate program seventy years later. She has to thank Tony again; without his help, she wouldn't be standing here.

She can finally call herself Doc Brown.

She laughs to herself. Are you proud of me, Dad?

As graduation draws near, she's surprised to hear that NYU's Dean requests her presence in their office. She's giddy; all she can assume is that they want her to speak at the ceremony. She'd be more than happy to accept the honor.

Quietly, she takes the elevator up to their office, gripping the dog tags that still hang around her neck. I don't know where you are, James, but I did it.

The secretary is standing outside the office with a kind smile. "Good afternoon, Ms. Brown. Follow me."

Clara is a bit shocked to find members of the science department and the academic senate waiting alongside the dean. She offers them all a smile when she steps inside the room.

"First of all," the dean starts, standing from their desk. "We wanted to congratulate you, Ms. Brown. It's not every day we handle a case like yours."

"I'm grateful that you readmitted me in the first place," Clara laughs lightly, and a few members of the senate laugh too.

"The reason I called you here is due to our graduation ceremony," the dean explains, and Clara nods. She watches as they pick up a fancy folder and come around to the front of the desk. "Due to the scandal surrounding Shield and Project Insight, the academic senate and I have decided to give you your diploma ahead of time."

For a moment, Clara is speechless. "Does this have to do with my involvement?" She asks quietly. "Because I built the helicarriers that Secretary Pierce planned on using to eliminate more than half the population?"

The dean gives her a sad smile. "I'm sorry, Ms. Brown. I'm sure you understand."

She forces a fake smile onto her face. "I do. I appreciate the gesture, nevertheless."

Numbly, Clara steps forward and accepts the diploma, shaking the dean's hand. Multiple members of the science department shake her hand and express how much of a pleasure it had been teaching the brightest scientist of their age.

When she finally steps out of the dean's office, she stands outside the door for a moment, staring at the folder in her hand. Gingerly, she opens it to examine the diploma. The fancy script reflects her name at her. Her heart sinks. She should be receiving this on that stage. She should be admiring it alongside the Avengers. Apollo and Nat should be forcing Tony to take pictures of the three of them, Clara proudly holding her diploma, dressed in cap and gown.

Yet she stands in the quiet hallway of the administrative building with no one to celebrate with.

With a deep breath, Clara pulls out her phone to inform Apollo of the news: Received my diploma. No need to wrangle the Avengers into attending the ceremony. I'm technically uninvited.

She ignores the texts that Apollo sends back, asking her what happened.

It's later in the afternoon when Clara arrives back at the X-Mansion. Since the scare of someone breaking into her apartment, Apollo basically forced her to move into the mansion and Nat backed the request. It was two against one, so Clara couldn't say no.

Some of the older students are outside on the front lawn, practicing. Clara smiles; to her, it looks like they're goofing off, but she won't say anything to Charles. Sometimes kids just need to be kids.

She climbs the steps and enters the main foyer, immediately stopped by Apollo and Natasha. They both pull her into a hug, and Clara hugs them back. They stay like that until Clara feels the need to pull away.

"Since you've been ignoring me, will you tell us now why we won't be attending your graduation at the NYU campus?" Apollo asks, planting her hands on her hips.

"Project Insight," Clara admits with a shrug, but both of the other girls can see that it's affecting her that she won't be graduating properly. "I think that speaks for itself."

Nat reaches for the diploma, opening it to admire it. "Well, it's NYU's loss." She turns on her heel and starts walking through the mansion, toward the back lawn. Apollo takes Clara's hand and leads her in the same direction.

"Guys," Clara breathes out, exhaustion in her tone. "I'm not in the mood for celebrating tonight. I just want to curl up in my room and forget that today ever happened."

"Not an option, Zeitrei." Apollo hums.

Clara groans, stepping outside with the other two girls. She's greeted with the sight of all the Avengers seated in front of the Xavier's School for the Gifted graduation stage. "Hey, boys!" Natasha calls, and they turn. "Our NYU graduate is here!"

The boys start cheering as loudly as they can, and Apollo hugs Clara's waist. Nat's halfway up the aisle to give Charles the NYU diploma. "I convinced Dad and Vati to leave the stage out a little bit longer after the Gifted's graduation ceremony. When I told them that you texted me about being uninvited to your graduation, they couldn't say no."

Clara turns to Apollo. "You guys didn't have to do all of this for me, Sol."

"Oh, but we did, Zeitrei." She laughs. "Come on, you have to graduate!"

Apollo drags Clara up to the stage. Erik hugs Clara first, and she leans down to hug Charles and whisper her thanks to him. He waves it off with a laugh.

"It's been a long day, and I've already talked everyone's ear off," Charles starts, and the Avengers giggle. "However, I have the pleasure of awarding this Doctor of Philosophy degree to our esteemed Ms. Brown." Clara takes her diploma with a small laugh, shaking his hand. "I am so incredibly proud of you."

"Thank you, Professor."

He scoffs, rolling his eyes. "I thought I'd told you to call me Charles."

She hugs him again. "You'll always be professor to me."

The Avengers cheer again, engulfing her in a hug. Peter tugs on her sleeve to get her attention. "Auntie Clara!"

"Hi, Bug." Clara ruffles his hair, noticing the rather large box he's holding. "What have you got there?"

"It's for you!" He holds the box out to her. "Mom made these for everyone, but she also included something extra just for you."

All the Avengers quiet down as Clara opens the box. On top is a matching black training uniform set. In fact, most of the pieces in the box belong to the set. Clara traces the tiny Avengers A printed near the left shoulder. It's weird; she doesn't classify herself as an Avenger, but they acknowledge her as one. If anything, she and Apollo are the two outliers of the group.

Beneath that is a green dress, accented with yellow, and a black belt with the tiniest X in the middle of it. Included are a pair of fingerless gloves that come up to nearly her elbow and tights that are lined so that they appear grey to match the gloves and other accents on the dress. Clara's gaze shoots up to Apollo's, who is smiling sheepishly.

"You were the only one without a suit," Apollo begins to explain quietly. "I had Hank and Dad start working on designs. Some of the students pitched in to have it made on time." She wrings her hands together, trying to read Clara's expression. "So? Do you like it?"

"Sol, I love it," Clara says honestly. "I...I don't know what to say. Truly. Thank you."

Steve claps a hand on Clara's shoulder. "C'mon, go try it on!"

Clara laughs, relenting as she leads the Avengers back inside the mansion. When she emerges, dressed in the suit, they're all beaming with pride. Apollo forces Tony to take pictures of her and Nat standing side-by-side with Clara.

It's late when the Avengers retire to their guest rooms. Clara sits in the silence of her room, smiling to herself at the turn of events the evening took. Gently, she hangs up the suit in her closet, admiring it one more time. She may not need it now, but she can't help but feel that she'll have to don it sooner or later.

~***~

SUMMER

Jules interrupts Clara's writing by setting down a newspaper in front of her. The headline grabs her attention first: SHIELD'S DEEPEST SCANDAL: LEAD SCIENTIST CLARA BROWN RESIGNS AS SECRETARY PIERCE'S HYDRA ROLE AND THE TRUE INTENTIONS BEHIND PROJECT INSIGHT COME TO LIGHT.

She purses her lips together in thought. It's been a few months now since the fallout of Shield and Project Insight, and yet it's all the media can talk about still. She lifts her gaze to meet her brother, who is still staring down at her expectantly. "I don't know what you want me to say, Julie."

"Is it true?" He asks in return.

"Of course it's all true, Jules." Clara breathes out, dropping her pen and leaning back in her seat. "Natasha didn't give up all her secrets for nothing. Hell, I gave the green light that if we were to take down Pierce, Shield had to go down with Hydra."

Jules huffs a frustrated sigh, and Clara feels like she's a little kid again. He always did that when she annoyed him too much. "And that's why you came back to the Institute?"

"I wouldn't have come back so willingly after three years at Shield, now would I?"

They both smile. Jules chuckles, shaking his head as he picks the newspaper back up. "My little sister has saved the world twice now. Who would have thought?"

"Not me," Clara snorts. "I seem to always be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"I don't think that's true." Jules counters. "And I think Dad would agree with me."

"Dad was never in the right place at the right time either, Julie. He wasn't supposed to save Mom, and yet he did!"

Silence settles over the two Brown siblings. "What will you do now, Clara?"

"I'd like to work at the Institute again if that's alright with you." She chews on her bottom lip, nervous about what he'll say. "I loved teaching before Fury came and recruited me to Shield. I want to make a difference in the world, and I think teaching the next generation of engineers is the way to do it."

"I have a counteroffer," Another voice cuts through, and Clara leans over in her seat to see Apollo standing in the doorway of the classroom she's been using to teach the last few months. "Tony and Bruce could always use an extra pair of hands in the lab."

Clara smiles as she averts her gaze. "I don't think they would want mine." She rebuttals. "Everything I touch seems to be used for evil."

Apollo scoffs. "The Avengers helicarrier that Tony couldn't stop raving about two years ago begs to differ."

Clara opens her mouth to rebut again, but she can't find the words. She huffs, leaning back in her seat. "Is this your idea or Tony's?"

"Both of ours, technically," Apollo admits with a smile. "I told Tony he'd be a fool if he wasn't the first major tech company to recruit the Doc Brown." She shrugs. "He simply agreed with me."

"The Avengers just happen to be a bonus to that contract."

"Precisely."

Clara laughs, moving to gather her things. "Is this what it was like when he recruited you to be their doctor?"

Apollo rolls her eyes. "Not even close. Tony practically begged me, and when I didn't agree the first time, he dragged me to the Tower."

Clara shakes her head as both girls laugh now. She can see Tony doing that too. Apollo walks over to her desk to help her gather the rest of her things, linking their arms. "So? What'll it be, Doc?"

Clara breathes out a breath, nodding. "I say let's give it a shot."

~***~

There's a gentle knock on Clara's office door. She lifts her head from her paper, ceasing her writing. Her other hand supports her head, locks of brown hair askew from where she's pulled the strands out of her ponytail. "Hey, Tony." Exhaustion is laced in her tone; the last few weeks have been chaotic, to say the least.

Tony has seen Steve in a similar state that Clara is in after their encounter with the Winter Soldier.

"Hey." Tony eventually replies, strolling into the office. "Remember when I found your PhD cleaning out Dad's office?"

Clara smiles softly. "Of course I do. You practically saved my professional career."

Tony chuckles and shakes his head in denial. "You saved it yourself." He goes serious again, fidgeting a bit. He's nervous about something. "But, I found these with your paper."

Hesitantly, he sets a stack of envelopes on the desk, and Clara looks between that and him. When he doesn't say anything, she picks up one of the envelopes. It's addressed to her from James Barnes.

"Tony," Her voice betrays the ache in her heart. "Please, don't tell me what I think this is."

Tony sighs. "These are letters from Sergeant Barnes to you that both Apollo and I think were intercepted."

Clara's eyes water, chest heaving as she attempts to bite back a sob. She can't bring herself to open the envelopes. Tony watches as a tear rolls down her cheek.

"Why..." Her voice cracks, and Tony flinches. "Why would Howard do that?"

"I don't know." A little white lie that would keep her from knowing the full truth. For as long as Tony's known her, she's shown that she had no idea that Howard was in love with her. He couldn't tell her that was the reason why he intercepted them.

Clara wipes her face, trying to keep her unshed tears at bay. "Um, I think I'm going to take the evening off." She whispers, picking up the letters and clinging them to her chest. "Thank you, Tony. For returning these to me."

~***~

The sun has almost sunk below the horizon as Clara quietly walks between graves, coming to a stop in front of two near the back of the cemetery. Her throat feels tight as she glares at the pristine stone.

"Fuck you," She whispers harshly. Tears slip down her face as she attempts to keep her composure. "You..."

Clara huffs a bitter laugh. "You kept these from me, you asshole." The letters are still tightly held in her hand. The oldest letter is dated from the middle of October 1943. It's the only letter she's opened thus far, reading about the 107th's movement toward Azzano. The other letters remain sealed.

"James was my friend, and you still..." Anger courses through her again. "That November, you watched for eight days as I grieved his death. While you helped Steve go behind enemy lines to attempt a rescue mission. Yet you still kept these from me."

Silence settles, but the stone still reflects Howard's name at her.

"I loved him," Clara whispers, her heart shattering all over again. Her eyes widened slightly, anger flaring through her once more. "But you knew that. And that's why..." Her throat gets tight with emotion. "That's why you did it. And I will resent you for the rest of my life for what you did."

The headstone says nothing.

Clara runs a hand through her hair and steps away from the stone, silently making her way through the cemetery. She pulls out her phone, scrolling through it to find Steve's contact. It rings a couple of times before he picks up. "Hey, do you and Sam have any leads yet?"

Chapter Text

APRIL 2015

HYDRA BASE - SOKOVIA

A young man and a woman--twins--stand close together, hands held tightly. A speaker crackles to life above them as other men run past them. "Report to your stations immediately," The speaker says. The twins inch closer as they watch everyone grab guns before fleeing the base. "This is not a drill. We are under attack."

Outside, in the forest, the Avengers are in the process of infiltrating the Hydra base. Natasha Romanoff, Black Widow, drives what appears to be a semi-armored jeep with Clint Barton, Hawkeye, firing arrows out of the top. She dodges between trees while simultaneously fighting off the robots flying up to attack her and Clint. Clint turns around and punches one as Tony Stark-Banner, Iron Man, flies past in his suit. Clint and Natasha catch sight of him and offer a small smile, even though he's long gone.

Thor flies past them and up to a watchtower, where he knocks out four Hydra agents and a few of the robots that come toward him amid battle. He drops back to the ground to finish the fight when Steve Rogers, Captain America, drives by on a motorcycle, taking some of the fight with him as he gets further into the forest before circling back around to where his teammates are battling.

Bruce Stark-Banner, who is currently his giant, green, rage monster alter ego, Hulk, jumps down in the center of it all and attacks a helicopter that's been firing at Clint and Natasha. He throws it in the opposite direction before taking a few of the Hydra agents. Tony swoops in and helps take out the remaining agents before they all jump over a minor hill in unison: quite the heroic pose.

Everyone splits up again to take out the agents they can handle.

Meanwhile, Apollo Stark-Banner watches the fight go down from the locked Quinjet on her Starkpad.

"You're doing great, guys," Apollo mutters, running a hand through her hair. This is her least favorite part of the job: waiting. Sitting and watching and waiting to see if something happens. If one of the Avengers needs her. It certainly doesn't help that every time Tony flies too close to a wire or Hulk...well, she doesn't need to worry about the Hulk, but Tony concerns her. He's still very much human inside that suit.

Clara Brown reaches across the small table and rests a hand on Apollo's, offering her a warm smile as well. "They'll be fine, Sol. They always are."

Apollo snorts. "You haven't known Tony for as long as I have," she counters. "He's never fine."

"Ladies, if you're going to talk about me, make sure your comms are off," Tony teases over their earpieces. Apollo presses her lips together to keep from laughing, but Clara doesn't offer him the same sympathy. She giggles, a hand pressed to her mouth to at least muffle it. Apollo can practically see the eye roll as he says, "Thanks, Clara. I'll remember that."

"Hey!" Clara shouts, throwing her arms up in the process. Apollo chuckles -- and Tony says she's bad at doing visual cues over the phone. "It was your wife who said it!"

The comms are silent for a second, but if Apollo's warm smile is any indicator, Clara knows why.

"Say that again?" Apollo rolls her eyes, her smile growing. "You broke up. I didn't hear you correctly."

"Very funny, Tony." Apollo pipes up. "Focus on taking down the Hydra base or else."

"Or else what?"

Apollo smirks. "Or else your wife will make you sleep on the couch." Tony chuckles. "And be on baby duty."

"Ah, ah, ah. She's no longer a baby." The girls pick up the sound of his repulsors over the comms. Apollo winces. "She's a year old already. Can you believe it?"

Apollo's back to smiling, and even Clara has to lean back in her chair with a smile of her own. Truth is: no, none of them can believe that it's already been a year. It feels like just yesterday they were all standing in Central Park under the warm sun watching as Apollo and Tony gave their vows, only for her and Bruce to sign the marriage license at the mansion. How can they already have a one-year-old daughter? How is it that anyone on the team has completed an entire year of domesticity?

"Can we save the chit-chat for after we bring home the scepter?" Natasha cuts in. Apollo and Clara lock eyes before giggling. A few seconds go by before Nat's voice crackles in their ears again, "Have we discussed a birthday party for Lorna yet? Auntie Nat wants to spoil her rotten."

Apollo snorts. "Don't worry, Nat, she'll definitely be rotten." Apollo clicks through a few things on the Starkpad and changes the camera angle. She's connected through the suit and Jarvis, but she's pretty much able to see everything in the forest. Everything within a certain mile radius of Tony, that is. "We have discussed a party. We were thinking maybe this weekend, and then Hill called us in so..." She taps her nails against the table. Clara raises an eyebrow and watches her. Apollo shrugs. "Guess it's back to the drawing board."

"I know not of this drawing board you speak of, but might I ask why it cannot still be this weekend?" Thor asks, taking both Clara and Apollo by surprise. It was a hassle getting Thor to properly wear the communications device. They weren't expecting him to actually use it. "We are all together, are we not?"

"I don't have any plans," Steve pipes up before letting out a grunt as he throws the shield. "I'll take any excuse I can get to see Lorna. She's as cute as a button!"

Apollo beams as she switches to her Shield-issued laptop so she can keep one eye on the fight and one eye on scheduling a baby's first birthday party. "Alright. I suppose we can still have it this weekend," She agrees. Clara lets out a small cheer, which gets Apollo laughing. "It can double as a 'job well done' party when you succeed in bringing home the scepter." Apollo clicks away, moving some of Tony's meetings, double-checking Peter's schedule, etc. Tony and Bruce might save the world, but Apollo saves their personal lives. "Bruce, dear, do you--"

"No Banner, only Hulk!" Hulk bellows.

Apollo winces, screwing her eyes tightly. They've tried teaching Hulk to speak more softly when talking to the voices in his ear, but they haven't been very successful. "Sorry," She apologizes. "Hulk, darling, do you have any issues with Lorna's birthday being this weekend?"

"Lorna party?"

"Yes, Lorna party."

"Lorna party!" He cheers.

Apollo giggles. "I'm taking that as a yes. Hun?"

"I have a feeling you've already cleared my schedule," Apollo smirks, leaning back in her seat. "You know my credit card number. Order whatever you have to. I want to go all out for our little girl's first birthday." Apollo nods and pulls up yet another tab. "Shit!" Apollo sucks in a breath as she maximizes the screen with the camera. She lets out that very same breath when she realizes Tony's just flown into a forcefield. Nothing she should worry about.

"Language!" Steve fires. Apollo raises an eyebrow at Clara who's pressed her lips together and screwed her eyes shut. Apollo resists the urge to giggle. "Jarvis, what's the view from upstairs?"

"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Stryker's technology is well beyond any other Hydra base we've taken." Jarvis chimes.

"Loki's scepter must be here," Thor declares. "Stryker couldn't mount this defense without it. At long last."

"'At long last' is lasting a little long, boys," Natasha teases.

"Yeah," Clint snorts. "I think we lost the element of surprise."

"Wait a second." Tony scoffs. "No one else is going to deal with the fact that Cap just said 'language'?"

Apollo and Clara start giggling. Tony smirks. He can always count on his wife to have his back.

Steve groans. "I know." He somersaults over his bike before throwing it at some soldiers driving up in their truck. "It just slipped out."

More Hydra agents aim their guns at Tony as he circles closer to the base, or as close as he can get with the forcefield up. In a thread separate from the rest of the Avengers, he messages Apollo to help. She snaps her fingers and gets Clara's attention, who is then immediately on it. Tony takes a second to smile and appreciate how the two of them work in tandem.

"Sir, the city is taking fire," Jarvis announces to both Tony and Apollo.

Apollo clicks open a different tab with a different angle. This time, it's just the Jarvis satellites she's connected to. She can see wherever she pleases in the most non-creepy way possible.

"We know Stryker's not going to worry about civilian casualties," Tony starts, an uneasiness in his tone.

Apollo clicks a button on her laptop before looking up as if she's talking to Tony. "I just sent in the Iron Legion." She smiles softly. "Clara's working on the shield, babe. Should be down pretty soon." Tony clicks his tongue as he winks. Apollo rolls her eyes and closes the tab.

Back in the forest, something comes zipping along. It almost sounds like a bullet, but not quite. It's a familiar sound that picks up on Clint's communication device. A familiar enough sound that has the hairs on the back of Apollo's arms stand up. She only knows of two people who can make that sound. Clint, however, doesn't notice it. If he does, he mistakes it for the sound of a bullet or one of his arrows as he shoots at the bunker. Only, Clint's too busy hiding to notice that something catches one of his arrows as soon as he releases it. Not a metal something; a human something.

The second time, Clint hears the footsteps crunching against the snow. He turns and nocks an arrow, but before he can fire it, something punches him in the face and sends him falling to the ground. Clint groans and struggles to stand up. He takes just enough time for whoever hit him to slow down and properly approach him.

A man with silver hair and vaguely familiar facial features is standing over him with a smirk. "You didn't see that coming?" he quips before speeding off.

Clint jumps to his feet and aims an arrow at the man, but before he can fire again, one of Hydra's machines pops out and blasts him. He falls to the ground again, this time too properly injured to stand up on his own. Natasha and Steve, who were fighting a little bit away from Clint, hear the machine go off and look in the direction of the sound. Natasha takes off at a sprint when she notices Clint's injury. Steve's just about to take off, too, when a blue blur speeds past him and knocks him over. Steve manages to spin around in the air and catch himself, landing back on his feet.

"We have an enhanced in the field," Steve announces.

Apollo's blood runs cold. It has to be who she's thinking of. There's no other answer.

But before she can think of a response, Natasha cries, "Clint's hit!" Apollo springs to action. "Apollo, we need your help!" Apollo grabs her medical bag and opens the Quinjet, leaving Clara alone but certainly not unprotected. "Somebody want to deal with that bunker?" Hulk leaps on and crashes into it. Natasha smirks, shrugging slightly. "That works."

Apollo finds Nat and Clint within a matter of minutes. It wasn't entirely difficult for her to figure out where they were. After all, she's been watching this whole fight go down. She crashes to the floor and pulls a tourniquet out of her bag before attaching it to Clint. Natasha gently pulls his head onto her lap to better elevate the wound. Apollo patches him up as best she can with what little she has on her. Nat raises an eyebrow when she glances up and nudges her. Apollo rolls her eyes before hovering her hand over the injury. A bright yellow light emits from her hand, but the wound doesn't go away. Whatever Hydra's been using is stronger than her powers. She frowns, chewing the inside of her cheek, as she hoists Clint onto his feet. She clicks her heels together to remind herself of the metal Erik's placed on all her boots. Natasha smirks as she watches Apollo lift herself and Clint off the ground to take him back to the Quinjet.

"Stark, we really need to get inside," Steve orders.

"I'm closing in," he promises, finally dropping to the ground. He takes out a handful of agents as he approaches the shield. "Clara, am I...closing in?"

"Yes!" comes Clara's overenthusiastic response. "There's a particle wave below the north tower. You might wanna poke it with something."

"Great, this is why I love you." He blows a kiss into the comm before he pauses. "Honey, do not take that to heart."

Apollo laughs in his ear. "Oh, please. We both know you're not her type." Tony laughs alongside her. "If Clara were to steal any of us from our happy little throuple, it would be me." Tony stops smiling immediately as he blows up the base of the forcefield. Apollo blows him a kiss. He hums, a little perturbed now.

"Drawbridge is down, people."

Apollo rolls her eyes as she sets Clint down on the medical table in the Quinjet. She attaches him to every monitor necessary before she runs back onto the field.

"The enhanced?" Thor asks as he crashes down a few feet away from Steve.

"Do not engage!" Apollo barks.

He jogs over to keep up with the conversation. "He's a blur," Steve elaborates. "All the new players we've faced, I've never seen this. In fact, I still haven't."

"Clint's hit pretty bad, guys." Natasha reminds. "We're gonna need evac."

"I brought him to the jet, but there's only so much I can do," Apollo adds. "These weapons are stronger than me, which is a sentence I never thought I'd say."

Thor turns to Steve and nods. "The sooner we're gone, the better. You and Stark secure the scepter."

Steve nods back. "Copy that."

Thor flips Mjolnir in his hand as he cocks his head. A new wave of soldiers appears in their line of sight. Thor smirks. "It looks like they're lining up," he teases.

Steve shrugs, laughing slightly. "Well, they're excited." Steve raises the shield for Thor to bring the hammer down. This results in a shock wave that knocks all the approaching soldiers down.

"Find the scepter," He orders before flying off.

"And for gosh sake, watch your language!" Tony tacks on.

Steve sighs and hangs his head. "That's not going away anytime soon."

"We're locked down out here," Natasha announces from out in the forest.

Steve presses a finger to his earpiece. "Apollo, are you still out here?"

"Right behind you, Cap," She states, a finger pressed to her earpiece to mock him. He spins around and spots her, his lips moving in an awkward way of not knowing whether to smile or frown. "Time for a lullaby?" she asks. He nods. She glances around, trying to locate her husband. When she spots Hulk, she nods and turns her attention back to Steve. "Just promise me you won't attack the enhanced?"

Steve's brow pinches as he nods. She walks off toward Hulk.

~***~

Tony finally enters the Hydra base but doesn't immediately aim his repulsors. He waits and watches as all the soldiers scramble to fire something at him, the bullets easily reflecting off the red and gold armor. Tony raises an eyebrow inside the suit. "Guys, stop, we gotta talk this through." The soldiers continue firing. Rockets pop out of Tony's shoulders, aimed at the agents. He takes them all out. "It was a good talk."

He nods to himself before flying into the base and searching for anyone remaining. He navigates throughout the many hallways and secrets Hydra has before finding Doctor List standing over a computer, desperately trying to download everything Stryker wanted him to save. Tony waits until List notices him before firing, knocking him away from the computer. Tony steps out of the suit after that and approaches the computer to collect the information for himself.

"Sentry mode." He starts typing away. "Okay, Jarvis. You know I want it all. Make sure you copy Hill at HQ." The only sound that disrupts the silence is the suit panning back and forth, keeping an eye on Tony. "I know you're hiding more than files," He mumbles to himself. "Hey, J, give me an IR scan of the room real quick."

Jarvis does as asked, the room lighting up orange. "The wall to your left. I'm reading steel reinforcement...and an air current."

Tony raises an eyebrow as he approaches the wall. "Please be a secret door, please be a secret door, please be a secret door..." He pushes the right brick, and the wall opens up. "Yay!" He enters through the secret passageway.

~***~

Stryker thinks he's finally made it out alive when an agent collapses just before the exit. He freezes, mouth hanging open, as Steve comes strutting into the base a second later. "William Stryker," he greets. "Hydra's number one thug."

"Technically, I'm a thug for Shield," He taunts when Steve comes closer.

"Well then, you're technically unemployed." Steve fires back. They glare at each other for a moment before Steve asks, "Where's Loki's scepter?"

Stryker lets out a breath. "Don't worry, I know when I'm beat. You'll mention how I cooperated, I hope."

"I'll put it right under illegal human experimentation," the female twin from earlier creeps up behind him from a darkened alcove Steve failed to notice off to the side. "How many are there?" She fires a blast of red at Steve, which sends him falling down the stairs. By the time he climbs back up, she's gone. "We have a second enhanced. Female. Do not engage."

"Don't hurt them!" Apollo cries. "They're family!"

Steve glances at Stryker. He smirks. "You'll have to be faster than--"

He cuts him off mid-sentence when he kicks his shield up and knocks it into Stryker's chest before catching it. "Guys, I got Stryker."

"Yeah, I got...something bigger," Tony announces as he fully steps inside the secret passageway. The room is filled with a variety of technology. Most of it is recovered artifacts from the Battle of New York, including a gigantic Chitauri leviathan and some of his very own armor. Tony's chest begins to tighten the further he enters the room. Amongst the wreckage, he spots the scepter. "Thor, I got eyes on the prize."

He approaches the scepter, but before he can do anything, the female twin, her eyes an unnatural shade of blue, creeps up behind him and sends some of her red mist into his mind. His eyes glow with the same shade of red until he's no longer seeing the scepter in front of him but the Chitauri coming to life. He jumps, hand clutching his chest. The Chitauri ignores him completely as it flies off, over the bodies of the dead Avengers. Tony's eyes bug out of their sockets when he spots them. Apollo and Bruce are lying together, hand in hand, borderline lifeless. Tony drops to his knees beside her first, assessing the damage. He goes to check her pulse when Apollo's arm snaps out and grips his wrist.

"You could have saved us," She croaks before going still.

He glances over at Bruce just as he exhales one last time. He doesn't need to have talked to him one last time to know his last words would have been: "Why didn't you do more?"

A few more Chitauri appear around him and cry out, snapping his attention to them. It's then that he notices he isn't on Earth anymore but in the Chitauri realm. He's just about to reach out and touch one when he snaps back to reality. The female shakes her head, her eyes returning to their natural brown, and she backs away. The male twin zooms into the room and starts to move toward Tony when the female holds up her hand and shakes her head. He narrows his eyes at her but doesn't press. Tony calls his gauntlet to his hand before stealing the scepter once and for all.

"We're just gonna let them take it?" Pietro Maximoff whispers in his sister's ear, his voice soft and nearly broken.

Wanda Maximoff turns a small smile on him as she nods. "It's Uncle Tony," she points out. He raises an eyebrow. "If we let him, he can find a way to save us."

Chapter Text

Tony and Clara copilot the Quinjet as everyone else lingers around the loading bay. Natasha and Steve hover over Clint, who’s still lying on the bed with an IV dripping into his arm. Apollo’s wrapped up his side where the burst of energy--Clara has a working theory that the weapons are tied to the Tesseract and the scepter, and that’s why Apollo’s mutation isn’t working on the injury--hit him. He’s trying to sleep through the pain until they get home. Apollo’s already called Doctor Helen Cho to look him over when they get back. Something about a new device and plastic? Tony tunes her out when she starts talking about all the medical mumbo jumbo. Thor simply doesn’t understand it, so he avoids her at all cost, opting to stay in the back of the jet.

Clara’s too lost in thought when Tony steps away from the pilot’s seat momentarily. The Avengers talk quietly amongst one another, discussing the details of the mission. Over the past year, her thoughts have been elsewhere now that she doesn’t have to focus on graduating from NYU. Clara blinks, a monitor dinging in front of her that pulls Tony’s attention back to flying the jet. He smiles faintly and glances at the notification. “Darling,” He pipes up, calling to Apollo. “Doctor Cho’s on her way in from Seoul, is it okay if she sets up in your lab?”

Apollo presses one last kiss to Bruce’s temple before standing up, wrapping her coat around him tightly, and heading over to Clara and Tony. She stands behind Tony’s chair, a hand resting on the leather. He smiles up at her but doesn’t look away from the window. “Yeah, she knows her way around. I was the one who invited her after all.” Tony risks looking up, his smile growing. Apollo winks.

 “Thanks.”

 She nods before leaning closer to his seat, almost as if she’s going to kiss him. “J, tell her to prep everything. Barton’s gonna need the full treatment.”

 “Very well, Doc.” Apollo smiles.

 “Clara, take the wheel?” Tony requests.

 He doesn’t wait for her response before he pushes his chair away. Apollo rolls her eyes and shakes her head before mouthing ‘sorry’ over in Clara’s direction. Clara just waves her off. Believe it or not, she’s used to Tony’s antics (perhaps because she’s used to Howard, but she isn’t about to tell Tony that).

 Clara can discern that more talk about the mission is happening in the back, as part of her feels guilty. She should (and she does!) care about how it went and what happened out in the field. What they should be expecting this time dealing with the scepter. She bites her tongue; there’s something about the Tesseract that feels like it’s pulling on her soul. Almost as if they’re intertwined.

 Natasha stands from her spot beside Bruce so she can join Clara in the cockpit. They spark up a conversation--mainly hushed code for Clara’s brainwashed lover--and that’s how they spend the rest of the journey home. Everyone, aside from Clint, has someone to talk to. When they’re a team, no one is ever alone.

 Clara navigates the Quinjet and lands it on the balcony pad at the Avengers Tower in New York. Once the Quinjet has come to a complete stop, the Avengers break apart. The door slowly opens, and Apollo is there immediately with Clint when it touches the ground. She rolls him off as he blinks awake.

 “Lab’s all set up, boss,” Maria informs her as she passes Clint over to Doctor Cho and her team of medical professionals. The two doctors exchange curt nods before Apollo stops in place and turns to Maria.

 “Thank you, Agent Hill, but, um…” She leans in close with a small smile. “Don’t let Tony hear you say that. He’s technically the boss. He designs everything, pays for everything, and makes everyone look cooler.” Maria presses her lips together, but that doesn’t hide her smile. Apollo winks as she pulls away. “I just keep everyone alive. What the hell do I know?” They share a wink.

 “Absolutely nothing,” Maria agrees. “He knows all.” Apollo snorts as she takes one of the tablets out of her hands and begins making her way to the medbay. She’ll give everyone one last look over before dismissing them. Maria drops her smile as she enters the Quinjet and approaches Steve with the other tablet.

 He climbs to his feet. “What’s the word on Stryker?”

 “NATO’s got him.” He nods and takes the tablet from her and starts walking inside with her, Clara trailing behind him with Nat before she splits off to make sure Clint is still doing okay.
Tony waits until the Iron Legion flies into their loading dock inside the Avengers ‘A’ before collecting Bruce and leaving the Quinjet.

~***~

Clara grits her teeth as a slew of curses leaves her mouth. She draws her fist into her chest, cradling her hand after landing a truly terrible punch. She knew she was going to miss the landing, but she couldn’t put her finger on why she couldn’t stop herself from hitting the bag anyway.

“Language,” Steve reprimands her softly, and Clara lets out a dry laugh.

“That’s rich coming from you,” She says eventually, taking her water bottle from Steve’s grasp. Awkward silence passes between the two of them. “I’m going to assume you sought me out because we’re still hitting the same dead end?”

Steve sighs, and Clara nods quietly to herself. Of course. They’ve been scouring every corner of the internet for any sort of information on Bucky’s whereabouts. Almost every promising lead falls flat -- his existence after the Battle at the Triskelion has been wiped clean. Clara purses her lips in thought; surely that must have been part of Hydra’s doing? Perhaps when Steve and Natasha aired out all their secrets, that meant erasing the existence of the Winter Soldier?

Then there was that name that Secretary Pierce had addressed Clara by: Privistoriya. She couldn’t convince Nat to tell her what the name meant.

“Clara, he was turned into a trained assassin,” Steve breaks the silence, and Clara brings her gaze up to meet his. “The smartest move he could have made was to leave the States.”

“No, Stevie,” Clara says softly, and he raises his brow at her. “I think he’d lay low. Trying to flee US soil would be a death wish.” Steve doesn’t say anything, but the look he gives her communicates everything he’s trying to say. Clara frantically shakes her head. “That’s awful of you to even think he would try such a thing!”

“We don’t know what kind of state he’s in.” Steve shrugs, but his voice is soft and full of understanding. Clara resists the urge to curl her lip up at him. What happened to the Steve that would have gone miles into enemy territory just to have his best friend back? That Steve wouldn’t have even suggested what he’s suggesting now.

“You’re right,” Clara breathes out, eyeing the punching bag again as she discards the empty water bottle. “We don’t know what kind of mental state he’s in. Although if I know James, which I do--” she throws a punch into the bag and recoils, drawing in a deep breath to steel her expression. “--then he’s probably scared. Steve, I saw the way he looked at me on the street. He knew me.”

Steve scoffs. “He shot you!”

“But he knew me!” Clara shouts, rounding on him. Heavy breaths fill the silence. Tears prick at the corner of her eyes. “Through all that confusion, he knew me. Stevie, he’s out there somewhere, lost and confused and probably missing seventy years worth of memories.” She finally turns her head away when she feels a tear roll down her cheek.

Steve doesn’t say anything more as he crosses his arms over his chest. Clara clicks her tongue, checking the time before heading for the door. With one last look, she pushes the door open with her hip. “I’ll be party planning with Apollo, so only bother me if it’s important. Let me know if you find anything. Or don’t. The past two years haven’t gotten us anywhere.”

Chapter Text

Apollo runs a hand down her face as she lets out a soft groan. Clara’s brow pinches as she glances up from her computer and over at Apollo. It doesn’t take long for Clara to raise an eyebrow and nudge her best friend with her foot. Apollo shakes her head as she continues to groan. Clara presses her lips together as she pulls Apollo’s computer screen down so she can figure out what’s got Apollo in such a mood. She starts frowning as she takes in the Amazon cart Apollo pulled up.

“Can you explain to me,” Apollo starts, her tone slow yet precise, “Why a one-year-old needs two dozen balloons and five packs of streamers?”

Apollo lets out a breath as she picks up a spare pair of Bruce’s glasses off the table and perches them on her nose. Clara watches and attempts to bite back her smirk. Apollo claims she doesn’t need the glasses — she gets the occasional headache and sometimes has to squint to read the screen — and yet here they are. Clara discreetly shakes her head, filing away the questions she needs to ask Bruce later. Clara understands why Apollo doesn’t want to give in to the glasses just yet, but at the same time, she looks rather attractive with them. Perhaps that’s why Bruce hasn’t said anything about all his backup pairs going missing.

 “Because she’s Tony’s little girl?” Clara reminds, swallowing back her laughter. Apollo starts groaning again as she takes back her computer. Clara giggles now. “He just wants to spoil her,” She says. “Peter’s going to be fourteen--”

“Don’t remind me,” She grumbles.

“--this year. I’m sure he just misses the baby stage.” Apollo’s expression softens. Clara shifts in her seat to face Apollo better. “Did you let Tony spoil Peter when he was this young?” She coos. Apollo presses her lips together, and Clara’s got her answer. She smirks as she raises an eyebrow. “What was Peter’s first birthday like?” Clara knows Apollo walked right into her trap by the guilty expression washing over her face.

“It was simple,” she whispers. “At the mansion.” Clara nods for her to continue. “It was pretty much just us. Rhodey made the cake. Stephen made little balloon animals for Peter to play with.” They both start smiling. “We had to immediately put Peter in the bath after we let him eat his cake. He had chocolate all over.” Clara giggles. Apollo’s smile grows. “It was fun. One of those days where Tony and I…” She shakes her head. “It was simple,” She repeats, “Because it doesn’t have to be extravagant. Peter doesn’t remember what did or didn’t happen. Neither will Lorna.”

“But you will.”

Apollo raises an eyebrow as she meets Clara’s gaze. Clara’s eyes are firm as she meets Apollo’s. Both are leaving things unsaid, but their eyes reveal the whole story. They seem to argue with their eyes alone. It isn’t until Clara raises a matching eyebrow and leans back in her seat that Apollo gives in and looks away. Clara smiles to herself; she’ll have to thank Natasha for all her tricks later. Apollo lets out a breath as she turns her attention back to the computer.

“But two dozen balloons and five packs of streamers?” She breathes out.

Clara giggles. “You’ve got a large house,” she reminds. Apollo just shakes her head as Clara continues to giggle. “Keep the balloons, but maybe only order two packs of streamers?”

Apollo nods and lowers the number in the cart. “Remind me to change my password so he doesn’t mess with my lists again.”

“But then you can’t use his credit card.”

Apollo’s brow furrows for a split second before she glances up from the computer. “Oh, honey,” she coos. “He doesn’t need my password for me to use his credit card.” Clara’s eyes widen as her jaw drops. Apollo winks, attempting to fight back her laughter. “What’s mine is his and vice versa and all that crap.” Clara presses a hand to her mouth. Apollo shrugs. “You’ll learn all the perks of married life eventually.”

Clara’s heart stops in her chest as her expression slips. Apollo pays her no attention as she scrolls through the rest of the cart. They’ve got plenty of paper plates, a roll of wrapping paper, a few of Lorna’s presents (that are just teething rings and snacks, a few things of clothes; nothing major), candles, and a cake topper. Apollo clicks through payment and shipping as Clara tries to regain her ability to breathe.

Does Apollo know what me, Natasha and Steve know? About…? Clara swallows, but her mouth is dry. No. Apollo can’t know. He’s a secret weapon for a reason, and even if she did…She shakes her head. Slip of the tongue. Clara manages to let out a breath. Yes, she tells herself, It was just a slip of Apollo’s tongue.

But it doesn’t stop her from hearing the faint chime of wedding bells as she pictures her favorite shade of blue.

~***~

The cursor blinks steadily as Clara stares at her empty document. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t used to writing reports and theories up like this, but she’s been in the 21st century long enough that that statement isn’t true. Every job she’s had thus far -- the Institute, Shield, and now the Avengers -- has thrust her head first into some kind of new technology.

 She tears her gaze away from the empty document, the pen in her hand stilling as she spots Sam entering her makeshift office. According to Apollo, Tony had the habit of hiring people before having their workspace finished (although she laughed and added that that had been her experience with the disastrous medbay), so seeing Clara’s office complete was a nice change of pace.

 He extends a hand, offering her the cup of coffee. “Thought you could use something with caffeine.”

Clara smiles, thanking him softly and bringing the takeaway cup to her lips. Silence passes between them before she speaks, “I appreciate the gesture, Sam. That was very kind of you.” She takes another sip. “Did my Shield file have my regular coffee order listed in it as well?”

Sam laughs. “I do my research.” He defends himself, but then shrugs. “Steve was more than willing to share when I mentioned checking in on you.”

Clara hums, setting the cup down. The playful air disintegrates as the looming thought of Where is Bucky? lingers in the back of their minds. Sam shifts on his feet, breaking the silence. “May I?”

“Oh!” Clara nods quickly, and Sam takes a seat in the empty chair. “My apologies. Please, make yourself at home.”

Silence settles once more as Clara’s gaze finds the blinking cursor on the empty document. “You’ve been quiet,” Sam says gently. “More than usual, I mean.”

“There’s not much to say,” Clara shrugs. “Steve came to me with another empty lead. I told him to find me when we had something.” She sighs and closes the tab with the document. “It’s like chasing smoke.”

“Yeah.” He agrees. “But you don’t usually let it get to you like this.”

Biting her lip, she turns to face him. “I got into that time machine in 1945 to rescue him. I often think about how I ended up here instead of the time I intended. All the empty promises I’ve made to his photo on my desk that I’ll fix the time circuits and fix everything.” She huffs, reaching for her coffee again. “I just wish I could do more. Find the right place to look.”

“I know the feeling.” Sam’s tone has matched hers, soft yet understanding. “I desperately wanted to do more for Riley’s family when he passed, but I didn’t know where to start. The Force did more than I ever could.”

Clara hums again. “I remember the day that you tested out flight suits.”

Sam chuckles. “That was the pinnacle of my career. It allowed me to meet you.”

She can’t help but laugh at that. “You have a kind heart, Sam. I feel bad that I haven’t kept in touch more over these past couple of years.”

Sam scoffs, tossing his empty coffee cup in the small trash can by her desk. “And now that I’m not a nervous soldier meeting you and the Tony Stark to try out your technology, I want to know more about Clara Brown. Not Shield Scientist Clara Brown or Stark Industries Clara Brown, just Clara.”

“‘Just Clara’?” She repeats with a smile, and Sam nods. “Alright. But I want to know about ‘Just Sam’ too.”

“Deal.”

Clara huffs, trying to decide where to begin. “Well, I was born in California in 1918. I was the youngest of three kids, and I had a white, shaggy dog named Max growing up.”

“Like the dog from The Little Mermaid?” Sam asks, and Clara raises a brow. His expression turns sheepish. “Sorry, guess Apollo hasn’t dragged you into watching that yet.”

“Not yet. I’ll have to put it on my list. I have seen Tangled about a dozen times.” She writes a quick sticky note and places it on her computer monitor to remind her later. “Anyway, the Brown family has a rich history in Hill Valley, considering all the time-traveling shenanigans my dad and uncle have gotten up to.”

Now Sam raises his brow. “Hill Valley?” he repeats, and Clara nods. He huffs a short laugh. “I can’t believe I didn’t put it together sooner.”

“What?”

Sam’s smile grows wide. “Have you ever heard of Mayor Goldie Wilson?”

“Oh my god.” Clara stares at him in disbelief. “Wait--the Goldie Wilson? The same guy who was supposed to have a hovercar empire by 2015? That Goldie Wilson?”

“That’s the one,” Sam confirms. “Goldie’s my great-uncle. Used to send me birthday cards with little speeches in them--'You’re gonna be someone, Samuel. Always bet on hope.'” He laughs softly. “Didn’t appreciate it at ten, but now…I get it.”

“I always thought he was larger than life from the stories I had heard. But here you are--his great-nephew, sitting in my office at Stark Tower.”

“Crazy world,” Sam smirks, and Clara nods in agreement.

~***~

Apollo bounces Lorna with a bright smile as she makes her way over to where Bruce is stationed. He looks up from what he’s tinkering on to smile up at Lorna and holds his hands out for her. Apollo spins Lorna around first--similarly to how Tony spins around in the suit--before depositing her in Bruce’s arms. His smile grows as he begins cooing and babbling to her. Lorna claps her hands together before attempting to grab his nose. He starts laughing. Apollo makes her way over to Tony, who’s fiddling around with the scepter. She drops down beside him and starts helping him, pointing at schematics on his holographic blueprints. He watches her for a moment, perfectly content. Bruce and Lorna are on the other side of the workshop, Peter is in the corner working on homework, and Apollo is sitting beside him, helping him work. This is why he’s doing this. A suit of armor around the world. This is his world.

Meanwhile, Steve and Clara are watching on the other side of the glass walls. Clara’s smiling faintly to herself, her eyes trained on her goddaughter as Bruce bounces her and spins her around like Apollo was doing. Steve is focused on Apollo and Tony and how they work perfectly together without needing to say a word.

“Domesticity looks nice on them,” he comments, breaking Clara out of her thoughts.

She lets out a breath. “Yeah, it does.” She agrees softly. She tilts her head to see him. “You can still have that, you know. The white picket fence life.” Steve raises an eyebrow. “You are Captain America,” she points out. “If either of us deserves that life, it should be you.”

Steve shakes his head. “The guy that wanted that went into the ice seventy years ago.” Clara presses her lips together as she nods, her hand subconsciously reaching for the dog tags that still lay around her neck. Steve briefly catches the movement. “And I’d be stupid to say you can have that life too.”

“It would be nothing without him,” She whispers, heart heavy.

He takes her hand and leads her away from the lab. “I know.” She curls into his side as they walk the familiar path down the hall to their rooms.

Chapter Text

Lorna's first birthday party is in full swing, and Clara can't help but admire the decorations. The time she spent helping Apollo pick out exactly what she wanted was well worth it all. The bee theme (that her, Nat, Apollo, and, surprisingly, Bruce) all fawned over came together quite nicely. A vision perfect to fit Tony's expectations for Lorna's first 'bee-day'.

 The last few guests slowly but surely arrive based on how busy their work day was. Guests like Agent Maria Hill were bound to be late rather than early because an agent's work is never done. Clara's never seen her take a proper break or even a moment for herself. Although Clara can't say the same for herself either.

 She stands at the edge of the dance floor, watching as the guests greet the birthday girl. She's currently in Sam's arms, squealing with glee as he pretends to fly her through the air. Clara brings her glass to her lips as Charles Xavier rolls up beside her.

 "She has Bruce's eyes," He remarks quietly.

 Clara doesn't look away from the dance floor. "Everyone keeps saying that. Apollo says that she thinks she just squints at people the same way Erik does."

 Charles laughs. They both watch as Tony makes a toast with Lorna's juice box that Sam has gotten for her. Nat is trying to get a photo of the birthday girl while Peter Parker is trying to teach Rhodey a viral dance he saw online, but he's failing miserably at it.

 Clara leans over to Charles. "I give that about thirty seconds before someone pulls a muscle."

 "Perhaps longer if they're lucky." Charles muses. "You're not tempted to join?"

 "At my age?" Clara shakes her head with a smile. "I'd be at risk of breaking a hip." She lifts her glass again, hiding her smile. "It's good to see you again, Professor."

 He scoffs playfully. "And miss the chance to see my daughter's best friend? Never. You should visit the mansion more often."

 "Maybe." Clara purses her lips, watching as Sam returns Lorna to Apollo, brushing her hair out of her eyes. He retreats from the main commotion to the balcony upstairs with Steve, most likely to play a round of billiards. Clara quietly excuses herself as she trails after him.

 Each Avenger seems to find their spot and crowd among the guests. Thor sits on one of the couches in the center of the room and swaps war stories with those sitting beside him; Peter Parker clings on to every word. Clint and Doctor Cho chat closer to the balcony, where it's quieter. Natasha bounces between a few groups but ultimately stays beside Rhodey when he's not chatting up some of the other guests. Believe it or not, they developed quite the relationship when Natasha momentarily worked for Stark Industries.

Bruce bounces around between Stark Industries guests he knows he has to just smile and nod around, and students back at the mansion he's run into a few times. Occasionally, Hank will pull him aside to give him space and talk science. Erik and Charles chat up Maria Hill while Peter and Magda (who arrived separately from Peter because she had work) go around the room introducing themselves, but stick to the mutants they know whenever they can. Kurt chats up Stephen and discusses Stephen's chosen medical field. Steve and Sam play pool while Clara watches, clearly lost in thought and not paying attention to the game.

Apollo and Tony roam the party together, talking to whoever they need to when they're approached. Lorna, in true Stark guest of honor style, gets passed around the room so everyone has a chance to see her, though she seems to frequently be in Clara's or Maximoff's arms (with minor encouragement from Apollo).

Steve rolls his eyes as Sam gloats, turning his back to return the pool stick to its proper place. Clara blinks, Sam's rejoicing drawing her out of her thoughts and back to the present. Sam looks across the pool table and whistles. "You know you win the game by sinking all your balls into the nets before I do?"

"Yeah," Steve sighs with a smile. "Yeah, I know." Both boys laugh as Clara sits up straighter. "We could have used a mind like yours in Sokovia."

"Sounds like a hell of a fight, from what you told me. Sorry I missed it," Sam comments as the three of them walk toward the main chaos of the party.

"If I had known it was going to be a firefight, I absolutely would have called you," Steve promises.

"No, I'm not actually sorry." Clara giggles and Sam shoots her a smile around Steve's back. "I'm just trying to sound tough. I'm very happy chasing cold leads on our missing persons case." Clara's smile dips as she glances around, and Sam's smile falls along with hers. Steve and Sam, without saying a word, swap positions so Sam is in the middle. He wraps an arm around her and holds her close. She manages a small smile as she loops her arm around Sam's waist so she can comfortably curl into his side. "Avenging is your world," he tells Steve. Steve nods, meeting his gaze. "Your world is crazy." Clara snorts, and Sam smiles once more.

"Be it ever so humble."

They find a spot overlooking the main party area. It's quieter up here. Fewer people. Easier to watch as the party goes on around them rather than with them.

"You find a place in Brooklyn yet?"

"I don't think I can afford a place in Brooklyn."

"Well, home is home, you know?" Steve and Clara share a look behind Sam. They both know what the other is thinking. Home isn't anywhere without their missing person. But Sam isn't any closer now than they were a year ago, so finding a place to live will just have to wait.

~***~

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, our sweet Lorna, happy birthday to you!" Everyone sings as they crowd around the highchair Lorna sits in.

Apollo smiles at her side as she leans down and blows the candle out for her before removing it. Lorna claps her hands together, beaming at her mother. Apollo playfully scrunches her nose as she sticks her tongue out. Lorna continues to giggle. Tony and Bruce take a step closer to her as Apollo pushes the cake closer to her. Lorna just stares at it.

Tony laughs to himself as he swipes his finger through the top layer of frosting. Apollo's about to scold him when he wipes the frosting off his finger and onto Lorna's nose. This takes Lorna by surprise. She blinks a few times, staring up at Tony. Bruce and Apollo both share a look before they both laugh. Tony swipes his finger through the frosting again and wipes it on her cheek this time. Lorna seems to have grasped the concept of the cake now, and she carefully reaches out to grab it. Her fist sinks right through the layers of fluffy yellow cake and smooth green buttercream. Her eyes light up as she reaches her other hand out and balls her fist in the center. Everyone starts laughing at how she gingerly takes about the cake.

Stephen allows her a few more moments of playing around before he creeps up behind her and gently pushes her face into the cake. Apollo gasps, and Bruce holds his breath. Lorna pulls herself up, expression blank. The whole room goes silent as they wait for her to react. After a few seconds, she begins smiling and laughing. Apollo and Bruce both exhale as Lorna throws herself back into the cake. Tony and Stephen share a look before they both start laughing and share a fist bump.

Clara makes her way through the crowd, holding up an old polaroid camera. She gestures for Bruce, Tony, and Apollo to crowd around Lorna as she raises the camera to her eye. She snaps the first picture before shoving Peter out of the crowd and over to his parents. He almost topples over but manages to catch himself in the nick of time. He slots in beside Apollo and smiles brightly. Clara snaps this picture too before lowering the camera and smiling. Apollo pulls her phone out of her back pocket and hands it to Clara. They get back into position as Clara takes more pictures on Apollo's phone camera. Even some with Stephen and Rhodey. At some point, Steve ended up with the phone so Clara could get in, and then Maria Hill ended up with the phone so all of the Avengers could get in.

Once most of the guests have come and gone, leaving only those truly important, everyone lounges around the living area, their drinks scattered across the tables. A few Chinese takeout containers peek between glasses. Those who could have changed out of their party clothes have done so and are wearing something more comfortable. Clint was surprised a place was still open when Apollo had asked for food, but Bruce quickly reminded him that A) it was the Avengers calling and B) any place would bend their hours of operation if Tony Stark was paying. So, that is how they ended up with Chinese food at a time closer to midnight than when people should actually be eating Chinese.

Apollo rests her head on Bruce's shoulder and her feet in Tony's lap as she picks at the remaining few pieces of orange chicken in her container. Peter has curled into Tony's side as he does everything in his power to fight sleep, whereas Lorna has willingly given in, all snuggled up in her bassinet between Tony and Bruce's feet. The picture-perfect family--as always.

Clint sits between Natasha's legs as Natasha braids Clara's (who's trying her best not to fall asleep) hair. Stephen and Rhodey share one of the armchairs, Stephen's arm wrapped loosely around Rhodey's shoulders. While they might have attended two different schools, they're still college best friends. Their pack wouldn't be complete if one of them were missing.

Steve and Thor share a couch, laughing over something Thor said. Peter Maximoff keeps Magda close as she sleeps on his shoulder, and Erik keeps his eyes trained on Lorna while Charles observes the group around them.

"It's a trick!" Clint squawks, nodding in the direction of Thor's hammer sitting on the table, hiding between glasses, bottles, and Chinese takeout containers.

Thor follows his gaze before chuckling. "Oh, no. It's much more than that."

"Uh, 'Whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power!'" He mocks, earning a few more giggles as more people tune into the conversation. "Whatever, man! It's a trick."

Thor laughs and extends his hand to the hammer. "Well, please, be my guest."

The room falls silent as all eyes land on Clint. He looks around. Everyone seems to be encouraging him to get up and try. "Really?" They all nod. With a huff, he rises from the floor and makes his way over to the hammer.

"Oh, this is gonna be beautiful," Rhodey teases.

"Clint, you've had a tough week. We won't hold it against you if you can't get it up."

Everyone laughs except Apollo, who swats at his chest. Tony raises an eyebrow in her direction, which brings her over the edge. She has to look away to keep her stoic expression. But her mistake was looking at her brother, who was wiggling his eyebrows, and she bursts out laughing. Lorna stirs, but Bruce nudges the bassinet back and forth with his foot to keep her asleep.

Clint rolls his eyes. "You know I've seen this before, right?" Thor smiles and nods. Clint grabs the hammer but can't lift it. Apollo sits up slightly when she hears Clint grunt as if he's straining himself. While Doctor Cho has said he's perfectly fine, she doesn't need him to pull a muscle. After a few seconds of nothing, Clint gives up and turns to Thor. "I still don't know how you do it," He laughs. Thor smiles brightly and shrugs.

"Smell the silent judgement?"

Clint looks up and gestures for Tony to take his place. "Please, Stark, by all means."

Apollo and Bruce groan in unison as Tony dramatically stands up, swishing the ends of his robe out behind him as if it were a cape. Peter snaps to attention as she shifts into Apollo's side. She presses a kiss to the top of his head before turning her attention to her husband. He's going to fail miserably, which only makes her want to watch this more.

"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge." Apollo, Stephen, Maximoff, Magda, and Rhodey roll their eyes and scoff. They know firsthand how Tony never backs down.

"Get after it," Clint tells him once they've swapped positions.

"Here we go," Natasha croons. Clara shifts so she can watch, but Natasha has otherwise given up on the braids. She'll have to finish them some other time.

"It's physics," Tony explains.

Bruce snorts. "Physics!" He repeats, but there's a laugh under his breath. Apollo smiles as she leans closer to him.

Tony slips his hand through the wristband and wraps his finger around the handle. "Right, so, if I lift it, I...I then rule Asgard?"

Thor nods and shrugs. "Yes, of course."

"Great. I'll rule a Norse realm with a Greek goddess as my queen." He winks at Apollo, who rolls her eyes (but doesn't stop smiling). Bruce raises an eyebrow. "Sorry, babe, but you can't upstage me." Bruce shakes his head lightly. Tony blows him a kiss as he starts lifting the hammer. Only it doesn't budge. He stops and frowns. "I'll be right back." He walks away. A few seconds later, he comes back wearing a gauntlet from one of his suits and tries again. Everyone laughs as they watch the thrusters fail to pick up the hammer.

Rhodey, who has never been one for watching his best friend suffer, stands up with a huff and calls his gauntlet to his hand. Tony flashes him a smile as he moves over so Rhodey can join him at the table. Rhodey flexes his armored hand a few times before getting a firm grip on the hammer. On the silent count of three, they both start pulling.

"Are you even pulling?" Rhodey asks, voice slightly straining as he continues to pull.

"Are you on my team?"

"Just represent! Pull!"

"Alright, let's go!" They both pull as hard as they can, but nothing happens.

When they've given up, Tony drags Bruce up there in his place. Bruce protests and shakes his head the whole time, but Tony doesn't listen. He abandons him right in front of the hammer. Bruce glares at him, watching as he returns to Apollo's side. Peter moves to give him space. Bruce meets Peter's eye and they share a smile. He glances over to Apollo after who smiles and nods. He lets in a breath before releasing it slowly. He grips the hammer and pulls as hard as he can, making fake grunts and roars as he does so. If he's going to fail, he might as well make a show of it. When he's given up, he releases the hammer and pulls away, roaring, throwing his arms up as if he's the Hulk. The room just remains silent except for Apollo's giggles and Tony's suppressed laughter. He smiles at them before returning to his seat.

Apollo immediately kisses his cheek when he sits down and wraps her arm around his. He rests his head against hers. "It's a good thing we love you," she whispers, which gets him laughing. Everyone looks to Apollo next. When she finally looks away from Bruce, her eyes widen at the number of eyes on her. "Oh! You want me to...?"

Natasha nods. "Girl power." Clara nods enthusiastically at her side.

Apollo lets out a breath as she pushes herself onto her feet and makes her way over to the hammer. She glances around the room. Everyone is still watching her. She lets out another breath as she wraps her fingers around the hilt. She looks to Thor, who nods encouragingly. She glances over her shoulder at her parents, who are watching just as intrigued as the rest. She sucks in a breath, relaxes her shoulders, and pulls. It squeaks against the table. Her eyes widen as she pulls away from the hammer as if it burned her. Thor remains smiling and nods for her to try again. She searches his eyes--oh, who's she kidding, his mind--but decides she likes what she finds. She nods to herself and tries again. She can feel it just barely shift against the wood, but it doesn't lift. She doesn't give it another try.

"Petey, why don't you have a go?" She coos, kissing his forehead as she sits back. "For shits and giggles."

He jumps to his feet and scrambles to the hammer. He wastes no time in attempting to lift it. Unlike Apollo's squeaks and minor shifts, Peter manages to pull it to the very edge of the table. Apollo holds her breath as she looks over at Thor. His expression is blank, eyes wide. He's hanging on to every move Peter makes. Peter tries again, but the hammer doesn't move. Apollo lets out a breath as Thor relaxes and Peter comes skipping back over. Tony ruffles his hair, and Bruce compliments a job well done.

Tony looks up from Peter and over at Steve (who's been hiding his laughter behind his hands this whole time). "Let's go, Steve. No pressure."

Steve climbs to his feet, rolls up his sleeves, and gets into a good lifting stance.

"Come on, Cap!" Stephen cheers.

Steve braces himself as he begins pulling. Just like for Apollo, the hammer makes a small squeak against the wood as it just starts to tip over. When Steve tries a second time, nothing happens. Thor keeps his expression even as he smiles and nods with everyone else.

It gets quiet as Tony and Bruce turn to Natasha. She laughs and shakes her head. "Oh, no." She lifts her beer bottle to her lips. "That's not a question I need answered."

Tony throws his arms up. "All deference to the man who wouldn't be king, but it's rigged."

"You bet your ass!" Clint agrees.

Stephen gasps. "Steve, he said a bad language word."

Steve gasps, eyes wide. Stephen winks at him as Rhodey starts laughing at his side. Steve turns to Tony then. "Did you tell everyone about that?"

Tony shrugs but keeps his attention on Thor. "The handle's imprinted, right? Like a security code. 'Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprints' is, I think, the literal translation?"

"Yes, well, that's, uh, that's a very, very interesting theory," he comments as he stands and makes his way over to his hammer. "I have a simpler one." He easily lifts the hammer from the table and flips it in his hand. "You're all not worthy."

"Well, let me give it a try, Sparkles," Clara pipes up. The crowd starts cheering her on as she locks eyes with Thor. He furrows his brow for a second before smiling. Clara rises to her feet, her hands finding her hips. "Or are you scared the time traveler from the forties is going to kick your ass in your own game?" Apollo cheers the loudest as Clara draws closer to Thor.

He laughs and sets the hammer back down. "By all means, Doc Brown." He nods for her to attempt just like the rest of the Avengers.

She smiles, pats his cheek, and then gets into position. She looks to Apollo and Natasha for reassurance, and when they start applauding and cheering, she wraps both hands around the handle. Odd, she thinks. It feels fairly light. How come the others had such a hard time lifting it? Clara shakes off the thought, takes in a breath, adjusts her stance, and then--

A loud, screeching--similar to microphone feedback--echoes throughout the room, and everyone drops what they're holding to cover their ears. Lorna starts crying, unable to cover her own. Apollo picks her up and covers her ears while Tony covers Apollo's. The noise doesn't last long, but it's enough to gain everyone's attention. Tony pulls one of his on-the-go holograms out of his pocket to check the progress downstairs; something he's forgotten about all afternoon.

Just as they're about to go back to their conversation, something stumbles into the room. Everyone stands to get a better look. It's one of the Iron Legion suits, still heavily damaged from Sokovia. Apollo clutches Lorna close to her chest as Bruce pushes her back. Tony pushes Peter behind him, who then gets pushed behind Apollo.

"Worthy..." it coos. "No, how could you be worthy? You're all killers."

"Stark," Steve says, and it's unclear whether it's an accusation or a question.

Tony glances down at the hologram again. "Jarvis?"

The Iron Legion takes a few steps closer. "I'm sorry, I was asleep. Or...I was a dream?"

"Reboot, Legionnaire OS, we got a buggy suit," He whispers to the hologram.

"There was a terrible noise...and I was tangled in...in...strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy."

Steve cocks his head to the side. "You killed someone?"

"Wouldn't have been my first call. But, down in the real world, we're faced with ugly choices."

"Who sent you?" Thor asks, hammer now in hand.

"'I see a suit of armor around the world,'" It answers, but it's Tony's voice coming out of the speaker.

"Ultron," Bruce and Apollo breathe out.

"In the flesh. Or, no, not yet. Not this...chrysalis." Everyone slowly gathers their weapons as this...whatever it is continues speaking. "But I'm ready. I'm on a mission."

"What mission?"

"Peace in our time." The Iron Legion snaps its attention onto Apollo. She hands Lorna to Peter, who wraps his body around her, as she takes a step up so she's even with Bruce and Tony. "Y'know, that other man had files on all of you." He looks around the room. "Lengthy files." Her brow furrows slightly. "But you, Mom, had two." She lets out a breath as her eyes begin to widen. "Do you have any idea why that is?" She swallows, but her mouth has gone dry.

"Two? What is he talking about?" Tony asks. "I didn't have anything on you! Apollo, I swear!"

She shakes her head slightly. "You didn't have anything," She agrees. "But your father..." She lets out a breath.

The Iron Legion--or Ultron--coos. "Did Mommy not tell you she's been playing double agent this whole time?"

"Double agent?" Clint parrots.

"What is he talking about?" Natasha presses.

"I can explain," Apollo promises. "Just--"

"I can pull up your files right now," Ultron cuts off. "Shield has a file on Apollo Xavier while Hydra has one on Apollo Lehnsherr."

"Hydra?!" Clara squeaks.

"Apollo, what is the meaning of this?" Rhodey asks.

"I can explain!" Apollo shouts, and some of the metal cans around the room begin to shake. She lets out a breath. "I can...Just let me..." She turns around to find everyone's horrified looks. Her breath catches in her throat, and she does her best to fight back tears. She blinks before turning her attention to Steve. He meets her gaze, expression softening ever-so-slightly. "I promise I can explain." He nods. "Can we just deal with him first?" He nods again.

Apollo spins around and takes a step forward. "You didn't think this through, did you?" Ultron cocks his head. "You don't bring metal to a fight with the daughter of Magneto." Apollo throws her arms out, but just as she does so, a swarm of Iron Legion bots breaks into the room and begins attacking.

The blast sends everyone in every direction. They quickly scramble back to their feet and jump into positions. Apollo darts between bots and heroes to find Peter and Lorna. Peter, who sensed the attack coming seconds before it actually did, jumped onto the ceiling and stuck them up there. She lets out a breath when she finally thinks to look up. Peter smiles down at her and holds Lorna closer. She nods and gestures for him to jump down. He does so, landing on his feet perfectly.

Maximoff zips by to steal Lorna from Peter. Apollo pushes Peter into Maximoff's arms before locking eyes with her brother. They share a look before they're both nodding. Maximoff takes off in one direction with the kids while Apollo takes off in the other.

Second order of business: find her husband. She scans what's now become a battlefield in search of Bruce. Rhodey and Tony have jumped over a railing as they attempt to fight back before their suits arrive--if they've even called them. Steve is kicking up furniture to use as a makeshift shield until he gets to his. Natasha, Clara, and Clint are firing at as many bots as they can. Erik is destroying whatever is stupid enough to come into contact with him as he wheels Charles out of harm's way.

Eventually, Apollo finds Bruce making his way to the bar. She takes off in that direction just as one of the bots spots her and starts firing at her. She leaps over the bar and drags Bruce along with her. He doesn't swing over as effortlessly as Apollo did and, honestly, rather struggles. She helps him to the best of her ability until he's lying on top of her behind the bar.

"Sorry!" he whispers.

"Don't turn green!" she orders.

He shakes his head. "I won't!"

She searches his eyes for a second before letting out a breath. "If you want to get a divorce--"

He shuts her up by kissing her. "Because you've been keeping secrets?" She nods. He just laughs. "We've all been keeping secrets, Ray. I'm sure you had your reasons." She kisses him again before jumping back over the bar to join the fight. Bruce pulls himself into a sitting position as he presses his back to the bar.

While everyone is occupied with the bots, one manages to steal the scepter.

Apollo runs into the center of the room and reassesses what her top priority needs to be. She watches as Steve takes a running leap off the balcony to attack one of the bots in the air. It fires its thrusters and starts heading backward toward the brick wall. Apollo reaches her hand out and grabs out of the bot before it can move anywhere else. Steve glances down and spots her. She winks, which gets him laughing. Together they destroy the bot and Steve comes tumbling down, saving himself with a perfectly timed somersault. They nod to each other before taking off.

Only, she turns around to find Tony doing the same thing. Apollo throws her hands up in exasperation as she lets out a breath. She starts running in that direction to help him when a bot pops up in her face. Out of pure instinct, Apollo shrieks and punches it in the face. Natasha laughs just over her shoulder. Apollo slowly starts smiling as she turns to find Natasha. She winks before running up the stairs after some bots. Apollo lets out a breath before continuing toward Tony. He's attempting to stab it with a fondue fork.

"Do you Stark men think you can solve all your problems with fondue?" Clara asks as she leans over the balcony to face him. He laughs but doesn't answer. She glances over at Apollo when she comes to a stop. "Give me a boost?"

Apollo glances between her and the bot before shrugging. She holds her hands out for Clara to slot her foot into and then hoists her into the air. Clara kicks the bot in the face, sending him shattering to the ground. Apollo helps Tony to his feet with the metal on him, and he manages to catch Clara in time.

Apollo nods. "Good work." Clara giggles as she climbs out of Tony's arms.

"That was dramatic!" the main Iron Legion bot--Ultron--pipes up when Steve runs his shield through the last of his minions. The Avengers come out of their fighting spots and draw together. "I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through. You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to...evolve?" He picks up one of the crushed Iron Legion bots. "With these? These puppets?" He crushes the Iron Legion bot's head. "There's only one path to peace: the Avengers' extinction."

Thor throws his hammer and destroys Ultron's body. In lieu of a last breath, Ultron starts singing, "I had strings, but now I'm free. There are no strings on me, no strings on me."

Chapter Text

Once Ultron has been taken care of, everyone files into the lab. Mainly, it’s because that’s where Bruce and Tony went to check up on their work, and Apollo simply followed--and no one wanted her out of their sight (even if she did just help them take down the robotic enemy and can continue to help them take down the robotic enemy). Between Tony’s anger toward himself and the snippets Apollo keeps hearing from the rest of the team, she’s one more comment short of exploding on them, and that’s not what they need right now. Not what she needs right now.

She lets out a breath when she feels Erik take his spot behind her, and she manages a small smile when he grabs her shoulder. He understands what she’s feeling right now--has always understood why she’s done the things she does--but this isn’t about them right now. This is about the team and trust. Right now, the team doesn’t trust her, so they’ll come up with any excuse they can think of as to why they should continue not to trust her.

“All our work is gone,” Bruce huffs, pilfering through their things. His heart hammers in his chest. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Tony assured him this would be fine. A suit of armor around the world. This isn’t that. This is doomsday. “Ultron cleared out, used the internet as an escape hatch.” He looks up and immediately finds Apollo. She glances at him and turns her small smile his way. He manages one back.

 “Ultron,” Steve repeats, whispering the word. His attention has been set on Tony since they walked in here.

 “He’s been in everything,” Natasha comments, turning to face the room from what she was looking at.

 Clint steps into the space beside her, arms crossed. He’s got a small cut on his forehead, almost in the same place where he got injured during the Battle of New York. Apollo reaches over to heal it, but stops when she spots the metal cuff wrapped around her wrist: an inhibitor collar on a smaller scale. She’s not surprised Shield has access to something like this; she’s just disappointed whoever put it on her felt like they had to. Letting out a breath, Apollo glances around the room. Natasha smirks, catching Apollo’s attention.

 She frowns as Natasha raises an eyebrow and crosses her arms. “Files, surveillance,” she continues her train of thought from earlier. “Probably knows more about us than we know about each other.” The background chatting goes silent as all eyes land on Apollo. She lets out a breath, but Natasha doesn’t ease up. “Start talking, Xavier.”

 “Or is it Lehnsherr?” Clint asks from her side, head tilted. “Have you been lying to us this whole time about your name, too?”

 “No,” Apollo is quick to answer. “I was born Apollo Xavier-Lehnsherr. You knew this.”

 “Then why two files?” Steve asks. “Why two names?” Apollo turns her attention to Steve, who’s standing by Bruce’s desk with his hands on his hips. “What haven’t you been telling us, Apollo?”

 She glances at Erik and Charles, who nod encouragingly. She lets out a breath, nodding faintly to herself, and takes the seat at Tony’s desk. She keeps her head down and gaze fixed on the floor the whole time. “I didn’t work for Hydra,” she starts, her voice calm but soft. “I didn’t work for Shield either.”

 Rhodey scoffs. “Right. They just happen to have a file about you. No biggie.”

 “Rhodey,” she coos. He sniffs and looks away. “I didn’t work for anyone, okay? I did whatever Howard told me to do.”

 Tony freezes on the spot and slowly looks over to Apollo. She glances up and meets his gaze. He tries to speak but fails a couple of times. Tears start to form in both of their eyes. “You worked for Dad?” he whispers. She nods. “When? Why?” He looks to Charles and Erik for answers. “Why didn’t you tell me? He didn’t hurt you, did he?”

 She shakes her head. “No, no. He…” She pauses and shakes her head again. “No,” she breathes.
Tony nods, pressing his lips together. Bruce grips his shoulder, and Tony barely manages to catch himself before his knees give out. Apollo glances around the room, exhaling softly. “I was young,” she confesses. “Howard had just learned about what I could do. We didn’t…” She catches Tony’s gaze for a split second before glancing back down. “He was never supposed to know…that I’m…” She swallows the ball forming in her throat.

 “Howard wouldn’t have hurt you,” Steve assures her.

 She whips her head up and narrows her eyes at him. “How would you know?!” He raises an eyebrow. “You don’t know what it was like growing up with Howard!” He glances at Clara, but she’s got her focus fixated on Apollo, lips pressed together to keep herself from frowning. “If he wasn’t throwing himself into his work, then he was drinking and going on about the incredible Captain America and the breathtaking Clara Brown.” Tony folds into Bruce’s side, burying his face in his shoulder. Bruce holds him tightly and rubs his back. Apollo looks at Clara but can’t bring herself to keep her gaze. “And if he wasn’t doing that, he was complaining about mutants. Or praising them. It was hard to get a proper read on where he stood. So, Tony and I agreed to keep my powers a secret. But there was an accident involving Tony’s butler, Edwin. I had to help. Howard found out. We thought it was going to be the end of the world.”

 She glances at her lap again, a few tears slipping down her cheeks. “I was scared. I was eleven. I did whatever he told me to, answered whatever question he came up with.” She looks up and catches Rhodey’s gaze this time. He has to look away to keep from crying himself. “I didn’t have a choice!”

 “There’s always a choice, Apollo.”

 “Maybe for men like you,” Erik argues. Steve straightens for a moment before wilting under Erik’s gaze. Erik rolls his sleeves up, and Steve catches sight of the number branded on his forearm. “But there isn’t always a choice for people like us.”

 “What did Howard have you do?” Natasha asks, tone softer than Apollo was expecting.

 “Howard was always interested in my telepathy. Kept asking questions about memory erasure or altering memories.” Clara perks up, eyes wide. “When I finally gave him enough answers, he threw me into the ring. Said the government agency he worked for was trying a new approach on human soldiers. Wanted to try removing aspects of them to make them more compliant.” Clara lets out a squeak as she holds back tears. “By the time I got the full picture of what I was really doing, it was too late. I had already removed the memories Howard needed.”

 “Who?” Clara whispers. Apollo looks up and nearly breaks down at the sight of Clara. “Who did Howard have you…” Apollo’s expression softens, and Clara’s world comes crumbling around her.

“Were you ever going to tell me?”

 “I didn’t know how,” Apollo confesses. “By the time I knew…I didn’t think it would matter. You were gone. Steve was dead. His existence…” She shakes her head. “And then everything happened so fast last year for me to let you know before…” Clara nods. “I never intended to keep it from you, Clara, I just didn’t know how to tell you.”

 “So not Hydra,” Clint pipes up. Apollo nods. “Not Shield either.” Apollo nods again. “But a secret third option.” Apollo lets out a soft laugh. “Which might have been worse than the two combined.” The room as a whole starts to break into laughter. “Alright, Tash, you can uncuff her now.”

 “Oh. This?” Apollo holds up the cuff that she’s been dismantling the whole time she was talking. She sets it on the desk and slides it over to Natasha. Natasha’s heart stops momentarily as she slowly takes the cuff back. Apollo grips her wrist before Natasha can pull away. “I understand the sentiment, but the next time you do something like that, Romanoff, I won’t hesitate to do my party tricks above the table.” Natasha presses her lips together and nods. “No hard feelings?”

 “No hard feelings,” she breathes out before returning to Clint.

 Apollo rolls her wrist around as she stands from the desk and makes her way over to Tony and Bruce. She wipes her face free of tears before addressing the room. “I get that Hydra is a taboo word around here, but, c’mon, were you seriously about to burn me at the stake over one secret?” Everyone shifts around uncomfortably.

 “We don’t keep secrets from our teammates, Apollo,” Steve scolds.

 “I’m not your teammate,” she’s quick to point out. No one says anything, but she can feel their eyes on her. “Everyone in this room has kept secrets,” she continues, brushing them off. “Is still keeping secrets.” She turns her attention to Natasha and Clint. “If we’re going to start pointing fingers, we should start with the spider in the room who weaves them like webs.” Natasha raises an eyebrow. Apollo shrugs.

 Steve holds his hands up. “We’re not going to turn on each other.”

 “He’s right,” Rhodey pipes up. “We’ve got bigger things to worry about.”

 “Ultron,” Stephen states.

 Rhodey nods. “Ultron. He’s the internet. What if he decides to access something a little more exciting?”

 “Nuclear codes,” Peter Maximoff exhales.

 “Nuclear codes,” Rhodey agrees. “Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can.”

 “Nukes?” Natasha throws out. “He said he wanted us dead.”

 “He didn’t say dead,” Steve corrects. “He said extinct.”

 “He also said he killed somebody,” Clint recalls. “But there wasn’t anyone else in the building.”
Tony pulls away from Bruce, wipes at his eyes, and looks to Apollo. They share a look for barely three seconds before they’re both gasping, eyes wide. “Yes, there was,” they correct in unison.

Tony completely pulls away from Bruce to pull up the now-destroyed 3D image of Jarvis’ consciousness. Apollo gasps again, her hands covering her mouth. Her precious baby is nothing but shattered orange code.

 “This is insane,” Bruce says as he steps up to take a closer look. Apollo falls to her knees and attempts to patch the code up, but her fingers just slip through the hologram. Tears are pouring down her cheeks all over again. Tony swallows the lump in his throat as he stares at the hologram, too.

 “Jarvis was the first line of defense,” Steve reasons. “He would have shut Ultron down; it makes sense.”

 “No, Ultron could have assimilated Jarvis. This isn’t strategy, this is…rage.”

~***~

Come morning, Steve has already made the executive decision to recruit Agent Maria Hill in tracking down Ultron. If anyone can, it’ll be her. Clara trails behind them both, with Apollo by her side. The path they’re taking is a familiar one that will lead them straight to the lab. Clara slowly blinks, hiding a yawn behind her palm. She doubts that she’s not the only one who barely got any sleep the night before.

“He’s all over the globe,” Maria starts. “Robotics labs, weapons facilities, jet propulsion labs, reports of a metal man, or men, coming in and emptying the place.” Apollo lets out a breath.

“Fatalities?” Steve asks.

 Maria shakes her head. “Only when engaged. Mostly guys left in a fugue state, going on about old memories, worst fears, and something too fast to see.”

 Apollo whips her head in Maria’s direction. “The twins,” she breathes. Steve glances over at her and raises an eyebrow. “Steve, he has the twins.”

He nods. “Well, that makes sense he’d go to them, they have someone in common.”

 Clara swallows tightly, subtly crossing her arms over her chest to hide her balled-up fists. She can’t blame Apollo for what she did--in fact, the common denominator in all of this is Howard. She scoffs under her breath, and Apollo seems to fall out of her thoughts at the small sound. It’s always Howard at the end of the day.

 “Not anymore,” Maria corrects, snapping Clara out of her thoughts as Maria hands a tablet over to Apollo.

Apollo rolls her shoulders and steels her expression as she glances down at the tablet. It’s a picture of Stryker’s dead body with the word PEACE written in blood on the wall next to him. Apollo should be worried, should panic that the twins killed someone, but she can’t help the smile that settles on her face.

 When they get to the top of the stairs, they run into Clint, who’s stepped outside of the lab to take a phone call. “That’s a negative. I answer to you,” he tells whoever is on the other end. There’s a pause before, “Yes, ma’am.”

Steve clears his throat, earning Clint’s attention. “Barton, we might have something.”

 “Gotta go.” He pulls the phone away from his ear and ends the call.”

 “Who was that?”

 Clint hesitates for a second before saying, “Girlfriend.”

 Apollo smiles softly. He returns it with a curt nod. Steve glances between them before surging forward again. Clint takes his spot beside Apollo as they follow after him into the lab, where everyone is already gathered. Steve makes a beeline for the center of the room and hands the tablet to Thor first. Once Tony notices that Steve’s walked in with something (and not just his wife), he makes his way over.

“What’s this?” he asks, nodding to the tablet. Thor slams it into his chest. Apollo clears her throat and raises an eyebrow at Thor, who smiles sheepishly. She just shakes her head.

 “A message,” Steve declares as Bruce comes out of his hiding spot to join them. “Ultron killed Stryker.”

 Tony and Bruce glance down at the tablet. “And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us.”

 “This is a smokescreen,” Natasha corrects. “Why send a message when you’ve just given a speech?”

 “Stryker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss.”

“Yeah, I bet he…” She looks up at the computer monitor in front of her. “Yep. Everything we had on Stryker has been erased.”

 “Not everything,” Tony corrects.

 They all glance over to him as he leads them over to his archives. There are dozens upon dozens of physical files saved in the cabinets. Apollo smiles faintly; look at him, finally listening to her. Each Avenger takes a box and starts pilfering through it.

 “Known associates,” Steve breathes. “William Stryker had a lot of friends.” Apollo snorts.

“Well, these people are all horrible.” Bruce points out.

 “Wait!” Tony exclaims, pointing to one of the files Bruce has. He stops and looks up. “I know that guy.” Bruce passes him the photo he was looking at. “From back in the day. He operates off the African coast, black market arms.” Steve shoots him an accusing look. Tony scoffs and rolls his eyes again. “There are conventions, alright? You meet people. I didn’t sell him anything.” Steve reluctantly looks away.

Apollo narrows her eyes. “Need I remind you, Rogers, that if Starks hadn’t created weapons when they did, you wouldn’t exist?” Steve turns his attention to her. She raises an eyebrow. “All that muscle…” She waves her hand around his upper torso. “Bye-bye.” Steve’s jaw sets as he looks away.

 Clara and Natasha glance between the two before sharing a matching concerned expression. They decide not to comment on anything just yet, but Tony’s “everything special about you came out of a bottle” from three years ago echoes in their mind. Perhaps Apollo is more similar to Tony than they’ve given her credit for.

 “He was talking about finding something new, a game changer, it was all very ‘Ahab’,” Tony continues, not batting an eye at what Apollo said. He hands the file over to Thor so he can inspect it.

Thor points to the scar on the back of Klaue’s neck. “What’s this?”

 “Uh, it’s a tattoo. I don’t think he had it--”

 “No, those are tattoos,” he taps to a different part of his body in his picture. “Those are tattoos.” He gestures to Apollo’s wrist. She subconsciously rubs the heart with Peter’s initials. “This is a brand,” Thor corrects.

 Bruce turns around to the computer behind him and runs a translation through the system. It takes a few tries before identifying the brand and spitting out an answer. “Oh, yeah. It’s a word in an African dialect meaning thief…” He laughs. “...in a much less friendly way.”

 “What dialect?” Clara asks.

 “Wakanada? Wa-Wa-Wakanda.”

Apollo perks up and turns her attention toward the computer. “Wakanda?” she asks, pronouncing it correctly the first time. Bruce furrows his brow. “My aunt--” Her eyes widen when she realizes what she’s about to say. “--knows nothing about Wakanda,” she finishes lamely.

 Steve turns an unamused look on Apollo. “More secrets, Xavier?”

 Apollo cocks her head in his direction. “Not mine to tell, Captain.” He narrows his eyes briefly. She smirks. “And it’s Stark-Banner now. I was willing to overlook it last night when Natasha was speaking to me, but…” She looks him over before shrugging. “You can put respect on my name.”

“Apollo,” Tony starts, but she can’t quite tell if a warning, a scolding, or something else. She turns to apologize, but Tony continues, “If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods…” She frowns for a second before gasping. Steve and Clara share a look, too.

 “I thought your father said he got the last of it?” Clara asks tentatively.

 At this point, anything Howard told her is worth nothing in her book. All those lies and secrets? What he did to Bucky? She shakes her head discreetly to clear her mind. She draws in a sharp breath, and Apollo turns to her with a gentle smile. Clara manages to send a half-hearted one back, which Apollo immediately picks up on. A conversation for another time.

 “I don’t follow. What comes out of Wakanda?” Bruce asks.

 Tony glances down at the shield as Apollo answers for him, “The strongest metal on Earth.”

 “Where is this guy now?”

 They all share a look before hitting the computers. If they can find him before Ultron does…maybe they can get some more answers.

Chapter Text

X-Mansion practically blends in with the cloudy skies above it. Clara stands still on the front steps, staring up at its facade. It’s odd; the last time she was here was right after her graduation. Not many students mill about the front lawn now due to the dreary weather. With a deep breath, she makes her way up the steps and through the front door into the entryway.

“Clara.”

To her left is the common area; it’s not unusual to see students using the space to study or to play board games during the winter. Currently, it’s occupied by three members of the X-Men. Ororo sips from a cup of tea as she watches the cloudy skies outside. Kurt is curled up in an armchair, attempting to read a book, and Jean is standing to greet her.

Kurt grins. “Ah, Zeitrei,” Clara can’t help but smile at that. “It’s been too long.”
She pulls out of her hug with Jean to greet Kurt and Ororo. “It’s good to see all of you again.”

Ororo tucks a piece of hair behind Clara’s ear. “We heard about what happened at the Tower. When Peter told us what happened…”

“Everyone’s okay,” Clara assures the three of them. “A bit shaken, that’s for sure. Apollo asked me to check in on Peter and Lorna.”

“Peter and Lorna…” Kurt’s voice is soft. “Their spirits are healing.”

“They miss their parents.” Jean fills in. “Which is to be expected after something like that.”

“That’s why I’m here.” Clara nods gently. “I’m not a superhero, so being here is the best place I can be for now.”

Ororo places a hand on her shoulder. “Well, we’re glad you’re here, and so will the kids.”

“Thank you, Ororo.”

“Anytime.” She offers her a smile. “Go see them. They may not have been asking for you, but I think seeing an aunt will help raise their spirits.”

“I will.” Clara hugs each of them again. “After that, I need to speak with Charles about some things.”

Jean’s expression softens. “I’m sure he can help with whatever you need. Just be careful, Clara.”

~***~

Clara gently knocks on the doorframe of Peter Parker’s room, where he sits in silence. Lorna is asleep in his old crib that Maximoff must have found for her in storage. “Hi, Bug.”

“Aunt Clara!” Peter quickly moves across the room to wrap his arms around her in a hug. Clara hugs him tightly. She can sense the tension in his shoulders ease a bit. He hasn’t been able to relax since they’ve arrived with Maximoff. “Are you alright? Are my parents alright? How can I help--”

“Bug,” Clara pulls away to brush a piece of hair out of his eyes. “Slow down. First off, both your parents and I are just fine. A little shaken, but we took care of Ultron. It’s a good thing Velox brought you to the mansion when he did.”

Peter bites his lip in thought, and Clara notes the way his shoulders relax more as she soothes her hand over his hair. Lorna huffs in her crib, still fast asleep. “I wanted to help.”

Clara drops her gaze from the crib to her nephew. “Bug--”

“I can help.” Peter insists. “I’m old enough, and I’ve got a decent understanding of my powers thanks to the other X-Men.” Clara gently shakes her head. “Dad doesn’t even have to make me an official Avenger!”

“Peter,” Her voice is soft, yet firm. Peter’s protest dies in his throat. “You know your mother wouldn’t allow that. Besides, you’re still too young.”

His lip juts out in a pout. “I don’t want to feel useless.”

“You are not useless.” Clara kneels to look him in the eye. They’re glassy like he’s on the verge of tears. “You are exactly where you need to be, protecting Bee.” He glances over to where Lorna shuffles in her crib, still sleeping peacefully. “And just think of all the new trainees that the Professor will need help with. Some of those kids are going to need someone their age to help them settle into the mansion. I can’t think of anyone else better suited for that than you, Bug.”

Peter smiles slightly at that. Clara pulls him in for another hug, ruffling his hair a bit. “I’ll let Sol know that you two are doing alright, okay?” Peter nods his head, and Clara stands to kiss his forehead. “Excellent. Try not to worry too much. Your mother and the Avengers have everything handled.”

“What about you, Auntie Clara?” Peter asks softly. “Shouldn’t you be with the Avengers?”

“I’m exactly where I’m needed, just like you.” She ushers him over to bed, tucking him in quickly. “Get some rest. I’ll be with your grandfather if you need me.”

Peter yawns and bids her goodnight. Once Clara is certain he’s sleeping soundly, she slips out of the bedroom and into the hallway, making her way to Charles’ office. Apollo said that he’s always in a game of chess, Clara hums in thought, quietly closing the bedroom door.

Charles is already waiting for her when she reaches the end of the hallway. He has that gentle, all-knowing smile on his face as he silently welcomes her inside the room. A fire crackles in the fireplace, and the chessboard sits ready for a match. “Hi, Professor.”

“How many times do I have to tell you, Clara?” he chastises. “It’s just Charles, to you.”

She smiles. “You know I’ll never be able to call you anything other than professor, Professor.”

Charles chuckles, letting the door click shut behind him. “You have quite a lot on your mind.”

“I had a few questions about telepathy,” Clara wrings her hands together, and Charles nods, his smile no longer present. “I was wondering if it might be possible to restore someone’s memories with it?”

Charles gestures to the chessboard. “I might be able to humor your questions, but only in return for a game of chess.”

Clara thinks for a moment, then takes a seat at the board. “If you insist.” Charles gestures for her to begin the game.

The log in the fireplace cracks as Clara studies the chessboard. Ever since moving into the mansion, Charles has more or less deemed her as his new favorite opponent (after Erik and Apollo, of course). She runs her tongue across her teeth and reaches for the knight. She pauses, laughing softly. “You always start with the Sicilian Defense. Either you’re going easy on me, or you’re getting predictable.”

Charles smirks. “Predictability is often mistaken for stability. In chess--and life.” Clara moves her knight into position. “You’ve been wondering if I’ve looked into Peter and Lorna’s minds.”

“Have you?”

“Only enough to know they’re safe.” Charles waves his hand, moving one of his pieces. “I wouldn’t intrude, not unless they asked me to.”

They fall quiet as Clara studies the board again. “What if someone doesn’t know what to ask for?” she questions after a moment. “What if they need to remember, but can’t?”

Charles leans back into his chair, folding his hands in his lap. “The mind protects itself, Clara. Buries pain under layers, like sediment. Cerebro helps me locate minds across the world, but it can’t restore what someone has lost willingly…or had taken.”

“But it’s been done,” Clara responds. “Apollo’s mentioned how you’ve brought people back.”

“They brought themselves back. I was only a guide. Memory isn’t a file you retrieve--it’s a place you return to. And sometimes…the door is locked from the inside.”

Clara’s throat tightens. “If there was a way to unlock it…if Cerebro, or your gift, could find something left behind--”

“If there’s a trace, a thread, yes,” Charles says, and Clara’s heart jumps into her throat. There’s a chance. If Apollo was able to take away his memory all those years ago, perhaps there could be a way to bring it back. “But memory restoration is not without consequence. Sometimes, remembering hurts more than forgetting ever did.”

Her gaze falls to the chessboard again, quiet. It’s a silent plea to not tug at the string anymore, almost as if the best way to go about this is leaving Bucky to fend for himself until his memories start to come back. She bites her lip. Hasn’t he already gone through enough alone?
Charles leans across the board, placing a hand on hers. “When the time comes, and they’re ready, I’ll help.”

 She offers him a soft smile. “I appreciate it, Professor.”

~***~

By morning, the Quinjet lands outside a large farmhouse with an even larger yard. It’s practically the definition of ‘middle of nowhere’. Natasha and Apollo share a look as they all travel down the road leading to the house. They’ve both been here before. Clint helps keep Natasha upright, and Apollo doesn’t leave Bruce’s side. In fact, Tony remains planted on the other side of him to further cement that they’re not going anywhere. They’ve known him long enough to know that’s where his mind jumps to. That he needs to pull away from everyone.

"What is this place?” Thor asks when they reach the porch.

Tony takes a good look around. At the rocker in the corner, the flowerbeds on the windowsill, the welcome mat by the door. This can’t be a safehouse like Clint told him. This is a house. White picket fence, two and a half kids, a dog that’s always dirty, and everything. Something he’s always wanted with Apollo (and now with Bruce).

He frowns. “A safehouse?” He parrots, but he’s still not buying it.

Clint lets out a breathy laugh. “Let’s hope. Honey, I’m home.” It should alarm the Avengers by the way he easily pushes the door and it swings open, but it doesn’t. At least, not while they’re still too deep in their heads to fully process what’s going on. It does alarm Tony, though, who turns his attention to Apollo. He narrows his eyes as he watches her step inside, not worried at all, and greet Clara, who had arrived only minutes prior via the X-Jet.

“Do you know something?!” He yells in his mind so she’ll hear him. Apollo winces and covers her ears. “Sorry.”

She glares at him over her shoulder after she’s released Clara from a hug. “Why are you yelling?”

”You know something, don’t you?”

"I know lots of things, Tony. You’ll have to be more specific.”

"About where we are,” he elaborates. She raises an eyebrow and adjusts her stance to face him better. “This isn’t a safehouse.”

She shrugs. “It’s a safe house. I think you’re missing the space in there.” He starts glaring at her. She shrugs again. Not my secret to tell. And you know how well I keep secrets.” He relaxes his expression and nods just as a heavily pregnant woman walks into the room from the kitchen. She’s carrying artwork in her hand and seems surprised to find the Avengers standing in her living room.

“Hi,” Clint greets softly. He lets go of Natasha and pulls the woman in for a kiss. “Company. Sorry, I didn’t call ahead.”

“Hey,” she whispers, kissing him again.

Tony and Bruce share a confused look. Have they been wrong this whole time? They went about thinking they were the only married Avengers? Why hasn’t Clint said anything before?

"This is an agent of some kind,” Tony tells Thor when he notices Thor’s equally confused expression. “That’s what safehouses have. Agents to help,” he continues. Bruce lets out a small laugh as he squeezes Tony’s hand. Tony looks down and nods. He’s about to start rambling again. “Thanks,” he whispers. Bruce nods.

Clint pulls away from the ‘agent’ and turns his attention back to the Avengers. “Gentlemen, Clara, this is Laura.”

And now Bruce is frowning. Because singling Clara out would imply that Apollo and Natasha already know who Laura is. Which he shouldn’t be surprised Natasha knows—Natasha knows everything—and he’s not. He’s surprised Apollo knows.

Laura smiles and waves and says rather awkwardly, “I know all your names.” The room is tensely silent, so Tony throws his hand up for a second in a weak attempt at a wave. A moment later, the putter-patter of feet comes running down the stairs.

“Ooh, incoming.” Clint crouches down just in time to catch a little girl who comes charging at him. Apollo and Natasha wear matching warm smiles—something that should unsettle Tony under any other circumstance, but right now, he finds it soothing. A boy roughly Peter’s age comes trailing behind the girl. He gives Clint and the girl a second before wrapping his arms around Clint’s waist. Clint kisses the top of his head as he scoops the young girl onto his hip. “Hi, sweetheart! Hey, buddy!” They start laughing. “How are you guys doing?”

"These are…smaller agents?”

Apollo tuts and rolls her eyes. “Oh, Tony. Nothing is getting past you.” He narrows his eyes and sticks his tongue out.

"Look at your face!”Clint gushes. “Oh, my goodness!” He kisses the little girl’s cheek before setting her down so he can wrap an arm around Laura again.

"Did you bring Auntie Nat?” She asks sheepishly, kicking around at the rug.

Natasha perks up as Apollo frowns. “Why don’t you hug her and find out?” Natasha calls. The little girl rushes toward Natasha, who immediately picks her up in her arms and walks away with her.

Apollo gasps. “I’ll remember that, Lila-bug!” She calls after them. The little girl, Lila, starts giggling as she buries her face into the crook of Natasha’s neck. Apollo lightly shakes her head before turning her attention to the boy. She raises an eyebrow and holds out her arms. “Coop?” He comes rushing over and buries his face in her chest. She squeezes him tightly and presses a kiss to the top of his head, the same way Clint did. “Oh, I missed you!” She exclaims.

The boy, Cooper, pulls away, all smiles. “I missed you, too, Auntie Apollo.” She boops his nose, which gets him laughing. Tony clears his throat at her side, earning Cooper’s attention. She just rolls her eyes. “Are they Uncle Tony and Uncle Bruce?” He asks. Apollo nods.

"Uncle?” Bruce asks, his brow slightly furrowed.

Apollo shrugs. “Just because you don’t know about him doesn’t mean he doesn’t know about you,” she teases. Bruce shakes his head but smiles. “And, yes, Uncle. If I’m his aunt and we’re married…” Bruce frowns and looks away.

"Sorry for barging in on you,” Steve apologizes, and Apollo has to physically bite her tongue as Cooper walks away. Funny how he can dish out apologies to Clint and his family but not to hers.

"Yeah,” Tony tags on, “we would have called ahead, but we were busy having no idea that you existed.” Apollo hits him upside the head. “Ow! Okay, I’m sorry, some of us knew you existed,” he corrects. Apollo just glares at him.

Steve perks up and turns his attention to Apollo. “You knew about this?”

Her posture is immediately perfect as she glares back at him. “Yes, I did,” she agrees. His expression begins to set, but she adds on, “But as you can see, this wasn’t my secret to tell.” Steve lets out a small breath and glances at Clint. Apollo takes a step closer with a bright smile that shows too much teeth. Her Erik Lehnsherr smile. Her, I’m about to fuck your shit up if you keep talking, smile. Tony knows it well. “Like I said the other night, I’m not the only one keeping secrets on this team.” Steve swallows thickly. “So either burn all of us or stop shouting witch.”

Clint glances between them before laughing to diffuse the tension. “Yeah, well, Fury helped me set this up when I joined. He kept it off Shield’s files, I’d like to keep it that way.” Apollo quickly turns and raises an eyebrow at Tony. He shrugs and nods. “The only reason Apollo knew…” He starts laughing again as Tony and Bruce give him their undivided attention. “She needed an emergency contact.” She smiles. “And by then, I had figured out her secret kid, so it was only fair she knew about mine.”

”Peter and Coop are best friends,” she adds. Tony’s heart melts.

Clint smiles and nods. “I figured it’s a good place to lay low.”

"Ultron wouldn’t know,” Clara murmurs as she wraps her arms around herself.

She glances around the living room. At the family pictures hanging on the walls. The kids’ toys thrown about the place. She hears a crunch beside her as Thor shifts and accidentally steps on a Lego house. This is something she always dreamed of having, but thought she missed her chance. If what Charles told her could be done, does she have a shot at a second chance? Could this all be hers one day?

She feels someone step up beside her and smiles when she spots blonde hair. Apollo smiles back as she wraps her arms around Clara.

"One day,” she echoes in her ear as she kisses her cheek. “I promise.”

"How do you know?” Clara whispers, voice breaking.

Apollo hugs her tighter. “I helped unmake him. I can put him back together.” Clara lets out a soft gasp as she turns in Apollo’s arms to face her. “But we have to take care of Ultron first.” Clara nods. “I might know how to find him.” Clara hugs her back.

Natasha walks back into the room and over to Laura. "How’s little Natasha, huh?” She asks as she leans down and cradles her stomach.

"She’s…Nathaniel.”

"Traitor,” Nat scolds the bump.

"Nathaniel…Apollo?” Laura asks, projecting her voice slightly to catch Apollo’s attention. She succeeds. Apollo hums as she perks up, stepping away from Clara and closer to Laura. Laura laughs to herself and smiles. “Nathaniel Apollo Barton?” She repeats.

Apollo gasps. “Are you serious?” Laura looks to Clint as he steps over, nodding along. Laura nods too. “Oh, I’d be honored!” She throws her arms around Clint and Laura. They laugh and hug her back.

"Have you considered changing your name to Tarton?” Natasha suggests. Clint tilts his head and raises an eyebrow. Natasha shrugs. “Just a suggestion.”

Apollo laughs. “So his initials would be Nat?” She nods. Apollo shakes her head as Laura and Clint start laughing too. “Couldn’t you still call him Nat?” She wheezes between fits of laughter. Natasha shrugs again. “For gods’ sake, Tasha, he’s still named after you!” They’re all laughing now. “I’ll tell you what, the next girl Bruce and I have will be named after you.”

Natasha smiles brightly. “Thank you. That’s all I’m asking for.” Apollo giggles and shakes her head as she walks away. Speaking of, she needs to go find her husbands and make sure they’re alright.

~***~

Once everyone has split up from the living room, Clint and Laura hide out in their bedroom. It started as Clint needing to change out of his uniform (and to find a spare change of clothes for Natasha), and Laura just followed him inside. Not that he’s complaining. He’ll take all the time with her he can get. She slips her hand under his shirt and feels where Doctor Cho patched him up.

He chuckles and kisses her temple. “See, you worried for nothing. Can’t even feel the difference, can you?”

Laura lets out a breath as she shakes her head. They’re both smiling, though, so Clint knows she’s not cross. He pulls her close and kisses her again. She lets out a soft sigh as she leans into his side. “If they’re sleeping here,” she whispers, “some of them are gonna have to double up.”

Clint laughs. “It’s a good thing Bruce and Tony are married to Apollo.” Laura continues to shake her head. “That knocks out three right there. I’m sure we can convince Clara and Steve to share a room.”

Laura furrows her brow. “Clara and Steve?” She repeats. Clint nods as he pulls away from her to get to their closet so he can change. “Are you sure?” He shrugs and nods. Laura raises an eyebrow. “She wouldn’t want to sleep with Apollo?”

Clint ducks his head out of the closet, an eyebrow raised. “Why would she want to sleep with Apollo?”

Laura shrugs. “I don’t know…” Clint narrows his eyes for a second before ducking back into the closet. “She seemed pretty handsy with Apollo earlier.” Clint laughs and shakes his head even though Laura can’t see him. She picks up a few loose things around the room as she makes her way over to the closet. “I’ve been reading up on polyamory,” she announces. Clint hums as he searches through his shirts. “Couples don’t have to stop at three people.” Clint sticks his head out and raises an eyebrow again. Laura sighs and rolls her eyes. “You know what I mean. A poly relationship can consist of as many people as they feel is necessary. And not everyone has to be in love with everyone in the relationship. So if Apollo and Doc Brown wanted to go off and…”

Clint cuts her off by laughing and shakes his head before changing shirts. “Nah, they’re just friends.”

"Ah, right. Just friends.” Clint narrows his eyes. She smiles and shakes her head. “I’ll explain when you’re older, Hawkeye.”

"Oh. Okay.”

She giggles and kisses him. He wraps his arms around her and holds her close as he can. They’re silent for a moment before Laura asks, “It’s bad, right?”He looks down at her, brow furrowed. “Nat seems really shaken.”

He lets out a breath. “Ultron has these allies, these uh, kids, they’re punks really with big sticks. Apollo’s niece and nephew.” Laura’s eyes widen. He nods, lips pressed tightly together. “She’s trying,” he tells her. “But Ultron’s got it in their mind…” He lets out another breath. “I don’t think she’s telling us everything.” Laura’s brow furrows again. He cups her face, brushing his thumb over her cheek. “About her life. About being a mutant.” He kisses her softly before turning the closet light off and stepping away. “These kids feel like they’re responsible for changing the viewpoint of everyone in the world.” Laura sits down on the bed. “I just don’t understand how Apollo wakes up every day knowing there are people out there who want her dead for something she had no control over.”

"The same way Nat wakes up every day knowing what she’s done. Some things you just can’t change.” She rises from the bed and is at his side again. “But it’s not your job to fix that either,” she whispers, running her fingers through his hair. He manages a small smile. “I’m proud of you,” she confesses softly. He raises an eyebrow. “I am,” she pushes.

"But?”

She smiles faintly. “But sometimes you need to know when to walk away.”

Clint lets out a long sigh as he slowly nods. “Yeah,” he agrees quietly. “I’m beginning to think that, too.” He kisses her one last time before heading toward the door. “But I’m not the only one on this team that needs to know when to call it quits.” Laura watches him go, hands folded over her bump.

~***~

Clara gently pushes open the door to the bedroom that Laura’s offered to her and Steve for the night (but not before informing her that if she wanted to switch and room with Apollo, she’d be understanding). Steve trails in behind her, taking in the room.

“It’s a nursery,” Clara breathes out, flicking on the light switch. The only light that flickers on is from an unshaded lightbulb hanging from the ceiling. She piques an eyebrow. “But it’s unfinished.”

Steve swipes a finger across the top of the bookcase near the door and squints. “The Bartons haven’t been in here in a while. Everything’s covered in dust.”

“Such a prude, Stevie,” Clara teases lightly, stepping further into the room. The only piece of furniture assembled and finished is the crib underneath the window. A plush, lavender blanket hangs over the edge, the initials K.B. stitched into the corner. “Clint’s busy saving the world, and Laura is pregnant. I’m sure they just haven’t gotten around to cleaning up for the next Barton.”

Steve hums. “Maybe.”

Silence settles between them as they keep browsing the room. Clara turns toward the door, her gaze caught by the framed ultrasound sitting on the bookshelf. The name Katerina is delicately written on the border. “Who do you think Katerina is?”

“An earlier Barton?” Steve offers, giving her an uneasy look, but she immediately understands what he means.

Clara nods slowly, lingering by the ultrasound. Steve’s about to suggest they go back downstairs to join the others, but he stops. She’s got her arms wrapped around her middle, and his heart drops into the pit of his stomach. They’ve been searching for over a year with no leads, and there have been times he’s thought about calling it all off. What holds him back, though, is his desire to make it up to her by bringing him back. It’s his fault for losing him in the first place.

Gently, he touches her shoulder, and when she turns to look up at him, her eyes are glassy. In that moment, Steve vows to himself that if they’re fruitless in their attempt to find Bucky, he’d step in and make sure that she’s taken care of. “Let’s rejoin the others.”

“Yeah,” Clara’s voice is distant, but she takes a step toward the door to leave the nursery. “Okay, Stevie.”

~***~

Tony lets out a heavy sigh as he collapses into the rocking chair on the porch. His whole body hurts after going toe-to-toe with the Hulk, but he’s not about to let Bruce know that. He rubs at his eyes until black spots dance across his vision. He lets his head rest against the top of the chair as he fishes his phone out of his pocket. He doesn’t have to scroll far before he finds the contact he needs. It rings twice before they pick up.

“Hey, Dad,” Peter greets.

Tony’s instantly smiling. “Hey, Squirt.”

“What’s up? Is everything okay? Are you coming home soon? Not that I can’t handle things around the mansion! It’s just Lorna’s been looking for you guys, and we’re having a hard time explaining to her that you’re away at work and will be back later.”

Tony chuckles as he listens to Peter’s rapid-fire questions. “The sky is what’s up, Pete. You should know this by now. Everything is…Well. You know. I don’t know when we’re coming home. Right now we’re staying at Clint’s farm—which, you’re grounded by the way for not telling me about. How’s Lorna doing otherwise? Who’s been taking care of her?”

Peter gasps. “Hey, Mom knew first!” Tony laughs to himself. “Everyone’s been taking turns with her. Uncle Rhodey and Uncle Stephen have been staying with us too. Something about more hands? I don’t really know. Sometimes when she’s really missing you, Aunt Raven kinda…” He lets out a breath. Tony presses his lips together as he sinks further into the rocking chair. “And, yeah, I have seen the news. They’re not loving Pops right now.”

“No, they’re not,” Tony whispers. “Have you spoken to either of them recently?”

“They’re actually on the phone with Uncle Peter right now. He’s got Lorna on his lap so she can see them.” Tony manages a small smile. “But, no. I haven’t heard from them. I know how Mom gets about all this. The less I know, the better.”

“She’s right. Especially right now. I probably shouldn’t even be talking to you. Who knows what Ultron has access to.”

The phone is silent for a moment.

Then: “I can help, you know.” Peter says softly. “Maybe not like Grandpa and Mom can, but I can web a few of the bots up. I’ve been practicing with Uncle Logan—“

“No, Squirt.” He can practically hear the pursing of Peter’s lips and furrow in his brow. “No,” he corrects softly. “You know how your Mom gets.”

Peter sighs. “I know, I know. She doesn’t want to push anything on me until I’m old enough to make a decision. But I am old enough!” Tony lets out a breath. “You just have to let me prove myself!”

“The answer is no, Peter. You’re staying put.” Peter whines. Tony rolls his eyes softly. “Look, I called you to tell you…” He lets out a breath as tears start blurring his vision. “You know I love you, right? I haven’t turned into my father?”

“Yes, I know. I love you, too.”

“Good, good.” He blinks back tears. “And I did all of this for you. To make the world a safer place for you. But wires got crossed or something and this…” He sighs. “This isn’t what I wanted. I just want you and your sister safe.”

“We are safe,” he promises. “But we’re safer with you.” Tony cracks a small smile. “I’ve gotta go, Dad! Grandpa’s calling us for dinner. I’ll see you soon, yeah?”

“See you soon,” he promises before they both hang up. Tony slips the phone back into his pocket before letting his head rest on the chair as he closes his eyes.

A few seconds of peaceful silence go by before someone taps his shoulder. He opens his eyes and sits up to find Clint offering him a glass of lemonade. Tony takes it, eyeing him skeptically. Clint laughs.

"I was gonna offer you a beer, but Apollo said you stopped drinking,” he offers as he perches on the railing behind him, a glass of lemonade in his hand.

Tony nods as he raises his glass to his lips. “I stopped when we found out we were having Lorna.” He takes a sip, surprised by how real it tastes. This must be what they mean when they say ‘when life gives you lemons’. None of that crystal life bullshit. “My old man was always drunk. I didn’t want to do that to her.” He takes another sip as Clint drinks from his. “I only drink at parties now. But even that’s only a drink or two.”

"I’m proud of you.” Tony raises an eyebrow. Clint nods. “I am, really. It takes a lot to change a habit.” Tony nods. “You’re a great dad, Tony.”

"Okay, what is this? What are we doing? Why are you complimenting me?”

Clint chuckles before taking another sip of his lemonade. “When we were on the Quinjet and you were asking if I wanted a break…” Tony nods for him to continue. “I understand,” he tells him. Tony raises an eyebrow. “Steve might never understand why you did what you did, but I do.” Tony hums. “You spend your whole life not giving a shit about the world because it doesn’t give a shit about you. And then one day, you bring a new life into the world and suddenly nothing his good enough.” Tony lowers the glass, letting his thumb run along the lip. “So you beat yourself up about not trying to change the world when you had the chance. Now you’re just old and no one wants to listen to you.” Tony laughs. Clint cracks a smile. “I’ve been trying to retire for most of Cooper’s life,” he admits softly. “It isn’t easy. There’s always something pulling you back in.”

"At least Laura doesn’t come with you,” Tony mutters into his glass.

Clint studies Tony’s expression for a moment, weighing his options on how to go forward. “This house wasn’t built for Laura.” Tony raises an eyebrow. “I had a…” He swallows and shakes his head. “There was someone before Laura. But she…”

"Great pep talk.”

Clint chuckles. “I couldn’t save them. But I can save Laura and the kids.” Tony studies him. “Because I know when to walk away now.” He stands and pats Tony’s shoulder. “Do you?”

Tony runs a hand over his face as he sighs. “I’m learning,” he admits. “I really am.”

Clint smiles. “I know lowkey isn’t really your style, but maybe you should consider something like this.” Tony glances around. “Just not a farmhouse. Only one of us needs to be a farmer.” They share a laugh. “I can see you on the lake somewhere.”

"Yeah?”

Clint nods. “Yeah. With all kinds of exotic animals roaming about the place.” They continue laughing as Tony shakes his head. Clint pats his shoulder a few more times before turning to head back inside. “Dinner will be ready soon. I think we all need a bit of rest and relaxation after what we just went through.” Tony nods absently as Clint retreats inside.

A lake house doesn’t sound so bad.

Chapter Text

By the time Apollo, Tony, and Bruce wake again, it’s pushing early afternoon, and the rest of the house is awake. Apollo’s surprised they didn’t get woken up by childish giggles or thunder gods shouting throughout the open-floor house. Though perhaps the latter didn’t happen because Thor is nowhere to be found. They share a confused glance before getting pulled in opposite directions. Clint asks Tony to go help Steve chop wood so they can have a relaxing fire tonight to get their minds off of things. Laura asks for Apollo’s help in the kitchen (even though that’s a terrible idea). Cooper pulls Bruce away so he and Lila can get to know their uncle. They all agree, a bit flustered, and break apart.

Tony follows Steve -- who remains silent and almost makes a point not to look at him -- outside and over to where Clint’s set up their log-chopping station. Tony glances around at the piles and the setup before picking up an axe and taking a swing. “Thor didn’t say where he was going for answers?” Tony asks, carefully treading the subject. No one seemed to want to discuss Thor’s sudden absence, but someone is bound to know something.

Steve lets out a breath as he glances up to find Clint, Bruce, and Cooper measuring the length of the banister. “Sometimes my teammates don’t tell me things.” Tony looks over his shoulder to figure out what Steve’s looking at. He smiles and waves when Bruce catches his eye. Bruce smiles and waves back. Steve then turns his attention to Tony and waits for him to get the hint. Tony doesn’t (or if he does, he doesn’t make a show of it). “I was kind of hoping Thor would be the exception.”

“Yeah, give him time. We don’t know what Wanda showed him.”

“‘Earth’s Mightiest Heroes,'’” he breathes out with a shake of his head as he grabs another log from his pile and swings. “Pulled us apart like cotton candy.” Tony swings and chops another log, lips pressed tight. Steve pauses for a moment before tilting his head in Tony’s direction. “Can Apollo do that?”

Tony stops, too, his blood running cold. “What do you mean?” he asks without looking up. If he looks up and meets Steve’s gaze -- sees the look on his face -- the axe might just go through his skull. He has to intentionally loosen his grip to keep that from happening.

Steve shrugs. “You know…” he trails off. “They’re related, right?” Tony narrows his eyes but still doesn’t look up. “They have similar powers.” Tony nods. “If she was able to erase Bucky’s--”

“That wasn’t her.”

Steve raises an eyebrow. “Who was it then?”

Tony drops the axe as he looks up at Steve. “Howard Stark fucked with your best friend’s brain. Leave my wife’s name out of it.” Steve presses his lips into a fine line. “And, no, she isn’t capable of doing what Wanda can do. Apollo’s priority has always been healing. Whether she’s using her powers or not. Her powers, I’d like to point out, you’ve benefited from.” Steve nods once but doesn’t change his expression. “You think you know us, Rogers, but you don’t. You weren’t there when we were growing up. You have no idea what she’s been through -- what they’ve all been through.” Steve relaxes his stance and hangs his head. Tony does his best not to scowl and curse him out. “Wanda’s a good kid. She would never do any of this if she thought she had a choice. Ultron is using them the same way Stryker was. Cut her some slack.” Steve glances back up, a small lift in his eyebrow. Tony cocks his head. “Seems like you walked away all right.”

“Is that a problem?”

Tony narrows his eyes briefly again as he picks the axe back up. “I don’t trust a guy without a dark side.” He splits a log in half. “Call me old-fashioned.”

“Well, let’s just say you haven’t seen it yet.”

Tony glances around the yard. “You know Ultron is trying to tear us apart, right?”

“Well, I guess you’d know.” Tony lets the axe go slack in his hands as he sets his jaw. “Whether you tell us is a bit of a question.”

“Do you ever shut up?” Steve sets the axe down to place his hands on his hips. Tony rolls his eyes. “Bruce and I were doing research. Which we told you.”

“That would affect the team.”

“That would end the team! Isn’t that the mission? Isn’t that the ‘why’ we fight, so we can end the fight, so we get to go home?” Tony throws his arms up and spins around to gesture to the entire plot of land. “Look around!” He spins back to face Steve. “When was the last time Clint got to go home?!” he shouts, earning the attention of Clint, Cooper, and Bruce from the porch. Clint and Bruce share a look before ushering Cooper inside.

Steve rips apart a log with his bare hands. “Every time someone tries to win a war before it starts, innocent people die. Every time.”

An argument builds up in Tony’s throat, and he’s about to explode when Laura steps up beside him and taps him on the shoulder. Tony completely loses all fight in him as he turns and smiles at her. She smiles rather guiltily back.

“I’m sorry to bother you boys, but…” She glances at Steve before making her smile a tad more sincere. “Tony, uh, Clint said you wouldn’t mind, but our tractor doesn’t seem to want to start at all. I thought you might…”

“Yeah, I’ll give her a kick,” he promises, a bit defeated. Laura nods once before glancing over at Steve again. She offers him a polite smile before retreating inside. Tony tosses over his shoulder, “Don’t take from my pile,” before walking toward the barn.

~***~

Clara sets the table as all the Avengers -- minus Thor -- cram into the Bartons’ kitchen now that lunch is ready. Natasha sits at the table nursing a beer. Laura and Apollo dance seamlessly around each other as they put a few last-minute touches together. Lila comes up to Natasha and hands her a picture she drew earlier in the day. Nat takes it with a fond smile and ruffles her hair. Fury stays on the outskirts but remains a part of the conversation. In a way, he leads it.

“Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time. My contacts all say he’s building something. The amount of Vibranium he made off with, I don’t think it’s just one thing.”

“What about Ultron himself?” Steve asks.

Laura and Apollo place the plates of sandwiches and sides down on the table before giving everyone the go-ahead to start eating.

“Ah. He’s easy to track; he’s everything. Guy’s multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit.” Apollo snorts, which gets Bruce smiling. He adjusts his glasses to hide it. “Still doesn’t help us get an angle on any of his plans, though.”

“He's still going after launch codes?” Tony asks as he grabs two sandwich halves -- one ham, one turkey -- before moving on to the potato salad.

“Yes, he is, but he’s not making any headway.” Fury grabs a sandwich for himself, glad Laura kept a few whole and didn’t cut all of them into triangles.

“I cracked the Pentagon’s firewall in high school on a dare,” Tony says like it’s nothing.

Apollo holds up a finger as she carefully scoops potato salad onto her plate with her other hand. “That wasn’t your dare; it doesn’t count.”

“Whose side are you on?”

“Mine! I dared you to order me a pizza. Peter’s the one who told you to hack into the Pentagon.” Tony rolls his eyes but smiles. “It wasn’t even his turn!” she whines. “I’m still waiting on that pizza,” she states, pointing her finger at him accusingly.

“Is that what you two did for fun?” Steve questions, brow furrowed.

Apollo hums. “Yeah, sorry it wasn’t lying on our enlistment forms.” Clara chokes on her water as she attempts to laugh and swallow at the same time. Apollo glances over in her direction and smirks. Natasha reaches over and pats Clara on the back to help her breathe.

Fury glances around the table before continuing. “Yeah, well, I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that.”

“Nexus?”

“It’s the world internet hub in Oslo,” Bruce supplies before taking a bite of his tuna melt. “Every byte of data flows through there, fastest access on earth.”

“So, what’d they say?” Clint asks, leaning back in his seat.

“He’s fixated on the missiles, but the codes are constantly being changed.”

“By whom?”

“Parties unknown.”

Natasha raises an eyebrow. “Do we have an ally?”

“Ultron’s got an enemy, that’s not the same thing. Still, I’d pay folding money to know who it is.”

“I might need to visit Oslo, find our ‘unknown',” Tony pipes up. Apollo narrows her eyes in his direction. He blows her a kiss and shakes his head.

“Well, this are good times, boss, but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you’d have more than that.”

“I do, I have you.” She smiles faintly, and Fury matches it. “Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere, ears everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream of. Here we all are, back on earth, with nothing but our wit and our will to save the world. Ultron says the Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission. And whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction.” He gestures around. “All this. Lying in a grave.” Clint and Laura turn their attention to their kids as Tony, Bruce, and Apollo turn their attention on each other. All expressions are grim. “So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard.”

“Steve doesn’t like that kind of talk,” Natasha admits numbly.

Steve sighs and hangs his head. “You know what, Romanoff?” She looks over and smirks.

“So what does he want?”

“To become better,” Steve supplies. “Better than us. He keeps building bodies.”

“Person bodies,” Tony states. “The human form is inefficient, biologically speaking, we’re outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it.”

Natasha turns to face Bruce and Tony. “When you two programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed.”

“They don’t need to be protected, they need to evolve,” Bruce corrects. “Ultron’s going to evolve.”

“How?”

The room is silent.

Then, a simultaneous light bulb goes off in Apollo and Bruce’s brains. “Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?”

The Avengers are a blur of bodies as they prepare to leave Clint’s. Clara tosses the keys for the X-Jet to Apollo. Steve slips the shield onto his back once he’s fully dressed in uniform. The Avengers gather on the front lawn of the safehouse. “I’ll take Natasha and Clint,” he informs Tony as he walks up behind him, tapping something into his watch.

“Alright, strictly recon,” he agrees. “I’m gonna drop Bruce and Apollo off at the tower before hitting the Nexus.” Steve nods. “We’ll join you as soon as I can.”

“If Ultron is building a body…”

“He’ll be more powerful than any of us.” He pulls a face and shakes his head. “Most of us,” he corrects. Apollo’s smirking as soon as she steps down from the porch. He knew he sensed something in the back of his mind. He sticks his tongue out at her, but she doesn’t seem to mind. “An android designed by a robot,” he whispers.

“You know, I miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was me.”

“Do you mind if I borrow Miss Hill and Doc Brown?” Fury asks as he steps out onto the porch as well.

Tony shakes his head. “She’s all yours, apparently.”

“What are you gonna do?”

“I don’t know. Something dramatic, I hope.”

Apollo pulls Clara into a hug as Steve, Natasha, and Clint climb aboard the Quinjet before taking off to go save Cho. Apollo lets go of Clara, leading Bruce and Tony to the X-Men jet. Apollo slips into the pilot seat automatically and adjusts everything she needs to. While she’s glad Hank made it self-driving, it sometimes drives itself into the ground. But it seems okay for now. She lets out a breath before taking off in the direction of the mansion.

Time to go save the world.

~***~

U-GIN GENETIC RESEARCH LAB - SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA

“Cellular cohesion will take a few hours,” Doctor Cho says as she connects Ultron to the cradle, “but we can initiate the consciousness stream. We’re uploading your cerebral matrix…now.”

Wanda breaks away from Pietro and steps up to the cradle. Her mind is buzzing, and it’s coming from something in there. “I can read him,” she declares, louder than a whisper but softer than her normal tone. “He is dreaming.”

“I wouldn’t call it dreams.” It’s Ultron’s base consciousness, informational noise. Soon--”

Ultron turns to face Cho. “How soon?” He attempts a lighthearted laugh, but he is still very much a robot. “I’m not being pushy.”

“We’re imprinting a physical brain. There are no shortcuts. Even if your magic gem is…”

Cho’s words cut out as Wanda presses her fingers to the top of the cradle. She closes her eyes and tunes into the dreams of what’s being created in front of her. It’s peaceful, at first, until it ends with the world exploding. She pulls her fingers away as if the cradle is burning her and yelps. Pietro is at her side in an instant and cradles her head. Ultron stands with a grim expression.

“How could you?” she gasps.

“How could I what?”

“You said we would get revenge on everyone who’s wanted mutants dead; make a better world.”

“It will be better.”

“When everyone is dead?”

“That is not--” Ultron pauses and collects himself. He lets out a small sigh before saying, “The human race will have every opportunity to improve.”

“And if they don’t?” Pietro asks, eyes narrow.

Ultron shrugs. “Ask Noah.”

“You’re a madman.”

“There were more than a dozen extinction-level events before even the dinosaurs got theirs. When the Earth starts to settle, God throws a stone at it, and believe me, he’s winding up. We have to evolve. There’s no room for the weak.”

“And who decides who’s weak?” Pietro asks. While Ultron is focused on the cradle and answering Pietro’s question, Wanda wiggles her fingers at her side. Red mist dances along her fingertips as she severs the connection between Cho and the scepter. Cho blinks a few times as she recalibrates.

Ultron chuckles to himself, running a hand over the lid of the cradle. “Life. Life always decides.” The twins share a look. Ultron suddenly stiffens. “There’s incoming. The Quinjet. We have to move.”

“That’s not a problem.” Cho cancels the upload to Ultron’s consciousness.

Ultron rolls his eyes. “Ugh.” While Ultron blasts Cho, Wanda and Pietro run off. “Wait, guys!” He blasts Cho’s technicians as they either try to make a run for it as well or try to attack him first. “They’ll understand. When they see, they’ll understand. I just need a little more time.” He unplugs himself from the cradle.

~***~

Steve pulls himself onto the U-Gin Genetic Research Lab’s roof as the Quinjet hovers just beside it. “Two minutes,” he tells Clint and Natasha over comms. “Stay close.” Clint and Nat mutter the agreements as Steve ducks inside. The lab is abandoned when he gets to the right floor. Everyone either fled or died when Ultron attacked them. “Doctor Cho!” Steve rushes over to help her, grabbing a nearby cloth and pressing it into her wound. Under different circumstances, he thinks Apollo would be proud.

“He’s uploading himself into the body,” Cho wheezes.

“Where?”

Cho shakes her head, her eyes fluttering shut briefly. Steve stands to leave, but Cho grabs his wrist, and he kneels back down. “The real power is inside the cradle. The gem, its power is uncontainable. You can’t just blow it up. You have to get the cradle to Stark.”

“First, I have to find it.”

She nods. “Go.”

Steve stands and presses the comm in his ear. “Did you guys copy that?”

“We did,” Clint informs him, and he flies the Quinjet.

“I got a private jet taking off, across town, no manifest. That could be him,” Natasha continues.

Clint scans the city below and notices a truck heading across a bridge. He nods in that direction, not able to take his hands off the wheel. “There. It’s a truck from the lab. Right above you, Cap. On the loop by the bridge. It’s them; I got three with the cradle, one in the cab. I could take out the driver.”

“Negative!” Steve barks. “If that truck crashes, the gem could level the city. We need to draw out Ultron.” Steve flees the lab and heads over to the loop Clint was talking about. He waits for the truck. Ultron, sensing Steve’s presence, blasts the truck door as Steve tries to enter. Steve clings to it as it swings on its hinges before Ultron blasts it again, and Steve is holding on for dear life because the alternative is roadkill. “Well, he’s definitely unhappy! I’m gonna try and keep him that way.”

“You’re not a match for him, Cap.”

Steve lets out a breath. “Thanks, Barton.” In the Quinjet, Clint and Natasha share a smirk. Inside the truck, Ultron unplugs himself from the cradle and blasts Steve back onto another car as he tries to enter the truck. With some maneuvering from oncoming traffic, Steve manages to get back onto the truck’s roof.

“You know what’s in that cradle?” Ultron asks as he flies up beside Steve, arm outstretched and ready to blast him again. “The power to make real change, and that terrifies you.”

“I wouldn’t call it a comfort.”

Steve throws the shield at Ultron, but he manages to dodge it, flying up as it comes hurtling toward him. He blasts Steve in retaliation. Steve calls his shield back and blocks it. The blast goes firing back at Ultron, but he doesn’t seem to mind. He drops down onto the roof when Steve immediately throws the shield back at him. It hits him in the face this time as he’s caught unaware. Steve throws it again when it comes, and this time the shield digs into Ultron’s shoulder.

“Stop it!” he seethes as he pulls the shield out of his shoulder. He tosses it into the street before firing at Steve again. It hits him and knocks him off the truck.

“We got a window. Four, three…” Clint activates the trapdoor. “Give ‘em hell.”

Natasha drops out of the Quinjet on a bike and rides toward the truck, dodging in and out of traffic. Those quick enough to see her marvel at Black Widow darting past them. On her way, she runs into Steve’s shield. She scoffs as she scoops it up. “I’m always picking up after you boys.”
“They’re heading under the overpass, I’ve got no shot.”

“Which way?”

“Hard right…now!”

Natasha heads over to the truck, cutting down side streets and going through alleyways. Pedestrians jump out of her way when they see her coming. She slides under the truck before throwing Steve back his shield. He uses it to knock Ultron away from him, but that only gives Ultron the advantage to break a chunk of the road off and block Natasha’s way. She pulls the bike onto its hind wheel before changing directions. She cuts up a flight of stairs and more sideroads as she attempts to find the truck again.

“Out of the way, coming through!” she yells at the pedestrians around her. “Sorry, coming through!”

In the process of Natasha finding the truck again, Steve gets knocked off the truck and onto the roof of a car driving behind them. Steve ends up banging his fist against the windshield and causes it to break. Ultron raises the ground underneath the car, which sends the black car Steve is on along with another silver car up behind it tumbling over. Steve, though, gets away scot-free and chases after the truck.

“Clint, can you draw out the guards?”

“Let’s find out.”

“Beep beep!” Natasha shouts to a group of pedestrians as she passes them.

Clint manages to draw out the drones from the truck, and they start attacking the Quinjet. He twirls the jet around to knock them off.

“Heading back toward you. So whatever you’re gonna do, do it now.”

“I’m going in. Cap, can you keep him occupied?”

Steve kicks Ultron into a nearby train and continues their fight there. Ultron blasts him into a corner. Steve lets out a breath as he pushes himself back onto his feet. “What do you think I’ve been doing?”

Natasha leaps into the truck just in time for her bike to get demolished by traffic. The drones circle back to the truck and start breaking it free from the bed. As the police start to swarm the street, the drones lift the truck off and take it with them in the air. Nat falls back but manages to catch herself before getting thrown out.

“The package is airborne,” Clint says. “I have a clean shot.”

“Negative. I am still in the truck.”

“What the hell are you--?”

“Just be ready, I’m sending the package to you.”

“How do you want me to take it?”

Natasha cuts one of the straps securing the cradle. “Uh, you might wish you hadn’t asked that.”

Meanwhile, on the train, Pietro and Wanda have shown up to help Steve fight Ultron. Pietro runs into Ultron out of nowhere and barrels into his chest. Ultron goes flying over his shoulder. When he stands, Wanda uses her telekinesis to bend metal bars in front of Ultron, blocking him off for the time being. He turns to find her, and something almost akin to pleading washes over his face.

“Please. Don’t do this.”

“What choice do we have?”

Ultron breaks free from the metal bars and blasts a hole out of the train before taking off.

“I lost him! He’s headed your way!” Steve jumps over to check the pulse of the conductor. There isn't one, and they’re about to reach the end of the track.

“Nat, we gotta go.”

Clint lines the Quinjet with the opening of the truck. She cuts the last strap holding the cradle in place before jumping on top of it. She rides the cradle the whole way down until they both slide into the Quinjet. Clint glances over his shoulder before he bursts out laughing. Nat picks herself up and dusts herself off, trying her best not to smirk. Clint catches her eye, and he breaks into another round of giggles. She shakes her head as she collapses into the seat beside him.

“Maybe we should take you surfing,” he teases.

She raises an eyebrow. “Oh yeah?” Clint nods. “And who’s we?” He shrugs, but she’s smiling now. Natasha brushes her fingers against the comm in her ear. “Rogers, we have the cradle. Heading to Stark now.”

“Perfect.” The Quinjet takes off in the direction of the tower.

Steve turns to the twins. “Civilians in our path.” Pietro speeds off to go save them. Steve turns to Wanda. “Can you stop this thing?” Wanda lets out a breath before nodding. Together, like they always have, the twins work in tandem. Pietro runs around saving everyone he can while Wanda uses her powers to stop the train. It comes to a screeching halt. The passengers on the train waste no time getting off. “Your aunt would be proud,” Steve tells her as he claps her on the back. She manages a small smile.

Together, they walk off the train and find Pietro, who’s doubled over and attempting to catch his breath. Wanda is instantly at his side. He waves her away. “I’m fine. I just need to take a minute.”

“I’m very tempted not to give you one,” Steve counters. “But you’re family.”

“The cradle, did you get it?” Wanda asks, ignoring him just like she’s always done whenever Erik starts gushing about Captain America. This man was a hero to their grandfather, an enemy to Tony while he was growing up, and nothing more than a bedtime story to Apollo. She’s yet to find a reason not to consider him anything but a martyr.

“Stark, er, your uncle will take care of it.”

Wanda lets out a small laugh and shakes her head. “No, he won’t,” she argues with a smile.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. Stark’s not crazy.”

Wanda raises an eyebrow. “I’ve known Tony my whole life,” she corrects. “He will do anything to make things right.” She looks to Pietro for help. He’s standing up straight but doesn’t respond (though the dopey smile on his face is all she needs). “He always has,” she continues, softer this time. “He’s screwed up before, but nothing to this caliber.” Pietro lets out a laugh. Wanda narrows her eyes. “You trust him not to try again? When it’s his family’s safety on the line?” Steve’s expression drops. Wanda starts laughing now. “Auntie Apollo was right. Sometimes you can’t see past your nose.”

Chapter Text

Apollo, Bruce, Tony, Clint, and Natasha huddle around the cradle now sitting smack-dab in the center of the lab. Tony glances at Apollo every so often, eyes slightly narrowed. All Apollo is doing is standing there in an old zip-up hoodie of Tony's and a pair of sweats that belong to Bruce. But there's something about the chosen bagginess of her clothing that doesn't sit right with him. This is her 'we have nothing to do today and I want to be comfortable' look--missing the messy bun, of course. This isn't her 'I mean serious business' attire that he was expecting her to be wearing. He's seen the stuff Erik's worn while fighting for their cause. Would something so casual be easier to work with when manipulating metal robots?

With a roll of her eyes, Apollo waits until Tony's looking at her again to zip down the hoodie a bit to reveal the bright yellow and black uniform underneath. His eyes widen, and she zips it back up with a small nod. After the bit of shock wears off, Tony nods too and takes a step closer to her. She smiles softly. Bruce glances between them before stepping closer to Apollo, too. She rolls her eyes as she yanks them both closer so she can wrap her arms around their shoulders. Clint and Natasha each shoot them a questioning look, but don't press further when Apollo smirks and shakes her head.

"This is sealed tight," Clint starts slowly, his eyes slightly narrowed. He's not sure what's going on between them, but he's pretty sure he doesn't want to be a part of it.

"We're going to need to access the program," Bruce says. "Break it down from within."

Tony studies the cradle for a moment before glancing back up at Clint and Natasha. "You know, if you don't like when we get all gooey and lovey-dovey with Apollo, you're not gonna like how we act in the lab together." Clint and Natasha share a look before fleeing the lab. Apollo straightens immediately and turns to face Tony. He shakes his head.

Bruce, however, is none the wiser to Tony's ulterior motives. "I can work on tissue degeneration, if you can fry whatever operational system Cho implanted."

"Yeah, about that."

Bruce's expression drops immediately. "No."

Tony holds up his left hand to show off his wedding band. "You have to trust me. In sickness and in health and all that crap."

Bruce glances at Apollo, who's got her eyes narrowed as she studies Tony. When she doesn't give him anything, he lets out a breath and points to Apollo. "I married her." Tony pouts. "I promised her in sickness and in health."

"We all stood up," Apollo mumbles. Bruce's jaw drops. She throws her hands up.
"I'm not defending him!" Bruce raises an eyebrow. "I'm not! I'm just saying that we all did stand up together. We all went through the 'I do's." Bruce runs his hands through his hair. "And if all three of us are going to continue to work. . ." She shrugs slightly. "We can't be quick to point out who married whom."

"This is insane. Why did I agree to be with both of you? You are both crazy."

"Are we?" Bruce huffs and slides a hand down his face. Apollo bites the inside of her cheek. "Our ally? The guy protecting the military's nuclear codes? I found him." He brings up the 3D image of Jarvis's consciousness. Apollo gasps as Bruce's jaw drops.

"Hello, Doctor and Doctor Stark-Banner," Jarvis greets. Apollo reaches out and brushes her fingers along the orange coding. It ripples in what almost feels like a laugh. "I've missed you too."

"Ultron didn't go after Jarvis cause he was angry," Tony continues. "He attacked him because he was scared of what he could do. So Jarvis went underground. Okay? Scattered, dumped his memory. But not his protocols. He didn't even know he was in there, until I pieced him together."

Bruce slides another hand down his face before propping both of them on his hips. "So, you want me to help you put Jarvis into this thing?"

"No, of course not!" Bruce lets out a sigh of relief. "I want to help you put Jarvis in this thing." Bruce shakes his head as Apollo bites back a laugh. Tony smiles pleadingly. "We're out of my field here. You know bio-organics better than anyone."

"And you just assume that Jarvis' operational matrix can beat Ultron's?"

"Jarvis has been beating him from inside without knowing it. This is the opportunity: we can create Ultron's perfect self, without the homicidal glitches he thinks are his winning personality. We have to."

"I believe it's worth a go."

"No, I'm in a loop! I'm caught in a time loop, this is exactly where it all went wrong."

"I think you should do it," Apollo whispers.

Bruce whips around to face her, eyes wide. "Are you crazy?!"

"Yes," she agrees without missing a beat, "but that’s beside the point." Bruce lets out a breath. "Look, nobody knows Jarvis more than Tony and I do. If he was capable of avoiding Ultron the first time. . ." She shrugs. "Why shouldn’t he be the second time?" Bruce stares at her in utter disbelief. She smiles shyly. "I can’t believe I’m saying this, but honey, you and Tony need to have another baby."

Bruce glances between both of them with a small shake of his head. Apollo takes Bruce by the shoulders and walks him around to face the front of the cradle, where the android's head is. "Don't think of it as creating a second Ultron. Think of it as giving Jarvis a body."

It takes Bruce a long time to eventually agree.

He nods and turns to face them. "Let's get to work then." Apollo and Tony share a smile before doing whatever Bruce tells them to.

~***~

Tony and Apollo type away at a computer for the most part while Bruce rewires the entire thing. "This framework is not compatible," Tony announces.

"The genetic coding tower's at ninety-seven percent," Bruce says, more or less ignoring Tony. "You have got to upload that schematic in the next three minutes."

Bruce continues fiddling around with the cradle. All three of them are too engrossed in their work to notice Steve, Pietro, and Wanda step into the lab.

"I'm gonna say this once," Steve states in his stern Captain America voice.

Something Steve came up with back in the forties, when everyone was still questioning his authority. Well, his authority is pretty set in stone here, and that tone of voice isn't going to fly with Apollo. She's never liked that tone. She's never liked anyone who thinks they have to change their voice to get what they want. Her parents spoke the same regardless of whether Charles was asking Apollo to eat her vegetables or if Erik was protesting for equal rights. Anyone who has to change the sound of their voice is just putting on an act. She's heard Howard Stark put on an act too many times for it to leave a pleasant taste in her mouth.

"How about 'nonce'?" Apollo counters as she glances up from her work. Her eyes are narrowed, and there's a small purse to her lips. She glances at Pietro and
Wanda, but doesn't ease up her expression. Wanda's small smirk, though, tells her that Wanda heard her through their open family link.

"Shut it down!" Steve barks.

Apollo tilts her head. "Under what authority?" Steve's attention darts over to her. She raises an eyebrow. For a moment, Steve seems to flounder around for an answer. "Who are you, Rogers, to come barging in here--into the lab inside the tower literally with my husband's name on it--and try telling us what to do?" Steve's eyes narrow.

"You don't know what you're doing."

"And you do?" Bruce asks. Apollo smirks as she leans on her arms to watch the encounter between her husband and Rogers. "She's not in your head?"

"I know you're angry--" Wanda starts.

"Oh, we're way past that. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade."

Apollo chokes on air for a second before straightening and looking towards Tony.

"Considering he’s threatening my niece, I shouldn’t be this turned on," she whispers.

Tony shakes his head lightly. "You’re not the only one."

"Banner, after everything that's happened--"

"That's nothing compared to what's coming!" Tony argues.

"You don't know what's in there!" Wanda shouts.

"This isn't a game--"

"The creature--"

Pietro glances around the room before rolling his eyes. He zips around the room and destroys the lab equipment. All eyes land on him when he stops. "No, no. Go on. You were saying?"

"You're grounded," flies out of Apollo's mouth before she can stop herself. Pietro raises an eyebrow. She looks up from the cradle to meet him. "Don't think you're too old to be grounded." He frowns. "You too, missy!" She glares at Wanda, who shrinks in on herself. "Look, I'm happy to see you--glad you're home safe--but what the hell were you thinking?!"

"We just wanted to--"

"No, no. I'm speaking." Wanda and Pietro drop their gaze. "Stryker used you, I know that, and I'm sorry. But that does not mean you go running off with the first person you meet, claiming to want equal rights. You could have been killed. As soon as you were free--hell, while we were at the Hydra base--you should've come to us. What happened to we always stick together?" Wanda and Pietro glance at each other before mumbling something under their breath. Apollo does the same before shaking her head. "You're safe as long as you're with one of us. Safety in numbers, remember?"

"I'm rerouting the upload." Tony turns around to salvage their work, but Steve throws the Shield and knocks it into a few of the computers. A gauntlet is immediately flying into Tony's hand as he aims it at Steve and blasts. Steve gets thrown across the room.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Apollo shouts, but it's directed at Steve and not Tony.

Wanda steps up to the cradle, a ball of red already forming in her hands. Bruce sneaks up from behind her and grabs her, pulling her away from the cradle. "Go ahead, piss me off," he whispers in her ear.

Steve climbs to his feet and starts attacking Tony again, but Tony activates his repulsors before Steve can connect his fist. The blast sends both him and Tony flying backwards, shattering glass. Wanda sends her ball of red energy through her, so it hits Bruce and knocks him back. She spins on her heels to send another blast at him. He goes tumbling back. Apollo holds her hands out. The taste of metal washes over her tongue as she grabs hold of Tony's armor from one side of the room and Steve's Shield from the other. She keeps them planted in place. She's about to close her eyes to do roughly the same telepathically with Wanda and Bruce when Thor comes barreling into the room. He jumps up onto the cradle and begins summoning lightning.

"Wait!" Bruce and Apollo shout.

But it's too late. Thor brings the crackling hammer down onto the cradle.

Everyone watches in horror as the systems start to overload. The cradle bursts open a second after Thor removes his hammer, sending him catapulting backwards. The android body gracefully jumps up and settles on top of the cradle. Nobody moves. They all stare, transfixed, at the naked android.

The android slowly starts to stand and takes in the room. Upon seeing Thor, he launches himself at the god, but Thor grabs him and throws him into one of the windows in the far back of the room. The android manages to catch himself right before smashing the glass. He looks out at the city around them and catches a glimpse of himself in the window. It's all eerily familiar and yet different at the same time. He's never been in the tower like this. Never in the city by himself. He can do it all now, he supposes.

As he turns away from the window, he materializes clothes onto his body.

Everyone slowly descends from the lab to get a closer look at him. Thor even sets the hammer down, not to pose as a threat anymore.

"I'm sorry, that was. . . odd," he apologizes, sounding just like Jarvis. Tony and Apollo share a look as Apollo's hands fly to cover her heart. Their baby is all grown up. But he's also not exactly their baby either. The android nods at Thor.

"Thank you." Thor nods back. The android materializes a cape to mimic Thor's.

"Thor, you helped create this?" Steve asks.

"You're more than welcome to join us at Thanksgiving now," Apollo teases.

"You're more or less part of the family." Tony snickers at her side. She smiles, glad someone found it funny.

"I've had a vision," Thor explains. "A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life, and at its center is that." He points to the gem inside Vision's head.

"What, the gem?" Bruce asks.

"It's the Mind Stone. It's one of the six Infinity Stones, the greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities."

"Then why would you bring it to--"

"Because Stark is right."

"Oh, it's definitely the end times," Bruce teases. Tony glares at him, but Bruce blows a kiss and Tony relaxes.

"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron."

Tony opens his mouth, but Apollo holds up a finger. Before she has the chance to correct him herself, the android responds with, "Not alone." They share a nod.

"Why does your 'vision' sound like Jarvis?"

Apollo shrugs. "Because it is?"

"We. . . reconfigured Jarvis' matrix to create something new."

"I think I've had my fill of new."

Apollo scoffs. "Your old-fashioned is showing." Steve glares at her.

"You think I'm a child of Ultron?" the android--Vision--asks.

"You're not?"

"No, he's our kid," Apollo corrects, gesturing to herself, Tony, and Bruce. "We made him. Thor helped bring him to life." She turns her attention to him. "Thanks for that, by the way." He nods and smiles. "Peter will be thrilled that he has an android as a brother."

Tony scrunches his nose. "Maybe let's not go adding him to the family tree just yet?"

"I'm not Ultron," Vision assures. "I'm not Jarvis." Apollo and Tony frown. "I am. . . I am."

"I looked in your head and saw annihilation," Wanda argues.

"Look again."

Clint chuckles as he steps back into the room with Natasha at his side. "Yeah. Her seal of approval means jack to me."

"The horrors in our heads, Ultron himself, they all came from the Mind Stone, and they're nothing compared to what it can unleash. But with it on our side. . ."

"Is it?" Steve blurts. He looks to Vision. "Are you?" There's a tense moment of silence. "On our side?"

"I don't think it's that simple."

"Well, it better get real simple real soon," Natasha quips.

"I am on the side of life. Ultron isn't; he will end it all."

"What's he waiting for?" Tony asks.

"You."

"Where?"

"Sokovia," Apollo breathes, glancing at Vision for agreement or disapproval. "That's where the Hydra base was. Where we got the scepter in the first place."

"If we're wrong about you," Bruce starts, taking a step closer to him, "if you're the monster that Ultron made you to be. . ."

"What will you do?" The room is deadly quiet. Apollo tilts her head as she flexes her hand at her side. She pushes past the taste of metal as she rolls her hand into a fist. Vision shrinks in on himself, clutching at his chest. "Point taken," he wheezes. Apollo relaxes her hand and shifts closer to Tony, who squeezes her other hand. Vision looks around at them all before stating, "I don't want to kill Ultron. He's unique, and he's in pain. But that pain will roll over the earth, so he must be destroyed. Every form he's built, every trace of his presence on the net, we have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others." He meets Apollo's gaze and smiles faintly. She smiles back. A mutual understanding: he might not be Jarvis, but he's got enough of Jarvis in him to know not to underestimate Apollo. "Maybe I am a monster." He inspects his hands. "I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are, and not what you intended. So there may be no way to make you trust me. But we need to go." He holds up Thor's hammer and offers it to him as everyone stares in shock. When Thor takes it, Vision walks off.

Thor is the first to pull himself out of his shocked state. He taps the hammer against his palm. "Right." He pats Tony on the shoulder. "Well done."

Steve turns to the rest of them. "Three minutes. Get what you need." They all nod and break off.

Chapter Text

Once they've suited up, Tony and Steve discuss their next steps. Apollo rounds the corner to join them as she pulls her hair into a ponytail. She's ditched the hoodie and sweatpants. Now the bright yellow uniform is on full display with a black X settled right over her heart. Bruce follows behind her with her metal helmet in his hands. He's got on one of his pairs of stretchy pants in preparation for Code Green. Tony and Steve turn to spot them when they hear Apollo's boots click against the floor. Steve straightens, his expression unreadable, while Tony's jaw drops and his heart races.

"Apollo..." he coos, but can't seem to find the right words to describe her.

She hums, an eyebrow arching. She drops her hands from her hair before taking the helmet and propping it up on her hip. "Oh, this?" She tilts from side to side to show off the whole outfit. Bruce watches with a warm smile as she bites her lip. "Yeah, it's a bit snug around the hips. I guess I didn't lose all of Lorna's baby weight."

Tony shakes his head. "You're marvelous," he breathes. Pink dusts her cheeks as she smiles.
Steve nods in agreement. "Glad to finally have you on the team."

"Oh, I'm still not an Avenger." Steve raises an eyebrow. She gestures to the uniform. "Not wearing this."

"What are you then?"

"An X-Men," Wanda declares as she and Pietro, wearing whatever loose articles of clothing they could find, walk in. Apollo turns to face them, her smile growing. They share a look before Wanda smiles too. "You look like Grandad," she teases.

Apollo snorts. "Well, let's hope I sound like him too." Pietro chuckles at her side. "Otherwise, I'm gonna have a lot of explaining to do." Wanda tries to suppress her laugh, but she doesn't succeed very well. Apollo winks before placing her helmet on. She turns to Tony. "What's the game plan?"

He takes a deep breath. "If even one tin soldier is left standing, we've lost," he states. She nods. "It's gonna be blood on the floor."

"I got no plans tomorrow night," Steve quips with a soft smile.

"I get first crack at the big guy. Iron Man's the one he's waiting for."

"That's true," Vision agrees as he walks past. "He hates you the most." They all turn to watch as he continues walking past them. He does stop for a moment, sensing everyone's gaze. He turns around and finds Apollo. Smiling in approval, he gives her a curt nod before continuing on his way. She stands a bit straighter.

Clint and Natasha join up with them before they're all crowding into the Quinjet. Steve stands towards the front so everyone can see him as he gives his 'team captain' speech.

"Ultron knows we're coming. Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire, and that's what we signed up for. But the people of Sokovia, they didn't. So our priority is getting them out. All they want is to live their lives in peace, and that's not going to happen today. But we do our best to protect them. And we can get the job done, and find out what Ultron's been building. We clear the field. Keep the fight between us . Ultron thinks we're monsters and we're what's wrong with the world. This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right." Tony and Apollo share a look.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" he whispers in her ear as he yanks her arm. She falls into his chest, and he wraps his other arm around her.

She nods. "No more secrets." He searches her eyes for any trace of fear or regret. When he finds none, he nods. "No more hiding." She lets out a breath. "I am what I am and I can't change that."

He presses a kiss to her temple. "But it's about time I stop living in fear."

They take off for Sokovia.

~***~

When they land, Pietro takes off towards the police stations and informs them of what's going on. It takes him more than one try to get them to move, but eventually they start gathering people up and fleeing. Wanda, with a little help from Apollo, stands in the center of town and mind controls anyone she can get her powers on. They all flee. Clint and Natasha get into a higher position to scope out the terrain below, watching as the civilians leave their homes. Steve directs traffic as it builds up on the bridge. Bruce and Apollo wait by the Quinjet until they're absolutely needed. Tony flies around, scanning the city, alongside Thor.

Your man's in the church, boss," Friday informs him. "I think he's waiting for you."

Tony makes a beeline for the church in question. He lands with a loud echo.

"Come to confess your sins?" Ultron asks.

"I don't know, how much time you got?"

"More than you."

Tony turns around to find Ultron approaching him from behind. "Uhhh. Have you been juicing? A little vibranium cocktail? You're looking, I don't wanna say, puffy. . ."

"You're stalling to protect the people."

"Well, that is the mission. Did you forget?"

"I've moved beyond your mission. I'm free." The vibranium core he's placed beneath the floor erupts. "What, you think you're the only one stalling?"

" There's the rest of the vibranium. Function: still unclear."

"This is how you end, Tony. This is peace in my time."

Ultron's army of robots starts attacking the city as everyone is evacuating. Tony takes off to go fight them. Bruce and Apollo share a look in the Quinjet before she kisses him goodbye. He watches, an ache in his chest, as she takes off. This isn't Code Green yet, but the Avengers need her. She runs a few feet before taking off with the metal on her boots. Bruce smiles faintly as she becomes smaller and smaller the further away she gets. She lands on the bridge alongside Steve and starts tearing the robots apart with her powers. A few civilians look on with horror before running away from the bridge entirely. 

"Go!" Steve shouts at the civilians as all hell breaks loose.

Natasha and Clint start firing at whatever robots they can find. Wanda weaves through the crowd, telling them to get off the bridge. She throws up force fields when the robots start attacking and protects whoever she can. They listen to her, then start running towards safety. Where Steve is directing them to go.

In Tony's absence, Vision finds Ultron and descends from above the church. "Ultron," he greets.
Ultron looks up before meeting him halfway. "My Vision. They really did take everything from me."

"You set the terms, you can change them."

"Alright."

He lunges at Vision, but Vision lunges right back. With help from the Mind Stone, Vision starts disconnecting Ultron from the internet. It takes him a second to realize what's going on before Ultron starts fighting back. He spins him around and slams him into one of the walls of the crumbling church. Vision pushes off him and continues the fight.

Back on the bridge, Steve does his best to attack whatever robots Apollo doesn't get to. He rips away at the wires inside. Apollo finishes the job. Believe it or not, they work in a perfect tandem. Thor destroys whatever robots he comes across underground. Pietro runs straight through a line of them.

"Friday! The Vision?"

"Boss, it's working. He's burning Ultron out of the net; he won't escape through there." Tony smiles.

Ultron lets Vision go to clutch at his head when Vision successfully disconnects him from the internet. Vision falls backwards. "You shut me out!" he bellows before punching Vision in the stomach. "You think I care?" He flies him into the ground. "You take away my world, I take away yours." He activates the vibranium core, and the earth around Sokovia starts to crack. Everyone looks around in horror as great wide caverns start forming in the ground.

"Friday?"

"Sokovia's going for a ride."

Sokovia's lifting in the air.

"Do you see?" Ultron asks, his voice echoing across all his robots. "The beauty of it, the inevitability. You rise, only to fall. You, Avengers, you are my meteor, my swift and terrible sword, and the earth will crack with the weight of your failure." Tony flies up and around to inspect the damage from a different angle. "Purge me from your computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world will be metal."

Apollo tilts her head as she destroys a group of robots, her eyes flashing yellow for a split second. "He's going to regret saying that," she comments over the comms. She can just make out Tony's breathy laugh. "Tony?"

"I'm looking."

"The vibranium core has got a magnetic field, that's what's keeping the rock together."

"If it drops?"

"Right now, the impact would kill thousands." Tony lets out a breath. "Once it gets high enough: Global extinction."

"But if someone were to--"

"If someone could hold it in place, it would buy you some time."

Tony nods once as he plays around with something on his screens. "Honey, consider this an early Mother's Day gift." Apollo doesn't have any time to question him before a pair of Iron Man boots come flying towards her and lock around her ankles. She lets out a breath and shakes her head before taking off to join Tony in the air. "You think you can fight this thing?"

She turns around to assess the damage. "I can try," she promises.

"That's all I need." He flies over to her, lifts the faceplate, kisses her, and then flies off.

Apollo lets out a breath before summoning all the strength she can find into holding the vibranium core in place. It mainly consists of holding her arms out in front of her and looking tense. Like she's seen Erik do countless times. "That's my girl." She rolls her eyes. He flies back into the city, right past a building as it starts to collapse.

"That building's not clear, the tenth floor."

He flies in to find a family still in their apartment. A mom, a dad, and a little boy. His heart drops. "Hi. Okay. Get in the tub!" They do as he says, and he flies them away in the tub just as the entire building crumbles.

"I got airborne, heading up to the bridge."

"Cap, you got incoming."

But by the time Tony tells him, a robot has already blown straight into Steve's stomach, knocking him off his feet and into a car's windshield. "Incoming already came in," he grumbles as he struggles to sit up. "Stark, Xavier, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed...walk it off."

"Baby, now might be the time for a Code Green," Apollo coos.

"I have a feeling he's already a step ahead of us," Tony teases. A second later, Hulk comes crashing into the scene. Tony bites back his 'I told you so'. He'll save it for a later time. Preferably when she's not holding the city up.

Clint gets Wanda out of the way and into a building as Ultron's robots overwhelm them.

"How could I let this happen?" she mumbles.

Clint rests a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, hey, you okay?"

"This is all our fault."

"Hey, look at me. It's your fault, it's everyone's fault, who cares? Are you up for this?" She nods hesitantly. "Are you?" She doesn't react. "Look, I just need to know, cause the city is flying. Okay, look, the city is flying, we're fighting an army of robots, and I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes sense." A robot attempts to attack, and Wanda shrieks. Clint jumps up and shoots at it before crouching back down beside Wanda. "But I'm going back out there because it's my job. Okay? And I can't do my job and babysit. It doesn't matter what you did or what you were. If you go out there, you fight, and you fight to kill. Stay in here, you're good, I'll send your brother to come find you, but if you step out that door, you are an Avenger." Wanda just looks at him. "Alright, good chat." He gets up and gets ready to leave. "Yeah, the city is flying," he mutters to himself. "I really need to retire." He equips three arrows at once before slamming the doors open. He leaves and starts shooting at the robots. Wanda watches him go, conflicted.

Back on the bridge, Thor helps Steve save as many cars going down as possible. One woman's car completely falls over, and Thor shoots down to save her. Instead of grabbing the car, he locks eyes with her as he grabs onto her arm. She nods. He throws her up and over back onto the bridge. Steve catches her and pulls them onto solid ground. A robot touches down a few inches away from where they're standing.

"You can't save them all. You'll never--" He throws the attacking robots off the edge of the bridge by throwing his Shield, lodging it in his chest, and calling the Shield back to him.

"You'll never what? You didn't finish!" Thor lands on the bridge on the top of another car he was saving. Steve joins up with him. "What, were you napping?" Thor chuckles at his side.

They continue taking down as many robots as physically possible. Ultron flies around before spotting Steve, Thor, and Natasha in a playground. He zeroes in on Thor and flies down.

"Thor!" He scoops Thor up and starts taking off. "You're bothering me."

As Clint is fighting off the robots, Wanda dramatically comes out of the building and starts to use her powers on the robots to destroy them. Clint helps where he can. They share a nod once all the robots are dead.

"Alright, we're all clear here."

"We are not clear!" Steve argues as he slams his Shield into a robot. "We are very not clear!"

"Alright, coming to you." Pietro comes running in out of nowhere, picks up Wanda, and leaves.

Clint spins around from the force of Pietro running past him before frowning.

"Keep up, old man!" Pietro taunts over his shoulder.

Clint aims an arrow at Pietro. "Nobody would know. Nobody." He starts jogging towards the action. "The last I saw him, an Ultron was sitting on him. Uh...yeah, he'll be missed, that quick little bastard. I miss him already." He shakes his head and continues towards the fight.

Ultron drops Thor off above the church. Literally drops. Thor crashes through the roof and goes tumbling to the ground. Ultron touches down a lot calmer and continues the fight, using pieces of the church as weapons.

Pietro and Wanda join the fight in the playground. Steve comes running towards Natasha, who's using her batons to electrocute the robots. He tosses his Shield her way, which lodges itself in a robot. She picks it up and Shields herself from an oncoming attack before she's able to use her batons. She tosses the Shield back to Steve, who slams down onto a robot with it.
Tony's back to flying around the city.

"The anti-gravs are rigged to flip. Touch 'em, they'll go full reverse thrust. The city's not coming down slow."

"The spire's vibranium. If I get Thor to hit it. . ."

"It'll crack, but that's not enough; the impact would still be devastating."

"Maybe if we cap the other end, keep the atomic action doubling back."

"That could vaporize the city, and everyone on it."

"I know it's not ideal," Apollo starts as Tony wraps back around to check up on her, "but if you get everyone to safety. . ." He raises an eyebrow. "I can--" She mimes lifting the city with one of her hands. The city does actually start to lift, and Apollo quickly corrects it before stabilizing the city again. Tony's jaw sets. "Kaboom."

"No."

"Get everyone to safety first."

"The entire city--"

"Get everyone to safety first," she repeats. Tony searches her expression before nodding. "I can...." She lets out a breath. "I don't know," she whispers. "Get it to blow up on itself?" Tony lets out a breath. "I don't know. But it's our safest bet."

"Our safest bet still ends up with a destroyed city."
Apollo shrugs. "Sometimes that happens, Tony. Sometimes you can't save everything." He starts to sink. "Get everyone to safety," she orders. "They at least deserve that." He nods before taking off.

"The next wave's gonna hit any minute," Steve declares over comms. "What have you got, Stark?"

"Well, nothing great. Maybe a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the surface. Get as many people as you can to safety."

"I asked for a solution, not an escape plan."

"There is no solution," Apollo cuts in, voice straining a bit. "No solution that doesn't end in destruction." Steve presses his lips together.

"How do you expect us to get them to safety?" Natasha asks. "Not all of us can fly."
Apollo lets out a breathy laugh. "What, your ride isn't here yet?"
Natasha cocks her head. She's just about to question Apollo when the Helicarrier shows up, settling into the empty spot where the rest of the bridge should be. Natasha's jaw drops.

"Thank you for that amazing lead in, Doctor Stark-Banner," Fury quips. "I'm assuming Doc Brown told you?" Fury glances at Clara, who's standing beside him. She simply smiles and shrugs. Fury rolls his eyes but smirks. "Nice, right? I pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do."

"Fury, you son of a bitch."

"Stevie!" Clara chastises. "You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

Steve hangs his head, shoulders sagging. "Not you too, Clara."

"Altitude is eighteen thousand and climbing," Hill announces.

"Lifeboats secure to deploy. Disengage in three, two. . . take 'em out," one of the agents says from behind her. The lifeboats separate from the Helicarrier a second later.

Pietro comes up behind them and marvels at the ship. "This is Shield?"

Steve nods. "This is what Shield's supposed to be."

Pietro lets out a breath. "This is not so bad."

"Let's load 'em up."

Ultron's robots take interest in the Helicarrier too and start heading towards it.

"Sir, we have multiple bogies converging on our starboard flank," Hill declares.

"Show 'em what we got."

She presses the comm in her ear. "You're up."

Rhodey shows up in his War Machine suit and blasts one of the robots. "Yes!" he cheers. "Now this is gonna be a good story."

Tony flies up beside him. "Yep. If you live to tell it."

"You think I can't hold my own?"

"We get through this, I'll hold your own."

"You had to make it weird."

Apollo laughs. "He always makes it weird." Rhodey laughs as he and Tony continue destroying the robots while the Avengers on the ground start loading up the lifeboats.

Meanwhile, back in the church, Ultron is still attacking Thor. "You think you're saving anyone?" He punches Thor in the face before choking him. "I turn that key and drop this rock a little early, and it's still billions dead. Even your little mutant can't stop that."

"I am Thor, son of Odin, and as long as there is life in my breast, I am. . . running out of things to say!" He glances over Ultron's shoulder. "Are you ready?" Ultron straightens, but he's too late. Vision pops up out of nowhere and uses Thor's hammer to hit Ultron. He goes crashing through a wall and into a bus. Vision then throws the hammer back to Thor.

"It's terribly well balanced."

"Well, if there's too much weight, you lose power on the swing, so." He mock-swings the hammer as a demonstration. Vision just stares at him.

"I got it, babe!" Tony cheers as he continues attacking robots in the air. Apollo hums. "Create a heat seal. I can--" He dodges an attack. "I can supercharge the spire from below."

"Running numbers." Tony fights off the robots from the Helicarrier's lifeboats in the meantime.

"A heat seal could work with enough power."

"Thor, Apollo, I got a plan!"

"We're out of time. They're coming for the core," Thor says.

"Rhodey, get the rest of the people on board that carrier."
Rhodey nods in the suit. "On it."

"Avengers, time to work for a living." He blasts off and joins everyone in the church. They surround the core in a semicircle.

"What's the drill?" Natasha asks as she rolls into the church before electrocuting a robot that had been following her.

Tony points to the Vibranium core. "This is the drill. If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose."

Hulk comes barreling in, smashing a few robots in the process.

Ultron shows up, all alone.

Thor throws his arms up and yells, "Is that the best you can do?"
Ultron, taking this as the challenge it is, raises his hand and summons his army of robots to join him. They all leave wherever they are in the city to come join him at the church.

"You had to ask," Steve groans, shooting Thor a glare.

Ultron spreads his arms wide. " This is the best I can do. This is exactly what I wanted. All of you, against all of me. How could you possibly hope to stop me?"

Tony opens his mouth to shoot back a response, but instead, he yelps and jumps out of the way of a repulsor beam. Pietro, who was standing beside him, jumped to the other side. When they stop seeing their life flash before their eyes, they find Ultron split perfectly in half with a trail of dead robots surrounding him. The Avengers glance around to find the source of the destruction. Apollo gingerly touches down in front of them. Tony's jaw drops, and Hulk starts purring as they take in the sight of Apollo wearing more pieces of the Iron Man armor and missing her helmet.

Her ponytail has come undone between the helmet and the flying, so her hair is covering parts of her face. She smirks and wiggles her fingers as she steps closer to the semicircle.

"I'm sorry, honey, did I step on your moment?" she teases. Natasha smirks.

Tony continues to stare at her, mouth wide open.

Clint shoves his shoulder. "Say something, dude, you're starting to look pathetic." Natasha and Pietro laugh beside him.

Tony shakes his head and closes his mouth. "Whoa," he breathes.

"Is that a good whoa or a bad whoa?" Apollo asks as she tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Just. . . Whoa ."

She giggles. "Yeah, well, I told you he was going to regret saying that, so..." she trails off with a small smile. She glances over her shoulder at the pile of robotic bodies lying about. "I'm beginning to see why you enjoy the suits so much." She closes her hands over the repulsors in her palms.

Tony chuckles. "You're not going to be allowed to take those off when we get home."

She raises an eyebrow but smirks. "Oh, yeah?"

He yanks her close. "Yeah," he purrs in her ear. "If there was a way for you to keep the suit on too. . ." She giggles and shakes her head. Tony goes to kiss her, but stops when the realization suddenly hits him. "If you're down here. . ." Her eyebrow raises higher. "Who's up there making sure we don't float off into space?"

She tilts her head to the side. "What? Fury is the only one who can call in reinforcements?" Tony's eyes narrow. "What is it that your father always said? Don't take a knife to a gun fight?" Tony nods. "Well," she lets out a breathy laugh, "don't take the daughter of Magneto to a robot fight, I suppose." Tony's eyes widen as Wanda and Pietro start smiling. Apollo winks.

"You sly dog," he teases.

She shrugs. "What can I say? I know how to play my cards." She leans in and kisses him softly before stepping away so she can address the team as a whole. "Is everyone on a lifeboat?"

"I'll sweep for stragglers," Pietro declares before running off. Apollo nods.

"That means you, too," she tells Steve. "I'm not risking the lives of the Avengers." She glances around at the team. "Vati and I can take the city skyward and destroy the core if that's what we need to do." She turns towards Pietro and Wanda. "A lot of people are going to lose their homes."

They step closer together, curling into each other's side. They nod nonetheless. They've always had a home at the mansion. Tony interlocks his and Apollo's fingers and squeezes her hand. "Or you can do the heat seal," she whispers. "Whatever it takes." They all nod. "Go!" They break apart. Everyone who can fly stays in the church while everyone else runs after a lifeboat. Apollo turns to Tony and grabs his other hand in hers, squeezing tightly. "I think the safest bet is Vati and me." He nods. Thor instantly takes off to go help whoever hasn't found a lifeboat yet. She squeezes tighter. "We'll take it over the water so nothing comes down as a meteor shower. He nods. "There's a chance--"

"No." Her eyes soften. "No," he whispers. "I won't let it come to that."

She leans down and kisses him. She pulls her hands away so she can cup the back of his head, keeping him pressed against her. He wraps his arms tightly around her waist and holds her as close to his chest as possible. It's more than just a goodbye kiss. It's an 'I might not come out of this alive' kiss, and that scares them both.

Eventually, Apollo pulls away but keeps her forehead pressed against his. "Stay safe," she whispers.

A tear slides down his cheek. "I should be telling you that."

She manages a smile, but it doesn't meet her eyes. "Try and explain to Hulk?" He nods. "Comfort Bruce." He nods again. "Tell Peter and Lorna I love them."

"Every day," he whispers. She kisses him again before flying off. Tony watches her go before flying towards a lifeboat.

Apollo waits for the all clear from Steve before she flies up to Erik and nods. Together, they pull Sokovia up as far into the air as they can get it and position it over the water. Erik glances at her and raises an eyebrow. She nods. Erik takes a step back and allows her complete control of the core. She takes a magnetic hold of it before ripping it apart.

The city explodes.

Erik and Apollo go flying towards the water.

Chapter Text

MAY 2015

Heavy footsteps echo throughout the mostly empty entrance hall of the X-Mansion. The footsteps turn into scuffling as they move into the living room. A group of footsteps breaks away and heads straight up the stairs while the remaining group stays downstairs and communes with whoever was waiting for them. With a soft groan, someone reaches out and opens the door to the nursery where Lorna is still fast asleep. They glance up and stare out the window. The first rays of sunshine are beginning to peek out through the blinds.

Apollo smiles as she leans down and strokes the back of her index finger against Lorna's cheek. Lorna scrunches her face in her sleep and kicks her little legs. Apollo bites back her laugh as she pulls away, pressing a kiss to her fingertips before pressing her fingertips to her forehead. Bruce does the same, followed by Tony, before they all turn around and exit the nursery before she wakes up. Hopefully, they can get a few hours of sleep in themselves before she wakes. Before Tony fully steps away, he overhears her light gurgles as she begins to smile in her sleep. Tony can't help but smile back as he kisses her a second time.

Together, they shuffle towards their bedroom.

Apollo collapses onto the bed, not bothering to change out of her suit just yet, with a long groan. She immediately covers her face with her hands. Tony chuckles as he begins to strip down right where he stands. He needs to get out of his dirty and bloodstained clothes immediately. Bruce, at least, has the decency to take his change of clothes and flee to the bathroom. He'd like to take a shower, get all the dirt and grime of the past few days off him, let the water attempt to wash away everything that's happened.

“Can you bring him back?” Apollo whispers, pulling her hands away from her face. She tilts herself so she can spot Tony. He raises an eyebrow over his shoulder as he tugs on a pair of lounge pants (that he's pretty sure are Bruce's and not his). “Jarvis,” she elaborates. Tony stiffens for a moment before letting out a breath as he tugs on an old band t-shirt. He climbs into bed beside Apollo, who instantly rolls onto her side to face him. He runs his fingers through her hair. It's not as soft as it can be--all things considered--but that's not going to stop him.

It was a real hit or miss back in Sokovia. Tony and Thor were waiting there by the water, expecting them when they fell, but it still took Apollo a while to come to. When Erik had sat up and blinked away the dizziness and Apollo hadn't, Tony had thought. . . Doesn't matter what he thought. She's lying in front of him, on their bed, within arm's reach so he can run his fingers through her curls like he's done every since they were teenagers. She blinks up at him. Her blue eyes are calm, and an overwhelming sense of calm crashes over him. She purses her lips as she leans herself up on her forearm, brows furrowed. God, she looks adorable when she's confused. Makes him want to kiss the crease in her brow away.

“Can you bring him back?” she repeats, snapping Tony out of his daze.

She lets out a soft breath before adjusting her position on the bed. When she's lying the way she wants to, she pulls Tony close, pressing his ear over her heart. He melts into her. They both close their eyes as they take the moment in. Neither one has said anything to Bruce yet about the probability of her not making it back. They don't need to stress him out when she's standing in front of him perfectly fine. It'll be their little secret.

Tony frowns after a long time of just listening to her heartbeat. He looks up at her, digging his chin into her chest. She peers down, an eyebrow arching. He shakes his head and lets out a breath. That’s all the answer she needs. She sighs and nods.

“Because of Vision?” He nods. “And you can’t. . .” She lets out a breath, blowing at a strand of hair. “I suppose now whatever you do will be borderline homicide.” Tony nods. “So, no,” she agrees. “You can’t do anything.” They both sigh.

“Is it weird to miss him?” Tony asks softly. “I mean, it’s not like he was alive.”

“But he was in a way," she corrects.

Tony stares at her for a moment before relenting. She's always been the first to tell you that Jarvis was more than an artificial intelligence. He was a friend, a protector, a guide. Someone you could always talk to because he couldn't leave when he no longer liked the conversation. He was their family when they didn't even feel like a family themselves. Come to think of it, Tony doesn't remember a time when Jarvis wasn’t by his side since the day he was created. Except when Tony was in Afghanistan, but that doesn't count. Even when Jarvis wasn't with him, he was running equations and probabilities for him. Tony's heart drops as it really starts to sink in. Jarvis is gone. Vision might sound like hi,m but he isn't him. Vision can form his own opinion on things and can walk away when the conversation is getting rocky. Vision doesn't have to like him--doesn't have to tolerate him--because Vision can do whatever he wants.

“Does it feel like losing Edwin all over again?" Apollo whispers. "Because. . ." She sniffles and wipes at her eyes. "I think that’s how I feel.”

Tony is silent for a moment before he slowly agrees, "Yes, actually. Now that you say that.” Apollo presses her lips together as a few tears slide down Tony's face. "God, to think I created Jarvis so we always had him." He laughs softly, but it's hollow. "Now we don't even have Jarvis."

"We'll just have to get used to Vision."

Tony nods. They slip into silence. Apollo continues lying beside him for a moment before pushing herself up. She shimmies out of her X-Men suit and kicks it in the general direction of the laundry basket. Unlike the boys, she doesn't bother with pants. She finds one of Bruce's oversized hoodies before slipping it on and joining Tony back on the bed. He nuzzles into her side, breathing in the mix of jasmine and lavender from Apollo spraying perfume too close to the hoodie and Bruce spilling his floral tea on the hoodie one too many times. Apollo closes her eyes, allowing her body to melt into the soft mattress. Bruce walks in a moment later, tossing his clothes towards the hamper and collapsing into bed beside Apollo.

“Let’s never do that again,” he groans. Tony and Apollo laugh.

“Well, I’m putting my foot down if that means the next big bad causes Tony to lose a son,” she quips.

“But I gained another one.”

“Absolutely not,” Bruce and Apollo deadpan.

Tony chuckles as he nuzzles closer to her. She stretches slightly before curling up into Bruce. He turns so he's on his side, able to wrap them both in his arms. They don't bother getting under the blankets. They sleep just like this, wrapped up in each other and using their body heat to keep them warm.

~***~

Apollo wraps her arms around Clara’s shoulders in some kind of awkward side hug as they both stand outside where Cerebro is housed. Neither says anything. Clara can’t even begin to find the words to ask the questions she wants, and Apollo could never apologize enough for what she did. But now that Ultron is taken care of, she can make do on her promise.

“I can’t promise much,” Apollo whispers, and Clara leans into her body for support. This simple gesture eases Apollo’s anxiety about the beginning of their search. “But I’ll try my best.”

“I just want him to be okay,” Clara whispers. Apollo nods softly. “Stevie thought…”

“Who cares what Rogers thinks,” Apollo states with finality, and Clara can’t help her small smirk. “All that matters now is what you think.”

“I think…” she breathes out, gathering her thoughts. “I think this is a good place to start.”

“Then let’s get started.”

Apollo takes Clara’s hand and leads her inside to Cerebro. Just simply being in the room brings up memories for Apollo, and they aren’t good ones. Ones where Charles had tried pushing her to her full potential before she was ready for it. Drawing in a deep breath, she shoves that aside and focuses on the present. No matter what it takes, she will find some lead on Bucky’s whereabouts for Clara. It’s the least she can do, for now.

Apollo takes a seat, and Clara stands behind her as she situates the helmet on her head. With another deep breath, she leans back, tries to relax, and closes her eyes. She reaches out to take Clara’s hand for comfort.

Clara doesn’t know how much time passes. She stands still, occasionally squeezing Apollo’s hand as she patiently waits. Half the time, she comes to terms with the fact that if Apollo comes up empty-handed, she’d be grateful that she even tried. It’d be a bigger gesture than everything Steve had done over the past year.

Her breath catches in her throat when Apollo’s finger twitches. “Oh my god,” she whispers. “I think I’ve got something.”

Gently, Clara helps Apollo remove the helmet. “Does Shelbyville mean anything to you?”

“Yes!” Clara gasps, her eyes wide. “Shelbyville, Indiana. That’s where James grew up before his parents moved them to Brooklyn.”

“A small town would be the ideal place to hide out.”

“Why didn’t I think of that?!” Apollo laughs, but she beams seeing Clara’s smile.

Apollo stands, pulling Clara into a hug. “You’ve got someplace to start.”

Clara squeezes her tighter. “Thank you.” She whispers after a moment. “I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”

“Clara,” Apollo pulls out of the hug to look her in the eye. “Are you going to go after him?” Silence settles between them. They both already know the answer. “Then I’m coming with you.”

“I can’t ask you to do that.”

“You didn’t have to. It’s the least I could do to repair all the heartache I’ve accidentally caused you.”

~***~

JUNE 2015

“This…is potentially a bad idea.”

Clara lightly smacks Steve’s arm. “Stevie, you can’t just say that in front of our new recruits.”

Wanda bounces on her heels slightly as Sam takes in the training room of the new and improved Avengers Compound. Before Tony retired, it was the last thing he wanted to do. Clara’s still not even sure why, but she has a feeling he’ll be back at some point. Rhodey (now dubbed War Machine) studies Steve and Nat as they try to formulate some kind of pep-talk. That leaves Vision, who is also studying his surroundings. Last, but not least, is Pietro, who skids into place next to Wanda with a drink in his hand and a smile on his face.

Steve won’t say it out loud, but she knows he misses the old team . The original Avengers. But she’s reminded him countless times that the others are free to do what they please. Tony deserved to retire (and she’s surprised she even got to witness it, knowing how much of a busybody he is), and she’s glad that both Bruce and Apollo have taken up residence at the X-Mansion for the time being. Apollo mentioned something about Tony working on a secluded lake house to keep himself busy, and she imagines they’ll be moving out there when it’s finished. 

Both she and Nat hugged Clint tight when he announced his official retirement. He had been at this longer than some of them and deserved to be home with his kids, too.

Which left Thor. Clara initially thought he was going to stick around. One morning, she had gotten up early because she couldn’t sleep, and Thor wandered into the kitchen and told her that he was leaving to investigate his vision. Clara couldn’t say anything other than a soft “good luck.”

That’s how they ended up with this lot.

“Alright,” Clara speaks up instead, stepping forward so Nat and Steve aren’t immediately put on the spot. “Welcome to the Avengers 2.0. I know that this might not be what you were expecting, but trust me when I say, thank you for being a part of this endeavor. It’s going to take guts and discipline, but I know you’re all going to turn out great.”

Nat smirks. “You’re starting to sound like Fury.”

“Or more like Colonel Phillips.” Steve comments.

“Just being honest,” she flashes them both a smile. “How about you all pair off and do some easy hand-to-hand combat maneuvers? That way, your actual teachers--” she points to Steve and Nat behind her “-- know what they’re working with. They’ll know how to further you along in your training.”

The new recruits pair off as instructed. Wanda and Pietro immediately pick each other, heading off to a corner of the room. Sam and Rhodey shrug and walk off with one another. Vision glances around before his eyes land on Clara. “Then I guess that leaves you and me, Miss Clara.”

“Oh,” she laughs lightly. “I’m not really an Avenger, Vision.”

“How would you classify yourself, then?”

“I’m not sure.” Vision takes his place across from Clara, and instead of sparring, she runs him through some basic moves that he could use in the future. “Hey, that’s not too bad.”

“Thank you,” Vision replies. “I’ve never done this before.”

“Neither have I.” Clara gives him a gentle smile. “I think I’m just a bystander in all of this, to answer your question from before.”

“Just a bystander?” He questions, and Clara nods. “I think you have a much bigger role in all of this. You have this…blueish aura surrounding you.”

Blue like Bucky’s eyes. Clara laughs with a shake of her head. She’d take that. “Blue, hm?” She gestures to the others. “What aura does Nat have?”

“Well,” Vision gives her a small smile. “Natasha has an orangish one, and Wanda’s is yellow.”

“Interesting.”

“As I was saying, before you distracted me,” Vision teases. “I truly believe you have a vital role in all of this in the future, Miss Clara.”

Clara shrugs. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see, won’t we?”

Chapter Text

FEBRUARY 2016

Shelbyville, Indiana, is everything Clara expected it to be: small, homely, and still blanketed in melting snow as winter starts turning over to spring. She drums her fingers against the wheel (because Apollo made her drive) as she tries to examine the houses they’re passing. Apollo’s humming along to the song that's playing on the radio to fill their intense silence. They both have one goal: locate Bucky Barnes.

The metal button on the cuff of her jean jacket clinks against the wheel, and it breaks their comfortable silence. Apollo looks over with a small smile. “Having fun there, Zeitrei?”

“And you couldn’t drive, why , Sol?”

Apollo chuckles. “I was the one who saw the vision in Cerebro. I know what to look for.” She smirks. “We’re looking for a one-armed super-soldier who’s hiding out in Small Town, USA. Should be easy.”

"Don't make fun.” Clara quips, attempting to sound stern. Her mouth is slightly turned up in a smile. She’s hopeful. “He’s not hiding. He’s…healing. I hope.”

Silence settles between them as Clara takes a slow turn onto the next street. “You know, during the war, he said he was keen to get away from it all and go somewhere small to start our life,” she admits. Apollo raises an eyebrow. “He mentioned Hill Valley. I don’t know why he never mentioned Shelbyville as an option.”

Apollo nods, and Clara continues with a sigh. “This was his home, before everything. Hydra. The war.”

Apollo takes her hand and squeezes it gently. “Zeitrei, we’ll find him.” 

Clara rounds another corner onto another street, both scanning the mailboxes for something familiar. Then, Apollo gasps, sitting up straighter, pointing out a small, white house with green shutters and a porch. “There.” Her voice is barely above a whisper. “That’s it. That’s the house I saw.”

Pulling up to the curb, Clara cuts the engine, abandons the driver’s seat, and stares up at the house. Her throat grows tight; it’s peaceful . 

A hand brings her out of her reverie. “Go,” Apollo ushers. “I’ll be here. Take all the time you need.”

Clara pulls Apollo into a hug, whispering her thanks. Then she takes off across the street, quietly climbing the steps to the front door. She knocks softly, waiting with anticipation to see if Apollo is right. 

The door creaks open, and there he is.

They’re both silent, but by god, it’s her James . He blinks, and something in his face, something taut and weary, finally lets go. He opens the door more, a silent gesture for her to come inside. She accepts and makes her way in.

Before she can say anything once the door closes, he’s pulled her into his arms, holding her like he was afraid she might disappear again. Like she was a figment of his imagination.

Eventually, he ushers her through to the kitchen. She takes a seat at the kitchen table while he quietly bustles about, making her a cup of tea: chamomile. One of her favorites that she used to drink back in the forties on a cold day. On the kitchen counter are some notebooks, a jacket, a book with a broken spine (most likely from the number of times he’s read it), and some other miscellaneous items next to a backpack. The silence lingers until he finally takes a seat across from her. “You’re really here,” she whispers.

Clara studies him, really studies him, because the last time she laid eyes on him was when he was a shell of who he used to be. He looked wiser. Worn. But Clara could pick up something soft in his expression that gave way to the hopeful, lively young man she used to know. “Tell me how,” she continues, gently. “Tell me how you found your way back. You looked at me on that street and you recognized me .”

Bucky wets his bottom lip as he gathers his thoughts. “I started with the little things,” he answers, his voice rough. “Old places. Names I recognized. Memories they couldn’t wipe completely. I came back here two years ago. I thought I could figure out who James Barnes really was -- not the Soldier, just… me. ”

“Have you?”

“Not completely. I’m getting there.” Clara studies him again. He didn’t look much older than what she remembered, but she supposed all the cryogenics he’d been put through slowed that down, just like Steve. She wouldn’t be surprised if she was older than him now, although the lines around his eyes would say otherwise. And in the same way, he studies her like a soldier studies sunlight after months underground -- like she might disappear.

“Do you remember me?” She finally asks.

He meets her gaze, and she’s surprised to find his is steady and soft.

“I remembered you before I remembered your name.” Her breath hitches as silence passes between them, and Clara watches Bucky’s expression turn thoughtful. “I saw you once,” he begins the story. “Before I remembered your name. After everything went down in D.C. -- after I pulled him out of the river -- I was drifting. Hiding. But I couldn’t stop thinking about this face I saw reflected in the water after I pulled him out. I kept seeing someone else, too. A woman. Green eyes. Fierce. Gentle. You .” 

Bucky reaches up and runs a hand through his hair before he continues. “I followed him to the Smithsonian once. Stayed in the shadows. Hoodie up. I wasn’t ready to talk to him. I just wanted to see…who I used to be.”

Clara blinks. “You went to the exhibit?”

“I shouldn’t have gone -- too risky.” Bucky corrects with a pause. “But I needed to know what they said about me. There was this photo, not a big one, tucked away near the Howling Commandos section.” Clara smiles slightly when she catches the brief scrunching of his nose at the name the 107th was given. “You were standing with him and this other lady -- some old army celebration. You had your hair up, and this little smile that didn’t match the uniform. You looked…out of place and perfect.” 

He shifts, and Clara reaches out to rest her fingers against his, effectively grabbing his attention again. “I didn’t remember your name. I don’t even remember that day. But something in me knew . I stared at that photo for so long, security probably thought I was casing the place.” He chuckles, and Clara can’t help her giggle too. “I went back three times,” he adds, and her laughter ceases. “Just to see your face. I don’t know why, but it anchored me. I think it gave me something real in all that fog. And then, there you were.”

Her eyes widened. “You saw me?”

Bucky nods. “You came in quietly, near closing. You looked like you were holding your breath the entire time. Then you walked over to the plaque with my name on it, like it physically hurt you to do it.”

She remembers; it was his birthday. The bustling bodies around her as she stood and reflected, and realized that he was alive and out there . The flowers she held tightly in her hand to stop them from shaking.

“You had a small bouquet,” Bucky continues quietly. “You set them down in front of the memorial. Baby’s breath, red and pink carnations, and…camellias. I looked them up after.”

“You looked up the meanings?”

He nods again. “Baby’s breath for everlasting love. Red carnations for admiration. Pink ones for remembrance. Pink camellias…for longing,” he rattles off, and Clara’s impressed. “It felt like you were trying to speak a language I forgot how to hear.” He smiles briefly. “You left them on the ground, next to the memorial. You hesitated, and then you were gone.”

Clara swallows the growing knot in her throat, eyes wet. “I didn’t know you were watching.”

“I almost called out to you,” he admits, his voice much rougher than before. Like he’s holding back his emotions. “But I was still…broken. Still dangerous. I didn’t want you to see the worst of me.”

Clara shakes her head adamantly. “You were never the worst of anything.”

Silence settles, but then Bucky reaches for something out of his bag and presses a piece of parchment into her palm. It’s a single pressed camellia, its petals delicate, preserved. “I kept this. From the bouquet. I took them almost immediately after you left.”

Clara stares at it, hands shaking. A tear slips down her cheek. “You held onto it all this time?”

“It reminded me that I wasn’t just a weapon someone pointed. That someone had once… longed for me.”

“I still do,” her voice cracks. Taking a moment to compose herself, she looks him in the eye again. “Do you remember anything ?”

Bucky shakes his head. “Not everything. Some of it comes in flashes. Some of it…I have to learn all over again.” His eyes are downcast at the table, his voice quiet. “But I’m trying. I’ve been journaling. Trying to do some guided memory therapy when I can. It’s too risky to go out sometimes, but when I do go, the docs say recovery isn’t a straight line. Sometimes it’s a spiral.”

Clara smiles faintly. “That sounds like something this guy I know would say.” Bucky smiles faintly, gently taking her hand in his. She squeezes his hand. “I don’t need you to remember everything, James. I just need you here. Safe. That’s enough for me.”

From outside the house, Apollo watches the sun set on the horizon, the dim light of the kitchen being the only thing that lights up the small house. Inside are two lives -- fractured, mended, and rediscovered -- finally sat side by side. “Happy birthday, Zeitrei.” She whispers into the growing dusk.

And for the first time in a long time, Bucky Barnes felt like he was on his way home.

~***~

MARCH 2016

To no one’s surprise, Stark Industries decides to throw a charity event for the X-L Mutant Rights Organization in lieu of his wife’s powers being exposed. They’re more surprised it takes almost a whole year to finally come out with a statement, but they’re not surprised at all that he’s pro -mutants. He must’ve known for a while what she was capable of and continued loving her anyway. When word gets around about the masquerade ball he’s throwing more or less in her honor, Tony’s not surprised at all by the amount of backlash he receives. Poor Apollo has been getting the brunt of everything, and she’s hidden from public sight for almost the past year. The only reason it’s taken Tony this long is because every statement he’s wanted to say, Apollo has deemed too harsh. She just doesn’t understand the lengths he’s willing to go to in order to keep her safe. This whole ordeal is stupid. She was saving the entire country of Sokovia. It only reinforces why he’s throwing this ball. Why he's sinking so much money into Charles and Erik’s organization. It’s about time the world stopped picking fights with the people trying to save them. They adored Apollo until they discovered what she was. It makes him sick.

It is, however, a complete blindside of the day of the masquerade when no one spots Apollo (or Bruce, for that matter).

Tony greets everyone on top of the stairs at the Walt Disney Concert Hall with a tight smile, half of it hidden behind his Phantom of the Opera inspired mask. Instead of some of the other Avengers’ outfits, he’s dressed in a maroon suit with a black undershirt. The only flair on him is his twin coattails and gold cufflinks. But he is completely alone.

Scouring the hall, eyes narrowed, as everyone--mutants, Avengers, and the public alike--dances merrily to the music or chats in quiet corners. Not a wife nor husband clinging to his arm, dressed in sophisticated clothing. He doesn’t need to be a self-proclaimed genius to know that some of the whispers breaking out around the room are about his lack of a date. He brushes all comments aside with a tight smile and a gesture down the stairs. He didn’t come to play tonight. This event is only to raise money, not to play nice with some of the people who’ve been trying to burn his wife at the stake, screaming and pointing fingers at the ‘witch’.

“You’re starting to scare some of the guests,” a soft voice chirps a step or two down.

Tony hums, not daring to look away from the hall. He’d feel better if Charles and Erik were here already. If anything were to happen tonight, they’d be able to handle it. They’ve been handling things like this for forever now. He sighs then, shaking his head free of the thoughts, and finally looks away. For the first time that night, a sincere smile spreads across Tony’s face as he takes in a familiar face. Or part of it, at least. Most of it is hidden behind the butterfly mask she found for tonight’s event that pairs beautifully with her peacock blue dress.

“What’s up, Doc?” Tony coos, pulling Clara into a tight hug. She hugs him back, patting him softly. When they pull away, he turns his smile on Steve, Clara's date, and shakes his hand. He, like some of the other Avengers, is wearing an outfit similar to his Captain America uniform. It takes everything in Tony not to laugh in his face. “Glad to see you made it, Cap.”

“What kind of captain would I be if I didn’t support my teammates?” he asks. Tony nods his thanks. “This was the right thing to do, Tony,” he offers, voice a bit sterner, shoulders set.

Clara nods in agreement, her eyes flashing something fierce, like she’s about to bite someone’s head off if they say the wrong thing. Apollo revealing herself didn’t just affect her, Tony, and Bruce; it affected all of the Avengers. Made them realize how they’ve taken the public’s kind eyes and praising words for granted all these years. They all wanted to come out immediately in support of Apollo--of all of the mutants!--but Apollo had pulled them off their soapboxes before they got the chance.

“I’m used to stuff like this by now,” she had said when Thor’s grip on Mjolnir turned white and Clint was collecting arrows. “It’s easier if I lie low for a while. Make the world forget I ever existed. As long as you guys support me, that’s all I need.”

“Which begs the question,” Clara starts, eyes scanning down the stairs, “where is our mutant of honor?”

Tony’s smile grows as something in his expression shifts. “Oh, you know.” He waves his hand around. Clara raises an eyebrow, a smirk tugging at her lips. “She wants to make a dramatic entrance. Who am I to stop her?” They all laugh for a moment before Steve offers Clara his hand and they descend the stairs, heading toward the dance floor. From his perch, Tony can hear a few gasps from the crowd as they take in who Captain America came with. He shakes his head with a fond smile.

Tony returns to watching the party below--this time with a softer look in his eyes. He chuckles when he notices red tendrils reaching out for a drink at the bar; Wanda stands on the other side of the room, engaged in a conversation with Rhodey. Pietro is zipping around from girl to girl. Bobby Drake helps the bartender out by refilling ice in people’s drinks. Natasha is talking with Storm about her adventures in Wakanda. Scott and Jean are talking with Clint about couples therapy and how it’s helped them balance their superhero life and a normal life together. Logan and Thor are arm wrestling; Tony can’t help but laugh. A few of the younger students Tony hasn’t gotten to memorizing their names yet are huddled in a corner, showing off their powers to some of the SI interns. His smile grows. This is exactly what he wanted for the night. For the students to step into the light and feel safe to use their powers out in public. For everyone to intermingle and grow lasting bonds. No more hiding--and, yes, the irony is not lost on him that he made it a masquerade ball (they still need some safety). He relaxes his shoulders, letting out a breath.

“Shouldn’t you be down there dancing at your own event?” a deep voice asks from behind him. “Not hiding up in the rafters.”

He chuckles as he turns around. “That would involve a dance partner,” he teases, pulling Charles, who has taken another dose of Hank’s serum so he can dance with Erik for the night, in for a hug. “Hi, Dad.” Charles squeezes him tightly before letting him go. Tony glances between Charles and Erik as he extends his hand out for Erik to take. “I was hoping you’d be bringing her,” he offers before turning his charming smile on Erik, who only nods in exchange.

“She’s not here?” Erik asks, eyebrows furrowed.

Tony’s heart drops to his feet. “No,” he says slowly. “She said she was coming later. That she wanted to make a dramatic--”

Before Tony can finish his sentence, the lights go out in the hall. A second later, a bright spotlight shoots across the room onto the other landing, illuminating on a figure donning a velvety, royal blue, off-the-shoulder dress with stars covering the bottom. On top of her matching blue mask, her face is shielded by the hood of her starry cloak. Tony can just make out the blonde hair twisted into a loose bun, hiding more stars behind it all. His mouth drops as he takes in the mysterious figure. A laugh catches in the back of his throat as his gaze settles on the waistline of her dress.

Erik grips his shoulder, pulling him close. “There’s your dramatic entrance, son,” he whispers in his ear. Tony lets out a breath. The mysterious figure--who isn’t much of a mystery if you knew what defining characteristics to look for--begins to descend the stairs, a smirk lighting up their face. “Go,” Erik urges. “Charles and I can take over your helicoptering.” He winks as Charles laughs.

Erik doesn’t give Tony time to think before pushing him forward. He begins to stumble, almost tripping down the stairs, when something catches him. A soft yellow tendril. He looks over his shoulder at the mystery woman who’s now focused her attention on him. He smiles. She doesn’t react, but he knows what she’s thinking. Now that he’s been saved, he skips down the stairs and meets her halfway on the dance floor. The entire room has stopped--even the DJ--and you can hear the softest mouse make a noise across the hall. But that doesn’t stop the mystery girl from offering her hand. Tony takes it with a bow, bringing her knuckles up to his lips.

“May I have this dance?” he asks softly.

She giggles. “You may.”

Tony looks at the DJ, who nods. He begins searching for a song when Tony locks eyes with the mystery girl again. Only her free hand is fiddling with her hair. He laughs, shaking his head softly, before pulling her close. The opening notes to a Taylor Swift song start playing, and the mystery girl drops her hand, wrapping it around his neck. She’s smiling too, barely containing her laughter, as Tony starts swaying her to the music. The room erupts after the first few bars of the song. Forgoing the whispering, Tony can clearly make out their “Is that Apollo?”s or their “Is he cheating?”s. Some people want to know if they’ve secretly gotten divorced, and that’s why it’s taken so long for him to come out with a statement.

He twirls her around the floor to the loud exclamations of “Is she a mutant too?”. He almost pauses their dance when someone asks if he’s only attracted to freaks, but the mystery girl pulls him away before he has the chance. Everyone steps out of their way as they circle the entire floor, but no one ever dares to look away. Tony begins smiling as the questions stop and he’s finally allowed to enjoy himself. To enjoy a dance. He pulls her closer and continues spinning her around the same way they did for their first dance. As they draw closer to the end of the song, the mystery girl leans in and whispers something in his ear. He chuckles but nods. They migrate toward the center of the dance floor and, as the last line rings out, he twirls her into a dip. When the song ends, there’s a loud bang, a blinding light, and what can only be described as a make-shift smoke show erupts where they’re standing.

Apollo Stark-Banner is currently being dipped by Tony when everything clears. The midnight blue starry dress she was wearing has disappeared along with the cloak. In its place is a shimmering golden dress fit for a sun goddess. Her blonde hair cascades down her shoulders in loose princess curls, staying out of her face by a giant golden crown mirroring the sun. She has a matching golden mask shielding her face, but there's no denying who she is now. Tony pulls her out of the dip and holds her close as the crowd erupts again. He presses a kiss to her temple as he wraps an arm around her waist now that they're done dancing, a hand resting on her stomach. She's positively glowing. Radiating, really.

She clasps her hands together as she takes a step away from Tony, addressing the crowd. "Now, what have we learned about appearances?" she asks, projecting her voice for the whole room to hear her. Those closest to the dance floor avert their gaze and mumble things to their shoes. Apollo smirks. "That's what I thought. Appearances can be deceiving. I believe I've proved that to you twice now." She surveys the crowd before gesturing to the few mutants she can see. "Most of us have the fortune of hiding in plain sight, and I've learned now that we have abused that ability." She locks eyes with Kurt, who has stayed in the shadows all night. With Raven, who's hidden herself behind her blonde, blue-eyed mask as she clings to Hank's arm (who's even hidden himself). "No longer shall we hide." She throws her arms up, spread wide as she addresses the room. "My brothers and sisters, I open my arms to you. Let me lead you into the sunlight by example." She takes her mask off and throws it onto the ground. "I ask that we all take off our masks and stop hiding in fear. No one will hurt you now. I promise." She returns her attention to the front row. On those few that Apollo has overheard, nothing but insults spew from their mouths since she's arrived. She tilts her head in the same way Tony's seen Erik and Wanda do; that 'I'm about to fuck your shit up' head tilt as Tony likes to call it. "Or would our guests like a taste of what happens when you disobey the daughter of Professor X and Magneto?"

Tony steps beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder. He can feel some of the metal in the room begin to rumble. The old ladies making the comments shake their heads, eyes wide. Apollo stops, a smile taking her place (and, oh god, Tony has never noticed how similar it is to Erik's). Apollo continues: "Please enjoy the rest of your evening, everyone, as my husband and I sure will. Don't forget to leave your donations in the box up front! Stark Industries plans to match the total donations at the end of the night. Do remember it's going to a great cause!"

With a bright smile that’s more of her own, Apollo turns to Tony. He scoops her up, spinning her around, and kisses her. She giggles against him.

She taps her chin, a knowing smirk lighting up her face. "You know, I don't recall the last time you truly mentioned how much you love me." She turns to face him. He bites his lip as he pulls her closer. "But we should keep the love confessions private until later tonight." She leans into his ear, lips brushing against the side of his face. "After all, we are one short for our love confession."

Tony's eyes widen as his heart jumps into his throat. "Marry me?" he squeaks. She giggles and holds up her hand. "Again," he whispers. "Marry me again. Marry me every day until we die." He brushes her hair out of her face. "God, do I adore you." He kisses her softly. "And that brilliant mind of yours." She winks. "I'm letting you write all my speeches from here on out."

She snorts. “Last I checked, you don’t follow the speeches handed to you.”

“I will if they’re anything like that.” She just giggles and shakes her head.

By the end of the night, they’ve raised ten million dollars for the X-L Mutant Rights Organization, making this the highest-earning charity event Tony’s ever thrown. And it’s all thanks to his amazing wife. Though the deep pockets of the women she scared shitless doesn't hurt too.