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Tuna-Tober 2024 Masterlist

fluff = 🥰 | angst = 🌧️ | smut = 🔥

Marvel

Steve Rogers

Captain America: Professional Best Friend (long fic - UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

No Romeo (one shot) 🔥🌧️

Only You (one shot)🥰🔥

Bucky Barnes

Jealousy (one shot) 🔥

Wait For It (complete!) 🌧️🥰🔥

Matt Murdock

Lying to the Devil (complete!) 🥰🌧️

stitches (one shot) 🌧️🥰

deserving (one shot) 🌧️

I wanna hear you (one shot) 🥰🔥

Matthew (one shot) 🌧️

Seeing Other People (one shot) 🌧️

Better Late Than Never (one shot) 🌧️

Lover (one shot) 🥰

Joaquín Torres

Sólo mírame (one shot) 🌧️🥰

Daniel Blake

Falling for the Villain (in progress)

Harry Potter

George Weasley

Part of Your World (complete!) 🥰🌧️🔥

Star Wars

Sabine Wren

Innocent (coming soon)

Criminal Minds

Spencer Reid

Heart’s Desire / Soon You'll Get Better / Won’t Give Up 🌧️🥰

loml (one shot) 🥰🌧️

Casual 🔥🌧️ / butterfly effect 🥰🌧️🔥 / Right Person, Right Time 🥰

Not Sorry For Loving You (one shot) 🔥

Stranger Things

Steve Harrington

The Sweetest Taboo

Supernatural

Sam Winchester

My Consequence (one shot) 🌧️🔥

All Too Well (coming soon)

RWBY

Qrow Branwen

The next was the ambulance ride.

"What the hell happened here?" the paramedic asked as the military men loaded you onto the stretcher, having already taken you out of the MAC-Z restricted area where all of the carnage was.

"Equipment malfunction," the man lied, earning hesitant nods from his two colleagues. He jerked his head toward the barricaded zone, adding, "Explosion. Shit went everywhere. She got caught in it."

"Okay…" the paramedic said slowly before he began closing the door and getting to work on what he could do to stabilize you. As he took your vitals, he shook his head and whispered, "Jesus Christ… How much blood did you lose?"

Finally, before you totally lost consciousness was the run through the hospital corridors on the way to the OR.

Lights flashed by above you, each one equally as blinding to your bleary mind. Voices surrounded you, each one speaking urgently. "Blood pressure is ninety-two over forty-eight and dropping! She's lost a lot of blood! Heart rate is one twenty-eight and thready! Respirations are twenty-five and shallow! Oxygen sat is ninety-four percent on two liters! We've got deep lacerations on the arm and across the chest, allegedly from equipment malfunction on a work site!"

The doctor on the team nodded, calling out to the team running ahead of them, "We'll need hemorrhage control! Prepare for mass transfusion! Let's go, people!"

And then you woke up.

Judging by the bright light filtering through the windows nearby, it was around mid-afternoon. You let out a quiet groan of discontent when you opened your eyes, blinking hard to combat the bright light until your eyes adjusted. The attempt to move your arm was painful, the movement causing pain to light up your body, a louder groan flying past your lips when it did.

One of the kind girls in the red striped uniforms had been walking by and popped her head in, concern written all over her face when she saw you in pain. She told her partner to remain at your bedside before running to the nurses' station and informing them of what was going on. When the nurse came in, she gave you a warm smile, telling you, "Welcome back, Miss. You sure gave us a scare last night!"

"I tend to do that, apparently," you tried to joke through gritted teeth.

"Let's get you some pain killers, yeah?" she asked, mouthing a thank you to the candy stripers before reaching for a key in her pocket that would unlock the medicine cabinet in the room.

"Please…" you agreed. You took a feeble attempt at a deep breath, telling her, "This wound makes it really hard to take a good breath…"

While she grabbed the pain medication, you began to take in your surroundings, seeing the fluids and blood hanging from the IV pole next to the bed, steadily dripping into the IV on your arm. The nurse noticed as she popped the lid off of a vial of medication to give through a second IV you had on your arm, telling you, "That's your…fifth bag? Should be the last as long as your labs stay stable and there's no more bleeding."

"Fifth ba-? Holy shit…" you whispered, your head lulling back onto the pillow as you took in the information.

"Whatever the hell got you in that explosion got you good, dear," she told you. "I was told the paramedic guesstimated about a quarter of your blood volume was lost before you got here. You're a survivor, that's for sure."

Before you could respond, the door to the room was bursting open, with a breathless Steve stumbling in when it gave way. He whispered your name before making a b-line to the side of the bed as the nurse stepped away. "I'll give you two some space. Call if you need anything, okay?" she said in a quiet tone before locking up the medicine cabinet and making her way out of the room.

Steve's hands were on you in an instant, cupping your cheeks, running down your left shoulder, and holding your hand before making their way back to their original spot as he kissed you deeply. He rested his forehead on yours, his voice shaking with emotion as he said, "T-they told me what- what happened, and I-I just- I-"

"Steve, babe, hey," you whispered, your voice breaking with emotion before you kissed him to shut him up. When he stopped rambling, you told him, "I'm okay," with tears beginning to stream down your cheeks.

He kissed you again, pulling away to simply hold your hand as he said, "But- But you could've not been! What were they thinking letting you- They knew that's where the demos were gonna be, I can't-"

"Hey!" you said quietly, yet firmly to get his attention. While you squeezed his hand, you told him, "It was my choice to go. I knew what was coming. I knew their weakness. So, I chose to go to help protect my students."

"Their weakness, what d'you- How-?"

You couldn't help the quiet laugh that escaped your lips as you told him, "Long story short, I gotta get a new lighter for the candles and I owe you a can of Farrah Fawcett…"

"You owe me-" Steve cut himself off when he realized what you were implying, an incredulous grin making its way onto his lips as he asked, "Did you really torch a demo with a lighter and hairspray?"

"It was all I could think of, okay? I was being rushed out of the house by the military!" you told him, a full-on laugh passing your lips that time.

"You're crazy. You're crazy! You're so crazy," Steve mumbled while shaking his head, that smile still on his face as he looked at you.

"Yeah, but I'm your crazy," you told him.

"Damn right," he said, leaning back in for another kiss. He once again rested his forehead against yours for a moment as he whispered, "God, you gotta stop landing in the hospital. You're gonna make me old before my time…"

You scoffed, saying, "Yeah, as if this whole Upside Down bullshit isn't gonna do that before I do." Your tone turned reflective and your chest began to rise and fall a little faster as you remembered the night before, telling him, "It…it was really scary, Steve. Vecna, he…he got into my head again. Right before the barracks were attacked and Valerie was taken. Told me I was weak. Still letting fear control me. And for a second I was…until I decided that it was time to follow my own advice. So, I fought. As best I could. Didn't do much in the end, look where I am and where I assume Valerie's at…"

"Yeah, but you fought." The voice that said that wasn't Steve. It was Dustin, who emerged through the slightly cracked door. He closed the door fully before telling you, "You fought as best you could with what you had. You stood in the face of danger and took a stand. That's exactly what you taught me to do. What you taught…"

The boy's voice broke on the last part of the statement, a sob clawing its way up his throat as he launched himself at you in the bed, hugging you as gently, yet as tightly as he could considering your wounds. His body shook as he hugged you, his voice rough and shaking as he said, "I'm sorry… I'm sorry for- for everything. I'm sorry for the cold shoulder and the- the silent treatment and for just being a total asshole! You didn't deserve it, I-I was just so…so angry. I was pissed and bitter and…broken and I took it out on you. On both of you. I was never really mad about you two being together, it was just the scapegoat for why…why I was really pissed at you."

Your own breathing was ragged and shallow as you held him as close as you could with your left arm, tears falling freely as you finally hugged your little brother for the first time in eighteen long months. "What really happened, Dusty?" you asked, the words quiet and barely there as you struggled to breathe through your emotions.

He pulled away from the hug and sat down in the chair Steve had placed next to his. As Steve took your hand in his again, covering it fully to help warm it up, Dustin confessed, "That night…the night Vecna attacked you and Max… Eddie, he…" he looked up at the ceiling and blinked away his tears, clearing his throat before he continued. "Eddie and I, we were back on our side. We were about to head out, but then…then he went back. He told me that he was doing what you would do: buying more time for the party. And then he went and… Fuck…" Dustin hit his fist a few times on the armrest of the chair before biting out, "Then he died. And I was so broken and so goddamn angry at you. I was angry at you for what I'm most grateful you taught me! Make that make sense! You inspired him to help others, even when the situation is dire, and he saved our asses that night. He made sure that the others were able to at least slow Vecna down and buy El some time to fight him. And then Max died for a minute and ended up in a coma and there you were. Alive. Breathing. Here! Something they didn't get! My mind was so…screwed up and overwhelmed that I just lashed out. Wasn't sure what else to do.

"But then…when we were in the Upside Down last night, Steve and I got into it and he could've died and I…I realized how stupid it all was… How stupid it was to push everyone away when all any of you wanted was to help. How I spent months isolating myself and losing the people I care the most about just because I lost one. It wasn't fair to you guys, and for that I'm so, so sorry… I missed my annoying older sister. I missed annoying you. I love you."

As you took a breath to reply, a sharp pain took over your right side, the breath you took sounding more like a choked gasp. Suddenly, it was harder than ever to breathe, the effort to even take one was excruciating, and it showed plain on your face right before the panic of not being able to breathe properly set in. Steve said your name in concern, his own heart starting to beat faster in his chest as he gripped your hand. Your left hand struggled out of his grasp and began gesturing toward your throat that you couldn't breathe, a desperate flail beginning as you continued gasping.

The chair he was sitting in was thrown backward when he stood up quickly, clattering against the wall as he made his way to the door. There was a sense of terror and desperation in Steve's voice as he shouted down the hall for a nurse, his panicked eyes darting back and forth between the station and the room. Only when he saw a small gaggle of nurses begin making their way to the room did he go back in, feeling helpless as he watched the skin around your fingertips start to become a ruddy hue before the tiniest bit of blue began taking over.

He was at your side immediately as he waited for the nurses to arrive, holding your hand and telling you, "C'mon honey, stay with me! Just a few more seconds and the nurses'll be here! Eyes on me, baby."

As misfortune would have it, right as the nurses came into the room to assess the situation, your eyes rolled into the back of your head and you lost consciousness. It was chaos and terror and noise in the moments that followed. Dustin, already emotional from reliving what happened with Eddie, was a mess, screeching your name in horror as he watched you fade away before him. Steve, knowing he had to be the adult in the situation, practically tackled Dustin out of the way of the nurses as they ran back in with a cart of supplies, holding him back as he fought to keep his own emotions at bay. He felt like a father shielding his child from seeing something scary, holding Dustin's head against his chest as he kept his own head turned away from the situation happening mere feet away.

The nurse's voice was urgent as she spoke, calling out, "She's not breathing! Do we have a pulse?"

"Pulse confirmed!" another voice shouted back.

"Good! Just bag her then! Someone call the doctor and tell him what's going on! I think she's got a pneumo!"

"Calling the doc!" a third voice said before she ran to the phone in the room and hit a button.

Steve dared a look in your direction as Dustin sobbed into his chest, feeling his own heart sinking as he saw the sheer number of people in the room, with more flooding in. "Goddamnit…" he whispered, his own tears finally falling as he, too, clung onto Dustin for more than just holding him back from the bed.

Within a minute that felt like it lasted forever, there was a doctor sprinting into the room with what looked like a tackle box. "What happened!?" he asked as he took his stethoscope off of his neck and listened to your lungs as the nurse at the head of the bed used a bag to help you breathe.

"Patient came in last night with a chest wound from an accident at the military occupied zone. They did hemorrhage control and closed her up in the OR. Mass transfusion plus two units today so far. Came in and patient wasn't breathing. We started bagging. I think she's got a pneumo. Maybe from a steady leak sustained from the injury."

The doctor looked at your neck and felt the cartilage in the area, grumbling to himself before he started taking out the equipment from the box. One nurse who had been taking notes stopped what she was doing to help him pull on the gown that came with the box and the team worked in tense silence, with the doctor pulling out a scalpel while the nurse cleaned the side of your ribs with a sterile solution. With a simple cut, placement of a tube into the cavity around your lung, and a stitch to keep it in place, the air that had built around your lung and caused it to collapse escaped and allowed the organ to begin reinflating.

After one more breath with assistance from the bag, the nurse took the device away, holding it close just in case she needed to put it back and continue her work. It felt like everyone in the room was waiting for what was to come, and there was a collective sigh of relief when everyone heard the audible gasp from you as you took in a huge gulp of air. Steve's voice was the first to sound off, a relieved, "Oh my God…" leaving his mouth as he let go of Dustin and slid down the wall, his legs full of nerves unable to support his weight anymore.

As the nurses all began clearing out, with the doctor scolding the first one for "telling him how to do his job," Dustin ran right back to your side, throwing his arms around you as he cried, "Don't you dare do that again! You hear me? You can't do that again! I can't lose you… Not you! Not like him!"

"Hey, hey, hey, I'm right here," you told him, your voice quiet as you once again held him close. "What…what happened?"

"Your lung collapsed," the doctor said as he re-entered the room once he was done scolding the nurse. "I placed a chest tube to help get the air out of the pleural cavity. It should resolve within a few days. We'll send for an x-ray soon to make sure everything is in the right place and to make sure the lung is reinflating properly."

"Wow…" you whispered, heaving out a sigh of both relief and horror in regards to what happened.

Finally getting the strength to get off the floor, Steve stood back up and shook the man's hand, telling him, "Thanks, Doc. For saving her." The doctor nodded before heading out of the room promptly. A few moments later, your nurse popped her head into the room and Steve sent her a grateful look, telling her as well, "Thank you for everything."

"Oh, you don't have to thank me…" she said quietly as she looked at the chest tube to make sure it was working properly.

"But I want to. You helped her breathe when she couldn't. So, thank you," he told her.

"Yeah, thank you," Dustin told her graciously.

"O-of course! If you three need anything, just call us," she said before making her exit from the room once more.

Once both chairs were set back up at your bedside, Steve took your hand in his again and said, "I think you just gave me about four gray hairs, babe."

You rolled your eyes playfully as you laughed lightly, telling him, "Please, there isn't a gray hair on that perfect head of yours…"

"You willin' to bet?" he asked just as playfully as he squeezed your hand.

While the two of you bantered back and forth, Dustin finally heard a muffled voice coming from his backpack, likely from his walkie. Pulling it out, he finally heard Mike's voice saying, "Dustin? Dustin! Do you copy?"

He pulled the antenna out, hitting the button on the side as he replied, "This is Dustin, I copy. Over."

"You two have gotta get back to the Squawk! We don't have any more time to lose! Over."

Dustin and Steve shared a look before the former nodded reluctantly. Steve looked up to the ceiling as he cursed quietly, holding back tears at the thought of leaving you so soon after what just happened. You noticed, and asked, "You gotta go, don't you?"

"Yeah…" they both replied quietly.

"It's gotta do with Vecna?" Dustin nodded in the affirmative as Steve stared off into space at the thought of every single thing that monster had done to you… Your voice pulled him out of his head, though, as you said, "Go. Go finish the son of a bitch."

"We will," Dustin said, a renewed determination in his voice as he packed the walkie back into his bag for the time being. Before he could go, he gave you one more hug as he told you, "I'll send Mom this way so you can have some company." You simply nodded, not trusting your voice because of the once more building emotion at the idea of the two of them facing Vecna again.

While Dustin stood to head to the door, Steve gave you a lingering kiss, his voice low as he promised, "We'll be back soon. I love you. So much."

"I love you, too," you told him, your voice breaking as tears slipped from your eyes.

After giving you one final parting kiss, Steve left your side, following closely behind Dustin as they made their way out of the hospital. The smile was evident in Dustin's voice as he said, "You two are disgustingly sweet together… And I'm happy for you."

"Thanks, man," Steve replied, giving him a gentle punch on the shoulder. "Now, let's make sure we end this bastard and get back to her."

Nearly two days. That was how long it had been since Steve and Dustin left your hospital room to go fight Vecna, for hopefully the last time. It was a time of immense worry. You didn't know what to expect them to go into. You had no idea why Vecna wanted those kids. You had no idea what he was going to use them for. You had no idea that the Upside Down was actually just a wormhole connecting to where the others were actually going for the final battle. You were in the dark, anxious, and praying to whatever deity would listen to bring everyone home safe.

The best distraction from those tumultuous thoughts was when some of the kids from your class came to visit. You were in the middle of a conversation with your mom, who had barely left your side since Dustin sent her your way, when there was a series of knocks on the door that sounded like they were coming from multiple people. With an eyebrow cocked, you mumbled, "I wonder who that is…"

Your question was answered when the door promptly flew open and in flooded a handful of students from your class, escorted by Ms. Harris. The young voices of your students rang out into the room, shouting excitedly, "Miss Henderson!" "Miss Henderson, you're alive!" "Wow! I wanna see your scars!" "I brought you a balloon!" "I brought some cookies! Cookies always make me feel better!"

"Hey, guys!" you said to the kids, a wide smile on your lips as you greeted them.

Your mom stood up when they got in, telling you, "I'll go get us something to eat real quick. Be back soon!" As she walked out, she waved to the kids and said, "It's good to meet you guys!"

They all waved at her as you told them, "That's my mom. She taught me a lot of what I know!"

Once she was gone, one of the little girls, a shy, red head, gave you the cookies as she said quietly, "I was so scared when that…thing took Valerie. I was scared when it hurt you, too…"

The next voice that spoke was one of the boys who was always making up games on the playground, saying, "Yeah, but she was a total badass fighting it off! She didn't even flinch 'til it swung at her!"

"Matthew! Language!" Ms. Harris scolded, shooting you an apologetic look.

"And I'd do it all again if it meant protecting you kids," you told them genuinely. Sure, it was a scary experience, but if it came down to you or the kids, you would always be the one going down swinging.

"You're so cool, Miss H!" the other boy said, reaching out his hand to give you a fist bump. He craned his neck, trying to see your wounds, asking, "Will you have a cool scar when you take those bandages off?"

"It'll take a while, but eventually, I think so," you told him with a quiet laugh.

Once all the kids were done asking their multitude of questions, Ms. Harris got them to settle down for a minute while she talked with you in a quiet voice, asking, "Really, though, how are you? What happened was…"

"Terrifying?" you offered, huffing out a laugh. When you were met with an overly sympathetic look, you told her, "I can either laugh about it or cry about it, and I've done my fair share of crying. I might again later, but not in front of the kids. They've been through enough already."

"Right," she replied, giving you a nod at the wise statement.

You sighed a little, telling her, truthfully, "But yeah, it's been rough. Lots of pain from the wounds themselves." Your eyes flicked over to the other side of the bed where the chest tube atrium was, saying, "Lung collapsed the next afternoon. That was terrifying for my boyfriend and brother. I mean, me too, I couldn't breathe, but… I'm getting better bit by bit. The worst part is the pain. The tube hurts, breathing hurts because it's pulling on the skin and tape, the muscles in my right arm practically had to be reconstructed, so it's hard to-"

Before you could finish the sentence to your coworker, the door to the room burst open, a winded Steve stumbling in and making a b-line once again to your bedside. Ms. Harris, having seen him racing in stood up, taking a step back from the bed to give him some space, at first unsure if it was a doctor running into the room because of something seen on the monitor.

"Steve! Hey!" you said, your voice immediately emotional seeing your boyfriend alive and in one piece at your bedside.

Steve went from leaning over to give you a kiss on the forehead to suddenly kneeling on the floor, one hand shaking as he held yours, the other fishing for something in his jean pocket. Before you could question what was going on, his shaking voice said, "God, I planned for this to be so much more romantic, but screw it… The last few years have been crazy, absolutely batshit insane. But through most of it, I had you. My sweet, funny, intelligent, strong, insanely talented best friend. And I-I just…with everything that's happened, I can't wait longer to ask to spend the rest of our lives together. Will you marry me?"

A chorus of awwww's flew past the girls' lips as they squealed in excitement at the scene unfolding in front of them as Steve finally pulled the beautiful ring out of his pocket and presented it to you, an expectant look on his face. Tears began welling up in your eyes as you nodded your head quickly, telling him, "Y-Yes! Of course!"

"Awesome…" he mumbled, slipping the ring onto your left hand before standing up and giving you a kiss.

As Steve kissed you, Ms. Harris wiped a tear away before beginning to usher the kids out, telling them, "Okay guys, let's give them some space!"

When the door shut once again behind them, Steve began to move away, but you pulled him in for another kiss before wrapping your arm around him for as much of a hug as you could give him from the hospital bed. He reached back a little for the chair that was nearby, settling down into it as he held you close. He laced one hand into the hair at the base of your head as he finally let the happy and emotional tears fall. "I love you…" he whispered, voice tight as he thought of everything that happened in the last few days, hell…the last few years!

"I love you, too. So goddamn much," you replied, your left hand clutching onto the fabric of his shirt to remind yourself that this was all real.

A few moments passed where the two of you just let your emotions flow from your eyes before Steve told you quietly, "We did it. Vecna, he's gone."

You gasped when you heard the news, pulling away a bit to look him in the eye as you asked, "He…he is?"

"Yeah," he told you, a small smile on his face as he watched you physically relax into the pillow upon hearing the news. The smile faltered a bit as he added, "The Upside Down is gone. All the gates are closed, but…"

When he didn't finish the sentence, you took his hand in yours, giving it a light squeeze as you asked, "But what, Steve?"

"Eleven, she…she went back in as it was being destroyed… Hop said somethin' about her not wanting to be hunted by the military the rest of her life…"

"No…" you breathed, a fresh set of tears beginning to well up in your eyes. "Did…did she…?"

Steve shook his head, telling you, "No… She's gone."

"Fuck…" you whispered, heaving out a quiet sigh that turned into a sob at the news. You had grown so close to the girl over the last year and a half, practically treating her as a little sister. You tutored her, made her meals, watched movies together… And now she was gone…

You weren't sure how to handle the array of emotions hitting you from all angles, some of it happy from just being proposed to, some of it relief at the fact that Vecna and the Upside Down were no longer threats, but also an immense feeling of sadness for the loss of the girl who could have had such a bright future… So, you simply silently gestured for Steve to hold you.

You weren't sure how long the two of you stayed like that, just holding each other and crying, but the moment was interrupted by Dustin's voice calling through the door, "Did you ask yet?"

Both you and Steve couldn't help but laugh at the muffled question, pulling away from each other and wiping your tears as he replied, "Yeah! You can come in now!"

When the door opened and Dustin came in, he looked tired and emotionally drained, but he still gave you a smile and a hug as he said, "I'm happy for you two. Really. Even if I was pissed when I first found out."

You laughed quietly, telling him, "And I really am sorry about not telling you. We just wanted privacy, that's all."

"Yeah, you know how you get when you're right," Steve said, wrapping him in a gentle headlock and ruffling his hair.

"Oh, I would have been insufferable," Dustin said as Steve released him and he sat in the chair beside him. "One of my best friends and my sister dating? First of all, ew. Second of all, there would have been an open door policy. Third of all-"

"See!" both you and Steve said at the same time, looking at each other as you did.

Dustin sighed and rolled his eyes, laughing quietly before he told Steve, "Fine, fine! You were right… Happy?"

"Yup," he said as he took your hand in his once again, running his thumb over the sparkling ring. He huffed out a laugh as he said, "Nothin' like almost falling off the Squawk radio tower to teach you a little somethin' about perspective."

"Wait, what?!" you asked, shock evident in your voice, your eyes wide as you stared at Steve.

"Don't worry, Byers caught me!" Steve said, glossing over the situation a little too quickly for your comfort.

There was no time to ask further questions, because right before you could, the door opened again to reveal your mom with your food in hand. She greeted the two boys warmly as she sat the food down on the bedside table, apologizing for not knowing they were coming to visit or else she would have gotten them food as well. Before she could start opening the bags, you gave the boys a quick glance before saying, "Hey, Mom! Guess what!"

When she looked up, you flashed her the ring on your left hand, a wide smile on your face as you watched her reaction. At first she gasped, covering her mouth as her eyes widened, but her hands quickly left her face in favor of holding your hand to examine the gorgeous ring. "Oh, it's so beautiful! Congratulations, sweetie!" she gushed, leaning in for a hug. She rounded to the other side of the bed to give Steve a hug, directing her question to Dustin as she asked, "Dusty, did you…?"

Dustin nodded, sending Steve a smile as he said, "Yep. Got my permission on the way in!"

She wiped a few tears away from her cheeks as she smiled at the three of you. So much had changed within days, but it all seemed to be good change! She wasn't sure what had happened, but she was happy to see the three of you all talking again. She was happy to see you happy. When she cleared her throat, she asked brightly, "So, when do we wanna have this wedding?"

a/n: lots going on in this one! you guys know me, i live for the drama so naturally something had to happen to keep her from helping out more with the Upside Down! i hope the wait for Reader and Dustin to make up was worth the tension! it felt really cathartic to finally write the makeup scene (and sprinkle in the signs of a tension pneumo throughout the scene disguised as emotions and anxiety hehehe) but alsooooo!!!! they're engaged!!!!! so exciting! one of my favorite things to write is a couple making big moves spur of the moment because it just feels right in the moment, rather than waiting for the exact perfect moment. that's something we all have to learn to do: live in the moment and make the most of every single one because we never know when we'll have our last.

as always likes, comments, and re-blogs are greatly appreciated! i love hearing from you guys! until next time! xo! <3

smut warnings: fingering, unprotected PIV sex, breeding kink

Multiple lifetimes. That's how long Walsh's prison sentence was, granted by a federal grand jury after three long years. As you heard the sentence read out, you collapsed into Bucky's arms, a sigh of relief heaving out of your chest, followed by a quiet sob as tears began cascading down your face. Bucky's right hand was immediately laced through your hair, holding your head close as he held back his own tears in response to the verdict.

A sense of relief and…freedom washed over the two of you as controlled chaos began in the court room as Walsh was escorted away. You were finally free of the paranoia and the fear of something happening to you or your family. You were finally free of the guilt that came with the manipulation he put you through. The trauma of everything would stay with you, no doubt, and you were sure you would still be haunted by nightmares for years to come, but as long as they couldn't come true, you felt a sense of security.

In the years that Walsh had been investigated, the Avengers had continued working hard on taking down every single HYDRA cell they could get their hands on. Their numbers and power were dwindling, and their influence on the world was nearly non-existent. Getting rid of HYDRA left vacuums that other individuals or groups tried to fill, with corruption and destruction being the forefront of their goals. The Avengers had taken it all in stride, though, doing their best to take down every power-hungry entity that tried to disturb the peace they worked so hard to create.

But now, it was time for a break. At least for one evening.

"You two should go out! Celebrate! This is a big win!" Steve told the two of you as you all congregated outside the courthouse.

"We told Winnie we'd be back tonight, though…" you replied quietly, a slight sadness in your voice. The trip to DC for the trial ending had been the longest you had been away from your daughter, and even though Jacqueline and Manny had video chatted you with her multiple times a day, there was a Winnie-shaped hole in your heart that longed to be filled.

"What's one more night?" Bucky asked as he wrapped an arm around your shoulders and placed a kiss to your temple. "Gotta promote independence and all that."

"Or you just wanna get laid in peace," Natasha smarted off, a devilish smirk on her lips before she laughed quietly when Bucky's cheeks lit up in a flustered blush.

"Or I want an evening out with my wife to celebrate the sentencing of the monster who could have killed her and Winnie," Bucky countered once he regained his bearings.

"I think it's the first one," Steve said with a chuckle and a light punch to Bucky's shoulder.

"Oh, watch out, here comes the swarm," Natasha mumbled as she clocked a group of interviewers approaching.

"Five minutes, then we're outta here," Bucky said as he checked a notification on his phone that alerted them that Happy was on the way, just stuck in traffic.

As the two of you approached the fancy restaurant Bucky had gotten the pair of you a reservation at, you couldn't help but laugh quietly before gently nudging his shoulder, saying, "Wow, you really are trying to get laid, Barnes!"

After you said this, the two of you took your place in the foyer, waiting for his name to be called to head back to a table. While you waited, he pulled you close, your back pressed against him while his arms loosely draped around your front. His voice was soft in your ear as he leaned in close to murmur, "As if you could resist a night alone together."

The slight rasp in his voice sent a jolt of pleasure south, your breath hitching for a moment as he placed a kiss behind your ear. You couldn't even come up with a clever response to the statement before the hostess was calling your last name for the reservation. All you got was a playful squeeze of your hip from Bucky before he began following the woman, taking your hand in his as the pair of you followed her to the cozy corner booth.

As fantastic as the meal and service was, the whole time, all you could focus on was Bucky - how he looked at you with total adoration in his eyes, how he kissed you gently every chance he could, how he spoke so lovingly to you the entire meal. Not that it was a change from your every day, but something about it just felt…different. More intimate given the setting and circumstance. You once again felt like when you first met, when it was just the two of you with only the goal of laying low and figuring out how the hell you were going to clear his name. You knew the two of you would soon get back to the hustle of being part of the Avengers, back to the responsibility of being parents, back to the spotlight of being public figures, but for one evening, it was just the two of you.

The evening didn't stop with dinner. Bucky had managed to find a dance hall that was hosting an evening themed around the 40s. There were drinks and games and music that matched the theme, and even though you had never been one for dancing, Bucky managed to get you out on that dance floor on more than one occasion!

The evening felt light as the two of you walked up the sidewalk to the Airbnb you had rented for your trip to DC for the trial. You had a spring in your step and a sense of whimsy about you as you hummed and swayed to music from the dance hall that was stuck in your head as Bucky unlocked the door. Bucky couldn't help the love-stuck look he got as he watched you walk into the rental house, a soft smile on his lips before he teased, "Surely those drinks didn't make you that tipsy, Sugar."

"Nope," you replied lightly, spinning around and into his arms, draping your own around his shoulders as you rested your head against him. A content sigh left your lungs before you kissed his cheek, telling him, "I'm just really happy."

"Me too," he said, leaning in for a quick kiss.

When he pulled away, you looked up at him and could see the gears turning behind his eyes. He was distracted, deep in thought about something. "What's on your mind?" you asked, running your thumb over his jawline as you studied his blue eyes.

"It's nothin', really," he replied in that far-off voice he used when he was contemplating things. He leaned in for another kiss before saying, "Let's watch a movie. One that isn't animated and doesn't have a lesson about the power of friendship or whatever."

You huffed out a laugh at the last part, choosing to let go of the subject of his contemplation for now. You didn't want to ruin a perfect night by asking. That would be a question for another time. So, you nodded, and told him in a teasing tone, "I'll go get into my pj's. You go find a manly movie on TV."

"You got it," he replied with a chuckle, giving you one last lingering kiss before the two of you parted for a few minutes.

After you had changed into your sleepwear and were in the bathroom taking off the day's makeup, you felt a pair of arms wrap around your waist. Taking away the makeup-covered cotton pad from your eye, you smiled when you saw Bucky standing behind you, a look you couldn't quite place in his eye. "What movie did you end up picking?" you asked as you began finishing up taking off the makeup.

"I… I think I have something other than a movie in mind," Bucky replied, a slight shakiness in his voice that indicated his nerves. Over what, you weren't sure, maybe it had to do with what was on his mind before.

Trying to ease the tension you could feel in his muscles, you joked, "Does it happen to do with what Nat suggested earlier?" Bucky let out a half-hearted laugh in response. You could feel his chest slightly heaving with nerves, so you turned around when all of the makeup was off, once again draping your arms over his shoulders as you looked into his eyes before asking sincerely, "Is everything okay?"

"I- Yeah, I just…" he started with, but faltered, unsure of how to finish his statement besides bluntly. Opting to give him time to answer worked out, because a few seconds later, he finally blurted, "I want another baby."

The statement shocked you for a moment, your lips forming a small 'o' as you tried to figure out what to say in response to the confession. Before you could respond, Bucky rushed forward, saying, "I just… It feels…safer now that Walsh is sentenced and HYDRA is almost completely dealt with. Plus, you know how Winnie's been lately, always asking for a sibling to play with. It just…it feels like the right time."

Bucky must've been thinking long and hard about this, because, once again before you could gather any words to say in reply, he barreled on, telling you, "And I… I know how hard it was on you before with Winnie, but that…that was before the transfusion. Before the serum. Your body's changed a lot since then. Can endure more. You've said on the job injuries have been less painful." He looked down at your joined hands, fiddling with your wedding ring as he said in a softer tone, "But, I get it if that's not something you want."

Rather than responding with words, you eased your hands out of his, a slight shake in them as you cupped his face and leaned in for a searing kiss. You were met with fervor, Bucky's hands each finding purchase on a different part of your body, pulling you in closer as he deepened the kiss. Suddenly, you were being lifted off your feet, your thighs meeting the cool counter top as Bucky parted from your lips, asking, "You sure?" between panting breaths.

"One hundred percent," you replied, leaning back in for a quick kiss. As you pulled away a moment later, you gently bit his lip, letting it go as you moved away, causing him to chase after you, crashing his lips back into yours as his body began taking over his actions.

In a blur of kisses and hickeys being planted on your sensitive skin, Bucky got you out of your prosthetic and into bed, his body hovering over yours as he rutted his clothed hips into yours. "Fuck, I need you so bad, Doll…" he whispered, his voice gruff with restraint. "But you know the drill, I gotta get you ready first…"

"Oh…fuck…!" you whimpered as suddenly your sensitive clit was being assaulted by his skilled fingers.

"God, you're so wet already, I've barely even touched you…" he murmured. Another kiss was placed to your neck before he asked, "You been thinkin' 'bout this? Huh?"

"Y-yes!" you replied, another whimper slipping past your lips as his own moved down to your collar bone. "I-I've been thinking about you a-all night. I couldn't ev-ven concentrate at dinner. Wanted you. Your-"

"Mouth?" Bucky finished for you, latching his lips and teeth to the sensitive skin surrounding one of your nipples, the beginnings of a hickey being left as he hummed contentedly. He chuckled when he grazed the cool metal of his left hand over your other nipple, the sound you made absolutely intoxicating to his love-drunk brain.

"And-"

"These?" he asked as he removed his fingers from your clit, slipping them through your folds, quickly finding their way inside and to that spongy spot that made you weak. You couldn't even form words as pleasure took over your brain, only able to sigh as your head fell onto the pillow behind you.

"You know you don't have to hold yourself back, right?" Bucky asked as he hooked his fingers and began his assault on the spot, taking pride in the way your face contorted with pleasure because of him. He began playing with your nipple once again, silently daring you to make the noises you hadn't been able to make in a long time because of Winnie.

A wicked grin made its way onto his lips, and Bucky's cock throbbed in his slacks when you finally let out a loud moan, the sound like music to his ears. "Just like that," he whispered adoringly, a low groan of his own making its way past his lips as more blood than he imagined possible made its way south.

The next few minutes saw clothes discarded and kisses exchanged as Bucky brought you right to the edge of orgasm before backing off. The teasing was relentless, but the reward was less and less clothing between the two of you each time you were able to hold on and not topple over the edge of pleasure.

Your body was absolutely buzzing with bliss, your head dizzy from the whole affair as Bucky finally loomed over you, preparing himself to push into your plush center. He leaned in to place another kiss to your neck, a shaking breath passing his lips as his bare cock brushed against your clit. You wrapped your arms around him, pulling him closer as your eyes closed with absolute pleasure.

Bucky's hips pushed forward once more, the underside of his cock skating through your wetness as he tested the waters of something the two of you had never done before. Ever since that night when you conceived Winnie, the two of you had made sure to be careful with sex, so you had never done anything without a condom out of fear of another unplanned pregnancy. But now…it felt like the first time all over again. The two of you had tried almost everything in bed, but this was one of the few you hadn't. It was nerve wracking.

"You're sure about this?" Bucky asked again, his voice quiet and shaking, but also strained as he held himself back from ruining you too quickly.

"Ask me again and we may end up in the same position we were when we got Winnie," you whispered, a quiet laugh passing your lips before you leaned forward to kiss your husband softly.

"We've got all night…" Bucky commented after he pulled away from your lips for a moment. He looked deep in your eyes before whispering, "I love you, so much."

"I-" you began to reply, but were cut off as, with one more thrust, Bucky glided into your entrance, the raw velvet of his cock feeling like absolute heaven. A pleasure-filled moan slipped past your lips before you finished with, "-love you too."

Bucky couldn't even reply, so lost in the pleasure of you as he thrust all the way in, not meeting any resistance as you greeted him readily. Everything felt different. It felt blissful, ecstatic…raw, as Bucky established a rhythm, trying not to lose it too quickly as he drank in the pleasurable feeling. "God, you feel amazing, holy shit…" he grunted, his mind absolutely gone as he felt your bodies joining together in the most intimate way possible.

He was so lost in the feeling and in your lips, that he barely registered the pleasure pooling in his belly reaching its peak. You knew his tells, though. When his thrusts got less rhythmic, faster, you pulled him into a kiss before resting your forehead on his as you whispered, "I love you. I can't- I can't wait to be a mom again."

Bucky couldn't even respond, the only sound able to escape his throat a groan of pleasure as he buried himself to the hilt and came inside of you, loosing every bit of himself into you as your own orgasm hit. It took a few moments for Bucky to come back to himself, thrusting shallowly as the both of you started to come down from your highs.

When he came back to his senses fully, Bucky heaved out a sigh of pleasure we he rolled onto his back, his half-hard cock slipping out of your entrance with ease. When he did, you let out a noise of discontent, one because of him leaving your warmth, but two because of the odd feeling of his release leaking out of you and down your thighs.

A few minutes passed before Bucky grunted as he sat up, mumbling, "We should get cleaned up…"

"Bring me a towel, please?" you asked, your voice quiet and slightly raw as you stared at the ceiling, still in a puddle of bliss.

"Sure thing," he replied, getting up from the bed and making his way to the adjoining bathroom. When he began making his way back, though, you moved your leg and he saw his release leaking out of your entrance and he immediately felt blood beginning to pool in his cock once more. "Fuck…" he whispered as his mind flashed to images of you pregnant again, the image enough to stir up enough confidence to ask, "One more round? Just to make sure it sticks?"

You glanced over at your husband, warm towel in hand, cock already at half mast as he drank in your body. Unless you had some sort of procedure to make sure you didn't get pregnant again after this kid, there would be very few times you'd be able to revel in the pleasure of him this way again… So, you nodded, sending him a sleepy smile as you reached for him, ready for another round of bliss.

As you and Bucky sat in Beth's office a couple months later, she ran the cool gel over your stomach as she searched for the baby you were sure was in there, judging by how your body had been behaving the last few weeks. Her mouth formed a small 'o' before a smile broke out onto her face as she said, "Say hello to the Barnes twins!"

a/n: and for the final time in this story - i hope you all enjoyed! i tried to wrap some things up with a nice little bow and give you guys one last spicy moment between these two! (they should've known that doing it twice would result in twins, but did we listen to Bruce earlier? apparently noooottt...) it's crazy how different of a person i was when i started writing this. i've learned a lot and changed a lot over the course of plotting and writing and uploading this, and i feel like i am better for it. thank you to anyone who supported this little project of mine! i've got lots of stories still in store if you keep track of my page, so i hope you guys check those out, too!

as always likes, comments, and re-blogs are greatly appreciated! i love hearing from you guys! see you in the next one! xo! <3

"The Mets haven't had the best last few seasons, but I've just got this feeling they're gonna make a comeback this year," you said with a quiet laugh as you adjusted the strap on your wrist that was attached to your clutch.

"What else?"

"He's a sneaker-head, I just bring up whatever shoes he's got on and I'm set for at least half an hour."

"And if he asks about you?"

"Give him enough to be curious and end up offering his number. Flirt from across the room after excusing myself. If anyone tries to make a move on me, get away and then find him across the room again," you replied, recalling every move you had seen in movies and TV shows over the years that tended to always land.

"What about sex?"

You laughed, telling her, "Tell him he's gotta earn it."

"I think you're ready," BB said, giving your shoulders a squeeze like a proud mother would her child. "Make sure you have your phone on you at all times, don't leave your drink alone, and call me if you need anything, okay?"

"Yes, Mom," you teased with a laugh as she jokingly flipped you off.

As you walked into the crowded club that had music bumping loudly, you breathed a sigh of relief when you saw one of your co-workers standing at the bar, her arm around her partner's waist as they waited for their drinks. "Hey!" you called as you approached her, a bright smile on your lips. You gave both of them a hug, saying, "I'm glad you two could make it!"

"Hell yeah! I didn't know you knew how to let loose, so when you invited us out…" she replied.

After you placed your own order with the bartender and gave him your debit card for the tab, Holly's partner asked, "Did you bring anybody? Or are you looking?"

You turned your back to the bar, casually leaning against it as your eyes turned toward the crowded club, looking for one face in particular. With a small smile on your lips, you told her simply, "Looking."

"Ooh!" they both said at the same time, causing all of you to laugh.

Between talking about annoying coworkers and workplace rumors, you finally saw your target enter the club. He walked in with two friends, each laughing at something he said as they walked over to the bar. So he's funny, you thought to yourself as your eyes trailed after the little posse. You guessed you weren't that subtle with your glances, because before you could even bring yourself back to the conversation at hand, Holly's fingers were snapping by your ear as her partner said, "I think I know who she's got her eyes on…"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to space out," you apologized sheepishly, scratching the back of your neck as you did.

"No, no, spacing out is good!" Holly said, sending you a wink.

Before you could even think, her partner was gently nudging you back toward the bar, telling you, "Go! Go tell the bartender that you're paying for his next drink or something!"

You laughed at their antics as they both shooed you off toward the bar, grateful all the while that you had invited them because you would have been clueless otherwise. You can spout off what you'd seen in movies, sure, but putting it into practice was a whole other beast... After ordering another drink and informing the bartender of your intentions, you made your way back to your coworker, the three of you dancing to the upbeat songs as they came over the speakers.

You kept your eyes on the bar over the next few minutes, trying to spot when the bartender made Daniel's next drink. You suspected that he opted for shots the first round, because the second drink he ordered came rather quickly. You watched as he stood talking to the bartender, who pointed you out across the room. When Daniel turned to look at you, you subtly raised your glass, lining your lips with what you hoped was a sweet, yet mysterious smile.

He didn't immediately come your way after he got his second drink and sent his friends back to the bar for their own second round. Respectful, you thought as you realized that he had only ordered for himself on your dime and not his friends, too. Over the next short while, you kept glancing over in his last known direction, seeing if you were also in his sights. As luck would have it, every time you looked his way, you made eye contact with him before intentionally moving your little group to a different area of the club to see if he would track you.

While you danced with your friends within the sea of bodies on the dance floor, you felt a hand suddenly on your waist. Turning to see who it was, the man hovering behind you wasn't who you'd hoped it was, instead being a guy who looked incredibly wasted and overly confident with himself. "Hey, sweetheart, 'ow's about you and me get out 'f 'ere?" he slurred, pushing his body against yours as his hand began trailing up toward your chest.

"How's about you fuck off?" you said firmly, shrugging him off and shaking your head as the three of you moved yet again to a different area of the dance floor. As you went, you couldn't help the smirk that lined your lips when you saw Daniel's friends hooping and hollering and shoving him toward the bar. You hoped that was a good sign because you were getting close to your limit for the night and you weren't sure how long you could hold out for him to approach you.

After a particularly excited rendition of the Taylor Swift mix that the DJ played, Holly and her partner excused themselves to the restroom, leaving you alone with your third drink of the night and the swimming in your head. You made your way toward a wall to lean against for balance, starting to think that when Holly went to the bar after you, she changed your last order to a double.

You weren't alone for long, though.

As you stood against the wall and people watched, you heard a voice from beside you ask, "Espresso martini, huh? Little fancy for a place like this, don't ya think?"

Turning toward the strong Staten accent, you sent Daniel a smile before saying, "Well, if I'm already gonna have a headache, it might as well not be from caffeine deprivation."

"How's about another? To make up for the drink you got for me?" he asked as he eyed the near empty glass in your hand.

In an attempt to be bold, you lightly brushed your fingertips over his lower arm as you started toward the bar, telling him, "My hope was to get a chance to talk with you, but if I'm also getting a free drink out of it, then I'm in for sure."

As the two of you settled into standing at the bar, he said, "I come here pretty often, if we're honest, and I've never seen you before. What's your name?"

You gave him your first name, watching the smile grow on his lips as you asked, "What about you?"

"Daniel," he replied.

Giving him a quick once-over, you noticed that his outfit was nice, far nicer than the t-shirts and jeans his friends were wearing. It was chic yet casual, but still paired with a nice looking pair of high tops. Bingo. When your eyes met his, you subtly shifted to hold your balance against the bar as you nudged the toe of your shoe against his, saying, "I like your sneakers, they look really cool!"

Daniel's face lit up at the compliment, his voice just as excited as he told you, "Thanks! They're a limited edition run that my favorite brand did a few months back! Super supportive yet stylish! Just what you want in a sneaker!"

"Very cool! What kind of support do they have?" you asked, leaning in a little closer to him as more people gathered at the bar. Your knowledge on sneakers was limited, even with how often you heard one of your coworkers talk about his collection, but you knew about supportive shoes, so you started there.

Just as you predicted, Daniel went on for a good while about sneakers and all the kinds he had in his collection. Between tangents you both got off on during the conversation, you realized how easy it was to talk to him. He was funny, kind, passionate. It was a wonder he was working for someone like Fisk…

You hadn't even realized how much time had passed until Holly and her partner were coming toward you and Daniel as you stood on the outskirts of the dance floor chatting. They both gave you wide smiles before giving you a hug, with Holly saying, "Thank you for inviting us out! It was great! But we've gotta head out!"

Her partner, who had gone the route of taking shots instead of sipping on drinks, giggled and hooked onto Holly's arm, slurring, "And by that, she means head out to our apartment so we can fu-"

"Alright, let's not finish that sentence in front of strangers," Holly said with a laugh and a blush on her face as she wrapped an arm around her partner's waist to begin the walk to the door. "See you next week!" she called over her shoulder as you laughed and waved back.

"Well, she's got her hands full for the rest of the night," you said with a laugh as you watched their retreating backs. When you turned your attention back to Daniel, you asked, "Your friends give you the slip, too?"

He chuckled before nodding, saying, "They went to a different club right after I came to talk to you."

"What friends we have, huh?"

"Yeah, almost like they planned it," he replied.

"Well, the night doesn't have to end because they left," you told him, hoping that he would get the drift and offer to leave the achingly loud club atmosphere.

"You have anything in mind?" he asked as the two of you began drifting toward the exit of the building.

"I'm gonna be honest, as long as there's food and less noise involved, I'm game," you replied, giving the bouncer a small smile as you made your way out the door and into the cool night air. As the air hit your face, you took a deep breath and sighed, closing your eyes as your head finally felt like it wasn't being bombarded with noise.

"Hey, there," came Daniel's voice as he reached forward to balance you when you started to stumble as your sense of sight was temporarily gone.

Your eyes snapped open when you felt his hands on your waist, fumbling out a quick, "Oh, sorry, I- Wow, I guess I'm a little further gone than I thought…"

"I bet some food'll put you right," he suggested, his hands lingering on your waist for a few seconds more before letting you take a few steps on your own.

Despite the hour of the night, Daniel managed to locate a street vendor and bought the two of you a hot dog each, presenting yours to you as you sat on a nearby bench. You eyed the food warily, earning an exasperated, "Oh, c'mon! You can't tell me you've never had a street dog before!"

"The fact that they're called street dogs is what scares me," you said with a laugh as you took the hot dog from him. You sent a look toward the cart and didn't see any steam or grill smoke or anything, so you joked, "I'm off for the next three days, if this street dog is what lands me at work early, I'll never forgive you."

"Ah, don't worry about it! It'll be fine!" he said before taking a bite of his own. He swallowed his bite before asking, "What kind of work do you do?"

"The kind where I've seen enough- Actually, I won't finish that sentence while we're eating…" you mumbled before shaking the thought from your head and taking a bite of the hot dog. When you finished your bite, you said, "I'll have you know that, yes, I have had these before, but it's been at least…seven years since I've had one."

"Seven years?" he asked incredulously, his eyes widening. "How do you live in this city and go seven years without having street food?"

"Find out what kind of work I do and maybe you'll realize," you teased as you stood from the bench and began walking down the sidewalk toward a busier area where you'd be able to flag down a cab.

"Well, if you'd just tell me, then I'll tell you about my job," he bargained as he followed beside you.

You hummed thoughtfully before shaking your head as you said with a smirk, "That sounds like a chat for sober me, seeing as I can barely filter my brain from blurting out things most people don't like hearing about." Right as you finished the statement, you noticed a cab and raised your hand to flag it down, turning back toward Daniel expectantly while you waited.

He looked at you for a moment before getting the hint, handing you his phone to put your number in as the cab pulled up. As you typed it in, he asked, "How about coffee? Tomorrow or the day after? I've got work, so it might have to be a bit early, but… I'd like to see you again."

"Coffee sounds great," you replied as the cab pulled up beside you. Before you could even reach for the handle, Daniel already was, opening the door for you and putting a steadying hand on your waist as you ducked down into the back seat. You sent him one last smile as he went to close the door, telling him, "Goodnight, Daniel."

"Night," he replied, closing the door and watching the cab pull away from the curb. Your phone buzzed moments later with a text from an unknown number that said Thanks again for the drink! As you replied the same in return, he smiled. He hadn't planned on his night ending the way it did, but man, was he happy it did.

a/n: gosh, i love how playful and funny these two are together! and it only gets better from here!

as always likes, comments, and re-blogs are greatly appreciated! i love hearing from you guys! until next time! xo! <3

Knowing that Winnie was in good hands, you finally were able to look in the mirror and truly see how gorgeous the makeup that had been put on you looked. Stark had opted to use his stylists, and just as they had done for Natasha on the day of the Gala all those months ago, your makeup and hair were done to absolute perfection. "I…wow…" you breathed as you looked at yourself in the mirror.

"You look amazing," Natasha told you, a certain warmth in her voice that only came out around those she was closest with. "Now, how about we go on a walk through the venue real quick? Get some fresh air?"

"That sounds great," you told her, taking a deep breath and closing your eyes for a moment after the statement.

Before the two of you could leave the dressing room, Natasha activated the com link in her ear, asking, "'Lena, are the guys anywhere outside right now?"

It took a few moments before the blonde's reply came through, telling her sister, "No. They're all in the game room playing pool. Backs are turned to the windows, but I can tell you if that changes."

"Copy. Thanks," Natasha replied, gesturing toward the door for you to start making your way through.

As you walked through the door, you couldn't help the quiet laugh that left your lips, saying, "I forgot we were using Yelena for security."

"One of the best in the business," Natasha told you. A smirk made its way onto her lips as she added, "Aside, of course, from me. But, Maid of Honor duties call."

You laughed again as you gently shoulder checked her, adjusting your white satin robe afterward from the jostle. As the two of you walked through the courtyard that was bustling with florists, you began to truly take in the venue for the first time since you picked it out. It felt like something out of a movie as you passed by the statuary. There were little fountains of water spurting out from the stonework occasionally, the sound soothing to your ears as the water flowed lazily though its well-worn path. The flowers that were being assembled all over the place made everything feel intimate and secluded, the combination of your wedding colors a treat to look at as everything began coming together.

After your walk, a feeling of peace settled over you. As you and Natasha walked back into the dressing area, your shoulders relaxed, and the tension in your muscled eased. Your eyes first darted to Winnie, who was, by then, fast asleep in Wanda's arms, a tranquil look on her little face as she dozed. While you were away, the stylists had managed to get her into the dress she would be wearing for the ceremony - the littlest dress you had ever seen. It made you emotional just looking at it on the rack, but seeing it on your little girl brought tears to your eyes once again.

"Oh, she looks perfect," you cooed, taking out your phone to snap a quick picture of her.

"And you're about to look even more perfect," Natasha said as she pointed toward your dress that was hanging on a rack being pushed into the middle of the room by one of the stylists.

"I can't wait…" you whispered, running your fingers through the fabric of the dress hanging in front of you. It was everything you had ever imagined you wanted in a wedding dress. Every little detail on it was perfect, from the color, to the fabric, to the cut - everything was just as it was meant to be.

You had cried when you tried on the dress the first time after having Winnie, and now, as you looked at yourself in the full-length mirror, you had to hold back your tears to prevent yourself from ruining your makeup. As the stylist fixed the veil onto your head, Natasha couldn't help her own emotional smile as she said, "Let's go get you married."

"Earth to Barnes, anyone in there?" came the joking voice of Sam as he gently poked Bucky in the side with the end of his pool stick. He had taken his shot and missed almost a full minute ago, unintentionally setting Bucky up with a damn near perfect shot for him to win the game.

"Right. sorry, I-" he started, shaking away his anxious thoughts as he turned his attention back to the pool table. He couldn't help the incredulous look on his face as he saw the shot lined up for him, sending Sam a look that silently asked How the hell did you set yourself up to lose so perfectly?

Sam gestured toward the table, rolling his eyes playfully as he said, "Oh, don't give me that look, man!"

"Only you could set yourself up like that," Bucky muttered as he took his last two shots, sinking the pool balls into the pockets with ease.

"I blame the bar Stark went ahead and opened before this thing even started," Sam joked before drinking down the dregs of the liquor he had in the glass.

"Speaking of," Steve said, "can you see if Thor got back with the Asgardian ale for later?"

"Can do, Cap," Sam replied with a two-finger salute, walking away from the parlor and leaving Steve and Bucky alone.

When Sam was out of ear shot, Steve cleared his throat and asked, "What's on your mind?" as he began setting up the game for the two of them. Bucky was quiet for a few moments as he tried to form his tumultuous thoughts into words. When there wasn't an answer after almost a minute, Steve chuckled before joking, "Not getting cold feet, are you?"

"No, never," Bucky replied immediately, his eyes shooting up from where they were focused on the table to look at Steve, who was sporting a small smirk on his lips.

"I know, I know," the blond said, walking to the side of the table Bucky was on and gently shoulder checking him out of the way so he could break the pool ball triangle. Once he lined up his shot and the resounding sound of clashing pool balls filled the air, Steve asked once again, "So, then what is it?"

A deep sigh left Bucky's chest as he positioned himself to hit one of his now assigned striped targets into a pocket. Only after he took his shot, did Bucky admit, "I dunno, I just… I feel like I don't deserve this. A wedding and a happy ending isn't something someone like me should get… The number of lives I've changed for the worse… What about that earns a fairytale wedding like this? And…"

Bucky had to take a moment to breathe, the air returning to his lungs shaking as he tried not to cry. Your name passed his lips, the sound shaking like a leaf in the wind, before he plowed forward, saying, "She's just so…good. She puts her neck out for others and doesn't ask for anything in return. She takes care of those who can't take care of themselves. She deserves someone not so…broken. Someone who doesn't have such a haunting past. Someone…normal. I just don't get why she chose me…"

"You're letting your past talk, Buck. You can't let it, remember?" Steve asked as he placed his pool stick down on the table, retiring the game for the time being. "Your past is just that. You can't change it. What's done is done, but what matters is what you've done moving forward. And I know it's hard, and your brain likes to bring it up at times when you least need it to, but you've gotta ignore it, pal."

"I know, it's just…hard," Bucky replied, looking down at the pool table, seeing a tear land on the metal of his left hand.

"I know it is, but listen," Steve said as he came to stand beside Bucky, clapping a hand on his back. "That girl is head over heels in love with you. Has been the entire time I've known her. And that love's only grown stronger. You know, she feels the same way too?"

"W-what do you mean?" Bucky asked, looking up at Steve with his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"All I know is that Nat said she's been feeling like she doesn't deserve you," Steve told him. "How I see it, though, is that two broken people came together and are working on becoming whole. It isn't about earning your worth, and it isn't about how haunted you are by your pasts. It's about how you both make each other feel and how you help the other through it without a second thought. And that is what makes the two of you work so well together."

Bucky nodded as he wiped the wetness from his cheeks, pulling Steve in for a crushing hug when he was through. "Thanks, Steve," he muttered into his shoulder.

"Anytime," he told him warmly. He glanced at the clock on the wall before adding, "It's getting close to time. Let's hit the dressing room and then get you hitched!"

Despite Steve's best efforts to calm Bucky down while they were getting dressed, Bucky couldn't help the feeling of nerves in his stomach as he stood at the flower-adorned archway, waiting for you to walk down the aisle. His nerves only got worse as the music began playing - live string music from a quartet that had been prepared with every single song you could possibly want at your wedding.

The two of you had decided on a small wedding party, only opting to have Steve and Natasha as Best Man and Maid of Honor respectively. Seeing the pair walk down arm in arm settled Bucky's nerves a bit, his mind wandering off a little as he imagined one day the two of them getting their happy ending, just like he was with you.

His nerves were calmed further when, turning the corner, he saw his sister, gorgeously dressed, pushing an equally as adorned Winnie in her decked out stroller. A small device was fixed to the stroller, occasionally shooting off flower petals as the two made their way down the aisle. They both wore smiles on their faces as people aww-ed and cooed at the little girl in the stroller. Before Becca could sit down with the baby in the front row, Bucky gave both of them a kiss on the forehead, whispering that they looked beautiful.

The next to emerge around the corner was announced by the chiming of a little bell. Coos of adoration were given as Alpine made her way down the aisle, a little basket with the rings in it held in her mouth. When she got to the steps of the altar, Steve crouched down and revealed the treat in his hand, telling her, "Good girl!" as Natasha took the little basket. Steve kept the cat secure in his arms as the music began to swell once more, signaling that you were about to make your way down the aisle.

From around the corner, you were looking toward your coordinator, waiting for the signal to walk. Your hands shook visibly as you held your bouquet of flowers, the nerves beginning to get the better of you once more. "Hey, hey, you've got this. You're okay," came the voice of Manny from beside you as he adjusted his tie one more time. His tone turned teasing as he said, "You've faced down bombs and guns, but this is what you're nervous about, kid? C'mon!"

The joke broke your nerves, a quiet laugh slipping past your lips before you nodded and said, "You're right. What's walking down an aisle compared to those?"

"Absolutely nothing," he said. He linked his arm in yours as he added, "But also everything at the same time. One of the best everythings."

"Thank you for walking me down the aisle," you told him, a soft smile on your lips as you thought back to some of the times the two of your families had spent together over the last few months. They were some of your favorite memories. They were ones that mended your relationship with Manny.

"You're welcome," Manny replied, his eyes caught by the coordinator signaling the pair of you to move. "We're up."

So, you took a deep breath and began making your way around the corner.

When you made your appearance from around the garden's greenery, all eyes were on you. Quiet gasps sounded as guests took in your dress, and as they did, a kaleidoscope of butterflies exploded in Bucky's stomach. You looked absolutely ethereal, like something out of a dream. "Wow…" he breathed, unable to help the wide smile that made its way onto his lips as you approached him.

Just as Bucky only had eyes for you as you made your way toward him, you only had eyes for him. No one else registered in your vision as you got closer and closer to the archway. "Hey," you whispered breathlessly as you detached yourself from Manny's arm, giving him a squeeze before fully letting go. Bucky looked dashing, his growing hair swept and styled in a way that made him look like a prince.

"Hey yourself," he whispered, taking a few moments to memorize everything about you as you finally stood in front of him in all your wedding day glory.

"Are you two ready?" the officiate asked, a warm smile adorning his lips.

While sharing a loving look, you and Bucky nodded.

And so it began.

The officiant began speaking into the microphone about the two of you and how your crazy love story came to be. There were laughs and some tears shed during his heartfelt speech, and by the end, the small crowd of loved ones were ready to hear the vows each of you had prepared. As the two of you participated in a ceremony of pouring sand together to symbolize your unity, Steve and Natasha pulled each of your written vows out of pockets in their outfits.

When the colored sand was in the jar, you admired it for a few moments. The sand was both of your favorite colors, swirling together and making the prettiest pattern in the intricate jar you had found at an antique shop. You couldn't wait to display it proudly in your living room.

After giving the two of you a moment to admire the jar, the officiant asked, "Are you ready to say your vows?" When he was given a nod from each of you, he smiled and said, "You first, James."

Bucky unfolded the paper Steve held out for him, a slight tremble in his hands and voice as he read the words he had prepared for you. He started off with your name, the word getting caught in his throat for a second before he cleared it and powered forward, his eyes darting from the paper to yours as he said, "From this day forward, I vow to be your partner in adventure, your teammate in life, and your biggest supporter in everything you do. I promise to laugh with you in the best times, hold you in the hardest times, and create a life with you that is full of love and joy. You are my best friend, my greatest love, and my home. I promise to stand by your side through every adventure, to cheer you on in your dreams, and to laugh with you even when life gets messy. I vow to love you fiercely, to support you endlessly, and to choose you—every day, for the rest of our lives. I give you my hand and my heart, as I give you myself. I promise to walk beside you in love and faithfulness, now and forever."

Throughout his speech, you began to tear up, by the end of it, you were fanning your eyes with one hand to keep the tears from spilling over. "How am I supposed to follow that up?" you asked, your voice tight with emotion as you tried to joke yourself out of crying.

Steve chuckled after wiping his own tears from his cheek, telling you, "He worked on those for months, good luck."

The joke further soothed you, and after a few moments, you gathered yourself enough to look at the page of vows you had written. The words were perfectly placed, everything written with intention and looked over a million times. They were edited to perfection. You practically had them memorized at this point, the paper soft from how many times you had handled it since finalizing this draft.

But as you looked back up at Bucky and your eyes met his piercing blue ones, you remembered so many things the two of you had been though since you found him in DC. None of it was perfect. None of it was edited. It was messy and real and perfectly imperfect the way it was. Just as the two of you were. And as you thought about all of the milestones and hardships the two of you had overcome, you remembered what you had realized when Bucky had come to save you from Walsh.

So, as you glanced one more time at the paper through tear-filled eyes, you crumbled it up and tossed it over your shoulder. Seeing the ball go flying, Alpine sprung into action, leaping out of where she was perched in Steve's arms to chase after the new toy. This earned a laugh from everyone as you took Bucky's hands in yours and began speaking.

"James Buchanan Barnes. The moment I met you, my whole life took a turn I never expected it to. I was comfortable where I was. I had a stable job and I was finally feeling used to the life I had made for myself after being discharged from the Army. I thought I was done with the craziness of life's shitty circumstances. But then I found you bleeding out on the side of the road."

This comment earned a laugh from the audience. When they finished, you squeezed his hands and continued with, "From that moment on, my life has never slowed down or stopped. For anything. And it took me a while to realize that there was nothing I could do to change it. All I could do was react. I realized that the only thing I could control was myself and how I react to the circumstances life gave me.

"I thought that I needed to help you learn that lesson, too. We were able to give you back control over your life, so I thought it would then be up to me to help you learn what I did that day you got me back from what would have been certain death. But now…I realize that you've known it all along, too.

"You've reacted on instinct to protect me countless times since we met, even before we fell in love. As much as you hate to admit it, or fail to realize it, you are a protector at heart, and a fierce one at that. You protect me, you protect the team, and most of all, you protect our daughter - who, by the way, was one of those unexpected life circumstances."

By now, your tears had begun to fall, and you let go of one of Bucky's hands to dab away at them with a tissue Natasha had given you when she realized that the tears were inevitable. "My point is that no matter what, we will always be learning and growing together, and I think that's one of the most beautiful parts of our relationship. I know that we've been through a lot, and I'm sure we'll go through a helluva lot more before this life is over, but I know that as long as I have you by my side, I can get through anything. Even if it costs an arm and a leg."

The callback to one of the first jokes he told you made Bucky laugh heartily, tears of laughter following his emotional ones that had seeped out during your speech toward him. "God, I love you," Bucky whispered, his voice tight with emotion as he tried to gather himself, the smile wide on his lips as he took in your beautiful, shit-eating grin.

"Wow, you two really know how to make a man cry," the officiant said, wiping his own tears as he laughed. A few moments later, he cleared his throat and took the rings from Natasha. He sent you a smile before asking, "Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, til death do you part?"

"I do," you whispered, your smile wide as you slipped the ring onto Bucky's right ring finger. It was something the two of you had discussed before. Bucky wanted to be able to feel his ring. He wanted to get a tan line where the skin beneath never saw the sun. He wanted to feel that intimate connection to you, even if you were apart.

And he did. Immediately as the ring slipped onto his finger, everything felt just that much more real as he looked into your eyes with the biggest smile on his lips. Bucky was so lost in your eyes and in the moment that he barely heard the officiant asking, "Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, til death do you part?"

"I do," Bucky whispered, slipping the gorgeous wedding band on your finger.

"Then by the power vested in me by the state of New York, I declare you Mr. and Mrs. Barnes. You may kiss the bride," the officiant said joyfully, stepping back into the veil of flowers to give the two of you your moment.

The kiss was nothing short of magical. You didn't know how he did it, but Bucky made your first kiss as husband and wife sweeter and more tender than any he had ever given you before. His touch was gentle as he caressed your cheek, his left hand going to support your back as he dipped you backward a little, your right leg hooking around him for support.

When he straightened you back up, Bucky pulled away and placed a gentle kiss to your temple, telling you, "I love you, Mrs. Barnes."

"And I love you, Mr. Barnes," you replied, an absolutely love-struck look in your eyes as you gazed up at your husband.

Everything felt perfect. Life worked out exactly how it was meant to. You didn't know how, you didn't know why, but somehow, you and Bucky Barnes were meant to cross paths and change each other's life for good.

a/n: god, this was an emotional one! i hope you all enjoyed this as much as i enjoyed writing it! i loved all the little callbacks and jokes and being able to include Alpine one last time in this story! it felt so cathartic to write how two imperfect people felt on what is supposed to be the perfect day, and i hoped i captured it with grace and did it justice. this was originally supposed to be the end of the story, but then i wrote one final piece for it that ties up a major loose end i couldn't fit in here and gives you guys one last bit of spice with this couple (wink wink)!

as always likes, comments, and re-blogs are greatly appreciated! i love hearing from you guys! until next time! xo! <3

"Just checking," she said with a smile as she straightened up and began making her way to the door. Changing the subject, she asked, "How's the work load? You getting enough sleep? You look dead-tired."

Knowing that you could trust her to not speak about it to the others, you confessed, "I was behind on grading, so I had to stay up late to finish…"

"You'd be surprised at the number of teachers that happens to," she said as the two of you walked through the halls of the school.

"Really? I'm not the only one?"

She laughed quietly before telling you, "Far from it. Give yourself some grace. Rest up tonight and give yourself a fresh start for the next part of the semester."

Rest was far from what you got that evening, though.

You tried not to worry about what was going on with the party that evening. It was hard, though, because you didn't a line of communication with them, seeing as the walkie you had used the night before had been taken at some point during the day. Steve had left a note where it had been previously, his messy scrawl saying:

Sorry honey, we had to take the walkie. We're gonna be split tonight and needed the extra. You know what to do if trouble comes around. If there's an emergency, call the cops. I love you and I'll see you soon. Steve <3

Nightly chores blended into making dinner for two, with leftovers for if Steve was able to swing by or if he came home to sleep for the night. Your worry about what they were up to was a constant, leading you to shed a few tears as you got yourself into bed early that evening, holding Steve's pillow close as you tried to fall asleep on his side. The scent of his body wash and shampoo lingered on the sheets and pillow case, the smells comforting and helping trick your mind into feeling a sense of security as you slept alone in the massive house.

Sleep was apparently out of the cards for the night, because not even an hour after you attempted to fall asleep, you heard a loud and sharp knock on the front door that startled you out of the little cat nap you found yourself in. With your heart racing, you grabbed your robe off of the hook in the closet, wrapping it around yourself before making your way toward the front door as the knock sounded off again. "Coming!" you called at the door as you shuffled toward it, yawning and rubbing your eyes on the way.

When you approached the door, you looked out the peep hole. the sight before you only making your heart race even faster. It was a police offer accompanied by one of the military personnel. Were they here to tell you something terrible had happened to Steve? What about Dustin? If they were here about him, then what happened to your mom?

The raising of a fist to knock again pulled you out of those thoughts, finally turning the doorknob to open it right before his knuckles could make contact with the wood. You tried to hide the shaking in your voice as you sent the two men a tight smile before asking, "How may I help you?"

The police officer had a grim look on his face as he asked, "You work at the elementary school, correct?"

"That's correct, yes."

"Well…we're gonna need a familiar face to help round up some kids," he said, the statement making your eyebrows furrow in confusion.

The military officer piggybacked quickly, adding, "We've gotten some intel that leads us to believe that kids ages nine to ten need to have some additional protection over the next few days. We're rounding them up and bringing them to the military barracks so we can keep an eye on them. We just think it would be easier on the kids to have a familiar face talking to them instead of us."

"O-oh, uh, sure! Can I have a minute to get dressed?"

"Make it quick," the police officer said with a nod, both of them turning and walking back down the sidewalk for the time being.

After you shut the door, you began panicking. The military had to do with the gate in the middle of downtown and if they thought that kids needed extra protection, you needed to tell the others! Steve had taken away the walkie you had been using, though, so how the hell were you supposed to contact them? Wait! The secret walkie! Steve had stashed one in the closet in case of emergency or if he accidentally busted one during a crawl!

So, with as much speed as you could, you began digging through drawers and feeling around on top of the shelf above the hanging clothes. When your hand hit a familiar feeling device, you breathed a sigh of relief as you tightened your fingers around it. Working quickly, you pulled the antenna up and pressed the button to speak, saying, "Stone Haven to Dungeon Master. To anyone! Do you copy?"

The sound of Joyce's voice cracked through the older radio, saying, "Dungeon Master copies! What's going on, Stone Haven?"

Glancing out the window and seeing the police officer pacing impatiently, you spoke quickly, telling her, "There's military and police at the house right now. They're asking for my help rounding up kids from the school ages nine to ten. Any idea why?"

"W-well, we're kinda doing the same thing, but why would they-?"

"I don't have much time! They're coming to the door again! What do I do?" you asked, putting the radio down to begin pulling on decent clothes.

The radio was jerked from Joyce's hand by Robin, who quickly explained, "The demos are going after kids Vecna's targeting! I don't know why or how the military would know that if they even know it, but that can't be a coincidence!"

The radio stayed active and you heard Joyce's voice say, "Well, then if that's the case she needs to go! She'll be our inside man!"

Frustration and worry crept into Robin's voice as she said, "Yeah, but they're rounding up kids who are being targeted by demogorgons! We can't just-"

A banging on the front door startled you once more, so you made a quick decision, hitting a button on the radio to tell them, "I'm going. Find a way to get those kids out. I'll do what I can to protect them. Over and out!"

After finally pulling a soft cardigan on over a tank top, you eyed the lighter you used to light candles in the bedroom. Remembering the cautionary tales Steve and Hopper had told you about the demogorgons and how hard they were to kill or weaken, you popped into the bathroom and grabbed a can of Steve's hair spray, giving it a shake to see how full it was. Judging by the heaviness and sound of it, it was damn near brand new. He would forgive you for taking it if it meant saving kids from a demogorgon…

On the way out of the bedroom, you grabbed your school bag, shoving the two items into the very bottom before finally opening the front door up again. Sending the officer a wary smile, you shrugged the bag toward him a bit, saying, "Sorry, I just needed to find my work bag. Has all sorts of stuff to keep the kids entertained. Still gotta do some grading, too."

"Clock's ticking. Get in the bus. We're heading out now."

"Yes sir…" you mumbled, walking toward the bus.

When you stepped onto the vehicle, you were met with the kind eyes of Ms. Harris, who was sitting in the first row of seats. She gave you a small smile, asking, "What a way to end the night, huh?"

"You're tellin' me…" you said, settling your bag onto the floor as the bus pulled away from the curb and began making its way to the first stop.

You were sure it was by design, but after the first stop when Ms. Harris got out and spoke with one of the kids, you realized that the two of you were chosen because between each of you, every student would know either one of you and give you their trust. When the name of one of your students was called over the walkie to the driver, you stood up and made your way off of the bus and to the door of the house. The officers stood on either side of you, just a little further back as you knocked on the door.

When it opened, the tired face of Valerie's dad made its appearance. He sent you a small smile and then a confused look to the officers standing behind you. "What's this about, Miss Henderson?"

"Everything okay, Dad?" Valerie asked from her place on the couch coloring in her activity book. When she saw you, her face lit up and she jumped up from her spot to come greet you. "Miss Henderson! What're you doing here? Who are they?"

You stooped over a bit to be on her level, grabbing her hands in yours as you told her, "These men are gonna take you and your classmates somewhere, okay? They're gonna take us all to somewhere safe. They just wanna watch over you and your friends and classmates for a little while. I'll be there with you."

Her dad was first to speak, asking protectively, "And if I say no?"

"I'm afraid that's not an option, sir," the military officer told him. "We're under direct orders to bring in every child ages nine to ten years old for their safety. I can't give any more details."

With a sigh, her dad finally nodded, saying, "Fine, fine." He turned and grabbed her backpack, throwing a change of clothes and some snacks in before returning. As you stood back to your full height and took Valerie by the hand to take her to the bus, he said, "Thank you for being here. She'll be less scared with you there."

"It's no problem at all," you told him with a soft smile.

As the two of you followed the military officers to the bus, you quietly reminded Valerie, "Remember the lessons from our books about being brave? We've gotta follow those now. Even if we're scared."

"Are you scared, Miss Henderson?" she asked.

With a nod, you were truthful to the young girl, telling her, "Yeah. I am. But I have to be brave so the rest of you aren't as scared. We just gotta stick together."

"We'll be brave together," she said with a nod and a smile. She saw some of her friends already on the bus when the two of you emerged into the vehicle and she made her way to them, a smile on her face that you could tell was fake, but she had taken your words to heart. As you watched her talk quietly with her friends, you had a feeling that you would have to have the talk about being brave on more than one occasion before the night was over.

After about eight hours being cooped up in the barracks, even you were starting to get restless. The chaos of kids around you didn't bother you as much as the inability to even go outside to get some fresh air. Every time you even brought up the idea to the private at the door, he shut it down as soon as it left your mouth. So, instead, you busied yourself by playing games with the kids.

Once a particularly energetic round of tag was over, you took a breather in the corner where you had stowed your bag, pulling out a bottle of water and taking a long drink from it. When you turned your head back down to look out at the barracks, you jumped when suddenly Derek Turnbow was practically right in your face. "Whoa! Geez! Hi, Derek! How can I help you? Need any snacks or anything? Water? Coloring supplies?"

His tone was urgent as he said, "We don't have much time! I need you to listen close! This message is from Dungeon Master. There are eleven kids being targeted by Vecna - I'm one of them - who've all been seeing him as a man named Mr. Whatsit or Henry. He's sending demos after them. The party is gonna use the tunnels to get us out. When I give you the signal, the plan starts. You distract, I send kids to be extracted. Got it? Good. Bye!"

Just as quickly as he appeared, he disappeared, shouting, "Tag! Miss Henderson's it!"

As you got back up from your sitting position, the officer by the door shot you a sympathetic look that you shrugged at before jogging off after a fleeing kid. The game was a good distraction for a few minutes as you tried to process everything you were just told. There was so much risk involved, so many moving parts, and so many lives on the line with how many kids were being targeted!

You tried to think through how they were going to pull off this crazy escape plan and began thinking of how you would keep the officers from noticing kids going missing… Your thoughts were interrupted by the small group of girls from your class who you had talked with previously about their imaginary friend - who you now knew was the monster that attacked and damn near killed you… You couldn't believe he would target such little kids, each so innocent and blissfully unaware of the nature of their new "friend."

Swallowing the lump forming in your throat, you forced a smile onto your lips as you said, "Hey girls! What can I do for you?"

Debbie was the first to speak, quietly asking, "You remember Mr. Whatsit?"

Pushing back the disgust and fear you usually had when talking about the monster, you nodded, keeping your voice warm as you said, "I do. He's you girls' imaginary friend, right?"

"Right," Debbie said, her eyes flicking to the ground for a moment. Her voice remained timid as she said, "Remember how we told you that he said he would get us to safety? How he had a plan to take us away from the military and the helicopters?"

You had to fight off a wave of nausea that washed over you when she said this, realizing as you remembered the conversation that if they had been talking with him in class a few days ago, that Vecna had been in your classroom. Your safe space for the kids. The place where you encouraged them to be themselves. Where you encouraged their friendship with him. Had he been there listening that whole time? God, you despised the idea…

Snapping your mind back to the situation at hand, you nodded, telling her, "I remember."

Valerie's voice rang out next, telling you, "Well, Derek told us that he knows Mr. Whatsit's plan on how he's gonna get us out of here. I dunno if I believe him…"

Rebecca nodded, saying, "Yeah! Why would Derek know Mr. Whatsit? Why would he give him of all people the plan?"

Knowing what was at stake here, you had to let your feelings about Vecna go for a few seconds, telling the girls, "Well, maybe Mr. Whatsit could only tell one person because he didn't want to get in trouble. He didn't want any of you to get in trouble! He has to work carefully."

"But it's Derek!" Rebecca said, a pout on her lips as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I know, honey, and I know Derek is a bully, but maybe he was chosen by Mr. Whatsit for a reason, yeah?" You snapped your fingers like you had come up with an ingenious idea, adding, "Maybe it's a test from him! Seeing how much you trust him! If you trust him enough, you'll see past your differences with Derek and get to safety!"

A smile made its way back to Debbie's face as she nodded, telling you, "Maybe you're right!"

Valerie nodded, too, telling the girls, "We just gotta be brave. Stick together. Get to safety."

"Together," Rebecca said with a nod and a smile, the girls walking back toward the little corner they had set up for the day.

It was evening before Derek gave you the first signal to head to the bathroom as he began gathering kids to send in one by one. You went in after a little girl from your class named Ashley, sending her a warm smile as the two of you passed each other. The sound of shovels hitting the plywood beneath your feet was loud, making you cringe each time it hit. You kept your eye on the door, though, because holy hell was the sound loud to your anxious mind. You were afraid the officers in the barracks could hear it, even over the sound of screaming kids who somehow still had energy.

When the floor finally busted open, you crouched down to be more level with whoever was going to come through. When a goggled Lucas poked his head through, he sent you a smile as he said, "Howdy. Crazy seeing you here."

"Oh, hush, Sinclair," you said, rolling your eyes as you helped him break the splintering wood off so the kids could get through easier. "So, what exactly is the plan here?"

"Get the kids through here, we'll take them through the tunnels, then to Murray's truck. We've got a secondary location to take 'em to til we figure all of this out."

"Got it," you said with a firm nod.

He looked back, telling you, "Mrs. Byers is signaling for the first kid!"

So, you waited for the door to open, giving Debbie a warm smile when she appeared, crouching down as you told her, "Okay, sweetie. I just met with one of Mr. Whatsit's helpers! He's gonna help you down through that hole in the floor. You'll meet some other, really nice and really brave helpers of Mr. Whatsit's. You gotta listen to everything they tell you, okay?"

"Okay…" she said, glancing over to the gaping hole in the floor.

You gave her a quick hug, telling her, "You're so brave. Keep it up."

Things were going well getting the kids down into the tunnels. Until they weren't. As you helped usher Rebecca down the ladder, a pipe in the bathroom burst! "Uh, guys, need a little help here!" you called down into the tunnel as water began flooding the floor.

"Coming!" Mike called back, quickly climbing up the ladder to see what the damage was.

"Shit!" he whispered, ushering Will up the ladder before the two of them began trying to stop the water from spewing further.

"Is there not an emergency shut off!?" you whispered sharply as the door opened to reveal Joshua, who slipped on the water coming in. You had to catch him before he fell, giving him the same speech you did to the others before sending him down to Lucas.

Right as the door closed, you saw Ashley's curious eyes looking toward the restroom. Seeing all the water beginning to seep out from the room and knowing that sometimes Ashley's curiosity got the better of her, you made the split second decision to head out of the bathroom. Right before the young girl could reach the door, you swept into her path, crouching down and saying, "Hey! I was really impressed with your last art project over the book we read! I was just wondering if you could tell me more about how you made it!"

"Oh, sure! It was so much fun!" she said, her face lighting up as you stood and she began leading you to her bunk, where she had her notebook and school supplies.

As Ashley pulled out her notebook, water began leaking out of the bathroom at an even faster rate… You gave it a side eye as the girl began talking, but as your back was turned, you didn't even notice the military officer begin to make his way toward the bathroom to investigate the leak. Luckily, Derek did, shouting a desperate, "Run!" directed at the targeted kids who were left in the barracks.

From there, all Hell broke loose.

Gone were the delighted screams of kids playing, replaced by screams of terror as the military men began trying to break into the bathroom that was now being held closed by Mike, Will, and Derek. Your attention was torn away from Ashley as Valerie pulled on the hem of your shirt, tears streaking down her face as she cried, "I didn't go! I let him down!"

"Hey, hey, hey, hey! It's okay, honey!" you assured her, bending over to pull her into a hug. You held her head close as you said, "Just stay with me for now, okay? We'll find another way to Mr. Whatsit."

"B-but I- He- We aren't-!" she babbled, sobbing into your shoulder.

"Let's just take some deep breaths, okay?" you asked as you held her at arm's length and tried to get her to follow your breathing pattern. She began to try, but was distracted by the military officers breaking into the bathroom finally and shouting at the occupants. "Hey, eyes on me," you said in a firm, yet warm tone. "Just breathe. In and out. Smell your favorite flowers. Blow out your birthday candles. Just like that!"

In the middle of you calming the young girl down, a group of people started to be taken from the bathroom, their shouts igniting more chaotic screams from the kids in the barracks. You pulled Valerie close as they were marched by, the group consisting of Joyce, Mike, Will, Derek, and one of the other girls from Ms. Harris' class: Mary. As they passed, Joyce sent you a look that said everything it needed to without words: protect the kids.

So, that was what you needed to do.

Once the group was outside and Ms. Harris started the effort to calm everyone down, you held Valerie at arm's length again as you said, "Valerie, this is very important for me to know: do you know who else has seen Mr. Whatsit?"

"Well, there's Debbie and-"

You shook your head, gently cutting her off as you said, "No, sweetie, I mean who in this room right now has seen him. I know Derek was talking to everyone. I need to know who else besides you there is."

The little girl thought hard, trying to remember the day's events, her eyebrows furrowed as she combed through the memories. Her face finally lit up about thirty seconds later, beginning to look around to find the faces she was missing. Her face fell, though, as she whispered, "Th-they're not here! I-I'm the only one who didn't-!"

"Hey, hey! It's okay, sweetie!" you said gently. "You were scared. You have every right to be scared. That's okay. I promise." Right as you said that, though, the lights in the barracks began to flicker. Shit… You didn't have time to even think before you heard a deep rumbling, followed by feeling the ground shake, your footing becoming uneven where you stood.

You felt like the room was spinning around you as you tried to process everything and make a decision on just what the hell to do to save these kids. To save Valerie. The door to the bathroom was being guarded by a military member and it would be suicide to just run out of the barracks with her…

So, as you heard the screeching of the monsters outside, you froze. These were vicious, blood-thirsty monsters of the Upside Down that have been known to kill men in one swipe. They showed no mercy. And they had their eyes set on the little girl under your care because you were the only one who knew what was coming… As you thought about that was when you heard it: demogorgons, and lots of them. For every screech, there was the sound of gunfire and screaming, and you could only imagine what the hell was going on outside.

You felt completely and utterly screwed.

As that fear and emotion began welling up in your chest, an all-too familiar voice popped into your head, the deep timbre just as haunting as the first time you heard it. It was Vecna, saying, "You're just as weak as before… You let fear control you. You'll never be able to save that little girl from my pets. See you in your nightmares… That is, if you survive."

After the voice left your head, you let out a ragged breath, holding yourself up against the bunk bed as a sense of doom began creeping up your spine. A terrified shriek of your name brought you back to reality, your eyes flicking to Valerie, who had taken shelter under the bed you were leaning against. When your eyes locked with hers, you remembered the conversation you had with her on the way to the bus the night before. The conversation about bravery.

The conversation reminded you of something you heard Dustin say a long time ago: that you inspired him to be brave. That you teaching him to play D&D helped him embrace who he was and to be brave, even in the face of bullies. So, maybe even in all of his anger, Dustin was right. Maybe you just needed to follow your own goddamn advice.

As the words rang through your head, you called out to Ms. Harris, "We don't need them under these things, we need to make a barricade!"

"W-what!?" she shouted as she protected another child's head as they were ushered under the bunk bed.

"Just do it!" you shouted, going to an empty bunk and shoving it over. Months of strengthening in physical therapy had finally brought you back to a semblance of your former strength, using every bit of it to shove over the first bunk bed to use to form the barrier. The kids and Ms. Harris saw the determination in your eyes as you worked and began following suit, toppling over bunks and creating an almost sculpture-like arrangement of beds, the legs and ladders stacked and intertwined to give little pockets for each child to hide in. At the center of the structure was you, your work bag at your feet, your lighter in your left hand, and Steve's hairspray in your right.

All was quiet in the room as the kids held their breaths in anticipation for what could come. Every little noise had you on edge, straining your ears to listen for the sound of fighting getting closer. For anything that could point to a demogorgon getting closer. Even with your vigilance, you had no such luxury. Without so much as a warning scratch, the flimsy metal that formed the top of the barracks was torn through and a demogorgon crashed in from the air, landing right in front of the door guard!

"Son of a-" the man shouted, barely even able to get two shots from his gun off before he was clawed down and left to fester in his own blood on the ground.

The sound of screaming kids and gunfire from the officer at the back of the room was immediate, but so was your ignition of the lighter. With a determination in your eyes, you began spraying the Farrah Fawcett hairspray, the mist igniting midair when it met the flame of the lighter and setting fire to the creature! As it screeched, you screamed, willing it to die and leave the poor kids alone.

There would be none such luck, though…

Even though the hairspray lit the thing on fire and pained it, the makeshift flamethrower was nowhere near as strong as it needed to be to take down a fully-grown demogorgon. So, with another rallying screech, the beast powered through the spray of fire, its razor-sharp claws coming down on your arm, crossing onto your chest as you began to cower away from the impact.

The pain was blinding, lighting up your entire body as you hit the floor, the lighter and hairspray clattering on the cement in time with you. Every breath was painful, the torn skin feeling white-hot with every expansion of your lungs. You could breathe, though. That was good. You tried to move your arm but barely managed it as it, too, lit up in pain. Against your will, a scream of agony tore from your chest, along with a sob due to the excruciating pain you were in. The pain was all you could feel, blood all you could smell, ringing all you could hear.

That was until you heard your name being screamed in terror. By Valerie. You snapped your eyes open and saw her being dragged away by one of the hulking creatures, reaching out for you and screaming for help. You tried to get to her, you did, but the second you tried to prop yourself up with your left arm to stand, a fresh wave of pain overtook your body. With a shout of agony and of the little girl's name, you collapsed back onto the ground. The last thing you saw before losing consciousness was her pulled into a nasty looking red portal you could only assume would take her to the Upside Down…

a/n: uh oh... i promise happier times are coming! we just have to get through a bit more angst! god, just imagine KNOWING that the monster that had tried and damn near succeeded in killing you was RIGHT there and you just couldn't see it!! TERRIFYING!! and then having to justify what he was telling them just so they can potentially survive?? insane...

i hope you all enjoyed! likes, comments, and re-blogs are greatly appreciated! i love hearing from you guys! until next time! xo! <3

"Bastard…" you mumbled as you began making your way to your bedroom to change out of your scrubs for the evening. Once you were in your pajamas, you came out of your room, sighing before saying, "I just don't get how people can ignore that the guy was imprisoned for racketeering and elect him mayor!"

"Yeah, not to mention all the murder…" she sighed. "But people wanted change, so that's what they voted for…"

"You still planning on trying to prove it?" you asked, referring to her comment on the one murder you knew was on her mind - because it was on yours, too.

She shrugged, staring up at the ceiling as she replied, "I mean, obviously I want to, but…"

"But nothing! You're BB fucking Urich! Since when have you ever given up on telling a story that needs to be told?"

BB said your name as she sent you a look that showed her emotional exhaustion on full display. "It's been twelve years. If the FBI couldn't find anything or prove that he killed Uncle Ben, how the hell am I supposed to?"

"Put the investigative part of your title to use, that's how," you told her, settling onto your side of the couch with a groan. Your shift had been taxing on your body and the unit was, of course, understaffed, so everyone was helping each other out when it came to patient care. As your tight muscles started to loosen, you said, "Don't get old, kid…"

BB laughed and lightly hit you with a throw pillow, saying, "I'm only a few months younger than you, you ass."

You stuck your tongue out at her teasingly before reaching out your hand and making a come here motion to signal her to give you her phone. "What? Why?" she asked, her eyebrows furrowed as she angled the screen toward you.

"Just let me look at what you're seeing that's making you such a black cloud right now. I didn't have time to get on my phone at work today, so I have no clue what happened," you explained, settling closer to her on the plush couch.

"It's just a stupid video of Fisk getting out of his car and ordering a construction team to fill a hole in the road. Then he gave some speech about how he promised to 'get things done' when he was elected…" she told you as she hit play on the video taken from a bystander's cell phone.

"Hashtag Fisk can fix it…" you mumbled while rolling your eyes and shaking your head. As you watched the video loop again, you pointed to someone standing to the side of Fisk, asking, "Who's that?"

"The lady? That's Sheila Rivera. She's worked the political scene for years. Think Ben knew her once upon a time…"

"No, no, the young guy. Looks around our age," you told her, zooming in on the guy in question.

"I…dunno, but I'm sure I can find out. Why?"

"Well, what did Ben always say about following any lead you can?" you asked, reaching back into your memories of when the two of you would sit around Ben's office at The Bulletin when the two of you were out of school and your families couldn't afford daycare.

"What are you implying?" she asked, narrowing her eyes as she looked at you. She gave you that look you had seen more times than you could count since you were young, the one she gave you when she could tell you were formulating a plan founded on lofty goals and aspirations alone, rather than solid evidence and proof that it would work.

"I'm just saying, we get in with Mr. Pale and Mysterious and you might be able to weasel your way into information you need to expose Fisk's bullshit for what it really is: a move to grab more power for his own personal gain. That's how it always is with guys like him."

"We?" BB asked, eyeing you incredulously.

"Yes, we!" you told her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "Think about it! It's way too obvious if you with the famous blog try to get in with him. But if I hook him, we hang out a time or two and I mention that my best friend is a reporter who would love to get an interview with the Mayor. If the cards are played right, you get the beat on all things Fisk and maybe we can get inside information from Mr. Yet To Be Named, to maybe be called Baby Fisk!"

"Okay, I will be finding out this guy's name immediately so you can stop coming up with nicknames for him…" BB said with a laugh as she gently shoved you off of her. As she typed away on her phone, she asked off-handedly, "By the way, just how do you think you're gonna do this, Miss ICU nurse? When do you have enough days off to help me figure out who this guy is, find out where he hangs out, who he hangs out with, and then chat him up?"

"I'll have you know that sometimes Kaci is generous and I happen to have damn near a week straight off, starting tonight!" you replied smugly, leaning back and cradling your head in your hands.

"How the hell did you manage that?"

"Work the front half of the week this week and the back half of next week. Makes travel easy. That way, if shit hits the fan, I have PTO to fall back on. You just gotta be smarter than the system!"

"It sounds like you're not letting this go, huh?" she asked, rolling her eyes playfully as she scrolled through another search that got her closer to the guy in the video's identity.

"Nope!" you replied, popping the 'p' before laughing quietly. "Mom may have practically forced me out of being a journalist, but I'll never forget everything Ben taught us or what I've seen him do to chase a story and reveal the truth. If there's even a chance that we can help get Fisk out of office, I'm more than willing to take it."

BB stopped scrolling for a second when she finally landed on what she was looking for. Instead of revealing the information, her voice was quiet and reflective as she said, "It could be dangerous. You know that, right?"

"I know," you replied solemnly. You squeezed her shoulder gently as you added with a small smile, "That's why I want us to do this together. You and me against the world. Just like it's always been."

"You and me against the world," BB agreed, a smile finally making its way onto her lips as she nodded once. Right when she finished saying that, a timer started going off in the kitchen and it finally brought your attention to the delicious smell of food lingering in the air of the apartment. As you went to stand to retrieve the food from the oven, you heard BB say, "Daniel Blake."

"Sorry?" you asked, pausing as you passed through the kitchen's threshold.

"The guy. His name's Daniel Blake. Looks like he's working on the communications team for Fisk," she replied.

"You're amazing, BB," you said, pointing finger guns at her as you continued into the kitchen before dinner burnt. Your voice carried through the kitchen and into the living room as you said, "Now all you need to do is-"

"He hangs out at this one club in Midtown a lot it looks like," she interrupted, the smirk audible in her voice as she told you the information.

"What's the name? It sounds like I need to go shopping," you said with a quiet laugh as you placed the baking sheet onto a cooling rack. "Operation Infiltrate the Fisk Administration is a go!"

a/n: and here we go! i've got a lot up my sleeve for this one! it definitely is a little self-indulgent fic that i just wanted to write, but i hope it's enjoyable for you guys! (i say as i'm sure the daniel blake fandom is quite small, but he's my blorbo and i love hiiiimmmm)

anyway! likes, comments, and re-blogs are appreciated! until next time! xo! <3

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

"Sorry, Clint," came the thick Russian accent of Natasha's sister, Yelena. "I tried to keep them distracted, but they saw the jet coming in and wanted to see it." In her arms was an awkwardly held newborn Nathaniel, who she lightly bounced as she said teasingly, "They thought it was cooler than the jet I used, which I beg to differ because I obviously got here faster."

"It was still fun, though, Auntie Lena!" Lila said as she climbed into Clint's arms to give him an even bigger hug.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what in the hell is going on right now?" Tony asked, a look of pure confusion on his face as he took in the scene in front of him. "Dad? Auntie Lena? Who is this person and why does she have a jet nearly as fast as mine?"

"Cat's outta the bag, I guess," Clint said as he ruffled Cooper's hair. "Guys, these are my kids. Cooper here's the oldest, then we've got Lila, and that little guy over here is Nathaniel."

"Named after yours truly," Natasha said as she held out her arms to take the baby from Yelena. She gently hip checked the blonde before saying, "And this is my sister Yelena. We grew up in the Red Room together."

"And Laura-" Clint started to say, but stopped when his phone began to ring. "Hey babe, what's-?"

"Get Barnes here, now," came Laura's voice through the phone, her tone even but with an obvious underlying urgency.

The line went dead a second later, prompting Clint to instead finish the sentence with, "Is telling us to get our asses to the med bay."

Without a word, Bucky dropped his mission gear on the floor and began hustling to the med bay with Steve and Clint hot on his heels. When they got to your room, there was a very controlled kind of chaos happening. Beth and Sara were working with Quinn to gather supplies while Laura stood behind the head of your bed, massaging your shoulders gently. There was a panicked look on your face as you held your swollen belly, your breathing labored and quick as rational thoughts left your mind altogether.

"Hey, hey, hey, I'm right here," Bucky said as he approached your bedside, taking one of your hands in his right and placing a kiss to the back of it. "I'm here now," he told you, grabbing your attention and getting your eyes to lock with his blue ones.

"You're just in time," Beth said with a quiet laugh, her gown being tied in the back by Sara.

"You're gonna do great," Laura told you as she took her hands off of you and went to stand beside Clint, who wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head.

"Thank you for coming," Clint murmured into her hair, a small and ever-love-struck smile on his lips.

"So, this is the infamous husband, huh?" you managed to get out as your racing thoughts began to clear up with Bucky by your side.

"Hope you kept the stories to a minimum," Clint said, a quiet chuckle rumbling out of his chest.

"Oh, I told all of them, mister," Laura said, laughing as she leaned into his side.

"Hate to break up the conversation, guys," came Beth's voice from the foot of the bed, "but baby girl's head is just about ready to come out!"

When he heard those words, Bucky froze. This moment was months in the making. Over that time, he had many conversations with you, with Steve, with Rebecca, and even his therapist about what life would be like when your baby girl arrived. He had made plans and dreamed about what it would be like, and read what felt like every single book he could find on the subject of parenthood. Yet, as the moment crashed into him, he felt like a deer in headlights as every negative thought he had ever had surrounding the subject of being a father bombarded him.

What brought him out of this moment of pause was Steve's strong hand clapping him on the back. The ringing in his ears cleared up just in time to hear his best friend say, "You're ready for this, Buck."

With this bit of assurance, Bucky focused in, his attention on you again. He returned your smile before asking, "You ready?"

"I-I dunno…" you admitted, your own fears and doubts creeping into the back of your mind as more pressure built where the numbness had taken over your lower half.

"Whatever happens, it's you and me," he said firmly, in hopes that it would help trick both of your minds into being a little more confident about the situation.

"And her," you said, your voice wavering a little as a smile made its way onto your lips.

"That's right," he replied.

By then, Steve, Laura, and Clint had cleared out of the room, leaving just the medical team and the two of you as the impending moment inched closer. With a less crowded room and more clear minds for all parties, Beth sent you a warm smile before saying, "When you feel the urge, you just push, okay? I'll coach you through it. We've been preparing for this. You've got it!"

And so it began.

Offering out his left hand for you to squeeze to your heart's content, Bucky was steadfast by your side as more pressure built and built and queued you to push. Bucky kissed your hands, occasionally ran the cool metal of his left hand over your warm skin, and spoke encouraging words the whole time you were pushing. Then came the relief of the pressure and the cry of a baby!

"Oh my God…" you whispered, relief flooding your entire being as you leaned back into the soft pillow behind you. You swallowed hard through your tight throat, tears cascading down your cheeks as you were handed the baby after she was cleaned a little by Sara. When she was placed on the skin of your chest that was exposed for this purpose, an emotional smile made its way onto your lips, and your voice wavered as you whispered, "Hi…"

Bucky looked on in awe at the sight before him, the tiny baby settling down instantly the moment she came into contact with your warm skin. A few tears escaped his eyes before the biggest smile made its way onto his lips, leaning over to kiss the top of your head. His shaking hand gently touched the soft skin of her back before he murmured, "She's perfect…"

"Winnifred. Winnie…" you whispered, leaning into Bucky as much as you could from your position.

Bucky's mouth opened in shock for a moment, unsure how to respond when he heard the whispered name. Her name had been up in the air for months since you found out you were having a girl. You struggled to come up with a name that would fit, scared of choosing the wrong one and making her hate you years down the road. Bucky's mother's name had come up a few times, but you had never fully settled on it. Until now. All Bucky could do in his emotional state was give you a firm kiss to the top of your head, his tears coming in faster as everything hit him.

The blissful feeling of happiness only lasted a few more minutes after Winnifred was assessed and handed back to the two of you. It ended as Beth scrunched her eyebrows and asked, "Why isn't it stopping?"

"What's not stopping?" Sara asked, the conversation now piquing both of your interests.

When you looked up from your baby, the movement of your head made the room spin as dizziness took over. A firm pressure from Beth was placed on your abdomen as she massaged the top of your uterus, telling Sara, "The bleeding. She isn't contracting back."

"B-bleeding?" you asked, your voice breathy and shaking with the rest of your body. "No, no, no I can't be- This can't be- I-"

As your panic began to set in, Winnie began fussing on your chest, her little grunts of discontent earning her a rub on the back from Bucky as he asked, "What's going on?"

Despite the situation, Beth was calm as she told him, "Typically, after birth, the uterus contracts back to roughly its normal size which helps stop bleeding. Hers just...isn't… I'm pretty sure I've gotten all the clots out and she still isn't contracting…" She was quiet for a moment before saying to Sara, "Get a bag of Pitocin. We'll see if that works."

"Yes ma'am," she replied, rushing to the other side of the room to rifle through a drawer for all the supplies she needed. "Could it be that she just doesn't have any tone because of how hard the baby kicked?" she asked, throwing out the first idea that came to mind given the situation.

"Could be…" Beth replied thoughtfully. "This might hurt a little, I'm sorry," she told you before applying more pressure to your abdomen as she continued to attempt to push any clots out or else firm up the organ.

Your groan of pain only served to upset your baby girl even more, her little noises now beginning to turn into cries. A strange, instinctual feeling took over his body, and Bucky picked up the little wrapped bundle and began attempting to soothe her, a slight bounce from his knees doing the trick as he figured out how to hold her with one arm and hold your hand with the other.

The next few minutes felt agonizingly slow as the medicine flooded your system. The bleeding started to slow and Beth let out a sigh of relief, before panic filled her eyes when the bleeding started up again, worse than before. By then, you were beginning to feel the effects of the blood loss, barely able to keep your eyes open as you whispered, "I'm scared Buck…"

"What else can you do?" Bucky asked urgently, his voice firm yet wavering as he recalled the vision you had described to him that night you were taken from the Tower.

"This should be working…" Beth whispered, her mind racing with other possibilities of what could be happening. "First things first, we need blood. Sara, get the supplies for a mass transfusion. Now. That should buy us time to figure this out."

Without a moment's hesitation, Bucky said, "Use mine."

"Use- Bucky. We don't know-" Beth began to say, but didn't get to finish as he stood his ground.

"Our blood types are compatible. If we-"

"But the Serum!"

"Could help her body fight this!" Bucky told her, trying not to raise his voice. "Please…" he whispered, his emotions breaking his voice finally, "I can't lose her."

"Bruce is gonna kill me…" Beth whispered, her eyes closing as a sharp breath left her nose. "Fine. Do it! Make it quick! One unit of Bucky's and the rest regular! Go!"

"Stay with me, Doll," Bucky said as he settled back down into the chair beside your bed, resting Winnie back on your chest. The little girl snuggled into your warmth as Bucky added, "You gotta hold on. I've got you. Just keep those eyes open."

"You're…you're giving…me your blood?" you asked weakly, trying to keep your mind engaged in the world rather than fading away into the black threatening to take over your vision.

"Feels kinda poetic, huh?" he asked, a huff of a laugh passing his lips.

"It does, doesn't it?" you asked, your eyes closing for a moment as the memory of the first time you met flashed behind your eyes.

"Hey, keep lookin' at me," Bucky said, the tenor of his voice calling you back from the darkness that had tried to take over for a moment.

"You ready?" came Quinn's voice as they began quickly setting up the transfusion equipment at your bedside. Your nod was all they needed to start, using the IV not infusing the Pitocin to begin the transfusion.

It felt like there was a vacuum in the room that stole everyone's breath as they waited to see what would happen once the Serum-saturated blood hit your system. After a few seconds, your face contorted in pain, a scream being held in so you wouldn't scare the baby resting peacefully on your chest in spite of everything going on. "I'm gonna stop it…" Quinn said when they saw the pain wracking your body.

"Wait!" Beth called from her position on the other side of the bed, her hands still massaging at your fundus. "I think it's working…"

"Here," Bucky said, giving you his left hand once again to squeeze. He kissed your temple as he did, once again muttering assurances into your hair to keep you motivated.

The searing pain in your upper half only lasted a minute longer before it was taken over by a different type of pain and soreness in the lower half of your body. "Ah, fuck! What happened to the epidural?" you asked, your head thudding back onto the pillow.

"What do you…?" Beth asked before her eyes widened. "I…I-I see."

"Yeah, bad effect of the Serum is that most meds don't work because they're metabolized so fast," Bucky said, wiping away a tear that fell from your eye.

"But…it's working!" Beth said, relief flooding her body as she finally felt the familiar firming of your uterus under her touch.

"Good…" you whispered, relief evident in your voice as you relaxed into the pillow. You brought a hand up to cradle Winnie as you began to feel yourself perking up, the feeling of fear that had taken over your mind beginning to subside. "Thank you, Buck…"

"Anything for you," he replied, a kiss on your forehead punctuating the statement before he rested his head next to yours. His eyes closed for a moment and tears dripped down his cheeks as his mind attempted to process everything that had happened in the last few hours.

"How are you feeling?" Bucky asked as he brought you a cup of water.

"I feel…really good, actually," you replied honestly. A quiet laugh left your lips and slightly jostled Winnifred as you said in a loving tone, "Now that this one's made her way Earth-side, I feel a lot better. Not to mention…" you didn't finish the sentence, your eyebrows simply raising as you implied the blood transfusion that by now you knew had changed your body's chemistry just slightly.

"Right," Bucky said, settling down into the chair beside the other bed in the room that was more comfortable for recovery. "How's that feeling?"

"For the joke's sake, I'll say that I'm pissed the pain medication isn't working, but also I know that I would be way worse off without the Serum's effects," you replied. "There's some lingering soreness, but other than that, I feel fine. What are we gonna tell Steve?"

"He already knows…" Bucky told you earnestly, lacing his fingers in yours. "Told him while you were napping. Couldn't keep something like that from him. Not when it had to happen to save your life."

"And before you ask, no, I'm not angry about it," came Steve's voice as he approached the bed, having heard the conversation through the door as he and Natasha made their way to the room to meet the latest member of the family. "I think it was the right call in the moment. Think I would've made the same one given the circumstances."

There were a few moments of silence after the statement that were filled by Winnifred waking up from the little nap she had fallen into and making what you could only describe as the cutest noises you had ever heard. As she opened her eyes and looked up at you, you smiled at her before asking quietly, "You wanna meet your god parents? They've been waiting a long time to finally see you!"

Bucky took the little swaddled bundle from your arms, holding her in a way so she could face Steve and Natasha as they gathered around to meet her. "She's so perfect," Steve murmured as he looked at the little baby, staring in awe as he noticed features from both of you in her little face.

"And strong as hell," Natasha said, a quiet laugh passing her lips as she shook out her finger that Winnie had squeezed when she inevitably escaped the swaddle as Bucky held her.

"Yeah, I'm starting to think that getting things she isn't supposed to have when she starts grabbing stuff is gonna be an issue," you said, causing everyone to laugh.

Through the course of their visit, the air seemed to lighten as the conversation flowed and filled with talk about hopes for the future and what sorts of family adventures life would take you on. Seeing as it was, now, the mid hours of the morning, and you were completely famished, a nice brunch was requested from the kitchen staff. Before you knew it, Antonio was bringing in a nice spread of your favorite brunch foods, complete with a set of donuts that you had craved throughout your pregnancy.

Soon, Steve and Natasha left, leaving you once more time to be alone together as a family. Throughout the day as you recovered, you were visited by nearly everyone you were close to in the compound. You were showered with love, praise, and well-wishes as guests came and went, all of the words causing you to become very emotional as you thought about how truly grateful you were for the support system you had gained over the last couple of years.

Your last visitor of the day was Rebecca. When she walked in, she was holding a blanket, and on her face was an emotional look. She made her way over to wrap her arms around her brother, emotions obvious in her voice as she said, "Congratulations, big brother."

"Thanks, Becca," he replied, his own voice thick with emotion that he attempted to hide by muffling his voice in her shoulder.

"Wanna meet Aunt Becca?" you asked in a quiet voice to Winnie, who was stirring awake with the conversation around her.

"Have you washed your hands?" Bucky asked immediately as his sister reached for the baby.

"This isn't my first rodeo, Buck," she told him in a teasing tone, "but for your peace of mind, I'll do it again."

After she had washed her hands and picked up the little bundle of blanket, you asked, "Did he tell you what we named her?" When she shook her head as she expertly rocked the baby, you told her, "Winifred Barnes. After your mother."

A tear fell from her eye when she heard the name, and a smile made its way onto her lips as she said, "She would be happy to hear that."

The next half hour flew by as the three of you chatted in hushed voices, the time filled with more advice and care-taking knowledge, and stories of when her children were this little. By the time she left, she had taught you to swaddle Winnie just right in the blanket that she had made. By some miracle, this swaddle lasted way longer than when you had done it before.

When it was just the two of you again, Bucky chuckled and said, "You know…it's weird having my little sister giving me this advice. I always pictured it the other way around."

"Well, par for the course of our lives, it's just another thing we gotta take as it comes," you said sleepily, your voice slightly distorted by a yawn forcing its way out of your lungs. As you drifted off to sleep, you grabbed Bucky's hand and mumbled, "Thank you for being here for me. For all of this."

"Wouldn't trade it for the world, Doll," he replied, gently kissing the back of your hand before sitting back to relax into his own chair.

As you snuggled into Bucky's arms that night when you were back in your own bed, you couldn't stop your mind from thinking about everything you had gone through over the last year. Truth be told, while you were living it, everything had felt like a blur. You were living day to day, trying to grapple with the facts of the reality you had found yourself in. Sure, you had a lot of hard talks and gone through a lot of challenges during that time, but in the moments of quiet in Bucky's arms, you finally got to process all of it.

It was during this quiet moment that you thought back to what you learned after being taken by Commander Walsh. You thought about how you had made it your goal to support Bucky into embracing life as it came - not trying to control it, but to be in control of his own actions and reactions to the circumstances that life gave him. But then it dawned on you… He truly had been doing it all along, ever since he met you and started to regain control of his life.

You smiled to yourself as you leaned more into his strong and familiar embrace, thinking about every single time that Bucky had started to come into his own since the two of you met back in DC. This man, who lived in the fear of being out of control, and who lived a life that was defined by lack of control over many situations, truly had learned the lesson you had that day when you were taken. The one thing in this life you can control is yourself. This was a luxury that, for decades, Bucky didn't have, and it wasn't lost upon him how blessed he was to be in his current situation.

So, as you dozed off with a content smile on your lips, Bucky closed his eyes and thanked his lucky stars for the chance he had to have met you.

a/n: and there it is! you guys know i had to throw one last angsty piece in here before the story ended! i never planned on it in the beginning, but the transfusion of bucky's blood was destined from the very beginning, even if i didn't know it at the time. the subject of it just kept coming up, and it all culminated in that moment to save Reader's life. poetic. i love when bits of these little stories write themselves! we've got two more installments of this little love letter to Bucky Barnes, and i just can't wait to show you all what they have to offer!

oh also! yes! i have changed more canon things and made Nat and Yelena close and able to connect! fill in the blanks however you'd like for the little cameo, but this was just such a fun little tidbit to add!

as always, i hope you all enjoyed! likes, comments, and re-blogs are greatly appreciated! until next time! xo! <3

As the three girls nodded, you huffed out a quiet laugh to yourself. Kids' imaginations were so fascinating. It never ceased to amaze you what all they could come up with. The first time you heard of a mention of an imaginary friend from Valerie, she was ashamed of it. She told you that her mom said she was too old for imaginary friends. You did your best to turn her thinking around about it, though. After all, who were your D&D characters if not imaginary friends? So, you helped her accept her imaginary friend so she would be less lonely. It was your job to help bolster their creativity and story telling skills, so who were you to shut her down?

Your thoughts were interrupted by the clearing of a throat. Turning around to the source of the noise, you saw Lucas closing your classroom door as he entered, gesturing for you to keep your voice down. You nodded before asking in a quiet voice, "What's up?"

"I heard Diana on the radio on my way over," he said, his eyes widening to indicate that he meant more than the words he was saying.

"Oh, really? I didn't think Robin played her this early," you said vaguely as he reached into your pen holder and quickly scribbled down some numbers and letters that would only make sense to the party involved in crawls.

"Me neither, but she did today," he said as he shoved the paper in your hand before heading out, giving you a two-finger salute on the way. When you were alone again, you studied the paper. Why was the military moving into the Upside Down so much earlier than they usually did? Why-

"Hey!" The cheery voice broke through your thoughts, causing you to fold up the piece of paper as you made eye contact with Ms. Harris, who was now standing in your classroom's doorway. A smile remained on her face as she said, "Just a reminder that final grades for report cards are due tomorrow! Second to last six weeks is one of the most important ones so the kids know what they need to focus on!"

"Right! Of course," you told her, giving her as warm a smile as you always did, even though now you were having an internal battle about what your focus would need to be on that night: the crawl or grades.

"You're awesome!" she told you before walking back across the hall to her own classroom, shutting the door to get some privacy while she graded.

You tried doing the same, doing your best to keep your head down and get through grading as many assignments as you could before it was time to meet Steve out front. Because you were so focused on the grading, you forgot to even glance up at the clock, time slipping by way faster than you realized in your grading frenzy. What startled you out of the focus was Steve's voice saying, "Hey! I was gettin' worried 'bout you out there. Everything okay?"

"Huh?" you asked, blinking hard at him as you tried to refocus your eyes, the words from the pages stuck in your vision for the moment. Finally glancing at the clock, you whispered a sharp, "Shit! I didn't realize what time it was! I'm so sorry!"

"Hey, it's okay, hun," he said as he sat on the corner of your desk. "Get caught up grading?"

You moved quickly, gathering up all of the papers and grading pens and folders before shoving them into your work bag as you told him, "Trying. I got so focused trying to finish because of what plans we've got tonight that I lost track of time."

"You almost done?" he asked, snatching the bag from your chair and hauling it over his shoulder.

No matter how many times he did that, you never got over how sweet it was that Steve always carried your bags… Shaking the thought from your head, you told him honestly, "No… I got behind the last couple of weeks and now I gotta play catch up. Grades are due tomorrow, and if I don't get them in then I'm toast! But I also don't wanna miss…" You cut yourself off, giving a cordial smile to another passing teacher before continuing in an even quieter voice, "-our plans for the night. I just-"

"Hey," Steve said, his voice soothing as he took your hand in his and kissed the back of it as the two of you walked into the crisp November air. "If you gotta miss, you gotta miss. You've got work stuff."

As you settled into the passenger seat of the Beamer, you asked, "What if I did both?"

"How so?" Steve asked as he threw the car into drive, his hand steadfastly on your thigh as it always was when he drove.

"What if I mapped at the house? The only difference between doing it at the station and at the house is location. That way, I can grade papers in peace and quiet while I wait to hear from Hop. By the time he's in, I should hopefully be done and will be able to focus on mapping!"

Steve drummed his thumb on the steering wheel as he thought, his tongue poking out of the side of his mouth as he weighed the options. Finally settling on something, he said, "The only thing I can think of that would make anyone wary of you doing that is the fact that the maps won't be locked up in the station. You know how Nancy is about the possibility of the military finding us out."

"Well, then, if that happens, I'll toss it all in the fireplace. That's how I get rid of papers I don't need from work anyways, so it's not like it'd look totally suspicious if they saw something burning in there," you told him.

"I mean, works for me," he said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Let's run by the station to get the mapping stuff and a walkie, then I'll get you back to the house."

"Thank you…" you said graciously, closing your eyes as you leaned your head onto the seat's head rest. All you needed to do was focus on finishing up grades and then you'd be solely focused on the crawl.

In the end, the whole evening was a complete and utter chaotic mess that only made your anxiety worse… Everything that could have gone wrong did.

Dustin hadn't shown up for the crawl and that already had you on edge, because he never missed crawls - even if he was being moody. You tried to focus through your whirling thoughts but they made everything a more slow-going process, so you were still behind on grading by the time Hopper entered the Upside Down. Then when the convoy he was in was attacked, the group lost communication with him. To make matters even worse, a demogorgon attacked the Wheeler house. It severely injured Mr. and Mrs. Wheeler and Holly was taken… And the cherry on top of it all was the van losing power, thus losing track of Hopper wherever the hell he was in the Upside Down.

It was a perfect storm of everything going wrong and you felt like absolute shit that you weren't out there doing more to help. You tried honing in your focus on grading until you could do something, but the progress was minimal, and even though you could see the pile of work getting smaller, you felt almost no motivation to keep going. As if he could read your mind, Steve's voice radioed over the walkie, saying, "Caravan to Stone Haven. You copy?"

Scrambling to grab the radio, you hit the button to reply, saying, "I copy! Everything okay out there? Anything I need to do? Anything I can do?"

"You're fine just where you are," he replied. You were able to hear the soft smile in his voice as he said, "Just wanted to check in on ya."

"Just worried about everyone…"

"I know, but we've got the van back up, and we're gonna-" Steve cut himself off before he whispered, "You've got to be shitting me…"

"What? What's going on?" you asked urgently, your heart instantly climbing into your throat when you heard his tone.

"Well, we found Dustin," he replied. "He looks like shit, but…"

The urgency didn't leave your voice as you asked in quick succession, "Looks like shit? What d'you mean looks like shit? Is he okay?"

"If by okay you mean alive, then yeah," Steve replied as Jonathan got out of the van and made his way over to Dustin to help him load his bike into the back. When Dustin climbed into the van, soreness obvious in his movements, Steve asked, "What the hell happened to you?"

"I fell off my bike," Dustin replied, not making eye contact with Steve as he pulled his seat belt on.

"Right. Fell off your bike and got those injuries. Believable," Steve said, ending the statement with a scoff. As he stepped out of the van to disconnect the jumper cables from the other vehicle that stopped to help them out, he hit the button on the walkie and told you, "Dustin says he fell off his bike. Looks more like he was beat to shit if you're asking me… Gimme a few seconds to get the hood closed and you can say something to him if you want."

"Yeah…" you replied, sighing deeply as you threw your pen down, rubbing your temples with your fingertips when both hands were free. After you had massaged the building tension headache away for the moment, you took a deep and shaking breath as you said simply, "Hey Dustin. I'm glad you found your way to Steve. And I'm glad you're okay. I love you."

Dustin didn't respond. Frankly, you didn't expect him to, but at least this way, you knew he heard your message. You slumped back into the couch cushions and started up at the ceiling as tears pricked the backs of your eyes. Even if you expected Dustin not to respond, that didn't make it hurt any less… It had been a year and a half since he had said more than a few hostile sentences to you. You had tried talking with him about the tech he had designed to communicate in the Upside Down, how awesome it was that he built something that could track there while still being in the Rightside Up, but you were met with cold stares and even colder shoulders. You hated it. Steve told you over and over again that you had every right to hate your brother, but you couldn't even bring yourself to take it that far. You hated what he was doing, you hated the coldness, you hated the silence, you hated the whole damn situation, but you could never hate him.

After a few painfully silent moments, Steve's voice came over the walkie once more, telling you, "Stay home, okay? We'll deal with all the shit out here. Watch out for danger and if you see anything, you radio, okay? I'll be there when I can."

"Promise," you told him, trying to keep the shaking out of your voice. "If you guys need to swing by for something to snack on in the van, I've still got some Bopper cookies."

"We'll see. Thanks, honey," Steve said, putting the walkie down as he began to pull the van back onto the road to start driving again.

Jonathan rolled his eyes teasingly as he said, "You two are disgustingly smitten…"

"Yeah, well, when you find the right one…" he said, drumming his thumbs on the steering wheel as he drove.

"Oh yeah, and when did you know she was the right one?" Dustin sassed as he began wiping away blood from his nose. "Was it the day I sent you to distract her or when you drove me to the Snow Ball? Huh?"

"Oh, cut the crap, Henderson!" Steve said, rolling his eyes at the boy's questions. "It doesn't matter when we got together! But if you're so concerned, maybe if you'd actually, I dunno, talk with your sister, you'd get an answer and an explanation!"

"I'm not talking to her!" He picked off a particularly stuck on piece of dry blood that made his eyes water, blinking the instinctual tears away as he muttered, "You just keep her in that house of yours away from all the big bad monsters and she'll be just fine…"

"Hey now! I-"

At that point, Jonathan had had enough, pulling the headphones for the tracker off and snapping at the two of them, "Enough! Just…stop! There's enough shit going on that we don't need to add more drama to! Can you two just cool it for once?" When he was met with muttered replies from both of them, he put the headphones back on as he said, "We just need to focus on finding Hopper and bringing Holly back…"

That caught Dustin's attention, his head snapping toward Jonathan as he asked, "What did you just say?"

Steve was the one to respond, running one hand through his hair before resting his elbow on the window sill, keeping the van steady with the other hand as he told Dustin, "You missed a lot while you were out falling off your bike."

"I don't know why you don't believe me, Steve! I got distracted and-"

"Guys!" Jonathan shouted again in an attempt to stop the bickering before it got as bad as it usually did.

The next few hours passed in a bleary blur of not finding Hopper… When the sun finally began to rise, Steve drove the van back to the radio station, shaking his head in defeat when he made eye contact with Robin on the way in. When everyone got into the station, Robin and Will filled the rest of the group in on what they had found out: that Derek Turnbow was the next target.

With his arms crossed as he leaned against the couch, Steve asked, "Derek? Derek Turnbow? As in the Turnbow family? Turnbow Realty?"

"The one and only…" Robin confirmed.

Lucas sighed and said, "The whole family's a menace…"

Nancy turned to Will, who stood at the head of the group, asking, "How can you be sure? Sure that Derek's the next target?"

"Because I saw," he urged, his voice portraying his desperation to be believed. In an effort to explain himself further, he said, "I've learned that when I'm close enough to the hive mind, I can tap into it. Into Vecna's mind. I can see who he's targeting. The first time it happened, I saw through Holly's eyes, on the same day she was taken. Then…this morning it happened again. Only this time, I wasn't Holly. I was someone else. I was Derek Turnbow. I'm positive!"

Steve massaged his temples as he said, "Hold on, I'm a little lost."

"Shocking…" Dustin muttered, widening his eyes sarcastically.

Steve ignored his comment, asking Will, "Were you seeing through the eyes of…of Vecna or Derek?"

"Both?" Will asked. Realizing that it wasn't a good enough answer, he elaborated with, "I was Vecna but I was…inside Derek's mind."

Trying to help him out, Robin chimed in, saying, "Vecna's like a…a psychic serial killer. We know how he works: he stalks his victims, but he does it by invading their minds. That's what he did with Chrissy and Max and…"

"Yeah, don't gotta remind me…" Steve mumbled, staring up at the ceiling and taking a deep breath as the image of you on the floor that fateful night flashed through his mind.

"It's different this time, though," Nancy pointed out. All eyes were on her as she informed the group, "We did some digging at the hospital. Turns out, before he took Holly, Vecna stalked her. Only he…didn't appear as Vecna. He appeared as Henry. As a friend."

Mike nodded, saying, "We think he was trying to earn her trust. Why he went through all that trouble, we don't know, but I highly doubt his long-term goal is friendship."

Finding his voice again, Will said, "Well, whatever it is, whatever he's planning, we have to stop him. And we have to have Derek."

A lofty silence filled the air as everyone thought through possible starting ideas. The silence was broken by Lucas snapping his fingers and saying your name excitedly. "She teaches at the elementary school! Surely she'd be able to get a hold of the kid and bring him to us, right?"

Mike nodded, saying, "Yeah! All she'd have to do is-"

"What the hell are you- No!" Steve shouted in an exasperated tone, throwing his hands up in the air.

"Come on, Steve! We've gotta save this kid before he ends up like Holly!" Mike pleaded.

"And I'm sure we can figure out a way to do it that doesn't have to do with getting a teacher involved in a kidnapping scheme! You realize how insane that is, right? She'd lose her job!"

With the night's events still fresh on his mind, Dustin was the first to smart off, saying, "Oh yeah, because Little Miss Perfect can't be involved, as per usual. She gets to stay tucked away in her classroom while people's lives are on the line!"

"So that's what this is about, huh? How I quote-unquote don't let your sister get involved with these things as much as everyone else?" Steve asked, glaring daggers into the younger boy as he did. His voice was slightly raised as he said, "Because last time I checked, it was you who came up with that idea! And look what not telling her got her! Possessed by Vecna and in the hospital for four months! But now that I don't want her involved because she's finally happy and safe again, I'm the asshole? Someone make it make sense!"

Dustin didn't back down in his anger, nearly shouting, "I'm just saying! As someone who talks a big game about bravery and putting yourself out there for what's right and helping others, she sure hasn't been super brave in the last eighteen months since we started doing these things!"

"You know what, you little-" Steve started to say, pushing himself off of the couch and heading toward the younger boy.

"Enough!" Nancy shouted, her voice stopping Steve's advance toward Dustin. "Arguing isn't helping! We need to focus! We don't have time! Now, are we getting her in on this or what?"

"No," Steve said firmly, glaring hard at Dustin.

"Then we come up with another way. We're wasting time. Time that my sister might not have…" she finished with, standing up and heading toward the projector to fish out a map of Hawkins to begin formulating a plan.

a/n: you guys, this was dramaaaaaa... plotting out all of the arguments and such was so fun, honestly, and i just can't wait for you all to see the sibling side of the reconciliation Steve and Dustin have! totally worth the wait and the many chapters of tense sibling relations!

i hope you all enjoyed! as always likes, comments, and re-blogs are greatly appreciated! i love hearing from you guys! until next time! xo!

"Someone's here!" the man shouted, and as he did, the sound of dozens of distressed chickens filled your ears as a second man pulled a lever that released all of them from their cages!

"Shit!" Sam shouted, running after the two men as they made a break for it, both with large bags hauled over their shoulders.

It took some expert ducking and dodging, but the two of you managed to subdue the two men! Before making your own getaway through a back door where you had a car waiting, you grabbed the bags off of their unconscious and tied up bodies. As a final farewell to the no-good-doers, you tossed a bit of chicken feed near them and watched with a laugh as the chickens began surrounding them. By the time you and Sam got back into the car, with him in the driver's seat ready to peel off before the cops showed up, you were laughing so hard that you had tears rolling down your cheeks!

Placing your game controller down on the couch beside you, you wiped away your tears and massaged your cheeks, that, at this point were sore from laughing and smiling so much. "I didn't know GTA was this fun," you commented once you were through the worst of the giggling fit.

"It's a good way to distract yourself," he told you, his focus on the screen as he navigated the car away from the scene, keeping clear of any police in the area. Off-handedly, he added, "Sorry Bucky had to go out on a mission so close to your due date."

"It's okay," you told him before taking a sip of water from the cup you had on the side table nearby. As you placed it down, you said, "They're working on getting the guy who took over once Walsh stepped away from being a Commander in Afghanistan. It's important. I get it."

"Excited to get some more charges against that bastard?" Sam asked, drifting the car into your characters' shared warehouse where you stored all your cars and money.

"Show off…" you muttered, a smile teasing your lips as you began moving yourself from the couch to your wheelchair to go grab something to snack on. "I don't know if excited is the right word for it. I'll be happy when he finally gets his sentence, though. I know he's being held up in the military prison until the trial, but… It doesn't feel official yet."

"Don't worry, he's gonna go away for a long time," Sam assured you for what felt like the millionth time.

In the middle of shifting your hips from the couch to the wheelchair, you felt a warm gush between your thighs, followed by a dampness that began to slowly soak your leggings. "Shit…" you breathed, all of the air leaving your lungs as you roughly fell into the seat of your chair.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked, his eyes tearing away from the screen when he heard your tone.

"I… My water just broke…" you whispered, a slight tremble in your hands and voice as your head began to spin with anxious thoughts.

"Shit…!" Sam whispered sharply, throwing his controller down on the couch and jumping up to grab the handles of your wheelchair. As he began wheeling you toward the med bay, he stuttered out, "Do you have a bag or something? Sarah had a bag! Is Beth here? Shit, we need to call Bucky! What about-?"

"Sam!" you said, voice slightly louder than his. After you said this, a tight pressure shot through your abdomen that you now realized was different than the kicks you usually got. When he quieted down for a moment, you blew out a breath before telling him, "Let's just start with getting me to the med bay and getting Bucky here. Please."

"Right!" he said, pushing you through the halls quicker. His thoughts still raced, though, and he made a mental check list of what he thought he may need to do once the two of you got to the med bay. Of course this would happen on the one day when practically no one else was at the compound! The mission at hand was a very important one that many members of the Avengers were sent out on - Tony, Clint, Steve, Natasha, Wanda, and Pietro were all out, leaving just him, Bruce, and Rhodey at the Compound, with Thor off-world once again.

As Sam approached the med bay, he dialed the desk's phone, telling Quinn urgently, "Open up, we're coming in hot!"

Jumping up from their post at the desk where they had been documenting, Quinn followed the order quickly, opening up the door as Sam pushed you through and began wheeling you toward the room Tony had designated as yours once he had all the latest in birthing technology installed in the room. "What's going on?"

"Water broke! Baby's coming!" Sam told them urgently.

"Shawn? A little help?" Quinn called toward the supply room, quickly walking to keep up with Sam's rapid pace toward the room.

The three of them worked together to help you out of the wheelchair, but as they did, another contraction hit, causing you to double over as you held onto your abdomen and groaned in pain. Quinn held you tight, their feet planted firmly on the ground and their arms under yours, their voice close to your ear as they said, "You're fine. I'm right here. You're not going down. Breathe through it and then we'll get you in bed."

Their voice was soothing despite the chaos unraveling around you, so you nodded, taking a deep breath and blowing it out slowly. The pain subsided with the breath, and when you were able to stand a little straighter, the three of them got you into the bed. Once you were settled, Quinn gave Shawn a list of supplies to grab before telling Sam, "We need Beth here. I know what to do in an emergency, but I think we'd all prefer for her to be here…"

"I'll get Bruce on the line. He'll be able to get a hold of her quicker," Sam said in turn, about to walk away with Quinn to make the call, but he was stopped when you grabbed his forearm to prevent him from walking away. "What's up?" he asked immediately, concern in his eyes as he turned his attention back toward you.

"Please don't go. I…I don't wanna be alone…" you said quietly, a tear falling down your cheek as your mind flashed to the vision Wanda gave you that day in the Tower.

"You got it," Sam said firmly, pulling the stool nearby closer to the bedside before giving your hand a light squeeze of assurance that he wasn't going anywhere. Quinn came back a few moments later with a gown for you to change into, and Sam turned his back as he began dialing Bruce. He finally picked up on the fourth ring, and before he could say anything in greeting, Sam blurted, "The baby's coming! We need Beth!"

"O-oh! Okay! I-" The phone's speaker left his mouth, and his voice was slightly quieter in Sam's ear as he said, "Beth! We gotta go! Baby's coming!" There was a few seconds of silence as Bruce flagged down their waitress, telling her, "Hey, I'm sorry, but we gotta go! The bread was great!"

Sam chuckled, pressing the phone to his chest as he told you, "Sounds like your little girl's stopping Banner from gettin' some lovin' tonight."

You couldn't help the laugh that fell past your lips, calling out in hopes that Bruce would hear you, "Sorry for interrupting dinner!"

By this time, Sam had turned the phone on speaker, and you could hear Beth's slightly breathless voice saying, "Don't worry about it! We're about forty-five minutes away! I think Sara can make it in twenty if she speeds! Stark's got the police around there in his pocket, doesn't he?"

"That's not how he likes to word it, but yes," Bruce said as the pair of them hustled out of the restaurant and to Beth's car.

"Everyone be safe! We'll see you soon," Sam said before ending the call. "Okay, now Bucky…" Sam muttered as he began tapping away at his phone to get remote access to the secure coms system.

It took a few minutes, but once he was in, you could hear the chaos of an intense firefight on the other side of the open com link system shared between members of the team. Of course, JARVIS notified Tony immediately of the presence of a remote access point, so he said into the system, "Whoever just accessed the coms system better have a damn good-" A grunt of pain interrupted his sentence as a blast from a turret knocked into his armor, and the rest of his sentence was slightly clipped as he said, "You better have a damn good reason!"

Judging by the background sounds, you didn't want to immediately reveal why Sam had called, worried that it would compromise the team's, and mostly Bucky's, attention and safety. There was no time to warn Sam of this worry, though, before he was blurting out, "Yeah, I think a baby coming warrants an emergency call!"

"W-what?" you heard Bucky's shocked voice breathe out. "She- She isn't due for another week and a half, what-?"

"Well, baby decided to come early!" Sam interrupted. "I may be Uncle of the Year five years running, but I have no idea what the hell to do in this situation!"

"Watch out!" came Pietro's voice through the coms, running towards Bucky and shoving him out of the way of flying debris that had been knocked loose during HYDRA's retaliation against the team.

Another contraction hit you and you tried to keep your groan of pain quiet as Sam continued on, quickly spilling his thoughts as he said, "Is there a bag you two have ready for this? What about a carrier? Is there anything you need from the nursery for this? What about something comforting for her? I don't know what-"

Clint's voice broke through the coms next, telling him, "Calm down!" He sighed before saying, "Nat, get Laura there. I don't care how, just do it."

"Laura? Who's Laura?" Tony asked in quick succession.

"Doesn't matter," Clint replied, an arrow going straight into a flying bogey he had spotted nearby.

"Does, too!" Tony retorted.

Natasha was next to speak, snapping at Tony, "Now isn't the time to be arguing about who Laura is! What she can do is provide support that none of us can from where we're at right now!" No one spoke in the moments following, leaving Natasha time to finish with, "Now! What we need to do is finish this mission and get outta here!"

"God, I love when you take charge," Steve said with a quiet chuckle.

This comment earned a disgusted, "Ew, gross. We do not need to be hearing about your kinks right now, Spangles," from Tony.

A furious blush ignited on Steve's cheeks, and he couldn't even come up with anything else to say before Natasha said, "Focus, you two!"

"Right," Steve said. He cleared his throat before telling the team, "We've got 'em on the ropes. All we've gotta do is take down this final wall of gunners and we've got him. Once he's secure, then we're home free. Bucky, do I need to change you and Clint's positions?"

"No," Bucky told him firmly, using the sight on his weapon to target one of the gunners, sending a stunning round into him from his sniper's position.

"Good," Steve said as he watched the man go down. "Then the mission continues on as planned. Let's make this quick," Steve said before he got to work laying into the melee fighters coming at him.

Sam looked like he was about to hang up, so you took a shaking breath and called out, "Be safe guys! Especially you, Buck. I need you back safe."

"You got it, Doll," he replied, and even though the slight digital modulation, you could hear the emotion in his voice.

"How far apart are your contractions?" came the breathless voice of Sara, Beth's nurse practitioner and study assistant as she ran through the doors of the room you were in.

"Like…five to ten minutes? Somewhere in there?" you asked.

"Then we've got time!" she said with relief in her voice as she threw on some gloves.

Sam hadn't had time to hang up before the intrusion, and you heard Tony, say, "You heard the woman! We've got time! We'll get you home in time to catch that baby, Robo-Cop!"

You laughed quietly and rolled your eyes at Tony's nickname for Bucky, signaling for Sam to cut off the system before you distracted the team any more than they already were. Sara took a moment to examine you before nodding and saying, "Okay. Yes. We have time. You're at about five centimeters. Still a little while before baby comes!"

"That's a relief…" you said, finally able to relax a little knowing that she wasn't already halfway out while Bucky was halfway across the world…

"Remind me, are we doing meds?" Sara asked as she discarded her gloves.

"God, yes," you told her, your eyes snapping open in shock at the thought of doing this without medication. You'd gone through a lot in your life, dealing with more pain than the average person will ever endure, but quite frankly, you were done with the pain that had come out of this pregnancy.

Sara laughed quietly before nodding, telling Quinn what supplies and medications to grab to be ready for when Beth arrived.

By the time the door to your room was sliding open again, you had gone through two more contractions, each more intense than the last. You finished having one as the door shut and you had tears rolling down your cheeks as you let go of Sam's hand that you had a death grip on only moments before. "I can take it from here," came an unfamiliar voice that was nothing short of soothing.

While Beth began calling out orders for Sara and Quinn to follow, you were met with the gentle hands of a woman you had never seen before. She helped you sit on the side of the bed and sent you a warm smile before telling you, "Hey. I'm Laura. Clint and Nat sent me to step in - help you get through this 'til they can get back."

"Hi, Laura," you said breathlessly as you clutched the side of the bed while Beth prepared your back for the epidural. "I'm assuming you know a lot more about this than Sam?"

Laura laughed quietly, nodding before telling you, "Just went through it myself not too long ago."

"Okay, now lean forward," Beth told you.

"I've gotcha, I'm right here," Laura said, opening her arms for you to lean into before rubbing the upper portion of your back. You cringed when you felt the sharp poke of the needle pierce your skin, but breathed through it and just listened to Laura's voice as she attempted to distract you, saying, "You know, this isn't as bad as my husband made it out to be. He nearly fainted for two of the three I got for our kids."

You couldn't help but laugh, sitting up when Beth told you to as you said, "He not used to the medical stuff?"

A slight look of mischief crossed Laura's features before she laughed and said, "He's mostly on the receiving end of things, not watching it happen to others."

"Ready for the medicine?" Sara asked as Quinn and Laura got you settled back into the bed.

You nodded your response as you shifted around to find a comfortable spot on the bed. When you finally settled into a spot and focused back on your body, your mouth popped open in shock, a small gasp of air coming into your lungs as you froze in place. "Everything okay?" Laura asked, concern evident in her voice as she took in your facial expression.

"Y-yeah, I…" you breathed, unable to form a coherent sentence for a few moments. A fresh wave of tears cascaded out of your eyes as you relaxed into the bed, a sigh of relief heaving out of your chest before you said blissfully, "There's no pain." Ever since the baby had started kicking, you were damn near constantly in pain either from being actively kicked or from your body recovering from the extremely strong kicks. Those, combined with Braxton-Hicks contractions once they had started left you feeling absolutely miserable most of the time.

But now…there was nothing. No pain. No soreness. Just…numbness.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Laura asked as she pulled up a chair to sit beside your bed.

"Absolutely…" you replied, a yawn ending the sentence that you covered up with your arm.

"If you're feeling tired, you might as well take a nap now before the hard part starts," Laura told you. "I didn't with my last one, and when I tell you I was crabby afterward…"

You laughed lightly when she said this, your eyelids becoming heavier by the second as your body relaxed as much as it could. "Tell me about them," you murmured, nestling into the comfortable pillow behind your head.

"The kids? Oh, they're great!" Laura replied brightly, her voice quiet so she wouldn't disturb your peace. "Nathaniel, he's the newborn, is the sweetest. He's the best baby! Sleeps through the night, eats when I eat, I really couldn't ask for any better of a postpartum experience! His aunt is always video chatting when she isn't busy, and he's fascinated by the phone! His dad, bless him, is as busy as his aunt, but we make it work."

The soothing sound of Laura's voice talking about her kids lulled you to sleep soon after, the sleep so restful you were even able to ignore the pressure that came with the next contraction that hit you. As you slept over the next hour or so, Sam snuck back into the room, draping a soft weighted blanket over you that you had taken to over the last few months. "Can I get you anything?" Sam asked, his voice quiet as he lingered near the door, outside of which Sara and Beth were going over their notes from the course of the pregnancy.

"I'm good, thanks," Laura replied. Flashing a look toward her phone, she said, "You may wanna go play greeting party for the team. They should be landing any minute."

Sam was about to ask how she could have known that, but his attention was grabbed by his phone going off with an alert from Steve, telling him the exact same thing. So, instead of questioning the helpful, yet mysterious woman, Sam just nodded and started making his way to the hangar to greet the team when they landed.

a/n: it's tiiiimmmeee! baby is on the way! i can't wait for you all to meet her! (much like my sister's baby, this little girl is coming a tad early - how crazy would that have been if i had uploaded this chapter that same day, that would have been wild...) also, when i was writing this, i asked my fiance what the most ridiculous GTA missions were and i landed on the one written in the beginning of this chapter! alsoooooo, Laura!!! it was so fun writing the subtle hints throughout the last few chapters leading up to meeting her! buckle up for the last few chapters!

anyways! i hope you all enjoyed! likes, comments, and re-blogs are greatly appreciated! i love hearing from you guys! until next time! xo! <3

While Steve talked to Robin, you finished your drink from lunch and headed off to the bedroom to get dressed for the meeting. You opted for something flattering, yet formal enough for a school meeting regarding a job, colors ever-present in your wardrobe no matter what you were wearing. When you emerged from the bedroom, Steve gave you a low whistle as he took in your outfit. "Stop it…" you mumbled, shying away from the attention by staring down at the ground and messing with the hem of your shirt to do something with your hands.

"I'll never stop reminding you how beautiful you are," Steve told you, bringing your lips up to his in a tender kiss after he made the statement.

"You're the sweetest… Thank you," you told him, relaxing into the embrace he pulled you into. You placed a light kiss on the exposed skin of his neck, saying, "Thank you for everything you do for me. For us. It means the world… I wouldn't have made it through the last few months without you." This statement earned a gentle squeeze from Steve before he pulled away and offered his hand out to you so the two of you could make your way to the car out in the driveway.

When you got to the school parking lot, Ms. Kelly met you at the car, a warm smile on her face as she said, "Hey, you two! Thanks for coming on such short notice!"

"Of course," you replied as you began the process of pulling yourself out of the passenger side of the car. Steve came around to your side of the car, offering his arm for support as you stood, inwardly proud of yourself for the progress you had made in just a month since getting out of rehab. Once you were steady on your feet, you told Ms. Kelly, "It sounded urgent, so we came here as soon as we finished with lunch."

Ms. Kelly attempted to keep her tone light as she said with a quiet laugh, "I'm glad you caught that, because it is."

"May I ask what the meeting's about? Does it have to do with my tutoring position at the school?" you asked as you began following her up the sidewalk, leaving Steve to get the wheelchair out of the trunk in case you needed it.

"In a way," she said, turning the opposite direction of the high school and guiding you toward the Elementary school. "You'll see. I think you'll like our offer," she said, giving your arm a gentle squeeze as the three of you made your way to the smaller building.

Once inside, you were guided through the unfamiliar halls of the school, ones you had only been in a handful of times when Dustin attended there. The final destination of the meeting was the principal's office, decorated with Hawkins school district colors and symbols, as well as some movie memorabilia that would almost rival that of Dustin's collection. Steve stood out in the hall a respectful distance, busying himself with his Walkman while he waited for you to be done.

As you and Ms. Kelly sat down in the office, you came face to face with not only the Elementary School principal, but also Principal Higgins from Hawkins High. The latter sent you the warmest smile he could muster, saying, "It's good to see you, Miss Henderson."

"You, too!" you told him warmly. You turned your attention toward the other man, glancing at his name placard to refresh your brain before saying, "And I don't believe I've met you before. We moved here right before I got into high school and never really came here when Dustin was attending. It's nice to meet you, Principal Hill!"

"It's very nice to meet you, too," he replied, sending you a smile as he leaned forward to give you a handshake. When he sat back in his seat, he said, "Not to be cliche, but you're probably wondering why you were called for this meeting today."

"The thought might have crossed my mind," you told him lightly, keeping your posture straight as you talked with him.

He smiled and huffed out a quiet laugh, telling you, "Well, I'm just gonna cut to the chase. When that earthquake hit and the military started takin' over the town, we lost a lot of valuable employees." He took a pen in his hand and began fidgeting with it as he continued speaking, saying, "Look, I know how smart you are, Jeremy and Marsha have vouched for that even more than your grades did when you were a student. I also know how influential you were last year as a former student advisor over the tutoring program at the high school."

When he paused for a few moments, you smiled and told him, "Thank you, sir. For the accolades." You glanced between Ms. Kelly and Principal Higgins as you added, "Thank all of you."

Principal Hill gave you a smile once more and nodded to a picture he had on his desk. The smile persisted as he said, "I bet you didn't even know you looked after my grandbabies a few years ago. Eliza and Jason."

Your face lit up at the mention of the two kids, your voice bright as you said, "I did! They were great kids! How are they doing now days?"

"They're doing great. Moved with their parents to Montana last year. Just in time before all this craziness happened…" he replied. He looked at you again, his smile returning as he said, "My son said you were always so good with the kids. Fun games, educational activities, teaching them life lessons that they still use to this day. That is what we're looking for!"

Your eyebrows furrowed together when he said this, your words a little slow as you said, "I'm not sure I follow…"

"What I'm getting at," he said as he sat his pen back down in a cup on the desk, "is that I'm desperate for help around here. I need an English teacher for the upcoming school year. I've talked with every suit and uniform and fatigue I was able to and not a single one of them is letting me bring someone from the outside in to teach. So, I'm asking if you would be willing to take on the job."

Shock filled your body at the request, blinking fast and widening your eyes as you processed everything. You finally settled on the statement of, "But I don't have a teaching degree. I haven't gone to school yet so that my brother can when he graduates high school… I was saving up in order to, but then…"

"Then shit hit the fan and the town got shut down," Principal Higgins said, breaking his silence with the snarky, yet truthful, remark.

"For a lack of better a better term, yes," you replied. You voice was quiet as you said, "Not to mention hospital and rehab bills… I've been using my savings to pay that off…"

Principal Hill nodded solemnly, saying, "Yes, I heard about your hospitalization from Marsha. And I'm very glad to see you doing so well for yourself in the aftermath." He leaned forward in his chair and folded his hands together, telling you, "And I understand that you don't have the formal education for it, but desperate times call for desperate measures. We'll give you training over the next month until the school year starts and you'll practically be buddy-teaching with Ms. Harris for the year. You'll do the same course curriculum, so you'll have someone to ask questions to if you get lost. But I have a feeling you'll catch on quickly and do just fine!"

Ms. Kelly's warm voice spoke next, soothing your racing heart as she said, "You've always been one to rise above challenges. I know that you'll do amazing in this role. That's why I came up with the idea."

You nodded as you thought through everything you were being told, your eyes glued to the wood of the desk as you did. After a few moments of thought, a wide smile broke out onto your face as you said, "I accept!"

"Hallelujah!" Principal Hill cheered, jumping up from his chair in his excitement. When the others stood as well, you did, too, sticking your hand out to shake his. The handshake was firm and his smile was wide as he said, "Welcome to the team, Miss Henderson!"

"I can't wait to get started!"

"What the hell, Steve! You can't just say that!" That was Robin, chastising Steve for some comment he made that you barely heard over your thoughts as you graded your class's latest reading comprehension test on one of the couches in the radio station affectionately named The Squawk.

"What? Now I can't compliment my girlfriend?" he countered, rolling his eyes as he fixed his hair that was a slight mess from just having been in a radio headset.

"Not like that!" she shouted exasperatedly. She massaged her temples and shook her head as she muttered, "Gross…"

"All I said was that it's attractive how well she works with kids!" Steve said, plopping himself down on the couch beside you and finally capturing your attention by pulling you in for a quick kiss.

"No! You said it was sexy! You can't just say that!"

"Sure I can," he said, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and pulling you close as some Prince song played in the background. "You've known from the second you saw me looking at her at Scoops that I found her working with kids attractive. Nothing's changed!"

"But Ms. Harris is good with kids and I don't see you calling her sexy! Or Ms. Kelly! She's a counselor, she's gotta be good with kids, and yet! Do you find them sexy?" Robin asked.

"No," Steve said, sending her an incredulous look. "The part that's sexy isn't just the being good with kids, it's the combination of being good with kids, that I'm in love with her, and that every night when I get home from work, I-"

Instead of listening to the rest of the sentence, Robin plugged her ears and shook her head as she shouted, "Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop!"

Steve had an entertained look on his face as he glanced between the flustered looks on both your faces. With just a look, he dared Robin to say anything else, but she didn't want to entertain the conversation anymore, so she dismissively waved her arm at him as she rolled her eyes. "Whatever… You two have three songs to be grossly cute, then we're back on the air, dingus!"

He playfully flipped her off, laughing quietly before pulling you away from your papers and onto his lap. His hands settled on your hips, squeezing lightly as he kissed you. "This seems familiar," you mumbled against his lips, recalling the time the two of you had been surrounded by his finals study material shortly after you first met.

"Too bad there isn't time to take it where it meant to go last time…" he said with a sigh, biting your lip playfully.

You laughed quietly, giving him another kiss before telling him, "I've said this before and I'll say it again…you're insatiable! I mean, not that I mind, of course, but…"

"But I'm sure Murrary's getting weirded out with how many condoms the two of you go through! Like, Jesus Christ, how much sex can two people have!?" Robin asked, unable to help the question flying past her lips as the thought hit her mind.

Steve couldn't help himself from grossing Robin out with details of your love-life, saying sassily, "I mean, if I had my way then we would never use the damn things, but by now we'd already have a baby and another on the way! And that would be improper of me to knock someone up before asking her to-"

The statement and Robin's fake gagging were interrupted when the door to the station slammed against the wall as it was thrown open, the noise quickly followed by Nancy's voice saying, "Get Diana in the queue, I've got information on the next burn! If Murray's intel is right - and it always is - we'll be able to get a whole extra hour in the Upside Down!"

With a confused look on your face, you unceremoniously fell off of Steve's lap, looking between him and Nancy as you asked quietly, "Steve…what's she talking about?"

With a quiet and defeated groan, Steve lulled his head onto the back of the couch, running his hand through his hair as he said in a frustrated tone, "Goddamnit, Nance! She didn't- C'mon!"

Nancy gave him an incredulous look, her arms crossed over her chest as she asked, "She doesn't know?"

Robin's voice was filled with shock as she echoed, "She doesn't know!?"

Steve threw his hands up in the air, his voice slightly raised in frustration as he said, "No! She didn't! And now I'm the asshole! Thanks guys! Cat's out the bag!"

"Oh, dear Lord…" Jonathan muttered, running his hand over his forehead as he walked to the other side of the room to be as far away from the argument as possible.

While Nancy and Steve glared at each other, you finally managed to ask quietly, "Steve, what's she talking about?"

With another sigh, Steve closed his eyes before telling you quietly, "We've been searching the Upside Down for Vecna…" He stared up at the ceiling as he told you everything. "Ever since the military came in and started guarding the gate, we've been combing the place when they go in. It's mostly just Hopper, but I've gone in a few times when he needs the man power. We're able to track whoever goes in topside thanks to Dustin. I drive the tracking van most of the time. Dustin won't say a word to me unless he has to… Robin uses the radio station to tell us when to meet - came up with a code to talk with us without anyone knowing. Nance maps the routes we're taking. Mike and Lucas are our scouts."

Now that was news. Steve hadn't mentioned Vecna in months. He never came home with injuries, so you were none the wiser… When he was out late, you just assumed it was work related, seeing as he would swing by in the radio station van to grab some dinner before heading back out. He had never said anything, but he didn't have to either, the late nights were few and far between enough to not raise any suspicion. But now you felt like an idiot - an oblivious idiot.

While all of those thoughts swirled around your head, you curled into yourself, your eyes glued to the ground as you asked quietly, "What…what happened to no more secrets? No more lies?"

After hearing the defeated tone you spoke in, Jonathan gently grabbed Nancy's forearm as he jerked his head toward the bookshelf that hid the crawl planning room, telling her, "I think we should give them some space…"

While the three disappeared behind the bookshelf, Steve scooted closer to you on the couch, using his thumb to gently wipe away the tears that had started to fall from your eyes. He took a shaking breath before telling you earnestly, "I'm sorry, baby, I really am, I just… I didn't want you getting hurt again. And I know that isn't my decision to make, but… I don't wanna lose you. I can't lose you! These things and what we're after are dangerous… I can't risk you like that."

"And I don't wanna lose you!" you whispered sharply at him, throwing your arms around him as you began full-on crying. Steve's own tears began to fall as he held you, his fists clinging onto the fabric of your shirt tightly. He felt his heart crack when your broken voice barely managed to choke out, "All I want is for you to tell me things… You can tell me things, Steve… Please."

Steve nodded vigorously, his voice thick with emotion as he said, "I know. I know… It was selfish of me to not tell you and to make that decision for you…" He pulled away and kissed your cheek, resting his forehead on yours as he mumbled, "I know that I've said it before, but I really do mean it this time: no more secrets. I'll tell you everything. Especially if it involves the Upside Down. Promise."

You pulled away from the contact, holding out your pinky as you asked, "Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise," Steve said, a huff of a laugh escaping his chest as he linked his pinky in yours.

"Are Mom and Dad done fighting?" came Robin's voice through the hold in the wall.

When Steve looked over and saw her face peeking through, he rolled his eyes as he said, "We're done! You can stop spying now!" When she opened the passageway and tumbled out she was quickly followed by Nancy and Jonathan. This earned an incredulous look, causing Steve to scoff before asking, "Were you all spying? C'mon!"

"We just-" Nancy started to say but faltered.

Jonathan picked up the slack, saying, "-needed to make sure we didn't have to step in!"

"Yeah! That!" Robin said as she made her way to the radio booth. When she got there, she threw on one more record before reaching over to the mounted Diana Ross one she used to inform the others about a Crawl. She gestured for Nancy to approach the booth, saying, "Come on! Diana's up next! Let's see what bullshit I gotta blab about to get the next crawl stuff out!"

"Crawl stuff?" you asked, snuggling into Steve's side when he pulled you close. It was something he always did when you were upset, and the physical contact never failed to melt away your emotions.

Steve nodded as his fingers made their way under your shirt to brush over your skin, telling you, "It's what the kids started calling these missions, I think it's based on-"

"Dungeon crawls. In D&D," you finished for him, a quiet laugh falling from your lips after you finished the sentence.

"Yeah, that," Steve confirmed. For the sake of being honest, he added, "Lucas said that you were always the map maker in Hellfire. Tried to convince me on more than one occasion to let you join us. Dustin shut it down even faster than I could. Not sure if it's because he still doesn't wanna talk to you or because he doesn't want you involved or what, but…"

"Oh," you whispered, the statement causing another sob to climb its way up your throat. You cleared your throat before saying, "I'm sorry things are still tense…"

Steve shrugged, telling you, "You can't help it. We've all tried to get him outta this funk he's in, but no one can get through. He won't let us. It's like he wants to be miserable."

"Oh, Dusty…" you sighed, your heart aching for the younger boy.

Wanting to get your mind off of the bad thoughts, Steve began standing up, pulling you with him as he asked, "Wanna see where the plan crawls?"

"Oh! Uh, sure!" you said, fumbling after him on unsteady feet, your hand firmly in his for support. When he took you behind the bookshelf that hid the passageway to the planning room, you were in awe, a smile on your lips as you said, "This is so D&D. You've got a secret passage and everything!"

"Nerd…" Steve muttered, surprising you with a kiss when the two of you got into the secret space.

"That would be me," you agreed, the words muffled on his lips.

After looking around the space and marveling at the notes and maps they had made of the Upside Down and Hawkins, Steve asked, "Do you wanna be here for the meeting or do you want me to take you home first? I know you've still got lots of tests to grade."

You hummed out in thought as you contemplated the choices, settling on, "I think I still need time to process everything. Maybe I can sit in another time. Those tests aren't gonna grade themselves…"

Steve nodded as he grabbed your hand to begin leading you back through the passageway to take you home. He chuckled before saying, "If you've got an in with Erica's teacher, tell 'em to go easy on her. She was up late the night before helping with a crawl."

"She- Erica was- Steve!" you stuttered out exasperatedly.

"I got her and Lucas home by midnight!" he defended, but this lilt of amusement in his voice was unmistakable.

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that one…" you mumbled with a playful roll of your eyes as you gathered the tests you had on the table in the main area of the radio station.

As the two of you began making your way out of the station, Robin called after Steve, "Hey, dingus! Don't be late!"

Steve dismissively waved, a smirk growing on his lips as he called back, "Don't worry, we'll be quick! See, there's this this I do with my tongue where-"

"Ew! Gross, gross, gross, gross! Stop it!" Robin shouted, covering her ears as Steve started to laugh.

You buried your face in Steve's shoulder bashfully as the two of you walked to the Beamer, your voice muffled as you asked, "Really?"

He kissed the top of your head before saying, "It's harmless." He held open the passenger side door for you, tapping your ass as you got it and telling you, "Plus, I love getting you worked up."

"Tease…" you mumbled as you settled your bag between your feet in the floorboard.

When Steve plopped himself into the driver's seat, he leaned over and kissed you, running his thumb over your cheekbone as he said, "Hey. I love you."

"I love you, too," you replied.

It was moments like this that made you really cherish Steve - when it was just the two of you doing life together. Sure, there would inevitably be fights and bickering over big and small things, but what mattered in the end was that you loved each other. It was something you hoped to never lose.

"Thank you for dinner," Eleven said to you as the two of you stood side by side washing dishes before any of the food got stuck to them.

"Of course, I love cooking for you guys," you told her with a smile as you handed her a dish to dry.

"And the best is yet to come," Steve said, giving you a kiss on the cheek as he paused his walk behind you. In the hand that he didn't use to give you a gentle and loving squeeze, he held a pan of pre-rolled cookie dough balls, the confections ready to go into the pre-heated oven.

"Are those-?" Hopper asked from where he sat at the dining table, his eyes looking up from the papers scattered on the surface.

"Her famous peanut butter Bopper cookies," Steve confirmed for him, an excited lilt to his voice. He opened the oven and put them in, rubbing his hands together as he said, "Twelve minutes 'til Bopper goodness!"

You laughed at his reaction to the treats, asking, "You two really like those cookies, huh?"

"Yes!" Steve and Hopper replied at the same time.

Coming to stand beside you, leaning his back against the counter, Steve said, "I just miss having access to Boppers whenever I want. Murray hasn't brought any in months!" He stole your lips in a kiss before booping your nose and finishing with, "But now, you've created the next best thing!"

"They are really good…" Eleven agreed, a small smile on her face as she dried the last dish you gave to her.

"Well, thank you guys," you said, drying your hands on a new towel that you brought for when you were done with dishes. Once they were dry, you clapped your hands together and asked Eleven, "You ready for school work?"

"Yes," she replied, drying her hands, too, before both of you headed back to the table that was laden with the high school's current curriculum.

"Now, where were we last time?" you asked as you sat down, the question used to not only jog your memory and bring you from elementary school to high school teaching mode, but also to test her retention of the subject material. It was something you had used a lot with Steve and it seemed to work, so you continued using it as a teaching strategy, even with your students at the middle school.

"We were talking about the Civil War. How… President Lincoln did not see the South leaving as real, so they attacked a fort. It was all because the South wanted to keep people as slaves. Right?"

"Right!" you said, beaming at the girl, who gave you a bashful smile back. You were proud of how far Eleven had come since you had started tutoring her, going from the bare bones stuff she had learned in Lenora while trying to avoid bullies, to having favorite books and poems and even moments in history!

It all started one evening when you were in the backyard, testing the buoyancy of something in the pool for field day when you saw a figure limping toward the house, having appeared out of nowhere! After the initial shock wore off, you had realized that it was just Hopper, fresh off of escaping from the military after a crawl.

That was the day you found out that there were tunnels that provided a means of quick escape and secluded connectivity to a majority of Hawkins. After you helped Hopper into the house and got him comfortable on the couch, he told you about how they all came to be. They were tunnels that appeared years before when they were still learning how the Upside Down worked. Once he had them mapped and cleared out, he had started using them as means of travel so he wouldn't be seen going to and from crawls. Some didn't have an ideal escape point, so he had spent time making them how he wanted, building hatches that would blend into the environment so that the untrained eye wouldn't be able to see them.

That night, as you got him some ice packs and cleared off the coffee table so he could elevate his feet, he had noticed your lesson plans. He had asked how you had gotten the teaching position and you had told him, eventually getting to the point of realizing that it was truly what you were passionate about. You loved helping others learn, and you had told him about how good it felt to be the one helping shape these kids futures. That night he had asked that if Mike could get the high school's lesson plans, if you could help teach Eleven.

You had agreed, and that night when Steve got home from the mission debrief, he told you about how Hopper was trying his best to keep Eleven from going into the Upside Down with him. He had set up and elaborate obstacle course for her to train on to get faster and control her powers better, and how this seemed like another way to keep her busy and out of his hair. You didn't mind it, though, and she grew to love the lessons you gave her. She had gone from moody and reluctant to participate, to looking forward to what you had planned for the next time, and it made you so happy to see.

So, now, as the two of you sat at the dining table with the smell of chocolate and peanut butter filling the space, you talked animatedly about the different battles of the Civil War and why each was important to the final outcome. She looked on with rapt attention, her pencil scratching out notes when something caught her attention, knowing that you could, at any moment, call for a pop quiz over the material.

After the cookies were out and cooled off enough, Steve and Hopper sat in the living room to enjoy the confections and talk shop. After their plates were cleared, Hopper took a swig of milk to clear his palate, tilting the glass in your direction as he said, "You found a good one, kid. Make sure you don't let her go."

Steve leaned over and felt around for the false bottom of a nearby side table, pulling out a small box and showing Hopper the shining ring inside, a smile on his lips and warmth in his voice as he said, "I don't plan on it."

Hopper smiled wide before sticking out his hand for Steve to shake as he said, "Good for you, kid! Got a plan to ask, yet?"

Steve shut the box and shook his head, admitting, "I'm not sure, honestly. Dunno if I should just wait 'til we get all this Upside Down bullshit over with or hold out for Dustin to stop being a little prick because I know she'd want him involved in the wedding… And I know my mom would kill me if she wasn't involved somehow, even though they've only met like…twice. There's just a lot to consider."

"You'll figure it out, I know you will," Hopper said, giving Steve a firm squeeze on the shoulder. "Just know that it doesn't matter when it happens, where it happens, or how long you're engaged, as long as the two of you are happy."

"Thanks, Hop," Steve replied, his mind already going back to planning how he wanted to ask - a daydream he had been floating in and out of the whole last week since Murray had delivered the ring. He was determined to make it perfect, something you'd never forget. He would make sure that it was meaningful to you. To him. To both of you. And man, he couldn't wait to spend the rest of his life with you.

a/n: big things happening in this chapter!! for the longest time, i struggled with what sort of job Reader would have, but in the end by the circumstance of quarantine and for plot reasons to be revealed later, i settled on teacher! (god, Eddie is rolling in his grave over this lmao) lots of setup for good and for tragedy later on who said that???

anyways! likes, comments, and re-blogs are greatly appreciated! i love hearing from you guys! until next time! xo! <3

The younger woman wore a tired look on her face, a soft smile on her lips in greeting as you said quietly, "Hey."

"Hey," she replied, just as softly.

"How're you holding up?" you asked, now having a little more knowledge on what happened after talking with Steve about it in the aftermath of your breakdown.

A humorless scoff left Wanda's lips before she replied, "Well, I was good until the debrief when they told me that I could have died if I had been in that room… It makes you think…"

"Tell me about it…" you said with a nod. A heavy silence filled the air for a few moments that neither you nor Wanda knew how to fill before you finally asked, "Can… Can I, uh…ask a favor?"

"Hm?" Wanda hummed as she leaned against her doorframe, unsure of where exactly to look in light of the slightly awkward situation.

You cleared your throat a bit before asking, "You, uh…can look into people's minds with your powers, right? That's how you…" saw my fears and gave me that nightmare? You paused, changing direction, instead finishing with, "That's how your powers work, yeah?"

"That's a part of it, yeah," she replied, her eyes darting up to your face, now noticing that your eyes were averted toward your hands that were toying with the belt of your robe anxiously.

In response, you nodded, the movement in your hands stopping for a moment as you asked hesitantly, "Do you think you could…use them on Bucky? I…I just wanna know that he's still in there."

"I can do that," Wanda replied, a small smile lining her lips when she saw the hope in your emotional and tear-brimmed eyes. "Let me get some slippers, I'll be right back," she told you, the door closing behind her automatically when she stepped back in. When the door shut, Wanda let out a deep sigh of relief at the fact that the conversation didn't end in disaster like she thought it could have, and honestly expected it to once you revealed your intentions.

The walk to the med bay was filled with a tense silence that neither of you knew how to fill. You were asking Wanda to use her powers in this way, but she still wasn't sure if that meant that you had forgiven her for what she did when you first encountered each other. You had this on your mind as well as anxiety at the thought of using Wanda's powers on Bucky without his permission… It felt invasive and selfish to be asking this of Wanda, but you had been denied access to an EEG machine to see if there was any brain activity going on in his head, being assured by Steve that he would come out of it soon and such measures wouldn't be necessary. They felt necessary to your stressed and worried brain, though.

With all those thoughts swirling around in your brain, the two of you made it to the med bay sooner than you realized, the doors appearing in front of you rather quickly. As you used your badge to get the two of you into the med bay, you told her, "I just wanna know if there's anything going on in his head. I don't need you to put anything in there." With Bucky's resting form coming into view, you finished quietly with, "I just need to know he's still with us…"

"You got it," Wanda said, pulling up the stool Steve sat in previously as he spoke with you in the room.

Your eyes flicked between Bucky and Wanda as she summoned her powers, the red wisps trailing from her fingers to his head, swirling around for a moment before disappearing into his brain. When she saw the dream Bucky was having at the moment, a warmness filled Wanda's heart and she couldn't help the smile that made its way onto her lips. "What's going on?" you asked curiously.

"He's still in there and having a good dream," Wanda replied, a fondness in her tone as she took in what only she could see through her powers.

"What kind?" you asked, your tense muscles relaxing upon hearing the good news.

"Well, there's you and him at the park. He's pushing a little girl on the swing. She's giggling and asking to go higher." A quiet laugh fell past her lips before she added, "And it looks like you're pregnant again."

A huffed laugh escaped before you reached up and wiped a tear from your cheek. Your hand made its way to your belly as you, too, pictured what was going on in Bucky's mind. Your voice was emotional but light as you managed to get out, "Of course I am." The wisps retracted from his brain, dissipating into the air as Wanda let go of the powers. When she did, you reached out and squeezed Bucky's hand, telling Wanda, "Thank you."

She nodded in return, not trusting her own voice as she stood up from the chair and turned to leave. Before she could step out of the door, you asked, "Do you want some tea?"

Stopping in her tracks, Wanda froze for a moment, thinking that after her confirmation of Bucky's brain activity, you would go back to your relative distance as coworkers. Taking the invitation in stride, she turned around and nodded, telling you, "I…I would like that, actually."

"Then let's go," you told her, turning your wheelchair around after giving Bucky's hand a quick kiss.

After both of you had settled onto the couch in the common area with your warm beverages, Wanda finally got the courage to say the words she had been meaning to for months. "Hey, I…I'm sorry for how I used my powers on you when we first met."

"It's-"

"Not okay," she gently interrupted, her voice wavering slightly and her hands holding tightly to her warm mug. "I hurt you by doing what I did. I…" She was quiet for a moment, her eyes glued to the cushion between the two of you before continuing, saying, "I was the reason you got taken that night… If I hadn't mentioned that you were pregnant…" Another beat of silence passed that she broke by saying, "I realized pretty quickly that we had been manipulated by HYDRA once things started happening… They made you all out to be monsters - ruthless and cruel and deadly. Turns out that's what they were the whole time…"

"It's easy to be blinded by manipulators," you affirmed, your mind flashing to all the things Walsh had done for you before betraying you. "What matters is that you come out on the other side having learned something."

"Right," she replied with a nod.

"I want you to know that I forgive you," you told her quietly, a sip of tea punctuating the sentence. "What happened, happened. We can't change that. But I'm willing to push past those bad memories to make room for some good ones."

"Me, too," Wanda said, her voice tight with emotion as she listened to your words. "I'm sorry it took me so long to apologize. I just…"

"I get it," you told her once her sentence faltered and she didn't continue. "We live crazy lives. You've been adjusting to working with a team, learning how your powers work, going out on missions to take down HYDRA. I get it. Apologizing can be scary. Just know that I don't hold anything against you."

"Thank you," she replied softly.

"Thank you for helping me out," you told her graciously. A thought hit you, and you asked, "Do you think you could show me what Bucky was dreaming?"

"I was waiting for you to ask," Wanda said, a smile on her face as she once again summoned forth her powers and the dream materialized around you.

The first thing you heard once the vision surrounded you was a child's laughter. It brought a wide smile to your lips as you looked in the direction it was coming from, seeing a little girl - your little girl - on the swing set as Bucky gently pushed her. She looked to be about three years old in the vision. She had a mop of hair on her head that resembled yours, but her smile? That was all Bucky. It filled your heart with love as you watched them play, a few tears of joy making their way out of your eyes.

Just as Wanda had, you couldn't help the quiet laugh that escaped your lips when you saw yourself pregnant again. It was something that had crossed your mind time and again as your pregnancy wore on, but you hadn't discussed much about having another baby. Both you and Bucky knew how hard this had been on you, both physically and mentally, and it would have to be discussed once you were in a more clear head space to make that decision. From the dream, though, it was obvious what Bucky wanted.

With a content sigh leaving your lungs and your body relaxing into the couch as your eyes closed for a moment, you said, "Thank you," once again.

You weren't sure when you drifted off, but it was somewhere between thinking of your wedding to Bucky and already planning your little girl's first birthday. The combination of her sending a kick straight into your bladder and a nearby rustling sound woke you up, though, after what felt like only seconds. Your sharp intake of air alerted Natasha to someone's presence, immediately on high alert as she silently dropped the bag of tea she had grabbed out of its container. Her guard dropped when she neared the source of the sound and saw it was just you, bleary-eyed and curled up in a blanket that had been draped over you.

"Oh, hey," she said, the tension in her shoulders dropping as her body realized there was no threat.

"Hey," you grated out, your voice raw from lack of use during your sleep. "What time is it?"

"Like five thirty," she replied, her own voice laced with tiredness as well. "What're you doing out here?"

"Couldn't sleep in our bed… Went to see him. Guess I ended up nodding off after some tea," you told her, stretching a little to rid yourself of the cramps you had gotten from the awkward position. "You? It's early as hell… What're you doing up?"

"Couldn't sleep either," she replied, making her way to the little kitchenette to continue making herself some tea. "I just…I keep thinking about what happened on that mission."

"It must've been hard, going in and knowing that Steve was down…" you said, your voice just loud enough to be heard from where she was, but not loud enough to cause any sort of disturbance in the Compound.

"It was…" she told you, a hint of vulnerability in her tone. "All I knew was that there was some sort of chemical that got to them, they both went down, and there were two long-dead guards near the exit. At that point, you start assuming the worst. And then…" her voice broke for a second, the sound not reaching your ears as the electric kettle reached the peak of its bubbling. "And then I found the security footage. If what got to those men was what got to Steve and Bucky, they should've been dead."

"Jesus…" you whispered, your heart shattering once more as you relived the situation through her memories and perspective.

Natasha came back from the kitchenette with her mug in hand, placing it down on a side table to steep as she said, "I found a file when I got into the lab. Looked like it had been opened and left behind. Steve said Bucky was on that side of the room. Shitty-ass luck that the exact file he was looking at was of the stuff that took him down…"

"That's crazy…" you mumbled, shaking your head in disbelief.

"Tell me about it," she said as she curled into herself on the couch opposite of you. "Every second I was in there, I was terrified. Not for me, but for Steve. But I couldn't let my emotions get the better of me. I had a mission that needed to be completed. Compartmentalize, shove back emotions, and get the job done. That's how they taught us in the Red Room. It's how I got to the place I am. It's how I survive. But at the end of the day, I still feel everything once it's all said and done. Every bit of anxiety, heartache, fear - all of it. Especially when someone I care about is involved."

You nodded solemnly, a few moments of silence passing before you said, "You're a good agent, Nat, but an even better friend. I hope you know that. I…I'm sorry you had to go through all that."

"Part of the job we do, unfortunately…" she said before taking her first sip of tea. "Doesn't make it any easier, though, so…thanks." A comfortable silence filled the air for a few moments, broken by Natasha adding softly, "I'm sorry there isn't anything we can do for Bucky right now…"

"Thank you," you replied, a sad smile lining your lips. "He'll pull through. Like Steve said, it'll just take time."

You yawned at the end of your statement, tiredness beginning to take over your body once more. Natasha chuckled quietly, telling you, "Let's get you back to bed. Sleep however long you need to. You need it."

"I think that's a good idea…" you mumbled, your muscles tired as you moved yourself from the couch to your wheelchair, the task more arduous than you were used to it being.

It didn't take you long to finally get settled back into your and Bucky's shared bed, your exhausted body sinking into the comfortable mattress as you wrapped yourself around your pregnancy pillow. When you dozed off what felt like moments later, your mind was filled with the same dream Bucky was having as you lulled off into a peaceful slumber. Sure, there were a lot of unknown factors at play here, but at least now you knew that Bucky was still in there and that he was at peace in his own mind.

The waiting dragged on for four more days. Every chance you got, you either checked on Bucky or got in contact with someone who could tell you his status, but their answer was pretty much the same every time: his vitals were slowly improving, but he was still out of it. The little improvements brought you hope, and that hope was what you clung to as time dragged on.

One afternoon, you were in what was now your office, coming through the documentation of injuries from the latest mission that had gone out the day before. "Oh, Pietro…" you muttered to yourself, a quiet and exasperated laugh passing your lips as you added yet another injury to his ever-growing list. You swore that kid was trying to catch up to Clint in terms of how many injuries they could get on missions.

A few minutes later, a knock startled you out of your concentration, your body jumping out of the chair a little as the noise took you by surprise. You clutched your hand to your heart as the door opened, revealing Steve's face, an apologetic look falling over it as he took in your reaction. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," he said, opening the door fully as he revealed himself. "I just came to get you 'cause Buck's starting to come out of the coma. I came as soon as I was told."

Hope lit up your face, a wide smile gracing the bottom half of it as you asked, "Really?"

Steve nodded, a smile making its way onto his lips, too, as he took in your contagious one. After you quickly got settled into your wheelchair, you began following Steve to where they had moved Bucky the day after they had returned from the mission. It had been Steve's idea to move him. Considering the hallucinations he endured when the chemicals wore off, he didn't want to chance Bucky hurting himself while he went through them. So, they moved him to one of the chambers that had the ability to contain the Hulk.

As the two of you approached the room with the chamber, you heard faint screaming that was muffled by the glass, along with an incessant slamming of metal against impenetrable glass as Bucky wailed into it with his adamantium arm. "W-what's going on? Is he okay?" you asked, worry in your voice as your heart rate began to spike.

"He's gonna have some hallucinations, remember?" Steve asked, a warm hand on your shoulder as the two of you came to a stop outside of the chamber.

When you looked to your right, you saw Natasha standing against the wall, her arms folded across her chest as she watched the scene unfold in front of her. "He's been at this for the last five minutes, ever since he came out of it," she informed the two of you.

Minutes earlier…

Consciousness began to flood into Bucky's mind slowly as the final effects of the chemicals were metabolized out of his bloodstream. As his eyes began to flutter open, there was a heaviness in his head that made him feel groggy and lethargic. The world was still slightly blurry around him as he blinked hard a few times to begin orienting himself to his surroundings. His limbs felt heavy and uncoordinated as he began sitting himself up on the edge of the bed he found himself in, the lack of use over the last few days making him feel weak and almost frail…

The sudden movement to sit up caused the blood to shift around in his brain, a dull ache permeating his skull, his fingers immediately going to his temples to attempt to massage away the pain. As he did, he heard an all too familiar voice coming from behind him. The voice of Arnim Zola. "You've been such a good Soldier over the years. It's thanks to you that HYDRA has begun to shape history into what we want it to be!"

When he heard the voice, Bucky got himself off of the bed, his footing unsure as his underused and still slightly weakened muscles attempted to hold him up. With a fumble, Bucky turned to the source of the voice, on as high alert as his groggy brain would allow. When the grogginess began to lift, he saw three figures that he had remembered in nightmares as his memories had begun returning to him. They were the first three people he had been ordered to kill as the Winter Soldier.

The three figures ambled toward him like zombie puppets, their movements slow and their bodies mostly limp - the way he had left them as the Soldier. A wave of nausea washed over him as he came face to face with these people - these victims. The first sported a gaping hole in the front of their head, a good majority of their face a mutilated mess from the exit wound of the bullet he had put through the back of their skull in an execution-style killing. Another had a pale face with blue lining the lips from lack of oxygen, an immense amount of bruising in the shape of a hand covering their throat. The dead man stared right through Bucky, his bloodshot eyes unseeing as he lurched toward Bucky, who stood frozen in place as he reckoned with these memories.

The last figure was the most gruesome, from a more violent and less clean kill HYDRA had ordered. The man's skull was practically half missing, having been slammed repeatedly into a brick wall with all of the Soldier's might. This hadn't been a punishing kill like the execution or a test of power like the suffocation victim, this one was a vengeance kill. It was an order from a commanding officer who had been stood up by a woman who he had met at the bar that night. The Soldier had just gotten back from a mission, and in a drunken rage, the officer sent him after the woman. It was cruel and disgusting what he did to her, something that Bucky carried the weight of heavily since he had remembered it.

The figures all vanished, though, when he heard your voice. Screaming his name in terror. Turning around, he saw through the glass he was behind, the image of you tied to a chair with Commander Walsh holding a gun to the back of your skull. Bucky rushed forward, rearing back with his left arm to try and break through the glass before him so he could get to you. The glass didn't budge beneath his strength, and a feeling of total numbness took over Bucky's body as he heard the shot ring out and saw blood spray into the air as Walsh pulled the trigger of the pistol, your body immediately falling limp in the chair you were bound to.

"No!" Bucky roared, a primal rage burning inside of him as he watched the event unfold. When he blinked away his tears, the scene had reset, with you once again struggling against the restraints and screaming for his help as Walsh held the gun to your head.

After watching Bucky punch and scream at whatever he was seeing for another minute, you had had enough. "Let me go to him," you told Steve through your tight throat.

"We don't know-" Steve began to say, wary of how long the hallucinations would last considering how much longer he was out than Steve was.

"Please…" you whispered, the word choked as it came out. You watched as Bucky finally fell to his knees, sobs wracking his body. Holding back a cry of your own, you told Steve, "He won't hurt me. He needs someone. Please."

A few beats of silence filled the air, during which Steve looked over to Natasha for guidance. What he was met with was a silent nod before she began making her way forward toward the chamber to unlock the door. You followed, guiding your wheelchair through the doorway once it slid open, your heart racing as you approached Bucky. Unsure of what his friend had been seeing or what he would do, all things considered, Steve entered behind you, keeping his distance, but ready to intervene at a moments notice.

It only took a few seconds to get close enough to Bucky to reach out toward him, not quite touching him yet as you said in a wavering voice, "Bucky?"

Your voice seemed to snap him out of his emotions, his head turning toward you and back toward the glass. A whole-body flinch took over for a moment and his eyes screwed shut for a moment before reopening and looking toward you, the real you. Your name was whispered in an emotional voice before he reached out and hesitantly touched your hand. When he was met with the warmth of your skin, he grabbed on, pulling himself onto his knees and toward you, settling himself between your legs as he leaned into the warmth of your body.

"I'm right here, we're right here, Buck," you whispered, guiding his right hand to the side of your belly as he clung to you. "I don't know what you saw, but it's not real. This is real. I promise."

Words escaped Bucky and emotions ran rampant through his body as it still continued to catch up to him and the world began to come more into focus around him. All he could do was cling to you as he gathered himself and tried to reorient to what was real and what was in his head.

By the time Bucky had settled down, a few minutes had passed and the medical team was there to assess him one more time before releasing him. You stayed with him the whole time, holding his hand when you were allowed and providing what comfort you could with the limited knowledge of what you knew had happened to him.

Everything passed by in a blur of exams and debriefing before the two of you found yourselves in your living space, the warmth of the shower cascading around you as both of you helped one another wash away the stress of the last few days. Bucky almost fell asleep under your careful touch, the gentle massage waking up his muscles further as you ran your hands over them.

When you finally got settled into bed for the first time together in days, you clung to him like you hadn't seen him in months, your body practically wrapped onto his as you snuggled him as close as you could. "I was so worried, Buck…" you told him in a shaking whisper, a tear falling from your eye and soaking into his sleep shirt.

"Yeah…" he mumbled, the tenor of his voice soothing under your ear. He ran his hand up and down your arm as he tried to come up with something, anything, to say to you, but he was still processing everything he had been told happened during and after the mission. Instead of focusing on the bad of everything that happened, though, Bucky honed in on the one good thing he could remember from the last few days. He gently squeezed your arm as he told you, "You know…while I was out, I…I had this dream. It was…nice. Peaceful."

Your mind flashed to the dream Wanda had shown you, a small smile teasing your lips as you replied, "Oh yeah? Tell me all about it."

a/n: we've got more wanda interaction! and some tough conversations out of the way! also more open and emotional natasha! i'm here for it! but also, you guys, i'm not gonna lie, having to write bucky's hallucinations was HARD! i genuinely felt so bad because the man's been through so damn much already and now he's gotta deal with that and add it to the nightmare rotation? whoopsie!

as always likes, comments, and re-blogs are greatly appreciated! i love hearing from you guys! until next time! xo! <3

spice warnings: sexual fantasies, fingering (discreetly under a blanket with the others nearby), oral (fem receiving), body worship, protected piv sex, and as always: steve harrington has a big dick lmao

"You ready to finally head home?" Steve asked as he wheeled you out of the hospital's emergency room once they had cleaned and stitched up the wound those assholes had given you.

"I'm ready for a proper bed," you joked, a quiet laugh passing your lips. Your wheelchair was pushed up beside the door of Steve's car and he began helping you into the passenger side as you added, "Those hospital beds leave much to be desired…"

"In more ways than one…" Steve mumbled before sneaking a kiss onto your lips.

You attempted to chase after his lips, but couldn't as he chuckled and began closing the door. With a sigh, you leaned back into the car's leather seat, trying to suppress the barrage of images flashing through your mind after so long of not having any sort of private moment with Steve. The feeling of Steve's hand on your thigh snapped you out of your thoughts, looking over to his profile as he began pulling the car away from the curb. God, you wanted to kiss him for hours. You wanted to leave bruises on his skin in places only he would see. You wanted to hear his shaking breath as his pleasure began to peak. You wanted him to do the same things to you.

When your hips shifted the slightest bit to relieve a bit of the tension building between your thighs, Steve noticed immediately. It was one of your tells. He had noticed it the first time the two of you almost got caught by Dustin in the middle of a makeout session. Once he was out of the room and heading off to Mike's for the afternoon, Steve had discovered how easily you would get worked up because of him. This time was no different, and it was from one remark!

Steve forced himself to focus on the road, his hand squeezing your thigh as he said, "Tonight's either gonna be the best sleep of your life or you won't be gettin' any sleep. Up to you, babe."

"Fuck…" you whispered, hips shifting a little more as his hand moved higher on your thigh. "Steve, you can't just say those things to me right now. Not while I can't do anything about it!"

"Who says we can't?" he asked, inching his fingers closer to the center of your thighs. Steve pressed his foot a little harder on the gas pedal, trying to get to the house before he exploded. In the months that you were hospitalized, he was able to show you how much he loved you in every way but physically. It felt like all of those lonely nights in bed were coming to a head now, and he wanted to make it special. He planned to make it special.

That was until he saw Nancy's car parked in front of the house.

"What the hell?" Steve mumbled, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to remember the message that he had partially gotten from Robin's radio broadcast earlier in the afternoon. Were they supposed to meet at his place? Was the crawl tonight? Why were they there?

Before any of those questions could be answered by Steve's lagging brain, Robin, Nancy, and Jonathan came out of the front door. Steve got out of the car, discreetly adjusting himself as he did, raising a hand in greeting before saying, "Hey! What're you guys doin' here?"

"We came to celebrate a special someone getting out of rehab!" Robin replied, opening your door and leaning down to give you a big hug.

"Well, thank you!" you replied, your voice muffled in Robin's shoulder. You wiped away a tear that had escaped your eye when she pulled away, telling the group, "I don't think I could've gotten through any of this without you guys. Between all of you, the visits kept me sane."

In the time that you had been in the hospital and then the rehab, you had grown close with Robin, Nancy, and Jonathan. They were there to cheer you up, bring food when the facility served lack luster meals, and motivate you to get stronger. It was a group of people you never would have thought you'd be close to, yet, here you were. Life had a funny way of doing that.

Steve came around to your side of the car and asked, "You ready?" as he crouched down to begin putting your leg braces on.

"No chair?" you asked, surprised that Steve would let you walk to the house without it, considering he had been treating you like glass ever since the incident.

"I promised that once we got to the house I'd let you be more independent," he said as he finished securing the last strap on the brace.

When he stood up, Steve held out his hand for you, and you took it as you rose from the car, gripping him tight for support, just in case you still weren't strong enough. As you took the first few steps down the sidewalk, arm in arm with Steve, the three others cheered you on, wide smiles on their faces as you made your way to the front door. It was a slow-going process, but when you got safely into the house, you breathed a sigh of relief.

In the living room, you saw a large sheet hung in the threshold between the room and the hallway that said "Welcome home!" There were balloons floating, streamers hanging, and beyond the sheet, you could smell the scent of a home-cooked meal wafting in from the kitchen. The smell was familiar, one that you hadn't smelled in months… Right as you realized where you had smelled the scent before, the sheet was being pushed aside, your mom's smiling face appearing around it as she rushed over to wrap you in a hug.

"Oh, sweetie!" she gushed, her voice emotional, yet muffled in your shoulder as she held you close. She gently rocked you back and forth, her voice whispered as she said, "You're so strong!"

"Thank you…" you replied, your voice equally as emotional as you buried your face into her hair like a little kid.

She held you at arms length, smiling at you for a moment before saying, "Now, how's my family special sound?"

"Amazing," you replied, taking her hand in yours as everyone began the walk into the dining room to begin eating the meal together.

The meal was fabulous, as it always was when she made it for special occasions, but you couldn't help but be emotional by the end of it. It was only after your mom had packed up some leftovers to bring back to the house and gave you one last hug for the night that you let your first tears fall. You hid them from the others with the excuse of wanting to change out of the cardigan you had thrown on during the hospital visit to fight the cold of the building. Steve knew you well enough to have a feeling as to what was going on, though, so he followed you out of the dining room, telling the others he'd be back.

When he found you leaning against the wall, your shoulders lightly heaving as you quietly cried, he wrapped his arms around you from behind, asking gently, "What's wrong?"

You sniffled before replying, "It's just…Dustin wasn't here… That was always our favorite meal. I got out of rehab after months in the hospital and he still doesn't want to talk to me… It just fucking hurts, Steve… And I don't know what to do…"

"I know, I know, and I'm sorry…" he mumbled, turning you around to fully face him so he could hug you properly. "He's still barely talking to any of us. Only does when he has to, and even then, he's still distant. It isn't just you, I promise. He's just…working through everything, I guess."

"But he doesn't have to do it alone…" you whispered, your voice breaking on the last word.

"I've tried, trust me, I have. He's just…stubborn." Steve sighed before kissing your temple and guiding you away from the stairs.

You furrowed your eyebrows before asking, "Where're we going?"

"Our bedroom," Steve replied simply as he guided you toward what you knew to be the direction of his parents' room. As he opened the door, he said, "With the whole military quarantine, they aren't able to come back right now even if they wanted to. So, they're staying at one of their vacation houses they usually rent out when they're not there. And that means that this is our place for now!"

When he opened the door, what was revealed to you was something out of a dream. The whole room had been redecorated with all of your and Steve's favorite things. The shelving was decorated with flowers and moss to look like a forest scene, there were fairy lights strung up around the ceiling's perimeter, and a collage of your drawings covering one of the walls. Steve's movie posters and sports figures were mixed in with your things, and the sight brought tears to your eyes.

"You like it?" Steve asked, a proud smile on his lips as he watched you take everything in. "Robin and Erica helped decorate it. It was mostly Erica with Robin's help. I had no idea that kid knew so much about D&D… She could talk your ear off about it."

You laughed quietly before throwing your arms around Steve, profusely thanking him for making the decor happen. He nodded before giving you a chaste kiss, swaying back and forth gently to some music playing in his head. Before either of you could say anything else, there was a knock at the door, followed by Robin's voice calling, "We wanna get in the pool! Meet us out there, love birds!"

"Be there in a sec!" Steve replied through the door. When he pulled away, he nodded toward the large walk-in closet and said, "All our clothes are in there. D'you need any help?"

"I should be okay," you replied quietly. Remembering your injury from just hours before, you added, "I think I'll just lay out in the sun until it goes down. Don't want this getting infected."

"Gotcha," he said, giving you a nod before quickly grabbing a pair of swim trunks out of a drawer. He disappeared into the connected bathroom before emerging shortly after, telling you, "I'll be in the hall. Just call if you need help, 'kay?"

You simply nodded in return, taking your slow and steady steps into the closet to find something to put on. Immediately after taking your leg braces off and pulling a bathing suit on, you felt like you had a visceral reaction to seeing yourself in the full-length mirror hanging from the back of the closet door. Rather than looking at the bathing suit itself, your eyes were drawn to the large and jagged scars on your legs from where your bones had broken through when you fell from Vecna's grasp that fateful night. That, plus the total loss of muscle tone from being bedridden for weeks before rehab made your heart sink.

You turned away from the mirror quickly, rapidly blinking away the tears that threatened to fall. You became a little light-headed as you turned so quickly, stumbling forward and roughly grabbing at a dresser to maintain your balance. A slight bit of panic set in as you began to spiral, images of what Vecna showed you flashing through your mind, causing your breathing to only become shallower.

The feeling of Steve's warm and comforting hands on your skin snapped you out of your mind, quickly turning your head toward him as he held you at arms length, breathlessly saying, "Hey, hey! You okay?"

You blinked a few times to get the image of Vecna out of your head, blowing out a shallow breath before nodding, telling him, "I'm sorry… I-I-"

"Hey, don't be sorry," Steve told you, bringing you in for a hug. He ran his hand up and down your back as he said, "Today's been a lot. If you want, I can tell them to leave."

"No," you told him resolutely. "I just need a minute, is all…"

"Promise you'll be okay?" Steve asked as he pulled away to look deep in your eyes.

"Promise," you told him, a small smile on your lips.

"'Kay. Good." He pointed his thumb behind him, shifting his weight as he said, "I'm gonna head back out to the hall while you get dressed. If I don't, we're gonna start a reputation of being shitty-ass hosts…"

You laughed quietly at the implication of his statement, rolling your eyes as heat permeated your cheeks. You tried to ignore the heat building between your thighs again as you pulled off the swimsuit and changed into a flowing sundress that hid the worst of your insecurities.

By the time you had changed yet again, you were exhausted, so with a quiet and almost defeated voice, you called through the door, "Steve?" As you asked this, you managed to make your way to sit on the edge of the bed, hitting your mobility limit for the time being.

"Yeah?" he asked immediately, poking his head into the door to see what was going on.

"Could…could you get my wheelchair?"

"For sure," he replied, disappearing for a minute to grab it. When he got back, he helped you up off of the bed and into it.

While he kissed your temple you said, "Sorry, I just-"

"Hey," he interrupted, his voice soft. "You don't have to apologize."

"I know, I just… I feel like I'm a lot right now…" you whispered.

"You're not a lot, and you've done amazing today," he told you gently. "You're getting stronger every day. Needing the chair isn't a setback. It's an aid. It doesn't mean you've gone backwards."

"Okay…" you said, letting out a sigh as you tried to relax into the fake leather of the chair's seat.

"Now!" Steve said, his voice growing more chipper, "We're gonna go hang out in the sun 'til it goes down! We're gonna have a great time with our friends! It's gonna be a good night!"

"Right," you said, unable to help the smile growing on your lips in response to his enthusiasm.

After Steve dropped you off at a pool chair, you requested a book to read while sun bathing, so he went back inside to grab one. While he searched the bookshelf in the living room that he had set up with Will's help, Nancy came up beside him, her voice startling him as she asked, "Holy shit, Steve, what happened?"

"What?" he asked, shooting her a confused look.

"Your jaw…" she said quietly, studying the bruise that was just now starting to show.

"Oh, that…" he muttered. He ran a hand through his hair, sighing before he said, "Some assholes at the cemetery. We went for her to visit Eddie's grave and they roughed her up bad. Cut her arm and…used her blood to write on the grave."

"Holy shit…" she breathed, covering her mouth as her eyes widened slightly.

Making a fist and slightly slamming it into the wood of the bookshelf, frustration filled Steve's voice as he added, "I was so distracted by the radio and trying to figure out when the next crawl was gonna be that I didn't even fucking notice at first… What a goddamn boyfriend I am… Can't even pay attention enough to make sure my girlfriend doesn't get hurt by some assholes who have it out for her dead best friend…"

"Clearly you fought back, though, right? I mean, considering the bruise."

"Well, yeah, duh! I had to." A few ragged breaths heaved from Steve's chest as he closed his eyes, saying, "I don't even remember what happened. Once I saw them using her blood, everything was a blur until I got her cleaned up."

"None of that makes you a shitty boyfriend," Nancy told him gently.

"But I didn't-"

"But nothing, Steve. What matters is that you were there for her. Even if it wasn't at the perfect time," she said firmly. She gestured out the glass door and added, "She knows how much you love her. You've shown her all day. You've shown her since Vecna landed her in the hospital. You can't let one thing ruin that."

"You're right…" he muttered, shaking out his hands to try and alleviate his stress. He pointed at her as he said, "I hate when you're right."

Nancy smirked, picking out a book from the shelf and handing it to Steve as she said, "I know you do." Steve looked at the book in his hands, rolling his eyes as he followed her out to the pool, knowing that she was about to be right again with her book choice for you…

By the time everyone headed back inside to change out of their bathing suits, you had barely even gotten through a chapter of your book. You had been too distracted by Steve jumping in and out of the pool. It wasn't fair how good he looked. His hair, ever-growing, looked flawless, even when plastered to the side of his face when he came up from the water. His smile was bright as he goofed off with Robin and the others as they occasionally joined in from their pool floats.

What distracted you the most was those damn swim trunks, though.

You had found yourself reading a single paragraph over and over again every time you caught a glimpse of those trunks hanging low on his waist. You remembered what you were about to get up to before it became obvious that the rest of the night was not about to go how Steve planned in the car as he mumbled dirty promises and crept his hand higher and higher on your thigh.

Because of those memories distracting you completely, it came as no surprise to you that you were caught off guard when asked about the story. As the five of you made your way back into the house to settle into the living room to watch a movie, Nancy asked, "How's the book?"

"Oh, it's uh, it's good!" you told her, a slightly tight smile on your lips as you nodded. "Think I just need a less…distracting environment to appreciate the nuance of it."

"Right," she said, a small smirk on her lips before she disappeared to change into lounge wear.

"Alright, what movie are we watching?" Steve asked as he settled beside you on the couch, gently grabbing your legs and spinning you so they were draped over his lap.

Robin popped the movie into the player, telling him, "Back to the Future! I got this puppy from Family Video before it closed down with the mass exodus!"

Steve rolled his eyes and chuckled as he pulled a blanket over the both of you, scoffing before he said, "And here you were always telling me to behave myself when we were there…"

Robin sent him an offended look, clutching her imaginary pearls as she asked, "Are you're implying that I stole this? I'll have you know that I legally rented it before the shop closed and now that there isn't a shop to return it to…"

"So then you've now effectively stolen it," Steve reiterated with a teasing raise of his eyebrows.

"Shut up…" Robin mumbled.

As Jonathan came into the room, his arms loaded with various different bowls filled with popcorn, Robin reached up from her spot on the floor to grab one from him, thanking him before settling back into her blanket and pillow nest. Nancy and Jonathan sat on the other loveseat, his arm eventually wrapping around her as the movie played out.

Throughout the movie, you caught yourself zoning out, your mind distracted by the patterns Steve was tracing on your legs under the blanket. As the movie neared the closing scene, you began to realize that Steve's fingers were getting dangerously close to your core. The thought sent a zip of heat to your center, the dampness that had settled into your underwear hard to ignore anymore as you shifted your hips to try and alleviate any of the pressure down there.

This movement earned a firm squeeze from Steve's right hand and a silent look that said don't do that. You realized why when, beneath the bend in your leg, you could feel that Steve's sweatpants had tented up with his erection. Closing your eyes, you tried to ignore everything: the feeling of Steve's arousal, the heat between your thighs, the images flashing behind your eyes of your intimate moments with him, all of it.

That became impossible when you felt the tips of Steve's fingers running along the very edge of your panties. The movement caused you to stop breathing for a second, eyes snapping open and looking at him like a deer in headlights. You blew out a ragged breath as you looked at him, only to see him place a single finger over his lips to signal you to keep quiet.

He didn't even bother to attempt to take your panties off, instead snaking his fingers under the fabric, finding his destination easily. Your head fell onto the back on the couch and you had to bite your cheek to keep from moaning as he found your clit and began rubbing tight circles on it. Every movement of your friends dispersed throughout the room caused your heart rate to spike, anxiety filling your body at the thought of getting caught in such a compromising position.

All of that anxiety flew out the window, though, when you felt yourself beginning to fall over the edge of pure bliss. It couldn't have even been more than a minute of Steve touching you, yet there you were, about to have an orgasm in a room full of people. Having seen the slight opening of your mouth and the heaving of your chest, Steve quickly grabbed a pillow and tossed it your way. You barely had time to hold the pillow over your mouth to muffle the sounds that you could barely control as you reached your peak, squirming in Steve's lap as you flushed in embarrassment.

Once Steve removed his fingers from your panties, you hid behind the pillow as the credits began to roll and he stuck his fingers in his mouth to lick them clean. After pulling you closer and into a kiss, Steve mumbled, "I'm not done with you, yet. Promise. Once they're gone…"

You let out a shuddering breath when he said this, unable to even look at the others as they began getting up from their comfortable positions and stretching, telling the two of you that they were gonna head out for the night. You thanked them from where you were on the couch, not trusting your legs to support you after that orgasm, feeling how numb from anxiety they were as Steve adjusted himself in his pants before leading everyone to the door.

Once they were gone, Steve was on you, kissing you like his life depended on it, barely even able to get out the words, "Bedroom, now," between messy and desperate kisses. He supported you the entire way there, the movement slow-going as the two of you continued to get lost in each others' lips. Hands wandered, clothes were discarded, and the beginnings of hickeys were left by the time the door to the bedroom even opened.

Your head was spinning when you finally found yourself on your back, not even having to worry about space on the sprawling king sized bed. A loud moan flew past your lips when Steve connected his lips to yours and began messing with one of your breasts, a smirk on his lips as he pulled away with the intent of using his mouth on the supple skin.

When he did this, suddenly your mind flashed to what your body looked like in the mirror. All of the stretch marks, the lack of muscle tone, the scars… As these thoughts flashed through your mind, you immediately became less receptive to Steve's touch, cringing almost uncomfortably when his lips made contact with your pebbled nipple.

Steve noticed immediately, pulling away and asking, "Hey, everything okay?"

Closing your eyes, you let your head fall back onto the pillow as a few tears slipped past your eyes. You only managed to bring your voice to a whisper as you told him, "Sorry… It's just… I… I don't like how my body looks… I-I don't get how…how you can even be turned on right now…"

"Hey…" he whispered, moving to where his face was closer to yours. He put gentle pressure on your jaw to bring your eyes to his as he said, "You're beautiful. I know you don't think it right now, but I think it enough for both of us."

"But…the scars…the stretch marks… There's like…zero definition to my body. I look nothing like I did when we met… How…?"

"You're just as beautiful as the day we met," he replied, kissing your forehead to end the sentence. "And all those scars? The stretch marks? All of it is proof that you survived. You went through something that you shouldn't have survived. But you did. So all of that shit you hate, I'm just happy I still get to see it."

Steve placed a kiss on the sensitive spot on your neck where he had already began leaving a hickey, mumbling, "It's proof that you're still here with me…" His hand gently caressed your breast, giving it a light squeeze as he said, "I still get to touch you like this…" He began making his way down your body, placing kisses on every stretch mark on your abdomen, telling you between kisses, "I still get to hear those little gasps you make when you're desperate for me…" He kissed the largest scar on your thigh where your femur had broken through, his breath hot on your skin as he got closer and closer to your unclothed core. His voice was reverent as he said, "I still get to taste you…"

You couldn't help the desperate moan that flew past your lips when Steve licked a stripe up your cunt, savoring the taste he hadn't had in months since you had been in the hospital. He couldn't help the groan that left his lips as he lapped into you, rutting his hips into the bed to try and alleviate the ache in his cock. Steve had always been good at going down on you, but after so long, everything felt new. The pleasure was heightened and with already being sensitive from the first orgasm, you found yourself grasping onto his hair as the pleasure began quickly mounting.

When you closed your eyes, you saw stars on the backs of your eyelids, barely able to keep your head up as Steve began sucking on your clit. All bets were off when he added two fingers into the mix, the long digits stroking your g-spot with every thrust. As you loosed another wanton moan and gripped the sheets tight, Steve pulled away for a second, leaving a hickey on your inner thigh as he mumbled, "God, I missed this… Missed you. You gonna come?"

"Yes! Yes!" you whispered, hips bucking up to meet his fingers.

"Good, give it t'me…" he mumbled before diving back in with his tongue.

With one final suck on your clit, you felt like you exploded: hot, molten pleasure erupting from your core as your orgasm hit you like a freight train. You couldn't control your moans and whines even if you tried, resigning to taking the pleasure as Steve continued to lap at your cunt so he could get every drop of your essence he could.

Your head felt like it was swimming in molasses in the moments that followed, every movement slowed and dizzying as your body recovered from the intense feeling. There was no time to recover, though, when you suddenly felt the blunt head of Steve's cock running though the wetness of your core. You hadn't even noticed his warmth leave your body to grab a condom out of the drawer, let alone take the time to put it on…

None of that mattered, though, as Steve began the work of opening you up to him, shallowly thrusting his hips while fighting his brain as it told him to take you all at once. He didn't want to hurt you, though. He never did. But, God, you were so pliant and ready for him… The battle in his head was lost when he got to a point of feeling no resistance from your warm cunt, so Steve thrust all the way in, heaving out a sigh of relief and pleasure when he was fully sheathed.

"I love you…" he whispered, giving you the gentlest of kisses before resting his face in the crook of your neck. Steve's thrusts were shallow at first before turning into long and languid ones as he tried to show you with his body how much he loved you. His voice was husky and at points strained as he mumbled sweet nothings in your ear, telling you about how much he loved you, how much he missed this, how he was so proud of you for getting out of rehab, how he never wanted to come that close to losing you again.

What started at the beginning of the night as a desperate need for one another turned into something more intimate, more…sacred. It all felt so different than before. They always said that distance makes the heart grow fonder, and you guessed that they were right, because as Steve made love to you, you could feel him pouring every bit of his adoration for you into it.

You knew Steve was close when he began placing sloppy kisses onto the skin of your neck, his grunts of pleasure growing closer and closer together. So, you pulled him up and into a kiss before whispering, "I wanna see you when you come. Please…"

He nodded in response, his eyebrows furrowed and eyes closed as he continued thrusting into you. The look on his face made you clench around him, earning another strained moan as his hips faltered. "Oh, fuck, baby… Goddamn…" he whispered, chest heaving as he neared his peak. His completely blissed out voice made you clench again, making his mouth part in a silent moan before he whispered, "I-I'm gonna, fuck, I'm gonna come…"

With that warning, Steve fell over the edge, moans flying past his lips as he filled the condom. As he did, you pulled him to your lips, passionate kisses being exchanged as he worked his way through his orgasm. When Steve was spent, he moved to resting his head in the crook of your neck again, attempting to catch his breath as both of your hearts raced. Finally able to move a bit, you began running a hand up and down his skin in lazy patterns as you whispered, "I love you… So much."

"I love you, too…" he whispered breathlessly, placing a kiss onto your warm skin. A small smile made its way onto his lips as he cuddled you closer, mumbling, "Welcome home, honey…"

a/n: you guys, Steve is so down bad and i adore writing hiiiimmmm! he just wants to be everything his dad never was, so he sees any little "mess up" as a failure to be better. luckily, you don't see it that way - you see the man who has stuck by your side though some of the hardest bullshit ever and is still there. still by your side. still fighting for you. still supporting you, even when you feel like you're too much. i wish that kind of love onto everyone!

anyways! i hope you all enjoyed! as always likes, comments, and re-blogs are greatly appreciated! i love hearing from you guys! until next time! xo! <3

"Y-yeah, I'm with you," Steve mumbled, his voice still slightly slurred as he gained his bearings. "What happened? Is Buck okay? Where are we?"

"We got you back to the Compound, Cap. Some chemical got to the two of you," Shawn replied. "Bucky's stable for now. He's in the next quarantine room over."

Cameron nodded before adding, "We got the two of you decontaminated before transferring here."

"So, that's what that smell is..." Steve mumbled as he sat himself up on the side of the bed, massaging his temples as he did, the blood shifting in his brain uncomfortably. With a puzzled look on his face, Cameron took a quick smell to determine what he meant, and Steve noticed, waving a hand dismissively as he said, "Don't think you'd smell it. Serum and all..."

"Right, right..." Cameron mumbled, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck. "Well, since you're up, I'm sure we can get you set up in the shower room to wash off the smell."

"Yeah, that...that sounds good..."

"Think you're okay on your own, Cap?" Shawn asked as Steve made his way off of the edge of the bed, his footing unsure for a moment as he stumbled forward.

"I'll be fine," he replied, waving them off with one hand as he ran the other through his hair.

"Yes sir," they replied at the same time before making their exit.

As Steve made his way to the nearest shower room in the med bay, he glanced into the quarantine room that Bucky was in. What caught his eye as he passed was the bedside monitor showing Bucky's vitals. With a heart rate of only twenty-two, respiratory rate of six, and extremely low blood pressure, Steve expected a whole team of medics to be surrounding his friend.

But they weren't.

Steve's questions were answered when, as they walked out, Quinn was saying to another worker in a hushed voice, "It's so weird… With those vitals, he shouldn't be perfusing. He should barely be alive, but… Besides his vitals, everything's fine. He's just…not responding. I don't get it."

Aspen caught Steve's eye as she and Quinn passed by. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, Steve said, "I'm fine, jus' heading to the shower room."

Steve's mind was still a little foggy as he got under the stream of flowing water, so he splashed some onto his face to try and knock himself out of it. When the warmth hit his face, though, what he saw behind his eyes were explosions. He heard shouting in a familiar voice, and because of that, he realized what the memory was: when he rescued Bucky from the HYDRA base back during the war.

Taking a deep breath, Steve opened his eyes again after running his hands over his face. He shook his head to rid himself of the memory, focusing instead on the soap he was provided to wash off with. Steve washed himself meticulously, three times over to ensure that every bit of chemical was off of him.

When he got out of the shower, Steve noticed that the clothing he had been wearing before had been taken away, replaced by a clean set, along with a note that said the room had been decontaminated while he showered. Had he really been so lost in his own mind that he didn't even notice that?

After getting dressed, as Steve looked toward the mirror to comb his hair out of his eyes, he saw something that shook him to the core. Right behind him, staring through the mirror with a sick smile on his face was Red Skull himself. With his mind and heart racing, Steve whipped around, a wild haymaker being thrown at the figure, who…wasn't there.

With his eyebrows furrowed, Steve's head snapped back toward the mirror, where he saw the figure still standing with a crooked smile, sending him a taunting wave. Steve's mind still wasn't operating on all cylinders, and in a desperate attempt to get rid of the image, he slammed his fist into the mirror. Unbeknownst to him, Steve's full strength had returned, and the mirror shattered under his knuckles, the image crumbling away with the glass as it fell into the sink below.

Leaning his weight onto the sink, Steve stared down into it, the shattered glass almost mocking him. Why did he lose his temper like that? Why did he see Red Skull in the mirror? Why-

"Care for a dance?"

The voice that now came from behind him was familiar - one that he hadn't heard in that condition in years, only in recordings. As Steve turned around, he came face to face with an old flame, standing in a flowing dress, with a smile on her perfectly lined lips. "Peggy…" Steve breathed, blinking hard as he took in her presence.

"Are you going to leave a lady hanging? I think our dance is long overdue…" Peggy said as she approached Steve, her heels clicking on the floor of the bathroom.

"This… This isn't real." he mumbled as he took a step back, ignoring her outstretched hand.

"Of course this is real, Steve! What are you on about? Remember, we had plans for a dance. Don't tell me you forgot!"

"Steve?" Natasha called from outside of the shower room, a bottle of water in hand for him. "You done showering?" she called when she didn't get a response.

After a few more moments of silence in the bathroom, Natasha heard Steve say, "You…aren't real… None of this is real!"

"Steve?" Natasha asked sharply, plowing into the shower room, only to see Steve with a hand running through his hair, blood dripping off of the knuckles and into his blond locks. "Hey, hey, hey, babe! What happened?" she asked as she approached him, hands in the air as she circled around him to make herself known before touching him.

"Nat!" Steve breathed, relief evident in his voice as Natasha's form walked through Peggy's, the latter's body disappearing into the steam still dissipating from the room. The distance between himself and Natasha was closed quickly, Steve's arms being wrapped around her in an instant. He felt a sense of relief flood his body as he felt her in his arms and inhaled the familiar scent of her shampoo as his free hand locked in her hair. This was real. She was real.

Natasha's voice was muffled in Steve's shoulder as she asked again, "What happened? Are you okay?"

"At the facility, Buck and I-" he started with.

"No, no, I know what happened at the facility," she told him gently. She pulled away and coaxed his bloody knuckle into her hand as she said, "I meant just now."

Steve finally realized that he was bleeding when she asked this, a shaking breath falling from his lips as he told her, "I…I saw Red Skull. In the mirror. I thought he was behind me, so I swung, but he wasn't there. Then I…I swung at the mirror. He finally went away then…"

"Hallucinations…" Natasha mumbled softly. A quiet sigh left her lips as she nodded sympathetically, telling Steve, "C'mon, let's go get you cleaned up. We'll report back to the others that you're having hallucinations after the chemical wore off. Then…" she was quiet for a moment, the next sentence dying on her lips before it could be actualized.

"Then?" Steve asked quietly.

"Then we go watch a movie together on the couch to get our minds off of the last few hours," she told him, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek. She ran her fingers over his jaw, trailing them down the side of his neck. Her eye averted to the ground as she said, "I thought I was gonna lose you there for a minute. Scared the hell outta me. I didn't like that feeling. I just…I need some time with you. To remind myself that this is real. That you aren't gone."

"I think I can manage that," Steve told her, a warm smile lining his lips before he leaned down to place a gentle kiss on Natasha's. They both knew that there were pressing matters to attend to and that a mission debrief would need to happen, but with the mission still technically in progress, it was something that could wait. It was the distraction they both needed after everything they just went through.

"You two come up with anything?" Natasha asked as she and Steve walked into the lab after a couple hours of relaxing together.

Tony looked up from a screen littered with notes as he deadpanned, "Yeah. But then it didn't work."

"I just don't understand how it didn't," Bruce said exasperatedly. "We have the exact recipe for Pete's sake! It should have been easy to reverse it…"

"Maybe it's not meant to be reversed," Natasha told him as she took a seat on a nearby stool.

"Well, whoever made this is a genius. To make something so powerful that can't be reversed is both remarkable and terrifying…" Bruce muttered.

Natasha shrugged, telling him, "I mean, think about the intent of it."

"To subdue the Winter Soldiers, yeah, yeah, we know," Tony smarted off. He gestured toward Steve and added, "It didn't work on Spangles, though!"

"It did, but not as long…" Bruce said thoughtfully. He tucked a pencil behind his ear as he continued with, "Maybe…maybe it wasn't as effective because of the Serum itself. We know that HYDRA has a different version of the Serum than the original that Steve got. Perhaps it's the original purity of it that got rid of it faster!"

"And going by that logic, if Buck was one of their first, then it may take a lot longer for this to wear off of him…" Steve said, a quiet sigh passing his lips as he shook his head.

"So, we just wait around for him to wake up? What about when-?" Natasha began to ask, but was interrupted by JARVIS as he activated in the room.

"If I may interrupt," the voice said, halting the conversation.

"Go ahead," Tony told the AI as he flicked through more notes.

The next thing that JARVIS said was that you were back from your trip out and everyone froze. Steve and Natasha sent each other a look, with Natasha whispering a sharp, "Shit…" upon hearing the news.

Steve's head lulled back a bit as he closed his eyes and he let out a breath. He shook his head as he straightened out, asking Tony and Bruce, "There's nothing you can do?"

"As of right now, no," Bruce replied quietly.

"We'll break the news to her, then," Steve said as he began making his way out of the lab. Before they could leave, he turned to ask, "Is the med bay decontaminated? She'll wanna see him."

"They were finishing up about half an hour ago. Should be good now," Bruce replied. He cleared his throat before adding, "I know it's gonna be hard, but just…try to keep her stress down. I don't wanna be the one calling Beth to get down here five weeks early for the baby."

"We'll do our best," Natasha replied before she and Steve were off to the entrance nearest the parking garage to greet you.

As you rolled through the door from the parking garage, you had a an aura of light around you. You had just had the best day out with your old EMT buddies, who had flown out from DC to spend time with you before the baby arrived. You were carrying three gift bags of varying sizes and had an air of joy about you. You were, as they say, glowing. Steve felt terrible that they would have to burst your bubble…

Natasha started off the conversation, offering out a hand to carry the bags as she asked, "Have a good day?"

Your voice was bright as you told her, "Yeah! It was great! It's been so long since I've seen them!" You couldn't help the laugh that escaped your lips as you told her, "Mari crochets, and she made a little baby blanket that has a similar pattern to Bucky's arm, it's gorgeous! I can't wait to show him!

When you mentioned Bucky, though, you realized something. That Steve was right behind Natasha. Steve, who was supposed to be gone the next few days on a mission with Bucky. As this realization dawned on you, you stopped breathing for a second. You stopped moving. You stopped everything. The held breath was let out shakily before you finally asked, "Steve…? Wh-what're you doing back already?"

Steve said your name in a tone that shook you to the core, and you began to feel your knees grow numb as tears began to build up behind your eyes. "There was something in the lab," he told you quietly, fighting back his own tears to be strong in front of you.

"Is he okay?" you asked sharply. Although your voice was weak, you still had that edge of terror in it as it felt like everything began to crumble around you.

"He's alive," Natasha replied, even her voice thick with emotion, something that wasn't usual for her. She cleared her throat before adding, "He's just… He's not waking up."

"Why didn't anyone call me?" you whispered.

"I…" Steve began, but faltered for a moment.

Natasha decided to pick up the baton, telling you gently, "We didn't wanna put anymore stress on you. Not while you were out. C'mon, let's go see him."

The silence was heavy as the three of you made your way through the Compound and to the med bay, thought after horrible thought tormenting your brain as to what could have happened. Was he terribly injured? Would he recover? Would he-

"He's in here," came Steve's voice, the tenor breaking through your tumultuous thoughts and snapping your eyes to the door on your left.

The sight before you filled you with a mix of emotions. Bucky was on the hospital bed, a peaceful look on his face as he slept. On the monitor beside him was a heart rate of twenty-seven, a respiratory rate of five, and a blood pressure of 62/48. Even though Bucky's face was still full of color and he looked fine, you couldn't help the flash of fear and anger that made its way up your spine, telling Steve and Natasha sharply, "This is something you call me about."

You wheeled closer to the bed, taking your place beside your fiance and grasping his right hand in yours, feeling like it was the only thing tethering you to reality at the moment. When he didn't make a move to grasp your hand, the floodgates opened and you began crying. Hard. Sobs wracked your body as your anxiety took over, your thoughts spiraling as every bad possibility that could happen popped into your mind.

When Natasha's hand gently landed on your shoulder, you flinched, the touch bringing you out of the spiral for a moment, only long enough for you to say, "I need space." Respecting your boundaries, Natasha nodded, taking her hand away and quietly walking out of the room hand in hand with Steve as he sighed sadly.

When you heard the door slide shut, you finally whispered, "C'mon, Buck… I need you here with me. I can't lose you… We can't lose you…"

What felt like hours passed of you just sitting there holding Bucky's hand. Your anxiety persisted, but quieted down when you grew tired, almost drifting off as you leaned onto the side of the bed. You jerked awake, though, when you heard the door to the room open. The sound of a stool's feet hitting the floor broke the silence in the room, followed shortly by Steve's voice as he said, "I'm sorry I didn't call."

There was a silence that filled the room once more, one that you didn't care to fill. He knew your stance on the matter. The silence lingered a while longer, Steve taking a minute to process everything that happened. When he finally spoke again, it wasn't in the confident tone that he usually used. It was a broken one. "The chemical that got to Buck, i-it got to me, too. I saw him go down and went to save him, but it got the better of me. We needed time to process and to make sure it was safe to be around him before we called you."

You made no sound in reply, just a simple nod that Steve barely even saw across the room, but it was enough to prompt him to push forward, telling your turned back, "Nat, she…she found security footage from when the lab was still active. Two guards died because of the stuff." A pang of anxiety filled you before he continued with, "Maria did some research and found out that the two men didn't have the Serum. The file we found on the chemical says that it's meant to subdue Soldiers. Slow 'em down, make 'em weak, knock 'em out."

Steve took a deep breath, finishing out with, "Banner's theory is that I came out of it quick because of the purity of the Serum I got from Erskine. Buck was one of HYDRA's first Soldiers. The Serum likely isn't as potent as mine or as anything they make today. Tony and Bruce have tried what they can and it didn't work. It looks like it's just gonna take some time."

"I'm sorry…" was the only thing you could come up with to say, the words whispered and broken as a fresh set of tears streaked down your cheeks.

Steve stood from the chair, making his way over to you and putting a warm hand on your shoulder. He squeezed gently before assuring you, "We'll get through this. He'll get through this. We're here for you. Whatever you need, just ask."

"I will," you promised, finally looking up at him to see his own tear stained cheeks, his eyes rimmed with red from his own bouts of emotions over the last few hours.

a/n: you guys, i'm so sorry that i've dropped the ball on a consistent upload schedule with this one, but i barely have time to edit and post both of my ongoing fics. SO! i will be doing a double upload today!

but! my thoughts! i love, love, love writing Steve and Nat's relationship in this story! they're one of my number one ships tbh. i also love them because steve is one of the few people Nat seems to be comfortable to be vulnerable around and is able to let go of the strong facade the puts up around others, hence the momentary break they both needed to have before jumping back into mission mode. so, what are we thinking will happen to Bucky once all of this wears off? how long will it take to wear off? (i say as if i won't be uploading the next chapter late tonight lmao - fun question to pose anyways!)

well, as always i hope you all enjoyed! likes, comments, and re-blogs are greatly appreciated! i love hearing from you guys! until next time! xo! <3