Come Back With Me

Close Your Eyes

"You know he wants to be here, he just thinks you'd be safer if he wasn't," Steve says.

"Well maybe Bucky should stop thinking then because his ideas are stupid. How did he think that this would help anything? What happened was an accident and I know for a fact that it was a one off thing. I've slept next to him for almost a full year since you guys returned and he's had hundreds of nightmares. The only reason that anything happened was because I couldn't listen to him and not wake him. He thinks it's his fault but it's my fault. If I would have just let him sleep through it, my babies would have their father around," she yells.

Steve is stunned into silence because he didn't realize that Lizzie blamed herself.

"It's not your fault, Liz. It's not his fault either. It's hydra, they're the ones at fault," Steve says.

He is trying to calm her down but her breathing is just getting faster.

"How do I know that hydra didn't discover him and take him back? Oh my gosh, what if they have him again and we don't even know!" Lizzie says.

Steve knows that Bucky knows how to go undetected. He was able to hide for years in a year where technology and facially recognition was everywhere. He was fairly certain that he could hide in 1950 just fine.

Suddenly Lizzie doubles over and Steve instantly knows there is something wrong. He rushes to Lizzie and when she looks up at him there is genuine fear in her eyes.

"I need to go to the hospital, there's something wrong," Lizzie says.

She's crying and gripping on to Steve like a lifeline. He scoops her up and walks into the house and yells for Peggy.

Peggy runs as quickly as she can and sees her husband with Lizzie in his arms.

"Hospital. Can you drive?" Steve asks her urgently.

The walk outside and Peggy quickly grabs the keys and gets in the driver's seat.

Steve lifts Lizzie into the back of the car and slides in after her. He lays her down on the seat and pulls her head on his lap. He strokes her hair as Peggy drives.

"Lizzie, I know you're stressed but I need you to calm down for the babies," Steve says soothingly.

She tries but she is so concerned about what's happening that she can't bring herself to relax.

"Close your eyes Lizzie," Steve demands.

She does as he says and closes her eyes.

"Do you remember when we first started drawing?" He asks.

Drawing was something that was always something that they had in common and it wasn't too connected to Bucky. Steve knows that having her talk about Bucky won't help her situation.

"Yes," Lizzie says.

She is still breathing rapidly but she is at least hearing him.

"Mom noticed we were actually quite good at it so she worked a couple extra shifts to get us our first sketchbook and charcoals. What was the first thing we drew?" Steve asks.

"We sat on a bench, side by side, near the water by the Brooklyn Bridge. We divided the skyline and started on opposite ends and worked our way to the middle," Lizzie says.

She begins to calm as she thinks about that day.

"Do you remember what you said?" He asks.

She tries to remember but she can't make out the details so she shakes her head.

"You said, 'This is the best talent we could have because who needs photographs when we can draw our own'," Steve says.

He has her almost completely calmed down until they pull up to the hospital causing her fear to spike again. She gets taken by a gurney and brought in to get examined again.

How many times is he going to watch his sister go to through those doors?

It is hours before Peggy and Steve are called in for an update. Peggy was sure that there was holes in the floor from how much Steve was pacing. She had to stop him multiple times from going to track her down.

"Grant Rogers?" The doctor asks.

Steve steps forward, urgent for answers.

"That's me," Steve says.

"Your cousin started going into preterm labor. We luckily were able to stop it but she needs to stay on bed rest and avoid stress for the next couple months. If she has the babies now, they are extremely unlikely to survive and on the off chance they do, there will most likely be birth defects. We are going to keep her under observation for a couple days. She's asleep but you can see her if you'd like," he says.

The doctor brings them over to Lizzie's room and Steve peers in.

She looks so tiny and pale laying in the bed. If Bucky could've known that his leaving would do this to her, he probably would have thought twice.

Steve shuts the door and pulls Peggy into an empty room.

"What?" She asks in surprise.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you but I've been having Howard track Bucky. He managed to find a general location," Steve says.

Peggy shouldn't be surprised but she is. Her husband has never given up on his friend and she both respects him for it and is angry for it.

She knows Steve and she knows that he is talking about this for a reason.

"Why are you telling me this?" Peggy asks.

"Because I'm going to bring him home," Steve says.