"If I was you, I'd consider that a thank you,"
Steve Rogers turned on his heel, looking away from the retreating figure of Nick Fury and toward Natasha Romanoff and Audelia Motter as they walked up to him. He smiled, sticking his hands into his pockets.
"Surprised, neither of you are going with him?"
"I've got a got two kids to take care of: Aurora and Tony," a laugh bubbled out of Steve at Deli's comment, causing him to shake his head.
"And I've blown all my covers," Natasha added in, looking around at the trees surrounding them. "I've got to go find a new one."
"Might take you awhile,"
"I'm counting on it," Natasha opened her bag, pulling out a Russian file and handing it over to Steve. "I called in a few favors from Kiev. Be careful, Steve. You might not want to pull on that thread. Maybe go ask out that nurse."
"There's a nurse?" Deli chimed in, raising an eyebrow as she looked at Natasha's smiling face and Steve's red cheeks. "Why didn't I know about this?"
"Because it's nothing," Steve shot back as he gave Natasha a hug.
Natasha turned to Audelia, the two women embracing in a hug before Natasha gave them both one last look, turning and walking away from the group.
Sam Wilson came to stand beside Audelia, the pair looking down into the Winter Soldier file in Steve's hands.
"You're going after him?" Sam questioned, to which Steve nodded.
"You don't have to come with me,"
"I know. When do we start?"
Steve looked up with a smile, his eyes trailing to Audelia as he handed the file to Sam.
"Give me a few minutes and we'll get started,"
"Damn," Sam muttered, turning to Audelia. "This man really doesn't know what a break is, does he?"
Deli laughed, giving the man beside her a hug as she bid him goodbye. He waved to the pair, tucking the top secret file under his arm as he stalked away, leaving Audelia and Steve to stand together in the small graveyard.
"You didn't have to do all of this, you know," Steve remind the woman, who rolled her eyes.
"And how many times must I tell you: I know, I did it for you," Audelia grabbed onto Steve's hand, giving it a squeeze. "You were a friend of my father's, a friend of Howard's. Now, today, you're my friend. You're more than that, actually. You are family to me, and I don't leave family behind. So we do this together. We do all of it together."
Steve sighed, shutting his eyes as he realized what she meant.
"Audelia, I can't let you get involved with Buck. The things he's done-"
"He was dad's friend, too. That makes him family, too," Deli cut in, her gaze serious. "I mean it, Steve. I'm not letting the two of you do this alone. We're doing this together. I'm going to help you find him, and we're going to make this right."
A smile crossed Steve's lips as he pulled the woman into a hug, embracing her as he closed his eyes, just as she did to him.
"Hey! Capsicle! Hands wayyyyyy above the waist, she's a taken lady!"
Laughter spilled out of the pair as they pulled away, turning to see none other than Tony Stark stalking across the grass, two year and five month old Aurora bouncing in his arms.
The arm of the billionaire slipped around Audelia's waist, pulling her into his side as his lips pressed into the side of her head, sending butterflies through her stomach. Aurora reached out for her mom as she took her in her arms.
"Hi mommy,"
"Hi baby," she whispered back, placing a kiss on her head. Aurora nibbled on her fingers as she turned to look at Steve, giggles floating from her lips as she pointed at him.
"Stevie!"
Steve couldn't help but laugh, a fond smile crossing his lips as he looked at the little girl.
"Hi Rora," Steve straightened out as Aurora curled into her mother's side, his eyes moving to Tony. "What are you doing here? Thought you were on vacation."
"We were, until our old buddy Nick pulled this one out of it," he shot back, squeezing Audelia's side lightly. "Heard about everything. Your war buddy, HYDRA, all the shit hitting the fan these last few weeks. Sorry about it all."
"Thanks, I think?"
"I'm actually here to tell you that this lovely thing is now gone," Tony informed him, pulling out a file on Loki's scepter. Steve sighed as he took it from Tony's hands. "Apparently not all of HYDRA died with the Triskelion. Not shocking, considering their organization's track record of not dying out ever apparently. Someone got away with the scepter."
"Great. Any known locations?"
"Nothing yet, we're working on it though," Audelia told him, a little smile on her lips. "But I think it might take more than just us to figure it out."
Steve raised an eyebrow, looking between Audelia and Tony.
"Dude, we're getting the band back together, alright?" Tony cut in, rolling his eyes. "I'm extending hospitality. Everyone get's their own floor in the tower until Dell and I are finished with the blueprints for upstate. We can work on finding this thing, get the Iron Legion up and working-"
"You think it's time to get the Avengers back together," Steve jumped in. "And you're offering me a spot in the tower?"
"Don't make me regret it, Capsicle,"
"I'm not saying no," Steve replied, holding out his hand. Tony looked down before reaching out, shaking hands with him before they pulled away. "I'm surprised, thought this would be something you'd rather do alone than with the team."
"No, because he knows the best way to do anything is to do it together," Audelia commented as Aurora crawled out of her arms and into Steve's, curling up in his arms. She smiled, tucking herself into Tony as she looked up at him, love and adoration shining in her eyes. "We've got each other's backs. Through anything, right?"
Tony smiled, watching Aurora with Steve before looking down at Deli, placing a kiss on her lips before pulling back from her.
"Through anything,"
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Through anything...right?