Warnings: Angst! Bit of Fluff! Language!
You hadn't realised you had fallen asleep until Steve gently woke you up. His hand cupped your cheek, his thumb gently stroking your tear stained cheek. You slowly opened your eyes finding his instantly. He gives you a small smile, pulling the blanket that had been placed over you up higher.
"Where are we?" You ask when you feel the jet landing.
"Barton's taken us to a safe house" Steve explains.
"Why haven't we gone to the tower?" You ask confused.
Steve sighs glancing over at Bruce, you follow his gaze to find the man sat curled up in the corner. You instantly realise that the witch must have gotten to him too. You could only imagine what damage that caused.
"Did she get everyone?" You ask him.
"No Tony and Clint managed to escape it" Steve says shaking his head.
"She got you" you mutter realising he wasn't included on that list.
"Yeah but I'm fine" he sighs with a weak smile "c'mon lets go"
He helps you stand up keeping his arm around your waist as you stepped out of the jet. Thor walked over to help but you once again flinched when he touched you. He sighed deeply before walking on ahead of you and Steve.
You could see an old looking farmhouse ahead. It didn't look like a safehouse to you. It seemed too lived in. Maybe that was part of its disguise.
"Honey? I'm home" Clint called out as he stepped inside.
You glanced up at Steve who looked equally confused when a brown-haired pregnant women walked round the corner into the room.
"Hi, company, sorry didn't call ahead" Clint smiles greeting the women with a kiss.
"This is an agent of some kind" Tony said shaking his head slightly.
"Guys this is Laura" Clint says introducing you.
"Hi, I know all your names" Laura says with a small awkward wave.
You look to the side when your heard footsteps approaching. Suddenly two children appear, a boy and a girl, both of them running straight into Clint's arms calling him daddy.
"These are smaller agents" Tony mutters.
"Did you bring Auntie Nat?" The little girl says.
"Why don't you hug her and find out" Nat smiles stepping closer picking the girl up and giving her a big hug.
"Sorry for barging in on you" Steve apologises.
"Yeah we would have called ahead but we were too busy having no idea you existed" Tony explains.
"Yeah well Fury helped me set this up when I joined. He kept it off SHIELD's files. I'd like to keep it that way. I figured it's a good place to lay low" Clint explains.
You then hear something break behind you, turning you see Thor brushing a lego house that he'd stepped on under a table. You hear the sound of toast popping out of the toaster, quickly followed by Thor walking out. Steve glances down at you before he goes to follow Thor out. You pause momentarily, the concern for Thor winning out over your feeling of betrayal as you two go to follow him out.
"I won't get my answers here" Thor says looking at the house, a few feet from the porch.
"Thor-" you say grabbing his attention.
He glances over at you, sad expression on his face, before swinging his hammer and taking off. Steve sighs putting his arm around you pulling you closer.
"He'll be back, don't worry" he sighs kissing the top of your head.
"I'm gonna go get everyone's packs you head inside" he tells you before jogging down the steps towards the jet.
You sigh to yourself before turning around and heading back inside. You see Nat waiting for you in the hallway.
"Everything okay?" She asks.
"I dunno, Thor said he needed answers and just left" you explain.
"I meant with you? I've never seen you so shaken before, not even when Steve was in the hospital" she says taking a step forward.
"I'm fine" you lie quickly.
She looks you up and down, you knew she could tell you were lying. But what else could you say? You weren't even sure if you could bring yourself to tell Steve.
"Okay, well um Clint said you and cap could take the room at the end on the right" Nat tells you nodding to the stairs behind her.
"Thanks" you say going to step past her but she gently stops you.
"Look if you need anyone to talk to, besides Steve, you can talk to me you know" she tells you softly.
"Thank you, same goes for you" you say with a small smile before walking up the stairs.
Heading into the room you glance around at all the photos and knick-knacks dotted around the place. It was quaint and cozy, something you didn't initially associate with Clint, but it made sense. You were looking at a photo of Clint and his two kids on a fishing trip when Steve appeared holding your packs.
"It's nice isn't it?" You say putting the photo back down on the side.
"Yeah, surprising but definitely nice" Steve sighs looking around at the room.
"How you feeling?" You ask him "you took a nasty punch from Pietro"
"Just a little sore, how about you, that fall didn't look nice" he asks making you chuckle slightly.
"It wasn't, but I feel fine now, I probably have a nasty bruise but apart from that I'm fit as a fiddle" you say with a small and weak smile.
Yes, physically you felt better but mentally you were still stuck on what Wanda had shown you.
"Wanna talk about it?" Steve asks taking your hand.
"I dunno, I'm still trying to get my head around it" you sigh shaking your head.
"Well I'm here whenever you're ready, you go shower first you need it more" he says nodding over to the bathroom.
"You saying I smell?" You say with a small smirk.
Steve chuckles lightly "only a little now go" he says.
You roll your eyes but head into the ensuite. As you strip out of your suit you catch sight of yourself in the mirror. Like you suspected you had a nasty bruise across your abdomen that stretched almost the entirety of it. You gingerly touch it feeling to sharp sting of pain whenever you did. You knew it would heal soon, like Steve your body healed faster than the average human. Not as quickly as him though, much to your annoyance.
Stepping into the shower you felt the warm water wash over your body. Instantly relieving the aches and pain you had. Your muscles relaxed as you shut your eyes. For a moment it was peaceful before memories of your vision flashed before your eyes pulling you back to reality with a sharp gasp. You rest you hand against the wall of the shower dropping your head as you tried to control your breathing.
Eventually your breathing slowed, and you quickly finished up your shower. You still felt shaken when you stepped out wrapping your towel around you.
"She's dangerous" you hear your father say again.
"Doesn't know how dangerous she really is" Ultron's voice says making you screw your eyes shut shaking your head.
Were you really that dangerous? Ultron seemed to know something about you. He seemed to know about your vision before it even happened. What if it wasn't a vision? You saw memories of your Loki and your mother, what if that fire was a memory too?
"Hey you okay?" Steve asks popping his head inside the bathroom.
"Yeah, sorry go ahead" you lie forcing a smile.
He goes to say something but you don't wait and stepping out of the bathroom straight towards your pack. He turns to look at you, but you don't look up, just grabbing a change of clothes. You hear him sigh closely followed by the bathroom door closing, the shower turning back on.
You dried off changing into jeans and a top. You could hear Steve was still in the shower. As you looked out the window you could see Clint's kids playing outside, which made you smile slightly. When they run out of sight you moved to sit down on the edge of the bed and continue drying your hair. You were tempted to use your powers but you weren't sure if you could trust yourself.
"Why don't you relax? Get some proper rest?" Steve asks when he steps out of the bathroom.
"I don't know if I can" you sigh watching as he changes into jeans and a blue under armour top.
"Lets try at least" he suggests moving to lie down on the bed patting the space next to him.
You smile slightly giving in and shifting to lie beside him, you head resting in his chest. His arm moves to wrap around you pulling your close and kissing the top of your head.
The two of you remain like this for a while. Just lying in complete silence, each other's presence calming each other down. Despite your best effort your mind still went back to your vision. Replaying it as you slowly made sense of it all.
You had always known your birth mother died young, but you had no clue it was because of you. You'd killed her. Ultron was right, you were more dangerous than you realised, how long would it be until you hurt someone else you cared about. And why hadn't you been told the truth by Thor?
"I killed my mother" you admit quietly.
"What? I thought Malekith killed her?" Steve asks looking down at you confused.
"My birth mother, Father always told me she was in an accident, but I think it was actually me" you tell him not being able to look up at him.
"You don't know that though" Steve says trying to reassure you.
"I saw it Steve, my vision I was in a burning room. I could see myself as a baby in the crib screaming, my mother dead on the floor. I then hear Thor and Odin come and take me to Asgard" you tell him sitting up, hugging your knees against your chest as you felt yourself welling up.
"Hey it's okay I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation for all this" Steve says sitting up and putting his arm around your shoulders.
"My father said I was too dangerous to stay on earth, what if Ultron is right that I'm a danger to you and everyone else, I don't want to hurt or lose you Steve" you cry shaking your head as you began to sob once more.
"Hey nothing that fucking robot says is true, he's got a million and one screws loose thinking world peace means killing the ones trying to fight for it. Don't believe a single thing he says" Steve tells you.
You couldn't help but chuckle lightly as you wiped away your tears "language" you smirk making him smile.
"Hey we both know I'm not that boy scout" he smirks.
"No definitely not" you chuckle smiling over at him.
"And look you won't ever lose me, I'm amazed you stick around and put up with me I know I don't make life normal" he sighs dropping his head.
"Is that what she showed you?" You ask him taking his hand.
"Kinda, I was back in the 40s everyone was celebrating the war being over, but as they celebrated all I saw was remnants of war, spilt wine looked like blood, camera flashes like bombs going off. Then you appeared you told me we could go home that we didn't have to fight. But as I went to follow you, I hear people calling for me, for help. I looked over towards them and could see conflict. But when I looked back at you, the look on your face broke my heart, you looked so angry and hurt shaking your head as you walked away from me" Steve tells you shaking his head with a small sniffle.
"Oh Stevie I'm not going anywhere, ever, I'll be by you side through everything, you wanna fight it'll be there, you wanna stop we'll stop. Whatever you decide I'll support you and be there, you aren't getting rid of me" you tell him squeezing his hand.
"Really?" He asks uncertain.
"Really, because I love you and I'm there for you through thick and thin" you smile moving your hand to his shoulder running your finger across the nape of his neck up into his hair.
"I love you too. So, so much" he smiles cupping your cheek pulling your lips to his.
You smile into the kiss amazed how easy Steve could make you feel better. You couldn't describe how amazing this man was and how much you loved him. You had found the best man on the planet and he was all yours.
"Did you sleep on the jet?" You ask him when you parted.
"A bit, wanted to make sure you were okay" he answers rubbing your back.
"Get some rest then, a fight is coming and we need to be on our best form" you sigh resting a hand on his chest.
"Only if you do too" Steve says making you chuckle.
"Fine, c'mon" you smile.
The both of you lie back moving back to your previous position. Your head on Steve chest. His arms wrapped around you, his fingers running up and down your arm soothingly. A mixture of that and his steady heartbeat was enough to lull you back asleep, relaxing into his embrace.
*
Despite his best efforts Steve struggled to stay asleep for long. Glancing over at you he saw you fast asleep snoring slightly. He smiled to himself before turning to look up at the ceiling. He could hear Clint with his kids downstairs which made his mind wander.
He always thought that this sort of life wasn't possible. Not for him, not as an avenger. But Clint had it. He had the life Steve wanted, while still being in active duty both at SHIELD and as an Avenger.
He glances back down at you kissing you gently on the head before carefully slipping out of bed. He quietly closes the door to the bedroom before heading downstairs. He finds Clint in the kitchen asking his son to go find a tape measure for him.
"Hey um can we talk for a minute?" Steve asks him.
"Yeah sure cap, give me one sec" Clint nods before telling his son he'd be outside in a few minutes.
"What's up?" Clint asks leaning against the counter.
"How did you do all this?" Steve asks gesturing around.
"Well it wasn't easy not to begin with, it's a learning curve, why'd you ask?" Clint asks.
"Well it's been on my mind recently about this sorta life, building something like this" Steve sighs with a small shrug of his shoulders.
"With Y/N?" Clint asks with a small smirk.
"Yeah, she deserves so much, a normal life but I don't think I can do that not with the Avengers" Steve admits.
"There's no such thing as normal, everyone just has to find their own version of it, and you will" Clint tells him shrugging his shoulders.
"How do you find the balance?" Steve asks.
"Lots of trial and error, you just find what works best for you, and understand that it will change as your life changes, you'll work it out though if I can you definitely can, you're the king of planning" Clint says making Steve laugh.
"Thanks Clint that really helps" Steve smiles.
"It's nothing you and Y/N are great together I really hope you get this" Clint smiles.
"Me too" Steve sighs nodding his head.
"Hey look if you need something to do, there's an axe in shed and a bunch of wood you could chop" Clint suggests.
Steve laughs nodding his head "next best thing to a punching bag I suppose" he chuckles.
"Just don't break the axe I've only got two" Clint warns before heading outside.
Steve easily found the axe and set about chopping wood. Quickly creating a sizeable pile. It was nearing midday when he spotted you step outside spotting him and walking over.
"Hey how long have you been up?" You ask as you approach.
"Not long I promise" he smiles,
It wasn't exactly true and he could see you studying him trying to work out if he was lying or not. You probably knew he was but decided against questioning him further. Instead moving to sit at the picnic bench.
"Clint put you to work I see" you say nodding to the pile of wood Steve had created.
"Kinda, he suggested it, but it was my decision to actually do it" Steve says shrugging his shoulders.
"Well by the time you're done they'll have enough wood for 100 winters" you chuckle.
"Wanna help, there's a second axe in the shed?" He asks pointing over to the shed.
"No, I'm good my torso is still tender so best not" you say shaking your head.
"Plus, I can enjoy the view from here" you add with a smirk making him laugh.
"Of course doll, I better get back to work then" he smirks.
A short while later Laura appeared with sandwiches for the both of you and glasses of ice tea.
"Thank you so much for this Laura, I'm sure 5 superheroes crashing at your house wasn't what you were expecting" you smile taking a sip of your drink.
"It's nothing, I've been wanting to meet you guys for years now, Clint talks about you a lot" Laura smiles.
"Good things I hope" Steve chuckles.
"Yes of course, I have to say I was very invested in your little love story, when Clint told me you finally got together I was so happy for you" she tells you making the both you and Steve smile.
"Yeah did take us a while but I wouldn't change a thing" Steve sighs smiling over at you.
"Me neither" you smile back over at him.
Your conversation was the disrupted by Clint's daughter, Lila, shouting for her mom.
"Duty calls" Laura chuckles before walking off back towards the house.
Steve sat down on the bench beside you. As the two of you ate Steve kept one arm around you, his hand on the small of your back. Enjoying the feeling of you next to him in this calm environment. The world could be ending and nobody would notice. It was perfect.
He looked down at you and smiled to himself. It was quiet moments like this that he loved just watching you. Not in a creepy way of course, but he just liked to admire you. He counted his blessing every days that you had quite literally fallen from the sky into his life. He could remember the first time you guys got to talk and get to know each other like it was yesterday. Bonding over the wizard of oz and flying monkeys.
Once he'd eaten Steve went back to the task in hand. Tony joining him after a short while.
"Thor didn't say where he was going for answers?" Tony asks as he brings the axe down on chunk of wood.
"No" you sigh shaking your head.
"Sometimes our teammates don't tell us things" Steve states "was kinda hoping Thor would be one of the exceptions"
"Yeah give him time, we don't know the Maximoff kid showed him" Tony says.
Steve sees you drop your head with a guilty look in your eyes. He understood why you had pulled away from Thor, but he could tell you still felt bad about doing so. While Steve was grateful you sought comfort from him, he still felt bad for Thor. Steve has only known you a few years, you'd known Thor your whole life.
Your eyes meet his and he gives you a small reassuring smile which thankfully you return.
"Earth's mightiest heroes, pulled us apart like cotton candy" Steve mutters shaking his head as he grabbed a large piece of wood.
"Seems like you walked away alright" Tony comments.
Steve has to school his expression as he looks back over at Tony. He couldn't believe the ignorance of his statement. What Steve saw was something that has haunted him for years, something that played on his mind more and more. Especially now he had you in his life, and wanted to build a life with you.
"Is that a problem?" Steve questions.
"I don't trust a guy without a dark side" Tony states "call me old fashioned"
"Tony-" Steve hears you warn but he interrupts.
"Well lets' just say you haven't seen it yet" Steve states sending a cold look in Tony's direction.
"You know Ultron is trying to tear us apart right?" Tony says making Steve scoff under his breath.
"Well I guess you'd know, whether you'd tell us is a bit of a question" Steve retorts swinging the axe down.
"Banner and I were doing research" Tony argues.
"That would affect the team" you point out from your spot on the bench behind Steve.
"That would end the team!" Tony snaps glaring over at you.
"Isn't that the mission? Isn't that the why we fight? So we can end the fight so we can go home!" Tony continues looking back over at Steve.
Steve got more and more agitated as Tony spoke. He felt like he was in a time loop. SHIELD tried to end the fight with Insight, now Tony with Ultron. As much as Steve hated it, he knew the fighting would never end. There would never be global peace and it was naive to think so. Of course he wanted the fight to end so he could go home, have a normal life but that just wasn't possible. His emotions got the better of him and with a low growl he ripped the large chunk of wood he was holding with his bare hands before turning back to Tony.
"Every time someone tries to win a war before its starts, innocent people die, every time" Steve argues his voice low.
Tony looks back at him sighing deeply but doesn't say anything.
"I'm sorry Mr Stark, Clint said you wouldn't mind but our tractor doesn't seem to want to start at all" Laura says walking over.
"Yeah I'll give her a kick" Tony says with a small nod.
"Don't take from my pile" Tony tells Steve before walking off with Laura.
Steve sighs dropping his head and resting his hands on his hips. He takes a couple deep breaths before turning to look at you. When he does he notices the stunned and shocked expression on your face.
"Sorry I didn't mean to snap" he apologises walking over to you.
"No, no that's not what I'm um" you say shaking your head before reaching out to take his hand turning it over and running your fingers across his palm.
"I just thought it was incredibly attractive how you ripped that log in half" you admit glancing up at him through your lashes.
Steve chuckles as he moves to sit down next to you pull your hand into his lap fiddling with your fingers.
"Maybe when we move to the compound I should buy an axe" he smirks.
"I would actually love that" you smile resting your head on his shoulder, he turns his head so he can press a gentle kiss to your head.
"You okay though? What Tony said was out of line" you ask him after a moment.
"Yeah, but I know tempers are frayed at the moment, people are tired and scared, they say and do things they don't really mean" he says looking over at you.
"I still feel bad pushing Thor away" you say instantly understanding what he meant.
"I know but he'll understand he just wants you to be okay" Steve sighs wrapping his arm around you rubbing your back soothingly.
"I know" you sigh.
Steve continues to make sure you were okay, while also relishing the fact that just being with you made him feel better. When he glances up to look back at the house, he furrows his brows spotting someone he didn't expect to see.
"Is that Fury?" He questions out loud making you lift your head from his shoulder.
"What is he doing here?" You ask when you spot him.
"Hopefully he's here to help" Steve sighs standing up offering you his hand to lead you back inside.
Walking into the living room everyone had gathered, curious as to what Fury had to help.
"I'm assuming this isn't a check in call" Nat says with a small smirk.
"No not exactly" Fury sighs glancing round at the team.
"Where's Thor?" He asks looking over at you.
"Don't know took off looking for answers" you tell him.
"So what you got?" Tony asks.
"Some insight" Fury answers glancing over at him.
"Well hold onto that, Laura made dinner, we can discuss this when the kids are in bed" Clint says walking to the kitchen.
As everyone sat down to eat Steve couldn't help but watch Barton and his family. The kids would excitedly tell him stories about school or TV programs they'd watch. Clint and Laura occasionally reminding them about manners. He glanced over at you and started to picture him and you in that situation little version of him and you running about. You caught him looking over at you and instantly smiles putting a hand on his knee under the table.
Once everyone had eaten, the plates were cleared away. Now that the temperature had dropped Steve went upstairs to go grab himself and you your hoodies. Well, he'd grab one of his for you considering he knew how much you loved them.
As he went to go back downstairs he could see Laura helping get the kids ready for bed. Both of them whining that they couldn't stay up longer. Steve smiles at the scene before continuing down the stairs passing you the jumper.
"Oh my favourite thank you" you smile reaching up to kiss him.
Everyone then gathered in the kitchen to see what help Fury had. Tony was stood in the small utility room playing darts. Bruce was stood in the corner of the kitchen a short distance from Nat who was sat at the table. Clint continued to wash up some of the dishes from dinner. Steve stood behind you his arm wrapped around you as he lent against the wall.
"Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time, my contacts all day he's building something" Fury explains as Lila runs in giving Nat a picture before running off again.
"The amount of vibranium he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing" Fury continues.
"What about Ultron himself?" Steve questions.
"Oh he's easy to track, he's everywhere. The guy is multiplying faster than a catholic rabbit. It still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans though" Fury explains.
"Is he still going after launch codes?" Tony asks as he throw a dart.
"Yes he is but he's not making any headway" Fury tells him making Tony furrow his brows.
"I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare" Tony comments.
"Well I contacted our friends at the Nexus about that" Fury explains.
"Nexus?" You question, Steve also not knowing what that was.
"It's the world internet hub in Oslo, every byte of data flows through there, fastest access of earth" Bruce explains.
"So what did they say?" Clint asks twirling a dart between his fingers.
"He's fixated on the missiles, but the codes are constantly being changed" Fury explains.
"By whom?" Tony asks as Clint throws the dart narrowly missing Stark's face which secretly make Steve smirk.
"Parties unknown" Fury answers.
"Do we have an ally?" Nat asks looking over at Fury.
"Ultron's got an enemy that's not the same thing. Still I'd pay folding money to know who it is" Fury tells her.
"I might need to visit Oslo find out unknown" Tony sighs walking back into the kitchen.
"Well this is good times boss but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that" Nat sighs with a small smirk.
"I do, I have you. Back in the day I had eyes everywhere, ears everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream up. Here we all are back on earth with nothing but our wit and our will to save the world" Fury says walking over to the table.
"Ultron says the Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission and whether or not he admits it his mission is global destruction all this laid in a grave. So stand, outwit the platinum bastard" Fury continues.
Steve sees you glance up at him with a smirk and mischievous look in your eyes. He knew exactly what you were gonna say before the words even left your mouth.
"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk" you smirk.
Steve shakes his head smiling down at you "you know what-" he smirks poking you in the ribs making you giggle.
"So what does he want?" Fury asks as he sits down.
"To become better, better than us, he keeps building bodies" you sigh turning back to the group.
"Person bodies" Tony agrees "but the human form is inefficient, biologically speaking we're outmoded yet he still keeps coming back to it"
"When you two programmes him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed" Nat says looking up at Bruce who had walked over to look at the painting next to Nat.
"They don't need to be protected, they need to evolve, Ultron's going to evolve" Bruce mutters looking around the room.
"How?" Fury asks.
"Has anyone been in contact with Dr Cho recently?" Bruce asks looking around the room.
"The cradle" Tony mutters shaking his head.
"Could he really use that to build a body?" You question.
"I thought it just created tissue" Clint adds.
"Maybe that's what's the vibranium is for" Tony points out.
"Would Helen just allow him to use it though" Nat counters.
"She may not have the choice, he has the sceptre" you point out with a heavy sigh.
"We need to head out fast, try and intercept him because if he's successful" Steve sighs shaking his head.
"He'll be indestructible" Tony finishes.
"Everyone suit up, ready in 5" Steve orders.
Everyone quickly got ready splitting up into teams "we'll take Natasha and Clint" Steve tells Tony as you pass him his shield, slinging it onto his back.
"All right, strictly recon, I'll hit the nexus and join you as soon as I can" Tony says walking over.
"If Ultron really is building a body" you say as the three of you walk towards the door.
"He'll be more powerful than any of us, maybe all of us" Tony sighs "an android designed by a robot"
"You know I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was me" Steve mutters as he pulls on his gloves.
"I'll drop Banner off at the tower, you mind if I borrow Ms Hill?" Fury asks as he shrugs on his jacket.
"She's all your apparently" Tony mutters.
"What are you gonna do?" Steve asks.
"Something dramatic" Fury smirks.
"You could be a world class actor you know" you smirk up at Fury.
"Who says I'm not" he says tapping his nose before walking away.
The three of you glance around at each other with slightly stunned expressions.
"That's it I swear he's living a double life and is actually Sam Jackson" Tony says shaking his head.