Teams and Parties
If she had said it once, she'd said it a million times: Allie hated meetings.
She remembered the early days of the Commandos, sitting in meetings as they prepared themselves for what was coming. She wanted to be doing something. She wanted to be finding the people responsible for whatever she was battling and take them down in one afternoon.
Sam had gone with her to Washington for her meeting with several government representatives. As they sat in the stuffy board room, each member of the newly forming council looked at her with pursed lips. She knew that despite the proof, some were still off-put by the entire ordeal.
"Mrs. Barnes," a German representative had started. "What can you tell us about what has happened."
Allie took in a breath and told her side of what happened at the lab to the representatives that were present. As she spoke, there were many nods as they listened to her. Sam sat with his arms across his chest as he heard the same story once more.
"They have the same powers as you?" a United States representative asked.
"Correct," Allie nodded.
"And you believe that you can find and take them down?" the representative continued.
"Yes, I do," Allie nodded once more. "But I'll need a team."
"We're already working on forming a team," an official said.
"With all due respect," Allie said as she thought of her conversation with Bucky when she'd originally returned home. "So am I."
The meeting concluded and Allie knew that she had seven names in mind that she wanted on her team. As she and Sam walked side-by-side out of the building, she looked over at him.
"What do you say Cap? Are you going to join the team?" she asked.
"Is that even a question?" he asked with a smirk.
"I didn't think it would be," Allie shrugged with a smirk of her own. "It's just nice to hear the words."
"You realize that you're in charge of this team, right?" Sam asked as they quickly descended the stairs to the sidewalk.
"I do," she nodded. "You realize that we've got work cut out for us?"
"I do," he nodded.
"You ready to help form a team?" she grinned.
"Hell yeah," he grinned in return.
Bucky had been waiting for Allie to return as he sat with his sketchpad on the living room couch after the kids had been put to bed. Soft music floated through the house from the record player as the front door creaked open. Looking up to see his wife exhausted, Bucky stopped smudging the lead on the page with his thumb and placed the sketchpad and pencils on the coffee table. Standing up to greet her, he watched as she ran a hand through her hair and dropped her small bag.
"It's official," she whispered.
"You're being called in?" he assumed.
"I'm putting together a team," she informed him.
"You're putting together a team?" his eyebrows raised slightly.
"I am," she nodded and took a deep breath. "So are you joining the team?"
Bucky walked over and gently placed one hand on each of her cheeks. Gently rubbing his thumb against her cheek and leaning in, he kissed her softly before resting his forehead against hers.
"Without hesitation," he smiled.
"Thank you," she sighed in relief.
Bucky looked at her and noticed the slight smudge of lead he'd gotten on her cheek. Trying not to laugh, he quickly brought his finger up to brush away what he could. Allie knew what he'd done and simply smiled at him.
"You'd think after all this time of drawing and kissing me you'd remember to not get pencil lead on my face," she teased.
"I'd remember but you're just so beautiful that I forget," he smirked.
"Excuse me while I rethink marrying you after that one," she rolled her eyes.
"Oh it wasn't that bad," he grinned.
"You know how much I hate being called 'doll'?" Allie asked and Bucky nodded. "That's how much I hated that sentence."
"Well, excuse me for trying to be romantic," he rolled his eyes.
"You're plenty romantic without trying. So don't," Allie grinned and walked to the kitchen.
Taking out the bread from the cabinet, Allie made herself toast as she thought through what was going on. Bucky walked to the kitchen to join her and grabbed a soda from the fridge as Allie pulled out butter and spread it against her toast.
"So, who's making up the team?" Bucky took a drink.
"So far? Me, you, and Sam," she sighed.
"Now that sounds like a great team," he grinned.
"You say that as if you didn't follow him to Germany out of spite," Allie said.
"That was five years ago," Bucky frowned.
"You went to Germany out of spite," her eyes narrowed.
"This is besides the point," he shook his head. Taking a small breath, he took another drink of his soda. "Who else are you going to ask?"
"It shouldn't be a shock, but Wanda and Peter for sure," Allie listed. "And I want to talk to Sharon."
"Really?" Bucky raised his brow slightly.
"She's skilled," she pointed out. "She'd be a valuable member to have on a team."
"She can definitely kick a guy's ass," Bucky agreed.
"And there's one more that I'd like to ask," Allie took a deep breath and simply looked at Bucky.
"And that is?" Bucky asked.
"Steve," she looked down at her feet.
"Steve?"
"I know that he's retired and he's been really happy these past six years, but Bucky, it's Steve," Allie sighed. "It's just, every time I've been in a big fight, he's been there. I want him by my side for this."
"I don't know if he'll agree to do it."
"I don't either," she admitted. "But I figured I'd ask him."
"He'll support you either way," Bucky gave her a small smile.
"I know," she gave a small laugh. "I happen to have the best big brother."
"Woah, woah," Bucky put his hand up in mock confusion. "I'm the best big brother."
"No," Allie shook her head. "You threatened to shove your baby brother into a baby carriage."
"Don't defend him! You were just as pissed off about that teasing as I was," Bucky argued.
"And how many times did I almost see you sock him?" she continued to tease. "I think Steve takes the cake for best big brother."
"Okay, well then Rebecca took the cake for best little sister," Bucky smirked.
"Okay, first of all, that's rude to Ruth," Allie pointed a finger at him. "Second of all, I'm a great little sister."
"Like all the times you almost socked your brother for falsifying his enlistment forms," Bucky teased.
Allie rolled her eyes and shook her head as she looked back down to the floor. It was going to be a long mission as she began to put together a team and searched for the mystery person that had attacked her at the lab.
"Everything is going to work out just right," Bucky assured her like she would him.
"I hope you're right," she sighed. "I don't want this to be the kind of world the kids grow up in."
"It won't be," Bucky shook his head. "It might seem like a shit show but look at how much has improved since we were young."
"Yeah," she agreed.
"And just think," he smirked. "Nothing's sexier than a woman in charge."
"A woman?" Allie's eyes flicked to his as she narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Well, my woman," he corrected.
"What?" she asked. "Are you trying to dig yourself a grave?"
"I'm trying to say that you being in charge of me is sexy, but clearly it's not coming across that way," he rolled his eyes.
"Oh, see I knew that," Allie nodded. "I just like to make you sweat."
"And somehow that doesn't surprise me," Bucky shook his head with a small smile as he walked to her and laid a soft kiss on her lips.
"Yeah, but call me your woman like I'm your property again and you're sleeping on the couch," she smiled sarcastically.
"Noted," Bucky nodded.
As Allie finished her toast and the two went to bed, she couldn't help but take a deep breath.
Two members joined, five to recruit.
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Sarah's birthday party came fast as Allie was distracted by trying to create a team of her own to find and take down whoever was behind the fire and ice. Sarah had excitedly woken Allie and Bucky up by barging into their room and jumping onto their bed, kneeing Bucky in the stomach.
"I think that girl is a miniature super soldier," Bucky complained as they'd shooed her from the room to go brush her teeth.
"Be glad it was your stomach and not lower," Allie grinned.
"That's a cruel joke. Don't tempt fate," Bucky shuddered as they got out of bed and ready for the day.
The morning moved along quickly as the two began to pull tables from their garage to the backyard, receiving help from Wanda and Sam as they arrived. Steve and Sharon arrived shortly after, taking over for Sam who went to go and begin grilling as the first few guests arrived and Peter made his way onto the scene, quickly being whisked away by Sarah, dressed as closely as she could to what Bucky looked like in the Commandos, and Steven, dressed like a young Steve complete with a disheveled tie.
Steven was patiently awaiting the arrival of Emma and her parents who'd been invited. With each ring of the doorbell, he would turn to the door to see if she was arriving. As the doorbell rang once more, he tried to catch a glimpse through the door but didn't see his friend. Turning back to who he was playing with outside, he forgot about the door until he heard a friendly voice talking to his mother.
"Hi!" Morgan happily said as she walked up to Allie.
Allie couldn't help but give a soft, gentle smile to Pepper as she took in Morgan's attire. Morgan was in a t-shirt that she recognized as one of Tony's with pair of his sunglasses and her hair pulled back, makeup forming her dad's signature beard along her jaw. Morgan was smiling brightly with the wrapped present in her hand.
"Hi, Morgan," Allie smiled.
"What do you think?" Morgan gestured to her outfit.
"I think you look like a Stark," Allie said with a soft grin.
"I was debating between this and my grandpa. I thought suspenders might be cool, then I found these old sunglasses of Dad's," Morgan grinned.
"They suit you," Allie grinned.
"Morgan!" Steven's voice happily called.
"Hi," Morgan greeted as she began to walk over to Steven.
"Come play with us! We're racing Uncle Peter right now," Steven grinned.
"I can beat him," Morgan said cockily as she followed Steven outside.
"She sounds like her dad," Allie laughed as she turned to face Pepper.
"She acts like him, too," Pepper grinned.
Allie stayed in the living room as Pepper walked to the backyard. The Bartons arrived, toting their gifts in hand, shortly followed by Scott Lang and his daughter. It was a full house as all the voices joined to create a loud, ruckus, but joyous symphony.
Allie could hear as the kids cheered on Morgan as she raced Peter and Sam and Bucky teasing as Peter had lost. Making her way outside, she embraced the warm September afternoon. Sharon and Steve were eating their food with T.J. as they chatted with a few of the Barnes's neighbors.
Grace and the rest of the Barnes from Brooklyn happily watched the scene from where they sat at table and ate their own food. The entire scene was reminiscent of when Allie and Bucky would take the kids with them when visiting the Wilson family to Louisiana for cookouts.
The doorbell rang inside the house just as it had constantly been. Allie and Bucky looked at one another and made their way inside before almost being knocked over by Steven. As Bucky opened the door, a cheerful little girl smiled brightly at Steven as she stood in front of her mother and father. Steven instantly grabbed her hand and went to run off towards the backyard before she stopped in front of Allie.
"Hi! I'm Emma!" the cheerful little girl was holding on tightly to Steven's hand to keep him in the same place.
"Hi Emma," Allie smiled and greeted Emma's parents. "Thank you for coming."
"Emma hasn't stopped talking about her new friend and wanting to go to his house to play," Emma's mother smiled.
"We've heard a lot about Emma, too," Bucky grinned.
"Can you guess who Emma is, Mom?" Steven had a large toothy grin plastered on his face.
Allie looked at Emma. She was dressed in pretty blue dress with her auburn hair pulled back from her face. Allie scrunched her nose as her eyes narrowed in thought.
"A modern-day princess?" Allie mused.
"I'm you!" Emma laughed.
"Oh! Me! I should have known," Allie grinned.
"She came home one day after Steven told her he was dressing like his uncle when he was young and decided she wanted to match," Emma's mother laughed. "We looked through all sorts of pictures from the documentaries on Google and she just loved that blue dress they have in the Smithsonian."
"I actually got married in that dress," Allie smiled. "It's a great color."
Allie and Bucky separated as they led Emma's respective parents to different parts of the party, introducing them to the different adults that were there as people continued to eat the cookout food that Allie and Sam had made.
Sharon and Steve watched the party play out from where they sat in lawn chairs they had brought. The doorbell rang again and Sharon volunteered to answer the door. As she opened the door, Annika stood with another woman.
"Annika," Sharon said surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Allie invited me," Annika's thick German accent diced its way through each word. "And I brought Margaux. I hope that's not an issue."
"Annika! Hello," Allie's voice rang from the back door.
"You invited Annika to Sarah's birthday?" Sharon raised a brow.
"I thought it'd be a nice way to get to know each other," Allie shrugged. "I invited her while you were still trying on dresses."
"I see," Sharon's lips pursed as she looked between the two.
"And Annika, it's not a problem," Allie smiled. "The more the merrier. It's nice to meet you Margaux."
"Hello," a sweet French accent seemingly floated around the room. It had been a long time since Allie had heard an accent like that. Allie didn't say a word as she noticed the burn scars against Margaux's skin as she stood in front of her.
"Well, all of us are outside," Allie smiled. "Come join us."
As the two Europeans followed Allie, Annika took a look around the living room. Her eyes fell on a tiny jar that sat next to a picture frame. She didn't have enough time to look at the picture before Allie was looking back and apologizing for the mess the kids had been leaving with their toys during the party.
"Allie!" Wanda's voice called.
"Coming! We've got more guests," Allie's voice had a smile to it.
"Well, Sarah's on the hunt for you and her cake," Wanda called back as she reached the back door at the same time as Allie.
"I suppose we've all been waiting for cake long enough," Allie smiled. "Annika, Margaux, why don't you two go with Wanda and find a place to sit while Sharon and I bring out the cake and plates."
"Ah! Annika..." Wanda trailed off as she looked over and her body went rigid.
"Wanda?" Allie whispered to her. "Is everything okay?"
"Everything's fine," Wanda muttered. "Right this way."
Annika and Margaux followed Wanda out the door. Allie watched for just a moment before turning back to Sharon.
"Could you grab those plates and napkins for me?" Allie asked as she walked to the fridge and pulled out the birthday cake.
"You really invited Annika?" Sharon's brows furrowed in confusion.
"Yes, I did," Allie shrugged. "Why do you seem so put off by that? She's your friend."
"I'm not put off," Sharon rolled her eyes slightly with a small shake of her head. "I'm... surprised. That's all."
"Well, I wish you'd stop being surprised and enjoy your niece's party," Allie laughed. "Now come on before Sarah runs in here and demands to eat the cake before anyone else can even see it."
Allie called out to Bucky to grab the lighter and candle for the birthday cake as she walked the cake to a table. Setting the colorful "4" candle in the icing, Bucky quickly lit the wick as everyone took notice and gathered around the cake. Sarah happily jumped into Bucky's arms where he held her and pulled her hair back and away from her face as everyone began to sing.
Steve had made his way back to Sharon's side, wrapping an arm around her waist and singing along merrily. Sharon let her eyes wander amongst the crowd. The Starks. The Bartons. Sam. Wanda. Peter. Annika and Margaux. Annika and Sharon held each others' gaze as the singing continued, only breaking eye contact as the cheering and clapping took over and Sarah blew out the candle.
"What did you wish for?" Bucky grinned as he kissed his daughter's cheek.
"I can't tell you!" Sarah shrieked.
"That ruins the wish," Allie reminded Bucky.
"Right," he grinned and nodded.
Allie quickly began to cut the cake and pass it around, each of the kids pushing their way to the front to get their cake as quickly as they could. Peter grinned as he threatened to take a bite of Sarah's cake and she stuck her tongue out at him slightly.
The air of the afternoon remained on a high note as everyone continued to eat their slices of cake. Steven continued to play with Emma, eventually taking her to meet Morgan. Cassie and Peter sat and talked before being joined by the Barton kids. T.J. was happily dirtying his hands as he continued to try and use his fork to eat his cake, frosting smearing across his mouth.
The afternoon continued to pass on as the sun began a descent, the air becoming cooler than it had been. After presents had been opened and a handful of guests had left, including Emma and her family, Allie had decided to clean up what she could of the mess in their backyard. Walking to across the yard, she noticed a sleepy T.J. toddling her direction and scooped him up.
Allie held T.J. tightly against her hip as she walked past one of the tables. Picking up plates and napkins and turning to take them inside to throw them away, her eyes fell on something she wasn't expecting to see.
Heart pounding against her chest, she picked up the ball of ice and her throat dropped into her stomach. It was the pattern.
They were there.