Split
Despite the tension that had begun to rise between Allie and Steve, they'd both agreed to join their friends on an outing intended for the kids. Despite Sam usually giving him a hard time, as soon as he had heard from Peter the same things he had been hearing from Bucky about the Rogers siblings, he instantly agreed to help take them all out for a day.
Steven had had a seemingly long week of school. For Halloween, he'd dressed up as his Uncle Steve, just like a picture he had seen of when Steve and Allie had been young. He'd worn suspenders and his clothes were slightly baggy. Allie found that at the same time that it brought back fond memories from their youth, she was still annoyed at what had been happening recently.
Neither sibling had mentioned the tension that had begun, both choosing to focus on other things instead. When Sam had told them what he had planned for the kids, including taking them to the Captain America exhibit and to walk around the memorials, they each put their feelings aside and made the early morning trip to Washington.
"There's my favorite little cyborg kids," Sam teased as Steven and Sarah sleepily greeted him, complaining that they were tired the entire time. "We're going to have the best day today. You know why?"
"Why?" Sarah asked as Sam gave them both hugs.
"Because your Uncle Sam is the best," he grinned. "Don't let your dad tell you any different."
"I mean, we did have to wake up really early," Bucky shrugged.
"I bet they slept on the ride," Sam dismissed with a smirk.
"They did," Allie grinned, T.J. sitting on her hip as he laid his head against her shoulder. "So did I."
"I didn't even need to play the radio," Bucky smirked at her. "Her snores would have drowned it out anyway."
Sam grinned as he lead the way into the museum, the kids instantly excited as they saw the large displays of their parents and uncle in front of them. Breaking free from the adults, they ran to the videos that played. It was nothing new for Allie, Bucky, or Steve. They'd visited plenty of times in the past years. Sam had even had contributions that he had taken part in to the exhibit itself.
"Mom was pretty," Steven smiled as clips of Allie reading to Bucky from a script played on a screen.
"Mom is pretty," Bucky corrected bumping Allie's arm with his own.
Allie laughed as she shook her head softly. In her arms, their youngest simply watched the pictures and videos on the screen pass by, happily smiling as he pointed out who he knew. Sarah and Steven were already running in the direction of Allie's uniforms, dragging Steve with them. Sam simply walked over to the newer additions to the exhibit and watched the videos that played on their displays.
"You know," Bucky started as he looked over at a video of himself dancing with Allie. "I really did stand and watch this video over and over when I first came here after I pulled Steve from the river."
"This one? Why?" Allie smiled.
"At the time, I was mesmerized by the pretty nurse," he teased. "I saw myself kissing her and was pretty pleased that I'd gotten to do that."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah," he nodded. "And then, it clicked. It was you and I remembered that moment you walked into the back of that bar. I didn't need to watch the video again or to read your biography. From there, it clicked into place."
"You're a charmer," Allie teased. "I practically was ready to cry the entire time when I first saw the display with you etched into it. Or the sketches they have that you drew."
"I'll take a guess that it was the flowers?" he teased.
"You drew them the night we first kissed," Allie smiled.
"I remember," he nodded. "I also remember that there was a part of me that wanted to get you real flowers. I was half tempted to run to a florist and buy you a bouquet."
"What stopped you?" she smirked, the pair stopping in front of the display of the Commandos' uniforms with their pictures on display.
"You," he shrugged. "Somehow, I just didn't really want to leave you."
"Did you ever think about kissing me? Before that night when I kissed you?" Allie had adjusted T.J. on her hip.
"All the time," he admitted. "But, there is a part of me that's happy that you kissed me first."
"Really?"
"Well, yes," he nodded. "You've never been one to back down or to wait forever. And I was far too afraid that I'd lose you if I kissed you first."
"I about thought that I was going to scare you off that night," Allie laughed. "I remember panicking and thinking that you were upset that I'd kissed you."
"Well, now you know it was quite the opposite," he laughed.
The two began to walk once more, rejoining the others from their group and continuing to a newer section of the exhibit: one that the children could interact with. As they made their way over, not a single one noticed the pairs of eyes that turned their way, or the familiar burned face that looked them up and down.
They hadn't stayed for much longer before the kids had run back to them and complained about being hungry. Sam treated the group to lunch, keeping an eye on Steve and Allie as they ate. The two talked to everyone, it seemed, but each other. Sam would glance over at Bucky, trying to begin a conversation that everyone could participate in. More often than not, it turned into one of the kids telling a story and the adults letting them.
By the time the afternoon had arrived, the group had found themselves at the reflecting pool of the Washington Monument. The kids smiled at the shining against the water, the adults feeling the cooling autumn air against their cheeks and noses. As Allie bent down to begin speaking to the kids, a blast of ice sent her flying into reflecting pool.
"Allie!" Bucky yelled as she dizzily stood, bystanders gathering and whispering as she looked around for where it came from.
"Mommy?" Sarah asked, terrified.
Another blast of ice caused Allie to stumble backwards, Steven and Sarah both screaming. Bucky went to run in after Allie, but he too was pushed backwards by a blast of ice from a different direction. There was more than one person there.
"Are you going to cower and hide?" Allie taunted, flames erupting in her hands. "Or are you going to come out here and face me?"
Another blast of ice fired, but Allie was quicker. Flames turning to ice in her hands, the reflecting pool seemingly had a glacier to call its own as Allie brought up a wall of ice to protect herself. Bringing it back down quickly, she watched as the three men were looking in different directions for whoever had attacked Allie.
"Coward!" she yelled. "Face me!"
"Fine," a familiar voice sounded.
As Allie watched the figure approach, she realized that it was Annika. Annika had attacked her in front of her children a second time. Allie was furious. She didn't fully register as two more figures, one being a young man and the other being that of Annika's friend Margaux, had emerged and launched their own attacks on Bucky, Sam, and Steve.
Steven and Sarah were watching in horror. Afraid of what was going on, the two were frozen in place. T.J. was in Bucky's arm who was trying to shield him from any ice that came their way. Storming out of the fountain, Allie stared Annika down.
"This is how you choose to fight?" she spat in disgust. "Attacking a family?"
"I prefer you, but if they're in my way, they're in my way," Annika shrugged holding her hand up and launching a blast.
For being a little boy, Steven had strong instincts. Having seen Annika's raised hand, he placed himself in front of his little sister. Launching a chaotic blast of his own, he sent ice flying. For as hard as he had tried, it wasn't strong enough to hurt Annika or throw her off. Instead, her blast hit him, sending both children tumbling backwards.
Allie saw red. For the second time in her life, her body was reacting before her mind as she lifted her hand and pointed it in Annika's direction. It was effortless. The air around Annika tightening, Allie watched as Annika's eyes widened. The others watched in shock as Allie continued to stalk towards Annika, continuing her attack. The new power had been revealed in a moment of blinding anger.
"Allie," Bucky stayed calm, but Allie didn't listen.
Continuing forward, Steve ran over and pushed Allie, finally pulling her from where she'd held her focus on a struggling Annika. Falling to the ground, Allie could hear Annika coughing as others joined her, helping her to her feet. Allie remained on the ground as she turned towards her brother, anger turning from Annika to him.
"Why would you do that?" she spat.
"That wasn't you," he bit out. "You don't kill people."
"She could have killed my children!" Allie yelled at him.
"You can't just kill her," Steve argued.
"You're not a parent," she pushed herself to her feet. "You don't understand."
"Allie," Bucky held her as he looked over at Annika, finding that once again, the enemy and her followers had disappeared into thin air. "Shit."
"What is it?" she frowned she looked over and saw the empty ground. Fuming, she turned to Steve. "We fucking had her!"
"Allie," Steve said firmly.
"We had her! It could have been over! But no. You had to shove me," she roared at him. "Why would you do that?"
"Because you're not a murderer!" Steve yelled. "I prevented you from feeling that guilt."
Bucky went rigid beside Allie. While in the previous years, he had been doing better with recognizing his past and moving forward, he couldn't help but feel his guilt rise again at Steve's statement.
"He's right," he whispered to Allie. "It isn't a good feeling."
At his words, Allie's eyes widened. Bucky had had no choice when it came to what he had done for all those years. They'd all acknowledged and moved on from that. If she had killed Annika, that would have been squarely on her shoulders. As stubborn as she could be, that was something that she couldn't help but realize they were right about. She wasn't a murderer, even if Annika had insinuated that she was.
"Where are the kids?" she asked softly as she realized that they were gone.
"Sam took them inside one of the buildings," Bucky assured her as he kissed her temple. "We can go find them."
Allie nodded and let Bucky lead the way. Turning to face Steve, she narrowed her eyes at him as she remembered what he had said that caused Bucky to remember what he'd tried to forget for a very long time.
"Watch what you say around him," she spat and walked off to follow Bucky.
Only hesitating for a moment more, Steve had found that his agitation with his sister had only grown more.
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When returning to Brooklyn, Bucky and Allie had made the decision to drop the kids off with Grace. In the case that they had to run off and jump into another fight, they wanted their children safe with the family. Grace had been startled when finding out what had taken place, immediately checking on Allie who still had the dried blood along her temple.
"I'm fine," Allie assured her. "I just don't want my kids in danger."
"I understand," Grace nodded. "They'll be safe here."
"Thank you," Allie said as she hugged her. "We'll let you know as soon as we can come get them."
Grace nodded and kept an eye out as Allie and Bucky had left the house and made their way back to Steve and Bucky on the way back to the house. Anger still bubbled in Allie's stomach. All she wanted was a normal, day-to-day life raising her kids. It felt like a piece was missing when they returned to their suburban home.
"It'll be okay," Bucky assured her, not even needing to ask what was wrong.
"I know," Allie nodded as his arms wrapped around her.
Steve glared at the two as the four had walked inside the house itself. Sam had gone to grab Allie's medical supplies that she kept downstairs. He wasn't blind to what had been bubbling up and had settled amongst the group of adults on the way to Brooklyn. As he walked back into the living room, he nodded at Allie and held the supplies out to her.
"Thank you," she said as she finally began to clean Bucky up first.
It was silent as she worked, no one wanting to speak. During a normal silent night in the Barnes house, it would be because everyone had begun to sleepily melt into their seats. On this evening, everyone sat on edge. It was almost as if they had to dance around each other, careful not to get too close. Steve had had enough and confronted her.
"That was irresponsible," Steve hissed. Allie spun around to face him, glaring at him in the process. "You were reckless."
"I beg your pardon?" Allie narrowed her eyes at him. "Reckless? Irresponsible? What are you on about?"
"You could have killed her!" Steve shouted.
"My kids were in danger," Allie's words were clipped, dangerous in their sharpness.
Bucky laid a hand on Allie's arm, rubbing a thumb along it and trying to calm her down. Allie couldn't even register the motion as she glared at her brother. Sam's eyes widened just a tad as he listened to the two.
"That doesn't matter," Steve said without a moment of hesitation.
"Excuse me? That doesn't matter?" Allie yelled as she stood up and faced him fully. "How do my children not matter?"
"I didn't mean it like that," he rolled his eyes.
"Really? Because it sure sounded like you meant it that way," she scoffed.
"I meant that it's not an excuse to almost kill her," Steve spat as he stood to face her. "Killing her creates more issues than it solves."
"You don't think that I understand that?"
"You act like you don't," Steve bit out.
"Steve, Allie, stop," Bucky's voice was firm with the two, but neither paid much attention to him.
"Okay, I was blinded by my anger," Allie admitted. "But I'm their mother, okay? When anyone lays a finger on them or puts them in any kind of danger, that's what I'm focused on. You don't have children. You don't understand."
"You can't use that as an excuse," Steve rolled his eyes.
"Steve, she's not excusing anything," Bucky interrupted. "She's right. When my kids are put in danger, I see red as well. If you become a dad one day, you'll understand."
"If I become a dad," Steve shook his head and scoffed softly. "That's another thing. What if something happens to Sharon and I'm not there to protect her?"
"Steve," Bucky's voice was sharp.
"I'm serious," Steve frowned. "You say you can't let anything happen to the kids, I say I can't let anything happen to her."
"Where is this coming from?" Allie felt the pang of hurt. "You told me that you didn't want to go after her."
"Well, maybe I do," Steve frowned. "I can't lose her."
Allie's jaw had dropped in shock form Steve's sudden change. It had been a month without Sharon around. To hear him say what he was saying felt like a punch in the stomach. Bucky narrowed his eyes as Allie closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. As she opened her eyes, she kept herself steady.
"Steve," she sighed. "I get it. There's been so much loss we've gone through. Okay? It's a lot."
"Allie, she's out there somewhere. First it was Sam and Wanda being attacked. Then it was Peter. Now it was you," Steve brought his hand up to rub his temples. "It could be her next."
"She isn't our problem to deal with," Bucky frowned and Steve's hand dropped in disbelief.
"Our problem?" Steve's voice held the same feeling of disbelief that his body did.
"Steve," Bucky sighed. "I didn't mean it like that."
"Really? Because it really sounded like you did," Steve's eyes narrowed sharply.
"Boys, this isn't the time to go down that path," Allie warned. She didn't exactly feel like continuing in the direction that conversation was headed. "But, Bucky's right. She isn't our number one priority right now."
"Maybe she's not yours, but she is mine," Steve bit out.
"What?" Allie's jaw dropped.
"The two of you have always risked so many things for the other," Steve frowned. "Need I remind you of Romania, Allie? Or Buck, when you helped me form a plan to get Allie and the others off of the Raft? How are those times any different than me wanting to go find her and make sure she's alive?"
"Because unlike her, neither of us hid crucial information," Bucky frowned. "She hid crucial information about my wife. She hid crucial information about your sister."
"I understand that," Steve began, but Bucky was already cutting him off.
"No," Bucky shook his head. "Apparently you don't understand that. What if Allie or I had done that to Sharon? Wouldn't you be hurt, too?" Steve stayed silent, but kept his eyes locked on Bucky. "Allie and I are still always finding out something new about all those years that we were used and experimented on by people that didn't give a damn about us. You were frozen on a goddamn plane before you went and fought aliens."
"I didn't have a choice," Steve started.
"Really? Because it was most definitely a choice when you were on that radio with me and Peggy," Allie frowned. "Or do you just choose to not remember that conversation?"
"I didn't have a choice," Steve repeated.
"Bullshit!" Allie yelled. "It was a choice! And you left me!"
"Excuse me?" Steve's jaw tightened.
"You left me," Allie repeated. "I'd just been widowed and you left me behind. I was alone and you've never acted like you cared."
"I do care," Steve defended. "Of course I've cared."
"You do a pretty shit job at showing it," Allie frowned. "I didn't have my brother when I needed him the most. You don't understand how alone I felt and how hurtful it is to know that she knew about everything I'd been through."
"You felt alone? I left you?" Steve felt agitation bubbling. "What about the Blip? You left me for five goddamn years!"
"I died! What the hell was I supposed to do? Just not die when it was out of my control?" Allie hissed.
"You can stop acting like you're the only one who's hurt," he frowned.
Sam had begun to look at Bucky in surprise. The argument between Allie and Steve was something that had not been seen before. The two had only ever had arguments that lasted a few hours at most before they had made up and eaten dinner together. The last time Sam had seen Allie blow up at someone she cared about, words were said between her and Bucky that had never been said prior to or after the fact. Bucky had had enough.
"Outside," Bucky nodded to the front door and Steve followed him.
Standing with his arms crossed as he stood on the front porch, Bucky's jaw tightened as he waited for Steve to close the front door behind him. Steve took a deep breath as he turned and faced his brother-in-law.
"What the hell are you doing?" Bucky hissed as the door clicked close.
"What?" Steve frowned.
"Why the hell would you tell Allie that?" Bucky continued. "Are you just going to ignore what she's been through?"
"I'm not ignoring what she's been through," Steve argued.
"Well it seems like you are," Bucky's eyes narrowed. "Throwing the Blip in her face like that and telling her you want to go find Sharon."
"Why does it matter if I want to find Sharon? She's my fiancée," Steve glared.
"Yeah? And Allie's my wife," Bucky spat. "And your sister."
"I get that, but this isn't about Allie. This about me going and finding Sharon. You're my best friend, Buck. Why are you making such a big deal about this?"
"Yeah, I'm your best friend," Bucky agreed, taking a few steps away from Steve before turning around taking in a deep breath. "But Allie is what is important to me. She's hurt and it's because of Sharon. Allie adored her and frankly still does and that's why this all hurts her as much is it does. So as far as I'm concerned, I'm putting my foot down."
"And what exactly are you putting your foot down about?" Steve sighed.
"I'm telling you that you're wrong," Bucky swallowed hard. "I don't want Sharon anywhere near Allie."
A moment passed between the two as Steve placed his hands on his hips. Shaking his head and looking down, Steve didn't hesitate to let his disbelief and agitation show. He felt it was unfair what Bucky was saying. Allie had told him before that she would understand if he went after Sharon. But Bucky knew that Allie didn't actually expect Steve to run after her.
"The two of you get this kind of life, but I don't even get to think about it?" Steve bit out.
"Right now? If it's with Sharon, no. Not around us," Bucky stood his ground.
Neither knew it, but Allie had made her way towards the door and was listening to the conversation. There had never been a moment in their lives where something threatened to drive a wedge between them. She had never seen her brother and husband argue. They'd given each other a hard time, but never sounded angry with one another.
"Fine," Steve said and slammed the door open, nearly hitting Allie in the face as she jumped out of the way.
"Steve," Allie said in an almost desperate tone.
"Steve," Bucky stormed in after him.
"No," Steve's jaw was set tensely. "You've made it very clear."
"Where are you going?" Allie walked towards him.
"Don't tell me you're actually going to do it," Bucky sighed in frustration.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Steve spat. "I'm leaving."
"If you do this and you go after her-" Bucky started, anger creeping into his tone.
"What? What Buck?" Steve snapped.
"Don't bother coming back here. That's what," Bucky roared. "I'm not having my wife go through that just because you're acting like a lovesick puppy!"
"James, Steve, stop," Allie warned.
"No," Bucky shook his head. "If Steve does this, that's it."
"Funny," Steve nodded his head. "After all we've been through, this is the thing that has to come between us. Just because you don't want me to have a single moment where I go after what I want. You're both selfish."
"What?" Allie roared. "I'm selfish? I'm selfish after I asked if you'd rather go after her?"
Allie quickly stood in front of Bucky and stared daggers at her brother.
"I'm selfish after all those goddamn years of cleaning your cuts and scrapes after you decided to act like a jackass who was too stupid to run away from a fight? I'm selfish after I gave you a goddamn choice?"
"You didn't leave me an actual choice," Steve argued. "What was I supposed to say? That I really didn't want to go into another fight? That I liked my retirement and wanted to go after the woman that I love?"
"If you don't want to be a part of this goddamn team then just leave!" Allie yelled, her throat tightening as her eyes burned.
"I am," Steve spat.
A silence fell over them as they stared at one another. Nothing had ever come between the Rogers siblings. Not the death of a parent, not the deployment of a best friend, not their arguments as a sister scolding her older brother. Not even wars or death came between them. It was a new feeling. It was something that neither of them cared for, but that neither of them was willing to admit the sentiment to the other.
Allie had to take in a slow breath to even feel as if she could properly breathe. Bucky simply stood firm, his position in the situation clear. Steve didn't take his eyes off of his sister, a cold stare being locked between the two.
"Then go," Allie's voice became as cool as the touch of her ice. "Leave. You're good at that."
Without another moment hanging between them, Steve grabbed his coat and stormed out the front door. His footsteps could be heard against the creaking wooden planks of the front porch until they were too far gone.
It was official. The team was down to five.
The fracture between the Rogers siblings had officially split them apart.