The Veteran, the Soldier, and the Liaison

Despite press continuing to surround Allie and her team in the weeks that followed, each member of the team found themselves settling back into their lives.

When the team had arrived back in the Washington area, John Walker had been the first to depart. It surprised Allie how he was polite when he left.

"I underestimated you," he had said.

"Believe it or not, it's not that uncommon for someone to do that," Allie had shrugged.

"Goodbye Barnes," he nodded to her and Bucky before departing.

The next to depart was T'Challa and members of the Dora Milaje who went to return Zemo to the Raft. T'Challa's goodbye was warm to the others, informing Allie and Bucky that they were welcome for a visit where the kids could truly tour the kingdom.

"It would be nice to see you again, White Wolf. And the pups," T'Challa smiled.

"It would be nice to make more happy memories regarding Wakanda," Allie smiled at Bucky.

"Someday," Bucky nodded to T'Challa.

"Captain," T'Challa turned to Steve. "It was nice to see you again."

"Take care of yourself, Your Majesty," Steve shook his hand.

Zemo had walked up to Allie, nodding softly as he looked at her.

"So the record is clear," he began. "I still like your kids better than you."

"That makes two of us," Allie laughed. "Thank you, Zemo."

"I didn't do it for you," Zemo shook his head.

"Oh I am aware," she nodded. "But it still benefited me."

Zemo's small smirk and huff of a chuckle was the thing that made Bucky take notice. Looking over at him, the two shared a nod.

"Allie, I think you are one of the few people that I know that could befriend a criminal," Bucky sighed.

"Are you forgetting that I technically was a criminal?" she turned to look at him. "After trying to help you kick his ass?" she pointed to Zemo.

"It is a fair point, James," Zemo agreed.

"God, this is a weird world," Sharon shook her head.

"Might as well embrace it," Peter shrugged.

"Yeah," Allie nodded and turned her attention to Zemo with a shrug. "Might as well embrace it. Take care of yourself. I know how miserable those cells are."

It was a few short weeks later that Zemo received a parcel of books, papers laying at the bottom of the package. Looking out to the guards to assure there was no attention on him, he pulled the papers out, quickly recognizing them as children's artwork. Stick figures and scribbles being the main feature on two of them, he recognized scrawled letters in crayon on the last picture. Noticing the bumps from writing on the other side of the drawing, Zemo turned it over and noticed Allie's handwriting.

It says 'Thank you for helping my mom' if you couldn't make it out.

- Allie

Clint and Scott had each given Allie a warm embrace when they departed. Wanda and Sam each decided to leave with Allie and the others that were making their way to Brooklyn to reunite with the kids. Sharon had to have help walking after Allie had Steve and Bucky help her create a temporary splint until they were able to get to the hospital.

"You know, taking you in should probably be our first stop," Steve looked at her as she sat in the car.

"I've missed out on how long of seeing those kids? I'm not missing another moment," Sharon glared at him. "Unless you're doubting your sister's abilities."

"Don't bring me into a premarital argument," Allie held her hands up in surrender. "But yeah, Steve, don't be an asshole to your little sister."

"You and Bucky are so screwed with these two back together," Sam grinned as he looked at Wanda.

"It's true," she nodded in agreement. "You're outmatched."

"You're Allie's best friend," Bucky looked at Wanda with narrowed eyes. "You're biased."

"I'm right," Wanda smirked.

"Dad, sit this one out," Peter pat Bucky's shoulder before receiving a look. "Okay, sorry, sorry!"

The drive to the Barnes family home in Brooklyn was one that finally had an air of relief over it. There was no possible incoming threat, they could finally enjoy their time with their family. When Bucky parked the car, each person followed him and Allie to the door.

"Thank God!" Grace threw her arms around the two as she opened the door. "You're okay."

"I'm exhausted, but alive," Allie laughed.

"I was watching press coverage of it," Grace shook her head in disbelief. "All of you, come in. Steven! Sarah! T.J.!"

Three sets of footsteps bounded from the living room, eyes lighting up as they ran up to Allie and Bucky. Steven held on to Allie the tightest.

"They never fail to make my day better," Allie smiled and whispered to Bucky.

"Mine too," he smiled back.

"Do you think they're going to have kids?" Allie asked him as she glanced over at Steve and Sharon. Steve was helping Sharon sit in a chair comfortably while Grace looked at them in disbelief for going to the house before the hospital. "I know Steve and I talked about things when they came back, but do you see Sharon being a mom?"

"She's done some things in her past," Bucky sighed. "But I can see her being a mom. Maybe a stricter mom, but I can see her and Steve having kids."

"We don't tell anyone about the Broker, agreed?" Allie looked over at him quickly.

"Giving her a fresh start?" he glanced over to Sharon.

"You got one, I got one, Steve got one," Allie shrugged. "Sharon began to have one. She told us the truth and helped us in the end."

"That's true," he nodded.

"I know one way to fully allow that to happen," she sighed. "The box."

"The box," Bucky repeated. "What do you mean?"

"Well, when I originally showed you the box, you asked me what I thought my options for it were and I chose to never do anything with it," Allie looked to him. "I think its time to get rid of it. I can burn it."

"Is that what you want to do?" he asked her.

"I think it's time," she nodded. "And I think Sharon should be there with me."

"Then let's to do it," he smiled.

And they did. That night after they'd taken care of Sharon by taking her to the hospital, they'd returned to Allie and Bucky's home where the box was retrieved and the group took it outside where it was finally burned. Sharon had come to stand beside Allie as they watched the box containing Allie's past burn, smiling to one another in relief.

The night that Sharon had appeared on the news, she and Steve had gone to eat dinner with Allie, Bucky, and the kids. When Allie saw her, she simply shook her head and gave her a hug.

"You really did that? You still have a cast on your leg," Allie laughed.

"And that matters, why?" Sharon smirked.

"The cast on your leg might not matter, but isn't that bit much?" Allie looked to her.

"Honestly, it was fun," Sharon grinned.

"Well, be careful with that smirk if you do something like that again," Allie shrugged.

"Oh, I'll do it again," Sharon grinned. "Now, I'm dying for some of your cooking."

"Then let's eat," Allie smiled at her.

Sitting around the table, the feeling of the air was warm and cheerful. No worries sat on their shoulders. As Steve and Sharon shared a look, they looked back to Allie and Bucky like they had the night that they'd joined them for dinner on Steven's first day of kindergarten.

"Why are you looking at us like that?" Allie laughed.

"We wanted to tell you something now that life is starting to return to normal," Sharon looked at Allie.

"Alright," Allie nodded.

"It won't be this year like we originally thought, but we're still going to get married," Steve smiled.

"And we still want you two as the maid of honor and best man," Sharon assured them. "And the boys as junior groomsman and ring bearer with Sarah as a junior bridesmaid. Steve already told me that he's still going to have Sam be a groomsman, but I had a choice to make."

"The second bridesmaid?" Allie asked and received a nod in response. "Who are you choosing?"

"I know she's your best friend and has been since the two of you met, but I'd really like to get to know Wanda," Sharon shrugged softly. "I'd like to talk to her about it."

"She is amazing at fixing hair before a wedding,"  Allie smiled. "You should talk to her."

"Hey, Peter?" Steve looked over to him as Peter sat towards the end of the table, happily eating his dinner.

"Yeah?" Peter's head popped up in his direction.

"You're a part of the family, now," Steve's voice was warm as he glanced over at Sharon. "Why don't you take part?"

"I appreciate the thought," Peter smiled softly. "I just don't know what I'd do."

"We'll have a while, so if you change your mind, let us know," Sharon smiled.

"Well, you have both the maid of honor and best man right here. Tell us when and how you want the wedding to be," Allie smiled.

And they did.

"Wait a minute," Allie's eyes widened as she took in the streets they passed through as they reached the city. "I know these roads."

They were no longer as small and almost dingy as they once had been, but they were still the same streets. The turns and the sidewalks were still there. The older buildings were still present with their old bricks as newer buildings sat near with freshly painted signs. The little theater that Bucky had taken her to see movies at still sat proudly where it always had. They were home in Brooklyn, but instead of going the direction of the Barnes family house, they were going to somewhere they hadn't been in a very long time.

As Bucky pulled the minivan into a parking space, Allie's jaw dropped and she looked to another parked car where Steve and Sharon opened the doors to stand up. She hadn't seen the old building since before she went off to the basecamp overseas almost ninety years prior.

"Where are we?" Steven asked as he looked out the window at the sight.

"My home," Allie grinned, happily exiting the car and taking a deep breath. "It's still here?"

"It's still here," Bucky nodded.

"How is it still here?" Allie turned to look at the others.

"Well, Morgan and Pepper were going through more papers and found an envelope addressed to you and Steve from Howard," Peter started. "They passed it to me and I showed it to Dad."

"As It turns out," Bucky started as he guided the little ones out of the van and over to the others. "Howard had bought the deed to your house so that we'd all have a place to return to once we came back from the war. With as close as the end seemed, he decided to go through with the purchase and was planning on surprising all of us for your birthday. But, then I fell off the train, Steve went down in the ice, and you went missing on my birthday. So, he never was able to give it to us."

"But he kept it?" Steve looked at the others.

"Yes," Sharon nodded.

"Why did he keep it?" Steve asked the others.

"The only thing I can figure is that it was a piece of us," Bucky shrugged. "We all know that he was closest to you, Allie. I figure he didn't feel right giving it away."

"That was sweet of him," Allie smiled. "It's a shame that things happened the way they did. He never knew that we survived."

"Well-" Bucky began but Allie cut him off with a look. "Okay, well, I agree that it's a shame that he never had the chance to see us return to Brooklyn."

"Has anyone lived here since we all left for the war?" Steve asked as he looked back at the old porch.

"No," Bucky grinned. "It turns out that it hasn't been touched since 1943."

"What?" Allie turned to him with a shocked expression. "So, you're saying it looks the same as the day I left?"

"Yes," Bucky nodded.

"Why did you bring us here?" Allie looked between Bucky, Sharon, and Peter.

"Well, I thought it was a shame that this place was just sitting around after it turned out that it had been purchased for you guys," Sharon began. "And with you two having a home for yourselves that you love, I thought that maybe this house, despite needing to be fixed up, could be ours?" she turned to face Steve.

"Really?" he smiled in disbelief.

"I thought it might be a nice touch of home," she smiled.

Steve looked to Allie who smiled and nodded. Their home was still in existence and it was going to stay in the family. She had her life started, it was about time that her brother was finally able to do the same.

"Let's do it," Steve smiled over at Sharon.

"Hey, Steven, Sarah, T.J.," Bucky called over. "Do you want to see where your mom and uncle grew up?"

"What?" Sarah looked in disbelief.

"You grew up here?" Steven's eyes widened.

"It's old," Sarah wrinkled her nose.

"So are we," Steve teased his niece.

"I want to go in!" Steven grinned.

"Let's go in," Allie smiled and held out her hand to her brother.

The Rogers siblings walked up the old stairs, the sound of dusty steps under their feet and the same bricks and buckets sitting on the porch that they had kept outside their front door. Squeezing each other's hands, Steve placed his hand on the doorknob.

"Hey, you might need this," Bucky grinned as he kicked over the brick and revealed the same spare key he had hidden when they were young. Handing it to Steve, he grinned at both of the siblings. "Some things have to stay the same."

"Thank you," Steve grinned at him.

Unlocking the door, Steve slipped the key into his pocket. The doorknob creaked as it was turned, the door groaning just a bit as he pushed it open. Dust was flying through the air, but the entryway was still the same. Shoes still sat at the door, most being Allie's heels. The kids squeezed and raced in, looking at the dingy rooms.

"Like I said," Sharon laughed. "It needs a little bit of work."

"It's home," Steve looked over at her.

"Everything is where I left it," Allie laughed, taking her hand back and exploring the living room.

Bucky flicked on a switch for the lights that flickered as they turned on. Allie went through the different scripts that had remained in New York when she left. Smiling, she looked on the inside cover of one of her copies of Julius Caesar.

"'Promise not to stab me in the back? -B'," she laughed as she read Bucky's note that he'd left.

"When did I get that one for you?" he laughed as he looked down at the scrawled out handwriting.

"My twenty-second birthday," she looked at the date in the corner. "March 14, 1941."

Allie placed the script down on the coffee table and looked over at Steve. Furrowing her brows just a hint and tilting her head to side, she had a thought. Calling out to him, he hummed in reply as he looked away from the record player they had owned and to her.

"When you returned the stones and brought me back Mom's ring, did you know that this place wasn't occupied?"

"No," he shook his head. "I thought that people had to be around here so I snuck in and out of this place. I wasn't able to bring all of the photographs, so I'm not sure what other things exist around here."

"The picture of Mom and Dad," she looked over at him.

"Which one?" he asked curiously.

"The one on Mom's dresser," Allie explained. "The one that you and I used to stare at and figure out if we looked more like Mom or Dad."

"God, I haven't looked at that picture in a long time," Steve sighed.

"Neither of us really went in there after Mom died," Allie agreed. "I want to go and look at it, do you want to come with me?"

"Yeah, I do," Steve nodded.

The two walked up the creaking stairs and through the hallway. Passing their old bedrooms, they walked to final door, opening it up and seeing the room that once belonged to their mother. Allie stepped into the room first, glancing at the vanity that had necklaces and earrings spread along its surface, a few old pans of makeup sitting at a corner.

The picture Allie and Steve had wanted to see sat on the old wooden dresser just as Allie had said. She brushed her fingertips against the dust better revealing the faces of their parents. It wasn't as crisp or clear of a picture as what they had even in the 1930s and 1940s, but it was still a picture of their parents.

Bucky had never really seen a closer picture of Steve and Allie's father and narrowed his eyes in concentration as he took in the familiar crinkle in the nose and freckles spread across the very same nose.

"I didn't know that your dad had freckles," Bucky smiled as he continued to look at the picture.

"I never mentioned it?" Allie's brows rose in shock. "I got my freckles from him."

It wasn't long before the kids found them and asked them what they were looking at. As Allie began to point to the picture, each of the children tried to climb up to be held closer to the image.

"That is your grandma and grandpa," Allie smiled as she held Sarah on her hip.

"Ooo," Sarah grinned. "She's pretty."

"Sarah, that's your Grandma Sarah," Bucky smirked over at her.

"What?" the little girl looked at her dad.

"Sarah, you get your name from your grandma," Steve smiled at her.

"Really?" Sarah smiled.

"Yes," Allie nodded.

"You look like your mom," Sharon smiled over at her. "You both do for that matter."

"When I was really little, she would tell me that she loved that I had Dad's freckles," Allie smiled.

"Did you always like your freckles?" Peter looked over at her.

"I know there are a lot of kids that hate their freckles, but I did like mine. Like Mom said, I got them from Dad and I loved that I had piece of him with me," she smiled at the picture of her parents.

"Speaking of having a piece of him," Steve said as his head turned as if remembering something. "I want to go look in my old room."

Disappearing with Sharon, Steve's footsteps could be heard headed down the hallway. The kids slipped down from Allie and Bucky's arms, looking around the room before asking to go join their uncle. Peter followed the children leaving Bucky and Allie together.

"God it's strange to be back here," her voice was soft.

"It felt like that for me when you found my family," Bucky admitted. "It was a good strange, though."

"Oh, definitely a good strange," she agreed. "You know, I wonder what I left behind in my room."

"Allison, are you taking me to your bedroom?" Bucky teased and only received a roll of the eyes in response.

Walking down the hallway to her room, Allie took in a deep breath as she placed her hand on the doorknob and opened the creaking door. It was dusty, there were things still strewn across her own vanity including jewelry. On her old bed, she still had dresses that had been laid out that she had decided not to take with her overseas.

"The last time I was in here I was comforting you when you crying about us going overseas for the war," Bucky let out a low breath.

"Since we're married can I finally admit that you looked hot in your Sergeant's uniform that day?" Allie glanced over at him.

"Do I get to finally tell you that the first time I saw you in your nurse's uniform I wanted to kiss you?"

"Was your body or brain thinking with that one?"

"You never give me credit," he frowned.

"Oh I do. I just know you and I know how you flirted back then," she smirked.

Walking over to her wall, she looked at the framed pictures that sat along her wall above a small desk she had had. Bucky came to stand behind her, wrapping his arm around her as he looked at the pictures her eyes had fallen upon. Eyes flicking down to his hand for just a moment, she laughed.

"If you keep holding my belly like this, the others are going to figure out that we're having another," Allie teased as Bucky's hand was splayed against her stomach.

"I'll just say I'm holding onto my wife," he shrugged and kissed her shoulder. "After all, I never got to hold you like this when we were all still here."

"In my childhood bedroom?" she laughed.

"I mean, if you would have kissed me sooner," he smirked against her shoulder.

"If you'd just manned up and asked me out on a date with yourself," she countered.

"I'm going to ignore that you said that," he kissed her shoulder once more. "Besides, when do we finally get to tell them?"

"Once we know everything's alright. I want to hear a heartbeat and everything before I tell anyone outside of us," she shrugged. "I just don't know how my body's been changed from all that fire and ice, so I just want to be for sure."

"Everything's going to work out the way that it's meant to," his voice was soft. "Our family's going to be complete."

"God, who would have known that day that we'd be here now?" she turned around placing her arms around his neck as his arms adjusted to fit around her waist. "I'd have been blissful to know that I was with you."

The two kissed and began to laugh softly as their children found them in her room, Steven and Sarah's eyes setting on the once crisp, white uniforms that sat in her closet. Running up to them, they turned back to Allie in confusion.

"What are these?" Sarah's voice was full of curiosity.

"My old uniforms," Allie smiled softly. "I used to wear them everyday when I went to work."

"These are them?" Sarah's jaw dropped. "They're real?"

"I really was a nurse," Allie laughed. "So yes, they're real."

"What if you changed into one?" Bucky smirked.

"No," she shook her head quickly.

"It was worth a shot," he whispered.

"I hadn't realized I left any back here. I think I must have just been in shock from all three of us going overseas at that point," she sighed.

"What's this blue one?" Steven asked as he looked further into the closest.

"Blue one?" she asked as she walked over to the closet. "Oh my god."

"Is it the dress that I think it is?" Bucky smiled.

"The dress Mom bought for me," she laughed and took the dress from the rack. "The one I wore for our first date."

"First date?"

"Snow White. At least, I want to start remembering that as our first date," she shrugged.

"Then it was," he grinned.

"It's pretty," Sarah nodded.

"Hey Allie!" Steve walked into her room and noticed the dress. Giving it a warm smile he held up a tie in her direction that she recognized as a gift she and her mother had gotten for him when he graduated high school.

Putting the dress back in the closet, Allie turned back to face the desk where she noticed a stack of diaries simply sitting at one side. Walking over and picking one up, she brushed the dust off of the cover. Opening the diary gently, Allie burst into laughter at the page she had found. Steve and Bucky both turned her direction as they walked up to her and looked over her shoulder. Sharon and Peter found their way into her old bedroom and began to look around as Allie pointed to the page.

"March 28, 1943," she started. "'I'm going to kill Bucky'," she burst into laughter. "'I promise God himself that if Bucky sets me up on one more date, I'll make damn sure that this war won't reach him.'"

"That seems about right," Bucky laughed. "You almost killed me that night over George."

"He was horrendous," Allie shuddered. "Then there was that double date we went on right after my twenty-third birthday. You took that lovely girl and set me up with Frank. The man belched the entirety of the evening and tried to kiss me right after one."

"Okay, I am definitely sorry about that one," he laughed.

"And the man chewed with his mouth open," she wrinkled her nose in disgust. "But he was still a better conversationalist than George."

"Were you never jealous of the girls that he took out?" Sharon laughed.

"Oh I was jealous that someone else was with him. But he asked me to marry him in the end," she shrugged. "They were also always too lovely to dislike."

Placing the diary back on her old desk, she looked around for a moment before deciding to make her way back downstairs where she looked around once more. It was an odd, but very welcome, feeling as she stood in her old home.

Everything had seemingly started for the three and their heroic adventures starting in that very same home. They were finally over with their adventures, ready to rest like they had planned so long ago.

"Thank you, Howard," she whispered to the air and smiled as she was rejoined by the others.

"Well, what do you think?" Sharon asked with a smile. "Do you think it's a project we can finish before our wedding?"

"Definitely," Steve grinned.

"And we'll help," Allie assured them. "And I'm sure the other's will help, too."

"Besides fixing this place up, what do you guys plan to do now that you're retired?" Peter looked over at them.

"I'm finally settling down," Steve smiled and wrapped an arm around Sharon. "I think it's about time."

"I might just have fun making art again," Bucky smiled. "It'd be nice to have something peaceful to do."

"I don't know," Allie admitted. "Apart from raising the kids that is. I think I'm just going to enjoy it for a while. See where life winds up going."

Looking between one another, the three adults seemed to find themselves blinking and remembering being the young kids that would sit in the very same living room thinking of the same ideas. Asking one another what they would do once the war was over. Bringing themselves back to the present, they smiled at the knowledge that they now knew what they were going to do.

The veteran was able to rest, the soldier was done fighting, and the liaison was finally able to take a step back.