Steve Rogers Could Use Some Protection

Steve paused in front of the apartment, trying to remind himself that Captain America didn't run away from a little home invasion. Not that he thought this was an actual burglary, per se, since he knew his uninvited guest was there to steal anything except time and patience. With a deep sigh he squared his shoulders, pasted on his best Captain America Is Disappointed In You scowl, and opened the door. He couldn't resist rolling his eyes; Nick was really ramping up the spy vibe - sitting in a darkened room with his trench coat dramatically swept to the side. Steve had a brief moment to mourn the loss of a perfectly good evening. In spite of what Natasha thought, he did have plans.

Before he could ask Fury why he decided to break into his apartment--although you can bet your ass Steve was well aware that SHIELD came into his apartment whenever they pleased--Nick was holding up his phone. "Ears everywhere" Steve read before rolling his eyes. As much as SHIELD liked to believe he was an idiot, he knew about the nine listening devices planted around the apartment. Tony had given him a nifty little device that picked up any bugs that may be floating around, and Steve left them there because it was safer to let SHIELD underestimate him. That, plus he really liked to imagine some shmuck listening to the hours of NPR he left on for their entertainment.

He glanced back at the phone as Nick turned it his away, "SHIELD compromised". Well, shit. Steve knew that SHIELD wasn't to be trusted, but that Nick was coming to him about this meant it was much worse than he imagined. He had a brief moment to wonder if any of the others were aware of this, when two shots rang out and hit Fury in the back. Steve immediately dropped, before making his way over to Nick to try and slow some of the bleeding. The minute he reached his side, he felt Nick slip something into his pocket with a whispered "trust no one," as the door burst open. Steve lunged for his shield, just barely stopping himself from throwing it as his neighbor ran in with a gun. Sparing a brief glance at the rapidly growing pool of blood around Nick, he snagged his shield and leapt onto the fire escape after the shooter. By the time he made it to the rooftop across the street, he knew he was too late. There was nothing left but a few casings.

_________

Steve was staring blankly at the vending machine when he caught a flash of red. He really, really wanted to bang his head off a wall, but acted like a mature adult and turned to face Nat. She gave him a jaunty wave, popping a bubble of gum with a barely there smirk.

"Where is it," he asked, trying to use his size as an advantage. Of course, Natasha could probably kill a literal giant with one hand behind her back, so it didn't really give him an advantage as much as slightly evening the playing field.

"Where did you get it?" She countered. Not even waiting for a reply--she probably noticed some minute twitch of his face or something-- she followed up with an accusing "Nick gave it to you."

Steve felt a small twinge of guilt, but reminded himself that Natasha had played him in the past and trust wasn't exactly something that they had in spades right now.

"Did you know that Nick hired the pirates himself?" he asked instead of replying. Nat made the smallest twitch, probably not noticeable to someone who hadn't been working with her for the past three years. That answered that then, Steve felt a little better that he wasn't the only one who hadn't figured that out.

Covering up her moment of weakness, she replied matter-of-factly, "well it makes sense. He knew Shield was compromised and needed the data."

Steve tried one last time to stoically stare her down before deflating. "I need to know what's on that hard drive Natasha."

He tried not to fidget too much as she scrutinized him, before coming to a decision after several very long and uncomfortable minutes.

"I know a place we can go to look into it. But we're going to have to pick someone up on the way."

______

Even though he had worked with Barton and Natasha for a few years now, it never failed to amaze Steve how well they seemed to know each other. From the moment they picked Clint up in some back alley in the city, they had exchanged about five words between the two of them. But somehow they had managed to gang up on Steve and convince him that a shopping mall was the best place to look over a top secret flashdrive that someone had just killed Nick Fury to get.

He sat stewing in the back seat, even though he had started in the front seat, don't even ask how he was convinced to switch with Barton, wondering how he had managed to become such a push over. He could have sworn he was doing much better at setting boundaries and saying no, but here he was cramped and questioning every decision he ever made.

Natasha made eye contact with him in the rearview mirror, and he just knew she was laughing at him

_________

Fucking, goddamn, motherfucking New Jersey, Steve swore vehemently as they picked their way through rubble at what used to be a military base.

Always fucking knew it, he thought uncharitably as he broke a car window, ignoring the slightly concerned glance the two assassins were sharing behind him.

As they were piling in, Natasha couldn't hold it in any longer. "Where did you learn to hotwire a car Cap?"

Steve glared down at the steering wheel like it had personally offended him--fucking New Jersey--before snippily replying, "Nazi Germany." He threw the car into reverse and stepped on the gas a little harder than he needed to, but at least it was still in one piece when he made his way onto the highway.

________

Poor, sweet, kind, generous Sam Wilson had to be the most unlucky bastard in the history of the world, Steve mused, trolled by Captain America and now three fugitives appear at his door.

Sam eyed them up for several seconds, barely blinking when Natasha started twirling a knife in her hands. Finally he surreptitiously glanced down the street before pulling the door wider and dragging them in.

"I'm gonna need coffee for this conversation," he called over his shoulder, and Steve could swear he saw hearts forming in Clint's eyes.

______

Steve was resting on the bank of the Potomac. It was a choice, he vehemently defended in his head. He was just taking a breather, it was fine. He most definitely was not trying to let his broken wrist or broken nose or broken cheek bone or broken ribs heal for a few minutes before he decided to find his team.

So Brock Rumlow could pack a punch when he was in that stupid suit of his. A lot of good that would do him now, Steve thought loftily, crushed under the billions of pounds of helicarriers that were formerly known as Project Insight.

He straightened up as he heard footsteps approaching, he had only been lying there because the ground was very soft, thank you very much Nat, and glanced over his shoulder to see his three friends approaching.

The thought startled him a little, the realization that he thought of these three as friends now, not just teammates, not just co-workers who helped him save the world sometimes.

Sam extended a hand down, and as Steve reached out he found himself saying, "there's someone I want you guys to meet."

_______

Steve had remained mum on the ride over to his apartment building. His real apartment, that is, not the one that was set up by SHIELD and felt like a museum. He knew that it was killing Nat that she couldn't guess where they were going, and he smirked a little to himself for managing to keep a secret. It was a pretty important secret though, and he was very motivated to keep it.

The building was small but homey, with six apartments in total taking up an entire floor each. Tony had bought out the apartment directly below Steve, both so that he and Pepper could visit easily and so Steve could keep a safe cushion between his floor and anyone else.

When he unlocked the main door to the building, he put some pep in his step, anxious to make his way to the top floor.

Before he could even start to unlock the door it was swinging open, clearly Esmé had been just as anxious for him to arrive. Steve managed to get a brief hug around the tiny woman, when he heard the pitter patter of tiny feet running towards him.

He barely managed to crouch down before he heard a joyful "daddy!" shouted and a sturdy little body threw itself into his arms.

He finally, finally was able to let go of all of the terror he had been holding back for the past few days. Even though he knew that Tony had done everything possible to keep Bucky hidden from SHIELD (and, unknowingly, HYDRA), Steve couldn't help the relief at being able to see with his own eyes that he was safe. The thought that Shield would find out about Bucky had left Steve trying to ignore his panic from the minute Nick Fury had appeared in his apartment. Focusing on only the current second was the only thing that kept him from scooping up Bucky and running.

He let himself squeeze Bucky a little bit tighter before standing up and turning to face his friends. Bucky tensed in Steve's arms, and he could tell that he had just noticed they weren't alone. He tucked his face into Steve's neck shyly and clung to his shirt.

When Steve finally looked up, it was almost comical to see the array of facial expressions. Sam seemed vaguely surprised, in the way that most people would be to find out a celebrity had a kid that no one knew about. Clint looked downright gobsmacked, a caricature of shock right down to the gaping mouth. Most surprising was Nat, who, for all her skills, couldn't hide her astonishment. She wasn't quite as cartoony as Barton, but her eyebrows were raised and she had taken half a step backwards.

Barton finally broke the silence, in typical fashion. "Please tell me that is just a very very tiny adult who happens to call Captain America daddy." Steve couldn't help crinkling his nose at that, and shot a glare in Clint's direction. There was a literal baby here (and yes, Bucky was still a baby, Steve didn't care that three years old was closer to "kid" than "toddler"), he didn't need to know about Clint's kinks.

Bucky shyly peeked out from his spot on Steve's neck, adjusting his freakishly strong baby grip on his uniform before stage whispering, "daddy, you need a bath."

That was all it took to burst the dam, as Sam started chuckling and Clint let out a surprised bark of laughter. Even Nat had a soft smile, which she quickly hid when she noticed Steve looking her way.

"Yeah pal," Steve chuckled, "I know I'm pretty gross. How about I introduce you to my friends and then we can all get cleaned up."

Bucky considered this very carefully, obviously trying to decide if meeting new people was worth having to put up with his dad's prominent battle ripeness. Finally he nodded regally, a tiny prince allowing his people an audience. Damn, he spent way too much time with Tony.
_______

Three years prior

Two weeks after the Battle of New York Steve found himself forlornly eating a mediocre apple pie somewhere in the middle of bumfuck Indiana. Stark had starting calling his journey across the country the Saddest Road Trip of the Century™, which.. Steve secretly agreed with.

His attention was pulled away from last few bites of crust when his phone started ringing. Barely stifling a sigh he checked the ID, and promptly ignored it when he saw it was Stark. Think of the devil and he shall call he thought wryly.

A robotic voice brought him out of his reverie and nearly had him jumping out of his skin. My apologies Captain Rogers, but Sir is quite insistent that I connect you through to him, a voice Steve dimly recognized as Stark's AI. Jeeves? Julio? For what it may be worth, I believe that you will want to take this call.

Steve barely resisted the urge to snap at a robot that he went in this trip precisely because he wanted to avoid everyone else, but he could already hear Stark through the speakers. Pressing his fingers to the bridge of his nose, he brought the phone to his ear.

"--get Capcicle to answer yet JARVIS?"

Summoning his patience, Steve finally spoke up. "What do you want Stark?". He wanted to be polite, knew his ma was shaking her fist at him from wherever she was watching, but was it too much to ask that he eat his okay-ish pie in peace?

"Ah ah, look who finally decided to show his face! Or.. voice I guess is more accurate. Our esteemed Captain has deemed us worthy answering the damn phone."

Steve could feel his jaw clenching, shoulders tensing up as he resisted the urge to punch a hole through the picnic table. Taking a deep breath, he tried to remind himself that the robot seemed very reasonable in the past--and wasn't that a thought he never imagined having--and did say that he would want to hear what Stark had to say.

"How can I help you Stark?"

He heard some rattling around on the other end of the line, but otherwise Stark was silent. And that more than anything made Steve nervous. In the two weeks he'd known Stark he had never been able to shut up.

"Tony? Is something wrong? Is it Loki? Or the team? Or maybe--" Tony finally broke in before Steve could get himself any more worked up.

"It's not a life or death situation Steve. It's a little more.. delicate." Steve found himself tensing up again. The only thing Stark seemed worse at than silence was tact. This must be huge.

Before he could ask, Stark spoke up again. "Do you happen to know someone by the name of Eva Volkov?" Stark asked, seemingly apropos of nothing. "You met about nine months ago? Dark hair, Russian, about five foot nothing?" He continued while Steve was wracking his brain.

Brief flashes of a bar in Brooklyn, long dark hair, and a sense of humor sharper than a knife. Steve vaguely remembered a kneeknocker--they call them quickies now Cap, he could almost hear Stark saying--in the bar bathroom after getting a first name and an agreement that they'd never see each other again. It wasn't Steve's proudest moment, but those first few months out of the ice he drowned himself in any form of connection he could find. His mind screeched to a stop when he fully registered Starks sentence.

"Did you just say nine months ago?" He asked numbly, positive that the number was a coincidence and nothing more. He wasn't an idiot. He always always made sure to wear protection.

Silence on the other side of the line had Steve feeling vaguely nauseous. "Ah, yep. Yes I did. Nine months and three days might be more exact, but you know how these things go sometimes--" Stark started rambling, talking about fertilization and eggs and optimal conditions and Steve felt his vague sense of nausea turn into an immediate knowledge that he was going to throw up.

Sir, if I may redirect you back to the topic at hand JARVIS mercifully cut in as the ringing in Steve's ears grew louder. Judging by his heart rate and blood pressure, Captain Rogers is on the verge of a panic attack.

Steve was sucking in air at this point, but distantly thought that it was pretty rude of JARVIS to throw him under the bus like that.

"Yes, sorry sorry, the topic at hand. Cap, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but one Eva Volkov just showed up at the Tower and handed me a baby with some paperwork terminating her parental rights. Your baby, I should say. This is not just a random baby. Your spawn. Tiny spawn with a onesie and all, although really it doesn't look very spawn-like. Actually kind of.. cute."

Steve thought he might faint. A baby. A real, honest to God baby. What was he supposed to do with a baby? He had a brief image of himself fighting aliens with a baby strapped to his back, with it's own little shield and mask on.

Stark's voice cut through his hysteria, for once a little soft. "I know this has got be a lot to take in Steve. But I ran the DNA, and it's definitely yours. Whatever you decide to do I'll help, but I think you should come home."

_____________

Steve possibly broke land speed records on his way back to New York, but the eleven hour drive passed in a total blur. He found himself on the elevator of Stark Tower, distantly aware that JARVIS had taken control and was sending him.. wherever Stark must be. When the doors opened he found himself in what looked like a general communal area.

Steve glanced around the room wildly, not realizing he was in a vaguely defensive position before Stark called out to him from a kitchen area to his right.

"Hey Cap," Stark was casual as he started tossing fruit into a blender, "hopefully you didn't run over any cows on your way here."

Straightening up, because he wasn't about to be attacked by a ninja baby, Steve turned to absently accept a smoothie that Stark passed his way.

Steve could have sworn that Stark's eyes were soft, gentle even. "So Capcicle, want to meet your son?"

Steve felt like he had been socked in the gut. Son. Suddenly this all felt so much more real. Movement from the corner of his eye had him automatically glancing up, as Miss Potts came out of one of the back rooms with a tiny bundle in her arms.

Almost like a magnet Steve found himself pulled in their direction. He took in the shock of soft black hair, what Steve felt confident in calling the world's cutest button nose, and the most squeezable cheeks. When he reached a hand out, two unfocused gray eyes turned in his direction and he felt something inside his chest shift. That bleeding, gaping wound he had been ignoring since he first stood in Times Square felt like it was stitched closed, almost like it had never been there.

To his surprise, his voice was shaky when he half turned towards Stark, "he's mine? You're sure?"

But Steve didn't need to ask. He could feel it. He couldn't explain it, but the minute he saw the squirming kid he knew he was his.

Tony's voice was still gentle, "yeah Cap, I ran the DNA before I called you just to be sure. I didn't want you worked up over this just to find out she was lying."

Steve met Miss Pott's eyes, wordlessly reaching out and asking for permission.

She smiled at him gently, "he's your son Captain," she said as she maneuvered the bundle his way.

Steve distantly heard himself tell her to call him by his first name, too focused on reaching out to finally scoop up the baby - his baby. Any worry he had about squishing a fragile tiny newborn with his massive super soldier hands went out the window the minute his son was in his arms. He instantly felt something click in place, a piece of himself that he didn't even notice had been missing.

"So Cap, what are you going to name our newest team member?"

Steve smiled down at the little bundle in his arms, "James. James Buchanan Rogers."

________________

Present Day

Steve finally stepped out of the shower, feeling like he had washed a years worth of sweat and dirt down the drain. When he exited the bathroom he could hear low murmuring between Bucky and Esme, and he let himself relax as he pulled on a sweatshirt. When he opened the door he immediately bumped into Sam. He could hear the shower still running in the guest room, and figured either Nat or Clint must have just jumped in. Or. Both. Honestly, Steve didn't know what their relationship was.

Sam regarded him with shrewd eyes. "So," he started casually. "You have a kid."

And the funny thing was, with almost anyone else Steve would have felt himself puffing up. Yeah, so what? He could hear Tiny Steve Rogers snap back with his chin raised. But Sam just had this.. calm about him. Steve had picked up on it from the day they met, and he knew somehow he could really trust him.

Steve glanced down the hall where he could hear the banging of pots and pans. "Yeah," he said with a small smile. "He's the best kid in the universe."

Sam measured him for another second before grinning. "Well, he is pretty cute."

Steve's laughter was cut off by the sound of the front door slamming open and footsteps were pounding into the living room. In less than a second he had his shield in his hands, but a nagging thought stopped him from throwing it. Before he even registered the movement a knife flew past his head - from behind him, and the next second an arrow came whizzing past as well.

"Jesus, fuck!" a muffle voice yelled out from the living area, as Steve finally put together what instinct stopped him from decapitating their visitor. The door hadn't been broken down. And there were only four people on this planet (or any other) who had access to his apartment. He dropped the shield with a thunk as he heard Bucky's delighted laughter.

"Uncle Tony!" he gasped out between baby giggles, "you have to put money in the jar."

When Steve entered the living room he saw Tony standing protectively in front of Bucky, gauntlet's raised in the direction of the hall. When he saw Steve, his hand dropped and he let his face mask lift.

"Jesus Steve, give a guy a little warning before you send assassins after me? Or maybe not, I guess that would kind of defeat the purpose."

Steve rolled his eyes as he scooped up Bucky. "I'll make sure to give you plenty of warning when I send someone to kill you."

Tony quirked a grin, but his eyes caught on the hall behind Steve. When Steve glanced behind him he saw Nat and Clint, both dripping wet but somehow mostly clothed, still loosely holding their weapons. Sam was making his way towards them and shaking his head, muttering something about superheroes under his breath. Tony met Steve's eyes, and he could read the question in them. Are they here by your choice? he was asking, gauntlet still subtly aimed in that direction. Yes, I think we can trust them, Steve tried to convey back, and Tony finally relaxed completely.

"All I know is that I haven't eaten in a day, and all of these arrows flying around aren't getting us there any faster," Sam mumbled as he walked towards the kitchen. "Is there anything I can do to help ma'am?"

Esme looked Sam up and down, taking stock of his ability to be a sous chef. Seemingly satisfied, she nodded her head and pointed him in the direction of some vegetables. "We are making omelets," she said, her soft German accent catching on the consonants. "You chop."

As Sam got to work, Tony fully put his suit away and plucked Bucky out of Steve's arms. "I was in Japan for the past two days, and let me tell you this is the first and last time I will ever let Pepper convince me to spend a day technology free. We didn't get the news until early this morning, and by the time we jumped on the Quinjet and got here the Potomac was already home to three new hellicarriers."

Steve could see how stressed Tony looked, and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Everything turned out alright in the end. Well, SHIELD is done, of course. And we might have committed treason. Just a little. And killed the Secretary of Defense. And HYDRA is still out there. But, besides that it seems ok."

The longer Steve talked the more unimpressed Tony looked, and he was thankfully saved by the thundering sound of heels running towards his apartment. A second later Pepper burst through the still open door, her skin glowing and steam raising faintly in an aura around her. When she took in the scene in the apartment, her shoulders dropped and she slowed to a walk, casually brushing her bangs out of her face.

Bucky immediately squirmed to be let down, calling out "Aunt Peppy!" as he ran in her direction. She bent down and swept him off his feet, giggling as she tickled his belly.

"Well if it isn't my favorite little tickle monster," she growled out, blowing a raspberry on his neck. Steve realized that Tony must have flown there in the suit once they were close enough, leaving JARVIS to land on the roof with Pepper. They must have been in a panic when they heard the news, not knowing where Steve was or if Bucky was safe.

Pepper's eyes met his and softened as she took in the bruising and cuts. "Steve, we were so worried about both of you." Steve immediately flushed, still unused to being cared for even after spending years around the two of them. He busied himself with the sleeves of his sweatshirt, avoiding her too knowing gaze.

"So," Natasha said neutrally, "does everyone on the team know about our youngest member?"

Steve could see from the stiff line of her shoulders, and the fact that she kept herself literally removed from the reunion, she was hurt. A small (ok, maybe not so small) part of him felt guilty. She was his teammate. But while he would call her a friend now, after everything they had just gone through, up until a week ago he knew that she was still his handler. Loyal to SHIELD, who Steve couldn't bring himself to trust with his real self, let alone his kid. Bucky relied on Steve to make choices that would keep him safe, and that included making sure no one would ever look at him and see him as a prize. This entire situation with HYDRA just cemented in his brain that people had to earn your trust. Still. She was his friend now. And yeah. He felt guilty.

"Not everyone," he replied honestly. "Tony and Pepper know, obviously. They knew even before I did. And we had to tell Bruce because we needed someone we could trust to look out for Buck from the medical side." Well, he thought, in for a penny in for a pound. "He seems to.. possibly have gotten some side effects from my serum." Nat quirked a brow at that. "He's pretty strong for a baby. And he eats a lot more than most kids his age do."

Nat turned an assessing eye over to Bucky, who was looking a little tuckered out from all the excitement. His head was resting on Pepper's shoulder and his little fist was gripping her shirt. Pepper wordlessly handed him over to Steve when he reached. Bucky was pretty solid for a little kid, and he was getting a little tough for people who weren't super soldiers to hold him for too long. Tony had worked around that by using parts of his suit for support, and Pepper seemed to keep a hold of him out of sheer will. Luckily, Steve was a super soldier, and still had years of cuddling left in him without needing any extra help. Bucky settled more comfortably in his arms as he turned back to Nat.

"Tony didn't trust SHIELD," Steve tried to explain, "and I knew if the wrong people found out about him he would never be safe. Especially when he was still so little."

Nat regarded him for a few minutes, before her eyes landed on Bucky and softened. Steve knew she must be thinking about other little kids who were turned into weapons. She glanced back up at Steve and gave a small nod, before turning back towards the guest room to join Clint, who had gotten over the excitement pretty quickly and was back in the shower.

Steve looked around his living room before glancing down at his sleeping kid, and thought that maybe their family had room to get a little bigger.