Foundling

Everything hurt.

Whimpering, Sharon forced her eyes open as sunlight filtered in. Panic filled her briefly before she remembered where she was. Who she was with. Relaxing into the pillows, she turned her head to the side and about jumped out of her skin when she saw Natasha staring back at her.

“Th’ fuc’?” she slurred, wincing when her ribs ached. Not broken, but likely bruised.

“Good morning, sleeping beauty. You’re pretty banged up, but you are already looking better than you were. Give it a couple of weeks and you’ll be good as new. For now, you hungry? Clint can carry you down for breakfast,” Natasha told her as she moved hair out of her face. Sharon turned slightly to nuzzle her hand, it had been a long time since she had had any physical comfort from anyone.

“Starving. No walking?” she mumbled.

“Nope. Your hurt, you get carried. Though to be fair this may be more our wolves missing you. I also want to get the full story about what happened. If Rumlow is still after you we need to take care of him.”

“Deal. Where’s my steed?” Sharon asked, trying to force herself into a sitting position. Natasha moved forward, looping an arm around her back to pull her upright as gently as she could.

“He’s right here, although not sure if I want to be a steed. Can I at least be noble?” Clint griped as he came into the room, a loose pair of sweats and baggy t shirt in his hand.

“Natasha is gonna help you get dressed first. Pretty sure you don’t want to meet all of our pack naked, although the pups may like it. Liam has been trying to get Jane to let him stay naked for a few months now,” Clint told her as he leaned forward to pull the shirt over her head. He’d seen her naked before during missions but he was pretty sure she didn’t want new faces to see her like that.

Natasha pulled the blanket down to slide the sweats up her legs, lips pulling up in a small snarl as she saw all of the bruises. Sharon whimpered slightly as her injuries were jostling, a cold sweat breaking out when they moved her arm into the sleeve. She was gasping by the time she was fully dressed, leaning against Clint as she breathed through it.

“Just breath, 13. I’ve got you, it’ll pass. Jane may be able to get you some pain meds, we have some that work on us but she wants to look at everything first. It’ll be ok,” he soothed, carding his fingers through her hair as Natasha wrapped her magic around her. He locked eyes with his mate over her shoulder, nodding slightly when her worried eyes met his.

“I’m good, I’m good, no need to fuss,” Sharon told them as the pain started to ease.

The two assassins looked at each other a moment before looking away. Sharon was white as a sheet but able to hold herself up so they let it go.

“Alright Sherry Cherry, your noble steed is here to take you to breakfast,” Clint crowed before scooping her up bridal style, smirking at the squeak she let out.

“Well, move it steed, I’m hungry,” she ordered, kicking her legs slightly while reaching for Natasha. Her wolf was starved for physical contact and having her old pack here was overwhelming her self-control.

Natasha linked their fingers together as she lead them through the house to the kitchen. Sharon felt herself tense as they got closer, the voices filtering to them. She didn’t notice her body shaking slightly, but relaxed slightly when Natasha squeezed her fingers in comfort. She forced a blank expression as they entered the room. All conversation stopped as they looked over at them, making Sharon lift her chin in challenge. Clint moved forward to deposit her in the window seat, moving the pillows to prop her up as Natasha moved to sit next to her. When he moved off to get them some food Tony took his place on the bench.

“Hey little fluff, good to see you up.”

She scowled at him while trying to hide her smile. “I haven’t been little fluff for a long time, Tony. Let it go.”

“Never. Now anything I can get ya? We have coffee, juice, tea, full continental breakfast over here. Whatever you want,” he told her with a grin.

“Clint is getting us food, I’m sure he’ll do fine.”

“Tony, leave her be. Besides, your pup would like some daddy time while I talk with Sharon,” Pepper ordered, handing him Morgan before carefully hugging the blonde.

Sharon hugged back with a smile. “I’ve missed you, Pep. Glad to see your keeping him in line. Although if I had known you guys were expecting I would have sent a gift.”

“We had no way of getting a hold of you, but I’m sure Morgan would love to have some Auntie Sharon snuggles once your arm heals a little more.”

“Morgan? Cute. How old is she?” Sharon asked. She loved pups and couldn’t wait to officially meet the littlest one.

“She just turned nine weeks last Tuesday. We came here about a week or so ago, right after she turned two months. You had just left for your mission a month before when I saw the signs, and about two weeks after the pregnancy was confirmed. Then Morgan came along, although Tony was convinced she was a boy. He had some dream about our son but we had a daughter so I’ve enjoyed giving him heck about it. I was out on the run last night because I’d been staying in with her and my wolf was getting restless, so he stayed with her. Our plan had been to swap babysitting duties, although now she’ll get some time with you,” Pepper answered happily, the love for her pup showing to everyone.

Sharon grinned back as Clint brought her food. Waffles, pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs, potatoes, she idly wondered if he had brought her half of everything. He set a plate that was just as heavy in front of Natasha, although everyone noticed how she waited before eating. Natasha took a large bite of bacon, smiling slightly when Sharon finally began to eat. Rarely would a new wolf eat before a pack member, even if they knew others there. She silently reached over to cut a few things for her when Sharon had some trouble, struggling with only having one hand. Sharon leaned over to give her a grateful nuzzle before turning back to her food. When her plate was empty, Tony silently pushed what was left on his to her, pleased when she easily polished it off. As she finished up, she noticed how everyone started to come sit around them, forming a small circle around the nook. Glaring slightly, she raised her chin in silent challenge. She would not be cowed by them.

“Guys, she isn’t an attraction at Coney Island. Back up a bit,” Steve told them as he moved forward.

Sharon looked up at him, and immediately blinked in awe. She had seen pictures, of course, but seeing him in person. Her wolf sat up in interest, and she had to forcibly keep herself from leaning forward to sample his scent. Dammit, her wolf was never interested in ANYONE. Of course she would pick the one person who would be almost impossible to get with. Forcing her wolf down, she forced herself to stay still, especially when Pepper started glancing between the two of them curiously. Natasha just raised an eyebrow as comprehension filled her eyes. Sharon gave her a small glare before facing the others.

“Who exactly are all of you? Pretty sure you know who I am at this point,” she said coolly.

“I am Thor, son of Odin. A pleasure to meet you, Sharon of the house of Carter!” Thor boomed out happily, making her jump slightly at the unexpected volume.

“Thor, inside voice please. I’m Jane, Thor’s mate. We vaguely met last night, although I’m not sure if you remember.”

They all went around, although some of them she did know from SHIELD. When they got back to Steve, she forced her face to stay impassive.

“We met last night, although I guess you can see me as I am as well. How are you feeling? Do you need anything?” he asked, trying and failing to keep his voice from being too earnest, making her eyebrow go up curiously.

“Umm, sore but I’ll be fine. I’ve had worse, but thank you.”

Tony glared when Steve let out a growl at her answer, even though he wasn’t happy at hearing that either. Turning to his sister, he looped an arm around her to pull her close. “Well, little fluff, you’ll be staying with us until you are all healed up. And don’t even try to argue, Jane’s wolf has already taken over your care and the killer twins and I aren’t letting you out anywhere until your nice and healthy. Got it?”

She scowled at him before shifting her claws out so she could dig them into his hand, making him yelp. “I am not little fluff, you giant tin can.”

“Rude! Just for that, I may have to keep all the baby snuggles for myself,” he huffed while pulling Morgan closer where she was resting in his free arm.

Sharon’s face dropped as she turned to Pepper with a small, barely there pout. Steve chuckled slightly as he watched an obvious performance. She knew how to play them completely. “Pepper, I don’t get baby snuggles? When this is my first time meeting her?”

Pepper turned to Tony with a growl. Not saying a word, she held her hands out for her daughter. Tony tried to glare back, but the snarl his mate gave had him handing her over. Sharon grinned in triumph when she found her good arm carefully filled with the tiny baby. Tucking her face close to her, she inhaled the sweet baby smell, her wolf memorizing the sweet smell of a new family member. Nuzzling the little bundle, she let out a happy hum when a tiny hand patted at her face. Kissing the little fingers, she cooed at her tiny niece as they bonded. Steve stared at them, a flash of heat going through him as he got a picture of her holding a small blonde baby, another of her belly swollen with his pups. Shaking his head, he looked at where Tony was glaring at him. Shrugging helplessly, he wasn’t sure what the other alpha wanted him to do. He couldn’t help it! Wolves moved fast, it was their nature. Tony was the same with Pepper, he should understand!

“Sharon, I would like to look at your wounds if that would be alright with you. I can do that now if you want to keep holding Morgan,” Jane told her as she slowly moved forward. For all that she seemed relaxed, everyone could see that she was tense and fully alert, ready to defend herself at any given time. Jane could see why they sent her undercover, her acting skills were amazing, on par with Natasha’s.

Sharon stared at her for a moment, long enough that Thor moved forward slightly, ready to defend his pregnant mate if needed. “Fine, but maybe we can do it elsewhere. Pepper can hold the baby and we can get it over with, although I’d like to point out if you give me a couple of days I’ll be good to go.”

Handing the baby back to Pepper, she pushed herself up with a little help from Tony and followed Jane into the other room. Once she was out of sight, everyone turned back to their alphas. While Tony and Steve hadn’t planned on being co-alphas, they found it seemed to work well for the whole pack.

“So what is the plan after she heals? Do we hunt down the one who did this? How much of a danger is he to our own?” Thor asked, concern for his mate and pups taking over.

“Of course we are, they hurt my sister! Even if he wasn’t a threat to us, no one gets away with that,” Tony told them sternly.

“While I agree that we have to take care of him, maybe first we should figure out where he is and what he’s been up to. We can’t just run in blind. I’ve already called Sam and Bucky, they’ll be here tomorrow. Then we can start to figure out what he’s been up to all this time,” Steve argued.

“So what, we just sit and wait? What about Fury, surely we can ask him to help. Obviously he knew about this or she wouldn’t have been looking for him!” Clint snapped.

“Clint, we don’t even know what her mission was. It is entirely possible that he wasn’t even part of it and just got caught up in what she was doing,” Natasha countered.

“Well, rather than speculating you could all just wait and ask her since I’m done looking her over. She’ll be back in in a minute,” Jane told them as she waddled back into the room. Thor shot up and offered his chair to her before taking her previous one.

“She has a point,” Pepper sing-songed as she rocked Morgan, who had started to whimper as she woke up.

“She has a very good point. And you all should also know that the topic of your discussion can HEAR YOU,” Sharon griped as she walked back in. The inspection had left her shoulder throbbing and was making her cranky. She took her place back in the nook, glaring slightly at everyone as they stared at her. She would not be seen as weak.

“I’m sorry, your right. Can you please tell us what happened?” Steve asked.

Sharon watched him for a moment, ignoring how her wolf tried to make her interest known. “I can’t give you all the details, but I was undercover investigating some disappearances that had been happening over in Wisconsin. They seemed like accidents at first, but they were all from the same National Park. I worked there for about 8 months before I found the base they were using, and Rumlow with it. I was on my way back here after my cover was blown when the train I was on had a bomb go off in it. I wasn’t badly injured, but I went on foot from there. Hence why it’s taken me a few weeks to get this far. I traveled at night to stay hidden, my fur isn’t exactly one that blends in well. Stuck to the forest and wooded areas when I could. Rumlow found me again about two weeks ago, and then cornered me last night. You all know the rest from there,” she told them, giving all the information she could.

“Were the disappearances linked with what they were doing?” Steve asked, going into Cap mode.

“Yes. We found evidence of HYDRA, and that’s been their home base. I believe they are possibly working with Aldrich Killian on an experimental drug. I wasn’t able to get much information before I was discovered, then I had to go on the run. I’m pretty sure there is a mole there who was giving them information, since when they caught on they knew almost all of what I had been up to, even things I only shared in reports. So it would have to be someone pretty high up, but I’m not sure,” she explained, body sagging as exhaustion filled her. “I’m almost positive that the missing people are failed test subjects. I couldn’t find any evidence in any of the parks of a missing body, and those were never found, but there was an area covered in old fire marks. A lot of those shapes left behind matched human or wolf bodies, so I really think it is linked somehow.”

“Thank you, Sharon. I know it’s a lot to ask this of you right now, and I appreciate you telling us what you can,” Steve said softly, heart picking up speed when she gave him a soft smile followed by a small yawn.

Tony looked between the two with a frown before clearing his throat pointedly. “Well, not that this hasn’t been enlightening, but I’m pretty sure my dear little fluff needs to nap. So up you get,” he ordered, swinging her into his arms.

She let out a light yelp in surprise before everyone turned to face Steve when he let out a snarl. His face dropped in surprise at what he did, but he couldn’t hold back a growl when Tony bared his teeth. For her part, Sharon was trying to keep from grinning smugly. This should not be hot to her dammit! She watched Tony growl back at Steve before Pepper got between them.

“Ok, boys, that’s enough. Tony, take Sharon to bed. She needs to rest to heal. Steve, come with me. NOW,” she told them both before walking out onto the deck.

Tony glared at him before moving away, grunting at Thor to watch him. Sharon watched over his shoulder as Steve went outside. Once they were out of sight she looked up at her brother. “That was rude.”

“Don’t even start with me, fluff. Or I will pull out the old videos,” he threatened.

“You are in most of them so it will be equal embarrassment, plus I’d kick your ass once I’m healed up.”

“For now, that is still a while out. So time to sleep!” he chirped while depositing her in the bed, tossing the quilt over her head. She grunted in annoyance as she pushed it off, but couldn’t hold back the massive yawn now that she was comfortable. Clint appeared in the doorway, grinning at her drooping eyes.

“Nat sent me to stand guard while they talk with you two. So out, Stark. I’ve been needing to clean my arrows anyway.”

Sharon grumbled at the need for a babysitter, but did feel safer with him here. Tony’s hand brushing over her head was the last thing she felt before slipping into sleep. Tony smiled as her breathing evened out, nodding at Clint before leaving the room.

Out on the porch, Steve and Pepper were sat on the deck chairs. She hadn’t said anything yet, and he found himself squirming as he waited. The silence stretched a bit longer, and he felt himself close to breaking.

“Your wolves have claimed each other,” she said finally, not a question just a statement.

“I know mine has, but I can’t speak for hers,” he told her truthfully.

“Well, judging by what I saw, there is at least an interest. You know how it goes, claims happen instantly. Our wolves try to move quickly, although not always successfully. Hell Tony and I have known each other for 20 years and we just now have our first pup. Although that was more timing and my stubbornness. Am I right in guessing that Tony is not overly thrilled?” she mused, rocking slightly as Morgan fussed on her shoulder.

“We talked a bit last night. I wasn’t expecting to be so protective of her right off the bat,” he admitted.

“That’s because she’s injured. Injuries and illness send our wolves into a bit of a frenzy. First time I got the flu I thought Tony was going to encase the entire tower in bubble wrap,” she laughed. “When she wakes up, talk to her. Make sure you are both on the same page, although females tend to be more wary. It took Tony months before mine even hinted at an interest, even longer for me. He really was a mess, but I still love him. For what it’s worth, I think the two of you would be good together.”

“Thank you Pepper, that actually is good to hear. You’ve known her far longer than I have.”

“I met her when she was just turning three, crawling around his office asking for her ‘Ony. She was trying to sneak out to find him. It was one of the cutest things I had ever seen. We have tons of videos of them when she was growing up. Although I admit when I first met her I wanted to kill him. I thought she was his daughter,” Pepper laughed as she remembered.

“That is just disturbing, Pep. If Sharon was my daughter I never would have gotten you and I don’t even want to imagine that,” Tony said dramatically as he walked out to join them. “She’s right though, tons of videos if you want to see any. My personal favorite is when she first shifted. She shifted early, probably because of her parents death. Aunt Peggy had to spend almost two weeks as a wolf before she turned back. She was too young to fend for herself.”

“How old was she?” Steve asked curiously.

“About three months, give or take. Big enough for her eyes and ears to be open but not much else. She could fit in my hand, and was basically just a ball of fluff.”

“Hence the nickname, I take it?” Steve guessed.

“You bet. But only I’m allowed to call her that, so don’t even start,” Tony warned with a pointed finger.

“Got it. Now, we need to figure this out. We can’t keep going for each other because our wolves aren’t working together. We all know mine has put out a claim. I can’t control it, nor can I control my instincts. But I will do my best to not let them get out of hand. For now, we need to discuss things and figure out a way to meet in the middle,” Steve reasoned.

Tony eyed him slightly before nodding, settling into the seat beside Pepper. This was going to be a long talk.