Grade A American Beef

The next two hours were a flurry of activity and reconnecting with the outside world. Thank god for Pepper Potts, the most capable human being on the planet.

The crisply dressed woman greeted them at the loading bay, somehow remaining untouched by the gusts of wind that the jet engines kicked up. Within ten minutes she'd ordered Steve and Natasha to the medical wing for a myriad of tests and had ushered Darcy and Bucky to an unused conference room.

The first hour was spent making phone calls to her friends and family, updating them on her situation and safety. There was quite a lot of relieved crying all around for those calls.

At one point, Jane and Thor burst into the room and Darcy was scooped up into a pair of spindly arms. Jane made a few blood oaths of revenge against every Hydra agent on the planet as she clung to Darcy, shaking with the intensity of her rage and relief.

Thor joined them in their hug when Jane’s vows of revenge petered out into hiccuping sobs, wrapping his massive arms around both women and easily lifting them both a good foot in the air.

“James,” Thor rumbled cheerily. “Join me in comforting the women.”

Well, it's good to see that gossip traveled fast in the Tower, Darcy thought to herself.

Bucky gave a weak smile and held up a hand in mild protest. This did not suit Thor, who briefly set the women back down to reach out and jerk Bucky into the hug circle by his upper arm. He had no choice but to wrap his arms around the tear-sodden women, rolling his eyes when he felt Thor’s arms come back down around and lifting all three of them up into the air.

It was kinda nice if he was being honest. Thor had very soothing muscles.

Darcy giggled against his chest where she was wedged between him and Jane, shooting him a quick wink of solidarity. He supposed that now that he and Darcy were together he would have to get used to extensions of affection from some of the more, uh, exuberant members of the team.

Thor finally released them all, pulling Bucky aside to speak quietly with him while Darcy and Jane caught each other up on the happenings of the last few months. Bucky wandered back over to them a few minutes later, looking pale and a bit green around the gills. Thor clapped a heavy hand over his shoulder, a wide, bright smile on his princely face that did nothing to belie the fact that he'd obviously just given one hell of a shovel talk. Or potentially a hammer talk.

Other than that, the demigod seemed nothing but thrilled at their new relationship. And, of course, Jane had seen the signs months before they'd even acted on their feelings, and she now wore the smug smile of someone who was used to being proven right and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Pepper bustled into the room then, glancing up from her Starkpad to see that Jane and Thor had arrived. “Thor, Dr. Foster,” she greeted them with a kind smile. “It's good that you're here, I was just about to inform Darcy that Steve is calling everyone together for a team meeting in the common room to discuss the events of the Sokovian mission.”

Thor nodded, his features darkening at the memory of what they'd seen and Jane placed a gentle hand on his forearm, bearing him up with the small, tender touch.

“Darcy, I hate to send you back to work immediately, but your expertise is needed. The details of the mission are no longer considered confidential and a report needs to be provided to the press as soon as possible.” Pepper glanced at Bucky where he was standing off by the floor to ceiling windows, looking out over the city. She cleared her throat delicately and continued. “Also, in light of your current relationship with Sergeant Barnes, Natasha has informed me that it would be wise for you to be there as support.” Bucky's head swiveled around at the mention of his name, his eyes bouncing between the two women.

“Yes, of course,” Darcy replied. “Do you think you could have someone send up my Starkpad?”

“I'll send Brandon up with it right away.”

“Thank you, Pepper.”

“Of course, Darcy. If there’s anything else I can get you, please let me know,” she replied politely and then turned on her impeccable heels and headed back out the double conference room doors.

Thor clapped his meaty hands together. “Well, it seems we are needed. Shall we, Jane?” he asked, extending his forearm. Jane rolled her eyes and tucked her hand into his elbow.

He then turned to Bucky and Darcy with a wide smile. “James, Darcy, let us join the others in the common room where we shall share many tales of our victories,” he boomed.

Darcy snorted and waved the other couple on. “We’ll be there in a minute, big guy.” Thor dipped his head and ushered Jane through the double doors, leaving Bucky and Darcy alone in the room.

Bucky still stood over by the window, his hands folded demurely behind his back, staring out over the city. She made her way around the table to join him, leaning her head against his shoulder and soaking up what was probably the last bit of peace they'd get for a while. She could feel the tension thrumming through him as soon as she touched him. She raised a hand to cup his cheek and pull him down to her in a kiss. He followed her direction but his lips were chaste on hers and even with her eyes closed she could sense that he wasn't really with her in the moment. Which was entirely unacceptable.

Darcy maneuvered them around until she had him walking backwards into the conference table, pushing him down to take a seat on it and then clambering up to straddle his lap. That certainly got his attention.

“Darcy, what--”

“Shh, you're thinking too hard,” she replied, running her hands up to bury in his hair. She pulled him roughly to her mouth, demanding entrance and sucking his bottom lip between hers. Bucky groaned and slid his hands up over her thighs to settle on her hips, pulling her down hard against him.

“Darcy,” he whispered reverently when she began trailing a line of kisses down his throat. She nipped and sucked at him until she was sure she'd completely distracted him from the shitstorm that was parading through his brain.

She gave one last sweet press of her lips to his jaw and then leaned back in the cradle of his arms. “No matter what happens in that room, no matter what intel Steve has to tell you about, no matter what the others have to say about us, I'm with you, Bucky. I'm with you. Okay?” Her blue eyes bore into his, a beacon of hope and light in the midst of the treacherous storm of his thoughts.

He nodded, bringing his hands up to cup her face, pulling her close so that he could drop light kisses over her temples and eyelids. She sighed into the gesture, clinging to him for all she was worth before pulling back and climbing down off him and the table. “Come on, babe,” she said, holding her hand out to clasp at his metal fingers. “Let’s go face the music.”

He gave her a sad little smile and let her pull him to his feet, straightening his clothes and adjusting himself in his pants. Hopefully that would sort itself out by the time they reached the rest of the team. The last thing he needed was to greet everyone while sporting his cock at half mast.

Darcy tittered behind her other hand at his awkward situation, the unrepenting minx that she was. If things hadn't been so stressful he would have liked to lay her over the table and teach her a lesson and--

Those thoughts were not helping his situation.

They walked hand in hand to the elevator, riding up to the top floor that held the private residential suites that Tony had reserved for members of the team. The murmur of tired voices filtered down the hallway from the open entrance to the Avengers’ common area and, from what Bucky could tell, he and Darcy were the last ones to arrive.

Great. Just great. Nothing like walking into the room and instantly being the center of attention.

Darcy smiled up at him in encouragement and lead him through the opening. As was predictable, the room fell silent at their appearance and Darcy tried to project an unaffected air as she tugged at Bucky's hand and brought them to sit on the only available space left. Which wasn't much.

There was technically only one seat left on one of the couches, so she prompted Bucky to sandwich in between Steve and Natasha and then she sank to sit on the ground, her back propped against Bucky's legs. She could feel the tension rolling off of him in waves, so she reached back to grab his hand and place it on her shoulder, leaning her cheek onto it and rubbing gentle circles into the metal plates.

The plates shifted restlessly and then she felt his hand sweep up to rest on her neck, his thumb pressing into the tense muscle at the base of her skull. She couldn't help the smitten little smile she made at his gentle touch.

During their quiet exchange, the attention of the room had drifted away from them and the rest of the team had returned to their conversations. Other than the normal awkwardness of informing a group of friends that a new couple had formed in their midst, none of the other team members seemed all that interested in their relationship, thank god.

Darcy's main concerns had been Steve, Nat, Clint and of course Tony. Steve and Nat, for obvious reasons, but that had gone surprisingly smoothly. Clint and Tony, however, had appointed themselves as honorary big brothers to her, with all the annoying, over-opinionated input in her love life that those roles entailed. And on top of that, Tony had the whole “you murdered my parents when you were brainwashed” thing against her boyfriend, so yeah, she was a tad nervous about their reactions.

But to her utmost relief, Clint kept his mouth shut, though he was definitely glaring a hole into Bucky's forehead and scraping his thumb over one of his arrowheads with an undue amount of menace. And even Tony was keeping his opinions to--

“Okay, are we really going to ignore the giant elephant that just waltzed into the room and is currently canoodling my employee on my couch?”

Scratch that. Looked like Tony would not be keeping his opinions to himself today.

His outburst was met with a chorus of groans and Steve growled out his name in warning. Clint stayed silent but Darcy didn't miss the bro-nod of solidarity he directed at Tony. Darcy felt Bucky stiffen behind her, his hand jerking and squeezing just a little more firmly into her skin.

“Tony, I'm not sure that's any of your business,” came Bucky's soft, level reply from behind her.

That's right, honey. You tell him!

Tony’s eyes darted between her face and his before he scoffed at Bucky's remark. “Jesus Barnes,” he replied snidely, “didn't anybody tell you porn isn't reflective of real life? You’re not actually supposed to diddle the babysitter.”

Steve jerked up in his seat, grinding out Tony's name between his teeth at the same time that Sam called out, “Hey man, that’s not okay.”

Tony rolled his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest where he stood leaning against the bar. “Seriously though. Raise your hand if you think this is a terrible idea? Hmm?” He raised his own hand and was joined by Clint almost immediately. The rest all stared at him stone-faced. He clicked his tongue and groaned. “Come on guys, do none of you care about Darcy at all? Them being together is just going to end with him killing her. Either on accident or--”

“Tony, if you finish that sentence, god help me, I will break your fucking face in,” Darcy growled, her body trembling with rage as she rose slowly to her feet. She stalked forward until she was standing directly in front of him, anger boiling in her gut and fire simmering under her skin. “He's not that man anymore. You know he's not that man anymore.” Her voice was quiet, almost a whisper, but the rage and menace infusing the words was enough to make Tony step back a pace and swallow nervously.

“Darcy, I just don't want to lose you, too.” His eyes were pleading with her but she'd had enough. He was speaking out of turn and from a place of ignorance.

“Do you think that I’m an idiot? Do you think that I would needlessly endanger myself for a man?” She gave a short, humorless laugh. “This topic is not up for further discussion. Are we clear?”

“Darce, just think abou--”

“Are we clear, Anthony?”

“I--” Tony looked around helplessly, searching out support but finding none. He visibly deflated and muttered out, “Yeah, we’re clear, kid,” and not quite meeting her eyes.

Darcy gave a satisfied nod and turned on her heel to return to her seat but stopped halfway across the room to address him one last time. “Oh, and some food for thought: Bucky was the one who saved me from that Hydra agent that was strangling me in my apartment. Bucky was the one who got me out of the city and kept me safe for three months. Bucky was the one who's been training me to defend myself because someone was comfortable with selling out my safety for a box of cookies. Maybe you should think on that for a while, Tony Stark.” And with that final cutting remark, Darcy collapsed directly into her boyfriend's lap, her arms coming around his shoulders and her head leaning against his.

Tony stared at her, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water until he finally shut it, a blush rising up his neck and a distinctly ashamed glint in his eyes.

Good. He was being an ass. He should be ashamed. She stared him down, her face stern and eyes unblinking until she felt Bucky turn and kiss gently at the skin beneath her ear.

“That's enough, sweetheart,” he muttered low enough that only she could hear. “He's learned his lesson.”

She supposed he was right. Tony certainly looked like he was drowning in his own guilt and the guy already did that enough as it was. Darcy finally relented, softening her posture and blinking away the anger from her eyes, turning a small, forgiving smile to Tony.

He gave his own small smile back with a dip of his head. “Sorry, kid. You know I love you.”

Darcy's smile grew brighter at the rare apology and even rarer declaration of affection. “I know. Love you too, ya big butthead.”

Her pronouncement was followed by a throat clearing and a gentle knock to the open doorway of the common room. “Um, Ms. Potts sent me to give Ms. Lewis her Starkpad?” Brandon announced uncertainly, his eyes bouncing nervously around to the occupants in the room.

Darcy shot up off Bucky's lap with a delighted squeal and launched herself at the poor man, gripping him by the shoulders and shaking him. “Brandon! God’s gift to PR agents! How the heck are you?”

“Uh, I'm great. And really glad you’re not dead, by the way. No one remembers Fajita Fridays when you're not there.” He smirked and glanced around the room again before dropping his voice to a whisper. “Did I just hear you call Tony Fucking Stark a butthead?” His eyes went wide in wonder.

“Yes, you did.” There may or may not have been a hint of smugness to her response. Brandon pressed the Starkpad into her hands to cover the subtle high five he'd given her and then made a hasty exit.

Darcy glanced at the screen, opening up the blessed bit of technology and repressing the urge to smack a kiss to the surface. Oh, how she'd missed this baby. She fiddled with the log-in process and got her note taking application up and running. “Alright,” she said, looking up from her screen to address the room. “Let’s get this debrief started. Who wants to start off Super Depressing Sokovia Storytime?”

Natasha snorted and commanded Jarvis to pull up the intel files they'd compiled prior to the mission and began the process of relaying the information to Darcy. After that, each of the Avengers gave their own reports of events and their individual participation in the dismantling of Strucker’s operations.

Next in the line up for discussion was what was to be done about the twins. It started as a discussion, anyway. It turned into an all out civil war about twenty minutes in with part of the team adamant that the best place for the twins was on the team, another group was of the opinion that they should be studied and a reversal of their powers be sought after so they could go on to live normal lives, and a third faction was wary of their association with Hydra and concerned with whether or not they could be trusted.

“Tony, they are victims! Nobody goes through that kind of hell by choice!” Steve's fist came down on his thigh with a thud, his anger barely controlled.

“Really, Cap? That's pretty ironic coming from you considering you waltzed right in to Erskine and Dad’s supersoldier machine.”

“That's different and you know it,” Steve growled, Index Finger of Righteous Indignation™ extended fully and pointed directly at Tony's chest.

From his perch on the back of one of the sofas, Bruce cleared his throat. “Tony,” he began, his voice cutting through the tension despite his soft spoken nature. “I read their files. They were abducted off the streets and forced to undergo horrendously painful experiments. They’re just kids and I don't believe they are a threat to us. In any case, what was done to them was without consent and if it is in our power to do so, we should try to undo Strucker’s work. They deserve to go on to lead normal lives.”

Steve shook his head firmly. “And expose them to further experimentation? Wouldn't you risk harming them further? I still think the safest hands are our own. They can join us, help us. Surely, out of all of us, they have the most to gain from fighting against Hydra.”

“Steve, they're just kids,” Bruce restated, pinching the bridge of his nose beneath his glasses. “You're wanting to send children off to war now?”

“They're not like American children, Bruce,” Natasha chided softly. “They have known war since birth. It is not quite so traumatic when it's all you've ever known. Besides, they are older than I was when I graduated from the Red Room.”

Darcy did some quick mental math while further debate was made over whether or not Nat was a good example of mental stability in children. “Hold up,” Darcy spoke up, her voice cutting through the din of bickering superheroes. “How old are these kids exactly?”

“Nineteen,” Bruce supplied.

Darcy stared at them in disbelief. “Are you serious? Guys, they're legally adults. From the way everyone was talking, I was under the impression that these kids were twelve years old, max.” She was met with blank stares. Obviously these superidiots would require hand holding to understand her point. “I've been listening to all of you argue over the fate of these kids for a half hour now and no one thought to maybe perchance ask the twins what they want to do with their future? They are old enough to enlist in the U.S. military if they wanted to, for godssake. If you want them to join the Avengers then they should be able to be a part of that decision. The same goes for if they should depower themselves and go move to Bumfuck, Iowa to become corn farmers for the rest of their lives. In any case, they should be in this room.”

Sam Wilson rose from his seat, coming to stand next to Darcy, his easy smile in place and arms crossed over his chest. “Darcy's right. They ought to have a say in what happens next. They've just spent the last who knows how long without any control over anything. We have to be better than that.” He finished his spiel with a nod and a little hip bump to Darcy.

The rest of the group seemed to heed her wisdom and a call was made to bring the twins up from their rooms down on the medical floor. Within a matter of minutes, Darcy got her first glimpse of the two. She had been way, way off with her mental picture of what they looked like. They were definitely nowhere near the prepubescent kids that she'd envisioned. Especially the male. He was 100% full grown and in another life she would definitely have--

Darcy looked up to see Bucky watching her with a smirk and a quirked eyebrow. She blushed and made a helpless shrug. What? She was only human. The kid was fine as hell, okay?

Bucky snorted and returned his attention to the new additions, as did Darcy. The twins were seated on the loveseat that Sam and Clint had vacated. The girl, Wanda, had her hands clasped tightly in her lap, her attention fully on the twisting of her fingers. Her brother, on the other hand, couldn't seem to concentrate on any one thing for more than a second. His eyes bounced around the room from face to face to random piece of furniture and back to another face, all while his left knee bounced so quickly it blurred the edges of the blue scrubs he wore.

Introductions were made between the twins and the rest of the occupants in the room that they'd yet to meet. Wanda was polite and quietly acknowledged Darcy and Bucky while Pietro greeted them with all the smug male bravado that is typical of a nineteen year old boy. His attitude was a nice reminder to Darcy that though he might look grown, he still had a lot of maturing to do. She was suddenly very grateful for her elderly boyfriend and his lack of male posturing.

With introductions out of the way, Darcy gently broached the topic of what the twins wanted to do with their futures. She tried to be impartial as she detailed the options that were on the table and made sure they knew that they were allowed to provide a fourth option if one occurred to them. The twins were silent for a long moment after Darcy finished speaking until their eyes met and they began talking over each other all at once in what sounded like some kind of Russian variant. There were quite a lot of hand gestures and eye rolls between the two. It rather reminded Darcy of some of the arguments she’d had with Angie over the years.

Darcy leaned over to whisper in Bucky’s ear. “Any idea what they’re saying?”

Bucky shook his head and shrugged. “It’s...similar to Russian but not enough for me to understand them. Though I’m pretty sure Wanda just called Pietro a fairly unflattering bit of pig anatomy.”

Darcy bit back on the smile that was threatening to break loose. Yeah, definitely reminded her of Angie.

A couple more minutes of bickering and one slap to the back of Pietro’s head later and Wanda was turning to the rest of the room. “Would it be possible for us to think it over for a few days before we give you an answer?” she asked in her soft, gravelly voice.

“Of course,” Darcy was quick to respond. “Take as much time as you need. Just know, we will all support you in whatever decision you make, okay? And if anyone gives you a hard time about anything you give me a call.”

Wanda flashed a grateful smile that actually reached her eyes. “Thank you, Darcy.”

Darcy waved her gratitude away with one hand. “It’s nothing, hon. If you two would like to return to your rooms, I think we’re done here for now?” Darcy glanced around the room to see if any of the team had any objections. Finding none, she continued, “And once the medical team has given you a clean bill of health, we’ll make sure to set you up in one of the swanky apartments on the team’s residential floor.”

Tony made a small sound of protest but quelled under the arch look that Darcy gave him. The twins thanked her, rose from their seat in eerie synchronicity, and made their way back out of the common room where a couple nurses were waiting to escort them back down to their floor.

Darcy took a look over her notes before saying, “Well, I think we’re done here. I should be able to have an official press report ready to publish by tomorrow morning. Until then, I think all of you need to go to bed.” Her statement was met with a few chuckles and a couple groans of agreement.

“Actually, Darcy...Natasha and I have a few things that we need to discuss with you and Bucky before we do that.” Steve replied softly beside her. Not soft enough to keep Tony from overhearing, however.

“What things? Sokovia things?” Tony asked.

Steve glanced at Bucky and then over to Tony and then at the rest of the team, who had stopped in their exodus from the common room. “Well, yes. But it’s kind of a private matter.”

“Private matter, how?” Clint piped up from the other side of the room.

“Steve and I received a flashdrive from an anonymous source while we were working with the local authorities. They claimed it had been mailed to them several weeks back with no return address and only “Strucker’ labeled across the front. Once we called them in for their assistance and Strucker’s name came up, they handed it over to us to deal with. When we opened it up we found several files that pertain to James,” Natasha clarified, her expression even more closed off than usual.

“And what? You two were just going to keep that info to yourselves? We’re supposed to be a team, dammit,” Tony bit out, exhaustion and anger sparking in his red-rimmed eyes.

Natasha’s eyes slid to where Steve sat on the other side of Bucky. “It wasn’t my call to make.”

“Oh no, of course it wasn’t. Only Rogers would be obsessed enough with Barnes to jeopardize the rest of the team in favor of keeping his old pal’s secrets.”

“Tony, it doesn’t affect the rest of you, alright? It’s a sensitive matter that none of the team has any right to know about.” Steve’s jaw clenched and his pale skin began to flush with anger.

Stark gave a sharp smile. “Oh sensitive is it? Kind of like how the fact that he murdered my family was sensitive and you didn’t have the guts to tell me the truth for months?Kinda like that, Rogers?” The bags beneath Tony’s eyes seemed to grow darker against his paling face and his left eye began to twitch subtly.

“Damn it, Stark! This isn’t the same thing! It has nothing to do with you, it affects you in no way whatsoever. You just have to trust me on this!” Steve shouted, rising to his feet to peer down at Tony who was now standing toe to toe with him.

Tony crossed his arms over his chest, his voice pitched low as he glared up at Steve. “And how can I trust a man who keeps secrets from his teammates? From his friends?”

Steve opened his mouth to answer but was stopped when Bucky reached around where Darcy sat in his lap to grip the back of Steve’s calf. “Steve,” he uttered softly, “he has a right to know. They all do. You can’t have a team of people that keeps secrets from each other. That’s how Hydra was able to infiltrate SHIELD in the first place. They need to know.”

Steve looked down at his friend, his blues eyes pleading with the other man. “Buck, no, they don’t, I promise.”

Bucky shook his head. “Sit down Stevie. It’ll be alright. Just tell us all what you learned and let’s get this over with.”

“I--” Steve’s eyes darted to Natasha but she merely nodded. The air went out of him then and he sank back into the couch. Nat unfolded herself from her seat like a cat, walking around the back of the couch and pulling a USB drive from her utility belt. Darcy didn’t miss the way Natasha’s fingers grazed along the back of Steve’s neck as she passed behind him or the way Steve froze under the touch, his eyes falling closed before fluttering back open.

Natasha addressed JARVIS, requesting that he pull the info off the drive and project it up on the wall where everyone could see and where she could manipulate the data. The first thing she pulled up for everyone to look at was a grainy, technicolor photo of several men in lab coats and a few in large, wire framed glasses that gave Darcy the sense that the photo was taken sometime in the 80s. In the center of the group of men sat Bucky, bare to the waist and staring dead-eyed into the distance. From her knowledge of his personnel files, she knew the chair he sat in was the one that was used to wipe his memories and the sight of it curdled her stomach.

Underneath her, she could feel Bucky start to tremble slightly and she snuggled in tighter to him. He sighed and wrapped his arms around her to pull her in and tuck his face away into her hair, breathing her calming scent in a slow, steady rhythm until his tremors stopped. Natasha waited quietly, watching the two of them with a keen eye until he lifted his head and gave her a brief nod.

She returned her attention to the screen, pointing out one man in particular. “This is Wolfgang von Strucker. Until we received this data, we were unaware that he had any connection to the Winter Soldier. Obviously, this photo and the contents of this USB have changed that...and it’s also shed some light on why a devoted Hydra agent would go against orders.”

She next pulled up what looked like photocopied letters of correspondence between Strucker and various upper level Hydra agents along with what looked liked passages from Strucker’s journal. “From what I’ve translated, it appears that Strucker had some concerns with the Soldier’s behavior and the more and more frequent wipes he and his medical team were having to make in order to keep him compliant. He feared that at some point James would break his programming and they would lose their Asset permanently. As they no longer had the superserum formula used on James, Strucker felt the best way to replicate the Asset if he was ever lost to them, was to use his DNA to create another. He was under the impression that the serum could be genetically inherited.” Natasha paused to let the information sink in for everyone in the room. She was met with horrified eyes and not a small amount of muttered cursing.

Darcy felt Bucky stiffen and his hand clenched at her hip a little harder than was comfortable. “You mean,” he began hoarsely, clearing his throat before continuing, “you mean, this asshole wanted me to-to breed?”

Nat’s eyes were apologetic as she confirmed his statement. “Yes. He felt that producing several offspring that could be raised within Hydra’s influence and conditioning would eventually produce several Assets that would be unfailingly loyal to their cause and would eliminate the need for the constant memory wipes or the possibility of them breaking conditioning and disappearing. He stated that you were a flawed Asset because the years spent prior to becoming the Soldier had ‘warped your soul beyond repair’ and made you, at your core, the antithesis of what Hydra stood for.”

“Fortunately,” she continued, “the higher ups that he reported to found his ideas to be ridiculous and an expensive waste of time. They had no desire to wait two decades, spending money and resources in order to raise a new batch of Assets that they had no assurances would actually inherit the superserum. Strucker persisted in his petitions for several more years until he was removed from his position on the Asset’s medical team and was sent to oversee other operations.”

“Well thank fuck for that,” Sam muttered from the other side of the room.

“Indeed. It would not do for James to have children in the clutches of those monsters,” Thor agreed.

Bucky’s stomach clenched and twisted at the thought of anyone’s children being torn apart the way he had and he nearly vomited when the mental picture of a group of toddlers, all with Darcy’s curls and his mouth, waltzed through his mind. He closed his eyes tight against the image and only opened them when he heard Darcy’s sharp hiss of pain. His eyes snapped open to see that he’d been gripping her hip too tightly and he immediately loosened his grip, massaging the bruised flesh and muttering an apology into her ear. She pressed a kiss to his forehead but slipped off his lap to take up Nat’s vacant seat on the couch beside him. Still close enough to hold him, but less likely to end up with more bruises.

“Buck, there’s….there’s more,” Steve commented, pulling Bucky’s attention back to the rest of the room and the sick shitshow that was his entire fucking life.

Natasha pulled up more journal entries, dated in the late 2000s. “Even though he was no longer working on the Winter Soldier project, Strucker still wouldn’t drop his idea, and began playing with the idea of not only having several Assets that shared James’ supersoldier DNA but potentially turning them into powered individuals. His theories were the basis of all the experimentation he was doing in Sokovia,” she finished.

Steve’s large hand came down to rest on Bucky’s shoulder and the full impact of Natasha’s words sank in. “So...so you’re saying that all those kids he killed and tortured...it was because of me? He wanted to make more, better versions of me?”

“No, Bucky. Not because of you. Hydra is the only one to blame for all of this.”

He wished he could take comfort in Steve’s words, but he was too busy trying not to vomit to heed him much. “Jesus, fuck,” he cried out, rage and horror crawling like spiders through his chest.

Natasha’s cool, clear voice cut through the chaos of his mind. “James, I need you to focus. I’m not finished.”

A desperate, humorless laugh escaped his throat. Of course, there was more. There always was.

“From the records he kept at the compound and information on this flashdrive, it appears that he decided to start his off-the-book experiments around the time that you disappeared and Hydra was exposed. His journal entries indicated that he felt he would be met with gratitude once his experiments were successful and he was able to present a...viable product to his superiors. He started out using children off the street as….well the best description would be lab rats, I suppose. He didn't want to risk killing your...progeny in the process. So he murdered at least several dozen orphans in the process until his recent success with the Maximoff twins. Thankfully we received the intel on a large Hydra compound in his location before he could proceed with his plans. However, we’re now starting to think that the information was actually fed to us by the Hydra agent within SHIELD. We’re fairly certain Hydra got wind that Strucker was going against orders and that James had resurfaced. They fed us the intel in order for us to take care of an irritating dissenter and to give them an opening to regain their Asset while the rest of us were away.” Natasha’s words dwindled and she grew quiet, her eyes locking with Steve's in some kind of silent conversation.

Bucky watched the exchange and a feeling of dread, more than he ever thought possible, slithered through his gut. Natalia didn't shy away from anything. Her hesitancy to continue could only be a terrible omen.

“There's something else, isn't there? What aren't you telling me?” His voice sounded hoarse and hollow in his own ears.

“Strucker’s plans were twofold. To produce a viable offspring from you and to create powered children. He was successful on both fronts. A child was successfully conceived and was born July of last year. Your child.”

“No.” The word sprang from his lips and fell like lead. “No, that's not possible.”

Natalia and the rest of the room looked at him with something like pity. Even Tony looked sorry for him, and something in their gaze sparked a flood of anger in him. “No! You don't understand. It is not possible. I haven't-- I couldn't...I wasn't with anyone when the kid would have been conceived!”

Steve tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention, a blush inching up his pale throat. “Um Buck, there’ve been some changes in how people can make babies now. Advances in science and so on. Don't necessarily have to be present for the conceiving so long as there's a doctor and a lady and uh….a sample.” Steve cringed and Bucky only stared at him, his brow wrinkling in confusion.

“A sample? What the fuck does that mean?”

Steve blushed even darker but was saved from saying anything when Darcy cleared her throat beside him, drawing his attention to her face. She locked eyes with him and then dropped her eyes pointedly to his lap. He stared down at himself for a few seconds until it clicked.

“Are you fucking kidding me?! What the fuck is wrong with this century? Jesus Christ.” Bucky shot to his feet, agitation in every line of his body as he paced back and forth in front of the couch. “How did he--? How would that even--? I don't remember giving--” his voice broke off and he was met with silence until Nat spoke up.

“A sample was likely collected while you were either sedated or cycling out of cryo. He worked with you during the 80s and into the 90s when in vitro fertilization started gaining recognition and popularity. He likely stored samples with the same cryo technology that Hydra had been using for years on you in the hopes of one day being able to use it.”

He felt sick again. Sick and dirty and so horrified to find out that Hydra had indeed raped him in every sense of the word and now he had-- there was-- he was a father. He was a fucking father and the realization hit him so hard his knees buckled.

After that, he thought he might have gone a little bit mad. The world blurred at the edges, sound distorting and his vision twisting and warping like he was on a drunken carnival ride. He was vaguely aware of muffled voices shouting in distress and a pair of small, cool hands pressing at his cheeks... and then nothing.

When he came back to himself, he was wedged into a ventilation shaft, his face wet and his hands still shaking.

He must have bolted in his daze, gone to ground and hid until his scrambled brain could create some kind of order in the chaos. And the chaos was still there, but it swirled in the background, forgotten in favor of a dogged determination to achieve a single goal.

He climbed out of the shaft, regaining his bearings and returning to the common room. He wasn't sure how much time had passed since he went AWOL, but now there was only Steve, Nat, and Darcy in the room. All three sat huddled around the bar of the kitchen that was tucked into one corner, sipping various beverages of various strengths. Darcy's eyes were red rimmed and he could still see the sheen of tears on her face.

Steve and Nat both snapped their heads up as soon as he stepped foot into the room, their superhearing picking up on him instantly. Steve half rose from his seat, mouth opening to speak to him but Bucky held up a hand to silence his friend.

There was only one thing he needed to hear right then. Only one thing that mattered to him in that moment.

“Steve. Where the fuck is my kid?”