"What the hell is that supposed to mean, Stark? You got a problem with me, then say it!" Bucky growled, pushing Tony back. "You got something to say?"

"What do you know about this that you aren't telling me? Where did he take her?"

"I don't know!"

"Don't lie to me! You and Rogers have a hell of a lot in common, Barnes, including a nice round of Hydra brainwashing," Tony hissed. "You can't tell me that just goes away, because I happen to know those ten little words that can flip you into beast mode."

"Fuck off, Stark."

Tony took another step back at Pepper's urging, feeling her hands pulling against his arms to try to keep him calm. He tried to pull back against her, but he stopped to heed the only calm person in the room. "Tony, that's enough, come on. Let's just figure this out, okay? Fighting each other isn't going to help."

"If anything happens to her," Tony spat, pointing angrily at Bucky again, "and if I find out that you knew anything...anything at all...I will kill you. Do you hear me? I will kill you."

"Sir," FRIDAY broke in urgently, "Captain Rogers and (Y/N) have returned."

~~~

Four Hours Earlier

"I swear, (Y/N), I was only doing what I had to do to keep you all safe," Steve whispered as he drove. He glanced in the rearview mirror to see a hint of sunrise and gripped the wheel tighter, pushing the gas pedal with a bit more determination. "You know I wouldn't do this if I had any other choice."

"There's always a choice, Steve. You could have told me. You could have told the team."

"I couldn't take that risk, not with the four of your lives at stake. They told me things about you, things that they would know only if they were close enough to get at you and I didn't see any other way but to do what they said. Maybe I made a mistake, and that's something that I have to live with now, but (Y/N)," he urged, "I couldn't live with myself if I let anything happen to you knowing that I was able to stop it."

The darkness of night still kept your view of Steve's face shadowed, but as lights from passing cars illuminated the inside of your vehicle, one thing was painfully clear even in your peripheral vision; the deep red of the star on the chest of his black suit. It felt like a sick joke that Hydra was playing on you; still dressing Steve in his Captain America uniform but with the colors of the enemy adorning it. They were giving you just enough of him to hold a false sense of security, but at the same time reminding you that you had lost the man that you thought you knew. They were stripping away your hope one little piece at a time; they were stripping away your reasons to fight back, and a cold fear washed over you for the safety of your children and your team.

"Steve," you sighed, "we have to find a way out of this." You looked down at the gun in your hands and groaned quietly, slipping it into the thigh holster of your new, sleek Hydra uniform. With each passing minute, as your mind raced through the events that brought you here and how they only increased your fear, you found yourself beginning to understand how Steve had brought himself to it as well. "We can finish this mission and go home, but we have to tell the team. You can't keep doing Hydra's dirty work on their false promises. They're liars, and you know that it's only a matter of time before they make a move on the kids."

"They weren't going to come after you," he hissed, "until you wouldn't stop and I had to bring you in. They were keeping their word as long as I did what they said."

"And how many have you killed, Steve? How many people have you killed for them?"

His posture lost is assuredness at the question and he stared ahead as he continued on towards the destination ordered to you both by your Hydra Commander, or HC, as you now came to be familiar with as Steve had. He would never answer the question, and by the pain that you could see even in the light reflecting in his eyes, you knew well enough to never ask it again.

"We do this job, and we go home," you offered quietly, "and we tell them."

"Are you really willing to take that chance, (Y/N)?"

"Are you really willing not to?"

~~~

"I can't," you whispered to Steve, who was standing firm at your side, each of you with your weapons drawn and aimed, "this is murder, Steve."

"He's asleep, he'll never know," he reassured, though his own voice was shaking. "Just do it so we can go."

Your hand trembled like it never had fired a gun before, though it had many times, but this was different; you had fired in self-defense, but never like this. Never at an unarmed man who didn't even know that you were there. You were told that he was an enemy of Hydra, and a direct threat to their mission, so he had to become yours. Just remove the threat, and you can go home, they promised. You can go home until you are needed again, and as long as you return without question, your children will be safe.

"Just do it, (Y/N). Don't think."

"Does that work for you?"

"No. But it's worth a shot," he replied, much colder, "now take yours."

~~~

"What the hell do you mean, they're back?" Tony asked, looking to Bucky and Pepper, completely confused. "Just like that?" He hurried towards the door with Bucky following close behind, "FRIDAY, where are they?"

"They're in the kitchen, boss."

"What the hell?" Bucky murmured, slamming the stairwell door open with a hit that echoed with a painful volume, allowing Tony to lead the way. They practically fell down each flight of stairs, their feet tripping over themselves to get to their destination and to get to the truth, neither of them realizing it that their haste would be misspent, and that neither you or Steve were able to give them anything.

"Hey guys," you smiled, turning away from the countertop with a bowl of cereal in one hand for Anthony and handing another to Steve for Brooklyn. "What's the heavy breathing for? You look like you've just run a marathon."

"Something wrong?" Steve added, filling the tiny spoon in his grip and turning to his daughter. He opened his mouth slightly to prompt the little girl, cooing to her with a wide grin when she willingly took her food.

"FRIDAY said that you were gone," Tony panted, "showed us video of you carrying (Y/N) out of the building. She was unconscious, Rogers. You can't tell me that nothing's wrong here?"

"That's ridiculous, Dad," you smiled, clapping your hands along with Grant, who was clearly not yet interested in breakfast. "You must be seeing things. I'm fine. I'm right here."

"That's a load of shit," Bucky snapped, bursting forward, "and you know it. There's something going on here and you're going to tell us right now what it is. Steve, tell me. You can't lie to save your life, so don't try to fuck with me."

"Hey, Buck, there are kids here, alright? Calm down," you snapped, giving him a cold stare.

"I will not calm down. I know what I saw, and what I saw was Steve carrying your body out of your room, which I confirmed when I went there myself. Now tell us what the hell is going on!"

"Sweetheart, take the kids," Steve whispered coldly, standing to face his friend with fists tightly clenched at his sides and his jaw so tight that you could hear his teeth grinding under the pressure.

"Come on, baby," you said as you turned and to take Anthony first. "Let's go play for a while. We can eat later, okay?"

"Mama scared again," he replied, refusing to connect with you. He recoiled away and whimpered quietly, instead reaching for Tony despite your attempts to try again. "I don't wike it, Papa."

Tony reacted quickly and scooped the boy up into his arms, looking at you with an almost horror in his eyes, coupled with a confusion that was eating away at him. He took several steps back, bumping carelessly into the refrigerator with a soft thud, his eyes wide as he watched you. Pepper had followed just behind the two men, now following Tony's lead and grabbing Grant in one arm and Brooklyn in the other; she nudged his arm to lead him out of the room as if all hell were about to break loose.

"Steve, please, just tell me what happened," Bucky pleaded softly with his hands up in front of him. "You know that you can trust me. You both do. Please, just tell me, and whatever it is, we can fix it."

"You need to step away, Buck. There's nothing going on here. Nothing that you need to know. Just walk away."

"Can't do that."

Steve pushed forward and held his stance, standing toe-to-toe with Bucky, their chests almost bumping together out of sheer determination to hold the stronger position. You wanted to intervene, but you felt like anything that you might say or do could inadvertently give away your secret. You were on such high running adrenaline now and such inner turmoil that you worried that if you so much as breathed too fast, it would be a tell.

"Guys, stop. Bucky, please, do what he says, alright? Just step back. We can talk later, I promise."

Bucky looked to you and back to Steve, his gaze skeptical that you were telling the truth, but he didn't want to fight his friend any more than he wanted to argue with you. He knew that neither of you were going to give him anything right now, and he finally relented, dropping his stance and taking a step back. "I'm going to believe your promise, (Y/N)," he warned, pointing sharply, "don't you dare let me down."

"Don't talk to her like that," Steve pushed forward. "I don't care who you are. Don't talk to my wife like that."

"Steve, it's okay, let's just go." You gently took his arm and felt the contraction of his muscles at your touch, but then the slow release when he finally unclenched his fists as he accepted you. He stepped back and took your hand, keeping his eyes set on Bucky with every step towards the door until he was clear and the two of you were on your way to your room.

"You really do a great job at keeping your cool, Steve," you spat under your breath as you walked side by side. "How do you think I caught on? It definitely wasn't your calm demeanor about the massive lie you're living."

"Keep it down," he warned, pushing your door open to allow you in first. "Listen, (Y/N), it was hard enough to keep this quiet when it was just me, but now that it's both of us, it's going to be even harder. I agree, I really suck at keeping my cool, and I have to work on that, but we need to be careful about what we say. We need to come up with something to explain where we were last night, and we need to hurry."

"We need to hurry..." you stopped, searching your mind, "wait...Steve, are they watching us? Are they listening for us to screw up?"

"They're always watching, sweetheart. I told you that."

"But here? In our home?" you gasped, backing away and gripping your stomach as a fresh wave of nausea struck. You were trapped and could never tell the team now, if they were listening to everything you said; they would make good on their promise to hurt your family if you so much as slipped up even once. "There's nowhere safe anymore, is there?"

"You're safe with me."

"I wish I could believe that, Steve," you nodded, your voice cracking as your vision hazed with tears. "I used to believe that. But I don't know who you are anymore. I don't trust you. Hell, I don't know who I am now." You stumbled back a few more steps until you were sitting on the edge of your bed, rocking yourself back and forth to try to soothe your nerves, but it was pointless. "Maybe it would be best if we just left, to keep the kids safe. Let their godparents take over and just disappear."

"No," he urged, sitting next to you, "no, (Y/N), that's not an option. I won't leave them."

"And if I left? If it was just me? I'm the one they really want, right?"

"That's not an option either."

"So what options does that leave for us, Steve?"

His hand slid slowly and hesitantly over to land atop yours, and you didn't pull it away despite the urge to do so. You fought the rising anxiety and creeping excitability of nerves in your skin at his touch, doing your best to remember that this was still Steve through the screams in your mind not to. His fingers wrapped around yours and he let out a long sigh, finally realizing that there was only one answer to your question, finding that there would never be another.

"None, (Y/N)."