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No one expects Steven Grant Rogers to present as anything other than an Omega. He’s small, delicate, but no one ever says that to his face. He’s liable to try to knock your head off. On top of which, he’s beautiful, with soft, exquisite features and silky blond hair. When Sarah Rogers gave birth to her son, she thanked heaven for the beautiful child they gave her. With her husband dead in the first Great War, she’s left to care for the angelic child alone. Of course, once he’s mobile, she realizes that calling him angelic might be an over-statement. But she only has herself to blame, since his sense of right and wrong comes from her. Starting from an early age, he fights the good fight and usually ends up losing.
Then James Buchanan Barnes comes along, a year older and a head taller than Steven, and it’s magic. Sarah’s an immigrant to the country and that might sway her feelings about magic, but she’s sure there’s a bond between the two that isn’t normal. She never says anything about it, but she and Winifred Barnes share more than one look when the boys are growing up.
Sarah dies painfully and alone in the ward of the hospital she works in. Steve’s just barely seventeen when it happens and hasn’t presented yet, due to his many ailments. She asks one of the doctors, a man she trusts, to relay a message to her Steven. She watches as the doctor writes her words down verbatim.
Steve receives the letter the day he buries his mother.
Steven,
These next few years are going to be difficult for you. I saved as much money as I could, you know where it is. I’ve been paying the art school and your first year is paid for in full. Please go. Don’t waste a God given talent like yours trying to work in a factory or at the docks.
When you present, you need to know a couple of things. I’ve never made a secret that you’d be an Omega and there is thankfully no shame in it here in America, like there was back home. It will be uncomfortable for a few days every couple of months, but nothing you can’t handle. The only thing I ask is this, if you decide you want a mate, choose someone that sees your strength and not what is perceived as frailty.
I love you with no end and believe you are destined for great things. Don’t grieve too long for me. I’m with your father again.
I love you Steven. Be happy in your life.
Steve shows the letter to Bucky after the funeral. He holds Steve while he cries for his mother. They move in together a week later. No one really thinks it strange because Steve hasn’t presented. If he does, then Steve will ask Bucky to be his Alpha. Since that hasn’t happened, he’ll live with his friend, like a brother.
Years before, Bucky presents as an Alpha, which surprised no one. A few years after moving in together, Bucky’s drafted into the military and Steve becomes Captain America. Steve still hasn’t presented. Dr. Erskine can’t tell him why he hasn’t presented and tells Steve to wait until the serum has been in his body for a few months to a year. He explains that for that amount of time, he expects the serum to still be remapping Steve’s DNA. Steve goes in search of his best friend, holding on to hope, but before anything can happen with his secondary gender, Bucky falls from the train and Steve takes the plane down.
Steve wakes up in a confusing world and doesn’t know which way to turn. He’d only been out of the ice for two weeks when Fury drags him back into the world of fighting. He’s lost and doesn’t have anyone to help. The people that Fury has him working with aren’t like the Commandos. There’s no brotherhood, no sense of family. So, he uses what he’s been taught about the internet and starts reading. He finds that politics are corrupt, no one really talks anymore, tv and movies are too inappropriate sometimes (most times), being gay doesn’t mean death, and designations are secondary. Alphas, betas and omegas are equal in a way that they never have been before. That doesn’t mean much to Steve, who still hasn’t presented.
It’s not that they weren’t equal in his time, but there was still the idea that omegas were good homemakers and most stayed in the home with the children, but now omegas own large corporations, sit in government positions, and are respected for their opinions. Mating isn’t done by finding your true mate, anyone will and can mate now. There are even stories of alphas mating alphas and having kids together. No one had even known that alphas could conceive in his day. It’s all overwhelming, but in a good way…mostly. Steve still hasn’t presented, so he reads and learns, but doesn’t apply any of it to himself.
Tony’s the one to bring it up. After the Chutari invasion, the team starts hanging around each other more and although they have talked about it, in private, away from Steve, no one has ever actually asked him. JARVIS had hacked the SHIELD database and found that Steven Grant Rogers had never and to this day still hasn’t presented. So, Tony being Tony, he just asks at a team dinner. “So, tell us Cap, why don’t you have a secondary designation?”
Tony Stark is an alpha and doesn’t like it when he can’t put people in a box, as long as no one tries to put him in a box. Steve sputters for a minute on his drink, then looks from face to face at the table. Tony asked, but every face at the table is looking at him expectantly. They all want to know, but didn’t have the courage to put the question out there. “Uh, I don’t really know.”
Pepper looks at him concerned. “What do you mean you don’t know? Do the doctors have any idea why?”
Steve looks down at his plate and sighs with a shrug. He might as well just tell them what he knows, he’s sure that Tony already read his file. “When I was a kid, I didn’t present because of being sick all the time. Dr. Erskine thought the serum would rectify that, but it didn’t. The SHIELD doctors have no idea why I still haven’t presented.” He looks at the faces around the table. “Is that a problem for anyone?” He doesn’t say it as a challenge, it’s an honest question.
Tony speaks up and everyone nods their agreement. “No, it’s not a problem, it is weird though.” Pepper elbows him.
“Yeah.” Steve says it weakly and there are sympathetic looks from the team. Not having a designation makes him an anomaly and Steve doesn’t need anything else making him an outsider.
Steve’s been searching for Bucky for months. Since the helicarriers went down, he’s been busy with hunting down Hydra and reading everything Natasha dumped on the internet about the Winter Soldier. After waking up in the hospital, since Bucky pulled him from the Potomac, and subsequently being released from the hospital, Steve spent weeks recovering. Then he fights Ultron in Sokovia and meets Wanda.
They take Wanda in when the Ultron thing goes sideways, because she’s alone. In that way, she fits into the group. None of them really have a place where they fit, outside the team. She takes to Steve immediately. He thinks it’s because she thinks he’s designation neutral, which is a term that Bruce came up with. She spends more time in Steve’s apartment than she does her own. One evening, after Steve’s taken a run, he finds her in the kitchen, cooking.
“Whatever that is, it smells great!” She giggles from her place at the stove. She’s been spending more time with him since she found out Bucky is alive and what that means for Steve. SHIELD falling has freed up the team to make decisions for themselves, but it also means that they have to be ever watchful, so they don’t miss a situation they need to take care of. Tony set up a command center at the Compound and their only job is to keep watch.
After taking a shower, they sit on the sofa, eating and watching something mindless on the TV. “How are you feeling, Steve?”
It’s a strange question because everyone knows he can’t get sick. Looking over, confused, he gives a smirk. “I’m feeling fine, I suppose.” She just hums in response, giving a discreet sniff. Steve finds it disturbing.
A few weeks after that strange conversation, Steve realizes he’s presented just as his mom predicted. The only person that knows is Wanda because she’s the one that nursed and fussed over him during his heat, and he trusts her. He spends a lot of time in the shower, trying to cool his body down. Wanda tries to talk to him about implements to help, but Steve just blushes and shakes his head to the idea.
For nearly a week his body is overheated. He stays in his apartment and rocks back and forth in his bed. Whining and crying for something he can’t put his finger on. He doesn’t use toys or even touch himself; he just cries for…something. His mom had said it would be uncomfortable, but nothing he couldn’t handle, but this feels like it’s more than that. He doesn’t tell anyone outside of Wanda. It isn’t the team's business, no matter what Tony thinks.
He wants so much to trust the other Avengers, but he can’t bring himself to trust completely. More than anything he wants to trust Sam, but something holds him back. Sam could calm him because of his beta designation. But Steve can’t get past the feeling that it could be misread as romantic interest. So, he orders blockers and makes sure to use them every day.
Wanda fills a void. She’s the strongest Omega he’s ever met and not because she has powers, it’s because she’s lost everything, like him, and keeps moving forward. And it’s finally Wanda that draws him out to talk about everything.
“All I’m saying, Steve, is you need to see someone. For you to present like this, something had to have changed.” Wanda’s sitting on the sofa with him and stroking his hair.
“If I see anyone here, then it’s in FRIDAY and others could find out.” He looks up, seeing Wanda watching him.
“And that’s why I don’t see any of the doctors here either. I have my own, in the city.” Steve sits up quickly. “And before you ask, I checked him out and he’s a good man that only sees Omega patients.”
“Someone would see me going in and it would be all over the news.” Wanda giggles and pulls Steve back into her lap.
“Yes, but if you’re escorting a known Omega, they wouldn’t think anything about it. I’ll make the appointment in my name, and you’ll go with me.” Just breathing for a couple of minutes, Steve finally nods.
The sign on the door says, Dr. Gideon Cohen, MD – Omega Specialist. Steve pauses and for the first time realizes that he’s presented. He’s an Omega, just like his mother and he’s standing next to Wanda, who reminds him of his mother. He’s an Omega and it makes him giddy to think about it. He has a designation.
Wanda grins up at him, linking her arm with his. “It’s good that you are happy about this.”
Steve doesn’t respond until they’re inside the office. Dr. Cohen always sees Wanda with no other patients because she’s an Avenger, so the office is empty except for the receptionist. “Wanda, how are you?”
The woman gets up, coming around to hug the young Avenger. “I’m well. Hannah, this is Steve Rogers.”
The woman, maybe a few years older than Steve looks, smiles widely. Offering her hand, Steve checks with Wanda, who gives him a nod. She was very clear on the drive in that she chose this doctor because he and his staff are Jewish, like her. Once Steve gets the okay, he takes the woman’s hand. In his day, it wasn’t socially appropriate to shake the hand of a Jewish woman. That seems to have changed.
“It’s nice to meet you, ma’am.” Hannah winks over at Wanda.
“Isn’t he well-mannered.” She goes back to the desk, checking the computer. “I see that you’re here for a checkup, Wanda?”
Before Wanda can respond, Steve speaks up. “Actually, Wanda made this appointment for me.”
Hannah stands, nodding and seems to understand the importance of the ruse. “Ah, well, then it’s good you have someone like Wanda and everyone in this office to help you keep matters private.”
“Thank you.” They’re led into an examination room and Steve is asked to undress and put on the robe that’s on the table.
Once done changing, he leaves his clothes in the changing room and sits on the table. There’s a knock on the door and it opens to reveal a man that seems familiar to Steve, but he can’t place the face. “Well, when Hannah said this wasn’t an appointment for Wanda, but one for her friend, I wasn’t expecting this.” Offering his hand, Steve takes it, but finds that he’s shy about it. “Don’t worry, Steve, you’re safe here.”
Steve lays back, Wanda stands next to his head, holding his hand, while Dr. Cohen does the exam. When he’s done, he tells Steve to get dressed and meet him in his office at the end of the hall. While he’s dressing, Wanda paces the exam room. “Are you okay?”
He doesn’t speak for a few seconds. “Uh, yeah, I think so. I just didn’t know how intense it was going to be.”
“Yes, I was uncomfortable during my first visit.” Steve pulls the curtain back, slipping his shirt on and sees how her arms are wrapped around her middle.
“You should have told me, and I would have come with you.” She hugs him and leads him to the doctor’s office.
They take a seat and within a few minutes, Dr. Cohen comes in. “Well, Steve, you’re very healthy.” He laughs, then adds, “Of course, I knew that would be the case. The serum isn’t going to create any defects.”
There’s something in the way he says it that makes Steve examine him again. “Why do I feel like I know you?”
Dr. Cohen grins brightly, then points to a shelf with pictures. “Because I’ve been told that I look a little like my grandfather.”
Steve gets up, stepping over to the shelf and sees a picture of himself, before the serum, standing with Dr. Erskine. Whipping around, he stares at the man. “Your grandfather...”
“Is Dr. Abraham Erskine, yes.” Dr. Cohen comes to stand next to Steve. “You are his greatest achievement, but from what my grandmother told me, he viewed you as a friend. You were special to him.”
Hanging his head, Steve huffs, trying to keep from crying. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save him.”
“You are not to take guilt onto yourself when it isn’t yours to hold.” Dr. Cohen turns Steve to face him. “You will live your life to the fullest, so that his work doesn’t go to waste.”
Nodding, Steve goes to sit. “Is everything okay with me?”
“Yes, you are very healthy, as I said. When did you first present?” They talk about Steve’s presentation and the heat that he had. “In a few months you will have another heat. Once your body is regulated, it will happen every couple of months. Once you are regulated, I believe we should chart everything, so you’ll know when they are coming and can plan accordingly.” For the next few minutes, Dr. Cohen gives him more instructions on symptoms of pre-heat. “I noticed that you put into your paperwork that you ordered blockers.”
“Yes, I did. I don’t really want to share this with anyone and as long as I wear the blockers, I can keep it private.”
Dr. Cohen nods. “I see. Well, I’m going to give you some that will work better for you. They will also keep you from reacting to any Alphas around you.”
As they leave the doctor, Wanda takes Steve’s arm again. “How are you feeling now?”
“Did you know?” She looks up smiling, shaking her head.
“No, but it seems that good people are destined to be part of your life.” They head back to the Compound.
In the coming months, Steve will find himself having days where he just wants to stay in bed. Days when his body feels too heavy to move and days when he doesn’t want to eat. His next heat does come, but it’s a raging inferno compared to the last one. Wanda gets worried and calls Dr. Cohen. He calls in a prescription and puts it in Wanda’s name.
A mission comes up and she feigns a sickness that requires Steve to stay with her. “I’m sorry, Tony, but as a designation neutral, Steve’s the only one that can help.” She knows that Tony won’t ask because when it comes to her designation, Tony doesn’t know enough about Omegas to question her.
When the prescription arrives, an orderly brings it to Steve’s quarters, having been told that she’s staying there until her sickness is over. Giving the pills to Steve, Wanda knows this isn’t normal. She’s had heats since she was 13 and this isn’t like anything she’s ever seen. “I think we need to get you to the doctor.” She’s wiping his brow with a damp towel.
“I’ll be okay. It’s just my body getting used to doing this.” His fever goes up and it’s so high that she’s about ready to call the medical floor. He begs her not to do that and she finally agrees, if he gets into a cool shower. To appease her, he does.
When it does end, she makes him go see Dr. Cohen. He takes blood and secretions to check his levels. The grim look on his face tells them both there’s a problem. Sitting on the stool, he rolls it closer to the exam table. “Steve, I know you told me why you didn’t present, and we’ve been working under the assumption that this is just your body finally leveling out from the serum and the ice, but that’s not what’s happening.”
Wanda stands from the chair, coming over and taking Steve’s hand. “What do you mean?”
“You both know what heat sickness is?” Wanda nods, but Steve stares at him blankly. “Heat sickness is when someone meets their true mate, but a bond isn’t formed. The Omega and Alpha recognize their true mate and typically the two, at least, scent bond, but you haven’t.”
“But I don’t have...” Everything comes crashing down around him. He presented after finding out Bucky is alive. He looks up at Wanda, who seems to have put it together too. “I might be in trouble.”
She starts to tear up. “What happens if we can’t get him to his true mate?”
Dr. Cohen seems to realize that they know something he doesn’t. “Heat sickness turns into Heat Stroke and...”
Wanda’s hand clinches down on Steves. “They die.”
“Yes.” He looks over at Steve. “If you know who this is, you need to find them and you need to do it soon, Steve.” He can see the question, so he finishes the thought. “Because of the serum, your body is going to get sicker, faster.”
They sit in a deli, around the corner from the doctor and Steve stares out at the street. Wanda watches him closely, trying to determine what he’s going to do. Their food comes and Steve doesn’t even look down at it, he just keeps staring. Just as she’s about to ask what he wants to do, Steve starts talking. “When we were kids, my Ma told me that I would be an Omega.” Wanda looks around to see if anyone has heard. Steve doesn’t seem to care who hears him. “I was okay with it because she was one and I watched every day how strong and capable she was.” He finally looks over at Wanda. “Since the second I met him, I wanted Bucky to be my Alpha.”
Wanda feels her shoulders sag and she looks over with a pained expression. “It must have been so hard for you because you never presented.”
“Even if I had, he wouldn’t have wanted me. Being an Omega wasn’t a big deal, but being a male Omega was. They were usually snatched up by female Alphas that wanted to dominate them. Bucky was never like that and even knowing I would be an Omega, he never cared. He was my friend.” Steve sighs, looking down at the food he’s not really in the mood for. “He still is if I could just find him.”
“Why do you think he’s hiding, Steve?” Tears fill his eyes, but he keeps them from falling. Wanda reaches over, taking his hand.
“I don’t think he wants to be in my life anymore.” She looks at him questioningly. “I think he believes I’ll look at him differently because of what they made him do.”
“Will you?”
“NO! Nothing they made him do is his fault.” He sighs again. “I just want him to come home. Not just because of what my bodies going to do to me, but because he’s...”
“You love him very much, don’t you?”
“I always have.”
Pictures of Steve and Wanda do end up being taken as they leave the doctor’s office. Speculation about their relationship circulates and they just ignore it. The gossip is that Steve’s an Alpha, just like everyone thought, and he’s taken Wanda as his Omega and that’s why he’s accompanying her to the doctor. It would go unnoticed by the two if it didn’t come up at dinner.
“So, Cap, you wanna talk about this new development?” Steve looks across the table at Tony. “I mean, should we be changing your designation to Alpha?”
At first, he’s confused, then he feels Wanda in his mind, planting a picture of them coming out of the doctor’s office. Taking a deep breath, Steve clinches his eyes shut. Natasha sees the look and tries to head it off. “Hey, it’s okay if this is a thing.” She points her fork at him, then at Wanda. “We just would like to know, so we don’t interrupt anything.”
Clint doesn’t stop eating, but does add, “Yeah man, when she was going through her heat and you stayed behind to help,” He shrugs, “We just assumed you presented and...you know.”
Standing, Steve is frustrated and not feeling well. “Well, it didn’t. Wanda is my friend and I stayed to help in every way, except that.”
He storms away and Wanda gets up to follow. As she’s entering the elevator, she hears Tony. “I don’t know, I think something is going on with them.”
Once back in his apartment, Steve runs for the bathroom. When Wanda comes in, she hears him throwing up and runs after him. Getting a washcloth, she wets it, putting it on his forehead. “It’s coming faster.”
She’s kneeling next to him and Steve’s leaning on the toilet. “I know.” He looks over at her, red-faced. “No matter what happens, you have to promise me that if Bucky comes back, you won’t tell him. Never tell him.”
She gets him tucked into bed, checking his forehead again. He’s burning up and there’s nothing she can do. The heat sickness will surge for weeks before turning to Heat Stoke, once that happens, there won’t be any going back for Steve. He’ll succumb to it like any other Omega. Sitting on the sofa, Wanda rocks back and forth, wanting to fix this. She lost her brother. She can’t lose Steve too.
He’s better the next day, but there are times when Wanda can see that he’s struggling. So, the night of the third day after the diagnosis, she puts him to bed, sitting until he falls asleep, then heads to the roof of the Compound. Since being given these powers, she’s always held herself back, not wanting to find out what she’s really capable of, but tonight she needs to try.
Closing her eyes, Wanda holds her arms out to her side and lets her magic bleed out into the night. Giant wisps of red energy whip around her, then shoot out into the sky. She concentrates on Steve’s Alpha and nothing else. She can feel the millions of lives she touches, but keeps herself in the background of their minds. Most won’t know she was ever there as she searches for one in the billions.
Bruce is in the lab when he gets the alert and has FRIDAY bring it up on screen. He sees Wanda on the roof and red mist encasing her and dancing into the night. Tony comes in, stopping in his tracks when he sees her. “What the hell is she doing?”
“I have no idea, Tony. I’ve never seen anything like this.” They start taking readings and decide that she’s testing her powers. It’s disturbing, but they allow it to happen because it’s good to know what she can do.
It’s another week of Steve getting sicker and sicker. Dr. Cohen checks in, calling Wanda and not Steve. He grows more and more concerned with each passing day. More and more prescriptions are brought for her, and the medical staff starts to grow concerned.
Then, that night, Wanda finds him. Running into Steve’s apartment, she wakes him. “I found him.”
Steve’s groggy because his fever is back up and in the last few days, it hasn’t been going down. “Found who?”
“Your Alpha.” She pulls back the covers. “Get dressed, we’re leaving.”
He sits up on the side of the bed, trying to understand what she’s saying. “I don’t...how did you find him and where are we going?”
She throws sweatpants and a t-shirt at him. “I’ll explain on the jet, but we have to go! You’re slipping into Heat Stroke and I’m not letting that happen.”
Steve struggles into the clothes, slips on his house shoes and follows her from the apartment and to the hanger. “How are we going to get a jet?”
“I’ll do what I have to, but we’re going to Romania, and no one is stopping us.” She has a determined look on her face and when they head to the jet, one of the guards tries to stop them, Wanda throws him out of the way. “I will not let you die because of protocol.”
She gets Steve into the pilot's seat. “Where in Romania?”
“Bucharest.” They take off and Steve sets the coordinates, then goes into stealth mode and disables the tracker, so no one can follow them. As they fly, Wanda explains what she’s been doing. “He’s sick too, but not as bad as you, but then, Alphas never get sick like an Omega can.”
They have quiet conversation on the trip and by the time they reach Romania, Steve’s in a lot of pain. “I’m not sure I’m going to make it.”
“Yes, you will! I will not lose you too!” She helps him off the jet and follows a certain path like a homing beacon. Once they’re in the market, she leans Steve against a building and goes in search of his Alpha. Wanda spots Bucky haggling with a woman about plums. When Steve sees him, he starts to push off the building, but Wanda holds up her hand to stop him, tapping the comm in her ear. “Steve, keep your distance until we’re somewhere more private. We don’t want to alarm him and have him run.”
Sagging against the building, Steve knows she’s right. He watches Bucky leave the market and Wanda comes for him. He leans into her side as they follow from a distance. Steve sees Bucky stop multiple times, leaning on a pole or bench. “He’s sick too, you said?”
“Yes, he is, and it doesn’t look like he understands what’s happening.” They watch Bucky go into a building and head up the stairs. There’s no elevator, so they have to make the journey to the top floor.
“I can’t, Wanda.” Steve sits on the stairs, fighting to keep going, but not sure he can get up that far.
Wanda sits next to him. “Are you going to give up when we are this close?”
Staggering up, Steve wavers, dizzy and nauseous, but pushes on. She’s right. They’re too close to give up now. By the time they’re at the top, Steve’s clinging to the railing, fighting his own body. Wanda knows that he doesn’t have a lot of time before it turns into Heat Stroke.
He’s sweating and his face is twisted in pain. Normally, they could have made the trek up the stairs in minutes, but it takes nearly 20 with her supporting most of Steve’s weight. Finally, outside the door she knocks or really pounds on the door. When it swings open, she’s face to face with an angry ex-assassin super soldier Alpha. Steve’s face twists in pain and he lets out a weak, “Bucky.”
“Steve?” Bucky sweeps Steve up in his arms and carries him into the small, one room apartment. Laying him on the mattress on the floor, Bucky checks him for wounds, he turns on Wanda. “What the fuck is going on?”
He tries to pull away, but Steve clings to him. “Please don’t go. Please Buck.” It’s more of a whimper than anything else and Wanda looks panicked. He’s slipping into the fever and time is not a luxury they have anymore.
“He’s going into Heat Stroke. He needs his Alpha to complete the bond.” She goes into the kitchen for a rag, wets it and comes back to Steve. Placing the rag on his forehead, Steve whines and begins shivering.
“What did you bring him here for? Get him to his mate.” Bucky’s yelling but stops when he sees Wanda’s face. She’s in tears now.
She’s whispering to Steve. “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. I just don’t understand why he doesn’t understand.”
It clicks and Bucky’s eyes widen. “This is why I haven’t felt right for the last few months?”
She turns to him, tears streaming down her face and nods. “He’s getting to the point of death if you don’t do something about this.” Her voice is loud with panic.
Bucky goes to the kitchen, turns the stove off, gets a glass of water and comes back to the bed. “You should go.”
He doesn’t look up and only knows that she’s leaving when she whispers, “Please don’t hurt him. He loves you so much, it would kill him if you left after.”
She’s gone and Bucky stares at the door. “I bet she’s a force to be reckoned with.” Looking back at Steve, he sees his friend slipping away.
Bucky strips them both quickly and crawls into the bed with Steve. He doesn’t talk but soothes Steve with touch. His skin is fevered, and his mind isn’t completely aware. Bucky knows, he just knows, that in another day Steve would have slipped into a heat coma. Bucky ran from Steve because he’d not known what to do with the need to claim. When he pulled Steve from the water, even not really knowing who the blonde man was, he wanted to claim him. At the time, he wasn’t Bucky, he was the Asset. The Asset didn’t get to claim, he didn’t get to feel, but something about the blonde man with the shield made him want.
Now, Steve is unable to even hold the position, so Bucky rolls him over onto his back and spreads his legs, hooking them over his shoulders. He’d like their first time, their bonding, to be mutual, but there isn’t time for that. He slides into Steve and moans at the feeling. It’s hard to believe that this Steve, the bigger Steve, is an Omega. Bucky doesn’t normally think in stereotypes, but fact is, omegas are usually smaller than Alphas and here is Steve, bigger than Bucky, but an Omega. A beautiful, gorgeous, deathly sick Omega. Bucky rocks his hips into Steve and feels the knot start to inflate. Steve whines and weakly brings his arms up to hold Bucky close.
“I got ya, Stevie. I’m so sorry I left you. I’m so sorry I did this to you.” Steve doesn’t answer with words, but turns his head to the side, baring his throat for Bucky. It’s like an instinct when Bucky’s knot fully swells and locks them together. He dives in and bites down. Blood and something uniquely Steve explodes on his tongue. Between the bite and the come flooding his body, the illness that Steve has been quietly carrying for months, washes from his body. That doesn’t mean he’s completely well, but now he has a chance. Bucky feels the half-bond lock into place. And suddenly his mind and body are flooded with a love so deep, so indestructible and it’s coming from Steve. He can finally feel what Steve feels. “Jesus Christ, Steve, how have you stayed sane?”
Steve’s eyes open slowly, and he arches slightly as another load of come floods his body. He can feel Bucky inside of him, but he can’t feel Bucky. Steve reaches up and caresses Bucky’s cheek. “So, this is real?”
Bucky chuckles and bares his neck to Steve. Steve pulls him back down and completes the bonding. He moans when he tastes the blood and Bucky. Bucky’s eyes close in bliss and he whispers, “Fuck baby, my Omega.” They lay holding each other until the knot goes down. Then Bucky pulls Steve against him, and they sleep. It’s the first decent sleep either of them have had in years.
Steve wakes Bucky in the night for another knotting. His heat is almost sated after the second time. “Are you always going to be this insatiable?”
Steve groans, rutting down on Bucky’s knot. “I’ve wanted you as my Alpha even before the serum, so yes, I will always be like this.” Bucky grins up at him and Steve grinds down again.
Waking the next morning, Steve feels Bucky caressing his cheek. Opening his eyes, Bucky’s looking down at him, propped up on an elbow. The look in his eyes is a complicated gaze of devotion and admiration. Steve blushes under the intense emotions coming through the bond. “You rode my knot into oblivion and now you’re blushing?”
Steve blushes further, but chuckles too. “I always knew your knot would be fantastic and it is.” Bucky throws himself back on the pillows, such as they are, and howls with laughter. Steve’s entranced by it and just watches. “You are so beautiful.”
Bucky’s laughter stops abruptly, and he smiles at Steve. “Even though I’ve been to hell and back, you still think I’m beautiful.”
“I’ll always think you’re beautiful. Have been since the day I met you.” Rolling onto his side, Bucky stares at Steve, his Steve, his Omega.
“Well, it’s a good thing I mated you, so you can’t get away from me.” Steve cuddles into Bucky’s side, nuzzling his head on the man’s chest. “Steve?”
“I’m not leaving you. I’ll never leave you and if that means we live right here, then that’s what it means.”
“Well, that’s not good enough for you. We’re mated, Steve, so that means I need to provide for you.” Steve rises, that look of stubbornness he’s always had, shining in his eyes. Bucky pulls him back down, finally getting him to relax again. “I didn’t mean that you can’t take care of yourself, Steve, but you have to let me do some Alpha stuff.”
Steve huffs, then rubs his face in Bucky’s neck. “What did you have in mind?”
“We need a house, something with light, so you can draw like you used to.” Steve hums. “Maybe a garden out back. I always loved Mom’s garden. Something about having fresh vegetables, they just tasted better. A big modern kitchen, where we can both get in there and cook. And a bedroom big enough for a king-sized bed. Lots of blankets and pillows. Someplace soft for you.” Looking down, he sees Steve gazing at him, hanging on every word.
“That sounds nice, but we have to have at least a second bedroom. Someplace that Wanda can sleep.”
“You love that kid, huh?” Steve nods. “Then we get a bigger place, so Wanda can stay with us.”
It’s quiet for a few minutes, then Steve voice comes out, but it sounds so small and unsure. “Why didn’t you come back to me if you wanted this too?”
Instead of getting upset, Bucky just tells the truth. “Steve, I didn’t know you or myself. I read how you survived in the ice.” Steve shivers and Bucky pulls him closer. “When you woke up, did you just fit right into a new life.”
“No, it’s taken years to feel comfortable.”
“Then you know why. I had to figure myself out. Then I started feeling sick and my first thought was that Hydra put some kind of self-destruct in me and I was gonna die. I didn’t want you to have to deal with that.” Steve starts to argue. “Hang on, you asked me a question and I’m not done explaining.” He gets a whimper to that and kisses Steve’s head. “Leaving you that day, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I was still the Asset, and the Asset doesn’t have things like a mate. I wasn’t allowed, but I wanted you. Until I understood what was happening, I had to be away from you.” Rubbing up and down Steve’s back, he hears a purr. “I’m sorry I made you so sick.”
“I presented after the Potomac. Wanda took me to an Omega Specialist that she sees and he’s the one that figured out what was happening. He told me that because of the serum, the heat sickness would advance faster.” Leaning up, Steve smiles down at Bucky. “I’m glad you didn’t turn me away.”
Bucky laughs, pulling Steve in for a kiss. “Like I would ever do that. Been waitin for my Omega to present.” Getting up, Steve watches Bucky cross the room to the kitchen and start the coffee. When his Alpha looks back over his shoulder, he sees Steve staring at his backside. “Steve.”
Throwing the blankets off, Steve goes into the kitchen, wrapping around Bucky from behind. “I can’t help it. I’ve dreamed about you for years and now I finally get to see everything, so I’m gonna look.”
Bucky leans back into the embrace. “Why don’t you get showered while I fix breakfast.” He looks over at the clock. “Or maybe lunch.” Before Steve closes the bathroom door, Bucky calls over. “There’s extra clothes in the cabinet if you wanna borrow something.”
By the time Steve is out of the shower and dressed in some of Bucky’s clothes, Wanda is in the apartment, talking quietly with his Alpha. Looking over, Bucky sees Steve wearing his clothes and rumbles deep in his chest. Steve looks at him, unimpressed. “Oh, so this was just to make sure I smell like you, not being kind.”
Bucky smirks and gets up to hug his Omega. When he gets close, he realizes that Steve had been wearing blockers and they’ve been washed away. He buries his nose in Steve’s neck, right next to the mating bite. “Oh my god, you smell amazing.” The scent was faint before, nothing like this.
“It’s a good thing I smell good to you. I’d hate to smell like a sewer.” Bucky snorts in his neck and licks across the bite. Steve’s knees get weak, and Bucky has to catch him.
“Careful there, Love.” Wanda’s grinning at both of them.
“It’s so good to see you better.” Holding out his arms, Wanda runs to him, clinging to him.
“Thanks to you.” Bucky wants to give them a minute, so he heads back into the kitchen area, but not before giving Wanda a kiss on the head.
“Wanda brought better coffee than mine and some sandwiches, which is good because I don’t have much.” He starts unpacking the food and sees Steve watching him.
“So, you don’t have food here but somehow you think you can provide for me.” He gives a smirk, so Bucky looks over rather smug.
“Oh, I have money, lots of it, I just don’t want to use it while I’m trying to hunt the bastards down and kill them all. I use it and they might track it.” Steve stiffens and Wanda’s eyes start to glow.
Bucky steps back, not sure what’s happening. “Uh, Steve, why...”
Looking down Steve sees her glowing eyes. Stepping in front of her, he braces his hands on her arms. “Hey, it’s okay. We’re going to kill them all and maybe Bucky can help.” He turns to his mate. “Wanda was held by Hydra and lied to. They’re also the ones that gave her the powers she has now.”
Bucky comes back over, pulling the girl against him. “You listen to me, Little One, they can’t hurt us anymore. Because we’ve found each other, nothing they can do will ever stop us. Hydra created weapons that they never thought would be turned on them.” He meets Wanda’s eyes. “What do ya say we wipe them off the face of the planet?”
Her eyes have stopped glowing, but are now filled with tears. “Let’s do it.”
Steve waddles down the path to the sitting area in the yard. When Bucky told him he had money, Steve didn’t think he meant this. The house sits on Clapboard Island and besides the thirteen-room main house, it has three smaller cottages around the twenty acres of property. Wanda lives in the one closet to the main house. She could very easily live with them, but wanted her own space. That doesn’t stop her from coming to the main house every morning and spending the whole day with them.
Reaching down, Steve rubs his extended belly while taking a sip of tea. Bucky and Wanda will be back tonight and after four days of Bucky being gone, Steve’s ready for his Alpha to be home. Taking a deep breath, he fights off the tears that threaten, only to get kicked in the stomach by two little feet. Being six months along, he’s getting used to being kicked at awkward times.
The Hydra base that Bucky and Wanda went after this time is actually in the states. They’ve pretty much taken care of all the ones in other countries, now it’s just a matter of annihilating the ones here. Steve helped at first, until they realized that he was pregnant.
‘What do you mean, Steve’s down?’ Bucky’s voice is panicked, and Wanda tries to calm him, but she’s almost as panicked as Steve’s Alpha.
‘I don’t know. He was fine, set the charges, then he just passed out.’ The base they’re dealing with is high tech, but with Bucky’s knowledge, Wanda’s powers, and Steve’s strength, getting in was a cakewalk. Now this.
‘I’m on my way. If the charges are set, we’ll grab him and head to the jet.’ Bucky makes his way back to their location and finds just what Wanda described. Steve doesn’t have a mark on him, but he’s out cold. Picking him up, Bucky heads to the jet. He’s trying not to show his distress, but his scent is definitely letting it out.
Once back on the jet, Wanda triggers the charges, and the base goes up in flames. Bucky gets them in the air, then sets the autopilot. Going to the med-bay, he does a scan of Steve. While that’s running, he leans in, burying his face in Steve’s neck. He just lets himself breathe.
Then, his head shoots up. Wanda’s standing in the doorway and Bucky can’t help the huge grin that crosses his face. ‘Bucky?’
‘Steve’s scent has changed.’ She doesn’t understand, then she does. ‘Steve’s scent has changed!’
Coming into the room, Wanda and Bucky start hugging and dancing around. Steve comes to and finds that his mate and his friend have apparently lost their minds. He tries to sit up, but gets dizzy again. Just as Bucky comes over, kissing him breathless, the scan finishes. ‘What the hell is wrong with you two?’
Bucky kisses Steve’s hand, staring lovingly at him. ‘Your scent has changed.’
Steve scrunches up his face. ‘My what has what?’
Rolling his eyes, Bucky puts a hand on Steve’s stomach. ‘Your. Scent. Has. Changed.’
When it hits him, Steve’s eyes go wide, he looks down at Bucky’s hand on his stomach, then back up into Bucky’s bright eyes. ‘My scent has changed.’
Wanda’s leaning on the wall, laughing and crying. ‘Your scent has changed.’
That was five months ago and within a month, Bucky brought Steve and Wanda here, showing them their new home. Steve still can’t believe that Bucky has this much money. Then again, he has a lot too, so they moved that into a new account that is shared between the three of them. Wanda is family and she’s always going to be family. Bucky admitted that he thinks of her like Becca and Steve admits that he sees her that way too.
Now, they live here, and Bucky and Wanda go out and kill Hydra. Steve almost feels sorry for the organization because with Bucky and Wanda, it’s personal. They go in with no plan to keep anyone alive. It’s for the best.
That night, Steve hears the boat and goes to the wall of windows to see and sure enough, it’s his family returning home. In the kitchen is a casserole and a cake that he made earlier in the day. They’ll be hungry and if Steve knows his mate, Wanda will need to sleep at her place tonight. When Bucky’s away for more than a night, he comes back a raging horndog.
The door opens and Steve stands in the entryway, smiling. “There’s food in the kitchen.”
Bucky just stares at him for a few seconds, then sweeps Steve against him. “To hell with food.” Taking a long sniff along Steve’s neck, Bucky huffs. “I missed you so damned much.”
Steve’s arms wrap around Bucky, just holding him. “I missed you too.” Wanda comes in, shaking her head. “I missed you too.”
“Yeah, I’m sure.” She walks past them, down the hallway and into the kitchen.
“I did!” He hears an ‘uh huh’ from her and looks at Bucky. “Is she okay?”
“She’s fine or, at least, she will be. One of the scientists we found on this mission was part of the team from Sokovia.” Steve pulls away from Bucky, grabbing his hand and dragging him into the kitchen.
Wanda’s licking icing from her finger, when Steve pulls her into his chest, or as close as he can get with his belly. “Just like always, we have to talk this through. We come home from a mission, we process what we did, then we talk about it, so it doesn’t eat us up inside.”
She looks up, smiling sadly. “I’m very glad that you aren’t on any of these missions. I’m glad that you are here, taking care of yourself and my niece or nephew.” Something flashes across Steve’s face and Wanda narrows her eyes.
She looks over at Bucky, who comes around and would recognize that look anywhere. It’s the same one that Steve would get when he did something dumb, usually getting into a fight, and was trying to hide it. “Steven Grant Barnes, what have you done!”
“I didn’t do anything! I’ve been here the whole time, minding the kids.” He waits. One of them will get it.
Bucky steps around in front of Steve, bracing his hands on his belly. “Steve, did you just say kids?”
Wanda’s eyes get round and joyous. “KIDS? How many kids?”
Steve blushes, rubbing his stomach. “Two.” He gives a little shrug. “So, you have a niece and a nephew.”
He’s off his feet and being spun around. Bucky and Wanda are laughing and Steve joins in. Sitting him back down, Bucky cups Steve’s face, caressing across his cheek. “I’m going to spoil you rotten.”
“You already do.” He points at the food. “Now eat, so you can both shower.” He looks over at Wanda. “Are you going to sleep here tonight?”
Rolling her eyes, she gets a plate. “Hell no, with that news, I’m getting as far away from your bedroom as I can tonight.”
Bucky snorts and Steve blushes again, but adds, “Yeah, that’s probably a good plan.”
Between Hallowe’en and Thanksgiving, three more Hydra bases bite the dust. Bucky and Wanda are on a roll, but it does mean leaving Steve in his condition. By Thanksgiving and Steve in his seventh month, Bucky isn’t sure that he should leave Steve. Wanda agrees, but that doesn’t stop them from locating the bases and putting plans on paper for how they will destroy them.
Wanda goes to town and comes back flushed from the cold. “I found a place that sells Christmas trees.” Being Jewish, Bucky and Wanda don’t really care about all of that, but Bucky remembers well how important Christmas was to Steve and Ma Sarah.
“We’ll go in later and pick one up.” Being the day before Thanksgiving, Steve is in the kitchen, doing prep work for the following day.
Wiping his hands on a kitchen towel, Steve looks over, a soft smile on his face. “We don’t need a tree. The only reason it means anything to me is because of my Ma. Maybe we should just put up some lights inside.”
Something about the words saddened Bucky and hurt his heart. “Steve?”
“I’m just thinking that maybe we shouldn’t celebrate holidays when I’m the only one that it favors.” Wanda shares a look with Bucky and they both know that Steve’s hormones are sliding into melancholy. It happens sometimes when he feels like they’re doing things and he’s not contributing.
“Yeah, maybe.” Wanda glares over at Bucky, who waits until Steve turns back to the stove and winks at her. She grins wide and happy. “Hey, Wanda, did you remember the fresh bread?” He gives her a stern look and she reads right into his plan.
“Oh no! I forgot to go by the bakery, and they close in a couple of hours.” Steve turns, worry on his face.
“Grab your coat.” He goes to kiss Steve. “It’s getting dark, and I don’t want the kid in town alone. We’ll be back, and we’ll have your bread.”
Steve pulls him as close as possible and rests his forehead against Bucky’s. “Thank you. Be careful out there.”
“I will always be careful because I have to come home to you.” Giving a soft kiss, Bucky reaches down to rub his belly. “I love you, Steve. My beautiful Omega.”
“I love you too. My strong Alpha.”
Steve goes to bed earlier than normal because he has to get up with the sun to get everything ready for dinner. Bucky uses that time, with Wanda, to not just put up the tree, but to string lights all over the massive house. Wanda’s using her powers to help hang the lights, while humming a song they heard in town.
“Bucky?” He pops around the corner. “Do you think that Steve would mind if we celebrated a few Jewish holidays?”
“Wan, he was at my house, growing up, for all of them. He’d love for us to do that. Plus, I want the kids to know about both traditions.” She grins and goes back to hanging lights.
By the time Steve crawls out of bed, he thinks that Bucky must have gotten up before him. Heading into the bathroom, he does his business and is thankful that there are ten bathrooms in this house because he’s going to be going a lot today. The sun isn’t quite up yet, so when he gets downstairs and finds the place lit up and a grinning Bucky and Wanda waiting, Steve bursts into tears.
“Oh, My Love, I hope those are happy tears.” Steve looks around at everything decorated and the tree by the back wall of windows, he just nods.
“I can’t believe you did this.” Holding out his arms, Wanda runs to him. “Thank you.”
While Steve cooks, Bucky and Wanda doze on the sofas because Steve insisted. When dinner is over, Bucky puts Steve on the sofa, in front of the tree, with his pie and goes to clean the kitchen. Wanda sits with him, helping him eat. “Thank you.”
He looks down at her. “For what?”
“For making me part of your life here. For being my family.” He kisses her on the head and accepts a bite of pie.
Bucky scoots up behind him, in bed that night, circling Steve’s waist and resting his hand on the babies. “Steve?” He gets a lazy hum, so he knows that his mate is still awake. “When we were kids, I used to watch you drawing. You remember when I’d sit in your window when you were sick?”
Steve turns over, giving Bucky a curious look. “Yeah?”
“I used to sit there and when you’d look up, I’d be staring out the window.” Steve nods. “I wasn’t really. I was staring at you, then when you’d look up, I’d turn my head, so you wouldn’t know.” Reaching over, Bucky brushes Steve’s hair back from his forehead. “I loved you so much and when I’d look at you, all I could see was this. Us. Together. I wish I’d told you then.”
“You’re telling me now. And it’s everything I ever wanted. You’re everything I ever wanted.”
Steve’s not due until mid-January, so when he goes into labor at the very end of December, Bucky panics. Wanda takes the jet and goes to get the doctor. She’s a couple of towns over and has been in contact with Dr. Cohen to keep him in the loop. Steve didn’t trust anyone until Dr. Cohen gave him this doctor’s name.
Dr. Sarah Levy comes into the house, going straight for the birthing room they set up on the first floor. Steve is in a huge t-shirt-type gown and Bucky is helping him walk around. “Well, it looks like we’re going to have babies two weeks early.”
Steve looks over, fear on his face. “Is that safe?”
Dr. Levy smiles kindly. “It absolutely is. With twins, you are lucky you made it this far.”
They get him set up on the bed, so she can check him. Bucky’s freaking out a little and Wanda is trying to hold him up. “Is everything okay?”
Dr. Levy looks over her shoulder at the nervous Alpha. “Everything is perfect. I believe in the next couple of hours, you’re going to have a few more mouths to feed.”
Steve huffs. “You mean, I’m gonna have more mouths to feed.”
She laughs, as do Bucky and Wanda. “Yes, but you will be supplementing with bottles. Feeding two will take too much energy from your body.” She looks back at Bucky. “So, when it’s time for the bottle, the other father and aunt can take over.”
They get Steve back up and have him walk up and down the hallway, with Bucky keeping him steady. Wanda goes upstairs to the nursery, making sure that they have everything they need. She’s talked with the doctor and knows what to do when each baby is born. Going into the master suite, she checks the bassinets for blankets and the stuffies that Steve wants in them. Checking the kitchen, the bottles have been sanitized and everything is ready. Dr. Levy finds her there, staring at the counter. “Everything will be fine, Sheifale.”
Looking up, Wanda’s eyes are misty. “I want everything to be perfect for them. They will have everything they want and need. The love their parents have, it is special.”
Sarah goes to her, hugging Wanda. “And the love they receive from their aunt, is just as special. You have been brought into a family. You should remember that to be loved as family, by true mates, it means that you are home.”
“Steve gave me a life again. After my parents died and then my brother, I had nothing. Then he saved me, and I can’t repay that. Bucky has never questioned it.” They don’t hear Bucky come into the room.
“When I came back to myself, I didn’t just have Steve in my life again. I had a sister that means as much as the one I lost. You are my sister and Steve’s sister, so calling you aunt isn’t something we’re allowing, you are our sister.” Steve cries out for them and they run back down the hallway.
Baby number one, a boy, is born just under two hours later. Nine minutes after that, the girl comes into the world. Wanda takes the boy, cleaning him up and checking him for reflexes, just like the doctor taught her. When the girl is born, she hands the baby boy to Bucky, and does the same for the baby girl.
Steve is exhausted, but holds the little girl against his chest. Bucky’s crying through his happiness and staring around the room like he can’t believe this has happened. Dr. Levy smiles at the little family while Wanda is cleaning everything up. “Have you decided on names?”
Bucky and Steve share a glance and notice that Wanda hasn’t come over. Steve nods to Bucky. “Yeah, we have. We’re naming the little girl after her Aunt Wanda and the little boy after his Uncle Pietro.”
Turning, Wanda sobs and Bucky holds out the arm not holding his son. “You...you don’t...”
Steve shakes his head. “We know that traditionally, the baby is named after the grandfather, but we want to honor two strong people who had a life-changing effect on us.”
Bucky holds the baby out and Wanda takes him. “I didn’t know your brother, but Steve tells me that he died protecting people.” Wanda looks down into the little sleeping face. “And you, well without you, we wouldn’t be here. So, meet your niece and nephew, Wanda and Pietro.”
Six Months Later
David comes out of the house, carrying a tray of drinks, soon followed by Wanda with the food. There are blankets on the grass, where Steve, Bucky and the twins are giggling. Steve watches them coming and calls to David. “You didn’t have to fix lunch, but thanks.”
He sits the drink tray down, grinning. “Well, I want Wanda’s family to like me and I’m not above bribery.”
Bucky claps him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry kid, as long as she likes you, we’ll like you.”
Wanda sits down next to David, chuckling. “So, you should be bribing me.” Everyone laughs, causing the babies to laugh. Looking down at his children, Steve sighs in contentment. Bucky winks at him and Steve blushes.
David Levy is Sarah’s son and also a doctor. When he came home for a visit, he met Wanda and decided that he wanted to join his mother’s practice. They’ve been dating since then, so close to four months. Steve and Bucky have never seen her smile the way she does around David.
“Now, what did you make?” David starts unpacking the food and even takes out homemade applesauce for the babies. “Ah, so you’re trying to win over the kiddos too.” Bucky nods in appreciation.
Steve leans back into Bucky’s chest having found peace in being mated and having a family. He’s never felt like this before, not even before. He can’t really remember a time when he was content; now he is. Then, they hear the boat. Steve sits up, staring at the dock. “Are we expecting anyone?”
Bucky gets up and Wanda takes a stance next to him. Red mist swirls around her hands. Steve and David gather the babies up. “If this turns into a fight, you take the twins and you run to the house and don’t stop until you’re inside.” David nods. He doesn’t fully understand the situation with the three adults, but he knows who they are and how hard they’ll fight to protect what they have.
The last thing they expect to see is the Avengers.
Tony pulls his glasses off, staring at the house. “I think this place is bigger than my parents.”
Bucky stands his ground with Wanda. “What do you want?”
Natasha looks confused at Steve and a stranger with babies. “Wanda, do you have kids?”
“I’ll ask again, what do you want?” Bucky’s speaking through clinched teeth, just barely keeping his Alpha under control.
“We came because two of our teammates disappeared almost a year ago.” Bruce seems genuinely curious.
Tony looks at Bucky, trying to place him. “And you are?”
“James Barnes, Steve’s Alpha.” The Avengers, even Tony, fall into stunned silence. “And the babies are ours, not Wanda’s.” Bucky looks over, winking at Wanda. “Give her a few months though.”
Wanda reaches over, slapping his arm. “Stop going there. David and I haven’t even talked about it.”
Steve snorts and the next words out of David’s mouth make him sure that he’s right for Wanda. “Hey, just say the word and I’m on board with the mating and babies thing.”
Wanda hangs her head. “Family is not what it’s cracked up to be.” Steve comes over, followed by David.
“You know we love you and if we didn’t give you a hard time, you’d think there was something wrong.” Bucky takes Pietro from David.
“You got that right.” Wanda looks back at the team that seems to be realizing that they’ve walked into something they have no concept of.
Tony is staring at Bucky. “You’re James Barnes? Like Captain America’s best friend, James Barnes?”
Steve steps closer. “He is and he’s my Alpha and provider for our family.”
Clint shakes his head. “When did you present?”
“After SHIELD fell.” They now know how uncomfortable Steve felt with them because he didn’t choose to share that information.
“You’re,” Tony waves his hand at Steve’s body, “an Omega?”
“Yeah, I am.” Bucky shifts Pietro and puts a protective arm around Steve. “There was never any doubt that I was supposed to be an Omega and when I found Bucky alive, I presented. Wanda helped me keep it a secret.”
The team looks at Wanda, who holds her head up high. “It was Steve’s choice to keep it secret and I was going to protect him.”
“Why not just tell us?” Bruce doesn’t get it because he’s not invasive like the others.
Steve barks with laughter. “And what? Have all the Alphas on the team try to mate me off?” He looks at Tony, then glances at Natasha. “That’s what you would have done, right? Because we can’t have an unmated Omega leading the team. It wouldn’t look right.”
“Now, hold on, Cap! Wanda is an Omega, and we didn’t do that to her!” Wanda shakes her head, giving a sarcastic chuckle.
“Yes, but only because I’m just Scarlet Witch and not Captain America.” She leans into David, who suddenly wants to protect all of them against this group.
Natasha smirks. “Well, Omegas do need stability in their lives and if Captain America is having heats...”
Bucky growls, eyes burning. “Omegas aren’t yours to control and Steve is mine! He’s always been mine!”
Tony holds up his hands, seeing this going south quickly. “Widow, you really need to stop antagonizing the enhanced Alpha that is ready to rip you to pieces.”
“I’d like to see him try.” She’s still smirking, and Steve wants to knock the look off her face. He growls low and Bucky sees that he’s barely hanging onto his self-control.
“I trained you and don’t think I taught you everything because you never teach your enemies everything you know.” The deep guttural way he says it makes her step back. “It’s good to know you’re nothing more than an asshole when it comes to autonomy. No better than the people in the Red Room.” It hits exactly the way he means it too. Bucky watches as she folds.
Tony shakes his head. “Look, we came because we thought something bad had happened and we wanted to check on Ca...Steve and Wanda. I see now that isn’t the case and everyone is fine.” Taking his glasses off again, Tony offers his hand. “Let’s do some introductions and see if we can’t get this back on track.”
Thor joins them a little later, after the introduction, arriving in a blaze of glory. The twins watch in fascination, then clap, giggling at the big man. “What a glorious home you have, Steven.” He sees the babies and grins. “And you have made little ones as well.” Thor is introduced to Bucky, who gets a sounding clap on the back. “You have made our Steven happy in ways he was not.”
Bucky looks over at Steve, holding Pietro and Wanda in his lap. “I certainly hope so.”
Thor’s booming laugh fills the lawn. “Do not doubt it, my friend. One only has to look at him to know he is where he wishes to be.” Thor throws himself on the blanket, reaching for the babies. “Now, I wish to hold the young ones.”
“What are their names?” Bruce is watching and seems more relaxed than Steve’s ever seen him.
“Wanda and Pietro.” Steve leans back on his hands, taking in the sun and the surroundings. Bucky sits next to him, placing a possessive hand on his leg.
Wanda crawls off of Thor and heads over to Tony, who seems to be equally terrified and captivated by the babies. She doesn’t stop until she falls into his arms. “Well now, what can I do for you?” She reaches up, patting his face and pulls at his goatee. “Okay, you’re definitely cute.”
The atmosphere is still tense, but not like it was before. When asked questions about how they ended up here, Steve doesn’t offer everything, but just enough to satisfy curiosities. Wanda comes out of the house with more food and David follows dutifully behind. “Now that you’ve brought the idea up, you have corrupted my boyfriend’s mind.”
Steve and Bucky look over and see David beaming and Wanda looking exasperated. “Oh, and what could you possibly mean?”
Wanda mock glares at Bucky. “I have agreed to mating, but,” she turns the glare on David, “I am not ready for babies!”
When she turns back to Steve and Bucky, David does a happy dance behind her. “She said yes!”
Congratulations are given, with hugs from Steve and Bucky. “I told you to be patient.” Steve just whispers it because he’s known since about the second week of dating that this is where they would end up. “Not even Wanda can resist the pull of a true mate.”
Later that night, with the Avengers set up in one of the many, many guest rooms, Tony finds Steve in the kitchen while Bucky is reading to the babies. “This is quite a place you have here, Steve.”
He doesn’t jump because he heard the man coming. “Bucky bought it when we found out I was pregnant. He stole the money from the people that tortured him.”
“Yeah, about that, we’ve been noticing that bases of operation have been attacked and destroyed all over the world. I’m assuming those were all Hydra.” Steve nods, finishing up the dishes from the day. “And you’re happy here?”
“I am. Don’t get me wrong, Tony, I still feel that need to help, but my priorities have shifted. I didn’t know this is what I wanted until I had it.” He turns, drying his hands. “Can you understand that?”
“I do.” Tony leans on the counter, looking at Steve. “Will you ever come back?”
“Not any time soon. Right now, I want to be a husband, father, and brother.” Tony nods and keeps his eyes trained on the floor.
“I don’t care what anyone else thinks, I get it and I support it. I really did come here to make sure you were okay and hadn’t been captured.” Steve laughs, making Tony smile. “Oddly enough, I don’t think I’ve ever heard you laugh like I’ve heard today.”
“Because I didn’t. Nothing made me happy.” That gets a sad sigh from Tony. “It’s always been about duty, then I presented and got really sick.” Tony’s eyes shoot up. “I was going into Heat Stroke and if not for Wanda getting me to Bucky, I would have died.” Steve leans on the counter next to Tony. “A few months later, I found out I was going to have a baby. Everything just made sense after that. Duty is important, but if we’re not happy, then it’s meaningless. You have to believe in something for duty to matter and I didn’t believe in anything at the time.”
“You did good here, Steve, and I’m not sure I’ll ever have kids, but you make it look easy.” He nudges Steve with his elbow. “I’m going to ask Pepper to mate with me. Maybe I’ll have one of my own someday.”
Steve grins. “Contrary to what you think, you’d be a great dad.”
“Well, maybe so.” He starts out of the kitchen. “I’d like to bring Pepper here sometime. I think she’d love it and considering who she’s dating, she needs more relaxation time.”
Steve giggles all the way up the stairs. He finds Bucky relaxing in the tub. Bucky flicks water at him. “You feel like joining me?”
Dropping his clothes to the floor, Steve climbs in, reclining back into Bucky’s chest. “This is what I needed after today.”
“Everyone settled in?” Steve nods. “The twins are sleeping like angels, and I think you need something to relax you too, Daddy.”
“Oh yeah, Papa?” Steve turns his head to look at his mate, his Alpha. “And what did you have in mind?”
Bucky wiggles his eyebrows. “I think I can come up with something.” Leaning in, Bucky kisses the mating bite, making Steve shiver. “I love you, Steve.”
“I love you too, Bucky.”
Over the years, many of the Avengers will come to stay. When they need a place to stop being a superhero. Tony and Pepper do mate and the ceremony is held at Steve and Bucky’s house. They even stay on the property for their honeymoon, taking the smallest cottage hidden in the trees. The strain that lingered for a few years with the team, finally eases the more time the team spends with the true mates. Instead of seeing the pair as soldiers, they see the men behind the uniforms.
Wanda and David stay in the small cottage until she finds out she’s pregnant and they take the bigger one, closer to the water with three bedrooms. Wanda works with the Avengers on a regular basis, but once they find out she’s pregnant, they insist that she stop. David dotes on her throughout the pregnancy. “You’re the one with twins in your family, Wanda, why are you mad at me?”
Wanda glares at her husband and mate. “I’m as big as a house, David Levy!”
Caressing her cheek, David smiles at her with devotion in his eyes. “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
Wanda’s responding growl is surprising. “You can’t say things like that because then I can’t be mad at you!” Laughing, David leans in to kiss her.
Steve doesn’t go back to the team full-time, but does help when the threat is big enough and Bucky is happy to stay home and never fight again. “Bucky, are you sure you don’t mind?”
Bucky has a child on each hip, dancing around making the twins giggle. “Why would I mind?”
“I just don’t want you to think that going with the team is more important than you, Pietro and Wanda.” Bucky dances over, kissing Steve.
“I don’t think that. I think that you don’t want anything to happen to your friends.” Spinning around, the twins giggle again. Steve’s face goes soft at his little family. “Besides, I get to stay home and play.”
Sliding into Bucky’s space, Steve wraps his arms around his Alpha and their babies. “I love you so much. I can’t even put it into words.”
Bucky leans in, biting at Steve’s neck. “You don’t gotta. I can feel how much you love me. I just hope you never doubt my love for you.”
“I couldn’t with how it swirls around inside of me.” Only after he says it does Steve realize how it could be taken and he doesn’t have time to stop Bucky from responding.
“When you get back, I’ll let my love swirl around anywhere you want.” Rolling his eyes, Steve steps away to grab his go bag. “Inside...outside...both.”
Giving Bucky and the twins one last kiss, Steve heads for the door. “I love all of you.”
“We love you too, Daddy.”
When the twins are four, Steve finds out he’s pregnant again and when checked by Doc Sarah finds that he’s having twins again. Glaring at his husband, Bucky just grins.
Bucky caresses Steve’s cheek, placing a soft kiss. “I love you in ways that words can’t convey.”
Steve wants to be upset for a little bit longer, but he feels Bucky’s love move through him like his own emotions. Huffing, he shakes his head. “I love you too, but swear to god, Buck, this is it. No more kids after this!”
“Whatever you say, Sweetheart.”