Epilogue

FRIDAY continued to quietly monitor and guard the occupants of the Tower through the very unusual next couple of weeks.

Fury contacted the Avengers two days later, stating that Secretary Ross would be announcing his retirement from all active government positions due to 'health reasons' within a week's time. Clint commented that his excuse was technically true since if he hadn't, all of the Avengers would have sought bodily harm on him for his compliance with the bomb threat, helping to kidnap Steve, and nothing would top what he was planning with the abduction of Victoria. Ross would not be facing jail time for his actions to help with the public story as to his resignation. In his own form of retaliation punishment, Tony already had a new protocol running that would disrupt Ross' life by constantly sending hundreds of junk emails daily, dropping cell phone calls, and recording hours of gay porn on his cable DVR.

Helmut Zemo was giving one of the guest rooms as his quarters while the World Security Council decided his fate. They started out by listening to his own testimony of what he had done to help Rumlow and Sin. He then explained how his mindset had dramatically changed before moving on to his abduction of Victoria and his reason behind it. Fury and Victoria testified how he had turned around to help give the information to the Avengers so that they were able to disarm the bombs. By the end of the trial, they had agreed, with assurances from Steve and Tony, to allow Helmut to remain in the Avengers' 'custody' for an undisclosed period of time until he had earned back his full freedom.

Since he was already at the Tower so much, Wade and Natasha decided to go ahead and have him move into her quarters. He continued working with Happy in security as well as with Tony when he didn't feel like running errands to the upstate location. He also was put in charge of programming new training regiments for every Avenger, as well as Helmut per Victoria's request.

Wanda and Pietro decided to move from Clint's farm to the Avengers' Upstate New York facility on a permanent basis. They enjoyed living with Clint's family for a few years, but now they felt ready, for the most part, to live on their own for the first time in a long while. Both continued to work with the team to hone the skills. Pietro would occasionally come to New York to take daily jobs from Richard at the bike messenger service stating that since Victoria had found her soulmates while working there, he might as well give it a try too.

Pepper had already begun to plan her and Tony's wedding, stating that if she didn't set him down to an imminent date that he would let their engagement linger for way longer than was necessary. She also made him promise to not bring his Iron Man suit with him on their honeymoon.

Steve, Bucky, and Victoria left a couple of days after Helmut's trial ended to return home for the first time in a long while. They had not been back out to their property since Steve had been taken. They wanted to get the house back in order, as well as spend some time together readjusting to the newfound peace that seemed to have taken over their lives.

Koa 'Hale
Weeks Later

Vic and Steve were sitting at the small table under the evening fall sky. The weather had been perfect today and had stayed that way for their meal. The private table was set with their best china and glasses along with a small vase of roses mixed with wild flowers while candles flickered in the breeze.

Steve was wearing one of his nicer suits and they'd told Vic to wear one of her long gowns as if going to a fancy restaurant. She looked beautiful sitting there in the red dress.

Looking stealthily from the window in the guest room, Bucky knew that Vic would give him a Peeping Tom comment if she caught him. Bucky watched as Steve got up from the table for two and moved to stand next to Vic.

Just before bending down onto one knee, he watched him remove the velvet black box from his pocket, flicking it to open in time with his kneel. The look of surprise on Vic's face was what they had been hoping for.

What neither of them had been expecting was Vic standing up so quickly that her chair toppled over to the ground behind her.

"BUCKY!" she then screamed so loudly that people back in the Tower probably heard her.

Startled, he stood up with wide eyes as he saw her looking back towards the house. The moment their eyes meet each other's, he knew that both him and Steve were in trouble for some reason. Vic glared at him with anger, then decisively pointed her finger at the ground next to where Steve was still kneeling while looking back at the house.

Knowing a silent command when he saw one, Bucky hastily moved through the house and into the backyard to get to his waiting spot. Vic didn't say anything as she jabbed her finger to indicate for him to bend a knee to match Steve.

"What the hell did I tell the two of you about asking me to choose a favorite?"

He looked over at Steve as a bit of understanding hit the both of them as to why she was mad.

"Vic, we're not asking you to choose between the two of us," he replied.

"We wanted to give you the same type of relationship that every other couple can have," Steve told her.

"We," she was angrily circling her finger to indicate the three of them, "do not have the same type of relationship that everyone else has to begin with."

"But, by marrying Steve, you will officially be his wife…"

"Do you think that I would let a piece of paper mean that much to me?" she asked looking between the two of them. "All that marrying Steve would do is make everybody else," Vic was waving her hand towards the city, "think that I like Steve more and that you are not worthy of being my husband."

Bucky couldn't believe that Vic would worry about him like that.

"What about if you were to marry Bucky?" Steve then asked.

Vic gave an exasperated sigh before answering, "Then people would just try to say that I felt sorry for him because of his history and that you did the noble thing by letting us get married."

Unfortunately, after hearing Vic's strange logic, he had to agree with her even if he didn't really want to.

"I will not stand for anyone thinking that a decision that I make points to one of you as being better than the other so I don't give a fuck about getting married."

Hearing Vic curse, both of them knew that she was serious with her statement and that she truly meant it. But then something changed with her demeanor, a softness crossed over her face and her shoulders dropped. Stepping forward, she swept her hands around their heads and pulled them into an embrace so that they were resting against her body.

"I didn't think about how ya'll...Does getting married mean that much to the two of you?" she then asked, her voice strained. He knew that she was now worried about their feelings when it came to this.

"We just want you to be happy, to not feel like you are missing out on something that everybody else has due to how our soulmarks were formed," Steve told her.

"I am happy!"

Hearing that, both of them wrapped their arms around her waist as she kissed the tops of their heads.

Maybe that was all that the both of them really needed to know.

"How about at least wearing the engagement ring as being from the both of us?" Steve then asked, holding up the custom ring. It held three stones in a row: a ruby, a diamond, and a sapphire in a platinum setting. He and Steve agreed to have it made to represent the three of them.

"From the both of you," Vic smiled down as she agreed to that term.

Steve took the ring from the box, slid it onto her finger up to the knuckle and then let him push it into place. Looking at the ring, they heard the familiar sound of a zipper. Seconds later, Vic's long gown pooled around her ankles to reveal that she had not been wearing anything underneath of it.

Shaking her head with disappointment towards them, "What is it with the two of you being overdressed all the time?"

They made it as far as one of the cushioned lounge chairs on the back porch.

New York City
August 30

Two months later, Tony and Pepper were to be married at the 620 Loft & Garden. Pepper had been able to book the second to last day of August, and it turned out to be a wonderful day for an outside wedding. If the annoying flying drones controlled by the paparazzi would only quit buzzing around the area.

Watching as the wedding finally started, Vic was sitting between Bucky and Helmut, who sat on her right side. Steve was standing up next to Tony on the altar under the flowered arch. Natasha was standing next to Pepper as her maid of honor.

After an in-house discussion, the entire team / family agreed that they would much rather watch the wedding than be a part of it. So, Steve and Nat were the only official wedding party standing up with them…not that Tony didn't have the largest wedding party table ever waiting inside for everyone.

To make the ceremony as private as possible, Helmut had worked on a device that would send out a signal that created a distortion field to any device in the immediate area that warped the signal on its recording mechanism. All of the drones and digital cameras from nearby buildings were busy taking pictures of wavy figures without any facial features being recognizable.

Thanks to this bit of tech, Clint and his entire family were able to attend, as well as a couple of other friends of the Avengers who wanted to keep their identities secret.

The event went off without a hitch and the party went on until well into the next night. The newlyweds took off the next morning heading for a two week honeymoon in Bora Bora since Tony said that the name amused him. Some of the group stayed at the Tower a few more days before heading back to continue whatever they considered normal lives.

Without any immediate missions, the three of them headed home to spend some quiet time together.

Koa 'Hale
Eight Months Later

"Hey, Vic! You got a package," Bucky called out as he used his foot to close the door to the garage since his arms were full of grocery bags. He had made a run into town for food and to stop at the post office for their mail since they only had a post office box instead of a mailbox thanks to the remoteness of their house. Carefully he placed all the bags on the island before calling out, "Steve, come help with groceries!"

He could hear footsteps from the front office as well as from the spare room above him. Vic had been going in there and sitting down on the bed for the past few days, just seeming to daydream about something. She always looked happy and every time he'd question her if something was wrong, she would tell him no with a smile, and he knew that she was being honest. Maybe it was just one of those strange things that she sometimes did.

With all the down time, Vic had been picking up hobbies for the past few months. Every team and family member now had newly knitted scarves and hats for winter time, his and Steve's were both color appropriate with stars. She had taken up calligraphy before using the paper to learn origami. Vic had even bought woodworking tools, including a lathe, saying that she would eventually be making him a new baseball bat. They now understood Wade warning about hobbies.

"Were you able to find the grape Nehi?" Steve asked stepping into the kitchen.

"Yes, two cases of it," he grinned as they began putting the stuff away as Vic bounded into the room with a grin for some reason. She made a beeline for the plastic packing envelope he'd put on the island.

"What did you get?" Steve asked putting away the cold items while he worked on the pantry ones.

"Oh, it's not for me," she said pulling at one end of the plastic to open it.

"Then what did you get us?" Bucky then asked smiling, wondering if Vic had ordered a new playtime toy.

"Oh, it's not for ya'll either," she had now ripped open the end as was pulling out a small piece of cloth. They saw her face light up even more at looking at the rich red item that seemed to have black letters stitched onto it.

"Then who's it for?" Steve asked now more curious about the item than the softened ice cream.

"I don't know what their name is," she said walking over towards the door where the sun was shining in to get a better look at it.

The two of them glanced at each other with a knowing look. It seemed to be heading into one of those type conversations with her.

"Instead of us going on for another hour and just getting 'Victoria Answers', how about you tell us what that is and why you got it?" Bucky joking requested but very bluntly.

Vic then looked at them while biting her lower lip, as if considering his request. After a moment, she turned to face them then held the small red cloth right in front of her so that they could read the black lettering. The only reason that he knew what she held in her hands was because they had seen Pepper receiving a couple at her baby shower a few months back. It was a baby's bib. Embroidered on it were the words:

These fools put my cape on backwards!

"So you got Tony and Pepper another gift?" Steve asked.

"No, it's not for their kid," she informed them, lowering the item so that it rested on top of her belly.

"Then who's…" was about as far as Bucky got before the possible answer dawned on him…and apparently Steve at the same time.

"Victoria! Are you pregnant?"

Instead of initially answering him, she began to do a little boppy dance right there with the bib resting on her front while swinging back and forth with the largest grin on her face they had ever seen.

"Guess who's going to be daddies!?"

As they sat at the table after having put the numerous bowls of food onto it, Steve wondered if Wade and Nat had put together the strange connection of the food being served at tonight's dinner. Baby back ribs, baby carrots, baby peas, buns hot from the oven…

Since Wade seemed to be fixing his plate without figuring out Victoria's subtle hints, he could only smile and wonder what she was going to do next. She'd had so much fun looking up ways to announce a pregnancy. After they finished eating, Victoria headed into the kitchen to retrieve the special dessert tray she had prepared…to really give away the secret. Coming back into the dining room, she put the tray on the sideboard, where Wade could see the strange options once he got around to looking at them.

In two bowls were M&M's, one bowl with blue colored peanut ones, and another bowl with pink colored plain ones. Little signs were sticking out of them either saying "nuts" or "no nuts". The other option were cupcakes with either blue or pink icing. She couldn't get any more obvious unless she just came out and told him.

Steve saw the moment that Natasha figured it out with her jaw dropping, but she remained quiet and looked over next to her. But since Wade was talking with Bucky, neither one of them were looking over, and Steve wondered if Bucky was distracting Wade on purpose. Victoria gave Wade a pointed glare from behind, which he also didn't see, and went back for the final item she had purchased for tonight. There was a large smile on her face as she placed the coffee mug down in front of Wade, the writing on it telling him… "World's Best Granddad!"

It wasn't until he had actually taken a sip from it that he finally paid attention to what the mug actually said.

By the time Wade looked over at her, Victoria was standing off to the side with a smirk on her face, a hand on her hip, and a finger pointing directly at her belly.

Wade dropped the mug from his hand as he fell out of his chair to hit the ground unconscious.

Stark Tower

"What do you mean you're pregnant?" Tony screamed while throwing his hands up in the air. "How did you get pregnant?"

"I would have thought that FRIDAY would have given you the birds-and-bees talk months ago after finding out what you did to Pepper," Vic smiled up at him from where she was sitting on the couch in the common room between Steve and Bucky who were chucking at the conversation. "I guess that proves that you are not the genius you've been claiming to be."

Tony then tried pointing out."I know exactly how I got Pepper pregnant, and I think I have it on video...but you are on birth control!"

"First, eww, gross. Second, I used to be on birth control!"

Tony's mouth that had opened to spew out his next comment, stayed silent, then snapped shut. Hearing that seemed to make him calm down a bit for some reason. Flopping down onto the couch, he looked between the two soulmates who had agreed to let her be the one to break to the news to him.

"Alright then, which one of them defiled you?" he asked with a scowl.

"Both of them...many times in many ways," she grinned as Tony grimaced at hearing that. "As for who's the daddy, don't know, don't care."

Tony then gave her a hard look, and she could see that his mind was racing.

"You do realized that since they both have some form of super-soldier serum in them, that there is a good chance that it affected their little swimmers. The genetic makeup of the baby could be dramatically influenced," Tony then rationally informed her.

Damn. She hated even thinking it, but Tony was right.

"I'll give Dr. Cho a call and see when she's coming to town next. It would be a good idea to have her run a few non-evasive test to see what she can find," Tony said.

"That's not a bad idea," Steve then agreed. "I don't think any of us considered what genetic material might be passed on."

"But, there is a chance that all of it would be good," she pointed out. "The serums keep ya'll healthy, so the baby probably will be also."

"That's the best case scenario," Bucky told her giving the back of her hand a kiss.

"Oh, by the way, Tony…I quit!"

"No!"

They had been talking for a few minutes when the elevator opened up and Pepper stepped out…well, waddled out would be the more appropriate term. At eight months pregnant, she defiantly didn't move as fast as she used to. And of course right next to her was FRIDAY. The AI seemed to have taken a liking to the LMD body after the battle at the Tower.

Once full repairs were done on it, FRIDAY would control the body from time to time, interacting with the team on a more personal level. For the past few months, she carried anything that Pepper needed while stating she didn't need to lift anything possibly heavy. She was still in control of the Tower and a large portion of the corporation, but she seemed to like having a body and face to move around in.

"I'm guessing by the pout," Pepper said carefully lowering herself into the seat next to Tony, "that you told him the news."

"Yeah, but he'll get over it," Vic told her as Tony leaned over to rest his head on Pepper's shoulder while his hand automatically made its way to her belly, looking for any movement. "Besides, this way he can go into his own garage without getting in trouble."

Stark Tower
Seven Months Later

"I hate both of you!" Victoria was screaming from the medical bed she was lying in.

The steady beeping of the monitor next to her showed the wavelengths between contractions and she was at another peek of one. Bucky was on her right side but only because she had clasped onto his metal hand and refused to let go. They were in the medical floor of the Tower instead of a normal hospital since Dr. Cho's early test had determined that that superior genetic material had been passed along to the baby. They had asked her to at least not inform them as to whose it was. It was to be a surprise, as well as the baby's sex, for them to learn at delivery time.

For the past seven months, the baby was in the best possible health it could be for the entire pregnancy but it still worried the two of them. He and Bucky both agreed that bringing in a private obstetrician for Victoria who knew exactly what was going on would be best. They had both been amazed that she had not even argued once with them. They knew she didn't like doctors of any kind.

"We know you don't mean that," Bucky then softly told her, to which Victoria gritted her teeth together and growled angrily at him. He'd never seen Bucky look so scared.

As the door to the room opened up, Dr. Kinkaid walked in with another man right behind him with a rolling car.

"The epidural specialist has arrived," they were informed as the other man instantly began to get his supplies ready.

About twenty minutes later, Victoria was lying on the bed looking as calm as she normally did.

"Why the hell do some people go through labor without an epidural?" she asked as he watched the monitor show another spike of a contraction, which Victoria didn't even feel now that the medicine was in her.

"I don't know. But next time, you're getting one before you turn into a monster again," Bucky told her with a smile.

"If you think I'm doing this again, you're out of your damn mind!"

Bucky knew that there were a lot of people loitering in the waiting room. Everyone who could had rushed to the city to be here for the big event, same as they had done for Tony and Pepper. Every time he had run out to give a status report, Tony was pacing the floor like an expecting father while Pepper was taking care of Howard Anthony off to the side. At seven months old, there was no mistaking that Tony was his dad…he looked just like him with a full head of dark hair already.

There had not been too much of a shock when Tony and Pepper revealed his soulmark. It was a twist on the familiar sight but with a major change. Instead of the normal arc reactor design, or the modified triangle center design, the center was formed into a star. The outline was shaded in the same blue color as the original arc device but the star was completely void of color. There had been a lot of whispers as to the great possibilities behind Tony's back, who somehow seemed oblivious to the possible meaning.

They had allowed Wade into the delivery room after the baby was finally born. Natasha said that she would wait with the team instead of going back, wanting to feel the excitement as she and everyone learned about the surprises at the same time. In all the years that had now known him, it was the first time they had seen him cry...but they were happy tears.

Now, the doors to the private rooms finally opened to reveal him and Steve walking out of them with large smiles on their faces. In Steve's arms was a very small bundle wrapped in a soft white blanket. Nobody said anything as they rose and quietly stepped over to see the surprise he held.

Protectively held in his arms was a beautiful little girl. On her head was a pink cap and she wore a simple pink onesie. The three of them had decided against finding out the sex of the baby and had brought two sets of clothes to the hospital…prepared for either one. Just at the brim of the hat, very light blond hair could be seen, matching almost perfectly to Victoria's.

"Everyone," Steve began, "we would like to introduce you to Diana Rebecca Barnes."

Bucky found himself crushed in a mass of arms with congratulations being thrown his way as Steve just held their daughter and smiled at him. They had agreed months ago that no matter who the biological father was, that they would both be called 'daddy'.

He told everyone that Vic was fine and resting, after having nursed then holding the baby for most of an hour before giving the two of them a chance to bring her out for introductions. It had been during this time while holding her child for the first time that Vic had informed them that she would not mind 'doing this again'...but with the stipulation that they make sure that the little brother or sister was Steve's. They had both easily agreed to that term.

"So, are you going to let us see?" Natasha was finally the one to ask for the excited group.

Steve looked over at Bucky who just nodded his head.

The moment that Bucky gently pulled the pink collar down to reveal the soulmark, a loud cheer drowned out any other noises nearby. On little Diana's chest was a matching soulmark to little Howie's, only hers had a full red star surrounded by the colorless arc reactor.

"Are you kidding me?" Tony's voice managed to supersede all the other's as he saw the object for the first time. Pepper just gave a knowing smile, like she expected this result all along…and maybe she had.

Off in the background, Bucky saw Clint pass over one dollar to a very grinning Sam at winning the bet between them.

The End!

Author's Note: Well, that is what I came up with for a massively long story. Thanks to everyone for reading all the way to here. I've had so many great reviews from so many out there that I couldn't respond to each individual one even through I wanted to. SO...Thanks for any review that you gave. It makes a writers day to know that there is at least one person out there who enjoys reading what they produced.

If you enjoyed this story, I hope that you will give my others a try. I've plugged 1983:Star before and am doing so again since it's sequel will finish up next week. I know the first few chapters are very dry to read, but getting past them you will be more than entertained. It deals with the Winter Soldier (not Bucky) having to spend alone time with a young woman who he begins to enjoy being around. Unfortunately, he is supposed to kill her. I had many request when I finished it to write the sequel so I did finally. Please give it a chance (if you liked the sex scenes in Victoria, you will not be disappointed).