#gee I wonder why that would piss Alice off?

[halothenthehorns]

All in the Family

Chapter 28: The Rogue Bludger

"Evans!"

Even though he was farther away than Frank and Alice, Potter still somehow managed to dart between the two and be on the other side of the door with her, practically kneeling over her in concern before she'd even landed.

She pushed her sopping wet hair out of her face and glanced around with a sense of vertigo for the sudden change, and not just in scenery. Light was pouring in from the hallway now, natural sunlight just managing to illuminate her sneakers, which only emphasized the gloom she'd been dumped in.

It seemed every mirror was cracked, every sink tap was broken, and every surface seemed flooded, the long stem candles dripping water instead of wax.

She hardly acknowledged the hand being offered her, accepting it and getting to her feet before she realized who had.

Snatching her hand away with a scowl, she rotated slowly on the spot to find the others all crowded around the girl's bathroom door in an odd display, while Potter went bright red in surprise and scrambled back over the threshold as if seeking sanctuary.

"Sorry," he quickly managed to stutter with the most uneasy look she'd ever seen in place, his eyes flickering with true embarrassment and remorse to the sign above the door.

She chose not to acknowledge him for now, accustomed to her bearings at last but still feeling on edge, so very grateful as Alice chose to come in with her. "Well, at least Myrtle isn't present, and the cat vanished."

Lily couldn't see through the boys to confirm as much, but she was grateful for that at least. It was a new time and setting then.

"Why would Harry come back in here for any reason?" They heard Lupin asking. "Even the first time was faintly ridiculous, asking if Myrtle of all ghosts had seen anything."

"I still can't believe he did it," the elder Black snickered. "Even we never went into a girls loo for any reason, except for Prongs." He finished with such a wicked tone no one needed to turn and see the look he was now giving his best mate.

Potter sniffed, but seemed to choose not to acknowledge that as he instead asked, "Hey ladies, is the book in there? I'd like to know how they plan on getting that note from Lockhart."

"What makes you assume he's the dense one Ron was referring to?" Pettigrew asked curiously. "There are plenty of other dense teachers about this place. Merlin, I'll bet we could con McGonagall into doing this for us again-"

He finished with an oof, as if one of his mates had elbowed him to silence him, but while the other three just rolled their eyes and seemed not to care what the Marauders would have wanted a book from the restriction section for, Regulus gave the lot a curious look. What would those layabouts need a book for, besides just trying to cause more trouble?

Alice had to actively search for a moment before finding it on one of the lone sinks that seemed to have no damage. She scooped it up but was stopped from opening it by Potter shouting, "are you two going to get out of there? I feel so odd trying to talk to you while you're in a bathroom!"

"Then don't talk to us," Evans suggested.

"Here," Alice gave the book a toss back to the doorway. "If you can't stand me doing it from in here, you do it out there."

She only vaguely registered that Lupin had caught the book and started reading as she investigated this lone bit of debris free area, wondering why Myrtle wouldn't have had a go at it like everything else in here.

Frank cautiously stepped in as well, followed by the younger Black moments later. Clearly those two had decided they'd rather be in this area with the girls than the Marauders now bickering outside on whether they should do the same. It was nothing particularly special about any other facility in the castle, but it uncomfortably reminded them all of the one the troll had destroyed. They hoped this was not a recurring instance of finding themselves in wrecked bathrooms.

"Did, a Bludger do that to the bathroom?" James asked in confusion of such an odd chapter title. All Bludgers were rogue really, considering their job in the game.

"If so, my money's on the Weasley twins releasing one into the school," Peter chuckled.

"Lockhart really is the biggest idiot I've ever heard of," Sirius said casually beside him, the topic lighting this as inconsequential as if they'd been discussing hags.

"Idiot wouldn't know a thing about werewolves if one bit him in the arse," James agreed with bright eyed amusement that was only ever there for their jokes. No one inside Myrtle's bathroom was paying them any mind, but Remus still felt a bit uneasy playing along. His friends had taught him to joke about everything since first year and he loved doing it himself now, anything to brighten his life. Now though, he wasn't just one kid blending into a school, those four in the bathroom had already been spending an uncomfortable amount of time around him and a few had even given him suspicious looks here and there now that he was such a focus, so he read past his friends loudly.

"Ha, they did use Lockhart to get that note!" James pumped his fist in triumph. "Pay up Wormtail."

"It was a stupid bet," he groused as he slapped the coins into his hand. "Harry used the easy target. "

"It is the first time he's tried this, give him some credit he even pulled it off," Remus said fairly.

"That idiot Lockhart’s a Seeker?" Regulus muttered in surprise, suddenly hoping that he was somewhere back in their school so he could face him off in a game. The new teacher may be inept and fooled the world about his skills in Defense, but surely he had to be good at something, and the newly minted Slytherin Seeker had yet had an opponent to really be much of a match against anyone.

"Why are they headed back to this bathroom?" Potter demanded in surprise, and it really was such a good question the lot inside got distracted and turned to listen to him. "They'd just got caught by a Prefect there the other day."

"Where would you suggest they hide out to find out more about a potion they shouldn't be doing?" Lily challenged with a surprisingly smug expression. She was confident those four had no idea how to do anything as subtle as hide anything. Her mind wondered if her own secret brew she had going was even still in the castle, if what she'd done would disrupt her attempts at improving upon-

They did not answer, a genuine surprise as she would have expected Potter to eagerly tell her anything just to keep up the pretense of talking. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously just as the littlest one, Pettigrew, piped up, "our dorm. We're the only ones who go in and out of it, so it's perfect."

"Gee Wormtail, just tell them where we keep our secret stash of dungbombs as well why don't you," the elder Black scoffed, but though he put a swift smack into his friend's head, they all saw it had no force to the blow.

The others turned away dismissively, but Lily kept frowning at them with suspicion. She still wasn't sure why Potter hadn't been the one to answer, as if they were stalling-

Lupin kept going then, and what came out of his mouth next was so ludicrous everything else flew from her mind. "That, that little second year really thinks she's going to brew that potion?" Lily demanded. She'd been sure once the smart girl saw the complexity of the potion she'd admit defeat, instead she began chatting about how to get ingredients and continue with such a thing!

"Great, Hermione's going to poison Harry. Think that will get us out of this mess?" Regulus muttered in disgust. She scowled at him, not taking kindly to even joking death threats, and went over to see what Alice and Frank were doing instead as conversation turned to Quidditch amongst the Marauders.

"We're trying to figure out why this sink doesn't have any damage like the rest," Alice told her before Lily could even ask.

Lily took a quick look over the area, twisting the knob to see it didn't work either but unlike the others wasn't cracked in any way. Then she crouched down like they were to try and see underneath. Nothing of note stood out, but the three crowding around such a mundane problem had Regulus glancing over curiously as well. His sharp eyes spotted something odd at once from this distance, but merely rolled his eyes and instead turned his attention longingly to the floor, where his common rooms were below for some peace and quiet away from this lot. Of course those three wouldn't acknowledge something like a snake, of course the Marauders were getting hyped up and catcalling a Quidditch game none of them had stakes in. The only reason he was only vaguely listening was to hear what kind of opponent Malfoy was to the Potter brat, no one had even presented a challenge in the last one.

James was wriggling with pure excitement to be hearing of the game, he wished he could be outdoors at least instead of next to some dreary old bathroom! He was half tempted to wrestle the book away from Remus and belt this out himself! The first Bludger strike nearly knocked his breath out at the close call and he wanted to mutter a foul which hobknocker had done such a thing so early in the game!

Then it came again, and he started to wonder if the Bludger was just going after Harry instead of being clubbed there by someone, which would have made sense the first time, but not twice in a row.

The third attempt made him cold all over as if he'd fallen into a ghost.

"Ah, yeah. I, I'd say that's a Rogue Bludger alright," Peter said faintly at the idea of such a thing. Even with two Beaters on either side of him like Harry had, the force of a cannonball being waited at anyone's head was sure to kill!

"Who the hell is ruining this game!" Sirius shouted in outrage, his fists tensed so much he looked likely to clock Remus for saying all this.

"I don't care, I just want to hear Harry live through this," James said in a voice his friends rarely heard, but had been getting to a lot lately. Prongs was pissed, and was likely to do more than set off a dungbomb when he found out who had not only tampered with his favorite game, but set up a way to have a child of his killed.

Remus swallowed uncomfortably but kept going in a rush, for once quite glad they weren't getting much of a visual image of all this. If they'd even been in the stands during this part it would have put a much more vivid point across, yet the ghosts bathroom behind them wasn't feeling like a good omen.

Things got even more out of hand when James was forced to respectfully see his sons point of view. He was going to win that game if it was the last thing he did, literally, and was he any better? He'd done some very crazy stunts on his broom just to score another point, to get his team just that farther ahead. He vowed right then he would have to stop and actually consider what he was doing though, he didn't have a death wish! He longed for some kind of distraction as the crazy ramped up and Harry began a series of maneuvers to keep his head intact, he wished he could peek back into the bathroom and see what Evans was doing instead of all the shocked faces around him for what they were hearing. He couldn't take his eyes off the book though.

Regulus was amazed he'd gotten his wish, what a match! Just, not in the way he'd been expecting. His expression soured though when the Bludger was doing more to make this a challenge than his actual opponent, Malfoy was being quite the disgrace when the end was in sight, and the idiot hadn't even seen the Snitch above his head. He winced in sympathy but hardly gave a passing notice to a broken arm as, like Harry, his mind was set on capturing the Snitch at all costs.

It was only after Harry's success and his temporary unconsciousness that he heard the Marauders releasing breaths of relief and Regulus realized what he'd been thinking about a fellow Pureblood. It truly went against everything he'd ever been taught, that someone inferior like that half-blood had bested someone from the Malfoy line so easily.

He tried to convince himself it must have been a fluke, but that wasn't working at all, and then Lockhart proved a useful distraction.

"What on Earth does that bumbling buffoon thinks he's going to do about a broken arm?" Lily said this in such a dangerous tone, Frank and Alice had to look around to make sure she wasn't speaking to Potter.

Frank did agree. This guy was even more of an idiot than Professor Kimble, and that witch had been the biggest idiot he'd ever met until this point. "He can't even counter Doxies, I'd rather have Filch treat my broken arm."

Alice had expected the Marauders to get a laugh at the idea of not having any bones in the arm, but instead all they could hear now were furious mutters out there. She sunk lower next to the sink in trepidation of what little she could hear. She'd heard that tone before, right before they'd used a spell that had gotten Snape's head stuck in a cauldron last month. He'd been in the hospital wing ever since, and it didn't help there had been a concoction in the bottom meaning he likely would have drowned if Evans hadn't been there to make sure he could still breath with that thing on.

From her vantage she was now eye level with the taps on the sink, and her eyes widened in surprise of finally seeing something unique, a tiny little snake etched into it. She wondered at that, if there were perhaps little carvings of all the houses' animals all over the school and she'd just never tried looking for them before. She knew her house was littered with dancing badgers for decoration, perhaps Slytherin had once been more subtle about doing such a thing about the castle?

Remus was already fuming a student had to go to the hospital wing for something a teacher had done to him, and the arrival of Dobby made nothing better!

"I've never wanted to kill an elf more than I do right now, and that's really saying something," Sirius stated coldly, and his friends knew exactly what he meant.

They'd never heard of such a conniving little elf, and on some level it was almost impressive the imp had managed to block Harry getting onto the train. It was even genuinely pitiful he'd been hurt by his masters, but none of them could deny they'd give that elf a good kick themselves for what he'd just tried to do to Harry. You don't try to take a Marauder kids head off and not get retaliation!

Sadly he gave it to himself moments later, and nothing more as Dobby vanished, because another victim was announced. It wasn't a cat this time.

Remus slumped against the wall in shock for what was happening in this school, and he'd always thought he was the worst monster to be here.

He swallowed hard and looked to his friends, all wearing grim expressions back for what was happening. This hadn't really been fun to begin with, now a student could be in real harm. He took a shaky breath, but kept going now in such a rush he forgot to mention this was about to end, he just wanted to be out of this particular place right now.

Lily gasped, then immediately covered her mouth in fear as if the attacker would jump out at her next. It helped nothing Frank and Alice exchanged horrified glances and edged just a bit closer to her, she was well aware she would be the victim if someone was really out after Muggleborns in this castle. She tried to scold herself being ridiculous, that wasn't something you could tell on sight...but what if whatever was doing this could?

She lowered her hands and plunged them into her robes, now quite steady on her feet and glaring about every corner, just daring for the same to happen to her now. It helped slightly when McGonagall explained Collin had been found on some random stairs instead of near this bathroom again, but this only raised more questions. The most confusing of all was Dumbledore's.

[victorluvsalice]

AU Thursday: A Discovery (Londerland Bloodlines Adjacent)

Me: [browsing the #vtmb tag]

Me: [discovers this post: Strauss Headcanons Thread Continued]

Post: Oh, btw, did you know that Tremere make gargoyles by kidnapping Nosferatu, Tzimisce, and Gangrels -- pick two! -- torturing them and wiping their minds, then meld them together in some sort of horrible Frankensteinian ritual? And that Strauss totally had to do this to make that gargoyle you fight or talk down in Hollywood?

Londerland Bloodlines Alice: . . . [unsheathing her Tal’Mahe’Ra blade] Welp, time to head back to Los Angeles to commit more murder!

(No, seriously, if she knew that was how one made a gargoyle, she would totally fucking kill Strauss. She’s pissed off enough in the canon when she learns about it and Strauss treating it as a slave, and that’s her thinking it’s magically animated actual stone or something. She holds off on killing him then because she doesn’t think she can take him on one-on-one, contenting herself with helping the gargoyle fake their death and then just never speaking to him again after reporting it. . .but if she knew that? Oh, she’d find a way.)

[jrubalcaba]

Good Night, Sleep Tight - A CHFIL/SlayerSoldier series crossover story

Good Night, Sleep Tight - A CHFIL/SlayerSoldier series crossover story

author: jrubalcaba

warnings: none except seeing superheroes in tears

rating: so fluffly it’ll rot your teeth. oh, mentions of smut, but no actual smut.

words: 3876

I hope you guys all enjoy this. I certainly enjoyed writing it!

“But I don't wanna go to bed!” Evie heard Robby whine as Steve carried him and Sarah upstairs, one under each arm. She looked over her shoulder and laughed as her mini-me started to kick and scratch at his dad, trying his best to get away.

“Robert, it's time for bed. End of discussion,” Steve snapped. He was still irritated from bath time when the kids decided to see who could make the biggest waves and soaked the entire bathroom, Steve included.

Normally Evie did both bath and bedtime, but since their fight, Steve has been doing every little thing around the house so Evie could relax more. He felt guilty for slacking off on his daddy duty, hence why he was wet, but not in a good way.

Evie sighed as she continued reading her book, when a wild Robby appeared, running through the house towards the Barnes’ side. A streak of pink with blonde on top raced by after as Sarah chased her brother.

“Man, those two are fast,” Steve panted as he entered the living room. Evie grinned.

“Just like their dad,” she replied. He rolled his eyes.

“How do you handle them both every night?” he asked, clearly at his wit's end. She giggled.

“Awww, what's wrong? Can Captain America not keep up with his two demons, I mean, darlings?” she teased with a wink. He sighed.

“Yes I can, but they're just so…..” he trailed off.

“Stubborn? Gee, I wonder where they got that from.” Evie smiled at her husband, laughing when he went Sad Faced at her comment. “We have a routine. I noticed that you get restless when your own bedtime routine gets messed up, so I got them into their own and it works wonders.” Steve's jaw had dropped, as she had neglected to mention that little detail to him.

“Well, you need to tell me more about it so I can do it too,” he snapped at her. She mulled it over for a bit.

“I guess I could,” she answered. Suddenly, voices in the hallway caught their attention as Alice and Bucky walked in, looking unamused.

“Can someone explain why the twins interrupted Becca's bedtime story, just to say goodnight?” Bucky asked, clearly pissed. Evie grinned at Steve.

“Well, Daddy is in charge of bath and bedtime, but it looks like fighting off bad guys is so much easier than putting his kids to bed,” she teased, causing him to roll his eyes again.

“Okay, I'll admit that I slacked off a lot, but this is hard work,” he said in defense. Evie scoffed.

“Yeah, if you haven't done it every night for the past five years.” Becca was tugging her parents forward more and more as the adults talked.

“Momma! I wanna say goodnight to everyone too, just like Robby and Sarah!” she whined impatiently. All three adults looked around in confusion while Evie's eyes grew wide.

“Ohhhh boy,” was all she said before following her niece upstairs, the other three right behind her. Once they all made it to Robby's room, they stopped at the sight that met them.

The three kids were standing at the wall that Robby had dedicated to all the heroes in his life, each of them replicated in action figures that may or may not have been commissioned especially for him.

“Look! Daddy and uncle Steve!” Becca cried as she saw the two figures (Robby refused to call them dolls) on the nightstand. The Steve one was identical to the real Steve, right down to the beard that covered his face. The Bucky one was also identical to the real Bucky, complete with fully movable Vibranium arm (that was specially made in Wakanda).

“Well, duh. Those two are the best, so of course they're gonna be right next to my bed, Becca!” Robby said snottily. Evie and Alice looked to their husbands and saw them both tear up at being called ‘the best’ by their son/nephew.

“That is adorable, but what did Becca mean when she said ‘say goodnight to everyone’?” Alice asked quietly. Evie turned to her and grinned.

“I think it's best if you three each take a kid and find out,” she replied. Each of them shot her a puzzled look as they walked into the room and Steve picked up Robby, Bucky took Becca, and Alice got Sarah. Robby reached up and grabbed the Ironman figure.

“Good night Uncle Tony,” he said, kissing and hugging it before handing it to Becca. “Good night Aunt Pepper. Good night Big Papa Howard and Big Mama Maria in the sky,” he added, tilting his head back and speaking to the ceiling. As if on cue, Steve, Bucky, and Alice all looked over at Evie, jaws dropped in shock and awe.

Something Evie caught on camera, as she was finally able to record Robby doing this.

One by one, each figurine was taken down, told ‘goodnight’ three times, and given three hugs and three kisses before being put back. What was even sweeter was the fact that each one was called by their real name, not their superhero one. Those who were deceased also got told goodnight, affectionately called ‘Uncle Pietro’, ‘Big Uncle Yondu’, ‘Big Uncle Odin’, ‘Big Auntie Frigga’, all the ‘Auntie Valkyries’, ‘Big Uncle T'Chaka’, ‘Big Uncle Ben’, ‘Big Grandma Sarah’, ‘Big Grandpa Joseph’, ‘Big Grandma Winifred’, ‘Big Grandpa George’, ‘Big Grandma Elizabeth’, ‘Big Grandpa Kevin’, ‘Big Auntie Becca’, and ‘Big Auntie Maggie’.

After all the figurines were placed back in their holders, the kids all squirmed down from their adults and ran to the nightstand. Robby grabbed the picture frame from it and began to kiss each person in the picture, telling Uncle Simon, Auntie Maggie, Auntie Kerry, Cousin Riley, Auntie Gail, and Cousin T'Zari goodnight before handing it to Becca and Sarah, who did the same.

Once everyone had been told goodnight, the kids each hugged Steve, Bucky, and Alice, bidding them goodnight as well, hugging and kissing them extra hard before running to Evie and doing the same thing. Once Robby was tucked in bed, the two girls and four adults left the room, and Evie made sure to capture the tears on her husband, sister and brother-in-law’s faces as their parents had been included by their children.

Out in the hallway, Evie downloaded the video to FRIDAY's server before sending it to every member of the Team, all of the Defenders, to Wakanda, and to the Benatar, wherever the hell it was.

After Sarah was tucked in and the Barnes family left, she and Steve laid down for bed. Steve was silent for quite some time before he finally spoke, his voice cracking.

“You told them?” was all he said, to which she nodded.

“Of course. Sarah wanted to know who she was named after, so I sat them both down and told them about your parents, Bucky's and Alice's. Then, they wanted to know why T'Challa's daddy wasn't here but his mommy was, and they wondered about Thor and Loki's mommy and daddy, so I just explained everything to them. They took it all in, eager eyes and everything.” Steve was silent again for a while.

“Howard and Maria?” That was the trickier thing to explain.

“They know that a guy who looks like Uncle Bucky hurt Howard and Maria and made them go to sleep forever, and that's why Uncle Tony isn't very good friends with Uncle Bucky.” Steve stared at her for what seemed like hours before speaking.

“That's….probably the best way you could have explained it. Good job,” he said, squeezing her.

“Thanks. Those kids are so much smarter than you think. Robby knew we were having that fight, and he understood that Daddy had said some things that hurt Mommy, but didn't mean to. That being said, I don't think the concept of brainwashing is something a five-year-old would understand, but I could be wrong. I'd much rather wait to explain it to them properly until they're older.” Steve nodded in agreement before snuggling into Evie's side and they both fell asleep.

***********

Shuri pulled up the video file from Evie and read the accompanying text. She then went to find her brother, sister-in-law, nephew, mother, and Okoye to show them as well.

“This is a video that I just received from Evie, and this is what she wrote: To brighten your day and to show how much you mean to us.” She then played the video for them.

“Okoye, are you crying?” T'Challa asked incredulously after the video was done.

“Absolutely not. I just have...something in my eye.” The General wiped her eyes as she turned away. Gail giggled.

“Oh, I must tell Evie and Alice that,” she said before pulling out her phone and sending a message to them.

“It is good to know that we are never forgotten by our friends,” T'Challa said as he hugged her.

“Mama! Tell my cousins I say good morning to them!” T'Zari exclaimed brightly.

“Of course my darling,” she cooed as she sent yet another text overseas. “That did brighten our day.” They continued through the palace, wanting to spend the day together.

************

“Hey assholes, we gotta incoming message from Terra,” Quill shouted over his shoulder to his fellow Guardians. Groot, Rocket, Drax, Mantis, Gamora, and Nebula all joined him at the holoscreen and read the text.

“‘To brighten your day and to show how much you mean to us’? What the hell is that suppose ta mean?” Rocket grumbled. Quill shrugged.

“How would something brighten our day? Is it a light of some sort?” Drax asked.

“I am Groot,” came a reply from the back.

“Peter, just play the video,” Gamora sighed.

“Alright. Oh, it looks like it's from Evie, Captain America's wife.” At this, Rocket perked up.

“She gives the best head scratches,” he said with a longing sigh.

They all chuckled as the video began to play. Once they saw Robby grab the Quill figurine and hug and kiss it so tenderly, they all began to tear up as their own were given the same loving treatment. Quill burst into tears as Yondu was also told good night, as it had been years since the man had died.

“That was...the cutest thing I've ever seen,” Gamora said softly after the video was over.

“I am Groot,”  Groot said, wiping what looked like tree sap from his eyes.

“I've never been called Auntie before,” Nebula said quietly from the corner. Gamora walked over and hugged her.

“Me neither. It felt pretty good too.” Loud sniffles were coming from Rocket and Peter, who both appeared to try and hide their emotions.

“Who do those little gargoyles think they are, calling us all ‘Uncle’ and ‘Auntie’ like we're all some big family?” Rocket grumbled angrily as he wiped tears away. Gamora scratched his head and he turned away, walking to the sleeping quarters muttering about ‘family and how it felt good to have one’.

“I can't believe they remembered Yondu,” Quill stammered as he cried. Gamora came to comfort him too, patting his back.

“How did that brighten our day? All that did was make me feel happy,” Drax said from right next to them.

“It made your day better, right? Well on Terra, ‘brighten your day’ means ‘make your day better’,” Quill explained, his voice muffled as he cried into Gamora's shoulder.

“Oh. Well, then yes, that did brighten our day,” Drax said loudly as he too walked to the sleeping quarters.

The rest of the Guardians all stood in silence as they came to terms that they had a family again, after losing their own so long ago.

***********

“Sam! Come see what Evie just sent us!” Kerry called from their room. A few moments later Sam walked in, ready for bed.

“What is it?” he asked, kissing her sweetly.

“It's a video to ‘brighten our day’,” she replied, pressing play. They watched it in silence, both of them tearing up when they and their unborn baby boy were mentioned.

“Oh my god. That is the cutest fecking thing I've ever seen,” Kerry said shakily once the video was done. Sam nodded, unable to speak.

“It's good to know Riley is already so loved before he officially gets here,” he said after a while. The expectant parents snuggled in bed, smiles on their faces as they fell asleep.

************

“Hey everyone, Evie just sent us a video. Let's watch it!” Peter called through the Compound. The Team assembled in the common room, ready to watch. FRIDAY began to play it, and Tony was a mess within the first five minutes, unashamedly sobbing into Rhodey's shoulder as his parents were so affectionately wished goodnight.

Thor and Loki were the next to choke up as their mother and father were mentioned, followed by Natasha. She was used to being called Auntie Nat by the kids, but to see them send her such love was enough to crack her tough exterior.

Wanda burst into tears as her brother was also wished goodnight, as she missed him terribly. Peter and Aunt May were there, as May and Bruce were still dating. To hear Ben be mentioned brought tears to their eyes as well, Bruce included.

The video was done playing, and everyone sat in stunned silence.

“Yeah, that just made everything that we do worth it. Those kids look up to us, and I'll be damned if I let them down, “ Rhodey declared, patting a still sobbing Tony on the back. Everyone nodded their agreement, then slowly, one by one, they all went to sleep, sweet dreams aplenty.

#

The next morning, Evie woke to her phone going off, the notification tone repeating every few seconds. She grabbed it and unlocked it, looking at all of the messages on the screen.

“Steve, wake up,” she urged, grabbing her husband's shoulder and shaking him. He snaked his arms around her and pulled her close, throwing a leg over hers.

“Five more minutes,” he mumbled into her neck before covering every inch he could reach in kisses. He began to grind his hips into hers, his arousal growing by the moment.

“Steve…” she trailed off as his left hand came up to cradle her face while he kissed her deeply. He took advantage of her distraction to climb over top of her, grinding his erection into her even more. Evie wrapped her arms around his back, reveling in the way his muscles moved under her fingertips. Her hands slowly made their way to his pants, intent on removing them as her earlier preoccupation was forgotten as they continued kissing.

“Uncle Steve! Get off Auntie Evie! You're gonna hurt her!” came the outraged cry from the doorway as Becca ran into the room. Evie jumped, causing her teeth to nick Steve's lip. He quickly got off of her, sitting up in bed as Alice and Bucky entered soon after their daughter, bursting into laughter as Steve's blush covered his upper body. Evie quickly sat up as well and swung her legs over Steve's lap to help hide his erection from their niece.

“Becca! What have we told you about coming into our room without knocking?” she scolded the little girl. “What if I or your uncle were getting dressed? We don't want you to see us naked, so you have to knock first.” Becca bowed her head.

“Sorry, Auntie Evie. I was just so excited to tell you about what Auntie Gail said about Miss Okoye,” she replied. Evie sighed before holding her arms out for her niece.

“It's okay, but that's one of the rules, remember? We all have to knock before opening someone's door,” she said as she hugged the little girl.

“Becca, she's right. You wouldn't want her or Uncle Steve to just walk into your room while you were getting dressed, right?” Bucky asked his daughter. Becca's eyes grew big as she understood the issue.

“No. Okay, I'll knock every time, I promise.” Evie hugged her again before kissing the top of her head.

“Good deal. Why don't you go hang with Sarah? I'm sure she's awake.” Becca was out the door before Evie got the whole sentence out. Once she was gone, Steve got out of bed, holding a pillow over his crotch as he walked past Bucky and Alice as he headed to the bathroom.

“Why the hell are you hiding it from me? It's not like I don't know what one looks like,” Bucky directed at his brother's back.

“Yeah, well my sister doesn't need to see it though,” he shot back over his shoulder as he threw the pillow at Bucky, shutting the door. Alice shuddered as she climbed up next to Evie.

“Yeah, I really don't need to see him like that,” she agreed. Bucky rolled his eyes.

“What? We're all adults here,” he argued. It was Evie's turn to roll her eyes.

“Yeah, but you wouldn't want me to see you like that though, right?” she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Well no, but we're related.” Another eye roll from the doctor.

“They are too, because of us, so it's the same thing, moron.” Bucky flipped her off before calling over his shoulder.

“Having problems in there, Stevie?” Evie couldn't hear her husband's response, but judging by the blush that covered Alice's face and Bucky's laugh, it was pretty filthy, even for Steve. “I think we're gonna go hang with the little monkeys so you can go help him out.” He stalked to the bed and swept Alice into his arms and walked out.

Taking that as her cue, Evie went into the bathroom, walking up behind Steve, who stood in front of the toilet. She grabbed his hands and turned him towards her, the tent in his pants quite noticeable

“Here, let me,” she said as she sank to her knees.

**********

Evie followed the voices of her kids and niece downstairs, finding them, Alice and Bucky in the kitchen, eating breakfast.

“Everything okay?” Bucky asked teasingly. Evie smiled at him.

“Oh yeah. You know better than anyone about that super soldier stamina, so we had to take care of his issue a few times,” she replied with a wink, making Alice blush.

“Eww. So anyway, we didn't know that you had sent that video to everyone last night,” she said, narrowing her eyes at her sister. Evie shrugged.

“What? I thought that everyone would enjoy it. Sorry for not asking before I sent it.” She set about making a cup of coffee for herself and a glass of milk for Steve.

“Thanks, baby,” he said as he walked in and grabbed it from her. He wasn't a fan of coffee, so it was milk or water for him.

“Welcome, babe.” She kissed him sweetly before walking over to Becca. “So, what did Auntie Gail say about Miss Okoye?” The six-year-old grinned brightly, her father's smile copied perfectly into her little face.

“Auntie Gail said that Miss Okoye cried when she saw your video, Auntie Evie!” she exclaimed. Evie looked around at the other adults in shock. Making Okoye, the General of the Dora Milaje, cry over a video was an impressive feat.

“Uh, wow. That is pretty amazing,” Evie replied in a daze. Becca nodded enthusiastically.

“Yep and cousin T'Zari said hi to us too!” All of the adults were glad the super kids would all grow up so close. Steve had opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted when the front door opened. The four adults went to see who their unannounced visitor was.

“Brighten our day?! Tug at our heartstrings is more like it!” Maggie cried as she stomped in, followed by Simon, Kerry, and Sam.

“Yeah, that was pretty heavy-handed, Evie,” Sam said, closing the door behind him. “Kerry woke up crying a few times over ‘how fecking cute’ it was.” Steve and Bucky grinned at the thought of Sam having to deal with a pregnant partner and the accompanying mood swings.

“Sorry. I didn't mean to make her or Okoye cry,” Evie apologized.

“Wait...Okoye cried?! Wow,” Simon exclaimed, impressed.

“Apparently.” Her phone dinged again and she looked at the messages. “Oh yeah. I was going through the responses I got when someone distracted me,” she said, glaring at Steve.

“What? I had needs, and you took care of them,” he answered with a shrug. “What did everyone say?” Evie scrolled through her notifications, her smile growing with each one.

“So Okoye cried, so did Quill and Rocket. Tony sobbed, and Thor and Loki got choked up. Oh my gosh…..Nat cried. I made Natasha Romanoff cry.” Evie honestly didn't know what to say. She didn't mean to make anyone cry with the video. She just wanted to show everyone how much they meant to the kids.

“Simon cried too, Evie. Good job,” Maggie congratulated her. The offended look on the burly man's face was priceless as she sold him out. Bucky, Steve, and Sam burst out laughing, while Kerry and Alice smiled sweetly at him.

“Awww, Si. I've made you cry, and now Evie has. Did you cry when Gail got married? Will you cry when Kerry gets married?” Alice asked. He scowled at her.

“Shut it, Al. For the record, I wasn't crying last night, I just had….allergies,” Simon explained.

Which, in the presence of a doctor, probably wasn't a good idea.

“Do I need to prescribe you something for those then?” Evie said, slipping into Doctor mode. He stuttered at being caught in a lie.

“Yeah, some time to hang with all of the kids so he's not such a fecking moody bastard,” Kerry quipped, making all of the adults laugh. “Oh. Riley must want to play too.” She rubbed her belly, looking uncomfortable.

“Everything okay in there?” Evie was on edge. She couldn't exactly diagnose anything with Riley or Kerry, as obstetrics was out of her league. The redhead sighed.

“Yeah, he's just over eager to get here. I'll be so glad when he does though.” Sam rubbed her back soothingly as she took some calming breaths.

“Alright. Just don't go into labor yet. He's not done cooking and there's no one here that's qualified to deliver him,” Evie warned. They all gave her the same look. “What?”

“You are the most qualified person here,” Alice insisted. “None of us have gone to medical school and only two of us have given birth.” Evie's eyes grew big as she realized her sister was right.

“True, but let's leave me as Plan Z. You'll be at the Compound when you go into labor I'm sure.” They all nodded in agreement. They've had enough excitement to last them a lifetime.

“Okay, enough chit chat. I've got a nephew and some nieces I need to see,” Simon declared, pushing past them all and heading towards the kitchen. Evie chuckled as they all followed him. If he's this whipped before fatherhood, then he'll be a downright puddle of mush when he and Maggie have a baby. 

Evie hung back and watched everyone in the kitchen, happy to see all the love and affection they all had for each other.

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