Chapter Text
Thirty days later, the dining room of the Stevens house is full of people.
Natasha, Yelena, Sharon and Ava, at least, have been in the living room for a few hours already, spilling popcorn and shrieking at intervals that seem random, but given their horror movie marathon, must make some sense. Sam, for his part, keeps flitting in and out of the room, evidently returning to the dining room when the movies get too scary for him.
“I like thrillers, man,” he’s saying after Rhodey gives him shit for slinking back during Texas Chainsaw Massacre. “Whatever that shit in there is? It’s not for me.”
“Not even on Halloween?” Trip asks. “Not even on Halloween with your girl?”
Sam gives him a look. “Yeah, we’re gonna get real sexy during a Halloween party with her fathers and all their coworkers in the next room,” he deadpans.
“‘Coworkers’?” Jimmy asks. “Is that all we are?”
“Hey, I’m not about to speak for the Winter Fox and the Red Guardian,” says Sam, holding up his hands. “That’s a question for them.”
“Of course not, Jimmy!” Alexei exclaims, clapping him on the back and nearly sending him face first into an extremely hot slice of pizza. “We are all friends here!”
Hill raises her hand. “I am more than fine with just being coworkers.”
“That’s why I like you, Hill,” says Fox with a nod. “No bullshit.”
Steve snorts mid-chew of a seasonal Oreo. As he brushes black crumbs and bits of orange creme filling from his shirt, he says, “So you consider friendship to be bullshit. Duly noted.”
“Oh my god, shut up, Rogers,” Fox says with a great roll of his eyes. “Don’t make me dump the bowl of kettle corn on your big stupid head.”
“Charges!” Tony declares, pointing at Fox dramatically. “Charges against this man! For threatening an egregious misuse of kettle corn.” Fox grins and grabs himself a handful of said kettle corn, sitting back in his chair to eat it piece by piece.
The four weeks since their attack on the Triskelion have been busier than Fox anticipated, and also much, much weirder. When Fury explained, on the getaway jet, that HYDRA was still out there, and then asked the entire lot of them if they wanted to be the team that took HYDRA down, the answer turned out to be fairly simple. It did lead to firm boundaries being drawn for Yelena, who was absolutely not about to be allowed to drop out of high school, and an eventual fight between Ava and Bill Foster when Rhodey landed the jet in Ohio, but still: it was a resolute yes. Since then, they’ve gotten in contact with many other SHIELD agents who are on their side and want to bring HYDRA down, and they’ve all been working based out of SHIELD’s former Midwest HQ in Cleveland, poring through the records Natasha released online and chasing leads. It’s all been unofficial and unsanctioned, so far, but when Fox and Alexei extended the invitation to this Halloween party, Fury promised he had something important to discuss - he just hasn’t brought it up yet.
The public fallout of bringing down SHIELD - and the HYDRA that grew within it - has been extraordinarily satisfying for Fox to watch, in any case. The data dump and the subsequent analysis of it by professional journalists and people who spend a lot of time on the Internet alike has led to more public takedowns that their team couldn’t have predicted when they’d started planning this whole thing a couple months ago. The public outcry and protests against various politicians around the world has caused what can only be described as panicked mass resignations, and multiple U.S. senators and congresspeople have actually been arrested. Plenty more have gone on the run, naturally, and they may have money and HYDRA connections to help them, but they’re politicians, which means they can’t survive too long without attention. Fox is confident they’ll be tracked down sooner or later, perhaps even by him.
A week after the return home, Fox received an incredibly surprise visit from the literal President and a few attorneys for the Department of Justice, all of whom thanked him solemnly for his service during World War II and vowed that he would not be charged with any crimes and would in fact be formally pardoned if that’s what he wanted. Fox smiled politely instead of saying what he wanted to say, which is that getting a pardon from a fellow war criminal who was fully conscious of his decisions meant virtually nothing to him, and bit his tongue on the several other things he would rather this guy be spending his time and taxpayer money on - ending the so-called War on Terror, for one thing - and, thinking only of his family, chose to accept the offer. He didn’t mention that he didn’t vote for Bush in 2000, or point out that this still wouldn’t get him to vote for him come November of this year. He did, however, bare his teeth and violently raise both middle fingers to the door once it closed behind his visitors.
Steve and Sam moved out of the Stevens house and into their own shared apartment two weeks ago. Rhodey was awarded a medal of valor by the Air Force for his actions at the Triskelion and granted a paid leave of absence to continue fighting HYDRA. Tony stepped down as CEO of Stark Industries, naming Pepper Potts as his successor, but not before starting an official new division of the company focused on the design of what he’s still calling “superhero suits;” he is the Department of Enhancements’ only full-time employee, though he recently hired both Yelena and Ava on part-time. Fury, Hill, Coulson, May, Jimmy, Sharon and Trip all got their own Cleveland apartments too, and Jimmy decided to withdraw his application to the FBI in favor of rejoining the as yet unofficial anti-HYDRA efforts the others have going on. Natasha is on board as well, and with May’s tutelage, has started undergoing what used to be the traditional SHIELD recruit training regimen. Alexei is also part of the work, but he hasn’t jumped back into it the way Fox would have expected him to; instead, he and Fox have been dedicating a significant amount of time to training specifically with Yelena and Natasha, focusing on the best techniques to use the next time - or times, as it’s almost certainly going to turn out to be - they fight HYDRA as a family.
All in all, everything is working out better than Fox thought it would. He’s very grateful, of course - obviously he is - but it is pretty fucking annoying that, once again, Steve’s brave and stupid plan worked.
The doorbell rings suddenly, and the loud laughter and squeals of children can be heard all the way in the dining room. They listen as the movie pauses and Natasha opens the door, greeting the kids and complimenting their costumes as she generously hands out candy from a giant bowl. The door closes, and a minute later Natasha strolls into the dining room to restock the candy bowl.
“Any more Iron Mans?” Tony asks.
“Nope,” she replies, shoving her hands into the bowl and mixing up the Kit Kats, Baby Ruths, Crunch bars, Reese’s Cups, Twix bars, and Rice Krispie Treats. “Three Captain Americas, though.”
“Three?!”
“And a Red Guardian.”
“Ha!” Alexei pounds his fist on the table in victory. Across from him, May produces a small dry erase board and uncaps a marker to add tallies to the count of kids in Captain America, Red Guardian, Iron Man, War Machine, or Falcon costumes that have come to their door tonight. So far, Steve is winning by a fair margin, but Sam isn’t far behind him. Fox is pretty sure it’s going to result in some sort of series of weird and unnecessary competitions within their apartment, which means he has another reason to be thankful they’re no longer living in his house.
Natasha saunters out to the living room again, candy bowl in one hand and Sam’s hand clasped in the other as he follows, and the chatter around the dining table returns to normal for a few minutes. Fox goes to the kitchen for a moment to bring back more beers and sodas for everyone, but as he opens the fridge, a soft sound from their backyard catches his attention. Through the doorway to the dining room, he can see Alexei and Steve turn their heads sharply toward the noise too. Wordlessly, they both stand and pick up their shields, drawing alarm from the others in the room.
“What is it?” May asks. She and Hill are on their feet, weapons drawn already, but Alexei gestures to them, as well as Steve, to sit down. None of them do.
“I am sure it is nothing,” he says to them. His statement is punctuated by a crashing sound just outside the dining room window. Fox is there beside him in an instant, gun drawn and aimed and cocked, ready to fire at whichever idiot thought it was a good idea to break into the home of two super soldiers while their many skilled and enhanced friends and colleagues were over. He and Alexei step silently toward the window, each of them taking a side, a move they’ve practiced in training with the girls over the last few weeks. It allows for eyes on all angles, easy nonverbal communication, and quick responses to–
A small, white flag on a popsicle stick makeshift flagpole appears on the windowsill. Fox furrows his brow; Alexei tilts his head. Then, a bow is held aloft, being waved by a hand with familiarly bitten down fingernails.
“Oh my god, Barton!” Fox exclaims, putting his gun away without a second thought. Alexei opens the window and reaches out to haul Barton into the house. He falls onto the floor unceremoniously, groaning and swearing, before jumping up again.
“You fuckers seriously couldn’t give me a heads up?!” he asks, unbuckling the strap of his quiver and letting it, along with all its arrows, clatter to the ground. “I was undercover in fucking Oregon - rural Oregon - with who I thought were my fellow SHIELD agents but who all turned out to be secret members of an underground international terrorist organization bent on world domination. Are you aware of the three-hour time difference? I got woken up at half past six in the goddamn morning by some HYDRA Nazi dickwad putting a gun to my head. You could’ve at least warned me!”
“Natasha said she’d call you!” Fox says, looking over Barton as well as he can. “Are you okay? You’re not injured or–”
“Jesus, no, I’m fine,” Barton says. “I mean, I sprained my shoulder or something getting out of that particular wake-up call, but nobody got a shot on me. Those guys are dead and it took me a while, but I finally hitchhiked back here.”
“You hitchhike all the way here?” Alexei asks. “Why did you not call us? We would have–”
“The media isn’t exactly being forthcoming on any of your whereabouts,” Barton says. “I didn’t want to risk giving you aw–oh. Uh.” He stands up straighter, his eyes on Steve. “Captain,” he says with a nod. “Um.” He leans toward Fox. “I don’t have to salute, do I?”
“Definitely not,” says Steve, flashing a glare at Fox before he can even reply otherwise. “You’re Clint, right? I’ve heard a lot about you. You’re very beloved in this house.”
“Oh,” Barton says again, his cheeks going a bit pink. “Um.”
“It is very good to see you, Barton,” Alexei says, squeezing his shoulder.
“We’ve missed you, man,” says Fox softly.
Barton nods again, then clears his throat and reaches for the last unopened beer. Popping the lid off using some unseen accessory on the back of his glove, he asks, “So, Dads, how are we feeling about this boyfriend of Nat’s?”
There’s a shared moment of hesitation before both Fox and Alexei answer, “He’s fine.” Barton snorts.
“That’s not fair,” Fox says, shaking his head at himself. “Sam is a good man.”
“Yes, he is good man,” says Alexei.
Barton hums thoughtfully. “And he’s how old?”
“Hey, is everything okay in there?” comes Ava’s voice. Fox looks over to see the girls and Sam all approaching the dining room. “We thought we heard something but it’s hard to tell what’s a real life noise and what’s just screaming on the–”
“Clint!” Natasha exclaims, eyes wide and smile bright. She runs toward him - Alexei steps back out of her way - and throws her arms around his neck. Barton, who set down his beer just in time, grins and hugs her around the waist, picking her up for a quick spin. “Where have you been?!” she asks once he puts her down, leaning back to smack him hard in the arm.
“Ow! Nat!” Barton rubs his arm, wincing. “You guys crashed SHIELD into the Potomac and I had to get out of rural Oregon without any fucking backup or extraction team! You know those lunatics out there already don’t trust the government - I mean, not that I do either, especially now, but Jesus.”
“I’ve been trying to reach you,” says Natasha. Barton reaches into his pocket and retrieves something that was perhaps once a phone. Natasha frowns at it. “You shot it with one of your trick arrows, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t know who would be calling me - or worse, tracking me,” Barton explains. “All I knew is that I could trust the Stevenses, so.” He spreads his arms in a here I am gesture, then jerks his head toward the newcomers in the room. “Is this Ava? And Sam?”
The necessary introductions are made, and a tight hug is exchanged between Barton and Yelena, and then he leans back against the wall and says, “You all know there are still HYDRA agents out there, right?”
“Yes, we do,” says Hill. “We’re working on it.”
Barton nods. “I took out a handful of minor cells on my way here. Just smaller groups, but. That’s why the journey took so long.”
“Well done, Barton,” Fury says with a whisper of a smile.
“Thank you, sir. Trust me: it was my pleasure.” Then, he turns his head and adds, “They are terrified of you guys, by the way.”
“Who is ‘you guys’?” Sharon asks.
Barton motions with the hand holding the bottle. “The Stevens family,” he says, like it’s obvious. “Natasha, Yelena, Alexei, Fox.”
Fox furrows his brow. “Why are they so afraid of the four of us?”
Barton grins. “Someone in HYDRA got a hold of the footage from the records room fight remotely and distributed it to, like, every agent, apparently. They’ve seen what you four can do together, what you’re willing to do for each other. You got ‘em shakin’ in their fucking boots, man. They even got a name for you.”
“For the whole family?” Yelena asks.
“Yep,” Barton answers with a nod. “They’re calling you ‘the Winter Guard.’”
Fox blinks. He turns to look at Alexei before exchanging glances with Natasha and Yelena. From the twitchy smiles and gleams in their eyes, he can tell what they’re all thinking. “The Winter Guard,” he says slowly, allowing himself a grin, “sounds pretty fucking cool.”
“Hell yeah, it does!” exclaims Yelena.
“On that note,” Fury says, “and with Barton here now, I believe it’s time we discussed the ‘something important.’” Hill reaches somewhere under the table and pulls out a file folder that looks surprisingly worn around the edges. She hands it to Fury, who nods his thanks before saying to the rest of the room, “The one file I kept off SHIELD’s database all these years. Never knew how glad I’d be that I did that.”
“Uh-huh. What’s in it?” Tony asks impatiently.
Fury doesn’t bother rolling his eyes. He rests his hand on the folder and says, “There was an idea - Coulson, you know this - called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people to see if they could become something more, to see if they could work together when we needed them to fight the battles we never could. Technically, Captain Rogers here became the first one back in 1945, before the idea even came about.”
“Sir?” Steve asks.
Fury raises an eyebrow at him. “Are you going to argue that going so aggressively after HYDRA and the Red Skull after your friend’s alleged death wasn’t you avenging him?”
Steve blinks. “Well. When you put it that way.”
“So, what, that group of people you’re talking about,” Rhodey says, “that would include everybody in this room?”
Trip, Jimmy and Sharon smile, a little sly. “Not exactly,” they say as Hill reaches under the table again and pulls out more folders - these with names on the tabs - before passing them around. Steve gets one, naturally, but so do Alexei, Tony, Rhodey, Sam, Natasha, Yelena, Ava, Barton and Fox. After a few moments of silence, the others begin talking over one another, asking questions and quipping at each other, but not Fox. Fox stares down in disbelief and uncertainty at the letter in his folder, at the formal invitation to join a legitimate team of superheroes. When he finally raises his head, Fury is looking right at him.
“You’ve been quiet, Barnes,” he says, which shuts up everyone else swiftly.
Fox opens his mouth, closes it, bites his lip. Then, he asks, his voice almost embarrassing in its softness, “Are you sure you want me for this?”
Leaning back in his chair, Fury regards him for a long moment before answering. “Fox,” he says, “this? Doesn’t work without you.” Fox blinks at that, not understanding in the slightest how that can be true, and Fury gives him a soft smile as he starts to explain. “You’re the one who brought all these people together in the first place. Shostakov, Natasha, Yelena - you made them your family. And it was your family that welcomed Barton in with such open arms. If Stark hadn’t trusted or liked you at all, he would’ve fired you long before he decided to take the search for Captain America seriously, and because of that, you were able to hire Wilson. Rhodes wouldn’t be here if it was just Stark in his workshop with his suit designs - it was Wilson testing out the Falcon wings that brought him on board for War Machine. You found both Starr and Rogers and downright rescued them.” He shrugs one shoulder, his one shrewd eye never leaving Fox’s gaze. “You’re a good man, Fox, and you’re the link. And if the Avengers are going to tear down the rest of HYDRA and fight whatever other threats come humanity’s way, they need you.”
Fox looks down, not wanting every person in the room to notice that his eyes are welling up. He swallows. “Okay then,” he says quietly.
“Now,” Fury continues, and in Fox’s periphery, he can see Fury turning to look around at the others. “Any other questions?”
“Who would we be working for?” Alexei asks immediately, to several nods and affirming hums. “I am done with working for shady government agencies and yes, I am including state governments in that category.”
“Well, it was going to be SHIELD, in the original plan,” says Fury, “but since that’s out of the question now, the Avengers would be an independent group. We–” He gestures to those in the room without folders, “would be on the ground to provide you with intel, and in the field for backup should you ever need it. But you’d be able to research your own information too - it’s not like it would only have to come from us. And you’d be calling the shots yourselves.”
“Mm,” Alexei grunts. “I like the sound of that.” He glances at Fox, touches his wrist. Fox looks at him and smiles. Alexei nods once before turning back to Fury. “In that case, I am in.”
“Me too,” says Fox.
One by one, seven other affirmative answers go up around the room, until only Steve is left. “Well,” he says with a bit of a sigh, “the last time Fox followed me into the jaws of death…”
“It’s not your fault what happened to me, Steve,” says Fox. He knows it will take more time before Steve truly understands and accepts this truth, and for now he has no problem with reminding him of it when he needs to hear it.
“Still,” Steve says, tilting his head.
Fox raises an eyebrow as Steve looks up at him. “Still?” he prompts.
Slowly, Steve smiles. “Maybe this time, I follow you.”
“Wow,” Fox breathes in mock amazement. “Those decades you spent in the ice made you so much smarter.”
Laughter fills the dining room as Steve grabs a handful of kettle corn and throws it at Fox. “Jerk,” he grumbles. “Sometimes it seems like not much else has changed. I mean, we are still fighting HYDRA.”
“Yes, but even HYDRA can’t stop all progress and freedoms,” says Ava astutely.
“Yeah, go on, Steve,” Sam says, a mischievous grin forming on his face. “Show everybody what you’ve learned in the last three and a half months.”
Steve sighs heavily. “What’s the topic?” he asks, sounding so put-upon that Fox knows it’s mostly a performance.
“Every movement and national law that has made life better for this particular group of people than it would’ve been in the ‘40s,” Sam demands.
“Jesus,” Steve mutters. “Time on the clock?”
“Sixty seconds.”
“Really?! Alright, count me down.”
Sam presses a button on his watch. “Three, two, one.”
“The Civil Rights movement - obviously, arguably the biggest thing,” Steve begins. “The Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 outlawed discrimination based on race in employment and housing, desegregated public schools, and ended discriminatory voting practices so all citizens could have equal access to vote. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 ended the explicit exclusion of Asian immigrants to the U.S., but it still held strict quotas against people trying to come here from Asian countries. Those quotas weren’t ended until the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.”
“Forty seconds,” says Sam.
“The feminist movement - also a huge one,” Steve continues, speeding up his pace of speech some. “There was the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which did what it sounds like, Title IX in 1972 which prohibited discrimination based on sex in education programs that receive federal funding, and in 1994, both the Gender Equity in Education Act - again, does what it sounds like - and the Violence Against Women Act, which funds services for survivors of rape and domestic violence, among other things. Plus, lots of progress with contraceptives in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and obviously Roe v. Wade in 1973.”
“Twenty-three seconds,” Sam warns.
Steve points at Ava and says, “Loving v. Virginia legalized interracial marriage on a national level in 1967.” She smiles at him and nods. He points to Alexei next. “The end of the Cold War, naturally.”
“Да,” Alexei replies with a grin.
Steve turns to Barton. “Uh,” he stumbles. “Sorry, I don’t really know enough–”
“The Adoption Assistance and Child Welfare Act of 1980,” Barton says unceremoniously, even though Fox knows this kind of openness from him in front of so many people is a big deal. “Improved foster care conditions. Not by much, but. I had it marginally better in the ‘80s than the ones who came before me,” he finishes with a shrug.
Steve nods, then glances back and forth between Tony and Coulson. “I–”
“Don’t worry about us,” Tony says. “I’m a man who’s wealthy, white, and straight. I’m golden any time in history.”
“You’re straight?” Fox asks, furrowing his brow.
Rhodey lets out a guffaw as Tony blinks at Fox. “Uh, yeah,” he says defensively.
Fox narrows his eyes. “I don’t know about that.”
“What the hell do you mean you don’t know about–”
Coulson, deciding it’s best to cut Tony off before he can really get going, turns to Steve. “I’m also a white man, but I am bisexual.”
Steve slaps one hand on the table and points at Coulson with the other. “Stonewall!” He whips around to look at Fox and Alexei and exclaims, “You, too! Also, it’s not a national law yet, but Massachusetts has marriage equality now!”
“That’s time,” Sam announces. “Not bad, Cap.”
“You’ve come a long way, baby,” says Fox in a dull monotone.
Steve points at him again. “Virginia Slims marketing campaign starting in 1968.”
“Look at you, Rogers,” Tony says, genuinely impressed. “You might even win a game of Trivial Pursuit.”
“I can’t believe Massachusetts beat New York to marriage equality,” Steve complains. “I mean, it’s New Yor–”
“Ебать!” Alexei exclaims suddenly. “I almost forget–” He glances around the room, murmuring incomprehensibly to himself and ignoring Fox’s look of concern, and then turns to him before dropping to one knee.
“Alexei!” Fox says just before the realization of what’s happening truly hits him.
“Oh my god,” Ava whispers as Natasha and Yelena gasp softly.
“Oh shit,” says Rhodey under his breath.
Alexei blinks up at Fox, taking a deep breath. “At first I think I want to do this alone, when it is just the two of us. I think, maybe take you to Las Vegas, or find that coffee shop in Seattle with ‘Brooklyn’ in the name, where you played the piano, because I think–I am pretty sure that is where I first fell a little bit in love with you.”
“Alexei…” Fox breathes.
“Then I think, no, our girls should be there too,” Alexei continues. “We have been a family almost as long as I have known you. They are a part of our story, so it is only fair they are there to witness the proposal. But then, I get to thinking about all the others who have been part of our story, and so many only recently. You build search team, we find Steve - so much has changed in so short a time. And I know you are the quiet type, not the kind of man to want a crowd or be so public, but I think that having all these folks here is the right thing. So.” Alexei reaches under the table, sticks his tongue between his teeth while he feels around the underside of the wood for a few seconds, then retrieves a small box of black velvet.
“You hid the ring under the dining room table?” Fox asks, a smile playing on his lips.
“You hide firearms under dining room table,” Alexei points out. “Why can I not hide engagement ring?” Fox bites his lip in a fit of fondness, and Alexei takes his silence as permission to keep going. He clears his throat and takes another deep breath before continuing, “I now have confession to make: I have been thinking of you as my husband since even before our first kiss. I was unsure of so much back then, Fox, but I was always certain of you. I was certain of who you are, of what you could be, of how I felt about you. Always. And I will be forever. I know it is not your New York yet, or our Ohio, but I will marry you in every state as it becomes legal, if you say that is what you want. For now, however, in Massachusetts–” He opens the ring box, not bothering to wipe at the tears in his eyes. “Will you marry me?”
Fox has to blink away the fog of his own tears to see Alexei’s face clearly as he huffs out a dubious laugh. “Да, Alexei,” he says, nodding enthusiastically and smiling. “Да. Of course I’ll marry you, you–” He’s interrupted by Alexei springing to his feet and pulling him into a passionate kiss.
Applause - led by Jimmy, who, through his own watery smile, exclaims, “Mazel tov!” - fills the room along with more congratulations and cheers. After several seconds, Fox also hears one gagging noise that could belong to either Natasha or Yelena; frankly, it’s impossible to tell.
He finally pulls back from the kiss and swipes softly across Alexei’s cheeks with his thumbs. “You crazy, crazy Russian,” he whispers against Alexei’s smiling mouth.
“Wait, Red Dad, did you even put the ring on him?” Yelena asks, squinting at Fox’s vibranium hand.
“Oh, damn, no,” Alexei says through a laugh. He drops his hands from Fox’s back and holds up the ring box again.
Now, not distracted by his future husband’s handsome face - regrown beard and all - Fox actually looks down at the engagement ring. He bites his lip again, stifling a laugh. “Alexei,” he says, “is that–”
“I call in a favor from our friends in Wakanda,” says Alexei with a smile. “This vibranium ring opens and closes so you don’t have to worry about it catching on the plating of your finger.”
“Uh-huh.” Fox plucks it up from the box delicately between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand. “And tell me about the design?” Fox prompts, thoroughly amused.
“Oh, that,” Alexei says with a shrug of faux modesty. “That is just my shield.”
“What?” Natasha says. “Red Dad, did you really–” Fox holds up the ring so she can see it: a shining black and gold vibranium band topped by a tiny design of red and white circles with a red star in the center. “Oh my god,” she laughs, covering her face with her hand.
Fox turns back to Alexei, fond smile still firmly in place and eyes still shining. He holds out the ring to him, placing it gently in his palm. “Well, what are you waiting for then? Put it on me.”