You weren't sure if you would ever find a way to repay Wanda and Vision for all that they had done for your trio and all of the things that they had already taught them in such a short time, but you couldn't help but watch them in action, standing back and out of the way as to not interfere. Anthony was still looking at you with a strange expression, almost as if it pained him to see you after the scene in the kitchen only a few hours ago. You worried that he would be the one to give you away to the others, knowing that he was too young to be able to control what he felt and said around you yet. You would never choose one of your children as your favorite, but you and Anthony seemed to already have a special bond between you; it was a bond that you feared would now become your downfall.

Grant had set the compound's fire alarms off so many times that Tony had set up this room so that it wouldn't sound unless FRIDAY activated it herself; teaching a toddler how to control fire didn't bode well for the use of the local fire department and no friends were being made there. Even just as you had been watching him for the past few minutes, Vision had to extinguish flames that enveloped Brooklyn's wood blocks, causing her to send them across the room and onto one of the couches, creating quite the dramatic scene for his teachers.

Brooklyn seemed to need the least amount of help, easily learning her telekinetic powers and their uses with the help of Wanda; having a teacher with the same abilities made learning just that much easier for her. When you weren't looking her way, the little one giggled and sent one of her soft toys towards you, smacking you in the head to get your attention, much to the squealed delight of all three children.

"I should have warned you," Wanda laughed along, "she's getting quite skilled with her aim."

"I see that. I was just thinking how remarkable it is that you've come so far with them, both of you. I don't know what we would do without you guys."

"Well, it's easy when we speak the same language," she nodded, holding out a hand for Vision to take his place next to her. "There are ways to communicate beyond words, but in actions and feelings that we can share amongst each other. It's a very unique situation."

"Viz," you asked nervously, lowering your voice, "can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Of course, please excuse me," he nodded to Wanda, releasing her hand. She walked away and left the two of you alone at the door, with Vision waiting until she was fully out of earshot before turning back to you. "How might I be of assistance?"

"Okay," you sighed, wringing your hands together, "please don't judge me." You paused, turning slightly to be sure that Wanda was keeping her distance. "But I need to know if there's a way to stop them."

"I'm sorry, I don't follow?"

"Is there a way to take their powers away from them?"

~~~

After the debacle in the kitchen, and after letting a few hours pass before trying to approach Steve again, Tony made his way to the hangar bay where his teammate was taking ammunition inventory on the quinjet. He took purposeful steps towards him, but with each one he could feel his own resolve begin to waver; he couldn't shake the feeling that something was going on that he wasn't going to like, but at the same time he couldn't believe that Steve would be a part of anything that could put you at risk. Steve isn't that guy. He's not, he thought, pushing forward with as open of a mind as he could manage. It wasn't much.

"Cap? Can we talk?"

"Sure, Tony, come on in," Steve welcomed him, though he didn't look his way. His focus was on the tablet in his hands; Steve knew that he was at the most risk of breaking his resolve to stay quiet if he looked back. He was fine holding this secret on his own, but having to bring you into it now too was almost too much to hold in.

Tony swiped his hand over one of the controls, making one of the long racks of rifles pop open to display its contents. He pretended to look over each one, though absentmindedly and without any real purpose. "Everything check out so far?"

"Yeah, numbers are matching up," Steve nodded, "I'm just about done."

"Great," Tony murmured in reply, gently pushing the cabinet closed again, "so...um...can I ask you something? Tony to Steve."

The tone in his voice caught Steve's attention quickly and sent his nerves screaming throughout his body. He gently set down the tablet on the pilot seat and turned, though he still didn't look Tony in the eye.

"Let's put the shield down for a sec and let's just talk. I need..." Tony sighed, "...I need to talk to my son-in-law here."

"Alright?" Steve responded cautiously, choosing to take a seat along the wall of the jet and closer to the door, though he may not have consciously realized it.

"What happened last night, Steve? And please, don't bullshit me. I know what I saw. I saw my girl draped over your arms, not moving, not fighting back, nothing. I'm not gonna lie to you, I'm pretty terrified right now, and you're the only one who can explain this to me." He stopped and took a seat opposite of Steve, a few feet closer to the door than he was as a show of intent to hold his ground. "You're the only one who can keep me calm about this, Steve."

"Tony..."

"Please," he insisted, leaning his arms onto his thighs as he listened, his expression growing urgent.

Steve finally looked back at Tony and he could feel the heart shatter in his chest. It had taken so much to even come close to trusting each other after so much had happened between them, and to see Tony pleading for the truth was excruciating. "Tony...I'm sorry. I know that you want me to have some magical answer that makes everything okay, but I don't have it. All I can tell you is that (Y/N) is safe, and the kids are safe. Beyond that, just know that I'm handling it, and believe that I would never let anything happen to any of them."

"That's nowhere near good enough, and you know it."

"It's going to have to be."

"Okay," Tony groaned in frustration, pushing himself up hesitantly and raising his arm at his side to summon a suit, "this isn't how I wanted to do this, Steve, but you're not leaving me a lot of choices here."

Steve reached out and slammed his hand down on Tony's arm with a loud crack that dropped him to his knees, holding the limb protectively when he realized that it was broken from the impact. He couldn't let Tony get a suit on, and it was the only way; or at least that's how he justified it in his own mind. "Tony, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," he pleaded, "but you can't get in the way. I'm just barely holding on here, and I can't let you put my family at risk by getting involved."

"We can fix it-"

"You can't," Steve sighed remorsefully, grabbing Tony's healthy arm to lift him up and push him from the back of the jet. The door began to close before Tony could get to his feet, and the last sight he had of Steve was at the end of his rifle, warning him to not come any closer.

"If you know what's good for you, and what's good for (Y/N), you'll let us go. Don't follow us, Tony, please."

~~~

"Hey, (Y/N), can we get that talk you promised me now?" Bucky asked, poking his head into the classroom door. "Unless you're in the middle of something."

"Sure, Buck," you smiled faintly, having just heard Vision say that he knew of no way to stop the kids from having or using their abilities at their own will. It was disheartening to hear, but you didn't really want to take them away; you were simply grasping at straws on how to keep them safe, and by taking their power away, you hoped to take some of their value to Hydra away too.

"Let's walk," he offered, taking your hand.

"Outside."

"Why? No one's gonna bother us?"

"I want to be alone," you replied, "and in here, someone is always listening."

"M'kay," he shrugged, continuing on and leading you out onto the expansive lawn and towards the lake behind the main building. The sky was so much calmer than either of you were feeling inside, and even though he was no empath like your son, it didn't take more than a touch of your hand to his to know that you were wound tight. "Alright, we're outside. Talk."

"I've been thinking about how to say this since this morning, and...I don't have an answer for you, Buck."

"Yeah, that's not gonna do at all. I told you, I want an answer, (Y/N), and I'm gonna get one out of you, trust me."

"Don't threaten me, Bucky," you snapped. With a sharp pull, you got your hand out of his grip, tipping you just slightly off balance as you backed away. He motioned to grab you again but you evaded him, "Just stay back, please. Don't make me do something that I don't want to do."

"Then just tell me what's going on! That's all you have to do!"

"I can't!"

"Dammit, (Y/N)," he hissed, taking another step closer, "it's them isn't it? Those sons of bitches at Hydra have their claws into you and Steve, right? That's it, isn't it? It's the only thing that makes sense. Answer me!"

"Bucky-"

"It's the kids..." he whispered to himself in a shocked revelation, "(Y/N), they want the kids, don't they?"

When you couldn't control the tears from falling from your eyes and down your cheeks, you had given him the answer without saying any more. "Steve...he tried..." you whimpered, still backing away, "but I figured it out...and now I have to...I don't have a choice..."

"You have to what, (Y/N)?" he pressed. "Please, honey, talk to me so I can help."

"You can't, Buck-"

Your words were cut short when the quinjet flew just overhead, stopping above the two of you with the door slowly opening as it hovered. "(Y/N)," Steve called out, the sound of his voice echoing across the grounds, "we need to go."

"Like hell you do!" Bucky yelled back, jumping forward and wrapping his arms around you. "Steve, get your ass down here! We can fix this!"

"What did you say, (Y/N)?" Steve hissed, slamming his fist on the jet wall. "I knew it. I knew you couldn't keep quiet." He disappeared from view for a few seconds and the jet began to descend; Bucky released you and charged forward, but he wouldn't make it to the door. You ran behind him, jumping onto his back and pinning his arms to his sides with your legs, cutting off his air with your arms around his throat.

"Bucky, I'm really sorry," you whispered into his ear, "but you can't help. Just let us go. Take care of my babies, Buck, please. You have to keep them safe, because I couldn't."

In your periphery, you could see Sam and Clint rushing across the lawn, Sam with his pack on and Clint with his bow in hand. Natasha came from the building with Bruce and Scott in tow, each of them looking shocked and full of fear at what they didn't understand. Out of nowhere, all hell had broken loose and none of them knew exactly why.

"(Y/N), stand down!" Sam yelled out, spreading his wings to get to you faster, but before he could take flight, Bucky dropped limply to the ground and Steve yanked you up into the jet by the back of your shirt.

"He figured it out, didn't he?" Steve panted, dropping into the pilot seat and slamming coordinates into the control panel. "What did you tell him?"

"Yeah, he did," you whispered with an unnerving calm, slowly opening the rifle cabinet. You pulled one out and checked that it was loaded, closing the door and holding the weapon steadily as you aimed it at your husband. "Steve, put the jet down."

The change in your tone caught him immediately and he spun the chair around, his eyes wide at the sight of the gun and the determination in your eyes. "(Y/N), put that down. We can't go back."

"I'm not going back," you replied coolly, "but you are. They want me, so that's what they'll get. I'm going to open the door and you're going to jump."

"Like hell I am."

You raised the weapon and shot out the panel next to him, making him jump out of the seat at the sudden explosion and smoke filling the cabin. "See? You're almost there." You reached out and slammed your hand against the door control, holding your breath as it opened and hoping that he would just do as he was told. "Go."

"You think that just because you're giving yourself to them that they'll stop?" he countered. "They'll come for the kids too, (Y/N), and this will be for nothing. If we go now, they'll leave them alone."

"You don't know that."

"Neither do you."

"They won't stop until they have me, that much we know for sure," you replied, still holding your aim, "but you can protect the kids if you stay with them. It's better this way, Steve. They'll still have you."

"I won't-"

You took another shot at a panel on his other side, and another at his feet, forcing him closer to the door. "Go now, Steve." When he stood firm again, you sucked in a harsh breath and took aim, closing your eyes as you pulled the trigger again, feeling the tears building in your eyes at the sound of his pain when the bullet sunk into his leg. It took his balance away, giving you the opportunity to push him over the door, leaving him tumbling towards the ground.

Dropping the rifle with a choked gasp, you looked over the edge to see that he landed and was pushing himself up, giving you a small sense of relief that he was okay. Rushing to close the door, you hurried to the pilot seat and laid in any destination just to get distance, not knowing where you were going. You grabbed your phone from your pocket and typed out a message frantically, hoping for an answer quickly so that you could get out of the sights of the team before they had a chance to follow.

I've left the compound, need rendezvous coordinates. I'm alone.

HC: Do they know?

I've left Steve behind. He won't talk.

HC: Are you certain?

I'll guarantee it myself if that's what I have to do.