Dammit all if Tony wasn't right; only three hours into yours and Steve's going away party, and Clint was dancing on the bar in one sock and no pants. Again. You had been sitting with his wife for the better part of an hour, observing the show from afar with plenty of video options taken for public shaming later; the two of you had decided that there was no reason for you to be the only ones suffering through this.

"What drink are we giving him that keeps ending like this? How do we keep repeating such a disturbing thing?" you asked Nat, sitting next to her, your legs crossed and leaning sleepily into the cushions of one of the large couches across the lounge from where her husband was making a total fool of himself. Despite the noise around you and the music blaring, the few drinks that you'd had were taking their relaxing effect.

"You wouldn't believe it if I told you."

"What?" you asked cautiously, holding your own glass ready to drink, but your curiosity was winning out.

Natasha smiled faintly as she watched the love of her life dance to the music that filled the room, looking completely ridiculous, but also looking totally blissful and having the time of his life. "It's water."

"Shut the hell up."

"I swear," she tossed up her hands with a chuckle, "he's just that big of a dork all on his own."

"I suppose that was never really in question-"

"(Y/N)!"

You closed your eyes, almost as if the sound of your own name gave you pain, trying your best to not engage the source of it, but you knew full well that your efforts meant absolutely nothing. You weren't feeling up to what you knew that he would want, but you didn't see any way out of it now.

"(Y/N)! Come dance with me!"

"Can he see me?" you whispered to Natasha, your eyes still closed as your body tried to sink deeper into the couch.

"Yup."

"Alright," you groaned, pushing yourself up but stopping abruptly when Sam ran across the room to grab your hand, all but yanking you to your feet when he helped you to stand. "Jesus, Wilson, if you rip my arm off, Bucky won't have enough shirts for the both of us."

"I heard that!" Came the familiar voice of your metal-armed friend from the farthest side of the room. "I've got you! Just be sure he rips off the left one!"

"Come on, girl, it's time to spin."

"Don't make me puke again," you warned, holding your place, "because this time I won't miss your shoes, and I promise that you'll never see that brand new suit at another party when I'm done with it."

Sam laughed aloud and gave you a firm pull towards him, raising your hand up so that he could give you a fast spin before you landed in his arms, "your threats mean nothing, woman. This isn't my suit."

"Then who's is it?"

"My sweet, sweet, (Y/N), the answer is practically screaming at you," he laughed. "In fact, I think it's trying to get your attention," he stopped, pointing back towards the bar, where Clint was frantically waving at you to lure you in his direction.

"Okay, but that's still not good enough reason for him to not wear pants, Sam. Don't encourage him," you warned, pulling out of his grip to lead the two of you to the dance floor. This might be the last night that you would see Sam for up to a year as you and Steve took your break, and you could tell by the way he looked at you as you turned back to face him that it was starting to sink in for him too. He was your best friend, even more so than Natasha, and the idea of not seeing him every day was tearing at your heart and becoming almost too much to think about.

"Alright, Sam, let's make this a good one," you sniffled, taking a quick swipe of your sleeve over your eyes, "I'm gonna need to remember this for a long time."

"Hey," he answered softly, almost too low to hear over the music that filled the room around you, "you okay?"

"Always."

"Oh, honey, come here," he said gently, pulling you in close and beginning to sway slowly, despite the upbeat tempo playing. "Don't ever tell Steve that I said this, but you're my best girl, (Y/N). I'm gonna miss the hell outta you."

"He already knows."

"Shit, do I need to go into hiding? I don't want a repeat of the Barton Incident."

"Just keep your lips to yourself, and I think you'll be okay," you laughed quietly into his chest as your head found a comfortable resting place. The two of you continued to move together slowly, the music changing to match your mood with the next song; you stayed silently this way through three more before you finally lifted your head to stand straighter and look at him, your tears again threatening to spill over. "I love you, Sam."

"I love you, too, baby. Just promise me that you'll behave and stay safe. I'll never get anything done around here if I'm worried about you all the time."

"Cross my heart."

~~~

"So, you're honestly telling me that you and (Y/N) are leaving the team for a year, no missions, no updates, no contact at all?"

"I'm always honest," Steve smirked, "but yeah, other than Tony, of course. We just want to experience a little normalcy for a while, ya know? I've never had that, and growing up with Tony, (Y/N) has no idea what that looks like. With everything that's happened around here, I'm more than ready to get away."

"How the hell does Stark get off having contact?" Bucky huffed, waving his hand angrily in your father's direction. "I have to wait a whole year to even talk to you guys? To see my godson?"

"Buck, we've been over this," Steve replied, much calmer than his friend, "Tony's her dad, so of course they'll talk. But we aren't going to see the kids much either, remember? They're going to live at the Sanctum for this year to study. We get to visit maybe three times in that whole span."

"Well, I think you guys are idiots."

"Thanks, man."

"I'm serious," Bucky continued, "you two are magnets for stupid shit. Trouble follows you everywhere, so why would you think that this is gonna be any different? At least here at the compound you've got the world's best security."

"We've also got you, right? The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. My family is a part of the world that you're protecting, so I feel just fine about this."

"Oh, okay, I get it," Bucky groaned, taking a long drink of his beer until the bottle was empty, holding it up for the server to bring him another, "you guys get to go and live the good life all the while just making more work for me. Well, I'll tell ya what, big guy, the next time you get yourself cornered in some back alley in Brooklyn, you're on your own."

"You mean that?"

Bucky willingly took his new bottle from the waitress and took another drink, his eyes wandering around the room until he found you, dancing with Sam. Steve had been his brother since they were kids, and now you had become his sister in all meanings of the word; your kids meant more to him than he ever thought he could feel for anyone, and the thought of any of you in harm's way made him angry and a little frightened that with you being so far away, it could be a reality. Bucky had always known that if the moment ever came, he would lay down his own life to save any of you, and now he was unexpectedly finding that belief was stronger than ever.

"Nah, I don't mean it," he finally answered, "but do me a favor alright? Maybe don't go looking for trouble. I don't want to have to come save your ass one day just because one of you got bored."

~~~

A mere two days later, and it was time.

Between the five of you, your little family had hugged each member of the team at least four or five times over, with Tony surprising the group and hugging Steve maybe even one extra time. There were words spoken between the two men in hushed tones with knowing looks exchanged, and you knew better than to ask either of them what was said; you were sure there were topics of father and grandfather threats to keep you all safe, and Steve's promises to keep his word on it. Tony was doing his best to keep a strong exterior, but you could see that he was faltering. When the time came to finally leave, you pulled him aside to have the hardest goodbye of all.

"Are you going to be okay?" you asked him with a skeptical glance, having to draw his attention so that he would actually have to lift his gaze from his feet and look at you.

"Always."

"We really need to stop saying that," you scoffed, "it's okay to not always be okay, Dad."

"Okay."

"I'll call you when we get there. We're dropping the kids off first, so please don't text me every five minutes asking if we're home yet."

"Okay."

"Dad, come on," you sighed, reaching out to take his hand, "you know that we'll still talk and I'll keep you up to date on the kids. You're the only one here that we'll have contact with."

Tony dropped his shoulders in defeat, relinquishing control of his emotions and letting his sadness finally take over. The kids were off with Steve to get into the truck, and the team had begun to file back into the building, so he felt safe now to just let it happen. "Yeah, sure, but you've lived under my roof more years than not. I kinda like having you around."

A small honk from the truck made you jump slightly, pulling you from your thoughts and the lack of the right thing to say as you watched Tony fade into his own mind and sadness. You thought that maybe if you could find just the right words, he would actually be okay, but nothing came to you, and all you could do was to say what he didn't want to hear.

"I have to go."