Ties (sequel to The Stark Family)

13

9 DAYS AFTER DIAGNOSIS

"Thor!" Bucky whispered. He shook his older brother awake "Thor!" Thor,rolled over in bed to see his little brother.

"What? It's the middle of the night!" Thor,asked.

"Thor, can you take me to In N Out?"

"Why?"

"I'm starving,"

"There's food in the kitchen! They're probably not even open!"

"I really just need to get out of here! I've been cooped up too long,"

"Yeah, well you're not the only one. Clint's driving me insane,"

"Can you take us somewhere in your truck?"

"Buck, its 3 am,"

"Okay. I can go get Clint and we can leave in 5 minutes. I'll write the note for Mom and Dad,"

"Hold your unicorns, I need to get dressed. 10 minutes. You better be standing next to the truck when I get out there. If you wake anyone else up, I'll eat your Doritos,"

"Okay,"

-----

Thor walked out to his truck and saw Bucky, who definitely had too much energy, and three more. Clint, Loki, and Carol.

"Buck, I told you- oh fine. Get in the truck," Thor said, unlocking it. Loki hopped in the passenger seat and they took off. Carol sat in the middle of the backseat so she could see everything.

"Thank you, Thor," Carol said.

"No problem. If,mom and dad get mad, remember, it was Bucky's idea,"

"Where are we going?" Loki asked.

"I dont know. I think we should go find us place in Connecticut, sound good?"

"Like a Starbucks?" Clint asked.

"Yeah, probably. Did y'all bring cash or money?"

"Y'all? I thought you were from Asgard," Bucky said.

"My dialect has evolved," 

"I brought money," Clint said.

"Good. We can go get a treat,"

"Will Mom and Dad be mad?" Loki asked.

"Maybe. I don't really care. I've visited Steve a ton, but I feel like it's making it harder for me to be happy. I don't mind living on the edge in order to see y'all smile,"

-------

4.5 HOURS LATER, 7 AM

*

Hey Mom and Dad,

Thor took me, Loki, Clint, and Carol in a truck ride so we,can get out of the house a bit. Love you.

Bucky

*

"Rhodes, have you seen this?" Happy said to Rhodey who was walking behind him. They were headed back up to the med bay so they could see Steve and support his parents.

"The letter? No," Rhodey said. He skimmed it "I think we should show Pepper and Tony,"

"Definitely," Happy said. He stepped into the med bay and held the door for Rhodey.

"Rhodes!" Tony said. A weak smile crossed his face. He was so drained, mentally and physically. 

"Tony, Happy found this letter in front of the door to here,"

"From who?"

"Bucky,"

"He didn't run away again, did he? I can't handle much more right now,"

Rhodey tossed the letter onto Tony's lap. Tony read it, and then handed,it to Pepper.

"Someone needs to go get them," Tony said.

"I don't know. Thor wouldn't let anything happen to them," Happy said.

"I dont know where they are, I just want to know!"

"Text them," Pepper suggested "Honey, I have no problem with it if they need to get away. I just wish they took Scott. He needs to get out as well,"

"I could take Scotty," Rhodey offered.

"Done. Text Carol, maybe you two could join the others," Pepper said.

"I'll text her," Rhodey said, whipping out his phone.

"I can stay here if you two want to go with the big kids?" Happy offered. Tony didnt seem too down with it.

"I can take the twins and Pete to get coffee or something," Pepper said.

"I'll stay with Happy," Tony said.

"I heard back from Carol, they're at a Starbucks outside Hartford, Connecticut," Rhodey announced.

"Should we join them?" Pepper asked Rhodey "Tell them to stay there, we're bringing the others,"

"Got it,"

-----

1 HOUR LATER

Pepper pulled up to the curb amd let the twins and Peter out of the car. They walked down the road alongside Rhodey and Scott.

Upon entering the coffee joint, they saw the other 5 in the corner booth. Bucky was sitting close to Thor and Loki, Carol and Clint across from them. Scott pushed another table against the other, making room for the additional 6.

Pepper ordered for the new arrivals. When their drinks were done, Pepper brought them over.

"Is everyone okay?" She asked. She got nods from everyone "What's going on, then? Leaving at 3? To another state?"

Silence.

Pepper looked at Rhodey, realizing how exhausted Rhodey was too.

"We want to get away from the med bay," Bucky said "We want Steve to get better so I don't have to watch him hurt and whine and cry about every little change,"

"We undestand that he's very scared and so are you and dad, but we just want to get to have time to get a treat instead of making pour over in the kitchen," Clint said "I personally feel neglected,"

"We only see you when we're visiting Steve," Scott said.

"We don't see why we can't still be a family with Steve like this," Loki confessed.

"When Steve was sick before, we still did things, we just had to give him a little extra care, instead of all the care and love and attention," Thor said.

"That makes sense," Pepper said "I'm apologizing now for,any hurt I've caused you. I love you all and I know its hard right now. But Steve might die, not going to sugar coat it. He loves you so much that he doesn't want to leave. He told me he remembers when Nat died. He doesn't want to put that on our family again. He's fighting to keep our family together,"

A girl at the booth next to them watched. She pushed a bit of hair behind her ear, letting the wisps of hair with grown out roots fall down her back in a braid. She had been watching this family for a while. She wasn't sure why, but she had been instructed by a certain man to watch the escaped Hydra agent. 

Barnes could screw things up for Hydra pretty badly. He knew too much. She just had to make sure he didn't squeal. Personally, she wanted to escape pretty badly. She knew if she tried anything, Hydra would brainwash her again. She was sure she could get back her memories when she saw her family. If she was wiped again, she would be too far gone.

She couldn't risk it. 

She knew this family.

She wanted to talk to that mom to see if she could help her.

But,if the mom said no. 

She would be so screwed.