Steve was grateful to see a loaned van waiting when they landed on a rocky cliff along the southern shore of England. It was in the middle of the night, Chris was sound asleep, and Bucky looked worse for the wear.

He woke Chris to say their temporary goodbyes and got them out of the jet, climbing quickly into the van and watching the team continue on to the compound. Tony was going to catch hell when it was discovered he'd dropped them off, but Tony could handle it. Probably better than he himself could.

The SHIELD agent who met them was a quiet man called Holt and he got them to what looked like an older English castle in a short period of time. Steve gazed up at the imposing structure with some doubt as he reached back into the van for Chris so he could carry her in.

"What the hell is this place?" Bucky mumbled, glancing around.

"Come on," he told him as they followed Holt in up a huge flight of stone steps.

Once they were inside, Bucky grinned. The front room looked restored from medieval times. The moment you stepped out of that stately room with its suits of armor and ancient rugs and relics, it looked like the state-of-the-art compound back home.

"Thank fuck," Bucky mumbled. "I really wasn't looking forward to sleeping in a cold, drafty room."

Steve set Chris gently on her feet. "If you two are sleeping in there, no way it's cold and drafty."

That had both of them laughing because both of them did tend to run hot.

"There was, I believe, a need to see the doctor?" Holt asked politely as he walked in carrying a few bags.

"Yes, please," Chris said apologetically. "Bucky's been shot, and he needs to be looked at. He lost quite a bit of blood."

Holt nodded at her middle. "Probably be prudent to have you looked over as well. You're due soon, yes?"

"I'm okay." She waived the offer away. "And no. Not for another two and a half months or so."

Holt nodded, if he were surprised by her answer, it didn't show.

"Mr. Stark's orders," he informed her. "I'll be back in just a few moments. Captain Rogers, if you would?"

The man motioned for Steve to follow him…

Chris sank into a comfy leather sofa with Bucky while Steve was shown around the lower level by Holt. It was handy to know where the security cameras were, the arsenal Tony always had fully-packed and ready. By the time Holt returned him to them, Steve knew his way around.

With Holt heading out to get the doctor, Steve decided to get them settled. Towards the back of the estate, there was a massive bedroom they decided on. The bed was a bit smaller than they were used to but then they usually ended up in a pile in the middle anyway, so they'd make do.

Bucky and Chris had just finished dressing from a quick shower in clothes they found belonging to Bucky and Pepper. Steve decided to wait for the doctor and shower later.

He didn't have to wait long. A distinguished gentleman of a doctor was shown in by Holt and was immediately put to work looking at Bucky's wounds. Dr. Inneson checked his vitals, took a blood sample.

Chris watched as he examined their lover, just as surprised as he was when the doctored pulled out a StarkPad and started typing. The man honestly looked as if he came from another time.

"Despite your enhanced healing, you'll recover faster with a blood transfusion," the doctor advised Bucky in his Scottish brogue. "I brought provisions with me, so we'll take care of that in just a few moments."

"I can donate if you need me to," Steve offered.

"Kind offer but no need." The doctor pointed to the bed. "Stretch out over there if you would please, Sergeant Barnes."

Then he motioned to Chris.

"Come here, young lady."

Taking a seat in the room's stuffed chair where Bucky had just sat, the doctor's eyes moved over her with fascination.

"You must forgive me if I seem particularly interested in you, my dear," Dr. Inneson told her. "While I'm mostly a medical doctor as opposed to a researcher, I was fascinated to read the details of your pregnancy."

Chris grinned at him. "I imagine from the outside it is a bit interesting."

"An American FBI agent," the doctor went on. "You intend to go back to work after the birth?"

Chris glanced from Bucky to Steve and back to the doctor. "I've been giving that a lot of thought actually. Earlier in my pregnancy, I meant to. But now…"

The doctor listened to her heart. When she didn't continue right away, he blew out a sigh. "You are perfectly in your rights to tell an old man to mind his own business, lass."

Steve snorted at that. He had to have at least a couple of decades on the man.

He watched color rise in their girl's face as she considered her words. Bucky smiled at her, looking supportive. He knew their dark-haired lover worried about her too. They both wanted her to be happy but after some of what they've been through… safety was also a worry.

"Oh, no," Chris told him. "I don't mind. I guess now I'm thinking I'd like to be a more involved mother. There are a lot of dangers out there. I'm fortunate in that I can do work online and not have to go out into the field. His fathers will be out a lot with their line of work, but I'll be there. It will be alright."

Bucky's eyes were suspiciously shiny.

Steve's heart squeezed in his chest a little.

"A son. That's confirmed?"

Chris nodded happily.

Dr. Inneson nodded. "What is it you do online?"

Chris shrugged as he wrapped a blood pressure cuff around her slender arm. "Internet security."

He nodded, checking her numbers.

"Your blood pressure is a bit elevated," he told her. "We'll be wanting to keep an eye on that."

Steve raised a brow at her. She wouldn't have a choice but to relax after all of this. He and Bucky would make sure of it.

"Do you plan on testing to see who the father is after the birth?" he asked, glancing at him and Bucky too.

"It doesn't matter to us," Chris said with conviction, "but I think we should know. Just to be safe."

"Wise," the doctor told them. Then he pointed to Bucky. "Stretch out next to him if you would please."

Once Chris was stretched out on her back along the edge of the bed, the doctor did a quick exam, focusing around her baby bump with gentle hands.

"When was the last sonogram?"

"Three weeks ago," Chris told him, watching his face along with Steve as he examined her.

"I'd like to arrange one in the next couple of days if I may," he told her. "Would that be acceptable?"

Chris nodded, chewing on her lip in a way that told Steve that she was a little nervous.

"Is everything okay?" Steve asked gently.

"I've delivered many babies in my time," Dr. Inneson told them. "I'm guessing it's one of the reasons Tony Stark may have picked this location for you."

Steve appreciated Tony looking out for them more than he could say.

"How far along are you?" the doctor asked. "His notes indicate 25 weeks. Is that correct?"

"Yes," Chris answered.

"Please don't be alarmed." The doctor held out his hand so Chris could sit up. Bucky slid down to her at the end of the bed to wrap his flesh arm around her. "If I didn't know that, I would think you were further along."

Chris nodded. "He's going to be a big baby, I know."

"The size of the child is a factor. He'll be a good size. What I mean, however, is that the pregnancy seems more advanced. I'd like to take a closer look."

Steve stepped away from the wall he'd been leaning on.

"Are you saying that maybe the baby will be arriving sooner than we thought?" he asked.

Dr. Inneson turned to Steve and nodded. "Precisely. I'm surprised that your doctors back home weren't more aware of it."

Chris's gray eyes rounded in fear as she stared up at Steve.

"She probably did know," Chris said quietly. "But didn't tell us. Oh, my God."

"Doll?"

Chris used Bucky's shoulder to help her rise from the bed. "The woman I thought was Dr. Meadows, the one I've been seeing throughout this pregnancy, may have been an OBGYN but she's not on our team and..."

Dr. Inneson's expression showed concern. "Excuse me?"

Steve held up a hand when she went to explain. Simply saying for her, "we can really use your help."

The doctor nodded. "I will help you."

Pulling out a card, he handed it to her. "Please contact me at any time if you need. I can be here in minutes. We will closely monitor the situation."

Chris frowned. "Is my pregnancy that advanced?"

"Possibly."

"Could someone…"

Steve's heart broke a little to read the fear in her face as she considered her words.

"Could someone have… advanced my pregnancy? Could they have sped it up somehow?" Chris wanted to know.

"Not unless you ingested or were injected with something experimental…?"

Chris shook her head and Steve had to grin at that. She'd even managed to give up soda and he was still very proud of her for that.

The doctor slowly shook his head. "I'll need to run some test of course. I know there are all manner of new age things happening now, people from space. But from my own experience, I would be surprised if that were the case. I would just like to visually assess the situation. From what you said and what Mr. Stark explained, we need to evaluate everything and move on from here."

Bucky stood, took Chris in his arms. He looked pleased with that answer.

"Agent Danforth, I –"

"Chris," she corrected the doctor, looking ready to faint.

Steve was really glad Bucky was right there.

"Chris, please take a few deep breaths," Dr. Inneson advised her. "I don't want you to be frightened. I did some research from materials sent to me by Mr. Stark on Erskine's serum along with the physiology of both potential fathers and the few notes that were entered into his system regarding your pregnancy. I just feel that it's within the realm of possibility for your pregnancy to be advanced because the father is also advanced."

It was a possibility that Steve hadn't thought of.

"I don't think there is any reason to worry," he went on. "The birth will go fine, and you will be fine. You just might be meeting your son a lot sooner than you anticipated."

Her expression relaxed.

"Sergeant Barnes?"

"Bucky," their dark-haired lover corrected him.

"Ah, yes," Dr. Inneson said with a smile. "Let us go to the kitchen. I'll go get my provisions and we'll get you some blood, yes?"

Not looking entirely steady on his feet, Steve walked over to them and motioned for Chris to rest on the bed.

"I'll get him situated in the kitchen," Steve told her. "Come on, pal."

He waited until the doctor returned with the cooler and Bucky nodded before returning to their girl in the bedroom. She looked so forlorn with one hand on their son and her gaze fixed on the floor. Taking a knee before her, he took her cold hands in his.

"What are you thinking, Sweetheart?"

Chris surprised him by yawning. "Tired, I guess. And a little worried."

"The doctor seems like a good man and he was hand-picked by Tony and probably approved by Fury. He'll take good care of us. He's looking after Bucky right now."

Steve hated to leave her to take a shower, but he got her tucked up in bed and she found a huge television with European channels she wasn't familiar with. She seemed okay, Bucky was with Dr. Inneson. He'd just be quick about it.

When he returned, the television's volume was lower, and it was quiet. Bucky had returned to the bedroom and had climbed into bed with their girl. Chris was curled up on her side and Bucky had curled up behind her with his face buried in her hair and his metal hand draped over her middle. They were both sound asleep.

Everything he ever wanted was there in the bed before him. He quickly found sleep pants and a t-shirt, dressing quickly before he climbed in on the other side, putting Chris in the middle. For weeks when they'd gotten her back from the first time Ross had taken her, she'd slept curled in a ball and it looked like the habit had resurfaced.

Chris was stronger now, she'd be okay.

Steve stretched out on his back on her other side, one arm draped across their pillow to bury his hand in Bucky's still damp hair. If he closed his eyes and focused, he could hear each heartbeat, each strong and steady. Bucky's was deeper, the most familiar. Chris's was different in her pregnancy, almost if it had to work harder to sustain her and their son.

The smaller rapid beat of their son's heart made him smile. It was a strong beat, growing stronger by the day. Steve couldn't wait to meet him, to be able to hold him just as he did his mother, his other father.

The shadow of Ross still loomed over them and as he told Chris, that was his fault. And he'd settle it. His gaze drifted over his family, a family he never thought to have and that filled his heart with happiness in a way that nothing else ever had, and he promised himself then and there that whatever he had to do to keep them safe, he would do.