Summary: Tony Stark finds himself in a world he has no memory of where Thanos isn't a problem. Yet. Is history doomed to repeat itself or will he discover a way to help his team in both the old world as well as the new? Will he find a way to return to his old world or will new bonds that he's formed make him want to stay?

Featuring: Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, OC, All the Avengers, and others.

Setting: Post Infinity War. Sort of.

Notes:

It was relatively quiet in the woods around the compound. The sky darkened roaring with thunder. Bolts of lightning shot down at the building courtesy of Thor. Clint and Natasha crept into the building while the rest of the Avengers took on the Hydra guards on the outside of the building. In a room somewhere inside, the younger Stark slowly came to completely unaware of where she was at the moment. Panic grew within her as she realized that she was strapped down to an exam table and she began tugging at her restraints.

"Struggling will only make things worse." One of the men in lab coats called out to her.

"Go to hell!" Elizabeth continued to fight against her restraints.

With the outside guards down, the team fought their way through the building in search of her. One of the men wearing a lab coat turned toward Elizabeth holding up a scalpel. Her eyes widened at the sight and a scream fell from her lips. Chaos then ensued as the door to the room was kicked open. She squeezed her eyes shut stilling her body as the man with the scalpel neared her. Before the scalpel could touch her skin, it clanked against metal instead. Confused, the man glanced up only to see the Winter Soldier glaring at him. He dropped the scalpel as he stepped back in shock. Shakily, he went to grab a gun only to be knocked out by Natasha from behind. She nodded at Bucky signaling that it was all clear to free the younger Stark sibling. He nodded back and moved toward Elizabeth grabbing one of the restraints that was holding her down. She panicked beginning to struggle in the restraints again only to stop when she felt his metal arm.

"Bucky?" Her brown eyes had opened and she gazed up at him in confusion.

His features softened and he carefully tore the restraints away from her. "It's alright, doll. You're safe now."

"T..Thank you." Elizabeth's body trembled as he lifted her up into his arms.

Hearing noise, she glanced over only to relax when she saw that it was just Natasha and Clint. They were destroying any information that tied to Elizabeth, It was Bucky that carried the young woman out of the room. He carried her through the building only stopping when a guard appeared in front of them. She gasped clinging to Bucky out of fear. The guard held them at gun point and the former Winter Soldier glared at him with icy blue eyes. Before the gun could go off, it was blasted out of the guard's hand and suddenly he was webbed up against the wall. The Iron Man suit set down in front of them while Peter swung away to canvas the area. Tony lowered his mask revealing his face and sighed in relief to see that his sister was relatively okay.

"Tony..."

He smiled reaching out and brushing a few stray strands of dark hair away from her face. "Hey kiddo. How are you feeling?"

"Scared. Kind of sleepy." She admitted resting her head against Bucky's shoulder.

Tony nodded his head in understanding. "Well it's alright now. You're safe and we're going to get you home."

"We're all clear." Peter announced over the coms.

The older Stark nodded his head. "Thanks kid. Natasha, Clint, did you get everything?"

"All done. Intercepted some communications between here and the Hydra commanders." The red haired agent confirmed to him.

Tony cleared his throat. "Alright. We'll go over it at the tower. Let's move out."

He turned his attention back to his sister only to see her asleep in Bucky's arms. It concerned him though he knew it was mostly just the sedative in her system that was making her sleepy. They left the building with Tony guiding the way. He kept an eye out for any guards that they may have missed. The team safely returned to the Avengers tower where Elizabeth was taken to the medical bay to assess her condition and ensure she wasn't actually harmed.

"She is understandably shaken up, but otherwise she wasn't harmed. The effects of the sedative they gave her should be completely wearing off soon though some rest will probably do her some good." Helen assured Tony who was now out of his Iron Man suit.

He sighed in relief. "Thank you. Any updates on the, uh, earlier testing?"

"It's quite remarkable, actually. I can say with certainty that the serum's effects on your sister are stable just like in Steve and Bucky. The mark on her skin from where she was injected with the sedative has even already begun to heal. I can't explain why she doesn't have the enhanced strength that they exhibit except for the fact that it might have to do with Howard modifying the serum that he gave her." She explained to him.

Tony nodded his head furrowing his eyebrows in thought. "Alright, well that's good to know."

He thanked her again and left the medical floor of the tower. Security had been upgraded in the tower as a precaution mostly for Pepper, Morgan, and Elizabeth's sakes. The latter was currently curled up in her bed fast asleep. Tony crossed the common area of the tower only to see Bucky.

The elder Stark sibling rubbed at the back of his neck and then sighed. "Bucky, thank you for getting Elizabeth out of there."

Bucky sat up a bit straighter and smiled slightly. "No problem. I'm sure you or someone else on the team would have gotten her out just fine as well. I'm just glad that I was able to help."

Tony nodded his head as he moved to pour himself a drink. "Helen said that my sister was unharmed which is great, but it's bugging me. There wasn't even a mark from where they gave her the sedative."

He sighed in relief. "Well if she has the serum in her then that must mean she is exhibiting the healing properties of it. Small marks like injection sites heal faster."

The older Stark shrugged taking a sip of his drink. "That makes sense. Listen I, uh, gave you security clearance to her living area. You seem to make her feel safe."

Before Bucky could respond, Tony walked off to check on his family.

Maria Stark entered the room and her heart nearly broke at the sight of her daughter who had been through so much recently. She walked over to the bed sitting down and held her little girl in her arms. Elizabeth relaxed sighing softly as she recognized the scent of her mother's perfume. She wasn't mad at her mother. She was just mad at the whole situation.

"Sweetheart, I am so sorry." She pressed a kiss to her daughter's head and sighed.

"Did you really want me?" Elizabeth frowned not bothering to look at her mom just yet.

"Of course we did. We wanted you so very much. Your father and I were heartbroken when we couldn't have you naturally. The whole surrogacy thing was still in its experimental stages back then. We were very much in agreement that if it didn't work that we would then consider adoption." Maria admitted running her fingers through the younger woman's hair gently.

"But dad used the serum on me." She bit her lip in thought.

"Yes, he did, but it's not what you think. The surrogacy didn't work at first. So we tried again. The surrogate miscarried. Your father in his misguided brilliant judgment believed that if he modified the serum then injected it into the embryos, the process would work. He was proven wrong as the embryos weren't viable. That is until he realized that one still was viable. It was you."

"So I'm not some weird super soldier experiment?" Elizabeth looked at her mother in awe.

"Of course not, sweetheart. You're not an experiment. You're our miracle." She hugged her daughter smiling softly.

Tony watched them with a slight smile. "Then why was Dad headed to D.C.?"

"Howard let the government believe that he was working to perfect the serum. If they knew the truth, well, we were worried they would take her." Maria admitted smoothing out Elizabeth's hair.

"And you guys didn't tell either of us because you thought I'd be safer if we didn't know."

He nodded his head and sighed. "Exactly. Listen kiddo, you should probably try to get some rest. If you need anything, just call out to Jarvis and he'll get us."

Steve entered the library where Natasha and Clint were studying the intercepted communications. "Any luck?"

"Standard stuff for the most part. They let them know that they captured her and had her securely in the compound. Orders were given to run tests on her." Natasha responded glancing up at him.

Clint nodded his head agreeing with what she said. "We were able to block communications when we arrived. So if they don't know we have her back yet, they will soon. We're monitoring their communication channels now. If they're smart, they'll probably switch channels once they realize they've been compromised."

"We also got the files they had on Elizabeth. Hydra thinks she would be perfect for a new breed of Winter Soldiers. The files they stole from Howard were falsified to protect Elizabeth and since no one can really find the real files, she is the only way to determine the serum that was used on her. At least that is what Hydra thinks." The redhead sighed shaking her head.

Steve sighed standing up a bit straighter. "Well they failed and they're not getting another chance to take her again."

Elizabeth loved her room in the tower. It was more like a little apartment. She had her own little kitchen, living room, bedroom, and bathroom. It made her feel at home which certainly helped after what she had just been through. That still didn't stop her from waking up in a cold sweat breathing heavily from a nightmare. Once she had her breathing under control, she climbed out of her bed walking barefoot into the bathroom where she splashed cold water onto her face. It made her feel a little better. She dried herself with a towel and then made her way out to her kitchen. The brunette downed half a glass of ice water before noticing the former assassin on the couch.

"Bucky?"

He smiled softly at her though he knew the signs of having woken up from a nightmare. "Hi, doll."

"What are you doing here? Not..Not that I don't want you here. I mean, I do. I just.. I'm surprised, I guess." She stammered almost nervously as she set her glass down on the counter.

Bucky sighed walking over to her slowly. "I just wanted to make sure that you were alright. I knew once the sedative wore off that the nightmares would probably start. I've been there."

"Oh. Well I appreciate that, Bucky. I really do. I'm okay though. I think. It just.. it felt so real. I was back there again and it was my dad approaching me with the scalpel."

He took her into his arms comforting her the best that he could. "Hey, it's alright. They're never going to touch you again. I promise. They'd have to go through me... and the Avengers. I should have been closer to your office."

"What? No, hey, it's not your fault. Natasha was there and they still got me. There was nothing you could do to stop it. The important thing is that you were there to get me out." Elizabeth pulled back from their embrace slightly tilting her head up to look at him.

Bucky gazed down at her and nodded his head. "Yeah I know. I just hate the thought of anything happening to you, doll."

Before she could stop herself, the brunette leaned up pressing a kiss to his lips. The older man stood still for a moment before giving in and kissing her back. They stood there in the space between her kitchen and living room for a few minutes just kissing. It was only when the need for air arose that they broke apart slightly. Elizabeth blushed and Bucky stepped away from her.

He cleared his throat rubbing at the back of his neck nervously. "You should, uh, probably try to get some rest."

"Stay with me? Just until I fall asleep. Please?" Elizabeth grabbed her glass of water and bit her lip at him.

Bucky cracked a smile nodding his head at her. "Alright, doll."