"Loose Ends to Tie Up"

Bucky heard a sniffle, and noticed that Simmons was wiping away tears. It looked like Fitz was crying as well. Tony was watching the scene, sunglasses back on, suspiciously quiet.

"Please say something, baby," Phil said. He never looked away from Skye. "I've faced some unimaginable horrors, including an alien with daddy issues… and giving you up was the hardest thing I've ever done. I'll understand if you hate me, but—"

"Just." Skye held up a hand. "Shut up." Phil closed his mouth. "I need to think."

It wasn't until he felt like he was about to pass out that Phil realised he was holding his breath. He dragged in a lungful of air, covering his mouth to hide the worst of it. Bucky pulled him close and kissed the spot behind his ear. It was as he nuzzled Phil's hair that he paused, and pressed his nose to the skin of his neck.

"That's…" he whispered. "That's a Bonding bite." Phil nodded. "So that's why you said I'm your Alpha. I really am."

"Yes."

"You… you never had a chance to find anyone else."

"I didn't want anyone else," Phil said, turning his head to look up at Bucky. "I just wanted my family."

"Can I see?" He looked at Skye. "My room. Can I see it?"

"O-of course," he said, nodding, trying not to read anything into it. "I had spare keys for my apartment made on your eighteenth birthday. I mean, you don't have to use them. But if you ever need a place to stay, you can—"

"You'd do that?" she said. "Seriously? We've only known each other less than a year, and you have no reason to trust me. Why would you give me the keys to your home?"

Phil held in a shrug. "It would've been your home, too." He dropped his gaze to the ground. "After we go to the Sandbox, I'll take you back to my place. Would you… would you like Bucky— Agent Barnes to join us?"

"Sure," she said. "Whatever."

That settled – somewhat – some of the crew boarded Stark's plane. Phil drove Simmons and Ward, so that copies of the antidote and the sample were in two different places. Just in case. If he'd brought Fitz instead, the engineer would have bitched the entire time about being separated from Tony Stark. Taking Simmons was the lesser of two evils. Bucky sat beside him in the front seat, a possessive hand on Phil's right thigh the whole way there.

It was another seven hours before they could get home. Again, Phil bought fast food on the way, and they ate and drank in silence. Bucky carried the rubbish inside, following Phil and Skye into the apartment.

"I'll throw this out," Bucky said, holding up the plastic bag.

"Come find us when you're done," Phil said, and he led Skye down the hall. Bucky took a moment, watching them, where he tried to imagine what their lives would have been like under different circumstances. If Phil was carrying Skye's bags to the room because she'd just got home from college, and had a lot more clothes than she'd left with. If they'd been out for fast food as an indulgence, or on the way home from the airport. If they were silent because they'd said everything in the car, and just wanted to be… to be.

He used the time emptying the rubbish into the bin to pull himself together. He couldn't let any of this show on his face when he saw Skye again.

She was even prettier than he'd imagined. He could see some of his mother in her, and he wished he had a picture to prove it. Maybe Steve could draw something? Maybe he could even draw pictures of what Skye would have looked like growing up, with Bucky and Phil by her side?

"Stop it," he whispered to himself. He left the plastic bag anchored under a bread box, and headed to Skye's gift room.

Phil was standing outside, watching Skye walk around. Bucky stood behind him and held his hips. It was instinctive.

"How's it going?" he asked.

"She hasn't said anything yet," Phil said. He didn't comment as Bucky moved closer, until they were pressed chest-to-back. Skye glanced at them, and away again. She stopped by the wardrobe.

"What's in this?" she asked.

"Clothes," Phil said. "You can touch whatever you want. Everything in here is yours."

Skye shook her head. "This is too weird."

"It's not exactly going how I'd imagined it would, which is a surprise. I thought I'd imagined every possible scenario, but this wasn't one of them. Some were worse, I'll admit. Being outright rejected and abandoned, for one. This is a step up from that. And you're here." He gestured to the room. "That's another step up. I just…" His whole body shook, just slightly, just once. "I wasn't expecting an effusive reaction. I don't have any right even to hope for that."

She breathed in and out deeply, and then opened the door. Bucky had already looked, and knew what she'd be able to see. A line of dresses and jumpsuits, shirts and skirts and pants, all getting bigger from left to right. There was even a christening dress at the far left. Some of the clothes had been bought second-hand, and Skye commented on that.

"Those were the bad days," Phil said. "The days when I acknowledged you wouldn't be coming home. I still wanted to get something, but I didn't care enough to make it special, because I knew it would be just another day in my life. Another year without you. Or you," he added, pressing back against Bucky. When Skye went back to flicking through the hangers, he wrapped his arms around Phil, and rubbed his nose against the bite mark.

"And what's with the empty cabinet?" Skye asked, pointing across the room. Phil chuckled half-heartedly.

"That was for your trophies and ribbons," he said. "Anything you won, it'd go straight in there. I got that when you would've been about ten. It was just after I moved in here."

"The books?"

"Any child of mine would be well-read," Phil said. "I didn't want to discriminate, so I got whatever I thought you'd like. Whether it was books about princesses or books about dinosaurs, animals or robots, classics, fantasy. The books were usually something I'd pick up just because I'd be so proud of you, and wanted to give you a treat."

"But…" She looked confused. "I wasn't there."

"I know," he said, and he squeezed Bucky's hands where they covered his. "You're not really here now. But you wanted to see this. The toys, the games, the rocking horse. The bear I got for your first birthday." He pointed to a pink teddy. "I bought you a sleeping bag for your eleventh birthday, in case you had anyone to sleep over. Makeup when you reached your teens. Clothes of different sizes. I'll admit, I didn't go near underwear, or anything like that. Just… presents for my daughter. Call me a masochist, but I've thought about you every day, and I… I can hardly believe you've been right under my nose all these months." He laughed, sounding uncertain, and let go of Bucky's hand to clutch his hair. "God, what am I saying? You don't want to hear any of this. I'm sorry, Skye." He dropped his hand and shook his head. "I'm doing this all the wrong way. I don't know if there's a right way, but if there is, I'm not doing it. I'm just messing everything up further."

"Please, calm down," Bucky said. He frowned at Skye for upsetting her father. She dropped her gaze again.

"I should go," she said.

"Of course," Phil said. He passed her, and pulled something out of the top drawer of the dresser again. Only this time, it was a set of keys, not a documents. "Here. If you need to come back, at any time. I'm the only one who can access this room, but I can set it to your specifications, if you want me to."

"That's not necessary," Skye said. "Thank you for showing me, but I… I really do have to go."

They walked her to the front door. She turned back at the last moment.

"I'm sorry I disappointed you," she said.

"No," Phil said. "I'm the one who gave you up in the first place, and never looked for you."

"I don't mean this. Not just this. There was all the hacking I've done, and that thing with Miles. Now I'm disappointing you all over again." Phil opened his mouth, but Skye continued. "Look, I'll see you back on the Bus, next time we have to go deal with some alien artefact."

"Good night," Phil said softly. Bucky knew that however bad he felt, his mate was feeling worse, and that was killing him. He just wanted to take away Phil's pain.

"Good night," Skye said.

Bucky didn't say anything. After she left, he shut the door, and then took Phil's shuddering body into his arms.

"I'm here," he said.

As Phil scrabbled around in his nightstand for lube and a condom, he noticed Bucky's underwear fall to the ground out of the corner of his eye.

"It still feels wrong to be doing this," Bucky said. "You're upset. It's like I'm taking advantage."

"It's called comfort sex, and I think you need it, too," Phil said, and he turned back around, supplies in hand. He loved looking at Bucky. The Alpha hadn't changed one bit in twenty years. It was Phil who had aged, and was covered in scars. The major ones on his chest and back disgusted him the most. He should have known Loki would try multiplying. And he still had no idea how he'd been saved.

Bucky distracted him by climbing onto the bed. Phil handed him a condom, and then coated his fingers liberally. He reached between his legs, an old hand at this (no pun intended). It didn't take long to stretch himself out. He watched Bucky slicking himself up with more lubrication, and appreciated the view. A tidal wave of desire hit him when Bucky manhandled his hips up and slid a pillow underneath. Phil held out his arms, and Bucky fell on him, lips and teeth and tongue. Phil gave as good as he got, and he wrapped a leg around Bucky's waist as the man thrust deep. There was a burn, but it disappeared quickly. Phil had definitely felt worse, from far less attractive people, and all in the line of work. This was so much better.

He groaned when Bucky swirled his hips, triggering so many pleasurable spots that Phil began to see stars. He tried to bite his lip, to keep quiet. Bucky kissed it away, and then pulled back, panting.

"I want to hear you," he said. "I want to hear my Omega."

"Beta-Omega," Phil said, and he wondered why he was correcting his Alpha on one tiny detail. Bucky snorted, rolling his eyes, and he gave an extra-hard thrust at just the right angle. Phil gasped loudly, and hooked his other leg around Bucky's back. "There. More."

"You want to sass me again?"

"No, Alpha." Phil shivered, and bared his throat. "I'm sorry. Please don't stop."

"I'm not that cruel," Bucky said, but he did pause to scrape his teeth alone Phil's pulse point, and up beneath his chin. "It's been a long time since we had sex—"

"You said 'make love'," Phil said. "On the Bus. You said you wanted to make love to me."

Bucky stopped moving again, and his eyes moved swiftly over what he could of Phil's body. "Yeah. I do."

"So what're you waiting for?"

With a grin, Bucky took Phil's mouth again, and Phil was reduced to a trembling mess by the time he hit his climax. Bucky kept plunging deeper, still fully hard, until Phil pushed him out forcefully.

"What—"

"I'm clean. You?"

It took a few moments, but then Bucky nodded. "Yeah."

"Take it off."

"Take…?"

"That." Phil gestured to the rubber which separated him from feeling Bucky's release. "I want to feel you like I felt you that day."

"You're… you're not in heat—"

"But you're still an Alpha, my Alpha. Please." Phil shifted in place, his hips in the perfect position. "Do this for me. I've waited for you to come home."

The condom tore as Bucky ripped it off, and he threw it aside. He was back inside Phil within three seconds, and they both moaned at the feeling of going natural. Bucky was soon coming inside Phil, a knot swiftly forming. Alphas never knotted when they wore protection; without that barrier, he was free to fill his mate, and keep them locked together until every drop of seed had been poured into the Omega. Beta-Omega, Phil reminded himself with the last of his functioning brain cells. He clung to Bucky.

"We should move onto our sides," Bucky said, caressing Phil's cheek. "I don't want to crush you."

"And I want to stay like this," Phil said. "We'll play word games or something. Talk about everything we've missed. Are you uncomfortable?"

"Honestly? It's been a long time since I've been this comfortable. Are you?"

"Far from it," Phil said, and he kissed Bucky's palm.

So they talked for a long time. It was at least another hour before Bucky tried to pull out. It sent shockwaves through both of them to find that he still wasn't done. He wasn't anywhere near being done. Phil dozed off eventually, and Bucky spent the rest of the time cataloguing his features, and remembering twenty-two years ago. In the last week, he'd found his mate, his daughter, and a home. At least he hoped Phil would let him stay.

When the knot was small enough, Bucky tugged, even while Phil's body tried to pull him back in. He climaxed again, waking Phil with a gasp, and an enthusiastic kiss.

"Mmm." Phil let go of Bucky's hair. "I thought I was having one of my dreams. But you're really in my bed, aren't you?"

"Can it be our bed?"

"I hope so." Phil looked down. "Don't hate me."

"Why would I hate you?"

"Because I asked you to knot me."

"Well, technically—"

"I knew what I was in for, and I didn't exactly keep you from tying."

"Why? I would've thought it'd be risky."

"It is," Phil said, nodding a little as he kept eye contact with Bucky. "Maybe I want to take the risk?"

"You want…"

"Here." Phil grabbed Bucky's flesh-and-blood hand, and held it against his abdomen. It was somewhat swollen, and gave under pressure. But that made Phil shudder, and clench down. It just swelled up again when he took his hand away.

"Does it hurt?" he asked.

"No. It feels good. My Omega half is purring away."

"You consciously made this decision?"

Phil gave him an irritated look. "I'm not in heat. I don't even go into heats. I just want to see if there's a chance. If Skye doesn't want us…"

"She can't be replaced," Bucky said.

"I know. But I used to dream of having a second child, remember?"

"I thought you just liked to pretend that it happened."

"It's not just that," Phil said. "I dreamed about it. About you." His expression darkened. "And then my dreams were replaced by nightmares after spending weeks in ICU. It wasn't until I was assigned the Bus that the nightmares started to decrease in frequency. Then I heard that you'd been found. And then we met again…" He stroked Bucky's chin. "I've only had about two nightmares since then."

The topic was enough to make Bucky's knot go down, and he pulled out. He pushed Phil's legs apart to examine him.

"You're swollen almost completely shut," he said, frowning. "That's not good."

"That's what happened last time. And this," Phil added, patting the swelling. Bucky knew what was causing that, and sighed. But it was a sigh of contentment.

"Let's get you into pyjamas," he said. "If we're both naked in bed together, I'm going to want to take you again, and you're not in any condition for that."

"I know," Phil said, sounding grumpy. "But if I'm loose enough by morning, will you make love to me then?"

"Christ," Bucky said, and he hissed at the twitch below. "Don't say things like that. We'll just… see what happens. Okay?"

Phil nodded. "PJs are in the second drawer down. There should be some to fit you. If not, I keep spare things for unexpected guests."

"What kind of unexpected guests?" Bucky asked, jealous again. This was ridiculous. He would have to mark Phil in more obvious places to show that he was taken.

"Barton and Romanov, mainly. And now Skye. I hope."

Bucky climbed out of bed and found pyjamas and underwear for both of them. While Phil struggled into his, wincing, Bucky disposed of the used condom, and then dressed quickly. They cleaned up using tissues, tossed the top sheet off the bed, and then Bucky slid under the covers beside Phil.

"Good night, love," he whispered, and he wrapped his arms around Phil from behind.

"Good night, Bucky. I love you."

Something inside of Bucky relaxed, and he smiled widely, even though Phil couldn't see it.

"Love you, too, Phil."

In the middle of the night, Phil was awoken by a sound inside the apartment. If Natasha or Clint dropped in, they gave notice if they needed medical assistance, or stayed quiet if they just needed someplace to stay. He wasn't used to noises like that. He went to nudge Bucky awake, only to find that his boyfriend was halfway to the door. Phil joined him, ignoring Bucky's frown. Phil knew his own apartment, damn it. Bucky had only been here once before tonight.

They crept out of the room, and followed the noises to the one room he least expected to find someone. It's not as if anyone could get in except Phil. Or, he supposed, someone who was exceptionally good at hacking, such as Tony Stark or…

"Skye?" he said, and he looked into the room. Sure enough, his daughter – his and Bucky's daughter – was sitting on the floor, back against one of the shelves, and clutching the pink bear he'd bought for her first birthday, when he'd still been optimistic.

Skye looked up at her parents, and she drew her knees up, hiding most of the teddy.

"Sorry," she said. "But I needed to… I needed…"

"It's okay," Phil said. "We'll leave you alone. The guest room is down the hall, next to the bathroom. The kitchen's near the front door; you would've seen it when you were here earlier."

"Please stay," Skye said. Phil noticed the tears on her cheeks for the first time. "Don't leave me."

In three strides, Phil was by her side, and he dropped to his knees. She let out a sob, and covered her mouth.

"Shh, baby girl," he said. "We're here." He touched her shoulder, not sure how she'd react. She just sobbed again, and clutched the teddy bear tighter.

"We're both here," Bucky said. He knelt beside Phil, a little further away, like he was afraid to get close. Since father and daughter had only met yesterday, he couldn't blame his mate for being uneasy.

Skye sniffled as she raised her head. "I've wanted to find you for so long, or at least find out what happened to you."

"I know," Phil said, and he dared to stroke her hair. She didn't pull away, or otherwise object.

"I thought I was half an orphan, at least." She sniffed again, and Phil wished he had a handkerchief or tissue on him. "Then you said you thought you'd found my parents."

"I hoped it would be positive," he said. "When faced with the possibility, I wanted you to be my daughter. Not just because I would've found the girl I cradled as much as I could for seven days, but because you were the kind of daughter I would have liked. Not the hacking, or the incident with Miles. But your spirit, your heart, your bravery." He kept stroking her hair. "I wanted our blood to be a match."

Skye looked him in the eyes. "I wanted it to match, too. Seeing you so invested in it, I wanted you to be my dad. But you didn't give any impression that you were one of the donors, so I figured it wasn't the case. Didn't stop me wanting it to be true." Phil was beginning to think he was dreaming, when Skye dropped the bear aside. "Daddy…" Then she flung herself into his arms, nearly knocking him backwards. He automatically folded her into his arms. He'd wanted this for more than two decades. Now that it was happening, he couldn't bring himself to let go.

"Sweetheart," he whispered, choked up. "My baby girl. You're back again." He felt Bucky begin to move away, and looked at him, tears in his eyes. "Don't go."

"Listen," Bucky said, looking awkward. "She doesn't really know me, and I don't know her, either—"

"Dad," Skye said, and she held out one arm. She turned her head, currently resting on Phil's shoulder, to look at Bucky. "Please."

Bucky took precisely one second to join the group— the family hug.

Family.

About a month later, Phil left the bathroom and went straight to the living room, where Bucky and Skye were watching a film. He hit the pause button, which got their attention.

"You," he said, pointing at Bucky, "have gotten me pregnant. I'm in my forties and I'm pregnant for only the second time. I hope you're pleased with yourself."

Bucky gaped, and then seemed to pull himself together. "If I remember correctly, Phillip, you were the one begging me to knock you up."

"I really don't need to hear this," Skye said.

"Hey, you're going to be a big sister," Bucky said, elbowing her. Then, completely unfazed, he grinned at Phil. "Marry me?"

Phil didn't speak for thirty seconds. Then he said, "All right."

Ending it there, because of reasons.

I wrote more than two thirds of chapter two, and wrote chapters three and four, in the last two days. More like day and a half, really. In the space of less than thirty-six, I've been on a writing binge. So I'm going to get some sleep now, and proofread tomorrow.

Night!

Edit: I've proofread this morning, and added that coda at the end, about Phil being pregnant.