She would lie next to him night after night and listen to him say her name. At first, she thought that it was something that she could deal with, something that would stop given time.

Steve would tell her everyday that he loved her; he would hold her close and kiss her, trying to alleviate her fears. He insisted on having her close by his side on missions, and if she couldn't be with him, then Bucky took his place as her guardian. But still, after over a year of giving her everything to Steve, that one name would still play on his lips during his sleep.

She had been planning on her way out for some time; she had spoken to Fury, and Tony had fixed her up with somewhere to live; both men promising not to share her whereabouts with the Captain. No one else knew about her plans to depart the tower or the man she loved; she wasn't even sure that she could do it herself; but that was before tonight.

She watched with tears rolling down her cheeks as Steve tossed and turned, holding desperately onto his pillow as he said her name over and over again.

"Peggy."

Her heart broke as a smile seemed to spread across his lips every time he said that accursed name.

She slowly got out of the bed, dressing quietly, and taking from its hiding place the bag she had packed, and the letter she had written.

Carefully she leaned across the bed, kissing Steve softly on the forehead. "Goodbye Steve, I'm sorry I can't do this anymore." She whispered, as she took a last look at the man she loved.

As quietly as possible, she opened the door to their shared room, stepping out into the hall, and shutting the door on her old life.

She made her way further down the hall coming up to Bucky's door, knocking softly, she waited for the soldier to appear.

"(Y/n) doll, what's wrong, is Steve ok?" Bucky asked her as he stood in his doorway, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Steve's fine Buck. I've just come to tell you that I'm leaving; I can't take it anymore. No matter what I do, I can't compete with a dead woman; so, I'm doing the only thing I can, and I'm leaving. I just need you to give Steve this letter in the morning, it will explain everything." (Y/n) told him, handing the small note to a shocked Bucky.

"(Y/n), you can't leave, Steve loves you, I know he does." Bucky told her, taking her arm gently.

"No Buck. Steve loves Peggy, always has, and always will; I can't even think about competing with her." (Y/n) said, kissing her friend gently on the cheek as she pulled her arm away from his hand.

"I love you Buck, and I love Steve more than anything; but I can't take my heart being broken every night. Give him the letter, and look after him for me, ok?" She said, giving the super soldier a small tender hug before she was gone from the tower, and from his life.

                                                             >>------------------------------<<

Steve woke slowly to the blaring noise of his alarm; reaching over, he hit the button, stopping the incessant din. Turning back over, he went to reach his arm around the woman that should have been sleeping by his side, his eyes opening instantly as his arm found nothing but cold sheets.

A sudden knock made Steve spring from his bed; swinging open the door, he found an angry red faced Bucky.

"If you are looking for (Y/n) its too late, she left early this morning. She asked me to give this to you." Bucky said, pushing the letter into Steve's hand, before leaving his bewildered friend behind.

Steve sat on the bad, slowly opening the envelope to read the letter within.

Steve

When you get this letter, I'll have already left the tower. I love you more than life itself, but I can't compete with the woman that comes to you every night in your dreams. I know Peggy will always be the only woman you will ever love, so I'm leaving for my sake, and for the sake of our child; we deserve to be loved.

You will always have my heart.

(Y/n) XX

Steve dropped the letter, running out of his room, he headed straight down to the labs knowing that was where he would locate (Y/n)'s brother. Finding the doors locked, Steve punched at the glass wall breaking it into a million tiny pieces as it fell to the floor; stepping through the carnage he stormed up to Tony who nonchalantly looked up from his latest endeavour, as Bruce looked at the two men in utter shock.

"You could have just knocked, Rogers." Tony said, wiping his hands on a rag, as Steve faced him, toe to toe.

"Where is she Stark, where's (Y/n)?" Steve demanded, glaring at the smug looking billionaire.

"All you need to know is that my sister is safe; I wasn't going to let her stay here and cry any longer, you're breaking her heart, and I can't have that. So why don't you just stick with your dead girlfriend and leave my sister alone." Tony told the irate Steve, as he turned away from him, back to work on his latest project.

Suddenly Tony was hauled up from his seat, Steve's hands gripping either side of his collar; within an instant a glove flew to Tony, attaching itself to his hand, a repulsor ray humming softly as it pointed at Steve.

"She's pregnant with my child, Stark, she's going to be my wife. WHERE THE HELL IS SHE?" Steve bellowed, glaring at Bruce as he tried to come to Tony's assistance.

"You mean she was going to be your wife, and she is a Stark. You stick with Peggy and let (Y/n) find some happiness." Tony growled, as the repulsor ray began to glow brighter.

Without warning, Steve threw Tony across the room, his back hitting the wall opposite, as Bruce rushed to his friend's aid.

"I'LL FIND HER MYSELF; I DON'T NEED YOUR HELP." Steve roared at Tony as he made his way to leave the lab.

"No, you won't Rogers, I've made sure of it. My sister needs someone that loves her and only her, Starks don't do second best." Tony said, holding onto Bruce's arm as he helped him to his feet.

"(Y/n) isn't second best to anyone, I love her more than anything in this world; she's everything I ever wanted, and now I find out that she is pregnant with my child." Steve protested, as Tony brushed himself down and wiped the blood from his lip.

"Not second best? Not second best? You tell yourself that when you shout out your dead girlfriends name every night, when the woman that you supposedly love more than life itself comes to me in tears needing to be comforted! Just leave her alone Rogers. Now get out of my lab." Tony warned, as the two men growled at one another.

"Steve, I think you better leave." Bruce told him, stepping in between his two friends, slowly easing the super soldier out of the room.

                                                              >>--------------------------------<<

S.H.I.E.L.D.S European headquarters had proved a wonderful diversion for (Y/n); Fury had made sure that she had an excellent position, and being a Stark meant that she had the best apartment in the nicest part of Paris which included a view over the Seine and Notre Dame, the only things missing were the friends that she saw as her family, and the man she still loved; the ever growing child within her serving as a sad reminder of all she had given up.

Only three people knew of her whereabouts, Tony, Fury, and Pepper, with Tony and Pepper journeying to Paris every chance they got to see his now heavily pregnant sister.

"Mr. Stark, there is an emergency call for you from Paris." FRIDAY said, the AI's voice ringing out through the lab.

"Ok, FRIDAY, patch it through." A nervous Tony said, looking at Bruce apprehensively.

"Monsieur Stark?" A heavily accented voice asked.

"I am Doctor Phillipe from the Hôpital américain à Paris. I am calling to let you know that Mademoiselle Stark has gone into labour." The doctor told a now frantic Tony.

"Jesus, she's a month early." Tony cried, as he raced around the lab, trying to think of what to do.

"May I suggest that you get here as quickly as you can."

                                                              >>------------------------------<<

Steve hadn't left Bucky's room since (Y/n) had gone; at night he would sleep on his old friend's sofa, during the day he would train until he could barely stand or throw himself into every mission possible, not sure whether anything really mattered anymore. He had tried everything to find her, he had appealed to Fury but to no avail, and despite the rest of the teams help, they had come up empty handed time and time again.

Pepper had taken pity on Steve, seeing the change in the super soldier since (Y/n)'s departure; she would never tell him her location, but had kept him abreast of (Y/n)'s condition, and had managed to secretly get copies of the ultrasound pictures (Y/n) had go at her check-ups.

Steve sat on Bucky's sofa, an ultrasound picture in his hand, and tears in his eyes. Bucky sat down next to his friend, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"It's a boy, Buck, I'm gonna have a son, and I'm never going to see him." Steve whispered, not daring to speak the haunting possibility out loud.

Bucky hadn't seen Steve so vulnerable since they were kids, he missed (Y/n) just as much as Steve; unlike Tony, she had forgiven him for the death of their parents, she knew that Bucky was not the Winter Soldier, the real Buck was a good man who would never have done the things he did unless he had been made to. They had quickly become friends, (Y/n) being one of the first people, other than Steve, that he trusted, and he felt as if he had known (Y/n) for as long as he had known Steve.

"Ya know punk, since you've been sleeping on my sofa ya ain't said Peggy's name once." Bucky told Steve, as Steve looked up, his eyes swollen and red.

"Not once." Bucky said again.

"In fact, the only thing I've heard you call out is (Y/n)." Bucky told Steve, a small smile forming on his face as Steve looked back down at the blurry picture of the tiny person.

A sudden rush of activity outside Bucky's room alerted the two men to something going on inside the tower, and as Steve and Bucky followed the commotion, they found themselves in the common room with the rest of the team, and Doctor Strange.

"Well Strange, make with the portal, I need to get to (Y/n)." Tony shouted at the stoic doctor.

"What's going on? What's wrong with (Y/n)?" Steve called out from the doorway, only to be met by the fiery red glare of the older Stark.

"None of your damn business Rogers! Strange, make with the portal!" Tony shouted angrily, as Pepper rushed over to Steve.

"(Y/n) has gone into labour, there seems to have been a few complications." Pepper said hesitantly, as Steve pushed past her, making his way over to Tony.

"I'm going with you." Steve growled at a panicked Tony.

"Like hell you are Rogers. You aren't going anywhere near my sister." Tony huffed, walking over to Strange as the portal began to appear.

"Oh yes he is, and so am I!" Bucky declared, coming up to stand behind Steve.

"Well if Bucky's going, I'm going too." Natasha said, followed by a multitude of other voices all agreeing that they all wanted to be there for (Y/n).

                                                               >>------------------------------<<

Through the portal exited the Avenger contingent to the shock of the gathered hospital staff.

'Mademoiselle (Y/n) Stark, where is she?" An anxious Tony asked as he nervously looked at the nurse behind the desk.

"Monsieur Stark?" A voice asked, as Tony spun around, coming face to face with a doctor.

"I am Doctor Phillipe, come this way please." The doctor said, leading Tony and the rest of the team down the busy corridor.

"What the hell's going on?" Tony and Steve asked in unison, as they looked through the large glass window into (Y/n)'s room.

"I am afraid that there were some complications during the birth, we nearly lost her; but the little one is happy and well, and exceptionally strong and large. But miss Stark is not well, we are monitoring her as the next 24 hours are crucial." The doctor explained, as the team looked at Tony and Steve.

"Where's my son?" Steve asked the confused doctor shakily.

"James Anthony Rogers is in the nursery." The doctor said, as he looked over at Tony.

"She named him...... how? Steve asked, as he took his eyes from (Y/n)'s pale form.

"As she was in labour, Mademoiselle Stark told me that if anything happened to her, she wanted to make sure that she named her son. She informed me that she wanted to name the child after the three men that mean the most to her; her brother in arms, James; her brother by blood, Anthony; and the father of her son." The doctor explained, looking at the three shocked men.

"Can we see him?" Pepper asked, before they were shown to the nursery, the team flooding the viewing window.

A nurse brough out a beautiful baby boy with a mop of black hair, and the same boundless blue eyes as his father; gently the nurse placed the child into Tony's waiting arms.

"Hey kid! I'm your Uncle Tony; boy you weigh a ton." Tony laughed as he looked down at the cooing baby.

Pepper placed her hand on Tony's shoulder as she whispered into his ear, her eyes softly falling on Steve.

"Here you go Rogers; but remember that kids a Stark, and as soon as (Y/n) is better, she and the little one will be moving on." Tony said, reluctantly placing his nephew in Steve's arms.

Steve took his son, tears welling in his eyes as the child's tiny fingers gripped tightly onto his thumb. "Hi kiddo, I'm ya Uncle Bucky, and that's Aunty Natasha, Uncle Bruce, Uncle Clint, and Aunty Wanda, and the big guy here, well he's ya pops. Don't worry about anything, you and ya mom will be coming back with us so we can all take care of you." Bucky said, as he glared over at Tony.

Steve could do nothing but look down at the precious, perfect little bundle in his arms, swearing to himself that neither (Y/n) nor his son would ever leave his side again.

"Can I see (Y/n)?" Steve asked, his trembling voice barely above a whisper.

"I am sorry Monsieur, but only the next of kin is allowed to see Mademoiselle Stark." The doctor told him, as he looked over to Tony.

Pepper walked over and took his son from his arms. "This is her next of kin, doctor; the rest of us can see her when she is better." Pepper told him, a small nod from Tony convincing the doctor to lead Steve back to the room.

"Five minutes Monsieur, no more." The doctor said, leaving the room as Steve sat down next to the bed.

Steve looked at the monitors that beeped around (Y/n), he had never seen her look so frail, so small and vulnerable. He was used to seeing (Y/n) as strong and brave; always in control, always planning two steps ahead of everyone else, including him.

He sat next to the bed, taking (Y/n)'s hand in his. "(Y/n), doll, you have to wake up for me, I can't lose you, not again; and now we have James to think about. I want you to come home, doll, back to the tower, back to all of us. Bucky really misses you, Bruce has no one to rescue him from Tony's antics; Nat and Clint are bored without you, and Wanda misses your girls nights watching those sappy movies you love, and me...... well I haven't been the same since you left. I love you (Y/n), I love you so much, I can't breathe without you. Come back to me honey." Steve told the woman in front of him, his head dropping onto the bed, tears rolling down his cheeks as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey punk, the doc says you have to leave." Bucky said from behind him, leaning over and placing a kiss on (Y/n)'s forehead.

"Hi gorgeous, ya have to come back to us, ok. It's no fun in the tower with only one Stark, and you're better than anyone at driving the old trash can crazy; I haven't heard him squeal like a girl since you've been gone, you're the only one that knows how to do it." Bucky chuckled, as he squeezed Steve's shoulder.

"Come on Steve, we have to leave."

                                                          >>------------------------------<<

The waiting room was filled with the sleeping bodies of the Avengers, all except for three men who stared through the window into (Y/n)'s room.

"Do you think she'll wake up soon?" Bucky asked to no one in particular.

"She's a Stark, and she's a fighter, she'll pull through. You know something Rogers, this is all your fault." Tony said angrily, as he turned towards Steve.

"What do you mean, this is my fault? I'm not the one that sent my pregnant sister halfway around the world, away from everyone that loves her; and you dare say that this is my fault!" Steve yelled, as the two men squared off.

"Of course, it's your fault, if you weren't so obsessed with Peggy Carter then my sister would still be at home with me. You should never have gone anywhere near her, I should never have allowed it, she's too good for you."

Steve was the first to strike, his fist hitting Tony in the jaw, knocking him to the floor; slowly getting back to his feet, Tony rubbed his jaw, as without warning he spear tackled Steve to the ground. The ensuing fight woke the team, who tried to pull the waring men apart as a security team ran to the scene, staring at each other in disbelief.

"I want Monsieur Stark and Monsieur Rogers removed from my hospital; I will not have anyone disturbing my patients. You can continue your argument outside gentlemen." The doctor said, signalling for the security officers to remove the two men.

The rest of the team slowly returned to their previous spots in the waiting room, as Bucky returned to his now lone vigil on his friend.

As Bucky's eyes grew heavy, screams from the machines in the room, immediately brought him back to his senses, as he watched in horror as doctors and nurses rushed into the room, hurriedly bringing the curtain around the bed.

Suddenly, Bucky saw the bodies of the medical staff fly from behind the curtain, a shock wave throwing them around like rag dolls; another shock wave came, cracking the glass in front of him into an intricate spider's web design.

'SHIT!" Bucky exclaimed as another shock wave broke all the other windows in the room.

Bucky knew (Y/n)'s powers became somewhat uncontrollable when she was upset or stressed, and now was obviously one of those moments. His eyes grew wide as the woman that had only moments before been attached to machines, flew from the room, the super soldier being thrown backwards as yet another shockwave emanated from (Y/n)'s body.

"WHERE IS MY SON? I WANT MY LITTLE BUCKY!" (Y/n) screamed out, as she looked around frantically.

As she spun around, searching from anyone, her eyes fell on Bucky who was trying to get to his feet; only to be knocked back down as (Y/n) threw herself into his arms.

"Bucky, where is he, where is my baby?" (Y/n) asked desperately, as Bucky picked her up into his arms and made his way quickly to the nursery.

Feverishly he knocked at the window, desperate to get the attention of the nurse inside. "James Anthony Rogers, I need to see James Anthony Rogers." Bucky yelled out; but before the nurse could fetch the boy, Bucky pushed on the door, as (Y/n) desperately clung to him; Bucky placed (Y/n) gently on the floor as he went to the cot to retrieve his name sake. Picking up the sleeping bundle, he carefully placed him in the arms of his mother, as he sat down beside her.

"I named him after you, Buck, he's my very own little Bucky." (Y/n) said, a small chuckle breaking through the flood of tears.

"He looks just like me and Tony don't you think?" She asked, as she held her son close to her chest.

"Bucky, what are you doing here? Where's Tony?" (Y/n) asked, looking up at her closet friend.

Bucky dropped his head. "We are all here (Y/n), the others are in the waiting room; and Tony...... well Tony got thrown out of the hospital because......."

"Because why, Buck" (Y/n) asked, not being able to believe that even Tony would get himself thrown out when she needed him.

"Because.... he and Steve were fighting over you." Bucky explained, as he felt (Y/n) begin to shake, a sure sign that another shockwave was on its way.

"(Y/n), I need you to stay calm for me, think of James." He said, as he pulled (Y/n) to his side, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I have to tell you something (Y/n), and I need you to listen. Steve hasn't been the same since you've been gone, none of us have, even Thor hasn't left Asgard since he found out you left. Steve has been sleeping on my sofa every night, and not once has he said anything other than your name; I've never seen him like he if when he's with you, you have to come back to us (Y/n) we all want you to bring little Bucky home." Bucky said, holding her close to his side.

"Really?" (Y/n) asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

Bucky nodded, and placed a kiss to her forehead.

"Bucky! I don't care what you have to do or say, but I want my brother and Steve back in this hospital and by my side now." (Y/n) said with a smile, as Bucky pick her and James up, and carried them to the waiting room, placing the two on a chair in the middle of their Avenger family.

Making his way outside, Bucky found the two men, both slightly battered and bruised as they sat next to one another on the sidewalk.

Bucky coughed, alerting the two men to his presence. "If you two idiots have finished blaming one another for all this, you may be interested to know that (Y/n) is awake and wants to see you both now." Bucky said, as the pair sprung to their feet and ran back into the hospital.

As Bucky distracted the building security, Tony and Steve made their way back up to the waiting room, both of them smiling as they heard the familiar sound of (Y/n)'s laughter, and the commotion of the team as they hugged (Y/n).

"Tony!" (Y/n) exclaimed, as Tony rushed to her side.

"Hi sweetheart, how's my favourite little sister?" Tony asked, as he kissed her cheeks.

"Your only sister, thank you, Anthony Edward Stark." (Y/n) chuckled, as Tony embraced her and his nephew.

"I want to come home Tony." (Y/n) said quietly as Tony discreetly wiped away the tears that were threatening to flow.

"Are you sure kid?" Tony asked, smiling as he felt nod against him.

"Thank god! I'll give you your own floor, and have a nursery built for James, ok?" Tony said excitedly.

(Y/n) placed her hand on her brother's cheek as she tried to calm him. "I don't need my own floor, or my own room, Tony, because little Buck and I will be moving back into Steve's room." (Y/n) said, looking up hopefully at the man in question.

"If that's ok with you Steve."

Steve could feel the tears prick at his eyes as he looked down at (Y/n) and his son. "I can't think of anything I want more doll." He said, as he dropped down on one knee next to her.

"I know I've asked you before, but I think its only the right thing to do to ask you again. (Y/n) Stark....... Will you marry me?" Steve asked, smiling broadly as (Y/n) took his hand.

"Steve Grant Rogers, I would love to marry you." She said, pulling Steve in for a kiss.

Slowly a portal appeared next to the team, and as Steve picked up the two most important people in the world he knew that he would do anything for the love of a Stark.