The first hour of the flight was completely silent; both Sam and Wade could tell that you weren't ready to talk yet as you stared out from the jet window blankly, lost within your own mind. Your thoughts would shift from Steve and to Tony, then to the kids, and how you would bring home any news other than that you found him. The idea of telling your children that their grandpa wasn't ever coming home stabbed at your heart and only made your resolve to find him that much stronger. You could see their faces in your mind and the pain that would wash over them if you didn't bring him back; your heart began to break at the idea of your new daughter never knowing her Grandpa Tony, who would have loved her so very much.

Trying to pull your mind back from that precipice, you looked to your two friends; having Sam and Wade both with you was more than you ever expected from them. You knew that they would support any decision that you made, but actually joining you on this mission meant more to you than you could say to the duo. For Sam to blatantly go against Steve's wishes was beyond a shock to you, and if you hadn't seen a heated exchange between the two with your own eyes, you never would have believed it. Sam was easily one of the most loyal people that you had ever known, and where the Captain was concerned, he rarely wavered.

Wade had appeared here totally out of nowhere, and there was no way that you ever would have guessed that he'd be sitting behind you right now if you were asked. You had a long history, sure, but your friendship hadn't taken a turn like this in the past; he was determined to protect you from whatever might be out there. It was rare to see the serious side of Wade Wilson, even when you had been together, but now that you were and he wasn't attempting to hide it, you looked at him with a whole new appreciation.

"So," Sam finally cut through the silence, though still hesitantly, "how long were you guys together?"

"Not the time, Sam," you answered, shaking your head at his weak attempt at conversation, "and it will never be the time-"

"Two years," Wade broke in. "I was just too much man for her."

"You do realize who her husband is, right?"

"Still."

"Okay, so what really split you up?" Sam pressed further, turning his chair to face the two of you now that he was surprisingly getting somewhere.

"I wanted to join the team and Wade doesn't do the hero scene. He doesn't do heroes either." As the words left your lips, you could feel Wade's gaze turn just a little colder as it landed on you, and the memory of that time somehow still stung after so many years; it turned out that it still affected you both. It was a fight that you likely wouldn't forget, with words screamed at each other in a raging explosion that left a fracture in your relationship which still had yet to fully heal.

"Avengers are gross," he grimaced, his nose crinkling up in disgust; to you it was merely a cover as to what he was really feeling. "They're all righteous with their perfect asses in those tight uniforms, saving a world that doesn't deserve it with smiles full of the whitest teeth you've ever seen. They come out of every goddamn fight looking better than when they went in. Fuck the Avengers." Wade stopped and finally took a second to look up at you and Sam, realizing his error reflected back at him in your amused expressions, "I mean...not you guys...of course," he stammered. "When I said they, I didn't mean you..."

"Of course not," Sam huffed, leaning back in his chair with crossed arms, "that would be rude. You meant her husband and her dad, right?"

"Right! No! Ssssshit."

"And you can see where the problem began," you answered quietly and stood, pushing your way between them. "I think I'll catch a nap while we have time."

Sam stood as you did, "hey, are you okay?"

"I'm just tired, I'm fine." As you passed by Wade, you deliberately rested your hand on his shoulder with a gentle squeeze, though not looking down at him to avoid insinuating that he should follow. You merely wanted him to know that you understood and wanted the conversation to be over just as much as he did.

~~~

"Sweetheart, I'm right here. Just listen to my voice. Don't think. Just listen."

You had been walking for what felt like hours, and his voice kept replaying over and over in an agonizing pattern that was close to driving you mad. Every corner that you had taken was full of promise that he would be just on the other side, but they were all another failure in a mission that you had sworn to succeed in. You had told Steve that you weren't coming home until you found Tony, and at the time you had meant it, but now, after weeks of searching, you actually considered that he might be lost.

"Maybe a clue or two, huh Dad?" you mumbled quietly, stopping to take a drink of water as you leaned heavily against a large boulder in the middle of a dense grove that you had been stumbling through all day. Your body was still on alert but riddled with fatigue; it was beginning to seep into your mind and make you doubt your resolve.

"Over here."

"What?" you gasped, standing straight and looking to the left and right urgently. His voice was as clear as day this time, but you didn't know where it had come from. Sam and Wade were nowhere in sight, so it had to be Tony. You felt it in your soul that it couldn't have been anyone else. "Say it again," you called out to everywhere. "Please, just say it again. I'll find you."

"Hurry, honey. I'm not able to stay much longer."

You dropped your water bottle carelessly on the ground and broke into a run towards where you thought you had heard him, jumping over fallen trees and through swampy puddles with ease and agility that you hadn't needed in far too long. It felt good to know that your body could still perform under this kind of pressure, especially now when you needed it to more than ever. Clouds began to quickly rush in overhead, leaving the terrain darker and harder to maneuver, the winds picking up so that his voice became more muffled with each time he had tried to call out to you again. Step after step became agonizingly slow and you felt as if you were being held back and just out of his reach until finally, you arrived at that moment when your heart stopped and your body froze in place; you had found him.

"Dad!"

"Jesus Christ!" Wade jumped in surprise, hitting his head on the roof of the jet. "(Y/N), what the shit was that?"

"I know where he is!" you panted, sitting up from your dream and trying to catch your breath. Sam hurried to your side but you stood too quickly before he could reach you, passing by him to the jet controls in a near-panic. "I saw him! He's alive!"

"(Y/N), it was a dream," Sam answered slowly and in a clear contrast to your excitement, "try to calm down. You were just dreaming."

"No, Sam, I felt it. It was real," you persisted, frantically changing the jet's course, "he was real and I know that he's waiting for me to find him. He said that he couldn't stay there much longer, so I have to hurry."

Sam and Wade exchanged cautious glances, the two men knowing that an argument with you on this was pointless. Wade gave a small raise of his hand to hold Sam back, standing to take the co-pilot seat with a hand on your arm as he watched you work. "Hey, remember, you're not doing this alone."

"I know."

"Do you?"

"Yes," you sighed, trying to slow your breathing to keep control, "yes, I do. I just...I heard him, Wade. He was telling me where to look. I know it."

He grabbed the arm rest of the chair and spun it so that you would have to face him, and despite your instinct to resist, you sat still and allowed him to study your face, your expression, and the desperation in your eyes for him to just let you do this. Wade looked at you for a long time, without saying a word as his own mind was trying to decide his own limits here, knowing that Sam was only a few feet away and anxious to break into the moment with his own voice on it all. "(Y/N), has he ever been able to talk to you that way before?"

"No."

"But you think he did it this time?"

"Yes."

"While you were asleep?"

As Wade continued his line of questioning with you, Sam was startled away from the conversation when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He took it out hesitantly, trying to keep his focus on what you were saying when the words across his screen pulled him away with a jolt of complete confusion. "What the hell?"

Sam, just let her do what she needs to. She knows where she's going. It has to be her.

Cap, what's going on?

I can explain later, just let her go but keep her safe for me.

"White Wilson," Sam whispered, nodding him over his way and handing him the phone, "check this out."

Wade read quickly and shoved the phone back into Sam's hands angrily. "Just like that, do as he says? Maybe he should be here with his wife instead, huh? If he cares so goddamn much then why is he sitting on his spangled ass back home?"

"Because she told him to stay there?"

"Oh yeah, right," Wade muttered with a shrug, "Captain's orders. My bad. Okay, (Y/N)," he turned back to you with an eager clap of his hands, "you're calling it." He returned to your side and leaned down next to you, close to your ear to whisper so that Sam couldn't hear, the combination of his lowered voice and his warm breath on your neck sending a chill through you. "It's been a long time since you cracked the whip, baby. I can't wait."

Back at the compound, Steve was sitting on the floor of his room with the three kids around him; Anthony was quiet with his eyes closed in concentration as they watched, waiting for him to break his connection and say if he had been successful in reaching you. Agonizing minutes passed by as they all waited, when he finally opened his eyes and looked at his father, unsure if he had been able to do what he had promised.

"Did you do it?" Steve asked quietly, trying to contain his urgency as to not push his son.

"I think so. I tried to help her see where she should look for Grandpa, but I'm not even sure if it's the right place, Dad," he sighed, shaking his head. "What I saw was all jumbled up and I put it together as best as I could, but I might have just made her more lost than before. I don't even know if Grandpa was really there or if I just wanted him to be."

"Hey, it's better than what she had before," Steve assured him, "anything that you can give her is going to help, okay?"

"I hope so," Anthony agreed, "because I think Grandpa is really in trouble."

~~~

You brought the jet in to land in the least wooded area that you could find, but it was definitely a challenge with a rough terrain all around, eerily similar to what you had seen in your dream. If this is where Tony had landed when he fell, it was no wonder that the team would have had difficulty finding him; if he had wandered off, there were an unlimited number of places that he could be hiding if he were hurt, and with FRIDAY still shorted out there was no help coming from her.

As the three of you gathered your gear and prepared to depart, you went over the search plans one more time, just to be sure that you were all in agreement; with this particular group, it would be easy to see anyone going off on their own without checking in with the others. Slinging your pack over your shoulder, you took the shield in hand and reached out to give it to Wade, only to stop and pull it back just as quickly before he could take it.

"Hey, what? I can do it."

"No," you argued quietly, "I think maybe Sam..."

"(Y/N), give it to me," Wade insisted, holding out his hand. If his mask had been up, you would have been able to see the stern look he was giving you, but you could still feel that it was there.

"Yeah, okay, you're right," you conceded, handing it over. "Just be careful with it, okay? Don't lose it." You gave each of your companions a quick hug and a thanks for being there with you before you left them, each of you set to go in your own directions for the search. Before Sam and Wade departed, however, Sam grabbed his arm to hold him back.

"Okay, seriously, how the hell do you do that?"

"It's pure, good old fashioned blackmail, my new friend," Wade shrugged, slapping him firmly on the arm, "but I don't think you're ready just yet. Because what you'll hear can never be unheard."