Chapter Eighteen
"Mama? Why are we in Berlin? I thought we were going home." Lainey asked, carefully carrying her new kitten in her arms.
It had only been a few hours, but the child was so attached to the animal. They were practically inseparable now. Natasha was glad she had something to take care of and play with. Maybe it would keep her out of trouble.
"That was the plan, малышка, but your Uncle Steve and Uncle Sam got into a little bit of trouble."
"They did?" Lainey was pulled back out of some man's way as they walked through the halls of the building. Sometimes Natasha swore she'd walk into a brick wall if she wasn't there to yank her out of harm's way. "What'd they do?"
"Enough to get themselves in trouble." The woman responded vaguely. She wasn't going to tell Lainey anything in detail about what happened because she didn't want to change the way the child saw either one of the men. If she ever found out, she would be able to form her own opinion on the matter.
"What's gonna happen to them?"
"They're on a….timeout." Natasha tried her best to explain.
"For how long?"
"I don't know, sweet girl. That's what I'm here to find out." She brought her daughter to what looked like a conference room and lifted her to sit down on an empty chair. "Stay here, alright? As soon as I figure this all out, I'll come and get you."
"Okay, Mama." Lainey flashed her a smile.
The feline looked up at her and licked her paws, meowing to fill the silence. Sitting alone was no fun and she wished that Lainey would put her down so that she could explore.
Or at least find a bowl of milk.
But she could sit with her for a few minutes. She liked Lainey. She held her nicely and she always scratched in the best places.
"Uncle Tony!" The eleven year old lit up at seeing the man. But he was on the phone. He waved and sent her a wink, but he didn't engage much further than that. "Everybody's busy today, Mischief."
No one had ever been this busy before. Even when some of the Avengers were on missions, there was always someone around to play with her and keep her company.
"No, Romania was not Accords sanctioned. Colonel Rhodes is supervising clean up." The man spoke into his cell phone as Natasha came back with Steve and Sam in tow. "Consequences? You bet they'll be consequences. Obviously you can quote me on that, because I just said it. Anything else? Thank you, sir."
"Consequences?" Steve questioned.
"Secretary Ross wants you both prosecuted." Tony shrugged. "I had to give him something."
"I'm not getting that shield back, am I?"
"Technically, it's the government's property now." Natasha turned to say. "Wings, too."
"That's cold." Sam shook his head.
"Warmer than jail."
"Mama?" Lainey stopped the woman from disappearing into the next room.
"Yes, my love?" The woman turned around once again.
"I'm hungry."
"Here." She fished in her pocket and handed her a twenty-dollar bill. "Go downstairs and get yourself something to eat. Come straight back when you're finished."
Wow. Twenty dollars was a lot of money. At least, to Lainey it was. Natasha must really trust her enough to let her go all the way downstairs to get food with twenty whole dollars.
Maybe she'd get her something, too. Natasha liked salads and she had to be hungry by now.
"Thank you!" Lainey grinned and shoved the money in her pocket, hopping out of her seat, to take her uncle's hand. "Uncle Steve, come with me! Uncle Sam can come, too!"
She missed sitting around the table while eating together. They hadn't done that in forever.
Well, it had only been a few days, but to Lainey, it seemed like forever.
"We can't, Buddy." Steve smiled sadly. "We're a little busy."
He hated to be the one to let her down, but there were things to be done and they just didn't have the time to sit and talk.
He would make it up to her, that he was sure of.
"Everybody's busy." She deflated quickly, lightly kicking some air.
"I know. I'm sorry, Pal. But you're not gonna be alone. You have a little friend to take with you." He motioned to the kitten in her arms.
"Her name is 'Mischief'." She said proudly. "She found me and Mama's letting me keep her."
"Oh yeah?" Steve cocked a brow at Natasha.
In all the time he's known the redhead, she never once indicated that she wanted an animal in the house. This was new.
"Not a word, Rogers."
"Well, she's cute." Sam rubbed the kitten's tummy, making her purr. "We'll see you later, okay?"
"Promise?"
"Promise."
"Okay." Lainey blew out a heavy breath of air before she accepted the answer. "Bye."
Things were changing. She could feel it and she didn't like it.
She didn't like it one bit.
"Drink slower, Mischief." Lainey took the bowl of milk she had gotten for the cat away so that she could pace herself properly.
Mischief hissed quietly to show her disdain and pawed at her hand.
"You have to be nice." The brunette scolded. "You're gonna get a stomachache if you drink too fast."
And if it were possible, Mischief would've scoffed at the girl. Instead, she moved closer to the bowl and began to lap up some more milk, maintaining eye contact just to be petty.
And just in time for all the lights to shut off and the alarms to blare.
The poor kitten jumped nearly nine feet in the air and scrambled onto Lainey's lap, forgetting all about her delicious drink. Those alarms were loud! And she didn't like the red lights that were flashing every few seconds.
"It's okay." Lainey comforted her, temporarily squeezing her eyes shut. She didn't like the loud noise either. Her ears were so sensitive sometimes and it was inhibiting her ability to think clearly. But she needed to stay calm. "We're okay."
She took deep, slow breaths, knowing that if Mischief could feel her lack of stress, then maybe she would calm down. The problem was, Lainey was stressed.
She didn't care for loud noises and the fact that they were on their own really emphasized the fact that they needed to be on high alert.
As quick as all that, the light turned right back on, but Lainey still didn't feel like they were safe. So she stood up and left the room in search of her mother. She didn't know exactly where she was, but she bet if she kept walking, she'd find her around somewhere.
And that's when it happened.
The rush of nearly every single adult in the building doing their best to get out. It was like a stampede.
Lainey made sure to keep a firm hold on Mischief, because if she dropped her, there was a large possibility that these people would step all over her. They didn't even care that they were slamming into her, why would they care about an animal?
She tried her best to stay against the wall, moving away from everyone without getting knocked down, but there were so many bodies to dodge.
Finally, she made it upstairs to an empty hallway and sighed in relief. Everyone was downstairs, so she was in no danger of getting run over up here.
What she didn't know, was the Winter Soldier had escaped his holding cell and was now on the loose. That's why everyone was in a frenzy.
Unfortunately for her, she found out far too late when he snuck up behind her and scooped her up, setting her on his hip, his flesh arm supporting her, while his metal arm remained free.
She didn't know why she didn't scream. This seemed like it was as good a time as any to scream, but she stayed quiet. All she could really do, was stare at him.
She stared into his cold blue eyes the same way she had two years ago back in D.C. and she found that they weren't all that cold anymore. That same gentle touch he used when he cupped her chin, he was using now to hold her. He wasn't hurting her in the slightest.
But what did he want with her?
"You have to let me go." She spoke softly, trying not to provoke him, just incase. "Put me down, Mister."
But he ignored her and kept it moving.
So she held Mischief in her left arm and slapped his chest with her right, throwing all caution to the wind. "Put me down!"
Still nothing.
"Let me go!" She hesitated before pushing his face.
All he did was take her hand in his metal one and hold it firmly. There was no freeing her hand from that grip. His metal arm was so cold and a little scary. Lainey wondered if he could feel anything with it, or if it was just more of a tool to help him hold things.
In a futile attempt to escape, she tried kicking his stomach, but it seemed like he had been prepared for that because he moved his arm a little lower to hold her legs.
That's when she decided to scream. If he wasn't going to let her go, she wasn't going to allow him to take her without a fight.
"Mama!" She hollered at the top of her lungs, making sure she didn't turn away from his ears. "Mama! Help me!"
If her mother didn't hear her, she was sure somebody else would. Maybe Steve or Tony. But somebody would come and get her away from this man.
"Mama!"
"Соблюдайте тишину." He growled, shoving a door that led to a staircase wide open. He had pushed it so hard that it slammed up right against the wall with a bang.
"Вы меня отпустите!" She squirmed as he kept walking.
She could've fought him if she wasn't holding Mischief. But she wasn't going to let the cat go. She was only a baby. She needed her.
The kitten was probably more scared than she was, so she had to stay with her.
"Buck, stop!" She heard Steve yell from behind them.
Thank goodness. She was beginning to get worried that no one was coming for her.
"Uncle Steve! Help!"
Upon seeing Steve, Bucky's eyes flashed with something Lainey couldn't place. He stopped right in his tracks and furrowed his eyebrows, looking at the child and studying her features before he set her down gently on the ground, making sure she regained her footing, and left.
"Lainey!" Steve rushed over to her, checking her over for any injuries. And when he found none, he searched again. "Are you okay, Honey?"
"Yes." She nodded, a little shaken from the experience, but otherwise okay. "He grabbed me."
She wasn't even scared anymore. She was more annoyed than anything. The Winter Soldier interrupted her meal and she wasn't too pleased.
"I know, Buddy, I'm so sorry, I let this happen to you."
"He didn't hurt me." She assured him. That man had plenty of opportunities to hurt her, but he never took a single one.
It really made her wonder why.
"I'm glad he didn't hurt you, Pal. I have to go after him before he gets away." He rubbed her arms, more of an attempt to calm himself down than her. When he heard her screams, his heart jumped out of his throat. He'd never been so scared in his life. If anything happened to her, he'd lose it. "I want you to go back downstairs and find your mama, okay?"
"But—"
"—That's an order, Alayna." He spoke sternly, addressing her in a way that he never had before. "No games."
Lainey pouted, but nodded anyway. "Okay."
"Go."
Lainey dashed down what felt like the millionth corridor and still didn't find who she was looking for. She thought she searched the whole building, but got lost, and then somehow ended up outside.
This whole day was beginning to feel a bit like a never ending mess.
She ignored the harsh brushes of the people running by her and looked around. Her mother wasn't anywhere nearby. How could she have just disappeared?
A piercing shriek escaped her throat as she was lifted up once again. And this time, she was fighting back.
Her arm lashed out at the person's chest and she tried to buck herself out of their grip. This couldn't be happening a second time. She was too tired for this.
"Lainey, it's me! Stop!"
Lainey froze and opened her eyes to see that it was Sam who had swooped her up in his arms.
It was just Sam.
"It's me." He repeated, his calm demeanor opening up the emotional dam she built.
Her eyes flooded with tears and her bottom lip jut out in preparation for a quiver. She thought that she had been pretty brave today, so why was she crying?
"Ssh. It's okay." Sam comforted her, bringing her away from the crowd. "I'm right here. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. I promise."
"Which Bucky am I talking to?"
"Your mom's name was Sarah." Bucky groaned, his head pounding against his skull. "You used to wear newspapers in your shoes."
Coming to, right after being the soldier was never any fun. The code words always messed with his head and once they wore off, it made sure he knew that.
"Can't read that in a museum." Steve stifled a laugh.
"Just like that we're supposed to be cool?" Sam scoffed incredulously.
This guys had tried to kill him more than once over the past two years. He was going to need a lot more than that.
"What did I do?"
"Enough."
"I knew this would happen." Guilt rose up through Bucky's chest. "Everything Hydra put in me is still there. All he had to do was say the words."
Lainey sniffled and set her kitten down on the ground for the first time that day. Sam told her to stay where she was, but after hearing voices, she was a little curious to know what they were saying.
This conversation was not for her to hear, but no one was telling her anything. She was tired of being left in the dark and she wanted to be aware of exactly what was going on.
"Who was he?" She heard Steve ask.
"I don't know."
"People are dead. The bombing, the setup— the doctor did all that just to get ten minutes with you. I need you to do better than, 'I don't know'."
"He wanted to know about Siberia." Bucky thought. "Where I was kept. He wanted to know exactly where."
"Why would he need to know that?"
"Because I'm not the only Winter Soldier."
Well, that was a shock. It really shouldn't have been. Hydra probably thought that they couldn't put all their eggs into one basket and created more soldiers like Bucky to do their bidding for them.
It was frightening to think about how they were out there somewhere, waiting to be deployed.
"Who were they?"
"Their most elite death squad. More kills than anyone in Hydra history. And that was before the serum."
"They all turn out like you?" Sam asked.
"Worse."
"The doctor, could he control them?"
"Enough."
"He said he wanted to see an empire fall."
"With these guys, he could do it. They speak thirty languages, can hide in plain sight…..infiltrate, destabilize. They can take a whole country down in one night, you'd never see them coming."
"This would've been a lot easier a week ago." Sam spoke directly to Steve.
"If we call Tony….."
"No, he won't believe us."
"Even if he did….."
"He knows if the Accords'll let him help."
"We're on our own."
"Maybe not." He shrugged. "I know a guy."
"That little girl….." Bucky hesitated before asking, "She okay?"
"She's fine." Steve smiled at the concern, lifting what was holding Bucky down, off of his arm. "She's a tough kid."
"She feels familiar." Bucky reset his arm. "Like I know her."
"Does she?"
"Yeah….from when I was with Hydra." He explained. "I was sent to a place called, 'The Red Room'….there was a woman— we had a child…..a baby. Curly hair like her mother's, but dark with blue eyes like mine. I remember when she was born. They put her in my arms and she was so beautiful. They wanted me to train her and her mother, and I did….but even as the soldier, I got too attached. I couldn't do my job correctly, so they took her away from me…..ripped her right out of my arms and I never saw her again. My Alyona."
"How old was she?" Steve asked.
"Three." Bucky bit back tears. His heart ached when all the memories of his child flooded back to him. He only had three years with her. Three. And the Red Room just stole her away from him, as if she were theirs to with as they pleased.
They didn't care about how it affected him or the baby, or even her mother. The baby was an asset just like they were and there was a job to be done.
Steve remembered a picture of Lainey that he carried around in his wallet from when she was accidentally turned into a toddler. So he went digging through it and pulled it out, handing it to his best friend.
Bucky took the photo and he couldn't stop his tears from escaping his eyes that time. It was her. It was his child. His baby. The same one they took from him. He knew that smile and he knew those eyes. There was no mistaking her. "How?"
"That was a while ago…..there was an accident and she was turned into a two year old. No harm done, she's fine now. Always getting into some sort of trouble." The blonde tried to lighten up the mood.
"Sounds like her." Bucky chuckled, his eyes still focused on the picture in his hand.
Even back in the Red Room, his daughter had been a little spitfire. She was hard to control because she was so strong-willed. The superiors loved and hated that about her. Her stubborn streak would prove to be very useful on missions, but while she was still being taught, it was more of a hindrance.
But it was probably what got her this far.
"We found her mother in Brooklyn, actually." Steve began to tell the story. "She was working for Hydra and we had to take her in…we had no idea she had a kid. But when we found Lainey, we took her in. She and Natasha have been inseparable ever since."
"Natalia? She's okay, too?"
"She's more than okay." Steve told him. "She adopted her not too long ago."
"Good….she has someone who loves her."
"I always sort of knew, you know?" Steve admitted. "It was the little things. The 'Wizard of Oz' is her favorite movie. She'll watch it everyday if you let her. She laughs just like you do and her sense of humor is the same. Quick as a whip, too."
Bucky just smiled. "How old is she?"
"Eleven going on forty." Steve joked to lighten the mood. "You can meet her, you know? She's yours."
"I don't think that's a good idea." Bucky shook his head. "She's got a good thing going right now. I don't want to confuse her."
"I think having a father that knows you exist, but keeps his distance is far more confusing."
"She's perfect, Steve. I don't deserve it. Not after everything."
"I can tell you that deserve to be in her life until I'm blue in the face. But I know I won't be able to convince you. So what I will say is, maybe you don't deserve it, but don't you think she does?"
"You know, it isn't polite to listen in on other people's conversations." Sam startled Lainey, who was leaning up against the wall to hear what Steve and Bucky were talking about.
Unfortunately for her, she was too far away to catch anything, so she'd probably never know.
"I wanna know what they're saying." She pouted, but followed him. "That's Uncle Steve's friend from the war?"
"That's him."
"He doesn't look the same as before."
She remembered that picture in the museum. Bucky looked vibrant, silly even. But now, he looked troubled and tired.
"Sometimes, when you've been through a lot, you don't come out of it looking the same way you did before."
"Oh…is he gonna be okay?" She peered over his shoulder, looking at his contact list, when he sat down to make a call.
"I'm sure he's gonna be fine. Now would you mind your business and go play with that cat of yours?"
"Fine." She huffed and stalked away with her head held high, ignoring the laughter behind her.
She looked around for her kitten, but didn't see her anywhere. Had she really lost someone else already? "Mischief?" She called in what she thought was a whisper. "Where are you?"
Of course the cat didn't respond. Why would she? It wasn't like Lainey was seconds away from tearing the place inside out just to find her.
That little thing was just as sneaky as she was!
But Steve ended up finding her first. Drat.
"Alayna, I thought I told you to find your mother?" He looked at her from under his eyebrows.
She hated it when he gave her that look. That was the, 'you'd better have a good explanation for this' look. And a lot of the time, she didn't have a good explanation, so it was really a, 'you're in big trouble' look.
And wouldn't you know, her stubborn cat walked over to her and tried to crawl up her leg!
She got her in trouble!
"Alayna?"
"I tried to." She bit her lip, ignoring Mischief. "But I got lost and Sam found me."
"Are you sure?" Steve knew Lainey wasn't a liar, but after her little adventure with sneaking on the quinjet, he needed to cover all his bases.
"Yes." She sniffled, rubbing her eyes.
Steve could be scary when he wanted to be. People tended to forget that fact because he was always smiling and joking around.
"I believe you, you don't have to cry." He softened once he saw her teary little face and placed a hand on her head. "I'm not upset."
He always softened when he saw tears. Natasha still made fun of him for it, but he couldn't help it. Lainey was so cute and he didn't like when she looked up at him like that. His heart tugged at the sight of her little face looking all pitiful.
Lainey had to take a couple of minutes before she could control her own emotions and stop crying. "That's your friend." She hiccuped, pointing at Bucky.
"It's not polite to point." Steve tapped her hand. "But yes, that's him. Why don't you go on over and say, 'hello'?"
"Will he like me?"
"Are you kidding? Of course he will. Just go up to him and introduce yourself."
"O-Okay." Lainey picked her kitten up after the little feline scratched at her to get her attention, and walked right over to where Bucky was sitting down.
She stared directly at him for a minute, which made him just a little bit uncomfortable, but he could understand her curiosity. Having a child stare is less daunting than a fully grown adult.
"Hi." She waved.
"Hi."
"I'm Lainey." She boldly offered him her hand to shake, which he took.
"I'm Bucky."
"Wanna see my kitten?" She smiled, holding the animal out to him.
In her mind, that was the perfect ice breaker. A lot of people liked cats, so she was counting on the fact that he might. Small talk was a small step into opening the door to getting to know someone.
"She's pretty." Bucky took Mischief from her and had her rest on his lap. "What's her name?"
"Mischief." Lainey told him. "Mama said she's gonna be my partner in crime."
"Sounds like fun."
She sounded the same as she did when she was younger, her voice had aged a bit, but it was the same beautiful voice. Listening to her speak, he wanting nothing more than to pull her in for a big hug, but that would've scared her off.
For now, he could be content with just listening.
"Mama's my best friend. Uncle Steve said you're his best friend from before."
"I am."
"I saw you in a museum. You have a nice smile." She pet her cat, who was completely happy being in a stranger's arms. "And we met before."
"I remember that…are you okay?"
His orders had been to take her and bring her back to Pierce that day. Hydra wanted her for a new project, but even the Soldier couldn't comply to that.
Bucky fought as hard as he possibly could to walk away from her. Just seeing her face gave him enough strength to leave her alone. Hydra didn't win that round.
"That was two years ago, silly." Lainey's giggles sounded like a harmonious melody in Bucky's ears.
"Steve, I got ahold of—" Sam cut himself off when Steve held a hand up to stop him, in favor of letting Bucky and Lainey continue their conversation without interruptions.
"You like cats?" Bucky asked.
"Yeah."
"My little sister had a cat when she was around your age."
"What's her name?"
"Rebecca."
He remembered Rebecca. She was the youngest of the family. Lainey had gotten a whole lot of her personality from her; her spunk, her playfulness, her bright smile.
Sometimes he could look at her and see Rebecca.
"That's a pretty name. I have a sister. Her name is Wanda." Lainey lit up. "She's not really my sister, but she takes care of me and she plays with me!"
"Sounds like a sister to me." He grinned. "Listen, I've gotta tell you something, Doll."
"What?"
"You know I was the Winter Soldier for a very long time?"
"Uh huh. That's what Mama said." Lainey seemed to get more comfortable around him and began to play with his metal arm.
And at first, it startled him. That arm was a deadly weapon. The last thing he wanted was for it to hurt his own child. But she didn't see it that way. To her it looked pretty and shiny.
She just wanted to know how many magnets she could stick onto it.
"Well, did you know that I had a really good friend back then?"
"Yeah, Uncle Steve."
"No, not Uncle Steve." He shook his head. "This friend was a woman. She was very kind. She talked to me and she made me laugh. We trained together and we ate together. She was a special kind of friend."
"Like the kind you kiss?" Lainey grimaced.
"Yeah, that kind." He poked her belly to tease her.
"Is she still your friend?"
"I don't think so…..but that doesn't really matter. What matters, is she gave me a gift."
"Was it a nice gift? I like nice gifts."
"It was a very nice gift. The best one I've ever been given."
"That's nice. Mama gives me gifts." She smiled. "Once Uncle Clint got me a scooter. I play with it all the time. Was it better than a scooter?"
"Much better than a scooter."
"What was it?"
"It was you."