Dandelion
Steve was in his therapy session when Bucky got the call. A robbery at a pizza place that he and Jane loved to go to, so he took that personally.
The pizza was just that good.
The Avengers only got the call for situations like this when the hostages were in real danger and the police couldn't come up with a solution fast enough. This time, a couple of hostages had gotten shot, and the sniper couldn't get a clear visual without another hostage in the way. It was a super easy victory, nevertheless he was glad he had backup with Sam in the sky.
He shoved the robber at the police who promptly took him and arrested him. It was good to be on this side of the law finally. As with all situations like this, there were onlookers. Brooklyn would always be his home so he felt a deep connection with these people. If it were a different time and he were a different person, he'd probably be here in the same capacity, wanting to know what was going on and praying that nobody got seriously hurt.
He watched as a couple of people got wheeled onto stretchers. Their injuries weren't fatal, they would survive. Another shot of glee ran through him. He did that. He was a part of saving their lives.
He hoped this feeling would never get old.
For so long he was the ruthless killer who took no mercy. Now he got to make up for it. And as much as people still feared him in the tower, in the streets it was another story. People were cheering and clapping for him.
Him. Bucky Barnes. A simple guy from Brooklyn.
He let a couple police officers shake his hand and then went to the on-lookers.
A couple of ladies wanted to take pictures with him. He could do that. Some wanted autographs. Some wanted a hug.
He could do that too.
He was in the middle of signing what felt like his fiftieth autograph when movement at the side of the barricade caught his eye.
A little girl, probably not more than three, stood with a group of kids, and what looked like a guardian. They were all in raggedy clothes, or outfits that looked three sizes too small.
But the little girl still caught his eye, and the guardian was trying to get his attention. He signed one more autograph and thanked the person for their support, before making his way to the end. He knelt down in front of the little girl.
She had curly dark hair, much like Sofia's, but she was a little browner. She looked like Luci in all honesty. Rosy cheeks puffed out with her pacifier in her mouth and her dark brown eyes stared up at him in awe.
He smiled at the girl. "What is your name," he asked the girl gently, so as not to scare her.
Her eyes widened almost comically as she looked up at her guardian. The woman nodded at her and smiled. The little girl looked back at him. "I Wivia," she said around her binky. She held her chubby, baby hand up to him to hand him a dandelion. "This your."
He melted. There was no other word for it. He would be the first to admit that he had a soft spot for children. Something that had not ever occurred to him before the war. But then he'd met Morgan Stark. And Clint's kids. And then Darcy's and her precious Sofia.
Sofia had wrapped her fist around his heart so fast that he hadn't seen it coming.
And now he was having his own.
But this, this little girl. He looked up to the woman. "Are you their mother?"
The woman smiled as she placed a caressing hand on top of the little girl's dark head of curls. "No Mr. Barnes. I run the group home across the street. These are all orphaned children. Some of them are your biggest fans. So when I was sure it was safe, I said we could try to meet you."
He smiled at the kids all eagerly waiting to see him and smiled at them. They didn't have anything to sign. Or cell phones to take pictures with. They just wanted to see him.
"They are all very young. We do infants through age ten. Olivia here is two," the woman continued.
He looked down at the little girl then back at the kids. To lose your parents so young, and to still be filled with so much hope when you had nothing. He looked back to the pizza place, there were still a bunch of onlookers, but it seemed that the restaurant was back to normal operations.
Even a horrible robbery couldn't keep Brooklyn people down. He looked back to the group. "How about I buy you all some lunch?" He briefly thought of Jane, back at home with those horrible electronic babies. But she would want him to do this if she were here. He knew her heart almost as well as he knew his own.
The kids were beaming now and the guardian was shaking her head. "Oh Mr.Barnes. We couldn't ask you to-."
"I insist," he smiled and reached down to hold his arms out to the little girl, who hesitated for a moment then reached up and grinned. He put the dandelion in his pocket so she could see and smiled at her. "Sam," he said into his com. "Can you go check on Jane? I'm going to be a little late."
"Sure thing, man. And well done," Sam replied.
"Nothing we haven't done before," he said back.
"I don't mean the robber," be said. And in a whoosh of his wings Sam was gone.
He nodded at the guardian to follow with the kids. Good Samaritans who were in line at the restaurant to help the store get back to business, made way for him and the children as they made their way inside and found a big enough table enough for ten. The two adults and eight children. He found a booster seat for Olivia next to him as she was definitely the youngest, and the guardian sat next to him. "I'm sorry. I didn't catch your name."
"Suzette," she smiled
"You run the home? By yourself?"
"It's a passion project. I got my master's in social work and decided that what we were doing simply wasn't enough. I ended up adopting one of my foster children. Eli is my heart and soul. I wish I could do more, but we mainly rely on donations."
He nodded and smiled at the owner who was there to take their order. "Mr. Barnes. Thank you. Thank you! Everything free today for you."
"That's not necessary, Mr. Nakajima. I'll pay," he smiled at the group. "Do we all like cheese pizza?" Darcy's kids loved cheese pizza.
All the kids nodded eagerly as sodas were placed in front of them. Olivia got a milk. "She doesn't really like soda," Suzette explained.
"That's ok," he smiled at the little girl who beamed at him as he helped her with her straw. "I'm not much of a soda drinker myself."
He helped her take a sip of her milk before placing it back on the table, the waitress brought color pages and crayolas for all of them, so he helped her set that up. He turned back to Suzette.
"You are very good with her," she smiled.
"Thank you. She reminds me of my niece. My girlfriend is about to have twins in a couple months, so we've been practicing on her cousin's kids."
Suzette grinned.
"Though that's still not been reported, so keep that a secret," he laughed.
"Your secret is safe with me, Mr. Barnes. Promise."
"Bucky is just fine," he took a sip of his water. "I would like to help though. I have a good amount of money from all the military back pay that I keep receiving. And of course I get paid for this 'Avenging' thing."
"Honestly Mr.-" she cleared her throat as he shot her a look. "Bucky," she corrected. "Word of mouth from people like you goes a long way. Like on social media. It's so little and takes so little time. But it truly helps."
"Mm," he hummed. "I don't have social media. Maybe I should. I didn't realize it could be used for good like that."
She nodded. "One little post and tag can bring in so many donations and awareness. It helps so much. We just haven't been so lucky on getting a celebrity to endorse us."
"I'm not a celebrity," he said.
"Aren't you though," she asked. "You just spent thirty minutes taking pictures and signing autographs. And there are still more waiting for you outside when you are done. Just because you aren't on social media, doesn't mean that you aren't a celebrity. "
He nodded and took another sip of water. He could probably get Bella to help him set up an Instagram. He didn't really see the need for a Facebook or Twitter. He viewed Instagram as the lesser of the three evils. And Bella would love it. Mason too.
Anything he could do to help.
But the little girl next to him was quickly working her fist around his heart much in the same Sofi did but this was different. He smiled at the dandelion, still in his pocket, than ran a hand over her little head. She smiled up at him.
Jane would kill him, wouldn't she?
But eventually she would forgive him. This little girl and her magic smile with her dimples, and curly, dark hair.
Don't say it. "How would I go about adopting this one?"
Suzette eyes widened and then she smiled. "I felt the same way when I laid eyes on my Eli. Normally it's a process. We would want to do a home study and background checks. It's expensive."
"I can afford it," he said with determination.
"Oh I'm sure," she smiled. "But an Avenger adopting from our home. That's as good as gold for publicity. As long as you promise that she will be well taken care of, and that she will be loved, and that you will care for her as if she were your own."
"Those are promises I can easily give."
"What do you think, Via? Would you like to live in the Avengers tower?"
The little girl's eyes widened and she looked up at him. "Wike a pwincess?!"
He laughed. This little girl didn't need a tower to be a princess. She was one all on her own.
"She doesn't have much for clothes. But if you wanted to take her today, we do have a carseat."
He liked that idea. He wasn't impulsive by nature, but the idea of adopting this little girl was settling so deeply in his heart and it was not giving up. Little Olivia who had no mother or father was about to have both, and a whole slew of family to love her.
That entire thought was enough to overwhelm him, so to hide some tears that were forming he leaned over and kissed the little girl's head.
There was something about being a father.
Steve found Sam directly after his therapy session when he couldn't find Bucky. A quick visit to Jane and Bucky's apartment had told him his friend wasnt there, and that Jane Foster was no schmuck. She gave him a quick tutor session on one of the baby dolls and sent him on his way.
"You've never dealt with an infant before either," she said before she trusted the carrier in his direction. "Here you go, Uncle Steve."
Sam had burst into laughter and tears when he had opened the door to his and Nat's apartment and seen him with the carrier and a screaming doll.
"I give Jane credit," Sam said. "She's a shrewd business woman. She could give Pepper a run for her money."
"Not only that but Tony has basically adopted her as a little sister. Luci has definitely mothered Tony these last few weeks." Steve said amused. "How was the mission?"
"It went well. He didn't even need me," he paused and looked away.
"What aren't you telling me," Steve asked.
"I've spent years now resenting Bucky Barnes, simply because of the way we met. And I know you said he wasn't like that, and all accounts in the history books say he wasn't like that. I know of all the torture he went through. Of all the times he was electrocuted just for being himself. He'd come out of cryo and ask for a certain food, and it was to the chair. I knew all that. But I still resented him," Sam admitted.
Steve nodded. "It was a tough introduction. Think about Nat."
"Even she warmed up to him better than I did," Sam shook his head. "And then today. He saved a full restaurant in Brooklyn in record time and spent time after to sign autographs and take pictures without complaint, which is something I still have trouble doing. And then he goes and buys lunch for a group of orphans, all because a toddler gave him a flower."
"He loves kids. You see him with Darcy's," Steve replied.
"I know," Sam sighed. "I just think I keep on judging him on his past mistakes, that weren't even his own mistakes, but yet he's owned up to them anyway. Anything he did was on behalf of Hydra. Yet he owned up to them anyway. I wouldn't have done that. I would have used every excuse in the book because in truth it wasn't a choice I was given. Not Bucky. He's not given a choice and still he takes responsibility."
"I owe him an aplogy," Sam said.
"He won't take one," Steve said.
"Still I owe him one," Sam took a chug from his beer. "So how was therapy?"
Steve took a deep breath and explained the entirety of his therapy session in under three minutes while Sam looked on amused.
"Wow," Sam said. "She's good. Maybe I need to get some pointers from her. Getting you to open up is like trying to cut open a brick with a butter knife."
"I am not that bad," Steve protested.
"Steve," Sam said. "You are worse than Bucky."
"What," Steve exclaimed. "I am not!"
"Oh yeah," Sam said and grinned. "Bucky didn't take nearly as long to find a girlfriend as you. You can barely look at Darcy and start blushing. Not to mention you have been awake far longer than he has and yet have had not one date."
"I had a date," Steve complained.
"I date to the Apple store in the middle of a mission with Nat, doesn't count."
Steve sighed. "Girl's were just so easy to Bucky."
"You're kidding, right? I was there with him, same as you, right before he asked Jane out for the first time. That took a lot of courage for him to do that. And I will go as far to say that Jane is far more complicated than Darcy."
"Is not," Steve said.
"Is too," Sam replied. "That women's secrets have secrets. The only human to set foot on Asgard. The only human to date an Alien prince. The woman who was possessed by an ancient stone that kills all it inhabits, yet she lived. The woman who is responsible for wormholes in Greenwich, and saving the world more than a few times. The woman who is about to give birth in a few months to two babies with the super soldier serum."
"I hate you," Steve said.
"You hate that I'm right. You didn't take time for you after you woke. You pushed it aside. You always said, 'I'll do it later.' And now you found a woman that you really, really like and could even love, and you're paying the price. Bucky put in the work up front."
"I should have waited for Bucky to talk to about this," Steve murmured.
"Bucky probably would have kicked your ass," Sam said amused. "You're lucky I'm so nice as to only verbally abuse you."
Steve sighed. "It's not just me. Darcy has issues too."
"Oh I know," Sam said. "And she's working on them."
Steve stared down at the doll. In a few months, his best friend would have a real one of those, and he was still single pining for a girl that he couldn't have, at least until he had worked out his issues.
"Can I ask you a question though," Sam asked.
"Shoot," Steve said.
"Why didn't you swim?"
Darcy grinned at Bella as she sat down next to her on the sofa.
"Looks like Uncle Bucky saved a restaurant today," Bella said scrolling through instagram.
Whenever Bucky went on a mission it was always a surprise, because the tower didn't really know he was leaving. Normally when Avengers were needed there were alarms and the whole nine yards. Not Bucky.
Bucky's solo missions were kept as quiet as possible because he didn't really like the crowds or people thanking him. He took it all in stride because no matter what the Avengers did to keep it quiet, social media was a vast thing and it was always reported.
Not to mention Bucky Barnes was fast becoming one of the most popular Avengers. Women wanted him and men wanted to be him.
He didn't have the fanfare of Captain America. He didn't have the flash of Iron Man or Falcon. He didn't bring the storm, like Thor.
Most of the time he was in and out so quickly that the police loved working for him. The police called him more than any Avenger now, and the Army was following suit.
Much to Jane's dismay. Though she was so proud of him that she beamed when he did his hero work.
"What are you doing now, Bel?"
"Listening to this podcast. They are interviewing The Rock."
Sofia was asleep on the floor, so Darcy got up and pulled a cover over her. She'd played herself out with Morgan that morning after breakfast. She'd let her sleep for a couple of hours and then wake her up so it didn't interfere with her night time routine.
Mason was playing a video game. "You know Uncle Bucky and Steve are stronger than The Rock."
Bella giggled. "Well duh."
Darcy grinned. She had went out a lot this week. But being here at home with her children today was a necessity. She'd had another brutal therapy session yesterday and she needed her children to ground her.
A text from Jane had let her know her cousin was pissed about something Bruce had done, but she didn't want to talk to her cousin at the moment. She needed her children.
"Hey mom," Bella was saying. "How come you don't start a podcast yourself. You'd have an audience."
"Bella," she grinned. "Nobody wants to listen to me talk for hours at a time."
"I'm just saying," Bella tossed her hair. "People are always asking your advice on social media. It may be fun for you to try. I can help! Oh mom please! It will be fun!"
Darcy grinned at her. The idea of working with her daughter on a podcast was too tempting to give up.
Jane sighed as she sat on the couch and rubbed her belly. Her mother had gone to the kitchen to get her snack, and the damn doll was finally quiet again.
Her mother brought her back some grapes and cheese and sat next her. She placed a caressing hand over her bump. "Mija," she said. "I know I don't say enough. But I am so proud of you."
Jane smiled at her mother and squeezed her hand a little. "Thanks mami. It means a lot to hear you say that."
"I mean it," Luci said. "I know I am the old-fashioned. But I only want the best for you. And James is the best. He has a good heart and he loves you. That's all I can ask."
"I love him too," Jane said.
"Ay niña," Luci ran a hand over her cheek. "I know you do. And these babies are because of that."
They were. Jane could finally admit that now. And her relationship with James had removed the strain from the relationship with her mother almost overnight, and for that Jane would be forever grateful.
A quick text from Bucky told her the mission was done and he was coming home with a surprise. The last surprise he got her was a hamburger and he was rewarded generously. Something about being pregnant and food surprises.
She shifted on the couch and put her feet up. They weren't swollen today but they still hurt. As much as she wanted her babies to stay in and grow big and strong, she couldn't wait to meet them.
"We picked out the names, mami," Jane said.
"Really?! Will you tell me?"
"We picked Max for the boy," Jane smiled. "And Briella for the girl."
"Ay que lindos," her mother sighed. "Beautiful names."
"We thought so," Jane agreed. "Maxwell Barnes and Briella Barnes. They ring, don't you think?"
"They do," her mother smiled.
"Briella will have your name for her middle name."
"No," her mother gasped. "¿Sí?"
Jane nodded. "They will be Maxwell James, and Briella Luciana. Because we love you."
"Mija," her mother sighed and pulled her close. "You will always be my forever treasure. And James as well. And these wonderful grandchildren. I want for nothing more."
Jane teared up and kissed her mother's cheek. When she heard the door open and a quiet. "I'm home."
It was Bucky.
She turned and looked to the doorway from the couch.
Bucky and a little girl with curly hair and ratty clothes who was on his hip sucking on a binky.
"Bucky," she stood up slowly and he beamed from ear to ear. "Did you steal a child? Are we going to be on the most wanted list?" She felt her mother stand up beside her and looked over at her as she stared at the little girl.
"No," he responded and sat the little girl down. She clung to his leg, her tiny baby hands fisting his uniform pants. In all honesty Jane could admit she was beautiful. What she couldn't figure out is why she was there. "I'm adopting her."
Jane's eyes widened.
"We're adopting her," Bucky corrected and flashed her that smile that got him out of so much trouble. And Luci squealed.
"Aye Dios," she ran up to them, slowing down so as not to startle the child, she threw her arms around Bucky, wrapping him in a hug, then knelt down in front of the little girl. "Mira que linda! She is so precious. Hello," she waved at the little girl and held out her hands. "I am your abuelita."
"Bucky no," Jane groaned.
"Bucky yes," he smiled. The little girl went into Luci's arms easily and he beamed with pride. He walked over to Jane and held out his arms taking her easily into his own. He placed a gentle kiss to her lips. "Hear me out."
Jane watched the little girl who was staring back at her from her mother's arms. "I'm listening."
"She's an orphan," Bucky began and Jane gasped. He nodded. "She was there with a group of kids. None of them had parents. She gave me a dandelion she picked for me." He patted his pocket where she could see the tiny weed and she immediately understood.
For all that he was, Bucky Barnes had one of the most touchable hearts of anyone she had ever met. He felt so much. She took the weed from his pocket and stared at it for a moment. "What about the other kids."
Bucky's smiled faded. "I wish I could take them all. They were all so sweet, and un-jaded. But the Manager said that by me, or us adopting her, and by talking about them on social media we can help them a lot."
"You don't have a social media account," she grinned.
He smiled back. "I'm going to have Bella make me an Instagram."
"Oh she will love that," Jane laughed.
He nodded in agreement and directed her gaze back to the baby.
"What's her name," she asked as they walked closer to the child, who was reaching her arms out to Bucky.
"Olivia," Buck said.
Jane held her arms out to the baby and the little girl flew into them. "Olivia," she smiled at the little girl who was cupping her face with her hands. "Hi baby. I'm your mommy," she said. And the thought and sentiment set so deep in her heart that it stuck.
It felt right.
Darcy's phone rang and she answered it this time.
It was Luci.
"Mija," she said out of breath in her excitement. "We need all the Sofia baby clothes that you still have. Bring them to our apartment!"
The line went dead as Bella gasped and held up her phone. "Mom! Uncle Bucky and Aunt Jane just adopted a baby girl from an orphanage. It's all over social media!"