Chapter 14
Addie looked out the window at the Avengers’ Bunker as it faded in the distance. She let her fingers play with the dog tags she wore around her neck, letting the familiar jingle calm her. She felt a warm hand on her leg and looked over at her dad, who smiled at her calmly. “Don’t worry, myshka, we’ll come back,” he assured her.
“Yeah, Addie,” her uncle said from the driver’s seat. “We’re just moving back to the city for a bit because it’s more convenient for missions, that’s all. Think of it as a winter home, and the compound is our summer home.” That made Adelaide feel much better, and she smiled brightly.
“Okay! I like that idea!” she said happily. The two men chuckled and gave her warm smiles.
“I’m glad you like it, kotenok,” Bucky said, ruffling her hair fondly.
“Daddy!” Addie whined, combing her fingers through her hair to fix it. “Wanda worked hard on that this morning!”
“Oh, I’m sorry, printsessa. I didn’t realize I was touching a masterpiece.” He grinned at her, and she stuck her tongue out at him playfully. The three were silent before Steve broke stillness.
“Hey, Buck?”
“Yeah?”
“What do all those things you call Addie mean?”
“What do you mean?”
“The Russian. You do it all the time.”
“My nicknames, Daddy,” Adelaide supplied at her father’s confusion.
“Oh. They’re just little names for her. Didn’t realize I was doing it. Sorry, Stevie.”
“It’s fine. I just wondered what they meant.”
“Addie?” Bucky asked, looking to her for consent.
“He’s family, Daddy. He can know. Besides, you’re not the only one. Everyone else has nicknames for me, too.”
“True. Kotenok is the name I gave her before she told me her real name. It means ‘kitten’. The rest are just little pet names that I came up with over the years. Myshka is ‘little mouse,’ dulka is ‘babydoll,’ and the list just goes from there.”
“Pietro calls her myshka too,” Steve pointed out.
“Yeah. Sokovian and Russian are closely related in origin. The languages are very similar.”
“Plus, he says I eat like a mouse,” Addie supplied, giggling at the look Bucky gave her.
“Is that what he said?” he asked. “He told me it was because you were so small when he first met you.”
“Nuh-uh! I’d grown a bit by then!” Adelaide protested, and the two men laughed at her indignant look.
“Of course, rukavitsy,” Bucky said teasingly, and she pouted, looking out the window silently.
“What was that one?” Steve asked, looking with a grin at the girl’s expression.
“Rukavitsy means ‘mittens,’ and that’s the one nickname she hates. This is what she does every time I use it.” Steve laughed, and the car was silent for several more minutes. When Bucky looked over at his daughter again, she was fast asleep, her head lolled against the door. “She’s asleep,” he said.
“We had a busy morning. She’s probably exhausted.”
“How much farther to Manhattan?”
“A good bit. You can sleep, Buck. I’m good for now. I’ll wake you when I need to swap drivers.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah. Go ahead.”
“Alright.” Bucky slid down a bit in the seat and was soon asleep.
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Adelaide looked up at the tall building with wide eyes. She hadn’t seen a building this tall in her entire life! She could feel the knife Natasha gave her rub gently against her ankle as she shifted her weight slightly. While everyone knew that Bucky would rather die than let anything happen to her, the Black Widow told Addie to keep it there until she could get her a smaller knife or an easier place to hide it on trips. One could never be too careful when their father was the Winter Soldier/Avenger. She gripped tightly onto her father’s hand as the group entered the Avengers’ Tower and looked excitedly at the large interior. FRIDAY’s familiar voice greeted them, and Adelaide grinned at Clint, who walked on her other side and held her hand. The two men swung her between them as they walked across the lobby and to the elevators, causing everyone who saw them to laugh or smile happily. Adelaide squealed and held on tightly as she was swung back and forth above the ground. She was returned to her feet once they entered the elevator, and she looked out the window excitedly as the ground became farther and farther away. “Are you excited, Adds?” Clint asked her with a smile.
“Yes, sir!” she said, nodding enthusiastically. I’ve never been this high before!”
“Yes you have, kotenok,” her father said. “You flew on a plane.”
“But that’s a plane, Daddy! This is a building!”
“There is a difference, Barnes,” Clint said, grinning at the other man. Bucky gave him an exasperated look and turned Adelaide around when the elevator stopped.
“Come on, Addie. The others are waiting for us.” Adelaide took her dad’s hand and followed him into the large room. The sheer amount of windows alone made her gasp in awe. She could see almost all of Manhattan from here!
“Like it, Bit?” a voice asked, and she turned to see Tony smiling at her.
“Uncle Tony!” she exclaimed, going to hug him. “It’s great!” she exclaimed, turning to look back out the windows. “I’ve never seen anything like it before!” Tony practically glowed at the statement and ruffled her hair.
“Glad you like it, kiddo.” Hugs and greetings were exchanged even though Adelaide had seen them only a few hours ago, but she was so excited she hugged them again anyway.
“Thor has just arrived, Mr. Stark,” FRIDAY’s voice interrupted the “reunion.”
“He coming down?”
“He is on his way now.” Sure enough, the Asgardian entered the room from the elevator not a minute later.
“Greetings, fellow Avengers! And hello, Lady Barnes,” he greeted loudly, smiling down at Adelaide, who giggled and waved. She hadn’t had much of a chance to speak to the thunderer, but that would probably change soon. She did like him, though; he was quite humorous, in her opinion.
“Sergeant Barnes, it is good to see you up and about,” Thor said to Bucky. “We have not had the chance to be properly introduced. I am Thor Odinson of Asgard. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” The two shook hands, and her father smiled at the man.
“Same to you.”
“Hey, Adds, come look at this,” Clint called from across the room. Adelaide left her dad to talk to the others and went up two levels to where Clint, Wanda, Pietro, and Natasha were. “We thought you’d like to see this,” he explained, pointing out the window to where the Statue of Liberty was visible in the distance. Her eyes widened.
“Can we go there, Uncle Clint?” she asked excitedly.
“Sure thing, cupcake. We’ll see if the others want to go later tomorrow after we’re all settled, alright?”
“I could take her there now,” Pietro said, looking at her with a grin. Addie giggled. She’d only gone anywhere with Pietro twice, and she loved any opportunity to go that fast again. Something told her that her dad would want her to wait for him this time around.
“I think I want Daddy to come too, Pietro,” she said. “I’ve never been here before, and he grew up here. I wanna go places with him and Uncle Steve before we go speeding around. Maybe later, though.”
“Sure thing, myshka,” he said, ruffling her hair before speeding off, most likely to his room. Wanda shook her head and went after him, kissing Adelaide’s head as she passed.
“We’ll get a snack at the café down the street later, okay?” she said to her, and Adelaide nodded excitedly. This move was going to be fun!
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Adelaide shrieked loudly as she was grabbed from behind and slung over someone’s shoulder.
“Let me go!” she yelled, hitting their back ferociously. That was quickly put to an end when the person started spinning around, and she was forced to hold on to their waist to keep from falling off. “Uncle Steve, put me down!” she exclaimed, trying to talk through her laughter. He kept spinning. “Uncle Steve!” He pulled her back over his shoulder and held her to his hip, even though she was getting much too big for that. She’d finally hit a growth spurt (a big one at that) and was up to Bucky’s hip. Oh, but that never stopped anyone from picking her up or patting her on the head, or anything like that.“How are your studies going, ladybug?” he asked, tickling her side.
“Uncle Steve!” she cried, shrieking and wriggling frantically to get away. Bucky and Clint came skidding around the corner, but both dissolved into laughter at the sight before them.
“Mother of all that’s holy, Steve, you gave me a heart attack!” Bucky said once he caught his breath.
“Old age finally catching up to you, Popsicle #2?” Tony asked as he walked by. Clint snorted, and Bucky glared as he passed.
“Sorry, Buck,” Steve apologized. “We were just playing.”
“Daddy, save me! Uncle Steve’s being mean!” Adelaide cried, holding out her arms for him. Bucky came and took her, “protecting her” from Steve’s tickling.
“I’m sorry, myshka. I’ll get him back later when we spar.”
“Oh, now you’ve done it,” Clint said.
“What were you doing before Stevie attacked you, printsessa?” Bucky asked.
“I was trying to finish my math homework!” she answered, looking pointedly at Steve, who meekly ducked his head.
“Sorry, ladybug,” he said. “I’ll let you finish it.”
“It’s okay, Uncle Steve,” she said, wriggling to be put down. She hugged Steve’s waist once she was on the floor, then sat back down at her desk, starting back on her work.
“What are you working on over here anyway, angel cake?” Clint asked, looking over her shoulder.
“Pepper wants me to finish this worksheet for her,” she answered. Clint looked closer at the math, his jaw dropping.
“Cooper hasn’t even gotten to this yet!” he exclaimed in surprise.
“Hydra did teach me things other than fighting, Uncle Clint,” she replied calmly.
“Pepper’s helping her get her high school diploma,” Tony said as he walked by again.
“And nobody thought to tell me?” Bucky shouted back.
“You were out with Capsicle!”
“I was going to tell you yesterday, Daddy, but you were tired and went to sleep before I could, and you went on your run with Uncle Steve and Uncle Sam before I woke up this morning.”
“Okay, dulka. I see. Well, I’m proud of you. You gonna try college next?”
“I don’t know yet. This is all rather easy,” Adelaide replied.
“Tell Cooper that,” Clint mumbled. “He complains over long division.”
“Everyone complains over long division, Uncle Clint,” Adelaide replied.
“Even Steve complained over long division, and that was back in the thirties!” Bucky added.
“In my defense, my math homework kept getting ruined in puddles,” Steve said.
“That’s because you were a little punk who always dropped his books in puddles before getting into fights,” Bucky shot back. Steve rolled his eyes while Adelaide giggled. Clint shook his head and walked out, saying something about getting out before the jokes started flying. Adelaide followed him, her books in hand as the two men traded the same old “insults” that they had been using since their youth, and she sat in the lab with Bruce to finish her math, occasionally stopping to ask him to check her work.