Mute

Bruce stares as Steve sits on the ground, some blocks in front of him, and a nine-month-old Bucky next to him, diapered and fast asleep. Nat managed to find a jumper from Y/N’s baby clothes that doesn’t screams girl at first sight.

Bruce turns around slowly to look at Nat, Peter and Sam. “Just like that?”

“Yeah. Peter said he suddenly stared at the wall.”

“It looked like the time Cap- Steve- had this flashback thing. You know, the one where we all thought he stopped breathing and died on the couch but then he started gasping and crying and we couldn’t calm him and needed Y/N to come back from this meeting with Pepper but her car got stuck in traffic and Bucky needed to cancel therapy and had-

We got it, Peter.” Sam interrupts Peters rambling and Peter blushes before he clears his throat. “He wouldn’t react.” Peter shrugs and looks worriedly over to Steve who rubs over Bucky’s tummy with a fond smile. He clearly enjoys being the big brother. At first, he was very confused about Bucky being smaller than usual but after Nat explained that it happened to him once, too he relaxed and almost instantly took on the role of a big brother. It comes almost naturally to him.

The baby opens his eyes sluggishly and looks up at Steve. He clumsily grabs one finger in is small hand and holds tightly on it. Steve giggles and plays to bite Bucky’s hand. The little one only stares and follows his every move. Steve doesn’t seem to mind the lack of response he gets. Peter looks back at the others. “Should we… I mean… Y/N?” He looks uncertain from one Avenger to the other. Bruce nods, Thor looks lost, Sam stares somewhere behind Peter and Nat shakes her head. “No.”

“Nat…” Bruce sighs. “We should let her know. She will be angry if-”

“I won’t call her. She waited for this over a month. I’m not ready to pluck her out of this meeting because Bucky is a little smaller than normal. Steve was once, too. We’ll manage.”

“But Steve wasn’t…” Sam points at Bucky and frowns. “He wasn’t mute for no reason.” The others gaze over to Bucky who sits up with Steve’s help and picks up a block from Steve’s building to chew on. “Have you heard him giggle? Scream? Make any sound since he got smaller? I didn’t. This is serious.” Sam looks back at Nat. The woman still looks at the boy. Her face shows that she’s thinking. Thor is the one who speaks up first. “We shall wait. Our dear brother could be just silent for a while and grow again.” Nat’s head whips to Thor. “Thor is right. Let’s wait a bit longer.” Nat holds up a hand to silence Sam and Bruce who open their mouths at the same time. “If he’s not better in two hours or gets worse, we call. Until then, we make the best out of it.” Peter looks back at the boy’s and sighs. “She will be mad.” He mutters to himself before he stands up, stretches and goes over to the children.

* * *

Bucky looks a bit dazed. It’s almost lunch time and Nat only waits for Y/N’s call but her eyes dart back to Bucky every five seconds. Steve still plays with him as best as he can but Bucky stares off now and then and slips his fingers in his mouth. He always grumbles unhappily when Steve plucks them out again. He started whining from time to time about an hour ago and until now no one knows why. He stops without someone doing something so no one really starts to investigate. Sam checked his diaper only once but Bucky didn’t like that very much and almost started to cry again.

This time when she looks, he’s whining again. Nat frowns and stands up. She crosses the room and kneels down beside Steve. “Hey, Bucky.” She smiles kindly at the baby and feels Steve’s watchful eyes in her neck. Her hand comes up and she strokes carefully over Bucky’s head but stops. Her hand cups his cheek and then goes to the back of his neck. “Huh.”

“What?” Peter and Bruce sit up on their seats and eye her alarmed. “Bucky. You’re burning up a bit.” Bucky looks up at her and tears up but doesn’t starts crying just yet. “Shh… It’s okay, sweetie.” She smiles kindly at the boy and picks him up. Lady comes running immediately from wherever she had been and Steve jumps up as well. They follow Nat as she carries Bucky to place him on the couch. She carefully spreads a blanket under him and starts to unbutton his clothes to take them off. Steve holds onto Bucky’s hand the whole time. The brunette only stares at Steve. His eyes never leaving his brothers face and he ignores the fact about being almost naked now.

“There we go.” Nat smiles at Bucky and picks him back up again. Bucky tries to cling on Steve’s hand but Nat is too quick for him. He starts wriggling and whining but Nat shushes him and sets him down on another couch where Peter formed a nest out of blankets and pillows so the small child won’t fall down. Nat wraps him up into a striped blanket and brushes his hair out of his face again. Steve settles on the ground beside Bucky and takes his hand once again. Lady uses the distraction and jumps up on the couch and settles on Bucky’s feet. Bruce comes over and looks over Nat’s shoulder. “Let me see?” She steps aside and lets Bruce looks at Bucky. He checks him over quickly because the boy wriggles and squirms away from him. He listens to his chest, chest his temperature, points a light to Bucky’s eyes which has him almost crying and Lady softly growling. Still, he hurries through his examination and walks out of the room while mumbling about the fever rising to fast. Steve stays at Bucky’s side and presses one kiss after another to Bucky’s face while the little boy starts to drift of slowly. “Hey, Stevie.” Peter comes up behind Steve and rubs over his back. “How about we let Bucky sleep a bit more?”

“No. I want to stay.” Steve looks up briefly and tightens his grip on Bucky’s hand. The baby snuggles deeper into his blanket and rolls to look at Steve. “No, Steve. Let his rest a bit.” Peter looks conflicted at the blonde but stretch his arms out to pick him up. “Noo.” Steve whines and scoots away from him and closer to Bucky. Peter frowns but hold his hands up in surrender. He looks over to Sam, Nat and Thor before he settles on his prior spot on the couch and goes back to reading in his history book. Only that he looks up every few seconds to look at Steve and Bucky. “Steve.” Nat steps up to Steve again and the boy immediately drapes himself almost over Bucky. “Let him rest.” She picks Steve up and starts to carry him away. “Noo. Bucky… Noo.” Steve cries and stretches to take Bucky’s hand again but Nat is already to far away. “Noo, please.” Steve cries and sobs while he wriggles. “I fear it is better to let the small captain stay.” Thor pipes up with a frown and looks at the brunette boy. “The small one looks near tears.” Nat turns and looks at Bucky who stretches a sluggish arm out for Steve, too. Tear glisten in his eyes and start to drop. Nat sighs and sets Steve back down but before he can rush off, Sam catches him in his arms. “Shh. Don’t start screaming. You can go to him in a second. I promise.” He smiles at Steve but the boy is more focused on getting the mans hand off of him. “Let goo…”

“Wait a sec. Steve!” Sam scolds and Steve stiffens in his arms. Tears roll down his cheek and he looks at Bucky as if he’s something his mother denied him. “Just a second Steve. I just want to get you out of your clothes, okay?”

“Why?” Steve’s voice is watery and he looks at Sam in confusion. The man smiles at him and rubs his thumb over his cheek and wipes some tears away. “Because you will be more comfortable.” Sam strips him quickly and gets him into a new diaper which Peter gives him and then settles the boy beside Bucky. The baby snuggles immediately up to Steve and the blonde wraps his arms protectively around him. It doesn’t take more than a few minutes before they’re asleep. Just as Nat breathes out and leans back on her spot next to Peter her phone chimes. While she quickly takes the call, she sees Thor pull up a chair and sit down to watch over the two kids. “Hello?”

“Nat? HI, it’s me. Y/N.”

“Oh, hi, Y/N.” Nat looks warningly at Sam, Peter and Thor before she walks away from them. “How are things going?”

“It’s great, Nat. I never had so much fun.” Y/N beams and Nat feels herself smile knowingly. “Tony is an ass, huh?”

“Absolutely! And it’s great. I actually saw Pepper smirk a few times.” Y/N laughs before her voice turns a bit more serious. “How’s Buck?”

“He’s fine.” Nat cringes a bit as she sees Sam’s disbelieving look. She shrugs and continues. “He hasn’t talked but he’s fine for now. He takes a nap with Stevie right now.”

“Just like that? It’s barely past lunch time. I thought I would get you while eating.” Y/N’s voice sounds surprised but Nat catches the slight worry in it. “Y/N, they’re fine. We actually didn’t eat ‘til now because they fell asleep on the couch. But as soon as they wake up, we’ll eat.”

“Okay. Well…” Nat hears the slight disappointment in her voice. “When are you coming home?”

“Oh, ah… in about two hours, I think. Tony wraps thing up quickly today. So, I hope we’re finished quickly. A, damn…. I have to go, Nat. Give my boys a kiss from me and don’t forget: Call me if somethings not right!”

“I will. Don’t worry.” Nat smiles and looks back at Sam who watches her with crossed arms and a disbelieving look. Just as Nat hangs up, she sees Bruce hurry in. He doesn’t acknowledge anyone and returns quickly to the boys. he checks Bucky over again and sighs. Then he nods and sinks down next to Peter, tablet in hand and tapping away on it. Nat walks over to him, picks up the clothes Sam had left on the ground and starts folding them. Her gaze wanders over to Bucky again before she looks over Bruce’s shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I hope.” Bruce frowns at some of his data and taps furiously. “His fever raised to fast. But it seems to be steady know. I hope it’s only because he’s not used to dropping so small.” Nat’s head whips over to Bucky again. Thor drapes the wet cloth over the boy’s forehead with a love in his eyes that she never had seen before. “M-maybe…” Peter looks up from hi book and frowns at Nat. “No!”

“Natasha.” Bruce sighs. “She should at least know about it. Don’t you think?” Nat sighs and places the folded clothes on the backrest behind Bruce. “You should have heard her. She was so happy. I don’t want her to worry. I mean… He’s not dying, is he?”

“No, but-”

“Then we should leave her alone. She comes home in two hours anyway.”

“Romanov! You said if he get’s worse. Worse than this isn’t really manageable.” Sam crosses his arms and glares at her. Nat just looks blankly at him and shrugs. “fine. Then go on and call her. Have luck by trying to get her to stay where she is while Buck’s is sick here with us.” She earns another glare but Sam actually backs down. Everyone settles down and does what they want. Reading, watching movies, playing games. But everyone of them still casts worried glances at the boys.

* * *

“So, you didn’t call because I was happy and excited because of this meeting?” Nat shrugs at Y/N and looks at Steve. The boy blinks his eyes open. “Mommy?”

“Hello, sweetie.” Y/N turns around and smiles at the small blonde. Steve smiles back and hold his arms out. Carefully to not startle the baby, she picks Steve up and cuddles him to his chest. “You’re home.” Steve sighs and cuddles closer. “Yeah. We finished a bit quicker. Uncle Tony was bored.” She chuckles and hears a choked laugh and a slap from behind her, well knowing that Pepper slapped Tony on the back of his head. “How are you, sweetie?”

“I’m good.” Steve mumbles but then he suddenly sits up. “Mommy, I’m a big brother now! Bucky is a baby!” Steve shouts in excitement and rocks up and down in Y/N’s arms. Y/N laughs with him and enjoys the happy sparkling in Steve’s eyes. “Ma…” They both still instantly and stare at each other. Everyone is silent and listens. The tiny, soft voice surprised them all and for a moment they look around. “Ma…” The whine sounds again and Steve is the first to turn fully. He squeaks in excitement and jumps away from Y/N. “Bucky!” HE shouts and tackles his little brother onto the couch. “Steve!” Y/N scrambles up and holds Steve on one arm, pulling him off of Bucky and looks stern at him. “You can’t jump him like that! He’s a baby now. You need to be careful.”

“Sorry, mommy.” Steve looks down at his feet, a small pout on his face. “it’s okay. I know you’re excited.” She chuckles and presses a quick kiss at the blonde’s forehead before her eyes snap back to Bucky. “Hello, Bucky.” The baby laughs a soundless laugh and stretches his arms out for her to take him, while he yawns. Y/N picks him up carefully and bounces him in her arm. “Had a good nap with Stevie?” For a tiny moment she thinks Bucky will answer her with actual words, or something that resembles words, but as the boy nods and leans his head against her shoulder she slumps a bit in disappointment. She recovers quickly, though and gives the, now, smaller boy a kiss as well. “That’s good. You’re up for some lunch? Stevie, too?” Steve nods eagerly and makes Pepper and Tony laugh. Surprisingly Peter is on his feet faster than Y/N and takes Steve’s hands. She just registers what happens as Peter and Steve vanish in the kitchen. She shrugs and looks at the others. “You want to join? I figure you all haven’t eaten either, right?” She earns herself some nods, then she turns and follows the boys into the kitchen. While Peter tinkers away with Steve She sits down on a stool. Bruce slides in beside her and puts a testing hand on the baby’s head. Y/N looks briefly down at Bucky, wo stares at Bruce, then she looks at Bruce. “What?”

“Nothing.” Bruce smiles at her and takes his hand away. “just glad that the fever seemed to be gone. It had me quite concerned by how fast it raised.” Y/N frowns at him and looks back down at Bucky. She places her own hand on his forehead and finds it only slightly warmer than she had thought it would be. “Don’t worry. I think he’s totally fine.” Bruce smiles at her reassuringly. “The tests I took where all normal.”

“So, why…” Y/N trails off but Bruce catches on, on her uncertainty. “Why, what?”

“Why is he not talking? He was totally fine yesterday.” Bruce looks at Bucky before his eyes snap to tony with a reproachful look. Y/N follows his gaze and looks at a guilty looking Tony who tries to seem casual while he nips at his cup of coffee. “Tony:” Y/N say’s warningly. “What have you done?” Tony sputters for words before he sets his mug down. “I, for once, did nothing. I’m totally innocent. Like a baby. Well not quite like a baby, because I’m a grown man but almost.”

“Tony?” Pepper stares at the engineer and crosses her arms. Even Sam and Thor look at him with pointed looks. Tony holds his hands up and sighs. “Fine. So, it’s nothing. Well… I thought it’s nothing because he seemed fine.”

“What happened tony.” Y/N looks down at Bucky once more who now seems to find his liking on pulling on her hair. She extracts his little hand and turns him around, so that he now can see all the others. He whines for a second but then finds a new distraction in a deco apple on the table. “Well… Okay, so we were in the park yesterday and you remember the small fight Bucky had with theses kids that tried to annoy Steve a bit.” Y/N nods. “Well I went over to them after Steve ran to You and Bucky was still with this- this- devils. They called him names instead of Steve and then one of them threw a small rock that hit Bucky’s metal shoulder. They started laughing at him for being different and a monster. I told them off and they ran like puppies. Bucky looked fine; I swear. He had shrugged it off as I told him that he’s fine, normal even.”

“And you didn’t think about telling me?!” Y/N shouts outraged. Tony twitches lightly and Bucky makes an unhappy noise on her lap. “I… really thought he would be fine?” Tony seems to shrink in himself and his voice sounds a bit smaller than usual. Y/N sighs and looks at Bucky. She strokes over his almost bald head and Bucky looks up with his gray eyes. She smiles at him and then takes his metal arm. The infant’s eyes widen a bit and he looks as Y/N lifts his small hand to her mouth and presses a kiss there. “Precious.” She whispers before she leans in and kisses his head. She knows that Bucky doesn’t understand what’s going on right now, but as soon as he’s big again, she will tell him how wrong these other kids are. And she’s a hundred percent sure the rest of the family will tell him too.

Before she can scold tony properly peter comes to the table with Steve in tow. They carry bowls of steaming soup and put it on the table. “Let’s eat. I’m starving.”

Later that day she corners Tony and gives him lecture that comes close to the ones Steve hold when he’s in full captain America mode. After that it takes only four day’s for little Bucky to be his normal four-year-old self and then it takes two more until he talks and laughs properly again. Y/N decides to avoid the park they went to for a little while now.