Nurture

"Are we really doing this today, Steve?" Bucky sighs, walking with Steve and Sam as they walk towards his lawyer's office.

They've got a meeting Bucky's lawyer today - who he's not even met yet - to discuss the upcoming trial. Bucky's not so sure about the guy, but both Steve and Sam have assured him that he's the perfect choice, and very willing to represent his case.

He does trust Steve and Sam to have chosen someone who's on their side and willing to help them, that's why he had asked them to find him one in the first place. But he still finds himself wary of this guy nonetheless.

Though he would've expected it to take much longer than it has for them to find him a good enough lawyer willing to represent him at his trial. So hopefully this guy is as good as they claim.

"Well you gotta meet him." Steve shrugs. "And the sooner the better."

Bucky sighs, shaking his head. All he wants to do is go back home, and be with his son. He knows that Wanda is taking good care of him right now, but he just wants his son right now. He's worried that Tony may try something while they're gone.

"It's gonna be okay, man." Sam assures him, patting him on the back. "This guy is good, and is very willing to represent your case."

"I hope you're right." Bucky sighs, wrapping his arms around his stomach. "But that's not all that I'm worried about."

He really doesn't want to be here right now, but unfortunately he has to be here. All he wants to do right now, is go home. But they need to do this, so there's not much choice. He has to meet this guy.

"Wanda will take good care of Francis for us, don't worry. She won't let anything happen to him." Steve says. "Everything will be fine, I promise."

Bucky knows that to be true, of course he does. He trusts Wanda will look after Francis for them. It's just that he doesn't trust Tony. the others he's not so sure about though, but he trusts them more than he does Tony.

Honestly, he'd very much like to trust Tony, and apologize for what happened, but he's not sure when the right time to tell him will be. And well, he's not found the courage to talk to him yet.

Not to mention he doubts that Tony would be willing to listen to him in the first place. He wants to be friends with the guy, not enemies. But unfortunately it seems that that is not what Tony wants....

"So, what's this guy's name?" Bucky asks, turning to Sam, as they stop outside what he's assuming is this guy's office.

"His name's Benjamin Linus." Sam says. "And he's good and on our side, don't worry. Steve and I made sure of that. We wouldn't have chosen him if he wasn't on our side."

Bucky knows that to be true. They wouldn't have chosen just anyone, but he finds himself a little wary nonetheless to actually meet this guy.

"Everything will be okay, Buck." Steve smiles, looking over at Bucky after knocking on the door in front of him,

They stand outside the guy's office for a bit as they wait for him to answer, and with every passing second, Bucky finds himself growing more nervous. He's just glad that he's got Steve and Sam here with him, and he knows that they'd never let anything bad happen.

Steve notices Bucky's distress, and wraps an arm around his waist, kissing the side of his head. Doing his best to comfort him, which unfortunately only works a little bit.

Though, Bucky does feel much better with Steve holding him close. But not as much as he would've liked it to....

Finally, after what felt like an eternity to Bucky - but was only at the most fifteen minutes - the door to his lawyers office opens, and a short guy who looks to be somewhere in his 40s with short brown hair and glasses opens the door.

From the man's scent, Bucky can tell he's an alpha. Though, he certainly doesn't look the type to be an alpha. But the same could be said for himself, as he certainly doesn't look like an omega, but is.

"My apologies if you've been standing out here for longer than you would've liked."  He says. "I was busy on the phone."

"That's alright." Steve says.

The man - who Bucky is assuming is Benjamin Linus - nods, gesturing for the three of them to come inside, and Bucky finds himself grateful to be out of the hallway and into the man's office.

"Hi, you must be James." Mr. Linus says, holding out a hand for Bucky to shake. "My name is Benjamin Linus."

"Bucky is fine." Bucky says, shaking the man's hand.

Sofarsogood....

"Alright then, Bucky." Mr. Linus says. "Please have a seat and we can get started."

******

"Thank you, Mr. Linus." Bucky says, shaking his lawyers hand at the end of their meeting.

He's glad to say that this all went much better than he thought it would, and now he just wants to get back to the compound and to his son.

"You're welcome." Mr. Linus says. "And it was very nice to meet you, Bucky."

Bucky smiles at him. He's very glad that this guy is good, and on their side just as Steve and Sam had promised that he would be.

Though, he still doesn't have much hope that he'll actually win the trial due to obvious reasons, but he's happy with the lawyer that he's got to represent his case. That's all that really matters to him in the end.

If he has to serve time for what he was forced to do as the Winter Soldier, then so be it.

Then again, he doesn't fancy having to be away from his children for so long, so he'd prefer that he doesn't have to serve time. But if he has to, then he'll have to deal with it, and just hope that he'll be granted visitation rights.

"Thank you, again, Mr. Linus." Steve says, wrapping an arm around Bucky. "I'm glad that you're so willing to represent Bucky's case."

"You're welcome, Steve." Mr. Linus says, shaking Steve's outstretched hand. "I'll be seeing you both at the next meeting?"

Steve looks over at Bucky, who nods. "I think you will be." Steve says.

"Great." Mr. Linus nods, before turning to Sam. "Will you be joining us next time, too?"

Sam shrugs. "Only if they want me to." He says. "I'm really only here for moral support."

And Bucky finds himself grateful for the fact that Sam is here with them. He'll always be grateful for all the support that Sam gives them, along with all the support that Wanda gives them too.

"Well, we'll see you next time." Steve says.

They give their farewell to Mr. Linus, before the three of them are out of his office, and in Sam's car about to head home.

"We told you there was nothing to worry about, Buck." Steve says, grabbing a hold of Bucky's hand as they sit in the back of Sam's car.

"You did." Bucky nods. "And I'm glad it all went well."

Steve smiles, leaning over to give Bucky a quick kiss.

"Alright you two lovebirds." Sam says from the front of the car, as he looks around at them. "We heading straight back, or do you want to get food first?"

Now that Sam's mentioned food, Bucky realizes just how hungry he is. He's starving, despite the fact that he already ate before they left the compound. But that was about three or so hours ago now.

"As much as I want to get back to my son, I'm starving." Bucky says.

"Alright." Sam says, starting up the car and driving out of the parking lot. "Anything in particular?"

Bucky shrugs. "Burgers would be good."

"Burgers it is then."

******

"I gotta go talk with Banner." Steve says, as he, Bucky, and Sam walk through the doors of the Avenger's compound. "You go get Francis, and I'll see you both once I'm finished."

Bucky's turns to Steve, a look of disappointment crossing his face, but he nods. Steve had talked with him on the way back that he plans on going to see Bruce about something. Something about the possible effects the serum may have on Francis.

Shuri had run a few tests on Francis about it while they were still in Wakanda, but the results didn't come back with much. Maybe cause he was barely three months old then, or it's just something that Shuri couldn't quite tell. So they're hoping that since Francis is a bit older now, that Bruce might be able to see something.

Personally, Bucky would prefer it if Francis - along with any other kids they decide to have - don't have any side effects from his and Steve's serums mixing together. But he knows that there's the possibility that it will be the case, and that Francis may have something.

"Alright." Bucky says, before Steve's kissing him. "I'll see you in a bit then."

Steve nods, before he's pulling away and walking off in the opposite direction.

Bucky stands there watching on after him, before he turns to find Sam standing next to him.

"You okay?" Sam asks, placing a hand on Bucky's shoulder.

Sighing, Bucky nods, wincing a little as the baby kicks a bit too hard. "I'm fine." He sighs, rubbing a hand around his stomach.

Sam nods. "Well come on. Let's go get your boy." He says. "I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."

At the mention of his son, Bucky brightens up, and he and Sam make their way to the main common room on the second floor. All he wants right now, is his son in his arms.

Once they walk into the common room, Bucky is surprised to find Francis playing with an unfamiliar little girl, and a kid who he believes is that Spider-Man person. He thinks his name is Peter Parker, according to what Sam has told him.

But the little girl? He's completely clueless on who she is, and why she's in the Avenger's compound in the first place.

"Mommy!" Francis shouts, as soon as he sees his mother walking into the room followed by his favorite uncle Sam.

He runs over to Bucky, and hugs his legs. "Missed you, mommy!"

Bucky smiles, kneeling down to hug his son properly. "I've missed you too, sweetheart."

"Come meet Morgan and Petey!" Francis says, grabbing Bucky's hand, and attempting to pull him over towards his new friends.

"Alright." Bucky laughs, as he slowly gets up off the floor, and follows his son over to Morgan and Peter.

Peter's eyes widen as he sees Bucky approaching, and he pushes Morgan behind him a little.

Bucky notices this, and frowns. He stops halfway, but Francis continues to pull him over, and Bucky finds himself surprised by his own son's strength. Though really, he's the son of two super soldiers, so it's to be assumed that he'd be stronger than a normal two year old.

"Petey! Morgan!" Francis exclaims. "This is my mommy!" He looks up at Bucky. "Mommy, this is Petey, he has a cool web shooter thing! And Morgan is Iron Man's daughter!"

Upon hearing that Morgan is Tony Stark's daughter, Bucky freezes, and as he gets a good look at the girl, he notices that she looks a lot like Tony.

"It's nice to meet you." Bucky says, looking towards Peter.

Technically he had already met Peter five years ago, but this is the first time he's actually seeing him out of the Spider-Man suit, so he's glad he's able to see what the kid looks like now.

"H-hi, Mr. Barnes." Peter says, looking over his shoulder like he's expecting Tony to burst through at any second.

Instead, Wanda walks in, stopping as she notices Bucky and Sam standing in the room. "So how'd the meeting with your lawyer go?" She asks, walking over to them.

"Better than I thought it would." Bucky admits.

Wanda nods. "That's great." She looks over at Peter, noticing as he looks a little uncomfortable to have Bucky standing in front of him. "Peter, Bucky's not going to hurt you or Morgan."

Peter looks over at her. "Oh, I uh... I know." He says. "It's just-" He doesn't have the chance to say anymore, as Tony comes running into the room, almost knocking Wanda over in the process.

"Peter!" Tony shouts. "Get Morgan away from him now!"

Bucky backs away from Peter and Morgan as Tony walks over to him. He was afraid that Tony would come in yelling at him....

"Back off, Stark." Sam says, standing at Bucky's side in an instant, and pushing Tony away from him. "He's not going to hurt your daughter."

Bucky pushes Francis behind him, not wanting Tony to get anywhere near him. Thankfully, Wanda rushes over, picks Francis up and takes him into the other room. Bucky's glad she did that, he doesn't want Francis in here while Tony's yelling.

"Mr. Stark, he wa-" Peter tries to say something, but he's once again cut off by Tony.

"Peter, I told you to get Morgan out of here!" Tony says, turning to Peter.

Bucky watches as Peter is quick to pick Morgan up and take her out of the room.

"For fucks sake, Stark." Sam sighs. "Bucky wasn't about to hurt your damn daughter."

Tony doesn't listen to him, just glares at Bucky. "I don't ever want to see you near my daughter." He says. "I should never have agreed to let you and Rogers stay here. You're a danger, and shouldn't be around kids."

With that, he's out of the room. Leaving Bucky and Sam standing alone in the common room looking on after him.

Sam glares after Tony, ready to run after the guy and do some damage to him for what he said to Bucky.

"I swear I'll go after him and-" He starts, but Bucky cuts him off.

He doesn't want Sam to do anything stupid for his sake. Which includes going after Tony and doing some damage.

"Don't worry about it, Sam." He sighs, holding back tears as he moves past him and runs off towards his and Steve's area of the compound.

He passes Wanda on his way, who looks on after him in confusion. But he doesn't stop to talk to her, just keeps on running, not stopping once he reaches his and Steve's room.

"Bucky?" Wanda calls, going to go after him, but stops as Sam runs into the room. "Sam, is everything okay?"

Sam stops, turning to Wanda. "Stark upset him."

And that doesn't surprise her one bit. Of course Tony would do something to upset him, and she doesn't like that at all.

"Mommy!" Francis calls out, looking on after his mother, and pointing off in the direction he ran in.

"Come on." Sam says. "We should go after him."

Wanda nods, adjusting her hold on Francis, before they're running off after Bucky.