Westering Home
"JAMES BUCHANAN BARNES! GET YOUR BUTT IN HERE THIS INSTANT!" Mira Callaway shouted as she stood in the kitchen, hands on her hips as she surveyed the damage around her. The counters and floor were covered in a mix of flour, syrup and what looked suspiciously like pancake batter mixed with peanut butter, and a burnt pan was lying in the sink. She heard the shuffle of socked feet on the carpet and when she turned around, a very guilty looking Bucky Barnes was standing in front of her, staring down at his Captain America pajamas.
"Did you make this mess?" Mira asked, crossing her arms across her chest. Bucky shook his head, refusing to meet her gaze. Mira knew for a fact that both Bucky and Clint were still in their little headspace from the night before, and the two young boys knew that they were not allowed in the kitchen unless an adult was with them.
"Are you sure you didn't make this mess? Because I know I didn't make this mess, and I know Uncle Phil didn't make this mess. So the only ones that leave are you and Clint. Now do you want to try that again? Did you and Clint make this mess, Bucky?" Mira waited patiently for the little boy's response.
Bucky nodded his head slowly, a single tear sliding down his cheek. "I'm sorry Aunt Mira. Clint and I were hungry but we didn't want to wake you or Uncle Phil, so we thought we could make our own breakfast," Bucky replied in a whisper.
Bucky and Clint were well aware of the ground rules that had been set when this whole thing started, and that included asking an adult to cook them food whenever they were little. But Bucky had been going through a bit of a rebellious period ever since Steve had left on a SHIELD mission almost three weeks ago. A rule break like this meant a spanking was in order, but Mira hated physically punishing Bucky; she left that to Steve. That didn't mean Bucky was going to get out of being punished for breaking the rules.
"Phil, can you and Clint come out here please? We need to have a talk," Mira called out calmly. There was a shuffle in one of the bedrooms, no doubt it was Phil rolling out of bed and getting decent. Bucky wrapped his arms around his stomach, staring down at the ground as silent tears rolled down his cheeks.
"Ms. Callaway, my sensors indicate that Mr. Barton is currently hiding in one of the tower air ducts. Shall I flush him out for you?" JARVIS chimed. Mira sighed, running a hand through her curly blonde locks. It was more proof that Bucky and Clint had been naughty; Clint only hid in the ducts when he was in trouble. Now they'd have to spend what would probably end up being the better part of an hour trying to get Clint to come out of his hiding place.
"You could try JARVIS, just don't be too forceful with him. I don't want to scare him," Mira replied. Clint was always very flighty and antsy when he was little and spooked easily.
Half an hour later, and they still weren't any closer to getting Clint from the air duct than when they started. Mira had had about enough of the two little boys acting up. "Clint, listen up because I know you can hear me. This game of hide-and-seek isn't funny anymore. It's time for you to come out here and explain yourself. If you come out before I count to 5, we won't tack on extra punishment for this little shenanigan you're pulling." Mira paused for a moment. "One ... two ... three ... four ... fi-"
There was a bang, followed by a timid voice. "Daddy? Aunt Mira? Um ... I'm stuck." Clint's panicked face appeared through the grate above the hall. Mira breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness Clint was wearing his hearing aids.
"What do you mean you're stuck?" Phil asked, stepping closer slowly. "Are you hurt?"
Clint shook his head. "No daddy, I'm not hurt. I-I can't get the grate off. I tried earlier when Aunt Mira called, but it won't budge. I'm sorry I hid." Clint pulled and pushed on the grate, but the metal refused to give. Tears flowed down Clint's cheeks and hiccupping sobs caught in his chest.
Phil reached up and tried to open the grate himself. "It's okay Clint, just stay calm. We'll get you out in no time. I promise. JARVIS, run a scan on all air vents and determine the cause of the malfunction. On the double please; Clint needs his meds."
"Right away Mr. Coulson." JARVIS replied quickly. "Shall I inform Sir of the problem?"
Mira jumped in before Phil could answer. "No! There's no need to call Tony about this, we can handle it ourselves. He'll only make things worse." Mira turned to where Bucky still stood, arms wrapped around his stomach. "That reminds me, Bucky needs his meds too."
Bucky was sick. The serum HYDRA injected him with was flawed; far different from the original that Steve had received. HYDRA experimented with its composition, hoping to develop a serum that would yield super soldiers far more powerful than Captain America. Bucky had watched countless HYDRA soldiers die agonizing deaths as the early trials of the serum fried their brains. But the last batch of serum HYDRA created seemed to work; Bucky was just as fast and just as strong as Steve, if not more so at times.
But now the serum was breaking down, and so was Bucky's body. While his strength and metabolism stayed at peak condition, his cells were dying at a rapid pace. Fitz-Simmons gave Bucky a grim prognosis after their countless tests and labs turned up no viable solution. The sweet boy from Brooklyn had less than 2 years to live. With no clear diagnosis, and seeing as how S.H.I.E.L.D had never encountered it before, Tony had named it Winter Syndrome.
"Because it sounds better than HYDRA-itis." He had argued.
Bucky had to take half a dozen medications to sustain what his body could no longer do on its own. One for Arrhythmia, another for early stage liver failure, one to keep his kidneys alive, Insulin because his pancreas had already shut down, one to battle an infection in his blood that kept coming back, and one to keep his lungs from collapsing. Bucky's high metabolism meant that he burned off the medication quicker and thus needed a higher dosage, which ended up being almost ten times what a normal human could take. That also meant the risk of serious side effects was multiplied.