No Time to Die - Bucky Barnes

Chapter 10

Samson et Dalila: Bacchanale. Symphony No.3 

"You are not supposed to be here Tony." He just got back from a week-long mission that he left for as soon as he was cleared. Tony was supposed to be taking the time off after that mission but here he was back in the lab. " Don't worry about me smarty. I'm not here to work, I actually came to find you."

A partial lie. It didn't take a genius to find that one out. Him, shoving some stuff behind his back was definitely an indicator. " How are the kids?"

"Good, actually. They are adjusting and seem to trust us more." Day by day, little by little the boys and girls you saved started to open up. They became more relaxed and were used to it. That's not to say that they are still hesitant with medical equipment making it hard for the doctors to do any type of examination. Leaving you in the dark about any illnesses they may have, either physical or mental. It also makes things more difficult to see if they have any living parents or relatives.

Not that any of you minded that they were there. You enjoyed their company over others some days. Yet you hoped that one day they would find a permanent home with a loving family.

"That's good. And who else is around?" Tony sounded strange. He was shifting his weight from foot to foot and he kept looking over your shoulder as if he was watching out for someone. " Well, Wanda and Vision are with the kids right now. Steve is in the building but doing something with Fury. Clint's home, Loki and Thor are back on Asgard and Bucky is around here somewhere." The only two who had a mission this time around were Sam and Romanoff which they left for this morning. " Alright, cool. Yup. That sounds good."

"Tony are you alright?" His lips curl in when he looks at you. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be"

"Listen could you do me a favour and take care of Morguna for like two days, three tops." He spits out calmly. "I would love to."

"It wouldn't be bad. She is a good kid. Wait. You said yes." Clearly, he didn't hear you cause if he did he wouldn't have tried to convince you. "Yes, Tony. I told Pepper. Anytime you need me to take care of her I will." You're surprised at his next actions. Tony's arms wrap around you in a big hug almost lifting you off the ground. " I owe you."

"You don't owe me anything, Tony." Not a second later you hear tiny footsteps running in your direction. "Hi, sugar." You lift up the small Stark in your arms, her arms wrap around your neck. "Hi, smarty." She replies, influenced by her father. Not that you minded. You have always loved children and the bright gleam in their eyes. The youthfulness is not yet tainted by the world.

Your future plans always included having children of your own. To have a big family that was filled with laughter and love. But Hydra almost took that from you completely. The avengers finding may not have been the worse thing to have happened. You see much of your past life here within the compound walls. You get to have this big family, even if it's not by blood.

"Damn she's getting faster and faster." Pepper runs in after, out of breath and with clothes in her hand. "She is also stubborn like her father." Tony scoffs at that, a theatrical shocked expression on his face.

You haven't realized that Morgan was still in her pyjamas and it was well past noon. "Hey, little one. Why are you not wearing your clothes." She hid her face in the crook of your neck. "Don't want to." She mumbled. You all had different reactions to her rebellion. While Pepper rolled her eyes, you giggled at the similarities between the Starks. It was moments like these where you felt as if Hydra hadn't happened. You could almost imagine if you were holding baby Tony while Howard was doing god knows what.

"I guess you don't want to make cookies then." Guilting her into getting dressed as well as bribing her with cookies probably isn't a smart idea. But it works. It works every time with children. It's how you tricked the children you use to babysit in your teen years when their parents were still at work.