Soldier Parents

Little Sister - Story one

"Uncle Sam. Are we home?" Steve whines and looks up at the man. He currently sits on his lap and plays with a stuffed toy that they keep on the jets for the case that Steve or Bucky drop before they reach the compound. The man sighs and shakes his head. "Five more minutes."

"But it's so long." Steve whines again and leans back against Sam. "I know." Sam rubs his face and looks to Nat. But she shrugs smiles at him and makes a quick escape to Clint who flies the quintet. "Uncle Sam?"

"Yes, Steve?" Sam rolls his eyes annoyed but smiles down at the boy nonetheless. Wanda giggles and watches the man. "Are mommy and daddy coming and get me?"

"Of course, they do. They always do, right?" Steve smiles and nods energetically. He swings his bare legs and lets the little bunny walk over his legs. Wanda had stripped him out of the big suit and into a shirt from his duffle bag. Steve even had a diaper in it, so she helped him with that. Sam swears he slaps Steve on the head the next time he doesn't pack kids' clothes as well. He distracts Steve for the next five minutes until the jet finally lands. Then he grabs his and Steve's bag and slings them over his shoulder. "Come on, buddy. Let the bunny sit here, and we go to Bucky and Y/N."

"Okay." Steve's voice is happy which is strange when Sam thinks about the stress he had while running from HYDRA goons and dodging the bullets that almost hit him. He takes the boy's hand and leads him inside, all the way to the common room. They greet Bruce and Tony and wave at Vision before they reach the common room. Steve lets go of Sam's hand and runs into the room but stops short as he sees Bucky. "Daddy?" Sam looks up and sees Bucky as well. He stands there, smiling at the boy (it falls a bit after he sees that Steve dropped but recovers quickly). He holds Y/N in his arms, the little girl sucks on her pacifier and eyes the boy with curious eyes. "Hey, Stevie. How was your flight with uncle Sam?"

"Daddy! Uncle Clint let me fly!" Steve beams but eyes the girl on Bucky's arms with a weary look. "Really? How was it?" Bucky smiles and crouches down, balancing Y/N on his hip. She squeals around her pacifier and hides her head in Bucky's shoulder before she points at Steve. "Yeah, that's Stevie."

"Daddy?" Steve looks at Bucky with a sad look and Bucky frowns instantly. "Hey, what is it?" He reaches out and runs his hand over Steve's cheek. "Who is that? Where is mommy?" Bucky takes a sharp intake of air and shares a cautious look with Sam. "Would you?" Bucky holds the girl out for Sam to take, which he does, before he picks Steve up himself and kisses his cheek. "There's something I have to tell you, Stevie. You actually know it already, but you're small for the first time since, so you probably don't remember." Bucky sighs and carries Steve over to the bar in the common room before he sits down on a stool, balancing Steve on his lap, so that he can see Bucky's face all the time. "Mommy is not here at the moment. Well, she is but not really." Steve frowns at Bucky and tears gather in his eyes. "Mommy gone?"

"No! No, no. God. Stevie, I'm sorry. No. Mommy is not gone. I'm just bad at explaining. You saw that little girl?" Steve sniffs but still nods. "That is mommy. That is Y/N. She was really... sick. And when you were big you gave her some blood to help her. But you know the serum that makes us big and small right? Mommy has it, too, now and she dropped. Like we do. But she didn't get big since she did." Bucky draws his bottom lip between his teeth and stares at the small boy that has still tears in his eyes and looks at him in confusion. Then the tears expand and Steve starts sobbing again. "Hey, Stevie. It's okay. Shh. Everything is okay."

"Noo." Steve whines and sobs. He shakes his head and hides in Bucky's chest all while he grabs the fabric of his shirt. "Mommy is gone." His words are almost not audible but Bucky understands them. He rubs Steve's back and rocks a bit forth and back. "No, Stevie. Mommy is just small. She's your little sister for a while." Bucky slumps a bit. It's that situation that he wishes it were switched. That he is small and Steve would need to explain. He's always better at explaining things to kids. Steve's crying increases a bit more and his breath gets a bit ragged. "Steve. Hey. It's okay. We're fine, okay? Breath." He rubs Steve's back and rocks him a bit until he stands up to hold him better in his arms. He peeks over to Sam who sits with Y/N on the floor and plays with some big Lego blocks. "Mommy." Steve whines again, breathing at least a bit steadier than seconds before. "I know, sweetie. I miss her, too. But she's only small. Everything is okay. We're okay." He kisses Steve's temple and rocks him a bit but makes his way over to Sam and Y/N. The man looks up and frowns at Steve before he raises a questioning eyebrow at Bucky. He only shrugs and mouth his words. "He doesn't understand. Thinks she's gone."