Steve Rogers has a little sister, Norma Grace Rogers, who became an Army nurse during the war. Captured in Italy, Grace is taken by HYDRA, unbeknownst to Steve and Bucky. They find her frozen in a forgotten HYDRA outpost 70 years later, her memory g...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
The big day finally arrived. All of the Avengers turned out for the city picnic, except Thor who was still on Asgard. Hundreds of parents with their kids showed up, toting lawn chairs and carrying balls to toss or kick around.
Grace peeked out of one of the catering tents. "Wow." The low whisper escaped her lips. "I don't know if I prepared enough for this."
"You did fine," Pepper assured hethinktting an arm around her. "We went over the numbers at least a dozen times. A day." she grinned. "It's all going to be fine."
"I still think there should have been a platform for speeches and stuff," Tony huffed as he entered the tent.
"That's not what today is about," Grace shook her head. "Let the people meet you as a person, not a celebrity."
"Tony doesn't like to be a normal person, Sis," Steve said, joining them.
"Where's Bucky?"
"He's still helping Clint set up the badminton net."
"Okay, badminton done........Sam brought the softballs and mitts.......people are bringing soccer balls and footballs............" Grace began to pace, ticking things off on her fingers. ".......Catering is place.........tent for the grandparents is up............"
Steve gently caught her by the shoulders. "Whoa, Gracie; slow down. It's all done. Everything is ready."
Grace tipped her gaze up to him. "Are you sure? What about-"
"It's all ready, Babydoll." Bucky and Clint ducked into the tent.
"Yeah, this gonna be a great shindig, Cinders!" Clint grinned. "All the bases are covered."
"They're right," Pepper added. "You did great."
"Hopefully, everyone else thinks so too," Grace sighed.
A few hours later...
Sam and Steve were caught up in impromptu races with dozen of kids cheering them on.
"You ready for this, Falcon?"
"You kidding? I was born ready, Cap! You just watch, kiddos; I'm gonna beat his star-spangled butt!"
"We'll see."
Nat was giving basic gymnastic demonstrations surrounded by young girls as Wanda looked on. Clint and Pietro were playing soccer with a group of boys. Tony and Pepper mingled with the parents; Tony turned out to be surprising good with toddlers and babies after he relaxed and let his guard down. Bruce taught a group of kids hopscotch on a sidewalk.
Grace found herself showing a half dozen girl of varying ages how to jump-rope. Soon, they had three of the big ropes going, having a contest to see how long they could jump. They jumped until they all collapsed in a fit of giggles.
Bucky stuck to the sidelines, not really joining any of the activities, just watching. However, Steve soon came jogging up with a young boy, about seven-years-old, with a skinned knee.
"Hey, Bucky, you think you could get this little guy to someone with a first-aid kit?"
".....uh....okay....."
Steve knelt down by the boy. "Okay, buddy, this is my best friend, Bucky. He's gonna take you to get your knee cleaned up."
"Your best friend?"
"Yep; since we were young than you," Steve nodded. "and he always took really good care of me, so I know he'll take good care of you."
The boy eyed Bucky for a moment then nodded. "Okay."
Hesitantly, Bucky offered his flesh hand to the boy, who took it without missing a beat. Bucky led him across the field thinking "What do I do?" Then , out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a familiar head of curly, long blonde hair. "Come on, bud; I know the perfect person to fix ya up."
Grace lay in the grass giggling with the laughing, panting girls that had been jump roping. "Hey, Babydoll; you got a minute?" She looked up above her and found Bucky hand-in-hand with a young boy who had a scraped knee.
"I've gotta patient for ya."
"Of course, Sarge!" she quickly sat up and turn to one of the girls by her. "Sophie, will you grab that white box over there by the bag of ropes?" The girl nodded and dashed to comply. "Come here, sweetie," Grace motioned to the boy to sit in front of her. "What's your name, pal?"
"Jamie."
"That's a nice name," she commented as she looked at his knee. She glanced up at him. "Is short for something?"
"James."
"Really?" Grace exaggerated her surprise. "But his name is James!" she pointed to Bucky as he lowered himself down onto the grass.
Young James scrunched up his face. "But Captain America said his name was Bucky."
"It's a nickname," Bucky clarified. "Steve's been calling me that forever."
"Cool! I have the same name as Captain American's friend! He's Cap's best friend," James told Grace as Sophie returned with the first-aid kit.
"I know; they are the very best of friends," Grace nodded, taking the kit from Sophie. "Pretty neat, huh?" She opened it up and began searching for the disinfectant prep wipes.
"You know Cap and Mr. Bucky?" James gasped.
Grace nodded. "Mmm-hmm."
"Miss Grace here took care of me when I was hurt really bad once," Bucky piped up. He rolled up his jeans leg and showed the boy the two-inch long scar there.
"She cured it?" James in a low, awed voice.
"Yep," Bucky nodded. "She's the best."
"Okay, James," Grace spoke up to cover her blush. "I've got clean the dirt out, then we'll put a band-aid in it." She showed him the disinfectant. "This going to sting. Maybe Bucky will let you hold his hand and squeeze so it won't hurt so much."
"Here, kid," Bucky offered his metal hand. "You can't squeeze this one too hard."
"I get to touch your metal one?" James gasped.
Bucky grinned wryly. "Yeah, kid, ya do."
With a huge smile, James grabbed the proffered hand.
"Okay, Jamie, here we go," Grace said. James squeezed Bucky's hand and whimpered a few times, but never cried. Finally, it was done, and Grace quickly spread Neosporen on a large band-aid and carefully stuck it on his knee. "Okay, buddy, it's over and done," she soothed. "You were so brave." she told him.
James cracked his eyes open and slowly let go of Bucky's hand. "I did it? It didn't hurt that bad. I didn't even cry!"
"Nope; you a brave little trooper," Grace affirmed.
"See, what I'd tell ya, kid? She the best," Bucky nodded. James jumped up and began testing his limits with his injury. Suddenly, a small, soft finger touched Bucky's still-revealed knee. He started and looked down to find Grace gently tracing the scar there.
"There was grenade shrapnel........I had to stitch you up..........You...you said that I was the best in the Army...." A blush stole over her cheeks.
A soft smile curved his lips. "Still are."
Her blushed deepened as she ducked her head further. Then, she let out a gasp, her hand jumping to her head.
"Grace? What's wrong? Is it....your memory?"
Grace nodded. He immediately open his arms, holding her close so that she could hid her face in his shirt.
"Is Miss Grace okay?" Sophie asked worriedly.
"Yeah; just a little dehydration headache. Nothing a little water won't fix." Bucky lied smoothly. These kids should never know the horrors of HYDRA. "Come on, Grace, it's almost time for lunch; why don't we see of Bruce stashed any of the stronger meds in the catering tent."
