- there are no happy endings. endings are the saddest part. so just give me a happy middle and a very happy start.
I had escaped the Tower. Well, I just left without anyone knowing. I'm not sure if it's called escaping if I'm not even sure if they were still keeping me there. I know that when I first arrived I wasn't allowed out, but now I assume that I'm alright.
Standing on a hill in the park, watching the sun come up was a very relaxing pastime of mine. I loved the way the sun touched my once it got over the trees and the way it warmed everything including myself.
I have tried to watch every single sunrise ever since I spent years in hiding in Alaska. Beautiful warmth and sun was rare there, so whenever it came, I would let it fill me and it would get all of my attention for the day. Everything I did, was in the sun until there was no more sun.
Now, watching the sunrise was just a habit. And a reminder that all those days I spent in the darkness, can be cured with a little light. It can go for who I am. Over the time I was on this earth, I had killed hundreds of people, some while I was just doing my job as an assassin, and others were out of cold blood. Hatred and anger. Those two things defined me after the one I had left heaven for died.
I stood as the sun rose over the trees, and I closed my eyes, smiling and breathing in through my nose deeply as if to take in as much good as the sun can give.
Thoughts clouded my mind, and I couldn't get any of them out. Thoughts about my past years, thoughts about the current years. Thoughts about the Avengers; Wanda, Steve, and young Peter. And Natasha. I couldn't forget her. Ever since she gave me the kiss outside of her room, I couldn't stop thinking of her. I was completely hooked.
Speaking of the Avengers, my phone specific to the Avengers began to ring. I looked at the Caller ID, and it was Bucky. I wasn't entirely surprised to see he was calling me. Although I was nearly a hundred and fifty years older than him, he still looked at me and treated me like a younger sibling, very similar to Steve's intentions. But I do think Steve treats me more like his daughter than a younger sibling.
"Bucky," I answered the phone.
"Katya." Bucky's low voice was nice to hear. Whenever he spoke, it was very soothing, much like Steve. "Where are you?"
"In the park, watching the sunrise." I dug my heel into the grass.
Bucky didn't scoff, as most others would. As Clint probably would, or maybe Bruce. Instead, he hummed. "And when do you plan on returning?"
"I'm planning on leaving in a minute or two, but I can start heading back now, why? What's going on that needs me there?"
"Well...there may be a slight problem here. It's not your problem, it's more of a Tony Stark problem. But no one here knows what to do with it, and Clint is gone visiting his wife for the week." The words coming out of Bucky's mouth were pretty confusing if I do say so. What could be a Tony Stark problem, and still have to worry me? Why did it concern me at all, and why did the others think I could somehow fix it?
I sighed. "Alright. I'll be there in five minutes."
"Please hurry."
"Goodbye, Bucky." I hung up and started jogging towards the Avengers Tower. Whatever it is, it better be good. Took me away from my morning meditative sunrise.
Once I returned to the tower, I stepped into the elevator and rose up to the big room. I wondered what was so terrible that they needed my help, an immortal to deal with this. Couldn't they get Thor to do it? He was a god, and I was just a fallen angel that was already half human.
"What is it Bucky?" I called once I stepped inside. "What is so important that you need my help?" My walk towards the long haired man was cut short. Confusion and silence fell over me. "What is it?" I asked, knowing exactly what it was.
"Now do you see why this is a Tony problem?" He asked, the small child hitting Bucky's metal arm with an open palm.
"So where's Tony?" I frowned, staring at the small child. It looked only hardly a year old, just able to stand on her own without wobbling.
The small girl had a small bit of dark brown, almost black locks of hair on her head. When she turned to look at me with curiosity, her bottle green eyes had me mesmerized. They were the color of a green glass bottle.
"He's not here. He's going to be on business for the next two days." Bucky said through grit teeth. He was clearly uncomfortable with the small child trying to climb up his metal arm.
"Did you tell him?" I questioned. Bucky was the only one awake. "Should we wake the others?"
"Of course I told him." Bucky grabbed the small girl who was only wearing a diaper, and he sat her on the ground. I guess her wobbling had scared him, and he didn't want her to fall. "But he said that he couldn't just pack up and leave. He'd be home in two days."
"What about the others?" I asked again, rubbing my hands together nervously. "What do we do with a baby?"
"I don't know!" Bucky exclaimed, making the little girl stop moving and stare at him, startled. He quieted instantly, afraid of making her cry. "Can you help me? Please? Haven't you dealt with babies before?"
"Just because I've been on this earth for centuries does not mean that I have raised a child before." I frowned, taking slow steps towards the small creature. "Where did you find her?"
As the baby started to talk small steps towards Bucky, he backed up. It would have been funny if we knew what we were going to do with the child.
"I wanted to go for a walk this morning and get some things I needed from a store before crowds got there. I went down to the lobby of the Tower and one of the receptionists points to a little baby carrier thing, and says it's for Tony and asks if I could take it upstairs." He watched the child who continued to crawl towards him with wary eyes. "So I took the thing, and brought her here until she started to cry, so I took her out and called you."
I crouched near the child, who watched me with curious eyes. So very green. Her eyes were so green, such a bright bottle green. Sitting on the ground next to her, she raised her arms out towards me, wanting to be picked up I assume. With unsure hands, I lifted her into my lap.
"Does she have a name?" I looked at Bucky.
He crawled over to the baby seat he had called the "baby carrier," and pulled out a little gold chain, that seemed like a necklace. Attached to the center of the chain was a gold bar. He handed the necklace to me, and engraved on the bar was two names. Andrea Raven.
"There's a note too," Bucky mumbled, handing me an envelope.
Opening it up and taking the paper out, I read it.
Tony,
Please take care of Andrea for me. My husband will not take me back until I give up the child, and I couldn't bear having her to go an adoption center. So I'm giving her to you. You may not believe she's yours, but do the DNA tests and you'll see that she is. You can give her a better future than I can, and maybe she will help you settle down. I see that this may cause problems with your girlfriend, but Andrea is over a year old. Her second birthday will be on March 21st. Watch out for her, okay? It's best if I stay out of the picture, at least for now.
I stared at the note for a moment longer, then placed it back in the envelope, handing it to Bucky. So this baby was named Andrea Raven, and now Andrea Raven Stark.
"Raven is her middle name," Bucky said, staring at the now sleeping child curled up in my lap. "What are we going to do until Tony gets back?" He looked genuinely scared.
"Well, I say for now we get her some clothes. What else is inside of the baby carrier?" I asked, now using Bucky's word for the seat.
He looked inside, pulling out a knit white blanket, and a pink bottle. "That's all this chick gave Tony?" He placed the two items on the ground. "Where are we supposed to find baby clothes?"
"Doesn't New York have some sort of Babies 'R' Us?" I questioned, taking the blanket and carefully wrapping baby Andrea Raven Stark in it, before placing her in the carrier.
"How should I know? I'm not a father, I've never parented a baby or bought items for one." Bucky sounded truly distressed as if he never came in contact with a baby before. I wouldn't be surprised if he hasn't since before the war.
I got to my feet and handed the carrier to Bucky. "Come on, we're going shopping."