Some would say their love is wrong. It kind of was considering one was a national icon, the other being a fugitive. The only thing that kept them together was their love for each other and their son.
Their son wasn't biologically theirs and wasn't a boy. He was a grown man over the age of ninety-five, his mind was only two years old. The damage he received from his past caused irreversible damage and he was mentally stuck as a two year old. That only made them love him more.
Rumlow confessed his love to Steve shortly after Shield found him and Bucky in a warehouse. Steve wasn't sure if he was being genuine or looking for a way to not to get the death penalty.
After spending more time with him and seeing how Bucky was attached to him, he started to see Rumlow wasn't the same guy who tried to kill him in the elevator. Rumlow kissed him first and Steve could admit he liked it and was convinced enough to talk to Fury about other living arrangements for Bucky and Rumlow.
After a few months of convincing the council and Steve's friends, Rumlow and Bucky were able to live with Steve if Steve would accept liability for both of them. Steve assured them that were going to be okay.
Two months after their release, Rumlow and Steve's love for each other grew as did their love for Bucky. Steve had a hard time coming to the conclusion that Bucky wasn't going to be the same as he knew but he was okay with it.
Bucky was a very complex person to many of his therapist. The only conclusion they had for him was he was mentally two years old, suffered from PTSD and had a split personality disorder with his other half. The winter soldier. That side of him could only be controlled by commands, Bucky told Steve and Rumlow that he could hear a voice in his head but it wasn't a bad voice until someone uttered his trigger words.
They got used to his condition and made adjustments around their home. Bucky had a toddler-type bedroom. He had a bed with railings so he wouldn't fall when he had a nightmare or a seizure.
His nightmares scared him to the point he couldn't focus on anyone. His eyes were glazed and he couldn't hear Steve or Rumlow talking to him. He hasn't had one that bad in a while, but his nightmares were frequent and bad, it got to the point that Steve installed a baby monitor in his room. While it was one of the best investments they made, today was one of those days where it really wasn't. Bucky woke up early and was laughing at something. Someone had to get him before he got out of his bed.
"Steve, Steve it's your turn to go get him."
"I put him down last night, you go get him." Rumlow groaned, he rolled out of bed and stretched. He went to his son's room and opened the door. He heard laughing coming from under the blankets in the crib.
"Where did you go?" He looked around the crib, the laughing got louder.
"I guess he left, it's a shame, but I guess that means more blueberry pancakes for me." Rumlow smirked when the laughter stopped and he was met with a pair of angry blue eyes peeking from under his blankets.
"Just kidding, did you sleep good?" Bucky nodded, his blankets slipped off his head revealing a fuzzy mess of hair.
"Oh God, this never gets better. Let's get you changed and we'll go make those pancakes." Bucky smiled, he lifted his arms, Rumlow carried him out his bed and laid him on his change pad.
"Dada, stars."
"You see the stars on your wall? What color is that one?"
"Green." They installed glow in the dark stars on his walls as a sensory item, Bucky loved them along with his star lamp. Rumlow took off his dinosaur onsie and changed him into an Elmo two piece. Rumlow brushed his hair down, then he noticed Bucky had spaced out.
"Hey, look at dada." Rumlow touched his face, Bucky flinched then smiled.
"Winter." He pointed to his bunny in the crib, Rumlow got it and put it in his arms. Rumlow sighed, Bucky had a habit of spacing out and it usually lead to him switching from calm to very aggressive in seconds. Steve and Rumlow learned this the hard way.
"Hey, pancake time. Do you want to help?" Bucky nodded. Rumlow got his hand and brought him in the kitchen.
"Can you get the pancake box?" Bucky got the pancake box and gave it to Rumlow.
"How about the milk?" Bucky went to the fridge, but there was a lock on it.
"Oh yeah." The fridge and many of the cabinets and doors had baby locks on it. Not because Bucky was curious and would put everything in his mouth, but because everything could become a weapon.
Rumlow took off the lock and got the milk. He poured some in batter and put it back and locked it.
"Alright, let's stir." Bucky stirred the batter the best he could. Rumlow stirred it thoroughly and warmed up the stove.
"Let me guess strawberry pancakes?" Said Steve.
"Daddy." Bucky dropped the spoon and went to Steve. Steve picked him up and kissed his head.
"They're blueberry for your information." Said Rumlow pouring five pancakes. Steve kissed him and went to the living room, he turned on the tv and let Bucky entertain himself. He went back to the kitchen and watched Rumlow.
"Watching me isn't going to make them cook faster." Said Rumlow, flipping the pancakes.
"I wish that was possible. I got a call from Fury shortly after you left."
"What does he want?"
"You didn't check in Saturday and you didn't send in the report of Bucky."
"Saturday was exhausting and Bucky is doing the same every time they ask only difference I know is his attitude. They don't need one every week."
"Those reports are what keeping him out of someone's padded cell, so I would appreciate it if you would not skip out on them." Rumlow took the pancakes off the stove and put two on his and Steve's plate and one on Bucky's and cut it up.
"You don't find it ridiculous that they ask for reports of him every week and put him through therapy all week? You don't think maybe they're just waiting for the perfect moment for him to go insane?"
"If that's so then we need to prove them wrong, if you don't send in those reports they will look at him wrong." Rumlow poured orange juice in Bucky's sippy cup and fixed coffee for himself and Steve.
"You really think they would take him away because of a missing report?"
"Yes they would and Fury told you he would."
"I'll do better, I'll call Fury later and explain everything. Feel better?"
"Much, thanks for cooking."
"Bucky, come eat." Said Rumlow. Bucky got up and sat in his chair.
"Whip cream or syrup?" Asked Steve. Bucky pointed to the syrup, he was just like Rumlow when it came to breakfast. Whip cream with strawberry pancakes and syrup with blueberry pancakes, they tried to mix it up but he refused.
They ate in comfortable silence for a while, Bucky began his routine of reaching over the table and trying to grab something. He whined when they moved their plates further away.
"Dada, want." He pointed to his pancakes.
"Say please."
"Want."
"Please."
"Pwease."
"Thank you, here you go." Rumlow gave him a piece of pancake. Bucky smiled and touched his head with hand which was sticky with syrup.
"Really? Come with me." Said Steve. Steve brought him to the sink and wiped his hands, face and hair. Bucky got away from Steve and sat on the floor and played with his blocks.
Rumlow finished his breakfast and took everyone's plate. Steve hugged him from behind and kissed him.
"I can't call Fury if you kiss me all day."
"I suppose so, make it quick. You know how he is when you're not at playtime." Rumlow smiled and looked over at Bucky. He was playing with his Lego people, a game that he determined required everyone and he didn't care if they had something else important to do. Rumlow escaped his grasped and snuck into their bedroom.
"Agent Rumlow, I'm sure Captain Rogers has informed you about our situation." Said Fury.
"Director, Saturday was hard enough. Dealing with the council and Bucky's attitude, I didn't have time to fill out the mission report. But I got the information and I will send it over."
"The council does take a lot out of me, that I know. Now what I don't know is how the two year old is doing, why is that?"
"Honestly, giving a report every week about Bucky is excessive. He has therapist that see him throughout the week and I'm sure they give reports about him all the time. Do you really need a report about him?" He heard the director give a sigh and replied.
"Fair enough, I suppose I can stop asking for reports about him. Asking him the same questions everyday must be annoying." Then he heard.
"Dada, play." The bedroom door was jiggling. Bucky was not the most patient person.
"Sounds like I'm interrupting something, go deal with your kid. And don't forget about the report." Fury hung up, Rumlow sighed.
"Dada."
"Coming." Rumlow opened the door, Bucky held up his Lego figurine and got his hand.
"Bucky, you can't do that all the time when we have work."
"Boring, play." They went to the living room, they played with his toys for a while. Bucky moved from playing with his Legos to building blocks. He didn't care if anyone played with him, as long as they didn't destroy anything.
Towards the 12 o'clock hour, Bucky yawned more signaling for a nap but he wasn't done playing.
"Bucky, it's nap time. Put your toys away." Said Steve.
"No."
"Bucky, now."
"No." Bucky hit the rebellious stage hard when he learned the word no. It was something to be proud of considering his past, but now he's just using it to get his way. Rumlow got up from the couch and crouched in front of him.
"Look at me." Bucky froze for a second then looked at Rumlow.
"Get your toys and put them back in their place and get ready for your nap. We're not going to ask you again." Rumlow had a serious tone, Bucky knew better than to defy that tone. Bucky gathered his blocks and put them in the bin. He picked up the Lego people and put them in the box.
"We shouldn't have to ask you do something more than once and have to get serious with you, you're a big boy Bucky, right?"
"Yeah."
"Okay then act like it. Enjoy your nap." Rumlow kissed his head. Steve brought Bucky in his room and lulled him to sleep.
Rumlow sat on the couch again and flipped the tv to a less kid-friendly channel. Steve came back and sat next to him.
"He says he's not tired, but he's out like a light in a minute. He's getting more rebellious, but you don't have to be aggressive with him." Said Steve.
"Once he figures out that a passive-aggressive voice is the most aggressive tone you get with him, he won't care. You have to talk to him with your Captain voice when he says no too many times."
"He's two, not twelve and not a soldier."
"Steve, he's going to get to the point of refusing to listen because he doesn't care. And at that point, if voice reinforcement won't work than it's going to be physical. Knowing you, you wouldn't spank him."
"You're right, but he's two. I don't want him to think he can't express himself properly."
"Maybe teach him good no from bad no. Good no being he doesn't know or he can't. Bad no being he doesn't want to do it. He's smart, Steve, he'll get it soon."
"Yeah." Steve kissed him, Rumlow finished his report and sent it to Shield. They managed to get their own nap in until 1:30. Steve's phone rang.
"Yeah, we'll be there shortly." That was a quick call.
"That was Stark, he wants us to meet."
"I rather not. You can go, I'll watch the kid."
"He meant all three of us go."
"No."
"I'll cook tonight."
"Fine." They got up and got dressed. Bucky was miraculously still asleep. Steve and Rumlow looked at each other, they had to go but Bucky was not a happy person being woken from his nap.
"Okay, I'll pack his bag and you get him in the car, try not to wake him." Said Rumlow.
"I'll do my best." Rumlow packed fresh clothes, diapers and snacks in his bag. He looked at Steve carrying out Bucky. His hair was a mess, as usual, and he was drooling. Steve had his blankets and bunny in case Bucky somehow slept through the meeting. Steve carefully put him in car seat. They got in the car and drove to the compound.
Once they arrived, Friday directed them to the common floor. Everyone was there and really had no idea what to do with Bucky.
"CAPPUCCINO." Yelled Tony. Everyone shushed him, they all turned to Bucky. He lifted his head from Steve's shoulder then laid back down. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to Tony.
"Sorry, didn't know the little monster was still asleep."
"He's sleeping longer than normal but I'm not complaining. You got a place where we can lay him down?" Said Rumlow.
"First door on the left. Friday will alert you when he wakes up." Steve brought Bucky to the room and shut the door.
"So why are we here?" Said Steve.
"Because we found some Hydra files and we needed to investigate." Said Sam
"What kind of files?" Asked Rumlow.
"Some stuff on soldier boy and others on various methods of torture. Others you just have to see to believe." Said Tony. They sat down and talk. Rumlow could honestly admit he didn't know half the stuff that they were saying about Hydra. He didn't know that the soldier was punished for slipping into his mindset. The most recent log was a year after Rumlow joined, by then he's only heard of the soldier and never saw him but Pierce had left suddenly and when he went to find him, he encountered a few agents who didn't take kindly to his childish mindset and punished him.
Rumlow started to become upset as pictures of torture devices were spread across the screen. They all looked too familiar.
"Hey, Rumlow."
"What?"
"Kind of need your input here, so we're thinking Hydra maybe trying to get Bucky back." Said Rhodey
"They're always trying to get him, but he wouldn't be as useful he's too regressed to even fight."
"Bucky's regressed, not the soldier."
"Either way, the soldier isn't as strong as he used to be. He won't be useful to them."
"So say, they get him; what would they do?" Asked Steve.
"Retrain him to be obedient and figured out a way to get rid of that mindset." Said Nat.
"And we can't forget about his trigger words." Said Sam.
"Yeah, but as long as nobody speaks to him in Russian, he should be fine right?" Asked Steve.
"No, they put in English words when he moved here. He's not safe anywhere." Rumlow ran his fingers through his hair and sighed. He really hated that he had a hand in this.
"I don't know why you look frustrated, you did this to him." Said Rhodey.
"I was only his handler for two years, I didn't know they abused him so badly. They told me he was just a mindless puppet."
"So it didn't occur to you that he was a human who felt pain? That he was a POW?"
"I didn't know, Rhodes."
"You're probably still with them, you're just waiting for the right time." Said Rhodey.
"SHUT UP!" Rumlow yelled. Steve held his hand while he calmed down.
"I love Bucky more than you know. I left Hydra after seeing he could still have a life to live and I will do anything to make sure they don't touch him again. Don't ever question my love for him or alliance. Friday, what is Bucky doing?"
"Mr. Barnes is still asleep."
"He's sleeping too long, I'm going to go get him." Rumlow got up and left.
He took a breath before entering the room, Bucky didn't need to see him upset. He opened the door and asked Friday to turn on the lights to a low setting.
Bucky was still asleep, it was odd for him to be asleep for this long. Rumlow hated to wake him up but if he slept passed 2 o'clock then he won't sleep tonight.
"Bucky, it's time to get up." Bucky opened his eyes and stared at Rumlow. Rumlow figured he was still waking up mentally or trying to figure out who he was.
"Dada?"
"It's me, kid. You slept for a really long time. Are you okay?" Bucky nodded and rubbed his eyes. He looked around for a second before realizing something was off.
"Where?"
"Avengers building. They had a meeting so we had to go. Why were you asleep so long?"
"Head hurts."
"You got a headache, yeah, dada does too. Let's go get a snack." Rumlow changed him and brought him to the common room where everyone was. Bucky froze at the site of everyone.
"Hey, Bucky, it's just the Avengers." Said Natasha. She and Sam were really the ones Bucky trusted enough to be left alone with. The others scared him, no matter how friendly they seem.
"We should have brought your brush, this is a mess." Steve tried to straighten out his hair, Bucky would have liked it if his head wasn't hurting. He tapped Rumlow and signed the word snack.
"There's goldfish in your bag, do you want that?" Asked Rumlow. Bucky nodded, Rumlow got his hand and sat him on the couch with his goldfish. Bucky crawled on his lap and ate his goldfish.
"He's not feeling well, he starts to sign when something is bothering him." said Steve.
"Should we bring him home?" Asked Rumlow.
"Probably." Bucky tapped Rumlow again and signed juice.
"Let's go home."
"Wait a second, soldiers. Fury is on his way, he wants to talk." Said Sam.
"We can talk on the phone." Said Rumlow
"The information is sensitive." Said Sam. Steve came back with Bucky's juice and gave it to him. Bucky signed for tv. There was no tv around unless he went to someone's room.
"Do you want your tablet?" Asked Steve. Bucky nodded, Steve got his tablet and he watched SpongeBob. Everyone conversed among themselves, Rumlow played with Bucky's hair. Then Fury and Hill came.
"This better be important." Said Rumlow.
"Where were you the night before your mission?" Asked Fury.
"I was at home."
"Don't lie." Said Hill
"I'm not, I was home."
"He was home, why are you questioning him?" Said Steve.
"Sources tell me around 2 in the morning, you and the soldier weren't at your residence." All eyes went to him.
"Bucky couldn't sleep, so we walked around to tire him out."
"Then explain how an once decommissioned Hydra base is up and running again around the same time you left?" Said Fury. Rumlow got quiet, he looked down at Bucky who really wasn't paying attention.
"Rumlow, are you siding with Hydra again?" Asked Steve.
"I am not."
"Don't lie. Are you with Hydra again?"
"No, I'm not. I didn't know there was a base running again."
"Leave personal feelings out of this Rogers. Rumlow, what's going on?" Said Nat.
"I don't know, only time I went out was to take Bucky for a walk. That was it." Rumlow sighed, then he felt a cold finger touch his neck. He looked down, Bucky was smiling.
"Dada, happy."
"I'll be happy once we get home. We'll be in the car. Come on kid." Rumlow got Bucky's hand. Bucky waved bye to everyone.
"If he really is going back to Hydra with the soldier then we have to take extra caution." Said Fury.
"I'll try to talk to him." Said Steve. He went to the car, Rumlow wouldn't look at him. Something was off and it was bothering everyone.
They didn't say a word to each other the whole ride home and towards dinner. Bucky knew something was wrong, he tried to get them to laugh but all they could muster was small smiles.
Rumlow put Bucky to sleep, it was hard enough for him to look at Bucky's big blue eyes when he was sad, but Rumlow hated putting him to sleep when things were tense around them. After twenty extra minutes, Bucky fell asleep. Rumlow left his room and sat at dining table with a beer.
"Brock." Said Steve.
"Steve, I don't know just go away."
"Then let's try to clear this up. Start from the beginning."
"I heard Bucky hitting his rails, I thought he was having a seizure or a nightmare so I went to check on him. He was awake and seemed fine. I tried to get him to sleep with his music and his milk but he just had energy suddenly. So I decided to take him for a walk around the block a few times to tire him out. That's all."
"Why didn't you wake me up about it?"
"You just got back from a mission that morning, I wanted to let you sleep in."
"I believe you."
"You do?"
"Yeah, convincing the others may not be easy, but we'll try to explain."
"Thanks. You know he's not going to sleep in tonight. He hates tension."
"I'll deal with him once he wakes up, lets go rest." They went to their room, Rumlow went to sleep instantly. Steve was awake a little longer, he hated to question Rumlow's alliance but considering his past and his authority over the soldier. One would question something like that. Maybe they did leave the house at a bad time, but Steve couldn't get over the fear that his love was being taken for granted.