Chapter Text
Turns out, there’s not much the child will speak.
‘Yes’ and ‘no’ are from a nod or a shake of the head. More complexed answers like “Where are you from?” “What happened to you?” are usually answered by a stare and closed lips. Any other question is usually ignored.
Except when it’s Bucky.
Bucky receives smiles, full of answers and even drawings.
[Y/n] usually trails behind the man like a shadow and Bucky doesn’t mind. Not really. She/He feels protected near him, so why not let it flow?
It’s another three weeks before Bucky has had enough.
The child is walking behind him as he heads to the kitchen. Bucky has pretty much learned how to maintain a schedule for eating that will suffice both him and the child, even if she/he doesn’t exactly say when she/he is hungry. He picked the patterns when there was a scowl on the child’s face and if there were any leftovers in the child’s plate.
Bucky stopped and turned to the child. [Y/n] looked up at him curiously.
“[Y/n],” Bucky’s voice was soft, “I would like for you to walk beside me. Do you think you could that?”
The child looked at him for a long moment.
“But I want to see you, so I know you’re there. So I know I’m safe.”
Bucky crouched in front of her.
“I know. But I want to see you too, so I know you’re there. Besides, you’re safe here at the Compound. Anyone here would anything necessary to protect you.”
She/He looked dubious for a moment.
“Anything?”
“Anything,” Bucky nodded solemnly. “Tony and Bruce are searching for the bad guys as best as they can.” That’s how the child had been calling the guys who had her before, either this or ‘them’. “Stevie is training the entire team to make sure we are all in our maximum capability to protect you.” Bucky stage-whispered the next part, “And Nat is baking you cookies. Don’t tell anyone that, she rarely makes them. She doesn’t want people thinking she’s gone soft.”
[Y/n] chuckled at that, but soon sobered up. Almost a full minute went by before she/he spoke, looking at the man in front of her/him right in the eyes.
“Okay.”
Bucky smiled broadly at [Y/n], rising to his feet and offering her his metal hand. She/He took it with a smile and they completed their way to the kitchen, side by side.
And if [Y/n] trusted the other people living on the Compound a bit more now, that was between the child and her/his thoughts.
When they got to the kitchen, Natasha was taking the last few cookies from the stove and sneaking one to the child secretly.
“She’s/He’s about to have dinner, Nat,” Bucky counters.
The cookies are amazing. The child smiles brightly at the ex-assassin.
Steve arrives a couple minutes later, hair wet from a recent shower after indeed spending the entire day training the team, and pecks a sweet kiss to Bucky’s cheek. Nat covers the child’s eyes gingerly as Bucky cradles the supersoldier’s face and pulls him for a deepest kiss – on the lips. [Y/n] and Nat settle on the high chairs of the kitchen, listening intently to Steve and Bucky tell the story of how they met while the couple made a giant dinner for everyone. She/He didn’t even mind when Wanda came when they were giving the final touches and sat next to the child. The women joked at the love eyes in the supersoldiers’ faces as the amazing smell of homemade food filled the room alongside the sound of everyone’s laugh.
[Y/n] had been through a lot in life despite the lack of old age. But she/he was thankful for everything that led her/him to those people.