Chapter Text
Bucky had vivid nightmares about his past. It was a lot on his two year old mind and a lot of times he didn't who the people in his nightmares were. All he could see was corpses and himself holding a gun.
The nightmare Bucky had last night left him confuse. His mission: extract precious cargo, no witnesses. Something that he's done a thousand times, he thinks. But this mission had spoke to him before he killed him. He said 'Sergeant Barnes'.
Sometimes his mommy and the bird guy would call him Barnes if he was misbehaving. Daddy would say James Buchanan Barnes if he wasn't listening. But Bucky was still confused on who the guy was.
"Bucky Bear? Hello?" Bucky looked at Steve.
"Hey, you zoned out for a while. Do you want your milk?" Bucky nodded. The morning was starting off normal, besides the nightmare. Steve heard him screaming and woke him up. It was only five in the morning, but Bucky didn't go back to sleep after nightmares.
Steve handed Bucky his milk and brought him to the couch. They watched SpongeBob since Paw Patrol wasn't on yet. Harley laid at Steve's feet and chewed on her toy. Then his phone buzzed. Tony.
"Come to the tower for lunch, I want to talk. No exceptions. *heart emoji*" Steve sighed. He knew at some point he would have to bring Bucky to meet Tony. But Steve wasn't sure if Tony knew what he did about Hydra and his parents. Also he wasn't sure if Bucky could handle it.
Steve sighed and watched Bucky enjoy watching Harley play with her toy.
"Do you think you can manage yourself while Daddy goes on a jog?" Bucky looked up at him, that was a solid no.
"Do you want to come with me?" Bucky nodded. Steve ruffled his hair and brought him in the room. Steve had athletic clothes that could fit Bucky, but Bucky didn't like tight fitting clothes. So he dressed him in sweatpants and a loose shirt.
"Alright pal, I usually go around the block then go to park. But I can make adjustments."
"Doggy come?"
"Of course, she has to stretch those long legs of hers." Steve got himself dressed and put on Harley's and Bucky's harness.
"Alright, stay close please." They left the apartment. They walked around three blocks and stopped at the park so Bucky could rest. Steve knew if Bucky wasn't in a child mindset, he would probably run with him for miles. Steve shook the thought of Bucky being normal, knowing what Bucky has been through it was unlikely that Bucky could be like he was before he fell from the train.
"Daddy, daddy, daddy." Said Bucky bouncing.
"What?"
"Harley gone." The Harlequin dog was gone. Her harness was in Bucky's hand.
"Did you take this off of her?" Bucky giggled.
"Bucky, why? You're getting a timeout." The giggling stopped, the crying started. Luckily, Steve could see Harley trying to get in the dog park. Steve went to her and put her in the harness.
"Why are two years old's so hardheaded?" They went back to the apartment. Bucky, unwillingly, sat in his timeout corner. Though, he did argue that Harley had misbehaved too so she should get a timeout too. Steve agreed and had Harley sit in the corner across from him. After fifteen minutes, Bucky and Harley were released from their corners. Steve fed Bucky his yogurt and wiped his chest. Bucky slept a little on the couch, it was good enough for a nap.
"Hey, I'm going to have lunch with a friend and I'm bringing you with me. Can you be on your best behavior?" Bucky didn't answer, Steve took that as maybe. Steve changed his clothes and changed Bucky. Steve already knew Bucky was going to ask for Harley to come and really Steve was going to need Harley's services for this trip. They went to the car and went to the tower.
When they arrived, Bucky thought they were going to see Rumlow. But when they went up instead of down, he started to become nervous. He latched onto Steve's arm and whined. The elevator dinged and opened.
"Good afternoon, Sergeant Barnes and Captain Rogers." Said a voice from above.
"That's Jarvis. He's a computer, a very intelligent one. Jarvis, let Tony know we have arrived." Bucky kept looking around, this area was so new to him. Everything was so weird and shiny.
"Mr. Stark has been notified of your arrival." Said Jarvis. Bucky sat on the floor behind Steve and sucked on his thumb, Harley sat next to him. He was becoming nervous, to be expected. What he didn't expect is for Bucky to start twitching.
"Spangles, oh have I missed you. What's with the horse?" He looked at Harley. Steve can honestly say he didn't miss his sarcasm.
"That's Harley a Great Dane and she's a service dog."
"Ah, so you finally got an animal to deal with all your problem because Sam wouldn't."
"She's not for me, she's for Bucky." Steve got Bucky from behind him. Tony stared at the man with his thumb in his mouth and the man with his thumb in his mouth stared at him.
"So this is who Sam and Natasha keep spending their time with, I say, I thought he was an actual child."
"He's been through a lot, so he's mentally regressed to being two. He's just nervous, we're usually here to see Rumlow." Bucky perked up a bit at the mention of Rumlow.
"Papa?" Asked Bucky. Tony's eyes grew at his childish language.
"Maybe Bucky."
"So he calls Rumlow papa, what does he call everyone else who comes in contact with him?"
"He calls me daddy, Natasha is mommy and Sam is uncle Sam or the bird." Steve saw Tony smirk but threw his hands up.
"Nice to meet you kid, do I get a family name?" Bucky side-eyed him and growled at him.
"Maybe once he's a little more familiar with you." Said Steve.
"So, lunch today. I thought a premium steak with mashed potatoes and gravy would fill a super soldier stomach."
"That's more of a dinner than a lunch."
"Well, I got stuff to do tonight so lunch is dinner. Come on."
"Wait Tony, Bucky's stomach can't process solid foods like steak. He can have mashed potatoes if they're really mashed." Tony groaned and rubbed his face dramatically.
"I got something in kitchen for him. Does the horse need special feeding too?"
"Harley the dog is fine for now." Tony gave a thumbs up and lead them to the kitchen where Pepper was finishing setting up the table.
"Oh hello, Steve and is this Bucky?" She asked.
"Yeah, does Natasha tell you about him?" Asked Tony.
"Yep and he is as cute as she describes him. I'm glad I can finally meet him and you too Harley." She said. Steve sat Bucky in the chair, but he realized that seat didn't have the belt to stop him from getting up so Bucky would probably have to sit on his lap. Pepper served them the steak, Bucky stared at the food, this didn't look good.
"Oh right, Pepper, the baby has a sensitive stomach, can you make them runnier for him?" Said Tony. Pepper nodded and took the plate away from Bucky. Bucky frowned then looked to Steve who was cutting his steak into small pieces. Steve saw Bucky staring at his plate and reached with his metal arm for a piece.
"No, wait for yours." Steve moved his plate away, Bucky started to whine, this wasn't fair. Then Pepper came back with a bowl. Steve got a spoonful and fed Bucky.
"Wow, just like a baby. But what isn't baby like is that arm. I really want to get a closer look at that thing." Said Tony. Tony held out a hand, Bucky looked at Tony then snapped at Tony. Tony drew his hand back and saw Bucky mouth was full of soupy mashed potatoes but it looked like he was foaming at the mouth.
"Should have seen that coming, sorry Tony." Said Steve wiping Bucky's mouth. Tony looked a little stunned but brushed it off.
"It's all good, if I had a cool arm like that I wouldn't want people touching either." Tony sat down with his own plate and talked most of the evening away. Bucky looked at Steve every time he caught off Steve or Pepper.
"I know he talks a lot, just smile and nod." Bucky shook his head no and put his finger in the gravy left on Steve's plate.
"Tony, as much as I miss your voice which is not much, can I ask a favor?"
"Hit me."
"Can you make a medical bracelet and a chewy necklace for Bucky?"
"Yeah, just list out his medical stuff and I'll have Jarvis make the bracelet tough enough so he can't chew through it."
"Okay, he's got amnesia, dissociative identity disorder, seizures, panic attacks, food sensitivity and random aggression."
"That's a lot, what are his most serious ones?" Asked Pepper.
"Seizures, dissociative identity disorder and amnesia. The others are pretty bad, but those three are what concern me when we go out."
"Got it and I'll put your contact information on it." Steve nodded.
"I wonder were he got this child mind from? I thought Tony was childish but he is a literal child." Asked Pepper.
"I'm surprised Nat didn't fill you in on him. Bucky was my best friend during the 1920's, well pretty much my whole life and we served in the war together. We were on a mission to retrieved Armin Zola and he fell from the train. I thought he was dead but I encountered him during a fight as the...." Steve paused a second and looked away.
"As the what?" Asked Pepper.
"Long lost friend. He didn't remember me and he actually saved me. Then Rumlow had him for a while then brought him to me and ever since then I've been teaching how to be a human." It was quiet for a while until Tony whistled.
"Poor guy. Well he chose the right person to be his caregiver." Said Pepper. Then Steve felt something warm on his lap. Bucky did have a lot of liquid and it was a matter of time before he started to smell.
"Well, we have to go. Thanks so much for this."
"Sure thing, do you want some to take home?" Asked Pepper. Steve nodded, then he felt Bucky twitching. Harley pawed at his legs, Steve sat him on the floor.
"What's going on?" Asked Tony.
"A seizure, I hope." Said Steve. Bucky coughed then laid down. Bucky became stiff and breathing hard. Steve hoped Bucky would be okay after this, the Starks didn't need to see Bucky as the soldier. Harley laid on his legs, Bucky relaxed slowly and looked around.
"Bucky, you okay?" Bucky slowly turned to Steve, then growled.
"Tony, take Pepper and lock the doors." Said Steve standing up slowly. Bucky turned to Steve, his metal arm shifted. He growled more and pushed away Harley, but didn't hurt her. Steve was tense, there was sharp objects everywhere, Bucky could easily kill them. Bucky lunged at Steve and swung at him. Steve got his arms and pinned him to the ground. Then Bucky started to get up, Steve was using all of his weight to pin him down. But Bucky was starting to move against him. Steve hit Bucky on the back of his neck, Bucky stopped moving. Steve waited a minute for Bucky to come to, then he looked over at Pepper and Tony.
"Sorry, that hasn't happened in a while." They were both pretty shaken up about this, but they weren't hurt.
"I'll go take him home." Steve picked up Bucky.
"I'll call you when his stuff is ready." Said Tony. Steve left with an unconscious Bucky, Harley and leftover food. Pepper cleaned up the kitchen while Tony went to his lab to decompress.
"Hey Jarvis, run the footage from that moment and run analysis on his behavior and anything related to that behavior."
"Of course, sir. Do give me an hour to complete the task." Tony knew something was up and he was going to get to the bottom of it.
&
When Steve got home, Bucky woke up long enough to get a bath and change into comfy pajamas. Steve had to take a minute to collect what happened. Tony saw Bucky as the soldier and he almost told him that Bucky was the winter soldier. Knowing Tony, he wouldn't handle that information too well. Plus, Bucky was already on edge from just being there. Telling him would be recipe for a violent fight. Steve sighed and stroked Bucky's hair. Tony would eventually find out about what happened and how he responded would probably determine if Tony could trust Bucky or if Bucky could trust himself around other people.
&
Late into the night, Tony was making minor, cool adjustments to his suit and looking around for a chewable substance for Bucky's strength when Jarvis alerted.
"Sir, I have information regarding Sergeant Barnes."
"Alright, go on."
"Sir, the information may not be to your liking."
"Come on, J, there's something going on and I have to know. Start from the beginning."
"Well, I will start by saying that Captain Rogers lied to you."
"How?"
"During the lunch, Captain Rogers stated that Sergeant Barnes was a long lost friend. At that moment, his heart rate elevated indicating he was indeed telling a lie."
"So what was he trying to say?"
"The answer to your question will be answered by looking at his behavior. Last time, he exhibited such behavior was during his time with Hydra. Sir, he was being ruthless and aggressive during his time with Hydra, when he fought Captain Rogers he displayed similar behavior." Jarvis pulled up footage from the incident and compared it a fight that Barnes was in. Tony looked into the footage, his fighting was similar.
"Why is he so aggressive?" His fighting was precise and calculated, Tony thought Natasha's fighting was terrifying but this was another level of terrifying.
"Sir, Sergeant Barnes is the winter soldier." Tony froze at the name, he's heard of the winter soldier. A cold, ruthless killer who couldn't be caught. But Tony had been feet, inches, away from the soldier. And Steve was caring for him.
"What else is there know?"
"The soldier was deployed in many missions with many successful kills. One including Howard Stark." Tony dropped the torch and froze. Jarvis turned off the torch.
"Sir, are you alright?"
"That two year old man-child is the feared winter soldier and he killed my parents. That soldier was in my tower and Steve was protecting him. He was protecting him because he knew I would go after him. No, I'm not alright. I let that killer in my tower with my girlfriend and he went berserk. He could have killed us."
"Sir, I recommend sitting down and try the breathing techniques that Dr. Banner has taught you."
"I can't, I need, I can't..I.." Tony trailed off then looked at the medical information that Steve gave him about the soldier. He wasn't sure if the information was even true. Steve lied to him about the soldier and protected him.
"I'm going to kill the winter soldier."
Tony hated the soldier and Steve. Steve protected the man who killed his parents and lied to him. That soldier wasn't going to be protected for very long and Tony was going to make sure he knew how he felt.