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It was a chilly evening at The Watchtower. Everyone had gathered in the communal dining room, digging into the hot meal Bob had prepared to celebrate the first day of autumn. Correction: almost everyone had gathered. Bucky was absent, despite having said he'd come to the meal fifteen minutes ago, and hadn't responded to any texts asking if he was still coming. It wasn't unusual for Bucky to get absorbed in his work, so everyone else figured he'd come when he could, and they started eating without him.
It was twenty minutes into the meal when Bucky finally made an appearance.
John cast a glance in his direction.
"Well finally, you..." he stopped when he saw the look on Bucky's face.
Bucky's eyes were unfocused, face blank, looking like he was in shock. He approached the table slowly, hands limp at his sides.
"What's wrong?" Yelena asked, anxious.
Bucky didn't reply. He walked to his empty seat and dropped heavily into the chair. Finally, after several agonizing seconds, he found his voice.
"I have a son."
The table was silent for a moment, then erupted with questions.
"What?! How?"
"When did this happen?"
"Are you sure?"
Bucky waited for the commotion to die down before he spoke again.
"It was during the war. I was stationed in Italy. There was this girl in town. We saw each other a few times. Things didn't go very far-"
"I'd say having a kid with her is pretty far." John interjected.
Everyone glared at John as Bucky continued.
"- but I never heard from her after I got sent to London. I thought that was it. I didn't think..."
"So you have a kid, and he's old now?" Ava asked.
"And Italian?" Bob added.
Bucky nodded but said nothing, too absorbed in thought to respond. The team sat in silence for several minutes before Yelena spoke.
"How did you find him?"
Bucky finally came back to present.
"A DNA database. I thought I might have some distant cousins, so I registered."
Ava frowned.
"Don't those things just tell you where your ancestors are from?"
Bucky shook his head.
"No. They also can link you with other people who are in the database." He looked around the table, as if suddenly realizing there was food to be had. "Pass me some of that?" He pointed to the scalloped potatoes.
Alexei handed him the dish.
"Does... he know?"
"His grandson contacted me before I even checked the notification."
Yelena's mouth fell open.
"Grandso- Bucky you have a FAMILY?!"
Bob grinned.
"And they're Italian!" He gave an excited laugh, "That's awesome! Congrats!"
Bucky gave him a weak smile in response. He wanted to be happy about it. He really did. But his mind was filled with so many other thoughts; shock that he'd found not a distant relative, but a whole family - his own family - and regret of the lives he'd missed out on by simply not knowing. He didn't hear his name being called until someone nudged his shoulder.
"Hey, Bucky." Ava's voice came, "Can you pass the carrots?"
Bucky picked up the dish on the other side of his plate and handed it over. Somehow, he felt that living in The Watchtower over the past year had prepared him for this. Mildly prepared, but still, he was in a better place now than he had been a year ago.
Ava and John were arguing now. Probably over something stupid. Bucky pushed his thoughts aside and reached for a bread roll. Right now, he had another family to manage.