Hello! And welcome to my new AU- Bunker 37. I hope you enjoy this first section, please let me know if you liked it and I'll definitely keep writing! If you like this, try out my other AU as well- Where my Fathers Died.

Thanks for reading! :)

-randomblueboots

PROLOGUE

The red and blue quilt engulfed both her and her son in warmth and peace. He was fast asleep, his chubby fingers wrapped tightly around his teddy bear, his little lips curved into a small smile, his blue eyes- so familiar to her- closed tightly against the dark of night. She wondered what he was dreaming about. The little boy had no knowledge of things that were so familiar to her, things that she grew up with. He didn't know about television, newspapers, department stores, or money. He didn't understand what his aunt and uncle meant when they talked about old movies, or when they joked about old politicians. No, the four years of his life had been spent in a time when those things no longer existed. He lived on his Uncle Clint's farm with his Aunt Nat and his mother. They survived only thanks to the animals that resided there, the garden that they grew there, and the hunting they did in the woods surrounding Clint's acreage. He didn't have toys to play with, except for the few that his mother found in good condition when she went into town- (a dangerous venture for sure). He played with what was available to him in the outside world, and he used his imagination to come up with his own stories based on the ones his Aunt, Uncle, and mother told him before bed. Stories of heroes that he could only dream of at night. Perhaps that was what he was dreaming of now.

She pulled him closer to her under the covers and pressed a kiss to his forehead as she stared at the ceiling. She turned her head to look at the small cuckoo clock. It was 1:14am. Five years ago today the world had gone to hell. She didn't really want to think about it, usually it made her want to throw up. But since it was that time again, she figured it'd be respectful to at least pray for those who had died that day, and all the days after as a result of their failure. And the first person she thought of was the man who had sacrificed so much, and in the end too much, to save his country time and time again. She could see his smile in her mind, hear his voice- comforting her. She knew he was happier where he was, not dealing with the pain of watching his homeland suffer through the new normal it had created. However, his absence hurt not only her, but also their son, one of the millions of children who would grow up without a father, but also a child who would grow up having never known his father.

She remembered, it had been only a week after they had destroyed Ultron. It had appeared, even to all the scientists on the team, that Ultron was dead once and for all, but viruses aren't so easily cured. They had been celebrating that week. It was the best week of her life, she remembered, because it had been the week she had finally admitted to her son's father that she loved him more than anything. It had been a week of secret meetings, stolen kisses, sweet murmurings, and planning for the future. It had been their week. And she had been ready to announce it to the world, to scream from the rooftops that she was in love with him. But then, Ultron attacked, and it wasn't them that he targeted. It was the world. First, he launched all nuclear missiles. Then he released a terrible, mutated virus that killed millions of people. His last swing, was to send out a world wide EMP. Ultron wiped out anything electric, including himself. He had killed himself to destroy the human race. "The Plagues of Ultron" they had called them. Three disastrous events that destroyed life as they knew it.

Her son's father had been called to come help in Washington DC, where there was immense destruction. His job would be to protect the president's family, and the vice president who was now to take the late president's position. The world, after the final attack, was already going into a terrible chaos. She begged him to stay with her, pleaded, knowing that it was too dangerous, that they needed to stick together. But he did the honorable thing. He turned against his passions, and he left her to save the world once again. It was only a month later that she found out she was pregnant with their son. But she never heard from his father again.

She turned over in her bed to look at her son again, and smiled. She felt tears roll down her cheeks, and she tasted salt. She wiped them away with one hand, and tried thinking of something else- something happier. When an hour passed by and she still couldn't sleep, she gently pulled herself away from her son, careful not to wake him up. She pulled on a robe and tiptoed downstairs, careful not to wake her friends who slept in the two rooms across the hall from her.

She put the kettle on the wood stove, where coals still burned brightly. Then she sat down in the arm chair by the window and stared out into the night. One instant the woods were dark and quiet, and the next instant a blue glow lit up a corner of her vision. It was coming from straight ahead, a small glow out in the woods. She frowned, pulling on a coat and boots. Never, in the four years that she had lived on Clint's farm, had she ever seen anything so peculiar. There's something about it, though. She thought as she grabbed a lantern and her gun. Something that reminds me of the past. She carefully stepped outside and marched through the crunching snow out towards where the soft blue light glowed in the deep woods.

CHAPTER ONE

One Week Earlier

"Good Morning, peanut!" Maria leaned into the hug given by her four-year-old son, ruffling his blond hair.

"Mornin', Mama!" He grinned up at her, and she once again marveled at his perfection. It was the little things that she was thankful for today.

"Hey! It's the Captain!" Clint jumped down so he was crouching at Caleb's eye-level. "Good Morning, sir!" He saluted and Caleb ran to give him a hug as well.

"Good Morning, Cap." Natasha said nonchalantly from where she sat sipping coffee at the breakfast table.

"Mornin', Uncle Clint, Auntie Tasha!" Caleb smiled.

"Guess what, kiddo!" Clint grinned, lifting Caleb up into his arms.

"What?" Caleb gasped. At this point Clint spun him around and raced him out towards the entry way where the windows weren't covered and shouted.

"It snowed last night!" The squeal of delight that came from her child made Maria smile. She saw so much of his father in him sometimes it hurt, but it was a delight to see him so overjoyed.

"Alright, you two. Come back in here. Breakfast is ready." Maria called as she stood from her seat to examine the bacon Clint had been cooking.

"Mommy?" Caleb gushed as he came rushing back into the kitchen. "Can we go play in the snow after breakfast?!"

"Well, we have to go collect eggs before they freeze." Maria remarked, "So I'm sure, as soon as we're done with that we can build a snow man."

"Remember, Cap, we have to help Uncle Clint make dinner today. It's Thanksgiving!" Natasha insisted, "So you can't be out for too long."

"Oh yeah!" Caleb looked up at his mother as Clint served the bacon and eggs onto plates. "Are we gonna do the thankful list?"

"Of course!" Maria nodded.

The four of them ate breakfast together, Caleb shoveling his down rather quickly. He was very eager to get out into the snow.

"Slow down." His Aunt Tasha cautioned, "You'll choke."

When at last Breakfast was over, and the dishes had been cleaned, Maria helped Caleb pull on his snowsuit and other warm snow clothes. Providing clothes for a growing boy in the society of 2019 was nearly impossible. Maria and Natasha made monthly trips into town for supplies. The stores that had once been stock full of bath and bedroom items, or clothing, were now slowly running out. At some point, Maria promised herself, she'd pick up a book and learn how to sew because soon that would be the only other option. At least they had Clint's sheep.

Natasha had taught Maria how to knit. It was one of the first skills she had learned while living on the farm. In the early days, while Caleb was just a baby, Maria was confined to indoor space. So, Natasha taught her how to knit, and Maria knit hats, scarves, blankets, sweaters. She became an expert in all things knitting, and soon she even exceeded Natasha's skills. The sweater Caleb wore under his snow suit was one that Maria had finished knitting not too long before winter came. It made her smile to see it fit so well.

"What are you thankful for today, peanut?" She asked, as she helped him pull on his thick, knitted mittens.

"Snow!" Was his enthusiastic response.

Clint and Natasha went to check on the bigger animals, including the sheep, and Maria and Caleb went the other direction to collect eggs from the duck and chicken coops. The pond was frozen over this morning, as it had been for the past few weeks, so the ducks were still not very pleased. But once Caleb threw food out over the glassy ice they were quaking happily up at their two human friends.

"What are you thankful for, Mommy?" Caleb asked.

"You, peanut!" Maria answered, kissing him on the top of his head.

After their chores were done, the four of them had enough time to build a little snow man before needing to return back to the house to start Thanksgiving Dinner. Caleb and Maria immediately went to the cork board hanging on the living room wall and pulled out a large piece of paper to write on.

"Alright. Three things, Cap." Maria ordered.

"Mmm… I'm thankful for… You, Uncle Clint, and Auntie Tasha!"

"You did those last year!" Clint cried from the kitchen.

"Choose three other things." Maria said.

"I'm thankful for the turkey, and… the ducks because they're so happy…. And eggs."

"Eggs?" Maria inquired with a small smile.

"Yeah! Eggs are yummy!" Maria wrote out Calebs three things, and had him sign his name at the bottom. His 'b' was backwards, and his 'e' was especially sloppy today, but Maria didn't say anything. Someday you'll miss the backwards 'b'. She thought. Hopefully that day won't come for a long time.

"You're turn!" Caleb said. Maria wrote quickly for her own, but happily:

1. Bright Snow! 2. Happy Chickens! 3. Dinner with people I love! She read them aloud to Caleb who enthusiastically nodded his approval. Clint and Natasha were also required to write what they were thankful for. Clint wrote his in his sloppy script, all the while reading them to his adopted nephew:

1. Arrows. 2. Food. 3. Natasha.

Finally, Natasha, trying to ignore Clint's last item, wrote hers in Russian and translated:

1. One big Family. 2. Wool to keep us warm. 3. Clint's food.

At last it was time to turn everyone's complete attention on preparing their large Thanksgiving feast. Usually, on any day, they would have small meals in order to save food. But there were three occasions in the year when they had large dinners. Those were: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. Birthdays were second next to those three feasts. Clint would make a dessert to go with their small meals- something that had once been so prevalent was now nearly lost, and to Caleb it was a foreign thing. Something he only ate four times a year.

The preparation of the meal seemed to be going along fine until Clint noticed something.

"The turkey baster's broken!" He cried in dismay.

"Oh no. Whatever shall we do? Thanksgiving is ruined." Natasha rolled her eyes.

"Seriously, guys, I need one."

"It's fine, Clint. I'll just run into town." Maria offered.

"Are you sure?" Natasha's eyes widened. "You know how dangerous it is out there, in the city..."

"It'll be fine. Just a quick in and out for a turkey baster." She shrugged.

"The gangs?" Clint frowned, "Maria, it's fine, I can use something else-"

"No, seriously. I could use the fresh air anyways." Maria shrugged on her thick winter coat, and turned towards Caleb.

"Where are you going?" Caleb asked, his big blue eyes full of concern.

"I'm just going to town quick, okay? Just like when Auntie Tasha and I go sometimes to get clothes. I have to get something for Uncle Clint."

"But you're going alone!" Caleb said.

"It's going to be fine, peanut. I did lots of stuff like this before you were born. I'll be back before you know it. Why don't you help Auntie Tasha get some of the vegetables from the cellar?"

"Okay..." Caleb stood up, and reluctantly watched his mother leave the house.

Maria pulled on her gloves as she marched down the snowy driveway that would lead her out onto the main highway. The snow was a few inches deep, but not enough to go over her boots- another thing she was thankful for today. It was a long walk into town, and usually Nat and her took the horse- Cal. But since Maria was going alone she wanted to be a little less conspicuous. Lucky, Clint's golden retriever mix, followed her down the road and she was glad for that little company. After the long walk through the woods and over the gate, Maria found herself facing the abandoned vast expanse of the highway. In the distance she could see the town, and she and Lucky began marching that way.

The Streets were dead silent, except for the falling of snow from branches and rooftops, and the soft cooing of pigeons. Thank god the gangs aren't running around today. It was probably the snow. After the fall of the government, groups of people banded together. Gangs controlled different parts of the states, and those who joined them were generally safe, but they usually had to take part in all sorts of unsavory 'rituals'. Gangs patrolled towns, and those they caught who refused to join them were tortured and killed brutally. The one event that was brought to Maria's mind was one of the nights she and Nat came to town to fetch some new bath towels. The gang that 'owned' their town had come on patrol and two unlucky people had been caught and refused to join them. Maria and Nat had to remain hidden while the gang members skinned the man alive, and flogged the woman until she died. The very memory made Maria want to vomit. Lets put aside nasty thoughts. She sighed. It's thanksgiving.

She and Lucky reached the town in record time. Maria happily hurried over to a store that might have a turkey baster, but just at that moment, a figure came around the corner and she spun around into an alley. Lucky was still out in the snow, chasing a pigeon. She knew, if the person who had come around the corner was particularly hungry, they wouldn't hesitate to shoot the dog. Lucky! Dammit! Clint's going to kill me! There was a long silence, and Maria could hear Lucky panting, the stranger, whoever he or she was, didn't move for a long moment.

"Hello, dog." A husky voice said. "You don't look very hungry..."

Maria slowly pulled the pistol out from her belt, and took a deep breath. Then she leaped out from where she was hiding, her pistol pointing to where the figure stood. Pale blue eyes widened at her appearance, and she nearly dropped her gun.

"J-James?!" She breathed, hardly believing her own eyes.

"Maria!"

"Oh my god!" The gun fell to the snow and she flew into the soldier's arms. He was the first friend she had seen since the beginning of hell. He was the first Avenger besides Clint and Nat who she had laid eyes on in five whole years. James Buchanan Barnes. She pulled away, to look at him again, just to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

"It really is you?" He asked.

"Yes! I mean, but… it's you?"

"Yeah… how long has it been?" He frowned.

"Five… five years." She replied. "Oh, you'll have to come have thanksgiving with us!" She grinned. "I'm so glad to see you."

"Us?" He inquired.

"Clint and Nat, and-"

"You're with Clint and Nat?!" He gasped.

"Yes! I have been for four years now." She smiled, picking her gun up from the snow and tucking it back into her belt. "Well, technically four years and five weeks… I mean, Caleb's birthday was five weeks ago..."

"Caleb…?" Bucky frowned. Maria looked up at him, and shook her head.

"Have you heard from Steve?" She whispered. The dark haired avenger frowned, and was silent but after a moment he said:

"I saw him in DC… three years ago. What's this about?"

"It's just… he said he would come back, and he hasn't."

"Maria…?" Bucky sighed. "Who's Caleb?"

"Caleb is my son." Maria whispered. "Born four years ago."

"Four years… Steve's son." Bucky's eyes widened.

"Yes…" Maria confirmed, "Caleb Josiah Rogers."

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