When Steve was born in the Rogers household, they weren't exactly rich. It was just him and his mom after his father finally died after years of alcohol abuse when Steve was just a little kid. After that, his mother was forced to work full time to be able to feed Steve and put him through school. It wasn't an easy life for the both of them, but they made it work. Together.

Once, when he had to write an essay for school about his idol, he didn't hesitate for even one second to write about that single most wonderful person in his life. It was so good that his teacher read it aloud in class. Instead of applause, Steve received nothing but laughter and pointed fingers. He never really was the most popular kid in school and he mostly kept to himself on the playground with his sketchbook and lunch box.

After the essay the bullying intensified to an almost unbearable degree.

Boys called him names and waited for him after school to beat him up in an alley to 'teach the momma's boy a lesson.' Most girls leaved him alone, but there were some who would giggle and whisper behind his back about his thrift shop clothes and small posture. The fact that he had asthma and was sick all the time didn't really help much either.

Needless to say, school was like hell for him. But there was one little flame in the darkness; Margaret Carter. Or Peggy, as she preferred to be called. She was the new girl, but it was immediately clear that she was one the toughest girl in the whole school. She was the one who would sit besides Steve during lunch breaks and who would stand up against his bullies even though most of them were a lot bigger than she was. Steve often told her that he could manage himself just fine, but then she never believed him. Nevertheless, he loved her very much.

With Peggy on his side, Steve had regained his confidence piece by piece and pratically flew through high school. After he finally graduated he was full of plans for the future, but all of that came to an end when his mother died of pneumonia in the hospital. His heart was broken and when Peggy took of to enlist in the army he didn't know what to do with himself. The only thing he did know for sure was that he didn't want to end up like his dad and so he avoided all the bars with a grim determination. Slowly his mind sank away in a well of darkness and he wasn't sure if he would ever see the light again.

Steve knew his mother would've wanted him to go to college, but he simply wasn't sure if he had the energy for it with his fragile health and his depression. Actually, the whole of Brooklyn just held to many painful memories to remain there and thus he packed up his meager belongings and ran away all the way towards the other coast with the ocean that seemed so much different than the one he knew from home. With only a little bit of money and a suitcase he had stepped into the bright sun of California and started his new, unsure life in a place he didn't know a single thing about.

Then, by some miracle send from God, he had stumbled over some rich guy's suitcase and had hurt his knees pretty bad. To his surprise, the guy had had a good laugh over his clumsy fall and had helped him back up again.

If you would ask Steve now how he managed to get a job out of knocking over a guy's suitcase at the airport he would say that it was all because the suitcase's owner was none other than the world famous Tony Stark, and that the guy had done stranger things than throwing jobs around to random people. And that apparently included finding Steve a roommate called Sam Wilson, who reminded him a bit of Peggy. Yes, Steve to this day can't believe the huge amount of luck he had had that day. It seemed surreal to him, but Steve promised himself that he would try his hardest to actually deserve the job Tony had given him. He had looked for a therapist who could help him with his depression and his life slowly began to steer back towards the sunlight.

Now, he has worked for the Sea life center for about fourteen years and there was no place he would've rather been than here. After all the shitty jobs he has had in the past this was a welcome change. As often as he could he flew back to Brooklyn to visit his mother's grave, but apart from those trips he always stayed close to the center and the animals it sheltered. But since today the center had a special guest staying for a very likely long time and it most definitely wasn't an animal.


Panting, Steve tried to turn the rusty switch to fill the big, empty pool beside him with water from the sea. Finally he managed to yank it to the right and with a loud rumble the water began to pour from the pipes. Sweating again, Steve closed the door of the water control closet. He turned around and watched for a minute how the pool filled up far faster than he had initially thought. Satisfied, he walked around the pool and thought about what else would be necessary to keep a wounded merman safe from himself and for others. The pool was in a quiet corner of the center and only a select number of people were allowed in this area. Seclusion was for now ideal for the merman, since he would probably be very stressed and scared when he wakes up from the anesthesia. Before he begun, Steve had sent a message to Tony to tell him which pool he was preparing and had noticed that there were a few what's-apps from Sam. He hadn't had the time to read them so he had put his phone away for the time being.

What did the creature eat? Fish? Something bigger? The merman had to be a meat eater of some sorts, judging by the sharp teeth and the long canines.

A sudden shiver ran over his back when he thought about what could happen when the merman decided to fight back towards his captors. They all didn't know even the slightest thing about these creatures other then what they read in fairytales. How were they supposed to do this?

Steve didn't know how long he was standing there, circling questions and other thoughts around in his head when he suddenly saw the pool was almost full now. His heart jumped into his throat as he sprinted for the switch and pulled at it with all his strength. Thanks to the adrenaline coursing through his body he actually managed to do it in time.

As a precaution, he grabbed his inhaler and took a few breaths. He turned another switch slightly to warm the water so that it resembled the temperature of the ocean before he closed the metal door and locked it with one of the keys dangling from the iron ring in which they were bound together. Steve ran a hand through his hair and looked around the room. He started when he heard the harsh, creaky noise of the doors swinging open and he saw Bruce pushing a cart forward with Tony in tow. No one else was with them, which was unusual. It was protocol that with the moving of large animals there have to be at least four people in case something went wrong. But then again, Steve thought, this wasn't an animal and these weren't normal circumstances.

Steve walked a few uncertain steps towards them, but they had already lifted the blanket the still numb merman was laying on and had put him carefully on the ground. The creature had another special warmth blanket wrapped around its body, which Bruce cautiously pried open so that the bandages on its torso were visible. Steve still wasn't used to the sight of the tail and he stood there gaping at it until he felt a hand land on his shoulder. It was Tony.

"You better take your distance from him before he wakes up. Who knows how he's going to react when he wakes up. It would be very unfortunate if you got bitten again... Hey! Your hand is bleeding again, Rogers! What did you do with it?"

Steve looked down at his bandaged hand and saw that it was indeed bleeding again. He frowned at it as he let himself get dragged away out of the room by Tony with Bruce and his cart following. They went into a side room with a glass wall, so they could see into the room. The merman now began to stir a little and Steve looked on with awe.

"Everything should go smoothly. He has special bandages so that he can get them wet without it being a problem for his wounds. Also, he shouldn't be able to feel those bandages so he can't tear them off in a panic... But still," Tony went on, "we should be prepared for the worst."

Suddenly Tony began clapping excitedly in his hands and both Bruce and Steve teared their eyes away from the merman for a second to look at him. Steve with his eyebrows raised and Bruce with a look of faint fondness and a small smile. Steve shook his head slightly and looked back out of the window and gasped loudly.

The merman was now thrashing around on the floor as if he were having a seizure, and a loud growl echoed through the room and was clear to hear for them behind the thin glass. He reminded Steve of a stag jumping around with his antlers raised at an opponent. Bruce almost stood pressed against the glass and was murmuring something to himself that Steve couldn't really hear, but he thought vaguely he could hear the words; 'please', 'calm down', 'careful!'...

After what seemed hours, the convulsions stopped and the merman seemed to calm down again. He pushed himself up on his strangely shaped arms and leaned steadily on them. He looked around, and Steve thought he could see the glaziness in his dazed but slightly stressed eyes. The merman shook his head and blinked his eyes, and he immediately seemed more alert. Steve didn't know he had been holding his breath until he had to cough and reach for his inhaler, while Tony shushed at him and waved a hand that he had to shut up. Steve blinked away the tears that had formed in his eyes after his coughing session and saw that the creature had disappeared under water. He tried to stand unto his tiptoes to see in the water, but he could only see a dark blur moving around.

"That... went better than we thought?" Bruce scratched behind is head and turned questioning eyes at Tony who looked back with a big grin on his face.

"It went better than better; it went GREAT! Pfew, I think I can pat myself on the shoulder now-"

"Oh, you can? I'm sorry, but who saved his life again?" Bruce raised his eyebrow and stared until Tony finally cracked and put his hands up in defeat.

"All right all right, jeez... Nobody has a sense of humor around here..." Tony rolled his eyes and suddenly noticed there was a third person in the room.

"Stevie! My man, you delivered good work today. If it weren't for you, we would have a dead merman floating around in our exhibition room with the other rare, unfortunately passed sea creatures, instead of a live one swimming around right here! I could even kiss you right now, but that doesn't seem like a very good idea with my husband in the same- OW!"

"I'm sorry Tony, but you deserved it." Bruce smiled innocently at his offended husband and turned to look a Steve, who had been looking on sheepishly.

"Steve, I also can't thank you enough for this discovery. Because of that, I want to give you the honour to take care for him and also to name him."

Steve mouth fell open with silent delight when Tony burst his bubble for him.

"What? Are you insane? Look at him; how is he supposed to handle that big, dangerous guy out there?" Tony pointed at the room, where the merman had surfaced again and was half crawling half dragging his body across the floor to the wall. He seemed displeased to find out that the walls didn't give in and he growled so deep in his throat that Steve could almost feel it.

"Excuse me? Tony, I've handled far bigger creatures than him. Also, I've worked with several deathly animals in the past years who could've all given me the final blow any time, but hey, they didn't. I know very well how to deal with anima- creatures like him, and you know that. I have more experience than any of the other animal caretakers and besides-" Steve turned and pointed at the merman, who to Steve's shock was staring at him with a sad look on his face from the other side of the pool, "-he trusts me."

Silence fell into the room after that and they all looked at each other with various degrees of anger. Steve didn't like lying to his friends, but he was pissed of and wanted nothing more than to make sure the merman was as comfortable and content as possible in here. His sense of responsibility had only grown for the creature.

After a couple of awkward seconds Tony sighed and threw his hands in the air.

"Fine! Fine, just fine! You do what you want, but I won't be the one responsible when something happens to you. I care for you, don't get me wrong, but this is just incredibly stupid of you. But then again, you're not the nineteen year old anymore, so I guess all the healthy influence I had on you is gone now. So be it. Watch out that he won't finish the job and doesn't tear your hand out for real this time..."

"Tony!"

"All right! Of course I hope he won't do that, but- Argh, I'm out of here. The merman seems fine now. I'll turn the cameras in this room on so we can keep track of him... Have a very nice goddamn day!"

Tony had already walked through the door when Steve, his hands balled into fists and with a flush of anger still on his cheeks, called out to him.

"His name is emBucky/em from now on, not 'merman'!" he flapped out, thinking about how the mer- how Bucky reminded him of a deer a few minutes ago. Somehow, he had changed 'buck' into 'Bucky' and his mind had decided that would be a good name.

"Bucky?"

Tony stuck his head around the door opening and looked at him with a look of utter bewilderment on his face.

"What the hell is a Bucky?"