You guys have stuck with me for 50 chapters! Yay!

This chapter has some...things in it that I'm really worried won't sit well with some people. I won't go into details, 'cause it'd just be a long, apologetic, anxious rambling, but know that it was meant to do nothing but entertain and make people feel feels in their squishy gushy lovable humany hearts.

Enjoy ;)

~Christianne

PS~***MOSTLY UNEDDITED***


Omniscient POV

"How much longer 'till we get there?" Anna asked Howard, half-yelling over the sound of the truck.

"Not too much longer," Howard answered.

The SSR team were just about to head back to London when they got word about a small battalion in charge of helping survivors in a town not too far from them. According to the information they were given, the population was over 8,000 in 1939, and there were less than 500 there now. At least, that was the last recorded number of survivors that had been found. Every single building there had been reduced to rubble. Steve and the rest of the team put their foot down, insisting on going there for a day or two to help in the search and in any other way they could.

Kára and Anna stuffed as much medical equipment into the trucks as they could before leaving for the small town of Sremčica Сремчица.

The moment the truck stopped, Anna hopped out. Howard was the one who tried to wake Kára up (somehow, she'd fallen asleep). After Anna's feet hit the ground, and her eyes took in her surroundings, she gave a quiet gasp.

"…Lordy…" Anna breathed, her eyes wide as she looked at the decimated village. She slowly turned in a circle, seeing the massive piles of rubble and ash that used to make up the town.

"I'm glad I'm a part of the Howling Commandoes." Bucky said, walking up to Anna. "I'd rather see one hundred HYDRA everyday than this."

Anna nodded, and had to blink a few times before looking at Bucky. He was in his blue jacket, but lacked the machinegun he usually carried. He just had his pistol with him.

"Oh! H-Hey! Hello!" A voice called, accompanied by quick footsteps. A man covered in ash from head to toe jogged towards Bucky and Anna. "Oh thank God you're here."


Since the SSR would only be there for a few days, they wanted to make good use of all the resources they brought with them. Instead of working as a team like they usually did, each Commando was going to be given a team of five men and a section of the town. Some of the Commandoes, like Bucky, wasn't too excited about having men under his command.

Bucky (and his team) were given a northern section of the town with several blocks of destroyed homes and only a few larger buildings still standing.

All the homes were empty, but Bucky emphasized that fact several times when some of his guys expressed less than chipper feelings about looking in every home when there was 'obviously' nobody in them. There was one guy, Johnson, who Bucky had seriously considering shooting. Nothing fatal, of course, just in the foot, or hand or something.

As they approached the last few buildings, Bucky heard some quick footsteps. His guys' (none of which were over 23) first reaction was to put their weapons up. The footsteps came from a kid who couldn't be more than ten-years-old was running towards them. Bucky quickly ordered them to put their weapons down.

The kid ran into Bucky's leg, grabbed his hand, and tried to pull him towards a big brick building that was half-caved in, all while speaking quickly in a language that Bucky didn't have a prayer of understanding.

Bucky, putting the safety on his pistol, got down on one knee and put the hand the boy wasn't tugging on his small shoulder. Now at eye level with the kid, Bucky saw tear tracks on his cheeks.

"Hey…Hey, calm down." Bucky said slowly. The boy took a few deep breaths, sniffled and stopped babbling. "Can you speak English?" Bucky asked.

The boy paused, and furrowed his brows. "S-Some…M-My-eh-văr-eh-My cousin teach me." He said after a second. He had the same type of thick accent the kid from the HYDRA factory; Daniel. He was still hiccupping and sniffling, but at least his breathing wasn't as fast.

"Alright," Bucky said calmly. "What's your name, kid?" Bucky asked calmly.

"B-Bogdan." He said, sniffling again.

"Bogdan." Bucky repeated, nodding a little. "I'm Bucky." He said, trying to just get this kid calmed down.

"I know." Bogdan said, nodding. Seeing the slightly confused look on Bucky's face, Bogdan started fumbling in one of his raggedy pockets. As he searched them, Bucky turned to his men and waved them off, pointing to the still unsearched buildings.

"You—yes?" Bogdan asked, holding up a torn, faded, poster. It'd been folded up small enough to fit in his pocket. Bucky chuckled a little as he looked at it; it was of his team. Steve, with his shield, was in front, and the Howling Commandoes were behind him, all battle ready. When Bucky saw those so long ago, he'd laughed at them.

"Căpitan America." Bogdan said, smiling as he pointed to Steve. "You—yes?" He asked again as he pointed to Bucky, on Steve's right.

"Yeah, yeah that's me." Bucky told him, waiting as the kid quickly and carefully folded the poster back up and put it in his pocket. "What's so important, kid? What'd'ya—What do you need?"

The boy started tugging on Bucky's hand again, and struggled with his English.

"Hey, whoa, kid," Bucky chuckled a little, putting his hand back on his shoulder. "Now, just tell what's goin' on."

"E-Emilia," Bogdan sniffed. "I-I supposed to watch. Ke-Keep safe."

"Where is Emilia?" Bucky asked.

Bogdan pointed towards the large brick building in the direction he'd been trying to tug Bucky towards. There was a wooden sign, somehow, hanging over the door, with words painted in blue letters, some of which Bucky didn't recognize.

"You want me to help find her in there?" Bucky asked.

"I know where she is." Bogdan said, nodding a little more, making his unkempt brown hair fly around. "Need help." He added one, tugging Bucky's hand again.

"Alright then," Bucky said, smiling as he stood up. "I'll follow you kid."

Bogdan grinned up at him, and started walking towards the building. "Hey, kid, what's that say?" Bucky asked, pointing up at the blue lettering above the door.

"It is prayer." Bogdan said, Bucky gave him a look, urging him to continue. "To bless the children."

"Children?" Bucky questioned him.

Bogdan nodded. "This is orphanage." He added on. A slight pang hit Bucky's heart, and he looked at the building in a new light. "Come." Bogdan said, tugging on Bucky's hand again. "Come. Come. Follow." He added on when Bucky didn't move fast enough.

Bucky looked back at the kid, hiding his newfound feelings towards the building, and followed him up the cracked steps. Bogdan led Bucky through the rooms, all filled with collapsed walls, ashy furniture and rubble.

"Up!" Bogdan said in response to Bucky's confused look when he started climbing the rubble covered, collapsed stairs. "Follow! Up!"

"Hey now." Bucky said, grabbing the ten-year-old around his waist, and easily lifting up and back from the rubble. "No way am I lettin' you up there. Stay here."

"I-"

"Stay here."

"But-"

"Stay here."

"B-"

"Bogdan, you're not gonna win this." Bucky said with a chuckle and a smirk. "I'll find 'er, I promise." Bucky assured the kid, mussed his hair, and headed up the stairs.

One side was completely caved in, so Bucky took the other side.

"Emilia?" Bucky called, looking carefully in each room. "Emilia? Hey, you in here sweetheart?" Bucky called now and then, listening carefully for a response.

"Care eşti? C-Care eşti?" A timid, small female voice spoke up.

"Emilia?" Bucky called again, but got no response. "I'm here to help you, Emilia, but you gotta keep talkin' to me!" Bucky listened carefully for a response, and his face broke out in a grin when he heard some mumbling. He couldn't understand it, but he could follow it.

He followed it to a room full of collapsed walls and rubble. "Emilia?"

"I here!" The voice was clearer this time, Bucky carefully approached the wall of debris. He found there a beam created a break in the rubble and peeked through. Inside, there was a little girl, no older than five or six, huddled to the far wall on the room on the other side of the rubble.

Bucky put a calm, happy smile on his face as he folded his arms on a sturdier piece of wall. "That you in there, Emilia?" The little girl looked up at him with big brown eyes, her face streaked with ash, and nodded.

"Why don't you c'mon out," Bucky offered, still calm and relaxed. She idn't move. "You know, Bogdan is down stairs waiting for you." He added.

"B-Bogdan?" Emilia asked, rubbing her face with her hand, streaking more ash over her not-so-chubby cheeks.

"Yeah, he is. He's real worried about you, you know." Bucky told her, noticing how she was cradling her arm. "Are you hurt sweetheart?" Bucky asked her.

"I-I fell." She told him, looking down at her arm.

"You should have that looked at." Bucky told her, and Emilia looked at him with apprehensive eyes. "You know, my girl, Anna, she could fix that right up for you." Still nothing. "She's got big brown doe eyes just like you."

"I want green eyes." Emilia finally spoke up. "Like mama"

"Well what's wrong with brown eyes?" Bucky asked her playfully.

"I want eyes like mama." Emilia said, looking down at the floor.

Remembering this was an orphanage, Bucky just sighed sadly. "Why don't you come on outta there, Emmie?" He asked softly.

"You help me with arm?" She asked him.

Bucky laughed a little. "Sweetheart, you don't want me tryin' to fix your arm. But with my girl, you'll never be in better hands."

"I not fit." She told him, frowning at the hole Bucky was looking through.

Bucky smiled at her and started to stand up. "Don't you worry your little head about that, Emmie," he said, using his shoulder to lift the beam a little more. He chuckled again as he saw the little girl scurry out of the hole she'd just ran out of.

She stood patiently behind him and let Bucky drop to a knee in front of her, taking a brief look at her arm, and looking over her little body for any more injuries. He frowned at her socked feet. "You have shoes somewhere around here?" He asked her, getting a wordless point back towards the rubble.

Sighing, Bucky nodded once. "Alright then," he nodded once, and scooped the little girl up in his arms, grinning at the fit of giggles she let out as Bucky put her on his hip. "Looks like you're gettin' a ride." He added on, reaching up and tweaking her little button nose.


Anna POV

"Alright, next!" Kára said, helping the 16 year old boy off the examination table (he hand a sprained ankle) and sent him off.

"I can't believe this." I said lowly, tossing some bloody gauze into a trashcan. "We've treated how many?" I asked Kára.

"43." She answered.

"And they were all children," I huffed, frowning. "It-It's…It's just not ok."

"War isn't ok." Kára pointed out.

"…Children shouldn't see what these kids of have seen." I pointed out.

"No one should see what they have." Kára sighed.

I poked my head out of the tent when I heard my name being called.

"Got'a new patient for 'ya darlin'!" Bucky called, walking towards the tent, a small child on his hip and a kid trailing after him. I held the tent flap open, and the three walked in.

"This little sweetheart is Emilia," Bucky said as he dropped the toddler on the table. "This punk is Bogdan." He ruffled the boy's hair, making him smile.

"You fix my arm?" Emilia asked, blinking up at me with big brown eyes.

I sent Bucky a look, which he returned with a smirk. I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I can." I told the little girl, smiling softly. "I'm-"

"Annie," she finished for me. I narrowed my eyes playfully at her. "He tell me." She used her good arm to point at Bucky, who covered his guilty look with a big grin.

"Of course he did." I sighed. "Can I see your arm?" I asked her. She nodded and released her left arm from her right, letting me gently take it in my hands.

I saw a small scratch, but I didn't see much else; my eyes gravitated towards her forearm. "Emilia, what is this?" When I asked that, Bucky stepped closer. I'd heard him send Bogdan out of the tent with Kára to get something to eat.

Emilia looked down at her forearm, at the row of numbers tattooed along it. "Man with the Xs give to me." She said innocently. "He say it help him find me."

Bucky and I shared a mildly horrified look. He grabbed a pad of paper and a pencil. "Sweetheart, did the X look like this?" He'd drawn a swastika on the paper.

Emilia nodded. "Yes. He had fish too."

"Fish?" I asked.

Emilia frowned, thinking very hard. "Not fish…Caracatiță."

"Caracatiță." I repeated flatly.

"Caracatiță!" Emilia repeated happily, putting her hands together and wiggling her fingers.

"Oh, octopus." Bucky realized, then the horrified look returned to my face.

"It had six…wiggly…part." Emilia added, wiggling her fingers again. Bucky and I must not have hidden our upset as well as we thought, because Emilia frowned at us.

"What is wrong?" She asked, looking between our worried faces.

"Nothin'…Nuthin' at all sweetheart." Bucky said assuringly, hiding his worry well.

I smiled, and set to work on her arm. The scratch was nothing, but I cleaned it up for her and wrapped it up. Her shoulder was strained and painful, so I made Bucky rip a normal sling in half so it'd fit on her small shoulder. I was about to help her down, but Bucky scooped her up in his arms again. She wrapped her free arm around his neck and leaned on his shoulder. Her tiny mouth yawned and she slumped against Bucky's shoulder. From what she and Bucky told me, she must be exhausted.

"You know, you can't keep her." I said in a soft, quiet, teasing voice.

"But she's so cute!" Bucky whined teasingly in the same quiet, soft voice so Emilia, who was trying to burrow into the warmpth of Bucky's unbottoned jacket, wouldn't stir. Bucky pulled the thick material of his jacket over Emilia's shoudlers, and put his hand on her back, rubbing soothingly as the little girl let out another yawn and grabbed a tiny hanful of his jacket.

I gave his shoulder a hard poke and narrowed my eyes at him.

Bucky rolled his eyes and me and asked where Kára would have taken Bogdan; so he could put Emilia by him. Bogdan was very worried and protective of the little girl. Before he left, Bucky leaned down to give me a kiss on the cheek.

As I watched Bucky walking away, rubbing the back of the girl asleep on his hip, trying to keep her asleep as he walked her through the loud grouping to tents towards the massive tent designated for the children, I couldn't help but think about what an amazing father Bucky would be. He found a traumatize little girl in a half-destroyed building, and in less than two hours has her asleep on his shoudler.

Kára walked back into our medical tent, sipping on coffee. She followed my gaze, seeing Bucky and the little girl. "I saw him give you a kiss." She said.

"Hm." I mumbled in responce.

"You know, you two look cute with a kid." Kára said casually. "You looked like a little family just then."

"Hm."

"You told him yet?" She asked me.

I frowned and looked down at my hands. "No."

Kára sighed and shook her head. "You know how much he wants kids."

"You're making it worse." I told her.

"I'm only making it worse since you won't tell him." Kára responded swiftly.

Ever since I got back, I hadn't gotten something you need to get to have kids. After Kára told me that if I didn't get it in a few months, she doubted if I'd ever get it again; which meant no kids, and an extremely painful, awkward situation with Bucky.

"I will tell him." I snapped back, my hands pressed to my lower stomach defensively. Kára had been bugging me more and more about telling him. "It's just…He's been so happy lately."

Kára looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Barnes is always happy!"

"Which is why it's so hard to tell him!" I responded, quickly dropping my hands.

"It's not going to be that hard, I mean, he kinds worships the ground you walk on."

"It is going to be hard to tell him, and he does not worship the ground I walk on."

"Yeah, he kinda does."

Instead of trying to convince Kára otherwise, I huffed turned my back to her, pretending to sort medical supplies.


Omniscient POV

Several Days Later

Anna had told Phillips about what Emilia, who was five years old had told them about the tattoo on her arm. Now that HYDRA was involved, they were going to stay a little longer. He wanted to fly a special psychologist in to talk to Emilia and the other kids, but Anna thought Bucky could do just fine; he just had a way with them.

Bucky certainly couldn't complain about spending some time with the giggling, happy kids. He had a certain admiration for them. The more time he spent with them, the more he noticed that at least 75% of the kids, all under the age of 16, had tattoos like Emilia. They were the ones found two years ago by some hunters in a train car a few miles from the Romanian boarder, and not a people-train car; a cargo-train car. The coupling had broken; assumingly they had been the last car on the train and no one had noticed they were gone. Bucky's admiration came from the fact that what these children had seen could compare with what he'd seen, and they could still be genuinely happy, smiling, and babble to anyone who'd listen about their silly, childishly-innocent dreams.

"Jakov!" Bucky heard someone squeal, and felt something attach itself to his leg. He chuckled, and rolled his eyes as Dum-Dum and Jim gave him a hard time about Emilia dashing off from her breakfast to see 'Jakov'; 'Jakov' was the Serbian variant of 'James'. Bucky would throw a punch if any of the Commandoes called him that, but since Emilia told all the other kids (all 76 of them) that his name was James (Jakov), it stuck—unless they knew about him being a part of Captain America's team like Bogdan and some of the other boys that is; they called him Bucky. When they saw Steve, it was like they were seeing Jesus himself.

Steve had hated being on the press circuit back in the States with a passion; the kids whose parents made them take pictures with him were, for lack of a better word, brats. But these kids, the ones in the raggedy clothes, ten pounds under weight and didn't speak a whole lot of English; Steve had never felt so humbled by the look in a seven-year-old's eye. He wasn't just a symbol for kids back in America, he was the only symbol of hope these kids had anymore.

"Jakov! Jakov up! Up!" Emilia giggled, holding her arms up so Bucky could lift her up onto his hip, which he obviously did, and took her right back to her breakfast. Just like the rest of the kids here, she needed as much food as they could get; Emilia wasn't close to being as chubby as a five-year-old should be. She had a stuffed bear in one arm. Anna had begged and pleaded Howards to pull some favors and get some clothes and a few toys for the kids. Emilia had found a teddy bear in the crate and hadn't let it go since.

As Bucky took her back, he felt her tiny, warm fingers find the chain of his dog tags and pull them from his shirt. She looked at them with narrow, thoughtful eyes. "They say my name." Bucky said, holding one of the metal ovals, his thumb under where Barnes, James B. was stamped into the metal.

"My brother have…Uh…colier…Uh…necklace too." She said, proud of thinking of the word. Most of the kids spoke some basic English; Bogdan's cousin had studied in Ireland for a year or two before coming back to be a teacher. He'd been killed when the Nazis blew through. Everyone was supposed to stay inside, in an attic, cellar or a hayloft in a barn, but Bogdan's cousin had been outside; making sure the children were safe in the root cellar of the orphanage.

"Really?" Bucky asked, trying not to show worry. If her brother was in the military, and he was from this area, there was a chance he wouldn't be so happy Bucky, an American, Allied soldier, was holding his baby sister on his hip.

Emilia nodded furiously. Anna, Kára and Peggy had taken the time a few days ago to make sure all of the little girls had unsnarled hair, and braided it tight when they could. Kára volunteered one of her less-favorite blouses, made from light green satin, to be ripped in strips to tie the ends of the braids. Emilia liked hers a little more than the other girls; she said the green reminded her of her mama's eyes.

"He get from man who gave these." Emilia added, pulling up the arm of her sweater to show her tattoo; the row of numbers and singular letter at the end seemed so normal to Emilia, but would haunt every adult who saw it.

"The man who gave you this, gave him dog tags?" Bucky asked, clarifying.

"And numbers." Emilia added, pointing to the tattoo.

"And numbers." Bucky repeated, shaking his head as he plopped Emilia back into her seat next to Bogdan, in front of her bowl of oatmeal. Anna had worked her magic on every bowl; the kids couldn't get enough of the stuff. He knelt down to fix the little sling her arm was in; raising her arms up had pulled her injured arm out, and Anna said she'd be in more pain for a longer time if she didn't keep it still. Emilia had her stuffed teddy bear in her lap.

"Hey Bogdan," Bucky asked, leaning on the table. "Anyone here have a brother named Daniel?"

"Daniel!" Emilia repeated loudly, grinning ear to ear. Bogdan put a hand on her shoulder and said something Bucky couldn't understand; most of these kids spoke two or three languages fluently (not counting their proficiency in English), the common ones being Romanian and some regional language. A good handful, like Emilia, Bogdan, were fluent in German.

"What'd you tell her?" Bucky asked Bogdan; Emilia had nodded sadly, given her bear a kiss on the top of its head, between its ears, and turned back to her oatmeal after he'd spoken.

"I tell her 'Daniel' is common name." Bogdan said, frowning. "Daniel, Emilia Daniel, been gone for long time."

"How long?" Bucky asked, the wheels in his head turning. Daniel, from the HYDRA compound, had been in the back of a truck with a few other prisoners; they were being taken to London to be put in prison, but Daniel was going along until they decided what to do with him.

"Daniel leave when I was…" Emilia trailed off again, trying to think of the word. Bucky silently held up his fingers, waving them slightly. Emilia got the idea and held up three fingers on each hand.

"Three?" Bucky guess, getting a proud, happy nod. Bucky nodded, his mind elsewhere.

"Daniel say he come back." Emilia said. "You find, yes? Just like you find me? You find my fratele mai mare-my big brother and bring here?"

Not sure what to say, Bucky just smiled and ruffled Emilia's hair. "See you later kid," Bucky said, doing the same for Bogdan's hair before leaving the children's' tent and jogging to Phillips.

"Hey, Daniel, the HYDRA kid, still here?" He asked.

"Yes…he is." Phillips said, a little distracted

"Can you have Kára bring him out here?" Bucky asked, getting an odd look. "I have a hunch." He added.

That got him a frown. "Just humor me, alright? Just bring him out here for five minutes."

Phillips reluctantly agreed, and Bucky went back to get Emilia.

"What's your big brother look like, sweetheart?" Bucky asked, looking down at the little girl who had a tight grip on his pant leg.

"Hair like me." She said, tugging her own brunette braid. "Daniel have eyes like mama." She said, sighing heavily.

"Ok...sweetheart?" Bucky asked, lifting Emilia up and put her back on his hip. "Can you tell me if you see Daniel around here?" Bucky asked her, angling her so she could see where Kára was pretending to test Daniel's mobility outside the truck.

Emilia gasped, grinning wider than Bucky thought possible. "Phral! Phral! Fratele mai mare!" She squealed loudly. Bucky saw Daniel look around at the sound of her voice. "Jakov! Jakov you find my brother! You find him! You find him!" She said, hugging his neck tightly.

"Emilia?" Daniel called, ignoring Kára now and looking around. "Sora copil? Ești acolo?"

"Daniel! Daniel!" Emilia said loudly, now squirming in Bucky's arms. He put the little girl down, caught the stuffed bear when she flung it at him, and watched as she bolted towards her brother, babbling in their first language. Daniel let his crutches drop to the ground and he fell to his knees as best he could to catch Emilia when she threw herself at him in a tight hug. Kára stood off to the side, clearly a little confused by the display, but anyone who saw it had a hard time looking away.

"Bucky! Bucky, what's going on?" Anna called, quickly walking to his side. "I heard shouting."

Bucky put an arm around his Glow, and nodded towards Daniel, who was crying as he hugged his baby sister tight, muttering in another language. Leading Anna towards the siblings (still holding the bear), he told her about what had happened. Anna looked up at him in awe and got up on her toes to kiss his cheek. "You're…You're just amazing, you know that?" Not that'd he'd admit it, but Bucky always got a little embarrassed when Anna told him stuff like that.

"Alright, this is all well and good, but someone's going to have to explain what the hell is going on here." Phillips barked, making Daniel protectively turn his little sister away from Phillips, who towered over him when he was kneeling on the ground.

Seeing how terrified, and determined, Daniel looked when holding his little sister, Phillips seemed to take pity on the boy. "She really your sister?" He asked.

Daniel nodded furiously up at the colonel. "Ye-Yes sir. She is." He answered thickly.

Phillips nodded, and looked around briefly. "Son, you have a lot to explain."