Disclaimer. I do not own anything Marvel affiliated, only any original characters.
A muffled giggle was the first thing Tony heard as he pushed open the door to his study. His lips curled up into a smile, spying a pair of light up shoes just peeking out from beneath the large mahogany desk. He whistled, moving leisurely through the room, looking every now and again at the desk to his left. Hopping up and taking a seat on the desk, he heard another hushed laugh beneath where he sat.
"J.A.R.V.I.S. your certain you cannot find Abby anywhere?" He called out to the empty room, trying to keep the mirth out of his voice.
"I'm afraid I cannot find Miss Stark on the grounds sir." The A.I. replied, amusement filtering through his program. "Shall I make a call to the police?"
"The Police! J.A.R.V.I.S this is my baby girl, my pride and joy! We need to call the SWAT Team, the Coast Guard, the Ma-" before Tony could finish, loud laughter filled the room as a head of auburn curls popped up from behind the desk.
"It's OK daddy, I'm here." The little girl exclaimed. Tony pressed his hand to his chest exaggeratedly as he moved from the desk, scooping her up in his arms before pressing kisses to her face.
"Oh my little sprout I found you!" He exclaimed dramatically. When he looked down into an almost identical face, he saw the suspicion swirling in her brown eyes, a thin eyebrow raising up slightly.
"You knew I was here huh?" Yep, she was his daughter he thought, taking a seat in the chair with her in his lap.
"First rule of hiding, loose the light up sneakers kiddo." He said, gently tapping the tip of her nose. "Now miss snoop, what were you doing in my office?" Tony watched as his daughter's eyes looked around, not meeting his.
"I wasn't snooping, I was exploring." she replied confidently, only to be met with a snort from her father.
"Bullsh- soup." Tony quickly caught himself before the curse slipped from his lips. He didn't need a repeat of when his two year old went two months constantly yelling the word 'fuck' every time she could.
Glinting light caught his eyes, his hand moving to pull at a chain hanging around her neck, the majority of the item hiding behind her dark red coveralls. When he pulled the item fully into view, he found a pair of dog tags pressed to his palm. A pair of very old dog tags by the look of slightly at the chain, Abby played with the tags, her eyes scouring over the faded letters and numbers etched onto the metal.
"I found them in that box daddy. There really cool. Can I keep them?" Pointing a finger to the direction, Tony's eyes followed, falling on an old cardboard box tucked away in the corner. It had come from one of the many secure storage facilities under his father's name. The last few weeks Tony had decided to go through them, throwing things that were not needed and keeping those that could be useful. The box in his office had been filled with nothing but old photos and a few odds and ends that Tony had not even gotten through. Taking the tags of the chain, he brought them up to have a closer look.
JAMES B. BARNES 32557038 T42 43 A"Whose James Barnes daddy?"Abby questioned, her brown eyes looking up quizzically at her father.
"Well he was someone your grandfather knew when he was helping the military. He fought with Captain America." At the name, Abby's eyes widened, her smile growing.
"Really! That's so cool! Oh daddy can I keep them please, please, please?" Tony knew she had him cornered, especially when he noticed the puppy dog look creeping into her eyes. He shrugged, quickly ruffling her hair. It wasn't a huge loss to him, just some old dog tags.
"Sure sprout. Now if we are done ransacking daddy's office I believe a Popsicle is in order." Abby squealed as she suddenly found herself hanging upside down, Tony's grip on her waist secure as he carried her from the room, the tags, clinking around her neck.
Washington D.C. February 2014
Glancing down at her watch for what felt like the millionth time, Abby huffed as her heeled feet tapped a rhythm into the floor. It was nearing 10 am, only an hour before the exhibit would be opening to the public. She could faintly make out the sounds of the press and crowds gathered outside the Smithsonian, waiting to finally see one of the most anticipated exhibits to be featured to date. Workers milled about, finishing up last minute touches before the grand opening, making sure everything was ready to go.
Abby's eyes wandered from her watch and towards the large mural decorating the entrance, a smile tugging at her lips as she took in the face of Captain America. The exhibit had been her pet project, starting out a year ago while she had been taking the reins of the outreach program of STARK Industries.
Growing up, she had loved the history of her grandfather and the rise of S.H.I.E.L.D., particularly in regards to the creation of Captain America. She had remembered going through files that had been kept by her grandfather, files deemed classified to anyone else without the Stark last name. She had loved when her history class spoke on the subject, enthralled with every detail of Captain Rogers and the Howling Commandos as they worked to eliminate Hydra.
Her fingers moved, absentmindedly toying with the chain around her neck, the tags clinking together as they bumped against each other. The dog tags belonging to one James Buchanan Barnes had hung around her neck since the day she had stumbled across them in her dads study. At the time, the name had not really meant anything to her until she started learning about the super soldier and his team. While Captain America was always the sole focus during lessons, for some unknown reason Abby was always drawn to his best friend. He had no super soldier serum nor super strength, just the fierce determination to do good for his country, to stand with his best friend and team, to lay down his life for what he believed was right.
The fact that he had also been an extremely handsome man, a crooked smile gracing her history textbooks, didn't hurt either.
"I'm here, I'm here!" Quickly turning around, she let out a relieved sigh as she made her way over to the employee entrance.
"Cutting it pretty close there Rogers. You know you could just hang around for the grand opening, you know razzle dazzle the press. Technically this is your exhibit." Abby pointed out getting an amused snort from Steve.
"Think my dancing monkey days are over Abby." He quipped, his eyes moving over to the entrance. She knew how weird this still was to him, having a whole wing of the Smithsonian dedicated to him and his accolades.
Trying to lighten the mood, she nudged his shoulder playfully before making her way towards the doors. "Well come on frosty, you got a good hour before this place is flooded with fans and press." Steve fell in step with the youngest Stark, heading for the doors.
Time seemed to slow as the two friends wandered around the area, moving from one artifact to another. Abby hung back slightly, watching as Steve took in every display, watching the emotions play across his face. She laughed a bit along with him as she had stood next to the changing display of him pre-serum ( "Wow capsicle you were smaller than me!"), she listened as he recounted stories of him and Howling Commandos, his eyes locked on the mannequins displaying the uniforms each of them had worn. She had watched as he fought back tears when they watched the film reels of Peggy Carter, recounting her own stories of the war and Steve. Abby had moved her hand, taking his and giving it a squeeze.
She had noticed the shift as soon as his eyes found it. Steve walked slowly, almost afraid to approach the display. She watched as a myriad of emotions played across his face: confusion, realization, sorrow, pain. They both stood silent, staring at the face of one James Buchanan Barnes. They could hear one of the many voice recordings, giving the same information etched onto the glass before them but neither really paid any attention.
"Do you miss him?" She knew it was a stupid question, one she already knew the answer to.
"It's been nearly 70 years but for me...it feels like it just happened you know." Steve said quietly, never taking his eyes off the memorial for the man who had been his brother.
Abby moved her hand, pulling the dangling chain from underneath her blouse, pulling it over her head as she turned to Steve. "When I was a kid I was looking, or as my dad called it snooping through his office and found these tucked into an old box of my grandfathers."
Tentatively Steve reached for the chain, recognizing the tags instantly for what they were. She saw the ghost of a smile touch his lips as he looked over the worn letters. "These were Bucks old tags. Had them when he first shipped out. When the SSR gave him news ones with the rest of the Howling Commandos, he kept these, said they helped him hold onto himself when Hydra captured him."
"At the time I just thought they were cool to wear and all. By the time we got to learn about you all in school," shrugging her shoulders she continued, "I admired all of you of course but something about Bucky just resonated with me. He didn't have any real superpowers like you. He was just someone who wanted to do right by his country and stood with his best friend." Chewing her lower lip the next words were a little harder to force out. "Um you should keep them I mean Bucky was your best friend and all."
Steve looked from the tags to Abby, his lips twitching up in a small smile before placing the chain back around her neck. "Keep them safe for me. I think he would have rather have a pretty dame wearing them than me keeping a hold of them." Abby smiled, her hand slightly clutching the tags, relief washing through her.
"Thanks Stevie." Wanting to lighten up the somber mood she grabbed his hand, nearly dragging him across the exhibit. "All right time to see those old war bond promos you made."
The only answer she received back was a groan.