Chapter Five:

"Uncle Steve!"

As soon as the doors to the elevator were opened wide enough, Alya slipped through them and threw herself in his arms.

"Well, we know who the favorite around here is." Natasha smirked.

"Hi, Buddy!" Steve ignored her and planted a big kiss on Alya's cheek. "I missed you."

"I missed you." Alya wrapped her arms around his neck. "Is Uncle Sam okay?"

Steve had been in New Orleans for the past week to visit Sam, who was staying with his sister and his nephews. Alya wanted to tag-along, but neither one of her parents would allow her to skip school.

"He's fine, Buddy. He says hello." He smiled. "But how are you doing? I heard you've been having a bit of trouble at school."

"It's all over now. Papa threatened my principal." She grinned cheekily.

"After you fought me tooth and nail." Bucky chortled and kissed her nose when she tried to turn away.

"And Tetushka fixed it." Alya rolled her eyes at her father. She knew he hated it when she did that, but she couldn't help it this time.

"And just what did Tetushka do?" Natasha narrowed her eyes as Wanda tried to hide a laugh behind her hand.

She knew Yelena well enough to know that she did something completely out of the ordinary. She just hoped the phone wouldn't ring with the blonde asking for bail money or something.

"Um…." At that moment, Alya realized that she probably should've just kept her mouth shut. "I don't think I'm s'pposed to tell."

"That's fine." The redhead shrugged. "I'll just ask that little sister of mine when she gets home. Where is she, by the way? I thought she was picking you up from school."

"She said she had something to do. She said it's a surprise." Alya shrugged, still basking in the comfort of being in Steve's arms. "Papa? Can I have ice cream? You said I could."

That was enough to jog Natasha's memory. Yelena had left her dog at a kennel for the night because she wasn't sure if they were prepared for another animal.

"Only if I get my after school hug and kiss."

Alya sighed very laboredly as she weighed out her options. She missed Steve and she didn't want to let go of him just yet, but she also loved being in her Papa's arms more than anything. Plus, she wanted her ice cream.

"Why do you even have to think about this?" Bucky scoffed.

"You know, back in the day, you used to be the ultimate lady's man." Steve smirked in his direction. "How the tables have turned."

"Look, Punk." Bucky pointed a finger at him. "Do you want to take this outside?"

"No, but you seem to be pretty bothered by this whole thing." Steve continued to tease. "Maybe you should take a walk."

"Give me my baby." Bucky made a show of snatching Alya away from him, looking her right in the eyes.

Alya smiled sweetly and rested her head on his shoulder, taking in the scent of his cologne. The action also succeeded in softening him up.

"That's much better." He said before setting her down to head to the freezer.

And just as Alya's feet hit the ground, the elevator doors opened once again, revealing Yelena and a dog.

She had no idea that Yelena even had a dog, so it really was a surprise. It was beautiful and it looked quite healthy, but there was something that most people didn't know.

Something she herself didn't know.

Alya was afraid of dogs.

And not the way Peter was afraid of cats.

She was terrified of dogs. Small, big, mean, friendly. If it had four legs, barked, and wagged its tail, Alya didn't want to be around it.

The scream that left her lips startled everyone in the room, the dog included. Alya whimpered and crashed into her father in an attempt to claw her way up onto his hip. Her face was all flushed and her eyes were wet.

Natasha's main concern was her shallow breathing and panicky frame of mind.

She felt so awful.

After all these years, she had no clue that her daughter was afraid of dogs. It just never came up, so she naturally assumed that she was fine with them.

"Hey, it's okay." Bucky whispered in the child's ear. "You're okay. It's not gonna hurt you."

His words did nothing to reassure Alya of anything. She had him in an iron grip and she wasn't letting go.

"I didn't know she afraid of dogs." Yelena, to her credit, was very apologetic. She honestly thought that Alya would get a kick out of being around her four-legged companion.

"Don't blame yourself." Steve waved her off, still a bit startled from Alya's scream of distress. "We didn't know either."

"Is she okay?" Wanda asked Bucky.

"She's alright." He nodded. "It's okay, Alya." He soothed. "Look at me, big girl."

Alya lifted her face from the crook of his neck and wiped at her eyes, allowing him to continue.

"There's nothing to be afraid of. Do you think that any of us would let anything happen to you?"

"N-No." Alya hiccuped, calming down with the subtle swaying her father was doing.

"Do you think that Tetushka would bring her dog here if it was going to hurt you?"

"N-No."

The twelve year old sniffled and looked over at Yelena, who was holding her dog's leash to keep it in one place and prevent any further incident. It was true, no one in the room would let anything happen to her. Her aunt definitely wouldn't bring that dog into the house if it meant she'd get hurt.

So maybe there was nothing to be afraid of.

"I'm gonna put you down now." Her father warned before doing exactly that.

"Come here." Yelena held a hand out to her. "Come and meet her."

She knew as well as anyone, that if she wanted to address Alya's fear and help her get over it, she couldn't coddle her and keep her away from the animal.

This was something Alya had to face head on.

"She doesn't bite, I promise."

"W-What's her name?" Alya hesitated before approaching.

"Fanny."

"You snooped through my covers, didn't you?" Natasha glared, making Alya giggle softly.

"What can I say, Fanny Longbottom?" Yelena joked.

"That was really one of your covers?" Bucky laughed at Natasha's expense.

What a ridiculous name!

"Oh, shut up."

Fanny didn't look as scary as Alya previously thought. In fact, she looked pretty harmless. She had white and brown fur that looked clean and very thick. Her ears pointed upwards and her tongue hung out her mouth.

Alya felt Wanda move to stand behind her and she held her hand out for Fanny to sniff, as if to show Alya that there was nothing to worry about. Fanny was more than happy to oblige the older girl and even licked her hand.

"Want to give her a pet? You can scratch behind her ears like you do with Mischief."

"Does she like that?" She asked, not wanting to make the canine uncomfortable.

"She loves it." Her aunt nodded. "Give it a try."

Taking a deep breath, Alya reached her hand out and touched Fanny's fur. To her surprise, it was as soft as it looked.

Fanny's tail wagged as she grew more and more excited at the prospect of having a new playmate. So she skittered forward and pounced on Alya, sending them both down onto the tiled floor.

And everyone froze.

This could turn Alya off of dogs forever.

Natasha moved to scoop her up, but Bucky held a hand out to stop her, shaking his head. She couldn't pick her up every single time she fell.

If she was hurt or if she was freaking out, then fine, but they all needed to give her a chance to figure this out by herself.

"Ewww." Came Alya's small voice, devoid of any tears. "That's gross."

Bucky was right. All she needed was a little time to adjust.

The little girl threw her arms over her face in an attempt at blocking Fanny from licking her, but the dog was persistent. Fanny climbed on top of her and continued her assault of love, finding new places to lick that Alya wasn't blocking.

"She likes you." Yelena smiled in relief that she hadn't traumatized her niece.

Alya giggled and rolled over so that she was laying on her stomach in an attempt to crawl away, but Fanny had other ideas. She grabbed the leg of her jeans with her teeth and tried to keep her in one place.

"Aww, it looks like they're recreating the Coppertone ad." Wanda laughed.

"Are you gonna help me?"

"Well, considering that you take every opportunity you get to annoy me, I think I'll let you get out of this one out by yourself."

"Meanie!" Alya yelped when Wanda bent down and poked her side.

She would get her back for that someday, but for now, she would rather enjoy her time playing with Fanny.

She wasn't so bad after all.


"Alya, it's time for bed."

The little girl in question pretended as if she hadn't heard what her father had just said and continued playing with her Lego on the floor by the couch.

She was trying to build a castle and so far, it was going pretty well.

Since Yelena planned on staying a while and there was no room for her to sleep, she was granted her own floor right above theirs. It was spacious and had everything she needed. It had been quite a day for her, all things considered, so she decided to turn in early.

Steve left not too long after dinner, and Wanda retired to her room to do some silent reading.

Which only left Alya.

The child was still a little buzzed from the sugar she consumed and she wanted to stay up for as long as it took for her to fall asleep.

"Alya?" Bucky tried again, scratching Mischief's chin.

The feline was pretty good about having Fanny in the building. In fact, the two animals seemed to get along quite well.

She tired herself out running around with Fanny and was now relaxing and waiting for Alya to go to sleep so she could do the same.

But the brunette just ignored him and continued playing as if he hadn't said anything at all.

Bucky and Natasha both looked at one another and the latter gave the former a shrug. Anytime she told Alya to do something, it got done.

This was very new.

Bucky, being from the forties, wasn't a man to repeat himself three and four times. So, he leaned forward and took Alya's arm, gently pulling her up to stand in front of him so they could talk.

"I don't appreciate you ignoring me, Alya." Is what he started off with. "When I tell you to do something, I want you to do it. Understand?"

"Yes, Papa." Alya nodded.

She couldn't even say that she hadn't meant to ignore him. That would be a flat out lie. The truth was, she did.

She didn't know how to put it into words, but she wanted to see what she could and couldn't do with him. Natasha's limits were clear, she's lived with her for years, but her relationship with her father was still very new.

Sure, she knew that if there was something bothering her, he'd fix it. She knew that if she was scared, he'd hold her.

But what would happen if she decided to stop listening to him? What would happen if he told her to do something and she did the complete opposite?

How far could she go until he just gave up?

Would he give up?

The closest she's had to her father was Steve and Clint.

The first few years after they met, she had been way too afraid to test Clint. Then, after a while of seeing him with his own kids, she found that she didn't have to. He was pretty consistent and he treated her like she was one of his own.

Steve was different.

He was gentle.

Alya couldn't remember a time where he had ever lost his temper with her and he hardly ever scolded her. Anytime she was caught doing something she shouldn't have been doing, he made sure that she knew she was wrong and then he took even more time making sure that she knew he still loved her.

She didn't know Bucky well enough to draw any conclusions.

And not knowing was scary.

Because what if one day he decided that she isn't what he thought she was, and then left?

She had to know before it was too late!

"Go to bed, I'll be in to tuck you in soon, alright?"

"No." She shook her head.

"No?"

"I don't want to." Was her explanation.

She made sure to look very nonchalant about the entire thing just so he would believe she didn't care.

"I didn't ask you what you wanted to do." The poor man tried to remain patient. "I'm not debating this with you anymore. By the time I get to five, you'd better be in your room."

Well, that was interesting.

"One."

Natasha had never counted with her.

"Two."

What was this supposed to mean?

"Three."

And what would happen if she let him get to five?

"Four." He raised a brow, daring her to stay right where she was.

And that's all it took for her legs to take off running to the safety of her room.

She'd try again some other time. Right now, the idea of the number 'five' was a little too scary to continue.