Hey everyone, Happy Saturday. I just finished this chapter and I have to say this one was a lot harder to write than any of the other chapters. I got used to writing in First Person's POV and this entire chapter is in Third Person's POV. The beginning might seem a bit out of order since it backtracks a bit from where the last chapter but it makes sense once you get to the end. I just wanted to say that four year old Nora may seem to act like an adult and not so much a kid just remember she has a ridiculously high IQ like her dad, she matured way too early not to mention the stone is still in her and probably just made her younger but with mentality of an older age. Okay that's all for my rant. One last thing I do want to remind you all is that I am planning a series of one shots to go with this story. I'm going to start writing them as soon as I start getting suggestions from you all so please Pm me or comment. The series is only going to consist of what you all want me to write so I can't start writing without any suggestions. Okay now I'm done. Thank you again to anyone that commented, your reviews made my day. Enjoy :)

The Previous Day- Third Person's POV

After the light dimmed Howard look at where his granddaughter had been standing. His brown eyes met green eyes and what he saw left him with no words other than, "Oh Shit."

Standing in front of him in smaller sized clothes but the same style Nora had been wearing stood a little girl with shoulder length chocolate brown hair and bright green eyes looking around confused.

When her eyes landed on him she finally spoke. "Who are you?"

Howard was dumbfounded, not only had his granddaughter been somehow turned into what he guessed was a four year old but she had no memories. He didn't know how to answer.

"Where are Nana and Dad?" She said sounding a bit scared. "Where are we?" She said starting to sniffle a bit.

"Um. They're not here." Howard finally managed to answer.

"How did I get here? I was in my room. I want to go with Nana." She said starting to tear up.

"Kid she's not here. Wait here, I'm gonna go get someone." He said running out of the lab.

Howard needed help. He had never dealt with children. Not only that how was he going to explain to Steve and Bucky how he had turned their soul mate into a four year old. Did that mean he was going to have to raise her himself? He got the chills just thinking about it. 'No, that is not happening, I'll find a way to reverse this' He thought to himself 'but first I need a babysitter, Jarvis!'

Howard ran to his office and called his hotel and asked to be put through to Jarvis' room.

"Yes sir." Jarvis greeted.

"Jarvis I need you to come here, there's an emergency." Howard said slightly panting from the run to his office.

"I'll be there shortly sir." He said before hanging up. Howard took a deep breath before heading back to the lab where he had left his now four-year-old granddaughter. How was he going to explain that to her? How do you explain time traveling to a four year old? He had a lot of thing to work through. She probably wouldn't understand it and it would just confuse her if he were to tell her he was her grandfather considering her parents hadn't even been born yet.

He walked into the lab and stopped immediately. Nora was nowhere to be seen. He ran around the lab and she was nowhere to be seen. Howard was definitely not ready to be responsible for another human being.

"Nora." He called out but there was no answer. "Crap." He ran out of the lab and was frantically looking for her.

He made it to the front entrance and saw the blonde receptionist, Mary he remembered her name.

"Mary have you by chance seen a little girl, about this tall with a blue dress around here?" he said.

The receptionist looked up at him like he was insane, "No, why would there be a little girl here?"

"Eh-hem." He heard someone clear their throat from behind him. He turned around and standing behind him was Peggy Carter giving him a stern look. Standing next to her holding her hand was Nora. "Looking for someone?" Peggy said.

Howard ignored her and went toward Nora. "Nora, I told you to wait in the lab." Howard said slightly raising his voice. That made Nora hide behind Peggy.

"Howard, A word." She said walking toward Colonel Philips' office with Nora at her side.

When he walked in he noticed the look of annoyance on Colonel Philips' face as he sat behind his desk and glared daggers and him. "Care to explain that." He said gesturing towards his granddaughter who was practically attached to Peggy's side.

"There was an incident in the lab." Howard said.

"I can see that. Could you elaborate?" Philips said.

"We were studying the energy signature from the shipment of weapons that arrived yesterday. I remembered that it had a similar energy signature to…" he said looking towards Nora. "I thought that if we could trigger a jump that with practice she could learn to control when they happened or maybe even where she ended up."

"Didn't work out your way did it?" Philips replied sarcastically.

"You could say that." Howard answered.

"Can you reverse it?"

"I'll see what I can do but I don't think there's much I can do." Howard said.

"Do you have any idea the amount of trouble you're going to be in when Barnes and Rogers find out you turned their girlfriend into a kid?" Philips said.

"I was hoping we could keep this between us for now." He said rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's probably the best option at the moment. If Rogers and Barnes knew their soulmate was in trouble they would drop everything and head back here in an instant. They'd probably wring Howard's neck while they're at it." Peggy interjected.

"Fine this stays between us but she stays with you at all times." Philips said pointing at Howard. "You turned her into a kid you babysit her. You better hope there's a way to turn her back, or else you're going to have two very angry soldiers on your ass. You're dismissed."

Peggy, Howard, and Nora left his office. "I have work to do, Nora, you'll be with you're gra-"She started before Howard interrupted.

"Uncle, I'm your Uncle Howard." He said earning a look from Peggy.

"As I was saying you'll be staying with your Uncle." Peggy said.

"When are Nana and Dad coming?" Nora asked.

"Uh, you're Nana and Dad had to take a trip so you'll be staying with me until they get back." Howard said quickly.

Nora looked at him skeptically before she nodded. "Okay." She said.

"Where are we?" She asked.

"We're at my office, I still have work to do so you'll be in the lab with me." Howard said.

"Can I build stuff?" She asked getting a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"Not this time kid, I'll find something for you to do just don't run off again." He said ushering her to the lab.

The Next Day-

"HOWARD!" Bucky yelled making Nora jump in her seat. He stood up and stomped his way out of the lab fuming in anger.

Steve just looked at the terrified little girl in front of him and then at the doorway Bucky had just marched out of.

"I'll be right back sweetheart." He told Nora before getting up and running after Bucky.

He found him holding Howard up against the wall by his shirt. "What the hell did you do Stark?!" Bucky yelled.

"It wasn't me, well not entirely me!" He said as Bucky started lifting him up higher.

"Bucky put him down." Steve said pulling him off Howard.

"Steve he turned Nora into a four year old!" Bucky said.

"Three and a half actually" Howard said making Bucky and Steve glare at him.

Bucky was about to lunge at him but Steve held him back. "Bucky don't" Steve said holding him back.

"Give me one reason I shouldn't strangle him." He said furious.

"If you kill him Nora will never be born." Peggy said coming closer.

That made Bucky stop struggling against Steve. "How did this happen?" Steve asked.

"Nora was practicing with her powers and I got the idea that if she practiced aiming the time jumps she could eventually control when they happened. We used the energy source of one of the hydra weapons to trigger a jump. It looked like it was working except after she started glowing it stopped and her eyes were glowing. The stone started talking and said I was messing with things I couldn't control." Howard said.

"Didn't stop you did it?" Said Bucky.

"It said I needed to learn that actions have consequences and then started glowing again. When it stopped there was a kid in front of me." Howard said.

"And this happened yesterday?" Steve asked.

"Yeah." Howard answered.

"Have you found a way to reverse it?" Bucky asked.

"Not yet but I'm working on it." He answered.

"Stark if you don't…" Bucky started threatening but something in the corner of his eye caught his attention.

Howard felt something tug his pants. He looked down and saw Nora was standing next to him. "Uncle Howard, I finished my homework, can we get ice cream now?" She asked.

"You gave her homework? You're supposed to watch her not tutor her." Peggy said annoyed.

Howard ignored her comment and kneeled down to Nora's level. "That's good but I can't take you right now kid, I have another meeting to get to." He told her.

"But Uncle Howard." She whined.

"Not now Nora," he snapped giving her an annoyed look that made her pout.

"Actually I'm going out for lunch I'll take her. You three figure this out." Peggy said. "Lets go Nora," She said offering her hand to the girl.

"Okay." She said smiling happily, completely oblivious to the tension in the room.

The two walked away leaving the three of them in a staring contest until Colonel Philips found them.

"Captain, Sergeant, Stark, My office now." He said walking away without giving them a second glance. They silently followed after him. They walked into his office and closed the door behind them. Bucky was still staring daggers at Howard who was still avoiding eye contact. Steve was just standing in between them making sure Bucky didn't try to kill Howard.

"I see you've met a certain four year old." Philips said.

"A heads up would have been appreciated." Steve said.

"You all had a job to do. Not to mention I was trying to keep the army's biggest contractor alive. Since you're here, we need to make arrangements for Miss Stark."

"Arrangements?" Bucky asked

"A teenager with powers like Nora's that gets turned into a four-" he started before Howard interrupted.

"Three and a half actually." Howard corrected.

"A girl with powers like that that ends up being turned into a toddler makes her an easy target. She needs to be kept hidden. Out of sight, preferably back on US soil."

"No!" Bucky, Steve, and Howard said simultaneously.

"That's not happening." Bucky said adamantly

"She stays." Steve said.

"That isn't up for you two to decide." Philips said.

"No it's up to me. She's family and currently I'm her only living relative meaning I get final say and I say she stays. End of discussion." Howard said giving Colonel Philips a harsh look. Bucky and Steve were surprised to hear him be so serious.

"You could barely manage a day with her, how are you going to handle raising her on your own?" Philips questioned.

"It's been a day, I'm adjusting. I'll hire a nanny or something until I find a way to reverse it." Howards said casually.

"I can't allow that, if she starts showing signs of abilities again…"

"We'll help out, she's our soul mate and his granddaughter. There isn't anywhere else she would be safer." Steve said ending the argument for good.

"I figured. I'm going to need you," He said pointing to Howard "to sign this." He said handing him a form.

"What is that?" Bucky asked.

"Custody forms." Howard said signing the paper and handing it back to Colonel Philips. "Is that all?"

"For now. And Stark she'll be staying with you until this situation is resolved. Welcome to Fatherhood." He said before dismissing them.

By the time their talk with Philips had ended, Bucky and Steve had newfound respect for Howard.

"I need to get back to the lab and then I'm in meetings until the end of the day. Can you tell Peggy to leave Nora with Jarvis? He should be here by the time they're back." He asked them.

"Actually, we can take her for the rest of the day. She shouldn't be stuck here all day, it's no place for a kid." Bucky said.

"Are you sure? I could always just give her more homework." He said.

"We're sure. Besides it'll be fun to get to know Nora as a kid." Steve said.

"Oh, she's something alright." Howard said with a tight smile.

"I'll stop by your apartment later to pick her up." Howard said before walking to his next meeting. "Good luck" He called over his shoulder.

"Why would he wish us luck? It's just Nora, she's probably just going to want to read or something." Steve said.

Three Hours Later-

"Nora get down from there" Bucky said from the living room. He had turned around for a minute and when he turned around Nora was climbing up the kitchen shelves trying to reach for a chocolate bar she had left on top of the refrigerator when she was older.

"No, Chocolate." She said climbing another shelf.

Steve had gone out to get some bread to serve on the side with the spaghetti he had made. Nora hadn't stopped running around since she got back from getting Ice cream with Peggy. Apparently she had somehow managed to convince Peggy to get her an extra scoop of ice cream and the sugar high had still not worn off.

"Good to know your chocolate addiction started early Doll." Bucky muttered to himself. He walked over to the kitchen and to try to get Nora off the shelves but as soon as she saw him get close she jumped from the shelf and onto him making him fall down.

"Ow" Bucky groaned. Nora just giggled and ran to what used to be her room. That's how Steve found him when he walked in.

"Buck why are you on the floor?" Steve asked him when he walked in.

"Our soulmate is a little monster." Bucky said as Steve helped him up.

"Where is she?" Steve asked and at that moment they heard a loud thump. They both ran into the extra room of the apartment and saw the tall bookshelf in Nora's room toppled over on its side with a bunch of books scattered on the floor. Nora was on the bookcase leaning over to get something that was behind it.

"Nora!" they both said at the same time. Steve rushed to pick her up and check to make sure she was okay.

"What happened?" Bucky asked.

"I d-dropped so-something and it w-went behind the bookcase." She said stuttering a bit.

"Are you okay?" Steve said wiping the tears coming down her face. She just nodded quietly.

Bucky went over to look at what Nora had dropped behind the bookcase. He was surprised by what he saw. It was Nora's necklace. He picked it up and held it out so Steve could see what it was. He couldn't help the small smile that formed when he saw it.

"Doll, is this what you were trying to get" Bucky said showing Nora. She just nodded as she was hiding her face against Steve's chest. "Can you look over for a bit?"

"Mhm." She mumbled. She turned around and looked at the ground avoiding eye contact. 'some habits never go away' Steve thought

Bucky unclasped the necklace and put it on Nora. "There you go." Said Bucky smiling.

Nora looked up and before he could do anything she was hugging him. Bucky wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

The moment was interrupted by a ding of the timer in the kitchen. "Dinner's ready" Steve said.

They both made their way out of the room and started to set the table. Dinner was quiet. Lucky for them Nora wasn't a picky eater like other children but considering everything they went through today day they needed something to go their way.

After dinner the guys cleaned up and Nora started reading a book she found when the bookshelf fell. Whatever it was had really gotten her attention. They were thankful she had finally settled down.

"What are you reading sweetheart?" Steve asked. She had a book in her hands. The cover was red but there was no title on it.

"I don't know. I thought it was a story but it isn't typed. It's written weird. The dates aren't in order." Nora said handing the book to him.

Steve looked at the book and realized she was right. The book wasn't printed it was written by hand. Nora's hand writing specifically. That's when he realized it wasn't a story, it was a journal. When did Nora start keeping a journal?

"Uh, Why don't you go pick out another one? This one isn't a good story too boring." Steve. That made Nora make an 'eww' face. She ran to the room and Steve went to go put the journal in Nora's trunk.

By the time he came back Nora was on the couch with another book in her hand. She seemed a lot happier She was showing Bucky the book and he was laughing.

"Found one you like?" Steve asked.

"Yeah, she picked a good one Stevie." Bucky said lifting the book so Steve could read the Title, "The Wonderful Wizard of OZ".

"That's one of my favorites." Steve said.

"Nana was reading it to me before she left. We left off after Dorothy met the scarecrow." She said.

"Really, then you're getting to the good part." Bucky said with a giant smile.

"Its gets better?!" She exclaimed.

"You bet it does." Steve said.

"Can we read it? Please, Please, Please?" She asked.

"Sure." Bucky said flipping through the book to the part Nora had left off.

They started reading, making impressions as to what they thought the characters sounded like making Nora laugh.

After a few chapters they noticed that she had gotten really quiet. When they looked down they saw that she had fallen asleep. They stayed quiet just watching her until there was a knock at the door.

Steve got up and opened the door.

"Hey, I'm here for the kid." Howard greeted.

"Shhh" Steve shushed him. "She just fell asleep." He whispered.

"Oh." Howards said stepping inside the apartment quietly. He saw the almost four year old asleep curled against Bucky. "How was babysitting?" Howard asked with a smirk.

"That extra scoop of ice cream…" Steve said not finding the right words to properly describe how much of a handful she was.

Howard just chuckled. "I learned that lesson the hard way. We should probably go, Jarvis is down stairs." He went over to the couch and picked Nora up. She fussed for a bit but then just settled back to sleep.

"She's pretty tuckered out." He chuckled. "She was up half the night yesterday. It'll be nice to get some sleep."

"I can imagine." Bucky said.

"I'll head out then. Thanks for babysitting." Howard said.

"It's no problem, thanks for not letting Philips ship her away." Steve said.

"Don't mention it, us Starks have to stick together." He said as he walked away.

As soon as Howard was out of the apartment Bucky started laughing.

"Are you alright?" Steve asked him.

"Our eighteen year old soulmate got turned into a three and a half year old kid that doesn't remember who the hell we are by her grandfather who she now thinks is her uncle the day we found out there was a chance she might be pregnant. No Steve, I'm not alright." Bucky answered.

"Not to mention she can't handle her ice cream and practically tore the place apart in a few hours." Steve said looking around their messy apartment.

"She doesn't have our names, the soulmarks are gone." Bucky said, his voice trembling.

"That doesn't change anything. Nora said she didn't get her marks until her thirteenth birthday and we still have ours. This isn't permanent, we'll get her back."

"How?" Bucky asked.

"Howard will find a way to reverse whatever happened, or I don't know the stone will speed up the aging process, It doesn't matter how but it'll happen."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because it's Nora. She literally traveled back in time, survived being captured and experimented on by Hydra and somehow manages to deal with jumping through time, having powers no other person on earth has ever had, and despite all of that she's still here. That's how I know." Steve said tearing up towards the end.

"I really hope you're right." He answered.

The Next Day-

Howard had taken Nora to work with him since Jarvis wasn't supposed to know about Nora and if Philips found out he would be in a load of trouble. About two hours into the day, she had already finished all the homework he had given her and she had complained about it being bored.

She found an old broken radio in one of the closet and asked if she could try to fix it. Howard told her to knock herself out. That's how Bucky and Steve found her an hour later.

"Morning sweetheart." Steve said walking in.

"Morning" she said not looking up.

"What are you doing Doll?" Bucky asked.

"Fixing the radio."

"Really?" Steve said just looking surprised at her answer.

"Mhm, it has a loose wire that's interfering with the circuit when it's plugged in but once I do this," She said pulling at something, "It should work." She got up and went to plug it in. Once she did music started playing.

"Nice job kid." Howard said walking in with Peggy.

"Colonel Philips is asking for you two." Peggy said.

"In his office?" Steve asked. Peggy nodded at them and walked out of the lab.

"Be back later Doll." Bucky said walking out with Steve. Once they were gone Nora walked over to Howard.

"Uncle Howard." She said getting his attention.

"What is it Nora?"

"Who are your friends?" She asked looking up at him.

That question made him go cold. 'Did she forget who they were?' Howard thought.

"What do you mean?" He said.

"Who are they? I know we're not related so why did you leave me with two strangers after they yelled at you yesterday and why are they so nice to me?" She said looking confused.

'Even as a kid she was perceptive… How do I answer that?' Howard thought.

"Um, they're colleagues of mine it means..."

"That they work with you. That still doesn't explain why they care." She said.

"You're a good kid is it really that hard to believe people just care about you?"

"Nana cares because it's her job. Dad cares because he's Dad, why do Bucky and Steve care?" She said.

"Nora, I know it's hard to understand and there isn't actually a good way to explain it but eventually it'll make sense." Howard said in simplest way he could say it without confusing her.

"Nana and Dad aren't coming are they?" She said sadly. Howard was about to answer when Bucky and Steve came rushing into the lab.

"We gotta go." Bucky said out of breath.

"Recon team found the Hydra base in France. We leave in an hour but we need our gear." Steve said out of breath as well.

"Right." Howard said. "They're in the closet where you left them." Said Howard. They rushed to the closet and picked up their gear in a rush.

They walked out and put their things down next to the table. Then Steve walked over to Nora and picked her up for a hug. He kissed her forehead and said, "We have to go sweetheart. Be good okay?" He then kissed her forehead again and then picked up his equipment.

Bucky then came over to hug her. "We'll be back soon, then we can finish reading 'The Wizard of Oz'. Don't get into too much trouble while we're gone okay?" Nora nodded and Bucky hugged her and kissed her forehead before running off with Steve.

It was quiet for a while after they left. Howard looked up from the report he was going on the analysis of the most recent weapons he had received from the front lines and saw that there were tears streaming down Nora's face.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah" Nora answered quietly.

"They'll be back." Howard said.

"I know." She said wiping tears off her face.

"Then why are you crying?"

"I just feel really sad." She said sniffling a bit.

'She may not remember them but she still cares about them a lot' Howard thought.

"Come on, help me take this thing apart." He said pointing to one of the recent shipments he needed to analyze. She instantly brightened up. She grabbed a screwdriver and when to undo any screws she found. She did that until one of the panels fell off and revealed a tiny glowing blue orb.

"Wow," She said reaching out to grab it.

"Nora don't!" Howard yelled but it was to late. The energy source emitted some sort of pulse and the lights in the lab started flickering. When they stopped Nora started glowing.

"Uncle Howard?" Nora said watching her hands start to glow brighter and brighter until she couldn't see anything anymore.