Steve pulled up to the day care in his mini van and sighed. His eyes were rimmed red, but he couldn't put off picking up Denver any longer. Hopefully, she wouldn't notice that he'd been crying, and hopefully he wouldn't need to talk to any of the other parents. If Steve was lucky, he could get in, tell Miss Alice he'd gotten something in his eye while taking the dog for a walk, and get out in one piece to prepare for his trip to London for the funeral.

When he appeared in the doorway, he grinned seeing Denver playing with a bunch of other kids with a beaming smile on her face. After a few minutes, she saw him in the doorway and bolted to her feet, running to him yelling, "Daddy Daddy Daddy! I made new friends!"

"That's wonderful, Sweetheart!" Steve croaked, not meaning for his voice to break. Denver's smile fell and he picked her up "I just got something in my eye walking Cupcake. Did you have fun?"

"I did! Can I come back soon?"

"Yes. That's the plan." Steve told his daughter, looking to Miss Alice as she approached, "How did she do?"

"Really well. She played very nicely and was very polite. Although, we aren't doing anymore wrestling, she's stronger than the other kids." Miss Alice bit her lips, then added at Steve's alarmed expression, "Everyone is fine. Kids get bumps on their heads all the time."

Steve looked at Denver and she fiddled with her fingers, "I didn't meant to. Zac tripped Abby, and, and I told him to be nice, and he stuck his tongue out at me, and I ruff housed him to make him stop."

Despite knowing he shouldn't condone his three-year-old's actions, Steve couldn't help but feel pride in her efforts to defend her friend. It's what he would have done. "You have to be nice, Denny. Fighting doesn't solve anything."

"Then why do you do it?" Denver asked and Steve's eyes widened, looking over to Miss Alice, who looked just as shocked as he did. She cleared her throat and excused herself, telling Steve to have a nice day and that she'd see Denver tomorrow.

His daughter waved at the other kids as Steve carried her out to his van, sliding open the back door and putting Denver in her booster seat, "So, did you tell the other kids who Daddy is?"

"I said my Daddy is not Captain America." Denver recited proudly as Steve strapped her in.

"Well, you followed directions perfectly." Steve muttered, wanting to be upset about her question in front of Miss Alice, but he didn't have a good response, and she'd already forgotten she said it. "Alright, since you had such a good first day at daycare, I think we should get ice cream, what'dya say?"

"Can Aunt Dallas and Uncle Bucky come?" Denver asked before Steve could slide the door closed.

He looked to the sky for a moment, trying to come up with a decent excuse without telling his daughter that her Uncle Bucky was giving everyone in the compound the silent treatment and Dallas wasn't exactly happy with Steve at the moment, either. "They are busy. I was thinking we could go just the two of us. Daddy has to make a trip overseas."

"For work?" Denver asked when Steve started the van. He looked up at her in the rearview as he started driving home.

"Umm, no. An old friend of Daddy's went to Heaven today."

"Oh." Denver said quietly. She played with the edges of her long blonde hair that fell to her collarbone, "Are you sad?"

"I am very sad."

"Is they with Mommy now?" Denver asked sadly and Steve's eyes began to water as he nodded, "Yeah, I think she and your mom are up there together."

Denver looked out the window as the trees rolled by until the compound came into view. Once Steve parked, she asked, "Do you miss Mommy?"

Steve didn't answer as he turned off the van and hopped out of the driver's seat, sniffling before pulling open the door to unstrap Denver. He focused on what he was doing, eventually muttering, "Yeah. I do."

"I miss Mommy, too. I member her. A little bit." Denver grabbed Steve's baseball cap and pulled it off his head, "She was pretty."

"She was really pretty. You're gonna be pretty like her someday. And then Daddy's gonna have to fight off all the boys." He teased as Denver put his hat on her head sideways, "I love you very much. More than anybody."

"Anybody?"

"Anybody." Steve assured her, scooping her up and putting her on the ground, "Go potty real quick, then we'll get ice cream!"

Steve watched Denver scamper into the Avengers Compound, considering what Dallas had said earlier. Signing the Accords would ensure that Steve wasn't held responsible for any missions gone wrong. After the battle between Stark and the Hulk in Johannesburg, a warrant had been issued for Banner's arrest. They hadn't seen him since. Steve couldn't just run away if the government came for him, but he couldn't in good conscious sign the Accords. If something went wrong on his watch, that was on him. Sometimes it went well, sometimes it didn't. He wasn't going to give up and he wasn't going to shift the blame, as much as Dallas wanted him to. She didn't understand.

A few minutes later, Pietro came zooming out of the building, skidding to a stop in front of Steve with Denver in his hands, "I was told we were going for ice cream?"

"Yeah, her and I are going for ice cream." Steve corrected, smirking when Pietro's smile fell dramatically. The younger man stuck out his lip, setting down Denver and pretending to sulk away, "Get in the van. Is your sister coming?"

Pietro's smile faltered for real, but he plastered it back on his face before answering softly, "She won't come out of her room. She needs some time to think about… everything."

Steve nodded, letting out a heavy breath, "We all do. But right now, I'm taking my little girl for ice cream since she was good at daycare."

Pietro picked up Denver and put her in her car seat, strapping her in quickly before securing himself into the passenger seat, looking at Steve expectantly, "Come on, Old Man! Move a little faster."

Denver giggled at Steve's displeased expression, but he checked to make sure she was strapped in correctly, then drove them to the nearest ice cream parlor anyway.

Meanwhile, back at the compound, the Avengers had gone their separate ways after Tony Stark left to go home. Dallas stood outside of Bucky's door, wondering if he'd answer if she knocked. She raised her fist, but the door swung open and he gestured for her to come inside, "We need to talk."

"We do?" She asked nervously, wondering if he was going to break up with her. "You okay?"

"I want to sign the Accords."

Dallas whipped around to face him as he closed and locked the door, shoving his hands in his pockets and looking at the ground, "Steve is going to be upset, but what you said makes a lot of sense. I made a mess in Lagos. I killed people. Whether or not it was an accident, the Winter Soldier threw a bomb into a group of civilians. At any moment the cops could show up and arrest me for that, and Rhodes believes maybe they'd pardon my actions if I signed. I'd be protected. And I think that's what you would want."

"I… I mean, yes. I think the Accords are good. I think they protect the team as much as they govern it. I get why Steve doesn't like them, because he always does the right thing, but there needs to be boundaries, even to doing what's right." Dallas explained slowly as Bucky approached with his hands outstretched to take her. She allowed him to pull her to his chest, rubbing her shoulder with his right hand, "Are you sure you want them to have that kind of power over you though? Whether we like it or not, they could consider you a weapon. You can't take it off like Rhodey, Tony or Sam- or Nat. You, Steve, Vision… Wanda and Pietro, all of you are enhanced by nature, not by tech. I believe signing is the right thing to do, but if you didn't want to, I'd understand that too. I want what's best for you."

"I don't wanna fight anymore Dee." He cupped her cheek and she leaned into his palm, "I don't want to go through anymore wars, I just want to be a person, but I am enhanced. If I sign this, the United Nations will keep me from going anywhere that I shouldn't be going. Steve sees that as a liability, but I see it as not being put into a bad situation. Or maybe I won't sign at all, and I can retire."

Dallas nodded, "That would be fine. Not worrying bout you would be great." She laughed, smiling brightly before he took her lips with his. When he broke away, she added, "You have people who care about you, and who want you to be happy. If you want to quit, then quit. It's okay. Steve will understand, and I'll support you. It's time to do something for you."

A knock on the door caught their attention, and Bucky let go of Dallas to see who was there. When he swung open the door, Natasha signed, shoving her phone in his face, "You see this? I'm gonna guess Steve got a personal text, and that's why he ran off."

Bucky quickly read the headline before Dallas appeared beside him and said it aloud, "Founder of SHIELD Margaret Carter dead at ninety-five." Running over the name for a few moments and realizing who it was, Dallas murmured, "Oh."

"Shit." Bucky grumbled as he pushed his hand through his hair, "Where is he now?"

"Think he took Pietro and Denver out for ice cream. I bugged his minivan." Natasha casually admitted as she stepped into the room, "This timing isn't great."

"It never is."

"Do you think he'll sign?" Nat asked Bucky, and he shook his head, confirming what Natasha already knew to be true. "So, this is it? The end of Captain America?"

"I think we all know that Steve Rogers will do whatever he wants to do, including being Captain America." Dallas looking over her shoulder at the windows overlooking the field behind the compound, "Maybe he'll surprise us."

Two days later, Steve was rolling a suitcase behind him as he followed Denver into the kitchen to find Sam, Bucky, and Dallas waiting for him. "You sure you got her?"

"We're going to Vienna." Dallas said evenly, looking to Bucky, "He's accompanying Nat to sign the Accords. Denver and I will stay at the hotel or tour around town or something. We'll be back the day after tomorrow."

Steve ground his teeth together, but didn't say anything. They all knew they wouldn't agree on the Accords. Steve was trying to protect his daughter. Dallas was trying to protect her niece's father, and Bucky was just trying to protect the fragile family he'd found in the Avengers. As much as Steve didn't want Dallas to take Denver to Vienna, the woman had promised Steve they'd stay at the hotel and swim while Bucky and Natasha signed.

"We'll let you know when we land, then," Sam finally said, smiling weakly at Denver, "Don't have too much fun, Kiddo."

"We going on the airplane!" She threw her hands in the air excitedly, then to the side as she pretended to fly around Dallas and Bucky.

"Take care of her, please. We'll see you soon." Steve murmured, smiling down at Denver, "I love you."

Denver was too busy being an airplane to notice, so Steve just smiled up at Bucky before following Sam out to the jet. He knew his daughter couldn't be in better hands.

Twenty-four hours later, Bucky stood beside Natasha in a suit with his nano sleeve covering his metal arm. His hair was gelled and his back was stiff. While Natasha spoke with the visiting dignitaries with ease, Bucky couldn't have been more uncomfortable.

"Relax." Natasha purred after turning away from the French Ambassador, "You're doing fine."

"If you don't see the way they look at me, you aren't nearly as impressive a Black Widow as I once thought you were."

Natasha looked up and shot Barnes a dirty look before being approached by the Prince of Wakanda, T'Challa, "I am surprised to see the two of you here. I wouldn't think you'd be comfortable with this type of company." He turned to Bucky with a pointed look, but Natasha spoke up, "Well, I'm not. Neither of us are."

"And that alone makes me happy you are here." T'Challa turned back to Nat and nodded, "The Accords are necessary, but all the politics, not so much. Two people can get more done in a room than one hundred."

"Unless you need to move a piano." King T'Chaka of Wakanda said as he approached.

Bucky quickly ducked his head in a simple bow and stammered, "Your Highness, please allow me to apologize for what happened in Nigeria. I can assure you, had I known that Rumlow had a suicide bomb, I would have used a different method of disarming him. I would have never endangered civilians if I'd realized we were dealing with an explosive."

"Thank you; and thank you both for agreeing to all of this. I am sad to hear that Captain Rogers will not be joining us today."

Bucky opened his mouth to respond, but Nat cut him off by saying, "So am I."

Over the intercom, an American man stated, "If everyone could please be seated. Assembly is now in session."

Downstairs, Denver was growing more and more impatient with her Aunt Dallas and her broken promises, "You promised we'd go swimming!"

"I know, Baby, but we landed late and didn't have time to go to the hotel. They won't be long. Nat is gonna stay for the whole thing, but Uncle Bucky is gonna come check in with us when he can sneak away, okay?"

"How long is that gonna be?" Denver whined, dropping her forehead to the table to show her displeasure.

Dallas grimaced, knowing Bucky would probably be stuck up there at least another two hours, "Umm, soon. Not long at all. Let's watch a movie on the tablet, he'll be here before we know it!"

The intercom above turned on, causing everyone to stop talking and listen as it buzzed for a moment. Dallas furrowed her brows and looked up, but Denver wasn't bothered, while upstairs, T'Chaka paused his speech, looking up curiously as his son looked around for some sign of what was happening. The announcer from earlier began to speak in Russian, "Желание."

Bucky froze, turning to Natasha as she cocked her head, confused by the word, "Longing?"

"Ржавый, Семнадцать, Рассвет, Печь, Девять."

"No… please no." Bucky covered his ears, his whole body quaking as he tried to block out the words, "I have to get out of here."

"Why?" Natasha asked as Bucky bolted to his feet and pushed his way past the crowd towards the door, "Barnes!"

"Добросердечный, Возвращение на родину, Один."

"What is that?" Dallas asked as Denver finally look up at her Aunt, realizing how tense she was. She looked down at Denver and pushed back her hair, "I'm sure it's fine. Probably just an announcement or something."

"Товарный вагон."

Before Bucky could reach the door to the conference room, the final word echoed from above and his body froze as his mind fell away. Natasha approached slowly, but the voice above asked, "Солдат?"

Soldier?

The Winter Soldier turned back towards the crowd, his piercing eyes landing on Natasha before mumbling in Russian, "Я жду приказаний."

"Убей их."

"Everybody run!" Natasha yelled as Bucky lunged at her, but she blocked his punch and got a kick in before he grabbed her neck and flung her to the side. His gaze landed on the King of Wakanda and he strode toward T'Chaka until the prince got in his way. Bucky kicked T'Challa to the side as his father tried to run, but Bucky thrust out his left arm and sent the King through the glass window.

"NO!" T'Challa screamed as he scrambled to see if his father had somehow made it, but when he reached the glass, he saw his father on the ground below. He turned to Barnes, seeing the Winter Soldier going on a rampage and choking the security guard trying to disarm him.

T'Challa ran towards the Winter Soldier and kneed him in the chest, causing him to stumble back a step before reaching out to grab the Wakandan prince. T'Challa blocked his hit and kicked him back, backing Barnes towards the shattered glass window, getting a hit to the soldier's face before being knocked onto his back.

The Winter Soldier grabbed a dead guard's gun and started firing into the crowd of people trying to escape. After a moment, he turned to face T'Challa again until Natasha tased his left arm with one of her Widow's Bites, gathering his attention. She taunted, "Come and get me, Barnes," before darting towards the hallway in an attempt to lead him away from any survivors.

The sound of glass shattering and falling to the Earth from above reached Dallas before the screams did. She stood abruptly and started towards the door to see what everyone was staring at, "Stay here, Denny." She warned, following the crowd of people rushing towards the doors before seeing the stairwell burst open and dozens of people charged towards the exit in tears. She pushed herself against the wall, turning to look out the glass doors to see a body on the ground, "Oh my God," She turned, seeing Denver still watching her movie on her tablet with her headphones in, blissfully unaware of what was happening around her.

Dallas ran against the flow of people, finally reaching Denver and ripping the headphones from her ears, causing her to look up and scowl, "Hey!"

"Hey! We gotta go!" Dallas threw her thumb over her shoulder as a SWAT team rushed through the doors, "Like, now!"

"Where's Uncle Bucky?"

"He'll be fine, let's go!" Dallas yelped and grabbed Denver's wrist, pulling her roughly towards the doors before two of the SWAT guys were thrown violently out of the stairwell. Dallas skidded to a stop, shoving Denver behind her as she slowly began backing up.

Suddenly, Bucky appeared, and Dallas relaxed a little at the sight of him, "James? What's happening?" He turned to her with wild, angry eyes and she stumbled back a step as he began to approach, "What's wrong with you? Bucky?"

The soft sound of Denver crying alerted Dallas to how terrifying the situation was, and it took a moment too long to realize the man in front of her was the same she'd first witnessed in the basement of the bank with Brooklyn. This wasn't James Barnes, this was the Winter Soldier. "Please?"

Bucky grabbed her arm and threw her to the side, causing her to bash her back harshly against the wall. She screamed out in pain as she fell, looking up in terror as he set his sights on Denver, "Denny, run!"

"Uncle Bucky?" She cried as he took a step closer, "Uncle Bucky!"

"Denver, run!" Dallas repeated, wondering if he'd kill the child, "Leave her alone!"

The Winter Soldier kept stalking forward, slowly, as if giving her time to run away. Dallas groaned and reached up to the table beside her, grabbing a saltshaker and chucking it at the soldier's head to distract him. He turned to her with fury in his eyes and Denver bolted to her Aunt, causing Dallas to groan, "No, run away, Denny, run away!"

The child curled up into a ball in Dallas's lap as she tried to scoot them away from the Winter Soldier, but he easily overtook them and slammed his dress shoe against Dallas's stomach, causing her to scream. He grabbed onto her shoulder-length hair, holding her tightly as she panted, "Please… you know me. Come back to me."

As Bucky tightened his grip, causing the hairs to snap at the back of Dallas's neck until her blood dripped down his human hand, Denver began to mutter, "Spu… spu…sputick" Denver cried, focusing before trying again, "Sputnik."

Suddenly, Bucky dropped Dallas and fell to the ground, inexplicitly unconscious. Dallas grabbed her neck and looked to her niece while panting, "What… what did you say?"

Denver grabbed onto Dallas as she struggled to breathe, sobbing into her chest, "Uncle Bucky tried to make us dead."

"Denny, what did you say?" Dallas repeated, but the child didn't answer. Instead, Denver continued to cry until she started hyperventilating, but by then, the SWAT team had long taken Bucky away.

December 2008

"The Asset has returned."

Brooklyn began to pick up her pace, heading towards the holding cell where the Asset would be kept until he was put back on ice. She had hoped to be there when he arrived, but apparently, he'd completed his mission early.

The sound of yelling caught her attention as she reached the door and flung it open to find one of the doctor's trying to examine a gash on the Winter Soldier's forehead while his assistant was scrambling to stand. When the doctor saw Brooklyn, he began to stammer, "Agent Hayes, we need your help-"

"What happened?" Brooklyn asked the Winter Soldier as he stared at her blankly. Blood dripped from the cut on his face, but she could see the thick fabric of his leather jacket was soaked with blood near his right shoulder, "Что случилось?" When he didn't answer her question in Russian, she added, "Поговори со мной."

Talk to me.

He didn't answer and Brooklyn groaned, looking to the doctor, "Gimme the needle and thread. I'll stitch him up myself. Leave us alone, please."

"Are you sure?" The doctor asked, nervous eyes flitting between Brooklyn and the Asset, "Should you be alone with him?"

"Yes, I'll be fine. Leave." Brooklyn snapped, narrowing her hazel eyes at the man, "Don't make me ask you again."

The doctor pushed his supply table towards Brooklyn and left, allowing the agent a moment alone with her asset. He looked up at her with blue puppy-dog eyes and she groaned, "You gonna let me fix you up? Or are you gonna throw me against the wall, too?"

"No." The Winter Soldier grunted, saying nothing else about the matter until Brooklyn pulled up a stool and began threading the needle for his stitches, "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Brooklyn mumbled, holding the needle between her teeth as she dabbed his forehead with a damp towel, "You gonna tell me what happened?"

The Winter Soldier didn't even flinch when she pierced his skin with the needle, and he didn't speak until she was done stitching up his forehead, "Got shot."

"In the arm?"

He nodded, and Brooklyn gestured for him to remove his jacket so she could look at it. He did as he was told, and she grimaced at the sight of his bloody arm, "Damn it. Okay." Brooklyn scratched her scalp, deciding what to do, "Lemme get the bullet out, then we'll go from there, okay?" She grabbed the tongs and pulled her hair out of her face before carefully grabbing the bullet wedged into the man's shoulder. As she pulled it out, he flinched and instinctively smacked her away with his metal arm.

Brooklyn flew backward, landing on her tailbone and yelping in pain. Several agents appeared with their guns trained on the Winter Soldier as he leapt to his feet, but Brooklyn just groaned, "I'm fine. Get out of here. Go."

Once they were alone again, Brooklyn pushed herself up onto her elbows and glared at the Winter Soldier, "That was rude. And it hurt." She lifted her left hand to massage her collarbone where he'd hit her, "You could have killed me, do you understand that?"

"I'm not stupid." The man bit back, and Brooklyn grinned as she forced herself back to her feet. The soldier narrowed his eyes at her, "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine." Brooklyn answered, pointing back to the mind-wipe chair where the man had been sitting, "You gonna let me finish? Or should I bring in somebody else?"

"Please don't."

"Then sit back down." Brooklyn chuckled, and he obliged. He stared past her as she removed the bullet and sewed up his injured shoulder. After she finished, she realized how upset he looked and asked, "You okay?"

"I could have killed you."

"It's the risk I take every time I'm around you." Brooklyn replied quietly, and he met her eyes, "I care about you, you know that? If I didn't, I wouldn't keep coming back. I promised you I wouldn't let them wake you up without me, and I'm gonna keep that promise."

The Winter Soldier's eyes fell to the far wall, and he nodded a little before Brooklyn heard a voice in her ear, telling her they needed to put the Asset back on ice. She turned to him, seeing the resignation in his expression when he heard their plans for him. He stood and fumbled with something in his belt before handing a tattered piece of paper to Brooklyn.

Before the agents could come to collect him, she unfolded the page and furrowed her brows at the smudged, scribbled word in front of her, "Sputnik?"

Bucky collapsed in front of Brooklyn and she jumped back, taking a moment to understand what had just happened. She looked at the paper, then to the man in front of her before collapsing at his side, "Help! I need help!"

Rumlow came running in followed by Rollins and another half dozen agents of Hydra. Rumlow aimed his gun at the Winter Soldier's head as Rollins pulled Brooklyn back, but she yelled, "No! No- it's him, he needs help!"

"What happened?" Rumlow snapped as he turned to the young agent, "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything!" She exclaimed, crumbling the paper in her palm to keep it hidden, "I don't know, he just passed out. But we can't put him back in cryo right now, we need to make sure he's okay."

Nobody listened to Brooklyn, though, because they were too confused by the unconscious soldier in front of them. The most feared assassin in the world shouldn't just pass out after a couple of flesh wounds, and Brooklyn could tell everyone in the room knew it had something to do with her. But she wasn't going to give up her secret. He'd given it to her so she could protect herself from him, because he trusted her, and because she looked out for him. She wasn't going to give away the Winter Soldier's shutdown code to just anybody.

Dallas leaned her head back against the hospital pillow as Denver sat by her side, patting her hand, "Is okay, Aunt Dallas. You are gonna be okay."

The woman nodded, assuring Denver she was right, even though she wasn't so sure she believed it herself. The doctors had said her back was bruised, but she was lucky Bucky had released his grip on her when he did, or he'd have pulled off her scalp by the hair. Where he was now, Dallas wasn't so sure, but she knew Steve would lose his damn mind when he realized she'd taken his daughter to the United Nations and almost gotten her killed by his best friend.

Once her nurse left, Natasha came into the room with a grim smile and a noticeably clear bruise in the shape of a handprint on her neck, "He's on his way."

"What did he say?"

"Not much. Asked if you and Denver were okay. Asked if I knew where they'd taken Barnes." Natasha answered, looking down at Denver, "Asked what was gonna happen now."

"What is going to happen now?" Dallas whispered, feeling drowsy from the pain killers, "To him. To the Avengers?"

Natasha sat in the chair beside Dallas, and Denver crawled into her lap, "Well, Barnes signed the Accords. Then he promptly went against them and murdered two dozen people before reaching you in the lobby. I'm lucky SWAT showed up when they did, or my head would probably be dislocated from my body."

Dallas slammed her eyes closed, forcing away the memory of his blank, lifeless eyes, "What happened?"

"Those were trigger words in Russian. He tried to run as soon as he realized what was happening, but by the end, Barnes was gone. Whoever was on the intercom gave the order to kill everyone. We're lucky as many people survived as they did."

"It's still too much…" Dallas trailed off, realizing she'd never see the man she loved again. "I- I don't…"

"Get some rest. I'll keep Denver company until Steve gets here. He'll be here within the hour and he'll want to talk to you." Nat assured the other woman, but Dallas just grimaced.

"He'll kill me for having her there. We were supposed to be at the hotel."

"Denver is fine. That's all that matters. Everything else we'll deal with." Nat paused, looking towards the door before whispering, "What happened? How did you subdue him?"

Dallas weakly nodded towards Denver, "She… she said something. I didn't quite catch it, but he shut down. Collapsed."

Nat nodded at the information, "The Winter Soldier clearly had trigger words. Perhaps he had a shutdown trigger, too. The question is, how did Denny know it?"

She didn't get an answer, because Dallas had already dozed off, and Natasha didn't want to be interrogating Steve's daughter when he arrived. Perhaps he knew what had happened, or perhaps it was another one of Brooklyn Hayes's many secrets.