Author's Notes:

zikashigaku: I've loved having them back! They are such an important part of Kayla's story and I wanted to bring them back after all this time. They begin a thread that will slowly but surely unravel what James and Sarah believe to be true. They'll have to learn the truth eventually, but they'll start getting fragments little by little.

"Bucky!"

Barnes looked up to see Steve and Kayla sprinting towards him where he stood in front of the remains of the hotel. Kayla slid to a stop and began to pant, feeling her legs turn to jelly at the sight of the smoldering building in the darkness. Bucky wrapped his arms around her sides as she began to fall, keeping her from hitting the ground, "They're fine. Well, they weren't in there." Bucky corrected, turning to Steve worriedly as he swallowed hard, "They made it to the United Nations Office. I doubled back for them once I found the lab and realized you two had escaped... Tessa's been poisoned."

"Poisoned?!" Kayla yelped, finding her footing to spin around as Steve and Bucky shushed her. Steve grabbed her hands and pulled her away from the carnage to talk, but she whipped her head to Bucky, not relenting in her questioning, "What happened to her? Where are James and Sarah?"

"I don't know what happened exactly, I saw the paramedics taking Tessa away, and the children climbing into the ambulance with her." Bucky explained and Kayla turned on her heels toward the street and raised her hand to hail a cab.

"What are you doing?" Steve asked, trying to catch up with Bucky's story. He could see his wife was already beginning to form a plan. It had taken them hours to find their way back to the city from the Medrano's lab. They were in great danger and their children were missing and their friend had been poisoned. They were failing spectacularly at their mission and Steve was growing weary of their extended trip.

Kayla looked at the men as a car slid to a stop at the curb, "We're going to the hospital. To help Tessa. To get our kids. And then we are going home." Kayla turned from Steve to Barnes, eyes blazing as she pushed her auburn hair behind her ear, "Contact Sam. Tell him we're done. We tried. We failed. We can't do this anymore, we can't do this to our kids..."

"I'll tell him, just help her. Please." Bucky pleaded, grabbing Kayla's hand with his right and holding it tight as she stared up at him. "If anyone can save her, it's you." Steve just grunted as he slid into the passenger's seat of the car and Kayla pulled away from Barnes, giving a firm nod before slipping into the backseat and giving directions to the Hopitaux Universitaires de Geneve.

Beep.

Tessa felt something prick her arm and pressed her eyes closed tighter as she winced.

Beep.

"Tessa Davis. You're a small business owner. Have a master's degree in business. Your fiance was killed in the line of duty. He was a cop. And somehow you ended up in Geneva Switzerland with two children who aren't your own?"

Beep.

Tessa scrunched her face as the world became a little clearer. She understood she was in a hospital, but she was immensely aware that a doctor wouldn't be asking her these personal questions. She was in deep trouble.

Beep.

Finally Tessa pried her eyes open and turned to the side, ready to deal with whoever sat beside her. She saw a slim blonde woman sitting in a chair next to the monitor with an iPad in her hand as she peered at Tessa over reading glasses. Tessa blinked several times and realized she knew her interrogator. "You're-"

"Mrs. Ellis, former First Lady of the United States, yes." Sandra answered quietly, leaning back into her chair as she looked over her shoulder to the two sleeping kids on a small couch by the window. "You've been unconscious for hours. The kids have been quiet. They couldn't figure out how to unlock your cell phone. The doctors say you're stable, but the poison is still in your system. One of the United Nations best scientists is working on an antidote, but they think they'll need you here several more days, which leads me to my next question: who are the kids?"

"I'm their nanny." Tessa choked out, taking a staggering breath as her chest struggled to rise and fall. She felt numb and breathing was increasingly difficult. "Their dad works in construction and is here with my boyfriend for a conference. Their mom does the bookkeeping and I came along to watch the kids while they were gone. I have to call them and let them know the kids are okay."

Sandra pulled her glasses off and set them, along with the iPad, on the table beside her. She raised her slim face to get a better look at Tessa, narrowing her eyes as she continued working her target, "You know I was CIA before Matthew became President. You won't be able to keep secrets from me. I'm also paying your hospital bill, so I think you'll answer my questions." Sandra grabbed a cup of water and took a long drink, never removing her eyes from Tessa, "I have reason to believe these two are family. I want you to tell me who they are and why they are here with you. Did you kidnap them?"

"No." Tessa groaned, unable to explain her way out of the situation, "No, I'm watching them for their parents."

"Who are their parents?" Sandra pressed, softening a little. She smiled lovingly at the kids, "My daughter died eight years ago. I'm sure you know that, she was put to death. With all the things that have come to light, my husband and I believe Hydra had a hand in it." Sandra lowered her voice and leaned in close to Tessa, causing the hairs on Tessa's arms to stand up, "The world believes my grandson is dead, as is his father, Captain Steven Rogers. But I know that isn't the case. Steve is alive, as is my grandson and granddaughter."

"Why do you think these kids are them?" Tessa gasped, feeling her spine freeze, "How are you sure they are alive?"

Sandra grabbed the iPad and tapped it to life, swiping her finger along the screen before turning it to Tessa, "Looks kinda familiar right? The boy's a dead ringer. I'm guessing in a few years he'll look more like the Captain America you remember, but the resemblance is uncanny isn't it?"

Tessa studied the old black and white photo, something Sandra had clearly gotten from the military's classified archives. A pre-super soldier serum Steve Rogers, shaking hands with a white haired man in a lab coat and glasses. The profile looked little like the man Tessa knew, but she could see so much of this slim man in young James.

"Please." Tessa whimpered, lulling her head to the side as her chest ached from the slight movement, "I promised I'd protect them."

"We'll protect them. I have ways of getting a hold of their father, but it won't be easy. Let me take them with me to keep them safe." Sandra pleaded, swiping through the tablet again to retrieve another photo. She turned the screen to show Tessa, "I won't let anything happen to them. I swear on my life. It's what my daughter would have wanted." The corner of Tessa's mouth twitched up into a small smile at the picture of Kayla and her parents and Steve. Kayla was dressed in her wedding gown, clenching her mother's hands as happy tears escaped her brilliant green eyes. Tessa couldn't believe how long and white Kayla's hair had been, it looked like the photos she used to see in the tabloids. It was a different woman than the one she called her best friend. Kayla's father had his hand clamped on Steve's shoulder and Captain America smiled bashfully at his father-in-law.

Tessa swallowed, realizing she was passing out again. She looked to Sandra Ellis, seeing the desperation in the woman's eyes.

"Mrs. Medrano, we haven't seen anything like this. It's a virus, but, it's very advanced. Honestly, we're afraid it may be some sort of bio-weapon." The nurse explained as she showed Izetta the information they'd gathered from Tessa over the last several hours.

The tall woman studied the charts, taking note of Tessa's symptoms and vitals and forced herself not to smile. She cleared her throat, "It looks like it. You've kept her in containment yes? It could be terribly contagious."

The nurse paled, looking over her shoulder in terror, "She's had those kids with her since we were called."

Izetta nodded quickly, grabbing a pair of gloves and storming into the hospital room. She looked around, realizing the brunette was alone, "Where are the children now?" She asked the nurse, but the nurse looked just as confused and startled as Izetta.

"I- I don't know. This is a mess. Please, help her, we have to call the police!" The nurse shrieked as she ran out of the hospital room. Izetta clenched her teeth angrily and snarled toward the unconscious woman in the bed.

"Now all we have is you."

Kayla sprinted into the hospital, skidding to a stop in front of the nurse's station, "Please, my friend was at the United Nations Office and passed out, she was brought here, I need to see her! Her name is Tessa, Tessa Davis." Steve placed his hand on his wife's shoulder comfortingly as the nurse looked between the two disheveled Americans before her.

Her gaze landed on Kayla's broken thumb, but the woman looked like she was ready to dart into the hospital, so she continued typing, "Miss Davis is in intensive care. She can't have visitors right now."

Kayla paled at the news, looking up to Steve for him to get them to Tess. The man stepped up to the plate, and the nurse cowered in the shadow of his burly form, "Please, she was watching our children when it happened. We need to make sure they are alright."

"I'm sorry, but you can't go-"

Kayla darted from Steve's side before he could stop her and she leaped over the bag check for the hospital security and went sprinting down the hall. Steve backpedaled a moment, but several guards approached him while the others chased his wife. "Don't move!"

Steve grumbled, pushing his hair back, "I wasn't planning on it."

Kayla continued her sprint until she rounded a corner and found an unoccupied desk. Looking around quickly to make sure nobody would see her, she cleared the counter and hid beneath it, listening as the boots of the security guards ran by, still looking for her. After a moment, Kayla peaked her head out and found the area still empty, so she crawled out on her knees and began typing on the keyboard, searching for Tessa's room.

She got the number and looked up on the wall to a map of the hospital, studying the places she could hide on the way to her destination. She stood quickly and grabbed a lab coat from a rack before waltzing into the employee restroom. She locked herself into the handicap stall and began scrubbing the grime off of her face. She quickly dried off and flipped her head over, pulling her long hair up into a tight bun on top of her head.

Once she looked more like a doctor than someone who survived a kidnapping, she began her journey to find Tessa. She made her way toward the elevator, waving sweetly at several nurses who she passed. She entered the elevator and hit the button for the eleventh floor, rising slowly until she stopped on the seventh floor and two men in HAZMAT suits entered the elevator with her.

"Ma'am." One of them said as she stared at them with wide eyes. When the man realized she was going to the same floor they were, he turned to her again, "You sure this is your floor?"

"Yes." Kayla answered confidently, pressing her brows together, "I wasn't told we would need so much protective equipment."

"We aren't sure if we need it yet, but better safe than sorry. A bio-weapon is nothing to joke about."

Kayla nodded, feeling the color drain from her cheeks as the elevator doors opened. The two men took a right, but she took a left, making a beeline for Tessa's room. When she got there, she reached for the doorknob, but didn't open it. A voice inside caught her attention.

"Osvaldo, get me another blood sample. We'll need it for the antidote."

Kayla's eyes widened, realizing the Medranos had Tessa. She released the handle and took a step to the right, leaning against the window casually for a moment as they continued talking quietly among themselves. Finally, Kayla dared to look over her shoulder, seeing Izetta and Osvaldo on either side of Tessa, the taller woman tapping away on her tablet while her husband filled a vial with Tessa's blood. Kayla did a double take though, realizing her children weren't in there.

She moved away from the door, her feet taking her quickly to the closest nurse's stand, "Excuse me, I'm here on behalf of the American Embassy to check on the woman who's been infected. I was told there were two children with her?"

The nurse opened her mouth, then closed it, grimacing up at the redhead, "Miss Davis seems to be infected by a bio-weapon. They believe it to be terribly contagious. We have the local authorities on the hunt for the children, but we haven't seen them in hours. She did have a visitor briefly, but she signed in under a fake name. We believe she's the one who took them, but we can't track her down."

Kayla's chest inflated as her nostrils flared. She clenched her fist as her side as she tried to keep her composure, "What was the name used?"

"Tiffany Jones."