Steve and Bucky had stood in front of his older brother's grave, Steve and Bucky were just barely old enough to take care of themselves. After a few minutes that Bucky had left Steve standing along, Steve knows that Bucky had done that to give some time alone. Steve felt very alone, sure he may have Bucky but he had just lost he member of his family that was just still alive. He wished he had another family member alive just he could talk to a member of his family but that is unlikely though. Steve had than looked up at the sky above him. He wished that his brother would have a good time in the afterlife, who knows of what his brother would be doing up there.
"James Rogers, you better make sure you have a good time up there." Steve sighed and looked back at the tombstone before he had spoke once more. "I wish that you were here with me or that I have a family member left alive. Not only that but I wish you had a child, if that was the case that I would protect your child at any and all cost."
"Considering you are the only one left alive in your family that you have to do so." Steve had spun around when he heard that voice and notice that it was his brother's girlfriend standing there holding a bundle in her arms. She walked over to him and spoke as she did so. "You know, I didn't realize he would do so soon."
"Where have you been?"
"I can't say exactly, not now but in time you will know. But I was pregnant with your brother's daughter." She had pulled some of the cloth away to reveal a small baby girl inside the bundle, Steve looked down at the girl in surprise. She looked nothing like his brother's girlfriend but she looked more like Steve and his brother. The hair she had was the same blond color as his and as she yawned that she had opened her eyes and looked at him that she had the same eye color as he does. Steve had picked her up from his brother's girlfriend and held her, the baby girl had cooed and lifted her arms to try to hug him from the looks of it. Than she had yawned and cuddle up next to him and closed her eyes once more, Steve had looked back at his brother's girlfriend.
"Is there a reason you are here?"
"A couple of reasons, first I had wanted to say goodbye to your brother. The second reason is due for many reasons, of which I can't list, that it have to ask you to take care to Elizabeth."
"Elizabeth!" He had looked down at the baby, Steve was surprised that she was named after his mother, he had thought that she would use a name from her side of the family instead. Than Steve looked back at his brother's girlfriend. "Why can't you take care of her?"
"Like I said there are a lot of reasons, most of it of which concerns my family. They wouldn't approve of the fact of Elizabeth living with me. She needs someone to look after her and I fear for her safety one day and I believe that you can protect with you have. More so as the future comes."
"You make sound like you can see the future." She had smiled when Steve had said that.
"In a way yes, but let's just say that I have a feeling that being under your care that she would be able to grow up the way she needs to to help her face her own future." Steve bit his lip and looked down at Elizabeth, than he looked back up to say something to his brother's girlfriend but she was gone. Steve wasn't sure of what to make of this, he had than looked down at Elizabeth and spoke softly to her. "Elizabeth Rogers, daughter of James. I have to say that you look much like my brother, myself and your grandmother or from what I can remember of what she looks like. I hope that I can help and protect you till you are ready to face this world and when you are ready that I hope that I can be there to help you when you need it the most." When he said that, that Elizabeth cuddled more into him as if saying that she knows that he would always been there for her when he can be. Looking down at her that he know he would do anything for her and to make sure that she was safe from anything and everyone.
Later that night when Bucky had come over that he was surprised by Elizabeth, when Steve had explained of what happen that Bucky was ready and willing to help Steve raise Elizabeth. So they next few days that they had made the second bedroom more for a baby girl, they painted the walls purple and filled the room with things for a baby girl. When they were done that Steve, with Elizabeth in his arms, had sat down in one of the rocking chairs and Bucky had sat down in the other rocking chair. When Bucky had sat down that he had placed his hand over one of Elizabeth's hands and she opened her eyes and cooed at Bucky before placing her other hand over Bucky's bigger hand. Both Bucky and Steve had smiled when Elizabeth had did that, than Elizabeth had moved her hand around before close her eyes again and cuddle against Steve. Steve had never thought of raising a child or at least this young, he had thought of having and raising a child when he finds the right woman. Than Bucky had spoke.
"You know she looks so much like you, if she wasn't your niece than she would be your daughter."
"I know, my brother and myself took after our mother in looks."
"Even if she was small when she gets older, she still would be beautiful."
"Yeah. I am sure she will be." After a few minutes that Bucky had left to go back to his place, when Bucky had left that Steve whispered to Elizabeth. "Elizabeth, until you are old enough to protect yourself that I will be there to protect you and if I final than Bucky will be there to help and protect you." Steve heard Elizabeth coo at this and cuddled more closely into him and he smiled.
For the first few months was a. It of struggle for Bucky and Steve with Emily, for they were having a hard time of figuring out what to do with Elizabeth and help her grow. Thankfully next door was a family of five and the mother had helped them with things concerning Elizabeth. When Elizabeth started using simple words by the time she was 13 months old that she started calling Steve daddy and Bucky uncle. When Elizabeth had did that, they both laughed at this, so Steve kept trying to get her to say uncle. It wasn't till she was close to three that Elizabeth had started to understand that he was her uncle not her father. Even though he was not her father that Steve liked it when she had called him daddy, a few times after that for a couple of years, that Elizabeth still calls him daddy.
Steve had watched Elizabeth grow older as the years went by, he taught her everything knows about being kind and caring as well as to stand up of what one believes in. As she grew that Steve knows that she would do well in the wold even if she was a bit small for her age. It seemed that the one thing that Elizabeth had took form him instead of her father, for Steve's brother was tall and not exactly small. Steve didn't expect her to be huge but he didn't expect to be as small as she was either, there were other things that Steve had noticed about Elizabeth as well. For one thing, whenever she was running barefoot in the playground by the apartment building or in the park that Steve noticed that when her foot touched the ground that it seem to bloom or looks more healthy. For the grass would look more grew or the flowers nearby would start to grow and the trees seem to look healthier when she was around.
Steve had just pushed those things to one side and focus more on raising Elizabeth. Bucky had stopped by many times to play with Elizabeth as well as to go to games with Steve and Elizabeth. That was one thing he liked about Elizabeth, that she enjoyed the games haut as much as Steve and Bucky do. Elizabeth and Steve had played games with each other or played sports of different kinds with only two people. When Emily turned ten that one night he fell asleep on the couch not long after Elizabeth fell asleep in her bedroom. In his dream he was in some sort of ancient Greek city or at least that is what he figures. He was in some kind of throne room from the looks of it, Steve had looked around trying to figure out of where he was when he heard a girl's voice from the middle of the room and he turned around.
"I am sure that you are wondering where you are." Sitting by the fire in the middle of the room was a girl no more than eight years old and she was wearing brown robes. Her eyes looked like flames but warm flames like in a home not like a forge or in war time. She had mousy brown hair and she was poking at the fire with a iron staff, Steve stood where he was looking at this girl. She was looking at him and she spoke once more. "Please sit." Steve had went over to her and sat down next to her.
"Who are you and where I am?"
"You are on Mount Olympus, Steve Rogers. Yes, I know who you are." Steve was surprised that when this girl had said his name. "Of who I am, I am Hestia." When Hestia said that, that Steve realized he was dreaming.
"You know, I should of told Elizabeth more of the Norse stories than the Greek stories for now I am dreaming of the Greek stories." Hestia merely smiled when he said that.
"Actually you are not dreaming. But you are asleep, but I can't explain everything though. But I had brought you for a reason."
"What is this reason?" Hestia and looked away from him for a moment and looked at the fire before looking back at Steve.
"In the next three years, Elizabeth will start down a path, one that you can't protect her from not all the time like you have been doing for the last ten years. She will need to walk this path without your protection."
"I had promise to protect her till she was able to protect herself."
"In three years, she will learn to do such a thing. But she still would need guidance and help at the start of that path. Some of it will come from one source but the rest of it will come from you. You need to lead her down this path and there will come a time of where you must leave her for a time before entering her life again. You won't be able to talk to her or anything."
"But that would break us both if I leave her like that."
"For a time, but that wound will heal in time for both of you." Hestia had than put her hand on his forehead before she went on. "I am sorry for what I am going to do but it needs to be done, for the next four years you must forget about this due to the fact it will put Elizabeth into danger. Even if you think this is a dream." Steve felt something enter him and than the dream faded and he forget all about the dream.