I of course do not own the characters except for Theodore. Everything else belongs to the MCU.
"Do yous have to go?"
Steve Rogers smiled sadly and hoisted the three-year-old up onto his lap. The boy was small but Steve could see the similarities the child shared with him. His son had his golden blond hair and wide blue eyes, as well as his small stature. As Bucky loved to say, Steve had created a little mini-me.
"I do, bud," Steve said quietly. "The war's bad and I have to do my part to help."
"That's why you got big?"
"Yeah. I'm gonna be on a show to help make people feel better and want to help. Remember how Bucky's gone to fight? I'm gonna help him."
The young boy looked up, "I want to help too, Daddy. Why can't I come with you?"
"It's not a place for someone as young as you," Steve replied with a sad sigh. He didn't want to leave either but he wasn't going to let Erskine's death go to waste. "You'll get to spend time with Aunt Winnifred though."
"Aunt Winnie?"
Steve smiles slightly as the boy perks up. "Yep. She'll be happy to have you, General, especially since Buck and I are gone."
"I miss Bucky." And he's right back to that sad pout. Steve sighed as the boy continued, "Can't you stay?"
"No, Theo." Steve cupped his son's cheek with a gentle smile, "But I'll be back before you know it."
"Promise?"
"I promise, General. Till the end of the line, right?"
Theodore Rogers nodded sadly. "Till the end of the line."
•••
"Daddy comes back soon, right?"
Winnifred Barnes smiled the best she could, trying not to let the pain show on her face. "I hope so, darling."
The five-year-old smiled and took her hand. The pair continued down the street, Rebecca Barnes on the boy's other side. The street was crowded with people, laughter and cheer. The war was over and cities celebrated all over America.
Yet there were three figures not nearly as merry as the ones surrounding them. All three were dressed in black and had matching, teary, red eyes. They slipped quietly through the crowd, forcing a smile when seen by others.
"What'll we do, mom?" Rebecca asked softly. "With Bucky gone?"
Winnifred let out a long, trembling breath. "We'll wait for Steve to come home. I want to know as much about James as he can manage; the poor boy was clearly crying as he wrote that letter. Then we can decide how our family will continue."
"Daddy's sad so we have to make him feel better," Theo added with a determined look on his face.
"That's right, General," Rebecca said with a sad smile.
"We can draw him pretty pictures! Daddy likes drawing."
"He does, Gen. Maybe we can find him a really nice sketchbook and pencils."
Winnifred smiled at her daughter and honorary grandson talking. They were all grieving but the two didn't let that get them down completely. For a brief moment, there was happiness in the family.
Then that moment was gone.
And with it went Theo. The boy was snatched away from between the two Barnes'. Winnifred and Rebecca both whirled around in alarm but the perpetrator was already gone, lost in the celebrating crowd. There were no calls for help, no fearful cries of a boy being taken from his family.
Theodore was just gone.
•••
The Winter Soldier stared at his hands. People milled around the museum exhibit, not paying him any attention. He was just another citizen to them. Not the dangerous assassin. Not the killer he was.
His gaze slowly lifted back up to the wall decorated with the faces of the group known as the Howling Commandos. His own face was there, set in a hard, determined glare. The face of his last mission was there too, set in that same glare.
People are gonna die, Buck. I can't let that happen.
Your name… is James Buchanan Barnes.
You're my friend.
Cause I'm with you… to the end of the line.
To the end of the line…
The words sounded so familiar but the Soldier couldn't remember them. Not yet. He could hear echoes, echoes that he knew had once been lost, that were stolen from him. He was starting to remember and it scared him. He wasn't supposed to remember; he was supposed to be a weapon, nothing more.
Yet with every returning memory, he felt more and more like the people around him. More human, and that was a feeling the Winter Soldier hadn't felt in a very long time.
He tore his gaze from the wall and continued through the exhibit. His own face was in another place, on a display filled with his story, his role. He had a sister once. And a family. And now?
The Soldier wasn't sure.
He could see flashes of faces and emotions came with them, along with names. Mother, Father, Sister. Their faces were gone the next second and he was left feeling even more empty. Hating the feeling, the Soldier turned away only for another face to catch his eye.
It was the face of his mission, only much younger. A child. Theo, whispered forgotten memories. The image of the child stood next to Mother and Sister. His hair was light in the grey image, lighter than Mother's and Sister's. There were images of letters there too, written back and forth between his mission and the boy. There were even a few to and from the person he used to be.
The information next to the pictures caught the Soldier's attention and he moved closer to read it.
The only son of Steven Rogers, Captain America, Theodore Joseph Rogers was born on February 5th, 1940. He is shown standing with the family of Sergeant James Barnes who watched over the boy while Captain Rogers was fighting overseas. The boy turned five the day Captain Rogers disappeared.
The letters sent and received by Rogers to and from his father and his friend Sargent Barnes clearly show how the young boy missed them. He describes his living with the Barnes family and expresses his hopes that the war would soon be over so the Captain and Sergeant could come home.
On May 8th, 1945, Rogers was kidnapped from a Brooklyn street by an unknown assailant who disappeared through the crowd of people celebrating Victory in Europe Day. Winnifred Barnes described the kidnapping as, "One second he was there, the next he was gone. My daughter [Rebecca Barnes] and I didn't see who took him and we didn't hear him scream. He was just gone."
The fate of Theodore Rogers remains unknown.
The Soldier's mind raced. His eyes studied the face of the young boy. He could see the clear similarities between his mission and the boy. It wasn't hard to see their relationship as father and son. But there was something else bothering the Soldier, forcing its way to the front of his mind.
He's heard that name.
He knows that boy.
He remembers what that child became.