Hey, Lovers! I am so, so sorry for making you wait so long. I broke the screen of my computer and I just found a way to work around it and I've been busting my ass this last two days to compensate. I hope you like it. Well, love it would be better but I settle for like ;).
"She was really closed off at first. She would glue herself to one of you and just glare to everybody. You told me she was just two years younger than me, but she looked so small, so much like a baby. She didn't talk, didn't smile, didn't laugh; she just stared at everybody and clung to you." Continues James, smiling sadly at his clasped hands. "I'm not proud of how I behaved towards her that first week. She took all your attention, all your smiles, the songs and the cuddles. Or, at least, that's how I saw it. It wasn't until you," he looks up at his father. " Sat me down and explained to me the whole story that I understood. She needed your whole attention, and she needed mine too. She was seven years old and had never been hugged until you did it, had never been gifted a sincere smile. She needed our help, for us to make up for all that she'd never known was her birth right. Love, affection, education; a real bed, food." He breathes in deep and exhales slowly. "After that, I started behaving like I should've done from the beginning: I helped you guys in everything I could. I read to her, showed her my favourite toys and of course let her play with them, I hugged her as much as I could when she got used to me and introduced her to the awesomeness of children movies. She gained weight and even grew a few inches in a couple of months, but she still wouldn't speak or smile. You were getting desperate by that point to at least get a word out of her or a tinny grin. It wasn't that she couldn't understand the language, you'd taught her how to read and write in both English and Russian, but she wouldn't utter a word. There was nothing wrong with her vocal cords, FRIDAY had checked. You had almost given up on getting her to talk, to smile, until one day six months from her arrival..."
It was a day like any other, Natasha and Steve were in the main building in a meeting with the rest of the Avengers, James was finishing his homework in his room and Bianca was sleeping in hers across from his. No Avenger knew Bianca yet, and most of them were uncomfortable knowing he was alone with a girl that had been trained to kill since she was a baby, but they just ignored them. She wouldn't hurt James, and his parents knew that. Maybe before, but not now.
It hadn't been five minutes since he finished the last math exercise that Bianca entered his room, tousled hair, sleepy eyes and her favourite book in her still too tinny hands. Bruce had said that in a year or two, with the proper care, she would grow to the average height, but that she would never reach the height she was supposed to be once she passed puberty. Everything had its consequences, and the malnutrition had fucked up permanently with her growth.
James smiled at her, already used to this little ritual they had: he'd do his homework while she napped and when he was finished she'd appear with a book in hand for him to read. His parents hadn't noticed yet, but he was sure it wouldn't take much longer. They weren't hiding it; it was just that they were always occupied during their little reading sessions.
She offered the book to him, he took it with a chuckle –he could recite it by heart by then– and jumped to his bed, arranging the pillows to make a little nest. He settled in it and was surprised when Bianca crawled to the little space he always left for her in case she wanted it. She'd never accepted it until then and he smiled, happy that she wanted to be closer to him.
He opened the book and started reading and when there was an illustration he pointed at little details he found amusing before continuing. He relished in the way she gripped his arm with her toddler-sized fingers and pointed at the words she didn't understand or the way she pouted at him when he made something up and then pinched him in reprimand. She became so tactile after the third month and she would let her actions speak for her. It frustrated his parents to no end.
There are only a couple of pages left when they hear the almost muffled ding from the elevator and they both look up at the closed door. Bianca still had set backs, and for some reason doors left open for relatively long periods of time were one of the triggers. He doesn't know why, and he certainly doesn't want to. They heard his father call for them and James turned to the girl, a giddy grin on his face as he raised a finger to his lips.
"Shh." He chuckled, his eyes crinkling in his merriment. She blinked at him and then smiled! He gasped, surprised by the way the mischievous grin lit up her tinny face. He giggled, exited, and jumped to his feet, picked her up and held her up in the air. He was so much bigger than her, he was nine and she had the body of a four-year-old. "Smile again, Bianca!" he giggled again, an inexplicable happiness filling his chest when she did. "YES!" he brought her down and cuddled her closed to his chest. He stepped down from his bed and ran –carefully– to the door, yanking it open and shouting for his parents. They came running, their worried expressions dissipating at the sight of their son cradling their little 'guest' close to his chest and clearly unharmed. "She smiled!" he laughed, squeezing the girl happily before leaning back to see her face. "C'mon, Bianca! Smile for Mommy and Daddy!" he manoeuvred her so they could see the wide grin form on the girl's lips.
Needless to say, there were a lot of kissing and hugging that day.
"From that day forward, Bianca made progress after progress:" Resumes James after a short pause to let his parents digest the information. " She started sleeping through the night, ate more, played more and with more enthusiasm… she laughed!" he smiles at his parents and then lowers his eyes again. "But she still wouldn't talk."
"When did she start?" asks Natasha, her hand making random figures over Steve's thigh. James sighs shakily, but there's a bittersweet smile on his lips.
"An exact year from the day you brought her home."
They had celebrated the day –just the four of them– as if it were a birthday. They even made a cake with a candle for her to blow. They played together, gifted her new clothes and James made her a row of five origami elephants, her favourite animal. They weren't perfect, the edges were crooked and one of them didn't have a tail, but Bianca loved them and almost crushed James in her embrace. She almost looked her age, then; a few more months and she would be the seven-year-old girl she was supposed to be.
And to finalize the day, they all cuddled in the couch –with Steve in the middle, Bianca seated in his lap and Natasha and James at each side with his arms over their shoulders– and watched Bianca's favourite movies: 'Dumbo' –obviously–, 'The Iron Giant' and 'Honey, I Shrunk The Kids'*. By the time the credits of the last movie rolled, both Steve and Bianca were asleep and James almost nodding off. Natasha picked him up and even though he was too big to be carried in such way, the boy clung to his mother like a baby and let himself he carried to bed. She laid him down gently, tucked him in and pressed a lingering kiss on his forehead.
"Сладкие сны, мой маленький лев**" she whispered, pressing one last kiss to his brow before standing up and walking to the door.
"Мама?" she turns, one eyebrow raised but her eyes were tender. "Я люблю тебя***." She smiles at his whispered words.
"I love you too, baby."
James fell asleep and was in the middle of a dream where he was slaying a chocolate dragon with a caramel hose when a scream tore through it, waking him up with a start.
"ПАПА! МАМА!****" Followed by a heartbreaking sob and then another shout. "Mommy! Daddy!"
He heard his parents' thundering footsteps as they ran from their room down the hall. They barged into his room, hair mused and eyes red from the rough awakening.
"James, are you ok? What happened? Did you have a nightmare?" asked his father, approaching his bed. He shook his head.
"It wasn't me, Daddy." They fell silent and then another sob broke the stillness. It came from across the hall. Natasha turned and opened the door. Both James and Steve were with her a second later and what they saw broke their hearts. Bianca was seated on her bed, tears and snot streaming down her face and her arms extended towards Natasha, who was already speed walking towards her.
"Mom-my…" she sobbed, hiccupping mid word. Natasha picked her from the bed and cradled her to her chest. The girl curled into her, pressing her face into the crook of her neck and making herself as small as possible in the woman's arms. James was reminded of the way she was the first months, not separating from either his mother or father and was surprised by the way she looked almost as small as then.
"Shh, baby girl, it's ok. I'm here, Bianca, no one's going to hurt you." Cooed Natasha, rocking the little girl in her arms. She turned to them and James saw her eyes glisten when they locked with his father's. He knew that look, they were talking with their minds; 'telepathically speaking' had called it his Uncle Viktor one day.
"Пожалуйста, не отправляй меня назад, Мама, я обещаю, что я буду хорошим!***** Please, please, I swear I'll be a good girl! Please, mommy!" A sudden panic gripped James' heart. What?
"You're… you're sending her back?" he asked, his voice trembling. "Sending her where? To HYDRA?" his eyes were wide, filling and overflowing with tears. His father kneeled at his level and turned him.
"No! No, James! Nobody is going to send her back, ok? It was just a nightmare, baby, she's not going anywhere." The boy sobbed and nodded at his father's reassurances and they could hear Natasha doing the same with Bianca. Steve picked him up and settled him on his hip before walking over to his wife.
"No one is taking you away from us, ok? It was just a nightmare, Bianca, just a nightmare; we're not sending you back even if you misbehave, ok?" she bounced the girl in her arms and she nodded, one tinny fist rubbing her irritated eyes. Natasha was quick to move it away and press a kiss over her brow. "Don't do that, love, you'll only make it worse." His parents shared a look and then they returned their eyes to the children. James sniffled.
"Can she stay with us forever?" he asked, looking at his father before turning to his mother. "Can she be my baby sister?" they stared at him for a few seconds before sharing a look again –ugh!– and then looking down at the girl in question, who was watching them with hope-filled eyes.
"Would you like that, sweetie? Do you want us to be your parents and James your brother?" Natasha tucked a strand of chocolate hair over her ear and smiled tenderly when Bianca's eyes overflowed and she nodded before sobbing and hugging her tight. James sniffled and Steve was quick to step closer to Natasha and rearrange his son so he was perched over one arm and he could use the other to embrace and bring his wife and daughter closer to them. The children nuzzled closer to their parents and slowly calmed down. When James opened his eyes he saw Steve and Natasha separate from their kiss and his father drop his forehead over his mother's, little smiles forming on their lips before they shared a final, lingering kiss and separated. Bianca protested, uttering a soft, shaky "No!" as she extended her hand towards the boys, but Natasha shushed her and kisses her temple.
"Hush now, baby girl. We can't walk if we're hugging. Give us a minute, ok?" They exited Bianca's room and walked down the hall to their room and to their king bed. They laid the children in the middle and then got in it themselves, hugging each other around the waist and trapping the kids between them in the process. Bianca sighed in contentment and hugged her brother; he smiled and returned the hug.
"The next morning, it was like she'd been talking from the beginning: she asked for more milk, told you guys about the games we played the day before while you were away working and teased me when I couldn't reach the sugar." He chuckles and Steve smiles. "Her voice was weird, a bit raspy but it went away in a few days. And it took a little time to get used to, she kept spooking me when she verbally answered my questions and I think she enjoyed it, the little shit…" he grumbles, huffing silently when his parents laugh.
"Just like Natasha, then." Teases Steve, earning a mock glare from the woman at his side and an elbow on his ribs. He pouts and rubs his side, but she ignores him. It's not like she'd actually hurt him.
"You still haven't answered my question, though." James blinks and then frowns in confusion. "How did Bianca loose her arm?" his eyes widen in realization.
"Oh, right… sorry," he rubs the back of his head sheepishly, the same way Steve does, and clears his throat. "I forgot. I just wanted to explain it all so you could understand everything. It happened roughly six months after you decided to adopt Bianca…"
It was a rainy day; the children were confined inside the compound and weren't allowed outside. Thankfully, the new AI system, ECHO, was much more interactive and child-friendly than FRIDAY had been, so the kids were entertained while their parents were busy in a top-classified meeting. Nathaniel, already in his teens, was seated in the couch with his Stark issued cell phone and pretty much ignoring his cousins in favour of some random videogame. The Bartons had moved in to the compound once Copper had passed high school and needed to be closer to NYC to be enrolled into a higher institution. Both Cooper and Lila had been reluctant to leave the farm behind, but had adjusted quickly to the life in the facility and had easily made friends with the children in the school.
James was helping Bianca learn how to pilot the last drone their uncle had gifted her. She had been introduced to the entire family a few months back and despite their previous reservations towards the girl; the whole team had taken a liking to her almost instantly. She had been shy at first, hiding behind Natasha and then James when her mother had pushed her towards the children, but with her brother's reassurances that they were all 'cool', she had opened up and let herself be swiped away from the adults and into a whole new world.
Thalia and Piper were playing Avenger's Cards against Scout and ECHO, who advised the youngest of the children in how he could play each card and use the bonuses against his adversaries. Just then, there was a flash in the sky and then a resounding thunder. The lights went out for a second before flickering back on, but it was enough to stop all motion in the room. Nathaniel groaned and let the phone fall from his fingers and onto the couch.
"This is so boring!" he whined, stretching his legs and then jumping to his feet. He looked around, frowning at his cousins when they just returned to their previous entertainments. "Guys, c'mon! Get up, let's do something!" his tone immediately caught Scout's attention.
"Do what, Nate?" he asked, his voice high and exited to do something other than lie around. Thalia looked up too, intrigued and James raised a brow, already knowing it wouldn't be a good idea to get exited, it would probably be something they couldn't do anyway.
"I don't know… let's go outside!" he raised his arms in the air. James huffed and returned his eyes at the controls in his sister's hands.
"We can't go outside, Nathan; Мама said we had to stay here. And Uncle Viktor promised that he'd make us waffles if we behaved." Said Bianca without taking her eyes from the drone, piloting it around the room and then landing it on the table. She then turned to Nathaniel and smirked like her mother. "I don't know about you, but I want waffles." The rest murmured their agreement –nothing could beat Uncle Viktor's waffles– and ignored the boy when he complained. He turned to Scout, his last hope.
"Scout?"
"Sorry, nothing is worth the loss of Папа's waffles." Informs the boy, returning his attention to the card game and slapping the HULK card over the board. A hologram of the green giant appeared over the card and roared. Nathaniel sighed and returned to the couch. Five minutes later, another lightning lit the sky, followed by the deafening thunder and they were plunged into darkness once again. This time, the power didn't return. Piper looked up from the games, the only thing that illuminated the room and frowned.
"ECHO?" no response. Scout got up from his place splayed on the floor and fidgeted. "ECHO!" The siblings abandoned the drone and moved to the centre of the room. Nathaniel and Piper soon joined them while Thalia stayed seated over the cards and slapped NICK FURY over the board. The man appeared and drew a gun, pointing it ahead.
Another thunder cracked the stillness of the air and Scout bolted, running to Nathaniel and curling around him when he picked him up. Thalia finally abandoned the game, figuring they weren't going to finish it, and slapped all the cards of the board to make the light brighter before joining her cousins in the little circle. Bianca frowned and looked at the sky.
"There was no lightning…" she murmured and they all turned to her, blinking in confusion. "Before the thunder, there was no lightning! Uncle Bruce said that we would be able to tell the distance of the storm by counting the time between the lightning and the thunder. That means that the lightning always goes before the thunder." She explained and Piper's eyes widened.
"But there wasn't any this time…" they all tensed and looked around the room.
Being the children of the Avengers, they had been the targets of more than one organization that was after their parents and they had taught them to always be prepared and alert. Just then, there was another resounding BOOM! The ground shook beneath their feet and the doors at each wall clamped shut in their fire alarm mode. Only that the windows didn't open like they should. Something was really wrong…
They could hear commotion from the conference doors, most likely their parents trying to open them. But… it almost sounded like they were… fighting?
There was a sound from the vents and they all looked up in time to see the grid crash to the floor and four bodies descend. They were surrounded before they could even blink, the guns pointed at them keeping them from making sudden movements. They heard their parents' shouts from the other side of the doors, it sounded like they had dispatched of the bad guys and were currently trying to open the doors. One of the men took a step forward, making all of them tense and return their attention to him.
"Subject KS-247," he said in a heavily accented voice. Bianca tensed in her place behind Piper. "Step forward!" nobody moved and the man raised his gun and shot at the ceiling before aiming the muzzle straight at Scout, who was still cradled in Nathaniel's arms. The boy turned away, shielding the youngest from the man. "Step. Forward. Subject 247!"
Bianca looked at her cousins, catching the eyes of her brother. He shook his head, knowing what she was going to do, but she just smiled and mouthed I love you before stepping from behind Piper and walking towards the man, who redirected the gun at her. She could almost see the smirk from behind his mask. He motioned one of his thugs and he locked her hands behind her back with a zip tie, tightening them until it almost cut her circulation. She slammed her head back, hearing the sickening crack of his nose when it collided with her scull but didn't make another move. Half the guns were trained on her and she huffed, blowing a lock of hair away from her face.
"Jackass…"
The man regained his bearings a second later and raised his hand to strike her, but the boss ordered him to back off and another man took his place. They backed away to the vent slowly, never lowering their guns and when they were all regrouped, the boss cackled in triumph and threw the children a sleeping gas bomb.
The last thing James saw was his sister's feet disappear into the vents.
The silence that follows it's almost deafening and James takes a deep breath to collect his thoughts. He fiddles with his fingers and with his vambrace, unstrapping it and then strapping it again. When he looks up to his parents, he see's them in their favourite lounging position: seated as close together as possible, with his mother's legs over his father's and her head resting in the crook of his neck. It makes him smile, seeing that his parents have been as close as they are in his time since the start.
"When I woke up," he continues, getting their attention back. "I was in the medical bay. Auntie Pepper was there, and when I asked for you and Bianca he told me that you'd went to get her back. Turns out that the gas used to knock us out was made for elephants, so the doctors had had to intubate us and pump out our lungs." His parents' eyes widen and he's quick to explain. "Not literally! Just like a stomach pumping, but with the lungs! I think right now it's called lung washing and it's only used to treat a rare lung disease, but in a few years we're going to use it to cure smoke inhalation and such." He shakes his head; he's getting out of topic. "Anyway, I'd been out for three days already and you took another one to come back. You rushed to the medical bay, where I was with Scout –who hadn't recovered yet– and I almost fainted when I saw you run inside covered in blood and Bianca unconscious in Mom's arms." He pauses yet again, regains his bearings –letting his parents do the same in the process– and continues. "They had broken her arm in four different places as punishment for deflecting; and as you made your escape, they shot at her. I don't know how many, but at least three bullets hit, all on her shoulder, destroying it. The doctors said that they could fix it, that the arm could be saved, but that she'd never be able to use it at its full capacity: the bones, tendons and muscles were too damaged. So you decided to amputate. When she was healed, Uncle Tony made the prosthetic. He made sure that the part that was to be her shoulder could be modified as she grew, and he was happy to make new arms for her to try. We ended up having buckets of fun just experimenting with new arms." They laugh together, and the tension dissipates as he goes to tell them fun stories about their childhood.
When Bianca wakes up and walks into the living room with a yawn in her lips and her fist rubbing her eyes, she's ambushed and smothered by her parents. She looks over their shoulders to a sadly smiling James, who grins at her when she returns his smile with one of her own. She doesn't resent him for telling their parents; yes, she would've preferred to do it herself, but what's done it's done and if they were the ones to ask, James wasn't going to leave them hanging.
Steve turns and opens his arm towards the missing member in the hug, and James approaches eagerly when the girls shift so they're forming a circle, their arms around each other and their heads down, close together. They laugh to dispel the tense air that had formed; and when they separate, the teens are able to see the moistness in their parents' eyes.
*- I know, I know… those movies are so old! In fact, none of them are even from the XXI century! The most recent one is from 1999, look at that! But those movies are literally my childhood –right next to 'The Princess Bride' and 'Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron', which (fun fact that none of you care about:) was released the same year I was born!– and I wanted to include them. If you haven't watched them, do it! They are all AWESOME!
**- Сладкие сны, мой маленький лев –– Sladkiye sny, moy malen'kiy lev –– Sweet dreams, my little lion.
***- Мама? … … Я люблю тебя –– Mama? … … YA lyublyu tebya –– Mom? … … I love you.
****- ПАПА! МАМА! –– PAPA! MAMA! –– DADDY! MOMMY!
*****- Пожалуйста, не отправляй меня назад, Мама, я обещаю, что я буду хорошим! –– Pozhaluysta, ne otpravlyay menya nazad, Mama, ya obeshchayu, chto ya budu khoroshim! –– Please don't send me back, Mommy, I promise I'll be good!
So... what do you think? From 1 to 10 if 1 is "this shit is pathetic I can't stand it" and 10 is "one of the best things you've ever read in FF". XD
