I still don't own Marvel, Captain America, Bucky Barnes, etc.

"It doesn't matter what story we're telling, we're telling the story of family."~ Erica Lorraine Scheidt

Anora Williams looked up from the rock she was scrutinizing and glanced around. She could have sworn that someone had been watching her a second before, granted she was six- years- old and someone was always watching her to make sure she stayed out of too much trouble, but she knew the difference between someone she knew keeping an eye on her and a stranger. She frowned for a second, her gold eyes fixing on a point across the street, behind the only synagogue in town, in the tree line.

"Nora, sweetheart! Come get washed up for dinner!" Her mother called from their front porch. "You too, Jace!"

"Coming Mummy!" The little girl called jumping up and running after her older brother. She paused at the door and looked over her shoulder, she still felt like someone was watching them, but maybe it was just Uncle Nick or one of his friends making sure they were ok.

Uncle Nick did work as a spy, and it also wouldn't be the first time he'd sent someone to make sure they were safe. Nora shrugged and closed the front door behind her. It was probably just Uncle Nick again, he was weird like that, but he really did care.

The Winter Soldier watched from the tree line as the girl picked through a pile of rocks that where at her feet in her mother's garden. Her brother was reading not far from her on their porch steps. Suddenly the girl looked up. The soldier and his team drew back into the shadows and waited silently and still. The girl glanced around, frowning, her eyes stopping right where the HYDRA team was standing.

She knows we're here. The soldier remained completely still with this thought running through his head until the child's mother called for the both of them to go inside. He watched as the two children leapt to their feet and ran to the house, the girl still carrying the stone in her hand. He saw the glance the little girl tossed over her shoulder in their direction, and the little shrug before she closed the door.

"Jay?" Anora asked when she followed her brother up the front stairs after dinner.

"Yeah, Nor?"

"Did you feel like someone was watching us earlier? 'afore mummy called us?"

"No. why? Did you?"

Jaycen turned and looked at his little sister. Jace felt his stomach drop when she nodded, a thoughtful expression on her face. "It was prob'ly Uncle Nick or one of his friends, I was just wondrin'."

Jace nodded but couldn't shake the feeling in his gut. "Are you sure it wasn't someone bad?"

"Yes. I don't think whoever it was wants to hurt us. I think, they wanna keep us safe…"

The winter soldier and his men held their positions. They would wait until it was totally dark, until the children were in bed. It was safer that way, they wouldn't have to see their parents' fate.

"Alright Kiddos, what's it going to be tonight? A story? A song or two?" Michael Williams asked as he tucked his two children into bed, his wife Joanna watching them a small smile on her face from the doorway. Jo chuckled as her children exchanged matching looks of mischievous glee before looking back at their father.

"A story?" Jace asked hopefully, his brown eyes lit up.

"Please daddy?" Nora begged, her round face ready to drop to a pout at a moment's notice.

"A story it is. What story do you want to hear?" two little heads with dark hair swiveled to look at each other across the room.

"How did you and Mom meet dad?" their eight year old son asked.

"Yeah! Tell us that?"

"Alright and then bed."

"But Dad!"

"Daddy, we wanted to hear the story Gran'pa tells too… can't we hear both?" Anora pouted, her brother nodding from the other bed.

Michael turned and looked beseechingly at his wife. "Jo…" Joanna Williams just smiled and shook her head. Her husband was such a teddy bear sometimes.

"Oh, go ahead, tell both." Jo laughed as her two boys and her little girl cheered.

"There once was a man who was far too shy to talk to the woman of his dreams. He saw her every day in the museum where he worked, but could never get within five feet of her without tripping or dropping something. What he didn't know was that she too was too shy to talk to him, for the same reason. Until one day…"

The winter soldier crept silently into the almost darkened house, through the back door and up the back staircase. He paused at the top of the stairs and listened.

"… and they lived happily ever after, even to this day, with two lovely and mischievous children." It seemed the man was telling a story. He would wait until he left the children's room, until he was sure the children were asleep before he acted.

"Tell us granddad's story?" the boy asked, while the girl cheered and a woman laughed.

"Go on dear, you did say you would."

"Alright, alright. I can't say I'll be as good at telling this one as the old man, but I'll give it a go. It was November 1943, and the 107th had been captured by the Nazi science devsion HYDRA two weeks before. Private Fredrick Williams was being held with the rest of his unit in a secret base. Men were being taken away for testing and they never came back. One day they came for him. He shook, terrified that he would never make it back to the girl he wanted to marry, terrified that she would never know what happened to him, terrified of what they would do to him. But one of the other men in his unit stepped forward. 'Take me instead.' Private Williams looked over at Sargent Barnes. What was he doing? Didn't he know that the people they took away never came back? 'Sir-' the Sargent shook his head. 'You've got a girl back home, a mighty fine looking dame too, if that picture's any good. You deserve the chance to get back to her in one piece soldier. Besides, I've got this friend, he'd never forgive me for not trying to help and you remind me of him.' So they took Sargent Barnes away. Williams couldn't help praying for help to come, any help at all. He prayed help would get there in time to help the Sargent, to help them all. The next day help arrived, but not how Williams had expected. A man in a spangled outfit and an aggravated looking young woman were their saviors, they even saved Sargent Barnes. The HYDRA base was destroyed and the boys arrived back at their base safe, sound, and alive. The young woman had been treating what wounds she could. She and the soldiers that formed The Howling Commandos grew close over the time she was there, especially Sargent Barnes, but tragedy struck. She was in the lab that Mr. Stark had set up, with Captain America, Sargent Barnes and Mr. Stark when there was an explosion. She died that day, and the Sargent found her locket in the wreckage. From that day on he wore it with his dog tags; it was his good luck charm. The day he fell from the train, he fell and found her again. If it hadn't been for Sargent Barnes, your grandfather wouldn't have made it to Captain America's rescue alive. And without The Captain, he wouldn't have made it out of the HYDRA base alive. Without that mysterious woman, he wouldn't have made it back to the camp alive. Without them, he would never have made it home, he would never have married Margie Wright, never would have had a son or two beautiful grandchildren."

The man's voice grew softer. Until his voice could barely be heard. There was silence for a moment, before 'goodnights' were whispered and the light tuned off. The man and woman slid out of the children's room and were closing the door when a quiet voice spoke from within.

"Mummy? Daddy?"

"Yes Nora?" The woman asked.

"I think he's still (yawn) lookin' for 'er… the sargent…"

"Oh?"

"mhmm… an' she's waitin' for 'im an' her boys… but 'specially 'im…"

The Soldier waited, just as her parents waited, but only silence came from the room.

"Good night, my angels…" the woman whispered.

"Goodnight, our little ones." The man whispered closing the door.

The Winter Soldier waited a moment before following the adults down the front stairs. He paused, waiting for them to enter the room to the left of the stairs before he stalked quietly to the front door and signaled his men. It was time to complete the mission.

Please let me know what you think!