"Do you have any favorite movies?" Bucky asked as they were waiting for their food. They were sitting in a circular booth in the corner and Brianna was sitting in the middle.
Brianna was glancing around everywhere. Steve and Bucky had led her to a curtained off area that was in the back of the diner. But the people who were eating hadn't even looked at the Avengers as if the superheroes came here regularly. "No. But I want to see... uh, the others were talking about Disney? What is that?"
Steve and Bucky stared at her in a kind of horror. Brianna glanced between them, with a small frown.
"You haven't seen any Disney movies?" Steve exclaimed.
Brianna shook her head.
"You mean you haven't seen Brave? This is... this is horrible!"
She turned her head to see another man coming up to their table, followed by a red-haired woman. They were both normal looking but Bucky and Steve had looked normal and they were superheroes.
"Barton, fancy seeing you here," Bucky asked, narrowing his eyes but nodding at the woman.
"We were in the neighborhood."
"Right..." Bucky trailed off, with a knowing smirk. "This diner's in the same neighborhood as the tower. You just wanted to get a look at our... daughter."
Brianna shuffled a little closer to Steve as the two people came up to their table and stopped. He looked down at her and smiled reassuringly.
"Brianna, this is Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff," Steve gestured to each one. "They're Avengers too. Guys, this is Brianna Evans."
Brianna glanced at Clint then at Natasha, her jaw dropping. "You're Hawkeye, aren't you?"
Clint smiled at her. "Uncle Clint, at your service."
Brianna giggled then turned to look at Natasha. "Black Widow?"
"Yes," Natasha replied a little hesitantly.
"Otherwise known as Aunt Tasha," Clint whispered to her.
Brianna laughed as Natasha frowned then elbowed Clint in the side.
"Natasha, what was that for?!" Clint exclaimed.
"Are the others here too?" Bucky asked, looking around and sliding over to sit on Brianna's other side to make room for the others.
"Thor and Jane are having a night out," Bruce answered, appearing behind Natasha and Clint. "Tony is still in his lab."
Brianna's eyes widened. "Are you the Hulk?"
Bruce stared at Steve and Bucky's new kid in wonder. There was something different about her, like she…
"Yeah, I can turn into the Hulk," Bruce replied, watching as both Steve and Bucky peered down at Brianna. They were both kind of staring at her in wonder, like they were already half in love with her.
"Can I see the Hulk?" Brianna asked, staring at him curiously.
"You can see him," Steve replied as Brianna glanced up at him. "But only on the tv screen, okay?"
"Ahh, but I've stood in front of wer..." Brianna stopped abruptly then grinned a little sheepishly.
"You've what?" Bucky asked, raising an eyebrow.
Brianna stared for a second then gasped. "I forgot to tell Fawkes that I got adopted! I..."
"Fawkes?" Steve repeated. "Who's that?"
"He's... my friend," Brianna said and smiled a minute later. "He'll be able to find me, right?"
"When you say friend, what exactly do you mean?" Clint asked as all of them narrowed their eyes.
"He's a phoenix," Brianna replied, peering up at each of them.
"Oh, you mean a stuffed animal that's a phoenix?" Bucky asked, exchanging a glance with Steve.
Brianna shook her head vehemently, her hair moving with her. "No. He's real! But I... I think he can find me on his own."
"Have you ever seen a stuffed animal that looks real?" Bruce asked them as Brianna started to attempt to pull the box of crayons toward her.
"I saw one that looked like a hawk," Clint answered thoughtfully.
"Of course you did," Natasha said, smiling at Clint. "You probably have it in your quarters."
Clint gasped, mock hurt. "Natasha, you came into my quarters? I wouldn't have expected it of you!"
Brianna giggled and the five of them smiled.
Bruce, Natasha and Clint all slid into the booth and started to chat together. Steve occasionally saw them peer down at Brianna but he noticed that none of them were nervous or otherwise agitated.
Steve reached out and moved the crayons over toward them and opened it for her. "What are you going to draw?"
Brianna glanced up at him then narrowed her eyes in thought. "I don't know."
"I was an artist before I became Captain America," Steve remarked, picking up a brown crayon. "Do you like to draw?"
"You were an artist?" Brianna asked, studying the crayons and then picked up a green crayon.
"Yes, I drew a lot of things," Steve explained, starting to draw on the paper that was over the table.
"Did you draw... What did you draw?" Brianna started to draw while Steve watched her.
"Well, I drew Buck many times," Steve commented, turning to smile at Bucky who was watching them with a small smile.
Brianna glanced up at Bucky then at Steve and finally down to the paper. "I'm gonna draw a... horse."
"With green?" Bucky asked then shrugged a little. "Actually, I think I've seen a green horse."
Brianna glanced at him, tilting her head. "Horses aren't green!"
Bucky grinned. "Are you sure?"
"I'm sure," Brianna retorted, pouting and returning the green crayon to the box. She hummed thoughtfully then picked out the black crayon.
"The Hulk's green," Steve said, starting to draw his own picture.
Brianna glanced up at Bruce then shrugged and started to draw.
"Oh, food's here," Bucky commented, peering down at Brianna's drawing. Steve was drawing what looked like a shield with a star in it. Brianna was drawing…
"I've never seen horses with wings before," Bucky commented, ruffling Brianna's hair to get her to look up. She did, frowning a little. "And those are more... spooky than normal horses too. They're all skeletal."
Steve turned to glance at her drawing too. "Is that from a dream? Sometimes I pull ideas for drawing from a dream."
Brianna shook her head as Bucky pushed the crayons out of the way for the waitress to place the small plate of pasta before her.
"No," Brianna said, eyes lighting up at the food. "I've seen thestrals before."
"Thestral?" Steve asked, exchanging a curious glance with Bucky and the others.
"I've never heard of thestrals," Bruce remarked, glancing over their way as another waiter came and dropped off food for them. "They're not a recorded species of animal."
Steve drew over Brianna's plate and started to cup up the spaghetti for her. She watched him then hesitated a little.
"I don't have to do anything for a meal, right?" Brianna asked quietly, looking up at Steve and Bucky then quickly looking away.
Chatter around the table stopped in its tracks as every member of the avengers that were there turned to look at Brianna. Steve, Bucky, Natasha and Clint all looked horrified.
"Sweetheart, you do not have to do anything at all to be able to eat," Steve said, still worried at what that question meant.
"What are the names of your previous parents?" Bucky asked, looking ready to kill someone.
Brianna turned to look back at them. "The Dursley's. Why?"
"Children aren't suppose to have to do anything for a meal," Bucky replied, mentally filing away the last name for later. He flexed his metal arm a little, itching to talk to Jarvis right now and find out who Brianna's previous family was. "Your parents are suppose to provide for you."
"What did your first family make you do?" Steve questioned, pushing the cut up pasta back over to her.
"They... made me cook," Brianna replied, slowly picking up her fork. "And clean. That too."
Bucky stared, narrowed his eyes. "You won't have to cook or clean anymore."
Steve sighed. "We'll take care of everything from now on. You won't have to cook or clean anymore."
Brianna smiled widely and jumped up to hug Bucky and Steve, who both jumped a little then embraced her.
"Natasha, are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Bucky asked as they walked home. Brianna was fast asleep in Steve's arms, her arms around his neck. Bucky was carrying her backpack and had glanced through it briefly. It only had one change of clothes and no clothes for the summer or the winter. They would have to go shopping sometime in the morning, get some sturdy winter jackets and sweatshirts for her to wear. It wasn't a particularly cold winter evening so they passed people on their way home from nights out.
"Jarvis will be able to find out who her parents were," Natasha answered, nodding a little.
Bucky sighed, glanced at Steve and Brianna and smiled. "She also has an injury that she was born with. A scar on her left leg that hurts her occasionally."
"Does she take anything for that?" Natasha asked idly as they walked.
Bucky pulled out the container of lotion and handed it to her. "The woman that helped us with her gave us this."
He saw Natasha look it over. "You said that she was born with the injury?"
"We're going to ask Bruce to look at it tomorrow," Bucky replied, frowning.
"I can definitely do that," Bruce cut in. "She's adorable."
Steve turned to look at Bucky and smiled. "Yeah, she is."
"Are you going to change her last name?" Clint asked, glancing in between the two of them.
"If... she wants to," Bucky answered.
"Perhaps her last name would help in finding whoever her former parents were," Bruce remarked.
"Evans?" Steve asked, as they turned the corner and stepped into Avengers Tower.
"That... it's actually a good idea," Bucky commented, running a hand through his hair.
"Good evening, avengers," Jarvis spoke as they entered the glanced around the elevator at his team then glanced at Brianna and smiled.
"Jarvis, is Tony still in his lab?" Bruce asked as the elevator started up. Steve and Bucky's floor was the first one in the tower so they didn't have to wait long for it to stop. He could see Brianna wriggle around a little in Steve's arms then open up her eyes, yawning.
"Are we there yet?" Brianna asked sleepily, her words a little slurred with sleep.
Bruce smiled and watched as the others tried to hide their smiles.
"No, he is not," Jarvis replied, sounding a little…
Steve frowned. "Jarvis, is something wrong?"
"No. I have only been told to not spoil the surprise."
"Well, that's ominous as fuck," Clint remarked then sighed as Steve and Bucky glared at him. "We're going to have to watch our swearing, aren't we?"
Bucky grinned. "At least until she's older, Barton."
"What's Tony been up to now?" Natasha asked.
"He has been acting really suspicious lately," Bruce replied as the elevator door opened.
"Thor did say something about his brother," Steve added as they walked out. He glanced behind him as they all followed. Brianna was looking all in all directions, eyes wide but not too much. She was obviously still sleepy.
Bucky stopped alongside Steve and glanced around their floor and stared at where Tony was standing. Tony was standing in front of the door to a room that the two of them didn't use at all and were thinking of using for the child's room.
"About time you guys got here," Tony said, gesturing for them to walk up to them.
"Uh, Stark? What did you do?" Bucky asked, raising an eyebrow.
"When your papers came into the Stark Industries database that I have for all of you guys," Tony started. "I designed this."
Steve stared at his teammate and watched him open the door. Tony was kind of pointing at the room like he was a salesman trying to sell a car or something equally big. He strode over to the doorway and gaped.
There was a small twin bed, adequate for an eight year old in the middle of the room. It had an avengers quilt on it, with all of them on it. There was a moderate sized dresser next to it, with a lamp on it and an alarm clock. When Steve walked further into the room, he turned and saw that the closet had a few clothes in it. There was also a little nightlight that looked like Steve's shield plugged into an outlet near the bed.
Two comfortable looking chairs were sitting on opposite sides of the bed, ready to be sat in.
"How did you know her size?" Steve asked as they all filed in. Bucky stopped and laughed at the avengers quilt.
"Does it have avengers on the sheets too?" Bucky asked, teasingly.
Tony turned to look at him. "Oh, haha, Barnes."
Clint went over to the bed and lifted the quilt then nodded. "Yep, it does."
"I looked up her files in the facility," Tony replied, turning to look at Steve and Brianna. "I suppose I'll have to meet her in the morning though. I also was going to fix up an additional bathroom for her but I can do that later. Yours now has a stepstool in it."
Bucky glanced at Brianna, who had again fallen asleep on Steve's shoulder.
"Thanks, Tony," Steve said, going over to the bed and lowering Brianna onto it. Bucky drew out the shirt that looked like she had slept in it from her backpack and helped Steve to undress Brianna and put her sleepshirt on.
"You're welcome," Tony replied quietly then glanced at the others. "Alright, nothing to see here. Move along."
Bucky snickered then went back to his task.
Brianna yawned, sleepily blinked her eyes open, and helped them. As soon as they were done, they helped her brush her teeth and use the bathroom.
"Is this home now?" Brianna asked, as they helped her into bed.
Steve nodded and smiled. "Yes, if you like."
Bucky rolled his eyes but nonetheless smiled. "We're just down the hallway, if you need us, okay?"
"Okay..." Brianna replied, falling asleep with a smile on her face.