Chapter 37- Recovery and New Missions

Bucky couldn't keep his fingers out of Elizabeth's dark hair. With his flesh hand he wrapped strands of it around his fingers and over the shell of her ear, her face pressed firmly to his chest and gripping huge handfuls of his denim jacket. At one point he had to sit down, so he scooped up Elizabeth in his arms and settled her on his lap, much like he had when she was a small girl. Diana sat down next to him and pressed her head into Bucky's chest, like their daughter did, and stroking Elizabeth's hair as gently as he was doing.

It didn't take Elizabeth long to fall asleep. Her breathing slowed and her grip on his jacket relaxed. "James?" Diana asked, raising her eyes to look into his.

"We aren't leaving, doll," Bucky said, answering her unspoken question. The relief on her face was obvious. Diana normally did everything he told her and would cry if he said they had to leave Elizabeth, but she would obey him.

"Good. We just found her. I don't want to, James," Diana said as she stroked their daughter's face gently.

"Me neither. HYDRA stole too many years from us. It's not too late to have Elizabeth back. But I do understand if you don't want to be my wife any more. I did force you to come with me," Bucky said, half-hoping that she wouldn't want to leave either him or Elizabeth.

James looked guilty and hopeful as he looked into Diana's eyes. Diana felt pity for her husband. Only now that his memory was coming back did he feel guilty for making her come with him and forcing her to be his wife. Those first weeks in Siberia came to mind. The kisses were forced, but they were gentle. With each wipe, Diana had found it easier to kiss him when he kissed her. On the day they married she had come to the conclusion that she wanted his kisses and to have him running his fingers through her hair while she sat on his lap or had his arms firmly locked around her as he kissed her neck.

"James, I am not leaving. I love you," Diana said, kissing him gently.

"I don't deserve your love," James said wearily.

"No, but you have it. I don't remember my family or where to find them. You and Elizabeth are all I have," Diana said, resting her forehead against James's shoulder. Her husband's lips touched her forehead gently and, like Elizabeth, Diana fell asleep on his chest.

Yelizaveta woke up bleary-eyed at the sound of Sam's voice. "Hey, kid, he's awake," Sam said, shaking her shoulder. Yelizaveta looked at her father and mother who were waking up. She had fallen asleep on her father's lap and her face had gone into his chest. Bucky gently pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and gave her a warm smile.

"Steve? He's awake?" Yelizaveta asked Sam as she got to her feet.

"Yeah. He says "On my left," Sam said. Yelizaveta choked back a laugh.

"On your right," Yelizaveta said dryly as she walked past him and squeezed his shoulder with her hand.

"Smart-aleck Russian assassins," Sam grumbled under his breath.

"You are aware that with my serum, I can hear what you just said?" Yelizaveta asked.

Uh, how?" Sam asked as he, Bucky, and Diana followed her to Steve's room.

"Serum enhancements. My hearing is a lot sharper and I burn calories to the point that I can eat four pizzas easy alongside 20 five-layer burritos and four nachos bell grandes from Taco Bell," Yelizaveta said.

"That is a lot of food, Barnes," Sam said.

"I know, I know. Don't remind me. I hear it enough from my friend, Clint Barton," Yelizaveta said, rolling her eyes as she went into Steve's room, followed by Bucky and Diana.

Steve was awake and his eyes lit up when he saw Yelizaveta. His eyes then went to Bucky. "Buck?" He whispered softly.

Bucky stood there, his wife next to him as memories of the man filled his mind. He remembered him as a small little punk who kept getting into fights and had asthma and other illnesses every day until he became...Captain America! His friend who stormed a HYDRA base and rescued him and other men from his unit. "Stevie?" Bucky whimpered softly.

"I'm here, pal. And your kid is here too. How's your head, Liz?" Steve asked, turning his attention to Elizabeth.

"I had an insane Winter Soldier toss me into a ledge. Other than that, I'm fine, Stevie," Elizabeth said in a teasing voice.

"Not funny, Liz. Your pop is the only one who can call me that. I've missed you, Bucky," Steve said as Bucky sat in a chair next to the bed.

"I don't remember much of anything before HYDRA. What did they do to me?" Bucky asked, his voice breaking slightly.

"What didn't they do, Dad? Probably everything around the lines of what they did to me. Thankfully, they didn't sterilize me like they did my friend Natasha Romanoff. I was very sick when S.H.I.E.L.D. found me in that basement in Moscow," Elizabeth said.

"How sick?" Diana asked, running her fingers through Elizabeth's hair.

"Well, suffering from hypothermia and malnutrition as I was half-naked, freezing cold, and 20 pounds lighter than what an eight-year-old should be. Clint Barton found me and wrapped his coat around me. He took care of me and a year later I went to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. as an agent. I was stopping gunrunners in Moscow when I became an Avenger," Elizabeth said.

"How long did it take you to gain all your weight back?" Steve asked.

"Nearly a year. I had to eat practically all day during meals and sleep. That was when I discovered that I really like books and history. Clint read to me "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings" and "The Chronicles of Narnia" while I was recovering. Gave me a love for British authors and I expanded it to Agatha Christie and Daphne du Maurier. Everything was censored in Belarus and Russia," Elizabeth said.

"I wonder why," Sam said, reminding them that he was in the room.

"Americans and any other country that's a democracy is a decadent, capitalist country," Elizabeth rolled her eyes.

"They would know," Steve said with barely concealed contempt.

"I know, I know," Elizabeth muttered.

"So, what's the plan, Cap?" Sam asked, reminding everyone that he was in the room.

"I honestly don't know. Now that we know HYDRA is alive and well, I thought of taking them down. Buck, Liz told me about the HYDRA base in the bank. Do you know of any others?" Steve asked Bucky.

"No. They only had me and Diana at the base here and the one in Siberia. Elizabeth was trained at the Red Room. That was a front for HYDRA. I only trained people there for a few years before Elizabeth was born," Bucky said.

"Maybe Fury and Hill can get us a list. Pierce was too stupid to have a list and not burn it or jam it down the garbage disposal after he read it. It's a good thing Romanoff dumped all of his dirty little secrets on the internet. That might be a good starting point," Elizabeth said.

"We can probably get Stark to look it up," Steve said.

"Good idea. We can go to his tower and from there try to contact Clint, Thor, Dr. Banner, and Jimmy. We're gonna need all hands for this one. Dad, can you help us?" Elizabeth asked, glomping to Bucky's side and sitting on his knee.

"Of course. Me and your mother are never losing you again," Bucky said, tracing his flesh finger over the shell of her ear tenderly.

"Buck, you and Diana don't have to, but we would like your help," Steve said.

"Like I said before, I'm following the skinny little punk from Brooklyn who was too stupid to walk away from a fight," Bucky said, stroking Elizabeth's hair absently as she pressed her face into his neck.