I brushed a shank of his chocolate hair out of his face once more. Even though he was asleep, his expression was one of pure agony. And I knew that there wasn't any kind of pain medication would ever help him. I had seen many cases like his over the years, and they usually never end well. Poor kid. No where to go, and stuck out of time.

"Bucky Barnes," I whispered trying to comprehend the name.

I remembered reading about him in the history books my mother would borrow from the library when I was little. I don't really remember all that much from the book I read over 20 years ago, but I could recall a few things. I knew he was born in 1925 and then raised in the army after he lost his family. It was actually kind of amusing that this kid could look like he could be my son, but at the same time be old enough to be my grandfather.

To think that on a routine patrol me and my brother stumbled on one of the greatest known sidekicks in history. Of course, Nico wouldn't be happy with this development. I sighed. I'm going to have to tell him. During our conversation after breakfast, I agreed with him that we wouldn't make any decisions, on the kid until we had more information on who he was. Well, now I do and it doesn't make my job any easier. I looked back the kid, Bucky, I knew my decision.

The med-bay door gently squeaked as it opened, letting Amelia in. Thank God. I needed a middle ground opinion. Not one that was blinded by rules or emotions. I knew what Nico would say, but someone like Amelia, who had seen both sides of our opinions, she could help me.

"Any changes?" she asked, in English. I nearly did a double take, but then I remembered that she always switched languages depending on what her patients spoke. I was so used to her speaking in chosen tongue.

"He woke up again," I answered.

"What? Why didn't you call me?"

"He needed answers, Amelia, not a doctor. Besides I was watching his vitals, he remained stable."

"He clearly didn't stick around," She spoke while, she messed with a few of the computers nearby, most likely pulling up Bucky's readings for the last couple hours, "Was he talking?"

"Yep. Full sentences. He seems mentally stable. He was just exhausted."

"Well, those are good signs. Especially, since we don't know how long his brain was without oxygen when we found him. Did you get a name out of him? Because the darn facial recognition software ain't finding anything."

"I did."

"Good! Feel like sharin'? So, I can get a jumpstart on his record."

"Bucky Barnes."

Amelia froze. She knew that name. She knew what that name meant. She turned to me and said three words, "Are you sure?"

I nodded.

She slowly sat down in a nearby chair. Her face was disbelieving, a rare expression for her. "How do you know?" she whispered.

"He told me."

"People can lie Christin."

"He doesn't have a reason to lie to me. He doesn't even fully know where he is."

"A lot of the people we know Christin, have reason and he could be working with them."

"Well, is he working with someone. Then he's the best actor I've ever seen!"

"What are you talking about?"

"I told him about what happened to Captain America," I sighed, "He starting mourning. He cried himself to sleep in my arms. He looked just like how Arrow did when we lost her mom. He isn't a spy, Amelia! He's a lost and grieving kid."

Amelia got up from her chair, and walked towards us. I could sense the change in her emotions the moment that she saw young man on the medical cot's tear-stained face, still grimacing. She had seen that kind of broken face, before. Her own daughter had worn that face when her son had passed.

"Your right Christin. He couldn't be lyin'," she whispered, "What are we gonna do?"

"Keep him," I said.

She nodded, "This isn't gonna to be easy."

"I know."

"You can't give up on him, ya know that?"

"I know."

"Nico won't agree with this."

"I know."

"How are you going to convince him? I know that it's your decision, but he will need a warm welcoming environment if he's going to heal from this trauma, and if you brother is hostile towards him, he might not make it through."

"I know. I was hoping that you could give him your medical opinion. We throw some logic at him; it might make it easier to convince him."

Amelia nodded, "I could do that. When are you going to tell him?"

"I might as well just rip the Band-Aid off," I sighed, before getting up from my chair.

"I'll come with you. You'll need it."

I felt bad leaving Bucky so quickly, but my brother needed to be delt with if I want a chance to help him. It wasn't too difficult to find him. Nico was either on patrol or preparing for a fight. I told Arrow and Taiga to take the little ones into another room and don't let them out until we were done. Then I moved over to my brother telling him we needed to talk.

It went as well I expected, when I told him.

"He's not staying here," Nico spoke, his voice cold and hard.

"We can't do that Nico," Amelia said, "His injuries are too severe to let him go."

"Oh? We can't? We can't leave that scum behind!" Nico shouted, "Let the people who praised his mockery save him!"

"He's a kid Nico," I said, "a kid who doesn't have anyone who still around."

"Kid or not! I won't ever accept anyone who was friends with the scoundrel wearing a mockery of our people's mask!"

"I know how you feel about Captain America, but don't let your distaste of him taint your vision of our guest," I said.

"How I feel? You don't know the half of how I feel about that experiment, little brother! Our people have suffered for centuries and the mask has always been a symbol of our warriors! While our kin were starving and scared to leave the safety with in the shadows, the government was masquerading the captain around like he was the second coming! He kills a few Nazis on purpose? No one ever batted an eye. One of our own tries to save lives? They're blamed for the accident and practically have an army sent after them! Thousands of our kind had to fall to create their savoir in red white and blue, and no one but us know that or mourns those lost!" Nico raged.

"The sins of the father should never become the sins of the son, or in this case student. Barnes is not guilty of Captain America's crimes," Amelia said.

"The boy isn't innocent, either! He took on the mask as well! A mask that neither of them earned!" Nico said.

"Then give him a chance to earn the mask," I said.

"What do you mean, little brother?"

"Let him train with us. We'll teach him."

"You can't learn to be one of us, Christin."

"Why not? We teach hundreds of kids each year to be apart of our world. Why can't he?" Amelia said.

"He doesn't know our pain," Nico said, "The pain that effects almost every part of our lives, and the eternal fear that has stricken us for generations."

"Brother, the boy has survived a war, a faked death, and he's hardest battle has only just begun. He's trapped in an unknown world, injured and alone. It would be impossible for him to join normal society by himself. He has no degree, and what he is trained in won't help him now that he's lost an arm. So, he can't get a job and support himself. He's known pain, and without our help, he'll experience much more. If it was one of your boys, would you really leave them behind?" I spoke.

"How is he even still alive?" Nico shook his head.

"Could have been many different factors. Possibly suspended animation from the ice, or it could be a simple case of time travel caused by the explosion. Concentrated amounts of energy, moving at high velocity, could trigger a time vortex," Amelia suggested.

Nico sighed, "Do you even have a use for him? I know soldiers, they can't just sit around and let others risk their lives."

"If his nerves are still active then it wouldn't be too difficult to give him a prosthetic. We have engineers that could make one advanced enough that he could work in combat," Amelia spoke up.

My brother turned away, "When are you going to tell, Arrow, Jenette and Taiga? They need to know."

"Soon, I just wanted you on board first," I said.

"I won't question your choice, Christin. I will be civil to him, but don't expect me to love him like I do my nieces and nephews," Nico said.

"That's all I asked for," I said, leaving the room.

As I walked down the hall, my thoughts turned to my children. Nico was right about one thing, they deserved to know. If I didn't tell them about this, they might think that I didn't believe they were old enough to handle this kind of information. I knew I could trust them, but I was also worried about their reactions. Taiga, was training to be a medic and most likely will remain friendly as a good medic should. Arrow? She would accept Bucky; growing up she would always be the first of me and my wife's children to welcome any new adopted siblings with out question. And Jenette? Jenette would be another story.

My eldest daughter was like her uncle, untrusting to any outsider. I couldn't blame her though, outsiders had hurt her long ago, and she still suffers from the pain they caused her to this day. She had been one of the worst rescue cases I had ever seen, it took nearly a year for her to realize that we weren't going to hurt her.

I stepped into the training room of the safe house. My daughters were currently dueling, and my son was sitting on the side lines. He was answering every question from the gaggle of fascinated children that were sitting next to him.

I guess it was time to face the music.

Arrow's POV:

Bucky Barnes…Great Lost Queen! I cauterized the wound of Bucky Barnes!