Young!reader

Your small hand reached up to touch Steve's cheek, wiping a tear away before you threw your arms around his neck and squeezed as hard as you could. It was your first day of kindergarten, and no one was taking it very well. Everyone was gathered together to send you off, but there was an obvious reluctance to let you actually leave.

"Do you have all of your supplies? Let me check one more time."

"Did you put your lunch money in your bag?"

"Where's your jacket? I'll go find it."

"Are you sure you don't want to wear your other dress, (Y/N)?"

The questions came faster and faster as the time grew nearer to your first experience at life away from your family, even if it was only five blocks from home. Bucky moved behind you and put his hand on your back, kneeling down to talk to you quietly. "Baby, it's time to go. Let's say goodbye to everyone, okay?"

"No," you sniffled, burying your face in Steve's neck. "I don't want to."

"But you were so excited just yesterday, (Y/N)," Steve whispered, "you're going to have so much fun and make so many new friends."

"I don't need any more friends."

Steve glanced at Bucky with a sad expression, knowing that your friends were the people around you right now. They had been so protective of you, being the child of Avengers, that you hadn't had much experience with kids your age. They were so concerned that you might ever be in harms way that they didn't allow you to be a five-year-old.

"You're going to meet kids your own age, honey. And hey," Steve said reassuringly as he gently pushed you back to look at you, holding you at arms' length, "Uncle Tony picked out this school for you, remember? It's a whole school full of really, really smart kids just like you. We would never send you somewhere that we didn't trust to be good for you, okay?"

You sniffled again and nodded without saying any more, moving away from him and pulling your backpack onto your shoulders. Turning around to the look at your aunts and uncles gathered around you, you made your way through the group, saying goodbye one by one. The sounds of quiet laughter and holding back tears were the only sounds in the room until you had finally reached your final and favorite Uncle Tony, running to him and wrapping your arms around his leg.

"When I get home can we work on my robot some more?" you whispered, "I have some new ideas."

"We can do anything you want, kiddo." He knelt down next to you and kissed your cheek, which you quickly returned, "as long as you promise to tell me three new things that you learned today when you get back."

You nodded and grabbed Bucky's hand, making your way to the front door to begin your walk to school. Steve was close behind, snapping picture after picture of every moment from the morning.

Once the three of you cleared the door and were out of sight, Natasha wiped her eyes and sighed loudly, "so how many school days are in a year? I don't know how much more of this I can take."

~~~

"Buck, she's only been gone an hour."

"And?"

"And you haven't sat down once. You're gonna wear a hole in the floor." Steve was trying to distract himself so time would move faster for him, but he was only barely succeeding any better than Bucky. He jumped a bit at the sound of his phone ringing and sat up at a quick attention when he saw that it was your school calling.

"Hello? Yes, this is Steve. Yes. Is she okay? Good. Yes, we can come in right away."

Bucky was at Steve's side within seconds, anxiously waiting to hear what was said on the other end of the line; his metal hand was all but crushing the back of the chair. He looked at Steve with wide eyes that begged for an answer.

Steve hung up and looked at him, shaking his head. "She's fine. They need both of us, though." He stood up and rubbed his hand on his cheek, looking frustrated and confused at the same time. "We might have a problem on our hands, Buck."

~~~

When they entered the school the first thing they saw was a mother and her son, who looked to be the size of a second- or third-grader, sitting inside the nurse's office and looking back at them with judgmental eyes. The principal's office was next, but before entering they stopped at the door to peek in at you; you were sitting next to the secretary, quietly reading one of your books.

"Okay, try to not overreact, alright?"

"Back at ya, Rogers." Bucky opened the door to wave Steve in, "after you."

"Chicken," he mumbled, passing by and walking towards the desk as Bucky sat next to you. "Ma'am, I'm Steve Rogers, and this is James Barnes. We were called in to talk about (Y/N) and some incident that occurred this morning?"

You leaned over to Bucky with a curious look, "that's not your name, daddy."

"It's my other name, honey," he chuckled quietly, "for important stuff like this."

"Right this way, gentlemen," the woman said, holding her hand out to direct them to the principal's office. "(Y/N), you can wait here with me for just a little longer."

Bucky winked at you and stood, messing your hair a bit before walking away with Steve. You returned to your book, but were nearly finished; a few minutes later you grabbed another, and you would be close to done with that one as well before you saw the two of them again. You had promised your Uncle Tony that you would learn three new things today, and since you weren't in class, you had to find something new in your books.

"Let's go, (Y/N)."

You startled at Steve's voice and jumped up out of your chair, not used to hearing the deep resonance that it had now. His face was very serious, looking down at you with an expression that made it obvious that you were in a lot of trouble.

"Daddy, it wasn't my fault!"

"I said, let's go," he commanded, "we'll talk about this when we get home."

"Ugh," you groaned, angrily shoving your books into your backpack and dragging it behind you as you walked out in front of them.

"That's about enough of that, young lady. Pick up your bag right now."

"Steve..." Bucky said quietly, "come on."

"If this is too much for you Buck, tell me now, because I'm going to handle it."

~~~

The doors to the tower flew open and you raced inside, making your way to your room and away from Steve as fast as you could. You knew he was going to follow you, but all you wanted right now was to beat him there.

"You don't understand!" you yelled as you ran away. "You won't listen to me! I hate you!"

Steve stopped in his tracks as if you had sucker punched him in the gut; as you ran full-speed up the stairs, Bucky could only watch, not knowing what to say. Clint passed you on the stairs and heard your outburst, looking at Steve with a sympathetic grin. "Wow, Cap. She's only five and you already got the 'I hate you' line? That's impressive."

"Thanks, Barton."

Bucky stayed behind, watching Steve square his shoulders and resolve to hold it together as he made is way to your room. He knew that he wouldn't be able to get away with this forever, allowing Steve to take over so he could avoid the hurt feelings that came with things like this. He also knew that he wasn't in a hurry to change places with him anytime soon.

When you got to your room you threw your bag on the ground, spilling the contents across the bright pink carpet. You dove headfirst onto your bed, angrily smashing your face into your pillow and screaming as loud as you could until your throat burned and hot tears wet the fabric.

"(Y/N)?"

"Go away!"

"(Y/N), I'm coming in."

You jumped up and ran to the door, leaning back against it and pushing with all of the strength in your tiny body to hold it closed. "I don't wanna talk to you!" You planted your feet into the ground but you were clearly no match for your superhero father.

"You need to calm down," he said as he pushed the door open and you along with it. "(Y/N), that's enough."

"You won't even let me tell you what happened! You tell me to always be honest daddy, and now you won't let me!"

He opened his mouth to answer you, but your words shocked him into silence. You were right; you were completely right and he couldn't help but have a moment of pride in how smart you were for such a young girl. "You're right, baby," he sighed, sitting down on the edge of your bed, "you're right. I'm sorry." He tapped his hand on the bed next to him, "come on then, tell me."

Your breaths were still a pant as you sat next to him, trying to slow down and trying to stop the tears that just kept coming. "He said that I thought I was special because I lived with the Avengers, and that I'm nothing special at all. Then he said that I was a freak because I have two daddies. Then he said that Captain America was stupid. So...I punched him in the nose."

You were certain that you heard him chuckle under his breath, but when you looked at him he was still as serious as when he came in. "You do know why that's wrong, don't you? No matter what he said, you should've found a better way to handle it."

"I know," you agreed quietly, "but I don't like bullies."

Now Steve was completely shocked by you; he sat motionless with his mouth open, staring at the little girl that may not have been biologically his, but was his through and through. "What did you say?" he whispered.

"I said I don't like bullies. I'm not gonna run away, daddy."

He picked you up and set you on his lap, pulling you into a tight hug. Now you were sure that you heard him laughing, and it was a relief to know that he wasn't going to yell at you anymore, and that maybe he wasn't so mad now. "Oh, honey," he said, now openly laughing out loud, "I understood that reference."