Forest

The troops trudge through the mud and the forest with their remaining strength which wasn't much. The journey back to camp was in complete silence except for the singing of Chibi Chibi who was bursting with unknown energy. 

"Chibi Chibi, Chi-Chibi, Chibi Chibi~" Chibi Chibi kicked her legs back and forth, oblivious to the exhaustive aura of the rest of the soldiers behind her. She was sitting on Steve's shoulder so it wasn't difficult to say to she was loving it.

It wasn't long till the entrance of the camp came into view which gave the rest of the soldiers enough hope and energy to trek on through. A large crowd of soldiers were waiting for their allies to return, the soldiers gleeful and prideful grins turn to small frowns of confusion due to the abnormal weapons the ex-prisoners were holding. They continued their march until Steve halts right in front of Colonel Philips and salutes.

"Some of these men need medical attention," Steve informs, back straight and tone respectful, "I'd like to surrender myself for disciplinary action."

"That won't be necessary," Colonel Philips responds, giving Steve a curt nod of respect.

"Yes, sir."

Colonel Philips turns away from Steve and starts to walk away, he notices Peggy and says, "Faith, huh?"

"You're late," Peggy chastised, trying to keep the relief out of her voice and face.

Steve brings out the transponder she gave him and held it up to reveal it to be broken, "Couldn't call my ride," he tells her.

"Call my ride! Call my ride!" Chibi Chibi echoed which was then when Peggy finally noticed her.

"Where on earth did you find a little girl?" Peggy questions in disbelief, her eyes uncharacteristically wide over the absurdity of the situation.

"Found her at the facility, I think she followed me in," Steve replies and before Peggy could start scolding him, he adds, "just for the record, I didn't notice her until the others pointed her out when I was breaking them out. I wouldn't ever put a child in danger."

"I know you wouldn't," Peggy assures before gesturing for him to follow her, "we need to get her medical attention." Steve nods before following Peggy, Chibi Chibi looks down then at Bucky who was chatting with another soldier and decides to call him over.

"Bucky!" Chibi Chibi cupped her hands around her mouth to call him over then waves for him to come so he jogs over.

"What? Bored of me already?" Bucky jokes to Steve as he slows to a walk.

"No, I'm just heading to have her check by a medic," Steve informs, chuckling, but secretly hoping he didn't hurt his best friend's feelings.

"Great, I'm curious 'bout her too," Bucky reveals.

Medic Tent

The trio of adults waited as the doctor examined and treated Chibi Chibi. Soon all her scratches were disinfected and bandaged, her whole arms, legs and forehead were bandaged almost giving her the appearance of a mummy, but this didn't deter her happiness.

"Looks like Halloween came late," Bucky snorts, referring to Chibi Chibi's state.

"Halloween late!" Chibi Chibi reiterates, happily.

"Doctor, do you know why she speaks like that? When I asked her name, she kept replying with 'chibi' then later parrots us randomly," Steve informs.

"I believe she may be suffering from Broca's Expressive Aphasia which is the loss of the ability to understand speech or communicate using language," the doctor explains before going into further detail, "symptoms include poor grammar, difficulty in forming complete sentences, omitting certain words and other factors. In some cases, a person can only say one word."

"What caused her to develop this?" Peggy inquires, disturbed. She wasn't the only one, Steve and Bucky felt sorry for Chibi Chibi, if she never recovers then how will she communicate with her friends in the future? She'll be so lonely, no one will ever be able understand her.

"In her case, a severe blow to the head, she has quite the nasty bump on the back of her head," the doctor informs as he writes down his report before putting on a stethoscope, "I'll need to check her heartbeat before you can take her," the doctor lifts up her shirt and freezes at what he saw.

"Doc?" Bucky questions before he, too, saw what the doctor did. There was a large stab wound that covered her entire abdomen, it looked fresh and recently started to heal.

"What kind of sicko would stab a 3 year old?!" The doctor explodes in rage, "a wound like that could cause a fully grown man to bleed out in minutes! Imagine a child!"

Steve clenched his fist so tight it left crescent shapes on his palm, he just couldn't believe that someone would make a child suffer in such a way. If she hadn't had followed him then she would still be running around lost in the forest, he didn't even notice her trailing him. She could've died all alone without anyone ever realising. Steve took in a deep breath before exhaling to soothe his anger, he then kneels down to Chibi Chibi's level and takes her hands, stroking the back of them, "Chibi Chibi, do you have a home?" Steve asks, gently.

"Home?" Chibi Chibi echoes in confusion, tilting her head to the side. 

"Yes, a home, with your parents," Steve adds. Her parents were most suspicious, but Steve didn't want to believe that a couple could do that to their daughter, especially one so sweet and innocent. She could have been kidnapped.

"Parents," Chibi Chibi stared down at the ground when the realisation hits her, "can't remember. Chibi Chibi has no one. Chibi Chibi is alone."

"Amnesia," the doctor realises.

"I'll attempt to find an orphanage to house her," Peggy tells them.

"No!" Chibi Chibi whined, shaking her head wildly as she tugged Steve's sleeve, "wanna stay! With Steve!"

"With me?" Steve questions, hesitantly. As much as Steve wanted to, he couldn't take care of her. They're in a middle of a devastating war and he's Captain America, he needs to be out on the front lines and he can't have any distractions. Chibi Chibi nods her head at his question, small tears pooling around her eyes which she refused to let fall. Steve knew she couldn't stay with him, "I'm sorry, but you can't stay with me," he tells her softly but it doesn't lessen the impact it had on her. The wobble on her lips became more pronounced and tears started streaming down her cheeks.

"D-Don't cry!" Steve begged, panicking before looking to Peggy and Bucky for help. Luckily, the former knew what to do rather than the latter. Peggy knelt down and wiped Chibi Chibi's tears away with a handkerchief.

"Don't cry now," Peggy request, softly, "you need not worry, we'll come and visit you whenever we can." Chibi Chibi gives no reply but holds up her pinky for Peggy to promise, Peggy stares at it for a second before smiling gingerly and linking her pinky with Chibi Chibi's. Chibi Chibi look to Steve with the same pinky held up then to Bucky.

"Me too? Alright," Bucky links his pinky with her after Steve and Chibi Chibi immediately perks up. A huge grin grows on her face revealing her pearly white teeth, making the trio just as happy.

A strange noise garners everyone's attention before peering down at Chibi Chibi who was holding her stomach in fascination and awe.

"Looks like the little tyke is hungry," Bucky responds before picking up Chibi Chibi, grinning joyfully at how she squealed in excitement at being carried, before placing her on his shoulders. "Let's get this little lady some food," Bucky suggests, unknowingly setting off something deep within her, something they may well soon regret or just find completely entertaining.

"Food! Food! Food!" Chibi Chibi continuously chants, vigorously.