MISSING ||Bucky Barnes||

52

Sandra stopped the car after about twenty minutes of driving, spotting the old treehouse where she used to go with Steve and Bucky as kids, and hid in when on the run. Nobody knew about it, only her Bucky and Steve.

"Come on." She said, helping both Gracie and Jack up to the top and inside. "Ok we need to be quiet. You two know the quiet game right?" Sandra said.

Gracie nodded, her and jack curling up into each side of Sandra in fear. "Mommy I'm scared." Gracie whimpered. "I want daddy."

"Me too." Jack frowned.

Sandra held them both close after cleaning off the old sleeping bag, using it as a blanket across them to keep warm.

"Mommy where are we?" Gracie asked, looking around the small area. "And what's that mean?" She continued, pointing to a carving in the wood that read "B <3 S".

Sandra smiled, looking at the carving. "Well, daddy, uncle Steve and I used to come here when we were little. The B and S are for our names."

Jack giggled. "Your names mommy and daddy's name is daddy!" He said with a little smile.

"Your so silly." Sandra said, leaning down and kissing Jacks head. She started to feel a small vibration coming from her leg, soon remembering her phone was in her pocket.

Bucky's name glowed on the screen, bringing Sandra some relief. "Bucky?" She answered, scared it would be someone else on the phone.

"Sandy thank god." Bucky answered, "sand, are you safe with the kids? Where are you?"

"Yes, we are ok. We're in the old treehouse, Tony let me borrow the invisicar." She said, speaking quietly. "Buck I-I don't know what happened."

"Hey, relax. I'm on my way, Steve is going back to the compound to help everyone. I just took care of the one who hurt you this morning." He said, wind blowing into the speaker as he rode his way there. "How are the kids?" He asked.

Sandra sighed, looking at both of them as they watched her speaking on the phone. "They're ok, just scared. No one is hurt. How about you?"

"I've got a few scratches, nothing bad." Bucky responded, "stay in there ok, I'll be there soon."

The soon Bucky talked about felt like it took forever with the amount of fear each of them felt. None of this made sense.

"Mommy what's that noise?" Gracie whispered, hearing footsteps coming up the ladder. Both kids grabbed their mother tightly as a figure entered the treehouse.

"Hey hey, it's ok." Bucky whispered, lifting Gracie and sitting her on his lap while Jack crawled into Sandras.

Gracie gripped onto Bucky tightly, digging her head into his chest. "Daddy I'm scared." She whimpered.

Bucky's arms went around Gracie, holding her so she felt safe. "Relax peanut, it's all going to be over soon." He said, kissing her head. "Jack, how you doin buddy?" He now asked jack who was also curled in a ball.

"I no like this." He said as Sandra rubbed his back to calm him.

Sandra and Bucky both looked at each other, knowing that they had ti put their argument from earlier to the side and focus on their children's safety. "Have you heard from any of them?" Sandra asked, putting her head on Bucky's shoulder.

"Nope."

"Daddy can you tell me a story?" Gracie asked. "I like your stories."

Sandra smiled up at Bucky, seeing the smirk on his face. "Of course I can peanut." He said, adjusting how he sat. "What kind of story?"

"One about you and mommy." Gracie responded with a giggle.

"Alrighty then..." Bucky began, knowing a good story to tell. "When mommy and I were younger, we used to do a lot of things that we would definitely regret doing later on. Like one time, mommy and I went down to the lake together on a walk. The day had been a bad one for mommy, so I had to cheer her up somehow, and the lake always helped."

Sandra knew exactly what story Bucky was telling, along with what happened after that the kids definitely shouldn't know about.

"So when we got to the lake, we sat there and just talked to each other, keeping each other company." Bucky continued, seeing that jack was already fast asleep on Sandras chest. "But then once mommy was all better, I lifted her up and jumped into the lake."

Sandra smiled, remembering that night like it was yesterday. "Yeah, and you ruined my converse shoes Steve got me." She laughed, remembering how annoyed she was when it happened.

Gracie yawned, snuggling into Bucky again. "Daddy that story was boring." She said, her eyes slowly shutting. "All that happened was you and mommy going in a lake."

Bucky sighed, kissing the top of Gracies head. "I know, that was all I could think of peanut." He said, "I'll try and get a better one next time."

Gracie nodded, drifting off the sleep. Now, only Bucky and Sandra were left awake and alert for what could come their way at any given moment.