Eyes of the Father

Chapter 12. Plans

Iowa, the farm

The sound of a quinjet landing in the yard drew the attention of Lacey, Clint and Laura while they were having lunch.  Clint led the way outside and he smiled as the aircraft came to a rest.   The ramp came down and two men appeared.

"Well, I was wondering when you were going to show up," said Clint to Steve and Sam as they stepped off the ramp.  "You're just in time for lunch."

Laura stepped back inside and made up some extra sandwiches for the men, setting a place for them at the table. 

"Just a brief stop," said Steve.  "Your FBI minder won't be around today will he?"

"He was here yesterday," replied Clint.  "I don't think he would have said anything.  He's surprisingly cool with a lot of things despite being FBI."

The two men stepped inside the house and took in the sight of all the kids, with Steve noticing Tommy.

"He's grown," he said to Lacey.  "What have you been feeding him?"

"Lots of food," said Lacey.  "Good thing my book is doing well and I can afford to feed him.  Tommy, this is your Uncle Steve and his friend Sam.  Uncle Steve is Daddy's best friend."

Steve kneeled beside Tommy.  "How are you doing, buddy?" he asked.  "I haven't seen you since you were really little."

"You're Daddy's friend?" asked the little boy.

"Uh huh, since we were kids, not much older than you," replied Steve, then he looked at Lacey.  "He knows who Bucky is?"

"We've had several video calls with him," she said.  "Sit down and I'll fill you in."

As they sat and ate Lacey filled him in on Bucky's treatment.  Then she told him about her mother's death and the incidents at the funeral.  He was concerned about that and promised to do his own detective work to find out who was looking for Lacey and Tommy.  The biggest surprise to Steve was when Lacey asked Tommy to show him what he could do on the play set.  Both Tommy and Nathaniel ran outside to the set where Tommy climbed to the top and jumped off, making Steve lunge to catch him.

"No, I can jump all the way!" protested Tommy, when Steve caught him.

"He's started eyeing the smaller barn," noted Lacey, "so you might as well let him jump off this."

They both watched the boys and Steve shook his head when Tommy did it again, landing easily on his feet.  "He inherited Bucky's super soldier abilities," he stated.  "Is he a fast runner as well?"

Lacey shrugged and Steve challenged the boy to a race.  Although it wasn't as fast as Steve could go it was faster than a normal adult.  When Steve scooped him up after a mile Tommy laughed in his arms.

"You're fast, too!" he shouted.  "Is my Daddy fast?"

"Very fast, just like you," replied Steve as he ran back to the farm with the boy on his shoulders.  He stopped before they got back to the adults and lifted the boy off then kneeled down in front of him.  "Tommy, it's very important that you only do the fast running and high jumping on the farm.  There are people who would take you away from your Mom if they knew you could do this.  Can you promise me that you'll only do it here?"

The boy's face turned serious as he looked Steve in the eyes.  "Mom already told me," he said.  "Bad people who hurt Daddy would hurt me too if they find out.  I liked running with you.  Will you come again and teach me more super soldier stuff?"

"Yeah, buddy, I will," replied Steve.  "You know if your Dad could be here he would show you everything?"

"I know," answered the boy.  "He's getting better."