I Dreamt We Had a Kid

Chapter 13

When Tony arrives in the lab, he begins working when Shuri and Bruce soon arrive. They work all day, and when Tony gets up to get a wrench after Shuri and Bruce go to bed, he bumps into Steve, leaning up against the wall with an eyebrow raised.

Tony rolls his eyes. "Dragging me to bed, Mom?" he groans.

"Yes." He says rather seriously, grabbing Tony's arm and pulling him to the bedroom. When Tony is done showering, he opens the bedroom door and sees Steve reading his book out in the hallway.

"Bed," Steve says, not glancing up from his book. When Tony's head hits the pillow, Steve is sitting in the chair across the bed.

It goes on like this for a long time. Tony works in his lab all day, is dragged to bed by Steve, and then is forced to eat breakfast. He would never admit he is starting to feel better, amazing what a proper sleeping schedule and food will do. Tony would also never admit Steve sitting across from him has prevented further nightmares. At least someone cares, he told himself.

One night though, he does have a nightmare. He obviously didn't thrash around too much, because Steve is still in his chair. Tony decides he should go to the bathroom and passes a sleeping Steve Rogers. When he is done, he walks by Steve again and the bathroom light catches the pages of his book. Now that Tony thinks about it, Steve has been reading the same book every night. The bookbinding looks the same.

Curiosity overtakes him and he reaches for the book. When he looks at the cover though, he realizes it is not a book at all. It is a sketchbook. He looks at it for a while, it looks strangely familiar. Then he realizes it is the one Steve begged him to buy from the museum.

"Please Tony, I know it costs a lot, and I know it seems stupid, but I really need it back." Steve's eyes were full of desperation. He so rarely asked for things that Tony knew it must have been important, so he bought back the book for roughly two million dollars. He told Steve it was only a few thousand.

Now Tony had to know what was inside. Why was this so important to him? The sudden thought that he was invading Steve's privacy passed through his mind, but he shrugged it off. He had bought the book, hadn't he?

The first page had a name.

Steven Rogers

1927

He turned the page again and was shocked. It was a simple sketch of a dark haired boy sitting on a stair. He had suspenders and deep, brown eyes. His head was thrown back in laughter. Even though it was a simple sketch, it gave off a glow of youthfulness and innocence.

He turned the page again and again, coming across the dark haired boy every so pages. The drawings mostly consisted of still lifes, or people sitting on benches. One was titled "Mother" and was a drawing of a blonde, middle aged woman cooking at a stove.

As the years progressed, the drawings got better and better. If the first drawings were beautiful, these were downright breathtaking. He turned to a page with another date at the top.

July 4,1934

The fourth of July, Tony smiled. There was something else important about that date, but he couldn't put a finger on it.

The picture itself was breathtaking. Fireworks were flying above two boys, almost men now, sitting on a picnic blanket. One of the boys Tony recognized from the other pictures, the one with brown hair was larger now. He had grown taller and more muscular. His eyes looked the same though, youthfull and joyous.

He was smiling widely at the other boy, a thin frail thing with no muscle. His hair was long and he was brushing it out of his face, Even though most of his hand covered his face, he could see the boy's smile. It traveled all the way through his face and up to his eyes. His eyes though, Tony knew those eyes. They were the eyes of Steve Rogers.

They were different though. They were happy and carefree, unlike the eyes of his friend now. The other boy in all his drawing must be Bucky, he concluded. Tony had to admit the picture was one of the best drawings he had ever seen. Lost in it once more, he didn't notice Steve shift next to him.

Tony gently placed the notebook back in Steve's lap and climbed into bed. That was the Bucky Steve knew, not the killing machine that had killed his parents. Suddenly, Tony knew why Steve had wanted to find Bucky again. He wanted to find the boy in the drawings again, and he got a broken, battered man instead. Tony felt guilt as he fell asleep that night.