Terrified

Drowning

Amy had gotten called into work on her day off, some kind of emergency with the boss' computer and they needed help. She called her daughter's regular babysitter, Jenny but she wasn't available so Amy reluctantly called her backup, Kaylee. Kaylee was okay, but she was more irresponsible. She mostly used the TV as a babysitter and would't engage with Rebecca for more than a few minutes at a time, being more interested in her phone and what the latest gossip was on YouTube drama.

Rebecca was swimming in the lake with Kaylee on the pier, on her phone as usual. Kaylee wasn't paying attention when Rebecca began thrashing under water. Kaylee started screaming for help, "Help me! Help! She's drowning! Help!"

A man came running faster than anyone Kaylee had ever seen. He dove off the pier and into the water. In the split second before he went under, she caught the silver metal left arm and recognized him as Bucky Barnes. Bucky swam to where he saw the bubbles coming to the surface of the water and he found the little girl, holding her breath and trying to pull her foot out of the kelp that was pulling her under. He yanked hard on the kelp, breaking her free and he pulled her to the surface. They both gasped for air as he held her in his metal arm and patted her back with his flesh hand to get the water out of her lungs as soon as he took a few steps to a spot where he could stand in the water. He kept patting and rubbing circles on Rebecca's back as she coughed up water over his shoulder and caught her breath. She blinked her eyes, getting water out of them and pulled away a little bit to see who was holding her. She locked eyes with Bucky and he asked her if she was okay. She nodded her head while batting more water out of her eyes and taking some more deep, hiccuped breaths. Bucky called out to Steve to get Doctor Strange to come take a look at the little girl as he walked the rest of the way out of the lake, his grey tank top, black jeans and motorcycle boots now completely soaked.

"I want my mommy," she choked, now on the verge of tears.

"We'll get your mommy little one," Bucky soothed as he walked out of the lake and back onto shore.

"She's at work," Kaylee stated with slight panic in her voice, "she'll be home in, like, two hours."

Bucky looked from Kaylee to Doctor Strange, who was now jogging with Steve next to him towards the lake, then to Rebecca who now had a small pout on her face but leaned back into Bucky with her little hands around his neck.

"Why didn't you jump into the water?" Bucky asked Kaylee, trying to keep his anger at her under control.

"I don't know how to swim," she replied. Bucky looked at her like she was stupid.

"Then why did you let her...nevermind," he retorted knowing that nothing was going to pass though this dumb girls brain. He turned back to see Strange had finally reached the three of them.

"Is it okay if this guy looks at you real quick to make sure you're okay?" Bucky asked the little girl. She nodded her head "yes" and leaned her head into his left shoulder a little more as he cradled her head against him. Bucky reached Strange and passed her off to the capable Doctor before turning around to tell the irresponsible babysitter to let Rebecca's mother know when she comes home where her daughter is.

"Is she alright?" Bucky asked Strange as he approached the two of them.

"Oh yeah, she's just fine. A little shook up, but just fine. Your diving in there saved her from drinking half the lake," Strange replied, tapping Bucky on his shoulder adding, "Her name is Rebecca," before giving him room to sit with the little girl. Natasha came out with a strawberry popsicle for Rebecca and handing it to her. Bucky sat next to her as she took a bite out of her popsicle, "You okay?" Rebecca nodded her head, "Thank you," she replied, "wanna bite?" she offered up her treat.

"Oh, no thank you," he said with a small chuckle, "I'm Bucky."

"I'm Rebecca."

"Do you wanna stay here until your mommy comes home?" She nodded her head "yes". "Is your daddy around?" she shook her head "no."

"Mommy ran away from daddy," she replied. Bucky furrowed his brow.

"Why is that?" he asked.

"She got scared. She knew another guy that was mean to her. She thought daddy was going to hurt her." Bucky's heart rate started going up a little.

"R-really?" he stuttered. That tiny hint made him really look at her. She was about the right age, she had his brown hair and her mother's brown eyes. "When did your mommy leave your daddy?" he asked.

"When I was a baby." Bucky's breathing became shallow, he felt like the world was closing in around him. She had to be his daughter, she just had to be.
"What's your mommy's name?" Bucky asked as Natasha came out with Steve in tow, napkins in her hand.

"My mommy's name is Amy." Everyone froze. Natasha's eyelashes fluttered, Steve swallowed hard and Bucky stopped breathing. Everything slowed as Bucky really looked at his daughter. She had a little scrap on her right knee, probably from falling down while playing and he saw the scar that ran down part of her left arm. Her little button nose was red and her cheeks were round, flushed and caught the light from the sunshine. Her little pink bathing suit with ruffles around the waist and a silver, sequin star on her chest made him smile. Time returned to normal suddenly when he heard her voice ask him a question.

"Will you play with me?" Bucky nodded without hesitating then he turned to Natasha.

"Hey were did we put that soccer ball?" Natasha smiled, looking at little Rebecca again.

"I think we put it in Steve's bag, I'll go get it," she replied to Bucky, rushing back into the house to tell Tony and Strange who the little girl was and to grab the ball.

Bucky couldn't help himself and he picked up his daughter and placed her on his lap. She didn't seem to mind it one bit as she rested her head on his right shoulder and continued to eat her popsicle. Bucky kept fighting back the tears he wanted to shed as he held his little girl close, wanting to do nothing more than keep her safe from the whole world. Finally, Natasha returned with the ball and the four of them entered into a boys vs girls game of soccer.