A/N: Okay, so this is the side story, as promised. *smile* First chapter is Bucky and Kanda, teething.

Title: You Are My Universe

Author: liketolaugh

Rating: K+

Pairings: None

Genre: Family

Warnings: AU, !spoilers for Winter Soldier onward, spoilers for Agents of SHIELD!

Summary: Side story to Cosmic Composite, primarily family fluff oneshots.

Disclaimer: I only wish I owned D. Gray-man, and the Avengers are but a dream that is not my own.

Kanda: 1 year 4 months

Kanda's mouth hurt, and it was annoying.

He scowled (he didn't pout) and pushed away the bowl of applesauce. Nope. No, he'd rather not eat than eat with his mouth feeling like this. It burned and his nonexistent teeth ached and he was so done with teething.

"Yuu?"

He looked up to see Bucky frowning down at him, looking faintly confused and a little concerned.

"Why are you not eating?"

Kanda huffed and looked at the ground, kicking the air bad-temperedly. The stupid bear pushed the bowl back toward him, and he shoved it away again. Bucky's frown deepened.

"Yuu, you need to eat. You need food to sustain yourself and grow."

"No," Kanda said petulantly. What he needed was for his healing factor to fix this, but it didn't work on ongoing damage. Anyway, he'd done just fine when he refused food from the stupid scientists. Why couldn't Bucky just let him deal with it? "No foo."

Bucky looked very confused now, and he put down his bowl of gross oatmeal mush to pick up the spoon in Kanda's stead. "Airplane," he offered, and tried to feed Kanda.

Normally, Kanda gave up at this point and took the food, because watching the bear do that was funny and usually made him feel tolerant enough to deal with it. This time, though, he scowled and swatted it away. The applesauce splattered, and Bucky's frown deepened. "No foo! No aiwplay!"

Kanda knew that he was being a brat, but he didn't care; he felt too bad, bad enough that he didn't care about whatever-the-hell consequences the stupid bear came up with, not that he could recall receiving any significant discipline from the man.

Bucky considered him for a moment, frowning, and then put the spoon down and picked Kanda up, placing him on the table to study him, as if he were a particularly difficult puzzle. Kanda felt his gum burn at him and winced, scowling at the ground.

"What is wrong?" Bucky asked at last, not breaking his intent gaze.

Kanda huffed. "Mouf hurt," he muttered. Stupid tears made his eyes burn, and he bit them down. "Don' wanna."

"Your mouth... hurts?" Bucky repeated, brow furrowed. Without a second thought, he reached up to nudge Kanda's mouth open with his human hand.

Without thinking, Kanda opened his mouth obediently, eyes on Bucky again as the older man peered into it contemplatively. Bucky would figure out a way to fix it.

Wait, what? I can fix my own damn problems!

Damn, but Kanda hated being a kid.

For a few minutes, both of them were still. Finally, Bucky released Kanda's mouth and straightened up again.

"Your gums appear irritated," Bucky observed. "I suppose your teething is getting worse."

Kanda let out a high-pitched whining sound that made him want to cringe, but he couldn't think of anything to say. Bucky, however, nodded seriously, as if he'd said something coherent, and then picked him up in his human arm.

"There is a toddler supply store in this city," the weird bear told him. "It would be conducive to the mission to go. I should have done it sooner."

Kanda grunted and let his head rest on Bucky's shoulder - pouting, not that he'd ever admit it. Kanda Yuu did not back down to pain, but then, Kanda Yuu had never been a toddler.

The baby store was a few blocks away, but the Asset covered the distance quickly, slightly concerned for the boy in his arms. Yuu had turned his head into Bucky's jacket to hide his face, and the Winter Soldier could hear the little hiccups in his breath that usually meant that he was upset.

The Asset had been considering visiting a specialty store for some time now, but there hadn't been an urgent need, and money was always low.

For some reason, despite the lack of real risk, Bucky was counting this as urgent need.

It wasn't just the money, though - his head… hadn't been in anything like a good condition, and trips into the public were best kept minimal. Today was a good day, however, and this was a good errand to go out on. Things which contributed to the Mission, taking care of Yuu, were always easiest. Made it easiest to keep HYDRA out of his head. And speaking of the Mission...

The Soldier thought for a moment, and then offered Yuu his gloved metal finger; Yuu usually found something to gnaw on when the pain in his gums got especially bad.

Sure enough, Yuu took it and gummed at the cold prosthetic viciously, but he didn't seem any less unhappy, so Bucky determined that it was a stopgap measure at best.

Frustratingly, the Soldier couldn't seem to recall what he'd done about Yuu's teething pain in the past; those had been a few of many memories taken by HYDRA. It came and went, as did his own attentiveness, but he couldn't recall it being bad enough in the past to keep Yuu from eating, which was problematic.

He opened the door into the store, letting the warm air wash over him, and looked around apprehensively. And then he frowned slightly.

There were fluffy things and pastel colors everywhere, and a thousand little signs. And the Asset had never felt so ridiculously out of his depth.

Even with four months of memory behind him, he still had no idea what he was doing.

But he wasn't going to get anything done standing in the doorway, so he cautiously moved further into the store, looking around for anything that might indicate… ah.

In the area dedicated to teething supplies, the Soldier was only slightly closer to finding what he needed, except… There were quite a lot of choices. He reclaimed his hand and picked up one box to study it, frowning.

It needed to be frozen, he noted. They didn't have consistent access to a freezer. He put it back. He also considered banging his head off of the metal, but that was unproductive. He wasn't supposed to do things that did not contribute to the mission.

"Brauchen Sie Hilfe?"

The Soldier was not very good at speaking German. He did not need to very often, so his written German was much better. He looked up to see a woman with light brown hair and a slightly amused smile, with a blinking infant in her arms. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, do you speak English?" she asked, expression changing to one of curiosity. He nodded.

She smiled. "I can speak English. Do you need help?"

He glanced back at the isle, and then down to Yuu, who was wincing again with his face hidden in his jacket, and nodded. The Asset did not know how to take care of children. It made the Mission very difficult.

"What do you need?" she asked, moving to see what he was looking at. The infant in her arms cooed. "I'm Carina, by the way, and this is my daughter Ava. I also have a four-year-old at home."

"I am…" The Soldier hesitated, and then continued, "Bucky. This is Yuu."

Yuu peeked up and frowned at Carina, and then resettled so he could keep his gaze on her.

"Yuu is having trouble eating, because of the pain from teething," the Soldier continued, a small frown twisting his lips. "I am looking for something to ease it."

"Of course," Carina agreed. She bent over a little to look at Yuu. Yuu tried to scowl at her, but he winced, and Bucky did as well when he saw tears well up in Yuu's eyes and felt his breath hitch again. "Poor baby," Carina said sympathetically. "I have something."

The Asset watched as Carina reached into her purse and rummaged around for a moment. Ava squirmed and Carina calmed her absently, and then pulled out a plastic container, which held a small, folded washcloth and a quantity of water, with some ice floating in it. This, she offered to the Asset.

The Asset took it and looked down at it, puzzled.

"Your son can chew on it," she explained, smiling kindly. "It will help."

Bucky considered it for a moment, and then he nodded and popped the lid off with his free hand, removed the washcloth, and offered it to Yuu. Yuu gave him a small frown, but then he took it and stuck one corner in his mouth, chewing on it obediently.

Bucky watched him carefully, staying silent, and within a few moments, he felt Yuu relax slightly, letting out a contented sound. He looked back up to Carina and nodded. "Thank you."

There was water seeping across Yuu's chest; Bucky would have to change his shirt later. Also, said shirt was looking a little small. He would have to buy more soon.

"Of course," she assured him. "But we should find you something to take home. What are you looking for?"

He looked at the shelves. He had no idea. She laughed, taking the information from his expression.

"Do not worry, I can help you. Do you want something to freeze?"

He shook his head. "We don't stay in one place for long," he explained. "I need something I can travel with."

Her eyebrows rose slightly, surprised. "And you take your son with you? Where is the mother, if I may ask?"

That was… a difficult question. Bucky shrugged and looked at the shelves again. "She is… not around," he explained evasively.

Carina clucked her tongue sympathetically. "And you take care of Yuu all by yourself?"

Bucky nodded.

"Well, you do very good," she assured him, finding what she was looking for and reaching for it. "And your son is adorable. Is it difficult?"

It was nothing if not that. Bucky nodded again. Yuu laid his head on Bucky's shoulder, still chewing on the washcloth.

"I would like to tell you it gets easier," Carina said ruefully. She gave him the box she'd picked up. "Here. It does not need to be frozen, but it will work well."

Bucky looked down at the teething ring. "Thank you," he told her.

"It was no trouble," she promised. "Do you need other things? Can you read German well enough to find a book here?"

Bucky considered. He didn't like feeling so lost, especially doing something so important. He nodded again. In his arms, Yuu started to fall asleep, relaxing more against him, corner of the little purple washcloth still in his mouth.

"Then we can go find some."

A few hours later, Bucky put Yuu down for a nap, and then settled down to read his new harvest of books, gaze strict and as intent as if he were reading a mission briefing.

He wanted to do this well, and not… not just because it was his only remaining mission.

Bucky was sorry for dragging Yuu along with him, but he could not leave him. He would not, and Yuu would not pay the price for that weakness.

Keep in mind that Bucky has only been away from HYDRA for four months now, and he's still very much in their grasp. *grimace* So that's why his thoughts are so clunky and why I keep changing how he refers to himself. Thanks for reading, and please review! And remember that I take requests!

Edited 10/24/15: I forgot that I had left their names Russian despite moving the location to Germany.