Author's Note: Hello, everyone! This is the last one-shot for a bit, and really the prequel for my next story. It was actually one of the first things I wrote for this universe, even before We Can Be Found.

Timeline issues: When I first wrote this, I had forgotten that CA-TWS came out in April of 2014, not May. I've normally been placing the events of my universe in the months that the movies they occurred in came out. But, one of the major plot points of my next story hinges on it being summer and Christy being out of school. New York public schools also don't end for the year until late June (another fact I was unaware of). Sooo...I bumped the events of Winter Soldier up to May of 2014 and am pretending that public schools in New York let out about a week or so earlier than in real life (in case anyone cared). Alright?

Anyway, as always: REVIEW, FAVORITE, FOLLOW. (And ENJOY). Thanks for all the reviews on last chapter!

Chapter Ten: I Will Always Return

Every day, Christy woke up to a nightmare, to the knowledge that everything in her world had completely and irrevocably gone wrong.

Admittedly, she should have seen the signs. Her dad had been calling her fairly regularly since he'd been in D.C. When he didn't call and only texted, it was a signal that things were not going well.

And then, there came the news.

Fury was dead.

The news had sent shock-waves through the SHIELD headquarters in New York. When Captain America and the Black Widow were declared 'missing,' Clint pulled Christy out of school.

"I promised Steve I'd keep you safe." he explained. "After all this, I don't want you out of the Tower until we find out what the heck's going on."

The only exception was that she was allowed to go to Tally's house. Tally's dad was in D.C. and from what he'd told his family, things were going crazy.

The day Clint pulled her out of school, Tony called to explain that she'd come down with a 'nasty flu bug' and would be out for the next week, and asked if would it be possible to get all of her missed work. Pepper had picked it up and set it on her desk, where it remained, a sad, untouched heap of books and paper.

It was nearing the end of the school year anyway, so it wasn't like there was much work.

Everyone tried to comfort her. Tony let her sit in his lab and watch him work on "top secret experiments—don't tell Aunt Pepper, okay?" Bruce rolled his eyes, but he patted her head and Christy had more than once felt his careful, scrutinizing gaze resting on her, watching for any signs of emotional breakdown. Clint took her down to the SHIELD target range and let her fire arrow after arrow at various targets. Christy was sure that he was as upset as she was.

Pepper was extremely good with distractions. Christy lost count of how many hours they sat snuggled on the couch watching Disney movie after Disney movie.

But Christy's heart felt as dead as a block of ice and her eyes were constantly red from crying. Her nightmares came back; making her night-time forays into someone else's room a regular occurrence once again. With Steve gone, it was Clint who would now wake up to the feel of a small body plopping next to him in bed.

She took to watching old war footage of her dad and asking Clint about Natasha's old missions, praying that somehow, Captain America and the Black Widow would once more come out on top.

Steve would send her texts, just basic things like 'We're still alive' or 'I love you.' But even those became few and far between.

"It's in case the phone connection gets compromised." Clint reassured her. "He wants to keep you safe."

Finally, the day came. Clint's cell phone rang; it was Natasha. He ran into his room, where Christy could hear loud shouting and cursing and "why didn't you call me!"

She pressed her ear to the outside door.

After a few minutes, she heard him cry out, "The Winter Soldier?! What!"

Another few minutes later, he sighed. "Okay, Tasha. I'll be on standby. When will Steve be back?"

There was silence. Christy could hear Natasha's voice, but couldn't make out anything.

"Okay. Will you call back later? Yeah, yeah, I understand. Bye, Tasha."

Christy practically leaped back on the sofa. Clint came out and swooped her up in a hug.

"They're okay, kid." he whispered through tears. "They're all okay."

Christy let out a breath she wasn't aware she'd been holding.

"Your Daddy's a little banged up, which is why he can't call. But as soon as he's better, Tasha says he'll call. Okay?"

"Okay…"

About a week later, her phone rang.

As if in a dream, she answered it, perceiving rather than reading the shiny screen that read "Incoming: Dad."

"Dad…" she whispered, pain and hope bubbling up in her heart.

"Hey, baby."

"Daddy…"

"I'm on a plane right now, baby, and I'm so sorry I couldn't call. Everything was falling apart and I couldn't know if the lines would be compromised, but I'm here, I'm alive and so's Natasha and even Fury. He just had to pretend to be dead, like Coulson did. And then I was injured, so I couldn't really talk…"

There was a long pause. Christy didn't bother to tell her dad that Uncle Clint had already filled her in on some of the details.

"Are you still there, Christy?"

Christy swallowed her tears.

"What…what time does your plane get here, Dad?"

"Around six tonight, baby, so I should be back by around seven."

"Okay."

"I promise I'll explain everything tonight, Christy. It's…a bit of a long story, but I owe you the whole thing."

When the door opened at exactly 6:53 p.m., Christy didn't blink, didn't think, didn't do anything but run, run as fast as she could to the door, because Dad was home and everything could be okay again, even if the world was upside-down.

"Dad!"

"Christy! Oof!" Steve jerked back slightly as she ran into his arms and pushed her face into his chest, as though she were trying to get inside of him. They stood like that for a long time.

"Dad, I was so worried! The news didn't say anything but that you'd gone missing and that Uncle Nick was dead and Dad, I thought you were gonna die too! Why didn't you call me, Daddy? I...I thought you were gonna die!" Christy could feel the tears streaming down her face, probably soaking her dad's shirt, but she could care less. He was here. He was real. He was alive.

She was dimly aware of being led over to the couch and maneuvered into a sitting position. Finally, after a good few minutes of crying, she began to be aware of more than just her dad's arms around her.

Like the fact that there were other people in the room. Including one extra than normal and one missing.

She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "Where's Aunt Tasha, dad? And who's the guy?" Steve ruffled her hair.

"Manners, Christy, manners. 'The guy' happens to be Sam Wilson, a.k.a. Falcon. You may have seen him on the news lately."

Christy's mouth dropped open. "Oh yeah! You had those giant wings! Those were so cool! Nice to meet you, by the way." she added, sticking out her hand. Sam shook it.

"Nice to finally meet you, too. You know, your dad's been bragging about you since we first met."

Christy rolled her eyes in token protest, but her smile was big enough to power New York single-handedly.

"As for Natasha…she's…hiding." Steve cast a look at Clint. "She called you, I know, so you probably know more than me."

Clint nodded. "All her mission files and everything else are now public, so she's laying low in a safe house outside D.C. I'll probably go after her tonight, if that's alright…"

Steve nodded immediately. "Go, go find her. She probably needs you right now. I tried to get her to come back with us, but she…"

Clint just rolled his eyes. "She is a stubborn, overprotective, self-proclaimed lone wolf who probably didn't want her bad press reaching us. But she'll want at least me, even if she won't say it."

Tony, who had been amazingly well-behaved until now, quipped, "Well, Legolas, far be it from us to keep you from your girlfriend. Go see her." Bruce rolled his eyes.

"Ignore him, he's insane." he muttered to Sam. Sam smirked back.

"So what happened at the battle?" asked Christy. "And who's the Winter Soldier?" Steve looked startled.

"Where did you hear that name?" he asked. Christy looked embarrassed.

"I…heard Uncle Clint talking to Aunt Tasha on the phone and he said 'The Winter Soldier' really loud, so I figured it was someone important."

Steve glared at Clint. Clint threw up his hands. "I was in my room! How was I supposed to know she'd be listening in?"

"Natasha and I are missing for almost a week and you didn't expect her to try and get more information?"

"I thought the great Captain America would've taught his kid that eavesdropping is bad!"

"I still don't know who the Winter Solider is." Christy cut in. Her dad and uncle would go on all night otherwise. "You can tell me who he is or I can look him up on Google."

Clint snorted. "There's no way you'll find out about the Winter Soldier on Google, kid."

"Then who is he?" Christy asked.

Everyone's eyes were turned to Steve and Sam. Steve slowly ran a hand through his short blond hair. He couldn't focus on everyone's faces right now, just Christy's.

"Christy, you know my stories. Who's usually in them, besides me?"

"Uncle Tony's dad, Aunt Peggy, the Howling Commandos, Bucky…" At the sound of his friend's name, Steve stiffened.

"Yeah, Bucky." he whispered. "Well, you remember the story about how Bucky fell off the train, right? And he died?"

Christy nodded slowly. "Yes…"

"Well…he didn't."

It only took about half a minute before the light bulb went off for everybody.

"Are you kidding…?!"

"Steve, are you sure…?"

"Are you serious…?"

"He's alive?!"

Steve sighed. "Yes, I'm positive. He's alive. HYDRA found him, when he fell from the train. They…messed with him. Bad. He'd already been experimented on when his unit was captured in '43, so something must have allowed him to survive the fall…only to get experimented on again and turned into a living weapon!"

Sam placed his hand on Steve's shoulder. He sighed. "He didn't even remember me, at first, but in the end, when I fell off the Helicarrier into the Potomac…I'm sure it was him that dragged me out."

Silence reigned for a few moments as Christy and the remaining Avengers processed this development. All of them were feeling empathy for Steve. He had found out his best friend was still alive, but had been broken possibly beyond repair.

Finally, Bruce spoke. "You're going after him, aren't you?"

Steve nodded tightly. "As soon as possible. I just wanted to come back, make sure you all knew I was okay…but as soon as I can, I'm going on the hunt."

"Alone?" Christy looked terrified at the prospect. Clint, Bruce, and Tony looked equally upset.

"And do you think I'd let this idiot risk his life chasing after an ex-HYDRA assassin, alone?" Sam replied, giving Steve a half-shove. "He's got the self-preservation instincts of a dodo!"

Christy relaxed, a little. Her eyes were still tense. Sam noticed, and put a hand on her knee.

"Look, I'll take good care of your dad, kid. I'll make sure he comes home still in one piece."

"Thank you. Thanks for everything." Christy's tone revealed what she couldn't say.

Thanks for making sure he came back to me.

Sam smiled. "Anytime, kid."

"Okay, so start at the beginning." Bruce said. "And, you fell off a Hellicarier?"

"It crashed into the Potomac." Steve muttered.

Clint shook his head. "Man, you have a terrible track record with being on giant machines that crash into bodies of water."

"I would hardly call two times a 'track record…'"

"But what happened?" Christy cried. "All they told us was that Uncle Nick was dead and you and Aunt Tasha were fugitives. What happened?"

Steve sighed. "It all started when I got back to my apartment one night..."

It was almost midnight before Steve and Sam had hashed out all the details of the past two weeks, or at least all the details they cared to share in front of a nine-year old.

Christy yawned and Steve checked his watch.

"Alright, time for someone to hit the hay. Actually, probably all of us."

"But I'm okay, dad, really…"

"Go to bed, kid." Christy turned in shock to the one person she least expected to make that kind of remark.

"Uncle Tony?"

"Look, it's been a long week, kid, just quit trying to grow up at the speed of light and go sleep already."

Dazed, and truly tired, Christy nodded. She got up and went towards the elevator. "Night everybody."

"I'll be in later." Steve promised, as everyone called out good-nights.

As Christy boarded the elevator to their floor, Steve glanced at Tony. "Thanks,"

Tony shrugged. "She's had a rough couple weeks. To be honest, we all have. You and Natasha gave us a pretty bad scare." he turned to Sam. "Not that we didn't care about you, but we don't exactly know you."

Sam grinned. "No hard feelings."

"Well it wasn't like we planned this." Steve replied. "Believe me, if I had known anything…"

"None of us knew anything." Clint said wearily. "That's the point." he sighed. "Betrayal sucks."

"Don't have to tell me twice." Steve muttered. "I thought we won the war, that I did something worthwhile…and all this time, HYDRA was growing like a weed inside SHIELD."

"So…SHIELD's out." Tony said. "What's the game plan?"

Steve shrugged. "Rebuild from the ground up? I guess that's the only option." He glanced at his watch. "Look, I'm gonna go make sure Christy's all right and hit the sack. You coming, Sam? We got an extra bed on my floor."

"Your floor?" Sam's eyes bugged out comically. "Uh, yeah, I'll be up in a bit, if that's okay. Give you and Christy some space."

Steve nodded and got on the elevator. Sam shook his head as the super soldier disappeared.

"He told me about her, of course. But seeing him with her, it's just…insane. Captain America with a kid?"

Clint grinned. "Should've seen us when Steve first suggested adopting her. It was jaws on the floor. But she's been…great. More than great."

Tony nodded and turned his gaze onto Sam. "So, another bird-man. Don't suppose those wings of yours could use a touch up?"

Steve quietly entered his daughter's room. Christy was sitting up in bed, surrounded by pillows like a fortress.

"Hey, baby." That was all it took to start the floodgates. Christy's eyes teared up and spilled over as Steve moved to sit down beside her. He held her for a long time, until her crying grew less.

"I thought you were gone. It was really scary." she finally whispered.

"I know…I know. I'm just so glad you were safe." he paused. "You know, I had to come back. I couldn't break my promise."

"What promise?" Christy whispered.

"That I will always come back to you, remember? I promised the day I brought you home that no matter what, I would always return to you. Nobody, not even HYDRA, could make me break that."

"But what if you had…"

"Ah-ah-ah, what did we say about 'if's?'" Steve asked firmly. Christy sighed.

"That they usually don't happen."

"Exactly."

"Dad…did you really break into an old army base and find a guy who was supposed to be dead preserved as a computer?"

Steve grinned. "Remember the other thing I told you. 'Everything I say...'"

"'Everything I say is always true. It is not always complete.'" Christy recited. "I still say that's really weird. So is he…dead? Can a computer die?"

"He's dead, alright. The base blew up. As for your last question…I have no idea. But if a computer can die, there isn't one as dead as Zola."

"Good." Christy folded her arms. "I'm glad he can't hurt anyone anymore. But it's sad that SHIELD fell apart."

"Sometimes…" Steve sighed. "Sometimes, things are just so bad, that the most merciful thing to do is start over and hope for the best. We remember the past, learn from our mistakes, but we don't cry over it too much, because life can always get better."

"And did the guy that was Uncle Nick's boss really betray everybody? What was his name again?"

"Alexander Pierce. And yes, he was a dirty, rotten traitor."

Christy made a low sound that sounded like a growl. Steve had a feeling that Tony would have to update the repertoire of faces on her punching bag, soon.

"I don't like traitors. Or bullies. Or people that brainwash other people." she frowned. "You're…gonna go look for Bucky, right?"

Steve nodded. "Yeah, I'm gonna go, me and Sam. But I don't know…I might not be able to call you, on the hunt."

Christy nodded, the look on her face far too old for a nine year old. Nine. He'd been able to come back for her birthday, but her new age hadn't quite sunk in as reality.

"Go find Bucky." she whispered. "I'm not gonna stop you."

Steve relaxed, visibly. Truthfully, he'd been more concerned about his daughter's reaction to things than anyone else's.

"I have to help him, Christy. He…he always looked after me. I wouldn't have lived to become Captain America if it wasn't for the stubbornness of Bucky Barnes. That punk would not let me die, I swear."

"I understand dad, honestly." Christy looked up with earnest eyes. "If somebody hurt Tally, I'd tear 'em to shreds and do anything to help her; and this is way worse than that!"

"Glad to have your blessing, kid." Steve said quietly. "Want me to stay 'till you fall asleep?"

"Please?"

"Of course." Steve lay out on Christy's bed; it was queen-sized, so there was plenty of room. Christy snuggled into his side.

"Night, dad."

"Night, baby."

That night, Christy fell asleep to her dad's breathing, instead of her own racing thoughts.

There was no going back to the way things had been, that much was clear.

But maybe, even though everything wouldn't be the same, it would still be okay, in the end.

Dun, dun, duuuunnn! And so begins another tale. And yes, since this is May of 2014, Christy is now nine. (Her birthday's in March).

Look for "Never Meant For You To Fix Yourself" coming soon! Can't wait!

UPDATE: "Never Meant For You To Fix Yourself" is NOW POSTED, repeat, NOW POSTED! It is under the Captain America section of this site, not the Avengers one, fyi. (And also on my profile, obviously). Go read it! Thanks!