The tab slipped out of her grip, crashing to the floor with a thud that she barely heard due to the blood pounding in her ears. Her mother hadn't been killed in a mission gone wrong. She had been deliberately set up and murdered.

Oh yes, Rosie had no doubts that the mission had been a trap. She had long since suspected foul play on her mother's last mission and this was just confirmation.

There was none of the satisfaction attached to this discovery, though. If it hadn't been for those HYDRA scum, her mom might have been alive today. Thanks to them, she had lost her mother so young that Rosie hardly remembered what the woman had looked like. The fact that she couldn't even grieve her mother properly was the final straw. The stress from the last couple of weeks of work, the exhaustion from the late nights she'd had to finish up her thesis and this bombshell; all combining to completely overwhelm her. She was crying within seconds.

"I'm so sorry, Rosie." Steve murmured, ignoring his distress in the face of hers. His big strong arms wrapped around her, guiding her to sit down on the squishy couch nearby. His solid warmth was infinitely more comforting than words and she couldn't help but cuddle closer to him.

He patiently sat with her, rubbing comforting circles into her back until she regained some of her composure. Sniffling a little and wiping the last of the tears from her face, she asked, "It was a set-up from the start, wasn't it?"

Steve sighed, "You're not wrong, kiddo. All evidence points to HYDRA orchestrating the whole thing. From what I understood, it was supposed to be a covert mission to gather intel on a ring of arms dealers so that a bigger team could take them out later."

"What went wrong?"

"We actually don't know. Your Ma was on radio silence the entire time and the place was nothin' more 'n rubble when SHIELD went in. Best they could figure was that a fight broke out an' Marlene contained three bombs with her powers before a fourth one destroyed the entire building."

So her mom had died alone, exhausted and betrayed by her own superiors. Rosie let the fact that she hadn't suffered for long comfort her.

Steve continued, "She was specially requested to handle the 'time-sensitive' mission by an unknown higher-up who must have been HYDRA. Her powers would have made her a hell of a threat to them if she found out." Grimacing, he said, "They cornered her and let the Soldier do the dirty work." The fact that they had brought the Winter Soldier out proved how wary HYDRA was of her mother.

And that right there was their mistake - thinking that Marlene Carter had been the one to beat. Her mom might have been a mutant and a fully-trained agent, but Rosie could wreak havoc all on her own. HYDRA was going to regret the day they had decided to murder her mom.

The Winter Soldier pulling the trigger meant nothing to her. She had seen what had been done to the poor man; there was no way in hell he was responsible for what he had done. Her sights were firmly and irreversibly set on the people who had used the Soldier as their puppet. 

Steve and Sam had just gained an ally who was going to help them crush HYDRA to dust. HYDRA had killed her mom, and HYDRA would pay for it. This was the extra motivation she needed to get her head into the search and raze those scum to the ground.

Now that she had made up her mind, the anger and grief faded away, leaving behind bone-deep exhaustion. Steve's warm presence radiated comfort and safety, coaxing her to sleep. Too tired to fight the losing battle against her closing eyelids, she laid her head on Steve's shoulder. His beefy arm automatically curled around her as she whispered a "Love you, uncle Steve," before drifting off.

-----------------------------------

Steve froze in shock. He didn't dare to move too much for fear of waking Rosie up; leaving him with more than enough time to sort through his thoughts.

He was ashamed to admit that despite her words at the hospital earlier in the year, he'd never really realised that she had meant what she had said. People said a lot of things to comfort a sick friend - he was well aware of that - but rarely ever went through with their promises later.

Rosie, however, did stay around. He had attributed it to his relationship with her aunt and their collaboration with the Avengers' missions at the time, only later realising that she had been going out of her way to get to know him. It had felt an awful lot like pity, but Steve was so lonely that he had been ready to take what he got. 

Rosie quickly became one of the brightest parts of his life in the future, cheerfully showing him that he could belong here too. Each time she called him 'Uncle', it had fanned the spark of joy in his heart that made getting through the day so much easier. Not wanting to keep his hopes up, he had almost convinced himself that their closeness was due to him being her aunt's boyfriend (Sharon was like a second mother to her) when this happened.

Watching her lose her composure was a heart-breaking experience and he had instinctively reacted, offering what little comfort he could. Steve hoped he was doing something right; he'd never been in a situation like this before. While her words at the end did reassure him on that aspect, the sheer amount of thankfulness and affection in her tone had carried her message across much better.

To her, he was family. He was Uncle Steve. And he was going to be the best uncle ever - suck it, Tony!

Deciding that letting Rosie sleep for longer was the best way to start - the bags under her eyes were huge - he merely shifted her to a more comfortable position against his side. Steve didn't want to risk waking her up by carrying her to her room. He stayed there on the couch with Rosie until Sharon got back from work. "Hi," she whispered, looking amused. "How long have you been here?"

Steve shrugged with the shoulder that Rosie wasn't sleeping on. "She must have been really tired to fall asleep here. Figured I'd let her get some rest."

"She's just like Tony in that sense," Sharon fondly said, gently brushing Rosie's hair out of her face. "Once there's something in her head, she won't rest until it's done. Tony's just better at hiding his exhaustion." She frowned, looking at Rosie's red, puffy eyes. "Has she been crying? Did something happen?"

Dark brown eyes were anxiously scanning his face, waiting for an answer. Steve's mind flashed back to two hours before, where a nearly identical set of eyes had gone from confusion, to grief and anger within seconds before filling with tears.

"Can you sit down?"

Sitting down on his other side, Sharon looked even more concerned now. He swallowed nervously, handing the StarkTab to her. She was one of the people who had known Marlene the best; this news was certainly going to hit her hard.

Sharon's eyes widened as she read through it, the only sign of her distress being a single, sharp intake of breath when she realised what she was looking at. He could see the effort it was taking her to not break down.

"It's just us here," he told her softly. "Everyone needs to have a good cry every now and then. I'm sure as heck not going to judge you, hon."

She made a sound that was a half-laugh-half-sob and slumped against him. Their shoulders pressed together, Sharon wound her fingers through his, clasping their hands. Tears silently trickled down her cheeks for a while before she wiped them away and gave him a watery smile.

"I don't blame your friend, Steve. But next time you're taking out a HYDRA base, I want in."

He kissed the side of her head. "Promise. Do you want to stay here tonight?"

"And wake up with an aching back?" She leaned down to pull a crocheted blanket out from under the coffee table, throwing it over the three of them. "Sure. G'night babe."
Steve waited until her breathing evened out to signal MARLENE to turn off the lights and fall asleep himself.

-----------------------------

Steve woke the next morning to the smell of freshly brewed coffee and a cramped neck. Sharon had already left for work - how long had they slept? - but had switched on the coffee maker before leaving. God, he loved that woman. Rosie stirred as well, sleepily rubbing her eyes, "Is that coffee I smell?"

"Mm-hm. Help yourself, I'll be back in a few."

A quick shower and change of clothes later, Steve returned downstairs refreshed and ready to tackle the new day. Grabbing a cup of coffee, he was getting ready to go through the next round of HYDRA files when Rosie came back, carrying a box of bagels from the bakery in the SI cafeteria downstairs. "I got us breakfast," she said, plopping down opposite to him.

"Are you sure you want to continue today?"

"A hundred percent." Her expression hardened. "The sooner we find your friend, the sooner we get the intel needed to bring down HYDRA once and for all. It's high time someone taught them a good lesson."

He couldn't disagree with that despite not wanting her to be mixed up with HYDRA any more than she already was. Steve could see the firm set of her jaw that told him that nothing he said would convince her otherwise, so he handed over some of the files, being careful to ensure that they were the ones dealing only with the locations and logistics of HYDRA. 

He had seen a large number of gruesome sights during the war, but things in some of the other files were enough to turn even his stomach. There was absolutely no need for her to know the extent of HYDRA's brutal and inhumane practices.

After about an hour of silent reading, he found an assassination that the Winter Soldier's then-handler had claimed would enable them to create more men like him. "December 16th, 1991," he read out, trying to figure out why that date sounded so familiar.

"What did you just say?" Rosie asked sharply.

"Uh, 16th December, '91? For some reason, it was a big mission for them."

What followed was some of the most empathic cursing he'd heard in a while. "Open the file, Steve," she told him. "I think I know what this is."

It was a report of the deaths of a man and a woman on a lonely road. The assassination had been disguised as a car accident without arousing any suspicion. There were no names mentioned, but Steve recognised the murdered man without difficulty. "Howard," he said, looking up at her. "Did no one suspect foul play?"

Rosie shook her head. "Howard was known to be a drinker. Though the official verdict said it was an accident, a lot of people - including Tony - believe that he wasn't fully sober behind the wheel that night. Tony blames himself too. Apparently, he got into an argument with Howard before they left and Howard always drank after their fights. He should know, Steve."

Steve was now torn between two things. One, that his friend Tony deserved to know the truth, and two, his instinct to keep it a secret to protect Bucky. He voiced his fears to Rosie, "I'm afraid Tony'll try to take revenge on Bucky. I can't let that happen. Bucky – he was my brother. He is my brother and I can't lose him, Rosie." His voice cracked. "Not again."

Rosie set down her tab, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Tony isn't unreasonable. He might be mad at Bucky for a while, but I know he'll come around. In fact, he should be the one who can relate to Bucky's condition the most - apart from maybe Natasha - due to what happened in Afghanistan. Capture and torture aren't things you can ever forget." Her expression turned earnest. "They don't call him a genius for nothing, Steve. Given time, he can logically work through the situation and accept that HYDRA killed our parents and not your friend."

He thought about it for a while, weighing things in his mind. Though lying to Tony about this sounded like the easier option, it wasn't the right thing to do. He had chastised Tony for keeping secrets about Ultron, after all. Not telling Tony would make him a hypocrite of the biggest order, not to mention being morally wrong. 

Besides, this was a big secret that could cause serious repercussions if revealed at the wrong time. Better that Tony found out in a safe environment, surrounded by his friends, than any other alternative. "You're right. I'll tell him right now."

He steeled himself and got up, ready to go tell Tony. To his surprise, Rosie followed him out of the room. "I'm coming too. Don't take anything he says to heart, okay? Tony blindly lashes out when he's hurt, saying stuff he doesn't mean. It's better if you leave as soon you're done talking. I'll stay with him."

"Are you sure?" Steve asked.

"Very."

Steve didn't have her confidence, but he figured that she knew what she was talking about. Steve knocked on the door, and Tony's annoyed voice sounded from a small speaker near the door. "What is it, Capsicle? I'm busy."

"Tony-uh-we were looking through the files about Bucky to help further our search when we found something. You should see this immediately."

"No thanks. I'll have a look at it later."

Rosie stepped forward, "Believe me, Tony. You need to see this right now. It's about what happened on December 16, 1991."

The door soundlessly opened, and Steve stepped into Tony's private lab. He had never been inside before, but from the way Rosie easily navigated through the cluttered mess, he guessed that she was quite familiar with the layout of the room. Tony put down his tools and looked up at them as they walked in. "What is this about that day now?"

Steve handed the tab over, "I'm sorry, Tony."

Tony glanced through it, giving a bitter laugh at the end. "The two of you were destined to ruin my life huh? I spend my entire childhood listening to my old man harp on about your greatness, telling me how much better you were then me. And now, your best friend, who's supposed to be dead, killed my mom without batting an eye. Great going, Captain ."

Steve flinched at the harsh words, but kept his mouth firmly shut it at Rosie's warning look. She tilted her head in the direction of the door, clearly telling him to leave. Steve hesitated. She gave him a glare, and raised an eyebrow, as if asking, "Do you really want to cross me?" This time, he did as she told him to, leaving the lab and closing the door behind him.