#Leading him to run into Howard Stark and the Howling Commandos | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

up-risingrp · 11 months

Text

Timeline

1831 - Sebastian Shaw forms the Hellfire Club as a way to keep mutant property and ideals aligned

1931 - Dr. Abraham Erskine begins experimentation to create a super soldier for the United States Military

1940 - Howard Stark forms Stark Industries and aligns himself with the US Military for the Second World War.

1943 - Steve Rogers is injected with the super soldier serum

1945 - Steve Rogers and the Howling Commandos take out Johann Schmidt. James Barnes is lost during the fight. He is saved by HYDRA and experimented on to create the Winter Soldier

1949 - Howard Stark and Peggy Carter launch the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics division (SHIELD). They are unaware that former Nazi spies infiltrate SHIELD to form a secret second division of HYDRA within the division

1961 - Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr are brought together by the FBI with the influence of the Hellfire Club to bring a team of mutants together and protect the world from the potential of a new world war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Charles becomes paralyzed during the Bay of Pigs.

1963 - John F. Kennedy is assassinated. It is rumored that a mutant was the cause of it and Erik Lehnsherr is arrested and held at the Pentagon. This is considered the first major incident of a mutant being held by the US military and sparks underground discussions on the dangers of metahuman kind.

1973 - Charles Xavier, Logan Howlett, and Hank McCoy break Erik Lehnsherr out of the Pentagon in order to keep Raven Darkholme from assassinating Boliver Trask, one of the main champions of Registration laws being drafted. They stop Raven from her assassination attempt.

1982 - Charles Xavier starts the Xavier’s Institute for Gifted Youngsters. It is not well known for many years, usually acting as a safe haven for mutants who are pushed out of their work or home life.

1991 - Howard and Maria Stark are assassinated by the Winter Soldier

1992 - Tony Stark inherits Stark Industries, led by Obidiah Stane until Tony is old enough to run it himself. Stark Industries heavily shifts towards machine weaponry under Stane’s leadership.

1995 - Nick Fury begins drafting what will later become the Avengers Initiative

1997 - After a traumatic event, Jean Grey is brought to the Institute and becomes Xavier’s youngest student and starts the push to rescue younger mutants from their home lives.

2005 - During an experiment with the bio-tech enhancement force of the US military, gamma radiation turns Bruce Banner into the Hulk leading him to disappearing to avoid being turned into a weapon

2006 - After a surge of her powers, Amara Acquilla creates an island off the coast of Africa. She names it Genosha and claims it for mutant kind. Thanks to many other mutant help, the island becomes inhabited by mutants looking for a safe place and becomes the new headquarters of the Hellfire Club.

2007 - Following the horrific deaths of his wife and child in Poland, Erik Lehsherr moves to Genosha and starts the Brotherhood. Meant as a group of mutants against the humans becoming involved with mutant control

2008 - The X-men are first brought together by Charles Xavier. He cities the need for an undercover group of mutants sent on missions to bring other mutants to safety. The original team includes Warren Worthington III, Jean Grey, Scott Summers, Hank McCoy, and Bobby Drake.

2010 - Following a mission, Natasha Romanova is deprogrammed through the help of Clint Barton. She leaves the secret Russian program of the Widows to join SHIELD as the Black Widow

2012 - During a weapons demonstration, Tony Stark is captured by the Ten Rings and during his captivity creates the first Iron Man suit to escape. When arriving home to Malibu, he begins to work on a more high tech version and starts to hunt down his weapons in the hands of the enemy. At a press conference following Obidiah Stane’s attack, he outs himself as Iron Man

2013 - The House of Congress drafts the first bill outlining the need for regulation of metahumans and human bodysuit weaponry technology. The Iron Man suit is included in this bill. The bill dies on the House floor.

2014 - Thor, prince of Asgard is sentenced to Earth and stripped of his powers by his father, Odin. The Asgardian technology, the Destroyer is sent by his brother Loki to attempt his destruction when he regains his powers.

2015 - Steve Roger’s frozen body is found in the Atlantic Ocean and brought back to SHIELD headquarters. When realizing he is not in the right place, he finds out that over 70 years have passed since he went down to stop the Tesseract from being stolen.

2016 - SHIELD begins experimentation with the Tesseract following the events of Thor and the Asgardian technology.

2017 - The Avengers Initiative is invoked after the Tesseract begins to become unstable from experimentation. A portal is opened creating the ability for alien invaders to attack New York City. The Avengers including Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Steve Rogers, and the appearance of Thor manage to save New York City with Tony Stark flying a deadly missile through the portal and seeing what lies beyond Earth.

During this battle, Charles Xavier forbids the X-men from intervening as SHIELD has looked the other way when it comes to mutant activity and is concerned that should they become involved and allow the general public see their powers, they will not be looked at favorably. This causes rifts in the X-Men as well as mutant kind in general.

The Department of Damage Control (DODC) is created in order to help clean up the mess left behind after the Battle of New York, a jointly funded project between Stark Industries and the United States Government.

2018 - Talks of Registration spark up once again in Congress and many laws are drafted on the need for regulation of metahumans. All laws die on the floor of the House and Senate.

2020 - For years following the Battle of New York, Tony Stark has been working on an Artificial Intelligence that would serve as a shield around the Earth. When the AI goes off the tracks, Ultron is created.

The Avengers assemble again including the new recruits of Scott Lang, Hope van Dyne, and Sam Wilson. With this group, and the eventual defection of Wanda and Pietro Maximoff, they are able to destroy Ultron but not without destroying Sokovia as well. During the fighting, Pietro is killed while saving Clint Barton.

Reed Richards, Susan Storm, Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm, and Victor von Doom leave on a SHIELD-sanctioned trip to space prior to the events of Ultron.

2021 - Following the events of Ultron, emergency action is taken and the first Registration Law is passed. This requires all metahumans to enter into a database with their powers noted. Bodysuit weaponry is heavily monitored and is strictly forbidden except for the permission granted by the US military.

SHIELD is effectively shut down due to their involvement with Ultron and metahumans. The DODC takes up the duties of enforcing the Registration laws and absorbs many of the former SHIELD agents.

The Metahuman Advisory Council or MAC is formed after the legislation passes as a way to give insight to Congress about metahuman rights and abilities. The original members of MAC include Charles Xavier, Reed Richards, Steve Rogers, Hank McCoy, and Emma Frost.

On the other side of the world on Genosha, the Metahuman Alliance of the State of Humanity (MASH) is formed spearheaded by Erik Lehnsherr with other members including Warren Worthington III, Amara Aquilla, Sebastian Shaw, and the unlikely appearance of Natasha Romanoff.

Reed Richards, Susan Storm, Ben Grimm, and Johnny Storm return from space after being hit with a cosmic storm. Their spacecraft crashes, and the four are picked up by the DODC for further studies. Victor von Doom is assumed dead, but a body was ever recovered.

2022 - On top of congressional and military restrictions on the use of metahuman powers, registration laws are passed requiring minors to be registered. Charles Xavier offers to take on the mutants whose abilities are considered dangerous, making the executive decision that all mutants living on in the Institute will register without complaint. Tension mounts amongst its residents and the remaining X-Men.

Natasha Romanoff finds Yelena Belova. She manages to deprogram Yelena. They are the only two living widows outside of General Dreykov’s direct control.

2023 - Justin Hammer and Aldrich Killian have joined forces to create weaponry for the DODC to use against metahumans. There have been whispers that one of them is building on Trask’s old work on the Sentinel program. Those whispers also include William Stryker’s name.

Scott Summers has left the X-Men and moved to Genosha to create his own group of X-Men for those not interested in following Charles Xavier blindly. Jean Grey has stepped up to run the Institute while Charles works with Congress.

The Avengers are currently in shambles with some for the Registration laws and others vehemently against.

Illegal street teams are starting up, people are fighting back against the Registration laws even though to be caught would mean being branded as a metahuman.

#previews #marvel rp #site buzz #jcink premium #jcink rp

12 notes · View notes

sonofcoulson · 1 year

Text

1942 Captain America:First Avenger

Ah, the first MCU movie to be IAC'd!

This film is not building up to the Avengers Assemble movie (2012) so we can excise the future portion at the beginning as it is no longer necessary.

Starts in 1942 but continues to 1943.

The break in to the Hydra facility to rescue Bucky, Howling Commandos (HC) etc is the same but escape from the can be a lot more in depth with slightly longer fisticuffs between Skull and Cap before Zola separates the bridge section. This gives us a longer, more satisfying action sequence, adds more to the Steve/Bucky relationship, establishes more of a rapport with the HC and more of a rivalry with The Red Skull.

It is also pretty much the climax of the movie now and so has to be impressive enough for that.

Peggy still goes to the pub to call him in for 0800, gets mad, shoots the shield etc.

Ends with Cap leading the Howling commandos into battle for the first time we see the propaganda cameras filming the scene that Peggy watches, though she won't see it now till the next film. Then they find the Hydra base they were looking for and run in and look cool in slo-mo all together and...scene.

CGI of Chris Evans' face on a smaller actor's body should be replaced by Michel Gondry/Peter Jackson style technical wizardry with forced perspective, as the CGI attempt is very distracting.

Howard Stark should be played by an age appropriate John Slattery throughout the MCU films and TV series.

The Germans should speak German to eachother (with subtitles).

Tripp's grandfather has to be one of the Howling Commandos. I think it's Gabe Jones. Seen suggested here.

Post credits: Jim and Namor have teamed up to beat axis troops, tanks, artillery, navy, air force etc and are then approached by Howard who tells them there's someone else he'd like them to meet.

#marvel cinematic universe #mcu #it's all connected #iac #marvel #captain america: the first avenger #captain america #bucky barnes #agent carter #peggy carter #howling commandos #the red skull #hydra #arnim zola #howard stark

1 note · View note

thoughts-of-alaina · 3 years

Text

Here a ship I just thought of and would love to see, Howard Stark x Loki. I have no idea why but I do. Just for the wacky ideas.

#It starts with Odin sending Loki to Midgard to retrieve the Tesseract #Which Loki is informed was taken by Hydra #And that's all the information he was given #So he's forced to gain more intel when he arrives to midgard #Leading him to run into Howard Stark and the Howling Commandos #All while being a woman for her to be able to swoon Stark #Which she eventually does with both her looks and mind #But Peggy intervenes before Loki can get any intel #because she's been hearing word of a dangerous individual seeking information #So Loki surrenders to try and gain some information

5 notes · View notes

shades-of-stony · 3 years

Text

Time Travel Stony Fanfic

Character from the Future travels to the Past

A Shadow Hanging Over Our Fate by CaptainDean13

Summary: The Avengers get sent back in time to WWII where they run into the Howling Commandos... complete with Bucky and Steve. Little hard to explain that away, especially when you are trying to keep some major secrets. Secrets like how you ended up in the future and why the hell Bucky is now a scary (reformed) assassin with a metal arm, not to mention that you married your friend's son.

Note: A 1000/10 READ. THIS IS SO FREAKIN’ GOOD THAT I READ IT 3 TIMES SINCE I FIRST FOUND IT LAST YEAR. It’s a nice and well written time travel fic with the howling commandos and past Steve and Bucky!!

A New Way For Us by ann2who

Summary: They fight Thanos—and they’re losing. And before Tony knows what’s happening, he’s standing with Doctor Strange in front of the Eye of Agamotto and gets send back in time. Can he find a way to fix things this time around, or are they doomed to fall apart all over again?

Note: This is where Tony went back in time to fix everything that went wrong and prepare for the arrival of Thanos! Due to an unexpected twist of fate, he found himself getting closer to Steve of all people!

Two More Miracles (To Be A Saint) by queenpenthesilea

Summary: “Get up, Stark, you sleep too much. You said you would teach me paper football.”

Tony’s eyes snapped open. No. No. Had it all been a dream? Had he just imagined five years – five years - of an idyllic life, complete with a beautiful, wonderful daughter? He pushed himself up, looking around; he was on the Milano – he was on the fucking Milano, and either this was a really weird version of hell or everything had been a dream. Or, a little voice whispered, something had gone horribly, horribly wrong with the infinity stones.

Note: A nice and juicy post-Endgame Time Travel fanfic!! Though, this one held a few what ifs.

Saving the World is a 12 Step Program by janonny

Summary: Tony and Steve fall to pieces when Thanos’ wins.

Then they pick themselves up, and find a solution. They also find something infinitely more precious in the process.

“It’s going to sound pretty outrageous,” Tony admitted, rubbing a hand over his brow. While he had put on some weight and wasn’t as gaunt anymore, he was still easily tired nowadays.

“More outrageous than talking racoons and a purple villain traveling through space to collect magic stones?” Steve asked drily.

Note: This is another post-Endgame fanfic but with a twist and different take on the whole time travel!

Oh, Snap by wedelia

Summary: Peter wakes up, and he’s simultaneously five years too early and right on time.

Or, Post-Endgame Peter goes back in time and accidentally-on-purpose gets Steve and Tony together before the initial snap happens. And, oh, yeah—he also recruits a former-Air-Force-pilot-turned-galactic-hero, has lunch with Black Widow, and somehow befriends Nick Fury. This changes things.

Note: It’s Peter who time travels this time around!!

If We Never Got This Second Chance by Pookaseraph

Summary: When Tony and Steve’s son from the future, Jake Jensen, arrives at Avenger’s Tower, the two of them are forced to confront some hard truths: Tony that he might not actually become a horrible father, and Steve that he might not be able to set aside his discomfort with sharing a child with another man. When they both get a second chance at a first try at fatherhood, it’s up to the two of them to learn from their own future's past.

Note: Anyone up for some future son time travel? Enjoy this nicely written fanfic of Stony’s future son traveling and meeting the past versions of his parents! Past versions that are not even together yet! Things are about to get weird for Steve and Tony.

Your Name on Every Wall by Sineala

Summary: The Time Gem throws Steve into the past rather than the future, and in doing so, it gives him the opportunity to undo his past mistakes. But when it turns out that all of his mistakes involve Tony Stark, Steve begins to wonder if he's ever going to be able to mend things between them.

Note: A unique plot where Steve travels to the future and realizes what he is missing on!

Together, At Dawn by RoseGoldAmpersand

Summary: Steve returns the Infinity Stones to New York and finds himself in conversation with Tony of the past. More mature and willing to listen to Tony he realises that what he previously thought were taunts was actually Tony flirting with him.

In light of this new discovery and alone in Tony’s workshop after the battle of New York, one thing leads to another...

Note: ohhhhh, some juicy smut anyone?

Don't Look Back, You Can Never Look Back. by iL0Vsuperman

Summary: Tony Stark: billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, and, now, superhero.

It’d only been a few months prior that he’d revealed to the world he was Iron Man and life couldn’t be better.

That is…until he stumbled upon an old abandoned Hydra lab and kinda set off one of their machines by accident. A blast of blue light later and he found himself in the same lab…only it is seventy years earlier and it is full of Hydra agents.

Cue the entrance of the Howling Commandos led by Tony’s childhood hero, Captain America.

Suddenly, Tony is living out a dream. He’s joining up with the Commandos in the search to get Tony back to his right era. It’s the adventure of a lifetime and, at first, it’s amazing…but then he and Steve connect in ways more than just friendship and he finds that he is torn between wanting to stay with him or go back home.

In the end, whatever the result, he loses.

Note: Tony meets his childhood heroes-the Howling Commandos and Captain America!

The Future is Yet in Your Power by FestiveFerret

Summary: "Now." Wong leaned back in his chair. "What would you do to save this world from Thanos' attack? What would you sacrifice?"

"Anything," Steve said. "Anything at all."

Wong considered him for a moment, expression unreadable. "There's one thing, maybe."

Note: This is nice fanfic about Steve putting everything on the line to hopefully make a change.

The Good or Bad Thing by petreparkour for SeetheSea

summary: “It’s the metal suit,” Thor informed Steve, his normally-booming voice tinny over the SHIELD comms. “What did Stark call it—Iron Man?”

“But he’s down here,” Steve protested as the Hulk roared in Stark’s face, startling him into waking with a shout. “How could—”“It’s damaged,” Thor reported. “But it looks different. More advanced. And he—ah. He’s carrying you, Captain.”

“Please tell me nobody kissed me,” Stark breathed out, and then Stark’s voice suddenly came over the comms, but the man lying next to him hadn’t moved.“

Guys, come on, you’re killing me here. What is it, 2012? God, I hate time travel. First, I'm fighting Thanos. Now, I have to deal with my past self and Thor's bad haircut? Oh my God, Cap, yes I hacked their comms, they’re my comms.”

Steve nearly opened his mouth to protest that he hadn’t said anything when he realized that this replica of Tony Stark wasn’t speaking to him.

Note: Future Tony and Steve accidentally traveling in the past!

Character from the Past travels to the Future

hold the things you wanna say by SailorChibi

Summary: Tony is still a consultant, and between SI, the team and SHIELD he's overworked and exhausted. That's okay.

He and Steve have been having sex for weeks but that's all it is, just sex, and Tony wants more but he'll never get it and that's okay. Really.

What's not okay is the fact that Howard Stark has somehow appeared in the future and is the same as always.

This is definitely going to fuck up his schedule.

Note: ANGST! READY YOUR TISSUES.

Twice Upon a Time by TsaritsaElena

Summary: Tony Stark has never had an easy relationship with his father, but when Howard Stark circa 1983 time travels to the future in a freak accident, things get even more complicated, especially since Tony is dating his dad’s idol, Captain America, and Howard doesn’t know. As they work toward a solution that will restore Howard to his own timeline, will Tony get a second chance at a father-son relationship with his dad, or is he in for more of the same unforgiving treatment from Howard? Time travel, Avengers missions, and a secret project of Howard’s: things at Stark Tower are about to get a little crazy.

Note: SOME MORE ANGST AND HOWARD TRAVELLING TO THE FUTURE.

The Future Is Ours (Whether We Want It Or Not) by ann2who

Summary: After a hit from the Time Stone, Steve switches places with his future self.

Note: Another of Steve traveling to the future! Though this time, it features both timeline! Both POV of the past and future!

Ordinary Men by RiaRose

Summary: "Aren't you at all happy to see me?" Howard shot back, holding his glass out and pointing with his index finger. At Steve's stony face, he dropped his arm. "Want a glass?" he tried, picking up an empty tumbler, "This is good stuff."

"Tony doesn't skimp on - well - anything. And no, thank you."

"Was that Tony?" he queried, gesturing toward the hallway the other man had disappeared down. Steve nodded but didn't give any more information, so Howard repeated his earlier question, "Aren't you happy to see me?"

It took Steve a moment to answer. Howard could see his jaw working.

"No, not anymore."

In which Howard travels to the future and just messes up everybody's day, Steve is conflicted, and Tony is a piping hot mess, as per usual. It's not going to be easy, but Steve and Tony have to somehow navigate through Howard's arrival and the strain it puts on their relationship.

Note: From the summary alone, you can tell that THIS WILL BE ANGSTY.

To Have My Time Again... by WilmaKins

Summary: It's been two years since Siberia, and Tony Stark is still dealing with the fallout - personal and political. Life is quite complicated enough, without Bruce falling through a wizards roof yelling that Thanos is coming.

Thor and Loki are stalling, but time is running out. The fate of the universe is at stake. Steve Rogers is back in the picture. Really, the last thing Tony needs is for their plan to go horribly wrong and bring Howard Stark forward in time.

But his Dad *is* standing in his office, whether he likes it or not.

So, it looks like Tony will have to fix that mess too.

Note: There is just something about Howard-travels-to-the-future fanfics.

Howard Stark Meets The Avengers by SerlinaBlack

Summary: Howard Stark unknowingly travels to the future with his son and wife. Luckily the heroes of the future were somewhat ready for it. Unluckily , they don't seem to like him very much

Alternative summery: when will Howard learn? Not now lmao.

Note: ANOTHER ONE.

#stony #stony fanfiction #stony fanfic #stony fic #stony fic rec #stevetony #stevetony fic rec #steve and tony #steve and tony fic #superhusbands #stevetony fanfic

75 notes · View notes

n1ght5h4d3-24 · 2 years

Text

Thousands of Years Apart: Chapter Three

[Last Time On...]

Swiss Alps, Austria -February 1945

When Aspen had finally made her way back to the camp in Italy, Steve had been surprised to see her and had apologized profoundly for leaving her behind. She easily forgave him and told him not to run himself ragged with worry. She joined Steve in taking down the other bases before she was mourning the loss of Bucky along with Steve, having grown close with the ladies man after returning to the camp. Now it was time to move forward, time to go after Schmidt and bring him and Hydra down. They had a plan laid out after discussing with Colonel Phillips and the Howling Commandos.

Howard Stark had gifted Aspen with a motorcycle, so she could ride with Steve instead of alongside him in a sidecar, and now the two of them were riding through the woods after turning off of a paved road. As the duo rode closer in proximity of HYDRA's main base of operations, HYDRA agents met with them on their own bikes and started firing. Aspen and Steve push a button connected to the right handle bar of their motorcycles. Trip wire connected by two arrows on each end, shot out and attached to a pair of trees. It took out a couple of HYDRA agents and with another push of a button, fire erupted from the back of the motorcycles. Two HYDRA agents managed to get in front of Aspen and Steve.

"Head between them! I'll follow up behind you." Steve called out.

Aspen gave the blond a nod before revving her motorcycle to speed up and passed in between the two HYDRA agents to get in front of them. Steve rode up behind her, pulling a pin on the back of one of the agents motorcycles before speeding up to ride beside Aspen. The remaining two agents were blown up. The duo continued on their way towards the base but, upon drawing closer to the gates, they noticed a tank aiming in their direction.

"Aspen, fall back! Get behind me!" Steve shouted, pulling his shield off his back and placing it on the front of his bike.

"Okay!" Aspen called back, slowing down and swerved to ride behind the super soldier.

The duo kept their heads down while being shot at, Steve's shield protecting them from flying dirt. The blond steadied his bike before pushing another button that fired two small missiles towards the tank, causing it to explode. Steve then lead the way up an inclined wall, Aspen riding up behind him and the two flew through the air to land on the other side of the gate. The moment the tires hit the ground, the pair immediately began firing at the HYDRA soldiers. At some point, Steve and Aspen share a look in the midst of the firefight then hit another button on their motorcycles before quickly dismounting from them. They engaged in hand to hand combat with the soldiers as their bikes operated on auto-pilot. The two motorcycles headed for the base doors and exploded on impact. Unfortunately, before they could make a move to get inside the base, Steve and Aspen were surrounded by more HYDRA agents. They were cuffed and brought into the base.

The two were brought to Schmidt's weapon lab where they came face to face with the Red Skull once more. This was an interesting situation that Aspen found herself in as she was typically viewed as a Goddess, she was curious to see how things would go from here since no one knew who she really was.

"Arrogance may not be a uniquely American trait but, I must say, you do it better than anyone." the Red Skull states. "But there are limits to what even you can do, Captain. Or did Erskine tell you otherwise?"

"He told me you were insane," Steve replied.

"Ah. He resented my genius and tried to deny me what was rightfully mine but, he gave you everything. So what made you so special?"

"Nothin'. I'm just a kid from Brooklyn."

The Red Skull delivered a left hook to Steve's cheek before delivering a right hook then landed a jab to the super soldier's gut. Steve became winded due to the last punch and fell to his knees.

"I can do this all day," Steve comments, looking up at Schmidt.

Aspen stood off to the side, watching the interaction. She was impressed with Steve's resilience, seemed like the serum didn't change him personality wise.

"Oh, of course you can. Of course." Red Skull says before making his way over to the brunette.

He grips Aspen's chin and forces her to look at him. "What's this? What kind of a Captain brings a dame into a fight?"

"This dame can hold her own." Aspen retorted.

Red Skull slapped Aspen's right cheek hard enough to make her head turn. Steve struggled against the soldiers that were holding him when Aspen was smacked. Johann smirked at the blond's reaction.

"Take her to the aircraft. She could be of use to us." he tells the soldiers that were restraining the young woman.

"No!" Steve protested.

He quickly got to his feet and pulled out of the grasp of the soldiers before fighting them off. Aspen watched him for a brief moment before she followed his lead, except she struggled with fighting as her hands were still restrained behind her back. Unfortunately, the HYDRA soldiers were able to successfully drag her out of the weapons lab and towards the aircraft. She didn't get to see Schmidt pulling out a gun amidst the fighting and aimed it at Steve.

"Unfortunately, Captain, I am on a tight schedule." was the last thing she heard as she was hauled away.

Aspen allowed herself to be dragged away and taken aboard the plane that she was being dragged to. It almost reminded her of the Domo with the way it was designed. She was taken into the cockpit of the aircraft. Then she heard footsteps approach from behind.

"Leave us," Schmidt orders.

The soldiers released Aspen and left the plane. She looked at the Red Skull, observing him.

"So, do you have the super soldier serum running through you as well?" he questions.

"No. Dr. Erskine only offered the opportunity to one person and that person was Steve. Then one of your lackeys attempted to steal it only to commit cyanide suicide when he was captured. However, just because I don't have the serum in my veins doesn't mean I can't take you down if necessary." she tells him.

"Is that so? Well, for someone who's confident in her abilities, you still happen to be restrained." he points out.

"I am quite aware," she says.

The two stare each other down for a moment or so before Aspen's attention was drawn towards a glowing blue cube that sat in the center of the cockpit. It was fascinating, sparking her curiosity about what it was. She could feel the energy radiating from the cube and she had an urge to grab ahold of it. A sudden beeping noise emitting from the controls drew her attention away from the mysterious cube. Her brown eyes track Red Skull racing over to the controls to see what was going on.

"Damn it!" Johann cursed when he slams his hand against the console.

He turns to the brunette behind him, "Looks like your soldier managed to commandeer one of our fighter planes." he says.

The Eternal watches as Schmidt takes a seat in the pilot chair and took control of the weapons' system before aiming at the fighter plane then fired. Her brown eyes watches the scene in front of her play out, hoping that Steve wouldn't be killed in this moment. She noted that the plane took a hit before getting away. Then there came the sound of screeching metal from the back of the current plane she was on, not moments later. Schmidt gets up from the chair and approached Aspen. He grabbed the woman's right shoulder and pulled her into the shadows in the cockpit. The two heard a door squeak open and Steve's boot steps coming down the stairs, clearly on alert.

Schmidt then quickly put a hand over Aspen's mouth, to keep her silenced as Steve approached. When he saw Steve reach the front of the cockpit, he activated his gun and stepped out of the shadows with Aspen in his hold. Steve quickly turned around and immediately raised his shield to protect himself the from shot that Schmidt fired.

"You just don't give up, do you?" Schmidt taunted.

"Nope." Steve remarked before charging forward.

Aspen reacted swiftly, struggling against Schmidt's hold before managing to escape from him as he fired at Steve again. As then men fought, she made her way over to the contained cube. Whatever the cube was, something told her it was important and needed to be taken. While the men had been fighting, they had ended up being pushed into the control panel, and hit some buttons and flipped switches which caused the plane to angle downward. The sudden shift in gravity sent the men up towards the ceiling and Aspen had quickly grabbed onto the handle that was on top of the cube's containment device.

"Aspen! You gotta get to the controls!" Steve called out while still engaging with the Red Skull.

"Okay! I'm on it!" she calls back.

She starts thinking up a way to get to the controls when Schmidt manages to get there first. He pulls the plane upward, the nose becoming level which caused Steve and Aspen to fall to the floor.

"You could have the power of the gods!" he shouts at Steve.

He pulls out another weapon out of his jacket's inner pocket and fires twice, aiming for the duo who were quick to duck down to avoid being hit. Aspen resumed her attempt in grabbing hold of the cube.

"Yet you wear a flag on your chest and think you fight a battle of nations!" Red Skull continued, attempting to shoot at Steve again only to miss, again.

"I have seen the future, Captain! There are no flags!" he stated.

"Not in my future!" Steve picks up his shield that he had previously dropped from the fight before.

He throws his shield directly towards Schmidt, who had gone towards Aspen and the cube. The impact of the shield hitting him sent him flying backwards, which caused him to slam into the containment device behind him. It started to malfunction from the sudden impact before opening up and the cube fell out. Blue energy crackled around the exposed cube.

The Red Skull carefully got up on his feet, "What have you done?" He inquires.

He grasps the cube and examines it closely, observing the energy it gave off. The cube unexpectedly lit up the ceiling of the aircraft, unveiling a band of stars to the trio. Steve gazed at the stars in wonder while Aspen couldn't help but to look for her home planet, Olympia. Then, the Red Skull was abruptly overwhelmed by the energy that the cube emitted until there was a flash of light and he disappeared in a column of light. The cube was left floating in mid-air after the Red Skull vanished until it fell to the ground, burning a hole through the floor of the ship and falling into the ocean below.

"I would've caught that but, that cube was pure energy. It would've burned my flesh if I attempted to come into contact with it." Aspen tells Steve.

"Smart move." Steve agrees.

He then makes his way over to the controls. The blond removes his helmet and sets his shield down by the console before taking a seat into the pilot's chair. He notices that the autopilot was for New York and quickly made a decision. He turns off the autopilot and takes the controls. Aspen makes her way over to the controls to stand beside Steve. She glances over everything and notices the bomb that was for New York and knew of Steve's plan. The blond reaches for the radio, turning it on.

"Come in. This is Captain Rogers, do you read me?" he radios.

"Captain Rogers, what is your loca-" Jim Morita had started before he was cut off.

"Steve, is that you?" Peggy questions. "Are you and Aspen alright?"

"Peggy!" Steve greets her with some enthusiasm. "Schmdit's dead!" he reports.

"And what of Private Aspen?" Peggy wonders.

"I'm alright, Peggy." Aspen tells her.

"That's good to hear. And what of the plane?"

"That's a little bit tougher to explain," Steve replied, before flipping some switches and pressing some buttons.

"Give me your coordinates, I'll find you a safe landing site." Peggy states.

The blond takes a look at the display screen, taking note of the multitude of bombs in the cargo bay.

"There's not going to be a safe landing. But I can try and force it down." he informs Peggy.

"I'll...I'll get Howard on the line. He'll know what to do." Peggy says.

"No, there's not enough time. This thing's moving too fast and it's heading for New York. I've gotta put her in the water."

"Please, don't do this." Peggy pleads. "We have time. We can work it out."

"Right now, I'm in the middle of nowhere. If I wait any longer, a lot of people are gonna die. Peggy...this is my choice."

Aspen reaches over and turns off the radio. She leans against the console, being mindful of the switches and buttons. She looks at the blond in the pilot seat, crossing her arms over her chest.

"So, you and Bucky, huh?" she inquires.

The super soldier spares a glance to the brunette on his left, "What do you mean?"

"Well, the time I spent with you and Bucky...I could see a connection between the both of you. One that goes beyond friendship." she tells him.

"I...he...we..." Steve fumbled over his words at the admission.

He took a deep breath and tried again, "You can see that? How?"

She looks out the window, noticing the approaching water.

"You know what, Steve? I like you. You're a really good person, with a really good heart." she stated.

"Uh thanks. But, you didn't answer my question." he points out.

Aspen chuckles before pushing herself off the console and turning around, to look out the window.

"If you remember the question, ask me again if you happen to see me again." she tells him.

Steve looked at the young woman in confusion, "What do you mean by that?"

The Eternal looked back at the super soldier and gave him a smirk before her brown eyes became an aqua blue. Steve looked at her in surprise while she reached her right hand out towards the water. He turned his head to look out at the Atlantic Ocean, and watched as some of the ocean actually rose up into air. Aspen controlled the water and pulled it into the ship, the tentacle of oceanic water crashed through the front window and enveloped Steve. The Eternal controlled more of the Atlantic Ocean to envelope the whole aircraft before her aqua blue eyes became an icy blue, and then the water around the aircraft and Steve froze. She watched as Steve's eyes closed under the ice and then the aircraft actually hit the Atlantic Ocean and the ice spread. Aspen made her way out of the ship before it could completely freeze solid and broke through the Atlantic Ocean. She gasped for air before looking around as she treaded the water. She tilted her head to the side and took another deep breath as she could feel a ripple within her. She exhaled slowly as she pushed down the darkness she could feel before going about getting out of the ocean.

[Up Next...]

Thousands of Years Apart Taglist:

@stitchattacks

@vanillaattack

@50svibes

4 notes · View notes

swan-of-sunrise · 3 years

Text

Specs and the Flyboy (Chapter Nine)

Summary: (Y/N) and Jack pay a visit to Officer Henry Zhang of the L.A.P.D. and after they’re nearly caught by Chief Sousa, tensions begin to rise.

Pairing: Jack Thompson X Reader

Word Count: 3.1k

Warnings/Disclaimers: None

A/N: Thank you all so much for reading! I hope that you enjoy!

Chapter Nine Los Angeles, California (Previous Chapter)

“Ooo turn it up, this is one of my favorites! Oh, Johnny, oh Johnny, how you can love! Oh Johnny, oh Johnny, Heaven’s above…!”

“Ah, geez, not again…”

“You make my sad heart jump with joy, and when you’re near I just can’t sit still a minute…!”

“You know you’re crazy, right?”

“I’m so, oh, Johnny, oh Johnny, please tell me dear, what makes me love you so?”

“Yep, definitely crazy.”

“You’re not handsome, it’s true but when I look at you I just, oh, Johnny, oh Johnny, oh…!” With a bright smile on her face, (Y/N) began humming along to the lively tune and tapping her fingers on her steering wheel; her smile only widened when she glanced over and caught the exasperated look on Jack’s face. “What? I love the Andrews Sisters!”

Jack rubbed his face tiredly, but (Y/N) could see that he was having a difficult time repressing his grin. “I know, you sing along to every single one of their songs whenever they come on the radio. Seriously, I’m gonna have to call up every radio network in the city and get ‘em to stop playing the Andrews Sisters just so I can get at least a little break from the gals!”

Rolling her eyes at his dramatics, (Y/N) returned her gaze to the road. “Well, you don’t have a car and since you refuse to borrow one of Howard’s, it looks like you’re stuck riding with me, my music and my singing. In other words, you’d better get used it, Flyboy.”

For the duration of the car ride, they continued to debate about their favorite and least favorite singers and groups; they reached the police precinct before anymore Andrews Sisters songs could play, much to (Y/N)’s disappointment and Jack’s elation. They had arranged to meet Officer Henry Zhang to discuss the result of the L.A.P.D.’s search of Fieldman Family Orangery; since they had no probable cause to search the orangery, Officer Zhang had suggested they phone-in an anonymous tip about a suspected breach in fire safety protocol. That way, the L.A.P.D. – but more importantly, Officer Zhang – would be free to search the premises for any sign of the strange devices meant for shipment. Fingers crossed that the whole thing wasn’t a bust, (Y/N) thought to herself as she parked and switched off the engine before getting out of the car.

“You know, Specs, you’re a pretty decent singer, even if you only ever sing the Andrews Sisters.” Jack remarked on their way up the steps that led to the precinct; (Y/N) snorted in amusement and he raised a questioning eyebrow at her. “What?”

“Nothing, it’s just that you’re the first person to actually compliment – well, half compliment – my singing; when I first began working with the Howling Commandos, Dum Dum Dugan used to say that my ‘goddamn caterwauling’ could deafen the entire German army if properly weaponized. As I recall, the other guys got a good laugh out of that one.”

Jack scoffed. “Dugan’s hearing must’ve been damaged from all those ‘Wa-Hoo’s’ he shouted in the war.” She laughed loudly at that; the large man’s deafening war cry was definitely an acquired taste, so much so that during her first couple of months with the Howlies, she used to stuff small pieces of wax into her ears whenever she went on missions with them. They reached the doors of the precinct and Jack was quick to hold the door open for her. “And for your information, that was a full complement I just gave you. You’ve got a really nice singing voice, Specs.”

His unexpectedly kind words combined with his trademark lopsided grin caused (Y/N)’s heart to jolt in her chest and try as she might, it was impossible to keep the growing smile off her face as they entered the building. Once they had checked in with the officer stationed at the front desk they made their way downstairs to Officer Zhang’s brand-new office, which turned out to be the building’s boiler room but with a small desk crammed into the corner.

“Sorry it’s such a tight squeeze in here, this was the only empty room the precinct had.” Henry winced as Jack bumped his elbow hard against the boiler and (Y/N) removed her hat to prevent it from being crushed against the pipes beside her head. The young officer’s frown quickly shifted into an excitement-filled smile. “But I’m the youngest officer to ever get their own office in this precinct, so that’s a plus! Did you guys want anythin’ to eat or drink? I think I’ve got-”

“We’re good, Zhang, but thanks for the offer.” Jack abruptly interrupted as he eyed the boiler beside him that had just made an ominous noise.

(Y/N) smiled patiently at Henry while surreptitiously elbowing Jack in the ribs for his rudeness. “How did everything go yesterday at the orangery? Did you find any evidence that the business is a front for weapons manufacturing?”

Henry shook his head, reaching over his desk and handing her a file; after pausing a moment to slip on her reading glasses, she opened it and began scanning its contents with Jack peering over her shoulder. “You were right, it looked like they packed up shop after your run-in with ‘em last week. I took a few photographs of the place for you guys to look over, though; since you saw it before, you might be able to spot somethin’ I didn’t.”

“The stunt we pulled must’ve really shaken ‘em if they went through all the trouble to pack up and relocate their entire operation.” Jack let out a frustrated sigh. “I hate it when criminals think fast. Any sign of Adam Fieldman?”

“Nope, his old man said he left town on business the other night but couldn’t say where; since you told me to be discrete I didn’t press him for details but he sounded like he was tellin’ the truth.” He gestured to the file (Y/N) was still examining. “I also included anything the L.A.P.D. has on Fieldman’s background, but it’s not much. I’m sorry that I couldn’t do more to help you guys…”

Hearing the normally boisterous officer sound so downtrodden caused (Y/N)’s heart to lurch; despite how cramped the room was, she managed to reach a hand out to clasp one of his. “You’ve done a great job, Officer Zhang, we couldn’t have asked for anyone better to help us out.” She elbowed Jack again as she gave Henry an encouraging smile. “Isn’t that right, Chief Thompson?”

“Um, yeah. Yeah, you’ve really helped us out, kid.”

Henry’s face reddened at their praise, and (Y/N) had to stifle a giggle as he leisurely leaned back in his chair in an attempt to appear nonchalant. “Well, if you two ever need anythin’ else you know where to find me.”

They bid the young officer goodbye and as they left the precinct, Jack tilted his fedora on his head and grumbled, “I think that elbow of yours might’ve punctured a kidney.”

“A miraculous feat, considering your kidneys are near your backbone and not your hip.” (Y/N) jokingly retorted, carefully pinning her hat back onto her hair and tucking her reading glasses into her purse as they walked back down the steps to the sidewalk. “Henry didn’t give us much but it’s a lot more than what we had before; that counts as a win in my books.”

Jack shrugged. “I guess so, but have you noticed that our secret investigation isn’t much of a secret anymore? I mean, Stark knows about it, the Jarvises know about it and now this kid’s in on it; who’s next, Samberly? I-son of a bitch!”

Without warning, Jack ripped the file from her hand and disappeared around the corner of the building; before she could move or speak, she heard a familiar voice calling her name and she turned to see Daniel Sousa limping towards her. Her heart hammering in her chest, (Y/N) raised a hand in greeting and silently prayed that he hadn’t seen Jack with her. “Hey there, Chief Sousa! Are you enjoying your lunch break?”

“Not exactly, I had to finish up some paperwork on a joint case and deliver it to this precinct’s Captain.” Daniel gestured to the building with the hand holding his briefcase. “I thought I recognized your car when I pulled up. What’re you doing in this part of town?”

She gave him a tight smile and tried her hardest to stop her hands from nervously fidgeting. “I just had lunch at the diner around the corner. If you’re looking for something to eat later, I’d definitely recommend the chicken noodle soup.”

“I’ll be sure to give it a try,” The chief’s grin faded a little as he examined the steps leading up to the precinct with obvious apprehension. “If I survive these steps, that is.”

“Well, um, would you like some help getting up?”

“So, Agent, you’re presuming that since I’m handicapped I automatically need help doing things?”

(Y/N) felt the color leave her face and all thoughts of concealing Jack’s presence flew out of her mind as she hastily replied, “O-of course not, Chief, I just-”

Her rambling was interrupted by Daniel’s chuckle. “Relax, (Y/L/N), I was only messing with you; I lost my leg during the war, not my sense of humor! And to answer your question, yes, a little help would be appreciated. I don’t have any trouble getting down steps with this thing, but going up? It’s a genuine pain in the ass.”

“Okay, then.” (Y/N) slipped her arm into the crook of Daniel’s before they began making their slow trek up the steps, the clicking of his metal crutch on the stone filling the silence. “Do you mind if I ask you-?”

“-How I lost it?” Daniel finished the question and she sheepishly nodded. “Well, I was a reconnaissance scout in the 28th Infantry and during the Siege of Bastogne, a few of us scouts were pinned down by enemy fire. I got hit in the leg by some shrapnel and by the time the others got me to a medic, there was no saving it.”

(Y/N) nodded again. “I’ve heard stories about that battle. You’re one of the lucky ones, you know.”

That made Daniel grin. “Oh, I know. Peggy never lets me forget it. Somedays it doesn’t feel like it – like when I have to navigate some tricky steps or when Thompson takes one too many jabs at my leg – but when I remember that everything that’s happened to me in the past has led me to her, well…it makes things a little bit easier.” They finally reached the top of the steps and (Y/N) released his arms once she was sure he was steady. “Thank you for the help, but do you think you can keep this under wraps for me? The last thing I want is Thompson to make some more cracks about us in the office…”

“Of course.” Although she had kept her gaze on Daniel the entire time, (Y/N) knew that Jack had seen and possibly heard everything that had transpired; good, she thought to herself, he deserves to hear exactly how his careless words can affect others. They’d forgiven one another for the things they’d said out of anger, true, but a small part of her was reluctant to forgive the hurtful jab that had only served to remind her of her traumatic past. “Well, I should start heading back to the office. I’ll see you later, Chief Sousa.”

She turned to head back down the steps but halted when Daniel called her name once again. When she turned back around, he had an awkward expression on his face. “I haven’t had much of a chance to talk to you alone since you re-joined the SSR but since you’re here now…Peggy told me a little about what you went through during the war and what happened to…well, I just wanted to offer you my condolences.”

“T-thank you, Chief.” (Y/N) gave him what she hoped had been a smile of gratitude before turning on her heel and hurrying back down the steps, ignoring the twinge of pain her quick movements brought the almost-healed wound beneath her skirt. By the time she reached the car, Jack had already gotten in and based on the clouded expression on his face, he’d heard everything they’d said on the steps. I can’t deal with this right now, she sighed inwardly but got into the driver’s seat with an overly-cheerful grin. “Ready to go, Flyboy?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that evening, (Y/N) and Jack sat in the cozy living room of Stark’s mansion and worked on the case, Jack lounging on a sofa as he read through the files Henry had provided them and (Y/N) sitting cross-legged on the floor as she flicked through her translation journals. At the other end of the room were Edwin and Ana, entirely focused on their Benny Goodman radio program as they sat together on another sofa.

The familiar strains of music helped (Y/N) relax and after a while, she noticed that the tension between her and Jack seemed to have disappeared altogether. The silence during the ride back to the office and to Howard’s mansion had been incredibly awkward, and (Y/N) knew it had been because they both were thinking about her and Daniel’s exchange. I’m not going to discuss it unless he brings it up first, (Y/N) thought firmly as she pushed her reading glasses back up the bridge of her nose, we’ve only just moved past our differences and something that touchy might send us right back to square one.

“Another excellent program by Mr. Goodman!” Ana’s exclamation brought (Y/N) out of her silent rumination and she looked up from her work just as the couple stood and yawned. “Well, goodnight Miss (Y/L/N), Chief Thompson.”

“Yes, and try not to make too much noise; tomorrow is silver-polishing day.”

Jack mumbled distractedly, his eyes still trained on the files, so (Y/N) gave the tired couple a small wave. “Goodnight.” Once she heard the faint sound of their bedroom door being closed, she fell sideways with a small groan and rolled so that she was laying on her back. “I think I’m starting to hate codebreaking.”

She could hear Jack’s smirk in his voice as he replied, “I take it Michael’s got you stumped again?”

“…Maybe. I’m sure I’ll have better luck if I look at this tomorrow.” She rolled to her side and rested her head in her hand to look at him. “Have you had any luck with those files?”

“Not really, I think I’m in the same boat as you right now. I’ll give Agent Cabrera a ring tomorrow morning and see if he can’t dig up anything more on Fieldman in the New York files; it’s a long shot, but our office has a bigger collection of files than the West Coast SSR does so something might show up.” Snapping the file closed and tossing it onto the ground, he sat up on the couch and stretched out his arms. “You know, back in New York, Sousa and I would go out drinking if we ever got stuck on a case. We’d put the case out of our minds and relax so that when we took another crack at it, it would be with a fresh perspective.”

“As great as that sounds, Chief Sousa asked us to come in early tomorrow to help catalogue the records room; that means no drinking tonight, Flyboy.”

Jack let out a frustrated sigh. “Sousa’s turned into a real stick in the mud since moving out here.” They began silently putting loose papers back into their files and just as (Y/N) finished packing up her briefcase, Jack cleared his throat to get her attention. “I remember Carter mentioning the other week that you solve easy codes to relax and unwind so I was thinking…well, if you ever need a break from Michael’s codes, you could always teach me a little. About codebreaking, I mean.”

Taken aback by his words, (Y/N) turned to face him. “You want to learn about codebreaking? You, Lieutenant Junior Grade Thompson, want me to teach you about codes?”

“You don’t have to sound so goddamn surprised about it.” Before he turned away from her, (Y/N) caught a glimpse of the look of annoyance and hurt on his face, and she quickly realized she’d inadvertently touched a nerve with her teasing. “Just forget I said anything, okay?”

“Thompson, wait-”

“I said forget it.”

“But I didn’t-”

He whirled around to face her again and the next few sentences seemed to explode out of him. “You know, everyone thinks that I’m just this big dumb war hero, that all I’ll ever be is some fat-head bully with a Navy Cross, and I’m getting sick of it!

“Jack, I didn’t mean to-”

“They all think that I’m this guy that I never was! They expect me to act a certain way, to be a soldier always and forever without thinking about what I want!” Breathing hard through his clenched teeth, Jack’s eyes searched her face and after a moment, his tense shoulders sagged and his blue eyes lowered. “And…it’s getting harder and harder to live with the shit man I’ve become because of it.”

The tension in the air was thick as they both stood absolutely still, Jack staring intently at the carpeted ground and (Y/N) studied her clasped hands. Being confronted by his past words and actions earlier that day had obviously caused Jack to feel guilt, something that was also gnawing at (Y/N); since the moment she’d met him, she had a very specific and narrow idea of who he was that had been based entirely on her past experiences with men in power and the opinions of others, but now it was clear to see that she’d unfairly and prematurely misjudged the man before her. Along with the rest of the world, it seems, she thought to herself with a twinge of sadness and shame.

(Y/N) glanced up and, after a moment’s hesitation, reached forward and rested a gentle hand on Jack’s forearm. His gaze quickly rose to meet hers and an understanding seemed to pass between them as Jack’s eyes softened; (Y/N) didn’t realize she was softly smiling until she spoke. “We’ll start with the Caesar Shift code and go from there.” He gave her a nod and she moved away to grab her hat and briefcase, murmuring a quick farewell before turning to leave.

“Hey, Specs.” She turned to see a hint of Jack’s familiar grin light up his face as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t go easy on me, okay?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Flyboy.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! If you haven’t checked it out yet, I created a Spotify playlist for this series and I’ll be updating it every time I upload a new chapter.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/21pWY7OiMFj8LaYpxhtVtW

Chapter Ten

“Specs and the Flyboy” Masterlist

Tagging: @nnon-it-up @fluffymadamina @remmyswritings @ourstarsailor @darkusangelus @josis-teacup @marvel-jackt-loki-buck @yeetyeetchickenmeat @sameoldbaby @theserenityspace @seeing-but-not-observing @supervoldejaygent @momc95 @brooke0297 @kinda-c0nfused @outoftheregular @mads-weasley

#jack thompson x reader #agent carter #jack thompson #daniel sousa #michael carter #marvel cinematic universe #strategic scientific reserve

84 notes · View notes

olivemac · 3 years

Text

heartbeat | chapter two | b.b.

Summary | When Steve Rogers asks Kate Stark to find the Winter Soldier, she gets too involved.

Notes | Captain America: Civil War re-write, essentially. Starts just after the events of CA: Winter Soldier.

Pairing | Bucky Barnes x fem!oc, Bucky Barnes x Stark!oc

Genre | romance

Rating | explicit

Story Warnings | angst, fluff, romance tropes, so many romance tropes, coarse language, alcohol use, canon-typical violence , smut (m/f), oral sex (f&m receiving), 18+ ONLY

Chapter Warnings | coarse language

master list | AO3 link

_____

prev chapter

_____

Kate is on the next commercial flight to Bucharest. She's worried Bucky will move on before she can get to him, but she knows Tony would never approve of the use of one of his jets to chase down an ex-assassin in hiding. The less he knows, the better. Which is why she told him she was escaping to Europe for a long respite after feeling oh so overwhelmed with her work at Stark Industries.

Tony barely bats an eye when she told him. There were some advantages to being Tony Starks' baby sister. The first being he feels guilty about his ineptness at raising her after their parents' death and would literally let her get away with murder. The second is an almost unlimited bank account left to her by her father and supplemented by Tony's previously mentioned guilt.

Kate Stark was her mother’s mid-life crisis. Maria, three decades younger than her husband, had – at forty-two years old – decided she wanted another baby. Tony, who was eighteen at the time, had balked at the idea. But Howard relented and called in the best team of fertility doctors money could buy, and Kate was born.

She doesn't remember her parents, not really. She was only three when they died, and she doesn't remember that event either. Though she was there, in the car, when it crashed on Long Island.

Tony's only ever spoken to her about it once, after she accused him of hating her for surviving when their parents died. Really, he hated that he survived.

When rescue workers arrived at the scene of the wreck, they found her parents dead in the front seat and her tucked safely into her car seat in the back, bundled up against the December cold. She was an orphan, and Tony, at twenty-one, was suddenly responsible for a toddler.

So, he did the only thing he could think of. He hired a series of nannies to raise her, then sent her off to boarding school as soon as she was old enough, all the while playing genius, billionaire playboy.

He wasn’t surprised when it turned out she was just as smart as him or their father. And it surprised him less when she followed in his footsteps and attended MIT. What did surprise him was when she started hacking government databases for fun. She only agreed to work for him at Stark Industries in exchange for him not sticking Rhodey on her after she released documents regarding the US Air Force‘s involvement in some less that savory overseas dealings.

On the plane, she starts an email to Steve telling him where she was headed and what she had found. Then she deletes it and starts over. Then deletes that. She chews her thumbnail and thinks. If she tells Steve where Bucky is, he'll come blazing in, shield at the ready, and Bucky will.... She doesn’t know what Bucky will do, but she has a feeling the encounter would end with a fight and Bucky running. Which will kill Steve. Again. So, she decides she doesn't need to tell Steve – not right away. She'll see if she can figure out what Bucky remembers – if anything – before telling Steve where he is.

_____

A little over forty-eight hours after her software found Bucky, Kate is assembling IKEA furniture in her new studio apartment in Romania. Getting the landlord to lease her the empty flat next to Bucky's was easy enough when Kate offered him double what he was asking in rent. He was discreet enough to not ask any questions. Most of the people in the building were hiding from something so a young American woman who paid cash upfront wasn't the most unusual thing he'd dealt with.

She makes her bed, unpacks her suitcase, and re-reads the Winter Soldier file. That night she dreams of her parents and the wreck that killed them. In the dream there's always a man outside of the car, but she can never see his face. Her father begs for help: "Help my wife, my daughter. Please. Help."

She wakes up sweating, a scream caught in her throat.

_____

The apartment next to his is no longer empty. Bucky can hear music and soft footsteps through the paper-thin walls. If he focuses his hearing, he can hear a heartbeat other than his own, but he's working to turn off the super soldier reflexes, so he tries to ignore it. He's enjoyed the silence that the empty apartment afforded him, and he hopes the new tenant isn’t as nosy as his neighbor in Kiev who had asked so many questions. He hadn't stayed long after that meeting.

Around two in the morning, he wakes to the sound of a strangled cry from his new neighbor. Bucky sits up straight, suddenly on alert. He listens closely, focusing for the sounds of a struggle, but he only hears the unfamiliar heartbeat. His neighbor was having a nightmare, he imagines. He had plenty of those himself.

Sometimes he was staring down the barrel of a gun, his only intent to kill. Other nightmares took him back to the HYDRA base and their machine that scrambled his thoughts over and over again. And others found him falling from a train, the blonde man from the Triskelion reaching out toward him. He always wakes up just before he hits the icy river he knows awaits him.

Bucky knows now that the blonde man is Steve Rogers. Without HYDRA's influence, he's started to remember more: flashes of Steve and a group called the Howling Commandos during the war, but also flashes of Steve before the war, smaller, shorter. And flashes of a family – his family – a father, a mother, a sister. Rebecca. The name comes to him one afternoon while he's browsing the used bookstore near his flat.

He's started eating plums and jogging to improve his memory. He isn't sure if it's helping, but the memories are becoming longer and more frequent. He sees himself with Steve at Coney Island, riding the Cyclone until Steve lost his lunch and Bucky laughed so hard tears were streaming down his face, and he sees himself flirting with an auburn-haired combat nurse in Italy, following her back to her tent and undressing her slowly.

He wakes the next morning feeling restless. He had slept in fits and starts, listening for any more disturbances from next door. None came.

He dresses and goes for a run, and when he returns, he catches his first glimpse of his new neighbor. She's coming out of her apartment, her face turned downward toward her phone. When he reaches the top of the stairs, she lifts her head and smiles. Bucky is struck by how pretty she is, a thought he hasn't let himself have since leaving HYDRA. He turns away quickly and slams the door to his own apartment. He doesn't need pink lips and dark curls reminding him of what he can never have again. He's too broken for her, or anyone else for that matter.

_____

Bucky has seen his new neighbor more times in five days than he's seen anyone else in the building over the past two months. They always seem to be coming or going at the same time.

The first time he actually speaks to her, she's dropping groceries up the stairs from a rip in her canvas bag.

"Fuck," she mutters as an apple rolls beneath the railing and falls to the landing below.

Bucky has a brief vision of her uttering that same word while his head is buried between her legs, but he shakes if off quickly.

"Let me," he says in English, scooping up some rogue potatoes and taking the bag from her.

"Thanks," she says before unlocking her door and holding it open for him.

Her apartment is the same layout as his – one room, with a tiny bathroom at the front and a small kitchen along the back wall. He sets the bag of groceries on the kitchen counter and steps back.

"I should—"

"Thank you—"

They both speak at the same time. Bucky bows his head and motions for her to continue.

"Thank you for your help." She pauses. "And it's nice to speak English for a change. My Romanian is atrocious," she laughs. "How’d you guess?"

"All the music you listen to is in English," he replies brusquely.

She cringes. "Sorry. I'll turn it down."

"No," he says, "It's fine. Really."

There's an awkward pause as they both stare at each other.

Bucky breaks the silence first. "I should go."

"Right." She leads him to the door. "Thanks."

Bucky nods.

When his own apartment door closes behind him, he sighs and scrubs his right hand over his face. He needs to avoid her. He doesn't need anything to distract him from regaining his memories, and he certainly doesn't need to get close to someone he'll inevitably hurt. He doesn’t even begin let himself entertain the thought that she could be a HYDRA agent waiting to turn him in.

_____

Later that evening, he's startled by a knock at his door. When he peers into the hallway, there's a plate of food on the floor, covered with a cloth and a note. He picks it up.

Thanks for saving my groceries.

- Kate

Bucky considers the possibilities that she is a HYDRA agent and the food is poisoned, but he decides it's unlikely HYDRA would take that approach. If anything, they would want their soldier back, and if they didn't, they wouldn't kill him quickly. Also, he can't remember the last time he had a home-cooked meal – definitely before the war – and he’s starving. Protein bars aren’t really cutting it anymore.

He studies the note as he eats. He runs his fingers over the name written in curling handwriting: Kate, and debates what his next move should be. He needs to ignore her – for her own safety – but his mother raised a gentleman so he should at least thank her for dinner, right?

_____

Kate nearly steps on the plate when she leaves her flat the next morning for a run. It’s sitting right at her doorway, clean, the dish towel she had with it folded with a note peeking out.

Kate,

You’re welcome. Thank you for dinner.

- Bucky

If she knew how long Bucky had agonized over whether to write back, she probably would have cried. Kate definitely would have cried if she knew he had debated whether or not to sign the note “Bucky” or “James.” He’s been using James at any off-the-books odd jobs he can get, but with his memories returning, he’s been feeling more like the Bucky Steve referred to in DC.

_____

Kate makes a potato soup that night and leaves it outside his door sans note. She brings him dinner for a week straight before she asks him to dine with her.

"Come over,” she says the next time they pass in the hall.

"What?" Bucky freezes.

"Come over tonight,” Kate repeats, “for dinner.”

"Why?" He sounds rude. He should really work on that, but she’s caught him in one of his broodier moods after another sleepless night.

"Why not?” she shrugs. “I have wine."

He’s staring at her. He realizes he needs to stop staring at her and answer.

“Okay.”

“Seven thirty?” she suggests.

"Okay," he replies.

"Okay," she laughs.

For a second, Bucky wonders if she's laughing at him, but there's a softness in her eyes that makes him think not. Talking to women used to be easy, he thinks. It took him hours to come up with the simplest response to her note the other night, and now he can't even form a sentence in front of her. He spends the rest of the day worrying he's made a huge mistake in accepting her invitation.

He's not the only one. Kate has half a mind to call it all off, phone Steve, and get on the next plane back to New York. What if he doesn't remember anything? What if he's still the Winter Soldier? She has a brief vision of Bucky snapping and wrapping that metal hand he's been hiding around her throat – and not in a fun way. But when he knocks on her door at seven thirty, she thinks she might actually die from how sweet he looks.

"Hi," she says.

"Hi," he responds, running his tongue over his lips nervously.

They're caught in another awkward moment of just staring at each other when she finally invites him.

The old Bucky would have bought flowers and then made some quip about how the flowers aren't nearly as beautiful as she is, but this Bucky – post-HYDRA Bucky – feels like he's forgotten how to interact with women at all and his tongue has suddenly turned to lead.

Kate's debated how much to reveal about herself. Finally, she decides she'll tell him everything. Well, mostly everything. He doesn't need to know that she's a Stark or friends with Steve Rogers or here on some crazy rescue mission to save the Winter Soldier because maybe, just maybe, she read his file one too many times and got caught up in the look in Steve's eyes when he talked about Bucky. No, he doesn't need to know that.

Kate's also considered how much to ask him about himself. She wants to know what – if anything – he remembers, but she also doesn't want to give herself away by revealing she knows who he really is. And she doubts he’ll tell her outright. The fact that he signed the note Bucky seems like a good indication that his memories are returning, though.

"How long have you been in Bucharest, Bucky?" she asks, plating their dinner.

"Almost two months," he says.

"Here for work?" she asks casually.

"Uh...it's complicated," he says, scratching at the back of his neck. "You?"

She looks up at him. "It's complicated."

They're staring at each other again, and Bucky has to force himself to look away.

"Family?" she asks.

"Also complicated," he says. God, he thinks, he sounds like a jackass. But it's not like he can tell her he's a ninety-eight-year-old ex-assassin in hiding so his family is probably long dead.

She motions for him to sit at her small kitchen table and sets a plate in front of him.

"You're not hiding a wedding ring under those gloves, are you?" she asks, a smirk on her lips. She knows about his arm; she just wants to see what he’ll give away.

He blushes and looks at his hands. Then he realizes he's taking too long to answer, and she probably thinks he's an idiot. "No... uh...no. No," he finally says without elaborating.

Kate can sense he's nervous so she does what Tony would do in a situation like this and just keeps talking. She tells him about Tony – minus the Stark detail. She talks about MIT and New York and the last book she read. He listens closely, laughing softly when she makes jokes and asking questions where appropriate. He likes the way her lips look when they form his name and the way her eyes light up at her own humor.

When they finish eating, Bucky helps her wash dishes. She considers asking him to stay, watch a movie or something, but then she thinks maybe she should take this slowly, not overwhelm him, so she bids him goodnight and closes the door behind him.

Bucky thinks Kate might be the most beautiful woman he’s ever seen. Then he thinks that might be because she’s the first woman he’s interacted with in so long. Either way, he tries not to think of her that night when his body remembers what it's like to be a man.

He decides that staying away from her would be too hard.

On the other side of the wall, she’s thinking of him, too. She hadn't expected his eyes to be so impossibly blue. She had stared at the black and white military photo for hours, but seeing him in person, she was caught in the Arctic waters that made up his eyes.

_____

next chapter

#bucky barnes #james buchanan barnes #james bucky barnes #sergeant barnes #bucky barnes x oc #bucky x oc #bucky barnes x ofc #bucky x ofc #bucky fic #bucky fanfic #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes smut #bucky barnes romance

31 notes · View notes

finitepeace · 3 years

Text

this week i read...

Darling, Keep the Lights On (Until I Get Home) by capsicleironman 💙

Summary: When Steve Rogers is awoken from the ice early, he is assigned as the personal assistant to Tony Stark, the man on TV with the strange glowing light in his chest. The plan was simple - protect and gain intel. It was supposed to be just another job, but then again, nothing in Steve's life has ever gone according to plan.

Iron Man 2 Divergence where Steve ends up working for Tony instead of Natasha, and his interest first in the arc reactor and then in Tony himself, leads him through the events of the Avengers, Iron Man 3, and Captain America 2.

17k words

It's Only Half Past (The Point of Oblivion) by LadyHabren (equalopportunityobsessor)

Summary: "I think it's generally agreed that all of Steve's senses are powered up by the serum? He can hear people whispering on the other side of the room, probably sees a hell of a lot further, etc.

But there are definite downsides. How does Steve control this side effect of the serum?"

Captain America is more than a man - he is a hero, he is an ideal, he is pure muscle held together by patriotism and moral fibre... And not even Captain America can fight it when his own brain turns against him.

4k, sentinel/guide au, not set in mcu,

Do-Over by gottalovev 💙

Summary: Steve woke up six months ago into a future that leaves him indifferent. There is work, and not much else. His current mission is a basic search and rescue operation to retrieve an American who was kidnapped by a terrorist group ten days ago. He won't let the fact that the hostage is Howard's son be a distraction.

14k words, ironman 1 - 2 but with steve on it!,

Calls Me Home by steve-capsicle-rogers (adorable_lab_rat)

Summary: Tony can't help but notice the far away look on Steve's face. The visible pain and loss. It wasn't right and giving Steve back everything he'd lost was the right choice. The right thing. And honestly Tony didn't do the right thing near enough.

9k words, post avenger 1, tony time travels to victory day with steve to make him happy

Memorial by hanyou_elf

Summary: Here rests in honored glory an American Soldier known but to God.

Steve visits Arlington's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in lieu of visting the tombs of those he's lost.

600+ words, steve visits his grave and tony supports

Damaged by orphan_account

Summary: Prompt: Can you write a story where Tony is having heart problems again even after the shrapnel and arc reactor is removed, like he needs a pacemaker or something please? :)

Steve is worried about Tony after the doctor tells them Tony needs a pacemaker. Tony being Tony decides to build something better.

2k words, arc reactor + health problem

Warning by laireshi

Summary: Tony's left arm hurts.

100 words, angst post-civil war au

Told You Dirty Jokes Until You Smiled by ChibiSquirt 💙

Summary: Steve was waiting at light, casually checking out the man in the car behind him, when his phone pinged.

75k words. WIP T_T . steve is cap but tony isnt ironman (yet?). steve is awaken before ironman 1 and meets tony, proceed to have friends with benefits arrangement...

blood, Lies, and Love by Ridley160

Summary: When Steve Rogers volunteered for Project Rebirth they told him they would make him a hero. No one bothered to tell him that the serum would change him into a monster that needed to feed on the blood of the living for survival. Now he has woken up 70 years in a future where there are more like him and his affliction is now seen as gift. Only Steve is convinced that he is at his core still just a monster.

Then he meets the brilliant, quirky and charismatic Tony Stark, the only person in this crazy new world that seems to understand Steve's misgivings about what he is, but Tony is haunted by something. A secret he has carefully guarded for many years that forced him to push everyone away.

33k words in 13 chapters, steve is cap + a vampire but tony isnt ironman,

Blood Loss by wisia

Summary: The serum really did work a miracle. It created Captain America, and Tony would like the serum to work a miracle on him too. If only he didn’t fall in love.

5k words, set in captain america 1st avenger, tony is scientist/adventurer looking for a cure for his heart problem

scientific Heresy by antigrav_vector

Summary: In the process of running the particle accelerator in his basement and fixing the arc reactor, Tony finds himself flung into the past where he has to take on a fight not his own if he wants to get home to stop Vanko. At least he had a chance to replace the old rector that had been killing him with the new one before everything went sideways... But now he has no choice but to face off with family, friends, and old heroes, and none of that sounds remotely appealing. Well, okay, getting to meet them all during their glory days kinda does.

But as it turns out, they're not exactly what he imagined, and his path home is a lot longer than he'd hoped it would be.

And a lot more complicated.

34k words in 12 chapters, time travel au @ cap 1 and ironman 2, steve/tony/bucky

we will meet in another life by theappleppielifestyle

Summary: Tony is there instead of Howard during Project Rebirth. He ends up following Steve into the Howling Commandos, into the Atlantic ocean and into the 21st century.

6k words, canon divergence.

Keep on Beating by itsallAvengers

Summary: There were an awful lot of things Steve loved about Tony. But one thing in particular Steve could never get enough of was his heartbeat.

6k words, self-sacrificing tony strikes again and steve is upset.. so tony comes to a solution...

Coming Up Roses by NobodysBloodyPrincess 💙

Summary: Those with a death wish referred to the High Commander’s infatuation with the late Tony Stark as an ‘obsession.’ They were wrong. It had to be more than that, after all there was no word for what the High Commander was about do in the name of making things right.

No one gets a redo of life… no one except High Commander Rogers that is. Everything is coming up Roses and Sunshine for him. After all, he has a dream and it’s going to come true.

41k words in 3 chapters, beautiful but a bit dark and sad, just like the author said: “‘i’ll be with you till the end of line’ but stony”, definitely one of the best fic i’ve read because THEY ARE HAPPY T_T

The One With Bucky's Biggest Fan by justanotherpipedream

Summary: Steve still can’t believe how long it took for him to notice. It wasn’t a secret really, just something that no one had cared to ask...it honestly took Rhodey pulling him aside and pulling out an old photo album, before Steve really understood.

Tony Stark was a Bucky Barnes fan.

(aka The one where Tony is the biggest Bucky Barnes fanboy, Steve is a supportive boyfriend, and Bucky is perplexed by it all.)

2k words, it’s all in the summary

Sins of the Mother by skullshy 💙

Summary: All she could see when her eyes closed was Steve’s face in the courtroom. Stern, pained— with that fucking all-American self-righteousness.

Toni wondered for years whether it would have made a difference. Told him that she was pregnant, that Ultron was to protect their baby, and how sorry she was.

On her worst days, she imagined it wouldn’t have mattered.

23k words in 23 chapters, female tony stark, civil war (or age of ultron?) canon divergence

So this is bonded life by Captainstark12

Summary: Steve had been protecting the human village from hydra creatures like him for five years. And now he was ready to take his prize as he had the privilege of choosing an omega to bear his child. Hopefully his chosen omega human would want him back as much as he wanted him

4k in 6 chapters, mythology au

I don't think there's a manual for this by itsallAvengers

Summary: So. His son can stick to things, apparently.

If only Tony had realised this before he'd caught him hanging off the 89th floor of the tower.

Well. Parenting was never going to be a smooth road, was it?

2k words, stony adopts peter parker and then they become superfamily

For Your Eyes Only by SarahHBE

Summary: Every soldier looks forward to mail call. But Alpha Steve Rogers gets a big surprise with the letter his Omega, Tony Stark, has sent him.

2k words, explicit bcs of sexual content

It Was Just A Matter Of Time by babynative

Summary: The clock was ticking. And then, black.

719 words, civil war canon divergence, angst

This Can't Be The Last by MusicalLuna

Summary: Hours after a mission ends, Tony's heart starts to race.

1k words, tony had a heart attack, but not angst!

The Billionaire and the Army Captain by Neverever

Summary: Facing finanical ruin and needing to care for his sick daughter, Steve Rogers agrees to marry Tony Stark, who needs to get married by his 30th birthday to inherit. It's just a job for Steve until he starts to fall for the enigmatic billionaire.

12k words, non-powers au,

Adopt by greenteeth 💙

Summary: Steve's life is the same as usual. He goes to work, fights super villains, banters with other Avengers and goes home to an empty apartment. Until the son of an old friend shows up asking for help, well sex first, then help. Suddenly Steve is married, fighting super villains, worrying what Obadiah Stane and coming home to Tony most nights of the week.

42k words in 17 chapters, ABO, tony is not iron man, the story is complete but it’s a part of series that seems to never see the light T_T

The Act of Creation Will Be Your Salvation by scifigrl47 💙

Summary: When Tony Stark was seventeen years old, he built his first AI. On that day, he ceased to be his father's creation, and became a creating force in his own right.

That one act likely saved his life, and not always in the most obvious ways.

84k words in 8 chapters, stony but mostly looking through his AI bots a.k.a. jarvis and dum-e, definitely one of the best fics ever!

Bewitched, Body and Soul by iam93percentstardust

Summary: Almost ten years after joining the British Army, Steve Rogers returns to his childhood home after his mother's death. The house seems quiet in a way that it's rarely been. But the peace is shattered when his oldest friend stumbles into his home and into his life, seeking an escape from an arranged marriage to a cruel lord. Steve provides that escape but finds himself engaged to be married instead. This wouldn't be a problem - except that Steve is, always has been, and always will be deeply in love with Tony Stark.

16k words, regency AU, ABO, the classic stony misunderstanding trope

Right place, right time by hkandi, ralsbecket

Summary: An alternate take on the Captain America: The First Avenger movie. Tony is working with his dad to help out the SSR on this new project, though he and Steve happen to run into each other before that, and sparks fly from the start.

8k, CA: First avenger AU with tony stark present

#stevetony #stony #fics read

30 notes · View notes

space-nerd2005 · 3 years

Text

Maybe She’s Got a Friend-Chapter 2

After a very long wait, ITS HERE!!! This chapter is longer than the first one to hopefully make up for how long it took to come out.

Here is a link to the playlist I made to go along with it

This is the chapter Reader meet Bucky. YAY!!!

2176 words

“I'm terrified out of my mind! Although Steve did just fine, that doesn't mean I will be as fortunate. I have to go. If I don’t make it, tell Peggy I’m sorry. 08.19.41” I quickly shoved my pen in my pocket and shut my journal. Steve opened the door for me and I exited the car. I walked alongside Steve down a long corridor leading to large double doors. My heart was beating a million miles a minute. I was extremely anxious about the life-changing procedure. I had always been an anxious person, being in the SSR only made that worse. Steve spoke my name softly and I looked up to him and hummed in response.

“I can feel the anxiety radiating off of you, we can sit for a minute if that's what you need,” I smiled at Steve and nodded. Since I met him, he has had striking charisma. Even before the serum, he always knew when he needed to calm someone down. He led me to a bench nearby and sat next to me. "What if it fails, or worse, what if I'm still viewed in the same way once it's over?" I looked up at Steve. He had a sympathetic look on his face. My knee was bouncing up and down and I was playing with the rings on my fingers. Steve placed his hand on my knee, stopping it from bouncing, and grabbed my hand, holding it softly in his. “I know you are worried, but everything will work out okay," he said, holding eye contact with me.

“I just want to serve alongside those who have put their lives on the line for our country, not be a poster girl.” Steve smiled and that confused me. He spoke up after a moment of demented silence.

“You are one of the strongest women I know, this serum won't change much. You must force the change; believe me, I know what it's like to be pushed aside for being something you did not choose to be.” I took a deep breath and resolved to bury my emotions. Steve rose to his feet, and I soon followed. “Let's do this!” I smiled, and Steve returned my smile. Together, we marched into the lab. All eyes soon landed on Steve and I blushed, all of my nervous energy rushing back to me. Steve walked me down the stairs to Dr. Erskine. “Please take your uniform off, and ignore the judging stares. They are only wishing they were you.” The doctor whispered into my ear. I started to strip down when Howard Stark came up to me. “You are one lucky gal.” I faked a smile and continued working on taking my uniform off. “Just make sure you take out all of your hairpins; they could be bad for the procedure,” Stark said softly, and I nodded. I made sure to double-check I took all of my bobby pins. I took a deep breath before sitting down in the Vita-Ray Chamber. I quickly scanned the room for Peggy. My eyes danced on Steve for a second longer before returning to look for Peggy. I had no luck. She must have not made it. A deep sad feeling struck my heart. There wasn’t much of an audience this time and you could tell that Colonel Phillips was not happy with Erskine’s choice in subjects. I could hear them arguing when Dr. Erskine came to brief me on the procedure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I told you I wanted an army, and a woman, THIS woman can’t fight my battles for me!” Colonel Phillips could be heard down the hall from Dr. Erskine’s office. I was sitting outside because I was called for a briefing for tomorrow. “I assure you, Colonel, that she will be a wonderful asset to your team. I would like to see how the female anatomy reacts to the serum.” Dr. Erskine replied calmly. “If you don’t think for a minute that the government will defund our department.” The door to the doctor’s office flew open and the Colonel stormed off. I could have sworn I saw a shocked look on his face like he wasn’t expecting me to be there, but he quickly covered it up with his angry façade. After the Colonel had been long gone, Dr. Erskine invited me in.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My daze was broken by a nurse suddenly sticking a needle in my arm. I smiled at her as she walked away. Then other nurses began to prep the chamber by adding the remaining six vials of the serum. The doctor then motioned me to lay down and two more nurses strapped me to the bed and brought two arms down to my chest. Steve gave my hand one last squeeze before being escorted up into the box above us. The doctor gave me a pleading look. I nodded and he smiled and turned to a nurse, "Now." Dr. Erskine backed away and my vision went blurry for the first seconds I felt numb. I wasn’t even sure it was working. Then the pain hit me like a train. It felt like lava was running through my veins. It was so quick and before I knew it, it flipped, like a switch. Suddenly, it was cold, I was freezing. My eyes snapped open and I let out a low-pitched scream. Then everything went dark. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. The next thing I see are sparks. There are sparks everywhere. Then a jolt of electricity runs in my veins and the last thing I remember hearing was a loud bang, followed by multiple smaller bangs. My memory went quiet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next thing I remember is waking up in a bright room. My eyes were hazy and I couldn’t focus on anything in the room. I see a hunched-over object in the chair next to my bed. My eyes focused a little bit and I realized it was Steve. I reached my hand out and grabbed Steve’s arm. He jolted up and I got a glimpse of his face. He looked extremely tired. I frowned at him, “Steve, you look like you’ve been through hell and back.” My raspy voice seemed to snap him awake because he stood up. “Oh my,” he took a pause and looked guilty. “You’re probably wondering what happened.” I tried to think back to what happened that fateful day. Steve spoke up and I lost my train of thought. “Something happened in the chamber, causing you to pass out. Then a HYDRA agent’s bomb blew up, he shot the doctor and I chased him down. He ended up killing himself with a cyanide capsule.” I was trying to process what Steve had just told me when Peggy stormed in and smiled at me.

“You’re quite the looker," she chuckled, and I rolled my eyes. I’m sure my appearance was super attractive. “Steve, I think James needs you. I’ll watch her while you are gone.” She smiled and we both watched as he left. She looked at me and took Steve’s spot on the chair next to the bed. “What’s wrong with Steve?” I asked. Peggy frowned and looked at me, saying, "I suppose you did miss it all. Well, this whole week has been super hard for all of us, but especially Steve. He blamed himself for everything that happened on Tuesday. Then he found out that his best friend, James, or as most call him, ‘Bucky’ was declared MIA. Steve went to the HYDRA base and reclaimed those soldiers.” It had been quite the week. “Oh.” was all I could muster. Peggy smiled and said, "Your doctor said you could probably leave tomorrow, depending on how you feel. "Nothing too serious." She said this as she smiled at me again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the next week, I was released from the hospital and back in action, well sorta… I am currently in a lab having experiments tested on me like I'm a lab rat. Currently, they are testing my strength. I was sparring with an extremely buff man and I was starting to run low on stamina. I don’t think that the serum affected me the same as it did Steve because I don’t have more muscle content and my stamina feels about the same. Lost in thought I didn’t realize that the man was charging at me. I panicked and put my hands out and braced my feet closing my eyes. I felt a rush wind before a loud thud. I opened my eyes and found that the man who was coming full force at me, seizing on the ground with gold electricity buzzing along with his figure. I looked at my hands and they were shooting small streams of electricity between my fingers. A few doctors ran in and tended to the man while another walked up to me. He was frightened by me because he stood a couple of feet away from me “How did you do that?” he asked while holding his clipboard up to his face ready to take notes. “I-I-I’m not sure, I imagined beating him in a fight and I opened my eyes and he was on the ground.” He looked at me and frowned. “If you could learn how to control that, you alone could be the downfall of the Axis Powers.” I smiled, ‘yes yes I could’ I said to myself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After that encounter I started to practice using my newfound electrokinesis, I wasn’t very good at it but I could muster up big charges that took a lot of damage but also took a lot of energy. I had finally been recruited for an actual military mission. It was to get some HYDRA intel. Steve and I had talked previously about me leaving and he said that if I did it successfully, he would let me join his group The Howling Commandos. I was excited because that meant I could go on missions, let alone important missions, with Steve. I knew I couldn't fail this mission. After being beaten the shit out of, I came home to an impatient Peggy. I explained that the mission was successful and she exclaimed with “Good, I could go for a nice meal and I know you could too. Let's get you changed and we will go out.” She smiled and I swear her smiles are contagious because I caught myself smiling brightly back at her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After showering, fixing my hair, and slipping into a blue Grable tea dress Peggy and I decided to head out. As we were catching up she pulled in at a bar and I let out a sigh, “I thought we were going to dinner.” Peggy grabbed her clutch and looked at me “I just need to tell Steve about Howard’s equipment, care to join?” I looked at her as she got out of the car and I decided why not, I haven’t seen Steve in a week, I kinda missed him. “I will be right there,” I told her as she entered the bar. Since Peggy was rushing me I didn’t even have time to put my shoes on. So I hopped out of the car barefooted and rushed into the bar. Immediately when I entered there was some singing and I was hit with a strong smell of alcohol. I was fumbling with my heels as I was getting closer to Peggy’s voice. “0800 Captain.” Peggy stopped right in front of me. After exiting the small room she was just in. Smiling a toothy grin I quipped “Awe you’re blushing.” A swift smack to the arm followed my comment and I rubbed it “Ouch.” I smiled again “I’ll be right out, I would like to say Hi to Steve.” I said to which Peggy replied, “I’ll be waiting in the car, don’t be too long, we have a reservation.” As I messed with my second heel getting closer to the room I could hear Steve’s voice clearly “Don’t take it so hard. Maybe she’s got a friend.”

I finally got my second heel on and I stumbled into the room, my eyes landing on Steve. “Hey, I’ve missed you!” I smiled at him. ��Hey! Have you met Bucky?” I looked over to the man he was referring to and my mind went blank. Even though I haven't drunk anything I felt intoxicated in his presence. A blush crept up on my face and I smiled goofily at him. “I don’t think we have.” I smiled and Steve told him my name. Bucky said it slowly and I was swooning. “Hi,” I said, trying to act confident. Then I remembered Steve’s promise about joining the Howling Commandos. “Consider me your partner” I winked at him and Steve looked shocked as did Bucky. “You completed the mission successfully?!” “ Without a hitch”. Then my conversation was cut short by a loud honking noise that could only be Peggy. “I’ve gotta go, I'll see you tomorrow morning Steve!” I said while walking out and into the chilly evening air.

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes #steve rogers #steve x peggy #peggy carter

5 notes · View notes

carynsilver · 4 years

Text

Favorite Fics: Darcy Edition

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these. Things started going on that hurt my soul, and I just felt like, who cares about some fic recs when people are getting hurt? But… I don’t know. I still find solace and comfort in reading stories, even when things are hard—especially when things are hard. So, I finally felt like maybe it was time for another. If the fic writers out there are giving me escape, warm fuzzies, and enjoyment during these weird times, then they deserve some love directed back at them.

So far, I’ve listed my top 10 favorite Stucky, Drarry, and Stony fics. I love them all, but… that is a lot of dudes. I decided it was time for a little girl power in my fanfic recs. One of my favorite BAMF female characters is Darcy Lewis—one of the best and most under-rated, under-explored characters in the MCU.

I love Darcy as the every-girl who has the moxie and chutzpa to hold her own in a life full of superheroes. The girl tased the God of Thunder because he was freaking her out, for goodness sake! I love her being BFFs with Jane, being Thor’s lightening sister, and creating a found family. I love her living in the tower and caring for all the superheroes and science geniuses like they won’t care for themselves. There’s enough leeway in her backstory for fun twists, too, like being Jewish, or—one of my absolute faves—secretly being the daughter of Tony Stark.

There are a ton of good Darcy fics out there, but these are my top 10. Thank you, writers, for sharing these amazing stories with us!

Casa de Island Avengers by @inkbert

I clicked on this story because of WinterShock (Darcy/Bucky), which is a favorite ship of mine (I feel my love of Bucky has been previously discussed at length, lol), but it has become one of my favorite fics of all time. Not even just in the MCU—if I were listed my top five fanfics ever read, this one is on the list.

The concept is simple—post-Ultron, the Avengers started falling apart as a team, so Steve spearheads the effort to get them all on a two-week vacation to Tony’s private island in a last-ditch bonding effort. Every character (except Thor, but he does get some good screen time) has his or her own point of view for at least a chapter or two. Sometimes, this leads to characters sounding the same, but @inkbert really grounds each character in their own backstory and makes their inner monologues sound unique. Then, so many wacky hijinks ensue—camping, drinking, movie nights, girl bonding, sailing, pranks, and the most competitive game nights and challenges you’ve ever seen.

The ships included are Darcy/Bucky, Steve/Natasha, Pepper/Tony, and Clint/Wanda, but this story isn’t only about the ships. It’s about all these crazy characters bonding—found family at its finest. This is probably my favorite Darcy/Jane BFFs story ever, and the Bruce/Tony science bro connection is classic. The story is fully seated in cannon (up through Ultron and moving to the ccmpound), except no Clint/secret family and Pietro lives. Read it. Read it now! And if you enjoy it, there are several one-shots that follow, including a Wanda-centric one that shouldn’t be missed.

Best Supporting Soulmate by Valeris

I love a good soulmate fic, and this is an excellent one. The first thing your soulmate says to you is written on your skin, and there are both romantic and platonic soulmates. Darcy has Jane as a platonic soulmate, but it’s her other soulmate who made her life crazy before she even met them. What are you supposed to do when your soulmate’s first words to you are to let them die?

The two primary ships in this fic are Wintershock and Stony, which work well together, but the story delves into a lot more relationships. I don’t love the whole amnesia trope in a Stucky fic because losing all that history and friendship hurts so much, but in a WinterShock fic, I have a real soft spot for Darcy being able to help post-HYDRA Bucky learn how to person again, and she does that in spades in this one. She also cultivates friendships with just about everyone in Avengers Tower and beyond. Darcy/Johnny Storm BFFs are amazing, and the deep friendship Darcy develops with Tony in this story gives me all the feels. This is a great version of BAMF Darcy who can see what the tortured characters need and is able to help them get there. And there is some interesting conflict with the Fantastic Four, as well.

This was one of the first, if not the first, WinterShock stories I ever read. I had been trying TaserHawk, but it wasn’t really my cuppa, and then somehow found this one and got hooked.

Road Trip of Champions by @leftennant

Natasha and Steve are going on a road trip. Steve wants Bucky to come with, but they feel like they need a fourth to make things even. Natasha bribes Darcy into coming with, and over the course of the trip, we get a lovely WinterShock romance. The road trip concept is fun, and Darcy and Bucky have a light enemies to friends to lovers vibe going on. Bucky is recovering, Darcy isn’t going to take anyone’s crap, and Natasha and Steve really just want a little private time along the way. And the bit at the end of the main story when they play paintball—classic and a scene that has stuck in my mind long after reading many other fics. The protective vibe Bucky has for Darcy after all this and how it even affects paintball is adorable. There are other one-shots in this ’verse as well that should not be missed. You might never think of lemons the same again.

Daybreak by @anogete

Anogete has a really good touch with snarky, caretaker Darcy. I love all her WinterShock stories, but this is the one that’s stuck with me the most. The concept of Darcy trying to help dismantle Bucky’s trigger words by creating new memories for each one was so compelling. The therapy aspect did give me pause (a personal thing; it is dealt with as respectfully as possible in the story), but it all works out in the end. The fact that I loved it so much despite a mild personal ping with the concept speaks to how well it’s written, honestly. :-) And, if this one isn’t to your taste, Anogete has plenty of great WinterShock to read, so definitely try one of them instead!

The Run ’Verse by themonkeycabal

Though it eventually becomes a WinterShock story, my favorite thing about this universe is the Tony-Stark-is-Darcy’s-father trope. This is probably my absolute favorite version of that relationship. There is also time travel, and BAMF Peggy Carter. And even though I don’t love the Darcy-becomes-a-Shield-agent thing as much as Darcy the Scientist Wrangler, this story has a great, cannon-compliant reason for why Tony, Clint, etc., weren’t able to come help Steve, Natasha, Sam, and Maria in CA:tWS. There are a ton of stories in this ’verse, and I enjoyed every single one. My favorite, though, is the one where Darcy and Tony go visit Howard’s forgotten secret bunker and have three generation’s-worth of overdue conversations.

A Morbid Taste for Ice by sitehound

This is probably my favorite TaserTricks story, though I haven’t read nearly as much Darcy/Loki as I have other Darcy ships. I think it’s because writing Loki in character and making it believable to me that Darcy would fall in love with him, especially post-Avengers 1, is a fine line. If the fic apologizes too much for Loki’s wrongdoing without enough repentance/reformation, I don’t buy that she would legit be able to fall for him, but, go too far on the redemption and Loki gets OOC.

This story hits all those beats pretty perfectly and combines them with the whole Darcy/Jane/Thor (and now Loki) found family thing, Thor/Loki brother angst, Jane/Darcy BFFs, and a really compelling murder mystery to boot. There is also an interesting subplot with Loki being what basically amounts to a magical mechanic that I found really interesting amidst the snark, romance, and mystery solving. I’m sad this writer only has the one story up because it is so good!

Bygone by @inkbert

This story is Shieldshock (Steve/Darcy), not WinterShock, so even though I do try to only choose one fic per author (mostly), I’m totally fine having two by @inkbert on this list. Besides, this fic is amazing, and it’s not like there are anyone’s rules to follow on these fic rec lists but my own, lol! This is hands down my favorite ShieldShock story ever.

Jane’s experiment goes awry and sends Darcy into the past—specifically after Bucky left for basic but before he shipped out and Steve got tapped for Project Rebirth. Darcy ends up living with Rebecca and Mrs. Barnes, and she falls head over heels in love with tiny Steve, so much so that they get married despite not knowing what the future holds for her. Then, the night before Steve is going to report to basic, Darcy blips out again, and when she blips back in, Steve is dead. The rest of the story has Darcy blipping her way through time, making friends with Howard, Peggy, and the Howling Commandos. Ultimately, though, it’s her brother/sister relationship with Tony that is the most poignant, especially by the time they catch up to the present again. And Darcy is a complete BAMF the whole time—going on missions, learning to fly anything with wings, doing anything and everything to keep her found family together. This story also gave me a plan for what I would do if I were ever shot back into a timeline like this where I couldn’t sew or cook or make a living—become a typist… genius, Darce!

Their Hearts Said by @anogete

Another Anogete story because I just can’t resist. All her stories are really good, be they WinterShock, ShieldShock, or even her really good Loki/OC fic. I would definitely suggest giving all of them a try.

This ShieldShock story is my favorite post-Infinity War tale. It picks up a few weeks after the snap, with everyone grieving and trying to figure out what to do next. Steve is barely holding it together while the remaining Avengers try to figure out what they can do. After Jane and her family disappear, Darcy heads to Avengers Tower, hoping against hope that maybe Thor knows what’s going on. Darcy and Steve start sleeping together as more of an escape from the awfulness around them than anything else, but as the team works on a plan to save the day and bring everyone back, they develop real feelings for each other. There is also time travel and I really loved the minimalist way she wrote how the day was saved in this. It balanced well with the character stuff. This story is much preferable to End Game—too bad cannon didn’t go like this!

Good Madness by Em_Jaye

Normally, I prefer my Darcy embedded within the MCU cannon. I adore that every girl keeping up with superheroes thing. But, I do enjoy a good AU on occasion, and this is one of my faves. It’s ShieldShock and kid!fic. Darcy runs a bakery that was left to her by her mother (real You’ve Got Mail tones there, but no creepy identity porn), and Steve comes in for treats on occasion. One day, he brings his daughter, and the rest is history. I love the Steve/Darcy romance in this one, and Steve’s daughter is a sweet character. I love the Full House thing Steve has going on co-raising his daughter with Bucky and Sam. And there is a nice Bucky/Natasha subplot and some really good Tony, which I would say more about except that I don’t want to spoil the surprise. My favorite story in the series is the five rules one at the end, so definitely keep going long enough for that. And if you like Em_Jaye’s writing, you should check out The Long Way Around—a Shieldshock, time travel, Endgame fix-it WIP that is excellent, as well.

One Year by @steeleholtingon

This story is WinterShieldShock. OT3s aren’t my favorite trope, but somehow with Bucky/Darcy/Steve, it works. Maybe it’s something about the boys’ history and Darcy dragging them into the future. Kind of what she does for each of them individually in WinterShock and ShieldShock, but with even more oomph. I haven’t read the whole tag, but One Year is my favorite.

Bucky’s Winter Soldier recovery has pushed both Steve and Bucky to the edge. Steve ends up leaving (at Bucky’s demand, but also because the team is afraid he’s going to do some kind of suicide via superhero duty if he doesn’t get his head on straight). The wrinkle—the night before he left, Darcy and Steve had a comforting one-night stand that resulted in two pinks lines on the test. The resulting story takes place one month at a time. Steve tries to piece himself back together and put his feelings for Bucky in the past whilst falling for Darcy over text messages. Bucky, on the other hand, realizes how he fucked it all up and vows to be there for Darcy and Steve’s baby while Steve is gone. Darcy navigates the waters of an unplanned (but wanted) pregnancy while balancing her feelings for both of them. And all the rest of the Avengers, science crew, and other Avengers-adjacent peeps support all three of them through it all. Angst, recovery, and a happy ending. So good!

So, after all that, what are you guys waiting for? Get to reading all this Darcy goodness! :-)

And now I need to figure out what fic rec list to work on next. I have a Stranger Things one (Harringrove and Mileven) almost ready to go, and then I need to decide what to do with the ships and characters that I don’t have a full top ten for. Group them together, perhaps? Bughead and LoVe might be a good combination, lol. And WinterHawk and WinterIron.

#darcy lewis #darcy x steve #darcy x loki #darcy x bucky #wintershock #shieldshock #tasertricks #fanfic #fanfic rec #quarantine reads #highly recommend #thanks for writing these fics #bucky barnes #steve rogers

52 notes · View notes

graylinesspam · 4 years

Text

Ok so I saw a fic that AUed Peter as Peggy and Steve's bio kid earlier and my brain just spit out a fully formed au without my permission. And I dont actually like the premise enough to write it so I'm just gonna tell y'all and you can do what you want with it.

So Peter is conceived during the last of the howling commando days right after Bucky goes over the cliff. And it isn't much longer until Steve goes into the ice.

Peggy doesn't know for sure if she's pregnant when Steve says goodbye to her but she has an idea so she tells him over the radio that she thinks she's pregnant and he needs to come home to her. But it doesn't happen.

Anyway hydra finds out that Margret Carter is pregnant and they immediately know it has to be steve's kid so she's trying to keep a low profile while working for the ssr and she has some support from a couple of agents that try to keep his existence a secret and she's also living in Howard's house so Ana and Jarvis can help her with the baby.

Peter's three when he gets kidnapped. Jarvis never gets over it which is one if the reasons he's so attentive to Tony as a kid.

Hydra mostly keeps him around to analyze his blood and to keep Bucky in line during training. If they just torture him he disassociates and doesn't follow orders but with Peter to protect he complies much easier. Bucky can tell Peter is steves kid because he looks just like him even with the brown hair and brown eyes.

Peter is six when bucky is moved to another lab. Peter is only slightly affected by steve's mutated genetics. He is actually riddled with health problems like pre-serum Steve but by analyzing his DNA they get a lot closer than Bruce in their testing. They start animal experimentation on insects and lizards first. Eventually they get up to primates but they all die.

Peter gets bit my one of the mutated spiders and starts getting violently ill. The scientists are terrified of loosing his blood so they cryo freeze him like bucky to keep him from dying.

During nuclear testing by various governments the lab gets compromised and they're pretty sure the facility was blown up and everything was destroyed. But that was a cover up. It turns out it wasn't a nuclear bomb that went off so there wasn't any radiation to speak of. It was actually a zero matter bomb test done by the SSR that guts most of the lab and kills all of the hydra goons.

Peter is safe in his cryo tank behind blast-proof doors deep in the facility. But he's pretty much forgotten about after that.

It isn't until Tony goes looking for weapons caches that he hears some chatter about an old base filled with high-tech weapons. It's supposed to be local legend but he's in destroy all stark weaponry mode so he follows the lead anyway.

When he gets there all he finds is a dated and mostly destroyed underground base. There aren't really weapons to speak of but there are empty storage for massive weaponry. He's more I interested in the old computer files until he finds the blast-proof doors and the child frozen behind them.

Peter is thawed out and pretty much confiscated by shield. He finishes the mutation process getting sick again before suddenly waking up with superpowers.

Between continuing to bleed him dry trying to recreate the super-soldier serum and preparing to raise him to physically be the next Captain America Sheild is barely more humane than Hydra.

It's while Nat is working as Tony's new PA that she tells him about the kid he found and how he's being treated. As a child soldier she is very u settled by his treatment. Which for the sake of the story takes place a year after the events of ironman 1 instead of 6 months.

Nat, clint, and Tony break Peter out of a shield base and take him to Peggy. Where she has a somewhat lucid goodbye with her baby. The Carters want to take Peter in at first. Sharon even helps cover their tracks. But with his superpowers and generally undeveloped social demeanor they can't handle him.

So they go through a bunch of legal channels and Tony adopts Peter with a bunch of media coverage and the full support of the carter family it becomes international news which is the only thing that could keep shield from just kidnapping him back.

It's only two years later that cap is pulled from the ice but shield doesn't tell him about Peter for a long time because they don't want to lose control over him. When he does find out he's manipulated to believe that Tony kidnapped him rather than saving him.

But when the Avengers

But when the tesseract is stolen and Steve is called in he uses the opportunity to break into Stark tower and confront Tony. Who introduces Steve to his kid who is being homeschooled and meets with behavioral therapists to catch up socially and is overall being protected from experimentation. Nat steps up and tells him exactly what shield was doing to Peter and Cap turns his back on them and moves into the tower without him and Tony butting heads nearly as much because they both want what's best for Peter.

Nat and Clint end up working for Tony and because they've already proven to be sketchy as hell Tony looks into them a lot harder and they figure out hydra is running the show way quicker and the avengers are still formed but with much better footing and common goals. They find Bucky way faster by hacking into shield and hydra files and Tony gets to read about and process bucky being brainwashed and forced to assassinate his parents instead of watching it. So he let's Steve and the rest of the team deal with his rescue and recovery and deals with the issues in therapy instead of lashing out at bucky.

It also doesn't hurt that Bucky and Peter know each other and there's video files of Bucky holding toddler Peter and trying to rub warmth back into his anemic body and playing with him and rocking him to sleep. So what's good for the kid is good for the team. Because Peter is their axis.

And Tony is the one who goes looking for Bruce partially because his work was so similar to what hydra was doing but mostly because he wants to. And Bruce ends up doing extremely humane tests on Peter to understand his body and it's needs and limits in a way that benefits him instead of other people.

And basically Domestic Avengers fluff but the team wasn't built to fail because hydra wasn't sabotaging them from the beginning.

If anyone wants to talk about this with me is be happy to continue fleshing the idea out but I don't want to write it.

15 notes · View notes

ofstarsandvibranium · 5 years

Text

This Is Your Song

Fandom: Marvel (Rock Star AU)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: Your best friend is the lead guitarist of the up and coming rock band, The Howling Commandos. You’ve been with him and the band since the very beginning and throughout that time, you’ve realized you’ve fallen in love with your best friend. And you’re not sure what to do anymore seeing that you’re the band’s assistant and you’re tired of seeing Bucky with other women.

A/N: Was inspired after listening to Sami by Darren Criss and I changed some of the lyrics a bit. Also, this is long af (nearly 6K words!!), so I’m sorry.

You watch from the side of the stage as the Howling Commandos finish off their final song, the crowd going wild for them. There’s screams, hollers, cheers, all of it for your best friend and his band. You’ll never get tired of hearing the enjoyment the band gives to people, nor will you ever get tired of the proud look on Bucky’s face whenever they finish a show.

“Thank you so much, everyone! We’ll see you next time!” Steve, the lead singer, shouts and the roar of the crowd grows as each member trickles off the stage.

Dum Dum is off first, and he ruffles your hair as he passes by. Jim and Gabe both give you polite smiles. Jacques takes your hand and kisses it, he was the biggest flirt out of all of them. James gives you a little hip bump which makes you giggle. Steve pulls you in for a hug. And Bucky?

“WOO! THAT WAS QUITE THE SHOW TONIGHT, EH, Y/N?!” he lifts you up and twirls you around making you squeal and giggle.

When he sets you down, you ruffle his already messy hair, “Yeah! They really dig you guys!”

“Alright, guys, let’s pack up and head to the hotel! We fly out tomorrow morning and you all need your beauty sleep...except maybe Dum Dum. He’ll always be ugly.” you all chuckle as the band’s manager, Howard Stark, pokes fun.

“Fuck you, Stark,” Dum Dum replies with a smirk, shoving his manager.

Everyone exited the building, heading towards the waiting van. There were already fans waiting for them outside. Screams and yells for each member’s name from different people. They all took a few pictures with fans, gave some hugs, and signed some things. You sat in the back of the band watching them with a proud smile on your face. They’ve come a long way from that small garage band.

Your eyes moved from each member and then landed on Bucky. Your smile wavered when you saw him accept a number from a very attractive woman around your age.

“Hey,” you look to your side to see Steve sitting beside you. He never really liked the crowds or the attention. He still saw himself as the small, shy kid from Brooklyn. Not some rockstar, “You okay?”

You put on a smile, one that you’re sure he knows is fake, “Of course! You guys did amazing last night.”

Steve looks at you with pity and you hate it. He’s well aware of your feelings for Bucky, “Y/N, you-”

You shake your head, cutting him off, “Just drop it, Steve. Please.”

Bucky is the last one to enter the van and he has a big grin on his face, probably because of how many numbers he received from some attractive looking fans. He looks back at you and immediately sees the worried look on your face, “What’s wrong?”

“Just tired is all.”

He scoffs, “Come on. You can’t be tired! We have our ritual!” Ritual meaning going to Bucky’s room watching crap reality tv while binging on snacks.

You shrug, “Sorry, Buck. But you need your rest anyway, like Howard said, we’ve got an early flight.”

He slumps in his chair groaning, “Fiiiiine. Guess I’ll be watching The Real Housewives of Orange County all by myself.”

You roll your eyes at his dramatics, “It’s only for one night, Buck. You can live without me for a night.”

He smirks at you, “You’re my best friend. There’s no way I can live without ya.” the way that he looks at you right there makes your heart beat faster. It’s just one of those things that makes you think, Maybe he feels the same way. But then you see how he flirts with fans and groupies and other women. Then that hope is gone.

Twenty minutes later, the lot of you are trekking down the hall towards your individual rooms. Yours is across from Bucky’s and right next to Steve’s. You pull out your card key and open the door, but before you step inside, Bucky stops you.

“Y/N?” you turn around to see him standing there, hands in his pockets. He then leans in and kisses your cheek, “Good night.”

You muster out a “Good-night” back and watch Bucky enter his own room, the door closing behind him. You look to Steve, who witnessed the whole thing, and he looks how you feel, completely in shock. You close your door and push Steve into his own, closing the door behind you.

“Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God!” you cry out, “That just happened.”

Steve snickers as he kicks off his shoes and catapults himself onto his bed, “Yeah. That happened. I told you he likes you. The whole flirty bad boy act is just that: an act. You’ve known him for ten years, Y/N, there’s no way that any other woman can hold a candle to you.”

You want to believe Steve. You really do, but you think back to all the other women Bucky’s been around. They’re so beautiful. And you? You’re just some girl from Brooklyn who’s been following her best friend and his band around the country. And you’ll only ever be that: Bucky’s best friend.

The excitement from the kiss has faded back into sadness, “He doesn’t mean it, Steve.” you mumble as you sit on the edge of his bed.

“Oh come on!”

“Steve, why would Bucky have me when he’s got all these beautiful women throwing themselves at him?”

“Well, for one, you know him like no one else. These women just like him for his looks and talents. They probably want bragging rights to say that they slept with a rock star.”

You look up at him, seeing him hugging a pillow, trying not to fall asleep, “How does Peggy do it?” you ask softly.

Steve’s eyes immediately widen at the sound of his girlfriend’s name. A small smile appears on his lips and his eyes soften, “I don’t know to be honest. Peg’s something else. She knows her worth and sometimes I feel like I’m not worthy of her. I’m gone a lot, on the road traveling. I’ve tried to break up with her a few times, saying that she deserves better. But she doesn’t want anyone but me. She loved me before the band even started and she loves me now. And-I don’t know, Y/N. Guess I’m just lucky to have someone as understanding and trusting as her.”

You stare down at your lap, “I love Bucky, Steve. I really do, but I don’t know if I can handle being rejected by him.”

Steve sits up and moves over to you, his legs now hanging over the edge of the bed, and he places a hand on top of yours, “You won’t be rejected. That guy love you, Y/N. I know he does. Sure, he hasn’t told me that, but I see it. So enough of this mutual pining shit! You walk out of this room and up to Bucky’s. You barge in there and you tell ‘im that you love him!”

You nod, “Okay! I’ll do it!”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah!”

“Yeah!” Steve wraps his arms around you and gives you a big hug, “You’re not gonna need it, but good luck.”

You snort, “Thanks, and don’t forget to call Peggy before you go to sleep!”

“Right! Ha, I forgot. Thanks, Y/N!”

“It’s what I’m here for!” you give him a wave and then you walk out the door.

“Okay,” you mumble to yourself, “You got this, Y/N. You got this.” you walk the short distance to Bucky’s door and you knock on his door. There’s no answer. Maybe he’s in the bathroom. You look at the time and see that there’s no way Bucky could be asleep right now. He usually doesn’t go to sleep until late. So you pull out the key to his room, one that you kept only for emergencies and you walk in.

“Hey, Buck, I gotta tell you someth-” you stop when you see a woman roll off of Bucky. She’s naked, save for the panties she still has on. Bucky is down to his boxers.

“Y/N! I-I-”

You shake your head, “Sorry. Sorry, I-you didn’t answer and I didn’t think you-Sorry. I’ll go.” you’re heading for the door and Bucky’s crying out for you.

“Wait, Y/N! Don’t-fuck!” you hear a thud, but you don’t dare turn around. If you did, you’d see Bucky on the floor, scrambling to pull on his jeans. The necklace with his ring, the friendship ring you gave him, swinging around his neck, “Y/N! Wait!” the door shuts in his face and Bucky’s body fills with dread.

“She your girlfriend or something?” the blonde woman asks, sitting at the edge of his bed, looking unnerved.

Bucky runs his hands through his hair, “Get out.”

“What?” the blonde looks at him in disbelief.

“I said get out! Get dressed and get the fuck out!”

The blonde is pissed as she quickly throws on her clothes, “Can’t believe this!” and she pushes past Bucky and out the door she goes.

Bucky grabs his shirt and pulls it on. Not bothering with his shoes, he steps into the hallway. He takes two steps and he’s in front of your room. He hesitantly knocks.

“Y/N? Can-Can we talk for a minute?” he runs a hand down his face, “I just-I’m sorry you had to see that.” he lets out a shaky breath, “Can you please opent he door, Y/N? I need-please?” he presses an ear to your door and he hears nothing. No shuffling or footsteps coming towards him. You’re either ignoring him or just not in your room. He really hopes it’s the latter.

_________________________

Earlier.

As soon as Bucky stepped into his room, he felt a grey cloud loom over him. He didn’t like that he had to come to his room alone. After every show, you were always with him and you always did your post-show ritual. But now that was broken and he doesn’t really blame you. You’re tired and he doesn’t wanna force you to do something when you’re not in the mood to do it. So he let you have your rest.

He decided to go to the hotel’s bar instead. Maybe get a few drinks in to numb the loneliness that’s usually filled in by you.

He isn’t even finished with his first whiskey and he’s already approached by a beautiful leggy blonde.

“Hey, you’re in that band right?”

He glances her way and eyes her form. She’s gorgeous and maybe this is his chance to finally get over you, “Yes, I am. I’m Bucky,” he sticks out his hand with a smirk.

“Elaine,” she says in a low, seductive tone, “How ‘bout we get outta here, Bucky? Bet we can have a lot more fun somewhere private.”

Bucky licks his lips and nods, slapping down a few bills, not worrying about the change and pulling Elaine by the hand, towards the elevator.

Her lips are on his as soon as the doors close. She tastes a bit like vodka but he doesn’t care. He needs to drown out your smile, your laugh, your eyes. The doors open to his floor and he practically drags Elaine to his door, glancing at yours, before heading inside his room.

Clothes are discarded. Bucky’s on his back, down to his boxers and Elaine’s straddling him, completely topless. The kisses are wet and messy and-

“Hey, Buck, I gotta tell you someth-” at the sound of your voice, Elaine rolls off him and he sees you standing there wide eyed. He looks at Elaine and then you.

“Y/N! I-I-” he’s stumbling over his words, trying to find the right ones to say, to explain to you that-

“Sorry. Sorry, I-you didn’t answer and I didn’t think you-Sorry. I’ll go.” you’re heading for the door and Bucky’s heart is pounding.

He calls out for you, “Wait, Y/N! Don’t-fuck!” he scrambles off the bed, falling onto the floor with a thud. “Y/N! Wait!” he tries to run after you but the door shuts in his face.

This was a mistake. Why did he think he could do this?! He loves you!

He kicks Elaine out with no remorse. She should’ve never been there in the first place. Once she’s gone and he’s redressed, he goes to your door, pleading for you to open up. When he gets no response, he really hopes that it’s because you’re not in your room.

________________________

You’re crying in Steve’s arms. You should’ve never listened to him. Why did you listen to him? You knew the truth. Bucky Barnes will never have feelings for you like you have for him.

And now what do you do? You’re the band’s assistant and you don’t know if you can face Bucky. What are you going to do?

The next morning you and everyone else are packed into the fan, heading to the airport. You’re sitting next to Steve again, ignoring the Bucky’s pleading gaze on you. You put on your earbuds and close your eyes, drowning out face and the pain.

You don’t sit next to him like you’re supposed to. You and Bucky always sit next to each other on plane rides, but this time, you don’t. You seemed to have switched tickets with Dum Dum, sitting next to Steve and Dum Dum next to Bucky. Guess no rom-com movies with you.

The days seem so dull and slow now that you seem to be avoiding Bucky. He hates it. The ignored texts and calls. Being waved off to go help the stage crew. He just wants you to look at him, to listen to him.

He happens to catch you all alone in the green room. You’re setting up the band’s snacks while everyone else is doing sound check. Bucky said he needed to use the bathroom, but really, he was just looking for you.

“Y/N?” he sees your body tense and he hates that he’s the reason.

“I’m busy, Bucky,” you mumble, going back to setting up the snacks.

“Y/N, please, stop ignoring me.”

“I’m not ignoring you, Bucky. I’ve just been busy doing my job.”

“You don’t answer my texts or calls, you keep pushing me away whenever I try to talk to you, and you’re suddenly spending so much time with Steve? How is that not ignoring me. I’m your best friend-”

“Yeah, Bucky. You’re my best friend, not my boyfriend! I don’t have to text or call you or hang out with you every second of the day!”

Bucky tries not to let your words hurt him. You’re upset with him, that’s it, “Listen, Y/N, I just want to explain that ni-”

“You don’t have to explain anything to me, Bucky. I’m not your girlfriend. I’m not your anything. You can sleep with anyone you want. I don’t care.” You push him out of the way and head for the door.

“No, Y/N, please! You’re not listening to me!”

You look over your shoulder, eyes teary and lip quivering, “Just leave me alone, Bucky.” and the door slams behind you.

You march up to the sound booth where Howard is watching the sound rehearsal. He looks at you with a worried gaze, “You okay, kid?”

“After tonight, I’m quitting.”

“You sure?”

You nod, “Yeah. I just-I need a break from all this. I wanna go back home work on my songwriting.”

“Alright,” you know he wants to say more, but he doesn’t. His arm just wraps around you and he pulls you in for a hug, “I’m gonna miss you, kid.”

“Yeah. Me too.”

The show was a blur for Bucky. His heart wasn’t in it like it usually was and everyone could tell. The band kept asking him what was up and he just answered with the same thing, “Nothing.” He goes straight to his hotel room after that, just needing some sleep and hopefully, when he wakes up, it would be just a terrible nightmare.

It wasn’t. In fact, it was so much worse.

“Quit? She just-she just quit?”

Howard nods, “Yeah. Flew back home last night. Said she needed a break.”

This was it. After everything that you and Bucky had gone through, you were done. And it was all his fault.

______________________

3 months later and 2 months until end of tour.

Being in back in Brooklyn is so weird. You became so used to hotels and big arenas and now you’re back to your old apartment. Your roommates Wanda and Pietro still around, giving you comfort and support.

While working at a cafe, you continued to work on your songwriting, something that was a hobby you obtained whilst being friends with Bucky. You actually helped him write a few songs for the band and it always brought you joy to hear them play it, hearing the crowd sing along to the lyrics. But now the thought just made you sad.

You’re in your room, sitting in front of your small recording set up, guitar in hand as you strum the chords you’ve been practicing, as well as the lyrics:

I've seen your face, I've heard your name I've lost my place and you’re to blame And I can't stand it when I'm staring in your eyes And you’re not looking back, it's not a big surprise

I've heard music, I've heard noise I wish that you could hear your voice The way that I do when I go to sleep at night And dream my life away but you’re gone when I awake

You stop strumming to write down more lyrics into your notebook. It’s not much, but it’s definitely a big deal since this is your first song you’ve written without Bucky or anyone’s help.

Speaking of Bucky, according to Steve, he’s not doing well. You see from footage of fans and media outlets that he’s not as lively as he used to be. Sure, he’s smiling on stage and meeting fans, but people have come to realize that he’s not genuine. Are you worried about him? Of course, but you need your time away from Bucky. You can’t handle your feelings for him while he’s around so being away from him has definitely helped...despite you writing a song about him.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Bucky just loves to torture himself, it seems. He’s in his hotel room and the tv is on in front of him, but he’s not paying attention. Instead, he’s watching a video of you and him on his phone.

You and he are sitting on the couch in the green room before a show. The band is chatting away in the background while you and Bucky are tossing grapes into each other’s mouth. It was a competition to see how many you could catch in a row. You were winning.

Bucky watches as you throw a grap at him, the small fruit hitting his nose instead of his mouth, which resulted in you bursting into laughter. A sad smile appears on his face. He notices how he’s looking at you on screen. Eyes filled with so much amusement and love. He should’ve just told you how he felt instead of trying to push his feelings aside. Maybe if he did tell you, you wouldn’t have left.

“Hey,” he looks up to see Steve standing at the edge of his bed.

“How-”

“Stark let me in. I did knock.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

Steve hears your laughter coming from Bucky’s phone and he shakes his head, “Stop it. You’re hurting yourself even more.”

"I miss her, Steve. She’s still not reading any of my texts or answering my calls. I love her and I fucked up.”

“Well, soon enough, the tour will be over and we’ll go back home. Then you can beg and plead and all that, but right now we have a job to do. So get off your ass and let’s go.”

__________________________

1 month until end of tour

You finally did it. You came up with the chords and the lyrics and you’re done. The song is done and you’re so proud!

You sit in front of your camera, guitar in hand and you smile, “Hey, Steve. I did it! It’s done! I spent all last night finishing it up and here it is! I hope you like it!” you clear your voice and then begin to strum your guitar:

I've seen your face, I've heard your name I've lost my place and you’re to blame And I can't stand it when I'm staring in your eyes And you’re not looking back, it's not a big surprise

I've heard music, I've heard noise I wish that you could hear your voice The way that I do when I go to sleep at night And dream my life away but you’re gone when I awake

Bucky, Bucky... Why can't you see What you're doing to me?

The way your hair falls in your eyes Makes me wonder if you'll Ever see through my disguise And I'm under your spell

Everything is falling And I don't know where to land Everyone knows who you are But you don't know who I am

Bucky, Bucky... Why can't you see What you're doing to me?

I see you singing on that stage You look just like an angel And all I do is pray

That maybe, someday you'll hear my song And understand that all along There's something more that I'm trying to say When I say

Bucky, Bucky... Why can't you see What you're doing to me?

What you're doing to me!

Bucky, Bucky... Why can't you see What you're doing to me?

What you're doing to me..

“So yeah. That’s-That’s the song,” you chuckle, “Clearly, if I take this to the studio, I’m gonna change Bucky to, I don’t know, Baby. That makes sense, right? Anyway, tell me your thoughts and if I should change anything. Hope to hear from you soon!” you wave at the camera and then end the recording.

You then hook up your camera to your laptop and attach your video to an email, sending it to Steve with anxiety coursing through you.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Steve his on his laptop in Bucky’s room. His earbuds in and Bucky assume’s he’s watching youtube videos or something. Meanwhile, Bucky is trying to read an email on his phone but the format is all weird. He turns around and waves at Steve, who pulls out an earbud, “Yeah?”

“Can I borrow your laptop? Becca sent me an email and I can’t read it ‘cause the format is weird.”

“Uuuhh, yeah.” Steve clicks something and then pulls his headphones out, “Here ya go. I’ll be back. I’m gonna grab my charger from my room.”

“Yeah. Kay. Thanks, man.”

Bucky sits up and settles the laptop on his lap and moves the mouse to add a new tab, but he stops when he sees your name. He knows he shouldn’t read Steve’s email, but it was your name! Curiosity got the best of him and he began to read Steve’s email.

It sounds amazing, Y/N! I’m really proud of you and I’m very honored to be one of the first people to hear your song. Keep up the good work and I expect you to remember me when you’re famous.

Miss you a bunch,

Steve.

“Song?” Bucky mumbled to himself. He looked up the thread and saw that you sent him a video. He clicks on it and he’s greeted to your face, your voice, your smile. God, did he miss you.

He watched as you began to strum your guitar. Your mouth opened and there came that beautiful voice he loved:

I've seen your face, I've heard your name I've lost my place and you’re to blame And I can't stand it when I'm staring in your eyes And you’re not looking back, it's not a big surprise

I've heard music, I've heard noise I wish that you could hear your voice The way that I do when I go to sleep at night And dream my life away but you’re gone when I awake

It’s beautiful. You’re beautiful. You wrote this all by yourself? Bucky couldn’t help but swell with pride as he hears you sing-

Bucky, Bucky... Why can't you see What you're doing to me?

What? “She wrote a song about me?” he mumbles out loud. He looks up and sees Steve standing there, laptop charger in hand, “Why did she write a song about me?”

“The same reason why you’re so depressed that she left. She loves you.”

“She loves me,” he whispers to himself, “Did she send you an audio clip too?” Steve nods, “Can you send it to me?”

____________________

You knew that The Howling Commandos had their last show in Los Angeles. That meant everyone was coming back home, which meant Bucky was coming back home. You don’t know what you would do if you saw Bucky again. Would you apologize for walking out on him? Would you explain your jealous rage and heartbreak? Would you tell him that you love him? You didn’t really know, but you supposed you’d cross that bridge when you get there. In the meantime, you’ll continue working at the cafe during the day and then working on your songs during the night.

Tonight was open mic night. Anyone can sign up and perform for the cafe. It was usually busy on these nights, so you didn’t have much time to enjoy the performances since you were hustling to make drinks.

Your coworker Denise was the emcee tonight. So before and after every performance, she was there to announce the next act. Like now.

“Alright! Thank you, Kelly for the amazing cover of All Star. Now, our next performer is going to be singing an original, but not one he wrote. A special someone of his did. Anyway, let’s give it up for James!” the people sat around the small makeshift stage clapped and then gasped. You didn’t really care nor did you have the time to pause for a moment. You needed to get these drinks out.

“Iced matcha for Matt!”

You hear the faint strumming of a guitar over the espresso machine. When you hear some all too familiar lyrics, you freeze.

I've seen your face, I've heard your name I've lost my place and you’re to blame And I can't stand it when I'm staring in your eyes And you’re not looking back, it's not a big surprise

You excuse yourself from behind the counter. Your other coworkers not paying you any attention as you weave through the crowd, heading for the front of the stage.

I've heard music, I've heard noise I wish that you could hear your voice The way that I do when I go to sleep at night And dream my life away but you’re gone when I awake

You make eye contact with all too familiar eyes and the low melodious singing voice. There, sitting on the stool onstage is Bucky. He looks like he hasn’t slept and his clothes are disheveled. Did he just arrive from the airport?

Baby, Baby... Why can't you see What you're doing to me?

You continue to be captivated as Bucky sings the rest of your song, replacing his name with Baby, like you had mentioned in your video to Steve. Wait, did Steve show him your video?

After a few more minutes, Bucky finishes the song and the entire cafe erupts in applause and whistles. He nervously chuckles and thanks everyone for their time. Hopping off stage and towards you.

Your heart is pounding out of your chest and you feel like you’re on the brink of fight or flight mode. Mostly flight. You want to run away but your feet are planted to the ground.

“Hi,” Bucky says, standing right in front of you.

“Hi,” you mumble back. You feel everyone’s eyes on you and your anxiety is creeping.

“Um, is there somewhere private we can talk?”

You nod and have him follow you to the storage room. Again, your coworkers paying no attention because they’re too busy pushing out orders.

The door is closed and you’re both just standing there awkwardly. Bucky clears his throat and sets his guitar to the side, wiping his sweaty palms on his jeans, “I, um, I miss you, and I understand, truly now, why you ignored me and eventually left. I mean, I think I understand? That song, that beautiful song, says a lot, but I still don’t know. I can only hope what you truly mean by it? I don’t know, I’m rambling. I didn’t really think all of this through.”

You shook your head and gave a deep breath, “I thought, from the way that you behaved around me and wanting to spend time with me, that maybe you had feelings for me. But then you’re flirting and talking to other women, so I thought maybe not, and then I did. You gave me a lot of mixed signals. I was gonna tell you that night that I loved you. Then I saw you with-with her and I was just heartbroken. I couldn’t face you after that, or the fact that you didn’t have feelings for me the way I do for you.”

“But I do have feelings for you, Y/N. I have for years and-and that night should’ve never happened. You said you were tired so we didn’t do our post-show ritual and I got stuck in this loneliness. I met..her at the hotel bar and brought her back because I needed to get over you. I loved you, but I couldn’t have you ‘cause we’re best friends. One thing led to another and yeah, I almost slept with her. Then you came in and everything went downhill from there. And I was a mess.

“I don’t know if you remember, but that same night, I told you that I can’t live without you. And it’s true. I can’t live without you, Y/N. You’re my best friend, yeah, but you’re so much more than that.” he steps closer to you and cautiously take a hold of your hand, “I’m sorry for hurting you, Y/N, and I’m sorry for being confusing about my feelings for you. The truth is that I’m in love you. Period. No one else has made me feel the things that I feel for you.”

You sniffle, trying to hold the tears in your eyes from falling, but to no avail, they’re streaking down your cheeks. Bucky uses his thumb to wipe them away, hating that he’s causing you to cry.

“i really missed you, Bucky. I’m sorry I hurt you too.” you throw yourself into his arms and he tightens his hold on you.

“Sssshhh. I forgive you, Y/N. I’m so, so, sorry. Ssshhh. It’ll be okay. We’re gonna be okay.”

____________________

1 Year Later

Bucky is standing front and center on stage, his guitar in hand while the rest of the band walk off stage, “Alright. Hello, everyone!” he smiles when people cheer back, “So, we’re gonna take things a little slow now. Some of you may know this song, and if you do, sing along.” he begins to play a few chords, but stops, “Actually, wait. I think I need a little help with this one. So can I have Y/N to the stage please?”

The crowd cheers as you enter from stage right, hurriedly walking towards Bucky, with an extra stool in your hands. You sit down next to him and he smiles.

“Hey, sweetheart.”

You giggle, “Hey, Buck.”

“So you okay singing this song with me?”

“I mean yeah, I was the one who wrote it for you.” People scream out, knowing what song was coming up next.

“Right. Of course. Anyway, you ready?”

“Duh!”

He looks out to the crowd, “Are you guys ready?”

“YEAH!”

Bucky starts to strum the chords, his eyes not focused on the guitar or the crowd, but you, as you’re sitting there beside him, hand holding up the mic, and engagement ring shining in the spotlight.

#Bucky Barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x reader #marvel #au #rockstar au

500 notes · View notes

freshiegayboi · 4 years

Text

Asking the Right Questions chap. 1

an older MCU fic of mine, but clearly one of the most popular fics I’ve ever written lol if you’re new and go snooping in my other content, don’t say you didn’t see the warnings

Tags: hurt Tony Stark, eventual Polyvengers, BAMF Jarvis, protective everyone, therapy positive, ABO universe (no lemons!), angst, hurt/comfort, Canon Divergence

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18842203/chapters/44717005

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was cold in the shop, colder than the cave, colder than space even though just the thought of that seemed impossible. Space had been an empty void of nothing, absolutely nothing but ice and fear and the awful feeling of being so utterly alone. He’d been so afraid, when he’d gone through that wormhole and been suddenly surrounded by so much nothing. And he was afraid now, but for an entirely different reason.

His eyes flitted over the monitors, watching as Clint and Natasha laughed, Sam telling some story with his arms in the air, the three of them sharing quite a large meal of what looked like fried chicken tenders and biscuits, thick mac and cheese and an unhealthy amount of mashed potatoes. The very sight of it made his mouth water, tongue coming out to wet his lips as he wondered if there’d be any left for him to steal, after the others had gone to bed.

He felt the same old worry enter his thoughts; that he was letting them down by not interacting, by staying locked up down here all day and night and only coming out after they’d all were long asleep, disappearing before they came back out in the morning. Sure he was available when duty called, already suited up and out to wherever they’d been called to serve up some good ole UN style justice.

Still, some part of him was relieved to not see Steve or their newest charge anywhere in frame. He’d seen them in the kitchen and had quickly switched feed, unwilling to let his thoughts drift that harshly. Not that he had much control over them in the first place, but it was his last ditch effort in staving off that panic attack he’d been fighting off since Steve had come and told him the news.

New York seemed so long ago, and he and the rest of the team had certainly come a long way, eventually moving from the easily blown up Tower to the Compound that was a bit easier to protect. On the surface, it had concrete shelters for the occasional tornado, safe rooms for anyone that might need protecting, and an excellent system of rooms for various purposes. It also had enough space to hide away the population of at least two large cities in the catacombs underneath, not that Tony planned on advertising that unless absolutely necessary.

But New York was far away, the Chitauri and Loki so very far away, but then all the shit with Killian and Extremis had happened, and hadn’t that left its own scars on his psyche. Then finding all the Hydra outposts after Steve and Natasha had outed the tentacle ridden hide of Shield to the world, saving all the outed agents that needed saving, sending condolences to the families of the ones they couldn’t save. Tony had been… well, more than a bit pissed about the lack of foresight on that, but it wasn’t as if the two of them had very much time to consult him about it. (Sometimes he wondered who they could have saved if he’d been told, even a day or two before.)

And of course Steve’s old war buddy (that Tony was at least 89% positive had been more than a “buddy”) turned out to be a Hydra ghost that had a hand in at least 30 assassinations in the past 50 or so years. Steve wanted to go after him, find him, help him. Tony wanted to leave the damn guy alone, since it was obvious what he wanted was little more than the ones who’d tortured him for 70+ years to mysteriously end up with a bullet between their eyebrows, but Steve was Steve. He was a friend, more than a friend sometimes; he was the one Tony went to when he had his breakdowns and panic attacks and Rhodey wasn’t there to help and he just… couldn’t stomach being alone. Even when Steve did stupid crazy shit and Tony was left to pick up the pieces, Steve always, in the end, came to help him.

The main issue, the whole reason Tony had been hiding out in the first place, was that Steve had taken him aside, sometime after the first mission to go stake out an old Hydra base, and had informed him that he needed to tell him something. Something important, something that would probably change things.

Tony hated change, had hated it every time something big happened and everything changed, but this was Steve, and if he said it was important, then it was important.

Finding out that the old War Buddy, Buck Barnes, best friend of Captain America and lover boy of the Howling Commandos, the guy that his father would mourn with the others, the man they had just recently found out was still alive... he was the one that'd done old Howard in. Had killed his mother . And yeah, that changed things, it really did, but...

But then Sokovia had happened, Ultron had happened, and things got a bit patchy. Tony had new things to have nightmares about, Steve was in his room a little more often than usual, and even when Tony explained that he and Bruce hadn’t actually made Ultron, the team felt a little more distant than he remembered them being. He didn't have time to think about Bucky or what he'd done, who he'd killed , not on top of everything else that was running through his already crowded head.

And the Accords, hadn’t that been a shitshow. Steve had been against them, of course, worrying that the government just wanted more control over everything they did. Tony knew that they needed structure, needed rules, or Sokovia would happen over and over again. New York would happen again. Eventually Steve had come around to the idea, and when the bomb went off and killed the Wakandan king and they learned it was Bucky, well, Steve had backup when he went to go get him. (And even if the thought of seeing him made Tony feel physically ill, he went because Steve asked him to, had practically begged. Tony couldn't say no to that.)

Now Bucky was with them, safe and under protection by the UN as a POW that had been brainwashed into doing all the horrible shit he’d done over the last 50 years, on the condition that they'd get his head fixed. The Accords were in effect, Zemo’s plan had pretty much no effect at all, and the team was stronger than it’d been before.

And then… and then Tony had gotten the file on the Winter Soldier, compiled by FRIDAY, and had found that Steve had been telling the truth, that… that he’d finally found his parents’ killer. His mother’s murderer. He’d finally found out why they crashed that night, why they’d been found strangled when they should have survived the crash.

And he hadn’t talked to Steve since. He couldn't, couldn't look at him when he was so busy helping Bucky back on his feet, not when he felt his windpipe slowly crushing in and his chest filling with molten lead any time he was even in the same room. Hell, the same fucking building. He could smell the scent of the broken alpha when he went into different rooms, his own instincts battling with his absolute terror.

The smell of an approaching alpha made his hackles raise as he turned away from the monitors, his own synthetic pheromones leaking out into the room to let whoever it was know that he was on the edge, and not to be messed with. He watched the door to the elevator, waiting for tense seconds until it opened and Natasha walked through, a plate of steaming food in her hands.

She walked up a respectful distance, then raised a brow, the look perfected like only an alpha could do. Tony refused to turn throat, raising his own brown in question.

“Figured even our resident genius needed food. It’s damn good.” She lifted the plate in question, waiting for his permission to come closer and give it to him.

There was no question who the superior in this room was though, especially given extenuating circumstances. Tony finally glanced down, allowing her to finish her walk over to his desk, placing the plate heaping with chicken and biscuits on top of a mountain of mashed potatoes, white gravy covering it all on the desktop beside him. Then she took a respectful step back and he felt himself relax a little, even as his instincts begged her to come closer.

Something must have slipped through his mask of indifference, Natasha glancing at the camera feed before speaking again. “You know you’ll have to come out of hiding some time, medvezhonok. All of us do.” And with that she turned foot, face as placid as when she’d come in, and headed back to the elevator, leaving him to his steaming plate of goodness that was, unsurprisingly, the best fried chicken and biscuits he’d ever had. If he wasn’t currently avoiding the both of them, he’d have begged them to teach him how to make more traditional southern food. They seemed to have some kind of innate talent for it, despite being Brooklyn boys through and through.

Busying himself with blueprints for the next Starkpad and all the new projects that needed to be approved from R&D, he worked through until 3 in the morning, after which the stains of gravy and hardened scrapes of mashed potato had left a caked substance on the plate. Checking the camera feed he found no one about, no one lurking or otherwise awake. Which, it was 3 in the morning, it’d be strange if they were.

Sneaking upstairs, he put his plate in the dishwasher, grabbed the box of leftover chicken tenders, glanced back toward the guest rooms. Then headed back down to the shop.

#kas writes #marvel #polyvengers #tony stark #steve rogers #natasha romonova #bucky barnes #sam wilson #peter parker #angst #hurt/comfort #hurt tony stark #bamf tony stark #eventual polyvengers #no steve hate #canon divergent

14 notes · View notes

wightwulf-a · 4 years

Text

this is a semi-complete timeline for my canon of my portrayal of bucky. it consists of mcu events/inspiration, comic inspiration, and my own personal headcanons. specific dates will also only be included here and there as the exact timelines of the movies aren’t super clear, aside from years.

DISCLAIMER : events may shift from verse to verse, possibly even not happening altogether. it depends on the plot and the situation. if you have any questions, just ask.

THIS POST IS SUBJECT TO BEING UPDATED OR CHANGED.

1917

March 10 -- James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes is born in Shelbyville, Indiana to George and Winifred Barnes.

1920 - 1929

1920 -- Rebecca Barnes is born. 1923 -- The Barnes move from Shelbyville to Brooklyn, New York. 1925 -- Violet Barnes is born. 1926 -- Bucky meets Steve Rogers. (more info here) 1929 -- Theodore Barnes is born.

1930 - 1939

1936 -- Sarah Rogers passes away. 1937 - 1938 -- Bucky attends art classes with Steve. (Bucky is Not good at art.)

1940 - 1949

December 7, 1941 -- The Attack on Pearl Harbor ; the United States enters the Second World War. December 1941 - January 1942 -- Bucky is drafted into the Second World War ; Bucky trains Steve at Goldie’s Boxing Gym before Bucky goes to an enlistment office with Steve ; Steve is rejected. February 1942 - April 1943 -- Bucky trains at Camp McCoy in Wisconsin (with periodical leaves back to New York) with the rest of the 107th Infantry, where he meets and befriends both Gabe Jones and Dum Dum Dugan ; Bucky is promoted to the rank of sergeant. June 14, 1943 -- Flag Day ; Bucky’s last night before his shipment out to England. August 1943 -- the “Captain America” comics debut to the public, to great success! September 1943 -- The Battle of Azzano ; survivors of the 107th Infantry are captured by Hydra and taken to a weapons facility in the Austrian Alps. October 1943 -- Bucky meets James Montgomery Falsworth and Jacques Dernier, both fellow POWs ; Bucky becomes ill and is beaten by Hydra Colonel Lohmer for his inability to perform manual labor ; the future Howling Commandos band together to orchestrate an accident that kills Lohmer ; Bucky, ill and weak, is taken to Arnim Zola to be used for experimentation. November 1943 -- Bucky and the other POWs held by Hydra are rescued by Steve, now Captain America. November 1943 -- The Howling Commandos are formed : Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, Gabriel “Gabe” Jones, Timothy Aloysius Cadwallader “Dum Dum” Dugan, James Montgomery “Monty” Falsworth, James “Jim” Morita , Jacques “Frenchie” Dernier. 1944 -- The Howling Commandos travel across the European theater, performing raids on Hydra bases, weakening their forces. January 1944 -- a new character is introduced in the thrilling “Captain America” comic series: his right-hand and sidekick, Bucky Barnes, a boy wonder! ; overseas, Bucky endures weeks of mockery after being turned into a kid sidekick in these comic books. February 2, 1945 -- during a mission on a train in the Swiss Alps, Bucky unfortunately fell from the train into the Danube river and was presumed dead ; Zola’s experimenting on Bucky over a year earlier is the reason for his survival ; Soviet soldiers find Bucky still alive, taking him as a P.O.W. 1945 - 1949 -- the Winter Soldier Program is born with Bucky as the only subject ; with state of the art technology, the most modern of its time, he is given a bionic prosthetic as the next steps of the program are planned ; they begin the process of testing human cryostasis.

1950 - 1959

1950 - 1954 -- using technology stolen from the supposedly-fallen Hydra, the Soviets begin testing brainwashing technology on Bucky, with underwhelming results ; cryostasis has proven successful in the last decade, therefore Bucky has barely aged within this time. 1954 -- after the KGB is formed, the organization formally joins the Winter Soldier Project and introduces conditioning methods, both accelerating the brainwashing techniques and physical combat training ; the use of trigger words are employed for efficiency. 1955 - 1959 -- Bucky is continued to be trained, conditioned, and tortured ; the title of “The Winter Soldier” is given to him by the KGB ; he loses all memory of himself and his life and is turned into “the perfect soldier”, now an assassin for Soviet use.

1960 - 1964

November 22, 1963 -- Bucky, as The Winter Soldier, successfully assassinates American President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas.

1965 - 1989

years unknown -- the Soviets take The Winter Soldier out of cryostasis suspended animation in order to use him to aid in training girls of the Red Room Academy ; The Winter Soldier meets and trains with Natalia Romanova, later known as Natasha Romanova ; they work together on many missions for the Soviet Union during The Cold War.

NOTE : while i am using comic influence here, i will not be acknowledging any romantic or sexual relationship between bucky and natasha during this time. while i am mixing canons and using much headcanon, i am taking influence from the mcu in regards to bucky’s brainwashing. in short, he was in no mental position to be involved in any romantic or sexual relationship.

1986 -- a Soviet scientist removes Bucky from cryostasis without authorization ; the scientist tells Bucky he is going to help him get home to America ; confused, fearful, and conflicted from his mental conditioning, Bucky kills the scientist ; he is found with the man’s body and is immediately put back into cryostasis.

1990 - 1999

December 16, 1991 -- The Winter Soldier is sent to assassinate Howard and Maria Stark in order to obtain Howard Stark’s super soldier serum ; he is successful. 1991 -- in a last-ditch attempt to preserve The Winter Soldier Program after the fall of the Soviet Union, this serum is used on five former-KGB operatives in an attempt to turn them into super soldiers not unlike Bucky ; they are defective however and disposed of ; Bucky remains the only successful subject of The Winter Soldier Program ; Bucky is left in a Soviet base in cryostasis, forgotten.

2000 - 2009

2003 -- former member of the KGB Aleksander Lukin, who inherited The Winter Soldier Program from Vasily Karpov before the fall of the Soviet Union, reactivates The Winter Soldier as he begins to build his buiness, The Kronas Corporation.

2010 - ?

2012 -- The Winter Soldier is sent to Sokovia by Hydra to assassinate a high-ranking political official and seize a superhuman artifact from the country known as The Cosmic Cube ; he successfully does so with a timed detonation -- there are many casualties ; EKO Scorpion, of the Sokovian Armed Forces, being posted at the site for security of sorts, is sent to either apprehend or kill The Winter Soldier before he escapes ; Colonel Helmut Zemo is among the agents sent ; The Winter Soldier kills most of EKO Scorpion, save for Zemo and one other member. 2014 -- The Winter Soldier resurfaces and sent to assassinate Steve Rogers ; he is unsuccessful when Steve instead recognizes Bucky, this recognition tampering with the programming put in Bucky’s mind decades before ; unbenknownst to anyone else, Helmut Zemo learns of The Winter Soldier’s return and independently discovers the identity of The Winter Soldier, a truth he shares with the public ; exposed, a wanted criminal, and his mind broken, Bucky fails a second time to assassinate Steve, whose life he ultimately saves from drowning ; he begins a life on the run. 2014 - 2016 -- Bucky, now free from Lukin, successfully leaves the United States and makes his way to Europe where he travels around, running from anyone who might be following him ; he never stays in one place more than a month. 2016 -- in yet another act of revenge, Helmut Zemo bombs a U.N. meeting ; Zemo frames Bucky for the bombing in order to flush him out of hiding ; he is found in Bucharest, Romania, where he is apprehended and taken to Berlin by SHIELD ; Zemo, posing as a psychiatrist, triggers The Winter Soldier conditioning, leading him to kill multiple SHIELD agents in escaping ; he is saved by Steve and Sam Wilson and they all soon go on the run ; they are lured to an abandoned Soviet base in Siberia by Zemo ; Bucky and Steve go to Siberia ; Zemo has the intent to activate The Winter Soldier yet again and force Bucky to kill Steve ; Zemo is apprehended by Bucky and Steve and handed over to SHIELD. 2016 - 2018 -- Steve, familiar with Prince T’Challa of Wakanda, asks if Bucky can have sanctuary in Wakanda, as he knows Bucky will be safe and hidden there ; there, Bucky is put into suspended animation while Shuri, princess of Wakanda, devises a way to remove the Soviets’ programming ; over the course of a year, this is done and Bucky is truly on a path of healing and recovery from the years of torture from the Soviets ; Bucky receives a new prosthetic, vibranium arm, designed by Princess Shuri. 2018 - ? -- Bucky chooses to leave Wakanda and return to the United States ; upon returning, seeing that he is still a wanted criminal and terrorist, Bucky turns himself in ; in turning himself in, Bucky is not arrested nor incarcerated at this time, but is willing to undergo monitoring to prove he is not and will not be a threat to public safety or the country’s security ; Bucky is put on trial for his crimes as The Winter Soldier (the trial is not made public -- everything is kept closely under wraps) ; during the trial, the terms of a pardon were negotiated and, when no official verdict in the trial is reached, Bucky is granted a (conditional) pardon ; as a condition of his pardon, he is required to attend mandated therapy to assess his psychological state and to ensure he will not be a public threat in the future ; he is no longer considered an enemy of the state or terrorist and lives as a civilian.***

*** this is my main verse and the time in which MOST threads will be set.

#timeline.#here's an updated timeline #with a closer look at my canon #really i just copied and pasted the old one #and made some small adjustments dshs #and erased infinity war and endgame

20 notes · View notes

brooklyn-1918 · 4 years

Text

Mighty Oaks

Characters: Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, Peggy Carter, The Howling Commandos. Pretty much everyone from The First Avenger.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Bucky Barnes (Stucky)

Summary: Steve has always been told “mighty oaks from little acorns grow.” He just never knew what that meant to him.

Warnings: Language, poor written smut, fluff and angst. 18+ only.

Word count: 4550

A/N: I wrote this for @thinkoutsidethebex ‘s writing challenge, which I had a hell of a lot of fun with. It’s also my first time that I have posted anything that I have written for one of my ships, so I don’t know how well this is going to blow over.

Also, I got the proverb “mighty oaks from little acorns grow”.

Anywho, enjoy.

People say that mighty oaks from little acorns grow, right? Right now, Steve’s not convinced. Alone and cornered in an alley, the date is August 18, 1942, 4:30 in the afternoon. And Steve is already on his third fight today.

In his defence, the first one was NOT his fault, and the second he didn’t fully mean to start. This one, though, Steve damn well meant it. He stands defiantly towards the bully, chin jutted out and fists balled at his sides. The red headed man laughs, stepping forward. Steve takes one step closer and the man laughs harder.

Steve can’t for the life of him figure out what’s so funny. Until he sees the man flex his fingers, and a small silver knife falls from his sleeve, and into his grip.

“Shit.” Steve mutters, eyes darting around for some sort of escape.

“You really think that your life is worth it? Protecting some girl?” The slimeball twirls the knife in his fingers, taunting, toying. Steve can’t find a way out. So he does the one thing he can think of.

He dives to the left, crashing into a pile of trash bins, and grabs a lid. Popping up, he hurls the lid with all his might. Granted, not much might, but points to him for trying. It spins through the air, and crashes into the man’s nose with a sickening crunch, making him stumble backwards with his hand over his face. Steve hurtles a pile of trash, and races out of the alley.

The guy shouts behind him, and Steve narrowly avoids the knife as it is hurled at him with scary accuracy. Steve doesn't stop running until he stumbles through his front door, on the verge of having an asthma attack.

Bucky looks up from his spot on the couch, untying his shoes from the day’s work. The brunette stands abruptly, dropping one shoe off his lap, and shaking the other off his foot as he trots over to him.

“Stevie? What happened?” He puts his hands on Steve’s shoulders, and wrenches him upright, looking at all the bruises and nicks on his face and hands. Steve gives him a grumpy look and refuses to talk. Bucky lets out an exasperated sigh, and leads him to sit on the sofa.

He leaves to grab a washcloth, running it under the bathroom faucet. Taking it back in, he wipes away the street grime and the stray drops of blood, going gently around the tender skin of his black eye.

“What happened?” Bucky tries again, placing two fingers under his chin and lifting his head. Steve frowns again, and begins to recount the stories of his three separate encounters. And by the time he is done, Bucky has sat on the floor in front of him, staring dumbly at the little blond.

“You’re lucky I love you, you punk.” Bucky manages to say, shaking his head and dropping the now warm cloth next to him. He pushes up with a tired arm to lean forward, his lips connecting with Steve’s.

Steve smiles as he wraps a hand around Bucky’s nape, pulling him closer. Bucky swings around to sit on the couch, moving Steve to sit on his lap, kiss never breaking. Bucky begins to work at the knot of Steve’s tie as Steve begins to grind down, growing harder by the second.

Steve pops the buttons of Bucky’s dirty white henley, before moving onto the buttons of his own button down. Bucky trails his fingers down Steve’s back, then slides them around to firmly grip his boyfriend’s waist, grinding up against him.

He jumped slightly as Steve’s cold fingers slid under his shirt, working it up and over his head, their mouths only breaking apart once he needed to pass the shirt over. He tosses it, not caring where it landed, and begins to leave a trail of kisses down Bucky’s jaw, to his neck, and finally, to his shoulder, sucking at his pulse point. Bucky groans as Steve runs his hands over his toned abs and chest, then quickly moves his hands to rid Steve of his own shirt, exposing his thin frame. Bucky moves his hands back to Steve’s hips, and stands abruptly, Steve hooking his feet behind Bucky. Moving slowly, he makes it to the bedroom, shutting the door and collapsing down on the old mattress.

_____

It's June of the next year, Steve has just been denied enlistment for the fifth time, and he still somehow has found himself cornered in another alley, this time for trying to get some asshole to stop shouting out during a picture. Just his luck. His eyes dart around, and he does it again. He grabs the lid of a trash bin, holding it in front of him like a shield.

He isn’t fast enough when the guy swings his fist around to connect with his jaw, knocking him to the ground with a grunt.

“Hey!” He hears.

“Pick on someone your own size.” Steve knows that voice. He pushes himself up and turns around just as the guy is running out of the alley. Steve can feel his stomach drop out as he lays eyes on his boyfriend, clad in a military uniform.

“How many times is this? And really, Jersey?” Bucky is busy straightening out the medical examination card, eyes down, unsure if he would be able to take the look he just KNOWS is on Steve’s face. Steve draws in a shaky breath, then speaks.

“You got your orders.” He doesn't pose it as a question, but he keeps his voice low, masking the brokenness of it all. Bucky finally looks up, giving a mock salute.

“Sergeant James Barnes, 107th.” Bucky places his arm around Steve’s shoulders with a little laugh, then pressed a kiss to Steve’s cheek.

“Come on.” Bucky huffed a laugh, forcing a smile to his face.

“Where we going?” Steve asked, trying to keep the solemn tone from his voice. It wasn’t working. Bucky bit his lip and gave a shake to the blond.

“The future. I got us some cover tonight.”

_____

The “date” went about as well as any cover date could have gone. To the outside world, it looked like Bucky was with the brunette, and Steve was with the blonde, not that it was two illegal pairings.

Of course, the Stark expo had not held Steve’s interest for very long. The floating car was OK, but when he had turned around, there was an enlistment sign, pointing him in the right direction. With a glance back over his shoulder, he decided that he could try his luck. He snuck off to go find it.

Bucky had caught up with him quickly, giving him a little push from behind and telling him that they were going to bring Dottie and Claire dancing. Steve told him he could go on without him, that he was going to try again. Bucky had gotten mad, getting into a little argument.

Bucky hadn’t been able to stay mad for long, though. He shook his head and brought Steve in for a hug, wishing he could kiss him silly in public. That was the last time Bucky would see Steve for another three months, the last time he would see Steve at that size.

Steve got into the supersoldier program that night.

_____

Steve thinks about the phrase his mother had told him years ago.

“Mighty oaks from little acorns grow, now don’t you forget that Steven Grant Rogers.” She had ruffled his hair and sent him to bed.

Yeah, Steve is REALLY not feeling that. He has fallen in the mud again, grunting as he tries to get his thin legs back under him. Hodges had hit him with the stock of the training rifle again, right to the gut. If looks could kill, Steve was pretty sure that he would have killed him by now.

Hell hath no fury like an angry Steve Rogers.

So he runs harder, barely overtaking the guy in the second to last position. He drops the gun and jumps at the rope ladder, but his leg slips through and he falls back, an annoyed look on his face as the drill sergeant yells at him and a few of the other guys laugh at him.

“I bet Bucky didn’t have to go through this.” He grumbles to himself as he pulls back up, resuming his climb.

It was these very events that made it hard to believe he was the one chosen to partake in the experiment. At first, he thought it was some sick joke they were playing on him. Then, when he returned to the barracks and his was the only stuff there, it sunk in.

_____

Steve lay strapped to the table as it flipped up, the doors closing around him. Dr. Erskine had said that the serum would not only give him a pristine physical form, but would cure any and all illnesses he had. And by God he hoped he was right. He hoped that he was right when him and Bucky would sit up, talking late into the night about how neither of them thought their love was an illness. He hoped he was right that there was one thing the serum would not be able to change.

Love was pain, and he was willing to live with the pain he sufferers every day in order to not give up Bucky. That's the one thing he doesn't think he would be able to live with. Giving up Bucky.

The door shuts and the pain starts. Dull at first, but it grows until he feels like his bones are on fire, his vision going white. He tries not to yell out, but as it grows unbearable, he cries out. He can hear shouting for the machine to get turned off, so he shouts for them to keep going. He grits his teeth and stays quiet.

He can hear the strap around his stomach break, the thrumming of the machine deafening, the light blinding. Outside, sparks fly and the power dies all at once, leaving Steve trapped in the hot metal sarcophagus. The doors pop open and let in a rush of much welcomed cool air. He may not yet be mighty, but he certainly is bigger.

He opens his eyes as the doctor and Howard Stark help him off the mechanism. Steve thinks for a panicked moment, his love for Bucky doesn't seem to have been changed. Then Peggy asks him how he feels, reaching out to just barely touch his newly defined pectoral muscle. His skin crawls at the touch, and he resists the urge to smile because, yup, he still is very much in love with Bucky. They were right. He smiles.

_____

Steve’s next two months fly by in a storm of dancing USO girls, and propaganda. And as he sits backstage of the latest show, in the middle of rainy Italy, he can’t help but think about how close he could be to Bucky, to his second half of his heart.

His hand absently sketches out a monkey, riding on a unicycle and carrying his shield.

“Hello, Steve.” He jumps at the voice, and turns to look over his shoulder, catching sight of Peggy Carter.

“Hi.” He says, a little surprised. She smiles and sits next to him, trying to give her comfort to him. All he can see himself as is the dancing monkey. A horn sounds and it makes him jump again, looking to the commotion of people hauling wounded out of an ambulance.

“They look like they’ve been through hell.” He says. Peggy hums beside him, and gives an explanation.

“Your audience contained what's left of the 107th.” Steve’s stomach drops to his toes, the blood drained out of his face. He asks for confirmation, but doesn't get it as his patience has run out, and he’s racing out to Colonel Philips’s tent.

His one goal is to get Bucky back.

_____

Steve storms the castle. Or, factory in this case. He has unleashed his full fury, teeth grit, knuckles bloodied. He races around trying to find the prison ward, then unlocking all the cages. Hundreds of prisoners flood into the hall, but none of them the one he is so desperately searching for. He takes off in the direction that one of them points in, hoping, praying to any god there might be, that Bucky is still alive.

He finds him strapped to a table, muttering his numbers, eyes glazed over. Steve quickly makes sure the room has no video feeds, and he rips the straps off.

“Bucky!” He calls, placing his hand over his beloved’s cheek, smoothing his thumb over the bone. Bucky’s eyes slip back into focus, and he squints at Steve.

“Steve?” He asks, lifting his arm to grip the blond’s shoulder. He looks confused for only a minute until Steve bends down to lock lips with him. Like Prince Charming waking Snow White from her poisoned slumber, Bucky bolts upright.

“Come on, we gotta go Buck.” Steve helps him off the table, and they hobble their way out of the factory, questions of how and why and when rattling from Bucky’s mouth.

“I’ll explain later.” Is what Steve eventually gives Bucky.

_____

Steve doesn't leave Bucky’s side for the next few days. They sit in Steve’s dimly lit tent, rain pouring on top of them. Sitting side by side, Steve’s hand rests on Bucky’s knee as he explains things.

“And here we are, sitting in this muddy hell.” Steve finishes. Bucky hums, tracing up Steve’s muscular forearm with one finger. Bucky leans his head on his boyfriend’s shoulder, testing out the new odd feeling of having both more muscle padding and more height. He switches so his chin is resting on his shoulder, his icy blue eyes staring into Steve’s sky blue.

Steve leans down to kiss him, tongue tracing the seam of his lips for entry. Bucky yields, and their kiss deepens. Steve twists his body so they are facing each other, one leg on the bed, the other dangling over the edge. Hands card through hair, and breathing gets more erratic.

This is how Peggy finds them.

“Captain, we need to discuss--” She walks into his tent, eyes trained on the file in her arms before looking up. They had broken apart in time to not have actually been caught in the act, but their appearances were proof enough. Both wore their undershirts with casual base pants, matching disheveled hair. Steve had a hickey at the base of his neck, and Bucky was covered in little nips.

Steve stood quickly, eyes wide in terror. They were sure to be thrown out of the army, most likely put in jail or put through correctional treatment. Bucky remained frozen on the bed. Peggy’s jaw dropped, file drooping until it was at her side. Steve reached his hand out, then withdrew it like he was going to get burned.

“Look, Peggy, I can ex--”

“I knew it.” Peggy whispers, looking from one to the other. They looked at her dumbfoundedly.

“Your secret is safe with me. I’ll just leave this here.” She says as she places the file on the end of Steve’s cot. She turns to go back out into the rain, but stops to say one last thing.

“You may want to consider something a bit more private.” She smiles warmly at them, and exits, the flaps swinging lightly as they close.

_____

Not a week later they find themselves walking through the woods around base, both of them having the day to themselves. Naturally they decide to spend it together. Steve holds out his arm to stop Bucky, and points up the hill to a stone outcropping, more rock forming a cave underneath.

They haul each other up, climbing inside, where it’s surprisingly warm. Steve takes off his shirt, leaving his undershirt, and balls it up to use as a pillow. Bucky rests his head on Steve’s chest, and gripps his tank top. They can see the whole base from the cave, high on the hill above the treetops. Beyond, is a town, half destroyed by bombs, but still standing.

“It’s nice up here.” Bucky comments, his voice echoing quietly off the back wall, sounding around the small space.

“Yeah. Too bad we can’t spend more time here.” Steve sighs. He brings his hand up to twist through Bucky’s hair, playing with the short strands at the base of his neck. Bucky chuckles softly.

“May as well make the best of it then.” Steve is almost confused at his words, but then the brunette climbs on top of him, straddling his waist. Steve grins wickedly as he immediately goes to pull Bucky’s shirt down his shoulders. He sits up, holding Bucky in place by his hips, which have begun to grind down against him. Bucky slides his fingers under Steve’s undershirt, then up the toned stomach and chest, gathering the fabric on the way, stopping briefly to pinch at Steve’s nipples, which are hardening just the same as some other things. He finally lets go and slides the shirt off, before removing his own.

“You’re beautiful. Did you know that?” Steve asks, a flirty smile on his face.

“You only tell me every day.” Bucky retorts. Steve growls and flips them over, pinning Bucky to the ground. With his hands over his wrists, he begins to move his hands up slowly, a silent command for Bucky to leave his arms on the ground. Bucky twitches as Steve’s light touches tickle the skin on his arms, causing Steve to see if what he was doing was alright. Bucky gave a nod and Steve moved down, unbuttoning Bucky’s pants. He slipped his fingers under the edge of his boxers, then he quickly shoved them down, exposing Bucky’s excited member.

Steve trailed kisses down from his navel, towards the inside of his thigh, giving Bucky a few strokes.

“So beautiful.” Steve murmurs as he sinks his mouth down around Bucky’s length, precum drizzling out of the tip. Bucky gasps, and can’t help as his hands go to Steve’s head, holding him in place. His hips buck as Steve begins to move up and down, breathing deeply through his nose.

He pulls off of him with a wet pop, saliva trailing from his lip all the way down. Even in the dim light, Steve can see how his lover’s eyes are almost black with lust. He’s sure his are the same. Bucky sits up, hooking his hands under Steve’s armpits, dragging him up to lay on top of him. Steve happily goes with him, but props himself on his elbows, hovering almost nose to nose. Eyes locked, Bucky snakes his hands between them to undo Steve’s pants, pushing them down his hips.

Steve dives forward to kiss the life out of Bucky, nipping at his lip before going back down his neck. Bucky reaches around to give Steve a few experimental tugs, Steve hard and aching as he moans softly. The blond moves to prop up on just one arm, the other joining where Bucky’s hand lay. Steve pushes one finger into Bucky, bending his knuckle just slightly, enough to bring Bucky up as he arches his back into Steve, a gasp escaping his slack jaw.

“God… Steve--” is all Bucky can manage to say, squirming slightly under him. Steve chuckles slowly, adding in a second, then third finger, twisting them to have Bucky gasp out his name the same way that he just did.

Pulling his fingers out, Bucky wimpers, feeling empty at the loss of the touch. He is about to protest before he groans in ecstasy, Steve’s cock filling him up as he thrusts in almost to his base.

“This feel good?” Steve asks, his voice low, thumb now rubbing slow circles on Bucky’s side. The brunette grins widely, before he grabs Steve’s free hand and presses his fingers to his lips, kissing each knuckle.

“Shit, Steve… Please…” He whines. Steve takes that as his cue, and begins to move his hips back and forth, rocking them to the beat of each breath he took. Bucky’s breath skips, rattling as he takes the steamy cave air in. Bucky nearly breaks Steve’s hand as he grips it.

“Please.” Bucky begs, pushing his hips up to get more force. Steve smiles and presses a kiss to the corner of Bucky’s mouth, nipping his lip on the way up. Bucky’s soft plea was everything Steve needed to start completely railing him, thrusts becoming slightly more erratic as he neared the edge.

“Fuck, you’re so perfect… And so damn tight.” Steve growled in his ear, sucking on his earlobe. Bucky’s back arched up once more, nails dragging down Steve’s back, leaving long red welts. Bucky moans as he cums, his juices spraying over Steve’s abdomen.

Voices just down the hill make them panic. They are far, but can be made out as the voices of Falsworth and Dougan coming closer. Steve’s head snaps up, and he pulls out quickly, fixing his pants and tugging his undershirt back on, Bucky scrapes his back on the wall of the cave as he shoots up, undershirt thrown on, then green base shirt, buttoning up until the last two.

Steve is fixing his hair, looking wildly around for his shirt, to which Bucky throws it at him, hitting him in the face just as the two Commandos pop their heads into the mouth of the cave. Steve laughs and kicks the toe of Bucky’s boot from his spot on the opposite wall, unfolding his shirt to sling back over his broad shoulders.

“Hey, Cap.” Dougan says, pulling himself in, nodding to the sergeant sitting on the opposite wall. Steve is just managing to control his laughter, and to regulate his breathing when Falsworth clambers in, Bucky shooting him a mad grin.

“What’re you doing the whole way up here?” Dougan asks as he slumps against the wall next to him, twirling his bowler hat in his fingers. Falsworth leans against the wall next to Bucky, looking back and forth between the two brooklynites.

“Just getting reacquainted.” Steve says, causing Bucky to snort, reciprocating Steve’s kick with one of his own.

“What about you?” Bucky questions, brushing some dirt off his pants.

_____

The train rattles under the soldiers, speeding through the snowy alps. Bullets fly and beams of blue light blaze, the fight hot. Steve’s feet are knocked out from under him, and he goes crashing into the floor, his shield bouncing away from him.

Bucky picks it up and fires at the German soldier once, twice, three times, shield held in front of him. The soldier turns and fires, blasting dead center to the shield, blowing the brunette sideways and through a hole in the side of the train car.

Steve’s eyes widen and he throws the metal disk with everything he has, contacting it to his chest, where he picks up the sound of ribs breaking through the armour. Before the disk hits the ground again, he has scrambled to the hole, reaching out shouting over the whipping wind.

“Grab my hand!” He cries, chest constricting. Bucky reaches out, his fingers brushing his love’s. His face is riddled with terror, hand trembling, but he can’t reach.

The bar breaks and time stands still. Steve can only stare, paralized with fear, feeling his heart shatter.

Bucky falls away with a shout.

As he’s falling, Bucky shuts his mouth to silence his scream. He can’t let Steve hear him like this. He can’t let his last memory be of Bucky’s anguish.

So he twists to his left, enough that his arm catches on a jagged rock ledge, shattering the bone and tearing at the flesh. The last thing he remembers is landing on his back, his head hitting the ground and knocking him out.

And as he lays on the ground bleeding out, he smiles as his life plays before him. One. Last. Time.

_____

Steve staggers out of the debriefing, barely containing his emotions. He stops in the middle of the camp, mud splashing up and over his boots, contemplating on if he should go back to his tent.

Unknown to him, the commandos watched him as he turned and wandered into the woods. Unknown to him, the commandos followed.

Once he got deep enough into the trees, he stopped, scanning the snowy landscape ahead of him. He dropped heavily to his knees, sitting back on his heels, hands lay palm up on his thighs. The tears fell down his cheeks swifter than rivers, his entire body shaking.

They say mighty oaks from little acorns grow. In this moment he had never felt lower. Someone had taken an ax to his heart and hacked away until he was nothing but splinters. His head dropped so his chin hit his chest.

With a growl growing in the back of his throat, he unclipped the shield from his back and stood.

Hidden behind a few trees, the commandos narrowed their eyes, watching for what he would do. They were afraid to move, to make noise. They were scared that their own heartbreak would be heard by their captain.

With a yell, Steve threw his shield toward a tree, watching as it’s edge sliced right through and lodged in the tree behind. With a crash, the pine fell, shuddering the ground. He walked forward to his shield, and removed it from the wood, staring at the slice for a moment before he wound back and sent his fist to connect with it, splintering the trunk.

He shook his bloody, probably broken hand, warding off the blossoming pain. He twisted on his heel so he could walk to the fallen tree, sitting on the trunk.

The tears came hot and fast once more, falling like someone had just blown the Hoover dam.

The shield slipped from his grasp and landed in the snow. He moved his now free hands to hold his head up with his elbows propped on his knees.

He couldn’t let the troops see him like this. With the snot threatening to spill from his nose, and the irregular breathing, cheeks red and puffy.

Slowly, the commandos made their way from behind the trees, placing their hands on his shoulders. They sat next to him, they comforted him as best they could.

_____

The screaming cockpit filled his head. The plane was headed for the ice, and Steve was glad.

Long ago Bucky and Steve had promised each other that they would be with each other until the end of the line. And this was it.

Bucky had gotten off, and that left Steve still on the train. Steve was giving his life to save the lives of countless people, and if he had to go, he would choose it no other way. And as Peggy’s voice crackled over the radio, he smiled.

The plane hit the ice and the radio signal cut. Steve was thrown from his seat, and as he was struck unconscious, his life played before his eyes.

They say mighty oaks from little acorns grow. And maybe they were right. Maybe Steve was.

#Bex600ProverbChallange #stucky #Steve Rogers #Bucky Barnes #captain america #the winter soldier

6 notes · View notes