#the other is based on a scene off captain america the winter soldier

[doki-doki-imagines]

Hi I’d like to request a trope I’ve seen in different media. I think it’s called the Fake Out Make Out trope. It’s usually where 2 people are hiding, but there is no where to really hide so they lock lips to throw off the seeker or to avoid suspicion 😆 If you have seen The Winter Soldier movie, it’s like that scene where Captain America and Black Widow kiss, or you can just look up that scene 👀

Anyway I’d like to request that trope with Kenshi, Kung Lao, Raiden, Liu Kang, Bi Han and Kuai Liang pls? Can you make it where they are not in a relationship, but maybe afterwards they felt a spark lol 😆I hope this is acceptable!

Kenshi Takahashi: -He is tense. Even if Sento is strapped on his back, making him see more or less, Kenshi never lowers his guard. -You are his eyes, sunglasses hiding your eyes, light steps pushing you both forward. -Till you reach a bench, your target in sight while he talks to a mercenary. -You both sit there, the breeze caressing your faces, Sento perfectly hidden behind your bodies rolled in newspapers and behind a wonderful bouquet. -But then something catches your eyes and Kenshi notices it, he feels your body tensing next to him. "What is happening-" His tattoed hand already reached his katana when your lips locked with his. -He is shocked, his first reaction is to pull away, but your hands on his cheeks keep him in place. -You murmur something in between kisses "Act-" "Like a couple." -He doesn't need to be told twice, also because it has been a while since he had this kind of contact and it is so good. -Kenshi forgot how nice is a lips to lips contact. His hands don't roam much, but you feel them teasing the end of your sleeves, rising it up to feel your skin. -You are the one breaking the kiss, his lips follow yours and the sight makes you smirk. -"They walked away. While you weren't looking- I mean" He pinches your cheek as to punish you for your slip "While we kissed I dropped a hidden microphone towards them. And they didn't notice anything!! We are such a good couple Kenshi-" -You keep blabbering while you go back to the base, but Kenshi's mind is somewhere else. Just the cheer in your voice being registered making him happy by reflex. -Honestly, he wouldn't mind always working with you if all missions go like that.

Kung Lao: -For Lao spy missions are like a walk in an amusement park. He grew up in the middle of nowhere so everything is new to him. His eyes shine with joy and he has a smile plastered on his face. -So his partner always has to remind him that they are there to work, not to have fun. -But you don't say anything, his happy face doesn't make your enemies suspicious. -They enter the subway and you two follow, sitting in an empty wagon with your target and the suitcase filled with top-secret information. -But something catches their attention, maybe you are looking at them with a too serious face and you feel your cover dropping. -Therefore you go all-in, tapping on Lao's shoulder while he looks at the advertisements running on the screens. -"What-" You take his hat from his hands to cover your faces, lips locking leaving him breathless and, for once, speechless. -He doesn't question your action and reciprocates immediately, the joy of being kissed by his secret crush and the one of traveling around summed together. -His hands travel more, one gripping your waist the other running to the back of your thigh to lift it and lay on his legs, making you almost sit on his lap. -The privacy you tried to keep with his hat is totally useless. The wet smacks of your lips a clear sound of what was going on. -Then the subway stopped, your target walking away, a bit disgusted by the show. You wait a bit before breaking the kiss, prompting Lao to wake up from the daze to continue with your mission. -"Wait!? Did you kiss me just to hide us?" "Lao-" "Like good move, we should totally do it again-" "Kung Lao!" -Now you have a mission, but he will stay on the ball, so you better clear things up later.

Raiden: -He is really serious about the mission, eyes never staying still, muscles ready to react at any sudden movement of your enemies. -His steps increase and it's getting hard for you to keep up. -And all of sudden, while you are still inhaling hard you feel your body being pulled by your arm. The world spins around you till' your back hits the wall. -It was Raiden, pulling you into an alley, his index finger to his lips, telling you to stay silent. -And you do, until you feel steps, probably of your pursuers, coming closer to you. -You take Raiden's shirt neck in your hands and push your lips together, catching him by surprise. -His hands stay still on your shoulders, gripping them tight, your hands do not. -One ran down his back, the other grabbed the back of his neck, scratching the skin before a groan blossom in his chest. -The sound is delightful and makes you wonder how many other sounds you can pull from him. Like a perfectly crafted instrument under your hands. -Raiden is the first to pull away. He looks into your eyes for a second before lightly slapping your shoulder, like he wants to tell you "good job" "Nice decoy, now let's go." He walks now on the main street, you just nod still in a trance. Raiden's hand holding yours to keep you close. -For a moment you hope he'll never let you go.

Liu Kang: -You are in Shang Tsung's laboratory, trying to steal some documents that may help you heal people from Tarkatan. -You are no spy, no warrior, but Liu Kang made sure you understood that it was an order; you had to go with him. -You walk around, the place is a mess and documents are dirty and all the floor. "I hope we'll be able to find what we need-" "Don't distress yourself, dear. I'm sure we'll find something." -You search around the bookcase before you both hear footsteps. You turn back, eyes wide. -You don't have time to react as Liu already took the matter into his own hands, pulling into a small and dark storeroom, your chests pressing against each other. -"Lord-Lord Liu Kang, this is awful-" Your breath is erratic, anxiety having the best of you. "Don't worry dear. Nothing will happen we'll just have to keep sile-" He whispers before being interrupted by you again. "But I'm no good with that! I told you I wasn't a good-" -And then Liu Kang has a genius idea. His lips lock with yours. Not a simple peck, but a deep kiss like a movie's one. -You don't reject him. You totally go for it, hands on his hair and then in his back, caressing everything you can. Liu Kang for sure doesn't step back, if anything he turns up the heat. -Literally and figuratively. -You don't stop when outside is quiet, you stop when you need oxygen. Your lips connected by a thin trail of saliva, foreheads knocking against each other, and noses brushing. -He pecks your lips again and again. You try to regain breath but it is hard when your heart screams at you to kiss him again. -"Maybe…we should do more missions together." Liu Kang smiles, eyes closed before pecking your lips again. -He knew this moment was going to happen, but much later therefore he decided to quicken the times just a little…

Bi-Han: -You really didn't want to do this. Working as a spy is a pain and the pain increases tenfold if you have to do that with Bi-Han. -Thankfully he doesn't nag a lot, always covering for your misstep. Probably he had to talk to himself in the mirror before dealing with this mission not to snap at you every 5 minutes. -Obviously, Bi-Han will often correct you, but at least his voice won't drip superiority. Or better, it's still dense of superiority, but he simply talks less so you won't hear it as much as other times. -You are inside the enemy base when you hear footsteps coming your way. You are dressed in the enemy uniforms, kindly given by Bi-Han after punching an enemy soldier till he passed out. -He pulls you toward a corner of the hallway, a locked door on your side. "Kiss me." He orders. Voice low and barely a whisper. "What?" You see him lowering, trying to hide as best as he can behind your body. "I'm wearing Lin Kuei's uniform, they'll recognize me immediately." He grits his teeth. "Your head is so fucking hard, I told you to wear the uniform too-" -His rough hand grabs the back of your neck, pulling your head closer and locking your lips together. -The kiss represents him perfectly. It's rough and you feel him overpowering you even in his "weaker" position. It feels like he is teaching you how you should kiss, the hand that was before on the back of your head now is on your throat squeezing every time you try to pull away. -You pull on his bun, trying to reciprocate the roughness, but he bites your lips licking away the drop of blood spilling from the cut, before going back into your mouth. -The soldiers meanwhile walk by, some of them whistling, earning a killer side-eye from Bi-Han who couldn't keep himself. -The kiss breaks when he decides it. "Let's go." He says, finally standing tall next to you, still dazed. -He'll never bring the topic of the kiss back and he is happy knowing you won't either. -After all, it's impossible for you to guess what was the real reason he kept his uniform on, other to his blind loyalty to Lin Kueis, no? -Bi-Han should stop underestimating others.

Kuai Liang: -You dressed him up in modern clothing and you can see how uncomfortable he is in them. -"I'm sorry Kuai, but we had no other choice." You smile at him, sunglasses hiding your eyes. "I know. Please, call me Liang." He sighs out, trying to adjust the collar of the hoodie. -You walk fast, you know that your enemies will soon find you trying to steal the usb key you worked so hard for. -You go down the escalator when your sight cross with a suspicious man. He makes your skin crawl. -You turn around looking at Liang through your sunglasses "Kiss me." You whisper. "What?" "They are suspecting us. Go for it in three, two, one-" You throw yourself at him, your lips against his soft ones. Liang is the first to reciprocate the kiss, his lips already dancing with yours. -His hands travel a lot, always so near to your backside but never crossing that line. -The man finally looks away and you break the kiss, not before pulling his lower lip with your teeth. There is silence until you step on solid ground. "Walk fast, they'll soon understand who has the key." You look ahead, your breath stable as if you didn't just kiss your crush. "Shouldn't we talk about what just happened?" Liang finally walks next you, his steps quicker than yours, and therefore he almost surpasses you. "What? I was trying to keep professional. It looked like an efficient way not to get us caught." You wear your best poker face, hoping Liang won't notice the trembling at the back of your voice. "Well, that was a bit more than just a professional ruse." He now stands in front of you, walking backward trying to look behind your glasses, searching for your eyes. -You exit the building and point at a car where Johnny is waiting for you both with Kung Lao. "We'll talk about that later." Your voice is stable and it makes Liang sigh. -You sit in the back, your shoulders pushed against each other in the back of Johnny's sport car. -A whistle breaks the silence. "Trouble in paradise?" You made sure the kick you gave to his seat hurt his back.

#mk x reader #mk1 x reader #mortal kombat x reader #mk headcanons #mk1 headcanons #mortal kombat headcanons #liu kang #liu kang x reader #mk1 raiden #raiden x reader #kung lao x reader #bi han #bi han x reader #kuai liang #kuai liang x reader #kenshi takahashi #kenshi x reader #kenshi takahashi x reader #kung lao

[critter-of-habit]

When I watched the new What If episode with Peggy & Nat I immediately thought of you, your art, and what your reaction would be. Especially since it was kind of a retelling of Captain America & The Winter Soldier.

What are your thoughts on the episode?

Seeing as you asked, I WILL TELL YOU MY MANY THOUGHTS. WITH PICTURES.

under the cut for length lol

First of all, as usual the animation, particularly the lighting, was incredible. Also the effects! The explosions, smoke, everything. Always blows me away how much effort and love these animators put in to What If.

I love that it's Winter Soldier based because by god do I love that movie - but I also love that it's so very different to my AU cos that means I can keep going with it lol.

Okay here we go with the highlights - Blatant flirting and showing off:

This???:

Just how in sync they were with every fight scene - even in the Battle of New York when they had only known each other for a few hours.

HEY LOVELY. LOVELY:

Angst. And how soft Nat is here:

"Hey, Peg. I got you."

Natasha's inability to sit in a chair properly:

Peggy making a star wars reference and Nat calling her out on it like .. Nat you RECOGNIZED the reference you're a nerd too

"You know I always wondered how you got all those GI Boys to follow a woman into war: question answered." ie. "I'm so into you right now":

This Natasha stabbed Dreykov to death with a corkscrew and I love her for it.

Natasha instinctively putting herself in between Peggy and Steve even though they're both twice her size

I've already mentioned but, the choice to focus on Natasha's face in this scene:

Nat's face here:

Natasha only getting taken down by the robots because her gay-Peggy-focused-ass gets distracted when Peggy runs off to protect Steve: (I'll come back to this point later as a negative)

MELINA.

Was anyone else looking to see if Yelena was there

"Let's unpack that later, shall we?"

"I don't know whether to kiss you, kill you, or dissect you." "Let me guess, all three?"

I bet the Captain Carter film was baby Nat's gay awakening lol:

Melina's glorious slo-mo "grandma, it's me, anastasia" coat drop:

Peggy running to save Nat T_T

These shots:

Nat wearing the same outfit from Winter Soldier:

Natasha "too-loyal-and-infatuated-for-her-own-good" Romanoff going along with Peggy again to look for Steve without even being asked. (in stark contrast to the end of Winter Soldier when Natasha did not go with Steve to look for Bucky, I might add)

New reaction image:

Peggy and Nat calling and reaching out to each other when the portal opens and ALMOST making it - then Natasha punching the ground in desperation T_T

These two look SO COOL and I can't wait for the 1602 episode.

Negative points:

Rehashing Ste/ggy all over again - we already HAD that and it was endgame, why do it again?

As much as I adore Natasha's intense loyalty, it's very one sided in this episode and I'm wondering if that's intentional. Peggy is hyperfocused on Steve and leaves Nat behind to run after him multiple times, even though he is in an entire suit of armor and is FINE and Natasha is the one actually getting injured. Then she's leaving at the end without saying goodbye to go find Steve again (despite there being no reason to think he's alive? he EXPLODED??) even though Natasha just went through a trauma too and shouldn't be abandoned. Kinda feels like Peggy is taking Natasha's always being there for granted and I really hope it's addressed in following episodes (though I doubt it will be - it'll just be Steve focused again -_- )

Okay I think I'm done. This was a LOT I'm not sorry I've been waiting for more content for SO LONG I can't wait for the rest of the episodes to rip my heart out and stomp on it :3

#Disclaimer because this is tumblr: I'm under no illusion that Peggynat will actually happen #but all their interactions FEED ME #peggynat #reply #critter rambles #long post #VERY long post I'm not sorry #what if...? #what if...? spoilers #what if #what if spoilers

[thatmexisaurusrex]

My Current Table of Contents

Lol finally changed the banner into something better 😂 Anyways, reposting an updated Table of Contents for my AO3 works. Check it out here or on my AO3 😆 :

Canon Divergence:

The Bucky Quest Saga, which tells the behind the scenes story between Sam and Bucky post-Captain America: the Winter Soldier through to The Falcon and the Winters Soldier and beyond that

A Captain and His Bucky which is what if Bucky was the original Captain America, Sam has been Captain America since the events Avengers Movie, Steve Rogers is the Winter Soldier, and Sam found Bucky thawing from a chunk of ice in SHIELD headquarters during the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier and has now taken him in to help him navigate life in the future

My Aaron Davis/Peter B. Parker Fake Marriage Enemies to Lovers Fic You're a Sunflower (I Think Your Love Would Be Too Much)

My Heimdall/Sam Wilson Post-TFATWS Fic Series, Loving Are All-Seeing Men and Midgardian Captains

Sam Wilson finds himself in a very strange game show with some asshole named Bucky Barnes, The Marriage Game

Two clubbing feelings with porn SamBucky fics. One that happens post-TWS during Bucky's European Tour and one that happens during the black market art auction nightclub scene in TFATWS. The fics titles, as well as this collection title, are based on lines in the song hand crushed by a mallet by 100 gecs, I didn’t get to tell you goodbye

A story about Sam and Bucky finding out that Sam's dead husband Riley is a Winter Soldier, Captain America, The White Wolf, and the Winter Soldier

A story about Bucky hearing Sam truly laugh for the first and a bonus series of vignettes about Bucky's twenty-three goats and their pun names, Sam and Bucky's Cabin

Time After Time, or my Sorcerer Supreme Sam Canon Divergence Fic

Back in the Gulf, where Sam Wilson tries to figure out where he fits in the world post-blip and if he wants Bucky Barnes to be part of his life.

My All Caps fic, sometimes that's all we need, an Endgame Canon Divergence where everyone lived, no one went old and went to the past, and Steve and Bucky are competing for Captain America Sam Wilson's love and attention

Five Times Bucky Got Dirty and the One Time Bucky Got Sam Dirty, a two-part fic about five times Bucky got dirty around Sam and the one time Bucky got Sam dirty

My gay chicken, post-blip, accidental undercover fake married fic, Playing with Fire

My Valentine's Day Fic about Sam Not Knowing He's Actually Dating Bucky, You'll Never Be My Maybe.

Meanwhile... a short two-part fic about Sam and Bucky figuring out their love for each other while on a mission.

My Gideon Visits and Shenanigans Ensue two-parter, A Surprise Visit

My IWTV Season 1, Episode 2 Loustat fic, I don't think you realize (but you are in my insides)

The Beyoncé Trilogy, a series of three fics inspired by the Beyoncé songs "Blow", "Cuff It", and "Texas Hold 'Em" that take place during an alternate version of CATWS.

Fantasy AUs:

My Fantasy/Medieval/Arranged Marriage AU, Golden is the Sun

His Wingless Stranger, which is a "What if WWII Bucky fell off that train into a world that spliced Tomorrowland with Hiyao Miyazaki and Sam lived in a future society where everyone has wings?"

My Zombie AU, ESCAPE TO WAKANDA

My Apothecary Meets Prince Who Accidentally Becomes His Apprentice Fic Series, The White Wolf Apothecary

My Star Wars AU, Star Wars Episode IV.V: The Phantom Hookup

Fairytale AU, The Little White Wolf

A story about monster Hunter Joaquín meets Vampire Sam and Werewolf Bucky in a bar, Joaquín Torres Monster Hunter

The Two Strangers, A post-apocalyptic future western SamBucky AU on a different planet

My Practical Magic inspired AU, Impractical Magic

My matelotage Pirate!Sam, Merman!Bucky fic, Reaching Out For You

My Future Kid Fic, Pre-Vampire Apocalypse fic Canary in the Coal Mine

My Selkie and Pirate two-part love story, The Selkie and the Pirate Elect

My If You Were the Last AU, The Hypothetical

The Midnight Lover, my bittersweet Vampire AU

My Percy Jackson and the Olympians AU, Sam Wilson and the Olympians

No Powers AUs:

My Single All the Way AU, A No Snow Christmas

My Popstar AU, The Only Thing That I Refuse to Forget

My one fantastic impromptu date fic, A Night With You

My airport chase confession fic My Best Friend's Brother

My Bachelor AU, If I Take You Home

My Christmas Fake Relationship Fic, For the Holidays

From That Show, my Sitcom Actors!AU

My High School AU fic, Walking and Running to You 

My Anthologies:

The SamBucky Halloween 2021 Anthology I made for the SamBucky Halloween 2021 event the SamBucky Library is hosting

The WinterFalcon Week 2021 I participated in that's being hosted by the WinterFalcon Week tumble

The Nine Short Dates with Sam and Bucky ficlet series I made

The Sambtember Ficlets and Drabble Anthology I created for the Samtember event hosted by the Sam Wilson Fest tumblr

The Kinktober Collection 2021;

Water They Waiting For anthology series. It's 9 writers, 19 stories, and a lot of sexual tension involving water

My SarahBucky fics for Fleur de Louve Month2021

My SamBuckyTorres anthology, Captains and Falcons and White Wolves, Or My!

My collection of three fics for the MYSU Holiday Gift Exchange 2021!

My collection of fics based on the SamBucky Library's Candy Hearts Event 2022, SamBucky Library's Candy Hearts Event 2022 Fic Anthology

My collection of stories inspired by my the Daily SamBucky Fluff Diary on my tumblr, The Daily SamBucky Fluff Diary Auxiliary Stories

My collection of fics based on the 2 card of the MYSU Valentine's Day Bingo 2022, MYSU Valentine's Day Bingo 2022 Fic Anthology

My collection of fics based on the photos in post by hot-chocolates-world on tumblr, The Tush Collection

My collection for the SamBucky AU Week 2022, My SamBucky AU Week 2022 Collection

My collection of Drabbles and Ficlets for Samtember 2022

My collection of WinterFalcon Bingo Round Two 2022-2023 Bingo Fills 

My collection of fills for SamBucky Halloween Bingo 2022

My collection of fills for the Sam Wilson Bingo Round 2

My collection of fills for the SamBucky Festive Bingo 2022

My collection of fills for TFATWS Anniversary 2023 Fics

My collection of All Caps Bingo Round One 2023 Fills

My collection of SamBucky Summer Bingo 2023 Fills

My collection of Samtember 2023 Fills

My collection of SamBucky Halloween Bingo 2023 Fills

My collection of SamBucky Gift Event 2023 Fics

My collection of SamBucky Valentine's Day Bingo 2024 Fics

My SamBucky One-Shots!

My Other One-Shots!

#table of contents #sambucky #sambucky fic #sambuckyquin #all caps #samriley #sambuckyriley #just #a lot of fics #all good stuff #check it out #happier with this banner lol

[stevetonyweekly]

SteveTony Weekly - March 19

 Tied and Twisted by 51stCenturyFox 

“JARVIS, I’m tangled up in cables and need assistance. Get Dummy.” He surveyed the narrow path between the racks. “No, scratch that plan. Not enough space to maneuver.” He looked up at his trapped wrists. “Or enough fine-motor control. I need opposable thumbs.”

“Shall I call 911, sir?” JARVIS inquired calmly. “Will a hatchet be required? Jaws of life?”

What a Wicked Way to Treat the Boy that Loves You by jellybeanforest

After both forget their four-year anniversary, Tony Stark is insecure about the state of his relationship to Steve Rogers. Adding insult to injury, Steve has been acting strangely all week, so when he takes his boyfriend to dinner, Tony just knows he’s planning to break up with him in a public space to prevent him from causing a scene. Well, if the asshole thinks that (1) Tony is prone to post-breakup dramatics, (2) witnesses are a full-proof way to prevent said dramatics, and (3) Tony isn’t going to beat him to the punch, then maybe Steve never really knew Tony that well to begin with.

Reaching Inside An Armored Heart by MayBiTheWay

Realistically, asking Tony Stark out on a date was a big deal, Steve knew he needed to do some convincing, but not in a million years he’d think Tony’s answer would be this certain, this final. But he was not about to give up on this, on Tony.

It's just that there have been more pressing things to deal with at first, like return of the Skull or MODOK...

Gained in Translation by Annie D (scaramouche)

Steve returns to New York and meets Tony for the first time since they’d parted ways after the Chitauri incident. It’s a little awkward at first, but they gain a new rhythm, which is mainly based on their ability to surprise each other and prove those first impressions inaccurate.

Set between Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Be Empty of the Miserable Things by royal_chandler

Someone needs to tell Steve Rogers that loving the person you're with while you can is the best sort of selfish.

Sing That Body Electric by royal_chandler

Tony comes back from a business trip to find Steve with a beard.

Go the *Bleep* to Sleep by royal_chandler

Tony is waning, a middle-aged father who’s up against it and judging his younger self for ever taking sleep for granted.

Under the October Sun by royal_chandler

 This is what Tony deserves for suffering an apparent lapse into insanity and giving credence to anything that freaking Scott Lang has to say.

Unplanned Courses by royal_chandler

When he and Tony began, Steve was told to be careful. Steve had never paid much mind though, too caught up in feeling alive. But eventually a spring that turns into summer cools into autumn and then freezes, and Steve’s never done well with the cold.

patchwork people by itsallAvengers

It was a pretty well-known fact that Tony Stark had control issues.

It was far less well-known why, though.

Muscles With a Side of Baby Blues by spAceArrow

If your date is nice to you but rude to the staff, then they are not a nice person.

and you said it was love by thangam

Steve wasn’t prepared for anything to really go off the rails at the gala. The Avengers were expected to go to parties like this every week, as a part of their contract with the American government. It was also not surprising that Tony would know some of the fancy rich people who came personally, considering he was a regular attendant of several other galas a week, and he ran in the same circle that most of the other attendees did. However, it was unusual for him to have a standoff with any one of the guests.

This gala was different though, because, for the first time, Tiberius Stone was on the guest list.

Shameless by vlbuehle

You just know there are like dozens of sex tapes of Tony circulating the internet. Steve finds one (while looking for something completely different) and is simultaneously mortified and unexpectedly turned on.

Tony catches him watching it, and is very amused (and not at all embarrassed, naturally). Sex follows.

Song and Dance by Arukou

Tony hasn't been feeling the schmoozing lately, especially not when Ty Stone blows in from the West Coast.

Your Heart on My Skin by AvengersNewB

Tattoo artist Steve refuses to give omega Tony a tattoo that might cause him a lifetime of embarrassment, despite Ty's insistence and ends up supporting Tony in putting his life back together.

Oh, and getting a chance to punch Ty? Always a bonus.

Arranged by NotEvenCloseToStraight

Royalty AU-- Howard arranges a match between Tony and Steve, but when Tony tries to run away with Tiberius instead, Steve goes after his betrothed and brings him home. Things are difficult between the couple at first, but an impulsive kiss leads to softer moments, and finally the arranged pair find happiness together.

catastrophic blues by meidui

It's 2011 and there’s a new vigilante amok in Brooklyn.

“He broke out of SHIELD custody,” Coulson says on a video call, calm and straight faced as he always is. “Good news is he didn’t take anything. Bad news is we can’t catch him.”

Tony tosses his welding goggles onto his workbench. “What I can’t catch is a fucking break.”

What Happens In Vegas by sabrecmc

“What the hell, Tony?” Rhodey demanded brusquely. Tony winced and drew the phone away from his ear. “You’ve got cops and Feds all over the hotel. I’m watching you perp walk out of the police station on repeat on CNN. They’re saying you tried to bribe Stern? Fox News has you selling weapons on the black market, and God that picture they’re using is the one from Bali in ’09. You look like shit. They wheeled Stern out and put him in an ambulance, by the way. Got some paparazzi swearing you decked the guy. Now they’ve got ‘copters following it like he’s OJ.”

“Yeah, don’t worry, Sourpatch, I’ve got it covered. Uh, though, I should probably tell you that, purely in the interests of national security and the greater good, I kind of had to fake marry that stripper-gram you sent. Thanks for that, by the way,” Tony added quickly.

#stevetony weekly #stevetony #stevetony fic #stony fic #fic rec #rec list #fic rec list #stevetony fic list #steve rogers #tony stark #iron man #captain america

[meidui]

Hi! I'm your Steggy Secret Santa! I hope you're doing well and that will have a great end of the year! I would like to ask you a couple of questions. (You don't need to answer all of them if you don't want to). Are there any songs that you associate with the ship? Quotes? Are there any missing scenes you would have liked to see? Are any (other) AUs worth mentioning? I want to make a gift to your liking and I will try my best to make it! Thank you for your time in advance! Best wishes!

omg hello!! <3 these are just off the top of my head

songs:

of course the classic it's been a long, long time

can't help falling in love by elvis presley

my kind of girl by frank sinatra

love that boy by dinah shore

timeless by taylor swift

until i found you by stephen sanchez

i don't want to set the world on fire by the ink spots

as time goes by by dooley wilson

quotes:

missing scenes:

in alternate 1970, peggy sees steve leave her office

peggy introduces steve to angie because she so would

they reunite in endgame and steve tells peggy everything and they weed out hydra and save bucky together

AUs:

medieval/regency au where knight peggy saves prince steve (maybe loosely based on taylor swift's ivy where steve is supposed to marry someone he doesn't love) or queen peggy and her very loyal knight/bodyguard steve

i think i may have put this in my sign-up but captain america peggy and winter soldier steve!!

mr and mrs smith au where they fell in love and got married without telling each other they're both shield agents

sugar baby/kept man steve OH I WOULD LOVE YOU FOREVER

#thank you 🥺 #i'm so excited to see whatever you make for me!! i'm sure i'm going to love it!!!!! #steggy secret santa #asked

[illicien]

I am probably never going to finish this fic, but I did just uncover it and remember it and... I completely forgot how much fun it was to write Stephen Strange trying to make sense of everything about Bucky. So have a snippet of my "Sam, Bucky, and Zemo somehow uncovered a Winter Soldier Era Bucky from another universe and need help dealing with it" fic.

He probably should've been surprised when not one, not two, but three known war criminals showed up at his door. He probably should've been surprised that two of those war criminals were clearly variants of one another.

Instead, Stephen Strange pressed his fingers against the bridge of his nose and sighed, stepping aside to let Captain America and his three stooges walk through the door to the Sanctum, without so much as asking a question.

“Sorry to show up unannounced like this, Doc,” Sam had the good graces to offer as he guided a long-haired, silver-armed Bucky Barnes through the Sanctum door. The other Bucky Barnes offered a slight nod of acknowledgement as he followed, and Zemo - Baron Zemo? - stood on the front step for a long moment before he finally crossed the threshold, his expression impassive.

Stephen closed the door, leaning against it on one hand for a long moment before he turned around and gestured meaningfully to the couches. “Well… please, have a seat. I’d ask why you’re here but, but I have a feeling I can at least partially guess.”

Sam Wilson was the one who sat down first, and it seemed as though there was some confusion regarding who would sit where. When both the vibranium-armed Bucky and Zemo seemed likely to take the same seat - the couch facing the door - a silent, almost entertaining stand-off took place before Bucky decided, apparently, to leave the seat to the Sokovian. His silver-armed companion, however, seemed to take no issue whatsoever with sitting himself promptly on the edge of the couch beside Zemo, something which seemed to annoy the other Bucky as much as it pleased Zemo.

Stephen had no idea what to make of the whole scene.

“To get you quickly caught up,” Sam began as Stephen joined them, a wave of the hand conjuring five cups of tea for his guests before he sat himself beside Sam to listen. “We have no idea where he came from. We were taking out a recently reactivated HYDRA base and he was just… there. All things considered it didn’t seem right to leave him, but uh… god this is all so far outside my wheelhouse.”

“From what I can tell his programming seems to be intact,” Bucky - the vibranium armed one who had collected up a cup of tea - added. “Considered bringing him to Wakanda but given the added confusion of what the fuck is happening, Sam thought this would be a better idea.”

“Just so that I’m clear,” Stephen gathered a cup of tea, leaning back into his seat to cradle it as he looked over the trio across from him, “what I’m hearing is that you’ve brought the Winter Soldier into my home.” He tilted his head just enough to look at Sam. “Do you often bring war criminals to say hello to people, or are you trying to make a statement, Captain?”

“One’s been pardoned, the other’s on parole. The third one technically isn’t a war criminal in this dimension or whatever, right? Pretty sure that’s not how this works. But you’re the wizard, Doc, you’d know better than I would.”

Being fair, he supposed he couldn’t assume with any degree of certainty whether or not the man with the silver arm was a war criminal in his own universe. It was just an assumption.

“Do you speak at all? I’d rather not sit around talking about you like you’re not here if you’re willing to answer questions yourself.”

“I speak.” The monotone and succinct response left him to give the vibranium-armed Bucky an uncertain look.

“Yeah, he’s still in the thick of everything. He’s… look, it’s just gonna be like that, okay? It’ll take him some time to come out of it, but he hasn’t been hostile towards anyone since we found him.”

“Not poison.” The words were quiet, but Stephen glanced to the silver-armed Bucky as he took a sip from the teacup before offering it to Zemo. The baron hesitated for a long moment before taking the tea.

“Thank you.” For the first time since they’d arrived, Zemo’s attention seemed to have shifted entirely to focus on the man seated beside him, and the Bucky of this universe rolled his eyes slightly, leaning back in his seat to sip his tea.

“... does someone want to explain to me what that was about?”

“Apparently he likes Zemo.”

“That makes one of us,” Bucky muttered, and Sam shrugged helplessly.

“My handler.”

Stephen couldn’t begin to place what that meant, but apparently it meant something quite important if the way everyone else in the room sat up straighter meant anything. He looked between the alarmed looks on Sam and Bucky’s faces, and the distinctly curious one on Zemo’s.

“Handler?” he inquired, cautiously.

“Is that so, vojnik?” Zemo tilted his head slightly, receiving a succinct nod of response. Bucky swore quietly under his breath, and Stephen looked to Sam for answers.

“Uh, so… the Winter Soldier program kinda had people who basically controlled him. Called them handlers.”

“Way to oversimplify,” Bucky growled a bit, getting up and starting to move towards Zemo only to find himself blocked by the silver-armed Bucky standing promptly in his way, his expression cold and serious. “Call him off, Zemo. Or at least put some distance between the two of you. I don’t trust you with him for a fucking second.”

Stephen closed his eyes and sighed heavily, taking a sip of his tea before he stood, the flare of the cloak seeming to catch the attention of those in the room easily enough. “Why don’t one of you take the… soldier here upstairs and help him clean up. He looks like he could use a nice hot shower, and I’d rather none of you were unsupervised.”

“I can–”

“No.” Stephen heard his own voice echoed by both Sam and Bucky, and the chastised look on Zemo’s face stole a slight smile from him.

“I’ll take him up, Doc. Figure it’s probably better if you hear this from Bucky, he and Zemo kinda… know this shit a bit better than I do.”

#fic snip #This is like six sentence sunday for people like me who can't fucking count

[fandomtrashhh]

How Stucky was Queer Coded

A deep, detailed look at how Steve x Bucky had queer subtext and coding in the MCU movies.

Word Count: 9k+

Trigger Warning: Cussing, I mention the normal stuff that comes with action movies like mentioning torture, brainwash, mind control, violence, character deaths

I want to say that I AM NOT smart enough to come up with all of this by myself. Most of this article is based off of the Tik Toks made by "daniellesilverstone." That's where I get most of my examples and sources from. If you have Tik Tok, give them a follow! You can also follow her on Instagram with the same name and YouTube under the same name.

I used some information from the account Char on Twitter: https://twitter.com/charcubed/status/1085731788897570817

This is an article of someone explaining why Cap should have had a boyfriend:

Why Marvel Should Give Captain America a Boyfriend - HubPages

Other than that, the rest of the stuff I added was from common knowledge facts online like memes that you can find anywhere, there's no source for those.

Warning! Spoilers for Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Falcon and The Winter Soldier, and What If...?. I cover a lot of content, so if you haven't seen these and plan to, read this after you've seen them.

Before I begin, let me just say that there's a difference between queer coding and queer baiting. Queer coding is when a character is coded but isn't able to be queer because of homophobia. A lot of queer coding is through villains and relationships. In a relationship sense, that's when the characters are written as romantic parallels to each other and are coded. It could be on purpose or accidental. It's not always harmful, but it can be. In the MCU, Steve and Bucky are queer coded, and so are Carol and Maria. So queer coding is subtext, but isn't allowed to be confirmed. Queer baiting is used as a marketing ploy and is on purpose. An example is when there was a scene in Falcon and The Winter Soldier when it was hinted that Bucky was queer (I'll discuss that later) and the people working on the show said "Just wait and see" and literally nothing happened. Stucky wasn't used as a way to bait people, so it's coding. Now that I got that out of the way, let's start! I hope you enjoy this 29 page essay!

                                                    Introduction

The ship "Stucky" is the romantic pairing between Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The duo are very close and share a very strong bond, and while many people believe it to be only platonic, there is strong evidence that supports it could've been way more than that.

                                           Who the Hell is Bucky?

Did you understand that reference? Anyways, Bucky has been Steve Rogers's (aka Captain America's) best friend since childhood. He protected Steve against bullies and took care of him. In the comics, his character was actually very different. The comics takes inspiration from Bucky Barnes and a character called Arnie Roth. Bucky in the comics is Captain America's sidekick, an orphaned teenager who admires Captain America. It's a similar dynamic to Batman and Robin. While Bucky's name and storyline is the same as in the comics (as in he is presumed dead but is brainwashed by Hydra for decades and becomes the Winter Soldier) his character role and personality is mainly based off of Arnie Roth. Arnie Roth was Steve's childhood best friend who looked out for and protected Steve and fought off bullies for him. When he was a teenager, he flirted with and dated a lot of girls. All of this seems quite like Bucky in the MCU, right? So what's my point? Well, Arnie was gay (and Jewish! No Jewish erasure here). He was trying to overcompensate. If so much of Bucky's personality and role in Steve's life was based off of Arnie, is it really a stretch to say that Bucky is possibly also gay or bisexual? (Not to mention in some recent comics, both Natasha (Black Widow) and Bucky admitted to having a crush on Steve. If you don't believe me, look it up.)

There are also moments in the newer comics (where Steve and Bucky are the same age) that seem pretty gay, like in Planet Hulk, or when actual comic characters were shipping them. I don't usually take the comics into consideration though, because Bucky was a teenager in the earlier comics so I obviously don't ship them then.

Here's an article about Arnie:

Captain America May Never Have A Boyfriend, But He's Long Had A Gay Best Friend

Anyways, onto the MCU!

                                                      Their Home

It's never explicitly stated in the movies, but it's hinted that Steve and Bucky lived together during the 30's and 40's (the flashback scene in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.) I mean, to be fair, that's pretty normal, right? Friends live together all the time. It makes even more sense because Steve was an orphan by the time he was 18, and due to his health issues he was probably unable to work. It was also during the Great Depression, so things were really difficult. Just wait. There's a piece of concept art that was made for what Steve's apartment looked like, and it was made by people who worked for the MCU. In the picture, a tall dark haired man is standing at the sink, which is presumably Bucky. That's still fine, right? That is until you realize there's one bed. Yup. They lived in a very small apartment, the only room that isn't visible is the room that has a toilet in it. They had one bed in their apartment. There was no couch. Listen, I get that they were really close friends, but even really close friends, especially adult men, don't sleep in the same bed every night unless they were in a relationship.

That's not all. Steve and Bucky lived in Brooklyn, New York, which was known to be a very queer area back when Steve and Bucky lived there that can be traced back to the 1850's. It was one of two underground queer cities. And actually, Coney Island, which Steve and Bucky talked about going to, had gay bath houses. Not only did they live in a queer city, they lived in a queer neighborhood. The exact place they lived according to Marvel Studios themselves was in a neighborhood that was in the middle of bar/gay hangouts. Someone mapped out the entire area they lived in in detail and everything surrounding during the 1930's/40's, and it was very queer. (Sadly, the post was taken down, but you get the idea.)

I've only talked about Bucky's character and where they lived so far, and I already have a lot of proof. Just wait, I have a LOT more.

                                                          Punk

In the beginning of the movie, Steve and Bucky go on a date with 2 women. I'm not even going to go into detail about the fact that Bucky always insisted on going on a "double date" with Steve, or that he never understood why no one wanted to date Steve, or that Bucky spent more time focusing on Steve during the date than his actual date. Anyways, Steve sneaks off to try and enlist in the army again and Bucky finds him. They have a whole conversation where Bucky is very protective of Steve and very insistent that he doesn't join the army. Fast forward, and Steve and Bucky are saying bye to each other. Bucky says "Don't do anything stupid 'til I get back." Steve replies, "How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you." They hug each other, and Bucky calls Steve a punk.

You would think it's normal to call someone a punk, because the way we use it now is WAY different to how it was used in the 1940's.

The word "punk" can be traced back to Shakespeare, and during that time it meant a female prostitute. So it's really no surprise what the word was used for after that.

"Punk" meant "twink." Bucky called Steve a twink. I mean, Steve was the younger and smaller one of the both of them, so I guess it adds up.

                                                   The Bar Scene

This scene. This whole scene right here. This would be enough proof to prove my point. This scene in Captain America: The First Avenger that starts at 1:14:00 is the most queer coded scene in any of the MCU movies for multiple reasons. Let me dive deeper.

First, let's talk about the dialogue. Steve asks Bucky if he's "Willing to follow Captain America into the jaws of death." Bucky says, "Hell no. But that little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb not to run away from a fight, I'm following him." I don't know about you, but that sounds romantic. If you watch the look on Bucky's face as he's saying it, I can't even describe it. Then Steve looks at him intensely.

Next gay line. They're talking about Steve's tight skinned Captain America costume. Bucky says, "But you're keeping the outfit, right?" He made the first America's ass joke. Why would Bucky say that? Gay jokes were not a thing back in the 40's. You could be killed for saying that if the wrong person overheard you. So it wasn't just a joke. In the original script for the movie, Steve replies with "Don't get your hopes up." Um??? Why would Bucky get his hopes up??? Again, gay jokes were NOT a thing then. And he wasn't drunk, because at this point Bucky had gotten the serum, and people with the super serum can't get drunk.

Just wait, this scene gets GAYER.

So, music is really important in movies. It sets the tone for certain scenes, and lyrics most times have purpose to what is going on in the story. Marvel is no exception. So, with that being said, the song playing in the background of this scene is called "Tavern in the Town." It was written in the 1880's. You want to know what it's about?

It was written about a man who was flirting with another woman. Yes, the song was originally sang by a woman who was talking about her boyfriend (as in the boyfriend was the one flirting with another woman), but in many of the versions afterwards, including the one played in the movie, it's sang by a man. The singers and the MCU writers could've changed gender pronouns, but they didn't. Making the song in this context gay.

Why would Marvel use that specific song if they weren't trying to tell us something? They could've used any song in the world for this scene, so why did they choose that one? One that describes the situation perfectly? Peggy Carter, Steve's canon love interest, is a dark haired woman. And wait. It STILL gets gayer.

The song lyrics match up with what is going on in the scene. The song starts with "There is a tavern in the town, in the town. There my true love sits him down, sits him down." The song is basically saying that the 2 lovers are sitting down in a tavern, and Bucky and Steve sit down in a bar, which is similar to a tavern. The next lyrics say "And drinks his wine 'mid laughter free. And never, never thinks of me, thinks of me." In this scene, Steve is drinking and he is thinking about his new life, which Bucky is barely a part of. The next lyrics basically talk about how even the best of friends must part but don't grieve me, which symbolizes that they'll be separated soon because Steve thinks Bucky dies. The next part goes "adieu, adieu" (I'll skip a couple lines) and then "I can no longer stay with you, stay with you," as Peggy walks in. I don't think I need to explain what that means. When Bucky and Steve stand up as Peggy approaches them, Bucky's jaw is clenched and his fists are balled. What other reason besides jealousy or hate would make someone react like that?

As Steve and Peggy are talking, the song talks about the lover actually leaving for a woman. It even says that they go out on a Friday, which is when Steve and Peggy said they would go dancing right before Steve crashed the plane into the ocean. Look at Bucky's face as they're talking. He's looking at Steve and he looks uncomfortable, unhappy when he realizes how Steve feels about Peggy.

Now, the GAYEST part of the scene. As the music gets louder for this one line and goes, "He left me for a damsel dark, damsel dark," the camera focuses on Bucky's face and he looks at Steve and then looks down. He looks upset. Then he tries to flirt with her, but if you watch his facial expressions and his body language and his voice, he isn't very convincing. It's more likely he's trying to direct the conversation towards himself so she isn't focusing on Steve, like when Peggy says she likes to dance he cuts in and says "So what are we waiting for?" But again, the way he's doesn't sound like he actually is trying to flirt with her because he wants to date her, it's because he doesn't want Peggy and Steve to date so he's desperately trying to end the conversation.

Some people might say that this scene is saying that Bucky is jealous that Steve is getting the girl for once, but that doesn't fit with his personality. It showed in the beginning that he was trying to get girls for Steve. He wanted Steve to be happy. He wouldn't be upset if Steve finally found someone. He just didn't realize it would happen so soon. So the only explanation? Now that Steve actually has a chance with someone, Bucky is jealous because he wants Steve.

After Peggy walks away, after he's frowning after her, Bucky says "I'm invisible." He's trying to play it off like he's invisible to Peggy, but by the way he's looking at Steve with a hurt expression, then looking away, it's really the opposite. He can't even look Steve in the fucking eyes. Then the lyrics repeat "Fare thee well for I must leave thee. Do not let the parting grieve thee. And remember that the best of friends must part, must part." Bucky realizes he's nothing compared to Peggy. Then the song ends. Interesting that they decided to end the song there. The rest of the song basically just talks about being in love with someone who is in love with someone else.

I want to point out real quick that the way he addresses Peggy in this scene is very different to how he addresses other women in the MCU, especially in this movie. Yes he's a flirt (like I said, a cover) but he's also polite and kind towards women. That's not the case with Peggy. It doesn't seem like he likes her, and there is no other reason why he wouldn't like someone as amazing as Peggy unless it was because he was jealous.

So. That's what I call The Bar Scene. This scene is clearly angst. This movie came out in 2011, over 10 years ago now, and there STILL isn't a heterosexual explanation for it. I sometimes have to remind myself that this scene is actually real.

Link to The Bar Scene, watch the words closely and watch Bucky's expressions and the way they look at each other! Captain America: The First Avenger Bar Scene Stucky Easter Egg -- There is a Tavern in the Town

Here's some more detail about that scene if you want it:

Homoerotic Subtext from the Bar Scene in CATFA - vulcansmirk - Captain America (Movies) [Archive of Our Own]

                                               Facial Expressions

Before I get onto the next specific piece of evidence, let me point out the way they look at each other. ESPECIALLY the way Bucky looks at Steve. He looks at him like Steve is his whole world. I'm sorry, I don't look at my friends like that. If you look at the way Sebastian Stan (the actor for Bucky) and Chris Evans (the actor for Steve) look at their love interests in both the MCU and other things they have acted in, it's practically the same look.

Look at the way Bucky looks at Steve when they are sitting at the bar. Or when Steve and Peggy are talking right after Steve gets back from saving all those people from Hydra. In that scene specifically, when Steve is looking at Bucky, Bucky smiles. As soon as Steve looks away, his face falls as he's looking at Steve and Peggy talking. That's TWO scenes where Bucky looks jealous that Steve is talking to Peggy.

Almost every time, if not every time that Bucky smiles in any of the movies (not including the show) he smiles for and at Steve.

There are many more examples of the way they look at each other, and I could go on about it all day. Instead, let me get to my next topic.

                                             The Apartment Scene

In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we have another scene that is queer coded through the music. The scene where Steve is in his apartment and Nick Fury gets shot by the Winter Soldier (aka mind controlled Bucky.) The song playing in the background as Steve walks into the apartment is "It's Been a Long, Long Time." Yes, I know we all have feelings about this song. This was the song used for Steve and Peggy (Steggy) at the end of Avengers: Endgame. But it was used for Stucky first, way before it was used for Steggy.

The song "It's Been a Long, Long Time," is a woman singing about seeing her husband after he comes back from war. In the movie, this is the scene where Bucky and Steve interact for the first time since 1945, when they were in the war together, so it really matches up. They could've used any reunion-like song, why did it have to be such an overly romantic one, which literally says "kiss me once then kiss me twice then kiss me once again?" If you continue the song past the point where it cuts off, it goes really well with the scene, and at the end Steve is looking out over the city while he stands on the roof as the music rises. Yeah, that's romantic. So when they made that song a Steggy song, they were telling us that song was always supposed to be used romantically. That's now 2 romantic songs that are used for Steve and Bucky.

                                           'Til the End of the Line

Any MCU fan knows this famous line. In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, there's a flashback to the year 1936, right after Steve and Bucky went to Steve's mom's funeral. Bucky was telling Steve that he could live with him, but Steve was saying he could get by on his own. Then Bucky says, "The thing is, you don't have to. I'm with you to the end of the line, pal."

I don't know about you, but to me that sounds like "til death do us part." Aka, a wedding vow.

In Spanish, if you translate it, it says, "Because I'm with you until the end." That's even gayer!

Later in the movie, Steve says it as a mind controlled Bucky is beating him up, almost killing him, and it was enough to break through Bucky's brainwashing. That's how important that phrase meant to each other.

Which brings me to my next piece of evidence.

                                                Bucky's Brainwash

Bucky constantly got his memory wiped and was mind controlled and conditioned during his 70 years of being used as a weapon for Hydra. No semblance of his past life ever broke through that. His orders to kill people went smoothly and he was a very deadly weapon. That is, until he was ordered to kill Steve. All Bucky had to do was see Steve's face and hear Steve say his name for the brainwash and mind control to start to break.

Even when he was sent to kill Howard and Maria Stark, he didn't show any sign of recognition. Bucky and Howard were friends, and Howard said "Sergeant Barnes?" right before Bucky killed him. There was just nothing there. Bucky just didn't recognize him.

So when Bucky lifted up his gun to fire at Steve after he started to recognize him, there was a look of fear and confusion on his face and in his eyes. Already all of that mind control is breaking.

When Bucky gets back to the Hydra base, he's very upset and he asks who the man on the bridge was. His captors try to lie to him about it, but Bucky just keeps saying "I knew him." So they wiped his memory again and tortured him. It was a heartbreaking scene that always makes me cry.

Not long later, Hydra sent Bucky to go kill Steve again. Steve was trying to convince Bucky that he knew him, and that his name was James Buchanan Barnes and that Steve knew him his whole life. Bucky tried denying it and punched him and shouted "You're my mission!"

That's when Steve said, "Then finish it. 'Cause I'm with you to the end of the line." After that, Bucky's brainwash breaks AGAIN, and that's when Steve falls off the Helicarrier that they're on in the air, and Steve falls into the water. Bucky didn't even have his memories at this point, he just felt that he needed to save Steve, so that's what he did. Bucky pulled Steve out of the water and made sure he was breathing before he left. Honestly, that whole scene felt romantic for me, with the dramatic music and the slow motion and the trust that Steve had for Bucky. It was very beautifully written and every time I watch it I always feel blown away.

                                    Character Roles & Movie Details

All three Captain America movies were about Steve and Bucky's devotion to each other. The movies constantly showed us that Steve would do anything for Bucky and Bucky would do anything for Steve. All 3 of Steve's movies were about him trying to save Bucky.

It feels like fate that these two ended up in the 21st century. Like they got a second chance.

Let me start with Captain America: The First Avenger. In this movie, Steve starts out in the "damsel in distress" role, because Bucky is always protecting and saving him. After Steve gets the serum, the roles switch, and Bucky becomes Steve's damsel in distress.

The first thing that Steve did as Captain America was to save Bucky from Hydra (the FIRST time Bucky was captured by Hydra.) He literally picked up the shield to save Bucky. As soon as he found out where Bucky was, he stormed the base all by himself just because there was a chance that Bucky MIGHT be alive. He had no idea if he was. That reminds me of in movies when the main character saves the love interest, even if it gets them killed, they still do it.

Not just that, but earlier in the movie, before Bucky was captured, Steve said, "I don't want to kill anyone." After Bucky was captured, he said, "I'm not gonna stop until all of Hydra are dead or captured." This is when he talks about saving Bucky. That's called character inconsistency. That usually only happens in a story when a love interest is in danger.

Later, Bucky and Steve refused to leave a burning building without each other. When Steve told Bucky to leave without him, to save himself, Bucky yelled, "No, not without you!" That was hands down the most passionate and crazed Bucky had ever been about something. He had never been more serious about something in his over 10 year span of him being in the MCU. He would rather die than leave without Steve. Every time I watch that scene I can feel how frantic, how sure he is about that statement. It's one of my favorite Bucky lines. Damn, Sebastian Stan is an amazing actor.

Later in the movie, when Bucky seemingly died, that was Steve's motivator to stop Hydra once and for all. Bucky's "death" was what led Steve to being able to take down Hydra.

Let's not forget that Steve could've probably jumped off the plane. In a deleted scene for Avengers: Endgame, Rhodey asked why Steve had to crash the plane. Steve tells him there were bombs on board. Rhodey then asked him why he didn't jump off, and Steve didn't reply. Steve could have jumped off, but Bucky had "died" 3 days before, and Steve didn't want to live a life without him.

So basically, in The First Avenger, Steve "became" Captain America and picked up the shield for Bucky, and Bucky's death was what motivated him to take down Hydra. That usually is the role of the love interest.

Now, Captain America: The Winter Soldier. That one was basically an act of true love's kiss.

First off, foreshadowing is added a lot in stories. Marvel is no exception, there's many instances of foreshadowing in the MCU. Including a scene between Natasha and Steve not long before Steve meets up with Bucky. The two of them are talking about dating and the like, and Natasha says, "Nobody special then?" And Steve responds with "Believe it or not, it's kind of hard to find someone with shared life experience." Umm? I wonder? It's not like there's anybody who was born in the early 20th century who fought in World War II and who didn't age for decades only to wake up in the 21st century. Besides James Buchanan Barnes, of course. The fact that they used the foreshadowing in a romantic context was so unnecessary, they could have foreshadowed Bucky's appearance in so many other ways. There's no other explanation for this line besides it foreshadowing Bucky.

When Steve realized that The Winter Soldier was Bucky, he dropped his shield and refused to fight him. A well trained assassin who could kill him in a heartbeat. Then there was the whole Bucky remembering him, but I already discussed it.

Steve was in so much shock that he let himself get arrested. He then blamed himself for what happened to Bucky even though there was nothing he could've done. He said, "Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky."

Then back to the fight on the helicarrier. Steve risks his life for Bucky just like he did in The First Avenger. Steve drops his shield in this scene because he doesn't want to hurt him, which contrasts picking up the shield for Bucky in The First Avenger. He tells Bucky TO KILL HIM. Then Bucky says "You're my mission." Then Steve says "Then finish it. Cause I'm with you to the end of the line." He gave Bucky permission to kill him, he knew there was a chance that he couldn't break through Bucky's brainwashing, but he still took that chance. He loved him so much that he gave him permission to kill him. He'd rather die by his hand than live without him.

Then Steve breaks Bucky's brainwashing, which is like the act of true love. It's actually been confirmed that the only reason the brainwashing broke was because of his memories of Steve.

The closing scene of the movie is Steve looking at Bucky's file, which mirrors Peggy looking at Steve's file at the end of The First Avenger. Which, again. Peggy is Steve's canon love interest. They parallel a canon love interest with a "friendship."

Then, there's 2 years between Winter Soldier and Civil War. In those 2 years, Steve had been actively trying to find Bucky. 2 YEARS. During that time, Bucky was trying to lay low in places like Romania (which is a nod to Sebastian Stan who lived in Romania until he was 8) and trying to remember things.

Next, I'll talk about Captain America: Civil War. Oh, boy. That whole movie was incredibly gay. Even Sebastian Stan, who plays Bucky, admits as much. He said, "Look, maybe it was a little bit Brokeback Mountain at times, I mean I'll admit, it was a little I won't quit you."

Like. You know something is gay if one of the main cast members even admits as much.

There's quite a bit to this movie, but I'm only going to talk about the things pertaining to Steve and Bucky.

In the movie, Bucky is accused of bombing a building that was resposnible for killing and injuring many people. The whole world is looking for Bucky and trying to kill him. The only person that believes he didn't do it and tries to help him is Steve, and Steve gets some of his friends to help.

At one point, a character who previously appeared in Captain America: The Winter Soldier showed up in Civil War. His name was Rumlow. When he went up against Steve, he started talking about Bucky. (Rumlow was a part of Hydra therefore he worked with The Winter Soldier.) He said "You know, he knew you. Your pal, your buddy, your Bucky." He says "your Bucky" which is used possessively, like Bucky is Steve's. Yeah, that sounds romantic. You don't use that for platonic relationships. The mention of Bucky distracted Steve from his mission so much that it allowed Rumlow to detonate a bomb which killed people. Later, Steve was talking to Wanda and said, "Rumlow said 'Bucky,' and all of a sudden I was a 16 year old kid again in Brooklyn."

The "your pal, your buddy" was probably added in there so it wouldn't just be "your Bucky" which sounds ever gayer.

One of Bucky's trigger words to become the Winter Soldier is seventeen, and all the words are strongly theorized to have meaning in Bucky's life. Bucky is a year older than Steve, so what the hell happened when they were 16 and 17? (This one is mostly a joke and probably just a coincidence, though.)

Another thing. When Steve goes to Bucky's apartment in Romania to rescue him from people who are trying to kill him, we see that he has a notebook. In that notebook there's a big picture of Steve. Bucky had been using that journal to remember Steve again. He's relying on his memory and trying to get his memories back by focusing on Steve. And like....c'mon. You have a huge picture (that's not just a picture but a drawing) of "your best friend" on the first page of your journal? That's kinda gay, my dude.

Steve goes against 117 countries for Bucky. He fought the entire government for Bucky. He becomes an international fugitive for him. He gets arrested for him. He risks his life for Bucky AGAIN in this movie and some of his friends' lives. His friends actually end up in a high security prison because of it. He risks a friend's career for him. When Bucky gets mind controlled again, Steve risks his life AGAIN. He stops a helicopter for him. In this movie, Steve literally gives up absolutely everything for Bucky. He gives up the shield AGAIN for him, proving that Bucky is worth more than being Captain America. This whole movie was about Steve trying to protect Bucky and showing the lengths that he would go for him.

So yeah. The lesson is everything goes to shit when Bucky is taken from Steve in any of the movies.

Not to mention the scene where Bucky loses his metal arm and is bleeding and broken on the ground and can't do anything but still tries the best he can to get Tony away from hurting Steve, anything to help Steve even though Bucky can barely move.

In the scenes they fight together, they're immediately in sync, even though they hadn't fought side by side since 1945, that's how comfortable they are with each other. Like the scene where Steve instantly covers Bucky with his shield, no hesitation. Only Steve's head is covered, and Bucky has his arm on Steve's back. That's just one example!

Let's talk Sharon Carter: she was Steve's love interest in Civil War. I use the term love interest loosely. They got less than 10 minutes of screen time together in this movie and less than 10 minutes of screen time in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. They kissed once. Their "relationship" was very underdeveloped, and was probably just thrown in there so that it wouldn't seem like Bucky was the love interest. Steve x Sharon is probably one of the worst romantic relationships in the entire MCU, whether you ship Stucky or not. Both scenes they are in together gets interrupted by Bucky. (There are even scenes where he interrupts Steve and Peggy moments, and even scenes where Peggy interrupts Steve and Bucky moments! That all seems romantic to me.) Also, the less Peggy that's in each Captain America movie the more Bucky there is. Just something worth pointing out.

Another thing is that there is a scene with Sharon and Steve talking in front of an elevator (one of the ones that was interrupted by Bucky) and it was honestly kind of weird and there was no passion. This contrasts a scene later in the film where Steve and Bucky are actually in an elevator, and they're looking at each other and that scene seems pretty passionate. No words and no interruptions. Not really that groundbreaking of a piece of evidence, but I thought it was interesting.

So yeah, she exists to throw off everything that's going on with Steve and Bucky. Just by the scenes she and Steve share, things feel awkward and whatever was going on between them wasn't written to be a long term relationship for him, not like with Peggy. And simply, their little fling doesn't work because of Bucky.

Another little music fact: one of the songs they credited in Civil War was a song called "Bonnie & Clyde." Bonnie and Clyde were 2 lovers who were on the run from the law...hmmm....what were Steve and Bucky doing that whole movie? I mean, there were no other 2 characters who were romantically involved that were on the run together.

Here's the scene I mentioned above where Steve and Bucky are in an elevator together and they're facing each other and staring at each other. I could really feel the tension between them in that scene. If they were "like brothers" wouldn't they stand more like how Loki and Thor stand next to each other in an elevator? I don't know, I just wanted to add that.

If you think about Peggy's character and the role she has in Steve's life, it's way less than Bucky. When Bucky "died," Steve tried to get drunk and he was crying for hours and he was ready to kill anyone, then he went into the ice 3 days later so he didn't even have a proper amount of time to accept he was gone and start the mourning process, so who knows how it would've been. When Peggy died, he went to her funeral and cried a little and stuff and was sad, but he kissed her niece less than a week later. If she was his true love then she would be more important to his story. I'm sorry, did Steve infiltrate a Hydra base with nothing but props for Peggy? Did Steve give Peggy permission to kill him? No, he did not. That was Bucky.

Bucky truly is Steve's only weakness. Not even Peggy is his weakness, it's always been Bucky. He would go to the ends of the Earth to save him from harm. Bucky was the most important person in Steve's life. His priorities always changed to him, even giving up his new family with the Avengers to keep him safe. He put Bucky ahead of everything else even when it wasn't the right thing to do. He was always blindsighted by Bucky. This is another character inconsistency because Captain America always stood for what is right, except when it came to Bucky. Being Captain America was really important to Steve, but he went against everything Captain America stood for - multiple times - for Bucky.

Bucky always insisted on being called "Bucky" because Steve called him Bucky. I thought that was cute.

If you try to argue that "they were like brothers," I'm sorry, you're wrong. Loki and Thor are brothers. Peter and Ned are like brothers. Even Sam and Bucky are like brothers. I don't know any brothers or best friends with such a deep emotional bond that one sentence would be able to break through 70 years of torture and brainwash and mind control.

All in all, they were written as romantic parallels to each other. All 3 movies were about their devotion to each other. Their stories can't even exist without each other. Their motivations depend on each other and they are each other's purposes.

                                                Behind the Scenes

A lot of people who worked on these movies literally called Steve and Bucky a love story.

Joe Russo, one of the directors, called it a love story. Then he later clarified that it was between brothers, but why would you call a story about brothers a love story? You would call that a family story. Joe also said that "Steve and Bucky's arc follows the same arc that a love story would follow."

Markus and McFeely said they were soulmates. Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely wrote all 3 Captain America scripts.

Chris Evans said, "It's a love story. You can take it however you wanna take it, but the fact is, it's a love story." This was after he walked himself in circles trying to tell people it wasn't romantic.

Samuel L. Jackson, who plays Nick Fury, said, "He's the first LBGT Captain America," after an interviewer asked Chris Evans, "Why do you feel like Captain America is the perfect hero for our times?"

Kevin Feige, who is in charge of the MCU, wore an ACTUAL Stucky sweatshirt.

Then we have Mark Millar. He's an important person. He wrote the Civil War comics that Civil War the movie was based on. He's literally a Stucky shipper. A Stucky shipper who wrote comics that the MCU used in their movies.

One thing he tweeted was "In a movie with Spider-Man & Ant-Man, Cap's few seconds kissing a girl was STILL the least-convincing moment in Civil War :) #TeamStucky."

In another tweet, he said, "#NationalBoyfriendDay" with a picture of Steve and Bucky.

A fan got to meet Sebastian Stan a few years ago and she had him sign a picture with Cap and Bucky on it. He signed "#PowerCouple" and he told her, "At least I'm on top." (In the picture Bucky is above Steve.) Even Bucky's actor supports the ship! (Plus there's the whole BrokeBack Mountain thing he said.)

In an interview a few years ago, the interviewer asked "Do you think Falcon is a contender as Cap's greatest love?"

Anthony Mackie, who plays Sam Wilson aka The Falcon who is one of Steve's good friends, said, "No, I'll be a contender for getting rid of Bucky."

A different interviewer said, "But you already have a romantic B story with Cap and Bucky, right?" (Cue in the screams and cheers.)

"We sure do." Said one of the Russo brothers. And the other said "We still do, we still do."

The interviewer went on to ask, "Did you ever have to dial down the sexual tension on set?"

One Russo said "Why should we?"

LIKE WHAT THE FUCK, MAN.

Chris Evans said at a Comic Con one year that Bucky is Steve's home, then realized what he said and backtracked.

A whole crowd chanted "Bucky" when Chris Evans was talking about his love interest Peggy, including 3 other MCU actors. (Chris Hemsworth who plays Thor, Jeremy Renner who plays Hawkeye, and Paul Rudd who plays Ant-Man.) Are Thor, Clint, and Scott Stucky shippers confirmed? 🤨

If you go online, TONS of articles talk about the relationship between Steve and Bucky. There are articles talking about why Bucky would've been better as Steve's love interest, articles about how close they are. Then there's stuff like this. "While Peggy was his actual love interest, Steve's love for Bucky was such that they can be considered each other's true loves." Famous sites like "TIME" and "BBC Three" even talked about Stucky!

In 2016, Marvel UK & Ireland said "The Winter Soldier....#baein3words" with a picture of Steve and Bucky.

In 2016, the hashtag "givecaptainamericaaboyfriend" was trending WORLDWIDE. The most popular choice for Steve was Bucky. Stucky is the most popular MCU ship in the fandom. They were in the top 5 ao3 ships for multiple years with over 50,000 fanfictions and are on the top 5 popular ao3 fanfictions of all time starting in 2017 and still holding in 2021! That's a lot of shippers!

Even though some of these interviews were jokes, they were jokes made from realizing that there is a deep bond between Steve and Bucky. Even if they are joking about romance it's still showing that they might see a little bit of what I see, or else they wouldn't be joking about it. And if there are actual articles by popular sites like ScreenRant about them, that means there's definitely something going on there.

The other ones who were serious, why did they keep backtracking? They were basically the people who were like "Oh yeah, they're soulmates, but no homo lmao." Or like historians who found out that they lived together in a one bedroom house and said they were "the best of friends."

I think the reason they had to be careful when they were talking about Steve and Bucky is because they didn't want to get in trouble with the higher ups.

                                                        What If....?

In the Marvel show "What If....?" Episode 1, "Agent Carter," there is surprisingly a lot of Stucky content. But not in the way that you think. It actually has to do with the parallels between Steve and Peggy moments in the show and Steve and Bucky moments in the MCU. Let me break it down.

So if you haven't watched What If, it's basically what the title says, what if something different happened in the MCU. Episode 1 is if Peggy got the super serum instead of Steve.

First parallel, Steve says "Let's hear it for Captain Carter!" When he's cheering on Peggy for saving a whole bunch of people. Just like when Bucky says "Let's hear it for Captain America!" In The First Avenger when he was cheering on Steve when HE saved a bunch of people.

Or when Steve literally fell off a train, JUST like Bucky did. The same train.

Then, Peggy's motivation to end Hydra was because she thought Steve was dead, just like when Steve thought Bucky died, he was motivated to stop Hydra. It was in the same room and everything.

And the fact that there was even a bar scene for Steve and Peggy in What If.

Let's not forget the fact that there was a scene when Peggy and Steve were talking, and Steve said to Peggy "In a way, the outside finally matches the inside." That's literally a direct quote from a popular Stucky fanfiction.

Basically, what these scenes were telling us was that they were romantic, because Steve and Peggy were romantically involved in the movies and in the show. So by telling us the scenes were romantic in the show, they were telling us they were always supposed to be romantic.

Like, why would you parallel 2 characters who were actually romantically involved with 2 people who are "just friends?" It doesn't make sense.

                                                    Miscellaneous

Before I go, let me point out a couple things that couldn't quite fit in any of the other categories. For one, in Avengers: Infinity War, the first scene we see with Bucky, his hair is all greasy and he looks dirty from being out on the farm. Shuri tells him that Steve will be coming soon, and the next time we see Bucky, he's all clean and his hair is very clean and fluffy and pretty and he looks so happy to see Steve even though it was confirmed that Steve visited him multiple times when Bucky was in Wakanda.

In Avengers: Endgame, Steve has to fight a past version of himself. They're having a pretty intense fight and matching each other in strength (which makes sense, they're the same person) and at one point 2012 Steve had current Steve (2023) in a chokehold. Do you know how he gets away? Current Steve says "Bucky is alive." And 2012 Steve loosened his grip on 2023 Steve long enough for him to get away. Out of everything he could have told him, he said that, because he thought that would be the most likely way to get him to stop. Again, Bucky is his main weakness, if not his only weakness.

When Bucky turned to dust, his last words were "Steve...?" Even when he was dying, his first instinct was to address him, in his final moments, Bucky looked at Steve for comfort and because he was all that mattered. I imagine his final thoughts were confusion about what was happening and to show Steve, but ultimately, as he was fading away, he probably thought "It's okay. Steve is okay and that's all that matters." Jeez, that's making me emotional just writing that! Then Steve goes over and touches his ashes as he looks at what Bucky had been reduced to in shock and horror, defeat and confusion.

So this one doesn't have anything to do with Stucky, but this is some proof that Bucky is queer. In the show he recently was in, "The Falcon and The Winter Soldier," there was a scene where Bucky went on an unsuccessful date with a woman who worked at the place he went to eat sometimes. When they're on the date, they're talking about online dating. Before I tell you what Bucky said, let me explain something. On dating apps, it's quite popular to have a man pose with a tiger for his profile picture. It's a guy thing specifically, though. Bucky says he's seen some weird pictures on dating apps, saying, "I mean, tiger photos? Half the time, I don't even know what I'm looking at. It's a lot." This is weird because dating apps show gender preferences.

The director of the show tried to give some half- assed excuse for it by saying that Bucky just thought it was weird and reminding us that he's 106 and finds modern technology confusing. But that still doesn't explain why he was seeing tiger photos in the first place? It just doesn't add up. There's no explanation.

Just like how Wanda was the only one able to destroy the mind stone out of Vision's head (she had to kill the love of her life for the good of the universe, it was sad), Steve and Bucky are equals and only Steve can get through to Bucky.

I'm just going to put this one out there. If one of them was a girl (especially Bucky) it would've been canon by now. Quick tip: if you ever need to figure out whether something is queer coded or queer baited, just imagine it as a straight relationship. Now think of Bucky and Steve being in a straight relationship. It would probably be considered the greatest love story of the MCU. Even if it wasn't made canon, there would be so many more people shipping it. They would take one look at the way they look at each other and say "Omgs they're so cute together!" I'm just giving you the facts here. So here's all the evidence laid out for everyone to see. We're not making this up.

If you're thinking "Steve loved Peggy, he went to the past and had a happy ending with her!" then let me just tell you that Steve's ending in Endgame was wrong and extremely out of character, it doesn't matter if you're a Stucky shipper or not. Steve's entire arc in the MCU was saving Bucky no matter the cost, he showed time and time again that Bucky was the most important person in his life, and he just recently got Bucky back for good, he would never leave him. At that point, Bucky was very broken and he needed help healing. Steve was the only person in Bucky's life, he wouldn't just abandon him for a woman he kissed once. It doesn't make sense for his character. Steve would do anything for Bucky, he never abandoned him throughout everything that happened, he never left Bucky's side.

A constant theme throughout the MCU movies for Steve was moving on. His character development was to move on from the past. In Avengers: Age of Ultron, Steve said that he was home. (This was after he found out Bucky was alive, by the way. Just pointing that out.) In Captain America: The Winter Soldier, old Peggy told him that "The world has changed and none of us can go back. All we can do is our best and sometimes the best we can do is to start over." That was the main point his movies were making after he woke up from the ice. That was his development. Endgame ruined that.

Not only did it affect poor Bucky's life, but Peggy's, too. She got married. She had children and grandchildren and she said that she had a happy full life. She moved on from Steve. By going to the past, he erased all of that for her. Erased how her life was supposed to be. He also made Peggy's entire show "Agent Carter" not on the official timeline anymore.

I understand that they needed an ending for Steve because Chris Evans' contract was up, but they could've done that in a way where it wasn't completely out of character and ruined people's character arcs. They could have killed him off in battle (that would've made me very upset, but it still makes more sense.) He could have retired from fighting so he could help Bucky heal (they could regularly mention Steve but not show him while having Bucky still be in the MCU.) So if you use that as an argument against Stucky, I find it irrelevant because it was extremely out of character and was a lazy way to take a character out. They also severely changed his character in Infinity War and Endgame, he was totally out of character in certain parts and they completely sidelined Steve and Bucky's relationship because at that point Marvel knew about Stucky.

And before you go and say Steve and Peggy were soulmates, remember that they were only crushing on each other for two years and kissed one time before Steve went into the ice. They never got to date. I've had a crush on the same person for 3 years without dating them and no one would say I'm in love with them. I love Peggy's character a lot, I think she was really badass and amazing, but she wasn't Steve's soulmate. For all we knew, Steve could have gone to the past to be with her and it could've not worked out between them. I do believe that they could've been in love with each other, and I think they're really cute together, but they needed more time to fall in love.

In a universe where magic and superpowers exist, why is Captain America having a boyfriend the least believable? Why can Wanda be in love with a robot yet Steve can't be in love with someone who he has built up a relationship of many movies with?

So do you want to know what I think is the most plausible explanation for why they have all of this chemistry and coding? I think someone who worked on Cap's movies was a Stucky shipper but had to be subtle about it. It could've been one person, it could've been multiple. But I know for sure some of those things were NOT accidents. You don't accidentally create the greatest superhero love story of all time.

Why Avengers: Endgame's Sidelining of the Steve & Bucky Relationship Matters | Den of Geek

                                                       Afterword

Well, that's all I have for you! I got the inspiration to write this after reading "The Case for R/S" which was explaining how Wolfstar was queer coded. I thought to myself "I don't think anyone has made one for Stucky!" So I wrote this! I've been shipping Stucky since I was 11 when I first joined the MCU fandom. Back then I thought it was cute. When I was 13 I saved some pieces of fanart of them and still thought "they're pretty cute!" Now, at 15, after I found legitimate proof that they were coded, I went from thinking they were cute to obsessing over it!

Wolfstar Article: https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/12/10/harry-potter-and-the-secret-gay-love-story/

The Case for R/S: https://web.archive.org/web/20050305162545/http:/www.livejournal.com/users/elwing_alcyone/11152.html

Also, if you ship another ship, I'm not trying to put down your ship. I respect all ships as long as they are legal and appropriate. It's okay if you ship something else. This was made to give more proof to my fellow queers that the iconic Captain America is probably queer like us, and for the people who hate on this ship and try to say it wasn't real and that we're reading too much into it. I'm someone who doesn't read too much into things, and I don't headcanon many fictional characters queer if they aren't confirmed queer. (If you want to know my queer character headcanons, just ask me!) Anyways, like I said, this is made for proof and validation.

If, after reading all of this, you still don't think they were coded, that's okay! While the purpose for this was to convince and inform, it's totally fine if you don't agree with me. Steve is dead now, so we'll never truly know for sure. This is probably all we're going to get. (Unless Bucky admits to being in love with Steve or something, but I doubt that will happen. We can only hope.) I hope you enjoyed the read, anyway!

#stucky #queer coding #queer subtext #marvel #mcu #mcu fandom #steve rogers #bucky barnes #captain america #captain america: the winter soldier #captain america civil war #team cap #stevebucky #steve x bucky #captain america the first avenger #what if...? #what if #shipping #queer ships #i worked way too hard on this

[alphaflyer]

Fic & Music

So @mitch-pell asked people to share at least 5 songs they’ve either created a work from, plan to create a work from, or hope to create a work from. Consider yourself tagged if you’d like to play!

Well, first of all, I have written a ton of stories that have been inspired by some piece of music or other - sometimes the inspiration has come from a line or a couple of words, at other times a song has helped me find the mood I was looking for, or given me the inspiration for a title. So here’s but a sample, because otherwise we’d be here forever... 

The Andorian Incident

This is one of my very first fics, in the Star Trek:Voyager fandom, and my first attempt to write capital-P Plot - specifically, a B-grade, Western-infused adventure frolic. I'd become intrigued by Joan Baez’ cover of Dylan’s ballad, “Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts” and its odd assortment of characters. And so I went about constructing a plot that didn’t follow that of the song, but drew on elements of it (”Lily was a princess...”; “Then everyone commenced to do what they were doin' before he turned their heads;” “Rosemary... was lookin' to do just one good deed before she died”, that sort of thing). I listened to the song for the several weeks it took me to construct and write the thing; it still conjures up the story when it pops up on my playlist.

Locust Wind

This was going to be the sequel to one of my most popular fics, “Second Mouse”, an Avengers/007 crossover. I’d envisioned it as a totally hoaky caper thing (working title: “The Curse of the Elephant Star”), but this was just post-Captain America: Winter Soldier and I just couldn’t find the frivolous mood I needed. I was driving home from work when U-2′s “Rattle and Hum” came up on my iPod, with that line: “On the Locust Wind comes a rattle and hum...” And boom, everything changed. By the time I got home, I knew I had my title, a link to the emergence of Hydra from TWS like locusts about to devour the world, and most importantly, an underlying mood - of dread, and impending doom. I tossed what I’d already written (except for a couple of paragraphs I managed to repurpose, and started to write...

Rain on the Scarecrow

In some fannish exchange or other @bettybackintheday had suggested that John Mellencamp wrote “Clint-ish” music, and I agreed. Then we started to get the first teasers for Age of Ultron, and that mysterious farm was at the centre of everyone’s speculation. So based on the pretty dark and elegiac mood of “Rain on the Scarecrow”, I concocted my own ideas of what it might mean. Of course none of that came to pass - but I still maintain we’d have been better off if Marvel had used my version...  :P

Diamonds and Rust

Another Joan Baez song, and something i KNEW would be a title for a fic some day! I love that image, but also how can you listen to these lines and NOT think of comics!Clint Barton and comics!Kate Bishop:

As I remember your eyes Were bluer than robin's eggs "My poetry was lousy, " you said Where are you calling from? A booth in the Midwest...

We both know what memories can bring They bring diamonds and rust

Well you burst on the scene Already a legend The unwashed phenomenon The original vagabond ... Yes the girl on the half-shell Could keep you unharmed

....

Now I see you standing With brown leaves falling around And snow in your hair...

So, yeah. Had to be done (as a tag to the Fraction series.)

The Western Shore

Well, how could I listen to Led Zeppelin’s “Immigrant Song” screeching through Thor: Ragnarok, see that ship of Asgardians looking for a new home, and *not* think of what would happen to them if they were to land in the US under Trump’s immigration policies? Exactly. This is that story.

So that’s a short sampling of my musical inspirations. Feel free to shoot me an ask if you want to know more!

#fic meme #fic and music #finding inspiration #ST:VOY fic #avengers fic

[idyllias]

I've written at least 2k words on each of my Penniro one shot fanfictions in the past like 3 days and my brain is so fried but the absolute frustration that no one writes enough Penniro fanfiction to satisfy my shipper needs keeps me going

#ik 4-5k words isnt a lot but it takes a lot of my energy to sit down and write because I'm so much of a perfectionist #anyways one of them is a coffee shop au but not really because Hiro literally lives in a cafe and that's where it takes place #the other is based on a scene off captain america the winter soldier #they are both aged up because the target audience is me and I like to see people my age struggle in romantic relationships #penniro #futuristic four

[estrellami-1]

Fluff Fic Masterlist… Part 1

the Winter drabbles series by kocuria @kocuria

50k, 14 works

Steve, Bucky, and now Winter. Things may be more complicated than they seem—or maybe it’s as simple as loving and being loved, after all.

Fluff by MoreThanSlightly (cadignan) @morethanslightly (Tumblr is being awful and not finding this blog but they’re there, I swear!)

15k, 2 chapters

Essentially…. Cuddle pollen. Featuring a Steve who finally gets his head out of his ass and a Bucky who’s been waiting.

Grab Your Things (I’ve Come to Take You Home) by belovedmuerto @belovedmuerto

22k, 2 chapters

Sparkly purple shit means Steve is deserumed. Steve has his head up his ass, like usual. Bucky is waiting, like usual. Some angst, some almost-dying, but mostly fluff. (Second chapter is Natasha’s POV from a certain part in the first chapter).

one step closer by Flowerparrish @flowerparrish

4k, 1 chapter

Bucky finds out Steve’s bi on accident. Later he discovers that he, himself, is asexual. Cue feelings. (I might just really love this one because it’s ace!Bucky figuring himself out but it’s super fluffy and really well-written!)

Break Faith by hitlikehammers (I think maybe they had a Tumblr at one point @hitlikehammers but I can’t find it now?)

4k, 1 chapter

Endgame fix-it, where Steve comes back when the five seconds pass, and finally pulls his head out of his ass.

The New Age by AustinB

7k, 2 chapters

Steve and Bucky both crash the plane and wake up in the future. What happens when they realize love really is love, here in the future? (Starts off as kinda angsty because Steve doesn’t want to let go of the past, but it gets really sappy and fluffy.)

The Modern!Bucky AU series by greenbergsays @greenbergsays

6.5k, 2 works

Bucky, in line for Starbucks, defends the elusive Captain Rogers’ honor, as torn to shreds by the most recent interview. As it so happens, Captain Rogers is in line just ahead of him.

I don’t want you like a best friend series by rainbow_nerds @rainbow-nerdss

16k, 3 works

Fluff in the life of modern Bucky and Steve (no Captain America or Winter Soldier; Steve’s an artist and Bucky’s a mechanic).

The Sunscreen Wars by greyhavensking @greyhavensking

4.5k, 1 chapter

Steve thinks he doesn’t need sunscreen. Bucky quickly corrects him.

A Place Not Far Away by luninosity @luninosity

38k, 7 chapters

Sebastian is a journalist. Chris is a childhood-celebrity-turned-family-farmer. Sebastian comes to do an interview on Chris’s family’s farm. Smut ensues, as it usually does when it’s luni writing.

Unusual Weather by novembersmith

8.5k, 1 chapter

Bucky needs a new arm. He refuses to be put under for the surgery. Thor’s Asgardian poppy IV works… a little too well.

Let’s Fall In Love by Desdemon

4k, 1 chapter

A whole lot of 20’s speak, Bucky unapologetically flirting with Steve, and Steve taking forever and a day to figure it out.

Barnes & Rogers and the Goddamn Truth (no author)

19k, 1 chapter

The history teacher, Mr. Barnes, and the other history teacher, Mr. Rogers, hate each other. At least, that’s what their students think.

Cruisin’ for Love by isolatedwriter @isolatedwriter0

36.5k, 1 chapter

Steve and Bucky pretend to be a couple in order to attend a couples’ cruise. (If there was one in this list I had to choose to recommend, this would be that one. It’s worth it!)

Dropped series by stevieschrodinger @stevieschrodinger

40k, 6 works

This one is partially angst; Dom!Steve and inexperienced sub!Bucky walking their way through the BDSM scene for the first time. And the second. And the… well, you get it.

he loves me cause I’m cute, he thinks I’m pretty funny by its_tortle @its-tortle

2.5k, 2 chapters

Based on a TikTok; Bucky’s a modern-day millennial and Steve’s Captain America. Cute, fluffy crack. Fluff without plot, if you will.

it’s impossible to read that guy by spinawren

5.5k, 1 chapter

A b99 AU where Bucky’s a part of the police force. No one knows anything about him. He’s aloof and unfeeling… at least, until his husband Steve comes in. Behind bars, no less. (Preserum Steve, I think maybe it’s prewar Bucky but I could be wrong.)

I could never — wear that sweater by Kalee60 @kalee60

13k, 1 chapter

Steve should’ve known better than to bet against Clint. Now he needs a different Christmas sweater for every day of the month. From the same store. And he can’t buy in bulk. Enter White Wolf Apparel.

Bait And Switch ‘verse series by galwednesday @galwednesday

6k, 3 works

Bucky, as the Winter Soldier, is aloof. Bucky as Bucky is just as much so, at least with his teammates. With his boyfriend Steve, though? There’s a whole different side to the masked man.

BuckRogers vs. the Internet series by galwednesday @galwednesday

5.5k, 2 works

Bucky likes Twitter. Pepper doesn’t like Bucky having Twitter, because of the HR troubles he causes. Chaos ensues.

f(ace) the truth series by greyhavensking @greyhavensking

12k, 2 works

Ace!Bucky and bi!Steve work. It confuses Tony. 2nd part is Bucky’s birthday. Whole lot of sweetness and mostly it’s fluffy.

we are finally home series by cosmicocean, estrellami @cosmicoceanfic, @estrellami-1

24.5k, 2 works

Steve somehow adopts a whole gaggle of LGBT homeless teens. Bucky comes back, somewhere along the way. This is their story.

#fics #marvel #stevebucky #stucky #steve x bucky #Steve Rogers #Bucky Barnes #Evanstan #chris evans #sebastian stan #fluff #ao3 #read on ao3

[milliedazzledust]

🥀: angst     🌹: fluff     ✨: prepare tissue     🔥: adventure

Chilling Adventure Of Sabrina:

Nick Scratch

Tell me you love me 🌹

Summary: Hurt/comfort Nick scratch imagine.The reader gets hurt by one of the villains in caos when she and Sabrina tried to exorcise a demon out of Harvey.

An Abundance of Love 🌹 1.4k words

Summary: It’s all just soft shit. Nick is reading a book aloud to the reader, his head in their lap. They’re running their hand through his hair, before interrupting his reading with kisses and a declaration of love that fluster him cause it’s out of nowhere

The Originals

Kol Mikaelson

Turning Pages 🌹 2.8k words

Summary: Reader is the daughter of one of Kol main enemies, she tried to keep it a secret but he finds out and Klaus tries to kill her saying she’s probably spying on them but Kol protects the reader.

How you fall in love 🥀 2.6k words

Summary: Kol wants to ask the reader to marry him but it doesn’t go as he planned when they are attacked and he takes a hard decision that will change both of their lives.

Marvel

Bucky Barnes/ The Winter Soldier

Unspoken 🌹 3.1k words

Summary: The reader lost all her family, including her twin sister. No one knows her story except Steve. She also have another secret; she’s in love with Bucky. One day, while trying to help Wanda with her grief, she is forced to remember her past and has no other choice then to talk about it and finally let someone help her.

Viens, embrasse moi 🔥🌹4.6k words

Summary: Based on a scene from “The Man From Uncle” and the french song “Les Yeux Noirs” by Pomplamoose. Bucky Barnes and the reader are spies and work together to get an intel. They hate each other but the sexual tension between them is off the charts.

If A Look Could Kill 🥀🌹1.4k words

Summary: small imagine x reader from a scene in the 2nd episode of fatws when they’re all in the car after they fought the supersoldiers. Walker starts to flirt with Y/N, and Bucky doesn’t like his girl being hit on

In Loving Memory 🥀 2k words

Summary: the reader is Steve twin and she married Bucky after the blip, she has had enough of the new Captain America and is ready to bring him down at all cost

The Lighthouse Keeper  🥀🌹2.7k words

Summary: The reader fought to bring Bucky back during endgame and now their relationship is going through a rough time. One night, Bucky has a nightmare and reader is sleeping next to him

Somewhere Only We Know 🌹 2.9k words

Summary: Bucky fells lost walking around Brooklyn. The streets are the same but everything else has change. Almost everything - a bookstore he used to go to with his sister is still there and inside, the granddaughter of an old friend might just be the only person he needs to feel at home again

I’ll Come Back For You 🥀🌹 3.5k words

Summary: Winter Soldier!Bucky being protective over the scientist who's forced to take care of his health. She's being kept inside Hydra secret base against her will too. They are each others support system

Midnight Sky 🌹3k words

Summary: It’s New Year’s Eve and the reader and Bucky are celebrating at Sam’s place. The whole time, Y/N thinks Bucky is going to kiss Sarah at midnight and that he has feelings for her, when in reality he’s in love with someone else

After The Storm Comes Sunshine 🥀🌹 3.7k words

Summary: reader and Bucky had a huge fight about Zemo making him act like the winter soldier. Bucky thinks that she doesn’t believe he can resist going back to his old ways. They get into a fight, he loses his temper, hits a wall and scares the shit out of  her

For The Lover That I Lost part 1 / part 2  🥀 2.7k words

Summary: You and Bucky used to love each other back in the 40's, before the war, before you lost him thinking he died. Now here you are, more than seventy years later, at one of Tony's parties, slow dancing with him. The only catch is that he can't remember he loves you because he has no memories left of you

The Devil And I Get Along Just Fine 🥀 2.8k words

Summary: Bucky has just been rescued by the Avengers. Now he has to go through tests to show just how much the serum has changed him, emotionally and physically. Neither the Avengers, nor the reader truly realize just how much the soldier is tired to fight

Loki

Favorite Crime  🥀 1.5k words

Summary: Loki has gone to another timeline in hope to see the love he lost

DC

Clark Kent / Superman

Even When It Hurts 🌹 2k words

Summary: Clark comforts the reader after she got hurt pretty badly, and keeps her from having an anxiety attack after she gets hurt

The Witcher

Geralt of Rivia

Wicked Games 🌹🔥 2.2k words

Summary: Reader travels with Geralt and flirts with him all the time, but he doesn’t seem to care, until one day reader starts flirting with someone else and he becomes super jealous

Link to the series masterlist: here

#Bucky Barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes imagines #bucky barnes imagine #the winter soldier x reader #the winter soldier imagines #the winter soldier imagine #winter soldier imagine #winter soldier x reader #winter soldier imagines #nick scratch x reader #nick scratch imagine #nick scratch imagines #nicholas scratch x reader #nicholas scratch imagine #nicholas scratch images #kol mikaelson fanfiction #kol mikaelson imagines #kol mikaelson imagine #kol mikaelson x

[superhusbands4ever]

I don’t want Crosshair to have an Anakin Skywalker redemption arc.

I want Crosshair to have a Bucky Barnes recovery arc.

I don’t want Crosshair to do a bunch of dark, evil things, get the chip out or have a change of heart or realize what he’s doing is wrong, do one good thing or save someone’s life, and then die for it.

I want Crosshair to do a bunch of dark, evil things, get the chip out or break through the chip and realize what he’s doing it wrong, do something good and/or save someone’s life, and then survive to have to deal with the repercussions and face the consequences.

Not legal consequences. Crosshair is, at the end of the day, a victim of the Empire. He’s being mind controlled. He’s been brainwashed. He’s been Winter Soldier-ed.

Yes, he’s killing civilians. He’s hunting his brothers. He’s hurting people. He’s ruining lives. He’s killing people. But his actions are not his fault. He’s just the puppet, the Empire is pulling his strings. He has no control. He’s being forced to commit these crimes. However… he’s still the one doing them. And he has to face the emotional repercussions of doing that. He has to redeem himself to the people he hurt in able to recover from that trauma.

I could go on and on about the parallels between Crosshair in just the first 3 episodes alone, and the Winter Soldier. There are direct, scene for scene parallels between the two characters. I want so desperately for them to continue that trend.

To talk about Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier for a second: obviously, Bucky is not to blame for what he did during his time as the Winter Soldier. Hydra was the one in control - they tortured him, they hooked him up machines and wiped his mind, they took away his free will, they made him fight and kill and torture strangers, friends, foes, the guilty, the innocent, civilians, criminals, politicians, etc. As an audience we know this, we understand it and we sympathize with him.

But… he still did all those things.

One of my favorite Bucky scenes (and honestly probably the scene that really made me fall in love with him) was in Captain America Civil War when Bucky and Steve are on the quinjet to Siberia to fight the other Winter Soldiers.

Bucky: I don't know if I'm worth all this, Steve.

Steve: What you did all those years... it wasn't you. You didn't have a choice.

Bucky: I know. But I did it.

Bucky is able to acknowledge that while he didn't have any control over his actions and what he did, he still did bad things to innocent people. And those innocent people are still going to look at Bucky and see the man who caused them pain, hurt, and suffering. Sure, they might understand logically that he wasn't in control, that he wasn't the one who did those things. But we don't always think rationally when we are angry and scared and hurt.

We can see this later in Siberia when Tony attacks Bucky. Immediately after watching the video he turns to Bucky. We can see the resigned look on Bucky's face. Bucky understands. He understands that in that moment, Tony isn't thinking rationally. He is thinking with his emotions. And his emotions are blinding him, in that moment, to the fact that it wasn't Bucky who did those things, but Hydra using Bucky's body as a puppet. "It wasn't him, Tony." "I don't care. He killed my mom." Was Tony right to attack Bucky? No. Did Bucky deserve it? No. But we can see on Bucky's face right before the fight starts that he understands why Tony is doing it and honestly? Probably doesn't blame him. He understands that even though he wasn't in control when he killed Tony's parents, he still did it. He still caused Tony real pain that doesn't pay attention to things like fairness or blame. All Tony can see is Bucky's hands killing his mom, and they both have to face the emotional repercussions of that.

Another great (and less discourse-y) example of this is in Falcon and the Winter Soldier. We see Bucky continue to have to face the emotional repercussions of his time as the Winter Soldier. He's making amends for his actions and working through the psychological pain of it. He may not have been in control when he killed Yori's son, but it was still his hands that pulled the trigger. That is why he's so afraid to tell Yori the truth through the whole series. He thinks he's protecting Yori from the pain of knowing what happened to his son by not telling him, when in actuality he is protecting himself from that pain of what Yori might think of him after Bucky tells him. He's aware enough to know that Yori might hate him, never speak to him again, that he might lose a friend. Because while he wasn't in control when he shot Yori's son, at the end of the day, he died by Bucky's hands. Yori's son is still dead because of Bucky. It's not fair, but sometimes life isn't always rainbows and butterflies with a fairy tale ending.

Back to the Bad Batch: I want Crosshair to get his chip out and go back to the Batch and have to face the repercussions of what he did with the Empire. I want the Bad Batch to be distrustful of Crosshair at first. I want Crosshair to be afraid to be left alone with Omega. I want Crosshair to not trust his own mind. I want Crosshair to be hurt or get frustrated after the 15th time he moves too suddenly and Tech flinches. I want Crosshair to have nightmares. I want Crosshair to have to recover from his own trauma while also redeeming himself after the trauma he caused the Batch. Not just... die. Sometimes recovery and redemption is messy and ugly. But it's necessary and it's more interesting narratively than killing him off.

Do I think the show is going to do this? No. It's a children's show and they've already shown they aren't going that deep into the emotionality of everything. I just think this would be a much more interesting and complex way to carry on Crosshair and the Bad Batch's storyline while also providing opportunity for character development in the Batch outside of Hunter and Omega. They've already shown they know how to write a redemption arc - they managed to write a redemption arc for Kallus successfully and, while I love Kallus, he did work for the Empire and commit war crimes and participate in genocide of his own volition without a chip in his brain. If they can do it for Kallus, they can do it for Crosshair.

If they kill Crosshair off I'm going to be genuinely angry because it seems like such a waste of character and also a waste of good content and character development for the entire Bad Batch going forward. With the confirmation of season 2, I don't think they're going to kill him (yet). Right now my worst fear is that they'll get the chip out and he'll stay with the Empire or he'll reveal the chip has been kaput for months and he's doing all this because he wants to, which would make no sense based on what we've seen of him in season 7 of tcw and throughout this show. But that's for a different post. I guess we'll see with tomorrow's episode.

#the bad batch #tbb #bad batch #tbb crosshair #tbb hunter #character analysis #tbb analysis #star wars #commander crosshair

[watchmegetobsessed]

Prisoner - Bucky Barnes

a/n: hi everyone! i am really excited to share this with you, because this one was written for a writing challenge! it is part of @wkemeup​ ‘s 9k writing challenge and it’s the first time i take part in anything like this with a Bucky fic! not that i have many but im sure more is about to come lol! let me know what you thought after reading!

prompt: Character A is possessed/controlled and attempts to harm Character B. [B] refuses to fight back in fear of hurting [A].  

pairing: Bucky X Reader

warnings: blood, violence, mind controlling, just the usual jazz lol

word count: 7.8k

masterlist

Bucky and you were a pair made in hell. Only that he is the only one out of the two of you who really went through the deepest and darkest corners of it while you were basically just waiting in the lobby, as you like to say it.

He wasn’t the only person HYDRA had plans with. Being an orphan from the age of four, you didn’t have the life you probably deserved. Abducted at the age of twenty, you lived in cells and labs for years before they gave you the serum, turning you into a super solider, with determined plans to turn you into a kind of winter soldier 2.0, eventually wiping your head like his and turning you into the perfect assassin. Only that before they could start with the torture, you were rescued by none other than Captain America during a raid on one of HYDRA’s secret bases.

The Avengers gave you shelter when you had absolutely nothing left in life. Your previous life was long forgotten, almost entirely non-existent, all you had is the safety these extraordinary people were offering you, that you took more than willingly.

You were there when Bucky was captured, still very much fighting with his own conscious. You were in the building when Zemo triggered him into being a murderer again and he broke free, fought his ex best friend, saved his life and then disappeared again. You often found yourself thinking about how you’d be just the same if you weren’t saved. How you’d be out there, used as just a toy to end lives.

You never had to go through the process of ripping this side of yourself out of your head, because they never succeeded with you. But Bucky didn’t have it as lucky as you did. When Shuri contacted you that he was awake from his hibernation and they were working on wiping the winter soldier out of him, you didn’t hesitate to drop everything and be there for him. You didn’t know him that well back then, but you felt like you shared a deep connection through the torturous things you had to go through. You were there for him until he finally became entirely himself. No more winter soldier, just Bucky.

The two of you have tens of missions together behind your back at this point. Partners in work, friends in life, that’s what you are. And in your dreams?

Definitely lovers.

Now as you are rotting in a dark and musty cell somewhere in the middle of Poland, you are starting to regret you never really told him how you feel. You had so many chances to come clear but you were too afraid of rejection and the possibility of ruining your strong friendship and most importantly partnership that you chose to keep it all bottled up inside you.

It might have been days or hours since they locked you in your cell, you wouldn’t know. You lost track of time and you’re not expecting to see the daylight anytime soon either. Are they looking for you? Or do they think you died? No one was around you when you were abducted and there were no signs left behind that would have let your team know you survived. There was a massive explosion near your location in the raid, anyone would easily think that you were caught in the middle of that.

Does Bucky think I’m dead too? Has he given up on me?

You’re starting to think you’ll never find that out. Just like how you’ll never find out what it’s like to grow old, have a home that’s not just a room in a facility, spend your days with your hobbies rather than trainings and missions.

As the thick metal door opens and a creak of light breaks the heavy darkness in your cell, you look up at the man who walks in. If your hands weren’t cuffed with fucking vibranium cuffs, you would easily kill him in a heartbeat along with the three bulky guards he brought with himself.

“It’s time to make a use out of you,” the man grinned before two guards grabbed you by your arms, dragging you out of the cell, taking you God knows here. Probably to your death.

“You have to check twice,” Buckly growled upon hearing Agent Hill’s report from what was found at the scene. Or what was not found.

“No signs of Y/N were found, Bucky. But that explosion was so massive, it wiped out everything in it’s close radius. If she stood close to that…” “But what if she didn’t?!” he snaps, barking at the innocent agent. The room falls silent, no one dares to speak up against Bucky’s raging anger. Fury steps forward and places a hand to the upset soldier’s shoulder as a soft warning to control himself. Bucky takes a deep breath before looking over at Fury, no longer determined to rip anyone apart who wants to argue with him.

“Let’s all calm down and see what we can do. Do you think she survived?” Fury simply questions him. Bucky taps on the panel and a map of the location pulls up on the big screen, showing a little red dot at the places where the team members were located last before the explosion.

“Her last location was far enough of it for her to survive,” he explains pointing at your dot.

“But if she moved just a little closer—“ Hill starts again, but she quickly silences herself when Bucky shoots her another warning look.

“I think she was captured. We can’t just assume that she is gone that easily,” he insists, refusing to even think about the possibility of you dying in that explosion. That’s just simply not an option for him.

Fury stares back at him hard, searching for something in his eyes before he finally nods.

“Alright, let’s get on the case. We need to find out where they could be possibly hiding her.”

Bucky breathes out in relief as the team gets down to work immediately. This is not the part he can help with, he sucks at technical things, so now he is left with just the painful wait until a lead pops up and he can come to your rescue.

 The gym is eerily quiet without your bickering. He always trains with you and it’s been one of his favorite things to do. The two of you liked to race in everything and thought you both knew he was faster and stronger, he always let you win a few times, giving you the chance to tease him about being second after you.

But now as he is punching the heavy bag on his own, he wishes he could hear one of your snarky comments about his lopsided moves, because he still hasn’t entirely gotten used to the uneven strength in his hands.

“If she is really out there, I’m sure she is doing fine.”

Sam walks in, his steps echo in the empty room and though Bucky stops for a moment, he doesn’t look at him, just keeps punching the bag.

“She is tough, Bucky. She can take care of herself.”

“Not when she is outnumbered by a dozen,” he growls back. “I know she is tough, but sometimes that’s just not enough.”

For a long time Bucky thought Steve is the only person he can work with as partners, but he had to realize that he had a special bond with you through the tortures you both had to go through and sometimes he felt like you were the only one who understood him truly. Even though your brain wasn’t washed like his, you were close to it and it gave you a great understanding of what he had to go through.

But it wasn’t just about the trauma. As you grew closer to each other you easily became friends, really good ones for all that matters. Bucky loved spending time with you on and out of missions as well. He finds your humor a little dark but quite entertaining, he likes how you are more social than he is so whenever you need to work with someone else you always take the role of the communicator, building a bridge between him and others easily. He loves how much you care about others, how you show your appreciation for your loved ones in the tiny details as making breakfast or baking their favorite cookies. He loves the way you smile whenever he messes up something and you have to take care of it eventually, he loves the way you laugh at his lame, old jokes, he loves how you always fall asleep on horror movies and he loves…

He loves you.

For years he thought he would never feel this way again for anyone, because it’s so raw and human, he thought it was wiped out of him when he became the winter soldier, but you proved him wrong. And now he wishes he told you how he felt, because if you won’t return, he has to live his life knowing you never knew how much you meant to him.

Tossing and turning in his bed, he stays wide awake, not able to even close his eyes when he knows you are out there somewhere, because you have to be. He refuses to nurse the thought of you gone for even a second. You’re qualified, the best fighter he has ever met and he has this feeling in his gut that you made it out of there alive. Maybe you knew the explosion was about to happen. Maybe you ran the opposite way before it was too late. Or maybe you found shelter, or simply was just knocked out of the impact of it and they captured you.

So many possibilities that are way more better than the fatality of your death.

Kicking the silky sheets off his body, the ones he deep down hates because it’s way too smooth against his skin, something he still has a hard time to grow accustomed to, he pulls a hoodie over his head before creeping his way out of his bedroom, down the hallway until he reaches yours. He stands still at the door, a sense of anxiety washing over him as he thinks about what’s inside. Not that it’s the first time he is here, he has spent endless nights in your room, the two of you talking and laughing as you showed him your favorite movies he hasn’t seen. You often bought a big bag of snacks for your movie nights and the two of you sprawled across your comforter, your legs sometimes touching, or there was this one time when he let you braid his hair.

“You should come to missions like this,” he remembers your teasing as you ran your fingers through the neat braids running along his head.

“And give the boys another reason to tease me? No thank you,” he chuckled.

“Another? What do they tease you about?” you asked furrowing your eyebrows as you popped a gummybear into your mouth.

You. It was you they teased him about and how obvious his feelings for you are. Seemingly everyone saw how you looked at each other but you and him.

He twists the silver doorknob before pushing the door open, part of him hoping to see you curled up under the sheets, snoring lightly and peacefully, but the room is terribly empty without your presence.

Everything is just the way you left them. The abandoned workout clothes hanging from the edge of the hamper, your running shoes under the window, your journal lying on your nightstand with a pen on top and his favorite… a framed picture of you and him on your bookshelf with all your favorite romantic novels stacked neatly on the shelves.

Bucky steps closer, his hands hidden in the pooch of his hoodie as he stares at the photo. It was taken a few days after the two of you returned from Wakanda, Bucky was finally free from the winter soldier and it was probably the best few days of his life. The two of you decided to take a trip to London before returning to your duty, a place you always wanted to see, but never really got the chance. It was just the two of you, taking some time away from the avengers, SHIELD, all the bad in the world, pretending like you’re two normal people for just a weekend before returning to your duties in New York. The photo was taken when you returned from the getaway, Steve took it in the gym, the two of you sat at the edge of the boxing ring after a killer fight. It was a simple moment, his arm stretched behind you as you leant against his side. The glow from your alone time was still apparent on your faces, neither of you felt happier in life before, or not at least in the last decade.

His vision blurs as he runs a finger through the frame, a sharp pain stabbing in his chest as he watches your bright smile and rosy cheeks. He never thought he would feel this way about anyone, not after everything he went through, but you proved him wrong. You showed him how much more human he still is that what he thinks of himself and you might not even have realized it.

Too restless to go back to sleep, Bucky storms out of your room, carefully closing the door behind him before going down to Tony’s office, determined to make himself useful. He can’t just sit around and wait, he needs to feel like he is doing everything he can.

When the first rays of the sun shine above the horizon and the first agents arrive for their shifts, He has already gone through an immense amount of security tapes from all around the world that had even the slightest match through the face recognition system with yours. None of them turned out to be real, but he never gave up.

“Barnes, were you here all night?” Tony asks in awe when he finds the long-haired avenger with his eyes glued to one of the screens, watching yet another tape.

“Not all night, but… for the majority, yes,” he nods without even sparing Tony a look.

Any other day Tony would tease him for maybe finally doing something useful, or not only using his fist in a case, but not today. Everyone on the team knows how much you mean to him and how hard it is to not know where you are. So he just nods, places his coffee down to the desk and gets down to work without a word.

Soon enough the rest of the team joins them and everyone is working together to find even the slightest lead. Every other minor case is put aside, you are their priority.

The more time passes by without anything found, Bucky feels like a part of him is dying more and more. Hopelessness and fear is taking over his already messed up mine, but he is still holding onto the light and that small little feeling in his gut that you are still out there somewhere. And then they find a lead.

“We’ve got a match!” Nat beams from behind her screen and everyone gathers around her as a series of blurry photos play in front of them, showing a group of men carrying a clearly unconscious person to a minivan before driving away. The quality is definitely not the best, your face is also half covered by your hair, but your uniform gives you away. It really is you.

“Where and when was this taken?” Bucky asks in a hurry.

“Last night, outside of Krakow. We have one last coordinate for the van,” Nat informs the group as she brings up a map, a red dot signaling the last spotting of the same van.

“There’s a closed off military based near,” Steve chimes in, pointing at the map a few miles away from where the pictures were taken.

“Alright, suit up everyone. Guess we are going to Poland,” Tony announces and a moment later everyone is running off to get ready for takeoff.

The ground doesn’t feel that bad anymore. It’s wet and there’s gravel here and there, the coldness is not too comfortable either, but you are getting used to it. Probably because it makes you feel things and that’s important to you now. In times when you often lose contact with your own body and mind, feelings keep you grounded and they remind you of who you are.

Last night you finally found out who caught you and it wasn’t a pleasant surprise. Aziel Nowak is a name you’ve already heard before, but not in the best way. The guy is totally crazy and if that’s not enough, he is kind of a genius as well. These two never sit well with each other and you knew it was just a matter of time before you had to face him, but you didn’t think these would be the circumstances.

Nowak’s father, Aleksander was a well-known scientist in the circles of HYDRA, he was one of the assholes responsible for wiping Bucky’s head, unfortunately, his own creation brought his death upon him. Bucky killed him during a raid, all while Aleksander was trying to trigger him, but Bucky was faster than him and shoot him in the head before he could get the second trigger word out. Aziel swore to seek revenge for his father’s death and made it clear that his big plan is to take out every avenger one by one, but all during completely destroying Bucky in every possible way.

Stuck in a clear tube, one that was built specially for super soldiers, you stood in his lab as he got everything ready for his master plan with you.

“The winter soldier was full of flaws,” he started to explain to you, working behind his computer while you couldn’t do anything to stop the madness. Even if you could break out of the tube, you were terribly outnumbered with the hoard of guards in the room, all of them armed and ready to rip you apart. It would have been a suicidal mission.

“The trigger words take a lot of time to enlist and sometimes, we just don’t have time for that. We need our soldier instantly, in a push of a button, if I might add,” he smirked and you almost gagged. He was a lowlife, disgusting middle-aged man, completely out of touch of reality, wrapped up in his own head with his ridiculous misconceptions and twisted view of the world.

“But fear no more, I have a better solution,” he grinned at you, holding up a tiny chip between his fingers and your jaw flexed. You didn’t know what it was, but you had guesses. “Spent years working on this little thing and now I can finally test it out and you get to be the lucky one to do it. Start the gas,” he ordered and a moment later some kind of gas started to fill the tube up. Your pathetic attempt to escape was cut off shortly when you felt your whole body freeze as you inhaled the gas. You just stood there, completely no control over your own body. The back of the tube opened with a hiss once the gas cleared out from around you and you felt a sharp stabbing at the back of your neck. You couldn’t even gasp, you were as frozen as a statue, unable to defend yourself and you truly felt like it’s the end. You wish it was though.

Nowak implanted the chip into your spine and you could feel the wires cling into your nerves, melting into your body like a parasite. A single tear rolled down your cheek as your wound was closed off.

“This is going to be so much fun,” Nowak smirked when he walked into your sight again. He had a control panel in his hands and as he pushed some buttons electricity bolted through your whole body and you completely lost control over your actions. Your body moved without your consent, arms and legs acting without your brain actually telling them.

You became a prisoner in your own body.

The night was spent fighting with Nowak’s best guards as he tested out his new toy: you. He could control your whole body thanks to the chip and while you were screaming and shouting in your head, there was no escape. He made you into his ragdoll and there was nothing you could do against it.

He switched the chip off when you were thrown back into the cell. You sobbed for hours probably as you tried to get the thing out of yourself, blood was dripping down your back, but you had to accept that it was too deep, clinging onto your spine, you couldn’t get it out with your bare hands.

Now you are lying on the floor and try to remember who you are, because you’ve been feeling like you lost touch with your true self. The only thing that has been helping is remembering your favorite memories.

It makes your heart flutter when you realize that most of them have Bucky in them. Your most favorite? The time you spent in London. Those days are the closest and dearest to your heart and now you just wish you could go back in time for even just an hour. Strolling down the streets like any other tourists without a worry in the world, watching the city lay in front of you as you ride the London Eye or walking along the River Thames. You felt so normal, so happy, sharing your time with the man you probably love the most in the whole wide world.

“I could live here,” you sighed when the Big Ben came into view above the brick buildings.

“It rains too much here,” Bucky furrowed his eyebrows at you, his arm brushing against yours.

“I like the rain. Love the smell of it, love how refreshing it feels after it,” you chuckled.

“And what would you want to do here?”

“I don’t know,” you shrugged. “Maybe I would work at a library. Or a café!”

“You want to be a barista!” He chuckled, smirking down on you. “Is this why you wanted Tony to get a fancy espresso machine?”

“Well, not just because of this, I just really like good coffee,” you smiled up at him. “What, do you not like my coffee?”

“Oh, I do. You make the best in the tower,” he nodded.

You could always talk about anything and everything with him. He understood you so well and you liked to think it worked the other way as well. That you were just as important to him as he was to you.

“Bucky.” His name falls from your lips like a desperate plea, as if you could summon him and he’d be here any moment to rescue you. But nothing changes and you are still on your own.

You’ve been wondering if this is how he felt when they made him to be the winter soldier. If he went through the same struggle or if it was worse. He said he doesn’t remember everything he did, as if sometimes he just completely disappeared in his own head, but other times live vividly in his memories.

You remember everything too. The chip has no control over your mind and thoughts, it works as another brain that takes over control in your body, caging your mind in your own head while it works your body.

A siren rings through the building and you gasp, your head snapping in the direction of the metal door. You hear orders in a foreign language and running footsteps somewhere down the hallway. Pushing yourself up you move to the far end of the room as you hear someone approaching your cell. Before the lock clicks on the door, you feel the familiar electricity run through your body and you breathe out before you lose control over your body again. You stand up, not because you want to, but because this is what they ordered. The door swings open and Nowak walks in.

“Guess your little friends figured out where you are. It’s time to show them my masterpiece.”

The military base is pretty lively for a closed off one. As the team is approaching the complex they inspect the possibilities they have to get inside.

“Alright, we have to be smart about this. Nowak is a psychopath,” Tony announces when the quinjet is nearing the base. “Barron and Natasha, we need a diversion. Banner, you stay here and only come in if it’s needed,” he starts and everyone nods along. “Wanda, the same goes for you as well. Listen to the call word and be ready to interfere. Sam and I are going to clear the main building, try to find Nowak. Barnes, Cap, you are tracking Y/N down. Everything clear?”

“As daylight,” Steve nods as he grabs his shield from the side.

Once the quinjet touches down, everyone goes their own way, going along the plan they discussed. Nat and Clint do well with the diversion, a great amount of guards and soldiers are drawn in their way as Tony and Sam make their way into the main building of the base.

“Where should we look, Buck?” Steve asks his friend as they hide behind one of the quarters. Bucky looks around, inspects the place and nods towards a building that’s clearly powered with a lot more electricity for whatever reason, Thick cables running inside, snaking under the doors, pouring extra power inside. Steve nods and once the way is somewhat cleared out, they head inside.

They take down the few HYDRA agents that try to get in their way as they run further into the building without even breaking a sweat. They easily reach the lab and it almost feels way too easy.

“Something is not right,” Steve says as the two of them walk into the empty lab, curious inspecting all the machines and equipment they have absolutely no idea how to work.

Bucky’s eyes fall on the tube in the far corner of the room and walking closer he gets an eerie feeling and he can already picture you trapped inside, the thought making his stomach churn.

“Anyone found Nowak yet?” Steve asks through the com.

“Negative,” Nat grunts back in the middle of her own fight.

“Haven’t seen the fucker either,” Tony answers and Steve sighs.

Just as Bucky is about to head to the door that leads out of the lab at the other end from where they entered, the sliding door opens and they both get ready to fight whatever is about to come into sight. But neither of them were expecting you to walk out.

“Y/N?!” your name falls from Steve’s lips as he lets his shield down, staring back at you confused. But you don’t answer, just stop a few feet away from them, staring blankly ahead of you and Bucky swears he was on the verge of fainting from his anger, because he knew those eyes all too well, because he used to see them in the mirror.

“Y/N, what did they do?” he whispers desperately, a hand reaching out to you, but it’s quickly cut off when you grab his hand and easily throw him over, his back contacting the floor with a painful thump.

Hell breaks loose fast as you start fighting them off, using the advantage of their shock upon seeing you, working against them while they try to make you remember them.

“Y/N, it’s us! We don’t want to hurt you!” Steve growls when he saves himself from one of your hits, his shield coming between the two of you.

I know! I know it’s you, but I can’t do anything! You scream in your own head, unable to even form the words. You’re a prisoner in this body you thought to be yours, but it betrayed you.

You never fought both of them before at the same time, but now that it’s happening, you’re surprisingly good at it, handling two super soldiers at the same time when one of them has a vibranium arm while the other one keeps throwing a vibranium shield at you, though it’s clear they aren’t giving their best, afraid of hurting you even though you’re in killer mode right now and determined to rip them apart.

“Do you think they did the same to her as they did to you?” Steve asks out of breath when you throw them against a wall and return to fight Bucky.

“It’s something else. Look at the back of her neck!” he growls when you throw a punch in his way that he catches with his metal arm, holding your fist tight as you keep pushing it and this moment of pause allows Steve to take a look at you from the back.

“Oh shit,” he breathes out.

Yes! Take this shit out and I’m free! You scream, but no one hears. Your fist frees from Bucky’s grip and you kick him in the stomach so hard he snaps against the desk behind him and wasting no time you jump right at him, the fight continues.

“If anyone finds Nowak, don’t kill him. We’ve got Y/N and she is being controlled by something,” Steve explains through his earpiece before throwing his shield in your direction right when you’re about to attach your hands to Bucky’s neck. It hits you in the side and you fall to the ground grunting.

“Don’t fucking hurt her!” Bucky growls at him, but Steve gives him a look.

“She is trying to kill us, we have to do something!”

You’re on your feet fast, already charging at Steve and it catches him by surprise, he stumbles back as your knee collides with his stomach, a punch thrown at his pretty face.

“I see Nowak!” Tony’s voice comes through the earpieces, but they don’t have the chance to celebrate, because you’re kicking their ass big time.

When you want to launch yourself at Steve again, Bucky’s arms wrap around your waist from behind and he pulls back, pushing you away, making you stumble, but you’re back on your feet quickly. Your eyes meet and you want to touch him so badly, run into his arms, tell him how happy you are to see him and that he was the only thing that kept you sane, but instead, you throw yourself at him, fist colliding with the side of his head.

I’m so sorry, Buck!

“We’ve got Nowak!” Tony announces and Steve sighs in relief.

“Does he have something like a remote or controller?” he asks while you and Bucky are at each other’s throat. You throw him to a desk and drag him across it, papers and equipment flying everywhere before he ends up on the floor groaning. You have the perfect chance to throw a punch in again, but you turn around and run back towards the door you came through.

“He has a controlling panel, do you think it’s connected to Y/N?” Tony asks.

“Very much likely, but please hurry up, she is trying to run away!” Steve begs as they both start to chase after you in the labyrinth of hallways. You’re footsteps are echoing on the checkered floors as they are trying to catch up with you. You take a left turn and get out of their vision just for a split second. As they get around the corner they immediately freeze when they find you standing there, a gun pointing right at Bucky’s head, a deadly, but still rather blank expression in your eyes.

“Shit,” Steve breathes out.

“Y/N, I know you are in there,” Bucky speaks up.

Yes! I’m here! I’m here Bucky!

“The controller is locked, but we are working on it,” Tony announces through the com, but it doesn’t help their situation right now. If he can’t unlock the controller, you are likely to shoot them both if they don’t do something. As you stare back at your two friends, you are using everything in you to try to get back the control over your own body, but it’s like you’re just silently screaming in an empty, locked room.

“I know you hear me. Please, try to fight it off. I know how hard it is, but if anyone can do it, it’s you,” Bucky continues and if only you were in charge of yourself, you’d already be sobbing at the broken expression he is staring back at you with. Your finger is on the trigger and you can feel your muscles trembling.

“Buck, we need to disarm her,” Steve tells him, but he shakes his head.

“No. We can’t do that without hurting her and I’m not doing that.”

Oh Bucky! That’s the only way now!

“She is gonna shoot, Bucky. We have to do something!”

“She could have already fired. She is fighting it off, I know it.”

“Or maybe it’s just whatever it is inside her messing with her head as Tony is trying to break the controller.”

“Y/N, sweetheart, I know you can do this. I’m not gonna hurt you, you can fight it!” Bucky continues, ignoring Steve’s words, who stands behind him with his jaw flexed.

I can’t do it, you need to knock me out! I’m not strong enough to do it!

You are trying everything you can and you are already holding your finger back, you would have already pulled the trigger if it wasn’t for your resistance somewhere in this cage. But you just know you’re not strong enough to stop yourself forever, they will need to disarm you, there’s no choice.

You stare back at Bucky, his forehead and left cheek bloody from wounds you gave him and he probably has a few bruises under his leather jacket as well, all because of you. Nowak made you hurt the person you love the most and now his life is being threatened. You know he won’t fight you, he will not try to disarm you, he would rather take the bullet than cause pain to you, more than what he already did during your fight.

The gun trembles in your hand as you’re desperately trying to gain your control back, sweat beading on your forehead, your chest heaving.

“Stark, we are running out of time!” Steve warns him through the com.

“Just one more second!” he answers, but you’re afraid you don’t have that much time.

“Y/N, please!” Bucky begs, a single tear rolling down his cheek and you can feel your own heart breaking at the sight of him. You can’t believe it’s because of you, you are causing him pain when you swore to work to see him his happiest in his life.

Your jaw flexes and you are on the verge of breaking, the tiniest light flashing in front of you as you keep pushing, trying to take back control, but then you feel like losing again. It all happens so fast, you can barely process.

You know you’re about to pull the trigger, you can’t stop yourself, but just as you are about to do it, Tony’s voice rings through the com.

“We got it!”

In a blink of the eye, the invisible grip that’s been keeping you tight vanishes, the cage opens up and suddenly you feel yourself come alive again as the most painful, deafening and desperate scream rips from your throat, the gun falling from your grip before you collapse on the ground in complete shock of everything that went down.

“Get it out! Get it out! I can’t do this!” you scream, your nails scratching the back of your neck once again, trying to reach the chip, but you’re just breaking your own skin once again, blood dripping down your back.

“Hey, it’s alright, sweetheart. We got you. You’re gonna be fine!” Bucky falls to his knees, cradling you into his arms as you sob into his hard chest, hands gripping the fabric of his jacket tight as your salty tears soak your cheeks, your whole body shaking.

“I’m so sorry! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” you repeat, shaking your head as if you were trying to get rid of the memories, but they are still there, you still know what it’s like to be a prisoner in your own head but at least now you are with Bucky and that brings you the peace of mind you’ve been seeking all along.

“You don’t have to be sorry, it’s alright. You’ll be alright, sweetheart, you’re safe with me now,” he murmurs into your hair, his arms holding you so tight it’s starting to get hard to even breathe, but you wouldn’t have it any other way.

You cling onto him as if your life depends on it and in a way, it really does. Bucky gathers you into his arms as you keep mumbling your apologies and begs to make it stop even though you are not being controlled any longer. He carries you to the quinjet as he keeps murmuring reassuring words into your ear, telling you that everything is going to be alright now. You are in good hands.

You don’t let go of him on the way back and he doesn’t seem to want to do it either. Curled up on his lap, you let yourself fall into a shallow slumber as his fingers are dancing up and down your back, keeping you close to his chest, the feeling of finally being home taking over your senses.

Arriving back to New York you are helped off the jet by Bucky or course as he walks you to the med bay where Dr. Cho is already waiting for your arrival.

“Don’t worry, Y/N. We’ll fix you up,” she smiles at you as you are expected to let go of Bucky, but your head snaps back in his direction in panic, hands grabbing onto his anxiously.

“It’s alright, I’ll be here waiting for you. My stupid face will be the first thing you see when you wake up,” he jokes, his tired eyes fixated on you as you hesitate to let go of him, but eventually do it.

Keeping his promise Bucky stay outside as long as you are under Helen’s hands, not able to even drag him away to change clothes. The only thing he can make himself is dragging his ass to the nearest restroom to at least wash the dried blood off his face, but he quickly returns to his previous spot.

It turns out removing the chip is a bit more complicated than anyone thought. The micro wires are so deep in your nerves, Dr. Cho has to be careful if he doesn’t want to paralyze you with just one wrong move. Five entire hours pass by before the chip is finally out of you, before they place you in one of the rooms until you wake up from the anesthesia. Bucky is right by your side, holding your hand soothingly as he waits for you to open your eyes again. When he sees your eyelashes fluttering, he holds his breath as your eyes open and you adjust to the light and the view around you.

“Hey, sweetheart. How are you feeling?” he softly asks, gently brushing a strand of hair out of your forehead.

“Like… I just fought against two super soldiers,” you breathe out in a joking manner that makes him chuckle. You’re back and he missed you more than he could ever express.

As you let out a long and heave breath, you feel everything coming back to you and you can’t stop your sobs and the tears falling from your eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Bucky,” you gasp and he is quick to leap forward, one hand holding yours while the other one cups your cheek as he makes you turn your head towards him.

“No, no, no. You have nothing to be sorry about, Y/N. You did everything you could, you fought it so well!”

“But I hurt you! I didn’t want to hurt you, I was screaming inside my head, but I just couldn’t stop!” you sob shaking your head.

“I know, it wasn’t your fault! Please don’t think for a moment anyone blames you!” he begs, his bright blue eyes glued to your pained face as you fight your tears back. A hand moves to the back of your neck, feeling the wound where the chip used to be.

“Is it gone?” you ask in a whisper.

“It is. Helen took good care of you. You’re free now,” he smiles and you feel a wave of relief washing over you right away. Your body is yours again, finally.

“I didn’t think I would be myself again,” you admit, your voice slightly shaking. Bucky’s heart breaks at your words, but remains silent as you carry on. “I kept thinking of memories that feel the closest to me and it was the only thing that kept me sane. And I realized that the dearest ones are all with you, Bucky.”

His lips part at your revelation as his heart is beating fast against his ribcage. He has been waiting for this moment to come for what feels like eternity and now it might become his reality.

“When I thought I would never be the same again, I just thought about… you. That I don’t get to see you again, when I always wanted to spend all my days with you, Buck.”

“I want to spend all my days with you too, sweetheart,” he breathes out, leaning closer until his face is only inches away from yours. “I hated the thought of you being gone without ever telling you how I feel.”

“How do you feel, Bucky?” you ask in a trembling voice.

“You are my everything, Y/N. You are my best friend and everything beyond and I was such a fool for not telling you before this, but the thought of losing you made me realize that I have to stop being a coward,” he chuckles with tears bubbling in his eyes. You reach out and cup his face in your palms, your thumb running along the dark circles under his eyes and you wonder if he even slept a moment since you’ve been gone.

“We were both idiots, don’t beat yourself,” you chuckle softly, making his mouth turns into a grin before he leans closer and his lips finally press against yours, capturing them in a sweet, so-good-to-have-you-back kiss you’ve been dreaming about for probably way too long but at least since London. It’s soft and gentle, filled with the promise of many more to come. Thought you’re trying to stretch it as long as possible, a cough is heard from the door and you both pull back, turning your attention at the rest of the team standing there, all of them happy to see you again, or maybe to see the two of you finally taking the step they’ve been waiting for to happen.

“I guess you are feeling better now, yeah?” Nat smirks as she walks further inside, giving your shoulder a gentle squeeze.

“Much better,” you admit with a shy chuckle. “Thank you for the rescuing, guys.”

“It’s the least we could do,” Sam smirks at you.

“And Barnes would have gone nuts if we didn’t find you so that was also quite motivating,” Tony jokes nodding towards the man by your side, who is still holding your hand as if you could disappear any moment.

“Steve, I’m sorry for trying to hurt you,” you breathe out at the sight of the tall blonde man, but he just shrugs with a warm smile.

“It’s alright. At least now we know that you could easily kick our ass at the same time,” he jokes nodding towards Bucky, though you all know they were holding back, not wanting to hurt you. You still remember the look in Bucky’s eyes when you held him at gunpoint. He could have easily disarmed you but it would have cost you at least a broken arm, yet he refused to lay a hand on you and believed that you could control yourself again.

When the team is gone and it’s just the two of you again in the room, Bucky sits at the edge of your bed, his fingers playing with your hand over the white sheets as you let yourself fall into the sense of safety again.

“You should have disarmed me, Bucky,” you tell him, breaking the silence.

“I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“I could have killed you,” you retort.

“I know,” he nods, his lips pressing into a thin line. “But I just couldn’t cause you any more pain.”

“The fact that I was hurting you was already a pain, Bucky. You should have just knock me out.”

“Would you ever do the same to me?” he questions and though you open your lips to answer, you realize that he is right. You would have never hurt him on purpose, not even if he was back at being the winter soldier. You could have never hurt your sweet Bucky, the man that means more than anything ever in your torturous life.

“See? How do you expect me to do it then?” he smiles softly. “But it doesn’t matter, you are free now. It’s all in the past.”

“It still broke my heart, seeing you like that.”

“I can only say the same,” he breathes out, his eyes softening on you. “I wanted to help you so bad, but I couldn’t…”

“You helped me a lot,” you smile at him, brushing a few loose strands of hair out of his forehead. He smiles back at you and through his ocean eyes are still looking tired and a little bloodshot, but there’s a tiny little glimmer in them, something you’ve seen before, it was the most apparent when Shuri was successful at ridding him from the winter soldier and you also saw it in London. You’ve been seeking this little shine for a long time and you’re happy to have it back.

“We should go on a vacation,” he suggests, his smile growing wider with each passing second.

“Oh, I didn’t know avengers had vacation days,” you tease him.

“They do, as much as they want,” he nods grinning. “Where would you want to go? Do you want to go back to London?” he questions as he brings your hand up to his lips, kissing your bruised knuckles.

“Mm, we should go somewhere new,” you purse your lips. “I’ve always wanted to see Amsterdam.”

“Then Amsterdam it is,” he chuckles before leaning closer he kisses your lips gently with a promise of a bright future together.

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed it!

#kas9kwc #bucky #bucky barnes #bucky barnes one shot #bucky barnes oneshot #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky x you #bucky x y/n #bucky x reader #james buchanan barnes

[theravenclawlover]

Welcome to the Industry of Porn

Paring: Avengers X Female!Reader

Warnings: +18, heavy smut, drinking, slight angst in later chapters, fluff if you squint, and my English as usual.

Word Count: 3,101.

Summary: AU where the Avengers are Pornstars. It’s pretty self-explanatory.

Chapter: 6.

Chapter Title: Metal Fingers and Flexible Girl.

A/N: I gotta admit, I did a lot of changing for this chapter. That's why it took me so long to get it ready, and also I've been actually reading from the stack of books I have. I finally got around to finishing "The Outsider" by Stephen King, I liked it.

"You gotta be shitting me?" said Cassie as she looked at you incredulously while a small grin played on her lips.

"Why are you making it sound like it's a bad thing," said Bucky as he raised his hands in the air, but then he grinned, "I am really good at my job, thank you very much."

"Jerk," said Cassie as she rolled her eyes at him.

"Nobody's questioning your job, I just didn't think Stark was going to be putting me with the ones that have more time here? I thought maybe the other way around. You know what I mean?" you said as you looked around with your cheeks turning a bit red.

"Oh, so you wanted easy, like Spidey or maybe even Scott?" asked Natasha as she laid her head on Steve's thighs. The man blushed lightly as one of his hands went to her hair. They had told you that they weren't dating, but you and Cassie—even Bucky—were eighty-five percent sure something was up.

You blushed a little as you nodded but you shrugged not sure if telling them that it didn't matter or yourself.

"It doesn't really matter, but it was my way of thinking like 'baby steps'. But I think I'll be fine with Robocop over there," you said you stuck your tongue at him which turned into a smile. He rolled his eyes at the overused nickname, but he couldn't help himself but smile when you did.

He just knew it was going to be fun.

When the morning came to officially start working at Avengers, you woke up feeling a little bit nervous, yet a weird wave of excitement came with it and you were sure why. You've seen the man naked more times than you can count with both your hands, and you knew what he could do; you've seen that from your phone and from that one time you got to see Steve and Bucky go at it, granted, it had been a little because they used that prosthetic hand that looked somewhat real—he liked his metal one better after he grew to see it as a good thing and not a bad thing. You were nervous because you were only a couple of hours away from having the man fuck you in front of cameras, but the excitement was because the man was about to fuck you not just with his dick, no, those fingers were more than ready to be inside of you and that was enough motivation to get your body ready.

You walked into the kitchen to find Wanda, Natasha, Cassie, Peggy, and Gamora eating breakfast as they conversed.

"…that way the outfits don't clash, oh hey sleepy head, good morning," said Cassie as she saw walk toward the pantry door.

"Morning, what were you guys talking about?" you asked as you took out your favorite cereal.

"Cassie has this idea for our photoshoot tomorrow, and is pitching the idea to us before she goes to the makeup and costume department," said Gamora in her soft yet hard voice.

"Oh, fun," you said as you set your bowl on the kitchen island and took a seat between Wanda and Cassie.

"Are you nervous to get Barnes all to yourself," asked Peggy with a salacious grin. You shifted on your stool as all eyes turned to you.

"Nervous, but I'm sure I'm not the only one that's probably gotten a little nervous about having a one on one with him," you said with a small shrug.

"You are the first one aside from Rogers to get to fuck him as a one on one. Sure, we all have fucked Barnes once or twice but there's always more people involved," said Natasha as she sipped her orange juice. You stared at her with wide eyes at the new information.

"So that's why he was all grins last night," said Cassie as an afterthought.

"Well, now I'm even more nervous."

"Just think about his metal hand and you'll be fine." Peggy still held that damn salacious grin.

"Alright, we are going to pick up the scene from the point you open the door."

Anthony and Joe were both talking to you and Bucky as they directed the new scene which was the one that contained the sex scene that you had been dreading yet awaiting with utmost want.

"So, we're good?" asked Joe a last time before heading to his directing chair. You and Bucky nodded and then walked to your positions.

"Silence in set…and…ACTION!"

You opened the unlocked door of the apartment, gun in hand as you were ready to fire in case anyone jumped to attack you. Your eyes roamed the room quickly and noticed that it was clear, but something told you that the whole apartment was not. You had been sent to follow one of the many leads SHIELD had on the Winter Soldier. With cautious steps, you moved around the room and checked any room that you thought he could be, but as you moved to walk past the kitchen a foot knocked your gun off your hand. Before you could fight back, the man you had been looking for tackled you to the clear space of the living room. You grunted as you landed on your side, but quickly recovered and elbowed the man on the face. It startled him for a second, but it was enough for you to push him with your feet as you turned on your back. He landed backwards but his hand was right next to your gun which he grabbed and aimed at you, but you quickly kicked it back and sent it to the kitchen behind him. And then your knee met his jaw. You ran past him toward the kitchen to grab your gun, but the man got up faster than you could run, and he grabbed you by the waist and dragged you to the kitchen island where he threw you against, making you let out a grunt as your tummy connected with the border of it.

"Who the fuck are you and what do you want?" he growled right next to your ear which made you shiver.

"I was just sent here to be of help, Captain America has been looking for you for a while now," you said as you struggled under him. He was pressing his whole body on top of yours while his metal hand took a hold of your head from slamming it against his face.

"Fuck the guy a couple of times and now he wants to bring him to his place," he said with almost a chuckle in the back of his throat.

"Fine, don't come with me but there are others that are also looking for you and I'm sure they will not be as nice and good looking as me," you said as you relaxed under him because you were starting to ache all over. Sensing your body relax made him relax which had his hips lower down to touch your ass.

"is that a gun or are you actually happy to see me?"

The man groaned as you pushed your ass against his groin. He grabbed ahold of your hair and pulled your head back that way you were able to see his face.

"Don't do that," he growled so close to your face that some of his spit landed on your cheeks, but you couldn't help the wicked grin that spread on your lips as your eyes looked at his dark ones that made his deep blue eyes a lot more alluring.

"Why? Am I getting you too excited, Soldier?" you pushed yourself harder against him and this time he pushed back. It made him close his eyes momentarily at the friction, but you had seen it and it had sent a ridiculous amount of slick down to your underwear.

"You wouldn't be able to handle me, princess." He had meant it to sound like a warning, but it only made you take it as a challenge.

"Trust me, you won't hurt me, I'm a big girl."

It seemed it had been enough teasing for the man because as soon as you said those words with the dirtiest grin directed at him, he turned you around and pulled you into a bruising kiss. He still had you pinned down which made it impossible for you to roam your fingers through his long hair, and the kiss had you practically moaning with need.

"Only a kiss and you ready to be on your knees," he said as he literally pushed you down to be on your knees. You happily waited for him to take his cock from its tight confinement.

"You're probably not that big, sweetheart," you said in a mocking tone, and you knew you were just making the man build up until he snapped and used you in all the ways he wanted.

He didn't respond with his words, but rather with the presence of his cock right in front of your face.

"Nothing to say now? Open up, princess," he practically purred with a grin as you obediently did. Your eyes followed the movement of his hand as he grabbed the thick and long cock and guided the tip of it inside your waiting mouth and tongue.

The dirtiest, sluttiest, and neediest sound erupted from your throat as the taste of his pre-cum touched your taste buds. You grabbed the base of his cock as your other hand grabbed his balls while your mouth eagerly sucked him off.

"Fuck, someone's eager," he gasped with his head thrown back as your mouth had him in the clouds.

His hands were on your hair as he helped you down his cock when you started to take him down your throat and his eyes were on you. But when you looked up at him, he could've cum, because your eyes were teary, a little red, cheeks red, sweaty, and your lips were wrapped around the girth and length of his cock.

With a whine as you sucked on his tip, he pulled you up before he could cum, and you stumbled a little as he turned you on your stomach and bent you over the same spot you had been previously pinned. His big hands roamed your body before both hands landed a nice smack to each asscheek which made you yelp but at the same time, your ass was ready for more if he wanted. Instead, he took a hold of your pants and dragged them down your legs, revealing the soaked garment of your underwear. He pulled your legs apart and kneeled down, his hands—one cold and one warm—spread your cheeks open, and as you bit your lips expectantly, his tongue met your soaked sex. You moaned as his tongue greedily explored your lower lips. He was eating you out like a starved man, tongue lapping at you, lips sucking the best he could, but the second you saw stars was when the cold hand that was helping him spread your cheeks for him, slowly made a path down your thigh and then up toward your clenching hole. You were moaning, your head kept lolling to the side as if you couldn't find a comfortable position, and your hands were clawing at the flat marble while your eyes were shut tight. But when his cold metallic fingers started to tease you as he lapped at your tight asshole, you shrieked at the harsh contrast from all the warmth that you were feeling.

"Oh fuck, please," you whined as his metal fingers kept teasing you, never fully dipping inside of you.

"So needy," said the brunet as he smirked when he pulled back to see how his fingertips glistened from the silk he was collecting. You whined when you felt his hands leave you, but then you moaned when two of his fingers plunged inside of you with a slow thrust which made you feel the stretch more than if he had just gone for it.

"You take my fingers so good, doll," he groaned as he saw how your pussy sucked his fingers in greedily. He was obsessing over the sounds you were making, the way your slick dripped down whenever his fingers tried to pull back, the way your legs were quivering as you tried to keep steady, and the way you kept muttering things to either him or yourself had him grinning like a mad man. He was obsessing over how much he wanted to grab you and fuck you senseless, but not before you came around his fingers. Good thing you were close.

"That's it, gorgeous, cum around my fingers, I bet they feel really good," he said before he gave a bit to the lower part of your asscheek which made you yelp, but it might have also been because of the ways his fingers picked up speed. You tried with all your might to keep your legs open, but when all the build-up finally snapped, your knees buckled under you. The Soldier noticed before you could collapse, kept you steady, and his fingers moved so fast that the squealing of your pussy drowned the shriek that came out of you when you came around his fingers.

"Fuck, doll, that's it," he grunted as some of your cum landed on his lips and cheeks due to the rapid motion of his fingers. He waited until you were breathing alright before he pulled his fingers out of you. He stood up and turned you around, your eyes were hooded, and a small smile was on your lips.

"Open up, princess." You opened your mouth obediently as his soaked fingers went for your mouth. You moaned obscenely when the taste of you was on your tongue, and your eyes never broke contact with him as he stared at the way you sucked his fingers off like you had his cock not long ago.

He picked you up and sat you on the kitchen island, and he positioned himself between your opened legs and pulled you down for another bruising kiss. You pulled back as he took the rest of your clothes off while your hands did the same to him. In no time both of you were fully naked and panting into each other's mouth. He pushed you back against the cold marble, your legs wide open for him and he grabbed ahold of one of your legs while with his other hand grabbed his cock to tease your sensitive sex.

"Look at you—" he inserted the tip of his cock which made you whine at the stretch it gave, "—you've only had my mouth and my tongue and you're already dazed out. You sure you can take my cock, baby girl?"

"How about you fuck me already, all this talk is making me believe you're scared your cock won't be enough," you said as you held a glare that only made the man growl and push the rest of his thick cock inside of you.

You both groaned loudly, and not letting you adjust to his size, the man started to savagely thrust into you, one leg held by his metal hand while your other legs hung in the air. You took ahold of it, and pull it down from your ankle, that way you spread yourself even more.

"Fuck, look at that—" the man let go of your leg "—hold it too."

You obeyed, and now you held your legs wide almost like a full split while the Soldier grabbed you by the waist while he proceeded to bury his cock with a hard and deep pace. His eyes were glued to the sight of his whole cock going in to then come out fully slicked of your juices. You looked at him to see how his eyes roamed your pussy and his dick which made you blush but due to your already flushed skin, it went unnoticed. It seemed he was hypnotized by you, and with that in mind, you pulled your legs down to the point you were now doing a full split on the kitchen island.

"Oh fuck," he whined as the sight of you became too much for his mind to withhold. He was fucking you harshly and you could only take it all and before you knew it, you were cumming with a shout of a 'shit' as you struggled to keep your legs spread while two of his fingers found your clit.

The man was speaking but just watching you squirm, moan, whine, and curse while you came around his cock. He couldn't hold his own orgasm anymore and after a couple of harsh thrusts, he pulled out, and with the loud grunt, he came all over your spread legs, torso, and a little over your tits.

You kept your legs spread like that for a minute as you came down from your own high.

"You know, I still need to bring you in," you said as you slowly shifted into a sitting position. The man only stood in front of you, eyes roaming your body, looking at your cum-covered body.

"He thinks because I'm now free of HYDRA's control I'm going to go with him and try to be better?" he asked with an annoyed expression, "there's nothing aside from him there."

"That's not entirely true," you tilted your head with a grin on your lips, "as far as I'm concerned, now we are friends, and by the way, I'm Agent Violet."

"You make it sound like you fuck your friends," he said with a huff for a laugh as he approached you.

"Well," you shrugged as he pecked your lips, "we just like to enjoy the moment."

"You really know how to sell what your selling."

"CUT," shouted Joe, "print it, that's in."

"That was perfect you two," said Anthony as he approached you and Bucky while both of you were handed a robe which you took with a smile.

"Thank you."

"No need for a reshoot later, the rest of the day should just be the other scenes and we'll call it a day until tomorrow," said Joe as he stood next to Antony.

He let both you and Bucky go and get clean up before the next scene.

By the end of the day, you were ready to collapse on your bed and sleep till the next morning. Which you weren't sure if you were ready for, after all, Thor was a bigger guy than Bucky.

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#+18 #welcome to the industry #avengers #avengers au #steve rogers #bucky barnes #natasha romanoff #captain america #winter soldier #smut #reader #reader insert #multichapter #theravenclawlover #tony stark #wanda maximoff #pietro maximoff #peggy carter #sharon carter #peter parker #clint barton #pepper potts #mcu #marvel #spider man #thor #loki #peter quill #sam wilson #gamora

[incorrectstevebucky]

Captain America the First Avenger but with Full Stucky Goggles

Okay but Steve and Bucky’s relationship mirrors a romantic relationship from the very first movie. 

In the First Avenger movie after Steve gets the serum and is made to tour instead of fight, he gives up on ever being able to fight or make a difference. Then he finds out Bucky has been captured and he goes from this:

to this:

and he runs to Phillip’s:

and asks him for just “one name: Sergeant James Barnes of the 107th. B-A-”

When Phillip’s tells him that name does sound familiar and was on the list of the presumed deceased. He then immediately runs to the show tent, grabs his props, and decides to go on a one man rescue mission. 

Peggy: Your friend is most likely dead

Steve: You don't know that

Peggy: Do you plan to walk to Austria?

Steve: If that’s what it takes.

When he arrives and rescues the men, he says he’s looking for a Sergeant James Barnes and asks the Howlies if there’s anywhere else someone might be and they respond by telling him that some of them get taken away but no ones ever come back from there.

He then tells the Howlies how to get out and what to do before leaving to go find Bucky. They even ask him if he’s sure and knows what he’s doing and he responds by joking that he’s punched Hitler over 200 times. 

Again, despite other people’s concerns he prioritizes Bucky (despite all signs pointing to Bucky most likely being dead). 

He runs into Zola and starts to chase him before being distracted by hearing mumbling and going in to find Bucky strapped to a table.

This is Steve’s face when he starts to free Bucky and leans over him and says “It’s me. It’s Steve.”

and this is Bucky’s face:

which goes from confusion to the biggest smile when he realizes that Steve came for him. This also somewhat mirrors the winter soldier Hellicarrier scene since Bucky has clearly been drugged with the way hes slurring, his eyes are glassy, and all he can say is his name and serial number but the minute he sees Steve its like he starts coming back to life.

After Steve gets him off the table he EVEN SAYS “I thought you were dead” with so much relief in his voice

Phillip’s told Steve Bucky was on the list of dead soldiers, Peggy told him Bucky was most likely dead, the Howling Commandoes told him that no one has ever come back from the labs alive, even STEVE HIMSELF had doubts about whether or not Bucky was alive and HE STILL HAD TO GO LOOKING FOR HIM.

And then Bucky, who had be tortured for days and is exhausted and in pain, asks Steve if getting the serum hurt him. Even half dead his main concern is Steve.

Then obviously they run into the Red Skull and Zola and the building starts to blow up. Bucky manages to get across to safety but the bar breaks, trapping Steve. 

This is Bucky’s face when he realizes the bar broke and Steve’s stuck.

Bucky tells him there has to be a rope somewhere to which Steve tells him to get to safety

and Bucky responds by saying that he’s not leaving without Steve

The interesting here is that Steve was fully expecting and preparing to die but realizes that Bucky won’t leave unless Steve leaves too.

It doesn't show well in pictures, but Steve is clearly reluctant to jump and only does so because he knows that Bucky won’t leave without him (also just the fact that Bucky was fully prepared to die in a burning factory despite being able to leave just because he can’t leave Steve).

Fast forward a little bit, and Bucky and Steve rejoin the other soldiers and make their way back to camp.

Steve talks to Phillips and reunites with Peggy and just as Steve and Peggy start flirting Bucky yells out “Lets hear it for Captain America”.

There’s been a lot of meta about this scene but the gist of it is that when Steve looks to Bucky, Bucky smiles at him but as soon as Steve turns away his smile starts to falter.

The best explanation I’ve seen for Bucky’s feelings in this scene is that he used to be only one who saw all of Steve’s qualities and potential and everything that made him special but now the rest of the world sees it too and Steve isn't only his anymore (and also he yelled out right then because he was jealous of  Steve paying attention to Peggy more than him).

Then we move to the bar scene where Steve recruits the commandos. After the commandos agree to join him, Steve goes to ask Bucky if he’s ready to “follow Captain America into the jaws of death” (interesting to note, Bucky would be eligible to go home since he was drafted and because he was a POW, but Steve doesn’t even ask, there’s a general expectation between the two that wherever Steve goes Bucky follows). Bucky also tells Steve here that he’s not following Captain America but the friend he’s always followed. 

He then jokingly asks Steve if he can keep the outfit. This part was interesting because before he complained about the outfit and about having everything he ever wanted but that he now has to wear tights.

This next part was when Peggy comes in. Bucky’s reaction is interesting and something someone else analyzed really well before but the gist of it is that Bucky’s reaction is basically jealousy.

His fists and jaw is clenched and what’s more interesting is that the song playing in this part is called “There is Tavern in the Town”. Here’s the good analysis by stevebucks.

Moving on, we have Steve getting the SHIELD and other Captain America stuff from Howard Stark and he then hands him his “ideas” for the suit. The suit design, that he hated before,  is the same as the one Bucky asked if he was keeping.

We then see Steve, Bucky, and the commandos storming Hydra bases before finally coming to the train mission. Fun fact: After Steve says “Now why would I do that?”, the original script had Steve call him a punk and then Bucky respond with Jerk, calling back to the beginning of the movie.

We then have them land on the train and they end up getting separated by doors and a robot man. They’re super in sync through the fight and we have the sad moment where Steve and Bucky again take turns rescuing each other. Steve first protects Bucky with the shield and then Bucky protects Steve with the shied. 

Obviously, we know what happens next. After Bucky falls, Steve ends up at the same bar they were at a few months ago when he recruited the Howling Commandos. (As a side note, of all the depressing things that happen to him, Steve looks saddest at Bucky’s death)

Peggy tries to console Steve by telling him that Bucky chose to follow him and that he should respect his choice and to honor his death (side note: this scene was supposed to be Steve and Phillips originally which may be why it seems a bit callous). 

Steve also comments here that he “won’t stop until all of Hydra is dead or captured”. This is very far from where he was before Bucky’s death when his thing wasn’t revenge but just to do the right thing. Bucky’s death makes his fight personal, it’s what makes him become and Avenger.

Bucky was the reason Steve wanted to specifically join the 107th, Bucky was the reason Steve went from a chorus girl to  Captain America, and Bucky was the reason Steve’s fight became personal and what made him into an Avenger. 

Bucky is the catalyst behind Steve’s biggest character developments in the movie and Bucky and Steve’s relationship is the main emotional and humanizing aspect in this and the rest of the Captain America movies. While its not necessarily or explicitly romantic, it can certainly be interpreted that way (and it makes sense why so many people have).

That’s all for this movie, I guess. I’m just going to leave this here, take from it what you will. 

#idk how to do endings which is whhy the last line is stolen from stevebucks post #stucky #Steve Rogers #Bucky Barnes #stevebucky #steve x bucky #steve rogers x bucky barnes #steve/bucky #I did this when insomnia kciked in so any mistakes are bc i didnt proofread #not an incorrect quote

[duuhrayliegh]

male chivalry

warnings: okay so there is a trigger warning of sexual harassment and attempted sexual assault, language, men being gross, protective!bucky, angst a bit, i think that’s it, if you see anything else let me know

word count: 3230 :)

a/n: idk why it took me so long to finish this, but it’s here now!!! also this is based off this post from @teaboot (just the op bc the rest of it pissed me off :)) i hope y’all like it. i hope it’s what y’all expected idk, i’m proud of it.

i really hope i did the topics justice, if you don’t think i did, please shoot me a message and help me figure out how to do better. <3

p.s.: my requests and tag lists are open! also this is not beta read, so all mistakes are my own.

xoxo ray

ray’s m.list

************************************

It had been about three weeks since Bucky had first met the group of four at the protest. Bucky made sure to check in with Steve and let him know what he was doing. Steve was always worrying about Bucky, which was totally understandable because of everything they had been through.

Bucky’s day was a relaxed one with little to no time to dawdle. Over these three weeks, he had learned more from an eighteen year old than he ever thought he would. It was easier to open up to her, for some reason. Bucky hadn’t fully figured that out yet either, but he wasn’t going to question it.

Bucky had been going to his court mandated therapy with Dr. Raynor, to say they were making progress would be a lie. Honestly, Bucky was making more progress with the new individuals in his life. They knew what he did as the Winter Soldier-- no they know what the Winter Soldier did, Cassie made sure the distinction between the two was crystal clear. Bucky was still a bit cautious around them, not wanting to hurt them or be a burden to them.

It amazed Bucky how open they were with each other. Back in the 40’s, you didn’t express your feelings. Especially if you were a man, for fear of being labeled something unsavory. Even stranger still to Bucky was the encouragement and support that everyone gave to those in hard times. It warmed Bucky’s heart to see Penny comforting Freddie after his recent break up.

“Freddie and Ted had been together a little over six months,” Cassie explained to Bucky one night after the group had dispersed from the dining table. Bucky and Cassie were standing over the sink washing the dinner plates and cutlery. “Freddie was so in love with him. I thought Ted felt the same, but I guess that’s just how it goes, right?”

Bucky shrugged, this was one of his first experiences with modern romance. Dating in the 40’s was very rigid, which was to be expected, but nowadays everything is very fluid. It truly fascinated Bucky.

“I honestly don’t know.” Bucky shrugged as he dried the pristine plates. Just as he began to get lost in thought, Evie pulled him into a subject that he hadn’t thought of in a real long time.

“What was it like with women in the forties, Buck?” Bucky blinked at her and considered his answer carefully. The group had been teaching him how to handle some subjects sensitively.

“To be honest? The last date that I went on was to the World Expo of Tomorrow in 1943, the night before I shipped out to England.” He turned, leaning his weight on the counter behind him and crossing his arms over his chest. “I went with Steve, this was before he was Captain America, so when he was a little ol’ gangly thing. I had hooked us up with two women, one for me and one for Stevie, their names were Dot and Connie, I think.”

“No, no, that’s not what I mean, Buck. What was it like with women?”

Bucky tilted his head in question.“What do you mean?”

“What was it like with them? Like, how were they treated as a whole?”

“Oh, uh I think they were treated well? My Ma always told Steve and I to treat women with respect, so we did.”

“Right, but what about everyone else? How did they treat women?” Bucky was confused by the question and he began to think that he was giving the wrong answers.

“Um, I guess I don’t know. I guess they were treated how they are today?” Both of the girls in front of him released disdained scoffs.

“Well, that’s unfortunate, right Cas?” Cassie nodded at Evie and dropped her head in disappointment.

“Why do you say that?” Bucky asked. He was genuinely curious about what the girls were referring to. “I mean, I get that the treatment of women hasn’t always been good but it’s not that bad right?” The girls shared a knowing look, and then Evie sighed. She hauled herself out of her chair and nodded to Bucky.

“Alright, let’s go take a walk, just you and me.”

“Where are we going?”

“Oh, just a couple blocks away to the Walgreens. Sound okay?” Bucky agreed, grabbing his jacket and waiting for Evie by the doorway. “We’ll be back soon, Cas.”

“Uh, are you sure that’s a good idea, Evelyn?” Bucky had only ever heard Cassie use Evie’s full name when she was getting in trouble.

“Yeah, we’ll be fine, Cas, I swear.” Evie glanced at Bucky, “Besides, I’ve got a Sargent escorting me, so we’ve got nothing to worry about.” She threw a smile to her older sister whose face was just a veil of worry and doubt.

Bucky and Evie exited the apartment building and neither of them had said anything since. Bucky was wondering what this whole exercise was all about, but he wasn’t going to say anything until Evie did. The pair walked up onto a crosswalk, causing them to stop and wait so Evie was able to turn the man beside her.

“So, before we go any further, I just want to set the scene for you.” She took a calming breath and it was now that Bucky realized that this was the first time that she was noticeably scared. His brows furrowed and he nodded as she continued. “It’s ten o’clock on a Wednesday night and you’re in Brooklyn, walking to your local Walgreens because you need tampons.” Bucky huffed out a small laugh as Evie playfully glared at the man.

“Yeah, yeah. The female menstrual cycle is hilarious as is the pink tax that is put on feminine hygiene products. Laugh it up, James.” She shook her head and pulled Bucky closer to the front of a building. “I’m trying to tell you something, ya asshole. So, you see that it’s dark outside because it’s late but you decide to risk it anyway because you have a flight to catch at four the next morning. You leave your apartment and you are greeted with this.” She gestured to the expanse in front of her.

“Alright, let’s go. And just a word of wisdom real quick before we really get going. Women are considered fragile but I’ve never seen anything as easily wounded as a man’s ego.”

“Wow, that’s quite a pearl.” Bucky caught up to Evie as she made her way down the street.

“So being a woman and even more so, being a woman at night, means that you have to constantly be on guard.” As they were walking, a man in a greasy white tank top passed them. The man’s head turned and he scanned Evie’s body.

“Goddamn, that’s a sweet little body there, baby girl.” Bucky’s head snapped around to the man, but Evie kept walking. Bucky looked over to Evie with concern riddling his features.

“Hey, sweetcheeks! Let me talk to you for a while!” The greasy man was now following Evie and Bucky. “I bet I can show you a better time than he can, baby girl. Come on, let me talk to you.” He reached his hand out, gripping Evie’s arm and pulling her to face him.

“Please don’t touch me.” “Get your fucking hands off her, you dick.” The man took a step backwards away from the pair.

“Well, fine you bitch! I didn’t want you anyway, fucking fat ass.”

“Hey, you don’t just get to fucking walk away, you jackass! Apologize to her.”

“Why should I apologize to her? I was giving her a compliment.” Bucky’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. Did this guy just fucking--

“Okay, buddy.” Bucky went to approach the man to settle their disagreement when Evie stopped him.

“James, leave it. Let’s go.” She kept walking and Bucky didn’t want to leave her alone, not after that whole debacle.

“What the fuck was that Evie?” He questioned quickly, she shook her head in response but never verbally responded to him. A few paces later, the pair was about to pass a group of men leaned up against the brick wall behind them. Brown paper bags crunched around bottles were grasped in their hands. Drunken laughter was ringing out through the near empty streets.

“Hey baby! Why don’t you come on over here so we can talk to ya!” One of the men began to step in front of Evie effectively stopping her movement. The eighteen year old took a few steps backwards, coincidentally into Bucky’s chest. His arms came up to meet hers, about to move in front of her in a protective stance.

“Woah, you got a bodyguard baby?” The man tilted his head and stared at Evie. “You know you don’t need him sweetheart.”

“Damn, baby girl. You’re fine as hell.” Another man walked to stand next to the first. “What do I gotta do to get you in my bed?”

“Please leave us alone.”

“No, baby girl I don’t think that’s what’s going to happen.” Bucky stepped in front of Evie protectively.

“I think she told you to leave us alone.” The two men in front of Bucky didn’t waver. Two raised brows and a fit of laughter later, they still maintained their ground.

“Why? You guys going somewhere to fuck? Already got a piece of that ass and don’t want to share it big man?”

“That’s just cold. You gotta share sometime. And it’s just easier to do it now rather than later.” Evie trembled behind Bucky and leaned up so only Bucky could hear her.

“Come on Bucky, let’s just go back to the apartment.” She tugged on his right arm, fingers digging into his soft flesh. Bucky was sure that he would have crescent shaped indentations where her nails laid in because of how much she was gripping him.

Bucky’s eyes flicked up and down the two men in front of him, assessing how much of a threat they were. They were clearly enough of a threat to frighten Evie to the point of wanting to go home. Bucky gave Evie a stiff nod, not taking his eyes off of the men.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going baby? We’re just getting started!” One of them yelled at the pair as he reached out to grab Evie’s forearm. A split second later, Bucky’s left hand balled into a fist and he launched it at the man’s face. A loud crack resounded and a groan left the man’s mouth as he hit the ground. A look of shock fell across the other’s faces as they saw Bucky standing over their fallen comrade. The group took several steps away from the pair, holding their hands up in surrender.

“Don’t you ever touch a woman without her permission, you fucking prick.” Bucky then turned quickly, grabbing Evie’s wrist tightly and hauling her away from the men. Several paces later, Bucky still held a tight grip on the girl's arm.

“Bucky, you’re kind of hurting me.” Evie’s voice broke through Bucky’s barriers. He let up on how fast he was walking and then dropped Evie’s arm.

Worried eyes scanned her body for any bruising, “I’m so sorry, doll. Are you okay?” Evie laughed as she was rubbing her sore wrists.

“Bucky, that’s normal for any woman. Ever.” Shaking her head, she began walking back towards the apartment. “We could’ve kept on going to Walgreens, but I wasn’t sure your fragile heart could take it.” Bucky drew in his brows and a deep frown etched itself into his features.

“What the hell do you mean that’s normal, Evelyn?” He thrust his arm behind them, gesturing to what they just went through. “Nothing about that was normal.” Still shaking her head, the eighteen year old shrugged her shoulders.

“It’s normal for women.” She glanced at Bucky as she continued on her way. “Also, I know that you were probably just defending my honor or protecting me or whatever, but I want you to really think back, Buck. Think about when you were picking up women in the forties, did you ever push when they didn’t want to have that drink with you? Did you continuously ask for them to dance with you?”

“No, I told you. My Ma raised me the right way.” They walked up to the apartment building and Bucky reached for the door handle. Evie began making her up the stairs, Bucky not far behind her. She stopped suddenly, a few flights before Cassie’s apartment.

“What about your friends?” Bucky was taken aback. His memories were still a bit fuzzy about those times, but he could remember clearly enough. Although he wasn’t quite sure what she meant by the questions she was asking.

“What are you getting at Evie?” He huffed while opening the door to Cassie’s apartment. Freddie and Penny were lounged on the couch with an almost empty bottle of wine. Cassie’s head shot up at the sound of the two walking in the doorway. Evie dumped her things off on the granite countertop and turned on her heel to stare at Bucky.

“Did you ever stop your friends when women said no?” The quiet laughter between Penny and Freddie stopped suddenly as Evie’s question hung in the air. All eyes were on Bucky as he gulped and thought back to the times at the bars. Out with Steve and the other Howling Commandos, did they ever do that? He tried to think of a time when they pushed for what they wanted to happen. Of a time when the woman they were pursuing reluctantly gave in because they wouldn’t leave her alone. Evie didn’t wait for an answer, she could see that he was processing everything.

“So why did you stop those guys back there?” Her brows raised and her head tilted in question. Bucky took a deep breath and was about to answer when Evie cut him off. “By punching that guy out there, you’re a hero and we should all thank you and congratulate you for doing the right thing.” She stepped closer to Bucky and the three in the living room understood where Evie was going.

“What do you think would have been said if I would’ve punched him? Sure, you would’ve said something snappy and nice about how I can take care of myself. The general public though? They would say that I overreacted.”

“Easy Evie, he’s still learning.” Cassie said quietly. Bucky was thankful for that, he still did have a lot to learn but it felt like Evie was attacking him. That’s the point, you fucking dumbass. If you had been berating her for putting herself in danger by punching that guy, you would think she was reckless.

“Her point, Bucky, is that the double standard for men and women goes beyond what we expect. Everyone goes crazy for the knight saving the damsel, but everyone hates the damsel for saving herself.” Freddie explained from the comfort of the couch. Bucky nodded, starting to understand the concept. “And her questions about your old buddies. That has to do with the fact that you’re part of the problem.”

“What problem is that?” Bucky was honestly scared to know the answer but he knew to fully learn, he had to get all the facts, both good and bad.

“Stunting the growth of feminism. Being one of the people perpetuating the fact that it’s okay for men to be violent, but not for women.”

“Violence in the form of defending oneself in any capacity.” In Bucky’s line of work, he sees tons of capable and strong women. Natasha, Okoye, Shuri, Sharon, he could think of so many. Then he tried to think of when any of them got the limelight like Steve or himself.

“So it’s like anytime that there would be press releases for the team, and the interviewers would come and ask us questions,” he paused to think how to word what he wanted to say, “they always ask the guys about like super important things like how we’re keeping the city safe and stuff. But when they talk to the girls, they ask about their workout schedule and if they can wear underwear under their suits?”

“Yes, it’s exactly like that Bucky. That’s just a different form of it.” Evie replied quickly. She came up to hug Bucky. “I didn’t mean to attack you or anything, but this is something that we all feel is really important for you to grasp now that you’re back out there.”

“And now that you can recognize when it’s happening, the next important step is to stop it before it happens.” Penny yelled from the living room as she downed the last of the bottle in her hand.

“I’m so sorry, Evie. I didn’t know.”

“I know, I’m sorry too. You’re still figuring stuff out, but I needed you to see what it was really like for women.”

“Okay.” Bucky nodded. “How can I help this situation?” The group exchanged proud looks.

“Well, educate everyone around you. Don’t let it happen when you’re around.” Cassie said as she walked into the kitchen to crack open another bottle of wine. “And just support women. Push our problems into the public’s eye.” Bucky smiled, he could handle that, he was good at that.

Considering he was on his way to becoming a member of the Avengers, he would be able to influence from up high. He could openly support groups that were run by women, for women. He was used to standing in the background for things he didn’t believe in, so standing for something that he did was going to be a cakewalk.

A concern floated into the forefront of Bucky’s mind. He looked down at Evie, who had just recently released him from her death grip of a hug. “You know how to defend yourself right?”

Evie’s brows raised in a challenging manner, “Do I look like I don’t know how to defend myself?” The man shook his head and smiled as the surrounding group laughed. Cassie poured a glass of wine and cracked open a bottle of beer for Bucky.

They all made their way to the comfy couches to snuggle in for a movie night, satisfied with their teachings for the night.

“What are we watching tonight?”

“Well, in the spirit of feminism, we are going to watch Legally Blonde.” Penny commented as she picked up the remote. “And it’s Freddie’s favorite so yeah.”

The lights clicked off as the opening credits ran for the movie. Bucky looked around his group of friends as they giggled at the screen. Evie had her head in Cassie’s lap and she was stretched across the sofa with her feet tucked under Bucky’s thigh. Freddie and Penny were curled up in the loveseat across from where Bucky was. Pieces of popcorn and glasses of red wine were being passed from person to person, with the exception of Evie who was still underage. The energy surrounding the five of them was something Bucky hadn’t experienced in a long time and he wasn’t going to give it up anytime soon either.

A large grin overtook his face, although today was one of the harder lessons for him to learn, he wouldn’t want anyone else to be teaching him.

***********************

@mishaandthebrits

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