#sarah the woman that you are the woman who raised captain america and the white wolf

[logansgaar]

when trying to write a nice little fic of Bucky cooking for Peter and end up writing about how much Peter reminds Bucky of himself as little orphan kid having to be a parent to his three younger siblings and breaking down crying in Sarah Rogers arms when she tells him "it's alright sweetheart"

[starkerotic]

i melt in your mouth, girl, not in your hands. [part 1]

[based on the stress-baking prompt from this au post.]

If anyone had asked Bucky only three years before, he never would have thought that he would eventually end up here, back in the same apartment complex from his youth - updated and much more expensive than the fifty dollars or so he remembers Steve’s mother fretting over so many times before she died, his own mother patting Sarah’s frail hands as she reassured her that everything would work out in the end, but very much the same.

(It’s… comforting, in a way he’s not felt since he went off to The War, pride in his heart and fear buried deep below, his mother’s tears wet on his cheek and the warmth of Steve’s farewell - or, at least, see you soon, as it turned out - hug still surrounding him, his heart beating strong, as quick as a hummingbird’s wings, as he boarded the bus and sat with the other men ready to lay their lives on the line for their country and their god and their loved ones.)

“Buck! Open up, I’ve got pizza!”

New floors, news appliances, new owners… same old Steve. (Well, still a punk that picks fights too big for him, anyway.)

“If you knock down my door again, you’re explaining to Stark why he’s paying for the same damage a third time.” He doesn’t have to raise his voice much louder than his normal speaking volume. Steve’s enhanced hearing is just as good as his own - even better, perhaps; he is, after the original super soldier, while Bucky’s serum was hardly more than a diluted mimicry with a side of mind control.

Steve’s big, dumb grin greets him once the door opens, as bright and carefree and happy as Bucky remembers from before The Fall and before The War and after Bucky could hear his trigger words (longing, rusted, seventeen…) and keep his mind his own. (Once upon a time, that stupid grin would have fluttered his heart, sent his pulse a little higher, set his smile a little wider, but too many things have changed between them for Bucky to feel that same connection now.)

“I don’t think he’d mind, because it means I’m not busy-” Steve frowns, carefully setting all four pizza boxes down on Bucky’s small kitchen island. “-‘killing his vibe’.”

The pleasant aroma of chocolate chip cookies (it’s been faint all evening, but with the door open, it hits him full-force) drifts from the apartment across the hall, just like it used to when he and Steve were boys and one of their mothers (and, in one disastrous incident, Bucky’s sister) had enough spare ingredients and time to bake a baker’s dozen or two. It makes Bucky long (longing, rusted, seventeen…) for those days so far gone, when things were bad but never dismal and his mother’s soft humming and his sister’s giddy laughter rang through the halls, sweet and familiar and-

The door snaps shut, Bucky’s vibranium fingers curling over the wooden frame. It does nothing to remove the scent of the other tenant’s baking, but he feels better with the flimsy barrier.

“Buck?”

Sleek metal shines in the light as Bucky releases the frame and flexes his fist for a moment, careful to take the deep breaths his court-appointed therapist (and, god, what a joke that is, expecting him to open up to a woman with no idea of where he comes from, of what used to make him Bucky that the serum and HYDRA stole away from him) recommended in their first session. It never helps, not really (he has too much anger built up, he surmises, ready to boil and burn and destroy in all the same ways he was once ordered to by both his own government and the enemy), but he’s trying.

“Sorry,” rasps Bucky. He swallows down the sudden lump in his throat, but offers no excuse or explanation for his behavior. (He doesn’t owe anyone anything - not even Steve.)

The grin isn’t quite as wide anymore, but the blond doesn’t look like he’s readying himself to attack, so Bucky moves nearer, flesh hand reaching for the nearest box: a simple cheese with extra sauce. “Thanks,” Bucky mutters and downs half a slice in one bite, the cheese almost too hot, the sauce with the exact right consistency and flavor. The simple pie is Bucky’s (unofficial) favorite, a reminder that not everything has changed.

“Any time.” Steve stares at him for a few moments longer - long enough that Bucky’s back stiffens - but he only offers Bucky a slice of a second pizza (red peppers and ricotta and Italian sausage) before he holds up the stack of boxes he’s supporting with his left hand. “I’ve got Sorry! and Scrabble and,” he sighs, put-upon in a way only Steve Rogers can be, “Clue - the Avengers version.”

Bucky snorts, and his muddled mind clears of familiar feminine laughter and warm chocolate chip cookies.

“It’s always the Widow.”

*

(Natasha, in fact, is the culprit two times out of three. Bucky has more fun in the two hours they play, bullshitting his questions and pretending to think much too long on Steve’s when he only has one of the answers to give up, than he’s had since he first woke from his programming.)

*

Steve has been gone for at least fifteen minutes when there’s a knock at his door.

“I told you the last slice was mine when you left, punk, so don’t-”

He’s let the familiar surroundings lull him into what bit of security he can still feel because, rather than Steve on his doorstep, it’s… Well, he isn’t positive who it is, but judging by the open door across from him and the overwhelming scent of home and freshly-baked cookies, Bucky makes an assumption. “You must be the baker.” His words are gruff, but he tries to keep his tone level and as kind as he can make it without his usual scowl creeping over his face.

Perfectly rosy cheeks look to darken even further as his neighbor looks up from Bucky’s chest, surprise and awe appearing and disappearing, quick as a flash across his face. Brown eyes (they remind Bucky of autumn, of warm days and cool nights and leaves crunching along a woodland trail) widen for only a moment on the black-and-gold vibranium weapon that serves as his arm.

Bucky braces himself for a flurry of questions about the arm, the Avengers, Captain America-

“I’m sorry. Do the smells bother you?” Perfectly straight teeth, pearly white except for the slightest smudge of chocolate on the left canine, show in a nervous smile. He hides his eyes, ducking his head just enough to avoid Bucky’s, as he rambles, “I’m really sorry about that; it’s just an easy way for me to destress, I guess - ha - and I didn’t think it would be an issue with anyone because I usually bake a ton and give them to everyone in the building and-”

“It’s not a problem,” Bucky interrupts, and the other man smiles and- Wow. Bucky can’t remember ever seeing another person so delighted and… cute.

“You’re sure?” Cute Neighbor asks. His arms shift, muscles flexing just the tiniest bit as he tightens his grip around a Tupperware container in his hands.

Bucky takes a moment (two, three, four…) to soften his features, to relax his tense shoulders and look less likely to snap someone’s neck. “Positive,” he reassures and, just to see those cheeks pinken up a second time, he winks. “Reminds me of home.”

The blush comes along with another smile, bright and kind and much less big and dumb than the one Steve had greeted him with earlier, though a tinge of sadness dulls it. “Same,” he murmurs, almost to himself, before he startles and shoves the Tupperware out in front of him in an offering to Bucky - homemade cookies for the feared Winter Soldier. “Everyone else has already gotten theirs,” he tells Bucky. “I just wanted to make sure you didn’t go without.”

And that’s just-

Bucky’s chest expands on a breath, holds… and releases. “Thanks, doll.” The endearment slips out like it’s nothing, as easy as it always used to back in the forties.

His neighbor only laughs, a little breathless, and says, “I’m Peter. Peter Parker,” before going on his way, blessing Bucky with one last smile before he shuts the door to his apartment.

Peter Parker.

The cookies are a small taste of whatever heaven may exist after this life, the chocolate chips melting as soon as the cookie touches his tongue, and Bucky can’t help but to hope that Peter finds himself stressed again sooner rather than later.

[olivemac]

1300 miles | chapter one | b.b.

Summary | Bucky Barnes is adjusting to civilian life, living in Brooklyn, visiting Sam in Delacroix when he can, and trying to figure out what he wants. When he meets Jo Landry, the tattooed lead singer of a New Orleans-based band, he thinks he might have found the answer. Too bad they live 1300 miles apart.

Time Frame | post-TFATWS

Pairing | Bucky Barnes x fem!oc

Rating | explicit

Warnings | mentions of combat-related injuries, alcohol use, tattoos/body piercings, coarse language, gay male character, bisexual female character, recreational/medicinal drug use (weed), pet names (doll, Sarge), smut (f/m, mutual masturbation, fingering, slight dom!Bucky, praise kink), angst if you squint but not really, and all the romance tropes/fluff because I'm a sucker for it; more warnings to come; 18+ ONLY, minors DNI

A/N | It’s my birthday, so to celebrate I’m sharing chapter one of my new WIP. This started its life as a one-shot but then my enneagram 4 brain took over and now it’s looking like it’ll be a multi-chapter short. Enjoy!

Also, feedback – comments, likes, etc. – is always appreciated, my loves.

AO3 link | 1300 miles playlist

_____

The sun is just starting to sink in the sky as Sam and Bucky finish the latest repairs on the boat. Sam has spent the last hour pestering Bucky about things he’s missed over the last 80 years — things he needs to do, shows and movies he needs to watch, music to listen to, places to go. Bucky is considering the consequences of putting his vibranium fist through the new Captain America’s face.

“You’re telling me you’ve never been to New Orleans?” Sam half-shouts at Bucky in amusement.

“Sam, besides the airport, when would I have been to New Orleans?” Bucky sighs.

“We’re going. Tonight.” He stands up. “But none of that Bourbon Street bullshit. I know a place,” he says.

_____

The bar is crowded on a Saturday night, but they manage to find a table near the small stage where a band is setting up.

“I’ll get drinks,” Sam says, heading to the bar.

“Sam said he knows the owners?” Bucky asks Sarah.

“Jo and Danny. Yeah,” Sarah says. “Danny served with Sam on his last tour. Real young kid when he served. Took some shrapnel to the chest and face in an RPG explosion and got out early. He and Sam kept in touch.”

Bucky watches Sam talk to a man with a mop of curly, brown hair and an auburn beard behind the bar. From where he sits, Bucky can see a jagged scar peeking out from the top of the man’s beard over his cheek, stopping just below his right eye.

Sam returns with three beers. "Danny says hi," he tells Sarah. "Says he'll come over when he has a free minute."

"Jo around?" Sarah asks.

Sam nods toward the stage. "She's playing tonight. Danny says she's in the office rewriting the set list."

Bucky sips his beer and looks around. When they entered, there was a wave of enthusiasm as people recognized Sam as Captain America, but it seems to have died down and now no one is paying them much attention. Bucky prefers it that way, though he’s happy that people are excited for Sam.

“Speak of the devil,” Sam says, smiling and nodding toward a woman emerging from a door beside the bar marked ‘Employees Only.’ She’s wearing a loose-fitting white tank tucked into light-wash jeans cuffed just above a pair of black combat boots. Her wavy, dark hair fans out behind her as she rushes towards the stage. She's clutching a piece of paper in one hand, and the smile on her face makes Bucky's heart stutter for a moment.

Sam catches the way Bucky is watching Jo as she jumps onto the stage. He elbows Sarah and nods at the lovestruck look on Bucky's face, and they share a smirk. Bucky doesn't notice the exchange. He's too busy studying Jo. Her arms are covered in tattoos, from shoulders to fingers. When she tucks a strand of hair behind her left ear, Bucky can see the row of piercings adorning the curve of her ear. There's a gold ring between her nostrils. Bucky's seen some of the kids in Brooklyn with that piercing, but he doesn't know what it's called. He's seen plenty of women like her since moving back to New York — with tattoos and piercings and dark hair — but there's something about the combination with her green eyes and soft smile that makes his mouth go dry and his palm sweat.

He takes another sip of his beer to ground himself.

Jo picks up an acoustic-electric guitar from its stand, swings the strap over her shoulder, and plugs the guitar into a small amp at her feet. She raises her right hand in the air and sets a count with her fingers — one, two, three, four. The band starts, and Jo strums the guitar, smiling at the crowd. When she steps up to the microphone and opens her mouth, Bucky is surprised at how sweet her voice sounds. He was expecting it to be rougher, but it's gentle and warm, and he likes the way her mouth looks as it forms the words to the song.

Next to him, Sam taps his foot along to the music. Bucky can't remember the last time he saw a band play live. God, he thinks, it was before the war, before everything. He takes another sip of his beer before Sarah hands him a fresh bottle. He hadn't even noticed that she'd left the table and gone to the bar. He smiles and nods his thanks.

Sarah leans over and whispers to Bucky just loud enough for Sam to hear, as well, "You should ask her out after the show."

Bucky grimaces and shakes his head. As he told Yori once, there's a dance to these things, and he's eighty years out of practice. Plus, his last date didn't exactly go as planned.

But he can't stop staring at Jo's painted black nails and tattooed fingers as they move across the guitar strings. LOVE is written across the top knuckles of her right hand, HATE on the left. A series of lines and dots decorate her lower knuckles. There’s a snake curling around her left wrist, its inked head resting on her hand, and several large peonies cover the back of her right hand and up her forearm. Bucky wonders what her tattooed hands would look like wrapped around his cock. He also wonders where else on her body she has tattoos and what that voice would sound like when he's between her thighs. Fuck.

The band transitions into another song, and Jo's eyes land on Bucky. She's used to people staring at her, especially when she's on stage, but she's caught by the way his eyes never leave her, never wander to look at the band's female bassist or to Sarah sitting next to him. She's certain his stare could burn a hole right through her, and she wouldn't even complain. He’s fucking gorgeous.

She knows who he is, of course. She’s seen the recent footage of him with Sam in New York and read the Times article detailing his move from assassin to almost Avenger. Plus, her twin brother, Danny, was a bit of a history nerd as a kid so she’s definitely seen a Captain America documentary that mentioned the Howling Commandos. And they may or may not have hidden a fugitive Captain America and Falcon following the Accords.

Jo tears her eyes away from the super soldier and focuses on the rest of the audience. She can see Danny behind the bar, flirting with the man he's been trying to sleep with for the past two weeks. She catches his eye and smiles her encouragement between lyrics. Get his number! she tries to say with her eyes. Danny's usually pretty good at reading her mind. She doesn't know if it's a brother thing or a twin thing or just a Danny thing, but when he holds up his phone in surrender and smiles back at her, she knows he got the message.

The first half of their set ends with a crash of drums and a long guitar riff. Jo takes a swig from the mason jar full of water she keeps on stage. Her eyes meet Bucky's again as she swallows, and he licks his bottom lip. Heat curls in the pit of her stomach at the thought of what else that tongue could do.

Willow, the band's bassist, steps over and whispers in Jo's ear, “If you don’t fuck him after the show, I’m going to."

When Jo looks at her, she can see the amusement dancing in Willow's eyes. She rolls her own eyes and avoids looking directly at Bucky for the rest of the set.

_____

After the last song, Jo thanks the crowd and helps the rest of the band tidy up the stage, unplugging amps and turning off the mics. She's still trying not to look at Bucky, even though she can feel his eyes on her.

"You have to stop staring, man," Sam whispers to Bucky.

"I'm not staring," Bucky grumbles.

Sarah laughs, "You're definitely staring."

“Here," Sam says, "I'll introduce you." And before Bucky can protest, Sam is waving Jo over. "Josephine," Sam says, hugging her.

"Samuel," she returns, smiling. "Congrats on the new gig." She punches his shoulder lightly. "Better you than that John Walker douchebag," she says. Bucky snorts, and she catches his eye and smirks before turning to Sarah. "Hey, Sarah." They exchange pleasantries while Bucky tries to get his tongue to turn back from lead.

Sam points at Bucky, "This is—"

Bucky stands. "Bucky. Barnes."

Jo smiles and shakes his gloved hand. "Jo. Landry," she says, matching his cadence.

Sam was right. Bucky can't stop staring at her. This close, he can see there's a bit of gold in the green of her eyes and a slight gap between her two front teeth. She smells like sandalwood and citrus and just a little bit like pot.

Jo returns his stare. His five o’clock shadow doesn’t hide the dimple in his chin, and she briefly imagines pressing her lips against it. She’s trying to name the exact shade of blue of his eyes when Sam clears his throat.

She’s not usually so easily flustered by attractive people, but Bucky's blue eyes and chiseled jaw have done a number on her self-control. “Let me grab a drink,” Jo says, turning quickly.

“No need,” Danny says, appearing in front of her and handing her a glass. He leans in and whispers in her ear, “He’s cute.”

“Please fuck off,” Jo hisses in return, widening her eyes at him. She’s only half-serious, and Danny knows it. It’s a twin thing.

When she looks at Bucky again, he’s smirking, and she wonders if enhanced hearing is a super soldier trait. Bucky pulls out the fourth chair at the small table for her to sit, and Jo can't remember the last time someone did that for her.

"The show was great," Sarah says, grabbing Jo's attention.

"Thanks," Jo replies. "Took a while to get back to it after…” she snaps her fingers but doesn’t finish her sentence.

"You were snapped?" Bucky asks.

Jo nods. "Yeah. You?"

"Yeah."

"Cheers," she says sarcastically, raising her glass in a toast. She shakes her head again and pushes her hair behind her ear. "Five years just," she holds her hands open, "gone. Danny was still here, holding all this together by himself."

She tucks one leg under the other, and her knee bumps Bucky’s beneath the table. When she moves to pull her knee away from his, he places a gloved hand on her thigh, holding her leg in place.

Bucky surprises even himself with this move. He hasn’t been this forward with a woman since an auburn-haired nurse in Italy during the war. With her, it was all hands and mouths and skin on skin because he was certain he was going to die any day. Now he supposedly has all the time in the world. He just isn’t sure what he wants to do with it.

But in this moment, he's comfortable here, in this tiny bar, with a beer in his hand and Jo's knee pressed against his. He's confident that Sam would never introduce him to someone he couldn't trust.

Bucky's flirted with Sarah, sure, but that was mostly to irritate to Sam. And as much as he doesn't want to admit it, the thought of something happening between himself and Sarah and then ending badly and ruining his relationship with Sam makes his stomach hurt. Pursuing Jo seems safer in that regard. She and Sam are friends, but if — when, he thinks — he ruins things, he can just go back to New York instead of losing his only friend.

Jo asks Sarah about AJ and Cass to distract herself from the butterflies forming in her stomach at Bucky’s touch, and Sam starts a story about the boys' latest interests. Bucky is content to listen to the three of them talk, his eyes barely leaving Jo. When she flicks her gaze over to him every now and then, she doesn't seem phased by his staring, and she hasn't pulled her knee away from where it's softly touching his. After a while, Danny emerges from behind the bar and joins their table, introducing himself to Bucky with a firm handshake.

While Danny and Sam trade updates about people they know, Jo leans towards Bucky and asks, “You want another drink?”

“Sure,” Bucky replies.

Jo doesn’t say anything else, just nods her head toward the bar, stands, and offers Bucky her hand. He takes it, the leather glove of his right hand warm against her palm. He wishes he could feel her skin without the gloves between them. He doesn’t usually wear them around Sam and Sarah and everyone in Delacroix, but he wasn’t sure how the metal arm would be perceived at this bar he’s never been to. Sam told him not to worry about it, but Bucky doesn’t like to draw unnecessary attention to himself.

Jo leads him through the sea of tables to a barstool, then moves behind the bar and grabs him a fresh bottle of the beer he's been drinking all night. "Unless you want something stronger," she says, pausing before she hands it to him.

"This is good," Bucky replies.

She pops the top and hands him the bottle. He takes a sip as he watches her maneuver around the bartender on duty to fix herself another whiskey sour before taking a seat on the barstool next to him.

"Full disclosure; because it's only fair," she says, taking a sip of her drink. "I know who you are, Sergeant Barnes. Not the whole story, but bits and pieces."

Bucky pauses. He searches her eyes for the fear he's expecting but finds none. "And you're okay with that?" he asks.

Jo quirks the corner of her mouth up in a half-smile and says, “If Sam trusts you, I trust you."

“I’m not great with meeting new people, and I was telling myself the same thing about you," Bucky admits, almost sheepishly.

“You know we can never tell Sam about this, right?" Jo says, conspiratorially. "We’ll never hear the end of it.”

“Never,” Bucky agrees, and knocks his beer bottle lightly against her glass in understanding.

They talk for a while, just the two of them alone at the end of the bar. Jo asks him how he likes Louisiana ("Hot, but the people are friendly"); where he's staying ("Sarah's"); when he's heading back to New York ("A week from tomorrow"); what he likes to do for fun ("Still figuring that out"); his favorite place ("Wakanda") and favorite book ("The Hobbit"); and a myriad of other questions — some of which Bucky answers easily and some that make him pause. He makes her give her own answers to each one in turn.

Jo leans close to Bucky so she can hear him over the noise of the room, and he takes the opportunity to study her features more closely. He's practically mapped all of her face when her eyes leave his for a brief second and land on Sam, Sarah, and Danny staring at them from the table across the room.

"Don't look now," she whispers, leaning even closer, "But we seem to have an audience."

Bucky makes a big show of looking over his shoulder at the group.

"I said 'don't look!'" Jo laughs and swats casually at his arm.

Bucky takes the opportunity to pin her hand with his own, holding it tightly and licking his bottom lip before smiling at her. He can see the blush paint her cheeks and creep down her neck and chest.

He likes Jo, likes how easy it feels to be around her. He isn't used to that. He isn't used to feeling comfortable with people. Hell, he thinks, I barely feel comfortable with myself. But there's something about Jo that makes him feel safe and calm. Of course, there's attraction there — plenty of it — but he's sure it's more than that.

For her part, Jo is enamored with Bucky. She likes his hard edges and his snark, but she also likes the small glimpses he's given her of the man beneath all of that. She doesn't usually fall for people so easily, but she's found herself drowning in the sea of blues that make up Bucky's eyes, and she doesn't want to be rescued. How fucking cliche, she tells herself.

"We should probably go back over there," Bucky says, squeezing her hand once before releasing it.

They both stand and make their way back to the table. Bucky pulls Jo's chair out for her again, but this time, he makes sure to pull it a little closer to his chair in the process. This doesn't go unnoticed by Sam who smirks at him. Bucky returns the smirk with a thin-lipped smile of his own before scooting even closer to Jo.

Jo finds it hard to focus on the conversation in front of her with Bucky's warm body so close to her own, and she realizes she misses the pleasant feeling of his gloved hand around hers. She places her own hand on his thigh and hopes he gets the hint.

Bucky’s fascinated by even the slightest movements of Jo's tattooed fingers, and when her hand rests on his denim-clad thigh, he thinks the sight alone might kill him. Before he can second-guess himself, he pulls the glove off his right hand and links his own flesh and bone fingers with hers.

Jo doesn't look at Bucky — she's trying not to draw attention to her hand in his lap — but Bucky watches the corner of her mouth quirk upwards into a smile, and he squeezes her hand in response.

The conversation continues a bit longer before Danny leaves the table to check in with his bartender. Jo excuses herself to get another drink, and Bucky watches her pop behind the bar to fill a glass for herself.

"I need to get home, relieve the babysitter," Sarah says when she finishes her beer.

"We're heading out then," Sam says, then turns to Bucky, "You coming?"

Bucky looks toward Jo and says, "No, I'm gonna stick around. I'll get a cab back or get a hotel room in the city."

Sam smirks. "I don't think you're gonna need a hotel room, man."

Bucky rolls his eyes.

"Just promise me you'll use protection," Sam laughs. "We don't need any little super soldiers running around just yet."

Bucky gives him a sarcastic smile, but realizes Sam's probably right, and he definitely doesn't have any condoms in his wallet. He's not planning on sleeping with Jo tonight — he just met her, and he's not sure he's ready for that yet — but if the army taught him anything, it's to be prepared. As if reading his mind, Sam pulls out his wallet and places a condom in Bucky's palm before pulling him in for a hug and clapping him on the back.

"Have fun, man," Sam says.

Sam and Sarah say their goodbyes to Danny and Jo on their way out, and Bucky joins Jo at the bar, sitting on the barstool next to her where they sat earlier.

"Sticking around, soldier?" she asks. She reaches for his dog tags and tugs them gently. The drinks have been strong, and she's feeling more flirtatious than she would otherwise.

"If you don't mind," Bucky replies.

Jo smiles and reaches for his hand this time. "Not at all."

"Are you gonna finish your interrogation of me?" Bucky asks, amusement apparent in his voice.

Jo laughs in return. “I thought I'd read your palm instead," she says, turning his hand over in her own.

Bucky snorts but doesn't pull his hand away. "Is this a trick you use on all the guys?"

"And girls," Jo says, meeting his eyes. Then she studies his hand carefully, running her index finger across the lines that crisscross his palm.

"Your dominant hand," she continues, "determines your future, while your non-dominant hand is tied to your past."

Bucky snorts again at the truth of it all.

"I'm not making this up!" Jo laughs. "I mean, someone did, but I'm not!" She can see the laughter shining in Bucky's eyes, so she goes on, "Your head line is deep, meaning your thinking is clear and focused, but it's also curved downward which indicates a creative spirit and an appetite for literature and fantasy." She looks up at him, "Explains the love for Tolkien."

"I'm not sure I'm buying this," Bucky says.

"You've literally fought aliens, and you're gonna give me a hard time over palm reading," Jo laughs.

"The aliens were real," Bucky deadpans.

"And in New Orleans, palm reading and psychics and crystal balls and voodoo are real," Jo says, still laughing. "But I promise not to read your palm again or read your aura or get out the tarot cards."

Bucky likes the way her slight accent makes New Orleans sound more like Nawlins. He also likes the sound of her laughter and the way her face lights up when she smiles. She's still holding his hand in her own, so he turns his palm over in hers and brings her tattooed knuckles to his lips.

_____

Meanwhile, the bar closes, and Danny and the bartender clean glasses and close up for the night.

Danny points at Jo as he comes around the bar. "I’m locking up then heading upstairs," he says.

"Thanks, love," Jo replies.

Danny walks the bartender out and locks the front door, then retraces his steps to the back of the bar. On his way past Jo, he stops and kisses her on the cheek, saying, "Be good. And set the alarm."

He turns to Bucky. "And you, Sergeant Barnes," he says, pointing at him now, "I know you're an Avenger or whatever, but if you hurt her, I'll kill you."

"Bye, Danny," Jo says, rolling her eyes as he disappears through the door marked 'Employees Only.' "Don't worry about him," Jo says, turning back to Bucky.

“Older brother, right?” Bucky says. He understands; he was an older brother once.

“Twins, actually,” Jo smiles.

Bucky takes a sip of his beer. "Sarah said Danny served with Sam," he says.

"Yeah. Afghanistan. A lifetime ago," Jo says. “He only had one more mission before he could come home so he switched with someone. An RPG barely missed the helicopter he was in, and he was pretty badly injured in the explosion and the resulting crash. Almost lost an eye. He came home, got out of the Air Force, went to business school. Now we own the bar..." She pauses to take the last sip of her drink. "...and the building. Sam's really helped Danny get past everything."

"He's good at that," Bucky says.

"Another thing we can never tell him," Jo laughs.

"Agreed. So, when do I get to ask about your tattoos?" he questions.

"What do you want to know?" she asks.

Bucky licks his bottom lip. "Anything."

He likes her dagger tattoo the best. It’s inked on the inside of her right forearm, nestled amongst the peonies, the hilt facing the crook of her elbow and the knife’s tip pointed toward her wrist. It’s feminine and dangerous and incredibly sexy. She blushes when he tells her how much he likes it. He doesn't tell her it reminds him of one of his favorite knives, currently tucked at the bottom of his backpack back in Sarah's living room.

"In some ways, they're my armor," she explains. "When I'm on stage, people look at the tattoos, not me, and I kind of like that. It lets me be whoever I want to up there."

Bucky understands the desire to hide better than anyone. But she knows who he is so there's really no point in hiding from her any longer. Plus, he feels like his arm is something she would understand, something she could accept — not just because of her brother's military record but because of her own unique body modifications.

He pulls his left glove off and shrugs out of his leather jacket, revealing the vibranium arm beneath his black t-shirt.

Jo takes in the black metal and gold details. "That," she says, pointing to his arm, "is lovely."

"It's lethal," Bucky warns.

She cocks her head to the side and says, "If you're trying to scare me, it won't work, Sergeant Barnes."

Bucky can't stop the corner of his lip from pulling up in the slightest hint of a smile.

"Okay,” she says, placing her palms flat on the bar top. “You want another beer?" she asks.

Jo stands and turns to move behind the bar, but Bucky's vibranium hand on her arm stops her. She looks at him curiously, and he slides his arm behind her back and pulls her flush against his chest. She settles between his open thighs, her palms resting gently on top of his legs. He's staring at her so intensely she's convinced he willburn that hole right through her, but she can't bring herself to look away.

He leans in, his lips only a breath away from hers.

"Can I kiss you?" Bucky finally asks, his flesh hand moving up to cup her cheek.

"Please," Jo whispers, desperately.

Bucky closes the distance between them, and his lips meet hers. He's hesitant at first, but when he feels Jo respond, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing even closer, he runs his tongue along the seam of her lips until she opens them for him. She tastes like bourbon and lemon from the whiskey sours she's been drinking, and Bucky loves it. His tongue sweeps along the roof of her mouth, and Jo moans. Bucky is determined to hear that sound again.

He kisses across the corner of her mouth and over her jaw. The hand that was cupping her cheek moves to her hair to angle her head backwards and give him better access to the bare skin of her neck. He laves his tongue over the corded muscles there, then nips at the skin with his teeth. She moans again, and Bucky is on fire.

Jo's right hand weaves into his short hair and tugs until his mouth comes away from her neck. He catches his breath while Jo nuzzles his nose with her own and places a soft kiss against the Cupid's bow of his upper lip. His eyes meet hers, and her pupils are blown wide with lust.

The need to kiss her again is overwhelming. Bucky’s lips find hers, and Jo somehow leans even closer into his body, her hands tracing down his chest to his waist. Bucky lets his own hands move to Jo’s ribs, resting just beneath her chest, his thumbs teasing the underside of each breast. Jo gasps when Bucky’s right thumb moves across her taut nipple.

Fuck, he thinks, I need to slow down. While he’s shared kisses with the handful of women he’s met on dating apps, he hasn’t done anything this intimate in a lifetime.

Bucky pulls away, panting. He rests his forehead against Jo's and stares into her green eyes.

"I should leave," he says. “I’m getting carried away. I…I want to do this right.”

And he does. Desperately. He wants to buy her flowers and take her out and learn what makes her swoon. But he also wants to map every tattoo on her body with his fingers and tongue and then fuck her until she can’t walk straight.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.

Jo laughs breathily. “We don’t have to do anything, but it’s almost three o'clock in the morning and your ride already left. You can sleep on my couch if you want to be a gentleman.”

Bucky groans. “I should be a gentleman."

She kisses him again, lightly, then moves away to set the alarm and turn the rest of the lights out. She leads him through the 'Employees Only' door and up a set of stairs to her apartment.

"You're not allergic to cats, are you?" Jo asks, as she unlocks the door.

"No," Bucky says. As far as he knows, he's not allergic to anything thanks to the knock-off serum, but he doesn't say that.

Inside her apartment, Jo kicks off her combat boots at the door, and Bucky does the same, leaving them both in their socked feet. There's a fluffy black cat sitting on the back of the green velvet sofa.

"That's Toulouse," Jo says. "Or Louie. He doesn't answer to either, so it really doesn't matter what I call him."

The cat regards Bucky with indifference before standing up, stretching, and leaving the room.

"Guest bathroom’s just there,” she nods. “Let me get you some blankets and pillows for the couch," Jo continues. "Unless you've changed your mind about being a gentleman." She smirks at him.

Bucky laughs through his nose. “Don’t tempt me.”

Jo leaves the room for a moment, which gives Bucky a chance to look around. He's standing in her living room; one wall features a set of French doors that lead to a balcony overlooking the street, and the opposite wall holds bookcases stuffed from floor to ceiling with books, framed photographs, and various knick-knacks. From where he stands, he can see a small room with an upright piano and guitars hanging on the walls. The exterior walls of Jo's apartment are brick, and everything else is set in jewel tones. He likes it. It's dark and cozy, and from what he knows of Jo so far, her living space matches her well.

When she returns, Jo is holding a stack of blankets and pillows. She sets them on the ottoman and moves across the room to close the curtains.

"There are some sweats and a t-shirt there that should fit you" she says, turning to Bucky.

"Thanks," Bucky says, smiling softly.

Now that they're here, in her apartment, Bucky isn't sure what he's supposed to do or say. He can still feel the heat of Jo's lips on his, and he's painfully aware that the condom Sam gave him is still in his pocket.

Jo must sense the hesitation rolling off him because she crosses the room to stand in front of him and takes his hands in hers.

"Get some sleep, Sarge," she says, squeezing his hands in tandem before dropping them.

"Goodnight, Jo," Bucky returns.

_____

Bucky lays on Jo's couch in the dark beneath blankets that smell like laundry detergent. He wishes they smelled like her. He unlocks his phone and looks up the distance between New Orleans and Brooklyn. Just over thirteen hundred miles. He sighs and drops his phone onto the coffee table before closing his eyes and reliving each kiss as he falls asleep.

On the other side of the wall, Jo falls across her bed, deflated. She likes this guy. She wants him — painfully so. But leave it to her to fall for the one guy in her bar who lives half-way across the country.

_____

next chapter

[anadorablack]

FATWS Ep. 5 Thoughts

Me having thoughts. Lots of thoughts. Spoilers below.

This episode upped the game a notch. I say it each week, and each week I mean it, but this series is such quality content I can’t express myself enough most of the time.

Okay...let’s try to be coherent.

- Sam and Bucky fighting Walker for the shield like the team they are was great but also stressful AF because Walker has proven that he’s unhinged and I honestly thought one of our boys was going to get seriously injured.

- Bucky surrendering the shield to Sam was so symbolic I...

- Joaquin Torres is the next Falcon, I don’t want to hear anything else. He’s the purest child and I want to see him with his wings next ep okay?

- I don’t feel any sort of sympathy towards Walker. Not one ounce of it. But DAMN, he’s right, the government made him this way, own it punkasses!

- (On this note, I’d like to address the fact that talent did NOT skip a generation in the Russells’ family tree. Goddamn Wyatt is talented.)

- K. Helmut. I KNEW he was going to the memorial. It was a given. I also knew that Bucky wasn’t going to shoot him because that’s not him anymore, but-

- He was CLEARLY okay with dying. Had made peace with it, just like in Civil War when T’Challa found him in Siberia. And that made me so sad I started weeping.

- (I really hope we’ve not seen the last of him. He’s such a cool character, in a way he wasn’t at all in the comics. I love my antiheroes, sorry.)

- (And Daniel will be missed. I don’t care about that ‘sugar daddy’ stuff, I’m 30 and Dan is hardly old enough to fit the description, but I’ll miss him. His voice, his fucking coat, and his stellar acting. Stan since 2009 represent. :P )

- Bucky being the one to ask the Wakandans for a new suit for Sam is so sweet, please!

- Isaiah’s speech and story made me feel so uncomfortable. As only a white woman from Europe could feel uncomfortable. The situation in the US has always made me want to vomit, because I’ve not been raised in that environment at all, but this hit super hard.

- The US being the ‘land of the free’? Ha. Ha. Ha. Has anyone of you punks actually studied your own History? Murderers, the lot of you!

- Sarah Wilson deserves everything. That’s it.

- Bucky flexing his super-strength, uh? Got a message for Sam, Bucks?

- Bucky smiling at Sarah like he used to before the War... I don’t know how to feel... She makes him feel flirtatious like his old self? A blessing for our hearts, a curse for our eyes. Fuck you Seabass.

- Our boyz repairing a boat. Like mates. *cough cough* SOULmates.

- Bucky apologizing was important. His character is evolving. May I remind you that he was born in 1917? Yeah, so, some things haven’t computed yet in that white boy’s brain, but they’re starting to, because he’s spending time with Sam and if there’s ONE person who can make you see things you never saw, it’s Sam Wilson.

- Yes, Sam is right: stop relying on somebody else to tell you who you are, Bucks. You’re you. Steve was a bitch, forget him.

- (Am I still bitter over Endgame? You got it! Have I hated Steve Rogers ever since? You betcha ass!)

- “We’re just a couple of guys” Right. Stop it. Get a room. Now.

- That training montage....... I’m not physically attracted to Anthony Mackie (despite acknowledging that he’s handsome, that’s a given) so I wasn’t thirsting and more pondering. Because it was important to see him train and become Captain America ON HIS OWN. Without Bucky’s help, or anyone’s help for that matter. He’s made himself. It was super beautiful to watch. Amazing.

- Also, can’t wait to see him in that new suit next week. I’m salivating thinking about it.

- Also, tired of hearing about that Winter Soldier guy. He’s WHITE WOLF, now, people!

- Sharon is shady. I really don’t like what they’ve done to her character, despite the obvious ‘repercussions from Civil War’. She’s Peggy’s niece, and Peggy’s niece would NEVER be this shady. Correct me if I’m wrong.

- Sam is surely becoming my second favourite Avenger, right after Wanda. His character is amazing in so many ways... <3

- Anthony Mackie is a wonderful actor. Everyone in that episode was just amazing, but he SHONE.

- Macattack and Sexy Seabass play off each other so perfectly, I’m just asking for them to end up living together and only working together because it’s just perfection.

- Anthony’s man-crush on Seabass shows, and I love it.

- I’m gonna miss Zemo. And Ayo. Because the Dora fighting the Flagsmashers would have been epic... :D

- Can’t wait for next week, and at the same time, I don’t want it to end.

- The Russos couldn’t see what wonderful actors and characters they had in front of them, but thankfully, someone else did and repaired the fuckery that these two had made with Endgame (yes, I’m talking about Sam (mostly Sam, who was flavourless before this), Bucky, Zemo, and even Sharon).

- I’m done ranting, see you on the other side!

[aion-rsa]

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Episode 1: Marvel and MCU Easter Eggs

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This article contains Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode 1 spoilers, possibly spoilers for future episodes, and the wider MCU. We have a spoiler free review here.

Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier episode 1 has finally arrived on Disney+. Now, those of you hoping for mystery box storytelling and surreal weirdness the likes of which we got from WandaVision may be a little disappointed. But those of you looking for some gritty street-and-spy-level action with a deeper look at life in the post-Snap/Blip MCU, well, you’re in luck.

Oh? But you’re here for Marvel Comics and MCU Easter eggs, you say? Well, you’re still in luck, friend! The Falcon and the Winter Soldier is full of subtle nods to Marvel and Captain America history, and continues to connect the dots in the ever-expanding MCU.

Here’s everything we found…and if you spot something we missed, let us know in the comments!

Sam Wilson

The stuff with Sam ironing his own shirt, or trying to help his sister get a small business loan is some real “the mundanity of superhero life” stuff that we rarely get a glimpse of in the movies, but that was such a hallmark of what separated Marvel Comics from their competitors in their early days.

In the MCU, Sam is from Louisiana. But in the comics, he was born and raised in Harlem, New York City.

Sam’s sister, Sarah Wilson, also known as Sarah Casper, was introduced back in Captain America #134 back in 1971, and created by Stan Lee and Gene Colan. She’s made only a few appearances over the decades and mainly exists for the novelty of having the patriotic superhero be known as “Uncle Sam.”

The boat that Sam’s sister maintains is named Paul and Darlene, named for their parents, and those were indeed the names of his parents in the pages of Marvel Comics.

Sam’s drop out of the back of the airplane at the start of the Captain Vassant rescue mission mirrors Steve’s in Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

The MCU’s version of Bubo is also back in action! Redwing is still very helpful during Sam’s “government contracts” it appears, as long as no one else messes with the drone’s wires. Also, Sam’s personal devotion to the Redwing drone is a nice nod to the fact that Redwing is a real falcon in the comics, and Sam’s pet/buddy.

Sam gets to have a sombre conversation with James “War Machine” Rhodes (Don Cheadle) in what is perhaps just the first of many unannounced The Falcon and the Winter Soldier appearances by other members of the MCU. We already know there will be a larger role for Sharon “Agent 13” Carter in later episodes. Who else might show up?

Bucky Barnes

Fittingly for his Marvel spinoff series, Bucky is introduced in the same way he was back in Captain America: The First Avenger – catching the tail end of an alleyway fight.

Bucky Barnes has now been pardoned for all the terrible crimes he committed, it’s quickly revealed. Doesn’t look like he’s pardoned himself, mind. Not by a long shot.

Bucky mentions having a sister. While it hasn’t been brought up much, he did have one in the comics. Rebecca Barnes was introduced in The Marvel Holiday Special #1 in a story written by Len Kaminski (hence the notebook Easter egg, which we’ll get to in a minute) and tremendously underrated ’90s comics artist Ron Lim. After the deaths of their parents, Bucky and Rebecca were separated. Her namesake was reintroduced during Heroes Reborn, where Rikki Barnes was Cap’s sidekick in Counter-Earth.

In Derek Landy’s new Falcon & Winter Soldier comics, Bucky has adopted a very chill white cat called Alpine. No sign of Alpine in episode one, but we refuse to give up hope.

Lieutenant Torres

The eager Lt. Torres (played by On My Block star Danny Ramirez) who clearly idolizes Sam appears to be none other than Joaquin Torres, who eventually took on the mantle of the Falcon in the comics. So if Sam is destined to become Captain America on this show, will Torres become his sidekick? We hope so!

Batroc

Just like at the start of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, we get a confrontation with Georges Batroc (ze leaper!), once again played by Georges St. Pierre. Batroc is such a cool but minor Cap villain, and we never need to spend a lot of time with him, but we do hope he keeps showing up from time to time for cool fight scenes, just like he does in the comics. It’s nice to see that while they’ll never give him his ridiculous comics costume, he’s wearing his comics-appropriate colors here.

The Flag-Smashers

The masked baddies of this episode are known as the Flag-Smashers, an organization who want to do away with all national borders. There’s lots of ways this show deals with the weirdness of the MCU after the Snap, but the increasing radicalization of underground supervillain groups appears to be one neat side effect.

They take their name from the comic book supervillain Flag-Smasher (singular). Flag-Smasher was created by Cap writer supreme Mark Gruenwald and artist Paul Neary back in 1985. The original Flag-Smasher was Karl Morgenthau (remember that name, we’ll come back to it in a second), and he was a non-powered costumed terrorist who led an organization known as ULTIMATUM, “The Underground Liberated Totally Integrated Mobile Army To Unite Mankind” (folks, ‘80s Captain America comics absolutely freakin’ RULE).

The woman handing out the Flag Smasher masks was tough to make out, but that appears to be was Erin Kellyman (Enfys Nest from Solo: A Star Wars Story) playing “Karli Morgenthau.” In other words, she’s probably the leader of the organization, not the big, scary dude with super soldier strength. But speaking of him…

The big scary guy is credited as “Dovich” and he’s played by Desmond Chiam. How did he get so strong? Well, the words “Power Broker Watching” appear in the credits, and the Power Broker was key to John Walker getting his super soldier strength, as well as several other minor Marvel characters. Remember what we said about how awesome ’80s Captain America comics are? You’re about to find out!

Sam’s crack about “bad guys” with “bad names” in regards to the Flag-Smashers also applies to real world nitwits who go around calling themselves names like “Proud Boys.”

Bucky’s Notebook

There are some standout names in Bucky’s notebook, notably L. Kaminski (probably ‘80s Marvel writer and editor Len Kaminski) and H. Zemo (as in Captain America: Civil War and this very show’s baddie Helmut Zemo). 

We wrote more about those names here.

Captain America

In the Smithsonian exhibit where Sam and Rhodey chat, there are lots of artifacts from Steve’s life, mostly taken from the era of Captain America: The First Avenger like the Howling Commando uniforms, but there’s something else cool there: the actual cover of Captain America Comics #1 by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the first appearance of the character. Remember, as part of the propaganda effort during the war to make Captain America a symbol of the wartime effort in the MCU, these comics were a thing. This means that Joe Simon and Jack Kirby also existed in the MCU, but their stories were meant to be chronicles about a real person.

Where’s Steve Rogers?

It seems that only a few people might know what really happened to Steve Rogers. Has Old Cap now passed on, or is he alive somewhere ready to make an appearance in the show at a later date? Many fans are still hoping for a Chris Evans cameo, and we’ve seen trailers for the series where Sam and Bucky apparently practice throwing Cap’s shield around out in the woods. Perhaps there’s a secluded cabin nearby…

The conspiracy theory about Captain America secretly watching us from the moon is likely a reference to Nick Fury in the comics. The events of Original Sin showed that Fury had been secretly waging wars on potential alien invaders for years. Uatu the Watcher put a series of events in motion so that he would die, but Fury’s immoral actions would be exposed. In the end, Fury was forced to become the new Watcher — the Unseen — and was imprisoned on the moon, looking over Earth as his new job. Coincidentally, Bucky took up his alien-fighting job in the aftermath.

It also feels a little like The Last Avengers Story, a dystopian Avengers comic from the mid-90s. It’s explained that at some point, Steve Rogers was President and was assassinated. In the final scene, it’s revealed that he’s been secretly recovering and has been watching over the world in a bunker.

Who is the New Captain America?

The new Captain America that we meet so briefly here is Wyatt Russell as John Walker. Who is John Walker, you ask? Well, John Walker was ALSO the new Captain America in the comics! But before that he was the reactionary supervillain known as the Super-Patriot. He took over the mantle of Captain America after the government decided they wanted Steve Rogers to be more of an employee and less a free agent symbol of liberty. After his time as Cap was up, John became the U.S.Agent. That’s all you’re gonna get out of us for now, for fear of spoilers.

You can read more about John Walker here.

Unanswered Questions

No, we don’t know who the L.A.F. are supposed to be, either.

The “government official” who introduces John Walker is played by Alphie Hyorth, and is simply credited as “government official” in the credits. That seems pretty suspicious to us, and we wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up being revealed with a recognizable Marvel Universe name like Henry Peter Gyrich or something down the line.

Names like Captain Vassant, Congressman Lockhart, Senator Atwood, or Bucky’s therapist Dr. Raynor appear to check out Marvel-wise.

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[hawkieloki23]

The Widow is Back

Characters: Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, female black reader, Sharon Carter, John Walker, Scott Lang (BIG cameo) etc... Potential ships: Sam Wilson x Bucky Barnes, Scott Lang x reader Plot: After the events of the Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Bucky and Sam are in need of some help after the flag-smashers are finished. Even though, Sam has now taken the mantle of something big, HYDRA is now bigger (thanks to US Agent and some other ones) and will not stop at anything. So, in an unexpected visit by the reader, they tell them about the scenario in hand and they team up. Warnings: Strong language, spoilers for TFATWS (all episodes - season one), racial abuse, angst. Author’s note: Do not read this unless you have seen all of the episodes of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. To be honest, I did cry, at least, twice in that final episode. I am very sensitive to this kind of stuff, so bare-with.

Chapter One

Delacroix, Louisiana.

The sea was infinite blue in infinite weather patterns. Fishing was Sam’s meditation. By sundown, or whenever he’d caught my fill, he had time to decompress, to come up for air, and fit for family life. Lungs of fresh air and the sounds of nature, all set in as much space as any heart could ever ask for - those were the Wilson's’ fishing days. The lighthouse stood as a great guardian of land and a friend to those navigating sea waves. The seagulls came with a flash of silver, the sparkle of my childhood dreams. How Sam loved those birds that swooped and created the melody of the shore along with the lace-topped waves.

Sam and his sister Sarah, as well as Bucky Barnes, was finishing the family boat with some help from the helping community.

Just then, they heard the sound of heels tapping against the wooden deck. Bucky looked behind him to see a young woman, just standing there. “Are you… Bucky?” She asked, crossing her arms and tossing her y/h/c ponytail behind her back. “Yes. And you are?” “The name’s Y/n. I am--.”

Just then, Sam suddenly came out of the engine room, wiping his hands from the grease.

“Y/n?” “Wait, how do you know her?” Bucky asked Sam. “She’s our other sister.” Sarah interjected.

“Adopted other sister.” She grumbled. “ Anyways, someone sent me to help you guys.” “And what can you bring to the table?” Bucky asked her.

Y/n raised her eyebrows.

“I can show you my taekwondo... if you want.” She said seriously. “Or... I can say that I share a hatred for John Walker.”

Both Sam and Bucky looked at each other. “How do you know about John Walker?” Sam doubted.

This was the first time he had seen his adopted sister since the Blip happened. A lot has happened during those 5 years.

Y/n sighed. “You’re not the only ones who saw that footage. I have a feeling that he has changed since then.” “What do you mean?” Bucky mumbled as Sam came to sit next to him. “I’m not completely sure about this… but I think he’s joined HYDRA. I was at the courtroom, undercover as a HYDRA agent. And Valentina AKA Madame HYDRA was there --” “Wait… Valentina Allegra is Madame HYDRA?” Sam stood up. “Yes. Valentina. And she was with Walker and his missus.” Y/n explained. She adjusted her leather jacket as she continued, “Anyways, he made a deal with her to change the world as we know it. And we need Cap for this. To take down HYDRA once and for all.”

Sam looked over at Bucky. “I was gonna ask why you know Valentina was Madame HYDRA, but I regret now asking that.” He mumbled to him. Bucky shook his head and he crossed his arms, his vibranium arm shining brightly in the sun.

“If you need Cap, then you need his partner too.” Bucky suddenly said, putting his hand on Sam’s shoulder. Sam was shocked at when he said ‘partner’, knowing he said that to him. He smiled softly as he looked at Bucky once more.

Y/n looked at Sarah and whispered, “Are they together?” Sarah just chuckled softly and replied, “They should be.”

Y/n started laughing out loud with Sarah and the ‘partners’ stared at them.

“What’s so funny?” Bucky condemned. “Nothing, Sergeant Barnes.” Sarah teased back.

Bucky sighed. “Who sent you anyways?” He asked Y/n with quite a deep voice. “None of your concern. But you need to come with me. She is awaiting your arrival, Captain America.”

Bucky and Sam was following Y/n through a deep dark tunnel. The tunnel was abandoned because we have renewable energies now, we can be kinder to our Earth. All that's down there is coldness and dank stale air. To be honest, an afternoon in the meadows would be  far more fun than this.Y/n did a special knock on the locked door. The sound of the knocking was the sound of a heartbeat, and so the door opened by itself.

“Hey. He is here. THE Captain America.” She called out to the darkness of the room. In that dark room there were shapes in monochrome, of course the daylight could bring brilliant fuchsia or deepest scarlet, but for now it could be a scene from a black and white movie.

“Thank you Y/s/n… wait, is it Steve? Or… Walker?” The voice from the darkness replied.

“How do they know about Steve?” Bucky whispered to Sam, to which his partner shrugged a response. Bucky had a gun in the back pocket of his jeans, just in case something goes wrong. He put his left arm on it for self-defence.

“Umm… It’s neither of them.” Y/n gulped, walking slowly and ever so closely to the unknown stranger. “What do you mean it’s neither of them?!” The stranger screeched at the group, to which Sam and Bucky covered their ears to the horrible sound, Y/n just jerked at the noise, flinching slightly. She had heard that screeching more than once. “You-you know Steve’s dead, right? And Walker is not Cap anymore?” Y/n mumbled. “Then who is it? I can’t see them anywhere.”

Y/n then cleared her throat and pointed towards Sam. “This is Captain America. Didn’t you read the news?” “A black man… is Captain America?” The stranger cursed at them, a bit of spit landed on Y/n, who then rubbed her cheek to get rid of it. The stranger then laughed at them hardly.

Bucky and Sam looked at each other, annoyed at what the stranger just said. At least they know that there are still people discriminating against black people in this society. ‘Are they serious?’ Sam thought to himself.

“Yes…” Y/n replied, quite serious and annoyed that her ‘leader’ just said that. “But that doesn’t mean anything. At least Walker is not Cap anymore.” The stranger came out of the shadows and Bucky quickly realised who is was.

“Yelena?”

[mariahthelioness29]

Differences

pairing: Sam x Bucky 

words: 3.5k (how did I write this ?, I don’t know) 

Warning; pinning, fluff, a smidge of smut, cursing (a little), alcohol consumption and 2 idiots in love, slow burn

A look of Sam and Bucky in New Orleans, A party, and maybe feelings being resolved. A conclusion (I guess) of No Plan and Going Back. 

I was listening to Differences by Ginuwine and the tracks that follow on Youtube and I got inspired. 

A special THANK YOU to @avintagekiss24​ and @siancore​. Your comments, suggestions are gold to me. I am so grateful.

@siancore​ @xbuchananbarnes​ @avintagekiss24​ @helahades​  @euh-say-what-now​ @here-for-your-bullshit​ @rasberrylemon​ @blackmissfrizzle​ @sapphirescrolls​ @babiiface95​ @27dis​ @captainsamwlsn​

Face claim for new characters:

Nelsan Ellis- Lafayette

Rutina Wesley-Leyla 

Miroslava Morales-Miriam

Mood board for the party:

The humidity and the temperature were unbearable. Today is his no-shirt- shorts on-day. It is so hot, that his insecurities about his scars are taking a day off.

It is so peaceful, he does not want to think about the mission they just had. Missions are always blocked from his mind. They are a heat in the moment thing. He thanks his mind for blocking them, otherwise he will be a nervous wreck.

This heat reminds him of Wakanda. That paradise on earth. He goes through his bag and takes a colorful notebook with patterns. His photo album.

Looking at the polaroid pictures of him in Wakanda. Shuri had some vintage items. She loves polaroid’s pictures so she gifted him a Polaroid camera.

One of him and Shuri in the lab.

One of him with the village kids and the goats.

G’cobisa, Tabo, Tinashe, Buhle, Khanyiswa, Kholiwe, M’tobheli, Anathi, Bonghani, Fikile Gugulethu. Those children are angels on Earth. Bucky ‘s not religious but whoever is up there, be it Bast or Jesus, he will ask them this:

“Please take care of those children, the people of Wakanda, allow them to be happy and let nothing bad happen to them”

Sam, I wish I had the courage to tell you how I feel, I really love you and I want you so bad, he thought while remembering last night's dream. He bites his lip and sighs.

Last night dream and his early-morning wood were: Sam giving him a show, having the best sex ever all while he takes pictures of him with the polaroid. Him going down on Sam, while Sam records him.

“FUUUUCK !!” Sam groaned.

“Keep goin’ like that, you’re so good at that, look at me baby boy”, he said out of breath in between moans, grabbing his hair with one hand. He looks up to him, teary eyed. Sam was recording him.

He shakes those thoughts away with a chill on his spine. He does not want to go to eat with a tent on his pants so he focuses on the other pictures.

One of the rivers and one of Birnin Zana. The Royal Palace. The market. Him eating at the market. Him drinking a gallon of milk cause his mouth was on fire due to the hot sauce on his food. That hot sauce is a torture device.

One of him in all white fur, when he was in Jabari Tribe land as Shuri and T’challa’s bodyguard.

When the days were like this pure sun and barely wind, he just bathed in the river for hours. He stayed under the trees and the kids playing with his hair. He was the children's favorite pastime. Asked him all types of questions. Used him as a biology example, for the older children, when they needed to take their biology exams about genetics. As a doll, the village children and teenagers were always experimenting on his hair. They quickly realized that his hair could not withstand some of their hair-dos.  He looks at the picture of him with Bantu knots and the other with braids in rows. He guffawed with tears in his eyes.  

He remembers the Bantu knots fiasco. How hard the kid’s moms needed to detangle his hair with all types of combs and products, because the children literally caked his hair so that the knots stayed intact. He stayed with the knots because it was refreshing not having his hair loose during that heat wave until wash time arrived. It became a nightmare. Their moms taught them that Bucky’s hair is not apt for African hairstyles. The kids learned their lesson and did hairstyles that were suitable for his hair.

He was looking through the pictures until he saw his old pictures of him in the 40s. Those pictures were always weird to see . He fixated on those pictures till they became a little blurry. He closes the album

He wanted the confidence of James Buchanan Barnes. The Barnes that would steal girl’s and guy’s breath away. The same Barnes that rocked Steve’s world after they left that bar but he knew he and Steve  could never be. He chose Peggy. He does not blame him in the slightest. It was the best way. What they were was a crime back then. He and Steve could’ve end up in a psych ward or with sodomy and indecency charges and dishonorably discharged from the military. He probably would’ve settled with a woman he loved too. Living satisfied but within a lie. Hiding half of himself. Would that have been a better life than the Hydra ordeal he went through? Who knows?

One thing he is sure of is that he will be proud and loud to be Sam’s man. He will live his truth. He got a second chance so he will not waste it. Anyone who does not like it, can get fucked.

He went out of his room and went to the dining room.

“Morning”, he said.

“Morning”, Sam and Sarah answered in unison.

Sam and Sarah were busy in the kitchen.

Bucky inhales the various smells coming from the kitchen, his mouth waters.

“How did you sleep?”, Sam asked

“Like a baby”, Bucky answered him with a smile.

Sam looked at him impressed and responded: “that’s wonderful, nightmares are appearing less”.

“Yeah, they are appearing less'',Bucky answered trying not to wander to last night’s dream.“Hey guys, can I help with preparing the food?”, Bucky asked. He always wants to be of service.

“Buck, no offence, but you are a white man raised in the Depression era, I don’t trust you with the kitchen but you can set the table though”, Sam answered.  Bucky rolled his eyes at that.

Sarah was pressing her lips together to stifle a laugh.

He lifted his hands in surrender and answered: “Alright, I set the table”.

Sam pointed where the kitchenware and plates were. Bucky began to set the table.

Sarah looked at Sam with wide eyes and they both looked at Bucky up and down discreetly.  Bucky was shirtless and with shorts. His shorts hang low. His v-line was showing. His abs all out and that vibranium arm shining a little.

Breakfast was a quiet thing, with Bucky’s story here and there about Depression era food and how they used to boil everything. Sam & Sarah gagged at the thought of boiling everything. Bucky laughed at them.

Bucky offered to wash the dishes. After washing the dishes, Bucky said he was going to meditate and do breathing exercises outside.

After they checked that Bucky was far enough that he could not hear their conversation.

Sarah exclaimed: “WHEW, CHILE!!”

“pipe the fuck down”, Sam whisper yelled. “He is a super soldier, he has enhanced hearing!”, Sam whispered with worry

“No wonder why you got the hots for him, shiiiiiiit if you don’t tap that ass, I will ‘cause HOT Damn,” Sarah answered in a lower voice. “He might be the first white man to get this work”.

Sam glared at her and frowned at her with a faux offence.

“Were you not with Ricardo, Ricardo was white?” Sam inquires

Sarah scoffs. “Boy Ricardo was Latino. I mean he white. But not WHITE, you know what I mean”.

Sam shoved her gently and said, “Not you, wanting my future man. Get your own shit why you riding mine”. They both snickered and had Cheshire cat grins.

“Hey, but seriously, when are you going to tell him how you feel?” Sarah asked softly, putting her hand on top of Sam’s.

Sam sucked in a breath and exhaled, dropping his head down. Sarah’s heart softens, looking at her brother.

“It is hard Sarah; I want to but what if he is repulsed by that. I know Steve and him used to be something. But there is the chance, he does not like Black guys for that. He is still a 40s guy, so I am weary.”, Sam answered. Sarah cocked her head and nodded in understanding.

“The guy was literally tortured and brainwashed for decades. He is now getting to live his second chance at a normal life. I don’t want to put more weight on him because I really, really like him a whole fucking lot.” Sam continued with a defeated tone.

“Sammy, wake your ass up, that man looks at your ugly ass mug like you hung the moon”, Sarah said with confidence. “He likes you too and a lot, just explore that feeling and let it be one step at the time”. Sarah offered. “You don’t have to marry his ass. Just give him support, like you are doing but extend that support more on the physical side of it. God knows when was the last time, you and that man were laid”. Sarah laughed and ran away from the kitchen before Sam pushed her.

Sam chuckled in disbelief at what Sarah said.

It could all be so simple, then why is it so difficult.

He has always had this predicament when it came to liking men. He is who he is.  After years of hiding his sexuality in the military, it cost him to shake that state of being. He sighs and thinks of what getting with Bucky can mean to him as a man but also as Captain America.

Since the Accords fiasco, the Captain America mantle depends a whole lot about public perception.

He can hear Fox News, already. #handtheshieldback. That was a real hashtag and it could be revived this time by him being more openly Bi. Second, not only just being with a man, but THEE world’s deadliest ex-assassin and longest POW in US history. Bucky will get outed. Then Bucky will get dragged. Though Bucky has always said he doesn’t care about the views of the people, they can all get fucked (Bucky’s words). He saves lives and calls it a day.

As a man, he would be over the moon to have Bucky as his man, however he is still weary. Interracial relationships are hard. Imagine it now with a person from the Silent Generation, whew.

“Chile, I can hear the gears grinding from across the room”, Gideon disrupts his thoughts as he sits next to him on the couch.  

“You thinking about the white boy, aren’t you?”, Gideon asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“UGHHH STOP IT”, Sam exclaimed, putting his hand on his face. “Where he at?”, Sam asked, scared that Bucky might hear.

“Chill, he outside with Sarah, Miriam and the kids”, Gideon responded. “You know what you need? A nice party with the fam and friends, some BBQ, some booze and music”.

“Hell no, I am in no party mood”, Sam responded exasperated  while laying on the couch.  

“Well too late, Sarah, Miriam and I have already made the list and we are going to go shopping, food, snacks and booze for normal folks”, Gideon responded with a Cheshire grin. “Don’t worry, I got our homeboy covered, aged Absinthe, special brewed Moonshine, Asgardian mead, y’ know, some liquid courage so that he can finally tell you how he feels and put you out of your misery”, Gideon said while rubbing his hands together.

Sam rolled his eyes and kicked Gideon. Gideon laughed at that.

Gideon stood up from the couch and went to the table, where there was a box on top. “I’m serious, I already went to the Asgardian shop for some Asgardian unleaded and some booze”. Gideon shows him the box with fancy bottles filled with an Amber liquid, fluorescent green liquid, and the other with a clear liquid.  

“Asgardian shop? Asgardians in Nola?”, Sam questioned.

“Yeah, he met Aaliyah, married her, came to live here, and put an Asgardian liquor store, ain’t that some shit”, Gideon responded.  Sam's eyes blinked in surprise at knowing Aaliyah is married, not only that but with an Asgardian. Aaliyah was Gideon’s high school sweetheart and Gideon’s heaviest heartbreak when they split because they went to different colleges. 

“See? You are thinking too hard. If ol’ girl is married with literally an alien and they fine what about you with the metal armed white boy, ya’ll gonna be okay, ai’ght”, Gideon pats Sam’s shoulder with force.

Sam smiles at his brother, “you’re right, if he will not tell me how he feels, I will.”

“That’s what the fuck I’m talkin ’bout, my brother ain’t no punk”.

It turns out that Gideon was right. What he needed was a party.

He was greeting everyone; he was the life of the party. He was dapping everyone, hugging everyone.

Sam was feeling himself with his white tank top and yellow open up shirt with white shorts. Cuban cigar on his lips and Hennessey on his hand. He took the cigar off his lips and began to sing out loud;” It’s getting’ hot in here (So hot) so take off all your clothes, I am getting so hot, I wanna take my clothes off”. He was dancing with a woman in a suggestive manner. The woman was grinding her ass against his crotch to the rhythm of the music. They were gyrating their hips in sync with each other and the music. Sam turned the woman around and talked to her ear. He was smiling. They look at each other briefly. Bucky lifts his drink up at him with a forced smile. Sam and Leyla decided to dance like this, since he saw Bucky getting cozy with Lafayette after playing domino, when Bucky won a couple of times. Needless to say, Sam’s mood sours after seeing that so he asks Leyla to dance with him to make Bucky jealous, giving him a taste of his own medicine.

Bucky was wearing tight black jeans and a blue Henley, hair in a half up and half down hair do, feeling uneasy to say the least, nursing a shot of aged absinthe.

He was feeling a myriad of emotions. He did not know if he wanted to be the girl so he can cop a feel of Sam or be Sam so that he can cop a feel of a woman. Either way it has been so long since he felt someone’s skin against his.  He thinks about having Sam that close in the privacy of his room. Moving into him like he is moving with that woman. There was a feeling eating him piece by piece. If it was a man, he'd definitely use his Winter Soldier face to scare him off. He realizes it is jealousy, he is jealous. He just stares at the tree next to them till it blurs along with the image of Sam and the woman he is dancing with. He feels his heart tight against his chest.

“You think is working?”, Sam whispered to Leyla, his high school friend

“Oh, yes, it is, the man a wreck, he was boring holes into us”, Leyla laughed and put her arms around his neck. “Believe me, you will have him in your hand, he needs to get a preview of what he is missing, otherwise he will never tell you how he feels.’ Leyla turned around and put her hands on his knees. They were about to give Bucky a heart attack with the next song.

Bucky got up and went to the table with all the liquor, wanting more absinthe.

He saw everybody rushed to the center of the makeshift dance space, as violins began to play. Bucky was confused and he concluded that the song must be quite popular.

Gideon was the DJ, he screamed: “Cash Money Records, taking over for the 99 and the 2000!!!”

Everyone either cheered or repeated that sentence in response, Bucky turned to see Sam and his eyes could not believe what he was seeing.

The woman was bent over wiggling her ass rapidly against Sam to the beat of the music. Sarah was doing the same to a guy.

He did not understand the dance or the music. He asks the Kimoyo beads to tell him what this music and this dancing are about.  The beads started explaining  what twerking was: “ twerking is a type of dance that came out of the bounce music scene of New Orleans. It originated in the 1980s. Individually-performed, chiefly but not exclusively by women, dancers move by throwing or thrusting their hips back or shaking their buttocks, often in a low squatting stance. Twerking is part of a larger set of characteristic moves that were unique to the New Orleans style of hip-hop known as "bounce". This dance move has roots in African culture and has spread to all scenes of hip-hop, current popular music and in Latin American music such as reggaetón. This is what you are seeing and hearing, Bucky”.

“God, I am such an old man”, he contemplated in defeat.

He could never be this jovial, he feels like he would hold Sam down.  In order to drown his jealousy, he began to drink that Asgardian mead, mixed with the absinthe like it was water.

He was feeling a little better with the alcohol in his system. It is refreshing to have the buzz of alcohol in him for the first time in 70 years.

He started to sway to the rhythm of the music too not knowing how to dance but he likes the music. The violins and piano remind him a little of the music back then.  

“I like this song”, “What is the name of the song and the genre?” he said to the beads.

“You don’t need to ask the beads”, he hears Sam’s voice.

Bucky stopped the bead’s explanation. Bucky chuckled at the sound of Sam’s voice and turned around.

“Who was I supposed to ask? You practically ditched me after dominos and spades” Bucky responded.

“Well, you could’ve asked your lil’ new friend Lafayette”. Where he at by the way?” Sam asked with a taunting tone looking around.

“You were pretty boo’d up with him”, Sam responded with a mean glint in his eyes.

Bucky smirked at him and said; “Ditch me too after I told him, I was interested in someone else”, looking at him while drinking the special brewed Moonshine.

“But turns out the person I like has someone to be “cozy “with, I guess.” Bucky said, while getting into Sam’s space and tracing his finger on Sam's shirt. “He even got a dance on him called ``twerk'', by the way I had to ask the beads what that was.”, Bucky responded a little hurt.

Sam’s breath hitched, feeling Bucky that close.

“So, I think, I need to mingle more, see you around Sam”, Bucky said while stepping out of Sam's space.  

He needs to act, and fast. 

Before Bucky could go, Sam grabbed Bucky’s forearm harshly and brought Bucky up to him. They look at each other with defiance for what seem ages. He then tilted his head and his lips were ghosting over Bucky.

You make the first move, I won’t, Bucky thought with Sam’s lips ghosting over his.

Sam gives him a bruising kiss.

Bucky was not prepared for that; he found support by putting his hands on his forearms. He matched Sam’s pace and brought Sam closer.

He feels so good, his lips feel so nice, Bucky thought while kissing Sam with force, all tongue.

After that kiss, they both needed to take a breath. He can see Sam not looking at him.

“Hey, let’s not”, Bucky said sternly while tilting Sam’s face up with delicacy. “If you want to regret something do it in the morning, not tonight, please”. Bucky whispered.

“I regret nothing”, Sam stated.

“That’s the spirit”, Bucky said, caressing Sam’s face, smiling and blushing.

“Ayee, this is one of my favorites, dance with me”, Sam said, taking Bucky’s hand in his and began walking with him to the dance space.

They saw Gideon and his wife, Miriam kissing and dancing to the song. Sarah and the guy she was twerking on earlier, also swayed with the song.

The song was pretty, light. They did not need to talk cause the song was doing all the talking.

“My whole life has changed

Since you came in, I knew back then

You were that special one

I'm so in love, so deep in love

You made my life complete

You are so sweet, no one competes

Glad you came into my life

You blind me with your love

With you I have no sight”, boomed through to speakers.

Sam and Bucky swayed to the rhythm, pressed against each other, Sam’s head resting against Bucky’s shoulder, both of their eyes closed savoring the moment.

They were surrounded by other couples dancing.

But no one else matters, only them exist.

Bucky’s eyes open for a moment. He saw Leyla and Lafayette lifting their glasses at him and smiling, nodding in support, then clicking their glasses together. He smiles at them back and closes his eyes continuing to savor the moment.

“They have a lot to go through if they want a relationship, but he will learn and go through it cause it is not only about him, it is about Sam and him.” Bucky contemplated. That does not matter right now, he feels fulfilled, at peace hugging Sam like this. 

Sam is still weary about how they can bond. They are such different people with different experiences, but that does not matter right now. He feels loved and protected with the way Bucky’s warmth is enveloping him.

[avengerscompound]

Home - Chapter 10

Home: A Captain America Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers

Word Count:  1964

Warnings:  Angst, parenthood, sexual manipulation, action, injuries, underage drinking and drug-taking.

Synopsis:  16 Years after the death of Daisy, Steve and Bucky have successfully raised two teenage kids with telepathy. Teens are never easy to live with though. Sarah in particular likes to test boundaries. Now on top of all the usual challenges of parenting, they have to deal with troublemaking demigods, a daughter who just wants to be accepted for who she is and running the Avengers. That’s when the children of other super-powered individuals start going missing.

Chapter 10

Sarah and Loki stood outside the office door where Viper had locked herself after Hydra agents started dropping like flies. Sarah took the door handle in her hand and just as she went to twist it open Loki put his hand on hers.

“You don’t have to do this. This burden does not have to lie at your feet.” He said.

There was gunfire from inside, narrowly missing both Sarah and Loki. Sarah twisted the handle, shattering the lock and pushed the door open. “Yes, it does.” She snarled.

Viper raised her gun but Sarah stopped her gross motor functions. All Viper was able to do was stare straight ahead.

“Hello, Viper,” Sarah said, walking towards the woman. “How would you like me to kill you today? I could be kind. Let you use that cyanide pill you have stuck in your back tooth that you keep thinking about. Or I could just switch your brain off. That would be pretty painless. I did promise to tear your throat out with my teeth though. I don’t like breaking my promises.” She ran her fingers down Viper’s neck.

“I’m not scared of death, you foolish child.” Viper seethed.

“No, I can see that. I can see exactly what you’re scared of. Seeing as you love torturing little kids, maybe I’ll just trap you with that.” Sarah snapped. She closed her eyes and pushed. Viper fell to the ground trapped in a nightmare she couldn’t escape. She whimpered as she lay on the ground. Her body twitching.

“Sarah, stop this.” Loki soothed. “Let her go. Your fathers can arrest her.”

“Why should I?” Sarah yelled. “Do you know what she did to me? To the others? What she was was going to do to us?”

Loki ran his hand up and down Sarah’s arm. “I know. Trust me, I know better than anyone what it’s like to be consumed by the thoughts of vengeance.”

“You’re lecturing me?” Sarah snapped. She walked to where Viper lay whimpering on the ground and dragged her to her feet. Her fingernails bit into the skin on vipers throat. “You killed thousands of people. You were going to destroy Earth and you’re worried about her life?”

“I don’t care about her. She could die a thousand times over and I wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow.” Loki said, slowly approaching Sarah. “What I care about is you. Doing this. Killing a person in cold blood. It will change you.”

“Maybe I want to change. Maybe if I change people will start taking me seriously.”

“Sarah?”

The sound of Bucky’s voice made Sarah’s head snap around. “Daddy?”

“Let her go, honey.” Bucky soothed. “Let me take care of this.”

Sarah dropped Viper and ran to Bucky falling into his arms. Bucky held her tightly putting his chin on the top of her head.

Sarah’s mental hold on Viper released and she came to, stumbling to her feet. She lurched forward in an attempt to run but Loki caught her, sliding his blade effortlessly between her ribs. She screeched as Loki removed the blade and wiped it clean on her back. He let her go and she slithered to the ground.

“Loki! I said I’d take care of it.” Bucky snapped.

“And now you don’t have to. No need to thank me, soldier.” Loki said, waving his hand.

Jamie and Bucky supported Sarah as they left the facility. When they reached the exit, an icy blast of air hit them in the face. Sarah shivered. She was still only wearing the light white cotton Hydra dressed her in.

Steve spotted them and ran over embracing his daughter. “Oh god, Sare. I was so scared.” He breathed.

“So was I,” Sarah replied, breaking down in tears.

The Avengers got all the missing children situated on the jet and notified the authorities to the Hydra base and the incident that had occurred.

Bucky and Steve pulled Loki aside on the Quinjet.

“What happened in the base?” Steve asked.

“I found the children together. Sarah had already taken out three guards and opened their cells. Those people that had them had inserted something into their necks. Some kind of Midgardian technology to negated their gifts. Sarah was about to cut it out of that one there.” He pointed to Danielle.

“Oh god.” Bucky groaned.

“Then what happened?” Steve pressed.

“I removed the devices from each of the children. We fought our way out.” Loki explained. “I say we. It was mostly Sarah. That small blue child can phase into things and disrupt technology. He is the reason we were easily able to break through the doors. But Sarah just made everyone we came across fall asleep. It was quite boring in the end.”

“What about the dead woman?” Steve asked.

“That was me. I’d apologize but I am not sorry for that. She was in charge. She tortured those children. I wouldn’t normally concern myself with such petty trivialities, but I have grown fond of you mortals. Particularly your family.” Loki said.

Steve scowled but chose not to press it. Instead, he moved back to check on the children.

“I heard what you said to Sarah,” Bucky said when Steve was out of earshot. “I just – I wanted – Thank you. You’re right. It would have changed her. Killing. It puts a stain on you that is impossible to erase.”

“Why Barnes, are you getting all emotional on me?” Loki laughed. “The next thing I know I’ll be invited on the next Rogers’ family picnic.”

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up,” Bucky said. “Just thank you. And thank you for finding her.”

Epilogue 

“Alright, Sare. I think that’s it.” Olive said, securing the last clasp on Sarah’s uniform.

A year had passed and a lot had changed.

Sarah was now homeschooled. Primarily taught by Vision. Her grades had evened out and she found that without all the noise she could actually learn. She wasn’t just leaching off what other people were thinking.

With Sarah away from school Olive had started to realize that her feelings for Sarah were real. She wasn’t confused. She didn’t just not like boys because the ones around her were all terrible. She liked girls and specifically, she liked Sarah. Her powers didn’t matter. Sarah had never given Olive a reason not to trust her. Sarah’s powers were scary but she’d never used them to hurt her. So Olive had called Sarah and said she’d missed her. They had started hanging out outside of school and had now been dating nine months.

The Avengers had started a program to help train enhanced children with their abilities. So they could both control them, but they could protect themselves if people came after them. It was called the Young Avengers Initiative and for the most part, just acted as a weekend or summer holiday style program. Depending on how far the children had to travel. For extreme cases, the children moved into the compound and were looked after like family. They also studied with Vision and were trained by ex Avengers such as Clint, Natasha, and Tony.

Today was the day the first graduate moved up to the rank of official, the government recognized Avenger.

Sarah had her uniform. She had her code name. Now she had to just show everyone what she could do.

“Thanks, Olive. Oh god. I’m so nervous.” Sarah said.

Olive smoothed her hands down the red, blue and white stripes of that ran down Sarah’s midriff. She leaned over and gently grazed her lips over Sarah’s. “You’re gonna do fine. You were born for this.”

Sarah and Olive walked down the hall and stepped outside into the sun. The training grounds looked like a crowd had assembled for a kids soccer game. Children and adults lined a rectangular pitched and all talked and played while they waited for the proceedings to start.

Olive kissed Sarah on the cheek and veered away from her, heading in the direction of the crowd. Sarah walked towards Steve who was standing in the middle of the field.

The crowd cheered when they saw her.

Steve smiled. “Today we are here to welcome the first graduate of the Young Avengers Initiative through the ranks to become an official Avenger,” Steve shouted. The crowd cheered again. “But first we have to see what she has to offer the team.” He turned to Sarah. “Liberty, let’s see what you can do without your powers.”

Steve lunged at Sarah but Sarah stopped his gross motor functions. “Sarah, I said no powers.” Steve scolded.

“No, you didn’t.” Sarah pushed.

“No, I didn’t,” Steve repeated back.

There was laughter from the crowd. An arrow suddenly flew in Sarah’s direction. She ducked out of the way of its trajectory and glared at Jamie. He stood on the sidelines with his bow raised.

“Stop cheating, Sarah.” He scolded.

“Ugh, fine,” Sarah said, letting her dad go.

Steve shook himself. “Cheeky.” He laughed and came at her again.

He and Sarah sparred. They were quite evenly matched. Steve had the experience and size but Sarah knew his moves before he made them and strength-wise she took after him.

He threw his shield at her and she swatted it out of the air. As it fell she jumped and used it as a launchpad to attack Steve from above. She caught him with her thighs and flipped him out of the field.

Carol came at her. Flying in from above and shooting energy blasts.

“No fair!” Sarah cried as she zigzagged across the field avoiding them. “How come you get to use your powers and I can’t use mine?”

“You’ve got this, Sare,” Carol replied.

Sarah scooped Steve’s shield up from the field and used it to deflect an energy blast straight back at Carol. Carol got knocked backward out of the field.

Sarah felt Scott coming towards her. “I know where you are, Uncle Scott.” She said.

“But what about if I do this?” Scott appeared out of nowhere, returning to his original size and launching himself at Sarah. Sarah feinted to the left and Scott went sprawling on the ground.

“Yes. I know where you are when you do that too.” Sarah smirked.

Ants started swarming onto the field. “Please don’t make me kill your ant friends, Uncle Scott.” She groaned.

“Okay, Liberty. You can now show us your powers.” Steve shouted over the crowd.

Sarah grinned and looked at Scott.

“Oh, shit…” Scott cursed, scrambling backward away from her.

Bucky approached Steve and hooked his arm around Steve’s waist. “She looks pretty good out there.” He said.

Sarah had taken control of Scott’s body and was using him to get rid of the ants.

“She’s going to be an asset to the team. I just wish I could have protected her from this life.” Steve agreed.

“It never ends. The fighting. There’s always something else to fight for. Better she can defend herself than just be a victim of the next thing that comes.” Bucky said. “Besides, it’s what she’s chosen for herself. Jamie chose to opt-out of being an Avenger. He’s happy living a normal life. It’s good for him. Sarah chose this. Just like you did. If there was anything I wanted for them it would be the ability to chose what they do. I didn’t really get that.”

Steve leaned over and kissed Bucky, pulling their bodies tightly together. “I love you. You know that right?”

“Yeah, I know. I love you too, ya punk.” Bucky grinned.

Steve ruffled his hair and pulled away. He stepped out into the field.

“I think you’ve proved yourself a worthy member of the team.” He shouted. “So with this new member of the group. Come welcome your new teammate. Avengers…”

~ END ~

[deimagines]

Second Chance (A Steve Rogers‘s Sister Imagine)

Imagine that Steve Rogers A.K.A. Captain America. Actually has a baby sister who was only eight when Steve has to leave her in the care of their neighbor to go to war and was ten when she was told that her brother had disappeared and was soon entitled dead in action.

And then, almost seventy years later, Steve was told that his sister was still alive and had shockingly worked for SHIELD before going into retirement. Unfortunately, she has cancer and is about to die soon. And in her final moments, she asked him to do one final mission for her.

To raise her only granddaughter.

(This will also include a few ocs, and again I hope you enjoy!!)

(Play me)

~1942 (Brooklyn, New York)

“Okay Y/N,” Steve calls. “Time for bed.” 

Y/N Rogers. The eight-year-old sister of Steve Rogers was not only the biggest sweetheart in the world. But she was the only thing that Steve would ever consider the only family that he has other than Bucky, who he had considered as a brother since they were kids.

Y/N runs through her room that Steve made her clean before she took her bath and brushed her teeth. It was a normal routine that Steve had become used to ever since their mother passed away. Unfortunately, Y/N didn’t have a chance to get to know their mother very well. And it was hard to answer her questions about why they didn’t have a mother or a father when all the other kids like her have.

Steve didn’t have a choice but to answer truthfully in the most gentle way as possible. He told her that their mother had to be away. And that she was so sorry that she couldn’t be with them longer. Y/N soon then understand why they needed to visit the large stone that Steve took her once and every year on the birthday of their mother.

Once Y/N was in bed and Steve tucks her in and kisses her forehead. 

“Night Y/N.”

But before he could leave the room. She calls out to him in a soft tone.

“Steve.”

“Yeah?”

“Ginger wants a song.” She holds her handmade toy, that she made with their neighbor Miss Audry, and held it a bit high to show Steve. 

He smiled and came right back to her side bed. “Well, what does ‘Ginger’ want to hear?” He sat at the edge.

“The one you always sing,” Y/N answered. “Please.” She gave him the eyes that could possibly make all men hearts melt no doubt when she grows older.

Steve chuckles quietly and leans closer to her. “Alright, but then it’s off to sleep. Ok?”

Y/N nodded happily and lay back down and snuggled into the blankets. 

“At last my love has come along

My lonely days are over.

And life is like a song.”

Steve smiled as his sister began to drift off to sleep and she purposely holds his hand that was resting on her stomach while he sang and smiled lovingly as he continued.

“You smiled and then the spell was cast

And here we are in heaven.

For you are mine at last. . .”

He whispered the lyrics when he made sure that Y/N was finally asleep. He kissed her forehead again took his hand back carefully without waking her up. 

“Goodnight Y/N.” He whispered.

***

“Peggy. . . I’m gonna need a raincheck on that dance.”

Peggy sniffs. “Alright. . . A week, next Saturday, at the Stork Club. That way you’ll have enough time to spend with Y/N.”

“You got it. Tell her I’ll read her her favorite when I come home.”

“Ok. . . Eight o’clock on the dot. Don’t you dare be late. Understood?”

“You know. . . I still don’t know how to dance.”

“I’ll show you how. Just be there.” 

“We’ll have the band play something slow. I’d hate to step on your------” Suddenly the radio went to complete static.

“Steve?” Peggy whimpered. “Steve?” She choked. And General Phillips only looks down in defeat. Loosing yet another soldier in battle.

“Steve?” Peggy tries again until she gave up and covers her face in sorrow being left alone in the control room when Phillips couldn’t bare the sight anymore. With only one thought remains in his head now. 

‘How am I going to break the news to the kid?”

~2012

In a home near Brooklyn New York. Y/N Rogers was lying peacefully in her bed with a book in hand. Multiple pictures were placed on her bedside drawer. Some of the pictures contain the day her wedding, the day of her only child’s birth. And her pride possession, her oldest brother. Taken before he was injected with the serum.

When Y/N found out about Steve. She was explained by a man in a suit and her guardian, Miss Audry, a kind old neighbor of the Rogers, that Steve died fighting for what’s right. He saved countless of lives that day when he sunk the Valkyrie down into the ocean, including himself.

Y/N wanted to hate her brother for as long as she can remember. She wanted to hate the visits that her brother’s friends made to keep her company. Making sure the memory of her brother still lives in their own point of views instead of the ones the public claimed.

She hated to admit that she enjoyed their visits. Especially the ones a certain British woman had come and made. 

Peggy was practically like a sister to Y/N whenever the older woman made the time to visit and chat on the things they did and the lives they were making. But most of all, they talked about Steve.

Y/N was doing the most of the talking though. She gave Peggy every detail about the life and childhood Steve have given to her along with the embarrassing stories she had of him. And she wouldn’t change anything about it. They bonded through the years sharing the pain that was stuck inside them like a tumor. But they often reminded each other that Steve wouldn’t want them to sulk up their lives mourning for him. He would want them to be happy.

But as Y/N began to grow up. She found that waiting on men at diners and sitting at home cooking and sewing for her entire life wasn’t the one she would proud of.

So she began to find the opportunities and worked her ass off long enough that it lead her from working at John’s as a waitress to Agent Martins of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.

But Y/N, along with the rest of her fellow comrades, mostly like to call it by its acronym. SHIELD.

Y/N  thought it was best to hide her true identity to avoid any enemies.

She devoted herself to the work that her brother had inspired to create with the help of Peggy and another friend of Steve, Howard Stark. Y/N finds him both silly and amusing to play with when she was a child.

And when Howard made a decision to make Y/N the godmother of his first and only son, Tony. She hesitated at first, fearing that their line of work was bad enough to have children. But she soon agreed to it when she found a love of her own after 10 years of working in SHIELD.

He was daring, practical, smart. But most of all, he was the only nephew of Colonel Chester Phillips. Micheal Aaron Phillips. But most people view him as ‘Mike’.

Mike was a few years older then Y/N was. Making her a bit timid by his appearance and skills. But the skill that Y/N was glad that Mike lack of was arrogance.

He was there when Agent ‘Martins’ was assigned to retrieve an artifact that was stolen from SHIELD. Her brother’s shield.

After their mission. Mike was intrigued by the girl that his Uncle Chester has told him so much about before he signed up into the organization.

Soon enough a spark ignited between them and little did they know that they found themselves in a small church getting married after many long years of dates, picnics, and the watchful eyes of her protectives Howling Commando uncles.

Boy, was that Mike afraid of their eyes.

After then, Y/N gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Dahlia. And 34 more years later, she was blessed with a granddaughter, named Sarah.

Dahlia’s husband heard the name once from Y/N and instantly had a liking to it so much that he practically begged Dahlia to name their daughter after Dahlia’s deceased grandmother. Dahlia found no argument to it and also agreed.

When Y/N retired, she lived a happy life in Brooklyn where she and Steve grew up in. She tells stories of her times to her only beloved grandchild and her daughter and son-in-law.

Until that one night, Y/N was contacted by an officer who gave her the horrific news.

News that would leave Sarah an orphan and a heartbreaking Y/N.

After taking in of what’s possibly the only blood relative she has. Y/N made sure to share the exact pain she had with her brother’s passing and emerge that pain with the loss of her daughter and son-in-law.

Y/N made sure that Sarah was constantly reminded that she was not alone and she would always be loved. It too broke her heart immensely that she could no longer see her daughter and son-in-law anymore. Angry that the universe took yet another piece of her heart. 

And Sarah, she soon began to understand why mommy and daddy aren't coming back.

But it was okay. She has her granny after all. Every day they would go through her granny’s special cookbook that was gifted to her by a very special friend of hers a long time ago.

On other days, they would go to their spot in Central Park to have picnics and play tea parties much to Sarah’s delight.

But she began to notice the tired eyes that her granny was showing every now and then.

She can remember the constant times when she would visit the hospital with her grandmother as the doctor and she talk about grown-up stuff. Sometimes she would eavesdrop on their conversation and began to pick up certain words that she hardly understands.

Plasma cells.

Multiple myelomas.

Cancer.

Sarah watched as the people in white clothes, doctors and nurses she soon found out, bringing the equipment into her grandmother’s room.

Lately, she’s been doing her regular routine in her grandmother’s side bed and was always asked to wait out in the hall when the doctor comes and checked in. 

In the real world. Y/N was always advised that she should take her final moments at the hospital. Where they could treat her well.

But every time she denies. Saying that she wanted to have her final moments with her granddaughter in their home where they had made so many wonderful years together after her daughter’s passing.

She wanted to die in a place where she can relax. Enough to forget that she was going away. Forever.

When the months pass, Sarah ‘s birthday was coming up soon. She’ll be turning eleven in two months time. She was beginning to grow a little taller too. She was just about above the high countertop where she and Y/N used to make their recipes together. 

She’s going to miss that. It wasn’t sugarcoated that Sarah knew she was going to lose her granny soon. Even though she barely remembers her parents. Granny was practically the one she would always love more than anyone else. And she wasn’t just her grandmother or the person she was raised by. She was her best friend.

Ring. Ring. Ring-

One day, the Rogers residence got a call. Sarah was hesitating to answer, but Granny was taking her rest and the only other adult in the house was still outside getting the groceries bags from the car outside.

So without any other options, she took the home phone and click the green button.

“Hello?” Sarah answered.

“. . .Hello, is this Helen Cho?”

Sarah was greeted by a man’s voice. Asking for Helen.

Helen Cho was the doctor that Y/N’s godson had assigned for her care. Insisting that she needed the best of the best. No charge.

“No.”

“Oh. . . well, in that case, would you mind handing the phone to Doctor Helen Cho?”

“Why? Are you a doctor too?”

“No my name Phillip J. Coulson. I’m a friend of Josie Rogers. Is there an adult that I can speak with sweetheart?”

This man- Phillip- asked and before Sarah could answer. Helen appeared through the front door with the groceries.

“Sarah, who are you speaking to?” She asked in a kind but also tired voice as she carried the heavy groceries haul into the kitchen and sets them on the counter table.

“There’s a guy on the phone.” Sarah says and Helen panics a bit but she hides it anyway so that she wouldn’t startle the little girl that she was growing to love during the past 6 months.

“He said his name is Phil-” Helen didn’t answer the child as she hurries and swiped the phone off of Sarah’s hands.

“Hello. Who is this?” 

“Helen. It’s Coulson.”  

Helen covers the phone with her other hand. “Sarah, can you take out the groceries, please?” 

Sarah shrugs, not caring about the man anymore. “Okay.” And runs off to the kitchen.

Helen places the phone back to her ear. “Agent, what a surprise.” She says quietly, not wanting the child at the other room to hear her. 

“Hey, Helen.” Coulson greeted. “How’s everything in the household?”

Helen looks behind her shoulder to see the girl in the house taking apples out from the paper bag. “Well enough. But only for so long. Listen, everything I’ve done. Everything I did won’t slow down her condition Coulson-” 

“Just give me the straight answer Helen.” Coulson interrupted her and she closed her eyes for a moment then said.

“Probably a month. But that’s me being hopeful. . . She’ll be gone in any week by now. She’s growing weaker by the day.”

Helen stopped herself to sigh and holds her emotion to spare Coulson. She knew how he favored his mentor all those years ago.

“But anyway. What else did you want to know?”

After a few words being answered to her question. Her eyes had suddenly grown slightly big and she was practically gapping in the spot on the hall.

“A-are you sure?” She asked. “. . . When?. . . Alright. I’ll let her know. Have a good day Coulson.”

She pressed the off button and placed the home phone back to its charge before placing a hand on the wall to hold herself up.

After a minute of silence, she straightens herself up and began to walk upstairs to where her elder was resting. When she got to the room, she knocked on the open door to present herself.

“Who is it?” Y/N was staring at the window with studied eyes as she watched the leaves blowing against the wind. How she loves the little things. Its what kept her sane ever since she was on house arrest. Or that’s what she likes to call it.

“It’s me. Helen.”

Y/N turns and smiled sweetly at the young woman. “Helen. I see you and Sarah are back from your trip to the supermarket.” 

But then, she noticed that expression on her nurse's faces and began to worry a bit. “What’s wrong dear? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

If only Helen could correct her statement. But to tell her the news. Cho sits at the end of the bed by Y/N’s legs and calms herself enough to speak.

“They found him.”

Y/N frowns then said. “What? Helen who found who?”

Helen gulps and Y/N asked again. “Helen?”

The young woman let out a big breath and said. “He’s alive Y/N. Your brother. Captain America. He’s alive Y/N.”

Y/N’s breath hitched and she blindly searches something to hold with her hand and found the offering of Helen’s.  felt like she wasn’t going to breath. It was like she was in one of her dreams. Having someone to tell her that her brother was alive had been one of the biggest fantasy she’s ever had ever since the Valkyrie drowned into the sea.

She looks at Helen to see any tricks or hallucination that could be happening in her head right now. Wondering if this was another trick from her lack of energy. But Helen’s eyes answered it all.

He’s alive.

                                                          _*_*_                                                             

Steven Grant Rogers. Captain America. 

Steve Rogers.

After being found and wakened up. 

He was so studious about the many changes in New York.

Most of the woman that he’s seen were wearing pants.

Large television screens were placed all over Time-Square.

And as if it didn’t get any strange, it did when he saw a young woman with what looks like a pierced earing on the bottom of her lip when Fury and some other agents took him inside of the main headquarters of SHIELD.

It was a strange event for him to wake up so suddenly in a fake medical ward and was later being chased by armed men out of the building until they caught him in Time Square.

Seventy years. Almost anyway.

That’s how long he had been gone from Fury’s statement. He had been asleep for almost seventy years. But it felt like he had been asleep for only one night. It was surreal even. 

So surreal that he even considered that he was just dreaming and that he would wake up any moment now in one of those uncomfortable cots that he had just gotten used to after so many periods of sleep on rocks and hard pavement when he and the Howling Commandos were off doing missions on Hydra’s bases.

He imagined that Peggy would be at his side when he wakes. And miraculously, they would manage to bring his baby sister in and she would jump into his arms like she always does whenever he managed to visit her back in Brooklyn.

But he needed to remind himself that he was only daydreaming, hoping. And that he really did disappear for so long and was later found by SHIELD. 

He can never get that dance at the Stork Club that he promised his best gal.

Never got the chance to give away Y/N at the altar on the day of her wedding.

Not even a chance to meet his niece. Dahlia Phillips.

By the time when he was escorted to Fury’s office after being changed into some different clothing that was given to him when came to the headquarters.

He was carefully told that SHIELD was founded by Howard Stark. Chester Phillips, and Margaret Carter. Made it a successor to continue the old government that Steve once remembered, the S.S.R.

He was explained that after the war was won, many agents were sent to find, or retrieve Steve back starting from where the Valkyrie was last seen. 

Trails went cold. And some had even given up on the search until one by one, the agents dialed down to a single crew. 

To the public, Captain Rogers was 'presumed' dead. Even some of America’s top leaders suggested to give up the search on Rogers. Seeing that he is just what history claims him to be. History.

Until now.

Then all of the information hadn’t even matter when Steve asked about his sister.

He was only given the basics. That she graduated in one of the finest schools and college. Got married to an honorable man and had a kid and a grand-daughter soon enough.

And before she did the family dream with a picket fence. She was an agent.

Steve was shocked as Fury told him about the ‘success’ his sister made for SHIELD. How she was the first youngest agent to be initiated at the age of 22. And was once made the head director of SHIELD for about three decades until she retired and gave up the position to Fury.

To be honest. Steve was actually proud of Y/N. Even if he didn’t want her to live a life as an agent. Still, he was angry that she wanted to place herself in heavy situations that he’s probably going to have to give her one of his ‘big brother talk’ moments that he missed giving to her ever since he got into the war.

Which reminded him something. He asked about how Y/N is now. He didn’t even hide the hesitation when he asked. It was clear that no matter how long you have or how healthy you are. Death will always come so fast that you can’t even see coming. Especially working for the government.

Fury did his definition of sugarcoating and told Steve that his timing was so practical when Y/N only had a few weeks to live.

Suddenly, Steve found himself going through memory lane. Thinking about the times to every pain he felt in his life.

From the bully punches in the alleys and streets, Project Rebirth, and the deaths of Dr. Erskine and his long-time best friend, Bucky.

All of the physical and emotional pain was hitting him all at once in just that second. 

His little baby sister was dying.

Though he was glad that she lived this far. Building a family of her own as she works her way into SHIELD like it was nothing. It surprises him that she even got the time to have one. A family. Fury even gave him the name of the grand-daughter that Y/N loves to death.

Sarah. That’s the name of Steve’s great-niece. Named after his mother. And he couldn’t wait to meet her already. 

“When.” He asked. Not adding any more explanation after he said it. Knowing that Fury would easily understand about what he’s asking.

“Now.” Fury said. 

It was about time that Captain America is going to meet his baby sister again after almost 70 years.

                                                         _*_*_                                                            

A clean vehicle with very privacy glass to hide the back passengers that were being taken to Brooklyn. It didn’t go unnoticed when Steve saw the large changes in the city that he had grown up in. 

New buildings were built and the small apartments that he crossed so many times in his youth were replaced by shops. And the shops that he remembers, along with the Stork Club were replaced by different ones and numerous names were popping out everywhere the vehicle goes. Some were even repeating like McDonald’s and Taco Bell.

He’s going to have to ask someone about them later.

During the trip, Fury was kind of kind enough to give Captin with some grand updates that he had missed during his time in the ocean. One of them being the Civil Rights of Act 1964. 

Steve couldn’t help but smile at the fact. Y/N’s favorite neighbor, Miss Audry was a sweet old black woman that lives in the apartment that was just under their’s. She would always take care of Josie whenever he had to go out to work. Her wish came true.

It wasn’t until they crossed through Brooklyn Bridge that his nerves started to kick in and his knee was subconsciously beginning to bounce. His eyes looking out at every buildings and house they passed to take the time to calm himself a bit until they get to the address that Fury only knows. 

Suddenly the car slows down to a stop in front of a terraced house. “Here we are.” Fury said.

Steve couldn’t help but gulped quietly while the palms of his hands began to sweat his nerves out. Brushing them against the fabric of his pants to try to push off the weight that was holding him down to his seat.

“Ready to meet them?” Fury asked. 

At first, Steve thought that he must’ve misheard him but then remembers that there was another Rogers that lived in the terraced with his sister.

Fury opens his doors and Steve did the same with his side. Closing the door as he got out and looks up at the terraced more clearly.

It was a very nice light blue home with white-framed windows with white curtains hanging inside for privacy.

Steve followed Fury as they make their way past the small gates that was standing in front of the house and marched upon the small porch. Fury pressed the doorbell before turning back to Steve. 

“You’ll have a day with her. After that, I’ll send someone to pick you up in the evening. Good luck.” He patted his shoulder and left him standing alone on the porch. Speechless.

Steve looked a bit panic and was about to turn to call for Fury to come back but stops himself when the door opened.

“Yes?” A woman’s voice says and Steve was surprised when he turned to see a young Asian woman at the door. Questionable eyes looking at him and waiting for an answer.

“Hello, ma’am.” It was the only way that Steve could start with.”I’m here to see-” 

“Steve Rogers.” The woman suddenly said with a small gasp and eyes widened. And it was Steve’s turn to look at her in question when she said his name. Wondering how did she know him?

“Yes, uh. . . how did you-”

“You look a lot like in the pictures that Y/N showed me. Only, you’re a bit more. . . bigger.” She gave him an awkward smile. Feeling a bit intimidated that THE Captain America was standing by the doorstep. 

“I’m Doctor Helen Cho.” She greeted formally. “Y/N is currently under my care. Has been for about a year now.” 

She offers her hand and Steve takes to handshake as the words ‘doctor’ and ‘care’ came into mind. “So you’re the one who’s been treating my sister?”

“Yes.” Helen answers. “Why don’t you come in.” She opens the door wider and lets the captain. He said his thanks and went inside as Helen closed the door behind him. 

Steve took a small time to glance around the interior of the house and felt a homey feeling that radiated from the beige painted walls with family pictures hanging. Some were dated back to the 40′s and the now. 

“Follow me.” Helen said as she went and steps up to the stairs in the hall that leads up to the upstairs floor. Not blind to catch the old soldier’s nerves as he lets out a small sigh before following her behind. 

Every step he took felt like he was walking knee deep in water and when they got to the floor, Helen gestures him to a door a the end of the hall. “Right over here.”

It only took a few more steps until they reached to the front of the door. Steve held his breath as she knocks on the hardwood. 

“Come in.” A frail voice answered from the other side and Steve felt a small trail of goosebumps forming on his arms. 

Helen opens the door and pokes her head in. “Hey, look who’s here.” 

She opened the door fully and steps aside for the old woman to have a full image of Steve, who was still standing in the hall. He hesitated at first but went in either way. 

The first thing he noticed about the room was the floral wallpaper pattern on each wall. A wooden dressing table stands flat back on the wall with numerous medications on it along with some portrait pictures with a small jewelry box by them. 

The only decor in the room that was out of place was the noticeable medical monitor and the IV bag and pole standing beside the luscious bed. 

And on the bed, was the woman that holds a special in Steve’s heart the second he first held her in arms when she was just a newborn. 

“Hey, Stevey.”

Y/N Rogers’s eyes watered as she began to cry in relief when Steve entered the room. Happy that he was alive and well. 

As for Steve, he couldn't believe that this gray hair and fragile human was his baby sister. The only thing that didn’t change was the contagious smile that he oh so love very much. That seeing it made him teared up and he waste another second as he goes over to the side of her bed and sat on the chair that was placed there. Taking her hand when she outstretches it to him. 

He finally found the strength to smile back to his sister and pressed the palm of her hand against his cheek. And suddenly a pained look slowly formed on his face.

“I’m sorry.” He said quietly in regret. “I’m so sorry.”

Y/N’s eyes furrowed at him. “For what?”

Steve looks at her, confused. “For everything. . . For leaving you and everyone else-”.

But Y/N shakes her head to him. “No, you didn’t leave. . . You saved me.” She caressed the back of his hand to comfort him. “If you didn’t manage to stop the Valkyrie, everyone that we know in New York, including myself would’ve died from the impact.”

Steve still didn’t understand. “But-”

“But nothing!” Y/N said. “Whatever you’re thinking. Whatever thought that made you so regretful. I want you to know that I forgive you.”

Steve looks at her surprise. 

“I forgave you for a long time now. Knowing that holding on to the anger that I had for you would only cloud my judgment to the world. “Y/N held in her sobs and her grip on her brother’s hand tightens. But it wasn’t effective enough seeing as Steve wasn’t bothered by her touch but by her words.

It was his turn to smile in relief and then kissed her hand before saying. “I’m here now, Y/N. I’m here now.”

She hums happily and patted the back of his hand. It was then that she noticed a small figure hiding behind the frame of the door in the hall. 

Y/N let out a small chuckle and called out to the little one. “You can come in, Sarah.” 

It was the small gasp that took Steve���s attention away from his sister and turns to see what cause such a small noise. At the doorway, there stands a small girl staring at them with hands all fiddling. Curiosity was filled in the child’s eyes as she looks at the stranger that was sitting beside her granny and holding her hand. 

“Come in Sarah.” Y/N urges. “There’s someone I liked you to meet.”

The girl hesitated. Not taking her eyes off the man, she quickly went up to her granny at the other side of the bed and jumps on to it until she was fully seated by her grandmother.

Y/N moved to the side a bit to make room for Sarah. When she moves around a bit to find a comfy position, she turns to Sarah and said. “Sarah, this my brother. Steve. You're great-uncle.”

Steve would’ve laughed at the title if he wasn’t still so the shock of how Sarah looks so much like Y/N when she was at her age.

He distinctly remembered that the last time when he saw Y/N was when she had turned ten. Sarah looked about the same age as her grandmother when Steve left her to go and fight in the fields with the Howling Commandos. He also remembered the many letters that he wrote to her as well the teasing comments that he got from the fellas when they thought that he got a gal back at home.

They weren’t wrong.

“Hi.” Steve said to the little and she only smiled shyly and gave him a little wave.

“Hello.” She managed out and looks back at her grandmother to whisper her something by her ear.

“He’s your brother?”

Y/N smile. “Yes.”

“But why isn’t he old like you?” Sarah whispered again and Y/N only chuckles at her granddaughter’s question. And judging by Steve’s amused look. He definitely heard his grand-niece and wasn’t bothered by the question. 

“It’s a long story, Sarah.” Y/N said. “But for now, why don’t you go and see if Helen needs help in the kitchen.”

“Okay, Granny.” Sarah then jumps down from the bed and runs out of the room.

Y/N and Steve both smiled at the child’s behavior

“A lot like me isn’t she?” Y/N said. 

Steve held back a laugh. “Scary.” And they both laughed.

They both had a lot of time in the room. Catching up the times that Steve had missed. And occasionally he would tell him a bit of his time in the fields and stories about his war pals. Y/N even told him about the ridiculous behavior his Howling Commandos had whenever she would go on a date with a boy. Steve didn’t whether to laugh or be proud by the job that his commandoes filled in when he wasn't there to be the overprotective brother like should’ve been.

And what’s more touching is that Y/N had asked Steve to go to her bookshelf and take out a book. Before he could ask which one, his eyes landed on one peculiar one. ‘The Hobbit’. Her favorite bedtime story. He then vaguely remembers about what he said on the Valkyrie. ‘Tell her I’ll read her her favorite when I come home.’ which was the book he was holding now. He looks at her with tears and she just nodded. So Steve got comfortable beside her bed and began to read the first chapter.

He tried everything in his power to remember the smile as Y/N laughed and talked about how iconic the book had become and how Sarah was also an admirer of the novel. Not wanting to forget it until the time of her lifespan was suddenly gone. And when it did. He almost forgot it. After the Chitauri war in New York. Y/N’s heart just gave up, during the day before she could even take her afternoon nap. The funeral was lovely, and shockingly, Tony Stark appeared beside the family. As his title as the godson of one of SHIELD’s greatest agents in history.

Steve was still surprised that Howard made Y/N the godmother of Tony. When they met at the Hellcarrier, Tony did mention that Y/N, along with his mother, were the only ones that gave actually damn about him instead of his own father. Who would bragged to him about how ‘great’ Steve Rogers was.

But it didn’t matter. What only matters now, was to give a eulogy as Y/N written in her recent will.

The church was filled with old veterans, retired agents, as well as other people who had their hearts touched by Y/N. Peggy would’ve been there too if it weren’t for her alzheimer’s.

After Steve was done, the priest asked if there was anyone that would like to say a few words.

Surprisingly, Tony stood up and brought out a small folded paper from his pocket. When he got behind the podium. He cleared his throat.

“Hi, I’m Tony.” He started off. “I’m Y/N’s Godson-Well. . . was.” He faltered.

“Growing up, my father became the person he was ‘till he dying breath. A failure of a father.”

Steve grimaced at the words. He was certain that Howard would someday change but failed to acknowledge how good of a father Howard would become. Tony became that living result.

“Despite being a genius. I still have trouble coping with the world. My father was too busy to acknowledge the importance of teaching me how to catch, how to talk to girls, and most of all, how to be a human being. Y/N Rogers had the interest to fill in that role.”

Though no one could see, behind the podium Tony had his hand clutched tightly into a fist to maintain himself.

"She made me the person I am today. She is the quarter of why I shut down the weapons manufacturing division from my company. And she was. . . she was human. And I guess that's the only way that you can describe Y/N. She was human. And she was loved. I guess we can never stop loving someone who had left an incredible mark in someone else's life. And I know that she wouldn't want me to stop caring the world, otherwise, I know that she would kill me if I did."

A few chuckles were heard around the church. Even Steve managed to smile at the comment. But a few silent sobs were heard from the back of the room.

“Y/N, we’ll miss you. . . I’ll miss you.” Tony had a slightly lost look on his face for a second and then clears his throat. “Thank you.”

With that, Tony got off the stage and went back to his seat beside Sarah and Steve.

“Thank you.” Steve said solemnly and quietly to him.

“Thought I should get it over it,” Tony said. “I would’ve regretted it if I didn’t.”

“She would be proud of you.” Steve added.

“She is.” A small voice interrupted them and they both look down at the child sitting between them. “She told me so.”

Tony blinks at the girl then stares off back to the casket. “Thanks, kid.”

“Your welcome Uncle Tony.”

Tony would’ve normally told Sarah to not to call him ‘Uncle Tony’. But just for today, he let it slide.

Once the service was done. Everyone stood up and waited for Steve and the other veterans who were picked to be the pallbearers carried the casket out of the church and the crowd followed behind them in a slow marching pace. All the way to the large burial ground behind the church.

When they set the casket inside the large hole, white roses were passed to everyone. And one by one, they dropped it on top of the casket while whispering their final goodbyes.

The last to place their rose was Steve. And when he let go of the rose into the hole. Everyone was beginning to leave. And as the time passed, the only ones who were left standing by the now finished grave, was Steve, Sarah, Tony, and Helen.

Helen was only there mostly for Sarah’s benefit. She had grown very close to the young child that she didn’t have the heart to leave her alone with Steve.

Beside her, Helen decides to break the ice and started whispering a certain situation with Tony.

“You know, lawfully speaking since you are Sarah’s godfather. There’s a possibility that she could be wind up being in under your care.”

It was true. Since Tony and Dahlia had known each other from Y/N. Dahlia made Tony the godfather of her only child. Knowing that even before he was Iron Man and his conscience had finally kicked in. She trusted Tony enough to be the godfather. Much to her husband’s dismay.

Not paying attention to the whispers behind him. Steve suddenly felt a small human hand enclosing itself with his own. He looks down and sees Sarah looking up at him. Sending him a small smile, trying to comfort him in the best way she can.

“We should probably go. Granny doesn’t like it if anyone stays in the cold too much. You could get sick.”

It had begun to get cold. The clouds in the sky indicated that it was going to rain soon and the winds brushing against them was getting colder by the minute they stood there.

So with an exhaled breath, Steve nods at his niece’s small proclaim before clearing his throat. “Okay, let’s go.” He gave her a somewhat convincing smile and gently firmed his grip on to her hand. Carefully not to hurt it and they began to walk away from the gravestone. Mentioning Helen to follow them since she was their ride.

Tony watches as Steve helps Sarah into Helen’s car. Helen’s words were repeating in his head.

Under your care.

“No,” Tony thoughts. “They need each other. . . it’s what she would’ve wanted it.”

And it was indeed.

=============================================================

Hey! So I hope you like the story. And just to let you know, I’m thinking of making it into a Wattpad fanfic book. So let me know on the comments below. And I will try my best to upload it as soon as possible. And of course, there will be a pairing but it’s going to be a very slow-burn pairing between Sarah and a certain hero in blue spandex.

Thank you for taking your time to read my imagine and my message. 

Mahal kita!!!!!

[that-wimpy-cowboy-doll]

don’t you wanna save this dirty little damsel?

For the Steve Rogers 100th Birthday Celebration created by the lovely @mee2themoo :D

Pairing: Steve Rogers/Darcy Lewis

Overall Rating: Explicit

Chapter: 1 of 3

Summary:

It started with a simple question in Tony's lab.  And it ended up in a small town strip club, where nobody recognizes four Avengers in civilian clothes sitting in the back.  Needless to say, even when he was in the ice, Steve has never had a more uncomfortable birthday.But amidst the smoke, the lights, and the skintight red, white, and blue, one Darcy Lewis is out to start some literal and figurative fireworks.

For the Steve Rogers 100th Birthday Celebration :)Title comes from Natalia Kills's "Problem."  Prompts included: Fireworks, Baseball, Small Town, and Red, White, and Blue.

Find this fic on AO3 here :D

Chapter One: you know what they say about me

Captain America’s 100th birthday was a cause for excitement at the Avengers compound, especially because it was the first Fourth of July since the Avengers had been formed that there was no imminent threat to the American public, therefore they’d all be together to celebrate.

Steve, for his part, hadn’t wanted to do anything.  Maybe crack a few Asgardian cold ones with Thor, Bucky, and Sam, put on that Independence Day movie he’d been meaning to watch, go to bed early so he could take his run in the morning before the day got too hot.  He was a simple man, with simple wishes, so it was baffling to him as to why nobody wanted to go the simple route.

But then the lab conversation had happened, on a total whim, just days before and Steve had let more slip than he knew to intend.

“So, Cap,” Tony started out, flicking on the screens that he and Banner and Cho shared, his fingers sliding effortlessly across the holograms.  “Heard you’re hitting the big 1-Oh-Oh soon.  What’s the plan?  Vegas?  Yachts?  Every strip club in the greater East Coast?”  At that moment, Steve’s eyebrows probably knotted together, as they did when he was confused, and then that Tony’s smile lit up, joyful and mischievous at once.  “Cap...c’mon.  Tell me you had some big plans.”

“Strip club?” he repeated dumbly, filing a hand backward through his hair.  He’d been growing out his beard, much to Tony’s discomfort and Thor’s enjoyment.  The grin on Tony’s face widened.

“Holy shit.  You’ve never gone to a strip club.”  Steve was silent, chewing on his tongue to keep himself from saying anything that might get him into trouble.  In hindsight, it was most likely the silence that got him the most trouble.  “Christ, Rogers, you know what a strip club is?”

“Bail, Steve,” Bruce was mumbling, passing by him conveniently with a long metal utensil that looked disconcertingly like a barbecue fork.  “Bail immediately.”

“FRIDAY, I need you to get Barnes down here ASAP.”  Steve kept mum while Tony organized the interrogation, but Bruce was still shaking his head and looking deeply concerned.  After a while, Bucky had made his way down from the training room, sweat clinging to his muscle tee and dripping from his skin.  He must’ve been working with Romanoff.  “Barnes,” said Tony briskly, making the ‘come-hither’ motion with his finger, which elicited a rather confused look from Bucky.  “You ever been to a strip club?”

Bucky did the same as Steve had, repeated it in a dumb tone and kept looking confused.  Steve would’ve thought it impossible for Tony’s smile to widen, but at the awkward silence that fell after the sixth utterance of those unholy words “strip club,” his lips nearly wrapped around his head.

“Bruce, you got plans for Fourth of July?”

“Tony, no - ”

“Don’t worry, buddy, the big guy’ll be fine.  Pressure won’t be on you.  We gotta get these dinosaurs to the titty bar.”  As the final words left his mouth, it clicked.

He wasn’t exactly certain of how it came out, but he had a feeling that the next phrase to escape his lips sounded something like, “YouwantmeandBuckytogotoabrothelwithyou?”

Now, in spite of what Fury had wanted the public to think, Steve was not a damn saint.  But he wouldn’t have come within a hundred feet of a brothel back in the 40s and he absolutely wouldn’t’ve done it now.

“Strip clubs aren’t brothels, Rogers,” Tony corrected, shaking his head with a satisfied smirk.  “No, no, no.  Just trust me, alright?  This is gonna be the best 100th birthday celebration you’ve ever seen.”

That was how the mess had started.  And that was why now, in a small town in upstate New York where few people would likely know the difference between Steve Rogers in his civvie clothes and your average juiced up military man, Steve was sitting in the back row of the alleged strip club, flanked by the two scientists and his best friend, only one of whom appeared happy to be there.

“See anything you like out here, Birthday Cap?” Tony shouted over the thumping music, and Steve winced as the strobe lights began to flare, darkness covering most of the large room.

“Yeah, the exit sign.”

Tony waved him off and clapped appreciatively at the slim blonde who’d taken the stage, flinging her sleek ponytail over her shoulder before she did things to the pole that would’ve gotten her arrested back in Steve’s day.

See, it wasn’t so much the act of doing stuff to the poles that skeeved him out.  It wasn’t the flailing legs and the bouncing, or even the skin-tight bikinis and bodysuits that left barely anything to the imagination.  Shockingly, it wasn’t even the men who wolf-whistled and howled and waved dollar bills at these women like they didn’t have wives and children at home.

No, it was that they’d now watched three separate young women take the stage, and he could see it in each of their eyes.  First that flaming overconfidence, like they were acknowledging how tight and lithe their bodies looked, undulating up there for everyone, knowing that all eyes were on them.  Then realizing that all eyes were on them and that moment of self-consciousness, as though they wished they were doing this in someone else’s body, so they could leave the reality of it, if just for a moment.  And then that moment of resignation.  Like they were coming clean with themselves that no, this was real, and then trying to think of anything else: the bills at home, the homework they had to finish later tonight, the laundry they’d left in the dryer and needed to fold as soon as they got back.

Maybe he was wrong, though.  He was new to all this; who was he to judge?

“I think we need to get a Cap dance up in here,” Tony was announcing, trying to stand and bending at the waist like a rubbery doll from the sixth or seventh shot he’d just downed in the last hour and a half.  Bruce grabbed his arm, progressively looking more and more concerned about the situation pretty much since they’d left the Avengers compound, and Tony dropped back into his seat.

Bucky, surprisingly, was starting to look amused with the whole situation - probably because of how uncomfortable it was making Steve.

“Never thought I’d say this, but I think Stark’s right.  Lemme get a hold of one of the girls in charge here.”  He slipped past Steve, like he’d done this a million times before, and proceeded down towards the counter to converse with a tall, sturdy brunette woman with hoop earrings Steve could’ve fit his arm through.

“Mm, how do I know...that he’s gonna pick a good one, though?” Tony slurred, pounding his fist on the armrest of the seat in lieu of a tabletop, which would have much better suited his particular brand of dramatics.

Because he’s my best friend and he knows exactly what I like, Steve thought dully.  Bucky had pulled shit similar to this before, tucking dirty magazines into Steve’s backpack when they’d been in school (and cackling when he’d admitted that Sarah Rogers found them and took a wooden spoon to Steve, even though he was sixteen, and cursed in Gaelic as he yelped in pain), and he’d apparently took note of which models and which pages made the tips of Steve’s ears burn red hot.

He’d known Peggy, too.  And in the short time that he’d had to see the two of them together, he must have noticed the way Steve looked at her with the reverence that he did, because Peggy was...was everything he could’ve dreamed of and more.

This was not the environment to do any of that deep soul-searching, woeful regret stuff, though.  He was getting the feeling that, if he didn’t put on a somewhat joyful face for Tony, they’d be there all night.

“Tony, where’s Rhodes tonight?”

“Mrs. Barbara Rhodes caught wind of what the plan was and firmly put her foot down.”  Stark rolled his eyes, tucking his sunglasses onto the bridge of his nose to dim the strobes.  “I, on the other hand, have often found that asking for permission truly is less successful than asking forgiveness.”  Sam was caught up with an event at the veterans center in D.C., and Thor was getting his first Fourth experience with Jane at the observatory.  Not that this would’ve been less awkward had they been around, but Steve might have felt a little reassured with more friendly faces and less eyebrow raising from Tony.

“Mr. Grant, I’ve brought you a present…”  Bucky was grinning, led by the hand of a brunette woman.  A brunette woman who blew every other woman here out of the water.  It was only when noticing the way that the purple bodysuit clung perfectly to her plentiful chest and bloomed into a flowy bunch at her hips that Steve realized she was the only woman in the club not wearing red, white, or blue for the holiday.

“No fucking way,” she said as she locked eyes with him.  But it was with an amused half laugh that she settled into his lap, stringing her arms over his shoulders to grasp the back of his chair.  “Mr. Grant, my ass.”  Since leaving for their trip off the Avengers compound grounds, Steve had gone by Joseph Grant, after his father.  But as her twinkling eyes bored into his and as she smirked into her dance, he was certain that she knew.

“So what should I call you?” he asked stiffly.  The whole strip club thing hadn’t been particularly enticing, but he’d be a damn liar if the way she was moving her hips against his right now wasn’t drawing a reaction from him.

“If you want me calling you Grant, you can call me Athena.”  She twirled her arms over her head and spun round slowly, unfazed when Tony slipped a wad of singles into the leg opening of her bodysuit.  The curve of her ass brushed against Steve’s jeans, then planted itself a little more insistently into his lap.  “If I get to call you Steve, you can call me Darcy.”  She tilted her head backwards, sending the long, dark waves of her hair cascading down against his chest, close enough that he could smell the lavender in her shampoo.

“Darcy.”  She continued to dance, but as the song shifted from a slow, sultry lilt to an upbeat one that thumped the walls, so shifted her style.  Instead of the gentle unraveling of her hips in a circle against his groin, she started to bounce, turning around to face him, sliding his legs open so she could squeeze herself between them, and Steve watched, trying to keep as straight a face as he could, while she pulled his hands around her waist and to her ass.

“You got it, chief.  You fellas having a good evening so far?”  If she knew who he was, she’d certainly know who the rest of them were, but that didn’t appear to worry any of the others.  Tony was pretty drunk, still fixated on the edge between Darcy’s hip and leg, and had graduated from foisting ones on her to foisting twenties.  Bucky was preoccupied with the dame on stage, a leggy blonde whose golden skin contrasted perfectly with the lacy white number she had on.  Bruce, on the other hand, was furiously swiping at Candy Crush, his expression stone-still with all the madness going on around him.

When Darcy noticed Steve observing what was around him, she cradled his chin with her hand, pulling his gaze back around to her.

“Hey.”  She pouted, and at that moment a dark curl spiraled into her face, bouncing with her and with the music, and Steve had to fight the urge to brush it away from her cheek, to feel the way her skin would rub against his fingertips.  “Trying to hurt my feelings?”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”  He caught her eyes then, and for a fraction of a second, he thought she was going to lean down and kiss him full on the mouth.  But then the lights in the club flashed wildly, and the girl on stage was filling a pouch with the dollar bills that had collected at her feet.  And Darcy was pushing away from his chair.  Her hand ghosted over his thigh as she made her way down the aisle.

“Athena to the stage, Athena to the stage,” boomed the DJ over the loudspeaker, and there she was at the stairs, smiling - or grimacing - at the blonde as she passed, pressing her fingers to the pole.  Steve didn’t know the song that Darcy had chosen to play while she danced, but it reverted to that slow and sultry kind.  The way she danced up there, curling her legs around the pole and taking her time to spin around it, drummed a beat in his chest that must’ve been louder than the music.

Judging by the way that cash rained down on the stage and the way that the men in the crowd were howling, Steve wasn’t the only one who’d taken notice.

Something pricked behind his ears.  Something hot and cold at once.  It wasn’t jealousy.  It was adrenaline.

Darcy was pacing down the stage, swinging her hips, around the same time that Steve noticed the gaggle of men pushing their buddy toward the front, a wad of dollar bills in his hand.  He brushed it against her, ran it down her front, and tried to shove it down the deep V of her bodysuit.  Darcy was trying to push his hand away, her lips twisting with disgust, and before Steve knew it, he was bounding down the aisle toward the stage.

Tony, sobered by the jolt of Steve’s body moving out of his chair, might have been shouting at him not to blow his cover, not to cause a scene, but whatever it was that left his mouth, Steve didn’t hear.

He had his hand on the back of the man’s collar just as his hearing miraculously returned, in time to hear Darcy scream over the music:

Dude, stop!

He caught himself.  She was holding a small black box between herself and the sleazy punk, a small black box that had two little wires at the top and that buzzed menacingly in the space between them.  The guy turned around, looking incredulously at Steve, then gave him a firm shove and marched off cursing.

“What the fuck’s the matter with you?”  She was glaring at him, but her head was tilted to the side, so it didn’t seem so much that she was angry as confused.  Well, she was angry, hence the little shock box being pointed at him now, but the look in her eyes considered him more than shut him out.  Like she was actually trying to figure out what the fuck the matter with him was.

“I’m sorry.”  He put his hands up in surrender, taking a few steps back.  Darcy scooped up the small pile of dollar bills that had gathered on stage in the short time she’d been dancing up there, tucked them in the little purple money pouch that she’d presumably taken her shock box from, put the shock box into the pouch as well, and hopped off, clattering after him in her silvery high heels.

“I can take care of myself,” she hissed, and swatted him with the pouch, drawing the confusion of the patrons around them, and from the DJ, who was still playing her song and peering over the top of the booth to see what had happened.

“I can see that.”  He dodged another swat with the pouch and took another cautious step back.  “Look - stop swinging that thing at me - can I take you to dinner?”  Finally, she stopped swinging at him, stopped advancing on him.  Steve sighed, glancing out of the corner of his eye to where Bucky was sitting delightedly, watching in on the action, and pinched the bridge of his nose.  “It’s my birthday, and I want to do something I like.”

“Does this mean that I’m something you like?”  Her expression had shifted, and the look in her eyes was no longer bordering hostile, but had started to dance toward mischievous.

Steve resisted the urge to roll his eyes, for Tony had started wolf-whistling at him, pumping his fist like a frat boy.

“If you’re game for celebrating my hundredth with me without giving me an ‘Over the Hill’ card or taking me to another one of these ridiculous places, I’ll consider it.”

[parkerrogersgirl]

Happy Accident Part VI

Characters: Steve Rogers x Reader

Word Count: 1,685

Warnings: Steve being cute, fluff, more fluff, swearing, not quite smut, but THINGS ARE GETTING STEAMY Y’ALL (SMUT coming in Part VII)

Summary: After he saves you from being injured at the gym, THE Steve Rogers asks you out. Little by little, you start falling in love with every part of him, his quirks, his old-fashionedness, and his charm. But are you ready to let your guard down and let him in?

Author’s Note: HI EVERYONE! This is my first ever fic, so please give me feedback in my asks and like/reblog! And I will be taking requests, so feel free to send me some of those. Let me know if you’d like to be added to my tag list! On another note, I have to mention @sis-tafics because this fic probably wouldn’t exist without her support. She encouraged me to write this, and I’m eternally grateful. Thanks, Jill! Also thanks to the marvelous @my-emotional-selffor pretty much inspiring me with her KILLLLLLLER Chris Evans fanfic! And thank you to @lonelyvampirequeen for becoming my editor!

Catch up here!

Masterlist

You stretch as you wake up, your back popping in about 100 places. God, that felt nice, you think to yourself. It was 10am on a Saturday, and you didn’t have to be at work until 4. You yawn, picking up your phone to check your notifications. You gasp, horrified to see that you had fallen asleep before sending your text to Steve. He, however, had texted you about twenty minutes ago.

Steve <3: “Good morning, babe. We’re going to head out in about 45 minutes or so. You can go ahead and call me if you’re up before then. If not, I’ll call you tonight when we’re back.”

You open the selfie camera on your phone and fix your hair, making sure you don’t look that bad. You smile as you call Steve via FaceTime. He picks up after the first ring. Your eyes widen as you see him in his stealth soon.

He grins at you. “Hey, gorgeous! Man, am I glad I got to see you before we head out. How’d you sleep?”

“Not nearly as well as I did the night before. The bed was missing something… or someone,” you wink at him.

He groans, “you’re killing me over here, doll. I do have good news, though.”

You raise an eyebrow at him, “oh yeah? What’s that?”

“This is gonna be a fairly quick mission, I should be home tomorrow afternoon or evening,” he grins at you.

You squeal, “well, sweetheart, I think you just made my day. By the way, that outfit you’re wearing now is making me feel a lot of different things,” you wink at him.

Steve looks around, shifting his weight in his seat, “God I can’t wait to get back.”

“Why’s that?” You smirk at him.

“Oh, baby, when I get back, I’m going to love you so hard. I’ll spoil you.”

You moan softly, crossing your legs as you feel wetness between your legs, “Steve, is that a promise?”

“It sure is, doll. Hope you’ll be ready for me tomorrow.” He winks at you.

You look into piercing blue eyes, “honey, I’m ready for you now.”

He reaches down, adjusting himself again, “baby, the things you make me feel shouldn’t be legal.”

You raise an eyebrow quizzically, “and what do I make you feel?” You hear a voice overhead on his end, and he winces.

“That’s a story for another day.”

“Does that mean you have to go?”

He frowns, “Yeah, sorry, babe. I’ll text you once we’re back so you won’t be too worried about me,” he smirks.

You sigh, “okay, honey. Just stay safe, okay? I love you.”

“I promise I’ll be safe. I love you, doll!” Steve grins as he hangs up.

You set your phone down as you take out your laptop and start to do homework. You do everything except your paper, procrastinating since it’ll be your hardest assignment to get done. You fall asleep reading for psychology and end up dreaming about Steve. You wake up about an hour later, cursing yourself. The only thing you remember from your dream is being in Steve’s arms. Laying in your bed now, you could still almost feel his arms around you. You sigh, smiling as you open your book back up and get cracking on your paper. You struggle with writing it, making a note in your calendar to meet with your professor to get an opinion on the rough draft.

You write all 1,500 words in about three and a half hours, cracking your neck as you quickly undress and get in the shower before work. It was about 3:15, so you had about 25 minutes or so to get ready. You dry off and put on a white shirt and black jeans, blow drying your hair before you curl and hairspray it. You put on pink lipstick and mascara, adding a little bit of eyeliner. You smirk to yourself, wishing Steve could see you like this. You don’t send him a picture because you know he needs to focus on his mission, so you take a picture, reminding yourself to send it tomorrow.

You take a chance, slipping on your snow boots just in case. You put on Steve’s coat, sniffing it a little. Why did I just do that? You wondered. It did smell really nice though. You quickly grab your purse and phone, leaving your apartment and locking the door behind you before getting on the elevator. You get to the lobby and see it snowing hard. Thank God I wore my boots.

You start making the trek over to work, glad it’s only a few blocks. You arrive early and see that fucking Linda is the manager today. You unwillingly make pleasantries, giving off a fake smile as she shows you pictures of her STUPID grandson. You order a coffee, knowing you’ll need it in order to get through the next 5 hours with Linda. She takes her time making her coffee and you ask God for the will to not kill this woman. You can’t hang out with Steve if you’re in prison, you chastise yourself. That thought alone is enough for you to smile at Linda, taking your coffee from her as you head to the break room.

You debate with yourself for about 10 minutes on whether or not you should text Steve just to wish him luck, deciding against it. You lock your phone and purse in your locker before you put on your apron, walking out of the break room and going behind the counter. Work drags on, with even more assholes than usual. Your favorite part was when a mom asked for a mocha with no coffee for her little one. SO YOU BASICALLY WANT A HOT CHOCOLATE!?! There were a lot of days you wanted to quit, but you also desperately needed the money in order to eventually pay off your student loans. When it got slow, Linda would corner you about her grandson starting to ‘talk.’ Excuse me, lady, it doesn’t count as talking if it’s just noises. Get back to me when the kid tells you to shut up. Then I’ll be interested. You zone back into the conversation as you hear Steve’s name.

“... and Sarah told me about that Steve, I absolutely cannot believe you’re sleeping with Captain America!”

You shake your head, unsure you heard her properly. “Excuse me?”

She looks at you, confused. “I thought the two of you weren’t in a relationship, I thought it was just sex.”

“And what the hell would make you assume that? The fact that I haven’t known him for that long? So what? I don’t just sleep with guys for fun. I’m in an actual relationship with him.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.” Linda stammered

“Thank you for your apology.” You smile sarcastically at her, taking the order of the customer that has just walked up as Linda walks away.

The customer looks at you as she pays, “Soooo I saw that whole exchange. I don’t know how you deal with her. You were so calm. If she had said something like that to me, I probably would’ve said some things that got me fired.”

You shrug as you start to make her coffee, “I’m not worried about it, although he wouldn’t put up with it. He would have gone off on her. It’s fine, though.” You finish her coffee, adding extra whipped cream and chocolate syrup on top of her Frappucino.

“Aw, thanks so much!” She smiles and waves as she goes out into the cold.

You don’t go on your break until an hour before you’re supposed to leave, because your asshole coworker took a nap and his ‘alarm didn’t go off.’ You go in the break room and unlock your locker, removing your phone to see a message from Steve.

Steve <3: “Hey, baby. We just finished the mission, everything went great. We’re gonna stay here for the night because everyone’s too tired to do anything. I’ll be back tomorrow, can’t wait to see you.”

You smile, incredulous that one text from this man could brighten your whole day.

You: “Hey, honey. I’m on my break now, but work has been a mess today. Thank you for texting me, it made everything better.”

Steve <3: “I’m glad I could do that for you. Why has work been a mess? :(“

You: “It’s just something Linda said, I’ll tell you when you’re here tomorrow. I can’t wait until you’re back.”

Steve <3: “trust me, doll, I can’t wait, either. I miss you so much.”

You: “I miss you too <3 my break is over, mind if I call you when I get off?”

Steve <3: “nothing would make me happier. Good luck with the rest of your shift. I love you, (Y/N).”

You: “I love you too, Steve.”

You lock your phone back up, going back behind the counter. Thank God I only have 45 minutes left in this hellhole. You only have two customers the during the remainder of your shift, trying not to fall asleep when it’s slow. Why is a coffee shop open till 9 on a Saturday, anyway? Who even gets coffee this late? Pretty sure most people are partying or home Netflix and chilling. 

The clock on the wall says 9:00, and you groan as you run to the break room and hang up your apron. You get your purse and phone out of your locker, walking back toward the front door and calling Steve as you get outside.

Steve picks up, “hey, doll, did you just get off work?”

“Yeah, it was a long shift.” You yawn as you start to walk down the street toward your apartment, “and I wish you were here, I don’t like walking home alone at night.”

He sighs, “I know. I’m sorry, babe, but I’ll be back sooner than you know.”

“It’s okay, I got back safely.” You turn into the walkway of your apartment complex, seeing Steve standing in front of the door holding a bouquet of roses.

“Hey, beautiful.”

Tag list (let me know if you’d like to be added!):

@sis-tafics @my-emotional-self @thankyouforanonymity @gatorgal94 @supernaturaldean67 @lostinthoughtsandfeelings @victoriawilson23 @rissbennett @summer-winchester @lonelyvampirequeen @princess76179 @srgntjbarnes @white-chocolate-mocha-fan @jcc04220 @sarahp879 @lostess-souless @samanddeanmyguardianhunters @ilovethefandomwho

[one-of-us-blog]

Turn Left (Doctor Who S04E11)

Today Jon is forced to watch and recap “Turn Left”, the eleventh episode of Doctor Who’s fourth series. Donna’s taking a stroll down memory lane, but the things she’s remembering aren’t necessarily what actually happened. Can she make sense of things and get back to her proper life before it’s too late?

Keep reading to find out…

Eli, your latest recap was fantastic! I’m glad you had more fun with this flashback episode, and that you���re coming around to younger Dorothy! Although, I think maybe there was some sort of issue with the DVD I gave you? You seem to think that it wasn’t actually Betty White out there shredding the dancefloor, which I can only assume is due to some sort of audiovisual glitch or something like that. Sorry for the confusion, and hopefully you can watch a better copy soon!

For now, though, we’re due for some Donna Time.

Episode directed by Graeme Harper and written by Russell T Davies

On the planet Shan Shen, which seems like an intergalactic Chinatown, the Doctor’s showing Donna around and she’s having a really great time. The Doc lags behind to chat with some locals, and Donna wanders ahead only to be stopped by a fortuneteller. Donna’s not really interested in hearing her future told, though; she’s happy with her life as it is. The fortuneteller says the reading’s free for redheads, so Donna gives it a whirl. Inside the shop, the fortuneteller is fascinated by Donna. Specifically, she wants to know how Donna came to know the fascinating man in her life. Donna explains that she wound up in the Doc’s TARDIS on her wedding day, but the fortuneteller specifically wants to know what choices led Donna to that day. Donna is overwhelmed by a flashback of her time as a temp back at H.C. Clements, and behind her something begins to skitter towards her across the shop’s floor. Donna says she got that job because she chose to ignore Sylvia’s advice about taking another job. Donna is sucked into another flashback, this time showing Sylvia browbeating her daughter and trying to convince her to take the job she wants her to have. The central choice happened on the road: Donna chose to turn left, towards H.C. Clements, instead of turning right towards Sylvia’s job. Back in the shop, Donna is getting more and more freaked out. She demands the fortuneteller let go of her hands, and now she’s aware of something crawling on her back. The fortuneteller orders her to change her choice, this time turning right instead of left. The legs of a giant insect appear on Donna’s shoulders as she’s sucked back into the past. She turns right.

After the opening credits, which totally spoiled that Billie Piper’s going to play a major role in this episode, Donna’s at a Christmas party with some of her gal pals. Things are going well; her new boss, Jival Chowdry, just gave her a promotion to his personal assistant. Everyone’s happy for her, except for one of her friends, Alice, who can’t stop staring at her. She can’t quite explain what’s freaking her out, but she also can’t ignore the feeling. Outside, the Racnoss Webstar arrives and begins its attack on London.Everyone flees, except for a transfixed Donna and Alice, who continues to stare at Donna’s back. Before Alice turns to run, she tells Donna that there’s something on her back. Donna runs towards the ship, just as the military arrives to destroy it. She comes upon a large crowd and overhears a soldier telling his commander that a man managed to kill a big red spider thing under the city, but that the man, called the Doctor, is now dead. Donna walks away just as Rose Tyler comes running up. Donna lets her know that the Doctor is dead, and a devastated Rose says she came so far for nothing. Donna introduces herself, while Rose doesn’t give her name. Rose knows something is on Donna’s back, too, but as Donna tries to see behind her Rose vanishes.

In the next scene, Donna has been sacked by Chowdry. The Racnoss attack devastated his business, and he has to let Donna go. Donna’s in a mood to make a scene, but just then the building is shaken as a giant cloud appears above a nearby hospital. Royal Hope disappears, but Donna’s is too busy being pissed off to notice. The hospital reappears, but there was only one survivor. Back at home, Donna and Wilfred watch the news story and learn that a medical student named Martha Jones sacrificed herself to give her colleague enough air to breath. Donna doesn’t really believe the hospital got taken to the moon, no matter how convinced Wilfred is. Sylvia is busy going through Donna’s things, and we learn that Donna’s dad has passed away. An emotionally exhausted Sylvia tells Donna she’s given up on her. On the news, the surviving medical student says the day was saved by a woman named Sarah Jane Smith and her teenage sidekicks, who all died on the moon. Donna goes off to buy dinner, only to have Rose reappear in a flash of light. Rose still doesn’t introduce herself, and she’s still fixated on Donna’s back. Donna says a lot of people are staring at her back lately. Rose asks what Donna’s doing for next Christmas, and tells her she should get out of London. She knows about Donna’s raffle ticket, and says she’s going to win the raffle. Donna’s had enough, and tells Rose to leave her alone.

Donna doesn’t pass down the raffle winnings, though, and she, Sylvia and Wilfred arrive at a posh B&B in the country.  Sylvia’s in a better mood, and she and Donna bond over how much Donna’s dad would have loved this. A maid arrives with breakfast for the family, and she’s horrified by something she sees on Donna’s back. She warns Donna in Spanish that something’s on her back, and for the first time Donna almost catches sight of it. On the news, the family watches a replica of the Titanic crash into Buckingham Palace as the whole resort shakes around them. Outside, they see a giant mushroom cloud forming over what’s left of London. Wilfred reflects on the fact that he was supposed to be selling papers in the city on Christmas, and if they weren’t at the resort they’d all be dead.

As Donna and her family are now essentially refugees, they’re being relocated to Leeds. They’re sent to live in a house already occupied by several families, among others. They’re greeted by Rocco Colasanto, the eternally cheerful patriarch of a large family. The Nobles are designated to live in the kitchen. Wilfred tries to keep up a brave front, but Donna is devastated. Wilfred says America will offer the UK aid, but that is going to happen. With London no longer an option, Matron Cofelia decided the US would be a perfect place to breed a new generation of Adipose. Sixty million Americans have dissolved into baby butterballs, and America’s in too much of a crisis to help the UK now. The Nobles are too worn out to be upset at this point. At night, Sylvia reflects on everyone they’ve known who’s died while Donna promises to find work and get them a place of their own. Sylvia doesn’t think it will get better; even the bees are going missing. The Colasantos begin having a singalong outside and Donna goes to raise hell, but Wilfred’s a part of the ruckus and Donna and Sylvia join in. The Nobles begin to feel happy in their new home, but then shots begin ringing out outside. The ATMOS devices in the cars have started emitting poison gas, and the soldiers are trying to shoot the devices. One of them catches sight of Donna’s back and pulls his gun on her. He demands she turn around, but when she does there’s nothing there. Donna catches sight of the flashing lights that herald Rose’s arrival.

Rose and Donna go for a walk and Rose explains the deal with the ATMOS devices. She tells Donna Torchwood is taking steps to stop the Sontarans, and they succeed, but they died in the process. She tells Donna that none of this was supposed to happen. The Doctor stopped it all, and Donna knew him. She tries to explain that Donna used to be a companion, and that she saved the Doctor’s life by convincing him to leave after he defeated the Racnoss Queen. Donna has a flashback to that night, but she gets spooked and starts to storm off. Rose says something worse is coming, and that she’s been pulled here from another universe to stop it. Donna doesn’t understand what she’s supposed to do with this information; she beats herself up and calls herself nothing, but Rose says she’s the most important woman in the whole of creation. Donna’s tired, though. Rose says she needs Donna to come with her, but Donna turns her down. She tells Donna she’ll be back in three weeks, and that Donna will come with her only to end up dying. She vanishes before Donna’s eyes. Back home, the Colasantos are being sent off to labor camps. England is only for the English at this point, and any immigrants are being sent away. Colasanto tries to keep up a brave face for Donna, but Wilfred, who served in WWII, knows what’s up. He and Colasanto share a heartbreaking look before the whole family is loaded onto a truck. Wilfred explains to Donna that they’re in the middle of a holocaust. Donna runs after the truck to try to find out where the Colasantos are being taken, but the truck doesn’t stop.

Back inside the now-empty house, Sylvia’s basically dead inside. Donna tells her she asked about work, but no one will hire her. In effort to get her mother talking, Donna calls herself a disappointment and Sylvia agrees. Later, Donna and Wilfred go out for some stargazing. Donna keeps beating herself up, but Wilfred is too distracted to contradict her. He’s noticed something is wrong; an entire constellation is missing. He and Donna look at the sky, and one by one the stars begin to go out before their eyes. Donna’s made up her mind. She turns to find Rose right behind her, and tells her she’s ready. Rose takes her to a UNIT base, where Rose and Donna are both greeted by Captain Erisa Magambo. Rose hasn’t given Magambo her name, either. Nearby, the TARDIS has been wired up to some sort of machine. Rose gets Donna to go inside the TARDIS, and she’s promptly freaked out. The inside of the ship is dark and cold, but Donna’s still amazed by it. Rose says the ship is dying, but it’s still trying to help. Rose explains that the Doctor was a Time Lord, and Donna doesn’t understand what someone like that would want with her. Rose explains that the Doc thought she was brilliant, and that he made everyone feel that way when they were around him. Donna picks up that Rose and the Doc had a thing, but then Rose catches sight of the thing on Donna’s back again. Rose asks if Donna wants to see the thing, and at first Donna says no. She finally says yes, and steps into a circle of mirrors hooked up to the TARDIS.

Lights come on, but Donna’s too scared to open her eyes and see thing. Rose convinces her to, and she finally sees the giant bug on her back. She’s horrified, and Rose says they don’t know what the thing is. They do know it feeds off of time, though, specifically by changing time. Donna wants it off her back, but Rose says they can’t even touch the thing. Donna is straight freakin; she calls Rose a liar for telling her she was special, when the whole time it was this thing that was special while Donna was just its host. Rose says that isn’t it true, and that Donna is somehow causing reality to bend around her. Rose is convinced that they need the Doctor, but they also need Donna to be with him. Captain Magambo powers off the machine and Donna can’t see the thing anymore, but she knows it’s still there. Rose says that in order to get rid of it, Donna’s going to travel in time.

Rose tells her she’s got to go back in time and stop herself from turning right when she was meant to turn left. Donna gets rigged up in a ramshackle time jacket and the machine powers up around her. Donna says she’s ready, and that she understands. Rose said she was going to die, but what she meant is that this world, the world in which Donna never meets the Doctor, isn’t going to exist anymore. Donna’s okay with this, because a better world will exist in its place. Donna’s sure she won’t really die, but Rose doesn’t confirm this. As the machine powers up around her, Donna begins to freak out again. How can she die if she’s supposed to meet the Doctor? The machine activates, and Donna’s on a street in the middle of London. There’s a problem, though; she got transported to Sutton Court, which is nowhere near where she needs to be to stop herself from turning right. She’s only got a few minutes to get half a mile away, so she begins to run.

At the intersection, Sylvia is trying to convince Donna to take the job with Chowdry. Our Donna’s busting ass to get to the intersection in time, but she can only go so fast. She knows she can’t reach the car in time to stop herself, and she remembers that Rose told her she’s going to die. She steps out in front of an oncoming truck and is hit. In the car, Donna and Sylvia see a traffic jam start to form. As she’s dying, our Donna is visited by Rose again. Rose gives her a message, and Donna dies. Back in the car, the traffic jam is enough of an excuse for Donna to turn left. All of history rewrites itself, and, back in the fortuneteller’s shop on Shan Shen, the creature falls off of Donna’s back. The fortuneteller is horrified; how could Donna be so strong? What is she? What will she become?

The Doctor arrives, and Donna embraces him. He examines the creature while Donna tries to remember what happened. Her memories of the alternate reality is slipping away. The Doc explains that the thing is part of the Trickster’s Brigade, and that it formed an entire parallel world around Donna. He points out that this is the second time this has happened; she had a life built around her in the library a few episodes ago, too. The Doctor notices there are a lot of coincidences surrounding Donna; the Doc met her, then he met her grandfather, then he met her again. It’s almost like something’s binding them together. Donna says she’s nothing special, but the Doc says she’s brilliant. That jogs Donna’s memory, and she remembers what Rose said about the coming darkness. She doesn’t know Rose’s name, but she remembers her being blonde. Donna remembers the two words Rose gave her to tell the Doctor: Bad Wolf.

The Doc runs outside, and suddenly the words Bad Wolf are all over Shan Shen, and even the words written on the front of the TARDIS have changed. Donna asks what Bad Wolf is, and the Doctor says it’s the end of the universe.

The End.

~~~~~

Man, the heavy hitters just keep coming! I don’t know if it’s because Donna’s so much more mature than the Doc’s previous companions, but this season has been so much darker than the first three I’ve covered. This wasn’t the anxiety factory that “Midnight” was, but man was this a rough one. I thought Catherine Tate really killed it with her performance this time, even if I’m starting to get a little miffed at the treatment Donna’s getting. Aside from Captain Jack and Adam, Rose and Martha both got to be the only companions during their seasons. We’re 11 episodes into Donna’s run, and Martha’s been around for three of those episodes while Rose has been popping up the whole time only to be a full on costar in this one. Let Donna have her own season!

With that out of my system, I will say that Jacqueline King’s performance was heartbreaking, even if Sylvia is by far the worst mother of a companion we’ve seen so far, and I dug the whole vibe of Shan Shen (even if the fortuneteller’s performance didn’t blow me away). The design of the creature was kind of hokey for me, but I loved the atmosphere everyone built up around it. And I love that all of this was hinted to all the way back in “The Fires of Pompeii”, when Lucius Petrus told Donna she had something on her back. I loved all of the callbacks here, and it was interesting to see how the world would cope without the Doctor to watch out for it.

I give “Turn Left” QQQQ½ on the Five Q Scale.

We’ll see you again on Tuesday when Eli will feel paternal in the next episode of The Golden Girls, “Bringing Up Baby”, and then I’ll be back on Wednesday to kick off the season finale of Doctor Who with “The Stolen Earth”.

Until then, thanks for reading, thanks for turning and thanks for being One of Us!

[avengerscompound]

Home - Chapter 8

Home: A Captain America Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers

Word Count:  1572

Warnings:  Angst, parenthood, sexual manipulation, action, injuries, underage drinking and drug-taking.

Synopsis:  16 Years after the death of Daisy, Steve and Bucky have successfully raised two teenage kids with telepathy. Teens are never easy to live with though. Sarah in particular likes to test boundaries. Now on top of all the usual challenges of parenting, they have to deal with troublemaking demigods, a daughter who just wants to be accepted for who she is and running the Avengers. That’s when the children of other super-powered individuals start going missing.

Chapter 8

Sarah woke groggy, with her head pounding. It took a minute for her eyes to focus and for the confusion of what happened to clear. When it did she was first aware of how quiet her mind was. It had never been so clear before. It scared her and made her feel so alone that it hurt. She started to cry without even knowing what she was crying about.

She then became aware there was the sound of someone else crying nearby. She sat up and the room span. When everything finally steadied she looked around her. She was in a cell. It was modern and white. The bed wasn’t so much a bed as a white metallic bench. There was also a toilet. Three of the walls were solid white, no window just a small vent on the top of the back wall. The front of the cell was made of white bars.

Sarah staggered towards them and tried to used her strength to pull it open.

“Don’t bother.” A voice from the cell opposite. A young girl of around twelve stepped forward. She wore simple white cotton pants and a matching singlet. Her curly black hair hadn’t been brushed in weeks and it made her look wild.

“Danielle?” Sarah said.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Danielle replied.

“I thought you were dead.”

“Shit. So they’re not even looking for us?” Danielle snarled. Whoever it was that was crying started crying louder. “Shut up, May Day.”

“May Day?” Sarah called out, peering down the side of the bars as best she could. She couldn’t see much but there were other cells in the hall. At least five on each side of a hall.

“Sarah?” May Day called back. “I want my Mommy.”

“I know. We’ll get back. I promise.” Sarah said.

Danielle let out a sarcastic laugh. “How do you think that’s going to happen? Haven’t you noticed? They turned off our powers. If everyone thinks we’re dead, who’s coming for us?”

“They turned off our abilities?” Sarah asked confused. “How? Who did?”

Danielle shuddered. “They put something in our necks. I was awake the whole time because of what I am. They shot me and I didn’t think they could do that. It hurt so much. Then they cut me open while I was still hurting from the bullet. When they put the thing in my neck, my powers just shut off and they knocked me out. When I woke up the bullet was gone.”

“Who are they, Dani?” Sarah asked.

“How am I supposed to know?” Danielle shouted. “There’s so many of them. They keep telling us they’re going to hurt us more if we don’t do what they say. They make us watch these videos and they do all these tests on us. Is this our life now?”

“We’re going to get out, Danielle. I promise. My dads run the Avengers. You think they will give up looking for me? Even if they can’t find us, we’re far from helpless. I can fight even without my powers.” Sarah said.

Danielle started laughing and Sarah could hear May Day’s sobbing pick up in the cell next to her.

The door opened at the end of the hall and four men marched to Sarah’s cell.

“Step back from the bars.” One of the men barked.

Sarah took a step backward and clenched her fists. The men slid the door open, one pulled out handcuffs and went to grab Sarah’s wrist. Her training went into action. She flipped him over her head and kicked him in the throat. Two of the other men came for her one hit her with a taser and while she tried to shake it off he shoved her face-first into the wall.

“Oh, you gotta little fight in you, princess.” He growled into her ear. His hand slid up her side and squeezed her breast. “I’m going to like taking that from you.”

Sarah lashed out, hitting him in the chest. As he staggered back she kneed him in the groin. He dropped to the ground and she kicked him. “Touch me again, asshole.” She screamed.

The butt of a rifle struck her on the back of the head. Everything went black.

The Avengers briefing room was buzzing. Steve sat at the head of the table rubbing his eyes.  Carol, Tony, Peter, Bruce, Wanda, Sam, Jessica, and Luke all sat around it arguing with each other, while Bucky and Jamie paced up and down the room.

“If someone says we look at the known Hydra bases one more time I’m going to lose my shit.” Sam snapped. “There are no known Hydra bases. We thought we’d wiped them out already.”

“A fully operational Hyrda base would be using a lot of energy,” Bruce said. “If we were to use the satellites to find any anomalous energy hotspots around the globe?”

“FRIDAY?” Tony barked.

“Right away, Mr. Stark.” The building’s AI responded.

“What if she’s already dead? I can’t feel her anymore. I’m really scared.” Jamie said, rubbing his temple. Ever since he lost contact with Sarah he’d felt like a part of him was missing. It made him feel sick and he’d been fighting off low-level nausea ever since.

Bucky put his hand on Jamie’s shoulder. “We’re not going to give up looking for her either way.”

Steve looked over at Bucky. “Buck, when you were in Hydra, how did they control Daisy?”

Bucky collapsed down into one of the chairs and ran his hands through his hair. “I wasn’t even awake for most of that, Steve. I’m not sure I can help.”

“Whatever you can remember. Anything at this stage could help.” Steve said.

“Well, I think a lot of it was she was worried about me. I know she kind of did what she wanted a lot. I don’t think she was in complete control of her powers back then and you know she wasn’t ever as powerful as Sarah is anyway.”

“Well, that was helpful.” Jessica scoffed.

“I told you I couldn’t remember much.” Bucky spat back.

“Buck, is there anything else?” Steve asked.

Bucky closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. The memory of waking up in her room and how thick the door was. How Daisy had said she was a prisoner too, but she wasn’t strong. So why was the door so thick? “I think they must have kept her in a room that was lined in something that damped her powers. The door to her room was so thick. I couldn’t break it open. Why would it be so thick for a girl who wasn’t even particularly strong.”

“FRIDAY, narrow your search to structures with unusually thick walls at least somewhere within them,” Steve said.

“Right away, Captain Rogers.”

Sarah came to sitting upright. Her head was pounding again and when she went to move she realized her hands were locked down to the arm of the chair she was sitting in. She opened her eyes and tried to struggle free from her bonds.

“Hello, Sarah.” A warm female voice said from behind her. She craned her head around to see who was talking. A beautiful woman with pale skin and black hair walked around the front of a desk and sat down opposite her. She wore a green bodysuit that hugged her figure. “I’m sorry for the way that Agent manhandled you. He is being reprimanded. You won’t see him again.”

“Who are you?” Sarah asked.

“My name is Viper. Have you heard of me?” Viper answered.

Sarah shook her head. “Where am I?”

“Why my dear, you’re with Hydra. You know your mother grew up with us, don’t you? I met her a few times. She was very powerful. You are stronger am I correct?” She spoke like she was bored and had an accent that Sarah couldn’t quite place. Like she’d never spent long enough in one country for an accent to take hold.

“You’re going to regret taking me.” Sarah seethed. “I’m going to kill you personally.”

Viper laughed. Sarcasm dripped from the sound. “Oh, darling. What do you think you’re going to do? I turned off your abilities.”

“You think that’s going to matter? Even if my fathers never find me. And you know they will. You think I need my powers? I am going to tear your throat out with my teeth.” Sarah spat.

Viper laughed again. This time it sounded genuine. “So full of fire, young Sarah. You remind me of me. I don’t want to take it from you, but don’t think I won’t.” Viper pressed a button on a console in front of her and electricity surged through Sarah. Her jaw clenched, her teeth narrowly missing her tongue. There was so much pain, she wondered for a moment if this was how she died.

It stopped quickly and Sarah sat panting in front. “What do you want from me?”

“Just your compliance. I know it won’t come quickly. Don’t worry about that. It will come. As it will with all your little friends.” Viper replied. “You aren’t going to be found here. You can’t escape. You will break.” Viper hit a button in front of her. A group of guards filed in. “Get her out of here.” She barked at them.

Sarah struggled with them as they wrestled her into cuffs.

“Get some rest, Sarah. Your re-education starts tomorrow.”

// NEXT

[avengerscompound]

Home - Chapter 4

Home: A Captain America Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers

Word Count:  2880

Warnings:  Angst, parenthood, sexual manipulation, action, injuries, underage drinking and drug-taking.

Synopsis:  16 Years after the death of Daisy, Steve and Bucky have successfully raised two teenage kids with telepathy. Teens are never easy to live with though. Sarah in particular likes to test boundaries. Now on top of all the usual challenges of parenting, they have to deal with troublemaking demigods, a daughter who just wants to be accepted for who she is and running the Avengers. That’s when the children of other super-powered individuals start going missing.

Chapter 4

Bucky leaned against the bus stop shelter on Tenth Avenue in Hell’s Kitchen. He watched his son pace up and down the Street corner. He’d stop for a minute and hold his forehead before pacing again. After a while Jamie strode over to Bucky, his brow furrowed and his lips pursed.

“I dunno, dad. I think you should have brought Sarah out for this. That all city scanning thing is more her expertise. I’m better at the altering people’s thought pattern thing.” Jamie said, running his fingers through his hair.

“Yeah, but your sister has school,” Bucky said. “I know you can do it. We just need one person who saw anything. Keep trying. I have faith in you.”

Jamie shook his head. “There’s just so much noise. I can’t …” He trailed off, perking up and looking at a woman across the road.

“Got something?” Bucky asked.

Jamie pointed at the woman. An elderly white woman, pulling a bright pink shopping trolley behind her. “Can you go ask her if she saw anything. Even if she denies it, she’ll think about it.”

Bucky dashed across the broad avenue, darting in and out of the cars, much to the vocal annoyance of their drivers. He reached the woman and stepped in front of her. “Excuse me, ma’am.” He said. Pulling a photo of Danielle Cage from his jacket pocket. “I’m Bucky Barnes. You may have heard of me. I work with the Avengers.”

The woman eyed him suspiciously. “You’re the one with the metal arm.” She said it like it was an accusation.

Bucky smiled and held out his hand, flexing his fingers. “That’s me.” He said. “I’m just looking into the disappearance of this girl.” He held out the photo of Danielle to the woman. “Her name is Danielle Cage. She went missing from around here four days ago. Do you recognize her? Remember anything strange happening?”

Something dark flashed over the woman’s features and she winced like she was in pain. Her eyes clouded and when she finally spoke it was in a strangely chipper voice that didn’t match what she’d been saying previously. “I’m sorry, young man. I haven’t seen anything unusual. At least no more so than normal.”

“Are you sure, ma’am? Think real hard. Her parents are worried sick.” Bucky asked. He glanced back across the street to Jamie. He had one hand on his temple and the other was twitching like he was using one of Stark’s holographic computers and sorting through some files.

The woman scrunched up her face and actually made a sound like someone had hit her. “No,” she said. “I’m sorry. I need to go home. I think I’m getting a migraine.”

Bucky thanked her and made his way back across the road. “Anything?” He asked.

“Some people blocked off the street. They shot Danielle. No warning or anything. They must have had some of those bullets that were developed especially for Cage. I thought they’d run out of those… anyway, she just dropped. They dragged her into a van and then rounded up all the witnesses and injected them with something. I don’t know what but that memory was clouded something fierce. I think no one’s talking because no one remembered it happening.”

Bucky scowled. This was really bad. Not just some spur of the moment scheme. This has been plotted and executed flawlessly. “Could you tell who they were?”

Jamie frowned and wrung his hands. “Her memory was clouded. But dad, I think it was Hydra.”

Sarah sat in the back of the car with Olive and McKenna while Steve drove them to Artmania. Bucky was riding shotgun and McKenna was pretty obviously smitten with him.

It had taken all of three minutes after meeting Steve and Bucky for the two girls to realize that their best friends two dads that she rarely ever spoke about were, in fact, Captain America and The Winter Soldier. After some extreme fangirling that had made Sarah want to wipe their memories and kick them out of the car, things had finally settled down. While Sarah and Olive happily chatted about the bands they were going to see, McKenna drilled Bucky with questions.

She asked him about battles he’d been in, what it was like ‘in the olden days’, about his arm. She was obsessed with the arm. Could he feel with it? Did it hurt? How strong was it? She’d touch it and ask him if he felt it.

Eventually, Sarah snapped and told her to cut it out which made Steve smirk and Bucky punch him in the leg.

Steve pulled the car up to a drop off zone near the front gates. He turned his chair and looked back at the girls.

“We’re trusting you with a lot here, Sarah. You’re here to listen to music. Not meet boys. Not to drink. Not to take drugs. Don’t let us down.” He said.

Sarah rolled her eyes. “Ugh, I know, dad. Can we go?”

“Alright. Have fun. If you get in trouble call me.” He answered. The girls jumped out of the car and Steve watched as Sarah grabbed Olive’s hand and the three girls made their way to the entrance laughing.

“Don’t think you’re gonna have to worry about boys there, Stevie,” Bucky smirked.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Steve asked.

“I think our girl might be into girls,” Bucky said. “Look at her.”

Steve shrugged and started to pull the car out turning it in the direction of home. “Girls are just like that. It’s not like when you and I were growing up either. Everyone is always touching.”

Bucky threw his head back, roaring with laughter. “I can’t believe you of all people can’t recognize when a person might be trying to hide their feelings in case they’re not reciprocated. She’s totally into that Olive girl.”

Steve scowled trying to remember if Sarah had ever mentioned crushes she had at all. She certainly wasn’t the boy-crazy type they paint teenage girls as on TV. She also liked to follow Carol around like a lost puppy. He’d always assumed it was because she saw her as a mother figure and she had powers that Sarah was envious of. What if that wasn’t it at all?

“Oh god, Buck. I have to give her a whole different talk.” Steve said, mortified.

“Why didn’t you tell us those were your dads?” McKenna squealed, as they made their way towards the festival entrance.

“Yeah, well look at how you reacted.” Sarah groaned.

“Did they adopt you or like are you related to one of them?” McKenna said.

Olive’s eyes went wide. “You can’t ask her that!” She yelped.

Sarah sighed. “No, it’s fine. Might as well get it all out on the table. Ask away.”

They joined a line for bag checks and McKenna jumped up and down clapping her hands. “Well, that one first. Like adopted. Surrogate. What?”

“It’s complicated. My dads both were with a woman as well. My brother’s biological dad is Bucky and mine is Steve.” Sarah said.

“That’s so weird!” McKenna squealed.

“McKenna!” Olive groaned covering her face.

“What happened to your mom? Did they break up?” McKenna asked.

“She died. Not long after I was born.” Sarah explained. They reached security pausing the conversation while they had their bags checked.

“So was she super-powered too?” McKenna asked.

Sarah nodded.

McKenna’s hands flew to her mouth. “Are you super-powered? Oh my god you are, aren’t you? What can you do?”

Sarah sighed. This was it. This was the day she lost her friends. “I have the strength …”

“Oh. My. God! How strong are you?”

“Pretty fuckin’ strong. Also, I can do this head stuff.”

McKenna grabbed her by both arms stopping them in their tracks. “What kind of head stuff?”

Sarah picked McKenna up and moved her from the path. McKenna squealed with delight and jogged after her. “I can read minds. Control people. Change memories.”

McKenna’s eyes went wide. “You can read my mind? What am I thinking now?”

“You’re thinking about how hot my dad is. Which is gross by the way. You know he’s like literally over a hundred years old.” Sarah groaned.

“He’s still hot. Both of them are. They used to share a girlfriend, you say? So they’re bi, not gay. Maybe they’d like to have another one?” McKenna said, throwing her arm over Sarah’s shoulder.

“You’re disgusting,” Sarah whined.

“Hey don’t talk to your new mother like that. You’re grounded, young lady.”

They made their way through the ticket gates and towards the main stage. Olive had started leaving room between her and Sarah. Sarah sighed. The whole festival was going to be soured by this. Olive had worked out what it meant to have a friend who can read your mind and now she didn’t want to be friends anymore.

Sarah approached her and put her arm around her waist.

Olive shrugged her off and stared at her. “Sarah …”

“I can read minds. I don’t do it to my friends.” Sarah said. It was a lie sure. But Sarah didn’t know what else to do. Either lie or have no friends. Olive noticeably relaxed.

The three girls spent a few hours listening to bands at the main stage and then decided to go take a walk around the festival. The bought some foods from food trucks and decided to eat it sitting around a fire pit.

“I didn’t realize how cold I was until we sat in front of this fire,” Olive said, scooting closer to Sarah.

A couple of guys in their mid-twenties whispered something to each other. “We’ve got something that will help you warm up.” One of them said offering a flask to the girls.

McKenna took it hesitantly. “What is it?” She asked.

“It’s just whiskey. You aren’t scared are you?” The guy says.

McKenna pulled a face and defiantly took a drink before handing it to Olive. She started coughing as the liquid hit the back of her throat. Olive followed suit and passed the flask to Sarah.

Sarah toyed with the flask. She’d promised her dad she wouldn’t drink but she also knew it wouldn’t affect her. She raised it to her lips and stared at the guys over the fire and then skulled the whole container in one go. She tossed the flask to the guys who were staring at her with their mouths hanging open.

“Holy shit, Sarah!” McKenna said. “Is that because…”

Sarah nodded and made the zip it gesture over her lips.

Sarah’s stunt had the opposite effect to what she wanted. The guys were spurred on in their attempts to hit on her and her friends. They bought more drinks and kept plying the girls with them. As Olive and McKenna got drunker Sarah just started to get jealous. Other drugs were offered to them and once again Sarah remained completely sober.

“You guys should really stop now,” Sarah grumbled.

“That blond guy is cute, don’t you think?” Olive said, ignore Sarah and rubbing her face on Sarah’s arm.

“You don’t even like boys,” Sarah said.

Olive looked at her with her eyes wide. “You said you didn’t read my mind.” She said. “You’re a freak. I do like boys. Leave me alone.” She pushed Sarah and then moved around the fire, sitting next to the blond. She glared at Sarah and the blond put his arm around her.

Sarah sighed. “And so it begins.” She muttered to herself.

“Hello, princess.” A familiar voice said, from behind her. Sarah turned to see Loki standing behind her.

“Loki? Did dad send you to watch me?” She asked.

Loki sat down next to her. He was dressed in casual black clothes. Blending in well with the crowd at the festival. He laughed. “You think either of your fathers would trust me to watch you.”

Sarah giggled. “I guess you’re right. What are you doing here?”

Loki ran his hand through Sarah’s hair, twirling a lock of it around his finger. “I can tell when something is bothering my future queen.”

Sarah elbowed him. “Cut it out, creeper.”

“You know you are above all these insects. You should not concern yourself with their mortal problems.” Loki purred.

Sarah frowned. “But look at them. Dad told me not to drink or do drugs. But why bother telling me? It doesn’t do anything. I could take all the drugs at this festival and just walk out of here. I just want to be a teenager and fuck up and make mistakes like a teenager.”

Loki played with Sarah’s hair for a moment in silence. “I have something you can take.” He said. “It should affect you.”

Sarah looked at him twisting her hands together. Olive had started kissing the guy she was sitting with. Sarah could feel that she wasn’t enjoying it. It was just to upset her.

“What does it do?” She asked.

“For an Asgardian it makes us see other realities. It opens our minds and connects us with all things. It can cause paranoia. Being connected to everything can make the evils come to the forefront.” Loki explained.

“I already feel connected to everything,” Sarah said, frowning.

“On this realm. Yes.” Loki said. “It’s up to you. I know what it feels like to not belong.”

Sarah looked back at her friends. They did seem to be having a kind of fun she was jealous of and worried that she wouldn’t be able to understand.

“Okay.” She said.

“Open your mouth.”

Sarah tilted her head back and opened her mouth. Loki dripped some liquid from an ornate glass vial onto her tongue. It affected her almost immediately. Her pupils dilated and the world suddenly cleared. She looked at the fire and she could see lifeforms skip from the flames. Glowing green threads seemed to run between each person, binding them together. She looked at Loki. He shimmered blue.

She raised his hand so it faced palm out and hovered it in front of hers. Sparks traveled between them, blue from him and red from her. They stood out compared to everyone else there.

“Can you see that, Loki?” Sarah breathed.

“I have seen it. Yes.”

“Why are we different to everyone else?” She asked.

Loki chuckled. “Because we are gods, my darling. Why do you think I’ve started pursuing you like I have?”

Sarah started dancing her fingers over Loki’s palm, watching how their sparks intermingled. “I’m a god? But my parents weren’t gods. Not like you are.”

“No, you’re something new,” Loki said. He moved his hand to her back and slowly ran his palm up and down her back. He knew the risk of this high turning into something dark and dangerous. He spoke softly. Soothing her.

Sarah rested her head on Loki’s shoulder watching the fire dance. “Loki can you be a girl again?”

“Certainly.” His form shimmered. Sarah stared at her and poked her breast.

“How come I can feel them?” She asked.

Loki laughed. “It’s not an illusion, my love. I can be what you need me to be.”

“How come the mundies didn’t notice you change?”

“They are feeble witted. They only notice what they want to.” Loki said, still stroking his hand up and down her back.

Sarah looked back over at her friends. They were both flirting and kissing with the guys opposite her. She sighed.

“What’s wrong, princess?” Loki asked.

“How come the only person who’s interested in me is like a million years older than me and has known me my whole life? It’s weird.” She said.

“These mortals fear all who are different to them. I, however, see you for who you are. I see your value. I can wait for you. You are worth the wait.” Loki replied.

Sarah looked into Loki’s eyes and swallowed. “No one has ever even kissed me.” She said.

Loki stroked her fingers over Sarah’s jaw. “What do you want, my darling?”

Sarah shook her head.

“Do you want me to kiss you?” Loki asked.

“I - I - I want you to …” She started leaning into Loki and her head suddenly snapped to the side staring at her friends. The thoughts from the men over there had filled her head. They were planning on taking Olive and McKenna somewhere quiet to fuck them whether they wanted to or not.

Sarah jumped to her feet and stormed over to them. “Get the fuck away from my friends!” She shouted.

Her vision went dark and she felt like something was clutching at her. She spun around to see nothing. The fire was green not red. When she turned back one of the men was on his feet yelling. She could hear him and she couldn’t. There were so many voices. She punched out and he went flying.

McKenna jumped to her feet and grabbed Sarah by the shoulders shaking her. “What the fuck, Sarah?” She shouted.

“He was gonna - gonna do stuff.” Sarah grabbed her head. It was all becoming jumbled. She turned to where Loki had been sitting. He was gone.

Sarah grabbed Olive and McKenna by the hands. “We have to go!” She said and started pulling them to the exit.

// NEXT