Someone take a look at this & tell me if it sucks out loud.
This is the (maybe, possibly) last chapter of an MCU Steve/Darcy-Avengers are family fic I've been writing. I've looked at it til I'm blue in the face. If you want to read the first nine chapters, you can find them here. Please note that this takes place 2 years post The Winter Soldier & before Cap3.
Steve has perfect recall of almost everything that has happened in his life. Even before the serum, his brain was one of the few physical problems he didn't have. (Unless you count Bucky wondering if he'd taken one too many hits to the head because, “Damn it, Stevie, that was a stupid thing to do!”)
One of the few things he can't recall, with perfect clarity, is a time when Bucky wasn't a part of his life.
Steve remembers sitting on the floor of his apartment rolling a ball to a dark haired boy who was twice as big as he was. He remembers leaving early for school, so he could walk slowly. Bucky was always by his side, never complaining of having to get up so early. Bucky helping him through many of the asthma attacks or any attack that his body decided to revolt against.
Bucky was simply always there, until he enlisted. And, as always, Steve even found a way around that.
When Steve watched Bucky and Natasha walk off the elevator, a calmness, that he'd only felt before the serum and with Darcy, settles over him. When he hears Bucky say his name, the last pieces of the world he's been rebuilding slot into place.
After Natasha and Darcy walk them to Steve's apartment and leave, the men sit on Steve's couch, hesitantly looking at each other.
“I'm sorry, for all of it,” Bucky says softly.
“I know. All of that, until D.C, it wasn't you. We've been able to piece together most of what happened since you...” Steve says, unable to finish. “I'm sorry for that... that I wasn't enough to save you.”
“No, Steve. You couldn't have... there was no way you could have caught me, unless you'd been wearing a parachute. Blame the asshole that fired the gun, Zola or Schmidt or even Phillips for sending us on that mission. But it was never your fault.”
They sit in a familiar silence as each tries to think of ways to convince the other. Finally, they look at each other, smile and say, “Punk” and “Jerk” at the same time. With those two words, they know that everything will be okay.
An hour later, they are still sitting on the couch, now with discarded beer bottles and empty pizza boxes littering the coffee table. The silence between the men is familiar and comforting. Steve had always been able to just sit and be still- a remnant of his time in sick beds. Bucky, however, was usually the first to break the silence and this time was no exception.
“So, was that your girl?”
“Yeah. Her name is Darcy. We met the first day she came to the building,” Steve laughs and tells him the story of the bet and Tony passing out.
“Stark? Howard's...”
“Son, yeah, it threw me off too. He looks so much like Howard, but I wouldn't bring it up to him. They didn't have the best relationship. If you are familiar with the Avengers, you might know him better as Iron Man.”
Steve gives Bucky a brief rundown of his teammates, and their significant others, along with their skills, skipping Natasha because Bucky knows her as well as he knows Steve. A little better in some cases.
“But there are other things you need to know about Tony. We really didn't get along when we first met. He's arrogant and has an ego the size of the city, but he's smart enough to back it up. If you thought Howard was smart? Tony's a honest to God genius. The first day I met him, he'd learned everything he could about thermonuclear astrophysics the night before, saved a helicarrier from falling out of the sky, and flew a nuclear bomb into a hole in the sky to save the world. And when he gets a look at your arm? He'll offer to make you a better one with built in weapons.”
“I'll pass, but anyway... So, back to Darcy,” Bucky says. “What does she do around here?”
“Depends on who you ask,” Steve replies. “If you ask Personnel, she's the Managing Director of the Private Labs. If you ask Tony, she's the pain in the ass he couldn't find anything without and would do just about anything for her. If you ask Bruce, she's his exotic tea supplier. If you ask Jane, she's the best friend and Pop Tart enabler. If you ask her, she's the cat herder and science wrangler of three geniuses who are one Ph.d away from turning into super villains and taking over the world.”
“And if I ask you?”
“She's everything. She's kept me together. She's kicked my ass when I needed it. She's just... everything,” Steve says with a soft smile.
Bucky blinks at the look on his friend's face. In almost thirty years of friendship, he's only seen that look once before.
“Good,” Bucky says with a nod. “But, what's she gonna think about me? Does she know...?”
“It really doesn't matter, but she knows it all- good, bad, and ugly. When Nat told us where she was going, and why, Darcy went on a cleaning binge, cleared out our guest room, had JARVIS study footage of you so they could guess your size, and ordered clothes for you, just in case you didn't have anything. She also said something about baking you the largest cake she could for all the times you had to save my 'stupid ass because my smart mouth wrote checks my body couldn't cash' back in the day,” Steve says with a laugh.
Bucky snorted. “Sounds like a stand up dame to me.”
“Oh, you have no idea. I give it two months, if that long, and the two of you will be thick as thieves.”
“I'm glad she makes you happy,” Bucky says.
Steve turns his head and looks Bucky in the eyes. “I'm happier now.”
Steve has perfect recall of almost everything that has happened in his life. Even before the serum, his brain was one of the few physical problems he didn't have. (Unless you count Bucky wondering if he'd taken one too many hits to the head because, “Damn it, Stevie, that was a stupid thing to do!”)
One of the few things he can't recall, with perfect clarity, is a time when Bucky wasn't a part of his life.
Steve remembers sitting on the floor of his apartment rolling a ball to a dark haired boy who was twice as big as he was. He remembers leaving early for school, so he could walk slowly. Bucky was always by his side, never complaining of having to get up so early. Bucky helping him through many of the asthma attacks or any attack that his body decided to revolt against.
Bucky was simply always there, until he enlisted. And, as always, Steve even found a way around that.
When Steve watched Bucky and Natasha walk off the elevator, a calmness, that he'd only felt before the serum and with Darcy, settles over him. When he hears Bucky say his name, the last pieces of the world he's been rebuilding slot into place.
After Natasha and Darcy walk them to Steve's apartment and leave, the men sit on Steve's couch, hesitantly looking at each other.
“I'm sorry, for all of it,” Bucky says softly.
“I know. All of that, until D.C, it wasn't you. We've been able to piece together most of what happened since you...” Steve says, unable to finish. “I'm sorry for that... that I wasn't enough to save you.”
“No, Steve. You couldn't have... there was no way you could have caught me, unless you'd been wearing a parachute. Blame the asshole that fired the gun, Zola or Schmidt or even Phillips for sending us on that mission. But it was never your fault.”
They sit in a familiar silence as each tries to think of ways to convince the other. Finally, they look at each other, smile and say, “Punk” and “Jerk” at the same time. With those two words, they know that everything will be okay.
An hour later, they are still sitting on the couch, now with discarded beer bottles and empty pizza boxes littering the coffee table. The silence between the men is familiar and comforting. Steve had always been able to just sit and be still- a remnant of his time in sick beds. Bucky, however, was usually the first to break the silence and this time was no exception.
“So, was that your girl?”
“Yeah. Her name is Darcy. We met the first day she came to the building,” Steve laughs and tells him the story of the bet and Tony passing out.
“Stark? Howard's...”
“Son, yeah, it threw me off too. He looks so much like Howard, but I wouldn't bring it up to him. They didn't have the best relationship. If you are familiar with the Avengers, you might know him better as Iron Man.”
Steve gives Bucky a brief rundown of his teammates, and their significant others, along with their skills, skipping Natasha because Bucky knows her as well as he knows Steve. A little better in some cases.
“But there are other things you need to know about Tony. We really didn't get along when we first met. He's arrogant and has an ego the size of the city, but he's smart enough to back it up. If you thought Howard was smart? Tony's a honest to God genius. The first day I met him, he'd learned everything he could about thermonuclear astrophysics the night before, saved a helicarrier from falling out of the sky, and flew a nuclear bomb into a hole in the sky to save the world. And when he gets a look at your arm? He'll offer to make you a better one with built in weapons.”
“I'll pass, but anyway... So, back to Darcy,” Bucky says. “What does she do around here?”
“Depends on who you ask,” Steve replies. “If you ask Personnel, she's the Managing Director of the Private Labs. If you ask Tony, she's the pain in the ass he couldn't find anything without and would do just about anything for her. If you ask Bruce, she's his exotic tea supplier. If you ask Jane, she's the best friend and Pop Tart enabler. If you ask her, she's the cat herder and science wrangler of three geniuses who are one Ph.d away from turning into super villains and taking over the world.”
“And if I ask you?”
“She's everything. She's kept me together. She's kicked my ass when I needed it. She's just... everything,” Steve says with a soft smile.
Bucky blinks at the look on his friend's face. In almost thirty years of friendship, he's only seen that look once before.
“Good,” Bucky says with a nod. “But, what's she gonna think about me? Does she know...?”
“It really doesn't matter, but she knows it all- good, bad, and ugly. When Nat told us where she was going, and why, Darcy went on a cleaning binge, cleared out our guest room, had JARVIS study footage of you so they could guess your size, and ordered clothes for you, just in case you didn't have anything. She also said something about baking you the largest cake she could for all the times you had to save my 'stupid ass because my smart mouth wrote checks my body couldn't cash' back in the day,” Steve says with a laugh.
Bucky snorted. “Sounds like a stand up dame to me.”
“Oh, you have no idea. I give it two months, if that long, and the two of you will be thick as thieves.”
“I'm glad she makes you happy,” Bucky says.
Steve turns his head and looks Bucky in the eyes. “I'm happier now.”