Bucky: Thanks. Could I have a little spoon please?

Steve: Sure *gently hugs him from behind*

Infinity War: The ones we leave behind - 2018

Bucky was not proud about what he was about to do. Hell, if anyone found out he’d be locked up as well for getting too close to the bad guy. From Thors point of view, Loki was misunderstood and wasn’t that bad. To everyone else, he was like the new Hitler. The soldier decided he would check it out for himself. 

Though, he wasn’t approaching the god because he wanted to know if he was good or not. He approached him after hearing from Clint what Loki was able to do. Mind control. This gave him an idea which definitely was not his best. He was going to see about Loki doing his think and getting rid of the trigger words inside his head. He wanted every little bit of HYDRA gone. 

Slipping by the guards, he entered the cellar that Loki was being kept in, the only protection he had was himself and the pocket knife that he had tucked in his shoe at all times. 

Looking at the God, he took a breath and spoke.

“An attempt is all I need.” Bucky commented and gazed at the cuffs that were holding the god back. “It also makes no sense for you to be locked up when the most dangerous one here is me.” He sighed and broke the cuffs off with barely any effort using his metal arm. “I’m not sure what you need to access me but to be safe, we need to get as far away from here and find a way to hold me down. Once he’s waken, it’s hard to get back to normal and I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore.” Bucky quietly explained. Thankfully he already had a place in mind. Suddenly he felt nervous, Loki was free and could easily escape without fulfilling their deal. Then he’d have to explain to the team who were already iffy about trusting him in the first place.

The past year for Steve had been absolute hell. After Tonys funeral, he stepped down as Captain America and passed on the role to Sam. After losing Tony, he lost the will to carry on. What made things more difficult was having to explain to their daughter that Tony was not coming back. After that she had constant nightmares, he lost track of how many times he ran into her room while she cried for her other daddy and that made him want to break down as well but he couldn’t. He had to be strong for Morgans sake. Steve had his fair share of moments but usually that was when he was alone. Pepper and Happy were wonderful, for the first 5 months they helped him get on his feet so he wasn’t overwhelmed. 

A year had passed and Steve seemed to have gotten the single dad thing down. Happy and Pepper stopped by periodically to visit them both but he would not pawn her off onto them anymore. Life is too short and he wanted to make sure he kept Morgan happy. 

It was early afternoon and Steve had just finished tidying up when he heard a knock on the door. It was probably one of his friends visiting before Morgan came back from school. 

Opening the door, he immediately froze when he saw who was on the other size. There was no way this was possible, he had to be seeing things.

Steve should have known better than to enter an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. Especially when there was no signal anywhere. He and Tony were sent on a mission to find an agent who was planning some things against SHIELD. They were led out to a mansion in the middle of nowhere and led into the basement. 

“I’m beginning to believe that this is a trap. Why would they even come here?” He asked, suddenly hearing a fast pace tick. It was a trap, and the place was going to blow any moment. 

“Get out of here, quick!” He called out but it was too late. The explosion went off and the house was now falling apart on top of them. Wood along with furniture, metal and other materials pinned Steve down before he had a chance to dodge out of the way. 

It all happened so fast and Steve found himself digging his way out from the rubble. If it weren’t for his strength and the serum, he probably wouldn’t have survived. 

Tonys answer was not assuring to him at all. He tried pulling his phone out and getting a signal once again. Failed. There was nothing around here and he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to carry Tony to safety on time. Now Steve wished that they had brought the Hulk or someone as backup or had someone nearby with better training on standby. Either way, he knew this mission was not going to continue. 

“We need to get out of here now, you need to be looked at immediately.” He insisted using his Captain voice unintentionally. Throwing the rebel away, he moved closer to the smaller man who was now on his side. 

Steve knew getting Bucky back was never going to be easy, finding a cure for the trigger wasn’t successful either. Steve couldn’t help but feel sad every time Bucky was Winter, he could only imagine the strain it had on his friend and there wasn’t much he could do to help. He swallowed hard, feeling just how close the knife was to causing damage, surely he would have to fight if it came to it but that would be the last resort. Steve really didn’t want to hurt his friend.

The Captain watched as the knife fell to the floor, Bucky was winning the fight. He may not have been fine just yet but that was progress. Most people would have kicked the knife away or tried to take it. Steve just stood there and watched his friend. 

“We can head back to my place and you can crash on my bed for as long as you want.” He smiled softly. “Then I can have dinner waiting for you when you wake up.” The blonde suggested then paused as Bucky proceeded to speak. Somehow that made him a little concerned. If the soldeir thought he was the handler? Steve could never treat Bucky the way HYDRA did. 

and here lies proof that tony stark has a heart.