worn out places, worn out faces; acollaboration for @stuckyaubang
written by @spacerenegades (crinklefries on ao3)
art by @fannishlove, @witchylurker, and @bastgrr
rated: e
archive warning: graphic depictions of violence
relationships: steve rogers/bucky barnes, minor tony stark/pepper potts
additional tags: alternate universe - dystopia, alternate universe - western, alternate universe - no powers, bearded steve rogers, resistance fighter bucky barnes, gun-for-hire steve rogers, fake marriage, fake/pretend relationship, lovers on the run, fake lovers on the run, that’s the new genre, this is a western dystopian fake lovers on the run action movie AU, with heavy sociopolitical commentary, fuck fascism!, there’s a lot of violence, many guns were used in the writing of this fic, but it’s ok because steve rogers wears a duster the entire time, alternate title: dicks out in the apocalypse, mentions of torture, sexytimes happens, eventual smut, slow burn
chapters: 11/11
word count: 84,433
summary:
He comes in like the others, with tired feet and a dusty leather jacket, cracked from old age, weather-worn hair he pulls back off his face, and a name he needs to outrun.He looks like a man who wants to be forgotten, except for bright blue eyes that he can’t quite hide and a little cleft in his chin that becomes more pronounced when he smiles.He hasn’t smiled for a long time, though.The man sits at the bar and waits.He doesn’t know who he’s waiting for, but he does know what.Someone to smuggle him to the Citadel, the heart of HYDRA, so he can help cut off its head and blow up the rest.
***
Bucky Barnes comes to a city at the end of the world, searching for someone he doesn’t know and has never met to help smuggle him East toward the Citadel.What he finds is bounty hunters looking for the reward on his head and a mysterious, gruff gun-for-hire who kisses him first and saves him second. To destroy this dystopian hellscape, Bucky and his smuggler will have to outrun State soldiers, mercenaries, and the specters of their own pasts; and to survive the downfall, they'll have to learn to find trust in this miserable, worn out, mad, mad world.
***
