#hc posts

The Winter Soldier was never for hire as long as you remember but he was most definitely known into the business even when nobody knew where he came from or what was his deal. He was a legend to you as much as he was to the regular civilians who dared to believe in his existance. One thing that was common ground to everyone that believed was that nobody should mess up with the guy because he was just that good. 

And then S.H.I.E.L.D happened. And HYDRA happened. 

You found out that your fellow partner in career was actually Captain America’s long lost best-friend. That he didn’t necessarily want to be a fellow partner in career. And oh, also that you were a target in a freaking nazi hitlist. Details. 

To do your job, you need your target to be dirty. And Bucky Barnes most definitely is but not exactly in the way you usually expect. 

The address you’re given is to a very nice apartment in the funky, hipster area of Brooklyn. You usually don’t get up and close the people but the fact that he’s Bucky Barnes adds up to your curiosity and soon you’re disabling all his security protocols, stepping into the apartment with a new found purpose. 

It doesn’t take long for him to arrive and you guess it’s because he must have been informed about the security breach. 

It’s also funny how he steps into the apartment instantly knowing that you’re there. 

You love that he doesn’t seem surprised that you’re a woman but you hate that the bastard is just too damn good looking for your own good. He looks like a dream dressed up in a white tight shirt, dark grey sweatpants with stubbly cheeks and hair up in a bun that didn’t hold a few strays of his dark locks. The metal arm detailed with gold is a plus. So is the fact you can make out the shape of his thighs in those pants. 

(You just can’t imagine why someone would like this handsome man to be killed). 

Ever since you knew your target was the Bucky Barnes, you decided you weren’t killing him. You aren’t stupid as the people who say he’s at fault for what happened in D.C. You know he’s a victim and even though he did kill a few people in the last decades (like the damn United States president), it was actually HYDRA who pulled the trigger. 

You’re actually just indulging yourself to a very nice view of a very nice looking man even though he can kill you too. 

But obviously, he doesn’t know that and your heart actually skips a beat when he decides to talk you out of doing your job instead of taking you out as some would do. You would never admit it to anyone (anyone but him when you actually get together) but that is probably the first time that someone saw you for you, past your usual façade. 

Still, you know he’s ready for a fight and that fact becomes truth when you decide to test him, attacking him in the middle of his nice expensive looking living room only to end up straddled by the said man, his metal fingers holding up your wrists as his thighs locked up your legs. 

You leave his place a few millions poorer, without one more name to your list but very content about yourself. 

That’s the sort of thing that usually happens after flirting with a ex-soviet assassin for a night. 

In the next day, Bucky goes back to the Tower and keeps his mouth shut about the whole ordeal. Steve is worried about the security breach but Bucky does his best to soothe the man’s nerves, assuring it was only a power outage in the building. Bucky keeps his mouth shut but finds himself digging for every bit of information on the girl from the previous night. 

With a flirty smile and a cup of coffee, Bucky manages to convince the cute I.T guy to set up his laptop so he could search around the illegal specialized websites. 

He finds you in less than 5 minutes given you’re one of the best and fairly popular on the business. 

Your ad is also one of a kind which actually helped and made Bucky laugh on the spot. 

 ASSASSIN FOR HIRE 

Wrongs Righted. Bad Guys Beaten. No Crime Too Small to Crack. No Villain Too Villainous to Villify. 

LET ME SOLVE YOUR PROBLEMS FOR YOU 

Fairly Cheap Rates – Great Results – Light housekeeping 

 The more Bucky searches on you, more he gets himself hooked and curious. He’s seen some people around the sites to codename you as Foxglove and he’s amused to know the real reason behind the name. Unlike all the assassins and mercenaries that he’d had the pleasure of knowing, he learns that you act through poisonous gas and needles through your targets.

It’s also very well known that you’re quite good in martial arts and have a soft spot for your target’s soft spots. Especially if they’re men, if anyone can catch the drift. 

Bucky gathers that you’re into this business for a while and he couldn’t help but wonder how’d you get in. 

The aftermath of your meeting with The Winter Soldier brings you some unwanted situations. Having broken your anonymous employer’s deal, you find yourself in a tough spot where you have to lay low for a while. Thing that isn’t necessarily bad, just not exactly ideal. 

Bucky Barnes was different from what you had envisioned and before you can even realize, you’re looking up on every bit of information on him. You’re surprised with how much time tv news anchors and politians spend talking about the Avengers. And you’re amused to find out that the guy is actually very much loved online and has his fair share of both fangirls and fanboys to back him up. 

He’s a mystery to you just as much you’re a mystery to him. 

But laying low isn’t something that you particularly enjoy and adding up the previous thoughts you’ve had since the meeting and everything you’ve seen from the Avengers so far, it isn’t surprising that you turn to fighting New York street crime as an Avengers slash neighborhood friendly vigilante. 

You don’t catch much attention from the team at first because you aren’t the first vigilante to show up in New York but that changes when you stop an alien weapons deal and send a nice warning to the said mightiest heroes. When Bucky, Steve and Sam get to the place, the weapons are safely secured and the mob bosses leading the deal all had signs of deathly poisoning. Bucky couldn’t help but smirk despite the situation. 

The same thing happens a few more times – your friendly warnings causing confusion and drawing attention from the team. 

But then you start to stick around after your calls. Only making yourself known to Bucky. 

And then both of you start to long for the moments where you’re both together and hidden from the team at some place, the thrill of your shared secret making your chests buzz with anticipation. You can’t quite pinpoint when it starts but the flirting and the teasing feels so natural that you can’t help but love it. 

Unbeknown to Bucky, the team gets suspicious on his sudden disappearances on the vigilante’s calls and it doesn’t take long until Steve is demanding him to track you for good and bring you in as easily as he could. 

Bucky honestly tries to. But you just look that good wearing only your customary leather jacket and lace panties when you open the door that he completely looses the track of time between one make-out session to another. The couch make-out session, the kitchen counter make-out session, the wall make-out session. 

The bruises on his neck are enough of an answer to Steve once Bucky comes back to the Tower late night and the Captain can’t help but sigh disbelief once he sees his best-friend’s unbothered smirk. 

It takes a while until you let yourself be convinced to join the Avengers. 

You’re just fine with your vigilante business even though it doesn’t have as much privileges as being an assassin for hire. The Avengers are a high-up, globally known team and you most definitely don’t want that for you, especially with your past. It takes a lot of insistance from Steve and Tony’s part until you give in. 

You settle for being a simple agent even if your skills are way too good for such a meek title. At least that’s what your official papers say. 

In reality, you turn out to be more Bucky’s partner than anything else. 

Your missions are always successful and even though you try not to brag about it (especially to Sam who hates hearing anything about it), you know that the both of you make a good team together. It can sound weird or cheesy to anybody else’s ears but you know how to complete Bucky just as much as he knows how to complete you. He knows you and your fighting style, your skills and your mindset just as much as  you know his and you can easily say that’s why you work so well together. 

You trust him to have your back like no one else and you know that he’d do whatever to keep you safe. 

It’s not a bad thing to work with your man too – even if the team absolutely hates it sometimes. 

Seeing him in his all black uniform, riffle in hands and mission face on is just as amazing for him to see you in your deep black catsuit, spinning your thighs around some poor dude’s neck before taking him down with a harmless sleep needle. It’s also fun to tease him through the comms with dirty talk, even more when the rest of the team is just done with it. 

(You particularly like that one mission you had to slip out of your dress and into your catsuit after stealing blueprints of weapons prototypes from a rich maniac at his extravagant birthday party. 

Bucky’s priviliged sniper spot was the perfect place for your change of clothes and the team didn’t put much thought into it. 

That is, until both of you found much more interesting activities to attend than the mission itself). 

Having Bucky as your work partner is amazing but having him as your boyfriend is even better. 

Bucky most definitely is easy on the eyes with his sharp jaw, killer blue eyes and smile but he’s  got his demons just as much as you do. Your previous line of work wasn’t exactly conventional enough to land you a partner but now with Bucky everything seems a lot easier for you. He’s got his past and you got yours and having him by your side more often than not makes you forget about life’s sidelines. 

You live for his kisses – the ones he always make sure to spread through your neck and collarbones, to the curve of your breasts and stomach. The feeling of the tips of his fingers trailing through your back and thighs and almost always inside the edge of your panties grounds you and makes you feel as wanted as ever.

His arms are your safe place from your doubts and insecurities and even though both of you know that you’re more than capable of taking care of yourself, it’s still nice to know that he’s there to support you at all times. 

You love that you get to call him your man, you love that you get to feel his lips on your skin everyday, you love you get to mark his skin with your lips everyday. 

For Bucky, you’re his partner and his protector, his girl and his confidant. He’d never put much thought into having someone by his side given who he is but now he often wonders how he’d gotten so far without you. 

He likes the idea of thinking of you as his soulmate, someone who understands his struggles and overcome them with him. He likes that you trust him so blindly from the very beginning, giving no care as to the things he did back with HYDRA. He likes that you defend him as fiercely as Steve does, he likes that you know him, he likes that you know your way around him, he likes that you let your walls down with him. 

He likes every little piece of you. 

Your skills and your personality that gives him a run for his money, the curves of your body and the marks of your skin, your perfume and your hair. The kisses that are almost always followed by a bite that will mark him, the gentle caresses through his chest and arms. How perfectly you fit under and on top him. Your flirting and your teasing and your declarations. 

It amazes him to no end how you feel more and more like his haven and he relishes on each day he’s able to wake up in the morning and call you his baby girl, just like you love it. 

A few years down the road, you decide to move in together to an apartment away from the Tower. 

Your saved money and Bucky’s generous backpay earns you both a nice, fairly big apartment in a renewed cute brownstone building near all the hipster bars and restaurants you make fun of but secretly love. 

Life is as sweet as it can be with shared bubble baths, Netflix cuddling nights, morning sex in the kitchen, clothes forgotten by both of you and lazy post-mission sleeps when you get home. 

It almost feels like you’re married – even more when you bring a cat home, that you claim it is your son, even though it absolutely hates Bucky’s guts. 

You name the black green eyed cat Sebastian due your obsession with his actor dude you insist that looks like Bucky and that only adds to the soldier’s occasional distaste for the pet. The cat is as needy for your attention as he is, and as just as protective of you. Bucky normally appreciates it, just not when you’re on top of him with the sweetest moans and the cat is stratching the bed’s sheets to have you back. 

And, yeah, let’s not talk about all the scratches his metal (and flesh) arm gets from Sebastian’s claws. 

And, no, Bucky isn’t jealous of how you treat the cat with your cuddles and kisses and baby voice whenever it does something to him or his stuff. 

The only time where both your boys settle down and tolerate each other is when you leave for missions. 

Bucky always records videos and takes pictures of needy Sebastian cuddling up to his side as he reads, or settling on your side of the bed at night just because it needs its cuddles and you’re not there to provide. You know that Bucky has a soft spot for Sebastian deep down in his heart and that he loves it everytime the cat shows some affection to him. 

(Also, it isn’t unusual for Bucky to actually speak to the cat when you’re not home. Their talks usually consists of how much they miss you and can’t wait for you to be home). 

It’s funny how the second you’re back in the house, they’re suddenly enemies again. 

It almost feels like you’re married – so much that you decide to really do it, even if not on the conventional way as you decide to elope. 

There isn’t a fancy dinner so you have some drinks by Tony Stark himself instead. There isn’t a formal party so you have a nice gathering with the team only instead. There isn’t a white dress so you have a black sexy party one instead. 

He nearly doesn’t believe his eyes once he breaks the cell’s door and and sees the small body rolling around on the floor, protected with just a few pillows and a thin blanket. Bucky doesn’t waste any time on crouching down to cradle the baby in his arms and he can’t help but feel angry at the monsters who left the child behind without second thought. 

To say the team is surprised to see him stepping into the quinjet with the baby curled up against his chest is an understatement but nobody dares to say a thing, even after they land at the base and Bucky’s storming off to his room with Steve and Sam on his tail. 

Steve and Sam don’t even know what to say when Bucky states he’s keeping the baby no matter what, immediately turning down every other option they give. All that’s left for them to do is to help him settle for the night with Wanda’s help, feeding and bathing the baby as best as they can with no resources or skills at all. 

Bucky spends that night completely awake, eyes set on the small child sleeping soundly beside him on the bed. A brown haired baby girl that holds a pair of big hazel eyes that he names her after. 

The next day is just as eventful as the previous one as he goes out shopping for baby stuff with Steve and Sam.

It’s a sight to behold really, Captain America pushing a cart with a chirpy baby girl sitting inside while the Falcon and Winter Soldier fight over what to buy in the middle of a Buy Buy Baby store. 

The first week is confusing and difficult at times but Bucky doesn’t mind one bit as he starts to remember helpful bits and pieces of his childhood with baby Rebecca. By the second week, all Natasha can do is tease him about being a father, Wanda is surprised that he’s picked up the skills this fast and Steve and Sam are still clueless as ever, so much that Bucky actually starts to teach them how warm Hazel likes her milk, how to hold her during a feed or what they should use to give her a bath. 

With Helen’s help (even though dealing with babies is not even near her speciality), they find out she’s probably nearing her 6th month and Bucky straight up dives in websites and books to learn more about the said stage. 

Some of her actions start to make sense once he reads a book about baby development – she’s always grabbing at whatever she can reach as she’s growing fascinated with feeling different textures, her eyes are always in alert and she seems to notice every little detail on whatever it’s around her and every once in a while he catches her babbling to whoever is speaking at the moment. 

That means she’s fascinated in grabbing (more like pulling) his hair and feeling his beard, highly attentive to people (she likes to stare at Vision a lot) and very well-acquainted with FRIDAY (the A.I. seems to love her babbling just as much she loves its voice). 

Hazel completely warms up her way up into everyone’s hearts and soon there’s an actual fight over who’s going to be her godfather and godmother. 

Steve looks like he’s about to burst with joy when Bucky announces there’s no way her godfather could be anyone but him and Natasha...just threatens anyone who try to fight her for the godmother spot. 

The Avengers routine gets completely upside down with the baby girl’s arrival and after a while they all have an actual schedule as to when to prepare her meals and milk, to put her to take a nap, to take her for a bath and bed. Not to mention the base itself that is now littered with baby accessories and toys everywhere, all the possible dangerous places babyproofed or locked. 

Hazel starts crawling about her 10th month but when she actually starts walking nearing her 1st birthday, everyone goes in full panic resulting in a constant proud superheros watch over her every step. 

Her 1st birthday party is just a small gathering with the team but still memorable enough. 

The living room ends up completely taken by colorful balloons as they all wear rainbow colored party hats, with Hazel looking nothing but delighted during the whole ordeal. The party also ends up resulting on Hazel’s first meeting with the God of thunder (who actually wanted to take her to Asgard for a quick visit) and a series of photos (Bucky especially loves the one his baby girl is all dirtied up with cake) that turn into a cute scrapbook made by Wanda later. 

Ever since Bucky got the baby books months ago, he’s been actually conversing to Hazel as a way to encourage her speech. It isn’t unusual to find him randomly talking to her in every room of the base and everyone gets used to it at some point though there’s an occasional teasing jab here and there sometimes. 

Nobody thinks much of it until she’s a few weeks past her 1 year-old mark and she starts calling out Bub up and down everytime Bucky’s in the room. 

(After a week, everyone is fed up with Bucky and his constant smug smirk whenever Hazel calls for him).

If the place had gotten sweeter upon her arrival months ago, now that Hazel’s actively speaking and walking it’s decidedly even better. 

She picks up some russian terms of endearment Natasha’s teached and starts calling everyone that way (even FRIDAY), sings a few of the indie songs Wanda plays with her guitar (and dances to match it), learns to call all the team as auntie and uncle (though Vision doesn’t understand why) and runs everywhere around the base with her toys (so much they thought they’d lost her once). 

To Bucky, her arrival means more than he’d ever imagined. 

He gets to fall asleep everyday with his baby cuddling his side and wake up to her either taking up the whole space on the bed or palming his cheeks with her little hands as she kisses him good morning. He gets to hear her giggle and watch her dance and sing and run as the healthiest and happiest kid he’s seen. He gets to tell her stories about his childhood with Uncle Steve. He gets to see her face light up as she screams his name excitedly everytime he comes back from a mission. He gets to see her worried about his injuries and he gets to cheer her up when she’s sad. 

His little baby changes his life completely and though he’s never planned or even thought about having a child, he can’t think of any other different way to live his life from now on. Hazel completely owns his heart and he’d do anything for her. 

Watching her grow up is a painful but yet pleasing feeling and when she completes 4 years-old, she’s so smart and outgoing that Bucky decides to sign her up for school as much as it worries him. 

(Her first day goes as smoothly as it can and despite Bucky’s absolute denial, he nearly tears up when she runs up the school’s stairs without a single bit of hesitation). 

Now that she’s in school, there’s a new routine – Bucky wakes up a little earlier to get her ready, Steve or Sam prepare her lunch after their breakfast and they all drop her off in the building before their usual morning run. 

(Hazel only leaves after she says goodbye to everyone in the base with sleepy kisses and hugs so every now and then they get a little late). 

Just like Bucky wasn’t expecting Hazel to appear in his life, he isn’t expecting you. 

The first time he actually speaks to you isn’t on a good note. 

All that he knows is that you’re Hazel’s kindergarten teacher and all the interaction you both had had been just a wave or a smile here and there when he dropped her off. Until mother’s day comes along and obviously an issue is raised in that matter. 

You know that Hazel stands out in the class for being an Avenger’s daughter and when it’s time to make crafted artworks for mother’s day, you quickly encourage her to do one for her father just as much you encourage the other kids who are in a similar situation. 

But the little girl is just too curious for her own good and once she starts questioning why she has to make it for her father instead of a mother, you can only think of calling the said man to explain the whole ordeal. 

Bucky has been through hell and back during his life but once you explain what’s been happening, he can’t help but feel insecure. During all those years, he’s been doing his best to raise her but at that moment all the can think of is that his best isn’t enough for Hazel. That maybe she could’ve been better with an actual normal family, not a bunch of superpowered people that could die at any moment. 

He doesn’t know how but you seem to pick up on his sudden nervousness but hearing that he is doing a great job by raising a sweet, smart, polite little girl calms his heart to no end. 

Past the mother’s day incident (that Hazel overcame by doing crafted artworks for the whole team instead), the little girl seems to grow fond of you by each day. 

Bucky grows used to seeing her say goodbye to her teacher with a tight hug and a big kiss and listening her gush about all the things Ms. (L/N) does for her in class. Coming to think of it, that’s probably how the both of you end up getting closer to each other – due to Hazel’s innocent matchmaking. 

It starts off with conversations solely focused on Hazel but after a few weeks, you both notice that the chats start to escalate to more than just school subjects. 

He doesn’t know if it’s Hazel’s doing or not but Bucky notices that Steve and Sam are picking up on it too and so they start to constantly tease him for it. So much that now they insist on going to pick her up too just so they can watch his misery. 

(There’s this day where Steve and Sam randomly show up at the school in time to catch you and Bucky talking rather excitedly as Hazel cuddled up to your side. 

You swear that the sight of the two Avengers smiling smugly at you as they stood with their arms crossed will never get old). 

As father’s day comes along a few months later, Bucky gets a better surprise. 

During all these years, Hazel’s always called him Bucky like everyone else. She grew up used to that and he’s never thought of changing it. She’s always been his daughter for him but there was always this small bit of insecurity that held him back of seeing himself as a father, especially with his past. But then there’s day she comes home from school with a pretty colored father’s day card a handmade gift that she hands him after a hug and a kiss and his heart is completely melting. 

Bucky doesn’t think it can better until she just nonchalantly calls him daddy for the first time later in the same day.

He’s just getting the plates out for her lunch when she goes, daddy, can I have some juice? and his heart is beating so fast that he feels it might jump out of his chest. The best part of it is that Hazel seems to be unfazed to his sudden wide eyes, rather seeing the whole situation as natural. 

The second best part is seeing the team’s reaction when she suddenly screams daddy! as Bucky enters the tv room before the movie night. Bucky has to yet see the Earth’s mightiest heroes that surprised again. 

At her 5th birthday party, Bucky gathers enough courage to invite you even though he knows he most definitely would have given up if it wasn’t for Hazel’s insistence. 

He isn’t expecting you to stay once the party’s over, protesting that you want to help with the clean-up despite the late hour and the lame excuse that there isn’t much to actually help with. 

As much as he tries to not to, Bucky can’t help but see you in a different light after that night. It feels good to know that there’s a connection between you two that goes beyond Hazel. You’re suddenly not just her teacher anymore though it warms up his heart to see that you and his baby still have some sort of bond even outside the school’s confines. 

Any shade of doubt Bucky previously had is thrown away when you kiss him midway through the clean-up, your smiling lips against his as you joke that you most definitely shouldn’t be doing this. 

Your relationship progresses with baby steps as you’re both trying to not mess the whole situation. 

Hazel is technically still your student and neither of you want to mix things up too fast in fear for your job, Hazel’s wellbeing and your blossoming partnership. The dates are quiet and intimate at small restaurants or your place. The nights you spend together (while the team babysits Hazel) are a delight even though Bucky always has to leave in the middle of the night in order to get Hazel ready for school in the morning. The phone calls and texts always have that teasing sense attached showing how comfortable you both grew to be around each other. 

It comes to the point where you think that maybe this could be real for good. 

It’s a challenge to convince Hazel that she can’t talk about them to her classmates and that you’re still her teacher no matter what’s been happening. But the little girl is just so ecstatic with the news that she promises (with both pinky fingers) to keep the secret if that means Ms. (L/N) will be around all the time. 

Bucky’s life after Hazel’s arrival had been amazing and he didn’t think it could be better until he saw himself with his two girls. 

There’s no words to describe the hapiness Bucky feels when he receives cute selfies and texts from both of you as you’re babysitting Hazel for the weekend with the whole team on a mission. Or when he’s welcomed home in the sweetest way ever with kisses and hugs and joyful giggles. Or when he falls asleep right in the middle of you cuddling the hell out of him and wakes up in the morning to see you happily interacting during breakfast. 

His girls never fail to amaze and overwhelm him – with love and affection, the little but sweet actions (handmade gifts and letters and drawings that never get old), little quirks and the loving relationship that is build (so much that Hazel’s second mother’s day gift is given to you). 

What Bucky feels for the both of you is beyond him but once again he finds a new purpose when Hazel gets a baby sister a few years later. 

Brooklyn is born a few months after Hazel’s 7th birthday and despite her first jealous reaction, she’s just as excited as her parents to welcome (and actually name) her little sister. 

Bucky swears he tries to not panic through the loud atmosphere. He remembers his therapist’s words – close your eyes, try to regulate your breathing and count until you reach 100 – but he can’t even get past by 5 without losing count. 

With his leather journal between his trembling fingers, Bucky doesn’t even notice when she sits down beside him with her hand carefully covering his own. All he can register is the warmness of her skin and the softness of her voice mumbling soothing words as she tries to pull him out of his attack. 

He doesn’t exactly know what to do once he calms down. 

Not once he’s had someone to help him like this, even more a strange person in a public place. So to say he’s surprised to find a pretty girl staring worringly at him as he opens his eyes is an understatement. She knows exactly how to act around him – slow movements, quiet voice and non invansive contact, all so he won’t panic again. She’s the prettiest girl he’s ever seen and probably way too kind for her own good so when she offers her number with the excuse of provide help if you need, Bucky immediately says no. 

His old self is long gone along with his natural flirty, charming attitude and the last thing he wants is to bring someone else to the mess that is his life. But when he finds a small orange post-it glued up to the back of his journal (with a number scribbled on it with the words just in case J), the day immediately feels better despite the struggles. 

It takes five days, three sleepless nights and countless failed attempts for him to finally gather enough courage to call her. It makes him anxious because it’s just a phone call and yet, he found himself giving up at the last minute most of the times. 

Bucky’s a nerve wreck when she picks up though and he can’t help but think that she knows it, given she starts offering comforting words and assuring him that she’s happy he called during the entire talk.

That’s how she starts helping him. 

She recommends him quiet places that he’ll be comfortable at, she sends him playlists with soothing songs that can snap him out of his panic attacks, she offers to be with him as he tries to gradually get used to crowded places again, she talks with him through his sleepless nights even if it means she’ll be miserable in the morning. 

The pages of his journal that usually held tough moments are replaced with happy and good memories, both old and new photographs and notes from his best-friends and little sister so he can read on bad days. 

Bucky starts to feel safer and calmer – especially when she’s around. He knows she won’t judge him and the fact that she doesn’t expect anything from him or his old self (differently from his friends and family) just makes it better. 

Something changes in their relationship when she finds another place to go – a hole in the wall little restaurant. And then, he’s asking her to come too with the word date playing around in their minds for a moment. 

The night is the best one he’s had in ages and Bucky’s sure it’s only because she was with him. 

Though he doesn’t admit it to himself, the pages of his journal are getting more and more filled with descriptions of his moments with her. Her polaroids (taken with the camera they’d found in a thrift store) keep taking up space and he longs for her presence more than ever. But admitting it makes everything more real and Bucky thinks he isn’t even near to be what she deserves. 

Whenever she was in a crowded place with him and he managed to keep himself on his toes for the time being, she insisted to give him rewards. 

There was Coney Island and the round of hot-dogs she payed for, there was their Star Wars movie marathon at the cinema and the late night burguers they had after, there was their walk through Times Square and the photo they took together with a random superhero. He genuinely loved all them but he never thought it would result in more than a simple, silly thing like those. 

And then there’s the day she takes him to a local fair. Bucky thinks he’s handled the whole situation this good so far solely because he’s focusing on her but the fact she still wants to reward him makes his heart warm up instantly. 

He just isn’t expecting the reward to be a kiss. As soon as they step in his apartment building, her arms are around his neck and her lips are meeting his own in a loving, slow kiss that he can’t help but be overwhelmed with. 

The relationship they build after that is slow and quiet. Mornings with soft, slow kisses, afternoons with his head on her lap as they read something, nights they spend watching movies and eating from takeout menus. It’s slow and quiet but they’re both completely content with that. 

Her presence in his apartment makes everything different. 

The place has been always quiet, being too dark and empty. Now Bucky finds comfort in hearing her playlists in the background while she showers (poorly singing along though he never says anything), smelling the scent of the sweet treats she can bake (even if she can only do a few), seeing the doodles and messages she leaves on his fridge before she leaves (like female stick figures with this is me. i love u that are also in his journal) and finding her clothes in every corner of the rooms (she blames him for a lost bra in the kitchen). 

Bucky knows he isn’t the best boyfriend in the world or the most stable man around but he does the possible and impossible to let her know how much he loves her. She never fails to amaze him and more often than not he finds himself just staring at her, thinking back on how much his life changed after she came along. 

And he may not have his old way with words anymore but he does shower her in compliments and sweet words because that’s the least she deserves for putting up with him. 

(Bucky absolutely loves calling her beautiful because her whole face lights up everytime and she always smiles cheekily before saying I know, you tell me that all the time).

 That doesn’t mean everything is easy for them.

 There’s the days where he’s isolating and stressed, days where he doesn’t want to leave the bed, days where all he can think about is the nightmares he’s had in the night before and the painful memories of his war times. Even so, she’s still there. Giving him his space but offering support in the best way she can.

She hugs him tight with kisses and reassurances when he’s crying in a sleepless night, sometimes craddling his head against her chest or her lap with fingers running through his hair as she hums a song to calm him down. If it’s a nightmare then it’s a long warm bath together, her arms around him and fingers running through his chest and shoulders as he sits with his back against her. Bucky always falls asleep with her spooning him after, her lips pressing little soft kisses on his back and shoulders. 

And in the next morning, she never says anything but does prepare a hot cup of tea or chocolate for him (because that’s what calms her down, she says once) and waits until he’s ready to share something. 

That’s a secret nobody knows but the first time she really meets Steve is the day she’s left alone in Bucky’s apartment while he goes out to visit his baby sister. 

His best-friend and also soldier is most definitely surprised to find a girl opening the door of the apartment and if the interrogation he puts her through is any indication, he’s a bit on the edge with her presence. But it’s clear that Steve cares for Bucky just as much as she does and funny how quickly they bond over the fact once the wariness is gone. 

Her meeting with Sam and Natasha is better and they seem to love her right away. Natasha is tough and scary looking (the woman is a part of a black ops team after all) and Sam is all sassy and snarky (she can’t believe he’s a pararescue of all things) but she can instantly see how much Bucky means to them. 

(It’s cute how Sam thanks her for what she’s done and says how much Bucky has improved since she came along. Especially because right after...I care about him buT DON’T TELL HIM I SAID THAT). 

With a few months into their relationship, she asks Bucky if he wants to be a volunteer in her workplace as she knows how hard it is for him to adapt to the job market again.

It really isn’t his first option but that’s how he ends up at the local dog shelter, finally feeling useful again as he helps with the day-to-day tasks and loving every second he has with the dogs and kittens he’s helped name. It’s also how Bucky ends up adopting a gray pitbull (that was a part of a fighting ring despite its loving manners) as his service dog that keeps her own tiny legged corgi company whenever they’re over his apartment. 

He’s grown so used to their presence at his place that it feels natural to ask her to move in. 

Her decorations seem match with his, her clothes are a beautiful contrast to his dull ones in the closet and their dogs seem all too happy to be together for good (even more when she brings random puppies and kittens to foster until they get adopted). 

Neither of them think life can get any better until a few years later, when she reveals their baby girl is on the way and set to be born in the same month of her auntie Rebecca. Bucky is just so happy that he doesn’t even care about the video she keeps sharing around to their friends and family – him opening the small box and falling into tears as soon he sees the small purple shoe inside. 

Bambi Barnes is born on June 23rd as a perfect mix between her parents that everyone is delighted to welcome.

The little girl grows up to behave more and more like her mother even if she starts to look a little bit more like him as time goes by. 

She loves animals as much as her mom and showers him with so much love and affection that he can’t help but be emotional everytime. She’s the light of his life and he’s more than happy to be a stay-at-home dad, enjoying every bit of an experience he’s never even dreamed of having.