#implied stevebucky

Bucky is having a great time on the Wakandan Beaches, he even got Steve to take a picture of him in the new swimsuit Steve bought for him!

This was drawn for the #MarvelSwimsuit2018 challenge. 

Previously... x x

“Uncle Steve! I didn’t realize you were back from Niger...which I know nothing about, of course.”

Steve grins and pulls Victoria into a tight hug. It’s been months since she’s seen her, what with her all the way across the pond, studying in Paris. “Of course, not. We managed to complete the mission early and you know Tony likes to have everyone home for Christmas, so I figured why not.”

Victoria beams as she pulls back. “Dad will be very pleased even though he pretends he doesn’t care. Is Bucky with you?”

“No, he’s with Sam. They’re, I don’t know, in D.C. to pick something up?” Steve shrugs.

“Captain!” Tony’s voice booms down the hallway. “How many times do I have to tell you to send a little warning before you come trampling into my tower?”

Steve rolls his eyes. “It’s nice to see you too, Tony. Merry Christmas.”

Tony stops dead in his tracks, his eyes widening in shock. “Was that...I’m sorry, were you just civil to me?” He clasps his heart for a good measure, causing his daughter to scoff. 

“My God, dad!”

“What a momentous occasion! JARVIS, tell me you got that. I have to contact to the Guinness people! It’s a Christmas miracle!”

“I will put salt in your coffee,” Steve replies flatly. 

Tony chuckles. “Aw, Steven. You love me too much for that.” He pulls Steve in for a warm hug and Steve does not laugh at how small Tony is in his arms. Maybe he did, a little. In his head. What?  It’s cute. If Tony wasn’t happily married, Steve would’ve totally made a move on him by now. (More likely, Bucky would’ve seduced Tony and dragged Steve along with him.) Not that Tony ever has to know any of this, of course. 

“I missed you too, Tony. I’m glad to be home for Christmas.”

Tony smiles at him, eyes crinkling at their corners and radiates so much happiness that it makes Steve ache with it. “So. Are you done with whatever you were working on the lab? You could join Vic and I for...” Steve trails and glances at the TV, realizing he had no idea what Victoria had been watching before he came in.

“Arrested Development re-runs,” Victoria finishes for him, her voice wavering for some reason. “Your favorite episode is coming up, Dad.”

Tony melts. “How could I say no that? But I’m getting popcorn!” With that, he disappears into the kitchen and Victoria and Steve settle into the sofas, twisting and turning until they’re comfortable. 

Tony returns in a few minutes with two bowls of popcorn and sits on Victoria’s other side. The lights dim and the show is unpaused. 

A couple of hours pass as they binge-watch the show. Laura joins them for a few episodes before she has to run off. A sudden movement to his left catches his attention and he sees Victoria lean up to kiss Tony’s cheek. 

It’s a quiet murmur, but Steve still catches the words. “Thanks, Dad. I know you’ve been busy.”

“Anything for you, you know that. I’m sorry I’ve busy,” Tony replies. It’s the most serious he’s ever seen Tony. He knows Tony used to fret constantly about being a father, or rather being like his father. It’s been years and Steve thought he’d gotten over his fears. After all, he’s one of the best fathers Steve knows. 

Perhaps those fears aren’t something someone just “gets over”. Perhaps it’s a life-long struggle. But Steve knows Tony well enough to know that he’d consider the fight, the love, the...all of it worth it if that meant getting to be Victoria’s father. 

Steve smiles ruefully and turns back to the TV. Bucky and him have talked about children, of course, but they’d decided against it. It’s not safe with the lifestyle they lead and neither of them were willing to give up being a soldier. But that was years ago. Maybe...maybe it’s time to revisit the topic. Maybe, maybe he could finally hang up the shield. 

Once he’d thought he’d never put down the shield, he knew enough of the world to be realistic of its threats, but happiness... a family, that’s important too. For every Nazi, white supremacist, terrorist and villain out there, there are more like Sam, like Tony, like Jane...like Howard. 

Howard was a good man when Steve knew him. Even good men can make mistakes. Though that probably wouldn’t stop him from punching the guy if he ever saw him again. 

“You are looking way too serious for this show, Uncle Steve.”

Steve starts out of his thoughts and looks at Victoria...and Tony. 

“I’m old.”

A beat pauses before both the Starks beside him start cracking up. 

“Woooooooowwwwww,” Victoria says between giggles. “Did it take you this long to figure that out?”

Steve should have known this would happen.

All he did was answer a simple question from a seven-year-old with big, brown eyes and curly hair.

“What’s your most favorite food?”

“Cheesecake,” Steve offered easily.

Her eyes grew impossibly larger on her face. “Really? My mommy told me it was broccoli.”

“Uh-” Steve stuttered, imagining hoards of angry parents swarming Avengers tower. “I love broccoli! I eat it whenever I can, but I’d do anything for a big slice of New York cheesecake. Even eat two plates of broccoli first!

The little girl smiled, satisfied with his answer.

“Hmm…” Steve heard behind him. He turned to see Natasha, Sam and Tony squinting at him. He sighed. Things were about to get real annoying real fast.

Xxx

Steve could reach out and grab the plate if he really wanted to, but he happened to know that Pepper’s favorite vase was in front of him. If he did reach out, Tony would lurch away and Steve would probably end up breaking the vase. He liked Pepper too much to do that to her.

“Say ‘please’!” Tony chides.

“No.”

“I know you want it. Come on, just say it.

“No! That’s my cheesecake, Tony. You stole it when I went to the bathroom.”

“Okay,” Tony says. Then he grins. “Say ‘Tony’s my favorite Avenger’, then.”

Steve rolls his eyes. Tony tries again. “Say ‘I hate freedom’.” Which just makes Steve roll his eyes once more. He sighs and turns to leave the room. Eventually Tony will get bored enough to leave his cheesecake alone. He went all the way to his favorite bakery in Brooklyn today to get it. He’s willing to wait to eat it in peace. He’s halfway to the doorway when he hears, “Okay, I’ll just eat it.”

Steve sprints back into the kitchen, getting up in Tony’s space so quickly that he takes a step backwards. Steve grits his teeth and makes the meanest face he can muster. “Tony’s my favorite Avenger.”

Tony’s eyebrows lift in surprise. “Thank you. Enjoy your cheesecake.” He hands Steve the plate and smiles.

Steve sneers and leaves the room, cheesecake in hand.

Xxx

“I need a favor,” Sam says.

“We need a favor,” Natasha corrects.

Steve looks up at his them, annoyed already. “What?”

“Well,” Sam starts. “You know how I go to the park in Harlem every Saturday with my old high school buddies? I may have entered an ultimate frisbee competition.”

“And I may have joined him last weekend and- Steve- the guy from the other team is an asshole. All of them are, actually.” Steve wonders for a second how Natasha found herself at a park in Harlem with Sam making competitive enemies, but he figures the story is too weird for even him to wrap his head around.

“And?”

“And we happen to know the guy who’s the world’s best frisbee player,” Natasha tells him, tilting her head and giving him an innocent smile.

“It’s not a frisbee-”

“It’s basically a frisbee, Steve,” Sam says. “Come on, help us out! It’s two against eight right now.”

Steve sighs and even though he already knows he’s going, he lies. “I don’t know.”

“I’ll buy you an entire cheesecake,” Natasha says quickly.

“I’ll have my mom make you another one!” Sam adds.

Steve smiles. “I could never resist one of Darlene’s cheesecakes. Count me in.”

Nat and Sam high five.

Xxx

Bucky nudges his shoulder. Steve groans, rolling over to stuff his face in the mattress. It can’t even be 7 in the morning yet. He’s pretty sure he just went to bed.

“Hey, punk. Wake up.”

“Ten more minutes.”

“We gotta go feed Natasha’s cat. You know we can’t be late. She’ll kill me. If I go alone, the cat will kill me. Wake up,” Bucky tells him. “Plus, I got you cheesecake for breakfast.”

Tony was waiting up for him, and the lights were out, but the moon cast an eerie glow across his face.

"I won’t get in the way," he blurted, stumbling to his feet, and Steve wondered how long he’d been sitting there, unravelling.

And he didn't have the patience, he was built like a house of cards today; if Tony tried to lean on him he’d crumble.