#layersofsilence

“Once you’ve fallen from classical virtue” (M, 4k) by lanyon

And, yes, there, leaning against the kitchen table, cradling a mug of coffee between two massive hands, is his blonde mystery man.

“I know this is going to sound strange,” he says, immediately. “But I don’t suppose you know who I am?”

The blonde man blinks and the corners of his mouth turn down. “Damn. I was hoping you could tell me who I am.”

+  Post WS. They both have amnesia and think they must be lovers. They’re wrong. 

-☆-

“Waking Up Slow” (M, 44k) by odetteandodile

In 1945 Steve Rogers crashed the Valkyrie into the Arctic Ocean and was never recovered.

In 2019 Bucky Barnes is walking along the beach below the decommissioned lighthouse where he lives with his sixteen month old daughter when he finds the body of a man washed up in the surf, half frozen but miraculously alive.

Bucky manages to revive him, but finds that the stranger has no memory of who he is or how he got here aside from a name: Steve. Snowed in by a blizzard soon after and unable to get Steve a medevac, Bucky discovers that the funny, good-hearted man slips into the fabric of his and Alice’s life faster than he would have thought possible. The two are undeniably drawn to each other, but as their feelings grow so does the looming possibility that the answer to the question “who is Steve?” might be much more complicated than either of them realized.

+ Shrunkyclunks. Domestic life, falling in love, and figuring out what you want in life  

-☆-

“some grief, some joy” (T, 11k) by layersofsilence

"Well, how are you feeling, what’re you thinking? Let’s get going, you know the debrief drill –”

“Uh,” says Steve, who does not know anything of the sort. “I do?” The other man squints.

“What do you mean, uh? You should,” he says severely, tapping at a tablet in his hand. Steve frowns, trying to remember, but as soon as he does a bright flare of pain goes off in his temples, flooding sharply though his head and not letting up until he’s stopped trying to think about what he should know.

Something on the other side of his bed starts to beep, and the other man looks up from his tablet. “Hang on a sec, then,” he says slowly. “Maybe you shouldn’t. Who are you?”

+ Post WS. Amnesiac Steve falls in love with Bucky all over again and pines when he sees a wedding ring 

-☆-

"i will remember you” (T, 15k) by obsessivereader

Bucky is James now, and it takes Steve losing his memory to bring them back together

He stares at the man, curious and wondering. “Who are you?” “James Barnes.” The man’s voice, and the way he shapes his consonants—soft and smooth and just a touch foreign—is almost, but not quite, familiar. “Are we friends too?” he asks. “Yeah.” Huh. The way his body’s responding to James doesn’t seem very friend-like.

+ Post WS. After Steve recovers from amnesia, the boys have an overdue heart-to-heart conversation

-☆-

“Mission Objective” (E, 8k) by debwalsh

Steve wakes up to the luxurious sensation of a warm body and a hard dick pressed against his back.

Which would be great if he knew who the guy was, or if, in fact, Steve was actually you know, gay.

In which the voyage of discovery holds greater rewards than either of them could have guessed. Plus naked cuddling. And sex. Lots of sex.

+ Post WS. The boys get their minds temporarily wiped in an attempt to save their marriage

-☆-

-☆- And a freebie! -☆-

“Closed Book” (E, 38k) by AggressiveWhenStartled

Bucky woke up with a headache, a mouth that tasted like something had died in it, and hands-down, swear-to-god, the most beautiful man he had ever seen asleep in his lap.

Bucky was also, he realized after a moment, strapped down to a hospital bed with about six different monitors making unsynced, equally piercing, beeps. Beyond that he couldn’t quite see—there was a hideous floral curtain pulled around the bed, and while he could just make out figures moving in the room beyond it, the pattern made his head pound even worse the longer he looked at it.

So. That was concerning.

+ Post WS. Bucky is rescued halfway through another Hydra abduction. An exploration into memories, identity, relationships, and friendships.

-☆-

“Cascades” (M, 152k) by orange_crushed

“Holy shit,” Howard says, crackling through the speakers. “You alive in there?” Lying is a sin, of course, but Steve’s not sure what else he can do. He’s already lied to the government and Bucky and God Almighty; and himself, himself most of all. He ought to tell the truth. That he’s not quite what they hoped for. That perhaps they should put him back into the ocean.

“Probably,” he says, instead, listening to Howard’s tinny laughter; and waits for the blast doors to unlock.

+ Alt WW2. From the Mom list. Steve gets powers, Bucky breaks from Hydra, and they are so in love it hurts. 

++ "He only has one try left in him. He only has one chance. He steadies himself. He takes a breath. Please, he thinks, through the hole in the world. Through the last window home. He can’t see the other side from here; just the light it gives off. Please, send me back somehow. Send me back as anything. As a bird that sings on his windowsill, but not too loud. Send me as a ray of sunshine that falls on him in the morning when the bed’s still warm; as someone who’ll always leave a newspaper in the booth for him at Harry’s. Please, send something. Send me back as a kindness. Please. Let me be something for him.”

-☆-

“Metallurgy” (M, 22k) by eyres, art by TheFriendlyPigeon

The battle quieted for the moment, the great metal giant turns, at last, and sees Steve. Dark, almost human hair frames a sharp, steel face - but, Steve is caught by its eyes. They’re bright silver, sparking in the sunlight, shot through with gray and blue, visible even at this distance. Something about them nags at Steve, calls to him, reminds him of…

Instead of making the Winter Soldier, Hydra transfers Bucky’s consciousness to a metal body, locking his mind within a prison of steel and programming. However, Bucky is stronger than they could’ve ever imagined.

+ WW2 to Avengers. From the Robot list. Bucky’s time is running out, and he only wants Steve to be happy. Yearning and devotion

++ “Bucky cracks open his eyes, silver glinting in the growing sunlight. “Steve?” he says and how had Steve not known it was him every time he said his name? No one says his name like that but Bucky.”

-☆-

“jamais vu” (E, 13k) by Claudia_flies

They’re all gathered in the top floor private conference room because Tony wants to set up a Strike team, and he’s making some really excellent points. The Avengers aren’t a stealth operation, Steve has to admit.

He just doesn’t like it.

+ Shrunkyclunks. From the Sex Pollen and a/b/o lists. After a mission gone sideways, omega Steve and alpha Bucky start having hot sex keeping each other company in the evenings

++ “What the hell are you doing?!” Steve bellows, kind of horrified at how he sounds like a scandalized maiden aunt. “Have you ever popped a knot in tactical pants?!” Barnes sounds near-on hysterical. “Kevlar is not known for its give as a fabric!” “You have it on pretty good authority right now that I do not have an idea of what it’s like to pop a knot in tactical pants,” Steve yells, and Barnes goes quiet.

-☆-

“Too Long We Have Tarried” (E, 19k) by kototyph

Bucky picks up the ring and holds it between them. “Steven Grant Rogers,” he says solemnly. “Will you marry me?”

+ Post WS. From the Fake Married list. Bucky’s proposal started as a joke, but quickly escalates to becoming a full-blown wedding. Along the way, Steve and Bucky address their actual feelings.

++  “When I got to Europe, to France, those first few months— everyone, every single guy in the 107 thought you had a sweetheart you were engaged to back home. I couldn’t figure it out, because I never saw or heard about a girl like that. I wondered for a while if you’d been hiding her from me. The guys, they said— they said, when things got bad you wouldn’t shut up about her. [...] Yeah, I was mad. Here was a girl I knew absolutely nothing about, and you were going to marry her? I couldn’t believe it. Some pretty little dame you hadn’t even wanted to introduce me to. [...] It didn’t occur to me until after... after the train. After almost everything. There was only one blue-eyed blond I knew you’d promised to marry.”

-☆-

“where can i put it down?” (T, 6k) by layersofsilence

The beach is deserted, and the waves loud. Today the very sea chatters, buzzing with the news: there’s going to be a mating. There are only four days between the announcements and the ceremony - and then Steve sees his mate’s face, and his heart sinks. He knows that face. He loves - he’d loved that face. Right up until he’d seen it again, and wasn’t that a laugh?

+ Fantasy AU. From the Mermaid list. Merman Steve has an arranged marriage but is still pining after a lost love from five years ago. The drama!!

++ “As if you ever would have come away with me! [...] When our plans were to leave the sea. You would’ve dried out and your steps would’ve felt like walking on knives-” “Fuck you,” Steve says; his vision blurs, his eyes hurt. He thinks he’s crying again, for the first time in years, but it’s hard to tell underwater. “I would’ve done it. It would’ve been worth it. I loved you.” That makes James jerk away like he’s been burned. Steve hates him. “Fuck you,” he says again, blurrily. “I don’t want to talk to you.” 

-☆-

“What A Wonderful World This Would Be” (E, 59k) by mambo

Steve Rogers isn't about to let some frat boy jerk like Bucky Barnes show him up, even if it means having to kick Brock Rumlow in the balls.

+ Part 1 is partnering up in a group project and becoming friends. Mutual pining, figure drawing, going home for thanksgiving. The 15 part series spans four years and into adulthood

-☆-

“should you choose to accept” (T, 5k) by layersofsilence

“Okay,” Tony says. “Okay, okay. This is fine. This is a mission, should you choose to accept, I accept, let’s do this.”

“You’re drunk,” Steve says muzzily, though not without an element of hypocrisy because he too is very drunk. “What’re we doin?” Then his meandering thoughts go right back to Bucky, and he sighs again. “He’s just so –” he says on yet another exhale, and makes a totally incomprehensible hand movement, and feels slightly like he might cry with trying to find a word that properly describes his new roommate.

“Yes,” Tony says. “That. We’re going to calculate your chances that he wants to bone you, and then we’re going to calculate how it’s going to be done. For science!” he tries to yell, and falls off his chair.

+ You shouldn’t do math if you’re drunk. Tony helps Steve calculate a 0.09% chance that Bucky reciprocates Steve’s crush

-☆-

“Found: One Bicycle” (T, 8k) by daisymondays

Bucky Barnes posted in Overheard at Middlebury College:

Hello fellow students! Basically in my drunken stupor last night I came across a bicycle. Being rather intoxicated and far from home I decided the logical thing to do was ride it back. I can assure you all that both me and the bike survived this adventure and are in perfect condition!! I now however have no use for for said vehicle and have realised that someone is probably pretty upset about having lost it. Anyway, if you can correctly identify the bike’s make and colour, slide into my DMs and I promise to return it to you!! Thanks for the ride xoxo

+ Steve is prickly and Bucky (and his football bros) are well-meaning. Bake sales and naked posing for art

-☆-

“Like Fritos I’m Trying to Lay” (T, 4k) by ellevaire

Bucky drops the packet of fruit snacks by SGR's laptop, watching the doorway to make sure he isn’t coming back. He fishes an only slightly squashed granola bar out of his bag and sets it next to the fruit snacks and feels a little bit like a super spy pulling off a successful mission and reestablishes cover by shoving his headphones back on and schooling his face into a bored expression.

Bucky Barnes is a complete dork who shares a library table with the most beautiful guy in the world. He also leaves him snacks. Like Secret Santa, but with Twizzlers.

+ Bucky thinks the cute guy at the library looks tired and hungry. They start exchanging notes and the entire thing is adorable

-☆-

“That Boy Is a Problem” (E, 10k) by 2bestfriends

In which a twinky little goth punk named Bucky puts a leash around Steve's dick and he's really into it.

(The leash is a metaphor. For now.)

+ Bucky wears latex leggings and Steve is a Very Good Boy. Bathroom blowjobs and bedroom sex x2

-☆-

“a marvelous gift” (T, 74k) by biblionerd07

Bucky Barnes has a curse: he has to obey any orders he receives. It gets more complicated when he becomes best friends with Steve Rogers--the prince who will one day be king.

+ Ella Enchanted AU with fantastic MCU parallels. Mutual pining, Hydra abuse, curse breaking, and happily ever afters for everyone except Zola, Rumlow, and Pierce. 

-☆-

“Cynics are Simply Thwarted Romantics” (NR, 13k) by Reccea

"It could be alien technology," Natasha offered, folding her arms over her chest. "Something he stumbled on. They're still finding things from the Chitauri so it's not impossible. But the simplest answer is the most likely."

"How is magic the simplest answer?" Stark asked.

Or

In which Steve is Sleeping Beauty and true love's kiss doesn't have to be requited. Or does it?

+ Post WS. The villain of the week has a preference for fairy tale curses. Mutual pining and two True Love Kisses

-☆-

“This Enchanted Place” (M, 41k) by layersofsilence

When the chill of winter starts to sneak through the forest, all the swans on the lake prepare to migrate away from the castle and the royal lake and into warmer climes.

All the swans, that is, except one, who cannot bring himself to leave for reasons unknown even to him. Frustrated with himself, he prepares to spend a long, cold winter on his own - but then he meets Crown Prince Steven Rogers and begins to suspect there is more to him than his own shape lets on.

+ Swan Lake AU. Bucky is turned into a swan, remembers who he is, and tries to save his Steve before it’s too late

-☆-

“Once Upon Some Bullshit” (T, 12k) by machine_dove and Sproings

Bucky really hated magic. He had always hated magic, ever since the first time he'd been forced to believe in it, back in the trenches in occupied France.

He hated it even more now.

A beautiful white swan was standing where Steve should have been, and Enchantress was fucking giggling like the asshole she was.

In which magic is terrible, Steve is sick of this bullshit, and True Love Conquers All

+ Post WS. Steve transforms into a different animal every day, and only True Love’s Kiss will break the curse.

-☆-

“Once Upon a Beanstalk” (T, 31k) by leveragehunters

Everyone knew how the story went: climb the beanstalk, brave the terrible giant, and if you were lucky and clever and quick you could come away with fortune enough to change your world. If you weren't…well, not every story had a happy ending.

Bucky's problem was that his story had gone wrong before it started. He wasn't braving the giant for a chance at fortune, he was climbing the beanstalk to save his skin—ironic, when he knew the giant was probably going to stomp him flat.

Except he didn't. Didn't stomp him flat, didn't send him back down the beanstalk, didn't act much like a terrible giant at all. He was kind in a way Bucky didn't know how to deal with because everyone knew that wasn't how the world worked. But Bucky was slowly coming to understand that at the top of a beanstalk nothing was what it seemed and that sometimes, with enough determination, what everyone knew could be changed completely.

+ Jack and the Beanstalk AU. Bucky climbs up, falls in love with the “Giant”, and gets chased around by the golden goose.

-☆-

"where can i put it down?” (T, 6k) by layersofsilence

The beach is deserted, and the waves loud. Today the very sea chatters, buzzing with the news: there’s going to be a mating. There are only four days between the announcements and the ceremony - and then Steve sees his mate's face, and his heart sinks. He knows that face. He loves - he’d loved that face. Right up until he’d seen it again, and wasn’t that a laugh?

+ Fantasy AU. Arranged marriage with Mer Steve and Selkie Bucky. Ex-lovers, both thought the other was human

-☆-

“Yours is the Only Ocean” (E, 6k) by seapigeon

"Sirens aren’t monogamous. She’s free to mate with whoever she wants.” Steve turns his head, and for the first time, he looks tentative. “So am I.”

It takes Bucky almost a full minute to understand.

“Oh,” he says, going warm down to his tailfin.

+ Fantasy AU. Siren Steve only eats invasive species and Mer Bucky thinks he's neat

-☆-

“Even Underneath the Waves” (E, 20k) by leveragehunters (Monkeygreen)

When the siren came to the merfolk clan in search of a temporary mate she knew she'd bear a daughter, a full-blooded siren, powerful and deadly. Instead she bore a son.

It was hard to be the son of a siren, a creature of suspicion in the eyes of his father's people, and Steve soon left his father's clan to wander the oceans alone. Alone, that is, until he found a human like he'd never seen. A human dressed all in black, surrounded by blood and death. A human whose heart's desire, buried deep beneath an inhuman shell, was crying out not to kill.

+ Shrinkyclinks. Mer Steve saves the Winter Soldier and keeps him away from Hydra

-☆-

“Eleven-Foot-Six” (T, 13k) by dappledplatypus (shut_the_jongup)

The world doesn't know much about the merpeople, other than the fact that they exist. So, when Steve and the other staff at the New England Aquarium's rehabilitation center find themselves with a badly injured mer on their hands, they aren't sure what to do.

+ Modern AU. Injured thresher shark Buck ends up at Steve’s rehab center and forms a crush

-☆-

“Blue Scales” (E, 52k) by chaya

Bucky and merSteve met as kids in Brooklyn. When Bucky goes off to war, Steve gets the help of Merskine to get some human legs and extra muscle to go save his POW boyfriend. Together they form the Howling Commandos and fight the good fight before going down in a plane together and getting frozen for decades. When they wake up, canon is more or less restored, minus the part where Bucky was never kidnapped a second time and Steve shapeshifts back and forth from scaley to fleshy. (All very minor details.)

+ Pre-War to Post Defrosting. Mermaid Steve and human Bucky with the Avengers. The one where the Avengers babysit merchildren

-☆-

“Bait and Switch” (T, 2k) by galwednesday

"Post-action tacos?” Tony suggested. “I’m thinking that place by Fordham. BattleBot, you in?”

“Can’t,” the Soldier said, typing something into his phone. “I have a date.”

Tony stopped talking for an entire three seconds. “You. Have a date.”

The Soldier looked up and blinked, clearly nonplussed to find Sam and Tony both staring at him. “Yes.”

“With who?”

“My boyfriend.”

“You have a boyfriend. You have a boyfriend?” Tony looked like he’d just walked into a lamppost, and then the lamppost had handed him a birthday present.

+ The Winter Soldier introduces his boyfriend to the team. This entire series is spectacular

-☆-

“In defense of the second chance” (T, 8k) by StuckySituation

“-rnes? Wake up. We’ll be back in HQ in ten minutes.”

Steve is still half-asleep, and not ready to let go of his dream. It was a nice dream.

The details are already slipping away from him, though, no matter how much he tries to resist forgetting the dream. There were other kids? He was in school? Steve groans, and mutters, “Fuck off.”

“I hate to wake you, but dude, you need to shake this off,” the stranger continues, his voice gentle and laced with worry. “You’ll need to go prepare for your trial as soon as we land.”

+ Bodyswap, Steve doesn’t think the Winter Soldier should have to testify... and it looks like he won’t have to

-☆-

“Press Play to Start” (M, 31k) by layersofsilence

Steve still doesn’t understand; and then he does, or he thinks he does, in a burst of clarity that he immediately wishes he hadn’t gotten.

The thing is that it’s not possible. James shifts his position ever so slightly; his shoulders shift smoothly under his tac gear, and it’s not possible that Steve could be programming another human.

CA:TWS AU - in which Steve Rogers, SHIELD agent, finds out that HYDRA is not so old and defeated a foe, and that the Winter Soldier is more than a whispered rumour.

+ Steve is assigned to an experimental department where he’s tasked with programming the Soldier Simulation 

-☆-

“Lunch” (T, 5k) by cleo4u2 and xantissa

Bucky Barnes, the feared Winter Soldier, is working hard at becoming a person again. He doesn't understand a lot of the modern world, yet, but he Avengers help him with that when they can. They don't always get it right.

+ Bucky gets a text from an unknown number and goes out of his way to help. 

-☆-

“Stitch Me Up Right” (G, 5k) by sirsable

The Avengers have a new fashion designer and suddenly Bucky has a lot of problems with his suit.

+ The Winter Soldier gets a crush

-☆-