#sovietsfist

It’s the best surprise in the world, having Bucky stride into her office. She rises to greet him, but even better than seeing him, he swallows her greeting in a surprisingly deep kiss the moment the door is closed.  She’s greedy with it, taking her time as she returns the deep kiss and realizes that this isn’t meant to be a lunch date in the traditional sense of the word.... she’d rather always wanted one of these sorts of lunches.

He’s got her on her desk in seconds, lifting her up to help with the jump, before she even really knows what’s happening, her blouse is off and his shirt follows. Bucky kisses her fervently, hungrily, in a way that turns Peggy’s entire body into jelly. While he pushes her skirt up, Peggy does her best to free him from the confines of his pants, wrapping a soft hand around his length quickly. 

He might not saying it more often than other people, but Christmas was always one of his favorite holiday season — even though he had to battle with the cold for a few months, but at least Steve knew how to handle the cold nowadays and took care of himself. As long as he kept taking the usual medicines and wore more warm clothes, he should be fine until the season was over next year.

Which was why he was now outside, carrying a box full of decorations while stepping near the windows. Making his house or Bucky’s house ready for the Christmas was probably one of his favorite things too. Well, Steve should’ve waited for Bucky so they could decorating together, but his best friend was late and the blond wanted it to be done before the weather got any more worse than today. It was already snowing last night and the ground started feeling a bit slippery. But it was okay, Steve wouldn’t do anything dangerous, he would just decorate a few things starting from the windows and then the door.

Except that the second window was a bit too high for him so he had to use the ladder. But Steve should be alright, he already made sure that the ladder was steady and he wouldn’t fall down just like that —

The ladder decided not to be steady enough when he stepped into the fifth one, making the tiny blond fell down to the ground instantly. It was too quick that Steve didn’t manage to grab something to prevent the fall, only grasping the nonexistence line of life when he finally hit his head on the ground.

     After the huge fallout in Germany, Steve had contacted Adriana and asked for her assistance. She didn’t care if he was a fugitive, if she could help him, in any way, she planned to. And, upon hearing the task he had requested of her, the mechanic was flattered. He wanted her to build Bucky’s new arm. This was a big, very important job and it was one she would be proud to do. So she backed up her tools and traveled to meet him.

     Honestly, he’d been trying to avoid this moment. It was why Steve had come straight to the showers the first chance he’d gotten. What he and Bucky had shared before the other man had shipped out was something neither of them had mentioned in any letter. All questions as to what it’d meant and what they were to one another now were up in the air, unanswered. And for all the pride and excitement he had over his new body and the things it could do, Steve had feared what Bucky would think of it. What if he hated it? What if he grew bitter over it? What if the small, useless guy back in Brooklyn who constantly needed rescuing and all the care in the world was what Bucky had wanted? They needed to sit down and talk about things, but they hadn’t had a chance yet.

     So when he stepped out of the shower with a towel around his waist and caught sight of the man he loved-- Steve didn’t know what to do at first. He watched Bucky’s face, watched as his eyes scaled smooth, pale skin and hard muscle. He looked for any sign of disgust or otherwise. Those beautiful features remained painfully devoid of thoughts or emotions, though. For once, Steve couldn’t read Bucky. 

     He snorted quietly at the other man’s comment and ducked his head. “Yeah, well... lucky I had somebody else t’take care’a them for me before, anyway. I got new bullies t’worry about now.” Steve’s tongue flicked out to wet his lips and he watched Bucky for a moment. There were others in the room, using the showers. He could hear the water running in other stalls. He should dress and go, he knew that.

     And yet, with a brief glance around the room, instead, he let the towel fall from around his waist, tossing it so that it fell over the bench. Then he turned and stepped into the stall Bucky had been headed for. He shifted into the corner of the stall and touched his fingers to his lips before motioning for the other man to undress and join him. 

     It was dangerous. Unwise. They could be caught. 

If you’d asked Natasha exactly when she had become comfortable enough around the man known as the Winter Soldier to let her guard down and drink freely, she wouldn’t have been able to answer. There was no logical explanation as to why she felt no sense of fear around someone who had nearly killed her more than once over the years. But then, since when had logic ever really played into her life? It wasn’t logical that she had spent the past few years fighting off aliens and robots. It wasn’t logical that someone who had been taught to feel nothing could have turned into someone who felt deeply, and cared a lot for those around her.

There is just something easy about being around Bucky, a sort of solidarity that perhaps came from the fact that they both had red in their ledgers. They had both been used, trained using some of the cruelest methods, and set on a path they had no control over.

Natasha’s past is not something she has shared with many; even the majority of her teammates know only a few bits and pieces. Clint knows it all, and Steve knows more than most, but as much as she loves them for their understanding, she knows that neither of them can truly appreciate what her life was like. They’ve all had their traumas, things that have changed them and shaped them into who they are today, but no one has really been through the same things as she has. At least, that was until Bucky joined them.

A soft laugh escapes her at Bucky’s remark about not letting Steve forget the infamous fitness challenge. “One of many things we’ll never let him live down,”   she remarks, her lips curving upwards into a wry smile. “We also like to frequently remind him of the time he reprimanded Tony for swearing on a mission!” To this day, it was a constant joke between them all whenever someone said anything even vaguely uncouth.

As the soldier’s laugh quietens, however, Natasha’s own expression falters, slipping into the blank mask she wears so often to protect herself when he utters her name in Russian. She does not need to ask what he is apologising for; she knows. The things that have passed between them have been pushed aside, making room for this comradeship, but they have never addressed them. Perhaps it had been left deliberately unspoken in an effort to forget the past and move on with their futures. Yet now it has been voiced, likely owing to the alcohol, and Natasha knows there is no more avoiding the subject.

When he finally reaches the counter, he winces in sympathy as he sees the harried baristas scrambling to finish the throes of orders. Working in the university bookstore as he does means he has less stressful work hours than these baristas, with the exception being the beginning of the semester when everyone buys their books, and the end, when they return them all en masse.

He orders a plain latte and steps off to the side to wait for his beverage. As he waits, he begins to notice just how little seating there is available in the cafe. He’s eyeing a particularly nice spot which is somehow miraculously open, but as his luck would have it, someone manages to take it just as he’s getting his coffee.

As he wanders through the cafe and sees nothing but herds of college students in varying states of stress and caffeination, he begins to wonder whether or not he ought to just go back to the counter and get a to-go cup to head somewhere else. Then, just as he’s about to give up, he notices an open spot. 

The table’s not open, though. There’s another guy sitting there, head down, maybe reading the news on his phone as he sips a cup of black coffee. As it seems to be the only open seat in the place and Steve doesn’t much like his chances of trying to find another place to study, so he clears his throat awkwardly to try to get the guy’s attention.

“Hey---I’m sorry, but this place is kind of full, and I didn’t see any other open seats. . . Would you mind if I sat here?”

There are moments that Peggy is dumbfounded by the shocking amount of luck she’s found in her life. This is one of them. Their home is warm; both the central heat is working and the fire in front of them kicking out heat. Poppy had surprised them both by going down fairly easily- no major tantrums or pleas to wait up for Santa. And Peggy is half-drunk on eggnog, curled up into Bucky, lazy and perfectly content. 

She hums as Bucky draws her in for a kiss; his mouth tastes like chocolate and rum and Peggy’s just drunk enough to chase the taste with her tongue. He pulls back and Peggy finds herself giggling softly. Perhaps she’s a little tipsier than she thought; her cheeks are flushed and her hair is falling out of its pins. “Oh, hush, this is a perfect idea,” she insists.

@sovietsfist

Avery sat hugging her legs to her chest as she stared out the window. In spite of the many attempts made by her rescuers to speak with her, she had isolated herself, remaining silent and speaking to no one. They were all still strangers to her, and, in spite of the kindness they had shown her so far, she was unsure who she could trust anymore. How long before they would try to use her, to manipulate her as HYDRA did. She needed to be sure that she was indeed rescued and that she wasn’t just trading one prison for another. She turned to look as someone entered the room. To her surprise, this man was not a complete stranger to her. She remembered him from her days at HYDRA, a familiar face. For the first time since she had been rescued, she opened her mouth to speak.