“It starts with bananas. Of course, it's not really about the bananas. Just like a camel isn't bothered by one single straw, just like a dam doesn't break because of one extra drop. Obviously, Steve's mental breakdown isn't about bananas.”
Steve is overwhelmed and hanging by a thread, doing his best to take care of Bucky while still deeply traumatized himself. He finally has a breakdown over the stupidest of things: bananas. So Bucky takes care of him.
In which Steve learns to surf, Bucky becomes a gardener, and they both begin to heal.
Rating: Explicit
Word Count: 358,101
Alright, it's done! This Florida-weird, political activist, gardening, surfing Steve/Bucky fic of mine is now complete. Big thank you to everyone who has been reading and commenting already. If you delve in and read this behemoth, I hope you enjoy!
1. Although sea turtles face enormous challenges in our current world, the rules and regulations designed to protect them here in Florida do seem to be helping. Green sea turtle nests in Florida increased from ~4,000 nests in the 1980s to over 230,000 in the 2010s. (Source)
2. Endangered smalltooth sawfish had a really bad few years due to a mysterious illness, but the most recent studies suggest the species is recovering and the old nurseries in the Indian River Lagoon are filled with baby sawfish (Source)
3. Our North Atlantic Right Whales had a great calving season this year, with the highest number of calves recorded in twenty years! (Source)
4. The passing of the State Parks Preservation Act and the Conservation Lands Bill represent a huge win for wildlife in the state! This legislation strengthens protections for state parks and wildlife management areas, which will hopefully make it much harder for certain scumbag real estate groups and politicians to secretly “swap” (aka steal) public lands for development. (Source)
Characters: Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Scott Lang, Bruce Banner, Clint Barton
Summary:
Steve has his own heist crew. Bucky has his own heist crew.
They vaguely know about each other in the way people in the same line of work sometimes vaguely know each other - which is to say, not at all.
They know of the others' existence. Barely.
And then one day their paths cross. And things have the potential to get very lethal very fast.
Unless they don't.
Unless possibly nothing works out exactly to plan.
Unless nothing is quite what it seems.
So here then is a heist fic which channels Leverage a lot and John Wick a little, because plot and action happen to me no matter what i do, it seems.
Battle couples and happy endings all the way.
A/N: Hello lovely people!
Here is my MTH2024 fill for the amazing and wonderful @bittersweet-in-boston (please give her ALL THE LOVE).
Auction was for a minimum 10K fic in typical sat fashion - AU with lots of plot, action, and a HEA. Bitters decided she would take a heist fic, since i couldn't write WWII (again - so sorry about that), and instead of a 10K setup-payoff-HEA, we have an 18K behemoth that may or may not eventually get a sequel.
(Do not worry. The ending is NOT a cliffhanger. i would never do you like that.)
Thank you so much to the truly wonderful @marveltrumpshate mods, because they really do the most incredible work. Extra special thanks go to my beta @booksandabeer who does the impossible on short notice and challenges me in all the right ways. i love you so much. You are invaluable.
And finally, i'm tagging the incredible @sparkagrace who has been through all the writing woes with me, the incomparable @dontcallmebree because they asked for it (thank you honey!), and the inimitable @mixaether -- i don't know if you even read stucky anymore, but i once wrote you a heist fic, and i swear, this current heist fic would not have happened without your first venture.
the best fanfiction you've ever read was written by a woman in her 40s before she made dinner for her kids. it was written by a teenager after school when they should've been studying for a history test. and a barista came up with the idea while they cleaned the espresso machine and busser fact-checked it on their break and the post-doc edited between writing grant proposals and the nurse apologized for typos in the notes after a long shift and behind every drabble and one-shot and multi-chapter fic there is a person with a wonderful and interesting and chaotic life and it is such a privilege that we get to be apart of it because they decided to do this thing we all share, for fun.
Stucky, Gen Audiences, pre-war 1930s. Idiots in love is the best trope. Three 100-word drabbles. These drabbles meet the requirements for @stuckygeekevents' June Pride 2026 event, for Track 1 (Hidden in Plain Sight).
Summary:
Seriously, they are so dumb. What's a mom to do?
Bucky doesn't know.
"It's a fine idea," says Mrs. Barnes. "You'll keep an eye on each other."
Steve won't, can't look at Bucky. He remembers their tiny room, the single bed, the bathtub in the kitchen.
Eyes on Bucky? He won't have a choice. Nowhere to hide now.
Winnie ruffles Bucky's hair up; he scowls and smooths it down. "You'll both come home for dinner every Friday night."
"Yes, ma'am," says Steve, as if the thought of sharing a room, a bed, a life with Bucky doesn't scare Steve joyous.
But Bucky doesn't know.
And Steve will never tell him.
*
Steve doesn't know.
"A fine idea," says Ma.
But Pop hides behind his newspaper, silent. Bucky's stomach is in knots, waiting for certain disapproval.
The idea of Steve, alone in Hell's Kitchen, churns Bucky's stomach more. Or worse—sharing that rat-trap with any other guy.
"Home for dinner, every Friday," adds Ma.
Bucky's stare could set the paper on fire by the time George turns the page and speaks. "Stop mothering them, Win. They'll be fine."
Bucky stares in disbelief… and hope.
If George can accept this new normal, maybe…
But Steve doesn't know.
And Bucky will never tell him.
*
George doesn't know.
"It's a fine idea," says Winnie. "You can keep an eye on each other."
Not that Bucky nor Steve look at each other now; Winnie could laugh or knock their heads together. She settles with ruffling Bucky's hair; he scowls and keeps his anxious gaze on George.
They're grown, they need freedom, Winnie had said earlier. Don't disapprove just because you don't like it.
to me, the cruelest thing that eva stratt does is not the kidnappig itself. it's that she tells grace that he does not even have a dog. dr ryland grace, a man who dedicated his life to the greater good, first to science and then to teaching, does indeed not have a dog. and because of this, he has to spend his last precious moments on his home planet with the full knowledge that while he might be smart enough to save the world, he is not loved enough by anyone on it to be worth saving
Sleep well Marjane Satrapi. You were a huge influence on me and my work in a way that cannot be understated. You will be missed but your work will carry on for generations to come
