I thought I’d recently recced this story, but actually I think I just thought about reccing it and never posted.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
This is a ‘home is a person not a place’ tower setting, Winter Soldier recovery, Steve POV fic that focuses on All The Soft (which I am weak for). There’s Bucky soaking up the sun and rest and care that he’s been denied for so long, and Steve is pining and reveling in Bucky’s presence in equal measure. This story is lyrical and beautiful and full of feeling.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
"gator around the warm beds of beginners" by napricot
"In that moment, Sam knew exactly what he’d have done with the Time Stone, or some Pym particles, if he’d had them: he’d have flown into that snowy ravine and caught Bucky as he fell from that train in Austria. He’d have caught Bucky then, and he’d have caught Natasha, and he’d have caught Rhodey, and Riley too.
What else were his wings for, but to catch people who were falling?"
and
"He glanced over at Bucky, who was looking a hell of a lot more like the Autumn Hipster than the Winter Soldier right now."
Someday I will make a list of fic recs just based on ridiculous quotes.
I’ll be your operator baby, I’m in control. Nothing that you do, you do unless I said. The Winter Soldier answers to Steve and Steve alone. Below are my Top 5 Favorite stories:
“The Wolf and The Sheep” (T, 50k) by aislingdoheanta
Steve Rogers is a SHIELD agent who is recruited for a secret project: Becoming a handler for the Asset. Steve’s world is thrown for a loop when he discovers the Asset is an actual person and he needs to figure out who he is and what he’s going to do.
Steve as the Winter Soldier’s handler AU. (Non-HYDRA trash party.)
+ Modern Steve. Captain Rogers makes his own secret plans to free the Winter Soldier and discovers Hydra within Shield. An alternate retelling of the WS movie
-☆-
“Cabin Fever” (E, 11) by Dibsanddabs
It was just Steve’s luck really. It was his first outing as the asset’s handler and everything had gone to shit.
Steve is the asset's new handler, and when a mission goes bad he makes the decision to wait in a safe house. But mountain weather is against them and the pair end up snowed in together. The longer the asset spends out of cryo, the more of Steve's questions he can answer, and Steve might not like what he finds.
+ Alt Canon . Snowed in a cabin together, Bucky’s programming starts to crack and Steve starts to remember this isn’t his first time working with Bucky.
-☆-
“Ready to Comply” (E, 66k) by exclamation
The asset's orders at the end of The Winter Soldier weren't to kill Captain America, but to capture him, so that he could be wiped and turned into another asset. The asset has succeeded in that mission, capturing its target and taking him back to the Hydra base. But the Hydra soldiers are dead, captured, or fled, so there is no one there to give the asset new orders.
Alone with its captive, the asset has no instructions on how it is meant to act. But the more time it spends with its target, the more old protocols start to assert themselves, like the protocol that when that face is hurt and bleeding, the asset is supposed to clean away the blood.
+ Post WS. The Winter Soldier chooses Steve to be his handler and as he recovers, continues to choose Steve. (Numerical rankings, chocolate covered raisins, and cookie bribes)
-☆-
“find a way to forgive myself” (T, 34) by napricot
“Okay, let’s try this again,” says Steve’s own voice. “I’m not Loki and I really need you to listen to me. The literal fate of your universe depends on it.” Steve comes up swinging before he’s even really opened his eyes. “Oh for god’s—”
As if Steve’s life isn’t already weird enough what with the waking up in the 21st century and fighting aliens thing, his future self’s Time Heist and Reverse Time Heist have left 2012 Steve in a pretty awkward position: not only does he have to pretend to be HYDRA in order to save Bucky, but now he also has to help save the whole damn universe too? Luckily for him, if the first time was tragedy, then the second time around is definitely a hell of a lot closer to farce.
+ Alt 2012. 2012 Steve gets memories from the future, and goes undercover as Hydra to look for Bucky with help from the Avengers. Featuring the magic space rock mind stone
-☆-
“Blood” (T, 45k) by leveragehunters (Monkeygreen)
In a world where magic is as commonplace as electricity, HYDRA worships a god who craves order through death. They used His blood to create fierce Soldiers then enslaved them by chaining their souls.
The man who was James Barnes is the last Soldier, the rest having been put down after succumbing to the call of the Blood. One night, out of control after a mission, the increasingly unstable Soldier runs into Steve Rogers. Instead of being turned into a red smear on the ground, Steve successfully talks him down. HYDRA decides to keep him. The Soldier's the last one they've got; if Steve can keep him calm he's going to do it whether he likes it or not.
Like fractious racehorses have companion goats, they hand Steve off to the Soldier as a kind of pet. But studies have shown pets can ease depression, despair and loneliness, lead to an increased sense of safety and well-being, and provide a source of protection and unconditional love. HYDRA really should have reviewed the literature before they decided to give Steve to the Soldier. Especially since, once Steve Rogers is involved, protectiveness can get slightly out of hand.
+ Shrinkyclinks. Modern Steve is the only one who can bring the Winter Soldier back from bloodlust. When Shield rescues them, Bucky doesn’t trust anyone but Steve and Steve would never abuse that power.
-☆-
-☆- And one where Bucky thinks Steve is a handler -☆-
“This is the Ghost Story” ( T, 45k) by Taste_is_Sweet
You can't have amnesia if you're not supposed to remember.
("I don't want to forget you," Bucky says wistfully.
Steve looks half-asleep, but he blinks and lifts his head. "What do you mean?" he asks. His smile is puzzled. "Why would you forget me?"
"After maintenance, when they'll wipe me and put me in Cryo," Bucky explains. "I'll forget you again, and I don't want to. You're the best handler I've ever had.")
+ Post WS. Bucky gets hurt on an Avengers mission and reverts back to the Winter Soldier. Very intense and angsty. Part of a longer series but can be read stand-alone.
-☆-
+ More Handler Steve fics here and the Pepper list (upcoming)
Call me, call me. Let me know it’s all right. Call me, call me. (Don’t you think it’s about time?) Below are my Top 5 Favorite stories:
“Let this be light work” (T, 8k) by caughtinanocean
On the run with Sam and Natasha, Steve finds the words to describe his commitment to Bucky. As with most of Steve’s decisions, there are unintended consequences.
“It’s no use,” Natasha tells Sam. “You won’t get him to go out and flirt. Steve here’s a married man.”
They’re somewhere in Croatia, and Sam’s been hard at work, trying to pull Steve away from a busy night of sketching and staring at his phone. He wants to go out and drink plum brandy and dance with the locals.
“You should go without me,” Steve says, hazy. Married. A married man. Isn’t that something?
+ Post CW. Steve considers Bucky his husband, so he tells people he’s married (even though he’s not)
-☆-
“Skype Right” (E, 7k) by Kalee60
Steve didn’t like the idea of Skype, but it was a necessary evil in his line of work, especially when his friend and co-worker, Sam, refused to leave DC and Steve was never leaving Brooklyn.
He wasn’t expecting to see the literal man of his dreams wandering around in the background of one of Sam’s calls, one who, once they got to talking, proved to be everything Steve had ever wished for.
So what was he to do? Because it appeared the man he was supposed to spend the rest of his life with, was dating Sam. Wasn’t he?
+ Modern AU. Steve gets a crush! Skype chats, mutual pining, and long-suffering Sam.
-☆-
“you’ll find something waiting” (E, 3k) by cobaltmoony, Nonymos
These times are odd times. Steve’s forgotten what it meant to have a circadian cycle; he’s overtaken the sun around the globe more than once in less than a week. He sleeps when he’s tired, and eats when he’s hungry. There are no more movies he needs to watch, no more books he needs to read, no more small talk, no more silent apartments, nothing beyond the endless string of missions and how he can fit his immediate needs in there. It’s like being back in the European theater, this mixture of constant strain and exhilarating freedom.
+ Post CW. They never defined their relationship, but a strip tease and Skype sex can fix that right up
-☆-
“love is blind (steve and bucky are just dumb)” (T, 4k) by wearing_tearing, talkplaylove
“You shouldn’t have interrupted their date, then,” Natasha pipes up, finally showing her face as she gives Bucky a wave and a tiny smile. “I like the hair.”
“Thank you.” Bucky preens a little. He ignores the teasing about this being a date; Nat and Sam somehow got it into their heads that Steve and him were dating via Skype calls. They’re not. They’re just friends who video call sometimes. Friends do that.
+ Post CW. They’re absolutely dating; they just don't know it
-☆-
“a line that goes all the way” (E, 45k) by napricot
"About six months after he left Bucky in cryostasis in Wakanda, Steve got a text from an unidentified number: He is awake and well, and wants to see you."
Steve and Bucky reunite and reconnect, with some help from modern technology.
+ Post CW. Steve visits, and leaves, visits, and leaves. One day, he’ll stop circling and stay for good. In the meantime, there’s always Skype.
-☆-
-☆- And a freebie where they missed their Skype date -☆-
“Where The Lovelight Gleams” (T, 2k) by heartsdesire456
For the past thirteen years, Steve and Bucky have said 'Merry Christmas' to each other every year. Some years, they weren't together when they said it, but when Bucky was deployed, apart from one year when Bucky's call got interrupted by action, they always managed a 'Merry Christmas' in Bucky's weekly Skype call.
It was Christmas Eve and Bucky's Skype call time had come and gone.
Steve couldn't imagine a worse Christmas than one where he didn't get to tell his husband Merry Christmas.
+ Modern AU. Steve doesn’t get that call, but he gets something better
Hot for teacher! Is it the intelligence kink? The nurturing aspect of building youthful minds? Plain schadenfreude of Academia? Whatever catches your fancy, below are my Top 5 Favorites:
“they’re gonna send us to prison for jerks” (T, 24k) by napricot
“Hey Steve, this is Jack Murphy, our other neighbor. Jack, this is Steve.” Steve looked at Sam a little wildly, expecting to see—he didn’t even know, but some reaction other than Sam’s usual easy friendliness. And there was something there, but it was just the twitch of Sam’s mouth that said he found something hilarious and he was trying not to show it. Was this Sam’s idea of a joke, or a prank? Because this guy—behind the glasses and mustache, Steve could have sworn—well, he looked like Bucky.
+ Post WS, Bucky’s made a new life for himself as a math teacher. Hijinks abound, with a sequel of Bucky’s POV for extra giggles
-☆-
“Pedantic Affectations” (M, 15k) by relenafanel
Steve Rogers: khaki pants and ugly tweed wearing art history professor specializing in historical queer art (by day). Is actually Captain America, vigilante and the bane of Detective Barnes’s existence (by night).
Detective Bucky Barnes: A very clever cop who suspects something is up with Steve. Is frustrated that Captain America exists and is dedicated to finding him because he loves a good puzzle.
So, how does Steve convince Bucky that he's too boring to be Captain America? Go on a date with him.
(Steve is kind of really, really bad at this secret identity thing)
+ Modern AU where Steve is professor by day, vigilante by night, and a disaster all around
-☆-
“Introduction to Fake Dating Your Best Friend 101″ (T, 24k) by crinklefries
Bucky stares at his best friend as though he’s absolutely lost what’s left of his dumbass mind.
“Excuse me?” he asks dumbly.
Steve sighs and sags back onto the couch, covering his face dramatically with one large, well-manicured hand.
“Dean Coulson thinks we’re dating. And gay. But like, for each other. And now I need you to fake date me so I can convince the Chancellor to fund my research.”
+ Modern AU where they’re both professors who fake date and pine for each other
-☆-
“Dear Teacher, With Love” (T, 61k) by fancyh
In which Bucky Barnes becomes a teacher. Includes snarky teenagers, copious amounts of Starbucks, a cat named Alpine, and a soft redemption story for our favorite hero.
+ Post WS. While recovering, Bucky impersonates a science teacher and gets adopted by the students and staff
-☆-
“good on my own (needed me)” (E, 11k) by mcwho
There are some mistakes that could be made by anybody. Anybody. Bucky taught high school pretty much his whole life, and that was fine, those were kids, and he knew all of them anyway, which meant there was very little chance of him accidentally fucking any of his students during an impulsive post-marital-breakdown Grindr hook-up. Which is exactly what he had done with Steve.
+ Modern AU where Bucky’s a college professor and found out his summer grindr hookup is a student at his university
