#wintershieldbingo

[disterra]

fatws!bucky and pre-serum steve having a little fun fill for my @wintershieldbingo card square: nurse

[dvrkblooms]

My Jolly Sailor Bold

Read on Ao3 and Squidge!

Fandom: MCU

Pairing: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers

Rating: T

Tags: Achillean Romance, Alternate Universe, Creature Feature, A Swashbuckling Tale

Summary

In which Steve is a sailor caught up with the wrong crowd and Bucky is a merman.

Bingos and Events:

AU Challenge - Creatures & Monsters

@au-pril-blog: 2026 - Day 9: Fantasy

@bingocardsforfandom: Hallmark Bingo - Fantastical Elements

@bingorin - Fantasy AU

@bloodyheartsbingo: Mini Bingo II - Saving someone at a pivotal moment

@buckybarnesbingo: Flash Bingo - U: Meet Ugly

@darkspicyevanstan - Rusalka

@deaddovedec: 2023 - Captivity

@fairytalebingo: Mad Monster Bingo - Free Space

@thefairytalebingo - Mermaid

@fairytaleweek: 2026 - Day 7: The Fair Folk - Nereid

@fandombingo:

Dark Deception Bingo - I didn't want this Kisses, Chaos, & Catastrophe - Free Space

@halcyonianlove:

Halcyonian Love Fest - Mermaid Halcyonian Love: a Stucky Winter Advent - Fusion AU

@halloweenhorrorbingo: 2024 - Wanting to see a mermaid

@heartxhorror: 2026 - Lovesick @krotagious

@herohardshipsbingo - Unlikely Relationships

@julybreakbingo: 2025 - Liberating

@marvelbang: Marvel Fanworks Week - Day 7

@multifandom-flash: Here There Be Monsters Bingo - Siren

@secretcrypticevents: Into the Wilds Bingo - Water Nymph

@steverogersbingo - E3: Rescue

@stuckybingo - Free Space

@winterbreakadvent: 2024 - Getting Together

@wintershieldbingo - Fantasy AU

[rillils]

pairing: Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes rating: T wordcount: 2121 tags: established relationship, tooth-rotting fluff, kid fic, Bucky's metal arm, domestic boys my beloved notes: this smol thing is just an attempt at getting me out of an agonizing writer's block. it fills my @stuckybingo card square O2 - Touching foreheads, and my @wintershieldbingo card square Fluff. I also used this amazing post as a reference for Bucky's (most recent) metal arm. summary: Now, at sixteen months old, Sarah refuses to be laid in her crib for the night unless the arm is laid down beside her. Nineteen pounds of unyielding vibranium, with a grip that could crush a human skull as effortlessly as it could an egg, and she makes it look almost precious. Endearing. Something to be loved; worthy of being loved because she loves it.

You can read it on AO3, or under the cut!

-

It’s not that Bucky means to circle back to the nursery, tonight. In fact, he ought to head straight to bed and catch some hard-earned zee’s while he still has the chance, now that the princess’ diaper’s been changed, and his teeth have been brushed minty-fresh and his sleep shirt is not smeared with drool, snot, or sticky remnants of Sarah’s dinner. But the pull is too strong, and so here he stands, one-armed and bone-tired and hovering by Sarah’s crib like a lovestruck puppy, unable to walk away. Again.

Yes, it’s a curious predicament.

Made so much more curious by the odd presence in his daughter’s bed – a lumbering silhouette of gleaming metal, peeking out from under Sarah’s favorite blanket like a second, strange-looking baby, that she demanded to have with her.

That one right there, that’s a recent development, and one Bucky can’t truly make sense of just yet. But he can’t look away.

It ties a knot in his chest, his heart squeezed tight in the middle, between his lungs and his stomach and the cage of his ribs, beating wild and fluttery and disbelieving at the sight. At the sharp, cutting tenderness of his daughter wrapped protectively around the log-shape of his prosthetic arm, her little body curled like a parenthesis around it; her tiny fingers splayed over the glossy black plates of his bicep, her warm breath misting the rounded swell where his shoulder is.

It nearly hurts to see it; but it’s a sweet hurt, this one.

The first time Sarah saw Bucky pop the arm out its socket, she was four months old and sitting back against Steve’s chest, happily gnawing on her own dimpled fist as Papa bounced her gently in his arms.

Bucky hadn’t meant to show her; not yet, at least.

He’d been so careful up until then, almost to the point of paranoia, only ever removing the prosthesis when Sarah was already asleep, and dutifully slipping it back on for her late-night feedings; too scared that she might cry, startled by the anomaly of it all; afraid, or so he told himself, that she might simply be too young to understand.

“I just don’t think she’s ready to see that,” he’d shrugged at Steve’s prodding, just a few nights before, curled up in bed with the metal arm still firmly on, comfort be damned, because Sarah had only just dozed off again with a full tummy and a clean diaper, and the sun was about to rise anyway.

Steve had gathered him close, his broad chest pressed like a shield against Bucky’s back, and he’d threaded their fingers, warm flesh and gold-rimmed vibranium, together.

He hadn’t made Bucky say it out loud. That he wasn’t ready yet. Ready to be the thing their daughter was afraid of. The thing that made their sweet baby cry and twist away in fear, sobbing, seeking safety and shelter in somebody else.

But Steve had known.

Bucky had felt it. In the comforting hold of Steve’s arm wrapped around his waist. In the enveloping warmth of Steve’s voice as he rumbled, soft into the tousled fall of Bucky’s hair, their heads sharing one pillow, “It’s all right, Buck. You’ll choose when.”

And then one night, Bucky had simply forgotten himself.

He hadn’t even realized what he’d done, not until Sarah had abandoned her drool-coated fist to burst into happy, cascading, heart-squeezing giggles.

Bucky had seen his own surprise mirrored on Steve’s face. Steve’s mouth was agape, his eyes wide with shocked delight – while Bucky himself stood frozen from head to toe like a deer in the headlights, the metal arm still gripped in his hand.

Steve had spoken first, hot on the heels of their daughter’s first laugh.

“Oh my god, Buck– Do it– do it again.”

And cautiously, careful not to feed the little bubble of hope already blooming in his chest, Bucky had. Eyes locked on their baby, he’d allowed the arm to click back into place; and then, with a trembling hand, he’d popped it off again.

Sarah had lost it, erupting into peals and peals of these sweet, full-bellied giggles that made her little tummy shake under Steve’s hand, and something – something had come loose inside Bucky’s chest. A weight that had been sitting on top of his lungs for longer than he’d realized, stunting his every breath.

He’d cried, after.

He’d wet Steve’s shoulder with his tears, and then he’d laughed, his cheeks still glistening, raking his flesh-and-bone fingers through his hair, almost hysterical with relief.

“Thank God,” he’d half-chuckled, half-sobbed, his face cupped in Steve’s big hands, Steve’s lips warm and soothing against his brow. “Thank God...”

Now, at sixteen months old, Sarah refuses to be laid in her crib for the night unless the arm is laid down beside her.

Nineteen pounds of unyielding vibranium, with a grip that could crush a human skull as effortlessly as it could an egg, and she makes it look almost precious. Endearing. Something to be loved; worthy of being loved because she loves it.

She takes after Steve in that respect.

She can’t have missed Steve’s open doting on Bucky’s artificial arm, he muses: she’s been exposed to it her whole life. Every day since they brought her home, she has been the primary witness to Steve’s relentless displays of affection.

Before she could ever even process her surroundings, she was already watching Papa pepper feather-light kisses up Dada’s shiny metal arm, or lace their mismatched fingers together, or bring Dada’s metal hand to his lips to kiss the black and gold of Dada’s knuckles.

Maybe it was Steve, then: consistently, unwittingly teaching their daughter that this strange part of Dada can be loved, too. Maybe this is all his doing. Or maybe, maybe Sarah decided that all on her own. After all, Bucky muses with no small amount of pride, she’s proving herself to be just as willful a creature as her father ever was.

He reaches down to stroke the softness of her hair, cradling the back of her head in his palm.

His baby. His sweet little weirdo.

“You know you’ve been standing there for like twenty minutes now, right?”

The voice comes in a soft octave, one notch louder than a whisper, but no more than a gentle rumble.

Bucky turns his head, and he finds Steve exactly where he expected to find him: his big body leaned leisurely against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest and a knowing smile curling his lips. Bucky hasn’t been seventeen for a long, long time; but the whispering flutter he feels now in his heart knows no age.

“Shut it, Rogers,” Bucky teases back just as softly, straightening up with one last caress to Sarah’s wispy hair. “Like I didn’t catch you doing the exact same thing just a couple nights ago.”

Steve pushes himself off the doorframe, hands held up palms-out, briefly ducking his head in a humble “guilty as charged” gesture.

“She asleep?” he asks, approaching Bucky and the crib on soundless socked feet.

Bucky nods. He can’t stop his gaze from traveling back to Sarah’s slumbering frame, sweet and cozy under her blanket.

“Out like a light,” he says, and if it sounds even half as hopelessly fond as he thinks it does, well, that can’t be helped, now can it.

He feels Stee’s arms loop around his waist, soon followed by the familiar jut of Steve’s chin hooking over his shoulder, locking the embrace in. It’s a gentle hold, Steve’s thickly muscled arms fitted just snugly enough around him, and Bucky sinks into it with a pleased sigh, happy to soak up all the warmth Steve is so generously offering.

His only hand settles over Steve’s own, where it rests against Bucky’s stomach, his thumb stroking absently over the downy hairs dusting Steve’s wrist.

“I don’t get it,” he speaks quietly into the comfortable silence. “She could have her pick of stuffed toys to sleep with. I mean, we’ve got ourselves a whole-ass zoo up there,” he adds, gesturing towards the shelf currently hosting a small army of stuffed bears, penguins, unicorns, the odd shark, two giraffes, and a pink crocodile he won for her at a fair, which Sarah barely ever deigned with a passing glance, “every shape, size and color under the sun, but nope. She has to cuddle up with the lump of metal.”

“It’s not just any lump of metal,” Steve corrects him, with a meaningful squeeze of his arms around Bucky’s middle. “It’s you. Smells like you. Feels like you. It’s like you’re right there with her, holding her.” His lips know a spot hidden in the crook of Bucky’s neck, and they find it now to place a kiss there; the warmth of it tingles right under Bucky’s skin, dancing like so many sparks of gold down his spine. “That shit beats a measly teddy bear one thousand to nothing, honey.”

That gets a chuckle out of Bucky. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” And he can’t see Steve’s face, but he can hear the smile in his voice when Steve speaks, pouring sweet mumblings in Bucky’s ear as he rocks their bodies gently in his embrace. “This way, she can fall asleep knowing that daddy is here, that daddy loves her. That he’ll keep her safe from harm.”

It feels like a sin to disturb this, but Bucky turns around within the circle of Steve’s arms, coming face-to-face with him. There, there’s the smile he couldn’t see before, private and sweet and only meant for him to see, so genuine it reaches up to the crinkles of Steve’s eyes.

If he were to touch his face right now, Bucky’s sure he’d find that same shape on his own lips.

“You really think so?”

“Absolutely.” Steve’s hands come to rest on Bucky’s hips, giving them a little squeeze hello. “Trust me, I’m an expert,” he murmurs, shining those luminous, earnest eyes of his on Bucky like they won’t steal the breath right out of his lungs. “I know what it’s like to feel safe in your arms.”

Bucky couldn’t say which of them leans in first, but their foreheads touch; and he can see the minute quiver in Steve’s eyelashes, when Steve’s eyes slip closed. Feels the ghost of Steve’s breath, grazing hot like a kiss against his skin.

Steve’s voice drops, ever softer.

“Only place I ever felt safe in my whole life, Buck.”

And it’s lucky, truly – lucky that Steve’s one of the only two people in the whole world capable of cracking Bucky’s heart open like this, and fill it with an ache as sweet as the one pulsing inside him now. And it’s unfair, so cruelly unfair of Steve to make him feel so tender he might just come apart, like he’s a wad of cotton candy and Steve is water, and the first cooling touch of him will dissolve Bucky into drops of pure sugar–

–now, in this moment where everything speaks of home, and they’re standing right here, breathing each other’s air, whisper-talking in their tried and true “the baby is sleeping” voices, socked feet on the cold floor and flecks of copper glinting in Steve’s beard when the lamplight hits it just right, and Bucky never imagined that love could make you feel so full it actually hurts.

He cups the back of Steve’s head, sinking his fingers in the dark gold of Steve’s hair.

“You gettin’ sentimental on me, Stevie?”

Steve chuckles under his breath, leaning back just so he has enough room to gaze into Bucky’s eyes.

“Always, honey. Can’t help but.”

“Well,” Bucky says, casting one last glance towards their sleeping daughter. “I got another arm right here, if you were wantin’ something wrapped around you tonight. Maybe not quite so shiny as the other one, but it still does the trick. Whaddya say, sweetheart?”

Steve looks at him, his eyebrows pinched together and that soft, tiny crease in between that Bucky knows so well, the one that tells him of Steve’s unabashed fondness when Steve himself can’t; the one that tells him, I love you, before Steve has even lined up the words on his tongue.

Bucky wants to kiss him.

Bucky forgets, sometimes, that he can kiss him. That he gets to kiss him, and when he doesn’t, it’s only because Steve beat him to it and kissed him first.

Steve doesn’t kiss him now, though his eyes say that he wants to, with every fiber of his heart he wants to.

“Yeah,” he rasps, soft as a breath and painfully tender. “Yeah, I’ll take that. If you don’t mind.”

Bucky, Steve will learn, does not mind at all.

[blackwood4stucky]

✨ custom made for the baddest in the club ✨

Happy Birthday to the Baddest Witch in the Club!

Bucky smirks at the words floating in the air by the power of no doubt Wanda's magic alone. The fairy lights twinkle brilliantly as they hang from various light fixtures on the ceiling in the cosy room hidden behind the bar. Steve outdid himself this time. A stunning birthday cake sits in the center of the room, he immediately makes his way over. The laugh he lets out is joyful and shocked at Witches Don’t Age inscribed in calligraphy onto the sweet surface.

“Happy Birthday, sweetheart.”

A smile graces his lips as Steve’s arms come to rest around his waist, the warmth from his own personal space heater seeps into his body.

"Thank you, baby." He twists a little in Steve's embrace.

They share a sweet kiss.

@buckybarnesbingo | u2: magic

@halcyonianlove:

a winter stucky advent | day 12: witch fest | wanda maximoff

@steverogersbingo | free space

@stuckybingo | free space

@wintershieldbingo | witch

also available on ao3 | sqwa

[wintershieldbingo]

Welcome to the WinterShield Bingo!

This is an 18+ event.

⚔️ Rules

No minors allowed due to the explicit/mature themes that will be featured in participating works.

The WinterShield Bingo is a marvel fandom event dedicated to the romantic relationship between Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes! As such, polyships are not allowed here. Ex: Steve/Bucky/Sam, Steve/Reader/Bucky, Steve/OFC/Bucky, Steve/OMC/Bucky, Steve/NBOC/Bucky, and any other variation.

However, Bucky/Steve/Bucky and Steve/Bucky/Steve are allowed. Work whatever author magic you'd like to get more than one version of our lovely captain and his sergeant in one universe. The world is your oyster.

Make sure their romantic relationship is a key component of whatever fanwork is submitted for this event to ensure the posts are reblogged, your work added to the monthly masterlists, and accepted into the event collection.

This is a no pressure event and you can complete your fills at your own pace.

Sign ups are currently open and as long as your works are at least 250 words, feel free to post to the event collection; it will be open indefinitely.

↳ You are also allowed to combine this event with other organized bangs, bingos, fests, etc. as long as the requirements are met.

Please use one square from your card per chapter/fic.

"Choose not to warn" fics are also allowed, just please tag your works appropriately. We don't want to restrict your creativity with this event. This means dark fiction and anything that will warrant the additional "dead dove: do not eat" tag are welcome! Yes, including that trope.

Your submissions for this event should be new and never seen before content. A new chapter in an already in progress fic is acceptable. A new installment to an already in progress series is also acceptable.

⚔️ Art

Fanarts like edits, gifsets, photomanipulations, and digital/traditional artworks are all acceptable as submissions. For moodboards, there should be 6 spaces for photos and/or aesthetics.

For both fanarts and moodboards, please include a blurb of at least 100-250 words with your submissions.

Giftsets: At least 2 images Digital: At least 300x300 pixels Traditional: At least 3x3 inches *Moodboards: At least 6 spaces for aesthetics/images

*You are more than welcome to have more than 6 spaces on your moodboard!

⚔️ Memo

Please tag us in your posts on tumblr using @wintershieldbingo and #wintershieldbingo if you'd like to be reblogged!

If you'd like to be featured on Stucky's Monthly Masterlists of S.H.I.E.L.D. Approved Works in WinterShield-Land, use this form for each square you fill on your card!

If you'd like to see some new prompt additions made to the list we already have, use this form!

The help section is here.

⚔️ Collection

The Ao3 collection for this event is available now! If you'd like the mods to add your works to the collection for you, please use the bingo fill submission form.

⚔️ Your Masterlist

Completing your initial card and submitting a masterlist is the only way you can request another card.

Using a masterlist is how we will verify you have completed your card. Your filled bingo card must be included somewhere in your post. You may @ us on your masterlist but we would still prefer you to use the link below to submit it to us!

⚔️ Masterlist Submission Form

⚔️ The Card

We will be offering a 5x5 card for this bingo! In the form you will be able to opt in for prompts of multiple types. For each category, please select at least 25 prompts that you'd like to see on your bingo card. This will help the mods create the best card for you.

The card only has 25 squares total, including a free space. If for some reason you don't like a square, you can ask for a swap. Only 5 squares are eligible to be changed during the 1 week swap period.

Cards will be delivered via Tumblr DM or Tumblr Submission. Please have the appropriate settings turned on so we can reach you, otherwise sending your card will be difficult.

It would be best to enable all post types for submissions. You should also ensure that the "hide (your blog name) from people without an account” setting is turned off as well.

If you don’t have tumblr, we will use the email you provided in the sign up form to send your card. THIS OPTION IS ONLY AVAILABLE IF YOU DON’T HAVE TUMBLR.

✨ Those of you without tumblr, you may put your email in the TUMBLR URL section of the sign up form. ✨

⚔️ Sample Cards

⚔️ Regarding Swaps

Our sign up form has been updated so you all can cherry pick what you'd like to see on your card!

However, if you're still not satisfied with the card you received, you can request swaps using this form*. The swap period is for ONE WEEK after receiving your card. Please give the mods at least 24 hours to process your request for a maximum of 5 swaps!

*The password to submit your swap form is WinterCap. (This password is case sensitive!)

⚔️ Posting

When posting on any platforms and tagging us here on tumblr, please only mention the one square you are using. Not the squares it might also qualify for since we request that only one square be used per oneshot/chapter.

When posting your works directly to tumblr, you must use the KEEP READING feature once the piece reaches upwards of 300 words.

⚔️ Sign Up Form

The password to fully submit your card application is SteveBucky Love. (The password is case sensitive!)

Enjoy the event,

Bingo Mods

[jesperwolf]

Bauk!Winter Soldier moodboard (for @wintershieldbingo)

I love the idea of Hydra getting hold of a Bauk who can shapeshift into a man, using it to kill people who get in their way and sow terror amongst their enemies. Deaths caused by something obviously inhuman, bodies torn apart by teeth and claws inside locked rooms. However, it gets more and more feral the longer it's been captured and eventually they have to lock it away so it doesn't exact revenge on them.

Steve and the rest of the Avengers are investigating an abandoned Hydra base in Serbia, when they stumble upon this man chained up and rescue him only to find out that he can change into this creature from local mythology. Them working together to take out the remnants of Hydra, and the Bauk being named Bucky since Hydra only ever called him the Asset or the Beast.

More info on Bauks below the cut!

"The Bauk is said to be an ungainly, hulking creature, its form a patchwork of primal terror. Its most defining features are its razor-sharp claws, gleaming like obsidian in the faintest light, and a shambling gait, a motion so clumsy it seems at odds with its calculated lethality. Stories often describe it as shrouded in impenetrable darkness, its body merging seamlessly with the gloom, making it nearly impossible to discern until it is far too late. The creature’s name itself is an onomatopoeic echo of its nature—a low, guttural bau that chills the air and curdles the courage of anyone who hears it. Legends tell of the Bauk’s unsettling preference for desolate and forgotten spaces. Abandoned houses, deep forest glades, and the mouths of shadowy caves are its hunting grounds, places where the boundary between the world of the living and the domain of the unknown grows perilously thin. Here, it waits in eerie silence, a predator of patience. Its origin is a matter of conjecture—some say the Bauk emerged from the primal fears of ancient people, a living warning about the dangers of straying too far into the dark. Others suggest it may be a relic of the natural world itself, a distorted memory of the bear, now lost to much of Serbia but living on as a phantom in the collective mind. A tale often shared by elders is one of the hapless wanderer—a foolhardy soul who ignores the warnings of the village to take a shortcut through a Bauk-infested forest. The tale always ends predictably: the Bauk, with its supernatural ability to vanish into the shadows, ambushes the traveler, its massive claws paralyzing the victim as they are dragged into the beast’s lair. The screams, sharp and brief, fade into the quiet, leaving behind only the sobering reminder to respect the darkness." - Gods and Monsters

[storiesbyshadow]

Snuggles Are The Best Medicine

Fandom: Marvel

Pairing: Steve x Bucky

Rating: Teen

Tags: Fluff, Angst if you squint, Bucky has a cold, Cold symptoms, snuggling, stubborn Bucky, soft Steve.

Word Count: Around 1000

Written For: @fluffyjuly @julybreakbingo @wintershieldbingo

Squares/Prompts Filled: "I thought you were asleep for Fluffy July 2025 | G2 - Fever for July Break Bingo 2025 | O3 - Snuggling for WinterShield Bingo

Dividers By: Stucky Divider - @firefly-graphics | Support Divider - @cafekitsune | DNC Divider - @saradika-graphics

"Stay in bed, Buck"

The apartment was quiet, save for the muffled coughing echoing from the bedroom. Steve peeked around the doorframe, arms crossed and a worried crease between his brows.

Bucky sat stubbornly on the edge of the bed, trying, and failing, to pull on a hoodie. His hands trembled, skin flushed with fever, and a thin sheen of sweat glistened on his brow. He was clearly in no shape to do anything, but that didn't stop him from grumbling under his breath.

“Buck…” Steve warned gently, stepping in.

“I’m fine, Steve.” Bucky’s voice was raspy, hoarse, and totally unconvincing. “I just need some fresh air. I’m not gonna die from a little cold.”

Steve crossed the room and knelt in front of him, resting a hand on Bucky’s knee. “You’ve got a fever of 102. You were literally talking to the lamp twenty minutes ago. I think you thought it was Sam.”

Bucky frowned, blinking slowly and confused. “Wasn’t it Sam?”

Steve couldn’t help but chuckle. “No, Buck. Sam doesn’t glow.”

“Could’ve fooled me,” Bucky mumbled, swaying slightly.

That was all the confirmation Steve needed. He gently pushed Bucky back onto the bed, guiding him until he was lying against the pillows. Bucky protested weakly, a dramatic sigh leaving his lips as Steve tucked the blankets around him like a burrito.

“I’m not an invalid,” Bucky muttered, trying to wiggle free. “You don’t have to treat me like a kid.”

“I know,” Steve said softly, brushing sweat-damp hair off Bucky’s forehead. “But I am gonna treat you like someone I love who needs rest.”

Bucky blinked up at him, glassy eyes going soft. “You love me, huh?”

Steve smiled and leaned down to kiss his temple. “More than anything.”

Bucky huffed, clearly trying not to melt. “Still hate being babied.”

“Well, good thing I came prepared.” Steve kicked off his shoes, climbed onto the bed, and slid under the covers. He wrapped his arms around Bucky and pulled him close, resting Bucky’s head on his chest.

Bucky stiffened for a second because, of course, he did, Mr. I-Don’t-Need-Help. But the warmth, the steady beat of Steve’s heart, and the slow back-and-forth motion of Steve’s fingers stroking his spine slowly worked their magic.

“…You’re using snuggles as a trap,” Bucky muttered sleepily.

“I absolutely am,” Steve said without shame. “You gonna fight it?”

“…Maybe later. After a nap.”

Steve smiled, pressing another kiss to Bucky’s forehead. “Rest sweetheart.”

Within minutes, Bucky was breathing evenly, his fevered body relaxing in Steve’s arms. Steve held him close, warm and safe, and watched over him like he always had. Well, at least until Bucky was back on his feet and grumbling again.

But for now, Steve had him right where he wanted him. Snuggled up, safe, and finally resting.

Hours later, the room remained quiet, except for the hum of the heater and the occasional sniffle from Bucky. He’d drifted off sometime after Steve wrapped around him like a human blanket. His fever was still running high, but the tight tension in his body had eased, and that was all Steve needed to feel the smallest bit of peace.

He lay there with his chin resting on Bucky’s head, one hand lazily tracing patterns between his shoulder blades. Steve had always been good at silence, but when it came to Bucky, especially like this, vulnerable and sick and warm in his arms, he had too much on his chest to keep quiet.

“You know,” Steve murmured, voice low, “you act all grumpy and tough, but you’re the worst sick person I’ve ever met.”

Bucky didn’t respond, at least not in a way that let Steve know he was awake. His breathing stayed steady, his face still tucked against Steve’s collarbone.

Steve let his fingers drift to the edge of Bucky’s jaw, brushing lightly. “You drive me crazy with how stubborn you are. Always trying to prove you’re fine when you’re clearly not. But I get it, Buck. I do. You’ve had to fight through everything.”

He paused, heart tightening.

“I just wish you’d let me carry some of that weight for you sometimes.”

Still no sign Bucky was awake. Steve smiled faintly, lips close to his hair now.

“You’re not a burden. Not to me. You never have been.”

A shaky breath stirred against Steve’s chest.

“I love you, you idiot. So damn much it makes me feel like I’m bursting at the seams.”

Steve sighed and pressed a long, lingering kiss to Bucky’s temple.

“You’re everything to me. The best part of my days, even when you're sick and grumbling and half-delirious.”

Bucky shifted, just slightly, barely enough for Steve to notice. But he didn’t say a word.

“Maybe I’m saying all this now because you’re asleep,” Steve whispered. “But I’ll say it again when you’re better. I’ll say it a thousand times. However many it takes for you to believe me.”

There was a pause. Then, faintly, barely audible:

“…You better.”

Steve froze.

Bucky’s eyes were still shut, but the faintest smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

“I...I thought you were asleep,” Steve stammered.

Bucky's voice was slow, thick with sleep and fever. “Didn’t wanna interrupt. It was nice.”

Steve buried his face in Bucky’s hair, groaning. “You heard everything?”

“Every word,” Bucky murmured, a little smug despite his exhaustion.

Steve was about to tease him when Bucky tilted his head, eyes fluttering open just enough to meet his.

“Love you too, Stevie. Even when you trap me with snuggles.”

Steve grinned, tightening his arms around him. “Good. ‘Cause I’m not letting you go until you’re better.”

Bucky gave the smallest, contented hum, curling closer. “Might fake being sick longer then.”

“Don’t you dare,” Steve chuckled, kissing his cheek. “But if you do, I guess I’ll just have to keep holding you.”

Bucky let his eyes flutter closed once more, finally let himself drift back to sleep. He was safe and warm in the arms of the man who loved him more than anything.

[evadne01]

To the End of the Line

Rating: General Audiences

Archive Warning: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Category: M/M

Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America (Chris Evans Movies)

Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes & Steve Rogers, Avengers Team Members & Steve Rogers, Bruce Banner & Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark

Characters: Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes, Bruce Banner, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff (mentioned), Sam Wilson (mentioned)

Additional Tags: Canon Divergence - Post-Movie: Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Protective Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Steve Rogers Feels, POV Steve Rogers, Hurt Steve Rogers, Suicidal Steve Rogers, Depressed Steve Rogers, Slow Burn like 70 years of slow burn, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Protective Bucky Barnes, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes, Bucky Barnes Has Issues, Bucky Barnes Recovering from Being The Winter Soldier, Tony Stark Has a Heart, Protective Tony Stark, BAMF Tony Stark, Tony Stark Feels, Worried Tony Stark, Awesome Tony Stark, Good Friend Tony Stark, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark Friendship, Adorable Bruce Banner, Medical Doctor Bruce Banner even if he isn't that kind of doctor, Good Friend Bruce Banner, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Steve Rogers is a Ray of Sunshine no one can say no to those pretty blue eyes, Protective Bruce Banner

Read on Ao3

@wintershieldbingo, Hail Hydra

@badthingshappenbingo: Bloody Nose

@hurtcomfort-bingo chronic health issues

@steverogersbingo steve's irish roots

@fandombingo Martian Bingo: "Don't talk about him in the past tense"

@fandom-free-bingo Bug Edition: "I'd walk through fire for you."