Chapter Text
Brooklyn is up in the common room still when Bucky wakes up, having stayed up too late with Peter. He finds the two of them sprawled out on the couches, game controllers dangling out of their hands, fast asleep. He smiles and shakes his head, going over to the communal kitchen to see if he can make anything for breakfast for the three of them.
He gets a pot of coffee going and finds some eggs in the fridge, throwing them all in a frying pan to make some scrambled eggs. The smell of coffee wakes Brooklyn up and she trudges into the kitchen, sitting down at the counter and putting her head down on it.
“Morning doll,” Bucky says, pouring some coffee into a mug and placing it in front of Brooklyn.
“Morning,” she grunts, picking the mug up and drinking half of it in one sip.
“How late did you two stay up?”
She shrugs. “I don't even remember falling asleep. Jarvis must have turned the console off for us.”
“It was three when I turned it off,” Jarvis supplies.
“Thanks, Jarvis. You two manage to get any other trophies?” Bucky asks, finding plates for the eggs.
“A few. Peter found a hidden one that he was ecstatic over; he kept making his lego figure swing back and forth with a grappling hook until it gave us a trophy titled 'Swingin like Spider-Man’.”
“It's good to see the kid getting recognition outside of New York.”
By the time the eggs are done, Peter makes his way into the kitchen, his hair sticking out at all sorts of angles and the remote still stuck to his hand.
“Hey Aunt B, I could use some help again.” He blearily holds his hand out and shakes it, but the remote won't budge.
Brooklyn smiles and shakes her head, holding out her hand. She helps pull the remote off of his hand as Bucky plates the eggs and sets them down on the table.
“Thanks!” Peter says once they finally unstick the remote from his hand. He turns over to Bucky and says, “Thanks to you too for making breakfast!”
Bucky rolls his eyes and says, “It was nothing, kid, same as always when you guys do this.”
“Well, I can still say thank you for it,” Peter remarks as he stuffs his face.
“What's the plan for today, then?” Bucky asks, taking a bite of the eggs.
“Well, Aunt May doesn't get back from her business trip until Tuesday, so I've still got some time, I was hoping to get some smash in today.”
Brooklyn finishes off her plate and says, “Well, if we hurry, we can get some in before Tony's expecting you to help him in the lab.”
Peter shovels the rest of his eggs into his mouth and quickly throws the plate into the sink, running back to the TV to turn the Switch on.
“Hey kid!” Brooklyn says through a laugh, holding the remote up that he left. She tosses it towards him when he's looking, and he shoots a web at it, pulling it towards him as he flops onto the couch. “Come on, Buck, I'll help you clean up while he gets the game ready.”
“Bucky, do you want to play too?” Peter calls.
“Next time, I promised Steve I'd help him find a place for that painting he just finished. He's so indecisive when it comes to decorating.” He kisses Brooklyn's cheek and walks out of the kitchen, back over to the elevator.
“Okay, Pete, everything ready?” Brooklyn asks as she dries her hands after finishing the dishes.
“Yep!” He tosses her a remote as she sits down on the couch next to him, and character selection is already up.
“That was fast,” Peter comments as Brooklyn chooses Pikachu. “You ever think about trying anyone else out?”
“I have, Bucky gave me that course forever ago. The mouse uses lightning and I like him, so that's why I main him.”
“His name is Pikachu,” Peter says as he rolls his eyes, still debating over characters. “I really need to catch you up with Pokemon.”
Brooklyn leans back and nods. “Right, Pikachu.”
“Okay, I'm gonna go with Isabela. Geez, we need to teach you about Animal Crossing too.”
“Next time, let's just get into the fight.”
Peter picks a random map and soon the two are completely immersed, trying to beat the other. Some of the other Avengers filter through the common room as everyone wakes up, but none of them bother Peter and Brooklyn.
“Hey kid, can you come down to the lab in about an hour?” Tony asks when he comes in. “I'm gonna go take a power nap.”
“Sure, Mr. Stark!” Peter calls over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off of the screen.
But that hour never fully passes; the alarms starting to blare about halfway through.
Brooklyn glances at Peter and says, “You have your suit?”
“Yeah, it's on under my clothes still.”
They continue to play the game as Brooklyn says, “Jarvis, tell Bucky to bring my stuff up while I finish beating the kid.”
“You are not beating me!” Peter says, but then Brooklyn knocks him off the edge and he doesn't recover, leaving Brooklyn looking smug.
Bucky and Steve are the first ones to the common room, getting there just as Brooklyn wins the round against Peter.
“Here,” Bucky says, throwing Brooklyn's clothes at her. “Go change before everyone else gets here.”
Brooklyn catches them with her left hand, her ring glinting as it catches the light. “You only did that so you could see my ring.”
“Go. Change.”
Brooklyn sticks her tongue out and stands, moving away from the couch as fog starts to grow in the room.
Steve covers his face with his hand and says, “Are you really gonna do this again?”
“You want me to change so we can go, don't you?” Brooklyn says, now completely obscured by the thick fog.
The other Avengers start to trickle in and Peter strips his clothes to get to his suit. Brooklyn throws clothes out of the fog at Bucky, the gold band on his metal hand catching the light.
“And you said I was doing it to show the ring off,” Bucky says, and Brooklyn emerges with her tongue sticking out, running a brush through her hair.
“Mrs. Barnes, if you could remove the fog so we can get started?” Tony says, but Brooklyn just rolls her eyes and grabs Bucky by the collar, pulling him into the fog and kissing him deeply before letting the fog go.
Life wasn't perfect for the two of them. They still had their ups and downs; their peaceful days and their nightmares. But they weren't alone. They had their friends; their family, and they knew they could count on them. They had each other too, and with that brings the comfort of knowing they will never be Winter Soldiers again. And for them, that's all that matters.