Work Text:
Today was either going to go smoothly or go down hill real fast. Bucky needed a haircut. And a shave. He was very scruffy and his hair needed a good wash and cut. Steve wasn't asking him to get his hair cut back to the way it was in the 1930's, just a nice trim to even his hair out.
Steve thought all night about where to bring him, barbershops with unfamiliar people could lead to potential disaster. So he asked Nat if she could do his hair, she refused because.... well she just refused. When she asked why he wouldn't do it himself, he answered that Bucky wasn't going to sit still long enough to get a clean shave and a good wash. So Steve thought to one of the avengers. Tony was unpredictable around Bucky. Bruce was out of the question. Bucky would freak out seeing Thor. Plus Bucky needed soft hands, not rough cracked one. So he was left with Clint. Nat said Clint had softer hands since he had kids of his own. He could do it, but Bucky wasn't familiar with him.
Come morning, Steve called Clint. He was more than willing to do Bucky's hair and actually meet him. He would be over after Bucky had his nap.
Around 12, Bucky was still napping when Clint came over.
"Hey man, is he still napping?" Asked Clint.
"Yeah he should wake up soon. Thank you for doing this."
"No problem, Laura taught me how to do the kid's hair. What exactly does he need?"
"A good wash and trim and a shave."
"You want the baby to have a baby face? Understandable. How is he doing?"
"He's getting better. He has his days where he's very fussy. His seizures aren't getting worse or better and memory is in and out frequently. But he's recovering nicely."
"Good, I hope I don't scare him." Then the bedroom door opened. Bucky came out and froze at the sight of the new person.
"Bucky, this is my friend Clint Barton. Can you say hello?" Bucky stared at this new person, Steve got his hand and sat him on the couch.
"Hawkeye."
"Yeah, that's his code name. His name is Clint, he wants to help me shave you and wash your hair." Said Steve. Bucky pointed to his head, Steve nodded. Clint sat in the chair and looked at Bucky.
"Now Bucky, I have a few things that's going to help this process. If something looks scary, you can tell me to stop. Sound good?" Bucky somewhat nodded.
"Daddy, stay?" Bucky asked.
"Of course. Now where do we want to start?" He looked to Steve.
"I guess his face, try to get the more scary stuff out the way first. Let's go to the bathroom." The trio went to the bathroom, Steve got a chair from the kitchen and set it in the bathroom.
"Okay, Bucky, can I touch your face?" Bucky side eyed hima and Clint stopped. Steve knew he was in for a fight.
"Is his hair coarse and is his skin sensitive?"
"His hair is coarse, I'm not sure about sensitive skin, I know he is sensitive about touch."
"Okay, I'm going to smother his beard with the shaving cream, go over with the razor once or twice depending on his mood and if we have to avoid the alcohol pat then we can just wipe his face with water." Sounds like a plan. To Bucky, it sounded like a plan for torture. Steve sat him on the chair, Bucky saw Clint reach in his bag and pull out a few bottles and a pack of weird things.
"Alright, let's get started." Clint put the shaving cream in his hand, Bucky was not having it.
"Daddy, no."
"It won't hurt." This wasn't good, if they couldn't get past the applying the shaving cream then everything else was going to be even more of a struggle.
"I figured he would be fussy. Okay plan B, we just do a trim and Steve you can do it with him so he can see it's not scary." Said Clint washing his hands. Steve nodded, he did need a trim too. He got out his own beard trimmer, Clint opened a fresh trimmer.
"Okay, we're going to do it as Steve does it. Like I said earlier, if something scares you, just tell me to stop." Bucky nodded.
"Okay we're going to wipe our face like we do after we finish dinner, but this time it's going to be a little moist." Steve patted his face with a wet towelett. Bucky looked at the wet towelett, Clint moved slowly to his face. Bucky flinched at the contact but didn't panic.
"Good job, Bucky." Said Clint.
"Okay, next we turn on our trimmer." Steve turned his on, Bucky didn't seem to mind the vibration noise. Clint turn his on, it was a little more quieter.
"Alright, we are going to start near the ear so we know to keep even and go down to chin." Steve started to trim his face, Bucky let the trimmer get close but he didn't like the vibrations near his ear.
"You're alright." Steve scratched behind his ear and it oddly settled Bucky enough so he wouldn't be so focused on the trimmer. Clint started the trim and Steve whispered to him to continue since he was distracted. Bucky didn't seem to care about what was going on anymore.
"Alright, you look like you could take out all the ladies, Bucky." Bucky looked up at Steve, confused. Steve patted his head and finished trimming his beard.
Once he finished, it was time for Bucky to get his hair washed. Steve decided to wash his hair in the bath tub where he was comfortable. Clint set out a shampoo and conditioner. Steve took off Bucky's clothes and put on his swim diapers.
"Alright in the tub."
"Bath time?"
"No, well it's similar to bath time." Bucky looked at his diaper, why did he have it on if it was bath time? Steve could see the poor kid becoming confused. Clint turned the water on warm and wet his hair.
"I should warn you, he sometimes shakes his head like a dog." Said Steve.
"Seriously?" Said Clint. Steve nodded.
"But it's so fast, you're not worried about more damage or his neck snapping?"
"Bruce said he's oddly okay because he thinks it's a trained response from you know who." Clint sighed, he never wanted to hurt Hydra so much until now.
"Alright, buddy this is shampoo and conditioner and I'm going to put it on your head. And look." Clint held out the bottle in front of him.
"Chase."
"That's right, is he your favorite?" Said Clint putting the shampoo and conditioner in his head.
"Yeah. Chase police dog." Bucky didn't seem to notice what was going on anymore, but the scratching on his head felt pretty good.
"Clint, why does it smell fruity?" Asked Steve.
"It's pup pup berry. Will it bother him?" Steve said no. Clint continued to scratched the shampoo and conditioner in, then turned on the water.
"Here's the rinse." Clint started at the crown of his head and moved the stuff to edge. He continued the process until the water ran clean.
"Alright you're done, just gotta give a blow dry and a brushing so it doesn't tangle." Said Clint. Bucky looked at Steve then raised his head. Steve knew.
"Oh no, take cover." Clint barely managed to get the towel over himself and Steve before Bucky, literally, shook his head like a wet dog.
"Daddy wet." Bucky laughed.
"No thanks to you, you jerk. Come on out." Steve put a towel over him and sat him on the chair.
"Now the blow dry is a little loud, will he let me do it?"
"Probably not, plus it's drying fast." Clint got a brush and made sure to get all the tangles out.
"Can we do a trim?" Clint held out shears. Bucky's eyes became wide.
"They're not really scissors." Said Steve. Bucky started to growl at the shears, Clint put them away.
"Okay, I think we're done for today." Said Steve.
"Looks like you're going to be getting all the ladies, Bucky." Said Clint. Bucky was confused again. What was with this guy and ladies? Steve dried off Bucky's body and put on his lounging clothes. The trio went in the living room, Bucky laid on the floor and played with his toys.
"He is such a child, thank you Clint."
"No problem, I actually liked doing it. You know if you want him to be around other kids, my two would probably would like to play with him. The baby probably won't be happy sharing attention."
"They won't be freaked out that's he's an actual adult with a metal arm?"
"They know and Laura does too. Nat came over and told us about him. Laura cried for him saying she really wants to give him all the hugs in the world. So whenever you two are ready or you need a babysitter, Laura is willing to watch him."
"That's kind of you. I'll consider it. Bucky say goodbye to Clint." Bucky ignored him and played with his dinosaurs.
"Bucky." Said Steve in a more serious tone. Bucky looked up at them.
"Say goodbye to him." Bucky said bye then went back to his toys. Steve was about to say something to him.
"He's fine, Steve. It's a boy thing. You can keep the shampoo and conditioner and the trimmer. Bye guys." Clint left. He really did like Bucky, he hated that Hydra screwed him over so badly. But he was in the best of care with Steve. Hydra was going to pay for what they did to him, right now he needed to get the pup pup berry smell from his hands.