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When Bucky opened the front door at 4:30 in the morning, hair mussed and falling in his face, eyes blinking blearily as he stood there in just a thin pair of sweatpants, this was the last thing he'd been expecting to see.
He'd kind of thought it was going to be Tony, while Steve had sleepily muttered something about it probably being Clint when Bucky had clambered out of bed at the sound of the doorbell.
But this was not Tony Stark. Nor was it Clint Barton.
No, this was Peter Parker. Still in the spidey suit. Red-faced and panting from exertion.
And holding a large rabbit.
Bucky blinked again before rubbing the palm of his right hand against his eyes as if expecting that to change the scene in front of him.
It didn't.
He opened his mouth to say something, but what do you say when a teenager turns up in the middle of the night holding a rabbit? So instead, Bucky closed his mouth again, stepped aside to let Peter (and his furry cargo) inside and shut the door behind them before stalking off to the kitchen, expecting the kid to follow. Which he did.
"No point having coffee, tea, that's what I need, I'm in shock. Sarah always made us drink tea." Bucky muttered as he rummaged in the pantry, emerging with a box of jasmine tea in his hand, which he placed on the worktop before spinning on his heel and marching to the foot of the stairs to shout "Steve, get down here!"
As he set out three mugs, Bucky pointed Peter at a chair, "Sit. And put the damn rabbit down."
"What's going on??" Steve asked through a yawn as he entered the kitchen rubbing his face. In an echo of Bucky, he too blinked furiously when he caught sight of the rabbit before turning to Bucky for an explanation.
"Don't look at me pal," the brunet shook his head with a rueful laugh.
When a cup of steaming tea was placed in front of him, Peter finally found his voice, "so... about the rabbit." Here he stopped briefly before hurrying to continue as Bucky and Steve both raised their eyebrows at him over their mugs.
"They were going to use her for lab tests! And I just wanted to help, so I..."
"So you rescued her. Good job Pete" Steve smiled reassuringly at the teenager.
Bucky turned to his husband in disbelief, "the kid steals a rabbit and you say good job? You wouldn't let me steal a rabbit."
"When have you wanted to steal a rabbit?" Steve asked, brow furrowed in confusion.
"It's the principle of the thing, Steve!"
"Well, if you ever want to rescue a rabbit for being tested on, you can Buck." Steve smiled warmly, while Bucky shook his head wondering how this was his reality.
"And er, I was kind of hoping.." Peter started tentatively, and it didn't take a genius to see where this was going.
Bucky sighed and rubbed at his temples where he was sure a headache was building, "fine, she can stay here. If the dog eats her, I'm not cleaning it up." Standing up to signal he was done with the conversation, Bucky dropped a kiss to Steve's brow, before squeezing Peter's shoulder, "put her in the downstairs bathroom for tonight. You can sleep in the guest room, sheets are clean. Steve'll drive you to school in the morning. I'm going back to bed."
And with that, Bucky made his way upstairs, mutterings of "rabbits, what's next, a fucking camel?" reaching Steve and Peter as the pair grinned at each other.