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“Fifty four.” Steve had announced one fateful morning.
“What?” Sam had glanced over from his phone where he was reading the day’s top stories. Doomscrolling, Barton had called it. Bucky looked up from where his head was resting on Sam’s lap, the warm man’s free hand gently fingering through his hair.
“Fifty four Disney movies. I missed fifty four Disney movies.” Steve reiterated, clearly distraught with this newfound information. “I knew there were those new ones Jamesy likes, but I didn’t know there were this many!”
“Oh, yeah, they released a ton of those around the nineties. They’re still making them, too. Plus, that’s not counting their live-action flicks.” Sam explained, typing in something on his phone. “Think Stark would let us have a movie marathon in the home theater?”
“If he doesn’t, I’m still doing it.” Steve huffed, earning a laugh from his two boyfriends.
That exchange was six weeks ago.
The three veterans had spent every evening together watching one movie at a time, snuggled up together on the large couch with drinks from the fridge and popcorn from the old-timey popcorn machine Stark had installed as a joke three years ago.
They had began with the classics, the original five that Steve and Bucky remembered watching back a long, long time ago. Bucky remembered that Steve cried like a baby during the ‘Baby Of Mine’ scene in Dumbo, and poor Sam had to explain why the crows were in poor taste to say the least. Bucky didn’t quite enjoy Pinnochio as much as he did when it first came out, and really didn’t enjoy Peter Pan all too much. Jamesy was excited once they got to his favorites, Sleeping Beauty and The Little Mermaid, and Steve had an appreciation for Robin Hood and Hercules. Sam had enjoyed The Aristocats and One-Hundred and One Dalmatians, explaining to the two that he had VHS tapes of those movies growing up. Finally, Winnie had deeply enjoyed The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Beauty and the Beast.
And, of course, they all cried at the end of Fox and The Hound.
Though one particular piece of information was noted among the group.
The Soldier hadn’t enjoyed any of the movies so far.
Each of them had current favorites and fond memories of each movie, except for the assassin. Every time he was out for the day, once the evening rolled around and the group headed towards the in-home theater on the twenty-fourth floor of the tower, he had miraculously switched out with one of the other three. That had left Bucky dissociated and foggy for a couple of screenings.
By the third week, Sam had the mind to ask the weapon about that.
“Not interested.” The Soldier had hummed simply from behind his muzzle, not taking his eyes off the gun that he currently had dismantled to clean and polish.
“They’re just not your speed, or are some of them too intense?” Sam prodded, at least wanting a straight answer.
The machine paused for a moment, steel-grey eyes flittering over the dismantled weapon in his mismatched hands as he scrubbed against stubborn splotch of oil. “Barnes remembers some. The little ones enjoy others. They can have their fun.”
“You deserve to have fun with us just as much as they do, y’know?” Sam explained, but left it at that, watching steady hands work over the black metal.
By the sixth week, the Soldier still showed no interest in movie night. On one particular night, while watching Tarzan, he seemed to poke his head out a little bit, but by the climactic fight scene involving the leader gorilla and the main villain, they had to turn the film off and head to their apartment to calm down a panicked, sobbing Jamesy.
By night fourty two, it was time for Lilo and Stitch. Papa had explained to Daddy and Jamesy that this one could be a bit intense in theme. However, Jamesy was insistent that he could handle it. Papa had told them that no one dies in this one, but that the main character is an orphan girl being raised by her sister. Jamesy was just fine with that, as long as no gorillas got shot again.
That’s where the three found themselves, snuggled on the couch that began to dip and wear into a perfect cuddling shape, each with drinks and snacks for the movie. Jamesy was a little interested in the blinking green light replacing the familiar twinkle of Tinkerbell flying over the stylized castle logo.
The moment the teal-green alien appeared on screen, stating “Read the charges.” to an unknown company, Jamesy could feel nervous and concerned eyes on him.
So what if they had been on trial? He wasn’t going to freak out from a trial of not-scary aliens in a movie.
As the aliens on the screen tried Jumba Jookiba for illegal genetic experimentation, all of them took notice of the container carrying a small, blue, koala-like creature with four arms, back spines, and antennae in a red space suit.
The Soldier hadn’t expected the little blue creature to snarl and slam against its confines. He felt a painful ping in his chest as the jury winced and sneered at the monster.
The Soldier hadn’t expected to switch out so quickly. Where did Jamesy go?
As Jumba explained the weaponized qualities of his creation, Experiment 626, he could feel the energy in the room shift dramatically. He could feel the Captain and Falcon sharing uncomfortable glances behind his back, the Captain’s arm wrapping around his back and squeezing his shoulder in an unwarranted show of comfort, as Jumba explained that the creature’s only instinct is to destroy everything he touches. At that moment, the Falcon paused the movie, the two men turning to look at him.
“‘M fine.” The Soldier tried to huff out in his best Jamesy impression.
“We can turn it off if you want.” The Captain offered.
“Yeah, I knew this one was pretty intense with this kind of-“ The Falcon added on.
“I said ‘m fine. I wan’t’ see it, pl’ees.” The Soldier insisted, hoping he sounded similar enough to the little boy to avoid suspicion. If they knew he was watching a movie meant for the little ones, they might turn it off and make him go to bed. Or they might think that the weaponized creature on screen would hurt his feelings or give him flashbacks or, god forbid, trigger him into a violent episode.
With another shared glance of concern from the men, the Falcon pressed play on the remote, and the movie began where it had left off.
The Soldier watched with bated breath as the leader, named the Grand Council Woman, pleaded with the monstrous weapon to prove that there was something redeemable about him, to prove that there was something good inside of him.
He couldn’t help the slight huff of a chuckle in his chest as the experiment cleared his throat and shouted a made-up, alien swear word that caused everyone in the trial to react in mortified horror. He was curious about what that made-up phrase had translated to.
By the time the experiment had been placed in his holding chamber, the energy in the room had shifted to resigned concern. Though the Soldier couldn’t help but wince as the creature was stabbed with a needle. He was glad they animated the blood to be pink instead of red.
It had been all of ten minutes by the time the monster escaped his containment and was on a hyper-space course to Earth, pronounced ‘ee-arth’ by the confused aliens. By then, his original creator was teamed up with a one-eyed alien who was insistent that Earth was a wildlife reserve designed to rebuild the mosquito population, which they considered an endangered species. The Captain had laughed at that, which made the Soldier’s chest flutter.
The Soldier was intrigued as the visuals faded and music began to play, showing a fish with a sandwich in its mouth and a little girl swimming in the ocean. He was relieved when said sandwich-fish was explained by the little girl, whose name was Lilo. Though he didn’t understand how or why she thought said fish controlled the weather.
He couldn’t help but laugh as Lilo began beating up the girl who called her crazy. The Falcon and the Captain both laughed as well, and he could feel the previous concerned tension melt away.
By the time Experiment 626 had reappeared, the Soldier had nearly forgotten that he was in the beginning of this same movie. He was so invested in the story of Lilo’s broken family, how protective her sister was of her, that he began treating it like a completely separate film.
He couldn’t help the yelp that escaped him as the experiment was hit by several semi-trucks.
He was once again relieved as the creature awoke in the animal shelter, virtually unharmed.
He couldn’t help but lean forward in his seat as the creature modified his appearance to match the other dogs in an attempt to be adopted.
After a stressful moment of Nani threatening to take Stitch back to the shelter and Lilo reminding her the importance of O’hana, or family, the three watched as Stitch created a scale model of San Francisco. After finishing his impressive scale model, the weaponized creature began destroying the makeshift city in mockery of old monster movies.
The Soldier couldn’t help the familiar, painful flutter in his chest as Jumba explained to Agent Pleakley after Stitch had destroyed everything and stolen a soda can from the fridge, that he never designed Stitch to have a greater purpose than destroying. He resonated with the somber line of “What must it be like to have nothing? Not even memories to visit in the middle of the night?”
It was roughly fourty-five minutes in, where Lilo had spent the day attempting to teach Stitch how to be good, despite his destructive programming. The Soldier couldn’t help his giggle fit at all the mishaps that each new attempt brought. His giggling died, however, as Stitch became crowded and overwhelmed by people taking pictures of him while he was playing his ukulele on the beach.
He watched as this creature, who tried so hard to be good like he was taught, reverted back to his weaponized nature as he was frightened. He couldn’t help the painful squeeze in his chest as he watched Stitch destroy everything and scare everyone around him.
“You doing alright, pal?” The Captain had asked, a comforting hand stroking his shoulder.
The Soldier could only manage a curt nod as he watched Lilo and Nani sink into the wreckage of the beach, both disappointed in their lack of progress. His spirits began to rise as the two began surfing with Nani’s love interest, David. He felt a little bad as Stitch was left out while trying to copy them. Though he felt his heart swell as Stitch asked Lilo to let him surf again, all without words.
He couldn’t help but feel sick with worry as Cobra Bubbles explained that he would be taking Lilo in the morning after watching Stitch nearly drown her by trying to escape capture yet again. No one saw him nearly drown by himself after Nani kicked him underwater to save Lilo. He leaned into the Falcon’s side, taking in his scent for comfort as Nani and Lilo sat on the hammock and Nani explained that she was going to be taken away.
He couldn’t help the sting in his eyes as Lilo explained to Stitch that her parents were killed in a car crash. He couldn’t help the tears that spilled down his cheeks as Stitch left through the window, the book of The Ugly Duckling in tow, as he cried out for a family he never had.
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay.” The Falcon hushed him gently, though the Soldier could hear from the crack in his voice that his partner was crying as well. From the other side, he could hear the Captain’s pitiful sniffles as he tried to conceal his own tears as well.
The Soldier didn’t see how it would be okay.
He kept himself glued to the Falcon’s side for warmth and stability, as Stitch explained to Jumba that he was waiting for his family, only for his creator to remind him that he never had one to begin with.
Throughout the beginning of the climax, the three aliens and the little girl fought throughout the house, leaving destruction in their wake. The intense battle resulted in the house exploding and Lilo, after escaping Cobra Bubbles’ car, finding out that Stitch was one of the aliens that destroyed everything she had ever known.
The Soldier, already sick with grief, jumped with a start as the two were captured by the giant shark alien, Captain Gantu. He slowly removed himself from the Falcon’s side and returned to the edge of his seat as the climactic chase scene ensued, space ships swerving and diving between mountains and Stitch trying to break Lilo out of the container before getting burned off by the ship’s engines and having to steal a tanker truck.
He was completely engrossed in the intense scene, letting out an excited yelp as Stitch rescued Lilo from the ship, the titanous villain gripped in his tiny claws as they landed in the ocean.
His cheerful excitement was immediately crushed as the intergalactic police where there to capture Stitch. Where they still going to imprison him to exile after everything he had done in an attempt to fix himself?
He, as well as the Captain, gasped as Stitch corrected the Grand Council Woman on his name, and asked to say goodbye. He felt hands on his shoulder, one from each of his partners, squeeze just a little as Stitch explained that his found family, despite being little and broken, was still good.
Just like him.
The Soldier, overcome with a flurry of emotions, watched intently as the Grand Council Woman explained Stitch’s sentence. That he would be exiled to Earth with his family, and that they would all be kept under the protection of the Galactic Federation. He couldn’t help the bright grin that creeped onto his face, pulled from ear to ear. He even watched with joyous intent as the credits showed the newfound family doing easy, domestic things like going to the store and celebrating holidays and Stitch having silly fun while doing chores.
He barely even noticed as the credits began to properly roll, and the Captain’s hand on his shoulder shook him out of it.
“Hey, how’re you doing?” The Captain asked, the smile on his face mirroring his own.
“Good. It was good.” The Soldier hummed.
“That’s good, big guy.” The Falcon hummed back, and the Soldier immediately remembered he was supposed to be small.
“Sorry...” He whimpered, trying to get back to his Jamesy impression.
“Hey, no no, it’s okay Soldier.” The Captain quickly reassured him, pulling him into a gentle side-hug. “You’re allowed to watch these movies with us. I was worried you were getting bored or lonely with how much time we’ve been spending with everyone else.”
“I’m just glad you found one you like. This one actually has a few sequels and a show, in case you wanna see more.” The Falcon explained, stroking the back of his hair in that way that always made the Soldier melt.
It was all of a month after their first screening of that now beloved film when the Soldier walked into the apartment, a box from the mail room in tow.
“What’cha got there, big guy?” The Falcon asked, barely looking away from the TV screen where he and the Captain were currently in a viciously competitive Mario Kart race.
“Stitch.” Was his only response. It had also been his only response for the past three common room Team Movie Nights (thankfully, there were several Stitch movies to choose from, so they didn’t have to watch the same one all three times). He easily ripped the tape off of the box and pulled out the fluffy blue plush inside.
“Oh hey, it finally got here?” The Captain asked, looking away for just a second to see the Soldier holding up his new companion. “Fuck! Sam if you throw one more blue shell at me I swear-“
The Soldier paid no mind to their squabbling as he ran his flesh hand over the soft blue fur of the plush. He smiled beneath his muzzle as he nuzzled the plush’s soft belly.
One his partners’s race had concluded, with the Falcon reigning victorious, the twi made their way to the kitchen island, where the Soldier was still deeply enthralled with his new toy.
“That looks real soft.” The Captain hummed, earning a nod from the Soldier.
“Bet that would’ve been helpful three weeks ago when you were bawling your eyes out at that movie night when you thought Stitch died.” The Falcon laughed, earning a Stitch plush thrown directly at his face, not nearly enough to hurt. He couldn’t help but smile as the Falcon laughed harder.
Yeah, his family was still good.