Archive of Our Own ^beta

There were many ways that Steve Rogers believed he would lose his life; anything from being blown apart in the war, eaten by alien invaders or, hell, back in the day even just from a common cold. What he had never thought to factor into his end-of-life equation was slow blood loss due to paper-cut. When he’d informed Pepper that he’d like to deal with his own fan mail, he honestly hadn’t expected her to quirk her eyebrows up and give him that amused ‘well if you say so, sir’ that he’d come to know from watching it aimed at Tony numerous times - all of which ended disastrously for Iron Man. Now he knew better. Never again would be question the hard work and efficiency that Pepper embodied.

He lifted his aching neck from the letter he was reading - accompanied by some…creative? artistry of Captain America and Iron Man in a position that made his cheeks flare red - only to be faced with the sheer enormity of his idiocy. The entire Avengers common area was flooded with Captain America fan mail, some stacked in messy piles while others flooded out of recycle bags when the stacking took too much effort. glancing to his left, he eyed the neatly piled section that he’d managed to get through in the last two days. it made him want to cry and call uncle at how ridiculously small it looked compared to what he still had to read and reply to.

“You’ll never get through them all, you know.” Natasha’s snarky monotone was honestly not helping in Steve’s attempt to keep moving forward. She lithely manoeuvred through the precarious mountains to offer her poor team mate a large cup of coffee. Hope flared in his blue eyes at the sight of the offering and all but fell into his neat accumulation of answered mail in his haste to grab it and down half of it in one gulp. Which he immediately regretted when it burned its way down his throat. 

“I will love you forever.” He moaned, the caffeine having no real effect but the comfort of the beverage more than made up for it. 

“I heard that, Rogers!” Bucky piped up from somewhere in the heaving mass of paper. Steve had a strong suspicion that he’d gone in with the sole purpose of locating all of the fan porn that had been sent because every few minutes he heard an ominous snort or giggle that the Winter Soldier attempted to stifle.

“Nat brings me coffee, you just hunt through my mail for porn. Who’s better deserving of eternal love right now?” Steve griped back, finishing off the last of the coffee and smiling thankfully at Nat who’s eyeing the short stack of what he’d gone through with amused pity. “Yeah okay I know I should concede defeat but…” he waved a hand at the mounds in desperation, “You should read some of these they’re so great and i can’t just toss them out.”

Nat rolled her eyes and made her way around the room, plucking letters out at random. Steve had to stifle a gasp when she reached for one sticking out halfway down a particularly large pile and watched it rock perilously before she flitted out of the way and disappeared amongst the paper. 

A few minutes later (and a thump on the back of the head followed by an indignant squawk from Bucky at the abuse) she reappeared with an armful of mail and thrust it at Steve’s chest. “You answer those, get rid of the rest unless you want to become a full-time fan mail opener.” with her parting words of wisdom Nat sauntered from the room, leaving Bucky to tumble out from under a felled pile with a paper cut on his cheek and a sulky frown pulling down his features. 

“Steeeviiiie.” He moped, flopping over dramatically amongst the letters.

Steve snorted rather ungracefully and shifted the papers into a more manageable position in his arms. “Nope, no pity Barnes.”

“But Stevie.” Bucky set his large grey-blue eyes on his boyfriend, even adding an extra bit of shine in the form of potential tears. 

Unable to contain his fond smile, Steve heaved a dramatic sigh, depositing Nat’s letters on the chair and shuffling over to Bucky. Given his ‘Dorito proportions’, as Tony had declared, he managed to knock over two piles before making it over and rather than try to avoid further catastrophe he simply flopped down next to the brunette and grinned. “Need Captain America to keep you safe from the big ol’ mean papers, Buck?”

That earned him a swat on the arm with the metal arm (ensuring he winced) before Bucky tilted his head and Steve wiped away the thin line of blood from the already healed abrasion to press a kiss to Bucky’s cheek. 

“Oh come on guys you’re worse than teenagers.” Tony’s booming whine made Bucky’s fingers tighten around Steve’s neck for a moment before he released the man he loved and shot the pesky genius a sweet gesture. 

“And you’re here why, Stark?” he grumbled, pushing up on his elbows to glare at the man for interrupting their moment.

“Fine. No flame thrower upgrade for you, Barnes. Maybe Dum-E would like it instead.”

Bucky rolled his eyes but stood up, ruffling Steve’s hair before he allowed Tony to prattle on about his newest additions for the arm as they headed to the lab. Left alone once more, Steve decided to just suck it up and do what Natasha suggested. It was halfway through the little collection when he came across one particular letter.

Hey Captain,

I know this is beyond a long-shot but I’ve got a big favour to ask. There’s this boy…

*

With no one to even potentially go to prom with, Billy had resigned himself to a night on the couch reading comics as usual. Maybe even babysitting the twerps if he was lucky. As much as his little brothers annoyed the ever living hell out of him, putting up with their incessant noise and fighting would be a way to distract himself from thinking about how alone he felt. 

Unfortunately for the three weeks leading up to the big event, there was no way to escape said feelings when the halls were plastered with posters and banners painted with cheery guarantees of ‘a night to remember’. Billy scowled unpleasantly at the delicate glowing paper stars hanging from the corridor ceiling, a myriad of pictures and quotes dangling from them about Prom. 

His little moment with the stars was interrupted, however, when someone jammed into his side, knocking him forcefully into the wall of lockers. The hard metal bit into his shoulder, promising a colourful bruise by tomorrow and made Billy huff under his breath then shift his backpack a little over to avoid resting on the tender spot. He didn’t bother lifting his eyes to find out who the culprit was - he already knew. Kessler just couldn’t leave him alone, could he? 

With anger - both at his inability to stand up to the bully and at the bully himself - churning in his chest, Billy clutched his backpack tighter and shuffled out the bustling hall, keeping close to the lockers to avoid any other would-be attackers. When he slid out of the doors for the sun to hit his face, a small burst of excitement flared through him. Just a few more feet and he could put assholes like Kessler and even Prom Blues behind him. It was Wednesday, which meant a pile of new comics awaited him at Patriots a few blocks away and he could lose himself in the lives of his heroes instead of his own miserable problems. 

He shuffled down the handful of steps and was just about to make a dash for the gates after catching sight of Kessler when there was a sharp gasp from a girl a few feet away who thrust her hand up into the air, “Is that — oh my god, Thor!”

Billy just had enough time to look up and see a blur of black, gold and red before none other than the God of Thunder, Mjölnir in hand, landed with an impressive thunk in the middle of the school parking lot. Everybody froze for different reasons - some out of terror that the school was about to become a battle zone, others simply because the Thor was right there casually swinging Mjölnir at his side, eyes scanning the crowd of teens with this pleased grin on his face like he was looking for someone in particular. From the wild thumping of his heart and the mad thoughts screaming in his head that he was mere feet away from an Avenger, something he’d only wanted since he could talk, it was quite obvious which category Billy fell into. 

After a few moments Thor’s eyes landed in Billy’s direction and he gave a triumphant cry, marching purposefully through the flabbergasted high-schoolers who parted for him like the red sea. Billy could swear - but no, there was no way the God was here for him, what reason would there be for that? No, he must be there for someone in front of him and Billy found himself craning around the people gathered in front of him trying to pick out who it was. Only. Only Thor didn’t stop at Cassidy Fairmont or Everett Davids, he kept going until he was standing right there in front of Billy glowing happily in all of his muscled godly glory.

The blond superhero’s lively blue eyes lit up further at the sight of confusion and awe on Billy’s face before he took the young man’s shoulder in hand and boomed in that deep, enthralling voice, “Young Billy!” Mjölnir dropped to the ground with an ungraceful thump and Billy watched out of the corner of his eye as one of his classmates tentatively reached out and tried to pick it up. Needless to say it didn’t budge and when that happened the kid bounced away from it like he’d done something illegal, looking guiltily up at Thor.

He was going to faint, there were no two ways about it. This couldn’t be happening! How - how. If it wasn’t for Thor’s strong fingers curling around Billy’s shoulders he was sure he’d have collapsed in a fan-boy puddle of goop. His knuckles were snow-white from gripping his backpack so hard, the small action the only thing grounding him. He felt swallowed up by the sheer size of the God and could barely bite back the word-vomit of praise he wanted to throw out there. His eyes flickered all over, taking in as many details as he could from the shining stubble on the man’s insane jaw to the beautiful detail hammered into his armour and finally landing on that blinding smile once more. 

“Uh— hi.” He finally managed to squeak out which only brought a rumbling laugh from the big immortal’s chest. 

“I have been given the honour of presenting you with a gift - a most generous one if I do say so!” Billy bit back a wince at the sheer volume that reverberated from those words as Thor announced this not only to his intended target but also to the entire parking lot, ensuring that every single person was aware of the reason for his visit. Without further ado the God of Thunder released Billy to pull out a slightly rumpled comic from under his armour and that - well.  

He held out the gift with both bands as if he was offering Billy Mjölnir herself and okay yeah, when Billy caught sight of the title he may as well have. Amazing Fantasy the title proclaimed and just to the right in a little box the number 15. 

Billy bit back a full out squeal at the sight of it and with shaky fingers tentatively took the offering. He simply stood there, mouth slightly agape, eyes the size of saucers as he cradled the gift to his chest. 

Beaming proudly, Thor picked up Mjölnir and bowed to Billy, “Farewell, Billy Kaplan.” And with that the God launched himself into the air and disappeared just as swiftly as he’d come. Nobody moved for a further five minutes, all too shocked by the bizarre occurrence to do more than shuffle from foot to foot and glance around at one another, all eyes constantly returning to Billy. 

Feeling his chest constrict with the thousands of emotions desperately trying to claw their way to the surface, Billy cleared his throat and pushed his way out of the parking lot, making a mad dash for home - Patriots all but forgotten in the face of what had just happened. He tore up the stairs after dropping his bag in the hall and called to his mom that he was home before locking himself in his room and leaning heavily against the door. Unable to contain himself any longer Billy’s legs gave out and he slid to the floor, a grin splitting his face as he stared disbelievingly down at the comic resting on his lap. That actually happened. 

He forced himself to take a few deep breathes before he coaxed his shaking fingers into opening the comic to find a thick piece of card tucked inside. Billy was sure if his brothers could see him now they’d never let him forget the comical look of sheer wonder on his face as he picked up the card and read the single sentence clearly very carefully written in a slightly messy hand. His smile got impossibly larger when he realised it was the kind of writing that resulted from trying extremely hard not to write messily but by doing so messing up anyway. 

The next hour was spent pressed against the door, reading and rereading the holy grail with the little note held at the corners to make sure he didn’t smudge the words until finally his mother called up for dinner and Billy reluctantly pried himself away from his position, placing the comic reverently in his bedside drawer, the note resting right on top. He glanced once more at the wonderful gift and its accompanying note before leaving the room, the simple words ‘I hear you’ve been looking for this’ echoing in his mind.

*

Thor hadn’t shut up about his mission for the last six hours. Not that Tony didn’t appreciate what he’d agreed to do for the kid but really, there were only so many times he could listen to the glorified tale of handing this ‘Billy’ kid a comic in front of the school. He’d retreated to his lab after the fourth retelling of the story, each one getting more and more ludicrous as they went.

Steve, on the other hand only used his annoyance at the Norse God’s never-ending rant to try persuade him to join the cause;“Come on, Stark. It’ll take ten minutes at the most. And it’ll make his day.” Cap followed him around the lab like an overbearing golden retriever complete with wide blue puppy dog eyes.

Tony narrowed his eyes at the other man, jamming a screw driver at his nose, “No way, Capsicle. I have standards and said standards don’t include prancing about a high school with love notes.” he ducked past the big mass of Freedom to usher Dum-E away from his latest project. “Touch that and I’ll make sure Tatiana gets an in with Jarvis.” he warned the robot and Steve watched with pity as the poor thing visibly deflated and huddled in a corner.

“You’re not seriously hooking Bucky’s arm up with your robots are you.” Steve sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Hey,” Tony said defensively, “have you seen her? She’s a beautiful piece of tech. Perfect motivation to keep these infidels in line.” He waved a hand in the direction of Dum-E and the other robots who let out sad little bleeps.

“Terrible father.” Steve muttered.

Tony pouted in response. “You say that now. You’ve yet to see our assistant of the week ceremony. May or may not involve watching Robots and all the projects they could wish to mess up.”

Steve didn’t even dignify that with an answer, just leaned against the closest counter to watch as he tinkered for a few minutes before a sly smile slid into place as an idea popped into his mind. “I’ll make you a deal, Stark.”

“What was that, Old Timer?” Tony shouted over the music blaring from his earphones, “Couldn’t hear you over my awesomeness.”

Steve worried about the man sometimes, the sheer vanity encased in one person couldn’t be healthy. But then again, he knew Tony was a good man. “If I get Bucky to hand over Tatiana for one of these…assistant of the week ceremonies, will you help out with Billy?”

Tony whipped around and Steve suddenly found himself crowded by a barrage of varying robots bleeping at him and running various appendages along his arms and legs if they couldn’t reach high enough.

There was a delighted gleam in Tony’s eyes that almost made Steve want to retract his offer but when he thought about the sweet request he’d received in the mail, he decided it would be worth it. Maybe. He hoped. Or Bucky would kill him.

“Deal.” Tony crowed which made the robots turn their affection on him, giving Steve enough time to sidle out of range. “I expect her in tiptop shape next Friday.” 

And that was that. Bucky was going to flip out when Steve explained that he’d bargained his arm for ten minutes of Iron Man’s time. 

*

He didn’t know how he survived Thursday when every single person in school seemed to keep their eyes trained on him while they whispered in groups about what happened the day before. Stinging remarks caught his ear every so often, the student body obviously convinced that there was some mistake because ‘why would the God of Thunder visit a fag like Kaplan’? Not even his elation over meeting one of his heroes and the added weight of his new comic in his backpack were enough to keep his spirits up and by third period Billy found himself head down, moving through the halls as quickly as possible in order to avoid as many strange looks as possible. Doubt started niggling in the back of his mind that the whole thing had been a weird prank, something meant to belittle him in some new way. Honestly, the only thing that kept that thought from depressing him completely was because he knew no one in school held that kind of sway over the Avengers. 

Billy managed to make it to the end of the day with only one new bruise on his hip to join the purple one on his shoulder and took comfort in the fact that he still had Patriots to go to since he missed it yesterday. He made quick work of leaving school grounds and disappearing out of sight before Kessler and his goons could rough him up some more, breathing a sigh of relief when he heard the jingle of the bell above Patriots’ door. The store was mostly empty with only one or two people milling around the stacks of comics in their own little worlds. Billy made quick work of hunting down his desired acquisitions, taking a few minutes in case there was something else amongst the rows that caught his fancy. 

With only his usual in hand, Billy walked over to pay only to nearly jump out of his boots when a big hand rested on his shoulder. He whirled around with such speed he tripped over his own feet and went careening into a display of Batman action figures. His heart thumped a mile a minute while he scrambled to his feet, sure that Kessler had indeed followed him beyond school. Except when he glanced up he didn’t find the ugly sneer he knew all too well but a sheepish smile from the last person he expected to see. 

“Oh man I didn’t mean to scare you like that.” Teddy Altman offered a hand, cheeks pink with embarrassment over the disaster he’d inadvertently caused. 

Still half in shock, Billy took his hand and allowed himself to be tugged up, a few more figures falling behind him and making both boys wince. “It’s fine. I, uh, just wasn't expecting it.” Hoping to look less like the awkward geek he was, Billy mirrored Teddy’s smile and the two quickly set to work restoring the display. Once it was back to normal Teddy rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled. “Start over? Preferably without falling into any delicate displays?”

Billy couldn’t help but grin and nod at that, still completely confused as to why Teddy Altman was speaking to him. Hell, why was Teddy Altman at Patriots in the first place? “I haven’t seen you in here before.” He found himself blurting before he could shut his brain up.

Teddy, for some unknown reason, went beet red at his words and ducked his head down, “I usually come later in the evening so I have the place to myself.” 

Billy could understand that and simply gave a sympathetic nod. “I’d do the same if i could but babysitting brothers after school doesn’t leave much room for that.”

Teddy jumped on the opportunity to change topic, “Yeah they’re twins tight? Must be a handful.”

Billy groaned, “Understatement of the century.” 

Teddy gave his shoulder a squeeze in commiseration which made Billy’s entire body freeze up.  

The two descended into awkward silence until Billy’s eyes flickered down to the comics in hand. Oh, right. He wavered for a moment before jerking his thumb at the counter, “I should probably be going…” 

Teddy looked utterly miserable but quickly wrapped it underneath that dazzling smile and soft eyes.  “Sure. I’ll see you around, Billy.” 

*

Friday flew by in a flurry of barbed whispers and the confused mess of Billy’s thoughts. He’d spent the whole day re-imagining the Patriots episode and the dozens of ways he could have been smoother, maybe cracked a joke. Anything other than the disaster that it was. When another smart quip came to mind he had to resist the urge to smack himself as he wondered why the world couldn’t have been a little kinder on him in front of Teddy Altman. 

Yeah he was absolutely gorgeous with that floppy blond hair and those soft blue eyes - not to mention those muscles - but there was also the witty sarcastic sense of humour and just this aura announcing to the world that Theodore Altman was one of the good ones. And Billy had acted like a complete idiot during probably his only shot to be friends with the guy, never mind anything else. There was the crux of the issue, really, Billy’d been crushing so hard on Teddy for years with the heavy knowledge that there wasn’t even a remote chance of them being anything because there was one thing that Billy was sure of and that was Teddy’s appreciation of the ‘fairer’ sex. 

He needed to shake the incident from his head and what better way to distract oneself from boy troubles by finding Captain America on a motorcycle in full kit - including shield strapped to his back - with a brown paper bag clutched in one hand while the other tapped at the handle of his bike? Nope, nothing better than that - except perhaps the God of Thunder’s display two days before. The student body had shifted from that eery silence the last time an Avenger arrived at school to whispering loudly and attempting to get the Captain’s attention. Unfortunately no one succeeded, Steve was there for one person in particular so autographs could wait until another time. He kept his eyes securely on the door until a specific brunette head bopped amongst the throngs of teens and a smile lit up his face. 

Billy was greeted to an all but solid wall of people upon exiting the school that day and had to shove his way through to find out what the commotion was about. As soon as his eyes landed on Captain America, however, his fingers flew to his backpack where his last gift lay securely between two thick books. There was just no way. Strange impromptu gifts with cryptic letters from one Avenger was insane enough, never mind two in the same week. His heart thumped around in his chest, doing its level best to bounce out as Steve Rogers climbed off the bike and strode right to him. There was some resistance from the teens this time as they each tried to catch the Captain’s attention but he easily brushed them off with that ‘shucks ma’am’ smile until he stood before Billy with excitement clear in his eyes.

Unlike the Thor incident Billy managed to untangle his tongue long enough to spit out what he hoped was a semi-normal greeting. “Hi, Sir.”

“Billy.” Steve held out the brown bag with a note in that same thick card stapled to the front. “Hope you enjoy them. Someone went through a lot of trouble to make them for you.” He threw a wink at the gobsmacked boy and waited with barely contained glee as Billy plucked the offering from his fingers to read the note. 

‘The face you make when you eat something sweet always makes me smile’

Billy’s entire face flared with a deep blush, his lips unable to stop the embarrassed smile contained when he gently opened the bag to find perfectly squared brownies, their rich chocolatey smell wafting up and making his mouth water. “Thanks, Cap.” he breathed, taking the top brownie - still warm and slightly gooey - and offering it out to yet another of his heroes, biting back a giggle of disbelief when the embodiment of everything good accepted it.

Captain America gave a small salute, flashed that megawatt smile once more and left with a roar on his sleek black bike. Everything went to hell after that. 

*

Teddy was visibly agitated when Steve slipped into the booth across from him the following Monday. It made Steve’s eyebrows shoot up to find such a forlorn expression on the boy’s face.  In all their previous meetings the only thing that had hidden in those eyes was sheer happiness about what they were doing. “What happened?” 

The young man let out a deep breath and rubbed a hand over his face. “Maybe we should call this off.” He mumbled, utterly miserable behind his fingers.

Steve’s eyes widened to the size of saucers and had to force himself from crying out against such a suggestion. Instead he channeled his expression into that of genuine concern. “You’ve been working on this for months, Teddy. Why would you want to do that when Billy’s enjoying it so much?” He reckoned something had gone awry with Teddy’s potential prom date to get such a negative reaction. 

Teddy slumped down further in his seat looking incongruous as he tried to hide his large form under the diner table. “I thought if people saw him with you guys it would make them stop.” He crossed his arms over his chest and didn’t lift his eyes to Steve. “He’s constantly leaving school with these bruises and cuts everywhere, wincing when he moves a certain way…I figured it would quite if they saw him with the Avengers, scare some sense into them or something.”

“But…” Steve goaded, voice as comforting as possible even as anger built with each word. There were just too many similarities between Billy and the childhood Steve had. If it hadn’t been for Bucky Steve stood firm with the stance he wouldn’t be the man Dr. Erskine envisioned him to be.

Teddy sighed, “Today he may as well have been one huge bruise. It was terrible, Steve! They look a few days old already which means it must have happened after you left. If they won’t even give him a few hours before beating on him then - I don’t know. I was hoping for a miracle I suppose.”

Steve’s fury rose throughout Teddy’s explanation, heart wrenching when he realised this boy was Billy’s Bucky - and that meant there was no way he would let Teddy back out of the plan. Billy probably needed this more than Teddy even understood. A smirk slid into place when he came up with exactly what they could do to give Billy some well deserved rest from his bullies. “They may have fists and numbers, Teddy, but we have something even better.”

*

He still smarted from the beating Kessler gave him before he’d got out of range on Friday making every move jar one bruise or another. The moment Billy hobbled into school there was this charged air about everyone - like something drastic had happened in the last 18 hours they’d forgotten to tell him about. Eyes followed him along the corridor as he’d become accustomed to since Thor’s visit. When he went to shuffle between people to reach his locker, he magically found everyone moving out of his way, giving him more space than he’d had when they thought ‘fag’ was contagious. It made him stop dead, waiting for whatever epic prank they’d played on him today. 

He glanced around to find everyone continuing with their day while throwing surreptitious glances his way. Painfully aware of the high likelihood of finding something in his locker, Billy carefully unlocked it and jumped out of the way - hitting the person standing closest to him with an inelegant thump. He waited for the expected ‘watch it, Kaplan’ and shove in the direction he came only to receive a hasty apology as the boy made sure Billy didn’t fall. What. The Hell.  

When he turned to his locker there was no paint dripping out from the bucket he’d expected to find, no silly string on the floor. Nothing. His books were stacked neatly just as he’d left them with no sign of tampering. Eyeing the surrounding teens, Billy shuffled forward and grabbed the books he needed, watching with shock as people hastily moved out of his way on his walk to class. He found himself in class with five minutes to spare thanks to walking in a straight line instead of his usual manoeuvring around others. This only gave him extra time to contemplate what on earth had gotten into the student body. 

It took until third period to piece together enough to get a general idea of what happened. Billy still couldn’t wrap his head around it. If the rumours were correct, the day before while Kessler and his cronies were on their way home they were confronted by a severely pissed off Bruce Banner who made it a point to Hulk out right there in the street after telling them just what would happen to them should they or anyone else hurt Billy Kaplan so long as an Avenger lives. The threats may or may not have included throwing them off the roof of the Avengers Tower. 

Billy’d yet to see Kessler or any of his lot around school so had no way of confirming said claims. For all he knew, Kessler may have just been out with the flue and the school had taken it upon themselves to combine the random Avenger visits with that small fact to come up with this ludicrous story. 

Well, that’s what he’d settled on until Bruce Banner dropped in during science with nothing but another note and a soft “You’ll be fine now, kid.”, punctuated by a gentle hand on his shoulder before he shook the teacher’s hand and left.

Billy cupped the note in his hand and quickly read it before the prying eyes of his classmates all around caught a single word.

‘You’re stronger than you think but i’ll be there for you when you need a little help.’

He barely kept his emotions caged and scoured the halls for potential people behind this between classes. A warmth grew in his chest that Billy was sure wouldn’t be tamped out even if he wanted to. Someone cared. Someone cared so much they got Hulk to threaten Kessler into leaving him alone. Someone payed attention to what he read and the funny faces he made when he ate certain things. Each thought compounded the tightness building in his throat from joy which only grew with each person moving when he asked politely or not pushing him out of line in the cafeteria. It was amazing. It was…there weren’t enough words in the English language to encompass everything that Billy felt. Perhaps the closest thing he could come up with was a simple ‘floating on air’. Yeah, that would do well enough. Floating on air. He may or may not have been falling in love with his mystery admirer.

*

“Buck, come on you’re still sour about - ” Steve barely managed to slip through the apartment door before it was closed in his face.

Bucky whirled round to point an accusing finger at his pouting boyfriend. “Yeah. Yeah surprisingly I am still annoyed about my boyfriend whoring out my arm!” 

Steve shuffled forward a few paces, well aware that Bucky wasn’t all that mad and just wanted to see Steve sweat it out for a while. He had to bite back his grin at the look on his lovers face which he was certain Bucky thought was outraged but just turned out as this cute indignant pout. 

“Okay fine, there’s a chance I could’ve handled Tony a little better, I’ll concede to that. Point still stands though, I need your help with this, Buck.” Sliding his own pout into place Steve closed the last bit of space between them to rest his hands on Bucky’s hips. 

The ex-assassin tilted his head up, eyes narrowed in consideration. “Won’t be the same without me?” He mused as Steve pressed a soft kiss to his forehead.

“Nope.” Steve consented around an escaped chuckle.

“Doomed to failure should I not agree?” kisses peppered his jaw and had it not been for the amount of concentration he was spending on biting back a laugh he’d have lost his train of thought already.

Steve nodded against his neck, humming against the soft skin, “Wholly hopeless.” 

“Fine. I may be persuaded to take part in your little scheme.” He mashed his flesh hand over Steve’s face before the bright spark of triumph could pull him under. A devilish smirk from the Winter Soldier made that spark dim slightly, “But only if I get that thing I want.”

Steve deflated, tipping his head back to groan loudly in annoyance. “Buuuck! Seriously? Nothing else will change your mind?” 

Bucky cocked an eyebrow in challenge, daring Steve to test him.

With a small huff and a kiss to his chin, Steve caved. “Oh fine. This is so worse than the deal with Stark.” 

Exceedingly pleased with himself Bucky reigned his boyfriend in to smother him in a bone-crushing embrace.

*

After the appearance of the last three Avengers, no one was surprised to find yet another awaiting Billy Kaplan on Thursday. What they were unprepared to find was exactly which Avenger it was. From the buzzing pupils, Billy knew someone had come before he even placed a foot on the outer stairs. The last two days had been the least stressful of Billy’s life with the surety that Kessler would no longer be harassing him unless he wanted to incur the Hulk’s wrath. All he’d had to worry about was piecing together who exactly arranged for the Avengers’ grand display in the first place and collecting his comics from Patriots without running into Teddy again. 

“The Winter Soldier. Can you believe it? I mean he never does any PR work and now he’s here?” the giggled conversation reached him before he could catch sight of who everyone was staring at and he stopped dead when the words registered. 

The Winter Soldier? Why on earth…in the years since Shield’s file-dumping fiasco and the subsequent revealing of the Winter Soldier, the man behind it all had managed to keep himself firmly out of the public eye with nothing more than the odd picture of the Captain and Winter holding hands on a date. The most footage anyone had of him was when he fought side by side with the Avengers and joined the team officially a couple of years ago. And now here he was at Billy’s school, with a cup of coffee in that legendary metal hand and something tucked in the crook of his other arm. 

Bucky Barnes lifted his cup of coffee in a welcoming gesture towards Billy as the young man appeared amongst the students. 

“Wow. So, you’re the Winter Soldier huh?” Really, was there a less respectful way to greet a master assassin who could probably crush him in the blink of an eye? Billy couldn’t help but wince at his terrible word choice but relaxed the tense set of his shoulders when the man simply snorted.

“Last I checked, yeah. So they do this every time I’m guessing?” Bucky gestured around at the teens eagerly awaiting the presentation of the gift. 

Billy gave a grim nod. “We don’t usually have superheroes popping up at school left, right and centre.”

Bucky grinned, “Good thing i’m not a hero then.”

Before billy could refute that outrageous claim Bucky balanced his coffee on the windowsill behind him and held out a bear about the size of his arm. The thing was, it wasn’t just any bear, it was a Bucky Bear in an amalgamation of Bucky’s WW2 uniform and the combat kit he’d worn for seventy years with its ‘metal’ arm signed by the man himself. Around the masked bear’s neck hung a red ribbon tied in a neat bow from which the note hung. 

‘For when you need a hug and I’m not there to give you one.’

By now Billy didn’t even bother being embarrassed by the blush that flushed his cheeks. Cuddling the bear to his chest he lifted his eyes back to the one Avenger he’d always seen as a man first. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re a great hero.”

Unprepared for the sincere words Bucky’s practiced charming smile slipped for a moment, “Thanks, Billy.”

Only Steve would know just how much that meant when he got back to the Tower and nearly broke down in their apartment. 

*

Four visits from the Avengers in one week made Billy somewhat of an overnight celebrity. On Thursday he tucked himself into bed with Bucky Bear, blissfully happy with the weeks events and refusing to accept that sooner or later it would come to an end. He woke up on Friday morning with a barrage of Facebook notifications on his phone - everything from over thirty friend requests to being tagged in a flurry of photos that popped up online while he slept. The entire world, it seemed, was fascinated with Billy Kaplan. He hated it. 

Yes, every Avenger went out of their way to make sure the gift exchange and even their appearance was noted by every single student but it was one thing for school halls to be echoing with curiosity and quite another to turn on the news to find his face plastered across the screen while a group of middle aged ‘Avengers experts’ critically analysed what this could mean. Not only did it burst his little bubble of happiness but it meant his parents became aware of the strange happenings he’d steadfastly hidden from them. How was he meant to explain it, anyway? Hey mom, so someone managed to get the Avengers to come to school and give me presents for the last week. Who? Oh I have no idea. That would have gone swimmingly. His mother would have lost it.

Clearly the Avengers visits had surpassed simply being a one-off deal. Billy found himself bombarded by hoards of press lined up outside the school and it was only the black hoodie that protected him from being inhaled by every journalist and paparazzo within a five mile radius. School was pointless as the presence of the media camped outside meant that no matter how hard the staff tried they couldn’t tamp down the hysteria enough to get work done. By third period they’d given up, allowing the raucous teens to babble and preen to their hearts content with only one rule to be obeyed; no one was to approach the media during school hours. 

Everyone wanted to have a piece of Billy Kaplan since he was the centre of all the havoc so he found himself being greeted enthusiastically in the halls, tugged into conversations with a booming ‘Billy! Been looking everywhere for you, bud!’ or some variation of the sort. He only managed to evade the unwanted attention by slipping unnoticed into the library - a place few students realised still existed never mind considered entering to search for their new toy. 

Pushing his hoodie back, Billy waved at the middle-aged librarian. “Hi, Mrs Stanley.” 

Her green eyes brightened at the sight of her regular. “Hello Billy. I hear you’ve had a busy week.” She tucked a frayed ribbon into the spine of her open book, giving all of her attention to the frazzled teen.

With a heavy sigh Billy nodded. “It’s just, all of a sudden everyone wants to talk to be just cause the Winter Solder gave me a bear. I mean before this I didn’t see a single person so much as willing to say hello to me and now they want to be my best friends? I can’t stand it.” 

Mrs Stanley chuckled, “Ah the fickle nature of the human being. But remember, someone must have said ‘hello’. The Avengers don’t just visit high schools with presents every other day, you know.”

Billy shrugged, “Yeah I guess you’re right. Thanks, Mrs Stanley.” 

“Anytime.” She assured as he began walking towards the back of the room. “Oh, Billy, There are a few new additions  in the back for you.”

He smiled thankfully at the librarian before disappearing amongst the stacks. Unfortunately, Billy’s sought-after solitude lasted only the minute it took to cross the library and find Teddy buried under piles of comics and books.

The blond’s head snapped up the second Billy rounded the corner, a lazy smile resting on his handsome features. “You’re hiding too, huh?” Teddy mused, gesturing for Billy to find a spot amongst the pages scattered around him. 

“There’s only so much fake friendliness I can take at a time.” Billy agreed, placing a Thor comic on the closest pile so he could lean with his back against the shelves. 

Teddy chuckled, “They’re such idiots. It took all this for them to notice you when you’ve been better than them the whole time.” he didn’t even seem to realise he’d voiced his thoughts in a soft mumble as his eyes skimmed over the page he was reading.

Billy was struck dumb by that little comment and even more so by the sincerity behind it. He didn’t quite know what to do with the off-hand compliment other than utter a simple “Thanks.” which brought a blush to both their faces when Teddy realised Billy heard him.

*

To say Bucky was more than willing to hand over - no pun intended - Tatiana after receiving what he’d asked for would be an understatement. Cradling his very own Stevie Bear while grinning like a fool, Bucky sat back and let Stark detach his beloved piece of tech. 

“You got Rogers to make you a bear?” Stark couldn’t keep the amusement out of his tone as he tinkered with the various mechanisms set up to take the arm off.

“Damn straight I did.” Bucky proudly announced, rubbing the soft blond fur against his cheek. “the punk’s always going on about how I’m a big softy, his very own Bucky Bear, then whips out this ratty old Bucky Bear, one of the first ones they brought out during the war and makes sure I remember just how much he loves that stupid thing. So yeah, I figured its about time I get some payback.”

Tony couldn’t bite back the bark of laughter even if he tried and the two grown men dissolved into giggles while half of the wires in Bucky’s arm hung out with Dum-E desperately trying to keep up with the small jerky movements Bucky made lest Tatiana drop to the floor. 

*

It was almost comical how quickly the buzz about Prom had been swept away in the face of the Avengers’ visits. Over the past two weeks all attention had been secured on Billy and who would visit next but once the week of Prom rolled round and everyone realised just how few days they had until the night itself, they went crazy. In typical teenage fashion, everything but the dance faded away to be replaced by puffy dresses, limos and parties. 

As such, even with the media still camped outside the school, Billy managed to carve out a semi-normal routine. He was becoming very good at evading the die-hard fame-seekers and with the help of Teddy, everything almost went back to normal. Well, what he could constitute as normal now, anyway. Teddy joined him for lunch on Monday, he still hadn’t walked away from school with a new collection of bruises (both emotional or physical) and the Avengers continued to drop in whenever they wished. 

In an attempt to avoid the drove of cameras and reporters, they’d shifted tactic from waiting in the parking lot to barging into whichever lesson suited them. Jarvis easily hacked the school system to locate Billy’s timetable and the group planned accordingly. On Monday as Billy and over two dozen others scribbled away at the mind-numbing test he’d been studying for the entire weekend, the distant sound of music hit their ears. A few students lifted their heads in confusion but quickly dismissed the ever-increasing volume of whatever song was playing in the hall. Well, that was until the music became too loud to ignore and really, when Fall Out Boy’s American Psycho comes blaring down the corridor, chem tests would be the last thing on your mind. Mr Fraser let out an agitated huff and stomped over to the door, ready to have a go at whatever underaged twit decided this was a good idea only to have the door of the classroom burst open, whacking the wall with a thwump lost under the booming music. The source, both surprisingly and yet not, was the gleaming suite of Iron man as he swaggered in with no care for the test the poor teens were being subjected to. 

As used to this as Billy was getting, he still felt his entire body burst into thrilled tingles as Iron Man approached with something held carefully between his fingers. “Billy, bud. Gotta thank you for all this, there’s no way I’d have gotten Rogers to hand over Tatiana without you’re little love interest.” 

Mr Fraser was attempting to yell over the still loud music but Iron Man easily ignored him to drop his gift on the table, toss a high five Billy’s way and saunter right back out, the music following him until the students could barely hear it any longer. What they could hear was staff yelling at the teens to get back in class before they were all given detention.

The teacher had turned a worrying shade of purple in his fury and snatched up the rectangle gift from Billy’s table before he could even glance down at it. Despite the commotion, the chemistry test wasn’t canceled so Billy had to rip his attention back to the swirling words on his paper and try his hardest not to think of the way his heart hammered in his chest with anticipation of reading the note until the end of the lesson. 

By the time the tests were collected, Billy was all but vibrating with excitement. His eyes zeroed in on the drawer Mr Fraser dumped the gift into and didn’t take his eyes off it until the teacher dug around to retrieve it. “I better see nothing less than an A on your test, Kaplan.” Mr Fraser threatened as he held out the rectangle piece of glass. 

Billy gave an enthusiastic nod before dashing out of the class. He hid in one of the lesser used bathrooms before turning his attention to what he held in his hand. It was a small handheld mirror with a thin black frame. The note was taped to the back, the first word slightly smudged thanks to resting on Billy’s sweaty palm. 

‘I wanted to get you something beautiful but realised there is nothing more stunning than your blush.’

He may have giggled like a preteen when he caught sight of the red staining his cheeks in the mirror. 

*

On Tuesday Billy found himself reluctantly taking part in a particularly raucous game of dodgeball. In the past he’d truly hated these sports days that displayed just how much of a target he was except this year everything was different. Not a single ball came in Billy’s direction from anyone other Teddy who’d been picked for the opposite team and constantly swapped banter with Billy across the gym. It felt strange to not have to worry about enemy fire from the rest of the jocks while he and Teddy essentially had their own little game going. 

“Come on, Altman! You call yourself an athlete!”

Teddy regained his footing having tripped over a ball, “Hey I have to give you an advantage somehow!” 

Billy laughed, tossing his ball and immediately swooping down to grab another as it rolled by. Before he’d even straightened up completely a wheeze erupted from the rubber as it hastily deflated thanks to the wooden arrow half sticking out of it. All eyes flew up to the rafters where they found Hawkeye nestled, bow dangling from his fingers. Billy just made out the two-fingered salute the Avenger gave before he disappeared amongst the shadows and steel. 

Chatter burst through the gym, various activities all but forgotten as everyone moved forward to take a closer look at the arrow. Teddy was one of the first to reach him and Billy found a bright anticipation in his eyes that he hadn’t expected. 

Billy pulled the arrow out of the ball, carefully not to catch any of the dangling pieces of paper as he did so which he brought up to his face for inspection. On each ribbon tied to the flight of the arrow a small portrait of Billy had been attached. He found himself staring at himself chewing on a pen during class, tongue sticking out with his attention buried in a comic, face flushed and peaceful while the sun beating down on his tipped-back face, laughing at an unknown joke, eyes alight with excitement and happiness surrounded by his gifts. Carved into the arrow itself, the note wrapped around the stem.

‘You’re always in my thoughts.’

“Wow.” Teddy’s questioning tone broke Billy from his thoughts and made him grin like a fool.

“Yeah.”

“Someone must like you a lot, huh.” The careful way Teddy spoke made Billy pause for a moment, unsure exactly how the other boy wanted him to respond. On the one hand, the gift was just as amazing as the others and made Billy ache to find out who was sending them. On the other, the crush he’d had on Teddy had only grown stronger over the last few days as they spent time together. 

The best he could come up with was a neutral “I guess so.” that he hoped would satisfy whatever Teddy was looking for in his reaction.

*

Ever since Steve handed over the blond bear to his beloved boyfriend, the Avengers had been subject to the strange war they were having with each other. If Natasha recalled correctly it was a matter of ‘who loves who more’ which manifested in two super soldiers essentially not putting their respective bears down for even a moment. Steve’s dedication to proving his case reached so far as to take his ratty old Bucky Bear on a mission. The poor teddy was already so worn out that the damage it received was barely noticeable amongst its collection of war-time wounds. 

Barnes, in response to this, took at least two dozen selfies of him and the bear during various activities - from the top of skyscrapers, cuddled in bed first thing in the morning, hell even when the team made use of Stark’s pool there the bear was resting comfortably on a chair. These were then proudly displayed on Instagram and each member of the team given printed copies.

Over the weekend they’d gradually gotten worse, taking to glaring at one another from opposite ends of the room as they cooed and cuddled their teddies - both of which were far beyond ‘falling apart’ and entered into ‘sadly clinging to life’. Despite the decades of difference between their births, Steve was not a brilliant seamster which led to the little blond bear losing an eye on day two and a leg popping open so that bits of white stuffing periodically fell out by day four. 

On this particular day Natasha found herself right in the middle of yet another glaring war from the couch. Steve had Bucky Bear tucked into his side, a blanket drawn up over the stained brown fur and blue coat while he ate popcorn and - oh dear god - occasionally offered a piece to the toy. Nat rested her head in her hands at the sickening display and nearly missed Bucky’s indignant huff followed by pulling out a tiny knitted version of Steve’s war get-up. Really, were they five?

“I hope you both understand how moronic you’re being.” She informed the two, shaking her head as she opened the closest magazine on the coffee table.

The men sat up straight and aimed equally disapproving frowns her way, stroking their bears comfortingly.

Nat swore she heard Steve assure the pile of stuffing and thread that “She didn’t mean it.”

What had her life become? She was a deadly assassin damn it, not a teddy bear mediator!

*

For the first time in their short friendship, Billy and Teddy hung out beyond school grounds. At lunch Teddy convinced Billy that they should go to Patriots together for their comic fix and so the two boys found themselves lost in conversation about the age old DC vs Marvel war. Their vehement discussion was interrupted only by Billy breaking off mid sentence to scour the new Avengers stock. 

They joked about some of the more questionable items, tossing insults at one another playfully for a while before settling in to actually pay attention. When Billy’s fingers brushed over a pair of puffy boot slippers he instantly snorted at the sewn-in abs on the front of the blue, red and white material. 

“That is the best thing I’ve ever seen.” Teddy snickered before poking at the ‘abs’.

“They’re awesome.” Billy beamed, drowning in the padded squishiness of the slippers. They were the dorkiest thing he’d ever seen and that only made him want them more. Then he pictured his brothers finding them or even just his parents and the thought made his cheeks heat. “But I think if I embrace my inner geek any more I’ll classify for certifiably insane.”

Teddy frowned at the way Billy pulled away from the slippers, covering the note of sadness with a chipper remark about some light-up underpants. 

*

After the test fiasco followed by the dodge ball incident, why Billy was even remotely surprised by Falcon dropping in during assembly was quite a mystery. The whole school sat there, listening to the headmaster drone on about ‘putting their heads down and studying hard!’ while everybody daydreamed about Prom’s impending arrival. The old man’s speech was of so little interest even half the staff took to picking at their nails or staring off into the distance. In that respect, Falcon’s arrival was a godsend. He surely saved at least a couple thousand braincells from dying simply by banging into the hall with his wings folded back, goggles in place and this severe ‘don’t mess with me’ aura that allowed him to march right past the stage where the headmaster was only now realising there was a commotion. 

The students buzzed, snapping awake instantly at the sight of yet another Avenger though a few arguments broke out in hushed whispers over whether or not Sam could be constituted as an Avenger. They didn’t last long when the students around the arguments swatted at them to shut up. 

“What is going on here?” The headmaster sputtered, clearly outraged that this dressed up yahoo managed to garner more interest from his students in one minute than he’d managed to get in the last half hour. 

Falcon paid him no heed as he spotted Billy sitting near the back with a familiar tall, blond boy. He had to force himself not to acknowledge Teddy and instead focused on his target. “Hey, Billy.”

The brunette boy cast a glance at the stage where two teachers were trying to convince the headmaster to just let it play out before smiling at the man before him. “Hi Falcon.”

“Got something for you though I think you already knew that.” the light chuckle that accompanied his words made Billy give a sheepish nod. 

he reaches behind him to unclip the larger present and when Billy catches sight of what it is this time he nearly fell off his chair from laughing. “You’re kidding me.” He managed to gasp out after wiping the tears from his eyes. “Tee!” Billy whirls round to face his friend then points at the big Captain America slippers dangling from Falcon’s fingers and let out another snort of laughter. “You’re so jealous right now, aren’t you.”

Teddy pouted and crossed bulky arms over his chest, managing to clear his expression before Billy noticed the flash of panic when he’d so abruptly turned to him. For a second he’d thought Billy pieced it together, that the whole thing was ruined because he was an idiot and went for something he’d seen with Billy. Thankfully that wasn’t the case and Teddy managed to scrounge up a blasé “Insanely. How is Freedom meant to keep my toes warm without them?”

Attempting to regain control over himself, Billy did his level best not to smile too stupidly at Falcon when he took the slippers. “Thanks.”

“No problem, kid.” Sam saluted then turned to go before Billy abruptly grabbed hold of his arm. 

He could tell instantly that it’s a mistake as Sam’s whole body freezes and Billy rushes to explain himself. Grabbing at war vets probably wasn’t the best plan. “I just - I mean it. Thank you. Could you make sure the others know that?” 

Sam calmed at the earnest words from the boy and smiles warmly, “They know, Billy, but I’ll tell them anyway.”

They shared a moment of understanding before Billy released his hold and Falcon left. By then, the headmaster had dodged the pleas of the teachers and was making his way down the stairs intent on kicking Falcon out when he looked up and realised the man was gone. With a grumble and glare towards Billy, the headmaster turned on his heel and stomped right back up to continue his speech.

*

“Steve! STEVE! You have to see these things they’re hilarious!” Bucky came bounding into the room, Mac nestled under his arm and eyes shiny with tears. 

The sight made Steve tense and rush over to his lover, worried that something had happened before his words registered. “What’s up, Buck?” he laughed, running his hands up the assassin’s sides. 

Bucky swatted at him, “Later you perv I have in my hand something better than sex.”

Steve’s eyebrows shot up at that claim, “Oh really. Now you have to show me.”

Bucky grinned happily and opened the computer to reveal the web page he’d found thanks to Sam. 

Immediately laughter erupted from Steve, “You’re kidding me right? Are those - those are abs! Bucky what the hell! Who would even - ”

Bucky cackled with glee, “They were Sam’s gift to Billy!”

The two centenarians clung together as they laughed and spent the next two hours scouring the internet for even stranger and more outlandish Avenger themed items. 

*

The Black Widow lounged on the roof of her sleek black sports car without a care in the world despite the yelling of paparazzi just beyond the gates and the catcalls from a few very brave souls amongst the school. Unlike her team mates over the last week she’d decided to stick to the original plan for Altman to go out with a bang. 

Word travelled down the halls fast enough which urged Billy to stop loitering at Teddy’s locker when the boy was clearly already on his way home or outside already. When a member of the football team spotted Billy trying to press himself into the locker behind him to avoid notice, he found himself taken firmly by the shoulders and guided outside. 

“Get to it, Kaplan, can’t be keeping someone like the Widow waiting.” There was definitely a hint of a sneer to the words and a rougher than needed shove in the direction of the car but Billy shrugged it off. In the grand scheme of things it wasn’t too bad, the jock wouldn’t dare do anything over the top with the Widow just feet away and Hulk’s threat still ringing through the school. When he was close enough to touch the car, Natasha Romanoff hops off the car, gives him a once-over and simply says, “Kaplan.”

Trying to emulate Teddy’s calm composure Billy gives a small nod, “Widow.”

With the corners of her lips barely hinting at a smile, she reached into the car and pulled out her gift; a large, thick, square card. When Billy gathered the courage to open it he found a delicate layered handmade pop-up of two boys in tuxedos, features only visible enough from their close proximity to make out smiles on their faces as they clung to each other with a backdrop of a beautiful night garden as stars twinkled above them. At their feet a small piece of white ribbon peeked out and Billy gave it a tug to pull up a sign in that familiar handwriting telling him to look up. 

Before he did he caught Widow’s eye to find a soft look aimed at him. “Better say yes, Kaplan.”

Billy’s neck felt locked in place and he struggled against the desire to shut his eyes because he was one hundred percent sure he was about to find out who’d been behind this whole thing and while he desperately wanted to know, he also didn’t want to pop the happy bubble he’d been in for the last few weeks. Get a grip you big pansy! He steeled himself and lifted his head. And yeah, he should have seen it coming, he really should but Billy’s never been very good at social cues let alone romantic social cues so when he finds Teddy standing there in a slightly rumpled tux he’s both floored and bursting with glee. 

“Hey, B.” Teddy offers a small smile, shifting from foot to foot nervously. It’s not like he’s been preparing for this for going on three months now or anything. Not like this could make or break not only a possible relationship with Billy but also the tentative friendship that’d been growing between them. Teddy’s palms felt far too hot and to stop the shaking from being visible, he hooked his thumbs in the pants pockets.

“So I suppose I should get whats going on here but to be honest, I really don’t.” The self-deprecating chuckle Billy let out made Teddy grin.

“Well I haven’t got there yet, Mr Impatient.” 

“Hurry it along would you, I have places to be, people to see.” Billy couldn’t help but playfully snap back.

“I think your date with the Captain slippers can wait a few minutes.”

That made Billy snort, “Okay yeah you got me there. So, Altman, gonna explain what exactly this has all been about?”

Both boys had slowly been closing the gap between them until Teddy stood only a few feet away. “Simple, really. You busy on Prom night?” he peeked down at the brunette through his lashes, smile meek and blush evident.

Billy’s brain may have short-circuited because it sounded like Teddy just asked him to Prom in the most Teddyish way possible. Stumbling over his tongue, it took Billy a while to answer, “How could I say no to the guy who made me possibly the cheesiest pop up card known to man?” Billy mused, grinning from ear to ear as Teddy blushed deeper. “I love it by the way. And in case that answer wasn’t clear enough, it was a ‘yes’.”

When Billy’s mother found a picture in the news the next day of her son on his toes leaning up to kiss a big blond on the cheek, she clipped it out and added to the small collection she’d been gathering for the last three weeks.