Work Text:
time: 0700 (too fucking early)
date: 9/4/2025
place: Delacroix, Louisiana
Sam has been in an annoyingly good mood lately. This could be linked to one or more of the following observed changes in surroundings:
1. Official recognition of the new Avengers team by the government
2. Relatively stable routine with less responsibility at home to A and C starting school again as of 9/1/2025 (Monday):
- Gets up at approx. 0530 for run, returns approx. 0600
- Shower and personal hygiene routine at approx. 0615-0630
- Breakfast at 0700 (Sarah usually cooks and she is a goddess in the kitchen)
- work (misc.) at base from 0800-0445
- (find tactful way to suggest varying routes to work to avoid surveillance, it’s way too easy, Sam, come on)
- dinner at 0530 (Sarah cooks, Sam doesn’t help, I do.)
- Miscellaneous family based activities from after supper until he goes to bed at approx. 2200 hrs.
3. Improved relationship with Alex (Sarah’s boyfriend)
- :(
Option 2 is improbable due to the increase in obnoxious good mood behaviors beginning before the first of September. I believe both options 1 and 3 could be factors. Will continue to monitor.
I saw a stray cat outside yesterday and I gave it some fish. Sarah said that feeding it was a bad idea because it will keep coming back now but I don’t give a fuck.
Status: Good, slightly annoyed with Sam. Alex is as insufferable as always. Arm kinda hurts with warmer weather, but it’s manageable. Any major issues are strictly emotional in nature. Will continue to monitor.
***
Breakfast is eggs, sausage, and toast. Bucky makes a plate and sits at the table with Sarah, Sam, and Alex.
“Mornin’ Buck,” Sam says, cheerful.
Bucky grunts. Sarah sets a cup of coffee in front of him, dark and strong. He grabs at it.
“Was planning on headin’ to the farmers’ market today,” Alex says. “I’m not too busy with work, only need a couple of hours this evening to get it done.”
“That sounds great,” Sarah says, walking past him to put two lunch boxes on the counter. “I have a list, take that with.”
Alex flashes his teeth. It reminds Bucky of the way Josef would look before lunging at him. He tenses.
“I should be heading out,” Sam says, grabbing his keys. “Alex, you should take Buck with you to the farmers’ market. He can help carry stuff. Bye, Sar.”
“Bye.”
Sam hurries out the door.
After he’d finally been (mostly) accepted as Captain America, Sam had been putting a lot of time in for press conferences and meetings with government officials and other bureaucratic bullshit that Bucky had no patience for. Which was fine. It was great, in fact. The Avengers were officially a thing again, albeit not too impressive at the moment. They had Lang and Pym on call, Bruce Banner (for sciencey things only), Dr. Strange (for emergencies only), and Barton (for consultations only, sorry, the wife insists). A few others were being scouted, and Sam was working on putting together a training program for potential new recruits or gifted individuals who needed help getting a handle on their abilities. Sam was doing a lot of good work.
Which was great. But while he was doing that, Bucky was doing a lot of nothing.
He’d been staying at the Wilsons’ place for so long now that his apartment in New York was probably covered in dust. And he was much happier here. It felt good, being around a family.
Except, Alex.
He hadn’t liked the guy from the start.
After further observation and a few discreet background checks, he’d determined that Alex wasn’t a threat, per se. He was just an incredibly unlikable person who had made Sarah like him somehow.
And Bucky respected that Sarah had a right to date who she wanted to.
It was just.
Come on, Sarah.
Sam had been in Bucky’s boat at first, seeming to hate Alex with a passion. He still didn’t like him, from what Bucky could tell from his body language. In fact, according to Sam’s body language, he thought Alex was rather off-putting. But the two of them talked, had actual casual conversations. And Sam didn’t even seem to mind them that much. It was more than Bucky could ever manage, to say the least.
It wasn’t uncharacteristic of Sam to get along with people, though. Maybe that was why he’d given up on Alex the way he did. He wanted everyone to get along. Which was probably why he’d volunteered Bucky for farmers’ market duty.
Bucky sighs and looks up from his coffee. Alex is watching him in what he probably believes is a surreptitious manner. It isn’t.”
“What.” Bucky says.
“Nothing, man,” Alex says, smiling again. Bucky grimaces at his coffee. “I just wanted to get a move on, so if you could, you know.”
Bucky doesn’t growl. He doesn’t. This is another thing Alex does that pisses him off. He starts to say a sentence like a normal person, then stops. Just plain stops in the middle of the sentence and then stares like everyone knows what he’s saying. And the worst part is, people usually do. Especially Sam and Sarah. Maybe it’s a genetic ability.
“If I could what,” Bucky asks, voice even. It is even. He’s not growling.
Alex raises his bushy eyebrows like Bucky’s an idiot. “Hurry up.”
Bucky sighs and throws the rest of his food away, putting the dishes in the sink. He’s lost his appetite.
***
Sam
sms messaging
Today, 8:00 a.m.
why did you do that
Delivered
Do what?
you know what, asshole
Read 8:04 a.m.
Today, 8:34 a.m.
😂
fuck you
Delivered
Love you too, Buck. Have fun! 😁
***
Alex is a terrible driver.
Despite this, somehow they make it to the farmers’ market in one piece.
Bucky clutches Sarah’s list in his hand and internally curses Sam. He unbuckles his seatbelt and steps out of the car in time to see Alex slide out of the driver’s seat as if gravity has suddenly become too much for him.
“Alrighty,” Alex says.
Sarah’s list crinkles a little in Bucky’s hand. He smooths it out on his palm and gives it a once-over.
“Okay,” he says, “We need tomatoes, onions, peppers, celery, and-”
He looks up. Alex is already at the first stand, talking with the vendor about honeysuckles. Bucky sighs and walks up to him.
“Oh hey, Buck,” Alex starts. Bucky grinds his teeth at the nickname. “We were just looking at these flowers, don’t you think Sarah would love them?”
He’s holding up a bouquet with lilacs, daisies, and honeysuckles.
“Sarah’s allergic to lilacs,” Bucky says. It’s true; she’d been talking about it just the other night. Apparently Alex didn’t pay much attention.
Alex shrugs and sets the bouquet down. “Alright. I think we should get some fruit, there seems to be some nice stands over there.” He does his stupid sway-walk thing in that direction.
Bucky mutters an apology to the flower vendor and follows him.
Alex selects some peaches, apples, and berries. He pays, making sure to flash his wallet around, and hands the bags to Bucky. His stupid glasses slide down his nose and he adjusts them.
“I think we should get the things on Sarah’s list,” Bucky says.
Alex smiles at him. “You going after Sarah, Barnes?”
Bucky frowns. “ What? ”
Alex shrugs, inspects a cucumber. “You seem pretty keen on sucking up to her, is all.”
“Uh, no. I just want to get the things on the list so we can go. ”
Alex fixes him with a look as if he’s humoring him and hums a little under his breath. “Alright.” He pays for the cucumber he was inspecting and shoves the bag at Bucky. Bucky takes it reluctantly. Alex’s attitude reminds him of the other Alexanders in his life, and his former belief that anyone with that name is bad news is validated.
At that moment, arms full of produce, he comes to a decision.
Sarah is capable of making her own choices, yes. She can do what she wants, yes. But Bucky has more experience with the less than good kinds of people in the world, and he knows some of the warning signs.
Alex is bad news. For Sarah, and for AJ and Cass and Sam.
He has to show Sarah what she isn’t seeing.
They have to break up.
***
Sam
sms messaging
now
how mad will you be if i
do something stupid
Delivered
How stupid are we talking?
i don’t like alex
Delivered
That tells me absolutely nothing.
I have to go, got a meeting with
Rhodey and some GRC officials.
Talk later.
k, i’ll figure it out
Delivered
***
Alex whistled along with the radio as he drove the truck back to Sarah’s house. Bucky sat silently in the passenger seat with random bags of produce on his lap and stared out the window.
The most obvious way to get rid of Alex would be to kill him, but Bucky wasn’t going to do that for obvious reasons.
The idea was sometimes tempting, though.
Ever since their conversation at the farmers’ market, Bucky felt on edge. Something about Alex’s smug weirdness set him on edge. He watches the scenery fly by, noting idly that Alex is going ten above the speed limit, and rests his forehead against the window.
“You’ll leave scuffs,” Alex says.
Fuck you, Bucky thinks but doesn’t say. He doesn’t move his head.
About ten minutes from Sarah’s house, Alex’s phone buzzes. He picks it up and unlocks the screen.
Texting and driving, Bucky notes. The guy’s practically a felon by now.
“Sarah wants us to stop by the store and get some things,” Alex says, putting his phone back into the pocket of his stupid ripped jeans. He turns the car around, and Bucky tries to mentally get himself to a place where he won’t kill the guy before their little shopping excursion is over.
It takes another fifteen minutes to get to the store, all of which are spent in a tense, awkward silence. Bucky doesn’t speak. Alex whistles along to the radio. Bucky debates saying something to make it stop. He doesn’t. The cycle repeats.
When they get to the store, Alex hands Bucky a basket and begins to walk off. Bucky follows him, which is made easy due to the bright yellow designs on his shirt. Alex doesn’t tell him what Sarah wanted them to get. He walks down the cereal aisle and stares at the boxes. Bucky stands off to the side, feeling awkward.
The seconds tick by, and Alex still studies the cereal. Bucky clears his throat.
“The boys like Cheerios,” he suggests.
“I know,” Alex says, and takes a box of Lucky Charms off the shelf. He studies the back of the box. Bucky sighs.
He’s eventually rescued by Ms. Delilah, one of the old ladies from the Wilsons’ neighborhood who’d for some reason decided that he was malnourished and needed extra food after he’d fixed her porch railing.
“Well, hello there, James,” she greeted, offering him a cheerful smile.
He smiled down at her, as she was about five feet total in height. “Hey, Ms. Delilah,” he said.
“Are you eating enough, dear?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Good, good. Shopping for cereal, then, the both of you?”
Alex decided to join the conversation. “Yep.”
She hummed. “I like the Honey Bunches of Oats, myself,” she said.
Before Alex could do anything, Bucky grabbed a box and put it in the basket. “We’ll try that one out, thank you for the suggestion.”
Alex glowered at him.
“You do that, dear,” Ms. Delilah said, patting his arm as she walked past him. “You have a good day, now.”
“You too, Ms. Delilah,” Bucky said.
“Yeah, that,” Alex calls after that, and turns to glare at Bucky once she’s out of sight. “I wasn’t going to get us Honey Bunches of Oats,” he hisses.
Bucky sighs. “What else did Sarah want us to get,” he asks.
Alex glances at his phone. “Dish soap and milk.”
Bucky stares. They’d been here for seventeen minutes so far.
“Right,” he says finally. “Milk is this way.”
They’re checked out and leaving five minutes later.
***
time: 1322 (just had lunch)
date: 9/4/2025
place: Delacroix, Louisiana
Alex is now categorized a threat, level 2. No notable skills whatsoever, except his extraordinarily insistent habit of disturbing my peace. Currently canvassing ways to show Sarah how terrible he is so they will break up.
The cat came back and she let me pet her. Highlight of my day, maybe my decade. When Alex got close she hissed and ran away and I really felt that. Felines are incredibly observant animals. Possible course of action: show Sarah the cat’s reaction to Alex?
Becca’s favorite color was green.
***
That afternoon presents a good time to enact his plan further because both Sarah and Alex are around. That afternoon is also terrible because Alex is around.
They leave the produce and groceries on the counter. Alex puts the milk away, but on the wrong shelf in the refrigerator. Bucky fixes it. Sarah definitely notices but doesn’t say anything.
“So,” Sarah says, leading them out onto the porch with a pitcher of sweet tea, “Did you boys survive the shopping trip?”
“Of course,” Alex says at the same time that Bucky deadpans, “No.”
Sarah raises an eyebrow. “Alright, then. I’ve got about an hour before I gotta go pick up the boys from school. How do you feel about walking down to the docks to check on Carlos and Tommy?”
They do, in fact, walk down to the docks to check on Carlos and Tommy. Carlos and Tommy are doing just fine, thank you for asking, and they have everything covered if Sarah would like to take the rest of the day and relax. Sarah gracefully accepts their offer.
Bucky watches Sarah and Alex interact as stealthily as he can. It’s hard for him to analyze and participate in the conversation at the same time, so he mostly stays quiet. Sarah doesn’t seem to suspect anything anyway, which is good.
What isn’t good: she and Alex are getting along swimmingly.
He’s very polite to her in his own way, and she seems to find it charming for some reason. Every time she laughs at one of his stupid jokes, a little tendril of dread unfolds in Bucky’s gut.
When they get to the house, Alex scurries ahead like a drunk mouse to open the door for Sarah. She smiles and laughs. “Thank you, Alex,” she says. Alex shoots a triumphant look at Bucky and follows her inside, not bothering to hold the door open for him.
They go to the kitchen, where Sarah begins to put the produce away. Bucky joins in, washing the fruits and setting them onto a towel to dry. Alex sits at the table and leans back. His hair sweeps as he does.
“So,” Alex says, drawing invisible designs on the table with his finger, “How are the boys liking school so far this year?”
Cass loves science and hates English because the teacher’s really strict. AJ likes seeing his friends but isn’t much into the classes.
“Oh, they’re doing good,” Sarah says. Bucky frowns. She’s being very casual.
“That’s good,” Alex says.
“Yep,” Sarah says. She grabs a water bottle and takes a drink.
Bucky frowns, glancing back and forth between them. Is she uncomfortable? Did Alex do something to upset her? If Alex did something to upset her, he’s going to tell Sam and they’re going to make him regret it.
Alex clears his throat. “So, Sam’s been busy lately.”
“Yeah, yeah, this new Avengers thing is a lot, plus all of his other meetings,” Sarah says. “Bucky knows more about it than me.” She stares at him expectantly.
“Uh, right,” he says, glancing at Alex, then back to Sarah. “Lots of meetings. With officials. In the government.”
“Lots,” Sarah agrees, taking another drink.
They talk more about random things until Sarah leaves to get the boys. It’s almost painful, but Bucky does his best.
When Sarah gets back with AJ and Cass, she starts getting things out to make dinner. She’s on the phone with a friend as she works, the device tucked between her shoulder and her ear. Bucky sneaks out for a walk. As he does, he notices Alex hovering in the doorway.
The walk turns into a run, and he loses himself in the physicality of it, letting himself blend into his surroundings. He can hear the birds and the wind and the sea, and it calms him. He hadn’t realized how tense he had been until now. It feels good to relax a little.
He ends up in a dead end road that backs up to the swamp. He stops there and sits for a while, remembering the Wakandan elders’ advice about taking time to check in with his own mind and body.
He jogs back to Sarah’s place, feeling relaxed. Sam’s car is in the driveway, which means he’d been out longer than he’d thought.
“Look who decided to join us,” Alex says easily as he walks in the door. Sam rolls his eyes.
“Hey, Buck,” he says, “We were just about to sit down for dinner.”
Bucky joins them.
Dinner is fabulous as always, but he feels a little more self-conscious about taking more than usual. Alex seems to be watching him like a hawk, and he wants to avoid any confrontation. He noticies Sam’s Worried look out of the corner of his eye and hurriedly busies himself with helping to put things away.
After dinner, AJ rushes off to go hang out with his friends, and Cass heads upstairs. Alex and Sarah walk down to the docks, leaving Sam and Bucky back at the house. Sam drags Bucky into the living room to watch some movie about cowboys, insisting that it’s ‘culture’ and that he has to see it.
Halfway into the movie, Sam decides to Talk.
“So, you seemed a little off at dinner tonight. Everything okay?”
Bucky shrugs. “I’m fine.”
Sam nods. “Right. Of course. But if you weren’t.”
“If I wasn’t…”
Sam turns to look him in the eyes. “You could tell me.”
Bucky nods.
They go back to watching the movie. The gunshot wounds are unrealistic.
“On an unrelated note,” Bucky says a while later, “I don’t like Alex.”
Sam turns to face him. “Me neither man, the guy’s a joke.”
“So you agree with me then.”
“On this one thing this time, maybe,” Sam says, turning back to the movie.
“I was thinking,” Bucky says.
“Uh oh.”
“Shut up. I was thinking I should maybe say something to Sarah. Then I was thinking I shouldn’t.”
“You definitely shouldn’t,” Sam says, still watching the movie.
“Oh,” Bucky says.
A cowboy is knocked off of his horse, and his hat falls off. The horse keeps running.
“But if I were to say something,” Bucky says.
Sam sighs. “Bucky, don’t. say. anything. Trust me. Sarah’s always a little weird after a breakup.”
Bucky blinks. “After a what.”
“After a break- oh, you didn’t know?” Sam turns to look at him.
“No,” Bucky says evenly, “I did not fucking know. ”
“Watch your language. Yeah, Sarah broke up with him. She just let him stay here ‘cause he had a thing for work. They’re staying as friends. I think Alex still thinks he has a shot. Poor guy.”
“She broke up with him.”
“Yup. Probably why he hates you so much recently. He’s jealous.”
Bucky sighs and mentally discards all of his break-up-Alex-and-Sarah plans.
Sam laughs a little under his breath. “Sorry, man, I thought it was obvious.”
He blinks again, thinking back to Alex and Sarah’s awkward conversation earlier. “No, it makes sense, actually.”
“Yeah?”
“He’s definitely jealous of me.”
Sam rolls his eyes. “Shut up and watch the movie. We’re just getting to the good part.”
Bucky does, relieved.
***
time: 2301
date: 9/4/2025
place: Delacroix, Louisiana
Alex and Sarah are no longer dating. I will say that the mission was completed successfully even though I apparently had nothing to do with it. She told him she didn’t see them having a future together, and he was only a mild asshole about it. Alex is leaving tomorrow, and I don’t think he’ll be back anytime soon after he finds the little gift I left in his car just in case he actually is Hydra.
I was offered a membership with the Avengers. Not sure if I’ll do it or not. I mean I’ll help if they need it. I just don’t really want to be tied down like that.
The cat came back when Sam and me were outside. She let me pick her up and Sam asked what I was going to name her. I said Alpine because I think it’s a great name and Sam called me a nerd. I dumped a bottle of water over his head and I don’t feel sorry about it. Sarah says Alpine is allowed in the house as long as I give her a bath.
I’ll try that tomorrow.