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One of the playful activities the Avengers like to indulge in from time to time, whenever they have a slot available while they’re present at the compound, is to engage in a friendly game of “Hide & Seek”. Not only is it fun, but it also serves as a way to exercise and practice some of their skills, by either hiding or seeking.
Unfortunately, for most of them, Bucky turns out to be a master at hiding –despite his rather sizable body. So, it’s usually frustrating to have to look for him, especially given that more often than not he’s the last one that has yet to be found. And at the same time, he’s an amazing tracker, so that’s why he doesn’t get to play as the one seeking on the regular. After all, they couldn’t really expect less from the infamous Winter Soldier.
However, to make things a little more fair (in his opinion, and given his own exasperation every time he’s tasked to seek) for everyone, Steve decided to get a powerful metal detector –courtesy of one Tony Stark– to use on Bucky. That proved to be a highly successful way to find the metal-appendaged man, much to the Sergeant’s chagrin.
Because of the added help of the detector and the consequent loss of advantage, Bucky sulked for an entire afternoon after losing the first game in which it was used. Yet by the next time they play, he had already concocted the perfect “counterattack” against the annoying piece of machinery.
All he had to do was to take off his metal arm and leave it somewhere else to be found, as far away from his actual hiding spot as possible. That way, whoever was the seeker, would find the arm but not Barnes himself. And, luckily for him, the second time they played while using the detector, Rogers ended up doing the seeking.
It was only when Buck caught the loud yells of the Captain, who was cursing in both frustration and disbelief, that he knew his plan worked. Unfortunately for him, the reaction of his best friend proved to be so funny that he couldn’t refrain from laughing his ass off because of it.
That was actually how the other Avengers, the ones who already lost and the ones who were still hiding, managed to find him anyway since the roaring laughter not only caught their attention but made them worry a little bit. As the noises made by the Sarge were coming from a rather high and tight-fitting place, they were concerned that he might have gotten stuck. Thus why they went looking for him, throwing the game in the process.
“Really? You got such a good spot and you ruin it by laughing like an idiot? Unbelievable,” chided Sam as he shook his head.
“Yeah, not even I would have thought of using this place to hide,” added Natasha, looking amused yet incredulous.
“I can’t believe you took off your arm to use it as a decoy!”
An incensed Steve joined the conversation, airing his frustrations, as soon as he rounded the corner and met the other Avengers, who were gathered in a circle in the middle of a hallway, looking at the man in the ceiling. And while his scandalized irritation seemed funny to most of them, it managed to disturb a few others.
“He did what?!” Clint exclaimed, looking back and forth between Rogers and Barnes.
“Oh, man, what an awesome idea! I wish I could do something like that,” Scott lamented, not realizing fully why he had just implied.
“That sounds like cheating,” Peter pointed out, wanting in on the conversation.
“And it’s unfair on the rest of us” Wanda commented, words dripping with sarcasm.
“All’s fair in war and in hide and seek.”
A smug Bucky finally managed to defend himself after he regained his breath once the laugher had died, only to then be admonished by Stark.
“No, it’s not! That strategy is banned from the game,” Tony interrupted, raising his voice to be heard over the growing hectic chatter. “Next time you pull a stunt like this you’ll be penalized, Barnes!”
“Whatever, I win,” scoffed Bucky.
“But we found you…” Parked attempted to reason before being cut off.
“Only cause I laughed. If I had kept silent I would have won.”
“You can’t claim victory over a hypothetical situation!”
Sam’s complaint incited the others to voice their objections as well, only to then be silenced by Rogers’ verdict.
“Enough! Since I’m the seeker and I found all of you, you all lose. End of discussion.”
“Great, you ruined the game for everybody. You happy now?” A sour Tony asked in annoyance.
“Technically, we all ruined the game since we chose to step out of our hiding spots,” Romanov clarified.
“Either way, I think we can all agree that the game is over,” Clint chimed in to diffuse the mounting tension. “So, anyone up for getting some snacks?”
Everyone present immediately agreed with Hawkeye’s idea, leading them to start walking toward the communal kitchen. Although, one person remained behind despite asking the rest to wait for him. Given that Barnes had to shove himself into his hiding spot, he was finding it hard to get out of it. Yet since he was responsible for the debacle of the whole game, his pleas weren’t heard and he was left to fend for himself against the unyielding metal entrapping him.
Said metal was soon enough torn and bent until it gave, allowing the man a way out unscathed. Nevertheless, he was later charged for the damage by his fellow teammates, even though they didn’t notice what he had done until much later after the snacks had been long consumed.
All in all, it was a fun game.