Chapter Text
Sleep has been almost impossible for Bucky in the months since he moved into the Avengers Tower. Between painful nightmares or just the dull ache from his scarred shoulder, sleep just seems like an impossibility. Which is why he's more than a little surprised when he wakes up on one of the couches in the common floor of the Tower one morning.
He has vague recollections of coming down and putting on a nature documentary in the middle of the night. He was having a hard time keeping his eyes open as the narrator started to talk about penguins collecting pebbles to give to each other. Exhaustion must have finally caught up to him.
The noise from the TV is significantly different now. Bucky squints as his eyes focus and he sees brightly colored cartoons dancing on the screen. As he watches, subtitles start to come into focus at the bottom of the display.
As his brain catches up to his surroundings, he realizes it must be Saturday. He's noticed that if they're not on a job, Clint and Natasha have a habit of watching cartoons and eating junk food every Saturday morning. It's a sacred part of their routine.
Bucky pushes at the blanket someone's thrown over him and looks around to find Clint sitting next to him, eating popcorn for breakfast. The archer is dressed in loose fitting pyjamas, including a tank top with a faded purple archery target across the front. There's a bright purple band-aid across his nose and a bandage around his bicep protecting a nasty graze he got on their last mission.
'Sorry.' Bucky mumbles. 'I'll-'
'You're fine. Enjoy the cartoons.' Clint says, keeping his eyes on the screen but offering Bucky some popcorn.
Bucky accepts the offering, eating a handful of popcorn as he sits up. 'No Natasha?'
'Classified mission.' Clint tells him, practically pouting.
'No dog?' He asks, knowing there’s normally a one-eyed labrador following Clint around the Tower when he’s off duty.
The pout gets worse. 'Lucky has been stolen by Hawkeye.'
'You're Hawkeye.' Bucky points out.
'Kate is Hawkeye too. We share the name.'
Bucky nods to show he understands (even though he doesn't) and turns his attention back to the screen.
Adjusting to the Tower and its residents has been a slow process. But he’s found he can manage movie marathons relatively well. No-one expects him to speak, he just has to watch or zone out if he needs to.
It also helps that Clint has been surprisingly easy to talk to.
Natasha and Tony are always on edge around him. They watch Bucky out of the corner of their eyes, waiting for any indication that he could lash out and turn back into the Winter Soldier.
Steve and Sam are on the other end of the spectrum, fussing over him like worried mother hens.
Bruce mostly avoids him, but Bucky has noticed he tends to keep to himself regardless so he doesn’t take it too personally. And he hasn't met Thor yet, being a prince and a god seems to guarantee a packed schedule.
Clint however, doesn’t seem scared or worried about Bucky at all. The first time they met, Steve was taking Bucky on a tour of the Tower. Clint was in the range and somehow managed to tease Bucky into a marksman competition.
Despite the fact that Bucky was still coming down from his conditioning and his recollection of that time is spotty at best, he remembers it being the first time he’d actually enjoyed himself in over seventy years.
They eventually ended the game in a draw and Clint is constantly finding them new challenges to test who has the better aim. Bucky is winning by a narrow margin, but considering he has the advantages of super soldier serum and a metal arm, he thinks that Clint is technically winning. Not that he would ever admit it to the man.
‘Cartoons again?’ Tony grumbles as he shuffles into the common area, in search of coffee. ‘You didn’t get enough Saturday morning cartoons as a kid?’
Clint shrugs, tossing popcorn in the air to catch in his mouth. ‘Nah, as a kid we either couldn’t afford a TV or I was too busy travelling and working.’
‘As a kid?’ Tony yawns. ‘What kind of work were you doing?’
‘Usual stuff. Scamming people at bars, performing in a circus, standard kid business.’ Clint says with a casual wave of his hand. ‘So I have a lot of catching up to do. Which includes all eight seasons of Dog Cops.’
‘There's eight seasons of this?’ Bucky blurts out without thinking.
Clint snickers out a laugh and Tony shakes his head, obviously too tired for the situation.
‘Ridiculous.’ He mutters, shuffling into the kitchen to fetch his coffee.
‘Let me heal my inner child in peace!’ Clint calls after him, snickering. ‘We’ll get you caught up too, don’t worry.’ Clint says, nudging Bucky's leg with his foot.
Bucky shrugs, too comfortable to complain about the situation.
They make it through another two episodes when the Avengers alarm rings through the Tower. As well as the sound, the lights flash in a specific sequence that Bucky has learned is for if Clint is ever caught without his hearing aids.
In an instant, Clint goes from half dozing, happily wrapped up in a purple blanket, to alert and on his feet. The sharp focus on his face is jarring after such a soft morning.
‘See you on the jet.’ Clint flashes Bucky a cocky smile before sprinting off to get changed into his gear.