Chapter Text
Bucky was ready for their return. He always was. So he knelt by the door to the elevator like the good little slave he had become and waited for his owner’s return . He had tried to escape before but J.A.R.V.I.S had stopped him every time and made sure he was punished severely.
Not that he deserved to escape. The Avengers made sure he knew that every time they punished him. They told him how he deserved everything they did to him because he was a killer. But that wasn’t him. Not anymore. Hydra had previously had control of his mind and he tried to tell them that. He tried to convince them that it was true time and time again but at some point he stopped being able to convince himself that it was the truth.
“Don’t worry Buck, when we return it will all be over and you will be safe, I promise.”
That is what Steve had told Bucky before him and the Avengers left to defeat Hydra once and for all. It was too risky for Bucky to go since he still had whatever Hydra had put in his brain but it didn’t matter because he trusts Steve. Well, he used to trust Steve.
Bucky didn’t know what had happened on that mission. The Avengers had returned happy and had boasted about their success but then they took one look at Bucky sat happily on their sofa and they switched. Bucky still remembers the way their eyes darkened as though a cloud had covered any shred of kindness that was in them. That was the first time they beat Bucky. They had told him a slave did not deserve to sit on the furniture. They had told him a slave did not deserve to be happy and that was all he was, a slave. It was mostly Master Tony that time.
He had beaten Bucky until he could no longer stand and then left him in a dark, plain and empty room to suffer.
But that didn’t break him.
He didn’t break when Master Bruce injected him with a drug which sent him into a fit of pain for 24 hours and then expected him to get up and make them some food. He was punished again for refusing; his bones felt as though they were going to crumble and then he would never be able to move again.
He didn’t break when Master Sam took his belt off and beat him with it or when he handed the belt to Master Thor when he got too tired to continue. Bucky stayed strong and didn’t even try beg them to stop even though they kept going until Bucky went unconscious in a pool of his own blood.
He didn’t even break when Mistress Natasha used him as a punching bag until his face was bloody and bruised.
But he did break when Master Steve punched him so hard in the face that Bucky fell to the ground at his Master Steve’s feet and that was all it took. Steve. His best friend. The man who had saved him so many times in so many ways. The man who Bucky loved even when he was a scrawny, skinny kid who just didn’t know when to run from a fight. All it took was one hit from him and Bucky crumbled.
Steve had told him how worthless he was. How he was just a slave even when Bucky begged him to stop and tried to tell him how they were friends. Steve had just looked at him in disgust as Bucky crumpled onto the floor.
That was a while ago now but the beating and the punishments never stopped. Sometimes he was punished for simply breathing or at least that’s when it felt like.
But none of that mattered now. Not really. It was Bucky’s job to serve and to please his master’s and mistress’ in whatever way they demanded. No matter what.
Which brings him to where he is now. Kneeling on the floor with his head bowed awaiting the return of his masters.
Bucky’s heart rate picked up when the door to the elevator opened and Master Tony stepped out followed by the rest of the team.
Bucky wasn’t allowed to look at them of course but he could tell who they were from their shoes as they placed their gear in Bucky’s awaiting arms. As soon as they had all made their way out of the elevator, Bucky quickly deposited their gear into the store room for him to clean later and got to work serving his owners.
Luckily, Master Thor hadn’t returned from the mission which suggests he had gone back to Asgard. Mistress Wanda had headed straight for her room with Vision in tow and Master Bruce seemed to have left for a shower or to go to sleep. Either way, Bucky didn’t care, it meant less of them he had to deal with although it also meant he still had to please Ste… Master Steve.
“Get me a whiskey, now!” Master Tony called from the living room.
“Yes Master Tony,” Bucky replied, he really wasn’t in the mood to be punished today. Not after he had worked so hard to clean every inch of the place before they all returned, not that they cared or even acknowledged.
Bucky made quick work of pouring Master Tony a whiskey with ice exactly how Master Tony liked it. Bucky returned to the living room, kneeled down and handed Master Tony his drink which was snatched out of his hand without comment before Bucky even had the chance to say anything.
“Get me a soda,” Mistress Natasha said from where she was sprawled leisurely on an armchair in the corner of the room.
“Yes, Mistress Natasha,” Bucky replied. Only when Bucky returned to the room did Master Sam also request a soda.
“Get me one too.”
“Of course, Master Sam.”
For some reason they enjoyed seeing Bucky run around after them. They used to pity him before that mission but they didn’t anymore. Not as they made him run back and forth collecting everything they requested.
Bucky returned once again to the living room and handed the soda to Master Sam who was sitting at one end of the sofa.
“Clean my boots,” Master Steve commanded from the other end of the sofa. His boots were indeed dirty. It would be so much easier for Master Steve to just take off his boots and let Bucky clean them later. In fact, Master Steve had so many other pairs of boots that he probably wouldn’t even notice if Bucky just threw them away but he preferred it when Bucky cleaned them whilst he wore them. It was more demeaning that way. All the Avengers did.
Bucky quickly fetched the cleaning supplies and knelt down at Master Steve's feet, carefully lifting one boot onto his knee and set to work cleaning.
His boot was heavy and would definitely leave a mark in Bucky’s bare legs. All Bucky was wearing was a pair of tight black shorts that barely covered his ass as well as a collar that shocked him whenever his owners felt like it. It reminded him of his days at Hydra but at least that seemed more like a distant memory from the eyes of another person but for this he was fully conscious of everything that happened, everything he did and everything they did to him.
Whilst Bucky had been cleaning, his owners who were still in the room had been talking about their successful mission.
“They didn’t even see me coming! You should have seen their faces!” Mistress Natasha boasted.
“I’m sure it would have been highly entertaining to witness,” Master Sam replied with a slight laugh.
“Talking about something entertaining to witness,” Master Steve drawled from above Bucky, “my boots are becoming very clean but alas they just don’t feel shiny enough.”
“I’m sorry Master, I-I can do better!” Bucky stammered although he already knew what was coming.
“You're right. You can. So do it.” Master Steve commanded.
Slowly, Bucky leaned down low enough so his lips were mere millimetres away from Master Steve's boots, stuck his tongue out and licked. He could hear laughter around him but he couldn’t stop, not until they commanded him too.
Most of the Avengers ,at some point or another, had made Bucky lick their boots or kiss their feet but it always hurt more when it was Master Steve who made him do these things because it was Steve. His Steve. His best friend. The love of his life and now Master. A man who had never once demanded something of Bucky. Even after Hydra had completely fucked with his brain.
“You are a good little slave aren’t you,” Master Steve jeered. Bucky didn’t stop. Not until he said: “That’s enough. Good boy.”
Bucky sat back on his heels to breathe for a moment but he didn’t have long before a hand snatched his chin and yanked until he was staring into those beautiful blue eyes that he used to see in his dreams when he was stuck with Hydra.
“What are you looking at?” Steve asked with a giggle.
“You,” Bucky replied. He towered over Steve who was only small and scrawny but that didn’t matter to Bucky because it was his Steve who he cared for so dearly. It didn’t matter to Steve either who would fight the world for his Bucky.
“And why are you looking at me, good sir?” Steve questioned.
“Please allow me to apologise,” Bucky replied, “It is only that I seem to have gotten lost in your eyes and can’t find my way out of the deep ocean that glistens inside of them.” It was cringy, Bucky knew it was but it was worth it to see the slight blush that erupted from Steve’s cheeks and down his neck.
“W-Would you like some help escaping?” Steve questioned again.
“Hm, I think I am quite content here, actually.”
There was no calm ocean in those eyes now. There was only a storm that raged and attacked that glistening ocean Bucky used to love, as though it was trying to completely destroy the very image. Bucky trembled as Master Steve gripped tighter. It was no use fighting even if he wasn’t outnumbered for somehow he knew that Master Steve would kill him but Bucky wouldn’t be able to kill Steve. His Steve.
“What do you say, slave? ” Master Steve snapped.
Bucky quickly drew his eyes away from his Master’s and focused them as low as he could (which happened to be Steve’s chin.)
“T-Thank you, Master,” Bucky replied dutifully.
“For what?” Master Steve asked again.
“T-Thank you f-for the h-honour of licking your boots clean, Master.”
Bucky could hear the laughter from around the room. He knew they were all laughing at him even though this is what they ask- told him to do. They told him he should be grateful because the way they treat him is mercy compared to what S.H.I.E.L.D would do if they got their hands on him.
Even if Bucky believed them or if he could, he wouldn’t leave. Not because he wants to stay and be a slave to the strongest group of people in the world, but because he knows that somewhere, deep inside of Master Steve, is the Steve that Bucky once fell in love with.
He knows that it was years ago and that both him and Steve have changed since then but he also knows that Steve wouldn’t wish a life like this to his worst enemy.
Or maybe he would and Bucky just is his worst enemy. He did try to kill him after all. Well, the Winter soldier did but what did that matter because Bucky is the Winter Soldier. He barely remembers Sergeant Barnes anyways.
“You hesitated,” Master Steve snarled, dropping Bucky back onto the floor.
“Please forgive me Master! P-Please! I-I accept any p-punishment! I deserve it! I’m s-sorry Master!” Bucky begged.
“It does deserve it doesn’t it?” Mistress Natasha drawled from her armchair.
“It does,” Master Steve replied. It didn’t take Master Steve long to undo his belt and hold it in one hand.
Bucky had already resumed the ‘punishment position’ and was begging for forgiveness.
His pleas became muffled as the first hit struck him in the middle of his back leaving a harsh red mark. Master Steve only laughed as Bucky cried out in agony.
And then Steve hit Bucky again.
And again.
And again.
Bucky lost count at some point around 10. Or was it 20? It didn’t matter though. It wasn’t the lashes that hurt. Not even after they drew blood. It was who was administering the lashes that made it hurt. It always did. And it broke Bucky even more, every time.
Of course the laughing didn’t cease. Not until it was over not long after the blood started pouring from Bucky’s back onto the floor that Bucky had spent so long cleaning this morning. Master Steve put the bloodied belt back around his waist and slumped back into the comfortable, plush sofa that had obviously been bought by Master Tony.
“That ought to teach him,” Master Tony stated from opposite Master Steve.
“What do you say, slave?” Master Sam added.
“T-Thank you, M-Master.”
Steve scoffed but allowed Bucky a moment before he told Bucky to kneel on all fours by his feet.
Master Steve then propped his feet, still in the boots that Bucky had cleaned, onto Bucky’s bloodied and sore back. Bucky winced but all he said was, “Thank you, Master,” again before he could be punished more.
“Who wants to watch a movie?” Mistress Natasha said, grabbing the remote on the table and switching the TV on.
And that is what they did for the rest of the night whilst Bucky silently cried in pain and Master Steve made himself comfortable on Bucky’s back.
But none of them cared.
None of them acknowledged Bucky.
None of them even looked his way.
Not even Steve who had once cared for Bucky like a lover and who now sat with his feet propped onto Bucky’s bloodied back as though he was nothing more than a footrest.
The movie had gone on for quite a long time, not that Bucky had any concept for time under the boots of Master Steve. He was in so much pain that even if he could see a clock he probably wouldn’t be able to read it through his blurry eyes. He had no idea what movie they were watching either since he was conveniently facing the other direction to the TV.
Bucky flinched every time a loud noise erupted from the film or when someone in the room shifted slightly.
It had been so long since Bucky had felt love or comfort that he felt though he deserved this. He had killed people. He had served the enemy and now he is being punished for it. The pain and the suffering didn’t matter to Bucky. Not anymore. They had told him how worthless he was and all he could do now was accept it.
After the movie, Mistress Natasha had gotten up and wished her friends goodnight before she headed to her bedroom. Master Sam followed behind her not long after.
“Don’t keep it up too long, Capsicle, I want my suit fully cleaned and shined by the morning,” Tony said next. He got up and followed the other two out.
“Y-yes m-m-master T-tony,” Bucky was struggling to speak at this point through the pain that still stabbed Bucky’s back.
It was just Master Steve and Bucky left in the room then.
“Well, what am I going to do with you, little slave?” Master Steve asked although he already knew the answer and so did Bucky. Slowly, Master Steven lowered his feet back to the floor where Bucky knelt.
“Get in my room, naked and on all fours, now.”
“Y-yes, Master.”
Bucky had always thought that the first time he got to have sex with Steve after Hydra, it would be mutual and consensual when he was ready. At least that was what Steve had told them when they had laid in bed together before the mission that changed everything.
Not that that matters anymore. Not to Master Steve at least. Bucky doesn’t get choices now. He had learned that the hard way.