Work Text:
Week 26- a story about nostalgia.
a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period in the past.
something done or presented in order to evoke feelings of nostalgia.
July 4th, 2016
There was much about Steve Rogers which people did not know, or assumed about him. As such, no one knew that he actually held a huge dislike for fireworks.
He sat on a couch in Avengers Tower, looking at his hands as the others watched the fireworks from the top of the Tower.
July 4th, 1918.
The fireworks outside the hospital kept both Sarah and her newborn son awake the entire night.
July 4th, 1923
Even in a poor, run down neighbourhood, the sound of fireworks was deafening.
Even to an already partially deaf five year old.
Steve spent the evening curled up in bed with his mother, covering his ears with pillows to try and drown out the noise.
(He never did manage to drown out the noise.)
July 4th, 1924
“Mama, why am I scared of the noise?”
“There’s nothing wrong with being scared of loud noises, A leanbh .”
“One day, I won’t be scared.”
“Maybe. But it doesn’t matter how far away that day is. Okay?”
“Okay mama.”
July 4th, 1926
A pair of eight year old boys spent the day playing in the streets. (Or as close to playing as Steve could manage.)
As soon as the first crack was heard, the boys went straight inside, and created a pillow fort to keep out the noise.
(It didn’t keep out the noise, but Steve thought that the distraction was nice.)
This was also the first time that Steve had ever slept through the night on his birthday.
July 4th, 1930
Steve rarely saw his mother during the day. The hospital kept offering her more hours, which she readily took for the much needed money.
(Widows were pitied, but not looked after.)
For his birthday though, Sarah made sure to be at home, with a trio of cupcakes ready and all the pillows and sheets she could find.
Sarah, Steve, and Bucky ate the cupcakes under the sheets, which this year almost drowned out the fireworks.
If Sarah was looking tired all the time, well, that was just a side effect of her work wasn’t it?
July 4th, 1931
No matter how many pillows they used, Steve and Bucky could not drown out the sound of fireworks on the first birthday since Sarah’s death.
It was the first time since 1925 that Steve was unable to sleep through the night.
July 4th, 1936
Bucky had managed to sneak a bottle of alcohol into the pillow fort.
The taste caused Steve to cough a lot, and he pushed it away.
Watching Bucky sleep easily was almost painful.
July 4th, 1941
Steve managed his second year of sleeping through his birthday with the aid of nothing but sheer determination.
This was his first birthday since 1926 without Bucky around; that only added to his determination to sleep.
(He had no way of knowing that this would be the last time he would have a birthday in America for almost seventy years.)
July 4th, 1942
Steve’s first birthday without fireworks.
There were no fireworks on the battlefield to stop Steve from sleeping.
But then, it wasn’t as though he had the opportunity to sleep.
There was always another base to search and destroy.
There was always more enemies to defeat.
There was always Bucky though, reminding Steve of home with every look.
This was the first birthday in this new body, the first birthday outside of America-
And Steve still couldn’t sleep.
July 4th, 1943
Someone in the unit obtained fireworks.
They weren’t anything grand, more akin to crackers.
Steve could tell the difference between the crackers and the gunfire in the distance.
Any of the other soldiers would have written off Steve’s actions as an overtired commander, and understandably left him alone.
Bucky watched Steve attempt to sleep, worry written on his face.
Neither man knew that this would be the last time they were together for 70 years.
July 4th, 2012
The fireworks were more abundant than ever. At least, that was Steve’s understanding after looking on the internet.
SHIELD had him on an op out of the country on his birthday. If any of the agents working with him knew it was his birthday, they didn’t act like it.
The lack of fireworks didn’t let him sleep. The op required Steve awake throughout the night.
My first birthday in the future, and I still can’t sleep.
July 4th, 2014
Steve slept for two hours before the dreams woke him.
Dreams of two eight year old boys walking down a dusty street.
Those same boys six years later, still making pillow forts to drown out the sound of fireworks.
And those same boys yet again, eighty two years later, fighting in a flying fortress.
Steve had woken up with one word on his lips: Bucky .
The bed in the Tower that Tony had given him the use of was the best he had ever been in, but even that hadn’t helped.
He had gotten out of bed, and taken a shower, before making himself a cup of coffee. Steve spent the last hours of his birthday sitting on the floor of the kitchen, where there were no windows, and no sound of fireworks to remind him of a future that was no longer his.
July 4th, 2015
The fireworks display at the New Avengers Facility, by all accounts, was spectacular.
That was the word at breakfast the next day.
It was like a school lunch; excited words exchanged about memories of the night before.
Steve sat there, nodding where appropriate. If any of the others noticed how he didn’t contribute to the conversation, they didn’t comment on it.
July 4th, 2016
Tony had invited the team, past and present, to the Tower to celebrate Steve’s birthday. It was a nice gesture, and one which Steve thought would mean that he could avoid fireworks.
He had been wrong.
So when everyone made their way to the top of the Tower to watch the fireworks, he made excuses to hang back, and waited until he was alone before sitting on one of the long couches, keeping his eyes on his hands.
***
“Where’s Steve?” Tony looked around the assembled, missing the soldier.
“Probably inside,” Bucky shrugged, eyes on the fireworks. “Not surprising.”
“Not surprising?”
Bucky looked at the group, giving him varied degrees of confused looks. (Which, admittedly, he was used to.)
“You are aware the man doesn’t like fireworks, aren’t you?”
When Bucky received a group of blank looks, he sighed.
“Really? You never knew?”
“It’s never come up.”
“It’s never come up,” Bucky shook his head, turning back to the elevator. “Come on then, it is his birthday after all.”
***
Steve looked up when the elevator opened. “The show over already?”
Bucky rolled his eyes as he sat down next to Steve, the others arranging themselves around the room.
Steve looked at the group. “What’s happening?”
“It’s your birthday, punk,” Bucky raised his cup of soda. “You think I’m gonna let you be alone?”
“To Steve!”
Steve raised his own glass, smiling as the team echoed the sentiment.
***
Steve didn’t sleep on his 98th birthday; instead he stayed awake having a proper celebration with his team.
With his family .
They didn’t ask about why he disliked fireworks, and it was likely that he’d never tell anyone.
But that didn’t matter, not in this family.