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It had been seven months since Steve was pulled out of the water at S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Headquarters. His time since had been mostly occupied by looking for Bucky, but everything was a dead end. Every safe house he searched, every abandoned Hydra base, he didn’t find anything at any of them.
Besides that, he was training new Avengers recruits with Natasha. New recruits meaning Wanda Maximoff and Sam Wilson, who seemed to be going through the system backwards. They’d fought the war against Ultron and against Hydra alongside the Avengers, and now were doing their training.
Every so often, when things started to look dull around the complex on the outskirts of New York, Steve took them with him to ambush Hydra bases for information, but he was otherwise more inclined to take Natasha. Having been a runaway hired assassin for years gave her a similar mindset to their MIA Bucky Barnes. On top of that, she knew their whole story, from the war, all the way to the fight in the helicarriers. She’d even had several run-ins with Bucky herself, back when he was known as the Winter Soldier, and neither of these confrontations left her without bullet wounds.
Chances of finding Bucky were slim. They hadn’t had a new lead in months and every other lead they followed ended in nothing. Steve couldn’t say he was surprised; Bucky had kept himself hidden for years, almost the entire time since Steve went under, but a little part of him hoped that he remembered. It was a flickering belief that maybe, just maybe, Bucky remembered, and would give Steve a fighting chance at finding him. The flickering went dark more often than not, now. Steve wouldn’t lose it though, and every morning his jog provided him with time to recollect himself and plan more searches.
Today, Steve was on his way back from his morning run when a sweet scent caught his attention. He stopped, standing across the street from a small bakery. He’d seen it before, but it was always closed when he came by. He usually ran at dawn, but he had slept in today, giving himself until seven to run. A woman in an apron had just come outside to open the door and flip the sign from ‘Closed’ to ‘We’re open!’
The smell of fresh baked goods wafting towards him was too good for him to resist. He had a raging sweet tooth, and thankfully, super-soldier metabolism to go with it. And bakeries always baked everything fresh before opening, right?
Steve crossed the street, excited to try something from the bakery. He was almost giddy with the idea of a cupcake this early. Yeah, he was totally going to buy a cupcake. Did bakeries even sell cupcakes this early? Well if this one did, he was excited to have one.
As soon as he walked in, he was almost overwhelmed by the smell of cookies and muffins and pastries, and he was suddenly so hungry .
“Good morning!” said a happy voice from behind the counter, “Shall I give you a minute to order?”
“Morning, and yes please,” Steve replied with a smile.
There were just so many cupcakes to choose from. Always a sucker for chocolate, he was so tempted to have the one called Fudge It, but then sitting right next to it was So Berry Lemony, and he didn’t know what to do.
“Are you doing okay up there?” the woman at the counter asked.
“Oh, um, yeah, I think I’m ready to order,” Steve said.
“I’d like, um,” to hell with only getting one cupcake, “three ‘So Berry Lemony’s and four ‘Fudge It’s. And could you leave one Fudge It unpackaged? For the road.”
“Absolutely,” she said, boxing six cupcakes and putting the seventh on top. Steve took note of her name tag, Marie, as she did so.
He handed her the money for the cupcakes, and she handed him the box and the change.
“Have a good day!” Marie said.
“Thanks, you too,” Steve replied.
He was supposed to walk back to the old Stark Tower so Natasha could pick him up, so he headed there. On the way home, he managed to eat four cupcakes, even though he told himself he would save them for later. And god, were they absolutely amazing.
Nat was already waiting in front of the tower when he got there, and he got into the passenger side of the car.
“I smell something good, hand it over,” Natasha greeted him.
“Hey, Nat, nice to see you too,” Steve said, laughing and giving her the box.
“These look so good,” Nat said, opening the box, “I hope you know they’re mine now.”
“Yeah, yeah, I already had four,” He said, “Knock yourself out.”
“You bought seven cupcakes?” she questioned. Steve nodded.
“This lemon filling is incredible. Where’d you find these?” Nat asked him.
“There’s this little bakery near the park we run in, but it’s usually not open that early,” Steve said.
“You sure your body can handle all this cupcake, senior?” Nat joked.
“Pfft, I’m in top shape,” he said, reaching for the last chocolate cupcake.
Natasha slapped his hand away.
“No, no, no, these are mine!”
***
Steve began to make it a habit of running later so he could go to the bakery on his way back. Nat had even started to come on runs with him, just for the daily bakery trips afterwards. They would usually bring back muffins for everybody at the Avengers complex, and everyone loved them. Sam had once taken an entire box of blueberry muffins back to his room instead of sharing.
Things were getting pretty slow on the superhero front. The most that Steve ever had to do was look for Bucky, complete some minor anti-terrorism missions, and look for Bucky some more. The situation was more or less the same as it was a few weeks ago. Steve was just taking it one Fudge It at a time. And sometimes he was Berry Sorry that he couldn’t find Bucky but most of the time there wasn’t much to be done besides have another cupcake and look harder. At least Steve could rest assured that when they found him, and he was confident it would be a when, Bucky could stay with the Avengers in the complex, and maybe even be a part of the team. Tony had conceded to that, as long as he wasn’t volatile or a major threat.
It wasn’t like Steve was pressed for time finding him; there was no Hydra-linked activity that could even be associated with the Winter Soldier. Bucky was free, from Hydra at least. While it was much better for Bucky to be out of their clutches, it also made it a lot harder for Steve to track him down.
He felt guilty for thinking it, but after searching in so many cities in so many countries, he was sure that Bucky could be anywhere, and subsequently, Steve’s search for him was narrowed down to an entire planet.
Wonderful.
Steve walked into the bakery one day, alone this time, and in the afternoon, to pick up the cupcake order and take it back to the complex. Tony had decided to break out his state-of-the-art, usually tarp-covered grill and have a barbecue that weekend, and everyone else had immediately broken into a chorus of, “Cupcakes?” So Steve placed an order for seven dozen cupcakes, knowing full well that they would be polished off by the end of the night.
“Hey, Marie,” he said.
“Afternoon! Here to pick up the order?” Marie asked in her usual cheery voice.
“Yeah, the seven dozen,” he said, chuckling, “My friends eat like monsters.”
Marie laughed, “Just confirming, two dozen ‘Chocolate Sundae’s, two dozen ‘Ready Set Velvet’s, two dozen ‘Key to the City Lime’s, and one dozen ‘Berry Sorry’s?
“Yep,” Steve said.
Marie began packing the boxes with cupcakes until she got to the ‘Berry Sorry’s.
“These ones are just getting frosted right now,” Marie said. “James will be out of the kitchen with them soon.”
So that’s what the baker’s name was. James. Steve didn’t give this much thought. He went over to the front of the shop, and took a seat at one of the small tables by the window to wait for the rest of the cupcakes.
Who even eats seven dozen cupcakes? His friends, apparently, and there were only about a dozen of them to begin with. But then again, Clint’s family was going to be there, and those kids would probably eat a dozen each. Not that he minded; Steve adored Cooper, Lila, and Nathaniel to no end, and so did the others. Sometime throughout the barbecue someone would probably feed Nathaniel a cupcake too.
He was a little lost in thought by the time a voice snapped him out of it. A voice he recognized .
“Here are the rest, I put them in the blast chiller for a bit after I frosted them,” the voice said.
Steve abruptly stood and turned around.
Standing behind the counter was a man holding a tray of cupcakes. His hair tied up into a small bun and covered in a hairnet, his face clean shaven, and his eyes staring at Steve with shocked recognition.
He put the tray down.
“I-I just,” the voice stuttered.
James stuttered.
Bucky stuttered.
Steve said the only thing that came to his mind.
“I’ve been looking for you for months all over the world, and you’ve been in New York City this whole time?” he said.
“Well, not the whole time,” Bucky said.
Steve just stared at him, Bucky stared back, the both of them just relishing each other’s presence.
“Come to the complex,” Steve said suddenly.
“What?” Bucky looked taken aback.
“Tony, Tony Stark is doing a barbecue today. That’s what the cupcakes are for. You can come, and meet all the Avengers. We’ve been looking for you for a while now,” Steve said.
“You-you want me to come back?” Bucky asked, surprised.
“Well, yeah,” Steve replied, “you’re not Hydra anymore, and you don’t have to be on your own.”
Steve hesitated a moment, contemplating whether he should say what he was about to, and deciding it would do no harm.
“I’m with you ‘till the end of the line.”
Bucky had so much gratitude in his eyes right then Steve thought he might burst, until he suddenly looked sad again.
“But I have wo-,” he managed until Marie cut him off.
“If you say you have ‘work’ I will fire you. I know your situation, go with Steve,” she said. “Seriously. I already boxed the cupcakes and I’ll be fine for the day. Shoo!”
“Okay,” Bucky said. “I’ll come.”
***
Nat’s car was parked out front. She was leaning on the passenger door, a hand cautiously hovering around where she kept her knives, the other holding her cellphone to her ear.
“We’ve got a little surprise coming your way,” she said, pausing. “No, it’s not extra cupcakes. We’ll be on our way back soon. See you, Tony.”
She put her phone away, before looking the both of them up and down.
“Hey, Nat. This is Bucky. James Barnes. Bucky Barnes. You know,” Steve said nervously.
“I guessed,” Natasha said, holding out her hand to Bucky. “Natasha Romanoff. I don’t think we’ve ever introduced ourselves cordially.”
Bucky laughed nervously, shaking her hand, “I guess we haven’t. Good to meet you.”
“You too,” Nat smiled, “we hear so much about you from this punk here.”
Steve gave Natasha a sharp look, which she returned with a smirk.
“All good things, though. And you’re going to love the rest of the team. Hop in.”
The drive to the complex was short, and only slightly uncomfortable. Nat made easy conversation the whole ride and Steve saw Bucky feeling more and more comfortable the entire time. When they got back to the complex, they carried in the cupcakes and everyone flocked.
“Well! Look who the cat dragged in!” Tony yelled. He shook Bucky’s left hand.
“I’m Tony Stark, welcome to the Avengers.”
“Thank you,” Bucky said, making his rounds with Steve. Everyone welcomed him openly, and for that Steve was grateful.
Wanda met him with two half-eaten cupcakes in her hands.
“Did you make these?” she asked Bucky.
“Yeah, I work in a cupcakery,” he replied.
“That one Steve’s always going to?” she asked, continuing before letting him answer. “You’re going to make me food.”
“Um, okay?” Bucky said.
“Awesome!” Wanda said, turning to Steve. “I like him. Keep him.”
“I plan to,” Steve assured her.
“Good,” and Wanda walked away, eating the other cupcake.
Bucky looked somewhat bewildered at their exchange, and Steve laughed.
“Told you they’d love you, now come on. Let’s grab some food.”
***
“I can’t remember the last time I had a burger this good,” Bucky said, taking another huge bite out of his second burger.
“That’s because I make the best burgers,” Tony said. “Say it, Steve, ‘Tony makes the best burgers.’”
“Sure, Tony, you make the best burgers,” Steve said absently.
They were all sitting around a table eating, everyone with at least one burger already under their belt, except Lila and Cooper, who were both still working through their first.
Everyone had received Bucky about as well as anyone could have been expected to. They understood his situation, and Tony and Steve had even briefed them a while back on what would happen in the event that he was found. They were cool with Bucky living at the complex, and given that he had gone for months working as a civilian in a cupcakery unnoticed, they figured he was pretty stable.
They were loving his cupcakes too, as usual. Of the seven boxes of cupcakes they had come in with, only a few cupcakes were left of each flavour.
Now they were debating on which movie to watch, between Soul Surfer and Mulan.
“Can I ask you something?” Steve said, turning to Bucky.
“Sure,” Bucky replied.
“How much do you remember?” Steve asked tentatively. “I mean, since the war?”
“Everything. Well, almost. I remember what happened during the war, but I was out when they did this,” he said, gesturing to his arm. “But I remember the wiping and all that, and everything.”
He left a pregnant pause before continuing.
“Everything I did.”
“Come on, Buck, you know you can’t blame yourself for any of that. I know it’s hard to separate yourself from what they did, but trust me when I say that no one sees you for what Hydra did,” Steve said with steady conviction.
“I know, and thank you for that,” Bucky looked at him appreciatively. “Besides how can they when I make cupcakes like I do?”
Steve caught Nat looked at them both slyly. Steve blushed and looked away. As if knowing about Bucky in itself wasn’t enough, she also know that Steve had practically been in love with him since they were friends in Brooklyn so many decades ago. Even so, Steve didn’t know what he would do with his crush now that he’d found him.
In the end, they couldn’t decide on a movie, and settled for both.
It was late by the time they were finished, and Friday had set up a room for Buck earlier, across from Steve’s own.
“So which one did you like better?” Steve asked him.
“They were both good, but I liked Soul Surfer,” Bucky replied, and Steve knew why.
“Did she actually become a professional surfer without an arm? The title card at the end said it was based on a true story,” Bucky asked.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure she still competes,” Steve said.
They lapsed into a comfortable silence after that. Just as Steve was about to go to his room, Bucky spoke up.
“Thank you for finding me. This is going to be unfamiliar for me for a little while, but I’m really glad to be back.”
“I’m glad to have you back,” Steve paused outside his door. “Can I try something?”
Bucky looked at him expectantly.
Steve cupped Bucky’s jaw, leaned in and gave him a quick kiss, and Bucky returned it with the same slow fervor before they both pulled away.
“Goodnight, Buck,” Steve said, smiling at him softly.
“‘Night, Steve.”