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Bucky didn’t know why he agreed to coming to what Yelena had rendered a “small potato” mission, he didn’t anticipate to see her in her ridiculous excuse of an office telling him to go to Queens to find Spiderman and befriend the sad boy who had no friends.
He rolled his eyes when he remembered how she answered his scepticism with a simple; “What? You too are sad boy with no friends it is beneficial for both party. And until you learn how to hold a normal conversation I have to do talking for you so I quit. Exposure therapy time! Yay!"
It wasn’t like he was dying to find a random kid that he fought before in germany and use his nearly non existing social skills to talk the kid into being his friend. Hell, he was good on his own- why him out of all people?
He scanned the air for a flurry of red and blue from under the visor of his cap concealing his eyes- Bucky looked at his phone and frowned. They had no leads on the kid- no information on who he could be, where he lived or even how old he was. He shook his head before slipping his phone into his pocket and grumbling under his breath and begrudgingly sat on a bench in one of the parks.
To be honest, Bucky didn’t really have a plan. It’s not like he could have seen this coming, he was never the most social one and had no idea on how to approach the spider boy.
He heaved out a slow sigh, his hand coming to take off his hat as the other brushed his hair back before he secured his hat again and he sank into the uncomfortable chair.
He would just have to keep watch until he would eventually find the spider.
Bucky dreaded this mission more and more as time passed, shoving chips into his mouth he walked down the streets of Queens. The sun had long ago set, draping the city in darkness which quickly was eloped in lights from cars, buildings and the bustling activity of people despite the rain beating down on them.
It had been two days and at every crime scene spiderman showed up, moving with quite a lot of speed for someone who supposedly had no friends to go back to, and yet every time Bucky ran to keep up with him the boy did what he had to and swung off like it was nothing and Bucly was really tempted to fuck it and call Yelena to tell her he was done.
But of course, he persevered- one chip bag after another.
He was ready to call it a day as the rain beat down more and more when he caught sight of a dark blur swinging in the distance blending in with the rapid fall of the water, his eyes followed the figure as it leaped off a building and fell- he paused, staring at the figure with growing confusion and tense anticipation.
Why the hell wasn’t it catching itself?
Just as he was about to jump in to catch the falling figure when it- a few meters above the ground shot out a web that Bucky had only seen one person wield and the figure swung.
Bucky frowned.
Spiderman?
Where the hell was his suit and mask?
His body was moving before he did, dropping the chip bag as he began to run- following the boy.
His lungs burned as he tried to keep up with the kids speed, Bucky panted as he watched the boy land the window of a run down building, haphazardly pulling the glass up and shivering as he practically fell inside.
Bucky leaned against the building as he contemplated his options, either he could be a real creep and climb up the kids window or he could run up the stairs like a normal person.
Since he didn’t know the house number, he decided he could be a creep.
Yelena never said he had to make a good first impression to befriend a kid.
His left arm flexed as he relied on it to scale the wall after throwing a grappling hook up to the window sill that the boy had unsurprisingly left ajar. His legs cursed at him by the time he got up and half expected the kids sixth sense to kick him down- which would be deserved really- but instead he was met with the sight of the boy looking around his room disoriented, hands shaking, his hair dripping water down onto the tiled flooring of his messy apartment- attic?
Bucky awkwardly walked towards the boy and cleared his throat watching the boy flinch and spin around only to blink hard and stumble.
“Woah!” Bucky reached out and hesitantly helped steady the boy. “You good kid?”
Spiderman stared at him, eyes darting across Bucky's face at a rapid pace- a cold sweat had began to gather at the boy’s temples as he looked down at Bucky’s left arm which helped keep the boy upright before he frowned and swallowed hard.
“Mr Barnes?” Spiderman breathed out as Bucky awkwardly nodded.
“Sorry for breaking in-” He was cut off by the boys face crumpling in agony as he staggered against Bucky holding his wrist to his chest, nearly doubling over as he let out pained cries.
“Shit.” Bucky whispered as his hand hovered above the boys shoulder blades. “What’s wrong?” He asked trying to hide his panic when the boy tried standing upright again and when he lifted his head his eyes were glossed over in black ink before he collapsed.
Bucky lurched forward and caught the boys limp body before it hit the ground and blinked.
This was not how he imagined his second meeting with Spiderman to go.
Frozen, he looked around cluelessly, what was he supposed to do? The boy barely had furniture apart from a desk with computer screens perched on it, the kitchen looked practically untouched and a small bed in the corner. With a grunt he lifted the boy up and frowned at how light he was, slowly bringing him to the bed- laying him down and taking off his soaked jacket.
He saw the boys damp hair and began searching for a towel, gently rubbing it through the boys hair who twitched slightly in his sleep until he was satisfied.
Stretching out his aching muscles, Bucky threw his own coat and damp hat in a corner as he slowly slid down next to the boys bed. If he left after the boy practically collapsed from whatever gives black eyes then what kind of potential friend would that make him?
So he leaned his head against the wall and looked at the boy scanning his features, he had never seen Spiderman without the mask on and yet the face fit the description perfectly. Closing his eyes, he decided to leave friendship for the morning.
Right now he was fucking exhausted.
Bucky had expected to wake up to spiderman attacking the stranger next to his bed, or to get questioned as soon as his eyes opened. But instead, he opened his eyes to see the bed next to him empty and nearly the whole apartment blanketed in dense layers of spider webs.
He stood up and looked around for spiderman but he was nowhere to be found. Only layers of webs Bucky slapped away- mildly disturbed- in order to look around.
A monitor on the desk showed Spidermans vitals and Bucky frowned in confusion when he saw a spike in one of the hormones- what the fuck was going on?
Just as his eyes scanned by the window he caught sight of a cocoon woven outside the window, his eyes widened as he rushed over to it and stared.
What the fuck.
The tightly woven tendrils of silk stared back at him as he tilted his head not knowing how to react.
He took a deep breath and reached towards it hesitantly with his metal arm to poke it only to flinch back when something in it thrashed and hands ripped it apart. His eyes met an upside down pair of confused and disturbed brown eyes looking at his hands and around him before they landed on Bucky and widened further. When the boy flinched so did the cocoon as he yelped, and the top web snapped sending him tumbling down.
Bucky doubled over the window sill in an instant catching the boys hand as the wild curls shifted with the boys head looking at Bucky with disbelief, confusion and fear.
“Come on kid,” Bucky grunted as he reached his other hand down to pull him up.
Spiderman stared at Bucky's hand and then back at Bucky's face until he snapped out of it and took Bucky’s hand and allowed himself to get pulled up and stumbled into the apartment.
Spiderman rubbed at his wrists as he breathed out a “Thanks” before looking around and gaping at the sight of all the webs. “What the hell…?”
Bucky huffed and stood up, throwing him the discarded shirt from the floor and felt the corners of his lips twitch when Spiderman looked at him confused before going beet red at the sight of his bare chest and legs throwing it on while mumbling curses under his breath.
Bucky rubbed a hand down his face and pulled down the webs slowly, his face morphing into an expression of disgust when he tried shaking them off with his hand. “How did you manage to weave yourself like a caterpillar in only 5 hours kid?” He asked eyes flickering towards Spiderman who was staring at the monitor that showed his vitals, muttering questions to what Bucky guessed was an AI before Spiderman froze and touched his face, breath hitching he slowly turned and looked at Bucky in fear.
“What?” He grunted as he stared at Spiderman, his patience running thin when the boy still didn’t speak, “Did you web up my face too or?”
Spiderman stood up abruptly and pointed at Bucky. “You…My mask…” Bucky watched in confusion as Spiderman ran a hand through his hair. “No one has seen me without my suit but you- you…what were you doing in my apartment last night?” The kid looked so worked up about Bucky having seen his identity, and after all this crazy web shit he must have been overwhelmed as hell.
Bucky felt himself soften just slightly.
“I was sent to befriend you.” Bucky said lamely as he sat on the sad excuse of a couch the boy had. “Saw you swinging around in the rain last night so I followed.” The boy looked scared shitless as he muttered under his breath and looked around before frowning at Bucky again.
“What do you mean you were sent to befriend me?”
To be truthful, Bucky didn’t know the answer to that either so he simply shrugged. “That’s not important right now, care to explain why you had black eyes last night and then spouted these webs as soon as morning hit?”
Spiderman rubbed his temples and blinked hard as he looked at the monitor. “E.V?”
The AI- “E.V.”- from inside Spiderman's monitors chose that moment to speak up, “It seems there has been a spike in your Arachnid DNA, Peter.”
Spiderman froze up at the name as his eyes darted to Bucky who sighed and nodded at him curtly.
“Hello then, Peter.”
He couldn’t understand why Peter’s eyes glossed over as he blinked fast and shook his head and decided his attention was more important directed to what the hell was up with his webs than Bucky knowing his face and name.
“Why is this happening?” Peter asked the monitor as the AI showed many photos of Peter's vitals from the night before.
“It seems due to prolonged exposure to trauma your body is physiologically responding by accelerating the arachnid side of your biology.”
Bucky blinked and turned to stare at Peter who was fumbling to get his suit on, cursing under his breath as he stuttered out questions on how to reverse it.
“There is no reversal to it, Peter.” His AI responded and Bucky could’ve sworn it sounded sympathetic. How the hell does it do that?
Peter sighed and nodded as he put things on his wrists and shot at the cabinet in the kitchen only for his web shooters to fling off and hit the kitchen.
“It seems your web shooters are no longer suitable for your biology, Peter.” The AI unhelpfully supplied and Bucky could only watch the kid freak out as he pressed his wrist and saw web fluid seep out- gagging and Bucky winced.
What trauma was bad enough to get this kid webs coming out of him?
Bucky shook his head and stared at Peter who took his mask.
“Where are you going?” He asked, watching as Peter paused at the window and looked at him awkwardly.
“Oh right- I Uh…need to go figure out how to get these webs working, crime and all y’know-“ The lenses on the mask covered the kids eyes as he scratched the back of his head sheepishly, “I wasn’t really expecting anyone and I know this is really rude Mr Barnes but-“
“Just be back for dinner.” Bucky said simply as he stood up and walked towards the kitchen ignoring the skeptical look Peter shot his way.
“You…you’re gonna make dinner?”
Bucky opened the cabinet and exhaled slowly at the sight of it nearly empty, bags of coffee, a bag of bread and protein bars littering it.
“Yeah, clearly you need it.” He muttered under his breath and Peter seemed to have heard it and muttered out a sheepish thank you before he opened the window and jumped out.
Bucky stared as the kid left then looked back at the cabinet and picked up the coffee mix.
What had he gotten himself into?
Since Peter barely had anything to cook in- Hell any ingredients to work with, Bucky decided they could just order a pizza or something when the kid got back.
He sipped on the coffee, eyes scanning the apartment slowly. It was small, barely much there- just some photos on the desk, a sad couch, a sad bed, a sad kitchen.
Safe to say the apartment was sad.
He walked over to the desk where monitors were lined up, quite impressed that the kid who had gotten such a sad apartment had this many screens. There were papers littered around the wood with designs for suits rough around the edges with scribbled notes on the sides, and a small machine.
Bucky picked up one of the pages and turned it upside down to see sketches of old suits- recognizing one of them from when Tony decided he wanted to end Bucky in Germany.
He frowned at the thought of how young Peter must have been back then, he looked young now as well.
What the hell was he doing fighting a kid?
Shaking his head, Bucky was about to go through the kids closet to see if he had anything else Bucky could wear when his eyes caught a coffee cup sitting in the corner of the desk with a note sitting in it.
Before he could kick himself for being nosy, he placed his mug down and plucked the note from the coffee cup opening up the wrinkled note and scanned the words written on it.
“Hi, my name is Peter Parker, and you don’t remember me, but I have something to tell you that sounds crazy. But it’s the truth, and I know you’re going to believe me because you’re good at telling when I'm lying.
We used to know each other. We were together. But something bad was going to happen to the world. And the only way to stop it was making everyone forget me. Including you.
Because i’m not just Peter Parker, I’m also Spiderman.
And sometimes, Spiderman has to do the right thing. Even if it breaks Peter Parker's heart.
Maybe i’ll never read this to you. Maybe i’m just writing this for me. Maybe that’s my responsibility. To live alone with the truth.
But the truth is I love you. and I hope that deep down, something inside you remembers you love me too.”
Bucky stared.
And all he could think about was that if the kid was still alone in this shitty apartment even after writing this letter to whoever this girl was that meant he never gave the letter.
No wonder this kid had trauma responses showing up in his DNA.
“Hey, E.V was it?”
“Yes, Mr. Barnes?”
“How long ago did Peter write this?”
He stared at the monitor until the answer came; “Peter wrote that letter 4 years ago, Mr. Barnes.”
Fuck.
4 years?
4 years and Peter was all on his own.
And suddenly Bucky was glad Yelena gave him the ‘potato’ mission because all Bucky could think about was how he knew how much it hurt to be alone, isolated, in a world where no one knew who you were- who you truly were, they only saw what was made of you.
But out of all of them at least Bucky had Steve.
The kid didn’t even have that.
Running a hand through his hair he put the note back in the coffee cup just when the window opened and Peter fell in, it had been past noon for a while now- moonlight streaming in through the window while Bucky blinked at the sight of Peter clawing at his mask struggling to breathe- shaking all over which wasn’t a surprise considering the monitor repeatedly blared ‘sensory overload’ the whole time Peter was out.
“Kid, what’s wrong?” Bucky went to ask as he took a step closer but Peter flinched as if he had forgotten Bucky had been there at all.
Guess that’s what being alone for years does to you.
“Mr…Mr. Barnes?” Peter breathed out, staring at Bucky with unfocused and panicked eyes reaching for his mask again until Bucky gently pushed it away.
“Just Bucky kid, I know you’re Peter it’s okay you don’t have to hide your identity from me.”
Peter looked like he could barely focus as he flinched again when Bucky stepped closer to him, “Mr. Bar- Bucky- you can’t be here- you shouldn’t- i’m i’m dangerous- a police officer got hurt because of me-” and before Bucky could even open his mouth to assure the kid that there’s no way he would be dangerous to an ex super soldier the kid was holding his chest and breathing fast and sharp. A panic attack Bucky concluded.
“Hey, kid you gotta calm down.” He said unhelpfully, going to sit in front of Peter and hesitantly reached towards the shaking boy’s shoulder, hovering over it.
The kid was alone for so long, he wouldn’t mind physical touch would he?
“Peter-” He tried but the kid’s breathing wasn’t getting any better if anything it grew faster and next thing he knew Bucky was squeezing Peter’s shoulder tightly. “Hey, hey, listen to me, you’re real, you’re here, you’re safe, you aren’t dangerous, i’ve got you see?” Bucky shifted to put his gloved hand on the kid’s other shoulder and squeezed until the Peter folded over and leaned his head onto Bucky’s shoulder letting out a choked cry.
“Sorry- ‘M so sorry-”
Bucky hesitantly put the hand he had on the kids shoulder to rest on the nape of his neck. “It’s okay Pete, don’t apologize I…i’ve got you.” He felt Peter shudder and let out another choked cry like it was being punched out of him.
“N-no I really am sorry it’s just- I have no one Mr. Barnes-” When he heard peters voice break he couldn’t help but wrap his left arm around Peter’ shoulders pulling him closer so that Peter was practically leaning on Bucky.
“I know kid, I read the letter you had laying on your desk.” Bucky assured as he felt Peter stiffen before he relaxed and Bucky felt him shake a little harder.
“You can’t tell anyone who I am Mr. Barnes- it’s not- it’s not safe,” Peter whispered, his voice coming out garbled by the thick layer of moisture lining the back of his throat and Bucky smiled softly.
“Friend’s keep secrets right?”
He felt Peter nod jerkily into his shoulder and sighed. “Then as your friend your secrets safe with me, kid.”
It took a couple more minutes for Peter’s breathing to calm down apart from the tears falling down his flushed face in a rapid stream and Bucky didn’t make any move to let go. As much as he wanted to keep Peter close and give the kid all that he had missed for the last 4 years he knew the kid had to eat something.
“You want to come over to my apartment? I can make you something to eat over there- your fridge barely has anything edible.” Bucky asked, forcing his voice to sound what he hoped sounded gently as he gently rubbed the hand he held on Peter’s neck.
All he got was a small nod before Peter was off of him, staring at Bucky’s hands.
Suddenly Peter didn’t look like someone who should have had been in college, he just looked like a kid.
So Bucky took a hold of Peter’s hand and helped him stand up, grabbing his cap and putting it on before he led them out of the apartment despite having no clue about the directions of the building. Bucky knew he probably looked ridiculous to the couple standing in the elevator while he stood there holding hands with an adult but it wasn’t like Bucky gave two shits. He was decades older than Peter anyway so it didn’t matter, to Bucky Peter was as good as a kid.
Bucky by some miracle managed to get a cab and held Peter's hand the whole way to his apartment in silence- but Peter's silence wasn’t awkward, it was tired.
A silence he recognized it all too well.
Bucky hadn’t put much thought into what apartment he bought, Yelena had booked his ticket to Queens too early for him to be picky about it but it’s not like he cared. It had light, a bed, a bathroom and a kitchen- what else did he need? The elevator was out of order so he walked up to his apartment with a sluggish stride looking ready to crash.
Bucky fumbled in unlocking the door for a moment- stupid jams- until he pushed it open and hesitated at the light switch, taking a look at Peter who looked like his migraine was most literally murdering him Bucky decided to turn on a dim lamp instead of the bright fluorescent lights.
“Sit wherever you want- you good with pancakes?” He asked, watching Peter sit down at the kitchen counter surely it wasn’t too late for pancakes right? If anyone put a rule to when you could eat pancakes Bucky rendered them as an A class dumbass.
“No- yeah pancakes are good. You don’t have to cook though Mr. Barn- Bucky.”
He just waved his hand mindlessly at Peter, pulling out the ingredients like second nature as he pulled out his stress baking bowl and began to mix all the ingredients.
It was silent for the most part- ignoring the loud blares of car horns outside, Peter didn’t speak he just stared at the counter lost in thought and Bucky wasn’t trained on how to make small talk despite his wide range of skills so he decided might as well do big talk- that was something he could do right?
“So, what the hell is the spell you wrote about?”
He tried not to notice the way Peter subtly flinched from the corner of his eye and focused on flipping the pancakes.
“Oh uh, it’s a long story but I was framed for murder by a guy Beck and everyone found out who I was and because they knew the backlash affected my friends too and they couldn’t go to MIT so i went to Mr Strange to make everyone forget my identity but then one stupid thing led to another and next thing I knew the multiverses are all merging and the only way to undo it all was to make everyone forget me. So, here we are.”
Bucky stared at the kid as he rambled and frowned down at the pancakes he stacked carrying them over to Peter and putting a bottle of maple syrup and chocolate chips.
“Seeing that you wrote that letter for your girlfriend and it’s still in your house tells me you didn’t end up telling them then.”
Peter shrugged and smiled down at his pancakes, poking them with his fork. “I ruined their lives once, they’re better off without me.”
Bucky hummed and made himself coffee, pouring it into his captain america mug (Steve bought it for him and even though he despised the tacky thing he kept it- just in case some burglar came in and he had to hit them with something. Self defense really) and sat on the stool in front of Peter.
“And what about you? Did you tell your family or anything?”
He didn’t expect to see Peters eyes to gloss over and his grip on the fork to tighten, he most definitely didn’t expect him to say; “I couldn’t protect them. They’re all gone.”
Shit.
But before Bucky could even open his mouth in what he hoped sounded more than a halfhearted condolence Peter looked at him and blinked fast.
“Do you remember me?” He wanted to huff out a laugh and say before the spell he didn’t even know the kids name but he saw how hopeless his eyes were. They were wide, genuine and reminded Bucky too much of Steve before the serum.
“I mean, I guess you could say that, yeah. We only really met in Germany.”
Peter nodded slowly and looked back at his pancakes- still untouched, and Bucky heaved out a sigh.
“Not a pancake fan?”
He watched Peters eyes widen in panic as he shook his head and took a bite. “No! No they’re awesome it’s just-“ He tried speaking around the mouthful of pancake but decided to swallow before clearing his throat and scratching his neck.
“The last time we met you were kinda…on the opposite team so i’m just confused as to why you came to befriend me of all people. I mean it's not like you know me and shouldn’t you be doing…avenger things rather than hanging out with a 22 year old?”
Bucky shrugged, he would be confused if a guy he fought years ago suddenly came and became buddy buddy and uncovered huge secrets under 42 hours.
“Think of it as divine intervention I guess.”
Peter snorted. “Divine intervention?”
“Yep.”
They sat in silence for some time, and Peter finished half his pancakes when Bucky piped up.
“You should tell them.”
But Peter just shook his head. “I can’t, they’ve changed- grown so much. And don’t get me wrong i’m so happy for them but they’re- they’ve moved on. And I feel like i'm just. Stuck. They’ve gone through so much and I still feel like i’m in highschool- stupidly dreaming of a future with them but they’re in that future already. It’s just that i’m not in it.” He put his fork down onto his plate gently and cleared his throat, sinking back into his seat. “I mean look at me- i’ve got webs coming out of me, i black out whenever i feel too much and next thing i know i’ve damaged everything i touched, Bucky, i’m a monster I can’t control myself-“
Bucky couldn’t help but stand up and walk towards Peter who wasn’t paying any mind to him- lost in thought- and sat down next to him gently placing a hand onto his shoulder which startled the boy.
“You can grow with them if you just…let yourself.” Bucky said quietly struggling to find the words. “You…you are so selfless, Peter. I mean you literally gave up everything and everyone to save the world and not everyone can do that. That level of sacrifice is something I cannot even fathom. But you give all the credit to Spiderman more than you do to Peter Parker.”
Peter looked at him in confusion, leaning into Buckys hand on his shoulder and he hesitantly raised his left hand to brush away at the curls matted against Peters forehead.
“You may feel like Spiderman is the bigger out of the two, he has more capability, he saved the world, everyone knows and loves Spiderman but kid, Spiderman would be nothing without Peter Parker. You had the strength to give everything up just so the people you loved wouldn’t suffer, you put everyone before yourself, you held your pure intent in every decision you made- Spiderman or not- Peter Parker carried the burnt of the consequences so that Spiderman could give people stability. Peter if anything you are more of a hero than anyone I have ever met. Peter Parker is stuck because you’ve stunted his growth, you’re so focused on Spiderman- his responsibility, him bringing justice, his stability that you barely allow Peter to live.”
He gently started to stroke the hair at the nape of Peter’s hair when he saw the tears falling down his face silently and smiled slightly- brushing the tears with his thumb.
“I had two versions of myself too Peter, one before the serum and all that made me a super soldier- and then the winter soldier. I had no memory of anyone, of anything. Hell, I didn’t even know my own name. All I knew to do was to follow orders, kill on command. But then Steve decided to find me and it seemed like he was the only one who knew me. Even though he didn’t recognize the winter soldier he saw his Bucky- despite me not having been him in decades. It took time for him to accept that I was not the same and it took me time to relearn all that I had forgotten. But what i’m trying to tell you kid is that- even though I wasn’t his Bucky, and the Bucky that remembered him. He learned me again. He taught me all the things I forgot, He…he accepted that I wasn’t the person he once loved and learned how to love me anyway. I will never be the same person I was before the serum but it was because of those two versions of me that I am who I am right now. They may not know you like they used to, and they won’t remember you the way you remember them. But they can always get to know you once more- and you will learn things about them that- that grew.”
Bucky looked at Peter, and cupped his cheek gently. “Peter, everything you lost made room for all the things that you deserve, and you deserve all the good things in the world. I didn’t know you before- I only knew Spiderman, but just because I didn’t know you then doesn’t mean I can't get to know you now. You deserve good things too, regardless of the mistakes you made.”
Peter was shaking at this point, and he wiped at his cheeks harshly- breaths fast and Bucky could barely blink before he had an armful of Peter, crying soundlessly into his chest practically clawing at Bucky’s shoulders.
His arms automatically came around the boy and he hugged him as tight as he could.
“I’ve got you, i’ve got you, Peter.” He repeated, it was all that really came to mind whenever he had an armful of the boy. He wasn’t good at all this…softness. He could barely stomach receiving comfort let alone giving it. But here he was, and it didn’t feel as burdensome as it always did.
He felt Peter bury his face into Bucky harder as if he was convinced he would disappear so he brought a hand up to Peter’s head and gently cradled it, raking his fingers through the curls.
“I don’t know how-“ Peter’s voice broke and he took a shuddering breath. “Everything’s just too much all at once and I don’t know what to do,” Bucky just held him closer, pancakes and coffee forgotten.
“You’ve got me now, kid. We’ll handle everything- one thing at a time. You aren’t on your own anymore.”
Peter let out a long breath and relaxed slightly in Bucky’s hold.
“Your arm is still really cool,” Peter sniffed and Bucky snorted, gently pressing a kiss to Peter’s temple.
“Thanks kid.”
The rest of the night was quiet and when Peter came out of the shower looking utterly spent he smiled at Bucky and it was the brightest Bucky had seen the kid smile up until now.
They put on a random channel and Peter sat slumped against Bucky’s shoulder blinking sleepily at the TV screen and Bucky cleared his throat.
“We’re friends then right?”
Peter laughed and threw his head back before he looked at Bucky and smiled sleepily. “After all that? We’re best friends Mr. Barnes.”
Bucky rolled his eyes and nodded, “Alright, alright go to sleep.”
Peter hesitated and looked at him for a moment until Bucky raised a brow.
“Can I just…sleep here?”
Bucky blinked.
“On the couch?”
Peter smiled sheepishly. “Yeah just, yeah.”
Bucky didn’t know why the kid wanted to sleep on a lumpy couch but the puppy eyes he got were enough for him to sigh and get up to retrieve a blanket, throwing it at Peter gently letting the boy catch it and wrap it around himself like a burrito. His head rested next to Bucky’s thighs- curls tickling Bucky’s thigh and his hand automatically gravitated to the soft curls, stroking them slowly like he used to do for Steve when winter used to hit.
“Night, Bucky.” Peter muttered quietly, eyes drooping shut as soon as Bucky’s nails grazed his scalp.
“Night, Peter.”
When he was sure Peter had fallen asleep, he smiled softly and pulled out his phone to send out; “Try not to gasp. Mission accomplished.”
And when Yelena called her huge smile greeted him with an obnoxiously loud gasp, hair damp from her “office” as she cooed at him. He rolled his eyes and hung up on her before her voice woke Peter up.
The kid needed all the rest he could get.
He sighed and looked down at the pile of curls by his leg and couldn’t help but feel glad Yelena put him up to this “small potato” of a mission.
Peter had been alone for so long, and so had Bucky. Yet with the kid curled up against him like this he felt warmer than he had in years.
A solitary soul loves you by choice, not by the need for company.