Fic Recs: Captain America (Steve/Bucky & Gen)

[ailiet]

'We've often said to ourselves that if, by some miracle, we were to have a second life, we'd like to spend it together.'
-Letter to D, André Gorz

It feels a little odd opening a Captain America reclist with a quote from the open love letter of a French social philosopher, but the heart wants what it wants, and the words are easily lifted (the term, "obsessionally concerned for each other" could also be re-applied). My submersion in this particular fandom started off with a slow 'well, maybe' and moved quickly to an 'oh hell.' About two weeks in I realized that there were way too many excellent fics for me to keep track of in my normal way, and so this list was begun. It's since become something of a monster and, although it will hopefully keep growing, it still shows only a fraction of what's out there. As a reference point I'm hoping it'll help me remember some shorter gems and avoid wondering, 'wait, did I read that?' [April 15]

Vids
Hey Ho by thuviaptarth
Summary: Sound out the trumpet noise.

Hurricane by saezutte
Summary: Welcome to the inner workings of [Steve and Bucky's] mind[s] / So dark and foul I can't disguise [their dramatic lives as a superhero and a super assassin respectively] / can't disguise

The Hymn of Acxiom by kaydeefalls
Summary: Someone is gathering every crumb you drop, these (mindless decisions and) moments you long forgot.

Marvel by limnetic
Summary: [MCU-verse]

Problem by talitha78
Summary: Bucky Barnes is a goddamn problem.

Shelter by gwyneth
Summary: All I know is to keep you close.

Sorrow by trelkez
Summary: "Don’t leave my hyper heart alone." Steve character study by way of Steve/Bucky, with some Steve/Peggy.

we go hard by voordeel
Summary: Brooklyn boys.

When You Were Young by violace
Summary: Whoever he used to be -- the guy he is now, I don't think he's the kind you save. (He's the kind who saves you.)

0-6k
5 Times Steve Got Arrested and 1 Time They All Did by heartsdesire456
Summary: What it says, 5 times Steve Rogers ended up in jail (with and without Bucky) + 1 time all of the Avengers got arrested with him.

IX: and in whose arms you're gonna be by linzeestyle
Summary: Prompt: Steve and Bucky slow dancing.

дорогой by smilebackwards
Summary: “Are you goddamn kidding me?” Fury asks when Steve shows up to the rendezvous point in Fredericksberg with the Winter Soldier.

A Night On The Town by TardisIsTheOnlyWayToTravel
Summary: Tony Stark takes Steve and Bucky out for a night on the town. Possibly he regrets this.

A Steadfast Heart by fmo
Summary: Bucky doesn't fall, but Steve still crashes the plane alone. 90 years go by; Bucky doesn't age. Steve is found, but he doesn't wake up. (Or, Bucky and Steve do Sleeping Beauty, kind of.)

Adoring by dsudis
Summary: "You don't, Buck, adoring's for saints. I ain't a saint." / "Sure you are." Bucky got back to kissing his way down, licking along the slightly sweaty line of Steve's sharp collarbone, and then remembered he'd been in the middle of saying something. "Patron saint of Barnes. Barneses. Me."

and it starts just where the light exists by caughtinanocean
Summary: In which Bucky can't admit the things he needs, but Steve knows them anyway, and Steve and Bucky are definitely a couple, even if they don't know it.

And lifted honest eyes for you to see by robokittens
Summary: He wonders, suddenly, if he can dance. He did all right with the USO after all — this body can do all kinds of things. It's constantly surprising him; he's constantly surprising himself.

And Not Waving, But by staranise
Summary: Steve's a clumsy kisser, like a clumsy dance partner waiting for a lead.

anywhere i go (i carry your heart) by radialarch
Summary: Bucky's heart is big enough for the both of them.

Apple Cake (and other remedies for an ailing soul) by noharlembeat
Summary: It is something that’s mentioned in the Smithsonian exhibit, for reasons that Steve cannot actually parse. He is an American Hero (so they say) who saved New York (more than once), and under all that information on one of the see-through plastic descriptions of his heroic deeds is, for some unintelligible reason, the sentence, “he currently resides in the D.C. Metro area, and his favorite food is apple cake.”

at the other end (of the line) by mwestbelle
Summary: Bucky should have known better than to call the number Clint gave him.

Bang, Bang, Blame by dirtybinary
Summary: When Steve joins Bucky at war in 1944, they've both changed a good deal. It takes them a while to come to terms with that. Fighting and make-up cuddles ensue.

Bedrest by Jain
Summary: Steve was down at the very end of the room, just visible behind the screen that sheltered his bed. There were other beds lined up along the walls, most of them filled with other sick kids, but Bucky didn't pay them any mind.

Been A Long Time But I'm Back In Town by torakowalski
Summary: Steve might be some kinda superhero now but that doesn't mean Bucky's gonna stop worrying when he's not taking good enough care of himself.

Bigger Than Us by monicawoe
Summary: Bucky's in jail for breaking into the Museum of Natural History after hours. Steve's going to bail him out, and then they're going to have a serious talk. Or that's the plan anyway. Neither of them expected Central Park to start attacking people.

Black and White by cjmarlowe
Summary: No one is going to look at this picture and think anything of it, but Steve remembers the moment it was taken and he remembers what he was thinking, that he was the luckiest sonofabitch who ever lived, not because of who he was or who he'd become, but because he had Bucky. Because Bucky was his.

Black Your Boots by BewareTheIdes15
Summary: Being best friends with Steve’s given him the long years of practice at talking bigger than he is that keeps Bucky’s voice from wavering on, “Steve, what’re you doing?” That affords him a look, exactly one, which is what clues him in that Steve hasn’t met his eyes up til now. / “Earning my keep.”

the body adrift by Febricant
Summary: Steve has no drawings of Bucky from before. Those are all gone, destroyed in the war or by his own hand; it wouldn’t do for anyone to see how easily the details came from memory, how often Bucky was in his thoughts.

The Bucky Barnes Guide to Household Management by CryptoHomoRocker
Summary: "Steve doesn't even notice at first, is the thing." (Or: Steve is unobservant, Bucky learns to be good at things that aren't killing people, and knitting happens.)

but hey, you're all right by beardsley
Summary: 'Thanks to your joke,' says Coulson, 'we now have a code three-four-delta, with the variable being a Russian immigrant. We're checking his background right now, but it might take a while. Meanwhile, I suggest you civilian-proof the Tower. If any SHIELD intelligence is compromised, I will hurt you.' (Yes, this is the story where the Winter Soldier is a Russian mail-order bride. Everything goes about as well as you'd expect.)

but the fires are coming by stitchingatthecircuitboard
Summary: He does not remember, except that is better than being made to forget, again, and again, and again. He does not go to Brooklyn.

The Care and Feeding of Traumatized Ex-Assassins by Sholio
Summary: Steve starts to notice someone's been in his apartment while he's not there.

Ceasefire by ipoiledi
Summary: It's too hot out to be alive, is what it is.

Changing Times by Fyre
Summary: Once a boy called Steve loved a boy called Bucky, but he wouldn't ever tell.

Cheap Night by autoschediastic
Summary: Steve thinks his night might be better off spent getting decked behind the diner again.

Cleanliness is next to godliness (only in a very abridged dictionary) by Odsbodkins
Summary: For the Steve/Bucky fest prompt: "Five Times that Steve and Bucky had a bath together set in movieverse."

the cold calculus of war by occamstireiron
Summary: The mathematics of it don't make sense. You do not continue to sink costs into retrieving and repairing an irreparably broken asset. Not when more viable options are open to you.

The Comedy Is That It's Serious by musesfool
Summary: In which the Winter Soldier is strangely affectionate, Captain America is completely baffled, and the Black Widow is tremendously amused.

Coming Home by melonbutterfly
Summary: There is no point in sneaking, so Bucky doesn't bother. He saunters through the front entrance up to the receptionist's desk, smiles at her and says, "James Buchanan Barnes here to see Steve Rogers." (Wherein Steve and Bucky utterly fail at subtle (not that they're trying all that hard though) and ultimately, seventy years mean nothing.)

darling, you've left your mark by defcontwo
Summary: They know what they are to each other. Jealousy is a waste of time.

deeper than the corners of your mind by hito
Summary: Steve knows it's selfish.

Devil's Backbone by Sidara
Summary: Steve remembers what it felt like when he drowned.

distinguish need from desire by henryclerval
Summary: “Steve,” Bucky wonders if his voice sounds as confident as he doesn’t feel, “what are best friends for if they can’t jerk each other off once in a while?”

duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, hand grenade by luckyfilbert
Summary: "Did it hurt?" Bucky asks, even as he gasps at each step. And then, stumbling down the hall, swaying beside Steve's even gait, "Is it permanent?" / Yes, Steve wants to tell him. And I'm not sure, I hope, maybe, and God, Bucky, what happened; he wants to wrap him in his arms and bury his face in his chest and never let go of him again, but he's too big for that now, and Bucky looks like he might collapse at any sign of tenderness. So he keeps a soldier's march next to Bucky and barely answers. Army discipline got him through that torture and if he can just hold onto that a little longer, it'll be the only thing that gets him out. (Five times Steve comforted Bucky, and one time Bucky comforted Steve.)

Eight Days a Week by Rubynye
Summary: Steve and Bucky fight about enlisting, and make up.

Eight-Pager by triedunture
Summary: Steve gets a job drawing dirty comics. Bucky thinks he needs help coming up with sketches. Not that Bucky minds posing in ladies' underthings.

End of the Line by kimberly_wolf
Summary: He runs a finger, one made of flesh, over the picture of Captain America’s face. “My name is Bucky, and I know you.”

Escapement by kvikindi
Summary: You can't unwind the clock.

Everybody Knows by deepsix
Summary: The Avengers play truth or dare. Then just Steve and Bucky play.

everybody talks by haipollai
Summary: "Mhm. You know James cuts the sleeves off of all his grungy t-shirts, right? Also you have a hickey." He reaches up and plucks at the edge of the sleeve where the hem had been cut off. She could see his fingers twitch but he resists searching for the hickey. "So, I ask again, good night? Or do I need to familiarize him with the inside of his own ass?"

Feast by rageprufrock
Summary: Unrepentant girl!Steve and Bucky smut -- then and now.

Find My Way by Brenda
Summary: Well, someone had to write the post-Winter Soldier fic where Bucky gets a decent meal and some homemade apple pie, right?

Five Times Bucky Got Permission by copperbadge
Summary: People keep trying to tell Bucky something, and he's getting very confused.

For These I Watch Tonight by leupagus
Summary: This is not a story about a cow.

From the Desk of N. Fury by Sholio
Summary: Nicholas J. Fury vs. SHIELD bureaucracy.

the future's so bright (I gotta wear shades) by KiaraSayre
Summary: Things Bucky loves about the future.

Geriatric Road Trip, 2015 by what_alchemy
Summary: Bucky was the eldest of four.

give me your answer do by lazulisong
Summary: Bucky knows it's going to be a bad one when Steve wakes up again, lifts his head up from the side of Bucky's fancy electric hospital bed, and says, "Now don't get mad until I explain." His voice has the tone that had meant he'd got into another fight and had two black eyes, or found a HYDRA nest and accidentally forgotten to tell Bucky or the other Howlies that he was going in to clear it out, or that he'd met a stray dog on the way home from the store and given it his share of meat for supper and was planning to eat boiled potatoes and stale bread, while expecting Bucky to eat his own share of the meat as if it didn't choke him.

have you ever thought just maybe by Desdemon
Summary: “JARVIS,” Tony called thoughtfully. / “Yes, sir?” / “Those young people are in love,” he said.

He Had a Killer Muse by ameonna
Summary: It was embarrassing how long history took to put together SG Rogers, commercial artist with Steven Grant Rogers, Captain America.

The Henderson County LGBT Youth Support Group (6-8 PM, every other Tuesday) by traveller
Summary: Steve accidentally starts Henderson County’s first and only LGBT youth support group (and it was Steve, it was all Steve) when the kid who came to fix their severely fucked up kitchen sink (also Steve) happened to open the kitchen door at exactly the same moment that Steve (of course it was Steve) had Bucky backed up against the fridge and his tongue in Bucky’s mouth.

here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud by lonelyantics
Summary: Steve is pretty sure he hasn't been out of Bucky's sight for longer than ten minutes in days; it's getting ridiculous.

hey, remember that time when by pollyrepeat
Summary: In which Cap makes new friends, becomes an accidental Internet troll, swaps a lot of stories, and gives Bucky Barnes a hug.

the hip and the dead by hollimichele
Summary: When she asks about the other tenants in the building, the realtor just throws up his hands and says, "Look, I don't know. They're artsy types, if they live around here. You know. Hipsters."

History Painting by M_Leigh
Summary: “We’ll go there one day,” Bucky adds a moment later, back to his bright self again, grinning, cocky. “All those fucking places with all that fucking art. You can tell me all about it. Paintings and sculptures and all that crap.” (A chronicle of looking at art across the decades, and two birthdays.)

holy palmer's kiss by marryingthebed
Summary: Steve knows exactly what Bucky's going to do, but it still breaks his heart. or: 5 times Bucky kisses Steve's palm) +1 time -something else- happens)

home is a feeling i buried in you by chokingontheirhalos
Summary: Bucky's always gotta be so careful, and so careful not to look like he's being careful.

Hooked on a Feeling by fmo
Summary: Some guy creates a machine that gives everybody in New York mutant powers. Bucky gets empathy, which initially makes him very cranky, but later enables him to figure some stuff out that he might not have figured out otherwise, and ultimately turns out to be the very best power of all.

Horizontal Asymmetry by Strange_radio
Summary: Written for this prompt at maskonplz.livejournal.com: I'd like to see a Steve/Bucky fic with mask swap. Maybe Steve has to pose as the Winter Soldier in the shadows for some mission, maybe he gets curious about recovered!Bucky's old gear and tries it on for size, but however it happens, I'd like to see Bucky super turned on by it. (They trade gear for emergency disguise purposes; Bucky digs it.)

how long it's been since I left for the war by sophia_sol
Summary: After several weeks of following him, you decide that must be the point. He's not chasing you down - so he wants you to come to him.

how strange it was; how sweet and strange by tomato_greens
Summary: Peggy signs up for the Auxiliary Territorial Service in the spring of 1940.

I'm a Hustler, Baby by vidocqsociety
Summary: Steve Rogers has a talent for pool--and for making others believe he's terrible at it.

I don't need a map to find my way back home by strikereureka
Summary: Steve hesitates a moment but eventually reclines beside him. Bucky lets go of his sleeve because he has to, but he leaves his hand on the trampled grass between them. He can feel the warmth of Steve’s fingers beside his own, but neither of them closes the distance. Bucky’s terrified that he might not know how anymore.

i fear for the calendar; its days are numbered by mariahlee
Summary: Before she goes off the grid, Natasha gives Steve her phone number. He’s honored that he’s the only one to be trusted with it, but quickly learns that she spends most of her free time texting him Dad jokes.

I love you like rlb by tolieawake
Summary: I love you like rlb has become a well-known, accepted and valuable component of American vernacular. The meaning of the letters 'rlb' is unknown, but is uniformly considered to be a statement of a great romantic love, commitment and sacrifice. (It was Dernier as first said it. Steve never imagined that something like that could have survived the war and all the years in between.)

I Was Born in a Factory by nightanddaze
Summary: Steve doesn't let him down, easy or otherwise.

i will be your ground by misprinting
Summary: A character study. The subject: Bucky’s hair. (Also, a Bucky comes in from the cold fic.)

if my heart were a house (you'd be home) by noharlembeat
Summary: At the end of the day, there's something about the building, the place, the monument to Captain America, where Steve Rogers lived, that binds their lives together.

If your bones made it home alright by caughtinanocean
Summary: Making it back from the war is not the same as making it back alive, but it's a start. Mechanic AU. (The first day on the job, Bucky hits the ground every time an engine revs; his hands shake when he holds a wrench. But something about the grease and the smell of gasoline feels like home.)

in poison places, we are anti-venom by lonelyantics
Summary: "From what I gather, it pretty much works like ordering a pizza," Sharon says, completely straight-faced. Bucky is honestly not sure which one of them feels more like knocking themselves unconscious to escape this conversation.

the inaccuracy of historical wartime dramas by noharlembeat
Summary: There was nothing wrong with Howling Commandos, not really. It was new and shiny, made only six months before Steve woke up and on the brink of cancellation until it was announced that Captain America was found, at which point ratings skyrocketed. Steve would have heard of the series, except that he was too busy figuring out his phone, handling alien invasions, and battling crippling depression (that he would not admit to anyone, even himself). The result was that 25 episodes later, Howling Commandos was the most popular television shows about the war on the planet, with a loyal following, and Steve was almost totally oblivious.

it's a love story, baby just say yes by KiaraSayre
Summary: "Eyes on the prize, Widow: we're getting Captain America and Bucky laid, with each other. That's the op. Got it?"

it's always been, so it's no surprise by amandajean
Summary: "I've been wondering since you got here," he continued conversationally, "just how much you've changed." (Girl!Steve/Bucky.)

It's Not Home Without You by DaftPunk_DeLorean
Summary: When Steve shuffled down the hall in flannel pajama pants and a tank top, scrubbing his wet hair with a towel, he thought about a lot of things; his day, his search plans, how he wanted to spend the rainy evening. Mostly though, he just thought about Bucky. What he didn’t think was that he would walk into the living room and see a pair of heavy, slate-blue eyes staring back at him.

Jumping Off Bridges by lotrabc
Summary: He wishes desperately that he could pretend he doesn’t know, but he does. Knows now that maybe it was always gonna end up here.

just a lucky so-and-so by troublesteady
Summary: The one where Captain America and the Winter Soldier play tag on the Helicarrier, to the horror of respectable SHIELD agents.

Kiss Me Hello by kehinki
Summary: Bucky and Steve take to kissing each other hello, goodbye, goodnight. It's all very platonic until it isn't.

Learn How to Bend by nerdwegian
Summary: "Okay, let's say you see someone, a stranger, but you decide that you maybe want to get to know them better, how would you--how would you go about doing that?" (In which there's terrible dating advice, terrible Starbucks drinks, and a whole lot of denial.)

Left And Slow by Salmon_Pink
Summary: He'll accept every part of Bucky, old and new.

Let's do some living after we die by musesfool
Summary: In which Steve decides to jump before he falls.

Let's Fall in Love by Desdemon
Summary: “I really am sorry, dollface,” Bucky said, his eyes huge and stupid. “I’m just flapping my gums, you know what a chucklehead I am.”

lethe by black_nata
Summary: "Do it," he goads. "Do it or come back home with me and let me help you. But you gotta do it now, Buck, because I can't take another moment of this hell."

Letting the Picture Build by autoschediastic
Summary: The man Steve used to know is so close to the surface it feels like Bucky could crawl out of this skin into the old one if he tried.

Leviticus 25 by domarzione
Summary: "You want to save Bucky Barnes? You are going to have to put your own house in order first because he is going to need a rock to cling to. You are not ready to be that rock for him. You owe it to him -- and more importantly, you owe it to yourself -- to figure things out, figure out how you can be happy in this time and place, whether or not Barnes is with you."

the lies we tell to save ourselves by nighimpossible
Summary: Steve still doesn't know if he prefers the lie.

Little Shots Who Keep Shooting by sinuous_curve
Summary: It takes Howard Stark three days to knock together Steve’s uniform, which is a testament to his manufacturing abilities that he cobbles together what he needs so fast and so well. Steve steps out with his hands spread, shoulders shifting beneath the unfamiliar weight of the new duds and says, “Not too shabby, you think?”

Lodestar by legete
Summary: It says something about him, as a soldier and as a man, that his most pressing concern is Steve refusing to play “when the war is over” with them.

the long slide from kingdom to kingdom by gyzym
Summary: They want you to love the whole damn world but you won't,/ you want it all narrowed down to one fleshy man in the bath, / who knows what to do with his body, with his hands. -Richard Siken, Driving, Not Washing.

the lucky ones by defcontwo
Summary: "Is it permanent?" When it happens, he’s not surprised.

Maisie Makes a Deal by kaikamahine
Summary: Maisie's pretty sure her grandmother's new neighbors are spies.

The Marriage of Sir Gawain by trinityofone
Summary: “How do you want me?” Steve asks.

Mistake on the Part of Nature by idiopathicsmile
Summary: Steve takes in Bucky's betrayed look and Sam's confusion, follows Sam's gaze to the pile of mangled fruit in the trash can. Sudden comprehension fills his face. "Oh," he says. "Bucky found out about bananas." (In which an American icon is mourned. But probably not the one you're thinking of.)

my body is a cage by nighimpossible
Summary: Steve wakes up skinny and there’s a small, tiny part of him that thinks it’s over.

my love, he laughs like the flowers by janie_tangerine
Summary: “Wilson,” Tony says, staring straight at Sam, “since you were the one starting it, can you please explain me how did you manage to turn Rogers and Barnes into a seventies fashion statement? Fuck, it seems like this room’s becoming a fucking hippie commune.” (Or: where Sam hadn't thought that buying Steve a flower crown would have escalated into what Tony dubs the great flower crown stint during which my tower turned into a hippie commune, Steve finds creative ways to confess his feelings and Bucky is entirely too happy to be at the receiving end of it. Also, Clint is regretting that he doesn't have SHIELD insurance anymore - his teeth might start to rot at some point soon.)

Nobody's Business But Yours by bomberqueen17
Summary: “Don’t you get in fights over my honor,” Bucky said grimly. “I won’t have it, Steve.” / “Piece of garbage like that, he can’t say that kind of thing about you,” Steve said, indignant.

The Not-Christmas Not-Truce of 1944 by dropdeaddream
Summary: Bucky stabs a man in the neck. The cow moos.

Obligation or Necessity by onceuponamoon
Summary: Steve had always been a little firecracker and though it was futile, Bucky had always tried to be the extinguisher, putting out fires left and right. [or: five times steve told bucky not to take care of him (and the one time he asked him to)]

Once Upon a Time In New York City (Or, Five Disney Movies Bucky Missed While Frozen) by linzeestyle
Summary: “So if any of these movies are bad, you realize he’s going to think we’re torturing him.” Steve glares at Clint, who's rifling through a stack of brightly-colored DVDs, eyeing each of them critically. Bucky’s been holed up without protest on Steve’s floor of the tower for almost a week now: he’s still silent, watching visitors with wary, bloodshot eyes, but Steve’s been able to coax him to bathe, and to eat, and every small adjustment feels like a victory, even as Bucky still runs on the echoes of body memory, still looks at Steve like if he disobeys he expects to be punished.

The one where Bucky is a cat by Renne
Summary: In which Bucky shows up on Steve's doorstep with all his Winter Soldier baggage and a shapeshifting curse in tow.

Only the Good Stuff by Cellar_Door
Summary: There are some things about Steve Rogers that Bucky Barnes gets to keep for himself, even if Steve himself isn’t his to keep.

Only Good Things by Jain
Summary: All of their neighbors think that Steve and Bucky are dating.

Oracle Bones by togina
Summary: The Winter Soldier is a tool, as well-examined and carefully-honed as any other. But that doesn't explain the dreaming.

Orders came for sailing by Ark
Summary: Bucky drops into the trench. It’s pitchy black, and he’s good; there’s no warning save the displacement of air. Steve is wedged into a sentry stance beneath the earth, on guard and half-awake, when he feels Bucky come in like wind.

Our Lingering Frost (once upon a dream) by eyres
Summary: When S.H.I.E.L.D. finally locates the plane Captain America drove into the ocean, Colonel James Barnes drops everything to go bring Steve's body home at long last. He finds more than he was expecting.

Part of You by TheRaven
Summary: Bucky hates his metal arm. Steve tries to change that.

Past Tense by Ark
Summary: Steve Rogers is falling from the sky. His brief life flashes before his eyes:

people should see how we're living by seventhswan
Summary: There was a stray cat one spring when Steve was a kid, gray and spindly, matted. She used to look at him with these huge eyes, like she was waiting for his fist to close around her neck, like she knew it was shameful weakness letting him this close to her, but she just couldn’t stand to be alone any more. Bucky makes that same face. (Or: Bucky Barnes is a work in progress. Luckily, Steve’s a hard worker.)

Permission by derekstilinski
Summary: After Bucky’s captured by SHIELD, they put him in a holding cell, and strip him of everything but his clothes. He’s dirty, damaged, and Steve can’t just watch him like that, protocol or not.

Pictograph by cjmarlowe
Summary: War is dirty, in more ways than Bucky could've imagined.

Pictures of You by tears_of_nienna
Summary: Bucky wants a souvenir to take to war with him.

Practical Mathematics by Grey_Bard
Summary: After a hard shift saving the world, Stark - in his infinite wisdom - has decided to bond with Steve by talking about his favorite subject. Well, third favorite, after building things and smart-mouthing people. Steve is pretty sure none of his experiences really count. Tony is starting to wonder what Steve's definition of "is" is.

Practice doesn't make it perfect but it's a good excuse to start by brokentoy
Summary: 'And how am I supposed to practice when I can’t find anyone who’d go out with me?' / Bucky looks at him like Steve’s logic annoys him profoundly but then he lets go of Steve’s wrist and puts his hands on his shoulders instead. He looks at Steve and his eyes shine. 'I’ll show you,’’ he says. 'I’ll show you how to act with them.'

Progress (The One With The Post-It Notes by Paraxdisepink
Summary: Bucky is alone for a day and Steve leaves post-it notes on his metal arm.

Proposal Pending by so_shhy
Summary: He doesn't want to make a huge production of it. He just wants to make it special. Something worthy of Steve, that shows Bucky knows exactly the proposal he would like best. It's gotta be romantic as all hell. And Bucky's got nothing.

The Pugilists by ipoiledi
Summary: There’s only one way Steve wants it when he gets like this, and nice ain’t the word for it, that’s for damn sure.

re: re: re: re: bad ideas you and clint barton have had by lazulisong
Summary: You live with your best friend Steve in a giant tower in New York with seven or eight other crazy people and a cat named Cat and three robots and a voice that comes from the walls. You're doing better now.

Remember Pearl Harbor; Purl Harder by greenjudy
Summary: Bruce sighed, and looked up at Tony. “Do you have a crochet hook?”

Revision history by viverella
Summary: “Anyway,” Sam says to Bucky, and his voice is light and joking. “If you’re so concerned about the state of the internet, you could always spend your days correcting Wikipedia articles.”

the rhythm in rush by magneticwave
Summary: Steve Rogers: anthropology major, president of Americans for Informed Democracy, in love with his roommate, exasperated dungeon master.

Ricochet by melannen
Summary: The Famous National Mall Frisbee Game of 2014.

Run Until the Road Runs Out by ignipes
Summary: Sam's along for this ride because he's not about to let Steve Rogers go it alone, but Steve's not the only one who needs a friend.

Scratched Ragged and Rubbed Raw by TheOnlyCheeseLeft
Summary: “How are you gonna sleep tonight,” Bucky asked, letting his head fall back against the wall and closing his eyes, “knowing that a guy who tried to kill you is sleeping in the next room?” / “Like a baby,” Steve said.

Selfies From the Underground by eleveninches
Summary: Tony and Steve get captured. (Tony briefly closed his eyes. “Steve. What was your password?” / “It’s ‘password,’” Tepid replied.)

seven minutes in heaven by lanyon
Summary: Steve's mission objective is to apprehend the Winter Soldier. He certainly succeeds.

Seven Short Interludes in a Brief Life of Celebrity by jaeled
Summary: Before Captain America fought for the Allies, he hawked defense bonds with the USO - and a very particular group of women. THESE ARE THEIR STORIES.

shaky bones by vestigialwords
Summary: "...your metabolism burns four times faster than the average person's..." / Peggy's voice echoes in Steve's memory as his thoughts drift back to his kitchen where a giant plate of cold sausage, eggs, and hash browns is sitting on his table. It's early afternoon on a Thursday, and Steve hadn't eaten since dinner the night before. He allowed himself the luxury of sleeping in that morning. This was his first mistake.

The Shape I'm In by radialarch
Summary: [AU where Bucky never fell.] They win the war. Steve and Bucky come home and deal with their feelings.

Show Us the Maps by breakthecitysky
Summary: Not a lot makes sense to Bucky any more after the rescue of the 107th, least of all Steve. Apparently, miracles don't come with explanations and they don't have to be earned but Bucky tries to deserve his anyway. (More a series of vignettes than a plot.)

Skippy's List, Howling Commandos Version by Odsbodkins
Summary: "Things the men of the Howling Commandos are no longer allowed to do in the SSR."

Sleeping For The Wrong Team by Rubynye
Summary: … hard thigh between his and blue eyes colder than ice above the black mask.

The Smell of Sunshine by Brenda
Summary: "You really are taking this whole vacation thing to heart, aren't you?" / Bucky lolls his head so he can look at Steve. "Remind me the last time we actually had one. And you laid up sick before the serum or one of us recovering from an injury in the hospital doesn't count." (Or: Bucky and Steve take some well deserved time off, and Bucky sort of fails at asking questions.)

Snow Is Falling (Like Forgiveness From The Sky) by torakowalski
Summary: Steve wakes up cold. Steve almost always wakes up cold, though, so it takes him a couple minutes to realise that this time it’s not just him, this time, the whole room is freezing.

Soft Spot for the Hell Raisin' Boy by ifeelbetter
Summary: The Winter Soldier takes an interest in Sam Wilson. Bucky Barnes wants to tell him how to be Steve Rogers's best friend.

Some Assemblage Required by laylee
Summary: Steve's had a rough day and Bucky fusses over him. Of course the rest of the team think the time is ripe for a barbeque, and who's to say no to Thor when he's wearing shorts?

Somehow closeted by brokentoy
Summary: 'Yes,' Bucky nods, making a motion gesture with his hand, 'and what did you say after that?' / Steve doesn’t even blink, 'I need you to pose for me. Without your shirt.'

Something Borrowed by EmilianaDarling
Summary: “Steve's got it into his head that you’ve done more for him than he can ever pay you back for. He’s grateful.” (Sam’s taking Steve as a guest to his sister’s wedding, but first he and Bucky have a few things to sort out.)

Source Decay by psikeval
Summary: Slowly, and never quite the way Steve imagined, Bucky comes home.

step toward glory by strokeof_genie
Summary: Through trial and error, the Winter Soldier remembers that he's Bucky Barnes.

The Steve Rogers Appreciation Society by BethWinter
Summary: Bucky and Peggy are members of an exclusive club.

Steve Rogers Might Wear Tights, but He's Not Your Pin-Up Girl by RosaLui & what_alchemy
Summary: Bucky enrolls in a college course about Captain America. It doesn't go well. [Multimedia]

Still Life by domarzione
Summary: Steve Rogers and a very modern form of art therapy. (The one where Steve draws himself out of despair and into some notoriety when his cartoons hit the internet, but he's still not allowed to look at Tumblr without an okay from Pepper.)

straight from the heart by mwestbelle
Summary: Bucky is a chef, and this "American Foodie" is ruining his life.

Strawberries in Wintertime by Sholio
Summary: "Steve, you need new friends." (Or, how Sam's apartment turns into a hangout for superheroes, spies, and rogue assassins.)

Such Unspeakable Ruin by melfice
Summary: Bucky fights him like they're back on the helicarrier – like there's a clock ticking in his head that's saying, 'Time is up, time is up, the targets are still alive, your time is up.'

swallow my pride by mwestbelle
Summary: When Bucky first came back to SHIELD, Natasha took Steve aside and quietly told him that he needed to be patient. She didn't offer up more than that, but Steve understood. He's been patient. If patience is a virtue, then he thinks he should be up for that sainthood that Tony's always joking about him getting by now.

sweet fine day by dogeared
Summary: These are the things that Bucky likes, now.

take apart your demons, in the attic to the left by caughtinanocean
Summary: In HYDRA's clutches, without hope of rescue, Bucky tries to hang on. (”What's important is Steve, and Bucky will not let them steal Steve from his head. He thinks about his fella—that, that is the one thing Bucky's gotta remember. As long as he's got Steve, he will never be the weapon HYDRA wants.”)

Take this pulse with you by honeypuffed
Summary: Bucky develops a fixation with Steve's heartbeat, over the years.

Tall Tales by pascals_wager
Summary: “You’re going to be the next Dr. Seuss,” Stark parrots off the review on the book’s back flap. He sounds horrified. Bucky, who’s peering over his shoulder, bursts into laughter. Stark sends him a dirty look. “Did you know about this?” he demands of Bucky, his tone accusing. (Bucky and Steve write picture books.)

these days are not done by lupinely
Summary: A long time ago, Bucky taught Steve how to dance. Later, Steve teaches him.

these white walls by romancandles
Summary: in the hollowed out space where his soul used to be, bucky builds a life, however imperfectly.

They're Playing Our Song by lamardeuse
Summary: The progress of a relationship over three dances, seventy-six years, and a lot of cheesy Glenn Miller music.

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Banana by surgicalstainless
Summary: "Time flies like an arrow. / Fruit flies like a banana." — Marx

this moment and the one before it by fabrega
Summary: Bucky doesn't remember anything, until he does.

This Part of Love by Taste_is_Sweet
Summary: Steve grinned at him, and Bucky grinned back, ridiculous and dusty and greasy, and Steve loved him so much it made his heart hurt. And in four days he was going to leave and Steve wouldn't be able to follow him.

Through the notches in your spine by caughtinanocean
Summary: Bucky Barnes has been broken down to nothing, and he has been pulled back together again, and this—this is the part where he lives. (“Are you sure you're ready for this?” Steve asks, stroking the point of Bucky's hipbone with the pad of his thumb. He is naked and he is perfect and sometimes Bucky isn't sure that he knows how to want things anymore, but Bucky wants him.)

till i wake your ghost by lanyon
Summary: There's a kill order on the Winter Soldier and Steve Rogers has been acting kind of strangely lately.

time's forever frozen still by pollitt
Summary: The photos--the old and the new--serve as tangible reminders of who they were, who they’ve become, and where they’ve been.

To make bright and clear your path by lanyon
Summary: He tries to find himself but everyone else is looking, too.

too late to apologize by verity
Summary: Bucky goes to the big Trader Joe's in Union Square for toilet paper and peanut butter cups. When he gets out, his minder is across the street, conspicuously reading a newspaper in the middle of the sidewalk. Bucky has to squint to make out the headline, which is CAPTAIN AMERICA ARRESTED IN ZUCCOTTI PARK. / "Oh, come on," he mutters beneath his breath.

Toy Soldiers by Fyre
Summary: Sometimes, two boys from Brooklyn fall back on old habits.

Transient, Transition by BethCGPhoenix
Summary: To everyone who doesn’t live there, DC's just a convenient reservoir for an entire country's emotions. Steve can relate.

Turn and face the stranger" by wanderingflame
Summary: “I should cut my hair.” The words are delivered as a statement, but with a hint of uncertainty. Bucky is staring at the stew Steve made, his spoon unmoving in the bowl.

Unrepentant by fmo
Summary: It is apparently a great surprise to everyone that Steve and Bucky are not entirely devoted to selflessness and asceticism. (Or: unrepentantly taking advantage of the spoils of the 21st century, and a few old pleasures too.)

Up Past Midnight by Rubynye
Summary: The Barnes family takes Steve in.

Vigil by LtLJ
Summary: While waiting for Steve to get out of surgery after the events in The Winter Soldier, Sam Wilson meets two of the other Avengers.

Wait for the Word by sara_holmes
Summary: "He’s still not sure how Steve does it, even after ten years of knowing each other, how he can be so bullheaded and stubborn and irritating, yet simultaneously so good and kind and earnest. He’s hopeless, is what he is, but he’s still the best goddamn thing to ever happen to Bucky. Bucky’s sure there’s a word for it somewhere, a word to describe how Steve is all of those things at the same time, but he hasn’t found it yet."

Walk with Hurting Feet (home is just a bend away) by eyres
Summary: “What happened to you,” Tony says after a pause, “is a long story. Decades long, really. No time to really go into it. Elevator speech: bad guys hurt you and then tried to erase the memories that they hurt you and ended up erasing a lot more than that.” / Bucky nods like he understands. “Can you fix me? I need to save Steve.” (or the one where Steve and Bucky always land on their feet, even if it takes awhile)

Warm Welcome by AlchemyAlice
Summary: When they finally lock him down, Steve’s not allowed to see him for the first eight weeks.

Warmth in Winter by theladyingrey42
Summary: Steve always put up the token protest, but they ended up this way as often as not in the winter, sharing covers and space and heat and not freezing to death. If anyone were to walk in, it would seem reasonable, even. It was the best.

we looked at each other the same way then by lazulisong
Summary: Steve genuinely doesn't know what's worse: that someone had recorded what cologne he had worn on the possibly three occasions he had bothered to wear it, or that a company thought it would be profitable to specially manufacture a supply of it for him. It's not that he doesn't appreciate the gesture. It's more that it reminds him of everything he lost in the ice.

we share our mother's health by tigrrmilk
Summary: “I didn’t ask for you to do this,” Steve says, as he cleans Bucky’s back, a few minutes before Steve’s mother will come in and take over. And no, this, this is the most offended Bucky has ever been, because he knows, and nobody needs to tell him what he should or shouldn’t do because he knows, he’s always known.

Who You Were Then/Who You Are Now by th_esaurus
Summary: Let us take what James Barnes remembers as fact.

Why do we fall by siehn
Summary: After D.C., the Winter Soldier goes home, the long way 'round.

Will never let it go by ellievolia
Summary: James fights tornadoes in his own head constantly, storms of clouds and thunder and blood and terror and Steve is always there to hold him through it. He talks him through it when they’re apart, any time of day or night over the phone, whispering about Brooklyn, about fairs and girls James took dancing, about ice cream stolen on Brooklyn pier and incubators and Peggy and Dum Dum and that picture James kept of his mother.

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow by cjmarlowe
Summary: Bucky turned it over and over in his head that Steve had never been with a girl. It had honestly just never occurred to him, because it was Steve and Bucky thought Steve was just about the greatest guy in town. Everyone else should have thought that too.

Wish You Were Here by OddityBoddity
Summary: Steve keeps getting postcards in the mail.

words that became hard to say by defcontwo
Summary: Here's the thing about growing up like they have, though. You get pretty used to the line between wanting and having; you get pretty used to how wide and vast and unsurmountable it is.

Write Home by kinky_kneazle
Summary: The first time Bucky saw Captain America it was in a picture that Bull's sister had sent from home. The man was holding a motorbike above his head with a chorus girl perched atop it and Bucky thought, 'We could do with a flash new bike like that over here.'

You Are Hurting Everyone You Touch by th_esaurus
Summary: He wrestled Steve out of his white shirts because blood stained easy and Bucky got messy with it sometimes. He did his Bela Lugosi impression, hiding his fangs behind his forearm and lurking in corners of the room to pounce on Steve, and they both laughed and laughed and laughed.

You are sure to find (If you walk long enough) by Spylace
Summary: Bucky is healed through the power of kittens.

you can be the outcast or- by haipollai
Summary: They're supposed to be discreet, give him the illusion of privacy and freedom but everyone knows it's a lie. They're just waiting for this all to turn out to be a lie, some Department X con. He should turn around and go back inside, because if they're right, he might shove Steve over the side. But he doesn't want them to be right. He's desperate to be Bucky Barnes again. So he makes his way over to the edge and sits down beside Steve.

You Would Never Call Me Baby (If You Knew Me Truly) by th_esaurus
Summary: When a fella asked him what he did, he replied that he was a boxer. "You win a lotta fights?" / "Yeah," Bucky spat. "All of 'em."

You're just the torch to put the flame to all our guilt and shame (and I'll rise like an ember in your name) by lanyon
Summary: In the thirties and in the forties, it made sense to go with girls. That’s all. Bucky could look after himself but he was never gonna advertise anything. It wasn’t a weakness. Just because Steve was all brittle-bones-fragile-skin did not mean that this was a weakness too. (In which old habits die hard and Bucky still goes with girls.)

young hearts, out of our minds by principessa
Summary: Bucky posts a selfie of the two of them in bed to his instagram. He hashtags it #goodmorningamerica. Sam Wilson and Pepper Potts retweet it to their twitter accounts.

Your Kind of Idiot by dirtybinary
Summary: In which Bucky doesn't fall from the train, Steve has company when he wakes up in the twenty-first century, and neither of them knows how to talk about their feelings unless they're about to die.


7-20k
A Song You Might Hear At A Wedding by ellievolia & lanyon
Summary: Steve Rogers is the good-looking lead singer of a struggling band, while James Barnes is half of a dynamic duo, on the verge of the big-time. When Stark Industries is reduced to playing at a wedding in order to raise funds and profile, Steve tells himself that this is the very last time he's going to sleep with Bucky. (Or, the one in which Tony rants, Bruce mediates and Clint has fantastic eye-sex with the best man.)

Accidentally on Purpose by nekare & notallbees
Summary: Bucky turns toward him, sliding his hand onto Steve’s hip as he mutters a lazy “G’night” and presses a soft kiss to the corner of Steve’s mouth. It takes him by surprise, and he barely has time to register Bucky’s half-closed eyes and the warmth of whiskey-ripe breath on his lips, before it’s over. (After Bucky drunkenly kisses Steve by accident, it just seems to keep on happening, until it's not so much by accident anymore.)

All the First Times by Vera_DragonMuse
Summary: Bucky starts over and finds new ways to survive.

and we are finally home by springsoldier
Summary: The Winter Soldier shows up in Sam's kitchen, one morning. He deals with it. (Natasha helps. Steve would, if they let him.)

Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen by jacquez
Summary: Bucky Barnes and the Great Sexuality Crisis of 1938.

the blood of the convenant by Quietbang
Summary: Steve has a "thing" for hot water. (Or, Sam Wilson adopts Steve Rogers.)

boom, crack by Febricant
Summary: He has the name James Buchanan Barnes. It is not his name, but it is a thread.

Brothers In Arms by copperbadge
Summary: Bucky Barnes gets a tune-up, a new pet, and a home.

But We Can Try by hetrez
Summary: Bucky said, "These are love letters, Rogers. You've been drawing me love letters."

Close to the Sun by thebrotherswinchester
Summary: Steve's known Bucky his whole life.

Collected Letters (1930-1943) by brokentoy & triedunture
Summary: The collected private correspondence—unedited, uncensored—of Steven Rogers, later known as Captain America, and his longtime companion, James B. Barnes, spanning the years from childhood to World War II.

Count the Cost by cassiejamie
Summary: He looks blearily at the television hanging on the wall, the man on it talking about sacrifice and the heroes who gave everything they had to their country.

The Dawn of That Last Great Day by ignipes
Summary: The Winter Soldier has a mission: kill Captain America.

The Dud by nimmieamee
Summary: When he was eight or nine, Bucky Barnes was the secret sworn enemy of the dud newsie.

Facts About the Moon by Nanoochka
Summary: Barnes sees him sketching birds in the back garden or doodling caricatures on napkins, even idly tracing shapes and patterns in the margins of the morning newspaper while he sips his coffee. Steve doesn’t bother to hide the sketchbooks filled with innocuous subjects or half-drawn comic panels, not even the ones containing profiles of Wilson or Agent Romanova, nor those of Agent Carter or their old compatriots from the war. Those he leaves strewn about for anyone to find, hiding in plain sight. Never Barnes, though; never Bucky. His rendering is as utterly absent from Steve’s sketches as the Winter Soldier is from history.

fever dream by beepalais
Summary: “Buck.” Steve says, soft as he can, so he won't start to cough again. Bucky glances over to him, sleepily bares his teeth. Steve's a sliver of a whisper of a man, bundled in all those blankets, every one they have in the house and then two borrowed from next door. Steve takes the end of his pencil out of his mouth, wobbling it between his fingers. / “You should go to sleep.” The light from the stove hits his face just right, makes his eyes light up bright, spring sky blue. Bucky's head aches just looking at him.

Five times Steve kissed Bucky by paragon
Summary: (+ once, finally, it was the other way around)

Four Dollar Memory by nimmieamee
Summary: The tale of the volunteer rat-catcher and Brooklyn's very own four dollar kid.

Ghost Stories by hitlikehammers
Summary: Steve doesn’t like bullies, on principle. It's less about justice, or decency, or righteous indignation; more about the look in the eyes of the people getting stepped on, the people getting trampled, the people getting lost. (AU where Steve reaches out to help the Winter Soldier on principle, but when the mask comes off, he finds Bucky Barnes.)

Give Me Your Filth by dsudis
Summary: "I don't care," Bucky said. "I don't care which one was you and which one was someone else. You're underneath me now. It's my turn. I do things now, and you lie there and take it." / This was going to hurt.

Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square by Speranza
Summary: Natasha wanted to tell him the whole story of wartime London and the pub and seeing who Steve Rogers was before he lost everything, and meeting The Winter Soldier only to find out that he was just a young charmer named Bucky Barnes.

Guns Not Butter by reserve
Summary: It's 1941. Bucky Barnes lives with his best friend Steve Rogers, and all Bucky wants is to do right by him. That means he'll do anything.

Hallowed Ground by tenlittlebullets
Summary: Bucky thinks about cleaning guns, or doing field maintenance on his arm, and tries to pretend he's repairing something delicate as he traces the lines of violence carved into Steve's flesh. It'd be nice to believe that's what he's doing.

Heart, Have No Pity on this House of Bone by Sena
Summary: The higher-ups call it Operation Watchtower, but to Bucky Barnes and the rest of the men on the ground, it's Operation Pestilence. Bucky doesn't mind that much. He was the one stupid enough to enlist, after all, alongside a bunch of other guys stupid enough to enlist. It's their own damn fault they're sitting in muddy holes in the ground getting malaria and eating whatever they can steal from the dwindling Japanese food caches.

Here Comes the Sun by cylobaby27
Summary: When being Steve's best friend again isn't enough to heal Bucky after decades as the Winter Soldier, Steve decides to bring in man's best friend to do the job. In which Steve gets Bucky a therapy dog, and Bucky is less than cooperative.

Hey Cinderella, You Dropped Your Shoe by dirtybinary
Summary: Due to the technological limitations of the '40s, Steve is Captain America by day and a scrawny little guy by night. His daily transformations are as painful as they were the first time, and he really shouldn't be going on night missions, but that doesn't stop him from trying to find Bucky after the helicarriers go down.

How the Light Gets In by theheartischill
Summary: Steve doesn't want to think: you're supposed to be the one that's good at this. But he was.

I can’t remember how this started (but I can tell you exactly how it ends) by gwyneth
Summary: “And this is the thing, Steve. I would rather relive this day for eternity than watch them win and you die, or see you be enslaved to them the way I was.” (Groundhog Day AU)

i was found and now i don't roam these streets by hipsterchrist
Summary: They’ve decided to start producing Bucky Bears again, now that he’s all shiny and redeemed and fighting for good on this big Avengers misfits team. "He has a little shiny gray arm," Bucky says, wiggling the stuffed arm in question, one of the tweaks made in the new model. It takes Steve a second to realize that Bucky’s got a small smile on his face, actually looks a little bit proud around the eyes. (Or, Bucky relearns himself and how to be on a team, the rest of the Avengers try to get answers, and everyone watches too much Criminal Minds.)

It's an Adequate Life, Bucky Barnes by what_alchemy
Summary: This is a world without Bucky Barnes.

Lay Back, Lay Back by Ultrageekatlarge
Summary: Bucky can't sleep.

listen to your heart (but don't say goodbye to me) by CinnamonCake
Summary: There is a Hades, and there is a Persephone. They’re just not the ones you’d expect.

lonely houses off the road by Etharei
Summary: Barnes is now glaring at him for some reason. It's somewhat terrifying but also, oddly, a little reassuring— because that's emotion right there, which means there's still somebody behind those eyes. Somebody who seems to think Sam is being a bit slow on the uptake. "Time parameters exceeded. Mission failed." / "Wait." Sam narrows his eyes. "Is this some kind of... report? Debriefing?" / "Mission report," confirms Barnes, looking pleased. Well, looking slightly less murderous than before. (In which various people deal with things they never signed up for, but at the end of the day no one's particularly surprised.)

make one dream come true (you only live twice) by beardsley
Summary: Five times the Winter Soldier evaded capture. In which there are tuxedoes, vodka martinis (shaken, not stirred), fakeout makeouts, massive property damage, a shark pit, and Steve has an Ursula Andress moment. But mostly, in true James Bond fashion, villains are seduced to the side of good.

Man of Steel by sariane
Summary: It’s like Steve looked at his metal arm and thought ‘Challenge Accepted.’

May You Live in Interesting Times by DisappointMe
Summary: Fate has a way of putting in front of us that which we most try to leave behind. (White Collar AU)

Memories are Made of This by eleveninches
Summary: Nearly a year after turning himself into SHIELD and the Avengers, Bucky struggles to find himself in the 21st century. Unfortunately, no one told him about the aliens.

Mighty like Love, Mighty like Sorrow by Regann
Summary: After freeing himself from the Russians' mind control, Bucky is left at loose ends, drifting through the decades. Still, he's in no hurry to take up Nick Fury's offer to once again fight the good fight -- especially not when Fury has the nerve to put some imposter in his best friend's old suit and send him out to fight against Chitauri.

miles to go before i sleep by Avelera
Summary: Steve finds Bucky outside of the Smithsonian and invites him home.

Mission Parameters by what_alchemy
Summary: The soldier does not find the Mission. The soldier finds a tow-headed white child, aged approximately five years, unconscious and naked amid the empty Captain America uniform lying charred and bloody in the middle of what used to be a battleground. The soldier finds an expanse of bruised flesh and stubborn cowlicks that shine through the fog in his head. The soldier lifts the child up and slings it under one arm before running.

Modern Prometheus by BewareTheIdes15
Summary: Human memory is unreliable. Fallible. Easily diverted given the appropriate application of force.

Most Of All by thebrotherswinchester
Summary: Five times Bucky dances with Steve. (In which there are Lindy Hops, waltzes, drunken nights, fake boyfriends, a 21st century gay club, a pair of ridiculously expensive suits, and eventually it all works out.)

New Words For Old Desires by CryptoHomoRocker
Summary: "After the dust settles, after Bucky is found and taken in and his brain is as fixed as it’s going to get, according to everyone who is paid to know about that kind of thing, there’s really no question of where he’s going to live." (Or: Bucky uses unusual coping mechanisms, Steve pines in what he thinks is a very subtle way, and literally everyone else in the world is like GOD just KISS ALREADY.)

the nightmare from which I am trying to awake by Speranza
Summary: "You gotta bring him in, Cap." Tony Stark, distant: on speakerphone. "You can come in to me, or you can go to—well, I don't know who else is left. But you gotta bring him in."

no heart to recall by KiaraSayre
Summary: He's been in Steve Rogers's company for less than twenty-four hours and he's already losing sight of his mission.

no way out but through by hollimichele
Summary: Steve never sees it coming.

Oasis by Sholio
Summary: "There are bees on my roof. Bees, Pep." (Or: the one in which Pepper accidentally introduces Bucky to gardening therapy.)

One Day We Won't Have to Be Scared by ParaxdisePink
Summary: Written for this prompt: Steve and Bucky are at a gay bar in the 30s, and some guy offers them money to take pictures of them as they fuck. They need the money, they say yes, and pretty much forget about it afterwards. The pictures come out years later.

Our Broken Parts (Smashed on the Floor) by non_sequential
Summary: Steve is sent undercover to catch an elusive Russian assassin. He didn’t want to do it in the first place; he’s damn certain he won’t be asked again.

Parallel Constructions by freshbakedlady
Summary: In the absence of orders, the man wearing the face of Bucky Barnes must figure out who he will be. The answer, mostly, is "somebody Steve Rogers can love." Nothing so easy should ever take this much work.

Poltergeists by dirtybinary
Summary: When the helicarriers blow up and the Winter Soldier goes on the run, he takes Steve with him. He's got a name written in Morse code on the inside of his arm, a ton of questions he doesn't know how to ask, and now, a new handler with absolutely zero sense of self-preservation to contend with. Life is hard. (In which Bucky tries to figure out whether he's a human being, Steve does everything he can to keep from losing him again, they go on a HYDRA killing spree across the country, and there are lots of explosions.)

Reconstruction Site by EmilianaDarling
Summary: He is the Winter Soldier. He is James Buchanan Barnes. He’s not one and he’s not the other, and he’s not sure if that makes him anything worth saving. (In which the Winter Soldier leads Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson on a wild goose chase through Eastern Europe so that he can learn more about the man who actually thinks he can be saved.)

Requiem Æternam by hitlikehammers
Summary: The truth is: cryostasis is still a form of sleep. Just because you're frozen doesn't mean you cannot dream.

The S. Rogers Memorial (it's NOT a shrine) to J. B. Barnes by SkyisGray
Summary: When the Avengers realize that Steve doesn’t have anything to remind him of Bucky Barnes, they embark on a project to track down Bucky memorabilia. But it seems that Steve isn’t the only visitor to the (unofficial) J. B. Barnes memorial (which is totally NOT a shrine, Tony).

Shades of Red by dimpleforyourthoughts
Summary: You are six years old, your name is James Buchanan Barnes, and you think Steve Rogers could teach you a thing or two.

the sirens and the thunder by legete
Summary: “Hide that,” he says, forcing the words out past every instinct. “As well as you can, all right? Before morning.” / Steve stares at him blankly, like he needs a moment to work this out, then swallows once, sharply. "What's your name?" he asks at last—asks as he stands there with the pelt in his hands. (An AU where Bucky is a young selkie who is accidentally called to Steve and ends up staying around to help this poor, wretched kid not die.)

The Smithsonian Guard by galerian_ash
Summary: Bucky makes a friend.

somebody hears you. (you know that.) by kaydeefalls
Summary: There are many voices in his head these days. The Winter Soldier's memories are the most coherent, but Barnes is far more persistent. Maybe because Barnes actually had a voice of his own, once. (He's got to figure out who he is before he can worry about what he wants.)

Steve Rogers at 100: Celebrating Captain America on Film by eleveninches, Febricant, hellotailor, M_Leigh, neenya, tigrrmilk
Summary: Steve and Bucky find out Hollywood has been busy since they went away. A historical survey, including but not limited to: one set of exploded genitals, a brief interlude in France, Mel Gibson and other masterworks of casting, eight Academy awards, several dinosaurs, and something Tony Stark has ominously dubbed “the masterpiece.” Art included.

Subjective Histories by Odsbodkins
Summary: Extracts from materials relating to the official biography of Steve Rogers (A Kid From Brooklyn, Yale University Press, 1999).

Take a Deep Breath by enjambament
Summary: Steve and Sam chase the Winter Soldier's trail of cold cases across Europe. Meanwhile, Bucky keeps an eye on their progress. As his memories return, he begins to find it harder and harder to sleep and there's only one person he can think to turn to. A lot of emotionally repressed bed-sharing ensues.

testament by paxlux
Summary: His memory runs backwards in crooked bright flashes, hard as the noise flare of an assault rifle.

Thanksgiving by tinzelda
Summary: For five nights running Bucky had called Steve over to his bed, but other than saying Steve’s name, he never talked much. As long as the lights were on, things were like they’d always been. If anything, Bucky was a little less affectionate during the day—he didn’t throw his arm over Steve’s shoulder as they walked or bump their knees together under the dinner table.

this is a back alley by Febricant
Summary: Here is the only thing you know: the body remembers.

This Much I Know by cavaleira
Summary: "I always slept better when you were around," Steve says softly. "I think you did too." Something within Bucky *knows* that Steve is right, because the only place in the entire world where he feels any semblance of safety is right here, in Steve Rogers's bed at 1am.

Tinker Tailor Super-Soldier Spy by littlerhymes
Summary: Steve survives World War II. In 1972, he and Director Carter team up with a young Nick Fury to investigate a mission gone wrong.

Unusual Weather by novembersmith
Summary: Bucky’s been at the Avengers Tower for three weeks before he finally gives in to Steve’s gentle coaxing and Stark’s cheerful waving of fistfuls of circuits, and lets them scan the arm. It doesn’t go well.

The Way Up by dirtybinary
Summary: It's a long road to recovery, but Bucky's got this. Breaking into Steve's apartment sounds like a good start.

What We Asked For From Each Other by Speranza
Summary: "I don't like pain," he told Banner. "Or assassins. Or boyfriends, actually."

You Stand Alone to Every Record I Own thatdamneddame
Summary: Bucky Barnes is eighteen, a senior in highschool, and totally in love with his best friend. It's okay. He'll either get over it or sleep with every hipster twink in college who's in a band. At least, that's what Natasha says.

your favorite ghost by augustbird
Summary: It's harder than Steve ever expected to bring Bucky home.

your homecoming will be my homecoming by lupinely
Summary: This is what Bucky thinks he remembers. Writing a letter to Steve in the trenches, muddy footprints, impressions of army boots on the ground. So cold his fingers ache. He’s writing the letter but it doesn’t make sense. He’s writing the letter but he wants to go home. It’ll make sense then, he thinks—it’ll make sense when they both come home.


20k+
A Century of Sleep, Vexed to Nightmare by Firefly_Ca
Summary: Once, when they’re talking about his work with the V.A., Sam mentions that bad memories have a way of burrowing themselves deep down inside a person’s mind, waiting for an unguarded moment to push their way back to the surface. At the time, Steve couldn't help but think it was unfair, that the worst moments of your life are the ones that never leave you. But memories are apparently complicated, especially when they get tangled together with emotion. Sometimes the memories that cause the most pain come hand-in-hand with the key to putting yourself back together. (A.K.A. AU where Steve and Bucky meet in a reform school, bad things happen, things get better, then worse, time passes, angst again, and finally violence of the intensely satisfying variety.)

A Gentle Thaw by Vera_DragonMuse
Summary: AU in which there was no Dr. Erskine and no serum, Steve never got the chance to go to war. The years pass and Bucky finally comes home, no longer the man Steve remembers.

A Long Winter by dropdeaddream & WhatAreFears
Summary: In 1945, Steve Rogers jumps from a nosediving plane and swims through miles of Arctic Ocean to a frozen shore. In 1947, Steve Rogers marries Peggy Carter. In 1966, the New York Times finds the lost letters of Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes.

All The Angels and The Saints by Speranza
Summary: In which Steve Rogers loses God and finds God and loses God, and also: Bucky.

Chyetirye by SkyisGray
Summary: Even the strongest personalities, when subjected to great physical, emotional, and sexual abuses, can splinter, or dissociate. Bucky Barnes lives a nightmare after falling from a train and being recovered by Hydra. His mind deals with the trauma by splintering into the soldier, the prisoner, the patriot, and the assassin. Years later, they team up to save Steve Rogers.

Collected Bones of All Kinds Series by hansbekhart
Summary: He'd been back from Afghanistan about two months when the Battle of New York happened. He had heard about Captain America getting pulled out of the ice a week or so before, of course - it had been all over the internet, in all the papers. Sam hadn't really cared, at the time. Too wrapped up in trying to sleep through the night, surrounded by people who loved him but didn't get it. Those were angry days where every hour was a challenge not to scream at his own family for all their petty, safe, day to day living, and Sam had felt pretty much the same about Captain America's revival as he did hearing about the Chitauri invasion, which was basically that he could give a fuck.

Dark Approach by gwyneth
Summary: I have loved you across decades and centuries, over countries and continents and oceans.

Decades by themantlingdark
Summary: Steve and Bucky navigate who they were, who they are, and who they can be.

Decoys by littlerhymes
Summary: The serum makes Steve stronger, but not bigger. Instead of a superhero, he becomes a spy.

devil's gonna follow me (wherever I go) by Lyaka
Summary: The man who used to be Bucky Barnes lined up his shot. His finger twitched, only once, very precisely. / Help me, the bullet sang. / Ninety-eight floors below him, the bullet glanced off a vibranium shield with a musical ping. And Steve Rogers looked up.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell Series by AnnaFugazzi
Summary: Captain America and Bucky Barnes were like brothers. Everyone knew that.

hold me until we crumble by queenklu
Summary: “Sam told me you were watching Antiques Roadshow,” Natasha says, shaking out her hair. “I assumed it was a national emergency.”

Home and Family Series by sanctuary_for_all
Summary: "You look at him like he's home, and you're trying like hell to figure out how to get back to it."

I Didn't Know What Time It Was by cadignan
Summary: It’s been two days now. He knows it would be logical to get out of the city, but he’s waiting for something. Against everything he knows about hiding, he went to the exhibit on Captain America at the Smithsonian and looked at a photo of a stranger who might have been his twin from seventy years ago. He’s not sure what he wanted. An epiphany of some kind, a feeling of doors opening and light flooding in; whatever it was, it never came.

In Each Other All Along Series by misslucyjane
Summary: Bucky Barnes is the lead singer of Winter Soldier. Steve Rogers is their biggest fan.

in from the cold by musesfool
Summary: "We've had eyes out for this operative for years now. I don't think most of us believed he actually existed, but we've finally got proof."

Make up words to songs you used to know by non_sequential
Summary: Steve is incredibly, inexpressibly grateful to have Bucky back. He is. There is no amount of nightmares, of rage, of grief and alcohol-fuelled fights that can make him anything less than absolutely humbled by the wonder of having Bucky in his life again after losing him, after living without him for three excruciating years. /But./ It’s so selfish he’s a little disgusted with himself. He’s got what’s as close as dammit to a bona fide miracle — and still, every now and then, in the darkest recesses of his mind, he’s not satisfied.

Memory by emilyenrose
Summary: He remembered nothing. After the first few weeks, he asked to be called James.

More Man Than You by mikes_grrl
Summary: Like everyone else his age, Steve Rogers graduates high school when he is fifteen years old. It's 1933.

Out of the Dead Land by emilyenrose
Summary: Someone is building machines that look and act like people. Meanwhile, the Winter Soldier tries to be Bucky Barnes.

pull apart the dark by togina
Summary: Steve's unending faith in his best friend was beginning to look less like hope and more like fantasy. When they'd caught the Soldier – in a fire fight that still gave Sam nightmares – the only thing the man seemed to recall was how to hit exactly where it hurt. Four months later, Barnes still refused to speak English. Refused to heed anything but Steve's voice. So, all in all, it was not a great time for Hydra to attack New York. All in all, Sam really wished they'd just killed him, instead of turning Captain America into a baby.

Reciprocity Series by osprey_archer
Summary: “Your goal is to replace a world-class assassin with a defective human being? That’s fucking stupid," Bucky said.

Reflex Memories by sariane
Summary: Bucky Barnes never remembers who he is. That doesn’t stop him from falling in love with Steve Rogers.

Revenant by stele3
Summary: Post-movie AU in which Bucky didn't just leave Steve on a river bank...he took him.

The Right Way to Fall by Taste_is_Sweet
Summary: He's nearly uniform grey like the sky outside, with his grey, unremarkable jacket and equally unremarkable grey cap. Just scruffy enough that most people would avoid eye contact in case he asked them for change. But his eyes are startling blue and stark and wild, and he looks at Sam and Sam looks at him, and yeah. Turns out he knows where Bucky is after all.

Run to the Rock, Run to the Sea by Sharksdontsleep
Summary: It’s easy to get lost when everyone looking for him is dead or soon dead. He lays the Mission on the river bank, looks for life signs. The Mission’s chest inflates, deflates, once, again. The wounds in his back and shoulders leak blood, his pulse faint but present. It’s enough.

Sandwich 'verse by toffeecape
Summary: There would come a day when Sam Wilson could no longer put off a complete debriefing session with his Momma. On that day, Sam hoped to escape the conversation alive by glossing over 'following a juiced-up supersoldier on a brainwashed assassin's revenge tour' in favor of 'convincing a traumatized war hero to come in from the cold with the power of Wilson family recipes.'

Slow Work by lorata
Summary: The future isn't all that's strange. Together in peacetime for the first time since before Steve took the serum, Steve and Bucky struggle to find their place -- and each other -- in the middle of a new millennium, new bodies, and new dynamics. (Or, just because you wake up in a century where everything you've repressed is magically okay, that doesn't make it easy.)

The Supersoldier's Amnesiac Groom by casspeach
Summary: Steve Rogers has always known that the supersoldier serum was a gift, and he's never been afraid to do what's right. When Uncle Sam asks him to unite the two sides of the Cold War by taking part in a symbolic union with a fabled Russian assassin, Captain America doesn't hesitate to do his duty. Little does he know how thoroughly his world is going to be turned upside down.

Throw Down the Gauntlet Series by ameonna & melospiza
Summary: Bucky and Steve have been best friends since second grade. They share everything. Bucky takes this to the logical extreme. Steve is more cooperative than he expected.

The Ties That Bind by Odsbodkins
Summary: In the eyes of God, Steve Rogers was dead. He was still breathing, still walking around, but he was dead. (This fic is my attempt at a functioning A/B/O universe, since most stories with this premise leave me wondering how the society could have developed to modernity with all the issues raised by heats/bonding/male pregnancy. Steve Rogers is learning to cope without his bond-mate in the 21st century, and deal with the new threats the century throws at him.)

This Must Be the Place by hollycomb
Summary: When Bucky reemerges, he is adamant that James Buchanan Barnes is dead and that the shell of the Winter Soldier will soon expire according to Hydra's design. Steve is not willing to accept this, or the fact that Bucky seems to want it to be true.

Timestamp Series by what_alchemy
Summary: Bucky knows what Steve wants when he comes in like that, hair wet, robe slipping off his shoulder.

tin soldiers by idrilka
Summary: In the aftermath of Steve's return to the world of the living and the battle of New York, the academia and the Internet react.

To Live It Again Is Past All Endeavor by trinityofone
Summary: Time travel bodyswap! Present-day Steve and Bucky wake up back in their old bodies in 1938, while past Steve and Bucky wake in a future where they're both built like comic book heroes and Bucky's got what he thinks is a swell future robot arm. Adventures are had, and the ethics of time travel are debated. Also, everyone trash talks Willem de Kooning.

to memory now I can't recall by Etharei
Summary: While on a mission storming a HYDRA facility, James Buchanan Barnes touches one of the many strange alien devices collected by the Red Skull. He does this, in fact, twice— in the past, and in the future. Next thing he knows, Bucky Barnes is opening his eyes in the 21st century, which is full of great gadgets and coffee, and at least includes his old pal Steve. (And, inexplicably, a different Stark.) Meanwhile, the Winter Soldier finds himself in the middle of World War Two, helping Captain America hunt down HYDRA (which is at least familiar), pretending to be Bucky Barnes (which is not), and figuring out the very noisy group of soldiers who call themselves the Howling Commandos.

To the One I've Sinned Against by dsudis
Summary: He knelt, touched his fingers to forehead, chest, left shoulder, right, and said more words than the soldier could ever remember speaking together. They came in a well-worn fluent rush, easier than any post-mission report: "Bless me Father, for I have sinned. It has been a long time since my last confession."

United States v. Barnes, 617 U.S. 143 (2015) by fallingvoices & radialarch
Summary: The Associated Press @AP - Winter Soldier set to stand trial for Washington D.C. massacre and treason apne.ws/1og6SWE

we did not make ourselves by M_Leigh
Summary: It is like steel, the determination inside of you that tells you you will achieve this, that you will find him. Nothing will stop you. You are two sides of the same coin, you and he: he cannot escape you forever. (Bucky runs. Steve follows.)

What A Wonderful World This Would Be by mambo
Summary: Steve Rogers isn't about to let some frat boy jerk like Bucky Barnes show him up, even if it means having to kick Brock Rumlow in the balls.

who he might be by noharlembeat
Summary: Bucky Barnes looks out at the world and he knows that he had always prepared for a world without Steve, but really, he didn't think it would look like this, like toxic lights and shining streets, like how every pulp book he ever read had shown the future. It's so brilliant. Bucky wants to just say, hey, Stevie, look. - But Steve isn't there. (WS!Steve AU)

your blue-eyed boys by lalaietha
Summary: In all of his life - including not only the stuff people would expect, like storming the HYDRA factory alone or crashing the Valkyrie, but also being a kid and so sick he could literally hear his mother praying through tears a few feet over, and the days and nights it was him praying and her gasping for breath that eventually left her - In all that, through all that, this is the first time Steve's hands have actually shaken so badly he has to stop and sit and make himself calm down.

WIPs
And The Rest Was History by tomato_greens
Summary: "It was, at its heart, a love story." - Brown, Delilah. A Grand Affair: The Secret Romance That Saved a Nation. New York: Doubleday, 2011. Print.

the gravedigger's handbook by idrilka
Summary: Sometimes it's the most difficult thing, coming home. They both learn that, in their own ways. (In the end, Bucky comes back to Steve. In the end, it is all that matters.)

our golden age by augustbird
Summary: Wherein Bucky is the crown prince and Steve still becomes a hero. (A series of fics/media set in the same universe.)

Reconstruction by rageprufrock
Summary: In which Stephanie Rogers is the complicating element in the sweeping romance of Bucky Barnes and Lady Liberty.

Turn Back the Clock by Bluandorange
Summary: Sam and Steve have tracked the Winter Soldier back to New York, but they have to put their search on hold when a wizard starts robbing banks on Broadway. During the fight, Steve gets hit with a spell that separates him from the rest of the Avengers, leaves him 10 inches shorter, 145 pounds lighter, and convinced the year's still 1943. And of course once Steve's forgotten about him, he runs into the Winter Soldier.

We Should Get Jerseys by offtide
Summary: [fancomic]