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1 : Alexei
It had barely been 2 months since all of them have fully moved into the new Avengers tower, with all of them still trying to figure out how to live with each other and how to fall into a regular routine. To say it was an adventure was an understatement, all of them living under the same roof? It was like their personal nightmares flushed into one place.
“Who the fuck keeps using all the hot water?” John yelled into their shared area, only to find everyone crowding around the couch, over what you might say?
Alexei Shostakov.
Why? That's a question John would also like to know.
The closer he walked to the scene unfolding in front of him, he could see the tiny giggles coming from Ava and the way Bucky had a small smile on his face as he observed the scene. It was so unlike them that it took John aback.
“What’s happening?” John asked out loud, Bucky looked back at him, only moving slightly, making an opening in their crowd so that John could see what was happening.
Alexei had his head down, seemingly asleep and snoring, sitting upright. He looked just like a stereotypical dad, it was almost laughable to John. The thing that was even more laughable about this was that there were princess stickers all over the older man.
The giggles continued as Yelena stuck another sticker on her father’s forehead, a cinderella one to be specific. Bob, on the other hand, had made himself useful by also putting stickers on Alexei’s forearm. It was an unexpected sight, especially when you usually never see Alexei with his guard down like this.
John also spotted Bucky taking a picture of the whole scene with a smile, and watched as he typed away on his phone. John could only assume it was to Sam, because who else would Bucky be texting with a smile like that?
“How did you guys even get him like that?” John whispered, still awestruck by what was happening.
“It was pretty easy actually-” Ava shrugged.
“Dad’s hungover.” Yelena quipped, “We didn’t really have to do anything.” A shit - eating grin appeared on her face as she stuck another sticker to his head.
It was rare to have moments like this, to have moments as a full team. You could blame it on the fact that they were all still settling in, or that they still needed to get used to living with each other. But even then, they all only were in the same room for missions or debriefs. Never together like this, it was more or less domestic in a way.
“What happens when he wakes up?” The man said with a skeptical gaze.
“We hope for the best.”
“We run?”
“I-I don’t know.”
Were the round of responses John got before he put his hand down his face.
“He’s not violent unless it comes to battle,” Yelena says, getting up from her position, “If that’s what you’re worried about.” The woman walks over to where Bucky and John are standing and sticks a cinderella sticker to his chest with a grin.
“Whatever you say.” John said with a shrug, sitting down on one of the nearby couches, letting the rest of them do what they wanted with their freetime. He would never admit it outloud but he did like their company, it made the days go by faster, made him forget about the things he didn’t want to remember.
Time went by, and the three children of this group had fun sticking their stickers to Alexei as he was peacefully asleep. Soon after they had taken pictures of Alexei and started sharing them in their shared group chat, the messages flooded with different angles of the sticker filled Alexei.
More time passed, and soon all of them were no longer focused on Alexei, now instead debating on various topics as they crowded around the man’s sleeping body.
“I don’t understand why you don’t listen to anything but 40s music Bucky- there's so much more out there.” Ava comments on his music taste as he scrolls through his playlists.
“He’s just an old man, let him listen to old man stuff.” John chimed in earning him a glare from Bucky which he only shrugged off, it wasn’t anything he wasn’t already used to.
“It’s the only logical response.” Yelena, who was sitting on the floor with Bob, agreed with John, which was honestly a first. “Do we not have any missions for today, Bucky?”
“We do,” Bucky says, taking back his phone from Ava, “But first we have to wake up sleeping beauty over there.” He points to Alexei, who had changed his position and was now leaning back all the way in the chair.
“You think he’s good for a mission if he’s hungover?”
“Well..”
“It’d be funny.”
“It would put us in danger.” John countered.
All of them sat in silence before Bob finally broke the silence, “So do we wake him or..”
“Not it!” Ava yells.
Bob follows suit, “Not it-”
“Not it.” Bucky says almost as quickly.
“Not it!”
All who was left was John, which was just his luck.
“You guys are such assholes, you know that?” He says sinking into the couch.
“Don’t be such a sore loser when you were the one who was too slow.” Bucky smirks, before gesturing to the sleeping Alexei, “Go on then.”
“Alright, damn.” John huffs, getting up from the comfortable couch to where Alexei was snoring his ass off. John’s faced worse than this, but this was Alexei.
The man had shaken the man a little bit, and after a couple seconds of no response, he shook a little harder, and when that came up with nothing, John was now at this point full shaking the man who was sleeping.
“Guys I don’t really think this is working-”
Not even 5 seconds later John was bear hugged by the once sleeping Alexei.
“Yelena??!” John yelled out trying to get out of the super soldier’s hold, “Guys? Guys-”
Bucky crossed, “That’s all you John.”
“We’ll see you after the mission!” Yelena cheerfully left the shared area.
2 : Ava
Ava was hard on herself, it was evident in the way she moved, her determination and relentlessness flowed with every step she took. Everyone on the team knew she held a lot in her that she never bothered to tell anyone else, but some people just liked to keep to themselves, and the team didn’t mind.
So when Bob was wandering the halls of the tower, as he usually did on days he was bored, and saw a lone figure crouched over their dining room table. First he thought, what an odd place to sleep, second he thought that might be the most uncomfortable position to sleep in when there is a couch less than 10 ft away from where the figure was sleeping.
The next steps Bob took were soft and slow, nothing to wake up the person who was sleeping in what he still thinks is a horrible place. The closer he moved towards the table, the more he recognized the figure, it was Ava.
“Ava?” Bob whispered when he looked down at her, shaking her softly, her skin cold as his fingertips met her arm, “Ava, hello?” He spoke once more, but to no avail, Ava stayed in the same position. At this point, Bob could only assume she had passed out from exhaustion, because why else would she be at the dining room table?
The man looked around confused to see if anyone else was near, looking to the rising sun shining through their big windows as he thought about his next steps. Which he ultimately decided was to at least make her comfortable.
The tower was cold most of the time, especially during the winter time as they’ve all come to learn. However, their personal room’s were built in with heaters, which was a plus. Bob had never had so much stability in his life, it was almost like a dream to be living in the tower where the original Avengers had resided in.
The man soon after wandered back into their main room, a blanket and a bag of other things in his hands as he walked back to where Ava was. Bob put the fluffy blanket on her shoulders, making sure not to wake her as he did.
Bob tried pulling out the chair across from her as quietly as possible, and sat down, accompanying her in her deep sleep. He pulled out a book he had tried to start the day prior and started flipping through the pages to the last page he was on.
What felt like minutes turned into hours, Bob had started the book on the first chapter and was now on the fifteenth. Looking over to the woman across from him, in the couple of hours they sat there, she had barely moved, only moving to adjust herself slightly but never fully waking up. The first couple of times had honestly scared Bob, but after several hours, he grew accustomed to it.
Ava had felt a weight on her back that had not been there before, with a swift movement, she felt a soft fabric on her shoulders and saw that it was a blanket. The last thing she remembers was the writing mission reports she was behind on, but she definitely did not remember bringing a blanket with her last night.
The woman took in her surroundings, the sun shining high up in the blue sky, and someone sitting across from her.
“Bob?” Ava groggily asked out loud, the man across from her a bit too engrossed in his book to even notice that she had awakened.
“Oh hi.” Bob greeted her, a tiny smile on his face as he set his book down.
“What are you doing here?” She asked, looking around to see if anyone else was in the vicinity. “When’d you get here?”
“I..uh saw you alone and thought you might want company when you wake up.” Bob explained before quickly adding on, “And you looked uncomfortable too- so I-I brought you the blanket and-”
“Thank you.” Ava swiftly interrupted him, the two words out of her mouth as genuine as she could make them, “Thanks for this.” She said lifting up the blanket, before looking up to him and giving him a slight smile.
“You’re- you’re welcome.” Bob said, before opening the bag he brought with him, “I also brought leftovers- if you’re hungry.”
“The Chinese takeout from yesterday night?”
“Yeah, it’s kinda the only thing in the kitchen right now.” Bob said sheepishly.
“Figured.” Ava huffed, accepting the takeout box from Bob, “Thanks, again.”
Ava raised her arms up and stretched her bones, cracking a couple in the process, her body fully awake now as she looked back down at the papers that were unfinished. The comfortable silence that engulfed the dining table as they both went back to what they were doing.
The sounds of scribbles on paper and the turning of paper were all that were all the sounds they heard around them. The takeout boxes that were now empty surrounded them, filling the table with more clutter than intended.
“What are you reading?” Ava asked, looking up from her reports, the words on the paper were mushing together the more she looked at it.
“The Song of Achilles,” Bob replied, “Some lady in the bookstore recommended it.”
“How is it?”
“Good, so far.” The man shrugged, “Wouldn’t have been something I picked up at first but I like it.” He said, putting his finger in the book as a bookmark, “What are you doing?”
“Mission reports,” Ava leaned back in her chair, “I’m a bit behind on mine.”
“Can I help?” Bob said as he leaned forward, setting his book down entirely as he looked to her for approval.
Ava looked at how eager he was to help and simply couldn’t refuse, “Sure.”
The two of them sat there for a couple more hours, together in silence unless it was to discuss specifics. It was a comfortable moment between the two teammates, something that wouldn’t have happened if Bob didn’t see a woman sleeping at their dining table.
3 : Yelena
It was late into the night, Yelena didn’t need to look at the clock to know. It was like a routine her body was accustomed to, dreams that woke her up almost every single time. Nightmares that ranged from her memories in the red room to dreams about when she was still in Ohio with Natasha. No matter what it was, it always woke her up.
The blonde walked through the same halls that her sister once walked through, it was almost poetic to think that she was now living here. In the same place that felt like a hollow of what it used to be. Living with a team was..difficult to say the least.
She hadn’t been living with so many people since..well since the red room. But even then, the widows in her generation weren’t there by choice, but here, in this tower. It was all..different. Welcoming, and homey, if you squinted hard enough.
Her feet met the cold floor, the blanket she had dragged with her trailing behind her as she walked further down the hall, not quite sure where she wanted to end up yet.
It was quiet, as it would be. It was after all late into the night, she knows most of them would rather be asleep then be up at ungodly hours of the night, but sometimes you never knew with their crew. Everyone was quite unpredictable.
Yelena looked at everyone's door, the lights were all off in the hallways except for one. Ava’s.
The ex-widow knew her steps were quiet, it was ingrained into her from her widow training, she didn’t even need to try because it was second nature to her, but she made sure her steps were heard by the woman from behind the door, letting her know that someone was there.
“Ava? Are you awake?” Yelena asked as she knocked on the door, quiet enough for no one else in the hall to hear, but loud enough for Ava to hear on the other side.
“Yelena?” Ava said from inside, “Is that you?”
“I don’t think anyone else in this tower is a girl.” Yelena rolled her eyes before opening the door herself, letting her inside without a warning. “I’m bored.” The woman announces as she enters.
“Oh great, yeah just let yourself in.” Ava says as the sarcasm drips from her voice before looking at the woman, “I don’t why you’re bored when you could just go to sleep.”
Yelena walks over and makes herself comfortable next to Ava on her bed, the action isn’t unwelcomed by the other woman, and it isn’t unusual for various team members wandering into each other's rooms. It was almost like an unspoken rule between them all.
It was mainly because almost everyone on the team had nightmares, whether they acknowledged it or not, they did. It didn’t need to be said into the air when one entered another’s room, and nobody bothered to comment on it.
The TV across from the bed was on, the bright light shining on them both, giving them light to see around the room.
“What are you watching?” Yelena asks, looking at the TV, “A Titanic documentary? Seriously?”
“I’m sorry- is this your TV?” Ava scoffed as she turned to Yelena, who only gave an uninterested shrug in return, “And yes, it’s a Titanic documentary.”
“Why can’t you watch something interesting? Like the actual Titanic movie?”
Ava turned to Yelena, a sly grin painting her face, “Oh my god, is Yelena Belova a secret romantic?”
“Where did you even get that?” Yelena answered defensively, “I am not.”
“Ooh!” Ava starts shaking the other woman, “Yelena the romantic!”
“Shut up!” Yelena says as she tries to escape Ava’s grasp. “Ava!” Yelena groans as she squirms around, “It was just a suggestion!”
Ava’s giggles filled the room as she held Yelena down, the ex-widow still squirming around. She knew that if Yelena wanted to get out, she definitely could, but was actively choosing not to.
“You could’ve just said you wanted to watch it.” Ava shrugged, finally letting go of the other woman, “Kate Winslet looks amazing in it anyways.” She adds on as she fumbles around with the remote, effectively switching off the documentary to change to Netflix.
“I should’ve just stayed in my room.” The blonde grumbles, covering herself in her messed up blanket.
The movie quickly engulfed the room with sound, with the two of them with their backs to the headboard as they watched together in silence. It filled the time and was entertaining to say the least.
Ava hadn’t bothered to check up on her uninvited guest but was reminded of her presence as she felt a weight on her right shoulder. It was right when the actual Titanic was about to sink, which was truly ironic, Yelena had knocked out the moment the sad bits had come in.
“Yelena?” Ava whispered, feeling the blonde’s head go limp on her shoulder, “Yelena?” She asked again, tilting her head slightly to see the other woman’s face, only to see that her eyes were closed and how her breathing had slowed.
Ava didn’t mind their current position as she continued to watch the movie. Her shoulder would regret this by the morning however.
———
“Ava?” Bucky knocked on the woman’s door, before noticing it was unlocked, “Hey, have you seen-” The man didn’t need to continue as he saw the scene in front of him.
Yelena’s head was still on Ava’s shoulder and Ava’s head rested softly on Yelena’s. It honestly didn’t look the most comfortable but they were both sound asleep. It was like something he didn’t think he’d see from the two of them, but it reminded him of that thing they all had with sneaking into each other’s rooms.
Bucky quickly took out his phone and took a quick picture, sending it to the team's group chat. With a text that accompanied it, ‘Found them.’
4 : Bucky
It was one of those rare warm nights in the tower, where everyone had shorts on around and when everyone usually shed their jackets and had less layers on. It was the one time of year Bucky actually hated. Layers were like his armor, he definitely wore them like armor. It covered the parts of him he didn’t want the world to see.
But he simply had no choice, the weather did not allow him to have things the way he wanted them to be.
Yelena, on the other hand, was quite enjoying the change of weather. It reminded her of home, back in Ohio when the sun shined almost every day and when she would play out in the park. She preferred the weather like this, maybe her one gripe with it was the clothing switch, but she could deal with it.
Wandering around the tower was like a hobby to her, she found it entertaining to bother everyone in their rooms at weird times of the day, she likes the excuse that it keeps them on their toes, but she also enjoys seeing everyone at least once outside of missions and work related things.
But this time, she had a purpose for seeking out the former Winter Soldier. She had a couple of things to ask him and a couple of knives to return to his care. She had borrowed some on an off mission when she had run out, which is a bit shocking considering the pocket range on her suit.
It was midday in New York, when the weather was arguably at its hottest. Yelena walked into the personal room’s hallway, the window at the end of the hall giving her an exact view of the sun. Her steps had stopped at Bucky’s door, almost like muscle memory. The woman always went to him for stupid shit, like problems she had with the kitchen, or how much of an ass John was, or sometimes just to bother him. (Usually it was the latter). But Bucky would always come out of his room and talk to her in the hallway, never fully letting her inside the vicinity that was his room.
“Bucky?” Yelena knocked on the door, “Hey Bucky, I know you’re in there.” She said, double checking her phone, “Unless you left your phone somewhere- I really don’t care-” Yelena huffed out before she knocked a little bit harder, “Bucky? Bucky I don’t like your silent treatment-”
The blonde had burst into the room, and in her defense, she did make herself known. But..the room looked unchanged. It was dark, the curtains were drawn and it had a cold feeling to it, and an eerie feeling.
“Hey..Bucky? This is really, really creepy.” Yelena said as she wandered in, gripping the bag full of knives a little tighter, “Hello?”
The woman walked deeper into his room, which virtually looked like nobody had been there in days. The bed was made, the nightstands were pristine, the room looked untouched. Not as untouched as the first they had arrived, no, because if so there wouldn’t be photo frames of the various people in Bucky’s life.
For a moment in time, Yelena had realized she’d never been in his room, not fully at least, not deep enough to look closely at his photographs. One frame was with the team, one of their late night drive-ins after a mission. The mission was one of the first official ones they ever got, and one of the many successful ones. It was nice that he kept the picture, the janky smiles that everyone had, Yelena remembered how happy everyone was to finally be free from their obligations for the night.
The next photograph was one where Yelena could only recognize two people, including Bucky himself, with the other one being Sam Wilson. The other three people she couldn’t quite make out, a woman and two children who were on either side of Bucky, who was in the middle. The one right next to that one was one of just Sam and Bucky, on a boat where Yelena could only assume was Sam’s hometown.
The last one was an old one, the edges were ripped and it had a yellowish color to it, but she could make out the people perfectly. Who wouldn’t recognize the former Captain America and his best friend? The two of them were smiling, Yelena at first thought of how young Bucky must’ve been in that, his eyes still shining with some glimmer of hope, with a smile that was much brighter than the ones she had seen.
As Yelena wandered in closer, she was almost confident Bucky was not in the room with her at all. She could only assume the tracker was wrong, or that he had left his phone in his room. Her eyes wandered around, looking at the various trinkets all around before-
“Bucky?!” Yelena immediately crouched down to the man on the floor, dropping the bag of knives, Buck was just lying there with only a thin blanket covering his waist. The blonde shook the man “Bucky? Hey-”
Bucky’s eyes shot open, Yelena recognized as he let his guard up, his vibranium arm quickly raised before he took a closer look at who was currently in front of him.
“Yelena?” Bucky said with a confused gaze. “What are you doing here?”
“ Suka ..” Yelena sank to the floor, relieved that the man was breathing and not in fact dead on his own floor, “I should be asking you that!” She let out as she pulled a hand through her hair, “What the fuck are you doing on the floor? I thought you were dead!” She emphasized as she waved her hands around frantically.
Bucky didn’t exactly give her a response, only staring at her in his dark room.
“Seriously?” Yelena said as she looked the man up and down, “Nothing?”
“What?”
Yelena glared at him, “What do you mean, ‘what’?”
“What are you doing?” The man asked, his mind still a bit groggy from his nap. He honestly still thought this was a dream.
“I came to give your knives back-”
“Couldn’t you have given it to me tomorrow?” Bucky said, sitting up, “Isn’t it late?”
“It’s 1:30, Bucky.” Yelena clarified.
“Oh.”
Silence overtook the room, the two of them sitting with themselves on the floor. Not bothering to say a single word to each other. Yelena tried to calm her heartbeat, it did spike high after seeing a sight like that, a sight that she never really would’ve expected.
Yelena was the first to break the silence, looking directly at Bucky, “Why are you sleeping on the floor?”
The man only looks up at her, unsure of what to say, if he should lie or if he should tell her the truth. It would be the right thing to tell her the truth, they were teammates, they had to trust each other. But on the other hand, did he truly want her to know?
What snapped Bucky out of his own thoughts was once again the woman across from him.
“Bucky?” Her gaze softened, Yelena had that effect, she was the most comforting in the team despite everything that she went through. She had a heart underneath all of that pain that she kept close, but never once batted an eye when her teammates needed that heart.
“Yeah, sorry.” Bucky ran his fingers through his hair, avoiding her gaze, and buying some time for himself before he spoke the words out into existence, “Reminds me of before Hydra.”
The man looked at her to try and read her expression, which was as neutral as always, but gave him the courage to somehow go on.
“In war, you don’t get a good selection of beds to choose from, and your best bet was to just take the floor.” Bucky explained, the blonde across from him staying silent as he did, “I guess…it just reminds of a simpler time, before I was the winter soldier, when I was still me.”
“You’re you now, aren’t you?”
“Well..yeah,” Bucky gave a small shrug, “But you know the feeling, how your past haunts you even when you don’t want it to.”
“Doesn’t mean we can’t ignore it and keep going forward with our lives,” Yelena sighs, recollecting on her own past, as an ex-widow, and mind that was tempered with and rearranged for the sake of one man.
“I guess so.” Bucky lets out a small grin, “and you know..it’s deathly hot right now too, so the bed’s a bit too stuffy for me.” The man says as he lets his head hit the nightstand.
“Just turn on the AC-”
“It broke.” Bucky interrupted her.
“What do you mean?” Yelena’s head quickly turns to him, “Mine works fine-”
“What?”
“Yeah-”
5 : Bob
It was another lively night in the tower, and after the mission debrief that turned into drinks and takeout. It was almost like tradition at this point, a tradition they had unknowingly created. The warm lights were lit and their coffee table was filled with empty bottles and boxes.
Bob loved nights like these, they were his favorite kinds of nights. Everyone was tired after a battle, but everyone still made the time and effort to be together. Still made time to sit and talk to each other outside of their respective duties. It made them feel like an actual team, like they all belonged there, like they were missing puzzle pieces that finally fit together.
Yelena was on the floor, as usual, with her back against the bottom of the couch, a juice box gracing her hands instead of a bottle. Ava was sitting right above Yelena, her hands fiddling around with the blonde’s hair, making various braids in her hair, ranging from ones that stuck up weirdly or some that were thicker than others. John was nursing a bottle in his hand, sitting on his designated couch, observing the scene and occasionally putting in his input.
Alexei was the only one not sitting, he was standing and using his storytelling skills to use. Bucky, on the other hand, was sitting next to Bob on the couch, his back fully leaned against the back of the couch, a bottle also in his hand. The two of them were on opposite ends so that Bob could stretch his legs out, a blanket covering his legs as he sat with his head leaning on the top of the couch.
“Did you guys see those girls checking out Mr.Congressman over there?” Yelena asked out loud after Alexei’s story, “They so wanted your number, Barnes.”
Bucky scoffed the notion off, “They did not.”
“They so did, they were definitely checking you out.” Ava chimed in, agreeing with Yelena as she continued making little braids in her hair. “Too bad you’ve already got your sights on a certain stars and stripes.” Her grin grew bigger at the mention of Captain America.
“You’ll mention Sam at any cost, huh?”
“Always.” Ava shrugged, “If it finally gets you to admit everything between you and him.”
“I always did think you guys were a thing.” John added, “You guys are attached at the hip, I’m surprised you haven’t brought him here yet.”
“Me too.” Alexei raised a hand, “I would like to meet our new Captain, I only ever see him on TV, or in magazines..” The older man’s voice trailed.
Bob honestly wasn’t following the conversation, they all lost him the moment Alexei was mentioning something about the mission right before this. He usually would be able to follow along, but sleep was flooding his body as he went limp against the plush couch.
“Yeah, why haven’t you brought him?” Yelena said with an accusing stare, “Are you..perhaps ashamed of us?” The woman feigned offense with a gasp, “Bucky Barnes! How dare you.”
“Oh come on,” Bucky rolls his eyes, “You all wouldn’t know how to control yourselves anyways.” He says with confidence, “And we aren’t a thing, so I don’t know where you got that-”
“Have you seen you texting him?” John laughed, “You guys are basically a long distance couple, let’s be so real here.”
“We could control ourselves, you just don’t want us to see your hero friends.” Yelena stuck her tongue out at Bucky, “It’s plain mean, Bucky.”
“Long distance? Sam can literally fly here any time he wants to.” Ava chimed in, tying the last braid in.
John sat up in agreement, gesturing towards Ava, “Exactly!”
“You guys are delusional.” The former Winter Soldier said as he pulled the bottle to his mouth.
“Delusion is not the word for it.” Ava says, leaning back into the couch before pointing over to where Bob was next to Bucky, “Wait..Guys-”
“Us? Delusional?” Yelena scoffed, crushing her juice box and throwing it on the coffee table, “Look in a mirror.”
“Guys,” Ava tried again, as the group continued to go back and forth, “Guys!”
A round of “What?” were the responses Ava got before the group had suddenly got silent as she pointed over to the long couch.
“Bob’s asleep.” She finally said, the whole group turning over and looking next to Bucky. The younger man was in fact asleep, his arms carefully tucked underneath his thin blanket and his soft breathes filling the silent gazes.
“Should we carry him over to his room?” John suggested first, only getting a head shake from Yelena.
“No, he’s a light sleeper.” Yelena said, getting up from her position on the floor, “I’ll get another blanket for him.” She whispered quietly before walking silently over to their closet of extra blankets and pillows.
“How did we not notice he was asleep?” Ava thought out loud, “How did you not notice?” She pointed to Bucky, who only put his hands up defensively.
“Don’t ask me!” He yelled quietly.
“You’re sitting right next to him!” John added.
Alexei shook his head, “Very bad parenting, Mr.Barnes.”
“What the fuck?”
Yelena walked back into the room to see the four of them quietly yelling at each other, for what reason? She really didn’t want to know, because what she did know was that it was probably something stupid.
“Guys- shut the fuck up!” Yelena hushed all of them as she threw Bucky the blankets and pillows she collected. “You’re closest, so it’s your job.” She said before continuing, “Everyone else is on cleanup duty.” The short blonde said, throwing trash bags in John’s arms.
The group stayed still for a couple moments, just staring at Yelena.
The woman put her hands on her hips, “Well? Come on, get up!” She urged them to get up, which they quickly did, with John quickly giving a trash bag to Alexei and Ava as they started to throw away all the trash that had collected over time on their coffee table. Bucky went straight to his job, which was much easier. Simply putting the soft blanket on Bob and tucking him in, putting a pillow right next to him just in case he wanted it.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Yelena said with a smile, looking at the work they had done. Which was literally just cleaning up their living room and giving Bob some sense of comfort on the couch.
“Are we seriously gonna leave him here?” John questioned, looking at the peacefully sleeping Bob.
“I mean..” Ava’s voice trails, “Who wants to carry him to his room?”
The group looked at Bob, then to each other. Nobody said a word, but their faces spoke for themselves, which read, ‘Let’s not.’
“We can stay here with him?” Yelena offered, “We do have to work on mission reports.” She said, bringing up a good point to the group.
“Then let us stay and work on reports.” Alexei said as quietly as he could, “Best not to leave Bob alone like this.”
“Okay then, it’s decided.” The blonde smiled, touching one of the many braids on her hair, happy to stay a bit longer with the team, even if it was going to be a bit quieter then it had been 20 minutes beforehand.
6 : John
At this point, everyone on the team has weird sleeping habits, Bucky with his floor, Yelena with her insomnia, Alexei’s weird way of sleeping anywhere and everywhere, Bob’s affinity to only sleeping well around people, and Ava’s passing out from exhaustion. And John? John wasn’t any different.
Maybe his wasn’t as weird as everyone else's, or wasn’t as frequent as everyone else, but he still had some of his own. One that kept him from going back to sleep after a bad dream. Scared that if he did fall back asleep, he’d see those memories flashed right before his eyes again, having to relive the moment over again when he didn’t even want to see it in the first place.
John thinks he’s been pretty good at hiding it, after all he’s usually always in his room when it happens, never trying to venture outside in fear of seeing someone and having to explain why he was up at such a time. He’d rather hide it than ever bring it up with anyone.
But tonight was different, he didn’t know what it was, and he couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something about tonight made him want to actually leave his room.
His feet touched the cold floor of their hallway, his body leading him to a place he didn’t exactly know yet, the tower was big, the biggest place he’d ever lived in ever actually. So getting lost was exactly what he needed.
A couple minutes of walking through the cold halls, he opened a door to some side of the building he’d never been to before. The curiosity had killed him and he walked through it, the windy breeze hitting him right as he walked out. It was a balcony, a small one, but it was a balcony.
John closed the door behind him, walking deeper out into the balcony. It was a stunning view of New York, but then again every view from this tower had a great view of New York. It was one of the tallest buildings there, so of course it would. But this view..with the moon shining right about the various skyscrapers, it was a beauty, and John took it in the best he could.
Digging around in his pockets, his hands hit a box, a small box full of cigarettes. A box that he honestly thought he had gotten rid of a long time ago, he quit after Lemar died, the memory of the man haunting him, the words that warned him not to do it made him stop.
John sighed, putting it on the thick railing, before looking back at the view. The sound of cars honking at each other, the lights that emitted from almost every building in view, it was a view you could never get tired of.
“Smoking huh?” A voice crept up on John, who was too engulfed in the view to notice anyone walk out onto the balcony with him.
“What the fuck?!” John jumped as he looked at who had entered the vicinity, “Bucky?”
“Yeah, that’s me.” Bucky quipped, joining John at the edge of the railing.
John let his heart stop racing, “You’re such an ass.”
Bucky shrugged, holding up the pack of cigarettes in his hand and observing it, before ultimately taking one out of the pack and pulling out a lighter from his pocket, lighting the end of the cigarette.
John looked at Bucky a bit confused, he’d never shared a moment like this with Bucky, alone like this. They were never in the same vicinity alone, always within a team setting. It was odd to see him like this, after everything he thought of Bucky.
“You smoke?” John finally asked, still looking at the man a bit oddly.
Bucky looked back at him, huffing out smoke before he answered, “No, but it’s been a rough night.”
It was a half truth, Bucky used to smoke in his formative years, with the crowds he ran with and the environment in the 40s, it would be a shock if he didn’t smoke. But he had taken to only doing it on rare occasions, when he was extremely tired or stressed. Whenever he did pick up one, he always somehow got reminded of Steve telling him not to do it in front of him, it brought him back to a time when things were simpler.
“You know, Walker.” Bucky says in the midst of their silence together, “I’m surprised I finally caught you out and about tonight.”
John once again looked at the other man confused, “Why is that?”
“Because I know you’re awake this late,” He says nonchalantly, as if it was known information to everyone, “I can hear you in the next room over training at like 3 in the morning, honestly thought you had some strict routine so I didn’t bother mentioning it.”
The thought that John had hid it well enough died with three sentences from the man, “How long have you known?”
“Couple of months.” Bucky shrugged, nursing the cigarettes between his fingers, “If you’re worried about me spilling, I won’t.”
“I’m not worried.” John frowned at the notion, he may not have trusted Bucky enough with something like this, but the man had integrity.
“Okay then.”
Their relationship was a tough one, a hard one to describe, especially now that they work together in a team. Something neither of them could have ever imagined 3 years ago when they first met each other.
They fell into a silence that was indescribable, it was neither comforting or uneasy, but it was steady, unlike anything they had really ever experienced together. On the battlefield, everything was quick, and life threatening, there was no time to sit around and lounge.
Here? In the tower where they all lived, it was different. Hilariously different from when they were out on a mission.
“I know we don’t ever talk.” Bucky started with a sigh, playing around with the dead cigarette in his hands.
“We talk.”
“Not like this.” Bucky glared at the man next to him, but continued on, “But I..” His voice trailed off, “I wanted to say I’m sorry about what I said, it was wrong of me to bring it up.”
“And what..” John started, “per se are we talking about?” His voice feigning cluelessness.
“Oh come on walker, don’t do that.” Bucky groaned with a hand running down his face.
“Do what?”
“You’re really gonna make me say it?”
“Yeah, I am.”
Bucky finally gave in and said, “About Olivia, and your kid.”
“See?” John said, the glimmer of entertainment in his eyes, “Was that so hard?”
“You’re such an ass, I don’t even know why I said anything.” Bucky grumbled as he threw the cigarette off the ledge.
“Makes up for all the shit you gave me before.” John said with a shrug, with his night getting much more interesting then it had previously been going.
Bucky looked at the man next to him, “Yeah yeah..but I am sorry.”
John could feel how genuine Bucky was, and he never thought he’d ever be on the receiving end of an apology from him. It was a shocking moment to him, when he walked out of his room, he never really expected anything to happen. Maybe it was the universe telling him it wasn’t as bad to interact with people as much.
“Never thought I’d get an apology from the Bucky Barnes, must be a miracle right now, or a dream.” John said as the sarcasm escaped his mouth, it wasn’t what he really wanted to say, but the moment was too tense for his liking.
“It’s gonna be a dream when I knock you out and throw you over the edge.” Bucky threatened with a glare.
John put his hands up defensively, “Woah woah, jeez Bucky.”
Bucky had said something in another language that John couldn’t understand before saying, “I’m leaving,” the man started walking towards the exit, “do whatever your heart desires I guess.”
John watched as he walked away, something on the tip of his tongue was telling him to let it out before he lost the chance forever.
“Thank you, Bucky.”
The man looked back, the door half open in front of him with his hand on the knob.
“Yeah, course man.” was all the man said before fully leaving the other man alone on the balcony.
Yes, their relationship was rocky, but it was getting somewhere better.
+1 : Everyone
A free night for everyone on the team was rare, so rare that it was like it wasn’t even a possibility anymore. Bucky still somehow had congressman duties that he couldn’t neglect, no matter how much he wanted to. Alexei was still operating his limo business, saying it gave him something to do. And the rest of them liked taking solo missions on occasion, it filled the time but it made everyone’s schedules vastly different.
So when the opportunity presented itself, they took it and ran with it. The opportunity they used it for? Dave and Busters.
Apparently a lot of them haven’t experienced it, with the only two people who have been there being Bob and John, but considering everyone’s past, it was understandable why everyone didn’t have a normal lifestyle.
A night filled with games, drinks, and food, who would refuse?
Bucky was designated driver, as always. Everyone managed to fit in Bucky’s car, somehow squishing four people in the back while Alexei stayed in the front with Bucky. It was actually a shock all of them didn’t actually kill each other in the back of his car.
“Are we there yet?” Yelena asked, as she always did whenever they were in a car together.
“No, Blondie, we are not.” Bucky let out a sigh, “Blame New York traffic.”
———
The night passed by them as quick as the sun set, it was nearing midnight and almost everyone had run out of their social battery. All the games and food they had eaten may have had them going but now that it’s been a couple of hours? Everyone was sluggish. Almost all of them except for Bucky walked out of the building a bit lesh polished then when they entered, Alexei might’ve been the worst of them all, he was unsurprisingly drunk and slurring his words as Bucky helped him walk outside.
Yelena was leaning on Ava for support, her sleepiness getting the better of her as they walked to their far away parking spot, a relief that they even found in the first place. Bob had taken to holding onto John as a guide, holding on tightly as to not get lost in the crowds of New York, and Bucky was carefully guiding a delirious Alexei to the car.
Once they reached the actual car, all of them filed in without a second thought, thankful to be off their feet and sitting somewhere safe and comfortable enough.
Bucky slammed the driver's door before looking to the back, “Everyone accounted for?”
“Here.”
“Also here.”
“Present.”
He heard from a round of voices, and one unidentified sound from Yelena as she laid her head down on Bob’s shoulder, or close to it considering
their close proximity in the backseat.
Ava and John were behind Bucky and Yelena and Bob were behind Alexei’s seat, the lot of them squishing their bodies together to make space for the other. It honestly reminded Bucky of peas in a pod, but they wouldn’t have liked to hear that as they were experiencing it.
“Alright then, let’s go home.” The man said as he started the car and weaved through the traffic of the city they lived in. It was a silent drive back to the tower, a silence that Bucky didn’t mind all too much.
The bright lights of their beloved city flashed in different colors around the car, it was a lot different from the city Bucky grew up in, that’s for sure. The city he grew up in was much less..colorful, buildings were a lot smaller, less on the fancier side.
Bucky still had a home over in Brooklyn, but stayed at the tower more than he did his own apartment. He’d gotten so used to not living alone, it was almost like his own apartment didn’t exist to him anymore.
The drive back had been a bit or a blur, the want to be home and in a bed was all that ran through his mind. Bucky hadn’t even realized that everyone in the car was asleep, Alexei was knocked out in the passenger seat next to him, while the four of them in the back had heads on various shoulders and limbs intertwined in ways he didn’t know how.
Bucky paused and looked at the scene around him. This was his life now, the life they all chose to be in. If you had told him 4 years ago this is how his life would turn out, he wouldn’t have even batted an eye. That this was now his reality?
The man flashed a quick picture of the backseat, keeping it in one of the albums of collected pictures of everyone. Smiling as he looked through all the pictures he had taken over the course of a year and a half.
A year and a half full of chaos, full of life threatening situations, full of arguments and full of comfort. A year and a half that wouldn’t have happened if they didn’t all fall into place, if they didn’t fit together like a puzzle with different pieces, and a future that looked brighter every day they were all together.