fossilised | For Steve

If Bucky had a therapist - something he likely needed, but which no shrink in the world would actually be qualified to deal with - they probably would have been extremely pleased that he asked for something selfish. The Soldier was the antithesis of selfish, forced to obey others and exist at their whims, wanting and receiving nothing. To ask for something of his own was to show how far he had come.

He was still slightly red-eyed when Grant appeared in the door, and he waited while the two blond men embraced one another, before he stepped in close. Now or never, before he lost his nerve.

"Do you think it could be a date dinner? It's just, there's these two guys I want to go steady with, and they're both here right now."

Okay, maybe that wasn't the most romantic way to ask. But there, he asked.

Grant had just been about to turn and grab his backpack when his eyes were forced up to Steve again. The taller of the two had blues more vivid than his own but they were still the same in many ways with the same straight, long lashes hooding them and the same pop of surprise at the words. "Hm. Anyone we know?" Grant asked, he and Steve turning their heads at exactly the same time.

"Who else did you let in while we were out?" Steve asked, easily following in on the teasing. "Lucky fellas. Do you have any romantic gestures planned?"

Why make it easy for Bucky when it certainly didn't have to be? Or when they could enjoy a little fun even at the expense of someone they loved trying to ask them to go steady. Had Bucky ever asked anyone that? He'd been a charmer but seemed to like to cycle through girls. They came and went, never with a bad thing to say, but always a little disappointed that they couldn't charm the best looking and most eligible boy in school.

"Do you need us to clear out?"

Bucky's eyes widened as if, for a moment, he didn't get that they were joking, before his face cracked into a wide smile and he folded his arms to mock glare at both of them like they were two idiot kids who had played a dumb prank.

"You're both jerks, you know that? The world has no idea what a little punk you are, that's never in any of the history books."

He couldn't stop the smile from coming, though, because the way they reacted pretty much told him that they were both okay with it. Really okay with it. Which was all sorts of amazing, and he was with Tony that he was even kind of jealous of himself for having this kind of good luck.

"I'm talking about the pair of you, and you know it. Go steady with me?"

They could have carried it on a little more, teasing that they might end up doing better if they held out or mentioning Bucky's track record with dating so far but instead, as one, they moved in to embrace their friend, enfolding him in two pairs of very different arms before Grant nodded and they both said that it would suit them just fine. At the same time. And that prompted a laugh from each.

"Might have daydreamed about this moment," Steve said not so secretively, and Grant nodded. He knew exactly what Steve was talking about. Neither would go into detail, though. It was a bit embarrassing, even now.

Cooking half a dozen steaks, mashing potatoes and sipping on wine watered down with flavored and fizzy water turned out to be a perfect first date. The kitchen was overly large and though Grant took the lead after pulling up the video on his phone thst bed downloaded between classes today, they all had their parts to play. Nothing burned down and the best part? The meal was delicious.

"So what do we do about bedrooms," Steve asked as they cleaned up. "I know you've only the one spare--"

"But I have a den. And a study. What's a study even for? We just need to get another bed," Grant said. "You can have your pick. The other room can be for the cat."

Steve arched an eyebrow. "Cats don't need their own bedrooms, you know?"

"Ours will," Grant insisted, handing over plates for Bucky to put away. The conversation was almost too easy, as if Bucky hadn't been away at all.

Bucky relaxed further and further as the night went on, demolishing a massive plate of steak and potatoes without feeling at all bad for the amount of food he was putting away, and even managed to get a lasting smile on his face for most of the back end of the evening.

"I'll take the den."

It was easily the smallest room in the apartment, but that suited him just fine. It gave him security, it allowed him to sweep it for bugs or traps more quickly, and there was only a tiny little window to the outside which nobody would be able to fit through. Tactical advantages.

"And we don't need another bed, it'd just be a waste of money."

Some more bedding, perhaps, but not a bed.

"And Steve's right, the cat doesn't need its own bedroom. You nuts?"

"Yes I'm nuts," Grant said. "He can share a room with my easel and art supplies then. What do you both have against pets?" Grant just wanted the company. He wanted something to focus a little attention on when Steve and Bucky were busy. And he'd gotten it in his head that he really needed a cat. He just had to be able to afford the food and litter first. His very small limit credit card had been more or less maxed out on dinner tonight. His boyfriend and his boyfriend's boyfriend could really pack it away!

Dessert would simply be ice cream, Grant still guiding the conversation to a sleeping situation. He still rather liked the thought of sharing a space with Bucky and Steve but he understood their need for privacy. Bucky's especially.

They settled on the sofa, which just about took their combined weight, enough chocolate ice cream between the three to choke a horse. Grant made the first move, throwing his legs over Bucky, and Steve encouraged Bucky to lean back against him.

"What'd you do in class today," Steve asked and Grant snorted.

"Uh. You won't believe this. But we looked at my old sketch books. First unit is on the evolution of soldiers' art during the Second World War."

It didn't take a whole lot of coaxing for Bucky to lean back into Steve, letting his head rest on his shoulder, while he threw his arm over Grant's legs as if to hold him possessively. He listened to the two men talk art, talk college, talk-- and somehow he wasn't listening any more, somehow he actually drifted off to sleep right there on the couch.

That was the first time he had ever gone to sleep with someone properly beside him. Even when he had been sharing hotels in the past with Grant, he had stayed up to be a guard. But now he was fast asleep.

It took Steve a few moments to notice, but when he did, a huge smile spread across his face and he lowered his voice to point it out to Grant.

"...I guess we're stuck like this for the night, huh?" Because he knew that he would not wake Buck for the world, and he guessed Grant probably wouldn't either. He'd try and carry Bucky to one of the beds if he hadn't been so sure that even one false breath would probably wake him up.

"I don't mind. He needs his rest," Grant said, pulling the blanket thst had been over the arm rest at his back towards Steve so that they could spread it out between them with the quietest and slowest of gestures. Waking Bucky now would be a terrible thing. Especially if he was having pleasant dreams. Or even no dreams.

Grant only had to worry about afternoon classes tomorrow and that meant he could sleep in, comfortable on the sofa with the warmth of the older men captured in the embrace of the blanket to keep him warm.

He had missed falling asleep to the sound of someone else breathing.

He drifted off before Steve, who let himself succumb shortly after, fingers still in Bucky's hair and cheek resting on his head. It might be silly to say and he doubted any of the others would ever understand how such a simple thing could make him happy, but Steve would say he was delirious.

For once, the universe decided that world ending events could wait for a while, and let them all sleep tangled into one another on the couch. Even though Bucky woke first, and when the other two woke he would be out of their arms and making coffee, it had been an amazing night. A good start to a good week.

The rest of the Avengers are completely understanding when Steve mentions that he is going to be moving out of the compound, and that he's going to share leadership duties of missions with Sam. None of them give him a hard time, Cap has earned his rest and he doesn't abandon them, he does still show up every day or two and pull his weight. Bucky goes to Stark Tower most days and hangs out with Tony, and Grant goes to his art classes.

Then at night, the three talk, or watch movies, or have one hilarious evening where they try to set up some flat pack furniture.

It's nine days later that Steve would wake up to a text message from Sam that just cryptically said: "Batten down the hatches, it's gonna get bumpy." And Grant would get one from Tony that said: "Offer of personal protection on the table ;)"

Despite the extra shine of health that the serum gave to Steve's hair, the two emerged from their bedrooms with the same bed head. Grant had taken to wearing blue most often since Steve had the market on filling out white t-shirts and Bucky leaned towards red. It was his own not so private American flag joke. He was wearing a soft blue t-shirt that morning, paired with burgundy sleeping pants that said STARK in yellow letters down the side of one leg. He'd actually been after the navy and THOR pants but they were out of them in his size. Maybe it was silly to be so Avengers brand forward but it still tickled Grant that he could even wear clothes with words on them. The exact style didn't rightly matter.

He put his phone on the kitchen table, screen side up, and Steve frowned down at Grant for a moment. "Sam sent me something weird. Hasn't responded back yet. Did he text you?"

"Me?" Grant and Sam hadn't gotten close. There was no automatic friendship there just because of Steve. They had nothing in common anyway. Grant had never served and had never been to war. "No. Mr. Stark-- I don't know. 'Offer of personal protection--'. Not sure what that means," Grant admitted, though he was decidedly less worried about it than Steve. He put on the keurig to fill up a karate and then pulled open the freezer to take out one of the boxes of waffles in there. They went through a whole box a day when everyone was home and up to eat.

"Did you respond...?"

Grant shook his head. "I think it wasn't meant for me. He never texts me unless I'm at school or work and he's asking me if I know when Buck will be over. He has a knack for that," Grant smiled, though the smile fell when he saw the look on Steve's face. "Everything okay, pal?"

"See if Bucky's up," Steve responded. "Can I use your phone?"

"Uh yeah. Sure," Grant replied and hitched up his pants before lightly knocking on Bucky's door with a four-beat pattern they had worked out to let their boyfriend know it was safe and just them.

Whoever that Steve chose to text, they would tell him to check the newspapers or the news headlines on the tv, but would warn him in their own particular way that he might not like what he saw. That same something that Bucky was looking at in his room, he had been up for hours, always did sleep less than the other two, and he was perched by the windowsill of the tiny window in the den, looking down at the street below.

"Come in."

He glanced over when Grant opened the door, and gestured to the view.

"We have guests."

Down at the front of the building there were already at least forty or fifty people milling about, some with news cameras, some holding placards as if they were protesting. Bucky could read them, Grant might be able to make out one of two of the bigger ones "NO MURDERER WALKS FREE" and "SAY NO TO TERRORISTS". It was the same sort of thing that Steve would find if he checked the news on the TV or the headlines on the phone.

Someone had leaked the Winter Soldier's position in New York, and the whole thing had blown up because technically he was still a wanted criminal in most countries of the world, and most people didn't know that he had been a pawn of HYDRA rather than a willing participant. Steve's name was mentioned as 'harbouring a known fugitive', and Grant Rogers (who was assumed to be a long-distant relative), was named as a 'possible collaborator'.

There were also sensational soundbyte clips of Tony Stark telling reporters that his "highly expensive" team of lawyers were going to be defending Barnes in any legal proceedings.

Edited 2017-03-02 12:00 (UTC)

"Holy cow," Grant said, leaning just passed Bucky with his mouth agape. He had no idea just how it was that these people had dug up where he lived, but he also had no idea the hacking power of people on the deep web (or even what the deep web was) or groups of concerned citizens on 4chan or Reddit. It had been easy for people with the right technology to figure out where Steve Rogers had once lived, that the deed had passed to Tony Stark from his father after the man bought the tenament block, or that it had been given back to a relative of Steve's on his mother's side. Tony had done more than given Grant a high school diploma to get into college with. He'd given him a whole identity with a sparse but believable paper trail. The internet denizens had easily found it all out. And, for those no where near Brooklyn and out protesting, were currently discussing how one person could be completely social media free.

Thanks to simple physics of light and glass, the two upstsirs in the very small window in the dark were not visible from the street. Grant's hand found Bucky's shoulder and squeezed tightly before he turned to cross his arms over his chest and rub his lower lip with an index finger. He and Steve had the same posture when thinking, evidently.

"Hey pal?" Grant called and Steve turned off the living room television, dropping the remote onto the sofa, before joining them in the bedroom. "Uh so..."

Steve looked angry. Just how many times would his loyalty to this country that he saved on a weekly basis be called Ito question. "We aren't going to make any statements. I'm going to give Tony a call next. If this is going to be a legal matter... We need to let the justice system handle it, I think. We have evidence that it wasn't Bucky. We--". He pressed his lips together. "Buck. It's your call on this one."

Grant looked terrified. From what he'd learned of law, of the government, they could be looking at more HYDRA. Or corruption. Look at the people outside! They believed what they wanted. How could Bucky get a fair trial?

Bucky had come a long way in the past few weeks, but right now his expression had gone right back to the shuttered blankness that protected him from anyone seeing how much something hurt or frightened him. It wasn't a healthy coping mechanism to push it all down and out of sight, but it was what he had. He couldn't let these things out or they'd destroy him completely.

"They're going to want to arrest me."

It's not a question, more a low statement. If Steve wants to do this by the book, with the legal system, then there was no way that they would let Bucky roam free until any trial. He was technically a terrorist, they could detain him and question him with full legality for quite some time, and the very idea of being trapped and not in control of his own life again was utterly terrifying.

"And there isn't a case, they'll find me guilty. There's enough evidence, Steve, files and CCTV with my face on them, they'll think anything we say are lies."

Not to mention that he shared Grant's suspicion that HYDRA still infiltrated the government, and that putting himself in their hands was just asking to be returned to the Soldier.

Doing what was right legally was not always what was right morally. Steve was not a good boy in the general sense of the word. He cheated and he lied when he had to, or when it made sense to do so to help the most people. How would giving Bucky over help anyone but their enemies, however? Choosing Bucky was not about the greater good here, because Bucky technically was the greater good. He wasn't hurting anyone. He wasn't dangerous-- other people might not expect that or accept it as truth but Steve served the little guy.

"No one is handing you over to get arrested," he said, voice flat, before he turned to Grant and Bucky after switching off the television. "Sam can be here in half an hour. But we have to get to an extraction point."

Grant didn't really like the sound of that. "You know I'll slow you down," he said immediately. He'd been with Steve during two full weeks of trying to find Bucky. It had been slow and almost disasterous. "You two go. I can hold the people downstairs off and I can work with Mister Stark to try to clear Buck's name. We have evidence. We just have to make people see it for what it is."

"No."

Bucky's voice was firm on that, cutting right through Steve's plans of extraction and Grant trying to be a self-sacrificing idiot again. Even though he wanted to run, and he might still do that, he wasn't going to let these two throw away their lives for him. Not now, not ever.

"Neither of you can run, you know how that would make you look? Guilty. Culpable. I'm not being responsible for that. If I go, then I'll go alone, I know how to hide."

Both of them knew that was true, he had hidden from everyone for a long time, he could do it again.

"I'm not going yet. If they come for me, I'll go. Otherwise, I'm going to fight this."

"You're not leaving us," both of the Rogers said, almost angrily, with Grant making the more passionate plea. "Never again. You've broken that promise too many times. If you leave, it's with Steve. I'm not being a martyr here, all right? I'm trying to buy you time. No one knows me. I'm not in any trouble. Once you're safe I can come to you a whole lot easier than if we all get caught running."

Steve put his hand on Grant's shoulder. He understood where that was coming from but he also didn't believe Grant needed to stay behind. "We can get you through anything, if there's two of us looking out for you, you won't slow us down."

Grant snorted. "What are you going to do? Toss me over buildings? Carry me on your backs? You can't fight with me there. Don't be completely stupid."

"We aren't leaving you. No one is leaving anyone," Steve insisted. "Buck. You asked us to go steady, didn't you? Just because things are tough doesn't mean you get to leave us."

Bucky glared daggers at both the Rogers idiots. Why were they always so stubborn and unable to accept that he could handle things on his own a hell of a lot better? He wasn't about to leave them for good, didn't they get that? Just until the heat was off, just until it was safe.

"Then I guess none of us are leaving."

He wasn't going to pull Grant from his college courses, not when he could see how much they meant to him and how much he enjoyed them, nor was he about to turn America against Steve.

With a scowl, he hopped down from the bed and slipped out in the front room, grabbing Grant's cup of coffee on the way past.

"Just don't do anything stupid, okay? Like defend me in public, you've gotta be smart about this."

Grant wasn't sure what to do. It wasn't like he could really go to school. Or work. They would be all over him after all. Not that it worried him. They could arrest him and those were just normal people out there. Not cops. Not the government. He lightly rubbed down the back of his hair and then strode forward, clasping his hands in front of him, and left the room.

That left Steve to glance at Bucky before he followed Grant, calling his name. "What's going through your head--"

"School. Getting through the protestors downstairs," Grant murmured. "Trying to decide if I should quit at the coffee shop because they don't need this sort of thing." He was shaking a little as he pulled his shirt over his head, not because he was scared but because he was angry and had his hands tied. "Get Mr. Stark over here. If you put the Avengers behind Buck, you'll get better support."

Maybe. He wasn't a lawyer or a study on human sociology.

But something told him that they needed to play it normal and they needed to make Bucky likable.

"They know his name. They're saying it on the news. He's our childhood best friend. No way would Captain America befriend a criminal."

Steve was a little less sure of the American public being so ready to accept that Bucky was good just because Cap stood behind him, he had learned over the years that the only thing the public loved more than a hero was a reason to tear that hero down and watch everything burn. But he didn't want to burden Grant with that, so he just nodded.

"Keep your phone on you at school, you need extraction then you just call and someone will come for you."

He wasn't about to ask Grant if he was sure about wanting to go, because of course he was. Steve wouldn't back down from this sort of fight either. Start running, and when do you stop?

Bucky was ahead of Steve and Grant, anyway, scooping up his phone to dial Tony almost as soon as he was on his own. He needed to know what the hell was going on and if they were coming to arrest him, Tony would know.

"I have JARVIS doing some technical scrubbing," Tony was saying, sounding relaxed on the other end of the line. He had given an interview just half an hour earlier but he tended not to sweat the things legal took care of. "I can't remove everything, hackers will think that's pretty suspicious, but I've gotten what I can offline. I think you three should come back to Manhattan. I know you like that little place in Brooklyn but it's safer for you all here."

Grant was banging things around, mostly trying not to fall over as he hopped around to get his legs into his trousers. He still didn't wear jeans to school even if everyone else did. He took class seriously. And sure, some of those classes were messy and he could ruin his clothes, but he was careful. Steve was there to keep from from falling over at least.

Tony was still talking anyway, regardless of any grunting Bucky was sure to do at him. "You're on the radar with the Feds but they don't have any warrants out for you. It's all media right now. That means it's an image issue. We might want to talk about how we want to frame your side of things. But later. Pack up your boyfriends and get ready to head to the car I'm going to send. No. Violence. No scowling. Try not to look scary okay? And put Rogers on. Cap. I want him to kiss babies and sign autographs. Because no one is doing anything wrong."

"We can't come, Grant has class in about an hour and he can't get there from your Tower too easily. If nobody is coming to arrest me, then we don't have a reason to hole up behind your defences."

No violence was something he could probably do, providing nobody set him off first, but no scowling was a difficult one. He smiled a lot more now, mostly around the Rogers two and Tony, but he still had a naturally intimidating expression when he was out and about in public.

"He's not going to be kissing babies, Tony, he hasn't done that since the forties."

He did, however, throw the phone at Steve's head so that he could catch it out of the air and put it to his ear.

"Tony, hey-- Thanks for getting your team on this, where are we at?"

"We're at your SO being a pain in my ass," Tony said, the sounds around him indicating that he had likely stood up. "Bucky mentioned you guys were going to send Grant to school, which is probably fine but I'd rather have one of my cars take and bring him back." Thst wouldn't be popular with Grant. He wanted to be normal. No special treatment. He didn't even let Bucky take him to school when he could take the subway just fine. "But let me guess? Famous Rogers stubbornness? Fine. Listen I'm coming over. I'm going to bring video equipment and set it up so you guys can keep in touch with my legal team. They think it's a good idea for everyone to come at this positively without giving information away. No talking to the public, got it? Right now we don't have any police force on the case. It's not even a case. But if the protests get too big, they're going to be out at the apartment. For the protestors. Tell Barnes that before he panics. I'll know if they get a warrant but it's not likely. Barnes isn't wanted in connection to anything. Fury isn't dead. You're not dead. He has something in Russia and something in Bulgaria that are within the statute of limitations but as long as no one is trying to extredite him, I think we're okay."

Grant took the coffee back from Bucky and shoved his sketchbook into his backpack. He wasn't bringing the portfolio case today. It would be too much in his hands. Just in case.

His hair wasn't combed but he'd get to that shortly. Of all of them, he was the only one acting somewhat normal.

"You have Sam coming?"

"He's on standby," Steve admitted.

"Bad idea. Sends the wrong impressions. Have him come down as a friend. I'll be there in an hour, Cap."

Maybe he was acting somewhat normal because he just didn't know what the media could accomplish these days. Back in the forties it had been much less of a powerhouse, far less credible than the police force or actual legal system. But these days social media, protests, and general public outrage could topple governments if they worked hard enough at it. If this took off over the social media sites, it could easily become ugly very quickly.

Steve sighed, but he could see the wisdom in Tony's words (for once) and he knew that Tony cared as much about keeping Bucky safe and free as the rest of them.

"Alright, I'll call Sam off of an official fly-by, get him to drop in later. I'll leave the door unlatched, just come on up."

Bucky came up behind Grant and slipped his arms around his waist, chin resting on his shoulder where he dwarfed the smaller and younger man. "Let me take you to school?" For his peace of mind. "On the bike, maybe it'll even help if I'm seen out in public doing a normal thing."

There was never a time when Bucky's arms around him did not make Grant feel better about himself. He closed his eyes and leaned back into the embrace while Steve dealt with Tony and then called Sam. This was about rallying together the wagons and not a out being defensive. And maybe Bucky had a point about waiting to take him but it scared Grant to put the man out there. He'd have to come home alone. He'd have to go through the crowd alone. What if someone said something horrible--?

He didn't know that Bucky had watched his own torture stoically beside Stsrk. He knew his boyfriend was strong but not how strong he could be. He twisted around to lay his head on Bucky's chest. "I can do this. I need you to be safe, Buck. Losing you would be the worst thing to ever happen to me."

Not that a lot of bad things had happened to him. He was poor and sick a lot but otherwise he didn't have a bad life at all.

"I won't tell you no but... I'm just afraid for us." If he couldn't admit that to Bucky, who could be tell? "A month was too long. If you're right-- what if they take you from me for years?"

"I won't let that happen."

Grant was an idiot if he thought that Bucky would ever let himself be caged again. He had seen what his life could be like as a person now, to go back to being trapped in a box and unable to control his own destiny would be the death of him. He bent further to press a kiss into Grant's hair.

"C'mon, I'm going to take you to school, you don't have to worry about me getting back okay. I can handle whatever a few protesters might say to me."

Truthfully, he might even agree with some of it. He still had a tendency to blame himself for what had happened, even if he knew logically that he had no choice in what he did.

"Got all your stuff?"

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