Steve learned to hide when he was six years old. The other boys on the playground wanted to play Cowboys and Indians. Except Steve was the only Indian and they chased him around with sticks. Steve climbed a tree and hid until his babysitter finally found him.

Steve was always sick which meant most of his mother's meager paycheck went towards his medicine. Which meant that Steve never had new toys to show off at school or the right clothes or a fancy haircut. Which meant that Steve was always being picked on. Being small for his age and having a big mouth didn't help either. Steve learned all the best hiding spots on the schoolyard by the end of his first year.

Bill O'Reilly and his pack of miscreants were chasing Steve again. Or they would be, if Steve wasn't currently under the bushes behind the swings. No one ever used the rusty swings with their half rotten wood seats. Steve had a group of pebbles he was pretending were an army and a pinecone that was the dragon they were setting off to face. Little did the pebble warriors know the mighty dragon was going to win this great battle and then set siege to the pebble village and eat all of the baby pebbles- A foot came down squarely in front of Steve's face, almost squashing his nose. Steve slowly lifted his eyes, taking in the worn trainers and dirty socks, the scabbed knees and blue shorts, the stained white shirt and finally the freckled face with bright blue eyes and floppy hair.

"Whatcha doin'?" The boy asked.

"Hiding." Steve whispered.

The boy looked around and then crouched. "Is there any more room in there?"

Steve blinked stupidly. "What?"

"Scoot over." The boy groused and then somehow squeezed himself into the space under the bush next to Steve with no regard for the dirt, or the spider right above them. "I'm Bucky." The boy announced.

"I'm Steve." The tight fit made their handshake awkward and cramped but they managed.

"Whatcha hiding from?" Bucky asked.

"Nobody." Steve answered too quickly.

"Uh huh. Whatever you say, punk." Bucky studied the strategic placement of the pebbles and pinecone Steve had been playing with. "Are they fighting a giant?"

Steve shook his head. "It's a dragon. They're all going to die."

Bucky laughed and then picked up the pinecone, swooping it up into the imaginary sky and then plunging it low over the army with a horribly high picked shriek. They played under the bush the entire recess until the teacher called them back inside. Every day after that Steve would make his usual mad dash to hide as soon as recess started and no matter where he had hidden Bucky somehow found him.

Years later, after both of them had been through war and waking in a new century and were finally reunited Steve found Bucky under the bed. It was a bad day and the programming in his head was screaming at full volume. Bucky had crawled under here into the dark to try and sleep but the noise was too much. Steve pulled back the blanket and smiled at the ex-assassin blinking like an owl at the sudden light.

"Whatcha doin?" Steve asked.

"Hiding." Bucky whispered. His throat felt like sandpaper.

Steve crouched. "Is there any more room in there?"

Bucky scooted over and Steve crawled under the bed, brushing away the thought of how absurd it was.

"Whatcha hiding from?" Steve poked Bucky's ribs.

"Nobody." Bucky answered.

"Whatever you say, jerk."

"Punk."