Hello friends! I don't know if you've said the new Age of Ultron trailer or not, but it has me in a state of complete and utter denial. As a strange way of consoling myself, I've concocted an alternate story in which Steve does not fight any robots and does not have any psychologically damaging experiences. Instead, he has a normal day with his friends and gets a lot of nice sleep and food. I hope it brings you some comfort. 3
Steve's Totally Great and Relaxing Day
Steve set an alarm for eight o'clock every single morning but never actually needed it. He had some kind of internal alarm that woke him up at 6:04 each and every morning. It seemed that even after several decades, Steve was still on military time.
With a loud groan, Steve stretched and felt around his bed for his phone. Once he found his phone and brought it up to his face, he cracked an eye open to view his messages.
Nat (3:18 am): Clint has been awake for 22 hours now. i think hes trying 2 steal ur dog. also can u bring pizza 2 tonys tonight? pepper says that she and tony are cooking but i really dont want to eat burnt food again.
Clint (3:19 am): dont listen to nat i'm not stealing your dog
Clint (3:50 am): hey i tried to steal your dog but i tripped over a rock and dropped my stuff. can you bring my arrows to tony's tonight? i really need them.
Clint (3:50 am): i won't try to steal your dog again.
Bucky (5:00am): Can I come over later?
Bucky (5:01 am): Actually, I just came over now. Don't be mad. I'm on your couch.
Sam (6:00 am): up for a run? we can visit peggy after.
Steve's mouth twitched into a small smile. Nothing out of the ordinary. With a sleepy yawn, he rolled out of bed and staggered towards the bathroom. He slipped on a pair of sweatpants and texted Sam back, promising to meet him for a run in twenty minutes. As he was brushing his teeth, Steve wandered out into the living room of his house and saw Bucky snoozing on his couch.
Smirking slightly, Steve lifted his foot and nudged Bucky a bit. Bucky mumbled some complaint before allowing his eyes to open and looking up at Steve inquisitively. Steve smiled down at Bucky kindly before ambling back towards the bathroom to spit out the toothpaste in his mouth.
"Rough night?" Steve asked from the bathroom.
"A little," Bucky admitted.
"Want to talk about it?" Steve questioned, placing his toothbrush in its holder before returning to the living room.
"Not really." Bucky replied, averting his eyes to the ground.
"Okay." Steve agreed easily, flipping on the TV and wandering into the kitchen. "Do you want some breakfast?"
"What do you have?" Bucky asked, turning off the TV before joining Steve in the kitchen.
"Cereal and eggs." Steve answered, sifting through his refrigerator to see if he was missing anything.
"No orange jui-"
Bucky's question was cut off by Steve pulling a massive carton of orange juice out of the fridge. He offered it to Bucky, who accepted it with a grateful smile.
"How do you want your eggs?" Steve inquired as he pulled out a carton of eggs.
Bucky shrugged and poured himself a bowl of cereal. "Surprise me."
"Scrambled it is." Steve stated, trying his best to crack a number of eggs into a big bowl. He really only knew how to make scrambled eggs, but he always gave Bucky the option of requesting a different kind. Bucky knew that Steve was bluffing and claimed that scrambled eggs were his favorite. He actually preferred his eggs sunny-side up, but he'd never tell Steve that.
As Steve began to scramble the eggs, a massive dog scampered into the kitchen. The dog looked from Bucky to Steve expectantly.
"I think Grover wants his breakfast." Bucky remarked, staring down at Grover in amusement.
Steve looked up from his eggs. "Oh. Morning, Grover. Buck, could you feed him?"
Bucky nodded and pulled Grover's massive bag of dog food from the cupboard.
Grover was a mutt that Steve had rescued from a shelter some months ago. It had been one of the first things that he had done since S.H.I.E.L.D. had been shut down. Grover wasn't particularly cute dog, nor did he always behave the way the ideal dog would, but Steve loved him and he loved Steve. That was good enough for the both of them.
"Sam and I are going for a run in a few minutes," Steve stated conversationally as he piled two plates with scrambled eggs and burnt toast, "Any chance you'd want to come?"
Bucky stabbed at his eggs with his fork and thought about the question for a moment. He shrugged at length.
"I'm not really dressed for it."
"You can borrow some of my clothes." Steve reminded him.
Bucky shrugged at length. "Then I guess I'll come, as long as you don't mind."
"Course not," Steve replied cheerfully, "The more the merrier."
"Oh, good, you brought Bucky. I was afraid that I'd have to spend the entire run staring at your back again." Sam joked as Steve and Bucky met him in front of the Washington monument just ten minutes after finishing breakfast.
"Lucky you. Now you'll get to spend the entire run staring at Steve's back and my back." Bucky teased with a smirk.
"Oh, is that how it is?" Sam questioned, his mouth curving into an amused smile.
"I always tell it like it is." Bucky replied.
"Care to make it interesting?" Sam challenged.
Steve rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"How interesting?" Bucky asked.
"Whoever gets closest to double Rogers' time wins. Loser buys drinks on Friday night." Sam suggested.
"Sounds good." Bucky agreed.
"What about me? Don't I get some kind of stake in this?" Steve demanded good-naturedly.
"Alright. If your time is longer than half of either of our times, you have to buy the drinks." Sam added with a small smirk.
"At least challenge me." Steve complained teasingly.
Sam and Bucky exchanged looks before taking off running without any warning.
"Ah, you dicks!" Steve complained, bolting off after them.
In the end, Sam wound up losing his own bet. It looked like Bucky might lose the race for a little while (he blamed the big breakfast that he had eaten), but then Sam got tangled up in a dog's leash and fell flat on his face. Sam insisted that falling shouldn't affect his time. Steve and Bucky informed him that it did.
"Fine, fine. I'll buy the drinks on Friday. You're still coming, aren't you, Rogers?" Sam asked as they walked in the general direction of Peggy's house.
"Probably." Steve shrugged, not thinking too much about Sam's question.
Steve didn't like bars that much. Drinking was pointless for someone who couldn't get drunk, and he didn't exactly relate to today's generation. Still, Sam and Bucky would be there and that was enough to entice Steve to join in.
"What am I, chopped liver?" Bucky asked Sam indignantly.
"Nah, man, I want you to come, too." Sam replied with a smile, "Rogers just makes me look awesome in front of all of the ladies at the bar."
"You do know that any women talking to you because of Steve are probably interested in Steve, right?" Bucky reminded Sam.
"Maybe, but he can't date them all. One of them might settle for his tall, dark and handsome friend." Sam replied optimistically.
Steve snorted. "Why don't you just get Nat to find you someone? It might get her off of my back for a little while. Last night she ordered me a pizza just so that I would have to talk to the delivery girl that she thinks is perfect for me."
"The cute one with the tattoo on her wrist?" Sam asked. "Why don't you ask her out? I would've if she looked at me the way she looks at you."
"She isn't looking at me that way, she's looking at Captain America that way. Besides, she's what, twenty-two? She's a kid. I'm…"
"Elderly?" Sam suggested with a wide smile. Bucky punched his shoulder.
"In a different place." Steve finished with a dark look in Sam's direction. Sam smiled innocently.
As they reached Peggy's house, Sam and Bucky immediately lingered behind Steve. Steve had a key to the house and let them in, calling out to Peggy as they entered.
"Steve!" Peggy's face lit up as Steve entered the room. Bucky and Sam opted to linger in the sitting room and torment each other while Steve talked to Peggy. Steve appreciated the privacy.
"Hey, Peg." Steve grinned, "How are you?"
"Oh, you know," Peggy waved her hand and shook her head, "There isn't very much for me to report on, anymore. My glory days are over. Yours, though, they just keep coming."
"That's not really my choice, though. Things have settled down since S.H.I.E.L.D. dissolved, though. I think I might actually be getting bored. Bucky brought me a list of hobbies the other day. Maybe I'll try my hand at knitting."
Peggy laughed. "Steve, you don't have an ounce of patience. I cannot imagine you knitting."
"Hey, you tried it." Steve reminded her with a grin.
"For a day. It was just awful. I threw everything right out the window." Peggy laughed, shaking her head.
"I know. You were supposed to knit me a hat." Steve chuckled.
"Well, you'll just have to one-up me. If you take up knitting, I fully expect a hat."
"A hat? Don't you think that's a little ambitious?"
"You've always been ambitious." Peggy reminded him with a small smirk.
"Yeah, well." Steve smiled bashfully.
Peggy took a minute to look Steve over fondly before speaking. "Tony made me a Twitter yesterday."
"Oh, no." Steve chuckled. "That means he's probably going to try to make me one tonight. You've always been better with technology than I have, though. What do you think of it?"
"There are a lot of girls talking about Captain America on there." Peggy replied with a knowing smile.
Steve groaned and covered his eyes with his hand.
"Lots of boys, too." Peggy added, peering up at Steve expectantly.
"Peg," Steve pleaded, removing his hand and shaking his head, "I'm fine. You and Natasha don't need to worry about me. I'm not lonely and I'm not isolating myself from society. I just haven't found anybody that's really driven me wild. Not since you, anyway."
"I am one of a kind." Peggy allowed with a small smirk.
Steve smiled. "Yes you are. That's why I'm going to insist that you and Natasha stop trying to find me someone else. If it happens, it happens, but if it doesn't; at least I've got my best girl."
"Oh, Steve," Peggy huffed, leaning back against her stack of pillows and smiling to herself, "You really have gotten better at talking to women."
"I'm glad you think so." Steve chuckled.
As the pair sat in silence for a moment, they heard Sam and Bucky squabbling from the sitting room. It sounded as though they were arguing over what was considered the "best sport"; Bucky was adamant that it was baseball while Sam insisted that it was football. Steve sighed and smiled at Peggy apologetically.
"How is Bucky?" Peggy asked. Steve knew what she meant.
"He's better," Steve allowed, "He still comes over in the middle of the night sometimes, but he's gotten better about going in public and being around people. He and Sam even go to the bar every Friday night."
"And his arm?" Peggy questioned.
Steve shrugged. "Still self-conscious about it. The only time that he isn't wearing long sleeves is when he's in my house. He won't even take them off at his place. I think he's afraid that the neighbors will see him."
Peggy nodded sympathetically. "Maybe you should knit him a sweater."
Steve laughed. "Maybe you're right. I think I'm just going to just let him progress at his own speed, though."
"That might just be for the best." Peggy agreed with a laugh of her own.
There was suddenly a knock on the door. Bucky's head poked through the doorway.
"Hey Peg, how are you?"
"Just lovely, how are you?"
"I'm alright," Bucky answered hurriedly, "Hey Steve, do you know when we're going to be headed home? Sam wants to know."
It was clear from Bucky's wild eyes and agitated expression that Sam was not the one eager to get home. Steve decided not to call his best friend out on his lie.
"Ah, I think we're about to go now, actually." Steve replied with one last glance at Peggy.
Peggy nodded. "I was just about to take a nap."
"Okay. I'll wait out here." Bucky said, nodding his head before disappearing once again.
In his absence, Steve and Peggy exchanged small smiles.
"I'd better go." Steve remarked.
"You're a good friend." Peggy assured him.
Steve let out a small huff and shook his head. He couldn't quite bring himself to believe her, but he appreciated the sentiment all the same.
"Thanks, Peg. Anyway, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Steve said, watching Peggy for a sign of confirmation.
"Of course. Would you bring your phone next time? I want to make sure that you follow me on Twitter."
"Will do," Steve chuckled, ducking down to kiss Peggy's forehead before approaching the door, "I'll see you, Peg."
"And don't you dare be late." Peggy called after him.
Once Bucky and Steve had showered (separately, of course) and changed into suitable clothes (Steve in his signature blue T-shirt and khakis and Bucky in his long-sleeved sweater and jeans), they clipped a leash on Grover, picked up the arrows littering Steve's yard, and headed towards Steve's favorite pizza place to pick up pizza for the Avenger's weekly dinner.
They picked up ten pizzas - they hoped that would be enough for everybody at Tony's - and managed to carry them all the way to Stark Towers. Bucky thought that it might be a world record. Steve was too hungry to truly consider that.
The second they got to Tony's, they were greeted with clapping and cheers. It had nothing to do with Steve and Grover arriving, nor did it have to do with the fact that Bucky only joined them for their weekly Avenger's dinner when he was feeling better than most days; everyone was just thrilled that they had brought food. Tony and Pepper had tried to make chicken parmesan and it had been a disaster. There was currently a pan containing multiple black lumps in a brown sauce sitting on Tony's kitchen table.
"I think these belong to you." Steve commented, giving the arrows to Clint.
Clint accepted the arrows happily. "You know, I wouldn't have to go through all of this trouble if you would just give me your dog. I think that he likes me better, anyway."
Grover scampered off in Bruce's direction. Clint pretended not to notice.
"Didn't he bite you last week?" Darcy asked from across the room.
"That was an isolated incident and I smelled like bacon that day." Clint replied testily.
"The dog hates you, Clint." Natasha sighed, approaching the group and rolling her eyes. "Just let Steve keep him. He deserves it after saving us from Tony's cooking."
"I think that I did a perfectly fine job of cooking. Pepper was the one who mixed up the measurements." Tony grumbled, taking the pizzas from Steve and Bucky and setting them down on the coffee table in the living room.
"I wasn't the one who decided to use a welding torch on the chicken." Pepper shouted from the bar area.
"Anyway," Natasha said, largely ignoring Tony and Pepper's bickering, "You guys really saved our asses. Hey, Barnes, have you ever seen The Hunchback of Notre Dame?"
Bucky shook his head and glanced at Steve. Steve shrugged, never having seen it before, either. Natasha smiled slightly.
"Come on. We're watching it over there. Darcy said that she's using it to study for one of her classes or whatever. I think that it might be up your alley." Natasha stated, waiting for Bucky to grab a slice of pizza and a soda before guiding him over to the massive couch in the middle of the living room. Steve followed after them, relieved that Natasha was making an effort to include Bucky.
The majority of the night was spent eating pizza and watching the movie. Bucky and Thor were by far the most interested in the movies for two very different reasons; Bucky was absolutely fascinated with Quasimodo and his defiance of Frollo, while Thor was horrified by Frollo and was mentally cataloguing leadership errors that occurred throughout the movie.
When Natasha mentioned that there was a second movie, both Bucky and Thor insisted on watching it. It was the second movie that absolutely destroyed the team; everybody fell asleep within the first thirty minutes.
Bucky was the first to fall asleep. As he was drifting off, he mumbled that he couldn't sleep unless he felt safe and he didn't feel completely safe unless he was near Steve. Steve assured Bucky that he wasn't going anywhere and fell asleep with a smile on his face. He fell asleep safe and sound, surrounded by his friends and pizza.