Steve left Stark Tower as soon as a frantic Pepper ran in. Tony was still out of it, either fast asleep or doing a good impression to ignore him. In any case, Steve briefed Pepper over what had happened, then left her to look after him.
Once out of the building, Steve thought he would rapidly make his way back to the hotel where he was sure to find Bucky and Hermione, but he got accosted by a passerby, and then another, and another, all thanking him profusely and asking to shake his hand, take a picture with him, and, on one occasion, grab his ass, which he was not okay with. In the end, Steve jumped into the first taxi that slowed down next to him. Unfortunately, he too was gushing like a schoolgirl. Frustrated, Steve finally asked him what the big deal was and the taxi driver tossed him a special edition of the newspaper, asking him to sign it for him.
Right there on the first page was a picture of him, Bucky, Hermione and Tony levitating in the air as they tried to catch him, right after "The Fall" as everyone called it.
"Heroes," Steve scoffed.
Tony had done it all by himself, honestly. Tony had been the one with the plan, the bomb, and he had even delivered it himself. He was the only hero there. Steve wondered how pissed Tony was going to be by the media coverage, and how they were picturing him and Bucky as buddies. His driver stopped and said the ride was "free for heroes". Steve wondered if he would be giving free rides to all the other people he had seen defending their city and its people too. Just normal people, going about their normal lives, but who took a stand against a force literally bigger than they were. Honestly, Steve admired them. They should be celebrated as heroes on the front page. Steve sighed and signed the paper because he felt bad not doing so after he had just been given a free lift, then he made a run for the hotel door and ran up the stairs to their room lest someone else recognise him.
"You too, eh?" Bucky said, towelling dry his long hair in the middle of the room with only a towel around his waist.
Steve gulped and nodded.
"Gonna need a disguise to go back out," Steve agreed.
"Hermione said she can do that now that she has her wand back," Bucky said.
Steve heard the sound of the shower running and headed that way, because he was covered in alien gunk as well. Hermione smiled when Steve joined her in the shower.
"How's Tony?" she asked as she rinsed bubbles from her hair.
"Sleeping. I left him with Pepper, but I wouldn't worry too much. How's Bucky?"
"Hot," she smirked. "Did you see him-"
"In just a towel, yeah. Hot," Steve agreed.
They laughed and Hermione stepped out to dry off. Steve stepped under the hot water and began soaping vigorously. Not only was alien goo sticky, but it stank to high heavens. He was surprised so many people had had enough courage to approach him when he had looked and smelled like shit.
Steve left the bathroom, wearing a towel around his waist like Bucky, realizing that's all they had to wear apart from their uniforms and tourist tee-shirts, neither of which he felt like putting on. In the bedroom, he found Hermione sitting on a chair while Bucky evened out her hair with a large pair of scissors. Steve's heart near melted at how adorable and domestic they were being. He wished they had more time to themselves to do such ordinary things.
"Did he cut it straight?" Hermione asked him when she noticed him staring.
"It's impossible to cut your hair straight, darling," Bucky huffed.
"I'm afraid he's right, love. Your hair is the opposite of straight, but it does look heaps better. You did a great job, Buck."
Bucky smirked at Hermione.
"Your turn," Hermione said as she stood and grabbed Bucky's arm.
Eyes wide, Bucky retreated and Steve caught him from behind in a hug.
"Leave him be, love," Steve told Hermione quietly. "He'll get a trim when he's ready."
Bucky melted in his arms, then bared his neck for him in clear invitation. Steve's stomach swooped with anticipation and desire. Slowly, carefully, Steve lowered his lips to the pale expanse of skin, checking for any sign of unease. Bucky had only found himself a short time ago, so Steve didn't want to rush him into anything. Steve had missed him so much though, he wanted to give it a try if Bucky was up to it. Steve dropped a tender kiss where Bucky's pulse beat strong, then another higher up near his chiseled jaw when Buck's response was more positive than Steve could have hoped for. In fact, Bucky's quiet gasp and moan was all the encouragement Steve needed to become more adventurous. His hands slid down Bucky's waist, but Steve had barely touched the moist towel when it dropped to the floor, leaving Bucky butt naked grinding back against him. Steve's towel was threatening to lose hold too.
"Oh my," Hermione gasped across the room.
Steve glanced at her, standing wide eyed, mouth slightly open, lovely as always despite her I'M WITH STUPID shirt.
"Are you joining us, or…?" Stev asked.
"I don't know," Hermione replied breathlessly. "Maybe I'll just get some popcorn."
She licked her lips, still rooted to the spot, transfixed. Bucky walked away from him, and Steve immediately missed the heat of his skin. Steve wondered if he had pushed too far, but Bucky was heading straight for Hermione. She gulped, then squealed when Bucky picked her up to carry her to the bed.
"You coming, Stevie?" Bucky asked, glancing back at him with eyes as dark as sin.
Steve's towel dropped of its own accord, but given the state he was in, that was answer enough.
The next morning, Steve felt like he needed another shower. Sticky, but in a good way this time. He waited for any sign his two loves were awake first. Bucky was still curled in between him and Hermione, his metal arm shining in the morning light, fingers twitching around a lock of Hermione's hair. Steve sighed. He would do anything for these two. He would die for them if he had to, without hesitation, and the thought didn't even scare him, only the fact they would be distraught over it.
In the end, it was the sound of loud engines outside that woke them up.
"Urgh...what is wrong with people? Have they never heard of lie-ins in the future," Bucky grumbled.
"It's New York, Buck," Steve chuckled. "We'll have to move to Nebraska if you're hoping to sleep in."
"I'm pretty sure that's a made-up place," Bucky replied as he stretched in all his glorious nakedness
"We'd have to move to another planet for some peace and quiet," Hermione grumbled, trying to untangle her lock of hair from Bucky's finger. "I bet you someone knocks at the door in the next hour."
"So you're saying we have a whole hour?" Bucky asked, waggling his eyebrows.
Steve laughed and rolled out of bed. If someone was really going to bother them so early after they had just fought off an army of aliens, Steve, for one, was gonna welcome them not reeking of sex.
Once they were all more or less presentable, thanks in large part to Hermione's liberal use of magic to clean their uniforms because they had nothing else to wear, they ordered some breakfast food then turned the crappy hotel television on to watch the news.
The clean-up of the city was well underway, having fun through the night, but would take a lot of time and resources, costing millions, not counting repairs. The invading army had been sizable, but scientists being interviewed argued the gain from studying the alien technology and carcasses was invaluable and would give humanity a boost in technological advancements.
"Yeah, because what we need is more efficient ways to kill," Bucky scoffed in disgust.
Steve wished Bucky was wrong, but he had seen first hand what Schmidt, and then Fury, had done when getting their hands on an advanced and powerful alien artefact. Weapons.
The only bright side in the news was that the number of casualties had been kept to a minimum thanks to the advanced warning. Politicians left and right were taking credit for it, but that stunt with all available alarms and phones going off at the same time had Stark written all over it.
As expected, when the monstrosity that was the room's plastic clock hit the reasonable hour of 9 a.m., there was a knock at the door. The three of them looked at each other in amusement at the predictability of not catching a damn break.
"Who do you think it is?" Steve asked.
"I'll bet on Natasha," Hermione said.
"And her puppy," Bucky added with a nod.
Steve wasn't so sure. The knock wasn't Sam's, and Natasha didn't bother with knocking at all. Steve didn't think it was Stark however, but he wasn't sure who else it could be, since no one was supposed to know where they were. So Steve was a bit surprised when he saw Fury through the peephole, staring impatiently back with his good eye. Steve quickly opened the door and stepped back to let him in.
"Good morning, director. We weren't expecting you," Steve said, glancing at Hermione and Bucky.
"Expecting someone else?" Fury asked, eyebrow raised.
"We've been busy," Steve said with a shrug.
"I know. Agent Romanov debriefed with me yesterday before the attack. Congratulations on saving the world. Again."
Somehow, Fury managed to say that without seeming to mean a word of it, not that Steve really cared.
"Are you here about Stern? Do you want us to go ahead and capture him?" Steve asked.
"No," Fury said firmly, looking passed him at Hermione. "I have a better plan. We're taking over HYDRA and its resources. It will make less ifcz less. Think of it as recycling."
The grand declaration came as a shock. Fighting HYDRA was turning out to be such a slow-going, painstaking endeavour, yet Fury was making it seem as if he could just make them roll over and give paw.
"Taking over? Not eliminating?" Bucky cut in with narrowed eyes, seeming to like the idea as little as he did.
"Why get rid of them when you can use them to do your bidding?" I'm going to take Pierce's place so I can use both SHIELD and HYDRA ressources to get on with business. Weed out HYDRA progressively so they can't destroy what's taken so long to build.
"Oh, that's brilliant," Hermione agreed. "But how? Not to be rude, but how are you going to get Pierce to collaborate? Or take his place? No offense, sir, but you look nothing alike."
Fury gave her the one-eyed scowl.
"I was hoping you could arrange that, Granger. You got your wand back. Don't tell me you can't do something as simple as changing a person's appearance."
"Well… it's possible to change someone appearance, but harder to make them look exactly like someone else, not without a potion, and then there's the voice, and the duration of-"
"Can you do it or not?" Fury snapped.
"In theory, yes, maybe. I'd need access to Pierce. I hope you didn't kill him."
Fury rolled his eye.
"You're starting now. The sooner, the better," Fury said as he stood.
Hermione hesitated. Steve was taken aback by the short notice too, but it was a time sensitive plan so they were left with little choice. They all stood up.
"Just her," Fury said. "I doubt she needs you holding her hand in this."
"I'll be fine," Hermione reassured them. "It is going to be really boring for you two while I'm working on this."
Fury had the good grace to give them a couple of minutes alone to say goodbye while he waited in the hallway. Hermione had nothing to pack anyway, which Steve felt bad about and promised himself to make up for.
"Come back as soon as possible," Steve said before kissing her soundly.
Then Bucky embraced her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder.
"Got your wand, doll?" he asked.
"Right here," she confirmed, showing him.
Quick as a whip, Bucky striked, taping the wand firmly to her hand with shiny silver duct tape.
"What…" Hermione asked with a laugh. "Bucky, what is this? Why…"
"I'll feel better knowing you won't lose it. And be careful around Pierce. Don't listen to a word he says. He'll try to get in your head."
"I just need his blood and a look at his ugly face for comparison. I'll probably just silence him, don't worry."
She gave Bucky a sweet kiss and she was off again, on another solo mission. People could say all they wanted about Captain America, he was nothing compared to Lady Liberty.
"We can't go kidnapping Stern, we can't go killing HYDRA and now Hermione is gone," Bucky groused. "What are we supposed to do?"
"I can think of a thing or two," Steve said coyly, laughing at Bucky's expression, stuck halfway between surprise and interest. "But that wouldn't be fair to Hermione. If she's working, I think we should too, and there's a whole city to clean up."
Going out in public was not an option however. Their fans' enthusiasm was scary. So they stopped by a shop first to get some normal civvie clothes then headed out to help where they could. Alien carcasses were still being hauled away by governmental agencies, but that left a whole lot of rubble to get out of the way, to free the sidewalks and roads so life could get back to normal.
They joined a team of local volunteers in their beloved Brooklyn, the sign calling for volunteers hand painted in neon colors. Steve enjoyed the work, helping people, listening to them talk about normal life, but he also loved watching Bucky interacting with other people, as normal as you please. Seeing him all sweaty, straining his muscles as he helped with heavier rubble was fast becoming a favoured distraction of his. Out of the corner of his eye, Steve caught the skinny young man sweeping the broken glass into a pile staring at him, broom all but forgotten, and Steve knew he had been recognized. He had been ready to grab Bucky and leave, and yet, the young man didn't say anything or point a finger at him, or even try taking a picture of him on the sly, instead resuming his work once his surprise wore off. Steve saw this happen a couple more times by the time it was lunch break. Bucky confirmed he had noticed it too. The teenage girl all in black had even gasped when his metal arm was momentarily uncovered after getting stuck in a jagged piece of wood.
"But she didn't run away," Bucky said with some disbelief. "She wasn't afraid of me at all."
"Looks like we don't need to hide so much here," Steve said.
"It's like being home," Bucky agreed. "It's changed, for sure. The people, the buildings, heck, even this damn road, but it feels right."
Steve grinned, happy Bucky felt that way. He had made so much progress since they recovered him, as lost, afraid and angry as a wounded animal.
"We should move back," Steve said suddenly.
"What?"
"You, me, Hermione. Move back here, the three of us together. We have nothing. No place to call our own. We don't even have a change of clothes, for crying out loud. It was fine when we were trudging through Europe, but… you deserve better. You and Hermione. You deserve a real home."
Bucky took a step towards him, then seemed to realize they were standing in the middle of the street, with no doubt their fans looking...
"You tryna jerk a tear outta me, you punk?" he asked and shoved him playfully, like they had done so many times when they were young and walked these same streets with just their next date or meal on their minds.
Their worries were altogether different today, but Steve considered himself lucky he still had Bucky by his side to help him deal with them.
"We should surprise Hermione," Bucky said with an evil grin.
"She'd be surprised alright," Steve chuckled, imagining the look of incredulity on her face when she realized what they'd done.
They started looking during their lunch break, eating take away food as they looked at available apartments in Brooklyn. Apparently, the city getting regularly attacked by aliens meant many people had chosen to leave the area, so there was actually a lot to choose from even if the rents seemed exhorbitant to him.
When they returned to moving rubble from the middle of the street with the other locals, they were discussing their preferences concerning the kitchen when one of the other volunteers piped in.
"You guys looking for a place?"
Steve took in their eavesdropper, a ginger guy who quickly turned red for any reason. He'd been there that morning too, although not one of those he had caught gawking.
"Yeah?" Bucky asked suspiciously and Steve elbowed him discreetly before he scared off the poor guy.
"Been thinking of moving back to our old neighborhood," Steve added quickly. "Seems friendly around here."
The redhead chuckled.
"Tell that to my neighbors. Alien fell right through their window and they packed that same day. Left the owner in a bit of a pickle. He's nice, as far as far as landlords go," he shrugged. "And if I have to have new neighbors, I'd rather it was you guys."
So he knew. Steve was not sure it was a good idea to go living next door to a fan, but wouldn't that happen wherever they ended up. Between the three of them, there was bound to be a fan of one or the other living nearby. Steve glanced at Bucky who gave him a nod.
"Why not?" he agreed.
They left with the ginger man, Don, who showed them into a building just a block away which was a monstrosity of red bricks and a metal fire escape stuck to its front with tall windows he knew would be hell to open as soon as the weather changed. Steve loved it. It was old and battered like them, but still standing proudly right where it belonged.
The inside was just as he hoped too, broken window aside: luminous and cosy.
"What do you think?" Steve asked Bucky, trying not to grin too much so as not to influence his opinion.
"Sure is better than the others we've seen so far," Bucky agreed, glanced towards Don, then added in a quiet voice. "I don't trust how it fell into our lap though."
"Too good to be true?"
"Something like that."
Bucky had a point. They did have a lot of enemies. Would it even be fair to inflict eventual visits from HYDRA and other assorted villains to their neighbors? In the end, Steve thanked Don, took his contact info and promised to be in touch. What he really wanted to do before even considering this place was to run a background check on Don, the landlord and the previous occupants, as well as all the neighbours if he could, just to be safe. Steve wasn't all that good with computers yet though, so he put his pride aside and called Nat for the favor before returning to the hotel.
Finally, exhausted by a day of hard physical labour, they both fell asleep early in each other's arms, hoping the next day would not bring another unwelcome visitor or emergency, but maybe that was too much to ask for…