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Who is the one who furiously does push-ups and who is the one who sits on their back reading a fitness magazine they got from the doctor's office?
James Buchanan Barnes was many things, "dead" usually being the first that came up on Google. At least until that whole SHIELD/HYDRA fiasco, resulting in dumped government files and an entirely different search trending on the internet: the Winter Soldier. After that there was another disaster in the form of Ultron, and then yet another as the Sokovia Accords.
There was a lot of backlash over it all, particularly the accords, but despite all of that, people are still people. Life goes on.
Now when you googled James Buchanan Barnes there were countless articles about his actions against several different nations and his work as a HYDRA puppet.
Titles like "Bucky Barnes: Nazi Collaborator or America's Longest Held Prisoner of War?" were the least offensive. Bucky's personal favorites were the ones about him and Steve. "Captain America's Gay Lover?" looming over a picture of him with his arm slung across Steve's shoulders as they exited a cafe together was the one he had found on the cover of a trash magazine in the doctor's office that morning as he sat in the waiting room. Naturally he had to bring it home to Steve.
He wasn't really sure what Steve would be doing when he got there, but he shouldn't have been surprised that it was push-ups. As many issues as Bucky had, he knew Steve was dealing with them, too.
While Bucky had gone on the run as an international fugitive for a few years to sort through his, Steve had taken to exercising. To each his own, right? In any case, when Bucky exited the Tower elevator onto his and Steve's shared floor, he found the blond super-soldier sweating it out like a champ. It was a sight Bucky could easily get used to. Nothing would ever top the helicopter flex - let's be real, what could? But he would never complain about coming home to guns like that.
Steve grunted a greeting, but obviously wasn't going to stop his workout on Bucky's account. He had made it to 178 push-ups and had every intention of hitting 200. Instead of waiting patiently for him to finish like any other person would have, Bucky Barnes waltzed over and sat his 260 pound ass on top of Steve's back.
"Really? We're doing this?"
"What? You got a problem, Stevie? And here I thought you liked a challenge."
Steve grunted again in displeasure, but let the issue drop. There are some fights that just can't be won.
Unbothered, Bucky flipped idly through his trash magazine while Steve tried to make it to 200 push-ups, now with some added weight.
As soon as he hit 200, Steve let out a huff and plopped onto the floor, accepting his fate as Bucky's butt-cushion for the foreseeable future. Bucky just smirked in victory. Years of brainwashing and torture and committing countless atrocities as the puppet of a Nazi organization all faded away in moments like this. Moments like this where he could smile - really smile - and be a little shit to Steve like when they were just two kids from Brooklyn with nothing but each other. James Buchanan Barnes was many things - had been many things; Sergeant Barnes, the Asset, the Winter Soldier. But right now he wasn't any of that. Moments like this, he was Steve's pal. His buddy. His Bucky.
Bonus 1: "Stevie, it says here that we're a couple 'a gays. Whaddya make of that, huh?" "Really, Buck?"
Bonus 2: ".... Are you ever gonna let me up, jerk?" "Not on your life, punk."
