recs and links

Bucky recovers slowly, Steve tries to deal, and also goes on the Daily Show. I enjoyed this (though the narrative calls him "Buck" instead of "Bucky" too often for my liking, but I realize that's a personal pet peeve).

Pepper's wry, slightly bemused take on the Avengers' first Thanksgiving together. Aw, team.

Very hot Steve/Bucky/Natasha PWP.

Steve and Bucky try to keep each other warm. Oh heart.

Steve and Bucky get married to stop Bucky from being extradited. This is so achy and lovely. *sobs*

Steve and Natasha (and Bucky) and their sexy, sexy pillow talk.

Really lovely look at Steve bonding with the USO showgirls on his bonds tour.

No one loves Steve the way Bucky loves Steve. Oh my heart. This is utterly gorgeous.

Steve gets turned into a cat. That's only the start of his problems. Sweet Steve/Bucky/Natasha.

Long, supremely satisfying time travel story where post-CATWS Bucky and WWII era Bucky magically swap places for a while. Highly recommended.

Steve's trying to help Bucky but he's kind of a mess too, so it doesn't go as well as he'd hoped. This is really melancholy and lovely. *sobs*

Bucky gets caught in a time loop the day that the insight carriers launch. It takes him a while to figure out how to fix it, but it also gives him time to remember Steve and himself and how to be a person again. Oh Bucky.

The Avengers rescue a baby from HYDRA and Bucky gets attached. I could read a million words of Bucky + babies.

"Did you miss me on the plane?" The towel falls away altogether. Rogers sits back on his heels, forehead scrunched up, blinking rapidly. "Yes, Buck," he says, in a voice that suggests he is in the early stages of asphyxiation by invisible noose. "As a matter of fact, I did." His marble-blue eyes are glassy with a sheen of moisture. The Asset experiences a surge of emotion he can only describe as guilty panic. He is fairly sure making Captain America cry constitutes a war crime by the standards of the Geneva Convention. Bucky is grumpy and Steve is emotional. Oh my heart.

modern day Steve and Bucky swap bodies - and places - with 1938 Steve and Bucky. It sounds really cracky but the story does a nice job of taking the emotional consequences seriously.

Steve grows a beard on a mission. Bucky really likes it. Oh this is great - it has shaving, tickle fights and pining. Mmm...good.

Lovely, quiet Bucky recovery fic.

Bucky's not doing real well, but while he's dogsitting while Steve is away, he ends up breaking up a dog fighting ring and becoming the pet whisperer. Oh Bucky.

Bucky pines stoically when he and Steve get jobs working backstage with showgirls, and he thinks Steve's in love with someone else. Lovely.

When Sam's wings need to be rebuilt, Tony introduces him to T'Challa. Adventures happen. I enjoyed this.

ALWAYS BE WONDER WOMAN

The Winter Soldier reports to a safe house after DC, but nobody shows up to retrieve him, and he starts to remember things. And when he does, he wants to help destroy HYDRA, and he ends up hooking up with Coulson's team. Oh Bucky. Oh Steve.

"I know your step which is unlike any other step," Steve said, coming closer still. "I love you because you're the one I chose to love, and you still are. I don't care what your name is now. I know you when you're standing in front of me." Steve and Bucky via The Little Prince. *sobs*

really good steve/bucky vid. it made me cry.

Bucky and the Hulk come to an understanding, which helps during a battle. Aw anger management bros.

Stephen Strange turns Bucky into a puppy. Steve Rogers adopts a stray dog. HYDRA wants its favorite pet back. (Sorry!) This is a really lovely story - it has a fairy tale feel to it that I really dug.

Long, vivid, startlingly lovely and genuinely moving story of how Bucky recovers. (It's 90k words of second person, which may be offputting to some, but works because of the way Bucky dissociates and has to learn to think of himself as a person again.)

Natasha tries to work her shit out, with an assist from Steve and Bucky.

Natasha and Steve are both touch-starved. Bucky figures out a way to fix it. Lovely.

After the events of Thor 2, Natasha and Clint team up once more with James Bond. I enjoyed this a lot. (Sequel to Second Mouse.)