recs and links

Super hot Bucky/Natasha.

She is sixteen and beautiful, red hair and green eyes and smooth skin, slender hips and graceful shoulders, long fingers and a smile that could cut glass. He is twenty-six and tiny, lost in his baggy trousers and the shirts that drape from his thin shoulders, blue eyes bright with fervor and fever in equal measures as winter moves in. Bucky and his memories of Steve and Natasha. Nicely done.

Abbie + Ichabod + fake dating = GOOD TIMES. this is sweet.

I enjoyed the two stories (so far?) in this series - the first deals with Akela Amador meeting Nick Fury, and the second is a coda for the pilot which details what happens next for Mike Peterson.

Teambuilding via food. Aw, heart.

It’s twice, twice now that he’s been called to Steve, and as he stands there with his pelt hanging around his shoulders, he realizes at last that it wasn’t an accident, that this may have been in his song all along. Steve isn’t a child, but isn’t a man yet either, at that awkward between-age for humans where the future looks vast and unclear—a reflection of himself, and now they seem to fit together in a way that they didn’t before. Amazingly lovely AU where Bucky is a selkie. He and Steve become inseparable anyway. *sob*

There's no better feeling than coming home after a long day to a great dinner that you've already made. Way to go, slow cooker. Way to go, self.

Raleigh and Mako make a place for themselves after the war is over.

Really good look at Bruce and the serum, featuring Steve, Pepper, Isaiah Bradley, Emil Blonsky.

Really nicely done slow build/friends-to-lovers Steve/Darcy. Needs a good beta, though.

The first time Steve asked, he was twelve, Bucky was thirteen, and she had just punched Chris McBride in the ear for calling Steve a sissy baby. “Nah,” Bucky had said with a careless swipe at the fringe on her forehead. “Unless you wanna wear the dress.” The second time Steve asked, they had been out of the orphanage and on their own for three years. Bucky had come home with a split lip — and bloody knuckles. “These guys you choose are no good, Buck,” he told her. She barely winced when Steve dabbed iodine on her scrapes. “I would — I would treat you right.” She’d smiled, a sad, blood-stained thing. “I know you would, Steve,” she said, and laid her head on his shoulder. Really lovely Steve/rule 63!Bucky.

Steve and Darcy's tour of America gets weird, but flirty. This is adorable.

Nice look at Melinda May interacting with her own team and the Avengers.

In which James is the Winter Soldier and has many encounters with Captain America, in many cities, and all the while, neither of them are aware of his true identity. Oh, Steve. Oh, Bucky. Sigh.

Ichabod learns more about the modern world.

Exactly what it says on the tin. Hee! This is a lot of fun.

Cute story where Kate and Coulson get thrown in a dungeon and Clint rescues them.

Ichabod finds something of his past life survives.

Steve slowly gains the Winter Soldier's trust, feeding him and giving him a warm place out of the rain, just like a stray dog.

Jane and Aisha, over the years. Hot and melancholy.

Abbie takes Ichabod shopping. This is adorable.

Steph and Jason fight, with repercussions that affect the whole family. Oh my heart.

Chilling yet believable explanation for why Eska and Desna are the way they are. Which is more than canon has provided. Heed the warnings.

Or, Five Times Tony Knitted Something for an Avenger, and One Time They All Found Out. this is adorable. And it makes sense that Tony would have a hobby that kept his hands busy that also allowed him to make stuff.

Lovely overview of Mako as she rebuilds her life the first time.

"You should have backup, and I'm incredibly good backup." Remus knows he must have been breathing for the last few minutes, because his vision isn't blacking out or anything, but for the life of him, he doesn't know how. He drops to the floor beside Sirius, with none of the grace Sirius showed earlier. "Padfoot," he says. "Seriously, really good backup. I can do magic and bite the fuck out of people." "And that's even before you turn into a dog." Remus and Sirius during OotP. Oh my heart. *sobs*

Steve is good at pool. It's not his fault nobody expects him to be. (the pool stuff is...not quite correct? but the teamy banter is fun.)

Jason kind of felt like he owed the kid. Broken leg was nothing compared to Mom and Dad fighting. Jason should know. Pretending Dick had dragged him along against his will was… a plausible excuse for checking on the little demon. Bruce finds out it was Talia who helped Jason. Dick runs interference. Oh, Batfam.

Hee! Steve and Bucky appear to be trope-proof, but the others keep trying.

Throughout her childhood and most of her adolescence, Melinda May’s parents, teachers, and role models told her: Ladies do not pick fights. In college, former SSR agent Margaret Carter told Melinda, “Ladies finish them." A nice look at Melinda May