Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

They’ve been best friends since even before kindergarten, and Bucky has never seen Steve so down. The blonde was currently wearing the saddest face in all of Brooklyn probably, sitting on their couch with his chin on his fists, and it was eating Bucky up from the inside. He’d tried the usual responses and diversions to no avail, and only got a distracted nod or two. Finally, Bucky just breaks down and says,

“Do you want me to punch someone? Or something? Or everything? What can I punch? It seems like the better response.”

Which was pure nonsense. But it at least got a befuddled “what?” from Steve, whose glum face became momentarily confused and he lifted off his head from his hands to turn and look at Bucky.

“Ah, I don’t... know. I just, when you get like this, it’s usually because you just fought some jerk punk. You want I can beat him up?”

Steve answered him with a sigh. It wasn’t a sad one though, more like tired. “I don’t need you fighting my battles, Buck. You already do too much of that as it is.”

“Listen, your ma and pa entrusted you to my care, and I happen to take that seriously.”

Steve just shook his head and gave Bucky a sad smile. “You wouldn’t understand.”

“Aw come on buddy.” Bucky clapped Steve’s back lightly, settling his arm over the smaller man’s shoulder and giving it a shake. “Why don’t ya try me. Go on. What’s it about?”

Steve leveled him with a look and held it for a while, before sighing again and reaching into his jacket pocket. He produced a much folded paper and just silently handed it to Bucky, who opened and read it with a furrowed brow.

“Shit.”

“Yeah.”

“Denied for service, huh?”

“Too sick, too thin, too weak.”

“Bunch’a morons, if ya ask me. I don’t know anyone here in Brooklyn who’s got more of a fight in ‘em than you.”

That got a wry smile, but Steve said, “read on.”

Bucky raised an eyebrow, but did as told and kept reading beyond the initial entries in the medical file.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah.”

“You’re...?”

“Apparently.”

“But you’ve never...”

“I know. Imagine how surprised I and everybody in the draft office was to find out that I’m an alpha.”

Bucky was about to say something more, but bit his tongue. Alpha. His little Stevie, an alpha. Steve, who never presented. Whose myriad of ailments prevented him from doing so. Who everybody just assumed was a beta at best. Well. No wonder. This explains so much. Bucky looked at the paper at his hand again and re-read the words. Alpha. He could hear the blood pounding in his ears. He took a deep breath, and Steve turned to him again with a questioning look on his face.

“You okay there, buddy?”

Buddy. That’s all they were. Buddies. Except this buddy’s been longing for his buddy since god knows when. Jesus, Bucky get it together. “Yeah, yeah. Just. Y’know. Kinda surprised. I mean we always thought you to be a beta, since you never presented and all. That’s all.”

Steve shrugged, then let himself fall back on the sofa. Bucky watched the way Steve’s long lashes fluttered and brush Steve’s cheeks, eyes closing. Could feel the tight knot forming at the base of his stomach, the sudden dryness of his throat as he watched Steve just be, eyes closed, the whiteness of his neck exposed, trusting, ever trusting. The spell seemed to break when Steve started speaking.

“Well, I mean we didn’t expect you to turn out to be omega when you presented. So I guess anything’s possible.”

“Anything’s... possible.” Bucky echoed.

“Yeah.” Steve opened his eyes, and shot Bucky a quick smile. Bucky found himself returning it. He felt a sense of normalcy returning, the earlier overwhelming pull of attraction fading.

“Yeah.” Bucky echoed again. Anything’s possible. Maybe even... but maybe not now. It’s probably not the right time to say. Anyway, who knows what the future brings, what with the war and all. Bucky folded the paper again and handed it back to Steve, who took it and slid it back into the inside pocket of his coat.

“So what was it that got you so glum- not getting into the army or finding out you’re an alpha?”

“Bit of both, to be honest. Just... it just reminds me how weak I am. Here I am, the alpha son of a war hero and I can’t even get into the army in the time of war.”

Bucky laid a hand on the knee close to him. “Don’t shortchange yourself like that. We all have our strengths.”

Steve regarded him again with a look, and then put a hand over his and gave it a quick squeeze before letting go. It felt as if it was Bucky’s heart that got squeezed. “You know, despite being a brute, you got a way with words.”

Bucky laughed to cover the surging feelings in his chest that seemed to overflow any moment. “Punk.”

“Jerk.” Steve rejoined. “Anyway, this is my problem to deal with. Ain’t no punching this one away.”

“I can punch the jerk doctor who looked at you if you want.”

It was Steve’s turn to laugh, and it took all of Bucky’s willpower not to preen at pleasing the alpha. His alpha? God, he needs to stop with the thinking. Belatedly, he remembered he still had his hand on Steve’s knee, and he pulled it back as nonchalantly as he could.

“You know this means I gotta look for my own apartment, being an alpha and you an unmarked omega and all.”

Shit. Shit he didn’t think about that. Bucky panicked, and blurted out, “no one’s gotta know. We’ve gotten away with it for this long why even change it?”

“Hm. I guess you got a point.”

“Yeah. ‘Sides, it’s cheaper this way. And any jerk who has something to say about it, well.” He raised a fist. It got another chuckle from Steve.

“We make for an odd pair, don’t we old pal?”

“Does it matter?”

“I guess not.”

Bucky got to his feet and then turned to look at Steve who was still sitting down on the sofa, mood significantly better than earlier. “Come on, let’s go out for the night. Get your mind of things.”

Steve seemed to struggle with the decision for a bit, and then nodded his assent. He got to his feet and patted down the wrinkles in his pants. “I guess it’s a date.” This made Bucky look back sharply at Steve, who looked back at him, blinking, face entirely innocent. “Yeah, I guess it is.” Bucky replied slowly, still trying to pry any sort of guile in his best friend’s guileless face. He probably meant nothing by it, Bucky thought, and then strode towards his coat hanging by the door. As he opened the door, he completely missed the smirk on Steve’s face.

Chapter Text

The war ended, and they both miraculously survived it. Bucky still couldn’t believe his luck. Their luck. There were a couple close calls- a maniacal crazy cult leader called Red Skull made it his personal mission to try and kill Steve and his ragtag band of misfits (they called themselves the Howlin’ Commandos for chrissakes) but they somehow survived all of it. He almost fell off a goddamn train trying to curb that death cult called H.Y.D.R.A. if not for Steve. Ah yes. Steve. His little Stevie. Only, he’s not really little anymore is he? And certainly not just his- Steve was everyone’s now. The Hitler-punchin’, HYDRA-stompin’, All American Alpha Hero: Captain America! And when you get a name like Captain America, that means all of America thinks you’re their captain. Their Steve. Their alpha. Goddamnit.

As the war wound down and the Department of Defense got down to the nitty gritty of getting all their soldiers home, Captain America and his Howling Commandos were stationed in London, eagerly awaiting their turn at a ship heading home to good ol’ USA. Agent Carter, god bless her, was also there. The alpha woman made sure everything was being taken care of on their behalf. Bucky liked her- she was strong, capable, a proper alpha. But also kind and considerate. She was instrumental in getting Bucky and the rest of the omegas provisions and emergency rations of the pill when shipment was unexpectedly delayed. The army was, like all other places, tolerant of omegas. But like all other places, only to a degree. As long as they can fight, they were tolerated. But agent Carter was not like that. She treated them like equals, almost unheard of for an alpha. Bucky was thankful for that.

They were in a pub in London, the Commandos cheerfully downing pint after pint, with agent Carter joining them in her beautiful red dress, and Bucky was pleasantly chatting with her when he smelled Steve enter the vicinity. Bucky wrinkled his nose- used to be Stevie couldn’t even give off the faintest of scents, back when they thought he was a beta, but now Bucky could smell him sight unseen. Panic rose, and Bucky mumbled an unintelligible excuse as he rose to leave. Agent Carter, head cocked to a side, had a worried look on her face as she reached out and put a hand to Bucky’s shoulder.

“What’s wrong, James?”

“I...” the smell was stronger now, coinciding with the growing cheers as Steve got nearer their table. Bucky put a hand over agent Carter’s and gave her an apologetic smile. “... something came up, Peggy, gotta go right now.”

She discreetly sniffed, and her face grew more concerned as she smelled the panic coming from Bucky, who grimaced. Agent Carter steered Bucky by the shoulder towards the bar, and whispered, “I know a faster way out.”

Bucky let himself be guided out of the pub via a back door they accessed by getting to the stockroom behind the bar, and once outside he breathed in lungfuls of non-Steve scented air. He turned to agent Carter, who was watching him curiously, and he gave her a sheepish smile.

“Sorry”, he mumbled, “it was just getting a little too much in there.”

“Hm.”

“Listen, I’m beginning to feel a little better here outside. You go back in, I’ll be fine. I’ll walk back to the hotel. Call it an early night.”

Agent Carter gave him an inscrutable look, which was a little unnerving. She put a hand back on his shoulder, gently, and gave it a squeeze. “James, you know you can tell me what it is that’s got you like this.”

Bucky felt his chest constrict. It wasn’t something he wanted to put into words. Putting it into words would make it real, wouldn’t it, and then where would he be? He bit his lower lip as he debated about telling the woman what it was that had been eating him from the inside ever since Steve came swimming into his field of vision in that godforsaken laboratory, like some blonde Adonis, carrying him out of the facilities like it was nothing. How confused he was by the strong alpha smell that enveloped him while staring at the familiar face of his Stevie in a body of someone else. When he got his head to wrap around the idea of a super alpha soldier Steve, instead of his scrawny scrappy Stevie, he was already just one of the many upturned adoring faces gazing at Captain America. Oh, as part of the Howling Commandos, he was a step above the rest, and being a childhood best friend definitely gave him a kind of a leg up, but there wasn’t a moment where he’d turn a corner and not find omegas and sometimes even betas propositioning Steve or some other. Whether Steve accepted was none of his concern- he always discreetly left before hearing what reply Steve gave them. The thoughts made Bucky pull a bitter face. It’s none of his concern now, isn’t it. Captain America ain’t his little Stevie anymore, no sir. And so, outside of missions and anything short of absolute necessity, he took to avoiding the captain.

Another squeeze on his shoulder pulled him out of his bitter thoughts and back to gaze at a concerned agent Carter, out there in a cold, dark alley in her beautiful red dress.

“James...” she always did call her James, and that brought a little smile to his face. A proper lady, their agent Carter. “...Is this about...?”

“Sorry to barge in like this.” Came the voice of Steve from behind them, halting agent Carter’s words and giving Bucky a little jolt of surprise. He had been so caught up in his head he completely missed the overpowering scent of Steve before the blonde arrived on the scene. Bucky closed his eyes for a moment to take it in- like a cabin surrounded by woods, a hint of apple pie just as you’d imagine someone called Captain America would smell like, and underneath it, the smell of home. Their home. But there was something else... a threatened smell? The acidic smell of a territorial alpha?

Bucky turned to look sharply at Steve, who stood there, smiling blandly. There was no hint of jealousy in his countenance. He followed Steve’s line of sight and it was trained on agent Carter’s hand on Bucky’s shoulder. Bucky felt another squeeze before it fell away to the agent’s side, the woman averting her eyes and looking slightly to the ground on her right, a sign of deference between alphas. Color rose to Bucky’s cheeks, he wanted to say “it isn’t like that”, wanted to step in between the two alphas, defend Peggy’s well meaning gesture, but knew it would only make things worse. Steve spoke again before Bucky found his voice.

“I’d been looking for Bucky here but the boys said a certain lady in red took him out the back. Now, I don’t mean to intrude if this were a private rendezvous, as they say, but I just wanted a word with Bucky here, if you don’t mind, Peggy?”

The voice was all polite, but there was the undercurrent of tension, the acidic smell growing noticeable.

Peggy may have deferred, but she wasn’t one to just bow down when Captain America felt like throwing his weight around. She’d seen him before the serum, and indeed was a candidate herself for the super soldier initiative. She was one of the few people who would from time to time step up to the captain when he was on the off chance being a little too territorial, too aggressive. And for the most part, Steve respected her. But today, something seemed different. Peggy could sense it too. She raised her head and met Steve’s gaze head on, but kept her voice pleasant. “Please, by all means, Captain. I had merely wanted to help James here who was feeling a little nauseous and overwhelmed in the pub earlier. I thought some fresh air might do him good.”

“Fresh air, in a dark alley way, the two of you alone, eh?”

“I do not care for your insinuation.”

“Dare I say that dress looks mighty good on you. If I recall, Bucky here likes ‘em real pretty, don’t you Bucky? Remember? Back in Brooklyn, you’d dance with all the pretty dames in every dance hall you can get into.” Steve’s voice was light, and he was still smiling, but the way he was advancing towards them was a tad menacing. Neither Bucky nor Peggy liked it.

“Steve.” Bucky had finally found his voice, and he said the name like a warning. He didn’t like this situation at all. He knew he was exuding a worried omega smell, as both alphas sniffed and glanced his way. Then they went back to staring at each other.

“Oh so you finally remembered my name, all this time it was Captain this, Captain that.” Steve said, but his eyes were firmly set on Peggy, who returned it. “Was beginning to think you forgot all about it.”

Agent Carter smiled, but it was devoid of mirth, her lips turned up with her teeth showing. “James, do you need further assistance from me?” She asked, without turning to look at Bucky.

Bucky, for his part, was starting to sweat. He’d seen alphas stand off, and even fight one another, but nothing like this. This was... well they were smiling and polite but there was an unpleasant undercurrent. And it all smelled wrong, and it made Bucky feel a little sick to the stomach. His throat felt constricted, and he hated it, absolutely hated it. Used to be, it didn’t matter that he was an omega. He could punch his way out of whatever predicament he was in. He had to- someone’s gotta look out for Stevie. But now, without a Stevie to protect, he felt a little lost. And half the time this Captain America guy didn’t even seem like his Stevie. Maybe something happened in that stupid H.Y.D.R.A. laboratory and now he was all wrong in the head. He hated this feeling he would get when he was in the presence of Steve being all Captain America. He felt weak. Something to be taken care of. He looked towards Peggy, and sensing his eyes on her, she broke her standoff with Steve to look back to Bucky.

“James?” She asked softly.

“I don’t feel so good, agent Carter. I’d like to go back to the hotel now if you don’t mind.” Then he half turned towards Steve. “I’m calling it a night, captain, by your leave.”

“Ah, of course. If that’s what you want.”

“It is. Good night, captain.” He gave Steve a half-hearted salute, and turned around without waiting for Steve to return it. Agent Carter gave another inscrutable look towards Steve this time, and then she took Bucky’s arm and half-steered him towards the street, heading to their billeted hotel. Neither of them looked back, and so neither of them saw the bland smile fall away from Steve’s face only to be replaced by a look of sorrow.

Chapter Text

“What the hell was that?” Peggy asked, a hint of anger in her level voice. She looked straight ahead, her hand on the crook of Bucky’s arm, looking as if he was escorting her when in reality she was steering him towards the direction of their billeted hotel.

“You’re askin’ me? You guys were the ones doing a standoff.” Bucky rejoined. He was starting to feel more like himself again, as the overpowering presence and smell of Steve faded in the distance. He wondered, belatedly, if it was like that for everyone- if the mere presence of Steve crowded your every sense every time he appeared in your vicinity like it does with Bucky. Okay, granted, he had been hyperaware and hopelessly in love with Steve from way back when, but... well. Steve after-serum was not the same as his Stevie. Well, in a sense it’s still the same person inside, but the whole super alpha soldier thing was hard to ignore. And sometimes that part of the person seemed to overshadow what was there before.

He heard agent Carter actually “tsk” at him. His head swiveled and he goggled at her a bit, having never really seen her lose her cool in any situation. Her nostrils flared a bit as she took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. They arrived at the hotel, a tiny but respectable establishment where the whole of the Howling Commandos were billeted, and simultaneously nodded at the kind old man at the reception as they asked and where handed their respective keys.

“The stink on the man. Can you believe? You could cut it with a knife.” She said with a wrinkled nose as they went up the stairs, her hand still in the crook of his arm. “He’d never been so aggressive towards me before I could hardly believe it.”

Bucky kept silent as they climbed the stairs and arrived at the front of her room. She retrieved her hand and turned to him.

“Listen, James, only a fool would be blind to whatever it is going on between you and the captain. Please, try and resolve it. It’s been going on for too long. I don’t mean to poke my nose where it doesn’t belong, but if I have to go through that again...” she rolled her eyes.

“I don’t... I... there’s nothing happening between...” Bucky stammered.

“Precisely. Nothing is happening. And that’s the problem. Isn’t it?” Peggy said as she leveled him with a piercing stare.

Jesus. The eyes on this woman. Either Peggy could read thoughts, or he was that transparent. He briefly thought about denying the whole thing before hanging his head in defeat. He put his hands to his hips and looked up back at Peggy, who was still staring at him, waiting for him to say something.

“I... Peg... agent Carter. I don’t know.”

The look on Peggy’s face visibly softened, and she sighed. “Sergeant Barnes.” She started, her voice soft as silk. “I remember you before H.Y.D.R.A. captured you and most of the men of the 107th infantry. You were fierce, a born fighter. It didn’t matter what your designation was. Alpha, beta, omega, none of it. I don’t understand why you’re running from this fight.”

Bucky gave a tiny anxious laugh. “Is it a fight? Is that what it is? You know, I could punch my way out of any fight. I don’t think this one’s gonna be resolved in just fisticuffs.”

“Then use your words.”

“You’re sounding like my ma right now.”

“Oh James.” And Bucky felt a tiny wave of pleasure from that. Peggy reached out and put a hand to his cheek. He instinctively leaned into it. “What are you afraid of?”

“He...” And here Bucky closed his eyes, to shield himself from the shame of finally admitting it out loud. “... he doesn’t need me anymore. What if I... and then he pushes me away? He’s goddamned Captain America. He can have whoever he wants.”

“Is that really how you think of him? Callous? Proud? Disloyal?”

“No!” Bucky’s eyes flew open with the strength of his denial. “No I would never... he’s not like that! Swear to god, my Stevie’s not like that!”

Peggy gave him a sweet smile, and then pinched his cheek. “Precisely. Your Stevie’s not like that. Your Stevie. He may be everyone’s Captain America, but he’s your Stevie. You’d do well to remember that.”

Bucky must’ve been a little slack jawed because the next thing agent Carter did was push at his chin to close his mouth. And then she turned and fished for her key in her pocket, signaling that their talk was over. As she turned the key in the lock and half opened her door, Bucky found his voice again.

“You’re amazing, you know that agent Carter?”

“Mm-hmm. And I like you, sergeant Barnes, but not enough to get into Captain America’s crosshairs. This night was more than enough.” She turned to him and winked. “Good night, Bucky.”

Bucky gave her a warm smile and a nod. “Good night Peggy.”

He stayed long enough to listen to her close the door and lock it from the inside before turning around and going up the stairs to his room. He’d been assigned a room with one of the betas of the team, being the only omega, and since they left them all there at the pub he had the room all to himself. He didn’t bother turning on the lights and just made his way slowly towards his bed, got on it fully dressed and stared up unseeing to the ceiling. A born fighter, Peggy had called him. That made him smile a little wistful. Well, he was born fighter wasn’t he? Was a time he’d punch his way out of anything. Maybe it’s time he tried fighting again, but this time, for what he truly wanted.

It was way past midnight when he smelled it- Steve’s scent passing by his door. It definitely isn’t normal, is it, this being able to smell Steve from a mile away. Having a lot of time to think about things, he’s pretty sure it was only him that it happened to. Helped them in the war, at least. He’d had a lot of time to think and sort out other things, waiting for Steve to get back. He quietly got up, and made his way to the door slowly. He sensed Steve hesitate by his door. He knew Steve wanted to bunk with him, but was overruled as rules dictated an unmarked omega should always bunk with another omega or a beta, and barring either, a mated alpha. And Steve was none of those things. Eventually Steve moved away from his door and then he heard the door next to them open and close. Bucky let go of the breath he didn’t know he was holding. He felt a little giddy- half anticipation and half dread from what he was about to do. He shook his head to dislodge the tiny panicky thoughts starting to form. It was now or never. Else, Peggy would “tsk” at him again, the idea bringing a smile to his face. Your Stevie, she said.

“Thank you, Peggy.” He whispered to no one.

A moment later, he was standing before Steve’s door. As Captain America, he didn’t have to bunk with anyone. Bucky took a deep breath and then knocked. He heard movement from inside, and then the door opened.

“Evening, captain.”

Steve looked a bit shocked, and just stood there by the half-opened door, unmoving. Right, Bucky thought, now or never.

“You said you wanted a word with me earlier?” He said, putting a hand to Steve’s broad chest and pushing slightly to indicate he wanted to come in. The touch shook Steve out of his momentary stupor and he moved back and opened the door wide enough for Bucky to walk through. Bucky strode in confidently, masking his own nerves, and looked around the more spacious room, noting the one large bed in the middle of it, and discreetly sniffing in the scent. Steve’s was everywhere. Of course it would be, it’s his room, Bucky thought. He stopped in the middle of the room and turned around, clapped his hands and rubbed them together. “So, what was it that you wanted to talk with me about, Steve?”

Steve was still by the door, slowly closing it, hesitating. “You know, an unmarked omega and an unmated alpha, as per regulations, shouldn’t...”

“Yeah but that never bothered us before, had it, Steve?”

Steve looked back to him sharply. “N-no. No it didn’t.”

Bucky put his hands to his hips and then shrugged. “Well, let’s have that word then.”

Chapter Text

“What’s... what’s going on?” Steve frowned. “I’d have thought you’d be all cozy in bed with agent Carter by now.” And there, a sharp spike of that acidic smell. Bucky almost smirked. Peggy was right, of course. Why hadn’t he talked to her sooner?

“And why’d you think that?” Bucky crossed his arms. “I like Peggy, sure, and she likes me, but not the way you seem to think we like each other.”

“Like what, exactly?” Steve asked, cautious.

“Romantically.” Bucky answered, matter of fact. “We’re good friends, agent Carter and I. There’s a mutual respect between us. And that’s it. Is that what you’re worried about, Stevie?”

There was a significant change to Steve’s smell at the mention of his nickname. The acidic smell was gone, and so was the apprehension. If he breathed in deeply, Bucky was sure he’d smell that faint scent of home he detected whenever Steve was aware of his presence. But in all appearances, Steve was still cautious and serious. Ah, but Bucky knew to look behind that now.

“Is that why you’d been sticking to her like glue all this time then? Because you’re such good friends?”

Bucky shrugged again. “Yeah.” Steve snorted in disbelief, making Bucky shoot him a look. “Okay so maybe there’s a little more to it than that.”

“I knew it...” Steve started, nodding his head, and the tang in his smell was back.

“Hold it, before you go jumping to conclusions, you haven’t even heard what I have to say.”

Steve leveled him a look of his own, and then nonchalantly walked towards the bed and made a show of sitting down on it. He gestured with a hand. “All right. Let’s hear what you have to say.”

Now or never, Bucky repeated in his mind. “I may have been sticking to her for a while because she’s the only other alpha that can stand up to you, barring colonel Phillips, and I think we know how that would turn out if I started shadowing the old colonel.”

“He’d destroy you with a look.” Steve answered with a smile, thinking fondly of the old bulldog of a man.

“Yeah, he’s not one for sentimentality, that one. Never disrespected any of us omegas though, you can bet on that.”

“And so why would you be needing either of them to be with all the time? As a bodyguard? Afraid I’d take advantage or something?” Steve asked, an edge to his voice, his remarks cutting even when said with a smile. Bucky stared at him straight to avoid flinching at the insinuation. He let some sarcasm drip into his voice as he answered, “well you know us omegas, always needing big strong alphas to take care of us.”

“Bullshit!” Steve exploded. “You’ve never needed an alpha, not now, and certainly not back then in Brooklyn. We lived together for years Buck! I was an alpha back then just as I am now.” And here his voice turned bitter. “Oh but I wasn’t the same back then was I? I was just scrawny little Stevie, something to protect, ineffectual, safe.” He spat out the last word.

“Don’t you dare say that. I never thought of you that way.”

“Yeah, and how’d you think of me then?”

“I loved you.”

Steve looked in disbelief, as if Bucky’s words were a punch in the gut. “What?”

“I said I loved you, ya punk. Love you still, if you can believe it. Only, this time... well things changed haven’t they? Our,” Bucky gestured with his hands, trying to find the word, “our dynamic. It changed. Used to be me mooning after you and you all oblivious. But now,” his left hand gestured towards the whole of Steve, “now this. And you bein’ aggressive. That was new. And now you got a scent, something I can smell a mile away believe you me. And then... and then I went and got afraid.”

“Afraid of what?”

“Of you not needing me anymore.”

Steve looked a mixture of confused and hopeful. “What do you mean...”

“Well, you’re Captain America, aren’t you?” Bucky said with arms wide open, and then he turned around slowly as he continued, “all the world’s your oyster. You personally punched Hitler in the goddamn face how many times, a hundred?” He ended with facing Steve again, eyebrow raised.

“Two hundred times.” Steve answered automatically, still the same bundle of confused, but the hopeful side was beginning to win over.

“Precisely. And so, what would a Stevie like that want with a nobody like me?”

“You’re not nobody, you’re Bucky.”

“Yeah, well it took me a while to remember that. That H.Y.D.R.A. camp kinda did a number on me if I’m being honest.”

“Yeah about that- we should probably get you...”

“Yeah yeah yeah I’ll look into it stateside. Well anyway, by the time I got to my senses you were already everybody’s captain, everybody’s Steve. And for a moment, it seemed like my Stevie was gone. Oh I’d see him sometimes. When you looked at me a certain way. When you got angry at all the injustices we saw. When you wanted to fight the whole world for being cruel, ignorant, evil. When you cried, oh I saw you cry, for the victims along the way. When you got that look on your face, same look as when you try and stare down the neighborhood bullies. But then this other Steve, this Captain America Steve, sometimes he was in the way of that. This shiny new you would deceive me from seeing my old Stevie. But I should’ve known, it was always you, same old you inside all that shiny new muscle. Took me hearing Peggy tellin’ me that earlier. Your my Stevie.”

“She really said that?”

Bucky huffed a short laugh. “Among other things. She’s a great dame, that one.”

“Ah, now I feel like shit for earlier.”

Now Bucky laughed fully, and made his way towards the bed, sitting down beside Steve. “You really were a shit earlier. You should apologize you know.”

“But how was I supposed to know... you’d been avoiding me all this time, and you kept sticking to her side, well what’s a fella supposed to think?”

“Yeah, we’re an odd pair, aren’t we?”

Steve turned to look at Bucky and smiled wistfully. “Well, where did I hear that one before?”

Bucky just laughed and hit Steve’s shoulder with his own.

“Wish I’d had a word with you ages ago.”

“Yeah, well you haven’t really had a word with me, seein’ as how I was mostly doing the talking.”

“You got a point there.”

Bucky leaned closer, their shoulders touching, and whispered. “Well, what was it that you wanted to say to me, Stevie?”

It was rare to see Captain America flustered, but fluster he did. It kinda made Bucky feel good, after all that alpha posturing earlier. “I... just wanted some of your attention that’s all.” Steve confessed.

“And now that you have my undivided attention, captain?” Bucky continued in a whisper, teasing. Steve looked to him, red coloring his cheeks.

“I just wanted to say I’ve always loved you too.”

Bucky’s face broke out in a grin, and Steve smiled, a touch nervous.

“You know, despite being a brute, you got a way with words.”

Steve’s smile grew wider and lost its nervous energy. “You turning into me or something?”

They laughed together, the first time in a long while, all the negative energy dissipating.

“I missed us, Buck.”

“Me too.”

The two of them sat there for a while, looking at each other, remembering each other’s faces. Steve stared at Bucky’s lips and Bucky instinctively darted out his tongue to wet his lips, as if anticipating. Suddenly, a different kind of energy was in the room, and both men felt its undercurrent in their skin, prickling.

“Uh, you know, as per regulations, an unmarked omega like you, alone in a room with an unmated alpha like me... well.”

“Does it matter?”

“I guess not.”

It was Bucky that closed the distance between them, but Steve met him enthusiastically. It was electric, that first kiss. Their hands found each other as they deepened the kiss simultaneously. When they parted, Bucky still had his eyes closed as he heard Steve say, “should’ve done this ages ago.”

“Well, like you said, an unmarked omega like me, alone with an unmated alpha like you, as per regulations, would not have happened.”

Steve smirked. “How about we do something to amend that? So’s that we won’t have to always be worrying about regulations, as such.”

“That the only reason, Stevie?” Bucky replied with a smirk of his own.

This time it was Steve who kissed first, and Bucky smiled into it.

***

The next morning, as the rest of the troop blearily made their way to the hotel dining room, it was Dum Dum Dugan who noticed first.

“Finally!” He exclaimed loudly, getting everyone else’s attention. Bucky instinctively slapped a hand to cover the new, red mark by the gland in his neck. He stole a glance at Steve, whose face was such bright red it could’ve been used as a warning sign.

“Every one of us fellas were goin’ half mad waiting for you two to get your shit together!” Dum Dum Dugan continued, ever the pinnacle of tact. The rest of the Howling Commandos laughed and shouted out varieties of congratulations, some of them slapping Captain America in the back. Bucky made his way to a table and looked anywhere else, and found agent Carter giving him a knowing look and a smile over the newspaper she had been reading. Bucky found himself returning the smile and shrugging. Steve eventually made his way towards Bucky’s table and sat down beside him.

“Guess the cat’s out of the bag.”

“Not like there was ever any chance of getting the cat in the bag, with how this looks.” Bucky answered as he took off the hand hiding the mark. Steve gave him an apologetic smile.

“Sorry I kinda... got carried away?”

Bucky nudged him in the shoulder to show it wasn’t a big deal.

“Should be enough to get around the regulations. Also would make it easier to look for an apartment when we get back home.” Bucky said nonchalantly as he reached for the newspaper laid out on their table. He started reading the headline as Steve sat there beside him, dumbfounded.

“You mean you’d still be willing to live with me when we get back?”

Bucky threw him a slightly irritated look before going back to the newspaper. “Yeah, why, you think you can get away with not making an honest man out of me, captain?”

This time, Bucky looked back at Steve so he didn’t miss the look of pure joy on his mate’s face.