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Notes: This is a part of mine and blackbarbaragordon's headcanon verse that we've created. Continuity-wise, it's a mishmash of comics, cartoons, and movies. We've basically gone about cherry-picking what we like and leaving out a lot that we don't, so things are probably not gonna line up right with any one singular canon verse since there's bits from a lot of different places. Hopefully, someone else enjoys this just as much as we have.
Title: Cynefin
Fandom: MCU & DCU
Pairing: Sam/Bucky/Jason/Dick
Prompt: 17. hugs from behind
Words: 845 words
Cynefin
"You know, if you're tired you should probably just go back to bed," Bucky says to the limpet he's currently got clinging to his back.
"S'cold," Jason slurs against the back of Bucky's neck. He slides his icy fingers under the hem of Bucky's shirt as his arms go around Bucky's waist; he's shivering a little bit and curls closer to the warmth that is Bucky.
Bucky does not swear at Jason's cold fingers – Jason's always complaining about Bucky's feet being 'fucking freezing' every night – but he does shiver at the press. He might be able to withstand it easily, but it always, always, brings back memories and a close-pressing, near choking fear for him.
He lays his flesh hand over one of Jason's, rubbing it to try and work some warmth into it. Against his back, Jason makes a small noise of pleasure and wraps himself tighter around Bucky. He's still shivering despite having moulded himself completely against Bucky's back, and there's a chill to his skin that has Bucky's pulse rushing loudly in his ears.
Rationally, he knows that Jason is just cold, there isn't anything more to it than that, but cold seeping in means that everything goes dark and there is nothing. During those times he existed but he was not himself. He didn't exist.
Bucky turns in Jason's arms and buries his face in the crook of his neck, holding onto him too tightly. When he breathes in, it's Jason he smells and that grounds him. He breathes it in deeply, lets it soak in, and Jason's still half-asleep and cold, but something's clicked that something's wrong.
It doesn't happen as often as it did when James Barnes started to resurface. His memories of those long decades are hazy and disjointed, like he's trying to watch fifty different screens at once but the reception is awful. The older memories are more vivid, they come with a sense of self, but there's a slight disconnect there; he isn't the same person he once was.
But who he is now is the only James Barnes that Sam, Jason, and Dick know.
There has never been an expectation to remember, to be someone he isn't any longer. All they want and expect from him is to be who he is now. It's the greatest gift that they ever could have given him.
Despite the chill to Jason's fingers, they're pressed flat against Bucky's back under his shirt and warmth is slowly seeping back into him. He isn't shivering too badly now, but he's still cold and the chill of the apartment in early winter is seeping in.
Bucky lets out a shaky breath and sucks in one last deep one before he sweeps Jason's feet out from under him. That earns him an adorable little squeak from Jason that makes Bucky smile and drop a kiss to the top of his head, but he doesn't face much resistance as he carries Jason back to the nest of blankets that is their shared bed.
He curls up with Jason in the middle, feeling that ache settle in that comes with missing Sam and Dick's presence. But Jason is surprisingly pliant in his chilled and sleepy state, letting Bucky snuggle up to him with Bucky's face buried in his chest. Jason wraps his arms around Bucky's shoulders and tangles their legs up together as Bucky pulls the mass of blankets over them and burrows into it.
Right now he doesn't want to think about the jagged edges of his memory which he is still trying to patch together. Some of it he knows is his mind trying to protect him from the worst of what he's done, the rest is simply layers upon layers of scars from forced mental recalibration and mind wipes.
But here, curled up with Jason and buried in their bed that smells of all four of them, Bucky feels at home, like what he does and doesn't remember doesn't matter so much. Here, he can just loose himself in the steady thrum of Jason's heart beating in his chest and the rise and fall of his chest as he breathes.
It doesn't take Jason too long to fall asleep, hands slack against Bucky's shoulders. Bucky lays awake for a long stretch of minutes, just listening to the sounds of Jason sleeping. The bed feels a little empty, he misses the feel of someone at his back and the thud of their heart against his spine.
Eventually, Bucky does sleep. Thankfully, it's dreamless.
He drifts back to wakefulness some hours later, the familiar press and weight of Sam at his back. When he cracks his eyes open just a little, he's treated to the view of Jason's shirt pressed up against his face. There's a leg thrown over his and Jason's hips that Bucky is almost completely certain is Dick's.
It's warm and Sam's heart is a warm, steady thrum at his back. One of Sam's arms is slung over Bucky, fingers entangled with Dick's between Jason and Bucky. He closes his eyes again, listens to the sound of the four of them breathing and lets go.
FIN.
Title: Cynefin
Fandom: MCU & DCU
Pairing: Sam/Bucky/Jason/Dick
Prompt: 17. hugs from behind
Words: 845 words
"You know, if you're tired you should probably just go back to bed," Bucky says to the limpet he's currently got clinging to his back.
"S'cold," Jason slurs against the back of Bucky's neck. He slides his icy fingers under the hem of Bucky's shirt as his arms go around Bucky's waist; he's shivering a little bit and curls closer to the warmth that is Bucky.
Bucky does not swear at Jason's cold fingers – Jason's always complaining about Bucky's feet being 'fucking freezing' every night – but he does shiver at the press. He might be able to withstand it easily, but it always, always, brings back memories and a close-pressing, near choking fear for him.
He lays his flesh hand over one of Jason's, rubbing it to try and work some warmth into it. Against his back, Jason makes a small noise of pleasure and wraps himself tighter around Bucky. He's still shivering despite having moulded himself completely against Bucky's back, and there's a chill to his skin that has Bucky's pulse rushing loudly in his ears.
Rationally, he knows that Jason is just cold, there isn't anything more to it than that, but cold seeping in means that everything goes dark and there is nothing. During those times he existed but he was not himself. He didn't exist.
Bucky turns in Jason's arms and buries his face in the crook of his neck, holding onto him too tightly. When he breathes in, it's Jason he smells and that grounds him. He breathes it in deeply, lets it soak in, and Jason's still half-asleep and cold, but something's clicked that something's wrong.
It doesn't happen as often as it did when James Barnes started to resurface. His memories of those long decades are hazy and disjointed, like he's trying to watch fifty different screens at once but the reception is awful. The older memories are more vivid, they come with a sense of self, but there's a slight disconnect there; he isn't the same person he once was.
But who he is now is the only James Barnes that Sam, Jason, and Dick know.
There has never been an expectation to remember, to be someone he isn't any longer. All they want and expect from him is to be who he is now. It's the greatest gift that they ever could have given him.
Despite the chill to Jason's fingers, they're pressed flat against Bucky's back under his shirt and warmth is slowly seeping back into him. He isn't shivering too badly now, but he's still cold and the chill of the apartment in early winter is seeping in.
Bucky lets out a shaky breath and sucks in one last deep one before he sweeps Jason's feet out from under him. That earns him an adorable little squeak from Jason that makes Bucky smile and drop a kiss to the top of his head, but he doesn't face much resistance as he carries Jason back to the nest of blankets that is their shared bed.
He curls up with Jason in the middle, feeling that ache settle in that comes with missing Sam and Dick's presence. But Jason is surprisingly pliant in his chilled and sleepy state, letting Bucky snuggle up to him with Bucky's face buried in his chest. Jason wraps his arms around Bucky's shoulders and tangles their legs up together as Bucky pulls the mass of blankets over them and burrows into it.
Right now he doesn't want to think about the jagged edges of his memory which he is still trying to patch together. Some of it he knows is his mind trying to protect him from the worst of what he's done, the rest is simply layers upon layers of scars from forced mental recalibration and mind wipes.
But here, curled up with Jason and buried in their bed that smells of all four of them, Bucky feels at home, like what he does and doesn't remember doesn't matter so much. Here, he can just loose himself in the steady thrum of Jason's heart beating in his chest and the rise and fall of his chest as he breathes.
It doesn't take Jason too long to fall asleep, hands slack against Bucky's shoulders. Bucky lays awake for a long stretch of minutes, just listening to the sounds of Jason sleeping. The bed feels a little empty, he misses the feel of someone at his back and the thud of their heart against his spine.
Eventually, Bucky does sleep. Thankfully, it's dreamless.
He drifts back to wakefulness some hours later, the familiar press and weight of Sam at his back. When he cracks his eyes open just a little, he's treated to the view of Jason's shirt pressed up against his face. There's a leg thrown over his and Jason's hips that Bucky is almost completely certain is Dick's.
It's warm and Sam's heart is a warm, steady thrum at his back. One of Sam's arms is slung over Bucky, fingers entangled with Dick's between Jason and Bucky. He closes his eyes again, listens to the sound of the four of them breathing and lets go.
FIN.