Little Flame

1

The 1940's were a different time.
And Steve Rogers was used to how it had been.
He was classified as a Caregiver. And that shocked everyone. With that, he wanted to be strong. He needed to be strong.
A sickly young man, no woman ever looked at him the way they did James Buchanan Barns, or as Steve knew him, "Bucky". Also a Caregiver. He had a tendency to baby Steve whenever he so much as sneezed. But he humored his friend, knowing that was just his instincts.
No matter how many beautiful women were practically throwing themselves at Bucky, he'd drop everything if Steve needed him. And that made him feel special.
He loved Bucky
But Steve Rogers couldn't be gay. He strictly looked at his life long friend with admiration
Sure, he never saw the appeal of actually being with a woman... intimately...
And sure when Bucky would hold him during particularly awful coughing fits in the middle of the night in their shared apartment Steve would almost melt into him.
He insisted on taking care of him despite his classification, much to Steve's annoyance, but that was just how their friendship worked.
Steve meant everything to Bucky, and Bucky meant everything to Steve. He couldn't ruin their friendship with confusing feelings.
When Buck enlisted by for the army, Steve was gonna be with him. Till the end of the line.
The army just kept rejecting him. He lied on so many forms. Then the Super soldier program fell in his lap. That's where he met Peggy Carter, a firey young woman, classified baseline, who grew quite attached to him, and that's where he became Captain America
Everyone knows the story by now. He did everything he could to get where Bucky was stationed. To fight along side his best friend.
But Bucky and several other soldiers from the 107th were captured by HYDRA.
Going against orders, Steve rescued him and his unit. He'd gotten to be the hero to Bucky this time, instead of the other way around.
Steve was bigger, and Bucky was floored. Not only was he bigger, he had to basically carry Bucky out of where he was being held prisoner!

When they finally got to embrace...
The warmth the two felt...
No one was around...

They kissed

This was all Steve had ever wanted. Bucky, his closest friend, his support when he was weak, now Steve could hold him when he needed it. Now Steve could be his support.
They could get their life together. Settle down, find a little to take care of maybe. Have a life they'd both wanted.
Steve was going to protect him the way he had protected him. Never backing down from a fight, Steve would never let himself loose him.

Then the train happened.

Steve's heart broke that day.

Finally, finally having what he's wanted, what he's craved for years, just for it to get taken away. He was going to end this war. Any enemy that got in his way would be sorry. They all would pay for what he lost that day.
When the only way to save the world was to plunge himself into the ocean with the tesseract, he didn't have anything left to loose in his mind. He lost the love of his life just as he got it. So he did what he needed to.

He never thought he'd actually live.

When he woke up, SHEILD had tried to trick him into thinking he was back in his time.
It was now 2011.
That was a lot to process.
After a few months in a SHEILD facility, mostly working out to keep busy, Nick Fury approached him with his new project. The Avengers.
Helping protect the people of the world sounded like an amazing way to distract from the still present ache from loosing his best friend. He could use some time out of the facility.

He met this new team on the hellacarrier.
Nick Fury: the director of SHIELD, classified as a Baseline
Agent Phil Coulson: the now handler of the Avengers, classified Baseline with Caregiver tendencies
Natasha Romanoff: AKA the black widow, a spy and classified Caregiver, but you'd never tell with her demeanor
Bruce Banner: a doctor, AKA the hulk, and classified little.
Peter Parker: Spider-Man and an internfor S.I. Classified Baseline
Thor of Asgard: a literal God of thunder from another world, unclassified by earth standards
Clint Barton: AKA Hawkeye, a well trained spy for SHIELD, classified Baseline and currently MIA thanks to a certain god of mischief.
Then there was Tony stark.
Tony. Fucking. Stark.
31 years old, son of Howard Stark, "Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist" As he so eloquently put it, and a caregiver.