Managing the Avengers

Everyone is a Hero / Hero Bucky

WARNING: not edited!

A/N: hey guys. You might have noticed there are two titles for this. We can't decide which one to use so please comment your favorite! Thanks and please enjoy!!

Tumblr Post: NO BUT PLEASE IMAGINE Bucky joining the Avengers and being a quiet superhero but one day as he's incognito downtown, a little girl tugs on his sleeve and he turns to see that she's got a prosthetic hand and she looks at him and says very shyly "I just wanted to say that you're my hero" and Bucky just melts

Summary: Bucky's always had a voice inside his head telling him that he shouldn't be part of the Avengers because of his past. He's always tried to ignore it. He knew his teammates held him in high regards but he never really felt the same way about himself until a little girl approaches him and maybe changes his point of view. Maybe even he can be a hero.

(NOTE: this story does not completely follow the tumblr post above but more about the one below)
(NOTE: written by Nicole Stan)

Our "Tumblr Post": Bucky's walking around Central Park and this little girl keep following him. Bucky brushes it off thinking that she'll just leave. But after a couple more minutes and her continuing to follow, He stopped at the nearest bench and just watched her out of the corner of his eye. She slowly walks up to him and shyly sits on the bench, as far away from him as possible. And then she slowly, like a little kid would, inches towards him until she's pressed up against his left side. She grabs his hand with hers, which happened to be her prosthetic also. And he looks down at her with confusion and she stands up and reaches his eyes level, since she's kinda small, and whispers in his ear "you're my hero". She kisses him on the cheek then climbs off and runs back to the playground

WARNING: not edited!

Your POV

"Are-are you sure this is a good idea?" Steve asked, trailing on Bucky's heals. "I mean, you always talk about how you think you might just snap if someone calls you the Winter Soldier again. And you just barely told me that you didn't know if you could handle another stressful situation with your arm and all."
    "I'll be fine mother." Bucky rolled his eyes, over emphasizing the nickname he gave for Steve. He looked back at him and gave him a soft glare. "I'll be fine."
       Steve seemed like he was going to listen but couldn't help himself, softly asking, "You sure you don't want me to come?"
       Fed up, Bucky threw up his hands. "My God Steve!"
Hearing the small argument, you peared above the dark leather from your slouched position on the couch, peeling your attention away from the TV, to see Bucky. He was wearing a tight fitting grey shirt and red basketball shorts, with some tennis shoes. His shaggy hair, that had grown a little past his shoulders, was pulled back out of his face. His metal arm was fully exposed and gleamed in the sunlight. Steve had a worried expression on his face, making him look like he was ten times older than he looked.
Bucky placed a hand on the door to the stairs when you yelled over the couch, "Where are you going?"
"Running in the park." He replied hitting Steve away when he tried to close the door to stop Bucky.
You tilted your head. "You do know that-"
"There's a gym, with a track, with its own imaging system that can make it look like I'm outside." Bucky intercepted with an annoyed tone, sounding like he had gone over this problem before. He gave a small sigh, "It's just not the same as being outside."
"Fair enough." You answered, slouching back downing the couch to watch your favorite program. "Have fun!"
Bucky gave Steve one last glare before hurling the stair doors open and barreled down the multiple flights of stairs, hoping to leave his best friend behind.
Once Bucky was out of sight, Steve was in front of the TV, making you yelp from his sudden appearance.
"Please, [Name]?"
"Why can't he just go by himself?" You whined, trying to see behind Steve. "He doesn't need a babysitter to watch over him twenty four seven."
"Please [Name]?" He repeated, ignoring you completely.
You signed, knowing Steve wasn't going to take "no" for an answer. Hauling yourself off the couch, you pointed an accusing finger at him. "You owe me big time." You scolded before running towards the stairs.
Throwing open the door, you shouted down, "HEY BUCKY! Wait up!"
An echoed groan came from the stairs, telling you that Bucky heard you, making you continue down the flights. Bucky's hand was on the railing, twisted so he could look at you with an annoyed look. "Steve?"
You nodded, trying to catch your breath, resting your hands on your hips and bending over slightly. You held up a finger, signaling for him to give you a minute. It had been a while since you've ran that fast. You really needed to start working out with everyone again.
Standing up straight, you took a deep breath. "K. I'm good, Let's go."
The two of you jogged down the rest of the stairs, Bucky having to wait up for you because of how slow you were. "I'm not a freaking super soldier like you and Steve." You muttered, out of breath, as you struggled to keep up.
Finally, you made it to the park. When a bench in the cool shade caught your eye, you grinned, strutting towards it, calling behind your shoulder, "You go ahead and do whatever. I'm going to take a nap." Bucky gave a curt nod, then started off in a jog.
After watching him circle the park a couple times, you noticed a small girl, around five, was spying around a tree. Curious, you watched her, wondering who she was watching. You followed her eyes and your eyes widen when you saw she was watching Bucky, tracking his every move.
You kept looking back at her and noticed she wasn't leaving. After a couple minutes, she shyly crept around the tree, her hands never leaving the scratchy bark. A lock of her free light blonde hair slipped onto her face, and she pushed it away by using the palm of her hand.
Bucky ran a few more laps, not breaking a sweat. You were so glad Sam wasn't here or else he would have been so pissed. Finally, taking a break, he stopped near the water fountain, leaning over to get a drink. The little girl's eyes lit up and she pushed off the tree, running to make it closer to him. When you thought she was going to approach him though, she hid in the shadow of the nearest tree, never coming near him.
Despite her hiding, Bucky noted your look our of the corner of his eye. He glanced over at you, giving you a curious glance, a silent question as to what you were staring at. You pushed off the bench and made your way over to him to explain. "It looks like you have a shadow." You mused, your lips twitching upwards in a smile as you watched the little girl who was hiding again.
He grunted in response, wiping his mouth off. "I noticed. I thought she'd just leave."
Without answering, you gave a simple shrug, walking back over to the bench you were previously laying on, Bucky following you. You sat on the far right of the bench, Bucky next to you on your left. You handed him some fish crackers that you had snagged from Clint that morning and he smirked before putting his hand in the bag to grab some.
When movement caught your eye, you turned to see the little girl running over but paused when she saw you looking at her, giving an embarrassed look at the ground.
She was still a distance away but you gave her a reassuring smile. She bowed her head and you realized she wasn't going to come over unless you were gone.
"I'm going to go get a drink." You excused yourself then slowly walked over to drinking fountain, pretending to get a drink as you watched the girl.
When she saw that you had left, she looked over at you, beamed, then turned back to look at Bucky. Shyly she shuffled over like crab, her steps wide as she clasped her hands. She stopped at the other side of the bench.
Noticing her, Bucky gave a quick glance, but not one long enough to catch.
She watched him as she gingerly pulled herself up onto the bench. Bucky disregarded her, not even glancing at her movements.
Biting her lip, the little blonde girl glanced at Bucky, then scooted closer to him, but not by much. She repeated the movement again and again until she was pressed up against his left side. Only then did Bucky look down at her to find her bright sky blue eyes, full of hope and goodness, intensely looking up into Bucky's dark, sullen brown ones.
Without a word, she grabbed Bucky's metal hand, showing her prosthetic right hand. She stood up, not letting go, and whispered very softly in his ear. His eyes softened immensely and he looked very gratefully at the little girl when she pulled away. Wrapping his arms carefully around the girl, he hugged her ever so gently like she might break. All you could do was smile at the cute affection he gave her.
The girl kissed his cheek, a small peck, then raced off towards the park. A puzzled expression took over his face and his hand slowly traveled up to graze the spot where his cheek was kissed.
    Once you sat down next to Bucky, he let his hand drop and he looked at you. In a whisper he said, "She called me a hero." He told you softly staring off into space before raising his head to look at you. "I'm not a hero [Name]. Why would she call me that?"
    "Probably because she thinks so." You told him, speaking the obvious but he still didn't seem to get it so you sighed and expounded. "Your disability. I mean, how many people around here have a prosthetic? To see someone with it, especially an Avenger, doing normal things, like running around and showing it off as if it's not a problem, is a big encouragement to her. She could have been thinking that her prosthetic was a fault, that she needed to hide it. You probably just helped her to realize that she can do anything she wants now."
   "That doesn't make me a hero, [Name]. I've-"
   "But you're a hero to her." You interrupted gently. "Maybe you should start thinking of yourself as a hero now too." Glancing over to look into Bucky's eyes. You got up, then walked away, letting him think.

   You made it back to the tower, thinking that letting Bucky have some alone time would help him think. You walked through the door of the main level and almost got knocked over by a very worried looking Steve. You explained to him what happened and his expression relaxed only slightly. Settling back in the couch, you waited until Bucky got back.
   Twenty minutes later, he walked through the door still a little dazed. Steve asked him what was wrong, but Bucky just mumbled something that you didn't hear.
   Turning around, you saw Steve's jaw clench slightly, but relax nonetheless. Steve placed a reassuring hand on his best friends shoulder and guided him over to the couch, you scooting over in the process.
   "But Steve, I've killed people. Shot them...ended their life. How am I a hero?" Bucky stuttered out.
   "You're my best friend Buck. You're a good guy even though all those bad things happened to you. That's how."
   "But Nat. She's your friend. Your team mate. Both of your teammates, now my teammate. I almost killed her. Heroes don't kill other people's teammates, kill their teammates."
   "Yeah and she's still alive. Bucky, you're not the same person anymore. We all know that. Stop beating yourself dow-" Steve's very eloquent speech was cut short as Bucky shot up and ran out the door. Steve got up just as quickly, but you grabbed his hand and pulled him back.
   Looking into his bright blue eyes, you could read almost every emotion that was flying through them. Care. Fear. Adoration. Pain. Rejection. Tenderness.
   With a voice loud enough for only Steve to hear, you said, "Let me go. Please." And you followed Bucky without a second thought.
  You found him back in the park. But he had a purpose there. You could see it in the way he stood, the way he watched everyone. You had seen that look before. He was searching for the little girl.
   He found her, and he just watched her. Watched her struggle to keep up with the other kids on the playground. Watched the pain in her eyes as she tried to do things with her prosthetic arm. But he mostly saw the determination in her stance. Even though she was weakened physically, he saw that she made up for it with her inner strength more than anything.
   She was running across the playground, towards the monkey bars. Without any hesitation, she pulled herself up with her good arm. And she swung herself forward with all her might. But it just wasn't enough. Her right prosthetic had no capability to hold onto the bars, and she was going to fall. You braced yourself for the yell of pain.
   But it never came. You were so intent on the girl you didn't notice that Bucky had bolted over to help her. He was holding her up as she made her way across, the biggest smile on her face. You leaned against the tree you were watching by. On Bucky's face, he was smiling too. Not a fake smile either, a pure, genuine smile that you hadn't seen there in a long time, since when the mind control left his mind and he remembered Steve again.
   "That's why you're a hero, Bucky." You mumbled under your breath, watching the girl take his metal hand and show him around the park, making his smile grow more and more with each step.