Stucky One Shots

Freezing

This has been a request by katiesainta. For the short explanation, Steve has a panic attack and Bucky calms him down. Just because I don't wanna give away the story.

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"C'mon, Stevie, you ready?" Bucky asks, looking at the blonde. They were going to go ice skating with some of the other Avengers. Bucky was looking forward to it, he'd never been and he was willing to learn. He was waiting patiently for Steve to get ready.

That was the last thing Steve wanted to do. He hated ice, the cold, and everything to do with either. The thing was, he didn't express to the Avengers just how much he hated it.

He had PTSD, and the fear he struggled over with the cold didn't help matters much. But Bucky didn't deserve to put up with his sufferings, it was only ice and he needed to stop overreacting over every single thing. So he put on a brave façade, bundled himself up in warm clothes, and firmly told himself that, at least for Bucky's sake, he had to be okay.

"Yeah, let's go," Steve answers when he finishes zipping up his jacket. Bucky grins and slings an arm around his shoulders and Steve forces a smile back his way. They all pile into their heroic SUV, dented and scraped from recent fights and looking much like a typical mom's car.

"Shotgun!" Clint calls as he climbs in front. Steve, Bucky and Sam took the middle, Tony drove while Natasha, Vision and Wanda called the very back.

Steve looks outside at the drifting snow and swallows. He swore he could already feel his hands going numb and shoves them into his pockets.

////

The arena was large but fairly empty. Tony had called ahead and rented it for a day - sure, it was technically a public area, but he was Tony Stark. He agreed to pay for all the expected customers that the arena would've had so it was fair.

"See you on the ice, Barnes," Sam jeers as he gracefully glides by backwards, his arms crossed over his chest. Bucky sticks his tongue out at him and goes to step out onto the ice.

He stops when he hears someone gasping for breath. Bucky quickly whirls around and looks at Steve, who looked like he was choking. The blonde looked terribly light-headed and he leaned against the wall. His heart was racing, he felt like he was going to be sick.

"Steve?" Bucky asks worriedly, taking a tentative step towards him. Steve doesn't answer, his eyes were fixed on the ice. He remembered the way he could feel each part of his body slowly freezing over, remembered how it reached down to his bones and left him speechless and shivering. He remembered slowly losing consciousness and it was frankly terrifying.

"Steve, look at me. Look at me," Bucky orders, but keeps his voice soft. He puts his hands on Steve's shoulders.
"Hey. You're alright, Steve, okay? You're alright," he soothes. Steve was trembling and pale. Bucky takes his hand gently and leads him out of the arena and the Avengers watch them go, concerned.

Bucky sits Steve down on a bench closest to a heater then sits in front of him so he can still see him.

"I-I'm sorry, I thought I could d-do it but I can't," Steve stutters, his words racing together. All he wanted to do was hide at this point.

"You're fine, baby. I'm right here," Bucky assures softly, getting up to sit beside him. He wraps one arm around him and pulls him close and with the other he runs his fingers through Steve's hair.

Steve swallows and hides against Bucky's thick coat. The brunette holds him close and they sit like that for a long time.

"What happened, Stevie?" Bucky asks gently once Steve's calmed down some.

"I-I've always hated ice since back when I crashed that plane and- " Steve stops and swallows and Bucky plays with his hair. "I get panic attacks. I thought I'd be fine." Steve bites his lip and Bucky hugs him just a little closer.

"I'm sorry you went through that," Bucky mumbles then kisses the top of his head. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I didn't want you to worry."

Bucky sighs and tilts his head up to look at him.

"Don't you worry about that. You know it's always been my job to worry, Steve," Bucky reminds with a small, teasing smile. Steve simply nods.

The rest of the Avengers pile out of the arena and gather around. They all look concerned and Steve felt ashamed; they would be having a good time right now if it wasn't for him.

"You okay, Steve?" Sam asks with concern in his voice and Steve nods and smiles a little up at them.

"I'm fine, guys. Really," he replies and Bucky kisses his forehead.

"You guys go back in, I'm gonna take Steve home, okay?" Bucky says and Steve goes to protest and the brunette just looks at him. "Okay?" He says, looking pointedly at Steve, who sighs.

"You wanted to come here, Buck, you were so excited. I don't wanna spoil that for you," Steve says. Bucky shakes his head.

"I'm staying with you, Stevie, if you want me to or not," he warns playfully. The rest of the Avengers give small apologies and slowly file back into the arena. Nat stops and kisses both their foreheads briefly. They were two of her best friends, to the extent that they sort of felt like brothers now, in their own way.

Steve begins to apologise to her but she shakes her head.

"You don't have to apologise for something you can't really control," she muses and gives them a small smile. "We'll see you back at the tower." And with that, she rejoins the Avengers.

Bucky gets his skates off then pulls on his boots then checks to make sure Steve's ready to go. Of course he was, so they left for home.

////

"Thank you, Buck," Steve says gratefully and wraps his arms around him then rests his head on his shoulder. Bucky hugs him back.

"No problem, Punk. I'll always be here for you," Bucky assures and kisses his cheek. Steve smiles softly.

////

And Bucky was always there for him him, like he promised, until the end of the line.

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Okay, one request done. Sorry these are taking so long for me to write and publish, guys, it's mainly because I have a huge project on the go I'm trying to get started. But anyway. Hope this met - or even exceeded - your expectations, katiesainta.