The Tale of Bucky Barnes

Chapter Three

Sam was sitting on the couch when he felt a sudden weight on his lap. He opened his eyes to find your youngest daughter on his lap smiling up at him. "Time for the story, Sam?" The blue eyes looking back at him made it impossible to say no. "Alright. Go get everybody." She scurried off his lap and ran through the Tower. "GUYS! SAM IS FIXING TO TELL THE STORY!" The thundering sound of the footsteps got even louder as everyone approached the room where Sam was waiting. Once everyone was situated, Sam began again. "Okay. So, our beautiful princess is leading Bucky into a trap and along the way, Bucky does his fair share of complaining and then some..."

"We've been traveling forever. Why can't we stop?" Bucky practically whined making you roll your eyes. "Really? You've done nothing but complain since we started. You're supposed to be a hero." Bucky groaned. You reminded him of that fact every time he uttered a syllable of protest."Will you just stop it? You're not going to make me a hero again just by telling me that I'm supposed to be one. So just drop it, okay?" You scoffed, but didn't reply.

Steve, tired of the constant bickering, decided that maybe a break was in order. "You know, a chance to stop would do us some good, Princess. There's a small village a few miles from here. We could stop there for the night." You took one look at Steve's blue puppy dog eyes and relented. "Perhaps you're right. We could all use a bit of break."

Steve grinned. "Wonderful. The village is just over that hill there." Bucky watched as a light shade of pink began showing on Steve's neck. "Steve...is this village your home?" Steve nodded. "Yeah. But don't worry. My people will treat you like a princess, Princess." You laughed lightly as the village came into view.

It was a quaint little place and definitely busy. Just outside the village, the three of you dismounted your horses and walked the rest of the way. The moment you set foot in the village, people began staring, pointing and giggling. The women were especially excited. The further into the village you walked, the redder Steve's face became until you were in the town square and saw why.

There, in the middle of the square, was a statue that looked suspiciously like Steve. "Um...Steve? Explain," Bucky said. "Oh...you noticed that?" You stifled a laugh. "How could we not, Steve? Seriously, what's up with that?" Before Steve could answer, a young woman came up and kissed him square on the lips. Then she walked away, leaving the three of you standing in shock. "Steve? Really, explain."

"Well see, nothing much goes on here so, when I've written home over the years, I may have exaggerated a bit." Steve started walking again, leading you and Bucky to the biggest home in the village. "So your family thinks you're a knight?" Steve nodded sheepishly. "It's just my mom, but yeah. I know I have no right to ask it, but I would really appreciate if you could just play along. Just for today."

Bucky groaned, earning a glare from you before you turned your attention back to Steve. "You mean acting? I love to act. My home is famous for its theater program." Bucky snorted out a laugh and said, "So most boring place ever." Steve rubbed his eyes with his small hands and fought back a groan. There was no way this was going to work.

Bucky noticed Steve's look of desperation and relented. "Alright, Steve. We'll play along." Steve grinned. "Thank you! Oh..by the way, Mother thinks you're my squire," he told Bucky before knocking on the door of his home. "Wait what?!" The door opened to reveal a friendly looking woman. "Steve!" she cried, pulling her son into hug. Her eyes found you and she smiled. "And who is this?"

You grinned and took a step closer to her. "This is Princess-" His mother gasped. "A princess?" You nodded and she just smiled bigger. "Oh, look at me, just standing in the doorway. Come in. Come in! Are you hungry?" Bucky finally spoke up, "Starving." Steve's mother passed a rather large chicken to him. "Great. Would you mind, squire?" You stifled a laugh as Bucky stared at the animal in disbelief. He looked up at Steve who gave him a pleading look. Bucky closed his mouth and let Steve's mother show him to the kitchen.

"So, what wonderful adventure are you on now, Steve?" Steve's mother asked after introducing herself. "I'm helping Princess Y/N. Her homeland was invaded by an evil king." Sarah's face was full of pride for her son. "That is wonderful." You gave Steve's shoulder a squeeze when you saw the look of guilt on his face, something Sarah didn't miss.

"Is there something you want to tell me, Steve? Something between you and the princess?" Steve's eyes widened in fear and you immediately felt the need to come to his rescue. "There is actually. Your son is an amazing young man and we've grown quite close," you said as you looked at Steve and took his hand. You looked back at Sarah and told her, "We're engaged." Sarah clapped her hands joyfully as Bucky came into the room. He choked back a laugh. "This just got interesting," he mumbled as he passed you and Steve. You looked at Sarah again and wondered what you'd just gotten yourself into.

"Bucky's right. It did just get interesting," Tony said with a chuckle, "How are they going to get out of that? I can't believe Steve lied to his poor mother." The real Steve was blushing at that point. "What happens next, Sam? Do Steve and Y/N get married? Will Steve tell his mom the truth? What about Bucky? I thought he was going to get the girl!" Sam held up his hands to stifle the flow of questions from your son. Then, Natasha spoke for the first time since Sam started the story.

"What about Natasha, KingTony and Clint? What's happening with them?" Sam blinked. In truth, he'dalmost forgotten about the "villains" of the story. He ran hisfingers over his bottom lip as his brain tried to come up with an answer."I think we'll find out what's going on with them when we continue thestory...another night." The children all cheered from their seats. Theywent to bed that night happy with the promise of more story.