A Stucky Story

The Asset and The Zoo

Like the aquarium, not all animals mentioned. I mentioned ones I thought Bucky would find some interest in.

Three weeks. It's been three weeks since they moved into the tower. It's been three weeks since they've went anywhere. Dr. Nicole, the therapist, gave them a break the first week and did home visits until Bucky was completely settled into the tower. They did their normal routine of walking Harley around, but still, even with all the new space; it was starting to become boring.

Bucky was still a little shaken up from his encounter with Fury and Maria. Steve didn't blame him. Usually he was okay with new people, but they were the people who send Steve away and they made Steve upset which made him upset. He didn't want to see them ever again.

After that day, Steve was trying to find a place to get Bucky's mind off of the incident. But some places around Brooklyn and Manhattan weren't child friendly or PTSD proof. Steve knows he shouldn't limit the places where Bucky could go because of his mental health, but some places will send him into a meltdown and Bucky's been doing good for a while. They could go to the aquarium again but Steve wanted to try something new.

He was on his phone during Bucky's nap and saw an ad for the zoo. The zoo wasn't a bad place, Bucky loved animals. But the zoo was louder and bigger than the aquarium. It would probably frighten him a little, but he might enjoy it once he saw the animals.

Then he heard a door open. Bucky and Harley came into the living area with his blanket and Lamby.

"Hey, sweet boy. Did you sleep good?" Said Steve. Bucky nodded and sat down next to him. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and laid on Steve's lap.

"Do you want to go somewhere fun?"

"Fun?"

"Yeah, remember the aquarium?" Bucky somewhat nodded, his brain was still waking up. "Well the place we're going has animals but they live on land." Bucky stared at him. He was confused.

"The aquarium has sea animals, the zoo has land animals like Lamby. There might be a few sea animals there but mostly land."

"Fin?"

"Fin will not be at the zoo." He wasn't ready to see another Fin.

"Star?"

"Um, well, a cousin of Star will be there. How about we go see and learn about new animals?" Bucky nodded and got up slowly. He yawned and stretched.

"That must have been a good nap. You look rested."

"Sleepy."

"You can't be sleepy after a two hour nap, Buck." They went into the bedroom and got changed. As Steve got Bucky's jeans on, Bucky grabbed his shoulder with his metal arm.

"Bucky, that hurts. Please let go." Bucky has a newfound habit of grabbing when he felt unstable which was odd. Whenever he lifted a foot off of the ground or was walking down the stairs, he grabbed something. When he told Bruce and Dr. Nicole about it, they said some people with sensory processing disorders don't trust their feet. So Bucky might feel off balance when walking around.

At this point, their whole life is off balanced but they accepted it.

Once they got dressed and had a little snack and packed all necessities, they went to garage where Tony was polishing one of his cars.

"Hey momma bear, baby bear and dog, whose name I have forgotten."

"It's Harley." Said Steve.

"Right, where are you kids heading off to?"

"We're going to the zoo, we've been cramped in here too long."

"Oh nice. The zoo is a good place, it's loud though."