Dumpster #3: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

[trashmod]

Holy shitballs, look at us go. Welcome to Captain America fandom's resident wretched hive of scum and villainy: ROUND THREE. AKA Bad Guys Do Dirtybadwrong Things To Your Faves, AKA the Hydra Trash Party kinkmeme. As usual, BLANKET NON-CON AND NSFW WARNINGS apply: just assume going in that everything in this landfill is unfit for human consumption.

Rules in brief: don't be a jerk except to fictional characters, warnings for particularly fucked-up garbage are nice but not required, thou shalt not judge the trashiness of thy neighbor's kinks unless thy neighbor is trying to pass off their rotting banana peels and half-eaten pizza crusts as a healthy romantic dinner for two, off-topic comments may be chucked out of the dumpster at management's discretion, management's discretion decrees that omegaverse, soulbond AUs, D/s-verse, non-superpowered AUs, and dark!good guys AUs are off-topic.

[Round 1] [Round 2] [Fill post] [Chatter post] [hydratrashmeme Pinboard archive (maintained by greenkirtle)] [Round 3 in flat view (comments in non-threaded chronological order, most recent last)]

Round 3 is closed; comments and fills in existing threads are still welcome, but all new prompts go to Round 4.

Comments

The Gravity Between Hearts 3/? (Sequel to Twixt the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea)

[(Anonymous)]

Bucky woke up still attached to a number of medical contraptions. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to be awake yet, or if it was the serum that made him wake up sooner. Someone had managed to put an IV in his right stump, and both blood and a clear fluid - something for the pain, he presumed - were pumped into his body.

A tube had been inserted into his throat for the surgery, and it made him want to heave, bringing him on the verge of panic. He lips felt dry, so terribly dry, and he felt like even that last vestige of independence had been taken away from him now: the ability to speak. He must have made some sounds of distress, because soon a nurse was standing over him, looking down with concerned eyes. She adjusted something on the IV.

"Let's see if we can make you more comfortable," she said.

He felt himself getting more and more drowsy. His vision blurred and sounds faded to the distance. He didn't like it. He preferred being awake even if he ached, but he was in no position to protest.

---

Bucky slipped in and out of consciousness a few more times after that. He remembered the bed being wheeled through a hallway. He realized that thankfully the tube was no longer in his throat and he took a few deep breaths, cherishing the oxygen despite still being sore there. The bright light in the hallway hurt his eyes. He blinked against it. Then darkness.

Somebody's hand was on his forehead. "Hey, hang in there," he heard someone say. The voice sounded familiar. It was Steve's friend with the wings. He tried to speak but nothing but a moan came out. He heard the sound of the curtains closing around him, followed by nothing but silence in an empty room. More darkness.

A woman's voice saying, but not to him: "It's remarkable. He's healing faster than any other patient I've ever seen. He's doing incredibly well...well, considering." Then the sound of a pencil scribbling on paper. He didn't like it. She talked as if he wasn't there. Like the Hydra scientist used to do when examining him. He felt tears in his eyes, but wasn't sure if it was the pain or the memory. This time he was glad when darkness came.

Hands on him; him jolting in panic. A young man's voice saying: "Easy. I just need to remove this." With horror, he realized the hands were reaching between his leg stumps and he wanted to run away with legs he no longer had. Only when the hands touched his penis, did he realize that something had been inserted inside it and he started thrashing as much as his body allowed. The hands pressed him into the mattress. "Shh. Don't. You'll open your stitches. You'll be more comfortable after, I promise, but it will be a little unpleasant now." He held still, but heard himself make pathetic noises of distress. It hurt a little as the catheter was removed, but true to the man's word, he felt relief after it was gone. "There," the voice said,"someone will check on you regularly, but there is a voice-activated alarm if you need something. If you need to use the bathroom, drink, or you're in pain - just say 'Alarm, nurse', okay?" He felt himself nod. His head was heavy. He wasn't sure if there was a God anymore, but he prayed for darkness all the same.

The next time he woke, he felt less drowsy. He took some time to look around the room. The curtain was half open. There was a window on the far end of the room that told him night was falling. Then his eyes fell on the armchair next to his bed, in which a human form lay curled up. Even in the fading light, Bucky could recognize Steve right away. He was too large for the armchair, but he had somehow made himself fit. His legs were pulled up and his arms were clenched around his chest. His head was resting against the chair in an awkward pose, yet despite everything he appeared to be sleeping. Bucky felt apprehension and joy at the same time. "Steve," he tried with a raspy voice, and realized it was the first word he had spoken. Steve stirred in his sleep, but didn't wake. Bucky tried to speak again, but did not find the strength. He felt the darkness closing in again. Part of him hoped Steve would be gone by the time he'd wake again; another part dreaded being left alone. This time, he cursed the darkness.

He woke again, not sure how much later, and realized he still wasn't alone in the room. Steve was there, sleeping where Bucky last saw him, but his slumber was not peaceful. His whole body was twitching and his fingers were reaching for something that was not there. He was making noises that were trying to be words, and Bucky could hear his own name coming from Steve's lips, over and over, with more distress every time it was spoken.

He tried to gather his strength this time. "Steve," he said, but it was barely audible.

"Steve" he said again, louder, and something in the way Steve's body's relaxed seemed to indicate he had heard it.

"Wake up. You're having a bad dream."

His words still were not loud, but Steve had slept in war zones, and he knew that even a small sound could mean danger. He jolted awake, almost falling down from the chair.

"Bucky," he said again, his voice filled with both panic and longing, laced with guilt. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. I just...I just wanted to make sure you were safe. I'll go now."

He looked so very tired when he scrambled to his feet, his body hunched in on itself, looking so fragile in some ways, like that scrawny kid from Brooklyn Bucky once knew.

"Stay," he said, before even realizing that was what he wanted.

"Are you sure?"

Bucky nodded, then realized Steve might not see in the dark. "Yeah, c'mere. Bed's big enough now that there's only half of me."

"Bucky, please..." Steve said, and the words sounded like he was in physical pain.

Bucky grunted as he tried to scoot aside on the bed, with limited result.

"Told the Russian gal my humor might need some work."

That had effect though, and even in the dark he could see Steve's silhouette un-tense. The dark shape moved gently, with no sudden moves, and crawled in bed with Bucky. Steve was careful not to touch him, curling his own legs in the empty spot where Bucky's legs should have been.

He pulled his arms to his chest, but in doing so accidentally brushed over Bucky's side. Bucky flinched involuntarily.

"I can still leave," Steve said, looking at him like a beaten dog. "Sam would probably say it's way too early." He was already pushing himself up again.

"And then what?" Bucky managed, and let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "So you come back in three weeks or three months and I flinch then, and it's the same thing. It only postpones it. I don't want to spend three months dreading that moment. I don't want to spend that long dreading you ."

He couldn't see Steve's face now, because of the way the shadows fell and the way he had pushed it into the pillow. He muttered a barely audible 'thank you' into the white fabric ,and Bucky suspected he as hiding his face intentionally.

"Besides," Bucky added, "I don't think either of us really wants to be alone".

The was no reply to that, but after a few minutes Steve's breathing grew more even.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Bucky finally asked.

He heard teeth gritting.

"There's nothing I want less in the world", Steve said, tension returning, defiant as he had been when he used to pick fights.

"...but I will, if you want to," he added with far more gentleness.

"It can wait. Don't think I can talk for very long anyway." He heard the drawl in his own speech, indicating that his body would soon shut down again and force him to rest. Steve was carefully keeping his distance now, but Bucky could still feel his breath on his cheek every time he exhaled. It was oddly comforting.

"G'night, Stevie," he murmured, more out of ancient instinct than intention. Then he returned to darkness once more.

Re: The Gravity Between Hearts 3/? (Sequel to Twixt the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea)

[(Anonymous)]

Is it bad that I think this is g-dang ADORABLE?

Re: The Gravity Between Hearts 3/? (Sequel to Twixt the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea)

[(Anonymous)]

No...I'm a big sap underneath all that trash ;)

Re: The Gravity Between Hearts 3/? (Sequel to Twixt the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea)

[(Anonymous)]

Me too. That's why you're my fave! (I still need to fetch the smelling salts sometimes when I think about the kiss Steve couldn't fake...)

Re: The Gravity Between Hearts 3/? (Sequel to Twixt the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea)

[(Anonymous)]

Yeah, poor Steve. He's not off the hook for that one, either. *rubs hands*

Re: The Gravity Between Hearts 3/? (Sequel to Twixt the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea)

[(Anonymous)]

Bucky nodded, then realized Steve might not see in the dark. "Yeah, c'mere. Bed's big enough now that there's only half of me."

I literally spit my tea laughing/cringing. Oh, Bucky.

Re: The Gravity Between Hearts 3/? (Sequel to Twixt the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea)

[(Anonymous)]

I like that reaction!