It’s interesting to see Steve’s insecurity about his friendship with Bucky. Bucky was his best friend, and presumably his only friend. Steve idolized him. As he told Natasha and Sam: even when he had nothing, he had Bucky.
But Bucky? Bucky had a family – parents, probably some siblings. He likely had friends from school, work friends, and friends from army training. He had endless girlfriends. We know he was popular. Bucky had an entire life, and objectively, Steve was only a part of it.
Before Captain America, Bucky was Steve’s world, but Steve may not have been Bucky’s. And because of that, you can see Steve constantly second guess Bucky’s love for him. During CATFA, he doesn’t know if Bucky will follow him into war. In the CATWS funeral flashback, he doesn’t want to intrude on Bucky’s life (even though if the situation were reversed, you know he’d never let Bucky ‘get by on his own’). Even during the final CATWS fight scene, he says ‘You’re my friend’ instead of ‘We were friends’. He’s horrified that Bucky died following him, because Bucky had a life outside of Steve.
I don’t think Steve realized how important he is to Bucky until he broke the Soldier’s programming, just by existing.
Steve Rogers, who has recently woken up in the twenty-first century, googles “advice for the modern era” and accidentally discovers My Brother, My Brother and Me.
“We asked you to send in questions related to World War II and Superheroes, because this week our special guestspert is… Captain America??? How did we get Captain America on the show???”
“Please, call me Steve.”
“I legally don’t think I can do that, sorry.”
G: Rogers, can I call you Rogers, Rogers?
S: …Do you want to?
G: –NO!!! Fuck. Oh shit, I said fuck in front of Mister Captain Rogers, FUCK
S: Oh, can we swear on the radio now? Thank Christ, it’s about fucking time.
J: we’re….*gurgling* we’re not on the radio, exactly
T: Captain Mister Rogers Captain Sir could you say bad words again so I could keep it as my ringtone?
S: Sure thing, pal. *pause as he leans in real close to the mic* …Shit.
G: *audibly clutching his entire face* Oh My God We’ve Corrupted Captain America
S: I know of a few people who might say they had a hand in it too
G: Sam The Eagle Is Going To Fly Down And Strangle Us With an American Flag
T: Isn’t Sam the Eagle a muppet?
S: I know that reference! Little known fact, ‘Sam the Eagle’ is what we call the Falcon when he’s grumpy.
Pepperony deleted scene! Starts off the same as what’s in the movie but totally different. Tony really wants a baby! His please and maybe is everything. Give Tony Stark his happy ending! He deserves it, no more angst!!!
Peter Parker being utterly terrified of small spaces after what happened in Homecoming, but he never says it to any of the Avengers because he can’t have weaknesses, he can’t be afraid of anything, none of them are- they’re only going to be reminded of how childish he is if he admits something like that.
Except one night they’re all eating take-out in the compound, and for the life of him Peter can’t remember how they managed to get onto the topic, but they start talking about fears. At first, Peter just shakes his head, denies it, he’s Spiderman, he’s not afraid of anything– but then he hears Steve speak, really quietly, and admit that he can’t stand being in water. Not after the plane crash.
And then Thor speaks up. He tells them all that he’s absolutely terrified of being alone. He can’t stand it, and sometimes it takes as little as a day of solitude before he has to find someone, anyone to talk to, or he feels like he can’t breathe.
Then Natasha tells everyone she’s afraid of dogs, her face blank, her fists slightly clenched, and she doesn’t explain any further, and no one asks. Clint tells them all he has a horrible fear of needles. Every time he needs an injection, he vomits. Bruce? Bruce has panic attacks in large crowds. He tells them all he has to skip out on charity galas and parties because he’s so terrified, sometimes.
Then Peter looks at Tony, and expects nothing, because really, it’s Iron Man. He’s been through everything, and he doesn’t even bat an eye at any of it. He’s the one Peter could never have finding out about his own weakness. Because Tony trusts him, Tony respects him, and if he knew Peter was so afraid of something so trivial, he’d surely-
“I’m scared of the dark,” Tony shrugs, looking down, and Peter just… stops.
The dark. Something as simple as the dark, and Tony is… Tony is afraid of the dark.
Iron Man is afraid of the dark.
Tony raises an eyebrow at Peter, and he realizes he’s staring. He looks down quickly, feeling like his heart is about to beat out of his ribcage.
That’s the day that he discovers something very, very important.
failed2be-chill 