Chapter Text
Almost an hour later, they turned on the TV, just in time to see Captain America and the Winter Soldier appear on Fox News, both in full uniform on a stage in Times Square, the Parade in full swing around them.
“So, Captain,” the anchor started.
“Oh, this is going to be great,” Tony said, grinning.
“That poor woman,” Clint sympathized.
“I know you and Sergeant Barnes here have been in the future for awhile now, but I can’t help but notice this is your first time coming to protest the Parade. Have you only just found out about them?”
A muscle in Steve’s jaw ticked, and the Avengers all laughed.
“No, actually. For the past five years we were either on missions or too busy to attend.”
The anchor looked confused. “But it’s not your first time protesting?”
“No,” Steve answered with a shrug. “Because we’re not protesting.”
“You’re...not?”
Bucky shook his head. “Nope. We’re celebrating.”
“I don’t understand,” the woman said, trying to keep her composure. “Wasn’t all of this...illegal when you were growing up? Back when they had appropriate values. I would have thought that Captain America had the correct values as well. An upstanding citizen such as yourself, you know…”
“Let me tell you something, lady.” Bucky stepped forward. “Captain America does have the correct values- that everyone has rights, no matter who they are or who they love. And Steven Grant Rogers has never been an upstanding citizen in his goddamn life. He got into back alley scraps and lied on his enlistment form, doing whatever the hell he wanted-”
“Buck,” Steve muttered, rolling his eyes.
“No, shut up.”
Steve shut his mouth with an exasperated, yet very fond sigh.
“It’s really refreshing to see someone who’s able to tell Steve what to do, and Steve actually listens,” Wanda commented serenely from where she had been secluded in a corner with Sam and Pietro, avoiding the drama.
Natasha hummed in agreement, eyes glued to the screen.
“Anyway, he’s been breaking laws since he was fifteen, and we started breaking that particular law together when we were sixteen years old.”
The anchor gasped comically loud, and most of them nearly lost it then.
“Are you saying…”
They watched as Steve pulled out his shield- the rings were painted blue, purple, and pink- and Bucky took off his jacket, revealing his metal arm- it was completely covered in the colors of the rainbow.
The Avengers all smiled proudly.
The anchor gasped again, and she looked like she might faint.
“Are you telling me that Captain America is a faggot?”
Every single Avenger in the room jumped to their feet in anger, and they watched as Steve had to yank Bucky back by the collar as he took a step towards the woman.
“I don’t feel bad for her anymore,” Clint growled.
“Her career is over,” Tony said immediately. “JARVIS?”
“On it, Sir.”
But Steve simply smiled.
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you.”
And then. Steve Rogers actually fucking dipped Bucky, kissing him deeply.
Tony started cheering and so did the rest, yelling and laughing and just celebrating in general.
The anchor screeched and stumbled backwards like they were contagious, and made frantic motions at the camera to cut the feed. It did, but other news stations kept rolling.
Cap and Barnes were on the jumbotron in Times Square, and everyone in the Parade was losing their shit.
“JARVIS,” Tony said casually. “Please tell my beautiful fiancée not to schedule any more interviews with Fox.”
“Yes, sir.”
Tony called his suit, and within half an hour the rest of the Avengers met Steve and Bucky on a stage in the middle of the chaos.
Natasha and Pietro had pink, yellow, and blue flags painted on their cheeks, Bruce had purple, grey, white, and black flag on his, Clint had the demi-flag design painted completely over his face, Tony had the straight-ally flag painted over his suit, Rhodey and Pepper following right behind in matching suits of their own, Wanda proudly sporting a bisexual flag on her t-shirt, and Thor was just covered head to toe in glitter, because he didn’t like labels.
Basically, they were wearing their war paint, ready to fight anyone who dared insult anyone again.
Steve and Bucky stared at them in amazement, but before anyone could talk someone swung on the stage with them.
“Hi, Mr. Stark!” Peter announced excitedly. “Captain Rogers, Sergeant Barnes, I just wanna say that that was really cool of you guys! You guys rock! Everyone is freaking out, but in a good way!”
Steve laughed. “Thanks, Queens. Nice suit.”
Peter was wearing his usual suit, except instead of the normal red and blue, it was pink, purple, and blue.
“Thanks, Captain! Oh, shoot, I gotta go, my friends are out there and my girlfriend’s gonna kill me if I’m late for lunch again. But I just wanted to say thanks! For everything! Bye Mr. Stark, Aunt May said to say that you and Ms. Potts are invited to dinner Friday okay byeeee!”
With that, he webbed away, leaving the others to laugh at the hyperactive teenager.
“Thanks for coming, guys,” Steve finally said.
“Hey, we were coming anyway,” Natasha responded airily, gesturing to her face paint. “But we’re proud of you for how you handled that horrible woman.”
“We’ve had worse,” Bucky said dryly.
The crowd suddenly went dead silent, which was extremely unnerving.
The Avengers all tensed, ready for a fight- against who, they didn’t know. Natasha noticed first, because of course she did.
She nudged Sam, who looked up.
The Jumbotron showed a pre-taken photo of Bucky holding a sign that simply read:
Shhhh…
And the fact that it worked was surprising. There was literally no noise coming from the hundreds of people in the Square.
“Oh my god,” Wanda breathed, realizing what was about to happen.
Pepper gasped, squeezing Tony’s hand.
One by one, the rest of the Avengers clued in. Except Steve.
“Stevie,” Bucky said softly. His voice carried, thanks to the dozens of microphones and cameras on them.
Steve looked at him, confused.
Bucky licked his lips nervously before continuing. “I’ve known you since before we could walk. I’ve loved you since we were sixteen, which is over eighty-three years. You were the only thing that HYDRA couldn’t erase from my brain. You’re my anchor. We spent nearly six years hiding our relationship because we were terrified of what would happen if someone found out. We spent the next seventy years apart, and by some miracle we’re still alive in a time when we can be together in public.”
Bucky paused, taking a breath. Steve’s eyes were suspiciously shiny.
“I’m gonna be honest right now, Steve. You snore.”
That drew a startled laugh out of a lot of people, Steve included.
“You snore,” Bucky repeated. “And you’re always hot even in the middle of winter, and you nag me when I do the dishes wrong, and you’re a stubborn idiot that throws himself out of airplanes without a parachute and on top of fuckin’ grenades and basically a self-sacrificing son of a bitch. You throw yourself into danger without a second thought if you think someone you love is in danger, you’re the most loyal asshole I have ever met. You’re a punk who I haven’t been able to get rid of since the twenties, and I never wanted to get rid of you so that worked out fine.”
Bucky swallowed. “I once told you that I wasn't following Captain America. I said I would follow that little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb not to run away from a fight. And I plan on keeping that promise. I’ll follow you right up ‘til the end of the line.”
Everyone watched as Bucky dropped to one knee.
“I don’t have a ring or anything, because I planned this about an hour ago. Once everyone figured it out this morning- I really didn’t mean to break that clock- I figured, why not? You know I’m an all or nothing guy, so. Now, I know that we’re already married in every way that counts, but how about we make it official? Whaddya say, punk? You wanna make an honest man outta me?”
Steve opened and closed his mouth a few times, tears streaming down his face.
“Christ, Bucky,” he finally choked out. “How do you expect me to talk after all of that?”
Bucky laughed slightly, grinning up at Steve.
Steve sank to the ground in front of Bucky, a grin splitting his face.
“God, of course I’ll marry you, jerk,” he whispered, cradling Bucky’s face in his hands. “I said end of the line, and I meant it. I love you so much.”
It was loud enough that all the microphones and cameras picked it up.
The crowd immediately went insane, screaming and jumping and generally losing their shit.
The Avengers weren’t much better. They were yelling and crying happily and already arguing over best man privileges.
Steve and Bucky ignored them all, probably because they were completely lost in their celebratory kiss.