Three dollars and some change

Hands of Clay - Chapter 21: Footprints


This is a Bucky/Steve no-powers!AU/kidfic. Story inspired by this fanart.

In this chapter: After the stunning revelations in the last chapter, real life reasserts itself in unfortunate ways.

Note: This is a bit of a slower chapter, with a focus on the children. I edited this while on a great deal of nyquil so if anything looks weird let me know.

So anyway here's a random outtake from Hands of Clay where the Barnes' and Rogers' head to the zoo on Mother's Day (which is right around the corner in this story) anyway I was struck with inspiration today after finishing the next two chapters in this story (next chapter on Thursday). This is just messing around.

I figure that they picked up that Sunday and went to the zoo because why not, it wasn’t raining and maybe they’d go for ice cream afterwards (Geeze, Steve, why not just take them to Disneyland while you’re at it) (because I have a meeting tomorrow, but there’s always Father’s Day for that) (oh god shut up before they hear you).

So they went to the zoo, and Natasha simply loved the red pandas and Clint wanted to spend the rest of his life feeding the alpacas and sheep in the barnyard, and James very nearly tricked Steve into milking one of the cows. After a couple of hours, even Clint started sagging and Steve made the executive decision that it was ice cream time, only first they had to do the bathroom thing.

Clint went with Steve into the men’s room, while Natasha got a pep talk and directions to not dawdle, then she headed into the women’s washroom while James waited outside for her in as non-creeperish a way as he could.

(Daddy, I am five years old. I am a big girl! She had said indignantly the week before at the library. I can go to the bathroom by myself. And so James had let her, hovering nervously by the drinking fountain until Natasha came back out again, triumphant and smug about how very capable and adult she was and then James ended up carrying her home because it was raining and she didn’t want her shoes to get wet.)

Steve and Clint reappeared, then Natasha came out (yes I washed my hands. Yes, I used soap. Daddy, honestly!) Then it was James’ turn, and so he didn’t get to witness what Steve later would call "the teachable moment from hell."

( rest behind the cut )