Chapter Text
Staring in front of his computer was someone Bucky Barnes didn’t even realize was himself. Dark eye bags, days-old stubble on his face was some of the things Bucky saw on him. He grimaced, returning to the article he was writing. His boss only screamed at his 3 times yesterday during work. Bucky was getting tired of everything. From his job to his rent, he was getting sick of it all.
Bucky reminisced to when he was young. He was walking around the farm of his grandparents. His gramma just returned from foraging in the mountains, his grandpa returning from the town buying seeds and tools, and he and his sister (she’s reluctant to do it tho) just finished milking the cows, gathering the eggs, harvesting truffles and all sorts.
Now, he wishes he can go back to his old life back at his grandparent’s farm. He was dozing off when his phone came to life. Bucky jumped and grabbed his phone and hoped it wasn’t his manager. He saw it was Becca, his sister. He let out a sigh of relief before answering it.
“Hey, Bucky!” Becca said cheerfully through the phone. “Hey Becca, I thought it was my boss. I didn’t want to hear his voice today,” Bucky replied.
“Why don’t you quit that job? You hate it there.”
“Yeah, but I need money for rent and stuff.”
“Look, that job makes you miserable. Plus, because of your schedule, you haven’t dated in a while!”
“I know, I know. I just wanna go somewhere new. Start fresh, y’know?”
“Why don’t you go to grandpa’s farm?” And with that, Bucky realized something. Bucky shot up from his chair, “That’s right! Grandpa gave us that letter, right!”
He fumbled his cabinets before finding the one thing he kept for so long, an envelope with a red seal. Written on the back of it was ‘To Bucky and Becca.’
Bucky hastily opened it and smiled. In his grandpa’s handwriting, the letter said:
Dear Bucky and/or Becca,
If you’re reading this, you must be in dire need of a change.
The same thing happened to me, long ago. I’d lost sight of what mattered most in life . . . real connections with other people and nature. So I dropped everything and moved to the place I truly belong.
I’ve enclosed the deed to the farm that you and your sister Becca visited every summer vacation when you were young. It is located in Snowpeak Valley on the southern coast. It’s the perfect place to start anew.
This was my most precious gift of all and now it’s yours. I know you’ll honour the family name. Good luck.
Love, Grandpa
P.S. If you are going to the farm, ask for a Nicholas Fury. I gave him a few hundreds and tools to start you off.
Bucky smiled until “Oh right! Becca, are you there?” He looked at his phone. “Yeah, I’m still here.”
“Look, Bec,”, “Stop, Bucky, you enjoyed going there more than I did. It’s yours.”
“Thanks, Becca,” Bucky said, smiling.
The next day, Bucky quit his job, packed up all his few belongings in a duffel bag, and took a bus ride to his new home, in Snowpeak Valley.
(ง'̀-'́)ง (ง'̀-'́)ง (ง'̀-'́)ง (ง'̀-'́)ง
When the bus had arrived at Snowpeak Valley, Bucky was the only one who was present in the bus. He checked his stuff and got out. The afternoon sun gave the sky a warm orange glow as Bucky walked through the path and checking his phone if he was going the right track.
It was then that he heard a rustle and raised his two hands in defence. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, it’s just me.”
A young, lean dark-haired teenager stepped out of some bushes. “Hi, my name is Peter Parker and I was just searching for some spring onion for my aunt.”
“Bucky,” Bucky replied. “You’re . . . new here, right?” the boy asked.
“Yeah,” Bucky said, “Do you know a Nicholas Fury?”
“Nicholas Fury, he’s the mayor here. I can ask my Aunt May. She usually knows where he is, brings her cookies every Wednesday.”
“Great.”
“Oh, do you wanna come with me to our house for a while, it’s getting awfully dark out,” the teen said happily. “Sure, lead the way. My name is James Barnes but people call me Bucky.” Both began to walk towards Peter’s house, the younger guiding the way.
“Oh, you’re a Barnes? My aunt knew a Barnes. Ferdinand Barnes?”
“Oh, he’s my grandfather. I’m actually here to take over his farm,” Bucky said, looking at shrubs and bushes with orange fruit.
“Well, good luck. That place hasn’t been touched since forever.”
“Thanks,” Bucky said. They had arrived at a small ranch. Multiple sheep, cows, and chicken could be seen either sleeping or walking around.
“Well this is it, May’s Ranch. My aunt’s inside, probably playing with my little sister, Teresa. Aunt May probably wants to meet you. It’s been a long time since she has seen a Barnes here,” Peter said with a smile.
Peter opened the door. The room in front had a counter and a few chairs. The room on the left had a few hay bales, barrels, and a fireplace while the room on the right had a kitchen and dining table.
“Peter! Did you get some of that spring onion I asked you?” A woman said, appearing from the room on the left. “Oh, who is this fine gentleman?” She asked, looking at Bucky.
“Hi ma’am, my name is James Barnes but people call me Bucky.”
The woman, Aunt May, gasped. “Oh, it has been so long since I have seen a Barnes. You look just like your grandfather now that you told me that!” “Aunt May, Imma go find that spring onion you wanted, ‘kay?” Peter said, and went out, closing the door behind him.
“Thanks, uhm, I’m sorry but I was looking for a mister Nicholas Fury? My grandfather said he had a few stuff for me and he can show me around town.”
“Nicholas Fury? He’s at the old Snowpeak Saloon, probably drinking with his friend, Maria Hill! Come, I can point you to that saloon”
“No need ma’am, you can just give me directions and I’ll,” Bucky started. “Don’t be so polite! Ferdinand was a good friend of mine. He would’ve done the same thing if it was one of my children. Now, let’s head out!”
“Yes, ma’am!” Bucky said, following the kind woman to the main town area.
“Your grandfather was one of the most prominent people of this town. Shame he died before his time,” Aunt May said, hand holding her cheek, “Back at the day, whenever it was winter, he would give piping hot cocoa out to everyone while his wife would cook the best stew on Earth.”
Bucky could only smile, letting the woman think back to the good ol’ days. “Well, there it is, Snowpeak Saloon. You can’t miss it. It has a big sign with an arrow,” Aunt May said, pointing at a building. Bucky thanked her profusely and began to walk towards the building with blinding lights.
As he got closer, he could hear music, laughter, and pool balls hitting each other. He opened the door and saw a few people scattered around the bar.
A blonde man with multiple band-aids and bandages on his whole body was talking to a blonde woman, who nodded and grabbed a tray filled with food. He appeared to be the bartender since he grabbed three cups and poured beer onto the glasses, before giving the alcohol to another man with long blonde hair and a beard.
Bucky was then tapped on his shoulder, making him jump. “Hello, stranger! The name’s Pietro! What’s yours?”
Bucky spun to see a lithe man with platinum blonde hair and a few strands of stubble dotted his chin. “My name’s Bucky,” Bucky said, shaking hands.
“You’re not from around here, are you?” The man, Pietro, said. “Yeah, I’m hoping to talk to Fury. Aunt May said he’d probably be here. “Well, she’s right. We can ask Clint about him. He knows where everyone is around this time.”
“Great, lead the way,” Bucky said.
Pietro smiled at that and grabbed Bucky’s hand and dragged him towards the bartender. The bartender who, in closer inspection, had a hearing aid, smiled at Pietro. Wiping the counter before talking to Pietro, “What’ll it be sweetie-pie.”
“Aw shucks, Clint. Nothing for me, however, there is one thing I might like,” Pietro said seductively. It took Bucky to make his presence known to make Pietro stutter and blush, “I-I mean, Bucky meet Clint, Clint meet Bucky. He’s new in town. He’s asking for Mayor Fury.”
“Well sorry but Fury’s not here. He had to finish late because of some paperwork and all that, instead, how about a drink?” Clint said, turning his back to Bucky, moving across cabinets filled with bottles of liquor. “We have beer, mead, pale ale, wine. If you want non-alcoholic, we have coffee, green tea, juice, cola.”
“Coffee, please,” Bucky said to the blonde bartender, noticing Pietro has left and returned to his seat next to a woman in red and a man in a red and yellow wool sweater.
“Sure,” Clint said while pouring Bucky a fresh cup of joe, “You want milk and sugar with that?”
“Little bit of milk and a spoon of sugar, thanks,” Bucky sat down on one of the stools.
After Clint poured milk and sugar to Bucky coffee, he stirred it using a spoon. He gave it to Bucky who replied with a small “thanks.”
“Thanks,” Bucky blew on his coffee and proceeded to drink, before his stomach growled, loudly. Clint heard this however and chuckled. “You want some food? Here’s the menu.”
Bucky read the menu, Baked fish, Eggplant Parmesan, Fish Taco, Fried Calamari, and all sorts were written on the menu.
“Locally sourced they are, freshest ingredients you can find around these parts. Most of the fish there were caught by Pietro, the vegetables were grown by Brunnhilde and Carol, over there,” pointing at a table where the blonde man with the long hair was sitting, next to two women. One had black hair while the other was also blonde. “And the fruits were grown by Steve. He’s that blonde guy (another blonde? Is this some sort of hotspot for blonde people????) that’s talking to that red-haired woman, the man with the grey shirt, and the black-haired woman.”
And, well, as soon as Bucky saw the man Clint was pointing. Bucky’s jaw dropped. Because Steve was, in no better terms, hot. Even his plaid shirt, which is a horrible fashion choice, looks amazing and adorable on him. His shirt left nothing to the imagination, his pants hugged his legs in an obscene way, and his beard was just the cherry on top of a hot guy sundae that Bucky would love to devour. (no smut sorry not sorry)
“Heh, you can close your mouth there,” Bucky closed his jaw immediately, blushing, “He has that effect on people. He’s a goody-two-shoes but can be real aggressive if you tick him off.”
Bucky ordered his food and checked his phone. Fortunately, there’s a very strong cell signal so Bucky easily texted Becca that he has arrived at the village to which Becca replied with a thumbs-up emoji.
Bucky placed his phone before turning to his left to see Steve, so close to him. Bucky blushed and when Steve noticed, he blushed even further. Steve gave him a sweet smile that made Bucky’s insides melt. Just when he thought Steve would leave, “You’re new here, right?”
That voice, damn (p.s. that’s what I always think when I hear either seb or chris speak ¯\_(ツ)_/¯).
He could hear God laughing his ass off now, or it may just be Clint. Bucky didn’t know.