Title: A Gentle Thaw
Author: godofpancakes (Vera_DragonMuse)
Fandom: Captain America (2011), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (2012)
Pairing: James “Bucky” Barnes/Howard Stark, James “Bucky” Barnes/Steve Rogers
Genre: Bromance, Romance, Angst, Hurt/Comfort
Rating: R
Warning: PTSD, Psychological Trauma
Word Count: 20,675
Summary: AU in which there was no Dr. Erskine and no serum, Steve never got the chance to go to war. The years pass and Bucky finally comes home, no longer the man Steve remembers.
Warning: This contains discussion of torture, violence and the attendant psychological trauma.
Why You Should Read this:
Because it is an AU that shows how things might have been if only one event was changed. If Steve wasn’t Captain America. And it is also a lovely falling in love story between two men who start out the best of friends and realize that they are so much more.
Not overnight, not in a rush of passion or something induced… More two people who truly fall in love with each other. Warts and all.