i never made promises lightly

Arrow

With a Bold Heart by Frea_O
Team Arrow adopts wee Artemis Crock after her dad ditches her. Adorable. Also, I loved the shoutouts to animated!YJ that cropped up.

Worth It by rashaka
Oliver and Felicity have a conversation about feelings while trapped in an elevator. As you do. Oh heart.

~*~

The Dark Knight Rises

The Longer You Stay by emiv
Batman needs his Robins. Even in the Nolanverse. Long, lovely, heart-clenchy story of Bruce and Selina in the aftermath, collecting orphans to make up their family, with a lovely Selina POV. Oh my heart. Plus, there's a whole set of timestamps to go with it.

~*~

i never knew what enough was

Rivers of London

Birdcage by Philomytha
When Nightingale disappears, Peter tries to find out what happened to him. But with the London Olympics opening in a few days and a string of magical crimes across the city, he can't afford to let any more major tourist attractions blow up either. Excellent casefile set after Broken Homes that gets Peter's narration just right.

~*~

Young Avengers

But Never Mind The National Anthem by heartequals
"You're suggesting we educate America about America?" Billy asks.

"Yes," says Kate.

"This could blow up in our faces very easily," says Teddy.

"That's what makes it fun," says Kate. The team tries to catch America up on Earth-Earth pop culture. Aw, heart.

~*~

how can they look into my eyes and still they don't believe me?

The Middleman

The Roommate Transposition Irritation by DesertScribe
Fortunately, Sensei Ping was able to sympathize with her about crappy landlords, because even celibate martial artist monks couldn't go around introducing disrespectful lessors to Pain's River without being chastised by their peers for giving their venerable order a bad reputation. Of course, Sensei Ping's version of sympathy came in the form of stepping up the intensity of the practice exercises and extending the session by several hours when world ending dangers continued to not interrupt them. Wendy figured it was a great alternative to going home and punching Pip in the face, because even though she now knew a chokehold that would induce two day amnesia (with much greater reliability than what those luchadores did to Tyler) so Pip would never remember who hit him, she did still have a conscience. The whole 'with great power comes great responsibility' thing meant that she couldn't go around beating up guys just for making her mad anymore, even though she only had awesome hand to hand combat skills instead of actual super powers. Something's weird in Wendy and Lacey's illegal sublet! Wendy's on the case though. This is so perfectly Middleman, I can't even. <333

~*~

Crossovers

The Middleman/Captain America

There Must Be a Joke in Here Somewhere by gwyneth
Wendy and the Middleman meet Steve and Bucky while fighting snot monsters. While MM fangirls Steve, "sidekick" bonding ensues. <333

~*~

hang onto your hopes, my friend

Avengers

Adoring by dsudis
This is hot and sweet and the pun is perfect.

Almost Home by SugarFey
Lovely look at Natasha, learning to make a home for herself.

ampersand by kaydeefalls
They've been steveandbucky since they were kids, but that ignores the parts of their lives that don't wrap around each other, that never did. (Bucky needs to figure out who he is, just him, with or without Steve.) Oh Bucky. Oh my heart. *sniffle* This is lovely.

Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen by jacquez
Bucky Barnes and the Great Sexuality Crisis of 1938. Bucky doesn't want to want Steve, but he can't help himself. Oh, Bucky.

the bones of me by twistedingenue
Bucky finds himself in a small town. Lovely.

The Bucky Barnes Guide to Household Management by CryptoHomoRocker
Domestic adorableness as Bucky learns to cook and Steve takes a long time to clue in. oh heart.

Closing the Circuit by AlchemyAlice
After Cap 2, Tony gets the band back together. Nicely done.

Contact Light by hollyhawke
Steve and his adorable space geekery. Oh heart.

Cum Laude by domarzione
Steve goes back to art school. Aw, Steve.

drop the needle and pray by irnan
"Did you guys - I mean, in the war?"

He laughed. "No. Never."

Natasha was fascinated. "How come?"

"You know," he said thoughtfully. "I look back on it, and I don't know? I mean, I love Peggy. I probably always will." He smiled, face tight with well-worn pain. "But I - you know those trick pictures where you focus your eyes different and suddenly you can't unsee...? It was like that." He snapped his fingers, a sharp crack. "I was done. And looking back... I still can't unsee. Not really."

Natasha tapped her book against her chin, smiling. "That's - that's kind of nice. Like - having everything fall into place and... and finally make sense."

"Not quite everything," said Steve. He was watching her and smiling like he knew the secrets of the universe. "But almost." Really lovely Steve/Bucky/Natasha in which it's Natasha who's slow to clue in. Oh honey, your nonagenarian supersoldier boyfriends just want to love you!

Excelsior by damalur
An exclusive interview with Carol Danvers. Oh heart.

Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square by Speranza
A lovely Steve/Bucky take on time travel and "The City at the Edge of Forever." Oh Steve. Oh heart.

Hey Cinderella, You Dropped Your Shoe by dirtybinary
AU where Steve is Captain America big during daylight hours, but he shrinks back into skinny!Steve at night. He's still trying to find Bucky, though. Aw Steve.

History Painting by M_Leigh
They keep moving, straight on by The Persistence of Memory and onto Picasso. "This stuff I remember, too," Steve says, looking over at Bucky. "There's lots of other stuff downstairs that's just—well, you'll see. I never thought Picasso would seem, I dunno. Old and familiar." Gorgeous, melancholy, Steve and Bucky and art through the years. *sobs*

Hollow and Honeycomb by antistar_e
Really lovely, moving story of a Sam Wilson who has actual wings.

Kiss the Cook by innie
Four times Steve cooks for the people he cares about. Oh Steve. <3

Lay Back, Lay Back by Ultrageekatlarge
Bucky can't sleep. Everyone else tries to help him. Oh my heart! So many team feels!

let the girl go by dirgewithoutmusic
lovely meditative character study of Melinda May.

like a still life (captured you) by biggrstaffbunch
Lovely bit of pre-serum pining. Happy sigh.

like an anchor dream by linzeestyle
Really lovely first-time-with-Steve's-new-body Steve/Bucky.

Living in Your Letters by biblionerd07
Bucky finds some letters Steve wrote him after he woke up in the future. Lovely.

Maisie Makes a Deal by antistar_e
Lovely outsider POV on Steve and Bucky and Sam and Natasha.

My Ghosts are Six Feet Under by what_alchemy
Steve visits Becca Barnes. This starts out sort of melancholy, gets hilarious, and then reverts to melancholy before ending with a bittersweet happiness. *happy sigh*

On The Road by kilicakes
How Bucky ended up in Tennessee he didn't know. How he ended up befriending a squirt with a potato gun and a fancy workshop, nobody knew. Bucky meets Harley. Aw boys.

Out of the Dead Land by emilyenrose
"I was so scared," Steve said.

Bucky tucked his head down and thought about this. "Yeah. So was I."

"That's it?" said Stark, who had come into the room at some point and Bucky, bizarrely, had no idea when. "Give him a hug and you're all good? Wait, does this mean there was a hug test available all along, because if so, I can't believe there was a hug test available and instead we all got stabbed."

Bucky lifted his head and stared at him flatly over Steve's shoulder. "Are you asking for a hug, pal?"

Stark took a step back. "No, no, I'm good." Long, action-packed, highly satisfying story of the Winter Soldier trying to fake it until he makes it as Bucky, but things don't go quite as well as he hopes. There are killer robots involved. <333

Primary Target by Kryptaria
Steve's the Winter Soldier's primary target, so as long as he stays close, Bucky won't try to kill him or anyone else. Lovely.

pro patria mori by hitlikehammers
Steve and Bucky learn how to be strong at the broken places. Lovely and hypnotic.

Progress (The One With The Post-It Notes) by Paraxdisepink
Bucky's still learning to be a person again. Steve leaves him sticky notes to help. Oh my heart.

The S. Rogers Memorial (it's NOT a shrine) to J. B. Barnes by SkyisGray
In an attempt to help Steve acclimate to the 21st c., his teammates put together a memorial for Bucky. Aw, team. Aw, Steve. <3

the truth of how flowers smash through the long winter by tigriswolf
Bucky gets work in a diner to help him come back to himself. Lovely outsider POV.

tin soldiers by idrilka
Really excellent outsider POV/use of fake media sources/documentation to tell a story about Steve and Bucky and their place in history and also their online fandom.

Two Drums in the Grey by Wynn
Natasha and Bucky, history and memory. Oh heart.

untitled 512 (whenever i'm alone with you) by traveller
"Listen, Tash. I'm not having a good time if you're not having a good time, okay?"

She snaps her bra into place and looks at him, her head tilted curiously. "What are you talking about?"

Sam shakes his head. "Tell me one thing you like. Just one thing. Right now while you're standing there and I don't have my hands on you and you can't distract me."

Natasha pulls her hair out of the collar of her shirt, and smiles slow and dirty. "Oh, I could distract you from over here."

"That's it, that shit right there," Sam says, exasperated. "That's what makes me wonder if I'm even fucking you when I'm fucking you."

He knows he's fucked up as soon as the words are out his mouth. Sam and Natasha, negotiating their relationship. Hot and sweet and a little sad.

~*~