A Real Alpha
Title: A Real Alpha
Author: jaune_chat
Fandoms: Captain America
Characters/Relationships: Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 4,919
Spoilers: movie
Content Advisory: Omegaverse, fisting
Disclaimer: Not mine, just playing.
A/N: Written for a prompt at avengerkink: Pre-serum Steve fists Bucky, bonus for ABO ‘verse.
Summary: Steve Rogers is not a “real” alpha, but that doesn’t stop him from being the best Bucky’s ever had.
On Ao3 or below the cut
"I- I need it."
Steve sat up a little straighter in his chair when Bucky dropped down next to him in the darkened movie theater. He was just barely starting, the barest hint of sweat at his temples, and his scent was slowly starting to rise. It was not enough to bother anyone, not even some of the almost comically alpha males sitting in the back row, arms around their mates in a showy display of dominance. Steve didn't need to do that.
Well, Steve didn't dare do that. His own pheromones were so faint as to be non-existent unless you were closer than anyone would be on the street, and more than one fight had started because someone smelled an omega in the company of a seemingly weak beta and moved to try to stake a claim. And Steve would have fought them, their prejudices and preconceptions be damned, but he wouldn't get himself hurt while Bucky needed him. Bad enough that his omega had to finish fights for him. Steve hadn't made peace with that yet, but he'd learned to accept it for the both of them.
And for Bucky's sake, he wouldn't rile up the meatheads right now.
"Let's go," Steve said, and rose to lead Bucky out.
--
This was not how most couples did it. Alphas were supposed to be able to hold down their omegas, giving them the protective restraint that showed they cared enough to keep them there. They were supposed to bite and mark them to show their claim, grip them while they mated so that when they locked together they were so, so close that they couldn't think of anything but each other.
And maybe some of that was romantic drivel, but the core of it was true. An alpha took care. An alpha was strong. An alpha didn't have to lie back while their omega nuzzled and licked them, drawing their scent to the surface. An alpha didn't have to direct their omega because too much exertion brought on coughing or even an asthma attack.
"Stop thinking, Steve. I can hear your brain smoking, you're thinking too hard," Bucky teased, his voice muffled as he buried his face in Steve's neck.
Steve turned his head so Bucky could get more of his scent and ran a hand down Bucky's back. No, regular alphas didn't do what he did, but regular alphas didn't have Bucky for an omega. Strong, tough Bucky who wanted to be a soldier as much as Steve, who didn't want to be hauled back to the factories and houses while the rest of the alphas and betas marched off to war. Bucky who didn't want to be overpowered and overwhelmed, his personality submerged in his alpha's dominance. Bucky who wanted to trust his alpha more than he wanted the traditional family.
Him meeting Steve had been a godsend for them both.
"You're the one who's thinking too much," Steve accused, his hand trailing from Bucky's back down to his ass, muscular and flexing as he gently rutted against Steve's skinny hip. A sheen of moisture showed just over the curve, and Steve trailed his fingers just around Bucky's hole, making him twitch and whine. That gave Steve a jolt of pleasure right through him, because Bucky never whined, never complained, never flinched, not unless he was here with Steve. Not even for his beta girlfriends did he let down his guard as much, or at least so Bucky claimed. Steve believed him.
Steve pushed inside with two fingers, fast and hard, and Bucky stiffened above him, mouth open against Steve’s neck. His hips rocked back, impaling himself on Steve’s fingers as he breathed Steve’s scent in deep, moaning softly.
“Feels good, doesn’t it?” Steve murmured. “I got you, Bucky. Come on, shift, I got you…”
Not physically, because Steve would drop him if Bucky tried to go pliant on him, but just whispering in Bucky’s ear gave Steve all the strength he needed. Bucky rolled and Steve curved with him, hand under his bent knees, fingers fully sheathed inside Bucky’s hot, slick channel. His whole hand was slick with Bucky’s natural lubrication, which made the next part easy. Steve rocked his fingers easily, in and out, only pulling out enough to add a third before plunging back in.
“Hrgn… yesss,” Bucky hissed, stomach muscles flexing as he drove himself down to meet Steve’s hand. “Good, good…”
Steve smiled to himself as Bucky started to babble and go incoherent. He was so damn warm and slick, the scent of his heat thick in the air, bringing every bit of Steve’s alpha instincts to full attention. He slid his hand out again, then in with a fourth finger, making Bucky jerk as if he’d touched a live wire.
“Feeling full? Wanna stop?” Steve asked, teasing, and Bucky thrashed his head in the negative.
“More… Steve, please, more!”
“I have you. All of it, everything’s for you…”
Steve hadn’t paused for a second, even when questioning, his thumb tight against his palm, slick down past his wrist now, and pushed. Bucky froze and let out a long, low moan of pure, wanton desire as Steve’s knuckles breached him. Bucky’s hands reached up to grab onto the headboard as Steve pushed in, and in, and in, his hole closing and clenching around Steve’s forearm, his back arched like bow. Steve jerked his own hips, rubbing his erection against Bucky’s thigh, leaving smears of precome against the skin as he watched Bucky shatter and reform only to break again on his fist.
Alphas didn’t do that. Real alphas had cocks to be proud of, cocks that could lock them into their omegas for hours, giving them the release they craved from their heat. Real alphas would have been ashamed to say they couldn’t knot, or didn’t have the stamina to go for a whole heat. “Real” alphas couldn’t have taken care of Bucky, couldn’t have respected him, and damn sure wouldn’t have ever seen him like his.
Bucky clenched again and again around Steve’s arm and hand, giving his body a knotting sensation “real” alphas could only dream about, and making Bucky fly through his heat on cloud nine. Steve just held him there, soft praise dropping from his lips that Bucky and him would laugh about later. But for now it was just right for Steve to whisper about how beautiful he was, how good he was for taking what Steve gave him, how gorgeous he looked when he came. And Bucky would thank him with tears in his eyes (that he could vehemently deny later, it was the heat talking, shut up Rogers), moaning and crying out Steve’s name, a hand on Steve’s arm to hold him inside because it was, “So good Steve, God, never felt anything like you, anything this good before you. Need you so much…”
Eventually Steve nudged Bucky to let go of the headboard and brace him so Steve could get his other arm free, filling his hand with Bucky’s cock to eke one last orgasm out of him. By then he was so sensitive it didn’t take much, and Bucky spasmed around Steve’s arm and in his hand and flopped back down, spent and boneless.
“God,” Bucky croaked. He blinked once to focus on Steve, high color in his cheeks from the hours-long bed marathon. “Steve, did you…?”
For an answer, Steve pressed his insistent erection against Bucky’s thigh again, and he moaned very softly. Bucky rolled and managed to get his knees under himself, spreading out so Steve could see his red and swollen hole, still slick. Steve groaned with desire as he got himself on his knees and sank his cock into Bucky’s swollen and tender heat. There was no resistance, Bucky gorgeously fucked-out and pliant beneath him, hips just rocking gently to meet Steve’s thrusts. This was the only time Steve felt like a “real” alpha, being able to properly fuck his omega, feeling that incredible warm, slick snugness around his cock. But now he could go at his own pace, not straining his lungs or heart, secure in the knowledge that Bucky was satisfied and anything he did or didn’t do was just icing on the cake.
Steve didn’t last long, never could after seeing Bucky lose himself so wonderfully on his fist, and collapsed on Bucky’s back as his orgasm stole his remaining strength. Neither moved for a long time, until Bucky finally shifted them both sideways, letting Steve slip out. It should have been Steve getting water and washcloths, changing the sheets, and making sure everything was all right; that was the alpha’s job. But Steve’s store of strength was tapped out, and Bucky had it to spare. He helped where he could, but mostly lay back so Bucky wouldn’t glare at him for exerting himself.
It was only after, when they were clean and had drunk of small lake of water between them, that Bucky laid his head alongside (not on, never on) Steve’s chest to listen to his valiant little heart beat. Just like a real alpha and omega.
Steve smiled to himself as he stroked through Bucky’s hair in a way he’d never accept in public, for both their sakes.
“Never telling anyone about this,” Bucky mumbled. “Keeping you to myself. Best-kept secret alpha in the world. Don’t wanna have to fight them all off to keep you.” He turned his head so he could smile at Steve. “I would though.”
Steve would too, if he could. They both knew that. But right now he couldn’t, even though he tried, so he trusted Bucky to pick up where he left off. Just like any real alpha should.
Steve kissed the top of Bucky’s head as they drifted off to sleep together, warm and utterly satisfied.
----------------------
“What happened to you?”
“I joined the army.”
That was really the only personal conversation Steve got to have with Bucky before they were back for fighting for their lives, fighting for the 107th’s lives, destroying HYDRA’s base, evading Schmidt, and getting the hell out of enemy territory. It wasn’t until they were halfway back to their own lines and had to stop because of darkness that they had time for anything else.
They had no tents and only what supplies had been in the tanks, but someone had found a stream of good water, and it wasn’t cold enough at night to kill them if they bundled together.
“Get what rest you can. We move out at first light.” It was the first time Steve had really ordered anyone around, especially other alphas, but no one seemed inclined to go against him. It was only common sense, after all, what he’d said. At least, that’s what Steve thought, though he saw some of the more injured men visibly shaking themselves free of staring at him to go about their business. He put it aside for the moment; he had more important things to do.
Steve found the semi-privacy of some screening shrubs and tucked Bucky under his arm in the failing light, trying to see what HYDRA had been doing to him. It was right then, looking down at Bucky, when everything that had happened to him hit at a visceral level. He could fight, he was strong, but being able to hold Bucky like this, let him lean on his strength like he never had before, that brought his changes home.
“I thought I was dreaming,” Bucky said, head lolling back on Steve’s arm as he let days of exhaustion and pain catch up with him. “I could smell you come into the room… I thought I was dreaming you were there.”
“Not a dream. I got you out. You’re safe.” Steve leaned down to get Bucky’s scent, still there, familiar, below the blood and hints of chemicals they’d been using on him. Then he paused. “You could smell me come into the room?”
“Yeah…” Bucky murmured, eyes closing, fighting sleep. “Impressed the hell out of the guys… Why else you think they were taking orders from a guy in a chorus girl outfit?”
“Me fighting off a dozen HYDRA soldiers with a sheet of scrap metal?”
Bucky laughed. “Goes without saying. Good stuff. Fought like a champ.” His mouth opened like he was going to say more, but all that came out was a snore. Steve felt his heart clench a little and held Bucky closer. He wasn’t ready to face what had been done to Bucky yet, if they’d ever discover what HYRDA had been trying to do, and what that might mean for both of them, and turned his attention to what else Bucky had said to distract himself.
Steve’s pheromones had always been weak, even if he couldn’t turn his instincts off. He’d had to fight for recognition as an alpha, sometimes literally, for his entire life. He hadn’t noticed his scent had become so strong before now… but why should he? Colonel Phillips, Mr. Stark, even Senator Brandt had all been alphas, used to getting their way and pushing aside competing pheromones. Peggy, er, Agent Carter was a beta, one who refused to be impressed by anyone. Nearly all of the USO crew and dancers had been betas, with the occasional alpha amongst them; the army was understandably leery of sending vulnerable unbonded omegas to entertain a primarily alpha army. They’d all been so used to being around other alphas that they hadn’t realized the serum had given him what he’d been lacking most of his life.
He hadn’t felt the overwhelming pull, the drive to protect and claim and mark that alphas were supposed to have from anyone-- Wait, he had. He had. When he realized Bucky was missing and presumed dead, there had been something underlying his need to help his friend, to not give up hope, a hot flare of passion he had felt before, but been unable to do anything about.
With that realization came a lot of old anger at the bullies and arrogant fools who’d tried to get between him and Bucky, and a sudden feeling of awe. Steve had always had good alpha instincts, always been willing to protect and fight for the people he cared for, to protect the pack from interlopers and predators. Dr. Erskine had seen that in him even though Bucky had already been deployed. There had been three thousand miles of ocean between him and his omega, and the good doctor could still tell that there was nothing wrong with Steve Rogers’ determination but weak flesh. He could see Steve’s heart was strong even though it didn’t work very well.
Now it did. Now everything did. And some things just worked the same. Steve caught his breath and held Bucky a little closer to keep him warm through the cold night.
--
Bucky was all business the next day, but he wasn’t alone. Injured or not, tortured and experimented on or not, there was a war on, and they had to get the boys back to camp. Steve smiled to himself as Bucky picked up one of HYDRA’s fancy guns and walked point with him. Not because it was funny, but because it was Bucky all over. No matter what had happened, he just soldiered on, just like Steve.
But at least this time Steve could keep up with him.
--
After their triumphant return, Steve didn’t rest on his laurels. Men had been hurt, some badly, and Colonel Philips had seen there was more to Steve than just being entertainment. There would be another mission, and Steve would be part of it, once everyone was healed up.
--
Bucky had spent two days in the medical tents, and Steve finally had some idea of how Bucky must have felt during those endless trips to the doctors, where he’d stayed in the waiting room while Steve tried to get himself well.
“They find out what HYDRA was doing?” Steve finally asked, once they’d finally let him go.
“Not really. I don’t remember much,” Bucky said, and shook his head. “A beer might help jog my memory, though.”
Steve smiled. “I got passes; let’s go into town.”
--
Steve knew that Bucky hadn’t been quite a hundred percent when they’d had their night out, but hadn’t called him on it. How many times had Steve gone out while a cough lingered or his chest still ached? Enough that he’d lost count.
But he did know that, post-injury, omegas sometimes went into an unseasonal heat, a kind of hormonal reaction to the stress, a breeding imperative to save the bloodline once the body had bounced-back from near-death. Bucky knew that too, he had to. Steve caught him sizing him up more than once over the next two days, and kept wondering if he should be looking over his shoulder, looking for who Bucky was checking out.
Steve had been having uneasy dreams of Bucky walking away from him, searching out another alpha that was incapable of dominating him, and had been unhappily wondering who, if anyone, in the unit he’d pick to help him. But there was never anyone else.
--
“Steve, let’s go.” Bucky tugged on his elbow, nodding in the direction of their tent, sweat darkening his hair. “Need you.” It had been a week since they’d gotten back, a week since Bucky had been throwing inquisitive little stares his way. More than enough time to heal up enough for his body to overreact.
“You sure?” Steve asked, fighting the urge to run his hand over Bucky’s sweat-slick temple and taste it against his lips.
“Pretty damn sure, Steve. Would’ve been sooner, but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t gonna croak or get a red skull or something else that would have been a mood-killer.” Bucky grinned and tilted his chin up in a deliberate omega move that had never failed to drive Steve a little crazy. “Come on.” He pulled a little more insistently, and Steve stumbled along a few steps before digging in his heels and making Bucky stop.
“They’ll know, Bucky. They’ll know we’re involved.” He’d take care of Bucky anyway, anything he needed, but didn’t want to hurt the unit by seeming to play favorites. They could apply for leave, take a few days… People would probably guess, but at least they wouldn’t be making it so obvious.
“Shit, Steve, they already knew I was bonded or they would have never let me enlist.” Bucky smirked, “Now they’ll all know I’m bonded to Captain America. I’m already bonded to you.”
Steve felt the emotion like the punches that used to steal his breath and leave him reeling in back alleys and parking lots. Bucky’s casual smile, his easy acceptance of their tacit bond, somehow made everything suddenly fit back into his worldview. No more hiding behind Bucky’s girlfriends and Steve’s weakness and both of their desire to be here to make a difference. They could both have what they wanted.
“Bucky…” Steve reached over to touch him, smell him, his heart starting to pound but with no danger he was going to pass out. He nearly ran into their tent, dragging Bucky behind him, and secured the flaps faster than he ever had in his life. Bucky pressed up into him, tugging at his uniform to bury his face in his neck, inhaling his enhanced pheromones with appreciative, suggestive noises in the back of his throat. Steve took the hint and ditched the clothes off of both of them, careful not to upset the cot as they lay down. Bucky smelled and tasted incredible under Steve’s mouth, but Steve could see the faint hint of scabs and bruises from whatever HYDRA had done to him still marking his body.
A swell of possessiveness rose up in him, and he found his teeth set over a mostly-healed bruise, ready to bite, before he came to his senses. Steve froze and looked up at Bucky, who was looking down at him with an expectant smile tinged with a little lingering fear.
“Do it,” Bucky urged. “Say it, come on!”
There was nothing more upsetting to an omega to be held in someone else’s power against their will, knowing that in time their bodies could betray them, making them beg their captors for relief and giving anything to get it. It was why the army wouldn’t accept unbonded omegas, but even bonded ones were a risk. But it had been Bucky’s choice. Because Bucky wanted to do his part.
And now Steve would do his part, what he hadn’t been strong enough to do, what he hadn’t needed to do in the safety of home. But Bucky needed this now, and Steve wanted to give it so much he was almost shaking. Steve bit down hard enough to bruise, enough for Bucky to feel it, overlaying whatever HYDRA had done to him.
“Mine,” he growled, and Bucky keened softly, muffled against Steve’s neck.
“Yeah, oh God, yessss.”
Steve bit carefully again and again, making Bucky thrash so hard Steve had to hold him so the cot wouldn’t overturn. Bucky jerked against his hold and fell back panting as Steve bit over the last mark.
“Shit, you…” Bucky tried to turn and Steve let him go. “You can hold me down now.” He laughed and gasped at the same time, his face and chest flushed bright pink.
“Is that…?” Steve asked, concerned, his tongue almost tingling oddly from where he’d dragged his tongue over the restraint marks on Bucky’s wrists.
“It’s okay.” He reached up for Steve and pulled him down for a full, deep kiss, not needing to break for Steve’s breathing until Bucky was the one out of breath. “Yeah, that’s okay.” He just looked at Steve for a long minute as Steve breathed in deep, finding nuances in Bucky’s heat scent he’d never known were there. He trailed one hand down Bucky’s thigh, feeling the slickness on his skin, and traced idle patterns as he got closer and closer to his goal. Bucky’s chest heaved as Steve just barely touched the rim of his hole, and Steve bent down by Bucky’s ear.
“What do you want? Tell me.”
“You, dummy, in me. Right the hell now,” Bucky snapped. Steve teased him just enough to get his fingers slick, then slid two home immediately, making Bucky arch and cry out.
“Bucky, I can give you more, if… Bucky, I can knot, now,” Steve said urgently, his own cock throbbing and erect, tight against Bucky’s hip. Bucky’s eyes opened wide at Steve’s words.
He’d tested himself. Obviously. Steve might not have noticed his own pheromones had changed (most people didn’t by scent, just by other people’s reactions), but he’d definitely noticed the changes the serum had made in his physical form. And yes, he’d made sure everything was in perfect working order. Because when he found Bucky again, he’d wanted to do something they’d wanted to do for ages, if Bucky would let him.
Bucky swore, using every bit of his rather extensive street vocabulary, plus anything else he’d picked up over here, including every blasphemy that usually made Steve blush. And finished it with, “…get in me right now, knot me, fuck Steve, I goddamn need everything you got right now.” Right then Steve saw the cracks in Bucky he’d been holding together with wit and banter, and stopped holding back. Bucky hadn’t wanted to be overwhelmed and submerged in his alpha, which had made Steve perfect for him, but this was different, even if both of them were different. This was Bucky wanting those memories overwhelmed and submerged in Steve.
Steve shifted them both, got Bucky’s legs over his shoulder (so easy to do, like Bucky was light as a feather), and grabbed a condom from his pants pocket on the floor and slid it on. He’d been too sick before to worry about getting Bucky pregnant, but he was completely healthy now, Bucky’s body was primed for breeding in a post-injury heat, and Steve would be damned if he took advantage. His cock finally covered, he lined himself up (Bucky was so hot, so slick) and pushed inside in a single firm stroke.
Bucky’s scream of release could have been heard over the entire camp if he hadn’t muffled himself with his arm. Steve groaned deep in his chest as he got Bucky’s hips in his hands and started to thrust in earnest, the sensation of Bucky clenching around him almost too good to be true. Bucky braced himself on the cot as Steve took control, fucking him through two more orgasms, his eyes rolling back up into his head as he got hard yet again.
“Steve… Steve.” His name was like a mantra out of Bucky’s mouth, encouragement, and Steve felt a strong tingle in his cock, his orgasm nearly on him, the swelling about to start soon after.
“Bucky-.” Steve had been about to ask him one more time if he was sure about this when Bucky abruptly sat up and pulled Steve into a hard and filthy kiss. Steve’s hips seemed to keep going without any conscious decision, and he felt himself come hard enough to white out his vision for a moment. He shoved in hard as his knot swelled, locking them together for the very first time.
Bucky road Steve’s aftershocks with tiny little twitches until his cock jerked and spattered a new pattern of white on his stomach. Steve just held on, savoring the closeness, the togetherness, just as good, in a totally new way, as to what they’d done before.
“It’s good Steve, fuck that feels good,” Bucky murmured in between kisses.
“You feel incredible,” Steve whispered. “You’re beautiful, look at you.”
They didn’t really stop kissing until they came apart. It was nearly an hour later until they could separate, both of their lips swollen and red, and Bucky could finally sprawl half-on his chest with a contented sound. His color was still high, his heat still strong, and Steve was trying to muster up the stamina for a second round; apparently near-death experiences made heat a hell of a lot stronger than it ever had been at home.
“Steve, I want you… want you to…” Bucky breathed out shakily and tried for a cocky smile again, nearly getting it right. “Like you used to. I want that too.” Steve should have objected, his new alpha body more than capable of satisfying his omega. But how could he, when the next words out of Bucky’s mouth were, “I want to feel everything you got. You got everything you deserved, and I’m entitled at first crack before everyone else tries to get a piece of you.”
There was no possible objection to that. “Hang on to something,” Steve told him, and braced Bucky’s shoulders as he slicked three fingers and pushed them inside. He was bigger now, bigger fingers, bigger hands, bigger everything, but Bucky had just taken his cock like he’d been born for it, and his heat was cresting. He could take whatever he wanted. Steve just went slower, sometimes almost biting into Bucky’s shoulder to stifle his own curses as Bucky opened beautifully for him, three fingers, four, five, body shaking like he was being shocked as Steve’s broad knuckles breached him, now a steady, low stream of praise falling from Steve’s lips.
Bucky broke three times before his ass closed on Steve’s wrist, and suddenly forced his twitching hands to work, reaching for Steve’s neglected cock and stroking with both hands as Steve slowly twisted and pumped his fist inside him. Small, incoherent noises trickled out of Bucky’s mouth as his hands flew on Steve’s cock, squeezing so hard that a few months ago he would have been laid out prostrate and groaning in pain, but now just helped push him over the edge. Bucky clenched and came long and hard as Steve’s hand pushed in a little more from his orgasm, flopping back onto the cot, semi-conscious from the intensity of his it all, his brow slick with sweat as his heat dissipated.
“I don’t deserve you,” Steve whispered into his ear, almost sure he couldn’t hear it. How many alphas got to feel their omegas from the inside out? How many would be able to reciprocate to their alpha while in the throes of post-recovery heat?
“Yeah you do,” Bucky mumbled into his chest. “Deserve the world. Gotta make do with me. We’re gonna make it, you and me… t’gether.” He burrowed himself a little deeper after Steve tipped his head back enough to drink from a canteen, and settled in with a sigh.
Steve put his arms around Bucky and held him, mind racing, heart full. They’d never been able to do anything like this before, with Steve acting like a real alpha, but they’d always found a way to make it work. But deep inside, Steve had been a worried that once they’d been together in a “normal” way, everything would change somehow. Yet it hadn’t, not really.
He didn’t have to be a real alpha. He just had to be Bucky’s alpha.
Everything after that was just a walk in the park.
Steve settled down, his omega secure in his arms, their guns propped against the table, the sounds of the camp clear through the canvas walls of the tent, a war raging somewhere outside.
You and me together, Bucky. You and me together.
Author: jaune_chat
Fandoms: Captain America
Characters/Relationships: Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes
Rating: NC-17
Word count: 4,919
Spoilers: movie
Content Advisory: Omegaverse, fisting
Disclaimer: Not mine, just playing.
A/N: Written for a prompt at avengerkink: Pre-serum Steve fists Bucky, bonus for ABO ‘verse.
Summary: Steve Rogers is not a “real” alpha, but that doesn’t stop him from being the best Bucky’s ever had.
On Ao3 or below the cut
"I- I need it."
Steve sat up a little straighter in his chair when Bucky dropped down next to him in the darkened movie theater. He was just barely starting, the barest hint of sweat at his temples, and his scent was slowly starting to rise. It was not enough to bother anyone, not even some of the almost comically alpha males sitting in the back row, arms around their mates in a showy display of dominance. Steve didn't need to do that.
Well, Steve didn't dare do that. His own pheromones were so faint as to be non-existent unless you were closer than anyone would be on the street, and more than one fight had started because someone smelled an omega in the company of a seemingly weak beta and moved to try to stake a claim. And Steve would have fought them, their prejudices and preconceptions be damned, but he wouldn't get himself hurt while Bucky needed him. Bad enough that his omega had to finish fights for him. Steve hadn't made peace with that yet, but he'd learned to accept it for the both of them.
And for Bucky's sake, he wouldn't rile up the meatheads right now.
"Let's go," Steve said, and rose to lead Bucky out.
--
This was not how most couples did it. Alphas were supposed to be able to hold down their omegas, giving them the protective restraint that showed they cared enough to keep them there. They were supposed to bite and mark them to show their claim, grip them while they mated so that when they locked together they were so, so close that they couldn't think of anything but each other.
And maybe some of that was romantic drivel, but the core of it was true. An alpha took care. An alpha was strong. An alpha didn't have to lie back while their omega nuzzled and licked them, drawing their scent to the surface. An alpha didn't have to direct their omega because too much exertion brought on coughing or even an asthma attack.
"Stop thinking, Steve. I can hear your brain smoking, you're thinking too hard," Bucky teased, his voice muffled as he buried his face in Steve's neck.
Steve turned his head so Bucky could get more of his scent and ran a hand down Bucky's back. No, regular alphas didn't do what he did, but regular alphas didn't have Bucky for an omega. Strong, tough Bucky who wanted to be a soldier as much as Steve, who didn't want to be hauled back to the factories and houses while the rest of the alphas and betas marched off to war. Bucky who didn't want to be overpowered and overwhelmed, his personality submerged in his alpha's dominance. Bucky who wanted to trust his alpha more than he wanted the traditional family.
Him meeting Steve had been a godsend for them both.
"You're the one who's thinking too much," Steve accused, his hand trailing from Bucky's back down to his ass, muscular and flexing as he gently rutted against Steve's skinny hip. A sheen of moisture showed just over the curve, and Steve trailed his fingers just around Bucky's hole, making him twitch and whine. That gave Steve a jolt of pleasure right through him, because Bucky never whined, never complained, never flinched, not unless he was here with Steve. Not even for his beta girlfriends did he let down his guard as much, or at least so Bucky claimed. Steve believed him.
Steve pushed inside with two fingers, fast and hard, and Bucky stiffened above him, mouth open against Steve’s neck. His hips rocked back, impaling himself on Steve’s fingers as he breathed Steve’s scent in deep, moaning softly.
“Feels good, doesn’t it?” Steve murmured. “I got you, Bucky. Come on, shift, I got you…”
Not physically, because Steve would drop him if Bucky tried to go pliant on him, but just whispering in Bucky’s ear gave Steve all the strength he needed. Bucky rolled and Steve curved with him, hand under his bent knees, fingers fully sheathed inside Bucky’s hot, slick channel. His whole hand was slick with Bucky’s natural lubrication, which made the next part easy. Steve rocked his fingers easily, in and out, only pulling out enough to add a third before plunging back in.
“Hrgn… yesss,” Bucky hissed, stomach muscles flexing as he drove himself down to meet Steve’s hand. “Good, good…”
Steve smiled to himself as Bucky started to babble and go incoherent. He was so damn warm and slick, the scent of his heat thick in the air, bringing every bit of Steve’s alpha instincts to full attention. He slid his hand out again, then in with a fourth finger, making Bucky jerk as if he’d touched a live wire.
“Feeling full? Wanna stop?” Steve asked, teasing, and Bucky thrashed his head in the negative.
“More… Steve, please, more!”
“I have you. All of it, everything’s for you…”
Steve hadn’t paused for a second, even when questioning, his thumb tight against his palm, slick down past his wrist now, and pushed. Bucky froze and let out a long, low moan of pure, wanton desire as Steve’s knuckles breached him. Bucky’s hands reached up to grab onto the headboard as Steve pushed in, and in, and in, his hole closing and clenching around Steve’s forearm, his back arched like bow. Steve jerked his own hips, rubbing his erection against Bucky’s thigh, leaving smears of precome against the skin as he watched Bucky shatter and reform only to break again on his fist.
Alphas didn’t do that. Real alphas had cocks to be proud of, cocks that could lock them into their omegas for hours, giving them the release they craved from their heat. Real alphas would have been ashamed to say they couldn’t knot, or didn’t have the stamina to go for a whole heat. “Real” alphas couldn’t have taken care of Bucky, couldn’t have respected him, and damn sure wouldn’t have ever seen him like his.
Bucky clenched again and again around Steve’s arm and hand, giving his body a knotting sensation “real” alphas could only dream about, and making Bucky fly through his heat on cloud nine. Steve just held him there, soft praise dropping from his lips that Bucky and him would laugh about later. But for now it was just right for Steve to whisper about how beautiful he was, how good he was for taking what Steve gave him, how gorgeous he looked when he came. And Bucky would thank him with tears in his eyes (that he could vehemently deny later, it was the heat talking, shut up Rogers), moaning and crying out Steve’s name, a hand on Steve’s arm to hold him inside because it was, “So good Steve, God, never felt anything like you, anything this good before you. Need you so much…”
Eventually Steve nudged Bucky to let go of the headboard and brace him so Steve could get his other arm free, filling his hand with Bucky’s cock to eke one last orgasm out of him. By then he was so sensitive it didn’t take much, and Bucky spasmed around Steve’s arm and in his hand and flopped back down, spent and boneless.
“God,” Bucky croaked. He blinked once to focus on Steve, high color in his cheeks from the hours-long bed marathon. “Steve, did you…?”
For an answer, Steve pressed his insistent erection against Bucky’s thigh again, and he moaned very softly. Bucky rolled and managed to get his knees under himself, spreading out so Steve could see his red and swollen hole, still slick. Steve groaned with desire as he got himself on his knees and sank his cock into Bucky’s swollen and tender heat. There was no resistance, Bucky gorgeously fucked-out and pliant beneath him, hips just rocking gently to meet Steve’s thrusts. This was the only time Steve felt like a “real” alpha, being able to properly fuck his omega, feeling that incredible warm, slick snugness around his cock. But now he could go at his own pace, not straining his lungs or heart, secure in the knowledge that Bucky was satisfied and anything he did or didn’t do was just icing on the cake.
Steve didn’t last long, never could after seeing Bucky lose himself so wonderfully on his fist, and collapsed on Bucky’s back as his orgasm stole his remaining strength. Neither moved for a long time, until Bucky finally shifted them both sideways, letting Steve slip out. It should have been Steve getting water and washcloths, changing the sheets, and making sure everything was all right; that was the alpha’s job. But Steve’s store of strength was tapped out, and Bucky had it to spare. He helped where he could, but mostly lay back so Bucky wouldn’t glare at him for exerting himself.
It was only after, when they were clean and had drunk of small lake of water between them, that Bucky laid his head alongside (not on, never on) Steve’s chest to listen to his valiant little heart beat. Just like a real alpha and omega.
Steve smiled to himself as he stroked through Bucky’s hair in a way he’d never accept in public, for both their sakes.
“Never telling anyone about this,” Bucky mumbled. “Keeping you to myself. Best-kept secret alpha in the world. Don’t wanna have to fight them all off to keep you.” He turned his head so he could smile at Steve. “I would though.”
Steve would too, if he could. They both knew that. But right now he couldn’t, even though he tried, so he trusted Bucky to pick up where he left off. Just like any real alpha should.
Steve kissed the top of Bucky’s head as they drifted off to sleep together, warm and utterly satisfied.
----------------------
“What happened to you?”
“I joined the army.”
That was really the only personal conversation Steve got to have with Bucky before they were back for fighting for their lives, fighting for the 107th’s lives, destroying HYDRA’s base, evading Schmidt, and getting the hell out of enemy territory. It wasn’t until they were halfway back to their own lines and had to stop because of darkness that they had time for anything else.
They had no tents and only what supplies had been in the tanks, but someone had found a stream of good water, and it wasn’t cold enough at night to kill them if they bundled together.
“Get what rest you can. We move out at first light.” It was the first time Steve had really ordered anyone around, especially other alphas, but no one seemed inclined to go against him. It was only common sense, after all, what he’d said. At least, that’s what Steve thought, though he saw some of the more injured men visibly shaking themselves free of staring at him to go about their business. He put it aside for the moment; he had more important things to do.
Steve found the semi-privacy of some screening shrubs and tucked Bucky under his arm in the failing light, trying to see what HYDRA had been doing to him. It was right then, looking down at Bucky, when everything that had happened to him hit at a visceral level. He could fight, he was strong, but being able to hold Bucky like this, let him lean on his strength like he never had before, that brought his changes home.
“I thought I was dreaming,” Bucky said, head lolling back on Steve’s arm as he let days of exhaustion and pain catch up with him. “I could smell you come into the room… I thought I was dreaming you were there.”
“Not a dream. I got you out. You’re safe.” Steve leaned down to get Bucky’s scent, still there, familiar, below the blood and hints of chemicals they’d been using on him. Then he paused. “You could smell me come into the room?”
“Yeah…” Bucky murmured, eyes closing, fighting sleep. “Impressed the hell out of the guys… Why else you think they were taking orders from a guy in a chorus girl outfit?”
“Me fighting off a dozen HYDRA soldiers with a sheet of scrap metal?”
Bucky laughed. “Goes without saying. Good stuff. Fought like a champ.” His mouth opened like he was going to say more, but all that came out was a snore. Steve felt his heart clench a little and held Bucky closer. He wasn’t ready to face what had been done to Bucky yet, if they’d ever discover what HYRDA had been trying to do, and what that might mean for both of them, and turned his attention to what else Bucky had said to distract himself.
Steve’s pheromones had always been weak, even if he couldn’t turn his instincts off. He’d had to fight for recognition as an alpha, sometimes literally, for his entire life. He hadn’t noticed his scent had become so strong before now… but why should he? Colonel Phillips, Mr. Stark, even Senator Brandt had all been alphas, used to getting their way and pushing aside competing pheromones. Peggy, er, Agent Carter was a beta, one who refused to be impressed by anyone. Nearly all of the USO crew and dancers had been betas, with the occasional alpha amongst them; the army was understandably leery of sending vulnerable unbonded omegas to entertain a primarily alpha army. They’d all been so used to being around other alphas that they hadn’t realized the serum had given him what he’d been lacking most of his life.
He hadn’t felt the overwhelming pull, the drive to protect and claim and mark that alphas were supposed to have from anyone-- Wait, he had. He had. When he realized Bucky was missing and presumed dead, there had been something underlying his need to help his friend, to not give up hope, a hot flare of passion he had felt before, but been unable to do anything about.
With that realization came a lot of old anger at the bullies and arrogant fools who’d tried to get between him and Bucky, and a sudden feeling of awe. Steve had always had good alpha instincts, always been willing to protect and fight for the people he cared for, to protect the pack from interlopers and predators. Dr. Erskine had seen that in him even though Bucky had already been deployed. There had been three thousand miles of ocean between him and his omega, and the good doctor could still tell that there was nothing wrong with Steve Rogers’ determination but weak flesh. He could see Steve’s heart was strong even though it didn’t work very well.
Now it did. Now everything did. And some things just worked the same. Steve caught his breath and held Bucky a little closer to keep him warm through the cold night.
--
Bucky was all business the next day, but he wasn’t alone. Injured or not, tortured and experimented on or not, there was a war on, and they had to get the boys back to camp. Steve smiled to himself as Bucky picked up one of HYDRA’s fancy guns and walked point with him. Not because it was funny, but because it was Bucky all over. No matter what had happened, he just soldiered on, just like Steve.
But at least this time Steve could keep up with him.
--
After their triumphant return, Steve didn’t rest on his laurels. Men had been hurt, some badly, and Colonel Philips had seen there was more to Steve than just being entertainment. There would be another mission, and Steve would be part of it, once everyone was healed up.
--
Bucky had spent two days in the medical tents, and Steve finally had some idea of how Bucky must have felt during those endless trips to the doctors, where he’d stayed in the waiting room while Steve tried to get himself well.
“They find out what HYDRA was doing?” Steve finally asked, once they’d finally let him go.
“Not really. I don’t remember much,” Bucky said, and shook his head. “A beer might help jog my memory, though.”
Steve smiled. “I got passes; let’s go into town.”
--
Steve knew that Bucky hadn’t been quite a hundred percent when they’d had their night out, but hadn’t called him on it. How many times had Steve gone out while a cough lingered or his chest still ached? Enough that he’d lost count.
But he did know that, post-injury, omegas sometimes went into an unseasonal heat, a kind of hormonal reaction to the stress, a breeding imperative to save the bloodline once the body had bounced-back from near-death. Bucky knew that too, he had to. Steve caught him sizing him up more than once over the next two days, and kept wondering if he should be looking over his shoulder, looking for who Bucky was checking out.
Steve had been having uneasy dreams of Bucky walking away from him, searching out another alpha that was incapable of dominating him, and had been unhappily wondering who, if anyone, in the unit he’d pick to help him. But there was never anyone else.
--
“Steve, let’s go.” Bucky tugged on his elbow, nodding in the direction of their tent, sweat darkening his hair. “Need you.” It had been a week since they’d gotten back, a week since Bucky had been throwing inquisitive little stares his way. More than enough time to heal up enough for his body to overreact.
“You sure?” Steve asked, fighting the urge to run his hand over Bucky’s sweat-slick temple and taste it against his lips.
“Pretty damn sure, Steve. Would’ve been sooner, but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t gonna croak or get a red skull or something else that would have been a mood-killer.” Bucky grinned and tilted his chin up in a deliberate omega move that had never failed to drive Steve a little crazy. “Come on.” He pulled a little more insistently, and Steve stumbled along a few steps before digging in his heels and making Bucky stop.
“They’ll know, Bucky. They’ll know we’re involved.” He’d take care of Bucky anyway, anything he needed, but didn’t want to hurt the unit by seeming to play favorites. They could apply for leave, take a few days… People would probably guess, but at least they wouldn’t be making it so obvious.
“Shit, Steve, they already knew I was bonded or they would have never let me enlist.” Bucky smirked, “Now they’ll all know I’m bonded to Captain America. I’m already bonded to you.”
Steve felt the emotion like the punches that used to steal his breath and leave him reeling in back alleys and parking lots. Bucky’s casual smile, his easy acceptance of their tacit bond, somehow made everything suddenly fit back into his worldview. No more hiding behind Bucky’s girlfriends and Steve’s weakness and both of their desire to be here to make a difference. They could both have what they wanted.
“Bucky…” Steve reached over to touch him, smell him, his heart starting to pound but with no danger he was going to pass out. He nearly ran into their tent, dragging Bucky behind him, and secured the flaps faster than he ever had in his life. Bucky pressed up into him, tugging at his uniform to bury his face in his neck, inhaling his enhanced pheromones with appreciative, suggestive noises in the back of his throat. Steve took the hint and ditched the clothes off of both of them, careful not to upset the cot as they lay down. Bucky smelled and tasted incredible under Steve’s mouth, but Steve could see the faint hint of scabs and bruises from whatever HYDRA had done to him still marking his body.
A swell of possessiveness rose up in him, and he found his teeth set over a mostly-healed bruise, ready to bite, before he came to his senses. Steve froze and looked up at Bucky, who was looking down at him with an expectant smile tinged with a little lingering fear.
“Do it,” Bucky urged. “Say it, come on!”
There was nothing more upsetting to an omega to be held in someone else’s power against their will, knowing that in time their bodies could betray them, making them beg their captors for relief and giving anything to get it. It was why the army wouldn’t accept unbonded omegas, but even bonded ones were a risk. But it had been Bucky’s choice. Because Bucky wanted to do his part.
And now Steve would do his part, what he hadn’t been strong enough to do, what he hadn’t needed to do in the safety of home. But Bucky needed this now, and Steve wanted to give it so much he was almost shaking. Steve bit down hard enough to bruise, enough for Bucky to feel it, overlaying whatever HYDRA had done to him.
“Mine,” he growled, and Bucky keened softly, muffled against Steve’s neck.
“Yeah, oh God, yessss.”
Steve bit carefully again and again, making Bucky thrash so hard Steve had to hold him so the cot wouldn’t overturn. Bucky jerked against his hold and fell back panting as Steve bit over the last mark.
“Shit, you…” Bucky tried to turn and Steve let him go. “You can hold me down now.” He laughed and gasped at the same time, his face and chest flushed bright pink.
“Is that…?” Steve asked, concerned, his tongue almost tingling oddly from where he’d dragged his tongue over the restraint marks on Bucky’s wrists.
“It’s okay.” He reached up for Steve and pulled him down for a full, deep kiss, not needing to break for Steve’s breathing until Bucky was the one out of breath. “Yeah, that’s okay.” He just looked at Steve for a long minute as Steve breathed in deep, finding nuances in Bucky’s heat scent he’d never known were there. He trailed one hand down Bucky’s thigh, feeling the slickness on his skin, and traced idle patterns as he got closer and closer to his goal. Bucky’s chest heaved as Steve just barely touched the rim of his hole, and Steve bent down by Bucky’s ear.
“What do you want? Tell me.”
“You, dummy, in me. Right the hell now,” Bucky snapped. Steve teased him just enough to get his fingers slick, then slid two home immediately, making Bucky arch and cry out.
“Bucky, I can give you more, if… Bucky, I can knot, now,” Steve said urgently, his own cock throbbing and erect, tight against Bucky’s hip. Bucky’s eyes opened wide at Steve’s words.
He’d tested himself. Obviously. Steve might not have noticed his own pheromones had changed (most people didn’t by scent, just by other people’s reactions), but he’d definitely noticed the changes the serum had made in his physical form. And yes, he’d made sure everything was in perfect working order. Because when he found Bucky again, he’d wanted to do something they’d wanted to do for ages, if Bucky would let him.
Bucky swore, using every bit of his rather extensive street vocabulary, plus anything else he’d picked up over here, including every blasphemy that usually made Steve blush. And finished it with, “…get in me right now, knot me, fuck Steve, I goddamn need everything you got right now.” Right then Steve saw the cracks in Bucky he’d been holding together with wit and banter, and stopped holding back. Bucky hadn’t wanted to be overwhelmed and submerged in his alpha, which had made Steve perfect for him, but this was different, even if both of them were different. This was Bucky wanting those memories overwhelmed and submerged in Steve.
Steve shifted them both, got Bucky’s legs over his shoulder (so easy to do, like Bucky was light as a feather), and grabbed a condom from his pants pocket on the floor and slid it on. He’d been too sick before to worry about getting Bucky pregnant, but he was completely healthy now, Bucky’s body was primed for breeding in a post-injury heat, and Steve would be damned if he took advantage. His cock finally covered, he lined himself up (Bucky was so hot, so slick) and pushed inside in a single firm stroke.
Bucky’s scream of release could have been heard over the entire camp if he hadn’t muffled himself with his arm. Steve groaned deep in his chest as he got Bucky’s hips in his hands and started to thrust in earnest, the sensation of Bucky clenching around him almost too good to be true. Bucky braced himself on the cot as Steve took control, fucking him through two more orgasms, his eyes rolling back up into his head as he got hard yet again.
“Steve… Steve.” His name was like a mantra out of Bucky’s mouth, encouragement, and Steve felt a strong tingle in his cock, his orgasm nearly on him, the swelling about to start soon after.
“Bucky-.” Steve had been about to ask him one more time if he was sure about this when Bucky abruptly sat up and pulled Steve into a hard and filthy kiss. Steve’s hips seemed to keep going without any conscious decision, and he felt himself come hard enough to white out his vision for a moment. He shoved in hard as his knot swelled, locking them together for the very first time.
Bucky road Steve’s aftershocks with tiny little twitches until his cock jerked and spattered a new pattern of white on his stomach. Steve just held on, savoring the closeness, the togetherness, just as good, in a totally new way, as to what they’d done before.
“It’s good Steve, fuck that feels good,” Bucky murmured in between kisses.
“You feel incredible,” Steve whispered. “You’re beautiful, look at you.”
They didn’t really stop kissing until they came apart. It was nearly an hour later until they could separate, both of their lips swollen and red, and Bucky could finally sprawl half-on his chest with a contented sound. His color was still high, his heat still strong, and Steve was trying to muster up the stamina for a second round; apparently near-death experiences made heat a hell of a lot stronger than it ever had been at home.
“Steve, I want you… want you to…” Bucky breathed out shakily and tried for a cocky smile again, nearly getting it right. “Like you used to. I want that too.” Steve should have objected, his new alpha body more than capable of satisfying his omega. But how could he, when the next words out of Bucky’s mouth were, “I want to feel everything you got. You got everything you deserved, and I’m entitled at first crack before everyone else tries to get a piece of you.”
There was no possible objection to that. “Hang on to something,” Steve told him, and braced Bucky’s shoulders as he slicked three fingers and pushed them inside. He was bigger now, bigger fingers, bigger hands, bigger everything, but Bucky had just taken his cock like he’d been born for it, and his heat was cresting. He could take whatever he wanted. Steve just went slower, sometimes almost biting into Bucky’s shoulder to stifle his own curses as Bucky opened beautifully for him, three fingers, four, five, body shaking like he was being shocked as Steve’s broad knuckles breached him, now a steady, low stream of praise falling from Steve’s lips.
Bucky broke three times before his ass closed on Steve’s wrist, and suddenly forced his twitching hands to work, reaching for Steve’s neglected cock and stroking with both hands as Steve slowly twisted and pumped his fist inside him. Small, incoherent noises trickled out of Bucky’s mouth as his hands flew on Steve’s cock, squeezing so hard that a few months ago he would have been laid out prostrate and groaning in pain, but now just helped push him over the edge. Bucky clenched and came long and hard as Steve’s hand pushed in a little more from his orgasm, flopping back onto the cot, semi-conscious from the intensity of his it all, his brow slick with sweat as his heat dissipated.
“I don’t deserve you,” Steve whispered into his ear, almost sure he couldn’t hear it. How many alphas got to feel their omegas from the inside out? How many would be able to reciprocate to their alpha while in the throes of post-recovery heat?
“Yeah you do,” Bucky mumbled into his chest. “Deserve the world. Gotta make do with me. We’re gonna make it, you and me… t’gether.” He burrowed himself a little deeper after Steve tipped his head back enough to drink from a canteen, and settled in with a sigh.
Steve put his arms around Bucky and held him, mind racing, heart full. They’d never been able to do anything like this before, with Steve acting like a real alpha, but they’d always found a way to make it work. But deep inside, Steve had been a worried that once they’d been together in a “normal” way, everything would change somehow. Yet it hadn’t, not really.
He didn’t have to be a real alpha. He just had to be Bucky’s alpha.
Everything after that was just a walk in the park.
Steve settled down, his omega secure in his arms, their guns propped against the table, the sounds of the camp clear through the canvas walls of the tent, a war raging somewhere outside.
You and me together, Bucky. You and me together.