unsolved (iii)
Summary: Bucky doesn't even believe in the paranormal. So who the hell thought it was a good idea to stick him in a series about everything haunted for the internet's amusement? With his loose-canon of a teammate who has no concept of subtlety or shits left to give, to make things even worse. (Buzzfeed unsolved AU)
Warnings: swearing, frustrated bucky at his little shit supreme, obnoxious reader, cryptids, graveyards
A/N: good evening. i am fighting demons (tummy ache). comments and feedback are always appreciated thank u for the love on the series so far i adore u guys sm <;33
Previous part || Series masterlist
A few days after the first video goes up, Bucky returns from his run to a SHIELD file taped to his door.
He opens to a black and white photo of him from back in the day, and a page full of his details. Full name, blood group, previous addresses, aliases, best colours to match his undertone, favourite Gilmore Girl boyfriend.
He flips the page to the section on his known connections, only for a sheet of paper to fall out. Sharpie sprawled haphazardly across it, in big red letters.
NO AUNT.
BITCH.
He bites back a grin.
The video does reasonably well. Not record breaking numbers or anything, but for once there aren’t TikToks of people counting how many times he blinks to make sure he’s an actual human.
Always a man of his word, though he has regretted it every single time, he agrees to a second video. It follows after a disgraceful bout of bitching and even pleading, but a few hours later, he resigns himself to his fate silently.
That is until the schedule for the next video shoot is posted to the server, and he sees it’s at night.
The night he uses to sleep. The night.
Before he can even type out his rejection, his door receives four sharp knocks. He doesn’t even need to open it to know who it was.
It’s like you could read his thoughts. Probably could. He doesn’t know the extent of your telekinesis.
In your hands is a large cardboard box and on your face is a stupidly big grin.
“Good evening,” you greet.
“Tell me the show’s getting cancelled,” he says.
“Nope. We–” you announce, reaching into the box and shoving something onto his chest, “--are going on a trip. Demon hunting.”
“Demon hunting?”
“To Westley Cemetery,” you add, letting the box tumble onto the floor as you grip its contents. “To catch the Westley Cemetery Cryptid.”
“What the hell is the Westley Cemetery Cryptid?” Bucky demands.
“Creature that lives in the cemetery, watches people from the trees and runs after you if you’re there too long. No known kills, but a couple of scratches and spooks,” you list off.
His face twists. “That’s not a real thing.”
“Uh, yes it is.” You rest a hand on your hip. “My sources told me so.”
“Who are your sources?”
“Twitter.”
Bucky stares at you without a word.
“It’s totally real. It’s got a Wikia page and everything,” you argue against his complete silence. “I believe in it.”
“That means nothing.”
“Rude.” You glare pointedly. “Anyway, point is, we’re going out tonight to the cemetery and we’re gonna catch this thing on tape.”
Bucky tracks your gaze to finally look down at what you’ve shoved into his hands. It’s a headband, with two cameras attached to it, one facing your face and the other outward. Night vision, he guesses.
He sighs. “How long? An hour?”
“Was Hamlet written in an hour? Was Sharknado filmed in an hour?” you exclaim. “Great art takes time. We’re staying out there as long as we need to. So help me, we will emerge victorious.”
Bucky stares at you. “Two hours.”
“Seven.”
“Thirty minutes.”
“Your will is weak and your spirit is cowardly.” You return his fixed look with equal intensity, if not more, which he didn't think was possible. “Three hours.”
“Deal.”
“Great.” You stick your hand out, and he grabs on firmly. “See you at 1am.”
“1am?!”
It is 1am, it is cold and Bucky is miserable.
But he’s there. In the cemetery. With the stupid camera rig on his head.
You offer him whiskey to warm him up, and he agrees.
You then tell him you don’t actually have any because you didn’t think he’d accept.
He hates it here.
The wind whistles around the both of you. The eerie silence is only compounded by the fact that he can’t see anything beyond a certain point. The night is especially dark and there is no moonlight.
He trudges through the patchy grass, dry leaves crunching under his boots.
The camera being so close to his face along with the fact that you wouldn’t stop singing the same three fucking lines of the song over and over again, makes him want to tear his hair out.
“That thing’s not gonna get near us if you don’t shut up,” he grumbles.
“Nonsense,” you hum. “I’m a goddamn delight. He’s gonna be trippin’ over himself to get to me.”
“He doesn’t exist.”
“He definitely does, and you know what? I bet your shit vibes are gonna attract him. Moth to flame and all that. Karmic justice.”
Bucky stares straight ahead, swerving to avoid running into cracked tombstones.
You go back to singing, but worse this time.
“What if we don’t get anything?” he interrupts, to protect his sanity. “No one wants to watch a bunch of people just walk around the dark for 20 minutes.”
There’s no response.
It takes a second for Bucky to realise the singing’s stopped too.
He stops in his tracks, head swivelling to look for you.
“The fuck…” he mutters.
In the cemetery, he is truly alone for a moment. Silent, other than wrought iron gates creaking in the far distance.
The leaves of the tree above him rustle.
Bucky looks up, squinting against the darkness.
Against the stillness of the night, he sees it. A figure stands tall on the branches of the tree, silhouette obscured by the leaves.
It leers down at him, unmoving.
Bucky doesn’t even flinch.
“Very funny,” he says. “Hilarious.”
“We’ll fake it,” the figure calls from above. “If we don’t get any footage, I’ll just get on up there and fuck around and you record.”
“Get down,” he demands. “We’re not faking footage.”
If this show had to die this way, so be it.
“Bore,” you boo, lowering yourself to the ground with ease. “If I didn't know any better, I’d say you don’t want to be a part of this series.”
“I don’t.”
“Anyway,” you say obnoxiously, “we won’t have to. There is definitely a cryptid here. I can feel it in my bones.”
“We’re halfway through the graveyard and there’s nothing here,” he shoots back. “We should call it quits.”
“You’re right,” you say, to his surprise. “We need to cover more ground. Let’s split up.”
That is most definitely not what he was saying.
But you start singing again and so Bucky agrees faster than you finish the same stupid third line for the hundredth time that hour.
Bucky is a man of dignity.
Less than five minutes later, he gives up.
He takes a seat against the trunk of a tall tree, in a relatively open clearing.
He figures if he just takes a nap then the two hours would pass by quicker.
Bucky has no idea where you’ve gone. The lack of light doesn’t help, even with his advanced vision.
He crosses his arms behind his head and settles back, eyes closing.
Not even a second later, he wants to rip his hair out when the stupid song you were singing reintroduces itself in his head.
“For fuck’s sake,” he groans.
The tree he’s leaning against shifts ever so slightly.
His eyes fly open, but he doesn’t move an inch.
Instinctually, his breathing slows and his ears tune in to pick up even the faintest sounds.
The draft whispers, and he knows for a fact that something is above him.
A branch cracks.
“Go away,” Bucky says loudly.
A second passes.
And then another.
“You’re supposed to be looking for the thing,” you shout.
“It’ll find me if it wants to.” He shifts to make himself more comfortable. “I’m givin’ him a real shot here.”
“You didn’t even look up.”
“Didn’t have to.”
“He could have been above you.”
“But he wasn’t.” Bucky’s eyes close again.
“You’re terrible.” It comes back muffled, and branches shift. “I’m headin’ that way. One of us has to put some effort into this.”
“Joy. Knock yourself out.”
The trunk moves under his muscles again and Bucky lets out a small exhale, settling back into the position he was in.
Until he hears you singing in the distance. Same three lines, same off-key tune.
Bucky drags his palm across his face.
An hour passes.
Unlike his original plan, he does not sleep.
He instead recounts every element he remembers from the periodic table.
Replays every Dodgers game from his childhood, and then gets mad at their shift.
Then he tries to recollect every fact he knows about you so far. Mutant, captured and experimented on, broke free several years before him. Met Nat along the way and befriended her. Telekinesis, slowed aging. Escape artist. Wedding videographer. Allegedly.
He just doesn’t get how you’re so goddamn chirpy all the time, given that he’d been through something similar and come out the way he had.
It had taken him a month to say anything to anyone other than Steve. You went out for brunch with Sam the same weekend you showed up at the compound.
He doesn’t get you.
Speaking of which, he hasn’t actually seen you in a while.
He checks the time on his watch. Nearly 3am.
He had a fucking workout in the morning and no lizard-man was going to be the cause for Steve outrunning him.
He pushes himself off the ground with a groan, and stretches out his sore limbs. Definitely too old for lying around a cemetery beyond midnight.
He calls out your name loudly, and then again, before waiting.
He hears bells ringing in the distance.
Bucky looks up.
In the shadows of the trees, he comes face to face with the same sight as before. A figure, standing on the branches.
“There’s nothing here,” he calls out, sighing. “Can we just leave?”
The twigs creek, and for a second he thinks you’re going to fall.
“Already told you I’m not faking footage, get down from there,” he repeats. “I’m leaving. I’ll see you at the gate.”
The leaves shuffle around before he hears branches break.
Something you say gets obscured by your movement, but you disappear again. He thinks that maybe you were cursing him out, and deservedly so. He just couldn’t find it in himself to care.
He rolls his eyes, but starts making his way to the entrance of the graveyard.
The walk back is faster, and he holds back a yawn as the gates start creeping up on the horizon.
There’s no sign of you. He half thinks you ditched him here and went back to the compound. Or fell off the tree and were just laying there.
But he decides to wait, leaning against the exposed concrete wall.
Eyes closed, he rubs his temples and decides that if you’re not here in the next thirty seconds, he’ll just–
“Hey,” you greeet from right in front of him.
“Where the hell did you go?” he demands.
You blink at him, before holding up a wrapper.
“Got a sandwich. I was hungry. The diner was real nice too, I spent like half an hour talkin’ to the owner.”
He stares at you. “You just left to get a sandwich?”
“Yeah, and I got you one, too,” you reply, tossing him a paper bag. “You’re welcome. God bless that man, but those things aren’t cheap.”
“You’ve not been here for the last half hour?”
“I mean, I spent like ten minutes looking.” You shrug, taking another bite. “All I got was a bunch of grass.”
Ten minutes. Bucky had sat under the stupid tree for an hour.
“So you just left,” he says dryly.
“Yes,” you reply like it’s not even worth debating. “Besides, if anyone could find a cryptid it’d be you. A fellow cryptid.”
Bucky spins on his heel to leave.
“You’re welcome for dinner,” you call out, and he can hear you laugh.
He flips you the finger, and regrets it a second later when your singing resumes.
The sandwich is good. He appreciates it.
He even manages to keep pace with Steve the next morning.
What he doesn’t appreciate is coming back to fifteen missed calls and four video calls from you.
From: co-host (TGS)
can you pick up
From: co-host (TGS)
i know you have nothing going on in your life you are bitchless
Bucky switches off his phone for the next three hours.
Finally, it’s a threat that you will show up at his door again and Bucky finally video calls you back that evening.
“What,” he states.
“Took you long enough,” you huff, sitting up to adjust the camera. In the middle of the ordeal, Bucky sees your laptop open.
“What do you want?” he repeats.
“The team sent over the videos from last night,” you tell him. “At some point in the video you said ‘we’re not faking footage, get down from there.”
“Yeah.”
He hears you play the footage faintly in the background, almost to substantiate your point. He cringes at the sound of his own voice.
“Who were you talking to?”
Bucky rolls his eyes. “Heard you in the trees. Figured you climbed up there again.”
“Ah.” You click your tongue. “Interesting.”
“What.”
You hum. “See, that wasn’t me.”
Bucky’s eyes narrow. “Yes, it was.”
“No, it wasn’t,” you say calmly. “I’d left to get dinner way before all that.”
“Right.”
“I’m serious. Got the timestamp on my video to prove it.” You look up at him through the camera finally. “So who were you actually talking to, Barnes?”
Bucky’s nose twitches.
“Bye,” he says shortly.
“Dude,” he hears you laugh loudly through the phone. “I fuckin’ told you you’d attract these things, you–”
here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing!
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Fanfic Writer Appreciation day ♡
i stole this idea from @1lostsoul0fishbowl, and in celebration for Fanfic Writer Appreciation Day, i've decided to list 21 of my favorite fics! a few of them i've talked about before, and a few are very well known but still deserve to be talked about again. i'm tagging the authors if i know their tumblrs!
i divided them into two lists, a purely Steddie one (my otp y'know) and a second one for everything else (other ships, X readers, other fandoms etc)
without further ado, in no particular order, here is (under the cut cause the lists are LONG, babes):
Steddie
The One in Which a Time Loop is Fucking Exhausting. by @badpancakelol - timeloop
You're Divine by @azrielgreen - Kas!Eddie
i can give you a heartbeat by soupbitchin - ghost!Eddie
Looks like we're in for nasty weather by @geddyqueer - modern AU, ghost whisperer!Eddie, cryptids
Straight Knife Through The Heart by @relenafanel - modern AU, rockstar!Eddie
New York Hardcore by @grandmastattoo - punk!Steve
your cosmic call sign by @nancywheeeler - aliens!AU
Wild Geese by watchcatewrite - roadtrip
the most remarkable thing about you standing in the doorway is that it’s you by @greatunironic - rockstar!Eddie, found family
your love is standing next to me by @fivecenturiesverse - rockstars AU, social media fic
STEVE’S FIRST BRUISE by cairparavels - spider man!Steve
took you for a working boy by @pukner - genderqueer!Steve
this love came back to me by @strawberryspence - rockstar!Steve
i could be honest, i could be human by @steves-strapcollection
what's left of my lungs by WirtWilt - hanahaki disease
echo by @grandmastattoo - timeloop
wanna hurt you just to hear you screaming my name by DotyTakeThisDown - BDSM, sex club master!Eddie
Petals in a Storm by @inairbinad
Eddie's Memory Log by @harmonictechnicality
this demo will save your life by oh_simone - 'rockstar'!Eddie, band manager!Steve. characterization of all times
STRIKE TEN. by @metaldeads - scoops era
Others
The Entire History Of Human Desire by KidA_666 - ST / stonathan
Dreaming Of You by Koken - Marvel / stucky X reader - reader has powers
Harmless by @shurisneakers - Marvel / bucky X reader - 'villain'!Reader, lovely crack, perry VS doofenshmirtz dynamic
Hive by Rattle - SDV / sebastian X sam X farmer - there's a big plot twist here. best SDV fic ever
Trinity Epoch by @heli0s-writes - Marvel / stucky X reader / pacific rim AU (honestly anything by helios is amazing)
matters of taste by @fairyysoup - ST / steddie X reader - bakery AU
half of my soul by @graysonnightwing - ST / steve&robin - platonic soulmates get platonically maried
Over & Over by @beetlesandstarss - ST / ronance - this one hurts like a bitch but it's delicious
burning yarrow by @storiesbyrhi - ST / eddie X reader - witch!Reader, vampire!Eddie (literally anything by Rhi, but this one's my favorite)
don't delete the kisses by @stevenose - ST / steve X reader - camboy!Steve
We Tried The World by @upsidedownwithsteve - ST / steve X reader - roadtrip (again, anything by Emmy is great but her roadtrip Steve is top tier and this fic was a huge inspiration to me personally)
No Such Thing by lattebiscuit - Marvel / bucky X reader - college AU
We Got A Lovin' Thing by lattebiscuit - ST / steddie X reader
Helping Hands by MutantsandSoldiers - Marvel / bucky X reader, stucky X reader - ABO, mutant!Reader
Howler & the Black Cat by bajablessed - Marvel / bucky X reader - vigilante!Reader
Sunshine Blend Dark Roast by @icallhimjoey - RPF / joe quinn X reader - barista!Reader (again, anything by this author is an instant hit. i had to close my eyes and point at the screen to choose randomly because i couldn't pick one myself)
no good at waiting by @familyvideostevie - ST / steve X reader - farmers market AU
in a dark, dark room by @carolmunson - ST / Eddie X reader - kas!Eddie. this one just dropped and it's an instant hit. it's dark so beware!
Like Real People Do by @myosotisa - ST / eddie X reader - drug addicts, rehab clinic, beware of triggers
Bad Influence by @dearest-readers - ST / eddie X reader - pornstars AU
coffee shop blues by @ghost-proofbaby- ST / eddie X reader - barista!Reader, barista!Eddie, grumpy VS sunshine trope
WHOOF! *wipes forehead* that was some work. i obviously couldn't fit all my favorite fics of all times here, but i did my best to bring great content! (i thought about dividing into 3 lists and make an X reader specific one but....i was too tired of searching for links already lmao)
i have many other great recs in my fics recs tag here and on my ao3 bookmarks so if you trust my judgment and want more fics to read, those are always public!
shout out to all the amazing fic writers on all sides of these fandoms that i love and admire, and know that you are very appreciated on this fic writer appreciation day! ♡♡
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