#cant believe i still like this old sketch hah

[echdhu]

Bucky & Sleipnir....the sketch came first,then the bit of fanfic silliness

            Bucky and the Beast When Thor Odinsson asked King T'challa of Wakanda if he would look after the Asgardian's nephew,the King saw no reason to say no. After all,he was playing host to what remained of the Avengers so one more visitor would make no difference. He gave his assent,warned his people there would be another resident at the guest compound and went back to the complicated business of ruling a large country. The day Thor arrived with his nephew,only Barton & a recently-revived Barnes were in residence in the sprawling visitor's quarters. Aided by Wakandan doctors & scientists,and provided with a new prostethic arm,Barnes was making good ground in shedding the 'Winter  Soldier' persona,but there was an unspoken agreement that one of the former Avengers would always be there with him..just in case.  So Thor arrived to find the two sitting in the shade, enjoying the novelty of a peaceful day.   'Barton!' Thor waved at them,the hammer Mjolnir swinging in his fist.' It is good to see you again!'  He slapped Barton on one arm,almost sending the archer head-first into a potted palm. 'And you..' he turned to Barnes..'you are the one they call ..the stag..?' 'Bucky' said Barnes,rather bemused 'my name is Bucky'. He turned to Hawkeye in confusion. 'Bucky,meet Thor Odinson. He's... eh...the god of thunder. From Asgard.'   God of thunder? Asgard? Barnes' face was a picture,but he said nothing except 'Er..good to meet you..' 'So,what are you doing here, Thor?' Barton asked 'Don't tell me that brother of yours is on the loose again?' 'No.  Well,not that I know of. But there is something amiss in Asgard,and it is Loki's son-my nephew-that I would protect. I have spoken with the king and he has agreed to my bringing him here.' Barton turned pale-if Loki's son was anything like his father,they were in trouble. Thor must have seen  Hawkeye's reaction,because he added hastily 'No-my nephew is not as troublesome as my brother.' 'Really? I'll believe it when I see it...' Barton muttered to himself. 'Truly!' Thor turned back to the entrance to the compound an bellowed something in a strange language.  'He is loyal,and strong,and intelligent..'  he paused and looked at the two mortal's faces as the nephew walked through the gate. 'Sleipnir,make your greetings to the Midgardians.' Barton & Barnes somehow managed to remain standing as an enormous grey horse walked towards them. It  wore no bridle but there seemed to be several boxes strapped to its broad back. 'A horse' Barton said weakly. 'Your nephew's a horse?' 'Eight legs.' Barnes said. 'It's got eight legs!' The horse came to a stop beside Thor,and nodded its head in what might have been a bow. 'You will stay with the humans until I come to fetch you back to Asgard' he told the animal 'and you will assist them  if necessary. Be good.  I must leave now.' he turned back to the two dumbfounded men ' You will find all he needs in the chests he carries...I trust you to take care of him'  He slapped the horse's neck affectionately and left in a swirl of red cloak,leaving the two humans and the horse staring at each other. 'O...K..' Barton was the first to recover his equilibrium..'I'm going to find someone and tell them Thor's nephew needs a different type of accomodation..Barnes,you get that stuff off  him.' 'Gee,thanks' Barnes muttered,turning back to the patient Sleipnir. The horse regarded him curiously as he raised a hand to pat its neck ''Good boy'' he said hesitantly..the last time he could remember being near a horse was back in the day when he was a kid,and the milkman's cart had been drawn by a docile old nag,nothing near the size of this grey giant. He  also seemed to remember that you didn't make sudden moves around horses so he carefully removed the  chests strapped to the horse's broad back. Even with his augmented strength, he found the carved wooden boxes weighed a hell of a lot and he grunted as he eased them to the ground. 'You must be a real heavyweight,pal' he said to the horse. Sleipnir whickered, swinging his head round to nudge Barnes' shoulder,then pulled his head back,ears canting backwards. 'Yeah. That's the tin one' he said, 'don't worry,it's not contagious. Jeez,why am I talking to a horse?' He was saved from waiting for an answer from Sleipnir by Barton returning with a retinue of house staff. After their initial suprise,in a very short time they had repurposed an empty storeroom into a comfortable straw-filled stable. The chests proved to hold feed,tack,brushes and everything else the  well-kept horse could need. The grain in the feed chest,they noticed,replenished itself as Sleipnir ate. 'Asgardian magic' Barton shrugged. 'At least it saves T'Challa the hay bill. C'mon.let's leave him to settle in.' Sleipnir did seem to settle in,becoming a centre of interest for the other inhabitants of the House,although there was some mild hysteria when they discovered (courtesy of the internet)that Loki was actually the horse's mother.   After Barton showed them how to use the  brushes, Sleipnir could often be found standing hipshot and droop-eared in bliss as one or other of the ex-Avengers groomed him.  Rogers declared the horse was the perfect running partner,the only one willing and able to keep up with him on his daily laps on the running track in the compound.  'But Barnes is able to keep up with you.'  Lang looked up from where he was trying to make an ant bench-press a sugar-lump. 'Yeah, but he's a lazy-ass jerk who won't get up early..'' Curled up in his seat in the corner,Bucky looked up from his tablet  and made a rude gesture with his metal hand.

Several nights later found Barnes pacing the floor.Even though the Winter Soldier was effectively  gone the nightmares were still liable to come back,and tonight they showed up in spades, sparking  memories. He tried to be quiet,for he knew that if Rogers heard him the other man would try to help talk away the horrors,and that would trigger more guilt for both of them. So Bucky paced,silently,until the walls felt as if they were squeezing the breath out of him and he  headed out into the compound,with his demons snarling at his heels. Breathing hard,he didn't  watch where he was going,walking blindly  and trying to unsee the faces, forget the details..  His mindless steps took him into shadow and out again,until he bumped into something large and solid;  purely by reflex he struck out,and the something grunted,and pushed back.  Shaken for a moment from his memories,he looked up into the perplexed brown eyes  of Sleipnir.  The sudden absurdity of it hit him like a pole-axe,and he fell to his knees beside the huge hooves, curling up like an ammonite as the dark tsunami of  the past swamped him.. ...Siberia..the cold stink of metal and hydraulics, agony and a voice like a knife in his mind ..The glow of snowfields under a full moon,the colours of the Northern lights flickering over the snow ...the faces of all his targets,men and women,young and old,no mercy,only the words in his head the green of forests in Spring,the scent of wildflowers and pine resin and the springing run of deer across the hills Slowly,Bucky uncurled. He became aware of a warm bulk beside him; a steady heartbeat like some immense drum,strangely comforting. 'Sleipnir?' he mumbled. A warm  nose nudged him, urging him closer,and he found himself propped between four massive forelegs. More images filled his mind;   tall mountains,waves battering a wild coastline,a sunrise over the  ocean......  they flooded the darkness in his mind,turned it into twilight,into sunlight. Bucky rested his head against the horse's broad chest and sighed,falling into a dreamless sleep. Above him, Sleipnir kept watch, onyx eyes shining in the moonlight. There was consternation the next morning when Bucky was found missing from his room,and the muffled hubbub woke him. Confused,he sat up,to be greeted by a soft whicker and Sleipnir nibbling his hair. ''Yeah mornin', big fella'' he said, stroking the horse's velvety nose. '' Hey,let's not tell anyone about the babysitting,OK?'' Sleipnir agreed. Bucky started. ''You can understand me?'' Of course; Sleipnir could understand him!  Silverhand was his friend. Silverhand was kind- ''Hah!'' Bucky muttered No,Silverhand was kind. The demons in his mind  were nothing. Sleipnir could chase them away. Bucky sat there open-mouthed,propped between the impossible creature's forelegs. A horse.  A horse (albeit  an eight-legged semi-divine one) could help him, take the Winter  Soldier's atrocities out of his head... ''How long?'' He  twisted round to look the horse in the eyes. A while. Sleipnir was not sure. Barnes got the impression of moons waxing and waning;  but still..to be free of the results of the thing that HYDRA had  planted in his mind.. He heard his name being called;  standing,he tweaked one of the horse's ears affectionately. ''Let's keep this between ourselves for the moment,huh? Not sure if anyone would believe me...'' But eventually the secret came out. When Sam found that Bucky could understand Sleipnir,he started singing ''If I could talk to the animals'' everytime Barnes was near. Having had the reference explained to him,Bucky  quietly swore revenge..