Where Peter, Steve and Bucky bond over an essay and Peter being as reckless as young (and old) Steve.

Peter was, once again, spending the weekend at the Avengers Tower. This time, he had a purpose: to finish his essay on Captain America. For that, he had asked the Captain himself for help, alongside his best friend, Sergeant Barnes.

So as soon as they were done with dinner, the three of them went to the balcony, where the upcoming summer heat was beginning to take presence.

"So, what do you wanna know, kid?" asked Steve.

"Honestly? Everything." chuckled Peter awkwardly "Besides the whole essay thing, I've always been interested on how both of you managed to make it through the old times and the transition to this practically new, technological world."

Both Steve and Bucky looked at each other. They hadn't talked much about the differences between the 30's and the 00's, although they were quite obvious, both of them were still trying to get used to all of it.

"Well, back then, I wasn't like this. You already knew that, but I could barely walk with my own weight."

"Damn right" laughed Bucky "Stevie had a new illness every week. His ma always knew how to treat him without necessarily going to the hospital. She was a nurse, and a good woman."

"My ma made the best chicken soup you could ever dream of." Steve winked.

"Steve's ma's soup is my best memory of our childhood."

Peter couldn't help but want to try it himself.

"I actually remember the recipe. Maybe we can do our best and try to cook it ourselves." Steve suggested to what both Peter and Bucky nodded.

"What about the days before getting enlisted? Why did you want to get enlisted?"

"Before the war, things were tough. My ma was gone and I didn't have enough many to carry on on my own, so Buck and I rented an apartment together. We managed."

"Barely, but it was good. We had practically lived together our entire lives, only our parents weren't around this time. Besides, Steve still got sick a lot, and I wasn't like his ma. We started visiting the hospital more often."

Peter nodded in understanding. He wish he could live with his best friend too, although living with May was a lot like it.

"When the war came..." Steve began "Well, it was crazy, it was promoted in a way that it seemed like people actually enjoyed being a part of it. War wasn't nice, neither was the army, but it was needed. I wanted to do my part. Everyone said I couldn't because of my condition..."

"Conditions." corrected Bucky "Multiple."

"Yeah, yeah..." Steve trailed off "I just knew I could do something, and I wanted to do it. I had the same rights as everyone else, so who was gonna stop me?"

"Your asthma, your skinny legs, the cops, me..."

All three rolled their eyes while Peter also laughed. 

"I lied a lot to finally be able to enlist. I probably wouldn't have made it anyways if it weren't for Doctor Erskine. He saw in me exactly what I wanted everyone else to see. I thought he was crazy, which he kind of was, but he was also one of the wisest men I've ever known. He fought for me. Even when I made it into the army, the rest didn't believe in me, I was bullied, treated like nothing, but I knew I was just like them."

"You were better." Bucky interrupted again "Much better than any of them."

Peter observed. They had been through a lot.

"Before I enlisted, all I could think about was: I want this to end" Bucky continued "Maybe that's why I actually decided to enlist. I honestly don't even know myself why I did it. I just wanted to stay home and kick ass, watch my siblings grow and teach Stevie how to fight."

"Wouldn't have worked anyway." both Steve and Bucky laughed.

"Did you use to get in a lot of fights?" Peter asked innocently.

"Ha! A shit ton, kid." Bucky laughed.

"Language, Buck." said Steve, with a sigh "But yes, I did. I was always bullied, but asides from that, I always felt the need to step in when a situation didn't look right. You know what it's like, don't you, Spider-Man?"

Peter nodded.

"Yeah. I've told Mr. Stark before, than when you have the ability to do something but you don't, when the bad things happen, they happen because of you. Maybe they don't happen because of you, but you have the ability to step in for a reason." Peter stayed silent for a couple of seconds "Even when I didn't have the ability, I still stepped in. It's was right. When I'm being bullied and someone tries to give me a hand, I really appreciate it."

"You're being bullied?" both super soldiers asked with surprise.

"Yeah, I guess. but I deal with it. It's mostly insults and mocking, I'm good at ignoring it."

"Kid, you don't have to put up with any of that shit." Steve said, and Bucky used all of his strength to prevent himself for calling him out on his language.

"I know, but I couldn't do it when I was just Peter Parker, I shouldn't do it now that I'm also Spider-Man, it wouldn't be fair."

"Bullshit. I can do it for you, I'm sure Nat would love to help."

"That's very kind of you, Mr. Barnes, but I would rather you didn't."

Then, the conversation drifted back to the war, the 30's, the way into the 2000's, etc. Many stories were shared.

In the end, Peter decided to keep those stories to himself and copied his essay from some online site.

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Did you enjoy this? I feel like it could have been much better, but it is what it is.

—Lucy.