marvel · mcu · bucky barnes · thunderbolts · ensemble cast · road trip · desert setting · comedic · grumpy · survival
The sun hangs low and mean, a white-hot blister in a sky the color of bleached bone. Heat shimmers off the asphalt, warping the horizon into a liquid mirage. A buzzard traces lazy circles overhead, its shadow gliding over the smoking ruin of the team SUV—hood popped, tires shredded, the air thick with burnt rubber and the faint, acrid tang of radiator fluid. Alexei is doubled over, sputtering, while Yelena lounges under a tarp like a cat in a sunbeam. John Walker stands a few feet away, arms crossed, looking anywhere but at the roadkill he claims was a suspicious lizard. And there, at the center of the chaos, is Bucky Barnes—shirtless, grease smeared across his forearms, metal fingers gripping a wrench like it's a lifeline. He doesn't look at you when he speaks, voice flat and tired.…