"We're gettin' slaughtered out here--!"

Bucky dove behind a tree, quickly braced himself for any incoming attacks -- the snowballs came flying overhead, narrowly missing him. Steve ducked in beside him, cheeks red and a grin on his face despite the obvious and constant peril they were clearly in.

"It's just a really intense snowball fight," he breathed, and Bucky stared at him incredulously.

"Oh yeah, only difference is that there's a godd*mn ogre hucking giant balls of ice at us," he retorted. Steve shrugged, moving to shield them both as chunks of snow went hurtling dangerously nearby; flecks of ice flew off to hit them, but Steve protected them from anything that would do serious damage.

"You okay?" Bucky met his eyes, held his gaze as he tried to read his reaction -- Steve's eyes were bright, and Bucky couldn't tell if that was purely from the cold or not.

"Yeah. Yeah," Steve said, blinking. "I mean I'm trying not to think about it right now, so currently -- I'm fine."

"All right guys, seven minutes in heaven is over," Tony yelled as he went spiralling through the air, righting himself before he hit the ground.

Steve couldn't resist pressing a hurried kiss to Bucky's cheek before launching himself into action, his shield flying forcefully in the air, and he was Captain America once more.

Bucky whistled lowly as he watched him in action. Steve Rogers never ceased to amaze him. He stood, rolling his neck. He grabbed two knives from his pants pockets, took a quick breath, bounced on his feet and broke into a run, charging the behemoth.

For any other city, the sight of five superheroes having a fight with a twelve-foot ogre with graying skin and dead eyes would've been cause for speculation. The public simply turned a blind eye -- it would be over one way or another eventually, so why bother getting involved?

Bucky slid to his knees at the last second, sliding on the icy snow and dragging his knives deep into the ogre's legs; he was rewarded with a howl that seemed to shake the earth.

Steve leapt away as a ball of ice landed right where he'd been standing. He huffed a breath, exhausted, and cocked his head. "Okay, ice dodgeball. That's all it is." The creature roared again -- Steve turned to see Bucky on its shoulders, clinging for dear life, while Tony and Rhodey fired flash bolts to temporarily blind it.

He counted those on the field, chest tightening with worry when Bucky was nearly thrown off -- and then Natasha was back on her feet.

The two ran together in sync to the monster. "Nice a' you to join the party," Bucky shouted down at them, digging his blades deeper into the ogre's decaying shoulders.

"Couldn't let you have all the fun!"

Nat tried not to roll her eyes at the pair. Leave it to the elderly to make a joke out of fighting a giant.

"You kids enjoying yourselves?"

Bucky grinned cheekily at her before the ogre reared its head. With a yelp, Bucky went flying -- Rhodey swooped in and grabbed him.

Nat and Steve fought with the agility of felines, circling the ogre and trading attacks, one after the other. The goal was to weaken the ogre into submission, hopefully put it to sleep so Bruce back at the lab could investigate further why it had come into existence -- and why it was decaying, yet impossibly strong.

Steve couldn't afford to run after Bucky, make sure he was okay, despite how he wanted to. Rhodey was a good man, so Bucky was in good hands-- still. When they jogged over once more, Bucky visibly shaken, Steve shot him a quick worried glance before ducking a fist. The ogre was furious, hits becoming somehow more deadly and less sluggish the longer it fought.

"You okay?" Bucky asked Rhodey breathlessly as they traded places.

"Sure, just casually fighting a massive ogre creature. You know, typical Monday morning," Rhodey replied, before bouncing once more into the air. Bucky turned to see a fist coming flying at his face.

"Steve, shield--!" Grabbing it mid air as Steve hucked it at him, Bucky braced himself for the next blow and covered him and Natasha while Steve, Tony and Rhodey focused on tiring the beast out from every other angle.

"Why haven't you zapped it yet?" Steve said in desperation -- Tony scoffed behind his mask.

"I always listen to Bruce, he said that this thing shouldn't be -- "

"Bruce also told us not to die," Bucky interrupted as he ducked out of the way. "This thing can take a lot of damage, Stark!"

Tony mumbled something about being too old for this, before firing an explosive into the ogre's eye.

The three on the ground staggered back as the ogre crashed to the earth with a cracking sound -- and immediately turned into dust and mold settling on the snow.

Steve looked stunned, looking around themselves. The silence was deafening until Bucky said, "So maybe one of its powers is turning into dust on command?"

Nat sighed as she moved closer to investigate. She kicked the mass apprehensively, then wiped her boot off into the snow.

"Should be able to salvage a sample for Bruce," Rhodey sighed, groaning as he kneeled in the massive metal suit. Tony stepped out of his own and grabbed a pinch of ogre, sprinkling it into a small metal container.

Bucky sensed rather than heard Steve come up to him, lightly touch his wrist. "You okay?"

He glanced at him briefly, smiled a tired smile -- he nodded. Steve moved to take his hand, and his smile became more genuine.

"Anyone up for breakfast?"

////

They collectively collapsed into a booth of a diner Steve and Bucky used to frequent. It had changed considerably; Bucky took it in with mild interest while Steve huddled into his warmth, holding a hot chocolate close to his chest, while the others poked at their food.

Bucky noticed the waitress eyeing them strangely, but other than that the group of superheroes went essentially unnoticed. After an exhausting battle, that was a welcome comfort.

"Figure we can just take a chill day today?" Steve mumbled to Bucky, who nodded eagerly.

"Definitely. Maybe we can finally watch some of those movies you've been dyin' to see?"

Steve smiled and sipped his drink. "Sounds good, Buck."

All was peaceful once again.

////

Just a regular ol' snowball fight!