Bucky felt like he walking around in a dream the first time he went to Camp HalfBlood. There were so many kids, and teens. There was a centaur, and this guy called 'Grover' who had goat legs.

There were angry campers running around chasing blondes as they yelled out rhymes. He was pretty sure for a second he saw two kids with a landmine, but when he took a double-take, they were gone. There was a metal dragon just hanging out. 

There were half-goat people and campers making freaking strawberries grow. There was a lava- climbing wall thing. There was a winged horse running right for him.

Oh, no, right at Percy.

Donuts?  He heard in his head.

"Yeah, buddy, I brought you donuts." Percy said. "I promised I would, didn't I?"

You're the best, Boss. Who's this guy? The black winged horse looked at Bucky.

"Oh, Blackjack, this is Bucky. Bucky, this is Blackjack." Percy said. Then his head tilted like a confused dog. "Oh. I forgot to tell you that we could talk to horses, didn't I?"

"Convenient thing to forget." Bucky said, eyes wide.

I am not a horse. Blackjack said indignantly, his feathers ruffling.

"No shit, Sherlock." Percy said.

Fuck off, Watson. Blackjack replied.

"Wow, okay. I'll just leave these here for you." Percy said, and left the donuts before continuing on.

It all felt very surreal. 

Clarisse was interesting. "Came back to us, huh, Prissy?"

"Yeah, yeah. I know I was stupid." Percy replied.

"So, you found another mortal?" Clarisse said, jerking her chin toward Bucky.

"Actually, he's one of us." Percy grinned.

"Really? But he's old." She frowned.

"You have no idea." Bucky sighed.

"Yeah, he's older than Nico." Percy grinned.

Clarisse recoiled. "What?" 

"Sergeant James Barnes, 107th. Born March 1917." Bucky introduced.

Clarisse remained silent for a minute. "What year did you say?"

"1917."

"Yeah. Holy schist." Clarisse said. "Parent? Do you know?"

Percy grinned. Clarisse narrowed her eyes.

"Poseidon." Percy whispered.

"What the Hades?" Clarisse demanded. "Do you guys grow on trees now or something?"

Percy laughed, while Bucky stood there not knowing what to do.

Clarisse then took a moment to give Bucky a once-over. "Ditch the gloves, or they'll get ruined." She advised.

"Uh." Bucky voiced, before sighing. He pulled off the glove on his normal hand first, and then the one from his metal hand.

"Prosthetic?" Clarisse asked, eyebrow raised.

Bucky made a fist, the metal moving in a complex manner.

Clarisse's eyes widened. "I take it back, put the glove on, fast. Cabin nine sees that and it's gone."

"Appreciate the tip." Bucky said as he tugged his glove on again. "Who's cabin nine?"

"Hephaestus. Forge. They work with metal and mechanics." Percy explained.

"Oh." Bucky nodded.

"Has he been claimed?" Clarisse asked.

"Nope, Dad said he was his, but it hasn't been announced yet." Percy said.

"Lucky you, capture the flag tonight. You good with any weapons?" Clarisse asked Bucky.

"Uh." Bucky said, and the brothers exchanged a look. Bucky turned back to Clarisse.

"You're not?" Clarisse frowned.

"No, not that. Just... A bit too much of the opposite." Bucky said.

"Never too much around here." Clarisse said. "What are your preferences? If you can do something impressive, that might get you claimed."

Just then, a blond kid ran up to Clarisse. "Clarisse- Percy- Old Guy-" He greeted them all, then addressed Clarisse directly. "So, you know how we were gonna play capture the flag, right, well, apparently the Romans really don't like the way we fight- like, we scare them- so how about paintball instead of weapons?"

"Where's Travis?" Clarisse asked.

"Trying to rig a landmine to explode with eco-friendly glitter instead of tnt. He's trying to woo Katie. Anyway, paintball?" 

"Do we have enough?"

"We will by the time the game starts."

"Then sure." Clarisse sighed, and waved him away.

Bucky was silent for a moment. "So, I actually did see some kids messing with a landmine?"

"Apparently." Percy replied.

"Oh. I thought it might it have been PTSD." Bucky said.

Percy gave him a side-eye. "You good, man?"

"Who knows?" Bucky shrugged.

"Alright, good to know. Anyway, think you can handle paintball?" Clarisse asked.

"I don't know what that is." Bucky deadpanned.

"Oh." Percy said. "You're put into teams, and given guns that shoot painful balls of paint instead of bullets. Easy to tell when you get hit. There's more rules, but that's the basic."

Bucky nodded. "Sounds interesting."

"You were a sniper, right?"

"Yeah."

"Clarisse, do you have any sniper guns?" Percy asked.

Clarisse hollered out to the boy who had spoken earlier. "Connor!"

"Yeah?" He yelled back, a hint of fear in his voice.

"Got a sniper gun?"

A moment of silence. "Think so!"

Clarisse turned to Bucky. "So, you can shoot?"

~~~~~~

Bucky got looks from the other demigods, especially when Clarisse personally handed him a sniper. The other demigods geared up while Chiron and this guy called Frank went over the rules. He had to stifle a chuckle at how odd a few hundred teens looked in badass armor and carrying paintball guns.

Someone offered to get him a set, but he turned them down. He didn't have enough experience to be comfortable wearing that bulk. Percy walked up behind him, and tapped his shoulder. Bucky felt his clothes shift, and a weight was added.

Bucky raised an eyebrow, and met Percy's smirking gaze. "You're welcome." The god said, before heading over to the centaur.

"So, what's the teams?" Bucky asked the demigod nearest him.

"HalfBlood vs. Jupiter." She replied.

"Ah."

"You're from Jupiter, though?" Her brows scrunched.

"No. I'm... Greek." Bucky replied.

"Damn." She said appreciatively, probably meaning his age, then gestured to his sniper. "Can you use that thing?"

"Wouldn't be here if I couldn't." Bucky commented. "Actually, I haven't used one of these before. There something I can shoot at for a minute?"

The demigod pointed to some trees off to the side. "If anyone's in the woods before the game starts, it's on them."

Bucky nodded, and looked through the scope.

"You're not going over there?"

Bucky fired, and the first one was a little off. Three shots later, he had the hang of it. 

"Holy smokes. You been in the military?"

"Yeah."

"Respect." She noticed his lack of armor. "Do you want some armor? Those paintballs are gonna hurt." 

"No, I'm good with what I've got."

"You sure man? You ain't wearing anything." 

Bucky smirked. The demigod got the idea that he was hiding something. "Aight. Suit yourself. Name's Molly."

"Bucky."

"See you on the field, Bucky." Molly grinned.

"I hope not." Bucky replied. "That would mean I have a compromised position."

~~~~~~

Frank and Percy were acting as supervisors, ensuring that the demigods followed the rules because they were the leaders of the groups. Also, because apparently they were both way overpowered, as Bucky heard some say.

Clarisse and a small troop escorted Bucky to a position. Once they dropped him off, they continued on. 

Bucky saw the purple that signified the Jupiter team, and he took his first shot.

He saw the one he'd shot at raise a hand in surrender, accompanied by a 'hit'. "Where did that come from?" The others asked.

Tick, tick, tick, the rest of the group was eliminated. Bucky turned his sight to try to follow Clarisse's troop, and provide them some cover. Tick, tick. 

Then he had to relocate. He was big, and bulky, but he was also fast. And then he found a really great tree. Once he got up into the branches, it was easy pickings when someone got into his sights.

~~~~~~

"Freaking sniper." A group of the Jupiter campers simultaneously praised and complained.

Clarisse approached him. "I keep hearing complaints about a sniper."

"My bad." Bucky said.

"How many times did you get hit?" She asked.

"I didn't." Bucky replied.

"Yo!" He heard a voice call out to him. The demigod was wearing purple with orange paint. "Were you the sniper?" The volume drew attention to the two of them.

"Yeah." Bucky said. He really hoped the kid wasn't looking for a fight.

The demigod opened his mouth to speak, and then froze in surprise. Bucky looked above his head, and saw the symbol of a glowing trident.

~~~~~~

Percy got Bucky settled into Cabin 3. It felt oddly comfortable. It was amusing to see the other's reactions to him.

He was sitting at his table when a short latino boy plopped down across from him. "Okay, so you're Percy's brother. Which is cool. But what I really want know, is what the heck is up with your arm."

"What?"

"Metal. There is metal and cool stuff there. So what's with the arm?" The teen asked.

Bucky narrowed his eyes. "Are you cabin nine?"

"Yup. Leo Valdez, at your service." He grinned.

"I was warned about you." Bucky said, and took another bite.

"Sounds about right. But seriously. Do you have like, pins or something?" Leo asked.

Bucky sighed, and took off his glove. Leo's eyes widened. Then Bucky shrugged off his jacket, revealing his arm underneath his T-shirt.

"Hoooooo." Leo practically drooled. "Is that like, armor? Over your skin?"

"No."

"Huh?"

"It's a... Prosthetic." Bucky said.

"Dude! You lost your arm?"

"Yeah."

"You have a metal  arm?"

"I had no idea." Bucky deadpanned, and returned to his food.

"Can I look at it?"

"You already are."

"No, like, closer."

"No."

~~~~~~

It wasn't too much longer after Bucky got settled in that Percy brought in Steve. 

Steve tended to be teaching the kids self-defense, or games from his childhood. It made Bucky smile to see Steve more relaxed when he did the latter. Bucky even remembered playing some of those with Steve when they were young.

Bucky turned when he noticed someone approach and sit down next to him. He recognized this camper to be Piper.

"Sooo." She said with a small, mischievous smile.

"So?" Bucky raised an eyebrow.

"I recognize that look." She said.

"What look?"

"The deeply-in-love look." Piper said, "I'm a daughter of Aphrodite, I know."

"Okay." Bucky replied, not knowing where this was going to go.

"So, why haven't you told him?" Piper asked.

"What?" Bucky startled, eyes wide.

"Why haven't you told him?" Piper repeated.

"Him? That's..." Bucky trialed off.

"Alright Algae-Head, look around. You're Greek. We've got just as many gays as straights. Most of us are bi or pan." Piper said.

"Bi? Pan?" Bucky blinked.

"Bisexual means you like gals and guys. Pansexual means you like anyone. Some people are gender-neutral, or gender fluid." Piper explained.

"Oh." Bucky said quietly.

"Yeah. Times have changed." Piper said. "It's legal now, too."

"Kat did say that."

"She did? I still have to meet her. Do you think she'll be visiting Camp any time soon?" Piper asked.

"Uh, probably not. She isn't exactly on Earth right now." Bucky said.

"Olympus?"

"No, Asgard."

"Asgard?"

"Yeah, the Norse alien gods?"

"What the heck."

~~~~~~

Piper approached Steve a few days later.

"How's it going?" She asked. "Liking it here?

"Takes some getting used to." Steve said, looking around for a moment. "But it's nice."

"Yeah. It does take a little getting used to." Piper agreed.

"I saw you talking to Buck the other day. Making your rounds and checking in on the old folk?" Steve asked lightly.

Piper chuckled. "Something like that."

Steve smiled. "So, what do you have to ask?"

"Tell me about Peggy?"

Steve blinked. "Peggy?"

~~~~~~

"She was amazing, beautiful, strong. And I think... I think I wanted to like her. I wanted to love her, because that would have been good. Normal. Perfect? I don't know. I wanted to love her because then I wouldn't love him." Steve admitted.

"Did it work?" Piper asked softly.

"No."

"Then what are you waiting for?"

"I don't... I don't want to lose him." Steve said. "If he doesn't..."

"Funny," Piper commented, "That's the same thing he said to me."

Steve's eyes widened.

"I saw him head into cabin 3 earlier." Piper said, before patting his shoulder and walking away.

The moment Steve unfroze, he was on his feet and walking.

~~~~~~

When Steve stepped into cabin 3, Bucky looked up from the water he was trying to manipulate.

"Steve, you okay?" Bucky asked, noticing Steve's posture.

"Yeah." Steve said. "Piper talked to me."

Bucky's eyes widened. He set the glass of water down, having just barely caught the puddle he had been floating in the air. "She talked to you?"

Steve nodded.

Bucky wasn't quite sure he could breathe. "What did...What did she say?"

"We talked about Peggy for a while. And then about you." 

"Oh."

"When I told her how I... She told me you'd said the same thing."

Bucky's eyes widened even more. He stood on shaky legs, keeping his hands at his sides because they were shaking too. "She did?" Dammit, his voice was as well.

Steve gave a jerky nod. "Was she telling the truth?"

Bucky couldn't breathe. "Probably." He said when he found his voice.

He was expecting anger. Yelling. Or maybe Steve would just walk away without a word.

He wasn't expecting Steve to cross the rest of the room in a few strides. 

He certainly wasn't expecting Steve to kiss him.

But that's what he did.

~~~~~~

A couple weeks later, Clarisse scowled. She understood the old-timers might miss breakfast occasionally, but missing the other activities? No.

So she marched up to Cabin 3, and knocked loudly on the door. "Get up, you lazy old punks!"

There was no response. Not even a sound of movement from inside. "Hey!" She barked, "Answer me or I'm coming in!"

After a short countdown, she followed through with her threat. They were both passed out on a bed, and right when Clarisse was about to growl, she realized something wasn't right. She walked up to them, and sure enough, they looked pretty sick up close.

She reached a hand out, and touched Steve's forehead. Fever, she noted. He didn't react to her touch at all.

When she tried to see if Bucky had a fever too, he flinched as if he'd been burned and a small cry of pain left his lips. Clarisse jumped back in surprise. She had seen people sleep through pain. Bucky now wore the same expression.

Worried, Clarisse left the cabin, and began to look for someone in particular. "Solace!"

After the second time she'd yelled for him, she heard the clip-clop of hooves behind her. "Clarisse, what's the problem?" Chiron inquired, wearing his own worry across his face.

"Old-timers didn't show for breakfast or the kids' game, so I went to check on them. Steve's got a fever and Bucky's in pain." Clarisse scowled. "It's weird 'cause that serum they got is supposed to keep them healthy, right?"

Chiron paled. 

"What?" Clarisse demanded.

"I just got a call from Sally," Chiron said, "She said the same thing has happened to Annabeth and Percy."

A/N

*smirk*