who knows what the future holds? (i wanna see you with laughter lines)
Summary:
When what should have been a routine reconnaissance mission goes awry, Bucky and Clint find themselves lost in another world, another time with only a mysterious woman called “The Doctor” as their guide through the multiverse.
Notes:
This fic has the potential to be longer, and it’s quite possible (and honestly quite likely) that it will be expanded from here as I continue to write more in this series, which I really am having a lot of fun with. It technically takes place in the same multiverse as my previous fic in the series, Doctor Who and the Multiverse of Madness, and this is the same version of Thirteen from that fic, however Bucky and Clint are from a different universe than the marvel characters in the first fic. When I expand the series I will likely be adding another fic set before this one but after DWatMoM, as well as another after this but before my drabble Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Trans-Dimensional Wedding Invitation, Men After Midnight Are Overrated)
This fic fills my G1: Mute Character and G2: Time Travel squares for the Marvel Rare Pair Bingo, my I5: Fake Dating/Pretend Relationship and G4: Special Occasions squares for the WinterHawk Bingo and my February Adoptable: Nose Kiss for the Bucky Barnes Bingo.
Also, with regard to the Marvel Rare Pair Bingo specifically, these are my last two fills, and so I have officially blacked out my bingo card!!
Thanks as always to tinysugacube for her grammatical prowess, as well as to Marvin for his official seal of approval.
(See the end of the work for more notes.)
who knows what the future holds? (i wanna see you with laughter lines)
“Are you sure about this mission?” Bucky’s voice was dubious, but he was nevertheless suiting up as had been requested of him.
“What’s there to be unsure about?” Clint asked as he checked the tension on his bow. “It seems straightforward. The team needs intel, and we’re the best ones to get it.”
“I don’t know, something just feels…off.” Bucky frowned.
“Don’t worry about it, man—everything will be fine. And Kate’s agreed to watch Lucky while we’re away. This will be a piece of cake, you’ll see.”
—
“Piece of cake, huh?” Bucky asked when he and Clint were finally alone again, albeit sitting in a cell and eying the door behind which they knew were many guards. It had been a mistake for their captors to let Bucky and Clint share a cell, and it was an even bigger mistake to leave them in it unsupervised; but those were mistakes Bucky and Clint could take advantage of to get out of…wherever they were. The vast majority of the people they had encountered were mute, and those few that did speak did not converse using any of the languages that Clint or Bucky knew—and (between them) they knew a lot of languages—and as such they had no real way to figure out who their captors were, where they were, or why they had been locked up.
“Okay, so maybe there was a bit of a problem with regard to the mission. But I believe in us!”
“Your optimism is not the flex you think it is,” Bucky grumbled, even as he used his metal arm to brute force his way out of the cuffs. These people were never going to be able to hold him, but Bucky wasn’t stupid: he knew that in such a situation he and Clint needed to stay together as much as possible, and so letting himself get captured with the intent to later break out was their best option.
“Ah, but you love me for it,” Clint replied with a charming grin as Bucky freed Clint from his own bonds.
“Against my own better judgment,” Bucky grunted. Before either of them could say anything further, the door slammed open to reveal—much to their surprise—a woman who looked utterly unlike anyone else they had seen thus far. She had dirty blonde hair, with eyes that looked almost hypnotizing, and was wearing blue pants and a rainbow-striped shirt.
“Hiya!” she called out to them. She was the first person to speak English that they had encountered since they had fallen through that weird portal to wherever they were now, where everyone seemed to want to kill them. “Would you like to come out now? I’ve got everything sorted.”
“Who are you?” Bucky narrowed his eyes. “Why are you here?”
“I’m the Doctor, and I was looking for the two of you, actually. Sorry about the mix-up—didn’t mean to have you drop in during the middle of a meeting on the other side of the compound. The frequency was all wonky. But I’ve fixed it, and now we’re good to go!”
“Good to go where?” Clint frowned. “Doctor who, exactly? What are you a doctor of?”
“Ah, that is a bigger question that we have time for, I’m afraid. But I would suggest that you come with me relatively quickly before the bombs go off.”
“Bombs?” Bucky asked. “What bombs?”
“The bombs that will be going off very shortly once we get ourselves out of here. Nothing that will harm anyone, just enough to provide a bit of cover for what we do next.”
“And what are we doing next?” Clint asked, even as he began to walk toward the Doctor.
“Clint.” Bucky reached forward and caught his partner’s sleeve. “Are you sure about this?”
“No,” Clint admitted. “But we have a shortage of options, and I don’t particularly care to hang around imprisoned by people who speak a language I don’t understand when someone who seems to want to help us and actually speaks our language is offering an alternative.”
Bucky scowled, but he could admit that Clint had a point; and so he adjusted his hand so that it was holding Clint’s properly as they followed this mysterious Doctor.
—
“You know, things could have turned out worse.” Clint hummed as he flipped one of the burgers he was cooking on their grill. It was different from the ones he had been most familiar with back home—but then again, home was several thousand years away, both in terms of light speed and linear time.
“That’s true,” Bucky acquiesced. “But this isn’t exactly an ideal situation.” His metal fingers clinked as he tapped them anxiously on the patio table.
“No, it isn’t. But while we’re here, we might as well make the most of it.” Clint leaned over and kissed the top of Bucky’s nose. Bucky attempted to scowl but failed, instead giving Clint a fond smile. Clint grinned back. “I suppose it is a special occasion. It’s not every day that you celebrate your 150th birthday.”
“Don’t remind me,” Bucky groaned. “Do I have any grays yet?”
“Not a one!” Clint replied cheerfully.
“Fuck me.” Bucky rubbed his forehead.
“Not until after dinner, and not until all the guests are gone!” Clint smacked another kiss on Bucky’s forehead. “Watch the grill, will you? I’ve gotta take a leak.”
“We don’t even know it’s actually my birthday anyway,” Bucky muttered. 150 was only a loose guess. Years meant next to nothing while travelling through time and space, and truthfully neither he nor Clint knew exactly how old they were at this point. Deciding on a day to celebrate was fairly arbitrary when someone doesn’t age.
“Oooo, are you making burgers?” The Doctor asked, coming out of the sliding door just as Clint was entering it.
“Clint was,” Bucky grunted. “I’m just making sure they don’t burn.”
“I was thinking…” the Doctor began.
“Oh, now I’m in danger.” Bucky winked at the Doctor, who snorted in amusement.
“I was thinking that it might be nice to go on a bit of a trip. Stretch our legs, so to speak. For your birthday!”
“You’re not fooling me,” Bucky said, pointing at her with the spatula before flipping one of the burgers that was starting to get dangerously dark. “You’re bored.”
“Am not!” the Doctor protested. Bucky gave her a disappointed look, and she sighed. “Okay, yes, I’m bored,” the Doctor admitted. “And it’s been a while since we went on an adventure.”
“You’re the one who insisted on staying longer to monitor the situation.” Bucky pursed his lips. “Is that no longer the case?”
“The government seems a lot more stable now, and I think there are good people in place who will be able to make positive societal change. It’s not gonna collapse without us. Trust me, I’ve made that mistake a few too many times before—I didn’t want to make it again.”
“You’re right, it made sense to stay here.” Bucky shrugged. “But I admit it might be a good idea to make a change, especially considering the aging thing.”
“Oh, you mean how everyone here is convinced we’re a polycule of ageless deities?” Clint asked, walking out of the house again. “I’m just a kid from Iowa.”
“You’re a lot more than that.” Bucky paused. “Also, no one here knows what or where Iowa is. And the polycule was your idea.”
Clint nodded. “Fair point. But I maintain that pretending to be together helped a lot with keeping people from trying to matchmake. Anyways, how are my burgers doing?”
“Fine, I didn’t burn them. Think they’re about done, though.”
“Well, that’s better than last time, at least,” Clint said. Bucky turned off the grill, and the three of them started plating the food. “So what’s this I hear about an adventure?”