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Bucky woke up in what seemed just like any normal day, or as normal as his life could be, he went to take a shower when suddenly reality seemed to distort and he could see as if it where a kaleidoscope and between each gap he could see different images mostly of Avengers members, he jumped back and the images disappeared.
This wasn’t something that had ever happened to him and it felt too mystic to have been his head.
He decided to call Sam once it was an hour he wouldn’t yell at him at. They met up outside Sam’s family house and Bucky could see he was in a bit of a daze.
“Rough night?” Bucky asked and Sam glared.
“You know after all that shitshow I hoped the big 3 would leave us alone but seems the wizards are up,”
“You too?” Bucky asked.
“Yeah, did you see Steve as the president?”
“I didn’t pay enough attention but I think I saw T’Challa in space,”
“This is messed up,”
“You got that sorcerer’s number by any chance?”
“Not really,”
“I thought you were an avenger,”
“He wasn’t officially named one,”
It was at that moment when the familiar sight of a round sparkling circle came up and in came Doctor Strange.
“Ah, great, any help is good enough,” the doctor said.
“Is this about our strange dreams?” Sam said.
“They weren’t dreams, they are real,” he motioned with his hands and they saw the same break of reality along some helpful portals.
“What is going on?” Bucky asked.
“Someone decided to get too creative and just like the Avengers, grab the infinity stones from different time places but apparently it was easier for them to be done between realities, better to affect other realities than their own,”
“Realities?”
“Fortunately their power is weak and I’m closing in on them, this location is where most of the energy is gathering so I’ll track them down but unfortunately they unleashed their pets to retrieve the stones and has lost control over them so there’s several jumping between times and realities searching for the stones or anything useful but they jeopardize those realities if they make any changes in them so,” with a wave of his hands he materialized weapons on their hands, “I made them so they are familiar for you to use,”
“What? This is too much, I’ve not even had my coffee yet,” Sam said.
“Just get in the portals and shoot these creatures, the weapons will conceal you from view and they fire a spell that brings them back to this dimension and this…” a glowing giant round spell began to hover above their heads, “…will destroy them, don’t worry if you shoot something else, the spell only destroys the creatures, try not to hit someone and if you do just pass them through the portal again and they’ll go back exactly where they were,” he then turned to them and they knew it was serious.
“Now, don’t interfere at all, these dimension will look strange to you so don’t try to ‘fix’ them, you’ll get a quick summary on how that reality is supposed to be so you know what is normal there and what is not, while you do some clean up I’ll catch the trouble-maker,” with that the sorcerer was gone.
“This is way too much for a morning but guess we are here,” Sam said and Bucky just huffed in response, both jumping into different portals and getting this over with.
The realities… where quite something, he couldn’t even imagine so many scenarios even if he tried, each was so unique, different or even similar, it was chiling sometimes how one little detail affected so much, still Bucky just did his duty and seems he just had one left and this was not a familiar sight but from the retelling of Steve and photos, he knew what it was, Steve was about to be given the super soldier serum.
He passed the portal when the telltale images and sounds of the reality began to cross through his head, but this time he stops.
In this reality… Steve dies.
He never gets injected with the super soldier serum because a bomb was set off, killing Steve, with no other choice they regroup and eventually it is Peggy Carter the one selected to take the mantle of Captain America.
Why does she keep taking him away from me?
Bucky was left shocked but the shadows of the creatures force him to focus, it seems they even knew they had to pursue the super soldier serum, Bucky quickly and effectively shots them before they can reach it.
“Seems all are done,” Sam’s voice sounded in his earpiece, “The portals are starting to close so hurry,”
Bucky kept watching the scene as they prepared Steve, knowing he was watching his last minutes, he wanted to do something but he knew, he knew this reality needed Steve gone so it could carry on as it should.
And carry out it does when in slow motion he watches as fire and debris began to blow as the bomb was set off, people screaming and running.
Steve of course is fearless but now he can’t do much but cover himself when fire and other thrown materials begin to reach him.
That’s right.
This reality needs Steve gone, not precisely dead, just out of the way.
In a surge of impulsiveness, he lifts his gun, and shots.
-
Sam is worried, he can see the portals closing but Bucky hasn’t crossed it yet suddenly something gets thrown out of it.
“Ah!” he yelled but just as quickly Bucky finally crosses the portal.
“Man don’t scare me like that!”
Bucky paid him no mind and immediately crouched, Sam finally paid attention and saw that what had landed was not some random object, it was a person, and not just any person.
It was Steve Rogers.
Or at least his pre-serum self.
“Oh hell no! Bucky what did you you? Strange is going to kill us,”
“Unless he doesn’t know,” Bucky carried Steve’s unconscious body and began to make his way into Sam’s house.
“He have to send him back,” Sam said following him.
“No,” Bucky said.
“Bucky this is not right we-” the telltale sounds of Dr. Strange’s portal was heard and Sam quickly looked back before he turned and saw Bucky with a pleading face before he finally hid inside the house.
“Goddammit,”
“Sam Wilson,”
“Ah!” he jumped.
“I’m sorry I thought you heard me arrive, not very quiet the portals,”
“Sorry was… distracted,”
“Anyway I just came here to thank you, the threat is gone and all creatures where located and eliminated and there aren’t any signs of interference with the timelines or other universes so again, thank you, now I still have duties to attend to so until later,”
“Yeah yeah, you welcome, so just to be clear, everything is perfectly fine,” Sam said.
Strange had already crossed the portal before he looked at Sam one last time.
“Yeah everything is fine,” and with that the portal closed.
Sam took a deep breath before he entered the house.
“You have a lot of explaining to do,” Sam immediately rounded on Bucky who was tending to Steve’s wounds, just some minor scratches and burns.
“Did he tell you something?” Bucky paid no attention to his proding.
“He, well… no,”
With that he went back to his task.
“He didn’t say anything but this is wrong, we have to tell him so we can send him back.
“We can’t, he can’t,”
“Why?”
“Because he’s dead,”
The room went silent.
“Bucky, please, explain it to me right from the top,”
“Those creatures where after the serum so they went to it just when Steve was getting prepared but in that reality Hydra blows up Project Rebirth, killing Steve, afterwards Peggy Carter is picked as Captain America,”
Sam was trying to understand.
“So there’s no Steve Captain America?”
“No, their version of Captain America is Peggy Carter, I saw it, she leads the Commandoes and everything. Steve…, Steve is meant to die in that reality, so if you send him back, he’ll just die in the explotion,”
Sam took a deep breath.
“So you figured if he is dead in his reality then you could just what? Grab him?”
“I don’t see what the issue is about, that reality needed him gone and he is gone,” Bucky shrugged.
“You don’t see the issue? You forcefully dragged this Steve Rogers out of his time, his world and his reality, what are you going to do with him?”
“I don’t know,” Bucky shrugged.
“I think you do,”
“I just reacted,” Bucky stood for more supplies, clearly wanting to get away from Sam.
“Bucky!” Sam raised his voice and Bucky stopped, “I know you loved him,”
Time stood still.
Bucky then turned and his eyes where wet with unshed tears, Sam sighed.
“Since when you knew?” Bucky said with the smallest voice.
“Well I suspected, when we where saying good bye to Steve before his last mission, I saw you, you looked miserable, I didn’t understand until I saw him in that bench, you knew,”
“He fought for me!” Bucky suddenly broke down “He passed enemy lines, went against orders, he even went against 117 countries just to save me!”
“I know, I was there for that last one,”
“He, he was even going to let me kill him,” Bucky dropped on the couch, Sam silently sat beside him.
“Did he ever know? You told him?”
“No, I don’t think he noticed and I never said anything,”
“Why?”
“Because there was always something! The war, the accords, my own head and just…, my own cowardice, I never dared to say anything, make it weird you know? I knew he liked Peggy and even when grieving for her, you saw how he kissed Sharon, I just never… had the guts,” he lostly looked ahead.
“Sometimes I wonder if he’d stayed if I had, if I told him how much I needed him,”
“Maybe, but would he had stayed out of love or duty?”
Bucky looked away, “I also keep saying myself that,”
“Look, no one forced him to do that, the plan was that he was supposed to come back and we’d be there, he knew he had us here, he knew he had you, he simply made a choice and that choice is what we must respect,”
“I know, I know!” Bucky said through gritted teeth, “I know that’s what I’m supposed to do but it doesn’t mean it hurts less!”
“I never said it would hurt less, in fact I know is going to hurt like a bitch, getting heartbroken is like that and much more with a history like you guys but you have to cry it out all you need and move on, not whatever this is,”
“It was impulsive I said so,”
“Only half was impulsive but no matter what it was, you can’t replace one Steve with another, you have to know that,”
“So what? Should we call Strange? Send him back to die?”
“I know, I know, believe me I also don’t want to send him back, Strange said there’s no signs of any interference in the realities so if he isn’t doing any damage then I don’t see the issue with him staying here, my issue is what you want with him, from him. He isn’t your Steve, he didn’t cross any enemy lines to rescue you, nor did he fought the accords for you, nor went into some weird time jumps to bring you back,”
“Did he do it for me or did he just heard time travel and jumped?”
“Whatever it was doesn’t change what this is now, this isn’t your Steve and you aren’t his Bucky either,”
Bucky bristled.
“His Bucky is the one he met back in the 40s, you can’t tell me it is who you are now,”
“But I can be! For him I’m willing to be,” Bucky said desperately but Sam just shook his head.
“You would be lying to him and to yourself and even if you managed to be like his Bucky, that’s not all you want, do you? Will you really want to go back to being on the sidelines? See him live out his life, with another?”
Bucky looked away “I thought I was prepared for that, we were from the 40s, it’s not like we could’ve done much, I knew I eventually had to find a dame to marry and so would he, I thought I had prepared myself to live like that but I soon found I was an idiot, Peggy Carter only had to smile to him once and he smiled back when I knew it was pure bullshit, I wasn’t ready for it, was constantly consumed with jealousy but there was a war and she was away back at base so I thought it was a win, I was the one spending time with him but he had her picture and I had my feelings in a bottle, I tried it, to move on but everytime he just did something that just dragged me back, make me laugh and just, want to stay with him,”
“I don’t have any right to keep you both separate but I will if I see it’s being harmful to him, or to you,”
Bucky looked back at him with certain surprise.
“Oh yeah it goes both ways, you just admitted you couldn’t move on from him because he was there and now he’s here again, can I trust you with him? Because he will need you, he’s going to wake up and someone has to tell him it isn’t 1943, it’s 80 years into the future and not just that he isn’t even from this reality and he has to face the history, the legend that our Steve built with the serum while he didn’t get it, we have to tread carefully here and the best way is if he has someone to support him, someone he knows and who is better than that than his best friend? He will trust you, depend on you to be his support, you can’t take advantage of that Barnes and if you do, I’m sorry but I will have to put his safety over yours,”
Bucky stared at Sam before he groaned and laid his head on his hands.
Sam took a breath before he too relaxed his posture into a more comfortable casual one, he placed a hand on Bucky’s shoulder.
“Now I do think it was mostly impulsive, didn’t think of all that, did you?”
“No,” Bucky answered still hiding his face behind his hands.
Bucky pulled back with a deep breath and leaned back against the couch.
“Well, first things first, finish bandaging him up and I don’t know where he should stay, he could stay here but I don’t want my family to see him, they’ll definitely recognize him and your place is in the middle of a city, that’ll spook him straight away,” Sam said.
“We can look to rent or buy near here,”
“I’ll set up a room for now and try to cover or take away any tech,”
“Leave it to me, I’ll know what would look strange to him, you finish bandaging him and hurry to find where he can stay, we need to take him before anyone comes back,”
Fortunately the room didn’t have much tech but it was still painfully obvious it wasn’t the 40s but there was little they could do.
“He’s done,” Sam came back and Bucky carried Steve to the room they prepared, it was only a few minutes later when he heard a groan. Bucky quickly went to his side.
“Steve,” he softly said and then Steve startled awake, he tried to stand but his body was still too weak and he collapsed back in the bed.
“Hey hey, is ok,” Bucky quickly took his hand.
“Hydra! Dr. Erskine,” he hyperventilated and was confused seeing he was in a different room and then focused on Bucky.
“Bucky? How? It’s dangerous! Hydra!”
“Steve, listen to me, Steve, calm down, you are away,” Bucky pushed his hand against Steve’s chest and pressed him lightly against the bed.
“Breathe, just breathe, I’m here,”
Steve was still agitated but his eyes became trained on Bucky as they both breathed together until he calmed down.
“Bucky, how are you here? You’re supposed to be all the way in the front,” he squinted, “You look different,” Steve couldn’t quite pinpoint how but he was different.
“Yeah, well, listen, a lot of weird stuff happened just now and I’ll tell you but first we do need you to get better,”
“But the war!”
“Yeah well, they couldn’t wait for you so they picked Peggy Carter, she’s the one doing all that stuff,”
Steve sighed, “I couldn’t even do that,”
“Hey, it wasn’t your fault Hydra decided to blow it all up,”
“When did they bring you back and why?”
“I was sent back,” Bucky showed him his gloved hand “My arm and hand got… pretty damaged,”
“Oh Buck,” Steve looked sadly at him.
“It’s alright, got sent back just in time to see you so don’t worry,”
“So what now?”
“Well you aren’t part of Project Rebirth anymore and I’m… honorably discharged,”
“Was I out that long?”
“Enough,”
Steve sighed “I was finally accepted into the army, was finally able to do my part in the war effort and I mucked it up,”
“Again, it was Hydra the one that blew the building down,”
“But I’m back to where I was, stuck here unable to fight,”
“Well, Peggy Carter is very, efficient, she’ll win the war for sure,”
“Yeah, at least that,” he squinted “You look… different, this place looks weird,”
Bucky sighed and took Steve’s hand “Steve, a lot of weird things happened and it’s going to be hard to process so please, trust me a little, I’ll tell you when the time is right,”
Steve seemed apprehensive but nodded.
“Good, I’ll bring you some food.” Bucky said and left the room.
“How is he?” Sam asked.
“Good, he trusts me and I’ll bring him some food now, you found anything?”
“Yeah but how will we move him? Without him seeing all of this,”
“I don’t know, sleeping pills?”
“That will just make him distrust us,”
“Or we just take the plunge and take him out,”
Both sighed, “Well he needs food so we’ll think about it,” Bucky went to the kitchen and grabbed something soft for Steve to eat, he went back to the room and saw the window was wide opened.
“Of fucking course, it’s still goddamned Steve Rogers,” Bucky jumped out just as he saw a slim figure in the distance running away, sadly for Steve it wasn’t such a great distance considering his physical condition paired with the fact he still had minor burns and scratches.
That compared to an enhanced former soldier, it was no match. Bucky was able to catch up to Steve so quickly Steve didn’t even had time to react until he was being held by Bucky, he kicked and twisted but couldn’t let go of Bucky’s grasp.
“Stop, Steve, I don’t want to hurt you,” he hugged Steve around his elbows, preventing him from using his arms and lifted him, Steve’s feet kicking the air while Bucky made his way back to the house.
“Who are you and where am I?”
“I told you, I’m Bucky!”
“No you’re not!”
“What makes you think I’m not?”
“I don’t know but this place is weird! You look weird!”
“I told you strange shit was happening and I would explain!”
“Then explain or let me go!”
“Fine!” Bucky roughly planted Steve back on his feet and flipped him so he faced him.
“It’s 2024!” He yelled.
Steve stared at him, “As in…?”
“The year Steve, it’s 2024, it’s 80 years into the future okay?! That’s why everything looks weird!”
Sam came out the house and just sighed, trust them to be stupid, both.
“Right, let’s say I believe you, then how do you explain you?”
“Me?”
“If you where Bucky you’d be nearly a century old!”
“I am 106 actually,”
Steve just gave him a look “Sure, you look like it,”
“Listen, I told you a lot of weird shit happened and I would explain but you where a little punk and ran away,”
“Because nothing makes sense!”
“That’s why I told you to wait!”
“And I’m just supposed to believe you?”
“Yes!”
They stared at each other.
“Goddammit,” Bucky sat on the grass and ran a hand through his hair.
“You wanted him back,” Sam came beside them, Bucky groaned.
“Steve, Sam,” Bucky motioned between them without looking up.
“Hi, Sam Wilson,” Sam nodded to Steve.
Steve didn’t know what to do and looked between them.
“Would be better if you didn’t run, seriously you didn’t see how fast he can go?” Sam said, knowing that face. “Look, neither of us want to hurt you but your situation is one hell of a thing and we really want to break it to you slow,”
“Bigger than the fact I’m somehow 80 years into the future and someone claims to be my best friend and being 106 but looking like he’s in his 30s?”
“Thanks, it’s the quinoa,”
“Shut up Bucky,” Sam said to Bucky before looking at Steve “…and yes it’s weirder, way weirder,”
Steve heaved, looking between the two, he stared at Bucky before he approached him.
“You with me?” Steve asked.
“Til the end of the line, pal,” Bucky responded automatically.
“Alright, I’ll believe you for now,”
“Good, because we need to move you,”
“Where are you taking me?”
“Close from here,” Sam said.
“He probably needs a cap at least, I’ll go get one,” Bucky said and went back for one.
“And you don’t want me to be suspicious at all,”
“Why?”
“He didn’t want to let me out, you are moving me somewhere which means where you had me isn’t good and you’re covering me with a cap, yeah that isn’t suspicious at all,”
“Alright yeah that sounds fishy but truly we really only want what’s best for you,”
Bucky came back in a light jog before he put the cap on Steve.
“Right, let’s go,”
The house was also near the lake and away from anything, it had some seldom furniture and it needed a lot of airing out because Steve wouldn’t stop sneezing.
After some quick cleaning for the dust the three were finally all seated looking at each other.
“So, care to tell me what’s going on?” Steve said.
Bucky and Sam looked at each other, not even knowing where to begin.
“Should we start with how he got here or like, chronologically?” Sam said and Bucky groaned, he really felt stupid right now.
“What about if I ask?” Steve tried.
Sam and Bucky looked at each other again.
“Any answer would be pretty weird without… a lot of context,” Sam said.
“Try me, how come you’re young?” Steve looked at Bucky.
“I was cryogenically frozen for years by a terrorist organization that brainwashed me into being their assassin,” Bucky said deadpan and Sam slapped his shoulder.
“What? He asked” Bucky said looking at Sam.
“I can see why you’re friends, dumbasses attract each other,” Sam said sternly looking between the two.
“You’re my friend too,” Bucky retorted.
“I thought we agreed on coworkers,”
“Please can anyone just explain?! One moment I’m about to become a soldier, help make a change in the war and next I’m here, apparently 80 years into the future!”
“Ok, this isn’t working, listen, this is going to sound really weird but we need you to follow us on this one,” Sam said and motioned at Bucky, he was after all the one that made this mess. Steve just sighed, defeated, they kept saying that a lot.
“You… are not only out of your time, you’re out of your reality,” Bucky said.
Steve just lifted an eyebrow.
“I know it sounds weird but just listen to me, we don’t even know much about it but yeah alternative realities exist and, because of reasons, you ended up in another, in ours, the realities are very alike or very different but many follow roughly the same path, in our case, the experiment went well and you…, or well, our Steve, became a super soldier,” Bucky finished.
“You better come up with something better because this is bullshit,” Steve began to stand when Sam flipped his phone and searched for Project Rebirth and some pictures before showing it to Steve.
Steve just stared, that was him, his face and all but his body was different, much more different, he saw the little descriptions sometimes embedded in the picture and everything matched, the involvement of Howard Stark, Dr. Erskine, the procedure they had explained to him, everything matched, all except… him.
“How? You pulled me out of becoming that?” Steve said accusingly.
“That is our Steve, in our reality,” Bucky said, “like I said, other realities have little or major changes, in your case…,” he hesitated “… you didn’t make it, Hydra bombed Project Rebirth, and you died,”
Steve’s eyes went wide and he stilled, he does remember the bomb.
“Right I think is enough for today,” Bucky stood.
“Where am I? Or well, your Steve,”
Bucky’s face went blank, staring ahead.
“Gone,” he simply said before he shook it off “I’ll get you some food and more clothes, is better if you rest,”
Sam followed behind Bucky.
“Hey, by the way, is best if you stay with him,”
“What? You where the one concerned about me and him,”
“Yeah I know but I’m not a spy, I don’t have special contacts, all I had is that I know Mrs. Jones has this place for rent and you know this is a small town, everyone knows each other, so I told her you wanted a place to stay around and out of the city, I didn’t say anything else but if anyone gets to see Steve we can just say you have a friend over, also after that stunt he pulled, I’m still not sure he won’t run away if we leave him alone,”
“Fine, I’ll go pick up some stuff and come back,”
“I’ll stay with him in the meantime, keep at eye on him,” Sam said and went back to the couch where Steve had curled up.
“Did the bomb also happened here?” Steve asked.
“For what I was told, Steve had already been turned into a super soldier when one german dude set off a bomb and tried to escape with the serum but it was for a diversion, not like, bomb to blow it all up before you got the chance to get turned into one” Sam answered.
“So, basically I’m dead,”
“Over there, yes but you can start over here, think about that, that war’s been over for quite some time and you can live a normal life, you know Bucky won’t let you fall on hard times so you can relax, do whatever you want,”
“Is he really? Bucky?”
“He is, confirmed by our Steve although the Bucky from this reality,”
“I still don’t know if I can believe that realities thing,”
“It’s alright, its understandable so take it slow,”
“Was he really… brainwashed?”
“Let’s keep it one thing at the time ok? Get settled, show you some stuff about this time and then we can get back to telling you about all that’s happened,”
“Is he alright though?”
Sam hesitated “He is getting better but he’s come a long way and he’s still got some stuff to work around so don’t be mad he can be a bit difficult and rash at times but trust he really cares about you, he’s doing his best,”
“Guess I have no choice anyway,”
“I know it feels like that now but trust me, you’ll get to have a lot of choices,”
Bucky came back with an overnight bag and a few shopping bags with clothes and other essentials, Sam said his good byes before giving Bucky a look and left them.
Steve went to take a shower and changed clothes.
“We used to use the tennant’s tiny bathroom,” Steve said.
“And the hot water always ran out,” Bucky said and Steve smiled before he looked down at his clothes and noticed they fit him perfectly.
It was Bucky’s turn but now he faced a problem, he is used to sleeping either shirtless or in a t-shirt that would definitely show his arm and he hadn’t told Steve about it yet, he also couldn’t just lock himself in his room, he and Steve where around each other all the time with being roomates, up to the point of sometimes washing together due to that stingy tenant bathroom, to be so coy around Steve would definitely cause suspiciouns.
“You know, I wasn’t lying,” Bucky said.
“About what?” Steve asked.
“That my hand and arm where, pretty damaged in the war,”
Steve went closer “Show me,”
“I want you to remember we are 80 years into the future, tech is pretty advanced,”
“Will I finally see flying cars like at that Stark expo?”
“Not cars but his son flew in a metal suit though,”
“Show me,”
Bucky hesitated but he took out his glove and showed Steve his hand. Steve looked at it before he touched it, saw the way it moved just like a regular hand.
“Is it just your hand?” Steve asked.
Bucky removed his jacket and then his shirt to show Steve the full extent, he wanted to show Steve he was sincere, even if the information came in droplets he wanted him to trust him when he did.
Steve’s nimble hands began to touch the arm and moved up, Bucky shivered at the contact and couldn’t stop staring at Steve’s face.
“It’s definitely something, it’s amazing,” Steve finally said and Bucky let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.
“So, metal?”
“It’s vibranium actually,”
Steve lifted an eyebrow.
“Strongest and rarest metal on earth,” Bucky said.
“Another one of the marvelous things I missed,”
“Yeah, recently an entire country in Africa open up their borders and they have a lot of vibranium, before that-” Bucky stopped himself. “It’s rare,” he decided.
“Can you feel anything?” Steve moved his fingers through the arm down to Bucky’s hand, Bucky turned his hand and took hold of Steve’s.
“Yeah, touch, temperature, pressure, everything like a normal arm,”
“I’m glad that you survived the war,” Steve suddenly said and Bucky drew a sharp intake of breath, he knew he was in trouble, he gulped.
“I gotta bath,” Bucky said and let go.
“Yeah,” Steve took a step back.
Once Bucky was out his bath he was having a difficult choice, he could take a different room but what if Steve tried to leave? But would he have the guts to ask Steve if they could join beds like when they where smaller? Did he have the guts to go through that?
Steve meanwhile looked at both rooms.
“You want to take both matresses out or move one bed to the other room?”
Thank God for Steve.
“I think I can move the bed,” Bucky didn’t hesitate.
They (Bucky) moved the bed and now both where in the same room laying close to each other. They stared at the ceiling.
“You good?” Bucky asked in the dark.
“I don’t know, honestly I feel like I’m in a very weird dream and I’ll wake up tomorrow in the medical wing,” Steve’s small voice was heard.
“I know it’ll be hard but, trust me, I’m here for you,”
“I know you are, you always have but just, let me sleep, let me wake up from this very very awkward dream,”
“Then go to sleep, we’ll see what tomorrow brings,” Bucky didn’t want to push him further.
It took longer for Bucky to sleep, he could only see Steve’s sleeping form, he then wondered if this had actually been the right choice but there was no way to back down now, doing so meant sending Steve back to his death, he couldn’t do it, whatever happened he just had to go along with it, he was finally getting a better hold on himself and now this but seeing Steve, safe, made him think this was worth it, even if it hurt him in the long run, he had given Steve a second chance.
-
Steve woke up slowly, the sun coming through the curtains, he didn’t recognize where he was and was confused, he turned his head to the other side and saw Bucky, he turned on his side and really looked at him, he looked like Bucky but at the same time he wasn’t, his face seemed to have aged a lot despite his still young looks, with slight trepidation he lifted himself and leaned over to look at the other side of the bed and gasped when he saw the metal arm, he flopped back on the bed, he was still there, everything from yesterday was real.
Steve began to shake slightly.
“Steve,” Bucky slurred in sleep when he heard Steve’s nervous breathing and leaned to his side to look at Steve properly, he reached for his arm and upon touching him Steve flinched and looked at him. Bucky realized he had used his metal hand and was about to move it away but Steve grabbed him.
He may be afraid but never would he be of Bucky or any part of him, metal arm included.
Bucky smiled and gave a reassuring squeeze. Steve’s breathing began to calm.
“You alright?” Bucky gently asked, Steve needed a few moments before answering.
“I’m still dreaming,” he said with a rueful smile and Bucky chuckled.
“Is it weird?” Bucky smiled.
“Very,” Steve nodded seriously “There’s a Bucky in my dream,”
“Aw I’m in your dreams, I’m flattered Stevie,”
Steve glared “He’s an ass, he stopped me from running away and then tells me I’m in the future and he has a vibrating arm,”
“Vibranium,”
“Whatever, it’s too insane, I’m sure I’ll wake up anytime soon,”
Steve and Bucky laid there for a few minutes before Steve’s stomach decided to growl.
“Guess you can still get hungry in your dreams, that’s quite a feat there Rogers,”
“I know, I’m a marvel,”
Bucky chuckled before giving one last reassuring look.
“I’ll go make something,”
“I’ll help you,” Steve was about to stand but Bucky put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him.
“Hey, I can do it, you get some rest,”
“I can help,"
“I know you can but you need to rest, get some sleep, who knows maybe this time you’ll wake up,”
“Jerk,” Steve frowned with little heat behind it, Bucky chuckled before he stood up and left.
Steve saw Bucky leave and was left with his thoughts, in the end he couldn’t get a wink of sleep, he simply lay there for a moment before sitting on the bed and looking around.
Was this really his life now?
He felt somewhat overwhelmed but at the same time knew that was just the beginning and that is what made him uneasy. He was so sure of where he was and what he was doing, there was a war out there and men where putting down their lives and he was finally going to get there, his life had zeroed in on that, that was his purpose and drive but now they say the war is over, everything is at peace and he can do whatever he wants but now he doesn’t even know where he is and much less what he wants to do.
Bucky fortunately came back with a plate of sandwiches and went back to get something for them to drink before he too joined Steve on the bed to eat.
After a while they heard a knock and Bucky went to the door and opened it when he saw it was Sam.
“How’s everyone doing?” Sam said and looked towards Steve who was sitting cross legged in the bed, the beds. Sam looked at the lack of bed in one room and then the other one with both, he gave Bucky a look.
“He asked alright? We were roomates for years and we did this all the time, besides he probably felt comfortable that way, he did got spooked a little this morning,”
“Fine, I’ll try not to hover too much,” Sam went towards Steve.
“How are you feeling today?”
“Still getting used to the idea of it,” Steve took another bite of his sandwich.
“We can start slow, hey, I got it,” he turned to Bucky “You still got that list?”
Bucky looked confused before he understood.
“Oh, his notebook? Ah I don’t know if I brought it or I left it back at my place,”
“You always carried it with you,” Sam said.
“Not lately,” Bucky rummaged his backpack, “Oh, it’s here,” both approached Steve who looked confused between the two before Bucky handed over the little notebook.
“Steve, our Steve, had a list of things he missed, it’s that one, maybe it can help you and mind you, you should totally start by checking out Marvin Gave,” Sam said enthusiastically.
Steve squinted, “A lot of this is scratched, I, what?”
“I’ll help you,” Bucky sat next to Steve and read some of the options.
-
“You brought him a phone?” Bucky saw the device in Sam’s hand, it had already been a few days and they had slowly explained the overall changed in today’s world and tech as well as some movies and music.
It had been a slow process and sometimes Steve got overwhelmed so he went to his room to rest or he went to the nearby small pier and sat there overlooking the lake.
“It’s a flip phone, just for message and calls, nothing else and he needs to know how to use one of these,” Sam whispered back before he went to Steve and handed it over.
“Right, Steve this is a cellphone, is like a phone but portable,” Sam said.
“Oh,” Steve grabbed it.
“Yeah, you got mine and Bucky’s number already in it,”
Bucky sat beside him and began to explain, “You poke this one to get to your contacts and you move with, yeah with that and then green-”
Sam’s phone began to ring and chuckled when he saw Steve’s name.
“Yeah, just like that,”
Steve then turned to Bucky and began poking until it was Bucky’s phone ringing and he pulled it out of his pocket.
“You can text too,” Bucky said and Sam went beside Bucky to watch, Bucky only seldomly guided Steve but he mostly figured it out himself and not long he sent his first text to Bucky.
Hi Buck
“He got Buck privileges already?” He muttered to Bucky.
“He’s got full ownership,” Bucky muttered back before showing Steve his phone where the text Steve sent had arrived.
“He’s quite a natural, he’s been getting the tech quite fast,” Sam commented.
“You gotta remember this son of a bitch learned to drive german cars and tanks as well as a plane with mostly guess work,” Bucky and Sam both chuckled but Steve was just left confused.
“Right, is my time to leave, I gotta pick up some stuff in town and Sarah will get mad if I don’t return in time,” Sam said.
“The town?” Steve perked up “I want to go,”
“No,” Bucky immediately said.
“Why not?” Steve turned to Bucky.
“Because I don’t know if you are ready to see all that,”
“I’ve been staying here for days already, I want to go out,”
“You go out,”
“Sitting in the pier by the lake doesn’t count and you can’t keep me from going out,”
Bucky just shook his head while Steve talked
“Buck, Bucky, come on Buck, you take me now or you know I’ll figure out a way,” Steve said seriously and Bucky stared back at him.
“Fine,” Bucky relented, “But we’ll only go see for a while and that’s it, well I can buy you something for lunch I guess,”
Steve smiled and went to grab his jacket. Sam just stared at Bucky.
“What?” Bucky looked back at him.
“Oh nothing, I’m just worried already,”
“What? Why?”
“He’s already got you whipped,”
“What?”
“All he gotta do is bat his eyes at you and you fold, you sure you can handle this?”
Bucky grimaced, “It’s not like that and I can handle it just fine,”
“I’m serious though, you where in a much better place now, I don’t want you to lose all that progress,”
Bucky looked away.
“I’m ready,” Steve came back and both Sam and Bucky looked at each other.
“Now what?” Steve groaned.
“Well, you are a bit of a public figure,” Sam said.
“But he’s small now,” Bucky turned to Sam only.
“There’s also pictures of him pre-serum, there’s several ones in his exhibition,” Sam muttered back to Bucky.
“A cap should work,”
“They recognized me as the Falcon and I’m not as famous,”
“Can you please include me in the conversation?” Steve snapped and both turned to him.
“Sorry,” both said.
“So my face is famous then,” he said annoyed.
“I know, he can be related,” Bucky snapped his fingers.
“Weirder shit has happened,” Sam agreed, “But he’ll need another name, any name you’d like to take?” Sam asked Steve and Steve bristled.
“Why? I have my own name,”
Sam sighed at Steve’s stubborness.
“Well it’s not like Steve is a rare name,” Bucky said.
“So we just walk out with a Steve Rogers look alike?”
“Steve Murphy,” Steve suddenly said and both turned to him, “It’s my mom’s maiden name, she was the one that mostly cared for me so, I wouldn’t mind that,”
“Cool, cool, a distant relative from Steve’s mother’s side, we can work with that,” Sam said.
“Good, then we can leave,” Steve impatiently said and left the house.
Bucky quickly grabbed a cap before walking out next to Sam.
“A distant relative, so you had to branch out then?” Sam raised his eyebrow at Bucky and Bucky frowned back at him.
“At least it’s a distant relative and not a niece,” Bucky said and Sam had to stop for a moment in shocked surprise before catching up to Bucky.
“That was low, you’re out of line, but you’re right,” he laughed it off.
-
Steve and Bucky arrived at the town, Steve was looking everywhere from the cars to the shops to the people, he had seen some glimpses through the movies but actually seeing it was something else. Bucky kept an eye on him as they aimlessly walked, after a while he turned to Steve.
“Let’s go get some lunch, I know a good place,”
They where sitting with their menus when Bucky spoke up.
“How are you doing so far?"
“Good, it’s definitely different,” he sighed “At least the food isn’t so different,”
“That’s something, if you want to get back just tell me and we leave,”
“I’m fine,”
They ate their meal when a couple sat at a table beside them, Steve paid them no mind but Bucky shifted a little, Steve was none the wiser until Bucky saw as Steve turned and saw them, his eyes grew wide and Bucky just coughed, it was a same sex couple.
“Yeah, it’s normal now, not ilegal,” Bucky casually commented, paying attention to Steve’s reaction.
“Well it should be,” Steve said and Bucky felt dread all over him.
“I know medicine has come a long way but I don’t believe someone can eat that and come out alive,” Steve said and Bucky flipped his head so quick to see he felt a strain to his neck.
One of them had just received their order and it was one of those giant greasy burgers with stuff even Bucky felt had no place in a burger, Bucky sighed reliefed but also slightly confused, back when he and Steve had once encountered it, Steve had raised his eyebrows and they shared a look of surprise before shrugging it off. This Steve however was unfazed, not even slightly surprised.
They aimlessly walked before Bucky could see Steve was wearing out but he wouldn’t admit it so it was up to Bucky to finally say it was time to go back.
-
“You sure about this?” Sam said to Steve.
“Yeah, I am,” Steve said all packed up ready to leave, Bucky was finishing putting the small bags of things Steve had acquired during his stay, it had already been a few weeks and Steve was comfortably walking around the city and some tech however one big looming thing they had yet to quite tackle and had miraculously been kept mostly up on wraps was their recent history, mostly after Steve Rogers from this timeline woke up.
Steve had seen some glimpses in people talking about “Avengers” and he recognized some names and looks based on people commenting on them or pictures such as a green guy called Hulk and very popular was also Iron Man in red and golden hues.
The details however eluded him and he couldn’t quite piece together what had really happened, most of all he wanted to know about Bucky, and himself or well the Steve from this timeline.
He’d insisted on both and finally Sam and Bucky relented.
Steve wanted to go back to Brooklyn so he and Bucky where going to move back to Bucky’s place, they where moving by road and Bucky promised to take him to DC to the Captain America exhibit so he could finally learn what happened.
“Alright man, you know if you need me you can call me anytime,” Sam said and stepped closer “And I mean it, I may be friends with Bucky but I’m also your friend too, don’t be afraid to reach out, you don’t have to rely on Bucky entirely,”
Steve always wondered why Sam was so cautious about Bucky but he prefered not to ask.
“Thank you Sam, I appreciate it, really, but I really am comfortable being with Bucky, I trust him with my life, always have,” Steve said.
“Well, as long as you are ok with it, good luck and know I’m here whatever you need, we’ll catch up later,”
“Thank you Sam,” he went for a quick hug before he turned and saw Bucky was ready to go.
“No hug for me?” Bucky sarcastically told Sam.
“You get a fuck you, that’s what you get,” Sam said but he did gave a pat to Bucky’s arm and Bucky chuckled before nodding and going to the driver’s side before finally taking off.
They made good progress, specially with Bucky’s stamina for driving but Steve also needed a good night’s sleep so Bucky pulled over so they could find a hotel nearby, however during check in there was one more challenge for Bucky, after the first night when Steve arrived, they’ve slept together all the following days.
Bucky was willing to put the bed back to where it was but Steve said nothing so he kept it that way and with the hotel he was ready to ask for two beds but Steve interjected and he said one bed was just fine.
Bucky knew he was pushing it into dangerous territory, even he and his reality’s Steve hadn’t slept together so much, it only ever happened if it was necessary or when they were playing when they were younger, this Steve however had spent each and every night beside Bucky and while it was still completely platonic, he couldn’t lie to himself and he had to admit the closeness was affecting him.
On top of that, this Steve was much more physical than his Steve, with Steve they only ever patted each other’s shoulder and the occasional hug, this other Steve however hovered closer to Bucky than his Steve and he leaned into his side whenever he could, he wasn’t afraid to grab his hand to lead him around, not his arm like Steve would’ve but his hand and it felt more intimate, this and so many casual touches that made Bucky want to lean into them.
Bucky knew it was dangerous territory but he couldn’t help it, he wanted to spend time with Steve, he felt needed and he loved to see Steve grow into this new time, he felt he had a purpose and he felt good but he also feared what the future might hold, after all he’d been through this once.
The memory of Steve disappearing in that machine resurfaced and Bucky had to stop for a moment, he was much better now but the sting was still there, smaller but there.
Sam was right, he was always right but like hell he’ll tell him but he was right still, he was falling back to old patterns and he didn’t want to think what would happen to him if this turned out like last time, will he really handle a second heartbreak?
“Bucky?” Steve’s voice broke him out of his thoughts and he turned to find Steve already on his way to the elevator, Bucky picked their bags and made his way to Steve who was waiting for him.
“You alright?” Steve asked.
“Yeah, just thinking what we could have for dinner,” Bucky shrugged.
“We can get room service if you don’t want to go out,” Steve said.
“Yeah, I think is for the best,” Bucky said.
They made their way and slowly prepared to rest, once done Bucky flopped face up into the bed, Steve meanwhile scooted over and lay on his side, facing Bucky, he stared at Bucky before a careful hand reached over and he grabbed Bucky’s dog tags that where over Bucky’s chest and swiped his finger over the engraved information.
“You know, my Bucky was assigned on the 110th,”
Bucky smiled “I guess is one of the differences between your place and mine but I can tell you is for the best, lucky bastard dodged quite the bullet,”
“When we get to the Smithsonian, I’ll be able to know what happened right?”
“Yes,” Bucky lazily said.
“Will it include you?”
Bucky was silent for a moment, “Yeah it will,”
“Bucky, I don’t want to know what happened to you over a watered down exhibition, I want you to tell me,”
Bucky pursed his lips.
“Bucky,”
Bucky sat on the edge of the bed with his arms over his knees, Steve also scooted over, wrapped his arm around Bucky’s before he leaned on his shoulder, Bucky sighed.
“What’s there to tell?” Bucky didn’t even know where to begin, “As you probably know, I was drafted for the war, 107th, we marched up front and then, we were captured, there,” Bucky stopped, his tongue pressed over his cheek in a nervous habit.
“And then?” Steve prompted.
“I, was experimented on,” Bucky finally said.
Steve’s face scrunched in worry but otherwise stayed silent.
“I was saved…” Bucky stared ahead “…by you,” he said with a small laugh before he straightened his face “Well not you you but,”
“This reality’s Steve, yeah I get that,” Steve said and got lost in Bucky’s voice.
-
Bucky woke up with a gasp, he groaned and rubbed his head with his metal arm, he was about to move his other arm when he finally felt the weight over it, he looked down and found Steve clutching him, his face was over Bucky’s shoulder while his arm was wrapped as much as it could over his chest in a tight grip, almost as if he was protecting him.
Bucky smiled down at the sleeping face before he stopped, he was fucked, really fucked. Last night they spent almost all night with Bucky retelling Steve everything that happened to him, it was difficult, he’d seen others retell it, had explained it at some degree when trying to make amends but he’d hardly told everything from start to finish like he did last night, specially with Steve’s attentive face looking at him, it was hard to do so when Steve was so intricately intertwined with his story and it made past feelings bubble up again but Steve, this Steve was there for him and held him close and brought him back whenever his mind was led astray in the memories, he’d actually worry his retelling might make him have a nightmare but it didn’t, in fact he slept very peacefully and he wondered if it was because he was being held so protectively by Steve as if he was able to get into his head and fight the nightmares himself.
He chuckled at the image, Steve would do it if he could, he decided to bite the bullet for now and he wrapped his arm around Steve and brought him closer before landing a kiss on his forehead, that’s all he would do, would allow himself to do, he said to himself as he unwrapped Steve and stood up, ready to continue their journey.
They arrived at the museum and Bucky stood at the entrance and stared at it with dread, he remembered the first time he’d come to it, not when he was still recovering from being the Winter Soldier and it had Steve’s story up to his defrosting, no, it was this current one updated until his last big battle.
Bucky allowed himself to just stare at it and remember.
Steve’s story was deeply intertwined with his, Steve’s first mission that gained him fame was strictly because he wanted to save him, when he left the mantle of Captain America after the Sokovia Accords had been because of him too, even that stupid Time Heist while he knew Steve did it also for Sam and the rest of the population, he did it for him too.
He’d nearly broke down after he finished it because all that damn exhibition did was made him remember Steve and everything he did for him, everything he loved about him, and everything he lost.
It made Bucky remember how just a few months ago for him he had harbored some hope, some barely there hope that now that he’d been in his best shape they might have a chance to talk, for the first time he thought he might gather enough courage to tell him how he felt but then Steve arrived in Wakanda with an injured Vision, then the next thing he knows his hand was turning into dust and then suddenly he was back and like always, there was a fight, once it was over he and Steve were finally alone, he felt maybe now he had the courage to say it, the words where trapped in his mouth, ready to come out before Steve leaves again but that’s when Steve told him.
He’s leaving. For good.
That Time Heist made him see Peggy Carter and he volunteered to give the stones back solely because he wanted to go back and live a life with her.
Bucky had never felt the kind of pain he did in that moment, he knew pain, physical pain, but nothing could’ve prepared him from the void that his chest became when Steve uttered those words.
He tried to laugh it off, think something to make him stay and mentioned how she was married and had children but he merely said he saw a picture of him in her desk and it was in the 70s, too much time afterwards so he knew he had been her husband all along and Bucky believed him, well he had no other choice really, Steve was set, he loved her, enough to leave his entire life behind, leave him.
He knew the kind of love Steve gave, he’d been at the receiving end of it many times after all but only then did he truly saw the stark difference between Steve’s love for a friend and Steve’s love for the love of his life.
And he understood, even if it pained him he finally understood and he had suddenly felt so stupid, of course it was like that, Steve loved too much, his heart had always been too big and he knew but he’d been too blind, he should’ve known Steve didn’t love like a normal person, even if it made Bucky feel special, he wasn’t, at least not in the way Bucky wanted.
He tried his best to look happy for Steve, he looked very happy with the prospect of his future plans once done with the stones and Bucky didn’t want to soil that, so he went back to being what he’d always been, a spectator in the greatness that was Steve Grant Rogers.
He was James Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers best friend, nothing less, and nothing more.
“Right, I got our passes,” a voice made Bucky flinch out of his thoughts and back to the present where he saw a tiny Steve looking expectantly at him.
“You alright Buck?” Steve still had his hand outstretched with his ticket.
He licked his lips and grabbed it. “Yeah,”
“You sure? We can come back later if you don’t feel good now,” Steve worriedly said and Bucky looked at him, really looked at him.
This wasn’t his Steve, or well his reality’s Steve, after all Steve wasn’t his but the point remained, this Steve was here because of him and he had a right to know about this and Bucky had no right to get in his way.
This Steve, Steve, wasn’t the one painted and glorified in those walls, this Steve was his own and even Bucky could tell some slight differences between the two, he still had a duty to him so he put his best face and motioned Steve in.
-
Bucky walked to the very end of the exhibition next to a huge banner from the ceiling to the floor with Steve’s heroic face in it, he chuckled at how stupid his mug looked, he then stopped and looked up again with some wonder, he looked back and saw as Steve was still reading the last panels of the exhibition, Steve had read everything written while Bucky didn’t, he not only already saw the exhibit but lived most of it too so he just watched the pictures and walked slightly ahead, he took advantage that Steve was still busy reading and walked right in front of the banner and really looked at Steve, all the details he knew so well.
His Steve.
No, not his.
Steve, only Steve.
His… friend.
Steve, his best friend.
This is where a couple of months ago he felt that sensation of being torn apart, of feeling lost and alone, he had tried his best to remember some of the last words Steve had given him, he’d told him he believed in him to recover and be whatever he chose to be, whoever he chose to be but he didn’t believed him at that time, now, it had taken him some time but he felt like he could believe Steve now.
Today he had crossed that exhibit and he’d only felt fondness in his heart, he felt extremely grateful and proud of Steve, from the little guy he met to the hero pictured right in front of him, being larger than life.
“You did good pal,” Bucky said to the stoic picture, “I’m proud of you, and I can’t thank you enough, I’m sorry I was too caught up in my misery to tell you that but I am,”
He sighed.
There was something stuck in the back of his throat, words he’d wanted to utter so many times before but he hadn’t dared to speak, now facing Steve, even if it was only a picture, would he finally say the words out loud? He tried to but found, he couldn’t say them but not because of fear like it’d been his whole life, now it was different, they didn’t feel right anymore, or not in the way they used to feel when he wanted to.
“I waited years to say it and when I’m finally free to do so, I don’t want to, ain’t that a bitch?” Bucky chuckled.
He pursed his lips, had he really stopped… loving Steve? He didn’t feel that intensity like before, it felt more settled, he still loved him but today, he felt Steve more like his friend than the man he’d been pinning over for decades.
“You got your happy ending and I hope I can get mine too. I miss you pal, but I’ll make it through,”
Bucky smiled at the picture even if he knew he looked silly and was grateful there weren’t many people around but he wouldn’t have it any other way, it felt fitting to leave it all behind right now after revisiting everything again, it was still part of him but it was about time it stopped dragging him back and him being able to walk the entirety of it with only a soothing fondness felt like a big advance for him. He was proud of himself and he was sure Steve would’ve been too.
“You must miss him,” Steve’s voice was near him as he too looked at the giant banner that had his face, that was him while at the same time wasn’t.
“Yeah I do but he got what he wanted all along, can’t begrudge that,” Bucky said sincerely.
“What did happen to him?” Steve asked.
“What do you mean?”
“The exhibit only mentions up until his last battle and that it was won but then what happened to him?” Steve asked but Bucky merely looked around.
“What is it now?” Steve said, knowing that look on Bucky when he didn’t want to tell him stuff.
Bucky shrugged.
“Let me guess, you need to break it to me slow,” Steve crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.
“No, this time, it’s classified,”
“Oh, my second favorite reason,”
Bucky chuckled, “Let’s get out of here and I’ll tell you with less ears, want to get some food?”
“Yes please,” Steve began to walk.
Bucky allowed himself one last look at Steve’s face in the banner before moving to catch up to Steve and walked beside him at a leasure pace.
“So how was it? Finally learning all that,” Bucky said and Steve took a deep breath.
“Insane and I thought project Rebirth was as crazy as you could get, now there’s aliens and gods,”
“Don’t forget about the androids and the wizards,”
“Oh absolutely, can’t forget about that but I’ll say I’m disappointed, all that stuff and you still don’t have flying cars,” Steve said seriously and Bucky chuckled.
“But seriously, it’s crazy, half the time I thought I was reading a fiction novel of some kind but then I remembered that was a real exhibit and that everything there happened, I’m honestly still having a hard time believing it all,”
“You’ll get used to it, eventually,”
“I am scared of that, this world is crazy,”
“But you are taking it rather well,” Bucky remarked.
“What else can I do? There’s no going back and there’s not much to do but take it,” Steve said and walked until he noticed Bucky wasn’t beside him, he turned and saw Bucky wasn’t walking anymore, he went back to his side.
“Do you want to?” Bucky asked slowly.
“Want what?”
“Go back, to your life, away from… all of this,”
“Bucky, I don’t have a life, you said so yourself, I died, if I go back it’s just going to be to get blown up, why would I want that?”
“Maybe we can talk to Strange, see if there’s a way -”
“I live here now Buck and that’s it, now let’s go, I’m hungry,”
They went out to a nearby park and found a hot dog cart, they made their way to it and bought some before moving to a bench.
“Hey, do you remember when you used our train money to buy hot dogs? And we had to ride in the back of that freezer truck?” Bucky said and Steve smiled.
“Yeah, you also blew three bucks to try and get me that stuffed bear,” Steve chuckled before taking a bite of his hot dog, completely unaware of Bucky’s wide eyed stare.
Bucky quickly recovered and cleared his throat before taking a bite and thinking over his next words.
“I don’t remember, did I got you that stuffed bear? For you, it was for you, right?” Bucky said as casually as he could, Steve finished his bite before answering.
“Yeah, I thought it was pretty cute but you couldn’t get it for me, still it was nice,”
“I bet I can get you a stuffed bear now, in fact once we reach Brooklyn we are going straight to Coney island and I’ll get you that bear, any bear you like,” Bucky seriously said and Steve laughed.
“You really can’t let it go, can you?”
“Nope, what’s the point of going through all that shit if I can’t get a stuffed bear for my best guy?”
“Fine fine, then I’ll look for the biggest one I can find,”
“Absolutely, you pick and I’ll win it for you,” Bucky said and both laughed.
They made small talk about the exhibit while they finished their hot dogs, Steve wiped his mouth before crumbling his trash and throwing it in a nearby trash can before settling back in the bench next to Bucky.
“Alright, I think you’ve dodged the topic enough, so, spill,” Steve said and Bucky sighed.
“You’re still as stubborn as a mule,” Bucky shook his head before his face turned serious.
“You saw it at the exhibit, the famous Time Heist,”
“Yeah, I still find it hard to believe, time travel,”
“Well if you remember, that Time Heist was to bring the stones back but they were just borrowed, someone had to place them back from where they took them and well, that was his last mission,” Bucky said staring blankly ahead.
“Did something happened to him?” Steve said slightly alarmed.
“No, he completed his mission but…” Bucky gave a rueful smile, “…you can’t give time travel to a man out of time and not expect what he did, what do you think he’s going to do with it?” Bucky looked back at Steve with a knowing smile, except Steve looked lost.
“He went back Steve, for good,” Bucky finished.
“He… went back? You mean… to the past?” Steve stared at him in disbelief, “Why? Why would he do that?”
“You tell me, you should know better than me, he missed out on his life once, of course he would go back to get that life the moment he could,”
“But…, then that means he left you, he left you!” Steve stood from the bench outraged.
“No need to rub it in, pal,”
“But! After everything he did for you! You said you were barely recovering and he left?!”
“Listen, I know we were friends, best friends, but that hardly compares to the love of his life,”
“Love of his life? Who?”
“Steve, seriously you’re killing me here, who else? Peggy Carter of course!”
“He fell in love with Agent Carter?” Steve widened his eyes.
“Wha-, of course he did, aren’t you too? Oh that’s right, I pulled you out before you went to the war but you’ve already been through Camp Lehigh, she was there too,”
“Yeah I know who she is,” Steve snapped but he still looked conflicted, Bucky couldn’t help it and huffed out a laugh.
“Come on Steve,” Bucky rolled his eyes, “Don’t give me that, you know you would also do it in a heartbeat,”
“I wouldn’t!”
“Really? Seriously we can go to Strange’s place once we reach New York, see if there’s a chance he can send you back without the universe collapsing, you can go back to your life, maybe even back to Peggy,” Bucky stood from the bench, ready to go.
“I’m not in love with Peggy Carter”
“Maybe you just need to get to know her better or maybe it’s for the best, we aren’t sure Strange can send you back so, small mercies,”
“Even if he could, I wouldn’t go, I won’t leave you,”
“Steve, you don’t need to stay because of me, I’ll admit it, I was in a pretty bad shape a few months back but I am better now, I’ve made some friends and been around people, you don’t have to worry about me, don’t let me hold you back,”
“And what if I want to be with you just because I want to? I know this place is crazy, but you make it feel like home,”
“Really?” Bucky widened his eyes.
“Yes, the Steve from here chose who he wanted to stay with…” Steve stepped closer to Bucky, took his metal hand and intertwined their fingers, “…and I have too,”
Bucky widened his eyes slightly and looked down to their intertwined fingers, he looked up and saw Steve’s sincere eyes, he knew this could still be dangerous and Sam would probably have some words for him when he found out but right now, Bucky didn’t care, all he cared about was Steve standing in front of him, he closed his hand around Steve’s.
“Then it’s set, you’re staying with me,” Bucky said and smiled.
“’Til the end of the line,” Steve said and a smile broke out of Bucky before he nodded back.
“’Til the end of the line,”