𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄━︎━︎ B. Barnes ✓︎

𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐓𝐰𝐨

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO:
I MISSED YOU

THE ENTIRE TIME THAT SHE was sitting there in the quinjet, her knee was bouncing and she stared down at the ground. Her hands were clasped together, biting down harshly on the inside of her cheek. She couldn't stop thinking. If he was there, what would she say? Were they even on terms where she could hug him and it not be found weird? But she had missed him so much. She just wondered if he had missed her too.

     "What are you thinking so deeply about?" Steve asked the redhead, sitting down beside of her as he looked at the woman. Fallon blinked, turning her head to look at Steve. She shrugged her shoulders before looking away. "You're worried."

     "What? No? What would I be worried about?" Fallon quickly rambled, shaking her head. Steve smiled slightly, placing a hand on her shoulder.

     "He misses you." Steve assured the girl.

     "How―︎" Fallon started, shaking her head. "How do you know that? For all I know whatever it was that was happening between us was just a 'return the favor' type thing."

     "Fallon, you have to give yourself more credit than that." Steve told the girl.

     "I'm not good at this whole. . . feeling thing." Fallon muttered, stuffing a curl behind her ear.

     "Clearly." Steve said with a small smile. "Don't worry, Fal." He stood up and walked over to stand between the two pilots seat, looking forward and nodding his head. They were here. "Drop to 2600, heading 0-3-0."

     Sam raised his eyebrows, shaking his head slightly. "I hope you're right about this, Cap. Or we're gonna land a lot faster than you want to." Sam headed straight for the trees, almost closing his eyes when he expected impact, only to go through the border and enter that of Wakanda. The place was still absolutely gorgeous. Fallon couldn't help herself but look out the window in awe like she had when they first came her a few years ago.

Sam carefully landed the quinjet, opening the hatch that allowed them to walk out. Of course, Steve and Natasha were the ones to walk out last. Natasha had expected Fallon to be beside of her, but when she wasn't, the blonde turned her head to see Fallon making her way out of the quinjet last. It was clear that the former assassin was nervous. Quite frankly she didn't even know what to expect.

     "Should we bow?" Bruce mumbled to Rhodey as they made it closer to the king of Wakanda. T'Challa patiently stood there with a small smile on his face.

     "Yeah, he's a king." Rhodey whispered back.

     "Seems like I'm always thanking you for something." Steve told the man, the duo shaking hands with one another. That's when Bruce started bowing, and Fallon had to bite back the smirk that started to pull up on the corners of her lips. Rhodey gave the man a weird look trying to hold back a laugh.

     "What are you doing?"

     T'Challa was quick to wave Bruce off. "Uh, we don't do that here." T'Challa turned and started walking and the group was quick to follow after him. "So how big of an assault can we expect?"

     "Uh, sir, I think you can expect quite a big assault." Bruce was quick to stumble out, following close behind the man as he tried to emphasize how big this so called attack was truly going to be. But of course, none of them knew how big it was, and the impact that it was going to have on the m and the rest of the world.

     "You will have my Kingsguard, the Border Tribe, the Dora Milaje, and. . ." The king trailed off, and that's when Bucky appeared, with a smile on his face. His hair was longer, and he had a little more facial hair than when she had last saw him.

     "A semi-stable, 100-year-old man." Bucky finished. Steve smiled as he quickly exchanged a hug with his best friend.

     "How you been, Buck?" Steve questioned.

      "Uh, not bad, for the end of the world." Bucky shrugged his shoulders. Steve and Natasha both tried to hold back their smiles as Bucky searched the group. He was almost disappointed, until he saw her. The girl that had been on his mind for so incredibly long. The one he couldn't stop thinking about no matter how hard he had tried to. The two Avengers watched his facial expression as he spotted Fallon. The small smile that had formed on his face, and they were sure they could hear his heart beat pick up. Steve placed a hand on Bucky's shoulder, grabbing the man's attention again.

     "We'll see you in there." Steve whispered. Bucky nodded his head and Steve started forward and the group all went into the building. Except for Fallon. The redhead stood there, not really sure what to do. She walked forward and stood there.

     "Hey." Bucky was the first to spark the conversation. Fallon looked up, meeting the man's eyes. A gentle smile pulled up at her face.

     "Hi."

     "So, you stayed?"

     Fallon nodded her head. "I did."

     "You seemed so adamant on leaving." Bucky told her. "What made you change your mind?"

     "The feeling of not having to be alone anymore." Fallon softly said. "And you." She bit the inside of her cheek, glancing down to the ground for a moment as she processed the thought in her head that feelings were okay to have. She looked back up at him before softly speaking, "I missed you."

     A smile fell on his face. "I was starting to get worried there."

     "Why? Because you thought I wouldn't give you another thought after we left?" Fallon cocked an eyebrow at him. He shrugged, looking down towards her.

      "Well, can you really blame me?"

     "After everything we've been through together." She scoffed though a smile was playing on her lips. He chuckled, making her smile widen. She leaned up, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "We should get up there before they think we've snuck off."

     "I don't mind sneaking off." Bucky responded, making her laugh, shaking her head before she carefully held out her hand. This was the next big step, and much to her relief, he was taking it with her. He grabbed her hand with his non-metal arm, interlacing their fingers before the two headed inside.