MISSING ||Bucky Barnes||

70

Bucky sat in the same spot, holding Sandra's hand as his head rested against the beds railing. He wasn't giving up on Sandra yet, and he never will.

But something about today just felt different from what the past month had been. He felt sad when Steve had brought the kids in the see Sandra during the second week of her being there, both kids looking scared.

Gracie was scared of loosing her mom, the two of them having a bond like no other. Steve had to practically drag Gracie out when he left, especially since this is something no child should ever have to go through.

"Mr Barnes, I have an update." The doctor said as he entered the room, shutting the door behind him.

Bucky looked over and nodded. "Is she doing ok?" He immediately asked.

The doctor sighed. "Well Mr Barnes, since it has been over a month of her being in this coma, we losing time until we pull the plug. Your wife is doing just fine with the help of those machines which can unfortunately help her body adapt to being in this state. Removing the machines to see if there's a chance of her waking up could put her life at a higher risk than it is now."

Bucky looked at the doctor in disbelief, now sitting on the side of Sandra's bed. "No, no we can't just unplug the machines and call it a day! I need her here and alive!" Bucky said. "I've had her in my life since she was just born for gods sake! 1921 she was born, I was only four and her brother being three. Neither of us know a life without her, you can't take her from me now!"

"Mr Barnes I'm sorry, but there's nothing more I can do except wait." The doctor said, turning to leave the room. "The end of the week, that's all she's got left before we do it."

Bucky stared at the door with tears in his eyes, feeling something touch his hand. He ignored it, thinking it was his mind messing with him.

"Yo-your back.." an all too familiar voice spoke gently.

"San..?" Bucky asked, turning around quickly and seeing her grey eyes again. "Sandy oh my god.. your-your ok!"

A small smile grew on Sandra's face as Bucky grabbed her in a hug. "You scared the absolute shit out of me Kassandra." Bucky said, holding her face and bringing his closer. "But I'm so glad your awake."

Sandra smiled with the little energy she had. "What happened?" She softly asked, feeling like absolute garbage.

"Thanos. He threw you into whatever was left of the compound and you got stuck under a broken wall and hit your head really hard. I thought I lost you right then when we found you." He said, placing a kiss on her lips.

Bucky held his hand on the side of her face, fighting back the few tears in his eyes. He had to be strong for his family.

"How lo-long was I out?" She asked, raising her arm and holding his cheek.

"Too long." He responded. "You've been asleep for a little over a month. Steve's been watching the kids so I could be here."

Sandra frowned, softly pulling Bucky closer for another hug. "I've missed you so much James." She whispered as her head nuzzled into his neck.

Bucky held her tight enough that she wouldn't get hurt, resting his head on top of hers. "I heard you went missing after the first month.." he blurted out, "and Steve showed me all the letters you've been writing to me."

"Buck-"

"Wait wait, I'm not done." He said calmly. "I'm just glad your ok, but I don't think there's any way we could've prevented Thanos from ever happening."

Sandra nodded. "There wasn't, I tried when I made the time machine." She said, feeling the need to lay back down. "My first model of the machine, I made in an old abandoned cabin. I was able to get to where baby Thanos was and I killed him. When I can back nothing was changed because it you can't undo the past which sucks."

"I heard you did a lot of killing too." Bucky said in a quieter tone, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Sandy I don't want you to go down that path again."

Sandra looked at Bucky, more importantly at his eyes. She could tell this was really bringing him pain. "I promise I won't." She said, holding his hand. "No more games. You and me till the end."

Bucky smiled. "Till the end."

———

1 month later:

After a lot of resting and healing, Sandra was finally released from the hospital. She was most excited to be in to comfort of her own home again, living with her family

Steve had brought the kids up to visit her quite often in the hospital, about twice a week. Seeing they had continued to age during those five years broke her heart a little bit, knowing she missed what would've been important bonding years for them.

"No more tricks sand, I mean it." Steve said as he prepared to leave the family so they could spend their missed time together.

Sandra smiled, giving Steve a hug. "But I'm the younger sibling, pulling stunts are my thing." She said with a smirk, seeing he wasn't exactly impressed. "Ok ok, no more tricks. Got it."

Steve laughed and let go, turning towards Bucky and shaking his hand. "And you, keep her out of trouble." He said, "My nerves are absolutely shot."

Sandra and Bucky gave each other a soft smile, the girl resting her head against Bucky. "I'm done with trouble.." she began speaking to both boys. "It's time to finally settle down and enjoy my family while I can."

"I'm proud of you San." Steve smiled, Bucky nodding to agree.

"I'm proud of myself too."