you & me. legal. forever.

22. Reckoning

"Sam, please try to calm down, okay?" Bucky pleaded with the squirming man in his arms. "I'm not letting you go until you promise not to punch anyone else, got it?" He increased the pressure of his protective hold on his friend. "I need you to settle down, please. Go check on Zoe, I really need you to do this for me..."

"Fuck!" Sam cried. "Damn it, Steve!" His fists still clenched at his sides. "You've got some fucking nerve, man..."

"Sam, don't focus on him right now, I need you, okay?" Bucky tried to soothe the situation. "If I let you go, are you going to be able to control yourself?" He felt Sam relax as he loosened his grip. "Please, Sam, she needs us. She needs you. Let me handle this for now."

"Only because she wouldn't want me to, you hear me?" Sam glared at Steve. "She doesn't fucking deserve this..."

"Thank you, Sam." Bucky sighed in relief as he let him go. "Please find her for me, okay? Try the room I was using. Tell her to finish getting ready, yeah?" He walked over to the closet and took out the garment bag with her dress.

"If Sarah and Pepper show up, I'll send them to you, okay? Please tell her not to worry. This doesn't change anything." He glared icily at Steve. "Just give me a minute to take care of this."

"You got it." Sam hugged Bucky and burned holes through Steve with his enraged eyes before opening the door. "Let me know what you need, man. I got your six."

"Thanks, Sam." Bucky breathed. "Don't tell anyone else who you saw just yet."

"Not gonna be a problem." Sam growled. "He's still dead in my book..."

Steve winced as Sam slammed the door on his way out. Bucky still had his back to him when he started to pace.

"You know..." Bucky started. "I had never been jealous of you in our entire lives, Steve. Never. Not of your artistic abilities, not of your fucking unwavering sense of right and wrong, not of you getting to try college and never having to work the docks..."

He sighed and turned to face his oldest friend. "Not when I got drafted and you got to stay safe at home." He ran his hands through his hair. "Not when you got the serum and became the big hero...not when you came back, still the hero." He leaned against the wall and closed his eyes. "Nope, not even when you got to go back to Peggy and have the life you always wanted..."

"See, I was always so proud of you, happy to see you become the man I always knew you were. Sure, you broke my heart a few times in the process, but I still only wanted the best for you..."

"Buck..." Steve tried to interject, but Bucky held up his hand.

"No, Steve, you shut the hell up and listen to me for once in our entire goddamn lives." He blinked back bitter tears. "I was never jealous of any of it until I met her. Because you had ten fucking years with her that I'll never have." He took a sharp breath and practically stared through Steve's soul. "And even though you squandered them, you still got them, you lucky son of a bitch."

"You got to know her before the world went to shit. You got to hold her and comfort her after it did. You got her love, her support, her. You had the most amazing girl in the world, and you let her go so you could keep chasing the next fight." His gaze softened slightly as he looked at his old friend with a mixture of rage and pity. "How'd that work out for you, huh?"

"If everything is all unicorns and blowjobs back in fantasy land with Peggy, how come you're here now? The Steve Rogers I know wouldn't leave her again without a fight...why isn't she here, too? Hell, why isn't Howard here? Fuck, might as well get the rest of the Howlies back together for shits and giggles..."

"Buck...please." Steve croaked. "Whatever the emergency is that Strange dragged me back for, it has nothing to do with screwing up your life, I swear."

"You didn't answer my question, punk." Bucky scoffed. "Where's the missus? How was she okay with this?"