To the end of the line - stucky

Meeting The Heroes

Bucky started to wake up and couldn't feel the chill in his bones so tried to stay asleep for as long as possible, not wanting the inevitable cold to creep in.
But then he started to feel softness underneath him and was confused as the cave floor had never been comfortable. He forced his eyes open, and it wasn't dingy like the rock usually is, there was light above him and no whistle of wind.
He tiredly moved his hand over the body next to him, making sure Steve was still there when a kiss was placed on his forehead.

He lifted his head up with a lot of effort and saw the blue eyes of his favourite person smiling down at him.

"Morning, bear".

"Bubba", Bucky smiled back before trying to rub the confusion from his eyes.

He looked around and noticed they weren't in the cave anymore.

"It's weird waking up, isn't it", said Steve softly.

Bucky suddenly remembered where they were and that they were safely back home. He felt the usual morning tension just wash away as he settled back down into the warmth of Steve, who gave him another kiss.

"How long do you think it'll be before we wake up, remembering we aren't there any more", croaked out Bucky.

"Probably a while", replied Steve. "We'll get there, though".

"Yea", Bucky sighed happily as they sat in each other's embrace until Bruce walked in.

"Ah, you're both awake! I wanted to talk to you about something".

He stood beside the bed and checked a chart before talking again.

"So Steve, you came back with a pretty nasty infection that Bucky managed to prevent for a while, but it eventually caught up to you. We gave you a whole bunch of antibiotics, and you managed to recover from it after a week of strong treatment, but you'll have to take them for a few more weeks".

Steve nodded along, understanding and not at all surprised.

"So, did you manage to save my foot?"

Bruce looked up and patted the chart on the side of his leg anxiously.

"Well, that's what we needed to talk about".

Bucky instantly flicked his head to Bruce, who held out his hands in assurance.

"Technically, the foot is still there, we didn't have to remove it, but it does look a bit different".

He slowly removed the blankets from his bad leg and unwrapped the bandages covering it. He pulled away the last section, and Steve's foot was now facing the right way. Under clothes, it would seem completely normal, but right where the bones had broken, was a metal rod in the middle of his leg. The skin surrounding it, which had been open before, was still open but looked to be healing. A big chunk, however, was still missing, and that's how the metal could be seen.

"I have a metal leg?" Steve asked, confused.

"Not all of it, it's just this part here because the bone was completely broken, and we couldn't repair it. It was either this or amputation. And this missing flesh here couldn't be repaired any better. We might be able to cover the metal more but you will always have a big indent".

Bucky stared at Steve's leg and was glad it wasn't completely gone, but he also felt sad for the man. He remembered what it was like getting a new limb, and although it wasn't exactly the same, he knew Steve would be feeling a bit confused right now.

"Also", said Bruce, "we aren't entirely sure about your level of mobility. We have to wait for you to walk".

"What do you mean?" Steve furrowed his brows.