Saving Bucky (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

Epilogue

***Eight Months After The Time Heist***

Although it wasn't difficult for Shuri to alter your brain chemistry, it had taken time. 

You were in cryo for about four months. During that time, you had apparently had a parade of visitors. You were told that T'Challa had checked in from time to time. And Kentay had been allowed to stop by about once per month - although you expect his visits were for Cebisa moreso than yourself. Even Steve had come once and spent about a week staying in the palatial suites. He had even brought his girl, who had sat patiently beside your cryotube as James and Steve played cards or passed the time reminiscing. 

But as your friends came and went, James stayed. 

From what Shuri told you, he hadn't left the lab even once. He had constructed a small bed near your cryotube out of spare parts and throw pillows from the couch in her office. Shuri had even given him access to her lounge, complete with a shower and snack bar. Food had been delivered from the royal table on trays, and he had worked out using various lab equipment as weights or pullup bars. And he waved goodbye to visitors from the lab doorway before returning to your side.

When you were woken up, his bright blue eyes were the first thing you saw through frosted glass. He nursed you through the initial shock of coming out of the cold. And as soon as you could feel your limbs again, you noticed the change in yourself immediately. You felt...lighter. Memories you hadn't even known you had came flooding back the moment you were pulled out of cryo, and continued to surface for the first several weeks. Your dreams were much more vivid, and you laughed more easily. James liked that. 

After a few weeks Shuri gave you the all-clear to go home. Home. For the first time, you knew what that meant. It meant three flights of stairs and a broken radiator. It meant a creaky floorboard near the fridge and a broken table lamp. 

It meant Brooklyn.

It meant James. 

And although it's only been a few months, you've learned a lot living with James in your little apartment. Things like how to fix a toaster, or that when the two old ladies from upstairs meet in the hallway to gossip, they're 'bumpin' gums'. 

But as much as you learn from James, you learn even more about James - things you love. Like how he brews a perfect pot of coffee, and sticks your phone on the charger when you forget. You learn that you love the way he smiles when he puts on warm socks fresh out of the dryer, and how he always makes his bed in the morning, even if he's running late for therapy. You love how he always prioritizes taking you to visit Mikolaj in his retirement home in Manhattan every Sunday. You love how he doesn't mind your hours-long visits with Kentay every month, and how he had even joined you at Casey's graveside - despite the horrors he had put the both of you through. And you love how every Wednesday afternoon after his runs with Steve he comes home with flowers from the bodega on the corner. 

You learn that you love a lot of things about James. About living with James. 

But you also learn that there are a few things you don't love as much. Like how James never puts his shoes by the door - instead, kicking them off his feet and leaving them like landmines all over the living room. And how he prefers leaving the window open to turning on the A/C even in the stifling heat of late July.

And then there are the things you hate. And right now, staring down into the bathroom sink, you spot one of the things you hate.