𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒆 (𝒃𝒖𝒄𝒌𝒚'𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏) • 𝒃.𝒃

𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓼𝓾𝓷𝓼𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓽𝓮𝓶𝓹𝓽𝓻𝓮𝓼𝓼

{Previously: "I think you were meant to come back with me all along."}

Your hand was locked tightly in Steve's as you squeezed your eyes shut. He didn't know how time traveling without any protective gear would affect you, but the side effects had to be better than dying from disease.

Whirring noises came from all over the place, making your heart pound wildly and before you knew it a blinding light flashed from behind your eyelids.

Daylight. You slowly opened your eyes and looked around. It took a moment to adjust, but you saw a large dark green man in glasses standing by some technological device.

A man with a buzz cut and kind brown eyes ran over smiling at Steve, "You scared the shit out of me!" He almost didn't notice you standing right beside the blonde.

"Uh- who is this?" he asked. Steve chuckled and waved between the two of you, "This is Sam, Sam this is..."

You heard a voice whisper your name from behind the man. He turned and you got a clear view of the blue eyed soldier. His hair was long and he was growing a scruff, but those eyes were unmistakable.

Steve didn't tell you quite everything. Just that Bucky "isn't the same anymore". Even standing here, you could tell. Not only by his appearance, but the way he carried himself. He seemed timid and quiet. Careful and calculated unlike the loud and confident Bucky you'd grown to love.

"Bucky," you said under your breath and part of you wanted to run into his arms but you didn't know if that was right.

For you, the burning ache of his death was fresh like a stab wound. For him, it had been more than half a century since he last saw you.

Surely he'd moved on. Found comfort in other women, fallen in love. You suddenly wondered why Steve brought you back with him. This was all too much. Did he only want you to suffer?

You balled your hands into fists when they began to shake. Steve put a hand on the small of your back, "C'mon. Let's get you settled." He drove you back to his place in Brooklyn. He explained that the battle against the mad Titan, Thanos, had destroyed the place you would've been staying. A large compound with levels of labs and rooms for the various super powered people who lived there.

Other than that, the car ride wasn't very conversational. Bucky's face was tattooed on your mind. That pained and confused expression that you couldn't quite decipher. A part of you wondered if he didn't like the fact that you were back.

⋇⊶⊰❣⊱⊷⋇

"If you need anything at all, let me know," Steve said softly as he handed you a cup of tea. You had just settled at his place and since you didn't really take any of your things with you, it didn't take long. 

Staying with Steve wasn't so bad. He was a great cook, endlessly kind and even had some bad puns up his sleeve. But as hard as he tried to pretend like nothing has changed, you could tell he wasn't the same man that went into the ice. A few times, you'd caught him up in the middle of the night just sitting in the dark living room. Steve never told you why, but it wasn't difficult to realize that he was having nightmares.

For reasons you could not understand, Bucky had yet to come around. He was avoiding you like the plague and even though you tried sympathize with his situation...it hurt. 

There was once a time when the two of you couldn't bear to be separated.

Now it seemed as though he liked you better dead.