I've Loved You A Hundred Years (I'll Wait For A Hundred More) [STUCKY]

Chapter 10

The silent anticipation is deafening as they watch Shuri play with the switches ready to inject the antidote into the pod. Bucky can barely breathe as he waits, hopeful.

"Attempt one of the SR antidote. Three..." Bucky bits his tongue. "Two..." He swallows the air trapped in his throat. "One." His eyes widened to catch every moment.

They watch with bated breath as the black poison moved...And then stilled only moments later.

"What the... What happened, Shuri?" Bucky spoke up, turning to the woman.

"I...It was not enough. It's not an antidote. It's only slowing the effect of the poison by forty six percent." She cursed loudly. "We have to try again."

"Tomorrow." Bruce sighed, looking exhausted. "I need sleep more than you two sadly. It takes a lot of effort to control the other guy. I need to sleep at least eight hours. You can continue now, but I need rest." Bruce's shoulders sagged, disappointed at the failure as he left the room.

"I may as well follow his lead before I wear myself out." Tony sighed, the self-loathing in his eyes obvious as he shook his head and walked out after Bruce. Shuri met Bucky's gaze, apologising silently as she left as well with few whispered words between her and T'Challa.

Bucky looked up at Steve's face and swallowed back his tears. With a hand against the cold glass, he promised once more.

"We're gonna cure you, Stevie."

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"We've already learnt how to slow the effect. I'm sure we'll figure out a cure soon. The weddings in three months, so that should be enough time." Bucky spoke, unable to sleep even in the dead of the night. It had been a few days since the failure of test one. Bucky had been with Steve everyday just like before, reassuring him.

"I hope I'm out by then. I'd hate to miss their wedding."

"Yeah, me too. I don't think I'd be the best best man. Not like you." Bucky smiled softly.

"You'd make a splendid best man, Buck. I'm sure you look great in a tux..." Bucky could hear the smile in Steve's voice and felt a light flush heat his face.

"I think you should wear a blue tux. You've always looked great in blue." Bucky wasn't really talking about Sam's wedding anymore. He could imagine Steve in a blue tuxedo at their wedding. Bucky would wear a navy, maybe classic black. Maybe cut his hair back to his Brooklyn style for the nostalgia...

Bucky bolted up when the monitor suddenly blared in panic.

"What the hell-"

"Someone's pulling my plugs-!" Steve's yell was cut off with a robotic zip. Bucky's heart jack-hammered in the silence. With a gust of cool air, the pod popped open. A scurry of feet disappeared under the thud of Steve's body on the floor. Bucky was frozen as he watched the black slowly creep higher up Steve's arm.

He couldn't let Steve die.

"Help! Someone get in here!" Bucky shouted as he made his way to the lab where the pods controls were held. He burst in, frantic but trying to stay under control. He sees red when he sees a black-cladded man open the window to escape.

He doesn't care that he's using his left arm. That he's thrown the man across the floor like he weighed nothing. He doesn't feel any remorse as his vibranium hand wraps around the dark neck, choking the life from a man who's face he can see clear as day. Dark skin, brown eyes, thin lips and a long pink scar along his cheek.

He does care about Steve though.

"Someone! Please, someone help him! SOMEBODY!" His voice is hoarse from how hard he yells, but it's deaf to any ears. So he panics. He punched the man in his grip hard in the nose and gets up quick to look over the controls.

Green and blue and yellows and red and black and numbers and symbols - nothing makes sense to him. Nothing is clear, and he realised it was because he's eyes were filling with tears. Steve was going to die, and all because he was an idiot.

So he punched one button. Then another. A third. The room lights up red. Heavy footsteps, and his heavy chest is suddenly feather light in gratefulness.

He turned to the body, the traitor in his eyes, and finds he's no longer there.

"Where did-" The castle guards burst into the room and Bucky opened his mouth to talk only to be the one at the end of the spear.

"Step away from the controls, Mr Barnes." The warrior says, cold and heavy with disdain. "You're under arrest for treason, until proven innocent."

"I- I thought it was innocent till proven guilty?" Bucky backed up in shock, but he said one too many words in the woman's opinion. She sliced his cheek with the end of her spear, letting it dribble crimson.

Bucky grunted as another manhandled him into cuffs, one hand in his hair to keep him under their grasp. He looked through the screen, feeling much better now that he could see that Steve was back in the pod, the ice costing him once more.

The women led him out of the lab, down the corridors.

"Wait! I'm innocent! I didn't hurt him, it was the other guy! It was-" His protests met deaf ears as they threw him into a dirty holding cell, locked and guarded.

It would be a long night...

10 ENDEARMENTS SPOKEN