The Liberty War || Infinity War & Endgame

Chapter Eighteen: Forever A Barnes

Music is "7 Years" by Lukas Graham (with Steve and Bucky in the video just 'cause.)

Picture is Tatiana Maslany as Emma Barnes.

···········

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Forever A Barnes

{April 6, 2018 -- Present Day}

W A K A N D A

Bucky shifts nervously beside me. His hand fumbles with mine. He continues to change between holding my hand, resting his hand on my thigh, and running it anxiously through his long hair.

"Are you going to be all right, Bucky?" I ask, half-amused and half-concerned.

Bucky starts tapping his foot and huffs out a sigh. "I'm fucking scared, Ems, not gonna lie. What if she doesn't recognize me? What if I'm too different? What if--?"

"--We could go on with the 'what if' game all day, my love," I cut him off, wrapping my arms around his right one and resting my chin on his shoulder. "Don't do that to yourself."

"What if my lack-of left arm scares her?"

Bucky's voice breaks a little in the last question, enough to make me know how truly terrified he is. Meeting his baby sister after all this time, after all that's changed, is going to be difficult. He's not exactly the man he was when he fell off that train, and Rose has lived into her nineties. To say that things are no longer the same is a vast overstatement.

I take his right hand and clasp both my hands over it. His eyes are on his feet, he can't look at me, but I know he's listening. "Look, Bucky, it's not going to be easy. It might be a tad awkward at first, but Rose is still Rose. She loves you to death. You're her big brother."

"Except I'm nearly sixty years younger than she is."

"Physically, perhaps." I sigh, pressing a kiss to his clothed shoulder.

The airport buzzes around us. We've been sitting here for nearly an hour. After Bucky and I went back home from the Catholic church, I went to T'Challa and asked a favor. We both need this; we both need to see Rose again. She always does me good, and the same goes for Grant and Steve. Even Natasha has taken quite a liking to her. Who couldn't love Rosemary Barnes, now a Dugan?

When Bucky finally turns towards me, I see that his blue eyes have more darkness than any brown eyes I have ever seen before. I bring his hand up and place a kiss on his rough palm, the tiny gesture showing him that I trust him with everything. He cracks a small smile, and like a small child, lays his head in the crook of my neck. He breathes easier as I wrap my arms around his shoulders, pulling him into me.

"You don't have to be scared," I whisper to him. "I know you're scared of what might happen, but you don't have to be, Darling. You're not as terrifying as you see yourself. No one is scared of you anymore."

"That's a lie," he sighs. "I learned that people can easily forget that others are human. I know I did, while with HYDRA. I guess I'm scared other people will see me the way I saw them, treat me the way I treated them."

I close my eyes and tighten my embrace. "Not here, though. Here, you're safe. Here, you're free. Nothing outside this country can change that, no matter how hard they try. We're the friends of the King. They can't do a bloody thing about it." Bucky chuckles, burying his face in my hair. A laugh slips from my lips as his scruff tickles my neck. "Don't worry, Bucky. Your secret is safe with me."

"My secret? Which one?" he laughs.

"That you're not a big bad wolf, only a puppy in disguise."

Bucky lifts his head, shaking it as he laughs. I know I've won when he leans in to kiss me, muttering something about adoring me. I look past him, spotting a Wakandan flight attendant escorting a frail yet still wildly independent Rose Dugan towards us. Her blue eyes are scanning the area, and once she spots Bucky and I, a huge grin covers her entire face.