Bucky sat down at the bar and eyed her for a moment. "Can I buy you a drink?," he asked, "oh hell," he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "That too forward?," he said, a bit panicked.
He'd never known a woman that made him feel like this. He was always confident, cocksure. He barely knew her. But she was incredible. "No and no," she said, smiling. "I don't drink, Sergeant Barnes," she said simply.
"Bucky," he said softly and she looked a bit amused. "Bucky?," she repeated and he nodded. "My friends call me Bucky," he explained and it was her turn to nod. "I suppose you have your reasons," he said while she sipped her water.
"My father," she told him. "He was an alcoholic. Got in with the wrong people, died a few weeks before I was born," she explained and he gave her a sympathetic look. They talked for awhile, about their lives, their upbringing, both born and raised in Brooklyn.
"It's strange, isn't it?," he asked, taking a swig of his beer, "two kids from Brooklyn, and we both ended up here," he said and she shrugged. "I believe in fate," she told him, turning on her barstool to face him. "What's meant to be will be. People meant to know each other will meet," she said simply.
"They'll always find a way back to each other. That's what soulmates do."
Somehow she'd known it wouldn't last forever. It couldn't have, could it? Her stomach dropped that morning. She woke from a peaceful sleep in his arms. Life was good, quiet there in Wakanda.
She'd stayed when he'd gone in the ice. She'd refused to leave until he was well again. And even then, she couldn't leave him. They belonged together, Lila and Bucky. They were fated to be together.
Soulmates.
She woke up alone. It wasn't unusual. He often woke before her, finally sleeping peacefully, the nightmares beginning to subside when she was beside him.
She dressed and left the hut, only to see him speaking to T'Challa. She saw the arm in the case and she felt sick. Something was wrong, off. "What's happening?," she asked, trying desperately to keep the panic out of her voice. "What's coming?"
"War," T'Challa said simply and she searched Bucky's face. He'd already resigned himself. It was what he was, a soldier. He'd fight because that's what he knew. But Lila was angry. She wanted their peaceful life.
"It's okay," Bucky told her, wrapping her in both of his arms. It should have felt good, felt right, but it was empty. "When it's over, we'll have forever, Li," he told her. She'd heard those words from him before. She wanted to scream, beg him not to go. But she knew it wouldn't matter.
He was a soldier.
It was chaos. She felt the weight of what was happening. They were losing this fight. He was too strong for them. She watched Steve hold him back, frozen in fear.
She watched him rip the stone from Vision's head. She watched the pain that flowed through Wanda. She watched Thor drive the axe through his chest. It was a moment of relief. Maybe they'd won, but the moment didn't last.
She watched as he snapped his fingers and disappeared. She felt a change in the air. Something was horribly wrong. She watched him come out of the trees. It was like slow motion. She watched as he disappeared. Turned to dust.
She heard screaming, briefly wondering where it was coming from before she realized it was her. She laid next to the spot where he fell. She couldn't control the sobs. She felt gentle hands pick her up. Leading her inside.
She didn't care about anything. The voices seemed distant, like they were so removed from where she was. She'd lost him again. It was cruel, the worst sort of punishment.
She closed her eyes, the moment replaying over and over. She'd wake screaming. Steve would hold her close. Hiding his own pain to protect her. She didn't know what would happen, how this could be fixed.
All she knew was that one way or another, she'd find him again.
