A Bolt from the Blue

Chapter 3

When Steve stepped out of the elevator, he found an usual agitation in the medical aisle with agents and nurses hastily going up and down the hallway.

One of the military nurses who was often present at Bucky's side and regularly came to check on him while he was in the room walked past him, so drawn into the work she had been assigned she didn't notice him.

"What's...going on?" he asked as he looked above her shoulder to assess the situation.

She sighed in relief, glanced behind where people were gathered then back at him. She tucked a stray of her behind her ear.

"Sergeant Barnes turned out to be more difficult to handle than we thought. He keeps asking for you and doesn't understand why we won't let him out of his room," she explained.

Steve's brows furrowed.

"You didn't tell him anything, did you?" he asked warily with a concerned expression.

"No, no. The Colonel's orders were very clear," she assured him.

Steve had indeed made a point to be the one to talk to Bucky about the whole new situation.

He made his way along the corridor, getting curious and mildly hopeful glances from the staff. As he got closer to the room, his chest tightened, excitement and stress taking hold of him. The sound of Bucky's voice coming from inside the room made his heart race. There was a mass of people inside and they all stood in a thick circle.

"WHERE IS STEVE? YOU KEEP TELLING ME HE'S CLOSE BUT I DON'T SEE ANY TRACE OF HIM. AND WHY ARE THERE SO MANY PEOPLE GUARDING THIS DAMN DOOR? WHAT IS IT YOU DON'T WANT ME TO SEE?"

"Sergeant Barnes, we need you to calm down."

"NOT UNTIL YOU TELL ME WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO STEVE," Bucky's voice was plain raging now.

"I'm here, Bucky," Steve's soft voice resonated in the room, making everyone freeze.

The agents, doctors and nurses stepped aside, revealing Bucky's figure standing tall with a stunned expression.

They looked at each other and both seemed to replay simultaneously their last moments on the quinjet. They shouldn't have survived and they both knew it – and their eyes showed it. Steve was still dumbfounded about it and Bucky sure as hell was dumbfounded at this second.

"I'm here," he repeated again with a broken voice, his eyes gleaming slightly. Bucky was still mute, unsure whether to drop his guard down. Steve's mouth slightly rose into a soothing and comforting smile to reassure him all this was real.

"You can leave us, now," he said, nearly murmuring, glancing at the staff. "I'll take it from here."

They all complied with a nod and walked out of the room, the last one closing the door behind them. When the sound of footsteps finally faded away, Steve took a step closer to his friend.

"You...," Bucky started clumsily, "you survived."

Steve nodded and a vague smile came to his lips. "So did you."

They looked at each other again, one full of questions, the other with few answers to provide, but it could wait for now.

Bucky's features softened as he cracked a beaming smile and started towards him. Steve did the same and quickly ran up to him, they met in the middle of the room, their arms clutching to each other like to a buoy they both desperately needed amid this foreign sea, ensuring it was all very real.

They were back together and the universe seemed to go back to place in the most perfect way.

When they eventually pulled apart, Bucky put his hands on each side of Steve's neck – a habit he had taken since they were teenagers and that he couldn't seem to break even after he had grown taller and thicker than him – and laughed wholeheartedly.