I Thought You Were Different: Part 6

Easy

As soon as you walked into the compound, you were accosted by your own father, rushing to you and taking your arm to drag you towards the lab. He was a man possessed, like you hadn't seen from him in a long time. The last time he was like this, it didn't end well.

"How much can you do?"

"What?" you asked sharply, digging your heels in to stop him from taking you any further. "Dad, slow down. You're acting crazy. Tell me what you're thinking and we can go from there."

"I think I have a way to get the Iridium out of Steve and Bucky so we can give them Shuri's new serum, but I need to know what you can do with that soul glow of yours. I want to get started right away. Do you know where Cap is? Shuri's already on the way-"

"I'm not really sure what I can do," you shrugged. "It's not like I don't already spend most of my days trying to hide it, you know. But Dad, we can't do this right now. Not today."

"What do you mean?"

"Ant moved up his wedding to tomorrow. We have to wait until after."

"Why? Shouldn't we do this first?"

"No, we shouldn't," you argued. "In case this doesn't work, whatever it is that you're doing, I'd rather not completely ruin any chance for Ant to have Steve there. It's one more day, okay? We can wait."

~~~

While you were talking your dad down and getting him to give you the full explanation of the experiment he wanted to run on your husband and his best friend, Steve had returned with Anthony from picking up the tuxes for the next day. He had done his best to explain to Sam that it was best that he keep his distance from his own husband for a while, and that he would have to pretend to introduce them at lunch because Bucky's memory was worse than ever. The conversation didn't go so well, but Sam agreed, if only for Bucky's sake over anything else.

"Let me go see if Buck's awake yet," Steve said. "Why don't you help Ant get the suits upstairs and ready for tomorrow."

Sam couldn't help but show how hurt he was by everything, and by the debilitating impotence of not being able to do anything about it. Other than their daughter, Bucky was the most important person in his life, and it was far too early to lose him. They had so much more living to do, and so many more things to accomplish together. He wasn't ready at all. "Yeah, sure. No problem."

"Sam, it's gonna be okay."

"You don't know that."

"No, but I don't know what else to say. I'm barely hanging on here too, man."

"Steve," Sam exhaled heavily, "Steve...you don't get it. I'm not losing only Buck..."

As the words faded into silence, Steve waited for more, but all he got was a hidden sniffle and a friend turned away from him. Steve had never stopped to consider it, that Sam was losing him, too. He had been so focused on you and the kids and how he could make this easier for you that he hadn't thought about anyone else. Sam was taking a hit twice over, and Steve couldn't imagine what his friend was feeling right now. "Sam, I'm sorry. I didn't think-"

"It's fine," he tried to wave off dismissively, but Steve wasn't buying it.

"No, it's not fine. I should've thought about what this was doing to you. I never checked in like I should have. We've been friends for a long time, Sam, and I'm sorry...I really am."

Sam stopped and turned back to his best friend, immediately realizing what had just happened and the guilt overwhelmed him. Here was Steve, a man who had maybe days left for all anyone knew, apologizing to him for not taking the time to check in to be sure that he was okay. He felt selfish and completely embarrassed. "Steve, no, don't apologize to me, man. I can't even start to understand what this is like for you. You have your family to worry about, and I know that (Y/N) hasn't even hit the point of getting this yet. Please, you just focus on yours, and I'll take care of mine. Please, don't waste a second of your time worrying about me, okay? You're my best friend, and I love you, and I'm gonna miss you like hell if this doesn't get figured out, but I'll find a way to keep it together."