I'll Keep This Secret For You

Chapter 100

Bucky's POV:

(Y/N) went home not long after she got Peggy calmed down. she's so worried about her, as am I Of course, but at least I know the reason why she is so much more emotional then we would expect her to be. By the time (Y/N) had sorted Peggy out it was time to go pick up the other kids. I bid her goodbye, feeling guilty for abandoning her as usual but I just cannot bring myself to leave Steve's bedside incase something changes. It was the same with her, and I'm sure it would be the same with anyone else that I love.

And thank god I do stay because it does change. Drastically.

It turns out Sarah may have been right that her dad squeezed her hand this afternoon. Because tonight, as we sit in the dim lighting of the room, the small tv in the corner tuned quietly into some kind of kids show to entertain Sarah, and I stare blankly at the screen in a daze, we must miss the first sign. And next thing I know I hear a weak voice saying my name.

"Buck." It rasps.

It's so quiet that I'm not even sure if Peggy would've heard it from the end of the bed.

I'm so exhausted that it takes me a second to register the voice. That wasn't Peggy or Sarah. I look up and turn to see Steve, eyes open - just - looking down at me. He looks dreadful, pale and sickly looking with a breathing tube still in. But alive is better than dead.

"Steve." I half gasp, half laugh in disbelief and can't help but lunge at him wrapping him up in a hug.

Underneath me as I squeeze him I hear him grunt in pain so I loosen up a bit, remembering why we are hear.

"Oh my god!" I hear Peggy cry.

"Daddy!" Sarah shrieks.

I pull away and he slowly turns his head to Peggy's side of the room. A small smile struggles to tug at his lips as she rushes over to him, taking his face in her hands and kisses him, tears streaming down her cheeks while Sarah wraps her tiny arms as far around his torso as she can manage.

I can tell that he's struggling to move and everything is causing him immense amounts of pain. But I can also tell that he doesn't care about that right now.

He struggles to wrap an arm around Sarah, moving slowly and shaking, perhaps weak, perhaps in agony, perhaps both.

I sit back content and watch as Peggy buries her face in the crook of his neck, her sobs becoming muffled and he gingerly rests his head on hers. Meanwhile Sarah is showering his face with kisses.

"I knew you'd be okay Daddy! I told you so Mummy!" She exclaims overjoyed.

Considering she's not even two yet her vocabulary is very good. I guess that's part of her enhancements.

Steve laughs quietly but it sounds like more of a wheeze. It's clear he runs out of breath almost instantly as his face quickly drops and his laugh turns into a cough making him wince. He hugs Sarah with his free arm, making her settle down before looking up at the ceiling and closing his eyes.

He draws in a deep breath to try and find the courage to speak.

"So what's the damage?"

I can see that Peggy is too inconsolable to talk so I do instead.

Where do I start? How do I tell him that his career is potentially over?