i just got you back

4 | 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑜𝑘𝑙𝑦𝑛

-

"No, Buck." Steve crosses his arms. "There's nothing you can do to stop me. If it takes all of my effort to show these bullies-"

"'-then I'll do it all day.'" Bucky finishes the sentence for him. "Steve, you can't just let your body be bruised all the time."

"You'll always be there to heal them anyway."

"STEVE! I CAN'T BE WITH YOU ALL THE TIME!" James cries out. There it went. He slipped the words out of his mouth. Sure, he was planning on saying it. But he wasn't expecting that to be now.

It effectively made Steve shut up, though. He knew he was right. There will be a day when there will be no Bucky to be his knight in shining armor, no Bucky to be his nurse to heal his wounds.

There'll be a time when he'll be gone and there's no one else to save him.

-

It's a short painful memory playing inside Bucky's head right now.

He knew there'd be a time where he'll be gone. It already happened, when Bucky had to leave for war, when he fell from the train, when his brainwashed self almost killed him, when he froze himself again because he couldn't trust his own mind, and when he was reduced to atoms when Thanos had successfully wiped half of the universe.

After a while, the two had eventually reached Steve's apartment in Brooklyn. It wasn't technically the same apartment he had when he was younger, but he still lives in his hometown. Sam, Scott and Bruce had gone on their own separate ways. And the rest of the remaining heroes are enjoying their lives.

Bucky had nowhere else to go, and Steve acknowledged this. Sure, he could spend a few nights in Wakanda, but he wouldn't stay any longer. He loved the place, but he can't just bother the King and his sister all the time. So now, all he has left is Steve.

Funny how fate plays them. In the end, Bucky would always go back to Steve. It's always been him. Without Steve, he's a nobody. But Steve without Bucky would still be Steve, and he'd always be somewhere, even without Bucky.

"You're gonna sleep in my bedroom, Buck," Steve firmly speaks. "No exceptions."

Bucky assumed he still had nightmares and Steve was just worried, but he couldn't think of any other reason why Steve would insist him to stay in his room.

"I'm tired," the ex-Hydra soldier groans and gives all of his weight to the couch. It was true, though. Travelling makes him tired. Instead of fighting it, he just willingly closes his eyes and drifted to sleep.

It was just around four in the afternoon. They'd left Tony's house very early, and Steve understood his situation. For what seemed like forever, he remains still, staring at a sleeping Winter Soldier. Steve had never seen him so peaceful in years. He just kept staring at his features, and had a little bit of a memory back in their days.

Bucky never knew it, but Steve wished it was just the thirties forever, just him and Bucky. No Avengers, no Captain America, no super-soldier serum, no Hydra assassins, no space aliens, no Thanos. Just his frail old self with him in the living room, back in their shared little apartment in Brooklyn. Where home is.

Where Bucky is.

Steve had to hold back his tears. If he had the opportunity, he'd let it happen. He just kept staring at Bucky, still reluctant if he should give a small kiss to his forehead. Maybe he should. But then he keeps looking at him and suddenly, it was too painful to do it. Especially after what Peggy had told him, when he returned the Space Stone in the seventies...