This beats my books by a mile, Bucky thinks as he and Thor are sneaking into the palace of Odin. He still cannot quite believe he’s actually in Asgard. His grandfather gave him a collection of Northern Myths and Stories for his eighth birthday but it definitely could not compare to this. He feels like he might go blind from all the light and the sparkle of gilded gold statues. It’s a whole wonderful mix of ancient art, weaponry, and magic, he guesses, admiring some ships flying on their own accord. They most likely don’t run on diesel. There isn’t much time to dawdle, however, so he tries to match the brisk pace of Thor. It’s not easy because the guy’s fast, especially compared to how big he is. Bucky’s not a small guy himself, but he’s got nothing on Thor, and even though the years since the Snap have visibly not been kind to the God of Thunder, Bucky’s sure Thor could still beat him to a pulp if he so chose.
But they shouldn’t need to do any fighting to get the mission done. They only have to sneak into Jane Foster’s bedroom and have Thor convince her to let them suck the Aether out of her. Then grab the Reality Stone and head back to 2023. Nice and easy, should be no trouble.
Since they set foot in Asgard, Thor keeps fidgeting and shaking, which is not a good sign. Bucky has to nudge him several times to lead on, only resulting in him nearly running away and Bucky chasing after him, hoping they won’t be seen. He’s getting exhausted.
“Are we there yet? Is it far?” He asks as he catches up to Thor for the sixth time, out of breath.
“Ssh!” Thor shushes him and pulls him behind a giant column pointing to a group of people passing by. It’s four women, and despite the Asgardian clothes she’s wearing, Bucky recognizes Jane Foster easily. She looks the smallest and most delicate among them. There are two other young women, dressed identically, whispering to Jane, leading her towards a door fairly close to where Bucky and Thor are hiding. They are accompanied by an older woman, and Bucky doesn’t need to hear Thor’s gasp behind him to realize who this is: the regal gown, the tiara, and the way she so obviously looks like her son. This is Frigga, wife of Odin, Queen of Asgard. Bucky notices he was holding his breath until she disappeared into the nearby courtyard.
They wait in silence. As soon as the two maids and the queen disappear in the distance, Bucky jumps out of their hiding place and heads towards Jane’s door, only to realize Thor’s not following him.
“Hey, come on, we gotta go!” He tries to urge him but he doesn’t move.
“Everything okay?” He asks although it’s a pointless question because everything’s clearly not okay. Thor mumbles something Bucky cannot understand, he pales and seems close to tearing up.
“You know what, you go ahead.” He tells Bucky, “I’ll catch up, just need to go to the cellar for a pick-me-up.”
“What? No way, I need you, so you can tell her why we’re here. She’ll never believe just me.”
“No, no, no, I can’t, I can’t.” Thor struggles and Bucky recognizes the early signs of a panic attack, as he’s been through many of them himself. Fine, let’s deal with this, he tells himself, trying not to look exasperated. He musters all the empathy he has, anxious to get what they’re here for but knowing a panic attack can’t be rushed.
“Listen to me okay?” He leans closer to Thor. “Tell me what’s wrong?” he asks, in what he hopes is a soothing voice. “If you think Jane will be disappointed in seeing you, I’m sure she can see past that.”
Thor just shaking his head, and full-on crying at this point.
“Then what is it?” He asks but realizes the answer before Thor gives it. “It’s about your mom, isn’t it?”
“This is the day she dies,” Thor says, resigned.
Damn, Bucky thinks, at a loss for what to say. He can understand but can’t think of anything to make it easier for Thor. The guy lost everyone he loved, most of them were killed right before him, no wonder he’s been beaten down. Bucky remembers when he got the news his entire family was dead. He never got to say goodbye to them but at least he didn’t have to watch them die.
“Look …” He starts reluctantly. He knows from experience that pushing or telling Thor to suck it up isn’t the way to go. But the guy needs to snap out of this. Time is ticking.
“I get how you feel, believe me, I do. All that’s happened to you would crush anyone. But this isn’t the time and place to wallow in it. I think your mother would understand too.”
He waits for a reaction.
“Please” He pleads “get yourself together.”
Thor finally wipes his eyes.
Bucky sighs, louder than intended. Thank God, they’re on the right track. He beckons Thor to follow him and walks towards Jane’s door.
“Ok, so how should we do this?” He turns around to consult Thor but the guy’s not there. What the hell? Bucky whips around, paranoid. How did he disappear so silently? And where the hell did he go? That one he thinks he knows the answer to. The cellar. Bucky considers going after him but he has no idea where to go.
“Fine,” he huffs. He checks his watch. They’ve been here for over an hour, it’s only a matter of time before somebody notices them. He needs to get the stone. Once he has it, he can worry about consequences later.
He pushes Jane's door in as quietly as possible in the faint hope that his arrival may be unnoticed by her, at least until he figures out how to take the stone. He slips into the room and observes. Lucky, he thinks, as Jane lies on the bed, with her back towards the door. She seems to be asleep. Bucky considers the situation for a moment. The stone is literally inside Jane Foster so there are two scenarios ahead:
1. He tries to take it now without waking her, but there’s no way she won’t notice that, and most likely she’ll freak out and try to defend herself.
2. He wakes her up and if she doesn’t freak out too much by having a complete stranger in her bedroom, maybe she could be talked into giving the stone away.
Waking would probably go better, he decides. There’s no good way really, but his stomach churns at the thought of touching her and stabbing her while she’s asleep. That’s why Thor should have done this, he thinks, but there’s no choice. Who knows how much time they have before the time travel plan goes to shit.
He silently crosses the room and stands over her. He takes a deep breath, here we go, and gently touches Jane’s shoulder to shake her awake.
“Dr. Foster.” He says, going for his softest, kindest voice, the one he probably hasn’t used since he tried to quiet his sisters back in the dark ages of the 1930s. “Dr. Foster. Jane.” He repeats.
Jane turns, half asleep, then opens her eyes. She registers him, and her eyes go wide. She screams ‘help’ and simultaneously raises her hand, clearly either to punch him or slap him.
Bucky catches her hand and puts his own over her mouth. “Please, I’m not here to hurt you, I’m sorry, please don’t scream.”
She struggles against him and it feels profoundly wrong so he lets her go and backs a few paces away, hands in the air, pleading, “No no no, please, I just want to talk.”
But she doesn’t listen, why would she? There’s a vase on the bedside table, she grabs it and throws it in his direction while shouting, “Guard, help!” towards the outside. Bucky dodges the vase and tries a different route. “I’m a friend of Thor, please, he sent me here to talk.”
That seems to have an effect. “Thor sent you?” She asks.
“Yes,” Bucky answers immediately, and it’s technically not a lie. He’s definitely here with a version of Thor. Just not the one Jane thinks of.
She stops yelling. “But you’re not from here, are you?” She says, sizing him up.
“Well …” Bucky hesitates, trying to figure out just how to describe the situation to her. She’s a scientist so she probably would believe him, but still. Before he could answer, she continues.
“Wait a minute, you look familiar to me. Wait, are you ... ?” She squints as if to see him better, and he sees recognition in her eyes. Bucky’s not surprised. As far as he could tell, he’s in every history book and pretty much every child in America has seen the Captain America exhibit in the Smithsonian at least once, and the Bucky Barnes wing is a favorite among them. And now, after cutting his hair and getting rid of the beard, he quite resembles Cap’s famous sidekick.
“Yeah, I’m …” at a loss about how to put it Bucky just gestures at himself “… me. I’m also told I’m taller and more handsome in person.” He tries for a charming smile but mentally berates himself for the joke. Really, James Buchanan Barnes, you should learn when to shut up.
She stares at him, gaping like a fish. Then, after a couple of moments of silence, she says:
“What are you doing here? Aren’t you dead? How’s this possible?”
He’s gotta admire the speed with which she recovered herself. Although maybe seeing a long-dead World War II soldier alive is not much different from being transported into a magical realm of Norse Gods. So she’s probably not that surprised.
“I’m not from here.” He tells her, then takes a deep breath and figures he might just come clean anyway. “I’m from the future, and I need what’s in you.”
She takes a step back, raising her arms in defense. Bucky steps back too, to signal he means her no harm.
“I know it sounds crazy, but years from now, there’s a purple space alien who wipes out half of the universe. I’m from that timeline because we’re trying to reverse it. I actually survived my fall from that train in 1945, because I’m also a super soldier, and the 2013 version of me is a secret assassin who’s a slave to a Nazi organization. I’m going to be freed by Captain America soon. But this me” he points to himself to reiterate, “came back in time with Thor, I mean future Thor, to collect the infinity stone that you accidentally …” He pauses, searching for a word, swallowed? were possessed by? These all sound stupid so instead he just gestures. “We need it to fix the future.” He holds up the container he’s supposed to use for the stone, but it only causes her to take several steps backward.
He wonders if he sounds like one of those insane old men he used to see in Central Park, rambling on about the end times. He’s over a hundred years old after all.
“Did you say future, Thor?” She asks finally. Bucky gives thanks to the universe for Jane Foster's open-mindedness.
“Yes, we came back together. He’s just …” somehow it seems too cruel to say that he’s gone to drown his depression in Asgardian alcohol “... making sure nobody disturbs us and everything goes smoothly” is the answer Bucky settles for.
He could tell she doesn’t really believe him and yet he can see the scientist in her has weighed the facts and they might just make enough sense.
“So how exactly do you want to get the Aether?” She asks.
Bucky wipes his forehead and smiles. She understands. She’s one remarkable woman. “I need to use this” He gestures to the container.
A few moments later, Bucky tucks the container into his suit and Jane opens the door for him. He looks around quickly, he can’t see anyone. Time to focus on the next problem, where the hell is Thor? He considers asking Jane, but he doesn’t want to give away the details about Thor’s disappearance.
I can handle this, he repeats the mantra to himself. He and Steve came up with this in counseling. It’s simple but effective.
“Wait.” Jane grabs him and pulls him back before he can leave, “When you meet Thor - future Thor, I mean - just tell him I send my love. And he could never disappoint me.”
Bucky smiles at her. “I’ll tell him, I promise. Thanks for all your help. I know I must sound insane, so thanks for not ratting me out to the guards. Or throwing something really big at me.”
She chuckles. “Do you realize where we are? Since I met Thor in that desert, nothing can surprise me.”
“Now that’s some truth,” Bucky says with all his experience of supersoldier serums, cryostasis chambers, and time travel. He heartily agrees.
“See you,” he says and walks, as slowly and quietly as he can, around the empty corridors. He’s trying to find some stairs, hopefully leading to some sort of basement. If Thor is even there anymore. The poor man. Most Avengers made fun of how he changed but as a fellow sufferer of changes in his body (permanent, in his case) and the terrible journey of coming to terms with them, Bucky can sympathize. Thor can be alright if they defeat Thanos. He just needs the extra kick.
It only takes one moment of his attention wandering onto Thor’s depression for him to be noticed by some guards. They point and yell at him, unsheathing their extremely terrifying-looking weapons. Bucky does a 180 and runs away in the other direction. He has no idea where he’s running and he has no time to consider a hiding place. He rushes through a courtyard, dodging the guards’ shots by diving behind a fountain and then, a column. He relies on all the extra strength and agility the serum gave him and manages to leave them behind but unfortunately, more of them come back, it seems now the entire palace is on lockdown to catch the intruder.
Bucky turns into yet another courtyard and finally, he gets lucky. Thor and his mother are standing on the other side. If Bucky wasn’t trying to avoid being murdered by the Asgardian guards, he would appreciate the scene - the giant man having his hair tucked behind his ear and whispering to his mom. It’s really quite lovely, if Steve were here, this would be primary sketch material.
“Thor, I have the stone, we gotta go!” Bucky reaches them with three bounding leaps. Thor jumps backward but collects himself rather quickly.
“Okay.” Thor nods. They activate their suits and Bucky brings up the panel to program their way home.
“Hold on!” Thor shouts and holds his hand out. Nothing happens, but the shouts of the guards get closer.
Bucky stares at him incredulously. What is he doing? He glances at Frigga who doesn’t seem perturbed.
“Sometimes, it takes a few minutes.” She says wisely and lo and behold, Thor’s hammer races through the air into his hand. Thor cries out in joy, laughing in disbelief.
“I’m still worthy!” He grins and Bucky nods, having no idea what that sentence means. Steve told him once about Thor’s magic hammer but he doesn’t exactly care about it. He hasn’t properly met the man until this mission and there are important things to worry about. He’s about to push the button to leave but Thor cries out “Wait!” again, making Bucky throw his hands up in exasperation. We’re gonna get killed, he thinks as he resigns himself to his fate.
Thor puts the hammer on the ground and steps over Bucky to envelop his mother in a last bone-crushing hug. As annoyed as he is, Bucky cannot fault the man. It’s cute. Nobody should be yelled at for wanting to hug his mother one more time. By god, Bucky desperately wishes he could do the same. To save some time, he quickly paces over and picks up the hammer. It’s surprisingly light, considering how bulky it looks.
“Shall we?” He holds it out towards Thor as he finishes saying goodbye to his mom.
They both stare at him, no words, mouths open.
“What?” Bucky asks.
“Nothing, let's go,” Thor says, taking the hammer back. “I knew the Captain chose his lover well.” He adds inexplicably, rubbing and messing up Bucky’s hair, just about shoulder height for him.
Bucky shrugs, face red, grinning. Thor’s honesty is truly refreshing. Just as the guards close upon them, they disappear into the Quantum Realm.