Chapter 3
Steve
Steve hummed quietly as he sketched. Periodically he looked up at Buck and Nat, who were currently comparing their knife collections. An impressive array of blades were strewn across the coffee table and couches, but Steve was mainly focused on drawing Buck and Nat. Trying to perfectly capture the precious smile on Bucky’s lips. It was so rare these days. In the 1930s and 40s he saw it so much more, but it was taking so long for him to start smiling again.
He got up from his chair after he finished the sketch, putting his sketchbook in his pocket. The new Avengers facility was in upstate New York, and was beautifully designed. Steve hadn’t really taken the time to appreciate the building until he got Bucky back. Before two weeks ago, Steve had mindlessly gone through the day, the only time he had felt awake was the daily call he made to Shuri.
Steve walked through the curved hallway, staring up at the blue sky through the slanted windows. He had lived for two years thinking Bucky, and everyone else he had known, was dead. And then it took another year to get Bucky back to him. He loved the new technology that this era brought him, but sometimes he longed for the past. Before the war even, when it was just him and Bucky against the world. He chuckled to himself. The world wasn’t nearly as complicated back then. The craziest thing science had invented was him.
Now that he had Bucky though, he would never want to go back. The past was a terrible place to live, physically and mentally. The modern world had problems, and it could be confusing, complicated and overwhelming, but at least they didn’t have polio, and it was a much more inclusive world nowadays. And they had the internet, that was very helpful.
He walked into the large community kitchen and scowled. One thing he did not like from the modern era was microwaves. Steve might not have totally understood them, but he had started to appreciate them, until Clint told him to warm up some beans in a can. Who knew microwaves could be so, so loud. Steve knew that Clint hadn’t meant anything more than a prank, but the noise had been triggering for him, so Steve didn’t use the microwave anymore- for anything. Instead he pulled out a frying pan and cracked a couple eggs onto it.
“Hey” a soft whisper came from behind him. Steve turned around to see Bucky walking over to him. Bucky was holding something, so Steve gestured as a way to ask what it was. Instead of answering, Bucky immediately handed him the object, as if following an order. Steve looked down, and turned the knife over in his hand. Steve was just as confused as the last time Bucky had done something like this, handing him a weapon when he walked into the room.
“Bucky…” He handed him back the knife. His friend flinched, almost as if he hadn’t realized what he’d done, “Why?” The question barely passed Steve’s lips, almost too afraid of the answer to ask.
It took a few moments for Bucky to start talking, in his quiet, soft voice. “I.. it’s a habit. I think… I think that they had me do that. Arm my handlers so they… so they could take me out… if.. If they needed too.”
Steve would've cried if he hadn’t smelt the tell tale smell of burning eggs. They both looked at the pan, which was now smoking, and Steve sighed. “Whoops” he mumbled as he took the pan off the stove and scraped out the burnt eggs. He looked back at Bucky and offered a small sad smile.
“Hey. We’ll get through this. I’m with you to the end of the line” He grabbed Bucky’s shoulder and pulled him into a hug. Bucky buried his head into the crook of his neck, tears silently rolling down his cheeks.
They stood there for a few minutes, the surrounding world had melted away, not of importance anymore. That was, until Nat walked in and caught Steve’s eye, “Sorry boys, didn’t realize I was interrupting something”
They jumped apart, Bucky looking at the floor to hide his red eyes, and cheeks. Steve wasn’t much better, a blush creeping up his neck as he stuttered out an excuse for Nat. Nat just laughed and got a breakfast bar out of the cupboard before leaving the room.
The boys stood next to each other for a minute before Steve mumbled something about not being hungry anymore and walked towards the door.