thirty-two.
Standing on the road, the three looked up at the old building. Natasha seemed ready to see the place that her boys used to live, but Steve and Bucky were glued to the ground they stood on. It's been such a long time since they've seen this place.
Bucky remembers that the night before he shipped out, he made sure to cover his things with sheets to make the cleanup easier for someone else. He didn't think he was going to make it back, but he never would have told Steve that.
Steve remembers coming home late that night and seeing the sheets covering some of the furniture, and not seeing Bucky at all. He knew that he'd be with the others, but some part of his pain riddled heart was hoping that Bucky would be in bed when he got back.
It was the first night in a long time that Steve slept without Bucky. Steve remembered waking up in the morning alone in bed like he'd been the night before. He remembered the dread filling his veins like ice water as he wondered if last night was the last time he'd ever see the man that he loved. He wanted to run to the platform as quick as his short lungs and shitty legs could take him and kiss Bucky for what might be the last time, but he knew he couldn't. He'd get them both killed, but some part of him thought it might be worth it if Bucky didn't have to go to war, and they could die together.
Steve remembers that he never got the chance to do anything with the apartment. He left the same day he got the serum, which meant that everything inside would be exactly the way that it was left. With all of their old belongings and documentation of their old lives, their old love. Steve started to walk up the path to the stairs, and Nat followed, but the pair paused when they realized that Bucky wasn't behind them.
"Buck? Are you coming?" Steve could see Bucky's hands shaking as he stared at what used to be their front door. "Baby?"
Steve could hear the shake in Bucky's voice, it's a sound he hasn't heard in a while. "I came here once..."
Nat tilted her head. "You mean... Before?"
Bucky nodded and looked at the ground. "I just... I got away once... Just for a little bit... I remember. I remembered... Was rememberin'."
Steve's heart hurt for Bucky as he walked back down the path and took the man into his arms. "You're gonna be alright baby... This is our home, remember? Nothing can hurt you here."
Nat watched her boys and suddenly felt extremely out of place here. This was never her home, it was theirs. She felt a lot like she was intruding on a life that wasn't hers. And sure, maybe if she'd been in this country at the time she could've had a place somewhere in Brooklyn, but that's not how her life was meant to work out. This was their home, their town. Brooklyn Heights didn't feel like the place for her yet.
She reached a hand out to Steve as he walked back up the path with Bucky holding onto him. She took his hand and led them both up the stairs and out of habit, Bucky kicked the brick on the way to the door, revealing the old key that'd been hiding there for so long. Steve picked it up and hesitated only for a moment before he unlocked the old door. It rattled and creaked when it was pushed open and Nat coughed when the dust hit her.
This was a place out of date and out of time. Old and dusty with windows that rattled when the wind blew. The floor creaked as they walked across it and Bucky's eyes fell on the shelves of their old belongings. The basket by the door with their books and Steve's old drawing pads was yellowing and falling apart. Tony'd had the electricity turned on, but none of them were so sure that any of the fixtures would actually work anymore.
Nat tried the switch and there was a crackling noise above their heads before the lights came on, slowly illuminating an old life that no longer existed, between two men that never came home from the war. She watched their faces as they took in the sight of the room around them. It was almost like a museum with how old everything was. The rickety old bed, the worn out armchairs, the scuffed table. There were still yellowing newspapers stacked by the fireplace.
Pictures were hanging crookedly on the walls, and the first thing Steve could bring himself to do was straighten them out. His mother would be appalled at the display of crooked photos, and he had to honor her somehow. Steve remembered exactly how he'd left the apartment when he'd been here last, so it was easy to pick out what Bucky had moved when he'd been here so long ago.
"It's hard to breathe," Bucky mumbled. Steve wasn't sure if it was because of the dust or because of the memories, but he agreed and wiggled open the squeaking windows. Slowly, they started to clean up. They dusted and swept and washed all day. This apartment only had one bedroom, which had been fine then, but now it was... Still fine, because they owned the whole building. Peter could have his own 'room' and all of the privacy he could want.
The walls here weren't soundproof though, so everyone would need to be considerate of everyone else. A loud truck was heard outside and when they looked, Tony was getting out of the passenger's side with some other agents. Tony asked them which part would be Peter's, so he could install all of the good equipment for the kid, and well, them too. Another truck pulled up, with contractors, supplies. Carrying the quickest things to fix, like the sinks and outlets.
They spent the rest of the day and all of the night making repairs, and that was just to the old apartment and the one downstairs that they'd picked for Peter to have, and everyone put in the effort to make the repairs go quicker and smoother. Electricians rewired the apartments in fairly quick fashion for how much needed to be done.
By the time everyone went home, the sun had already been up for quite some time, and Steve, Nat, Tony, and Bucky, all sat on the 'porch' outside of the apartment to just enjoy the fresh air as the day started for everyone else. Nat played with Bucky's hair, speaking calmly to him in Russian. He smiled down at her and kissed her forehead.
Steve leaned against the front door and closed his eyes... It was gonna be a good life, starting now.