Chapter Text
A familiar voice came through the comms. A voice you missed but never thought you’d hear again. You heard Steve’s relieved sigh beside you. Sunlight seemed to warm your back and bathe Steve in the warmth half the population had been denied for five years. Portals formed and released floodgates of familiar faces, faces that had been dearly missed. You eagerly searched for the pair of eyes that were your drive to end this fight.
Your frantic searching was ended with a grunt behind you.
Steve tightened the shield he carried, the symbol, the hope, the exhaustion and with two words the massive fray sprinted into battle. Your heart plummeted as you picked up the pace to meet the oncoming army, still missing your blue-eyed soldier. You had watched him disappear like the others, but maybe his time was up, he’d used all his chances to avoid the grim reaper’s grasp. You shake the tears out of your eyes, meeting members of the Black Order on the destroyed grounds of your home.
—
He watched you. He didn’t know how long he’d been gone, but he could tell from the way you fought, moved, it had been too long. He followed your movements, frozen.
You parried and moved around with a fury never seen before.
Bucky was yanked from his longing by a force that knocked him on his ass. He swore under his breath as he fought off the monster above him. The creature finally fell to the side, and he wiped the spit from his face, sitting up. He checked for his personal arsenal, everything still there from when he watched Steve’s face disappear and your voice called out his name.
He picks up a discarded gun or two (the raccoon probably lost them if he’s somewhere in this mess). He raced toward the fight, the thousand-yard stare he’d acquired during his years as the Winter Soldier. He cataloged everything he could see on the battlefield. Tony, Steve, Thor, taking on the figure that was behind all of this hurt and destruction.
He sees it in the corner of his eye. You move, too far away for him to help you, but close enough his heart slows its anxious beating. You turn, tears flooding your eyes when you finally drown in the depths you’ve missed. He nods, as the call for back up for the Spider-kid comes, you smile taking off, following Pepper and the other women to get the gauntlet, the stones back to where they should be.
He turns taking off toward Steve, instincts to protect his second-favorite dumbass kicking in.
It’s not much longer before an explosion sounds behind him. The sounds of fighting stopped as everyone turned to see him there. Thanos. He approached Tony, the gauntlet on, a sense of deja vu settling on everyone.
“I am inevitable.”
It seemed the whole world took a breath. Holding it as the metallic sound echoed through the battlefield.
“And I,” Tony sighed, “am Iron Man.”
The world released its breath.
Gunfire ceased. The dust settled. Cries filled the stifling silence.
Bucky searched for you. People approached him: Sam, Clint, Steve. A certain red-head seemed to be missing, but he pushed that to the back of his mind when the one voice he needed rose above the reunions happening around him.
“Bucky!”
He turned to the voice. You sprinted toward him, tear tracks having cleaned their way down your cheeks. Once again, he is frozen to his spot, his heart stopping. He opened his arms just before you crashed into them. He stumbled back, the force of your collision making him need to steady himself. He pulls you closer when your shoulders started to shake, your nose burying into his shoulder. You still couldn’t believe he was here.
This had been a moment you dreamed about countless times. This was better. You knew you wouldn’t wake up reaching for the body heat that had been missing.
He couldn’t breathe. Your hands jumped from his hair to his face, remembering every inch that you could touch.
“You’re alive,” you whispered.
“I’m here,” he takes a shuddering breath, “I’m here.” His fingers grasp at you, trying to pull you impossibly closer.
You pepper kisses on his face. His cheeks, forehead, temples, jaw, eyelids, nose. You paused, a breath between you. Your eyes met, breath mixing together.
Finally, you crash your lips into his.
“I’m sorry,” another kiss, “I’m sorry, doll.”
He sets you down, your hands continued to roam his face. He studied your face, lines deeper than before. Dark circles around your eyes darker than ever before, however long he’d been gone every second had embedded itself into your skin and posture. “I’m sorry,” he mutters again.
“For what?”
He sighs, taking your hands in his own. “For being gone.”
You pulled away, chuckling quietly, the first time in years. “You’re back here with me, Buck,” you pressed one palm against his cheek, “that’s the best apology the universe could ever give for taking you from me.”
You wiped a single tear from his face as he bent to capture your lips again.
“I think this puts me in the lead again,” you said, Bucky chuckling against your lips.