Chapter Text
It was cold as hell, the wind dousing Bucky’s skin in ice, every so often pin-pricking him like arctic needles as he hunched behind a large tree. His fingers were numb, and he half wished he had fake hands so he’d be able to hold his gun properly; as he readjusted his grip, he squinted into the distance. He could just make out Steve through the blizzard, scouting ahead.
“Seems like the coast is clear,” he said, and Bucky barely heard him in his ear. He just wished Steve’d hurry up, because it was getting harder to watch his six in this weather.
“I think - shit!” without warning, Steve had ducked behind a collection of bushes. Bucky looked around, but he couldn’t find what Steve was hiding from, until he heard it. Choppers. He shrunk back against the tree - if they were caught by German forces out here, they were done for, and -
He couldn’t see anything. Even when the whooshing was at its loudest, he didn’t see the helicopter he’d expected overhead, not even a plane. The noise didn’t recede either, it was as if something was hovering right above him, or right beside him -
Bucky woke to a start when a flash of amber light burst against his eyelids, flinging himself upright to see a bright ring of orange sparks forming in his living room, and through it stepped the man that’d come to Wakanda after he woke up from the blip, sporting the same severe expression, though when he noticed Bucky sitting at his feet he faltered a little.
“Sergeant James Barnes, my name is Dr Stephen Strange, and we need to talk,”
Strange was still standing in front of his portal thing when Bucky returned to the living room fully dressed, and didn’t sit down at the dining table when Bucky offered.
“Sergeant Barnes,” he asked “have you heard of the Time Variance Authority?”
“Uh,” Bucky wracked his brain; Shuri had done wonders erasing the Winter Soldier programming from him, and his work with Dr Raynor had really started to help with the darkness after the Flagsmashers debacle, but his memory was still a mess, like a pile of papers on a table, most of which he hadn’t even known were there till he uncovered them. He settled on no as his answer; even if he had, he couldn’t find the piece of paper.
“They are responsible for maintaining the flow of time as you know it, they liaise with the Sorcerers Supreme to identify and apprehend anyone who diverts from that path significantly enough that it causes an alternate reality.”
Bucky’s head hurt.
“Okay,” he said slowly “but I haven’t diverted from my path, so why are you here in the middle of the night?”
Stephen stepped away from his portal then, and it sealed shut behind him.
“You haven’t,” he said “but Steve Rogers has.”
It was like a slap to the face; even after months of being without him, Steve’s name still sunk Bucky’s stomach. He swallowed thickly.
“Steve - he’s gone, dead maybe,” it hurt more than he could explain that he still didn’t know “he left Sam the shield and then he vanished, we have no clue where he went.”
“I’m afraid not,” Stephen said, and he genuinely did sound sorry, Bucky thought from the very limited experience he’d had with the man. He sat down opposite Bucky, his long cloak falling rustling behind him “Captain Rogers was meant to return the Infinity Stones and return to the present, but when he blew past his time stamp it triggered the TVA’s radar, they eventually tracked him down somewhere in the Swiss alps -“ Bucky’s head was swimming,
“No, that - that can’t be right,” the words were thick in his mouth, falling out without his say so “we saw him, Sam and - he was by the lake, he gave Sam the shield - I saw -“
“You saw a variant Steve Rogers,” Stephen explained “from an alternate timeline, sent by the TVA to finish what your Steve was supposed to. We knew sending back an aged and happy version of Steve would convince you two not to bring him back to the present, therefore disrupting the already chaotic flow of your timeline. He was always meant to give Sam the shield, he was meant to step back from the fray and - it’s irrelevant,” he shook his head briefly, and Bucky wondered dazedly what it would be like to know everything about the future, having to watch what you say in case it changed things, knowing what horrors awaited the world and exactly how they’d end … “the point is, this timeline’s Steve strayed from his path, big time, and now the TVA wants to prosecute him for it.”
“Prosecute?” Bucky echoed numbly “like what, lock him up?”
“No,” Strange said, and it was as if Bucky could feel what was coming next. He felt sick to his stomach “they call the process pruning, it means - eradicating the offending variant from existence.”
October 19th, 2023
Steve watched silently as Bruce tapped away at a keypad with a pencil and chatted quietly to Sam, the yellow tent behind him housing the tech responsible for powering up the quantum tunnel that stood beside it. He had to admit, rebuilding the tunnel from memory in less than 24 hours was damn impressive, but then again that was Bruce, wickedly clever and willing to help whenever he could. Steve would miss him. Hell, he’d miss them all, but what else was there to do? The stones had to be returned, but it wasn’t like he needed to…
“You sure about this, pal?” Bucky was standing beside him, his eyes the colour of the lake and fixed on him, as if he were trying to figure him out, or see right through him.
“You know I have to be, Buck,” someone had to return the stones, Steve’d told him last night, and he’d been the one to finalise the mission to take them, it made sense that it was him. What he hadn’t told him was the real reason. The - emptiness he felt in his gut watching everyone lean on each other at Tony’s funeral. He’d told himself it was because he was grieving Tony, but the truth was it was more than that, he’d felt this way for longer than that. He felt - untethered - wrong, ever since he’d woken up from the ice, and when Bruce said they needed someone to time travel to return the stones, he’d felt his stomach lurch in a different way than any other mission. This was the right path for him, even if it was a hell of a risk, he was sure of it.
“I know, I just - you’re done, right? For good?” that conversation had been the hardest, telling Bucky he wasn’t coming back. Bucky’d been pissed; the war was over, he’d said, Steve could be done fighting for good, why risk it all by going back to - wherever he was going? He hadn’t needed to tell Bucky he was going back to her - to Peggy - after he’d returned the stones. Bucky’d known, and his face had faltered as he’d realized before turning into a shaky smile. He was happy for Steve, he’d said, and with a rough clap on the shoulder he was gone, heading back down the hall to his own room, the door closing with a heavy thump between them.
“Yeah,” Steve said “I have to be. I’m tired Buck, tired of getting my ass handed to me, tired of fighting for the world only for it to go to shit again. There’s plenty of good people who want to keep fighting, and you’ve got a direct line to Carol and Thor and the Guardians in space if the fight ever goes there, plus T’Challa and Shuri’ve got Wakanda gearing up its military, just in case. - and Sam’ll train you well, he helped me train Wanda and Vision, so you’ll be good with him -” he was rambling, he knew, and as he looked up at Bucky’s gentle smile he deflated. As if he had to explain himself to him, the one person who truly knew him. He blew out a breath,
“ I just, I gotta get out, I gotta get away. For me.”
“I know, pal,”
“Steve, come here, let me brief you,” with one last look at Bucky, Steve made his way over to Bruce and Sam at the control panel. If he’d looked again, he would’ve seen the smile slip from Bucky’s face in an instant, the cold air catching his sigh in a breath of fog as he watched him go.
“Remember,” Bruce said, opening the case and showing Steve the stones “you have to return the stones to the exact moment you got ‘em or you’re gonna open up a bunch of nasty alternative realities.”
“Don’t worry Bruce, I’ll clip all the branches,” a moment of silence passed between them as Steve closed the case, and his eyes lingered on the Soul Stone, its orange light reflecting on the top of the case, just as it had in Clint’s hand, off his water soaked skin, his tears…
“You know I tried,” Bruce said in a soft voice. His eyes were on the case too. Steve snapped it shut, an ache in his own chest “when I had the gauntlet, the stones, I - I really tried to bring her back.” he worried his lip back and forward, taking a steadying breath before meeting Steve’s eyes again. “I miss her, man,”
“Me too,” they looked at each other, two teammates - friends - both missing a part of them, both hurting and alone, both helpless to do anything about it. But they could do this, for the world, for the people who got their families back and didn’t deserve to lose them again. They could fight, get this done and protect the world, one last time, and maybe that would fill some of the hole.
A helicopter whirred in the distance, and Steve blinked out of his reverie, picking up the case and starting for the quantum tunnel.
“You know if you want, I could come with you,” Sam said as they walked together. Steve stopped, turning and giving him a small smile,
“You’re a good man Sam.” he said “this one’s on me though,” he could’ve used the help, he thought. Hell, this wasn’t the first time Sam’d offered, but Steve couldn’t explain to him why he had to go it alone - he couldn’t even explain it to himself, really. Sam understood though, he always understood. He patted him on the shoulder and nodded before turning to check the tunnel. Steve knew Sam didn’t know anything about the tunnel, but he appreciated the gesture as Bucky approached him again. Unlike Sam, Bucky’s face was somber.
He knew Steve wasn’t planning on coming back. Steve smiled at him all the same, and he didn’t know that it was the same as kicking Bucky in the gut. He steeled himself as Steve approached,
“Don’t do anything stupid ‘til I get back,” Bucky gave a small chuckle, looking away before a sad smile returned to his face,
“How can I?” the other half of their joke came out like reflex, but Steve could tell his heart wasn’t in it “You’re taking all the stupid with you,”
He felt it as if it were true. Perhaps this was stupid. Bucky’s face last night told him he certainly thought so. Hell, Steve didn’t even know if Peggy’d take him back, but he felt the ache in his gut, the feeling of wrongness, rearing its ugly head as he looked at Bucky. He had to try, had to do something.
Bucky moved first, and Steve’s arm opened reflexively, then Bucky was against him. A short hug and a slap on the back; less than they’d shared before, but Steve thought as Bucky stepped back if they’d held on longer it would’ve been too hard to let go.
Bucky didn’t look at Steve as he stepped back, and when he did his eyes were gentle. They always were these days, but the pain was still there. Pain Steve didn’t have a hope in hell of fixing, pain Steve had caused, yanking him out of Wakanda - hell, dragging him into countless Captain America missions in the 40’s if he wanted to go back even further. He didn’t.
Bucky didn’t deserve this. That was another reason Steve had to go. Bucky’d followed him into hell more times than he could count, and Steve would always be grateful for that, but he’d finally made it to a place where he could be OK. He was free of his programming, and Steve and Sam’d helped him set up a place in Brooklyn, they’d even started working on a pardon for The Winter Soldier. Bucky was doing good, or he would be, once Steve wasn’t there to drag him down.
“I’m gonna miss you buddy,” his voice was like a whisper, right through Steve’s bones. The words came quickly, the Captain America reflex taking over - just for a moment.
“It’s gonna be OK Buck,” they were barely out of his mouth before Steve turned away, back to the quantum tunnel. He was going to do this. He had to do this.
He heard Sam talking to Bruce as he activated his time travel suit, something about being back in five seconds, but he tuned them out as he picked up Mjolnir. They’d find out soon enough that it wouldn’t be five seconds, and they’d be pissed.
“You ready, Cap?” Bruce asked. Cap. It was the affectionate nickname the team had given him - even some of the heroes on the battlefield he hadn’t met - but if Steve was telling the truth he hated it. He wasn’t just Captain America - except here maybe he was. Maybe Steve Rogers had ceased to exist - it seemed like he hadn’t for the past five years…
He nodded, taking a deep breath.
“Alright, we’ll meet you back here, OK?” he felt the jitters going through his system, same as he did before every mission - it seemed there were some things even the Super Soldier Serum couldn’t erase - but he guessed they were warranted now; he was about to change history, after all.
“You bet,” his eyes fell on Bucky as Bruce began his countdown, his friend’s gaze steady, and it set a calm in Steve’s nerves. Bucky would be OK. He would, and Sam would, and maybe now Steve would too.
Bruce reached ‘one’, Steve’s stomach lurched, the lake became a blur, and then he was gone.
“Eradicated?” Bucky echoed blankly as he followed Strange down the corridor of his apartment building. The sorcerer had told him they had to leave, and he was walking at a fast pace, his cloak swishing around him, oblivious to the fact that he’d just rocked Bucky’s entire world “As in - wiped out, gone, no more? As in not dead, just - gone?”
“Yes,” Strange said without looking at him “he committed crimes against the Sacred Timeline, and the TVA believes he should be punished for it,”
“Wait - just - hold on a damn minute - ” Bucky grabbed Strange’s arm, and the man turned, cloak slapping dramatically against his leg as if it had an attitude of its own “Let me get this straight - Steve left to return the stones, we hear nothin’ for six months, and now here you are tellin’ me you could’ve reached him all this time and he’s bein’ arrested for trying to settle down with Peggy?” Strange stared at him blankly,
“Peggy?” he echoed “That’s what you think his crime was? No, Bucky, he was always meant to visit Peggy again, but after that -”
There was a whooshing sound beside them, and Bucky looked around to find a portal opening up. This one was orange like Strange’s, but it was rectangular, its sides were clean cut as if through glass, and as Bucky looked through its shimmering surface he could see the outlines of what looked like a waiting room.
“Stephen Strange,” came a voice with a thick southern accent. It was slightly distorted, and Bucky noticed that portal began to flicker “Agent Renslayer sent me to remind you that you have 24 hours to collect the witnesses for trial SR - 011945V7.”
“Thank you, Miss Minutes,” and with that, the portal flickered closed.
“Miss Minutes?” Bucky asked, raising an eyebrow.
“The… secretary for the TVA,” Strange told him “I’ll explain more later, but for now, we have to get moving. We have a couple more stops.”