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“we just got the last of them on the east side. does anyone need backup?” natasha’s voice rings through the comms. tony’s response comes within a few seconds.
“air is neutral up here.”
“we’re just about wrapping up here,” steve adds on. “let’s reconvene on fifth and check in with emergency services.” he glances at bucky who stands on his left, stoically waiting for the next command. bucky nods at steve’s silent question, you ready?
they step over a pile of rubble. bucky reloads his gun, placing it back in its holster and starting a light jog as steve leads them away from the scene behind them. hydra had sent many reinforcements after the team had done a recon mission at an abandoned hydra base that was unknowingly more important to them than the avengers had initially realized. new york came to bear the consequences, just as the city always did. something about high populated cities… or whatever steve told the team as they were gearing up a few hours ago.
they turn the next few blocks and see sam land beside wanda and clint, his wings collapsing into his jet-backpack. tony joins them, already starting his updates.
“nypd called in the national guard to detain as many of the human reinforcements as they could,” he fiddles with some tech on his arm. “emt said graybar, seagram, and chanin had some pretty heavy bombings. victims are being relo-”
“chanin?” bucky cuts in. most of his teammates look at him with shocked faces. “did you say the chanin building?”
“yes, tinman.” tony retorts. “victims are being relocated to the closest hospitals in the area.”
“which ones?”
slightly annoyed, tony turns to look at him. “does it matter?”
bucky’s jaw clenches. “yes. it does.”
sam cuts in.“there’s five hospitals within a mile of here, there’s no way you’re going to know where one person went, bucky.”
“i don’t give a fuck.” he’s definitive and it shuts everyone up. “i want to know which hospitals.”
with a sigh, steve concedes and jogs over to the paramedic perched on the end of an ambulance, assisting a woman with a cut on her eyebrow.
bucky decides to make his way over too, only hearing the tail end of the conversation as steve says ‘thank you.’
“well?”
steve sighs again. “he said lagone is the closest, but frank ross hospital and tisch are taking in some too because the influx is so bad.”
bucky doesn’t even reply, jogging off in the direction of the first hospital and leaving steve in the middle of the road, stunned.
clint breaks the silence. “where is he going?”
“to the hospital, i guess?” steve sounds unsure in his response, still watching as bucky gets smaller and smaller as the distance between them increases.
“maybe we should go with him.” wanda suggests. “we still need to debrief and do our write ups.”
natasha gives her a side eye and wanda laughs.
“just following orders.” she exaggerates, teasing natasha and steve for their insistence on following the protocols.
“alright let’s go, then.” tony thrusts upward, sam following him up as everyone else begins to jog in bucky’s direction.
but bucky is fast. they don’t realize how much until they almost lose him two blocks over. they trail behind him as he bursts through the emergency room, charging towards the front desk.
“do you have a patient named y/n?” he begins to spell out your name letter by letter until the desk attendant interrupts.
“sir, i need you to step into the waiting room unless you need immediate medical care.” the room around them is a flurry of crying people, overwhelmed nurses, and helpless policeman who try to reorganize the growing number of patients.
“no, i need you to check if you have a patient under the name of y/-”
the team stands by the entrance, watching the interaction unfold but not quite understanding it.
“who is he looking for?”
everyone turns to steve assuming he knows, but his face shows just as much confusion. “i don’t know.”
“please,” bucky starts again. “do you have a patient register for today’s patients?”
with a click of her tongue, she hands bucky a clipboard with several papers on it. bucky’s eyes scan the names, worry etched on his face when he doesn’t see yours.
“sorry.” he mumbles, leaving the clipboard on the counter and turning around. he stops when he sees the team, but moves past them when he remembers what he’s doing.
anxiety is gnawing at him as he finds his motorcycle parked by the quinjet a few blocks away. he immediately drives off towards the next hospital, worried as ever that something has happened to you. you aren’t answering his calls, not texting him back, and he can’t find your location on the little app you taught him how to use. he doesn’t know what else to do.
the team can barely keep up, trying their best to help the people around them as they trail after bucky. they still don’t know what he’s doing or who he’s looking for.
by the third hospital, bucky is fed up and on the verge of a breakdown. he only has so much patience at this point, and sam is all too familiar with the signs.
“do you have a patient under the name y/n?” it’s the third time in the last hour he’s desperately asked a nurse at a front desk. he does the same thing, spelling out your name letter by letter until the nurse interrupts him.
“you’ll have to wait to check the registry list after all the patients have been attended to.”
“how long is that going to take?” his voice is laced with attitude, and he almost feels bad if not for the pit of anxiety swelling in his stomach.
“sir, you’re wasting my time.”
“bucky, c’mon, let’s go.” steve reaches to hold bucky’s shoulder, but he shrugs it off.
“no, goddammit!” he’s fuming, turning back to the nurse. “i need you to tell me if you have a patient, y/n barnes. i’m her next of kin.” he slams his fist on the counter. steve takes a step back towards sam, in shock at the information.
“does he have, like, a niece?” sam asks. “did he tell you anything about his sister? maybe she had a family after-”
“yes, i see her name listed here. only immediate family can see her.”
“i am immediate family!”
“sir, unless you are a parent or her husband, you need to wait until all th-”
“i am her husband!” he slams his ring down on the counter, gripping onto it like he depends on it, because he can’t risk losing you. “take me to see me wife right now.”
with a nod, she leads bucky down a hallway of rooms, turning left into the very first room. she makes her way back towards the front desk where steve has now approached.
“hi, ma’am. would you mind if-” steve gestures towards the room. the nurse’s jaw drops at seeing the vibranium shield, clint’s bow, and tony stark standing there with a partially deconstructed nano-tech suit.
“go right ahead.” she stutters out, watching the avengers trail after the man with the metal arm. they stop in the doorway, huddled as they watch.
“y/n?” bucky steps towards the hospital bed.
you aren’t even laying in it. you’re sitting on the edge of it staring out a window, back facing the door. at the sound of his voice, you whip around. tear streaks stain your face.
“bucky, oh my god-” you run into his chest, engulfing him in a hug. he sighs into your hair, smelling you and breathing in relief at the sight.
“you’re okay, it’s okay.” he coos, rubbing your back. “what happened? are you hurt?”
you shake your head, still nuzzled into his chest. you peer up at him, “paramedics found me unconscious. it’s just a concussion, but they brought me in anyways. i just have a couple stitches.” you gesture to your calf. “rough fall after i got knocked out, i guess.”
he nods, pulling you in for a kiss. it’s desperate and full of love and every emotion he’d felt in the last two hours.
“i thought- i thou-”
“no.” you cut him off. “i tried to find a phone but nothing was going through. i saw the weird alien dogs coming from a giant truck, and- and the hydra symbol was plastered all along the sides i thought maybe they-” you can’t even finish your sentence, too overwhelmed at the possibility.
“never.” he kisses your forehead, holding your face in both his hands. “they could never take me from you.”
you rest your forehead against his, inhaling the scent of your husband and gripping onto him because you never want to leave him again.
“so..” tony cuts in. “wife?”
“tony!” natasha scolds. “get back here!”
clint tries his best not to laugh but he can barely hold it in.
sam is next to join in. “when did this happen?” he looks at steve with a quirked brow. “did you know?”
“i swear i didn’t.”
“a wife.” sam repeats. “you didn’t know your best friend has a wife.”
“he’s a trained spy!”
“and a former soviet asset.” clint confers. “you’d think you would keep more tabs on the guy.”
steve rolls his eyes, turning his attention back to bucky.
“is she really your wife?”
bucky nods reluctantly, a little sheepish as you hold up your left hand to show them your rings.
“for four years now.”
“FOUR YEARS????”
“sam-”
“and you NEVER SAID ANYTHING?”
“guys” nat pays no mind to sam’s ramblings. “i think we can all agree how hard it is to live life as an avenger. it’s not like clint was exactly honest about his family, either.”
“i thought you were on my side!” he huffs.
“whatever.” sam pouts. “i wish i could’ve gone to the wedding.”
“we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.” bucky smiles appreciatively at steve, who starts moving back towards the exit. “maybe we can talk about this when everything settles down and she gets out of the hospital.” steve looks at you, really looks at you, for the first time. deep down, he’s glad his best friend found the one thing he’s wanted his whole life. “right bucky?”
bucky nods.
“okay,” steve smiles understandingly. “debrief is tomorrow at noon. don’t be late.”
bucky turns back to you as the team leaves your hospital room.
“i guess the secrets out.”
bucky nods in agreement. “i’m really glad you’re okay.”
you kiss him again, “take me home, bucky.”