revivalproject | 02| Steve is an idiot

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02| Steve is an idiot

WHO: Steve Rogers
WHERE: In a cave, in a storm, and Network. Kinda.
WHAT: Being stupid, mostly
WHEN: Once the storm starts moving
WARNINGS: Nope

Steve crouches in the cave, nursing a nasty wound he took to his side. The medical information he has from the data point is telling him how to fix it but he's lost a little bit of blood and there's no super-human healing factor that is making up for it. The wound is also in such an awkward spot that Steve can barely even look at it properly, let alone do sutures. He moves further into the cave, feeling marginally better as he does so. Maybe getting away from the storm will stop its effects on him? It is worth a chance until he can concentrate enough to stitch. Or, maybe, he will find someone there who can do it for him...

The storm is moving. Steve can barely see straight, he's so close to the center of the storm, but he can tell its moving. And, honestly, if it weren't moving toward Temba, he'd be glad to see the back of it. As it is, he knows there isn't much time. The city is still so fragile and barely back together enough for it to really take a storm like this. Not to mention the people waiting, back there. People who thought they'd be safely away from this madness and were going to be badly surprised.

Steve races back to his ship. He's not a pilot, though, so the controls are a mystery to him. He grumbles and scowls, feeling impotent before taking his comm up and hitting the network.

This is Steve Rogers of the Bishop. If there are any pilots out there, we need to get back to Temba. I'm looking for a ride and anyone else who wants to help prepare the city.

It's not the first person he's seen in the fog. Steve has been seeing these ghosts for the whole storm. People he knew. People he didn't know. People who had disappeared from here and people who had faces similar to the ones here. He'd managed mostly to ignore them all but this. This was different. This was out of his memories both from home and from before. It's enough to stop him in his tracks, storm be damned.

The Winter Soldier. Not Bucky. No. He'd refused that name. He'd refused any name at all. But there he was in his black armor, arm shining in a sun that wasn't here. He looks straight at Steve, face hard. For a second there is a moment when Steve forgets he is a ghost and almost braces for a fight. But the ghost turns and walks away. He turns, once, to glance back, and then continues walking.

And Steve, damn himself, follows.

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Steve goes along without complaint. He twines their fingers together as they walk, ignoring the twinges in his side as the muscle moves. A shower, clean clothes, and a good lie down sounds like heaven for him. But first they do need to take care of the awful stitches. If they didn't just unravel on their own.

In the kitchen, Steve immediately regresses into his teenage self and hops onto the counter instead of taking a chair. He winces as the move Yanks the stitches hard and causes blood to start flowing all over again. Yeah, okay. He deserves it.

"Yeah," he agrees, getting air back in his lungs. "Yeah. First it separated us, then it takes our powers, and then it makes ghosts."

He looks down at his lap, frowning.

"I saw the Soldier. The Winter Soldier. For a second I was really fooled that it was him..."

Bucky's fingers fit easily in between Steve's; he definitely can't keep from snorting when Steve just jumps up onto the counter, visibly rolling his eyes before he goes digging around for shears or a knife, whichever he comes up with first, to get rid of those stitches.

And a towel for the blood. Honestly, Steve.

At the admission, Bucky pauses, letting out a sound that might sound deceptively like a laugh... but it's not, quite. "Yeah, pal. Me, too."

Only it had been his Winter Soldier. Just like Steve had seen his own.

He's quiet a moment, once he finally finds a pair of shears - thank god, that'll be easier than trying to wedge a knife in there, even if Bucky's not bad with one. He comes over, not flinching in the least at the blood or the remains of the infection, and simply puts a hand on Steve's knee to warn him before he gets to work, snipping away at what he can, working the stitches out of Steve's skin as quickly and cleanly as he can.

"Saw the Howlies, too. At least, I think so. They were walking away. Same as he was."

Steve knows what seeing the Soldier did for him and can only imagine what it did for Bucky as well. When he's close enough, Steve strokes his fingers through Bucky's short hair and presses a kiss to his crown. It is all the sweetness he has time for before Bucky is taking those stitches out and Steve's concentration goes toward breathing and not letting his boyfriend know how much this hurt.

Serum didn't do shit for pain, after all.

At the mention of the Howlies, Steve's head turns a bit. That he didn't expect. But then again, Bucky had been awake for less time before he was swiped up; that loss was likely far more acute for him than it was for Steve.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," he says honestly. "The whole storm... It was awful. I hope it's a long time before another. It was like a a device of torture."

Bucky might not give Steve a lot of time to comfort him, but that doesn't mean it isn't comforting. There's a part of him that still -- always will, probably -- have a hard time seeking comfort from Steve, accepting it. But there's another part of him that thrives on it, and he tries to take care of the stitches as fast as possible, because he can hear in Steve's breathing exactly how much he's not enjoying this.

He pulls out the last piece of whatever the hell they'd used in the first place, then reaches for the towel and presses it tightly to Steve's side, knowing that's going to hurt, too, but maybe the pressure will actually help. He leans close to do it - and because he just wants to lean close, setting the bloody shears aside and balancing his other hand on the counter, next to Steve's hip.

"Yeah, it was," he agrees, because Steve's got it exactly right. It was torture. "Even if that was all these things did... I'd want off this fuckin' planet. I don't know how they think we're gonna be better at solving the problem than they were, but I'm starting to wonder if that's really what they want in the first place."

Color him suspicious, but the memory of the Drift Fleet is still pretty clear in his mind. And torture is a popular form of entertainment.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?"

Yeah, the towel hurts but in a more aching way. Steve inhales through the worst of it and can almost feel how his body is healing now through the way that pain is fading. It isn't fast but it's happening. Another hour or so and it would probably be closed up.

And while they were waiting...

Steve uses his leg to wrap around the back of Bucky's and pull him in a little closer. His arms drape over his shoulders and Steve smiles down at his boyfriend, thankful and calm.

"Whatever is going on, at least we're safe now. And still together." More than he could say for some others. Steve leans forward a little, smile growing.

"If I say my lip hurts will you kiss it better, Dr. Barnes?"

His lines will never improve. Ever. You know what you're dating, Buck.

Yeah, Bucky knew what he was getting into. He can still complain about it, though.

"Oh my God, Rogers, did you think that was actually going to work? What the hell were you doing, all those years I came up with so many good lines to use. No wonder you fuckin' failed at every date I got you," Bucky says, but he can't hide the undercurrent of laughter, and he isn't really trying, either.

And he also doesn't really give Steve the chance to answer, leaning up for a hard kiss that maybe - hopefully - confers some of the anger and desperation and worry that he's trying not to actually let loose with, but still needs someplace for it to go. The least Steve can do is deal with a few bruising kisses. Bucky knows he'll get over that pretty quick.

"Where was I? I was choking on all the smoke in a corner, ya mmm-"

Steve's outrage is cut short by that kiss. That fucking kiss that Steve could drown in, gladly. He pulls Bucky in and returns as good as he is getting. He opens his lips under the assault and soothes some of the bruising intensity with gentle swipes of his tongue. Still, he's got adrenaline flowing through him and the heady joy of having his love safe and in his arms. He's not going to complain one second about any of this. Let's get some bruises that are a little more fun.

He breaks away for a second to breathe, peppering Bucky with small kisses as he does so.

"You givin' this treatment to all your patients, doc? Will be the most popular MD on the street."

Bucky doesn't care in the least that he's cut Steve off; he cares even less when Steve gives as good as he gets, because Steve has become a pretty damn good kisser, if Bucky had to say so. Even when he wasn't great at it, he was always genuine and enthusiastic. By now, he's both of those things, plus good at it, and if Bucky wants to stand here and enjoy if for a few minutes, he dares someone to come and stop him.

It helps that the whole ship is theirs for the moment, and they're in orbit around the planet and not likely to be interrupted. Honestly, it feels like the most privacy they've had in months.

He snorts, reaching out and tweaking Steve's good side for that one. "You're the patient I see the most. Can't keep yourself outta trouble. Some guys might think you like getting hurt, just to get my hands on you. I'll give you a hint - you don't gotta get hurt to get this kinda treatment."

He soothes over the spot he just pinched, then slips his hand around to run fingers up and down the base of Steve's spine, maybe a little teasing, but he figures he deserves that, too. "In fact, if you keep yourself out of trouble, just think how grateful I'd be."

Steve is also drunk on their own privacy. He leans into the stroking before starting to do some of that himself at the base of Bucky's neck. His legs come up and around his boyfriend's hips just to hold onto him. They need to clean up, sure, but this is a pretty good moment, right now. Steve is not eager to hasten its end.

"Oh yeah? You tryin' to bribe me into behaving with favors? Who do you think I am, James Buchanan?" He laughs and nudges back in for another kiss. Another nice, slow one that they can enjoy out of the storm and away from the rest of the people stuck on this planet. After everything, this was really not that bad an end to Steve's day.

Bucky will genuinely never get enough of Steve wrapping himself around him like he's the smaller of the two of them. It's fucking intoxicating, and maybe it strokes his ego just a little, but mostly, it's just hot. It's what Bucky's used to, sure, so it makes him feel more confident. But he also just kinda really, really likes it.

"A public figure, Steve Rogers," he murmurs - as soon as he gets a chance, between kisses, and it's okay if that's not for a while. He won't have forgotten the thread of the conversation. "You people are all bribe-able, with the right kinda bribes, right? Doesn't gotta be money."

He will give Steve five blowjobs a day to stay out of trouble... it's just that he still doesn't think it'll really work. Maybe there's no harm in trying, though.

"How's your side?" he eventually asks, after several more kisses, and one protracted attempt at sucking a bite mark into Steve's neck. It's for science: Bucky can watch how fast it fades and get an idea of how well Steve's healing factor is working. He's a goddamn genius, okay.

Bucky is fucking good with his mouth. Between the kisses and the lovebites being sucked onto his neck, Steve loses the conversation entirely. When asked about his side, all Steve does at first is hum, lost in pleasant oblivion as good feelings finally seem to be overpowering the bad ones. It takes a long second for him to realize that the question isn't rhetorical and needs to have some sort of response. Even then, his eyes flutter open and he barely concentrates at all on what he needs to say.

"Better," he decides after a second. And it is. It's not bleeding and the aches in it are fading away. It still feels hot and infected but the heat isn't radiating outward anymore. Better than that, his own temperature seems to be the normal type of warm that is associated with arousal, not an impending fever. He wasn't about to mention that to Bucky, but before he was fairly certain he was on the verge of it. Now the prickly feeling on his skin was entirely explainable.

He was definitely getting better.

"Thanks, baby," he finally breaks away long enough to say. He runs his hand through Bucky's hair and kisses him sweetly on the lips. "No matter when or where, you're always gonna put me back together, huh?"

Bucky can't really bring himself to be mad or even exasperated at Steve's reaction - honestly, it just makes him feel pretty damned smug, that he knows how to make Steve speechless. He does take the opportunity to glance down, and yeah - it's not healed, because that's gonna take time, but it does look better. And that makes everything better.

He huffs a little at the pet name, but he grins when Steve runs fingers through his hair, says Bucky will always have his back like that, because, "Damn right," he breathes, leaning in for another kiss - slow, this time. Like he means in. "You know you mean everything to me. That's why I get so goddamned pissed when you try your best to end up dead. We don't know what happens if you die here. I don't think these Agrii are like the Atroma. Let's not find out."

Steve pulls back and appraises Bucky those few inches. His fingers stroke over his forehead and cheek, tracing the lines of worry he was sure he put there. Finally, his hand just moved around Bucky's neck to scratch at the back of his hair. Toy with the base of his neck in a lazy massage.

"I was without you for so long...I will never do that to you, okay? If I have any say in this, I will never leave you, Buck. You mean everything to me, too." He exhales and leans their foreheads together. "I'm sorry. I should have been more careful and I know it. I promise I won't do anything stupid like that again if you're not there doing it with me."

He leans back enough to bump their heads back together.

"That a good deal?"

Bucky lets out a soft huff of laughter, eyes fluttering at the touch of Steve's fingertips to the back of his neck. It feels good, so good, and he wants to enjoy the soft touches while he can. It's not that he doesn't love it when they get rough and desperate, because he sure as shit does. But sometimes, the gentleness is just as welcome. It makes it feel like they have all the time in the world, together, and that's something Bucky desperately wants, even if he doesn't really believe it.

He lets one hand slip up and down Steve's spine in return, fingertips tracing each vertebra, careful of any bruises he maybe hasn't seen. Steve's words are so earnest, and so heartfelt, that Bucky has to grin a little, even if he has to admit, "Stevie, honey. I can't make you promise something like that. I know you.

"But I believe that you really will try. And that's what matters to me. So - that's all I ask. It's a deal." He tilts his head just enough to graze lips over Steve's cheekbone, trying to trade gentleness for gentleness. After all, Steve's still healing, and Bucky won't let him get rough, even if he wants to. "I just don't want to lose you again," he says, quietly. "That's all I do. Lose you. It ain't fair."

"Hey..."

Steve pulls back and puts Bucky's face between his palms. "You're not gonna lose me. And I'm not gonna lose you. Ya know why? Because...somehow, we always find our way back to each other. Don't we?"

It was more or less true. They'd died in each other's universes and come back. They'd been separated by the Agrii for years and still found each other. No matter how severe or long the distance between them was, they always found their way back here. Back to each other. And, finally, Steve was starting to trust that fact.

Bucky and Steve were just meant to be together. No one could ever stop them.

He leans in and kisses Bucky again, just as soft and gentle.

"I love you. I love you, Buck. And I'm not going anywhere without you."

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02| Steve is an idiot

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