revivalproject | ★ 1 ★

WHO: Agra 10 gets another Captain America, and this one is Bucky Barnes!
WHERE: Starting in the square, then pretty much anywhere you want to run into him around town/the forest
WHAT: Arrival and exploring (NOTE: If you'd like to continue/assume our TDM thread as canon, just go ahead and I'll roll with it!)
WHEN: Bucky's arrival, a few weeks into the first event
WARNINGS: Will mark if any appear!

The last thing Bucky remembers is being on the Bishop with Steve. Then, suddenly - he's in the middle of a run-down square in a run-down city and there's a glowing... thing downloading information into his head.

All in all, it's kinda like any Tuesday in the Fleet. Almost. Except not. Especially not since after things changed.

He's alone - at least, he is at first. Which means he goes looking for Steve, once he realizes he's got no communicator and, honestly, pretty much nothing else, either, except for the plain coveralls he's wearing and the red, white, and blue shield that might be familiar to some.

He eventually finds his way into places like the hotel, the hospital, and the power plant. He's not afraid to poke around, and anyone he spots that doesn't look like a threat will be approached without hesitation.

At first, he's looking for Steve - or for acquaintances from the Fleet. But that doesn't mean unfamiliar people get the brush-off. He'll come right up, ask if you know what's going on, and probably offer help if it looks like you need it.

It's pretty much part of the job, after all.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"There is not two of you," Steve says forcefully. He even smiles a little even though it's not much bigger than Bucky's. Steve cups his cheek and leans to kiss him softly. "Winter ain't you. He's a friend but I don't feel about him what I feel for you. For that year you were gone...Winter was still there. That hurt a lot more than it helped.

"No one is you but you."

Grant wasn't him, after all. The memories that Steve has of who he'd been before the Fleet aren't him, now. Another Steve could show up and he'd feel pretty confident of their lack of similarities. Steve's not even sure he'd like him, all things considered. Who knew if he'd get a chance to find out.

He leans back and closes his eyes into Bucky's petting. It's a good feeling to just let the other man touch him. It's been so long since he's had this easy affection that he's swallowing it up like a hungry hippo. All things considered, Steve might actually even be happy, right now. Or on the verge of it. He kisses Bucky again and lingers into it, hand running along the other's side and just reacquainting itself with how Bucky Barnes feels.

"I'm so glad you're here. I don't care how shitty the situation is. I'm just glad we're in it together."

Bucky maybe looks a little like he wants to argue. But only a little; it's not like he doubts what Steve's saying. He doesn't. It's just hard to stop feeling like an impostor, especially when he's been feeling that way since even before he ended up on the Atroma's little TV show.

But he doesn't doubt Steve, and he certainly doesn't put a stop to the kiss, or halt his own fingers in Steve's hair when he seems to like it so much. Bucky can get over his own shit on his own, after all. Right, now, Steve needs him to be here, so that's what he's gonna do.

Because, "Yeah," he says, on a slow exhale. "Yeah, me, too. I'd rather be here with you than have every other Avenger but you." He likes his team - mostly - and he likes the Avengers he's met from Steve's team. But Steve is worth a million Avengers or more, in Bucky's opinion, even when their particular skillsets overlap. "We make a good team. Always have. Usually 'cause I can keep you out of the really bad trouble," he teases, tugging on Steve's short hair gently, playfully, before he goes back to stroking it. "I don't know how long we're gonna be here, or if we can leave this place together. But know, right now, that I wanna stay with you, wherever that is, just like I did before. That hasn't changed. It didn't before, and it's not gonna."

Steve has something to say and he sits up to do it. The bed is made of the strongest sticks he found but with two bodies it creaks. Steve makes a note to ask for a mattress no matter what he might get in stead of what he intends. Still, Steve sits up and presses his hand to the center of Bucky's chest.

"I'm done," he says firmly.

"Over the past year... I swore if I found you, I'd be done. And I am. I know you might not believe me but you...this between us? This is my new mission and my new dream. I'm done losing people so.... Wherever you go, I go. No matter what."

He takes Bucky's hand then and kisses the knuckles.

"End of the line. You and me."

It doesn't take long for Bucky to follow Steve's motion - he's not about to stay there, lying down, when Steve needs to be upright.

And after that... His face definitely does something complicated, somehow both going soft and suspicious at the same time, like love and worry are somehow warring for dominance - which is pretty much what's happening, here. Because - "I believe that's what you want," he finally says, softly, twisting his hand gently in Steve's grasp to brush a thumb over his lips, touch the corner of his mouth. "I do, Stevie."

But what he doesn't say is that even if Steve wants it... things can change. They very nearly had, before - and Bucky had understood. He had. It's just the way Steve is, and he hasn't spent years trying to fill those shoes without coming to understand a few things. He does not doubt Steve's convictions, or think that Steve is lying to him, or that he doesn't mean what he says, or how he feels. But he does know that Steve Rogers has a really, really hard time walking away from a fight, and one might just crop up that he can't step back from, no matter how much he loves Bucky.

And Bucky understands that. He loves Steve for it. And he isn't going to question Steve about it right now.

So he just sighs - not a bad sound, just an accepting one - and grins lopsidedly, flexing his arm just enough to pull them closer together for a slow kiss on the lips. "I want you to be done losing people, pal. I want to be done with it, too."

And that is absolutely the truth, as well. "So we better get these Agrii on our side. Or - whatever it takes, right?"

"Whatever it takes..."

Steve knows that Bucky doesn't understand. Not fully. He doesn't know what Steve now knows about his future, back at home. He doesn't know what it was like to spend a year swallowing regrets at every meal. Bucky just doesn't know how serious Steve is with this vow. There's no way he could. So Steve is going to show him. Every day and at every opportunity. Steve is going to show Bucky how done he is with sacrificing his love for everything else. He deserves more, now.

He deserves time with Bucky.

The slow kiss was nice but Steve can't help but want more. He grabs Bucky by the front of his shirt and drags him back in for another, deeper kiss that's no faster. Steve wants to enjoy this.

"I love you," he breathes between one kiss and the next. "I love you, Buck. I'm done losing you. I'm holding on with both hands."

And he does. He grips Bucky's jaw in both of his palms to hold him steady as Steve plunders his mouth. He's practically touch-starved from the past year but what he really missed was being able to just feel someone else. To grab and hold and kiss. He'd never been tempted by anyone else, always wanted Bucky, but the need was there growing even as the likelihood of getting him back decreased with the day.

Now he can make up for all of that lost time.

★ 1 ★

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