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With a slight gleam, Steve was back on the platform, the stones and the hammer no longer with him. Bucky felt relieved when he saw him standing there, because he always had this feeling in him, a worrying, aching feeling that burned deep in his heart. He always thought people were going to leave him, never really feeling loved and worth it.
Years and years of torture had made him evil, that’s what he thought. All the blood in his hands had painted a path for him, a path he could never escape. He felt he shouldn’t ever escape it, he belongs there, where all murderers and bad people belong. A path taking them to hell.
That’s why he had gotten used to people fearing him enough to not stablish some sort of conversation with him. He had gone to bars some nights, back in Bucharest when he was his own person again and in control of his mind, just to forget the memories haunting him down every moment of the day. He had danced the night away each time, music was now a lot different than what he remembered. And the good nights were those where people didn’t know who he was or what he had done. But there were bad nights too. Nights in which people would just run away from him, stare at him with nothing but fear in their eyes, avoid him. But there were people that would also say things to him. Things that hurt him so bad he would just leave and return home, crying against his pillow till he fell asleep.
So, he always felt like he was not enough for anyone or anything, and that it was okay for people to fear him and want to leave him, it was their right after all the damage and pain he had caused.
“Work’s done”, said Steve with a grin, the sincerest he had seen in a while. That’s when Bucky noticed the shield he had brought back, maybe from a different timeline, or that’s what he understood when Banner had explained to him the whole time travel thing.
“You getting back to business so soon?”, usual Sam, making a joke out of everything. He had grown to like him; he was good to Steve and helped him out when he needed it the most. That’s what Steve had told him on one of those Skype sessions they had while he was in Wakanda.
Steve let out a warm laugh as he walked towards Sam, holding the shield tight and close to him, “Actually, I brought this back for you, Captain”.
Sam looked so confused it made Bucky smile, he knew there was no one more deserving of the shield than him, that man would have followed Steve anywhere and he would have helped him do the right thing without even asking.
“Steve, I don’t know what to say, I-…”
“Then what about not saying anything? Just take it, it’s yours. And I won’t take a no for an answer, you know how much I hate getting no’s for answers.” Steve extended his arm, handing the shield to Sam.
Sam reached for it and took it, putting his own arm trough the straps and adjusting them tight on him. He had a strange feeling inside of his chest. He felt some kind of delight knowing Steve trusted him enough to give him this, some part of his life and history. Some part of the whole country’s history. But he also felt like it didn’t belong to him, he felt like he was using something borrowed.
“It feels like it’s someone else’s” He looks over to Bucky, searching for a sign of approval. Bucky nods and gives him a little smile, showing him the support that he was looking for and the approval he needed.
“Well, that can’t be because it’s fully yours now.” Steve gives him a reassuring look and pats him on his back, to make sure Sam feels more confident with the situation.
Bucky stared at them while they kept talking about what the future holds for them, especially for Steve now that he’s retired. Bucky walks away from their little talk and loud laughter and finds a bench by the lake with the most beautiful landscape he has witnessed since he’s been back being Bucky and not The Winter Soldier. He sits down and just as he does, he hears branches cracking as someone approaches him from behind.
He feels a pair of hands grabbing gently at his shoulders, as the person stands steady behind him. Bucky puts his flesh hand above the one that’s on his left shoulder, caressing it as softly as he can, “Hey, you”.
“Hey”, Steve said, shifting a little and now hugging Bucky from behind, his arms crossed on his chest in a protective way, as if he was glass that might break from holding him too tight.
Bucky was staring at the birds flying high above the lake, he seemed a little lost on his own thoughts. “You know, for a moment I thought maybe you would stay in the past with her”
“Why would I do that? I’ve already told you I want to be with you, home is where your heart beats.”
“I don’t know, I thought you realized you deserve better than an unstable, sad old man that has enough blood on his hands to paint the whole world red”, he said with a sad grin, cupping Steve’s hands in his own.
“Listen to me, okay? I will tell you this as many times as it takes for you to believe it,” Steve straightens up and starts caressing Bucky’s hair carefully, trying to make a little bun with it. “You are the most incredible human being I’ve had the pleasure to meet and fully know. You are not responsible for what you did because it wasn’t your fault, you can’t control what you’re doing when you are brainwashed and have some freaks giving you orders.” He takes a deep breath and pauses for a bit.
“Yeah, but-…”
“Shush, let me talk.” He has now made a little bun in the back of Bucky’s head. “You are the most important person to me in the world and I would do anything to be by your side for the eternity and more. I love you so much it hurts my chest when we’re apart. I want you to be with me till the end of the line and beyond death.”
Steve walked around surrounding the bench Bucky was sitting on until he was facing him. He noticed the tears falling down his cheeks and brought a finger up to wipe them off his pretty face.
“I will never leave your side as long as you want me with you. Looking at the stars I will always find you.”, Steve was now on his knees, cupping Bucky’s face between his hands, eyes locked on each other’s gaze. He gave him a quick peck on the lips, so gentle and sweet it made his heart beat faster.
Bucky didn’t know what to say, so he just kept staring at him with his lovely smile that could brighten up the darkest room in the world, and those eyes that held the meaning of innocence and love.
“I spent two years on the run, and while doing so, I found this place where they make these beautiful rings and they can make a personalized ring, you know? You give them a design and they make it.”, Steve searched for something inside his pocket. “I know how much you wanted that ring back when we were younger, you said it was too expensive for you to buy it and that you would rather buy my medicine so I wouldn’t die on you and that way you could keep me close forever.”
He took a little white box out of his pocket, still on his knees. Bucky looked at him with surprise all over his face, tears pooling on his eyes, “Stevie, I-…”.
“James Buchanan Barnes”, Steve said opening the little box, showing the ring. His finger wiping away the tears falling down his beloved’s cheeks, “Bucky, would you marry this hundred-year-old man and be willing to spend the rest of your life with him, even if he is a pain in the ass? I can assure you there is no other man alive that loves you as much as he does.”
“Of course I do, dumbass. I have waited my whole life for this moment.” Bucky kisses him softly and then takes the ring in his own hands. “It’s even more beautiful than the original one, you know?”, he says smiling so wide his cheeks hurt.
Steve takes the ring and puts it carefully on Bucky’s finger. He then pulls him in closer and kisses him. Kisses him so sweetly and pure it makes him want to cry. And he does, he cries while they kiss, the salt of the tears mixing where their tongues meet. He cries because the man he has loved so deeply and honestly his entire life is right in front of him.
And he’s going to be with him till death do them part, and even after that he will always find him. They will always find each other right where the stars align.