Immortal (Bucky Barnes & Steve Rogers x Reader)

2. Memories from Before

It'd been a few months since the day Schmidt's plane had crashed with Steve still on board. Yours and Peggy's bond had grown so much stronger, you relied on each other so much, helping each other grieve. She became your comfort person, the person you trusted more than anyone, and you'd become hers. You knew you had a tough decision to make, either tell her your secret or say goodbye.

You were sat in your apartment window late one evening, unable to sleep. As you looked down at the streets of Brooklyn your mind wandered once again back to all the good times you had with your best friends. It was both agonising and comforting to allow yourself to go back to a time when they were both still by your side.

-

It was a Friday afternoon, you, Bucky and Steve had made plans to go to a cafe that'd just opened. Light grey clouds lay in the sky above you, stripping the streets of colour.
'You alright there, Miss?', an unfamiliar voice said as you waited on the corner for your two friends. You look up to see a man, not short of 6' approaching you with a somewhat nasty look on his face. You gave him a soft smile and nodded, hoping that he'd just keep on walking. That wasn't what happened.
'What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?', he snickered as he leant up against the wall next to you.
'Nothing's wrong. I just didn't feel the need to start a conversation', you said bluntly, trying to get the message across that you really weren't interested.
'Wow Missy, not rude at all', he hit back, to which you gave him an unamused look.
'You should really try being more polite, Sweetheart, crude isn't a good look on you', he spat. You raised your eyebrows,
'I do not care what you think of me', you replied. He edged closer to you as he got more frustrated that this wasn't going the way he wanted. You tried to back away, but he grabbed your hand and gripped it tight enough to leave a bruise. You tried to pull away.
'Don't touch me'.

'Why not? What are you gonna do about it?', he sneered. You looked at him angrily as a fist pounded against his face, knocking him over. The same man who the fist belonged to proceeded to kick the man in the gut which caused him to stumble and run off, clearly not wanting a fight. You smile at your friend,

'Thanks Buck, but you know I could've handled it'. He looked down at you, he was dressed in his uniform, he looked much older and more mature than the Bucky you once knew,

'Well, I handled it better', he smiled back. It wasn't long before Steve also arrived at your meeting place, and the three of you made your way to the cafe.

It was the night of the Stark Expo; you and the guys had made your way there. Walking over to the main stage you were positioned in between the two of them, you look at Bucky,
'I'm gonna miss you when you go', a hint of sadness laced in your voice.
'I know, but you'll still have Steve', he smiled as he looked at you,
'Well...hopefully', you laughed as you turn your attention to Steve. Steve wanted so badly to be able to go and fight for his country alongside Bucky, but due to his health conditions and small figure it was looking like he wouldn't be able to.
'Not if I can help it', he said in response.

As the three of you neared the stage the music started playing, signalling the beginning of the show.

'Hey look, its starting!', you took Bucky's hand and pulled him forward, Steve followed.

The night before Bucky left, he, of course, was spending it with you and Steve. Steve was yet again trying to get accepted to fight.
'Steve, you don't have to go, you can stay here and still help...', you pleaded, you hated seeing how upset he got every time he was turned down.
'Y/N, it's not fair that I stay here whilst men are putting their lives on the line...', he said, you could see how much it meant to him, and it broke your heart that you couldn't help.
'Y/N's right, there's plenty of work here that you could do', Bucky added, he also saw how desperate Steve was.
'That's not enough', Steve replied. You looked at him sadly, before you turned to Bucky. You gave each other a look that said, 'we aren't gonna be able to change his mind'.

A couple years later and so much had changed. Steve was twice his size and now known across the world as Captain America and Bucky had spent the last two years fighting for his country and getting captured by Hydra along with the rest of his base. The three of you were sat together in a bar chatting just like old times.
'I can't believe you're 'Captain America'', you laughed softly, still in shock at how Steve had managed to become this huge guy with super strength.
'Neither can I... but really I'm still that small boy from Brooklyn', he replied, a warm smile on his face.
'You're not so 'small' anymore...',
'You're even taller than Y/N now', Bucky said, you could tell he's slightly jealous of all the female attention that Steve was now getting.
'Finally, I was sick of being the shortest', Steve joked, causing you all to laugh. As the laughter slowly died off, Peggy, the lady Steve had developed a crush on, walked into the bar. You raised your eyebrows and smirked at Bucky as Steve got up to greet her. Bucky gave you a look back before looking to Steve, then to Peggy, then back to Steve. You leant into Bucky's ear,
'I think that's our cue to leave', you said quietly.

-

You took a deep breath and opened your eyes. Wiping the tears from your cheeks you stood up and walked to your kitchen to get a glass of water. You'd give anything just to see them again, to see their smiles, to hug them both. But you knew you couldn't, they were gone, and you had to find a way to deal with that. All you knew is that you couldn't lose Peggy as well, you've got to tell her what you thought you'd never tell anyone.