An Untold Legacy (FATWS X Reader)

[25] You're Something Else

The sun was setting when Bucky approached YN, her long legs dangling over the dock, bare feet skimming the water. She had a beer in her hands, the golden liquid sloshing around as she passed it between them. Bucky smiled as he watched her eyes dance over the horizon, the yellow light illuminating her sharp features.

He sat down by her quietly, not wanting to disrupt the calm atmosphere. YN lifted the beer to her lips, taking a long sip before she turned to the brunette super soldier. Bucky met her eye without hesitation, his arm coming up to wrap around her shoulders.

"What do you think happens when we die?" YN whispered, resting the side of her face on Bucky's chest. She felt his chest lift and fall in a deep sigh, his eyebrows coming together above his eyes.

"Ma always said we went to be with God to await a resurrected body." Bucky murmured, his hand coming to rest in YN's hair.

"Mama Barnes also said that water tasted just as good as milk on our cereal." YN muttered, sticking her tongue out as a fake gag. Bucky chuckled, shrugging his shoulders casually. "Do you think Steve is waiting for a new body?"

Bucky licked his lips, using it as a way to think before he voiced his thoughts. "Honestly? I'm not sure," he responded quietly, feeling YN deflate in his arms. "All I know is that he is so proud of you, YN. There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't say how much pride he felt knowing you did what you did-"

"Really?" YN scoffed. "I thought he would have cursed the scientist that agreed to it until he was blue in the face." Bucky laughed, shaking his head as he did so. There was a brief moment of silence as the two friends sat thinking about Steve, both encased in their own memories of their loved one. "He's proud of you too, you know?"

Bucky blinked, not expecting the whisper that came from the woman in his arms. "Proud of me?" YN nodded, sitting back slightly so that she could look Bucky in the eye.

"He was absolutely devastated when you were accepted into the war, he cried for hours on the end of my bed. I had no idea what to do..." Bucky looked to his lap, guilt building in his chest as he remembered Steve trying to follow him to war. "And then it was me crying on the end of his bed when he got the acceptance letter... I lost both of you in a matter of months."

"You didn't lose us YN." Bucky whispered, grabbing the hand that wasn't occupied by holding her beverage.

"And then I really did lose you both." YN murmured, pausing to sip at her beer. "When Steve wrote to tell me that you'd fallen from that train..." YN shook her head, clearing the lump in her throat. "God, I didn't know what was worse, reading it on the letter or listening to your family cry for days... Becca was distraught and I didn't know what to feel. And then... then they showed up on my door step, a box of Steve's belongings to pass over, a letter saying Steve had sacrificed himself for New York handed to me."

"God, I'm sorry... I'm sorry you had to go through that alone." YN sighed, licking her lips as salty tears trailed over them.

"We had a funeral for you both... No bodies, so we had to bury empty caskets." YN choked, shaking her head. "I had to be dragged away because I was convinced I was going to crawl inside one and force them to bury me with you." Bucky grimaced, tightening his hold on her hand. "And then I got him back," YN chuckled. "It was so surreal, seeing him standing in front of me again, cheeks red with life and large arms wrapped around me, I thought I was dreaming."

"I know what you mean." Bucky whispered.

"There's only one moment I felt anything like how I felt that day," YN said quietly, turning her hand in Bucky's grip and interlacing their fingers. Bucky looked to her, cocking his head as he waited for her to continue. "And that was when I saw you on that highway. Even though you weren't yourself, all I could think is that you were alive. Both of you, my brothers, were alive and I had you back."