Clutching || Bucky Barnes

11

Bucky watched as the world changed. One minute he had been standing where Basil had disappeared, hands empty and eyes turned towards Steve to steady himself. The blonde the only thing grounding him from the sudden fear and grief consuming him. They had lost and people were vanishing. Basil was gone. Was he dead? Did he no longer exist? It was startling for him to realise that he had just seen Basil go. Never in all of their long existences, had he seen Basil die. It had always been Bucky who had been the first to go. The first to die, the first to leave, the first to make those choices. The only time Basil had come close was when he had been hauled off to the labs way back when they were young and bright. (Bucky could hear him in his head. Voice singing. "We'll meet again. Don't know where, don't know when".)

For a second, he glanced at his empty hands. (He felt cold. Like he was back in the ice. Alone). Then he was staring at Steve. "Steve?" He uttered as he felt it was over him. The last thought in his mind, as Steve's face filled with horror, was that at least it would give him a reprieve from the grief already swallowing him. (How had Basil dealt with this for years? Bucky grieved the loss of what they'd had in the war, but that was different from grieving a death. It was a nostalgic pain but the knowledge that Basil was alive helped. What was he supposed to do now?)

Then the world seemed to shift. He watched as people disappeared and everything seemed to blur. The signs of battle, churned earth and fallen trees, smoothed over. More trees formed and the sky changed. The bodies of the dead vanishing and the sun hanging higher over them. Clouds blocking some of the light. The very air seemed to take on a warmer note. It felt like he had stepped into a different world. The battle gone and the forest different. Bucky lifted his head and saw T'Challa looking around in confusion. The man still in his suit but the dirt was gone. The alien blood that had been splattered across them was gone, material seemingly fresh and clean. Bucky could no longer feel the pain from his cracked ribs, nor the throbbing of his head. His injuries seemingly healed.

"Sargent Barnes", T'Challa called as began to approach through the now much thicker forest. "What happened?" More people were appearing from the air around them. Wakandan soldiers, all confused and injury free.

"Parrish?" Bucky's hair flicked as he whirled around. Hope filling him as he scanned the trees. Nothing. "Basil?" He took a breath, pacing as more people seemed to appear, forming out of thin air. Grout was standing several feet away to his left, Wanda with tears still on her cheeks to his right. Still no Basil. "Parrish!"

"Sarge?" The reply was shaky. Bucky turned and behind him was Basil. The man was still half for in, unlike the others who just appeared from nothing, he reappeared in the same way he had vanished. Whole body appearing as an outline and filling with colour like a printed image. Basil was staring at his hands, flexing his fingers as they took on shape and colour until he was solid once more. Then he lifted his gaze and smiled at Bucky, green eyes as bright as ever. The blood and gore of battle long gone from his skin. "Jesus Sarge. You look like you've seen a ghost", he chuckled.

Bucky was moving before Basil had finished speaking. His arms, one metal and one flesh, wound themselves around the smaller man's waist as he leaned down and pressed their foreheads together. "Don't you dare do that to me again. You hear me Parrish?" He grumbled into the air between their faces. The grief and the horror fading, seeping out of his chest as he felt the warmth and weight of the man in front of him. He could feel the man breathing and it settled something inside him. "You practically gave me a heart attack. Always trouble, aren't you Parrish".

He felt more than saw Basil smile, eyes too busy staring into green. "I can't help it Sarge. Trouble just seems to follow me". Bucky loosened his hold as Basil turned his head to glance around. Blue eyes watched as the smile fell into confusion, thought, then understanding and wide eyes surprise. (Basil had always been smart, much smarter than Bucky. That had been true in the war and it was true now. Sometimes Bucky wondered what he did that was special enough for such a man love him). "Sarge", Basil's face fell. "I told you not to wait for tomorrow. I should have gotten my kiss. Cause I don't think this is tomorrow Sarge. Actually, I don't think we're in the place we were at all".

"I think you are right". Footsteps approaching made the two men part from one another as T'Challa drew closer. The king had a holographic write computer out and hovering over his arm. The recognisable face of Shuri on the screen. Bucky had kept one arm around Basil's waist and it flexed slightly as the man faced them with a stunned but angry look. "According to my sister, we are not in the place we knew at all. Thanos killed half the universe, us included. This is five years later.  Somehow, we're back".

Wanda and Groot had joined them. The woman quiet and the humanoid tree gazing at them I'm confusion. "I am Groot", it said. It had the tone of several swear words.

Basil nodded and spoke with the forced air of someone very confused and trying not to show it. (Bucky felt the same). "Ah. I agree with Groot". He ran his fingers through his curls. "Fuck. I never knew what it had felt like to die before. I guess that was it".

"We need to return to the city", T'Challa stated. Then he turned and shouted a command. A echoing cry from the newly reformed alive soldiers bounced back as they began to approach.

Bucky felt Basil sigh as the man rested his head on his shoulder. "Oh god", there was a tone of realisation. "We left Steve for five years. Who knows the shit he's gotten up to! I'm going to have to give him a check over as soon as we see him again".

Bucky snorted. "I'm sure he's fine. I mean, as you said, the trouble follows you. I leave you alone and you and Steve crash a plane into the artic, fight off aliens, robots, hydra and a megalomaniac from space".

"I left you alone on one mission and you loose an arm and get brain washed by hydra for seventy years", Basil countered.

Bucky glared at him. "Touché Parrish".

"You love me Sarge".

"Unfortunately".

Unedited

I am recovering from surgery. So this was half typed one handed (which took ages) and half written through dictation. The effort I go through for updates. You'd better appreciate this.