Till the end of the line

Even when i had nothing, i had Bucky

Shortly after, everyone met up again in the kitchen. Wanda and Clint both offered to give Bucky the tour of the Avengers tower while Steve had a stop to make. "Rhodey, do you know where Tony would be?"

The Colonel just briefly glanced up from his work, giving a single nod. "Should be downstairs, said he was working on a new suit."

Steve thanked him as he made his way Downstairs, finding the mechanic right where'd he'd been expected to be. "Tony," he began, announcing his arrival before sitting down in the opposite side of his desk, waiting for Tony's full attention.

It took only a moment more before Tony finished what he was doing, swiveling around in his chair until his body was turned towards Steve. "What can I do for you, Cap?"

Steve didn't speak right a way, hesitating a moment as he put his words together. "Look, I just... I wanted to say Thank you."

Tony offered him a small smile, though said nothing. Instead he got to his feet and walked across the room, heading towards a stack of papers. "Fury gave me the file on Barnes a few months back during the time we were split," he explained, shuffling through a few folders before pulling out the manilla folder he'd had earlier. "He told me that this man had escaped Hydra and was currently in hiding. There wasn't a lot of information about him, but he wanted me to keep an eye out for him anyway, in case he showed up." Tony walked back over and handed the folder to Steve, who opened it to reveal a picture of Bucky, a backpack slung over his shoulder and paper bag held tightly in his hand. "Sure enough," Tony continued, returning to his seat once more. "As I'm flying past the Smithsonian on my way to an interview, i see a man surrounded by at least 30 Hydra agents, and realized I'd found the man from the file."

Steve fell silent, taking a moment to process all of what Tony had told him. "So you came back and told Sam to get him," he finally concluded, gaze scanning the information in the folder.

"I had to make sure this was the right guy," he answered with a shrug, shifting his weight to get more comfortable. "Otherwise I would have taken him back myself."

Steve nodded, figuring that that made sense. "I wish you would have told me about him."

Tony let out a sigh, shaking his head. "Steve to be completely honest, I forgot about the file until I saw him."

They continued on with their conversation, Steve explaining his history with Bucky as Tony told him everything Fury had known about him.

"How old are you guys again?"

Steve smirked, getting to his feet as he turned to head back upstairs. "97!" He answered, and left without another word, hearing Tony muttering something incomprehensible under his breath.

Steve found Bucky on the couch in the living room, talking quietly to Sam and Clint. Upon seeing Steve, the ex- assassin's face lit up, as he quickly scooted over, making room for him on the small couch. The blonde offered Bucky a genuine smile, feeling that for the first time in years, he was finally happy again. "You settling in okay?"

Bucky nodded, side comfortably being pressed against Steve's as he adjusted his position on the too small couch. "We still need to figure out sleeping arrangements..."

"Don't we have a spare bedroom?" Tony walked in with Natasha having overheard their conversation, coming to stand beside Clint.

"Scott took up the last bed," Natasha reminded him, watching as Steve adjusted his position so his hand rested gently against Bucky's thigh.

"Buck and I can share a bed. We did it back in the war..." The blonde glanced over at Bucky, meeting his gaze. "Unless you'd rather have a bed to yourself. I'm sure we could find somethi-"

"-No, Steve, that's perfect." Bucky offered him a small smile, shifting uneasily under Tony's judging gaze.

Steve nodded, motioning for the brunette to follow him. "Come on, I'll show you where my room is. You have any bags or anything?" The blonde figured it was about time to head in for the night.

Bucky let out an amused snort, shaking his head for affect. "Really Steve? You think after running from Hydra for years that I'd have luggage with me?" The ex- assassin let out a sigh as he stood up, walking over to follow Steve. He had had a backpack for quite some time though it was back at his safe house. The last one he'd hidden at.

The blonde shrugged, opening the door to his bedroom. Well, their bedroom now. "Home sweet home," he announced, gesturing to the dimly lit room as he fell back on the bed. "Mi casa es su casa, whatever. Make yourself comfortable." Steve rolled over to the edge of the bed, throwing off his shirt and tucking himself under the covers as his gaze shifted over to land on Bucky. A moment of silence passed, As Steve stared at the other man. "I still can't believe you're back, Buck..."

Bucky pulled off his jacket with a quick sweep, pulling his shirt off along with it and setting it down gently over the back of a chair. "Hard to think-" the brunette cut himself short. He'd almost said something that he knew would ruin the friendship they both shared. How would Steve react if he heard Bucky say 'Hard to think my crush whom I haven't seen in 70 years is laying shirtless in bed staring at me as if i was the last missing piece to completing some sort of puzzle.' But instead what came out was, -that after 70 years... We're still two boys from Brooklyn. Just out to set our mark on The world." The brunette slid under the covers beside Steve, turning onto his side to look at the man beside him. God...Steve was beautiful.

"Yeah, well... These two Brooklyn boys'll have to continue leaving their mark tomorrow." The blonde gave a soft laugh as he stretched over to turn off the lamp, casting the room into darkness. "Good night Buck," he added, rolling over so his back faced Bucky's chest.

"Night Steve..." He breathed, eyes closing with the image of the beautiful man next to him just on the edge of his vision. For once in 70 years, Bucky finally felt safe. Felt like he could learn to trust again.

That night Steve's dream came again...but this time as he reached forward screaming Bucky's name, he leaned forward just a little bit more and suddenly Bucky's hand was in his, right as the railing fell away and Steve was able to pull his friend up.

Bucky was safe.