Stucky Prompts

3 - Point of No Return

"This is it, I guess."

He turned over his shoulder, and a smile was gracing his face -- but Bucky wanted to scream at him. Stop pretending, he wanted to yell. There's a better way than this and you know it.

But he couldn't.

"Steve, you can't go through with this. I know you," he spat, struggling in his bonds. "I can't have you looking for an excuse to die!"

"Who said I was?" he answered in a much too mild voice as he stared ahead, off the edge of the cliff.

"Let me do this, please!" he screamed, staggering closer but stumbling to his knees as weakness overtakes him. "I can't lose you!"

"We have to do this, Buck," he said quietly -- determined. He stared him in the eyes. "There's no other way."

"There's gotta be, we just -- we just need more time!"

Steve scoffed silently at that, turning once more. He had no more time left. "A soul for a soul," he murmured, staring down the cliff's edge, the wind lifting his hair up and off his forehead.

Bucky finally leapt up and grabbed him, pulling him backwards.

"Let me be selfish for once," Steve pleaded, and Bucky held him close, blinking hard as his metal arm tightened around him, whirring. "Let me -- "

"Shut your godd*** mouth, Steve," he hissed, breathing with difficulty as he processed his words. "Just shut up, okay? You're not pulling a hail Mary, for Chrissakes -- "

"There has to be someone," Steve snapped as he finally struggled out of his grasp. They stared at each other a moment in silence. As one, they moved to reach the cliff and fought to see who would end up going over. It had to be one of them.

"I've done s***** things, Steve, let me do this right!"

He kicked his legs out from under him, and sprinted over to the ledge, kicking off the side --

Steve's arms wrapped around his middle and he hauled him back, dropping him. Bucky yanked him down to his level and both struggled to gain the upper hand -- landing punches and blocking hits.

"Steve, please," he panted as he got him in a headlock with his metal arm, careful not to seriously hurt him -- he just needed to be stopped.

All he saw was the helicarrier incident flashing through his mind, and he made a conscious effort to dial back how much strength he used against him.

"Don't do this -- Buck -- " Steve scrambled for a hold, legs kicking as he gasped for air, and Bucky was blinking back tears. Steve struggled to breathe and slowly stilled as he passed out. Bucky, panting from exhaustion, emotions clouding his mind, walked to the edge and stared out.

At least there was a beautiful sunset.

He closed his eyes briefly and stepped to the very edge, and then he took one more step. His stomach lifted and he began to plummet, heart in his throat.

And abruptly, he's caught. Steve'd grabbed his hand, tears streaming down his face as he held on with all his worth. Unable to pull him up, they stared at each other. Bucky felt the tears wash down his cheeks as he stared up at his best friend, at the man he loved.

"You need to let me go," he croaked.

"It's gotta be me, Buck," he wavered in response, tears dripping off the end of his nose. "Let me do this last thing, please." Bucky hated hearing his voice crack as emotion claimed him.

"You're not gonna leave me alone by myself," he said firmly. "What am I s'posed to do in a world where you don't exist?"

"Live on," Steve panted. "Live the life you deserve."

"I need you to do that, punk," he sobbed, and Steve stared a minute.

"If you go, I'm going down with you."

"Just stop, Steve," he choked. "Please."

"I'm not going to live without you either!" Steve was losing his grip on him, trying to grab him tighter. "Please don't make me go through that again," he begged. "Bucky, please... "

They were slipping. Bucky looked at him and mouthed 'I love you' before he slipped from Steve's fingers. The cliff wall crumbled and Steve, too, came falling down -- hurtling toward the rocky bottom.

He closed his eyes.

He couldn't watch Bucky fall once more to his death.

A portal opened seconds before the impact and the two crashed onto the ground surrounding the Avengers compound, rolling through the grass and stopping several feet away from each other.

Neither moved for a minute. Then, Bucky slowly crawled his way to Steve and collapsed beside him, urging him to sit up. They stared at each other in bewilderment and Bucky fell against him.

"You -- f****** -- we almost -- Christ, Steve, you almost -- " He held him close and pressed against his neck, choking back silent sobs. Steve held him close, eyes wide as he stared blankly ahead, in shock.

The problem, Bruce had mentioned, was something to do with time travel, something to do with Thanos, and the timing didn't require the stone from that moment, a time from before had sufficed -- but the two had tuned out from the beginning.

Once they were allowed to leave they headed to the pier and sat on the edge, legs dangling towards the water. Neither spoke for a moment, and Bucky sat close to him. Steve was trembling as he kept his eyes trained on the water.

"I want you to want to be happy," Bucky said quietly, looking at him. Steve didn't look up. "Hey. Steve, I'm serious."

Steve looked down and took a shaky breath, swallowing thickly. "I... "

"I know it's... hard for you," he murmured, trying to find the right words. "I know you have stuff going on. I know I can't protect you from that. But I'm always gonna be here for you. To listen. To just... be there."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean... "

"It's okay, Steve." He blew out a shaky breath. "We're here. We're alive."

Steve felt his shoulders relax. They were alive.

Bucky was alive. He'd caught him this time.

He leaned his head onto his shoulder and closed his eyes. "Thank you, Buck."