The Aftermath

Bucky

Bucky was back in Brooklyn, sharing a nice, spacious apartment with Steve in an inconspicuous neighborhood. T'Challa offered both of them a place in Wakanda but they both felt it was time for them to come back home. Pepper helped them get settled. She didn't have to, but Bucky realized she needed to do it. Taking care of Tony's family was Pepper's way of coping up with everything.

Bucky was now a free man, sort of. Ross, Fury, and T'Challa sorted the 2016 Vienna bombing and he was proven innocent in that one. But not in the over two dozens atrocities he committed as HYDRA's puppet. He was ready to face all the consequences, scared but ready. Some countries even demanded for his death as payment. But Fury stepped in for him. That surprised Bucky. A lot. So, Fury explained to them HYDRA's brainwashing and of course capitalized on the fact that Bucky might as well be the longest American POW in history to put the odds in their favor. Those arguments plus his participation in the battle against Thanos appeased everyone. Then Fury went as far as to stake his life, that the next time the Winter Soldier step out of bounds from the law, he would take full responsibility. That seemed sealed the deal and satisfied those who were out for Bucky's blood. Bucky couldn't thank Fury enough. He didn't know Fury and Fury technically didn't know him, but there he was risking his ass for him.

"I did it for Rogers," Fury told him when he asked why. "And especially for her. I know it would be something she would ask of me, if she was here."

Her.

He didn't tell them but he actually remembered her.

Whatever Shuri was doing to him back in Wakanda was effective. They first worked on destroying the trigger words implanted in him. And when he was freed from them, they started working on sorting his memories. He remembered a lot, everything, but they were jumbled in his head and Shuri helped him put them in order. But during one of the last sessions they had, two months before Thanos came crashing into Wakanda, Shuri dug deeper than usual that they came across a huge chunk of memory suppressed and embedded way, way down. Gradually, they worked on it, stimulating it, restarting it somehow, until finally, it opened up a bit. And when it did, the first thing he saw was her. Younger, though, as young as Shuri. She had a bleeding cut on her forehead and a knife in hand.

When Shuri asked what the memory was about, all he said was it was about a girl. Good thing Shuri didn't probe further, probably knowing they were still in the early stages and things would be still be blurry. It would be awhile before he could arrange the newly recovered memory into a cohesive context. But alas, they didn't have enough time. Thanos happened, the snap happened, and the next thing Bucky knew was, she was gone.

He had a lot of questions, especially now that more and more of her was coming back. It used to be just a leaky faucet, one drop at a time, but now, it was open and she was flowing freely in his mind, in his dreams. The thing he was having difficulty processing was the way he suddenly felt about her, because along with the old memories of her resurfacing, something old and familiar has stirred inside him too.

He wanted to tell Steve. But a lot happened with Steve too. After Stark's funeral, when they finally found the time to sit down and talk, Steve told him of his plans of going back to Peggy in the other timeline they created. Bucky didn't want him to go, but what could he do, really? How could he stop his best friend from seizing the opportunity of finally experiencing the one thing he ever wanted but was deprived of? It hurt that Steve chose to leave him behind to get a life, but Steve promised he'd come back and Bucky promised that he'd be there. So, he set aside his own issues and no longer worried Steve that time.

Now that Steve's back, old and wrinkly, yes, but still Steve, he wanted to finally tell him. But he didn't know how. He was still piecing a lot about her and he knew how much she meant to Steve that it might pain his best friend more if he learned that she kept something this big from him all this time. He wanted to consult Barton. If there was anyone who else knew a lot about her past, it would be him. But Barton had retreated in his farm and Bucky couldn't blame the guy if he wanted to deal with this tragedy on his own. So Bucky tried being patient and cool about it. Besides, he had his present to deal with. All he knew was he needed to stay out of trouble, but other than that, he didn't know what else to do with his time. Steve and Sam told him to enjoy it, catch up on the hundred and one things he had missed in this century.