A Birdie Lost in Time | Bucky Barnes

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"You ready, kid?"

Marlow looked up from where she was examining her suit in the mirror to find Steve approaching from behind, eyes worriedly focused her.

She knew he was still kicking himself for agreeing to this—for splitting the mission with her. He fought tooth and nail that night a week ago, trying to convince her that she should stay back, to let him take care of it.

He pulled every excuse he could; that she was only twenty-two—which she reminded him that he was the same age and trying to volunteer for war.

That she was being reckless—which she reminded him that he was being reckless by not accepting help.

Finally, he tried to convince her not to go because she didn't know what to expect.

"The only..." she let out a short breath, willing away the burn at the back of her throat. "The only ones left that know what to expect are either injured, off-world, or with their families. They've given everything already, let me help. Let me do it for them," she'd told him.

Thankfully, that was all it took to convince him.

"Ready for anything," Marlow nodded as she turned, bouncing on her toes in excitement. She was about to time travel—how could she not be excited?

But Steve didn't share her enthusiasm, he just watched her with tight lips before stepping towards her. "I need you to do me a favor."

She cocked a brow in defiance and he waited, likely for her to challenge him, to say something along the lines of 'what's in it for me?' like she had so many times before, but instead she remained silent, not wanting to stress him out more than he already was.

"When you go to Lehigh, I need you to put these back," he explained, passing her a handful of red vials identical to those already in her belt. "I figure we should return the vials I stole when we jumped the first time. You know; in case I set off some mess of events."

"Bruce already explained that that's not how it works," she lectured mockingly but dropped the four red vials into a compartment on her hip nonetheless. "Why four?"

"We had already lost a stone once, I didn't want to risk getting stuck somewhere," he offered.

But Marlow saw his eyes squint in the way she'd learned meant he wasn't telling the whole story. It was like he was trying to force the truth through his eyes, but it only served as an indicator to some falsity.

She'd first seen it a year ago, when he claimed he had no personal connection to the mission.

Six years, she reminded herself.

Six years because she'd been gone for five. Dead for five.

Whatever half-truth Steve was telling her, she wasn't going to push it. She couldn't imagine the storm within his head right now, dealing with loss after loss over the last five years. She'd have all the time in the world to ask him about it when they were finished for the day.

Right now, they had a job to do.

"You ready?" she asked instead, repeating his earlier question.

His mouth opened as if he were about to agree before he clamped his jaw shut again, dropping his head in a way that showed how tired he was. She'd learned in their time that that meant he wasn't ready. Nowhere near it.

So, she immediately stepped forward, wrapping her arms around his torso and squeezing when she felt his arms wrap around her.

"You know I'm proud of you, right Marlow?"