𝚂𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 • 𝚂𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎 𝚁𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚛𝚜

34 • Relic

Steve awoke to the blaring of his alarm right at 4am. He barely had any sleep, that damn little blue case staring into his soul the entire night.

He had kept getting up, walking straight over to it and beginning to open it, desperate to smell his home and see his loved ones, but the pain would be too much to bare.

He threw back the covers of Tony's spare rooms bed and rubbed his face harshly, feeling his scruffy face on his palms. As he got up to walk to the bathroom, he passed the box of memories on his dresser and scowled. Why couldn't he just let himself feel his feelings? Why was it so scary?

It was like ever since he lost Millie, he lost the ability to open up. Even to Bucky.

Flicking the tap of the shower, he got in and quickly rinsed the sleep away from his body, grazing his hands over his rough skin, covered in years of scars and marks from his constant battles.

His own hands touching his body couldn't provide that same comfort that Millie's once did, and he'd only ever let one other woman be intimate with him, Sharon Carter, but she didn't bring comfort. She didn't even bring a sense of nothingness. She brought guilt.

Turning off the shower, Steve gave himself a quick dry off with a long sigh and started slipping his suit onto his body. It was a dark blue and silver suit, by far his more preferred one that he's worn.

Right on time, Bucky knocked on Steve's door and let himself in. "You ready?" He asked.

"I'm ready, question is, are you?"

Bucky let out a long sigh. "I guess I have to be."

Steve put a hand on Bucky's shoulder. "You don't, though. If you can't do this, you just say the word."

"I can't let you guys go into the Russian base alone, it's too large and what if– what if it's not abandoned? Like they're saying..."

"We can bring in Clint, or Wanda. You know that, Bucky. You're my top priority."

Bucky smiled and looked at his long time best friend. "Thanks, pal. And so are you to me, that's why I'm doing this." He let out a long sigh. "Now hurry up, sooner we leave, the sooner we can come back."

The two super soldier made their way to the hangar, Steve in his blue suit and Bucky in his leathers with his Wakandan arm exposed.

"Nice of you to join us, fellas." Nat said slyly, sipping a coffee.

"Yeah, yeah. We're on time, aren't we?"

"Barely," Tony piped up. "Come on, grab your things and let's go. We may be traveling at fast speeds but it's still going to take a few hours to get there."

Sam grabbed his wings, Steve grabbed his shield and Bucky and Nat grabbed their guns and knives. While they weren't expecting a fight, it was always good to take precautions.

Once on the quin jet, Tony took control of flying and everyone made themselves as comfortable as possible. Steve could sense the tension radiating from Bucky, the nerves that wouldn't go away. He wondered if Bucky even slept at all.

Probably not.

Steve settled in his seat next to Bucky and figured he may as well get some more sleep in before the mission. He closed his eyes and an icy chill came over his body, leaving a strange sense of fear in his mind as he drifted off.

~

"There's a hidden entrance just in this mountain, we can land right next to it and go in from there." Bucky said loudly as Steve was attempting to wake up from his rest.