After Infinity War

Part 39

STEVE

'I don't know!' He shouts at me, 'it just isn't right! We shouldn't be up here, this isn't the way!' Bucky looks more manic than I've ever seen him, on edge at every unexpected noise.
'Bucky, there was nowhere else to go! The world was disappearing without us.' He doesn't reply, just follows as I find another staircase. 'Maybe we get out the same way we did the last time. Get to the roof.'
Again, Bucky does not reply, so I take it upon myself to try it anyway. His silence is scaring me but I can see no other option as to what to do.
I slowly climb the stairs and stop at the same place where me and Bucky had been around 70 years before, jumping to safety. It is a weird sensation, the building as it was before it had gone into flames. But it only lasts a second before flames appear all around.
Bucky quickly comes to stand beside me, scared of being in the same situation twice.
'Okay,' I say, trying to remain calm, 'we've done this before. Go across the beam and I'll follow after.'
'Steve last time the beam fell.' He says, turning to me and grabbing my wrist.
'And I made it anyway. Bucky go.' I say and direct him onto the beam. He's reluctant but cannot go against me pushing him onto the beam and begins to climb over.
He makes it across and just as I'm about to step onto the beam it falls into the flames.
'I'm going to jump.' I say, stepping back.
'You're not going to make it.' Bucky says with an eerie confidence.
'Not the attitude I need here Buck.' I say, trying to make the situation a little less grave.
'No, you can't. You can't I don't know...' He suddenly stops talking and looks down to his left, where his arm is, as it used to be.
'Buck, when did that happen?' I ask, wary.
'It's taking us back. Before Hydra messed with me,' He shouts across the building, 'before you took the serum.'
'So I'm not...me.' I say, suddenly understanding. 'I can't make the jump.'
'We'll find another way. Walk this way, we'll find another beam you can climb across.' Bucky says, suddenly ignoring everything he'd been telling me.
'Buck...' I say, quietly.
'Maybe there's a rope I can...'
'Bucky.' He stops and looks at me.
'I can't lose you.' He says. Although we are far apart I can see his eyes start to fill with tears, 'I just got you back. I can't lose you.' He shouts.
'Bucky, this is a war, there will be casualties. It's alright.' I say, starting to breath heavily. It's hard to process what I'm saying, I wish Bucky was beside me, I wish I could hug him, say some form of goodbye. But we're separated by a six storey fall.
'I'm staying with you.' Bucky says, holding onto the railing.
'No you're not.'
'I don't want to go back without you.' He says. I can see the floor below us starting to fade to white and I know my time is running out. I either try to find a way over or accept this.
'Bucky, I need you to go back, and I need you to tell some people some things.' He shakes his head, not wanting to have to leave without me, 'Bucky I need you to do this. I need you to tell Tony that I'm sorry. Tell him I'm so sorry for leaving him for this last year and that I regret it so much. Just tell him I'm sorry. Okay?' He nods and I find that I've started to cry too.
'And I need you to tell Nat that I love her so much and Bruce and Clint and Thor. Just make sure they all know that I love them, okay? Alright? Let them know that I didn't want to go, but I trust them to keep this world safe. Okay?'
'I can't...I don't want to...' He says quietly.
'This world would have gone to hell without you Bucky. I wouldn't have lasted this long. You took me in after my parents...you'll be okay.' I wipe my eyes and regain a sense of posture, I might not have my heightened abilities, but I'm still wearing my suit and I'm still Captain America. 'Carol said that if we couldn't get out, we'd be trapped in this world unless we died. So I'm going to have to...I'm going to jump.' Bucky holds onto the railing tighter and stares at me.
'You're the best man I've ever known, Steve.' He furiously wipes tears from his eyes and stares at me.
'Alright Buck, make sure you find Shuri, she's missed you a lot. Stick with the lot of them alright? Don't go rogue. Stick with them, okay?' He doesn't say anything, just nods. 'You need to go now.'
'I'm with you.' He says, and I give a small smile.
'Till the end of the line.' I say.
'Till the end of the line.' He nods back.
'Alright.' I say and step onto the railings. I thought I'd have died a lot sooner than now. When I jumped on the fake grenade, when I invaded the German camp to save Bucky, when I crash landed the plane, the rise of Hydra, aliens in New York. I don't think I'm scared, as I clutch onto the top railings, I think I might be ready. Maybe seventy years overdue.
I swallow and look at Bucky.
'Don't hang about.' I say.
'I won't.' He replies.
'I'll see you someday.' I say after a moment.
'Yeah you will.' He says, his voice hoarse but sure.
'Not soon though, not for a while.'
'No, not for a while.'
'Someday though.' I say, looking at him one last time. He meets eyes with me and nods.
'Someday.' I nod back and look away. The fire is still raging but it's silent, getting higher. I close my eyes briefly but open them before I let go.
I fall forwards into the flames and hear a familiar voice saying my name. In the back of my mind I see an old hall, decorated in red, white and blue. Bucky stands to one side, arms around some pretty girl, smiling and laughing. He catches eyes with me and smiles. A hand on my shoulder and Peggy stands behind me.
'That dance, soldier?' She asks.
'I still don't know how to dance.' I reply.
'We'll figure it out.' She says and leads me onto the floor, before everything goes black.