As soon as they were inside the palace, T'Challa diplomatically ushered everyone away from Steve and Bucky. Steve immediately went in for another hug, and this time he held on tight. Bucky was solid under his hands. Stable. A mostly stable hundred year old man. Bucky had rounded down. They had celebrated his hundred-and-first the month before, just the two of them, in Bucky's little hut. Steve had known Bucky wasn't ready for visitors yet. Steve had thought they had time.

"You shouldn't have to fight."

"I said end of the world, Steve," said Bucky. "Not end of the line."

"End of the world," Steve repeated, only half-aware he was doing it.

"Yeah." Bucky patted his shoulder with the new arm. It felt lighter than the old one. He wondered if it still felt heavy to Bucky. "But World War I was s'posed to be the War to End All Wars, and we both know how that worked out."

Steve chuckled into Bucky's new shoulder. If the sound was a little choked, neither man mentioned it. Vibranium didn't rust.

"Come on, Steve. We got a war to fight."

"We always got a war to fight," said Steve, and the Brooklyn came out in his voice, the same way it always did around Bucky, the same way Wanda's Sokovian accent came out when she talked about Pietro. She had stopped by Wakanda to help Bucky sleep when he first came out of cryo. She was a good kid. Steve regretted not getting to know her better, but the look in her eyes when her Sokovian accent came out did him in every time.

"I can't lose you again, Buck. I can't. I don't."

"Not going anywhere."

"Not going anywhere," Steve repeated again. "After this. I don't. Care where. We go. Brooklyn or Wakanda, or. Or. Or fucking Oz."

Bucky choked out his own chuckle, already knowing what Steve was asking, when Steve barely even knew. He was asking what he should have asked two years ago. Steve had thought they had time. He should have known better by now. Even if he was only ninety-eight.

"Can I go. Can I just go. Can we go home?"

"Yeah, Stevie. We can go home." Bucky finally pulled back. "Come on, buddy. The war's almost over."