Why Me?
Chapter 9 – Recovery
"… I'm with you till the end of the line."
As Bucky said those words a change came over Steve. It was only small but Bucky saw it. Something in the way he looked at him.
"Buck…" Steve said. His voice was low, almost a whisper and sounded full of fear. His body relaxed and he loosened his grip on Bucky. However before anymore could be said they were falling. Hill's fire on the Hellicarrier had arrived and they were falling out and into the river below.
Bucky realised he'd blacked out during the fall when he came two in a hospital room. He could feel he had things on him monitoring his vitals and was all bandaged up. As he opened his eyes he saw Natasha was stood by the foot of his bed.
"Hello." He croaked out with a slight smile.
"Was beginning to wonder when you were going to be coming round." Said Natasha with a smirk.
"I'm Captain America, I survive. What happened?"
"You were found unconscious on the banks of the river next to the Winter Soldier. At first we thought he'd killed you then killed himself."
Bucky felt horrified, had he just found Steve only to lose him again.
"But when we got there it turned out he'd pulled you out of the water only for him to pass out too."
"So Steve's alive?" he asked hopefully.
"Yes, Steve is alive. Though unlike you he's yet to regain consciousness."
"Do you think he will?"
"I don't know. His brain may have shut down permanently due to whatever it was HYDRA did to him or he might make a full recovery within an hour. There's no way of knowing. And even if he does wake up it might not be good news. He might still be HYDRA."
In time Bucky healed and was discharged from the hospital. Once he was discharged the first thing that he did was find Steve to see how he was.
Steve was still unconscious and Bucky sat down beside him. He'd heard it said that unconscious people could still hear what was going on and if someone was talking to them they might be able to regain conscious. Bucky wasn't sure if that was true but it seemed like something that was worth a try.
"Hey Steve, I missed you a lot. I guess I should start b saying that I took over as Captain America after you fell off the train. It's taken me a long time to get used to being Cap but I've realised that I did it in order to continue your legacy – when I thought you were dead by being Cap a part of you was able to live on through me. If you worried that I won't like you with a metal arm then don't, I bet you can still hug just as well as you always could. I never stopped loving you and I don't think I ever will. I really meant what I said all those years ago in Brooklyn, I'm with you till the end of the line. I hope when you wake up, I say when not if because I know you're going to wake up eventually, I hope that when you do you can remember me and remember what we had. During the war HYDRA took so much from us, I don't want them to have taken everything that made my Steve the greatest man alive away from me too."
Bucky wanted to keep talking but he knew that if he tried to say anymore he'd just start crying.
One Year Later
A lot can change in a year.
Bucky had certainly found that out in the past year.
He lay awake in bed not quite able to fall asleep yet. To his left was Steve who was already sound asleep. As he lay awake Bucky's mind thought over everything that had happened.
Once he'd woken up Steve had initially only been able to remember fragments of who he was. It was incredibly frustrating at times but Bucky stuck by him the entire time. He knew that Steve was worth it and that if their roles were reserved Steve would be doing exactly the same thing. On top of trying to remember who exactly he was Steve had the difficulty of trying to figure out the 21st Century. Remembering what that was like Bucky tried his best to help Steve.
Steve had joined the Avengers in a reserve position, Bucky had offered to give up being Captain America to him but Steve had preferred to keep using the Winter Soldier identity and in using it to do good he could subvert what HYDRA had intended him to be.
Over time more and more came back but there were still gaps.
Those gaps were filled by Wanda Maximoff off the coast of Wakanda during the Ultron incident. Under instruction from Ultron she'd tried to mess with Steve's head during her attempt to distract and disunite the Avengers. However Steve's head was already a mess after everything HYDRA had put him through and what Wanda had actually succeeded in doing was breaking down the last of the barriers in Steve's mind giving him back all of his missing memories.
After Ultron with his memories back Steve had decided to retire the Winter Soldier. He realised he had kept using that name as a part of him was still under HYDRA control. Now with that part freed he could leave the Winter Soldier behind. Steve had decided that he was going to become Nomad – the man without a country. He got a new costume designed for him and became a permanent member of the Avengers.
Bucky yawned
A lot had changed in a year. Bucky had his Steve back. And as the ring on his finger showed they were going to be getting married!
Well that's it! I hope that conclusion didn't disappoint for you. An enormous thank you to absolutely everyone who has read this story. I've enjoyed writing it and hope you enjoyed reading it.
