"No. Absolutely not." Bucky said as Mika walked out of their bedroom, dressed in the functional Wonder Woman armor that Shuri had made as a joke. Well, it was a joke at the time. Now, it was necessary.
"Don't bother. I'm going with you." she said, putting her hands on her hips. In that power pose, she really did look like the Amazon princess. But Bucky didn't have time to marinate on that thought, as there were more pressing matters.
"No. It is way too dangerous." he said shortly. Her eyes widened slightly, her gaze becoming a little more heated.
"It's the end of the world, Bucky, I don't think it matters." she replied, her tone becoming sharper. A fire burned behind his sternum, fueled by his anger and fear.
"It does matter." he said. "It's not just us sparring. This is a real war. Whatever is coming, it won't hesitate to kill you."
"So, what? You expect me to sit here while the world ends and wait for you to get back?" she exclaimed, indignant. "You trained me yourself, Bucky. If the world is ending, I'm not just sitting on the sidelines."
"Yes, you will! Where it's safe!" he said, his panic growing and his voice raising. Couldn't she see that this wasn't a game? This was real, and it was dangerous. She stepped close to him, her eyes hard and her shoulders back in confidence.
"I don't care about safe! I care about being with you!" she said, her own voice raising.
"I can't lose you!" he finally said, and silence settled between them for a moment. "If I lost you, it would destroy me."
"Bucky, if this is really the end of the world, we're going to lose each other either way." she said. "And if I'm gonna go, I want to go next to you, not hiding in the corner and hoping for the best."
"But-" he didn't get to finish his statement, as she crushed her lips against his. The kiss was rough and clumsy, but he didn't care. Suddenly, they were kissing as if this were the last time they would get to - which, it very much may be. When the kisses slows from frenzied to tender, he finally pulled back, resting his forehead against hers.
"If we're going, we're going together." she said, her hands on his cheeks and her eyes on his. He still didn't agree, but he supposed he didn't have a choice at this point.
"And if we survive this, I'm going to rip this armor off of you and you're never wearing it again." he said. She gave a mischievous grin.
"Never?" she asked, and he felt a bubble of hope rise in his chest. If she could be confident, so could he.
Maybe, just maybe, they could make it out of this.
