Chapter 70: Running in Place

Every second Bucky spent with Peter Parker made him question if he actually wanted kids.

The kid was nice and all, but goddamn he could never shut up. They made their way through New York, Peter trying his best to convince Bucky to find Dr. Strange and Bucky insisting that no, he didn't care about this doctor or wizard or whatever he was, he only cared about finding his wife. And then, just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, they heard a swooshing sound from overhead, and they turned just in time to see one Sam Wilson, wings out as he readied for a perfect landing in front of them.

"There you are." he said with a grin. And while Bucky was glad to see a friendly face, especially one of another adult, he made a play of rolling his eyes.

"Of fucking course you're here. Can't ever escape you, huh?" he asked dryly. Peter stood up tall, once again putting on his false bravado. This time, Bucky didn't have to pretend to roll his eyes.

"Till death do us part, baby." Sam replied, retracting his wings and pulling his goggles off. He turned to Peter, silently and obviously sizing him up before saying, "Pipsqueak. Nice to see you again."

"Um, uh, likewise, Mr. Falcon, sir." Peter replied, trying to make his voice just a touch deeper than it actually was. Sam perked an eyebrow, looking back to Bucky.

"He always this weird?" he asked, and Bucky shrugged in response.

"As far as I can tell." he replied. "You know of anyone else who's here?"

Sam shook his head. "Only reason I could find you was cause that arm was shiny. Checked the tower, no sign of Tony-"

"Mr. Stark's not here." Peter cut in. It was the most sure he'd sounded the entire time. "He was still on Titan. He didn't dust away."

"But Mika did." Bucky said. He couldn't care less about Tony Stark or wherever Titan was. That was enough to shift Sam's attention back to him.

"What?" he asked. Ah, so he hadn't known that.

"His wife!" Peter said, proud of this information that he could impart. "I keep trying to tell him that if we find Dr. Strange then maybe we can find her next-"

"I know she's his wife kid. Shut up for a second." Sam cut him off, holding up a hand for good measure. "Meeks is here too?"

"Based on preliminary evidence, she'll be back in Romania. Which is where I'm going first." he said resolutely. "Then we can work on finding a way out of here."

"But she's all the way over there, and Dr. Strange is somewhere around here. So instead of wasting time going all the way to Romania-" Peter had good intentions, Bucky was sure, but the kid needed to learn to think before he spoke.

"Hey!" he and Sam said at the same time, effectively stopping whatever runaway train of thought was going through his head.

"You saying my wife is a waste of time, kid?" Bucky said darkly. He wasn't as pissed as he made himself sound, but that didn't mean he wasn't, in fact, pissed. But the look of utter fear that only a teenager can possess after saying the wrong thing helped soothe the wound a little bit.

"No no no! Absolutely not!" he said, holding his hands up. He looked to Sam for help, but he only lifted an eyebrow and gave him a look that said you're on your own. "I'm just thinking, we can find Dr. Strange quicker, so then he can get us out of here and you-you can get back to her quicker then! Like, instead of going there and-and back, you can just - you know - make one trip?"

"Is that a question, or an answer?" Bucky asked, his voice still monotone. The kid had a point, he'd admit that. But he found he didn't care. He had no interest in fighting his way through this world on a maybe. If this doctor/wizard guy couldn't fix this, then it would just be wasting more time before he found Mika.

"Um, both." Peter said, the most confident that Bucky had heard him. Which was, admittedly, still not very confident. He was trying his best.

"I think I know who he's talking about." Sam said, and Bucky did not care for the look on his face at all. "Haven't met him, but I think the kid may not have the worst idea."

"Exactly! I-" Peter tried to cut in, but Bucky turned Sam so both of them were facing away from him.

"Shut up." he said over his shoulder, leaning in closer to Sam and keeping his voice quiet. "There's a chance she's...look I don't have time for this, Sam. I've got to find her."

"I get it, I do. But if this guy has the powers I've heard he has, then he can either get us out of here, or get you to Romania faster." Sam murmured back.

"Et tu, Brute?" Bucky deadpanned. He was getting really tired of everyone trying to change his priorities.

"Hey man, if you wanna go on, go on. I'm not gonna stop you. I'm just saying there might be a more efficient way for you to achieve your goal." Sam offered. Bucky eyed him for a long moment before shaking his head.

"You and Spiderkid can go after the wizard. I've gotta find Mika." he said, stepping away. Peter looked disappointed, and while Sam looked like he wanted to disagree, he pressed his lips together and nodded. Bucky looked to Peter. "Sorry, Pete. Good luck with everything." he said. He turned and walked away, and this time Peter didn't follow.

However, his dramatic exit was interrupted by a blaze going straight up into the sky, somewhere in the direction of Manhattan. The red fabric of the sky rippled like a banner as the blaze hit it, electric orange lightning spiderwebbing across the sky. Buildings around them started flickering, the way they did when people couldn't decide on their state of decay. Bucky's purposeful walk slowed to a stop, and he watched as the pillar of whatever that was flickered and died again, the atmosphere shifting and swirling until it was back to its single shade of red. He looked back to Sam and Peter, who were staring in that same direction as well. Both of them had looks of worry on their faces.

"Any idea what that was?" he asked Peter. The kid's eyes were wide, and his jaw slack. For once he was speechless, and simply shook his head. He sighed. God dammit. "Fine. Let's go check it out."

He didn't wait for the other two, taking off towards the pillar. Though the bright light was gone, there was smoke rising from where Bucky assumed its base sat. If something was threatening this world, trying to break it, he needed to stop it. Right now, he was still somewhat alive, and so was Mika. And he wanted to keep it that way.

Peter came swinging over his head, Sam flying soon after him, both of them going in the direction of the smoke. He cursed to himself, picking up the pace and finding that it was easier to run here than it was on his first earth. Time to test the limits then.

He broke into a full on sprint, navigating the streets and the people and following both the smoke and Sam and Peter ahead of him. He turned one last corner in time to see a group of - well he wouldn't call them people exactly - humanoid beings, joined in a circle and connected by holding hands. Hooded cloaks hid their faces, but he could see a bluish tint to the skin of their pale hands, covered with thin, black tattoos. They were chanting something in a language that Bucky had never heard, the concrete in front of them rolling and boiling, the same reddish energy just beneath the surface. He slowed to a walk, trying to assess the situation. Were they trying to break them out of the stone? Or destroy this world?

Just when he concluded that this was definitely an "attack first, ask questions later" situation, Peter swung in, acrobatically flipping and slinging web to tie up the people in the robes. They fell to the ground with cries of outrage, the pavement solidifying in front of them again as the chanting stopped. Bucky let out a sigh of relief as Peter flipped next to him, Sam coming down moments later.

"Wow," Peter said, and Bucky could tell even through the mask that the kid was proud of himself. God, did this kid's energy and optimism know no bounds? "I've never gotten to take out occultists before."

...

"So where are we headed, love?" Dominic asked, leisurely keeping up with Mika despite her best efforts to quicken her pace. She felt like her face was set in a permanent scowl, but he didn't seem to care.

"We are not going anywhere. I am going back home." she said. She didn't look at him, not wanting to see his stupid smirking face. She had a mission, and she was going to take care of it herself, because she could now. Well, technically she always could, she thought. But now she had the skills and the confidence to carry it out. Dominic tried to grab her hand, but she pulled roughly from his grasp, sparing him a glare before she kept walking.

"Don't be like that. Look, I know where we ended things last time were a little sour, but now-" he tried to plead his case, but Mika wasn't hearing it.

"There is no now. There is no we. I'm going home, and you're leaving me alone." she said shortly. And yet, he was persistent, running in front of her and putting his hands on her shoulders so that she would stop and finally look at him, even if it was just to fix an annoyed look on her face.

"Don't you see, love? This is just destiny giving us another chance. I told you we were meant to be." he said, and she thought he really believed he was telling the truth. Too bad it wasn't the truth at all.

"I'm married now, Dominic, and I need to go find my husband." she said, sidestepping around him and continuing on her path. But if one thing could be said about Dominic, he never gave up, even when he should.

"But it's a new world now, Mika. And we can make it whatever we want it to be." he tried, and this time she didn't stop herself from rolling her eyes. "What? You don't even know if he's here! He could be-"

"He's here." she interrupted. She did not want to have this conversation. She wanted to keep walking.

"And how could you possibly know that?" he asked. She scoffed, shaking her head at his persistence.

"Because I was with him when it ended." she retorted. He didn't deserve all these answers, and she didn't know why she kept giving them to him. Perhaps it was to remind herself why she needed to stay focused (as if she needed help there), or perhaps it was because even after years, she was still a little salty about how Dominic treated her, and wanted to rub it in his face that not only had she moved on, but she was actually happy now.

"Come on, Mika. Whoever it is, he doesn't have the history we do. He doesn't know you like I do." he said, and she actually had to turn her face heavenward for a second before stopping and settling him with a harsh gaze.

"You're right, we have a lot of history." she relented, and his face brightened at her admission. She quickly cut off that thought for him. "And you're right, he doesn't know me like you do. Because you have a picture of me in your head from a decade ago. You only know me as the university girl, broken up over her sister's death and making bad decisions. And he knows me as I actually am, the real me."

Dominic was dumbfounded. Besides their last interaction, she'd never spoken to him like this. But she wanted - no, needed - him to know that she was not going to revert back to the girl she used to be every time he came around. She was stronger than that now. He licked his lips, carefully choosing his words before asking evenly, "And who is this guy, hm? Do I know him?"

Mika contemplated keeping that information to herself, knowing he would blow up at the answer. But a part of her - the petty part - wanted him to know exactly how wrong he was about people. "Bucky. My old neighbor." she said, and this time his jaw actually dropped at her words. "Of course, we're not neighbors anymore. It's easier to just live in one house."

"Bullshit." Dominic said, his eyes growing harsh. "There's no way you'd marry that creepy weirdo."

Mika flashed the diamond on her hand. "Got his mother's ring to prove it." she said cheekily. This was a bad idea, she knew. But she'd just been snapped out of her own world and separated from the man she loved most, and she was tired and angry and, if she was honest, wanted to hurt Dominic at least a fraction of what he'd hurt her in the past. "Now, if you'll excuse me." She started walking again.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Dominic said, catching up to her once again. What was it going to take for him to leave her alone? "Mika, if he did something to you, somehow forced you into this-"

"He didn't." she said. "He just does this crazy thing where he actually loves me for who I am, and supports me."

"And I never did that?" he asked, incredulous at the notion. Mika couldn't stop herself from snorting, still not bothering to look at him.

"Nope." she replied, her strides steady and even as she continued on her way. "Don't worry, Dominic, I'm sure you can find someone who will listen to your sob story in this 'new world' or whatever. So why don't you just go on?"

"Because-" he actually stopped himself this time, and the self interruption was rare enough that it actually made Mika turn to see what he was going to say. He was silent for a long time, clenching his jaw as he seemed to decide whether or not he wanted to continue his statement. Finally, he took a deep breath. "Look, I'm sorry if I hurt you, I didn't mean to-"

"Not a real apology, but go on." she said, wanting to get past whatever excuse he was going to give and instead hear his reasoning. That way she could shut it down and move on. He let out an annoyed sigh, but let her interruption go. It was probably the most mature thing she'd ever seen from him.

"This world is fucked up. And I don't want to go it alone. Please, Mika. I know you can handle yourself or whatever, just please don't leave me behind." he said. His face actually looked genuine for once, though she knew that he could fake it really well if he wanted to. She had no romantic feelings left for him whatsoever, but she understood the fear he was verbalizing. The only thing that was allowing her to overcome it was the thought of getting back to Bucky. What did Dominic have to hold on to?

"Fine." she relented, somehow knowing in her heart that she was going to come to regret this decision. His face brightened and he opened his mouth to speak, but she held up a hand to stop him. "But, no more lame flirtations, no more comments on my marriage or my husband - actually, if we could keep all talking to a minimum, that would be preferable."

"Scouts honor, love." he said, holding up three fingers. She decided not to comment how he'd never been a scout.

"And no more calling me love." she added. Without waiting for a response, she turned and kept walking. There was no way for them to tell the time, but she knew she needed to get a move on. Between the interaction with those two men and Dominic's constant stream of conversation, she knew she was behind where she wanted to be. She could hear Dominic's footsteps as he caught up to her, but he kept his word, staying silent as they continued walking east.

Her stamina was definitely different in this world compared to their normal earth, her legs seeming to fatigue at half the normal rate they normally did. She also noticed that she never got hungry, or thirsty. She was able to keep going without hinderance, except for the vague notion that next to her Dominic was getting bored and restless. But he kept silent, following her dutifully as they made their way towards Bucharest.

The only way she knew the day was ending was because the red of the sky started to darken, eventually turning scarlet, and then maroon. It would be dark soon, and she had no idea how complete the night would be here. Considering there wasn't a sun, she assumed there wouldn't be stars to light their path. And with the chance of changing landscape, wandering at night would be a horrible idea. As much as she didn't want to, they had to stop for the night. As the maroon sky started to deepen further, she stopped at an apartment building, happy to find the front door unlocked and the building blissfully quiet. She walked up the stairs, going up to the top floor despite vague annoyed sounds coming from her companion.

She heard footsteps in the first two apartments they passed, sounds of voices that said people were there. But the third one was completely silent, and a feeling told her it was empty. This door was also unlocked, and they were able to get in and lock it without anyone being any the wiser.

"Can I talk now?" Dominic asked. After so many hours of wonderful silence, his voice was grating.

"No." Mika said. She went into each room of the small apartment, checking to make sure it actually was as unoccupied as it seemed. When she was finished, she found Dominic still standing in the middle of the living room, arms crossed over his chest.

"So we're just going to walk in silence all the way to Bucharest?" he asked, as if he were surprised at how stubborn she was being. In his defense, she had never really put her foot down with him before.

"That's the plan. You can always go on your own if you don't agree." she responded, sitting down on the simple couch and pulling her shoes off. "Do you want the couch or the bed?"

He furrowed his brows, going to look in the bedroom. "Mika, there's a queen size bed. We can easily share it." he said, and she didn't know if he meant to change the intonation of his voice or if it just happened by accident. Didn't matter, though. Her answer was the same either way.

"Couch or bed?" she asked again, looking up at him with all the patience of a burnt out teacher who didn't care for her job. She could actually hear him grind his teeth as he bit back whatever response he wanted to give.

"Sleep well on the couch." he said sharply, going into the bedroom and slamming the door shut behind him. She let out a long breath, feeling like she could relax for the first time since waking up that morning. She blew out another deep breath for good measure, laying down on the couch and getting comfortable as the sky outside darkened to a plum. She put a hand over her abdomen, wondering for the hundredth time whether or not there was still a little fetus in there, seeing if she could feel any sort of difference. Of course, she couldn't, but she still kept a protective hand there as she drifted off to sleep, just in case.

…

Steve allowed himself an extra night in Nicoletta's bed. He'd meant to leave the next morning after going to Germany, knowing that he needed to get to New York, needed to meet up with Natasha and see if they found anything from Fury. But Nicoletta had been completely broken at his news, and so he'd stayed, holding her as she cried and bringing her water or food or alcohol or whatever she needed. They'd done things that he thought they would regret, but the next morning she'd simply rolled into his arms, clutching him tightly as if she were afraid that he too would be dusted at any moment.

The second morning, he heard his phone vibrating in his uniform pants pocket on the floor. He was as quiet as he could be, pulling it out and stepping into the living room. It would be too loud to try and close the squeaky door, so he answered and waited until he was sitting on the day bed before putting it to his ear.

"What's up, Nat?" he asked quietly. Even though it was barely a low murmur, it still felt too loud in the early morning hours.

"Fury called someone via beeper." she said immediately. If she noticed how quiet he was, or how he'd disappeared for twenty-four hours, she didn't bring it up. In her defense, there were much more important things going on right now.

"What's a beeper?" he asked, because for some reason that seemed to be the better question. He interrupted before she could give him a dry answer. "Nevermind. Who did he call?"

"We don't know. Rhodey's running through any database he can find, but no answers yet. Look we need...can you come to New York? Soon?" she asked. It was kind of her, giving him the option instead of telling him that he needed to get his ass in gear. Half the world had disappeared after a maniac decided that's how he was going to deal with his problems, and Steve was hiding in a cottage in the middle of Germany. He'd had his twenty-four hours to grieve. And it was time to get back to it.

"Yea. Yea I'll be there soon." he said, and his voice sounded tired and resigned even to his own ears. They exchanged goodbyes and he hung up the phone, tossing it to the side so he could run his hands through his hair. He had to face the world now, or at least what was left of it.

"You're leaving?" a soft voice came from the doorway. Nicoletta leaned against the doorframe, her small body drowning in one of his old tshirts. He opened his mouth to answer her, but found he couldn't say the words, instead just nodding and looking down at his hands. They'd both lost so much, and he didn't want her to lose him too.

"Come with me." is what he said instead. He could hear Sam's voice in his head, you're an impulsive asshole, you know that? He was impulsive, he knew. It was one of his more defining qualities. Sometimes he wondered if it was one of the things the serum enhanced.

"I can't just...leave." she said, sounding very unconvinced of her words. He wanted to ask how she ended up in Germany instead of Romania (which, in fact, was due to her just packing up and leaving), but he held his tongue. He stood up and went to nervously wipe his damp palms on his pants, only to remember too late that he was still in nothing but boxer-briefs.

"How about this. I'll make you breakfast, and when we're done, you can decide then." he said. He didn't want to push her or try to convince her. And he also didn't want to admit that he didn't want to be alone. No matter how many things happened to him, he still had to suffer in silence.

Nicoletta nodded, softly saying, "Okay." before going to turn on the coffee machine. He did as he promised, making her a full American breakfast that Sam would be proud of, despite the fact that since the snap neither one of them had been able to eat much. They picked at it enough to deem it eaten, and she stayed his hand on the dishes and said she would do the washing up. A quick shower, a quick packing, and before he knew it, he was walking up the ramp into the quinjet. That's when he found himself moving slowly, putting things up and checking over controls that he knew were already set, trying to stretch the time out a little longer, his eyes flicking back to the back door every few seconds. Just when he'd given up, she came running out the backdoor, a stuffed bag banging against her hip as she ran in. Her hair was wild, her chest was heaving with the brief exertion, and her knuckles were white as she gripped the strap of her bag.

"I've never been to New York." she gasped, choking on her lack of air and her words. "Mika has. When she was in university. We were supposed to go together but just...hadn't yet."

Steve nodded, stretching out his hand to her. She tentatively took it. "I'm a poor substitute," he said, gripping her hand tighter than he meant to. "But I'll give it my best shot."

She nodded again, and tears keeping her from saying anything more. So she just settled in the chair next to him, watching him expertly set up the controls before the ramp loaded up and the plane pushed off the ground, taking them towards the answers waiting for them at the Avengers compound.

Ah man, the struggle is so real for our faves! But hey, a lil adventure never hurt anyone, right?

I'm sorry for not updating last weekend, y'all. Things have been a little crazy so I had to kinda take a minute. And unfortunately I'll be traveling for the next two weekends, so it'll be a bit before I can update. Just wanted to let y'all know.

Thank you so much for the reviews and the support! I'm glad y'all seem to like this arc that we're doing, I hope this chapter was enjoyable as well!

Please let me know what you thought!

-XM