The gauntlet was finished. Harper stood beside Steve, hardly daring to breathe as Tony, Bruce, and Rocket explained the output of energy the use of the Stones would cause. The Avengers went back and forth for several moments about who would be the one to use it. Eventually, to Thor's chagrin, it was decided that Bruce was best suited for the effects of the device. With his merger with the Hulk, his body was most resistant to damage and radiation.

As he donned the massive glove, Harper's hand darted out for Steve's. He glanced down at her, blue eyes a storm of desire, optimism, and worry. His palm wrapped around hers and squeezed. She returned the pressure. They had each other.

Her heart pounded in her chest, and cold fear shook her body as Bruce groaned with pain having pulled the gauntlet on fully. Lights danced around his large frame. The veins in his neck were bulging beneath his green skin, and a nasty burn was spreading up his arm above the glove. Cries to stop his efforts met her ears, but she couldn't process who was shouting. Her eyes zoomed in on his fingers as slowly, determinedly, he pressed the pad of his middle finger to his thumb and snapped.

A bright flash of light blinded her for a moment. Bruce fell over and Steve and several others hastened to help him. Otherwise, the room was still and silent. Clint's phone began to vibrate on the table, and birdsong filtered in through the windows. Harper clenched her hands into anxious fists, watching the archer pick up his phone and stare down at the screen. His face crumpled, tears of joy filling his eyes. And they knew in that moment that they had done it.

An instant later, a dark shadow fell over the room, the sunlight no longer flooding in through the glass ceiling or the windows. Harper's hand shot out for Steve's shoulder, jerking him back to look up at the enormous flying ship visible above them. Faster than she could process that what she was seeing was a missile rocketing toward them, Steve had jumped to his feet and wrapped his arm around her like a vice, his body and signature shield in front of her.

The roar of explosions screamed in her ears. The heat of fire licked her skin, the smell of acrid smoke stung her nose. The world was black for an indeterminable amount of time. Her lungs were filled with dust, dirt, and debris. Her body ached from being thrown backward with the force of the blast and from the weight of Steve and the rubble on top of her. He seemed out of it, blue eyes blinking rapidly down at her. His shield was no longer in his grasp.

"Steve!" she pleaded, shaking his shoulders. Tears of panic streamed from her eyes.

Tony appeared above them then, the missing shield in hand. He said something Harper couldn't comprehend, her brain sluggish with the fear and adrenaline flooding her system. Steve breathed a chuckle. He pushed himself up, quickly looking around at the mess of rubble and warped metal around them. His arm slid beneath Harper, scooping her up and into his chest.

Looking at Tony, he asked, "What happened?"

"You mess with time, it tends to mess back." He offered the soldier his shield and said, "You'll see."

The scarlet and gold hand of the Iron Man suit reached downward and Steve hoisted Harper further up, passing her along to Tony. She allowed the other man to pull her to her unsteady feet. Steve grunted and Tony helped pull him up as well. The brunette was passed back to Steve who held her by the shoulders and swept his eyes up and down her, taking inventory of any injuries.

"Harper, are you alright?"

She blinked slowly at the blond, struggling to understand what was going on. Her brain caught up to him and she looked down at herself. Her clothes were torn in several places, revealed bleeding gashes and already forming bruises. Nothing felt terribly amiss, though her entire body was buzzing with a dull pain. Feeling only somewhat confident in her answer, she nodded.

"We need to get her somewhere safe. Well, safe as can be," Tony said. "Because we need to get going."

Steve nodded, eyes still darting around the destroyed building. Finally, he turned to Tony and said, "Remember the bunker in the woods? It's not stocked with much of anything that would be particularly useful, but it's there"

"I remember it."

"That's probably the best we can do. Can you get her there?"

Tony nodded once before accepting the woman back into his metal arms. Harper startled and breathed, "Wait!"

She lurched forward, throwing her arms around Steve. She hugged him tightly, pleading, "Be careful."

Steve returned the embrace, nodding against the top of her head. "I will. Go on, Harper."

She reluctantly let go, moving back into Tony's hold. He had barely advised, "Close your eyes," when her feet left the ground and they were rocketing through the air.

Fingers scrabbled against sleek metal, desperately looking for purchase. Survival instincts took over and her body curled tightly around the metal body propelling her through the air. Mistakenly, she cracked an eye open and found that they were high about the trees behind the now destroyed compound. Her eyes squeezed shut tightly as her stomach did flips in her abdomen.

In no time at all – or maybe quite a bit later; it was impossible to say – she felt Tony's rocket booted feet touch the ground. Trembling and slightly lightheaded, Harper disentangled herself from him and looked around. They were deep in the woods in front of a small hill that housed a heavy metal door. Tony gripped onto the bar locking the doors, twisting it and pulling it out of place. With a heave, he tugged each door upward and open. By the light of his arc reactor, he quickly found the light switch inside and Harper gasped as a flight of stairs down into the earth met her eyes.

"There's a latch on the inside, and a security cam too. Not a very good one, but good enough. Get inside, lock up, and don't let anyone in without checking who it is. There should be food and some water down there."

Harper nodded stiffly, heart thundering behind her ribs once again. She turned to look at the man who had been so hostile toward her. "What just happened?"

"My best guess? Judging by what I saw before finding you and the geezer? Thanos from the past is here in the present to take the Stones."

Slowly, Harper nodded. Of course. It all made perfect, normal sense. Everything was fine, totally par for the course. Trying to force her breathing to calm and to push away her distress, she implored, "Please be careful, Tony."

"That's the plan. Get going though so I can get back."

"Okay," she agreed. Then added, "Thank you. For finding Steve and for taking care of me."

"Sure, sure," he nodded in a would-be offhanded way. "Just doing the superhero thing."

"It's more than that, Tony."

He hesitated then nodded before nudging her toward the stairs. Harper carefully stepped her way down into the bunker, turning to help Tony ease the doors closed. Her arms strained with the effort to pull the barely used metal lock into place. With the sound of her pounding heart in her ears, she twisted around and slowly made her way fully down the stairs.

The hallway continued for a few yards before there was a set of two glass doors. She frowned and pushed the button beside the first door, jumping when it slid open. Passing through it, Harper jumped again when the door automatically shut behind her, sealing tightly. A whoosh of sterile smelling air preceded to other door opening to a small room. There was a cot pushed against the far wall. To the right was a crate of rations and beside that was a small water store. There was a radio and transmitter, and the computer end of the security camera to the left.

She milled around the small space, her heart rate slowly returning to normal. Suddenly, her legs felt incapable of supporting her weight. When she sank to the rickety cot, a cloud of dust floated upward into the already stale air. Harper shot back up to her feet, stripping the stiff linens from the thin mattress and walking back out the airlock door. She shook the sheets and blanket out in the small hallway, desperately trying to clear it of dust and must.

With shaking hands and a blank mind, she carefully remade the bed before sitting down once more. How had she gone from brimming with hope and elation to lying in the remains of the Avengers headquarters after a missile strike to hiding underground as the roar and explosions of a massive battle boomed in the distance? Had they actually succeeded in bringing people back only to have them Snapped again? Or for people to die fighting? Or for people to be Snapped and for people to die in the fight? Harper had never felt so helplessly weak or so utterly useless.

There was no way to tell how much time passed. Hours, certainly. But finally, the din of the battlefield was no longer audible in the tiny bunker. It was quite a while still before she heard a clanging knock at the door down the hallway. Heart beating against her ribcage, Harper darted to the computer and jammed at the button to power it on. After a tense stretch, the black and white screen flickered and lit up. A strangled gasp parted Harper's lips. Wild hair, bright eyes, and a shining metal arm. Was she dreaming?

Tripping on her own feet in her rush, Harper ran to the airlock door, slamming her palm on the button to open it up. As soon as she could squeeze her body through, she did, sprinting down the hall and up the stairs. Her fingers slipped on the lock, gripping it with difficulty until she jerked it open. From the other side, she heard the metal groan and then there was moonlight streaming into the bunker. Standing atop the stairs was James Buchanan Barnes.

Harper stepped slowly up the last few steps, hardly daring to believe her eyes. Maybe she had been down there for days and was hallucinating? But when she reached out a tentative hand to his arm, she found hard muscles and warmth beneath her touch.

"James?" she breathed.

"It's me, Harper."

"O-oh my god!" And a moment later she had leaped on him, arms wrapping around his shoulders and legs around his hips. She leaned her temple against his and asked, "Is this real? How…?"

"You guys did it, undid Thanos's work. And we defeated him and his army. It's over."

"I… Oh my god…" she said again.

He simply held her, hands at her back pressing her harder against him. Harper nuzzled her nose against his before pulling back, cinnamon brown eyes wide and dreamlike as they gazed into his face. Her palms rose to cup his cheeks. His long hair was wild. Dirt streaked his face, clear tracks cutting through the smudges where sweat had poured down. Vibrant blue splotches decorated his clothing, flecks of the dried liquid on his skin and the shining metal of his arm as well. Crystalline eyes shone with concern and love as they watched her wordless appraisal. She could see the fatigue in his brow and the slump of his shoulders.

Suddenly more aware, Harper gasped, lowering her feet to the ground to remove the burden of her weight from the soldier, fresh from battle. "I'm so sorry, I didn't even think. I- are you alright? Injured? You must be exhausted. Are-?"

He cut her off with a gentle smile, saying, "Darlin', I'm okay. Tired, yes, but what about you? When Steve told me you were in the compound when Thanos attacked, I…"

The brunet shook his head in horror. His heart kicked up when her eyes filled with tears and her lower lip quivered. Hurriedly, he asked, "Wait, are you hurt? Doll?"

She shook her head in the negative. Her mouth opened, but she didn't seem able to form words. Her fingers tightened on his shoulders and she rose on her toes to slam her lips to his. It struck him for the first time how he couldn't even fathom how she must be feeling. He had spoken with Steve briefly after the fighting had stopped and before hiking into the woods to retrieve the brunette. He knew that the first fight against Thanos had been years ago. The woman in his arms had thought him dead. For years. And he had just reappeared in her life, a ghost from her past that she had grieved for.

Harper tugged at him, guiding him down into the bunker. She pulled him along with her down the hallway and through an airlock before she backed up to the small cot at the back of the room. She twisted them around so that his back was to the bed and pressed lightly at his chest. He filled her unspoken request, lowering himself to the wobbly cot. His hands found her hips as she followed him, a knee astride each of his thighs.

Her lips were frenzied against his. Her tongue tasted him with a desperation he'd never felt from her before. He kissed her back, trying to reassure her that he was there, that they were together. Her fingers raked through his knotted mane, tugging slightly. Bucky pulled one of her hands from his hair, separating their lips so that he could turn and press his lips to her wrist above where her pulse thrummed wildly.

The action seemed to stoke the fire in her. Harper's palms returned to his chest, fingers splaying across the dark material. He watched her brows knit and expression fall before her fingers tugged at the tight protective wear. The former soldier placed a kiss on her forehead before beginning to divest himself of his tactical gear for her. She followed in kind, throwing her clothing to the floor in haste.

It took him much longer than her, and her impatience spurred her to unfasten his pants and pull them down his legs. With all of their clothes in piles on the floor, Harper pushed more firmly against his chest. He allowed her to press him down to the scratchy blanket atop the thin mattress. He wasn't sure what to think about the desperation in her movements. Exhaustion was clouding his mind, and so much had happened and been revealed so quickly. He was grateful, however, that she had maintained her position atop him; he was not at all confident that his body would be capable of taking charge and loving her properly.

Not to say that he wasn't hard and throbbing. Her kisses and wandering hands had lit a familiar fire in his belly and despite his fatigue he wanted her. Their lips and tongues were once again entwined. Harper's hands were braced on his shoulders and his were at her breasts.

Slowly, Harper sat back. She was perched above his abdomen, the curve of her ass against his aching erection. He watched as two of her fingers disappeared behind her lips for a moment before moving the wet digits down her body to circle her clit. She worked the sensitive nub for several moments, undeterred by his enraptured stare.

Finally, he watched the brunette rise on her knees and shift back slightly. She seemed to understand that his body was beat and reached down to grasp his shaft in her palm. A few strokes from base to tip confirmed his readiness and she placed him at her entrance.

As soon as she had fully taken him, a sob tumbled from Harper's lips. Bucky's chest tightened painfully. His arms rose, pulling her down flat against him and holding her. His fingers wove through her hair as she cried into his chest. An ache behind his sternum echoed the pain in her voice.

She circled her hips on him despite her anguish. His head fell back at the sensation of her tight, wet heat all around him. One of his hands skimmed downward over the curve of her spine, settling on her bottom. He squeezed the flesh in his fingers lightly, using his grip to guide her forward and back, rocking his member in and out of her core. She acquiesced, tears falling now silent down her cheeks.

It was an experience even more intense than the night before the battle. Then, they had both been afraid of losing each other. Now, she actually had. Tears pricked his own eyes. Her grief was palpable. And, he realized, he needed to come to terms with the fact that he would once again need to walk out into a world he'd been removed from.

Harper sat up again, fingers splaying across his stomach. She rocked her hips harder, digging downward to grind her clit against his groin. He was so deliciously deep in her velvet sheath and the feeling of her wetness pushing down against him in a bid for pleasure was enough to uncoil the spring in his center. His hips jerked up into her as he came hard, eyes falling closed against the wave of ecstasy.

As he came back down from his high, he became aware of Harper pumping her hips harder against his until she froze and came with a loud cry. Bucky enveloped her in his arms, cradling her against his chest. Harper tucked her face below his chin, sobbing once again. Her body shook violently and her fingers dug into the shoulder and bicep they had found purchase on. She choked out declarations of love which he answered with soft reassurances of the same.

As her cries subsided, Bucky felt his eyelids becoming unbearably heavy. His body was drained from battle and reuniting with Harper, and his mind couldn't comprehend all of the new information and emotions. Harper was quiet now, though her grip on him was still strong. Her body shivered with chill and fatigue.

When they had sunk to the mattress, they had done so without peeling back the blankets. Bucky couldn't even consider standing them both up to do so now, so he settled for anchoring an arm around the brunette's waist and turning them over as a unit. He curled his larger body around hers, shrouding her in his heat and taking the chill of the underground air on his back. He hardly had the capacity to mind it. Her shaking lessened and she pressed herself harder against him, connecting their bodies from top to bottom. The soldier didn't object, sensing her need to feel him.

"I'm not letting go," he muttered sleepily into her hair.

"Please don't," she begged.

"Never. I love you, Harper."

"I love you, James."

And sleep took them.

A/N: Finally reunited! I hope I did Bucky and Harper justice. Thoughts? Also, I've decided that I'm not going to put content warnings at the beginning of individual chapters unless there is something major coming. So mentions of violence, consensual adult situations, etc. won't be noted at the start of the chapters anymore. Unless you all would prefer those warnings, anyway. Let me know if you would. Thank you all for continuing to support the story. I hope to continue hearing from you in the reviews! I also have enough time in the coming weeks that if you indicate wanting a reply to your review, I can definitely do that. I've missed chatting with you guys!