The next morning. . .
Steve slowly began to stir as immediately his senses were flooded by the smell of bacon and coffee, his stomach rumbling at the smell.
"Thank you Bucky!" he said as he pulled the covers off and swung his legs over the bed. Tossing on some jeans and a grey t-shirt, he opened his bedroom door as he started to make his way towards the kitchen.
"You're finally up! About time!" Bucky's voice called out as Steve walked into the kitchen to see Bucky standing in front of the hot plate with a spatula in his right hand. He was wearing a pair of jeans and a black shirt, his vibranium arm on full display now.
There was a pile of cooked bacon sitting on the counter, wrapped in paper towel, as he looked to be using two frying pans at the moment. One for eggs, one for pancakes.
"You've been busy." Steve commented as Bucky turned around to face him.
"It's like 8 am old man." Bucky retorted, mock disapproval in his voice at how late Steve's wakeup time was as Steve stretched and let out a yawn.
"Retired life will do that to you." Steve replied as he snagged a piece of bacon and headed towards the cupboards where the coffee mugs and plates were held.
"At least you have a good enough sense to own a coffee maker." Bucky said, turning his attention back towards the hot plate.
"You know how many choices there were? It's insane. I just wanted a good old fashioned, no bells and whistles, coffee maker where you pour in the grinds, add some water and bam, a cup of Joe." Steve complained as he set the mugs and plates onto the counter.
"You couldn't sound more like an 100 year old if you tried." Bucky said as Steve chuckled and shrugged his shoulders.
"What can I say? You can take the man out of 1940 but you can't take 1940 out of the man." he replied as Bucky grinned and just shook his head.
A few minutes later both of them were sitting down at the kitchen table, coffee mugs in front of them as their plates were heaped with food.
"Never took you for much of a cook before Bucky. What changed?" Steve asked as he took a bite of his pancake.
"My therapist recommended that I should find a hobby that was a bit more. . ."relaxing" and didn't involve me punching bad guys in the face." Bucky replied, taking a sip of his coffee.
"Is it? More relaxing?" Steve asked.
"Debatable. But I'll tell you one thing, living with Sam's family out in Louisiana has really helped. They really know how to cook down there." Bucky replied.
"I can imagine." Steve said as they continued to eat, a comfortable silence filling the room until they were nearly done.
"So. How are you doing? Really?" Bucky asked as he leaned back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest.
"Bucky. . ." Steve began as Bucky shook his head.
"Nope. No avoiding. No deflecting. I've learned some things in therapy you know. I'll just sit here until you eventually talk." Bucky said firmly as Steve let out a sigh, rubbing his face blearily.
"I. . .I'm okay. The last year I've just been burying myself in trying to help people who have returned from the blip and found everything's changed. Lost loved ones, houses, jobs." Steve trailed off, looking down at his coffee cup before looking back up at Bucky.
"I. . .guess I still haven't had time to properly deal with things myself." he admitted.
"Losing Tony. Losing Nat. Retiring, having Sam take over and you go with him. . ." Steve began as Bucky opened his mouth to interrupt.
". . .which is fine." Steve said, holding out a hand to stop him.
"It's what I wanted. I just. . .I'm not good with change Bucky. Never have been. I can get pretty stuck in my ways. . .have an idea of what life should be. So when I get thrown curveballs like being frozen in ice for 70 years or losing a lot of the people I care about. . ." Steve trailed off, taking a sip of his coffee as Bucky waited for him to continue.
"I guess I've just shut down a bit." Steve admitted, clutching his coffee cup a little tighter in his hands as he gave Bucky a tight smile.
"When you care about someone, you don't care half assed huh?" Bucky said softly as he suddenly pulled out Steve's notebook and set it on the table.
"Left it out on the table last night." he added as Steve grabbed it and flipped it open to the the last page where he'd written something in it. Besides a list of crossed out movies, albums, and TV shows, there was one line that had been underlined instead.
"Tell Nat How I Feel"
"I didn't know Natasha that well, apart from when I was trying to kill her all those years ago, but when she let us go at the hanger? And whenever I did see the two of you together? It wasn't hard to see how much you cared about each other." Bucky replied quietly as Steve looked over at his friend.
"It's funny. After Peggy. . .I didn't think there could be anyone else." He started as he let out a deep breath.
"She was. . I thought she was, the love of my life and I just refused to accept that I'd been robbed of that for the longest time when I woke up here. That there'd never be anyone else. Couldn't be anyone else. Then I met Nat and. .. " He trailed off, shrugging his shoulders as he looked back over at Bucky.
". . .I don't know. Things kinda changed. I mean, I didn't trust her for the longest time when you were running around trying to kill us and we had to go into hiding. . ." he trailed off, a small smile on his face as he looked at Bucky who rubbed the back of his neck and had a slightly sheepish smile on his face.
"Still sorry about that by the way." he added as Steve nodded his head and pressed on.
"But after getting to know her, and seeing how much more to her there was than she let on. . .that she wasn't just this hired assassin and she really cared about doing the right thing, making up for her past. . .over the years she just became someone I could depend on. I went from not trusting her at all to trusting her completely. And during the snap, when everyone was gone. . .she was the one constant in my life." Steve said, his throat tightening with emotion.
"We grew close. Really close. And I. .. .I was going tell her how I felt. Before we pulled the time heist. Before we all split off to grab the infinity stones." he said, a wry smile on his face.
"I should have done it earlier. You'd think someone who lost so much time would have appreciated it more and not taken it for granted." He let out a sigh, leaning back in his chair and running a hand through his hair as Bucky looked at him sympathetically.
"I'm sorry Steve. I really am. I can't imagine what it was like, over those five years. And. . .I know she's gone but I'm glad you had someone there for all of that." Bucky said as Steve let out a deep breath and nodded his head.
"Yeah. . .me too. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest." He said, giving Bucky an appreciative look.
"I get it. How hard it is talk to someone about . . .just how you're feeling. I'm still struggling with the things I did as the Winter Soldier but. . .I'm getting there. I've been working through it with Sam. Hated it at first but uh. . you know. Getting over being a stubborn idiot and learning to accept help." Bucky replied as Steve raised his coffee mug ever so slightly in the air.
"To learning to accept help." Steve said as Bucky raised his up in agreement and they both took a sip of their drinks.
"You should come back down with me to Louisina. I'm sure Sam would love to see you again." Bucky suggested as Steve nodded.
"Yeah, you know what? That sounds. . ." Steve began as his phone started vibrating and he looked down to see Bruce Banner pop up on his caller ID.
"That's weird. Bruce is calling. I haven't spoken to him in months." Steve said, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"Where is he anyway?" Bucky asked as Steve shrugged. "
Your guess is as good as mine. Suppose I'm about to find out." He picked up the phone, hit answer, and brought it up to his ear.
"Hey Bruce, what. . ." He began but was immediately cut off by a frantic sounding Bruce Banner.
"Steve, I need you to get down to my lab now." Bruce said as Steve sat up a little straighter in his chair.
"Bruce, what's going on? Are you okay? Are you in trouble?" he asked as Bucky leaned forward in his seat, his full attention on Steve.
"I. . no, it's not that. I just. . I need you to see something." Bruce replied, as Steve could hear the stress and anxiety in Bruce's tone, becoming even more confused.
"I mean I know I'm not the best with technology but can't you just send me a picture?" he asked.
"NO!" Bruce shouted before let out a deep breath and continuing.
"I mean no, no I. . .I can't explain it to you over the phone and you deserve to see this in person." Bruce replied, a little more calm this time as Steve was frowning slightly.
"Why are you being so cryptic?" Steve asked.
"Please. . .just trust me? I know it's been awhile since we've talked but this is important. I wouldn't be asking if it wasn't." Bruce said quietly as Steve looked across at Bucky.
"I've got Bucky here. Is it okay if he comes along?" Steve asked.
"Yes, sure. Just. . .get here as fast as you can. I'm at an old S.H.I.E.L.D. base in Utah. I'll send you the coordinates." Bruce said and before Steve could reply, he'd hung up.
"What was that all about?" Bucky asked as Steve just stared at his phone in confusion.
"I have no idea. Bruce wants me to met him at his lab in Utah. Said he had something to show me? Wouldn't go into details over the phone." Steve replied as Bucky looked intrigued.
"So, road trip to Utah?" He asked, leaning back and folding his arms across his chest.
"I guess, yeah. Let's go see what's gotten Bruce so shaken up." Steve replied.