The winds picked up in strength, making the tree branches sway in uneven rhythms above him. Bucky cursed as his hair moved with the wind because he forgot to tie it back. He tried in vain to protect his eyes. Dark clouds covered the skies above him, threatening to release the rain at any moment. For half a second he considered turning around. Despite the inner voices confronting him about his stupid idea he forced himself to press on to the Battlefield, finding Steve sitting on the remains of a fallen tree. He couldn't hide the sound of his footsteps so Steve showed no surprise as he walked through the woods.
"What are you doing here?" He asked.
Bucky shrugged his shoulders, sitting down beside him. "No one told me to stay away."
"I'm not sure this is something anyone would want to witness," Steve said, breaking off a branch from the tree.
"I'm not squeamish. Besides, they're not going to be performing surgery, not real surgery, anyway," Bucky said, trying to keep things light. Steve didn't react. A gust of wind stirred up the ground cover, creating a small dust storm.
Steve held up the branch, the twigs fluttering in the strong breeze. "Remember the day we took down the tree for the village?"
"Right before we took off for New York, winding up on the Sanctuary planet where we met Kuthetha, who oddly enough, is going to be the one to help us. You keep talking about mistakes and bad things, but a lot of good happened. We got to travel through space and make new friends. I'm glad she's on our side."
"You are so damn positive," Steve said. "And you didn't show up to hold my hand. Why are you here?"
'When you take that device off your neck, Steve might come back. I need a good by. She, Kuthetha, said it was ok, I just have to be quick. The sorcerers from all the other Sanctums will open portals here...and do something. Wong's awake. They're going to take care of him."
"What about Thor?" Steve asked.
"They're going to leave him to Doctor Strange when he wakes up," Bucky said. "The most powerful needs the most powerful or something."
"That makes sense, in a weird mystical sort of way," Steve said. He took a deep breath and stared into the forest.
"I wouldn't worry about Steve," Bucky said. "He'll be ok."
"I've gotten to know him, over time. All those times when his memories would shift over into my head. He struggled, but the good always won out, all because of you, in his corner, fighting for him."
"You're giving me too much credit. He worked damn hard to do the right thing," he said, taking the branch from Steve and studied it himself, his mind revisiting all the events of the past year. "I hate admitting I failed, but he'll be ok. Kuthetha said we would always find each other."
"You said that before. What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
"That Steve will find Bucky, a version of me, maybe even your Bucky, somewhere, someone who might need his help, or they can help each other. Just like you what you did for me, you found me, alone and angry, didn't understand myself and when you came, it all just snapped together. Life without you would be empty." He let his voice go quiet, so the words would sink in. No pushing away, no deflection with jokes. It was a moment for honesty.
Their eyes met, holding their mutual glance for a long moment. Steve turned his attention away, back to the Battlefield.
"This is where everything started," Steve said. "I was so glad to find you again, nothing else mattered. I didn't care that you were mad at me or him, even though I was confused as hell about it."
"You turned things around for me, coming here, accepting me the way I am, not trying to fix me. Thank you. " He threw down the branch and reached out and placed his hand on Steve's arm, giving him a gentle squeeze. The wind blew around his hair around again, making Steve smile and reach over to place his hand behind his neck to pull him closer and their lips met in a gentle kiss. The wind picked up strength, making his hair whip around even more. They pulled away laughing as Bucky tried to control it.
A noise to the right of them took their attention. Tony, Bruce, Natasha, and Rhodey walking through the trees followed by the other members of the team. Bucky noticed the hair on the women, neatly tied back and out of their eyes.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who wants to say goodbye," Bucky said.
Another movement, from the opposite direction. The Speaker still in the guise of Kuthetha. They stood together without speaking for a long moment. With a wave, she motioned for Steve, Tony, Natasha, Rhodey, and Bruce to stand a little apart from the rest.
"Are you of one mind?" She asked. "There is still a small chance this might not work, so if you want to back out, now..."
"Let's do this," Tony said. "This is no different from all the other hard decisions we've made. If we can give these guys peace..."
One by one, each one of them nodded in assent until it came to Bruce.
"Guys, I'm not so sure about this," he said. "I mean, you know how it is with me. What if...one guy...gets stuck? I don't care about myself, but I don't want to..."
"You don't want to hurt anyone, we understand, but don't worry about that. You've seen what we can do. We can isolate you until we find a solution. You must trust us," she said.
"If things go wrong," he said. "Get me away from everyone..."
"We will," she said. "But it won't come to that." The atmosphere reminded Bucky of a funeral.
"So are you going to make them hold hands and chant or something? Like a seance?" Peter asked, his young voice breaking through the solemn mood. A wave of energy passed through the other team, making Kuthetha's group break out into quiet laughter.
"What's so funny?" He asked.
"Tell you later," Steve replied. Something about Peter's question strengthened their resolve. He and Tony shared a mutual glance and a nod which rippled through to the other members of the team.
"Follow me," Kuthetha said turning away leading them to the most open part of the field. A movement to the side caused Bucky to look up to see T'Challa standing on the edge of the hill, a little distance away with his bodyguards, stretched out in lines on either side of him, but still close enough to observe the proceedings.
"I'll go first," Steve said. She nodded and directed her golden streams to the skies. Five portals opened and people appeared standing within the spinning circles of light, the sorcerers of the other Sanctums.
Kuthetha nodded to Steve, and to Bucky who took this as permission to approach him. With one swift movement, Steve tore the sensor off his neck. He let out a scream, and held onto his head, in immense pain. An obvious struggle was happening inside him, his eyes went out of focus for a moment, then fixated on Bucky.
"We have little time," he said, his voice raspy as if he couldn't get his breath. "I wanted to say I'm sorry, for everything, and thank you, for not giving up on me, it's not your fault...the other guy, he'll be good for you, better than me. This needs to happen, and I'll try to do better, whenever they send me."
"I'm sorry too, but wherever they send you, you have a good life. Look for me," Bucky said "I'll be there, somewhere. Goodbye, Steve." He threw his arms around him. The wind picked up speed, somewhere something natural rumbled in the sky. They held each other that for a moment before Bucky stepped back. Kuthetha nodded to the others, and the area filled with a gold fog. Another portal opened full of greenery and blue skies in contrast to the stormy atmosphere around them. All the energy beams from all the other portals focused on Steve. Kuthetha made a pushing movement toward him, without touching him. An image, a ghost of Steve fell out of him, backward, into the portal and everything closed. Unexpected pain rose inside Bucky as he watched him go, a part of him wanted to pull him back and start over, but that was not to be. Wherever they sent him, he would find peace. The fog lifted revealing his Steve, kneeling. Bucky rushed over to him to help him up.
"He's gone," Steve said. "He accepted this needed to happen..." Bucky looked over to Kuthetha who let out a sigh of relief.
"It worked," she declared. "Who wishes to be next?"
"Me!" Bruce said. "This waiting is worse than anything. Please..." He tore the sensor off his neck.
Kuthetha nodded and motioned for everyone to stand back. Once again she opened a portal, once again the mystical fog but this time no ghost image of Bruce appeared going through the portal. The fog cleared, with Bruce still standing there but at least there was no Hulk rampaging through the area.
"Didn't it work?" He asked. He sounded like a small child denied a much-loved toy. Kuthetha raised her hands and together with the other sorcerers repeated the process. Once again, no sign of a ghostly Bruce.
Kuthetha walked over to him, and placed her hands on his head, stared into his eyes, then closed her eyes, her mind elsewhere.
"There is a reason it's not working," she said. "There's only one of you. You aren't sharing your body with anyone."
"But that's impossible!" Bruce said. "The other guy, I saw him, he was there!"
"He may have allowed himself to disintegrate. He alone accepted his fate."
Another long silence descended over the group and they contemplated the enormity of Professor Banner's decision.
"A brave and selfless thing to do, and it might explain why you didn't go into a coma," Steve said.
Bruce stood there for a few moments as if digesting the information. "As hard as this is, she's telling the truth. It's something I would have done, He needed to do this. If given the choice..."
"It looks like you're stuck with us," Natasha said, She smiled as she stepped up to take her turn and the process repeated. The ghostly Natasha left them, and so did Tony and Colonel Rhodes.
The portals vanished, leaving no trace. They could have remained there, quiet, mourning their lost friends but at that moment the heavens opened. The rain poured but Kuthetha put up a small barrier, keeping the rain off of them. Above the on the hill, the same thing happened except a Vibranium shield protected T'Challa and his bodyguards.
"We can't thank you enough..." Steve began.
"I am the one who must thank you," she said. She turned to the group. "Before they came to us, I started down a dark path. I was considering using my newfound abilities to gain power over my enemies, but they showed me a better way. If in your travels you come across the Ritikia and discover those who look like me, you are among friends." Waving her hands she encircled herself in a golden cloud changing back to her true appearance. "Until we meet again," She said, opening a portal and disappearing on the other side.
They didn't have time to contemplate her leaving. The magic shield disappeared, and the rain fell on them in heavy torrents, soaking them. Something about the water reminded Bucky of his reaction to Steve baptizing himself in the pool at the waterfall. A new beginning, starting over. Peter and Wanda laughed, as the rain dripped down on them and together the group ran to the Palace where T'Challa waited for them under his cover.
"So it is over?" T'Challa asked.
"Yes, It's done, at least our part is," Steve said.
"Did it hurt?" Peter asked.
"No," Tony answered. "But at the moment, I feel..."
"Free," Natasha answered. "Free, and sad at the same time. I'm not going to miss her, but a part of me feels...empty. I wish them well, wherever they are, in their new lives."
"We haven't had time to process everything," Rhodey said. "but I'm glad to be back. I'll inform my superiors the virus is gone and there is no need for me to stay here any longer, and no need to hide from me anymore," he said to Bucky. "So I should consider heading back home."
"And so should we..." Tony said.
"But you promised me a tour of Wakanda!" Peter protested.
"And so I did, and I will, but now's not the best time. How about you come back, in a couple of months when the rains are over when we dedicate the Battlefield?" Bucky asked.
"You promise?" Peter asked. His eyes held his ever-hopeful expression.
"I'll send you an engraved invitation!" Bucky said. "And I keep my promises."
"He does," Steve said.
The group walked under the protective walkway back to the Complex where they split up, Steve and Bucky returning to their quarters. Bucky began pulling off his wet clothes, and had made it down his shorts but stopped, alerted to Steve's presence right behind him, surprised by his arms going around his waist, his bare skin tight against his own. He swiveled around in his arms and threw his arms around his neck and they held onto each other for a long minute before releasing each other. Steve smiled at him, reaching up to play with his still wet hair.
"I never told you about my fixation with you and water, and the answer might sound strange, because, in my other life, I associated water with the times he came back to me. He pulled me out of the Potomac River, and something sparked inside him that ignited his memories. The other time, after I pulled him out a river and his memories kicked into high gear, he remembered our past...and I guess...I associated water with getting him back." He pulled back and walked away from him to toward the double doors that opened out into the balcony, the rain beating down hard against the windows. "I realized, that just like you let your Steve go, I need to let...him go."
Bucky followed him and together they stood together watching the rain.
"My holding onto you, this PTSD, of that was me holding onto him. You're not him. You're your own person. I need to accept that he's gone...and I need to say goodbye," he continued.
"I understand," Buck said, and he did. The root of Steve's suffering was trauma, mixed with grief. "I'll do anything to help, make things as easy for you as I can," Bucky said. "And who's to say if he's really gone? Maybe he ended up with Steve, someplace else in some other time."
"Is that true?" Steve asked.
"You saw what I saw," Buck said. "And I spent more time with Kuthetha and she showed me a lot of unexplainable things. The Universe is big, there are things out there we can't understand where everything is possible. This what I believe, but you don't have to. Do whatever's best for you."
"Thank you," Steve said. He turned to Bucky and kissed him, forcing him to step backward. He was suddenly in a playful mood, keeping it up until they were in the bedroom. Bucky tried to stop him, unsure about the sudden change in attitude, but Steve pushes were even firmer, and he had a slightly flirtatious smile on his face.
Bucky gave up trying to stop him. "What are you doing?" he asked. This wasn't their usual afternoon activity. "Shouldn't you visit your therapist first? I don't think this is going to cure anything."
"I will," he said, pushing him down on the bed and joining him. "But for the first time, this is me in here, the real me and only me, and I need to do this...for you. With no ghosts hanging over us." He rolled over to Bucky and they shared a long deep kiss.
He stopped, and they stared at each for just as long.
"One thing stays the same," he said as he pulled himself over onto him and Bucky reacted to the sensation of his lips as they nuzzled his neck. "How far we go or don't go, is, and always will be, your call."