26 Death
Steve slept for a long time and Bucky didn't want to wake him when he heard the phone ring in the kitchen and, assuming it was Natalia, Bucky rolled himself off Steve's bed to answer it.
"Hello," Bucky said in Russian and he expected to hear Natalia's voice respond to him, but instead, he heard someone he didn't recognize respond with a confused, "Hello?"
"Oh," Bucky said and switched back into English. "Oh, I'm sorry, hello. Who is this?"
"I'm from the DC Nursing Home and Care Center," the woman on the other line said. "Is this Steve Rogers' residence?" Bucky looked back over his shoulder to where he had left Steve's bedroom door open and Steve slept on heavily, hopefully for once sleeping well, and frowned.
"Yes, it is," Bucky said. "He's resting right now, but can I take a message?"
"Mr. Rogers was on a list compiled by the Carter family to call in the case of Peggy Carter's death," the woman said and Bucky stopped, stunned.
"Peggy's…," Bucky said into the phone, trailing off in shock.
"I'm afraid so, sir," the woman said.
"When did she-," Bucky said and stopped and swallowed.
"Mrs. Carter passed on last night in her sleep," the voice replied. "It was very peaceful."
"Oh," Bucky said quietly. "I'll let him know." The woman said a polite goodbye and Bucky mumbled something after her and then set the phone back down and looked over at Steve's door again as everything sank in.
This was the worst thing that could have happened. Steve would be crushed, more so than he already was, and Bucky was scared of how he'd respond. He knew Steve was strong enough to handle the blow, he knew he could do it, but Steve might not know and it would take a lot of pain and a lot of help for him to realize and come out of this on top. After all, Bucky thought, he's nearly killed himself once. Steve didn't need anything else pushing him to wait for the ice to crack.
In a panic, Bucky dialed Natalia's number. Of course, she was already awake and Bucky didn't let her answer, just started talking because this was of dire importance.
"Peggy's dead," Bucky said. "She was Steve's old girlfriend. He doesn't know yet, he's going to be devastated. "
"Oh, no," Natalia said.
"What do we do?" Bucky said.
"I'll be right over," Natalia replied and she was about to say more, but Bucky stopped her and spoke quietly into the phone.
"I'm scared for him," Bucky said. "Especially now, I'm scared." Natalia's voice softened.
"I know," she said. "I am, too. We all are."
"It's just like when…," Bucky said and stopped and tried again. "We were kids and there was always some new scare. I was always just sure he was going to die, he was sick."
"I know," Natalia said quietly and Bucky took a deep breath and pushed his hair back with his free hand and pressed his mouth together.
"He's sick again," Bucky said. "I was so relieved when he'd never be sick again, but I didn't think…" Bucky blinked fast, trying to avoid emotions falling in on him. "This is so much scarier than seeing him physically ill. I can't just go… Sell something and buy medicine, I can't just… I'm at a loss. I'm… I-" Bucky let out a fast breath and squeezed his eyes shut.
"Shh," Natalia said comfortingly. "Don't worry about it, don't upset yourself. He'll be fine. I'm coming over and we can deal with this together."
"I love you," Bucky said quickly into the phone because it was his love and his gratitude and his desperation inside each word and he could hear the sad half-smile he was so used to on Natalia's face.
"I love you, James. Just hang in there for five minutes," she said and hung up and Bucky dropped the phone back onto the counter and crossed the room to collapse on the couch in a heap of fear and pain and stifled tears to try and pull himself together before Natalia got there.
This was a malady Bucky couldn't cure. This was a danger Bucky couldn't protect him from. I would even trade places with you, Bucky thought and closed his eyes. I just never wanted you to have to face death again. And this, this. This is so much worse.