27 Time
Natalia arrived minutes later and embraced Bucky, who was still at a loss, and Bucky told her all about Peggy and how enamoured Steve had been with her during the war and he knew there were gaps in what he remembered, things that had been irrevocably burned right out of him, but he knew what he needed to know and Natalia listened to everything he told her.
"There'll be a funeral," Natalia said.
"How are we going to tell him," Bucky said.
"Gently," Natalia said and she frowned and sighed. "And we can't leave him alone."
"I know," Bucky said and then he looked at Natalia, who always knew all the answers, whom he had long since been awed by, and asked, "How? How do we heal him?" Natalia looked down from Bucky's face and bit her lip and shook her head.
"I'm not sure," she said and Bucky was awash with grief.
Steve woke an hour or so later and was surprised to find Natasha and Bucky in his kitchen, trying to pull together something for him to eat.
"Don't worry about it," Bucky said when Steve pressed and set a plate of eggs in front of him. "Natalia's making chocolate chip pancakes, but somehow I doubt you'll be full." Steve suspiciously began eating Bucky's scrambled eggs, eyeing him.
"I don't understand," he said.
"Can't a guy make his friend breakfast every once in a while?" Bucky said and his voice was light, but he was turning his face away from Steve and there was a heaviness about his shoulders and Steve knew there was something wrong. He felt a shift in the air, in the tone, and everything was suspicious. He was beginning to lose his appetite.
"What is it," Steve said.
"Steve," Natasha said, almost a warning. Slow down.
"What's wrong?" Steve demanded. Bucky finally looked over at him and his face was pleading.
"I'm so sorry," he said quietly and Steve was afraid.
"What," Steve said. "Is wrong."
"Peggy passed away, Steve," Bucky whispered and silence crashed down on Steve like a tidal wave and wiped him out, silence came roaring down the halls like a violent flood, silence collapsed in on him like a rotten building, in a heap of rubble and dust.
He stood there.
Frozen.
"What," he said.
"She died last night," Bucky said. "In her sleep. They called this morning and I thought it was Natalia so I picked it up and then they told me…"
Why, Steve thought in a sudden, desperate, pain-filled plea. Why.
"Because," Bucky struggled. Had he spoken out loud? "Because it was her time," he said. "She'd lived her life. She died peacefully, Steve." Steve frowned.
"It was her time?" He said and Bucky just looked at him like he didn't know what to say.
"Yes," he said. "Yes, it was." That was ludicrous.
"What does that even mean?" Steve said. It was her time? That meant nothing! Steve had seen his time, he'd watched it pass by. Again and again and again it was his time. So why did Peggy have to die? "It was her time," Steve muttered scoffingly.
Bucky approached him and gently extended his hand and the metal glittered and he said, "It's alright, it's going to be okay."
"It's not fair," Steve replied breathlessly and Bucky took his hand back and then, after a second, wrapped Steve up in another hug and Steve hugged him back but he felt numb.