AN: So I woke up this morning and decided to finish this. I doubt anyone is still interested, but at least I won't have it sitting around as a WIP bugging me.

Back at the compound, Bucky kept one arm fastened around Sam as they made their way inside.

"Maybe we shouldn't tell Steve all the graphic details, yeah?"

"He deserves to know," Sam said. "And secrets never end well."

"Fine," Bucky said. "You can do it then."

"Okay. He's gonna know something's up as soon as he sees you anyway."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. You look like crap."

"You're such a sweet talker..." Bucky teased.

"Shut up," Sam said, tightening his arm around Bucky to help him inside.

xxx

Steve was furious, Bucky had gone and done exactly what he'd told him not to do. When he got back, they'd both find out just how well Steve's lungs had recovered.

He heard the door and drew in a breath to tell Bucky exactly how pissed off he was, but the words died on his tongue when he saw him. Bucky couldn't even really walk on his own. He had one arm braced around Sam and the other grasped across his stomach. Sam held onto him like he would kill anyone who even looked at Bucky the wrong way.

Bucky looked up and seeing his shock gave him a tentative smile.

"We got him."

"Oh my God, what happened?"

"Sam said he wanted to tell you."

Sam helped Bucky into a seat and Bucky smiled up at him gratefully. Sam was like a fierce momma bear, he wouldn't stray more than a few inches from Bucky's side.

"Sam?"

"Let's just say I saw more of this one than I ever wanted to."

"What does that mean?"

Sam and Bucky shared a look. Sam nodded and then Bucky peeled his top up to reveal a jagged wound that ran right across his belly.

"It means," Bucky said. "That insides should stay where they belong."

"Jesus Christ. He gutted you?"

"Nothing a few dozen stitches couldn't fix."

"Oh Buck," Steve said, dropping to his knees in front of his best friend, reaching up to stroke face. "How'd we both end up with all the stupid?" Then he leaned in and pressed his lips to Bucky's for a quick kiss, just to reassure himself that Bucky was alive and well, before wrapping him up in a hug. What would he do if he lost him again?

"Careful, Stevie," Bucky said, returning the hug with one arm, while keeping the other braced across his middle. "It still stings a bit."

"Right, of course," Steve said, pulling back and looking at Bucky's face again. The face he thought he'd lost forever but now miraculously had back. And for a second it all overwhelmed him, how far they'd come, how many awful things had happened along the way, and how damn lucky they were to be back in each other's lives. His throat tightened and his eyes filled with tears.

"Hey, Stevie, come on," Bucky said, going for upbeat, despite the glassiness of his own eyes now. "It'll heal."

Steve choked out an undignified noise, something between a laugh and a sob, and then he wrapped Bucky up again, needing to hold him close.

"I love you so much, Buck. Don't you ever leave me again."

"I love you too, punk," Bucky returned. "And I promise I'm not going anywhere."

Steve buried his face against Bucky's neck and what he didn't see was the determined look Bucky gave Sam as he made that promise.

xxx

It hadn't exactly gone to plan, but they had got the job done. Loki was in custody. Luckily Stark was paranoid and had built a supervillain-proof cell into the compound. Still, Thor didn't feel as good about it as he should.

"What's wrong?" Steve questioned, picking up on his anguish.

"I have to leave you, I have to go back to Asgard and sort this mess out." It was true, if not the whole truth. Steve knew him better than that though.

"Hey," he said, touching Thor's cheek and looking into his eyes. "We knew that already. What's really wrong?"

Thor sighed. It wasn't that anything was exactly wrong, it was just Loki managing to tear him up again.

"No matter my intentions, Loki and I always seem to hurt each other."

"He'll never not be your brother."

"How can you be so understanding? He tried to kill you."

"So did Bucky. None of our lives are simple or easy."

Once again Thor was grateful for his good fortune to have Steve by his side. He wrapped Steve up and held him close. And like that, he found it easier to admit what he'd done.

"Loki had someone. I killed him."

"What?" Steve said, leaning back, sounding shocked. He was right to be.

"When we got there, a HYDRA agent tried to use the codewords on Barnes. I didn't think twice, I just swung Mjolnir to make him stop. But Loki, Loki was in love with that man…"

Steve held his face, brushing Thor's damp cheeks with his thumbs. Damn, once again Loki had him in tears.

"You didn't know."

"It's true, even after everything, I never would have done that to him intentionally. But it doesn't matter what I say, we'll never repair the rift now."

"You might. Don't you see?" Steve said with a soft smile. "You've already forgiven him. He could do the same one day."

"I hope so," he said, pulling Steve close again.

"Oh shit, sorry." It was Barnes.

"It's fine, Buck," Steve said. At least this was much better that the last time Steve's best friend had walked in on them. They had all come a long way since then.

"No, I'm sorry," Thor said. "I should have warned you about the clone trick. It's a favourite of Loki's."

"Forget it. I'm alright."

"Thank you," Thor accepted, relieved that he didn't have to battle on this front too.

"You're going back to your planet?" Barnes asked.

"Yes. I still have to deal with Loki's actions."

Barnes nodded.

"I hope it goes as smooth as it can."

"I appreciate that."

"And while you're at it, make sure Loki never sets foot on this planet again. I still haven't forgotten what he did to Steve."

"Nor have I. Can I ask something of you?"

"Sure," Barnes allowed.

"Take care of Steve for me while I'm gone."

"You don't need to ask, that's a given."

Thor nodded his appreciation. Having reached a middle ground with Steve's oldest friend was a weight off his shoulders.

"Hey," Steve interrupted. "I'm right here, you know. I don't need you two treating me like I'm made of glass."

"But you're so small," Thor pointed out.

"And cute," Barnes added.

"Stop it," Steve protested.

Thor shared a smile with Barnes, perhaps they had more in common than they thought.

xxx

Bucky's stitches needed to come out. Sam grabbed the supplies he'd need and let himself into Bucky's room. Of course, Bucky was still in bed.

"What is it with you and early mornings?" Bucky groaned.

"Early? It's nine o'clock!"

"Exactly..."

"Those stitches need to come out."

Bucky gave him an unimpressed look before giving in.

"Alright fine. Give me a minute."

Bucky disappeared into the bathroom and Sam got his stuff ready.

Bucky reappeared in grey sweatpants and a white tee, hair hanging loose, looking for all the world like a dishevelled angel.

"Lay down and lift your shirt up."

"Does that line work on all the girls?"

"Shut up."

Bucky went ahead and did as he was asked, revealing his abs. Now came the part where Sam had to touch Bucky. He fought the urge to let his fingers explore all the smooth, pale skin on display, and concentrated instead on slowly and carefully cutting the first stitch and pulling the thread free.

"You know you don't have to be too careful, right? Super soldier."

"Who's doing this?"

"I could've done it myself."

"Then why didn't you?"

Satisfyingly, Bucky didn't have a comeback. Luckily, Sam could keep his eyes on his task. It was slow and tedious work. The wound had knit together well, and there was just a faint, pink line remaining where the cut had been. After some silence, it was Bucky who broke it.

"Sam," he said, voice softer and gentler now. "I'm sorry about what I said before I left. I had no right."

"You made a promise."

"That's no excuse. It was cruel, and I didn't mean it."

Sam stopped and looked up, Bucky's blue eyes looking back at him, the pain and regret plain to see. He obviously thought he'd ruined something between them, but the truth was that Sam couldn't be any more in love with this man if he tried.

"I know," he said, giving Bucky's hand a reassuring squeeze, and Bucky gave him one of those heart-melting smiles.

"Does your mom really think we're getting married?"

"You remember all that, huh?" Sam smirked.

"Yeah," Bucky smiled. "We could one day, you know..."

"We still haven't dated."

"We can fix that."

"Are you asking me out?"

Bucky gave him one of those gorgeous smiles.

"Yeah, I am."

And there it was, after everything, it turned out he didn't need to tell Bucky anything because Bucky was asking. They'd been through a lot, not just physically, that was the easy stuff to handle, it was the mental wounds and the emotional hurt that were far harder to deal with, but by sticking together they'd reached this place where they could both smile. After their initial impressions of each other it was crazy to think they'd made it this far. Sam was in love with Bucky, Bucky probably felt the same, but maybe even better than that was the fact that they were friends. There was something about the easy in-between moments of life that made all the hard parts of it worthwhile, and sharing them with Bucky was amazing.

"Well in that case," he teased, totally comfortable in Bucky's presence now. "I think I need to think about it."

"No, you don't. Come here." Bucky pulled him up so he was laying on the bed half on top of him. He lifted his hand and touched Bucky's face, letting his thumb brush over Bucky's pretty mouth. It was such a small thing to do but so significant of the barrier that was finally gone from between them. Going down this path, meant he was allowed to drink all this in, because Bucky was Botticelli beautiful. He didn't have to hide his feelings anymore.

"So, this is the part where you kiss me," Bucky prompted, giving him another one of those dazzling smiles.

Sam smiled back.

"You know what? I'm not even gonna try arguing with that."

He couldn't really say exactly who moved first, but then their mouths were together, and it felt so right. Like every step of the journey to get here had been worth it. He loved Bucky, so much, but saying that could wait for another day, he didn't need to oversell the moment. All they both needed was to be together.

Sam broke the kiss and grinned down at Bucky.

"I was in the middle of something, you know..."

Bucky reached up and cupped his face, and that, more than anything, began to make it sink in that this was real and something they could have.

"Well just as long as we stay in the middle..."

That was Bucky asking him never to leave. Sam couldn't know what the future held, but he did know that he would never leave Bucky willingly.

"I'll do my best."

"I know you will." Then they were kissing again, and if the stitches had to wait a little bit longer, well that was okay too.

AN: Just the epilogue to go.