No-One But You (The Mystic Consultant) - Part 1

Chapter 88: Oxygen (Part 8)

...

Bucky Barnes really needed to cool off.

He journeyed up to the roof of Natasha's apartment, and he immediately welcomed the cool air on his skin. The conversation he was having with her felt a bit intense, so the not-so-winter-soldier became overwhelmed.

Natasha always had a bit of a quiet intensity to her that Bucky had never gotten used to. She wasn't talking about all the Ezekiel stuff for once, but her anger about the situation was still there.

Being "overwhelmed" was a bit of an understatement for Bucky, because he also barely recognized Steve.

His behavior was very different. He wasn't behaving like the Steve Rogers that he knew back in the day at all.

Bucky couldn't help it. He started reflecting up there on his lonesome, and it brought up a long-standing inner debate.

He was there when Steve and Tony met and he tried to interrupt their relationship as it grew. Bucky literally pulled the pin on a fire alarm just to keep the two of them from hooking up.

He did it on purpose, then he lied about why for years...

Bucky felt like he won some sort of battle against Tony when they were off in Kathmandu. He managed to pry Steve's focus away from Tony, but then he ditched Steve when it was all over. Wow..

That was just, kid stuff. They moved on from all that eventually, right?

Steve obviously did, and that was fine. Now the battle was morphing into a completely different beast. Bucky was sitting on a rooftop far from the Brooklyn apartment contemplating his actions, while Steve and Tony carried on as usual.

Tony mentioned something about a show before they all went their separate ways. He said something about being ready for another show, but Bucky wasn't sure what it meant.

Steve's bambi-eyed lover didn't elaborate of course, and then his damn mouth got busy doing other things. It was always a fucking tease with that one, and Bucky felt like he was going insane.

Tony Stark was fucking with his head, and Bucky finally understood and accepted that. The not-so-winter soldier realized that he wanted to feel what Steve was feeling. Probably in that moment. Right then. Shit.

...

Bucky finally came to some sort of an inner admittance. The notion was getting clearer as he sat on the roof.

He really had to process several conversations and what had been happening all along.

Going back wasn't an option for him, because Bucky still had an old soul. He still shared the mentality of a person that grew up in the 1930s, just like Steve.

Bucky could only go forward, and come to some sort of conclusion with Tony on his own. He looked around the roof for an escape, but he didn't feel like climbing down the side.

He went back to Natasha instead. Bucky had a feeling she was heading off on some mission after they spent some time together, and he guessed correctly.

Natasha was terrible at turning all of it off. Bucky understood why, so he stopped trying to change that a while ago.

Chapter: END

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