Tags: ANGST...this is pure angst...I'm so sorry...
Written For: @comfortember
Day 10: Breakdown
Beta(s): None... just me and Grammerly
The chaos of the battle sounds roar around you and your team as you continue to fight diligently.
Thanos and his army have been battling the Avengers for the remainder of the Infinity Stones for weeks, and it's finally come to a head here in Wakanda.
You're standing between Steve and Bucky, taking down enemy after enemy alongside them. The three of you work effortlessly together like a well-oiled machine.
You toss Bucky a magazine for his rifle and swipe his knife from his weapon belt, "I'll give it back later, Buck. I'm out of ammo."
He turns to you and slides the magazine home before firing over your shoulder. "Promise me if we get separated that you'll come back to me, doll."
You kiss him hard, trying not to think about how this could be the last time you get to feel his soft lips against yours. "I promise, baby."
Steve hits the ground next to you and you stab the alien in the neck that's on top of him before pulling your best friend to his feet.
"The lab's been breached!" He shouts both to you and into his comms. "We need to get to Vision!"
The three of you take off towards the woods, knowing that's where he'd go. Natasha, Bruce, T'challa, and Wanda all follow suit and soon the six of you are surrounding a wounded Vision doing whatever you can to ensure his and Wanda's safety.
You know from the way she and him are talking that he's not making it through this. There wasn't enough time for Shuri to extract the mind stone and also spare his life force. You swallow the lump in your throat and continue to kill anything that's a threat.
This is, by far, the most brutal battle you've ever fought, and you can't help how exhausted you feel. Like Natasha, you don't have any super-soldier serum or magic running through your veins. There's only so much you can take.
It's starting to pay off though. The amount of aliens surrounding your small group of heroes is dwindling, and soon Steve stabs the last one in the chest before it falls to the ground lifeless.
You don't have time to celebrate, because in the next second, a portal opens and Thanos steps through it. You eye the gauntlet on his arm, your heart sinking to your stomach when you see that he has all of the Infinity Stones. All except the one Vision has on his head...the mind stone.
Steve and Bruce charge forward, immediately trying to disarm him, but they're tossed aside as if they weighed nothing.
Thanos uses the stones to trap Bruce into the side of a rock wall, before grabbing T'challa by the neck and throwing him to the ground. He isn't moving and your heart drops to your stomach. He then turns to your best friend and pushes back against his hands as he tries to remove the golden glove. Bucky shoots bullet after bullet at the purple giant, but it does nothing to deter him.
In the next second, you see him grab Steve by the armor and punch him in the face. His head snaps back and he falls to the ground with a sickening thud.
"STEVE!" You scream and try and go to him, but Bucky grabs your wrist, pulling you back into his chest. Tears cloud your vision as you struggle in his hold. "No! No, let me go! Steve! We have to help him, Buck...we have...please...he needs..."
"Y/N... listen to me, okay?" Bucky's voice cracks, tears shining in his eyes as he looks down at you. "He's gone. We have to focus, baby. We have to finish this, for the world...we have to finish this for Steve."
Thanos charges at the rest of you and Bucky pushes you behind him, racking the slide back on his gun and firing every last bullet he has left to defend the two of you. He knows it's not going to work, but he has to try.
The gauntlet whirs and the rest of you surrounding Vision and Wanda are scattered along the forest floor. Even though you and the remainder of your team aren't there to defend them anymore, she was still able to remove the stone, it shatters into tiny pieces at her feet. Your heart breaks for her as she falls to her knees beside Vision's body.
"This is no time to mourn," Thanos declares and raises his gloved arm. It glows green, and a few seconds later all of you are back to where you were two minutes ago. Steve, T'challa, and Bruce are all alive and well, and although you're more than relieved to have them back, your happiness is short-lived.
Thanos reaches out and grasps the now intact mind stone and rips it out of Vision's head. Once more you have to watch as he falls lifeless to the ground at Wanda's feet. He adds the stone to the gauntlet and his whole body glows as it ascends to full power.
Just as you're about to charge at him, a blast of lightning strikes Thanos, and Thor's axe lodges in the center of his chest.
"You die for that." Thor stares menacingly at him as he shoves the weapon in deeper.
Thanos winces and looks up at him, a slight smirk on his face.
"You should have gone for the head."
He snaps his fingers and a blinding light billows out around all of you. Thor grabs onto Thanos's armor and shakes him.
"What did you do?!"
He doesn't answer and instead opens another portal, disappearing through it like he was never even there to begin with. The only evidence is the small bit of blood on the end of Thor's axe.
You immediately take off running to Steve, wrapping your arms around him and hugging him tightly.
"I...I thought we lost you..."
"I think you did for a moment, but whatever Thanos did with the stones must have reversed it."
You look up at him happily and turn to look at Bucky. He's standing a few feet from you with a scared look on his face. Your smile falls and you start toward him
"Buck? Baby, what's wrong?"
"Y/N...Steve..." He locks eyes with you and to your horror, his body begins to turn to dust.
You break into a sprint, but by the time you get to where he was, it's too late. The only thing left of him is his weapon and a pile of ash.
"BUCKY?! No, no, no...no...come back...baby come back!" Your hands shake as you gather a handful of dust, it falls through your fingers like sand.
Steve comes up behind you and tries to pull you to your feet, but you rip away from him, loud sobs shaking your body.
"Sweetheart, I'm sorry...but we can't stay here. It's not safe."
"How can you say that?!" You look up at him with tear-stained cheeks. "I'm not leaving him, Steve. We have to help him! We...we have...I...I can't lose him!"
Natasha picks up Bucky's gun and slings it over her shoulder while Steve pulls you to your feet. He cradles your face in his hands and looks seriously into your devastated eyes.
"Honey, I swear on my life that we will bring him back, okay? I don't care how long it takes...I don't care what I have to do. I'll get him back for you, but you have to come with us now, alright?"
You nod, your lower lip trembling as you take one last look at where the love of your life last stood.
quick thought, can be a req: do you think bucky got busy with anyone while he was in wakanda? i mean… he was there for a while 👀
This might be a lil disappointing... but I actually think he wouldn't? And least not to the extent of actually hooking up with anyone.
When Buck is in Wakanda, he's still not quite sure of himself. We see Ayo helping him overcome the Winter Solider trigger words, and I'm sure he was working pretty close with Shuri and the Dora Milaje while they were "fixing" him. And we really only get a glimpse of his life when T'Challa comes to bring him to the fight, having a peaceful day in the field with his goats.
I honestly think that Bucky spent this time just trying to get used to being in his own skin, occupying his own mind. I do think that he spent time with the people there, talking to them in passing or playing with kids in the village he woke up in.
But if there were any romantic endeavors while he was there, I think they would have been small. Shy and unsure, very different from the man he used to be. Maybe he'd do what he could to try and get to know them, but he might be nervous about being too pushy. He might ask them to help him learn the language, but only if they were willing, and in small doses; maybe only brief translations, phrases he wants to know, to say to them, or ones he already knows just as an excuse. Maybe they were the reason he started doing physical labor and taking care of goats, joining them in trying to help where he could.
But I honestly think Bucky would be so reserved and unsure of himself that nothing would really happen before he gets dragged away to yet another fight. (But it would have been fuckin cute... might make a fun blurb about it later)
