dysmorphics | it's you and me up against the world, it's you and me

Shit. It was like every time he tried to explain a little he kept making it worse. Because sure, he was mad at her. But he didn't want her hurting, and he didn't want her in tears.

He frowned as he stood and circled around so he was standing in front of her, then wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug. "I know that's not what you meant, Steph. Logically, I know that, and she reminds me a lot, too."

But Bucky still saw himself as a broken person most of the time, but he was at least trying to be better. Maybe he was selfish on top of that, though, because he couldn't help thinking that going and making life better for another Bucky sure didn't help him any. And he sure as hell needed help.

Steph wasn't trying to shut Bucky out or invalidate his feelings or make the situation about her or anything. She just happened to be broken, too. It hadn't been all that long since that night she had come so close to unraveling, saved only by another Bucky's selfish plea, and it wasn't like she believed in therapy.

"What do you want me to do, Buck?" She didn't push him away, but she didn't hug him back either. It was already taking every ounce of her strength and willpower to keep herself together. "I would've stayed if I'd known that was what you wanted. But it's too late for that now. I fucked up. And I don't wanna fuck up anything else."

She still had the Time Stone. She could undo it all... but that wasn't her decision to make. That stupid thing was what even brought about this mess in the first place.

★☆✪☆★
Steph had finished giving Bucky a tour of the kitchen and was just making him a cup of hot chocolate by way of a sachet of instant cocoa and boiling water in the microwave. She was wondering how her Bucky was doing, but with her poor hearing eavesdropping wasn't an option.

She kept glancing at his left arm as she stirred his drink, which also meant his wedding ring did not go unnoticed. She was happy for him, but more than that, she was relieved that he wasn't going to ask her to come back with him to their time. Or was he?

"So, um. How are you?"

"I want you to hug me back," he told her simply, letting his chin rest on her shoulder while he continued to not let her go. "What's done is done, alright? It sucked, but I don't know. Guess it worked out. I got her, and it looked like you got him?" Bucky was pretty sure they were together, at least, if only based on the way they had their arms around each other when he and Steph came back from getting changed.

But that made him think of something. "How'd he take you switching places with her, anyway? Doesn't seem like he stayed too mad."

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The younger Bucky, meanwhile, had been fascinated by the microwave. And the dishwasher. The ice maker. All of it. Hell, even the idea of instant hot chocolate was novel to him. He'd only ever had it when his mom made it on the stovetop, and even then it was only an occasional treat.

Leaning against the opposite counter, legs crossed at his ankles, he watched as she fixed up the mug, moving around the kitchen like it was her own. Which, he supposed it was.

For some reason her question surprised him, though. It wasn't a deep question, most people would think it was really surface level, but technically they hadn't seen each other since the night before he left for war. So, he actually thought about it for a moment before answering with, "I'm... I'm good now. Had a few rough years, but the war's over and things are alright for now." Nevermind a chunk of the rough years were because he didn't know where she was. He could leave that part out.

"What about you? You like it here?"

Steph hesitated, but eventually she brought her arms up to hug Bucky back. Once she did, though, the hug immediately tightened and she started crying again. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she sobbed. "I was wrong. I was wrong. And so, so stupid."

It hadn't been all that long for him, but she'd been gone for five, maybe even six years. Most of that she'd spent alone, returning the Stones across the universe and keeping an eye out for the other Bucky from a distance. The isolation, the loneliness, it had been too much even for her, and though she'd recently found some measure of peace, she still missed her best friend.

They could talk about their relationships later. Right now she just wanted to disappear in his arms and remember what it was like before the war — before she — fucked things up.

★☆✪☆★
Meanwhile, it hadn't been all that long for the younger Steph since she'd seen this Bucky last. Being in love with him had made their days apart feel longer, but then she was in the future, and things progressed like lightning. She still loved him, but it was different now.

"Yeah, I... I'm good, too." She removed her glasses and offered them for him to examine. She pointed to the clip ons. "Those let me see color properly, it's so cool. I didn't know what blue really looked like until he got me those, or how pretty his — your — eyes are."

She sobered after a moment. "I'm glad you made it outta the war." Cap's idea might've been dumb, but Steph was no longer entirely opposed now that she had a better understanding of the alternative. Let him live. Let him love. She wanted that for him, too.

Bucky took the glasses from Steph and examined them with a small grin on his face. To him, they just looked like they had a slight tint to them, but if they could make her see color properly, they might as well be magic. "She told me medicine and everything was better in the future, but they can even fix this?" his smile widened as he handed the glasses back to her.

His grin softened a bit at the mention of the war, though. "Yeah. Me, too. I, uh. I didn't know until well after I got home that it was cause she was looking out for me. I just hate how she had to go about it." Bucky had definitely given his wife an earful about leaving the other one behind the way she had, because he knew how he would have felt. But, he was still selfish enough to keep her for himself.

"Yeah," Steph answered, still sounding impressed even if it had been a while since she got her glasses. "He's taking me to a bunch of other doctors too. If they can't fix something they can give me something to manage it. Oh!"

Remembering her inhaler, she patted herself for it, but because she hadn't bothered to put on shorts, she just rummaged around the kitchen for the spare Bucky had stashed in one of the drawers. An inhaler wasn't the only spare around though, but she was too excited to show her best friend the modern marvel that it had slipped her mind she'd unearthed several packets of condoms on the counter too.

"So much better than the cigs," she told him as she produced the inhaler. "Could you believe how backwards things were? The cigs were making my asthma worse."

As he examined the inhaler, she prepared some glasses of cold water for the lot of them. So far there hadn't been any more fighting — Bucky would've left the room so fast, she'd figured — so it was more likely there was crying instead and their counterparts were going to need some water. "She's been through a really rough time," she found herself saying, surprising herself that she was coming to Cap's defense despite her own anger at the dumb way she'd gone about the whole redemption mission. "And she blames herself for a lot of things. I... do you want her stuff? I have her journals and sketchpads in the art room."

Bucky smiled at Steph's excitement as she rummaged around, not particularly bothered by the condoms. He and his Steph had protection stashed all over their own apartment, too, so he got it. But when she held out the little device he took it and looked it over closely. "This little thing helps with your asthma that much?" he asked, perking a brow as he handed it back to her. "See, that's the sorta thing I wouldn't mind smuggling back to get Howard to try to recreate. Could help a lotta people." Plus, it was clear that things that happened in his time didn't effect her future.

"She'd probably like those, yeah," he answered, holding the inhaler back out to his friend. Just because he'd like to take one with him didn't mean he'd steal hers from her. "We actually brought a bunch of your stuff with us. That's most of what's in the suitcases. Becca went and got everything she could after you went missing, just in case." It had been partly in hopes of Steph showing back up, and partly because she knew Bucky would want it if she didn't.

Steph pursed her lips together as she thought about it. "I think the Google would have something about how it works." There were videos and how-to articles of practically everything, so it probably wasn't far off that there would be something for the inhaler. That way they wouldn't have to recreate it exactly. "Not sure what that would mean for the inventor though. You wouldn't wanna put him or her out of a job."

She took the inhaler back but left it sitting on the countertop, especially after Bucky told her about her stuff. "Really?" Her surprise was clear on her face. "You're not here to talk me into going back?"

There it was, the elephant in the room. While she suspected that probably wasn't the case anymore — who else would he be married to? — she was waiting for the opportunity to breach the subject and get some clarity. Look at what not talking and just assuming things had brought them. She was not making that mistake again.

"Guess you'll have to show me the Google, too, since I don't know what that is," Bucky said with a chuckle and a shrug. "Maybe I can find out who the inventor is and get Stark to hire him for his company or something. I don't know."

He took a couple steps across the room to grab the mug of hot chocolate, mostly just to do something with his hands. Sure, when Steph--the one he married--first told him she had dropped his best friend off in the future, Bucky's knee-jerk reaction had been wanting to bring her back. But the more she told him about how much more advanced medicine had gotten, and the fact that she was with a version of himself, not just on her own, made him think that maybe it was a good place for her.

More than anything, Bucky thought it should be her decision, though.

"Don't get me wrong," he began, looking back at her with a gentle smile. "The offer's there if you want it. You could come back with us and we'd figure things out. But you seem happy here. And healthy."

"I'll show you later," Steph promised. "It's so cool. You can play music on it too. And read books." She might be conflating the Internet and phone apps, but hey.

She picked up one of the glasses of water she prepared and took a drink as she waited for Bucky's answer. And while it wasn't an unequivocal no, she could read the intent behind it. How could she and any version of herself have mistaken Bucky's kindness and affection for something else? They really were so dumb.

"How's that gonna work with two of us?" She couldn't resist teasing, and the way she smiled behind her glass, well.

"Like I said, we'd figure something out," he said, teasing her just as much as she teased him. "She goes by Gracie in public these days, so people don't ask so many questions about how she got big. With one of you on each arm, the papers would havea field day."

Wouldn't that be something, though? Hey, Ma, I know you just got used to Steph being all big and strong now, but here's a second Steph that's the size you remember. Still classified stuff, of course. Might even give one of his parents a heart attack, sending them to an early grave.

Something about the way she was smiling behind that glass, though, made him think she wasn't really thinking about it. Which was good, considering what he heard and what he knew about himself? He figured the Bucky that was in the other room needed her.

Steph had done enough reading by now that she could take a guess at what would've been written about a Bucky who survived the war. "Look at you, all famous. How many marriage proposals did you get in the mail? Must be rough, having to choose from so many." She feigned innocence as she gestured to his hand, where his ring rested.

Before arriving in the future, that would've been a depressing thought. How could she hope to compete? She was nobody; hell, even after Cap got enhanced by the serum she still thought he wasn't interested in her. Steph knew better now though, and there was no undercurrent of sadness in her teasing. As crazy and dumb as it sounded, Bucky would choose her every time. She could bet on that.

She set her glass aside. "Buck, you're my best friend, and I'll always love you." It used to be so weird, to know two of them, to love two of them, but she'd already had enough time to get used to the idea. "But I'm with him, and I'm not going anywhere he isn't. I'm sorry."

Bucky looked down at his left hand, rubbing his thumb over the simple gold band there. "There wasn't really a choice, Steph," he said before looking back over at his friend. "It was gonna be Steph Rogers or no one." Sure, for a while there it had seemed like no one was going to win out, but that changed when he got on the ferris wheel one evening. Next thing he knew, he was married to his best friend.

"Good," he said as he set his mug down, then leaned back against the counter again. "She's told me enough about his past that if he's anything like me? I know he needs you." And how couldn't they be anything alike? Sure, there were bound to be differences because of how their lives changed, but they'd been the same exact person up until one point in the War. "Same goes for me, for the record. You're always gonna be my best friend, and I'm always gonna love you, but I go where she goes."

Chuckling a bit, he gestured towards the other room with a tilt of his head. "Besides, in case you haven't noticed? He's stronger than me. I don't wanna have to fight him."

"Yeah, you really don't wanna mess with him." Steph's smile was sad though, as she wasn't only referring to the older Bucky's more muscular physique, but to what happened to him after the war. He would never hurt her, that she wholeheartedly believed, but that didn't mean he wasn't dangerous.

She loved him though, and she was grateful than her best friend was respecting her choice. Slowly, she made her way over to him to give him a hug. "Thank you." It was really thoughtful of him to keep
and bring her stuff over, but she was also just relieved that this reunion didn't have to be a fight.

Then, while still in his arms, she looked up at him again with that sad smile. "Don't be too hard on her, okay? She... she's really had it rough." She'd gathered that while Cap had many friends, she dealt with her demons alone, and struggled immensely with it. "I dunno the details, but she thinks it was all her fault — what happened to you, HYDRA taking over SHIELD, half the universe dying and turning to ash. And she, well. She wanted to die." There were some very disturbing sketches in one of Cap's newer sketchpads, though what was probably truly disturbing was how much Steph understood what her counterpart had been trying to convey.

Bucky wrapped his arms around Steph in return, hugging her tightly as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. Friendly, like he'd done a thousand times while they grew up. "There's nothing to thank me for," he said simply. And he meant it, too. Bucky didn't think he'd done anything particularly worth thanks, he just... did what he thought he should do. Brought her some things and understood it was time to let her go.

When he looked back down at her, he had his own sad smile on his face. "Yeah, she's told me some things. Hinted at others. I'll let her tell me things at her own pace; she knows I'm there for the long run." There was nothing his wife could tell him that would make him turn his back on her. "I mean, the war itself was bad enough, and that dumbass chose to go through it more than once." He sighed. "But I know why she did it."

Sighing, his arms tightened around Steph. She felt so very, very small in his arms after his time with the one he married. "One thing I gotta do, though," he said before lifting her in the hug, swinging her slightly as he held her close. He'd lifted her up for hugs tons of times in the past. "I can't do this with her, so I had to do it one more time."

Steph squeaked, then laughed even as tears sprung to her eyes. She'd said goodbye to Bucky before, sure. This time was different though. It wasn't just farewell, but also letting go, and it felt bittersweet. "Do it again," she said, sniffling. "I'll miss you, dumbass. But I'm really glad you made it outta the war."

Now he had a shot at the life — at the future — that should've been his. With his folks, with Becca, with his own family. And she hoped she could give that to her Bucky too, even if it would have to look different. They both deserved as much.

★☆✪☆★
How long Steph held on to Bucky while she cried, she had no idea. He didn't make a move to pull away, so she stayed for as long as he allowed it. She apologized, and she told him how mad the younger Bucky had been at her for making the world believe his Steph was dead, and she apologized again. She was incoherent at times, overwhelmed by emotion, but after a while of that she felt as though a great weight had been lifted off her soul.

The guilt was still there though. Now including the guilt over making him feel abandoned. She would just have to learn how to live with that, somehow.

Bucky laughed softly as he lifted Steph again, and even spun in a circle with her, just because. "I'll miss you, too, punk. You'll always be my best friend, it's just gonna look different." Who knows? Maybe his Steph would hang onto that stone or whatever they used to show up there, so they'd be able to check in with the other pair on occasion.

Steph was going to be taken care of, that was what was important to him. She was going to have much better medical care and Bucky couldn't picture a world where a version of himself wouldn't put her above everything else.

★☆✪☆★
The older Bucky was rubbing circles on Steph's back with his good hand trying his best to soothe her. He hadn't wanted to make her feel worse, but he'd definitely managed to anyway.

But he stood there and let her vent while he held her, listening to everything she said, even when some of it didn't make any sense. Bucky knew she needed to get it out, and he told her again and again that it was okay, he understood. If anyone knew what it felt like to blame himself for things that he logically knew weren't his fault, it was Bucky Barnes, former mind-controlled assassin for several decades.

"Maybe we can send each other letters and photos somehow," Steph mused, hopeful. Time travel had been the stuff of fiction but then it turned out to be possible, so maybe there could be a way to communicate across time and space too? She would be interested in what he was up to, how different their timelines turned out, if he would end up having any kids.

Then she got an idea. "How long are you gonna be here for? You gotta let me sketch you before you go." One last present, in case they wouldn't get the chance to see each other again. "And we gotta go to Coney Island. It's so different now, and so expensive! But we used to spend a lot of time there." And unlike their older counterparts, it hadn't been decades since they'd been there last.

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"Sorry, I've been such an ass," Steph said, finally pulling away to look at Bucky's face. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying, but through that she managed a weak smile. "Come on, your turn. Lay it all on me."

She'd gotten her chance to vent, now she was giving him his. She hopefully had a better grip of her emotions than earlier and could avoid having another panic attack.

"Hey, the fact that me and you are both here right now means anything's possible," Bucky said with a grin. After all, they were supposed to be doing their own things back in the 1940s, not standing around a kitchen in the 2020s.

He finally picked his mug back up and took a sip of his hot chocolate, eyes going wide. "Holy shit this is good! You sure it's just that powdery stuff?" And she'd said it was a microwave she heated it in. He'd heard mention of those in one of the tech magazines lying around the office, but those things were brand spankin' new and about as tall as he was, not something small to sit on the counter.

But, after her question, Bucky brought himself back to the present. "I think we're gonna be here a little while," he started, his smile turning just a touch sad. "She wants to be here for the trial, that way she can testify for him. So we should have plenty of time for Coney Island and whatever else you wanna show me. Maybe I'll even let you sketch me."

★☆✪☆★
Hearing the way Steph poured her heart out about everything somehow mended a lot of the anger in the older Bucky. Actually hearing her reasoning, listening to her explain all the guilt she carried and how she thought things were her fault (even though they weren't) made him understand a lot more of why she made the choice she made. And it wasn't because she thought he was too far gone after all. It all blended together with how much he thought about the younger Steph being exactly who he needed in his life.

But he'd also been listening to the tone of the other two in the kitchen. He hadn't paid attention to the words, but he'd caught the occasional laughs and how light they sounded.

"We've both been through a hell of a lot, Steph," Bucky started, then sighed as he tried to pick his words carefully. "And... I know I shouldn't feel guilty about the things they made me do, like you shouldn't feel guilty about anything else that happened, but I don't know. Maybe we're too bogged down with it? I've always needed you, and I always will, but what if we've both got too much darkness for that?"

He paused again, hearing his own voice, but younger, excitedly say something was good, followed by his girlfriend's laugh. It made the corner of his mouth turn up just slightly. "What if you did the right thing by going back, so we each still ended up with each other, but ones that bring a little more light than dark?"

Steph looked relieved. "Oh, thank God. I've been reading and studying, so I'd know what to say when I would testify as her, but there's so much that happened that I don't really get." She had never been in the Army, never been an Avenger, never fought HYDRA, never been involved in politics and espionage. She was ready to say anything that would help absolve him, but it would've involved a lot of bluffing and lying. "Like this law called the Sokovia Accords was passed to regulate the activities of enhanced individuals, and she refused to comply with the terms, and he got framed for murder while all that was going down so they ended up on the run... and the document is longer than a novel and written by lawyers! I couldn't get past the first page."

Cap would have it all handled though. She'd lived through all that and could give all the information anyone needed. Steph felt a lot better knowing that Bucky hadn't been abandoned, after all.

"Okay, so we'll do Coney Island, then we can shop for whatever you wanna bring back. Oh! Do you wanna watch a movie? There are cinemas with these giant screens now, it feels like you're part of the whole thing." It was basically going back to the places Bucky took her, but she couldn't help but want to share her fascination.

★☆✪☆★
Steph let out a dark chuckle at the conclusion Bucky came to. "I thought she'd be much better for you," she said sadly. "She's just sickly and insecure, but there's modern medicine to deal with the first one, and, well, if she knows you love her then she has nothing to feel insecure about." A lot of her own insecurities in the past had stemmed from him going on all those dates and seemingly failing to notice her. "She's been spared from the war, the serum, everything. She... she'll love you better than I can. Hell, an hour ago I was having a panic attack and ready to throw myself off a bridge or something."

Her voice was quiet by the end of all that, and she turned away, looking down at her hands as she fidgeted with her ring.

Bucky couldn't help chuckling at Steph's obvious relief. "Yeah, she should have it covered. They've got, what, eighty-something years of history we don't fully know?" Something like that. "I don't know about you, but I don't think I could pull off trying to be him." Really, neither of them could pass for their alternate versions. Steph was tiny, and Bucky had two natural arms.

"You can show me whatever you think it worth seeing," he said with a warm smile. "She's the one with things to do and people to see. She even wants to pass her shield to a friend of hers. I just came along to see you." And the future, but mostly to see his best friend.

★☆✪☆★
"I'm sure he's gonna be good for you, too," Bucky said with a sigh. "He- Did he even go through the war? He's got two arms, so at least he doesn't have that sort of reminder bolted onto his shoulder." Bucky really liked his new Wakandan arm, it didn't have the same sorts of memories attached that his HYDRA arm had, but just the fact that it was needed in the first place was a reminder of everything he'd been through and everything he lost.

"He probably doesn't always have the worry in the back of his mind that maybe the trigger words aren't gone, or that his memory's gonna slip and he'll forget everything again." Bucky knew that was ridiculous, but he couldn't help it.

Steph giggled. "Yeah, no, you can't. You're too skinny." She wasn't disparaging him though, just amused at herself for how much she ended up liking big, muscled Bucky. It was especially a turn on during sex. All he had to do was pick her up and cover her with his body, or grope her breasts or ass with his large hands, or show her his huge cock. He drove her mad in the best of ways, and she was glad he never minded how weird she got sometimes, like when she would leave scratches on his back or ask to be covered in his cum.

She blushed, realizing she got distracted while having a supposed serious talk with her best friend. She cleared her throat. "Thanks for dropping by, really. It's good to see you and know you're not, you know. A POW or something." Well, that brought her focus back quickly. "Will you be staying here, or are you booked somewhere?" She wasn't really sure what she preferred. On one hand, it might be nice to have them over for a few days, and it might also make it easier for them to prepare for the trial. On the other, well, if they were anything like her and her Bucky... which they were...

★☆✪☆★
"Oh, he did. I couldn't do anything about him being drafted." In hindsight Steph could've gone back further and infiltrated the Army, but she still couldn't see how she could've gotten to a position where she could influence that. Not in the 1940s. "The war was just over a bit faster." Between her tipping off Peggy and the SSR with HYDRA intel and activity, and her own solo missions on HYDRA bases while Cap and the Howlies were occupied, they were more efficient than she and her team had been in her first rodeo. "Couldn't really stop most things though, only influenced the outcome."

She explained that the 107th was still lost in Azzano, even though she'd tried to haul Bucky out of there before HYDRA could round up the prisoners. The events at the factory still happened, but the rescue took place sooner rather than later since she'd found a way to alert Peggy about it. And he still got blown out the side of the train car; thankfully Peggy had been there to pull him back in, while Steph bulldozed through the HYDRA goons to try to get to Zola first. There had been so many close calls, and only so much she could do while operating from a distance. She got really good with a sniper rifle, at least.

"Zola still got to him, but hopefully it was just the initial dose of his serum or something. He heals fast and his memory's a lot sharper, but so far that's about it." There was an undercurrent of worry in her voice, though. What if it hadn't been enough? What if HYDRA would still get him one day?

Bucky could see when Steph got distracted, and he was pretty sure he knew that look on her face now that he was married to the other Steph. But, he didn't say anything, just perked a brow and chuckled softly as he watched her thoughts wander, then snap back to reality.

"I think we're probably gonna stay somewhere else," Bucky answered, his own cheeks going just a touch pink as he grinned. "We haven't actually been married all that long yet." The trip was multipurpose. Part helping the older Bucky with his trial, part getting to see his best friend, part honeymoon. It was unconventional, but it suited them. "That dumbass in there actually thought I'd just move on after you disappeared."

★☆✪☆★
Bucky nodded along as he listened to how Steph changed things in the other Bucky's timeline. It all made sense, especially the part where more intel would have brought the war to a quicker end. But even though their conversation had been so serious, he could still take a small dig at her. It was like he had to. "So Peggy got the serum? Makes sense why it ended faster. She always had a more level head than you." He meant it in jest, but it was honestly also kinda true.

But then he thought back to his own months after his initial capture, the fear and confusion he felt about not knowing what, exactly, Zola had done to him, but knowing it was something. He couldn't get drunk any more, any injuries he got seemed to clear up in days when they should have taken weeks, how he could calculate his shots so much faster than before, it all scared the hell out of him, and he had his best friend beside him, even if he didn't tell her what was going on. Bucky couldn't help wondering how the other one felt going through all that without her there.

"I doubt they'd be able to get to him again," Bucky said, giving Steph a small smile. "Not with you guys knowing what to look out for."

Steph would've been surprised if she hadn't already had a similar conversation with her Bucky, who had made it very clear that he would rather go through all the shitty things he'd been dealt with in his life than lose her. But then she retorted, "Not our fault some dumbasses kept sending mixed signals," with a grin, just because she could, and, well, she was his best friend. She had to take even a small dig at him. "How would you have felt if we'd dated someone else, huh?"

Her smile softened as he confirmed that he was married to Cap. It was kind of cute, this little honeymoon of theirs through time. "Hope you're going somewhere nice. Maybe somewhere she can wear a bikini. Have you seen her old posters?" Okay, so maybe it had been fanart that she had seen, but it was on the Google so she believed their legitimacy.

★☆✪☆★
Oh, Steph knew Bucky was teasing, but for old times' sake she playfully punched his flesh arm with a soft laugh. It wasn't anywhere near her younger counterpart's bright laughter, but it was a start.

Then she settled more comfortably on the couch next to him. "Well, she did manage to put down a plane with bombs without going down herself." Howard had fished her out of the Atlantic just fine, and there had been a grand homecoming for Captain Carter and the Howling Commandos across the Allied countries. "And she didn't take shit from you." Him. Whatever. He knew what she meant.

She ran a hand through her hair, then started to pull it up to a ponytail out of habit only to realize she didn't have a hair tie and that she had it all pinned up in some post-WW2 hairstyle. "I don't know, Buck. My luck is shit. I think I got everyone, and I saw to Zola myself, but... what if there were others not even you knew or were in HYDRA's files?" She'd compiled and taken a whole list with her to the past — base locations, personnel, sleeper agents — but she couldn't help worrying she'd done a poor job at cleaning up. "And, honestly... there are still wars coming. I don't know what's gonna change. Him being part of SHIELD's top brass will keep me in the know, but..." She trailed off, biting her lower lip uncertainly.

Bucky laughed a little, finding it easy to joke about how stupid they'd both always been now that all those feelings had been sorted out. "Just like it's not my fault some idiots didn't listen when I said you'd always be my best girl, or that none of those dates mattered any." Bucky had told her things like that many times over the years, always hoping that if she felt the same she'd pick up on it. Apparently they were both morons though. "It woulda sucked watching you with someone else, but I woulda put up with it if it's what I thought you wanted."

He shrugged and took another sip of his hot (warm) chocolate before answering. "I don't know where we're going after this. Sky's kinda the limit since she's got that stone or whatever that can take us anywhere," he said, but his curiosity was piqued at the mention of posters. "There's posters of her? Nah, those didn't happen in my timeline. You got any here I can see?"

★☆✪☆★
Sighing, Bucky gave Steph a tired smile. "I don't know. You know what to watch out for, and you know what to warn him and Peggy about, and he can let you know what's going on in SHIELD. Sounds like you guys probably have that whole angle covered."

When he saw her moving to pull her hair up, Bucky took one of the ties off his metal wrist. He usually had a couple of them stashed there. "Here," he said, offering it to her. "If you want you can take all those pins out and use this."

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