As soon as Bucky saw Steve’s name come across the alert of all of the new arrivals, he knew that he needed to find him as soon as he could. It wasn't just Steve this time either. Peggy was here too. Both had come and gone from Atlantis multiple times, and he wasn't sure if either would remember being here or not. Or if Steve would remember anything past what happened in DC. He'd felt so disconnected from Steve when he'd only had those limited memories. Whatever he did or didn't remember, though, Steve was still his best friend and the person he counted on more than anyone else.
The only thing was that if he did remember up to their being in Wakanda, how was he going to explain that he'd fallen for his girl? Peggy’s niece. Maybe he'd try to save that part of the conversation for later.
Finding him was a little more difficult than he thought it might be. He arrived at the Intake offices fairly quickly but was told that he'd already left. Leaving Steve Rogers to wander around Atlantis by himself might not be a great idea.
He didn't see him out in the open square, so he decided to head back to what should have been his assigned room. Knocking on the door, Bucky could hear heavy footsteps that he already recognized as Steve's. As soon as the door opened up, Bucky gave him a quirk of a smile.
“Hey, buddy. Looks like you finally made it.”
Now it was one of those times when Steve wished he didn’t have the Super Soldier serum in him so he could get drunk. Because finding out your first love was back from the dead was something you needed to get drunk for. Or at least feel a little dizzy. But alas, he’d have to deal with all without alcohol affecting his system.
After the meeting with Peggy, Steve had gone back to his apartment and tried to settle in as he thought about everything that had just happened since he arrived. It was a lot to take in, and he hoped his brain wouldn’t explode. There were just too many things: being pulled out from Wakanda, learning about this city, having a job assigned to him like it was boot camp almost,... But his thoughts were interrupted when he heard a knock on the door.
If it were possible, Steve would’ve had two heart attacks already by the time he opened the door and saw who was waiting on the other side. “Bucky?” he said a little startled before he pulled his best friend into a hug. This was the best news he had had since finding out Peggy was back. Good Lord he needed his best friend right now. “Come in,” he said after pulling back, opening the door so he could walk in.
Bucky returned the hug, and slapped him lightly on the back before they pulled back. Thankfully, he didn't seem to be in too much shock, so he probably remembered finding him after DC. He was grateful to at least not have to have that conversation again.
“It's a lot to take in, isn't it?” He asked.” The whole travel through time and space - and not the travel through time like either of us are used it.” They'd both skipped ahead years at a time, but this was a lot different.
“This probably is going to sound strange, but what's the last thing you remember? People sometimes show up here from different points in time.” It was better to get a sense about Steve remembered from home before he started trying to fill him in on some of the things that happened here.” I've been here for a little over a year. Since last November.”
“You have no idea, Bucky.” And it wasn’t just the whole travel through time and space, which was weird enough despite having sort of traveled through time himself - so to speak.
Steve’s brows furrowed a little. “A year? I saw you yesterday.” This place made no sense. “Wakanda. We’ve been there for a couple of months since Siberia. Shuri, T’Challa’s sister was trying to get all that shit that HYDRA put in your brain out.”
Bucky nodded but smiled a little. “Yeah, that’s one of the things about this place. Time is… it doesn’t translate to what’s going on at home. They say that if we ever decide to leave here that we’ll be sent back to the exact time we left, so no one would know that we were ever gone. There have been a handful of people who have come, left, and come back again with barely any time ever passing in their home worlds. It doesn’t make much sense, but most things here don’t. Atlantis runs on its own set of rules most of the time.”
There was a lot he needed to tell Steve, but first he wanted to go ahead and assure him that he himself was okay and that they didn’t need to worry about any of the brainwashing to come back to haunt them again. “That’s around the time I’d come from too. She’d put me into cyrostasis again, but I don’t know how long I’d been under. Here, though, there was an… incident a while ago. One of the COS agents got a hold of the book and used it against me, triggering the Winter Soldier. Once I finally came to, they figured out a way to reverse it all. Everything they did to me, at least the triggers in my mind, they’re gone. For good.”
When Bucky mentioned people leaving and coming back, he couldn’t help but wonder if he had ever been there before and he simply didn’t remember. “Have I ever been here before?” he asked.
“I’m glad they were able to get everything out of you,” he said as he gave his friend’s shoulder a squeeze. “It’s so good to see you. You have no idea what happened to me just a few hours after I got here,” he shook his head lightly, a smile spreading across his lips as he remembered her and the moment they spent together. “I saw Peggy.”
Bucky hesitated for a moment but nodded. “Twice. The first time was right around when I first showed up, but you were from at least a couple of years or so before me in time from home. Everything in DC had just happened at the Triskelion. The second time, you were about the same as now. You showed up the second time right after everything happened with the triggering and the COS agent, but that’s been almost a year ago now. You left a few months after that.”
“Yeah? This place is really something, isn’t it?” He could only smile a little when Steve said he’d already seen Peggy. That had to have taken him by surprise, to say the least. Bucky had seen the notice come across of all of their arrivals, so he at least had been able to prepare in seeing him rather than being caught off guard. “How did it go? Seeing her again, I mean.”
“I don’t remember ever being here,” he said as he rubbed the back of his neck. It was very strange learning that he had been there twice before but he had absolutely no memories of it.
The smile on his lips widened as he thought of his meeting with Peggy. “We both were shocked to see the other one here, though I think she was more than me...“ mean, I crashed the plane and they thought I was dead,” he explained. “But we hugged and it felt so good to have her in my arms again, Bucky.” It’d felt like time hadn’t passed for them.
“It's okay,” Bucky replied. “Most of the time when people come, go, and come back again they don't remember.” He was mostly grateful that they were from relatively the same time frame. It made things a lot easier. Bucky watched as Steve lit up when he began talking about Peggy and smirked just a little. There might have been some selfish relief in there because of his own romantic situation, but he was truly happy for his friend. He'd seen the two of them make eyes at each other the first time around, and he knew how much she'd meant to him back then no matter how much he might not have admitted it out loud. Bucky knew Steve too well and knew it took much more than to get just a pretty face to capture his attention. Not that Peggy didn't have a pretty face, she definitely did, but back then she'd only had eyes for Steve. It was as if Bucky hadn't even been in the room.
“I'm happy for you both,” he said, still smiling. “That you two have another chance after all this time.” He hesitated a second and cleared his throat. “That, uh, kind of leads me into something I needed to talk to you about. I hadn't planned to right away, but given that Peggy is here and, well, I want you to hear it from me first. I hope it doesn't make things awkward.”
“Well, I don’t know how she feels about me. I mean, we just hugged. But whatever I can get, I’ll take it without complaints,” he said. He didn’t want to assume anything until he had a solid yes. Although, he had sort of asked her out for a drink sometime and she had said yes. So that had to mean something, right?
“What is it?” he asked with a curious look on his face.
“I've been seeing someone. I know you'll like her, but… ,” Bucky started. How much he liked or still liked her was what worried him. “It's Sharon Carter.”
Bucky watched him for a moment before explaining. “It wasn't something either of us planned or expected. We've worked together off and on, and both of us have been here mostly since the beginning when everyone started showing up in Atlantis. All of what happened in Siberia was still so fresh, and I was still getting used to not always looking over my shoulder. And she was there as a friend after an incident with COS where they managed to get a hold of the trigger words for Winter Soldier. We were good friends for a long time before anything ever happened. I wanted you to hear about the two of us from me first.”
He stopped talking and looked at his friend. His best friend since long before either of them turned out as they had all these decades later. Bucky wanted to be honest with him, but he also didn't want anything to ever come between them.
Steve was surprised to learn that Bucky and Sharon were together in this world. It wasn’t something that had even crossed his mind. But if he had been in Atlantis for so long and so had she, well, things could happen. Steve smiled at his friend and nodded. “I appreciate you telling me first, buddy.” Sharon was never his. Yes, there had been some sexual tension between them while he was in DC and she was his neighbor, and they did kiss once... But then he had had to leave to Wakanda to avoid getting arrested, so their relationship was sort of in the air all the time. And then there was Peggy now, who he really hadn’t stopped loving... Things had definitely changed now.
“I’m happy for you,” he said honestly. “I’m glad you found someone,” he smiled.
It wasn't as if Bucky expected Steve to become angry with him especially given the circumstances that technically they'd been a part for such a long time even if Steve didn't remember it that way. Even considering all of that, he never would have wanted to hurt Steve, so it was good to see that it at least seemed he was alright with everything.
“You're sure?” He asked. “I know you were just starting something with her, and even though our timelines aren't the same, I'd understand if you didn't feel right about it.”
“I’m not gonna lie and say it doesn’t feel weird. I mean, I just saw her a few months ago,” he said as he rubbed the back of his head. “But she was never mine. Our relationship stayed in that kiss in Vienna,” he reasoned. “And now that Peggy is here... I’m not gonna say I don’t have feelings for her, because I do... I really hope she does for me too,” he admitted. Peggy had been his first love, and he never got truly over her.
“Yeah, I guess it probably would be unusual if it didn’t feel strange for you even a little.” He glanced down at his hands for a moment and nodded. “A person doesn’t just stop caring about Steve Rogers,” he said with a small smile and looked back up at him. “No matter how much time has passed or what they’ve been through.” After all, he should know right?
“But, trust me. I remember how she looked at you and by the sound of things, it wasn’t all that long ago for her all things considered. My guess is she still feels something.” There was no doubt a lot that the two of them needed to cover and catch up on, but that didn’t necessarily change their feelings.
Bucky grinned. “You’ll keep her from shooting me between the eyes when she finds out I’m seeing her niece, yeah?”
His friend’s words made him smile. “Thanks Bucky,” he said softly. “I hope you’re right.” It felt like this place was giving him a second chance with Peggy, and he was sure taking it.
“I’ll try my best, but I can’t promise anything. Peggy has a mean aim,” he laughed. “I can lend you my shield when she finds out, just in case she wants to shoot you,” he offered. At least that would protect him like it protected him when she shot him when she found him kissing that agent decades ago.
Bucky didn't bring up how the last Peggy who had been here had regarded him. She'd been wary and had asked for answers, but that Peggy had known about what happened with Howard. This one didn't seem to be aware of that yet. He also hadn't been seeing her niece at the time either, so that put a brand new spin on things. “I'll probably take you up on that,” he said with a grin and glanced downward.
That would be an initial conversation he'd leave to Sharon to have eventually, though, he wasn't sure when that would be since as far as he knew, Peggy didn't know yet that Sharon was her niece. Pushing all of that aside for now, Bucky looked over at Steve again.
“I know that this is a lot, and it's probably going to feel more overwhelming before it starts to get easier. I’ll order us some food and we can catch up.” He paused and smiled a bit. “The pizza here is almost as good as back home. Almost.”