@peacereflected / au starter call. / for steve.
He'd been fussing about this for a week. Becca had been ribbing him mercilessly, because while she was now a ninety-one year old great-grandmother, she would also always be his brat of a baby sister. But he saw the genuine sparkle in her eye every time they looked at each other, the joy that no doubt reflected in his own. And now he'd gotten the call he'd been waiting for.
Some knucklehead had wanted to set the room up like no time had passed at all, but Bucky shot that down pretty quick and refused to budge. For all he wasn't a part of SHIELD, they listened to him like he was, and a phone call from Peggy had done wonders as well. Tricking Steve right now would be cruel. So, while the room was nondescript, it wasn't a soundstage either. Just a normal room, like a fancy hospital or midrange hotel. And Bucky had dressed the same as he always did now, stuff Steve wouldn't have seen him in before. Hoodie, jeans, boots. Sleeves rolled up, prosthetic on show. He kept his phone tucked away though; it would be better to ease into the technology.
Sitting as he was at Steve's bedside, he was inundated with memories of all the times he'd done this before. There'd been a few false starts, the doctors had warned him about them. A few flutters of eyelids and twitches. But now they were coming closer and closer together, and he scooted his chair other until it bumped into the bed frame.
"Stevie?" he murmured, taking one of those big hands in his, rubbing his thumbs over the knuckles. "Think you can wake up for me?"
