#this Bruce is more spacey and is quieter. something that the Bruce from before was not

[nympippi]

Necromancer Finney AU: You said that Bruce has the worst memory issues out of the ghost boys. With that in mind, what was his reaction to his parents and sister greeting him for the first time?

When Bruce was first brought home he immediately knew who his mother was, he didn’t know her exact name but he knew it was her based on the vague memories he had of her. But when it came to the man beside her it was muddier, he knew the man was significant but didn’t know if he was his dad, or an uncle, but with his mother seeing his confusion she told him that the man was his father.

With his mother and father, Bruce had memories of them granted they were muddy and were hard to place but ultimately they were still familiar people to him.

His sister Amy however, he had little to no recollection of his youngest sister. He had to relearn things about her and has to slowly remember what it was like being an older brother. Granted he has a lot of trouble remembering her name, he does try and understand word association like A is for Amy.

[etherealwaifgoddess]

More Time - Chpt.18

Summary: Emma moves in with Steve and Bucky and moving day brings a more serious discussion on their future together. The apartment is a tighter fit for the three of them than they expected prompting the trio to contemplate the next step in their lives.   Master list can be found HERE.

Warnings / Content: Discussion of fertility and potential issues. Steve has a mild episode associated with his arrhythmia. 

Word Count: 2.3k

Author’s Note: Hello lovelies! Can you believe we’re on the final chapter at last? I cannot believe what a whirlwind this has been, sharing this fic with all of you. Thank you to every one who took time to read this fic. Stay tuned because the epilogue is going up in a few minutes! XOXO - Ash

Chapter Eighteen

“Do you think we need more space?” Steve asked, hands on his hips, brows furrowed in concern. 

The mountain of boxes in Emma’s living room continued to grow as they packed up everything in her small apartment into cardboard boxes. Bucky had been relegated to sitting on a stool and bubble wrapping breakables while Emma and Steve ran around filling and moving boxes. The moving company would handle getting everything to the guys apartment but Emma had insisted on packing her own things.

“I asked you guys if we should just leave some of this!” Emma reminded him from down the hall. 

Bucky rolled his eyes at Steve, making his opinion known, “We’ll be fine.” 

“I still think we’re gonna need more space for the three of us.” Steve shook his head, “We should at least call an agent and start getting an idea of what’s out there.” 

“Emma!” Bucky groaned, calling her in for back up, “Can you please remind Steve that we need to get all three of us under one roof for a bit before we start looking for an actual house?”

Emma joined them in the living room, wrapping her arms around a still worried looking Steve, “Why do you want a house?” she asked.

Steve shrugged the best he could while still wrapped up in a hug, “I don’t know. It might be nice to have a place that all of us decide on together. Plus, isn’t that what you do when you settle down? Buy a house, maybe get a dog, put up a white picket fence.” 

“You sweet little old fashioned grampa.” Emma teased affectionately. 

“Shut up.” Steve grumbled but didn’t try to escape. 

“Yeah,” Bucky chimed in, “Next thing we know you’ll be planning for 2.5 kids and a minivan.” 

Steve flushed from the top his ears down his neck and Emma knew from experience it spread all across his chest too. Bucky had hit a nerve. “Oh.” she said, realizing that the three of them hadn’t even discussed kids before. It was too soon but typically a distant hypothetical would have come up at some point. “Steve, baby, do you want kids?” 

Steve was still for a moment, not even breathing, until on a long exhale he finally found his words. “I don’t know if I even can. Or if I should.” he admitted quietly. 

“Me neither, pal.” Bucky told him as he got up from his seat to join their hug. He curled himself around Steve’s back, smushing him between their bodies. 

“The serum?” Emma chanced a guess.

Steve shook his head, “Not entirely. No part of me has ever worked the way it was supposed to. I’m not sure if I was able to before the serum, and after it, I’m still not sure.” 

“We still don’t know what effects the serum would have on… that. It’s almost always been the two of us so it was never something we could consider before.” Bucky explained. 

“It’s okay. I never expected to have kids, especially at this point in my life. I’d be fine either way.” Emma assured them.

Steve gave her a lopsided smile. So in love but still just a tinge sad. “We should probably find out if it’s even possible before we think too much on it.” 

“I’ll ask Bruce next time I see him.” Bucky offered.

Emma nodded and squeezed Steve just a little bit tighter before letting him go. “Come on you two. We have another hour’s worth of work and then we can go home.”

Bucky begrudgingly pulled away to hobble his way over to his stool, carrying on with wrapping jar candles in bubble wrap. Steve grabbed a roll of packing tape, ready to seal up his latest box, while Emma headed back down the hall. The apartment was just a little quieter as they all resumed their tasks, the conversation over for the time being but not forgotten in any of their minds.

The movers had everything loaded into the guy’s apartment by the time they were calling in a dinner order from their favorite pizza place. Emma was able to drop off her keys at the main office and updated all of her bills and contact info to her new address. She knew it was going to be a long few days of unpacking and trying to fit her things into their lives but it would be worth it once she was settled in. The guys had been extremely accommodating helping to make space but she was starting to see their point that it was a little small for three people. There was something cozy about it though, being so close with the guys. 

Bucky had worried he’d be worn out after the move. He had been slowly increasing his activity but a long day of moving was bound to take its toll. After being relegated to bubble wrap duty though, he was probably the least exhausted out of the three of them. Emma was yawning as she milled around the kitchen, pouring them drinks to sip on while they waited for pizza. She had moved at a breakneck pace all day; packing up the contents of her entire life in the span of a few hours. Steve was slumped on the far end of the sofa looking worn out and pale. Very pale. Bucky sat up a bit straighter to get a good look at him, something wasn’t quite right. Steve was staring off into space, his body supported more by the sofa than himself. “Stevie.” Bucky called out to him. His tone was even but wary enough that Emma’s attention snapped over to the pair of them. 

Steve didn’t answer right away so Bucky tried again, “Hey pal, what’s going on over there?” 

Steve took a shallow breath before closing his eyes, “It’ll pass.” he said quietly. 

“Too low?” 

Steve nodded, eyes still closed. 

“Emma, there’s a small white bottle of pills in the junk drawer on your left. Get them. Now.” fear and command laced his deceptively steady voice, spurring Emma to move quickly and without question. Bucky shifted over so he was next to Steve and Emma handed him the pill bottle before kneeling in front of Steve. Bucky shook out a tiny white pill and pressed it between Steve’s lips until he parted them for Bucky to pop it in his mouth. Bucky sat back and tried to give Emma a comforting look, “It’ll take a few minutes, he’ll be okay.” 

Emma leaned forward to wrap herself around Steve’s lap, wanting to be close while he rode out whatever was wrong. She murmured quiet nonsense things about new dressers and what color shutters might look best with a white picket fence. Bucky waited quietly, seldom interjecting himself into Emma’s rambling. It took an agonizing number of minutes but eventually Steve’s eyes opened, clear and focused, and he gave his partners a weak smile. 

“Hey.” Bucky said softly, running his hand up and down Steve’s arm.

“Sorry.” Steve murmured, his weak smile faltering. 

“Nothin’ to be sorry for. It was a busy day and you worked hard.” 

“I think finally sitting down and stopping made everything drop. I’m starving too and that never helps.”

Emma took the opportunity to speak up, “What was that?” She knew Steve had health issues, she watched him take his pills and do his breathing treatments every day. She had seen him get shaky if he waited too long to take his morning pills and had seen him have a full fledged asthma attack too, but whatever had happened was new and worrisome. 

“So you know about the arrhythmia and the high blood pressure.” Steve started with a sigh, “Well, sometimes my meds and my body do too good a job and my blood pressure drops too low and my pulse gets too slow and it’s just a shit show. I get dizzy, nauseous, sometimes my breathing gets a little wonky. I have medicine for when it happens, there’s always a bottle in the junk drawer, my nightstand, and two in a little plastic bag in my wallet. I just need one but when it happens it’s hard to function so you or Bucky will probably be the ones getting it.” 

“Okay, good to know. Bucky, how did you know that’s what was going on?” 

Bucky shrugged, “You’ll learn, unfortunately. I guess you’ll notice he gets quiet first. He gets pale too, paler than usual. He’ll stare into space or close his eyes, sometimes he just kinda slumps in on himself too.” 

“He’s sitting right here.” Steve groused. 

“She needs to know.” Bucky retorted calmly. 

Emma wished she had known what to look for before it had happened and worried about what other things could go wrong. “So now I know about that, and I already knew about your asthma. What else do I need to know? What else can go wrong and what do I do?” 

“Please don’t worry about me, doll.” Steve pleaded, pulling her hand in his. “I know my body isn’t the best but…”

“Stop.” she cut him off quickly, “Your body is perfect. I love it and there is not a single thing I would change about you.” 

“Did you see pictures of me after the serum?” Steve questioned wryly.

Emma rolled her eyes at him but continued, “Not a single thing, baby. I’m allowed to worry about you though. And I need to know what to look out for if I’m going to be living here. Bucky won’t always be around and if you need help, I need to know how to give it.” 

“The only other thing would be if the meds don’t work well enough and then the opposite of this happens. I’ll get too overheated, flushed, my pulse will race, I’ll get dizzy but not spacey, my breathing gets a little out of whack with that too. There’s pills for that too, same places as the other ones but in orange bottles and pills are light blue. You know what to do for an asthma attack. That’s about it.” 

Bucky snorted, “Don’t forget that if you get distracted and forget to eat all day you’ll turn as green as an olive and keel over. It’s actually pretty funny unless he hurts himself going down. There were so many times he’d get fixated in a painting or somethin’ and he’d go all day without eating a thing. He’d get about two seconds warning to say ‘oops’ and then pass right out.” 

“Remind me to keep a stash of candy in my purse just in case.” Emma said with a warmer smile. There might be enough to worry about but clearly it was all manageable and now that she knew how to react Emma felt a lot better about things. 

xxXxx

It took two days until Emma was moved in completely. There was still a stack of boxes in the closet of Steve’s art room but they were filled with things that could easily remain in storage. Steve had worried it wasn’t fair to Emma to leave things in storage but she insisted it was fine. He also had started dropping little hints about moving. They were spending their last lazy Sunday in bed before Emma started her new job, not willing to do a damn thing but enjoy the day together. Bucky was doing better on his own but Steve was staying part time for a little while longer while Emma adjusted to her new work schedule. She was nervous but excited, and wanted to revel in the last day of freedom she had with her guys. Emma was thankful she would be coming home to them every night after a weeks of being home with one or both of them while Bucky recovered. 

“I never want to move from this bed.” Emma said with a long yawn. 

Steve snuggled closer, pulling her tightly to him. “You and me both. In our house, I want to make sure we get east facing windows like we have here. I love how the sun comes in in the mornings.” 

“We’ll have to see.” Emma replied diplomatically while Bucky chuckled. 

“You’re not gonna give up on wanting a new place, are you?” Bucky asked him from the other side of Emma.

Steve looked over with a remorseless expression. “Nope. I want a place that’s all of ours, somewhere we have enough space and can stay forever.” 

“Call the agent tomorrow then. We can list this place and start looking. Emma love, you’re on board, right?”

Emma nodded, “Of course. I’ll go where you go. You know that.” 

Steve was grinning from ear to ear, “We should make a list then. Of things we need and want. We want to stay in Brooklyn, right?”

Emma laughed, “No, I want to rip both of you out of your hometown and move to Jersey.” 

Bucky nipped at her bare shoulder gently, “Don’t even joke.” 

“So staying in Brooklyn.” Steve continued, “An old brownstone, maybe?”

“Definitely.” Bucky agreed, “I don’t want one of these cookie cutter new builds. I want an older place with some charm.” 

“Sounds familiar.” Emma teased kissing Steve playfully. “We should try to get a nice bathroom like you guys have here. And a big kitchen too.” 

“We might have to renovate a place to get it just the way we want it.” Bucky warned them.

“That might actually be more fun. You guys know I’m low maintenance, I don’t mind living in a construction zone for a few months if it means we get everything on our wish list.” 

Steve shrugged, “We could always hold off moving in ‘til construction is done too.” 

Bucky nodded in agreement, “Yeah, there’s no rush. We have time now.” 

Steve looked over at Bucky, a soft expression on his face, “We really do. We finally have time.” 

Emma ducked a little so Bucky could lean over her to capture Steve’s lips with his own, “We have all the time in the world.” 

~The End~

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