Chapter Text
“Careful,” Bucky says as Steve shuffles into his house, ignoring the twinge of pain in his chest.
“I’m fine, Buck,” Steve insists, sinking into the couch with a groan. “Stop fussing over me.”
“Never.” Bucky leans down and kisses him swiftly, then climbs onto his lap, straddling his thighs. Steve smiles up at him, tracing over his features and wondering, not for the first time, at the sheer impossibility of Bucky. There is a mythical creature in his lap, right now, and he’s in love with him.
They’ve done a lot of talking over Steve’s hospital bed, Bucky telling him everything about his people and their history, the life they led. It isn’t a happy story – it is a story of death and loss – but it has happy parts. Bucky tells him of the joy of swimming, of the love for his family. He tells him of a rich culture that has nas nearly been lost, but not forgotten.
Part of Steve cannot believe it is true. Science tells him people cannot change into animals, and animals to people. But he had seen Bucky with his own eyes, watched the orca’s sleek skin melt away into soft human flesh. And he has looked into the orca’s eyes – his orca’s eyes – and he has looked into Bucky’s eyes, and they are the same.
And as he listened to Bucky’s story, he felt sadness creep over him, because for as much as Steve loves him, Bucky is not his to keep. He belongs to the sea, and he belongs with his family. And when they rescue his sister, he knows Bucky will return home. He will visit, perhaps, but Steve knows he cannot ask him to stay on land. It will break his heart, but when the time comes, he will let Bucky go.
He tips his head up for a kiss and Bucky obliges, lips soft against his. His long hair tickles Steve’s face, and Steve recognizes the subtle scent of the sea that clings to him, reminding him of the magic just under his skin.
“Wait a minute,” he says as he pulls back. “What about Atlantis? Is that real?”
Bucky laughs, eyes crinkling. “Yes. Of course it is real. It was once the capital of all the seafolk. But when we parted from humans, it was put under the water. I have only been once, but it was beautiful.”
“You mentioned different kinds of seafolk,” Steve muses. “What are they?”
“There are many,” Bucky replies, sitting up slightly. “I am Orcan, but there are Selkies, Kushtaka, Baiji, Manō, Kelpie…” He makes a face.
“Kelpie are real?” Steve shudders. If mythology is true, they’re terrifying.
“Yes. There are not many left.” Bucky grows somber again, eyes full of sadness. “None of us have many left.”
“I’m sorry.” Steve settles his hands on Bucky’s hips, rubbing circles with his thumb. “I promise, I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
“I know.” Bucky leans down to kiss him again. “You are the best human I’ve ever known.”
“Well, I can’t say I’ve met many whales, but you’re certainly the best one I’ve known.” Steve smirks as Bucky gapes in offence.
“I’m not a whale!”
“Whatever you say.”
Bucky sputters, but Steve shuts him up with a kiss.
“Steve, let me carry it.”
“I’ve got it!” Steve twitches the bag away from Bucky’s grasp. “I’m not an invalid.”
“Yes you are.”
Steve scowls and clutches the bag tighter, shuffling towards the car. He gets a few steps and has to stop, chest burning.
“Stupid human,” Bucky grumbles, yanking the bag out of his hands. Steve puts up a feeble protest but is more concerned with trying to breathe. The window of the car rolls down and Natasha peers out, sliding her sunglasses up on her head.
“Need some help?”
“No,” Steve says.
“Yes,” Bucky says. “He is being stupid again.”
Natasha smirks as she gets out of the car, reaching out to take the bag Bucky is carrying – he has one arm, Steve thinks waspishly, one arm and yet he insists on carrying everything– and raising an eyebrow. “I thought that was his natural state.”
“Hey,” Steve protests indignantly, finally reaching the car. He pretends he’s not using it for support, affecting a casual lean. “Bucky still thinks I need babying just because I’m a little sore.”
“Hmm.” Natasha doesn’t look impressed. “Remind me how long ago you got shot?”
“Three weeks.” Steve rolls his eyes. “But it’s nearly healed by now! And it wasn’t that bad. It missed all my vital organs.”
“You have a very strange definition of ‘not that bad.’”
There’s the sound of tires and a second car pulls up behind Natasha’s, its occupants spilling out. Sam is first, followed by Thor, with Clint, Tony, and Bruce close behind, sliding the door of the minivan shut behind them.
“Hey man,” Sam says, coming to stand next to Steve. “We ready?”
Steve looks around at the assembled group. “Ready. Everyone sure about this? You come with, you’re going to be breaking the law.”
“It’s a law worth breaking,” Thor says. “It will be my honor to assist the Orcan people.”
Clint shrugs. “Dunno much about mythical creatures, but I’m up for it. It’ll be fun.”
Bruce fiddles with his glasses. “I want to help Bucky and his kind. Whatever form that takes, I’m in.”
Steve looks to Tony, and Tony snorts. “You even have to ask?”
“Sam?”
Sam grins at him. “Hell yeah. Let’s go rescue a whale.”
“Not a whale,” Steve and Bucky sigh in unison.
Natasha opens the car door, slipping her sunglasses back on. “Get in, losers. We’re going to SeaWorld.”
“So,” Steve says, scrolling through his phone as Bucky leans against the window, peering out at the passing landscape with wonder, “It looks like Hydra is almost gone for good.”
In the front, he sees Natasha’s hands tighten on the steering wheel. “Maybe.”
“Looks like us intercepting that last poaching attempt gave the police what they needed. They’re slowly hunting down the last major players.”
“They’ll never be gone, not completely,” Natasha says tiredly. “There will always be those who seek to harm us, to study us. Hydra is not the first, and they won’t be the last.”
“Us?”
Natasha glances at him in the rear-view mirror. “Bucky didn’t tell you?”
“It wasn’t my secret to tell,” Bucky says.
“Tell me what?”
Natasha sighs. “I’m a selkie. Or was.”
“I…” Steve blinks. “Oh. Wow.” He wonders if there’s other seafolk he’s met but just didn’t know about. It could be anyone.
Natasha sighs. “Whatever you’re thinking, no.”
“I wasn’t thinking anything.”
“Mmhmm.” But he sees her smile in the mirror.
He hesitates. “Okay, but do you really–”
“No.”
They stop at motels and eat at diners, driving across the country steadily day by day. The marine center has been left in the capable hands of one of Natasha’s contacts, a guy by the name of Fury with an eyepatch and a penchant for black leather. Steve strongly suspects he’s some terrifying sea creature, but he also doesn’t think he wants to know. Some things are better left alone.
Bucky seems entranced by the changing landscape, watching as it changes from green to brown to green again, from wet to dry and everything in between. Summer is in full swing, the sun scorching down and making them crank up the AC and chug water by the gallon. Bucky especially drains their store of water, and pouts at the lack of good fish in every place they stop for food.
“We’re too far from the ocean,” he says darkly, wrinkling his nose at the sandy soil and shuddering. “It’s not right.”
“Buck up, fishbreath,” Sam says, shoving a water bottle into his hand. “We’ll gladly dump you in the ocean when this is over.”
Bucky squints at Sam then turns to Steve. “Is he insulting me?”
Steve sighs. “You know, at this point I’m not even sure.”
“Children!” Natasha calls. “Time to go.”
With collective groaning about sore backsides and cramped legs they all pile back into the cars, squabbling over seats and snacks like the children Natasha called them. Then they’re off again, this time fighting over who gets to play music. Steve, squished in the back with Bucky and Sam, closes his eyes and drops off to sleep to Bucky and Sam bickering over his head.
When they finally arrive, the mood grows more somber, a deadly glint in Bucky’s eyes. They decide to case SeaWorld first, getting tickets and splitting up to explore. Bucky scowls at the creatures in tanks, and has a brief staring match with an octopus that turns alarming colors.
Steve knows some of these animals are kept well, others exploited by SeaWorld. Watching Bucky’s reactions usually tells him which is which.
“Ooh look, sharks,” he says as they walk through the tunnel, surrounded on all sides by water. Bucky looks momentarily awed.
“I can fight a shark,” Bucky says, narrowing his eyes at the hammerhead swimming past. “I’ve killed one before.”
A young woman nearby gives Bucky a scandalized look and Steve winces. “That’s, uh, impressive, Buck,” he tries. “Sharks are endangered though so maybe…don’t kill them?”
Bucky turns to him. “Most sharks are good. This one was stealing our fish. I killed him –” He punctuates this with a snap of his teeth “– and ate him.”
The woman carefully steps away from Bucky, side-eyeing him. Steve grabs Bucky’s arm and hastens him through the tunnel.
“Maybe don’t say stuff like that out loud.”
“Why?”
“It’s…not normal. People don’t say things like that.”
“Oh. Right.” Bucky’s eyes widen. “Yes,” he says loudly. “I am a normal human who could not fight a shark, because I am weak and my teeth are not sharp.”
Steve resists the urge to facepalm, settling for closing his eyes momentarily.
“Come on,” he says, tugging Bucky along. “Just…speak very quietly, okay?”
“Okay,” Bucky agrees, dropping his voice to a whisper. “But, you know I am very good hunter, yes? There is nothing that can beat me.”
“Yeah yeah, you’re real tough.”
“Steve.” Bucky tugs on his sleeve, eyes serious. “Just because I am missing a fin does not mean I am weak.”
“I know, Buck.” Steve frowns. “What’s this about?”
“I can prove I am the best. I will battle any creature you desire. Not a whale, though. I could beat a whale,” he says insistently. “But. I do not want to.”
Steve squints at him. “Buck, is this some kind of Orcan mating ritual thing I don’t know about?”
Bucky mumbles something incomprehensible involving clicks. “Better than them,” he finally says, gesturing vaguely to the tanks around them.
“Of course you are.” Steve chuckles fondly, tipping Bucky’s chin up with a finger. “You’re my orca, remember? You don’t have to prove anything to me.”
Bucky smiles. “Okay.” He sways forward for a kiss, then threads his fingers through Steve’s and presses close as they start walking again. “But,” he says, like he can’t help it. “You know I could fight anything, right?”
Steve resists the urge to laugh, tugging Bucky close and kissing his temple. “Yes, Buck,” he says. “I know you could fight anything.”
Bucky relaxes, seeming content for the moment.
When they reach the orca tank, Bucky runs to press his palm to the glass, face white.
“Do you see her?” Steve asks quietly.
Bucky nods, eyes wide and wet. He lets loose a soft stream of clicks and trills, resting his forehead against the glass. To their right, an educator is droning on, spewing misinformation.
An orca swims up to the glass, smaller than the others, and Bucky gasps, a tear slipping down his cheek. The orca bumps her nose against the glass, mouth opening, and starts to screech and cry.
“Oh wow.” The educator has stopped, everyone looking at Bucky and his sister. “I think she likes you.”
Bucky whirls on the woman, screeching angrily as he lunges at her. Steve grabs him around the middle, holding him back as everyone around them recoils.
“Bucky,” he murmurs. “Bucky, not here. Not here.”
Bucky settles, breathing harshly. He points a shaking finger at the educator. “You,” he grits out, voice accented heavily, “will pay for what you have done. I will drown you, then rip the flesh from your bones and drag you down to Atlantis.”
“Okay, okay!” Steve says loudly, dragging Bucky away. “Come on, let’s go! Sorry, everyone!”
He doesn’t stop until they’re far away, letting Bucky go and scrubbing a hand over his face.
“You can’t just do things like that,” he says. “We’re trying to be unobtrusive.”
Bucky trills angrily. “Humans,” he growls. He paces back and forth. “She’s right there!”
“I know. We’re going to get her out. You just have to be patient.”
“I know!” Bucky stops, gritting his teeth. “I know.”
“Come on.” Steve takes his arm gently. “Let’s go back to our hotel and let the others finish casing. We can start working on a plan.”
Bucky nods tiredly. “Okay.” He follows Steve as they weave back through the exhibits, seemingly lost in thought.
“You haven’t ever…” Steve starts awkwardly. “I mean…have you?”
“What?”
“Killed a person.”
Bucky frowns at him, then shakes his head. “No. We protect humans.” He speeds up, mouth an unhappy line. “Even when they do not protect us.”
They sneak in under the cover of darkness. Tony had copied a staff keycard and Natasha stole a guard uniform. No one asks what happened to the guard it came from. Clint and Tony are waiting in the getaway van – though it’s a minivan rather than the stereotypical getaway van – and Bruce is waiting with them, too stressed to contemplate actually going inside.
Steve can feel the anticipation rolling off Bucky as they navigate the twisting hallways, slipping into the staff area. One more door and they exit onto the deck by the orca tank that Becca is in, the water still and gleaming in the moonlight. Bucky strips off his clothes, takes a running start, and dives into the tank.
He hits the water with a splash, shape immediately shifting until his orca form breaches the surface, blowing a puff of air. He starts swimming towards Becca, clicks and calls muted under the water, and she meets him halfway, both of them circling each other and bumping noses.
After a minute, in which Sam checks his watch and watches the door nervously, Bucky and Becca swim up to the incline and then shift, orca forms falling away. Becca looks remarkably like Bucky except younger, with long brown hair and pale skin, eyes wide as she struggles to stand. Steve rushes forward with towels and she screeches at him, recoiling.
Bucky grabs her arm and clicks softly, pressing their foreheads together. They both take shuddering breaths, moonlight illuminating their pale skin, water beading on the surface until they seem to glow.
“I found you,” Bucky murmurs between clicks and trills. “I found you, you’re okay, I found you.”
Tears carve tracks down his wet face, and he and Becca cling to each other like they are the last people on earth, eyes closed and heads bent together. Steve feels like he is intruding on an intimate moment and looks away, swiping the moisture from his own eyes.
Eventually, Bucky pulls back, taking a towel from Steve and wrapping Becca in it. She’s shivering, wobbling on unsteady legs and clinging to Bucky like she can’t bear to let go. Bucky cups her face and warbles something softly to her before pushing her gently towards Steve. This time, Becca doesn’t fight as Steve bundles her up and lifts her into his arms, cradling her carefully. She’s a great deal smaller and lighter than Bucky, and she looks no more than twelve, eyes wide as she stares up at Steve.
“Hi,” Steve says awkwardly, as Bucky starts getting dressed.
Becca blinks at him.
Bucky shoves his feet into his shoes and touches Steve’s arm. “We have to go.” He hesitates, looking back at the tank and the other orcas still floating there. “One day,” he says. “We will free them all.”
“Yes,” Steve says. “Yes we will.”
Sam whistles, and they turn away, hurrying back through the facility. Natasha scans her keycard at every door and Thor holds them open as they dart through, Steve doing his best not to jostle Becca. Bucky stays at his side, eyes fixed on Becca as if she might disappear at any moment.
It’s a relief when they get to the van. They pile in, Becca ending up on Steve and Bucky’s laps while the rest of them squish together. They pull away with a low crunch of tires and then they are free.
Becca startles at the motion of the car and Bucky shushes her, brushing her wet hair from her forehead.
“You’re safe now,” he whispers. “I found you. I won’t let anyone hurt you again.”
And so they drive on, into the night.
There’s a crash from the motel bathroom and Steve and Bucky share a look.
“Everything okay in there?” Steve calls.
“Peachy!” Natasha yells back. “Sweet Atlantis, how is it harder to dress someone with two arms than one?”
Lots of trills and clicks follow, interspersed with Natasha’s swearing. Finally, the door opens and Becca emerges, hair sticking up and expression resolutely angry, but fully dressed.
“This?” She plucks at her shirt, scowling. “No.”
Bucky laughs, moving forward to smooth down her hair. “You’ll get used to it.”
When she just frowns at him, Bucky repeats it in Orcan – or at least Steve thinks he does. He has no hope of understanding the clicks and whistles that make up their language.
“We ready?” Natasha asks, leaning against the doorframe tiredly.
Steve nods. “Cars are all filled up. Tony and Bruce even got a whole cooler full of fish in the back.
“Thank God for Florida.”
“I’m pretty sure God has abandoned Florida.”
“Eh, probably.” Natasha claps her hands. “Alright, everyone, let’s go! The sooner we leave, the sooner we’re back home.”
Bucky herds Becca out the door and into the car, wrangling her seatbelt despite her protests and fussing over her like a mother hen. Steve thinks it’s cute. He climbs into the front with Natasha and they wave to the van as they pull out of the parking lot and onto the road.
One cross-country trip to Florida done, one Orcan saved. Now they only have another interminably long road trip home, with a teenage Orcan who knows two words of English and nothing about human culture.
It’s going to be great.
One week, five meltdowns, two shredded pieces of clothing and three (3) incidents with fish that they collectively agree never to speak of again, they arrive home. Everyone goes their separate ways, exhausted and frayed, mumbling about sleeping for a week and never getting in a car again. Steve, Becca, and Bucky head to Natasha’s house, where they get Becca settled in in a guest room. She’s taken a liking to Natasha, even though she still doesn’t like anyone else. Steve supposes he can’t blame her. Humans have treated her terribly.
They leave her sleeping in the half-full bathtub and retreat to the living room, collapsing onto the couch.
“Ugh,” Natasha says eloquently.
Steve grunts in agreement. Bucky rolls over just enough to face plant into his shirt with a muffled groan, and Steve pats his back weakly.
“We should get up,” he says, jaw cracking on a yawn.
“Mmhmm,” Natasha says. “Things…things to do.”
Bucky melts into Steve. “Mmph.”
The next thing Steve knows, he’s squinting against the sunlight coming through the window, Bucky drooling into his shirt.
Natasha appears with a cup of steaming coffee and Steve wriggles one arm out from under Bucky to grab it, inhaling the rich smell of actual, non-gas station coffee. It’s heaven.
Bucky grunts, waking up. “Gotta go?” he slurs.
“Nope.” Steve smiles, taking a sip of coffee. “We’re home.”
“You’re my home,” Bucky mumbles, before falling back asleep.
Steve blinks, stunned. He can’t mean…
Bucky will go back to the sea, Steve knows. Now that he has his sister back, there’s no reason to stay on land. But maybe, just maybe, Bucky doesn’t want to leave for good.
Steve, deep down, doesn’t want him to leave. He doesn’t want Bucky to leave because he love–
Oh.
Steve sits upright abruptly, nearly spilling his coffee. Bucky grumbles at the movement and blinks up at him, eyes fuzzy with sleep.
“Wazzit?”
“Nothing.” Steve’s heart flutters in his chest. “Go back to sleep.”
“Kay.” Bucky snuggles more securely against him, exhaling. Steve strokes a hand over his hair and feels the emotion well up like a spring, unquenchable.
He loves him. He has known this, but he hadn’t realized, truly, what it meant. He loves Bucky. He will love him even if he leaves, even if he never sees him again. He’ll love him even if, like Atlantis, Bucky is lost to him forever.
He loves Bucky’s sea-blue eyes, the way they crinkle when he laughs. He loves Bucky’s hair, and the way Bucky lets him brush and braid it as Orcan mates do. He loves the rocks Bucky gives him, each one carefully selected and given even if Steve didn’t always understand why. He understands now. He finally understands what each one was telling him all along.
He waits a week, letting Bucky help Becca settle in. He is so devoted to his sister, so happy, that it makes Steve’s heart aches. Bucky has one of his own kind now. He doesn’t need Steve. But Steve needs to tell him that he understands, that what was between them was real; and even if it has to end, that Bucky is loved beyond measure.
He cradles the box carefully as he walks down the dock, heart in his throat. Bucky is waiting at the end, feet swinging over the water and face tipped up towards the sun, and he smiles when he sees Steve, a smile that lights up his face and crinkles his eyes, highlighting the summer freckles dotting his cheeks.
“Hi,” Steve says, sitting down next to him.
“Hi,” Bucky echoes.
The water laps at the dock with a soft shush, the smell of salt in the air. Above, a seabird wheels, lazily circling the updraft.
Steve takes a breath. “I need to tell you something.”
Bucky cocks his head, quizzical. “What is it?”
Steve sets the box between them, hand on the worn cardboard. “I know you’re going back to the sea, but I just…I wanted you to have this before you go. To know you’ll always have a place here, in my heart.”
Bucky is staring at him with wide eyes, something confused and longing in their depths. Steve takes the lid off the box, revealing the stones within, and Bucky stares at them before dragging his gaze up to Steve’s.
“When I was little,” Steve says, “I used to walk with my mom along the beach. And I would collect rocks that I liked. My mom kept them all in a box, and after she died…I just couldn’t make myself get rid of them. They are…I guess you could say they’re pieces of my heart. And they’re yours, if you want them.”
Bucky sucks in a surprised breath.
“You told me,” Steve continues, “that giving rocks is something special, in your culture. And I get it now, what you were trying to tell me. Because Bucky–” He takes Bucky’s hand in his. “I love you too. And I wanted you to know that, before you leave.”
A tear slips down Bucky’s cheek and he suddenly lurches forward, pressing his lips to Steve’s.
“You stupid human,” he chokes out when they part, resting his forehead against Steve’s. “Why would I ever leave you?”
It’s Steve’s turn to be surprised. “Bucky, what–?”
Bucky’s hand grips the back of his neck, their breath mingling between them. “The sea is my home,” he says, “but you’re my home too.”
“But what about Becca?”
Bucky takes a shaky breath, hand tightening on Steve’s neck. “We’re both staying on land. The ocean is no longer safe, and I…I can’t leave. Before, we thought we had to be separate from humans, but that’s not true. I want to live here, with humans. With you.”
“Are you sure?”
Bucky pulls back enough to meet his eyes, his own shining like the sea. “I have never been more sure of anything.”
Steve chokes on a sob, tears of happiness coursing down his cheeks, and then they are kissing again, a gentle breeze ruffling their hair and the sun beating down, warming them through. They tangle together, Orcan and human, all else falling away except for them; for a moment, they are the only ones in the world.
Epilogue
“You ready?”
Bucky nods, stripping off the last of his clothes and wading out into the shallows. Becca darts past him, diving into the water, and Bucky laughs, sinking under the waves. A moment later, an orca breaks the surface, floating in the shallow water as Becca leaps through the air further out.
Tony and Bruce slosh through the water towards him, the silver fin hefted between them. Steve reaches Bucky’s side first, rubbing the sleek skin, and Bucky trills at him, nudging him with his nose. He tips his side up as Tony and Bruce approach, carefully sliding the new fin onto his stump and sealing it until black merges smoothly with silver, the red star prominent.
Bucky wiggles his new fin, then whistles in appreciation, slapping his tail. Steve laughs, helping to push him out into the water. The sun beats down on his bare chest, the beard he’s growing itching over tanned skin. He swims out beside Bucky and then dives, opening his eyes to a whole new world.
Bucky and Becca frolic through the water, powerful bodies spinning around him. Next to them, he feels incomprehensibly small. Bucky comes up to him, stilling in the water, and Steve is overcome by a sense of awe. He reaches out, setting his hands on either side of Bucky’s face and pressing his forehead against his. He closes his eyes.
The ocean is quiet. It is the quiet of peace, of happiness. It is two souls meeting in the deep blue, sunlight sparkling above them, and finding themselves in each other’s eyes. It is love.
The ocean is quiet, and for the first time, it feels like coming home.
