⊱ ━━━━.⋅ εïз ⋅.━━━━ ⊰

❝ the view's great ❞

⊱ ━━━━.⋅ εïз ⋅.━━━━ ⊰

ꕥ VORMIR, 2014 ꕥ

"OKAY, WE'RE here," Nova said after landing the jet safely. The pair stood near the pilot seat, staring out into the beautiful view of the purple pink sky.

"Under different circumstances, this would be amazing," Bucky commented.

"Still beautiful, though," Nova shrugged. "Where else are we gonna get this view?" she turned her head to the man who smiled at her.

They got off the jet and walked towards the mountain, carefully making their way up to the top.

"I don't think the robot needed to go on a hike," Nova grunted as Bucky pulled her up over a rock.

He chuckled, "I don't think the robot complains." He hissed and yanked his hand away after she sent a tiny tickling jolt into his palm, causing him to shoot her a fake glare.

She looked up at him with an innocent smile as they kept advancing up the trail which was pretty much just rocks, rocks and more rocks. "How easy do you think it's gonna be?" he asked her.

"Well, let's hope for the best," she shrugged, wiping off some dirt of her hands by dusting them together.

A voice echoed behind them as they reached the top, "welcome."

Bucky pulled out his rifle and aimed it at him while Nova had her hands on her sides, purple glows emitting from her palms. "Nova, daughter of Guzman," she tensed at the mention of the former King of Ivazar. "James, son of George," he said while floating in a black cape.

"Who are you?" Nova asked.

"Consider me a guide," he responded. "To you, and to all who seek the Soul stone," he floats closer and Bucky's eyes widened in recognition.

"Red Skull," he muttered under his breath, but loud enough for Nova to catch it.

"Good then," Nova stated. "Show us where the damn thing is, and we'll be out of your— I was gonna say hair but you clearly don't have it," she shrugged.

"Ah, if only it were that easy," he leads them both the cliff.

Nova walked ahead of Bucky as he slowly lowered his weapon and she retracted her balls of electricity. "What you seek for lies in front of you... as does what you fear."

Nova peeked over the edge, Bucky stepping next to her and looking down as well. "It's down there," she said.

"For one of you," the Red Skull stated. "For the other... in order to take the stone, you must lose that of which you love. An everlasting exchange. A soul for a soul."

The pair couldn't bring their eyes up to look at each other, instead left them trained at the long way down.

━━━━

NOVA SAT on a log, her elbows resting on her knees as she stared off into the distance. Bucky was standing a few feet away from her in silence, his eyes trained to his feet.

"What if he's making this shit up?" he questioned in a low voice, slowly lifting his gaze to find hers already on him.

"Thanos left with the stone, without his daughter. The other pair in the other time—" she cut herself off, deciding it was best to not give away who made the trade in the original time.

"So, it's not a coincidence," he concluded, stepping closer to her. She shook her head, turning her gaze back to the purple sky ahead of her.

"We need the stone. Otherwise billions of people stay in ashes," she said. "Besides, the view's great. It's not the worse way to go," she added quietly.

Bucky turned on his heel, staring off into the distance of the beautiful skies as well. "Yeah."

"Whatever it takes, remember?" he looked down at her. Nova got to her feet and stepped forward with a subtle nod, "whatever it takes."

"We both know who it's gonna be," he whispered. He turned his entire body to face her as she looked down. Reaching over, he slipped his human hand into hers before she reciprocated and wrapped both of her hands around his.

"I guess we do," she muttered.

Nova looked up to meet his eyes, and he seemed to be searching hers in confusion. "Wait— no," he shook his head, taking a step back but she kept a firm grip on his hand.

"I'm not letting you do this," he said sternly. She shook her head, pursing her lips. "It has to be me, J," she said, pulling out the nickname like she usually would.

He kept shaking his head, muttering multiple disagreements. Nova licked her lips as her eyes watered the slightest bit before stepping towards him and cupping his face.

"Dr. Strange sent me here, for a reason. And if it's to free fall off that cliff," she nodded her head in the direction of her right, where the cliff was, "then I'm willing to do it."

They locked eyes, both being glossy as he leaned into her touch. He leaned forward and rested his forehead on hers as her hands fell back into his, now holding both of them.

"After everything I've done, what I've become," he whispered, "I can't let you do this."

She opened her eyes, alarmed, but in a swift movement Bucky had flipped her over and pinned her onto the ground with his hand wrapped around her neck.

"But, you're free," she tugged at his hands. "You deserve to live that way," she flipped him over with all her strength and wrapped him in an electrical rope from her magic.

She turned on her heel and advanced towards the edge. Somehow, Bucky had freed himself from the ropes and shot at the ground around her feet causing her to fall to the side in a reflex.

She looked over her shoulder to see Bucky supporting her gaze as he ran towards the cliff, and off the edge. Nova got onto her feet and jumped after him, successfully grabbing onto him in mid air.

She pulled an item out of Bucky's belt pocket to find a grappling hook. Throwing it up, it landed onto a stable rock and she hooked it through his belt.

He grunted, grabbing onto the rope with his metal arm as he kept a tight grip on her wrist with his other. Looking at the way it was hooked onto his belt he cursed and looked down at her, "damn it."

"Don't let go," he pleaded, though she made no effort in holding onto him.

"It has to be me, J. Let me go," she whispered soothingly. Tears clouded his vision as he tried to tug at the rope but to no avail before looking back down at the girl. "You'll see me again, I promise."

"No," he shook his head as his voice wavered, "don't do this."

"It has to be me," she smiled softly, sending a warm wave of comfort through his hand with her magic.

Knowing he won't let go, she kicked herself out of his grip and fell right to the grounds of Vormir. Bucky had to look away from her lifeless body, as the skies seemed to open and some sort of power shot through it from the top of the mountain.

The moment he reopened his eyes, he was no longer hanging by the cliff. He was laid down in a lake, and as he looked at his hand, the Soul stone was shining right back at him.

i'm not crying you are go away

I FORGOT TO SAY THIS: i am well aware that when u go back in time it won't change things in the future, it'll just branch out a new timeline thing so yeah that but here it'll change the future. okay? that means everyone will have new memories and stuff like that. i know it doesn't work that way but fuck do i care this is a fanfic for a reason and i am not one to stray that far away from canon but i felt the urge 😭✋

okay yeah that's it for today, hope you're okay in general and after this chapter 🥰🥰❤

don't be a ghost reader! vote and comment <3