Disclaimer; I own nothing but my imagination.

Bucky had been unnaturally quiet since they'd gotten back to the camp. At first, Steve had put it down to exhaustion. Being captured by those creeps and then the long walk back.
Bucky had been cleared by the medics and looked physically better now that he'd eaten and gotten some rest.
He and Steve were in Steve's tent. As soon as everyone had gone to bed and Bucky had Steve to himself he'd made Steve tell him everything about Project Rebirth, the serum and what it had done to Steve. Bucky had just sat quietly on Steve's army cot while Steve told him about how the serum worked and what he could do now. Told him about Dr Erskine and Stark and Peggy.
Steve looked worriedly at Bucky. He looked so sad. His normally bright eyes looked empty.
"I woulda thought you'd be happy, Buck. No more needing to drag me out of ally fights. No more asthma."
Bucky smiled slightly, "I am happy, Steve. Really. This is so great, no more getting sick or knocked around. You're how you should be. Now the body matches your thick skull." Bucky's laugh was strained.
Steve knelt in front of him. "What's going on, Buck? You've been so distant since Azzano. What did they do to you? What happened?"
Bucky looked at the ground, "I…I don't actually remember them doing anything to me. It's just…"
Bucky hated how he felt. Steve deserved every good break he could get. He deserved good health, respect, a pretty lady to look at him the way Agent Carter had earlier. But part of Bucky wished that he was still the little punk that needed him. "When they had me on that table, all I could think of was, what was gonna happen to you? It's heading towards winter, you always got sick so easily. Who was gonna make sure you ate and were warm enough. And you wouldn't be able to work so you wouldn't get paid and you couldn't by food or medicine or the rent and…I just kept thinking about everything that could happen to you without me there. That's what kept me going. With me dead, who was going to take care of you? Now…now you don't need taking care of."
Steve cupped Bucky's face in his hands, bring his head up to look at him, "Buck, I don't need you to just take care of me. When I heard what happened to the 107th…Colonel Phillips was sure you were gone." Steve took a choked breath. That had been the most terrifying day of his life. "I wasn't gonna believe it. I couldn't believe it. Because without you, I felt like a hole had been blown right through me. You're the most important thing in my life, Bucky. Always have been. Without you, there's nothing. I don't need you to just take care of me. I just need you."
Bucky's eyes were welling up, "Really? Now that…now you can have any dame you want? You still want me?"
"I love you, Bucky. You're the only one I've ever wanted."
Bucky wrapped his arms around Steve, tight, "I love you too, Stevie. You still my Babydoll?"
Steve huffed a laugh at the nickname, "Yeah, ya dope. Still am. Always will be." Steve tilted Bucky's head back, their lips inches apart, "Till the end of the line?" He whispered softly.
Bucky smile was like sunlight, "Till the end of the line."
Steve brought their lips together in a soft, sweet kiss. And for a moment, nothing else existed. It was just the two of them, like it had always been.