Work Text:
He had figured that this was an inevitability. It would come eventually. A part of him had hoped it would come sooner, but most of him had hoped it would come much, much later.
He knew what would happen if he told Bucky - heroic efforts to find a cure, and break into highly contaminated areas in the attempt - and while there was every reason so far to believe that he was immune to the virus itself that didn't mean there was no possibility for him to be hurt or killed. Being eaten alive seemed like a horrific way to go.
As they walked, he removed the password from several documents on his phone as well as from the phone itself. For the most part, cellphones were useless at this point, anyway, but he'd kept notes and data on it enough to figure out what places had been burned, and what places might still be safe.
He shuffled closer to Bucky briefly, tucking an arm around him and surreptitiously tucked the phone into one of his pockets in the process, before offering him a smile. "I'll be back in a moment. I just need to relieve myself."
It was such a small thing to say. He hated that the last words he'd ever say to him would be a lie, instead of telling him everything he felt...
But if he was alive, Bucky would try to find a way to keep him that way. And he needed Bucky to keep pressing onwards.
It would have to be without him.