Chapter Text
It's cold on top of the mountain, it's cold everywhere they go. Steve and Bucky are looking on toward the train tracks, Steve thinking about what needs to be done. The other soldiers of the Howling Commandos are setting up the radio, tracking the train, and scouting for any potential threats. Bucky looks forward, remembering a gem from his past.
"Remember when I made you ride the Cyclone at Coney Island," he asks, a small smile on his face.
"Yeah, when I threw up" Steve replies, not particularly fond of that memory.
"This isn’t payback, is it?"
A small devious smirk grows on Steve's face. "Now why would I do that?"
Both men turn in unison when Jones confirms Zola's placement on the train.
Steve, Bucky, and Jones are the ones to brace the dangerous trip to the train. No one, not even God himself, could have stopped Bucky from following Steve. He would follow him anywhere.
Steve and Bucky go inside searching for Zola. As soon as Steve steps through the second door in front of Bucky, it shuts, locking the two away from each other. Men begin firing at Bucky, while Steve has to deal with a machine that is equipped with a special Hydra gun.
After knocking the machine out, Steve fires his way through to Bucky, helping him eliminate the Hydra agents shooting at them.
"I had him on the ropes."
"I know you did," Steve remembering how many times he'd use the same comeback.
Before they could do anything, the machine is walking towards them, gun firing. Steve reacts quickly, pushing Bucky out of the way. In the process, the side of the train is blown clean off. The machine takes fire once more just as Steve throws his shield at the machine. The blond was blown out of the train in the process, just managing to hold tight onto the railing.
Bucky quickly climbs onto the railing, telling Steve to hold on, that he's coming. "Steve, grab my hand," he yells, trying his best to reach his hand out as far as it will go.
Steve reaches his hand out, but the railing snaps, unable to support his weight. His screams are the last thing Bucky hears from him.
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Later that evening, Bucky is sitting alone in a worn out bar, drinking his way through each and every bottle. He hears Peggy walk up behind him, not sure how he's quite able to hear that well, but he does nonetheless.
Wiping his tears away, he reaches for the bottle. "I think whatever they did to me made it harder for me to get drunk".
Peggy pulls out the chair opposite him, sitting down and studying his face before speaking. "It wasn't your fault".
"Did you read the report?"
"Yes".
"Then you know that's not true," he huffs out.
"You did everything you could." She watches him sit quietly, the pain etched over every inch on skin. "Did you believe in your friend? Did you respect him?" He nods. "Then stop blaming yourself. Allow Steve the dignity of his choice. He damn well must have thought you were worth it".
Bucky knows she's hurting, but he's hurting too, probably more so. Steve was his everything, the only thing he had to live for. Now that's gone, and all that's left is avenging his friend, his brother, the man he loved more than anything.
"I'm going after Schmidt. I'm not gonna stop 'til all of Hydra is dead or captured".
"You won't be alone," she assures him.
__
Bucky sits at the head of the table, listening to Colonel Phillips discuss where Schmidt is.
Gabe finally speaks up, "So what are we going to do? It's not like we can just walk in through the front door".
"Why not?" He feels all eyes turn on him, looking at him like he's crazy. He looks up from the table, making sure to look everyone in the eye before saying, "That's exactly what we're gonna do".
The Howling Commandos stare at each other, knowing that Bucky is ready for a suicide mission. They couldn't be more willing to follow.
__
Bucky is captured by Hydra just like the plan called for. He listens to Schmidt give his sickening speech, wanting to puke.
"So what makes you so special?"
"Nothing, I'm just a kid from Brooklyn." He's prepared for the hit to the face that Schmidt delivers. A surge of pride in the pit of his stomach rises, knowing Steve would have said something similar.
The Howling Commandos break the glass and it's an all out war.
Bucky follows Red Skull, chasing after him like he's the only other person on Earth, and that is a dangerous mindset. He sees the Red Skull climbing into a plane before he's running after him with such ferocity. He refuses to let this man escape. Along the way, Colonel Philips and Peggy pull up aside him in a car, motioning for him to hop on as they drive towards the plane. Once he's close enough, Bucky jumps onto the plane through the back entrance.
Bucky is able to dismantle one of the bombs Hydra has before an agent hops into the one marked "New York" and begins take off. Without a second thought, he jumps on the plane, rips the top off and throws the agent out. He flies it back into the plane, with his mind mission-focused. His mission: destroy Schmidt.
He walks through door that leads to the front of the plane. As the door closes, he hears one of the specialized guns rear up. Bucky quickly jumps out of the way of the blast, before turning and throwing the shield at Schmidt, looking disgusting with his red face. Seriously, Bucky doesn't think he'll ever get used to that, or not have nightmares about that face.
The Red Skull has Bucky on the ground, listening to his speech as he circles the blue cube, what Schmidt calls the Tesseract. Bucky knows one thing about it - it will bring nothing but trouble. Schmidt, overwhelmed with power, grabs a hold of the cube and disintegrates before Bucky's unbelieving eyes.
Bucky catalogs any serious injuries he might have, and finding none, thankfully. He knows there are still bombs on the plane. He knows what he has to do. He takes the pilot seat, looking out into the beautiful sky filled with clouds below and above him. It's peaceful.
"Come in, this is Sergeant Barnes. Do you read me?"
Peggy slides Morita out of the way so she can communicate with Barnes. "Barnes is that you? Are you alright?"
"Peggy, Schmidt's dead."
"What about the plane?"
Bucky presses the buttons on the cockpit, hoping one of them will work. None do. Rolling his eyes that nothing will work, he replies, "That's a little harder to explain."
"Give me your coordinates, and I'll find you a safe landing site."
"There's not gonna be a safe landing site," his voice grim. "But I can try and force it down."
Peggy doesn't notice that Colonel Phillips has shuffled himself and Morita out of the room, giving these two their privacy.
"I'll, I'll get Howard on the line, he'll know what to do."
"There's not enough time. This thing's moving too fast and it's heading for New York." He takes a few steadying breaths before continuing. "I have to put her in the water."
"Please don't do this. We have time, we can work it out." She doesn't want to lose him. She already lost Steve, and she doesn't want to lose his best friend too. Her concern is evident in her voice.
"Right now I'm in the middle of nowhere. If I wait any longer, a lot of people are gonna die." There's nothing but silence over the radio, both knowing what needs to be done. "Peggy… this is my choice."
Bucky plays with the controls on the plane, figuring out how to plunge it. He finds the right handle and pushes it down, being pushed back into his seat from gravity. He's putting the plane down. It's only fitting, dying during his most hated time of year: winter.
He takes one look at the picture he has of Steve, and knows that he's doing the right thing.
"Peggy."
"I'm here."
"I'm gonna see Steve again."
"Tell him I said hello," tears rushing down her face. She knows Bucky can hear her crying, but she doesn't care.
"I will… Don't be sad Peg. I'm gonna be with him."
"I know", she sniffles. "I always knew."
The ice is getting closer and closer. He has to get it out, has to let someone know. "I loved h-"
The radio cuts out. Nothing but static.
"Bucky?" Tears are pouring from her eyes. She can't give up, she has to have hope that he's okay. "Bucky?" Still silence. She knows.
Colonel Phillips watches on, knowing exactly what she lost. What he and the Commandos lost. Hell, what the whole world lost.
That night, the remaining men of the Howling Commandos mourn the loss of their Captain and their Sergeant. But more importantly, they mourn the loss of their friends, while everyone around them celebrates winning the war, not knowing what it cost. "To the Captain. To Barnes," Falsworth says, the Commandos clinking their glasses together one last time for their fallen friends.
--
Where am I, he thinks, blinking himself awake. It hits him all at once. He remembers. Steve. He opens his eyes, looking around at the room he's in, hearing a baseball game play over a radio. His mind only has one mission: find Steve.
He slowly rises from his bed, knowing something is wrong. Oh God, Hydra. His brain is alert, looking for any clues to tell him where he is. He listens to that damn baseball game on the radio, and it clicks. He was there, with Steve. They went to that game together.
A woman, dressed like a nurse for someone on the U.S. side, walks in taking stock of him, before speaking. "Good morning" she says, closing the door behind her. She glances at her watch before addressing him again. "Or should I say afternoon."
Bucky knows this is all wrong. Her hair, the slight deviations in her attire, her shoes, and that watch - none of it is right. "Where am I" he asks.
"You're in a recovery room in New York City."
Bucky can hear the rise in her heartbeat. 'How am I able to do that' he wonders. He turns his head toward the radio, remembering this exact moment in the game. It was the moment when Steve grabbed his hand in excitement. That's one thing Bucky will never forget.
"Where am I? Really" he asks, barely biting back a snarl.
The red haired woman tries to play it off. "I'm afraid I don't understand."
He can tell she's lying.
"The game. It's from May, 1941. I know cause I was there."
He sees the exact moment she knows she's caught. He rises from the bed, broadening his shoulders to look even more intimidating then he already does. "Now, I'm gonna ask you again. Where am I?"
"Sergeant Barnes-"
"Who are you" he demands.
The next thing he knows, men are coming through the door. They're armed. Fine, he'll fight his way out. There's no way in hell he will let Hydra take him alive. He throws the men through the wall, running out and seeing it's some kind of set in a much larger room.
He opens the doors, running out into the hallway, seeing men in suits everywhere, as a 'code 13' is being announced through some kind of speaker. Bucky is able to make it outside, running through the streets of wherever he's at. Everything's different though. Cars are everywhere. Buildings are taller. There are flashy lights and screens.
He looks around confused, as he's surrounded by black vehicles.
"At ease, soldier," a voice calls from behind.
Turning to look, he spots a man with an eye patch, dressed in all black, in front of one of the cars. Leader, he thinks. Bucky holds his ground as the man walks directly up to him.
"Look, I'm sorry about that little show back there, but we thought it best to break it to you slowly."
"Break what?" He's so confused. What do they have to break to him? Is it Steve? Is Steve alive?
"You've been asleep, Sergeant. For almost seventy years."
Bucky looks around, really looks. Oh God, they're telling the truth. But how? How is this possible? His mind is running rampant, unable to process everything. He thinks about the plane crash, remembering his promise. He was supposed to be with Steve…
The man in black notices something that resembles guilt and remorse on Bucky's face. "You gonna be okay?"
"Yeah… Yeah, I just… I was supposed to see someone."