The Red Soldier: Origins of the Red Soldier

ISSUE #9

***

Steve's eyes met Bucky's, a moment of relief flooding over them both as the man who had just been shooting at them dropped to the floor. The door in front of them slid open, and they half-expected to be greeted with another of Red Skull's armoured soldiers. Instead, however, they were met with (Y/N) who strolled into the carriage looking rather proud of himself.

'Zola?' Steve asked him, holstering his pistol, and picking up his shield off of the floor.

'Tied up in the cab,' answered (Y/N), 'you two do this?' He gestured to the man passed out on the floor. Bucky nodded his head and slung his gun over his shoulder.

'All that's left to do is find a way to stop this train before it reaches wherever it is it's going and call in the colonel,' Steve stated, (Y/N) and Bucky nodded affirmatively and went about finding some way to halt the train on the tracks; none of them noticing that the man sprawled out on the floor had begun to twitch.

There was no emergency break to be found in the carriage, or in the ones on either side of it. Steve observed (Y/N) who seemed to be thinking, his fingers rubbing the temples of his head gently. 'I could go round to the front of the train, stop it from there?' he suggested after a few moments.

'And if you, can't you'll be crushed,' Bucky scoffed, 'I'm not letting you do that.'

'I can do it,' (Y/N) shot back, 'I know I can.'

'Buck's right (Y/N),' interjected Steve, 'it's not worth the...' An explosion interrupted him, blasting open one whole side of the carriage, and with it Bucky who now clung to a half- disconnected railing for dear life. (Y/N) had been chucked back into an empty shelf which now pinned him to the floor. There was an open would on the side of his forehead, causing blood to pool around his head on the floor.

Steve's eyes flickered between his two friends until he ultimately decided it was Bucky who was in greater need of his aid. 'Bucky!' he called, as he began to scale the outside of the carriage towards where James Barnes clung to the fragile railing. 'Bucky! Hang on!' His hand reached out, desperately reaching for his friend. He stretched out, as far as he possibly could, but just as the tips of his fingers brushed against Bucky's sleeve, the rail came loose, and Sergeant James Barnes's screams echoed through the valley.

(Y/N) was still comatose days later. Steve had yet to leave his side, sleeping intermittently on the armchair beside his bed in the French hospital they'd been airlifted to on Colonel Phillip's and Peggy Carter's arrival. The colonel had seized custody of Dr Zola and took him back to Washington for questioning, but Peggy remained with Steve, ensuring he ate and drank. Sometimes she would beg him to check into a hotel and get some proper sleep, but Steve was too scared.

He was terrified of losing (Y/N), and he was even more frightened of anybody else telling him what had happened to Bucky Barnes. It should be me, he told himself, he deserves to hear it from me.

'I brought tea,' Peggy's voice said sweetly, interrupting Steve's dreams. She stepped forward and laid the tray down on the table beside (Y/N)'s bed. 'I'm afraid there was no milk or sugar,' she apologised, 'but the nurse down the corridor donated a few oat biscuits.' Steve half-smiled up at her then dragged a chair over for her from where he was sitting. 'No sign of him waking up yet?'

Steve shook his head. The doctor had been in only an hour before and told him (Y/N)'s vitals had not changed but were still at least stable. 'You should really go get some proper rest,' Peggy Carter tried to encourage him, 'you'll feel a lot fresher, I can stay if you'd like.'

'I can't,' Steve sighed, 'I need to be here when he wakes up, to tell him what happened. I'm not quite sure how he'll react.'

'Him and Sergeant Barnes must have been close,' she said.

'Closer than close,' Steve added.

'Closer than close – oh...' Peggy's brows rose a little, and then she regarded Steve questioningly, 'how do you know?'

'I've – I'd known Bucky since elementary, I could tell,' explained Steve Rogers, 'the glint in his eye whenever he laid eyes on him, the blush on his cheeks whenever the two of them talked. The upsetting thing is, I don't think (Y/N) noticed this until it was too late.'

There was a shuffling noise from the other side of the room. The sheets which practically swaddled a sleeping (Y/N) began to crumple. They both got to their feet quickly, rushing to the bedside. 'I'll fetch the doctor,' Peggy said, leaving the room with a sense of urgency in her step.

He starred down at (Y/N), breathing a sense of pure relief when his eyelids blinked open, and he could see his (E/C) eyes, clear and relaxed. 'My head really hurts,' he groaned, rubbing the side of his head which was now wrapped tightly in a bloodstained bandage.

'You should lie down,' Steve told him, 'Peggy's just gone to get the doctor.'

'I need to get up,' he said in a hoarse voice as he slung his legs over the side of the bed, 'Bucky was close to that blast too, I should see if he's alright.'

A lump formed in Steve's throat, a lump he tried desperately to swallow, but which remained. His heart began to ache once more for the loss of his best friend and partner. Now he needed to relive the loss, just one more time. 'He's...' he choked out.

'Is he already up?' (Y/N) asked, climbing down from his bed, a small but excited smile on his face, 'what room is he in? We can go together.'

'He's not here (Y/N).'

'He's not...' the glimpse of a smile vanished from (Y/N) (L/N)'s face, 'where is he Steve?' His eyebrows had begun to knit themselves together, his fists balling up slightly. 'WHERE IS HE?'

'The blast,' Steve breathed, trying his hardest to remain calm. Neither of them would benefit from yelling, 'Bucky fell from the train. Phillips sent people to find the body, but it was too late.'

'Too late?' he questioned, a dim red light began to shine from his clenched fists, 'I want to see him.'

'(Y/N)...'

'I WANT TO SEE HIM!'

'There was an avalanche before anybody could get close to where he would've been. He's gone (Y/N).'

The boy in front of him closed his eyes, breathing in a deep breath before letting it out. Steve thought he was calming himself down; that he was coping with the news. But when his eyes opened, they were a dark crimson, their colour matching his bloodstained bandages. He stretched a hand out towards the bag in the corner of the small room which contained his belongings and summoned it before slinging it over his shoulder.

His hands now clenched into fists once more and were emitting a brightness Steve had yet to see. The body of (Y/N) (L/N) levitated into the air, it's eyes glaring down at Steve Rogers. 'I'm going to kill them,' it spoke ruthlessly, 'I'm going to kill them all.'