Multifandom Oneshots

Stucky ↬ How to Mourn a Friend

The explosions rang in their ears. The cavernous space in between them felt like miles. There was no way for Steve to make it across, he was stuck and there was nothing Bucky could do about it.

The only thing the pair could do was watch as the flames grew higher and higher and the explosions grew louder and louder.

"Buck! I'm not going to make it across... you need to go...." It broke both men's hearts to hear Steve's words.

Deep down both Bucky and Steve knew that what Steve had said was the truth. He couldn't make that jump, even though he was a super soldier it was still impossible.

"No..... No! I'm not leaving you here Steve! I can't, not again!" Bucky had already had to leave Steve once and it had nearly gotten them both killed. He couldn't lose him again, not when it was permanent.

The air was growing hotter due to the flames. Steve's hand gripped the railing tighter, it nearly snapped in his hand.

Bucky was desperate. He couldn't leave Steve there, Steve was all he had. All the memories of saving Steve from back alley fights flashed through his mind. All the times he held a scared Steve in his arms during storms, when he cared after Steve when he was sick, the countless sleep overs they had.

All of it had changed. Steve wasn't the small punk that needed needed taking care of anymore. If anything it was Bucky that needed saving, after all that is exactly what happened.

Even if Steve didn't need saving, Bucky protective side wouldn't go away. It was an impossible situation, there was no way out of the factory, that they knew of, on Steve's side yet he couldn't make the jump to Bucky's side.

The ground beneath Steve's feet began to shake.

"Bucky! The building isn't going to hold much longer.... Just get out of here!"

"No! Not without you!"

The floor under Steve was beginning to give way. There was nothing to hold onto and nothing to jump to to save himself.

Bucky watched in horror as the floor underneath Steve fell, Steve along with it. The flames engulfed him, swallowing him before Bucky could cry out.

The tears were streaming down Bucky's face. That was it, he'd lost the only person he still cared about. Steve was gone and Bucky didn't know what he would do without him.

Bucky didn't move. His sobs were growing louder and he didn't attempt to stop them. He didn't want to leave without Steve.

He stumbled through the factory to what he knew was the exit. He had remembered the way from when he first arrived. Bucky never thought that he would ever get out of that place, and he didn't think that Steve would be the one to save him... nor did he think Steve would fall.

As Bucky pushed open the door to the factory he was met with absolute carnage. Soldiers bodies littered the floor and the sound of tanks and explosions was ringing in his ears. Bucky was in a daydream, or a nightmare. The image of Steve's regret filled face was imprinted on his eyelids, he could see it when ever he blinked.

He wasn't paying attention when a HYDRA agent came charging at him, nor was he paying attention to the soldiers that tacked the agent to the ground. Their voices were hazy and Bucky couldn't decipher one voice from the next nor did he want to. It was only when he heard 'the captain' did he snap out of his daze.

"Where is the captain?"

Bucky fell to the ground as his sobs grew louder once again. Where is the captain? That sentence hurt him more than anything he had been through during his time in the factory, more than any of the wounds he received when fighting. More than anything.

When the soldiers returned to the camps the next morning, Bucky was leading them. Alone. The Colonel was waiting for them at the gate but his face dropped when he saw no star spangled man accompanying them.

Bucky didn't want to join in the celebrations of the lost soldiers returning to camp so he brushed past everyone and hid behind the camps. He couldn't deal with everything at that moment.

It was that same night that Bucky couldn't sleep. He wished that at that point in time that he had a bottle of whiskey with him. He couldn't deal with all the thoughts in his mind, thoughts of Steve. Steve was his only friend, the only person he had truly loved.

The snapping of branches nearby caught Bucky's attention, however he refused to act on it. Whatever happened, Bucky couldn't see it getting much worse. A figure stumbled through the tree line, the bright blue and red flashed in Bucky's eye-line.

"Steve?"

Steve clung to the beam. During his fall he had managed to leap to a beam and held to it like it was his life line. He could see Bucky's distraught face, he could hear his cries and sobs. It broke him. It hurt to hear Bucky breaking down.

Steve wanted to call out, to shout and scream that he was alive, but he couldn't. If Bucky knew Steve was still alive, clinging to the beam with all his strength, then he wouldn't leave. Steve knew that Bucky had a clear shot of getting out of there but not if he let himself be seen. However if he let Bucky believe he was gone, Bucky would go, he would be free.

Steve could see the faint lights from outside the factory. Bucky would get out, and so would he. The jump to the platform would require all he had left and if he missed....

"I'm gonna catch up to you Buck."

And he made the leap.

"You're alive! Oh my god, Stevie I thought you were dead!" Bucky clung to Steve, like letting go would mean all of this would fade away, and Bucky would be forced to watch Steve fall all over again.

"I'm here Buck, I'm okay." The two soldiers stayed away from the camp for awhile. When asked, the soldiers from the camp said that they didn't see either Bucky nor Steve until the next evening.