I'm brought out of my dreamland state by the sound of papers rustling somewhere near me. I crane my neck to try and see and through blurry vision and the dimly lit room I can just make out the lab coat of my current nightmare, Arnem Zola.
"W-what are you doing?" I mumble terrified as he scrambles frantically around the room.
"Leaving you to die." He pants in amongst his rush. "The experiments don't appear to have given you any physical advantages so there's no point in bringing you with us."
I cringe at the word 'experiments', remembering all the intense pain the different serums they keep injecting into me caused. They keep me strapped tightly to this table where I can't budge or ryth in agony as the poisons course through my veins doing who knows what to me. Sometimes the pain is so intense that I pass out and wake up some time later feeling weaker and sicker then ever.
I don't reply to Zola, I zone out after hearing 'leaving you to die'. I don't struggle against the restraints, it's not like I have the energy to anyway.
I simply close my eyes and sink back into the torture table, relaxed. Dying would be nice right about now. No more pain. It was obviously gonna happen eventually so why prolong my suffering?
I don't hear Zola leave, I'm already drifting off into unconsciousness, trying to remember my life, thinking this is the last of it. I'm not sure if I'm speaking out loud or just thinking to myself as I go through fragments of my past.
"Sergeant 32557-" I start to mumble but I'm cut off by the feeling of someone gripping my arms.
Terrified that it is Zola, back to inject me with something else I snap my eyes open, but I only become confused.
Standing over me is someone who looks familiar but I can't quite place it. But then it hits me.
The deep blue eyes, the tufts of blonde hair peaking out from under his helmet, it looks like Steve. But it's not Steve. This man is tall and healthy, filled out band strong. Am I seeing things?
Maybe this is it. I think to myself as I'm in a daze trying to decifer what is going on. Maybe this is my dying wish, to see Steve healthy.
He looks me over with so much worry in his eyes taking in whatever state I'm in and the way that I'm restrained.
"Oh my god." He mutters in horror.
He then moves out of my view but soon enough I feel the straps tying down my feet, torso, shoulders and wrists be released and then the man is back in my view.
Wait what? I think to myself. Is this real?
"Who is- who are-?" I try to stutter out as I reach out for the form above me.
"It's me." He sighs. "It's Steve."
"Steve?" I gasp in shock.
"Yeah." He huffs as he pulls me up.
I weakly try to help shift my weight but judging by the amount of ease he moves me with he doesn't need my help.
I stagger to my feet, gripping onto him for dear life feeling like my legs will give way if I don't.
"I thought you were dead." He exclaims sadly.
"I thought you were smaller." Is all I can think to mutter in my shock.
As Steve looks around the room one last time I look him up and down completely bewildered. Blinking to try and clear my eyes.
Is this even real? How did this happen? Is all I can think.
Suddenly Steve starts to drag me out of the room and as much as I try to hold myself off of him my feet won't cooperate.
"What happened to you?" I finally manage to ask.
"I joined the army." He states simply as if it's no big deal.
Right, cos that's exactly the opposite of what I told you to do Steven, typical.
As we make our way down the dark brick hallway my mind starts to clear now that I'm out of that awful musty little room.
"Seriously though, what happened?" I press with a grunt. "Cos this is not normal."
"Well on the night you left I met this man who joined me up to the army and while we were training he picked me for an experiment to test this serum that gives me all kinds of enhancements; strength, speed, durability. And um, well I guess you could say it worked." He explained.
"Yeah, judging by your size." I remark with a scoff still cling onto him for support because my whole body feels like jelly. "What did the serum look like?"
"Blue." He shrugs.
I take this in, trying to remember what the serum was that they put into me. I'm sure I remember a blue one, but it could've been anything I suppose.
Finally I start to get feeling back in my legs so I let go of my grip around Steve's neck and stumble after him. For once, I am the one struggling to keep up with his quick pace.
"Did it hurt?" I ask gruffly, continuing my questions.
"A little." He says sarcastically.
"Is it permanent?" I grunt.
"So far." He shrugs.
Oh my god. I wonder. That could be what they were using on me. They seemed desperate to find the right concoction and of course if the enemy has an advantage they would want to match it.
But I quickly push the idea that I could have the same stuff inside me as Steve aside because, well all you have to do is look at him, meanwhile I've lost weight and gotten weaker from being in this hell hole. Plus, it's a good thing that way because it means that the Nazi's still don't have the formula.
"Wow, so your basically a super hero now huh?" I point out eventually. "My best friends a super hero."
"Ah, I don't really think so Buck." He shrugs modestly.
"Well then what are you?" I counter.
"Captain America." He turns to me with a cheeky grin and flashes the shield he was holding to show me the stars and stripes covering it.
One part of me feels so happy for Steve that he's finally going to get to live a normal life, well maybe not normal but a good, healthy, happy life. But somewhere else in the pit of my stomach I feel empty. It's so weird, he doesn't need my help or care anymore. What am I going to do?
"Where are we going?" I huff after a while, fatigue taking over my weak body.
"There's gotta be a way outta here somewhere." Steve mutters to himself.
We burst through some doors into a room that looks like its from a different world. The heat is intense, pieces of debris are flying everywhere and explosions are going off left right and centre.
Steve spots a stairway and grabs my arm to get my attention and we make our way over to it climbing up and up out of the way of the flames.
I have to use the railing for support partly to stop me from falling over from the dizziness brought on from this sudden burst of activity in my poor state and partly so that I can actually physically make it up, it takes all of my strength.
But the adrenaline of seeing my best friend again and wanting to make sure he gets out safely drives me on. If it was just me, in all honesty I probably would have just laid down right there.
We get to a level that appears to have an exit but as we run along it, or in my case trip and stumble the whole way, we come across Zola and Yohan Schmidt who I think I might've seen briefly.
Terror envelopes me and my blood runs cold at the sight of the men who caused this turmoil.
We come to a halt and I gladly take this as an opportunity to catch my breath which is coming in short, raspy gasps. I practically hang myself over the rail and watch helplessly as Steve advances towards the two of them knowing full well that there is no way I will be able to convince him to stop. He was bad enough when he was puny let alone now.
While Zola stays back and watches in dismay much like me Schmidt steps forward to Steve as well.
Although I can't hear their conversation over the loud explosions rattling the whole building it looks very aggressive. And when Steve punches the man in the jaw so hard that he stumbles backwards and appears to have an eye injury while Steve seems unphased, it hits me just how much Steve doesn't need my help anymore and I'm taken aback by his new abilities. But soon realise from his counter attack that Schmidt has them too.
Zola flicks a switch which moves the floor to separate the two of them, thank god. But suddenly the strangest, most disgusting thing I've ever seen happens.
Schmidt peels off the skin of his face, revealing a scarlet red, thin monster type looking face in its place.
"You don't have one of those do you?" I mumble in horror to Steve as he ends up back next to me, praying that he doesn't.
As we search around desperately for another place to exit knowing that we are running out of time, we both spot a door right up the top. Great, more stairs.
We run back over and I push Steve up the stairs ahead of me. It's now much more important for humanity that Steve is safe then I am, not that it ever wasn't that way in my eyes.
There is a thin beam that we have to walk across to get to the door and before I can stop him, Steve is pushing me onto it first. I haven't had time to recover from the second lot of stairs, let alone the first and my head is spinning. But realising that Steve wouldnt take otherwise and there is no time to argue I suck in a deep, nervous breath and slowly, but at the same time as quickly as possible make my way across the beam not daring to look down.
I balance myself with my arms as I teiter along but suddenly there is a loud creak and groan, the beam shifts a bit and I gasp as I nearly loose my footing and fall. I know the beam is going to go.
I don't know how I do it but I muster all of my energy and sprint to the end, leaping onto the railing of the other side just in time. By the time I drag myself over the railing onto the safety of the platform the beam has disappeared into the fire.
My heart sinks and my eyes flutter up to Steve all the way on the other side desperately. His mouth is hanging open in a mixture of confusion, shock and worry.
"There's gotta be a rope or something!" I cry out desperately, wracking my brain which at the moment is useless, for options.
"Just go! Get out of here!" He shouts at me with a wave of dismissal.
"No! Not without you!" I scream back as I cling onto the rail for dear life.
There is no way I am leaving him behind when I just got him back. If he dies now, so do I.
'Till the end of the line.'
He looks around half heartedly but desperately all at once. We both know there is nothing. Until suddenly he starts to bend the metal railing, with ease, so that there is a clear gateway for him to, what? Run and jump through?
My life practically flashes before my eyes.
No way. Steve, don't do it. It's too far. I think to myself in dread.
But in saying that what other options do we have?
He backs up to the other side to get maximum build up and after a few seconds of rarking himself up for the daring, insane jump he goes for it.
All I can do is watch and hope and pray that he makes it in terror. But then all of my hopes are shattered when a massive explosion shoots up right in the middle of his projectile path, cutting off my view of him. My heart sinks he's probably been burnt to death by that already.
"No!" I yell out.
"Ahhhh!" I suddenly hear an aggressive shout just as miraculously, Steve comes flying through the flames and manages to grab hold of the railing and dangle there.
Without hesitation I help haul him up over the bars but then I collapse down onto the ground, completely exhausted.
"Bucky." Steve gasps and grabs my hand helping me up.
"Steve." I croak weakly. "You made it, you're okay."
He pulls me into a tight hug and I clumsily wrap my arms around him leaning on him for necessary support again as he claps me gently on the back.
"We made it out alive Buck, we're gonna be okay." He huffs.
After a few more seconds we break apart and stumble over to the free door. The building must be under ground because when we barge through the doors we are outside on a grass field, right in amonsgt all of the mahem.