Steve ran forwards and began to fight with Bucky. I was torn, but after a moment chose my mission; protect Steve.
Steve was deflecting hits and landing ones to knock Bucky away. I ran forwards and grabbed the back of his vest in my jaws. I saw Steve typing in a code as Bucky tore himself out of my grip, using his metal arm to clout the side of my head. I flew back, colliding with the railing and shaking my head a moment to clear it.
"Bucky please! You can fight through it, I know you can!" I chuffed as loud as I could before grabbing his right arm, careful to not break it as I yanked him away from Steve. His left came around and grabbed my ear painfully, pulling me off forcibly before tackling Steve off the platform.
I saw the card fall down and jumped down, grabbing it in my jaws as I leaned my head down. Metal collided with my head and my mouth opened, the card falling out as I fell. I felt myself slide across the metal and fall down. My body hit the glass with a thud.
Looking up, Steve and Bucky fell down towards me and I scrambled out of the way. I saw the blue chip in Bucky's right hand as Steve put him in a headlock, his arm twisted to the side. "Drop it!"
I struggled to move as my paws slipped on the glass surface, freezing as a crack and Bucky's agonizing scream hit my ears. My head snapped up to see the two wrestling before Steve was on the floor, attempting to knock Bucky unconscious. His metal arm was pinned below Steve's leg and I saw right arm go limp, the card falling on the glass.
I watched as Steve began to climb back up, the card in his hand. He was at the lowest platform when I heard a gunshot. He fell down, holding the back of his thigh as I scrambled to Bucky. My paws bunched beneath me as I jumped on him, my teeth clamping shut on the gun and yanking it out of his hand. We wrestled for a moment before his metal arm closed on my throat, throwing me away from him.
I hit the floor, dazed, and tried to get up.
*bang*
I froze as another gunshot sounded, followed by something hitting the ground above me, and the scent of blood.
'Steve...' My head lifted and saw Steve struggling to lift himself up with the card in hand. I watched as he put it in with a click and collapsed down, his breathing audible as I stared in horror. A whimper left my throat. "No. No, no, no, no, no! Steve! Please be alright..."
He began to talk, but the only words I understood was his last ones, "Do it now!"
I felt the helicarrier begin to shake and beams began to fall, one of them landing on me. The glass cracked beneath me as the metal pinned me down. A scream hit my ears and I lifted my head to see Bucky stuck under a piece of metal. I saw Steve jump down and land near me. He began to head for me, but I quickly growled an objection and gestured hurriedly with my muzzle towards Bucky.
I watched helplessly as Steve lifted the beam off Bucky, the blood around his midsection plainly obvious to both my nose and eyes. They both stood up and looked at each other, panting from the exertion as the helicarrier continued to fall apart around us. Steve looked at me before looking back and taking a deep breath, his voice filled with hope. "You know me."
A look of pain went over Bucky's face and he retaliated with a punch from his metal arm. "No, I don't!"
"Bucky, you've known me your whole life." Steve doesn't even move to fight back as Buck punched him again and a whine escaped my throat when the metal shifted, both from the discomfort and Steve choice to not fight for once. "You've known us your whole life..." He pauses before continuing to push, "Your name is James Buchanan Barnes."
"Shut up!" I could hear the pain and anger in his voice as Bucky punched him again. The words were working, but it was undountably painful due to the electrocution methods and brainwashing.
Steve dropped his helmet before standing as tall as he could with his injuries. "I'm not going to fight you." I watch with wide eyes as he drops his shield off the helicarrier through a gap in the glass and metal. "You're my friend."
Bucky ran forward with a yell and tackled Steve to the floor before raising his metal fist. "You're my mission."
I heard a creak of metal and a crack right before the glass gave way beneath the combined weight of the metal beam and me. My body plunged into open air with an involuntary cry of surprise and shock.
Nothing...
I was falling...
Through the empty space towards the water as memories of when Bucky fell in 1945 flashed in my mind. 'This must be how he felt...'
The cold water shocked me as my legs froze, refusing to move. I looked towards the surface and finally kicked out, swimming upwards towards the surface. My head broke the surface and I looked around. My eyes locked onto the bank that lay a little ways away.
I felt my paws brush against the ground and crawled up onto the bank, my fur soaked and dripping while it clung to my thin yet muscular frame. Slightly panting, I lifted my head to look around. The helicarriers were falling into the water.
I heard soft splashing and looked to my left side. There they were... Bucky was dragging a limp Steve with his metal arm out of the water, a worried and broken expression on his face. I walked briskly over as Steve was laid down on the bank, his heartbeat reaching my ears as I got closer; weak but steady and present. My paws carried me close to the pair as I sniffed Steve carefully, letting out a sigh of relief as water trickled out of his mouth and be took breaths.
*I would recommend listening to the song at the beginning now since it will pretty much describe Mallow's unbreakable bond with Bucky perfectly*
I lifted my head as Bucky began to turn, walking away. He was getting further and further away with every step, so I took one last sniff of Steve before beginning to walk after him. We were out of sight when he stopped and looked over his shoulder, a broken and wary expression on his face as he turned around. My head was down as I looked up at him, my ears angled forwards and my tail limp. "Mallow?"
'He remembers!' My eyes lit up with hope and a soft chuff answered him. I moved a tiny bit closer, slowly making my way over. I wasn't wary of him, rather I was wary of scaring him or overstepping a boundary. "Bucky?" A hopeful whine came from my throat.
He reached out hesitantly and a bit painfully with his right hand, palm down and fingers gently outstretched. I saw a scared yet hopeful look in his eyes as he looked at me.
I didn't hesitate.
Tilting my head so my muzzle was pointed to the ground, I gently pushed into his hand, brushing my forehead against his palm. I began to nuzzle his hand, a growl rumbling from my throat with the croon taking over the entire sound. My tail began to wag happily as he gently began to rub between my ears "I missed you... so much!"
We stood there for a few minutes before Bucky pulled his hand away, taking the time to actually look at me. A soft laugh came from him as he looked me in the eyes, gently beginning to caress my ears again with his right hand, "You've grown."
It was true. I used to be 3'4" tall in 1945, now I towered at 5'8" at the back of my neck where it met my shoulders (if I raised my head high I would be 6'2", but normally it is 6') and was about 8' long from my nose to the base of my tail.
I noticed he was avoiding touching me with his left hand, so I gently moved to nuzzle it. He was hesitant at first, but eventually relaxed a bit at my touch. My eyes shone with acceptance and joy as it settled in that Bucky was alive. Yes, he was a different person, but I didn't care. We had both grown and changed in 70 years... and that was okay.
Something clicked in my mind and images of my pups flashed to the front of my mind. I gently pulled away and stretched my wet limbs before shaking out my pelt, causing water to spray Bucky as he gave a tiny laugh and shook his head. I looked out over the water and lifted my nose upwards, sniffing the air.
I began to walk a little bit away before looking back at Bucky, an amused and questioning look on my face. "You coming?"