Bucky was pissed. They had just piled into the stupid jeep that John and his entourage had brought.
The redhead and her group had just totally, completely, and without any doubt, kicked their collective asses.
And then gotten away.
Then, Bucky was piled in with the Steve Impersonator and his sidekick. The very same person, who, not so long ago had stood before America and called Steve, Bucky’s Steve, his brother.
So yeah, Bucky was pissed. But he was also proud of himself for not killing the Steve Imposter yet. As soon as he had this thought however, Blondie opened his mouth.
“Ya’know Bucky, I really would love to get to know you better, after all, you were like Steve’s brother, and since Steve was like my brother, I guess that makes us like brothers too-“
“Don’t you dare,” Bucky cut him off. “Don’t you fucking dare say he was like your brother. You didn’t know him. You didn’t talk to him, you. Didn’t. Know him.
“So don’t you dare, actually, don’t even think about pretending to know the first thing about him. All you know is what everyone else knows. All the things you know about him, can be read in a museum.
“You didn’t spend your entire childhood saving him from bullies in the back alley le of New York, you didn’t have family dinners with him on Sundays after church. You didn’t save him from getting killed when his dumb ass decided to punch the guy who was twice his size when he called you two fags.
“And you most certainly didn’t sit by his bed most days out of the year praying that you would hear his rattling, weak, shallow breath just one more time because that meant that he was still alive.
“You didn’t pickpocket wealthy businessmen to get the money to go to Coney Island with him. You didn’t know his mother, you didn’t stop by the jail every single day just to make sure that he hadn’t been arrested or murderd. You didn’t do any of that, you didn’t see the war, you didn’t laugh with the Commandos. You. Didn’t. Do. Any of that.
“So don’t you dare, don’t you fucking dare, say you knew him, or that he was your brother, because he wasn’t. He was mine, he was my brother, and I did all of that and more with him.
“When I escaped HYDRA, my first thought was of him. He and I were the only ones in the whole fucking world who knew each other, and could understand the pain and grief that seventy years of nothing did. Of coming out of one nightmare into another of a new world.
“He was mine, and now he’s gone, but I’m not. So I’m not going to let you tarnish his memory and disrespect him by calling him your brother.”
With that, Bucky got up, and jumped out of the still moving jeep, leaving the others shocked at his outburst. Vaguely, he could hear Sam also yelling at the Not Steve, but Bucky was too caught up in his memories, and too focused on not letting the tears fall just yet to notice.