Sam groaned, his entire body shaking with the effort of trying to get back on his feet.
He looked up just in time to see Walker throw the vibranium shield right towards the ex-assassin, hitting him right in the chest.
The only reason Bucky’s ribs weren’t crushed was his enhanced bone density.
C’mon, man. He needs my help.
So Sam pushed himself up.
“Why are you making me do this?” Walker growled, like a madman, pinning Bucky against the forklift. His voice took a feral, maddened tone. “ Why are you making me do this ?”
With that, Walker spun around and effortlessly threw his opponent across the room so hard that Bucky cut down an electric tower.
Sam saw the way his face twisted in pain, saw the blue lightning travel through his body and linger in his metal arm, the current making his fingers twitch and shake like a leaf in the wind.
Not good.
Growling, Sam threw himself towards Walker, the maddened captain easily throwing him to the ground and nearly splitting his skull.
Sam tried to trip the man up by opening his wings and slashing blindly forward, taking up more distance.
“This isn’t you, John”, Sam tried to reason with him once again, holding onto hope that maybe, just maybe this fight wouldn’t have to be finished.
Sam threw a side-eyed glance towards Bucky.
He wasn’t moving.
“We could’ve been a team”, Walker breathed, and Sam finally noticed the glint of crazy in his eye.
Grunting, Sam opened his wings again. There was no backing out from this one.
And he didn’t want to.
He needed to get that shield away from Walker. Frowning, he aimed a cable that stuck itself tightly around the shield’s edge. Sam pulled, rising higher, but Walker wasn’t letting go.
The captain stuck his feet against the forklift, and he wasn’t moving an inch.
Sam grit his teeth, knowing exactly where this would lead. Walker pulled on the cable, effectively pulling the Falcon out of the sky.
Sam clearly remembered Bucky using that exact same technique on him back when he’d still been the Winter Soldier.
The shield fell to the ground with a clank.
Pushing his body to move, he surged towards it.
So did Walker - he rammed his body to Sam’s side, crushing the air out of his lungs. As he tried to propel himself towards the sky, Walker grabbed him and flipped him over, the impact making Sam’s back whine and beg for mercy.
Walker was on top of him now. Sam bared his teeth, trying to stop the super soldier’s hands from doing any more damage, but Walker was just way too strong.
The man threw the helmet aside, his blue eyes wide and insane.
“I”, he began with a growl “Am”, Sam felt the iron grip around his windpipe, “Captain America.”
No, you’re not, and you never were.
Screaming with effort, Walker ripped the wings out of Sam’s back.
He heard the circuits sizzle as they were broken.
Walker was bringing the shield up, and this time he was aiming for the kill.
Is… this it?
It might have been, were it not for Bucky slamming into Walker's side, freeing Sam from his grip.
Oh, thank God, Sam thought.
Bucky wrapped his arms tightly around Walker’s waist, ignoring the hits he was taking to his back and the head from the vibranium shield, dragging the captain in his grasp.
What the-
“No!” Sam heard himself yell the minute he saw what Bucky was planning.
The thick, broken wires, still spewing sparks and lightning and brimming with electricity, lay on the floor next to the collapsed tower.
“Don’t, Bucky !”
They fell right on top of it. Sam watched in horror as the shield dropped to the floor and rolled away from them. Bucky collapsed to the ground, his metal arm whirring, leading more and more current through his body. Some of the circuits must’ve gotten toasted, Sam was sure, based on the surge of sparks and the crack of lightning.
Walker was on his knees, his back arching as electricity took control of his body, making him jerk uncontrollably.
Sam heard him scream with agony, unable to move away from the continuous current.
And then he fell down, and the warehouse went quiet.
Walker was out cold.
But so was Bucky. His back protesting violently, Sam grit his teeth and forced himself to crawl forwards.
“Hey”, he coughed, reaching his friend’s curled up form. "Hey, hey."
Sam’s fingers wrapped around the leather jacket, shaking Bucky lightly.
“C’mon, get up, man.”
Nothing. Not a single twitch of an eye, no nothing.
Sam glanced worriedly at Walker, but he seemed to be of no danger. Not for a while at least.
“Bucky, get up”, he shook the man’s shoulder. “Buck.”
No reaction.
Sam’s blood ran cold, and suddenly he became hyper-aware of how still the super soldier actually was.
Is he- is he breathing?
Sam’s hands shook as he brought them up to Bucky’s neck, frantically searching for a pulse.
Oh, come on. Come on, come on-
Shit. Shitshitshit.
Sam bit his lip, his blood rushing in his ears as he opened Bucky's leather jacket zipper. With effort, he pried himself up on his feet and began dragging his limp form further away.
“Come on, you old bastard”, Sam breathed as he positioned himself, hands lined up right in the middle of the fallen soldier’s chest. “Don’t do me like this.”
Bucky looked like he was sleeping, his face completely expressionless, lips parted ever so slightly.
One, two, three.
Sam’s elbows and shoulders screamed with agony.
Four, five, six.
Come on, you dumb fossil , Sam begged him. Wake up.
Whenever his pace was about to fall from sheer exhaustion, he drove himself forwards with more determination.
“Wake up!” Sam finally screamed out, as his body could barely hold him up anymore.
He gave it one final push, before collapsing.
Then there was a cough. Then another. Sam’s eyes widened as he lay on the floor, watching Bucky’s chest starting to rise and fall with the force of the rattling cough.
I did it.
Head pounding, Sam shut his eyes for just a second. He’d done it.
Groaning, he reached for his back pocket.
The phone was still intact, thank God.
The emergency dispatcher answered in Latvian, but switched into fluent English after Sam requested an ambulance.
He also messaged Torres about their situation, eyeing at Bucky who seemed only half-conscious.
“ We have an ambulance on the way, sir”, came the response.
Sniffing, he got on his knees and grabbed the shield that lay discarded on the floor.
He wasn’t letting it out of his sight.
Sam glanced at Walker with a frown - that thing had some voltage, for sure. To knock out a super soldier clean out like that…
And Bucky had taken the hit not once, but twice.
“You’re crazy, you know that”, Sam breathed out to his now clearly unconscious friend. “Out of your goddamn mind.”
The first thing Bucky noticed was the light. It was way too bright.
The second thing was the complete and total lack of smell.
And third, the beeping.
It didn’t take long for him to put two and two together and figure out he had to be in a hospital.
“The hell?” he mumbled groggily, trying to force his eyes open.
It seemed like an impossible task. He heard someone shift on the chair next to him.
“Morning, sunshine”, Sam’s voice sounded icy cold. “Sleep well?”
“Am I in a hospital?” Bucky groaned, pushing himself to a sitting position and squinting at all the lights. “I hate hospitals.”
“Tough shit”, Sam leaned forwards, his expression hard as a rock.
Bucky looked back at him, reserved, unsure what he’d done to earn such anger.
Because Sam was angry. Livid. Seething, even. Bucky could see it in his eyes.
“You wanna tell me what the hell that was about?” Sam finally blurted out.
Bucky frowned, getting defensive. “What?”
“You killing yourself just to get Walker to give up the shield.”
He raised a brow. “I didn’t die.”
Sam’s fists were balled as he seemingly struggled to keep his voice calm.
He couldn’t - the words came out in the form of a straight-up yell. “Yeah, you did, asshole! I had to revive you. And I damn near failed. I mean, I thought that you- you..."
Oh.
Bucky swallowed, blinking rapidly. He hadn’t thought that would happen.
He also hadn’t cared.
“Sorry”, he then mumbled. “He was gonna kill you. I had to do something.”
Sam bit his lower lip, running a hand across his tired face. “Bucky. Do not ever do that shit to me ever again. You understand?”
Bucky didn’t even try to hide the fact that his words hurt. “Well, excuse me, for trying to do something useful with my overextended life. ”
That hit the spot. Sam winced back, snapping his mouth shut.
Bucky shut his eyes, trying to calm his racing heart.
“Look”, Sam finally said. “You need to have some regard for your own wellbeing.”
“I did what I had to do”, the soldier murmured back, refusing to open his eyes.
“How would you feel if I did that shit?” Sam challenged. “Wouldn’t you be mad at me?”
“That’s different.”
“No, it’s not ”, Bucky heard the strain in his voice. “Look at me.”
Inhaling deep, he opened his eyes and turned his head towards Sam.
The man was seemingly struggling with himself. “That man is not worth giving your life for, Bucky”, he finally said. “Not worth it.”
“I know”, Bucky shot back. “But you are.”
“I know. But you are.”
Sam’s breath got stuck in his throat, and he studied the steadfast look in Bucky’s steel-blue eyes.
Goddammit. God fucking damnit.
And that’s when Sam finally understood what Steve had seen in this man. Why he’d remained so loyal to him even when he was a murderous assassin, why he’d been so obsessed with saving the Winter Soldier.
I’m not sure if he’s the kind of man you save , Sam remembered telling him. He’s the kind you stop.
He also remembered what Steve had replied.
I’m not sure I can do that.
Sam took in a deep breath.
I get it now, Steve.
“You’re welcome”, Bucky narrowed his eyes at him, unaware of Sam’s internal monologue.
“Screw you”, he shot back, but there was no real malice in his voice.
Sam glared at Bucky for a few more seconds. “Thanks”, he then mumbled.
The super soldier said nothing, inspecting the vibranium arm that lay still on his side.
“I can’t move it”, he stated quietly.
“Yeah, you got fried”, Sam stated, looking at his feet. “You want me to take a look?”
Bucky looked suspicious. “You got some secret engineering skills I don’t know about?”
Sam crossed his arms. “As a matter of fact, I do. I always fix Redwing myself.”
The soldier eyed him for a while, before finally removing the arm, leaving a gaping socket on his shoulder.
Sam grabbed the heavy prosthetic, running his fingers across the masterful Wakandan craftsmanship.
“All right”, he sniffled. “I’ll have Torres bring in some tools. We’ll get it up and running.”
Bucky smiled, and this one reached all the way up to his eyes.
“Thanks.”
“I got you”, Sam shook his head. “Crazy bastard. I got you.”