Not Just an Asset
Sam isn’t sure what he expected. He was crossing his fingers he didn’t find Captain America dead somewhere. No one had heard anything from the captain in over an hour. Not since he had ordered Commander Hill to fire at the helicarrier before he was off of it. Sam had guessed the Winter Soldier had met up with Steve on the carrier. He hoped Cap had been strong enough to fight him off. He meant what he said before: saving the Winter Soldier might not be an option.
He couldn’t imagine having to fight Riley. It was one thing having your best friend ripped away from you, but it’s another if you’re the one tearing them apart. Steve hadn’t been able to function at all the when they came face to face with the Soldier earlier. Though if Sam had any chance of finding Steve, he also may have the misfortune of finding the Winter Soldier— dead or alive. He knew both men could survive falls from outrageous heights. If they couldn’t none of them would be in this mess. Either way he made his way around the river bank, hoping for any sign of his friend.
It was the Winter Soldier he spotted first. He sat at the edge of the river, wet hair dripping onto the sand. Had he fallen in the river? Had Steve? Sam approached the soldier slowly, not wanting to bring on the wrath of Hydra’s asset.
The soldier looked up quickly to the sound of Sam stepping on a stick. He didn’t react after that though. He stayed seated and looked at Sam. There was no anger in his eyes— no fear. Not much emotion at all to be honest. The man soon turned his attention away from Sam. It wasn’t until Sam got closer that he noticed what the Winter Soldier looking at.
Captain America lay unconscious in his old friend’s lap, his head slightly propped up in the crook of the metal elbow.
“He’s alive,” the Winter Soldier spoke softly, still looking at the man he held before turning his attention to Sam, “Got the water out of his lungs, stopped the bleeding as much as possible.”
Sam stopped walking. He wasn’t afraid of the man in front of him. Just confused. Nothing had prepared him for this. He took a breath before speaking. “So I assume you’re Bucky.”
The Winter Soldier thought for a second before answering, “Yes,” with a nod.
“How did you know to do all this?” Sam asked.
“I don’t know,” Bucky replied, “I just knew what had to be done. Went through the motions.”
“Muscle memory,” Sam added.
“Yeah,” Bucky agreed, “Some things don’t change.”
“So how much do you actually remember?”
“Don’t know,” Bucky shook his head, “I remember him though.”
“So what snapped you out of it?” Sam asked, “Why aren’t you going all Winter Soldier on my ass?”
“Winter Soldier. Is that what they called me?” Bucky asked. Sam replied with a nod.
“I was only ‘the asset’ to Hydra. But he snapped me out of it, brought me back to reality,” Bucky leaned down and pressed his cheek tenderly against Cap’s forehead.
“And you did this before you remembered him?” Sam asked, motioning to the bloody and bruised mess on the right side of Steve’s face.
“Yeah,” Bucky agreed, “Punched him with my left hand. Surprised he didn’t suffer any facial fractures. It wouldn’t have been the first time. But probably not the last— knowing him. I also shot him a few times. I got most of the bleeding to stop but the bullets are still in him.”
This time Bucky pressed his lips to the Captain’s forehead, such a loving and gentle gesture Sam wondered if this really was the trained assassin Nat had told them about.
Bucky’s gaze traveled back to Sam, “Are you gonna take him away from me?”
“No,” Sam stated. And he meant it. He didn’t say it because he was afraid of angering this dangerous super soldier, but because he was afraid of breaking his heart; the hearts of both the men in front of him.
“Good,” Bucky nodded, breathing out a small sigh. He looked back to Steve, touching his cheek with his thumb and gently smiling.
“We are gonna have to take him to the hospital, though,” Sam declared, “Don’t worry, we won’t separate you two.”
“We?” Bucky asked nervously, hugging Steve close to him.
“There are others,” Sam explained, “Natasha’s here. So are Hill and Fury. I expect others to come soon. His friends, the Avengers, are probably being called in order to deal with the collapse of SHIELD anyway. They won’t bother you though; as long as you stay Bucky and the Winter Soldier doesn’t appear.”
“Just me,” Bucky agreed.
“Then let’s go,” Sam invited, “they’re probably waiting for us. For him.”
Bucky struggled to get up while still holding Steve. Sam held out his arms to catch Cap just in case, but Bucky had it all handled. Though Sam didn’t miss Bucky wince a little as he swung Steve’s legs up into his right arm.
“Are you okay?” Sam asked. He wasn’t asking for the sake of the soldier, he justified, if Bucky wasn’t okay he could drop Steve.
“I think he broke my arm,” Bucky admitted.
“We should probably get you checked out at the hospital too,” Sam said.
“No!” Bucky blurted out. Sam prepared to attack the Winter Soldier if necessary.
Bucky took a deep breath and confessed quietly, “I don’t like people touching me. Especially my arm.”
“It’s fine,” Sam comforted, “Let’s just focus on Steve now.”
Bucky nodded, and he started to follow Sam away from the river.
“One more thing. Steve dropped his shield. When he was fighting me. It fell into the water. Can you get someone to look for it?” Bucky asked hopefully.
“Sure,” he replied. He started smiling a second later, “He dropped it?”
“Yeah,” Bucky nodded with a small grin of his own, “The punk dropped it."