Disclaimer: I don't own Avengers or any of its characters.
Title: Age Before Beauty
Rating: T
Characters [in this chapter]: Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes, the Howling Commandos and Howard Stark
Summary: Steve was younger than he had claimed and now they had to deal with the consequences of a sixteen-year-old soldier on and off the battlefield.
Warnings [for this chapter]: Disturbing imagery and underage triggers
Author's Notes: I also liked the idea that Steve was actually a lot younger than what he claimed, making him essentially a minor fighting in World War II, which has some truth to it since there were reports of many young boys lying about their age to go into the army during World War I and II. Not to mention, this was just an excuse to write Overprotective!Team over their young leader. I did some research and I have found there are certain medications that are different between teenagers and adults, though there isn't that many.
Age Before Beauty
Bucky Barnes could have sworn that he lost ten years off his life from the night he saw Steve Rogers being buried alive underneath the broken rubble of a church, caused by one of the HYDRA missiles. He was still screaming for Steve even as he watched Falsworth and Dugan carry his best friend into the medical tent where Howard was preparing to treat him. Morita and Jones held on to either side of him, saying he was in good hands.
But as he watched in the distance of the small figures of Howard snapping orders to the rushing nurses, the huge numbers and medications that somehow rang above the rest of the panicky frenzy and into the night air caused his heart to jump to his throat.
" You don't know what you're doing!" Bucky suddenly cried out, nearly dragging the surprised Morita and Jones with him to the entrance of the medical tent where one nurse tried to turn them away. He ignored all of them, raising his voice to Howard who was treating Steve. " You can't do that! Steve is – "
" I have already taken the serum's abilities, as well as Rogers' weight and age, into mind," Howard managed to answer him, frightfully emotionless and almost inhumanely above the mingled voices and general chaos of a medical tent. He didn't even turn around to face Bucky as he prepared to inject the medication.
But Stark hadn't considered Steve's age. If he was to give that much to Steve ...
With a desperate wheeze, Bucky shook himself free from Morita and Jones and bodily flung himself at Howard. To his credit, Howard jumped back in alarm, the needle filled with medication dangling precociously in his hand.
Howard and Dugan swore simultaneously. The nurses stood there, dumbstruck. Falsworth beat them all by grabbing Bucky by the shoulders and might have throttled him if he wasn't too busy cursing. " Have you lost your mind, Barnes?! He will die!" he bellowed over Steve's choked gasps.
But Steve would die if Howard unknowingly injected that much medication in his body, serum or no serum. He would rather have Steve hate him for the rest of his life for telling his secret than to let him waste away on this table in this godforsaken land.
" You can't give him that much. He's – he's only sixteen," Bucky croaked out.
The only thing heard was the semi-conscious Steve struggling to breathe. Finally Howard spoke.
" I'll ... make sure to lower the dose," he said. This time, there was a slight tremble in his voice.