There is no Captain America without Bucky Barnes. (Steve Rogers is another question entirely.) Otherwise known as my winter soldier feels bleeding everywhere.
Fic a day 9
i. this is a world without Bucky Barnes-
Steve Rogers dies when he's ten of smallpox or polio or measles, one of those diseases they'll wipe out in the next twenty years, not that any version of Steve Rogers gets to see it actually happen. In this world there's nobody to watch him when his mother has to go to work because otherwise they won't make the rent this month and three times in a row will get them kicked out. Steve's always sick, Sarah Rogers reasons and he's always been fine, so she leaves him with medicine and soup on the stove.
He drowns in his lungs because there's no one there to help him sit up.
ii. this is a world without Bucky Barnes-
Steve Rogers dies when he's eighteen, freezing to death in a New York winter because he lost his apartment after his mother died. In this world Bucky doesn't show up with more than half the rent and a black eye that they will never ever talk about, but Steve knows came from Bucky's da. In this world they don't put the couch cushions on the floor like they did when they were kids on the first night after Bucky moves in.
Steve Rogers loses his apartment because he's been too sick to work. He freezes to death which is a less painful way to go then the pneumonia that's settled into his lungs.
iii. this is a world without Bucky Barnes-
Steve Rogers dies when he's seventeen under the fists of men who were harassing a lady outside of her home, drunkenly catcalling. He's got a heart that's too big for his chest and an impeccable sense of justice and he never learned to leave well enough alone. "Hey!" He shouts. "leave the lady alone." And wades into another fray. In another world he's got a friend to back him up and they come home with black eyes and spilt lips but no permanent damage. In this world he lands a couple good hits before he goes down and they kick him while he's down.
They keep kicking until he's a bloody mess and they realize what they done. They run then and leave the boys body in the street.
iv. this is a world without Bucky Barnes-
Steve Rogers dies when he's twenty-six and the Red Skull's bombs drop on New York because somewhere down the line his fear of bruises and fights became greater than his fear of stopping. Steve has always believed that his beliefs are worth dying for, but he is tired and sick and small and nothing he has done has changed anything.
Dr. Erskine's good man is nowhere to be found.
v. this is a world without Bucky Barnes-
Steve Rogers is the Doctor's good man but he never finds a reason to fight. The 106th goes down behind enemy lines and Captain America packs his bags for the next stop on his tour. He's a propaganda symbol not a soldier and he burns with resentment for that. They lose New York and the rest of the US not long after.
Steve Rogers, not Captain America, leads the resistance.