'Steve alwaysgets back up, he'll get back up in a second, I know he will-'
No.
This fucking red and gold motherfucker just crossed a line.
Steve hit the ground harder than Bucky had expected, and Bucky was fucking pissed at this man in a suit of armor, triumphing and howling over his victory. Bucky decided whether or not to tear this man apart- and he decided.
He ran as fast as he could, grabbing Steve's discarded shield, slamming into the man as he talked to himself, it seemed. He swung his metal arm before he had the chance to do anything and bashed at the metal helmet. A surprised yell came, and he turned, shooting at Bucky with a strange beam of light that he knew had to be dangerous, so he hid behind the shield. It made a strange sound as it hit the shield, but Bucky was safe. He bashed the shield upwards and hit the man, knocking off his helmet. The face he saw was surprised and- a bit scared.
He jumped out at him and dug his metal fingers into the top of his shoulder, ripping off part of the armor as the man shouted in pain. A searing heat hit his shoulder, but only a sliver and he howled and pulled out a knife, slashing out and hitting the man in the cheek. He desperately tried to hit the shining circle in the center of his chest, but only managed to cut at his chest and hit part of his arm. The man was swinging at him, trying to fly away but Bucky dropped the knife and dug his heels into the ground as his metal, strong fingers curled around the man's neck and tightened relentlessly. The man gagged and gasped for air and tried to tear the hand off him, but his grip was too tight. Black was gathering around the man's vision, he began to fall limp-
Bucky was suddenly torn off him, with an angry yell Bucky thrashed in the grip of something bigger than him. The stronger arms were gentle, though, but they tightened slightly and Bucky fell limp, dropping the shield and letting it fall meaninglessly to the ground. The man fell to the ground, gasping for air and rubbing the now faint red marks around his neck. Bucky looked around frantically for Steve's body and saw him getting picked up by an unfamiliar man. "Don't touch him!" Bucky thrashed again, but stronger, trying to reach out to Steve as if he could touch him- and the man suddenly dropped Bucky as he struggled relentlessly. Bucky regained himself quickly, running as fast as he could and knocking the man off of Steve, he took it upon himself to literally throw himself over Steve, protecting a lifeless body. His vision blurred and he didn't realize tears were dripping down his face; he wrapped his arms around his friend and tried to transfer warmth into the body, which was slowly getting colder and colder.
"No, no, I just got you back, I can't lose you, I can't-" His voice was shattered. Absolutely broken as he whimpered out words he couldn't understand anymore. The man who was trying to pick Steve up reached out and tried to get Bucky off of him and a strong fist connecting to his wrist was all he received. He held Steve with such strength, but such gentleness at the same time. His strength had gone into tensing so he could keep hold, but there was such an amount of gentleness in each touch he gave him. He was whimpering out unintelligible words until it hurt to even utter a noise. Pain was wrecking him but it didn't matter.
He thought back before everything, before Steve ever was strong where he'd care for him and protect him, clean up any wounds he'd had and he tried to clean up and rub the drying blood off his face, gritting his teeth and willing himself not to sob when he felt how cold he was.
Meanwhile the group surrounding him of strong warriors who regretted letting them fight were silent. They didn't try to yank Bucky off him, they didn't do anything. They weren't even geared up and nobody was even glancing at Tony. They were paying their silent respects, mourning with Bucky. Clint rubbed his wrist where Bucky had hit him.
Natasha stepped up to Bucky, placing a gentle hand to his shoulder. Bucky jumped and Natasha felt how hard he was shaking and she slowly helped him clean Steve up, surprised he didn't attack her for daring to touch him. She knelt and gently rubbed off the dirt and grime mixed with blood, her face solemn.
It seemed like hours they sat there, and they had nearly regained his normal, proud strong look. Bucky eventually became weak and allowed himself to be taken off of Steve's body. He went limp, however, not helping the man carrying him at all. Either he had gone in such a state of shock that he had gone deaf temporarily or everyone was silent, but he couldn't hear anything. His vision was clouding with black and he struggled to stay awake but his body gave in and he passed out, no matter how hard he tried to stay awake.