"Bucky!"
He hears Steve's panicked cry and looks up from the dark, snowy abyss beneath his dangling body. Steve, dressed in his Captain America garb--he never got to make fun of him for it properly--grabs on to the other railing keeping one foot inside the train. Staring at his best friend, his brother, Bucky wonders if he should just let go now. He doesn't want to. He wants to live and fight and go home when they've finally defeated the fascist dicks bent on destroying the world. But he doesn't want Steve coming down with him if this is his day. Steve is special, he knows. But who can survive a fall like the one he is facing?
His instincts will not let him drop his hands. They are keeping his knuckles glued to the railing. They shuffle him along once, twice, eager to be saved once again by Captain America.
Bucky knows what is keeping him tethered to the train. He can see her face as the harsh, frozen wind claps against his face. Her blue eyes dazzle in the grey sky, and he hears her calling his name the way she did when he was inside of her.
He has to get home to her. The universe didn't give them enough time.
"Hang on!" Shouts Steve, and he wants to quip that he was clearly trying his best to do just that, but his right hand slips the moment he is about to open his mouth.
Bucky clenches his jaw, fear writhing through him, and replaces his grip on the bar.
"Grab my hand!" his friend orders.
He shuffles closer to Steve, hearing the railing groan and shift.
You have to make it! he screams to himself. He told her that he would, and he cannot break that promise.
"Darcy," he says to Steve, his throat barely able to get the word out.
"What?"
"Darcy. A girl. When you get back, tell her I'm sorry."
His heart pounds in his ears and he cannot hear what Steve says next, but he watches his friend nod and mouth something reassuring. Bucky tries to move again. It is too much. The bar snaps clean off of the train with a final metallic shout.
"No!" Steve wails as he starts to fall.
He screams. He has to. The sound rips from his lungs as he falls into the cold wind, his arms reaching out for Steve. But Steve is no longer there. In the haze of the snow he sees Darcy's dark hair whipping around her face, her arm stretched down.
She says his name. "Bucky," she whispers and it sounds as though her voice is right in his ear.
The screams stop as he hits the ground. The snow is all around him, but he no longer feels the cold.