October and November came and went, the breezy fall weather leaving at the whim of a sudden cold snap. The temperatures were low enough to where one could see their own breath, and there came an occasional snow, but it wasn't enough to cancel school. Winter had come, and from this, Steve learned of Bucky and Hydra's unrelenting destroyance of the S.H.I.E.L.D lacrosse team. Bucky had apparently been named one of the top players on the team, and word had it that he practiced every day, even in three feet of snow, earning him the nickname, 'Winter Soldier'.
Steve wasn't surprised in the least; Bucky was dedicated when it came to lacrosse, and they'd even talked in the past of Bucky continuing on as a professional athlete in college. Last time Steve had actually spoken to Bucky, they'd talked about rooming together, as they were headed to the same college. Steve figured that this was hardly the case now.
He lay in his bed, staring at the MCU banner above his desk. Its stark red and snowy white had always appealed to him, even as a kid, but now without Bucky also dreaming to go to the same school as him anymore, Marvel Chastity University seemed undesirable. Besides the banner were posters and a pinned up jersey of one of the soccer players, the school's founder and head of the soccer team the year it was open- Captain Marvel. Surrounded by the MCU merchandise was another school that he'd wanted to go to- Stanford Lee Institute of the Arts. The Stan Lee banner and assorted soccer tickets and merchandise he had were the school's colours of grey, white, and blue, which complemented the colours of Marvel University's quite nicely. Around all of the items pinned to his wall were photographs, some of him and his mother at Disney when he was ten, and others that were more recent, like him and Sam celebrating Sam's birthday. There was a yellowing photo of his mother holding him just after he was born, and another when he was with his mother as a toddler, holding her hand as they walked across the beach. Then came the dozens of photos of him and Bucky- ones from kindergarten where they were colouring a dragon together or playing on the playground. The photos continued as they got older, with photos from Christmas parties and birthdays and sporting the colours of MCU together as they toured the campus or when they had gone to a Stan Lee vs Marvel soccer last and most recent photo upon the wall was from the first day of summer this past season. They were at the pool, both wearing nothing but swim trunks as they smiled for the camera. Both of their smiles were small and reserved, almost as if back then, Steve had known that he and Bucky would end up on diverging paths.
Steve let out a heavy sigh, curling up further into his sheets. It really and truly sucked having someone who was such an integral part of your life suddenly be absent from it. It made him feel like he was numb and void of, well, everything. The time apart and lack of any other form of communication was making it worse, leaving Steve hollow and uninterested in everything he used to like, because everything he'd liked, Bucky had too. There was nothing that wasn't painstakingly empty with the hole Bucky left behind.
His cellphone ringing with the tune of Black Sabbath's 'Iron Man' caused hesitation, especially upon the realisation that Tony Stark was calling him, and why the hell did Steve have his contact information? With a heavy sigh, Steve answered.
"Hey, Ro- Steve, we're gonna crash Hydra's end of year bash for their football and lacrosse teams. Wanna come?"
"I- uh, no thanks. Thanks for the offer though, Tony."
"Okay, well I guess- oh wait never mind. I'm lost and, huh, this seems to be 1942 Coalfaith Avenue…"
Steve rolled out of bed and peeked through his blinds to find a black mustang in the driveway below. He let out an audible groan, and Tony's smug voice overcame him once more.
"Suit up, sugarbear. Nat sent me to pick you up."
Steve hung up the phone, grabbing his charger and keys, shrugging on his favourite bomber jacket that had earned him many nicknames synonymous with 'America', as it was navy, red, and white. He kept his khakis and thin white tee shirt, deciding that he would deal with the minimal cold. It wasn't like he was going to be outside long, anyway. They were crashing some sort of overcrowded house party with (knowing Stark) dozens of other S.H.I.E.L.D students in tow.
He stepped out of his house and into the frigid cusp of day meeting its demise as the sun set and night smothered the land. Tony stood by the car waiting, before opening the door for Steve, and crossing over to the driver's seat to get behind the wheel. It struck Steve as odd that he was the only other person in the car, as Tony usually had other friends.
"Where's your entourage?" Steve asked jokingly, and Tony started up the car with a roar, before beginning to back out of the driveway.
"Rhodey and Pep are herding the masses, while Viz is laying out the tactics to storming the place."
"'Herding the masses'? How many-"
"Eh, only the football team, lacrosse team, and anyone related or who wants to join."
"Tony, that's almost a hundred people."
Tony shrugged nonchalantly as he headed out of the neighbourhood. Steve decided it was better to keep his mouth shut than to prompt more questions and possibly an arguement, and thus, they rode in silence. It wasn't long before Tony broke that silence, however, being the chatterbox that he was.
"So, what are your plans for prom?"
"Prom? That's still six months away. I haven't even thought about midterms yet."
"It's actually five months and three days, nice try. So you're saying you haven't asked anyone to go with you yet?"
"I- What did I just say? I don't have time to think about trivial things like prom at the moment with midterms and getting my workload in order."
"How about I pick you up at six, we go for dinner, and then head to the venue at eight?"
"Are you- Did you just-" Steve sputtered, but the car shut off and Tony gracefully slid out of the driver's seat, indicating their arrival. "I- I'm straight!"
"So's spaghetti 'til it gets wet." Tony winked, before turning toward the group that had amassed upon the front yard of the party- Hydra's stronghold.
"Alright, everyone, thanks for coming." Tony grinned and clapped his hands together, before motioning toward the house. "Let's just do it."
There came cheers and then came the chaos of dozens upon dozens of students flooding on to the yard of a crowded house, knocking on the door. Some people even completely avoided the front door and took to the backyard, jumping the fence as they went. There came shouts from the backyard just as the front door opened, and they were greeted by Rumlow, who scowled upon seeing the mass of students, led by Tony and Steve. Steve hadn't even meant to be right at the front of the crowd, but here he was anyway.
"What do you want?" He growled, and Tony beamed, slinging an arm around Steve's shoulders, making Steve mildly uncomfortable with the sudden closeness of Tony standing on his tiptoes to reach.
"Vengeance. You dirty, dirty bastards were handing money under the table to the refs to have the games in your favour." Tony shook his head mockingly, making soft 'tsk tsk' noises, before Steve felt him pull him closer. "And Steve and I here, don't think that's very kind of you, so we've gathered our… classmates who agree with us, and come to break up your victory bash, because you don't deserve it."
Rumlow scowled, while Tony smirked smugly. Tony proceeded to unloop his arm from around Steve's shoulder, turning to the remaining students behind him. He nodded, motioning for the crowd to wreak havoc, leading to shouts and pushing and the general chaos of a mildly-displeased mob.
And Steve was at the front of it.
This resulted into Steve being pushed into Tony, and the both of them barreling into Rumlow, who thankfully managed to move out of the way. Well, thankfully for him. For Steve, he fell on top of Tony, knocking the playboy to the hardwood floor of the entryway. Footsteps pounded around them as the other students flooded into the house around them, and only once they had gone by was Steve able to get up off of Tony.
"Sorry, I didn't realise how aggressive-"
"Doesn't matter how aggressive it is, as long as I'm under you." Tony winked, and Steve felt his cheeks burn bright. He pushed himself up off of where he was on the ground over Tony, muttering about how he wasn't gay.
"Keep telling yourself that, sugarboo."
Steve entered the completely destroyed family room, where many disgruntled S.H.I.E.L.D students were beginning to pick fights with the Hydra students. One of said students was one James Buchanan Barnes, his brunette hair shaggy and almost reaching his shoulders, with matching coloured stubble growing along his jaw. His blue eyes were frosted over as he spoke lowly to one of the students that had trampled over Steve earlier. Steve recognised her as Storm, a quiet but opinionated girl who was friends with T'Challa and Natasha. Her grey-white hair and cocoa skin deeply contrasted Bucky's dark hair and rather fair skin, making her easily recognisable.
"You are an asshole, and don't deserve to be considered a captain, much less a member of the lacrosse team."
Bucky didn't even respond, instead scowling and launching forward with his fists flying. One of his fists was clenched tighter than the other, and as Steve watched Storm back away to avoid the attack, he noticed the knife in Bucky's hands.
Steve felt his heart lurch into his throat as he witnessed Storm being backed further into a corner, unknowingly coming closer to being attacked by Bucky. Steve didn't hesitate as he grabbed a heavy silver platter littered with crumbs and decorated with a star at its centre, jumping in and sandwiching himself between Storm and the knife. The knife hit the make-shift shield Steve held with a loud noise that reverberated through the room, silencing those that had been muttering quietly.
"Bucky, this isn't like you. Please-"
Steve found himself cut off by a sudden swipe of Bucky's knife that came far too close for his liking. He pushed Bucky out of the corner to make some leeway for Storm to escape, but instead, she stood and stood beside Steve, arms crossed.
"Storm, right? Get out of here while you-"
"It's just as much my fight as it is yours, Cap." Storm responded, using the soccer team's nickname for him, taking a defensive stance next to him as she grabbed the first weapon she found- an inch long pickle fork.
Steve was frustrated with the fact that people kept interrupting him, as well as the fact that this was his fight, not Storm's. There wasn't exactly much time to argue, however, as Bucky continued lunging at them with the steak knife, hitting the make-shift shield that Steve was protecting himself and Storm with. Steve managed to even push Bucky back, who stumbled and almost fell over. In that moment, Steve saw the madness and chaos that was Bucky Barnes.
Pupils almost covering the beautiful blue of his irises. A snarl on his face, brows furrowed. Dark hair greasy and shaggy- longer than Steve had ever seen it. Hands gripping the knife to where his knuckles were white. He reeked of gasoline, like he'd been at some sort of gas station for hours on end. His shirt was worn and his muscles were taught with anger as he continued to take a stab at Steve. A hand fell upon Bucky's shoulder, and he whipped around, nearly stabbing the person.
"C'mon Barnes, they're not worth it. There's a line in the kitchen for you." The guy clapped his shoulder, and Bucky seemed to snap out of it, walking over to the kitchen counter where a group of his teammates were huddled.
Curiosity got the better of Steve, and he too found himself in the kitchen, peering between bodies to try and get a good look at whoever was waiting on Bucky.
It turns out, no one was waiting on Bucky.
Instead, Bucky was at the island in the kitchen, credit card in hand, leaned over the counter with a fine line of-
Steve felt sick. His stomach rolled as he tried to think of where he went wrong. How could Bucky be sitting in a house party, at the depths of Hydra's influence, doing cocaine? Jesus, Steve felt the ground tilt beneath him as it suddenly hit him- Bucky wasn't here on his own will.
Here he was, being drugged up and under the influence of Hydra's poisons. How he had gotten hooked in the first place, Steve didn't know, but what he did know is that this was not the Bucky he knew. The Bucky he knew was soft and gentle, a slight asshole when he wanted to be, but otherwise respectable and even kind. The Bucky he knew laughed at him when he stuffed his shoes with newspapers in order to ride certain roller coasters at the county fair. The Bucky he knew let him seek refuge with him after Steve's mother died, before moving in with an aunt. The Bucky he knew was a part of his XBox Call of Duty WWII group, The Howling Commandos. The Bucky he knew was not this man before him, and Steve had to do something about it.
"Ro- Steve, are you alright?" Came the voice of Tony, and Steve blinked, realising that he was staring into the kitchen still, where another Hydra victim was becoming under the influence.
"I- Yeah. I just- I don't like it here with the drugs and all…"
"Okay, I'll take you back to my place, where you can chill out. You just fought Barnes with a knife, and that isn't exactly something considered a 'small feat'."
Steve could only nod numbly, not even hearing a word Tony was saying. He was too busy formulating his plan to save Bucky.
It was only after he was in the passenger seat of Tony's luxury sports car and after they blew by his street at a frightening speed that Steve realised that he wasn't going directly home. He felt himself stiffen as he wondered where the actual hell he was going, before they reached somewhere Steve had never heard of and only then did he have the guts to ask.
"W-Where are we going?"
"Uh… My house?" Tony said it with the biggest 'well duh' sounding voice known to man, only glancing over at Steve as they pulled up to a stop light. "I told you this at the Hydra house and you agreed to it-"
"Oh." Was all Steve managed, mentally face-palming himself for his general absent minded agreement at such a suggestion like going to the richest kid in the entire city's house .
God, Steve could only wonder what surprises he was in for.