Steve ran inside the helicarrier. He couldn't let millions of innocent people die at the hands of HYDRA.

The card was gripped tightly in his hand as he made his way to the control area. Unfortunately though, the Winter Sold- No, Bucky, was already there. He stood, blocking his path and staring at him, making no move to attack.

His face was unreadable. No emotions were expressed as they stood and stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity.

"Innocent people are gonna die, Buck.." Steve said. "I can't let that happen.."

The Winter Soldier didn't respond. He only stood there and stared, his gaze never retreating from the man in front of him.

After a few moments of silence, Steve spoke up again, clearly knowing that the Winter Soldier likely wouldn't make a move until he did. "Please don't make me do this.."

At first, he swore he saw Bucky's expression soften just the slightest. Another few moments of silence followed, until Steve lunged at him. Bucky instantly threw out a pistol and fired. It skimmed Steve's shoulder.

They fought until the card went flying from Steve's grip, landing on a platform below them. The Winter Soldier threw both of them over the edge and landed on it. He unsheathed a knife and then cautiously walked toward Steve, as not to slip and fall.

They both landed on the glass below them. Bucky had slammed a knife into Steve's shoulder, who repeatedly hit him with his head until he lost his grip.

He stumbled backward against a cool piece of metal, ripping the blade from his shoulder and throwing it onto the ground just as Bucky grabbed the card in his hand.

Steve ran over and grabbed him, reluctantly lifting him up by the neck, which earned a cat-like sound to escape from his friend. Shortly after, he body slammed him onto the ground.

"Drop it!" He demanded. When Bucky didn't let go, he twisted his arm, earning an agonized cry from Bucky. Steve felt like he was going to throw up. He didn't want to hurt Bucky, but millions of people were going to die if he didn't do something.

Steve then threw both of them onto the ground, putting Bucky into a choke-hold and forcing his metal arm onto the ground, Steve's leg securing it in place.

Bucky reached desperately to free himself from Steve's iron grip. His legs kicked frantically, but eventually, he went limp and the card tumbled from his grip.

Steve pushed Bucky off him, grabbed the card, and climbed back up platform by platform to reach the top. Unfortunately, Bucky's unconsciousness didn't last long, and a bullet made contact with Steve's leg.

He gasped and fell, placing a hand over the wound. That didn't delay him much, though, as he quickly got back to his feet and pulled himself up toward the railing. Another gunshot just barely missed him, and he threw himself over the rail and onto the ground.

The radio sparked to life. "30 seconds, Cap!" Maria Hill's voice echoed through it.

Time was running short. Ignoring all of the agony from the multiple gunshot wounds, he stumbled over to where all of the other lined up cards were. "Stand by," He groaned.

Bucky aimed the gun toward Steve, a creepy smile forming on his face. He pulled the trigger, and he heard Steve's agonized gasp and saw him collapse to the ground. But as soon as he shot the man, he received a sudden headache. A few memories returned to him, and all of a sudden this whole fight felt extremely wrong. But he'd be punished for remembering- He'd be wiped again.

He seemed to ignore that, and for once, Bucky Barnes won over the fight for control. He climbed up toward Steve, who was pushing himself to his feet and just managed to slam the card into its slot. Millions of lives were saved then.

Hill's voice came through the radio again. "Alright, Steve. Get out of there."

As Bucky was climbing up to help his friend, he noticed the helicarrier's weapons aiming at each other. They were gonna be shot down.

Steve struggled to move, only groaning with the agonized pain as he fell again.

"Fire," Steve muttered weakly into the radio.

"But Steve-" Hill protested.

"Do it!" Steve demanded. "Do it now!"

Bucky had overheard the short conversation, and had never heard Steve so desperate before, but now that he had won over his programming, he understood what was at stake.

As soon as he reached the top, an explosion rocked the helicarrier and sent Steve stumbling into the railing with a yell. Bucky got a good glimpse of the man's wounds. Dear god, I really screwed him up this time..

Their helicarrier was the only one left airborne, but it wouldn't be for long.

"Steve!" He yelled out, more memories starting to flood back as he spoke his friend's name.

His friend turned towards him, his eyes widening in surprise. "Bucky?" He grunted and quickly fell against the railing again, struggling to stay upright.

Bucky's hand stretched out. He needed to get Steve out of here. "Come on!"

Steve stumbled forward and grabbed it, but soon another blast shook the carrier, debris falling from above them. It sent both of them flying over the rail though, landing roughly on the glass. Steve had painfully slammed the side of his face off of a large, metal support, earning a sickly yellow bruise on his cheek.

Bucky, however, was unfortunately trapped under a large metal beam. His metal arm proved useless as the metal weighed it down. Though, he did manage to turn his head, spotting Steve collapse to his hands and knees as he struggled to make his way over to him.

He grunted, failing miserably to push the huge weight off of him. The carrier shook violently again, and he saw Steve fall to the ground.

"Steve!" Bucky yelled, his expression had turned to fear.

The carrier collided with a building, ripping through it like paper. Steve had managed to grab a hold of the metal beam to keep himself from falling again, but his wounds were starting to get the best of him. Bucky winced at the sickly yellow bruise that had formed on his friend's face. It reminded him of Brooklyn, back when Steve was always getting himself into fights.

Finally, the super-soldier got a solid grip of the metal beam, using all the strength he could possibly muster to lift it, just enough, for Bucky to wiggle free. Instantly, Steve collapsed, but Bucky was on him in a second, lifting him to his feet and slinging an arm around his shoulder.

"God, I'm sorry.." Bucky muttered, looking, once again, over Steve's wounds.

"'s okay, Buck.." Steve slurred. Bucky swallowed. That definitely wasn't a good sign, Steve was starting to get too weak. And they still had to get out of the carrier, which was now over the Potomac river.

Suddenly, the glass underneath them shattered, Bucky screaming out in surprise as both of them plunged toward the water below. He lost his grip on Steve.

He hit the water, hard, but stayed conscious. Pulling himself up to the surface, he glanced around for Steve, but saw no sight of him. He took in a deep breath and went under, spotting his friend slowly sinking to the bottom. His metal hand reached out and grabbed him by the straps, lifting him to the surface, where Bucky took in a gasp of relieving air.

Steve was clutched tightly to his chest. Bucky dragged him toward the shore, focusing more on keeping Steve above water than himself.

Finally, Bucky felt his feet touch the ground, and walked out of the water, dragging Steve behind him. He gently set Steve on the sand and fell to his knees next to him. His head lowered to rest against Steve's chest, and he felt the relieving, sluggish, but still there, heartbeat.

Bucky released a breath he didn't know he was holding. He looked back up and noticed water flowing from Steve's mouth, he gently rolled his friend onto his side, helping the water to free itself from his system.

"Steve..I'm so sorry..I-I was supposed to protect you..not-" Bucky's voice shook. His friend was unconscious, but he didn't care.

He rolled his friend onto his back and pulled him against him. Bucky's arms wrapped around Steve's limp body.

He remained like that for multiple minutes until he heard voices. A female voice, and a deeper male one. He glanced that direction and then back down at Steve.

It would devastate Steve to lose him again, but he couldn't stay here. He'd be endangering Steve if he did. And that wasn't acceptable. Plus, he still had a bunch of memories to get back. It's true that quite a bit returned, but he could still feel things missing.

So, he placed a gentle kiss to his friend's head and left a note for him before he laid him back against the sand, stood up, and vanished into the trees.

When Steve came to, he was in a hospital. He blinked repeatedly to get sense of his surroundings. Though, he quickly found Sam sitting in a chair to his right.

He smiled. "On your left.."

Sam looked at him, shook his head, and smiled. "Of course, that's the first thing you say. Thanks, man."

Steve smiled weakly and shifted slightly. He then remembered Bucky, his eyes widening. "Buck-" Sam quickly interrupted him though, handing him a small note. "He left, but he did leave you this."

Steve took it and looked down at the familiar writing.

Dear Steve,

I'm sorry I left. Again. But I just don't feel like you'd be safe around me. And plus, I don't remember everything. And what HYDRA put inside me is still there, so that's another reason I couldn't stay. Don't think it's your fault, cause it ain't. Just know that I won't stay away forever. I couldn't anyway. I'll come back, but I just need a little time first. Ya know, to recover from everything that's happened and to get back to my senses. I'm sorry I hurt you. Hope you get back on your feet soon. Oh, and tell your friend I'm sorry too, for ripping off his wings and everything.

Love ya punk,

Bucky.

Steve smiled and turned to Sam. "You read this?"

He shook his head. "Nah. Waiting for you to read it first. Figured he'd want you to."

"Oh," Steve replied. "In that case, he wants me to tell you that he's sorry for ripping off your wings and hurling you off the edge of a helicarrier."

Sam laughed. "Well, I ain't dead. So I guess I can forgive him."

Steve smiled and started to laugh as well.

Bucky was safe, and that's all that mattered for the moment.