Steve realized he made the mistake too late. He rounded the corner of the alley, seeing two boys about twice his size and likely 10x as healthy, kicking a younger girl to the ground. She held something in her hand, but at his distance Steve was unable to tell what it was.

One of the boys grabbed it, stared at it, and laughed, before throwing it to the side like a piece of garbage.

Steve, being the stubborn punk he was, attempted to intervene. He walked into the alley and yelled, despite his lungs aching in protest. "Hey! Leave 'er alone!"

He hated bullies.

The two men looked up toward him and grinned. "Oh, look at him!" Both men laughed.

Steve stood his ground as the girl slid back into a wall, watching with wide-eyes.

The men had, thankfully, left the girl alone, only to start striding toward him instead. "You think you're so tough? Can't protect everyone, kid," He felt a painful kick to the ribs, and since he was so skinny, it hurt a lot worse.

Probably broke one, if not a couple.

He stumbled over, but got back to his feet stubbornly, fists out in front of him.

The tallest of the 2 boys laughed. "What? You think you're some superhero or something?"

Steve barely managed to shake his head before a fist connected with his face. He tasted blood in his mouth as he was sent to the ground. The two boys didn't give him a beak, one lifted him up by the neck and slammed him against the wall. "Let's see how much this kid can take."

As he was repeatedly beaten to a pulp, Steve weakly tried to yell out for Bucky; but he had no idea where his friend was at.

He gasped, unable to breathe properly as he was thrown to the ground. He was twitching repeatedly, blood flowing out of his mouth and from his nose as well.

His vision was blurred, but he could hear the girl scream out for help as he sat there. His back arched painfully and soon he started to convulse, spitting up blood.

The two men had run off by now, having heard their last words being something alone the lines of, "Oh god.." and "I think we did too much. We'll be in so much damn trouble now. Let's go!"

Steve tried to swallow, but he could barely breathe.

He was going to die here.

He got himself into this mess and now he was going to die.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he rolled, painfully, onto his side. His ribs screamed out in protest and he heard a painful crack. An agonized scream escaped from him and soon he was sobbing. The pain was too much..and the realization that he was going to die hit him like a train.

Muffled footsteps came toward him. Steve barely noticed when he was lifted up against someone's chest, being shaken gently. He squinted up at whoever was there and his vision cleared just enough to notice that it was Bucky.

"Oh god..Steve! Come on, stay with me, pal."

He groaned, his frail body starting to shake again. "Buck...Buck-y.." His voice came out as a pained sob as his bloodied and shaking hands reached out for something to hold on to.

A strong, but gentle hand wrapped around his own and squeezed. "I'm here, Stevie. I gotcha."

Steve swallowed, but instantly regretted it. He coughed, gagged, and then with the help of Bucky, turned himself over and threw up onto the ground. It was, terrifyingly, mostly blood, mixed in with the little food he had eaten today.

Bucky instantly turned him back against his chest, cradling him like a small child. "Dear god, Steve..the hell did you d-do this time..?" Steve noticed the tremble in his friend's voice, and figured they both knew he was probably going to die, even before he got to any sort of hospital.

"Buck.." He whispered hoarsely, tears streaking his face. "I'm sor- I'm sorry.."

Bucky tightened his grip slightly on his best friend. Steve could now get a clear view of the tears flowing down his face.

"No. No, Steve. Don't you dare be sorry. Damn it..I should have been here. I should be the one apologizing."

Steve didn't respond. He couldn't. At this point, it was getting harder for him to breathe, and an asthma attack could surely kill him now.

His back arched painfully and he nearly fell out of Bucky's grip, but his friend held him close, his hand cradling the back of his head. "It's okay, Steve.."

Within a few moments, he calmed down. But he leaned over and threw up more blood.

"Oh god, Stevie..You didn't deserve this. I'm sorry.." Bucky's voice choked up at the last sentence.

Steve gave a small, bloodied smile. "Don't be.." He gasped, free hand instantly clutching at his chest as he bolted upright.

Bucky's eyes widened and he caught him. "Steve!"

He noticed the blood flowing from his mouth increase. Steve continued to cough violently, gasping for air as his glassy eyes became more and more distant.

"Steve! Don't do this to me..Please- God, Steve..please no.." Bucky grabbed his friend and pulled him back against his chest and keeping him there. "Don't do this..I was supposed-" He swallowed the painful lump in his throat. "God damn it, I was supposed to protect you.." He was sobbing now, and he didn't care. The only thing on his mind right now was Steve.

Steve, through his wild gasps, locked eyes with Bucky. Then, he went limp and Bucky caught him, staring at his now-glazed-over eyes.

"No…" He muttered. "No..! Steve!" He broke down into painful sobs and clutched his lifeless friend to his chest. He didn't let go for a while. "Please! Come back. Please!" He pleaded with pretty much no one. He knew nothing he did would bring his friend back, but he didn't care anymore.

God, now everyone he cared about was gone. Steve was the last he had left.

And now he's dead.

Bucky slowly got to his feet, his face showing almost no emotion except for the tears still streaking his face.

He didn't catch the faces of the boys running away who did this, but he swore that he wouldn't stop looking until he found them.

No one gets off with killing his friend. No one.