So, this story does contain slash. This is my first time writing slash, so I really really hope you guys like it. There isn't any smut. It's mostly just Angst and Comfort. This is an idea that came to me after watching the ending scene of New Amsterdam 3x12. (If you know, you know). I watched it, and I decided I wanted to try it with Sam and Bucky.
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The day wasn't supposed to have turned out like this.
Sam wasn't supposed to be holding a blind and near dying Bucky in a decon shower.
He wasn't supposed to be feeling this helpless.
He wasn't supposed to be looking down at Bucky's steel blue eyes, which were unable to see anything.
And he definitely wasn't supposed to be begging Bucky to stay alive.
. . .
The day started out peacefully.
Sam and Bucky ate breakfast together, worked for a bit on the docks, and then took a jet to Brooklyn.
Bucky had found out that one of his friends was in the hospital, and he wanted to visit him.
The friend turned out to be an 89 year old man that Bucky had met while playing pinochle at a Senior Center.
Hank Roberts.
A Veteran.
Bucky and Sam spent close to two hours with him, talking and laughing.
Sam saw a different side of Bucky emerge.
He was relaxed with Sam, and with Sam's family, but Sam noticed how easily he joked around with this old man.
How easy he seemed to open up.
There were an obnoxious number of age related jokes, and reminiscing about the good old days.
"You're still young, Hank," Bucky said, as they were getting ready to leave. "It'd be a shame to lose you so early."
"I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, Barnes," Hank assured.
"Thanks for letting me tag along," Sam said as they walked back to the elevator.
Bucky nodded, still smiling. "Of course. I'm glad you came."
The elevator doors opened to take them down, but before they could get in, a police officer stepped out with yellow tape.
"Sorry, guys, we're shutting the exits. There's been a chemical spill downstairs. No one in or out until it's safe."
"What?" Bucky asked. "There are sick people up here."
"Everyone's fine up here," she assured, putting the tape up in the doorway. "I just need you to hold tight until the downstairs exits are decontaminated."
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Sam asked. "I'm Sam Wilson, and this here is Bucky Barnes."
The officer froze and turned to look at them. "Of course you guys are. I was wondering why you seemed familiar. It's an honor to meet you both. You guys could probably help by locating the source. It's a herbicide that was banned in the 70's, according to what I heard the medical director say."
"Absolutely. What do we do?"
"Find the medical director. He was headed to the third floor."
Sam and Bucky both nodded, and ran for the stairwell.
They found the medical director in a room with 4 other people, a sledgehammer in his hands.
"The MFCA has branched into all these pipes," a worker explained, crouching in the hole in the wall and shining a light in. "Corrosion's not as bad as the E.D. You get a flood of this stuff and all the pipes will go."
"And then instead of one chemical spill, we'll have 50," the director muttered.
"Hi," Sam waved his hand. "Sam and Bucky here. How can we help?"
A worker turned to look at them. "You're Captain America!"
"Indeed I am. How can we help?"
"I'm Mark - Medical Director," he picked up two sledge hammers. "We're looking for the source. Go to town."
They accepted the individual hammars and nodded.
"Be careful," Sam called to Bucky, who immediately took off.
He turned back and nodded. "You too, Sam."
Sam ran through the hospital, following the pipes, and breaking the wall on every floor in different locations.
It was a big hospital.
He'd never realized how big hospitals could be until he was running from floor to floor.
The corrosion was getting worse and worse, the higher he went.
Higher.
Maybe the source was at the top of the hospital.
He ran to the stairwell, and skipped up the flights of stairs until he reached the top floor.
"Anybody?" A faint voice was calling. "Help!"
"Bucky?"
"Help!"
He turned down a darker, storage type, hallway and followed his ears until he came to a mechanical room.
The floor was covered in acid.
But that wasn't what had Sam's heart dropping.
Bucky was leaning against the large tank in the room, his jacket wrapped around one of the pipes, and his metal arm holding it in place, as acid soaked both the jacket and him.
"Bucky?"
Bucky's head turned slightly. "Sam?"
"Bucky, you need to get out of there."
"I-I-I can't," he stuttered. "If I let go of this, the whole tank is going to give. And it'd go all over the hospital. Hundreds of people are going to be exposed. You need to go get help."
"Nope. No," Sam walked forward. "You're going to leave. I'm going to hold the pipe, and you're going to go get help."
"I can't," Bucky said weakly.
He wasn't looking at Sam.
"Why not?" Sam demanded.
He finally turned his head fully towards Sam. "Because I can't see."
Sam focused on Bucky's eyes, and felt his heart sink.
Bucky wasn't focusing on him.
Or anything.
His eyes were moving blindly around the room.
"Okay. Okay." Sam pushed down his panic, and looked around the room.
The acid was running towards the drain.
That must be how it was getting to the other pipes.
"Alright. Hang tight." He found a garbage bag, and a garbage can lid.
"Sam?"
"Hang on, Bucky. Just hang on."
"You need to get out of here."
"I'm not leaving without you. And if you're not willing to let go of that pipe, then I've got to seal the drain." He fit the lid into the plastic bag, and placed it over the drain.
"Sam, just go!" Bucky yelled. "Please!"
"I'm not going to do that, Bucky. So stop telling me to." He piled as many items as he could, over the lid.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm weighing the trash lid over the drain." Sam stepped back, and watched as the acid began to rise, instead of going down the drain. "It's working."
"It is?"
Sam ran to Bucky. "Give me your hand."
"Wait, are you sure?"
"Give me your hand," Sam repeated. "Come on."
Bucky slowly reached out towards Sam, and Sam immediately took his hand, wrapping his other arm around Bucky's back.
"Come on, watch your step."
Sam supported Bucky out the door. "Put your hands there." He took Bucky's hands, and placed it on a rail.
"Sam...I'm-I'm flashing back...cryo..."
"I know, man. Just stay with me." Sam closed the doors to the mechanical room. "We're going to get you help, alright. Come on." Sam took Bucky's right arm and draped it over his shoulders and wrapped his arm around Bucky's back again. "Let's go."
They moved as fast as they could to an elevator, and Sam tore away the yellow tape.
"Stay with me, Buck." He slammed his finger into the button to take them down.
Bucky was beginning to take labored breaths and his body started shivering uncontrollably.
"We're almost a hazmat tent," Sam said when the elevator doors opened again. "Just hang on, okay?" He leaned Bucky against a wall, and pulled away so that he could run to look for help. "Help!"
The halls were eerily empty, and multiple doors were taped off.
"Is there someone who can help! Please!"
The medical director came running from the hazmat tents. "What's going on?"
"We found the leak. It's up at the top floor. Bucky held the leak until I got there. He's soaked in the acid. What can you do to treat the exposure?"
Mark ran with Sam back to Bucky, and shook his head when he saw him. "I'm...I'm so sorry. We've tried everything."
"And?"
"I'm sorry, but there's no treatment. Nothing worked."
Sam felt the floor fall out from underneath him.
No.
No.
This wasn't how it was going to go.
Bucky had gone through too much to die like this.
Sam grabbed Bucky again, and began to lead him towards the hazmat tents. "Stay with me. You're a super soldier. The serum is probably trying to beat this. We've just got to give it a boost."
"Sam, let me-"
"Shut up. Don't even think about finishing that sentence. You hear me?" Sam positioned Bucky in the center of the shower tent, and turned on the water. "I've got to get your clothes off, alright? I'm taking off your clothes." Sam began to pull Bucky's shirt up. "Lift your arms up for me, Buck. Lift them up."
Bucky obeyed, jerking his arms into a raised position.
Sam pulled the shirt over his head, and threw it aside. "You're doing good." He took Bucky's hand, and placed it on a handle on the side of the tent. "Hold onto these, alright?"
Bucky began to fall, and Sam caught him, taking his left hand and putting it on the left handle.
"You've got to hang on, Bucky."
He crouched down and began to undo Bucky's pants pulling them down until he was only in his underwear.
"Are you with me, Bucky?" Sam grabbed the shower nozzle and began to spray Bucky's body more directly, scrubbing Bucky's skin with his hands. "You're going to be okay. Just stay with me."
Bucky swayed, and his knees suddenly gave out, sending him crashing to the floor of the shower.
"No, no! Bucky!" Sam was about to kneel in front of the man, but before he could Bucky leaned against him, and wrapped his arms weakly around Sams' lower torso and legs.
"I'm with you till...the end of time..." he murmured.
Sam's breath caught in his throat.
He slowly lowered his hands so that they were resting in Bucky's hair.
Bucky sank lower, so that he was sitting on his heels. His head was beginning to loll from side to side, and his arms were laying limply in front of him.
"Hey," Sam knelt down in front of him, and gently cupped his cheeks. "Bucky, listen to me. You're going to be okay. Just stay with me."
Bucky fell against the wall of the tent, and Sam grabbed him.
"No, no. Bucky." He grabbed Bucky, and pulled him against his chest, wrapping his arms around him. "I'm here. I've got you. You're going to be okay. You're going to be okay."
Sam didn't know if he was trying to reassure Bucky or himself more.
He just knew that he couldn't stand the idea of losing him.
Not like this.
Not so suddenly.
There was still so much that Sam needed to say. So many things he still wanted to do with the man that had suddenly become a major part of his life.
He physically couldn't imagine his life without Bucky Barnes in it.
He couldn't imagine not seeing him around, not going on missions with him, not binging movies together late into the night.
He couldn't imagine Bucky's warm and solid presence no longer being next to Sam.
Bucky's hand came up to Sam's chest, and gripped the hem of Sam's shirt. His fingers then began to draw small circles on Sam's chest and skin, before travelling up to Sam's cheek.
Sam placed his own hand on Bucky's cheek, sobs beginning to build up within him, as he realized how close to death Bucky was. "You can't leave me, Bucky." He adjusted his arms around Bucky, and slowly lowered him so that he was resting in his arms. "You hear me? You can't leave me."
Bucky's eyes travelled blindly and desperately all over Sam's face, before slowly beginning to slip shut.
"No, no, Bucky. Don't go. Don't leave me. Not today, Bucky."
Sam watched helplessly as Bucky's eyes slowly slipped close, and his body went limp.
Warm water was still pouring down on them, and steam was clouding the tent, but Sam had never felt so cold in his life.
. . .
Bucky woke up warm.
On a bed, in an unfamiliar room.
In any other situation, that would have plunged him into a mode of deep panic.
But something was keeping him above the surface.
Sam was next to the bed, holding Bucky's hand, with his head bowed.
He lifted his head, and looked at the man. "Sam?"
Sam's head shot up, and he looked at Bucky for a moment. "Can you see?"
Bucky stared at Sam for a few seconds, drinking in his presence, before giving a small nod. "I see you."
Sam smiled and sighed in relief. "You gave me one hell of a scare."
Bucky leaned against the pillows, and tried to remember everything that had gone down.
It was unnerving how foggy his memory was.
He felt like he was back in HYDRA.
But he wasn't.
He knew that.
Sam was with him, and Sam would take care of him.
"What happened?"
"What do you remember?"
Bucky frowned, his mind aching as he strained to get his memory working.
"I went upstairs, thinking I would start at the top and work down. I remember getting to the tank, and then..." he shook his head. "It just goes blank."
Sam's expression fell slightly, and Bucky's heart ached. "It was just..." Sam shrugged. "Decon and doctors and...stuff. You were soaked in the acid, and the serum was struggling to combat it."
"Stuff?" Bucky repeated in a whisper. He was quite certain that more had happened than Sam was letting on.
Sam nodded, smiling slightly. "I'm gonna go to a hotel, and let you rest, alright? Doctor's say you'll be back on your feet by tomorrow, so we'll head home then."
Bucky nodded slowly. "Okay."
The fog in his mind was slowly beginning to disperse, and he was beginning to see more of what had happened. He could even hear Sam's voice, begging him to hold on.
"You were there," he said softly, before Sam reached the doorway. "Weren't you?"
Sam froze, and slowly raised his head, but kept his back to Bucky.
"I'm sorry. I guess sometimes...it takes me a minute to remember what matters...more than anything."
Sam slowly turned to look at Bucky.
"You." Bucky licked his lips. "You have been there for me a countless number of times now. Steve..." Bucky took a deep breath, and tried to think of how to express himself. "Steve left me, and you picked up the pieces. Despite the fact that I tried to keep you at an arm's length. I've been so comfortable with how things are between us, but...there are a million things I want to experience with you. There are a million words I want to say to you. You're all I have, and I don't want to waste any time dancing around feelings and what ifs. Today proves that things can change in the blink of an eye, when we least expect it."
Sam slowly walked over and stood next to the bed.
Bucky slowly reached out, and placed his hand on Sam's chest. He could remember doing the sam action, while Sam held onto him, in shower. "You didn't give up on me and you wouldn't let me leave. I was fading, but you kept afloat."
Sam placed his hand over Bucky's. "I'm not ever going to give up on you, Buck. I'm with you-"
"Till the end of time," Bucky finished in a murmur.
Sam chuckled weakly, and squeezed Bucky's hand. "You bet your ass."
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Again, I really hope you guys liked it. Thanks for reading! :)