Steve was choking on blood, gagging as it poured out of his mouth. It was everywhere, surrounding him like a tornado.
"Don't fool yourself, Steve." Peggy's smooth voice whispered close to his ear. "You will always be nothing."
"No!" Steve screamed, but he could no longer hear his own voice over the chants that surrounded him as he was helplessly suspended into the air. Voices he knew chanted the same word, like a ghastly wail.
"Nothing!"
"Nothing!"
"Always nothing…"
"Stop…stop!" Steve begged, but nothing acknowledged his pleas.
Suddenly, the trails of blood tore away from his eyes, giving him the gift of sight once more. He snapped his eyes open, staring at the blackened void around him. The voices suddenly stopped chanting, leaving in place one solitary figure.
"Bucky?" Steve whispered, collapsing onto his knees. He didn't know how much time had passed anymore, but it no longer mattered. Bucky was here, everything would be alright.
"Buck…" Steve crawled closer, until he was a few metres from his oldest friend.
"What did you do, Steve?" Bucky spoke, his voice barely a whisper. Steve didn't look up at him, but let out a sob.
"Nothing, Buck." He began to tremble. "I did nothing."
"Do you remember when we were kids?" Bucky asked. Steve weakly nodded. "And we would look at the stars?"
"In the fields. I had to sneak out every night cos my Ma didn't want me to get sick by goin' out so late." Steve added with a dry chuckle, his Brooklyn accent leaking into his words. Bucky stepped towards him, but Steve still didn't look up.
"Remember that promise we made?" He asked. Steve nodded slowly.
"That we would always be with each other…that we would never leave each other behind." He whispered. "Together…"
"You broke it."
The words sliced into the silence around them. Steve looked up, breath hitching at the sight of Bucky's skin pealing off his face, blood staining his teeth red. One of his arms was pulled from its socket, white bone sticking out of the wound. His hair was frosted, fingertips black.
"I'm sorry…" Steve murmured. He stood up shakily, noticing that his own skin was also blackened with frostbite. "I tried – I –"
"Not enough." Bucky's corpse replied stoically. "You did nothing."
With those words, the sky literally cracked open and began to rain down upon them. Steve yelled in panic, before trying to tug Bucky's arm and get him out of the danger. There was a crunch.
He pulled it clean off.
For a moment, he stared in horror at the detached arm, then back up at Bucky. His friend's eyes are a sickly yellow, rotting with his skin.
"You left me!" He screamed. Steve stumbled back as he continued to yell the same phrase, over and over. The sky suddenly rumbled dangerously, and Steve looked up automatically to find that the stars were crashing down upon them.
"Bucky!" Steve yelled, but Bucky didn't answer, only yelling the truth over and over again .
"You left me! You broke our promise!" He shrieked.
The stars shatter the ground as they fall, lighting it ablaze in a golden fire. Bucky stood in the centre, slowly being consumed in the flames.
A scream tore from Steve's throat as the stars continued to fall, piercing into his skin.
"I'm sorry!" Steve yelled, over and over. "I'm sorry!"
" – yeah, we'll I'm sorry to say that's not going to work." Sam's voice filtered through the com, pulling Tony out of his dark thoughts.
"Hm?" Tony lowered his hand, the glow on his palm dimming. "How?"
"Look to your left."
Tony quickly looked away from the group of guards he was aiming at, doing as Falcon suggested. With a curse, he found that several more guards had just entered through the tunnel, in two large trucks.
"They know." Clint's voice was hard, calculated. A complete opposite of what the archer usually sounded like.
"What?" Tony moved further into the trees, letting himself be obscured by the shade.
"He's right." Natasha concluded. "There's more guards than I can deal with here too."
"They must've realised their mistake." Bucky added.
"I think we need to move to plan B, then. Send in Hulk and Thor." Tony ordered.
They were currently scouting the Hydra base that Steve was surely held in, trying to find the most sensible way in. He had chosen to leave Thor and Banner in the jet for the time being, knowing that anger would take over their actions completely and make their stealthy break-in into a massacre. However, his patience was wearing thin – the only thing on his mind was Steve's screams, on loop.
If they were tripling the guards, so be it. He needed a punching bag anyway.
"If we go barging in through one entrance they're going to get Steve and whoever was on that phone outta there. We'll be too late." Bucky spoke from experience. "I say we have two teams – one to create a distraction, and another to sneak round back and cut that Hydra bastard off before he can squirm out."
"You know another way in?" Sam asked.
"All Hydra bases are the same. You get used to it when you've been their personal assassin for seventy years." Bucky replied sharply.
"I'll go with you." Tony volunteered himself. He was desperate to blast his way into the building and grab his fallen friend, in a true Tony Stark fashion. But that would most likely end in his own demise and torture, so maybe not.
"So will I." Natasha also said. Tony nodded to himself, locking in on Barnes' location.
"Coming to you, Barnes. Let's make this quick."
"So I am allowed to initiate battle against these villains?" Thor asked. He heard Hulk roar in agreement.
"Do your worst, and more." Tony gave the all-clear. He heard Clint chuckle darkly over the com before it cut off.
With a slight command, Tony quietly landed beside Bucky, who was crouched in some bushes. Natasha was already beside him, her gun drawn. She looked at him, giving him a small nod. Tony nodded back.
There was a loud roar that rumbled the ground, and Tony took that as their queue to move – at the rate the team would be fighting, they probably only had a few minutes until the Hydra agents had fled.
They crept forwards as one, following the soldier.
Bucky walked for a moment before digging his arm into the foliage. Tony was going to ask what he was planning to do with some dirt, but watched as he flung open a hidden trap door with a grunt.
"Too predictable." He muttered.
"Good for us." Tony answered back.
He decided to jump into the blackness first, lighting up his armour as a guide to his two teammates. They followed shortly after him, landing with a quiet thump.
There was only one hallway, coated in metal. Red lights flashed in the distance, sirens blaring.
"We don't have long." Natasha advised.
"Almost finished up here." Sam updated in the speakers. Loud crashes and bangs were picked up by the microphone. "Once Barton is finished playing with them we'll be right with you."
"Gotcha." Tony answered. He turned to Barnes, who was staring down the hall with his fists clenched. "Lead the way."
Nothing was stable. Nothing was right. The stars continued to fall as Steve stared into the flames and at his friend's rotting corpse, which is somehow still standing despite being engulfed in fire.
He killed him. All because he was a coward and didn't bother to reach out his hand just that little bit farther.
"Did you even care?" Bucky whispered, but Steve heard it easily.
"I – I - I'm sorry…"
But he knew that wasn't enough.
They turned a corner and burst open the door. The room they've ran into is nothing like the dark and empty hall, but rather a sterile lab. The walls are a sickly white, the strong smell of disinfectant making him slightly queasy. Further into the room, there is a strange white box, which has no windows but only a thick metal door.
"You!" Natasha suddenly pounced, a red streak of fury. Tony was initially confused at her sudden anger, but then saw something he missed – a small hidden door, open an inch. The assassin fired her gun, diving into the small room, as Tony and Bucky lunged forward.
Before they could reach her, she pulled out a small man, who was writhing in pain. Tony recognised the man from the security footage – and so did Bucky, apparently, as he immediately punched the guy in the chest, hard enough to hear the ribs crack beneath.
"Where is he?" Tony pointed his repulsor at the Hydra agent's head before he could recover, his voice deadly calm. The man looked up at him, chest heaving.
"Begging for his death." He hissed, a grin stretching on his face. Bucky punched him again, this time in the stomach. Tony fired a warning shot at the ground.
"Look, I don't think we're in the mood for games, okay? So just say where our Captain is, and we might let you die quickly." The billionaire growled. But the Hydra agent only laughed, blood spurting from his mouth.
"Too far gone…I have to say, he was quite the test subject…" he laughed again, but it was quickly cut off as Natasha shot him in the jaw, making him shriek in pain.
"He wasn't going to say anything. I thought I'd stop him laughing, at least." She said with a shrug, her eyes dark as she stared down at him. Tony couldn't blame her.
"FRIDAY, scan for any traces of Steve Rogers." He ordered the AI, who lit up his helmet in response.
"I believe he is located in the container beside you, sir." FRIDAY answered. Bucky immediately ran over to the strange box, gripping the door and pulling.
"Stop!" Tony yelled urgently, repeating what FRIDAY was flashing all over his screen. "There's a gas in there!"
Bucky paused, though for a moment it looked like it was going to rip the door open anyway.
"My scanners indicate that this gas has unknown, but dangerous effects. Any inhalation will be deadly, but I cannot calculate to what extent." FRIDAY summarised.
"What about this suit?" Tony asked, staring at the door. "If I quickly grab him and get out – "
"You would have to be quick, sir. This gas can seemingly penetrate this suit with prolonged exposure."
"That's not good." Tony muttered. "But Steve's in there?"
"Yes, sir."
"Shit."
"Steve's in there?" Bucky muttered, going pale.
"Not for much longer." Tony replied. "I want you to shut that door as soon as I go in, and grab Steve. I'll give you a signal to open it again. And cover your nose and mouth just in case."
Bucky nodded stiffly, grabbing the door once again. One of his arms was wrapped around his airways tightly. Natasha was doing the same, though she was still dealing with the Hydra agent.
"Now!" Tony thrusted himself forward, shooting through the small crack of the doorway in under a second. The door slammed shut instantly behind him, leaving him to scan through the gas.
It was a deep purple, almost blue, and clouded every corner of the chamber. Seeing his scanners pick up signs of life in front of him, he strode forward.
"Sir, you have approximately twenty seconds before the gas breaks the suit's defences." FRIDAY warned him. Tony didn't answer, spotting a pale hand through the purple.
"Steve?" Tony quickly grabbed the hand, pulling it towards him. The body of Steve Rogers came into view, almost indistinguishable through the purple gas.
"I got him." He spoke through the com. The activated his thrusters, holding Steve tightly. "Open the door."
He moved as fast as he could, mentally apologising to Steve every time he heard him whimper. As soon as they got Steve out of this gas, he would be okay. They would all be okay.
He was out a second after, and Bucky immediately shut the door again. The acceleration made him slide across the floor, holding Steve as tightly as he could to save him from more injury.
"Steve!" Bucky and Natasha ran to their Captain, who still hadn't moved.
Tony frowned at the lack of response, turning so Steve was lying on his back. Steve remained unresponsive, but his eyes were staring blankly at the ceiling.
"Get Banner!" Tony yelled quickly, staring at Steve's face in panic. "Quickly!"
Steve's pupils were clouded an unnatural purple, staring blankly in front of him. His breaths were erratic and uneven, and he was silently mouthing something Tony couldn't make out.
"Steve!" Bucky cried out in fear. The soldier knelt beside his friend, carefully cupping his face. He turned to Tony in alarm. "What's wrong with him?!"
Tony shook his head mutely.
"I…I don't know."