Trigger Warning: Impaled; Near death experience

Day Three
Hair's Breadth from Death
Gun to Temple | "Say goodbye" | Impaled

Super Soldiers were not impossible to kill.

People sometimes seemed to think that people like Bucky and Steve were immortal. Sometimes people seem to forget that the only reason the two of them were still around was because Steve was frozen in ice, and Bucky spent any time he wasn't on a mission for Hydra in cryo. Despite the serum, Super Soldiers were still very much human. It was certainly more difficult to kill a Super Soldier than other humans… but it very much was possible.

"Sam, look out!" Bucky shouted as he lunged for his partner.

Bucky just barely had time to shove Sam out of the way in time to take the sonic blast himself. The force of it was like getting hit by a runaway brick wall, knocking the wind from his lungs as it blasted him off his feet and sent him flying. A moment later his back slammed up against something solid hard enough that his bones rattled and he was pretty sure he cracked a tooth as his jaw slammed shut.

The pressure increased tenfold and Bucky would have screamed as he felt several of his ribs cracking if he had any air at all in his lungs. Then, very suddenly, the pressure behind him was gone and he was flying through the air again.

He wasn't exactly sure when the sonic blast finally ceased. One moment he was being shoved backward with the force of a freight train, and in the next he was rolling across a hard surface with his body strongly protesting every single bump against any hard surface. And then, extremely suddenly, he came to a jarringly abrupt stop as white hot agony went screaming through his chest.

It wasn't easy to kill a Super Soldier, but it was definitely possible. And in that moment Bucky was completely convinced he was dying.

Bucky could do little more than wheeze for breath as his vision whited out from the pain. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he should get up, assess the situation and return to the fight. He had a job to do after all, and part of that job was keeping Sam alive. But that thought was immediately overwhelmed as the pain pulsed horrifically every time he so much as sucked a breath into his starved lungs.

This was probably it. The end of the line.

"Bucky…"

Bucky's head fell listlessly to one side, taking in the small, frail figure that was suddenly beside him. The figure crouched down next to him, seemingly obvious of the broken glass, metal and wood that was strewn around him. The figure cocked his head and gave a small smile.

"Steve…?" Bucky murmured.

Dully he knew that Steve wasn't here with him. If nothing else, he knew that this pre-serum Steve – all skin and bones despite that cocky look in his eye – hadn't existed in eighty years. He was clearly losing his mind and drifting away from reality. But still… it was comforting to see this Steve that he used to know. It made the idea of passing on to whatever was next a little less intimidating.

"This isn't the end, Buck," Steve chided.

"We always…" Bucky rasped painfully, "always said… 'till the end… of the line."

"This isn't it," Steve insisted. "You have more to do, Bucky."

Bucky squeezed his eyes shut at that. "I'm… tired…"

"Bucky? Buck?! Where are you?!"

Unaware that this was a distinctly different voice, Bucky only shook his head and the hard floor he was laying on seemed to soften and the world seemed to be drifting around him. "I'm… tired."

"Bucky!" the voice was suddenly close and loud, jarring Bucky back into full consciousness. Bucky gasped and bucked against the pain as it returned full force. "Hey, easy, easy! Bucky, don't move!"

Bucky took in a rattling breath as he blinked up at the blurry figure above him.

"Sam…?" Bucky rasped.

"I need you to stay completely still, okay?" Sam said.

Bucky stared up at his friend above him, belatedly noticing that Sam appeared ashy and his eyes were wide and haunted. Sam had both his hands pressed up against Bucky's chest as he leaned firmly on him, presumably to keep him still. Bucky's eyes roamed the area around them, trying to make sense of what was going on. Were they still in danger?

"Hey, take it easy," Sam repeated. "You got thrown into a nearby building that was under construction. I need you to stay still until I can cut you loose and we can get you to the med evac."

The world behind Sam's face spun disorientingly as Bucky struggled to follow what he was saying. Thankfully, Sam seemed to sense his confusion and after a moment he went on to explain.

"Bucky, you landed on a rebar that was sticking up out of the ground," Sam told him gently. "I need to cut it away from the ground before I can move you. Okay?"

Slowly, Sam's words sunk in. Bucky looked down at himself for the first time, straining to see his chest. Sam's hands were placed firmly on the right side of his chest, close together with his fingers forming almost a circle. In the middle of that circle, Bucky could just see a metal rod about an inch in diameter sticking maybe half an inch out of his chest.

Oh…

"Okay, med evac is going to be here any minute," Sam said, drawing Bucky's attention back to him. "Can you hold still while I cut you loose?"

Bucky swallowed thickly and then grimaced hard and hummed against the pain. But he met Sam's gaze and gave him a small, slow nod.

A measure of relief passed over Sam's features. "Okay, good. Just hang on, okay?"

Sam disappeared from his line of sight as Bucky stared determinedly up at the ceiling above him. He would find out later that Sam had to cut away part of the floor in order to get to the rebar. As he began cutting the rebar, Bucky sucked in a pained breath. Even the smallest movement in the bar caused the pain to pulsate throughout his body. Even so, he stoically remained absolutely still as Sam worked, riding out the waves of pain with as little complaint as he was able.

It wasn't until Sam had to move him that that resolve crumbled.

"Okay, let's get you outta here," Sam said as he reappeared above Bucky.

Sam wove an arm under Bucky's shoulders in an attempt to help him sit up. But the moment Bucky's shoulders left the ground, an agonized shriek ripped its way from Bucky's lungs. The pain rocketed to a whole new level and Bucky suddenly found himself dry heaving, each involuntary movement worsening the already unbearable pain that tore through his entire body.

"Shit, shit, shit." Bucky was barely aware of Sam's voice. "I'm sorry, this isn't going to feel good but I gotta get you outta here."

An arm wound under Bucky's shoulders and another under his knees. The floor fell away from him. And then the pain finally won out, sending him into blissful unconsciousness.

Bucky would wake days later with Sam sitting next to his hospital bed. Sam would tell him he was lucky. Told him that without that serum, he wouldn't have made it.

Super Soldiers weren't impossible to kill… but it would take a lot more than that to take him down.