A/N: Written for the Temple of the Sage"Western Animation, Drabble Tag" Thread. While this oneshot isn't my first foray into the Marvelverse, it is my first into "The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes" fandom. Enjoy.
He knew when he said it that he wasn't being completely honest with the others. But since the Cosmic Cube apparently didn't work, he saw no harm in it.
The fact of the matter was, even though they had taken down Hydra, there was still one thing that he regretted- one thing that had haunted his dreams constantly since he'd been thawed out and revived.
Nearly every night Steve Rogers closed his eyes he can feel the rumbling of the rocket as it launched. He can feel the biting chill of the air as the rocket, with him strapped to it, flew over the Arctic. He can remembered the terrified desperation as Bucky released him from the rocket. He can feel the heat of the rocket as it explodes with Bucky still on it.
Bucky...
He was a good kid, and a good friend to Captain America who got far less than he deserved. The thought of Bucky's demise almost made Steve wish that the Red Skull was still around so that he could take him down all over again. However, if there was one thing Captain America had learned- from Ironman no less- was that it did not do well to live in the past.
Not that the lesson had only gone one way- after all Tony had learned from their defeat of Kang the Conqueror that while looking to the future is a good thing, sometimes it's just as good to remember the past, lest one becomes doomed to repeat it.
Still, even with those things in mind, Steve Rogers, Captain America, still couldn't help but become a little wistful at the thought of Bucky, his one true regret. Of all the people Captain America had failed to save, due to one circumstance or another- Bucky's death was something that had haunted him the most.
Despite what he'd said to the other Avengers, he knew that if there was one thing he could change about their reality, it was Bucky. The poor lad had died a heroes' death and Captain America would always remember and honor him for it, but if there was one thing that Steve was certain- Bucky shouldn't have died at all.
It was a shame that MODOC's Cosmic Cube didn't work.
One can always dream...