As soon as Steve came to again, the first things he heard were screams of protest, along with lots of struggling. He heard someone be shoved up against the brick wall, heard a gun, and then it went quiet. Not an awkward quiet, like the random silence that occurs, let's say, in the middle of a conversation. It was an uncomfortable, eerie silence; like something was wrong.
He slowly opened his eyes, once again having to blink rapidly to clear his vision. At times, black dots swarmed it again, but he fought for consciousness, eventually winning. Without seeing who it was, but having a pretty good guess, he heard someone drop down beside him, gently lifting his back, all while continuously shouting curses toward the two men, who Steve could clearly see, who apparently were trying to restrain him.
He heard harsh and labored breathing beside him, and then a weak voice.
"No! You're not- You're not having him! I won't let you hurt him again."
It was obviously Bucky, but by his trembling and weak voice, Steve could instinctively tell something was wrong.
He let out a soft groan and turned his head, instantly meeting Bucky's painful gaze staring back at him worriedly. Steve looked down toward the man's abdomen, noticing two bullet wounds, side by side. Blood was still flowing heavily from them.
Steve's eyes flew open quite quickly, and he managed to sit upright on the concrete floor, which was starting to be coated with blood.
The two men were staring at them, and quickly made their way toward them. Bucky jumped to his feet, standing protectively in front of Steve, who had a clear view of the blood. His breathing instantly caught in his throat painfully, his heart pounding.
"I won't let you hurt him."
The armed men paused for a moment, clearly knowing that Bucky wasn't capable of standing on his own for very long. Bucky's metal arm caught the wall, but it wasn't enough to keep him from falling onto his knees.
"Bucky!"
Steve grunted and got to his feet. He actually felt relatively better now, as if nothing had even been done to him, but he predicted it wouldn't last long.
"S-Steve, don't-" Bucky's breathing hitched painfully and he had a short coughing fit. "p-please.."
He knew that Bucky didn't want him getting hurt, but the two men definitely wouldn't leave them alone anytime soon, so he'd have to rid of them himself.
Unexpectedly, he swung his fist and knocked one of the men unconscious within a split second. The second barely had time to process what had happened before Steve's fist collided with the side of his face, knocking him into the same unconscious state as the other.
Steve spun around and collapsed in front of Bucky, whose metal arm was pressed roughly onto the bleeding wounds. He could see the blood seeping passed the metal fingers.
"Y-You're okay?" Bucky asked, squinting up at his friend.
"Relax, I'm fine.." Steve couldn't keep the fear and worry from his tone as he gently moved his friend's bloodied, metal hand away from the wound.
Steve felt like his heart just exploded from his chest.
The wound was nasty, and clearly hit somewhere it shouldn't have. Bucky would bleed out if he didn't get help soon.
"Damn it...damn it," Steve muttered. He placed his own hand on the wound, applying pressure. He felt Bucky's flesh arm come down on his and squeeze horribly tightly, but he didn't mind.
His panic only worsened when he felt Bucky collapse against him, his breathing quickening similar to how his had before he lost consciousness. "Don't do this to me, Buck.." He turned and gently eased Bucky's head down into his lap. His unfocused, blue eyes meeting Steve's.
"I'm getting you out of here," Steve said as he suddenly lifted Bucky into his arms and stood up. Bucky made a sound of protest, but it's not like he was capable of doing anything anyway.
He ran out of the open cell, nearly slamming into multiple people on the way. He tried his best to navigate the building, and finally found an exit leading to the outside world. It was surprisingly easy to escape, and no one tried to stop them. It made Steve nervous, though, because it was way too strange for them to allow them to escape so easily, as the man had said.
They eventually found a tree to hide behind. A road and a small town sat not far from it, but he had to make sure they weren't followed.
Bucky was gently lowered onto the ground. His breathing had turned into agonized gasps, which was starting to frighten Steve even more than he already was.
"Don't you die on me, Bucky. Don't you dare," Steve heard his voice crack, and couldn't help but let some tears escape his eyes.
Bucky let out a horrible laugh, "Don't you worry 'bout m-me, pal.."
Steve almost wanted to slap him. How could he say that? Clearly, he was unharmed, but Bucky was far from that.
His wound was still bleeding despite the pressure both of them attempted to put on it, and he could tell Bucky was getting weaker and more disoriented.
He attempted to sit up, but couldn't even get 2 inches off the ground.
Steve walked over quickly and sat down. He pulled Bucky into his arms and wrapped his arms around him carefully. Bucky had his metal hand on his wounds, but turned slightly in his friend's grip and used his flesh arm to grip at Steve's shirt.
"Steve-" he croaked, and for once in a while, Steve noticed that Bucky was crying. Real, tear crying.
He then let out a disturbing laugh, "I-I really don't want to say I-I'm scared, but t-then I'd be- I'd be lying.." He coughed again, this time specks of blood flew from his mouth.
"You're not gonna die on me. I already lost you once, I can't again." Steve murmured, lowering his head onto Bucky's shoulder.
He felt Bucky's flesh hand rub his shoulder. "You- You wo-" He was cut off violently when he suddenly started to convulse. Unfortunately, it sent more blood flowing from the wound, and now, Steve wasn't embarrassed to admit he was terrified.
He quickly pulled Bucky against him tightly, ignoring the blood staining his clothes. Bucky's hand had went stiff on his shoulder, but the rest of his body was shaking violently.
"Bucky! Bucky, calm down! Please, it's okay!"
It was a few more moments before Bucky finally stopped seizing. He sagged against Steve, and the man could hear Bucky's pained sobs as he gripped Steve like he was the only thing keeping him tied to the Earth.
"It hurts, Steve," he choked out. "make it stop.."
Steve felt his soul shatter. "I wish I could, but I am not going to sit here and watch you die."
Bucky coughed and then gagged, doubling over as blood dripped onto the grass, staining it a horrible red.
He fell, but Steve slipped his hands under his friend and pushed him up by the chest. He then gathered him into his arms.
"I don't want to hurt you again, Steve," Bucky whispered miserably.
Steve began to sprint toward the town, where he could visibly see a hospital standing tall above the other buildings.
"You won't. You're not going to die."
Bucky closed his eyes and fell unconscious.