Apparently all work and no play makes SolarRose a very disturbed girl. Warnings for non-graphic animal death. :( I know, I hate myself for writing it.
July 11, 1931 was hot. The merciless sun beat down unrelentingly on New York City. Sent outside of cramped apartments by irritated parents tired of restless boys underfoot, Steve and Bucky wandered the streets in search of amusement. They had the city to themselves, as most of its inhabitants were indoors, staring at their laboring ceiling fans, willing them to beat off the heat. Sounds and smells drifted out of open windows, kept unlatched in futile hopes of a breeze.
As they trudged down deserted roads, Bucky found a stick to swat stray pieces of gravel with, while Steve chattered beside him about how happy he was that he was now recently thirteen and therefore only one year younger than Bucky instead of the two Bucky had held over his head for the past six months. A few blocks later, Steve was exhausted and they found a nice spot in a shaded alley to rest. In an attempt to better cool off, Bucky peeled off his loafers and socks, and Steve rolled up his sleeves.
Just as Bucky was fingering the last penny in his pocket and debating whether he should spend it on a bit of candy for an afternoon snack, Steve jumped up from their chosen refuge and hurried further into the alley. Confused, but never one to be left behind, Bucky followed him. He discovered the source of Steve's sudden departure to be a scrawny puppy. The pup was a pitiful little thing, bones showing beneath the matted tangle of dirty gold fur. Steve scooped the young dog into his arms and declared it his own belated birthday present. It squirmed in his arms and licked his nose and Steve's grin had never been wider.
The sun was dipping into the horizon before Bucky and Steve realized they had been out far too long and had missed supper while playing with their new friend. Steve determinedly hoisted the puppy up and set out for home. His mother was not thrilled to see what he brought home. But when Steve begged her if he could please keep Reid (named after the Lone Ranger) as his birthday present, Sarah immediately relented, feeling a rush of guilt stemming from the fact that she had been unable to afford a proper present for her son a week ago, and allowed the pup to be kept for the night.
One night turned into the next day and the next and the next and the one after that, until Reid was Steve's steady companion. In the morning, Reid was fed a chunk of bread from Steve's own hand. During the afternoon hours, Steve would shoot his marbles across the sidewalk and Reid would happily chase them. At night, Reid curled up on Steve's mattress, Steve's arm around him, even when the temperature in the tiny bedroom was unbearably hot.
The Barnes invited Sarah and her son over for dinner after church a couple weeks later. Steve was allowed to bring Reid along, upon the condition that the puppy would remain outside. The boys obligingly followed the rule and sat in the heat on the front porch to keep Reid company. Bucky ran inside for a moment to retrieve a more suitable ball they could use to play fetch. It was as he was pounding up the staircase to his room that he happened to hear what the adults were talking about in the living room. And what he heard made him freeze where he was. His father was telling Mrs. Rogers to get rid of the dog, claiming that the creature was an expense she couldn't afford. And suddenly, Bucky gained a horrible perspective he never wanted to have.
Bucky didn't bring the promised ball. Instead, he returned to the porch, hands jammed in his pockets and glumly told his best friend exactly what he had overheard. Steve immediately leaped up, grabbed Reid to his chest and protested with tears in his eyes. Bucky repeated his father's words and Steve couldn't stand the idea of burdening his mother further. A few moments of thought and then he hatched a brilliant plan, to which he swore Bucky to secrecy.
When the adults came to collect their children for dinner, Bucky mournfully related to them how Reid had run away. Steve's downcast eyes and steady silence reinforced the tale and his mother gave him a comforting hug, while Bucky's father murmured under his breath about how it was for the best. After supper, Steve and Bucky stole outside and raced down the block to where Reid was carefully concealed in an old box. Steve patted the inquiring nose that nudged him and promised to return in the morning with breakfast.
As the days passed, Bucky began to notice Steve looking a bit thinner than before. And when the boys went to play with their forbidden pal and Steve pulled a piece of boiled chicken from his pocket to feed the puppy, Bucky knew why. He again suggested that perhaps it would be better if they released the pup for good. Steve's responded with teary eyes and the proclamation that Reid was his best friend. Such a statement provoked an irrational surge of jealousy in Bucky and he stormed back to his house, slamming the door behind him.
He stayed awake that night, kneeling on his window seat and formulating a scheme on how to reinstate his status as Steve Rogers' best friend. The opportunity came sooner than he could have imagined. The next day, Steve was unable to come outside to play, as the doctor was giving him a check up. Without wasting a moment, Bucky sprinted to the alley and grabbed the box containing his rival. With the package secured under his arm, he began a long trek across the city, intent on dumping the puppy out in unfamiliar territory and then leaving it there to fend for itself. As he walked, he told himself that he was doing it for Steve. With Reid gone, there was no need for Steve to cut his food portions in half. Steve would stop getting skinny, the doctor wouldn't have to come, and Bucky and Steve could walk empty streets, swinging sticks at rocks and chatting about their age difference.
When he had gone a good distance, he knelt, setting the box on the road before him. Pulling back the flaps with resolve, he reached in and tugged the pup out. He gave it a push and sent it scurrying up the street. Gathering the empty box under his arm, he nodded, his work done. A rush of satisfaction overtook him and he set off for home. But as he walked, his mind insisted on picturing Steve's face upon discovering the dog's absence until he couldn't stand it any longer. He turned around and spent an hour searching the streets for the wandering puppy. He finally located Reid, put him back in his box and rushed to return him to his proper place.
The first thing Steve wanted to do the following morning was visit Reid. As Bucky watched Steve laugh over Reid's enthusiastic antics, he knew he'd made the right decision. Instead of competing with the dog for Steve's attention, Bucky simply inserted himself into their playtime. He even attempted to teach Reid some tricks, but the puppy was not a good student. Neither boy minded too much though since Reid played fetch just fine.
Everything changed on a rainy morning in August. At his mother's insistence, Bucky slapped a cap over his head before heading out into the weather. He turned down the alley, eager to have some time to work with Reid on the proper way for a dog to roll over. His enthusiasm drained away when he caught sight of two figures through the downpour. Pete Krueger and Harold Hatcher were older than Bucky. They were all of sixteen and meaner than any other boys on the block. Praying that the rain hid his movements, Bucky slipped quickly down the alley and snatched Reid's box. The startled pup gave a yelp, which alerted the other teens to his presence.
Bucky shrank away from them as they sauntered toward him. They easily corralled him into a position where his back was to the wall of the house behind him and they blocked off his escape to either end of the alley. They questioned him about the box he was holding. He reflexively gripped it tighter, which only made them want it more. Pete's bigger hands grabbed it away from him and when he tried to reclaim it, Harold gave him a hard shove. Bucky's shoes slipped on the wet pavement and he landed on his rear in a puddle, much to Harold's amusement. Meanwhile, Pete greedily dug into the box. He yanked Reid out by the scruff of his neck and Bucky scrambled to his feet, demanding that the older boy release the dog.
Pete's eyes took on a wicked gleam and he told Bucky that strays were filthy and just a waste of food. Bucky argued that Reid was not a stray, that he belonged to Bucky and Steve. Pete sneered at him and shook the puppy mockingly, holding it just out of Bucky's reaching arms. As Bucky's attempts to rescue the dog became more frantic, Pete's cruel malice grew and he laughed at the smaller boy's distress. Until Bucky planted a fist in his stomach. Then Pete howled in pain and threw the puppy away as he bent over his abdomen. The pup gave a cry as it flew through the air before it collided with the brick wall of the opposing house. Immediately, Bucky turned to retrieve Reid. But before he got more than a step away, a hand latched onto his collar and yanked him back. Harold hit his face once in retribution for Pete before the two bullies left the alley in search of prey that didn't fight back.
Letting the blood drip from his nose, Bucky focused all his attention on the puppy, which had yet to stir. When Bucky knelt beside the animal, he was horrified to find its head twisted in an unnatural way. With shaking hands, he maneuvered the head into the correct position in some hope of fixing what was so horribly wrong. But Reid was dead and Bucky didn't save him and what in the world was he supposed to do now?
Gently, Bucky picked up the pup, pulling it close to his chest as he sat in the rain. He sat and shivered for an hour, just holding Reid's body. And then he shivered some more when he realized he was going to have to tell Steve what happened.
P.S. Which is better: one shots with dialogue or one shots without?