there&#x27;s a hero inside all of us

There was a split second that Steve wondered if the man was about to pull it away and rethink helping him out. His cold fingers were shaking, and he could not deny the sense of relief when the bill was released and he was able to carefully slip it into his pocket. It would get food, a place where he could stay warm if he ate for a long period of time. Or food, and finding a place near by that did not mind him staying.

“No, but I’ll be okay. Always find someplace to go.” Steve offered the stranger a bit of a smile. It was friendly, the sort he only used with people who helped out those days. Too friendly and he could easily lose what he had, including food or money.

#metalplated

“Alright…” he said, letting it go. He wasn’t going to push, seeing as he didn’t know this guy at all. The puppy in Steve’s arms whimpered, and Bucky reached out to scratch his ears. “I should at least stop and pick up a can of dog food for your little friend here.” he said with a smile. Cute animal. And the kid wasn’t bad looking either, now that he could see him a little better in the brighter streetlights. He wondered how many layers he was wearing to look that fluffy, considering how downright gaunt his face looked. A hot meal and a hot shower would do him a world of good, Bucky was sure.

Steve had on at least five layers beneath the large coat that he wore. Two t-shirts, a long sleeve shirt, a sweatshirt, a sweater and then the heavy coat was enough to at least keep most of him warm. If he had to he could also tuck his legs up under the large coat as well. Right then, it was keeping the puppy warm enough. He smiled a bit when the man stroked the puppy’s ears. “I would appreciate that greatly sir.”

Someone shouted across the garage. Almost before Bucky registered the motion, his gun came up and put two bullets in the guard’s chest. He shoved Steve towards the passenger side door of the Jeep, darting around to the driver’s side and climbing in. He found the keys, fumbling desperately for a minute to get them in the ignition. “Get under those coats and stay down!” he barked as the engine roared to life. Adrenaline surged through him as he punched the accelerator, tires screeching for a second before sending the vehicle lurching forward.

Steve scrambled to the jeep with the armload of coats that he had grabbed, stumbling slightly from the shove. His hand caught the door and he yanked it open, getting into it. He chanced a look towards Bucky before he hunkered down more towards the floor of the car with the coats over himself. In that confined space, his heart still racing but the need to intake air ever increasing, his chest continued to tighten. He coughed trying to keep the sound as quiet as he could. He did not want to distract Bucky from what he was doing.

It all happened so fast. Bucky heard shots, he fired back. His clumsy mechanical arm kept on Steve, to keep him close. They moved fast, or at least as briskly as they could. He didn’t count how many guards he dropped. Maybe six? He vaguely registered a sharp pain in his right side, but he ignored it. Keep moving. Protect Steve. That was all that mattered.

He kicked a door open, and colder air hit their faces. He smelled snow, concrete, and something mechanical, like motor oil. The garage! he realized triumphantly as he looked down the short flight of metal steps down to the carport. At the bottom of the stairs, was a coat rack, half a dozen thick jackets hanging from them. “Get the coats!” he barked, ushering Steve down the steps. There was a closed cabin Jeep near the stairs. That was the goal.

His lungs felt like they were on fire, burning as he pushed through the desire to stop and try to catch his breath to continuing to move. Steve did the one thing he could do, he focused on the gun in his hands, on shooting it at any targets that moved, and not missing. He had never been good at the game on Coney Island, but he sure as hell was going to try.

The cold air was a shock to his system, and he could feel his throat tighten more than it already had. He gave a short nod in response, moving carefully down the stairs, his eyes moving around the area to make sure there was nothing else that he had to shoot. He tugged down the coats, already feeling the lethal chill in his body.

Bucky took a step closer, hovering when the other started coughing, looking down at him in concern. “Are you alright?” he asked, frowning. “Do you need like any medicine or anything? There’s a pharmacy right down the block from my place.” he offered.

“No problem. C’mon, night’s not getting any warmer.” he said, putting a hand on Steve’s back and leading him out of the alley to the more open street.

This stranger was already being so kind, there was no way that he was about to let him pick up any medication for him. It was part the kind man in his heart saying no that it was too much, but it was also his pride. Steve took pride that he was able to do things for himself, and his health was one of the things that, while he did struggle with it, he did try.

Out on the street, in better light than in the alley, his blonde hair could be seen beneath the dirty knit cap he had on. The coats gave him a certain, marshmallow appearance, hiding his thin frame beneath them. “I’ll be okay, it goes away after a while.”

He shifted to Steve’s right side, putting his awkward artificial hand on Steve’s back. “Stay beside me. Don’t want you falling behind. GO!” he said.

It was frightening, how quickly Bucky got off two shots, the guards falling to the floor with little holes between their eyes. He kept close to Steve’s side, not moving any faster than the smaller man could. Someone shouted down one of the halls. He guessed that it would be maybe a minute before an alarm started sounding through the base.

Steve gave a short nod of his head in response to the comment, he would stay beside him as long as he could. He pushed, he moved as fast as he could.

He tried to block the sound of the shots out of his mind, the shouting from one of the people down a different hall. That was not a good thing, it meant that he would have to run fast, move faster than how he was already going. The conditions he had been kept in were poor, and, while he had never been fully healthy, the environment had been murder on his lungs. He had to keep moving, he had to keep pushing.

If they did not get out then he had no idea what would happen, but it would not have been any good.

“Nice to meet you, Steve.” he said with a small smile. At least he’d found some clothes to keep warm in weather this cold.

“Yeah, well…. I’d have been out here too, if it weren’t for a little luck at the right time. C’mon, I don’t have a car, we have to walk. My apartment is a couple blocks from here.” he said, gesturing at the entrance of the alley, toward the main street. It wasn’t safe to walk the back alleys after dark in this city.