Hi cm, thank you for the ask!
this is entirely too late for me to even apologize, I have no excuse.
The soldier didn’t understand many things then, why the bird didn’t leave if Steve was not even awake, why sit there with him if he doesn’t even know it, why follow him in the battle in the first place, but most of the soldier’s confusion and anger came from within. The question that would plague him for longer than expected it would: why did he not take the shot at the bird up on that rooftop?
The bird had interfered with his mission, almost took his eyes out, and shot at him multiple times and he didn’t know the bird, not like he knew Steve. Yet, he didn’t take the shot, he sat there and watched as the bird sat with the captain as he slept and watched him hold the bottle up to his lips once he woke up.
Many years have passed since then and to this day Bucky remembers the view from that rooftop and with the new perspective he’s pretty sure the anger he felt back then was no anger at all, but fascination. Not that he will ever tell Sam that.
he dreams of that night often.
Today he wakes up from that dream slowly, blinking away the darkness as he comes to terms with the fact that his entire body is in pain and it’s not going away. Bucky hasn’t spent much time in hospitals but there’s no mistaking that he is in one, laying flat on his back in a hospital room, woken up by the pain and the beeping of the machines.
From the corner of his eye, he can see Sam sitting in a chair on his right, head buried in a book. He tries to turn his head but there’s a brace holding it in place, so he groans instead to let Sam know that he’s awake. Sam’s on his feet in a second, the book falling on the ground as he rushes to Bucky’s side.
“Hi, hey,” Sam says looking down at Bucky, his eyes are bloodshot and he has stitches on his face, Bucky doesn’t even remember how he got them “Hi baby, hi, you’re awake” Sam keeps repeating, cradling his face gently. Bucky groans, trying to say hi back but his throat is so dry it’s painful. It takes Sam a minute to find a bottle of water and a straw and bring it to his lips.
Bucky drinks a couple of sips, feels the cold water through his entire body, only notices that he’s burning up once the water cools him down a little.
“What happened?” He croaks finally.
“They said you might not wake up,” Sam says instead of answering his question, “they said, this time you might not pull through, but I knew you would, even after what you did. I know you, you cockroach. You’re not that easy to kill” Sam rambles on, carding his hands through Bucky’s hair, it’s a little rough but Bucky says nothing. He’s a little confused and in a lot of pain, there are tears in Sam’s eyes and a bruise on his left cheek and he’s pretty sure he has severe burns on his arms and his leg is broken in at least two places, but there are tears in Sam’s eye and he’s pretty sure it’s his fault, so, for now, nothing else matters but drying those eyes and seeing them shine with happiness again.
“I won’t do it again” He promises quietly. He’s not entirely sure what he did in the first place, he doesn’t remember much, but Sam stayed up for him in a hospital room for who knows how long, and for that kind of love, Bucky will do anything.