Okay but that gif of Chris Evans laughingly saying "I knew him, though" -- AU where Steve and Bucky are switched, Steve is kept on ice but called the Summer Soldier because when he's thawed he's always so cheerful and easygoing. The more his mind and memory go, the more he just laughs and goes with the flow, eager to please, desperate to be your friend. It bothers the scientists; somehow they can't quite disconnect from this Asset. They pretend not to see the constant terror beneath the smile.
Oh my GOD those last two lines. *chills*
That’s how Steve kills best, of course: he gets people to like him, to trust him, to make him their best friend. And then he completes the mission, as trained and commanded, code-word triggers maybe, setting him off–and then he never quite understands what happened, and why he’s never allowed to keep a new friend. Of course Hydra says this is necessary, and Steve trusts Hydra, Steve can’t remember any reason not to trust Hydra, but…
…he wishes it weren’t necessary, all the same.
And then this last mission goes wrong.
This last mission, this last target, the man with one shiny metal arm (”yeah, pal, someone shot me while I was lookin’ for you, SHIELD got me a new one, it’s okay”) and dark hair and combat training that’s a match for the Soldier’s own; the man with haunted blue eyes and weary knight-errant pain in his smile. The man who heals–not as fast as the Soldier does but fast enough; there is something special about this one, and maybe he’ll be allowed to keep this one, to have someone of his own–
The man who says, “I know you,” on a bridge and on a helicarrier, the latter while bleeding out, arm dislocated, eyes blackened and swelling shut.
The man who calls him “Stevie” and cries without bothering to hide it when the Summer Soldier asks, “Will you stay and be my friend?”
