“DON’T---.” WORDS LEAVE STEVE’S LIPS before he realizes it. Bucky steps in front of him, shielding the soldier from their enemy. An enemy that has left Steve shaken to the core, immobile with shock and trepidation. It’s not often that Captain America succumbs to fear but he is a man, just like everyone else. But in the face of this adversary, Steve is rendered useless, reliant on his best friend and fighting partner. Rogers doesn’t want James to face this alone, but he’s at a loss for what to do.
For as long as Bucky has known him, he’s looked to Steve -- for guidance, for support, even for comfort in the more trying times of the war effort. Captain America is a beacon of hope, of faith in justice; an icon of American ideals. But Bucky has grown from a teenage sidekick to a near-equal partner in battle and along with that growth, he’s realized that behind the image of Captain America, Steve Rogers is still just a man.
And right now, Steve Rogers needs help.
Though Bucky is specially trained for combat -- and is quite good at it, or he never would’ve been picked to work alongside America’s first super-soldier -- it’s not exactly commonplace for him to go up against an enemy that Steve couldn’t have handled on his own. Steve has a serum to help him in battle, while Bucky has nothing but his skills and his fists. Still, if there’s one thing he’s certain of, it’s that he can take a punch. All he has to do is stay on his feet long enough for Steve to get back on his.
“I got this, Steve.
Put ‘em up, tough guy.”
