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The year is 1943, the country is going to war and Steve is rejected in his 5th enlistment attempt. He's disheartened and has nothing to lose, so he takes another rute, a plan B.
He gets a job as a cleaning staff in one of the Army facilities. His goal is to meet powerful people in the Army who could give him a chance at fighting on the front.
He knows it's a terrible plan, but he's desperate.
***
Steve does his job while studying the highest rank people in charge and he tries to get them to know his face by cleaning their offices, crossing paths in the corridors or even in the bathroom.
His plan allows him to meet Dr Erskine, a scientist who is in charge of the experiments carried out inside the premises. He's a really nice person and they eat lunch together every other day.
***
One day, when he's chatting with Erskine in the corridor, the scientist is called urgently to assist one of the restricted secured areas. Steve gets to hear something about a new asset and lost fingers.
Steve isn't allowed to go inside but he's curious so he stays hidden near the entrance, trying to get a glimpse of what's going on. He sees a water tank and a pool... And a green figure sticking his head out of the water!
Steve can't believe what his eyes see.
***
Later, Steve goes home with the memory of the strange creature dancing in his head.
He tries to sketch it to clear his mind.
***
Next day, Dr Erskine requires to see Steve in his office.
There, the scientist tells him that he needs someone trustworthy to do the cleaning of the secured area where a very valuable asset is kept. Erskine is entrusting him with the work and Steve accepts the offering, pretending to know nothing about the asset.
***
Steve is sent alone to the restricted area, with the strict order of cleaning quickly and get out of there as soon as possible. He, instead, takes his time to inspect the place.
The tank is bigger than he thought and the pool has calm green water. There's no sound around and no creature in sight so Steve feels relieved, thinking his bad eyesight had made him see weird things.
But suddenly a figure emerges from the pool, standing tall and strong. Its scales are of a blueish green color, its big eyes a stealth blue on black cornea and his body figure is aerodynamic and elegant. It also has a thick electric discharging shackle around the neck.
They look into each other's eyes and Steve gets the impression that the creature is studying him just the same.
He just knows this is a sentient and intelligent being.
Steve introduces himself under the curious look of the creature. When he signals that it's the creature's turn to speak, it opens its mouth and repetitive gutural sounds come out.
Steve names the creature Bucky since it's the closest human equivalent to the sound it is making.
After that, Steve gets his job done under the curious and playful attitude of Bucky. Then he reluctantly leaves the area to report on his task.
***
Erskine is pleased to know that he creature is well behaved around Steve and assigns him the permanent task of cleaning the 107th restricted area.
***
Since that day Steve visits Bucky every day.
Bucky can't make human noises so Steve tries to teach him sign language to communicate between the two of them. It was lucky that Steve knew sign language due to his bad earing.
Some days Steve sketches him, other times they listen to music Erskine provided.
They try different human food but Bucky isn't fond of it, he rathers raw fish.
They grow closer and become good friends.
***
Until one day, when Steve's waiting outside the 107th restricted area for a test round to be done and he hears a distressed scream coming from Bucky.
Steve goes into the area, disobeying direct orders, and sees one of the security guards hitting Bucky with an electric cane. Instantly, Steve sees red and throws himself at the bigger man to protect his friend. He ends up with a broken nose just before Erskine stop them and abort the experimentation.
Steve takes care of Bucky's injuries, just some scratches and twitching from the electricity. Bucky signs a "thank you" with his claws.
After making sure Bucky's safe, he goes to Erskine's office to confront him.
Steve demands that Erskine stop the experimentation on Bucky because he doesn't deserve to be treated like that. And even more, he demands that Bucky be freed inmediately.
Erskine is surprised by Steve and tells him that sadly he doesn't have the authority to free Bucky, but he can stop the proyect for the moment because the Army is focusing on a much more pressing & secret experiment to win the war.
Then Erskine, recognizing the goodness and kindness and the fierce stand against injustice in Steve's actions, offers him the opportunity to be one of the volunteers for said secret experiment.
He's offering Steve to become a super soldier to fight in the war.
Steve is attonished but knows he can't let this great opportunity slip away. It's all he ever wanted, so he takes it.
***
Before leaving the facility to start his training in Camp Leigh, Steve is assured by Erskine that Bucky won't be touched until he can come back for him.
Then he say goodbye to Bucky, promising that the next time they meet Steve will free him, whatever it takes.Bucky is sad to see him go, but he trusts him and wishes the best luck for him.
***
The time passes. Steve is successfully turned into a super soldier at the cost of Erskine's life. Next, he accepts to get in the USO tour to be the country's symbol, a better alternative than being a lab rat who's only value is his blood.
***
He still thinks about Bucky, waiting for him at the facility, with his big beautiful eyes and a blind trust.
***
One day, after Steve has performed on the biggest stage of the country and he's high on the fame rush as to think he has any kind of power, he makes a phone call to the facility. He asks to speak with the person in charge with the intention of using his influence to bargain the freedom of Bucky. Instead, he learns that after Erskine's death, his experiments were being transported into another facility when the trucks were assaulted by Hydra and the assets were stolen.
Steve was devastated to hear the horrible news.
Hydra had Bucky.
Steve had failed him.
***
Steve wants to leave everything behind to look for Bucky. But he's torn between helping with the war like he's doing already & throwing himself at a quest without any resources or intel.
He doesn't have time to make a choice because three days latter he's due a show on the front.
***
In Italy, just a few miles away from the battle, Steve's show isn't so welcomed by actual soldiers and the idea of abandon everything to search for Bucky is very tempting again.
He's drawing a dancing monkey on the sketch book he keeps full of drawings of Bucky, when Agent Carter shows up and tells him those men are what's left of their unit. The others are captured in a Hydra base in Azanno, where Schmidt keeps his most secret war experiments.
Something snaps inside Steve at hearing Carter's words. There's a big chance Bucky is kept in that facility. And thus, hope pushes Steve into action.
***
Steve's helped by Carter & Howard to fly to Azanno and he infiltrates the facility.
He doesn't waste his time and frees the captured soldiers from the cages he finds in his path. They tell him where Schmitt keeps his secret experiments and Steve makes his way to the location.
He catches Zola running away through the corridor, but he has more pressing matters in his hands. He goes inside the room the man just left and finds inside a water tank with green water. Steve's chest expands with emotion when he lays eyes on Bucky.
Bucky is wary of him so Steve signs an "It's okay" and "I'm Steve" and Bucky finally recognizes him. He makes those funny little noises that mean he's really happy to see Steve. Then they hug and Steve feels like crying honestly.
They need to get out of Hydra's territory ASAP, but Steve needs to cover bucky's strange body from people's eyes. And his feet, Steve doesn't know if they are made to walk long distances or even run.
While Steve's mind is running through all the cons of the operation, Bucky grabs his face between his claws and presses his mouth against Steve's.
Steve lets out a surprised gasp and his blood runs cold as Bucky's shape turns bright and changes. The next moment, he has a brunet man standing in front of him, his eyes though tell him he's still Bucky.
Bucky speaks with a soft low voice saying "Hi, stevie." Smirking at Steve's dumbfounded expression. Then Bucky explains that the kiss gives him the ability to shape-shift into something human-like to get camouflage.
Next thing, they break the thick chains restraining Bucky with their combined forces and now they just need to find some clothes for him. Luckily, Steve finds appropriate clothes in a wardrobe in the next room and when Bucky puts them on they're ready to go.
In the way out they have a short confrontation with Johan Schmitt. The red-skulled human declares himself Steve's nemesis and runs away.
Then Steve and Bucky hurry to get out of the building before it collapses.
***
Steve and Bucky make it back to camp together, surrounded by hundred of rescued soldiers. Steve is acclaimed by his peers and Bucky watches with worry as a brunette woman gets close to Steve and tells him, with an intense look, that he's late.
***
Bucky doesn't have any ID when he's questioned about it, but Steve lies to Colonel Phillips telling him that Bucky is a civilian who fell prisoner when he escaping from the German invasion. After that, they get Bucky a new identity: James Buchanan Barnes.
***
After his heroic actions, Steve is offered to lead an special op team and he agrees. But he wants to recruit the members personally so he does exactly that in a tavern where the ex-POWs are celebrating their rescue.
He gets his chosen soldiers on board and they seal the deal with a toast.
Then Steve goes to sit next to Bucky at the bar and asks him the most stupid question Bucky has ever heard because OF COURSE Bucky is willing to follow him in this crazy human world. No one could watch Steve's back better than him, he's basically a demigod.
They look at each other's eyes with complicity and Bucky feels it's the right time to tell him the whole truth about the kiss.
He's about to open his mouth when Agent Carter makes an appearance in a stunning red dress. The moment Steve lays eyes on her, he's dumbfounded. It's so painfully obvious Steve's interested in her that Bucky has to look down to hide his deep hurt and the dreadful fear that overwhelms him.
***
The special operations start.
Steve's reckless & Bucky has the feeling it's because he trusts Bucky with his whole life.
Bucky gives him hell for it anyway, because he shouldn't be so dumb.
***
When they have a short rest from the missions in an occupied city, Bucky is still indecisive to talk to Steve about the kiss.
He should explain the consequences to Steve, but he doesn't want to put such a big burden on his shoulders. If only he had known that Steve didn't love him back... Now it's like he cursed them both.
The issue reaches the breaking point when the Howlings have a meeting with Colonel Phillips and Agent Carter to plan the next mission.
After the meeting, Carter discreetly asks Steve for a word in private. When Steve accepts, Bucky feels his stomach drops.
The anxiety is unbearably while he waits for Steve, back in their rooms' building. He needs to tell him. He regrets not telling him sooner. Now he won't even be able to say goodbye.
When Steve shows up at the entrance Bucky finally can breathe.
He leads Steve into his room to talk. Steve's very worried about Bucky's state, he looks like he just saw a ghost.
Once in private, Bucky tells Steve he's so sorry for hiding the issue from him, he didn't want to get in his way, he just thought it would be a terrible burden for Steve.
Steve can barely follow his words, not even knowing what he's talking about, so he asks him to calm down and explain it from the start.
Bucky confesses the true. A kiss is really special for Bucky's kind, it's like a spell. He gave one to Steve in Azanno, because he got carried away since he was so happy to see him again against all odds, and he thought they shared a special bond. A kiss like that gives Bucky the ability to shape-shift to match the species of the one who receives it, but at the same time it's a form of mating for life. The spell of the kiss dictates that if Steve kisses somebody else, like Carter for example, Bucky will instantly turn into sea foam.
The second Steve hears the last words, he gets pale as paper and needs to sit down on the bed.
"Jesus, Buck, you should've told me sooner." He says.
"It's unfair that I made you forever unable to kiss the person you love without killing me. If I were to disappear one day, it'd have been better that you didn't know why." Tells him Bucky, with remorse.
Steve's heart breaks in a thousand pieces at hearing him. He stands up and and takes Bucky's face in his hands. He explains that he thought the kiss was a pragmatic choice, that it had meant nothing to Bucky.
Bucky swears he'll find some way to break the spell and Steve tells him he doesn't need to, because he wants to do it again. Then Steve tenderly kisses a surprised Bucky, who quickly catches up and kisses him back with all he has.
When they break the kiss, Steve assures him that there's nothing between him and Carter. Steve tells him he is in love with him, he just thought it wasn't possible to be together since Bucky wasn't human. And all Peggy wanted to talk in private was about the fact that she had found Erskine's notes which contained info about his experiments and they connected Steve with one of the experiments, a rare creature. Peggy was suspicious and curious, but Steve told her he didn't know what happened to the creature after he was recruited and left the facility.
Bucky feels a big weight being lifted from his shoulders. He's so relieved. And he tells Steve that he loves him too.
They kiss deeply, like thirsty dying men who have found an oasis in the dessert. And later that night, they make love passionately like two lovers in the middle of a war, which they are.
***
They still have a war to win when their time off ends.
In the next mission, the Howlings infiltrate in a moving train to capture Zola.
Inside the train, Steve and Bucky get separated for a moment, but they fight with all they have to be reunited again.
Then, a hole is blown onto the side of the wagon by a Hydra goon. The explosion gets Bucky expelled out of the train and he ends up hanging from the blown part.
Steve tries to help him, but he can't reach his hand. The bar Bucky's hanging from can't support his weight and he's about to fall, but Bucky makes his free hand turn into claws and penetrantes the metal with them to improvise a firm grip. Then he does the same with the other hand, getting closer enough to Steve as to catch his hand. Steve pulls and gets Bucky inside the train once again, safe.
Steve doesn't let him go and hugs Bucky tightly with shaking arms, scared after how close he was to losing him. Bucky lets him be, knowing that in other universes they weren't so lucky.
The mission goes smoothly after that and they finally capture Zola.
***
Next mission finds Steve and Bucky in a moving car, trying to reach a Hydra plane full of bombs with American cities written on them.
They make it inside the plane, where they fight Red Skull and his magic cube.
They win when Red Skull is killed by the tesseract, but they're left with a plane out of control that they need to crash on the ocean before they get to the US.
Steve is piloting the plane when they get in contact with Peggy. Bucky assures Steve that he's going to take care of that they make it out of it alive, so they should give Peggy their coordinates to be found after the crash.
After giving Peggy their coordinates, they lose the signal and they know it's time.
Steve and Bucky hold hands in a firm grip and share a last, desperate kiss. Then Steve guides the plane down into the ocean.
Each other's eyes is the last thing they see before the darkness swallows them whole.
***
Finally, the Allies win the war.
And the search for Captain America and Sergeant Barnes begins.
Unfortunately, the war heroes aren't rescued until 2012 when SHIELD founds them in the ice.
When Steve wakes up the first thing he asks is where's Bucky. When he doesn't get a solid answer from the nurse, he escapes barging through a fake wall. He runs across the facility, following a feeling in his gut. And when he stops in front of a metal door, he somehow knows Bucky is behind it.
He tears the door down using all his forces and is relieved to found Bucky in there. He's inside a vertical tubular glass water tank, full of green water. He is in his original form and floating unconscious.
Steve presses the "release" sign on a buttonless smooth panel next to the tank and the water starts draining. He doesn't have time to wait for the whole thing to be drained so he presses the "emergency release" button he finds behind the tank and the glass jerks up, spilling out the water and throwing Bucky out.
Steve takes him in his arms and just knows he has to kiss him, so he does that. The kiss turns Bucky's body into his human-like form again and the magical nature of their bond invigorates him, waking him up.
They don't have time to cross a single word because in that moment an army of people in black gear floods in the room. And through an opening in the formation appears a black man in a long black coat and an eye patch.
That day Steve and Bucky are introduced to "The Future".
But no matter what challenges this new world holds for them, they're going to be alright because they'll face them together.
The End.