Not Gonna Lose You

The mission was supposed to be quick and easy. Everyone was supposed to get out of there unscathed because it was that simple.

"Steve, you idiot!" Bucky cried out as he watched his boyfriend in the red, white and blue uniform take down another man in a black mask.

"Bucky," Steve panted, "Get out of here!"

"I'm not leaving you!" Bucky punched a man racing towards him, knocking him out cold. Turning back to his boyfriend, he watched him take down another villain. "Come on, Steve! The building's burning down around us! We need you!"

"I said, go, Buck!" Steve reinforced, looking towards his worried boyfriend. Ash fell upon the blonde's cheeks and he turned his eyes upwards to watch one of the rafters start falling down to where he stood.

"Steve!"

Bucky started racing towards him, a new mission in his mind; Save Steve. Can't lose Steve. Save him. Watching the scared expression on Steve's face as he prepared to jump out of the rafter's way, tears came to Bucky's eyes because he knew that he wouldn't make it there in time, even with the added serum. It was up to Steve to jump out of the way.

A few metres away, Bucky stopped as he watched the rafter crush his boyfriend. He heard a muffled cry, then it was as if all the noise cut off around him. All the thoughts in his mind was full of the replaying image of Steve being hit by the rafter. Was he dead? Was he still alive under there?

Wiping away the dirty tears on his face, Bucky walked to the rafter, stooped down and gripped his arms under it. Gritting his teeth and letting out a roar from the strain on his muscles, he started to lift up the rafter. He didn't care how much it hurt his muscles, nothing could compare to the pain of watching his boyfriend go down like that. His best friend of nearly one hundred years.

He could hear a movement from underneath the rafter as he pulled up the rafter higher and higher. He didn't care that the building was falling down around him or how many villains were getting away. He just wanted Steve to be alive. He needed Steve to be alive.

Bucky heard a gasp as he pushed the rafter up above his head, holding it in place with his strength. Opening his eyes, he looked down to see his boyfriend, bleeding and injured. He seemed to be covered in blood from head to toe. He didn't know if it was from the villain who lay beside him, crushed and blood spilling out, or from his own injuries.

"Steve." Bucky tightened his grip on the rafter, the plates in his metal arm making whirring noises. After this, he would have to go to Tony to fix it up, but in this moment, he couldn't care less about his arm because Steve was under him, pale and injured.

"I'm okay, baby," Steve assured him, his voice weak.

"Please, I – I don't know how much longer I can hold this," Bucky strained.

"You're doing great, baby." Bucky watched as Steve started shifting around, trying to crawl out from underneath the rafter. Even with the added serum, Bucky could see that Steve was injured really badly, probably very painfully.

When Steve had finally crawled out from under the rafter, his breaths heavy and uneven, like back when he suffered from asthma, Bucky finally dropped the rafter, the dust making his throat dry as he coughed.

"Come on, Stevie." Bucky grasped Steve under his knees and back, lifting him up so he was carrying his broken body bridal style. "You're so strong. Just keep on holding on."

Steve's head rested against his chest, his breaths starting to slow as he calmed down. His chest moved up and down in even movements as his eyes slowly started to shut.

"Hey! Stevie! Babe! J – Just keep holding on, okay? It's important you hold on. J – Just focus on me. Can you do that?" Steve nodded, his eyes opening to look up at Bucky's dirty face, where his hair had plastered across his sweaty forehead.

Bucky moved around all the debris, some still falling from up above, and he made sure to steer clear of them. His moves were calculating and it seemed he slipped into a bit of The Winter Soldier as he danced around all the mess, the only thing he was focused on was survival.

"Stevie, come on, just a li'l longer, we're almost outta here!" Bucky promised, watching as Steve's expression turned daze and he seemed to be slipping in and out of real life. "I'm not losing you, not today, Stevie. Remember our promise? I'm with you till the end of the line, pal. Your line is not ending here, baby."

Steve nodded slowly, at least some of Bucky's words slipping into his dazed mind.

Bucky found an exit, just a hole in the wall. Even through the tears, he was able to make it there and outside, where smoke and ash clouded the air. His legs felt weak and his arms heavy with Steve still lying in them.

"Help!" he cried out, hoping that Sam, or Natasha, or Hell, even Stark, could hear him. "Help!" His voice cracked. He knew Steve probably didn't have much longer even with all the powerful serum pumping through his veins, so he needed someone to help him.

He kept walking until he saw his team, a smile on their faces as they saw Steve and Bucky make it out, but that soon fell off their faces when they took in how Steve looked, dying in Bucky's arms.

"Please," he called out.

The last image he saw before he seemed to have passed out, was all of his team members running up to him.

-

There was a beeping beside his head, and he groaned at the sound. It must've been Steve's 5 am alarm so he could go out for a run, while Bucky would get up and prepare breakfast for when Steve got back.

Groaning, Bucky said, "Turn that off." He turned to cuddle into Steve, for some extra warmth before he left for his run. When his hands came across nothing, his eyes drifted open and he finally took in the white room around him. The beeping came from a heart monitor beside him and looking down his body, he took in all the equipment that was stuck in his body, keeping him alive.

Bucky rubbed his eyes, so he could see clearer and he noticed a sleeping Natasha beside him. Her chin was pointed down on her chest and her arms crossed, like she had drifted off protecting him.

Bucky knew it wasn't a normal morning as the sun drifted through the open window. Steve wasn't going out on a run and he wasn't going to make a special breakfast. Instead, Steve was somewhere in this hospital with him.

Ripping out all the equipment plugged into him, the heart monitor going silent, he sat up and pushed himself out of bed. He was dressed in a hospital gown, and his metal arm seemed to be working perfectly again, so Stark must've worked on it when he slept. He left the room, leaving Natasha undisturbed.

He stepped out of his room, walking down the hallway, following the signs that led to reception. People with sullen expressions were littered in the hallways and the air smelt like death.

"Excuse me," Bucky said to the woman typing on her computer. She told him to wait a moment, but when she looked up to see it was Bucky, a feared expression took over her face. Rolling his eyes, Bucky asked, "Where's Steve Rogers room?"

Once the woman had finally gotten over her stutter, she directed him to Steve's room. It seemed he had gotten out of surgery five hours ago and no one had disturbed him since. Well, that was going to change when Bucky got there.

Walking through the waiting room which was filled with all his sleeping teammates (except Natasha), he pushed open Steve's door. The room was just as white as every other room, except this time, a pale man with bruises and cuts lay there.

Steve's eyelids fluttered open, and when his blue eyes realised it was Bucky, he sat up excitedly and a smile appeared on his face.

"Hey, Stevie," Bucky murmured, closing the door behind him. The light through the open window fell upon him as he took a seat in the chair next to Steve's bed. He leaned close and held onto Steve's open hand.

"Hey, Buck," Steve replied, his voice soft.

"How are you?" Bucky started, trying to make some conversation to stop himself from crying or from yelling at his idiot of a boyfriend.

"I'm fine, Buck. Doctors say I should be out in a few days 'cos the serum is helping me heal fast," Steve answered. "I remember, you know?"

Bucky creased his eyebrows. "Remember what?"

"Everything that happened last night. When you carried me out." Steve gave a reassuring squeeze to Bucky's hand. "I'm still here 'cos of you. I couldn't leave you."

Bucky smiled, taking in Steve's loving expression. Even though he had a split lip and a black eye, he still looked like that boy from Brooklyn that Bucky had grown up with. The one that Bucky had fallen in love with.

"Don't ever scare me like that again, you punk."

"Jerk," Steve instantly replied, chuckling to himself.

"I'm serious, Stevie. I'm don't ever wanna lose you," Bucky said.

"And, I promise you, I'll never leave your side," Steve replied, "I'm with you till the end of the line, remember?"

Bucky rolled his eyes. "I remember."

"Good."

They stayed like that, their hands intertwined and their eyes taking in the others rugged appearance.

Steve shifted over slightly, a space beside him. "Come up here. I wanna cuddle with you."

"Well, I can't say no to my best pal."

Standing up and listening to his joints crack, Bucky slipped in beside Steve. Their limbs instantly wrapped around each other's and everything seemed to fall into place. They faced each other, their breaths mixed together between their faces.

"You know what I want, Buck?"

"A blowjob?"

Steve lightly slapped him on the chest and Bucky let out an overdramatic cry, earning a laugh out of Steve.

"Well, yes, but not here." Steve paused. "I really want your homemade pancakes. That's all I can think about. Going home and eating your amazing food for breakfast."

"Well, how about when you can finally leave hospital, I'll make you some of my famous blueberry pancakes? You like that, babe?" Bucky reached up and ran his fingers through Steve's light hair.

"Yeah, I'd really like that," Steve murmured, his eyes drifting shut.

Bucky knew Steve needed his sleep to heal faster, so he just cuddled Steve closer to him and let him sleep against his chest. He couldn't stop the smile on his face knowing that Steve was alive and cuddling with him.

Planting a quick kiss against Steve's forehead, he shut his eyes and let last night's exhaustion catch up to him.

-

If you find any mistakes in my works, please tell me. If you want me to fix anything, please tell me. I enjoy making improvements on all my works.