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Summer 1942, Manhattan, New York ✾━━━━━━━━✾━━━━━━━━✾
"Come on Steve! If you don't run faster, we're going to miss the train!" shouted Bucky as he ran through the huge concourse of Grand Central Station, his brown leather suitcase in hand.
"I'm doing the best I can!" yelled Steve, who was a few feet behind Bucky and about to have an asthma attack.
The two best friends had decided to travel around the country for a while before Bucky had to go to Virginia to start his military training at Camp Lehigh.
Bucky was a little over a year older and had made it his mission years ago to play big brother to Steve.
Both were orphans, and unlike Bucky, who still had his sister named Rebecca, Steve had no blood relatives left in the world.
Rebecca was four years younger than her big brother and was just taking the first big steps in her career as a writer.
The young men and Rebecca even lived together in a small apartment not far from the Brooklyn Bridge. So they had created their own little family, even if Rebecca herself was not the biggest fan of Steve.
Ever since Steve and Bucky knew each other, Steve was the hothead who got himself into trouble, and Bucky was the one who kept a cool head and helped his weedy friend out of trouble.
One thing Bucky would never understand was why Steve, despite his numerous illnesses, felt it was important and right to mess with the tough guys on the street.
Sometimes it almost felt to him like Steve was trying to prove something to someone. As if he had to convince the world that he was still man enough with his 5'4 and 101 lbs body.
When they arrived at platform 46 and just managed to jump on the train before it left the station again, Steve almost panicked and searched in his jacket pockets for something.
"Calm down, Pal. Looking for this?" said Bucky in a soft voice as he pulled the ephiderim from Steve's breast pocket and thrust it into his hand.
Quickly, Steve took the syringe his doctor had given him and jammed the thin needle into his thigh.
The Ephiderim began to work immediately and Steve felt his lungs slowly relax and fill with air again.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, fine. Thanks."
Together they searched for their seats in wagon 14, which they had reserved. Their first destination was Baltimore, Maryland, which was about a four-hour train ride away to the south.
