The wind whips sharply, biting through his clothes. The world is white, clouds filling his vision as the snow-covered mountains rise up around him. But in front of him is gray — the train, where his friend stands, hand outstretched, trying to catch him.
He met him shortly after moving to Brooklyn. Steve — small, asthmatic, doesn't-know-when-to-quit Steve — was being bullied, getting his butt kicked, and Bucky stepped in to help him. He knew almost instantly that he had to protect him, and he stuck by him ever since. He did whatever he could for him, every step of the way. He said he'd be with him until the end of the line.
And this is the end of the line.
So goodbye, Steve. Goodbye, Mother. Goodbye Father. Goodbye Becky, goodbye Jo, goodbye Georgie.
Goodbye summer days, running in the yard, laughing and fighting and playing. Goodbye Mother's light voice singing him to sleep, goodbye Father's wise words, hand tousling Bucky's hair as he headed out the door. Goodbye Becky's rolling eyes when he'd sass her, her smile when he'd joke. Goodbye Jo's bright eyes and hurrying feet wherever she'd go. Goodbye Georgie's laughter when they'd play with him, tickle him, pick him up and carry him off upside down, when he'd find his own jokes so funny he couldn't get them out.
Goodbye pretty girls and dances, dinners and kisses and flirtations. Goodbye dreams and wonders and curiosities, goodbye true love, and goodbye future.
Goodbye clouds, goodbye sun, goodbye sky. Goodbye air and light and breathing, the cold on his skin. Goodbye, world, and what could've been.
But then something pulls. Something tugs, something longs. He isn't ready to say goodbye yet.
When darkness overtakes him, before he hits the ground, inside, he continues the fight. And then it seems the world isn't ready to say goodbye yet, either.
The snow hooves up around his heels, his legs. Rivets cut into it as the cold melts and seeps into bones. There's a frozen river of red, trailing along the ground.
But no one will follow it to find him.
YOU ARE READING
Fire and Ice
FanfictionEver since she was little, Kate Carson's favorite thing to do was learn. And, after losing nearly everything and gaining a power she never wanted, she had to learn to adjust -- and she's still learning. The other Avengers have no scruples against fo...
