Chapter Text
What if…?
… The winter soldier didn’t run away?
"Time… space... reality… it's more than a linear path, is a prism of endless possibilities, where a single choice can branch out into infinite realities…"
"I'm with you 'till the end of the line… "
Those where Steve Rogers lasts words before falling into unconsciousness, and into the cold water of the Potomac River.
The Winter Soldier… James Buchanan Barnes —apparently— watched him as he sank, unable to understand the feeling in his chest and the confusion in his head. Who the hell was this guy? And why on earth wasn't he able to finish the goddamn mission? What did his words even mean?
I'm with you 'till the end of the line...
He looked up, the helicarrier was about to collapse and he was on his way to be smashed. He
needed to go.
He was already swimming to the bank of the river when an image assaulted his mind.
"I'm with you 'till the end of the line, pal. "
He was pretty sure the voice in his head was his own. He was looking down at a skinny short blonde guy, he looked terribly sad but his stubborn face irritated him. He looked like he could use some help, more like he needed it, but still, he refused. And still he, Bucky, stayed with him.
He recognized him. The same guy who just fell in the river.
He took a deep breath, and against all his training, he came back.
In another time-line, James Buchanan Barnes a.k.a the Winter Soldier, took Steve Rogers out of the Potomac and left to find answers, to find himself, to try to be free. And after that Steve and his now right hand, and later on best friend, Sam Wilson started a long search to find him.
Those events, aggravated by others, later ended in a battle between the Avengers. It became the reason why they weren't together the moment Thanos arrived on earth. And ultimately, it would be the reason why they lost the war.
In this time-line though, confused and lost, realizing for the first time the reality of what happened around him and feeling the weight of what he did during all those years, the Winter Soldier took Steve out of the water, and stayed next to him. Trying and failing to remember. The only two things he knew for sure were that he knew this man and that he had done a lot of terrible things.