The battlefield was left in ruin - streets covered in heavy rubble as clouds of thick dust plumed from all direction.

It was hard to tell where the dust ended and where the street started, people could only wander aimlessly through the mist in a desperate hope to find their loved ones that were lost in the destruction.

You could only stand in one place and watch. Even if a fight was won, there was always the second wave of chaos - and that was the aftermath, which always felt much more devastating than the fighting itself.

Through the mix of panicked cries and sobs of both devastation and relief, something had struck you as a little off. Though the rest of your teammates were scattered with the goal of helping hurt citizens and pulling people from the rubble, the one face who you knew would immediately come rushing to you… didn’t.

But through the sirens, the cries, the alarm, you could make out what seemed to be a saddened ‘meow’. The sound was undeniable, both in what it was and who it was from. You knew Alpine had decided to sneak onto the mission and follow Bucky, something she’d done plenty of times, but she was always silent, simply remaining a little quiet companion for the super soldier.

You shuffled through chunks of walls and stepped over shattered windows, eventually spotting that familiar blob of white in the distance.

Alpine seemed incredibly intent on prodding her paw at something, sat and watching it, letting out soft meows - They almost sounded like small cries, pleas. The body she nudged didn’t move, remaining still as it sprawled out on the ground.

And that’s when your stomach dropped, so far down that you almost could’ve thrown it up.

You were immediately beside Alpine, hands trembling as you pushed a few loose pieces of debris off of Bucky’s torso and legs. His chest was hardly moving, and you could only watch as Alpine crawled onto him and sat on his chest, hopelessly pawing at his cheek.

Bucky’s eyes were half-lidded, his once bright blue eyes a dull grey. His cheeks were horribly pale, contrasted heavily by the deep crimson blood slowly pouring from the edge of his mouth and nose, smearing across his forehead.

Alpine’s once pristine white coat was now scattered with grey dust, and her paws were stained a dark red. Her meowing was incessant, but they’d grown into something more of desperation than sadness. She was sat on the chest of the man she loved dearly, not understanding why he wouldn’t move, why he wouldn’t breathe.

You felt totally helpless as the cat tried to wake Bucky up, your heart racing as he laid there unmoving. He was always on the go, never truly in one place for too long, why wasn’t he getting up? Why wasn’t he moving?

You snapped out of your daze and crouched down beside Bucky’s limp body, pressing two fingers against his neck, and against the inside of his wrist, nothing. But it was only when you were about to move away that you felt it, the tiniest beat under his skin. It was faint, but it was there.

But at the same time, you’d also noticed the growing pool of blood across the dirty street under him… And the thick rebar lodged into his side. Bucky had managed to find some energy left in his slowly degrading consciousness and attempted to speak, though all he could manage was a weak sputter and shaky exhale.

His fingers twitched softly, wanting nothing more than to reach out to you or to Alpine, but his body was weak, and his mind was swimming in a haze. His only thoughts were that of regret, of worry - He didn’t want you to see this, he didn’t want this to be the last memory you had of him.