“Steve.”
Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
Can I just step in here for a second and point out that when Steve found Bucky, he was all alone, repeating his name rank and serial number (which is what soldiers are trained to let be the only things they say under torture or interrogation) to an empty room. They’ve clearly broken him to the point where all he can do is just keep saying that over and over again. And what’s the first thing he says when he snaps out of it?
That. Fucking. Smile.
Ok I put this in the tags before but fuck it, I’m a fandom middleaged and we add unnecessary comments dammit:
You cannot convince me that Bucky didn’t think he was dead here, and that’s why he’s got that giddy little smile and why he’s not initially shocked that Steve is taller and broader and dressed like a soldier. I go by the assumption that Bucky is at least nominally Christian, so he was probably taught at some point that in Heaven the dead have glorified bodies, and since Steve is now all the things he wanted to be…Steve died while Bucky was overseas, and he’s come to take Bucky to the afterlife, and Bucky’s finally done with the fear and torture and listening to people die on the tables around him.
He realizes that they’re not dead in the middle of being pulled off the table. That’s why he goes from having That Smile to being bewildered, and then almost angry-sounding as they’re trying to find their way out. Because for a brief, shining moment he thought the horror show was over, but it’s not.
Adds another layer to the “no not without you” scene doesn’t it
hannahbelleeeebackup 