𝒯he sun was glaring down at the busy city of New York, the sound of giggling ladies and young, enthusiastic, strong hearted soldiers filled the buzzing streets of Brooklyn.

The ladies walked in groups, eyeing up the young enlisted soldiers, ready to fight the war for their homes, their loved ones. Mothers were keeping a watchful eye out for their sons and husbands, brothers and fathers. Secretly hoping their loved ones would somehow not be enlisted.

The men were hot-blooded, young and filled with the dream of being heroes. There was a romantic undertone to war and the stories of bloody battles and tragic love stories.

In the mists of it all, was a small, young man by the name of Steve Rogers pushing his way through the tall soon-to-be-soldiers. His hair was golden like the sun and his eyes were filled with determination. Every time he had offered his name, he had been turned down. He was a small, weak and sickly young man. No doctor had given him an allowance. Despite all the hardships, Steve Rogers was not giving up. It was his destiny, and he felt it in his tiny bones and weakly beating heart.

What Steve was not thinking about, was the reckless, fifteen years old he had left behind in his journey to became a soldier.

William Rogers was roughly almost ten years younger than his stubborn older brother. Despite the age differences, Will had gotten a tall built from their father, Joseph. And because of that, he had already grown a little taller than Steve, which was frustrating the older sibling just lightly.

As much as William tried to tag along, Steve and Bucky were always shrugging him off, leaving the young Rogers often alone. It didn't really make him sad, however, it did give him a lot of bad ideas. After all, how could a young, teenage boy keep out of trouble, especially when he is alone?

As much as Williams mother had taught him to be a gentleman, the boy just ended up as another street rat.

William easily dodged through the crowds, his pearly whites flashing like a thousand bucks. His blue eyes glistened like the sun mirroring against a deep blue lake, his hair the color of ripe crops messily falling over his golden brows. Some lone freckles were splattered over his sun-kissed cheeks like lonesome stars covering the sky. The young lad would have looked handsome if it weren't for the dirt and grime that hid the youth under itself.

His brown trousers had tears and grass smudges on them, he had snatched them from his fathers closet a long long time ago, realizing the fact that Joseph was never going to wear those again. They were held up by worn out suspenders, of course, Will would have preferred if it were a belt, since it was more fashionable but he barely had a penny on him. His white shirt wasn't really that white anymore, more like faded yellow by all the washing it had gotten.

"Rosa! Wait up!" he called out to the young girl walking in the distance.

Rosalinda Carter had been in Williams mind since he had first laid his blue orbs upon her. He had thought she was an angel. Her eyes were the prettiest shade of golden brown and her hair was the colour of the sun. In Williams' eyes, no girl would ever be match to Rosalinda's eternal beauty. Unlike his brother, Will was a lot more talkative.

Rosa was a year older than Will, and she was from a very wealthy family, but that didn't shake William from the dreams of American future with her.

The girl turned around, her curls bouncing against the sun as her smile widened. William became to a halt before her. He looked like a boy beside her, but Will knew in a year or two he would be taller than Rosa.

"Morning doll!" he had heard Bucky use this nickname on girls, he was giving the pet name a try-go, seeing Rosa's cheeks heating up made the blue-eyed boy grin widely. Who knew a word would work like that. "Good afternoon William, how have you been?" his blue eyes twinkled as she looked at Rosa, pulling them both on the side for they had been standing in the middle of the street. "Good, good, Steve is trying out again, I know he won't be enlisted but for some reason, he really wants to go." Rosa smiled, even though there was a hint of sympathy in her beautiful eyes.

"My sister and brother are both in the army as well, if it makes you feel better, they are both okay," she said with her clear British accent that made William nearly swoon.

He was a young boy fallen hopelessly in love.

"Don't worry, Rosa. I'm sure Steve will finally come to a realization." he smiled, wishing to hear more of her voice that called to him like honey to bees. As she opened her mouth to say something else, she was cut off by a sharp, firm voice.

"Rosalind! Come now, we're finished here!" both teens glanced across the street, seeing a tall, skinny woman with expensive clothes and hair the same colour as Rosa's. She was glaring coldly at William, waving Rosa to come over. "I have to go, see you tomorrow? Good luck to your brother, William." all he could do was smile like an idiot and nod as he watched her go to her strict mother.

Will knew it wasn't easy to ask her hand once they were both proper age, but he had a plan.

William dashed through the crowds back to his apartment, knowing the streets of Brooklyn like the back of his hand.

He pushed the door open so hard it bounced back from the wall, the loud noise making the two sitting behind the kitchen table jump from the sudden sound. Williams blue eyes were filled with stars as he closed the door, ignoring Steve's unamused look.

"You know, next time don't abuse the door, Willy, what did the poor thing ever to do you?" Bucky smiled widely, hooking Will under his arm as the boy was about to sit. Bucky curled his fingers and gave grunting William a good head noogie. The blond boy was madly trying to pull away from the man, but Bucky was simply too strong. As he finally let William go, the boy stumbled back and landed on his bum.

He scoffed at the sound of their loud laughter, rubbing his backside as he pushed himself up. "Bucky! You're so annoying!" he muttered angrily, this time choosing Steve's side of the table to sit on.

At least Steve was small and weak.

"Only for you, punk," Will swore he could see Bucky's smile reach from one ear to another as he amusedly watched the younger Rogers getting red-faced. He glanced aside, watching the old, red towel Steve was holding to the side of his face.

He could see the red bruise forming and the cold water running down Steve's angular face, Steve got his butt kicked again. "Brotherly advice Steve, if you see a big, burly man coming at you, you usually run not stay glued to the spot like a sitting duck." Bucky's eyes danced between the brothers, to Steve's annoyance, he nodded along with William.

"I did nothing wrong," he said, not raising his voice even when he was annoyed. Steve had always been timid and gentle. There was no way Will could imagine someone like him in the middle of gunfire and dying men.

Steve was too innocent.

"They think you did." The younger of the tree said matter of factly, looking unamused. "They were wrong." Bucky leaned back, looking at how it would play out. "Maybe you were wrong to assume that they were wrong?"

"You weren't there, you can't tell."

"I wasn't there the last hundred and fifty times either if a sheep runs away, it's not the sheep, it must be the fence. Get it, Steve? You're the fence."

"What? Useless and broken?" He fired back, clutching the towel harder as he looked at his younger brother. His younger brother who was almost his height. "no, maybe that was wrong example, what I meant, is that these aren't the same people beating you up, what are you trying to prove? That you're a what, a God? Someone who could take on a bunch of Nazis, and until then you train on big, stupid bullies?" William grumbled, his cheeks heating up with anger as he narrowed his eyes at Steve.

"I was simply protecting myself, William," Steve said with the same calmness that agitated the younger brother even more. "You're going to get yourself killed one of these days!"

"I'm older than you, you're just a kid." that hurt William, he hated to be seen as a kid, he can handle beggars, he can handle living without parents, he could handle the lack of money and cold nights. How could Steve dare to say he's just a kid?

He is William Rogers. He could run like wind and steal like a professional.

"And you're just a small man." Will knew he had hit a sore spot as soon as he saw Steve's eyes snap up at him. "At least I'm honest and I have goals. What do you got?" he didn't insult his brother, but William was already pissed off.

Bucky, realizing what could happen between the two decided to interfere. "Hey, calm down. I was there William, you got nothing to worry about, right?" he said, looking firmly at Steve who was too calm and William who seemed to be too upset.

The younger Rogers snorted, crossing his arms as he had jumped up from the stool. He was not pleased. "Yeah, and somehow I see his face bruised and not yours, Barny," he said, knowing Bucky wasn't fond of him being called Barny.

"Don't get so riled up, okay? We need to stick together. Especially you two." Bucky said, taking Steve's wet towel to give the siblings some alone time,

The apartment they lived in was small and often dusty, William didn't like to clean and Steve wasn't there that often. The outdated newspapers laid across the table with half-burnt candles and some dead flies. The pictures that stood near the fireplace were almost faded yellow due to the constant sunlight.

"I'm sorry Steve." the younger of the two gave up, still deciding to stand instead of sitting. Steve's baby blue eyes glanced up, the determination and fire in them making William shudder. "It's fine, I'm sorry, too. I guess it's not healthy for you to see me beat up all the time. But just for your reassurance, it was all under control." Steve stood up, not breaking the eye contact with his brother for once as he looked at him sincerely.

William sighed, holding out his hand. "Truce?" Steve glanced at his tanned hand, pushing it aside as he went in for a hug, making William chuckle." of course, Will."

(gif credits to amazing oakenshield_)