He knew one thing, at some point, they had moved bases but William had been way out of it to understand what exactly was going on. All he knew was that there had been angry shouting, collecting of things and he was being locked inside a truck, the rumbling of the vehicle had made him flinch and try to soothe his muscles, they ached.

But after that, there was mostly darkness and a disturbing, high pitched noise that made his head bound and stomach acid come up. He didn't know how long ago it was, but he knew this base he was currently was a lot rustier. But he was weak, barely able to keep himself breathing through the muscle spasms and the loud sound he made every time he inhaled oxygen.

So once he saw a group of soldiers alike stumble into the room his heartbeat had increased dangerously. He didn't know what it was that burned his muscles and turned his blood into lava, so the mere sigh of the soldiers made him almost cry out desperately for them to leave him alone, only to realize he was too weak to do anything.

To his relief, there was another person they lowered on the table, whoever it was, was definitely injected with something. They didn't even acknowledge William who was chained in the corner, and for the first time in his life, he was thankful for it. They muttered angrily, and he allowed his eyes to flutter shut to try and tame the headache at least a little.

He felt blood trickle down his lips that were cracked due to mild dehydration and dryness. And for a second, he felt as if his mind was playing tricks on him and he was back home, resting on Mrs Davis' couch as the woman baked some cookies. He could almost hear her humming off tune, sending a glare over her shoulder once Will woke to let him know he had not watered the flower beds. And then Mrs Davis' face morphed, her stature growing smaller and wrinkles disappearing. Her lips that were in thin line quirked upwards and the brown irises flashed with familiar blue. Mom!

But when Will opened his eyes again, he was met with hard reality.

He was not going home.

But what made his tired eyes sharpen was the realization that the soldiers had disppeared, leaving one doctor tending to the soldier and the mans face on the table was clear as a sunny day. William's heart skipped a beat and he felt many emotions tackle his chest.

Bucky Barnes' eyes were wide open, but unseeing. His chest was steadily moving up and down, letting William know the man was alive. Bucky was alive, Bucky was right there!

He tried to get up, tried to call out to him, but he couldn't. He was weak. Bucky kept mumbling words, numbers and places in random order, mostly incoherently. 

Will could feel the chains around his neck as if he was a dog, the metal rubbing against his tender and raw skin. The sound of water dripping somewhere far, far away. His back had gone numb by the cold and he hated the fact he had no shirt or blanket to cover his upper body. All energy seemed to have been taken from him, and everything hurt. He had kept saying Buckys name under his breath, hoping to wake the man of his paralyzed state, laying on the other side of the room on a metal table. It hurt to watch him there, it hurt both physically and mentally. And William wished he was strong enough to fight the bonds, kill the doctor and save Bucky.

Will's lungs burned, it felt as though someone had bashed his ribs in and now they were sticking out from his lungs, slowly killing him. He took a shuddered breath, so very slowly turning his head to get a better view of the table across the room.

It was Bucky Barnes, no doubt about it. He could recognize the man's features and side profile everywhere. Bucky had been around for as long as Will could remember, he was family. He opened his cracked lips, trying to cry out his name once again. But all that left his lips was a warm whisper that got lost in the cold echoes of the freezing base. He just wanted Bucky to know he was across the room, he was right there. Williams bruised fingers twitched, too cold and numb to curl properly.

He felt powerless as his red-rimmed eyes looked longingly across the floor, so close yet so far away. William was nearly a man now, but feeling such pain and seeing someone he almost considers father figure just lying there made Will want to crawl over and find comfort in his presence alone. He wanted to feel safe again, feel protected. He was tired of always being on high alert.

But Bucky was obviously hurt and William needed to do something, anything. His mind kept screaming to get the doctor away from his brother. 

He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as he tried to reach up to the chain that was tight around his neck. His grime-covered fingers twitched almost three millimeters, but that was about it. A gurgling, defeated sigh escaped his shallow lungs and he seemed to fall deeper into despair.

He could hear a commotion somewhere further away, the sound of heavy footsteps, rattling keys and hurried whispers. It made the doctor grab his coat and dash away, giving one last glance to the two Brooklyn boys.

A familiar sound of bullets echoed far from them, but he perked awake just a little, heavy eyes open as he tiredly lulled his head towards Bucky and the sound of footsteps.

His breath hitched as he saw a gigantic form of a man enter alarmingly silently, immediately rushing to Buckys side. William felt panic arise, angry as he imagined the worst. His eyes burned, but he kept looking, trying to fight through the haze and free his body of paralization that threatened to pull his mind into a void.

He relaxed, just briefly as the man's hands gently stroked Bucky's cheek, and instead of abusing the confused soldier, the bulky man tried to wake him up gently, William noticed. "Bucky?" he asked, and a cold jolt ran down Will's numb back. "Buck?" Bucky's head lulled to right lightly, his open, unseeing eyes landing on the man whose face was covered in grime. It couldn't be. The man looked over Barnes "oh my god" said the tall man as he broke the cuffs that held Bucky. They clinked, the sound so loud to William's ears.

"Is that... is that" Bucky barely whispered, eyes on the tall man as William looked it all helplessly from the corner of the room, eyes closing as the energy had left his body. "It's me, Steve." no, no it couldn't be Steve. "Steve?" "Come on." Steve helped Bucky up, allowing him to lean against him as he tried to get rid of the ringing in his ears and numbness in his body. "I thought you were dead." 

"I thought you were smaller."

William, with the last energy he had left, tried to alert them of his presence somehow, just the shuffling of the chains would have sufficed. And he managed it, a small movement and clinking of chains that was drowned out by an explosion. Making Steve(or the man who looked and sounded like Steve) and Bucky leave the room. 

Williams chin trembled and his body stopped moving after the rumble of the explosion died down. Bucky was going to be safe, and William was going to see Mama. Will wanted to see Mama. So he closed his eyes, hoping it would be the final time because he was tired, so tired. 

And so, the young soldier fell into oblivion.

Thank you all so much for the feedback, votes and just being there(ghosts or not!), it means so much and you all have helped me to keep on writing Williams story. It's been amazing journey, thank you guys.