Steve had thought for a moment that Bucky had somehow magically shown up, like the whole army thing had been a lie and he'd really still been following Steve around at a distance this whole time.

He ignored the hand this time and dragged himself to his feet, wheezing and swaying. "I had... had them on the ropes." He tried to take a step, but staggered and nearly fell. That had been the worst beating he'd taken in a while, and his body was already over taxed.