A/N: It's me again, with another new story. XD But this time will be different. I've signed myself up for the Cap Big Bang and I've made a promise that this entire story will be completed and posted by October 26th. So stick around and check the fic out when it gets posted on AO3 or tumblr to see my collaboration with my awesome artists araydre and sgt-graves.

Disclaimer: Inspired by both Edge of Tomorrow and a tumblr post about a superhero with the ability to reset the day each time they die. As such, there will be multiple "deaths" in the story, including suicide attempts to escape the cycle. Please don't proceed if that will be triggering for you.

Bucky cried out as Zola plunged the needle into his arm. Pain radiated outward, like liquid fire coursing through his veins and he arched off the exam table, the restraints cutting into his skin.

"Excellent reaction time," Zola murmured. He scribbled something in his notebook and then stepped out of the room, leaving Bucky alone in the darkness with nothing but his growling stomach to keep him company.

He had lost track of how long he had been strapped to the table. Days, weeks maybe. There had been endless tests, each more painful than the last.

To keep himself sane, he repeated his name, rank, and serial number over and over again into the emptiness. It helped ground him, reminding him that he had an identity, a life outside the torture chamber. Even if he was slowly losing hope he'd ever get back to that life. He was getting weaker and weaker by the day.

Bucky's eyes slipped shut. "Sergeant…32557…Buch-"

He felt a hand on his chest, shaking him and he fell silent, slowly opening his eyes. It was time for more torture and it would only be worse if they thought he was sleeping. Being jolted awake with a cattle prod was far from the worst he had suffered, but he wasn't going to give them any reason to go harder on him. He sucked in a breath and braced himself for the sharp pain of the needle.

But then he felt the restraints being ripped off. That was new. He blinked, focusing his eyes on the man in front of him.

Holy hell. He knew those big, blue eyes like the back of his hand.

"Is…is that..?" Bucky hardly dared hope.

"It's me. It's Steve."

"Steve." He barely had the energy to move, but he found himself smiling helplessly.

"Come on."

"Steve," Bucky repeated as he was hauled off the table. He still couldn't believe he was actually getting rescued by his best pal, but maybe if he said it enough, it would actually be true.

Steve clapped Bucky on the shoulder and steadied him on his feet. "I thought you were dead."

"I thought you were smaller."

Bucky's gaze wandered over Steve's body. Jesus Christ. Little Stevie looked like he had put on at least a hundred pounds, all of it pure muscle. Broad shoulders, broad chest, legs like fucking tree trunks. He was built like a fucking tank now. Maybe Bucky had been trapped in Zola's lab for longer than he thought.

"Come on," Steve said. He slipped an arm under Bucky shoulder and started half-dragging, half-carrying him out of the room.

"What happened to you?"

"I joined the army."

"Bullshit. That's one hell of a growth spurt, pal." Bucky had joined the army, too, and he hadn't sprouted muscles like Steve's.

"No time to explain," Steve said. "We've got to get you out of here."

Bucky groaned. "I'm okay, Stevie. Put me down."

As hot as it was having his formerly tiny best friend drag him down the hall like he weighed no more than a sack of potatoes, he wasn't about to let Steve do all the work.

Steve raised one eyebrow. "You sure, Buck? You're wounded."

"I can manage," Bucky said. "I ain't gonna slow you down."

Steve gave him a dubious look, but he took a moment to settle Bucky back on his feet.

Bucky staggered after him as Steve made his way briskly down the hall. "So, which army'd you join, the space aliens?"

Steve sighed. "It was an experimental program. Put together by Dr. Erskine and Howard Stark. Called it the Supersoldier Serum."

"Jesus, Stevie," Bucky muttered.

After watching Stark's flying car demonstration fail, Steve should have had second thoughts about putting his life in the guy's hands. But that was his Stevie. Always doing stupid shit when Bucky wasn't around to stop him.

Bucky hurried to catch up with him. "Did it hurt?"

"A little."

"Is it permanent?"

"So far." Steve glanced back and quickened his pace.

He seemed too distracted for conversation. It was understandable. Bucky wanted out of this hellhole as soon as possible, too. But it had been so long since he'd seen a friendly face or had someone to talk to.

"You know where you're going?" Bucky asked.

They were somewhere deep within the base now, running across metal catwalks instead of solid ground. Steve pulled up against a railing and took a glance around and then down.

Something exploded far down in the depths of the base and Bucky's eyes went wide as a piece of debris came flying right at him.

He woke up on the table in Zola's lab, jerking to consciousness at the feel of a cattle prod against his leg.

Damn. It had been one hell of a dream.

He endured whatever the hell they injected him with, arching his back and screaming as the horrible concoction surged through his veins.

"Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes," Bucky said through gritted teeth. "32557038."

Zola scribbled something in his notes and then, blessedly, left Bucky alone to recover.

Bucky took a shuddering breath and willed his heart rate to slow. It still hurt like a bitch, but the worst of it was over for now. In another hour, the pain would start to dull into something manageable as the experiment worked its way through his body.

Fuck, he had gotten pathetic. What the hell was the matter with him, dreaming of Steve coming to his rescue? He missed Stevie like hell, that was for sure. And really, Steve would probably be the only one who cared about Bucky enough to stage a rescue deep into enemy territory. But putting his little spitfire in a strong body was the stuff of fairytales. And he couldn't afford to let his mind drift into fantasies, couldn't afford to hope.

He let his eyes slip shut. The whole process was exhausting and he just felt so weak.

He didn't know how long he laid there, dazed and half-conscious, but a sound quickly brought him back to full attention. Someone was in the room with him, and instead of sticking a needle into his arm, they were ripping off his restraints. That had never happened before, except…except…

Bucky's eyes darted to the end of the table.

Steve. All big and muscular, just like he had dreamt.

He blinked a few times, but Steve was still there. "I'm going crazy," he muttered.

"No, Buck. It's me. It's Steve." Steve clapped him on the shoulder. "Come on." He helped him up and off of the table.

"I thought you were dead," Steve murmured, his eyes boring into Bucky's for a moment as he steadied him on his feet.

"That makes two of us," Bucky muttered.

Maybe that was it. Maybe he had died on the table after Zola's experiments and his first experience in heaven was having his rescue dream play out for real. But then that would mean Stevie was dead, too, which was a distressing thought. But if it meant he was finally out of that frail, sickly body Bucky wasn't going to be too torn up about it.

"I'm getting you out of here, Buck," Steve said determinedly. He slung an arm around Bucky's shoulder and started dragging him out of the room.

"So, you joined the army, just like you always wanted," Bucky said. "I didn't know heaven had an army."

"I don't know what you're going on about, Buck, but I joined the U.S. army."

"And the uniform looks great on you, Stevie. But your body is a miracle. Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?"

Steve sighed and stood Bucky up against a wall. "If you're strong enough for that kind of talk, you're strong enough to walk."

Bucky shrugged and stumbled after him.

It looked more like they were walking into hell than heaven, with the glow of fire around them and the hard metal under their feet.

He heard the roar of an explosion from down below and jerked back instinctively. A piece of debris clattered against the metal railing.

"Shit," he breathed.

Just a little closer and it could have been him. Had been him.

Jesus.

He didn't have much time to reflect because Steve was off running again, up stairs, around corners. Bucky was horribly disoriented and he was pretty sure they were lost and Steve had no idea where he was going.

"Captain America!" a voice called out and Steve came to a halt.

Bucky didn't recognize the man taunting Steve, but he did recognize the man with him.

Zola.

Bucky swallowed and took a step backwards as Steve stepped forward.

It was an unusual position for him. Usually Steve was in a fight way over his head and Bucky had to step in and help. But Bucky knew he wasn't going to be of any help in this fight. How was he supposed to compete with a guy who could dent metal with his fist? He seemed scarily strong.

And he was even scarier when he started ripping off his face, revealing horrifying red bone underneath.

Bucky's stomach lurched. "You don't have one of those, do you?"

It would be the perfect demonic trick. Lull Bucky into believing that Stevie was really here to save him and then have it all stripped away.

Luckily, Steve's face stayed on and the elevator doors closed behind the horrible demon-faced man, sealing him from Bucky's sight.

Relief was short lived. The base was still being rocked with explosions. They had to get out of there now.

Steve glanced upwards and Bucky followed his gaze. There was a door, looked like an exit door. But it was way above them and clear on the other side of the room. There was no way they could fight their way through all the explosions to get to the other side.

"Come on," Steve said, urging Bucky upwards.

Bucky blanched when he saw the thin metal support beam Steve had found.

Oh hell no. There was no way this was safe. There was no way a human was meant to put weight on this flimsy thing. It was probably the only way to the other side at this height. But there was no way they'd make it.

"Let's go. One at a time," Steve said. He helped Bucky over the railing.

Bucky swallowed and focused on putting one foot in front of the other as the metal creaked under his feet. He was halfway there. He was going to make it.

Another explosion rocked the base and the metal pitched beneath his feet. Bucky flailed his arms wildly, but he couldn't regain his footing.

"Bucky!" Steve screamed.

Bucky jerked awake on the table.

Goddamnit.