#alternate version yo previous ficlet

[stevesbipanic]

I see you your Eddie dying needlessly at Jason Carver’s hand and raise you a Steve jumped in front of the bullet and dies in his place

Cue Eddie’s insane guilt spiral

Just when I thought it couldn't get more cruel.

Steve had been through a lot in his life.

He remembers the first time his dad grabbed his wrist a little too tightly. When his dad stopped once Steve became big enough to hit back. That was around the same time his parents stopped coming back.

He'd lost so many fights, some of them he deserved. He and Jonathan were both wrong, but at least the hit to the skull rattled something loose that made Steve want to change. The black eye was worth it.

Steve would take the beating from Billy again as long as all his kids were kept safe behind him. He'd face a hundred demodogs to keep them safe no matter how bloody and tired he was.

Steve would go through the torture all over again to make sure Robin didn't have to be taken away by the Russians. He'd rather be beaten blue and drugged than see her hurt.

He'd take almost drowning and being ripped apart by demobats so Nancy didn't have to feel the way Barb did when she died.

He'd take all the beatings, all the blood, all the pain to keep the kids safe. To keep any of his family safe.

So really it's no wonder Steve had pushed Eddie away from him when he saw that glint of silver in the corner of his eye. Eddie had become part of his family. As a tearful Eddie above him, who Steve thinks is trying to tell him something, slowly became blurry and dark, Steve knew he'd do it all again, so that the bullet never hit Eddie.