John had grown up poor and loved and knew how to give it out. Buck had been raised poor and hated and all he knew was how to lap it up like a stray dog. He’d bitten many a hand that had fed him but not John’s, never John’s.
Teen, introspective Gale POV after he escapes without Bucky. This is pre-slash of the best kind (which in my head absolutely leads to a happy ending), an amazing, totally believable Gale and an emotional alternative version of the conversation in the cockpit in episode 9.