𝓲𝓷𝓼𝓸𝓶𝓷𝓲𝓪𝓬 ❖ 𝓫. 𝓫𝓪𝓻𝓷𝓮𝓼

C H A P T E R (17) - R A N T

Bucky placed himself between Cassie and Ryan, acting as a shield.

"Bucky, don't, this isn't your fight." She insisted, but she wasn't strong enough to move him away.

"It doesn't have to be a fight, not if you just give me what I want." Ryan negotiated, taking a step closer.

Cassie looked between the men in front of her, internally debating whether she should hand it over or not. Bucky kept his eyes on Ryan, watching as he shifted from side to side, taunting them with the small blade in his fingers. Cassie decided to step forward, pushing past Bucky's attempts to keep her back.

She brought her hands to the back of her neck, fiddling with the clasp of the necklace she wore. She held it in her hands and stared at it for a few seconds before throwing it in Ryan's general direction, it landing just by his feet.

"Pick it up."

"What?" Cassie questioned in disbelief as she began to breathe heavily, the consequences of her actions playing on her conscience.

"Get on your knees and pick it up for me."

Cassie clenched her teeth as she took the few steps closer to him, dropping to her knees at his feet. The urge to hit him in the crotch again was strong, but he still held the knife in his hand. So she decided to take the high road and gather the necklace in her hands, bringing it up to where Ryan outstretched his. She could feel Bucky's eyes boring holes in her back, watching the exchange carefully.

"Thank you," he said sarcastically, shoving the necklace in his pocket, "And there's a tax for taking so long."

Before Cassie could interject and ask what he meant, he brought down the blade and slashed across her cheek and stomach, running away shortly after. Cassie dropped on her side with a shriek, hands clutching her bleeding wounds.

"Cassie!" Bucky yelled as he kneeled down next to her.

The pain pulsed through her veins, sending a burning sensation through her abdomen and cheek. She felt as the warm blood dripped out of her open gashes and spilled onto the concrete she lay on. She kept telling herself that her wounds weren't fatal, but that didn't prevent the throbbing pain.

She watched as Bucky removed his uniform jacket and put pressure on her stomach, covering it with the item of clothing. She had tried to push it off, but the wounds had made her too weak to be able to even try.

"Don't you need the jacket?"

"Not as much as I need you." He replied instantly.

"You're sappy, Barnes." She joked quietly, trying to ignore the pain that made her voice lower.

"And you're bleeding, Rogers."

He placed an arm under her neck and under her knees, supporting her as he carried her out of the dark alley. He reached the light of the sun and placed her down on a nearby bench. He pulled his jacket back, her blood staining it. As he began cleaning it and trying to patch it up with whatever he had, he finally had the time to talk to her and ask her the questions he wanted answers to.

"What was so important about that necklace that you had to get stabbed twice for it?"

"Technically I wasn't stabbed. It was more of a slash." She explained, dodging the question.

"I don't think that's any better."

"I do." She countered.

Bucky rolled his eyes and continued to clean out her cut, watching as she let out a groan of pain as he got closer to the large gash on her stomach. He flinched at the sudden sight of the amount of pain she was in, wanting nothing more than to take it all away.