Falling Slowly

5. Wounded But Okay

1.6k words

"So, after we swam in the ocean, we started talking." Emma traced her finger around the top of her coffee cup, looking between Sam and Bucky. "He began to tell me about Tony and how every father figure he had died."

"He gets a new dad every other year." Sam rolled his eyes.

"Shut the fuck up." Emma glared at Sam. "You don't know what it's like to lose someone."

"In case you don't remember, my best friend left me here with his legacy." Sam growled, pushing his finger into the table. Bucky's jaw clenched, but he kept his mouth shut. "Not to mention all the friends I lost in the war."

"You didn't have to watch your parents be destroyed by something you couldn't stop!" Emma slammed her hand on the table.

"You still have your brother." Sam shook his head. "He's literally in this state and you haven't visited him once since you got here."

"You have no sympathy for anyone but yourself, do you?" Emma scoffed. She held her hands up by her shoulders. "You know what, I think I'll go to the park early to meet up with Adam. I hope you both have a good day."

Emma grabbed her coat from the coat hanger and went out to the cool Autumn air of Queens. She kept an eye out for anyone suspicious as she always did. A man shaking a change can beside her caught her attention.

Emma smiled softly and pulled a few dollars out of her pocket. She dropped them in the can, but when she tried move away, he grabbed her wrist.

"Um, please let me go." Emma met the man's eyes to intimidate him, but his grip didn't let up.

He pulled Emma into the alley, everyone walking by not caring what went on. Emma pulled back just as hard, but this man was stronger. Emma began to panic. She left all her gadgets at the facility because all she was doing was going out with Adam.

The man slung her to the ground and three other men came out. One held a gun up. He towered over her with a sneer. Emma tried to keep her fear inside so they would leave her alone, but none of them moved.

They all had masks on, so she couldn't identify them. The one with the gun squatted and held the gun to her temple.

"Who are you?" The man asked. "Why are you here?"

"I'm just trying to get to my date." Emma stared at the gun from the corner of her eye. "Now I'll be late."

"That's a fucking lie." The second man kicked my leg. "Tell the truth."

"What more truth do you want?" Emma cocked an eyebrow at him.

"We now you work for S.H.I.E.LD." The original captor crossed his arms. "We don't have those files you're looking for."

"Then where the hell are they?" Emma groaned.

"Not here." The man with the gun pressed the barrel harder to her temple. "But we know who has them."

"Well, who?" Emma asked. "You're obviously gonna kill me anyway, so why don't you just tell me?"

"Fair." The man with the gun shrugged. "It's-"

He was cut off by a man in red spandex kicking him in the throat. He pulled the trigger and shot Emma in the shoulder.

"Ah!" Emma grabbed the man on the other side of her by the ankle and jerked his foot out from under him. "Fuck!"

The man flipped and hit his head on the ground. Emma made sure to punch him as good as she could laying down. The "homeless" man went at Emma, but the spandex man kicked him into the wall, too.