Always Fight | Bucky Barnes |

15

There's always a moment of silence after a soul-crushing defeat.

That one moment is filled with absolutely nothing, only the eery finality of loss that rings through the hearts, minds, souls, and bodies of everyone who fell short. It ravages the loser, leaving them in a state of total and utter disbelief. It's almost as if in that one moment of quiet, we expect to wake up from a nightmare or realize it was all a joke.

This is no nightmare and most certainly is no joke.

We just lost.

I stand slowly, my heart thundering in my chest as Thor stares at Thanos in disbelief.

"What did you do? What'd you do?" He shouts, his voice betraying just how scared he is.

Thanos doesn't respond, but simply uses the stones to disappear in a black cloud of smoke once more. The axe that once rested to its hilt in his chest clatters to the earth and Thor stands in total shock, staring at the empty space where Thanos once stood.

"Thor," I begin, walking up slowly to him on shaking legs, "Did we just lose?"

My words send my heart straight to the floor and my stomach into knots. The God of Thunder looks over at me, his eyes wide and looking every bit as scared as I am. His chest heaves with breath, but before he can respond, Steve walks up to us.

"Where did he go?" he asks, looking between the two of us.

Neither of us know how to respond.

The three of us stand in silence, a silence to quiet that my stomach begins to churn. He said he'd wipe out half of the universe, and I'm begging that it didn't work. I feel bile rise in my throat when my senses light up, though, telling me something I wish it wouldn't. For the first time since I got my powers years ago, I wish I couldn't detect heat signatures. I bring a shaking hand to my mouth, my eyes widening in horror.

"Steve," I whisper, dropping my hand and turning my wide-eyed gaze to Steve who looks at me in apprehension, "Heat signatures, they're disappearing"

Horror settles over Thor, Steve, and I and I feel like I'm going to be sick. I drag a hand through my blonde hair dirtied by blood and battle. None of us have time to say anything in response, though, because something happens next that makes my blood run cold. Something that will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Bucky calls out my name.

"Dawn?"

I whip my head around, my emerald eyes immediately finding Bucky who is walking slowly up to us. The gun he's holding drops from his hands and when his eyes look up to meet mine, I feel my world stop.

No.

Not him.

This isn't happening, not to me. Not to him.

"Bucky?" I question, taking a few hesitant steps towards him. When he turns his gaze back to his hands, I break out into a sprint. I reach him just in time for him to collapse into my arms. I shake my head, refusing to believe what's happening. His metal arm wraps around my shoulder to hold himself up and I use my right arm to support that side. With my other hand, I bring it to his cheek only to find it violently shaking. I touch his cheek, turning his confused eyes to meet my horrified, panicked ones.

"You're fine, you're okay" I ramble, trying to convince myself more than him. My eyes well up with tears as I watch him go sickly pale, something changing in his blue eyes that makes them more distant. A fear spikes in them and he brings his hand to my cheek.

"I love you, Dawn. I love you" he states, only making my heart twist more.

This is a goodbye.

"No, you can't leave me," my breaking voice announces as I shake my head, using every ounce of strength I have to support his weight, "You can't leave me. You promised"