This Is Stella's Reality

January 4, 2015

My feet pounded across metal grates, flinging magic in every which direction. This mission had gone horribly wrong. Our intel was bad, we were outnumbered, and the Hydra compound we were in was a labyrinth of twisting hallways and dead ends.

Various screams rang in my ears. The team was dropping like flies. Hulk was somewhere near me, ripping through hoards of Hydra agents.

I stopped to catch my breath. My chest was heaving, and my skin burned like 1000 suns. The only Avengers still on the field were myself, Bucky, Steve, Tony, Thor, and Hulk. Clint, Natasha, and Sam had gotten too injured and were in recovery on the quinjet.

"Status," I croaked into my comms device.

Tony was yelling, "We need to get the hell out of here. JARVIS is giving me zero readings. There's nothing here. This was a red herring."

My blood ran cold. Steve was talking now, "What do you mean there's nothing here?"

"I mean there's nothing fucking here, Cap. It's just us, a maze, and hundreds of agents." Tony's suit was whirring and firing into crowds. It was the only sound that echoed in my ears as I put two and two together.

My hand slapped my comms device, straining to hear Bucky's voice. "Buck?" The panic in my voice was clear. "Where are you?"

Blood curdling screams hit my ears, "Third floor, east wing." He sounded out of breath. My feet moved without hesitation. This was a trap. I knew it was.

I flew past bullets, men screamed, and I flung agents through walls. I ran through the door of the room Bucky had said he was in.

It was silent. There were bodies on the floor. The air smelled like metal. I hit the button to take off my helmet. "Bucky?" My voice was trembling.

"He's busy." I whipped my head around. Bucky laid unconscious on the floor by a man's feet. Blood trickled in a thick stream from Bucky's head. My heart stopped.

I swallowed my fear, "Who are you?"

The man chuckled, "It won't matter to you for long." He threw something at me, and I used my magic to knock it away. It didn't work. The device connected with my skin and brought my wrists together. They were magnetic handcuffs or something. I couldn't separate my hands, and my magic wouldn't work.

I looked up at him in fear, and he laughed. "Prototype. To control people like you." He stepped towards me and gripped my chin, "You're dangerous, little witch. But, you'll make a nice weapon." He motioned back towards Bucky, "Like him."

Anger and fear seeped under my skin and spread all over me. Tears brimmed in my eyes. His thumb stroked my cheek, "Oh, no need to cry, sweet thing. You won't even remember what fear is."

Bucky's self-defense lessons played in the back of my mind. I can do this. I breathed. Now.

My foot stomped on his, and he yelped in pain. I hooked my connected wrists around his neck and used his own weight to bring myself upwards. My calf rested on his shoulder, and I leaned back, bringing us both crashing to the floor.

I rolled away quickly and kicked his jaw hard. The snap of his bones rang in my ears, and he stopped moving. My shoulder moved to bring my helmet back over my face, and I crouched next to Bucky.

The team was screaming over comms. "Guys," I was so afraid, "I need immediate extraction."

"Where?" Steve's voice was quick. He came barreling through the door and scooped me into his arms. My hands were still bound, and I was shaking. He tossed Bucky's arm over his shoulders and carried both of us out of the compound.