Blue || Bucky Barnes

54. Blue

Well below the earth Bruce holds up tons of debris on his back. His actions are preventing rock from falling on several of his fellow Avengers. Beside him Rocket is restrained under some of the rubble.
"I can't breathe! I can't breathe! I can't breathe!" Rocket yells as water crashes around them.
Rhodey's suit is crushed around him from the force of his fall. "Canopy. Canopy. Canopy!" He repeats as the damaged suit opens up letting him out. He groans as he falls into the water.

"Rhodey, Rocket, get out of here!!" Hulk yells trying to hold the debris up with his one good arm. Leia's healing had been interrupted by the blasts so it wasn't quite complete.

"Aaahhh!!" Leia yells out trapped underneath heavy rock. Her whole body feels like it's on fire. It's something she's never felt before. It's like her body is tingling, healing itself, but more injuries are being inflicted on top of them. She hasn't felt this kind of pain in decades.
"Ow!" She cries tears falling from her eyes. She can vaguely hear other voices near her but her senses are clouded by the sheer pain coursing through her body. She tries to take some deep breaths but there's rubble restricting her chest. Leia tries to move but it's an impossible task.
"Ow, ow, ow!" She cries. She tries her best to steady herself and think rationally but it's beyond difficult. The tingles continue to engulf her body as she tries to calm her racing heart.

*Flashback*

"Dr Zola, here is the item you requested." A man walks into Zola's lab carrying a box.
"Thank you. You may go." Zola takes it from him with an evil smirk.
"Herr Schmidt is not going to like what you're doing." The man speaks under his breath.
"What he doesn't know will not hurt him. And I do not recall asking for your opinion." Zola seethes and repeats. "Now you may go."
"Yes sir." The mans face runs pale white and he scurries out of the room quickly.

Zola straps the goggles over his eyes before opening the case. With gloved hands he picks up the glowing Tesseract and places it in another compartment. Along with developing the weapons Schmidt requisitioned, the doctor set about his own personal conquest. He created a machine that was able to harness and extract the power of the Tesseract. Nobody thought it could be done, but Zola did it... twice.
Zola's second machine whirs as it starts up. His eyes follow the workings and tubes that run in and off the machine. The room glows bright blue and even his block out goggles are doing little to help. The Tesseract glows at the centre of it all as its power rises and is directed into one of the tubes. It goes through a process which turns the energy into a thick serum like formula. A test tube is held in place underneath the opening of the thin tube. The liquid runs through slowly but surely.

Suddenly there's a banging on the door.
"Dr. Zola!" Schmidt's voice sounds aggravated as he pounds on the door.
"Just hold on one moment!" Zola calls out watching the tube with wide eyes. Almost there.

"Dr. Zola I suggest you open this door immediately." Schmidt's voice is icy.
"Hang on!" The liquid fills one tube and Zola shuts the machine off instantly. He pulls the Tesseract out replacing it back into the box. The doctor covers the machine with a tarp and pushes it out of sight.
"Alright that's it!" Schmidt growls banging hard against the door. Zola pops a cap on the test tube and stows it in a sealed box right as Schmidt breaks the door off its hinges.
"What are you doing?!" The man asks.
"Herr Schmidt!" Zola greets the man.
"Where is the Tesseract." He asks.
"Why right here. I was just running some final checks before we do the official weapons test." Zola picks up the box and hands it right back to the man before him.
"Good. Now we shall do those tests then." Schmidt says taking the Tesseract out the room with Zola in tow.
The doctor takes one last glance back to the hidden box which holds the one test tube in it. That'll have to do.

-

Years pass and Zola felt he had never found the right candidate to administer his new serum. Even after Schmidt's death and the loss of the cube, Zola kept the test tube in the most hidden of places. Though one day a particular woman is presented to him. Her ability to heal herself and others. She was the one. Zola hypothesized that if she could heal injuries, there must be a way to inflict them. This is where his, or the Tesseract's, serum came in. Much like the weapons he'd developed years prior using the Tesseract, she was another piece to the collection, the cherry on top.