Electric Storm

Chapter 21: The Call

Steve and Bucky don't stop hitting dad. They leave me with no choice. Teeth gritted, I groan through the pain in my wrist, my head, my entire being, and I summon lightning to my hands. Purple jumps from my fingertips to Steve. He turns to me, anger flashing in his eyes and mine. It's the two of us now. It's me versus him. 

I'm not afraid of being punched, I've been punched before. Black and blue means nothing. There is power is his fists; there is power in my lightning- and Steve doesn't know how much it can really hurt. I shoot, he hits. This is no longer a game. This is no longer practice. This is real. I am merciless, relentless. I go for his legs. I watch him fall.

My feet pivot around. 'Dad.' I scream in horror as I watch Bucky attempt to rip out his arc reactor. My hands instantly raise. The Winter Soldier doesn't get to hurt dad, especially not after what he did to my grandparents. I fire electricity, a continuous stream of purple. Bucky glares at me, teeth gritted. It's the opportunity needed. Dad shoots a plasma blast.

There's a pause, a moment of silence, an intake of breath, as each one of us stares at the severed metal arm. My lightning bounces around my bruised hands, flecks of black appearing amongst the purple. It scars my wrists in pinprick dots. 

What am I doing?  

My pause is enough time for Steve to toss me aside. I smack into the concrete.

My head is in a daze and I fight to remain above the water. I could choke on the blood in my mouth, I could drown in the pain. There's no warmth, only cold. A tear slides down my cheek.

'Sorry.' I manage to mouth at Bucky, who also lies opposite me. My vision splinters as Dad fires once again at Steve. The long blast is deflected by his shield as he marches closer and closer. Red collides with white, the brightness burns through my eyes. The intensity builds, the power is too much. The blast explodes through the tomb, striking through me violently like the tesseract once did. I feel every bone quaking inside and, when it stops, my broken wrist hangs limp. Black blood runs from my nose down to my collar bone, now protruding from my suit at an odd angle. All I can do is lie on the floor. I'm done.

But they're not. Steve relentlessly hits dad with his shield again and again and again, never stopping. The hate radiating of him is terrifying. The Captain is gone, Tony Stark is powerless. I try to summon some lightning from my non-injured hand, flying the pathetic sparks at Steve. It's enough for dad to take back some control. He shoots Steve in the stomach.

All of us are down. All of us are battered, bloodied and bruised. Are we done now? Are we finished? Haven't we hurt each other enough?

'He's my friend.' Steve coughs.

Dad stares back at him through his broken mask. The look underneath is a hurt so deep that words cannot describe. 'So was I.'

Another tear slides down my cheek.

'Stay down. Final warning.' Dad instructs.

'Stay down Steve.' I whisper. 'There's nothing left to prove.'

But this is Steve. He clambers to his feet and raises his fists. 'I could do this all day.'

Dad goes to shoot but out of nowhere Bucky runs at him. Steve lifts my dad up off the ground and rips off his helmet. There's blood all over dad's face. He looks terrified.

'Steve what are you doing?' I yell, rolling onto my stomach. 'Stop this!'

But Steve ignores me. Instead he lifts up his shield, a weapon meant to protect, a symbol of hope, and he slams it down into dad's arc reactor.