The Mimic

30

Eventually they had wiped out all of the guards each floor except for one room. Once Steve and Bucky were able to get into the floor everything started going much smoother - yes, y/n probably could've done it on her own, but it wouldn't have been as clean as Steve wanted it. 

Steve and Bucky had managed to get their guards out of the room where the hostages were in, but y/n hadn't gotten that far yet. Bucky grunted as he shoved one of the guards against the wall. He sliced at the man with his throwing knives before using them to pin him to the wall. The guard struggled against the knives, kicking at Bucky as much as he could, unable to move his arms. Bucky easily dodged the kicks, landing a swift punch to the guard's face that finally knocked him out. "You'll thank me later." He mumbled, taking his knives back and setting them in his pockets. Suddenly scrunching his face up when he realised what he said. "Hm, maybe you won't." He said awkwardly, still talking to the guard as if he was awake. Steve was a little further down the hall with another guard, blocking her punches and kicks with his shield. He then grabbed her gun, tossing as far away as possible - no gunshots allowed. After a bit more fighting, Steve managed to knock her out by kicking into a wall. He breathed heavily as he turned around to face Bucky, a confused look on his face. "Where's y/n?" He asked, picking his shield back up from where it was on the ground. Bucky glanced up at Steve, frowning slightly at the realisation. Where was she? "I don't know..." Bucky said with concern in his voice, scanning around to try and spot her. Both seeming to freeze at the sound of a loud crash behind them.

Steve and Bucky quickly turned around for the source of the noise, seeing a hole in the wall from one of the rooms, and a guard unconscious on the floor. Y/n had kicked the man through a wall. Bucky couldn't help but smile proudly, crossing his arms over his chest. "There she is." He hummed. Y/n poked her head through the whole in the wall, grinning widely at the pair. She carefully stepped through all the rubble, taking the guard's helmet as a souvenir as she made her way toward the pair.  "That's all the hostages saved." She smiled, almost tripping over one of the guards on the floor, stumbling into a wall. She tried to play it off smoothly, but Bucky and Steve knew there was something off. "Are you alright?" Steve asked, a slight frown appearing on his face at how disoriented y/n was. Y/n quickly nodded, wiping a cut on her cheek with the back of her hand. "Yeah, yeah! I'm fine. We need to get up and meet the rest of the team, no time for chitchat. I'm fine." Y/n rambled, walking past the pair and toward the back stairs. Y/n didn't feel fine at all. She'd had to mind control several guards on each floor, and it was draining her. Having to mimic two or three powers at once wasn't fun. The room seemed to be constantly spinning as she walked. Her head pounded with pain, but she wasn't sure whether that was from her powers or if she'd just hit her head. But she didn't want to stop and focus on it, she wasn't weak, they had to keep moving. Bucky raised his eyebrows as y/n stumbled straight past them, he didn't believe a word, and Steve didn't seem to believe her either. "Y/n. We can get you back to the quinjet so Bruce can check you over if you need, but you need to be honest with us. I don't want to see you get hurt." Steve said seriously as they followed after y/n. But she just seemed to shake her head, stumbling into the stairway. 

As y/n stepped into the stairway, she froze in her tracks. She blinked over and over, but her vision was making everything spin. There was no way she could make it up these stairs smoothly. Y/n slowly reached out for the handrail, muttering words of reassurance to herself as she took the first step. Well, she thought she did, but she missed it completely. Steve and Bucky glanced at each other with an unsurprised, but concerned look. Bucky made his way toward y/n, taking her hand to support her and guide her up the stairs. "Tell me what's going on. You're stumbling around like you're drunk. Did you hit your head?" He asked, his voice full of concern. Bucky didn't want y/n to go up and join the rest of the team in fighting if she was like this, he didn't want her getting hurt. Y/n sighed in defeat when Bucky begun to support her, she couldn't help but take the support, needing to get up the stairs one way or another. "I'm fine, I promise. One of the guards just managed to get a nasty punch in, that's all." She lied, sniffing away the constant bloody nose from her powers draining her. Bucky shook his head, glancing back at Steve who just shrugged. He knew she was lying. "I don't want to see you hurt. You need to tell me." Bucky said seriously. Y/n hesitated slightly, she hated lying to Bucky. But she didn't want to be pulled out of her first mission, she just had to avoid min-controlling anyone else. "I'm fine, Buck. Just needed to catch my breath a bit." She hummed, suddenly mimicking Bucky's super soldier strength, which seemed to push away all her disorientation and dizziness. Y/n let go of Bucky's hand, walking up the stairs smoothly as if she hadn't just been stumbling. But, because she was mimicking and using her powers, her nose begun to bleed even more, her eyes slightly bloodshot. Y/n didn't seem to notice, just happy with the energy and adrenaline she'd gotten from mimicking the super soldier strength. "C'mon. We have a fight to get to."

Bucky stopped his stepping, glancing behind at Steve with a worried look in his eyes. Why wouldn't y/n tell him what was going on? "She reminds me of you... Stupid." He murmured, causing Steve to laugh, playfully pushing Bucky a little. "What's that supposed to mean?" Steve chuckled, walking beside Bucky. "Well, you used to never give up on your fights, even if someone was beating the hell out of you. You'd never admit you needed help. She's doing the exact same."