Wanted for Slaughter || ᴋᴀʀʟɪ ᴍᴏʀɢᴇɴᴛʜᴀᴜ

X.

Your heart pounded like it never had before. Beads of sweat formed on your forehead as you tried to breathe in the air surrounding you. You felt your hand tremble; adrenaline coursing through you veins rapidly.

Soon enough, you heard Bucky's and Sam's gasps as they stood either side of you. Everyone stood in shook but it was too late to do anything. You watched as John bashed the shield into Nico's head, occasional cracks could be heard from where you were standing.

It was one of those scenes where you couldn't look away. Didn't matter how much you wanted to force your to look the other way, to stare or think of anything else. You couldn't.

People had the audacity to pull out their phones and record. Your scowled, brows slightly tightening in the middle. While doing your best not to hyperventilate, you slowly looked around yourself. People formed a circle around Nico, watching in horror as gasps escaped their mouths.

It wasn't on purpose, but you ended up making eye contact with the one person you hoped wouldn't be there.

Karli stood among the others, eyes wide, mouth slightly ajar. It was brief, but you could see she noticed you within the crowd too, but before you could walk up to her she sprinted the other way.

You turned to the two men beside you. "Cover the body. I have to do something," You ignored their faces, not even bothering to wait for their questions. Your legs carried you in the direction Karli ran in, the wind sending small shivers across your skin.

She ran into one of the shelters through the white double doors. You followed her footsteps, slowing down when you walked through the large front doors. It didn't take ages to find her since you could hear her quite sniffles when you entered one of the bigger rooms in the building. A hall maybe?

Carefully, you stepped closer to the sound of her whimpers not being surprised when you saw her knees tucked towards her chest, head in her hands. She did her best trying to supress them, but they seemed to only want to escape her throat more the harder she tried.

You approached her slowly, as to not scare the already agitated girl.

"Hey," You whispered, kneeling beside her. Your eyes filled with sympathy. "I'm so sorry you had to see that-"

Her head snapped to face you, rage and anger in her voice. However despite her fury, you heard the sadness that laced somewhere deep within her tone.

"You could have done something," Her voice broke at the start, but remained stable enough to be coherent. You looked down onto the floor that you kneeled upon beside her, a hint of guilt hit you. She sat up abruptly, startling you when her hands made contact with your chest.

Her hands pushed you back while she repeated the same word over and over and over again. You knees caught you fall, so you barely flinched - at first - but with her being a super soldier, the more she hit then the more you felt bruises appear on your skin.

You saw how she furrowed her eyebrows to try and stop the tears, the same way you did when Bucky found you and took you out of the freezer.

"You. Could. Of. Saved. Him." She said, voice strained all while hitting your body. Without thinking, you dropped your body so you were sitting and embraced her shoulder. Her head ended up on your chest, tears soaking the material of you clothes. She, thankfully, stopped resisting and let you pull her closer to the comfort and warmth of your body.

You moved so your back was against one of the crates, letting Karli sit in between your legs so that her cheek was pressed up against your chest. One of your hands played with her curls, the other was secure on the cheek that wasn't pressed into your body, wiping any tears that newly emerged throughout her breakdown.

The both of you savoured the silence when her sobs died down, simply enjoying each others company. That was until your phone disturbed the peaceful silence and you inwardly groaned, hesitantly moving to take the phone out of your pocket.

"Mhm?"

"Where are you? We have a lead on where John is hiding," Bucky replied through the phone.

"I'll be there in a few,"

You sighed as you placed the device back in your pocket, looking down at Karli who moved her head so she looked up at you through her eyelashes, eyebrows slightly furrowed. You spoke up after a moment, thinking about the right words to say.

"They found John," You breathed out, throwing your head back onto one of the crates you were leaning on. She exhaled and looked back down, slowly staring to stand up, then helping you get up too.

Before you left however, you turned back around to look her in the eyes properly.

"Will I see you again?" She asked, voice hoarse as if it wasn't used in months. You nodded without hesitation, smiling gently to her direction. "Hurt John for me, please."

"Definitely," You smirked, sending her a small nod her way before turning around to leave to make your way to your brothers location.