Part Two of the Little One OneShot.
Iris and Bucky got hurt. Bucky's pain made hers worse. When Iris wakes up in the infirmary, Bucky isn't there. Can she convince him it's okay? That she is okay?
Content: NSFW...
Word Count: 2509
When oblivion had come for her, Iris thought she would have found some peace. She thought the pain would have faded. She had hoped the pain would have faded. But it took its time.
It took its time to wrap around her and seep into each fibre of her being. It took its time to steal whispered memories of soft lips and urgent touches. It stole his voice. It stole the blue of his eyes. It stole everything until there was nothing; nothing but broken potential and the unmet promise of what could have been.
***
Three Weeks Later
"She should have woken up by now." Steve could hardly be heard over the whir of machines and shuffling of medics in the suite that now housed Iris.
Her hand was cold against his and her skin was pale. Her chest rose and fell steadily, aided by whatever machines Banner had hooked her up to, and her lips were cracked and dry.
Watching her like this, laying vulnerable and weak, was breaking Steve. It was breaking them all. But for Steve, this was hell. When he had stumbled across Iris all those months ago - afraid and alone, lost in her mind and so broken - he claimed her as his kin. His family. Someone who needed a place in the world. Now, he hated himself. He hated that he had taken her from one world - a world that tortured her with her gift, forcing her to take pain at her own expense, slowly killing her - and pushed her into the world that had left her like this. Broken and weak - drowning in someone else's pain. He hated that he was hurting her.
"Buck been down?" Sam leant against the doorframe, his arms folded over his chest and his eyes trained on Iris.
Steve shook his head. "He blames himself. Said he'd told her not to take his pain, not to heal him, and she did it anyway. That's why she's like this. Because he resisted."
"And what does Banner say?"
"That she's like this because of her own injuries. Taking on Buck's just pushed her over the edge."
Sam moved slowly, pushing closer to where Steve sat holding her, and placing his hand on her calf. "You have any idea what happened in there with them?"
"No," Steve sighed. "External comms went down before the place blew and by the time we found them he was just holding her, sobbing."
"You think he -"
"Absolutely not." Steve's eyes snapped to Sam's and Sam ducked his head. "Bucky would never hurt her. Why the hell do you think he stays so far away from her? The last thing he would ever do is hurt her. He - Bucky cares about her more than he cares about anyone. So no, I don't think he did anything to hurt her."
"Look, man. I hardly know the guy. None of us do. I didn't mean -"
"Yeah," Steve sighed. "You did, but I get it. Just - just go easy on him for me. This is killing him."
***
Two Days Later
"Barnes?" Iris' throat was sore - like her voice hadn't been used in a while - and she couldn't open her eyes.
Beside her someone shifted and the pressure of touch wrapped around her hand.
"Barnes?"
"Shh," the voice that wasn't Bucky soothed her. "Shh, Iris. Don't try to talk."
YOU ARE READING
OneShots and OffCuts
Fanfiction~A collection of trips into the mind of music and magic mixed~ I often find that music creates stories in my mind - scenes and moments that escape me once the moment has passed and my mind often longs to return to it. So, I have decided to try somet...
