The Long Game

Chapter Fifteen: Come back..

Steves POV

I scooped Aurora up into my arms and after a seconds hesitation I also grabbed the syringe, I had no idea what had been in it but the tiniest drops were left, hopefully it would be enough for Bruce to figure it out. With her body held tight in my arms I ran as fast as I could -while safely carrying her- to the medbay. Bruce and Sam were already in there, still trying to help Bucky. "Bruce!" I yelled as I burst through the door, the two of them jumped in surprise, looking up at me. "What happened?!" They spoke in unison as I brought Aurora over and put her in the bed beside Bucky. "She used this." I carefully hand him the syringe, my eyes moving back and forth between Bucky and Aurora. "Bruce will figure it out, man." Sams voice came from behind me as he placed his hand on my shoulder. If Aurora was truly dead then there would be no hope for Bucky.

One week later~

An entire week had passed and not a lot had changed. Tony had called Shuri in from Wakanda in the hopes that she could help, they'd decided to put Bucky into cryo until they could figure out how to save him. That bought some time but it was tough to see him like that, after a few days I stopped visiting him, the sight of him in the cryo chamber broke my heart. So instead I spent most of my time in the med bay with Aurora. They had found a pulse but hadn't been able to wake her so they had no choice but to put her onto a ventilator. She seemed so peaceful. I spent a lot of time in there with her, mostly just reading to her, I'm not sure what I hoped to accomplish from it to be honest. The rest of the time had put all of their efforts into finding Wanda, I wanted to help them but I knew that I wasn't focused on the mission, don't get me wrong, Wanda is like family to me but with Bucky down, I just couldn't focus.

Shuri and Bruce had been working on the syringes they had taken from Aurora, hoping that one of them would be a cure, no luck so far. No one understood why I kept visiting Aurora, even Tony has stopped visiting her. He'd been with her for three days in a row, holding her hand and telling her stories about their childhood but after an argument with Natasha and Thor, Tony stopped visiting, but not me.. I tried to see the good side to Aurora, I believed that she hadn't teamed up with Loki willingly, just like Hydra, she wasn't in control. It wasn't her fault. Sighing, I shut the book and set it aside, sitting up I take hold of her hand, she felt cold to touch but the steady beep on the monitor assured me she was still alive. "Come on Aurora. Come back to us." I trace my thumb over the back of her hand, closing my eyes. "Come back." I whisper against her hand, squeezing it gently. My eyes fly open as I feel her hand squeeze back. "Aurora?" I squeeze her hand and again she squeezes back. I let go and rush to get Bruce.

Just a reflex he had said but I wanted it to be different, it had to be. We needed good news.. if Aurora woke up then there's hope for Bucky.. I couldn't go back into her room so I went to the gym.

Aurora POV~

The movie ended and some of us began to gather our things, it was so late and we were all exhausted. I hadn't moved off the couch yet, instead I stretched and snuggled into the person beside me, they paused mid sentence to wrap their arm around me, drawing me closer to them. Pressing a kiss to my hair they continued their conversation while I snuggled into their chest, breathing in their scent. My eyes felt so heavy and this was the ideal place to sleep. "Don't fall asleep." He chuckled, the rumble of laughter echoed through his chest, I huffed softly and snuggled closer to him, pouting a little. Come back to us.. my eyes snapped open at the voice, I looked across the room to Steve but he was deep in a discussion with Thor, I frowned, maybe I'd imagined it. Shaking my head I snuggled back into him, lacing my fingers through his, it still took me by surprise how cool the vibranium felt against my skin, but I secretly loved it. This was my life now and I would have it no other way.