Redemption ||Bucky Barnes||

35. The Fallen

I'm fully alert, hearing the gunfire being exchanged in the hall I'm in. It has to be them. They've finally found us! Took them long enough. I trot to the door, pounding against it.

"Hey!" I yell. "Hey, I'm in here! Get me out of here! Hey!"

Shouts and gunfire answer me. My heart races with adrenaline. S.H.I.E.L.D. has come. Hopefully someone survives so I can be broken out of here.

"Take him down!" barks a familiar voice. Agent Barton.

"I'm here!" I try again, smacking my palms against the door. "Let me out!"

I'm hyperventilating at hearing no progress being made. I hear the noises of war just outside of my door. I look around the room anxiously, seeing nothing that can help me. There's always the chance Hydra hears me and decides I need to be silenced for good.

Just as quickly as the firing and yelling starts, it stops. Scary silence falls. I stand back as I hear the door being opened. My heart soars at seeing a familiar face. It's not Agent Barton, but Agent Romanoff. I can't help it, I run for her and tackle her into a hug.

"It's okay," she whispers. "We're getting out of here, all of us."

"Wait." I pull away. "Bucky..."

Agent Romanoff gives me a severe look. "We don't have that kind of time."

"We don't have enough time now," Agent Barton says. He's just outside the door, scouting for danger.

"Come on."

"But I can't just leave him here!" I protest.

"Danielle, there's nothing that we can do for him. He's lost."

"No, he's not!"

"Move!" Agent Barton yells.

Agent Romanoff shoves me back inside my cell. "Stay here," she commands. She jumps back out into the fray, and I watch from the doorway as she pulls out two pistols and begins firing.

I hear a bloodcurdling male scream. I stick myself to one of the cell walls, eyes wide with terror. Oh no. Oh God no.

Agent Romanoff freezes, like we're all frozen in time. The firing ceases just long enough for her to somehow quickly gather her bearings and charge out of sight. I can hear her words ring in my head. Stay here. Stay here. Stay here.

My mind imagines the horrible scene of Agent Romanoff fighting over an injured or dead Agent Barton against various Hydra agents. A small part in me wants to dash out, grab a weapon, and help out Agent Romanoff. But her words are somehow keeping me in the cell.

They're only words.

Rapid gunfire and the familiar thud of a falling body calls the bravery inside of me. I run out of the cell, my eyes can only seem to focus on the bodies on the floor. Agent Barton is on his stomach, unmoving. A pool of blood leaks out from him.

I run to Agent Romanoff and nearly vomit. She's covered in bullet holes, and those holes are trickling red. My hands hover over her, never touch her. Shaky breaths are all that come out of me. Not her too. Not her.

I scream as Agent Romanoff jolts to life, coughing up blood and gasping for air. Her eyes meet mine, she grabs my wrist with surprising strength and pulls me down to her. Her eyes say the same thing her mouth does. One single word.