Wouldn't Leave You (A Captain America Fan fiction)

The End of the Beginning

Chapter 18 - Rachel Stark

"Son of a gun." 

I remove my face from Steve's shoulder again, confused and slightly concerned. I pull away and look behind me, thinking something is coming after the three of us. I wipe the tears from my cheeks and turn back to Steve, trying to question his comment. He locks eyes with me and simply points up to the sky. I slowly look up. 

Son of a gun. 

"Is that... It's Tony!" I scream. My eyes fill with tears again, feeling hope soar back into my body. I break into a smile. After about two seconds of watching his free fall, my smile fades. 

"He's not slowing down!" Thor says, swinging his hammer to start to fly. Just as he is about to take off, the Hulk jumps up and catches Tony. He slowly slides down one of the buildings with Tony in his arms. The three of us watch the Hulk land a little way up the road from our position. I am the first one to start running with Steve and Thor hot on my heels. The Hulk gently tosses Tony's body to the ground as we reach their position. 

Steve kneels down, putting a hand over the metal mask, and pries it off Tony's face in one quick motion. He tosses it aside as I press my fingers to the side of my brother's neck, checking for a pulse. 

Nothing.

I put my hand under his nose, hoping for any sign that he is breathing. When I feel nothing there, I suck in a deep breath and try to keep tears from falling. I ball my hand into a fist and slam it into his arc reactor, hoping to kick start it. I feel Steve place his hand on my shoulder as I keep trying to get my brother to wake up. After another hit to the reactor, I stop, slumping into Steve, placing my head into my hands. I hear Thor walk over to me and feel his hand on my shoulder. I take deep breaths, trying to avoid the panic attack that I felt coming. There is a moment of silence, the four of us just waiting. The Hulk cries out, seemingly in pain, shattering the quiet. 

I hear a sharp intake of breath.

"What the hell?" Tony asks. I look up from my hands quickly. I place a hand on my chest and lean over Tony in disbelief. A huge smile breaks out over my face as Tony makes eye contact with me. "What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me."

"We won," Steve says with a small, lopsided smile on his face.

"Alright. Hey. Alright. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it." I chuckle through fresh tears of joy, reaching out to take my brother's hand. He smiles up at me in relief. 

"We're not finished yet," Thor says. Tony puts his head back on the pavement in pain and fatigue.

"Then shawarma after," he says. I smile and nod over to him, standing up. Steve helps me pull Tony to his feet and I immediately wrap him into a long hug which he quickly returns. As I pull away, I drop the smile from my face and reach up to smack the back of his head. 

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" Tony asks, moving his hand to rub the part of his head I smacked. 

"What do you think it was for, you idiot? You can't just do crap like that Tony!" I say, crossing my arms. His pained expression fades into a smirk. 

"Yeah, but who else was going to do it? You honestly thought we were going to get through today without me saving the day? Maybe you aren't as smart as I thought 140140." He says, clapping my shoulder. 

"Always about you, dumbass," I say, chuckling as he slings his arms over my shoulders. 

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