III: The Girl Who Ran: Dirty Hands and Dark Hearts

XL: Back To Me

Tatiana/Sunny - 12:45 p.m.

Tatiana held the silver canister close to her chest. She wanted to get at least two, but she hadn't accounted for the sheer size of the canisters. They were the size of a half-year-old baby and the weight of three of them.

She mounted the stairs back to the first floor after making sure everything was in it's proper place. Tatiana didn't bother looking at anything else. The file had already told her what else was down here. Too bad Leila would never know that she'd handed Tatiana the instrument of her own demise.

Her feet were so heavy. The wound in her shoulder had mostly clotted, but it was still leaking like an annoying faucet. She heard the wail of sirens outside, and decided to go around the back. Tatiana hurried down the hall to the back doors, away from the flurry of loud voices behind her.

A shadow landed a square hit on her cheekbone. She felt the crack and stopped dead in her tracks. The canister fell out of Tatiana's arms and she dove for it. The shadow intercepted her. It was the Dora. Someone must have relocated her shoulders. Tatiana clawed at her. If that canister's pin came out...

Tatiana's nails scraped the Dora's neck and she recoiled. Tatiana flipped around and went after the canister with all her strength. Just as her hands grasped the smooth belly of the container, the sound of glass breaking made her look up. She had just enough time to roll out of the way before the Dora's axe came down.

The Dora had taken the fire axe. Tatiana scrambled up onto her feet. The Dora swung again before she could react. Tatiana's heart hammered as the canister took the brunt of the blow.

The hissing made Tatiana's stomach drop. She inhaled and held her breath, dropping the canister. She lurched toward the Dora and manhandled her. Tatiana covered the Dora's mouth and nose with the cloth of her dress and pinned her arms to her sides, pushing her toward the door.

They got out. Tatiana glanced at the Dora to make sure she hadn't inhaled the Oil, then sprinted back inside. Her lungs burned as she retrieved the canister, which was still hissing violently. She ran to the door and tossed the canister outside. It was doubtful that enough of the Oil had leaked inside to do much damage.

Tatiana looked around for the Dora. She was nowhere to be seen. Tatiana cursed herself and kicked the now almost empty canister into convenient bushes. She looked out at the empty parking lot. The blacktop was cold under her feet.

The throbbing of her broken cheekbone and the sirens created the melody she ran to.

Steve - One a.m.

"Steve, come on! We've gotta go!" Sam shook him.

Steve's eyes only opened after a long moment, "What?" His mind was spinning in triangles.

"Come on!"

Steve registered the words and stood up, following Sam. "What happened?"

"I came down and you all were knocked out. Everyone else already got out. First responders surrounded the front. Halaye went after Sunny, but she got away," Sam explained as they flew down a stairway.

They got to the back doors and Steve paused, glancing at the blood coating the walls and the floor. A stream led to the doorway. He went out behind Sam. He stared at the footprints on the cement leading to the middle of he parking lot before they disappeared.

"Did you get Bucky?" He asked.

"Yeah, everyone's already in the car," Sam motioned to the minivan.

Steve didn't respond. He ran his hand through his hair and recoiled. A knot was developing on the back of his skull. Probably where it hit the floor when he'd passed out. Steve frowned and brought his hand to the harsh parking lot light.

It was covered in black liquid. He twisted his hand and it shimmered like a raven's wing, purple and maroon shining through. Steve swallowed down the bile at the back of his throat. It was blood.

Her blood.

Her face was printed on the back of his eyelids. Everytime he blinked, he could see her. Her strong jaw. The blood running down her legs. Her smudged red lipstick, bold despite all. The flash in her eyes when she said, "I have been struggling since I was born."

He'd wanted to touch her so much then. Just to see if something so violent and so beautiful could really exist. His heart hurt to think of what they were doing to her. It throbbed silently, growing hotter and hotter every day she was with them.
Steve wished they could go back to Valentine's Day Night. He wished she was sitting on his lap, her coolness dampening whatever heat was building up in his chest.

Steve threw the passenger side door open and climbed into the seat, not really caring that he was probably smearing her blood all over the seat. How had she even got out? How had she not died of blood loss? This was starting to extend beyond super soldier serum. If he had bled that much, he'd be unconscious.

Nobody in the car spoke for the hour drive back to the house. Steve helped Sam bring Bucky in. Bucky was the only one of them who was unscathed. Natasha's hair was singed, Sam had glass cuts all over his arms, Halaye was bleeding from several wounds, Zemo had a sprained ankle, and Wanda had a gash on her forehead.

Everyone went their separate ways. Sam beat Steve to the shower, so he waited in his room. He sat heavily at his desk and stared at his sketchbook. He opened to the drawing he'd started of that October day.

She had a little mole at the corner of her right eye and she loved to read the back of cereal boxes even though she'd never eat cereal. She liked her shoes one size bigger than her foot.

She wasn't always put together like Nat, or even innocent like Wanda. But it didn't matter.

She liked to know the individual stories of insignificant people in history. She always made sure Wanda's favorite candies were in the pantry when her time of the month came around. She laughed at Sam's jokes, no matter how lame. She remembered everyone's birthday and always got gifts. She encouraged him to come out of the house, no matter how much the military was looking for them.

He missed her.

Steve flipped the page and took out his charcoals. He was going to draw her back to him.