Destruction ━ Bucky Barnes [2]

26 ━ WOUNDED SOUL

DESTRUCTION.
( chapter twenty-six. )

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IT WAS STILL COLD IN SOKOVIA— cold enough to warrant the layers as civilians began flooding the streets. The team had managed to make it in time to warn the city, but the chill was one of the first things Andy noticed upon landing. How many would think to stay warm while fleeing the horrors still yet to come?

So, she took what she could, swiping blankets and scarves from all things left behind. Andy didn't stop, not even for a second, teleporting between infants in strollers and elderly folks, struggling to match the pace of those much younger. All around her, Sokovian citizens were leaving behind their lives, walking away from their homes and the memories they held.

And, of all those people, it was the children Andy couldn't bring herself to look at. Not even as she handed the blankets and scarves to grateful mothers and fathers. There were just so many of them; so many lives not yet lived.

  However, despite her inability to face them, it was their presence that strengthened her resolve the most. She would not fail. Andy refused it. She refused to give up hope.

Yes, the team would deal with Ultron. But, that was only the beginning. Once this job was done, they were going to fix the fractures that had grown between them. The wounds not yet healed. If they could fix this, then they could fix anything. No matter how badly they were splintering apart.

Andy kept her gaze forward, keeping herself busy as she monitored the streets and rerouted traffic. Her footsteps were steady, moving from one part of the city to the next. Never stopping. Never wavering.

  Andrea was a fluid machine— right up until she heard Bruce's voice filter through the comms, "I've got Nat."

  She stumbled a step, ducking into an alleyway as the urge to vomit clamped down on her throat. Her relief was both a balm and a tender bruise. She'd prepared herself for any outcome, but hadn't dared to hope. Not with Ultron.

Ego or mercy... it didn't matter what it was that had spared her. Natasha was alive. It was all that mattered.

And she was never going to let it happen again. They were going to leave Sokovia together, if it was the last thing she did. Andy stood, steadying herself against the brick wall behind her. She looked to the sky, still a vivid blue above. She was done letting the world damn her to misfortune and grief. There was so much more now.

More friends, more happiness, more life.

It might've been more to lose, but it was hers all the same. Hers to protect. Hers to cherish. It was her life— and it was the lives of these citizens too.