The Super Soldier

Chapter 24

BUCKY'S POV

Darkness. It consumes me. I can't see anything except the darkness.
Falling. Falling. Falling down. I can feel my body falling until I hit the ground with a thud.
I try to open my eyes only to find my vision is so I blurry I can't make anything out.
I close my eyes again.
Something feels hard and unforgiving underneath me.
The ground.
Why am I on the ground?
Then I remember.
Williamson. The button. The gun. The gun I so willingly pressed to my head.
I search for the strength to move and feel through my matted hair searching for blood.
I find none.
I can't feel any pain either.
Any pain other than the throbbing headache that comes slowly creeping in.
Duh. I say to myself. You fell and hit your head, you idiot.
The gun. The button. Williamson. Why am I not dead?
I try opening my eyes again. To my surprise my vision has cleared a bit.
The street in which I lay in is in complete chaos. Kids running everywhere. Someone who doesn't look like a kid running as well.
Nat. Nat's running too. How did she get out of the restraints?
There's something else slowly creeping into my limited line of vision. What's that gloved hand doing?
Steve. It's Steve's hand. What is he reaching for?
The button. I immediately push myself upright. Before I can yell at Steve to stop, I'm silenced by the state in which he is in.
Steve is curled up on the ground one hand pressed tightly to his stomach and the other reaching for the button.
Blood is pooling out around him. Blood. His blood.
    "Steve." I whisper, tears forming in my eyes.
     I reach out for him but it's too late.
    He presses the button.

                           **************

     I'm immediately thrown backwards onto the ground again.
    I can hear a loud explosion sound soon followed by screams. I hear glass shatter and metal breaking.
    The only thing I can feel is the heat that seems to be radiating from everywhere.
     The screaming begins to fade. It fades and fades until I can't hear any longer.

                       ****************

     A loud moan escapes my lips. I'm on the ground once again. The air smells of fire, of things being burned.
   It smells of burning flesh.
     I open my eyes slowly blinking away the harsh light. I lie on the ground facing an alley way that is next to what's left of two buildings.
     I take note that there is an significance amount of each building missing. It seems to have been blown away or been burned off.
Something in the alley is moving. A small grey figure emerges from behind a trash can.
I sigh. It just a stupid cat.
That stupid cat appears to be in pain though. It turns to the other side almost like it's showing me why it's in pain.
That cat is missing it's front left leg.
I rip my eyes away from the cat no longer wanting to look at it.
I roll over so I can face the other side of the street.
Lying in piles in the street are the bodies. The burnt, chard bodies. The burnt, chard, small bodies.
   Some of them are still smoking while others are still covered in meager flames.
    The ground is burnt and so are the buildings around us. A few yards away from me I recognize two bodies that don't seem to be burnt to crisps. One of them is Williamson and the other is Steve.
     I scramble to my feet and sprint over to Steve. Kneeling on the ground next to him, I roll his body over so he's facing the sky.
     His uniform is stained red from the blood pouring out of the bullet wound in his stomach.  I check for a pulse and feel relived when I find one. Very faint but it's there none the less.
    I then walk over to Williamson who appears to have passed out after the explosions just like I did.
   His eye lids flutter and then he breaks into a coughing fit. After clearing his throat he speaks, his eyes slits.
     "My army may be gone but believe me when I say this, your kind is a disease. A disease I tell you. Sometime the day will come when the disease is wiped from the Earth." He says his voice more hoarse than normal.
    Near by I see a shard of broken glass from one of the destroyed buildings. I walk over and pick it up in my hand.
    I squeeze it so tightly the edges dig into my hand causing it to bleed. Making my way over to Williamson I hold it up in the air ready to cut with it.
     "Just do it all ready." Williamson mummers lying back down on the pavement.
    I answer his plea as I plunge the shard of glass right through is chest.
Leaving his body there I make my way over to Steve.
Suddenly Nat appears from behind a building and begins jogging over to Steve and I.
"He needs help." I say.
Nat nods.
"Yeah he does." Nat replies. "Let's get him to the hospital then."
Working together, we pick up Steve and begin dragging his body to the hospital a few blocks away.
When we pass the alley where I saw the cat I'm come to a stop.
"Hey Nat wait a minute." I mummer letting Nat support Steve by herself.
I walk a few yards down the alley and search behind the cluster of trash cans.
There I see it. The little ball of gray stripped fur cowering in the corner.
Despite its protests I scoop up the cat with one hand and pick up part of Steve with the other.
"Ready?" I ask Nat.
She nods and together, we drag Steve's body to safety.

***************

We stand in the waiting room with the rest of Avengers waiting for Steve to get out of his surgery. If we had gotten here any later he would've died.
I hold the cat in my lap scratching her behind the ears. I don't think she trusts me quite yet but she doesn't hate me either.
Suddenly the silence becomes too great.
"How did you guys escape?" I ask.
"I got out of the handcuffs by picking the lock with a bobby pin." Nat laughs trying to relieve the tension. "They were able to restrain our strength, technology, and abilities but yet the lock couldn't stand a bobby pin. After I freed myself I went around and let everyone else out."
     I nod. Then open my mouth to speak again.
     "I tried to shoot myself in the head. I'm still alive and Steve has a bullet in his stomach. What happened?" 
     This time Sam answers.
     "Steve saw what was happening. Nat released him first and after he was free he ran towards you trying to pull the gun from your hands. Right as he grabbed it and pulled it into himself you pulled the trigger sending the bullet into his stomach." Sam explains.
     "Everything happened so fast, Bucky." Wanda interjects. "It was so surprising he was able to pull the gun away in time. A nano second later and you would have killed yourself ."
     The look of horror on my face must be as clear as it feels. Tony joins the conversation trying to comfort me.
    "Don't view this as you shooting Steve. You were confused. You didn't know Steve was going to take the gun. It's not your fault." Tony tells me.
     I nod letting it all soak in.
    As an awkward silence settles over us as a nurse walks into the room.
     "Mr. Rogers just got out of surgery. He'll be waking up soon. You can come see him if you like." She says.

                          **************

     I push open the door and make my way over to the visitor chair. The rest of the group was nice enough to let me visit him by myself for a little.
    Steve's eyes flutter open.
    "Hi, Steve." I mutter meekly.
    "Hey, Buc." Steve says back. "You didn't get hurt did you?"
   "No I didn't. I escaped with a few burns and bruises. I'll be fine. How can you ask that? You're the one who just got a bullet removed from your stomach." I chuckle.
     "Oh, okay good. THEN WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!" Steve roars at me.
I don't say anything and look down at the floor.
"Don't do this so me ever again." Steve whispers his anger subsiding. "Do you understand me?"
I nod immediately changing the subject.
"I have something to show you." I say pulling the cat from behind my back and handing her to Steve, sitting in the hospital bed.
"She's cute, Buc." Steve laughs.
"Can we keep her?" I ask. "Pleeeeeaassseee." I ask in a joking voice.
"Sure, Buc. Of course we can." Steve replies.
"What should we call her." I wonder.
Steve thinks for a minute before responding.
"How about Peggy?" He suggests.
"I love it."

••••••••••••••••••

Dear readers,
I can't believe there's only one chapter left! To make up for not updating in forever I made sure to get this one out really fast. Oh, and I apologize if I didn't publish chapter twenty. I could've sworn I published it for you guys to read but looking through the table of contents this morning it said that it hadn't been published! I don't know what happened. I would think the story would've been confusing if you never that chapter. I'll try and make sure that doesn't happen again. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I thank you for the second to last time for the support.

Sincerely,

@unsuspicious_nerd