[COMPLETE/EDITING]Be My Hero

Seventeen

As the woman behind the control panel flipped a switch, nothing happened. In fact, all of us stood in silence, looking at one another. And then it happened, so quickly I couldn't avoid it. A metal arrow came from the front and pierced my shoulder. "Fuck!" I yelled, and my knees buckled. My world flipped. I felt so weak and pain pulsed through my shoulder. I could hear Zackary laughing as he moved towards the strange man and woman. "Oh, Barnes, you should have heard it coming. Should have heard it activating. That's what's wrong. You still have average hearing. That's what will get you in trouble. Now, that arrow is laced with a man-made venom that will not kill you but will slowly paralyze your arm."

I glared at Zackary as I held my shoulder. What kind of sick game was this? "What are you doing?" I snapped. "You fooled us from the very beginning. You made us trust you. You killed my best friend!" I was screaming now. My arm was on fire and felt as if a hot metal rod was being shoved down into it, the pain was so excruciating. Tony was next to me and I could hear him take a step forward just before a loud click rang through the air. I looked up and saw the suited man with a gun pointed right at Tony. "Take another step and you will die," Zackary said coldly.

Zackary continued, "You are just a rich man without your suit, Stark. That's a shame."

"Actually," Tony began but was cut off with an ear-splitting gunshot that made my ears ring. I glanced over to see Tony on the floor, holding his leg. His face was screwed up in pain and my heart was pounding. I knew I couldn't go for him or I might have the same fate. Steve's shield was right next to Tony, and if I was fast enough, I could pick it up and guard both of us. "The reason I am doing this is because your survival is based on your will to live. If you are injured and expect to die, you will die. If you expect to live... you will live. I want you all to have that mindset. If you are trying to take over America with me, you have to have a strong mental state. You cannot be weak physically or emotionally."

"We're not playing these games. We were supposed to destroy this building," I growled. Zackary shrugged and chuckled. "Should've kept your guard up, chap."

With a nod to the woman behind the control panel, Zackary stepped back and watched every one of us. I could hear a very faint click to the right of me, and I dove for Steve's shield. I held it up over both Tony and me and felt a harsh tap on the shield, followed by a low ping. An arrow. Natasha gasped and I saw her with another in her hand. She had caught it. I noticed as I looked around, that Bruce was gone. "Where is Bruce?" I asked. Zackary waved me off. "Don't worry about him. I didn't want him messing everything up, so we contained him."

I glanced down at Tony and saw that he was gritting his teeth in pain. He was sweating heavily, and I couldn't help him. My arm was almost entirely numb and I couldn't move it. "We have to move," I whispered. "We have to leave. We can't stay." I could hear footsteps coming from the wall behind Zackary and I knew who their owners were without a doubt. Tony nodded slightly and mumbled something about Bruce. I knew we wouldn't be able to get him. We were completely out of time. As the wall behind Zackary split into four sections, I grabbed Tony's good arm and lifted him up off the ground. He grunted and cursed at me, but I knew we needed to get out. "Natasha, let's go!" I yelled, and she immediately followed me. "Through the vents."

As we rushed to the vents, I glanced back and saw several people...

My heart dropped and the walls around me felt as if they were shattering and cracking. Several people were lined up in a row, and in front of them was Clint, arrow knocked and trained right on Natasha. I stared at him as Nat climbed into the vents. "Clint," I said. The room was dead quiet besides Tony's strained grunts as he slowly made his exit. My arm was completely paralyzed and I knew that if the supersoldiers really wanted to, they could rip us apart in seconds. Whereas we were simply humans, they were mutants. I noticed that most of them didn't have a weapon in hand and I became curious as to how they were meant to fight us. Or perhaps they weren't meant to fight us? I shook my head and looked at Zackary.

"You betrayed us," I said. Zackary stepped down from the control panel and glowered at me.

"You are a fool, Barnes. If you leave now we will hunt you down again. Your punishment will be severe. If you stay, you will be among high ranks and have everything you need."

"You killed my best friend," I gritted out. My heart ached and my voice cracked. "And yet you expect me to stay?"

Zackary flashed a malicious grin that made my blood boil. You son of a bitch.

"If you leave, you will have the same fate as your friend."

I stood there for a moment, surveying those in the room. "You were never going to kill us, were you?" I asked as I locked eyes with Zack once again.

"To kill you would be a shame. This was only meant to immobilize you. You can either leave and be hunted down like a poor animal, or stay and become one of my men."

Without waiting another second, I turned and lifted myself into the vents to make my escape. My flesh arm felt as if it were being stabbed by needles, over and over. The arrow was still somewhat protruding and I had no damn idea how I would get it out. Crawling back through the vents was painful, and I could hear the echo of voices bouncing throughout the vents. They weren't coming after me, thank god. My heart was racing and my chest ached.

As I crawled out of the vent, I saw Natasha and Tony in a tight embrace. I could hear Natasha sobbing and from where I was standing, Tony faced me. Tears were in his eyes and he gave me a hard, pained looked. I cleared my throat and Natasha pulled away and turned around to see me. She quickly wiped her tears away and sniffled. "I'm sorry. So sorry," she croaked, running her fingers through her hair. My throat tightened. If I spoke, I knew I would cry in an instant.

I took a moment to gain my composure. "We need to go somewhere. Away from here." I didn't want to go back to the facility. I knew now why it had no name, had no logo. Everyone there was apart of V4 and looked at us as if we were weapons of war.

"California. Stark Industries is there." Tony said, holding his leg. We were both injured and I knew we had to get first aid. "What about Bruce?" Natasha asked. I knew it hurt Tony to hear his name.

"We'll get him," I said before Tony had time to speak. A nerve in his jaw jumped as he looked at me. He was grateful and determined, as was I. My instincts screamed at me the entire time and yet I never listened to them. And that cost a life. "We can get first aid at a drug store or something."

I inhaled slowly and looked around me. Dust and dirt swirled in the air from the recent explosions. How I was still alive... I had not a clue. "Come on. It's time to go," I said. I knew I would eventually come back here, and I knew the experience would be painful. I walked back in the general direction of the explosives in order to find Steve's body. I knew I couldn't take him. I would have to leave him. I didn't know where Scott was, and I had no intention of finding out. Images of his body flooded back into my head and my vision swam dangerously.

I could hear Tony grunting behind me, occasionally mumbling to Natasha or complaining about his leg. The feeling in my arm had been returning, bit by bit. I eventually stumbled upon Steve and my heart burst into pieces almost instantly. I kneeled down beside him and grit my teeth. His eyes were closed and he looked more peaceful in death than in life. His skin was sickly and grey and his lips were blue.

"James," Natasha said, carefully and gently. "We have to go." Her voice trembled and broke and I knew she, too, was trying to keep herself together. I stood up and peeled my eyes away from Steve. This is the end of the line.

I felt the weight of Steve's shield press against my back, acting as a form of comfort. My heart was screaming, but I was filled with a new anger. New determination. I looked back at both Tony and Natasha. They nodded at me and I returned the gesture.

We had work to do.