Winter's Revenge [winter soldier//Bucky Barnes AU]

Chapter Twenty Two

*Steve's POV*

Valerie gasped, her eyes filled with shock, as the arrow pierced her heart.

She fell to her knees. Everyone stood around her completely speechless.

It was so sudden.

I looked behind her, enraged, and saw Crossbones with his crossbow. He had a somber expression on his face, as he watched Valerie die.

"I'm sorry, my love. But you said too much." He whispered, just loud enough for us to hear, and then he jumped through a window and took off.

I ignored him and immediately bent down to Valerie, who lay splayed out in a pool of blood.

She was gasping for air, trying desperately to fill her lungs. Her eyes were wide and panicked and she clutched at my hand with her bloody one. She was trembling when she looked at me.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, choking on her blood. It was a horrible sight to see a friend die, especially in such a painful, agonizing way. She may have done wrong in her life, but she didn't deserve this.

"Valerie, shhh. It wasn't your fault I understand. It's ok, we're still you're friends." I reassured her softly, gesturing to everyone gathered around her. She turned her head slowly, glancing at the team. Her breaths got quicker and shallower. She looked at me again.

"M-my real n-name is Selena. Only.......my friends k-know, and you were the c-c-closest things I had to friends." She stammered, coughing and choking out the two sentences painfully. I gave her a warm smile, trying not to be upset, trying to give her strength in her last moments. Her face paled as her body lost liter after liter of precious blood.

"It's ok, Selena. Don't be afraid to let go." Cara spoke up, leaning down and holding Valerie's other hand, smiling weakly at the dying girl.

Valerie nodded slowly, looking around at us as her eyes began to close.

"T-thank you." She mumbled softly, squeezing my hand very slightly and using her last bit of strength.

She looked at the world one last time.

And her eyes closed with her final breath.

She was gone.

We sat there, unmoving, for a while. No one wanted to leave her. I continued to hold her bloody hand, her hand that was now growing cold. I just stared at her broken form, refusing to believe she had died. We hadn't been that close, but absolutely no one deserved to die that way, no matter what she did. I still consider her a hero.

We didn't move for a while. Cara was sobbing loudly, because she had been the closest to Valerie. Bruce decided to take her away from Valerie's body, so she wouldn't have to see it anymore. They were the first ones to leave.

Eventually Maria and Fury found us, sitting in a circle around the broken girl.

"What the hell are you doing? Having a pow wow or something?" Fury yelled, storming over to us. Once we parted and he saw what we were standing around, his eyes widened a bit.

"Is that Valerie?" He asked, his voice less rough, and he cast a glance at me. I nodded.

"What happened?" He asked.

"Valerie was an insider for Crossbones. Crossbones revealed who she was to us, and we all were surprised that she was the traitor. Then she stabbed him in the chest, allowing us to kill all the guards and escape. She caught us before we left and explained that she only did it because they had her brother, and would've killed him if she hadn't done this mission." I told him, looking down at Valerie. "She died a hero."

Fury glanced at her body, nodding. Maria sighed, and she left, later followed by Fury. Everyone else got up and finally drifted to their rooms.

I walked down the hall, looking at Valerie one last time, and Natasha linked her hand in mine, guiding me away from Valerie and towards our room. We stepped in and Tasha closed the door, pulling me to the bed.

I laid down and pulled her close to me, wrapping my arms around her.

"I can't believe it." Natasha said, almost fifteen minutes after we came into the room. We had been in thoughtful silence up until she spoke. I blinked, composing myself, and sighed.

"Me neither. She was such a nice person." I muttered, burying my face in Nat's flaming hair, attempting to forget about the dark details of the day. She huddled closer and we became one, with both each other and the mattress.

"Steve, I love you." She whispered, her lips tickling my cheek. I smiled slightly even though she couldn't see it.

"I love you too, Tash."

--

A.N.

Holy banana balls

I actually cried while writing this like whyyyyy

I wasn't even that attached to Valerie tbh but this chapter made me like her SO MUCH MORE. Too bad she's dead now

Sorry it's so short btw, didn't have much time to write today cuz I had work

Anyway we also got some Romanogers action! What'd you think?!

-Jordan💕