Troublesome [The Avengers]

24|| The Stars

The stars were beautiful. They twinkled like diamonds against the black cloudless sky. She couldn't see the moon from where she was laying but she was sure it was just as bright as ever.

She could feel slick hot blood running down her sides, coating the grass she laid on. The smell of smoke and ash mixed with the overpowering smell of iron. Agonizing pain surged through her entire body, and a cool tingling sensation started in her fingertips. 

She knew she could die here yet all she could do was watch the planes fly overhead.

The heat from the burning building kept her skin warm, creating a contrast against the dewy grass under her back.

She wanted to close her eyes and stop feeling the murderous pain in her abdomen. The pain was worst then anything she had ever felt before. And it was all her fault. 

She should have known her powers had limits. She should have realized she was pushing her abilities to far.

Arden wondered how long she had left, hours, minutes, seconds maybe. She knew how slim it was to survive a shotgun wound to the stomach. She knew that it was a guessing game until a doctor could see her. 

But there was a lot of blood. Thick, dark, red blood; too much blood.

She wondered what would happen to Buddy if she died. A smile tugged at her lips at a thought. Bucky would take him, he liked Buddy and Buddy liked him, it was perfect.

A loud pop startled Arden from her thoughts before a rush of hot air caressed her skin. She would have found the heat uncomfortable if she could feel anything but the pain.

Her brows drew together and a whimper left her lips. She couldn't do it. She had taken a lot of shit in her life but this, this was to much. She closed her brown eyes and wondered if these were her last living moments.

The ground began to quack as a low rumble broke through the silence. Arden almost wondered if the ground was splitting open under her so demons could pull her to down to Hell. 

Though she didn't believe in a Heaven or Hell she did know that she had done too many shitty things to be going somewhere nice.

The murmured voices of people was enough to get Arden to open her eyes once more. The golden glow of the fire was blocked out by a figure standing over her. A blonde man with shinning blue eyes and a small crease between his furrowed brows.

"Guess this is hell." Arden forced the sarcastic words from her tight throat. Steve's worried expression softened and a ghost of a smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

"Sorry Arden but you're not there yet." He said softly. "Try not to talk, ok?"

Arden's lips twitched into a dying grin. "Tryin' to get me to shu-" Her sentence was cut off by a wave or fresh blistering pain. Steve's eyes widened and shifted to the oozing bloody wound on her stomach.

"Just hold on." He said and gestured for someone to come over to them. 

Field medics began to work around Arden, saying things she could barely hear and doing things she couldn't feel. She was loosing feeling in her fingers, they were cold and numb, like they had fallen asleep.

A new dark reality sank deep into her heart. She was dying, she was actually dying. 

This wasn't a wound that Bailey could just stitch up. These fleeting moments could actually be her last and no amount of sarcasm could change that.

Arden had never thought about her life or death before. She didn't know if she had accomplished anything in her that she'd actually be proud of. 

She had spent so long being a mess and now she was going to die that way. She never wanted to be Trouble. She wanted to be something better then herself. 

She wasn't ready to die.

Arden's jaw began to quiver and salty tears glossed over her eyes. "S-Steve." Her voice quacked with uncertainty.

And just like that the stoic Steve Rogers shattered like glass. He clutched Arden's hand with a death grip and his eyes darted between the doctors and Arden. She could read the fear and worry in his eyes, he was just as scared as she was. 

The doctors buzzed around her, asking her questions she could barely answer. Her head felt light and everything seemed just a little to fuzzy. She heard something being said in the background but it all faded away into incoherent noise. 

All she could hear was the roar of her blood being pumped through her veins and the uneven beats of her own heart. 

The corners of Arden's eyes became blurry and black spots dotted her vision. Fear coursed through her veins and she tightened her grip on Steve's hand. 

She couldn't feel his hand in hers anymore. 

Her hands and feet felt cold and even the pain began to feel less noticeable. Her brown eyes shifted back to the black nights sky and suddenly all she could think of was a tale her mother once told her.

A story about the souls of gods being dragged up into the night sky to create the stars. And she smiled as her mind slipped into a black, empty, nothingness.