Save Us {Bucky Barnes}

002

Captain America – Winter Soldier – 2014

"I'm going to get him!" I yelled into my com at Nat.

"Tessa! That's a death wish!" Nat replied.

"Let her. I need backup anyway!" Steve yelled as he avoided yet another punch from his ex-best friend.

"Who the hell is this chick?" Sam screamed at his com.

"Introductions later! Let's go, Tessa!" Maria Hill replied.

"On it!" I told her, already halfway there. Let's fly, I thought. My feet immediately left the ground and I was flying through the air at neck-breaking speeds. I crashed through the glass dome and kicked the mysterious man straight in the side of his face and he went flying.

"Jeez! Where the hell did you come from?!" Steve exclaimed.

"Shut up, grandpa. You knew I was coming." I replied.

Steve just rolled his eyes, "Thanks for saving my butt." I just nodded. Then the creepy dude was there. And I was forced to duck under his arm. Steve hit him with his shield but all it did was make him slide backwards. He pulled out a gun and pulled the trigger in three quick successions. Bulletproof! I screamed in my head and the bullets bounced harmlessly to the floor. He pulled out a dagger and sliced at my head. But then I hesitated when I saw his beautiful ocean blue eyes and I felt the dagger nearly miss my stomach as I flipped backwards away from him.

"Holy hell! Who is this?!" I yelled at Steve.

"Well," He threw his shield at the man and hit him in the back of the knees and he fell like a sack of potatoes, "This is – was – Bucky Barnes. He's the winter solider and at the moment he's trying to kill me."

"Ok. So, he is your best friend that's dead." I kicked him in the head and Steve hit him with his shield. "Can I kill him?"

"What?! No! We're trying to get him to remember."

"Just cognitive recalibration then?"

"Not too hard though."

"Sure. Hand me the chip." Steve slipped it into my hand and I ran at the soldier and punched him in the jaw before sprinting up onto the platform and placed the chip into its place.

"Good job, Steve. Now, get out of there!" Maria called.

"First of all, I put the chip in and second, we are kind of stuck. There's a supposedly dead person trying to kill us." I replied sassily.

"I'm kinda busy right now." Flying dude said into his com.

"Great. I guess I'm doing this the hard way then." I told them. Steve was pinned down by the soldier who was screaming at Steve as he repeatedly punched him in the face. Steve saw me and barely shook his head. I took the memo and backed away. Tears pooled in my eyes. I couldn't let Steve get hurt. He (and Tony) is the only father figure I had.

"Please no," I whispered as another blow hit his face.

"Please." Another one.

"No" Another. And then the glass gave way and he fell into the deep water below. I sprinted to the edge of the glass where the soldier was standing, looking lost. "You'll pay for this." I spat at his feet as tears streamed down my face. I dived into the water below reaching for Steve's sinking body. Suddenly, I couldn't breathe. I turned to look up at the falling hellicarriers from 20 feet below the water. A massive piece of metal came towards me.

That's pretty close, aye? Should I move? Nah. It won't hit me. I thought. Then, everything went black.

※※※※※※

I woke up next to Steve on the bank of the river. I coughed up salt water and groaned. My head felt as if it had been split open. I went to touch my forehead with my right hand. I screamed in pain as I lifted it. I looked down at my arm to see the humorous of my arm poking out of my skin. I turned to my left and tried, and failed, to not throw up. I reached to my left ear hoping to find my com but instead finding blood.

I examined the rest of my body while I thought of a plan to save myself and Steve. My right looked ok. A few scratches but that's about it. The left leg of my jeans was torn straight down the middle of my leg and a huge cut ran its length. I had lost a lot of blood. It was pooled around my leg and soaking into my jeans.

I leaned to my right (not using my arm which was throbbing badly now) and shook the unconscious man beside me. "Steve! Steve! Wake up! Come on!" I sighed. "This ain't going to tickle," and slapped him as hard as I could across his face. He gasped, eyes snapping open and started to cough up water. I lay back down, satisfied. I sighed. Steve sat up and looked around wildly before he saw me.

"Tess! Tessa! Are you ok?" He asked.

"Just peachy. Why? What makes you ask?" I replied, my voice scratchy in my throat.

He smiled at me and I smiled back.

My vision started to blur and go black around the edges. "Uh, Steve? I think I'm going to pass..." I trailed off and everything went black again.

※※※※※※

I woke to the bright lights of a hospital room but of course, I didn't realise this and tried to move. I was rewarded with sharp pains through my skull. I clutched my head with my hands which led to my left arm feeling as if someone had jumped up and down on it a thousand times. I tried to curl up into a ball but my leg felt as if it were on fire so I just lay there on my back staring up at the panels on the roof groaning.

"Yeah, that's going to hurt for a while." A voice to my right said.

I turned to find Tony in a hospital chair. "Hey, Tony." I managed a slight smile and reached out my hand. He took it in both of his.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Tony exclaimed.

"Plot twist, I wasn't," I replied.

"Jumping into a river filled with sharp debris and hellicarriers falling out of the sky. You could have died. Also, good thing you didn't heal these," He gestured to my wounds, "I had to cover for you."

"Can I heal them now? It feels like an elephant has stood on me then decided to do the macarena." I had been in so much pain, I forgot I could heal my wounds.

"Well, I'll get you discharged and then you can do all the healing you need."

I squeezed his hand and let my eyes slide shut. I felt a soft hand on my hair, slowly patting it. My eyes filled with tears. I a few slipped out and they ran a clean line down my face.

I sat up suddenly, Tony's hand slipping from mine. "Where's Steve? Is he ok? Please say he ok."

"He's ok, thanks to you. He said that you slapped him across the face and woke him up. He called me shortly after you passed out. He's ok though." Tony replied.

"Good. And Nat?"

"Yep. She's ok too. In a meeting at the moment but ok."

"Ok. We're ok. That's good." I look up at him. "Thanks, Tony. For being here for me. I have no idea what I'd do without you or the rest of the Avengers. You're my only family and I – I love you all so so much." My voice cracked on the last sentence. "I have no idea what I'd do without you."

"Well, probably still be alone, eating too much cake, binge-watching Net-"

"Ok, I was trying to be nice but now I want to punch you in the face."

"Good to know your sarcasm is still there." Tony had two smiles, his news smile that gets all the ladies and the genuine smile that he gave to me right then. It was super soft and made the crinkles around his eyes deepen. I loved it.

"I'm going to go see if I can get you discharged, I'll be back in a minute," Tony told me. He bent down to kiss my forehead and then squeezed my hand. He walked out of the room leaving me alone.