As y/n is interrogated by Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff, memories of her life as the Ruby Raven start resurfacing. She used to work hand in hand with the Winter Soldier. Except she knows there's more to that, more to him, and she's determined to...
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"Y/n, n-"
The punch goes before I can stop it. Y/n crumbles to the ground and I shield her from Tony. He hits me on the back but I fight back. There's no way I'm letting him hurt her. Steve joins the fight too and tries to hold Stark back but his rage is too powerful to be contained. I know he's angry and he has all the right to be. I thought Steve had told him about...about his parents. I get it. But when it comes to her... No. No time for sentimental thoughts. I punch him in the face but he doesn't even flinch and throws me on a wall. I get up and I can see y/n's getting up too. She's struggling and she's hurt and I'm expecting her to fight back but when Stark comes at her, she opens her arms wide and jerks her head backwards. She doesn't even yell when he hits her in the stomach. She just lets her body fall to the ground again and as he keeps kicking her, I'm only getting angrier. He hears me running up to him and quickly pins me to the wall. He tries to shoot at me but I manage to deflect the blow. It hits a nearby pillar and the whole building starts falling on our heads. Steve's shield hits Stark's head, making him look the other way and letting go of me.
"Get out of here !" Steve shouts.
He doesn't need to say that twice. I would never leave him to fight someone on his own but he's strong now, isn't he ? And y/n needs my help more than he does. I run to her and what I see makes me wanna yell at her and hug her at the same time. Her face is swollen and covered in blood. She doesn't answer when I scream her name. I pick her up and run toward the first exit I see. When the door collapses on itself, I turn around immediately. There's an opening on the roof and if I run fast enough, I'll be able to jump from platform to platform to get up there. I'll get us out of here.
"I'm gonna get us out," I whisper, more to reassure myself than everything, really. "Don't worry." But how could she worry ? She's barely even breathing. I'm already three platforms away from the ground when Stark comes back for us. He's ready to hit us with a blast but Steve gets in his way, protecting us with his shield. I hold y/n tight against me as Steve turns to me.
"He's not gonna stop. Go. Get her to the quinjet and don't wait for me."
"We can't leave you behind."
"I'll find a way to come back."
I nod and keep jumping upwards. I have to get her out. I'm almost at the top when Stark blows up the opening mechanism, depriving us of our last way out. I fall on one of the platforms. I take most of the shock but it still wakes y/n up. Thank god. "Don't move, I'll protect you. Don't do anything stupid this time." She's weak and she can barely shake her head. I turn around and Tony wraps his arm around my neck.
"Do you even remember them ?"
I know he needs an honest answer. And what else can I say ? I can't lie to him. Not about this.
"I remember all of them."
I jump, dragging him down with me and Steve joins us in mid-air. I catch myself on one of the platforms but when I turn around, I see Steve wasn't as lucky. He's on the floor, trying to get up. When he finally does, Stark's facing him.
"This isn't gonna change what happened," Steve says.
"I don't care. They killed my mom."
He jumps at Steve and I do the first thing that comes to my mind. I pick up Steve's shield and jump on Stark's back. I quickly throw his shield to Steve and we start fighting again. I'm tired of fighting but then again, I can't let Steve go through that alone. He put himself in so much danger for me, for us. I can't let him down. I think we actually have the upper hand but then he blasts Steve so hard that he hits the opposite wall. I can't take it anymore. I can't let him hurt my friends like this. I pin him to the wall, one hand on his helmet, the other on his metal heart. It paralyses him. That's his weakness, that's where his power is. I dig my fingers into it. It hurts like hell and I start screaming but it's not like I care anymore. I have to stop him. I almost got it out when he blasts me as well, sending me right on the floor. I look at my left arm and...it's not here anymore. It's only broken metal and wires and... Another blast and my face hits the ground.
"Nooo !"
That's her voice. She can't... No. She can't try to help. Please, maker her pass out so she doesn't... I look up one second and see her deliberately falling of the platform and landing on the next one. She does that a few times and I can her yells as she hits the cold metal every time. Steve's still fighting Tony and my vision is all blurry. I lay down on my back and close my eyes for a second. I can't... I feel movement and I can guess it's Steve standing next to me.
"He's my friend," he says.
"So was I."
As Tony says that and jumps at him once more, I feel another hand on my right arm, my human arm. Y/n's crawling next to me and I try to look at her but my head hurts so much...
"You should've stayed on that platform." I cough as I speak.
"I- I couldn't leave you."
I don't need to look at her to know she's crying. She's the strongest person I know and maybe her tears are the proof of that.
"Your arm..."
I squeeze her hand. "It's okay." I look back at Steve and I don't think twice when I see Tony's about to shoot him right in the face. I grab his ankle and even though it doesn't help that much, it distracts him for a second, allowing Steve to lift him from the ground. I did my part and look back at y/n again.
"If we die here..."
"We're not dying here," I tell her. "Not now. We'll get out, c'mon." I try sitting up but I fall back down right away.
"If we die here... I'm glad we're together."
I don't say anything quite yet. I look at her and for a second her face is the only thing I can see clearly. She's smiling. It's a weak smile, but it's a genuine one. She's right. At least I'm with her. I squeeze her hand again as she hides against my body. She's hiding from Tony, from the fight, but mostly from what she's learned.
"I love you," I whisper. I hope she hears me. I'm not sure she does. I guess the fight's over because Steve helps me back up. I try to tell him we need to help y/n but Tony speaks first.
"That shield doesn't belong to you. You don't deserve it. My father made that shield !"
Steve breathes out and lets go of the shield. With his newly free arm. He picks up y/n almost effortlessly and carries her on his shoulder. He doesn't even look back as he walks out of the building, holding both me and y/n. I don't know where we'll go from here. I just hope it's over.
