The Seventh Avenger: Memories Never Die// Bucky Barnes

TWELVE: SOUND THE ALARM

          My head spins as a whirlwind of colours dance before my eyes. Stomach churns. Eyes droop while my leg aches with profound pain. The only thing keeping me upright is the wall pressed against my back. The soldier and I had only made it through four corridors before I had collapsed, unable to move on my own accord. My legs had buckled beneath me, and I would have fallen flat on my face if it wasn't for the soldier half carrying me.

          He had quickly realised that he wouldn't be able to hold me up on his own. Not when I was dragging him down with me, at least. Moving swiftly, he had half-dragged me over to the wall, easing me onto the ground. I wasted no time in propping my head between my legs, my hands clasping on my throbbing skull. The moment that I had slumped against the wall, he had dropped down to my level. And now, breathing heavily, I pray that I don't spill the contents of my stomach on the ground. Somehow, I don't think the man kneeling in front of me, would appreciate me almost throwing up on him.

          I can feel his eyes flickering over every square inch of each injury that he can see, searching for the cause of my sudden demise. "What hurts?"

          I can't refrain from lifting my head to shoot him the best-pointed look that I can muster. Do you have to ask? I silently ask him with this one glance. Everything bloody hurts.

          The tick that appears in the side of his jaw informs me that he gets the message loud and clear. "I'm going to go and get the Doctor."

          My hand shoots out faster than blinking. Digging into the soldier's flesh arm with a strength I didn't realise I still had I shake my head. "Don't," I murmur, watching as his pale eyes blink dumbly down at my hand. I half expect him to jerk hid arm out of my hold, but he doesn't. "Please don't. Doctor Udaku is- he's in the middle of a meeting with his superiors. You won't- you won't be able to drag him away."

          I speak the truth. It is Riley who revealed to me that Doctor S'yan has a weekly meeting with The Man and the rest of the people that run this place. She doesn't know the full extent of what these meetings are about, but one can guess that it has something to do with the injections that he gives us daily. That, or he also happens to be giving them a report of the writhing and bloodied patients he looks after each day.

          But I only half mean it when I say that the soldier won't be able to pull Udaku aside. For all I know, he may be willing to drop everything and rush back to the infirmary to help a person in need. But for the moment, I need the infirmary to be empty. And if he doesn't know that I am there in need of treatment, then he will remain in the meeting, oblivious and unknowing. And exactly where I need him to be.

          But the man crouching in front of me doesn't know that. Nor can he. "I just- just give me a minute," I beg, dropping my head back down to my hands. "Just give me a second to- to catch my breath. I just got dizzy, is all."

          In truth, I feel a lot more than just dizzy. Sara has beaten me quite badly, and I know that I am in desperate need of treatment as soon as possible. I likely have a concussion, and the damaged ligaments in my legs continue to pulsate with pain by the second. Not to mention that alarm amount of bruises and lacerations that decorate my skin, with red, sticky blood oozing from the latter. It'll be a miracle if I manage to make it to the infirmary before the meeting has finished. If that doesn't happen, then our window will close, and all of this would have been for nothing.

          Strong arms suddenly snake their way under my bent legs, and across my back. I jolt at the touch and immediately lift my head back up. During my brief attempt of recovery, the Winter Soldier has decided to take matters into his own hands- literally. He freezes at my reaction, but he doesn't draw back. He only continues to hover beside me, so close that I can't see his face from this angle. His loose, black strands lightly tickle my cheek, and I find myself pulling away to avoid the sensation.