Control.

"Is this Heaven?"

Bucky POV

"We made it." You smile softly at Bucky and it pulls him out of his transe.

He was so focused in destroying everyone that hurt you that he let himself fall to the darkest corners of his mind. He was ruthless, maybe more than ever.

It shook him seeing you covered in as much blood as he was. Maybe you'd look at him differently now.
But you're safe and that's all that matters. Even if you hate him forever, at least you'll be alive.

So Bucky lets his guard down, like a fucking amateur. By the time he spots Adrik, it's already too late.
The bullets land on his chest, the impact knocks Bucky off his feet and he falls back. The last thing he hears before losing consciousness is your agonising screams.

All this trouble to save you and now he's leaving you alone.

~~~

"Buck?"

"C'mon, man!"

"BUCKY!"

The super soldier jolts awake, his eyes shot open to see Sam looming over him. The man relaxes his eyebrows when he sees him wake up.

"Oh, thank God..."

Bucky looks over to the mess around him, rising to sit up. His fingers graze over the tiny circles on his clavicles - the nano bulletproof vest.

"I didn't think it'd hurt that much." He mutters and Sam laughs.
"Yeah, getting shot usually hurts, vest or no vest." The man helps his friend up by the arm, pulling him for a quick hug.

"You weren't worried, were you?" Bucky jokes, giving him hard pats in the back.
Sam shrugs his shoulders nonchalant. "Who am I gonna annoy if you're dead?"

The boys share a smile before Bucky notices Adrik's body a few feet away. It's horrifying, completely disfigured. He swallows in empty.

"Where is she?"

Sam's expression quickly switches. "Tony's flying her to the hospital..." He leaves his words hovering on the air, not capable to explain how bad your situation is. "The Quinjet's still here, we'll go see her now."

Bucky doesn't reply, his body tensing up with worry again. It's just never easy with you two, is it?

Sam, Bucky, Nat and Thor arrive at the hospital after way too much time. They didn't speak the whole ride over, each of them wrapped in their own minds.
As soon as the group crosses the hospital glass doors, they hear Tony's voice echoing through the halls.

"Do you know who I am?!"

They run towards him, finding standing next to Wanda while yelling at a doctor. Peter's sitting in one the chairs, tears streaming down freely and shamelessly while he shakes his leg anxious.

"Y-yes... Mr. Stark, I-" The frightened doctor stammers.
"Good, then you know it would take me approximately 27 seconds to buy this hospital and fire your ass." Tony points his finger in the doctors face and he cowers away.

"What's going on?" Nat places her hand on Tony's arm, trying to calm him down.
"How is she?" Sam asks the doctor directly and the man widens his eyes at the whole group, cornering him for answers.

Two assassins, a god, a captain, a witch and a billionaire. It's hard not to get intimidated.

He's young looking, probably in his thirties. Slick blond hair and red shot brown eyes, from the amount of hours he's already been working. The man swallows hard and pulls on his white jacket to try and regain some composure.