behind blue eyes [bucky barnes]

onehundredandthirtyone

"Caught in the silence, an echo lost in space."

Song: Waves by Dean Lewis

. . . . .

A week passed. Most people were managing better, the reality finally settling in and the shock wearing off. Maria had been doing slightly better - for the most part. She had begun sharing a bed with Steve in the compound for many reasons. She hadn't worked up the courage to go to her own house. The girl wasn't going to sleep in her and her soulmate's shared room in the compound. And neither of them wanted to be alone at night. The two barely got any sleep due to the nightmares that plagued both of their minds. But sleeping alone was far worse than being woken up by the other's screams. So Maria curled up next to her partner every single night, shedding silent tears as she wished it were the other Brooklyn boy instead of him.

During this span of time, the team worked to see who all had survived. There was no word from Scott Lang, whom Sam had run into years ago. Natasha had been keeping him on her radar in case he was ever needed for backup. Steve had tried to contact Sharon, but it became apparent that she too had been dusted. Maria took it upon herself to call the Bartons, but had no response. When she tried Clint's cell, the girl almost wished she hadn't gotten a response at all.

"Gone - they are gone," Clint frantically said over the line. "Every single one of them. Laura. Cooper. Lila. Nathaniel. Maria, they are gone. What am I going to do? Where am I going to go?"

"Clint," the girl said, trying not to sound as broken as she was at that news. "Clint, listen to me. Come here to New York. We are work-"

"No," he said adamantly, sounding delusional. "No false hope. I can't- No. I'm going to make people pay."

And with that, he hung up. Maria was terrified for him and honestly scared of what he might do. But she understood that everyone grieved in their own way. The girl just hoped he wasn't crossing a line.

The most worthwhile find of them all was when Rhodey tried to see if Director Fury and the other Maria were still alive. They weren't, but he found a pager where the two of them had last been seen. It was sending a constant transmission to somewhere, so he brought it back and had Bruce start to work on figuring out who the former director had been trying to contact.

"This is a nightmare," muttered Steve. Maria stood between him and Natasha as they looked at the ever growing number of casualties from Thanos's actions.

"I've had better nightmares," Natasha replied.

"Hey," called out Rhodey as he came in from the other room. "So that thing just stopped doing whatever the hell it was doing."

The three of them glanced at one another before following the man to where the transponder was. Natasha, upon arrival, instinctively wrapped her arms around Bruce. The two of them were practically attached at the hip. Maria might have thought it was cute if she had not been so alone. So she stood close to Steve - the person who had become her safety net during the whole process.