Artemis: The Final Battle ➳ Steve Rogers [2]

B O N U S C H A P T E R (3)

✩
S T E V E

"What's going on?" I demanded trying to rush to Camille's side, only to be held back by Clint. "Why is this happening again?"

"Steve, you need to calm down and let them do what they need to do, okay?" Clint says, but I couldn't. I just couldn't.

This is the fourth time in two days this was happening and no one has been able to figure out what was wrong with her.

Everything's a flurry as anyone who has medical experience scrambles into the room to help, exchanging words that I don't understand.

Suddenly, the lights flicker overhead before it goes out, plunging us into pitch darkness.

"FRIDAY, start up the backup generator," Tony says calmly.

"Already working on it, Sir." The voice filters through the speaker.

The soft whirling could be heard in the dead silent room moments before the lights flicker on again.

I blink, allowing my eyes to adjust to the light. Once it does, my eyes fall on Camille's bed once again, only to find it empty.

Panic claws at my throat and I scan the room, "Where did she go?" I asked, "Where did she go!"

"Steve!" Clint continues to try to restrain me but I shrug out his hold, vaguely aware of Tony getting FRIDAY to do a search of the compound for Camille.

I stumble into the hallway on unsteady feet, searching down the hallway one way and then the other. Still, there wasn't any sign of her.

"Steve! The roof!" Bucky yells, darting out from the room and I quickly take off towards the end of the hallway and up the emergency exit with him right on my heels.

The next couple of seconds feels as if they drag on for an eternity until I finally emerge at the top.

A strong breeze picks up as I spot Camille standing on the edge, peering down the side of the building.

"Cam!" I yell.

She startles at the sound of my voice and she spins around to face me, balancing precariously on the edge.

Her cheeks are wet with tears, but unlike the times when she had been corrupted by the Death Stone, her eyes are blurred with tears but otherwise clear. I think I might even see flashes of purple in her eyes from her powers.

"Cam, baby," I say softly, "What are you doing?"

She gulps, her breathing heavy with distress. "I have to end it," She mumbles as if to herself, "It...it needs to end. Or destroy everything."

"Let's talk about this first, okay?" I tell her slowly approaching her.

I can sense Bucky's presence behind me and I hold up my hand to stop him.

"Cam," I hold out a hand to her, "Please, just come down and we'll talk about it before we make any decisions, okay?"

"No, no!" She yells, turning to face the ledge again. "It needs to be destroyed. It has to be."

"What needs to be destroyed?" I asked, "The Death Stone? Because it's done, Cam. When you...I don't know if you remember this, but when you stabbed yourself with that knife, it destroyed the stone."

"I destroyed it?" She questions, lacking the usual air of confidence she held as she turned to look at me with uncertain eyes.

"You did," I confirm, "Will you come down now?"

Camille peers over her shoulder at the ledge again, "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," I tell her before turning to Bucky, "Right, Buck?"

"Right," He agrees.

I take another step closer to her, extending my hand to her again, a weight lifting off my chest as she reaches out and places her hand in mine.

Immediately, I crash her to my chest, pressing a kiss to her hair as I hear the door behind me fly open with a loud and footsteps filter into the room.

I peer over my shoulder to see Nat looking at us with tears on her face and a hand over her mouth as if she can't quite believe what she's seeing.

To be completely honest, if I wasn't holding her in my arms, I wouldn't be able to believe it either.

✩

"How does your head feel, Camille?" Stephen asks as he shines a light into her eyes.

"I feel fine, Stephen." She replies.

Stephen smiles at her as he pockets his little torch, "Well, it's good news that you can still remember my name."

She returns a smile that makes my heart ache with the reminder of how much I missed seeing it.

"I do," Camille nods, "Which means I'm good to go right?"

"No, it doesn't." Stephen says apologetically, "I still need to run some more tests, just to make sure there aren't any complications. But..." He trails off glancing over his shoulder at me as I stood the door by waiting anxiously for him to be done. "You seem stable, so I think it could wait till tomorrow."

"Thank you, Stephen," I say to him as he stops by the door.

"I'm really going to need to run those tests tomorrow. Just this morning, we couldn't find any activity in her brain. I need to make sure she's fine."

I nod, listening to the door open and then close behind Stephen.

Silence blankets us and I meet her gaze. Pushing off from the wall I was leaning against, I close the distance between us and cup her jaw, pushing the stray hairs away from her face so I could see her beautiful eyes.

Leaning my forehead against hers, I whisper. "I love you so much."

Before I do something I could finally truly properly do. I kiss her.