Toxic | Steve Rogers

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Help and Losing Hearts

Steve was alone now. He could see Adora on the ground to his left, Tesseract in hand. More and more guards came storming towards him, as if the Tesseract they were supposed to be protecting wasn’t in Adora’s hands.

They surrounded him, guns pointed menacingly at him. He had blown his cover for sure, but now was too late to worry about that. Instead of waiting for them to rush at him, Steve met them halfway.

Bullets spiraled and bounced off of his shield, but that didn’t stop him. Steve worked as fast as he could, knowing that as soon as he took out ten of them, another twenty would show up.

Steve slammed his shield into three men, and threw it at another four. One of the soldiers ran towards him, swinging and punching at him. Steve easily blocked his every move, eventually taking him down.

With the last man on the ground, Steve rushed to Adora, wasting no time in scooping her up, shield on his back, and sprinting away from the house as fast as possible.

Steve ran. He ran to the home, paying no mind to the weird looks, and protests as he got in the elevator. He knew they had to get back to the carrier, because it wouldn’t be safe in the general public.

But Steve didn’t know how to handle that kind of stuff.

He opened the hotel room door with a clang, slamming the door behind him, and locking it. He set down Adora’s body on the bed, gently making sure she was safe. He tried to pry the Tesseract out of her hands.

But it was like it was glued to her.

The blue color was seeping into her hands, turning her blue. Steve shook Adora, trying to wake her.

“Adora” he murmured, bringing her close to him. She had to wake up at some point. She was breathing, but her heart rate was slow. Fast enough to keep her alive, slow enough to worry Steve. Steve decided to let her be for a little while, telling himself that she would wake up.

Instead, he put in his ear piece, and contacted Clint.

“Trouble already, Cap?” came the voice in his ear, sounding cheerful. Steve frowned slightly.

“To say the least” he replied, his voice serious. He could tell that Clint knew he meant business.

“Is she okay?” Clint asked immediately, his voice worried.

Steve paused. “I don’t know, that’s the thing. She touched the Tesseract, Clint. Then she lost consciousness, and she won’t let go of it” Steve couldn’t keep the distress out of his voice.

Clint started to talk fast, and Steve could barely make out what he was saying. Steve’s eyes turned to Adora as Clint talked.

“Steve?” You there?” Clint asked, but Steve didn’t reply. He was too caught up with what his eyes where seeing.

Adora was awake.

Steve rushed to her side, ignoring Clint’s voice in his ears. “Adora” he said, relief filling his voice. She made no reply, which led Steve to look at her face.

Her eyes were blue.

Not their usual blue hue, but the color of the Tesseract blue. The Tesseract fell from her hands, but Steve didn’t touch it. He let it fall, distrustful of the strange object. He turned back to Adora.

“Adora, are you okay?” he asked frantically, shaking her, but her eyes never seemed to focus on him.

Adora blinked a couple of times, grasping Steve’s shoulder. Her mouth opened, but no words tumbled out. Steve’s heart was pounding in his chest with anxiety.