FORTUITY ☆ B.BARNES ✔️

41; 'Conceited Douchebags'

AFTER RECEIVING THE LETTER FROM BUCKY, Maeve felt unbelievably shitty. She never realized how much he cared about her. The fact that he told her he needed her actually went way over her head as well. Maybe working so hard for something that you completely miss out everything else.

She sighed, tugging at her hair, almost ripping it out, and jumped out of her seat. Maeve couldn't concentrate on her work anymore. She already crumpled the letter, threw it in the trash and then subsequently burned it herself (just for extra measure) but the words were burned into her mind. She had only read it twice! (That was a lie) Maybe...maybe not twice. Maybe a couple more times, but only because she really didn't know what to do.

"Conner, your heartbeat's going up. You need something?" Asked TONY.
Maeve shook her head, "N-no. I'm fine. Listen man, you really don't need to call me Conner. Maeve's fine." She replied. She didn't hear from the voice connected to her head after that. Reading the letter was like a punch in the face. It knocked her out from her little world and snapped her back into reality. She didn't realize how much she hurt him. Maybe distracting herself with notes and training was only to cover up how lonely she actually felt.

"Tony?"

Her RED lit up, "Yes?"

Maeve resisted the urge to say it, but somehow, she couldn't.

"I really wish I could have talked to you more."

-
Steve was here for the meeting. He sat on the couch behind all of the other, the legacies he helped leave behind. Of course, being old, there was not much he could do. But Steve always had good intentions, and he believed in what was right. Currently, the Avengers needed something like that. They needed a level-headed person to tell them from right and wrong.

Maeve sat close to him, typing away on her laptop at everything Bruce said. Carol stood by somewhere in the corner of the room. She came back that morning, a little bruised and beaten. It was nothing she couldn't handle, but if even she got hurt by Seraphina, she feared for everyone else's safety.

"She fought with her on a planet called Berhert." Bruce explained. Rocket opened his mouth to speak, before shaking his head. Peter Quill sighed, "Berhert is like a second earth. We can take you there but..." His voice trailed off in hesitation. The group looked at him in expectation.

"The closest habitable planet to Berhert is Sovereign."

Both Drax and Rocket groaned at that. The rest remained clueless. "So?" Scott asked, unfazed. Rocket climbed onto Maeve's shoulder.

"Last time we encountered them, Rocket stole their Harbulary Batteries." Drax recalled.

"It's Anulax Batteries, and yes. These guys are assholes and they want us dead." Peter Quill corrected, he received a glare from Drax in return.

"It's fine, right? I mean - can we avoid them. How important were the batteries, anyway?" Scott asked innocently, he didn't know what all that space talk was, but he really wanted to help

"It's not just that. These assholes got butthurt cause I called their queen a 'conceited douchebag'' Rocket deadpanned, erupting howls of laughter within the group.

Bucky's eyes unconciously shifted to Maeve as he himself started to chuckle, but it dropped when he noticed her pained expression. She was trying to hide it, but he knew better. Her eyebrows were half-furrowed, her lips forming a straight line. She gripped her chair's armrest tightly.

"Maeve? Are you okay?" He asked her softly, placing a hand on the small of her back. She urgently got up, and walked out of the room with Bucky briskly following behind her.

The whole room silenced, until Mantis decided to speak up.

"Where are they going?"

The group couldn't tell. Were they going to fight? Kiss and make up? There was no way of knowing, so everyone shrugged and got back to talking about the mission.

"M-Maeve, I think you need to see Bruce. Something's not right!" Bucky warned. Maeve's veins could be seen because they were glowing neon green, and she looked even more pained.

"Buck, I'm fine. Really. Just go join the others."

She pushed her way through a door but be remained persistent. He followed her through the labs, the receptions and when they got to a glass hallway, she stopped.

"Maeve?"

"I told you to go away." She muttered, clutching her head and leaning on the wall for support. He staggered towards her, only to be met by a push.

"Seriously, step back. S-something isn't right!" Maeve warned desperately. Bucky didn't listen to her, and when he took one more step to touch her, he felt a burning sensation on his metal arm. He couldn't feel pain but his arm reacted as a conductor and he could feel the heat everywhere else.

Suddenly, a bright flash erupted, the glass hallway collapsing from below them and sending them way down. Mid-air, and unconscious Maeve continued to break the already broken glass into billions of pieces.

She was falling head first! She wouldn't be able to make it. Maeve would die the second she hit the floor, so Bucky knew he had to do something. He was falling too, but it didn't matter, she did. He hugged her close to him, feeling the stinging sensation of her powers and he waited for the impact, but it never came.

Bucky slowly opened his eyes to see Wanda's powers holding them up.

"You didn't see that coming?" She asked Sam.

She carefully lifted them up to safety, the rest of the group running towards them, only to be stopped by Bucky.

"Something isn't right, you'll burn the moment you touch her." Bucky announces, limping away from Maeve. Only now was she starting to gain consciousness.

"So what about you then?" Sam asked in horror as he noticed the burns on Bucky's arms.

Maeve's eyes widened at the horrific sight, but she winced at her own pain, moaning discreetly.

"I-I'm fine. Guys, seriously." She lied.
Bucky looked back at her for a moment, "Oh, good." He said, before collapsing to the floor.