𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐆𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 | 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒗𝒆𝒍

quadruplor

Tears are streaming down my face steadily now as I kneel next to Bucky and watch the fabric surrounding the arrow slowly stain red. I can see Natasha's head whipping around out of the corner of my eye, but I keep my attention on Bucky. He's still breathing, but I don't know if he's conscious. My right hand slips under Bucky's head and tangles itself into his hair, and in this instant I see his end play out in my head, everything growing just a bit too familiar to the second vision I had for my heart to take. A sob shakes my body as I grab tightly onto his hair in a futile attempt to hold him closer.

"Bucky," I choke out. "Bucky, stay with us, please."

I don't even get a flutter of an eyelid in response, and my heart pounds against my chest as I think of what to do next. I turn to Nat, and I can feel the desperation on my face as I plead silently for her to have a plan.

"We have to get him out of here. I think he knocked Wanda out– she hasn't moved since he was hit," Nat says quietly, "but we don't want to stay to find out. We need to get him out of here, and quick. You need to heal him."

"Yeah, yeah," I murmur, my breathing unsteady. "I need to heal him. I need to heal him now."

"Help me get him out of here," Natasha orders simply, and I follow.

Before I even realize, I'm on my feet and have Bucky's shoulders in my hands. Something drips from him as we lift him, and I refuse to look at the color of the liquid and force myself to believe that it's just rain water. We begin moving and I let Natasha lead me wherever we need to go. After a few moments, we weave around the bushes that we were hiding in not too long ago and go through to the other side, where Pietro is now standing on his own next to Sam. I'm alert enough to see the expression on Sam's face shift when his eyes meet Bucky, but I wish I wasn't. Pain drowns any other emotion that once was there out of his eyes, and he begins sprinting toward the three of us.

"Set him down," Nat directs gently, her voice wavering but staying calm.

Natasha lays the bottom half of Bucky's body onto the ground softly and turns just in time to hold Sam back, and I release his shoulders hesitantly, unsure of what to do. My mind is racing much too quickly to figure out a plan, but I know that I need to heal him, I need to heal Bucky, right now. I tear my eyes from Bucky to try to get Natasha's attention, but in my distracting panicked thoughts I had failed to realize that Nat had started talking to Sam, and that Sam is not taking the abrupt news easily.

"He's not going to die, Sam, stop saying that," Natasha tells Sam with a voice that sounds as though it's wearing thin on patience, and she tries to place a hand on Sam's arm but he slaps it away. Thunder booms from above us right before Sam speaks up, and I look around the quickly darkening forest to try to pinpoint the origin of the storm, but I see nothing but dark gray.

"Don't lie to me, Romanoff. He's bleeding out on the ground right now. He has an arrow in his heart. Ridley's good, but as far as I know, she can't resurrect someone. So stop lying to me, and tell it how it is!" Sam yells, and I see Pietro come up behind Sam and stand in between Nat and Sam, possibly waiting to act as a mediator if it's needed.

"You want me to tell it how it is?" Natasha snaps, intimidatingly leaning her shoulders closer to Sam. "Clint shot Bucky, but if Bucky had just listened to me or Aveline and left instead of uselessly threatening Wanda to try to get information, he would be fine right now. It's his own idiotic mistakes that led him here. Is that what you wanted to hear, lover boy?" Natasha's voice drips with venom, and I can't see her eyes, but I'm certain they're burning a fierce red.

"What did you just call–" Sam starts, his own voice starting to raise in tension, but Nat cuts him off.

"Don't act like you don't know exactly what I mean," she spits. "I know you and Bucky have had a bit of a relationship going on. But you should know better than to fall for someone in this field of work. Especially after what happened the last time."