The Winter Warrior // Captain America

«Chapter 38»

I pushed myself up with a groan as I felt how my body started to bruise. While Tony was trapped under the collapsed debris, Steve had escaped, and he shouted, "Get out of here!"

I nodded once and turned around, sprinting away from the havoc that Tony's missile had caused. I jumped over a block of concrete and ran down a flight of stairs. At that moment, I wished I had America's speed. That would make everything so much easier. Tony shot a blast after me but luckily, I was fast enough to dodge it. 

As I entered the upright tunnel, I slammed the button on the wall and saw to my relief that the roof still opened. The technology here was ancient, but not dead yet.  

"It wasn't her, Tony! HYDRA had control of her mind!" I heard Steve shout and I sped up.

"Move!" Tony bellowed. 

"It wasn't her!" 

I ran over the metal platforms and leapt from side to side, fighting to get higher up to get away from Tony. I knew he wasn't going to stop, so today was either going to end with me escaping or with me dead.

I jumped toward a platform on the other side but my foot slipped and I tripped. I was just in time to hold onto the edge, but Tony got to me before I could pull myself up and he kicked me in the chest, sending me flying through the air. 

I landed on the platform I had originally come from and grunted as I pushed myself up, seeing Tony aim his repulsor at me. Right as he fired it, Steve jumped in front of me with his shield.

The blast ricocheted off the shield and Tony tumbled down the shaft. Steve pulled me to my feet. "He's not gonna stop," he said. "Go." 

"Be careful," I told him before I turned around and continued my climb to the top of the shaft. 

I jumped up just high enough to grab onto the edge of the roof, but as I looked up, a missile flew past me and blew up the machinery that hauled up the roof. The giant, concrete slab fell back down and I pushed myself away to prevent being squashed under it. 

I landed on a metal platform, thank Goodness, and grabbed ahold of the metal pipe by my head to whack Tony away from me. He dodged it and punched me in the face, twisting me around and wrapping his armoured arm around my throat. "Do you even remember them?" he whispered, fury lacing his words. 

"I remember all of them," I told him through gritted teeth and Tony dropped himself backwards, sending us both freefalling through the air. Steve jumped toward us, hoping to free me from Tony's grasp, but that just sent us three to tumble down the shaft. 

I roughly hit the ground and coughed, feeling my ribs throb. I rolled over and saw Steve on the level below me. He was okay. But Tony was there too, and it did not look like he was going to back down anytime soon. 

"This isn't going to change what happened," Steve told Tony.

"I don't care," said Tony. "She killed my mom." 

Tony thrust forward, landing a rough punch in Steve's face, and Steve replied with his own punches. 

A painful coughing fit took over and I covered my mouth with my hand, seeing it was stained with blood when I retracted it. With shaking hands, I wiped at my face and my eye fell on Steve's shield.

As I turned back to the fight below, I saw Tony had Steve pinned to the floor and I jumped down, hitting Tony in the back with the shield. He stumbled and shot a blast my way, which I diverted with the shield. 

With me by his side again, Steve and I managed to bring Tony to his knees, but Tony responded by shooting Steve in the stomach with a blast. I kept throwing punches his way and he was forced backwards. He fired up the repulsor in his hand and a bright beam appeared. 

I tightened my left arm and landed a rough punch in his chest, sending him stumbling away from me. I pinned him to the wall and clawed at the reactor in his chest, knowing that was the power source of his suit. Without his suit, he was nothing.

I shouted frustratedly as Tony struggled against my grip and suddenly, a bright blast shot from the reactor and with that, my arm was gone.

I stumbled at the abrupt loss of weight of my left side and fell to the floor, staring at my shoulder in horror. The leftover pieces of metal were smouldering and the pain was almost unbearable. 

In that moment of distraction, Tony shot me in the back and I rolled over the floor, giving in to my defeat. Steve sprang up and ran to Tony to defend me. He managed to land a few good punches before Tony refocused and shot Steve with his blasters multiple times. 

Steve sank to the ground and panted heavily. He looked at Tony. "She's my family," he said. 

"So was I," Tony grumbled before whacking Steve across the head. 

Steve coughed painfully and I wanted nothing more than for this torture to stop, but my body had given in. Without my arm, I was just a girl with enhanced strength, but that strength was nothing compared to Iron Man's.

Tony grabbed Steve by the collar and tossed him across the room. Steve hit the concrete pillar and rolled down. "Stay down, final warning," said Tony.

Steve pushed himself up, holding up his balled fists as he panted, "I can do this all day."

Tony loaded his repulsor but I grabbed ahold of his ankle, trying to throw him off his feet. He kicked me in the face and knocked me out. 

The next time I woke up, it was because Steve hauled me off the floor, putting my right arm around his neck. I could barely stay on my feet and a wave of nausea took over. A steady stream of blood trickled from my nose and every inch of my body felt like it was on fire.

"That shield doesn't belong to you!" Tony exclaimed, startling me. "You don't deserve it! My father made that shield!"

Steve stopped walking. Seconds later, he dropped the shield to the floor.

We left a badly injured Tony Stark behind as Steve took me outside. The cold air bit at my skin and my eyes watered from the icy wind. 

"Captain!" a voice shouted behind me and for a second, I was terrified the man from inside facility had come after us. Steve stopped and turned around and we saw the Black Panther, King T'Challa, approaching us. 

"Your highness," Steve said and I shortly lowered my head. 

"Agent Rogers, I owe you an apology. I was wrong to come after you. I should have believed you when you told me you did not kill my father," he spoke.

I smiled softly. "It's okay. You are forgiven," I said. 

"Thank you, Agent Rogers." 

"Call me Anna," I said and Steve jabbed his elbow into my side. "Your majesty." 

The king of Wakanda chuckled, shaking his head. "To show you my sincere apologies, I'd like to offer you shelter. To lay low until this passes," he told me. 

"We would appreciate that, but only if it's not too much trouble," said Steve as I was left speechless. 

"It is not. We have the world's best technology and I believe we could help your sister get rid of the demons in her head," T'Challa said. 

"You can do that?" I asked, finding my voice again. 

"I believe we could," he replied. 

"We'd be honoured," Steve said, holding out his hand, which T'Challa shook. After that, he nodded at me, respecting my silent wish for distance. 

"Just follow me," T'Challa said and Steve took me back to the quinjet, where he put me in the seat behind the pilot's seat and buckled me up, simply because I couldn't do it myself. He entered the command to follow T'Challa's jet and put the jet on autopilot. It trembled before it took off.