Avengers: New Blood (Peter Parker)/ A.M

35. Not Really Discreet

Sam was the first one to gain his conciousness. Steve and Bucky were nowhere to be found, while the fake psychiatrist was getting away.

"Hey!" Sam shouted, as he was getting up to chase him. The man saw him and left quickly. As Sam was about to leave the room and go after him, he saw a familiar body laying on the floor some feet away from him. Realising it was Andria, he quickly approached her, kneeling next to her.

"Andria, wake up, we have to go now. Come on," he said, while slightly shaking her.

He noticed a wound on her head along with a bit of blood dripping from it down to her cheek, while she slowly gained her consciousness.

"Hey, hey, you alright? Come on," Sam said, helping her get up.

"Ow, what the hell was that? He almost killed us," she said, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in her head, while all the memories of her fight with Bucky flooded her mind.

"That was nothing compared to what he can actually do. But, this doesn't matter right now. You were right about the psychiatrist. I just saw him leaving. He can't be that far. Let's go!" Sam said and started running towards the direction he had seen the psychiatrist leaving.

Andria continued ignoring the pain in her head and ran after him. By the time they got out of the building, though, the psychiatrist was long gone. Hundreds of people were running in and out of the building. Everybody was pushing their way through the crowd. Andria was some feet behind Sam, while he knelt and grabbed a blazer from the ground.

She recognised it as the one the psychiatrist had been wearing, which meant that he had already left. Sam dumbed the blazer on the ground again and got near Andria, whose headache was getting worse by the minute. She hadn't even realised she was being pushed aside by all the people around her, until Sam grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the building's entrance and the crowd.

"Hey, Andria, did you listen to anything I just said?" He asked suddenly.
"What?" Andria looked at him as if she were lost.

"I said..." He started, but Andria couldn't focus. Everything was a blur and she felt like her head was going to break.

"Andria!" Sam shook her shoulders slightly, but it was enough to make her lose her balance and stumble a bit.

"Whoa, whoa, easy," he said, grabbing her and steadying her.

"Andria, listen to me. We have to leave, before they get to us. We have to find Steve and get out of here," Sam said, still holding her so she wouldn't fall down.

"I...my head is throbbing. I...I might have a concussion," was all Andria could say.
"Can you walk?"
"I don't know...I think," she said and tried to walk, but she just stumbled and pressed her back on a wall as to not fall.
"Alright, let's go," Sam said.

"What?" Andria asked confused, but before she could do anything else, Sam picked her up bridal style and started walking away from the building towards the back where the road was. Normally, she would object, but this time she just closed her eyes and laid her head on his chest.

"He really did get you bad," he said kind of joking.
"Fuck off. You weren't any better. At least I managed to get a few good licks in too and stay up for more than three seconds."

"Even if you were dying, the last thing you'd say would be something mean, wouldn't it?" Sam laughed.

"Probably," Andria answered, slightly opening her eyes to look at him.

That moment, she noticed a damaged helicopter falling from the rooftop of the building into the lake behind it. Her eyes widened when she also noticed Steve going down too, being chocked by Bucky's metal arm, as he was inside the helicopter.

"Alright, the only thing we have to do now is find Steve," Sam, who hadn't noticed the helicopter, said.

"About that...I think I just did. Except if I'm hallucinating," Andria said, pointing at the helicopter right at the moment it touched the lake's surface and started sinking.

"Shit," Sam mumbled and went towards the lake faster.

Once they reached it, there was no trail of the helicopter, but Steve appeared on the surface, holding an unconscious Bucky.

Getting out of the lake and pulling Bucky with him, Steve turned to Sam who had just come near him and was still holding Andria.

"Are you guys okay? Is she okay?" Steve asked worriedly.
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe we should ask him. He is the one who probably smacked her head so hard to cause a concussion!" Sam said sarcastically.

"Damn it! We must leave now!" Steve said.
"Yeah, well, if you want my opinion, getting out of here with a dude like him and another one carrying a girl this way, it won't be really discreet," Andria said.

"So, what do you suggest?" Steve asked, looking around for any agents.
"Sam, put me down."
"So you can fall again? I think I'll pass."
"Honestly, I'm better, just put me down."
"Fine," he mumbled and let Andria on her feet again.

She was indeed feeling better, so she didn't stumble or lose her balance this time and the headache was slowly but steadily fading.

"Alright, Steve and I will stay here in case Bucky wakes up and is still psycho assassin and you are going to find a car so we can leave," she said, looking at Sam.

"Where am I going to find a car?" Sam asked, furrowing his eyebrows.
"I don't know and I don't care. Just find something. Something low-profile."
"Jesus, fine, stay here!" Sam said annoyed and left, running.

"I'm sorry, Andria. You are the one who's taken the most hits so far and it's not right. Your head, your arm...I don't know where this will lead us, but maybe you should go back there and sign. You'll be safer that way," Steve said, looking down.

"Can I ask you something? Did you hit your head anywhere too? Because you're making no sense at all. I'm not going anywhere, Steve. Two scratches won't make me choose the easy way. Remember Sokovia? I took so many hits, so many blasts. I still have marks on my body from them, but I didn't stop fighting, did I? I didn't stop helping people and it cost me. A lot! But I'm still here. And you damn right know I'm not doing it for you or Sam or Bucky. I'm doing it because it's the right thing to do," Andria said, looking at him straight in the eye.

Steve nodded the same time a car horn sounded. They both turned and saw Sam standing near a light blue Volkswagen Sedan Beetle which had to go back at least five decades.

"Oh...my...God!" Andria said, noticing the car.
"Give me a hand," Steve said and they both started walking towards the car, supporting Bucky who was still unconscious.

They put him in the backseat and Andria sat next to him, while Sam went in the passenger's seat and Steve drove the car.

"Hey, Sam, congratulations on finding the best car around!" Andria said sarcastically.

"You said something low-profile."
"Yeah, exactly, but low-profile doesn't mean...this."
"Yeah, well, next time you find something better in five minutes."
"Whatever, where did you even get it?"
"You don't wanna know," Sam said with a weird expression.

Andria just sighed and looked out of the window, as Steve drove the car, leaving the Joint Counter Terrorist Centre Building behind.