Steve Rogers
"Isabella, Guys! HELP!" I heard a man's voice from the other side of Stark's room. With a heavy heart, I stared as Dr. Selvig, the man who had opened the portal to the alien world, had Bella tightly held in his arms. Her body seemed almost lifeless as she rested in his arms. "No…" I thought running alongside of Agent Barton to the couch.
Black Widow had opened one of her eyes attempting to receive some sort of consciousness from her eyes. Instead, they only rolled back into her head causing Natasha to let go in response.
"What's wrong with her-?" Stark gasped but my own eyes fell to her face. Even as death seemed to creep by her side, she still looked pretty. I had seen many men die in the war but this…even I was having trouble trying to remain calm while this woman was dying right in front of me.
"We have to take her to the hospital." I insisted. After all, I had no medical background other than ban-aids and ointment. If we could get her there within a reasonable amount of time, she could be taken care of properly.
"No time," Barton replied ruining my thought. "Stark, is there any type of medical room we could take her in? If we don't stop the bleeding she will bleed out. Just look at her face, she's lost way too much blood." His tone was calm as if he had seen these types of emergencies many times before.
"The sanatorium!" Stark replied pulling Bella into his arms and flying away leading the team into his own wishes. I assumed at this point that it was going to be an ongoing battle between him and me.
Clint looked to the red haired woman "I need to go." He placed a hand on her shoulder as she nodded. "I know. Go…" They stared into each other's eyes and I watched silently. It reminded me of a dramatic black and white silent movie from my past. The longing look revealed the two had cared for each other outside of being partners in SHIELD. It was romantic, yes, but right now Bella was of the upmost concern.
Giving a stern nod to Barton, he and I stood running out of the room. Just before we had exited the area, I noticed Dr. Banner hunched over in the corner. "Crap." I thought now making a check list of plans if the Hulk took over Banner's body again.
"Stark! Which way are you going?" I yelled through the head set Bella had handed me merely hours before.
"Three floors down, second door to the left!" He replied and the two of us ran down the stairwell at the end of the hallway trying to follow Stark's orders. "The guy lives in a freaking maze!" I decided sprinting and even skipping down some of the stairs. Clint attempted to keep up with me but superhuman strength seemed to deem well in drastic situations.
Finally entering the second door on the left, my gaze and uncontrollably my feet went to Bella. Carefully I cupped her cheeks as she lay lifelessly on the table. "What do we do?" I asked with a shaky voice. I didn't think I was that nervous, but my voice had clearly shown the anxiety I felt. "She's hardly breathing…"
"We have to stop the bleeding." Barton placed a towel on her wound. My eyes widened watching her chest being forced into the table. "She was trying to clot it earlier but not with enough pressure." He looked to assure me.
I only offered him a nod trying to push aside my fear and to be confident as I always pretended to be. Surviving all of the fights against Hydra in WWII was scary as hell. And somehow I managed to stay calm and fight all the way until the end…well until I had to sink Hydra's secret weapon.
Right now, looking down at my dying friend, I would give anything to be fighting Hydra and Nazi's instead of watching Bella's life on the line.
"We have two options now, we can try to close it or we could attempt to cauterize it."
"What do you think is the better option?" Stark looked just as nervous as I probably did. My jaw clenched preparing to witness the operation. Whichever one we chose.
"From the point she's at, we need to cauterize it and find a way to put more blood into her." Clint motioned for me to hold the towel and I quickly agreed pressing into her chest a bit harder than I would have thought. Maybe I still didn't know the power of my own strength yet.
"How exactly are we going to-" I started to ask realizing in order to cauterize an injury, you had to burn the area. I had seen some of my friends perform this task while we were on the move in Germany. It was painful to watch and to the person but it got the job done.
"It's me." Stark answered but the dazed look in his eyes made me feel worried. "I have to…" he held his fist in front of his face opening and closing it carefully.
"Stark," I glared. "You better be careful."
Tony only nodded, "You think I won't? Hawk, you got the blood?"
"I found 'em. But what type-"
"A+." Stark replied catching my interest.
"How do you-" I began to question but he cut me off before I could finish, "I memorized all the files. Hurry, we have to do this now."
Shutting my mouth quickly from his reply I heard a small pop from my teeth clashing together. As far as I could remember, there wasn't a file on Bella. So, how exactly did he read her file?
Working quickly and improvising as best to ensure the woman's success of survival, Clint nodded holding the bag of blood in his hand. If he put the blood in right now, it would only pour out. "You've got one shot and you better do it now." Clint demanded for Tony to proceed but for once the Iron Man was hesitating. It was the first I had actually seen Tony look scared- truthfully and hopelessly afraid to hurt her.
But it was Bella's only chance. "Come on Stark…" I thought while we all stood there lost in our thoughts.
And then he raised his hand making me react by retreating the blood soaked towel just as the bright blast from his hand incinerated Bella's chest.
As the light cleared, Barton quickly pushed the supply of blood into the vein in her arm.
We couldn't speak in the moment only hearing the sound of steam emitting from off of the charred and red of Bella's skin. Her black leather suit had been burned in a perfect circle but thankfully, it hadn't revealed anything to us over than her upper chest.
I held my breath waiting for an answer. For a breath. A gasp…but nothing. Isabella just lay on the table just as hopelessly as she had before.
"You did it right."
A voice in the doorway made me look to someone I thought was out for the count. Dr. Bruce Banner. He walked over to the others with his nervous stance he had when I first met him on the top of SHIELD's Hellicarrier with his hand clenched around the waistband of his torn and oversized pants.
I made sure to move out of the way for the half-naked doctor while he examined the woman for any possible signs of breathing. "We can only wait," He sighed not making me feel any better, "She has five minutes."
Trying to conduct my own examination, I placed my hand on her cheek once more praying the red from my gloves would seep into her face.
Bruce smiled releasing his two fingers from her neck. "Wait. There's a minor pulse."
"I… What?" Tony began to say but quickly closed his mouth.
"I'm not much of a medical doctor, but I can give her the right medicine to fight off infections and to clean her injuries."
I nodded realizing Bruce was trying to kick us out, "Barton, you stay here and help him. You seemed to know more about this than we did." I pulled Stark's arm from out of the room.
"Oh and Stark." Bruce added looking up from Bella's body. "Could you bring me something else to wear?"
"You got it, Jolly Green."
Tony and I had been walking side-by-side down the hallway in silence, although the thoughts rampaging in my head were nothing of silence.
I had been thinking of Bella and how brave and strong she had been during their battle. In all honesty, Bella reminded me of Peggy in so many ways. The memory of Peggy, angry at me, when she shot at my shield to test if it was appropriate for the job…that same fire had burned in Bella's eyes as well. I had almost become distracted watching her shoot and fight the aliens alongside of me just minutes ago because of the similarities.
But the one thought that bugged me the most was Bella's unknown file that Stark had read. Wanting more answers about the situation, I took a few extra strides and stopped short causing Stark to carelessly bump into me.
"What now, Cap-sickle-?" He snarled.
"What did you read in Bella's file?" I sneered trying to intimidate the man to give me answers. "As far as I'm aware, there was no file I was given about her." A sort of snarl came from my voice, unintentionally of course...
Tony only rolled his eyes. "Well, that because she likes me better than you." He pushed my arm to the side continuing to walk forwards.
"No, there's something different..." I held my ground proving I was stubborn to receive my answer. "What did you read? You said on the Hellicarrier that you hacked into SHIELD's systems."
With a heavy sigh, Tony looked down at his feet and then back to me. "If anything she deserves to live."
"Yes of course, but you're lying. Tell me."
"It's not mine to tell-" He replied quickly, "I've already taking a part of her life away. I owe her that much to save her life."
What in the hell did that mean?
What part of her life had he taken away?
And how bad was it that the infamous Tony Stark had to owe her?
"What. Did. You. Do, Stark?" I growled through my teeth, but Tony continued to walk down the hallway- his metal suit clanking with every step he took.
I stood there in the silence and then looked back to the broken doorway of the medical room. Closing my eyes I shook my head telling myself calmly to just go back upstairs. If Bella was really lost, I couldn't be there to see it happen.
I might have superhuman strength physically. But mentally, I was still that scrawny kid from Brooklyn. Pushing aside the doors to the stairs, I climbed them with only the slapping of my feet echoing in my head. This feeling of hopelessness…it was awful.
And then I lost it. Resting my back into the wall, I paused for a moment resting my hands on my knees. The tears slowly fell from my cheeks and onto the floor. "Peggy…is this what it was like for you? To hear me on the radio, trying to tell me everything was alright? And inside know it won't be…this feeling…it's awful…"
I sat up, still with my back on the wall, wiping the wet drops from my dirty face. "I still owe you that dance…maybe…" I looked up at the white ceiling saying a prayer to the woman I loved more than life itself, "Maybe, if you'll allow it, Bella could be the one to dance with me…please…just…"
"Everyone," Barton's voice rang through my head causing my depressing thoughts to end without a moment's notice. "Bella… she's-"
The verdict had my chest swarming with emotions. Giving into my buckling knees, I slid down the wall…and cried.
Okay, to not drive all of you INSANE, the 'verdict' will be revealed in the next chapter! I really love Steve's thoughts. I had watched the Captain America movie to really get a feel for him so I hope it came across in this chapter. (Well I feel better about this one than the other two. ugh) Reviews have been awesome guys! You all push me so hard to keep writing! Love you all!
-yesiamweird
(BTW Tommy Lee Jones stole parts of that movie and Steve is such a freaking sweetheart! If there was a like button I would say to push it if you agree)
