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Make You Feel My Love
~Book IV~

Disclaimer: I do not own Civil War or any other Marvel characters in this story. All I own is the story I've come up with and my own characters.

Chapter 21

Without a beat's hesitation, the teams suddenly charged. Steve had his shield ready. Sam raised up into the air. Bucky simply ran. Scott simply ran. Wanda raised up in the air as well. Clint stayed back with an arrow ready to be shot. And Maria raised her sword. The runes on the sword's blade were clear and visible in the midday sun, and the diamonds on the pommel burned brightly as she gripped her sword tightly. All in all, the run was epic when you looked at it from afar. But inside… Inside of Maria and many of the other heroes, there was chaos and pain.

Her eyes darted from one hero to the other, unsure of who she was supposed to charge at. Nobody was truly charging at her. T'Challa was clearly heading for Bucky. Tony clearly had a grudge with Steve. Nat was heading towards Clint. Wanda and Vision had their eyes on each other, albeit neither of them looked ready to hit each other. Rhodey was flying towards Sam and the Spider-Man seemed to go for Scott. Though there was no one Maria wanted to charge at. There was no one she wanted to hurt. They were her family. She loved them… And yet, here they were, charging at each other as though they weren't family; as though they had not just spent the past months together in the same house, eating together, training together, watching movies together…

With that conflict inside of her, Maria followed Bucky with her eyes as he sprinted slightly ahead of her. The teams moved closer and closer to each other. A brief glance was exchanged between Maria and Natasha. The teams moved in closer to each other… And BANG, the fight was on.

Maria stayed with Bucky, kicking T'Challa, who had clawed at Bucky's metal arm, in the gut and sending him a few meters away from them. Though he barely seemed to have noticed it as he immediately recuperated and pounced at them again. Bucky was quick to push Maria out of reach, taking the pounce instead. In return, Maria wielded her sword and lightly tapped T'Challa's arm, this time sending him flying back more extremely and further away from Bucky. Though the fight was still on.

Maria and Bucky braced themselves as T'Challa ran towards them once more, though something caught both of their attention. Rhodey had flown up towards Maria and sent a few minor missiles towards her, hopefully meant to simply knock her out. Fear took control of Maria, one hand going down to protect her stomach while the other, still holding onto her sword, was lifted up into the air out of sheer instinct. With her palm pointed towards the missiles, she used her powers to stop them and make them turn around, causing them to fly off over Rhodey's head who just managed to dodge them. Yet, that was not all. While this had happened and the pain in her stomach had caused her to stumble back, T'Challa was still charging towards them. Bucky grabbed Maria, steadying her on her feet while, up in the air, Sam kicked Rhodey in the back, distracting Rhodey enough to follow Sam away from Maria and Bucky.

"You okay?" whispered Bucky into her ear as she stood leaning against his body with her back pressed up against his chest.

She shivered and nodded her head, trying her best to stand on her own two feet. However, before she had managed to find her balance, T'Challa clawed at Bucky's arm, luckily only hitting metal. This caused Bucky to instinctively push Maria away from him before throwing a punch at T'Challa, which in turn caused her to fall to the ground.

"I am not weak…" whispered Maria to herself as she stood back up on wobbly feet. "I can fight."

Lifting her sword, Maria prepared herself to help Bucky out again, though before she could, something sticky stuck onto her sword as it was mid-air, yanking it out of her hand.

"Wow! That is such a cool sword! Like, it's an actual sword!"

Maria's eyes widened as she turned to watch the Spider-Man walk over to the sword which was now lying on the ground, the web still on its hilt, masking the rubies.

"NO!"

She began to run, her face struck in horror as she could only watch as the young kid bent down to grab the sword, clearly too awestruck to hear her yell. She noticed Clint turn his head at her from the corner of her eye, though all she could really focus on was Spider-Man.

It seemed to happen in slow-motion. Her hand was just above his, so close from stopping him from doing something stupid… But he still was too quick for her. She had never seen it happen in real life. Xavier had simply told her that the sword could only be touched by someone it chose to bear it. But now that she saw it in real life, she began to fear of what she actually was wielding.

Spider-Man retracted his hand, seeming to have been chocked by something as his body convulsed before flying off into a pile of nearby crates. Maria didn't hesitate to grab the sword off the ground and place it back where it belonged alongside her hip, before running towards the now scattered crates where Spider-Man lay, unmoving.

The fight continued behind her, explosions going off here and there. But she didn't care.

Slowly she kneeled down beside the strangely dressed kid, placing a hand on his chest and, much to her relief, feeling it moving. He was alright, but had obviously taken a pretty bad hit. He groaned, the eyes on his mask narrowing slightly before seeming to focus on her.

"Are you okay?" she breathed, nearly shaking.

"Uh, I think so. Yeah. That was… Wow. That hurt…" While he spoke he sat back up, her hand moving to help him up into a sitting position. "What just happened?"

"My sword can't be touched by anyone but me. It's… special," she explained. "I've never seen it happen in real life. What did you feel?"

"Pain. Just… Lots of pain. And then I didn't feel pain. I think I was dreaming for a while… And then I felt pain again. And saw you," he explained, his voice sounding normal again.

She smiled at him, "I think we should get back to the fight."

"Yeah, yeah. Totally. By the way, has anyone ever told you you're really pretty? Wow, that was inappropriate. Must've hit my head or something…"

Maria simply smiled and shook her head, helping him up to his feet. "Stay in the game, Spider-Man. Or you might get hurt for real next time."

And with that, they both ran off back into the fight again.

Bucky was out of sight and so was Sam. Clint was staying by Wanda's side and Scott was nowhere to be seen. Though she did catch a glimpse of something tiny jumping up towards Natasha before she suddenly face-planted the ground.

Steve was all alone, fighting off Tony still. She made her way over there, once more taking out her sword. Though Tony saw her, lifting his hand up to shoot something at her, which Steve deflected using his shield. Side by side they jumped up towards Tony, Steve ready to punch him with his shield, while Maria was ready to tap his suit with her sword. However, something happened then that neither of them had foreseen.

Tony turned off his jets and fell to the ground, managing to evade Steve and Maria's punches. They landed behind him and before they could turn around to face Tony, he had already turned and shot two missiles at each of them. Maria managed to stop the ones coming at Steve, though she missed one coming for her. Although Steve hurried to try and shield her, he missed and she was shot backwards by one of Tony's empty rounds which caused her no greater pain than a normal punch would have.

Yet, the fall still hurt. Some of the minor scrapes she got healed immediately, though in turn her stomach gave off shots of pain that caused her to gasp loudly. She fleetly saw Sam fly against Tony, knocking them both to the ground before Steve's face was the only thing she could see as he crouched over her.

"You okay?" he asked, his voice serious and calm even though his blue eyes revealed he was clearly not calm.

His hand pressed against her upper arm, calming her down as she recovered from the pain. Gently he raised her up into a sitting position, his eyes darting around the place in case someone attacked them.

"I'm fine," she breathed, her fingers curling into Steve's shoulder as she took deep breaths. "Fine…"

He helped her to stand back up, the both of them grabbing their weapons which had fallen to the ground.

"Can you run?" asked Steve gently, the two looking over at the fight at hand. Maria followed everyone with her eyes for a while, accounting for everyone apart from Natasha who she could not see anywhere.

"Yeah, of course," breathed Maria.

After a curt nod from Steve, he suddenly surprised her by grabbing her jaw and gently pressing her forehead against hers. She let go of his shoulder, grabbing onto the back of his head as she leaned into his touch.

"Together then," he breathed, his lips so close to hers that they were almost touching.

"Together," she breathed back, the engagement ring underneath of her glove heating up.

Hand in hand, Steve and Maria began to run. Scott deflected a couple of Tony's shots for them as they did before he shrunk again. However, their running was hindered by Natasha who suddenly appeared before them.

Steve lifted his shield, prepared to defend himself.

"I'm sorry about this," breathed Natasha, her eyes filled with regret before she lifted her arms, aiming her fists at them both before sending small fires of electricity their way. Steve blocked them all with his shield, positioning himself in front of Maria just slightly in order to do so.

As the shots stopped, Maria jumped forwards, meaning to tap Natasha lightly on the arm with her sword. However, Natasha foresaw this after having sparred with Maria for a long time, and side-stepped away from Maria's sword, in the progress grabbing Maria's hand that was holding the grip, pushing her backwards onto the ground before slamming her hand against the concrete ground. Her fingers lost her grip on her sword and at the pain in her fingers upon the slam, Maria let out a cry of pain as she literally felt each bone cracking and breaking.

Natasha staggered backwards at Maria's pained cry, causing Steve to gain the advantage as he quickly thrust his shield against the back of Natasha's head, knocking her down to the ground where she lay completely dazed as Steve stepped over her towards Maria.

She gently moved her hand to rest in her lap as Steve looked it over, barely daring to touch her hand.

"It'll heal… It'll heal," she breathed, shaking from the pain in her hand and in her stomach. "Help me up."

Not protesting, Steve lifted her up to her feet, not thinking twice before grabbing her sword and handing it to her. He furrowed his brow as she stared at him with wide eyes, shoving the sword into her not broken hand before quickly urging her to move on. Had anyone else touched that sword, they would have felt it the way Spider-Man had.

But not Steve?

Recovering from the shock, Maria ran next to Steve. The pain in her stomach along with the pain in her hand as the bones slowly healed, caused her to clearly be way too slow for Steve. She had to lean on him and the two could barely come up at a jogging speed. She couldn't help but hate herself for actually slowing down Steve…

The jet was not too far away though. It was still at least a couple hundred meters away, but compared to other lengths they had run before, it was nothing to any of the Avengers. Bucky appeared next to Steve, glancing at the both of them as he spoke.

"We gotta go. That guy's probably in Siberia now."

A lurch of pain caused Maria to bite her lip tightly while at the same time also causing her to feel even more of a nuisance. Steve's arm went around her waist to keep her upright as she, apparently, had sagged slightly, her knees giving up underneath of her.

Bucky stared at her.

"We gotta draw out the flyers," stated Steve as he looked up. "They'll take down the jet if we take it. I'll take Vision, you take the jet."

Bucky nodded his head, prepared to follow Steve's orders blindly. Though Sam was not.

"No, you get the jet. You three. The rest of us aren't getting out of here." Above them, Sam flew over them with Rhodey chasing his tale still.

"As much as I hate to admit it, if we're gonna win this one, some of us are gonna have to lose it." Clint's voice caused Steve to look back at where he and Wanda were going at T'Challa and Spider-Man.

"This isn't the real fight," came Sam's voice again over the coms.

"Alright, Sam, what's the play?" asked Steve.

"We need a diversion. Something big."

"Well, we've got something small," commented Maria, referring to Scott.

"Actually, I've got something kinda big, but I can't hold it very long. On my signal, run like hell. And if I tear myself in half, don't come back for me."

Maria glanced at Steve with confused eyes at Scott's words.

"He's gonna tear himself apart?" asked Bucky with furrowed brows.

A shadow suddenly appeared over them and as they looked back, they saw Scott had grown significantly in size to the point where he was even taller than the airport itself.

"I think that's the signal," mumbled Maria, preparing herself to once more push her body.

With one arm around Steve's shoulders and one arm around her own stomach, Maria ran side by side of Steve and Bucky. Though she knew they were holding back significantly just so she could keep up with them. It pained her almost more than her stomach was at the moment to know that Steve and Bucky might not make it to Siberia in time because of her and a small tear slipped down her cheek because of it.

Hissing, Maria slowed down causing Steve and Bucky to look at her with confused eyes. Steve kept trying to keep her upright, though she struggled enough to finally hit the ground, moving to lean against a nearby crate as the fight between the massive Scott and the others went on in the background. She shook her head at the two super soldiers in front of her, looking down at the ground.

"Steve…. I can't – I can't come with you. I'm holding you back. I'm slow-"

"What are you talking about? You're coming with us," urged Steve, his hands once more gripping her arms to try and lift her up though she struggled against him, causing him to stop lifting her.

Tears appeared in her eyes. If she came with him, she would barely be of use. Her hand was healing, but her stomach was still hurting too badly. She had wanted to help, but she couldn't endanger the baby anymore. Besides… She didn't like pain and not fighting made sure she had no pain.

"I know I said I wanted to be by your side constantly and I do," she whispered as Steve crouched down in front of her, his hands on either side of hers. "I wanted to keep you safe… All of you. I wanted to keep my family safe… And I realize now that, if I want to do that, I'm gonna have to stay behind."

Steve stayed silent, Bucky restlessly looking between Maria and the jet that was not too far away from them now.

"If you stay behind, they'll take you in."

A tear slipped down her cheek, her fears of having the baby without Steve nearby coming true. She placed her hands over his, grabbing them and hugging them to her chest while she pressed her nose to his. Both closed their eyes, their breathing synchronizing as they slowly moved their lips closer to each other.

"I love you so much," breathed Steve, his eyes opening again. "And I promise you that we won't be apart."

Maria simply nodded.

"Steve," said Bucky in a sudden concerned breath of air, causing both Steve and Maria to look over at what he was staring at.

Something had caused the entrance to the building the jet was parked in, to cave in. At least, it was starting to crumble, debris falling down in large chunks. Now, the entrance was not a normal doorway entrance. It was large due to how large the hangar was. In a way, it was almost big enough for Scott in his current form to walk through. Its size meant that the debris falling down from the slowly crumbling entrance would crush either Bucky or Steve if they happened to be underneath of it. Something had to be done. They had to be able to enter! It was the only entrance except for the open roof through which the jet would take off, and neither Steve nor Bucky had the time to climb up the side of the building, even if they could, without getting caught by one of the heroes trying to take them in.

Maria made a decision right then and there. If she could not help them in Siberia, she would at least help them as much as she still could right there and then. Grabbing Steve's face, she placed a firm and passionate kiss to his lips. Bucky furrowed his brow at them, wondering what he had missed. And then… Maria lifted her hands up, her mind on the kiss and the world she was saving for both him and their baby… Her sword hanging from her belt suddenly glowed, and when Bucky and Steve looked back at the crumbling entrance, they saw her invisible powers holding it up.

"Maria, be careful!" warned Bucky, obviously still aware of her pregnancy. Though she shook her head at him, whispering for them to go and run; to save the world.

The void had taken over her stomach and the excruciating pain she felt was beyond anything she had ever felt before. Though she pushed on, knowing she needed to do this. Each time her mind slipped away from the crumbling entrance or Steve's beautiful face, she pushed herself back to think about it, knowing that if she lost focus even for a second, she would lose control over her powers.

"GO!"

Steve turned away from her, not being able to look at her being in so much pain for any longer. Bucky began to run and Steve followed him, biting down hard as he forced himself to move away from his future wife. He kept glancing back at her as both he and Bucky pushed themselves to run as fast as they could and what he saw broke his heart.

Her hands were shaking, the veins in her eyes popping. A small drop of blood left her right eye, slowly sliding down her cheek and joining the rest of the blood down by her lips. Her knees buckled and she fell forwards onto her knees, though she kept her hands up, focusing on the tower. The void inside of her burned and ached. This was beyond the limit of her powers, she knew this, though she had to help Steve and Bucky in whatever way she could. Them not reaching the aircraft in time was her fault, and she was not going to hinder them anymore.

Someone screamed, and it took her a while to realize she was the one screaming. There was so much pain inside of her – her entire body shook. The only thing left in her blurry vision was the broken half of the entrance kept up by her own powers and the two figures now running underneath of it. The void, her powers, felt as though it was tearing itself through her inside, ripping out more space and settling in there. The only other time she had felt such pain, was when she had fallen down that building and landed on the ground with a metal pipe sticking out of her abdomen. Not even dying hurt as much as she hurt right there and then.

And then, the two figures had disappeared inside, safely out of the way of the tower. As she let go, she let out another cry. Going from overusing her powers to suddenly not using them at all in under a second was even more painful. Something stabbed her abdomen, causing her to choke up some blood before falling backwards onto the cold, hard ground. The air slowly left her lungs and for a moment, the only thing she saw was the sky above her and the loud thumping of her heart.

The rush of her body healing itself was painful yet also familiar, which calmed her down tremendously. The same wave of nausea and pain went through her as the one she had felt a couple of times now, though she almost felt too tired to throw up what little food she had gotten the night before. She clutched her stomach as she groaned, pearls of sweat now visible on her forehead. Blood was still seeping out from her eyes, nose and mouth even though she had healed. But now… Now she also felt it on her legs, her thighs…

And then darkness overtook her and she closed her eyes.