Drabble 81-FoleyFest Day 3: Kiss/Kill

Tucker panted as he stood back up. His glasses were cracked and every inch of him was caked with ash and grime. He was bleeding and scraped up and every single bone in his body hurt. All he wanted to do was drift off into a meat-induced coma for the next five years.

But he couldn't do that.

He was the only thing standing in between Danny and the Red Skull. Danny, his best friend. His partner in crime. His brother, who was writhing on the ground and gasping for air, holding onto his throat as a small trail of red smoke came from his mouth. His eyes were blown wide, and he was in his human form.

"Stop," he said, breathless as he held the gun with both hands. It was aimed directly in between Skull's eyes.

Everything around them was carnage. Buildings had toppled, lives have been lost, and Captain America was somewhere on the other side of the world, locked away in a Hydra cell as Skull had tried to take over the capital of America. The water from the reflection pool had drained due to the large cracks in the bottom from the giant robots he had helped Danny and the other Avengers take care of. Now all he had to do was take care of the person who had killed his friends. That was killing Danny.

His hand was surprisingly steady as he forced his breath to even out. Skull smirked at him with those but, yellow teeth of his. They made Tucker's stomach twist and turn in a way that made the though of eating vegetables sound like a good idea.

This man though. He wasn't even a man. He was a shriveled up overrated Hitler impersonator, and he had to go. He just. He didn't deserve to breathe anymore. He hadn't for a long time now, and Tucker really hoped that he never came back as a ghost. Then they would royally be screwed.

"Tucker, what are you doing?" Sam asked. Her legs were smashed under debris, and they would take months to heal, but she would be able to walk again eventually. She was looking at him with wide, desperate purple eyes, and at Danny with worry.

"I'm ending this, Sam," Tucker replied. He turned back to Skull, who was glaring up at him. If looks could kill, Tucker would have been dead as soon as Skull had laid eyes upon him.

"Tucker, don't," she said sternly, trying her hardest to get out from underneath the robot, but to no avail. it was too heavy for her to lift, and it was too heavy for her to crawl out from under it. Danny was still writhing, unable to stop the convulsing. Iron Man, whose suit had been ripped to shreds, with the exception of the gauntlet, was running towards them.

Tucker kept his eyes on Skull.

"Do not hesitate, boy," he spat. His accent was thick, and the sound of his voice made Tucker's skin crawl. He tightened his grip on the pistol he had pulled from Skull's belt when they had wrestled around on the ground after he had poisoned Danny. "If you are going to kill me you have to mean it."

"Tucker! Danny!" Tony called out. "Tucker, wait! Don't do it!"

He wanted to keep Tucker from going off the deep end. To not kill anyone. He acted as if he was able to, as if he actually had power in this situation. No, the only thing Stark had right now was his name and his gauntlet.

"It's too late for that, Tony," he said as Stark caught up to them. He reached out to Tucker, who shoved him away harshly. "He has to die," he was raising his voice now. He was convincing himself that this was the only way, because Tucker was smart enough to know how this would play out. Skull would be thrown in prison, and then he would just escape again because he knows that Skull probably already has plan B starting up right now. The only way to get rid of it was to get rid of him. For good, this time.

He glanced over at Sam again, still trying to break free. Then at Danny, who was now unconscious and foaming at the mouth, his fingers still twitching and his eyes wide open and dull.

Tucker closed his eyes, and pulled the trigger.

Everything seemed to freeze with the sound of the gun shot. Time slowed to a stop, and the only thing he was bale to register was the dead look in Skull's eyes as he bled out from the bullet hole in his forehead. He barely noticed when Stark yanked the gun away from him, or when he had Natasha lead him back to the jet. He hadn't noticed Danny being brought in on a stretcher with a breathing mask over his face, or when Sam had been carried in carefully by Hulk. All he could do was stare at his hands.

They wouldn't stop shaking.