Chapter Five
The lights in the room were still flashing red, and the alarm was still sounding, and Alessia fell onto her backside, eyes fixed on the door which she had not been fast enough to get through.
"Fuck!" Was all she could say. Bucky had his back leaned against the wall behind him, panting and wiping the sweat from his face. He almost looked vulnerable to Alessia, and for the first time since he had woken up she could tell how he felt by the look on his face. He looked exhausted and disheartened. This did not inspire much hope in Alessia.
"What are we going to do?" She asked.
"Hang on," Bucky said. He dropped his face into his hands. "Give me a minute." He said, without looking at her. "Try to warm up the door in the meantime, if you get it soft enough I might be able to break it down."
Alessia stood up and pressed her hands onto the metal. She closed her eyes, exhaled, and pushed everything she was feeling into her hands. It was like screaming into a pillow, or punching a wall- no it was like screaming at the top of your lungs to the sky or punching the person you hated most- it was a the most satisfying thing Alessia could do. She had felt almost every emotion she knew in just a few hours, and here they came, pouring out of her. Her fear, her confusion, anger, hurt, how irritated she was by the lights and the noise, how guilty she had felt after destroying that hallway full of men, how nervous she felt when Bucky watched her melting his bonds, everything, it came pouring out her hands and onto the metal door.
When she opened her eyes, Alessia was shocked to see that her hands were sunk a few inches into the metal, and that the area around her hands was glowing bright orange. She jumped back.
"It's never worked that fast before." She said, more to herself than Bucky, who had stood up to stand beside her.
"It looks really thick," Bucky said, examining the hand prints Alessia had left, which were each about two inches deep.
"Maybe you should create a fault line as you go, it'll be easier to break." Bucky said. Alessia nodded. She could see what he was saying, but she was worried about something else.
She turned to him, already feeling ashamed about what she had to say.
"So, real talk," She began, "My powers are emotion based, and I think I was only able to melt the metal so fast just now because I had so many emotions running through me. I don't think I can do it again- at least, not that quickly."
Bucky blinked at her. Somehow, now that it was just the two of them, he seemed a little less terrifying, but he still had a stoic, indifferent look on his face that made him impossible to talk to. "I don't understand," He said, "can you do it or can't you?"
"Well, you're not exactly being helpful, you know." Alessia said, turning to look away from him, and back at the door. She took a step forward to place her hands on the door next to the prints she had already left.
"Well, what would you have me do?" Bucky asked.
"Well, first of all," Alessia said, whipping around, "Can you just be real with me for a second? If you wanna be mean to me, or tell me I'm not.. tell me I'm not handling this better," Alessia said, voice catching a little "Then whatever, but if you're going to give me this nonsense, and act like you don't care about anything-"
"Woah, woah," Bucky cut her off "do you think I'm being mean to you? We're trapped in a shady testing facility, and you're the only other person here who can hold your own against them, I need to be able to rely on you, especially now."
"Well I'm-" Alessia began, feeling angry and offended and insulted and hurt. She wanted to spout off at Bucky, tell him he was being an asshole. She wanted to say that she was just a kid, and she didn't know what she was supposed to do, but that wasn't really true anymore. She wasn't a kid, and Clint had taught her how to fight. So instead, she turned around and channeled it into her hands, placing them back on the door. She closed her eyes and tried to focus on it.
Alessia opened her eyes. The metal where she had been pressing her hands was glowing, but her hand prints were barely noticeable when she pulled her hands away.
"Oh fuck me," She murmured under her breath, closing her eyes and replacing her hands on the metal. That time your mom said you were dressed like a slut. The time you fell down in a skate lesson and your teacher only yelled at you. When you found out Arthur liked Jesse and not you. Senior year, and all the dirty looks you got because everyone somehow knew it was your fault Dylan's car blew up.
Alessia could feel her hands sinking in again, and when she opened her eyes, the hand prints were almost as deep as the ones she had left before. She moved to a different spot on the door.
Alessia closed her eyes again. She was feeling really drained, and she was running out of things that made her emotional. How your parents didn't look you in the face for a week after what happened with Dylan, how those damn judges at regional semi-finals put you in second place, that D you got in English lit. Every relationship you've had ever.
These last hand prints were just as deep as the first, but Alessia could feel herself wearing down. The one orange she'd eaten earlier was not going to keep her going for much longer.
"I don't know if I can do any more," She said, turning to Bucky, who had been watching her from behind. "See if you can get it down like it is, I might get another wind later." Alessia moved away from the door to let Bucky take a few shots at it while it was still glowing. She slid down the wall to sit on the floor, covering her ears so that a moment later, when he threw a shot at the metal, it wasn't so jarring.
Bucky punched the door a few times, and the metal was denting, especially on the side Alessia had managed to put hand prints in, but there was not enough damage to get them through. After about ten hits, Bucky joined her on the floor.
"What do you think is happening with Jane and Pepper?" Alessia asked, without looking at him. Bucky sighed."I'm going to assume that your friends got here and that they've found them." Bucky replied. "We can't waste energy worrying about them anyway. We need to think about getting out of here. There's no telling when these doors open, or who'll be there to meet us when they do."
"We are so screwed, aren't we?" Alessia asked. She looked over at the door. The dent didn't look that significant now, and the metal was beginning to cool down. "I don't know." Bucky replied. There was a hopelessness in his voice that made Alessia feel even more exhausted somehow. Her whole body ached with tiredness. She could tell that if she closed her eyes for just a second, she would fall asleep.
"I fucking give up." She said. she pulled her knees to her chest and buried her face in them, hugging them close to her. "I'm done, I don't wanna do this anymore. I'm sorry."
Alessia hugged herself, the red lights blinking on and off, the alarm wailing, and felt cold. Fuck she thought. Alessia only ever felt cold when she didn't have the energy to keep herself warm, and Alessia only ever ran out of energy like that when she had been using her powers a lot. The only cure for it was sleeping and eating a bunch, and those weren't exactly options at the moment. She considered telling Bucky this, but even though he had relaxed just a little bit, she was still sort of afraid of him.
"Um-A-Alessia is it?" Alessia didn't move, because she was so dead tired, but she groaned in acknowledgment. It was the first time Bucky had called her- or anyone actually-by name so far.
"Alessia, please, we need to try to get out of here."
"I can't" Alessia said, moving her head to the side to look at him. She hadn't realized until then just how close he'd been sitting to her. Their legs were almost touching. "You don't understand how much it takes outta me," She went on, trying to ignore the butterflies batting around her stomach. "I can't just run on nothing. I can't exert myself like that and not eat. I might actually pass out. I've done all I can do. I'm having a hard time staying awake to tell you the truth." Bucky was looking at her sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Bucky, I'm really really sorry." She turned back into her arms "I'm just a fuck up, and I'm going to be the reason the two of us get killed." She could feel herself tearing up. I'm not going to cry. She told herself firmly I'm not going to fucking cry about this.
"Alessia, c'mon," There was a tenderness in Bucky's voice that took Alessia off guard. "Please, I'm sorry, I didn't know using your powers took such a toll on you." Alessia felt something cold and smooth nudge her in the arm. "C'mon," Bucky said again.
Alessia glanced over, expecting to see Bucky's metal hand against her arm, but instead, illuminated in blinking red light was the round form of an apple.
Alessia sat up straight to look at Bucky. "I grabbed it when we were in the kitchen. I thought I might get a chance to eat it later, but I think you need it more than me." He said.
"Thank you," Alessia said, taking the fruit from him. She raised it up to take a bite before stopping. "You sure? You haven't had anything."
"I'm sure," Bucky said with a smirk. "If you can't melt that door I might not be eating again for a while."
Alessia nodded, and bit into the apple.
After a few more goes at it, Alessia had created a fault line of melted hand prints along the door. Bucky was able to punch into it until the door was bent, and there was a gap large enough for them to slide under. After making it out, they ran through the maze of hallways looking around every corner, Alessia hoping the Avengers in fact were here, and that any moment they'd run into a gold-and-red plated billionaire or a metal-and-leather bound god. Heck, she'd be happy to see the star-spangled ninety-something at this point.
However, they didn't see anybody. Alessia, still clutching a gun Bucky had given her, trotted after Bucky as they searched for- anything. An exit, an Avenger, even their lost companions. The alarm was still sounding when they found themselves back in the charred hallway where Alessia had burned those men earlier.
"Shit." Bucky said, stopping. "We're going in circles. How did that happen, we haven't taken any double turns, have we?"
Alessia turned to look at him. The tough exterior he had been sporting since he had awoken seemed to be worn thin. He looked tired. He didn't get to eat anything. Alessia thought, feeling guilty. Bucky rubbed his face with his right hand, the picture of exhaustion. "Lets think, we went left, then right, then right... we didn't take another right did we?"
"HEY!" It came from Alessia's left and she whipped around to face the speaker, gun raised, heart beating rapidly in her chest. A figure was advancing towards her and Bucky. In the red flashing light it took a her a second to process what she was seeing.
"Don't shoot, I'm here to help." The man said. Alessia struggled to make out his features. He was not dressed like any of the guards they had seen so far, so Alessia lowered the gun slightly without putting it away. She couldn't recognize him as one of the Avengers. His suit was a nondescript battle suit, it's only distinctive feature being goggles, which were currently pushed onto his forehead. He lifted a hand to his ear, and said. "I found 'em, you got our position, Cap?"
Alessia had not yet relaxed her finger, still nervously rubbing the trigger, she backed up and looked up at Bucky. His gun was loosely held at his side, which surprised Alessia. He seemed to trust this man. Alessia couldn't decide if that meant he was trustworthy, or if it meant that Bucky was so exhausted his judgment was lapsing. She quickly looked back to the man and kept her eyes trained on him, gun held ready.
"It's Alessia, right?" He asked, stepping forward. "I'm Sam, I'm friends with Steve and Clint. They're both really worried about you two."
"How do I know you're really friends with them?" Alessia asked.
"Clint, you busy man? Alessia wants to talk to you." The man said, presumably into the same earpiece as before. A moment passed and he removed a small blue tooth type device, and held it out to her. Alessia lowered the gun, but kept it in her hand, and didn't take her eyes off of the man as she accepted the earpiece and put it in place.
"..hello?" She said timidly.
"Alessia," Clint's voice said in her ear. "Are you okay?"
Relief washed over Alessia. Her finger relaxed on the gun and her entire posture seemed to sigh with relief. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine, I just.. I just wanted to know he was really with you."
"That's smart Alessia, I'm so proud of you, but you guys really need to get going now. Just do what Sam says, he knows what he's doing, Okay?"
"Okay." Alessia said. She took the earpiece out and handed it to Sam.
"We good?" He asked. Alessia nodded, and glanced at Bucky. He nodded his head once at her, then Sam.
"Yeah, near the north side I think," Sam responded to someone on his headset. "Do you need us to move?" His eyes glazed as he listened to the response. "Roger that," He said, and then to Alessia and Bucky: "Alright, follow me." Sam turned around to lead the way, and Alessia noticed a metal pack on his back. A jet pack, maybe? She wondered.
Sam led them around some hallways they hadn't been through before. After around fifteen minutes of walking in solitude, another pack of guards came around the corner.
There were three of them, and before Alessia could react even enough to raise the gun she still held, Sam had kicked down one of them down, sending him toppling onto one of the guards behind him. Without stopping for a second, Sam punched the remaining guard down, in one hit, so that within seconds, all three of them lay unconscious or whimpering on the ground.
"C'mon," Sam said, his voice urgent, "We gotta move. There will be more of them soon."
At a faster pace they made their way around the next few turns, before turning at last to a large metal door. Sam threw it open, and a gust of cold air hit Alessia. They entered it, finding themselves in a stairwell. From the center of it, they could look straight up and see the staircase wrapping itself around the wall several stories up.
A rope dropped down, falling through this space between all the stairs. Alessia looked up, trying to make out what was at the top of the staircase. It was so high up it was dizzying, and the details were impossible to make out. Meanwhile, Sam had picked up the rope, which had a loop at the bottom, and a large knot a few feet up from there, and held it out towards Alessia.
"Ladies first," He said. Alessia reached out to take it, but hesitated.
"You sure you don't want to go before me?"She asked, turning to Bucky. He met her eyes and shook his head no. Alessia shrugged and stepped up to the rope.
She put her foot in the loop and gripped the rope so that her fists rested on the knot for support. Sam said "Okay, Alessia's ready to go up," And the rope jumped up into ascension.
Alessia felt butterflies fluttering around in her gut, as she rose steadily higher. Gripping the rope tightly, and feeling herself spin slightly she firmly told herself not to look down.
This is the worst idea ever, Alessia thought. If I got scared, I could lose control-what if I burned the rope? I would fall. I would DIE. Shit. Don't look down.
Alessia kept her eyes shut until a freezing gust of wind whipped around her and shocked her into opening them. She was being raised steadily out of the roof of the building, and into an aircraft hovering a few yards over it. She briefly saw how absolutely massive the building was, as well as a glimpse of the frozen tundra surrounding it.
She rose into the airship, slowly gaining a picture of the interior. It some sort of jet, rather small, but with a few seats lining the interior. It reminded Alessia of old war movies before the soldier parachuted out of a plane. There were only two people inside, and one of them was Clint.
Alessia stepped off of the rope, helped by Clint onto the floor of the jet. Releasing the rope, it was lowered back down to Bucky and Sam. Clint pulled Alessia into a warm, fatherly hug.
"Alessia, we were so worried about you," He said, drawing back to look at her. "We told your parents that you had laryngitis. I didn't think they needed to worry. I hope you don't mind."
Alessia blinked a few times before that set in. "Yeah... yeah, no of course, that was.. yeah. Thanks." She said. Clint smiled. Suddenly Alessia felt a wash of relief course through her almost violently. Holy shit, we're okay! We made it out! I'm alive!
Clint, who's hands had still been on Alessia's shoulders, dropped them and gestured to the other passenger of the aircraft. It wasn't hard for Alessia to guess who he was. The blue of his suit and the silver-white star on his chest spelled it out pretty well, so when Clint said, "Alessia this is Captain Rogers," Alessia didn't know whether to curtsy or salute him.
"Call me Steve," Said Captain Rogers, holding out a hand.
Alessia knew Captain America was the super-soldier they managed to un-freeze in time to take on the chitauri in New York. Alessia was not aware before this point that he was so handsome.
"Hhhhi" Alessia said, limply taking the hand he had offered and making a pathetic attempt to reciprocate the handshake.
Steve smiled politely and Alessia pulled her hand back. God I'm such a spaz. Alessia thought. She was saved from the awkwardness, however, when the rope returned up into the aircraft, this time bringing with it Bucky.
Steve's face lit up at the site of him.
"Hey," Steve said.