From The Beginning To The End

Bucky watched in a painful shock as Iris quickened her pace towards him to a sprint, her metallic wings out behind her. They folded in slightly to create less drag as she pulled two wicked looking knives from the belt around her waist. Her entire get up was mocking The Winter Soldier, forcing Bucky to look into his painful past while seeing it cover her.

Bucky just managed to break his momentary shock as Iris lunged at him, her teeth barred angrily. He ducked and rolled away from her slashes at his chest and face, barely missing the sharp blades.

“Iris, stop! It’s me!” He yelled desperately, barely getting to his feet before Iris spun around and charged at him again. “I don’t want to hurt you!”

Bucky dodged another swing of her daggers. Just as Bucky opened his mouth the speak again Iris threw one of the knives at his chest, narrowly avoiding his main organs as Bucky sprang to the side. However, the blade still embedded itself into Bucky’s arm eliciting a pained groan from his mouth. Just as he yanked the knife from her shoulder, Iris threw her other blade at him. This time Bucky managed to duck away, just hearing the knife slice the air beside his ear.

“Iris! I know you’re in there!” Bucky shouted again, now more desperate. Iris’s jade eyes remained stone cold, no emotion or recognition anywhere. She huffed and charged, this time her left wing hovering in front of her body, the red star almost glowing in harsh contrast to its silver background. Iris slashed at Bucky with the end of her wing, the tips of the metal feathers sharp and dangerous.

Bucky jumped back but the sharp tip still cut at his cheek, leaving a thin gash to begin streaming blood. Iris was now close, her wings long enough to surround them both. He could see her face, a few new scars now covering her skin. Her expression showed nothing but rage; no regret, no pain, nothing, just pure rage. Bucky knew he could end this fight if he fought back, he could easily pin her to the ground and knock her out, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so.

“Iris!” He continued. Iris once again didn’t react. She growled and lunged at him again, this time using her fists to attack Bucky. He took a defensive approach, knocking away a few of her jabs and kicks with extreme difficulty. Her fighting style was more agile than his, relying on hitting where it hurt rather than using her body weight to put brute force behind the punches. At this point Bucky knew they were now on an equal playing field skill wise; Iris was able to hit him more times than he could avoid, the pain quickly wearing him out. Bucky came to the dreaded realization that to win, he would have to fight back.

“Iris, please stop. I don’t want to hurt you.” Bucky pleaded breathlessly through her punches. In response, Iris lifted a foot and kicked him square in the chest. Bucky felt at least one rib snap as he stumbled backwards. His arm and cheek were still bleeding and now he felt his chest begin to heave. “No, no, no.” Bucky now fought against his own mind as it began to cloud over. He knew if he let himself go he might kill Iris. He forced himself to concentrate on Iris who was now slowing walking towards him once more, her wings poised to attack again.

Bucky clenched his fists again and again; open, close, open, closed. He knew what he had to do, he just had to concentrate, not let his mind go. “Please, if there is a God, please.” Bucky left his fists closed, raising them. Iris cocked her head to the side and smirked.

“Finally gonna fight back, soldier?” Iris taunted, Bucky nearly cracking under hearing her voice again. The only thing that kept him stable was the malice in her tone, something he had only heard when he first met her before she had opened up to anyone. It was hateful and cruel, but Bucky knew it wasn’t her.

He took in a deep breath right before Iris threw another swing at him. Bucky ducked before plunging a fist into her stomach. She barely groaned before straightening up once more and swinging the ends of her wings at Bucky once more. He felt the sharp edges swipe past him as he sidestepped and ducked away from her attack. He used the momentum and Iris’s temporary recovery time to swing his leg into her, causing her to collapse to the floor.

Before she could get up Bucky leapt towards her, holding her wrists against the floor. He felt a burning slice on his back, knowing that Iris was using her one wing that wasn’t trapped under her body to cut at him.

“Iris stop it now!” Bucky screamed at her. She only gave him another hateful, furious glare before kneeing him in the stomach. Bucky groaned and released his grip slightly, giving Iris enough power to push him off of her and spin him under her body. She began her volley of punches against his face, giving Bucky no time to try to stop it.

He felt his conscious fading, each punch knocking his head from side to side. Suddenly, the assault stopped, but just as Bucky looked back up to Iris through swollen eyes he felt a pair of thin fingers wrap around his neck.

Bucky tried to push him off of her but with his already pained body and fading vision, it was hopeless.

“Iris.” Bucky choked softly. The fingers didn’t loosen, he grabbed her hands around his neck but didn’t try to remove them. “Iris, I want you to come back to me. I still love you, you’re my angel.” For a second, the tightness around his neck loosened giving Bucky the opportunity to wrap his fingers between hers. “Iris, no matter who you are or what you do, I’ll love you. I’ll always be with you, from the beginning to the end. So please, Iris… Don’t let this be the end.” Bucky stared into Iris’s eyes, this being the first time he noticed any emotion in those deep green orbs. She seemed painfully confused like she was trying to wrap her mind around the situation but she couldn’t.

“Iris, please. We can leave here, just stop fighting and we can help you.”

“Shut up.” Iris’s features suddenly contorted back to their angry state. However, she still leaned back, stepping away from Bucky’s lying form. “Shut up!”

She was grabbing at her head, her wings wildly flailing as she started to pace around the oval room.

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!” Iris continually got louder before she flung her shoulder against the metal wall, creating a deep dent in it. Bucky heard her bond crack under the pressure but it didn’t stop her from throwing herself against the wall once more.

“Iris stop it!” Bucky forced his pained body up, barely able to stand as his vision faded in and out. He was only focusing on Iris who continued to yell at nothing and throw her body deeper into the broken wall. Bucky didn’t notice the yelling and banging on the other side of the thick metal door Rumlow had left out of earlier. Now his eyes seemed to fool him as Iris stepped away from the wall and began moving her wings. She hovered above the ground for a second before moving further up in the air. A few feet above Bucky’s head she began hitting the wall again, almost as though she was trying to find a way out.

“Get out of my head!” Iris screamed. Bucky’s heart shattered at the pain in her voice; all he wanted to do is help her and make her suffering stop. He couldn’t help but remember his own torture of recalling his past, shuttering just at the memory.

“Iris, please stop hurting yourself. I can help you.” Without warning the wall behind Bucky blew open, Tony now flying into the room. He aimed his blaster at Iris who was still throwing herself against the wall in the air.

“Stark, no!” Bucky leapt to stop him, but it was too late. Tony shot a beam of light at Iris, hitting her in the side. She groaned, folding in her wings before plummeting to the ground.

“Iris!” Bucky ran to her side, adrenaline being the only thing keeping him awake now. “No, no, no…” He saw that the blast had burnt through her clothing, leaving a massive smoldering cut in her side. Additionally, he could see bruising around her chest knowing that something was seriously broken, whether by her own self harm or by the fall he didn’t know.

Bucky held her head in his lap, his bloodied hands running over her cheeks below her fluttering eyes.

“Stay with me, angel.” Bucky whispered, not noticing the yelling between Natasha, Steve and Tony behind him. Steve tried to shake him but Bucky was losing conscious; Bucky watched as Iris’s eyes, now filled with pain rather than hate, began to close. “Stay with me…” Was the last thing he said before his own mind faded into darkness.