For You
Kurt was forced to look at Walker as he pressed the dagger deeper into his side. He opened his mouth to speak, but Walker began to twist the blade. The pain shot through his body and all he could do was attempt to teleport.
He looked above the crowd, teleporting above them in short bursts. Unfortunately for him, the dagger and Walker along with it came with him each time. Walker, in a panic, continued to randomly rotate the blade. Kurt cried out and made his final teleport to the ground, both hitting the ground with a thud.
The partygoers screamed or whispered to each other, with some crowding nearby while others got far away. The only thing that remained constant was that people were always watching.
Kurt suddenly felt drained. He tried to move his legs, but he found that to be useless. Breathing became hard and he could feel the blood bleeding through his suit. Walker didn’t take long to get back up and scramble over to him. He stood over Kurt with a wicked smile and then bent down, slowly and painfully removing the blade from Kurt’s side.
Walker then stood back up, looking at the fresh blood covering the dagger. He then got over him and raised the dagger again to stab him in the chest or at least puncture a lung.
As the dagger descended, it was knocked out of Walker’s hands and flew to the side. Walker’s head hit the ground again. Kitty had struck him down.
Walker took a moment to recuperate before rising up and attempting to strike Kitty. She didn’t let him, instead just phasing through the hit and advancing forward to strike him with a roundhouse kick. Walker stumbled and then recovered and went to punch her. She caught his fist, twisting it and prolonging the pain.
Bucky shoved his way through the crowd just in time to watch her catch and twist Walker’s fist. There was no mercy left in her eyes, just pure, unbridled hate. She continued to unnaturally rotate his fist and watch the pain and anger grow in Walker. Walker then took advantage of the moment and used his other hand to strike her in the face. She let go of his wrist and fell back, her hand quickly going to touch her lip.
Kitty removed her hand from her lip. She was bleeding. The shock of being hit wore off moments before Walker lunged toward her again. She acted quickly and phased through him before kicking him in the back and sending him to the ground. His head hit the floor and the sheer force of the blow.
After she knew for certain Walker wouldn’t resist, she lifted her foot over his head. Bucky recognized the move immediately. It was a killing technique unique to HYDRA when permanently neutralizing an opponent. All this time, he hadn’t seen her once use any HYDRA tactics in a fight, but in all her fury and blind rage, she neglected to suppress that fighting style. Once she lowered her foot on Walker’s skull, he’d be dead. Bucky burst towards her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her away from Walker as she lowered her foot.
Kitty snapped back to reality in a panic as soon as he looked down at who yanked her away. She spotted the gleaming metal between Bucky’s glove and sleeve and then phasing her way out of his grasp. Once she was free, she took a few steps and turned around to face Bucky. The panic had begun to set in.
They’d been in this position before. Pitted against each other. Bucky didn’t want to repeat this again and he could tell by the dread and the fear on her face that she didn’t want to either.
Kurt let out a small cry in an attempt to speak, failing. Kitty’s attention instantly turned to him. All of that fear, all of that dread disappeared as she looked at Kurt. She didn’t even bother to glance at Bucky before she ran over to Kurt and knelt down next to him.
“Kätzchen,” Kurt said weakly, “I need you to listen to me.”
Kitty nodded, “Tell me what I need to do.”
“Take your jacket and apply pressure,” Kurt groaned halfway through his directions, “Apply pressure directly over it.”
Kitty nodded and took off her suit jacket, folding it up and then putting it on top of his stab wound. She started to apply pressure, keeping her eyes trained on his.
Kurt dropped his head back, lying on the ground, his eyelids nearly shutting.
“Okay, Kurt. I’m going to need you to listen to me now,” Kitty tried to keep him awake. Kurt moved his head in what she assumed to be a nod, “Breathe with me. Look at me.”
Bucky glanced back as he went over to Walker and checked his pulse. Torres came out of the crowd, panting, “Logan and Sam are fighting!”
Bucky shot up, glanced back at Kitty and Kurt. Once he knew that they had their situation handled, he nodded to Torres and they went off to the second floor.
After essentially sprinting up the steps, Bucky and Torres found Logan and Sam engaged in combat. Sam didn’t have his shield and had instead snatched a large silver tray from a waiter, using it defensively. Logan continuously lunged for him with his claws as Sam fought them back with the metal tray.
Bucky and Torres ran behind Logan and restrained one arm each. Sam hit him in the face with the tray. It took a moment for his healing factor to kick in and he lifted his head to look at who was holding him back. As soon as he spotted both Bucky and Torres, he tried to tug himself out of their collective grasps.
“What the hell did you do to them?” He demanded to know.
“We didn’t do anything,” Sam responded.
People who’d been attending the gala, were leaving rapidly. Nobody wanted anything to do with the scene unfolding in front of them. Only those who were paralyzed with interest or fear remained in the corners of rooms.
“Walker acted on his own. Kurt and Kitty both got hurt,” Bucky went to tell the truth.
“How in the hell did Kitty get hurt?” Logan pulled at his arm with more force.
“She fought with Walker. She’ll be okay,” Bucky tried to comfort him.
“And where is Walker?” Logan continued to question, unrelenting in his effort to get out.
“Kitty knocked him unconscious,” Bucky answered and pulled back.
“Damn right she did,” Logan mumbled and then finally got himself free, stepping away from them.
Logan went over to the edge of the second level and looked down to see Kitty leaning over Kurt, pressing her folded suit jacket on the wound. Kitty was leading him in breathing, barely keeping him awake. Kitty finally looked away and looked up at the second level, locking eyes with him.
Logan spotted the blood on her face and watched as the blood bled through the suit jacket and stained her hands. She seemed to be silently pleading with him and stopped as soon as she heard Kurt groan again and turned back to him.
Logan clenched his fist and turned back to them, “If Walker was really acting on his own-”
He was interrupted by the entrance of SHIELD agents into the building. The agents were heavily armored with advanced weaponry. They had their guns trained on Logan. Those on the first floor ushered out the remaining guests and then surrounded Kitty and Kurt. Kitty covered Kurt with herself, looking at each of the agents with a growing alarm. Logan raised his fists.
Sam tried to get the agents on the upper level to lower their weapons, succeeding for the most part. They then got all of the agents on the lower level to lower their weapons as well, causing Kitty to calm down. By this time, Kurt had fully passed out.
It only took one agent to start the fight all over again. And they did. One agent spotted Logan’s claws, their eyes widening and they raised their gun, pressing their finger on the trigger. A single shot rang out and hit Logan
Logan went into attack mode. He sprung forward and attacked the agent with his claws. As a result, other agents opened fire. Their shots had little effect as his healing factor demeaned each bullet.
Bucky pulled Sam and Torres away from the massacre and towards the staircase. Logan managed to take down each agent one by one, leaving a trail of blood in his path. He never enjoyed what he did. He thought he was doing what he had to do. Perhaps he would have surrendered if it had not been for the fight. But it was much too late now.
“Stop!” Sam yelled out, despite Bucky’s protests.
Logan dropped an agent to the floor and turned to look at him, claws unmoving. He waited for whatever he was going to say.
“Logan, look at them,” Sam pointed to Kitty and Kurt below, “Stop for them.”
Logan looked down at Kitty and Kurt. She was trying to wake him up.
“Stop for them,” Sam repeated, approaching him slowly.
Logan sighed, the claws retracting. He was thinking. He finally glanced at Kitty and Kurt one last time before locking eyes with Sam, “I’ll turn myself in if you let them go. Get Kurt proper medical care and leave them alone afterward.”
Sam looked at Bucky and Torres. Torres nodded immediately and Bucky took a second to think. He finally nodded his head as a sign of approval.
“Deal, but you have to come peacefully,” Sam stipulated.
Logan nodded and then raised his hands up in surrender. An agent from the lower floor came up and handcuffed Logan, and then escorted him downstairs. As they headed for the door, he looked back at Kitty as he passed, mouthing, “Keep each other safe.”
Sam, Bucky and Torres followed behind him. Another group of agents came in with two stretchers, loading Walker onto one and Kurt onto another. As Kurt was loaded onto a stretcher, Kitty stayed close by and made sure that the agents were careful with him. Kitty stayed with Kurt, getting anxious as he was loaded onto the stretcher. She looked back at Bucky, Sam, and Torres. The exact intention of her expression was undecipherable, but overall it consisted of pain. The pain of being duped. The pain of watching her friend get hurt. The pain of nearly having to repeat history. And now the pain of having to watch Logan be taken away to some prison. She then turned away from them and sprinted after Kurt, refusing to leave his side.
Sam, Torres, and Bucky all left the hotel for the base, feeling exhausted and guilty. As they got into the base, Bucky found a mini fridge and pulled out a bottle of beer. All Torres could find were foam cups. They worked with what they had and Sam poured each of them a cup. Sam only had one drink. Torres had two before staring at the folded costumes on the table. Bucky had a few more drinks since he couldn't get drunk due to the serum. Like Torres, he stared at the costumes on the table. But his eyes landed on the two unfolded costumes at the edge of the table. The black and red costume and the yellow and black costume.
Walker had truly ruined things for them.