The giant chamber is eerily quiet, and as you and Steve creep in your eyes dart nervously around, searching for the inevitable fight that will come. You let Steve go in front of you, holding his shield up, and you trail behind to guard the back. You’re too focused on the pathway behind you that when Steve stops abruptly, you stumble slightly and turn, to see -
“James.” You breathe out, your heart breaking as his cold and determined eyes meet yours, still the same clear blue colour as the day you two married. “People are gonna die, Buck.” Steve says, trying to reason with his best friend, and you begrudgingly move your hand to hover over your stun baton - just in case, you remind yourself. “I can’t let that happen.” Bucky doesn’t say anything, just curls his metal hand into a fist. “Please don’t make me do this.” Steve tries one last time, and you can hear the heartbreak in his voice.
“James, please.” You beg, and Bucky looks at you just in time for Steve to throw his shield and you to pull out the baton, elongating it and turning it on, watching the blue electricity spark dangerously. He easily deflects the shield with his metal arm and shoots twice at Steve, then once at you, and manages to graze your shoulder and Steve’s side at once. He hits Bucky with the shield, sending him flying backwards, and you grit your teeth and advance as your husband comes at you with a knife.
“Steve, go.” You order, gesturing to the control panel, and he nods. You instantly try to strike Bucky, going for his side, then his legs, and finally you land a direct hit to his metal arm, causing it to malfunction long enough for you to hit him in the stomach - which does nothing. He looks up at you, murder in his eyes, and swipes you with his metal arm, sending you flying to hit the banister and fall over to edge onto a beam below. You groan, your body throbbing, and look back up in time to see him attack Steve once again.
Steve manages to take out the chip but they are suddenly both thrown over the banister too, landing inches away from you. You panic, struggling to get up, as Bucky marches over to you and lifts you up by the neck. You gasp for air, your legs pounding against Bucky’s torso, and he finally loosens enough for you to twirl and hit him on the side of the head with your boot. You drop, and without any time to spare, swivel your legs around and knock him over. You straddle him, holding both arms over his windpipe in hopes that you won’t have to kill him.
Just as he looks like he’s going to pass out, his metal arm grabs your right arm and twists it around so much that you scream, the crunching of bones audible. “Buck.” You yell, as Steve charges towards the both of you and knocks him off of you. You cradle your arm, struggling to stand, and you can hear your husband and your best friend fighting behind you. You pull out your baton with your good arm and jab Bucky in the side, but it barely affects him, and in a last ditch attempt, you hit him over the head with it - surprisingly, it knocks him unconscious. You sigh in relief, standing up fully.
“Finish it.” You say, looking up at Steve, and he nods, running towards the panel. You hear the static voice in your ear telling you that you have one minute to go. Steve’s halfway back up when a searing pain erupts in your right shoulder, and you turn to find Bucky holding a gun up. You double over, kneeling, as you hear him firing at Steve. 30 seconds, the voice reminds you, and you know you have to do something. You use all your effort to stand, charging at your husband, and you collide with him, sending the gun flying. You straddle him, and, leaning down, smash your mouth down onto his, the kiss a last-ditch attempt to bring him back. When you finally pull away his blue eyes have softened, just for a moment.
“Come back to me, Handsome.” You whisper, using his old nickname. And just for a moment, it’s worked. “Doll?” He mutters, and you sob with joy, but your happiness is short lived. The floor erupts in bullets and you’re thrown off of him, colliding with the glass shards. You wince, turning to look, but just as your eyes meet his a giant beam falls, pinning him to the floor. “No!” You scream, inching your way towards him, ignoring the searing pain of your wounds for long enough to reach him. The softness in his eyes are gone, but you don’t care. With all your remaining strength you attempt to pull the beam off of him, and once Steve joins the two of you are able to finally lift it, freeing him.
Of course, the first thing he does is knock you across the room, sending you flying into a panel, and your eyes flutter shut as your head collides with the metal. You lay, unconscious, for a brief moment, before you suddenly feel yourself sliding and you jolt awake in time to fall from the crashing helicarrier, down, down, into the deep waters below. Hitting the water hurts so bad, and once you start to sink you realize you can’t move your arm.
You let out a silent scream underwater as Steve’s body flies past you, hurtling down, and you use your remaining strength to catch him, pushing him up towards the surface. You start to pass out again. The darkness creeps into your vision as you clamp your mouth shut, trying to desperately avoid drowning. The last thing you see before your eyes close is a dark shape in the water, swimming towards you and grabbing your collar.
You can register sound, and feel, but you can’t bring yourself to open your eyes or move your limbs. You feel yourself being dragged out of the water and you splutter, the wet sand sticking to the side of your face. “I’m sorry, Y/N.” You hear him mutter, and then the heavy sound of footsteps walking away. Wait, come back! You scream, in your head, but by the time you’ve gathered enough strength to open your eyes, it’s just you and an unconscious Steve on the beach.
“Come back to me.” You whisper, and finally let yourself slip into sleep.