Without You

“What is it?” I gasped, confused.

“I heard someone,” Bucky whispered scarcely as he reached under his jacket to his vest of weapons. I was passed a pistol and a spare magazine while Bucky took hold of a knife. “They’ll have the doors covered. The fire escape is our best chance.” He shifted towards the window of the unused apartment we had crashed in for the night.

“If they’re any good, they should have that covered too,” I pointed out before I heard the crackling of a radio from behind the front door. Someone was definitely out there, communicating orders.

I suddenly became aware of my racing heart and I looked to Bucky for comfort. Instead I found a focused face as he prepared himself to hoist the window open and then make a run for it. Before he could do so, I reached out and cupped his jaw in my hands, sweeping him into a kiss.

“We can do this,” he reassured me before gesturing with a nod to the window. I crouched and aimed my gun, waiting for Bucky’s command. He signalled with his fingers, counting to three, and then threw the window up.

I shifted forwards and found no agents awaiting us to the left, but as I spun to the right to cover Bucky I saw a pair of armed men on the ground. I fired four times, twice at each, and they fell.

A bang echoed from the front door and Bucky lifted me with ease through the window before following me out. We scampered to the edge of the fire escape platform and then jumped off, Bucky landing with a graceful roll to break his fall while I settled for landing on my two feet and pausing for a few seconds while the damage was undone.

As we ran around the corner of the alley, Bucky collided with an agent in all black, making it impossible for me to deduce if they were SHIELD or Hydra. He quickly incapacitated them with his knife and stole their automatic rifle, spinning on his heels.

“Get back!” he shouted to me before squeezing the trigger. Gunfire erupted from down the alleyway as I took cover behind the closest wall, Bucky slowly stalking his way across the entrance as he fought back.

Now with cover, I had an opportunity to take a look at the sources of pain that were making my right limbs feel as though they were on fire. I slid down the wall when I sighted how much blood was present, and my heart rate quickened as I was unable to stop myself from panicking.

Once the noise stopped, I turned and saw Bucky tossing the gun down the alley. He then approached me, a few rips in his vest from lodged bullets but otherwise unharmed.

“Evelyn? No, you’ve been shot!” he exclaimed as he crouched before me.

“Pick me up! We need to get out of here,” I hissed and Bucky fortunately obeyed without hesitation. As though I was a feather, he swept me into his arms and ran away from the apartment, every step he took jolting my body and tearing my wounds.

Once he thought we were far away enough, he set me down in another dark alleyway to tend me.

“I know this is going to be difficult, but I need you to pull the bullets out of me,” I breathed, grimacing from the thought of enduring more torment.

“But Ev, I can’t-” Bucky began to protest.

“I don’t care how much I scream at you to stop, you just need to keep going, got it?” I asked and Bucky gulped. I was glad he was unwilling to cause me pain, but right now I needed him to look past that so he could ultimately help me.

Bucky inhaled deeply and then pulled the right sleeve of my jacket off. Without second-thought he used his thumb to pull back a section of my muscle and then he winced.

“It’s in deep,” he grunted while shifting position slightly. A blade appeared in his hand and I looked away before he dug it into my flesh.

I screamed and cried as he wriggled the bullet closer to the surface. The pain was overwhelming, and although my vision started to become cloudy I forced myself to be strong and stay awake.

A kiss pressed to my forehead.

“It’s out,” Bucky breathed, pausing to give me a hug as though that would help make up for the agony he had just made me endure.

Seconds later he pulled away and I felt him tearing the section of my jeans that had already been ripped by the bullet on its path to my thigh. His knife then sunk into that wound and I threw my head back and yelled to the night sky.

The overall pain in my body subsided a few moments later and I stole a look at my arm. It was feeling warm, almost burning, but there was fortunately no longer a hole in my flesh. Instead of watching the procedure in progress on my leg I focused on Bucky’s face and soon saw a smile cross it.

“Done,” he muttered as he tossed the bullet aside and stared at the wound as it slowly began to close over. “You’re amazing…”

I barely heard the scuff of a shoe before Bucky jolted into action. He spun on his knees and threw the knife he had been using on me towards the end of the alley. As I gasped from fright, I followed his line of sight and saw an armed man fall. I covered my ears as Bucky began shooting and the next few men to come around the corner tumbled to the ground.

“No, you’re amazing,” I remarked and the hard expression on Bucky’s face relaxed at the sound of my voice.

A kiss, then he heaved me to my feet. I was relieved to find my balance, though my thigh wound was still warm as it continued to heal.

“How much longer can we run for? They’re obviously catching up,” I breathed and Bucky’s face fell.

“Not long,” he confessed before leading me down the alley.