A Strangers Hand

Chapter 6-3

You fought in a daze, everything around you seemed to be moving in slow motion, though the ache and exhaustion in your body was telling a very different story.

"Somebody, get to Vision!" You heard Steve yell through your earpiece. You looked to Bucky and he nodded in reply as he raised his gun and took out a space dog that was coming up on your left.

You made a break for the treeline with Bucky on your tail, covering you as you tried to dodge as much of the carnage as you could.

When you broke through the trees, you were faced with what should have seemed impossible. You saw Thanos, hurling Avengers left and right as if they were nothing, trying to get to Wanda and Vision.

You watched Bucky's face as he saw Rhodey get thrown through the air like a piece of scrap metal. He turned to you and gave you an apologetic look. By the time you processed what that look meant, he was off. "Bucky, NO!" You screamed and lunged for him, but he was already out of reach, sprinting towards Thanos, in a storm of gunfire. Terror overwhelmed you as you watched him blast Bucky into the trees without so much as lifting a finger.

Without a second thought, you were running too; not away, not to hide like Bucky would have wanted, but directly towards the threat that was trying to end humanity. You lifted your spear and jumped towards him just as Okoye threw her own. Thanos stopped you mid-air with the power stone and hurled you backwards into the trees, Okoye's spear along with you.

You lost consciousness for only a split second, blinking your eyes open to the stomach churning sound of Bucky screaming your name as he stumbled towards you. He fell to his knees at your side and looked down at your abdomen, your eyes fluttered as he spoke frantically. "Y/N! Y/N, you need to open your eyes. Look at me, Y/N!"

You became more alert at the sudden jolt of pain in your back, you looked down to see Okoye's spear going straight through you, just above your left hip. "Hey, that's new." You tried to say with a laugh and Bucky gave you a warning look.

"Why did you do that, Y/N. That was so stupid." You rolled your eyes at him and tried to take a deep breath.

"What? You think you're allowed to have all the stupid to yourself? How selfish." You winced as you tried to adjust your posture, Bucky's hands helping guide you to sit upright. "It's you and me, remember? Not just you and then me, sometimes."

Bucky chuckled at your charming phrase, but you could see the panic in his eyes. "You're eerily calm right now, you do realize that?"

You shrugged "Probably adrenaline. Plus, what else could happen to me? I've already been impaled." It was that exact moment that you both remembered where you were. You turned your head and Bucky followed to see Thor barreling down from the sky, driving Storm Breaker deep into Thanos' chest.

The breath you were holding was just about to come out as a sigh of relief and then...snap.

There was no more fighting, the wind in the trees went quiet, the birds stopped singing, there was nothing but deafening silence. You looked at Bucky, panicked. "What just happened?"

He gripped either side of your face and stared into your soul, you rested your left hand on top of his, soaking in the comfort he brought to you. And then, it crumbled beneath your touch. Your eyes widened as Bucky's comforting gaze turned into fear and confusion. "Y/N, I-"

You watched in horror as Bucky turned to ash in your hands.

Suddenly you couldn't move. You were trapped, a prisoner in your own body. You tried to scream for help, to scream for him, but no sound came out. You tried to force his name from your lungs until there wasn't any oxygen left in your body, but no one heard you. You were alone.