The Black Winter

Chapter 40

Bucky's pov
  We're all standing around Joan as she lays on the table, bleeding out.

  "I can't do anything for her. Not here. I don't think we're going to make it back in time though. She's lost a lot of blood and I don't know if the sword hit a bad spot or what," Bruce says.

  "What are you saying?" Natasha asks nervously.

  "I'm saying she isn't going to make it in time," Bruce says with sorrow.

  "No, no there has to be another way," I tell them, trying to hold back tears.

  Then, Tony walks up to her and picks her up.

  "What are you doing Tony?" Bruce asks.

  "I can get her back in time. Call Cho and the others and tell them to be ready in an hour," he commands Bruce.

  Then, before I know it, Tony is already out of the jet with Joan in his arms. I just stand there shaking, staring at the blood on my hands.

  "Bucky, how about you take a seat," Steve says, placing his hand on my back.

  "This is all my fault," I say under my breath.

  "Bucky, there's nothing you could have done," he says.

  "I could have gotten her out of Hydra back when you got me out, I could have kept my promise. I broke my promise Steve! They got to her AGAIN! Who knows what they did to her, who knows if they touched her, or what kind of mental things they did to her! This is my fault! If we didn't lock her up, she never would have ran away! If we didn't lock her up, they never would have taken her again!" I yell.

  Then, the little girl in the chair sits up with a jolt, grasping for air. We all turn around and I notice her as Anastasia.

  "She's hurt! She's hurt! She's in pain!" She screams in Russian.

  I run up to Anastasia and she jumps into my arms. I hold her tight against my chest and she starts sobbing.

  "Bucky! She's hurt!" She yells.

  "I know little one, I know. She's going to go get help," I tell her softly in Russian.

  "She's sad," she says more softly.

  "Why is she sad?"

  "She felt love, but now she's sad."

  I pull her away to see blood on her forehead. I pick her up and set her back down on her seat. Everyone was looking at the two of us, they're confused probably.

  "She'll be ok, alright?" I say softly.

  She nods her head and another tear rolls down her cheek. I look over to Bruce and nod for him to come over.

  "This is Bruce. He's a good guy. He's going to patch up your forehead and make sure you don't have a concussion, ok?"

She looks to Bruce, than back to me. She gives me a nod but never lets go of my hand, so, I take a seat next to her. I hold her hand as Bruce grabs some bandages and starts to check for a concussion. He tries to make small talk, but Ana isn't interested.

  Finally, we land and I dart up. I stand up and go over to the walk out pad and standing on the other end of it is Tony. His face wears a look of sorrow, pity, and fear.

  "We got back an hour ago, she's still undergoing surgery. We've already lost her twice but right now her vitals are stable," Tony explains.

  Bruce darts past us. I turn around and grab Anastasia and we both follow him.

  Once we make it to the hospital wing, we head to the operating department and as much as I wanted to go in and see what was going on, I didn't want Ana to see that, and I know Joan would want the same.

  I set her down on the seat next to the door and I take a seat on the floor next to her. We wait there in silence, Anastasia swinging her legs that dangle over the chair and me picking at the metal of my vibranium arm. After about three hours of waiting, Anastasia is asleep, but not me. This is all my fault. If she dies, that's on me.

  Then, the door opens and Bruce walks out. I jump off the floor and just look at him, tears threatening to fall.

  "She's stable for now. She has three broken ribs, a clavicle fracture, a gunshot wound through the lower left abdomen, sprained ankle, and the most recent one-"

  "Where did it hit?" I ask, cutting him off.

  "It his some internal organs. She should be ok. She'll need a blood transfusion, but only problem is that because of the serum, it's going to be hard to find a match."

  "What about me? Or Steve?"

  "You're A positive and so is Steve. She's B positive."

  "What about Rose? Or Nat?" I ask.

  Bruce just shakes his head.

  "What about me?" Anastasia asks.

  Bruce looks at me confused. I need to teach her English.

  "Your a child," I say, bending down to her.

  "We have the same blood type. I've given her my blood before," she says softly.

  "What is she saying?" Bruce asks.

"She said that she has the same blood type. She's given blood to her before."

  "It could work, but I need to test her blood first, not only that, but she's a kid," he says.

  "I know," I agree, hanging my head.

  Suddenly, the door bursts open and Cho comes out in a panic. She's covered head to toe in Joans blood.

  "Bruce, we need a blood transfusion stat! We're loosing her!" She says in a panic.

  "The only one is a kid," Bruce says.

  "If we want her to live then it's our only chance!" She says.

  I look to Anastasia and bend down to her once more.

  "Are you sure you want to do this?" I ask her.

  "Yes."

  I nod my head and stand up to face Bruce. I give him a nod and she follows Bruce into the room. I flop down on the chair and place my head in my hands. She has to be ok, she has to.