What Matters {B.Barnes Daughter} ✔️

~Fifty-Seven: Complete~

So, still camping, but I found this really cool picture of Doctor Strange in my camera roll. So... enjoy!

"Not alone, you don't."

Bucky almost smiled at the God's words, but the expression was stolen from him by a crash from the window.

They both turned to face it, and Bucky's breathing hitched when he saw Tony soaring in through the window, his hand cannon already aimed and whirring.

Bucky froze for a moment, but quickly regained his composure.

"Tony, please... you know me, you know I didn't mean to. It wasn't my choice."

"No... but you did it," Tony snarled.

Bucky gave the man a pleading look, letting out a quiet sigh. "I don't want to hurt you, Tony."

"... too bad the feeling's not mutual."

With that last sentence, Tony fired a blast from his cannon, and Bucky just barely dodged it. He brought his hands to his face as a shield as he heard a fierce whirring sound emitting from the cannon.

Before another blast could fire could be shot, Thor threw his hammer towards Tony, and it hit him square in the chest. He went flying out the window, plummeting to the ground with the weight of the hammer upon him.

"Come, we don't have much time," Thor said, seizing Bucky by his arm.

The two men both began to sprint down a staircase, hoping that they would get away before Tony was able to find them again.

{ * * * * * }

"No, Thor, stop!"

Thor turned around quickly as the other man ripped himself from his grasp.

"We can't run from him forever. This is my fight, and I'm not hiding from it anymore. This is something I did, and I have to face that now."

"You are not doing this by yourself, Bucky," Thor said, his voice certain.

"Yes, I am. My past is my problem, not anyone else's."

"This is my choice, to assist you, not yours. You are not talking me out of it."

Bucky let out a harsh sigh, his eyes flickering to the ground. When they met Thor's again, they were filled with dread.

"Then, I'm sorry."

Before Thor could even notice it, Bucky reared back with his metal fist as quick as lightning and punched the God in the face, immediately knocking him unconscious.

Thor's body collided with the ground in a heap, and Bucky looked down at him with guilt in his eyes.

The anticipation of how this would end was killing him; he could let himself be killed by Tony, not before he saw his Lizzie again. He didn't want to fight Tony either, especially considering he was the reason he was so enraged.

Although, he knew it had to be one of the two options, and he would always put Lizzie before anyone else, no matter the circumstances.

He was torn out of his thoughts by an explosion from beside him, and he instinctively jumped in the opposite direction.

His eyes darted to the sky, where, to his dismay, Tony was hovering, looking down upon him with his face concealed by a thick mask. He began easing himself down to the ground, his glowing eyes never leaving his target.

Tony's feet planted themselves on the ground with a soft thud, and soon the men were locked in an intense stare-down.

Bucky knew that by the way Tony had missed his shot that he truly, deep down inside, didn't want to hurt him. It was the anger, and hurt, and betrayal that was blinding him from reason.

There was a moment of uncertainty for Bucky; a moment where he believed that neither of them would have to get hurt, that there was the smallest possibility that the two could come to a mutual understanding. It seemed far-fetched, but there was a spilt second where he actually believed that.

And then the fighting began.

{ * * * * * }

The waiting was absolutely unbearable.

The three men were waiting in agonizing silence, their eyes flickering back to the laboratory room door at each slight sound. Hardly any of them could go a minute without fidgeting, and as time went on, their worried only increased.

Peter had almost nodded off into sleep a fair few times, but he forced himself to stay awake. He was exhausted from the earlier events of that day, and still was healing from the injuries caused by HYDRA. Tony had done a number on him, but Peter knew it was unintentional. He only hoped that once (if?) Lizzie was cured, she would be able to reason with him.

A soft smile appeared on his lips as a memory crossed his mind.

"You guys remember the time we were staying at that hotel in Massachusetts, and Lizzie was about to go onto the balcony, and she smacked her head into the glass door two times in a row?"

Loki and Stephen recalled the memory as well, and soon were silently chuckling along with Peter.

"Yes, that was very funny," Stephen began, taking a moment to pause afterwards. "Remember the time when we we were all down by the river, having a day off? She was on the edge, looking down at it, and I came up behind her, scared her, and she fell in."

Loki and Peter smiled, letting out suppressed laughs.

"And then, of course, there was the time when she was playing hide and seek, hid in the washing machine, and got herself stuck for an hour," Loki said, laughing.

The room was filled with soft snickers, all the men in the room sporting open smiles. The memories brought them momentary joy, almost making them forget about the troubles they were facing.

They laughed for about another minute or so as they recalled the joyful memories, but soon everything had fallen silent once again. Although, this time, things wouldn't remain silent for very long.

A slight sound of a creaking door brought all the men's eyes to the entrance of the laboratory. They were surprised to find Shuri peeking her head out the door, a soft smile playing upon her lips.

"The procedure is complete," she began. "Miss Barnes is still unconscious, but you may go sit with her until she awakes."