The Shadow [a marvel fanfiction]

The Winter Soldier: Chapter Thirteen

A hole ripped through her.

Marie tripped over her feet. Her body crumpled. The disk fell. Her hands pressed into her side. The blood was wet and sticky and hot and slippery and everywhere.

No no no no this is not good this is very not good god stop it someone please stop it

More gunshots went off.

Marie looked up. Her vision blurred. The disk was inches away from her.

She sucked in a deep breath. She forced herself to crawl forward. Bloody fingers reached for the disk. They shook. A bullet ricocheted near her. She rolled out of the way and disappeared into the shadows. It gave her a brief reprieve.

Steve stumbled onto the platform. Blood ran down his face. He gasped for air and grabbed the disk. He pushed it into the only empty slot and slumped against the console. He reached for his comms. "Fire now."

Marie felt her shadow flicker. Fear engulfed her. She didn't have much longer. Not with the amount of blood she was losing. Not with how poorly she was breathing or how much her head throbbed or how badly her vision swam. No amount of accelerated healing could stop it.

The room collapsed around them as the helicarriers' guns fired at each other.

Marie couldn't hold on anymore. The shadows melted away.

She fell to her knees beside Steve, hands soaked in her blood and fingers buried in her wound. Pressure. Got to put pressure on it. Marie gave Steve a pained smile. She couldn't speak. Her body trembled from the shock.

The Soldier's pained shouts rang out among the chaos. A fallen beam pinned him to the glass. He grunted and groaned as he tried and failed to get out.

Steve didn't hesitate to jump down and help him.

The helicarrier tipped.

Marie's body slid. She tried to find something to hold on to. Her body dangled. She fell.

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Fire burned through her. Air wheezed in and out of her lungs. Sharp metal dug into her stomach. Her face pressed against the glass. One arm was pinned awkwardly beneath her. Wetness dripped from her lips.

Marie's eyes slid open. Black spots danced. She blinked slowly and drew in a raspy breath. Everything was blurry. Her mind was hazy. It was so hard to concentrate. She glanced around her.

There was a beam. She was laying on it. It pressed against her ribs. There was glass too. A window. The glass was red. Marie breathed and coughed. More red splattered the glass and dotted her hand.

She fell from the platform. She remembered falling. At best, she punctured a lung on impact.

Steve. Where was Steve?

Marie pressed her hand against the glass and tried to push herself up. Her arm shook. Pain rocketed through her body. She gave up and blinked slowly. She could hear distant grunts and groans. Her eyes flickered around to see—there.

The glint of a metal arm swinging.

She grit her teeth and dragged her body forward. It burned. God, it burned. She made it a few inches before her muscles gave out. She was cold. A clammy sweat covered her skin.

Marie heard Steve's voice.

"You know me."

She angled her head. She could see the pair now.