〚 BLAME 〛
"It was him." Steve uttered as they sat in the back of a SHIELD van. All of them in cuffs, Darla's eyes fluttering open and closed as she rested her head on Steve's shoulder. "He looked right at me, like he didn't even know me."
"How's that even possible? It was like, 70 years ago." Sam responded.
"Zola." Steve's eyes flickered to Darla, who was slowly bleeding out. He was getting more and more concerned for the girl, but neither of the guards were doing anything to help her. "Bucky's whole unit was captured in '43. Zola experimented on him. Whatever he did helped Bucky survive the fall. They just have found him and-"
"None of that's your fault, Steve." Natasha mumbled. She looked over to Darla, who had a thin layer of sweat dripping from her head.
"Even when I had nothing, I had Bucky." Steve sighed.
"Nat's right. You're not to be blamed." Darla whispered to the boy. She wished she could grab his hand and comfort him.
Sam glanced between the two girls. Darla looked considerably worse but Natasha's shoulder was still bleeding and neither of the girls were in good shape.
"We need to get a doctor here. If we don't put pressure on their wounds, they're gonna bleed out here in the truck." Sam said panicked. He had grown fond of both the girls in the short period of time that he had known him.
One of the agents pulled out their electric rod and sparked it up, making Sam fall silent. Not even seconds later, the agent jammed it into the other agents side, making him groan in pain. She kicked him across the face, making him fall unconscious.
"Ah, that thing was squeezing my brain." Agent Hill mumbled as she pulled off her helmet. "Who's this guy?" She questioned motioning over to Sam.
"The Falcon." Whispered Darla.
~
Steve jumped out of the van first, Agent Hill had helped the four of them escape from Rumlow and his men. His large hands scooped Darla up into his arms.
"I can walk." Darla muttered as she rested her head against his chest.
"You're not walking." Steve said strongly. He felt like he was to blame for both her and Natasha being injured.
"GSW. Natasha's lost at least a pint. Darla two."
"Maybe three." Sam shouted.
"Let me take them." The man shouted as he ran over to the group.
"They'll want to see him first." Hill said as she lead them through the building. Darla furrowed her brows, she had no idea who she was talking about.
Her heart dropped once she saw Fury laid in a hospital bed. He's alive.
"About damn time." Fury said as he slowly sat up.
"We need to get Darla into theatre. That bullet is still in there." Dr Fine said adamantly. Steve hesitated for a minute before nodding. He placed a soft kiss on Darla's head and placed her down on the gurney.
"I'm glad you're alive, Nick." She muttered as she was wheeled away.
~
Steve held Darla's hand as he sat beside her in the bed. He brought her hand up to his lips and placed a soft kiss on her knuckles. He hated seeing her like this, weak and vulnerable. He hated that she got dragged back into this.
Darla's eyes fluttered open and she turned her head to look at Steve. She couldn't help but smile at the blue eyed man.
"How you feeling?" Steve questioned, moving from the chair he sat on, to the bed. He used his hand to brush away some of the hair that had stuck to the girls face.
"Tired." She whispered truthfully as she nuzzled into his palm.
"I'll leave you to get some rest." Steve suggested, as he was about to get up, Darla's grip on his hand tightened.
"Don't go." She begged, Steve smiled sympathetically towards the girl. "I don't want you to leave."
Steve nodded and sat down beside the girl, he watched as he girl sat up slightly before resting herself back on his chest.
"Can I ask you a question?" Steve whispered into her hair as he rested his head against hers. Darla hummed in response and closed her eyes, enjoying being comforted by the man. "Why haven't you drank this whole time?"
Darla chewed on the inside of her lip. She didn't think he'd notice with how busy they were. She thought that she would be able to just fly under the radar.
"I have, you just must not have seen me." Darla lied. She was almost positive that it was the first time she had lied to the man.
"Don't lie to me, baby." Steve hummed. "Why?"
Darla's stomach fluttered at the nickname. If Steve hadn't called her out for lying, she might have allowed a smile to appear on her face.
"I haven't needed too." Darla looked up at the man through her lashes, only for him already to be looking down at her. Steve furrowed his brows in confusion, not quite understanding. "They stopped."
"But yesterday-"
"My outburst?" Darla cut him off and Steve nodded in response. "They came back. But they'd been gone for weeks. I hadn't heard one voice and then the second I got angry, they came flooding back in."
Steve began to trace patterns on Darla's biceps. She let out a deep sigh and focused on his fingers tracing patterns on her skin rather than how weak she felt.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Steve asked curiously. He was worried for the girl, now more than ever.
"I didn't want you to worry, you already had enough on your plate. You shouldn't have to worry about me."
"I always worry about you." Steve responded, placing a kiss on Darla's temple. "Get some rest." He whispered. Darla nodded and nuzzled further into Steve's side and closed her eyes, allowing sleep to take over.