alexa, play castle by halsey
18+ warning - violence/blood
DAY 49
James' POV
James winced at the pain stinging in his cheek from the fresh slice that Viktor gave him just moments before, thrashing against the metal that was locking in his head, wrists, and ankles. The unbearable migraine that soared through his temples made his stomach feel queasy, it always did after being electrocuted, along with the numbness that filled behind his eyes.
He was convinced that death would honestly feel better than this.
Ever since he allowed Natasha and the other agents to escape, Viktor had made it his mission to torture James in the worst possible ways. If physically beating him didn't do the trick, then he would send electric pulses through the metal that was holding James' head in hopes of brainwashing him that way.
"There's something keeping you here," Viktor thought out loud, waving his knife around as he paced back and forth in front of James. "Something that won't let you easily be brainwashed, what is it?"
James was shocked himself that he had held out for this long. Every single time the surge of excruciating electricity ripped through his skull, all he could do was imagine Amelia's face in front of him. He would picture the way she laughed with her head down as if she was bashful, or the way she would stare at him like he was the first man she'd ever seen while they were having a conversation.
"Fuck you," James hissed.
Ignoring his insults, Viktor reached up to rub his chin as he contemplated. "What could possibly be so important to you that you're holding on this tightly?"
Each time was getting more and more difficult, holding onto his mental psyche felt like he was holding onto a very thin string. But James refused to give this ass-hat anything, he would die before giving him the satisfaction.
"Ah," Viktor whispered in faint realization. "You're in love, aren't you? That's it, the ghost has fallen in love."
James clenched his jaw tightly together unknowingly, averting the annoying gaze of Viktor as he tugged on the metal clasps around his wrists.
"Who's the lucky lady?"
"I'll die before I tell you anything," James spat.
"We can have that arranged," Viktor threatened excitedly, lunging forward to press the knife against James' open wound.
Before James could let another insult drip off of his tongue, an alarm began to sound off, grasping the attention of Viktor and his two men. Glancing up in vexation, Viktor threw a glare over his shoulder at thing one and thing two. "Go check it out."
"But boss-"
"Do I need to repeat myself?"
James watched the two men reluctantly leave the room, knowing what would be waiting for them on the outside. The team must have arrived - the thought sent a wave of relief through Buck's bones as he relaxed more in the chair, his eyes narrowing at the gnat of a man in front of him.
"Where was I? Oh yes, killing you," Viktor clicked his tongue in approval. "You would be so willing to die for this girl?"
Yes, I would, he thought.
"I could very easily just find her myself, have my way with her. And you would be dead, so she would be at my mercy because you'd rather die than protect her."
The anger bubbled up beneath James' skin at Viktor's words. The mere thought of him laying a single finger on Amelia or even looking in her direction made James begin to picture exactly how he would go about murdering Vickie boy.
"Or," Viktor continued, stepping away from James to point the knife at him teasingly. "I could keep you here. Find her and have my way with her while I make you watch."
As a threat almost slipped from his full lips, a loud shot fired off, the ringing echoing in James' ears as he flinched, realizing that someone had shot Viktor directly in the back of the knee. He watched in bewilderment as Vik collapsed to the concrete with a strangled cry, holding onto his knee that was bleeding quite profusely now down his pants.
His heart stopped beating momentarily in his chest as he glanced up to see who he should thank, only to observe Amelia pointing a pistol in Viktor's direction with a scowl upon her features. It was as if his entire world was spinning as he struggled to comprehend the situation before him - surely, he must be dreaming.
"Your plan sucks," Amelia snorted at Viktor.
Now is not the time to be so fucking hot, Amelia.
Sinister laughter began to rumble through Viktor's chest as he turned to narrow his eyes at Amelia. "Oh, this is good. This is who I think it is, isn't it?"
James' brow furrowed deeper as he tugged on the metal clasps helplessly, wanting to get to his sweet girl before asshole did.
"Unlock him," she ordered, ignoring Viktor's comment as she motioned the gun in Bucky's direction before aiming it back at Vik.
Viktor started to laugh again, only to be interrupted by Amelia smacking the butt of the gun against his eyebrow, busting it open. A trickle of crimson liquid followed quickly after, trailing down his face until it was spreading into his mouth.
"I said unlock him," she repeated firmly. "Now."
James watched as Viktor crawled his way over to him, mumbling something incoherently under his breath, before unfastening the metal clasps around his feet and removing the high-voltage metal from around his head. The next few seconds happened quickly, and simultaneously, as Amelia stepped closer to Viktor, pressing the gun against the back of his head - all while Vik was whisking his knife back out instead of unclasping Buck's hands.
"Amelia-" James tried to shout, but he was too late.
Viktor spun around hastily, plunging the knife into Amelia's stomach.
Ringing erupted through James' ears at the sound of Amelia's scream ripping through the air. It felt like someone had punched him in the gut, all of his oxygen had disappeared from his lungs. His mouth parted in astonishment as he watched Amelia glance down at the knife inside of her torso with empty eyes.
"No!" James yelled angrily, pulling as hard as he could on the metal wrist claps that Viktor failed to unlock. "You son of a bitc-"
"Wrong choice of words, James," Viktor interrupted, removing the knife only to stab it into her torso for the second time.
All it took was Amelia falling to the ground with a whimper, the knife still protruding from her abdomen, for James to furiously flex his metal arm - breaking the clasp from his wrist as he slung the metal from his other wrist with a growl. An anger he had never felt before erupted deep inside of him as he lurched forwards, tackling Viktor back down to the concrete floor.
His hands encircled around Viktor's neck, choking him with such rage that Vik's face immediately turned a couple shades of red. James' nostrils flared violently as his body began to shake with vehemence, ignoring the way the man underneath him pulled and smacked at his arms as he gasped for air.
This motherfucker stabbed Amelia. He stabbed his sweet girl.
With one last fatal squeeze, James examined Viktor's pupils dilate as the life seeped away from his dark eyes.
Shoving Viktor's lifeless body out of the way, James hurried across the concrete towards Amelia, scooping her upper half into his lap as he cradled her in his arms. Her hazel eyes blinked excessively as she stared up at the ceiling, panting heavily from her pink lips.
"Baby, what are you doing here?" James asked softly, his voice cracking as he placed his hand over her bleeding wound.
For the first time in his entire life, he was completely and utterly dumbfounded. James had never been in a position where he was unsure of what to do, he couldn't even think straight. The shaking had began to settle in his hands due to the adrenaline pumping through his veins.
"I had to see you," Amelia bleated, hissing as the pain of her wounds heightened while she spoke, squeezing her eyes shut until the brunt of it subsided.
"You shouldn't be here," he whined pitifully, tears trickling down his cheeks, the salt burning the fresh cut on his skin.
His eyes widened at the sight of her blood oozing out between his fingers despite the pressure he had been exuding against her wound. The last person who deserved this was Amelia. James had never, ever wanted her to end up in this situation, her life to be at risk the way it was now.
"I couldn't-" she swallowed, taking a couple breaths as her glossy, chestnut eyes frantically looked up at him. "I couldn't let something happen to you w-without telling you that I love you."
James' lips trembled at her words, his face construing as he fought back the sob that was racking its way through his chest. It was hard to believe that Amelia came all the way here, more than likely without anyone's knowledge, because her pure, kind little heart needed to tell him how she felt about him.
In this moment, he felt more than undeserving of her love.
Tearing him from his all-consuming thoughts, Amelia started to cough, blood spouting from her parted lips and landing in tiny droplets along her beautiful face. The panic that flashed through her eyes felt as though it was practically ripping his heart in half.
"No, no, Amelia," James cooed helplessly. "Hold on, hold on, okay? We have to take the knife out. I need you to put your hands over your wound, baby, please."
Her hazel eyes fluttered as she nodded weakly, putting her trembling hands over-top of his to take his place as he yanked the knife out of her abdomen. A piercing cry escaped her crimson lips as the tears seeped out of the corners of her eyes, her mascara trailing along with them.
James' hands found her face as he shushed her comfortingly, pressing his forehead against hers. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
Pressing his hands against her wounds, he whisked his head around in a panic - searching for someone, anyone to tell him what to do. A groan rumbled through his chest as he gritted his teeth together, cursing at himself under his breath because he couldn't keep his shit together.
"Someone has to look after my m-mom," Amelia panted, titling her head sadly as she gazed up at James, still. "Promise me-" she paused faintly. "Someone will look after my mom."
"You're going to look after your mom," James cried out in frustration. "Do you hear me? You're not dying today."
As James flicked his head up to look around feebly once more, solace washed over him as Steve entered the room - his blue eyes following Buck's arms down until they fell on Amelia lying on the ground in a pool of her own blood.
"What the fuck do I do, Steve?" James pleaded urgently, struggling to get his breathing under control.
"I didn't know she was here ..." Steve whispered faintly as he stared down at Amelia in a trance-like state.
When Rogers couldn't find his key-card yesterday, he didn't even think twice about what could've happened to it - instead, he shrugged it off as no big deal and continued on with the team's mission. If he had just taken the time to care about what happened to the damn key-
"Steve!" James snapped loudly.
"T-take her to the Quinjet, they can get her to the nearest hospital."
"What about you?"
"Go, we've got this," Rogers urged despondently, his eyebrows furrowing together as he glanced down at Amelia one more time before disappearing from the room.
James nodded swiftly, ripping Amelia's jacket from her body - earning another helpless moan - as he wrapped it tightly around her mid-torso. His hands fumbled as he tried to tie the knot in the cloth, too focused on how much blood she was losing. His vision had become slightly blurred from the water filling up in his eyes.
"Stay with me, baby, we are going to get you to the hospital, okay?" he murmured, shoving his arms underneath her body to whisk her up from the ground.
"I'm so tired," Amelia croaked out.
"No, you can't sleep," James pleaded, carrying her away towards the exit. "You have to stay awake for me."
"You didn't-" she stopped as she sputtered once more, blood dripping down her cheeks as it left her mouth. "Tell me you love me back."
James groaned, almost a whimper, as he stared down at Amelia's glazed over eyes looking up at him before leaning into the crevice of her neck, practically running now. "I love you, Amelia. I'm in love with you, so you have to stay with me, okay?"
She hummed quietly as her eyes fluttered closed.
"You can't leave me," James cried into her neck. "Not now. Not after you made me fall in love with you."
As he watched his sweet girl pass out, her clothes stained in blood, her mouth covered in blood, her arms swaying as she went limp in his arms - James could feel a piece inside of him dying, too.
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don't hate me.
four chapters left, i don't know if i'm ready.
on a happy note, we've reached 150k reads :')