You could feel the blood rushing in your ears and desperation continued to claw at your chest. You couldn't let them get the stone.
The Adromeda's face contorts in effort as she continues to connect her magic to your chest. This gave you twinge of hope. You had never seen the Andromeda visibly struggle before.
Suddenly, you hear a chorus of loud pops. Gunshots. But from where?
You collapse onto your hands and knees, panting heavily. The woman's magic had been the only thing holding you up, but that connection was severed when the gunshots sounded. You look up and see two familiar faces now fighting with the Andromeda.
Natasha, gun in hand, swept the legs out from under one and Steve launched his shield at another. They seemed to be winning. The women seemed weaker than before. A wave of relief washes through you and you press your hand to your chest as if you were checking to make sure everything was still in place. It was as far as you could tell, but you really had no idea.
Your gaze travels down when you see shimmering on the floor where the Andromeda had just stood. Your brow furrows in confusion. A puddle of some strange liquid stained the concrete below.
With shaking hands, you reach forward and gingerly touch your fingertips to the liquid. You pull your hand back and rub your fingers together, looking at the liquid curiously. It was dark blue in color and cold— colder than what normal room temperature would be.
You bite the inside of your cheek when you finally realize the identity of the thick blue liquid. It was the Andromeda's blood. They had injured one.
You jump hard when you feel a hand on your back, the movement sending pain spiking through your thigh and you yell out. You had forgotten you were hurt.
"Hey! It's just me." Natasha crouches down beside you, breathing heavily from the fight. You had been so focused on the blood that you hadn't even noticed that the commotion had stopped.
You glance at her and then your eyes begin to dart around the room. "Where did they go? Where the hell are they?" You ask.
"They disappeared." Steve says from behind Natasha.
You clench your teeth together tightly and Nat helps you shift to a less painful position. You sit on the concrete with your injured leg extended. "How did you find me?" You ask, still trying to catch your breath.
Without skipping a beat, Nat rips a strip off of her shirt and begins to wrap it tightly around your thigh. An agonized cry rips from your throat.
"We've been following you all night. We figured you would get yourself into trouble." Steve answers, allowing Natasha to focus on what she was doing.
You stare at your wound as Natasha tied the cloth in knots, resisting the urge to slap her hands away to give yourself a rest from the pain. You weren't thrilled at the fact that you had been followed, but you were thankful for it now. Who knew what would have happened if they hadn't come.
"Then why the hell did it take you this long to step in?" You snap, though your harsh tone was obviously due to the pain. "I could have used your help five minutes ago when I was fighting all three of them by myself."
You notice red already beginning to bleed through the makeshift bandage.
"We lost you after you left the bar. It took us a while to find you again." Natasha explains briefly. "Can you stand?"
You nod despite knowing it would be a lot more difficult to perform the simple task than you wanted it to be. Another painful cry erupts from your lungs as you move to stand and both Natasha and Steve quickly grab onto you to make sure you don't fall back onto the ground. Natasha pulls your arm over her shoulder and grips onto your waist.
"She's losing blood. We need to get her back." Natasha says to Steve.
"I can carry her. It'll be faster." Steve suggests.
You deliriously shake your head. "I appreciate the offer, Steve, but I think my last shred of dignity would crumble if I let you do that." You joke, though there was a hint of sincerity to your words. Steve rolls his eyes.
With the sudden switch of positions, you could really feel the full effects of blood loss. Your head felt dizzy and your breaths were more shallow than normal.
You thought maybe you wouldn't remember the trip back to the compound, that maybe the blood loss was enough to numb you. It wasn't. You remembered every painful step. About halfway through, Steve did end up having to carry you on his back. By that point you didn't mind as much. It was a break from the pain.
As soon as you make it to the grounds of the compound though, you insist on getting back on your feet. Your stupid pride refused to let anyone see you being carried.
You lean on Natasha as you make your way through the doors of the compound. By now, your head was aching almost as much as your leg.
"We need some help in here!" Steve yells out into the seemingly empty halls. He knew Tony wouldn't be far. He had been waiting for them to get back.
Tony quickly appears from around the corner, eyes widening when he notices the blood staining your pants. "Rogers, go wake up the medics." He orders as he paces toward you. Steve nods and hurries off.
Natasha was holding onto you tightly, but gravity was becoming harder and harder to defy. "Come on. Let's sit." Nat guides you over to a nearby chair and eases you down. A cry leaves your throat as another wave of pain stabs at your wound.
"You're gonna be alright." Nat soothes.
Just as you sit down, you hear a pair of frantic footsteps running down the hall. Wanda emerges, her brow furrowed in confusion and concern. She had heard the commotion and figured that something was wrong. When she notices your pale face, her eyes go wide.
"What the hell happened?" She asks to no one in particular as she quickly paces toward you and crouches at your side, her hand immediately grabbing onto your shoulder and squeezing. It was a comforting touch.
Her gaze travels down to your leg and her jaw clenches at the sight of your blood.
"She was attacked by the Andromeda." Tony explains, drumming his fingers nervously on his upper arm. "Luckily, I sent Nat and Steve to follow her when she went out tonight."
"Yeah, thanks for that by the way." You say sarcastically, obviously displeased with essence of the fact that you had been followed.
"Hey, if they wouldn't have been there you probably would have died. You can thank me later." Tony retorts.
Wanda quickly turns around, her hands tense at her sides. "Why didn't you tell me? I could have gone!" Wanda shouts angrily at Tony.
"No offense, Maximoff, but you aren't exactly a master of stealth." He responds.
Wanda opens her mouth to retort, but is cut off by the entrance of the medics. Natasha steps back to allow them space to assess your wound. Wanda's expression softens again when she looks back and sees your face contorted with pain as the medics cut off the makeshift bandage.
She had half a mind to push through the medics and hold your hand, but she knew it would be counterproductive. So all Wanda could do was stand there helplessly, longing to be the one to tell you it was going to be alright.