ARTEMIS' face was consumed in shock. That was all she could feel. That, and the confusion and anger, and pain, and every other emotion that went along with it.
He cowered below her, tears of happiness cascading down his cheeks. He hadn't been in her presence in what felt like millenniums, eons, ages, and it seemed like he was being graced with the sight of an angel, a hallucination to show that he was close to death.
After all, people always told him that before he died, his life would flash before his eyes.
Artemis was his life. From as far back as he could remember, she was there, along with that butterfly feeling that he could never shake off when she was around. The temptation to kiss every inch of her face over and over again. To tell her that he loved her since the very beginning.
Artemis' knees fell from under her as she crawled back towards him, her hands shaking as they cowered over his wound like they had before, only this time filled with more anticipation and fright.
"What happened to you?" She croaked out, only there was no reply. She looked into his eyes, to see them staring back at her, the blue that she always knew silently fading, but his smile molded by the shine of his tears.
"You're just as beautiful now since the first time I saw you." He sputtered, which caused tears of her own to fill her eyes. "You need to tell me what happened to you, we need to get you out of here so you can be helped." She said, grabbing his hand to attempt hoisting him up. It failed.
"You were so innocent and young then. Your hair was red, your eyes as blue as they've ever been. Even though you were their devil, you were my angel." He slurred again, his head bobbing back as he looked up at Artemis.
She was now sobbing as the excruciating pain of gaining a memory hit her like a truck, but she pushed that aside as she tugged at his arm once more. "Please, please, snap out of it. You can't die, I just found you. You can't die." Now, she had knelt down to cup his face.
"Let me help you." She pleaded, her own tears now soaking the collar of her black t-shirt. When he didn't reply, only simply giving her a pained smile, she frantically shook her coat off and, from one of the many holes in her shirt, ripped a long strip from it. Gathering it in a ball, she stuck it to the gushing wound, earning a gasp of sheer agony from Bucky.
"It's okay, Buck. Just keep it held as tight to the wound as possible, okay?" She said, and he quietly nodded as she began to gently take his coat off of his arms. She balled her coat up and put it under his head as she dug her hands into his pockets, searching for a phone or something to contact anyone who could help.
When her hand reached in and felt a rectangular-shaped, thick piece of metal, she whipped it out and frantically slid the unlock button, searching through his recent call list.
Once she saw a name that was familiar, she clicked on it and mentally prayed that someone would answer.
After the first couple of rings, a voice that was familiar to her spoke. "Buck? Is everything alright? You usually don't call me while I'm working unless it's importan-" "This isn't Bucky." She spoke sternly, then refrained herself.
"Th-this is Artemis. Bucky's hurt, please send help. And bring an advanced first aid kit with some whiskey." On the other line, Steve Roger's mouth fell in the shape of an O. His blue eyes were bulged almost out of his head as his mouth seemed to be chewing for words.
"Where are you?" He finally asked and Artemis sighed. "I don't know what subway we're in right now, but I know it's in Brooklyn because the accents are pretty evident. I'll send you our location via text message. Please hurry." And she hung up.
Steve bolted from his chair and out the door, grabbing a first aid kit and a bottle of whiskey that was in the fridge before hopping into his old, yellow Volkswagen Bug and stepping on the gas. When he received the coordinates, he used Google Maps to find them.
He quickly ran inside, mercilessly dialing up Bucky's number again as he ran into the packed crowd.
"Where are you?" "Were in the panel room, about 50 meters from where you're standing." "Wait, how do you know how-" "I have echolocation abilities, and I can hear your heartbeat. Just keep walking and I'll tell you when you're at the door."
Steve obeyed orders and did them quickly, and when Artemis told him that he was at the door, he kicked it in, not even worrying about the surrounding people. He ran down the corridor towards the light, running even faster towards Artemis' form hovering over Bucky's, seeming to press down on something.
When Steve got closer, he saw the blood covering the concrete under his best friend, and then his eyes trailed up to the paleness of his face.
"He's lost a lot of blood." Artemis said as she leaned up to pat Bucky's face, causing his eyes to jolt back open in attempt to stay awake. "Hey there, sunshine. Stay awake for me, okay? I need you." She whispered the last part as she looked down, another tear sliding down her face.
Steve handed her the bottle of whiskey and the tools that she needed, and she immediately went for the sewing stitches. She doused the needle with whiskey, cleaning it of any bacteria before downing a sip herself.
She doused the pair of tweezers as well, looking at Bucky with saddened eyes as he leaned his head back, bracing himself for the pain that was about to enter his body.
Without another warning, the tweezers dug deep into Bucky's flesh, searching for the bullet that was embedded deep inside of him. He let out a loud, disapproving yell as the pain hit every nerve in his body, causing his back to arch unfortunately as Steve attempted to hold him in his place.
"It's okay, Bucky. It's okay, I'm sorry." Artemis repeated as she dug the tweezers in further, tears of her own clouding her vision. When she felt the tweezers set themselves around a small, solid object, she slowly and cautiously began to pull it out, earning even more heart-breaking screams of pain from Bucky. Steve tried his best to calm his best friend, but to no avail did it happen.
She then quickly grabbed the needle and pinched the wound shut before anymore blood could escape, leaning down and kissing his tear stained cheek softly and comfortingly before she began to stitch him up. The action was tedious but it wasn't as painful for Bucky as he had been through the stitching many times before.
When she was finished, she wrapped gauze around his torso and taped it tightly, handing everything that she had used back to Steve, but only after she had washed the blood from her hands and downed nearly half of the bottle herself.
Steve pulled her to the side quietly, looking at her sternly but also curiously. "How did this happen?" "I don't know, I tried to get him to talk. I think he thought he was hallucinating me." She said sadly, glancing back at Bucky who was quietly and most uncomfortably resting on the concrete floor under him. Steve followed suit, pursing his lips.
"Where have you been all this time?" Steve finally asked. Artemis bit her lip. "Until about an hour ago I barely even knew myself. When I came back from the dead, I was a full-tilt zombie. I remember shooting a robber in the head, and I remember blowing up that park. I remember all of it, and I'm willing to pay that price one day. But after that, I took to the web. After Black Widow released everything, files of the worst and best agents went with it.
So I found someone named Brexa. Brexa Hellwell, also known as Angel X. She was a badass, I'd heard of her multiple times even from my high spot on the throne back in the Hydra days. But now since those are over, she took to a local bar, working night shifts and kicking ass in the alleys when the men would get too rowdy.
I found her, and we made a deal that if she told me about myself, that I would leave her identity clean and never think of her again. But unfortunately, we became the best of friends, and about two days ago, she got a little tipsy and wandered off. I've been tracking her since, and her scent led me in this direction. I have a feeling that whoever took her isn't alone, either. So what I'm about to ask you next may be a lot, with all of your personal work and stuff, but I need your help to get her back." Artemis explained.
Steve soaked everything in with a stern look, the thought of being hated once more for disobeying orders crossing his mind. He bit the inside of his lip in a mild ponder, looking back at Bucky who lie still asleep. Doing this for Artemis would basically be doing it for him as well.
Steve sighed. "I'll help you," He replied, causing Artemis to release a breath she didn't realize she was holding. "But the Director must not know about this or he'll have all of our asses." Steve muttered and Artemis smiled. "Understood. Thank you, Captain." She said, and he smiled.
"Anything for the love of my best friend's life."