Eleana covers her eyes from the blue sky, almost blinding through the jagged missing part of the building. The part that was once their quarters, now a mess of fire, sparks and rubble.
What have I done?
Tony flies over her head firing at the helicopter and Eleana ducks down, hands scraping on the floor. He blasts away the engine and propeller, sending the helicopter careering out of sight, only for another to take its place. Agents start to run past her, pushing forwards and jostling Eleana out of the way. All firing at the Hydra soldiers pouring out of more helicopters.
She feels someone grabbing onto her arm, yanking her back out of the crowd and into an alcove, barely shielding her from the gunfire.
"Bucky?"
"You have your com?" He asks, eyes cold and angry and Eleana nods, not trusting herself to answer.
"Then call Steve, do something useful?"
Bucky leaves her there to fight with the other agents and her chest heaves with every breath. Her heart beating wildly, panic coursing through her body every time she calls out to Steve, hearing only static in return.
"Steve? Steve can you hear me?!"
"Steve?! Please answer me."
"You have to come back, Hydra they're-" Another explosion shakes the building and Eleana crouches down, trying to shield herself from chunks of concrete falling, dust covering her face.
"Eleana? Are you safe? I can't contact anyone where's Buck?!"
"He's here, we're holding on-"
"I think she means dying, don't you Eleana?" Pietro's voice is full of malice and arrogance, but that's not what causes her breathing to stop.
"How did you get on this frequency?" Steve yelled through the com, shouting over the noise that's suddenly so loud.
"Dead men don't need coms." Pietro sneers and his com clicks off.
The silence only lasts a second before screams and gunfire, shouts and frightened whispers grow louder and louder until it's unbearable. Every channel, every voice, all shouting, screaming in Eleana's ear at once.
"Oh god. Eleana what did you do?!" Steve's voice is so quiet now and her own catches in her throat.
"Eleana?!"
"I let him out."
One after another their distorted screams and desperate calls for help fell silent. Eleana heard the noises, she knew who was killing them. All she could do was listen. Her hate for the man she'd fought so hard to save growing with every life he took. They were losing, and Pietro was revelling in the chaos.
Streams of white and blue light cross Eleana's vision, stomach churning as her eyes follow the glow, weaving through the lines of agents to the first line of defence. One after the other, agents holding the line begin to fall. Desperately firing into the air, fighting to save their lives. They didn't stand a chance. Not against this Pietro.
Whatever remnant of humanity she had seen in his mind had disappeared. He was enjoying every moment. Another broken body falls, only this time he stops, wiping the blood from his face. There's so much it just smears over his cheek.
He grins over at Eleana, letting more and more Hydra soldiers close in bearing down on those left behind. There's no light left in his eyes anymore only the darkness that pushed her out and in that darkness, the feeling she had fought off so long settles on her chest.
Pietro's gone. Past saving. He's a killer. A murderer.
"Fuck Eleana, watch out!"
Eleana doesn't hear Bucky as he pulls her down to the floor, his voice sounds distorted like the pounding of gunfire. All her focus on the man's terrified eyes, his confusion as he touches his wound. The bullet meant for Eleana buried in his chest.
Shrugging off Bucky she crawls over to him as he falls. Eleana had only met him once, though she remembered his smile each time they passed in the corridors or the gym. She tries to put pressure on the wound, her hands only getting covered in blood as it pools around him.
"It's okay, Agent Munroe," Eleana tries to smile, "I just have to stop the blood..."
He attempts to speak, blood bubbling up through gargled breaths. He's so young and she wants to take his pain away, reassure him. She places a hand on his cheek.
"It's okay, just rest, I'll fix you, it's okay."
Eleana carries on applying pressure, even though she know's it's too late. He's stopped trying to breathe, his bleeding slowing but he's fading away.
"Eleana he's gone."
Ignoring Bucky, she keeps her hands on the wound, whispering 'I'm sorry' over and over. That should have been her. What if he had a family, a wife? How many of these men and women did? Now all of them are dead. They're all going to die. Eleana can't breathe, her struggles for breath getting harder, and when Bucky pulls her away she screams at him.
"No! I just need to put more pressure on the wound, I need something to get the bullet out...please, I can't..."
Eleana fights against him, but he doesn't let her go, "Stop, please..."
"Let go, It should have been me. He didn't deserve to die, I can help him, please Buck..."
"Eleana, listen to me," Bucky holds Eleana's face and slowly her breathing starts to calm, everything blurring around him, "He's gone. If we don't fight, we're all gonna die. You understand?"
"We've got another problem." Tony lands beside them both, crouching behind Bucky. He gives Eleana a look of concern, though there's anger as well and she notices his hands shaking, him wringing them to keep still.
"What else can there be Stark?" Bucky asks, his eyes on her.
"That speedy asshole is planting bombs around my tower. Old Stark bombs."
Eleana meets Bucky's gaze only for a second. This wasn't only Hydra planning to destroy them it was Pietro, getting his own personal revenge.
"Can you disarm them?"
"Friday's locked out. All we can do is get people out of the building."
"Tony? Where are they we could-"
"Eleana. There's twelve of them and they're all on a two-minute countdown. We could never get to them all." Tony snapped and she couldn't blame him, he should have killed her for what she'd done.
"Oh god."
"Listen up! Everybody still alive you have to get out. NOW."
Heeding Tony, everyone stops fighting and follows behind him. Eleana gets to her feet again and turns back expecting to see Bucky behind her, only for him to be running back to the fight.
"Bucky?! We have to go!"
"You need to go with them!" Bucky yells and Eleana stands between him and the remaining soldiers, pushing him back.
He keeps trying to move her behind him, so she grabs his arm, "No. You do. I deserve this not you."
"I won't lose you too, Buck." Eleana reaches up and holds his face just as he did hers and his eyes soften.
"Damn it Eleana."
Shrill beeping causes them both to stop. The same look of terror passing between them, both noticing the bomb at the same time. The device stuck to a console only a few feet away and the display reads a ten-second countdown.
They would never make it out of here.
Bucky lifts her up and pulls her behind a wall, covering Eleana with his body.
"Sorry doll, this is the best I can do." He whispers into her hair.
"Buck I'm sorry-"
"We haven't got time..."
The final beep rings out and Eleana snaps her eyes closed. She grips onto Bucky's hand clinging to him and he holds her tighter. His warm breath tickles her hair, his heartbeat thumps against her back. Eleana can't bear to think it's all about to stop, burn away to ashes, all because of her.
There's a second of silence, only the span of a heartbeat, yet it feels like an eternity. Then the ground starts to shake, heat licking at her skin.
"I love you-"
Eleana expects pain, not the weightlessness she feels as she's roughly pulled out from underneath Bucky and flung over Pietro's shoulders. He's running fast enough to escape the explosion, yet purposely slow. He wants to make Eleana watch as the explosion engulfs Bucky in slow motion, watch him die.
Pietro smashes through the window, shards of glass flying in all directions. It scrapes her face and back she doesn't feel it. Eleana can't take her eyes off the place where Bucky was, seeing nothing smoke and fire.
Then she's outside, gliding onto a nearby roof and Pietro throws her down while he runs to a stop. Eleana's heart burns with anger she scrambles for something to use to hurt him. He killed Bucky, let him suffer.
Eleana climbs to her feet holding the shard out in front of her. Rough glass slowly, painfully, cutting into her skin and he laughs. Not that deep chuckle she remembered, an insane, evil sound.
"You think you can kill me?"
Pietro steps towards Eleana placing his hand over her wrist, pressing the sharp edge into his chest, over his heart.
"Go on, all those agents tried and for nothing..." he goads and Eleana's hands shake.
"No? Let me make it easier," Pietro lifts the shard to his forehead, slicing his skin as he does so, "who knows? It might not kill me, but it will stop me."
Do it. It has to kill him. Stop him. Her mind screams but her hands won't move and tears stream down her cheeks. Flashes of the man Eleana knew, tainted with blood and death. Yet everything is overshadowed by her last image of Bucky, engulfed in fire and smoke. Eleana's heart felt like it had ripped open with the thought of Bucky gone. Her best friend, the one that was always there for her. Bucky deserved so much more.
Whatever he is, he isn't Pietro and Eleana can't forgive him. Can't fool herself this time. Pietro warned her. In that apartment with the last part of his soul, he warned her. He said goodbye and Eleana didn't listen. Her eyes travel back over to what's left of the tower, more bombs explode sending smoke and debris to nearby buildings.
Eleana started this, she let him out. She was going to stop him.
Pietro's eyes flicker with surprise when Eleana surges forward, leaving a deep gash from forehead to ear as he shoves her away.
"You can't kill me, Eleana." Pietro sniggers, only backing away slightly when she rushes forward again. Grabbing her wrist and twisting it, so fast and so painful she drops the shard of glass.
"No matter how much you want to." He kicks Eleana to the ground, kneeling on her back to tie her hands, careful not to touch her skin. Eleana struggles as he drags her to her feet, holding her against him. His fist clutches her hair, yanking her head back to face the tower.
Forcing Eleana to watch the tower collapse in on itself, plumes of smoke rise into the air, billowing out towards them. The sides of the tower finally give way, sounds of steel screeching, snapping, twisting, disintegrating to dust before it hit the ground. All that Tony had built, her life, her family. Eleana's world crumbling before her eyes.
"How does it feel printessa? To lose everything you love?"