3 updates? which one of you put a crystal under my pillow! the creative juices flowin.

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She woke up and was completely aware of what had happened. She wished she had amnesia so that maybe for a moment, she could forget the look on Bucky's face before they were overtaken. So she could forget for a second that she was a complete failure.

"We're heading out in 30 to get him back." Natasha had taken a turn to watch over the woman as Steve relayed plans to other teams of agents. He didn't have time to care for her and find his friend.

"Let me get dressed."

"Steve doesn't want you to go-"the growl that Natasha was greeted with was enough to make her cringe. "-but he knew you wouldn't like that. I brought your stuff. Hurry up."

Athena had the good sense to look slightly ashamed for snapping at her friend. Taking the uniform from the other woman's outstretched hand, she muttered a quick "Sorry" before changing.

She didn't see Steve until they were loading up on the jets; when she did, he looked just as torn up as she felt. He hid it well, but his eyes gave everything away. He was scared for his friend and just as determined to get him back in one piece.

"Natasha catch you up?" He asked once he was next to her.

"On the way." Was her only reply. The jets began to depart, and the teams were deployed.

"Steve." She called his name softly while they flew, catching his attention. He tilted his head toward her to let her know he was listening. "When we land, keep them out of my way. I'm going to find him and kill every person in my way." The red in her eyes was enough for him to see she was hanging on to her control by a thread.

"I won't let anyone stop you." Grabbing her head, he pulled her so he could press his lips to her forehead for a moment. The calm before the storm to come. "I'm sorry."

He didn't need to say more, and she didn't want him to feel like he needed to say it in the first place.

"You're just trying to do the right thing. I know you would do anything for him."

It was the end of the discussion, and she would hear no more. Now the pair needed to focus on getting their third back.

Then the real fight would begin; who knew what state Bucky's mind would be in. They were preparing for the worst and hoping to get him out alive.

He tried to keep up with her once they had landed and began their attack on the Hydra base, but the woman was moving like a bat out of hell and had locked in on Bucky's scent. Sprinting down a large hall, the lights around them began to flash red, and a door at the end of the hall started to drop to block the rest of the way.

Steve watched as Athena threw herself into a slide, barely making it under.

The door slammed down, blocking his path to follow Athena. He banged on it over and over but realized quickly that he wasn't strong enough to get through the layers of steel and concrete.

Turning, he threw his shield at the oncoming hydra agent that thought he could sneak up on him.

If he couldn't follow her, he would at least make sure he cleared the place out so that no one would touch her on the way out. He had faith his girl would bring Bucky home.

Athena followed the scent of her mate and made it to the end of a hall with a door swung wide open. She slowed her pace to a walk as fear crept up her spine. Why wasn't he locked away?

Making her way to the opening, she peered in, almost crumpled in disbelief.

Bucky was chained to a wall, wires around his head. His body was limp, and the machines around him were humming.

They had tried to wipe his brain.

The only part worse was the ticking in the corner, right next to Bucky.

She didn't have time to think of the possibility of him never remembering how they met or even her for that instance. Right now, she needed to worry about getting him out of here alive.

"Thea?" his voice was so strained, he had been screaming for hours. The relief that flooded her was not apparent on her face, but she was so happy he knew who she was. They failed in taking another part of him away.

"I'm right here."

It seemed like a haze was lifting off of him as he realized the situation they were in. The bomb was set for three minutes, and Athena was turning it in her hands like it wasn't going to explode in her face. She wasn't a bomb specialist, and as far as Bucky knew, she solved most of her problems with violence.

She was getting frantic as she softly placed the mass of wires and metal down. The count was under one minute, and she had no choices left. Running to where he stood immobile, she placed a hand on each side of his face; she held his eyes with her own willing him to listen.

"I'll live, I promise."

He didn't get time to fight her or change her mind as Athena sprinted out of the room, grabbing the bomb on the way. He realized her plan a moment too late.

"NO! STOP!"

He begged and pleaded, but the sound of her feet only grew farther away.

Her name rang in his ears as the sound of the bomb exploded a distance away. Time froze as he listened for a breath, a heartbeat, anything.

He could hear screams. Whoever was unlucky enough to be in the blast radiance but none he recognized.

"Athena!" He cried her name out, and the longer he went with no answer, the more frantic he became. "Athena!"

"Don't leave me here!"

His voice was foreign to him, crazed and broken and so, so scared.

"Athena, Please!"

"I'm coming," it was a whisper at first, he thought his mind was tricking him, but he heard it again.

"I'm coming." still nothing but a whisper, but it was her.

There was a shifting of rubble and scuffling as if someone was dragging themselves down the hall. She was stumbling into walls and falling to the floor again and again.

What felt like a lifetime later, Athena tumbled into the room.

Her injuries would be burned into the soldier's brains. They would wash out his nightmares to make way for ones that he never before could have fathomed.

"it's ok. I'll heal." She croaked out, but her voice didn't sound right. It was cracked and charred like every other part of her body. Her arms were covered in burns so bad that it looked like you could see the bone in some parts. She must have thrown them up to take the brunt of the blast.

Chunks of her left leg were missing as she put most of her weight on her right side. Clutching the wall as she rested her forehead for a moment, her face twisted in pain. The right side of her head was charred, and her hair was hanging to her head in random patches.

"Athena.." Bucky couldn't utter more than her name as he strained in the cuffs that held him down. She raised a hand to calm him, but two missing fingers were the only thing he could focus on. She had told them she could heal more than them, but he was now stressed about how much more.

"I'll get you out" she took a deep, shaking breath. "I just need to catch my breath."

The stomach of her suit was gone, and the skin beneath was utterly black and blistered. A piece of metal was sticking out of her side that she clutched with a deep breath before ripping it out. Her eyes rolled back in her head for a moment as she muffled a scream behind clenched fangs.

She panted against the wall and let her body attempt whatever last-ditch effort it had at healing itself.

"I can't say I've had worse,"

"Jesus Christ, Thea," he was in shock, she realized, a part of her wishes she was too so that she couldn't feel her body right now. Every piece of her wanted to collapse to the floor, but she knew she might not wake up again if she did that.

"Steve's right behind me. He'll get you out of here." She whispered, panting softly. Her hearing had picked up the frantic noise of Steve sprinting through the halls to get to them. His voice slowly made its way to them as he screamed their names. "He's gonna be pissed when he sees me." She tried to joke, but the look on Bucky's face was still pale and horror-stricken.

The moment Steve came into view, the rush of relief was followed by a pit of darkness as Athena finally let go of fighting. Steve was here, and Bucky was safe. She had done it.

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Don't worry my little whores the smut is coming and oh is it full of angst and fluff and skfnz;sne;negnw;gnwgjsg;kwjgkawjrgkanvkr

what did yall think? comments are the only reason i do this, i am a leo rising validation is what i eat for breakfast.

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