★ ★ ★

Smoke filled nearly the entirety of the enormous room, threatening to suffocate those inside. Had it been a layer thicker, the likelihood of it doing so would have been substantially great. Numerous pained groans could be heard just about anywhere a person lay on the floor. The sound of heavy footsteps echoed throughout the room, not to mention, the familiar sound of metal on metal, which could only mean whoever (Hydra) had infiltrated the tower was in fact equipped with weapons, just as Tony had said they were.

Marlena coughed in an attempt to rid her body of the irritating amount of smoke that had made its way inside. She pushed her aching body off of the debris-covered floor, as did Steve, who was now hovering protectively above her. She let out a grunt of pain as she further lifted herself off of the floor. She gazed over the damage the explosion had caused, and her eyes widened in absolute horror when she noticed the ridiculous amount of people scattered across the floor. Some were very injured, and she also knew enough to confirm that some were dead as well, as she could not hear as many voices inside her head as she was able to before.

She worried about her family and Bucky but was hardly given the chance to scan the room for them before numerous Hydra agents began barreling into the loft, their guns raised and ready to shoot.

Anger shot through Marlena at the sight of them, and in an instant she was jumping into action in order to get rid of the plague of Hydra agents, as were the other Avengers.

Those injured who lay on the floor managed to muster up enough strength to find shelter, and because of this Marlena was relieved. She already despised that so many people had lost their lives because of the situation; she preferred not to lose anymore.

Marlena fought bravely alongside Steve and Tony—who now had his Iron Man armor—using her telekinesis as well as her combatant abilities to take down as many Hydra agents as she possibly could; Natasha and Thor fought at the opposite end of the room, taking down agents who had come in through the east entrance; Sam and Clint had taken their battle with the agents to the center of the room, doing their best not to step on the lifeless humans scattered throughout the area; Bucky fought alongside Maria at the north end of the room, very brutally taking down as many Hydra agents as they possibly could; Bruce, however, was hidden behind a bar with several civilian party guests trying to calm them down. He could not risk turning green and doing unnecessary damage to the building or the remaining people inside—he would never be able to forgive himself for it.

Without their weapons in reach, though—aside from Tony—the Avengers were very limited. They could only rely on their combatant skills to get rid of the army of Hydra agents, and although their knowledge was definitely greater than that of a Hydra agent, it just didn't seem to be enough—there were so many of them, yet so few Avengers. Tony and Marlena seemed to be the only two who were able to get by without much physical damage. Tony was equipped with his suit, and although Marlena lacked weaponry, her abilities seemed to make up for it. The only downside to it was solely based off of the fact that Marlena had never used her abilities to such an extremity before today. It was exhausting her quickly, but she still fought. She refused to let Hydra come back and take her life away from her again; she refused to let them take Bucky away, and that only gave her an even greater reason to carry on.

Marlena propelled herself off of the wall, kicking her leg out to relieve an agent of his weapon. Before he even had the time to think, Marlena sent her knee into his groin, and he doubled over in pain. She then grabbed at his hair and slammed his head into her knee numerous times before letting his unconscious body fall to the floor.

She soon moved on to the next agent, using the coffee table to hoist her small body onto his shoulders. She wrapped her small hands around the base of his neck and pressed as hard as she could. She only wished she had her gauntlets or any of her weapons, as it would make the entire process much simpler.

The agent whose shoulders she sat upon refused to go down, though. He grabbed at Marlena's wrist, and, as if she weighed nothing, he removed her from his shoulders and flung her towards the wall. She hit the wall with a thud, and a pained cry escaped her as she hit the floor. The impact her body had made with the wall had aggravated the weakened portion of her spinal column which had been fractured only months earlier. She felt the burning pain shooting up and down her spine as she moved, but she paid no mind to it whatsoever. She was more than focused on the anger she felt for the son of a bitch who had so rudely thrown her into a wall.

"I'm not supposed to kill you, but I will," the man growled at her, raising his gun to aim at her.

Marlena glared at him and stood up, wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth. "Good luck with that."

She bared her hands, and with a single flick of the wrist his gun flew across the room, breaking one of the tower's glass windows in the near distance. Her anger was getting the best of her, though, which proved to be both a good and bad thing for Marlena. She bared her hands once more, her fingers twitching slightly. As she stood, more than ready to put an end to the seemingly smug agent standing in front of her, a new feeling emerged inside her—a feeling she had never felt before. She felt overwhelmed with an incredibly dangerous amount of energy, yet at the same time she still felt exhausted.

She was unable to process what was happening inside her body, but rather than worrying about it she proceeded to use her telekinesis to finish off the agent. She felt the energy pulsating through her veins, and before she could even think, glowing silver wisps—similar in appearance to that of fire or gas—shot out of her hands and towards the man, scaring him slightly. The psionic energy engulfed the man's body in an instant, and, in her shock, Marlena jerked her hands down, thus slamming the man into the ground below. A sickening crack could be heard, and before long blood began pouring from the fresh wound on the man's head.

Marlena's mouth fell open in shock and slight panic as she stared at the body on the floor. She hadn't meant to kill the agent, no matter how much she wanted to; she had only meant to render him unconscious. Not to mention, she hadn't meant for a mysterious mystic energy to burst from her hands or fingertips. She could still feel the horrendous amount of power pulsating through her veins because of it, and that was very unsettling to her—this new aspect of her ability was very unsettling to her.

"Marlena, on your left!" Steve yelled in a panic.

A Hydra agent was quickly advancing toward the distracted girl, his gun raised to shoot. He had just watched her put an end to his closest colleague, and because of this he would put an end to her; he didn't care about Rumlow's instructions to bring both her and the Winter Soldier back alive. Hydra could make do without one assassin.

Marlena turned her head quickly, finally registering that Steve had called out a warning to her. She noticed the agent, his hand on the trigger. Her frightened hazel eyes widened when she realized there was nothing she could do to save herself from what appeared to be her imminent death—everything was happening too quickly.

As a loud clack rang through the air, Marlena was struck by an immense force. It had not been the painful force of a bullet, but instead it had been Bucky. Another shot rang out, but this one had been from Tony's repulsor rather than a gun. A thud could be heard as the Hydra agent hit the floor, but Marlena didn't care at all. All she cared about was the man she loved hovering above her, coughing up blood onto the floor. It didn't take her very long to process that Bucky had been shot trying to save her, and that pained her more than anything.

"Bucky?" Marlena spoke frantically. She pushed herself up once more, ignoring the intense amount of pain shooting up her spine.

Bucky coughed violently before falling to the floor, blood dripping from his lower lip. Marlena grabbed him quickly, pulling his head onto her lap. She glanced down towards his abdomen with tear-filled eyes to see the bright crimson color soaking through the navy blue material of his costume. She placed her trembling hand over the wound in an attempt to slow the bleeding down; she knew if she couldn't stop the blood, he'd bleed out then and there.

Marlena stroked his hair with her free hand as tears continued streaming down her face. She could already feel herself beginning to lose it—losing composure. Every second that passed, despite all of the Hydra agents and the fighting and the sounds of guns going off and the Avengers now using their weapons, all Marlena could think about was saving this one man: Bucky. He mattered more than anything in the world to her and she wasn't about to let him die at her fingertips—not if she could do something about it.

"Bucky, please," she pleaded with him. "Stay with me, please."

"I'm trying, sweetheart," Bucky mumbled groggily, color draining from his face.

Bucky was growing weaker as the seconds passed, and he could feel his consciousness slowly beginning to slip away. The only thing  keeping his eyes open was the sight of Marlena staring down at him. He could see in her big, hazel eyes how deeply she loved him—how desperately she needed him to stay.

. . .and it was then that Bucky knew that ever since he had gotten Marlena back—everything since then—was just a dream—one that he knew would come to this. He just hadn't expected it to be so soon, so brutal. He was being ripped away from her and nothing, he thought, could be worse than leaving her.

That was the thing. Bucky was less worried about himself dying and more worried about leaving Marlena. He knew she'd have her family and now the Avengers to help her cope, but what about the several weeks after his death—Hydra would never stop until they had Prodigy back in their custody. They'd kill anyone in their way to get to her and all Bucky could seem to think about was the fact that though the Claire family had a strong, unbreakable bond. . .they were dangerously vulnerable. Miranda and Mason, and now Greyson, would not stand a chance against Hydra's soldiers, and if Marlena wasn't there then she wouldn't be able to protect them.

He couldn't leave her. He couldn't bear the thought of not seeing her grow, not falling asleep next to her every night, not helping her reach things on the top shelf, not carrying her to their room when she fell asleep on the couch. . .and not being there for her when she needed him most.

These thoughts, though he wasn't quite thinking straight, were hurting him more than the gunshot wound. Seeing tears fall from her beautiful, hazel eyes as she cried out for him to stay with her—for him to not leave her—was tearing him apart on the inside. People were right when they said love was brutal—it was.

"Why'd you do it, you idiot?" Marlena cried, grabbing at his hand with her free one as sobs raked her petite body.

Bucky sighed, coughing once more. "Y-you saved me, Mar—it was my turn to save you. Did you really think I was going to stand there and watch the love of my life get shot to death without doing anything about it?"

Marlena gasped for breath as she sobbed and she pulled him closer into her embrace, unable to respond. Bucky was growing weaker and weaker, and his eyelids were growing heavier and heavier. He could do nothing about it, at least not at the moment. The only thing he could do was attempt to conjure up the words to say to the people he wasn't sure whether or not he'd see again if he closed his eyes.

"I w-want you to know, Mar, that I love you," he started, coughing up more and more blood. "And I need Steve to know that I'm sorry for everything. Tell him he will always be my best pal."

Marlena began to tremble in fear as she realized what it was he was trying to do. "No, don't you dare do this to me," she chastised him.

Saying 'goodbye' was not something that Marlena could ever have dreamed of doing. She refused. She would not accept this. He was supposed to stay with her; they were a team.

"I don't know what's going to happen to me—I'm sure I'll be okay, but I just want you to know that in case I won't be," he continued, squeezing her hand slightly.

Before Marlena could say another word, Steve himself came rushing over, his shield now in hand. His lip quivered at the sight of Bucky and his breath hitched, giving away how horrible Bucky's condition looked.

"Buck," Steve spoke, trying to choke back his own tears, "Hold on, we're gonna get you some help."

"I'm c-counting on it, p-punk."

Those were the last words Bucky muttered before finally succumbing to unconsciousness. Marlena's eyes widened as she looked down at his seemingly lifeless body, and she let out a cry of anguish.

Marlena could not lose Bucky—she refused to lose Bucky. After all the people who had came into Marlena's life and fallen out of it, she couldn't lose him, too. As she squeezed her eyes shut, holding him in her lap, she envisioned those she had lost—her great grandfather, her grandfather, her remaining grandparents, her aunt and uncle, her cousins, her father, and now. . .the love of her life. Her eyes flickered open, an uncontrollable energy surging throughout her body—within every vein. Her emotions were so heightened that she could feel them channeling into her psionics. It wasn't the empowering feeling she had experienced before either. No, it was excruciatingly painful. She felt as if she was being torn apart from the inside.

"No!" Marlena nearly screamed, shaking him slightly. "Wake up, Bucky! Please don't leave me. I can't do this without you! Please!"

"Get her out of here," a stern voice instructed Steve. "Now, Rogers!"

Marlena barely even had the time to register who the voice belonged to before Steve snaked his arms around her waist and pulled her from Bucky's side. She protested and flailed around, despite the amount of physical and emotional pain she was in, but Steve had an iron grip on her. He was just as torn up about this situation as Marlena was, but he trusted that Bucky was going to be okay. He was still breathing, and Steve was sure he had felt a pulse when he pressed his fingers against Bucky's wrist. Marlena hadn't been aware of any of that, as she had been so distracted by the thought of losing her lover to pay attention.

It killed Steve to see Marlena in such a pained state—she was the little sister he never had—but her emotional state was a very crucial aspect of her abilities as Tony had informed him, and her emotional state at the moment was dangerously critical. If he didn't remove her from the area, she was sure to hurt someone—possibly even capable of bringing the whole building down. He had watched the way she took down the Hydra agent using her psionics, and he didn't necessarily wish to subject anyone else to such a thing. Marlena was powerful, much more powerful than she knew, and if she were to lose control, especially now that her psionics had appeared, the result would prove to be fairly catastrophic.

"Marlena, listen to me," Steve said as he carried her crying body into a vacant bedroom. He sat her down on the large bed and proceeded to sit beside her. "Bucky's gonna be okay."

She looked up at him, fresh tears still in her hazel eyes. "How can you be so sure? I swear, if he dies—I don't know what I'll do. I can't lose him, Steve!"

Steve sighed and pulled her to him, allowing a few tears to trickle down his face. He understood how damaging this was for her—he had experienced this same thing himself, only he had watched Bucky fall to his death meanwhile the world still went on. Only he knew Bucky was not going to die tonight; he wouldn't allow it. He couldn't handle losing his best friend again, and he couldn't sit back and watch Marlena lose another person, especially after everything Bucky had told him about her family, in addition to the events of the last several months.

"I know that, Marlena. But he's going to be okay; please trust that he is going to be okay. He's a fighter, and now that he has someone to fight for I can guarantee he'll do just that—fight," Steve mumbled into her hair, his strong arms wrapped around her trembling body comfortingly.

Marlena nodded, taking a few raspy breaths to try and calm down. Her gaze trailed down to her hand, which was covered in Bucky's blood. Bucky had sacrificed himself to save her, and it had been a touching gesture, but Marlena wished he hadn't done so. She would have rather taken the bullet herself. She believed watching him suffer to be a lot more painful than experiencing a gunshot wound, and she absolutely hated it.

She balled her bloody hand into a fist as she felt her psionics growing nearly too strong for herself to contain. She buried her face into Steve's chest; his grip only tightening around her, only relieving her heartache the slightest bit.

"He was willing to sacrifice himself for me," Marlena sobbed. "Why would he do that?"

"Because he loves you, Marlena; he loves you more than he's ever loved anybody. Any sane person can see that just by the way he looks at you, especially me," Steve answered, his hands rubbing her back gently.

Marlena squeezed her eyes shut, allowing a few more tears to fall onto her face, even after she thought she had cried herself dry. She remained silent in response to Steve's words and wrapped her arms around his torso, thankful that he was there to keep her company for the time being. Her thoughts continued to torture her with images of a bleeding Bucky, and she cried harder, her psionics still threatening to break the surface that she was forcing herself to keep. She wished that she had been the one to take the bullet for him, but that was not the way things had played out. Now, it was too late to fix. She could only hope for the best.

"I have to go back out there, Mar. You know that. I can't leave him out there, but you have to stay here," Steve explained, releasing her from his arms despite how much he hated to let her go.

He knew the only person who could truly heal this heartache was Bucky—and Bucky was currently unconscious in the war zone, meaning that Steve would have to single-handedly pull his body out of the rubble and away from Hydra's agents.

"No, let me help! I can fight them off while you pull him out, Steve. Please, let me do this!" Marlena stood up, her face still stained with tears and more coming.

Steve's blue, glassy gaze fell to her hands where her once-silvery aura was now becoming more prominent—bluer than before. This was what Tony had been warning him about; her abilities were beginning to strengthen and he knew her spiked emotions were to blame for it.

"Rogers, we need you out here. Now!" Tony's voice yelled from outside of the bedroom, the sound of his suit clanking and firing also filling Marlena's ears.

"Steve, he needs us. Both of us," Marlena said, her breath still ragged from crying.

"You can't. You need to stay here. I'll come get you when it's over," he turned to the doorway, only to turn back to Marlena as the glass windows of the room were beginning to tremble.

His eyes once again left her eyes and landed on her hands, a thicker, blueish aura surrounding them. She made a move to lead him out of the room, but he took a step closer to her, one hand held out innocently, the other now holding his shield.

"I know you want to help, Marlena. But you can't," he glanced around the room again, "you have no idea of what you're capable of."

"I have no idea of what I'm capable of? That's not true; I've been working my ass of to help you all—to be the hero you all want me to be and now you won't even let me help you save lives?" She frowned, her lip quivering from a mixed feeling of anger and heartbreak. "This is Bucky's life we're talking about here, Steve."

The glass walls and windows of the room began to crack as Marlena clenched her fists harder, only they stopped as Tony busted through the doorway, a needle syringe in one hand. Before Marlena could protest, the man was jabbing the needle in her neck and her knees went weak. She fell into Steve, his arms wrapping around her so she wouldn't fall to the floor. He held her against him and she could hear the sound of his heartbeat as darkness overtook her.

The party was not supposed to happen the way it did. It was supposed to be a fun night for Marlena, a fun night she was supposed to share with her family, her friends, and her Bucky. But it had turned into a nightmare, one that Marlena wanted nothing more than to wake up from.