SACRIFICE

Within seconds, the silence suffocating them had been broken. Glass shattered, peppering their bodies with cuts and nicks. She barely had any time to take in what was happening when the explosives fell to the ground, rolling noisily. Ileana desperately tried to grab Bucky's attention - she didn't need to. He was already on it, kicking the explosive in Steve's direction. A gasp got caught in her throat. Steve didn't waste any time slamming his shield down on the explosive, the strong metal containing the blast.

Ileana couldn't wrap her mind around what was happening. It happened so fast, and her hand was itching to hold Bucky's to ease her erratic heart beat. Fate didn't care about her wants, letting the armoured men continue pounding their way through the door.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

The door shuddered, straining to be stay upright. Bucky's head snapped in that direction, catching sight of the trembling door handle. In a move Ileana's eyes couldn't comprehend, Bucky flipped the table with ease and sent it hurtling towards the door. It stuck in the door, the door now standing taller against the offence.

Ileana's eyes widened a fraction when she saw men clad in black catapult themselves through the broken windows, uncaring about the glass viciously standing guard, prepared to slice anyone. Their bodies were weighed down by their armour and excessive amount of guns, each of them cradling a gun in their hands.

Her palms were sweating profusely, and she backed away further into the room. She hadn't been in the middle of so much chaos since she returned home, and she had to bite her lip hard to distract herself from the tears welling in her eyes. Ileana's eyes connected with Bucky's when it happened.

More armed men flew through the windows - right into Ileana's path. The floor shook as they landed, rolling to reduce the impact. She was frozen, which made her the perfect target. One of the soldiers grabbed a hold of her from behind. Panic welled up within her.

She couldn't rely on either Bucky or Steve, both of them fighting their own enemies. She had to do this on her own. She held her breath, her hand plunging into her pocket, her knife finding it's way into her slippery palms. She quickly drew the blade in front of her, her shaking hands betraying the stoniness on her face. Flashes of the last time she held this knife embedded themselves into her memory - she had to push past it to survive. In one jumbled movement, she jabbed it behind her, directly into the thigh of her captor. He cried out in pain, crumbling to the floor.

Ileana slipped from his grasp, the feeling of victory blooming within her. She had done it, without killing him. She had very little time to dwell on this, as more soldiers flooded into the room. These people really hated Bucky, she thought to herself as the soldiers strode towards them.

Bucky didn't waste a moment charging to the closest solider. He delivered a powerful punch, sending the man spinning, and before the dazed man could recover Bucky bunched up the solid material in his hands and tossed him across the room. Ileana didn't have a moment to spare to awe at his skills when she felt herself being thrown to the ground. They crashed to the ground, pain rocketing throughout her back. Her knife skittered across the floor, and the solider on top of her raised his clenched fist. Her heart raced in her chest. She flinched, waiting for the incoming hit.

Yet it never came.

Bucky gently grabbed her shoulder, pulling her up. He passed her knife that had been half way across the room, staring at her with care in his eyes. "Are you okay, Ana?"

Despite the situation, a smile decorated her face. He gave her a nickname. He truly was her friend. All it took was a small nod to get Bucky back in action again, catching the last glimpses of Steve knocking out one of the soldiers.

All eyes stayed on Steve as he stood up, smacking his hand against his most loyal companion - his shield. His concern was clear as day on his face, his lips drawn back in frustration. "You're gonna kill someone."

Ileana was tempted to give him a good smack for his assumption, her body taking an involuntary step forward. Bucky gently pushed Ileana out of the way and in one fluid movement he flipped Steve onto his back. He raised a fist, and her breath caught in her throat. She didn't want to watch Bucky hit his old friend. His hand flew through the air, crashing through the floorboards by Steve's head. He pulled out a backpack, tossing it out of the broken window and onto the building nearby.

"I'm not going to kill anyone."

A proud grin spread across her face, and she can't hide her smugness. It was time people stopped expecting the worst out of people who had bad pasts.

Her thoughts were cut short when another solider flew through the window. His gun was already aiming at them, shots propelling through the barrel. A hand shot out and pulled her behind the two, both of them protected by Steve's shield. The sound penetrated her ears, a small cry slipping past her lips as she hid behind the muscular figures of the Winter Soldier and Captain America.

With a remorseful glance thrown back to Ileana, Bucky grabbed Steve and mercilessly threw him across the room, his massive body colliding with an incoming solider. A grunt was heard from the two, them both scrambling up to defeat the other.

Ileana felt panic creeping up within her, feeling overly exposed to the bullets flying around. Bucky wrapped an arm around her, shielding her with his body. Bucky strode casually towards the man, bullets splatting off of his metal arm as though he was swatting away flies.

Careless but with controlled strength, Bucky grabbed a hold of the soldier and crashed his body against the wooden chest. The crash and crack of bones sent shivers going down Ileana's spine. Even when Bucky was holding back, he had the power to kill someone.

Another soldier ran at them; it was short lived. Without a second thought, Bucky grabbed a stray cinder block and hurtled it into the mans body. He crashed through the bathroom door, the wood splintering like Ileana's feeling of safety within their home. As Bucky was destroying the men, she couldn't help the feeling that he was destroying their memories too.

She didn't see the man move after.

Guilt ate at her insides. She really hoped that Bucky hadn't killed the man - he already had too many deaths on conscience. His hand found hers, the scratchy material of his glove caressing her calloused hands and he gently tugged her towards the door.

"When you find a chance, you run. Do you understand?" Bucky's heavy gaze scorched her, and she couldn't find the ability to look him in the eyes. Her eyes kept being drawn back to the still man in the bathroom where she used to brush her teeth.

A slight nod was all it took for him to smash through the door.

Instantly she wished that she spent more time training with Bucky. The sheer number of people in the stairwell, all with their guns trained on them, sent her pulse into a marathon. She only knew a few moves to defend herself, and against these trained professionals she highly doubted that she would be able to fight for herself.

Shaking off her insecurity, she carefully assessed Bucky's stance. She took the same stance, curling her hand into a fist. The first solider that came rushing towards her didn't expect to see a fist hurtling towards his face before it was too late, her bones crumbling under the contact. She hissed, her pain fuelling her knee to be driven into the soldiers gut. If she could apologise in a way he understood, she would, but they didn't have any time for regret.

The man fell to his knees, and she fought with her inner self as she stepped on his hand, twisting her foot. His hand automatically let go of the gun. Her breaths left her at a rapid pace, and with some reluctance she snatched the gun off of the ground.

It seemed as though the men never stopped coming, and she kept elbowing and punching and kicking and pistol whipping people as much as her body would allow her. Yet with each person who dropped unconscious, five more took their place, all hungry to attack her. She was so absorbed in her own fight that she didn't see the soldier crash through the ceiling, descending upon them. Only when he began shooting at them did she acknowledge him. The barrel of his gun aimed at her, and with instincts she never thought she had, she grabbed an incoming soldier and pulled him in front of her.

The man pulled the trigger.

Bullets pounded into the mans body. His blood sprayed onto her clothes, her skin, her hair, tainting her soul. His body shook with the impact, matching how she felt inside. Tears gathered in her eyes, and as though the weight of his dead body burnt her, she dropped him. A single stray bullet found the kink in her armour, burrowing into her skin. Karma was a bitch, and for Ileana, it came in the form of blinding agony. She dropped to the ground, alongside her involuntary, innocent sacrifice, clutching at her arm. Blood covered her fingers like a second skin, and she no longer knew who the blood belonged to. 

She bit her lip to try and stop the cry from erupting out, lifting her eyes to take in the scene before her. Bucky had managed to get down another flight of stairs, and he elbowed a soldier as Steve huffed exasperatedly. Ileana couldn't even cry out for them to come back for her.

Her view of them become obstructed. Waves of black flooded her vision, and applying pressure of her arm she met the eyes of the soldiers thirsty for revenge.

Her wrists were trapped within cuffs before she could fight back, her arm free to pump blood, her mind on one haunting thing: he left without me.