SEEING THE SOLDIER
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"I'll just stay on the sidelines, I won't get involved," Sadie said to Steve and Natasha as they stood outside the door which led to the roof; the would-be the site of their interrogation of Jasper Sitwell. Sam had gone ahead to secure the target, now they just waited for his arrival. "You taught me a few things, and I managed to hold you off, didn't I?"

"I didn't seriously attack you, Doc," Steve said firmly. "But if this mission gets intercepted, I can guarantee that HYDRA will try to harm you. It's best if we eliminate the risk."

And get her out of the way. Sadie knew that he was trying to protect her, but it didn't sit well with her. The truth was, she knew it was highly likely that there would be a fight by the end of the day, but she would much rather be here, ready to help Steve, and Sam, and Natasha when they inevitably get hurt, as opposed to just spending the day off seeing the sights of DC.

"Look, Moore," Natasha said, with no tone of aggression. "We wouldn't step into your OR. Leave it to us, we're professionals at this."

"I'm a diagnostician, not a surgeon," Sadie politely corrected. "If worst comes to worse I'll... make a force field or something."

Steve didn't look all too convinced. "Show us."

Well, that certainly put her on the spot. Natasha gave her an encouraging half-smile, but Steve's expression didn't show any signs of him buckling. The relaxed Steve Rogers of last night had been put to the side- she truly was dealing with 'Captain America'.

Sadie concentrated, for a second, closing her eyes and imagining a blue bubble around her, like she had seen on television. She imagined that the bubble was impenetrable, imagined bullets getting stuck in the thickness of it. Then she opened her eyes, watching her hands as they began to glow, and blue light extended from them forming rectangle in front of her.

It wasn't what she was aiming for, but it would prove her point, at least.

"Let's test it out," Nat shrugged, before aiming a hard kick at the force field, only to stumble backwards. Pride surged in Sadie's stomach. "Well, it sure does the job."

"It's not enough," Steve said. "You're still vulnerable on all other sides."

Sadie refrained from mentioning that Steve's own shield left him with the exact same problem. She figured now wasn't the time for smart replies.

That was when Natasha spoke up, "You saw the coffee shop across the street? Get yourself a drink, leave this to us, and we'll meet you back at Sam's."

Before she had a chance to argue however, Sam Wilson entered the hall, and sure enough, Jasper Sitwell was being pushed in front, his hands tied and a paper bag over his head. There was no communication, apart from a silent nod from Sam, who turned immediately back on himself, heading to play his part of the plan.

"Look, I don't want any trouble man," Jasper's voice was shaky, but he got no answer.

Instead Steve just held Sadie's glare, mouthing for her to go. She rolled her eyes before walking away down the hall, turning back to see Natasha pulling off the bag and cutting free Jasper's wrists before Steve pushed him through the door and onto the roof. Once they were all gone, Sadie turned back around, and followed them out, confident Steve wouldn't argue in the middle of an interrogation. That was an understatement. He seemed to be so invested in getting answers, that he didn't notice her at all.

The questions immediately began firing out of Steve's mouth with an edge of venom Sadie had never heard in his voice. But he showed no signs of stopping, walking forward and forward, causing Sitwell to back further and further towards the edge of the roof. When the answers came to nothing though, Steve forced the man so close to the edge that Sadie worried he might drop him prematurely.

The plan had sounded so simple when they were talking about it earlier, but now, seeing these people who she trusted let a man fall nearly forty storeys just to pick him back up again was pretty overwhelming.

She stayed back.

~

Half an hour later, Sadie found herself squashed in the backseat between Natasha and the car door, Sitwell filling the seat beside the red haired agent. It was so cramped, that Sadie had struggled to put on her seatbelt, so she decided to leave it alone. If, God forbid, the car crashed, she didn't think there was enough room for her to move at all. Unconcerned- or rather unknowing- Sam, Nat and Steve discussed their next moves.

"We'll use him to bypass the DNA scans and access the Helicarriers directly," Steve finally decided, and immediately Sitwell was up in arms.

"What? Are you crazy? That is a terrible, terrible idea," the bald man argued and Sadie felt inclined to agree, but there was no time for her to propose an alternate plan, as there was suddenly the sound of glass breaking, and Sitwell was dragged out of the car window and tossed in front of a moving truck.

Then there were bullets raining down through the roof and instinctively, Sadie ducked in her seat. It was a miracle she wasn't hit as Natasha leapt forward between Sam and Steve, and the brakes were pulled, tossing whoever was shooting at them onto the road ahead as they came to a dead stop on the highway.

Sadie peeked up, and Steve immediately yelled at her to stay down, but not before she caught a glimpse of the man who stood in front of the car. He looked a force to be reckoned with- a blinding metal arm, a completely leather suit and guns hanging wherever they possibly could. She tried to find a glimpse of humanity in his face but it was covered by a mask and matte black goggles, making her task impossible. He appeared more machine than man. And he was already preparing to fire again.

"My shield!" Steve called to her reaching his arm back and she immediately turned to retrieve it from the open boot, placing it in his open palm and instantly the shield was up, taking the majority of the bullets from the gunman.

When Sadie turned back again she noticed a black van hurtling towards them, with no sign of stopping. She threw her hands up, attempting to cast a blue forcefield around the car. It shuddered and broke under the weight and speed of the van. The impact flung her forward and she narrowly missed the windscreen, leaving her legs dangling behind her as she tried to reach the back seat to no avail.

"Where's your damn belt?" Sam yelled, but before she could reply, the gunman's metal arm burst through the windscreen, sending shattered glass flying in her face as she covered her eyes, and the steering wheel was snatched right out of Sam's hands. "Shit!"

As Natasha began to shoot at the gunman, Sadie felt the car beginning to swerve, being pulled off the road- but she was still stuck, kicking her legs to try and break free. Childishly, she let out a scream. 

God, she couldn't die here, she couldn't die here. She couldn't leave her mother, all alone in that nursing home without any visitors, she couldn't leave Adrianne and her gorgeous family, the children of which she was godmother to- what was she thinking coming on this insane trip? Why did she ever think she could keep up with these people, and these threats?

"Hang on!" Steve shouted, and there was a gush of cold air as he broke open the door, sending Natasha and Sam skidding away on it.

Then he reached for her as the car rose up in the air, wrapping his arm around her and protecting her back and neck with his shield as he pulled her free, leaving himself completely vulnerable. They went tumbling out of car, and as they fell, Sadie mustered all the power she had and aimed it towards the man who was saving her life at his own risk.

This has to work, she thought, desperately. This will work- for him! Just in time, a blue forcefield projected around them, absorbing most of the impact as they hit the ground. Sadie slumped on Steve's chest, his arms still around her.

"Holy shit," she gasped, her bones still shaking. Then she glanced up and the nightmare got even worse. Men were piling out of the black van. Men with guns. "Holy shit- holy shit- Rogers, we gotta get up!"

Sadie leapt to her feet, and instantly, Steve was stood in front of her, holding his shield up as the men opened fire. The metal armed man was nowhere to be seen and neither was Natasha, but Sam was crouched behind an abandoned car, shooting at the advancing men whenever he could.

"Where's Natasha?" Steve yelled to Sam, not a sign of fatigue or fear in his voice.

"That psycho with the arm gave chase to her," Sam answered. "They're off the highway! Go, I got this!"

Steve turned to look at Sadie, and she threw her hands up in front of her, casting another forcefield.

"How long can you keep that up?" He asked her, over the sound of the bullets.

The truthful answer was that she didn't know, but instead she said, "As long as I need to."

Steve nodded to her. "Stay behind Sam, and if you get a chance, get as far away from here as possible!"

Then he was gone and Sadie leapt behind the car Sam was behind, extending her forcefield around him, too.

The soldier paused only for a second, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye. "Bet you wish you got that coffee, huh?"

Sadie laughed, nervously, but they were quickly shocked back to life by the bullets increasing. Sam fired back with expert precision, managing to knock down most of the men. Sadie looked around at the scene, noticing the few but significant bystanders that hadn't been able to run fast enough, getting caught up in the fray. 

Sadie caught sight of an elderly man slumped in the driver's seat of a green car, a man grasping his leg which was shot, and finally a little girl at the edge of the highway, her mother crouched over her, pressing on a wound in her shoulder. Sadie triaged the situation in her brain and all fear escaped her as she looked at the people in need. She was a doctor first and foremost, and that would come before any selfish instincts.

"I gotta go help those people," she told Sam over the noise. "I'll try and keep this field up as I heal them, but don't rely on it- I've never used two skills at once."

"Hell no, Moore, you stay right here where it's safe," Sam argued immediately, ducking below cover as he halted his fire. "Steve told you to stay behind me."

"We're getting shot at, Sam, nowhere's safe," Sadie told him.

"I don't like this," he warned but she just gave him a reassuring smile.

"I've treated people in warzones before, don't you worry about me. You do your job, I'll do mine," she said, respectfully, before willing her powers to draw another forcefield (albeit a lot weaker than the one she held over Sam) as she risked running over to their crashed and upturned car, doing her best to pull aside the broken boot door and dragging out her heavy medical bag. Then she hurried over to the woman and her child.

"Ma'am, my name's Doctor Moore, I'm here to help," Sadie told the woman, who sobbed as she held pressure on the child's wound. The girl was wide awake, but apparently in shock as she didn't complain of any discomfort.

"My daughter," the woman sobbed, her voice quiet. "My daughter's been shot."

Sadie pulled rubber gloves onto her hands. "What are your names?"

"I-I'm Marlene, and this is Lucy," the mother answered, before gasping with tears again. "Oh God, please! She's only seven."

Sadie's heart twanged as she listened to Marlene's every word, understanding the raw emotion and panic that she felt. But Doctor Moore was different than Sadie was. Doctor Moore kept herself together, filtering the mother's speech for the important details- in this case, the girl's age. Seven. It would change how she'd approach the scenario.

"Okay, Marlene you're doing an excellent job putting pressure on that wound. I'm gonna secure her spine and move her forward, see if I can find an exit wound, but you can't move your hands from where they are," Sadie explained, and the woman nodded. "Okay, one, two, three!"

Sadie moved the girl forward slightly, peeking at her back to find a huge exit wound just missing her spine, the blood soaking through the girl's shirt. Immediately, she grabbed some packing, pushing it onto the wound and applying pressure. The wound was bleeding so heavily, blood began to soak through quickly.

"Right, Marlene, I need you to go into my bag-"

"But you said not to move my hands!"

"Yes, but now I need you to go into my bag and pull out the bottled water- use it to wash the blood off your hands, and put on a pair of gloves," Sadie instructed her, and Marlene complied, her hands visibly shaking. "Amazing, now in the left pocket, there should be some more of this packing and some tape. I want you to get it out."

Sadie continued to instruct the woman and soon the little girl had packing applied to the entry wound, held there tightly by masking tape. As Marlene called the ambulance, Sadie spoke to the child directly.

"Okay, Lucy you've been very brave," she spoke, and the girl nodded. "Now, I'm gonna lay you down on your belly and I need you to stay brave for me 'cause it might hurt, okay?"

The girl didn't reply, but nodded her blonde head, and together, Sadie and her mother lay her forward. Marlene gasped again at the sight of the much larger exit wound, visibly panicking as she began to hyperventilate.

"No, no, Marlene this is good, it means the bullet is gone," Sadie reassured her. "It means I can get this healed here and now."

"How?"

"I have abilities," Sadie hated to use the word, but in the circumstances it was all she could use to explain it.

"Yeah I guessed that by the force fields you've been throwing around," Marlene scoffed. Then she composed herself. "I'm sorry- I just mean can you really do it?"

"I can," Sadie answered. She looked around them, noticing that the fighting had moved off the highway. She let the forcefield around Sam drop as he rushed over to the edge of the bridge, gun in hand. All the power she had, had to be put into healing these people.

"Marlene, I need you to do something for me," she said, before pointing to a man lay a few meters away, who she had noticed earlier. "Go to him. Take some of the packing, and I want you to elevate his leg and apply pressure to it, tape it up exactly like Lucy's. Then monitor him, make sure he's still breathing. If he ever stops, start CPR- 30 compressions, 2 breaths in a steady rhythm. There's a mask in the bag for you to use and keep you safe, and there's a little card with the steps-"

"How can I leave her?" Marlene asked, stroking her daughter's hair.

"Marlene," Sadie said again, holding her gaze. "That man will bleed out and die if you don't help him. Now, I'm the best person you could've stumbled across, I'm going to solve this. Your daughter is in good hands. Help him."

The mother hesitated, looking between Sadie and the man who had now passed out, before taking the packing, tape and CPR mask with her as she hurried over.

With that, Sadie began the process of healing. She placed her glowing hands over the wound and imagined waves of warmth washing over the girl, easing any pain or discomfort- Lucy's body visibly relaxed, and Sadie felt relief that it was working despite her low energy levels. It was hard to do without the benefits of a scan, being able to see just what the bullet had damaged, but she never had scans in Afghanistan. So Sadie closed her eyes, and imagined the tendrils of her power knitting muscle and flesh together, imagined new cells dividing to replace lost tissue, all while maintaining the warmth and numbness over Lucy.

She didn't know how long it took her, all concept of time was gone as she imagined everything fixed, and it happened. She opened her eyes, and Lucy's previously pale skin had pinked up again, and Sadie sighed in relief, glancing over at Marlene who was still holding pressure on the wounded man's leg, watching in awe from across the highway.

Sadie continued how she was throughout the fray, helping and healing. Then ambulances arrived quickly, and she saw each patient off to the hospital, knowing they were in good hands. Before the final ambulance left, a brave faced paramedic had offered her a ride to the nearest hospital.

She'd asked him to wait a moment, and jogged over the the side of the highway staring down to where Steve still fought, hard and fast and speedy against multiple opponents. And she wondered how, regardless of what his advice to her was, she could leave while they were all being so brave, leave when they could need her help very soon.

Sadie didn't take up much of the paramedic's time, telling him she would find her own way over to the hospital, and within seconds the ambulance was speeding away.

The highway was empty now, with nothing but the bodies of the armed men Sam had shot, and the abandoned cars around them. She rushed over to where Sam still stood, and she had nothing to do except watch the fight that ensued below.

"I can't get a hit on this guy!" Sam said, and that's when Sadie noticed Natasha crouching behind a car, grasping her shoulder, as if hurt.

"I'm going to help Nat," Sadie told Sam, before climbing down the emergency ladder on the side of the highway, Sam following suit.

She rushed over to Natasha and crouched beside her,  her glowing hands ready again, but the agent was already shaking her head, her free hand outstretched as if to stop her getting any closer.

"No, no way," Nat said, shaking her head, before gesturing to her hands. "The last thing we need is for you to collapse in the middle of this 'cause you drained yourself."

"But you're shot!" Sadie argued, attempting and failing to get closer. "Just let me treat you!"

"I don't need it," Natasha said firmly, and the look on her face was one of absolute certainty.

Sadie knew couldn't force her, so instead, she advised her to keep pressure on the wound. Indeed, the agent was right- she was beginning to feel an exhaustion that she was sure would take over her if she didn't stop.

Now, they finally had nothing left to do but watch the fighting, as Sam took on more armed men, and Steve-

Steve was fighting the metal armed man hand-to-hand, matching his strength but hardly his speed. The man's eyes were visible now, cold and piercing, even from this distance. Sadie's heart was in her mouth as she watched Steve get hit, and get up, get hit, and get up again.

Then he managed to land a blow which knocked the assailant down for a second, the mask finally flying off- and the fight... paused.

Sadie watched in confusion as Steve stood there, staring at the man, his chest rising and falling as he let his guard down. She could see the two exchange words, but wasn't close enough to understand what was said, and she couldn't begin to guess.

Time was still, until Natasha stood, hauling up a massive weapon and aiming at the gunman, sending an explosion right to where he stood. Sadie glanced at the woman next to her, but Natasha's expression didn't look like she believed she had just killed the gunman, and that made Sadie all the more fearful.

Sadie got up, clumsily making her way over to Steve who was statue still in shock, but she only got halfway there before sirens sounded, and black vans surrounded them on all sides.

That was when her brain was finally snapped out of the fight and the chaos, and the war doctor in her retreated, leaving only Isadora-Michelle Moore, who acknowledged the scene around her in shock.

Random fires, smashed glass, abandoned cars. A news helicopter in the sky and HYDRA agents pointing guns at them all. An armed agent approached her, and Sadie's brain ran through everything her parents had taught in the scenario any armed officer of any kind approached.

So she went through the motions. She showed that her hands were empty and kept them visible until the agent put them behind her back, and cuffed her wrists, pushing her to her knees. She thought about her phone in her pocket, and whether or not she could reach it to record, just in case- but it was useless. Instead, she followed instructions and didn't challenge anything.

Sadie could see Steve out of the corner of her eyes as she kept her head down- he was slower to comply, but it didn't take him long to realise they were at HYDRA's mercy.

She closed her eyes as she heard the clang of his shield on the tarmac. Resignation, from all of them. Perhaps she would die today after all.

...
..
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action-packed huh? it's been a while since I've written any action, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out! there isn't much dialogue at all in the highway scene of the movie, because of how fast paced it is so I didn't include much dialogue here, I hope you don't mind.

let me know what you think, I'm a sucker for some feedback and constructive criticism!

also the image attached to this chapter is kind of how i imagine Sadie's powers to look, except instead of bolts of lighting they're soft strokes of light.

-Amber.