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Everything had gone south the minute Steve had been injured. Everyone was a little shell-shocked that the enemy was picking off Avengers like they were 2-year-olds who brought knives to a gun fight. Tony had retreated after pulling an unconscious and very bloody Cap out of the field. The only objective now was to retreat, you were outnumbered and severely outgunned.
As the newest addition to the team, you were supposed to stay back and just observe, this was after all your first big mission. Everyone seemed overwhelmed as they tried there best to keep anything from going near the Quinjet while Tony was trying to get a hold of Doctor Cho. Natasha was trying to make sure they didn't get the chance to reach your hiding spot, there was no way you'de be able to make it back onto the jet without having to go through a few hostiles. Thor was nowhere to be seen, Wanda was outside the quinjet with vision, who were working together and Bucky well there was nothing more to say than the fact that he was angry and reckless.
And then as if it couldn't get any worse, you were startled as someone gripped your shoulder and threw you back into the freshly fallen snow that covered the ground. The man pointed a gun at you and was yelling something in Russian as he gestured for you to stand up, raising your hands you watched as he stepped back a little, out of your reach when you started to rise. Your breathing came in short bursts through the crisp air but you didn't have time to think as you thrust your hands forward and simply thought fire. What came out was a small burst of flames that sent the man stumbling backwards in surprise. *What the hell?!* your mind was supplying * you were supposed to barbecue the guy alive not warm him up with a cosy lit fire*. Not skipping much of a beat the guy pulled the trigger on his rifle following you as you tried to roll out of the line of fire. Your muscles stiff from the cold strained against the effort as you took the chance to jump and tackle the guy. A mistake you soon realised when he started to overpower you as you hit the ground. The flameproof suit was not really helping you right now as it failed to isolate you from the cold. The guy pulled out a knife and brought it closer to your face with strike that you just barely dodged, the blade catching some stands of hair as it dug into the earth. You elbowed him in the face while he didn't have both hands to block himself and grabbed the knife, using your weight to throw him off balance and roll on top.
With just enough time to recover from your blow, he grabbed your wrist when you bought the knife closer to his face just as you thought, what you were doing, you were not going to stab this guy. You tried to pull back on the knife as he grabbed it over your fist, rising to your knees as he tried to topple the two of you again. You punch him once making him let go and out of the corner of your eyes, you see him reaching for a rock. You stand to try and get out of his reach ready to step on his arm and hopefully knock him out with a kick when your foot slips.
You push yourself up from where you landed on his chest, as the rock falls from his hand, you both stare at the knife in his chest, your hands are bloody as his shirt stains red.
Natasha pulls you away just as the guy starts choking on his blood. She pulls you both behind cover. "Are you okay?"
"I can't use my flame, I'm too cold." Is the only thing you managed to say, a little horrified.
"I'll be, back just stay here, okay?" She waits until you nod before she runs off again, this time you're prepared, you scope your surroundings for any threats from all sides and try to warm yourself up by rubbing your hands over your chest.
Bucky's stuttered call for help falls over the line. There's too many, he can't hold them much longer, you briefly try and spot him on the field. He's taking way too much fire and they are quickly surrounding him. "Nat?" You call over the line, trying to spot her, she doesn't respond. "Nat?" You ask again as you stop searching for her to gauge the distance between you and your teammate who's in trouble. You stand up a little shakily and try to think warm hot and blazing as you take tentative steps into the open, starting to jog and breaking into a full on sprint when you see the one guy behind cover pulling out a grenade. "Bucky, grenade!" at your voice his head swings around.
"You can't be out here!" He yells back as the grenade lands not far from him, you dive for it sliding through snow and breathing one big gulp of air as you stare at the grenade in your hand before-
The intense heat is overwhelming at first but as the frozen explosion in your hands grows smaller you feel it coursing through you, your hands are glowing. Just as stunned as you are, the enemy squadron has ceased their fire, you take the opportunity stepping forward and outstretching your hands. The fire engulfs everything and the heat coming from it is like nothing you've ever produced. It's a little too late when your eyes fall on the now burning vehicle beside them. Bucky yells your name behind you but before you can react he's pulling you back behind cover. The explosion rocks the ground and sends flaming parts your way. "Are you okay?" You provide a shaky yes as the soldier looks you over both crouched in the snow still.
"(Y/N)?" Natasha's voice rings over the comms. Bucky sweeps your surrounding area.
"Where are you?"
"I'm with Bucky, he's hurt-"
"I'm fine." He interrupts.
"We need cover to get back to the ship." You wait for a reply.
"Thor's heading to your location now, it's time we all got out of here."
As soon as you spot Thor you help Bucky up by wrapping his arm around your shoulders so he can lean on you as you limp from one cover to the next. "I'll keep their fire away from you two." Thor says, giving Mjolnir and experimental swing, you two nod, spotting your next line of cover and trying to get through the snow as fast as you both could. Bucky gets heavier the further you go and the snow is tremendously difficult to trudge through with him putting his weight on you.
Natasha is the last inside the quinjet as Tony starts the ship. You help Bucky into a seat and tell him you'll be with him shortly as you rush over to Steve laid out on the table covered in blankets. "Can you help him?" Natasha asks. "I can stop him from bleeding any further into his thoracic cavity buying him some time." You explain. "Do it." Natasha says as she lifts up the blanket and shows you the big angry purple bruise on Steve's chest. Your hands erupt in a light blue flame as you place them lightly on the trauma site, watching Steve's breathing as it hitches a little even at your soft touch. "Bucky needs help, we need to stop the bleeding in his leg, I can help when I'm done with Steve." You say and Natasha nods, leaving you to work.
You didn't realise you weren't cold anymore until the sweat dripped from your forehead onto your hands burning up in the blue flame. Come to think of it, you were feeling quite hot actually, you're skin tingles funnily. You guess it might be because your adrenaline is pumping with all you've witnessed out there, after all, it must have been a workout when you had to help Bucky back to the quinjet. You look up to find Bucky holding a shirt to his leg, for the most part, the bleeding has stopped and Natasha is just finishing up when she stands up and walks over to you. Cap's vitals are stable and his breathing isn't worsening, it must have been about 30 minutes, you estimate.
You wipe your forehead with your suit, feeling how drenched it is already. "(Y/N) are you okay? Your cheeks are a little red." She says, unlike the other times she's said that to you, she doesn't have a playful smirk on her face after some snarky comment. Instead, a look of worry covers her features and you almost struggle to focus on her for a moment as you finish up with Steve and stand up straight. "Jip, I'm fine, just feeling a little hot. Steve should be good now" You answer leaning against the table behind you as the world sways a little. "Maybe you should rest a moment, have a sip of water." She says just as you are about to protest you take one step towards Bucky away from the support of the table and the world goes black.
You jerk awake, eyes flying open, your hands slipping to find a hold when you feel like your chest is unbearably tight.
"Hey, hey it's okay." Your eyes find Natasha's as the words ground you a little, your ragged breathing slowing as you try and take in your surroundings. Natasha is sat on the edge of the tub, in her simple jogging shorts and a tank, her arms are wrapped underneath you arms around your chest with one hand supporting to keep your neck tilted up and away from the almost overflowing tub of water. Your skin stings against the cold water and any brush against the bathtub make you flinch as it touches your sensitive skin. It's clear your back at the base by the look of the bathroom. The size of the bathtub tells you, you are most likely in Tony's bathroom. Wanda appears to hand Natasha two fresh towels and disappears again after giving you a sympathetic glance.
"Bucky." Is the first thing you say.
"He's fine." She assures you, her fingers brushing your chin as your breathing picks up again. You sigh in relief, closing your eyes for a moment against the aching headache that seems like it's been there for an eternity.
You swallow, "What happened?"
"What didn't happen? You passed out, you felt so warm to the touch, when we took your temperature it was 109 degrees Fahrenheit, we couldn't get you back round then you started convulsing, you had us all worried." Nat says, you look into her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare any of you." You say after a pause, choosing to leave the excuses out of the sentence.
"Bucky said you absorbed a grenade blast, that's not what we meant when we said lay low, (y/n)," You stayed silent as she scolded you without really raising her voice, "When I left you, you couldn't even light a candle, yet you rushed into battle? Did you even know you could do that?" She asked, you closed your eyes and shook your head. "I'm not telling you it's wrong, what you did but it is reckless. You could've been killed, nevermind this." You nod, knowing she was just a little shook by the whole thing as you were too if you were really honest.
"Your teeth are starting to chatter, let's get you warm and cosy before you get sick." She says wrapping a fluffy towel around you as you stand on shaky legs.
"I'm starving." You say as she helps you step out of the tub, your flame suit is drenched and you don't know how you are going to peel the skin-tight suit off when it is this wet.
"We ordered pizza, I'll ask Vision to bring it up to my room."
"Your room?" You question, a little struck by the sudden change, sure, you, Wanda and Nat had had some sleepovers mostly to watch movies but just you and Nat? Your heart starts to race.
"Well, Doctor Cho said we should keep an eye on you in case anything changes again besides I have the new Season of the Expanse and I'll make us some popcorn." She winks at you.
You're dressed in Nat's clothes when you both crawl into her bed, both exhausted, the pizza is finished and the tv is forgotten. You and Nat slide a little closer to each other, you slipping your arms around her waist and burying your head into her neck. She wraps her arms around you protectively as she brushes a hand down your back, tracing patterns there.