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The lab was supposed to be abandoned.
Sam gritted his teeth as he spun in the air to avoid the hail of bullets, the projectiles pinging harmlessly off the vibranium, wings snapping open to slice at one of the last turrents, “Redwing, hand the other one for me.”
He landed on the ground and took off running towards the front entrance, following the trail of unconscious bodies that the supersoldier had left in its wake, “I’m finished out here, Buck, how’s it goin’ on your end?”
Gunfire exploded over the comms, “Fuckin’ peachy.”
Sam smiled to himself, “You find the schematics yet?”
“No, too busy getting' fucking shot at.” Bucky growled.
It didn’t take long to find his partner, throwing the shield at a shooter aiming at Bucky’s head, the supersoldier catching the rebounded shield with an irritated expression, handing it to him with a huffed, “Glad you could finally join the fight, Cap.”
Sam didn’t dignify that with a response, deciding it not worth the argument when there were more immediate, pressing matters, falling into the familiar rhythm of fight side by side, slowly and steadily making their way towards the back where the lab resided.
Redwing made quick work of the pin pad and various levels of security, but Bucky caught Sam’s wrist before he could pull open the door, pale eyes narrowed on the latch before meeting his once more, “Let me go first.”
“After all that, you think there’s more?”
Bucky frowned, “Most labs are protected by something more subtle than a gun.”
Sam didn’t like the shadows in the man’s eyes. “And what would that be?”
“Poisonous gas, nerve agents, deadly viruses...” Bucky listed off much too casually, “Nothing specific that I can recall, but I can’t risk you getting exposed to something that your suit can’t counteract, even with Shuri’s upgrades.”
“And can you survive that exposure?”
Bucky’s jaw tightened, “I’ve done it before. It won’t affect me.”
Sam didn’t really have time to process what that meant, “There’s no way to get around them?’
“Not in the allotted time.” Bucky held Sam’s gaze intently, “I don’t need an argument right now, Sam, I need you to stand back and let me do this. Just keep an eye out for any stragglers or back-up, alright?”
Sam wanted nothing more than to argue about the man’s idiocy, but he didn’t have the time to argue him away from this course of action, so he stepped back as far as he was able and activated his own mask, slowly sliding down over his nose a mouth from his goggles.
Bucky ran his right hand along the seam of the doorframe before pushing the door open, a cloud of mist immediately filling the doorframe, and, for a moment, it didn’t look as though it did anything; Bucky merely stepping through it to the lab and the safe that held what they were looking for.
But Sam saw the surprise on the man’s face as he coughed, trying to clear his throat, and staggered sideways as his strength suddenly left him, the metal tables giving under his grip as he fought and failed to remain standing, and fell to his knees, eyes wide with panic before he collapsed.
Sam waited until the mist cleared and his mask read all clear (opting to keep it on, to be safe), before running forward and kneeling at his side, fear clawing at his insides as Bucky curled into a fetal position.
His own panic grew when Bucky coughed and blood spotted the pristine floor.
The coughing finally stopped after a long thirty seconds and those pale eyes slowly opened, their sharp intensity dull and unfocused, and yet the asshole had the nerve to attempt a smile, bloody as it was, “Hey, Sammy.”
The words came out slurred before another coughing fit racked his body and Sam couldn’t even muster mild irritation at the use of Sarah’s nickname, not now, not with the heat of Bucky’s skin burning through his glove or how grey he looked in the fluorescent lighting. “Can you stand?”
Bucky swallowed then grimaced, “Can...try.”
Sam slung his right arm over his shoulder, not willing to trust Bucky had the best control over his vibranium limb at the moment, and lifted himself into a crouch, but could already tell he would be having to lift two-hundred plus pounds of supersoldier and vibranium so, using the thrusters on his wings, he pushing them both up till they were standing.
Bucky leaned heavily against him, but managed to drag his feet forward one step at a time.
“I thought you said it couldn’t effect you.”
“I...” He hissed as his foot snagged on an unconscious guard, “I guess I was wrong.”
Sam winced as fingers dug into his shoulder, “Too soon to say I told you so?”
Bucky’s chuckle broke apart into a wet cough, expression twisted into a grimace as he clutched at his chest, “You...probably shouldn’t...be so close to me, Sam. Don’t...” he trailed off, the effort it took for him to just breath seemed painful, “Don’t wanna get ya sick.”
“I believe this was targeted attack designed for the first person to walk through the door.” Sam said it in a matter-of-fact tone, having already let go of the anger of Bucky thinking himself so damn indestructible because of the serum (far too used to Steve’s previous...antics). “But just in case, I'll keep my mask on until I know more.”
Bucky nodded then dropped his head, “You...you should go back, get the intel.”
Sam slowed, “Buck...”
“We can’t leave.” Bucky coughed once more, “’Cause I was an idiot.”
Sam let out a long sigh before guiding him to the wall, “Fine. Try to stay standing, alright?”
“Do my best, Cap.”
Sam forced himself not to linger as he jogged back inside, sending Redwing ahead to start the jet and alert the nearest hospital to prepare for quarantine procedures, fishing out the thumb drive from his belt and plugging it into the first available port.
The drive began its work automatically and while it did so rather quickly, Sam found his fingers tapping impatiently on the table, the seconds stretching on as Bucky continued to sound as though he were hacking up a lung down the hall, each cough hitting him like a physical blow.
Sam had to remind himself of the thinnest silver lining: at least Bucky was still breathing.
Pretty low bar there, Wilson.
And of course, as soon as the thought crossed his mind, Bucky went silent.
Shit.
“Bucky?” It took significant effort to keep his voice steady. “Still with me?”
A low groan reached his ears.
Sam let out a long, relieved breath just as a beep came from the monitor, pulled out the drive and slipped it into one of the many compartments in his belt before hurrying out to find Bucky slumped on the floor, head bowed.
Crouching down, he reached out to lift his face and brushed away the dark hair plastered to his forehead and temples to reveal eyes more blue than grey, fever bright and staring through him as he leaned into the touch like a man starved.
Sam tried to get him back on his feet but Bucky was essentially nonresponsive and laid Bucky down onto his back, making sure his feet were flat on the ground, grabbing his hands and pulling him into a sit-up position.
This is gonna suck.
Letting out a long breath, Sam spoke, “Activate thrusters.”
In one fluid movement, Sam got Bucky standing, got on one knee and drove his shoulder into his abdomen, bring his right arm over his neck, maneuvering him into a fireman’s carry, and groaned at the weight but ignored his body’s protests easily enough and moved as quickly as he could towards the Quinjet.
Bucky was murmuring something, voice cracking over words that weren’t in English.
It was too slurred for Sam to understand the language being said and he shoved down the worry of hearing his friend so out of it, pushing through his discomfort as the Quinjet came into sight and he was finally able to get him into a chair and buckled him in.
Sam set the Quinjet into autopilot towards the coordinates of the hospital before seating himself on Buck’s right side, taking the trembling hand in his and squeezing, “I know you might not be able to hear this now, Buck, but just hang on, alight? Use that damn supersoldier stubbornness of yours and hang on.”
Bucky didn’t speak, but his fingers squeezed back with bruising force and Sam knew that eventually everything was going to be okay. That they would make to the hospital and figure out what was going. That Bucky was going to okay.
He had to be.