When he mentioned tip toeing to the clinic, he wasn’t kidding. Steve already found that the boots were a pain to wear since they were a little too big - smaller legs and reached below his knee now - so he was going to very literally sneak barefooted all the way from the dorm to the clinic. Yes, it wasn’t the best idea, but he figured his smaller size meant easier hiding. And the slower he moved, the easier it would be on his lungs so he wouldn’t have to hit the inhaler he was given.
Steve slipped out of his room after seeing Bucky’s immediate response to join him. He figured if he didn’t say anything, maybe he could sneak quick enough to miss him. Because knowing Bucky, he was either going to come glare at him or actually figure out how to lock him in the room.
He fixed his sleeves over his hands and started tip-toeing through the shared space with his roommates, who he definitely wasn’t getting involved in any of this, before stepping out into the hallway.
***
Bucky had been out of his room in a flash, feet already bare. He ran on the balls of his feet, catlike motions giving him speed at the risk of sound as he neglected to test the boards against his weight. But he made it to the hallway in time to see Steve leave the room.
The bandage on his leg had gone freshly scarlet as he tore his wound open again, but Bucky didn't notice. He narrowed his eyes at Steve and pointed back at the door.
***
Sharon had not been looking for Steve or Bucky for that matter but when she saw the two of them in The middle of whatever it was that they were getting into - and clearly it was something, because there were eyes and fingers happening - she paused. After a beat she moved towards them, and reached out for Steve’s arm with a question in her eyes.
***
Scowling at Bucky, Steve shook his head once before pointing at his chest and miming a cough. It was the best way he could think to convey his message. He quickly pointed at Bucky and then to the room, trying to tell him to go back.
The hand on his arm had him looking up at Sharon and faintly smiling. He wondered if she saw his mime and pointed down the hallway. Maybe Bucky would feel better if Sharon went with him, not that he wanted anyone to join him.
***
Bucky scowled, but he knew that look in Steve's eye. This could be a twenty minute shouting match, or he could set the terms right now.
Then Sharon arrived, and his plan adapted. Bucky pointed to himself, then down the hall, then at Steve, and then to Sharon, to cover the rear.
Slow. Steady. He'd done it before, damned if he was going to let Steve venture out without him.
Then he went over the signal he and Shuri had been using; a squeeze to the person in front meant stop. A double tap meant go.
***
Sharon looked between the two, glancing down at his leg and she tilted her head at him, her eyes saying plainly what she thought of this idea. However, she wasn't even going to begin to talk him out of it. It likely wasn't worth the trouble even if she could snark at him verbally and being unable to, she thought it likely it was just a bad waste of energy.
She had given up on her own shoes weeks ago, instead settling for stocking feet. Combat boots were useful for a good many things, but walking down hallways in a dormitory and staying perfectly silent wasn't one of them. Instead she stepped back, rolling her eyes in Bucky's direction and mouthing at Steve: 'We've got this.'
***
Knowing they were going to be with him both made him feel better and worse all at once, but Steve nodded. He agreed and could follow whatever Bucky wanted them to do. He had been the one to go out before. And Sharon’s ‘words’ had him smiling and adopting a brief look of surprise before he made a makeshift heart with his hands to show them both. Just a little something he learned at Disney.
***
Bucky ignored Sharon’s look at his leg. It was bound and stitched, and no longer hindering his ability to move. Thus, it was fine. Bucky pointed at his eyes, then at his feet, for them to watch where he stepped and follow it as closely as possible.
Then he turned and started to walk, once again slow and careful, testing each step before shifting his weight. Since he outweighed the others, his steps would be safe for any of them.
***
Sharon let Steve follow Bucky before she fell into step behind them both, her eyes open for anything that might be out of place, or any unexpected noise that might bring something down on them. After all, they weren't the only people, and even if they were perfectly quiet, that didn't mean something wouldn't happen along the way.
Her worries - at least on this side of things - seemed to have been for naught. She didn't know the campus as well yet as she could, but she had managed to do several scouting wanderings before things had gone murderous, and so she knew where they were going and there was a tiny release of relief as they reached it. She scanned around them, alert in case she needed to do something as they entered.
***
Once they got to the clinic, he wanted to let out a sigh of relief. But that would be noisy. Steve rubbed his forehead, trying to ease the tension building in his head and think. He hadn't taken medicine in a long time. He had a faint idea of what he needed though.
He pointed into one of the smaller looking rooms and then himself before gesturing around. A silent idea that maybe they should look for other useful things.
And just when he was going to enter to check the room's supplies, Steve froze by the door. He winced and looked back to the two, frowning and a finger pointing at his nose.
There was a sneeze coming on.
**
Bucky had been oiling door hinges as they went along, trying to proactively keep the sound to a minimum. He had his coins to use as a distraction if needed. It had been too late to use them with Shuri, and the enclosed clinic didn't give much room for maneuvering, but if there was nothing here yet, they would have a chance.
He was already scouring the shelves, looking for the Albuterol inhalers, while also picking up any items that might be helpful. Gauze, suture kits, peroxide, and a few bottles of sedatives and sleeping pills. As such, his back was turned at Steve's panicked signal, not seeing the danger.
***
Since Bucky seemed to know what he was looking for, Sharon let him take point on that particular front, instead keeping her eyes on the doors, and of course listening for any potential sound that might draw the things down on them. She'd never really thought about how tiring silence could be until it was the only thing that would keep you safe. And her own guns and skills against things like this she knew would be limited (probably utterly unuseful), so the best defense was to not get in a situation where one had to go on the offense.
She turned her attention away from the door in time to see Steve's gesture, and her eyes widened, the immediately unhelpful thought springing to her mind 'hold it!'. She stepped away from the door and towards Steve with the second marginally helpful thought being 'smother any noise'.
***
He was all for covering the sneeze, but he didn’t know what it would do. Steve was holding it in as long as possible but the inevitable happened.
“Achoo!”
It was on the quiet side, but he knew it wasn’t silent and it wasn’t helpful no matter what. He shifted into gear and since Sharon was closest, gave a small push to her as he said, “Go.” There was no chance to stay put now. He ruined it all, just like he figured would happen. Why did he let them come again?
Nevermind the rumbling and weird screech from outside. That was pressing him into some urgency.
***
Bucky whirled instantly at the sound, eyes wide. Sharon might have been closer, but Bucky was faster, darting towards Steve and grabbing him in a fireman's carry.
Then he pushed Sharon along, trying to usher them into one of the patient rooms. It wasn't ideal, having only one way in and out, but if he could get them inside, maybe he could lead the creature away from them. And then Sharon could get Steve back to the dorms.
***
Well damn.
Noise had been made and she could hear the noise outside, so that meant they were going to have to deal with whatever came their way, and frankly Sharon didn't plan on dying this week, and didn't plan on letting Bucky or Steve die either.
That said, Bucky was moving one direction and she couldn't really move the opposite, or yell at them to do something different. There might be ductwork, or some way to get up into the ceiling - some way to get out of this space hopefully before they were discovered, and it would get them out of this room where they'd definitely been heard.
So it might not be the best plan, but it might not be the worst either.
She followed, glancing behind her for any sign of the creatures that she was pretty certain she'd heard.
***
Considering the situation, Steve couldn’t say much. Bucky was definitely faster and had the upper hand, so the most Steve could do was scowl - sort of at being carried like some kind of damsel in distress, but mostly at himself for sneezing.
He wiggled to get out of Bucky’s grasp and jabbed a finger towards the window sternly. Because he planned to go shut the door as softly as possible. The creatures couldn’t exactly open them from all he noticed. It would slow it, even if for a few extra seconds.
***
Bucky leveled a Look at Steve, one reminiscent of his time as the Winter Soldier, and pointed from Steve to the window. Goddamnit, after losing Shuri, he wasn't about to lose anyone else. Especially not Steve. Then he pointed to Sharon to also head to the window. Before anyone could protest, Bucky was back at the door, closing it as gently as he could, using his oil can to spray the hinges. He could hear the clicking sound of the creatures just outside.
He held the knob as the door shut, but there was a faint metallic click as the tongue slid into the socket.
It happened fast. There was a shrill screech, and one of the creature's arms tore through the wooden door, catching Bucky by his metal shoulder and pulling him back, reducing the door to splinters.
Bucky didn't scream, instinct kicking in. The claw had gone into his shoulder blade, just under where the metal was bound to his flesh. His knife was in hand in a heartbeat, but it was still no use against the creature's flesh.
***
The window had seemed like the best idea, if they could get out of it quietly, there might be a chance to avoid and evade, and that was absolutely the best option with these things. Sharon had reached for Steve's hand to encourage him that way, as Bucky was right the way that Steve was right now, the person with the best shot at fixing the door, and getting back to them was Bucky. Even injured, he had super soldier strength that both Sharon and Steve lacked currently, and Sharon's deftness and training in martial arts could do a lot, but it wasn't going to make her faster, or jump further. There were limits.
So the window it was, she could climb them out, help Steve, let Bucky bring up the rear on this one. And if there were things out in the window, then they were just screwed, but hopefully…
That hope lasted about five seconds before the wooden door seemed to explode with the creature.
"Fuck," came out almost as a breath, the next thought debating if it was worth the possibility of noise to reach for her pistol, but she didn't even think it would damage the creature, and the next instinct was to get Steve out of there, knowing instinctively it was what Bucky would want. She motioned to Steve for him to keep going to the window, and maybe she could help Bucky somehow.
***
Steve was making the mental notes to lecture Bucky later and was willing to go out the window for a moment.
With the creature at the door and ready to burst through, he couldn’t go. His size and current situation of lacking his physical abilities didn’t matter - Steve was turning heel and moving. He’d seen him through thick and thin, lost him more times than he wanted to count. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he ran away from his best friend about to fall into a metaphorical pit of doom.
“Sorry Buck,” Steve grit out. “Sorry Sharon.” Unfortunately, he didn’t know if Sharon would hear him. Maybe Bucky would pass the word.
He all but stole a knife from Bucky’s side and tried to hack away at the creature’s tongue before an arm burst through. Steve shoved at Bucky, glaring. “Go now!”
The flailing arm clipped Steve’s neck, just enough that he knew something didn’t feel right. He dropped a moment later, holding the spot and noticing his blood covered hand and shirt.
***
The metal fused to Bucky’s shoulder had been wrenched from flesh and bone, and the vibranium arm was barely responsive. The pain nearly blinded him, finally breaking through his threshold, breath knocked away so he couldn’t scream. And then he felt one of his knives slip away and heard Steve’s words.
Bucky’s eyes snapped open, wide and panicked. He was about to shout, but the creature was flailing wildly, and Bucky was knocked back, slamming his injured shoulder into the wall under the window.
Another flare of pain. Bucky hadn’t recovered his breath, but he still tried to shout. All that came out was a half-strangled, wheezy ”Steve--!”. He reached out towards the door, registering Steve’s face, seeing the blood turn his shirt scarlet.
***
If she'd really had time to think about it, Sharon would have probably cursed them both out, but there wasn't really time, and any noise that was being made at this point should be made in hauling ass out of this space.
The thing was going to be through the door completely in a few moments, and it didn't look good for Steve, but Bucky was still standing, and if she got him out of there…
She didn't stop to think further, she sprang into action, jumping forward and hauling as hard as she could on Bucky's non-metal arm towards the window.
***
Bucky was still staring in shock and horror, watching the stain spread. Time seemed to slow to that single image, blood oozing from between Steve’s fingers, the stain spreading through the material of his shirt.
Bucky was just rising when the yank to his arm came, wrenching his wounded shoulder and making him lose his footing. He fell back, against Sharon, then they pivoted - too far! - and were tumbling out the window.
***
Sharon landed with an 'oof' that was louder than she wanted it to be, despite the fact that for an instant it felt as if she'd gotten the wind knocked out from under her. She was distracted from this by the fact that something definitely didn't feel right in her ankle, but they were also a long way from safe still.
She rolled over, working her way out from under Bucky, and she scrambled to her feet, wincing as she put her full weight on it. Nope, definitely not great.
She reached over towards Bucky, putting her hand on his shoulders to grab his attention before jerking her head in the direction of the dormitories, and mouthing Let's go.
***
Bucky was staring up at the window, still in shock. After Sharon grabbed his shoulders, he blinked at her for a moment. He looked blankly at her, and then back to the window. “I can’t leave him,” he breathed, the words barely audible.
First Shuri, now Steve. Bucky felt the world spin, and wished for it to open up and pull him in. He had the medicine. Steve’s inhalers. What if Steve needed one? Who was going to be there for him?
Steve couldn’t be dead. Couldn’t.
***
Instinct told her that the only thing going back would do was kill Bucky too. Steve's injury had been too severe, and the creatures were still likely up there.
She put her hand on Bucky's shoulder now and squeezed it tightly, trying to convey without any words that Steve would want Bucky to leave, that there wasn't anything that they could do. She pointed to the bag that Bucky was carrying and then pointed back to the others. They had things the others could need and use, if they got themselves killed then all of it really was for nothing at all, and Steve would be furious with them.
After a moment, she dropped her hand to his arm, and wrapped it around, starting to walk with him, setting her jaw against the pain in her ankle. No noise, she needed to stay careful, even if Bucky was stumbling and she was in pain. They were out in the open now, nowhere to run if the creatures did find them.
***
Bucky flinched as his shoulder was jostled, feeling warm liquid running down his back. He started walking with Sharon, his face tinged grey and his eyes vacant. After a moment, he noticed her limping and stopped them, shifting so that he was supporting her instead of the other way around.
Someone else to focus on. Someone to get to safety. He would get Sharon back to her room, and then… then…
One step at a time, a voice that sounded suspiciously like Sam murmured in his mind. One breath at a time. Just get to the next step.
His steps grew stronger, more determined. But his eyes still had that blank, vacant look.
***
Bucky shifting to help her did actually do so, allowing her to focus a little more on silence and a little less on just walking through the pain. It also told her that at least he was somewhat here, but she didn't know how much, and it wasn't something she could afford to sort out until they got back. But it wasn't as if she didn't have an idea of how bad this could be for Bucky.
Instead of saying anything she just kept her eyes alert, her ears feeling almost painfully open for any sound that might draw something onto them.
Between Bucky's support and her own alertness, and frankly perhaps just a solid dose of luck - even if had arrived too late - they managed to get back to the front door. Sharon glanced towards Bucky, reaching out for his lubrication can for the hinges before she stepped back to open it for him.
She frowned at the arm. They were definitely going to make use of some of the supplies they'd bought.
***
Bucky passed over the oil can without comment. His vibranium arm was no longer working properly, but he paid little notice. On to the next step, the next breath. That was as far as he could think.
Once inside Butler Hall, Bucky kept up his support, patient and steady, all the way to her room. At least they were both on the first floor. At her door, he took off his pack and dug out a pack of gauze before offering the rest of the pack to her and pointing Sharon at her door.
He would get back to his room, only two doors down. He was used to dressing wounds, and Sam or Wanda could help if he needed aid. But right now, he was trying to keep it together enough to take the next step.
***
Sharon would have preferred to have seen Bucky to his room. She was fine, despite the ankle, and he clearly wasn't, but the inability to have that discussion as an actual discussion was taking its toll. She stifled a sigh, and nodded, with concern in her eyes as she opened her door, but she didn't walk back through it until she saw Bucky open his.