"Matthew D." (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} propatria) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} rooms, |
[Bucky made it to the next room only a few steps behind Selina, and slowed to a stop in the doorway.
How long had it been since Stark's disappearance? Days. He knew a corpse when he saw one, and he also knew decay. This was not a man who'd been long dead. That didn't mean he was still alive - the dead light in the center of his chest answered that. It just meant he'd probably suffered for a long time. If he was lucky, he'd died while he was unconscious, and he hadn't known how long it took him.
He checked his vitals, because that was what you did. No pulse, no breath, cold skin.
He picked Stark up and slung him over his shoulder, over the left arm Stark had built, without any sign of what the man weighed. Back, again, to the single-minded mission, watching Selina stride away.
Their mission was complete, and they had failed it. There was no room to feel anything about failure. A good asset mopped up the mess and moved on. A better one didn't fail in the first place, but that was done.
It was important now to get everyone out intact, and it would be easier to do that if it wasn't obvious to the Hulk that Stark was dead. He made brief eye contact with Pepper as he moved back past her, toward the exit. If she had realized what was going on, that look spoke to silence.
The vial he removed from Stark's hand and pocketed.] We're going.