Lamborghini | Tony Stark

FIFTY SEVEN - RIGHT ON TIME

Sasha had often thought about how she'd die. In fact, it had been more than a regular passing thought in her head since losing her parents, one that only intensified after losing her brother, too.

She hoped she'd go peacefully, perhaps in her sleep. Or if it wasn't, that it would be quick and painless, over in the blink of an eye. Maybe even the white light that people theorised, an outstretched hand of a loved one and the feeling of warmth to comfort her through the whole thing.

What she hadn't imagined, however, was drowning underneath the streets of New York with a head full of things she wished she could've said and a million more she wished she could've done, almost every single one relating to Tony.

The water had crept higher and Sasha was pushing onto her tiptoes as it splashed against her collarbones, straining for breath for a few moments longer while fighting with the thought of what it would be like to just give in and accept her fate.

Sasha had always been a realist, some might even say a pessimist, and while that had almost always stood her in good stead throughout her life, a slight sprinkling of naïve optimism that drowning wasn't going to be as bad as it seemed would've made the world of difference for her in that moment.

Sadly, though, as she craned her neck to keep it above water as the waves continued to filter through the cracks and broken rubble, Sasha could only feel her heart beating inside her ears louder and louder by the second, impending pain and misery infiltrating her dark imagination as tears streamed down her cheeks.

A ground-shaking crash shook the walls again and Sasha braced herself with eyes squeezed closed for a final rush of heavy water, only she was met with the falling of dust and rubble from above her, a sudden storm of noise from the city above pouring down to her level.

She forced her eyes open and saw the glaring glow from up above, the red and green Christmas lights with scatterings of golden tinsel and holiday decorations, juxtaposed by wailing sirens and piercing screams that made her skin crawl beneath the water.

"Sasha! Sasha can you hear me?"

The voice was muffled at first and for a split second Sasha thought she might've died without even realising it, the familiar sound of her name being called over and over again feeling far too comforting for her situation.

"It's alright! I'm gonna get you out of here Sasha!"

Steve's face was bloody and bruised as he hung from the crack in the ceiling by one arm, his other painfully outstretched towards her, much like the vision she thought she might see seconds before her death. Only the fear behind Steve's blue eyes and the strain of his arms as he hung onto the street above them made it all too real.

The current was still swirling fiercely towards her, a sinister whirlpool that looked as violent as a storm was kept separated from Sasha by the pure strength in her arms to keep hold of the handle by the door, no doubt that the force would've dragged her under long before had she not gripped the metal.

"Let go of the handle, I'll pull us both back up!"

Sasha was panting anxiously as she tried to let herself soften her steel grip, Steve's eyes desperately pleading with her to trust him so he could take them both back to safety.

She broke away from Steve's gaze for a moment, staring down at the rippling black water that was still creeping higher and higher towards her face. The fact that safety was so close now made the thought of dying a thousand times more painful than it had been before Steve appeared, making it perhaps the cruelest way for her to go.

"I can't!" She shouted, shaking her head as the roar of the water continued to howl.

Sasha shuffled as far out as she could while still clinging with white knuckles to the door handle, her other hand reaching out to try and grab hold of Steve's palm, their fingers being an agonising few inches away from each other.