Chapter 19
I sleep the rest of the day and wake at eight the next morning, rolling out of bed with very little grace. I stumble onto the elevator and hear JARVIS say something about the main kitchen, trying to fall back to sleep against the doors. I fall out of the elevator and roll slightly, landing on my back with a groan. "Oww..."
"That's a tripping hazard, Razzle Dazzle," Tony calls cheerfully and I open my eyes to glare at him only to realize I can't see shit, dropping my head back onto the floor with a THUNK as I flip him off.
"It's too chipper for you to be early," I grumble loudly and he laughs. "Wait... That's not right... You're too early this chipper..." He laughs more and I furrow my eyebrows. "That was worse..." Someone pulls me to my feet and guides me to the island, having me sit on a stool. I drop my head on the island with a louder THUNK and Tony keeps laughing. I lift my head to squint toward where I think he is and see blurs. "Shut the hyena up, you fuck." He doubles over laughing and I realize what I said. "I give up." I drop my head back down and doze slightly.
"I have your glasses if you want them," Stephen says and I offer my hand tiredly. He sets them in my palm and I put them on as I lift my head, looking at Tony who was finally managing to get his laughter under control.
"Oh, good God... If you're like this every time you sleep for nineteen hours, we've got to see more of it..." I glare at him slightly and fold my arms before dropping my head in them, everything too bright and too loud.
"Here's your medicine, as well." I lift my head to see Stephen setting a glass of water in front of me along with a plastic cup of my pills and I nod.
"Thank you..." I take my medicine and down the water before resting my chin on my arms.
"How is your back still intact with that much of a slouch?" Vision asks and I look at him.
"Magic? I don't know... I'm flexible..."
"How flexible?" Michelle asks with a slight wiggle of her fingers and I ignore her.
"How flexible are you?" Steve asks and I think, shrugging.
"I don't know... Been a minute since I've had to be flexible..."
"Moving on. You know you can't just demand people to date you, right?" Tony raises an eyebrow at me and I groan softly, hiding my face in my arms.
"Shut up," I grumble and he chuckles.
"How do you think that's a good way to start a relationship?"
"Atar just said we were dating, Jay didn't even ask me out because we had been dating from when I was ten to until he went to Stakar's ship, and Loki just accepted how awkward we were and went with it when I said the meeting was a date that night I killed Atar, rolling with it when I asked if he wanted to date... I have no clue how to do relationships slowly..."
"You have all of eternity," Thor points out and I look at him.
"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response." He shrugs and I notice Pietro come in, getting coffee.
"Hello," He greets and looks at me. "What was the reason behind the tattoos on your head?"
"Oh. To make me feel comfortable with how I looked after my implant had to be moved, I guess. Not much of a point to them now, is there?"
"I suppose not, no." I run a hand through my hair and make the tattoos disappear before my hair gets longer, going down to my shoulders. "What is your natural hair color?"
"Black like my soul. If it wasn't obvious." I also make the tattoos on my ribs disappear and put my hair up.
"Wow. Edgy," Peter scoffs and I start to make a remark when I freeze, looking around. "What are you doing?"
"Wrong." I keep looking around and he shudders. "Feel it?"
"Yeah... How'd you feel it before I did?"
"You've got a radioactive spider, I've got Celestial powers, the practice of avoiding people and fights here, and Ravager training on top of it. JARVIS?" There's no response and I look at Tony.
"JARVIS!" No response and Tony looks worried.
"Pixie Dust?"
"Yes, Razzle Dazzle?"
"You able to show us the cameras in and around the Compound?"
"Of course. I'll send them to Tony's phone as well. Should I try to fix JARVIS as well?"
"No. Don't worry about that right now. What's the safest floor of the Compound where we'd be able to combat any attacks?"
"I would say the floor that is full of gyms. However, numerous assailants are waiting for you there."
"What floor are we on right now?"
"The fiftieth."
"Can't jump out a window without raising suspicion with civies," I murmur to myself and think. "Is the elevator operable?"
"Yes, but assailants are also waiting on each floor for you."
"How'd they get in?"
"I am unsure as of this moment. But they seem to have disabled JARVIS and all security so they could. They're coming from up and down the stairs now to try to ambush you."
"Can you tell what organization they're from?"
"My guess would be HYDRA. There are approximately twenty of them coming from below and twenty coming from above. They will be breaking the door down... Now." The door slams against a wall and I look that way calmly.
"So... We've got, at least, forty probably HYDRA agents against eighteen of us? Gotta say... I can get behind those odds." I push my glasses up my nose and look around, noticing plants hanging from the ceiling. "Ah, lovely. I suggest moving to where they can't see us."
"And the kids?" Laura asks and I look at her.
"You, May, and the kids stand under the plant there. And, here. Have a knife." I give her and May two big kitchen knives and they look confused while Peter pushes Michelle in with them. "Don't cut at it, yeah?" I look at the plant and bring my hand down slowly before vines cover them, making me a little light-headed. "OK..." I close my eyes for a moment and shake my head to clear the fuzziness, turning to look at the others as I pop my knuckles. "This should be fun."
"I will portal them to cells as you deal with them," Stephen says and I nod, listening closely. No sound was coming and I grab Peter by the back of his shirt before he can go closer.
"What?" I motion for him to shut up and he glares at me but does. I wave my hand in a circle and feel the air in the room whip around us before I send it toward where the crashing sound of the door came from.
"FUCK!" People yell before there's the sound of people falling downstairs and I nod.
"Now we go check it out because we have the advantage." He nods slightly and presses something on his wrist before a suit materializes on his body, going that way before he climbs the wall to get on the ceiling.
"I'm getting tired of telling that kid not to climb on walls," Tony grumbles and I feel my stomach tighten, quickly moving around the section of wall we were standing behind. "What're you doing?" He hisses and I ignore him, looking around before I see someone right behind me with a shotgun leveled at me.
"Surprise," He smirks and blows a hole in my stomach. I stumble back a few steps and cough up some blood even as my body heals. "What?"
"Surprise," I smirk at him with bloody teeth and open my palm at him, vines surging to wrap around him easily. "That fucking hurt, asshole." I run my hand across my mouth to gather the blood there and make the vines slam him against a wall, knocking him out. "Nighty-night."
"Initiating nighty-night protocol," JARVIS says above us and I look up.
"Oh, so now you say something?"
"Activate your suit," Tony yells and I start to do so when I feel a needle in my side.
"What the fuck?" I turn and see a woman with a gas mask on, pushing the plunger of the syringe to inject me with whatever was in it. "Not cool, lady." I punch her in the face and take the syringe out as my vision starts to darken at the edges, catching myself on the wall before I fall over. "Whoa... Pixie Dust... Activate the suit..."
"On it, Razzle Dazzle." The suit materializes over me and I pant softly as my vision starts to clear.
"You good?" I wave my hand slightly in answer and straighten up, looking at the assailants who had recovered. "Underoos! Web 'em up!" I hear Peter's web thing go off and I help by wrapping vines around people while also knocking others on their asses with some wind.
"Alright! Portal 'em," I call and portals open underneath them into cells. "Pixie Dust, are the others still at the elevator entrances on the other floors?"
"Yes."
"Show me." I see the numerous floors as little squares on my glasses and look at a plant on the ceiling. "Hey, gimme that plant." Peter tosses it to me and I catch it. "These vents connect to all of the floors?"
"Yeah, why?" I take a deep breath and slowly move my left hand from the plant toward the vent as I let it out before vines extend from it, going through the vents. "PIXEL, show us what's happening." I close my eyes and focus on branching the vines out to each of the floors. "She's taking them all out with the vines... Wizard, get to portaling them."
"She needs to focus on what she's doing and you being you, will distract her, Tony." I continue to branch the vines out and vaguely hear Tony counting down how many floors were left to hit.
"Just the gym is left, Razzle Dazzle!" I grit my teeth slightly as I squeeze my eyes shut tighter and branch the vines out faster, starting to circle my left hand slightly above the vines entering the vents to do it. "Portal them."
"There. You can stop now." I circle my hand the other way to get the vines to come back and they recede quickly, the plant getting knocked out of my hand when they all hit it at once.
"Razzle Daz... Your heart... Danger... Ted and..." PIXEL's voice wafts in and out as I pant from inside the mask, not able to get enough air into my lungs.
"Deactivate... Mask..."
"Nighty-night... Done... Do it..." The mask comes off of my face and I pant, pale, wheezing, and sweating.
"Raziah?" I look up and see Stephen coming over. I start to take a step forward and fall into blackness, getting caught in something soft before I lose all grip on reality.
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I groan at the brightness even before I open my eyes and blink a few times to get used to the light, glasses still on. Weird. Usually wake up with my glasses off. I try to say something but my voice doesn't want to work and comes out as a groan, something on my face. I lift my hand slowly and shakily, trying to pull it off. Something wraps around my wrist and I look at Stephen's cloak, confused. Why's his cloak here? I lower my hand and machines start beeping like crazy when I notice I was hooked up to them, trying to get them off. Cloak keeps stopping me and I try to form words again, only managing to groan again. I stop trying to get the stuff off and instead struggle to sit up.
My struggle is rewarded with a coughing fit and the Avengers come in, Stephen leading them. He helps me sit up the rest of the way and Bucky rubs my back through the coughing fit until it stops, leaving me wheezing. "Are you alright?" I nod a bit and Stephen checks me over.
I try to talk and only manage to croak, getting frustrated. Bucky hands me a pad of paper and pen and pushes the pen into my hand. I struggle to write and show it to Stephen. "What happened was you believed overexerting yourself and your powers was a good idea, especially after you got injected with an unknown substance. You were struggling to breathe and weren't answering us until I managed to get through to you. You then tried and failed, quite miserably I might add, to walk and lost consciousness after one step. Cloak caught you and has refused to leave your side for a week." I nod and my breath rattles in my chest. "It also seems as though whatever they injected you with brought your asthma back full force. And pushing yourself that hard did nothing to help the matter. My theory is that you had a very severe asthma attack and pushing yourself the way you did made it worse, putting you into a coma of sorts."
"Coma?" I finally manage to croak and cough when it puts so much stress on my lungs. "Theory seems right," I croak through the coughs and Stephen pinches the bridge of his nose, taking deep breaths so he didn't throttle me. "Sorry," I add lamely when the coughs subside, only managing to throw myself into another coughing fit, and Bucky was looking really concerned. I open my mouth to say something and Cloak hits me in the head.
"That's Cloak's way of saying, stop talking if it sends you into a damned coughing fit each time," Bucky grumbles and I nod a bit, trying to write but my hand has forgotten how to hold a damn pen. It pisses me off and I just fucking throw the stupid thing. "Just breathe the fucking oxygen, kid. Forget about writing any damned notes and just fucking breathe. Please," He adds softly and I lean my head against the wall as I close my eyes, breathing as slowly as I could without sending myself into another coughing fit.
"Cloak. Come." Cloak responds by wrapping itself around me and I barely keep from laughing, coughing a bit instead. "Fine. How are you feeling now?"
"Like I want this fucking mask off," I say slowly, wheezing, and he looks at me.
"Not happening."
"Worth a shot. Can I have some water then?"
"If you drink it slowly, yes." He hands Bucky a glass and I try to take it. "And if you let him help you because I doubt you want to be covered in it."
"Fine." He helps me take a drink after moving the mask around my neck and I drink slowly my throat burning.
"What the Hell were you thinking?" Pietro asks as Bucky sets the water down and I look at him, breathing a little more steady.
"What?"
"What the Hell were you thinking?" He repeats slower and was pissed.
"I was helping. The only way I know how."
"By pushing yourself past your limits?"
"I don't have limits. I haven't had limits for years."
"Have not, as in the past tense! You have limits now! And now? They are just more solid!"
"I am so fucking sorry that I got used to not having to worry about asthma attacks or... Or limits! I had to unlearn the fucking limits I had put on me because of asthma!"
"And why's that? Because your family said you had to? The same family that left you here? High and dry?" He yells and I clench my jaw tightly, glaring at him. "No response? Is it because you know I have a point?"
"I had to unlearn the limits because I was the only female Terran on that fucking ship and I was the smallest fucking person! If I had limits, then I was weak! And when you're weak around a bunch of fucking aliens that are bigger than you, you get fucking dead!"
"You almost died without having aliens around you! You fucking idiot!"
"Fuck you, Pietro!"
"Well, darling, sorry to tell you it won't be anytime soon! What is it going to take for you to realize that they left you and they aren't coming back? That feeling you felt earlier? That's the feeling you're supposed to feel when you're around family! And you never felt it in any of the twenty-four years you were with the one that left you here while you were asleep! After they took everything that could possibly allow you to connect yourself to them! How are you to know they ever cared for you?" He yells and the others were silent, watching this while Stephen kept an eye on the machines I was connected to. "Because, from the looks of it, they never fucking cared about you!"
"You think I don't know that, you asshat? You think that I don't know all I ever was to them was a burden? That all I ever was to them was someone good at what I did? That all I ever was to them was a way to steal shit and distract people and manipulate them? Someone that fucking follows them around like a lost fucking puppy? Someone that they could easily use backtalk as an excuse to fucking beat the shit out of me or ship off to another crew to deal with? You think I don't know any of that shit?" I scream back and he steps back slightly.
"I know that I meant nothing to them because they dropped me faster than I could blink as soon as they had an opening and good enough reason to them! The only two people who would've been able to stop them got killed because of me! And you think that I don't know that? That while I would and did everything in my fucking power to keep them safe and happy, they wouldn't do the same for me? They fucking took me in because of my sister and as soon as they thought they fulfilled it, they threw me away like I was nothing but trash! The one person who swore to help me through anything helped them take anything that could let me be connected to them! And the fucking people who swore to be loyal to me watched them do it! So don't you fucking say that I can't be sure that they never fucking cared about me! Because I already know they didn't! And anyone who did is fucking DEAD! So how about you just go fuck off somewhere?" I scream and he looks at me. My breath hitches and that sends me into an awful coughing fit.
"Damnit," Bucky hisses and gets the mask back over my face, holding it there. Pietro leaves and I drop my head on Bucky's shoulder as the coughing fit subsides, crying silently. He holds me with an arm around my back while his other hand cups the back of my head gently and holds me. "Kid..." I wrap my arms around his middle and whatever he was going to say is lost. "Alright... Alright... I gotcha..." I sob softly and he continues to hold me through the tears, managing to get us laying down.
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"Kid?" He asks after the sobs and sniffles had been gone for about five minutes and carefully moves his head to see I was asleep. He tries to move and I hold him tighter, whimpering softly.
"Dad..." He sighs and holds me still.
"Wow. Never thought I'd see the day. The fridge has adopted a kid."
"Shut it, Stark."
"Is it a joint adoption, Cap?" Steve ignores him for a moment and sits in a chair by the bed.
"Yes, it is."
"Steve."
"She needs somebody to lean on for a while. She ain't had somebody like that since her sister. If she starts calling us Dads, then so be it. She's our kid now."
"She's thirty-four years old."
"And you've had me as yours since we were in our twenties. What's your point?"
"Watch it."
"Nope. Not this time. We're adopting her the same way Tony adopted Peter."
"I'm not gonna win this, am I?"
"Not a chance in Hell."
"Guess she's ours, then."
"Damn straight she is, Buck. Besides. Your good with her."
"Yeah. Your scrawny, pre-serum ass helped me get this way."
"Yeah, that's fair." Steve chuckles and I wheeze in my sleep as the other Avengers leave, Stephen staying for a bit to monitor the machines. Cloak leaves me to Bucky and Steve's care and wraps around Stephen. "How long does she have to stay in here?"
"Until she's better."
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It takes me a month to get better and I lose all of my muscle mass. Oh, and I was manipulating my body with magic to make myself so big. I'm not anymore so I'm about five foot five and an unhealthy weight of around eighty pounds. No one was happy with me and Stephen finally lets me leave the fucking bed. I get changed into the clothes he gives me after showering in the bathroom near my medic room and take the elevator to my floor. The Avengers were waiting for me and didn't look happy. Shocker!
"Hey."
"We have high protein meals made and frozen for you," Pepper explains gently as I take my medicine and a vitamin to help me gain weight from Stephen and I nod.
"OK. Thanks." Pepper leaves with Michelle, Laura, May, and the kids and leaves me with the official Avengers, feeling a little nervous.
"There's something else, kid." I turn to look at Bucky and he crosses his arms. "You've been lying to us for years about how you look and you pushed yourself too far. How are we supposed to trust you?" I don't bother trying to hide the wince and look at the floor.
"I know I fucked up. I'm sorry."
"That ain't gonna cut it, kid. You lost our trust." That hurts and I feel tears form at the back of my eyes. "You've been lying to us about something as big as how you look and you expect us to trust you in the field when lives are on the line? When you don't even know your limits?"
"I'm sorry... I didn't know I was manipulating my body at first... It just happened with the Kree and then I got my life source and everything was so obvious after that... And I kept it going so that no one asked questions or got suspicious..."
"Not just that. You treating Pietro like shit ends. Now. That week you were unconscious, he didn't leave your side and would sneak in while you were sleeping. That shit's done. Now. Understand?" I nod and put my hands in my hoodie pocket. "You fucking scared us, kid. We thought you were going to die." I hunch my shoulders slightly and Bucky comes over, lifting my chin. "You want us to trust you again?" I nod as much as I can and he looks at me.
"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to scare you guys... Please... Want you guys to be able to trust me again..."
"JARVIS and PIXEL are going to give us daily updates on how much water you've drunk, how many calories you've eaten, that you're eating regularly, how many hours you've slept, if you've taken your medicine on time or within half an hour, and if you're using that machine twice a day like you're supposed to. That's after what you've got coming soon."
"Can... Can I set reminders? I can get absorbed in what I'm doing and not notice the passing of time..."
"Yes, you can."
"OK..."
"And I'm spanking you."
"OK..."
"You get a choice. In here with everyone watching or in your room, only allowing them to hear?" I look at the floor as I think and he lets me.
"You want us to believe you're sorry? Prove it by taking this," Peter says simply and that helps me choose.
"Here..."
"Alright. Come on." He leads me to the side of the island that had nothing blocking it and gently pushes me to bend over it. "Stay there." I fold my arms and rest my forehead on them as Bucky pulls down my pants and underwear. "We've got rules here, kid. No putting yourself in unnecessary danger, no lying about big shit, and no damaging your health. You've broken the three biggest rules we've got. That means we go a little old school with a switching. Let us know if you have any trouble breathing."
"That sounds promising," I laugh ruefully and try to make light of the situation, per usual. "I've been told I have a skinny, bony ass, so be careful, yeah?"
"I personally love the way it looks," Pietro says simply and I blush a bit before there's a WHOOSH and a line of pain surges at the top of my ass. I almost get up but keep control and grit my teeth.
"Fuck," I hiss and the sound comes again before the second line is right below the first, pain blooming quickly. I clench my fists and breathe slowly through the pain and it's only been two. Three through six lands right after each other and I curl my toes. "Fucking Hell," I hiss through grit teeth and Bucky keeps going, seeming to know exactly what he's doing. Which, great, won't break the skin. But also means he knows where to hit to make it hurt the most. Ugh...
A handful land quickly on my thighs and I go up on my toes, hissing loudly. "Listening now?"
"MhMM!" I get louder as he lands another across my thighs and he lightly taps it against them now.
"I've asked you to spread your legs three times now." I bite back a groan and spread my legs, knowing this is gonna suck hard.
"Y'know, you've really got to get out more if all you're gonna do in the modern day is get good at spanking people," I sass because I'm a fucking genius and the switch lands so many times on my inner thighs.
"You really think sassing is a good idea right now, kid?"
"No, no, nope! Worst idea! FUCK," I cry out as he continues to switch my ass and hiss loudly.
"Language," He says sternly as he lands it across my inner thigh a little harder and I grunt.
"Sorry! My brain's kinda only got pain on it and the response to that is using not nice language! SHIT! Sorry, sorry, sorry! Gonna watch the sass! FUCK," I gasp out and bury my face deeper into my arms as he shows how much he hates sass during a spanking, tears spilling over and pooling onto the island.
"You gonna be putting yourself in unnecessary danger by being a self-sacrificing asshole?"
"Honest answer or- SORRY!" He lights my inner thighs up at the start of the sass and I swear I'm gonna learn soon about the sass during a spanking.
"You gonna be putting yourself in unnecessary danger by being a self-sacrificing asshole?" He asks again and just rests the switch against my poor ass.
"Nope, no, not gonna happen again! Swear to God, Satan, whoEVER," I end in a shout cuz he lands one right against my sit spots and it fucking hurts like Hell.
"You gonna lie about big shit again?" I'm shaking my head before he even finishes and the tears were coming fast.
"No! Fuck! Please! I'm sorry," I cry pitifully and he just keeps right. On. Going.
"You gonna do anything that will damage your health? Like not eating right? Or pushing yourself until you go into a fucking coma for a damned week? Or trying to gain back muscle mass by staying in the gym all day?"
"No, no, no, no! Shit!" He keeps going and I stop fighting and trying to get him to stop, going limp over the island as I cry and whimper apologies. I don't realize he's stopped until I'm pulled to my feet and into his arms after my clothes are settled over my poor ass and thighs and ouch.
"I gotcha, I gotcha, kid..." I sob because it fucking hurts and it feels like my ass is gonna fall off and fuck. He rubs my back and I cry, just feeling so fucking drained now.
"I'm surprised he didn't get the spoon for how much you were sassing during that, Raz," Steve says gently as I stop crying and I don't respond, too fucking tired.
"I'm sorry..."
"It's forgiven, kid. We're good. We're all good."
"Tired..."
"I bet. Come on. Couch to sleep for a bit then breakfast." He leads me to the couch and I hiss at each step because ouch. "Pietro, come hold your girl." Pietro lays on the couch and simply pulls me to lay on top of him, my ear over his heart.
"Sorry I was such a pain in your ass..."
"Well, now I have returned the favor through Barnes." He draws random patterns on my back and pets my hair gently. "Sleep, Rebel."
"Good idea, Speedy..." I nuzzle closer to him and feel a blanket settle over us. "Feels like my ass is gonna fall off..." His chest rumbles in a laugh and I nuzzle closer. "I'm sorry for being a jerk... Didn't want people to think I was replacing Loki..." I don't hear any response because I fall asleep and he keeps on drawing the patterns.