Recovery
A harsh light cuts through my eyelids and I open them groggily. Im in a starch white room, machines and monitors beeping around me, I push myself to sit up but at once Dr Cho runs in
‘nope, not yet’ she states, giving me a gentle push back down ‘you need to rest’
‘but-‘ I try
‘rest’ she commands and I flop back down, letting my aching muscles relax slightly, the door opens a second time and I look up to see who it is.
Nat is standing in the door, leaning against the frame with her arms crossed and a vacant expression on her face
‘Im sorry Nat’ I whisper, burying my face into my hands
‘you were out the entire flight back’ she says shortly, walking over and sitting on the chair by my bedside
‘they had to cut the suit off you because it was almost melted into your skin. You nearly went into Cardiac Arrest because your heart couldn’t handle the strain. You were rushed to emergency surgery but pulled through last minute. Its been 14 hours since you fell’
This Natasha is all business, hard facts and nothing else
‘nat-‘ I try again and she turns to me, her voice softening
‘your family are worried about you’ she says gently and I shut my eyes for a moment
‘no they aren’t Nat, they’re the only reason im here, they’re the reason im hurt they-‘ but I stop at the look on her face, distorting her sharp, kind features
‘I didn’t mean them’ she states shortly and I follow her gaze.
Outside the glass wall of my room there are a gathering of people. Tony, Maria and Pepper are sitting in the waiting room, laptops out, both looking even more sleep deprived then usual and spreading their office work across several chairs. Peter is next, settling into a web hammock half asleep, mask on (because the web hammock would give identity away) cuddled up next to a stressed looking Val. Her hair is tied back into a messy topknot and her eyes bloodshot. Steve, Thor and Bruce come next, Steve doing some drawing while Thor watches eagerly and Bruce tapping away on a tiny hologram (a new robot designed to keep kids in foster care company). Carol walks in as I watch, laden down with starbucks and promptly drops the 8 cups on the floor at seeing me sitting up. I see their mouth move and everyone leaps up, sprinting out of my view.
In a second the door slams open and the group stand there Val and Peter jump onto me
‘idiot’ Val whispers, burying her face in the crook of my neck
‘idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot’ she repeats sitting on and perching on the side of my bed, giving me a light slap on the forehead with every word
‘very stupid idiot’ Peter adds from my other side and the adults snort
‘hey Red’ Carol states ‘welcome back’
‘and welcome to the family of alone powered weirdos’ Stark adds, grinning
‘im so sorry guys’ I say but the other shake their heads
‘after you complete the week of bed rest Cho has assignedmyou I assure you you will be sorry’ Maria smirks and I open my mouth in annoyance
‘a week!’ I squeak
‘yep’ Steve pops the P
‘we will keep you company though’ Peter offers with a grins and I cant resist smiling
‘thank you’ I say quickly ‘thank you so much’
‘I would say anytime’ Nat jokes, herding the others to the door ‘but do that again and Ill be tempted to just let you fall-got it’
‘yes ma’am’ I reply and they leave, Peter and Val hang around for a bit
‘so, you missed a bit in the 14 hours you were out’ Peter starts saying excitedly as they both clamber onto the bed beside me
‘Loki died’
‘again’ Val adds
‘yes-again and Thor brought 34 green objects to Bruce to test to see if it was him, but we bet again like usual- the woman all bet 10 hours, Thor bet 24 and Tony and Steve bet 5, Val went on 3 hours then said ‘I don’t miss Lackey’ and he appeared next to her and tried to stab her’
‘so I got 30 bucks’ Val cuts in again
‘yes, Nat and Maria sparred for a solid 47 minutes and got a huge crowd because they are amazing’
‘and Carol’s kid and friend are coming for a bit so we’ll be able to meet them and Clint has gone to his house for a bit’
‘huh’ I say ‘a lot happens in 14 hours’
‘yes, well we’re all going slightly mad so…’ Peter trails off
‘Lets play games’ Val cheers suddenly and runs out, in a second she is back with a scrabble board
‘yessss’ Peter calls, setting up the game quickly ‘ill whoop you’
‘such confidence dearest arachnid’ Val coos, picking up her counters
***
Meanwhile:
The doorbell rings sharply and for a moment Steve looks down at the piece of paper in his hand, checking the address
‘this is it’ Bruce chuckles nervously and the next moment the door slams open
‘hello’ a stout woman is standing in the doorway and turns white when she sees Iron Man, Captain America and the Hulk standing on the doorstep
‘hi’ Tony doesn’t flash his paparazzi smile and Steve doesn’t offer to shake her hand, they just just glare down at her
‘we’re here to pick up Red’s stuff’ Steve states and gestures to the boxes around them
‘why?’ Alex has come up behind his wife and his attempting to meet the 6ft super soldier’s eye
‘well lets see’ tony pushes up his sunglasses with a sassy move ‘you kicked out your daughter so now she is moving in full time with us, and, as amazing as sharing clothes with The Avengers is, Iris needs her own stuff’
‘please may we come in’ Bruce trues slightly gentler
Eventually they are allowed in and walk up the stairs to a room labelled as ‘busy unless you have tea or food’
Steve pushes the door open and stops short as they see the mess strewn all over the room. Books are heaped up in piles on the floor, covers ranging from Jane Eyre to a Surgeon’s textbook, Great expectations and Tortora’s principles of anatomy and physiology share a stack next to Me Before You and The Origin of the species, clothes are thrown across the room, scattered around as if someone packed in a hurry and on the desk schoolbooks and scrap pieces of paper are scrunched up in little balls among pens and pencils
‘I think we’re going to need a few more boxes’ Bruce says
‘yeah’ Steve replies, walking gingerly into the centre of the room and starting to pack boxes full of book and records, the others mirror the action and after a while they get through the fiction and onto the non fiction
‘The text book of Cardiology’ Bruce reads from the cover of a heavy looking medical book ‘Cardiac Arrhythmias now included’
‘why on earth would a person in year 13 want these?’ Tony exclaim taping up another box
‘She started reading as much as she could after she discovered her photographic memory’ a voice sounds from the door and the three wheel around. A young woman is standing in the doorway, she looks kind of like Iris but with blonder hair and slightly bluer eyes
‘Charity shops were her life really, collected anything and everything that she could read and memorise’ The person comes further into the room and hesitatingly picks up a box
‘Im her sister-Sophie. I was at Uni until this morning, they only just told me what happened. But’ she goes over to the corner and starts systematically folding up clothes and putting them in the box
‘she wouldn’t want captain America packing up her underwear’ with a smirk Sophie chucks a few more things in the box and they carry on, halfway through she gets to the records and picks out The Killers Best Hits, with another small smile that matches Iris’s she drops the needle and Mr Brightside fills the room, Tony sighs deeply
‘the kid has no taste. ACDC and Led Zeppelin beat everything on all accounts’
An hour later the room is bare, desk empty, wardrobe cleared and floor finally visible, the only thing remaining is the record player, now playing Kiwi by Harry Styles, scratching as Bruce dropping a box onto the floor makes the needle jump.
Sophie leads them and the boxes to the door but hesitates before they leave and hands over a scrap of paper with a number on it.
‘Tell her I’m not them. I’ll still talk to her. I’m proud of her’
Steve nods and takes the paper ‘I will’
And they leave, a large Stark Industries labelled van takes away the boxes and a golden glow lands on the drive next to the three men. Carol Danvers stands there, still letting off a faint light, decked out in Air Force leather jacket and band tee
‘I had to stop Romanoff from coming over here with her knives-Val too’ she states and Tony rolls his eyes
‘Steve had to bargain me not to use my repulsors’ he adds and Carol fires up a first
‘Im half inclined to show them what happens when you mess with Red - but ready to go home?’ she asks, and the others nod. In one movement she scoops up Steve and Bruce and shoots off, leaving only stark who stands and allows his Iron Man suit to grow over his body, with a nod he too rises into the air and Sophie is left standing, looking up to the now empty sky.