Chapter 2
This was not how Celia imagined her day going. When the man came onto the elevator with the gun, she was shocked, but didn’t panic. This was easy compared to the other stuff the Avengers had to deal with, right? In normal circumstances, she would be trying to talk down the madman, get him to abandon his plans by humanizing his potential victims. But she let Steve take the lead, seeing as how he was a legitimate super hero. She even thought it was going well, until the bullet slammed into her chest. To say it was shocking would be an understatement. The gunshot was the worst pain she ever felt and Steve pressing on it as the electricity assaulted her ratcheted it up times ten. She didn’t remember much after that, her vision going dark pretty quickly. But if she thought she knew pain before, it was nothing compared to what she felt when she woke up. Celia woke abruptly, like when you’re not quite asleep and dream you’re falling, jolting her body back up. Then came the real pain, as if hands were inside her chest, manipulating the pieces. It was all she could do to keep breathing, fighting against the immense pressure and shifting of her bones. She was completely unaware of her surroundings, the only thing in her life was the agony. Then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped. There was no pain anymore, not even a twinge of discomfort. Celia laid back, trying to make sense of what just happened when she felt a finger on her neck and she sat up, moving away from the hand.
“What the fuck!” she panted out, looking down at her body covered in blood. Her once white t-shirt now red and soaked. She looked up and met Steve’s eyes, him looking as confused and panicked as she felt. She looked down again, needing to see what was under all the blood. Celia pulled her shirt off, searching her chest for the bullet wound. All she found was unmarred skin, not even a cut.
“What the fuck.” Steve turned to look at her now, eyeing her chest with a stunned face.
“What the fuck?” he whispered, seeing the wound gone as well. Celia bunched her shirt up, using the cleaner back side to wipe off as much blood as she could. There was no way there wasn’t a bullet wound anymore. She felt it go in, she was covered in blood. Once the blood was mostly gone, there still was no visible injury. She shook out the shirt, searching for the hole when she heard a soft clatter next to her feet. Steve reached down, picking up a small bullet fragment.
“I feel like saying “what the fuck” is getting a little redundant right now, but what the fuck!” Celia hissed, rummaging around in her bag to find an extra shirt to put on.
“Are you okay?” Steve asked, sounding tired and concerned. Celia let out a soft laugh, grabbing a towel from her bag. She scooted closer to Steve, pressing the towel against both sides of his wound. He bit back a groan, leaning into her a little.
“I take it this sort of thing hasn’t happened before?” she asked, tilting her head toward her chest.
“Not that I know of,” he answered, running his hand through his hair. “Although I haven’t even been out of the ice for two months at this point. For all I know, this is normal now.”
“I can assure you, it’s not,” Celia said, glancing over at the man laying motionless next to them. “Is he dead?” Steve nodded, fiddling with the bullet in his hand.
“I’m so sorry you got hurt Celia,” Steve said quietly. “I should’ve been able to get you out of this safely.”
“The bullet went through you Steve. I don’t think there is anything you could do to prevent that,” she argued, not wanting to hear him beat himself up over something he couldn’t change. Just then, the elevator came back to life, sending them down a few floors. Steve tensed up, reaching for the man’s gun. The doors swished open, revealing Iron Man surrounded by men with guns pointed into the car.
“Step away from the Captain,” Iron Man commanded, raising a glowing hand to point toward her head.
“Shit,” Celia breathed, frozen in place. She didn’t want to stop the pressure on Steve’s wounds, but she also didn’t want to take a laser to the face. One shot was enough for her, thank you very much.
“Tony don’t!” Steve yelled, pulling himself to his feet. Celia stood with him, keeping the towel pressed into his shoulder. “She’s not a threat.”
“Jarvis, take in every detail of this room for me,” Iron Man said, scanning around the small elevator. “And get me vitals on Cap.” Iron Man walked into the car, avoiding the puddles of blood. He flipped the faceplate up on his helmet, giving himself an unimpeded view of the scene. “Jarvis says you should live, yay, but your friend on the ground here wasn’t so lucky. Mind telling me what the hell happened?”
“Not here,” Steve said, glancing toward the ceiling where the cameras would be. “We need to lock this down. Get all footage of this to our database and wipe the building’s. Find out everything we can about this man and if he had any associates. Highest clearance level only.” Iron Man looked at Steve, surprised by the seriousness of his instructions.
“Understood. Do what you need to do Jarvis,” Iron Man said, striding out of the room to talk to the men with guns outside. Steve motioned for Celia to leave the elevator with him, stepping carefully around the dead body. She stuck to his side, unwilling to let him start bleeding freely again. The lights of the hallway seemed so bright after their ordeal in the elevator. Thankfully it was a quiet floor and there were no looky loos standing around. Suddenly she was grabbed around one of her arms, one of the men with guns was pulling her away from Steve.
“Wait!” she yelled, startled. Steve turned and grabbed her other arm, pulling her behind him and away from the men. The towel she was holding fell from her hands, but she couldn’t pick it up while Steve was holding her back.
“What the hell are you doing?” Steve boomed out, standing at full height and squaring up against the men.
“She needs to come with us for questioning,” the man answered, looking toward the others for support.
“She’s staying with me,” Steve answered, leaving no room for argument. The men looked toward Iron Man, who just shrugged back at them.
“We’ll set something up later,” Iron Man assured, dipping down to pick up the bloody towel. He walked over to the other elevator and pressed the down button. “Don’t call us, we’ll call you.” The elevator doors opened and the three of them stepped on, settling in for the ride back down. Celia wasn’t too excited to be back on an elevator, but she also didn’t want to have to walk down dozens of flights of stairs. She fidgeted restlessly, not knowing what to do with her hands now that she had no towel to hold against Steve’s wound. The Iron Man suit started coming apart while they stood, uncovering the billionaire underneath. Celia tried not to stare, amazed by the mechanics.
“Happy’s waiting downstairs with a car,” Tony Stark said once the suit was secure in a briefcase. He tossed the bloody towel to Steve, hitting his chest before it fell into his uninjured hand.
“Thanks,” Steve said quietly, balling up the towel. Celia wanted to grab it to put back on his wound, but it looked like the bleeding had almost stopped, so she held back. She gripped the strap of her bag, nervous about what was going to happen next. Would they just kill her to keep this quiet? The Avengers didn’t seem like the type to do that, being the good guys and all, but maybe not keeping any loose ends was how they maintained that image. Could she even be killed anymore? She was pretty sure she just was not too long ago, but here she was, alive and mostly well. The elevator dinged and opened, letting them out in a garage level. Celia was glad they wouldn’t have to walk out through the lobby, two of them obviously bloody. A sleek town car was waiting for them, just a few steps from the elevator. Tony strode confidently toward it, sliding into the front seat. Steve gently bumped her elbow, gesturing for her to follow him to the car.
“Try not to get too much blood on my interior, I just got it detailed,” Tony said, slamming the car door with a loud bang. The sound echoed through the garage, making Celia’s steps stutter a little. It sounded a bit too much like the gunshot earlier, her hands getting a little clammy as she flashed back to that moment.
“Come on, it’ll be fine,” Steve said, putting a hand on the small of her back to guide her into the back seat. She slid over, making room for Steve to climb in beside her. She took a closer look at his wound now that she had a chance. It looked like it had mostly clotted, no more fresh blood oozing out.
“I think I’ve been patient enough,” Tony said, turning in his seat and eyeing them both. The driver smoothly merged into traffic, driving further into the city.
“I’d rather wait so I don’t have to tell the story twice,” Steve grumbled, cradling his left arm in his right hand and leaning forward to keep from resting his bloody back on the fancy leather seats.
“Fine, but I’m gonna want details. No glossing over facts, no downplaying anything. I want it all,” Tony said, slouching back into his seat with his arms crossed. She caught him stealing quick looks in the rearview mirror at them, a scowl permanently etched on his face. Celia clasped her hands around her knees, hating the feeling of the blood drying on them.
The rest of the car ride was ridden in silence, thankfully. Celia wasn’t planning on saying anything to anyone unless she was asked a direct question. She had a feeling everyone would want to hear the story from Steve. And she was pretty nervous about meeting the whole Avengers team. Steve was alright, pretty normal for a super human. Tony was intense and intimidating, but that wasn’t surprising, given he was a billionaire businessman. You didn’t get to that point being soft spoken and timid. The car pulled into a private garage under Stark Tower, filled with rows of fancy cars and a couple nondescript ones as well. Tony immediately leapt out of the car, eager to get to where they were going so he could get the information he was waiting for. Celia hurried out of the car, rushing around to offer Steve help if he needed it. He was practically out by the time she made it to his side, waving her off with a small smile. She heard about the serum and his healing abilities when she was in school learning about the war, but she knew he had to be in pain, even if he was trying not to show it. Tony snapped his fingers from the elevator doors and they climbed in, Celia standing in the back corner.
“What floor, sir?” a disembodied voice asked, making her jump a little. Tony and Steve stared at her, making her feel a little embarrassed.
“Sorry. I think I’ve developed a bit of an elevator phobia today,” she said with a grimace, hugging her body to try to center herself. Steve moved over to stand by her, nudging her arm a little. She tried to give him a reassuring smile, but she could tell it didn’t look genuine.
“Tell everyone to meet us in the penthouse. Emergency meeting,” Tony said to the voice, standing in the center of the elevator as it started its ascent. “The wonder twins wanted to come with me when you called, but I had them hold back just in case. And Banner is not going to be happy when he sees that shoulder.”
“I’ll be fine after a few stitches,” Steve answered, brushing off his concern. The ride in this elevator was quick, not having to worry about any stops and being state of the art. As much as Celia wanted to be out of the tiny death box, she wasn’t looking forward to what was coming. The elevator slowed to a stop, the doors opening to reveal the rest of the Avengers, standing at intense attention. This was going to be interesting.