Chapter 3
Clint watched in shock as Pietro fell to the ground. He buried the little kid’s face in his shoulder, not wanting the kid to see the wounds. They made him feel sick, but Clint guessed that was shock. He stumbled over to Pietro, and felt at his neck. Clint nearly fainted when he felt a faint pulse.
Steve was already over. “He’s….He’s still alive.” Clint managed to breathe, shaking all over.
Steve looked at him worriedly. “I think the shock is getting to you.”
“No time.” Clint insisted. “Check...pulse.” Steve did, at first seeming to only want to satisfy Clint, but then his eyes went wide.
“Someone get Pietro on life support, get his sister and call Helen Cho. The kid’s still alive.” Steve shouted into comms, already lifting Pietro up into a careful hold.
Clint could hear Wanda sobbing on the other line, and wanted to comfort her. First, he delivered the boy back to his mother.
Then he stumbled toward where the Avengers were crowding around Pietro. Thor was maintaining a steady stream of electric sparks, just in case Pietro’s heart failed. Wanda had her hands pressed against his temples, and she was crying as she focused on feeding him encouragement and helping his mind work to keep itself alive. S.H.I.E.L.D agents were bringing in all the medical supplies they had, and Steve was stressing out over a phone call with Helen Cho.
Steve snapped the phone shut. “She says he can’t last long, even in an Enhanced state. We have to get him to her in the next twenty minutes or it will be much harder to keep him alive.” Even Steve’s voice was shaking as he spoke. “We need the fastest ship you have, and as small a crew as we can carry to keep him alive.” He ordered a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. The agent nodded, and rushed off.
The next three minutes were a frantic blur. At some point someone handed Clint a blanket, and he remembered barfing over the side of the Helicarrier, but nothing else in between that and sitting, shaking, wrapped up in a blanket on a jet. Steve tried to convince him to sleep, but Clint shook his head, insisting to be near Pietro the entire flight.
During the flight, everyone was silent. Wanda and Thor were focused, as well as the S.H.I.E.L.D. doctors, Steve was constantly checking up on the pilot, and Clint was still in shock.
It took fifteen minutes. The landing they made wasn’t pretty, but it didn’t matter. Cho was waiting for them, and had already wheeled up a new cradle. The moment they touched down, she started to insert Pietro’s information into it as they walked, and once they reached her lab, they transferred him into the cradle. He was stabilized quickly, and Cho began her work.
Once everything was set, Steve turned to Clint. “I need to go, as much as it pains me to say it.” He said. “There’s a lot of repercussions after Ultron, and I have some work to do. Inform me if anything changes, for better or worse.” He explained.
Clint managed a shaky nod.
“And take care of yourself.” Steve added. When he got no response, he just gave a sad smile, turned and headed off. All of the S.H.I.E.L.D agents followed, having done their work.
“Barton.” Clint turned naturally, and found Thor standing there. “Would you like me to stay here?” He asked, clearly worried.
“Do...what you need.” Clint managed to respond.
“I must go then. I need to understand the Infinity Stones. I bid you well.” The Asgardian said, still not one for sappy goodbyes, and raced off to catch Steve before he left.
The only three left were Clint, Wanda and Cho, who was busily rushing around, checking monitors, and working on healing Pietro. Wanda had one hand pressed against the glass window on the front of the cradle, and her eyes were clenched shut in focus, though Clint could see the tears staining her face.
Shaking, Clint removed the blanket from his shoulders, and moved over to Wanda, slowly placing the blanket on hers instead. She put a hand over his before he could pull away and mouthed a quiet “Thank you.” He smiled back, nodded and went to sit down.
After that, the days blended together. At night it was a mess of uncomfortable naps sitting up in plastic chairs and nightmares of bullet ridden boys and the sounds of a dying heartbeat. During the day it was a rush of checking on his status, standing around and waiting when he couldn’t be near Pietro, watching and whispering encouragement to him when he could, talking with Wanda, insisting he wasn’t as hungry or thirsty as he felt, and frequent calls from his wife and the Avengers.
For weeks, it seemed like nothing would change, and the calls from Laura were getting more and more worried and insistent that he come home.
But then, one day, Wanda was shaking him awake. Clint was up in an instant.
“He’s waking up!” She shouted frantically. He nearly shot out of his chair in surprise, and immediately called the Avengers before rushing over to watch Pietro.