A Haunting Past: an Avengers/x-men fanfiction

Attacked

Nat's POV:

I heard Allison call out for help and then the compound shakes.  Something is terribly wrong as I run to where her room is, but I can't even get near it.  The building was collapsed probably from a blast of some kind and I look hopelessly at the pile of rubble.

"What happened?" Wanda asks as she runs up to me.  She starts to slowly move the rubble with her powers.  I see Allison's hair before long and we quickly work to free her.

"What's going on?" Captain asks as he finally makes it to this side of the building.  Tony and Banner were not far behind him.  He gently helps me remove Allison from the area where she was trapped and I close my eyes when I see her labored breathing.

"Victor." She whispers as her eyes open slowly.  "He's here."  Her face contorts in pain as her eyes close again. 

"Let's get her to my lab."  Banner says as Wanda keeps clearing the rubble.  I help her as I watch Captain and Banner running away from us.

~*~*~*~*~

Captain kept talking to me as he ran towards Banner's lab.  I tried to stay awake but I was in so much pain again.  Why does this keep happening to me?  I must be a bad luck charm or something because no one should get hurt this much.

"Hey, stay with me kiddo."  Captain tells me as we arrive at the labs.  He gently places me on one of the beds and I wince in pain.

"She's going to need a blood transfusion."  Banner tells Cap as he gingerly lifts my shirt.  A piece of shrapnel was lodged into my side and I cried out when he gently touched it.  "Stay with her and make sure Allison stays calm.  I'm going to get some supplies."  

"You have got to stop getting hurt like this."  Captain tells me as he gently takes my hand.  "We can't lose you, not like this."  I try to speak but I had a hard time breathing so words weren't an option.  "Stay strong for us."  I blink once trying to tell him I was.  

"I am not going to lie to you Allison.  This is going to hurt and with you in this state, I can't put you under when I remove it."  Banner appears after a few minutes and I clutch Captain's hand tightly.  It takes everything in me to nod.  I feel an I.V. go into my other hand and soon morphine is being pushed into my bloodstream.

"Make sure she doesn't move."  Banner gets to work cleaning the area around the wound.  I close my eyes tightly as he injects as much numbing medication as he can before he grabs the scalpel and starts to cut it out.

My screams echo through the halls as Banner makes the first incision.  It takes him twenty minutes to remove the large piece of metal from my side and another thirty minutes to stitch up the gaping hole.  I couldn't scream any more so I fell silent as shock and blood loss started to set in.

~*~*~*~*~*~

"How are you feeling?" Wanda asks as she comes into my room.  Banner had me on large doses of morphine which helped a little bit but nothing can mask all my pain.

"I'll survive.  I always do." I tell her as she sits next to me.  "Tell me about Sokovia.  I need something to distract me." I tell her and she smiles sadly as she starts to tell me about her childhood.  Wanda had a twin brother Pietro who died in the battle against Ultron, but I had a feeling he wasn't dead. I didn't tell Wanda that though as she tells me how she got her powers and how she joined the Avengers.

"I'm sorry about Pietro." I tell her when she finishes and she nods sadly.  "He's always watching out for you."  Right then Banner walks into the room.  I push myself into a better sitting position as he comes over.  "Before you even ask, I'm fine."  I tell him as he takes my vitals.

"Do you remember what happened?"  Banner looks at me worriedly.

"Every moment." I tell him as I think about Victor grabbing me, then the blast, the rubble burying me, Wanda and Nat saving me, then Banner removing the shrapnel.....yep, I remembered everything with clarity.  "When can I be out of bed again?"  I ask as he checks the stitches.

"Why are you so eager to get out of here?" Nat appears in the doorway and Wanda quickly leaves.  "You almost died again Allison."  I lean back once Banner was done.  "Can't you just give yourself time to heal?"

"No I can't.  I am going to die of boredom if you keep me here any longer.  Besides, isn't Fury eager to have me infiltrate HYDRA?"  I ask and Nat shakes her head in disapproval.  "I'm fine okay everyone?  I made a mistake and lost control.  Victor got away like always and I got hurt.  But I can take care of myself."

"I'm really starting to doubt that."  Nat walks out of the room and I try to get out of bed to chase after her but one look from Banner makes me stop moving.