Toss Up (Danny Rand)

Double Shift (Part 3)

"Trace!" I hear Simone cry out, catching him as he falls into her arms. He opens his eyes with a tired smile, giving a thumbs up before he promptly passes out. Simone smiles, wiping away his sweaty bangs from his forehead. "Good job, Tracey..."

"Looks like you're up again, Nova!" Power Man says as Nova rushes over to Spider-Man's rescue, just as Goblin falls into the waters and the last of the goblin gas is destroyed.

I would be worried about the fish that live there, but we all know there's nothing living in those waters.

My whole body slumps, resting my head on Iron Fist's shoulder as he holds me as tightly as he can without hurting me.

God, I'm tired... I look over to Tracey who's snoozing away on Simone's lap as Spider-Man and Nova land and we can finally close the hatch.

"Well, that was one hell of a night." Spider-Man sighs tiredly, sliding down the wall next to me and Iron Fist. "How are you holding up, Ari?" he asks softly.

"Give me some food and thirty hours of sleep and I should be good again."

"I think that's a coma, Ari." White Tiger says from her own place on the floor.

"I know."

"You all did well today," Coulson says, looking to me and Spider-Man. "You two held your own, led both your teams and took down The Goblin. If anyone deserves some rest, it's you guys."

"I'm with Ari on this one," Ax says, leaning against Connor who sits opposite me. "Double shifts suck."

———

When we're finally back on the Tri-carrier, we're all rushed to the medical bay, the doctors looking on in shock as we're all brought in. They (meaning Simone and the others) make me get on a gurney and me being too tired to protest, let them lay me down on the soft yet thin mattress. Hell, they could have put me on a slab of rock and I'd be fine with it.

In the ship's light, I take a better look at myself and see why Doctor Denisse and Doctor Rachelle look so horrified.

My suit is all torn up around my sides and on my left leg where the snake mutant grabbed me. My whole right sleeve is gone thanks to that explosion in DC, my gauntlets covered in soot and dirt. The burn I got from Iron Fist's chi when he was under the goblin gas didn't look as bad as I thought it would, probably thanks to whatever Simone did. All that's left of it is a winding pink scar that curls up my forearm. There are puncture marks from the mutant's teeth, but those are barely visible now.

The left side of my sleeve is caked in blood, my gauntlet there stained red, and a sense of disgust rolls over me as the doctors help me take it off.

They wheel over some curtains to give me a square of privacy as Doctor Denisse puts some clear liquid in a needle. "This will help with the pain for now, can you lift your arm?" she asks as I nod and do so, her eyes softening at my battered form as she slides the needle into my arm. "I can't believe..." she whispers, her eyes watering slightly before she clears her throat. "Sorry. We're going to have to remove your uniform next to really see the damage, okay?"

"That's fine," I can feel the morphine kick in, the pain slowly melting away and I let out a sigh. She helps me peel off what's left of my uniform, large bruises blooming across my abdomen as I shrug off my top. "How are the others?"

"We're clearing them for any signs of the goblin gas just in case. CAST is getting looked over now, and aside from a few scrapes and exhaustion, they should be fine. You should be more concerned with your own situation, though," She says, pressing her fingers down gently near my ribs and I feel a dull throbbing pain as I wince. "Your healing factor is kicking in just fine at least but we need to make sure everything sets in place so we'll run a few x-rays just in case. For now, let's take care of that burn, hmm?"