Avengers: Liberation

Chapter 18- The Man Safe From Danger

I looked around me to see Bruce sitting up from the floor, his face was dry of real tears but I knew the ones from the ether were sitting on the edge of his eyes, all too eager to spill. I looked to see Clint drying his eyes, the tears had already spilled, and finally there sat Natasha, stoic and unemotional, so different to how she was in the ether. I stood up from the ground and looked down at the broken avengers.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Bruce’s voice wavered as tears began to pour over his cheeks and flick off his chin. I gave a weak smile to him; all I had ever done was to protect them, and to protect those I was yet to know. He stood up from the ground shakily as tears sat on the edge of my eyes waiting son eager to spill.

“Because I wanted to protect you Bruce, I never wanted you to see me like that, I never wanted any of you to see me like that, but one of you were not content with the idea that I may have been in that place because I was trying to help the mutants there, they were also not content with the fact that I willingly sacrificed my own wellbeing to save those I hadn’t even met.” My voice was low and deadly, I wasn’t going to shout, I wasn’t going to show my anger, I was just going to watch Natasha Romanoff suffer with her guilt.

Clint walked over to me, and stood there his bottom lip quivering slightly. The tears on his cheeks had dried but I knew he was close to breaking again just from looking in his eyes.

“Liberty, I…” He couldn’t speak, not because his tears stopped him, it was because he didn’t know what to say. I smiled up at him, and laid a gentle hand on my shoulder.

“I’m sorry you had to see me like that, I really am.” He nodded as I rubbed his shoulder gently; he gave me a weak wavering smile. I looked over to Bruce as Clint suffered in front of me.

“I need to see Tony.” I said gently he nodded and gave a niff. He ran a thumb under each of his bottom eye lids ridding them of any loose tears. He nodded again as I slowly moved my hand from Clint’s shoulder.

“I’ll take you to the infirmary.” Bruce said quietly as he began walking towards the door to his left. Finally the feeling of Clint’s uniform disappeared from underneath my fingertips as I quickly followed Bruce towards Tony’s resting place.

The walls were bleach white in the infirmary.  A heart monitor emitted a low beeping noise as Tony’s chest rose and fell very gently. He hand a ventilator secured to his swollen and bruised face. I gasped and brought a hand up to my mouth. I looked at Bruce with wide tear filled eyes.

“He’s in a coma; he was induced apparently the pain was too much so when it came to operating on him so there was no other option.” Bruce said this coldly trying removed him from the emotion sight he saw before him. I nodded and looked back at Tony.  I looked down at where his legs would be and began to see dark spots slowly seeping through the sheets. I walked towards the head of the bed and sat on the plush seat beside him.

“Would it be ok if I stayed with him for a while?” Bruce gave a gentle smile and placed a warm and comforting hand on my shoulder

“Of course.” He patted my shoulder and walked towards the door, then suddenly paused. He looked back at me and tony and sighed.

“Logan and Eric are here, Black widow picked them up when she came for Tony.” I nodded and smiled at Bruce, as he pushed open the infirmary door.

“Thank you Bruce.” He gave me a warm smile and nodded and looked at me with grateful eyes.

“he wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for you Liberty.” I nodded as tears quickly ran over the edge of my eye and spilled onto my cheeks. I gave Bruce a heart wrenching smile, as he left the room.

I gently placed my hand on the soft sheets of the bed and slowly moved my hand over to Tony’s hand. I grasped the limp hand gently in my own. The skin of his hand was covered in dried blood and deep bruises, and there in the center of his palm laid a stitched laceration which was the length of his palm. I flipped his hand over and looked at the wound, it was ragged and swollen. I sighed and turned his hand back over gently and held it in my own and gently rubbed my thumb over the back of his hand.

I looked down at my own hand and pulled away the blood sodden piece of fabric and watched as both the blood and the fabric faded into nothing but ash, and soon floated away into the ether. I looked at it too see that thin layers of skin had begun to laces over my muscle bound hand. I flexed it causing the delicate skin to unlace and snap underneath the tension. I hissed at the throbbing pain, and balled my hand into a relaxed fist.

I looked up at Tony’s swollen face. I sighed and held onto his hand just that little bit tighter.

“I don’t know if you can hear me tony, but apparently the hearing is the last to go when you’re in a coma, but just in case I’m talking to you mentally too.” I sighed, and rubbed my thumb against the back of his hand.

“I’m going to do something, something to help you, you won’t feel if but hopefully it will help with the pain.” I let go of Tony’s hand and carefully began to remove the ventilator. The tubes came away gently stopping any discomfort. I watched as Tony’s chest barely rose and his heart rate dropped even more. I kneeled up onto the bed and straddled his waist. I placed my hands onto the cushions besides his head and leaned down.

“Hopefully this will better.” I whispered as I leaned down and pressed lips against his swollen bloody ones. He suddenly took in a deep breath back his chest rise strongly; I heard the heart monitors low beeping quicken. I felt the dampness of Tony’s blood through his sheets recede as my kiss deepened. His eyes lips fluttered as if he was in a dream. But saving him in his state had cost me dearly. I felt blood pour from my hands as the healing began to reverse leaving my hand bloody raw.

I pulled away from Tony, and gasped in pain as I clutched my hand to my chest. But the pain was pushed to the back of my mind as I looked down at Tony who laid there, his face free of blood and no longer swollen. There was still some yellowing bruising on face, but there was no sign of pain in features. I removed myself from his waist and stood next to him. I bent down at gently kissed his cheek and as I leaned down on the bed cloth I left a bloody hand print on the light blue sheets. I clutched my hand back my chest and smiled down at the dreaming Tony Stark.

I turned away from the man safe from danger and walked toward the infirmary doors, and looked over my shoulder to him. All I could hope is that he had heard me and that he knows I save him.