Never Alone Again |N.R|

I don't belong here.

As I sat in the bed waiting for Bruce and Natasha to return, my body began to hurt all over again. The sharp pain in my ribs meant I could only take short breaths and the cut above my eye was throbbing along with the large bruise that now covered most of that side of my face. My eyes were watering from it but I couldn't allow myself to cry, I felt weak enough already and I didn't want anymore pity.

Just as I began to get lost in my thoughts, the door to the Med Bay opened and Natasha walked through followed by Bruce. He faltered for a second before continuing towards me, keeping some distance between us all the way. I hung my head low, embarrassed by my outburst and in an effort to hide the tears that were now escaping my eyes.

"Is it okay if you hold out your arm? I need to put your IV back in, and attach the monitors." Without uttering a word I moved my arm out towards him and prepared myself for the sharp prick of the needle. A few moments later he stabbed it into my arm and I flinched, trying not to scare him. I didn't want him to think that this would be enough to send me over the edge yet again. He then placed the monitor on one of my fingers and the machine started beeping.

"That's all for now. I'll be back every so often to check in on you and make sure everything's okay." He gave me a nod and rose to his feet.

"Sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to scare you." I couldn't bare to look him in the face so I lifted my gaze slightly, staring straight ahead now rather than at my fiddling hands.

"Don't worry kid, I understand better than anyone. These things can be hard to control sometimes." With that he left the room, and it was just me and Natasha left in the silence.

"I've got to go and do some work now, will you be okay here on your own for a while?" She questioned from across the room. I nodded my head. I'd be okay wouldn't I? It can't be that hard to sit in silence on my own, I'd spent my life all alone for as long as I could remember.

Natasha left the Med Bay and the silence somehow became even louder. At least when I was outside there was the sound of wind, cars driving and beeping and people talking and shouting. But here there was nothing, other than the constant beeping of monitors, there was no noise at all. I decided that the best thing to do would be to close my eyes and hope that sleep would come, because I didn't know how long it would be before my thoughts got the better of me.

Natasha's POV

I looked down at my watch. It was 10:53, two hours since I'd left the young girl in the Med Bay. There hadn't been anymore shouting or loud bangs so I could only hope that she'd finally fallen asleep. But I thought I'd check in on her as I headed to my room, especially since Bruce had stopped the painkillers so hopefully she'd be doing okay without them.

As I rounded the corner and headed towards the Med Bay it was still silent. I couldn't hear any noises coming from her room. So when I poked my head through the crack in the door I was shocked to see her curled up in a ball shaking and whimpering. It must've been a nightmare as her face was grimacing and tears flooded down her cheeks. I needed to wake her up since whatever she was seeing was terrifying her.

Quietly, I walked over to her bed. "Hey, it's Natasha. You're okay, it's just a bad dream." I carefully shook her shoulder, but she was stuck in the grips of this nightmare. I started shaking her a little harder in hopes that it would be enough to wake her but nothing was working. With that I decided my only option was to comfort her through it. After making sure she hadn't woken up I carefully sat down on the bed next to her frail and shaking frame. I then turned myself over and laid next to her, hugging her back into my chest. Her hands instantly gripped onto my arm, like it was an anchor keeping her in reality.

Every now and then her grip would tighten and her breath would hitch in her throat as she rode out a scary image. But she never stirred, this nightmare had a death grip on her and it wasn't letting go anytime soon. She needed sleep, but this was only going to exhaust her even more.

After a while, my eyelids began to feel heavy and I couldn't stop myself from falling asleep. As I slipped into the darkness I only hoped that she wouldn't freak out when she woke up to my arm holding onto her.

Rue's POV

My eyes shot open just as my body jerked, it must have been in reaction to a bad dream. My body was sticky with sweat and I could feel the tears streaming down my face and neck. But I was startled by the arm that was wrapped around me, my hands still gripping onto it tightly. Who was it?! I slowly turned my head, trying to catch a glimpse of their face but all I could see out of the corner of my eye was their hair. The brightest red, Natasha. I felt safe knowing she was here, but I didn't think she was safe this close to me. Carefully, I pushed her arm off of me and slid out from underneath it as it fell to her side.

It was still dark outside so I stared up at the clock. 3:17 in the morning. Great, it would be hours before anyone was awake. I was still tired but sleeping in my bed wasn't an option, so I'd have to find somewhere else to rest my head. Making sure Natasha was still asleep I slid through the gap in the door and wandered off down one of the endless corridors. There would have to be a sofa or chair somewhere.

A few minutes later I arrived at a lounge with a massive sofa and screen on the wall, but I was more mesmerised by the massive window to the side of it. It was like a frame around the city, with lights shining all across the horizon and buildings filling every gap. It was beautiful. I made my way over to the sofa and laid down facing this window, taking in the sight before my eyes drifted closed once again.

Tony's POV

I was starving, and it was now early morning so I'd been working on my suit for hours. It wasn't quite there but I was getting close. I headed towards the kitchen, planning to grab some leftover pizza and sit on the sofa so I could watch the city wake up through the window. The room was dark but as I opened the fridge it shone some light, enough for me to be able to see a plate in the cupboard and grab myself a slice or two.

Just as I went to sit down though, I was startled by someone fast asleep next to me. It didn't take long for me to realise that it was the young girl I had found outside. What was she doing out of the Med Bay? She was shivering so I grabbed a blanket and carefully placed it over her, desperate not to wake her. Once she was fully covered I took a seat next to her and began eating, admiring the city as the sky began to turn all shades of orange and pink with the sunrise.