Flawed Minds

Chapter Thirty One

Avenger's P.O.V.

"TONY!" Nova's shrill voice was the only thing that could be heard as Tony looked up at Ekelhaft's sneering face in shock and anger, finding himself suddenly unable to speak the harsh words at the forefront of his mind as his legs began to buckle. Ekelhaft's expression changed quickly and he backed away to the glass wall of the cell when he saw Nova stride toward him with fire in her eyes. In one smooth movement she had removed the blade from Tony's abdomen and flung it back, watching with keen eyes as it embedded itself between Ekelhaft's ribs. Immediately her focus returned to Tony, who was now slumped on the floor with a confused expression on his face. Scrambling to the ground she knelt beside him, cupping his face with one hand as tears filled her eyes.

"Hey Sparks, I don't wanna look," He chuckled weakly, still attempting humor even now. "You gotta tell me, is it bad?" Nova shakily pulled his bloodstained shirt up to reveal the wound in all its glory, very deep and obviously caused by twisting a blade, and she tried to hide her sobs as she looked back at his face.

"You're going to be fine, you'll be fine-" She insisted before she heard a door open and turned to see Bruce surveying the scene, passing Fury and the rest of the team as they stood frozen in shock to arrive on his knees at her side, checking Tony's pulse as she soothed him. "See- see, Bruce is here, you're gonna be fixed up in no time- right?" Bruce examined the wound and met her eyes, not needing to speak for her to realize that the wound was too deep to move him. He worried that medics would arrive far too late to save him.

"You're right," Tony's breath was short as he gripped one of Nova's hands. "It'll be ok, but I really need to sleep, I'm so tired..."

"Don't fall asleep Stark- Tony keep your eyes open," Bruce encouraged as Nova slowly turned her head to see Ekelhaft laying silently in a puddle of his own blood, a hand clutching around where the blade entered his body, his black eyes staring into her soul, his last defiant glare as the light slowly left his eyes whilst Bruce called out; "Tony!" His shout brought the team back to their senses, all moving forward at once to gather in the cell heartbroken as they stood in silence, unable to summon the words to speak. In a moment of rage and pain Nova clutched at her chest, letting out a scream as she felt as though her heart was breaking. Looking at Tony's face she had a feeling, an idea, and in her moment of desperation she leaned over him, her hands hovering just an inch above his bleeding wound as she let out a steadying breath, her entire being focused. Suddenly wisps of gold light appeared at her fingertips, making Tony's abdomen glow as she slowly moved her hands above him, her eyes tightly shut.

Nova didn't care about any sort of risk, paid no attention to the searing pain in her own stomach and head as she forced past her own limits and began to heal Tony, layer after layer of tissue knitting together, slowly, painfully. At one point she felt a hand on her arm, but since it wasn't trying to pull her away she accepted it, realizing that the pain had now lessened as she focused deeply on Tony's wound until she had reached his skin, fusing it together leaving no more than a scar under the blood he had already lost. It took all of her strength to reign in this new magic, the gold light returning to her fingertips as she groggily opened her eyes, swaying where she sat.

"He... Needs... Blood..." After managing those few words, Nova fell unconscious before she even hit the floor. It took half a second for the team to react; Bucky lifted Nova, gently extracting her arm from a disoriented Bruce's hand while Steve lifted Tony, half running the both of them to the medical bay. Clint immediately gestured to Fury and his team to move in and remove Ekelhaft's body, and Natasha knelt beside Bruce, worried about his reaction as he didn't move from his position on the floor.

"Are you ok?" She asked, ignoring the tears in her own eyes and the whirlwind of emotions caused by the past few moments.

"Yeah..." Bruce still seemed dazed. "I was worried saving Tony would really hurt her, you know, so I figured she could use my energy to help her or something, I wasn't sure how it worked..." He flexed the hand that he had placed on her arm, rubbing his wrist. "I guess it worked, I mean I felt it all, I can't describe it... But I think I just need to sit for a while..." Natasha let out a breath of relief, rubbing his shoulders as they sat together while he recovered, reminding herself to tell him how stupid and brave he was later.