Eagle (A Loki love story)

Chapter 77

Plot Chapter

"Time of death 1:02am." In the glass, I saw Nat's reflection, as well as her clenched jaw. I knew Fury had meant a lot to her. He had meant a lot to me too, he was the one who had made sure my files were kept under wraps and who had convinced Natasha to train me in the first place. But, he still hadn't trusted me or believed in Loki, even though he did clear our names, I could tell he only did it to appease Frigga.

"Miss Brooks?" There was a man in a white lab coat in front of me.

"Yes?"

"How are you feeling?"

"My wing hurts if that's what you're asking."

"That pain should fade within the next 24 hours, but then you will start to notice pain from two bruised ribs. There will also be some discomfort in your neck accompanied by a bad headache. You may take painkillers but I would strongly advise taking it easy for a week or so as they heal. There is a larger chance of them breaking in your line of work. Other than that, I don't see why you can't leave as early as this morning."

"What about the brace?"

"You can keep it for the future, and you can take it off in a few hours, just try not to put any strain on the joint for a couple days at least. Right now, I would recommend getting some rest. You're starting to show faint signs of exhaustion. I can give you something if you want."

"Ok."

The next time I was aware of what was going on around me, I was in yet another room that didn't remind me at all of a hospital. I wasn't alone either, Steve and Nat were here and they were both facing a stretcher, but I couldn't see who was on it. Not that I needed to, the white unmoving sheet covering a body was enough.

"What are we going to do now?" I broke the silence. Nat didn't move but Steve came over to my bed and knelt to eye level.

"I don't know. You heard Fury, something's up at SHIELD. In your current condition, I don't think you should go back to Headquarters until it's all sorted out. You stick with Nat, she's going to take a couple personal days. I think you should do the same." Steve showed me a silver flash drive with a blue light, "Fury gave this to me. If I don't make it back, I need you to find out what's on it. As soon as I leave, you two go straight to the apartment and get everything you can. We'll meet back here in three hours, if I don't show then assume something bad happened and run." Agent Hill came in, forcing Steve to quickly put the flash drive back in his pocket.

"They need to take him."

"Natasha." She placed a hand on Fury's forehead and left the room, prompting Steve to go after her and me to hobble after him.

"Natasha!"

"Why was Fury in your apartment?"

"I don't know."

"Cap, Laufeyson, they want you back at SHIELD." Rumlow interrupted the conversation.

"The doctor wants me to stay a little longer, to take a final X-ray, and make sure my wing has relocated properly." He didn't look happy.

"Yeah, give me a second."

"They want you now." It sounded more like an order than a request. Perhaps something was going on, "And I talked to your doctor, he said you're free to go."

"Well that's not what he told me. Let me double check."

"Two minutes." I walked away as fast as I could and turned the first corner I got to. From there, I went into the bathroom and created a clone. It would be the first real field test and hopefully Steve would recognize that it was a clone. I sent her back to where I was, told Rumlow that he had changed his mind about the X-ray, and the three of them walked out together. Once the coast was clear, I joined Nat, who was at the vending machine punching in numbers.