Frostbite

Six

I could hear the beeping. The damn beeping. It sounded just like... no. No, it couldn't be. Panicking, I jumped fully awake and looked for the source of the noise. All I could focus on were the machines and the tubes attached to me.

There was no way I could go through this again. I hastily reached over to get rid of them, but before I could, someone's hands grabbed my arms, preventing me from escaping.

"No! Let me go. No more!" I cried, my voice shrill. I looked up wide-eyed to see Steve holding me in place and realization of what was going on crept into me.

"Mel, you're safe. You're in the hospital, no one is going to hurt you, I promise," he soothed me, letting go of my arms. My mind was racing, trying to decipher what I remembered was real or just imagined.

Steve pulled up a chair next to my bed and gently enclosed my hand in both of his. He looked like he hadn't slept in days and his usually perfect hair was a mess. His clothes were wrinkled, probably from sleeping in them.

"Where's Aldrich? We have to find him and-" I began grilling him, growing hysterical again.

"He's gone. Tony and Pepper are fine. Pepper had Extremis in her... but Tony had it sorted out. They should have been here by now... You've been out for nine days. They had you in surgery for hours, and you almost didn't make it," he whispered. Tony?

"Wait- what? I watched Tony's entire house crumble into the sea. He survived?" I asked, shocked. The brick that was weighing on my chest lifted, allowing me to breathe again. They were alive.

"Yes, everything is going to be okay. The doctors weren't sure when you'd wake up," he told me, sounding strained, "Tony took care of Aldrich. He was the Mandarin the entire time and was using that to cover the fact that Extremis was what was causing people to combust and kill people. The Vice President was in on it as well. The doctors found drugs in your system... so we're assuming Aldrich slipped them to you to make it easier to subdue you."

I wasn't as surprised by the Vice Presidents involvement; I knew there had been something fishy going on between them.

"Good. He deserves to rot in hell. He must've slipped it in my drink before I got there..." I trailed off, suddenly remembering something.

"He orchestrated my kidnapping and sold me out to use the money from whoever he was working with to use me as his first test subject. All to get back at Tony," I moaned. Steve's expression reflected his surprise.

"Bastard," he growled, his hands tightening around mine, "He didn't give any clue to who it was? I hung up once I heard the gun shot and he was long gone by the time I got to you..."

"Not really. He said that it was some organization, but that was it. At least we got something from all of this. A new lead," I tried sounding cheerful. He gave me a half smile, relaxing again. I sat up carefully and looked around the room finally.

It had various items of Steve's scattered about. He had to have been living here this whole time. The T.V in the corner was playing reruns of Friends, and I couldn't help but grin.

"You remembered my favorite show! I'm flattered Captain," I teased, getting him to duck his head shyly. When he looked back up at me, his eyes were burning, eager to say something.

"Melanie, I was terrified that I wasn't going to make it to you in time. I was terrified you weren't going to ever come back. This entire time I've been regretting that I didn't tell you..." he trailed off, searching for his next words.

My breath caught, and I could hear the monitor's beeping increase because of my thundering heart. I prayed he didn't notice. How embarrassing.

"All of this has made me realize how afraid I am of losing you. You're the only good thing in my life that keeps me going. After I came out of the ice I was lost, but after meeting you... I felt that maybe this new life might actually be worth living. I don't know when I started loving you, but I do. I love you Melanie," he admitted, his eyes burning passionately. I couldn't help but beam brightly at him, my heart fluttering in bliss.

"I love you too," I told him simply, slipping my hand from his and resting it on his cheek. He smiled widely and grabbed my hand to kiss the top of it. There was a knock on the door, breaking us out of our little bubble. The door burst open, and Tony and Pepper came in cheerfully.

"About time you showed up," Steve directed towards Tony jokingly, standing to shake his hand. Tony shrugged and grinned mischievously.

"Well, we all know how Tony has to be fashionably late," Pepper teased, placing the bag she had brought with her on the table. She began to pull everything out, and it smelled strongly of Chinese. Tony broke my attention away from the mouthwatering food.

"I'm glad you're going to be okay. We were scared there for a minute, Lanie," he said quietly, using my childhood nickname and giving me a quick peck on the forehead.

"Yeah, well, I thought I watched you die. Don't ever do that again," I chuckled, elbowing him lightly. He stuck his tongue out and went to grab his and Steve's Styrofoam containers.

Pepper brought me mine and pulled up one of the extra chairs. Tony and Steve sat at the small table, already debating heatedly whether Chinese fast food is better than American. Pepper and I exchanged looks and let them argue it out.

As I opened my container and dug in, I looked around the room and smiled to myself. I couldn't be any more content than I was in this moment. The people I loved most were here with me and we were all going to be fine.