A Complicated Web

Chapter Seventy Five: Food For Thought

Thanks to Loki being literally just outside the door of the medical suite, he was technically the first on scene when Kally woke up. He entered the room moments after hearing JARVIS announce, upstairs, that she was conscious, leaving the other guard at the door.

A doctor was there, coming out of some back room. She checked Kally's vitals as the girl adjusted her bed so she could sit more upright. Despite her injury, she felt pretty good. In fact, it didn't hurt nearly as much as it had the day before. And when the doctor asked her about the pain, she was able to confirm it being no more than a four out of ten.

Loki gave Kally a brief smile, sure she could see through his guise as a SHIELD guard. He didn't say anything while the doctor was there and was glad she left quickly, once she'd made sure her patient was comfortable. "Good morning, sleeping beauty," he said to her, using his magic to keep JARVIS from hearing their conversation.

Kally couldn't help but smile up at the god of mischief. "Looks like I'm back where it all started," she observed. "I honestly don't think I should feel this decent."

That confused the mischief god for a moment and it showed on his face. "Why do you say that?" He moved to stand closer to the side of her bed but far enough out of the way to not cause suspicion from anyone who might see the video footage.

"I thought I'd hurt a lot more," she replied as she moved to touch her injured thigh. "I almost think I'm going to heal up a lot faster than should be normal."

Loki chuckled at that. "Normal for a human," he corrected. "But remember you are not fully one. You are half Valkyrie, after all. And those of Asgard do tend to have a better healing ability than anyone from here, with a few exceptions."

Kally looked over towards the other bed, noting Hiro there with all his tubes and wires. "I almost feel a sense of déjà vu seeing him there like that," she confessed. "But it wasn't that long ago that we escaped Hydra was it?"

"It was only yesterday," Loki informed. "Though I'm told they plan on keeping Hiro sedated for a while to give his body time to recover. It's unfortunate that his abilities don't include a heightened sense of healing as well. I'm sure he'd find it useful."

But before Kally could make any comments on that end, the door to the room opened and Baymax, Honey, and Natasha entered the room. Loki took a few steps back in the guise of the dutiful guard while the doctor from before came back out to assure everyone Kally was making a good recovery.

"Guess it's too late to go back to the student expo," Kally joked. "I wonder what happened there."

Baymax waddled closer at Sammy's insistence. "You would have been disappointed by its results," Sammy said from his stomach. "I took the liberty of looking at the judges' score cards. They didn't even have a chance to evaluate your project."

Kally couldn't help but look confused. "But what about that guy who looked like a judge? I thought he...?"

Natasha moved closer so she could keep Kally from getting up. "He was an imposter," she explained, removing her hand from the teen's shoulder. "One of Hydra's agents keeping tabs on you, and possibly making sure your qualifications weren't exaggerated."

"I still don't know what they were going to do with the program they were having me write," Kally sighed, though part of her really didn't want to know. "I can only guess it wasn't anything good."

Honey gave her a sympathetic smile. "It's probably better to leave it at that," she advised. "Sometimes it's better not to know."

That seemed to give Kally food for thought as she chewed on her cheek. "Speaking of knowing things, are you guys going to tell me why you were wearing battle armor?"