Accidental Avenger [Steve Rogers]

[15]

After the second yell of "clear" from Bruce and the second volt of electricity traveled through Elodie's chest to shock her heart, everyone held their breath. But then it all changed, the monitor began beeping again. Her heart had began beating again!

Tony let out a sigh of deep relief and pulled Natasha into his harms, heaving breathing into her shoulder as he felt the anxiety leave his body. Natasha used him as support as all her extremities felt like jelly.

Scott let go of Hope and she sprinted into the room. Her hand clutched her sister's and she almost gasped at how soft it was. All the tissue had been rebuilt by Dr Cho's machine and as much as Hope trusted her, she was sure her sister was going to be made of plastic.

Wanda gave Thor a kiss on the cheek, thanking him for halting her breakdown. Thor nodded and headed out of the room, giving one final glance back at Elodie but deciding it was going to be too hard to stay there. Wanda followed after, so did Scott and then Tony. That left the nurse, Dr Cho, Bruce Banner and Hope.

Hope day on a little stool that had been placed on the life side of Elodie's bed. Natasha sat the other side, making sure to keep an eye on Hope. Sure she acted distressed moments ago, but Natasha has witnessed families sob and scream after loved ones only to end up being the ones to kill them. The ex-assassin had seen enough to know that you can't trust anyone just because the cry. Humans are very good good actors when they want to be.

Hope looked between Elodie and Natasha. She wanted to ask a few questions but wasn't sure if now was the right time. So instead she focused on her senses. Starting with noise. Bruce and Helen working at the back of the room, the heart monitor and the rain hitting the window and guttering outside. It smelled like hand sanitiser, lemon scented cleaning products and metal. It wasn't cold yet it wasn't warm either, it was fine.

"So.""So." Hope and Nat said at the same time. Nat gestured for her to go first and Hope nodded a thanks.

"I was just gonna ask um. I've been living in California while Elodie's been staring at my apartment, I haven't seen her in almost 3 years. Is there anything new with her?" Hope scratched the back of her neck nervously. She knew she sounded like a bad sister but she had to ask.

Natasha nodded, understanding that sometimes life gets busy. You can't keep up with everyone. "Elodie had been going through some stuff. She was trying to balance her avenger life with her personal life. She wanted to party, she wanted to be with her friends. But she realised that she wanted to be an avenger more. You're sister loves her job and she's good at it. I've never seen someone become so fearless. It's almost as if something there's a switch in her head that's she's able to flip when she needs to." Natasha paused to think for a moment. "Elodie wanted to prove to Steve, to all of us, that she was a serious and worthy member of the team."

"Why? Did you guys do anything to make her believer otherwise?" Hope enquired.

Natasha paused. She let her shoulders slump and she nodded. "Steve was on her case a lot, being the guy to instate her. He knew she was a party girl and he knew her friends were...adventurous. But there was a party, a few months before she was kidnapped. Steve insinuated that Elodie did drugs with her friends and Elodie denied it, she was hurt that he'd think she did it."

"She has in the past." Hope tilted her head to the side and rolled her eyes.

"Everybody has stuff that they're not proud of." Natasha was quick to defend the unconscious girl, not liking how quick Hope changed. "Anyway. She had this bug realisation that she wanted to change, be a bit more mature. So she said bye bye to the pink hair, she welcomed more training hours and instead of being the fun and bubbly girl we all know and love, she locked herself away in her room."

Hope nodded. "Yep. When she sets her heart on doing something she goes all in."

"Correct." Natasha nodded. She wanted Hope to know that she and the team knew Elodie just as much as she did, if not better. Because Natasha was good at reading people, she was excellent at it. And she could tell that Hope was controlling, possessive and a bit bitchy.

Natasha stood up, readying herself to leave as she knew that she should give Elodie's subconscious a break from being surrounded by people. She placed her hands in front of her, confidently clasped as she looked over at a now standing Hope. "We should leave her to the professionals. I'm sure she'll welcome us back when she's awake. We'll call you."

"Actually," Hope smiled. "Tony said that Scott and I could stick around, help out on the case."

"I don't think that's appropriate. You're a little too close." Natasha tried but failed.

"Not necessarily. I've been apart from her for years and I don't know that much about her life now. Yeah she's my sister but, we haven't been that close."

"I got that." Natasha said bitterly. The Avengers were the closest thing to a family that she had and she'd be damned if she let a stranger get in the way of that.

"Besides." Hope folded her arms. "You never answered my question."

"What?"

"I asked if Elodie had a boyfriend? A partner? Who does she surround herself with? I'd quite like to talk to them." Deep down Hope cared for her sister and she just wanted to know every detail before she went full crazy on Lexi.

Natasha's face softened as Hope repeated her previous question. Knowing there was some sort of ulterior motive she answered honestly. "Well I wouldn't know. You should speak to Wanda, Elodie was closest to her."

Hope nodded. "Right. Thanks."

Natasha and nodded and walked over to the door. Just as she pulled it open and held it for Hope, there was a spike in the heart monitor. The machine began beeping faster and Elodie was stirring.

Elodie's eyes fluttered open and she tried to talk, but she had been intubated and had a tube down her throat. She began gagging and making horrible choking noises. Helen rushed to her side to remove the tube as Bruce got the girl some water for her undoubtedly sore throat.