JUST A LITTLE BROKEN|| t. s.

Chapter 29: Know Your Worth

Third Person's Point of View

A few minutes after Elise's eyes closed, Director Fury of SHIELD came through the doorway to be met with a bleeding Coulson and a 17 year old girl passed out, sweating, and bloody. Both her hands were on Coulson's back, the back of her grey hoodie stained with blood at the exact spot of Coulson's wound. Coulson stared at the girl lovingly, as tears fell from his eyes. This kid tried to save me without any thought for how it might affect her. God, she doesn't deserve any of what's happening to her, he thought.

Fury approached the two, kneeling down and staring into Coulson's eyes. "Sorry boss, the god rabbited," was Coulson's first sentence. Fury removed the gun that lay on Coulson's lap, and pried the teenage girl from her position. "Just stay awake, eyes on me," Fury demanded, as unwanted tears brimmed his eye. He carefully picked up the girl, and carried her in his arms. "She tried to save me. She used her powers on me, t-tried to transfer energy. I-I-I f-felt it," Coulson lightly gasped for breath.

"She deserves to know," was Coulson's next words. Fury nodded, taking a peak at the child-like face of the girl in his arms, loving the way how she had bounced her way into his heart.

"I know."

"I'm clocking out here," Coulson whispered. Fury lightly shook his head.

"Not an option."

"It's okay, boss. This was never gonna work if they didn't have something to- to- to..." Fury watched as he gasped for air in short breaths, as his eyes moved downwards to where Elise lay. And he took his final breath, and in a blink of an eye, Phil Coulson was gone. Breathing in shakily, Fury never let his tears fall, and let his eyes wander to the agent that he had spent his years with. Fury had nothing other than respect and trust for this man. He let his head fall slowly, eye closed. Opening his eye, he stood up while carefully cradling Elise in his arms. He let the paramedics do their work, leaving specific instructions, and walked to Infirmary Red, a hospital room specialized for Elise Stark. The doctor assigned in the room ushered him to place her on the bed, and quickly inspected major and minor wounds, as Fury told her about the wound on her back. As she went to get the materials needed, Fury pushed Elise's bangs aside and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "Be safe, little lady. Be strong. A lot of people are depending on you right now."

As he walked away and the doors closed behind him, he pressed a hand to his comms to alert the people listening in, "Elise Stark is in Infirmary Red with a major wound and... Agent Coulson is down. The medical team called it."

Maria Hill pushed away the medic that was treating to her wound, as the news sunk in. Natasha Romanoff stared into nothing, her fists clenched as her face held no emotion, not wanting anyone to see a weak moment. Tony Stark stood rigid, watching the gaping hole on the wall and as if his soul went back to his body, he made a dash to where his daughter was, asking JARVIS for further instructions. As he let his suit be removed from his body in a specialized room for him, he waited impatiently and immediately took off to the direction that JARVIS had given him. As he slid his identification card on the panel, the metal doors opened swiftly to see a female doctor put stitches on her daughter's back. A small wrap of gauze was taped tightly on her forehead. There were a few scratches on her cheeks, as she lay stomach facing down on the medical bed, while only in her black sports bra and black skin-tight shorts.

For a moment, he stood there not even moving one bit. He can clearly see the jagged and some precision cut scars on her arms, torso, back, and wrists. Some were white and clearly fading, while some looked like they've been there for only a few months and a few years. He sucked in a breath, desperately trying to push out the dark memories that threatened to plague his mind. "I-Is she okay?" His question was just about a whisper. The doctor, who had not lost her focus, finished the stitching and turned to face Tony Stark. Her short dirty blonde hair reached her shoulders as her wide blue eyes shone with sharp focus and dedication. She nodded, acknowledging the billionaire's question. "Hi, I'm Doctor Siera Ruschel. Your daughter is perfectly fine. Apparently, with the information that the director told me, she tried to transfer energy to Agent Coulson to keep him alive... sadly, to no avail. She acquired the wound that Agent Coulson had caught, revealing a side-effect to her ability of energy transfer. Apparently, she needs to receive the wound or current state the body of the receiver is in, while in the process lose energy of her own. That's the reason why she passed out, probably from immense stress, exhaustion, and pain."