Beautiful Chaos

{part three | chapter nine}

She opened her eyes what felt like a few moments later, but she knew it had to have been a few hours. It was cold. She looked down and saw she was covered by a thin blanket, probably from the quinjet's supply stash. She moved to stand, and suddenly remembered her arm was injured. She sucked in a sharp breath. Either Bucky or Steve had though to wrap the fracture so it would set right and she thanked their military experience for teaching them this type of thing. She moved more gently this time, wrapping the banket more closley around her body. Flicking a few of the Quinjet's controls, she opened up the hatch and was greeted by air colder than she had ever felt. 

Where the hell was she? She squinted through the snowfall and saw a door.

A door? It was set in a large rock formation and looked menacing as ever. 

They had made it. She found a jacket in one of the jet's storage containers, one that she thought she had lost last year. She must've forgotten it. It was warmer that Lilith's flimsy blanket and black, short-sleeve, shirt. She found herself grateful that she had thought to wear long pants that day. After tightening her scabbard around her torso, she emerged from the jet's back hatch and walked, albeit hesitantly, towards the open door. When the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened, she heard voices ahead of her and moved towards them, hoping it was only Steve or Bucky. 

But it wasn't just Steve and Bucky. An unfortunately familliar face greeted her from beyond the dimly lit hallway she was standing in. 

"Lilith," Tony said, his voice barely a whisper, "What are you doing here?"

"We could ask the same of you," Steve retorted. 

"Could be you're story's not so crazy. Ross has no idea I'm here I'd like to keep it that way. Otherwise I gotta arrest myself."

"Well, that sounds like a lot of paperwork," the patriot commented. He lowered his shield, "It's good to see you, Tony."

"You too, Cap," Tony scoffed at Bucky, who stood just ahead of Lilith, still holding his firearm at the ready, "Hey, Manchurian Candidate, you're killing me. There's a truce here, you can drop that." Steve made a gesture that told Bucky it was alright to stand down. 

"Lilith I-" Tony stopped himself mid sentence, pausing slightly, as if to think the situation through. In the end he dicided to turn around and motion for them to follow him, not saying another word to his daughter.

Lilith suddenly felt faint, her head throbbing with a headache. She placed her good hand on the soldier's shoulder to steady herself and he turned to look at her. When he saw her expression, his brow creased. She knew she looked ill and afraid, because that's how she felt. He placed a hand -the one made of flesh and bone- on the space between her shoulderblades and moved her forward slowly as the group began to walk. They stayed slightly behind and he lowered his voice so her could talk to her without being heard.

"Are you okay?"

"I just... Don't feel very good. Nauseous. Headache."

"I think you should've stayed in the jet, no?"

"No. I- I'm gonna help." 

"Lilith, I'm gonna put this delicately. You look awful. You need rest and a calm environment, not... this," He gestured around them to the ominously lit hall.

"Okay... Will you take me back? Please?" 

"Steve," Bucky called. Both Steve and Tony turned to the pair, thinking danger might've been approaching. Then they saw Lilith.

"Lee-Lee," Lilith shot her father a murderous look and he silenced himself quickly. 

"Lils, you need to go back to the jet."