Never Alone Again |N.R|

Where am I?

Bruce discovered several injuries, some new some old, when doing his tests. Rue was severely dehydrated and malnourished, she had three freshly broken ribs, a cut on her chin that was at least a couple of weeks old, a black eye, a deep gash above her right eyebrow that would need stitches and a mild concussion. She was fourteen or fifteen years old, but that could only be confirmed when she woke up and told them. Other than that, Bruce knew nothing more about the young girl and nobody else did either. She was like a ghost.

Exhaustion, along with her many injuries, meant she'd been asleep for over a day so hopefully she'd wake up soon.

Rue's POV

I opened my eyes slowly, they wouldn't move any faster. But when I finally took in my surroundings panic set in. Where the hell was I? Everything was white and clean, the air stank of antiseptic and I was attached to monitors and an IV. Who'd found me? Who'd taken me?

One of the monitors started beeping faster and faster as my heart sped up and my breaths became short. Someone came rushing into the room and headed towards me.

"Get away from me! Who are you?!" I screamed as loud as I could, but my voice broke from the dryness of my throat.

They stopped in their tracks, startled by my reaction.

"My name is Bruce, Bruce Banner. I'm one of the Avengers. We found you unconscious outside so we've been treating you."

I stared at him for a moment before looking down at my body. I need to get out of here, I don't know these people. Quickly, I pulled the monitor off of my finger followed by the IV's from my arms.

"Please don't. You need to stay in bed, you're injured." I ignored his pleas.

I pulled the covers back and tried standing, but my legs betrayed me and I crashed to the ground. Bruce started towards me with his arms outstretched but I didn't want him coming any closer, let alone touching me. In a panic, I used my abilities rather than shout at him. Before I knew it, I'd launched a metal tray of medical supplies in his direction, followed by a chair and a box of something. I was so stupid, now he'd know I wasn't just a normal girl. That was meant to be my secret, and mine only.

Natasha's POV

I was reading over some files in a lounge room when I heard the shouting followed by loud crashes. I immediately jumped to my feet and rushed towards the Med Bay. They must've been coming from there. Sure enough, as I rounded the corner I saw Bruce leant up against the wall outside the Med Bay taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself down.

"What happened?" I questioned as I got closer to him, tentatively placing a hand on his shoulder as not to startle him.

"She freaked out Nat. She has powers. She used her mind to throw things at me to keep me away. I had to leave before the green guy decided to make an appearance." Bruce sounded defeated, and a little scared. I gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"I'm going to go in there. Try and calm her down." Bruce grabbed my arm as I went to enter, shaking his head in disagreement.
"Nat you can't, she'll just try and hurt you." I looked at him before facing towards the door again.
"Someone's got to Bruce, and maybe she'll recognise me. I saw her last night, so maybe she saw me." With that I shook my arm free of his grip, took one last deep breath and pushed the door to the Med Bay open slowly.

Once I was inside I closed the door softly behind me, trying to avoid making any loud or sudden noises. I couldn't see her anywhere at first. The bed was empty and things were strewn across the floor. But as I looked towards the furthest corner I saw her curled into a ball, her body shaking.

"Hey, I'm Natasha. I'm not going to come any closer, I just wanted you to know I was here. Do you remember me from last night?" I'd hoped that after posing the question she'd lift her head slightly and look my way. But she didn't. Instead she just continued hugging her knees to her chest tightly.

"Well I saw you, outside that bar. You held your own against those men, more than that. I tried following you to make sure you were okay but you disappeared."

Rue's POV

I recognised her voice. She was the one that shouted after me when I made a run for it. She was the one that flipped one of those men onto his arse.
Slowly, I turned my head slightly so that one eye could see beyond my huddled up knees. Her red hair was unmistakable. It was her.

Just as I looked up she caught my gaze, a warm smile sneaking onto her face. I furrowed my eyebrows in response. Why was she smiling at me?

"I'm glad you recognise me." With that she slowly made her way forward. But she was getting too close.

"Please, stop there. I don't want to hurt anyone else. Please." I was pleading with her to stay away, stay away from me because all I seemed to bring to others was pain. She did as I asked, stopping right where she was about three metres away.

"I'm going to stay here okay? I don't want you to be on your own. All I ask is that you get back in the bed. I'll keep my distance but you need to rest, and lying on the cold hard floor isn't going to help your injuries heal." I didn't mind her. She listened to me but she wasn't scared of me, and she was right. My ribs were throbbing from the pressure of me hugging my knees, and the stitches on my forehead were getting sore since I'd ripped out the IV that was giving me pain relief.

After a couple of minutes of contemplation, I stopped hugging my knees and tried getting to my feet. Each time I put weight on one of my legs it gave out and I was back to square one. But I refused to let anyone help me, because that meant them getting near and I couldn't trust myself not to have another meltdown. After several tries I managed to use the wall to pull myself up, steadying myself before I made any attempts to walk. Once I felt stable enough I kept one hand against the wall and guided myself towards the bed. I winced with each step, but I tried so hard to keep a straight face. I didn't need Natasha pitying me anymore than she already did.

Eventually I made it there, but it was high for me and my legs were already struggling to hold me up let alone allow me to hop up onto the bed. I looked over at Natasha, mustering up the courage to ask for her help but before I could she spoke.

"How about I help you onto the bed quickly?" A sigh of defeat passed my lips and I nodded my head slightly. There was no way I'd be able to get back into bed without someone's help. She slowly made her way towards me, my heart beating a little faster with each step she made. I took deep breaths and kept my eyes shut until she was next to me, holding her hand out. I slowly raised my pale shaky hand from my side and gripped onto hers tightly. Using every last bit of my strength I pushed up off of her hand and climbed into the bed. Once I was sure I wouldn't fall I let go of her hand in an instant, but she didn't seem to mind as she pulled the covers over my shaking body.

"Thank you, for helping me. And I'm sorry for what I did to your friend." I spoke with my head held low, avoiding eye contact.

"Of course, I want you to get better. And don't worry about Bruce, he's dealt with much worse. I'll let him know that you're okay, because those IV's need to be put back in."

Just as she turned to leave I spoke again without thinking.

"Is it okay if you come back? I, uh, I don't want to be alone."

"Of course it is. I won't be long."

Then she was gone, and those few seconds of silence were already getting to be too much. My thoughts were deafening.