Never Gonna Stop Me (Resilience Book 1) (Avengers Fan-fic) [COMPLETED]

Chapter 15

Super long update... oops!

Anyhoo...

Voila!

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Sam

A week later, I was sitting in my wheelchair, working on a few designs in one of Tony’s labs in Stark Towers. I wasn’t really paying attention to the drawings though, the Cruciamen was bothering me more than it had in the past week, and it was taking all I had not to cry out. So, instead, I was focusing on other things. Steve and I had been spending more time together, getting to know each other better. I had helped Clint fix one of his bows, and was helping Pepper out around the house.

I had tried to hide the pain that I was in, fooling most of them into thinking that I was well on my way towards mending. But I think that Bruce could see through my little act. Sometimes Steve and Tony could too. It was the little thing which gave me away. Like when I gripped the armrests of my chair to tight, or when I held my breath for that second to long, or when I closed my eyes for a second and squeezed them that little bit too tight.

It was slowly, but surely, wearing me down. I could feel it, and they could see it. Another strong wave of pain sliced through my chest. I dropped my pencil and groaned, bending over and wrapping my arms around myself in an attempt to hold it together.

‘Sam?’ called Bruce from the other side of the lab. I tried to straighten up, to pretend that everything was ok. But as I moved, the pain intensified. I closed my eyes and felt them roll back in my head before the pain eased back to its former throb and I looked up into Bruce’s warm eyes.

‘It’s not getting any better, is it?’ he asked, sadly looking me over. I shook my head dejectedly.

‘You haven’t tried... you know... moving anything, have you?’

I shook my head and looked up at him. ‘Bruce... why do my legs keep cutting out? I feel like I’m running on short circuits here, not knowing when the next one is going to blow.’ He shook his head at me.

‘I don’t know Sam. I just hope that it’ll sort itself out when we find an antidote to this “Cruciamen” stuff.’ He looked at me and frowned.

‘Any idea as to why he called it that? “Cruciamen”... it’s odd.’ He said, rambling a little. I shrugged.

‘I think it suits it fine. Alex said that it was pain in Latin.’ I explained.

Bruce held a hand out to stop me. ‘Wait... Who’s Alex?’ he asked. I had forgotten that I hadn’t told them yet. I sighed.

‘He used to be a SHIELD agent, a good one too. When I got drafted in from the FBI, he got it in his head that I was trying to steal his job. So apparently he teamed up with RHOKA, and they faked his death. Now he’s back and he wants me dead again, only this time, he’s not waiting around.’ I explained, the pain of the blatant betrayal still raw.

Bruce looked at me carefully, like I was a fragile piece of glass, or a frightened, injured bird. I sighed, sitting up a little.

‘Do you need a hand around the labs?’ I asked, my hands fidgeting again. ‘I... I just need to be doing something... you know?’ I looked up at Bruce, who smiled, before getting up.

‘Sure. I’m not sure the others will approve, but I’d enjoy having someone who speaks geek, not including Tony, around.’ He stood up and tilted his head towards the elevator.

‘Come on. I’ll give you the tour.’ He said, smiling. I smiled back and we headed over to the elevator. An hour later, after getting the ‘grand tour’, Bruce and I were working in the astrophysics lab, doing a routine scan for gamma radiation and any other possible dangers. The scanner was loading, and so Bruce and I started talking.