You Didn't See That Coming? ~Hawksilver~ #Wattys2015

5

The kid was laying in the bed, shirtless though blood-covered bandages were wrapped all around him as well as several blankets. Wanda and the female doctor sat next to him, and the two male doctors stood aside.

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

"He's alive," the woman said, "but not much more than that for now. He was awake earlier, you said?" Wanda nodded.

"He was talking and laughing...then he stopped laughing and said it hurt, and eventually he just went back to sleep. And he wasn't talking nonsense, either, he was having a real conversation with me and Clint's family."

"Strange," she muttered, "very strange. It seems as if he's in a coma. But he was fine, not that long ago."

"How is that possible? Did he just lose enough blood where he passed out?" I asked.

"It's possible," the older man said, "but there is a more logical explanation. Because he is enhanced, we believe his body is able to heal quickly and adapt to extreme conditions. If he didn't have these abilities, he wouldn't have his super speed. Along with these abilities includes adapting to blood loss. Technically speaking, he could heal in about a week from what would have killed a person immediately, such as these wounds here."

"Now, it's possible his body is in some sort of sleep mode so he could use all his energy to heal himself on his own," the woman said. "I'm afraid we can't do too much more than what we've already done."

"What did you do?" I asked.

"We removed the bullets," the younger male doctor said. "Stitched up one of the really bad wounds, bandaged him up. We don't want to drug him with anything, because of his extremely fast metabolism. It wouldn't work, giving him painkillers or medicines. We also don't want to disturb his natural healing process."

"Now, I would definitely not forcibly wake him. Caring for him, changing his bandages and whatnot, his sister has agreed to," the woman said, "But after he wakes, give him at least a week of care before letting him get out of the house or anything. Just a week or two of care. Believe it or not, we are actually prescribing warmth and comfort towards the patient." She laughed.

"I have two kids," I said, "I'm sure between my family and the Avengers, he'll be receiving a lot of attention even before he wakes."

"I'm sorry, but we just can't do any more," the older male doctor said.

"Hey, you did your best," I said. "Besides, you did enough where it would be okay to just leave him to heal. The suffering's ended."

"The suffering's ended," the woman repeated, and putting her hand on Pietro's face, she said "Hang in there. We're rooting for you." She got up, and all three doctors went down to get some food on Wanda's orders.

"You've been cooped up here long enough," she said, "Go on, get some food. And thank you for taking care of my brother."

"It was a pleasure to help a new Avenger in need," the younger man said. "Take care, now." And they left.

"You sure you don't want anything to eat?" I asked Wanda.

"No, I'm fine."

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

"I could bring something up-"

"Clint, I'm fine for now. Thank you for offering," she said briskly.

"Okay then. Let me now if you do need anything later, okay?"

"Will do," she said with a nod, and I left her alone with her comatose brother.

Comatose. It's me that should be comatose. This never should have happened, not to the kid. But it did happen, and now I'm only scared my wife won't want Avengers all over the house all the time. As much as she won't admit it, she's scared that an enemy will come and hurt her, me, and the kids. But she also knows that we're no less safe and no more safe than any other person in this crazy world. Still, she feared that all of the Avengers being here could be a danger. I don't blame her, either. I, too, feared that my Avenging could be dangerous to my home and family. But many things, most things, in life are beyond fear and beyond our control. If it were under control, Pietro wouldn't be comatose.

But the good news really is that he's not dead and it looks like he's not going to die anytime soon.

I came downstairs to see Nat had arrived and was now playing LEGOS with Cooper and Lila, and Tony was admiring Cooper's architectural skills in his miniature city.

"You built this all on your own? With no instructions?" He asked in awe, examining the mini model of Avengers Tower.

"Uh-huh," Cooper said. "But Daddy helped just a little bit. He gave me a picture to look off of."

"He's ingenious," Tony said, and Nat smiled.

"Must get it from Laura," she said, and Lila giggled.

"Daddy, Auntie Nat just said you were stupid," she said.

"I didn't say that," Nat folded her arms defensively. "I implied that you were the stupid one."

"She implied it," Lila said, grinning like a fool.

"So that's how it's going to be?" I asked, also folding my arms.

"That's how it is."

"Let's see you teach Lila how to build something out of LEGOS," I said, "But you can't help her."

"Why?"

"Because-"

"No, why? Why does this prove anything? You didn't teach Cooper how to build this, anyway. And if I can't help Lila build something, it will only prove that Lila and Cooper are both very talented LEGO architects." I thought it over for a second, and shrugged a little. Laura laughed.

"Speechless," she said, putting the last dish into the dishwasher.

"Laura, no need, you're done with housework," I said, "Take a break."

"Oh, alright, if I have to," she said jokingly, and she sat down on the couch next to Steve. The female doctor took a sip of Dr Pepper. "Alright, kids, it's getting late-"

"NO!" Cooper shouted. "Don't make us go to bed! I'm not tired!"

"Me neither!" Lila pouted, putting down her LEGO mini-figure and folding her arms like Nat and I had earlier.

"We drank too much caffeine to fall asleep this early. I blame Daddy."

"And Auntie Nat just got here!"

"Kids, it's nearly two AM. I think it's time for bed," Laura said, laying her head back on a pillow on the couch. Suddenly, she sat upright. "...honey?"

"Yes?"

"...Nathaniel," she said, and we looked at each other in horror.

"He's coming?" I asked, standing up, in shock.

"Yeah," she said, standing up as well. Nat smiled like insanity.

"I can Quinjet you over to the hospital," Tony said, "I mean, gotta drop off the docs anyway."

"Geez, you're taking this easy," Nat said.

"It's my third kid, what do you expect," Laura said hoarsely, and she put on a jacket, holding her baby bump.

"Hospital. Let's go," I said, putting my arm around her shoulders and leading her out the door. "Nat, you stay here with all the kids?"

"I wanna go with to see Natasha," she said. "Make Steve stay."

"Auntie Nat, please stay with us! Pleeeeaaaaseeee!" Lila shrieked excitedly, and Nat rolled her eyes fondly.

"Oh, alright," she said, "but if I don't get a call the minute they accept visitors, Barton-"

"I got it," I said, and nervous excitement filled me. I was going to be a father of three.