Ghost - An Avengers Fanfiction

Chapter 16

"Bruce, what happened?"

Bruce was sitting on a hospital bed, after having just been checked over by a doctor. Clint was standing next to his bed, Tony was lounging on a chair eating grapes and Steve was lingering by the window, his manner still tense and his eyes somewhat distant.

After finding Bruce and Sophie in the Hanger, Clint had immediately sprung into action. He ordered the agents to lower their weapons before dashing over to kneel beside Bruce.
"What's wrong with her?" Clint asked hurriedly. Bruce looked pale and disorientated, but he answered quickly.
"She needs to be taken to the medical ward immediately. She broke some ribs and they may still puncture a lung." He blurted out. Clint immediately gathered the girl up in his arms, and hurried to the medical ward, moving as carefully as he could to avoid agitating Sophie's injuries. "Cap, Stark! Help Banner to the medical ward!" Clint called over his shoulder. A few minutes later he had reached the medical ward, where he recognised one of the same doctors who had operated on Sophie when she had first come to the Helicarrier.
After gently laying Sophie on a stretcher, Clint quickly explained all that he knew. For the second time in 24 hours, he watched the unconscious young girl being wheeled away by a team of doctors and nurses. A second later, he was joined by Steve and Tony, who were supporting Bruce between them. The four men entered the medical ward, where Bruce had been quickly checked over by a doctor, who then left. This is when Clint asked Bruce the question.

"Bruce, what happened?"

Bruce sighed wearily, then explained how Sophie and the Hulk had teleported to the lake, and that he had convinced the Hulk to find Sophie in the water. Then Bruce hesitated, his eyes darkening.

"At least you still have some level of control over the big guy!" Tony said encouragingly. Bruce barely seemed to hear him, but he started talking again.

"The Other Guy got her to the side of the lake, but she was wasn't breathing at all. I tried CPR, but it wasn't working. I even cracked a few of her ribs in the process." He winced as he said it, remembering the feeling of bone cracking under his palms.

"You're saying she drowned? How long was she without oxygen?" Clint asked, concerned.

Bruce nodded. "It was about eight minutes before I could revive her." He then frowned, deep in thought.
"I think she suspected she might drown. She had a syringe full of adrenaline in her jacket pocket. That's what I used to get her heart going again. She probably would've died without it."

Clint nodded to Bruce, letting him know that he understood the implications of what Bruce was saying. Bruce nodded, and continued.

"We ended up talking for a bit. I wanted her to bring us back here so she could get proper medical attention, but she explained her teleporting abilities to me and that she didn't have the energy. That's why it took us so long to come back. She slept for a few hours to try and heal herself. She seems to use sleep as a way to recharge her teleporting abilities as well." He explained.

"So you watched a girl sleep for hours? Didn't know you were into that Brucie," Tony smirked, obviously trying to ease some of the tension of the situation. Steve had been staring silently out of the window the whole time, obviously tense. Clint just rolled his eyes, while Bruce gave him a deadpan glare.

"I made a fire to stop us both freezing, Tony." He said tersely. Tony held his hands up in a surrender motion, then continued to munch on grapes. Bruce gestured to the dark blue backpack beside the bed. "She was pretty well prepared. Water proof backpack, water proof matches, food, water bottles, clothes, weapons and bullets." He listed.

"Wait, she had a gun?" Clint asked, surprised. Bruce nodded.

"She slept with it. If I even stepped near her, she would wake up and point it at my head. Always went straight back to sleep though." He explained. It made sense to Clint. In his line of work, most people knew how to sleep with at least a knife in their hand.