Black Star: Hydra War

ꪮ𝓷𝓔︎

NOTHING becomes something.

You open your eyes, freeing yourself from the void of black, only to become trapped in a void of white.

Well... maybe it's not a void. There's other things here. Like lights.

There's a lot of lights. Their harsh bulbs make the white so much brighter than it needs to be, to the point that it's boring into your eyes.

A quiet groan escapes your lips, and you squeeze your eyes shut against the pain. After a few moments, you've adjusted to the light, but you still feel... off. There's really no other word to describe it. It's almost like the feeling you get when you first lose a tooth and have to adjust to the brand-new hole in your mouth.

Suddenly, there's a loud slam, wrenching you out of your thoughts.

"Lexi?"

You try to sit up, but only succeed in pushing yourself up on your elbows a bit. There's a wide open door — it must've made the slamming noise — but you hardly notice it, as somebody is standing in the doorway, blocking your view.

"Dad?" Your voice sounds odd. Dry and scratchy, like it hasn't been used in a while.

Tony smiles, and relief and happiness fill up his eyes, some of that emotion turning into tears. He rushes to your side, scooping up into a tight hug.

"I thought I'd lost you," he mumbles.

"Wh– what happened?" you ask, trying to think through the fuzz stuffed in your brain.

Tony sets you back down onto the pillows, and you notice that you're not the only one in a bad shape. There are dark shadows under his eyes, his beard desperately needs a shave, and his clothes seem loose and baggy. He collapses into the chair next to the bed you're in. His leg is shaking.

"Dad, what happened to you?" you ask, concern shoving most of the fuzz from your mind.

"I'm– I'm fine. Don't worry about me. What's the last thing you remember?" he quickly changes the subject.

"Um... I destroyed the core in Sokovia, and then everything went black. When was the last time you slept?" you insist, refusing to let him dodge your questions.

"Why are you worried about me? You're the one that's been unconscious for a week."

"Wh– what?" Everything else leaves your mind for a moment. You've lost a whole week of your life, and there's no way to get it back.

Tony sighs, but it's not in an annoyed way. It's hopeless, sad. Quietly, he begins to explain what happened.

"After you destroyed the core, Sokovia began to fall. We didn't want to vaporize the city when you were still on it, but we had no choice. Vision rescued Maximoff, but she– she refused to leave without you, so he rescued both of you. He brought you back to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s helicarrier, but we didn't have the equipment to check your vitals at the time, so we all thought you w– were..." his voice trails off as he takes a deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut. "Uh... so we called Dr. Cho, and when we got back to Avengers Tower, she was able to check, and she told us you were still alive." His voice breaks, and his eyes tear up a little, but you suspect this is nowhere near the level of reaction he had when he learned you hadn't died — or the level of reaction when he thought you had. "So, we brought you here and just... waited for you to wake up."

"I– I'm sorry," you blurt out, talking so fast you keep stumbling over your tongue. "I didn't– I wasn't– I only–"

"I know, Lex. I know you would never try to hurt me." He sighs another hopeless sigh. "And, I guess we really didn't have any other options."