Illusions (The Avengers)

20. Kiasta's Warning

Chloe was oblivious when she opened her eyes, everything was somewhat blurry at first. At first, she thought that she was in her room, staring at the ceiling. Then everything became clearer, and she began to feel a heavy ache dragging her head further into her pillow, her entire body hurt. It all came rushing back slowly, giving her a violent headache as she recalled everything that had been done to her in the last few months.

Sitting up quickly brought a head rush, causing her to see white dots, but she figured out that she was hooked up to several machines, IVs stuck in her arms and it looked like she was in a glass box. The last thing she remembered was Tristan, and had Austin been there too? She didn't remember.

As her vision adjusted, she found Tristan standing in the doorway, his dark eyes tired and his hair tussled. He must have just woken up, as he was in red flannel pants and a black tank that showed off his pronounced biceps. He looked awful, and maybe it was everything that had happened to her, but it was like she was seeing him for the first time. To her, Tristan had always been the son of Tony Stark- a superhero in the making. She'd always thought of him as brave, as most girls did, but what little she actually saw of the real him at school and sometimes other places only showed the part of him that looked good; the hot, unbeatable son of a legend. Only now did Chloe see the real him.

His posture was hunched over, much different from his usual Stark posture. His exposed arms were covered in dark bruises and cuts, his right shoulder bandaged heavily and his left palm wrapped. His whole face seemed shadowed, like he hadn't slept in days. Maybe he hadn't. What did she look like? Did she look as awful as he did?

"Tristan?" she said quietly, surprised to find that she had a voice left.

He looked up, moving from his spot against the glass.

"Hey," he said, coming to sit next to her on the edge of the bed," How're you feeling?"

"I don't know." And she didn't. Her whole body ached, but she herself didn't feel any pain, it was like her emotions were just waiting to ambush her.

"Does anything hurt?" he asked gently, moving a finger to trace a deep-looking scrape in her right forearm.

"I mean, I'm a little achy, but I'm okay. Um, did I hurt you?" she could just recall what happened after she saw him, she remembered his pain.

"A little," he admitted," How'd you do it, anyway?"

"I don't know. I don't really remember anything, just that I can hurt people. That's obviously why I'm in a glass box, isn't it?"

He sighed," You're in here so that you are protected, we aren't the bad guys, Chloe."

"Well, duh! I know that!" Chloe snapped hotly," I just- Tristan, what happened to me?"

She stared at him, he had to know something. He had to.

"We don't know yet, but I promise we're going to fix it," he assured," You don't remember anything?"

She shook her head," Just that it hurt."

He glanced down, sighing.

"I'm sorry," he said bitterly.

"Why?" Chloe asked," It wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault, it just happened. Don't do that thing and blame yourself for everything."

He chuckled slightly," At least we know that you are still you."

She smiled painfully, yes, she was still fun-loving, party-planning Chloe. No psycho kidnapping was going to change that.

"Yeah, I'm still me."