Nᴇʙᴜʟᴏsᴀ 》Bᴏᴏᴋ ₁

Ｆｉｖｅ

Harper awoke with a groan, her entire body aching. Her jaw tensed as her eyes finally met with light, she groaned, attempting to cover her eyes with her left arm.

She could hear someone calling her name, faint but still, her earfins twitching as the sound grew louder. She recognized that voice...

"Harper! HARPER!"

....Steve?

She groaned louder, allowing him to help her sit up. Immediately did she feel the pain, her jaw tensing again alongside her muscles; the cold, biting at her exposed flesh, making the pain worse-.

Wait... she was actually feeling cold?

"Tony, Harper's hit pretty bad. Secure the scepter, then come; I need evac."

"Wha-." She attempted to get up, Steve's hands both supporting her weight and keeping her from doing so much. Her vision was blurry, at least for a while; her gaze drunkly settling in the patches of red on the snow, and the glinting of several purple smudges in the sunlight. God... what did she do-?

"Steve..." She muttered, her throat felt dry; her body shuddering from the icy cold, Steve was shushing her softly; holding her in place, telling her to not move much.

"Uncle Steve... Who did I--. What did I do-?"

Her tone of voice made Steve's heart sink to his stomach. This. This was the reason why he had originally said bringing Harper in was a terrible idea. The utter terror in her voice, fully expecting to have killed somebody due to things she could not yet control. Not something someone of her age, still a child should even be thinking.

He simply ran his fingers through her hair, continuing to shush her softly. He was somehow glad he had not witnessed the confrontation, only due to his bond with the teen.

Based on the splintered, bloody tree trunks and patches of blood and Harper's own broken scales in the snow he could only assume the fight had been brutal. And the male enhanced, had a limp. Steve had seen the boy multiple times in the distance, each step seemed to be painful and difficult. He had looked like he had fought with a beast, and looking at Harper now; Steve noted with dread and pain in his heart, that the beast had been his niece.

He barely registered Tony landing close to the two of them, not daring to move. He simply turned to look at Stark, face expressionless; yet his eyes reflected everything he would've told him.

And Tony simply stared, eyes dark. Heaving shaky breaths as he gripped Loki's scepter tighter.

¤¤¤

The hospital. Harper despised the hospital.

Well, in this case; the med bay at the Avengers tower. The sterile smell, the bleakness of it all. It only made her feel worse given the circumstances.

Her dad, Pepper, Steve and Natasha were at the other side, in the lab; she could see them through the window, clearly arguing. Over her nonetheless.

She groaned, covering her face with her hands in a pitiful attempt to keep herself from crying. Lost control. Again. God, was she grateful none of them had seen her. She didn't even remember clearly what she had done. That made it more terrifying.

Bruce was standing by the door. She hadn't even noticed. He was looking at her in a mix of pity and regret, slowly walking in and taking a seat next to the bed.