The Soldier

long forgotten faces fail to recognise one another

„I know her face from somewhere... ", Tony murmured, warily looking at the sleeping woman in front of him.

He carried her inside before, but she was not reacting to any questions he asked, only screaming in pain for another second before passing out once again.

That's when he noticed the blood, how much of it there was. In how much pain she was, not knowing what to do for a second, before calling out for Helen. Luckily enough she happened to be here, talking to Steve about whatever.

They had something going on, but Tony shook his head, trying to focus on what was more important now. Who was she?

Helen was not leaving her bedside for about one hour before she was convinced, that her new patient was as stable as possible.

She had a stab wound, rather deep but it did not hit any important organs and she would survive it, Helen explained. She would probably wake up in a couple of hours, Helen said, nodding at Tony before leaving him and Pepper behind.

Tony knew he saw that face before, but could not remember where. And it was going on his nerves. He looked at Pepper, almost expecting her to recognize her immediately. She was Pepper after all.

Pepper glanced at her, searching for familiarities because she never forgot a face and knew most people Tony did anyway.

Tucking back her hair she scrutinised her, the shoulder-long curled black hair and her darker skin tone a big contrast to the white bed she was laying in.

She wore a ring on a necklace but looked really young for a widow. Pepper would remember a face like this, but she quickly noticed, she had never seen her before.

„I don't know her... is she someone from S.H.I.E.L.D?"

Tony shook his head, he saw her only one time before, there was no real connection or field he could put her in, only that strange feeling of knowing her from somewhere.

When he searched through her bags earlier, it was not very helpful. She had nothing except a pocket knife in there, the worn-out hoodie and trainers suggested she was part of one of the new gangs around her.

To be sure he scanned her fingerprint, letting it go through police databases with the help of an old friend of him.

He could always count on Jarvis, if there was something, anything at all about her, Jarvis would find out.

Until now, there were no hits in police databases, and that was calming Tony down a little bit.

A rhythmic knock on the door ripped him out of his thoughts, still trying to identify her. Steve entered the room in a hurry, surprised by the injured woman lying there peacefully.

„Don't you recognize her?", he asked startled.

Tony shook his head again, caressing his jaw and turning in Steve's direction, once he noticed his urgent tune. He seemed to be nervous but delighted at the same time.

„She's the woman Loki took with him in Stuttgart.", Steve explained, stepping nearer to Tony and Pepper, looking down at their patient.

Now Tony did remember. They tried to track her down, but Thor was convinced they'd never find Loki if he did not want to be found – and honestly, with everything happening at the moment, Tony did no longer really think about the hostage.

Of course, it was tragic and he tried to find her, but he had a strangely realistic view on this problem. And he was wondering, if he was so cold because of being afraid or because he taught himself to only see the bigger picture. He couldn't possibly do his job properly otherwise.