Mercury // S. Rogers (Book Four) ✔

Captain Marvel

"Why hasn't she woken up yet, Bruce? It's been over forty eight hours."

"I don't know, Steve. I really have no idea what's going on with her."

"Are there any tests you can run?"

"Yeah," Bruce sighs. "I can get a blood sample and see if there's anything that might tell me what's going on. Then maybe a CT scan."

Freya can hear the conversation around her, but she can't understand why her eyes won't open. Or why she can't move.

"What's going on? Where am I? What happened? Why am I in so much pain?"

She so badly wants to squeeze the hand back that's gripping on to hers for dear life. She can only assume that it's Steve. There's more shuffling around the room as more of the team walks in.

"She looks so frail," Natasha's voice is shaky as she watches the sleeping figure of Freya. "You see that her hair is blonde, again?"

"Wait, what? I'm blonde, again?"

"Yeah," Steve hums out. "I noticed that right after I came to after we fought Thanos. Wasn't really the right time to say anything about it, though. I guess her aura burned the color out. I had never seen it so bright before..."

"Yeah, me neither..." Natasha agrees. "She was just this blinding ball of light bouncing around on the battlefield. You couldn't even make out her features." The former redhead lets out a half-hearted chuckle as she thinks back on the image of her best friend during battle. "Were you able to get a hold of Pepper?"

"Yeah," Steve sighs. "Thank God she's okay. She's on her way here."

The left side of Freya's bed slightly dips down as someone sits next to her. She suddenly feels a small, hairy paw slip into her left hand.

"I thought she had super healing...?" Rocket's voice is soft, but the worry in it is clear.

"She does, but it's not working for some reason." Steve presses a gentle kiss to her right hand as he answers the raccoon. Freya internally winces as a sharp prick is felt in her right arm.

"Let me test this blood sample and see if I can figure out why she's not healing or waking up."

Bruce shuffles out of the room, leaving Natasha, Steve and Rocket in silence as they watch over Freya.

"Where's Rhodey and Thor?"

"Rhodey is trying to figure out who survived the snap and who..." Steve's voice trails off as he replies to Natasha.

"And Thor blames himself for everything. Especially for what happened to Freya," Rocket mumbles. There's a short pause before he sighs and continues, "I'm gonna get some shut eye. Wake me if anything happens."

He releases her hand, but Freya feels him curl up against her side as he lays down between her arm and hip. He lets out a deep sigh this time as he gets comfortable and almost instantly drifts off to sleep.

"If it weren't for him having the Time Stone, Freya would have single-handedly taken Thanos out. I watched her from the rocks he trapped me under. She had him beat and then I blinked and she was suddenly across the clearing without her aura ignited. She did everything she could." Natasha's voice cracks at the end as she quietly sniffs.

Steve lets out a deep, shaky sigh and tries to keep his voice down for Rocket.

"With the stones, he's unstoppable. Her and Wanda were really our only chance at beating him before he got the stones. Now we don't even know where he is."