Bend Around the Wind by Scyllaya

Chapter 81: Earth Day Three

Chapter Eighty-One

Earth: Day 3

Milky Way Galaxy

Sol System

Nine Realms / Planet Earth

Another night spent without sleep, but to be honest Tony was way beyond feeling tired. He was too worried, wound too tight to be able to sleep. Pepper was making noise about him needing to rest and even Rhodey and Bruce helped her, but Tony couldn't. He cared more about coaxing Juyu to sleep. That was something to focus on; making sure she was as fine as possible. But even when she was out Tony didn't try to get rest. Instead he sat beside the bed Bee was lying on and watched how Hatchet gradually lost all colour from his face, how the circles under his eyes got darker, how his lips paled and his eyes dimmed as the hours ticked by. His own helplessness was driving him crazy.

The nosebleeds happened with more and more frequency and after a while even Hatchet gave up on trying to pretend that he was fine. He settled on saying that he'll live. It didn't reassure Tony for obvious reasons, not one bit. When he noticed the first tremors in Hatchet's hand and shoulders, the light shaking and the sweat dripping down his temples, like he had a fever, Tony was tempted to try and put an end to it, but Hatchet said no before he could get even a word out.

'Hatchet, I know how bad this can get,' Tony said. 'I saw it happen with Loki.'

'Would you rather I stopped and left her to her fate?' Hatchet asked in return. Tony looked down at Bee's pale and motionless face and his heart ached, like it was crushed inside his too tight chest. What was he supposed to say to that? Make sure Hatchet did everything that was possible to keep her alive? Or was he supposed to remind the elf that two deaths were worse than one?

'I'm not going to die,' Hatchet said. His tone was more reassuring now than before, but he looked worse and worse, so Tony was not sure if he believed him. But ultimately, it was Hatchet's decision. All the while Tony stood by, unable to do anything for the people he should be able to protect. It made him angry beyond words.

Somewhere around dawn Pepper came up with the idea of protein shakes. It was not like Hatchet could sit down and eat a five course meal to keep up his strength, so Pepper got him these extremely nutritious smoothie things. Tony should have thought about that sooner, but he was too out of his mind with worry and anger to think clearly. Like so many times over the years, he blessed his lucky stars that he had her around.

When Hatchet took the first gulp from the tall glass Pepper shoved in his hand he made a curious sound.

'What did I just put in my mouth again?' he asked.

'Vanilla almond milk, bananas, blueberries, sugar and lots of lost of protein,' she said. 'Drink it all, you're getting a second one.'

Hatchet just looked at her for a moment then huffed and gave a tired smile.

'Yes, Ma'am,' he said and drowned the whole glass.

'Thanks, Pep,' Tony said when she was walking out of the room.

'Sleep Tony or I swear to God, I will knock you out,' she said sternly. Tony could hear the worry in her tone and saw the concern written plainly on her face, so he nodded.

'I'll try,' he said. It was not what Pepper wanted to hear, but it was all Tony could promise at the moment.

x-x-x

When Tony woke from his restless slumber Juyu was up, holding onto Bee's hand, so he didn't feel that bad about leaving the room for a little while. Hatchet didn't look any better, but at least he didn't look that much worse either. There was fresh blood on his shirt sleeve though, so that told Tony enough about how bad it still was.