The Avengers: A Change of Fate

Part 4: Chapter 25

Stella opened her eyes to tiled ceiling and florescent lights. She froze, her heart thundering. She looked to her right to find a collection of machinery. The only thing that calmed her was the Stark Industries logo on one of the monitors. Why was she in a hospital?

She sat up and rubbed at her IV irritably, "Stella, easy. It's okay. You're in the Avengers infirmary. You're home. You're safe."

Captain America had grabbed her wrist. She looked at him with confused eyes, "What happened?"

He let go of her wrist, guilt crossing his face, "When we attacked the base.... They were expecting us. They fired missiles at the Quinjet and forced us off course. You and Tony ran into an ambush alone. We couldn't come for back up..."

Steve cleared his throat, "Nashira was wounded. Her fight caused the building to become unstable. It collapsed... And she was under it."

Stella's head spun, "We were able to save you, but it's been a long recovery. You've been in a coma for two months."

"Two months???"

Steve grimaced, "The injuries were substantial. You're lucky to be alive."

Stella grabbed at her head, already getting a headache, "But we did it, Stella. We defeated Hydra. For good."

Stella gave him a doubtful look, "Hydra can't be defeated. You said so yourself."

"S.H.I.E.L.D recovered valuable tech from the base you took out. They also were able to hack into their systems, thanks to Tony. They got intel on their underground facilities, and a lot of other important information. Tony helped them reverse engineer the brainwashing sequence that they used. They were able to get some information from Hydra agents they had prisoner. We got them this time, Stella, I know it."

Steve had been chasing down Hydra since he was her age. She decided not to spoil it for him. She focused on what really mattered.

"Did we catch her?"

Steve's face grew more solemn, "We did."

Stella sighed with relief and sat back in her pillows, "You took her out with you."

Stella should've felt bad for another death on her hands, but she didn't. She finally felt even with Viper. Even if Stella had paid a hefty price for it, it had been worth it. Her mind flitted to the next question buzzing around her head.

"Where's Vision?"

"He's charging. We had to drag him there ourselves. He refused to leave your side. We found him on the floor with his battery dead."

Stella smiled, "Of course he did."

"He should be powered up again in a few hours," Steve assured.

"When do I get out of here?"

"Tony should be on his way down to check you over."

Steve helped her adjust her bed as they waited, "Everyone came to see you. Black Widow, Pepper, Thor and T'challa before they left. Even your friends, Amilia and Victoria."

Stella was surprised that her friends had come to see her. She had expected everyone to hate her after Jake had died. She studied the flowers by her bed, lost in thought. A few minutes later, Tony ran into the medical ward.

"Stella," he gasped running to her.

Stella smiled, "Tony."

He picked her up in a tight hug, "I thought I was going to loose you."

Stella winced, "Ow."

He let her go quickly, "Sorry. I should know you're sensitive right now. You'll probably be feeling the fatigue very soon."