WARNINGS and DISCLAIMERS:

1. I'm NOT an official doctor, nor anytime soon, not by far! Therefore, I do not claim to be a professional or expert (or anything close) on whatever happens in the fanfics I post. Most likely, there will be many many many stupid mistakes in there. So, do not use any of this information just because you read about it during my stories without very-considerate self-responsible caution. If you want to correct me, or help me improve, I'm certainly interested in feedback.

2. I write in my spare time. Also, I'm a human and therefore also have certain flaws. Thus, anything that might be considered 'unprofessional' in my stories should not reflect on other (real-time) medical professionals or me as a (hopefully) future doctor. Acting professional in the real world during the job is different than these rambling stories on internet with my 'acting-very-professional-mode' switched off during my free time.

3. I do not claim to own any off the characters in the marvel universe, except I might start feeling protective of my OC characters like 'Madison Milestone'. This character is based on several characteristics, thoughts and flaws that I may or may not have. These may or may not be exacerbated to make help make everything just a little bit more dramatic.

4. English is not my native language and I probably don't have time to search for a Beta. So... "sorry, not sorry" for small mistakes. (If you want to help out though, let me know what mistakes I made in a PM or review and I will try to take a look at it.)

5. Read at your own risk. There will probably a few bloody scenes in this eventually. Don't like it? Please click the 'x', the red 'o' or the arrow at the top of your browser.

6. This is a trial period for me. I will try and figure out if I have enough time to spend on researching and writing this on the go and whether I have enough inspiration. If you have request, let me know, I might take you up on it.

So, now that is out of the way, let's start!

Practice makes perfect - right?

A serie of one-shots with characters getting hurt... and somewhat fixed.

Chapter 1: Prologue

"I'm going on a holiday."

The very serious statement was met with a derisive snort of amusement.

"You are running away, aren't you Maddy?" Her sister stated as she waved a spoonful of cookie-dough ice cream in her direction.

"No. I just need a break before I do my final internship..." The brown-haired young woman corrected, a little too defensively. The other woman, leaning against the doorframe of the room, rolled her blue-colored eyes.

"You know, seeing as one of the advantages of being a final-year-internship-student is the cheap flexible-free time… I should really use that opportunity. After graduation, I won't have that anymore Jazz." Maddy couldn't help but add when she noticed the eye movement.

"You mean the free time without scary responsibilities."

"Well, that is indeed a nice addition." Madison agreed a little too pleasantly.

"Right…" Jazz drawled, knowing what this was actually all about. "So when does your next internship start exactly?"

"I'm not quite sure yet." Maddy said with a shrug as she pulled a few shirts out of her closet. "Do Mom and Dad know that you are eating ice cream before dinner?"

"You are avoiding my question." Jazz reflected skillfully. "You don't have a last internship readied yet?"

Blue eyes bored into brown ones.

Suddenly, Maddy seemed very interested in the two shirts she was holding up. Her face was clearly in a state of outmost contemplation as her eyes moved between the two pieces of clothe in her hands.

"The blue one." Jazz sarcastically advised her younger sister after a few seconds of deliberate silence. Maddy frowned.

"There are both blu-"

"Madison Milestone."

At hearing the exaggerated tone of her full name being called a corner of her lips twitched slightly upwards. The arms holding up the clothes slackened in defeat, as the brown-haired woman let out a sigh.

"I know… It's just… " She started with a tired smile. She didn't need to finish the sentence. They had had the conversation before.

Jazz pulled her along with her and they both dropped down on the bed, earning her a squeak of surprise. Without saying anything, the blond-haired woman pushed the can of cookie-dough ice cream in Maddy's hands. The can and spoon passed between them a few times before Jazz spoke up.

"You know, I agree that you should totally make use of this 'cheap-flexible-student-time' of yours. Gosh, I wish that I had done that more before starting my job. Just don't… don't overdo it all right? You realize that you will have to face that delusion of yours eventually. You wanted to become a physician ever since you were twelve. I have endured too much prattling about it to let you give that up. You choose to do this… "

"It's not a delusion." Maddy protested fervently.

"You may not have 'aced' all those medical tests of yours like some of those prodigies you talk about and you may have made some mistakes… but those were not only your responsibility. You are human, of course you will make mistakes, but you will do fine as a doctor. I'm sure." Jazz reassured her with a nudge of her shoulder against hers.

"And if you dare try to disregard my faith in you, I will 'accidently' drop the left-over ice cream all over your suitcase." She threatened, a dangerous glint in her eyes as she prodded the spoon in her direction.

Madison, having indeed opened her mouth, quickly closed her mouth and pursed her lips. Lips that soon changed into a crooked smile.

"Thanks Jazz." She said, meaning it. "I will miss you."

"You are very welcome, dear sister of mine. Where are you going anyw-" Jazz cut off her sentence when she noticed the travel booklet half-buried under a pile of clothes.

"New York?" She breathed, paling slightly.

Knowing why she reacted that way, Madison paled slightly as well, rushing to explain her reasoning. "The government proclaimed it safe area again! I double-checked with Jason! He told me tourists had been visiting last year without trouble! He can help me get around and keep an eye on me. Plus, he said something about this program that exchanges living arrangements and food for a little bit of administrational support work at the hospital there. Besides, you know that I have always wanted to see the Statue of Liberty and -"

"Madison Milestone!"

Madison winced; this time it was not a tone of exaggeration with a hint of bemusement.

"There has been a freaking alien invasion there less than two year ago and you want to… to…!" Her sister sputtered in revulsion before she narrowed her blue eyes. Brown eyes uncomfortably shifted away from her gaze.

"Do Mom and Dad know?"

Silence filled the room once again. A second too long it seemed, as Jazz shot towards the door.

"No Jazz!" Madison protested jumping after her lunging for something to pull her back. Unfortunately the clothe of her sister's sleeve slipped through her fingers and the momentum flung her to the ground. Stretched out, she caught herself on her hands and listened to the racket which was her sister pounding down the stairs.

With a groan, Madison rolled onto her back and glared at the ceiling. "It was the silence, wasn't it?" She muttered to herself.

"Madison Milestone!" Her mother's voice carried to the upper floor. Huh, that might be a record.

Madison decided that she really needed to work on her bluff-skills to fill up those too-telling silences.

Her parents weren't exactly pleased with her decision.

In other words, it took a while to convince them to stop hiding her passport. She was pretty sure that they had hidden it in the third drawer in the kitchen. Jazz was standing there a little too protectively in front of it with her arms crossed.

Madison glanced back to her parents as she sat down in front of them.

"Come on, I was going to tell you guys at dinner! I'm not going to a warzone or anything!" The medical student protested for the third – fourth? – time.

"It was practically a warzone!"

"Well, not anymore…"

"If there was no extra danger out there, why didn't you just tell us immediately?" Jazz shot back with a frustrated huff.

Madison knew Jazz was acting this way because of what happened to their cousin Jason. She was just following her protective instincts, but Madison couldn't help but glare at her anyway.

"I know Jason got hurt in the invasion and I was scared at the time too! But if he told me it is alright, then I believe him!"

"Why can't you just go to Madrid or London instead?"

"Gosh! I'm twenty-four! I have Jason to watch out for me! It has always been my dream to go New York, you guys know that! Freaky things are happening all over the world! It might happen her at any moment as well! And even without the freakiness, who knows what can happen? Right now, I'm healthy… I can travel right now. " She proclaimed exasperatedly.

As a medical student you get confronted with the dangers of life many times. While Madison could be quite a cautious person, it had taught her to take some risks if she really wanted to do something. Who knows how long she was going to live? She had seen people her age that couldn't walk anymore. She had been there when people had been told they had only a few months left to live. People died…

At times it feels somewhat like a burden to be so aware of your own mortality. Yet, it can also be a strength, to be happy with the healthy situation you are in, the things you have and can do, the risks you can still take. Though I'm still incredibly scared of death itself… No one can evade it.

Why shouldn't she enjoy the freedom that she now had?

Luckily, she had had this heavy conversation with her family before. Normally they all heartedly agreed with the 'follow your dreams' and 'you only live once'-philosophy. Madison knew that they were not really going to stop her. Her parents had been quite the adventurists before they were young and had traveled a lot. They knew the feeling.

She watched her parents as they did one of those one-look-at-each other-communication-things before her mother spoke up calmly.

"You are our daughter, of course we want you to be as safe as possible…" She started. "But we understand you decision, really. We just wished you hadn't hidden this from us."

Yeah, she had expected that.

"I just decided to go yesterday. It was the cheapest ticket they had. I really was going to tell you guys during dinner… " Madison tried to placate them. Normally she made this kind of decisions with their advice, but something within her (her need to get away for a moment) had made her quite impulsive yesterday.

There was once again a silence, though the tension seemed gone.

"Well, let's start cooking dinner then, shall we?" Dad tried to lighten up the mood.

The sisters glared at each other as Madison retrieved her possession, before Jazz's expression softened to one of mild embarrassment.

"Sorry." She said, moving towards her.

Even though she still felt a little cross with her, Madison nodded and accepted the awkward hug. "Let's sneak back upstairs and you can help me pack the last few things while we eat the rest of the ice cream" she whispered.

The two of them froze, broke apart and stared at each other for a moment.

"What exactly happened to the ice cream?" She whispered to Jazz – feeling her mother's on the pair of them.

Jazz grimaced. "I just… dropped it?" She whispered back. "I can't remember."

Having a bad feeling, Madison sprinted to her room and stared in horror at the open suitcase… completely covered in the cookie dough ice cream that was laying innocent upside-down on top of the pile.

"Jasmine Milestone!"