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Devon blinked her eyes slowly. They were dry and gritty as though she had been in a sand storm. She felt foggy and the room swam around her in a blur. As her mind slowly returned to her she recognized the medical facilities in the Stark Tower. She had no recollection of how she came to be there, but she was grateful to be somewhere safe.
In the distance, she could make out voices. Slowly she looked around the room. She was surprised to find no one there with her. She would have thought that at least one of the guys would have been at her bedside, that's how it was last time.
Swinging her legs over the side of the medical bed, she eased herself to her feet. She moved stiffly as her muscles complained at the motion. Carefully she grabbed the robe that lay hooked over the end of the bed, before making her way toward the voices.
Devon leaned against the wall for support as she headed down the hallway. There was a door partially open that lead to a small break room. The voices came from the room. They were familiar and welcomed but something stalled her step from entering. She leaned against the wall listening.
"So do we know who he was?" Bruce said cautiously.
Devon knew exactly who the men were talking about. Although she could not see them, she could imagine why the scientist was being cautious. They all had questions but the others could react without thinking it through. Tony could be hot headed and Steve would want to protect her at all costs.
"I might be able to shine some light on that subject," Tony's voice said but it had little of his usual jovialness. The genius for once was all business.
As the silence drew on, Devon risked peaking around the corner. Steve who had been silent had his back to her so she could not see his face. She had no way on knowing what he was thinking. Tony also had his back to her, but she could tell that he was uncomfortable. He had his hands stuffed in his pockets, which was a rare pose for the man. He shifted uncomfortably looking between his companions. Bruce on the other hand was facing her direction but he had his glasses in one hand while pinching the bridge of his nose with the other.
Steve sighed and nodded. His shoulders were slumped like he did not want to know what Tony found but needed to know anyway. There was another beat of silence before anything was said.
"He was Devon's fiancé," Tony said.
Steve's head jerked up at that. He stared at the other man as if he was trying to tell if this was just one of Tony's jokes.
Not able to stay on her feet listening, Devon broke the silence that had settled in the wake of Tony's revelation. "I never said yes," Devon said, her voice bland and lifeless as she walked into the break room. The men startled by her sudden appearance spun around. All eyes were on her but she could not bring herself to say more.
"Is that why he attacked?" Steve asked at the same time Tony said, "No wonder he was pissed." The two comments mingled into an incomprehensible mess, which caused them to shoot angry looks at each other.
"Would you mind telling us what happened?" Bruce asked while the other two continued to glare at each other.
"I broke it off with him," she frowned.
Devon wavered for just a moment, rocking side to side as the room spun and the walls seemed to flicker in and out of being. Steve seeing this came to her side. Without pushing, he gently guided her to the couch. The cushions were hard but still she sunk into them wearily. To her surprise, the men were quiet giving her time. Putting her hands in her lap, she stared at them. She could not bring herself to look up at them.
"We wanted different things. No" she stopped herself, "that's not true. He wanted the one thing in the world I could not give him."
Devon's eyes fluttered shut blocking out the tears that threatened to spill. She could not look at the men in the room. She could not see their faces.
"He wanted a family. He wanted kids."
Gasping, Devon was back in that moment. Panic rose in her chest when she realized what was happening. It was not just a nice dinner out. Sean went down on one knee in front of her. Her head swam for just a moment and the sound of rushing blood blocked out the question. She whispered an apology before getting up and running out of the restaurant.
"I'm sorry," Devon said the words out loud echoing those in her memory. Realizing she had spoken she finally looking over at Steve. His brow rising in a silent question at her apology. "I should have told you." She shook her head as tears spilled down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry," she repeated in a whisper.
"You have nothing to be sorry about," Steve said wrapping his arm around her.
Devon curled into his arms. She had felt so hollow when Sean had attacked. However, here in Steve's embrace it was the first time she was safe. Truly safe.
"I should have told you about Sean. But there's more than that," Devon said with a sigh. She had only just gotten used to other people knowing about her secret, but this was yet another problem that came with her abilities. "I couldn't keep lying to him…" her voice tapering off.
She looked to the door wishing she could run again. This time was different though. While Sean did not chase after her, she knew that at least one of the men in the room would. If not all of them. It felt good to know she was surrounded by good people. She had a family again. This time she did not have to lie to her family. She made a silent promise that she would not start lying now.
"I've never been sick in my life," she frowned that was not going to connect the dots for the men without giving them more of the story. "Like both of you, Steve and Bruce, my body fights any foreign material. Unfortunately that means all foreign materials, including a fetus."
Dr. Banner nodded slowly, comprehending the medical science she was talking about. The other two shared the same confused frown. Devon swallowed hard unable to say the words. She could only nod when Bruce said, "Immunological tolerance."
Before the others could respond, booming laughter rang through Devon's head. The sound deafening as it continued. Devon's hands numbly went up to her ears attempting to block out the sound. She closed her eyes against the pain, but the rocking feel of floating on waves threatened to make her ill. When she dared open her eyes again, the room was gone. Steve, Bruce and Tony were gone. She was strapped down to a medical bed, with tubes pumping unknown liquids into her body.
Sean's face came into view and hovered over her head, close enough that his laughter beat against her. "So that's why you left me," he sneered. "We'll just have to see what other secrets you were keeping from me."
Devon saw a needle injected into one of the IVs before the world faded to black.