Pain filled days turned into numbing weeks. And weeks turned into 12 months of imprisonment. It felt like it had passed so quickly. With nothing to discern the days from months, time drifted past like a soul boat departing the shores of the living.
Every month that passed, Vara could feel that she wasn't feeling well and progressively so, and it was getting worse every month. Tony had been sick a few times, so she thought that she might have caught what he had or maybe it was just home sickness. She missed the heat and the smell of the lava. Being stuck in this hole in the ground, never seeing any light but manmade was making her sick, and everyone around her could see it. They had run so many tests on her, but they couldn't find out what was wrong with her. She was losing weight and muscle tone rapidly, far too quickly for Natasha and Tony's liking. Tony had even offered to fly her out to Switzerland, to have her looked over by the best money could buy, but Fury refused, stating that she might escape in the process. Tony knew she would never do that, but Fury was right, to some degree. It was too risky.
Approaching her first anniversary of being incarcerated, it was very clear to everyone who saw her that she wasn't well at all, teetering on the knife blade of death. She had become so weak and frail; she could barely leave her bed. She would get up only when forced to, and even then, she needed help getting around and walking. It was as if she had given up.
One day, while answering some of Bruce's questions about the sword, she was ordered to pick it up. After attempting to do so, and getting shocked numerous times, she collapsed on the lab floor.
"Vara? Are you okay?" Bruce said, walking up to her and knelt beside her.
"I'm sorry Bruce, but I think I'm done for the day." She said softly, glancing over at him, her once fiery red eyes now dull brown.
He nodded; he had known he would only have her help for a short time. But to see her like this, so, broken, it was cruel and unusual torture. Not only to her, but her friends.
"I'll call Natasha. You just stay here and rest." Bruce said, standing upright and setting his PC tablet down on the table near them. He walked to the door and disappeared, going to fetch her friend. Vara sat quietly on the metal floor, running her hand over it's bumpy surface. She remembered Loki's hands were this cool. Once upon a time. She breathed shallowly as she looked up at her sword from the floor. Oh, if her father could see her now. Weak, frail and kneeling at the feet of humans, but she had no more strength to fight. This disease would take her life, she feared. She sighed and hung her head. What did it matter? She was nothing but a shadow now anyway.
Natasha walked into the room quietly and knelt beside her, and placed her hand gently on her shoulder.
"Can you walk?" she asked Vara.
Vara looked up and met her blue eyes and smiled weakly.
"Sure." She said, putting her hand on Natasha's shoulder and helping herself up with the help of the table on her other side. Natasha steadied her as she found her feet and began to help her down to her room.
As she was being helped back to her cell, Fury stood in his office, and watched her limp off slowly like a wounded animal into her glass box.
"Is that the same person we fought a year ago?" Fury asked Barton, who was standing next to him.
"It is, but it isn't." he said, talking in riddles again.
Fury looked at him and frowned.
"She looks so different." Fury said to him, looking back at Vara as Natasha helped her to her bed.
"When we first saw her she was strong and vigorous, with fire in her eyes. And now she's not even a ghost of who she used to be." Barton said sadly, feeling sorry for her.
He had heard what the scientists had been doing to her and he, like everyone else, was against it. He grew to pity her, the more he heard about her from Natasha. That day he saw her and Loki in Paris, they seemed, happy. He couldn't believe he would do that to her.
Natasha laid her down in her bed and covered her.
"Are you cold?" she asked, pulling a second blanket up over her.
She nodded.
"I'll turn the heat up again." Natasha said to her, walking out.
She turned off the lights, a new system to the cell and turned up the heat.
She looked up at the others in Fury's office and turned to meet up with him and Clint.
When she got there, she walked up to the glass and stood next to Thor, who had arrived on her way there. Thor happened to be there that day, checking up on her and he was in the office, looking down at the cell.
"Thor." She greeted him, looking down at her friend sleeping.
"Black Widow." Thor greeted her, but the sense of urgency in their voices seemed to chill their greeting. They were all looking down at her, wondering what could be wrong.
"That's the third time this week I had to put the heat up." Natasha said, looking down at her friend.
She and Vara had become close in the last couple of months. Having similar skills, and outlooks, they gravitated to each other.
"Do you know why she is getting sick?" she asked Thor, looking up at him.
Her concern for Vara was clear.
"I have no clue." He said, looking down at Natasha and then looking back at Vara.
She looked back at Vara sleeping in her darkened cell.
"Maybe it's a broken heart." She suggested.
The men looked to her as if she had gone soft, and crazy to boot.
"No, listen, it's been scientifically proven that when someone goes through a difficult break-up, that their heart sometimes gets physically damaged." She said to them.
"Any sickness or weakness of the body would then, in theory, be perpetuated and appear more serious compared to a healthy individual." She explained the theory to them.
They listened and thought about it. It was definitely a viable explanation.
"Vara and I have become close over the past few months, being similar." She said, turning to look at her again.
"And I know that she really did love Loki and he just left her here to fend for herself, knowing what we were capable of." She said to them.
She tilted her head when she saw Vara roll over in her bed. That was unusual. She usually slept like a rock.
"I feel sorry for her." she said softly.
Fury stepped up next to Natasha.
"Maybe she needs something to do." He said, looking at Natasha.
"Would she be a good addition to the team?" he asked her.
She looked up at him with wide eyes. Everyone knew Fury wasn't the biggest Vara fan, and this took them completely by surprise.
But Natasha nodded. She looked back down at Vara, which had just rolled over again. It seemed she was having a hard time getting comfortable with her hip bones sticking out as much as they were.
"If she can get over Loki, her hidden rage might be an asset when he comes snooping again." she said to Fury, smiling slightly.
She knew Vara would love to be able to help them, even if it was just to get out and breathe in the fresh air.
"He won't come snooping, I believe you put it in that manner." Thor said to her.
"How do you know?" Fury asked him, stepping up to his side.
Thor smiled briefly.
"I know where Loki is, and he won't be coming here soon." He said, looking at Fury.
"Soon, or ever?" Barton asked him.
"Never again, if I have my way. Which I usually do." Thor smiled.
Natasha watched as the men talked and compared egos, how Vara got up from her bed and walked over to the basin.
She turned on the taps and bent down to take a drink of water, but as she was about to touch her lips to the stream, her legs buckled under her and she fell to the floor, hitting her head against the basin and then metal floor.
Without saying a word, Natasha turned and darted out the room, running down to help Vara. The others saw her run out and turned to look at the cell, seeing Vara laying on the floor, not moving. They ran out after Natasha, heading towards the cell. Natasha rushed up to the door and swiped her card, squeezing in as the door slid open, before it opened fully.
She rushed into her room and up to Vara before lifting her head off the floor. She gasped when she saw a stream of blood pooling on the floor. Natasha lifted her hand to Vara's neck and felt for a pulse, feeling a soft steady, but weak beat under her fingertips. The others rushed in after her, queuing at the door of the room.
"Is she alive?" Fury asked her.
Natasha nodded, looking back at him.
"Barely." She said, looking at Vara in her arms.
Barton rushed up to Vara and bent down, before picking her up. He turned and hastily walked out the room, heading out the cell. Natasha walked beside him, holding her head and neck steady as they rushed her to the infirmary.
They set her down on a bed and hooked her up to several machines. They drew some blood from her and began to run some tests. Natasha covered her with as many blankets as she could find, seeing as her temperature was now dropping to below that of a human. Something was seriously wrong.
They all left the room and let her rest. A doctor came in a few minutes after they arrived with the preliminary findings.
"She seems to have slipped into a coma." He said to them.
"Why?" Barton asked him.
"No idea, but her health has slowly deteriorated since she first arrived." He said, closing the file.
"Thanks for that Captain Obvious." Tony said, walking into the room, followed shortly by Bruce and Steve. He had been working in the lab with Bruce after she had left and saw her collapse too.
"My jet is ready; we can be in Switzerland by morning." Tony said, looking at Fury.
Fury looked at Vara and saw her shallow breathing. It was reminiscent of a very sick animal, taking its last breaths.
"I can hook up the life tech to the jet. Tony, is it big enough?" Bruce asked him.
Tony turned to him with a mutinous look on his face.
"Is it big enough, who am I? Reed Richards? Of course it's big enough." Tony grumbled. Fury just stood there looking at her.
"Nick, we need to get her help." Steve said, putting his hand on his shoulder.
"I fear it may be too late." Fury said softly and sadly, his heart breaking slightly
"Maybe this is the end for her." The doctor said, looking at Fury.
"This realm is making her sick." Thor said, beginning to pace angrily.
He should have never let them keep her here; he should have taken her to Asgard to serve her sentence there.
"We need to wait for the blood work, but I don't see a good ending." The doctor said, walking off.
Fury sighed, turning to the group.
"I was hoping this would happen when no one was here." he said, looking at them.
They stopped in their thought processes and looked at him.
"Are you implying you knew this would happen?" Natasha asked him, pointing at Vara, her anger boiling just under the surface.
Fury nodded.
"I know you've all become close with her." he said, beginning to explain what was wrong with her.
"Just shy of a year ago, we did some x-rays on her." he said, moving off slightly towards the door, before turning and facing them again.
"She has cancer." He said, finally, sombrely.
They all drew blank faces, not believing what he had just said.
"Wh… where?" Natasha asked numbly, worried to death for her friend.
"Well, if their bodies work anything like ours." he said, walking up to the viewing window and seeing Vara sleeping in the medical bed.
"Uterine." He said, looking at her.
They listened to him finish and looked to Vara. They felt so sorry for her. They knew that without data on her kind, that they couldn't save her.
"Take it out." Natasha said to him.
They turned to look at her.
"Give her a hysterectomy." She said, looking at Vara.
"We don't know what the effects would be." Fury said to her.
"Well we know what the other end of cancer is." She said, a little of her anger showing.
"I won't stand by and let my friend die." She said, looking at Fury.
They all said nothing. She looked at the group. Barton, Fury, Thor, Steve, Bruce, Tony. They all seemed to be hesitant, too afraid to make a move.
She nodded, taking responsibility, leading from the front.
"Okay." She said, walking into the room and towards a side door.
She opened it and walked up to the basin. She took off her leather jacket and set in down on the table beside it. She then washed her hands.
"What's she doing?" Thor asked them.
"She's going to do the surgery herself." Barton said, before rushing into the room.
"Tash, stop." He said to her.
"Clint, she's my friend. And I can help her. So I am." she said, slipping her clean hands into a pair of surgical gloves.
"There is another way." Thor said, walking into the room.
They both stopped arguing and looked at him.
"In Asgard, we have healing chambers that can heal any wound, any disease, and restore normality to any body." he said, looking to Fury, who was standing behind him.
"Let me take her." he asked Fury.
"She still has four years to serve out here." Fury contested him.
"If she stays here, she'll die." Natasha protested, walking up to beside Thor.
"This place isn't right for her boss, and you know it." Barton said, joining the group.
Fury looked to the three of them. They had a point. He sighed.
"We've learned all we can from her, but the sword stays." He countered with another offer.
Thor nodded.
"But I will return for the sword one day. It belongs in our realm." He said, referring to Vara's and his realm.
Fury looked like he was about to put up a fight when Thor looked at him, daring him to say anything. Fury held his tongue and Thor walked passed him and up to Vara. Natasha walked up beside him and began unhooking all the machines she had been put on. He slipped his hammer up onto his arm and slid his hands under her. He lifted her up and turned.
"We need to get to the Bifrost site, now." he said, walking towards the door.
He walked out the room and down the hall, followed by all the others. They walked out onto the helipad and towards a chopper. They all followed him and they got in. Fury instructed the pilot to fly to New Mexico, the nearest site.
After a few tense minutes, they arrived at the site, with just minutes till Vara was to die.
They landed and got out, leaving the chopper running.
Thor walked up to the Bifrost site, carrying Vara.
"You need to promise me that she will never come back here." Fury said to Thor over the hum of the chopper engine.
"I swear to you she will stay in Asgard." He said equally as loud.
Fury nodded and so did Thor. He looked to Natasha.
"When she is better, you may come visit her." Thor said to her.
"It's okay. I'm ready to say goodbye." She smiled at him.
He nodded to her.
"I'll tell her you fought for her." Thor said and she nodded quickly, trying to come to grips that she would never see her again.
"Take care of her." she added.
Thor smiled and nodded.
He turned away from them and walked into the centre of the Biforst site. Barton, who followed shortly after them, handed him the Tesseract machine and he took it from him. Barton stepped back, out of the site. Thor pinned one handle under his foot and held the other in his hand, and then he turned it. They disappeared into a haze of blue energy and bolts, leaving the others standing in the middle of the desert. Natasha wiped a tear away and walked up to Fury.
"How are you going to explain this to the council?" she asked him.
"The war prisoner Vara died today. Due to a lack to understanding of her kind, she couldn't cope with the rigors of living on Earth." He said, turning to the others.
"You all saw her take her last breath. Right?" he added.
They all looked at each other and understood.
"Yes sir." They said in unison.
"Good, now let's get back; I have some paper work to fill out." He said, walking back to the chopper, his agents and heroes following him shortly.
"I hate paper work." Fury said, getting into the chopper.