AN: So this is the last chapter of Mind Games. Special Author's Note will be down at the end. Thanks to callieandjack for reviewing!

Chapter Twenty Five

"How is she?"

"Her wounds are fatal."

"You said she had a chance!"

"And you promised you would keep her safe!"

Voices echoed around Alice as she slowly blinked open her eyes. A dull pain throbbed at her back when she struggled to sit up. She was quickly pushed back down when she yelped in shock. The dull pain had turned into a sharp one.

Finally she realized that she was in a hospital. Relief washed over her after noticing that she wasn't placed back on the hellicarrier. Then she remembered why she was brought here in the first place.

"How are you feeling?" Alice barely recognized Natasha's voice. She sounded so concerned, and for a moment Alice wondered why.

"What happened?" The words came out in a groan as she tried sitting up again.

"You're in the hospital," Natasha explained. "We thought that..." She broke off, and suddenly Alice knew what she was about to say.

I almost died, she realized.

"Dianna and Nichole had you cornered in the room. While Dianna distracted you, Nichole stabbed you in the back," Natasha finally murmured.

Alice restrained the urge to ask how Natasha would have known that. No one was around to help her when she had found her old friend.

Her fists clenched as she thought of what Nikki had done. Viktor and Dianna had changed Nikki into a monster. Alice knew now that she needed to stop Nikki, and maybe the only way to do that was to kill her.

"Why did you take me to the hospital?" Exhaustion was creeping over Alice again. She wondered if they had drugged her once they were finished tending to her wounds. She narrowed her eyes when Natasha bit the bottom of her lip.

"There were... complications," she replied after sighing in frustration. "Director Fury wants to take away your powers. And we said no."

"We?" Her voice was getting weak as she leaned against the hospital bed. Once again she blacked out, but at least this time it was on a softer surface.

. . .

Two days had passed since she passed out with Natasha watching over her. By now Alice had fully recovered from the drugs the nurses had given her. She was getting antsy being stuck in the bed for what felt like months. In reality she had only been stuck in the hospital for about four weeks.

"I'm feeling better, why aren't they letting me out?" Alice demanded when Bruce checked in on her.

"They're just going to run some tests before that can happen," he replied calmly.

"Great, I can't wait to get out," she muttered.

As soon as she said those words, one of the nurses that had stopped by earlier knocked on the door. The nurse frowned when Bruce turned to look at her.

"Are you her father?" she asked warily. Alice smirked as she watched Bruce ruffle the back of his hair in embarrassment.

"I'm just here to make sure that everything is checking out right," he explained.

The nurse simply nodded at that and placed a clipboard on the coffee table. It was placed beside the door, with a chair right beside it. For most of Alice's stay Natasha or Clint would check on her. Half of the time Alice had been too exhausted to notice whether or not they were even there.

Minutes seemed to pass by as the nurse checked on her pulse and pressure. Alice held her breath throughout the procedure. The nurse kept glancing at the monitors and wrote notes down on the clipboard. After another few minutes passed, the nurse finally finished her work and frowned.

"Your energy levels are off the charts," she commented. "If any normal human had the amount of energy-" Alice cut her off with a raise of her hand.

"I know," she replied. She looked at the door, hoping that someone would intervene. Bruce had left shortly after the nurse had started looking her over.

"Well, everything else seems normal. No high blood pressure, your cholesterol level is normal, and your wounds are almost healed," the nurse explained after looking back at her clipboard. "We just want you to stay for one more night before we give you the all clear."

Alice held back a sigh of relief when the nurse walked out of the room. One more night she had to stay here. She was about to lean against the bed once more until she heard footsteps echoing down the hall. She sat up again when Natasha walked into the room.

"I'm glad to see you're awake," she sighed once she reached the bed.

"Fury is pissed off with me, isn't he?" Alice looked at the sheets warily. She had a feeling that was part of the reason she was taken to a normal hospital.

"Well, that's putting it nicely." Alice stiffened when Clint stepped into the room. Natasha didn't even flinch when he stood beside her. "More like he's pissed off with all of us."

She didn't need to know what he meant by that. From what she gathered, they had all disagreed with Fury's idea of taking away her powers.

"You didn't have to say no," she murmured.

"Dianna is still on the loose," Natasha said.

"And so is your so called friend," Clint muttered after folding his arms.

She resisted the urge to glare at him. Nichole deserved to be taken down after everything she had done. She had killed those families. And she had joined Dianna once the job was taken care of. Alice could never forgive her for that.

"I wish I could've saved her... before they turned her against you," she sighed.

"You might not have been able to save her now, but there's always tomorrow," Natasha reassured her.

Alice looked at Natasha in surprise. Maybe she was right. Maybe Nichole could still be saved if she reached out to her.

"Thank you," she whispered. "I'll do what ever it takes to save her from Dianna's grasp." And she would hold up to that promise, even to her last breath.

AN: And there you have it. This story was a huge difference from my usual writing. I used to write for Warriors only, but now my style has changed. Tron and the Avengers are my personal favorite fandoms now.

A huge thank you to everyone who followed and favorited this story. It really means a lot to me, and the fact that this was so popular makes me wonder if I really am a decent writer ;) And big thanks to Foxbracken - Phoenix Everrern for the inspiration behind this story. If you haven't checked out her works yet than I recommend you do.

And there is going to a sequel to this story. The sequel is called That's Life, based off of a song by Sanctus Real. If you haven't heard the song yet, than go and listen :P