The Stone.

Lara was laid out in bed unconscious for the following few days. They had bandaged her hand and were monitoring her closely looking for anything strange. Steve barely left her side and if he did he was only replaced by Natasha. The stone had been prized out of her hand and place in a lead lined metal box. That box was sat upon the hologram table where Tony and Bruce were stood staring at it.

No matter what they tried they couldn't definitively figure out what the hell it was. All they knew is that it had a similar energy reading to the Tesseract. They were waiting on Thor to return with, possibly, more information. He had gone back to Asguard to ask his father, the Allfather, about a theory that he did have and hadn't yet returned.

The two scientists would open their mouths to talk but found nothing to stay. They had nothing really. When they had left the compound Natasha had told Hill to look for any data on the computers that could help them. But they found nothing. All of the servers and computers had been wiped remotely. Even the data extracted from the book was lost.

Tony and Bruce stood there in silence for about five minutes before the door behind them opened. The two men turned to see Thor striding towards them, hopefully with some answers.

"Do you remember our conversations about the infinity stones Tony?" asked standing beside them.

Tony nodded at him wondering where he was going with it.

"If I'm not to be mistaken this gem is the Soul Gem." he explained.

"And what does this one do?"

"This has the ability to observe or steal a soul or spirit. Or if someone is not themselves it can return them to normal." Thor continued.

Both Bruce and Tony stared at it in awe. Their minds were trying to find a logical explanation for it but were coming up with nothing. After a brief moment of silence Thor spoke again.

"Lara must have had great strength in order to repel it." he smiled respectfully.

"So what was it doing to us? How come people were dropping like flies?" questioned Bruce trying to get some understanding.

Thor looked solemnly at the floor before answering him. "It was taking their souls in order to form fully. The artefacts were only fragments and needed energy to form."

As silence filled the air again, Natasha entered heading straight for the kitchen. She looked tired and worn. Her red hair wasn't as sleek as it usually was and she was slightly hunched over from being sat in one seat for a long period of time. The three men looked over to her the same thought filling their minds.

"I take it she still isn't wake then?" asked Bruce softly.

Pulling out a bowl and filling in with cereal, Natasha sat at the counter and shook her head, yawning as she did so.

"No. Steve refuses to leave her side until she does wake up," she smiled fondly, "He's currently asleep in a chair next to her, holding her hand."

At that Tony's face lit up. Something else to tease Steve about.

"Don't bother Tony." she fiercely warned, glaring at him as she got cereal onto her spoon.

"Who says I was going to do anything?"

"Your face." they all chimed.

"In truth I'm happy for him. About time he got back into the real world." stated Tony proudly before turning his attention back to the gem. "What do you plan to do with the stone Thor?"

Thor stood in thought for a moment, turning his gaze back to the stone.

"If she can withstand it, and she's willing, Lara can protect it. She's already proven her skills."

In Lara's room Steve was indeed sat in a chair sound asleep. Lara was laid straight in her bed, her long chocolate hair resting to her side. Her breathing was steady. Just as Natasha had said Steve's hand was entwined with Lara's. As Lara was resting peacefully Steve's eyes were moving rapidly behind his eyelids, his mouth slightly open.

She twitched. At first it was her eyebrow. Then it was her hand. The hand locked with Steve's. It twitched again and even though it was only a small amount it was enough to wake the Captain.

He looked down at his hand in disbelief glancing up at Lara's face hoping for another twitch. He sat forward in his chair, his heart pounding, blinking the sleep away as fast as he could.

"Lara?" he whispered incase he had just imagined it.

Her head moved to the side making a small smile appear on Steve's face. As she moved she mumbled his name, her brows furrowing slightly.

"Lara. It's okay, I'm here." his grip had tightened on her hand, the smile growing wider and relief settling in his heart.

Her eyes slowly fluttered open, adjusting to the light around them. She licked her dry lips before turning to see Steve's beaming face. Upon seeing his smile she instantly smiled back. She blinked a few more time trying to get rid of the sleepiness. She saw that his face was tired, his eyes had bags underneath them, and that he looked just as achey as she felt.

"You haven't left my side have you?" she mumbled in both thanks and exasperation.

Steve avoided her gaze and rubbed the back of his neck, the happy smile turning into an awkward one. She placed both her hands flat on the bed trying to push herself up. She didn't have strength to do it. After seeing her struggle Steve lent over the bed so he could help her sit up. Lara put her arms on his shoulders and he gently grabbed her waist, sitting her up straight. Before he could return to his seat Lara took the opportunity to kiss him on his cheek. He looked back at her shocked.

"Thank you for coming to get me Steve."

"I think it's what you would have done." he said blushing heavily as he sat back down.

Lara reached back over to take his hand which only made him blush more. She had gotten used to feeling his hand in hers. They simply stared at each other for a moment only this time it wasn't awkward.

There was movement outside the door. Steve quickly tried to move his hand away but Lara wouldn't let him. The door opened and in walked Thor followed by Natasha and Tony. Tony imediately plonked him self on the bottom of the bed, making himself comfortable and the bed dip slightly under his weight.

"About time you woke up lazy bones." he jested gently slapping her legs.

Lara laughed and imediately regretted it. Her ribs still hurt. It turned out that she did have two broken ribs.

"It's good to have you back." chimed in Natasha, giving her a warm smile as she lent against the back of Steve's chair.

Lara asked what happened to everyone after she passed out. They gave her the brief overview telling her that Coulson had called in some help to round up the rest of the Hydra agents. They also told her what the stone was doing to everyone and what it had tried to do to her. She just sat there and listened carefully. In all of her life Lara had never come so close to certain death. Sure she had fallen from great heights, she had been shot even stabbed but she had never almost had her soul stolen from her.

"When you are feeling better I would like to talk to you about the stone Lara."

Lara nodded as she felt a twinge in her stomach. She licked her lips again.

"Am I allowed to eat because I am starving?" she asked with a hopeful look in her eyes.

They all laughed shaking their heads, Thor clapping Steve on his back. Steve's thumb rubbed the back of Lara's hand as he rose.

"I'll go make you something." he said smiling as he rose to his feet.

He left closely followed by Tony and Thor. Tony left because he, no doubt, wanted to question him about Lara while Thor followed because of the thought of food. Natasha was the only one who remained. She sat down in the vacated chair and stared at Lara with her arms folded and one eye brow raised along with a half smirk. Lara knew what was coming but before she could say anything Natasha but it.

"He's already told me."

Lara's face dropped and turned a lovely shade of red. She giggled like a teenage girl shaking her head.

"Okay you were right."