Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel, The Avengers, Fantastic 4, Daredevil, etc. Just Jamie and her story.


Chapter 28
Abilities

Colin had taken to staying at Jamie's place almost every night of the week. It was easier than having to get up in the middle of the night or morning for him to go home and sleep or get ready for justmade sense for him to have some things at her place so he could get ready there and go to work without being tired. He was a cop, after all and they needed as much rest as they could get to do their work.

To avoid tipping off Colin that something was wrong with her she would get up after he fell asleep to pace in the kitchen, or to even go out for another run, despite having already ran with Steve. She would even go out and get food, even though she already ate four times more than the average female during a normal scheduled meal.

Something was seriously wrong, and Jamie knew it, but she wasn't in the best state of mind because of it. Which mean she wasn't really doing what she should have been doing if she were in a right state of mind. If she had been in a right state, she would have called Amir far sooner.

Jamie couldn't sleep. At first it would just be a couple days and then she'd be able to sleep for a few hours one night before the cycle would continue. However, the length of time between sleep had drastically increased. The longest a person had gone without sleep without a stimulant was just over eleven days. Jamie had gone three weeks without sleeping. And that wasn't the only thing either. She couldn't get full. No matter how much she ate, Jamie couldn't satisfy her hunger. It was like she was burning it off before she even got it into her stomach. She was far too anxious. She couldn't sit still, needing to constantly moving something: tapping fingers, bouncing leg, walking, etc.

She was exhausted, yet completely full of energy at the same time. It was physically and mentally exhausting. It was causing a near constant jackhammer behind her eyes. It was a wonder she could even concentrate on anything with it thumping against against her brain and her skull.

It was around two in the morning one Tuesday morning that Jamie found herself pacing in her kitchen. She was in a cold sweat, stuck between being freezing and shivering with a need for twelves sweaters, and being hot from how much she was shivering and from her movements. Her head was pounding, causing her eyes to have a nearly constant flow of tears streaming down her puffy cheeks from blood shot eyes.

To be honest, she looked like a drug addict in withdrawal.

She had the munchies (if you could call it that) like she was high too.

She stopped pacing, her eyes landing on the fridge for the second time that morning. She had already raided the fridge and the cabinets, eating all of the peanut butter, bread, ramen noodles, and three frozen TV dinners Colin had saved for when Jamie worked those late shifts (because he couldn't cook to save his life).

Jamie practically tore the door off of the fridge, pulling out whatever she could get her hands on that was edible before going to the cabinets once more, leaving the fridge door open. She ended up with a massive bowl of mixed ingredients that would have made anybody vomit eating it all together. She would have too if she were in any right state. She had gathered ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, fluff, butter, bread crumbs, vanilla extract, gravy master, and raw eggs,

All of the commotion in the kitchen had woken up Colin, who had peacefully been sleeping with an arm and a leg hanging off the bed (which Jamir found weird and highly uncomfortable, but he managed to end up that way every night). He slowly walked in, feel scuffling off the hardwood floor. "What the hell are you doing up at this hour?" he asked, rubbing one of his eyes.

Jamie didn't answer. She just kept shoveling the food into her mouth, managing to get it all in without any of her face somehow. None of it could be wasted. She needed it all. Energy. Energy, she needed more. She wouldn't get that if it was wasted on her face or clothes.

"Jamie? What's going on? What the hell are you eating?" He walked up next to her, looking over her shoulder to the contents in the bowl. "Jesus, babe, what the hell are you eating?"

Jamie didn't respond. Colin was getting really worried now. "Jamie, hon, why don't you come back to bed?" He placed his hand on her shoulder, feeling the intense temperature of her skin. She generally ran slightly higher than the average individual due to the energy, but this was far more than even that. "Jesus, Babe, you're burning up."

"Interesting."

Jamie froze, the voice hauntingly familiar. A shiver when up her spine, and this time it wasn't from the cold sweat or fever.

"The recovery process greatly resembles the symptoms of withdrawal, with the added hunger effect."

Jamie pushed herself back, knocking the bowl over on the island counter, and tipping herself over and out of her stool. She landed hard on the floor, hitting her head and shoulder off the cabinet behind her. "No, no, no, no," she muttered repeatedly. pushing herself further and further away.

"Jamie!" Colin was at her side in a second. He tried to pull her to him, to stand her up and bring her to the couch, but she was squirming far too much for that. "Jamie, calm down. What's wrong? Tell me what's wrong."

"This is highly unanticipated."

The hallucination of Dr. Hull knelt down beside her, on the opposite side Colin was. He reached out a hand to touch her on the head, but Jamie cried out, pushing herself into Colin's hold. The Estonian man smirked, placing a hand to his chin as he muttered in thought.

"Her temperature is causing hallucinations," he said. "Very interesting indeed."

"You';re not real, you're not real," Jamie muttered, shaking her head.

"Jamie, I'm real. I'm right here."

"I may not be real, but I do seem like it, don't I?" Hull reach forward again. He stroked her hair, which if had been Colin would have been calming, but from this play of the mind, caused Jamie to hyperventilate. "And I terrify you just as much as your days as my pet. Those were quite informative, weren't they? My first successful little test."

"Breathe, Jamie," Colin instructed. "Deep breathes. In out, in out. Come on, do that for me. Do it with me. In out."

In out. In out.

Jamie tried, but Hull just laughed. "You know, since I got away, I won't give up on my little projects. That's probably why you're having this hallucination. You're feeling guilty that you couldn't get to me. You hate everything about me, and I'm walking free. Perhaps I'll find another individual, just like you. Just as special and successful."

Inoutinoutinout. Jamie was trying to breathe, but hearing all that was making it incredibly difficult to focus on in. Her breaths were gasped and labored. It was a wonder how she hadn't passed out yet.

"Maybe I'll start with someone younger. Have time to convince them that what we're doing is righteous and for the sake of science. Children are very impressionable, I hear."

Jamie struggled to get out of Colin's hold. Her breathing was no better than it was. In fact, it was worse. No, no. Not kids. Anything but that! She tried to lunge at Hull, but obviously she couldn't move very well, and as she tipped forward, her head went straight through the hallucinations chest. Take me. Do anything you want to me. Just not kids. Anything but kids.

The brunette had reached her limit. Her lungs were screaming for oxygen, and her body was far too exhausted. The woman collapsed to the floor, her eyes rolling to the back of her head as a secure took over her body.

"Jamie! Jamie!" Colin yelled, trying to get her to answer him.

Colin had absolutely no idea what was going on. What was he supposed to do? Would a hospital be able to help? Jamie wasn't normal, after all. Was everything inside her the same as a regular person? He knew that was probably a stupid thought, but he had no clue!

There was only one person he knew of that he could get in contact with in order to try and help his girlfriend. It was difficult to leave her side, but he had no other choice. Colin got up off the floor and bolted it to the bedroom, grabbing Jamie's charging phone and found the contact of that single person.

"Steve? Oh, thank God. Something's wrong with Jamie. I-I don't know what to do!"


The gurney was pushed with extreme urgency, a cluster of doctors surrounded by the unconscious brunette woman strapped to said moving device. Two others trailed behind the gurney, both extremely freaked out, though one was holding it together far better than the other.

The three had been flown from the hospital on a quinjet to a much more secure and qualified location to figure out just what was going on with Jamie and to take care of her. Steve knew where they were, but Colin was completely out of his element. Not only was he freaking out about his girlfriend, but he was in a top secret facility.

"You must stay here," Amir called to the two.

"I am not leaving her!" Colin protested.

Steve was reluctant as well, but he knew that Amir was the most qualified to take care of her. "He's the best qualified to take care of her," Steve said, grabbing Colin's arm. "She's in good hands."

"How do you know? She's not normal like us- me! What makes this guy so speci-"

"Because he's her personal doctor," Steve said "He's the only one that knows how Jamie's abilities affects her body."

Steve dragged Colin over to the small waiting room where Steve leaned up against the wall with his arms crossed and Colin pacing the length of the room. "I don't like this."

"You think any of us do?" Steve asked.

"I don't like doing nothing!" Colin corrected.

"There's not much we can do, Greer," Steve said.

"B-But what's wrong? What's going on? Is she gonna be okay?"

"I don't know. We just have to wait and see."


"Doctor, what do you think it is?"

"It is her abilities, they are coming back all at once. It too much for her body to take. We need to get her i-"

"Doctor, she's going into cardiac arrest!"

"Oh, Child, what have you gotten yourself into this time…"


Colin knew, from the others on the force as well as his own family, that being a relative of a cop and in a relationship with one was very difficult. They were always in danger and the constant worry was painful to deal with. He suspected that it was like that for military as well.

Not knowing if they were going to come home, or if they were even alive that very moment. Was a calling going to come in to tell them their loved one was dead? The stress and anxiety was horrendous. How did people live like that? How would they deal and go on with their day like the person they loved most wasn't out there in such danger?

He had no idea how people did it.

Because he, for one, wasn't handling it well. And he wasn't dealing well.

He didn't think he'd ever be able to deal wit it.

Jamie, after all, was extraordinary. And she had admitted several time before to him that if she could, she would have still been in the military. And he was sure now, that as her abilities came back, SHIELD would want to recruit her. After all, they had used her before and that had turned out wonderfully. They were all still alive, weren't they? And he knew Jamie. He knew that she loved ordinary, but she loved doing the right thing more. And working with SHIELD was what the right thing was (for the most part).

So where would that leave him? Sitting at home alone most of the time worrying to death about if she was going to come back home in one piece? If she was going to come home at all.

Some people were cut out for that, but he sure as hell didn't know if he was.


"We got her back, Doctor!"

Amir sighed in relief, but their job wasn't nearly over. He wasn't exactly sure what to do in this situation. The reemergence of power wasn't something they had gone through together, but there were similarities to when her abilities first appeared. Though her body had the energy in it now, it wasn't nearly as strong as it should have been on a regular basis. It was very similar though, as her body was fighting it, and trying to accept it all at once.

"Doc, she's awake."

"Jamie, can you hear me?"

Jamie eyes moved with great difficulty to meet with his own. It was very obvious she was in a great deal of pain. Focus was almost impossible for her to do, but she was managing it for the short duration of their conversation.

"We have to put you back in the stabilization tank."

That tank still gave Jamie nightmares. She had almost drowned in there. It hasn't been pleasant whatsoever. She didn't want to go in. Going back in was the very last thing she wanted to happen. Though, perhaps, dying was that last thing on that list. She tried to shake her head to tell him no, she didn't want to go back in there, but it didn't really happen.

"I know you do not like it, but it's the only way to stabilize your body's reaction, Child."


For the majority of the following week, Jamie was trapped in that tank unconscious as her abilities returned. They had returned in full, and she was no longer in pain. But she was still unconscious due to just how exhausted she was from everything that had happened, and the lack of sleep.

Amir monitored her very closely, and only let a select few individuals into see her after they had removed her from the tank. Before that, only him and the staff working on her were allowed in. Colin and Steve were very upset about that.

But once she was placed in a bed Colin and Steve were allowed in for small periods, even though she wasn't awake. Colin was sitting in one of the two rather uncomfortable looking arm chairs in the room, staring off at the glass wall that was connected to the hallway and the door into the hallway. He seemed very lost in thought with deep purple marks under his eyes, and disheveled hair.

"You look like shit," Jamie croaked out.

Colin jumped, and a second later he was by her side, taking her hand as he brought his chair closer. "You scared the hell out of me, Baby," he told her, bringing her hand up to kiss it. "I thought I lost you."

"I'm sorry," she said, which ended up with her coughing.

"You better be." Colin scolded her gently. he raised from his seat and retrieved her a glass of water from the pitcher on the table beside her.

"How long was I out?" she asked.

About a week," he answered.

Jamie groaned, lifting her hands to run through her hair. "Have you been here this whole time?"

"Yeah, what else could I do?" Colin asked her as he came back, holding a cup to her lips.

"Thank you," she said. "For staying, and the help, but I can do that myself, Love."

"No you can't. You're in the hospital for a reason."

"Even after I got my abilities I could lift a cup to drink, this is no different," Jamie said.

"Just rest okay, don't argue please." Colin sighed.

"Colin, honey, I'll be okay," she said. "You don't have to worry anymore."

"It's not that easy and you know it." Colin told her. "You can't just say stop and it magically stops."

"I know, I know," Jamie muttered, taking his hand. "But everthing is okay now. I'll be back to work and home soon. A couple days, at most. I mean, when this happened it was a week before they threw me back into my cell. Being home is far safer than a cell so I can go home sooner."

"But you're not home now." Colin pointed out. "Just let me do this."

Jamie signed. Colin wasn't from her world. Her bizarre, dangerous, horrific world that her and all of the Avengers and soldiers were used to. "Okay, if it makes you feel better," she said. "For a kiss."

"I can do that." He grinned and ducked down quickly to capture her lips in his, her chin captured between his fingers.

"Looks like someone's feeling better."

The two pulled back, their eyes landing on the doorway where a comforting blond stood leaning against the frame. His hands were growing potatoes in his pockets, his hair even messier than Colin's heaping mess.

"Steve," Jamie greeted.

"Jamie," Steve said walking around and going to the other chair on the other side of her bed. He took her other hand. "You scared the hell out of everyone."

"I'm going to be apologizing a lot lately, aren't I?" Jamie asked.

"Oh, yeah." Steve chuckled. "I suggest Tony first, you know how dramatic he can be."

"Yeah, 'cause that's exactly what I need, Stark up my ass," Jamie muttered.

"Language!" Steve scolded.

Colin leaned in with a smirk and whispered in her ear, "It's a good thing he's never heard what you say in bed then," he chuckled.

"Colin!" Jamie scolded, swatting him on the arm with a red painted face.

"I don't want to know do I?" Steve asked his face red.

"Nope," Colin answered with a smirk. He liked having something on Jamie that Steve didn't know.

"Okay then." Steve coughed a bit. "So when did she wake up?"

"Couple minutes ago," Colin answered.

"You could just ask me," Jamie pointed out. "I am sitting right here."

"Yeah well you brush everything off. He'll give me an honest answer." Steve said.

"Something we agree on." Colin scoffed.

"I don't brush everything off," Jamie grumbled, slouching down in her bed.

"Yes you do." The men told her both crossing their arms in almost the same way.

"Fine then, give me an example," she demanded.

"The time you died." Steve said. "That's a big one."

"That couldn't be helped! It was either risk it or let the world get taken over by aliens," Jamie said. "Not my fault!"

"Your stalker," Colin brought up.

"That's not necessarily my fault either. The first time they sent me flowers could have just been a one time deal, and then when I got more you said you were going to look into it for me so I technically didn't brush it off."

"But you have to admit you make light of things others would take very seriously." Steve said.

"With the crap I've been through? Maybe this stuff just doesn't seem as big to me," she thought.

"Okay so next time I get shot, I'll just handle it myself." Steve shrugged. "Okay yeah sure. No big deal." he leaned back, hands laced behind his head.

"No you will not, Steven Grant Rogers!"

"You said it yourself, compared to what else we go through it's no big deal." Steve shrugged.

"Getting shot is still getting shot, you dumbass," Jamie said, throwing one of her pillows at him.

"And dying is dying, Stupid.," Colin said hitting her on the forehead gently.

"I'm alive, aren't I?" she retorted.

"But, there was a point in time where you weren't," Steve said.

"God, she pisses me off when she's like this," Colin muttered.

"You both suck," Jamie grumbled lightly, crossing her arms over her chest.

The men looked at each other and shared a hesitant smile. "We know."


I goofed up on the chapter count until the next section. After this chapter there are only four chapters. Isn't that exciting?

Thanks go to the following for their reviews:

shugokage- Yeah, Colin's not an unreasonable guy. Jealous, but well, who wouldn't be jealous when his gf's bff is Captain America.

Jelsa777- Thank you again for your help. I've already started the scene from the idea you gave me and I have to say, I'm liking where it's going. Next chapter as come familiar faces, and then the next even more; all the Avengers included. I thought you'd be excited to hear that. OOOOOOOOOH and I finally watched Ant Man and I'm really excited for the idea that I got for it. ;)

KEZZ 1 - I hope you liked the chapter and that it was worth the wait.

Guest - Colin wouldn't dare tell her who she can and can't hang out with. He's a jealous man, but she's not unreasonable or unrealistic. He's just very observant, which is what causes his actions in the next chapter. Oh, and don't worry about not saying Jamie's name. I don't really care. I'm just flattered you took the time to review as well. (And half the time spellcheck tries to change the spelling of it anyways so it doesn't really matter). And don't feel bad about what you feel about Colin. You're entitled to feel any which way you like. I don't mean for him to be horrible, but he does have a right to be a bit jealous because, Jamie and Steve so in fact, have unrealized feelings for one another. Something does happen and you shall see very soon what it is. Anyway, I hope you liked this chapter and I hope to hear from you again!

Knighthawk993- Yes, she'd gladly pay you in chocolate. Ahaha, if that had happened, it would have been so funny. I think Jamie would have been more embarrassed than Colin would have. Don't worry, Colin won't be around much longer.

Seasidewriter1- I look forward to your scene. Anyway, Perhaps it's the calm before the storm...Okay, you got me. It so is. Colin and Jamie won't be together much longer. I'm still thinking for Jessica Jones. I have some ideas with Trish, so maybe that's how it comes up but not exactly sure though...I'm really excited for Luke though. Luke has always been one of my favorites (even if his cartoon version in Ultimate Spider-Man is a bit different than this one). And no, it isn't Kilgrave...But is it horrible that I actually really liked him?

Jo - The admirer won't be revealed for a while, so you're going to have to wait and see, and just remember that it's there. And feel free to say who you think. I'd love to hear it, even if it isn't right.

TMG4899- Yeah, the boys are very jealous of one another. That's exactly what I wanted. Colin's purpose is to help push Steve and Jamie together in more ways than one: Steve realizing that he likes her, her realizing that she's happier with Steve even though Colin makes her happy too...But that's getting ahead of things. Oh yeah, my characters would hate me. I mean, firs off, I always make them orphans and that's just the tip of the iceberg. I bet you can't wait until the semester is over. I know I can't

Princess Nightmare99 - That's exactly what I was trying to do. I wanted people to see Jamie for who she was as a person before anything else. And the love interest/relationship needs time to grow. I wanted it to be as realistic as I could make it in such an unrealistic world (though Marvel does rather well at keeping things grounded with superheros.) I was hoping people would like CC. It was my goal to have something pretty much everybody liked before what happens...which you'll see ad I can explain more later. Don't want to give too much away.