Aqua flew through the air, using the moisture in the atmosphere to slow herself down. The moment her feet hit the ground, she took off searching for Tony and Peter, hoping they weren't the red dot on the tracking system. She quickly realized that she landed a decent length away from the airport, but using the trackers, she ran parallel to the building and straight towards the trackers. A glance to her left changed her trajectory.
"Peter!" He was sitting on the cement, rubbing his head and glancing in her direction.
"Aqua?" He began to push himself up, trying to stand. Aqua reached him and sat him back down. "Aqua, what are you doing here? I thought you were worst case scenario. Don't tell me things are worse than I thought."
Aqua grabbed his hands, hoping that by keeping them toward the ground they would keep him toward the ground. "It's not. Not that I know of. Several of you switched to a higher concern of injury and I told you the moment any of you were hurt then I would be on my way."
"Oh yeah. Is the fight over?" Looking around seemed to answer; the field seemed silent. Aqua looked down at her tracker, noting that the red dot was not Peter, and looked to the direction the tracker was pointing. Tony was kneeling, but he didn't look "red alert" hurt either. She looked back to Peter.
"I'll help you up as long as we walk somewhat slowly, k?" She looked at him expectedly. He thought for a second and then nodded slightly. Aqua stood up and held out her hands for him to take. He stood slowly, swayed a bit at the top, but steadied himself somewhat quickly. Aqua placed herself under his right arm and they began walking towards Tony; Aqua still couldn't tell who was next to him.
"Aqua, I'm good. I can see the flashing red lights coming from your watch. We can walk faster." Aqua stayed silent for a moment, trying to keep herself composed, but glad that it didn't appear either of her closest people were severely injured. After a moment, she nodded, quickening the pace a little. The closer they got, the more stressed she became. Until she saw him.
"Rhodes!" Aqua slipped out from Peter's arm and raced towards Tony and Rhodes, who was lying on the ground, not moving, barely breathing.
Tony blinked, just realizing who had appeared next to him. "Aqua? What are you doing here? I told you to stay at the facility."
"Never mind that. Have you called emergency?" She quickly touched some areas of Rhodes body, trying to find any protruding bones. The male human body was about 60% water, it wouldn't be hard for her to find out the extent of his injuries. She found some internal bleeding and plenty of places that will bruise heavily, but there was one injury that caught her attention.
"Tony, he needs help and he needs it now." She looked up at him. He nodded.
"I've called emergency they should be here soon. Though I'd like to meet them half way, if possible – " He began to reach for his friend. Aqua quickly put her arm up, blocking Tony from even touching his friend.
"Don't! We can't move him. We just need to wait for emergency and make sure he doesn't stop breathing from any internal bleeding."
"Can't you stop any bleeding?" Looking worriedly towards her, watching her work. He just noticed Peter had walked up behind him, listening in to the conversation.
"Only to a point. I can't just plainly stop the bleeding, but I can make the area around a cut colder, causing the blood to clot faster. Obviously, this can cause a bit of a problem when the bleed is internal." Tony nodded, though Aqua wasn't looking to see it. She kept her hands on Rhodes, continuing to check for injuries. Peter's attention snapped up as he heard the emergency sirens come in range.
"Aqua – " She nodded, but kept her head down.
"They're close, Mr. Stark."
"Great. I'll go flag them down. Stay with Aqua, just in case she needs you." Peter nodded and moved closer to Aqua.
"Is he going to be okay?"
"I hope so. We just have to be careful."
"There's another injury that we can't see, isn't there? What is it?"
With the ambulance much closer, Aqua just silently shook her head.
"Not now." Peter nodded and motioned for the paramedics. One hopped out and rushed towards Aqua and Rhodes while two others piled out of the truck.
"Kannst du mir sagen was passiert ist?" The paramedic looked to Peter and then to Aqua. With her hands still softly on Rhodes, she shook her head.
"I'm sorry. Ich kann kein Deutsch. Englisch?"
The paramedic turned to her and smiled softly. "Yes. Can you tell me what happened?"
She looked up to Peter, who shook his head slightly.
"I can't. I don't know. But I can tell you his injuries." The medic nodded, encouraging her to continue. She focused back to Rhodes, reassessing what she felt.
"Internal bleeding. Three cracked ribs. Concussion." She could tell Tony was getting close. She didn't want to be the one to tell him, but she had no choice now. "And a fractured lumbar vertebra." Tony stopped in his tracks, hearing Aqua list an injury that would change his friend's life forever. Aqua glanced up, apologetically, and then back to the paramedic. "We need to be extremely careful when moving him."
The paramedic focused on Rhodes from that point on. The other paramedics joined with all the necessary instruments to checks his vitals and preparation to move Rhodes to the ambulance. Aqua found the emergency switch that released and opened the suit so that the paramedics had access and then moved herself away.
She liked Rhodes. Loved him, even. He was part of the family that Peter had convinced her she had. She hated knowing that his life would probably never be the same, if he made it through the internal injuries. She tucked her arms into herself, trying to hold her somber feelings inside. She glanced over to Tony, who looked as if he could break at any moment, but only in the way the Aqua or Pepper could tell. To Peter, Tony probably just looked concerned and maybe a little pissed off.
Aqua sighed, straightened herself, and began to walk towards Tony, but suddenly, she remembered Peter, whom she had found with a somewhat mild concussion. She spun around but didn't find him. She began to panic when a hand was placed on her shoulder. She jumped a little, only to realize it was Peter and he was pulling her into his arms. She relaxed into him.
"I'm okay."
She pulled away slightly, "you were the first one to go orange…" She reached up, "how's your head?"
He held her hand down. "It's alright. Hurts a bit, but I'll be okay."
She leaned back into him.
"I thought I almost lost you," she whispered.
"I – "
"Guys, lets move to the jet and head back. The others were already arrested." Tony interrupted. Peter and Aqua nodded and pulled away from each other.
"Barnes and Cap?" Aqua asked. Tony just shook his head.
"Took off." Tony moved closer to her, putting an arm around her back. "Don't worry. I'll find them."
She nodded and moved between the two to board the jet. Nat was already preparing for take-off. Aqua looked back to the field questioningly. There were 12 people on the field originally; Nat, Peter, Rhodes, Vision, and the African king (T'Challa is Aqua remembered correctly) had fought with Tony, yet Aqua only saw the three she was with left. She knew where Rhodes was, but what about the other two?
"Where are Vision and the king?" Peter had taken a seat towards the back, his hand holding his head. Aqua moved to him, placing a chilled hand where he was holding, hoping it would help. As Tony turned to her, she noticed him holding his wrist. With a gesture, a thin layer of cold water wrapped around his wrist. Tony nodded his thanks and continued walking to the front of the jet.
"I'm not sure what happened to T'Challa, but Vision took off after what happened to Rhodey."
"Why?"
"Vision was the one who shot Rhodey down." Aqua's eyes widened with a gasp.
"Why would he – "
"It was an accident. He was aiming for Sam, but he got… distracted."
"Distracted? But –" That's when her brain made the connection: Wanda. "Oh."
"Yeah. I've got a tracker on him, of course, but I just don't want to go into that right now." Aqua nodded. Tony clearly didn't want to talk about it anymore, so she dropped the conversation and returned her attention to Peter.
He was looking better after sitting with a cold hand to his head. Seeing her worried expression, Peter pulled her closer.
"I know it's dumb to say 'don't worry', cause I know you'll worry anyways, but it'll be okay."
Aqua sighed. "Remember all that time you spent convincing me I have a family? Well, that family is now split up. Some are being arrested. Some just left. I –" Peter placed a finger on her lips.
"I'll never leave." She sat there, a little stunned, but a thin, worried smile spread across her face. She relaxed into his hold once again.
Tony looked back at them, swearing to himself to never put Peter in danger like that again and to restrict a little more of Aqua's access within the compound. They were too important. And he could never make the same promise that Peter had just made to Aqua.