Author's Note: Please be advised- this chapter is very intense and deals with some pretty dark themes. The things talked about and dealt with are not done so in a life-accurate scientific way, but it's really just people who know each other trying to talk about some very hard things.
Siobhan- I'm glad you are enjoying the story! Unfortunately, things for Kayla are going to get worse before they get better.
Steve reeled from Kayla's information as Kayla was sedated again, falling back into sleep as Steve slowly backed away from her bedside. Perhaps she was delusional, perhaps removing the super-soldier serum was giving her hallucinations in her weakened state?
Red Skull was killed by the Tesseract in 1945. He held it, and it- it... opened a portal. He didn't disintegrate, he was flown off-world by the Space Stone. He never died... and he knows I have a wife and child.
Steve covered his gaping mouth with his large hand as he turned, looking out the blinds to the hospital room. Natasha was standing with Tiffany and Wanda while Bruce updated Kayla's parents on her condition. Steve didn't know if he could face her family. He was so angry at his wife for what she had done. She went on a suicide mission to Vormir to bring back Natasha and put her own life and their child's in danger because of it. If she died, so would Steve's daughter.
His daughter.
He was going to have a little girl. And Kayla didn't seem fazed by the concept of their children getting hurt, not until now- when the proof was clear as her slim body. Red Skull was powerful, and he had set his sights on destroying Steve Rogers.
"Captain Rogers, Doctor Banner would like to speak with you." One of the nurses gently nudged Steve's arm, her hand lingering on the dark blue jacket longer than it should have, but she couldn't resist touching him.
Steve left the hospital room as Sandra and Mathew traded places with him. Clearly being the former President had some perks, as they hadn't made much of a fuss about the two going in together. Steve placed his hand on the receptionist's desk where Banner stood and leaned against it. "The doctor said you wanted to talk to me?"
"Do you know if she had any more serum? Her system is shutting down after having that extra layer of protection all these years. He really did a number on her, and I think we're gonna need it to save her." Bruce explained quickly in a hushed voice so the doctors around wouldn't hear all about Kayla's hobby.
"I didn't realize she had serum lying around... is that what was in the darts you found, Doctor Banner?" Steve asked quietly, looking over his shoulder to make sure the receptionist was still on the phone.
Bruce nodded at the Captain with sad eyes, "Yeah. Didn't work though."
"If it didn't work then why would I give it to her now? Even if her body is failing at least they know exactly what's happening. If we give her serum they won't know how to help her, and she could have a terrible reaction to it, or worse... I gave her a blood transfusion in Wakanda, could we do that again?"
"She doesn't have any serum left Steve. A blood transfusion would surely kill her. It's different now. She's just a regular human being." Bruce told Steve as he placed his large green hand on Cap's shoulder, "There's something else you should know. I-I asked if I could be the one to tell you."
Steve looked up at Banner with dark blue eyes, a deep-set frown already plaguing his tired face, "What is it Bruce?"
Bruce sighed, taking off his glasses as he looked down at the ground, rubbing the bridge of his nose anxiously, "They think the baby could be a vegetable. There's a very weak heartbeat, but... there seems to be some cranial damage, Steve. The baby was growing rapidly, much like your son, but- we aren't sure if it will without the serum in Kayla's blood. We don't know if it'll grow at all."
Captain America took in the information without blinking, staring at Banner as if the Hulk had hurt his baby himself. Bruce saw the man shake in his leather shoes, and his grip on the metal counter tightened as he imprinted his hand into it. He nodded once, swallowing as he did before speaking, "What do they suggest we do? Do we... get rid of her?"
"Not necessarily. They can't be positive that it'll have brain damage until it's born. It's still alive right now, so if Kayla survives she could potentially carry it full term." Bruce explained optimistically, but Steve's mind got stuck on 'if Kayla survives' before he caught the last part.
He ground his teeth together with his tight jaw, eyes darting around as he contemplated his options, "If we get the baby out now is there a chance they can both survive?"
"She's only been pregnant a month Steve, there's not even enough of a baby to-"
"If we take the baby out now will Kayla survive?" Steve cut off Bruce, looking at the hospital room with furious eyes. He'd been given the impossible choice. His family was being torn apart by his wife's recklessness, but he couldn't let her die. He wouldn't let her die.
"It's not really affecting her at this point, Cap. That wouldn't guarantee she'd live. It would only guarantee your child would die." Bruce answered carefully, seeing how stiff Steve's shoulders were under his jacket and how he looked like he could punch the life out of the next person he saw. "I just wanted you to hear it from me."
"I need some air." Steve stormed away, and the receptionist stood up at the sound of his stomping away, seeing the dent in her workspace left by the super-soldier. Her eyes followed him to the elevator where he waited impatiently for it to arrive and take him downstairs and away from his irresponsible wife.
"I never should have let her out of my sight... I never should have let her go to Vormir, and I should have made sure all the stones were in the case before I left." Steve mumbled to himself as he paced the grassy courtyard between buildings of the hospital. The sky was a cruel shade of happy blue that betrayed the storm raging inside his heart. The stone had been controlling Kayla, but she didn't fight it, she let it take her and make her someone else, someone dangerous. What if she had hurt James? They didn't spend five years mourning the loss of their son for Kayla to time travel her ass back to an alien planet to save someone who had accepted they were going to die.
"I told her it was a trap. She didn't listen."
Steve looked up from the patch of grass he was kicking at to see Natasha standing in front of him. "She never does. Kayla doesn't understand the word "no". I'm pretty sure she thinks no means do it anyway."
Natasha smiled a little at Steve's assessment of his wife, and she reached out and grabbed his hand, "I'm thankful for her though. She's a good friend. Even if she's a bad listener."
"I'm happy you are back Nat, I really am, but I'm hurting. Not only did she almost get herself killed, but she freed one of the most insane, wicked people who've ever walked this Earth. And he's hellbent on one thing, and that's hurting me. Because of her, our children will suffer. She just doesn't think."
"Do you love her?" Natasha asked bluntly, giving Steve's hand a squeeze to tell him he was holding her a little too hard. "Do you want to be with her?"
"I want her to understand that her actions have consequences," Steve grunted back, ignoring the other two questions.
Natasha's jaw fell open, realizing what Steve was insinuating as she pulled her hand away, "Don't do it, Steve. It'll destroy her."
"I just need some time."
"What about your son?" Natasha pressed as Steve began to turn toward the main doors of the hospital.
"I'll protect him. I'll take care of him until she's ready to be a good mother to him. I need her to prove that she's not going to put anything above this family." Steve promised, not looking back over his shoulder at Natasha.
"What about everything we've all been through together? You're just going to throw away your marriage? What will that do to the Avengers?"
Steve lowered his head and looked at Nat out of the corner of his eye, "Maybe she should have considered that before she gave Johann Schmidt the Soul Stone to save herself. If she didn't want it, she shouldn't have stolen it."
And with that, Steve Rogers walked away from Nat, leaving her to give Kayla the news of her husband's departure alone. She walked back into the hospital and smiled weakly at all the people who gave her weird looks for being in a bloody catsuit with weapons strapped to her back. She rode the elevator back up to the top floor, and when the doors opened, Wanda and Tiffany greeted her with confused looks.
"Where's Steve?" Tiffany asked slowly, knowing that the Captain's absence was a very bad sign.
Natasha cleared her throat, crossing her arms defensively, "He, uh, said he needs some time."
Tiffany's eyes widened as Wanda's head dropped in shame. "What?" Tiffany yelped, earning a shush from the receptionist, "You mean he's gone? He left her? Who's going to watch James while she's recovering?"
"He's taking his son with him," Natasha replied quietly, taking a shaky breath as Tiffany ran her fingers through her brunette hair in disbelief. Natasha looked toward the closed door as doctors replaced Kayla's IVs. "I need to tell her."
"No, no not yet, she's not doing well. It would actually kill her." Tiffany jumped in front of Natasha with her hands up to stop the taller assassin. "We need to get her strength up. There's no use in breaking her heart just for her to die knowing her husband left her."
"I don't know what he's thinking." Wanda's deep Sokovian voice murmured quietly, her eyes glowing a frustrated deep red, "Steve is a noble man. He's always trying to protect those he cares about."
Natasha smiled grimly at her friend, squeezing her own arms with her fingers to ground herself, "He thinks he is."
Beep.
Kayla winced at the noise, scrunching up her nose as she wiggled her mouth.
Beep.
She opened her green eyes a little, the world was fuzzy but bright. Her head hurt terribly.
Beep.
Everything was quiet except for the monitors. The steady beep proved she was still alive, but if she had to gauge by the way her body felt, she wasn't so sure. She'd taken a lot of hits over the past nine years, but this... this was something else.
Beep.
Click.
The door closed behind Tiffany as Kayla's best friend took a seat next to the hospital bed. "How ya doing Kay?"
"Dying. But, what else is new?" Kayla joked with a weak chuckle that shook her chest more than it should have. "But I'll pull through. Serum or no serum, I'm gonna make it. If I don't, the baby will die. You know it's a girl, right? That's what... that's what Schmidt said anyway." Kayla's voice trailed off as the fog began to lift a little, illuminating the hospital room but staying fuzzy just the same. "I, uh, haven't worn my glasses in almost ten years. I might need those back."
"Wow, that super soldier serum really spoiled you didn't it?" Tiff forced a laugh, trying to make a joke, but she knew nothing could soften the blow she was about to deliver. Banner and Natasha both told the group what they knew, and Tiffany decided she would be the one to tell Kayla about her breaking family. It was her duty as Kayla's best friend to tell her the hard things. The doctors were telling the Ellis family that their daughter was recovering, slowly but surely. She'd taken a turn for the better, which surprised even the best doctors there, but, as Kayla said, she wasn't ready to die until her daughter was safe.
Kayla rolled her eyes a little, turning her head back to look at the ceiling again. She took a deep breath, and a content smile broke across her face. "How's Steve? Is he taking a break from the hospital?"
"Yeah, something like that," Tiffany mumbled in return, and Kayla just smiled on, not prepared in the slightest for what she was about to hear.
"Good, I don't want him here dwelling. I don't want him to worry." Kayla admitted, aiming her hopeful smile at Tiffany, "I'm feeling a little better. Weak, but better. I'm gonna pull through this, Tiff."
Tiffany forced another smile but it came out sad, "I know you are, Kay." She took her friend's hand, trying to figure out which of the terrible things to deliver first, "I, uh, I need to talk to you about something though. It's about the baby."
Kayla's smile dropped from her face like a pile of bricks, and her brows furrowed against her sweaty forehead, "What about her?"
"They, uh, the doctors say she's still alive. There's a heartbeat. It's faint, but it's there... she, uh, isn't showing any cranial activity though. They think she might be- well, she might be a vegetable already." Tiffany pushed out slowly, trying to assess Kayla's reaction before proceeding.
Kayla's lip began to quiver as she sucked in a deep breath through her mouth, the wind being taken right out of her, "What?" She whimpered sadly, looking for some sign of deceit in her best friend's face, but she found none. "No... no, she's... she's gonna be alright. She has to be alright. She's got super soldier blood-"
"She might have? We don't really know. You don't anymore, who's to say he didn't pull out her strength too. She's so little, and, there seems to be some sort of trauma to her head." Tiffany explained, choosing how to articulate the news with practiced precision.
"Is she gonna live?" Kayla gasped out, knowing this whole thing was her fault. She thought herself invincible. She was wrong.
"As of now, yeah, we won't know the extent of the damage until it's born... that is, if you decide to keep it."
"Of course I will." Kayla whimpered, moving her left hand to lay on her small stomach, "If she has even the slightest chance of survival, I'm gonna give it to her. I owe it to her."
Tiffany nodded understandingly, having figured that's the answer her friend would give, "It's gonna be a hard eight months if the baby makes it that long. Especially if its as bad as they suspect."
Kayla's whole jaw was quivering now as the tears began to stream down her pretty face, "What- what do we do now? What is Steve gonna say? He's gonna kill me. He'll never forgive me-"
"He already knows." Tiffany blurted sadly, and Kayla's pupil's eyes widened as she read Tiffany's face, knowing that look.
"Where is he?"
"He's gone. He needs to take some time." Tiffany informed Kayla evenly, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.
Kayla nodded, swallowing as she took in the information, "Okay, yeah, a few days maybe?"
Tiffany opened her mouth to respond, but just sighed audibly instead, "I... don't think so."
"A few hours then?" Kayla joked, but there was no humor in her voice or expression. She just wanted Tiffany to play along. To act like this wasn't a big deal. To act like Steve would be back soon.
"I think it's gonna be a little longer than that, Kay. He's pretty upset."
"Oh. Okay. Well, umm, I'm sure he won't stay away from James for that long. He- he loves his boy. So much." Kayla rambled breathlessly, but Tiffany just clenched her teeth together. Kayla knew that look too. "No. No, he wouldn't. He wouldn't take my son... Tiffany. Tiffany, tell me it's not true."
Tiffany's dark, sympathetic eyes just stared at Kayla as the blonde began to break down, weeping uncontrollably as the nurses came back into the room to check on the dying girl with the broken heart.