Diamonds Are Forever
Kitty's eyes flew open, but she couldn't quite figure out where she was or how she got there. She couldn't tell how long she sat there with her fuzzy mind before she decided to walk herself through the facts. It was something that Deadpool taught her while in Special Forces for when things just didn't seem right and at that moment, everything was most assuredly not right.
Let's start off easy. My name is A-Ah no. Kitty. My name is Kitty. Kitty Stark-Wait, no, fuck. That ain't right. I'm...Uh, Kitty...Vixen Stark...Kitty...Stark-Oh, fuck. Eh, close enough. She told herself. I'm a mercenary. No-no that's wrong. Her eyebrows furrowed as she tried to correct herself. I'm an… Avenger. She felt a smile across her face. I'm an Avenger and the Times Square High Rise just exploded.
(Narrator: "Now, for the harder stuff.")
Her ears were ringing and her vision blurred. She looked around and tried to recognize her surroundings, but all she could tell for certain was that it was still dark. Even when her eyes were open, all Kitty saw was darkness. She blinked several times, trying to clear the ash that seemed to be burning into her eyes. Eventually, her vision cleared.
(Narrator: "Paso dos completo.")
She could feel that she was laying partially under a bed of rubble and there was a thick sheet of smoke covering the entire area. The heavy smoke filled her lungs, searing them like a fire from the inside. It felt like her lungs were rattling, but she couldn't hear the weezing. Ashes fell like snow around her, so much softer than the rubble biting into her skin.
Kitty figured it must have been only a few minutes before sun up as she watched color splash across the sky through the small gaps in the smoke. She groaned; Just what she needed was a headache from the sun. Kitty slowly began to remove the sections of stone and road off her body so she could move. After attempting to get up, Kitty found herself incredibly exhausted and frustrated at being unable to perform the simple task. She glanced down and saw that a street sign was pinning down her legs. Kitty held her breath and pushed it off, then laid back down, gasping. All of Kitty's strength was gone and even breathing seemed to be too much work.
Kitty's tired eyes wandered until they rested on an odd, gold shape bouncing near her. It took her a minute to realise that it was the puppy that tried following Logan before they went into the Times Square High Rise. It licked Kitty's cheek before laying down next to her, nuzzling its head under her hand.
"Go. Go find him." Kitty croaked as she started to cough violently. When the fit passed, she patted the dog on its head the best she could. "Go get Logan." The puppy whined and Kitty pled, "Please, you've got to find him. He'll help me...He can help." The puppy got up and licked her face again before running off.
She was aware of a deep, throbbing pain in her left leg and a burn in her lungs as she sat there, gasping for air. A scorching sensation licked its way up her back and shoulders. This temporarily distracted her. Kitty lay there for a few minutes, trying to assess how bad her injuries were. A stream of hot liquid flowed over her eye and she moved her hand to wipe it. Dazed, she noticed that it was blood coming from a deep gash on her scalp. Kitty's head felt too heavy for her body and the entire idea of getting up seemed incredibly impossible. She stopped her efforts to remove more of the rubble crushing her body and just stayed there.
Maybe I'll just lay here forever, she mused. Her eyes slid closed and she concentrated on breathing in and out, but her breaths were ragged and she started coughing. I hope Tony will be okay without me, Kitty thought. He'll never forgive me. Tears pricked at Kitty's eyes and she coughed again. He'll never forgive himself.
A small part of her brain screamed about Ashley LeRoux being the mastermind behind this. It was also thinking of ways to kill him, but Kitty told herself that in order to do that, she would have to get up.
The ringing sound in her ears grew and she pressed one of her hands to her head, trying to dull the excruciating pain. Kitty cried out, but that only made the pain worse. Eventually, the ringing eased and her thoughts became coherent again. Kitty raised her hand to her ear and started snapping her fingers, trying to test her hearing. She could barely hear it, but could tell there were vibrations. She wondered if this was how Clint Barton felt without his hearing aids. Kitty made a mental note to ask him if she ever found the strength to get up.
Concentrating very hard, she could make out a faint buzzing noise and eventually she realized that her earpiece was still hooked to her corset. Kitty considered ignoring it, but then she thought of Tony and Steve. Her brain produced pictures of the two of them standing above the coffin, both in suits and supporting red rimmed eyes. A soldier handed Tony a folded flag and saluted him before joining the ranks.
She felt a surge of adrenaline course through her as she reached for the earpiece clipped securely on her corset. Kitty raised it to her ear but quickly pulled it away when the sound sent shocks of pain through her ears. She ignored it long enough to try to sort through the static sound coming through the ear set. Finally, Kitty gathered the energy to sit up and press the button on her arm piece.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" She gasped. Kitty still couldn't hear herself well enough to know she was screaming into her arm mic. "Hello? Can anyone hear me?"
"Kitty? Kit, is that you?!" It sounded like Tony was whispering but she finally figured out the gist of what he was saying through the static. "Are you okay? Please, please tell me you're okay."
"Tony, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, dad, I fucked up." Kitty cried hysterically, her breathing ragged. "We shouldn't have stayed, it was a trap. It was gonna explode anyway, and Ashley, he-"
"It's okay. There's nothing to be sorry about, Kit. Calm down, breathe, and try to concentrate. I need to know if you're okay." Tony said slowly. "Are you hurt?"
Kitty was still crying as she said, "I'm sorry! Please don't hate me, I love you guys so much-"
"It's alright, Kit, calm down. We don't hate you," Tony assured her. "We still love you, but I need you to calm down and concentrate. Logan and Steve are trying to find you, but there's a lot of debris. Kitty, listen: Where are you?" He asked, and Kitty found herself wondering the same thing.
She looked around, trying to recognize her surroundings, but honestly, everything just looked grey. She saw why her leg was bothering her so much, though. A large piece of jagged metal had embedded itself deep into her calf, with blood oozing steadily around it. Kitty fought off the desire to remove the metal shard, knowing that if she did, she would lose too much blood. Then she really wouldn't be able to kick Ashley's ass.
She finally remembered her reason for sitting up and tried to concentrate. Kitty pressed her ash covered finger on the arm cuff again and calmly spoke into it. "Hey, dad? I think I've been blown up." Was all she could manage before falling back into the rubble.
Kitty Vics was drowning in a dark sea of unconsciousness. Her lungs burned with every breath and there were many times when she wondered why she was still taking such painful measures. It all seemed pointless. Breathing was supposed to soothe the burn, but for some reason, it was the cause. Excruciating pain radiated from her leg; Even her slit throat hadn't hurt this much. Kitty could hear the Beatles song "Let It Be" and it suddenly dawned on her...She was dying. She reasoned that this was it. This is how she would die. She couldn't help but be disappointed that her death would be from a bomb made by a man wearing blue tights.
Well, Kitty thought. Just barely made it to twenty-five. Wasn't expecting that. Five years longer than I'd figured. That's not too bad. She felt more tears roll down her face and she closed her eyes. Her face softened and appeared serene as she lay there. The movies got it wrong. I'm not cold. I'm actually quite warm, like when I've downed a bottle of tequila. I'll miss tequila. She felt her chest sink and it was hard to think. And warmish...Warmish like Tony and Wilson and Steve and Logan and Bucky...and Bucky and…And she took her last breath.
"Whisper words of wisdom, let it be. And in my hour of darkness, she is standing right in front of me, let it be…Whisper words of wisdom, let it be."
There was what felt like a huge rock being dropped on her chest and her fuzzy mind tried to tell her that something else was wrong. Surely this much pain couldn't just be coming from her leg. The crushing sensation happened again; Sharp jabs to her chest that seemed to be intent on crushing her into dust. Kitty couldn't help but wonder if someone was stabbing her in the chest, over and over and over and over again. Isn't being blown up enough? She silently asked the person. Just let me go in peace, you sadistic bastard.
"And when the broken hearted people living in the world agree, there will be an answer, let it be...Whisper words of wisdom, let it be...And when the night is clouding, there is still a light that shines on me. Shines until tomorrow, let it be…"
Kitty heard what sounded like a dog barking off in the distance followed by some shouting. There were whispers everywhere but trying to make out their words was impossible. Still, she found the buzzing comforting; Familiar. Kitty felt herself drifting off, getting lost in the sounds. Her mind had almost wandered into the black when the crushing sensation happened again. The pain in her leg seemed to dull slightly and the sounds became clearer. Kitty figured out that she really liked listening to the voice calling her name...
"KITTY!" She felt someone beating on her chest and she silently begged the person to just let her sleep. "KITTY! COME ON, WAKE UP!" There was more steady thumping, then she felt someone touching her lips. Kitty felt confused and frustrated on why someone would be kissing her at a time like this.
Who the fuck wants to kiss a corpse?
"WAKE UP, GODDAMMIT!"
Thump thump thump thump
Another kiss. What a pervert.
Thump thump thump
After realising that she would not be allowed to sleep, Kitty reluctantly opened her eyes for the insistent voice and found that she was looking up at Logan. His face blurred in and out, but it was definitely him. His mouth turned up into a dazzling smile then started to move. Kitty could tell that Logan was speaking to her, but it sounded like they were underwater.
"What?" She asked, confused as she got a good look at him. Logan was covered in soot and his hair was messed up, much to Kitty's delight. She raised her hand and weakly touched his hair, a dopey smile crossing her face. Her hand slid down to cup Logan's cheek and she softly ran her thumb over his cheekbone. It's not a bad sight to see before you die, Kitty thought.
He had dried blood on him, but Kitty couldn't figure out where it came from. Logan covered her hand with his, and she idly noticed that both of his hands were also covered in blood, but this was fresh and bright red. It didn't even occur to Kitty that it was her blood coating his body. "You...You're bloody… It's, just, it's everywhere…" She sputtered, trying to wipe the red off of his face. "You're hurt? You, you're not supposed to get hurt, Logan, why...I don't understand-"
"I'm fine, Kitty. I'm fine." Logan grabbed her hand to get her to stop frantically trying to clean off his face. "This isn't my blood, I'm fine. Kitty, calm down." He assured her before asking, "Can you move?"
"Why would I want to?" She hoarsely muttered, dropping her hand to her side and making no effort to sit up. "I think I'll stay right here, thank you very much. Didja know you've got such beautiful eyes? And a beautiful voice? Beautiful Logan..." Kitty cooed before she started coughing, her chest jolting up as blood leaked out of her mouth.
"She's in shock." A voice to her right said, and she turned her head the best she could to look at the figure. It was Steve, still dressed in his Captain America suit, leaning over her. "We need to get her out of here."
"Anyone ever tell you that you kinda look like an angel?" Her question to Steve was slurred and her eyes slid shut again. "Who knew I'd be lucky enough to have angels watchin' over me as I die."
"No, no, no." Logan nagged, trying to help her sit up. "You're not dying. We just need to get you up so we can get you to the medics." He moved his arm and accidentally bumped the metal piece piercing Kitty's calf. Her eyes scrunched together as pain coursed through her leg and she screamed before losing consciousness. She could hear a voice calling to her and if it was someone else, she would have just stayed asleep. "Kitty, come on, wake up. I'm sorry. Please wake up." Logan pled as her eyes fluttered open again.
"We've got to move her, she's losing too much blood." Steve told Logan, who visibly winced when she started crying.
"Kitty, please stop crying," Logan ran his hand over her hair before wiping a tear off her cheek. "I need you to calm down. Try to stop crying, Kitty."
Kitty's mind reminded her that crying won't help anything. It would just dehydrate her further and make her throat more sore and her head worse. But she couldn't make the tears stop as pain radiated through every inch of her. "I'm so s-sorry, Looogan, it just huuurts."
"Should I pick her up?" Logan asked, trying to decide the best way to lift her.
"We can't risk jarring the metal piece again. She won't survive losing any more blood." Steve shook his head. "We'll see if she can limp with her arms around us, that way she can keep the leg from touching anything."
"Rogers, I don't think she can-"
"It'll keep her awake, Logan."
"She'll be in pain!"
"Which will keep her from-"
Kitty hadn't been paying attention to the conversation. Instead, she had been trying to find the words to describe how hurt and confused she was. "Logan," Kitty cried, trying to get her eyes to focus on him. "Logan," He finally stopped his spat with Steve to look down at her. "My head feels funny. It, it feels funny and wrong, I'm cold and I ain't okay."
"I know," Logan shrugged off his brown leather jacket and handed it to Steve. "I know, Kitty." He laced his arm around her waist and lifted her up on her good foot. He took his jacket from Steve and slid it on her small, shivering body. Logan then helped her wrap an arm around his neck and put the other around Steve's neck. "We're going to get you fixed up, okay?"
They lifted her to her feet and shower of glass fell from her bloody hair. Kitty wretched her arm out from Steve and felt the back of her head with her hand. She stared at her bloody hand, the confusion crashing over her like a wave as she tried to understand why her head felt raw. Kitty looked around, trying to figure out what else was wrong.
"Wilson." She whispered to herself. Her head felt like it was being ripping into two but she knew that someone was missing from the party. "WILSON!" Kitty tried to focus her eyes on Logan, but her vision still blurred. "WHERE'S WILSON, HE'S NOT HERE!"
"Shh, Kitty, you don't have to yell. Calm down," Steve tried to comfort her, but Kitty was crying and shaking. "We haven't found him yet, but we've got Peter and Clint looking for him, okay? Please, you've got to calm down." Steve answered as he helped her wrap one of her arms around his neck to help support her. Kitty gasped as more pain spread through her body and she saw dark spots floating around. "I need you to concentrate on walking, okay?"
Logan caught her after she took a step forward and stumbled, her eyes sliding shut again. Her skin was cold and pale and she was shivering as her breathing caught in her throat. "Hey, hey," Logan lightly tapped her cheek to wake her up as he held Kitty's limp body in his arms. "Kitty? Kitty, I need you to open your eyes. Just open your eyes for me." Her eyes slowly opened, her eyelids fluttering as she fought to keep them from closing. "There you go. No, no," Logan nagged. "Stay awake for me. Just stay awake so we can get you to some medics." He got her upright again and they took another step, but Kitty started coughing and her head felt woozy.
"Logan, it hurts." Kitty cried as she spit blood out of her mouth. "Everythin' hurts and I just, I wanna sleep."
"I know, I know," Logan nodded and contemplated picking her up. "But I can't let you sleep. The paramedics are just over there and they'll fix you up then you can sleep in the hospital."
"I'm cold." Kitty cried as she took a step forward, her eyes trained on Logan. "I just want to go home, Logan. This," She laughed softly. "This is the worst trip I've ever been on." Kitty sang. "That's such a good song. Hey," She looked up at Logan and smiled weakly. "You were alive back in '66."
"Yeah," Logan nodded, hoping that talking would distract her long enough to get to safety. "I remember when it came out. I was over in Vietnam."
"I'm dying and a goddamn Beach Boys song is goin' through my head." Kitty coughed and Logan pulled his jacket more securely around her. "How depressing."
"You'll be alright, Kitty," Steve tried to reassure her, but she was losing a lot of blood and he couldn't keep fear from seeping into his voice. She leaned on him and started coughing, covering her mouth with her hand as more blood flowed from her mouth.
She stumbled again and Logan said, "That's it, Rogers, I'm picking her up." He bent down and geared to scoop her up when:
"You can't pick her up without hitting the leg," Steve pointed out. Logan paused. "The faster we get her to the medics, the faster they can fix her."
"Okay," Logan nodded and he straightened back up. "Okay, let's go."
Kitty limped, most of her weight being supported by Logan and Steve, over the rubble and ruins of the Times Square High Rise. She tried to remember the events leading up to the explosion. One word kept floating through her mind, but it always seemed out of grasp. She knew the word, but every time she reached for it, it slipped away. She concentrated all her energy on the word, desperate to pluck it from her foggy mind. One word, she told herself. One word, and I can solve this.
dahlia dahlia dahlia dahlia dahlia
"Dahlia." She finally said out loud, breathing a sigh of relief.
"What?" Steve asked, looking over her head at Logan for an explanation. Logan shook his head, just as confused as Steve.
"Ashley LeRoux is the Ice Arsonist." Kitty informed them, her lungs aching and her throat raw. She fell into a fit of coughing and the two men had to stop until she could move again.
"Are you sure it was LeRoux?" Logan asked her as they reached the edge of the damage caused by the explosion.
"Pretty sure."
There was a police blockade where Tony and Natasha stood, deep in conversation. Tony caught sight of the three of them limping out of the damage and ran over to them.
"Kit!" Tony wrapped his arms around her the best he could. "Don't you ever fucking do that again. Do you hear me?" He brushed some of her bloodied hair off her face and repeated softly, "Don't do that to me again."
"Sorry, dad." Kitty smiled slightly as she patted his head with her hand. "Mmmsosorry." Her voice drifted off and her body, still being held up by Logan and Steve, went limp.
"Hey!" Tony yelled to the medics across the way. "Can we get some help over here?"
"You got her?" Steve asked as he helped wrap Kitty's arm around Tony's shoulder.
"Yeah," Tony nodded. "Yeah. Go help Peter." He looked down at Kitty, whose eyes were still closed. Her chest movement was so shallow that Tony couldn't tell if she was breathing. "Kit?" He tapped her cheek and looked up at Logan with a worried face. "Kitty, open your eyes. The medics are coming, but you've got to open your eyes."
"You guys," Kitty gasped, her eyes opening to see Tony's terrified face. "Are so fuckin' unreasonable."
"There she is." Logan smiled proudly.
A team of paramedics ascended on them, helping Kitty into the back of an ambulance. She sat on the edge of the bus while a paramedic wiped some of the blood off her forehead with a damp gauze pad. An O2 mask was immediately strapped to her face, much to her displeasure.
"We're going to have to transport you as soon as possible." The medic explained as another one examined her leg. "It definitely penetrated the bone, and judging the amount of blood on both you and your friends, I'm going to guess you've lost at least two liters, but probably more." He looked over to Logan and Tony. "You said she's been coughing up blood?" Logan nodded as Kitty pulled his jacket tighter around her. "You might have pierced a lung. I don't even know how you're alive at all, honestly. The combination of everything is fatal."
Kitty removed the O2 mask and sighed loudly, as if this greatly burdened her. "Do I have to go to the hospital?"
"Yes." Tony drew out the word and nodded his head at Kitty slowly. "Transport her. Now." He told the main paramedic, who nodded before he set to work picking out the glass shards from her scalp with a pair of tweezers. Kitty rolled her eyes at Tony, who snapped the oxygen mask back on her. She caught sight of a red and black cloaked figure limping towards them.
"SARGE!" Kitty yelled, pulling off the oxygen mask. She tried to slide off the ambulance so she could see him, but Logan held her back. He attempted to put her O2 mask back on, but she just batted him away. "SARGE!" Kitty started coughing again, her body shaking violently with the action. Her eyes rolled back into her head as she continued the fit.
Logan pulled her back into the ambulance and kept her pressed to his body. He brushed aside a piece of hair stuck to her forehead and shuddered; Her skin was like ice. An EMT set a stethoscope to her back and tried to listen to her gasping.
"Miss, we're going to have to transport you right now." The EMT said, passing the stethoscope to the main paramedic to listen to. "Mary!" He called over his shoulder to the driver. "Mary, start the truck! We're going to have to take her right now! Make sure they've got an OR prepped and ready, she'll need immediate surgery."
"Pero tengo..que hablar con él." She waved her hand at them.
"Miss, you're drowning in your own blood. It's urgent that we transport you-"
Deadpool staggered over to the ambulance and sat down next to Kitty. His entire left arm was missing, as well as several fingers on his right hand and an ear. Most of his suit had torn into pieces, showing off his scarred and burned skin. He clutched at his stomach with what was left of his right hand, and it suspiciously looked like he was holding in his intestines.
"Hey, Louisiana." He said simply, laying his head against the edge of the ambulance.
"Man," Kitty wiped off some of the blood that dripped down over her eye. "You look like how I feel."
Deadpool laughed as he swatted his stump of an arm at a paramedic. "I'm fine." Deadpool shrugged off the chief medic, who looked very flustered and angry. "I'll heal everything back in like, a day."
"Sir! You're grievously injured and in shock. Please let me help you." The man pled. Deadpool yanked up one sleeve to show him that the cuts and abrasions were already stitching themselves together. Even the deeper ones were reconnecting the muscle and tissue at an alarming rate.
"Wish I could heal like that." Kitty poked at a tear in Logan's shirt from a piece of shrapnel. Her finger brushed against his smooth, healed skin and she felt him shiver.
"I wish you did, too." Logan looked down at her and sighed.
"I want to go home, dad." Kitty whispered to Tony, her head feeling too heavy again as she leaned on Logan. "No quiero morir...No me dejes morir, Logan." She closed her eyes, not even noticing when Logan scooped her up and set her down gently on the gurney. Tony rode with her to the hospital.