"Shit." Bruce cursed. "Tony, I need the antibiotics and antitoxin ready in the next five minutes or this is going to have been for nothing."
Bruce ran to the next lab, not stopping to put on a mask; the way Natasha had contracted the illness meant it could not be passed on to another person.
He pushed through the door, the machines screeching around the room.
The medics were already administering CPR, the intubation tube had been disconnected from the machine and air was being given manually through an ambu bag.
Bruce told the man pressing against her chest to stop and Bruce took over immediately.
He counted in his head and spoke to the team.
"Make sure...her IV is in...Tony has the...medications-"
The medics carefully moved around him, one holding her head carefully so the compressions wouldn't knock the shunt they'd not long put in.
Another checked the IV in the back of her hand and as Tony barelled through the doors, he took the needles and expertly slid the liquid into the bag attached to the tubing.
He adjusted the flow and soon the meds were dripping into her vein.
But it wasn't an instant cure. It wasn't like one second she was dying and the next she was okay.
Her heart had stopped. Her organs had began to shut down.
Bruce shouted for someone to bring the defibrillator over and after attaching the pads to her chest, he called for them all to clear.
Natasha's body jolted and immediately Bruce was back hovering over, pushing down over her heart.
"Get me adrenaline. And a long needle."
It would take too long for the adrenaline to move around her body if they used the IV, he would have to inject it straight into the failing muscle inside her chest.
The team was good and in twenty seconds, one of the medics had the needle.
Bruce stopped for a second and the man guided the needle through her skin, through ribs, and straight into her heart.
He depressed the plunger until it was empty and then Bruce was compressing hard and fast once more.
The defibrillator beeped, they stepped back and another shock was delivered.
There was a quivering on the screen.
"Again. Clear."
Her body arched again and the quivering on the screen straightened into something more like a normal rhythm.
"How long was she coding for?" Bruce looked back.
"Three minutes." One of the men murmured and Bruce nodded, peeking back her eyelids and checking with his penlight.
Her eyes responded and he nearly cried with relief.
They'd gotten her back in time.
"Get her back on the machine." Bruce ordered, looking back at Tony, who was pressed against the wall, looking a little terrified.
"Tony, we're gonna need another scan. A full body one, to check her organs."
The man nodded, swallowing.
Before leaving, he knelt next to Clint, who had been sitting in the corner of the room, shuddering and crying, looking about ready to pass out.
"Barton? Clint, come on bud, up we get." Tony murmured, lifting him under his armpits.
"Let's go sit down, yeah?" Tony handed Clint over to Bruce, who helped the archer into a seat, pressing a hand to the nape of his neck.
"Deep breaths, Clint." Bruce said softly.
Tony backed up and headed to his lab. She wasn't well enough to be moved so he would have to carry the portable scanner over to where she was.
Bucky and Steve were waiting for him, sitting close to each other and looking stricken.
"Bruce got her back." Tony said quietly. "We found...we found out what's wrong with her. Someone went to great lengths to try and ensure Natasha's death. Whilst we wait for the meds, you two need to find who did this." Tony grabbed the machine and dragged it to the door.
"Start with the letters and for gods sake, use the face masks and gloves."
"Tony, what is it?" Steve looked up from the box, wrapped in protective material with a giant warning sign across it.
"Anthrax. Someone tried to kill her with anthrax."