Ch.13: Gazing Into Each Others Eyes

Pepper Potts prided herself on knowing exactly how to rectify any situation she walked into but the scene in front of her hit her harder than most. She paused at the door to the waiting area and took in the morose atmosphere in front of her. Both Natasha and Clint stared vacantly at the beige wall in front of them. They were sitting so close together their thighs were touching, seemingly giving both assassins some sort of quiet strength. Barton's shirt was darkly stained, and Pepper's stomach lurched when she realized it was blood. Steve was sitting by himself, his gaze locked on the window and his jaw clenched. She studied him and noted the swirls of red still staining his hands and clothing. She wasn't aware of the details, but one look at Steve was all she needed to see to know that whatever had happened was bad. Tony came up behind her and froze as he took in the scene.

"Shit," he muttered softly, and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze before sliding into the room and heading towards Banner.

Without another word, Pepper quickly got to work. She started by handing Barton a change of clothes, and gave him a soft smile when he nodded his thanks. The archer stood with a heavy sigh, his eyes briefly locking onto the super soldier before resting on his partner. Natasha inclined her head ever so slightly, and he grasped her forearm in support before he quietly headed to the bathroom to get rid of his bloodstained clothes. Pepper handed Natasha a cup of coffee and a bag of mixed nuts, before straightening and heading towards the Captain. She softly cleared her throat as she took a few steps towards him, but he paid her no mind. Frowning at his state of mind, she approached him from the front so he could clearly see who was walking up to him. He stared through her, eyes vacant, and she crouched down in front of him like she was trying to calm a wild animal.

"Steve?" she questioned with a gentle touch on his forearm.

He blinked hard, eyes refocusing, before he seemed to notice her for the first time. His expression crumbled.

"Oh, Steve," she sighed, and moved to sit beside him while keeping her hand on his arm. "Maria's strong. I'm sure she'll be fine."

"We lost her twice on the way over here."

Pepper blanched.

"I just-," he paused and ran a hand over his face. "She sent me a fucking text."

Pepper made no move to acknowledge the curse that fell from his lips.

"If you care about someone, wouldn't you do more than text before handing yourself over to a madman?"

"I think she cares more than you know," Pepper responded softly. "And she doesn't know how to handle that."

Steve ducked his head, and stopped short at the sight of his bloodstained hands. Pepper sighed. Handing him a duffle bag, she patted his shoulder.

"Go change," she said firmly.

He nodded sharply, and stumbled to his feet. Pepper watched him leave the room before heading towards Tony and Dr. Banner. Slipping into a chair beside them, she sighed heavily.

"Do we have any idea what happened?" she questioned softly.

Tony looked up from his tablet with a frown.

"Hacking into SHIELD databases now," he muttered. "It must have been bad if the wonder twins are out of it."

Pepper frowned disapprovingly, but made no move to stop him. A few minutes later, she wished she had. They watched the archived video with horrified expressions, and forty five minutes later Pepper found herself silently wiping away tears.

"Fuck," Tony muttered softly with an unreadable expression flashing across his face.

Pepper just rested her hand on his arm.

They all sat in silence.

Hours later, there was a flurry of excitement and raised voices when Nick Fury burst into the room looking incensed. A frantic looking nurse trailed behind him in the midst of a sentence, and watched in horror as he pushed passed the double doors labeled 'Medical Personnel Only'.

"I damn well expected timely updates on the Deputy Director's condition, and that does not mean hours without contact. Now, you better tell me what's going on or I'll fire your motherfucking ass!"

Tony and Bruce gaped at the Director's outburst and the remaining conversation faded away down the hall.

"Didn't realize he cared so much," Tony said to no one in particular.

"She was always Fury's," Clint responded, looking up for the first time in hours. "He pulled her out of Chicago when she was maybe sixteen, and directed her towards the Marines."

"Everyone always knew not to fuck with Hill or Coulson," Natasha added with a solemn half-smile.

Loud footsteps echoed beyond the double doors, and everyone's attentions shifted hopefully for any form of news. The Director tiredly entered the room, his eye focusing on the other occupants and weighed the situation. His gaze settled on Steve, and the super soldier stood up hesitantly.

"She's in a medically induced coma for at least 72 hours, but if she makes it through the next 24 hours, the surgeon thinks she'll make it."

"Can we see her?" Steve asked, his voice surprisingly steady.

"They're moving her to observation in about an hour," he said, running a hand over his head.

"When can she be moved?" Tony blurted out. "As in away from here."

Fury gave him a long, hard look.

"I'm sure this secret SHIELD hospital outpost is all fine and dandy, but it makes more sense for Hill to recover at the Tower. I have a top of the line medical suite and we can hire any personnel she needs. It'll be safer and easier to contain from the media unless you plan to have the Avengers camped out here for the next week or more."

Fury's expression softened ever so slightly.

"I'll see what I can do."

"I'd like to see a copy of the medical report," Bruce chimed in softly.

Fury stood and headed towards the doors once more, before pausing.

"I've informed the World Security Council that Senator Lawrence will be read in and his clearance level raised," he directed towards Steve. "His helicopter should arrive shortly."

Steve nodded, his mind still foggy as he tried to process everything. Fury inclined his head, then disappeared behind the doors.

It was a credit to Senator Marc Lawrence's composure that the only reaction to a team of superheroes in the waiting room was a raised eyebrow.

"He does the eyebrow thing too," Stark said offhandedly.

Pepper rolled her eyes with an exasperated huff, and stood to greet the man.

"Senator Lawrence," she began and quickly introduced him to the people in the room.

"Call me Marc," he said with a tight smile before rubbing his hand through his hair. "Can you tell me what happened?"

The room's occupants exchanged a quick glance before Steve Rogers stood with a pained expression.

"There was a hostage situation and a bomb threat. Your sister-," he broke off. "Maria exchanged herself for the safe return of multiple civilians and other agents, and gave us time to locate the bomb. She saved the city from another devastating blow."

"And her prognosis?"

"It doesn't look good."

Steve half expected the man to throw a punch or berate them all, but Marc remained silent. He sighed heavily, and looked around the room once more.

"Thank you all for being there for her," he said softly and sunk down into a chair.

Steve hesitated at the door to Maria's room, and Natasha gave him a searching stare. He watched as Fury carefully brushed a strand of hair away from the part of her face that wasn't covered in gauze before slowly standing. The Director gave him a nod before heading out the door and down the hall. Natasha bumped her hip into his.

"She'll be okay," she said softly, and he slowly entered the room.

The stillness struck him. It all felt wrong. Maria wasn't one for waiting around, and she was always moving or analyzing something even when she was in the background, and to see her absolutely motionless made his heart clench. His eyes slowly raked over her body noting the various bandages and bruises before stoping on her face. The doctor had informed him that other than the gunshot wound they were most concerned about the skull fracture and brain swelling, but it looked reasonable for now. Steve wanted to laugh at that- how could brain swelling be reasonable?

"I'm mad at you, you know," he started softly. "We're going to have a nice long talk when you wake up about letting me know when you're upset. I know you're apprehensive. Heck, this is new for both of us, but I can't read your mind. I love you, and I'll do whatever you need me to do to make you more comfortable with our relationship, but you're not going to push me away. You hear me?"

He paused, his eyes raking over her still form. If it had been a movie, he would have finished his heartfelt speech to the fluttering of her beautiful blue eyes, but this wasn't a movie. Her eyes remained closed.

Natasha stood just outside the door, her heart tugging painfully for her two friends. She pushed down on the surge of emotion, and her face remained expressionless. A rising restlessness urged her hands to tremble, but she forced herself to remain still and keep a silent vigil over the fallen Commander.

"You're a damned idiot, Hill," she muttered to herself, her eyes trained down the empty hall.

Two days later, she was transported to the tower and away from the flurry of media who had descended once it was known the Avengers had been spotted near a medical facility. Headlines had questioned the emergency, but no details of the situation had been discovered as of yet. The doctors remained optimistic, and had dropped the level of pain medication keeping her under and removed her from the ventilator. Another day passed, but there was no change in her condition.

"Why isn't she waking up?" Steve asked quietly, once the hired medical staff had left the room to Banner.

The mild-mannered man froze, his eyes darted quickly towards the redhead at the door who had seemingly appointed herself doorway security. He sighed, and walked over to the Captain.

"It's always hard to predict when someone will wake up especially with the number and severity of injuries Maria received. We also have to take into consideration her sheer level of exhaustion even before the hostage situation. She clearly needs the rest."

He paused, and Steve got the feeling there was something else tugging at the doctor's mind.

"Bruce?" he questioned politely.

Banner turned, his face betraying the message he was about to deliver.

"Steve, there's something else to consider," he started slowly. "She walked in there expecting to die. She has to want to wake up."

Steve felt something akin to sheer panic hit him, and his stomach lurched as he tore his gaze away from Banner and back to the brunette beside him. Banner stopped, and sighed, before heading out the door.

"Bruce-," Romanoff hissed.

"It's fine, Natasha," Steve said quietly. "It's the truth."

The room collapsed back into silence punctuated by beeping machines. Tightly holding her limp hand, Steve Rogers prayed.

Two more days passed with no change, and Marc Lawrence announced his plans to head home to retrieve his wife and children and take another week's leave from office. A tale had been spun, probably by Fury, that the Senator's younger sister had been severely injured in a territorial gang battle near one of her big cat sanctuaries she had privately funded. Finding no holes in the elusive heiress' story, the media bought it, and condolences had been offered to the Lawrence family.

That afternoon, Steve found himself absentmindedly scratching Hermes behind the ears while reading aloud from the latest book JARVIS had recommended. The dog's tongue lolled out of his mouth as he gave Steve his trademark smile before flopping down on the cool floor beside his mistress's bed. Steve paused his reading, and silently took in the steady rise and fall of Maria's chest wishing for any sign she might wake up. His face fell once more and he reopened the book.

"'Whisper that I have a chance to win your love.' And with that, she dared the bravest thing she'd ever done; she looked right into his eyes."

Steve paused in between Buttercup's proclamation of true love for her Wesley, and smiled.

"Please come back to me," he said softly, and turned the page. Hearing a soft sigh, he quickly glanced up.

He dropped the book with a thud.

Maria was staring back at him, her icy blue eyes wide and clear, before blinking a few times as if to clear her head.

His breath caught in his throat as he sprung to his feet, and continued to just stare at her. She studied his face, her brow furrowed in slight confusion as she took in her surroundings before meeting his gaze. The corner of her mouth curved up impishly.

"As you wish," she said hoarsely. "You damn hopeless romantic."

His response was a laugh that was almost half sob, as he gently pressed his lips to hers.

"Captain. Shall I inform the others that Commander Hill is awake?"

"In a moment, Jarvis," he replied before kissing her again.

A/N: I'm a loser, and I can only apologize for this exceptionally long wait brought to you by real life. Ugh. The book quote is from The Princess Bride by William Goldman.