Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews!
"I'm just going to check on Constance," I said not bothering to flash my trademark smirk as my gut twisted with anxiety.
"I shall accompany you, Stark. Perhaps my brother will give up his poisonous dream of ruling Midgard."
"Not likely. Loki's brain is a bag full of cats, you can smell the crazy on him."
Thor scowled, slowly raising the Mjölnir with a threatening glance directed at Bruce. By the time Thor caught up, I was already in the process of opening the door. My fingers were bending from the pressure of pushing the keys to type the code in and when the door slide open, I frantically searched for Constance. She wasn't at her post and the metal clanked under my feet as I flittered around, eyes soon falling on a slumped figure in a pool of blood several platforms below the deck. Thor was already bellowing for the guards as he stood preoccupied with his brother who was unconscious in the prison cell. Constance didn't even have a pulse and her breathing was fast and shallow. Constances' wavy black hair was matted with blood and her clothes were far beyond repair.
"Don't go dying on me," I whispered fervently and cradled her head.
The medics pushed me aside roughly and rose Constance onto a stretcher connecting her to several tubes and wires. The whole team arrived just as quickly.
"What the fuck is going on? How did this happened," I vociferated.
"The impact of the fall will most likely result in a concussion," Bruce cleared his throat. "or possible brain damage. But that doesn't clarify how this happened."
"This is his fault, he did this to her! She came to me all shaken up earlier about him! He wants to kill all of us especially her. This is my fault, I let her go."
"Do not blame my brother, Stark! He too is wounded," Thor booms from above. Our heated argument had no effect on the medics who toiled feverishly on Constance, somewhat easing my nerves though my chest still throbbed, a sign of an impending anxiety attack.
"Ok," Steve treads carefully with his words. "but that doesn't explain why Loki is in the same state. Maybe… and I'm not sure but-"
"Speak, Man of Out Time!" Thor was becoming aggravated with the Captain's pace, turning back to his brother who laid there unmoving. Thor's eyes were filled with ire, helplessness, and sorrow as he gripped the glass. Fury had said that no one could open the glass cage whatsoever without his consent.
"Ok, ok! Sorry! We could check the security cameras."
"Coming from the 40's, Steve. You're a actually pretty smart." I tried to be lighthearted while insulting Steve like my usual self but it was no use. I pushed pass the team and began taking two stairs at a time to catch up with Thor who essentially threw me to the ground to the security camera room. Leaving Constance in that state with all those medics swarming around was necessary albeit difficult. Fury burst through the door in a sudden manner that startled us all even making Natasha jump. An odd thing considering her fierce, composed attitude but she was jumpy after the "mewling quim" incident and with Clint gone, her facade was slipping. He saw Constance's body below the deck with all the tubes, wires, and medics.
"Romanoff, what hell is going on?"
"Sir," Natasha struggled with her words but she shook her head and spoke clearly. "Constance attended guard duty as scheduled and I advised her to take caution but it's unknown what happened after she headed for her shift. Rogers suggested we analyze the security feed."
"Well, what are you all standing around for," Fury said raising one eyebrow. "Let's go see those tapes. Where is Thor?"
"Upstairs already," I ground out as Fury turned as if just noticing my presence.
"What's wrong with you Stark?"
I didn't answer but just pointed to Loki to remind Fury that the god may need help, not that he deserved it.
"Open it up and get Loki medical attention! Take all precautions and do not falter to take him down if necessary. Let's hustle people," Fury shouted over the machinery.
The coppery smell of blood on my hands and clothes was making me nauseous and my stomach churned at the sight of all those things in her. We reached the room hastily and all piled inside, barely fitting in the cramped room. The screen displayed the footage and Steve hushed the others to hear the audio.
Loki stood with his hands folded neatly behind his back with an detestable smirk plastered on his face.
"I must say it is a luxury for you to visit me, it gets quite lonely in here. They leave you to do what they won't, how they mistreat us." There was that insufferable smirk that grated my nerves.
"Whatever you say."
"Quite rude to drown yourself just to avoid me."
She froze, pale and stiff, attempting to appear nonchalant about his comment but failing to pay attention as she missed a step and went tumbling down before landing with a sickly crunch below, her body twitching before falling still. As for Loki, he simply dropped to the floor of the prison with a dull thud.
I mustered up the courage to reveal the conversation Constance and I shared.
"She told me in the training room that Loki was in her dreams and wouldn't leave her alone."
"Damn," Fury uttered. "so you think he used his magic to confront her before the accident?"
"I don't know but I just hope she-"
"Stark don't tell me you have feelings for-"
"Her? Fine, I'll admit it. I care for her because- you don't know anything! I found her! She had nothing, I gave her a damn name," I ululated.
The others in the room stood mutely, some stunned at this release of new information that I had spewed out so carelessly.
"Sorry," I said lowly and rubbed the back of my neck.
"The only thing we can do is let the doctors do their job. For now, go wash that blood off you, you're making everyone sick."
I faced Bruce whose face was queasy, Steve still prepared to jump in to stop the fight that had ended quite some time ago, Natasha avoiding eye contact, and Thor had vanished. They all nodded and I parted with the words.
"Call me immediately."
Leaving the packed space, I jogged back to my room and took off my shirt throwing it into the trash as soon as I entered. The shower washed away the dried blood but the misery remained as I stared numbly at the Arc Reactor. A crisp, clean towel wrapped around my waist and I wasted no time in changing into fresh clothes opting for jeans and a black t-shirt. I flopped onto the bed waiting for the call from Fury, the doctors, anyone... time passed agonizingly slow before the phone finally rang. I sprang up, my fingers fumbling to pick up the phone.
"Hello? Constance, is she-"
"Miss. Volk has lost about 2.5 liters or so of blood, you may see her but-"
I slammed the phone down and bolted out my room towards the hospital... which I didn't know where it was. I shouldn't have been so hasty to hang up but I ran down the hall before I found a woman to ask directions.
"I'm looking for the hospital ward?"
"Of course, Mr. Stark. Continue straight ahead and take a left at the end of the hall. That will take you-"
"Thank you!"
The fork in the hall was no problem as I skidded to a stop to avoid crashing into the wall. I went left and saw the hospital-like white doors pushed them open. The waiting room? Why was there a waiting room? This is a ship! I went up to the front desk to speak to the woman but she either didn't see me or chose to not acknowledge my presence.
"Excuse me-"
"Sit."
"I was just told-"
"The doctor you spoke to was mistaken, another doctor will speak with you shorty."
She pointed to the chairs, the ticking of the clock was obnoxious and I found my leg bouncing up and down impatiently. The plain white walls seemed to close in on me, walls that told stories of death. A chair drew my attention as its worn cushion exposed itself from underneath its drab, navy top. My eyes began to focus on something to distract myself and I stare at the fluorescent lights. I found an imperfection, a small chip of paint on the ceiling. A doctor peeked through the ward doors and motioned to come over. I had long since prepared myself for the worst but it couldn't have been worse then when I found her.
"As I was telling you before you hung up on me," she grumbled and I peered at her name tag to see her name was Dr. Pentel.
"Sorry about that, is she recovering?"
"Miss. Volk is in a comatose state from a concussion and with the substantial amount of blood lost as well as her, a-ah, genetic makeup. It's hard to tell."
"Oh… I see. I can still see her though, right?"
Dr. Pentel unlocked the door with her keycard and left swiftly afterwards.
"Oh, Constance. What did he do to you?" Her eyelids were sunken in, her body so still that you could hardly tell she was breathing, only in the slightest as her chest rose and fell weakly. I interlocked our fingers and rubbed her hand we had first met, she had told me that you can only live so long before you realize that death is a blessing in disguise. At the very least, there'd be no fight without her or Loki whose plan to rule Earth was currently halted. This would give Constance more time to heal and as I gazed at her at form, a speck of blood caught my attention.