Hey, guys! Sorry about the slow Update, schools been a bitch. Also, have you guys seen the Age of Ultron trailers because I am pumped up. Finally,In case it was unclear in the last chapter Dominika is dead. Sorry if there was any confusion.

I only own My OC's.

Sunday, Day Nine

I wake up to screaming and crying.

I hear yelling.

I feel unbelievable pain in my arm.

I see a bright light.

I prepare for the pain that is going to come.

I am nothing.

There is nothing.

There is only the pain.

And then there is darkness.

Tuesday, Day Eleven

A throbbing ache in the right side of my body wakes me up. It's not a sharp pain like before; instead it's mellowed out to a dull rhythm. I barely manage to peel open my eyes before snapping them closed again, the light over my head causing my skull to pound.

The light.

I forcibly open my eyes and bolt up before the pain that erupts on my right side forces me down again. Well, I can move freely, that must mean I'm not chained to that table anymore. That and the fact that I'm in a sterile looking white room surrounded by beeping machines.

Fragments of memory dance just out of my reach. Natasha was there and so was Tony. I was strapped to the table. Charlie. The light, the water, the knife. The torture. And Marta was chained to the wall, forced to listen. Marta.

Marta.

The air in the room disappears, and suddenly I'm left with nothing. There is no pain and there is no light. There's no past and future. There's only the ache in my chest and the loss that I feel. Because this isn't fair. The tears come quicker than expected, and I lift my left arm to shield my face. Shield it from the world because dammit this isn't fair. What did I do to deserve this life of poverty and pain and loss?

I don't sob. My body doesn't convulse as I try to suck air in between the tears. No, I lay perfectly still. Partly because I think I'm running out of tears and if I cry too hard I know they'll be dried up forever. Partly because it hurts too much to move. The two cuts by my right shoulder are stitched up with a thick black string; it looks like it should be on Frankenstein's monster, not me.

When the tears are gone so is everything else. I feel nothing. Is there anything left to feel? Anything left to lose when my sister's dead and my mom and other sister hate my guts? Maybe. There's always Tony, right? But am I just a burden to him or… I have to get out of here. My brains going a mile a minute and I feel like my heads going to explode, but I know I have to get out of here.

I force myself to ignore the pain and I sit up, all my joints groan in response. Feels like I haven't moved in decades. How long have I been out? I think to myself. I sling my legs over the side of the bed with more effort than I care to admit. Just as I'm about to take the plunge and push myself into standing the door opens, revealing a young, dark skinned nurse chewing on a pencil and looking at a clipboard. She looks up and the pencil falls out of her mouth almost immediately.

"Mr. Enriquez," She appears disbelieving for a mere second before she rushes over. "Mr. Enriquez! You can't get up yet!" She lays a hand on my shoulder to lightly push me back onto the bed, but I struggle.

"I -," I clear my throat, or at least I try to. It sounds like I've been eating broken glass. "I have to -."

"Lay back down," Her voice is firmer and so is her hand as she pushes me back onto the bed, but she relents and allows me to at least sit up despite the pain. She pushes a button on the wall and walks over to the nightstand, grabs a pitcher and pours its contents into a cup.

"What's wrong with me?" The answer is pretty obvious, but I need someone to tell me out loud.

She glances up and brings me the cup, easing it onto the bed. I notice now that it's filled with chips of ice.

"Lost a lot of blood, Mr. Enriquez. We had to give you about two transfusions. Stitch up those cuts and drain your lungs because of all the excess water. You're lucky they got you here on time – hey now, suck on those don't chew." I stop chewing, caught, and instead let the ice melt.

"Your dad donated most of the blood, couldn't feel his feet for two hours. Had to be escorted out in a wheel chair." She says casually, checking a machine to my right.

Her words make me pause a moment, "Tony, did?"

She hums in confirmation and I use my left hand to pop a piece of ice into my mouth. Tony donated his blood to me? I probably shouldn't be surprised, but I am. He wouldn't give his own blood to a burden.

I open my mouth to ask another question just as three more people burst into the room. A very flustered Doctor, Tony Stark, and my mother. Well, if I wanted time before I saw them later after I've had time to process all of this, that dreams dead now.

"Luis!" My mom practically shouts, running over to me, but pausing before tackling me into a hug. Instead she settles for a gentler grab, one that doesn't compress my organs. "My God, Luis, I was so scared." I use my left arm to pat her arm that's currently wrapped around my head. No reassurances come out of my mouth today. I don't know if they will ever again.

"You really had us worried for a moment there." Tony says as my mom detaches herself. He looks exhausted, dark circles ringing his eyes and his usual confident stance nowhere to be found. He comes over and pauses a moment before settling on just ruffling my hair.

"Mr. Enriquez, It's very good to see you're awake." The doctor comes over finally, taking the clipboard from the nurse.

"How long have I been out?" I ask. A small gasp escapes my mother at the sound of my voice alone.

"Two days. Amazing, really, we thought you wouldn't wake up for a solid four. I'm SHIELDS head Doctor, Dr. Ericson." He's younger than I would have imagined, face free of wrinkles and youthful even though his hair has gone completely white. Anyone who works at SHIELD is under major stress it seems.

"How're you feeling? Any pain or discomfort?" He asks, pulling on a pair of reading glasses as he looks at me.

"My right arm hurts. That's it." I say, using my chin to gesture to my stitches.

Dr. Ericson nods, "Right. That was expected. Jackie."

The nurse from earlier – Jackie – appears at his side instantly. "Yes?"

"Begin running an IV of Dilaudid." He commands, the nurse nodding and hurrying away. "Those stitches were Dr. Banner's idea. The bleeding was hard to stop and the cuts were so deep we couldn't use normal thread. It'll heal faster, but unfortunately, it'll scar pretty badly."

I wanted to laugh. Physical scars were the least of my problems.

"Can I talk to my family alone real quick?" I ask, glancing at Tony and my mom.

The Doctor seems surprised, "Oh, yes, of course. Just press the call button if you need me. Jackie will be back with the IV shortly." He quickly scurries out of the room, white coat flapping behind him.

I turn to the last to people in the room, opening my mouth before closing it again. Silence filters over us, one that isn't comfortable in the slightest.

I'm the first to speak, "How's Natasha?" It's the easiest thing to ask. I'll start slow.

"Her ankles broken," Tony replies after a moment, tugging at his collar. "She'll heal fast. She always does."

I nod, and silence descends yet again. My mother sighs, runs a hand through her dark hair before finally speaking.

"We have some… Good news, Luis." Her voice is light, worried still. "Marta… She's fine."

No. No, this can't be real. This is the medication or the trauma or something because I won't allow myself to get my hopes up again. Oh God, is she alive? Is she fine? Did the wall miss her? Maybe she was protected by pipes? Can that actually work – oh god, I might be sick. Everything's moving too fast – going by too -.

"Luis, are you ok? You look like you're going to vomit." Tony asks, face etched in concern.

I wave him away and shake my head in an attempt to clear it. "How? I saw the wall fall. It should've crushed her."

My mother shakes her head and Tony begins pacing uneasily. Something's got them on edge, I can tell.

"It's hard to explain, kid. We're not really sure ourselves yet."

"Well how about you try." I snap suddenly, annoyed by the vagueness.

Tony lets out a frustrated groan and runs a hand through his hair. "Bruce explains it better, but here we go, I'll try to summarize. The Chitauri are, from what we've learned, shape shifters. They can change their composition to turn into anything really."

"I don't need a history lesson, Tony."

"I'm getting there, okay? Anyway, when Charlie injected the blood into your sister it began affecting her in a different way than anticipated. We didn't think her body would be able to handle it, but we were wrong because instead of shutting down it adapted."

I shake my head, "I don't understand. So… What? She turned into Chitauri? How is that good news?"

Tony sighs, "No. She – her skin – Know what? It'll be easier to just show you."

"What? No! He's not healthy enough to leave yet." My mom exclaims, throwing her hands in the air in frustration.

"He's right, Ma. I've gotta see this for myself." I say, sitting up again, trying to hide the pain so my mom doesn't freak out again. Tony leaves momentarily and comes back with a wheel chair.

"C'mon, help me get him in, Valentina." Tony says. My mom hesitates for a moment before rushing over and helping Tony move me out of the bed and into the chair. I'm not a fan of being manhandled, but I'll put up with it if it means I can see my sister alive. I grit my teeth as then ease me down, pain flaring up in my shoulder.

Jackie chooses that time to come in with the IV. "Hey! What're you doing? He's not authorized to leave yet."

Tony begins pushing me out of the room despite her protests, "Lady, I've drank high quality whiskey with Nick Fury before. I'm going over your head." Jackie huffs indignantly as we exit the room into an eerily similar hallway.

My mom follows behind me and Tony, trying to keep up with Tony's fast strides. "Can you do that?" She asks, glancing behind us.

"Probably not," Tony replies, turning a corner. "But it's not like we aren't coming back."

Another series of corners and an elevator ride takes us to our destination. A large lab full of huge machines and suspicious looking liquids in test tubes. Windows over look the city, but their so tinted I'm sure the people outside can't see in. This must be SHIELD headquarters, no doubt about it.

Inside the room a group of scientists are huddled around something, Bruce Banner is anxiously tapping his fingers on a stainless steel table as he looks over files. Nick Fury himself is standing behind him, looking out the windows, arms crossed.

"Look who's awake." Tony calls, startling just about everyone in the quiet room.

"Luis," Bruce mutters, shocked. "Good to see you."

"Yea, you too." I turn my attention to Nick who's watching me with that one eye of his. I nod my greeting, "Nick."

"Enriquez."

The room is silent a moment before Nick turns his attention to the scientists, "Gentlemen, please, leave us for a moment." The men nod and quickly hurry out of the room, few glancing behind them, trying to get a better look at the situation. That's when I see her, my sister. Alive. Breathing. Whatever I said earlier about my ability to cry being gone was bullshit because as soon as I lay eyes on her I burst into tears.

My mom immediately jumps into action, coming to comfort me by slinging an arm around my shoulder and whispering comforting words in Spanish. I try to stifle my sobs in her shoulder, but goddammit don't I deserve this chance to just cry? After everything I've been through? I'm not even embarrassed that the head of SHIELD's sees me. Screw him; I'm too damn relieved to care.

When I finally calm down enough and manage to wipe away the residual tears Tony places a hand on my good shoulder. I look up at him and see his face. Conflicted and full of some sort of emotion I can't identify. I nod at him and he claps his hand down once before pulling away. There are a lot of things I can say about Tony and I's relationship, but at least we seem to have a mutual understanding. That's all that matters right now.

Finally he wheels me over to the table next to where Marta's laying on a steel table, a thin pillow keeping her head slightly elevated. Hair splayed and a peaceful look on her face, she's wearing what looks like an ill fitting strapless white dress that stops above her knees. She looks the same, normal. Like nothing ever changed and for a second I can pretend nothing ever did.

I reach out to touch her hand and everyone in the room seems to jump into action.

"Niño, no!"

"Luis!"

I pull my hand back immediately before touching skin. "What?"

Nick seems furious, "Really, Stark? You couldn't tell the kid before coming in here?"

"I thought it'd be easier if her seen for himself." Tony snaps.

"Would someone tell me what's going on?" I finally shout. "I've been through fucking hell. I was tortured by Joplin and I thought my sister died and when I finally wake up you all are as fucking vague as possible! How is that fair to me? Don't I at least deserve answers?"

Everyone in the room seems to be taken back by my outburst. My mom doesn't even correct my language; she just stares at me wide eyed.

Bruce is the first to speak after clearing his throat. "You're right, Luis. You're right." He takes off his glasses and wipes them on his shirt as he walks over and stands on the opposite side of the table.

"Marta's been injected with a diluted dose of Chitauri blood. I'm not sure what it was mixed with, but whatever it did… Changed her. It's granted her the changing abilities of the Chitauri, which is what was able to protect her when the wall fell. Watch," He grabs a syringe off of the table next to him and presses it to Marta's skin, but before it actually enters the skin changes before my eyes. It turns into steel, similar to the very table she's laying on. He moves to puncture the skin somewhere else and the same thing occurs.

I can tell that my eyes must be the size of my head because I can't believe that this is actually happening. This is too crazy to be true.

"I believe it's a defense mechanism." Bruce says, "It's become her bodies way of protecting itself. I'm not sure how it's actually affecting her. I can't run any tests until she wakes up and knows she's safe." Bruce says, running a tired hand through his messy hair.

"So, it just adapts to anything? What does that mean exactly?" I ask, amazed but confused.

Bruce next picks a lighter off of the table. I move to stop him, but it's too late he's already holding it to her skin. The skin doesn't burn however, just turns into what looks like to be rock.

"Amazing," I mutter under my breath. I don't even know how something like this would be able to happen, but by the sound of it neither does Bruce. "She's basically indestructible."

"Basically," Bruce confirms. "But like I said, I still have to run tests when she wakes up… If she wakes up."

That gains my attention, "What do you mean if?"

Brice fidgets nervously, "It's been two days and she's still asleep. I'm hoping that she'll wake up soon seeing that you did."

"But she'll be fine, right? I mean she still has time."

Bruce turns away and shakes his hand, "We can't give her an IV so she gets the nutrients her body needs. She has about another day before we have to start worrying."

There it was. The catch. She's alive, but at what cost. She might be dead in another three days if she doesn't wake up soon.

"It'll be fine," I hear my mother say. I immediately whip my head in her direction to face her. Where did this sudden confidence come from? "Dr. Banner is a genius. I trust him."

Bruce looks as surprised as the rest of us. He chuckles nervously, wringing his hands together. "I almost wish you didn't." He murmurs under his breath, loud enough for us to hear.

Tony clears his throat loudly after a moment. "Well, Luis I gotta get you back before Ericson kills me himself."

"Yea," I mutter. This situation is so bizarre. I feel like what's happened isn't real. It can't be real, right? Maybe it's just all the drugs talking.

My mom looks conflicted as Tony begins wheeling me towards the door. She glances in between me and Marta on the table, unsure of who to go to.

I give her a small smile, "its fine. She needs you more than I do right now. Besides, their just gonna give me an IV and maybe I'll take a nap."

She smiles back at me, but even her smile seems sad as she turns away from me and looks back at Marta.

Tony and I begin making our way back to our room and I want to fill the silence with the millions of questions I have, but something holds me back. Maybe it's the way Tony's holding himself, or maybe it's the fact that he looks like he hasn't slept in a week.

"Chitauri were never released in Times Square. Joplin was bluffing. SHIELD found a whole warehouse in Hoboken full of half decayed Chitauri bodies, but there haven't been any more attacks." Tony breaks the silence as we finally enter the elevator.

I completely forgot about that, but I can't say I'm not relieved. "Thank God," I mutter, resting my head against the back of the chair.

"I've also been taken off the Joplin case."

"What?" I turn to face him as best I can. "That can't take you off. You're directly connected to the case!" Tony knew Joplin the best out of all of us, Fury would know better than to take him off the case.

Tony shakes his head, "Sorry, kid. I let personal feelings get in the way. I got too reckless, too careless."

"How have you been – oh." He was the one to knock down the wall. It wasn't just some random explosion. He must've bust through the wall to get to me.

"I hurt Natasha and could've killed you sister. It's better if I'm not involved. I'm letting Steve take over."

"You could've never known the wall would fall like that, though. It's not your -."

"And if that wall killed Marta? Would it be my fault then?"

I don't respond and my silence only serves as Tony's confirmation. I barely notice as he helps me back into my room and onto the hospital bed. I feel numb as Jackie sets up the IV, barely feeling the pinch of the needle as it finds my vein.

"Luis, listen, I'm really sorry about what I said before. About you not being ready. I'm just really worried that I'm fucking you up already. Hell, look at you. Look at what happened. All because you're related to me." Tony sits in the chair next to me and buries his face in his hands.

"No," I say quietly. "You were right, weren't you? I'm trying to be a hero and I'm just some fifteen year old kid who's already acting entitled to his rich dads stuff."

Tony looks over his hands to watch me.

"We both just got a little carried away. I haven't earned anything." I say, staring at my hands.

Tony lets out a laugh, "You're the bravest kid I've ever known. You've earned plenty; you're just not ready to be Iron Titan. I was barely ready to be Iron Man."

"I don't think I'll ever be ready," I laugh bitterly. "I was Iron Titan for a day and I killed a man."

"Maybe you won't, but when you are you'll know. Trust me." Tony says, leaning back in the small plastic chair.

I glance at him, "You staying here?"

"Yep, unless you want me to get Cap so he can bore you with war stories."

"Nah, you're fine." And it's true. Right now, Tony is enough because at least he cares. That's all I need right now. Maybe in a couple hours I'll want to go fight Charlie, or maybe Marta will wake up, but I know that this will be my last moment of peace until Charlie's caught.

"Hey, can you tell me a story?" I ask suddenly.

Tony looks caught off guard at my request, sitting up and spluttering a moment before getting his bearings. "Uh, sure, yea. Did I ever tell you about the time my body guard, Happy – You haven't met him yet, but trust me he's fine. A bit slow, but he's fine. – Anyway, we were at this party…."

He talks about all the times he's been naked in a fountain (a lot) and this one time when he was crawling out of a window only to realize it was a sixty floor building. And for time first time since I woke up I actually laugh, and maybe it'll be the last time in awhile, but it feels good.

I'm grateful for that.

Yay Marta's alive! At least for now. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, hopefully the next one will be out quicker. Anyway, please review and leave any critiques because they really motivate me and I love hearing your guys' feedback. Review! Review! Review!