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Devon's head swam as she took note of how bad she felt. There was pain but that was underlying compared to the pressure. Her lungs felt like there were bands around them; each inhalation a strain to expand them. She felt like there were bricks on her limbs and body; the crushing weight preventing her from moving. It was a struggle to remain conscious let alone open her eyes.
In the distance, she could hear voices. They were familiar but incomprehensible to her. One of the voices said her name. She recognized her name. The man spoke it with such devotion it gave her something to hold onto. Gripping to the voice, she fought to open her eyes.
The blinding light sent pain through her head. She blinked repeatedly each time her eyes opened just a fraction more. She made a soft sound, which drew the attention of those in the room. The voices stopped talking and slowly a face looking down at her came into focus.
Devon tried to smile, instantly recognizing the dazzling blue eyes that she cared about so deeply. It took everything to force herself to look away, so that she could see who else was in the room. As her eyes roved around the room, she saw that Bruce and Tony were there. Then she saw the other person.
When she recognized the older man, Devon spoke without thinking, "Uncle Nick."
The endearing name came out before she could stop herself. The pain and medication they were giving her muddled and slowed her thoughts.
"Uncle Nick?" Bruce asked skeptically.
"Sorry," Devon said letting her eyes flutter closed for a moment. She was tired but needed to stay awake for a little while longer.
"They know," Nick Fury said giving her a level look.
"Yeah now they know all of it," she said trying to nod.
Devon needed to think, needed to stay awake. With each passing moment both of those were becoming harder and harder.
"Nick was my mother's best friend, and the one who saved my life," Devon explained to the others focusing on each word in her struggle. "Something I always thought was a mistake until I came to the tower." The last she said without meaning to, the words giving voice to the self-doubt that she had always felt, but now her true purpose was standing before her. They saved her life years ago so that she could do greater good.
The room was silent in the moments after her revelations. Slowly her mind wrapped around the fact that she just spoke aloud. Her eyes fluttered shut again as she struggled to breath. The machines beeped wildly, then slowed as she calmed herself.
"How bad is it?"she asked between gasps.
Bruce took a step closer to the hospital bed. "There is severe cellular degradation on a genetic level. The weapon seems to have caused random cells to break down while others are actively harming healthy cells."
Devon nodded, her eyes still closed. Her mind was struggling but still able to work with the problem at hand.
"My body is counter intuitive," she said with a frown. "My guess is every test you run fails. If you fix the problem with the cells affected by the gun then it causes problems with cells that are only functioning because of the serum."
"Yes," Bruce confirmed solemnly. He opened his mouth to give her the actual findings.
"We were hoping you might be able to shine a light on the situation," Fury said interrupting the scientist before he could ramble on an explanation.
Devon opened her eyes, she had an idea and the others here would be able to understand. "Serum," she said plainly. "Do you have any of the original serum used on me?"
"I'll have to see if we have any in cryo storage," Fury said swiftly leaving the room abruptly.
"Couldn't we just create some?" Steve asked. "They said my blood might be the key to the original formula."
"It'll take too long," Devon said. "It would have to be genetically coded for me. Whether the serum works all depends on genetics."
The men in the room all stared at her, she let her eyes close as she said, "A generic serum only works with the correct mix of Vita-Rays, which no one knows the mix. A genetic serum is a decent substitute to fill in genetic gaps, like those caused by gamma exposure. A generic serum and genetic gaps and there are problems."
Devon took a couple of slow breathes forcing herself to stay awake they needed to know the information that she had. Knowing it was a losing battle she forced her eyes open once more.
"JARVIS release code 091385-Alpha-Echo-Charlie-060381-Delta." The code she gave the AI it would deactivate her program as well as give them access to all of her files. "The data I've compiled is all on the server. Tony, you'll be able to get at them."
"We'll take care of it," Steve said taking her hand. "You need to rest."
Her lips twitched as she tried to smile at his kind gesture. Knowing he was by her side she let herself slip into the abyss.
The pain was still there as Devon came to again. She had an oxygen mask on which she slowly reached up and removed so that she could speak.
"Hi," Devon said weakly, when she saw Tony through barely open eyes. She looked around the room but Tony was the only one there now.
The man shifted uncomfortably before he eventually took a couple of steps towards the hospital bed. He had kept his distance the last time she had woken up.
"Nat drug Steve out of here a bit ago to make sure he ate something. Bruce is in the lab working through your data. I should go get them. They would want to know you're awake," Tony rambled on.
"Tony it's alright," Devon said as she tried to reach out for him but he was still out of reach. "They need to spend time away from my side. Besides I'm not alone you are here."
Her comment made the man turn away. This quiet reserve was unusual for the out spoken genius.
"Tony, what's wrong?"
He looked back at her, frowning deeply but not answering the question. After a moment of contemplation, Tony perched on the stool that was near her bedside. Silence fell over the room as her eyes fluttered with exhaustion.
"Why?" Tony asked suddenly, his voice strained.
Devon tipped her head slightly not certain what he was asking her. He did not respond or continue with his thoughts. As they sat in silence, she thought about his simple question. Her mind was moving slower than usual as the one word echoed and somewhere around the fourth or fifth repeat the question clicked.
"It was the most reasonable action," she said simply.
"Even if you knew it would kill you?"
"Especially because I knew it could kill me. Anyone else would already be dead."
"You couldn't know that," Tony said emphatically getting up and pacing by her bedside.
"The facts that I had at the time were that it was a large electrical weapon. That would have killed you instantly. If it hit Bruce, it would have killed him before he could have changed. He is vulnerable in his normal form. I'm not and I knew all that. Of all of us, I am expendable. I also knew that if possible I could be saved with the serum."
"You knew they had extra?"
"Yes my mother's notes said there was some and while working for SHEILD I found in their records they had some generic serum left and some that was classified as unknown modified. The unknown had a date stamp of when Fury injected me with the serum."
"Then you won't be surprised that Fury is on his way here with the serum," he said turning back toward her.
"Not surprised, just glad that he'll be here soon," she said letting out her breath in a rush.
It was becoming harder to breathe again. Each time she blinked, it took longer for her eyes to open again. Exhaustion was overwhelming her and through each moment, she did not know if she would wake again. She felt the oxygen mask placed back on her face and she breathed just a little easier. As her mind went dark, she held on to the image of Steve. This image was that of an old photo but also overlaid with the man she had gotten to know. The man she was in love with.
The next time Devon woke, she found herself in a different lab. Various medical devices monitored her vital signs and she had IVs in both arms. Doctors were bustling about, but most seemed too busy to notice that she had awoken.
Not wanting to interrupt she watched as Bruce made his way around the room checking figures from the machines and jotting down notes as he went. When he came to her side, he looked up from his clipboard he smiled at her and said, "Good to see you awake. We weren't sure if you would before the main event."
Devon opened her mouth but no sound came. She found it too difficult to find the words, so she just returned his smile instead.
"You think you're up for it?" the doctor asked.
She nodded her accent sending the people in the room into action. Bruce gave her hand a squeeze before stepping away to handle the machine. He looked over at the observation room, giving them a nod.
"Ready or not, here we go," Bruce said under his breath.
He flipped the lever that began the injection process, before going to the monitors to wait and see. The vials that were attached to the IVs pushed the blue liquid into her body.
As the serum entered her system Devon could feel it burn its way through her veins. Each nerve in her body lit up as the serum moved through each system. Every cell in her was on fire with electricity. She wanted to scream as her muscles pulled tight with the sudden spasms.
Her eyes darted around the room not focusing or landing on anything for more than a few seconds. After the third pass around the room, a flash of blue pulled them back. The blue belonged to a pair of eyes that watched on from the observation room. She concentrated on the blonde man's face. His eyes gave her something to latch onto, something to ground her through the pain.
Knowing he was watching made her grateful that she could not scream. Her green eyes went wide as she stared into his blue. Holding onto the sight of the other man was the only thing keeping her from losing consciousness, from giving into the pain and slipping under the rising waters.
As the last of the serum moved through her body sliding through her organs in turn, her body seized. She shook with each flutter of her heart, the created serum flooding the organ. Her last thought before her eyes shut was that she hoped that she would see those blue eyes again.