Chapter Twenty-Two

Gwen remembered her lessons on astral projection very well, and even though she had lost consciousness, she was able to have her astral form leave her body soon after she had passed out.

She watched as her father rushed to her side, followed (surprisingly) by Christine Palmer. Christine knelt swiftly at Gwen's side and grabbed her wrist feeling for a pulse. "How long has she been out?" she asked Stephen.

"I don't know. No more than five minutes," he answered, capturing the calm he displayed when treating patients. Internally, he was panicking. His little girl could be dead in an hour if they didn't act fast.

"We need to get her into surgery and fast," Christine said urgently, getting to her feet. "Can you open a portal to the hospital?"

"No need." Steve had jogged in to join the others. Gwen hadn't seen him come in and his sudden arrival shocked her. Loki must've alerted him. But where was Loki? "Bruce and Cho are upstairs, prepping the medbay. Tony should be here with a gurney any minute." He looked at Christine. "Who are you?"

"Doctor Christine Palmer," Christine answered. "Stephen called me. I'm going to help with her surgery."

The way she said it made it so there was no room for argument. Gwen was somewhat relieved that Christine would be there. Christine was one of the most competent and kind people Gwen knew and she trusted her completely.

"Good," was all Steve said. "I'm sure they could see more hands."

The elevator door opened once more and Tony rushed out, pushing the gurney. Steve did most of the heavy lifting to get Gwen's body on it and they rushed back to the elevator.

Gwen looked up above her and decided to simply go through the ceiling and up to the penthouse. She went through Clara's floor to see her and Paige having a peaceful breakfast. Gwen decided not to bother them with her presence and she continued through the floors until she reached the top.

Gwen made her way to the labs where she saw Bruce and Helen prepping the area for her surgery.

"Do you have her blood type?" Helen asked Bruce.

"Uhh." He grabbed some papers and began to search through his papers. "AB positive. Same as Steve. I'm sure he'd be willing to donate some blood."

"But… if he's a super soldier, wouldn't his blood affect her?"

Gwen leaned closer, now curious. Bruce shrugged. "I'm not entirely sure. I wouldn't be surprised if it made her somewhat stronger, but it may have no effect on her whatsoever."

"What about her dad?"

"No, he's a universal receiver. She got her blood type from her mother."

"And there's no one else we can ask for blood?"

Bruce shook his head. "I suppose if we took her to a hospital, but this is an emergency. Our options are limited. This is the only way that I can see." Helen nodded.

They continued to prep the area for surgery, putting on masks and gloves, and preparing the necessary tech. Gwen watched in fascination. She had never seen a surgery before. Not in person, anyway. She had seen plenty of videos on the internet, but this would be the first one she saw live. And on herself, no less.

Moments later, Steve, Tony, Stephen, and Christine all rushed into the medbay. "How long has she been out?" Bruce asked right away.

Steve and Tony took off right away, assuming that their presence was not necessary. "Steve, stick around for a bit," Bruce called to him. Steve and Tony exchanged glances, but Steve remained in the room.

"Stephen, maybe you should leave too," Christine suggested. "I mean, with your hands…"

"I know I can't perform surgery, but I'm staying right here," he insisted. "I can still be of some assistance. No offense to any of you, but I'm most likely the best surgeon in the room." It was a fair assessment and the others only nodded. "Do you have her blood type?"

Bruce nodded. "That's why we need you, Steve," he said, turning to the super soldier. "You're the only one in the tower with AB positive blood type. We need you to donate some blood."

Steve nodded as well, though he looked concerned. "I can do that, but… won't my blood affect her?"

"Most likely," Bruce agreed. "But it's not like we have a whole lot of options or time. We need to act now."

"Wait," Stephen cut in. "You're saying that his blood will give Gwen, what, super soldier powers?"

"It's possible," Bruce said. "We don't know for sure that it will or to what degree, but it wouldn't surprise me if Steve's blood made her stronger."

"And are you sure it's safe?" Christine asked, somewhat nervous.

Bruce hesitated before shaking his head. Steve stepped forward. "When I was first injected with the serum, I was weak and skinny. I had so many illnesses. And I survived the injection. She would only have a small portion of the serum. And she's a good person, so I can't imagine that it would harm her like it did with the Red Skull."

"What did it do to the Red Skull?" Stephen asked.

"We really don't have time for this," Helen cut in. "The longer we wait, the more at risk Gwen is. We have to perform surgery now."

Stephen nodded. "Ok. Let's do it."

"Ok. Stephen, why don't you get the blood we need from Steve? The rest of us will begin operating on Gwen," Bruce said.

Stephen nodded and took Steve out of the room. Gwen debated her options before deciding to settle in and watch her surgery. She was curious. Plus, she needed some time to think about the day's developments in peace.

Stephen's hands used to be so shaky that he couldn't do anything for himself that required the use of his fine motor skills. Now, however, they had healed to the point where he could live a pretty normal life. Still, he didn't trust himself to perform surgery, especially not on his daughter. But drawing blood was something he could manage. So he sat Steve down and had him hold out his right arm, carefully inserting the needle into his vein. Steve didn't even wince. Still he seemed nervous.

"Don't like having blood drawn?" Stephen asked conversationally, trying to distract himself from everything that was happening.

Steve shook his head. "No, I don't mind it. I'm just… worried about Gwen is all." Stephen narrowed his eyes at him, searching for any hidden meaning behind his words. Even though Steve was technically in his nineties, he only appeared to be in his twenties. And Gwen was nearing twenty herself. Stephen wouldn't have been too surprised if Gwen had a little crush on the Captain. However, he saw nothing but the kind intentions of a friend, so he relaxed. "When I got the serum, I remember how painful it was. I know Gwen is getting a diluted form, but I just hope that it doesn't hurt her too much."

Stephen nodded. "I hope so too," he murmured, barely audible. "So, you said that something happened to the Red Skull when he took the serum. What was that?"

Steve gave a grim smile, that was more of a grimace. "He, uh, well he lived up to his name. He turned red and his skin sort of shrunk. But I wouldn't worry about Gwen," he said hurriedly, noticing Stephen's face. "He only looked like that because, according to Erskine, the formula makes whatever is inside you increase. So, because the Red Skull was a bad person before, it made him worse. But if it didn't turn me into a red skull, then it won't do anything to Gwen. She's a good person."

"She is," Stephen agreed, relaxing a bit. "Ok, I think that should be enough." He slowly removed the needle. "Thank you for this, Captain."

"Call me Steve," he insisted. Stephen gave a nod and wrapped up Steve's arm, though he most likely didn't need it, given his rapid healing. "Are you going to go help with the surgery?"

"There's not much I can do, really," Stephen replied, holding up his hands to show how they were shaking. "I suppose I'll just wait up here."

"We should tell Paige and Clara what happened," Steve said. "Do you want to come with me?"

"Ok." Stephen gave the blood to the others, who were fervently working away on Gwen, before joining Steve on the elevator. They took it down to Clara's floor. The smell of freshly cooked waffles hit them, and Stephen realized that he hadn't eaten breakfast. Not that he had much of an appetite.

Clara looked up and gave them a small smile. Paige looked at Stephen with distrust. "Steve, Stephen." She nodded to them. "What is it?"

"We just thought you should know that Gwen's appendix ruptured," Steve explained. "She's in surgery now. We'll let you know when we get an update." Clara and Paige nodded, Paige looking neutral and Clara looking worried. "I'm going to go down and keep an eye on Loki."

"I can do that," Paige cut in, standing up sharply.

Steve gave her a nod. "Ok. Let me know if you need anything." With that, he took off, along with Paige, leaving Clara and Stephen alone.

"So," Clara cleared her throat. "You're not doing the surgery yourself?"

Stephen shook his head. He held up his hands. "It would be too much of a risk, with my hands," he explained.

"She'll be ok," Clara told him reassuringly. "Jessie got her appendix taken out when she was sixteen. Her situation went a lot like this. Gwen will be fine."

"I know," Stephen said untruthfully. But he would never admit that he was worried. He was too proud to do so.

"Do you want anything to eat?" she offered awkwardly. Despite the fact that they had made amends for their past mistakes, they still wouldn't consider one another friends. Clara had tried to avoid him since that night. But now, she couldn't really do that. It's what Jessie would want, she thought to herself.

He shook his head, knowing that he couldn't bring himself to eat anything. "Got anything to drink?" he asked.

Clara gave a ghost of a smile. "Is getting drunk together going to become a regular thing?"

Stephen chuckled a bit. "I was actually just hoping for some coffee."

"Order up."

Gwen's appendectomy didn't take too long, and a little after it was over, Gwen returned to her body. Her eyes fluttered open. She was expecting to be sore and loopy from the drugs, but she felt surprisingly good. Like she could get up and go train with Steve, which she never felt like doing.

Bruce walked in and saw that she was awake. "Welcome back," he said. "How do you feel?"

"Fine, actually," she replied. "Better than fine, really. I am a bit hungry though."

He smiled. "You can eat in a couple hours. For now, rest. Normal recovery time would take around a week, given that there was possible infection in your blood, but I'm guessing you'll be doing fine sooner than that. We, uh, we used Steve's blood. That's why you feel stronger. It's because you are."

Gwen nodded. "I know. I heard you all debating about it."

"You mean you were awake?" he asked, eyes wide.

"No. My body was unconscious. I left my body in my astral form, so I could see and hear everything that was happening," she explained. Bruce didn't fully understand, but he nodded anyway.

"I see. Well, we don't know for sure what his blood has done to you, but we'll figure that out as you recover. For now, we'll treat your situation as if it were normal, just in case. Which, I know, it's not, because you normally wouldn't be able to hold a basic conversation with all the drugs in your system." Gwen thought about how grateful she was that she didn't get high. Imagining what she could've let slip horrified her. "We performed your basic open appendectomy. Meaning, your recovery will take longer than normal. Around two to three weeks. You'll be staying up here during that time. Helen and I will be checking up on you periodically, as well as your father and Christine Palmer. I'm sure you already knew she was here though." She nodded. "Do you have any questions?"

"Can I see my father?" she asked.

He nodded. "I'll send him in." Bruce took his leave, exiting the room as Christine and Steve entered. Christine rushed to her side and took her hand in her own. "How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Fine," Gwen replied. "Really. I feel great, considering I just got out of surgery. Just a bit sore. Thank you, Christine, for coming."

"Of course," Christine replied right away. "I should get back home. I have a shift in a few hours. Let me know if you need anything else." She squeezed Gwen's hand and Gwen squeezed her hand in return, and she left.

Steve cleared his throat. "You're doing ok then?" he asked. "I just know that when I got the serum, it was a painful process. But you seem to be doing ok."

Gwen shrugged. "I mean, I'm pretty sore and I feel a bit hot and sweaty, like I just got done exercising, but other than that, I feel fine. Thanks for this, Steve."

"Anything to help," he replied with a smile. "Maybe now you can take on Natasha."

"Not likely, but maybe I'll last longer than thirty seconds," she said and Steve gave a chuckle. "So, what did Loki tell you happened?" She tried her best to keep her voice casual, as if she didn't care. But in reality, she had been thinking about him ever since the start of her surgery.

"He found Tony and I upstairs, and he told us that you had appendicitis," Steve said. "He didn't do anything to you, did he?"

She shook her head, almost too quickly. "No, nothing. We were just sitting on the couch when it burst, and I told him to go get you and Tony and tell you what happened. Why? Did he… say something?" He better not have said anything about what happened. I'll kill him.

"No. But after what happened on your mission, I just think we should keep a sharper eye on him," explained the super soldier. "Paige also mentioned that he's been… messing with you a lot more lately. Is he bothering you?"

"No more than usual," Gwen answered with feigned indifference. "He's just being a dick about it, Steve. I can handle it." He didn't even bother to lecture her on her language. "And is Paige ok? You guys haven't locked her away, have you?"

"We were discussing what to do when your appendix ruptured," he told her. "I don't think we'll lock her up, but you understand that we can't let her go scot free, right? Even if he did deserve it."

"I know," she sighed. "But he really did have it coming. And I don't think anyone will miss him."

"Probably not," he agreed. The door swung open and in walked Stephen, looking relieved to see her. Steve stood up. "I'll leave you to it." He gave Gwen a nod and then Stephen before taking off.

"How are you feeling?" Stephen asked right away.

"Fine," she said yet again. "I think it'll be a pretty swift recovery, given my new blood."

"How long were you having pain before your appendix ruptured?" he asks, changing the subject.

She shrugged. "I don't know. I wasn't feeling all that great yesterday, but I just attributed that to period cramps. And then today, I thought it was probably a cyst."

Stephen gave his head a shake. "You're lucky to be alive," he told her, somewhat sternly. Gwen merely shrugged, as though her brush with death didn't bother her. If she was being honest, it was pretty much the last thing on her mind. "Well, at the very least, I'm glad to see that you look normal. Actually, you look a bit taller, I think."

"Really?" Gwen had always been on the shorter side, reaching only five feet and three inches. She had stopped growing in the eighth grade. Everyone she knew was taller than her, and it was a source of bitterness for her. If the serum had actually made her taller, she just might throw a party. "How much taller?"

"Not much. Probably just an inch or two," he said. It wasn't much, but Gwen was still excited at the thought. "Can you tell a difference?"

"Yeah. I feel… different. Stronger, I suppose," she explained. "If it were up to me, I would get out of this bed right now."

"I don't think so," Stephen said right away. "You're staying right there."

"I know, I know," she said with a sigh.

There was a soft knock on the door. They turned to see Clara poking her head in. "Just thought I'd check in, if that's ok."

Gwen nodded along with her father. "I should get back to the Sanctum," Stephen said. "I've been leaving it unattended too often." He placed his hand on Gwen's cheek. "I'll come see you tomorrow?"

She nodded. "Bye, dad."

Clara smiled brightly at Gwen. "I'm glad you're ok. Paige and I were worried about you."

"Thank you," Gwen replied, somewhat awkwardly. She still hadn't quite figured out how to talk to Clara. A part of her that had been encouraged by her father disliked the woman. However, Clara was not as bad as her father had made her out to be. And Jessie had loved her.

"Do you want me to bring you anything while you're up here?" she asked. "Like books or music of something?"

"Some of your cooking would be welcome," Gwen said and Clara laughed. "Some books would be nice too."

"Which books? What's your favorite series?"

"Harry Potter," she replied.

"Oh, I love those books," Clara said. "I remember how big they were when they first came out. I've read through it at least three times." She grinned. "I think I should start calling your father Dumbledore. He'd hate it."

Gwen couldn't help but laugh. "He would," she agreed. "But then, who does that make me?"

Clara hummed thoughtfully. "Well, I was going to say Hermione, but I think you're more like Harry actually." Gwen raised her eyebrows. "Just the way you talk. You're both so sassy and sarcastic." That was a fair point and Gwen nodded.

Speaking of Harry Potter reminded Clara of a fact she had been meaning to tell Gwen. "Gwen?" Gwen hummed in response. "Before your mother… before Jessie died, she… she made me your godmother." Gwen looked up at her sharply, surprise evident in her expression. Clara nodded. "I meant to tell you earlier, but I couldn't think of how to breach the subject."

"Did dad know?" Gwen asked softly.

Slowly, Clara nodded. "He did." Her expression softened. "Don't be too harsh on him, Gwen. He made mistakes, yes, but so did I. We both regret what we did. I wish that I could go back and tell younger me to take the high road and be the adult, but we were both too stubborn for that."

"That sounds like him," Gwen admitted, but she still knew that she would be having words with her father about it all. "I guess that makes you Sirius Black."

Clara's smile returned. "I guess you're right. Who would you say Paige is then?"

Gwen opened her mouth to respond, but hesitated. She had wanted to say Hermione, but it just didn't seem to fit. A part of her wanted to say Draco, but that wasn't right either. "Paige is her own character," Gwen finally responded. Clara nodded in agreement. Paige was just too unique.

"Then who is Loki?"

"Voldemort." Clara laughed and Gwen grinned.

As if they had heard their names, Paige and Loki burst through the door. "Speak of the devil," Clara said with a smile. She got to her feet. "I'll let you three chat alone."

There was an awkward silence in the room after Clara left. "You're alive, then?" Paige finally said with an approving nod.

"Seems like it," Gwen agreed. "Feeling pretty good. Though I think that's mostly thanks to Steve's blood."

"They gave you Rogers' blood?" Loki asked incredulously. Gwen nodded, looking a bit smug.

"Then you must be stronger now," Paige said. Gwen gave another nod.

"I guess so. I haven't really tested it out yet, but we'll see."

"Perhaps you and I could spar then," Paige suggested.

Gwen laughed. "If I ever have a death wish, I'll do just that," she said, making Paige smile. Gwen then looked up at Loki. It was an awkward moment, to be sure. After all, their last interaction had involved both kissing and a near death experience. She gave him a polite nod. "Thank you," she said.

He returned her nod, and smirked to himself. He would have her pay him back in full later. When there were no prying eyes. When it was just the two of them.

Paige glanced between the two of them with suspicious eyes. It was almost as if they were communicating silently with one another. But she hadn't thought that they were close enough for that. Something was off about the two of them lately, and Paige was going to find out what.