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“Hey Guys?” You spoke into the intercom. “Do you believe in aliens?”
“Really Y/N?” Tony replied.
“Considering there is a giant fucking wormhole in the sky, with weird ass creatures coming out of it, Yes Y/N. I do believe in aliens.” Clint voice snapped into your ear.
It was 2014 and the Chitauri had finally made a comeback. Everybody who had been in denial after the Battle of New York,was awakened back into reality. Mayhem was all across the city as people ran around to find a safe haven. It had only been a little over a year since you had first joined the Avengers so this was your first real battle. After making your way up the ranks of SHIELD, it was determined that you were much more qualified than a normal agent. Thus,it was decided that you would join them as a fighter as well as a lab consultant due to the numerous degrees that had your name on them You were clad in your full leather suit,and cuffs similar to Natasha’s widow bites, and your chosen weapons for the day were your precious daggers. But you also carried two guns just to be on the safe side.
“Does anyone know when Captain is coming back? We could really use his strategies right now.” You spoke,while fighting off two of those hideous creatures. Spinning around you stabbed the one looming over you, punching him for safe measure.“These sons of bitches really have a tough skin.”
“Shut up! Let us fight. This commentary is very unnecessary.” Natasha snapped.
“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today.” You trailed but decided not to say anything.
You ran over to a few cars, hiding behind them to look for more aliens when you heard a scream from a nearby alley. Immediately you ran over there to find a Chitauri towering over a woman.
“Hey, you!” You screamed, diverting his attention. As soon as he turned towards you, you launched your dagger, which hit its desired aim, the point between the eyes.
“Are you okay?” You asked the young woman.
“Y-yes. Thank you!” She whimpered.
“No problem,it is my duty. Now listen carefully. Out there on Avenue 11, there is an empty warehouse. Go there, you will be safe I assure you and take anyone you see with you there as well. We have agents guarding it. No harm will come to you.” You directed her.
“Yes. Thanks again.” She answered, now limping towards the alley’s exit.
“Listen,” You called her, causing her to turn back,“ Take this!” You threw the alien’s gun at her. “Be safe.”
You too followed behind her, planning to change places and look for the godforsaken creatures somewhere else. That was a big mistake. As soon as you exited, there was a huge bunch of aliens, around fifteen walking towards you.
“Shit! I guess I woke up on the wrong side of the bed.” You spoke to yourself. Deciding that the knives were not a great choice you tucked them in and toom out your guns and aimed.
With your aim towards the Chitauri, you shot at them, taking down six of them in the process. But there was only so much the guns could do as they surrounded you from all four sides.
“Oh boy.” You cracked your knuckles.taking a closed stance so that less of your body was revealed to them.
Deciding to take the first punch, you swung at the one in front of you only to realise, this was not skin on their faces, but metallic shields. “Fuck!”
Ignoring the pain, you continued to fight, one against nine. A Chitauri grabbed your hair from behind, pulling your head back, as the other walked over to you ready to snap your neck when Iron Man’s voice came from over you. “Not today fellas.” And in a moment’s time, all nine of them dropped dead. “You can thank me later.” He stated and you had a feeling that he winked behind that mask of his.
“I had it handled.” You grumbled as he flew away.
As time passed and you killed more and more of those aliens. You heard someone say there were civilians in a building near you that needed to be saved. Since it was closest to you, you agreed to do so. “Don’t do anything stupid, L/N. I’m looking forward to a thank you gift.”
“Whatever Stark.” You rolled your eyes, as you stealthily made your way up to the second floor, a gun tightly clenched in your hands. Hiding behind the corner, you observed the creatures and aimed at them. In one go all three of them dropped dead.
You rushed nearer to the civilians on the ground, only to find all of them dead, with gaping holes in their chests. “No, no, no! I was too late. Godammit!” You kicked the head of the dead alien besides you. “I was too late.” You whispered to yourself. A tear slipped out of your eyes as guilt washed over you.
It was then that you heard a beep coming from one of the aliens on the floor. You bent down to inspect what it was, only to find a bomb implanted in their guns, and right now it read twenty seconds. With no time to save the civilian bodies for proper burials, you stumbled back and turned around to run down the stairs. But you were a normal human after all. As you ran out into the open air, a force of warm air and blew you to the front as the building exploded behind you, the debris falling in your vicinity. You hit your head hard, as your ears rang. Things slowed down and all you could feel was the blood trickling down your temple. Your attempt to move away was hindered when a piece of the ceiling fell onto your legs, white-hot pain and your scream was the only thing you felt as you blacked out.
On the other side of the city, the rest of the team had finally managed to close the worm hole, and cut off the life supply of the Chitauri. It was then that they noticed that it had been awfully quiet for the past hours. “Guys where is Y/N?” Natasha asked, alarmed at her absence. “Y/N, Y/N you there?” She spoke into the intercom only to hear static in response.
“JARVIS do a complete scan of the city. I need to know where she is now.” Tony ordered as he once again took off into the sky, this time, however, to search for his missing teammate.
“It seems like Miss L/N is buried beneath the debris of Redford Apartments down on the sixth street.”
“What?” Tony exclaimed, powering the thrusters to the full capacity as he reached there within minutes.
Not even waiting for the suit to fully come off, he rushed over the destroyed building looking around for you. It was then that he noticed your bracelet glistening in the setting sun.
“Y/N! Can you hear me?” He bent over you. “Look at me, honey!” He softly slapped your cheeks trying to wake you up. “I need medics at Redford Apartments immediately, I repeat Agent L/N is injured, it is a yellow triage. Banner I need you to prepare the ward in AvengersTower,I will be there in a few.” Tony ordered through the coms not waiting for any sort of response.
“Come on honey, you need to open your eyes.” He checked your pulse, which was only a bit below normal. It was then that he noticed a huge piece of the ceiling on your legs. “Fuck!” He moved his hands towards the suit as the gloves came flying to him, and covered him. He then moved the debris away from, not delaying a single moment before taking off with you in his arms towards Avengers Tower.
Bruce, along with the rest of the team was waiting for the both of you with a stretcher. “Is she okay?” Natasha hurried forward.
“I think so. It’s just the legs and concussion. Not sure about any internal injuries.” He replied while laying you down on the stretcher.
At that moment your eyes slowly fluttered open,a whimpering flowing out of lips. It felt as if Thor’s hammer was repeatedly being banged inside your head. “Urgh.” You groaned.
“Hey, hey it’s ok. We won.” Tony held your hand. “It’s just a minor injury we are taking you to the bay.” He comforted you.
As you tried to move to face him, your eyes widened.You were unable to move your lower region. “T-Tony, I can’t feel m-my leg.” You managed to breathe out through you severe headache, as dizziness began to take its effect on you.
“I know, Bruce is going to fix you up. I just need you to stay awake and keep your eyes open, can you do that for me?”
“I ca-can’t.” And you once again lost consciousness,the faint rattling of the stretcher’s wheels and the genius’ curse being the last thing you heard.
——
There was this annoying beep that you could hear. God! It was irritating you to no end, what the hell was it. Deciding it was best to get rid of it yourself, you woke up and without any delay closed your eyes once again, due to bright white lights above you. It was then that it hit. The battle, the Chitauri, and the blasted building waking up on a stretcher and being unable to move your leg. Fear flashed through you, were you paralyzed? You decided to look down to see your leg plaster from the ankle uptil the thigh,and thankfully enough you could wriggle your toes. With a sigh of relief, you observed your surroundings, recognizing the room as a part of the VIP medical suite in the tower. A window replaced the wall on your right side giving a view of buildings and the busy streets rather than the skyline. The sickbay was on the lower floors, the eighth and ninth. The ones higher up were for far more serious issued like the science labs, residential apartments, and Tony Stark numerous luxuries.
On your left, you were greeted with the man himself curled up on a wingback chair, a blanket covering him and a Stark Tab in his lap. A strand of hair fell onto his forehead just above his eyebrows, his face was content unlike the anxiety-ridden emotions you usually saw him in. This was the first time you had ever seen him in such a peaceful position, despite the year both of you had spent. To be honest he looked like a baby, innocent and away from the evils of the world. If only this was true in its literal sense.
“JARVIS how long has Mr Stark been asleep?”
“About three hours and twenty three minutes,although he has been besides for the past seventeen hours;with the exception of leaving the room for food.”
“Thanks.”
You decided it was best not disturb him, and watched him sleep. It was almost an hour later that he shifted in his seat,before opening his eyes. Your heart swelled at the site, if only was it possible to wake up to this,every single morning of your life.
“Stop being so cute!” You blurted.
“Huh? What?” A dishevled Tony asked,while still coming back to his sense. “Oh my god you are awake!” He quickly got up in a rush the blanket falling along,and he stumbled within it as he rushed towards you.
You gasped as you saw him fall with a thud. “Are you alright?” You tried hard to control your chuckles.
“Yup!” He popped the P,“Always.” A thumbs up appeared from above the foot of the bed and then his head.
The atmosphere took a sudden change towards seriousness as Tony took a place beside you on the edge of the bed.
“Do you know how worried sick I have been? Don’t you ever,ever do that again. The past two days have been the worst of my life. What were you even thinking?” He scolded you.
“What do you mean the past two days?” You asked, alarmed.
“The battle was on Wednesday. It’s Friday today."He answered. "All I am saying is,that honey,” He breathed in,“ I can not afford to loose you. You are probably the best thing that has happened to me in the past decade or so. I have no idea how to say this, and I don’t know if you reciprocate my feelings, but I am in love with you. I don’t know when it happened,or how. Maybe it was when you first walked into my home,and introduced yourself. Or maybe it was the way you laughed, and the way you sing in the morning. But it happened. I love you,so much so that I have never loved anyone else in my life. All I ask for you is to never ever risk your life again,I don’t want to lose you.”
As he confessed his love for you, all you could feel were the butterflies in your stomach, something you always thought to be purely fictional. Your beats fast as he took your hand in his own, a pressing a kiss against your knuckles. “Tony, I-I don’t know what to say, I’m speechless. No one has ever said something to me like this.”
“It’s okay, I don’t need you to say you love me. All I want for you to know is that there is someone who loves you,and anticipates your return from missions. Someone who is afraid to lose you. To go bankrupt is an infinite time better than even the slightest chance of seeing you hurt. And that day when I saw you in the rubble,almost lifeless. It felt like someone took my heart out and clenced it with all their might. I never want to feel that again.”
You opened your mouth to say something,but nothing came out. A few moments passed as he stared at you and you at him. “Listen Tony, I may not be in love with you, but I know for sure that I love you. And whatever this unspoken thing between us is, I want,I need you to know that I want it to develop. And I need you to know that one day,which may not be today, I will be in love with you. I just need some time.”
He once again,kissed you palm,before mumbling that he’ll go and get Bruce. As he reached the door,you called him back.
“Tony? Just because I am not in love with you at the moment doesn’t mean I don’t like you.”
“What does that mean?” He asked, confused.
“For a renowned genius, you are pretty much an idiot Stark.” You rolled your eyes.“Come here and kiss me you goof!”
With that he once again walked over towards you, leaning over you on the bed and smashed his lips against yours. The kiss was soft and slow, nothing like you ever imagines it to be. You always thought Tony was a rough kisser, rushing things. But oh,did he take his sweet,sweet time. He lips danced against yours in a slow ballads. His hand cupped your cheek, brushing away the strand of hair that fell into your face.
“I love you Ms. Y/N L/N.” He pulled away for a second before pecking your lips again. “And you don’t have to say it.”
You only smiled in response as he turned away, to call Bruce for sure. “Tony,” He paused for the second time in the past five minutes,“I guess you fell for me, quite literally.” You guffawed.
“Oh stop teasing me!” It took him a moment to process what you said before snapping and exiting the room.