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Hermione and Natasha stumbled into the entrance hall of the Avengers compound after Hermione used some of the last of her magical energy to Apparate the two of them from the inside the lift they had been trapped in.
They had been on a routine reconnaissance mission when everything went pear-shaped. The building had been empty as the two women entered according to Hermione’s Homenum Revelio spell, but as they made to step out of the lift, shots and spellfire sent both of them diving for cover.
“I thought you said the building was empty!” Natasha yelled over her return fire.
Hermione sent a volley of curses and hexes back towards the unknown enemy. “It was!” Hermione insisted. “There are at least three wizards, so they must have apparated in with the Muggles once we were inside. There must have been some kind of alarm that we set off before entering.”
Natasha’s response was lost as the attacks against them intensified.
Calling up her Patronus, Hermione sent a distress call to the compound, but she didn’t know how long it would take for backup to reach them.
At some point, Natasha was hit, but Hermione couldn’t get to her as she too had been hit. By a slicing hex from the look of it.
“We need to get out of here,” Hermione called to her partner.
“I know,” Natasha replied. “When I say go, get to the elevator, and I’ll cover you.”
“Okay.”
“Go!”
Hermione grit her teeth as she tried to scramble back the way they came. She slipped a couple of times on the slick floor. Slamming into the side of the lift, Hermione attempted to take a deep breath and cried out from the pain radiating from the wound in her chest. Looking down, she could already see spots of blood seeping through her clothing as the layers were saturated.
Natasha’s voice floated into the lift. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine,” Hermione replied. She shifted against the side of the lift enough so she could protect Natasha as she joined her. “Let me know when you’re ready.”
“Now!”
Hermione sent a wave of spells into the room beyond, but she could feel her strength waning the more spells she sent. She collapsed back against the wall of the lift as Natasha slid inside. Hermione tried to reach for the button to close the door, but pain lancing through her chest stopped her.
“I can’t reach.”
Natasha crawled over Hermione and pressed the button. “Nothing’s happening.”
“Try a floor number,” Hermione whispered.
She could hear Natasha jabbing at multiple buttons. “No. Nothing. They must be using magic to jam the elevator. Hold on.”
Hermione winced as Natasha unloaded the remaining bullets in her guns.
“I know you’re hurt, but can you get us out of here?”
When she hissed out a breath that sounded enough like ‘yes’ to Natasha, the redhead grasped Hermione’s bloodied hand.
A bullet whizzed past Natasha’s head as Hermione apparated them out of the inoperable lift. The two women landed in a heap just outside the compound doors.
Wrenching open one of the doors, Natasha helped Hermione inside. Hermione whimpered as she slipped on her own blood that had dripped to the floor.
Natasha stopped. “Hold tight,” she whispered as she knelt next to her friend. “I’m going to carry you to your room.”
Hermione shook her head. “I won’t make it that far.”
“At least, let me get out of the open,” Natasha pleaded, knowing her friend wouldn’t want the others to see how badly she had been hurt.
Natasha didn’t wait for Hermione to reply before she carefully lifted her and quickly made her way to a room off the main hall that wasn’t used much. Placing Hermione on the ground, Natasha then worked to remove the layers of clothing covering Hermione’s wounds.
“You’re bleeding,” Hermione murmured as she reached up to brush her fingers across Natasha’s cheek.
“Shush,” the redhead replied. “It’s superficial. Your wound, on the other hand, is not.”
Hermione fell silent as she allowed her friend to work to cut away the layers.
Natasha glanced up at Hermione, a frown marring her features. “It’s going to hurt as I pull your tee-shirt away.”
Taking a deep breath, Hermione nodded.
“I’m sorry,” was the only warning Natasha gave before she started working to remove the bloodied black shirt.
Hermione winced as the shirt stuck in a couple of places and tugged on her open wound, but otherwise, she stayed as still as possible.
A quick slice of Natasha’s knife at Hermione’s side and shoulders allowed her to remove Hermione’s bra, leaving the large gash open in all of its bloodied glory as it bisected a purple scar Natasha could see running the length of Hermione’s torso.
She had known that her friend had been in her fair share of battles and had scars like the rest of them, but to see the angry puckered scar on display like that had Natasha’s heart going out to her friend.
“I’m going to need your help to heal it,” Hermione told her, pulling Natasha’s focus from her old wound.
Looking into her friend’s eyes, Natasha asked, “What do you need me to do?”
“Wrap your hand around mine and direct the movement of my wand as I say the countercharm to the slicing hex,” Hermione clarified.
Natasha’s eyes widened. “Are you sure that’s going to work?”
Hermione gave her a half-smile. “We’re about to find out.”
“This is crazy, but okay,” Natasha said as she reached for Hermione’s wand hand.
“First, hover my hand over my chest, I’m going to clean the blood so you can see.” Once Natasha held Hermione’s hand steady, she whispered, “Scourgify.”
Seeing the blood cleaned away from Hermione’s wound made it easier to see what she was doing, but Natasha was surprised her friend was still conscious.
“Now, place the tip at one end and once I start the spell slowly move to the other end of the cut,” Hermione explained. “When you reach the other end, look up at me, so I know to stop.”
Natasha nodded and looked down at Hermione’s torso. She moved Hermione’s hand so the tip of her wand was at the upper portion of her wound. “Ready.”
Holding steady, Natasha waited for her wand to light up. Once it was lit, she slowly moved Hermione’s hand and wand across her torso. Natasha watched in fascination as the flayed skin over Hermione’s upper chest began to knit itself back together. Reaching the end of the wound, Natasha glanced up and made eye contact with Hermione.
The brunette witch stopped the spell and let her hand fall to her side. She was murmuring something.
“What is it?” Natasha asked as she leaned over her friend.
“Blood… Re… plen… sher… m’room…”
Hermione’s voice was faint before her eyes rolled back into her head.
“No, no, no!” Natasha said as she yanked her jacket off to cover Hermione’s exposed torso. Stuffing Hermione’s wand into her back pocket so it wouldn’t be lost, Natasha picked her friend up again and made her way to Hermione’s room as quickly as possible. “You are not dying on me, Hermione Granger. I will not let you. Just hang in there.”
“Open Miss Granger’s room, F.R.I.D.A.Y.,” Natasha called out. “Please!”
“It is open for you, Miss Romanov,” the A.I. system replied. “Would you like me to call a doctor for Miss Granger?”
Natasha shook her head even though she knew it was no good for the system. “No, she’ll be fine once I can find her blood replenisher potion.”
“Cabinet above the sink,” came the electronic reply, “dark red liquid in a square bottle.”
“Thank you, F.R.I.D.A.Y.,” Natasha breathed as she laid Hermione out on her bed. “Will you please let the others know we’re okay, but Hermione needs her rest?”
“I will notify Mister Stark,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. said before falling silent.
Natasha closed and locked the door to Hermione’s quarters. She returned to Hermione's side and stripped her of her remaining soiled clothes. Covering her with the sheet, she made her way over to the sink.
After a short rifle through her cabinet, she located the bottle she needed. Reading the directions on the label, Natasha poured the dosage into one of the cups she’d also discovered in the cabinet.
Walking back over to her bedside, Natasha opened Hermione’s mouth and poured the potion down her friend’s throat.
She pulled the chair from across the room to beside Hermione’s bed.
“I hope this works,” she whispered as she sat down to wait.