Just Relax

Sasha stares down at her hand, or more importantly, the crimson liquid staining the pale skin. She was confused on where the blood was coming from or how she ended up lying on the sidewalk. Her eyes lift from her hand and look around, noting familiar houses and too many people crowding around her, but not the ones she needed to see. "Where—" She blinks to clear her vision, but the blur only worsens.

"Calm down," a man says, picking her up long enough to put her on something hard. His voice sounds distant and distorted, yet she couldn't understand why. Slowly her world fades to black.

Loki was panicked, though he let no one see this. He paced outside Sasha's hospital room, chewing absently at his thumbnail as he worries about the girl separated from him by a flimsy wall and perhaps Thor. They had gotten a call from the hospital seven hours ago that Sasha had been shot and was in surgery, now she's in ICU and could fade away at any moment.

Natasha places a comforting hand on his shoulder, forcing him to sit on one of those uncomfortable chairs that all hospitals have. "You have to relax, brother," Thor tells him, voice cracking no matter how strong he tried to be.

"Thor's right," Steve concurs," if the munchkin could see you right now she'd probably throw something at your head." This makes the group smile, and if only for a moment, those smiles were the only thing that kept all of them from falling apart at the seams.

Sitting on the bed next to Sasha, Pepper held one of her hands and sobbed, Tony's arms wrapped around his wife's shoulders. It was hard on both of them and he didn't know what he'd do if his baby girl didn't pull through okay besides hunting down the bastards that did this to her. Hell, he'd do that anyway and happily face the consequences with a clear conscious.

Pepper wipes at her tears with her free hand, feeling more terrified than she'd felt in a very long time. This was her little girl lying in the hospital bed, her little girl that had no color in her cheeks, her little girl that might never open her eyes again or smile at some prank she and Clint had pulled. These thoughts make her cry harder, clutching at Sasha's hand tighter than before.

A soft knock sounds at the door before Loki pushes it open and walks over to the bed, placing the teddy bear he'd brought from Stark Tower under the arm Pepper wasn't clutching desperately at. "She'll pull through," he tells the couple softly," and when she does she'll be pissed if she doesn't have her teddy bear." Tony nods at the god, watching as Loki softly caresses the side of Sasha's face before walking out again and closing the door behind him.

The first sensation Sasha feels is a dizzying mix of exhaustion and nausea that most pain medications caused; when her eyes open she's assaulted with noise and a bright light that she wishes would disappear and leave her to her drug-induced giddiness. "The fuck," she grumbles, finally able to make out the people who are being so damn loud.

Her parents are the first ones she sees, and then it is Loki and the rest of their merry little band. She smiles at all of them, wondering just where she was and how she got there.