The Valiant (The Seventh Avenger)

Chapter 9

"She is going to be fine." I hear someone say. "The doctor said she lost fifty percent of her hearing, so she is going to be given a hearing aid."

"How long is she going to be in the hospital for?" Someone else asks.

"A few more days, she needs to recover from surgery."

I shift my head and groan from the pain. I slowly open my eyes and get blinded by the light. My eyes adjust to see three people in the room each of them looking at me. Steve, Tony, and Banner stand there. Tony is wearing a grey suit, Steve wears a button-down shirt and beige pants, and Banner wears black pants with a purple button down shirt.

"Hey kid, how are you feeling?" Tony asks.

"Meh." Is all I manage to get out. I reach for the water bottle on the side but someone stops me.

"The doctor recommends that you don't drink or eat anything for another hour," Banner says. I manage a small nod and put my hand down.

"How long have I been out?" I ask. I notice how they are all on my left side and I reach up to my right ear. I feel gauze covering it and I look up at them. "What did they do?"

"You have been out for a couple of days. Your body went into shock and we got you to the hospital." Steve says crossing his arms. "You lost three pints of blood."

"They couldn't find anyone to match your blood for a while," Tony says, "but they did when they tested the three of us." Tony claps Steve on the shoulder.

"You're my match?" I ask and Steve nods. "How? Why? I'm not even human."

"The doctors believe that it is because he has the super soldier serum running in his bloodstream," Banner says. I nod and look down at my wrist. C is written under my name along with my 'date of birth', which was really the day I joined S.H.I.E.L.D. According to S.H.I.E.L.D. I am eleven years old.

"So I only have one match?" I ask and they all nod. "OK."

"Oh, we almost forgot," Tony says walking over to the curtain dividing the room, he pulls it back and smiles, "presents from your admires."

Sitting on the other bed are cards, bags, and boxes; I can't help but smile at the sight.

"Yes, apparently the news caught a picture of you being a badass," Tony says. "But don't let it get into your head kid."

"I won't," I say and Steve raises his eyebrows. "I promise."

I smile back at the gifts but it begins to alter. "How did they know I was her? Do they know who I am?" I jump out the bed.

"No, Grace, they only know you as 'The Valiant'." Banner reassures. "The hospital can't release your name, not legally, especially since your guardian didn't give them their consent to release your name."

"My guardian?"

"Fury," Tony says.

I almost choke on my own spit. "Since when was Fury, my guardian."

"Since you joined S.H.I.E.L.D," Steve says.

I lay back down on the bed and nod showing I understand.

"Wait where's Loki? Where is everyone else?" I ask.

"Thor took him back to Asgard a few days ago. Natasha and Clint went back to Shield, as will you." Steve says.

I nod and look down at my hands. I begin to fidget with them and look back up.

"You don't seem too excited about that. What's wrong kid?" Tony asks.

"I don't know, it just seems like the world is moving too fast," I say. "It's like I never have any time to have a break or be a kid." I think back to the kids running around in Germany. I wish I lived a life like them.

Everyone stops and look at me as if they were finally realizing that I'm just a kid. I wait for an answer but no one does so I just lean back against the back of my bed.

"You know you are very intelligent for your age, that it's sometimes difficult to remember how old you really are," Banner says and I look down at my wrist where. Looking at the number below my name.

"We should give her some rest," Steve says and everyone nods. They all walk out leaving me alone with my thoughts.

Three Days Later

"How are you feeling?" Fury asks me. I look over at the closed casket and tears stream down my face. Tony stands a few rows in front of me with who I can only assume is his girlfriend. Steve is standing a few rows behind me and Ms. Romanoff stands to my right.

"I'm OK," I croak, "It's just been a long week."

Fury sighs next to me. "It's been a long week for all of us."

I look over at Fury and he looks down at me. A tear streams down my face and I look back at the casket and then at the picture of Coulson. A woman sits next to it, sobbing as she tries to play the cello but she keeps on stopping and apologizing.

"Is that..." I begin but Fury cuts me off. "Yes."

That was Coulson's girlfriend. I look up at her and I feel a lump form in my throat. I can't imagine what she is going through right now.

It came to the time of the funeral where we walk up to the casket to pay our respects. Tony's girlfriend looked like she was crying. It came to our turn to go up, but I don't know if I could pull myself to go up there. Ms. Romanoff takes my hand and smiles at me. I smile back and walk up with her. We slow down and give our condolences to the woman. I stop a few feet from the casket, I don't think I could go pass it. I take a deep breath and begin to walk up to it.

I feel my breath grow heavy and I touch the smooth wood of the casket. The S.H.I.E.L.D. symbol is carved into the wood at the center of it. A tear streaks down my face and I quickly walk out of the room. I make my way outside and cross my arms from the coolness of the summer evening. I feel myself break and I begin to cry, not low-key cry, ugly cry. I pull out a tissue from my black purse and try to dab my tears away without ruining my makeup than Ms. Romanoff had done for me.

"How are you holding up, kid?" Tony asks stepping up to me. Next to him is his girlfriend, she had ruined her makeup from crying, but she still manages a sad smile when she sees me.

"I'm doing OK," I say as I begin to fidget with the tag around my wrist, I had just been released this morning when I received the news. "I just, I wasn't expecting this," I say and swallow down a sob.

"Oh, honey." The girl says as she wraps her arms around me. I feel myself release and sob into her arm. "I know, we were close with him, too."

I recollect myself and wipe my eyes.

"I don't believe I had the pleasure of meeting you," I say and reach out my hand. "I'm Grace."

"I'm Pepper Potts." She says taking my hand.

"Nice to meet you," I say. We stand there for a few awkward moments.

"Grace, are you OK?" I turn around and see Steve coming up to us.

"Yeah, yeah I'm OK," I say. Ms. Romanoff comes up to us along with Barton and Banner. "But I'm not OK with the fact that you guys went and got shawarma without me. I've always wanted to try shawarma."

"It was Stark's idea," Steve says and we all laugh.

"Well, you didn't miss anything because we all got sick after we had it," Tony says.

"And by all you mean just you Stark," Barton says. We all laugh again.

"Yeah, probably didn't settle well with that Scotch."

"Well all this talk about food is making me hungry, why don't we get something to eat?" Ms. Romanoff says.

We all agree and leave the funeral home, laughing as we tell stories of Coulson from over the years. We didn't go get shawarma which I was slightly disappointed about, but I was happy to be spending time with my family.