Living With Secrets

Far-Fetched Solutions To Impossible Problems

Shuri stepped back form the table. "That should do it."

It was unusual for the young inventor to be in an operating room, but there was only one way she and Tony could ensure that everything was hooked up correctly, and that was being there to do it themselves. Bruce and Strange were there, too, helping with the medical side of things.

"Is it going to work?" Bruce bit his lip in uncertainty. There was something scary about this kind of endeavor. After all, a partial reconstruction of a leg made from vibranium and synthetic cartilage and bone.

"It should," Tony sighed, running a hand over his tired face.

"It looks a lot better now, though. Regardless of if this leg works or not, he'll heal up and we can keep working on it." Shuri took off her mask, stepping back from the table. Strange was setting the last stitch, and the nurse wiped the new leg down.

It was shiny, with a dark blue hue to finish off the look. Red lines, which looked like circuiting, ran up the length of the prosthetic, started at the ankle joint, getting more and more intricate and intertwined as it reached the knee joint, where it was connected.

"It was good that we could save the knee," Stephan mumbled. "That would have complicated things."

Everyone nodded, watching the nurses wheel the brunet out of the OR and into the post-op room. There was a moment when everything stopped, and Bruce, Strange, Tony, and Shuri each took a calm breath. It was the first time in the night they hadn't been rushing around and working tirelessly.

Shuri broke the silence with a yawn. "I'm sorry, guys, I've been up for over 24 hours now. Flying here and all that." The rest of the team nodded, watching the teenager head out of the room. No doubt she was going to take a power nap somewhere.

Tony was about to ask if Bruce and Strange wanted to get a cup of coffee when he remembered that Pepper was waiting for him to give her an update. "We should head upstairs."

The three men stumbled into the elevator, not bothering to get out of the scrubs they were in, despite the blood splotches that littered the fabric. Bruce asked a nurse to give him an update as soon as anything changed.

When they reached the penthouse, they were surprised to see everyone on the couch waiting for them. Shuri was curled up in an arm chair in the corner, snoring softly. Natasha had dozed off on Clint's shoulder, and Rhodey was gently poking Sam awake. "Hey, they're out of the OR," he hissed in the Falcon's ear.

"Tony, how is he?" Pepper jumped up from her spot on the couch, sending her mug of tea tumbling to the ground.

"He's doing a lot better, we were able to clean out the infection and reset his arm."

"And his leg?" Wade's eyes were wide with hope.

"What happened to his leg?" Bucky looked at the blond with confusion. Immediately, Wade looked down at his hands. He just figured the whole team saw Peter's condition when they rescued them all.

"Peter lost part of his lower leg while he was in the labs," Wade whispered. No one said anything for a while, taking in this information. Then Stephan broke the silence.

"We weren't able to do much, but Tony and Shuri think they might have made a prosthetic that will work as a fully functional part of Peter's leg, complete with neural interfacing, environmental input response, and synthetic cartilage and bone to promote both continued blood production, but also the fluidity of movement Peter's been accustomed to."

Every nodded dumbly, not really understanding the words their friend was using, but knowing that they probably meant good things for their son, nephew, and friend.