Meanwhile Kasey was still fighting through the fever and in a deep sleep. She hadn't stirred for a couple hours now. It was pretty quiet aside from small noises Kasey made while sleeping or her breathing.

Or it had been until a light knock echoed from Matt's door.

Matt got up from where he was sitting and made his way over to the door. He took hold of the handle, pausing to make sure he knew who was behind it. Once he was sure it was Claire, he opened the door and stepped aside to let her through.

"She's been out for a couple hours, and I think the aspirin she took helped some, but the fever is still going."

Claire sighed at that and entered. She saw her passed out on the couch. "But she has woken up?" She asked as she set her bag at the end of the couch and grabbed a thermometer to check the fever.

Kasey didn't give any sign of hearing them at all.

"She woke up once since you last came. I gave her some eggs and water, and that's when she took the aspirin. That was at least two hours ago." Matt explained, closing the door behind Claire and following her to the living area.

She hummed in concern when she read her fever was around 103. "The fever is really bad, Matt..." She told him. "It's 103 at the moment. That's dangerous for any adult..." She explained. "I'm worried she might be getting an infection but you said you cleaned her up before I got here, and I did it again after I got here and stitched her up so I'm not sure..."

"103? She's got to be burning up." Matt sighed and took a seat on one of his living room chairs. "I've thought about taking her to the hospital, and even more so now that her fever is that high. But something just isn't adding up here. You should've seen the state of the guys she was up against."

She glanced at him while she gently wiped her forehead with the cloth. "You think she took down three grown men with weapons that could do this?" She asked, gesturing at her injured body.

"Speaking frankly, yes. I know someone else was there in the alleyway, but they were gone before I got there." He leaned forward, folding his hands in front of them. "But I heard her fighting them before I even got there. From what I heard, she put up quite the fight, and I was able to knock them out pretty quick. She must've done some damage."

Claire looked Kasey over. "And she didn't mention how or who else might have been there?" She asked. "And I take it she refused to go to a hospital if you brought it up?"

"She didn't say a thing about another person." Matt explained, continuing on to answer Claire's other question. "Yep. She did not want to go to the hospital. Claimed it was because she didn't have insurance. I'm not sure if that was the only reason. I also asked her if she wanted to call anyone, but that seemed to send her into a panicked state."

Claire frowned and turned to him. "Maybe... Maybe she doesn't have anyone. She seems too young to be completely on her own yet but her family would've been able to help with insurance possibly, right?" She walked through the options. "That or outcast?"

Matt shook his head, not able to answer if any of those options were true or not. "I don't know. I wasn't able to get a lot out of her other than her name, Kasey Miller."

"Hmm... You think you could wake her up? I don't want to risk doing it while I tend to her and scaring her." she requested as she stood up. "Cause I'm pretty sure it'll wake her up from the pain."

"I can try." Matt pushed himself up and returned to his previous spot next to Kasey. He gently nudged her, speaking in a low tone so he wouldn't spook her. "Kasey, a friend of mine is here to check on your stitching and wounds." He watched her to see if she'd wake.

Upon the gentle nudge, she shifted a little bit, not fully stirring but made a small humming noise.

Claire smiled softly at that. Poor kid didn't deserve all of these injuries...

"Kasey, you've got to wake up, just for a little bit." Matt spoke again, looking back at Claire. "If she doesn't wake up, the most I can do is make sure she doesn't move for you."

Claire nodded at that and watched her start to stir.

She slowly shifted her head towards Matt's direction and pried her eyes half open. "Mmmm... Matt???" She slurred her words a little but she had just woken up.

Matt nodded, taking one of Kasey's hands on his own. "My friend is going to take another look at your wounds. I need you to try and stay still, but it might hurt."

She turned her gaze down towards the hand Matt took and gave a small nod. "Mkay..."

Claire came over and knelt next to them. "Hi there. My name is Claire. How are you feeling?" She asked softly.

Kasey looked at her and Claire noticed her eyes looked the same as they did the last time she saw her and made a small mental note to do a check and ask if needed. "Tired..." She replied, sleepily.

Claire laughed lightly. "I'm sure, you have lost a lot of blood." She explained gently. "You're also running a high fever right now. If at all possible I do think you should go to a hospital-"

Kasey seemed to wake a bit more and focus in on the conversation as she quickly shook her head before squeezing her eyes shut. "I shouldn't have done that-" She mumbled. "But, no. No hospital." She replied.

Claire looked at Matt. That sounded way too familiar. She turned back to Kasey. "Then I need to check to make sure you aren't getting an infection."

Kasey nodded, much slower this time at that. "O-Okay."

Claire then started to carefully check her wounds over and reclean and wrap them for her. "Doesn't seem like you've popped any stitches which is good. And I'm not seeing anything getting infected..." She glanced at Kasey and her eyes were... focused but not quite the way they should be. "May I check your eyes and head for anything I might have missed?"

Kasey was slightly tense. It was almost unnoticeable, except for her hand slightly tightening around Matt's subconsciously. She knew saying no would raise questions but questions would be asked if she did. So she reluctantly gave another slow nod. "...yes." Her voice was very soft and quiet as she looked away.

Matt could feel Claire glance at him, but didn't comment on it. He, too, recognized Kasey's reluctance to go to a hospital as something he often did when he was hurt pretty badly. He picked up on Kasey's hesitation, but held onto her hand for her support. "Just some routine stuff. Nothing like poking and prodding at stitches." He tried to lighten the mood.

She flinched a bit at the mention of stitches but glanced towards him. "O-Okay." She agreed. She was still reluctant but it couldn't be avoided so she agreed.

Claire pulled out a small flashlight. "Can you just stare ahead for me?"

Kasey took a deep breath but carefully moved to stare straight ahead. She could sense Claire move the light between her eyes and knew they weren't reacting as she expected.

"Can you follow my finger for me?" She asked, holding her finger up and Kasey honed in on it, refusing to just slip up that she was blind. She was mostly accurate but slightly off.

She could tell Claire was getting confused. "Okay, um," She looked around before finding something to write on and made a makeshift eye chart. "Can you read any of this to me?"

Well crap. Kasey stared at the paper and her heartrate picked up a little bit. Crap, crap, crap- Do I just guess?! "U-Um..." She tried to focus but only made out paper being held up. There was no way for her to know what Claire wrote down and so she finally shook her head, replying with. "It's too blurry..."

Matt let out a small sigh, piecing together what might be wrong. He didn't want to just blurt it out, but he tapped Kasey's hand softly. "Kasey, what can you see?"

Her hand twitched a little at the touch and she turned to Matt. She didn't want to lie, she really, really, didn't but- "I just can't read that, that's all..." She replied.

Claire watched the way she looked at Matt and tilted her head a little. "Kasey... Your eyes are not reacting to light-"

Her heart skipped another beat and kinda glanced at Claire, who saw a very brief glimpse of fear in her eyes. "That doesn't mean I can't see." She replied, almost a bit too sharply.

"Hey, even if you can't, you're no less of a person for it. Believe me, I think I know what I'm talking about." Matt told her, knowing she answered quite sharply. He wasn't sure earlier, when the probability of a concussion was still in play. However, it all was beginning to add up.

Kasey very visibly flinched at that and turned to him way too quickly, sending the room spinning but she shook her head anyway. "No- That's not what I-" Her heart rate increased again as she stumbled over her words. "I didn't-" In her panic, she pulled away from Matt's hand and ran her own through her hair instead.

Claire quickly tried to reach out to keep her from moving too much. "Kasey-"

Kasey snapped her head towards her, her heart racing, her senses in full on panic mode as the room spun faster but she refused to let that stop her.

Fight or Flight! They screamed. She fought back every urge to fight and instead pulled away from them both, tears filling her eyes as she panicked. "Don't touch me!" She snapped a bit too harshly but she had very little say right now.

Matt put his hands up and leaned away from her. Whatever was going on with her, it was still fresh in her mind and affecting her. "Okay! Okay. We aren't trying to hurt you Kasey. Please try to relax, that fever might be affecting you more than we thought."

She looked like a cornered animal. Claire could almost swear she saw her hair standing on end like a cat's fur would. She mirrored Matt's movements. "Kasey, I'm sorry if I upset you but you need to calm down, please. Your body can't handle more stress than it's already under," She explained slowly. "So please, just, take a breath and try to calm down..." She coaxed her and she watched Kasey's panic and fearful eyes stare her down. It was a bit unnerving but she held her ground.

Kasey was trying to calm down but her mind was screaming at her to run but the slightest movement had her body protesting that idea. Tears just flowed down her face as her mind came up with the only fever induced logical reason, They've caught you and there's no escape this time-

She let out a weak whimper as she tried to move but stopped every time her body pulsed with pain. She was terrified.

Matt spoke slowly, trying to speak in a calming tone. "We are not going to hurt you. We're just trying to help you and make sure you don't have an infection."

Matt could hear her heartbeat, and it was running faster than Matt was used to hearing. Even during a fight. "You are safe here."

Her breathing was close to hyperventilating and Claire watched her turn to look at Matt when he spoke.

That's what they want you to think! They want to hurt you! They want to take them! They want to make you into a monster! Her mind screamed at her as she panicked. You don't know these people! What if they are working with them?! And they just want you alive?!

Her chest hurt from how fast her heart was racing and the way her breathing made her injuries shift. She had pushed back against the couch as much as she could without straight up climbing off the back of it while shaking her head back and forth in denial.

Claire frowned a bit, knowing at this point they had two options. Calm her down or she'd pass out from the stress. She hoped it was the former...

"Kasey, you're going to hurt yourself if you don't relax." At least Claire was there, if Kasey ended up popping any of her stitches. Matt got up and stepped a few paces back.

"Please understand we're not trying to hurt you, or corner you."

She "watched" him with wide eyes, her head slightly tilting in confusion when he actually stepped away. That... That wasn't at all what she expected. She watched Claire do the same. She still looked panicked but... now she also looked really confused. Why weren't they taking advantage of the situation?? Why weren't they restraining her? Knocking her out so they could handle her? None of this made sense in her fever clouded brain.

She very, very slowly slid back into a sitting position on the couch instead of looking like she'd leap off the back and sprint away at any given moment. She was still a bit panicked but she had taken a step back down from hyperventilating.

Claire released a small breath when she noticed. She almost nodded at Matt to keep talking to her cause she didn't want to scare her but wasn't sure if he'd notice that since he was so focused on Kasey.

Matt let out a small sigh of relief. Something had happened to this girl where she was cornered and something happened to her. His heart aches for kids stuck in situations like that.

"We'll give you some room to calm down, and stay back here for now. Just relax and calm yourself."

She watched them before slowly relaxing a bit more, her breathing and heart rate starting to slow and as it did, her eyes drifted shut a minute as her body completely relaxed from where it had been.

She blinked her eyes open a minute later, no longer looking scared but still very confused. She winced as her head pounded. "Ow..." She mumbled before looking up and "seeing" them both standing away from her and her confusion increased. Did something happen?? Did- Did I do something??

"W-What happened?" She asked hesitantly after a moment.

Claire looked at Matt at the question, her face looking very concerned now. She didn't remember? Was that all fever induced?? But she didn't want to risk triggering it again.

"We were just speaking about tending to your wounds, and must have triggered something." Matt explained, being careful to step around the words he thought would trigger her.

"We stepped away in order to calm you down. We didn't want to risk traumatizing you further."

Her heart skipped a beat and she looked down. "I-..." She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what she did say. She wrapped her arms around her as if it would protect her. "I'm sorry..." She whispered softly.

Claire looked sympathetic. "May we come back over?" She asked gently.

Kasey hesitated. I can't stop you. She recalled telling that to Tony last week and her arms tightened around her. Her throat was tight and she was trying not to break down in front of them. She didn't have the energy for that. She just gave a slow nod.

Claire stepped back over slowly and knelt back down. "It wasn't your fault." She told her gently. "We didn't know. Your fever didn't help either. It's probably why you don't remember." She explained.

Kasey just kept staring off to the side, not replying.

Matt came back over, kneeling in front of her. He picked up the washcloth and got some fresh water for it as well. "High fevers are known to mess with people's thought processes."

He held the damp rag out for Kasey. "For your head." He sat back, to allow Claire to do her work.

She hesitantly accepted it and let Claire check her for any head injuries she missed. She did flinch when she got too close to her eyes so Claire avoided it without saying a word about it.

"I don't see anything... Your fever may just be your body fighting hard to heal itself. Burning too much energy or something along those lines cause I don't see a reason for it..."

Kasey placed the rag on top of her head and gave a small nod. "That's probably it..." She agreed softly. After all, hers worked way past the normal limit on healing.

"Well that's good you've avoided any damage to your head. Those wounds are harder to heal than most." Matt commented, 'watching' what was going on.

"You're pretty strong, you know? Heard you gave those guys quite the beat down."

She blushed a bit at that but if you asked her about it she'd blame it on the fever. "I've learned a bit of martial arts," She explained. Which wasn't wrong, she was much more of a fist fighter than Peter and Aurora. She had web shooters, sure, but it was easier for her to be in close combat.

"They only got a leg up on me when the other guy shot me." She made a face at the memory. "Took me by surprise."

"That would do it. Bullets are fast and hard to anticipate." Matt nodded as he spoke, recounting the few times he's been shot himself. "But having learned some martial arts is smart. And obviously it works for you." He laughed lightly.

Claire nodded. "Had you not, you may not have been sitting here now." She agreed.

Kasey chuckled faintly. "If I didn't then I probably wouldn't have intervened. As much as I would've wanted to."

"That would've been smart." As much as stopping bad things was important to Matt, he wouldn't condone inexperienced people jumping into fights they had no right being in. He tilted his head slightly, a low hum passing by the building. If he wasn't mistaken, it almost sounded like an engine of sorts.

As it got a bit closer, Kasey also noticed it and then Claire.

"What is that? It doesn't sound like a plane..." Claire pointed out.

Kasey didn't answer but felt guilt tying her stomach into knots. She knew exactly what that was...

"I.. don't know. Haven't heard anything like that before. Especially not around here." Matt spoke. He would've gotten up to check the windows, if that would've been something he could do.

Claire however did get up to check. "I don't think I can tell from here..."

Kasey remained seated and went back to staring at her lap, trying to ease her anxiety and guilt. I'm sorry, I can't tell you I'm okay yet- She listened to it get closer pretty rapidly and her heart started to race as she wondered if Tony was able to track her. Or locate her with a scan. Or... something. She didn't know what he could do!

Matt got up and crept closer to the window. Even if he couldn't technically see out the window, it was easier to hear where he was standing. Whatever it was, whoever it was, was in the sky, and was blowing around the surrounding blocks.

Claire glanced at him a bit anxious it was something bad when she noticed Kasey tense, staring at her lap and her grip around her sides tightening. She let Matt try to work that out and went over to her. "Kasey? You need to let go of your sides, you'll open the stitches."

Kasey startled a bit but very reluctantly let go of her sides but looked like she was at a loss of what to do with her hands instead.

Claire dug out a spool of gauze from her bag. It was thick and squishy, it could work right? "Here," She put it in her hand and she flinched at the texture at first before gripping onto it like a lifeline.

"Kasey, I'm sure whatever that is, is probably nothing to be worried about-"

"...Iknow." She mumbled faintly.

Claire didn't seem to hear her over the noise. "It's probably a plane or something flying too low-" She tried to explain the noise in an attempt to calm Kasey down.

Matt knew it wasn't a plane. It was much smaller. There were three figures moving about out there, but only one had the engine sound following them. He was itching to go out there, in case something was about to happen. That way he'd be prepared in case it did. He came back over towards Claire, pulling her to the side, keeping his voice low.

"There's three figures out there. I don't think it's a plane. I've half a mind to go out there."

Claire frowned at that and glanced towards Kasey who wasn't focused on them at all. "If you have to," She replied. "I'll keep an eye on her." She promised. "Though you'll have to give her a reason for you leaving."

Matt nodded, before giving Claire a knowing look. "Okay, I've got it. Ibuprofen, rubbing alcohol and antibiotic ointment?" He waited a few seconds before subtly going to grab his suit. "I'll run to the corner store, and be back shortly."

He took towards his door, slipping out and closing the door behind him.