DEFYING DESTINY

The emergency services couldn't come soon enough. As soon as the plane left the hanger, Steve's friends were swiftly defeated. Not that it was much of a victory, with both Rhodey and Ileana in desperate need for medical attention. 

It took them three hours to pull Ileana from the wreckage. They say it was a miracle that she didn't die in that time, but by the time her face saw the light of day she was on the verge of it. Even T'Challa was worried for the woman, even after she'd tackled him and stopped him from beating Barnes. He wasn't worried enough to stay at the hospital with the rest of the team, claiming to have important matters to attend to and he disappeared. No one really acknowledged it, eagerly awaiting the results of Rhodey's scan and if Ileana had made it out of the surgery. 

The hourly updates they got didn't suffice. A doctor, wearing stained scrubs and a blood splattered mask, often came out to tell them what had happened. Her heart had stopped twice on the table, and if it hadn't have been for the defibrillator and the persistence of the doctors she would be in the morgue. They weren't sure if it was a mercy she survived - layers of her skin had been ripped off, exposing her fragile and pink underlays. She had internal bleeding of the brain, and had broken and fractured more bones in her body than they could count. 

She would be in agony when she awoke, and for every waking moment after it until the died. Some type of pain would trail her throughout life, no matter how many surgeries and drugs she had in order to battle it. 

Tony stayed at the hospital, passing out on the benches outside their rooms and not going home for a shower. He reeked, and no one told him. The bags hanging under his eyes seemed to have worsened, turning the darkest purple anyone had ever discovered. It had become routine for them to see his bloodshot eyes peeking out of his thinning tanned face. He was drowning in a guilt that wasn't his to bear, and no one could do anything about it. 

He was shaken awake gently, the hand barely touching his skin. They were afraid that if they touched him too harshly, he would crumble their very fingertips. His groan ripped through his throat, powering past his chapped lips. Tony blinked repeatedly under the florescent lights, eyes darting to the figure in front of him. It was the doctor. She was still wearing her gown, speckled with blood. Ileana's blood. Her face was wrinkled under the cracking pressure of her smile. 

"Your friend is very lucky. She's going to make it." Tony instantly sobered up, staring at disbelief at the female doctor. The words sunk in slowly, him blinking in surprise. As much as they wanted her to survive, they all believed that it would take the work of more than one god to reverse the damage. 

His voice was cracked - the last time he'd had a drink was too far in the past. He sat up, pulling himself up by the back of the bench. His back cracked. He needed to know for certain. "Are you sure?" 

Her smile never faltered, and she didn't need to say anything else. Tony felt a huge weight being lifted off of his shoulders. A large sigh of relief billowed out his body, pushing his anxiety out with it. He cradled his head in his hands, them hiding the huge grin taking up half of his face. Ileana was going to be okay. 

He thanked the doctor, standing up and swooping her into a tight hug. The doctor laughed, the happiness in the moment something she didn't experience often as a trauma surgeon. It was so pure, so spontaneous, that all of the worries and injustices and hatred in the world fled their mind because the woman who's fate had been decided survived. 

Tony dropped the woman gently, the grin still lighting up his face. He noted down the room Ileana would be in, before racing down the corridors of the hospital. He took the already familiar route to Rhodey's room, skidding around corners and sometimes crashing into walls. Tony felt ecstatic. 

Without any warning, Tony ploughed into Rhodey's room. He was laid on the bed, face distant. He didn't seem to share the same happiness Tony did, and Tony was determined to see a smile on his best friends face. 

"Rhodey," Tony gasped, bending over and placing his hands on his knees. "Wow, this hospital is a lot bigger than expected, I really need to work on my cardio."

Rhodey looked at Tony, expression empty. It shook Tony to the core. "What is it you want Tony?" 

"It's Ileana." Rhodey demanded that someone tell him what had happened when they got updates. Natasha opted for the job, grateful to get away from Tony's resentment against her. His face instantly filled with worry, eyebrows drawn together and mouth agape. Before Rhodey could question it, Tony carried on. "She's going to be okay." 

Relief coursed through Rhodey's body. He relaxed straight away, his body melting back into the bed. "So the surgery went well?" 

"Fantastic, actually. She's one tough cookie." Tony pulled a chair up next to Rhodey's bed, watching his friend carefully. His tone abruptly changed, and Rhodey externally groaned. "How are you doing?" 

"It's good that she's okay. You should've seen her in training. She whooped my ass so many times. If anyone could survive something like that, I would've bet it would've been her."

Tony didn't say anything else, noticing that Rhodey hadn't answered his question. He didn't want to pressure him, but he wanted to know if he was okay. Desperate, Tony fumbled for something else to say. "Can I get you anything?" 

"A new set of legs," Rhodey let a smile crack onto his face, chuckling slightly. 

"Done." Rhodey laughed, shaking his head. "How does it feel having Tony Stark playing maid?" 

"A lot worse now that you called yourself a maid." Another laugh broke free, and Tony couldn't help laughing alongside him. 

"We all know who you'd want dusting your drawers, if you catch my drift." Tony wiggled his eyebrows, and Rhodey groaned again. He closed his eyes involuntarily, trying to hide away from the embarrassment. "I can keep going if you want." 

Rhodey could barely be heard over Tony's gut busting laughter. "Please don't." 

*

Tony left when Rhodey's ground breaking snores shook the room. He couldn't concentrate when in there with the earth shattering sound, and he decided to try and find his way through the twisted maze of corridors. He made many wrong turns, charming the nurses as he asked for directions and had to back track several times, until he reached it. 

Ileana was in the intensive care unit. 

He gulped, his happy mood being sobered the moment his foot crossed the threshold. Grieving families all huddled together in circles, sobbing on each others shoulders and whispering in broken voices. Nurses drifted from room to room, checking the patients trapped in there and making sure they still would survive. A consistent sound of heart rate monitors played in the background, and the strong smell of antiseptic stung the nostrils of any nose-breather. 

Tony powered through, arriving in front of her room. Her body was connected to a mess of wires, hooked up to several different machines. Ileana's eyes were closed, tricking any passer by that she was peaceful. Tony knew that she wasn't, noticing the scrunches of skin surrounding them. She was pressing her eyes together. The pain was intolerable. 

Her dark skin had been scraped off in the accident, now replaced with sensitive pink underlays. Ileana's hair had been sheared off, revealing her scarred scalp. She was dressed in a loose hospital gown, her already frail body looking even skinnier. 

He couldn't gather the courage to go in and face what had happened to her. Because of him. He lingered outside, watching from behind the glass as her chest shakily rose and fell. And with each trembling rise, Tony felt a tiny, minuscule amount of guilt eat at his stomach until it was consuming all of him.