Can't Handle This

Toni woke up the next morning thinking the night before had just been a dream. She decided to just lie there for a while with a smile on her face.

Then, as if her body knowingly protested, she shot out of bed and ran to the bathroom down the hall where she promptly puked her guts out.

As she continued to throw up, a pair of hands gently pulled her hair out of her face. She retched over and over, her body shaking under the stress. Finally, after about five minutes or so of just hardcore throwing up, she was able to relax and lean away.

"Are you ill?" Loki asked with concern.

Toni shook her head, unable to look at him. "I think I just had too much to eat last night."

Loki sat down next to her and let her lay her head on his chest. "Are you sure? You look awfully pale."

She nodded, curling up closer to him. "Yeah, I'll be okay."

Loki nodded and planted a kiss on top of her head.

****

Although she wasn't feeling the best, Toni was up and out of bed, trying to help her dad and Bruce with some projects down in the lab.

"Pass me that flask of silver nitrate," Bruce said as he studied some charts.

Toni, who had been starting to doze off, didn't seem to hear the request.

"Toni?" her dad asked. "Are you doing okay?"

"Huh?" she asked. "Oh, yeah. I'm fine. You wanted the calcium chlorate, right?"

"No, silver nitrate."

She blushed and reached for the flask. "Oh. Sorry."

"It's okay. You look pretty tired," Bruce said sympathetically. "Maybe you should go take a nap or something."

She nodded as she stood up. "I think you're right. I'll go lie down."

She handed Bruce the flask and turned to leave just as Hetalia came down into the lab, looking slightly worse than last night.

Toni stared at her, watching as her limp ginger hair fluttered slightly from the breeze created by the box fan on the table.

"Toni?" Bruce asked. "What's wrong?"

Toni just continued to stare at Hetalia who returned with a concerned gaze.

"Darling?" Loki asked, standing up from his perch in the corner.

The outside of Toni's vision started to get blurry, then faded to black. She felt her knees go weak as she fell in slow motion.

Loki and Tony sprinted to her, barely catching her before she hit the concrete floor. Bruce quickly ran over, ready to perform CPR.

Hetalia couldn't move. She felt frozen in place as her hands started to shake in fear.

"She's not breathing!" Tony shouted. "Bruce, get the stasis chamber ready!"

Bruce nodded and quickly ran to the keypad, leaving the billionaire and Loki with a gasping, floundering Toni as she began to seize.

"She's having a seizure. What the hell kind of flu is this?!"

Loki spun around and looked at Hetalia, ready to ask for help, when he noticed how terrified she looked. "Hetalia!" he barked. "You need to help!"

She just continued to stare at Toni, who was starting to foam slightly at the mouth.

"Hetalia!" he shouted again.

The spy took one look at Loki, resembling a deer in the headlights, and took off up the stairs.

"Hetalia!"

"Loki, help me get her in the chamber! We've got to get an IV started now!"

The god effortlessly scooped her up by himself as Tony bustled around, trying to get all the things he needed to start an IV. Loki propped her up in the chamber and stepped away to let Bruce and Tony do what they needed to.

Tony quickly hooked up the line for the IV as Bruce attached an oxygen mask to her face and sensors to her temples. He quickly ripped off her sweater leggings, leaving her only in her undergarments, and put more sensors on her chest and thighs.

Toni's vision just started to come back as Bruce slammed the door to the chamber shut and pushed a button.

She started to panic as she felt liquid around her feet and ankles as the chamber started to fill. The liquid was a light green and smelled almost like a combination of medical alcohol and sanitizing solution.

She reached forward, pounding on the glass to get their attention. She was afraid. She didn't want to die. As she inhaled anesthesia, she locked eyes with Loki. She placed one hand on the glass, and silently begged for him to let her out.

As her hand slipped, so did her consciousness, leaving her in a state of blackness and unawareness.

Toni had been successfully put in a stasis, but her father was still looking as though she was still in danger. "Call Fury," he said almost bitterly. "He and I need to chat."

Notes