Can't See the Truth

Brooke and Schaefer were cuddling in the agent’s room while watching the [i]Aristocats.[/i] Brooke adjusted the pillows behind her and placed her head on his shoulder, smiling happily as he planted a kiss on top of her head.
“‘Ladies don’t start fights, but they can end them,’” Brooke quoted with the movie. “This movie makes me [i]really[/i] happy.”
Schaefer chuckled and ruffled her red and black hair. “I can tell, my love,” he said quietly.
Brooke looked up at the agent, staring into his brown eyes. “Why me?” she asked suddenly. “I mean, there’s a lot of fish in the sea.”
“Zat’s just it, darling,” he said, smiling broadening. “You’re ze most perfect person. You have no vant or need to be like anyone else, you treat everyone you know vith love und respect, und you have to be ze most intelligent woman I’ve ever met.”
Brooke chuckled. “Then obviously you haven’t been paying attention to the other females here.”
Schaefer shook his head. “Nien, of course not. I’ve got exactly vat I vant right here,” he said happily as he leaned in and kissed her.
As his lips pressed against hers, Brooke felt butterflies flutter in her tummy. Her fingers laced in his hair and pulled him closer. Schaefer leaned into the kiss and placed his hands on her hips. A moan escaped Brooke’s mouth as one of his hands started to travel up her side, lightly caressing her ribs.
The two of them seperated just long enough for the red-head to loosen Schaefer’s tie and remove it. One by one, pieces of clothing were removed and discarded on the floor.
****
“‘Sup, Schaef?” Clint asked as Schaefer walked into the kitchen about an hour after he and Brooke forgot about the [i]Aristocats.[/i]
The agent shrugged, looking fairly pleased in his disheveled button down and black slacks. “Not much, my friend. Just searching for food.”
“Well, you’re in the right place,” he said jokingly as he took a sip from his bottle of Guinness. As Schaefer scoured the place, Clint finally cleared his throat. “So, how was it?”
“I beg your pardon, Agent Barton?”
“How was it?” he asked again as he raised his eyebrows, a crooked smile plastering his face.
“I don’t understand, Agent Barton.”
“Oh don’t play stupid, Schaef. Pamplemousse was the one that pointed out. She asked why Steve and Tony didn’t sound normal,” Clint said as Schaefer turned red in embarrassment. “Next time, try to keep the volume down,” the archer pointed his almost empty Guinness at the agent. “Pass the message to Brooke, too.”
“Hey,” Brooke said happily as she walked into the kitchen.
Clint giggled loudly and shook his head as he walked past her to grab another beer and proceeded to leave the kitchen.
She watched him leave, then turned to Schaefer. “What was that all about,
The agent was still red in the face, staring after his teammate. “Oh, nien,” he muttered in shock.
“What?”
“Um, under ze suggestion of our good friend, ve should probably learn to be a bit more quiet.”
“What? I don’t under-” Brooke instantly fell silent and turned red also. “Oh,” she said quietly.
****
Toni woke up in pain from head to toe and everywhere inbetween. She closed her eyes again and tried to will away the pain, but to no avail. Her eyes flew open when a pair of claw like hands dug into her arm. The creature in front of her looked like blocky cartoons, as did the rest of her surroundings. Everything was black and red with bits of accenting white.
The one with its hand embedded in her arm, opened his mouth to speak, but what she heard surprised her.
“Bruce,” Tony’s voice said through the evil-looking creature. “How’s the synopsis coming?”
“Fairly well,” Bruce’s voice came from the other side of the room. “So far, things are looking...wait.”
“What’s wrong?” asked one of the creatures with Clint’s voice as he moved a scalpel to Toni’s stomach and dragged the cold steel across her skin. “Did you find something?” he asked as the teen screamed out in pain.
Another creature closed in with a flask of some purple-ish liquid and poured it on her wound, causing a burning sensation throughout her body. “Bruce?” Hetalia’s voice said as her creature continued to pour the liquid.
Toni let out another scream and tried to pull through her bonds when Bruce’s demon shoved the scalpel into her bicep. “These readings are all wrong.”
The teen finally managed to break her bonds and roll off the examination table, landing with a terribly painful thud that cracked some of her bones. As she shrieked in pain, Tony’s creature ran towards her with the intent of inflicting some kind of evil. “No, you’re right, Bruce. Something’s wrong.”
Toni quickly stood and ran down the hall, hearing the footsteps of the demons and the chattering of her family about numbers and stats.
Eventually, she reached a fork in the hall. She buckled over, feeling a hundred kinds of pain throughout her body.
Then, down the left hallway, she heard the sound of chains and a strangled moan followed by a voice that was all too familiar.
“What’s happening?” Loki asked from down the hall.
[i]“Loki?”[/i] Toni mumbled under her breath.
Her legs carried her towards the sound of her lover’s voice at first in a limp, then carried her in a sprint, desperate to save him.
All of a sudden, Toni tried to stop at a large hole in the floor, filled to the brim with a light green liquid that gave off an alcoholic scent.
The teen let out a scream as her momentum pushed her forward into the pool.
****
Tony jumped backwards when his stasis-induced daughter’s eyes shot open and her body reflexively flinched.
Her heart-rate monitor started going crazy as her eyes frantically searched the room. The brainwave activity was off the charts and the whole group started to desperately try to put her back to sleep.
“Bruce, get the anesthesia ready! Now! She isn’t gonna last long!”
Tony frantically messed with the IV on the outside of the chamber as Bruce pushed buttons on the chamber itself. Loki couldn’t help but stare at the panicking girl inside the tube.
After thirty-seconds or so of pure flailing on everyone’s part, Toni was back in her stasis and everyone was slightly calmer.
“That was terrifying,” Hetalia said. “I finally get my sight back and that’s one of the first things I saw.”
Tony shook his head. “Bruce, we need to step up our game. If we don’t do something soon, she’s going to die.”

Notes