Dean was walking through what could best be described as Wonderland through a madman's eyes. He'd been spending a lot of time here, way too much time. Ever since the squad was captured and he'd been forced into 'Dream Mode' as he called it. His mind had wandered before being stuck in the mind of a Mad Hatter wannabe. The problem was his psyche was so damaged that Dean himself began to bleed into it merging the two. Anytime the man fell asleep Dean made his move and tried to escape. But as soon as he woke up he was thrown back to the beginning. But two days ago he'd spotted his way out. This Lewis' control was already beginning fade giving Dean more and more reign. He only had to bide his time. Soon enough Lewis fell asleep, or probably passed out, considering how much he drank. Then Dean was in charge.

In the dream world Dean's leg was fine but he remembered enough to know that likely wouldn't be the case once he woke up. However losing his leg was something he hadn't contemplated. But he would deal with that later. First he needed to escape. Lewis' mental defenses were impressive. Dean had spent months trying to figure out a way around them. He might not have long, that much he knew. Lewis could be woken up at any time and then Dean would go back to the little cell Lewis had unknowingly made for him.

He walked down the path, quickly side stepping and avoiding the usual traps and pitfalls Lewis had set up. Then he got to the Wall, his way out. He placed his hand on it and focused and soon enough it melted and he was gone. Lewis would have a few little bits of Dean left but eventually they'd fade. His astral self was quickly drawn to his body. He flew over the Battleground before diving into the Memorial Hospital. There was his body, hooked up to machines and a few flowers on the table beside the bed. While he was confused as to why his hair looked freshly trimmed and his face freshly shaved he ignored it and dove back into his body. There was a spike on the monitors and he took a deep breath, waking up and opening his eyes.

"H...hello?"

A nurse poked her head in, prepared to chastise the would be visitor and saw Dean looking around. She ran off to both go get a doctor and to contact SHIELD, more accurately his mother. He clutched his right leg as it suddenly began to throb but grabbed only blanket.

"I want a doctor and I want a SHIELD representative."

He said pulling all the monitors off of him and the oxygen tube out of his nose. He was ready to go and get Tessa, however with his leg it might prove trickier than he'd hoped.

Here's to being human and taking it for granted

Virginia had been working, something that was starting to grow harder and harder to concentrate on but she knew that would eventually pass. The workoholic routine the months prior had definitely taken their toll on her and it was finally starting to show. Occasionally she'd go over to her little bar, think about making a drink, but JARVIS would always remind her that she was supposed to be stopping with that. That, in and of itself, was quite the annoyance. She replaced it with coffee most times, occasionally sodas or energy drinks high in caffeine other times. It wasn't a good substitute, not by a long shot, but it was still something. And something was definitely better than nothing. This time, it was Mountain Dew. She didn't necessarily like the taste, but she liked the way the carbonation fizzled on her tongue and the caffeine kick it gave was rather nice as well. She'd just started to sip on it when her phone started to ring.

"JARVIS, speaker phone," she ordered as she started moving back for her desk. She didn't even make it there, though, when she heard the voice. It was Sharon. The glass nearly fell from her hands. For a split second, she thought that Tony had died. And she didn't mean her father, either. The panic that was starting to well up from that was far too great to be outweighed by such things as common sense. She barely heard the woman at first, her mind racing from the panic. Not another death, not another loss. She was finally pulling herself together again, she couldn't afford something like this. Her own sanity felt like it might snap as it was. However, as Agent Carter's words finally started to hit her ears, she let out a sigh of relief. Tony was fine. Better than fine. He was awake. She didn't mean to be rude, but she swiftly dismissed Sharon and, without much hesitation, she was going down the stairs and running out the door of the building.

She might not necessarily be one hundred percent SHIELD, but her name was still on their employee files. A part-time agent was still an agent and she took advantage of that fact as she found her way not only to the hospital but to his room. "Anthony?" she said, pushing past nurse after nurse trying to lead her away. No way in hell was she going anywhere, not with one of her friends finally awake. Not with one of her friends finally back. She might be small, but she had a bit of fight in her. If she had her identification as proof, she would have pulled it out. But her name was more synonymous with the Avengers, not SHIELD. "Get your hands off of me or so help me god, I will make your life a living hell," she growled as a couple of nurses finally gripped her up. "I don't care if he isn't meant to have guests. I'm SHIELD and I am family. So back off before I make you."

xxx	@dean
ginnie muse made me do it

The highs and lows of living, to getting second chances

✿

As soon as he was awake he had doctor after doctor coming in to check on him. He quickly learned all prognosis they'd agreed on had pointed to him never waking up. His brain was active, which was a good sign. But no one could figure out how he was even alive. Sharon had said he had the Rogers stubbornness and likely refused to die. In reality all the important stuff that was 'him' was pulled away with his astral self and into the dream world. If it weren't for his being a quasi-SHIELD agent he'd likely be in a variety of medical journals. He may still appear, perhaps as a John Doe.

As he sat there he heard a very familiar voice. WHy his mom, brother or sister hadn't shown yet was interesting. Of course any of those three could easily be in another country. He hoped they'd show up but understood the mission came first. He couldn't help but laugh, or try to laugh as one doctor was checking his throat.

"Ginnie, I don't think they're up for a relationship with you so that threat is meaningless."

He said with a laugh before pushing the doctor back.

"Let her in and for the love of a clever quip, leave us be."

They didn't like it and he understood them wanting to examine him. But for now he wanted some answers and Ginnie was one of the few he trusted. Sure he'd rather it be family or Buck if he was being honest, but Ginnie was a close second, or third technically. As the door closed Dean pulled the blanket back and looked at his stump.

"How long was I out for?"

To him it had been days at most. But he had no way of knowing that it was over a year.

"How much did I miss?"

Here's to being human and taking it for granted

Ginnie was genuinely seconds away from actually making good on her threats. Yes, she relied a bit too heavily on her armor at times but that didn't mean she didn't actually know how to fight. She was pretty sure she could not only get them down, but she could have them pinned if she really wanted. Well, at least one or two of them. She was, after all, only human. Trying to push past them, get out of their grasp, it was slowly made harder as more started pulling on her and trying to take her away. Assholes. Before she could start to make good on her threat, or vocalize another one, she heard Anthony's voice. She shot him a glare at those words. "You've been awake for how long and already you're snarking. There goes the money I had on brain damage." She was mostly joking by saying that. Mostly. Still, that wasn't getting them off of her. She brought her elbow into the nurse on her right side, happy to feel his grip loosen on her.

She knew that there was going to be a story about this later. No way it wouldn't make something and she could only imagine how they'd twist it: Stark Assaults Male Nurse at Memorial Hospital. She could read them now. That was actually gonna be something of a disappointment, but that was something she could think about later. She gave a small huff as they let go of her, smoothing her clothes down. "You'd think they'd have a little more respect for someone of my stature," she grumbled. And she didn't completely mean from a monetary stand point, she meant from a status stand point. As both an Avenger and an Agent of SHIELD.

After a moment of making sure she didn't look like a complete mess, she moved over towards the bed, taking a seat gently on the edge of it. The questions he was asking made quite a bit of sense. If she'd been out for any period of time, she would have been asking the same ones, honestly. She supposed she was somewhat lucky that she'd never had the displeasure of being out for a year. Her own coma in her 'youth' had only been a few weeks. But she at least had an understanding of how it all felt. "I don't really know much of a better way to but it but it's been well over a year, Anthony. Quite honestly, a lot of us were certain you might not ever wake up. But I'm so glad to see that you're alive and well." She offered him a small smile as she tried to think of how to answer the other question. That was a lot harder. Summarizing everything that had gone on in the past few months? Actually, harder wasn't the right word, it felt more like an impossible feat. "Where do I even begin?" She asked. "We had a lot of trouble a few months ago, but that's been taken care of. As much as I've always understood that there are other dimensions out there, that there are people just like us in other worlds, I never thought they'd be an issue for us. That had been... for lack of a better word, fun." She paused again, looking thoughtful for a moment before shaking her head. "And then there was the scare of Scion and Captain Marvel supposedly dying. Another dimensional rift issue. Or, well, time rift? I miss when the issues were simple to explain. Like aliens attacked Manhattan. Or that there were crocodiles in the sewers."

xxx	@dean
if you need me to add, just let me know

The highs and lows of living, to getting second chances

✿

He laughed at her comment about brain damage and his snark. To be honest even he was surprised he had it. He thought for sure he'd be depressed or something. He wasn't dumb, he knew he'd been in a coma, plus he was missing a leg. But he'd had enough time in the dream realm to go over everything that happened. While the leg was a bit much he knew a point blank shotgun blast to the knee wouldn't be pretty.

"Oh Ginnie sweetie, I can always find enough snark and sass for you. After all you were obsessed with me when we were younger. Always hitting on me and seducing me."

Whether that happened or not is open to debate, likely heavily debated by her. But it had become a sort of running joke among their circle of friends. Or had been until he left to join the military and then ended up in a coma while she hooked up with James. While he didn't know anything about that, he also wouldn't be surprised. Of course THOSE two would end up together. As people left the tone became much more serious. Things were getting intense, or would be shortly.

"Over a year huh? I had almost no grasp of time while I was in there. I was trapped in someone else's mind. It's...complicated. I know I never told anyone but I'm a mutant. It was about to come out soon enough. My dad knew but he was worried SHIELD would use my powers to spy on too many people. When I was shot, my mind entered my dream mode and I got stuck in a mad man's mind. He thinks he's me now and the woman I love is in danger."

He knew he'd just slammed her with a lot but he sat there silently waiting. He'd lied to every friend he had about his powers and species. He told everyone he was a human, sure peak level thanks to his father's super soldier serum, training and general genetics, but still human. He still remembered the day his father figured it out. He swore him to secrecy, no one, even his siblings and mother didn't know.

"Wait, alternate dimension? I always miss the fun. Was the an alternate me? Was he handsome in a roguish way? I bet he was."

He said with a smirk before his attention was peeked by Scion and Marvel. He couldn't help but laugh and shake his head.

"Don't tell me T'Shan and Lydia are dating. I'd think even James would find a way to kill him if he tried that. Actually I'd like to see that fight. Pretty sure he'd just pound James into the ground like a spike."

While it wouldn't be the weirdest couple he'd dealt with it'd be up there. He still thought James or Coulson would somehow deport T'Shan, provided he didn't just kill him for that.