Hello everyone and welcome to my first Avengers fanfic. I've had this idea in my had for a while now and just had to write it. English isn't my native language, therefore I apologize if any mistakes were made on my behalf. Enjoy this one shot and reviews are always welcome!
Steve reluctantly opened his eyes once the elevator shook slightly indicating that they'd reached their designated floor inside Stark Tower. He had leaned his body against the mirror that covered the elevator wall. The cold mirror had soothed his aching head slightly as the exhaustion made itself known. Once he moved away from the wall he instantly felt dizzy, he closed his eyes as he waited for the feeling of vertigo to pass. What little shawarma he had consumed was threatening to come up as a feeling of nausea set in his stomach. He swallowed hard and once he was certain that he wasn't going to throw up all over Tony's floor he exited the elevator and followed after the rest of the avengers, adrenaline clearly wearing off.
After they had gotten shawarma, which Tony kept on insisting, Tony offered to regroup in Stark Tower for a well-deserved rest. No one had complained, too tired to argue and they all knew it would be difficult to get to their apartments since the perimeters still blocked most of the streets after their tremendous battle in New York city only a little over an hour ago. Sure Thor could return to Asgard, but even he had agreed to spend some time with the newly formed 'team' at Stark Tower.
Steve moved one foot in front of the other as he tried to walk as steady as his body would allow him to. His head and side throbbed simultaneously. His uniform which had protected him during most of the battle, was now making him uncomfortable, he couldn't wait to take it off and sleep for a very long time, no pun intended off course.
He admitted that sometimes he was afraid to go to sleep, tormented by the thought that he would yet again wake up in a different century having to start all over again. He knows that those thoughts are ridiculous, yet is unable to shake them. Other times when he is granted a couple hours of sleep he is tormented by horrible nightmares about the war. Him not being able to save Bucky when he fell towards his death, Peggy whom he never got to dance with... his thoughts were interrupted when he bumped into Thor, being so engrossed in his thoughts and moving one feet in front of the other, he hadn't noticed that they'd reached the living room.
"So who wants a drink?" he winced when his headache increased when Tony's voice reached his sensitive ears, yep definitely a concussion, how he sustained it however he had trouble remembering. He had taken many hits to his head during the battle, probably the reason for his foggy memory... no he had been wearing his cowl therefore the damage should be minimal. At some point though his cowl had been ripped off by one of the Chitauri and he'd been blown out of a window, falling down three stories before landing face down on a car's rooftop, which would also explain his throbbing ribs. And he'd been thrown into a wall as well, or was that multiple times? That would also explain why his body ached all over. He realized he'd zoned out again when Tony was waving his hand in front of his eyes "Earth to capsicle" Tony said as the others now all looked in his direction as well.
"What?" he asked confused, hating how weak he sounded. Everyone looked at him with concern.
"I asked if you wanted to join us for a drink" Tony frowned as he looked Steve over, something was off about him, sure everyone had their fair share of cuts and bruises after the battle but Steve seemed worse off than the rest of them, even though Tony was the one that had almost died. The super soldier looked even paler than usual, his blue eyes filled with pain and exhaustion.
"I would really like to get some rest actually" Steve managed, the pain in his side intensified and he wasn't sure how long he'd be able to remain upright. He unconsciously held his side, his hand covering the blaster wound form one of the Chitauri's weapons which he had momentarily forgotten about. Tony seemed torn between letting him leave and pushing him towards Dr. Banner to get checked out.
"All right the guestrooms are down the hall, pick one". Tony moved away from Steve hesitantly already regretting his decision. Steve looked at him with gratitude and relief, he wouldn't have been up for an argument and was glad that he could finally get some well deserved rest. He wished the others goodnight en slowly made his way towards the hallway which held the guestrooms. One foot in front of the other just like he'd done before, once he made it to the hallway and was sure the others couldn't see him anymore, he let his shoulders drop and let out a wince of pain, holding onto his side even stronger this time. He had no idea what sort of damage those blasters could inflict, but it sure hurt like hell, on top of that he was sure at least 3 of his ribs were cracked, since breathing was becoming harder and more painful. With each intake his ribs screamed in protest and his mangled chest which was probably a mess of black and blue colored bruising, scraped against his uniform. He had to take that damn thing off.
He continued his path down the hallway and stepped into the first guestroom he could find. It was quite big and held a king size bed and had his own en suite bathroom. He stepped inside and prepared himself for the task at hand, getting out of that uniform. He lifted his arms and placed them at the base of his neck, his side screamed in pain and it took him a total of three failed attempts before he finally stepped out of his uniform, leaving him in a grey undershirt and his boxers. His body was shaking and sweat dripped down his face, he ignored it though as he stumbled towards the bathroom. All of the adrenaline which had kept him upright all this time had now definitely left his body as he stood in front of the mirror trembling and holding onto the sink like his life depended on it, knuckles turning white. He started by washing the dirt off his hands before cleaning his face. His face was covered in grime and blood which had come from a nasty gash on his left temple. Bruises were also outlining his cheekbones and his jaw. He winced as he took in his own appearance, he looked horrible.
He knew he had to wrap his ribs and take a look at the wound inflicted by that blaster, but he didn't have the energy, all he wanted was sleep. He stumbled out of the bathroom and made his way towards the bed, almost tripping over his uniform and face planting to the floor. After righting himself once again he moved away the covers and crawled into the bed letting out a sigh of content when his head hit the pillow. His eyes immediately started to drift shut as sleep started to consume him. He winced as he moved into a more comfortable position for his ribs, he should definitely let Bruce take a look at the damage but that could wait until he had gotten some rest, his body healed very quickly anyway, due to the serum in his blood. He finally allowed his heavy eyelids to drift shut and was soon lost in oblivion.
It was an hour after Steve had gone to bed and the rest of the avengers were now also bidding their good nights to each other as they each went off to find a guestroom. Everyone had been concerned about Cap's well-being, yet didn't know what to do about the situation. They weren't quite a team yet since they'd had little time to bond. Steve was clearly injured and trying to hide it from them. They blamed it on the fact that he was the leader and wanted to look strong in front of the others and not come off as a weak leader, which was a pretty stupid thing of him to do.
That was probably the reason why Nat found herself standing in the door opening to Steve's room. He was lying on his back with his head turned towards her, fast asleep. She studied the features of his handsome face, noticing how much younger he looked once he was vulnerable, which isn't all that weird given the fact that he is actually the youngest out of all the avengers. Now that she thought of it, she didn't even know his real age and made a mental note to ask him about it later on. His long black eyelashes rested on his cheekbones and his lips were slightly parted as he slept. His breathing was labored and his chest moved up and down unevenly. Nat winced as she was sure he was hiding some cracked ribs under his shirt. She was about to turn away and get some sleep of her own, when he let out a soft whimper.
His head turned to the other side and he had started to toss and turn, clearly trapped in a nightmare. She felt sad for him that even in his weakened state he still couldn't catch a break. He had successfully kicked off the covers and was now trashing more violently. Another whimper escaped his mouth and he started mumbling. "Bucky...no..." His pleads for his best friend got louder and she couldn't stand there any longer. She sat down on the edge of his bed and hesitantly placed her hands on his shoulders. "Steve" he kept trashing... "Steve wake up" she said a little louder this time as she shook his shoulders gently. Sweat dripped down his face and his hair was matted down. She shook his shoulders again a little harder this time. "Steve wake up! It's not real" by now she was nearly shouting at him and was surprised that she hadn't woken up the others yet. Finally his eyes shot up and he sat upright panting, trying to catch his breath. He grit his teeth as the pain of his injuries came rushing back at tenfold. He squeezed his eyes shut as a wave of nausea hit him for the second time that day. Natasha gently laid her hand on his shoulder, since he had yet to acknowledge her presence.
He moved his head towards her and his eyes were glazed over with pain. It took him a couple of seconds to focus on her which was enough reason for her to believe that he'd sustained a concussion as well. "Natasha?" He was clearly confused by her presence.
"Are you okay?" It was a stupid question, she knew he was definitely not okay, but she didn't know what else to say. He squeezed his eyes shut again and swallowed hard. "I don't feel so good" he bolting out of bed and stumbling towards the bathroom where he emptied his stomach in the toilet. Vomiting with cracked ribs...not a good combination, Steve groaned in pain as he leaned back against the bathtub breathing heavily. His entire body was trembling after that ordeal and tears threatened to leak out of his eyes. His head was spinning and if the pain he had been feeling in his ribs had been bad before it was nothing compared to what he was feeling then.
Natasha was by his side instantly and without asking lifted up his shirt. His chest was a mess of dark purple, almost black looking bruises. She counted at least 4 cracked ribs, she also noticed a wound that was situated just below his ribs. It seemed to have been made by a blaster, probably comes from one of the Chitauri's weapons she thought. It looked like a massive burn and didn't look like it had even started to heal. "Shit" she said through clenched teeth as she stood up to look through the cabinet for some medical supplies. She silently thanked Pepper, whom she was certain had stored the bathroom cabinet wit medical supplies. She knelled down next to Steve again as she started to address the blaster wound as best as she could, since she had no idea how to treat such a wound, she hoped it would start healing during the night.
Steve grit his teeth in pain as breathing became even harder for the soldier, his breaths coming out in short gasps. If it weren't for Natasha holding him upright, he would've already toppled to the side, probably cracking his head open even further against the bathroom floor. " What were you thinking Steve? " Natasha had finished dressing his wounds and was now looking at him with a murderous glare.
" thought I could leave it 'till tomorrow" he swallowed before mumbling " was tired.." By now she was furious. She grabbed his face in her hands " you don't ignore injuries like these! I don't care if you're some super soldier, you have a team now you hear me?" he snorted at that comment, which turned into another groan followed by a cough. "Yes we might not exactly be a team yet, but we look out for each other do you understand?" her hands still lingered on his cheeks. "Yes m'am"
"Come on let's get you back to bed" She helped him get up off the bathroom floor, leaning on her heavily, she was glad that his bed was nearby. They stumbled out of the bathroom, Nat carrying most of his weight, which was not easy. "Damn you're heavy" she mumbled more to herself when she helped him back under the covers. His eyelids were already falling shut and she was about to leave when he gently took a hold of her wrist. "please stay" he mumbled half asleep and she couldn't help but smile. "Is Steve Rogers actually trying to get me in his bed?"
"Shut up" he mumbled as she laid down next to him, a faint smile on his lips. The others were never going to let them live this down once they found them sleeping together the next morning. At the moment though she could care less, she could blame it on moderating his concussion if questions were asked.
A warm feeling filled the soldier's heart as he realized that it was okay to move on. It wasn't his fault for being frozen for nearly 70 years, he's alive and has a new team that cares for him. The past will never be forgotten, he just has to learn to live in the new present, though something tells him that he will be just fine. With that final thought he lets his eyelids flutter shut and falls asleep instantly.
That's it for now, I hope you liked it, reviews are very much appreciated:)
Love,
FR