Hello, I was bored during a swim meet, so I sat down and cranked this baby out in about an hour... so I apologize for all of the errors :?

anyway, Disclaimer: I dont own anything. Literally nothing.


Steve Rogers awoke to the sound of beeps and whistles coming from the different medical machines around him. Surrounded by a glittering white hospital room, he looked down at his arm to see an IV underneath the soft covers of the hospital bed. Steve groaned and tried to sit up. Arrangements of flowers and cards were placed neatly on every surface in the room. None of the good wishes surprised him, but what did surprise him was a certain person sitting in the chair in the corner of the room.

"Hey Tony," he grimaced. Even with the healing factor of Captain America, Steve was still in pain from his run-in with the Winter Soldier.

Pepper Potts rushed over to his side from across the room. She put one hand on his shoulder and another on the bed, and she tried to help him ease himself back onto the mattress. "I'm okay," he looked up at her. "Really. How long was I out?"

Tony stood up and moved the swivel chair usually reserved for the doctor up to Steve's bedside. "This is day two, I believe." Tony looked to Pepper for affirmation. She nodded and Tony continued, placing his elbows on the mattress. "First of all, what the hell was that?" A moment of silence ensued. "You and Natasha had a party and didn't invite Banner and I? Seriously? SHIELD decided to eat itself from the inside out, and you didn't even bother to call! Like, what the hell is HYDRA anyway? I still have no clue."

Steve stayed quiet for a moment, his head tilted slightly down. "It was SHIELD business. It doesn't matter, it's taken care of."

"It's not. And it will never be. The media is eating us alive. Any superhero everywhere is earning a bad reputation even if they had nothing to do with SHIELD. They see SHIELD as a terrorist organization. It doesn't matter if they were helping the world, because they are now wanted for attempting to kill it."

Pepper interjected. Tony 's voice was raising and he was getting serious, which was never a good thing. "What Tony means to say, Steve, was that you and Natasha could have at least let us know that you were okay, or that you would handle the crisis...It would have been reassuring to know prior to the disaster. We were all very worried."

Tony grumbled and Pepper whacked his shoulder. "I thought that what I said got the point across, but okay then." He re-positioned himself in his seat. "Secondly, my previous offer still stands." Tony's smile seeped through his 'mildly upset' face.

Steve sighed. Right after the Battle of New York, Tony offered the entire team residence at Stark Tower, after the renovations were finished of course. Everyone had politely declined except Bruce, who left every so often to provide medical care to places in need. Natasha, Steve, and Clint all left New York and opted for DC, while Thor returned to Asgard with his brother.

"I couldn't do that to you guys. I'll be okay, I promise. I can go back to my apartment," Steve told the pair.

Tony laughed. "Dude that apartment is totaled. There's no bouncing that place back."

Steve mentally face-palmed himself. Tony was right. His apartment was dead, and Bucky Barnes had killed it. For a moment, he felt a twinge of sadness overtake him. "I'll check it out, salvage what I can, see what I can do with it, and call you if I need anything."

Tony laughed and began making his way towards the door.

Pepper scribbled on a business card their phone numbers. Steve already had their numbers in his cell phone, but he was thankful Pepper gave him the numbers. The information was especially welcome because Steve didn't exactly know where his cell phone was. She put it on his nightstand and followed Tony out. "We'll be in DC for the rest of the day, so call us if you need anything. I hope you feel better soon, Steve."

He thanked her and said goodbye to Tony. The pair made their way out the wooden door and into the hallway.

Steve looked to his left and saw that someone had left him a book on his nightstand, along with the remote for the television in the corner. He picked up the book and began reading until a nurse appeared in front of him with lunch.

"Hello," he told her, setting his book down on the nightstand.

"Hello, Mr. Rogers. I see you've woken up. How are you feeling?"

Although he was feeling pretty sore, Steve told her that he felt great. "When, uh, can I leave?"

"That's a good question," she responded, as she set the tray down in front of him. "The doctor said that you should be good to go in about four hours. We originally wanted to keep you overnight again, but since you are up and functioning, if you can walk you can go before dinner."

He smiled and the nurse left after she told him to push his call button if he needed anything. About an hour, later he was visited by Sam Wilson.

Roughly 5 hours passed, and Steve Rogers found himself at the door of his apartment looking inside. Right when he opened the door, Steve felt a draft coming from somewhere in the apartment and knew that he couldn't stay. Steve surveyed the bullet hole-filled walls and the shattered glass on the ground. The place looked like a crime scene. He grabbed his clothes from the dresser in his room and a few extra belongings before beginning to leave. Before he reached the threshold, Steve had pulled out the business card and dialed Tony.

"Hey, it's me." There was a pause. "Yeah, you did tell me. It's pretty bad. Can I take you up on that offer?"


Ugh.. the ending is pretty rushed, I know...sorry :P

Please leave a review, follow, or favorite :) your feedback means a lot to me!

Thank you for reading! have a nice day/night/week!