Sam hated hospitals and the infirmary of the new Avengers facility was no exception. But Cap had put his foot down and he'd been sentenced to two days.

"Do you remember what happened?" Steve asked. He and Natasha were sitting at Sam's bedside, after breaking him the news.

"My head." Sam replied. "I think I hit it…and my wings didn't work so I fell and…" he grinned. "An angel saved me." he frowned, that couldn't be right. "What meds did you put me on?" He asked.

Steve and Natasha shared a look. Sam had a suspicion that he wasn't going to like what it meant.

"What?" He asked.

"The X men showed up." Steve explained. "I called them in because MODOK had too many minions for us all to handle."

"X…Men." Sam said slowly. Then he paled. "Dude…don't tell me…"

Steve winced in sympathy before continuing. "MODOK got control of your wings and made them go crazy, one of them clipped you in the forehead before you managed to eject. You were bleeding pretty badly."

Sam covered his face. "Then what happened?" He asked though, if the images his oxygen deprived, medication addled brain were supplying him were true he already knew the answer.

"Storm caught you." Natasha said. She was grinning. Natasha never grinned; this was bad.

"Please tell me I was unconscious." He said, lowering his hands. "No wait, tell me I was conscious and I said something smooth." Sam's heart sank as Natasha's grin grew wider.

"You were conscious and you told her she was badass and gorgeous and you were crazy about her and that when you got out of the hospital you wanted her permission to ask her out." Natasha smirked. Sam closed his eyes and leaned back against the pillows.

"And then I passed out?" He said hopefully.

"Nope." Natasha said. "You called her an African goddess first."

"Nat," Steve said. "He's been through a lot."

"I would have been better off falling to the ground and dying." Sam moaned. "I'm never leaving this facility again."

"It wasn't that bad." Steve said.

Sam arched an eyebrow. "Oh really? Have you ever confessed your feelings to your dream girl while bleeding all over her?"

"If you had asked her out at the holiday party like I told you to this wouldn't have happened." Natasha said.

"She's going to think I'm some lame fanboy." Sam looked up at the ceiling. "I've blown any chance I ever had with her."

"That's not true."

Sam looked at the door where Ororo Munroe was standing. Cap and Nat were still covered in dirt and dust from the battle, but she somehow looked pristine. She radiated serenity like a summer breeze, but Sam knew she could tear the entire facility down with hail and thunder if she wanted to. She was a force of nature. Why had he thought she'd be interested in him?

"I would have been here sooner." She said, "but I had to go through security clearance first." She glanced back at Wasp and Antman who were standing behind her.

"We couldn't take any chances." Hope explained.

"Yeah." Scott agreed. "I broke into this place once. Right Sam? Remember you tried to stop me, but I got away?"

Sam glared at him. "Thanks man. Like I haven't embarrassed myself enough for one day."

Storm didn't seem bothered. She smiled and politely asked Steve. "Might I speak to Falcon alone, please?"

Steve nodded and herded the others out, leaving Sam alone with her.

"So, first off thanks for saving my life." Sam said. "I really appreciate not being dead and I'm sorry if anything I might have said offended you."

"You have my permission." Ororo said, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"What?" Sam knew they'd put him on the intense meds because this had to be a hallucination.

"You wanted my permission to ask me out on a date." She smiled. "You have it."

"Wow." Sam breathed. "Are you sure?"

"Perfectly." She said, holding out her hand. "Ororo Munroe."

"Sam Wilson." He said, shaking, still not sure that he wasn't dreaming.

"So, Sam Wilson." Ororo said. "When do you get out of this hospital?"

"2 days." He replied.

"Well rest, heal and in 2 days call this number." She handed him a piece of paper. "I like any type of food and it doesn't have to be fancy." She leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Then she stood and left.

Sam sat in a daze, staring at the empty door way. "FRIDAY?" he asked.

"Yes Mr. Wilson?" The AI replied.

"Did that really happen?"

"My scans reveal that you are awake." FRIDAY said, "but I speculate that I might say the same thing if you were dreaming."

Sam rolled his eyes at the AI's sarcasm. Scott, Hope, and Natasha came back in followed by Wanda.

"So." Natasha said. "Any more spontaneous declarations of love?"

"I'll have you know, I got her number." Sam waved the paper in front of Natasha's eyes. "So you can…wait. What do you mean by more spontaneous declarations of love….Nat?" He panicked as Natasha gave him a smirk and left. "NAT."