Hey guys it's been awhile, but here is more of our lovely couple!

Steve slowly opened his eyes and blinks at the stark environment. He can feel his body healing, stitching itself back together. Based on the smell of disinfectant assaulting his nose he figures he is in medical and looks around for the call button. When he turns his head to the right something distracts him from is search of the button. Issie is curled up in one of the large arm chairs they have in the room fast asleep. He looks for a clock on the wall then softly calls out to JARVIS.

"JARVIS, what time is it?" He looks back over at his girlfriend hoping he hasn't woken her, but she was still sleeping.

"It is 6:24am on Tuesday Captain Rogers." The AI responds in a low tone as not to wake Issie, but even though the tones were low it didn't take much to wake her. Steve watch as her eyelashes fluttered open and her eyes focused on him. When it registered that he was awake she bolted out of the chair.

"You're awake." She leaned gently on the bed and grabbed his hand. "How are you feeling?"

Steve turned his hand over and rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb.

"Sore and uncomfortable. Better now that you're here." He tried to sit up but grunted as he felt the pull of an injury.

"Don't move around, let me sit you up." Issie grabbed the bed controls and brought him up in a sitting position. "Is that ok?" She quickly lowered the bed slightly when Steve grimaced and shook his head.

"Better."

Steve let his eyes wander over Issie, taking in her features. When he had gotten injured he had truly thought that he was going to die and he would never see Issie again, would never be able to ask her and tell her all he wanted. But waking up and seeing her there, with him had given him relief and a since of how easily everything could be taken away.

Now as he looked at her he could see the dark rings under her eyes, the exhaustion in her gaze and tension in her movements. He thought back to what day JARVIS had told him, Tuesday. That means he had been out four days.

"Have you been here the whole time?" He watched as she nodded.

"Of course I was." Her answer escaped out of her like a breath that had been help for too long. Steve was going to say something more, but was interrupted as the doctor walked into the room and began his exam. Issie let herself out of the room while Steve was getting check over and went to Clint and Nat's apartment. As she pushed open the door, she heard Emma squeal and run up to her. Issie dropped to her knees and gathered the little girl in a hug that she needed far more than the toddler. Clint walked up and helped Issie stand after Emma ran back to the breakfast she had been eating and gave her a hug also.

"He's awake?"

The young woman looked over Clint's shoulder at the Redhead who had walked up to the pair, know she she wouldn't be here if her boyfriend was still in a coma.

"Yeah, just now. The doctor is looking him over, I thought I might shower." She slowly pulled out of Clint's embrace and walked over to Nat.

"There a reason you came to our apartment rather than going to Steve's?" The harsh sounding question was softened by the arms that wrapped around the young woman. Issie sunk into the embrace before registering the question. She made to pull away, but Nat just held her still, her worry over the girl making her not want to let go. "You are always welcome here. You go shower and I'll made you something real to eat." Nat ushered Issie to the bathroom while she left to get her fresh cloths, leaving Clint to do the cooking.

Issie stood under the too hot spray and watched unseeing as the water drained. Four days. Four days of watching his chest moved up and down, counting the beeps of the heart monitor, her breath catching when either one of those things didn't happen when they should have. Four days. Four days the team sitting by her side, never leaving her alone, never leaving him alone. Four days of the team holding their breaths making sure he kept up with his. Four days. Four days of being strong, keeping it together, not letting herself dwell on what might happen. What almost happened. What did happen. Nat had told her, after. They had to revive him on the operating table. She had lost him. For two minutes and 47 seconds, she had lost him.

The sob echoed loudly in the tile shower as Issie dropped to her knees under the water. The tears mixed with the shower water as she could no longer hold back the pain of what might had been. The sobs masked that sound of the door opening, the fear and pain made thoughts difficult. So Issie allowed Nat to turn off the too hot water and wrap her in a cool towel. She allowed herself to be held and rocked, gaining the comfort she hadn't let herself take while Steve was out, but subconsciously craved. It was why she hadn't gone to Steves apartment.

After the tears dried and her nose was blown, Issie let Nat help her into the SHIELD issue workout pants and an ARMY sweatshirt she knew was Steve's. When they finally made into the living room Clint had a large spread of food on the table, anything that might sound remotely tasty to the young woman. The couple watched her carefully while she ate, making sure she actually ate a full meal and reluctantly let her go back to medical.

As she looked at her reflection in the elevator doors, she watch as Nat came up beside her. Issie leaned into her steady presence and let her wrap an arm around her. They walked together through the medical wing but stopped before going into the room. The curtains were open on the window, letting them see Steve resting in the extra large bed Tony had specially made for the team. Issie felt Nat sigh and knew that she was unhappy with the situation.

"I thought with how serious you were getting he would be more careful." Nat waited for her words to sink in and wasn't surprised when Issie turned away from the blond to look at the woman beside her.

"What do you mean, more careful?" Issie felt her stomach swoop at the look on the spy's face.

"Steve has always put others before himself, which in general isn't a big issue, expect when that puts himself in danger without care to himself." She looked over at the exhausted women. "Steve has very little self-preservation, I was hoping having you to come home to would have helped that to provide a little more." Nat shrugged and gave Issie's shoulder a light squeeze before she turned and left a reeling woman. Issie stood frozen for a few moments longer before she registered the Steve was watching her through the window. She felt her feet move through the doorway and next to the bed. She rested her hand on the cold rail and looked into the bright blue eyes she loved.

"Could this have been avoided?" Her voice was scratchy because of her breakdown in the shower but steady. Steve pressed his lips together and tensed.

"It is my Job to keep people safe, to keep the world safe. Your world."

"But was there another option?" She watched as his lips got thinner and his shoulder set. "Not comprising keeping who ever it was safe, but was there a different way you could have kept them safe rather that using your body as a shield? Was there a way to use a different method that dying?"

"I'm fine, I didn't die."

"YES YOU DID!" Issie screamed in the quite room, cutting of the remainder of Steve's argument. "You were dead for over two minutes!" A strangled gasp was muffled by her hand. "Was there another option or does coming back to me not cross you mind?" She looked up and saw the answer in his eyes. Her knuckles turned white as they gripped the bed rail. Her knees wobbled, but she would not break. "I understand needed to protect people. I understand needing to save the world. I understand the hero complex. I have never minded you going off at the drop of a hat. I have never minded not knowing about the mission. I have worried about you getting hurt. I have always known the risks of falling love with military. Falling in love with an Avenger. But I, I thought that, that it was a calculated risk, that you would do what needed to be done but not purposely put yourself in danger." Unshed tears made Steve's face wobble in her sight. He leaned up and tried to get closer to her, ignoring the pain the spasmed across his body.

"I don't, not on purpose, I want to, to come back to you. I calculate every situation, I do." Something clenched his heart when she moved her hand out from under his.

"Do your calculations include your life and safety? Do they? Because this isn't the first time you've come back hurt because you threw yourself into danger."

Steve watched the woman next to him. A woman who had sat by his side for four days, waiting fro him to wake up, who loved him, who he loved. And knew he had hurt her, knew he had not kept his promise. He could see the cracks forming, see as she steeled herself, and prayed that he hadn't lost everything. He couldn't loose everything, not again.

"I know." He took a halting breath, he turned his hand and set it onto of the rail, offering it to her. "I spent so long with nothing to keep me here that I stopped truly caring, but then you came in and brought color to my life. I had something to come back too. I do. I do try, I do think about every risk I take, but I am trying to undo years of habit and bad thinking. And I know that fail, but I AM trying. I do want to to come home to you. You are my everything. I knew when it happened that I should have done it differently, that I almost lost you. And the only thing I can say is I'm sorry." He watched her tears as they fell down her face. He watched her as he laid his faults out before her seeing what she would do. Her hand muffled a sob before she curled herself up into the bed with him. He released a breath and wrapped his arms around her holding her as close as he could. "I know this is the wrong time and I wanted to do this differently. I had a whole plan and the ring is in my dresser but all I could think about was how I hadn't asked you so I'm asking you now." Steve rambled

"What?" Issie sniffed and rubbed her nose with her sleeve

"Marry me?" He looked down at the woman in his arms as she turned to look up at him. "I love you. I have loved you fo so long and I can't imagine my life or my future without you. I bought a ring months ago but never found a good time to ask but maybe there isn't a good time. And I almost never got a time, so I'm asking now. Will you marry me?" His answer was Issie surging up in his arms and kissing him. Steve grunted as she bumped many of his wounds but held her closer when she tried to pull away.

"Yes." She broke away to whisper the word against his lips. "But you have to start seeing someone, talking to someone. I want you around for a long time soldier."

Steve kissed her gently. "I started seeing someone Sam recommend when I bought the ring. I'm not perfect, but I am trying."

"Thats all I ask." Issie kissed him again. "I love you Steve."