Clint and Natasha rushed through the doors of the hospital searching frantically for the information desk to speed up the process of finding Steve's room. It probably would have been easier to call Sam but neither of their phones had reception inside the hospital walls. Natasha was the first person to spot the information desk and immediately raced over. "Hello, I need to know what room Steve Rogers is in."

"Of course. Give me one second." The young woman gave her a warm smile and began typing into the computer in front of her. "May I ask who you are to Mr. Rogers."

"We're his family" Clint chimed in, knowing that if they told the receptionist that they were his friends and not relatives, she would have been more reluctant to give that kind of information to them. Technically, he wasn't lying when he said they were family. Over the past few years, Clint had learned that he could trust Steve with his life - he was his brother. Hell, his kids called the man their uncle. Blood was just a minor technicality.

The woman nodded her head, seeming to be satisfied by that answer and continued typing and scrolling through her data base. "Looks like he is on the 5th floor, room 24. Just take the elevator up to the 5th floor and make a right, keep going straight, and the room should be on your right hand side."

They thanked the woman and practically ran to the elevators - following her every direction and found his room with ease. She didn't even bother to greet Sam like Clint had - her eyes locked onto Steve as soon as she entered the room. Natasha's heart started to pound harder and harder as she took steps closer to his bed as she took in the sight of his injured body. His face was pale, bruised, and blood stained - so lifeless that it scared her. In that moment, she wanted more than anything to go back a few hours ago back in his apartment building where they were arguing - arguing was way better than seeing him in a hospital bed. She slowly wrapped her fingers around his arm and stroked it softly, hoping that by doing so she could take away even just a fraction of the pain he was probably in even though she knew she was being silly. A tear slowly fell from her eye and she didn't even bother trying to hide it. What was the point? This was her fault. If she hadn't lied to him about her feelings and purposely hurt him, he wouldn't be in this situation. He would have been home, safe and sound.

"He lost a lot of blood. Doctors said he was lucky the bullet didn't hit his heart but it was close." Sam said softly with his arms crossed, breaking the silence.

"Jesus." Clint sighed, running his hand through his hair. "How did this even happen?"

"According to police reports, he saved a girl from an armed man." Sam sighed and shook his head. "He got shot in the midst of trying to get the gun out of the man's hands."

Natasha could feel herself get angrier by the minute. "Why are you so calm about this?" She asked Sam - her tone was a bit more harsh than she had meant it but she didn't understand how he could be so level headed when his friend was unconscious - possibly even dying. She looked at Clint and realized he wasn't reacting to the way she was expecting either which only further pissed her off. Was she the only person enraged? Nothing about this was okay.. "What is wrong with the two of you?" She yelled frustratedly. Her outburst caused Clint to look at her in surprise. Out of all the years he'd known Natasha, he had never seen her get this worked up. She had always been the voice of reason - the one who could set their emotions aside - compartmentalizing. This was a side of Natasha didn't even know existed.

"Tasha…" Clint said as he reached for her arm but she jerked back angrily. He raised his hands up to show her that he was going to back off. "I'm not saying that him being hurt is okay because it's not." He spoke softly and slowly. "But this is who he is"

"Are you saying he was trying to get himself killed?" Natasha asked accusingly not bothering to lower her voice. The challenge in her voice did not go unnoticed by the two men.

"What he means is.. Cap is the type of man to protect other people." Sam said attempting to help his friend explain the situation better. "For as long as I've known him, he's always been about fighting for what is right and sometimes the man is impulsive - doing things without thinking it through but his intentions are pure. If Steve sees a situation pointed south, he reacts. He couldn't ignore it even if he tried. That's just who he is." Sam said with a slight shrug, not really knowing how else to put it. He hoped that his words got through to Natasha. The last thing he needed was Steve's almost girlfriend to be any more upset than she was. Sam wasn't blind; he saw the progression of their relationship and it was definitely anything but platonic despite what either one of them might say. The truth was, he was happy for them. Since they met, Steve had slowly transformed back into the old man he used to be. The ptsd was subsiding and he was actually willing to reconnect with everyone again after years of isolation. Natasha was able to help mend Steve's wounds (both physically and mentally) without even realizing she was doing it. Sam didn't know her too well but he had a gut feeling Natasha was exactly what Steve needed.

Natasha remained quiet, focusing her eyes on Steve before nodding. There was a brief moment of silence besides the beeping of the machines before the doctor came back the room.

"Hello, I'm Dr. Rosenburg." He greeted the three of them with a handshake before flipping through the charts in his hands. "Mr. Rogers lost a significant amount of blood, we did successfully performed a blood transfusion on him so he is stable for now. To be honest, the only thing we could do at this point is wait."

"So he's going to be okay?" Clint asked hopefully.

"Well right now, it's up to him to decide. We've done everything we could to tend to his physical injuries. It's a matter of Mr. Roger's willpower now"

"What do you mean Doc?" Sam asked unsure of what the doctor meant.

The doctor contemplated his words carefully before he spoke."I'm a doctor. I believe in medicine. I think that 90% of the time, surgery and medicine will save a person's life… but I also believe in the spirit. To me, the other 10% is a matter of willpower. Mr. Rogers has to want to get better in order to pull through" he spoke softly. He could see the three people considering his words. "I have to go check on my other patients. Do you guys have any questions for me?"

All of them shook their heads.

"Alright. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask one of the nurses. If it's something they don't know the answer to, they will find me and I will make sure to explain it to you. The only issue left is that having all three of you guys here at this hour is against Hospital policies - unfortunately only one of you could stay overnight with Mr. Rogers."

Natasha was the first to speak. "I'll stay."

"I can stay if you two want to go home and rest." Sam offered but Natasha quickly dismissed his offer. "No I want to." Both men knew better than to press the issue and agreed to let her stay.

"Call me if you need anything." Clint gave her a tight hug. "I'll be back in the morning." He stopped briefly outside the door, taking note of the way Natasha was looking at Steve. There was a certain tenderness in her eye that was never there before. Actually, he's never seen her look at anyone that way before. How could he have been so blind to have not noticed Steve and Natasha growing closer? Now that he thought about it, Laura's strange behavior made complete sense now. He shook his head and turned to leave - leaving Natasha alone with Steve.

She waited to be to make sure she was completely alone before breaking down into complete sobs. It had taken every ounce of strength she had to have been able to maintain her composure in front of the others. Her body started to shake uncontrollably and the tears kept falling against her will. The longer she stared at his injuries especially the big bandage across his chest that was stained deep red from blood, the more the guilt consumed her. She didn't realize how much she missed seeing those beautiful blue eyes or his gorgeous smile. She missed him. The idea of a life without him broke her heart to pieces. "You gotta wake up Steve." She murmured into his hand and kissed it gently. There was an unexpected shuffle noise behind her that caused her to jerk her head back toward the door to find out who it was. Bucky. He had been the last person she had expected to see.

"Hi" He gave her a little smile and stood awkwardly by the door, unsure if it was okay to step inside.

Natasha noticed the hesitation and nodded her head to let him know it was okay for him to enter - she was a bit confused on how he knew Steve was here. "Hi." She said softly, returning her gaze back at Steve.

"Sam told me he was here. If that's what you were wondering." He chuckled softly. He didn't want to come off as a stalker, knowing how odd it must have seemed for him to just appear out of nowhere.

Natasha on the other hand didn't join in on the laughter. "I don't want to come off as rude or anything but why did you come?" She asked curiously.

"I'm assuming Steve told you about our history."

Natasha nodded her head and looked at Bucky, waiting for him to explain. She could tell that there wasn't any ulterior motives behind why he had come by the genuine concern in his eyes but she was curious. According to Steve, the two men haven't been friends for awhile now. It would have been normal for Bucky to have some sort of resentment toward Steve after losing his arm;she wouldn't blame him if he did (not saying she believed it was Steve's fault he lost his arm). She could see Bucky furrow his eyebrows in complete seriousness before he answered her.

"Despite what Steve may think, I don't blame him for what happened on the battlefield. My arm…" he paused shortly before continuing. "It wasn't his fault. We were in the middle of a war. Injuries happen. I knew that when I signed up to join the army. I don't regret anything. If I had to choose, I would follow that man into war all over again." He nodded his head toward Steve. Every word he said was true. He didn't regret anything. Sure the situation was shitty but it wasn't as if Steve had abandoned him on the battlefield or anything like that. As a matter fact, Steve never left a man behind; it wasn't in his nature to do that. He knew that if Steve were given the choice, he would trade his life in exchange for Bucky's arm because that's who he was - a selfless man.

"That's very admirable. Can I ask you another question?"

"Go for it" He shrugged. "Mind as well"

"If you know that Steve feels guilty for the loss of your arm, why haven't you tried to mend your broken friendship?"

Bucky lips curled into a half smile. "It's because he does feel guilty that I keep my distance. He's my brother - blood or not. I promised his mother to take care of him when she passed and that's exactly what I've been doing. I stay away because I know that the more he was around me, the more guilt he would feel. The sight of my arm would be a constant reminder to him of what happened and I don't want that. I've made my peace with what happened - accepted it and moved on. Steve hasn't. Just because I'm not present doesn't mean I don't get constant updates from Sam. I'll always be here for Steve… I'm with him til the end of the line…" his words trailed off slowly at the end.

His words gave Natasha a sense of admiration toward Bucky. "He loves you." She said softly - wanting Bucky to know that even though Steve couldn't show it, he did.

"I know." He gave her a soft warm smile. "Now it's my turn to ask you a question." He waited for Natasha to agree before asking. "Are you his girlfriend?"

"I'm not" she dismissed quickly although her words fell flat. She could see that he was unconvinced by her answer; she wasn't exactly sure she believed it herself despite it being the truth. "Honestly I don't know what we are." She sighed. "It's complicated."

"I see." Bucky nodded his head understandingly. He didn't push it, not wanting to further cause her any more confusion than she already was feeling. It wasn't his business to comment on it but he was more than confident that they would figure things out once Steve was conscious. There was obviously love there. "Well, I don't really know you but I'm rooting for you guys"

Me too, she thought to herself. She was a fool to believe that she was better off without him. The emptiness she was currently feeling was a huge indication of how much she truly needed him in her life. Need. It was hard for her to admit it but she did need him. He made her feel alive. He made her feel worthy of love - like her past was nothing more than just that. Maybe she would be able to learn to love again. Maybe love wasn't just for children but for her as well… She'll never know until he was better and awake. And just then, it was as if God had heard her prayers. She felt a slight twitch in his finger as she held his hand.

"Steve?" She called out to him, hoping the sound of her voice would bring him back to her. "Steve please open your eyes." She tugged his hand gently to make sure her mind was playing tricks on her. He started to shuffled around a bit but after a few seconds, his eyes started to flutter open.