I went boxing, at one point, and I wrecked my hand by doing so. I've also sprained/jammed my right wrist probably four times, but I've never broken it... Yet.
Steve froze when he heard someone crying in the dimly lit gym, jazz music filtering in through the beaten-up speakers and mixing with the sound of labored breathing. No one should have been up and around in the Tower, not this time of night, and he was only up because nightmares had once again awoken him in a cold sweat.
He dropped his bag with towels and water bottles by the door and moved slowly into the space, looking around. If it was an intruder, Jarvis would have told one of them about it, and they would already have been dealt with. If it was one of his comrades, he didn't want to disturb them unless it was necessary.
There was a small shape curled up in a corner of the room, head bent to knees, knees clutched to chest, and Steve felt the cold sweat from before rush over him again when he saw red-stained bandages on the girls hands and purple-toed feet curled against the cement floor.
He shuffled over to her, unsure of exactly what to do, and sat in front of her, waiting until she registered his presence and peeked up at him before he spoke.
"I thought you liked to crash Tony's pad, when you needed somewhere to land in a hurry." He said, smiling in what he hoped was a hopeful way.
Her eyes were rimmed red from crying, her hair in a messy ponytail, and her hands dripping blood onto the floor. The bandages were done poorly, he noticed, and assumed she had tried to do them herself. Her toes were purple again, like the first time Tony had found her in his workshop, but none of them seemed to be broken, for which Steve was incredibly thankful.
"Want me to look at that?" He asked, nodding at her hands.
"I'd never done them before." She admitted, holding them out to him. "I was guessing."
He started to unwrap her left hand, pulling gently at the cotton, hoping it hadn't dried enough to hurt as he pulled away each scarlet layer, only to find another below it. She wiped her eyes on her shoulder, watching him silently as the music continued to play.
"You did a pretty good job, for not knowing how." He couldn't stand the silence between them, desperate for anything to keep her talking. "Just didn't tape the knuckles right."
"I was in a hurry."
He imagined her, showing up here in the dead of night when she knew they would all be asleep, throwing the wrappings on and pummeling a punching bag to keep from hurting herself. It was a step up, in any case, and he wondered whether Jarvis had known to put jazz on to calm her down, or if she had requested it.
"Just some scratches." He sighed in relief when he saw her grazed knuckled, mostly scabbed over now.
"I think I broke my right hand." She whispered, like a kid admitting they had stolen cookies. "Got sloppy, wrapping with my off hand."
He hurried to unwrap her right hand, realizing now that it was still dripping blood onto the ground, and he wondered how badly she had hurt herself. Her knuckles were raw, and she whimpered when he pulled the bandages off of them, reopening the wounds. Her wrist was swollen, and he realized she hadn't wrapped it properly.
"Hang on. Let me re-wrap this one."
He stood and hurried to his bag, grabbing it before he came back and sat in front of her again, opening one of the water bottles and rinsing her knuckles. She winced, shuddering, but stayed still. He held her hand carefully, not putting pressure on her wrist, and started to bandage her knuckles properly, wrapping up her hand the way you were meant to. He wrapped her wrist tightly, earning himself a muttered curse.
"Language." He teased, smiling at her.
She laughed at that, watching as he tapped the end, setting her wrist back on her knee.
"It's not broken, just sprained. You might have jammed it. I hear you have a mean right hook."
"It wouldn't be the first time I jammed it, either." She admitted, flexing her fingers to be sure she could.
"Want to talk about it?" He offered at last, realizing he had done all he could for her physically.
"Not really." She replied. "Wanna sock some ol' memories on the jaw?"
He laughed, standing before he helped her to her feet.
"Now that sounds like a plan."