The general consensus from the previous chapter was that the matrix did in fact glitch, and that we all read Ber(e)nstein Bears books. Thank you all for confirming.

This chapter is on the short side, but it's one you've all been looking forward to! Hope you enjoy!

Bucky was in the middle of a Lord of the Rings-esque dream (with Fury playing the role of Gandalf, except he was wearing purple robes instead of the traditional white or gray; a small and sickly Steve circa 1943 was standing in for Frodo; Bucky was apparently Sam, complete with a natural but somehow functional prosthetic arm; and the rest of the Commandos as various characters from the Fellowship) when someone jabbed at his hand.

"He's waking up," a man said. It took Bucky a moment to realize that the man who was speaking was Tony. Which meant the 'he' in question was probably Steve.

He had bolted upright and was wide awake before Tony could close the cover of The Hobbit. "I thought it was a good idea," Tony said, somewhat defensively. "Let's not make a big deal about it." Then he pointed at Steve, whose eyes were dancing around under his eyelids. Every so often, his brow furrowed and his lips pursed.

"He's just dreaming," Bucky said, though it seemed more like a nightmare based on the faces Steve was making. Bucky hadn't seen Steve act like this before, and hoped whatever it was would pass as quickly as it'd arrived.

Out of the corner of his eye, Bucky saw Tony shake his head. "He's waking up. Watch."

Sure enough, a long minute later, Steve's expression stilled and his eyelids fluttered open, revealing two beautifully blue pupils.

"Hey, Steve," Tony said, more gently than Bucky had ever heard him. "You back with us?"

Steve's head lolled to the left slightly. He was just shy of making eye contact with Tony, though he was definitely looking in Tony's general direction.

"Hey, buddy," Tony said. "How are you feeling?"

Then, the line down the center of Steve's forehead deepened and Tony looked over at Bucky. "You try."

"What?" was all Bucky had time to say before he was being shuffled closer to the head of Steve's bed, where Tony had stood only a moment before.

Though Steve's expression was still confused, something in his eyes shifted as Bucky stepped closer.

"Hey, Stevie," Bucky said gently. He reached down to rest his hand on Steve's upper arm, only realizing after he made contact that it was with his metal one. Granted, it was covered in a heavy-duty glove as part of the Hazmat suit, but regardless, the touch seemed to matter to Steve.

His friend flinched back, which sent Bucky two large steps in the other direction, not wanting to further frighten Steve. Then Bucky heard a soft click and knew Tony had woken up the suit that was standing in the corner of the room that was currently out of Steve's line of sight. The lights in the Iron Man's suit's face flicked on, but it made no motion to encase Tony.

Surprisingly, Steve didn't react like he had with Clint. He stayed where he was in bed, head moved up to the plastic headboard instead of the pillow it'd been on before he'd slid backward, but didn't say a word. After a beat, his perpetual frown deepened until his eyebrows were practically touching, his eyes squinted closed, and his lips disappeared into a thin line.

"We're calling the doctors," Tony said from behind Bucky. "They want to see how you are."

Then, Steve's face went slack, dropping Bucky's heart to somewhere around his knees. "Steve?" he asked as he stepped closer.

Thankfully, Steve was still conscious, though it took him a long moment to blink, then look over at Bucky again. His gaze was hazy and just shy of focused. Under the nasal cannula, his lips started moving, but no sound was made. It only took Bucky a few repetitions to realize Steve was soundlessly saying the same word over and over again.

"I can't understand you, Steve," said Bucky. He was back to his original place directly next to the bed. If he reached down, he could have touched Steve again. But he didn't and wouldn't until his friend was more aware.

Steve swallowed hard, a motion which jarred his entire body, then whispered, "'uck?"

It was the single, most beautiful word Bucky had ever heard. He didn't want to get too far ahead of himself—Steve had quite the long path ahead of him—but Steve had recognized him, despite the Hazmat suit. That had to count for something.

"Yeah, it's me, Steve. Glad to have you back with us." Bucky shoved his hands into his jacket pockets before they acted on their own accord, and felt something prick at the corner of his eye, which he immediately ordered his body to stop.

He heard the click again and this time, the lights in the Iron Man suit went out. Steve must have heard it too, for he tried to crane his neck toward the sound. He only got a few inches before his face scrunched up in pain.

"If I don't get a doctor in here right now, I'm going to lose it," Tony bellowed. Steve screwed his eyes closed, most likely at the loudness of Tony's voice, but there wasn't anything either Tony or Bucky could do differently. Neither of them was going to leave to fetch someone, but Steve was clearly in pain and needed help.

Steve's left eye flitted open and it looked like he was staring more at Tony than he was Bucky.

"Do you recognize me, Steve?" Tony asked, somewhat hesitantly. "It's okay if you don't," he quickly added. "You've done great today already."

Bucky couldn't help but look over his shoulder in surprise. It wasn't that he didn't know Tony was capable of that restraint or degree of thoughtfulness; the last year, but especially the last two weeks, had shown him that time and time again. No, Bucky's surprise was more at the restraint Tony was exercising in this situation, especially when he wasn't sure he'd be able to do the same.

Steve stared at Tony's upper body, his eyes not quite making it to Tony's face, for a long moment. Then, he slowly mumbled, "T'ny."

A thousand-watt grin lit up Tony's face as he nodded. "Yeah, Steve. I'm Tony." He sucked in a quick inhale then said, "Welcome back."

Then, Steve's heart beat quickened and various monitors started to scream. "T'm," he muttered, trying desperately to push himself upright. "W'ere's t'm?"

Bucky's hands were out and hovering inches above Steve's shoulders, not wanting to make contact unless he had to, given how Steve had reacted the first time. "They're resting. They're fine. We're all fine."

Finally, a nurse stepped into the decontamination unit and Tony knew they didn't have much more time to calm Steve before the nurse would inject him with a drug to achieve the same effect.

"JARVIS, violate privacy settings of the rest of the Avengers, unless the situation requires it. Stats on screen. Vocal override Alpha Charlie Niner Aught Two."

Then, Tony pulled out his phone and held it in front of Steve's face, hoping the bright light emanating from the device wasn't going to make Steve's pain any worse.

Steve stopped struggling and stared with an incredible amount of focus at the screen. His face scrunched up again as he squinted at the four images JARVIS was hopefully displaying: Sam, Natasha, Clint and Bruce all alive and breathing, based on their pulse and respiration rates that should have been overlaid.

As the nurse walked into the room, Steve was still staring at the screen. "That's live footage of the Tower," Tony said, taking a quick peek over the phone to ensure that all four screens were being populated. He quickly pointed out what the numbers meant, though he wasn't sure Steve understood them. But then, Steve closed his eyes in a prolonged blink, which Tony took to mean he somehow had.

Bucky and Tony stepped back to allow the nurse to do her job, but they made sure they shifted into the space Steve was looking at when his eyes drifted.

"He recognized us," Tony informed Nurse Emily when she finally stepped back from Steve.

Her smile was genuine. "That's a great sign. We're going to need to take him for more scans now."

"Sure." Tony then leaned slightly closer to Steve. "Did you understand that?"

Steve did his long blink again, instead of nodding.

"Okay." Tony stepped toward the wall so Nurse Emily could unlock the brakes and prep Steve for transport. "We'll be here when you get back. Maybe even more of us, if they're awake."

If Tony and Bucky weren't mistaken, the corners of Steve's mouth lifted ever so slightly as Nurse Emily wheeled him out of the room.

By the time Steve was done with his multitude of scans and assorted tests, the rest of the Avengers had gathered in his room. Some leaned against the walls, some perched on the cot that had been brought in at some point over the last two days, and one was sprawled on top of a recently cleared-off dresser set. The one thing they'd all seemed to agree on was that Sam, who was still having vestibular issues, deserved the lone arm chair to himself.

They collectively held their breath as Steve was rolled back into the room, not sure what state of awareness they'd find him in. To their great relief, he was awake, and staring at all of them with a surprising amount of clarity.

The gauze around his neck was gone, revealing two light pink patches where Natasha had shocked him with her Widow's Bites during the helipad fight. The burns had been almost fully scabbed over until they, and every wound Steve had accrued over the past two weeks, had reopened when the symbiote made its exit. They, and the rest of his injuries, had stagnated for a few days after that as the serum prioritized the damage, but were apparently starting to heal again.

"Dr. Jackson will be in soon to review the results of the scans," Nurse Emily said as she docked the bed back against the wall. "But between you and me, he seemed very excited by the results."

She had barely left the room before Steve grabbed the bed remote with a shaky hand and pressed the 'up' button.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Bucky questioned, hand out but not quite touching Steve's. With all his friend had been through, staying horizontal for a little longer seemed like a pretty good idea.

Steve turned his head slightly and made a face at Bucky, that quick look saying more than any number of his words ever would have.

Tony must have picked up on that too, for he commented, "Someone's feeling better."

Steve dropped his chin a fraction, then released the remote. Starting from Bucky, on his left, he slowly panned the room, using his eyes more than actually moving his neck.

"'m so sorry," he then said, his voice both raw and rough. It didn't sound wholly like him, but it didn't sound like the symbiote's mechanical drawl either.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," Natasha interjected, rising up from the cot and stepping closer. "The symbiote did it, not you."

Steve shook his head minutely. "Sorry, so sorry," he began repeating, as his heart rate sped up and his blood pressure spiked.

Bruce pushed past the team so he was directly in Steve's line of sight. "I need you to calm down, okay? The staff aren't going to let us stay if you react like this."

Though Steve nodded, his head movements small and quick, his vitals didn't normalize any.

"Sorry in advance." With that, Bruce he grabbed Steve's uncasted hand, and mindful of the IV, held it against his chest, hoping Steve's extraordinary sense of touch would be able to feel his heartbeat through the Hazmat suit. "In and out with me, okay?" He took a few deep breaths and motioned with his free hand for Steve to do the same.

Slowly, but surely, with each shaky breath, Steve's vitals slid down to normal ranges.

"Sorry," he said again, as his chest continued to heave.

"Agent Barton has asked me to relay the following message," JARVIS spoke up. "Quote, if you apologize one more time, I will not be responsible for my actions, unquote."

"'kay." Steve didn't look entirely happy about the concept, but he did rest his head back against his pillow. "Hi," he then said, and it was a testament to how worn out the entire room was that they burst into laughter at the absurdity of the statement.

Dr. Jackson found them that way a few long moments later.

"We must be feeling better," he said as he approached Steve. "I'm Dr. Jackson, your neurologist. Do you mind if I take a look at you?"

When Steve shook his head, Dr. Jackson asked him a few questions: who the President was, what month it was, what his name was. Steve knew the first and third ones, but struggled with the second.

Jackson didn't comment and just noted the answers in Steve's rapidly growing file.

He moved on to a series of physical tests: having Steve look from Jackson's nose to his finger, which he positioned in different areas; having Steve follow his finger in a 'H' pattern without moving his head; having Steve fully extend one shaking arm then try to touch his nose, with each hand; then having Steve stick out his tongue and wag it back and forth.

If a majority of the Avengers hadn't been put through these same tests at one point or another, they might have thought them silly. From their previous experiences, they knew Jackson was looking for deviations from midline, which tested one of the nerves… probably only Bruce, and maybe even Tony, knew which one exactly.

Jackson then had Steve shrug, smile, and make a variety of faces, before he did something with a tuning fork to check Steve's hearing.

Steve's reactions were slow, and his motions shaky, but with the exception of touching his nose, he managed to complete all the tests. For that one, he landed somewhere under his closest eye, still a few inches from his nose.

Jackson then lightly palpated Steve's face and neck, being sure to announce when his hands were changing positions.

"So what's the verdict?" JARVIS translated for Clint when Jackson finally finished jotting down his findings in Steve's file.

"He's made remarkable progress on these tasks even in the last two hours, which is very promising," Jackson replied, as he looked at the team. "He still has some perception deficits, slurred speech, tremors with motion. I'd like to keep him here for at least another few days to monitor his progress."

Then Jackson put down the file and reached over his head to release the hood of his Hazmat suit. He pulled it over his face so it hung by his chest then shook his head. "But, I've spoken to all the other doctors on Captain Rogers' case and we don't believe him to be contagious anymore. If you're comfortable, you're free to take off your suits."

There was a scurry of motion as the team quickly stepped out of their Hazmat suits and, at the sight of their faces up close, Steve smiled wider, though it still didn't quite reach his eyes.

"We'll heal," Bucky said, holding his flesh hand over Steve's. "Stop worrying about us." He snorted at his own words. "Stop worrying about us, for now. Until you're better. Then you can go back to worrying all you want."

With a shaky hand, Steve reached up and took Bucky's, wrapping his trembling fingers around his friend's calloused but steady ones.

Bucky knew Steve well enough to know that he would never truly stop worrying about the rest of his team, but for that moment, it was enough that Steve looked up at him and replied, "Deal."

Just two more chapters to go! Thanks for all your support throughout this fic!