Tw - talk of abuse. Marked between the bold =. it gets lighthearted to the end, though. as always, enjoy.
TWENTY-THREE
Well, okay was maybe a bit of an overstatement. Alive and battered was a better descriptor.
Maria had gone to organise security whilst Gemma, Natasha and Sam were in the hospital room with Steve, talking with the doctor about Steve's injuries.
"He'll be good soon," the doctor assured. "We're just waiting on a blood delivery before we can say so 100%."
"Blood delivery?" Sam echoed. The doctor sighed.
"The Captain has lost a lot of blood. He's a big man and a rare blood type."
"What type?" Natasha asked curiously.
"A-." Natasha snapped her fingers.
"I know where you can get some of that," she said.
"You do?" Gemma asked, moving away from the bed to stand with Natasha.
"Right here." Natasha grabbed Gemma's arm, shoving the sleeve up.
"I'm A-?" Gemma said, confused. Then she gasped. "You did read my medical record!" Natasha shrugged.
"I like to know things."
"Would you be happy to donate blood, Miss?" The doctor asked. Gemma nodded. "Great."
"I'll come with you," Sam offered.
"That's great because I'm not a fan of needles," Natasha said. "You'll be okay?" Gemma nodded again. The doctor told them where to go and they went off.
"So, now you get to say you've fought besides Captain America," Gemma said to Sam, who grinned.
"I feel honoured," he said. "That's some bad-ass stuff you guys do. Fighting guys with metal arms?"
"I know!" Gemma exclaimed.
"How did fighting the aliens feel?"
"A giant stomach ache," Gemma told him, just as they approached the desk. Gemma handed over the paper she was given by the doctor. Moments later, they were lead to a room, supposedly where Gemma was going to give blood.
"You know, I really thought Natasha would be excited to see me give blood," Gemma said to Sam.
"You seemed surprised she's read your medical," Sam commented.
"I shouldn't be. That's very Natasha." Gemma shrugged, sighing. "It's just that there's some stuff on my medical record I'd rather she didn't know."
"Ten bouts of alcohol poisoning?" Sam guessed. Gemma giggled.
"No, but there's actually three. Mostly from during college," Gemma added. A nurse came in and started getting Gemma's arm ready.
"I've never seen someone so chilled with giving blood," Sam noted. Gemma shrugged.
"It's not the worse pain, although it's a little gross to see." That was emphasised by Gemma obviously looking away. It was done in minutes.
"Hey. Before we go back," Sam started to say, pulling a stool close. "There was something I wanted to talk about." Gemma stiffened, knowing exactly what it was.
"Rumlow?"
"What he said to you wasn't okay," Sam said gently. "But you completely froze. Is everything okay?"
"What, are you are therapist or something?" Gemma snorted but didn't get a reply. "Oh, shit. You're actually a therapist?"
"I work at the VA," Sam informed her. "I do a lot of talks dealing with PTSD, grief, loss." Gemma sighed.
"Natasha would've yelled at me if she saw me pause like that," Gemma muttered, putting her hands underneath her.
"You don't have to talk about it, but know I'm good for listening," Sam stated.
"No. Maybe I should talk to you about it. You don't know, so it won't-"
"Change my opinion on you?" Gemma nodded. "Well, I wouldn't be a good friend if I let that happen." Gemma took another deep breath, thinking about what she was about to do.
"When I was fifteen, I got into a relationship with a slightly older guy. Just old enough to be able to drop school, work instead. The first year was fine. Truly. I thought I was in love with him." Gemma closed her eyes, trying to prevent the tears that were coming with the memories. "Then he got laid off his job. He didn't like that. He started drinking and it made him angry." Uncomfortable, Gemma placed a hand on her neck, fidgeting. "First, he used to just hurt me. Then it moved to rape. His only mistake was doing it at my aunt's place one day. She came home early, knew something was up. I mostly came to the US because I couldn't stand it." Somehow, she was crying now, just as she was baring her life to Sam. "I'm so much better now; mostly thanks to the team, and actually, having Steve and Nat and the others is really helping, too. I'm just scared now I'll, I don't know-"
"Regress?" Sam finished, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's good to know you've found a happy place. But I'm guessing you never actually went to therapy?" Gemma shook her head.
"I hate talking about it," Gemma admitted. "I can never really bring myself too. I haven't even told Steve yet."
"Why do you feel the need to tell Steve?" Sam inquired, tilting his head. Gemma shrugged, frowning.
"I guess it's because I keep freaking out when we kiss. I'm scared I'll keep freaking him out."
"That doesn't mean you owe him an explanation instantly. He's not a good partner if he doesn't allow you to take your time."
"I just want to be honest. I'm scared that if we escalate things, I'll have to tell him sooner than I'm ready for."
"Don't be scared about it. Just talk when you're ready." Gemma nodded her head.
"Okay. Thank you." They both got up, heading back towards Steve's room. "Wait, did you trick me into a therapy session?" Sam started chuckling as Gemma gasped. "Trickster!"
"Trickster?" Natasha echoed, grinning.
"I've been tricked into psych evals before!" Gemma exclaimed.
"He tricked you into a psych eval?" Natasha repeated slowly.
"It was a mini thera- wait, into a psych eval?" Sam looked at Gemma.
"I think we're getting off-topic," Gemma said, putting her hands up. She looked down at unconscious Steve. "Can I have a moment?" Natasha and Sam shared a look but nodded, both leaving the room. Gemma sat in the chair next to the bed, covering Steve's hand with her own.
"Hey," she said, already feeling awkward. "I don't know what to say. Usually, I'm the one unconscious." With her other hand, she gently stroked his face. "I think this possibly how Nat feels all the time." Gemma laughed lightly to herself. "Just get better faster, please."
Somehow, Gemma fell asleep pretty quickly next to Steve. It had been a very busy day, after all. And it seemed it wasn't over. It was at some point early the next morning Tony burst through the hospital doors, followed by very unenthusiastic Natasha and Sam.
"Jesus!" Gemma yelled, squinting her eyes at the doorway.
"No, but close," Sam joked. Tony shushed him. Sam threw him a look.
"We have a job interview!" Tony exclaimed. "White got the call. The FBI wants to open a new team in New York and you know how SHIELD fell? They want us."
"That's great. Did you need to burst in here?" Gemma asked.
"They want to interview us all. Together. At ten." Gemma looked at her watch and frowned.
"It's seven now, and I can't go to an interview look-"
"Sam and Lids are getting you clothes, White will stall, as for getting there- actually, I don't have a plan for that." Tony shrugged and then hummed. "Maybe we should've sent Sam."
"We'll use the helicopter!" Natasha exclaimed, snapping her fingers. "Sam can stay with Steve. Is that okay?" Natasha looked at him.
"Fine by me."
"Call me if he wakes up!" Gemma instructed, getting pulled by Tony as they started to dash. If Natasha was correct, they'd still barely just make the interview. Although, with Natasha's piloting, they made it to New York in record time (Gemma was sure she'd broken a couple of laws). With just sixteen minutes to spare, Sam and Lidia met the group when the helicopter landed with some formal clothes for Gemma. She changed in under a minute. From there; Lidia drove to the FBI building (which was a mistake; Gemma had only had a mint for breakfast and she felt like she was going to vomit) with five minutes to go. Outside the building, Natasha wished the group luck, and they went in to meet Mathew.
"Just on time," he said, handing Gemma a much-needed coffee.
"I feel like I'm on fire," she mumbled, downing the caffeinated substance in one. "Let's kick some ass."
"So, SHIELD turned out to be HYDRA, huh?" Lidia asked. "Rogers must have cried."
"When we get out, tell me who's HYDRA that would surprise me," Gemma said. "I kinda wanna know."
Before Gemma and Nat headed back to Washington (which they were going to do by car; Sam had brought it back to New York earlier), Gemma made Natasha stop at her house, where she did one stress bake, waiting for a call from Sam.
"I thought you would've wanted to go straight back?" Natasha commented, frowning. She tried to pinch some of the cookie batter, but Gemma swatted her hand away.
"I want to, but I'm also very stressed right now." Gemma started spooning the batter out onto trays. "Why? I thought you said the interview went well."
"It did," Gemma agreed, "but we still don't know we got the job. We've got testing all next week. I hate tests. Stress." She shoved the cookies in the oven. "Besides, who can say no to cookies?"
"I love your cookies," Natasha admitted. "So, will you guys have to undergo training again?"
"Yes and no," Gemma answered. "We'll have to study FBI laws, traditions and such, but we won't have to relearn skills we already have. That would be a waste of time."
"And you're sure there's no HYDRA?" Gemma laughed, sitting on the counter next to Natasha.
"I'm sure every agency is checking right now."
"It's still a little hard to believe," Natasha said earnestly. Gemma looked at the assassin. "How weren't they scoped out earlier? They must have accidentally revealed themselves at least once." Gemma shrugged.
"They're ruthless. I'm sure they'd have killed if they accidentally showed themselves and covered it."
"But what about me?" Gemma furrowed her brows together, causing Natasha to explain more. "I was KGB turned SHIELD. Bad turned good. Surely I would've been prime for it?"
"Maybe that's not what they saw," Gemma said gently. "Maybe they saw a former assassin trying to make right and determined to do so." Natasha looked at Gemma.
"Is that what you see?"
"I see a former SHIELD agent, who just wants to help her friends and do right. But what do you see?" Natasha paused.
"Is this what you meant when you said Sam tricked you into therapy?"