The next several days were a blur of sleep and drug-hazed semi-awareness. Her hip burned periodically, but if she didn't move much it didn't pull. Her shoulder was very sensitive to movement and she cried every time she twisted slightly towards it.

Darcy was vaguely aware that different people were taking turns sitting with her, because every time she woke there was someone new - but always Bucky and Steve. They seemed to be a constant in the room and she began to relax upon waking if she noticed them in the room.

Neither men moved around a lot in the room - there wasn't much room to move around in anyway. There were several chairs in the room, but it seemed that more often than not, Bucky would stretch out in the chair and Steve would settle at his feet. Sometimes, even laying a head on Bucky's knee for support as they rested. Steve seemed most comfortable with a pencil and drawing paper, an old book with what looked like real, leather-bound edging and a long piece of thin leather that would wrap around the book when he was done. He would sit on the floor, sitting on one knee with the other up to use for a makeshift table. He would use Bucky's legs as a back support, and Bucky didn't even blink when Steve made use of him. Where most people would shy away from Bucky, Steve just crawled up in his space like he belonged. What Darcy found even more fascinating was the fact that at times, Bucky would reach over and just hold the back of Steve's neck. Sometimes, gently massaging it, sometimes his fingers would linger in the back of Steve's hair, but he just rested a hand on Steve's neck, thumb even stroking Steve's collarbone at one point, and Steve would relax against him immediately.

No one else who entered the room looked at the two of them twice, as if this was a completely normal occurrence. The few moments Darcy was awake, she couldn't take her eyes off of them.

Steve was always occupied, whether it was with his drawing, or running errands, or fixing Darcy's bedding or getting her a refill of ice chips. Bucky barely moved. He would stretch his legs out and lean back in the chair, or he would sit upright. Occasionally he would stand and lean against the wall, but for the most part, he didn't move or leave his station. And that's what it felt like. He was standing guard. Steve was there to support him and Darcy, and everyone else came by to just visit Darcy.

When Tony came by, he paced the room next to her bed, his thumbs beating a mile a minute on his Starkphone. His visit seemed to be more about sharing his presence rather than actually stopping his work to look at anyone or speak to anyone, but that was very Tony. He rarely sat in a chair, his nervous energy propelling him to go, go, go. Darcy thought she might find his constant whirlwind motion in the room stressful or anxious, but the normalcy of it lulled her back to sleep.

Natasha crept in every so often, hugging a mug of steaming hot tea and a bringing a book. She would read aloud quietly in Russian to Darcy, not that anyone around her except for Bucky could understand. Although he probably wouldn't admit it, she'd caught the tilt of his head as he stared off in the distance, increasingly captivated in the storytelling on more than one occasion. Darcy, hovering in that place between dreams and wakefulness, found the soft words soothing. She always touched Darcy's arm and gave her a long look before leaving, as if she could look straight into Darcy's soul and see her inside out. "Be strong," she would whisper on her way out.

Jane came in twice more, and both times only lasted a few minutes. She would look at Darcy, her eyes sweeping her from head to toe, taking in all of Darcy's hurt and damage, and would break down. Both times Thor had to gently take her by the shoulders and lead her back out of the room. It hurt Darcy to see Jane so wounded by how she appeared. She wished she could do something to ease Jane's guilt. She wished Jane would stay, would wrap her arms around her, would hold her hand. It hurt her deeply, secretly, that Jane couldn't see past what had been done to Darcy and just see Darcy again as she was. Jane's reaction told her more about how people saw her now than anything else. She knew everyone only saw her as ugly and broken - it's how she felt, it's how she saw herself. She guessed she was only trying to fool herself into believing they would still look at her in the same way again. That maybe they would see past what had been done to her. It wounded her.

Bruce didn't come in and stay. He stopped by once or twice, shuffled through some charts and made a few notes. He adjusted her medications a few times, and took several blood samples. He always paused by Bucky and Steve and asked what meals they would like and he would have them delivered.

Clint was banned from the hospital room after his first visit, where he thought it would be a good idea to bring his dog, Lucky, to visit Darcy. "He will cheer her up, guys!" He exclaimed when they refused him entry. "She loves my pizza dog."

Bucky had just glared at Clint and pointed for him to go. Steve tried to hide his grin as he ducked into his drawing.

Thor came back on his own - just once - and requested that Bucky and Steve leave him and Darcy alone to speak privately. Darcy watched them shuffle out the door, neither seeming overly excited to leave, but respecting Thor's wishes to be alone with her for a moment. Bucky glanced back at Darcy, a quick check-in. "I'll be right outside," is all he said before shutting the door.

Thor walked over to Darcy, always so tall and muscular. He had changed out of his battle armor and cape and was wearing a simple hoodie and t-shirt with some sweatpants. Even with the outfit change, he still had an aura of a god and it was as if electricity sparked whenever he was near, giving her tingles from head to toe.

"Darcy," he said her name softly.

She tried to look into his eyes, but she only made it so far as his chest.

"I am truly sorry that it took so long to find you," he started. "I can't imagine how it felt for you to be in that — place." He spoke the word as if it were venom to his lips.

"I wanted a moment with you to explain, so you knew the truth of what occurred. It gives me grief to imagine what you were thinking day after day when we were unable to get to you. We had war on Asgard and I, unfortunately, had to take my leave of Midgard to defend my home. It pained me greatly to leave without your return, but I had hopes that Heimdall would be able to assist me in our search for you." He took a deep breath. "Heimdall was killed in the battle." Thor dropped his eyes, pausing in grief.

Darcy wanted to reach out, to touch his hand, to offer comfort. She struggled, mourning with her friend, still in grieving herself but understanding now why her pleas had been ignored. Seeing Thor hurt, her friend, made her ache.

"Without his resources, we were limited in our search options. Upon my return to Midgard, Tony's robot machines led us to several false locations before we found you, but it was never intended that it would take so long."

He looked at her sadly and she turned away, feeling lightheaded and sick.

"It pains me, the evils that humans can do to one another. There was no battle, no great war. No need for such… brutality. Especially against someone such as yourself, small, with no training, no ability to defend…" he broke off, lighting coursing his veins before he sagged, letting the anger go.

"What was stolen from you, my brave lightening-sister, should never have been taken from you. You survived a great trial and tribulation that few should ever be forced to suffer through."

Thor looked away for a long moment, gathering his thoughts.

"Your fear at present is valid. Peace will come again in time, you shall see. Be patient with yourself. This… experience will have changed you, my sweet friend. In ways that you have yet to see, in ways that you have yet to comprehend. You don't know it yet, but you are so much braver than you know."

He looked directly at her, putting a hand under her chin and just rested there, waiting for her to meet his eyes. She glanced up, eyes full of tears.

"You will heal, and you will be strong," he said. "You are not only a survivor - you will rise from this."

His words echoed in her mind, in her soul.

He left her with a short bow. Bucky opened the door before Thor reached it, holding it open as Thor exited. He entered the room slowly, noticing the tears coursing down her cheeks, the bandage covering the side of her face soaking wet. She didn't want him to look at her that way - he understood too much. He watched over her carefully as she sunk back into her pillows and did her best to pull the sheets up to her bandaged neck. She accidentally pulled on the stitches in her shoulder and let out a small whimper. Bucky settled back in the chair nearest to hers, setting his hand through the metal railing - not touching her, but being purposefully close. She really didn't know how she felt about that. At all. She could ask him to move, to leave… but she wanted him close. For now, at least, in this moment, it was fine. It was good, even. She could always change her mind, later. He would respect her wishes - he'd told her so.

She desperately wanted to believe him, but she wasn't sure she was up to testing it yet.

Steve came in a few minutes later with two cups of steaming coffee. The automatic pain meds pumped into her and she felt the weight of exhaustion pull her to rest, relaxing into sleep, knowing she had Thor on her friends on her side, and her bodyguards keeping watch over her.

Over the next few days, nurses poked at her and prodded, pinched her and woke her up all hours of the night. When the pain got too great, they medicated her back to sleep.

She had stopped talking. She just didn't feel up to it, it took too much energy.

No one tried to make her talk, no one pushed her to do anything more than sleep and pain management. Bucky and Steve still talked to her as if she was replying, as if it were all completely normal.

She couldn't remember what normal was.

"What are we gonna do?" Steve asked, glancing at Darcy's heart monitor again to ensure she was deeply asleep.

It was a rare moment they had everyone visit Darcy at once, excluding Natasha and Clint who had been sent out that morning on a mission and Jane who had finally succumbed to sleep in her quarters, thanks to Bruce giving her a sleeping aid.

"My Jane feels Darcy's pain greatly." Thor replied. "My fear is that it won't be a good influence on Darcy at present."

"While we all relate and sympathize, it won't do Darcy any good to be around that right now," Steve agreed. "We've got to keep our own feelings in check around her. She needs to feel safe and be positively reinforced that she is safe. That requires consistency, emotional and otherwise."

Steve sighed deeply, rubbing the back of his neck. "While we all want to express our emotions about all that has happened to her, we need to let Darcy deal with her trauma in her own way, on her own time. Natasha would be the obvious choice after Jane -"

"Why, Natasha?" Tony asked. "You're the one with the experience dealing with someone who has gone through trauma." He glanced over to Barnes. "No offense, metal arm."

Bucky rolled his eyes.

"Because… she's a woman?" Steve replied slowly.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Well, as much as Romanoff might be our best option on the basis that she's a woman, Shield has her out on undercover missions at least every other week. Clint with her, so he's out, too. She just isn't available for anything long-term. And I think what we're looking at is pretty long-term - at least at present."

Tony pulled a bag of dried blueberries out of his pocket and stuck his hand inside, glancing over at the hospital bed. "Darcy needs someone she feels safe with right now, and currently the only ones she will let within touching distance are you two." He popped two blueberries into his mouth.

"I'm not sure "let" is the accurate term," Steve argued, but softened when he looked at Darcy. "She's so hurt… I'm looking at it… at her… and I still can't wrap my brain around what she has gone through. And we don't even know everything because she hasn't been awake enough to talk.

"And when she is awake, she panics," Tony continued. "So we haven't gotten very far. X-Rays and CT scans showed enough. We have a good idea, at least of the physical aspect of it."

"Darcy has been changed by this experience," Thor said. "She will heal from the physical traumas quickly enough. It's the emotional traumas we must build trust on at present in order to begin healing in the long-term. She will need a calm presence as she regains trust. Her panic will subside as she feels safe again in her surroundings." His cape swept to the side as he turned. "I would offer my services as a support to Darcy, but I do not yet know when I will need to return to Asgard. Loki has still not been found and I will need to find him before he causes further mischief.

"You mean mayhem and death, right, Thor?" Tony interrupted.

Thor gave Tony a long look. "I also cannot yet leave Jane in this state."

Steve frowned, glancing at Bucky.

"Alright, big guy," Tony said. "Get Jane sorted out and then we'll discuss our next step."

Thor nodded his agreement.

Steve stepped over to where Bucky was sitting, tucked closely beside Darcy. He sat next to her, his hand caught underneath hers as she gripped him tightly - even in her sleep.

"Buck?" Steve asked, kneeling down next to him. "What do you think?"

"She'll go home with us," Bucky stated, looking firmly at his friend.

Steve nodded. "Alright."

"As much as Jane will be displeased, she will also agree that this is the best course of action for her friend," Thor said.

Tony clapped his hands together gently. "Great, that's settled. Now we just gotta get Darcy on board with the plan. Alright, Man With a Plan and Buckaroo," he slapped an arm on Steve's shoulder and nodded at Bucky. "You guys settle things with Darcy and I'll get the tower set up for medical support."

Steve nodded. "Do we know when she will be released?"

Bruce walked in at that moment, waving discharge papers. "So long as she is being moved to a place of proper medical recovery, she can be discharged. She's going to be on pain meds and antibiotics for a bit longer, but we can take her off of the IV," he shuffled some of the files. "I have a few of my own tests I need to perform in my lab once we get her moved into the tower, based on what her blood work here has showed."

"What do you mean?" Bucky asked, concerned.

"I would rather not say until after I've performed a few more tests. As far as the hospital side goes, we will have rotating nurses come in to offer support and assistance as needed. She will have several follow-up appointments and a few different doctors to see post-recovery. The medical team highly recommends she see a trauma specialist as soon as she feels up to it. In six-eight weeks she may need to do some physical therapy to help with her leg."

Thor nodded. "I've been away from Jane too long. She wants to be here, but keeps getting overwhelmed with emotion. She feels a sense of responsibility and guilt for what happened to Darcy," Thor said.

"What?" Steve asked, surprised. "Darcy's abduction had nothing to do with Jane."

Thor gave him a knowing look. "Darcy was out of the tower getting snacks for movie night that night," he replied. "Jane told us she had sent Darcy on an extra trip for necessary caffeine that afternoon. I believe that she feels in doing so, she is at fault for her friend's capture."

Steve let out a huff of frustration, pushing a hand through his hair. "It wasn't random, her being kidnapped, Thor. If anyone is to blame, it's me—"

"It's not just you," Bucky interrupted, quietly.

"It's my fault, because of the —"

"We cannot let our feelings of guilt allow us to fall into despair, Steven," Thor said softly. "We have yet to decipher the reasons behind her capture."

Steve looked up at Thor, lost for a moment. He nodded slowly. "I…know. I… you're right, Thor."

Thor set a heavy hand on Steve's shoulder. "I must away now - I shall take my leave to Jane knowing Darcy is in good hands. Please remind her that we are here with her should she request it, when she awakes."

"Of course we will," Steve answered.

Thor left, closing the door softly behind him.

Tony looked up from his phone, "I'll have Happy organize her medical release and transit to Stark Tower. I've got nurses on standby and a medical team on call should the need arise." He punched his thumbs into his phone a few more dozen times.

"The guest room in your quarters is now set up for her. I'm stocking your kitchen now…" he frowned at his phone. "Do you want to have meal delivery or cook your own meals?"

"Umm…" Steve paused, glancing at Bucky.

"We prefer to cook our own," Bucky replied decisively. Steve quirked a smile and nodded, as if to share a small secret.

"Once a Great Depression-er, always a Great Depression-er…" Tony muttered as he flipped through screens.

Steve crossed his arms and glared at Tony.

"Not judging, Cap! No judgement coming from me." Tony raised his hands, palms towards Steve.

"There, done. We can order more once you get settled and have a better idea of what you need." Tony let his hands drop, looking at the two of them solemnly.

"This isn't going to be easy. You both know it, we all know it. Everyone is here for you guys, just like we're all here for Big D." Tony scratched his head as he looked over at Darcy where she slept. "Let me know if things start getting too hard, or if you need a break."

"Tony…" Steve started.

"No Cap, listen. She's been through… shit. Fucking, everything." He looked at Darcy, his face falling slightly. "She's going to need… more. She's not the Darcy we all know right now."

He took a deep breath, eyes sobering. "All I'm saying is that if she needs more and you can't do more than you already are, you have us to lean on, alright? You don't have to soldier it."

Tony glanced at Bucky as he reached his hand behind his head, scratching his neck. "Steve, if it becomes too much…"

Bucky interrupted, "If Steve has difficulty handling us both, he'll send out for reinforcements, Stark."

Steve frowned at Tony.

Tony pointed at Bucky. "He said it, don't have to say anything more. It's said." He started walking towards the door. "Keep us in the loop. See you when you get to the tower," he said as he left, with one long look back at Darcy.

Steve sat down heavily, and stretched his long legs out to parallel Bucky's. He quirked an eyebrow to Bucky.

"It's what needs to be done, Steve," Bucky said. "She needs us."

"On board, Buck," he replied softly, putting a hand on Bucky's. "You got me," Steve squeezed his hand. "Til the end of the line."

Bucky gave him a wry grin back, flipping his hand over and squeezing Steve's hand back. "'Til the end of the line."