Wanda clutches the brown grocery bag to her chest a little tighter as the wind sweeps through the little village street. She smiles at the little twinkling lights that light up the store fronts and brings a warm cheery glow to the entire town. She's about to turn teh corner to walk the mile back to their little cabin when a TV in a window catches her eyes.

The red, white, and blue uniform flashing past on the shaky video is all she sees.

She drops the groceries onto the cobblestone and presses up against the glass, watching as the video loops over and over. She hears herself gasp as Steve jumps off a building, only to get yanked harshly by Spider-Man. There's no audio but the way Steve snaps in half, his head hitting the heels of his boots cracks her heart and sends her breathing to a halt.

Then he's falling and she catches Sam trying to stop the descent but they both go crashing through the metal roofing of the building below and the video loops back to the beginning.

Only the title and mini summary that ticker tapes past on the screen gives her context:

Back at it Again?

Sources speculate that old grudges from the disagreement about the Accords were the cause of today's brutal fight. No word on whether Captain America is alive and Spider-Man has not been seen since the incident.

The groceries are forgotten as a red ball of terror fills up her chest and she ignores the freezing wind as she flies back to the cabin.

—-

Steve grimaces as he slips back from unconsciousness. The groan from his lips comes unbidden and he hears a shuffling sound.

"Uh, Steve? Mr. Rogers, sir? Are you okay? SHould I call a nurse?"

Stabbing pain shoots up his back and he gasps, his head arching backwards.

"I'll go get a nurse!" Peter shouts but Steve's hand snakes out, snagging the kids wrist and holding him in place.

"Don't—" Steve says, "I'm fine, I'm—" he huffs past another stab of pain, eyes squeezing closed and he grips Peter's wrist tighter, "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine—" the terror and guilt in Peter's voice causes him to force his eyes back open.

"I'm all good, Peter. Just the way it's healing."

"But the nurse can get you pain meds, I know Mr. Stark worked some up for you—"

Steve's voice is raw as he clenches his teeth and breathes through another wave of pain, "don't want 'em."

"And why the hell not!" An angry voice joins the room.

"Buck." Steve admonishes, "It's fine!"

"Peter, how long has he been like this?"

"A couple minutes? He was sleeping and then he was groaning in pain, I tried to— I'm sorry, he—"

Bucky glares at Steve, "don't apologize, I'm sure you tried, Steve's just a stubborn little shit sometimes. Go get the nurse, tell her to bring his meds."

"No." Steve groans, trying to keep his eyes open against the pain, "please, don't."

"Steve, why? Stark made this pain med just for you! There's no need to suffer!"

"It's not that!" Steve hears the desperation in his voice and he winces from the looks it creates on their faces.

"Then what is it?"

Steve groans. "The pain meds are strong."

Bucky looks at him confused, "Yeah, and?"

Steve's eye's flit to Peter before he sighs, leaning his head back, "It's not that bad." He huffs, "I just don't like being out of it."

Bucky just growls and punches the top of his arm. "That excuse is crap. You're healing, and there's no reason to suffer! Peter, the nurse, please."

Steve wants to argue, but he watches the uncertainty in his eyes before he disappears out the door. Steve glares at the window and doesn't say anything.

"Steve."

He doesn't respond.

"Steven Grant Rogers."

"What." His voice is a tad icier than he means it to be and Bucky looks up in surprise.

"What's going on?"

"Nothing." Steve snaps.

Genuine shock and concern clouds Bucky's face. He comes and stands by Steve's side, "okay, obviously there's something you're not saying."

That's true. But Steve doesn't want to say it. So he says nothing.

Bucky's voice gets the tiniest bit of panic into it, "Steve, now you're scaring me, what is it?"

"Why do you get to decide whether I take my meds?"

Bucky scowls, "because you're too stupid to listen to what your body needs! I've seen you walk on a broken ankle for miles without saying a damn thing. Someone—"

"I should get a say."

Bucky scoffs, throwing his hands up and facing the window. "Not when you're being all 'tough guy' about it."

"Bucky. Please."

"Why? Why do you want to suffer?"

"I don't want to suffer, Buck. But I already can't feel the majority of my body. I don't want to cut off what I can feel." His voice cracks on the last word and he watches the stunned expression that crosses Bucky's face. Steve hears how his voice sounds, and he hates it, but he can't deny how he feels, how the floating feeling the drugs give him makes him remember…

He squeezes his eyes against the images but they come unbidden anyways.

Zemo's hands on his neck, injecting him with something. Floating. Knowing he's being touched and moved and shoved into the back of a truck but unable to do anything. Hauled from truck to truck to transport, then onto a boat. Laying out on the deck of the ship, waves crash over the edge, soaking him, but he's shackled to the railing and can't move. Not that he can feel anything but the burning sensation of the salt water rushing down his nose and throat.

He gasps, tucking his head against his chest as he tries to breathe air, anything but the salt water. Anything.

Someone is talking to him, it's muffled behind the roar of the waves. Something cold and metal touches him, the railing he thinks, and he flinches away from it.

Zemo injecting him again. Worse floating, so fuzzy he can't remember where his arms or legs are. The only reason he knows his ankles are being shackled to an anchor is because they lift his head and force him to watch. Zemo's smug smile as they shove the anchor overboard. The chains rattling as they slide across the deck and splash into the water. There's no pain as he watches his body get dragged forward, only a sense of terror as the sky disappears and the water gets darker and colder. The pressure starts to crush in, but he can't really feel it. Not yet. That comes hours later— He's gasping for air, the little box more claustrophobic than he can imagine.

Red fills his vision.

His back spasms and blinding pain shoots down his legs and up his spine. He thinks he lets out a scream of agony, as his back arches from the pain and his spine groans at the movement.

Then his pain stops. And he feels nothing.

—

He has a moment of panic as something heavy is laying on his chest. But his nose registers a scent, something he hasn't smelled in over a year and he feels surprise cross his mind as he opens his eyes.

It's dark, the windows are shuttered and he looks down to see Wanda's head resting against his chest, her arms wrapped protectively around him and her knees tucked up against him. It can't be a comfortable position, but the way she clings to him makes him think she doesn't care.

He listens for a few more seconds and registers the heartbeats of Bucky, Tony, Bruce, Natasha, and Peter in the room.

That's not a good sign.

They've been visiting him often. But when it's all at once and through the night? He must have scared them good.

He winces at the thought and Wanda shifts. He watches as she blinks awake and looks up at him.

Her eyes go wide as she sees him looking at her and suddenly her face is crushing against his neck as she drags him into a hug, wrapping her arms around him.

"Steve. Steve, are you okay?" She asks over and over, muffled into his shoulder.

"Wanda, I'm fine, what are you doing here? Where have you guys been? Are you guys okay?"

Wanda pulls back, gently laying his chest back against the bed. "You're lying here and you're asking if I am okay?"

Steve smiles, "I haven't seen you in so long. And you know I always worry about you."

Wanda smiles at him and touches his cheek. "You seem…" She studies him, "different."

He doesn't exactly feel like going into why that is at the moment. Wanda seems to catch his reluctance and she looks around the room at the sleeping lumps. "This… this is very strange." Her eyes lock onto where Steve can see Tony's goatee, sticking out from the elbow that's covering the majority of his face. "Surprising."

He huffs a laugh, "you have no idea."

She looks at him about to say something when Bucky's head lifts up. He looks around, registering what's going on and sees Steve and Wanda awake.

He slips through the other sleeping forms and sits on the edge of the bed. "Steve? You back with us?"

Steve feels his brow furrow, "where did I go?"

Wanda tilts her head, "when I got here you were having a nightmare. When I touched you I saw a boat, and an anchor, and I wasn't sure what was going on but you were in distress, so I put you out. I hope that is okay."

The whites of Bucky's eyes reflect the moonlight, and glint off the metal of his arm which Steve can see is gripping the sheets tightly.

Not a nightmare.

A memory.

"Yeah," Steve says calmly, trying to keep the tightness in his throat hidden, "Yeah, I'm good. Sorry about that."

"Don't apologize." She admonishes. "We all get nightmares."

He nods numbly, and she looks at him, her eyes searching his face, "what is it?"

"Nothing." He says too quickly, "we'll talk about it later." She looks about to protest when he smiles and speaks again, "could you grab me some water?"

He can see she knows it's a defense, but she doesn't argue, slipping off the bed and sliding out the door.

"How long." Bucky's voice, thin and brittle asks.

"How long what?"

"How long have you remembered what happened with you and Zemo on the boat and you've kept it to yourself."

Steve leans his head back. "Bucky."

"Don't 'Bucky' me, Steve!" He whispers harshly, "We said we wouldn't do this. We're not keeping each other in the dark anymore."

"I know." Steve says weakly, "but… I couldn't bring myself to tell you guys I remembered."

"Why?"

"Because then I'd have to show you, I'd have to watch you watch it." He pauses and he feels himself choke out his last words, "and I'd have to relive it too."

This makes Bucky fall silent.

—-

Wanda comes back with a full cup of water with a straw and he sips it gratefully.

"Where's Vision?" Steve asks, eyeing the tired dark circles under Wanda's eyes.

"He's at the compound. I told him to wait there, I wanted him to get some rest since you already have a whole crew here."

Steve nods and eyes the still sleeping bodies.

"So what brings you back?" Steve asks honestly. Wanda eyes him dubiously and he blinks at her. "What?"

"What do you mean what brought me back? Watching you fold in half on the news made me come back." Steve winces and scrunches up his nose.

"Oh yeah, I forgot Natasha said the video was public."

"When I get my hands on him—" Wanda threatens ominously.

"Hands on who?"

"Spider-Man, the one who did this to you."

"Wanda," Steve says softly, "this was an accident. He didn't do it on purpose, we were working together."

Her face studies his. "That's not what the news reporter said."

Steve sighs heavily, "I swear, you should know better than anyone that the news is misleading and usually a bunch of garbage."

"Then what?"

"We didn't prepare, things went wrong, I'm glad it happened to me, I can heal, Sam's in the next room. If it had been him, we'd be having a funeral instead."

He hears Bucky's arm flex and he looks over to a grim expression on his face.

"What?"

"I need air." He's gone in a second and Steve's left feeling confused.

"He seems better."

"He is."

"Is he…" she points to her head, "okay?"

"He's getting there."

She nods, laying back down on the bed, her head resting on his shoulder. "I'm sorry I haven't been around."

"No need to apologize, you were getting to live a life, I'm glad."

"I should have stayed in contact more. I hadn't heard anything so I figured everything was okay."

"No, Wanda, you're not beholden to this team, I'm glad you've been happy. Everything's been fine."

A muffled snort makes both he and Wanda snap to attention.

"What was that?"

Steve tries to shrug and finds he can kind of shift his shoulders. "I don't know."

"It was me." A muffled voice says. Wanda slips off the bed, locating the sound, which is a phone next to Natasha's head. She stares at the screen and a smile breaks over her face.

"Clint!" She whispers excitedly.

"Hey, there's my girl."

"Where are you?"

"I'm at home, but Nat called me, and I told her to just keep me on the line."

Wanda tiptoes back over to Steve's bed and slips back up to his side, showing Steve Clint's face on the screen.

"Hey Clint."

"Hey Steve." And with just those two words, and Clint's ever expressive eyebrows, Steve knows he heard. Heard about the memory he'd been keeping from them.

"How's home?"

"There's no one trying to torture me, so that's a plus."

Steve winces and Wanda looks between the two.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Clint's eyes are on Steve and he sighs. "Can we not do this right now?"

"I'll ask the same question Barnes did. How long?"

"Clint."

"If you don't tell me how long, I'll start the story from the beginning, I'm sure Wanda's already been told though right? You're not keeping anything from us, right? That was the deal?"

"Months." Steve bites out. "Months. I've remembered for months. You happy?"

"No, Steve. That's a shit question and you know it."

"You heard why I didn't tell you guys."

"Yeah. I did."

There's a heavy silence and Wanda turns the phone to her face, "What am I missing here?"

"You've been missing a lot actually kiddo. Coulda used you around here."

"Clint!" Steve snaps. And he knows he's been too loud because heartbeats all around him start to change as the group wakes up. "That's not fair, and don't you dare put that on her."

Clint's face sours, "I wasn't meaning it like that!" He looks at Wanda, "when you hear the story, you'll have wished you were here, you would have been a big help. But it's not your fault that you weren't. Just so we're clear." Clint's eyes go back to his. "You know I would never put that on her. I was just being honest. She's one of the strongest we got."

Steve sighs, Clint is right. If Wanda had been around then probably everything would have been different. But that's not her fault and things happened how they happened. No changing it now.

"Can someone please explain." Wanda says, her eyes on the phone.

"We will." Steve says, "just later. There's someone I want you to meet. Peter?"

The kid is awake and scrubbing at his eyes. "Yeah?"

"Come over here, meet Wanda."

"I kinda did. Last night."

He furrows his brow, "but," he looks at Wanda, "you said… Spider-Man?"

Peter walks over and sighs, "I hadn't gotten to that part yet, not with how things went down last night."

"Hey," Peter says softly, "I'm Spider-man."

Wanda's eyes widen and Steve catches the spark of red in her eyes.

"Wanda." Steve cautions, "it wasn't his fault."

"It was, actually, kinda." Peter says dejectedly. "I should have done better."

And with that, Steve watches the spark flicker out of Wanda's eye. She takes Peter's outstretched hand and shakes it.

"I know what that feels like."

Peter looks up in surprise and Wanda smiles softly. "Hello Spider-Man, I'm Wanda."

They shake hands and Peter leans his elbows on Steve's bed. "How ya feeling Cap?"

"Like I've been lying in bed for 6 days."

Clint lets out a chuckle and Natasha sits on the edge of the bed. Bruce and Tony are sitting up on their chairs.

"You all don't have to be here." Steve whispers, "I know it's not exactly comfortable."

"Slept worse." Natasha responds crisply, while the others agree.

He nods and is about to speak when a spark of pain shoots up from his spine, causing him to breath in a choked gasp.

Wanda's hands are cupping his face and looking at him in alarm, but he stiffens, and feels his back arch from the lightning sharp nerves flaring through his lungs and down his legs.

His eyes snap to Tony's and something in Steve's intuition, a memory he hadn't thought about in ages about what his body is about to do that has him choking out, "get Bucky." Tony's gone in a flash and he's crying out in pain again.

"What's happening!" He hears Wanda shout. Her hands disappear and the sturdier hands of Bruce find his neck and face.

"Steve?"

He can't respond. His tongue is stuck to the back of his throat as he tries to swallow any air.

"Where is the pain?"

He manages to choke out one word. "Everywhere" before his body begins seizing.

"Hold him down!" Someone shouts, but he's not in control and his motions push them off easily.

"No! You don't restrain people who are seizing!" He hears Bruce shout.

"Wanda, can you stop him?" Someone's voice asks.

Her voice is frantic, "what if I hurt him worse?"

But almost as soon as it begins, it ends, and Steve is left panting and so tired he can barely keep his eyes open.

A cool metal hand touches his forehead. "Steve, can you hear me?"

Steve nods weakly.

"How is he having seizures if he's paralyzed?" Natasha asks.

Steve feels Bucky's arm grasp his shoulder, "hey, Peter?"

"Yeah?"

"I need your help, I'm going to turn him on his side, can you keep his feet and hips aligned as I roll him onto his side?"

"Yeah, of course."

They gently turn Steve and he feels the shirt he's wearing be lifted up to the top of his back. He hears a gasp from the room. He wants to ask what, but he doesn't even have the energy for that.

Bucky's fingers on his right hand trace down his spine and Steve feels when it curves wildly. "It's out of alignment. Probably from last night." Steve closes his eyes. Oh no. Bucky's voice is a bit brittle when he speaks. "Steve?"

He doesn't respond, he knows what he's about to say. "Steve, we have to reset it…" there's a heavy pause, "again."

He summons up the energy to nod, just infinitesimally and he hears Bucky's tight voice speak to the room. "Bruce, would you help me? Peter, I could use your strength if you're willing."

"No." Steve croaks out. "Don't make him be here for this."

A smaller hand touches his shoulder. "Please? I'd like to help. This is my fault. I want to help."

"I'm going to need his help. You remember what happened last time? Dugan? Okay? Kid's stronger than us, he can hold you."

Steve grits his teeth but he nods. A weak defeated nod.

"The sooner the better?" He hears Bruce ask Bucky.

"Yeah, then we need to make sure we're careful until it actually heals right."

"Hey, uh." He hears Bruce say, "how about you guys go get a late night snack okay?"

It's a clear dismissal and Tony and Natasha nod as they exit, but Wanda doesn't move.

"I want to stay."

"Wanda."

"I can put my hands on him, I can move his spine without you having too, I can set it."

"We've never tried that—" Bruce begins with a cautious tone, "we don't know if that would work."

"Then I can take his mind away from the pain."

"No." Steve breathes out. "No illusions."

"Why not?" She asks "I can make it a nice one."

"Just… please no."

She goes silent and he feels more hands on him. "This is going to be a bit…" Bruce hesitates, "Well, what the hell do I know anyways. Bucky?"

"Okay, last time this happened, we had to literally push it into place and hold it there for long enough that the serum starts to fix it." There's silence.

Then Bruce speaks, "how did we not see that in the memories?"

Bucky pauses. Leaning down to catch Steve's eyes, a question in them.

Steve huffs air, working up the strength to speak. "Painful." He wheezes. "Not bad."

Bucky literally scoffs, "shoulda known."

"What?" Bruce asks.

"He's just saying that the memory is physically painful. But it's not a bad memory, so it wasn't relevant."

"What are you guys talking about?" Wanda asks.

"Later." Bruce responds calmly. "We'll explain later. Okay, Bucky, since you've done this before, you lead."

Steve's gently flipped onto his stomach. He feels Bucky's knees straddle his torso and his hands on his spine. Pressure by his ankles tells him that Peter is holding them down.

Bruce's hands cradle his head and Wanda's hands rest gently on his shoulders. More for comfort than to help.

"Okay," Bucky starts, then pauses, "Steve, you okay? Am I too heavy?"

Steve's voice is muffled as he speaks, "Dugan was heavier."

He hears Bucky laugh and then tense. "Okay, I'm going to push against his spine to straighten it. Wanda? Maybe do let me know when it's aligned right. If you can. Peter? Don't let go, a kick to the face from Steve hurts like hell."

"How can he kick?" Peter asks, "he's paralyzed."

"Didn't stop him last time." Bucky mutters, "his body is going to go into shock at the pain and spasm, probably, so just hold tight. Bruce, you sure you're okay for this?"

There's no trace of green as he stares steadily at Bucky. "I'm fine."

"Okay." He pauses, his hands resting against the sharp bent angle of Steve's spine. "Here we go."

—-