As soon as Steve and Natasha fly through the window, the room behind them explodes. They both grunt as they hit the ground. Steve immediately turns over to see if Freya is with them.

"Oh, my God... Freya..." Natasha whispers while she stares at the flames pouring out of the window.

"FREYA!!!" Steve screams.

The soldier scrambles to his feet and sprints for the door. Pulling at it, he finds it locked. Frustrated, he rips the door off its hinges and throws it to the side. As soon as he takes a step inside, his eyes instantly water. He begins to cough as he inhales smoke.

"Freya!" he coughs out as he looks around. Trying to find the woman that had undoubtedly just saved his life. Met with silence, he runs further into the room as Natasha stumbles up to the doorway behind him. Looking ahead, he sees a foot sticking out from behind a row of computers. "Freya!" He's by her side in seconds, dropping to his knees as he inspects her. "Freya. Hey, Frey, wake up. Cmon, Doll. Open your eyes for me. Please."

She stays unmoving, her eyes still closed. Her lip is split and she has small cuts littering her face. Following the stream of blue blood that trails down the right side of her face, his eyes land on her forehead. A huge gash sits across half of it, partly going into her hairline.

Also coughing as she struggles to breath, Natasha comes around the corner of the isle after following Steve inside. She lets out a strangled gasp when her eyes find the woman who's like a sister to her in an unconscious heap on the ground. Falling to her knees, her eyes sting with unshed tears as she reaches out to her. Steve does the same as they carefully turn her over to see what injuries had taken place on her front. They're surprised when they see that her suit had held together in the blast. The only damage done to it is from the piece of shrapnel that had torn through it and is now sticking out of her left shoulder. Freya's hands are slightly burnt, but other than that, she seems to be okay for the most part. Steve realizes that she must have gotten a small barrier up in time. Saving her from the full impact of the blast.

Leaning down, he carefully scoops her into his arms and carries her out of the room. Natasha is glued to his side. Her eyes not leaving her best friend. As they approach the quinjet that had landed at stern of the ship, they attract the attention of the S.T.R.I.K.E. team. Who looks up at the nearing footsteps. Rumlow's eyes go wide at the sight of an unconscious Freya in the Captain's arms. Running to meet them, he falls in step next to Steve as his eyes scan over her face.

"Cap, what the hell happened?!" he yells in panic.

"Ask Romanoff," Steve growls as he walks up the ramp of the jet. Rumlow looks over at the redhead who has her head down. Avoiding eye contact with anyone.

Steve places her on a table in the jet and the medical team rushes over to examine her. He only takes a step back to give them enough room to treat her. Natasha steps up near the table and watches them as well. Careful to keep her distance from the furious Captain. Twenty minutes later, the medical staff finishes with Freya. The head medic turns around to address the Captain and Rumlow. Who's now standing behind the soldier as they look on in silence.

"She's going to be just fine. Her wounds are already starting to heal. She took quite a beating, though. It looks like she might have some broken ribs aside from her head and shoulder wounds and the burns on her hands. But, for someone like her everything should heal in no time. Honestly, she's lucky she didn't sustain more damage. I won't be surprised if she's still unconscious for another few hours. Just make sure she rests and she should be back to normal in no time."

Not looking away from Freya, Steve gives the man a small nod. He leaves the Captain to stand there in silence as his eyes trail over the details of her face.

"Cap... what happened to her back there?" Rumlow asks quietly.

Slowly looking away from her, Steve turns to Rumlow. His eyes briefly meet Natasha's, who looks away guilty, before they land on the other man. The worry on his face is evident as he waits for Steve's answer.

"Batroc took us by surprise," Steve frowns. "He tossed a grenade at us before we could react. Freya sacrificed her own safety to make sure Natasha and I got out in time." He looks down and shakes his head with a sigh. He's frustrated with her actions, but is ultimately relieved to know she'll be okay.

"She's always been one to worry about others more than she does herself," Rumlow chuckles. "That woman, I swear... This world doesn't deserve her."

He pats Steve on the shoulder before walking away. Walking around the table, Steve sits down on the bench next to it. Carefully avoiding the burns, he grabs her right hand with his. Bringing it to his mouth as he plants a delicate kiss. He lets his lips linger as he watches her sleep. Taking note of how peaceful she looks. Laying her hand back down, but not releasing his grip, he brings his left hand up and strokes her hair. For once, he's aware of the redhead's stare from across the jet. Not caring one bit that she watches him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With a groan, Freya begins to stir. Slowly opening her eyes as she squints at the bright light.

"Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty. You gave us quite the scare."

Looking to her right at the voice, she finds Natasha in a chair against the wall with a smirk on her face.

"Where are we?" Freya asks as she begins to sit up. Her muscles scream at her in protest. The redhead stands and makes her way over to the blonde to sit on the edge of her bed.

"Back in DC. We're in the medical wing of the Triskelion."

"When did we get back?" Freya tilts her head in confusion.

"About half an hour ago. You were out for the entire flight back. They said you would probably wake up soon," Natasha informs her. Freya slowly nods, letting the information sink in. She suddenly gasps, remembering what had happened.

"Where's Steve? Is he okay?" she asks in panic.

"He's fine," Natasha grins. "He was just here. Poor guy's a wreck. He went upstairs to talk to Fury. Currently, he's not a very happy camper."

"About the separate mission Fury gave you," Freya nods.

"You knew?" Natasha asks as her grin falls and her eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

"Not at first," Freya shrugs. "I was suspicious that something else was going on with how you were acting."

"You could've just read my mind," Natasha smirks.

"You know I promised I would never do that to the people I care about without their permission," Freya sighs.

"How did you find out?" the redhead asks as her smirk becomes a warm smile.

"I figured it out when I saw you pull that thumb drive from the computer back on the ship," Freya answers. The redhead looks down and nods, clearly feeling guilty. She looks up again at the sound of Freya's voice. "I don't blame you, you know? I'm definitely not mad at you either," she smiles. "And how about you? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks to you. You saved my life. You could've died Freya... "

"But I didn't," Freya shakes her head. "And I would do it again in a heartbeat if it kept you safe." Natasha leans forward in response and pulls her into a hug. Freya returns it and groans. "Not too fond of how shitty I feel, though." Chuckling, the redhead stands up and helps the other woman to her feet. Freya slowly stretches as her whole body cracks. "I'm gonna go get cleaned up. Lord knows I need it. I'll head down to the armory afterwards and drop off my suit for repairs."

"Sounds good. I'm gonna go see what kind of trouble I can get myself into," Natasha winks before walking out of the room.

Sighing, Freya heads towards the locker rooms. An hour later, she's leaving the armory after turning in her suit. Pedro, the armory attendant, wasn't too happy about the damage to it. But in the end told her how glad he is that she's okay. After leaving the medical wing before that, she had cleaned up and changed into dark jeans and a dark gray t-shirt. Throwing on her favorite brown leather jacket over it, she sports some matching boots. Deciding to not straighten her hair, she lets it hang down in its natural waves. Deep in thought as she heads to the elevator, she doesn't notice the other person down the hallway ahead of her when she turns the corner.

"Freya..."

She freezes in her tracks as her head snaps up. Meeting the eyes of her favorite blue-eyed soldier down the hall. He's still in his uniform with his shield on his arm. She realizes he must be heading to the armory to store his suit. They stare at each other for a few moments before large smiles spread across their faces. Steve being the first one to move, begins to quickly walk towards her. Encouraging Freya to follow his lead. He drops his shield with a loud clang as soon as they're in arms reach. Pulling each other into a tight hug, they cling to one another as the relief of seeing each other washes over them. Freya ignores the discomfort as her muscles ache. Steve buries his face in her hair and breathes in her scent while Freya nuzzles her face into his chest. Sighing in comfort at the familiar smell of his cologne.

"I'm so happy you're okay, Doll. I was so scared..."

"I'm glad you're okay too, Spangles," she smiles up at him. He leans down and plants a kiss on her forehead. Pulling back, he inspects her face. Seeing that most of the cuts have healed. Leaving a minor one on her forehead where the gash used to be.

"You look so much better, too," he smiles down at her.

"Perks of super healing and durability," she nods.

"But don't you dare do anything like that again," his smile falls as he suddenly becomes serious. "Understand?"

Not realizing how serious he is, Freya chuckles as she takes a step back. Her hands now resting on his arms that are still attached to her waist.

"No promises. You know how us Starks are. We like to live life on the ed-"

"Freya, I'm serious. You could've been killed," his voice is slightly raised this time.

"Steve, really, I'm okay," she says in slight confusion as her smiles disappears. "I was only trying to protect you and Na-"

"That's the problem," he interrupts her again as he retracts his hands from her waist. His voice starting to get louder. "You don't think about yourself! About your safety!"

"Steve, where's this coming from?" she furrows her eyebrows as she starts to raise her voice too. "You know that protecting other people is important to me. Especially, the people I care about."

"You shouldn't have done what you did!" he shakes his head in frustration. "It was stupid!"

"Excuse me?!" she yells. Her voice is almost as loud as his now.

"You should've just ran or something! I don't know! You should've just let me deal with it!"

"Wait, wait, wait," she says as she holds up a hand and takes a step back. "So you're saying it's okay for you to risk your life for the safety of others, but not me?!"

"You don't understand I-"

"No, apparently I don't! Please, enlighten me!" She puts her hands on her hips as she glares. They're beginning to yell at each other at this point.

"You can't put yourself in danger like that!" he scolds her. "I can't have you getting hurt!"

"You're being such a hypocrite!" she laughs sarcastically. "I don't understand why you're acting like th-"

"BECAUSE I CAN'T LOSE YOU!!!" Her eyes go wide at his outburst and they both stare at each other in silence. His jaw is clenched as he studies her. He sighs and closes his eyes. His voice soft this time. "I-I can't lose the thing I care most about in this world, Freya. I can't. It would break me."

Her face softens as she steps forward and brings a hand up to cup his face.

"How do you think I feel when I watch you put your life on the line for others?" she asks. "I can't lose you either."

"Then please, don't do anything like that again..." he begs. Opening his eyes, he stares pleadingly down at her.

"Steve, I can't promise you that," she shakes her head and retracts her hand.

"Why are you so stubborn?!" he furrows his eyebrows as he instantly becomes frustrated again. "You're gonna get yourself killed!"

"And there's the possibility that you can't?! Steve, we're in the same line of work!" she replies in disbelief. He exhales harshly as he runs a hand through his hair. Fed up, she steps around him and continues toward the elevator. "I'm not the one who doesn't understand right now. You're just acting like too much of an ass to realize how hypocritical you're being."

"Frey... Freya, where are you going?" he calls out to her defeatedly.

"I need some air," she says over her shoulder while continuing to walk. "Tell Peggy I say 'hi' and I'm sorry I can't make it. I'll visit her when I can."

She leaves his sight as she rounds the corner. Steve closes his eyes and hangs his head. He knows he just screwed up and that he's being unreasonable. He just can't help it when it comes to her. Seeing her get hurt like that had spooked him. Sighing, he picks up his shield and walks in the direction of the armory.

To say that Freya is frustrated is an understatement. Even though her heart had fluttered when Steve admitted how much he cares, she's still extremely irritated by his hypocrisy. After she leaves the Triskelion, Freya heads to one of her favorite local coffee houses. Grabbing a tea, she sits in one of the back booths and fiddles with her fingers. Running over the conversation in her head again and again. After an hour of keeping her head down and avoiding the stares of curious patrons, she finally leaves. Deciding to make her way back home. As she walks along the street, she starts to feel someone's eyes on her. Discreetly inspecting her surroundings, she can't find the source of her uneasiness. She picks up her pace and is approaching a corner when she's suddenly yanked to the right into an alley. Turning on her assailant, she throws a left.

Only to have it caught by a metal arm.

Looking up, she meets the familiar blue eyes of the Winter Soldier.

"Winter, what the hell are you doing?!" she hisses.

He releases her hand as they stare at each other in silence. Freya doesn't receive an answer. He studies her face and notices the cut on her forehead. Reaching up with his normal arm, he traces it with his fingertips. His eyebrows furrow in concern. Freya watches him patiently before her curiosity eventually catches up with her.

"Winter," she says quietly. Slowly, he returns his hand to his side and stares at her again. "What are you doing? Why did you pull me in here?" she gestures at the alley.

"To warn you," he says lowly as he glances around at their surroundings.

"Warn me?" she narrows her eyes. "About what?" He doesn't reply again. She wants to read his mind, but it will go against her promise. Plus, she doesn't want to give him any reason to not trust her. "Winter, what are you trying to warn me about?" Still not responding, he glances around them again. He seems nervous, but because of the mask she's never seen him without, she can't be sure. She takes a step closer to him to get his attention again. "Winter..." she says his name slowly, trying to pull an answer out of him.

"Go home," he shakes his head, still refusing to tell her. "Stay safe. Trust no one." That's all he says before quickly turning and walking away from her. He disappears around the corner at the other end of the alley.

As she watches him leave, her stomach suddenly drops. A feeling of dread begins to consume her. She realizes it probably has something to do with what Winter was just trying to warn her about. Quickly making her way back to the street, she runs the rest of the way home. Silently praying Steve is already there.