Hey, guys! How are you doing? :)

Life's been getting harder lately, which explains why it took me so long to update the story. Not gonna happen, again, though.

Enjoy the chapter! \o

Chapter Six

Sharon had to stay in the infirmary for six days, which was way more than she'd preferred. Sure, the staff was extremely friendly, and Eni was slowly becoming a trusted friend – even if Steve's words sometimes worried her. She never had any reason to doubt the people that were taking care of her injuries, but then, it wasn't like S.H.I.E.L.D had raised a Hydra flag before they tried to launch the helicarriers. If Steve hadn't intervened, millions of people would be dead. Maybe even her.

Truthful to his word, Steve hadn't left her alone any more than necessary the six days she'd been kept hospitalized. They would walk around the gardens at the palace for a few minutes so she could get some breathing room – the atmosphere of her room was too much of a hospital one for her to be fully comfortable there. The small tours around parts of the Palace she hadn't seen before gave her much needed space. And she couldn't complain about the time she spent with Steve himself.

Though his presence was a constant at the moment, she couldn't imagine for how long that'd hold, and what would happen today when she finally left the infirmary. Would she be asked to leave the Palace now that she wasn't hurt? Sharon didn't think that would be the case, but she started thinking about safe places she could go to if that happened. One could never know what exactly went through T'Challa's mind – he was part of a legacy that went back for hundreds of years, according to the legends she'd heard from Eni – so she'd prepare herself for everything.

At last, Eni arrived with the doctor in charge – Argel, she remembered – to discharge her from the medical bay. He checked her vitals, her injuries, especially in her hands and throat – her face was already healing nicely, which was a good thing considering the amount of time she was spending with Steve. Not exactly a top-notch thing to talk to a guy you were attracted to with a huge purple mess as a face.

"How are you feeling today, Sharon?" doctor Argel asked. She'd asked him to keep their conversation on a first-name basis.

"Better," she said. "Ready to get out of here."

Doctor Argel only smiled before examining her recent exams. He was a tall, blonde man with the biggest nose she'd ever seen. His eyes were always kind when he spoke to her, which gave her the impression she wasn't the first patient he attended that had been tortured.

Sharon didn't know his history, but from what he'd briefly told her during his examinations, he'd been saved by one of T'Challa's personal bodyguards during a raid at his village, in Egypt. He was hit by glass shards when a bomb went off in the market, and it was because of Bewman – the bodyguard – that he got medical attention and was later recruited to work at the Palace. Sharon noticed a lot of people seemed to have come from different parts of Africa and Asia, which made her question exactly how far T'Challa's generosity and hospitality, went.

"You are indeed ready to get out of here," Argel started. "Your throat is almost healed, which means by now your voice must be normal again. The most problematic wound is in your hands, as you know, but in a few days we will remove the bandages altogether."

"Good to know," a voice that wasn't hers said. She was so focused on the doctor she didn't notice Sam, who was leaning on the doorway to her room, a friendly smile on his face.

"Sam," she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "I heard you were getting released today. Thought I could take you somewhere cool, for once."

Truth be told, Sharon hadn't seen a lot of Sam Wilson lately. She'd run into him during one of her strolls with Steve, and it was an awkward, kind of embarrassing moment because they didn't really know each other a lot, except from the conversations they ended up having when both hung around Steve. It had been the only thing they had in common, but the next day, when she was out on her daily reconnaissance, she got the chance to see Sam trying new fight moves with his wings from a distance, since she'd been looking at nowhere from a particularly large window in one of the common areas.

He was rather impressive in his suit, but she never had the chance to tell him that.

Sharon frowned, smiling a bit. "That kind of scares me, considering where we are." She knew he wouldn't take her hiking on the Wakanda version of Amazonia. It just wasn't his style.

Sam laughed. "Don't worry, we're not jumping off a cliff or anything. Yet," he pointed, and she raised an eyebrow in a mocking gesture. "You just don't wanna miss the sparring session upstairs."

It was enough for her to get herself out of bed, with strict instructions from her doctor, and take a quick shower. After getting decently dressed for the first time in days – she had been so tired of sweatpants – Sharon followed Sam to the elevator and down a few floors, to the first sparring room. On the way there, she noticed there were less people around her medical bay, which she guessed was an indication that whatever research they had been doing had been put on hold – or finished for good.

The moment they left the elevator and entered the sparring floor – one of two, Sam explained – she immediately noticed the change. Her infirmary had been an overabundance of white. The floors, the sheets, even the doors were completely white, which made the place look sterilized all the time. The sparring room's colors, on the other hand, were silver and red. There were black mats throughout the whole floor, forming a well-defined space to fight, and around the ring, she could see enough fighting gear to open a gym. Box gloves, punching bags, knee pads, hand wraps – all in red – decorated the walls and created a warm atmosphere. At least, for a former S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.

The main attraction, however, was in the mat.

Not even the beautiful waterfall outside could take Sharon's eyes from what was happening in the center of the room. Crouched down beside the mats, Steve was assessing the on-going sparring session with attentive eyes. What he looking at, exactly, she couldn't pinpoint. At first, she thought Wanda was fighting something invisible, due to her movements when Sharon first got out of the elevator. She seemed to be using her powers in its pure form, and not to control objects and elements from the environment around her. Red streaks of power cut through the air repeatedly, and she dodged punches and kicks with little effort, evident proof that her training with Steve was paying off.

"Who's she fighting?" she whispered to Sam, who was watching the whole exchange as well.

He looked at her for a second. "Ant-Man."

As Wanda created a particularly large ball of power, she was hit on the face and stumbled back a few steps with a grunt. The second hit never came, since she managed to release the glowing orb of telekinesis in her partner's direction before falling. A man seemed to grow out of thin air, and Sharon wanted to slap herself. Of course, she thought. Scott. Steve had told her everything he knew about his new team member, and though she hadn't seen him yet, she should've recognized his powers.

"I suppose that's a draw," Scott said, taking out his helmet. "She didn't exactly knock me out or anything. Right, Cap?" He walked over to Wanda and offered a hand. "By the way, terribly sorry for hurting you."

"You didn't hurt me," Wanda said with a heavy accent, brushing off her clothes. "And I was holding back."

Both Wanda and Scott turned to Steve, who had gotten up by now and was on his way to the mat. He offered both of them a bottle of water. "It was a draw." It was all he said, not picking any sides. Sharon thought Wanda had won, but considering Steve's feedback, the goal of the exercise was to analyse their individual weaknesses and strengths, not to compete on who was the best fighter. She admired his skills as both a captain and a trainer yet again.

Sam made a gesture for her to go to the others, and so she went, albeit begrudgingly. For some reason, she felt reluctant to talk to the Avengers. Sure, talking to Steve was normal – now, at least – and she could ignore the fact he was a worldwide known hero while they were at it. Join the gang and the pressure of the situation made her feel like going to a job interview underdressed. Wanda and Scott immediately spotted them, and Scott nodded. Steve turned around and seemed surprised to see Sharon up and about so soon.

"I didn't know you were getting released today," he said. "Sharon, this is Wanda and Scott. Wanda, Scott, this is Sharon, the friend I told you about."

Sharon was glad he hadn't called her agent.

She smiled to both of them, but turned to Scott when he stepped forward and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, Sharon" he said. "I hope you don't mind the suit. Looks a bit aggressive, but it's actually quite nice."

Scott's personality had been one of the things Steve had liked most about him, so Sharon already knew what to expect. She widened her smile. "Don't worry. As long as it doesn't give me an invisible punch, I'm fine."

"I actually brought Sharon here to spend some quality time with us. Her only besties were the doctors and Steve, which honestly couldn't have been good company." Sam's words were answered by Steve shaking his head and heading over to the benches. He took his cell phone and checked something.

"Breakfast's ready. You wanna join us?" Steve asked, raising his eyes to look at Sharon.

She nodded.

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