"I think the sedation's wearing off-"

Screams could be heard from down the hallway. Sharon ran to the makeshift hospital room and found him lying still, his muscles tense, the whites of his eyes showing.

He felt like he couldn't breath. His heartbeat was choking him and he lay there unmoving, eyes wide as the monitor screeched its complaints over his sudden change in heart rate.

"Steve! Steve, what's wrong? I'm here!"

He blinked. Seemed to notice he wasn't alone. She could see confusion in his eyes mixed with terrible fear. He tried to take a deep breath through the oxygen mask but it came out as a shallow huff. She watched his lungs make an effort to start working on their own and then flinch; pausing, she assumed, because of pain. He looked at Sharon with the eyes of a helpless child. Ashamed eyes, embarrassed she had been scared for him over something that so often occurred - an illogical nightmare. They happened fairly often, the severe ones leaving him bordering a state of panic for an hour or two afterwards and sometimes on edge for the rest of the day. He tried to take another breath and managed to make it a full one this time.

"Steve, what happened? If I take off the mask, do you think you can talk?" He gave her an almost undetectable nod and she slipped it off, carefully elevating the bed afterwards so that he would be more comfortable. Sharon sat beside him, avoiding the various cords and tubes spread across his bed and the floor. "What happened?"

He swallowed, unsure. "It...it was all just a dream." His voice was a croak. As if he hadn't used it in a long time.

"What was?"

His eyes focused on hers.

She was beautiful. Pale pink lips, faintly flushed cheeks, long lashes framing compassionate blue eyes that were concerned over his stupid dream.

And oh. She was expecting an answer.

"Bucky tried to kill me." He attempted a smile but it wasn't funny. "I had the dream once before. But this...it was detailed, as if it actually happened. Of course, it couldn't have…."

Sharon looked uncomfortable trying to decide what to say. She cleared her throat. "Steve, it wasn't a nightmare."

"What?"

"It happened."

The soldier gazed at his bandaged body as if noticing it for the first time. A casted left arm, IV and monitor in his right, various wiring attached to his head and chest, a brace on his right foot.

Horrible pictures flooded his mind. Real ones.

"How long ago?"

"A little more than a week."

"Did everyone get out?"

"Yes."

"Bucky? Did he remember?"

Hesitation. "Yes."

"Where is he? I need to talk to him before he blames himself for everything that happened." Pause. That had been a long sentence when his lungs had only begun to work again. "He didn't know what he was doing."

"Steve." She took his hand, careful to avoid the raw, wrapped areas where his handcuffs had been. "He left."

"What do you mean?"

"He's gone. We couldn't stop him. He stayed until your vitals stabilized, then he said you'd be safer if he wasn't here." She sighed. "I told him you'd be angry. He said he didn't care. The next morning I saw he had left a note telling us not to look for him, it would be better if he wasn't found. So naturally, Sam took off after him right away. He didn't want him to be alone in whatever hideout he planned to disappear to."

Steve didn't say anything. "Safer if he wasn't here." Well, Buck, it's you I'm worried about. Now I have to find you again. He would clench his fist, but as one hand was in his girlfriend's and the other was broken, that wasn't an option. Dammit, Barnes! Always making me go after you.

"I'm sorry, Steve. I know it's hard."

"What about Sam? Did he make it out okay, then? And Scott? Did he find you guys?" He was unamused. "Anyone else you happened to call in without my permission?"

"As if I needed Captain America's permission." She raised her eyebrows. "I know it's been a rough few weeks but it's not as if it was my fault you insisted on going in alone. Everyone's fine, Steve. Well, as fine as we can be with the U.N. on our heels. Do you know that they actually added me to the list yesterday?"

"List? What list?"

"Oh, I forgot. You were still asleep when the reports got back to us. We're all apparently on the U.N.'s wanted list."

"How long have I been asleep?"

"They put you into an induced coma as soon as you got here. You were already unconscious, but they were afraid that if you woke up too soon you could send your body into another shock...and you might not make it." She broke eye contact for a moment, as if it was too fresh a worry to ignore. "The serum makes you heal faster and it kept you alive, but it was also making your heart work overtime. I told them to do anything they could to make sure you stayed with us, even if it meant I had to watch you sleep for awhile."

Steve sighed gently, his rib cage aching. His heart hurt more, though. Gosh, I love you. I love all of you. He clenched his teeth. Could've done better, Rogers. Can't complete a mission without causing problems. The soldier smirked, remembering the HYDRA agent he had met in the hallway. "You don't deserve that shield." Yep. He was right.

"What's up?" she asked him, seeing his lips curve upwards for the first time since he woke up.

He shook his head. "Nothing. Where are we?"

"We're at an old, low-profile SHIELD base that everyone, including SHIELD, forgot about. Everyone here has either retired, resigned, or slipped off their radar. It's become a safe haven for those of us who don't really agree with the Accords." She saw his guard go up when the organization was mentioned. "Don't worry, Steve, I have personal connections with these people. We're safe here."

"Yeah, but for how long?"

"Nobody knows. But we don't have much of a choice. Your apartment's been ransacked, mine's been boarded up; besides, being out in public is too much of a risk when every eye in the country is looking for us. And if I unplug you, I don't know if you could ever fully recover." Sharon searched his face, reading his thoughts. "We have to stay put for awhile. We can't go after him yet. It's not safe for anyone."

This is insanity. This whole thing. I...can't...I have to. I have to stay calm. He looked at his hands. "I know we can't. I just want to make sure he's okay."

"We all do. You told me he was a good man and I trusted you. I'll admit I doubted it when I saw what happened. But I couldn't be mad at him." Her voice softened. "He was more horrified than any of us. It convinced me more than anything you could have said. That's why I had to let him go; he was too upset to stay."

Steve nodded slowly and sunk his head back into his pillow. She smiled regretfully, seeing his frustration that he couldn't join his friends. She gently smoothed back his hair and gave him a light, sweet kiss. "I want you to be safe. It's all I've ever wanted since we met."

"I know, and I love you for it." He gave her a small smile, looking down at the hospital blankets, still starched and thin like they'd always been. "It reminds me of when I was a kid. Always getting into scrapes or getting sick, sometimes hospitalized for an asthma flare up. Somehow I always landed myself in one of these rooms. Had to miss out on a baseball game one time; another time, a school dance. Not that it mattered if I'd gone anyways, since none of the girls wanted to dance with a guy they might step on." He shrugged. "I was always tagging along with Bucky anyways."

"Well, those girls were missing out." She said it matter-of-factly, laughing when his cheeks reddened a little at her compliment.

"Y'know, they used to not let Bucky into the infirmary, so he'd have to sneak in when nurses weren't paying attention. He used to hide under the bed if any of them walked in and leave me candy when I wasn't supposed to eat anything." Steve cracked a grin. "He only got caught every other time."

Sharon rolled her eyes. "It's a wonder your mothers could keep up."

"Yeah, we were pretty bad."

"Well, we're all sharing that title now," she remarked.

They held each other's gaze for a moment, then Sharon gently put her head on the Captain's shoulder. "We'll find him. I promise."

A/N: Well, you did it. You made it to the last chapter! Thanks so much for reading, I had a lot of fun writing this and you can save your death threats because I'm not finished with the story line yet! (Or maybe it's not as great as I think it is, and you're not that invested. I don't know.)

I'm planning to write a sequel and some of the loose ends that weren't tied up here will be in the next installment. Hopefully I'll start posting chapters of that soon, once I have a real feel for where it's going. (I'm taking suggestions, please feel free to message me.)

If you want to be updated about when the sequel is posted, you can either follow me, PM me about it, or comment for me to message you when it's up. As always, I love to hear from you, and reviews are always appreciated. ;)

Again, thanks so much for all of your support, I love you all. :)

~OnYourLeft107

A/N: There's an update, y'all! The sequel is posted! It's called Leaning On You; it's on my author page. Hope you enjoy and thanks again for reading! :)

~OnYourLeft107