Kate waited with Yelena for another ten minutes before the doctor and an orderly came, and after a quick overview on what was happening next with Yelena, which for Kate pretty much went in one ear and out the other, Kate was asked to return to the waiting room. She got a bit lost before finding where Sam and Bucky were sitting, her mind racing while trying to make sense of how the day had ended up like this.

"How is she?" Bucky asked with an attempt at an encouraging smile.

"Gone to get scans and stuff," Kate said, sitting down on the plastic seat. She didn't even care that it wasn't very comfortable, she just really needed to sit down. Her legs felt like jelly and she wanted someone to hold her while she cried, but the only person she wanted to cry in front of was Yelena, and Yelena was the one person who she couldn't do that with right now. Or maybe Clint, but Clint wasn't here, and he wasn't coming. "Someone will come find us soon and give us more of an update. The doctor did say more, but I couldn't tell you what it was. They need to give you a print out. Yelena's being anaesthetised too, I remember that, something about they have to move her, and with her injuries it was better if she was asleep while they did that."

"Ok," said Bucky. "That's ok. Guess we just wait, then."

"Yeah," said Kate, now not even entirely sure what Bucky had asked her or if she'd correctly answered the question.

"I was just filling Bucky in on my discussion with Pepper," Sam said.

"Oh," said Kate, not knowing who Pepper was, but getting the feeling from the way Sam spoke that she should.

"Everything is covered, or will be anyway," Sam said. "Pepper's going to call the hospital personally to make sure of it. We decided it would be best if Yelena has a private room too, for security reasons."

"And because it would be a pain in the ass for everyone else in the ward if she was put in one," Bucky said with a teasing smile.

Kate smiled despite herself. Yelena would be the worst person ever to be stuck next to in hospital. She talked too much at the best of times, and being dosed up on heavy pain killers hadn't made her any quieter.

"I guess once we've got the scans and know more about - oh, sorry," Sam said, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "It's Pepper again. Hey, Pepper, how'd you go?" he asked, standing up and wandering to a quieter corner of the waiting room.

"You want a drink or something?" Bucky asked Kate, also watching Sam.

"Sure," Kate said, her mind wandering. Pepper. Pepper…

"Ok," said Bucky, getting up and heading over to the vending machine.

Pepper…

Pepper Potts. Tony Stark's wife. Widow.

"Oh, damn," Kate said to herself, the pieces suddenly falling into place. Pepper Potts was a zillionaire. Did she finance the Avengers? Maybe? Or just in emergencies? Kate had never met her, and Yelena had never met her either, as far as Kate knew. But everyone knew that Tony Stark and Natasha Romanov had been good friends. Natasha had probably been friends with Pepper too. Now Tony and Natasha were both gone, but Yelena was Natasha's sister, and she was here and hurt and Pepper could at least cover the financial parts of what came next. Kate wanted to talk to Clint. She wanted him to come to NYC and explain to her what was going on. She felt the need to be cool about things in front of Bucky and Sam. There was no need to be cool in front of Clint.

"Water. Sandwiches. Chips. Chocolate," Bucky said, returning with his arms full of apparently one of everything from the vending machine.

"Thanks," Kate said, carefully removing a bottle of water and packet of Doritos from Bucky's haul. Bucky was more connected than Kate understood too. It was all a bit vague, or maybe it was just that Yelena didn't know the whole of it either and Kate didn't like to ask Clint too much, but somewhere, at some stage in the past, Bucky and Natasha's paths had crossed, before Natasha had defected and Bucky had any real idea who he was or what he was doing. What exactly had happened, Kate didn't know, but it seemed that something had.

But now Natasha was dead, Bucky was sitting opposite her eating a vending machine sandwich, and Yelena was somewhere in the hospital getting help after getting shot on a road by some mercenaries.

"What about Yelena's rings?" Kate asked, remembering suddenly.

"Hmm?" Bucky said, looking up from his sandwich.

"Her jewellery," Kate said. "She said the nurse took it off her. I'll have to find that nurse."

"No need, she gave it to me. It's in my pocket," Bucky said. "I'll get it for you in a moment so I don't drop all the filling out of my sandwich."

"Oh. Yeah. Thanks," Kate said, momentarily wondering why Yelena's jewellery had been given to Bucky, before remembering he'd come with her in the ambulance. Damn, her head was a mess.

"Got one of everything, I see," Sam said, looking at the collection of foods sitting on the eat beside Bucky.

"Then you can't complain," Bucky replied.

"I really would have liked a sandwich and a packet of Doritos," Sam smirked.

Bucky rolled his eyes and chose not to reply.

Kate chucked. Even though everything was confusing and overwhelming and really sucked right now, she was glad she wasn't alone.

"Everything ok with Pepper?" Bucky asked.

"Yep, all sorted," said Sam. "She was glad that the mercs were taken somewhere else, so that Interpol and the FBI and CIA and rest of the alphabet weren't crawling all over this hospital too. Funny how quickly they were all tipped off that these injured guys were foreign agents operating on US soil."

"Funny that," Bucky smirked, taking another bite of his sandwich.

"Wait, no one is coming for Yelena, are they? Like, legal people. Cops and stuff?" Kate asked.

"Yelena has diplomatic immunity," said Bucky. "And she's resigned from her temp work."

"No one is coming for her, and in this situation, she's the victim. There's CCTV footage apparently. Don't worry, she won't be deported," Sam said.

"Be nice if she could get a proper work visa, though," said Kate. "Just saying. Because, you know, she has defected."

"Different situation, and you know that," said Sam. "Yelena was a free agent when she formally defected. The Red Room is gone."

"Still," said Kate. She was going to ask why anyone would want to hurt Yelena, but realised that was a dumb question. "The ability for her to earn some income would be nice," she mumbled instead.

"Aren't you a trust fund baby?" Bucky asked.

"Maybe," Kate said, getting close to the bottom of the packet of Doritos. These bags really were getting smaller, she thought.

"Hey, Yelena's gunna be ok, ok?" said Sam.

"Today just really sucks right now," said Kate, worried if she looked up from her Doritos she'd cry.

"Mmm," said Bucky, finishing the last of his sandwich.

Kate looked up at him. He looked like he had something on his mind, but then again, she had so much on her's that she wasn't really sure. She was tired. It was only lunchtime, but she felt like she could sleep for hours. Undoubtably, when she did go to bed tonight, she wouldn't be able to sleep. She'd let Lucky sleep on the bed, he'd like that and Kate wanted the company already.

Pepper Potts was dealing with the financials and the legal stuff. Kate sipped her water, her heart heavy and her mind confused. She hadn't even considered the money until Sam brought it up. Damn, she was really in with the Avengers now.

…

"Hey. Hi. You're awake," Kate said, managing a small smile as Yelena slowly woke up.

"Kate Bishop," Yelena said as she opened her eyes, her words a little slurred, and smiled at Kate.

"How do you feel?" Kate asked. Yelena still looked comparatively terrible. She'd been changed into a hospital gown, and was now on a proper hospital bed compared to the emergency room one she'd been on before, but there were still a lot of tubes and wires and things stuck to her, and hospital blankets pulled up to her chest.

"Sleepy," Yelena said, rubbing her eyes. "I'd like to run it off, but I can't get up right now, can I?"

"Nope."

"Is my leg ok? Did you see the doctor?"

"I saw the doctor. It's - well, it could be worse. He said you'll have surgery in about a week once the swelling goes down," Kate said. The doctor had said a lot more than that, but that was the part she remembered. She was glad Sam and Bucky had been there too, between the three of them, they probably got everything.

"Four days."

"No, pretty sure he said a week," Kate said, raising an eyebrow. She was sure she got the week part right.

"Four days, just you watch," said Yelena. "Before, one of the nurses said I was vitally good."

"Your vitals are good."

"Is the same thing."

"You've got a bit of a temperature though."

"That means I'm not frozen?"

"That means your body is fighting."

"What? My body is lying here doing nothing."

"Umm…" Kate said, and couldn't help but smile. She was a little surprised at how lucid Yelena was despite all the medication and everything, but then again, Yelena was quite a surprising person. Her vitals were very good, the doctor had told Kate that too. Her breathing was fine, her heart rate was normal. Apart from a slightly elevated temperature, everything was normal, which was quite abnormal for someone with her injuries and the shock that would cause. Kate wanted to ask Yelena more about what had happened, but even though Yelena was in a private room in the high care unit, it wasn't really the place for a conversation like that and Kate wasn't sure how much of a heavy conversation she could handle right now.

"So basically, I feel kind of like I got hit by a bus, but I'm fine," said Yelena.

"Well, your arm is all bruised from where you fell on it, but that'll be fine. No concussion or bruised ribs or anything else. There is some bruising, but nothing that's concerning."

"That's why you wear helmet," Yelena said and smiled, as though no one had figured that out before.

"But the surgery… got to be honest, I was more trying not to freak out than actually listening to the doctor. You need a plate and pins and stuff to fix your leg up, because it's kinda…"

"Oh, it's going on the wrong angle, I saw that," Yelena said.

"Oh?" Kate said, not having seen. The doctor said something about Yelena's leg being splinted in place now, and Kate was quite sure she didn't want to see.

"Yeah, I saw," Yelena said casually. "I could have bled to death too if they got the artery. That would be uncool. Such a boring way to die. But I'm good now, right? Just wait a few days, then surgery, then go home because I am so bored already."

"How can you be bored already?" Kate chuckled. "It's been a few hours, and you've spent a chunk of that time asleep."

Yelena smiled and reached out of Kate's hand. "Don't worry, Kate. I know probably after surgery they make me stay here. Broken femur is not good."

"Nope, definitely not good," Kate said, taking Yelena's hand. "But that could be worse too. It's kinda just a piece on the side, not right through, if that makes sense? The bullet is still in your leg, but apparently it's safe for now where it is. Or something. I suppose someone will show you the x-rays soon."

"Ah, so it's ok. I'll get better," Yelena said. Her encouraging smiles were better than Bucky's, Kate thought. "And I feel a bit better because I shot the bastards who shot me. Can I get more morphine now?"

"Umm, do you press one of these?" Kate asked, looking at the different things lying on Yelena's bed. One was to call the nurse, one moved the bed position, and one administered more morphine, but Kate wasn't sure what did what.

"Let's press everything and see what happens," Yelena said.

Usually Kate would think that was a terrific idea and exactly what she would do, but right now she wasn't so sure. "Let me go get the nurse ok?"

Yelena sighed. "One more minute," she said. "I'm sorry, Kate, that today all went wrong."

"It is really not your fault."

"Oh, I know. Definitely not my fault at all," said Yelena. "I kind of want to give you a hug right now because you look like you're having the freaking out, but I can't get up and you wouldn't fit on the bed."

"I could try."

"Want to?" Yelena asked.

"I'm worried I'd hurt you."

"Hmm, me too, actually," Yelena said and sighed again. "Also I'd probably have to be little spoon because I feel all wrong. My body feels all wrong and floppy and heavy. I am not little spoon. I am big spoon."

"I am taller," said Kate.

"But I am still big spoon."

"Yeah, you are," Kate smiled. She loved cuddling up with Yelena when the situation called for it, but even though Yelena looked better than she had a few hours ago in the ER, Kate was worried if she moved Yelena, she could hurt her or set of some alarm.

"You can go home," Yelena said. "Get some sleep. Hug Lucky for me."

"Lucky is a terrible big spoon."

Yelena laughed. "Make Lucky be a hospital visit dog, then he can come see me."

"I think you have to do a course to do that."

"Oh, I want to do that. Then I can bring Lucky to the hospital. Everyone would love him."

"Lucky is the best dog," Kate said.

"I want him. I want to pat his soft ears. He'd fit on the bed."

Kate nodded. "Want me to get the nurse, now?"

"I guess so," said Yelena. "I need to know what these things do. But the nurse will come, then all the doctors will come, and then you'll go. What about Sam and Bucky? Are they still here?"

"Nah, they went home. Once we knew you were ok. They'll come back tomorrow."

"Oh, ok."

"Is that ok?"

"Yeah," said Yelena. "Is the police coming? Because it was traffic accident? That happens on TV."

"I think Sam was dealing with all of that. He's dealing with all the paperwork stuff."

"Ok, good," Yelena said, her looking past Kate to the door.

Kate looked over her shoulder, but there was no one there.

"Surgery will be on Saturday," Yelena mumbled. "It is still Tuesday, right?"

"It's still Tuesday," Kate confirmed, again peering over her shoulder, wondering what Yelena was looking at or if she'd thought she'd recognised someone or if she'd seen a ghost, as hospitals totally had ghosts, but Kate wasn't sure what Yelena's views were on that sort of thing. It was one topic that hadn't come up before, but now wasn't the time to discuss that, either. Yelena was looking paler than she had been when she'd first woken up. "I'll go get the nurse?"

"Kate?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't really like hospitals. Or doctors. In the past…" Yelena trailed off.

"I know," Kate said, knowing at least an overview of Yelena's medical history, especially the parts with the non-consensual surgery. "But you've got people looking out for you now. It's going to be ok."

Yelena nodded. "I like you a lot, Kate Bishop," she said softly.

Kate smiled and gave Yelena's hand a squeeze. "I like you too."