When they reached the Avengers Initiative, Steve carried his newly bonded sub directly to medical, plowing through anyone not fast enough to get out of his way. He put her on the indicated bed and stepped back to allow the doctors to do their work. When asked, he explained about her captivity, the fight, her collapse, and the bonding. The staff worked quickly to stop the bleeding and stitch up her many wounds. Steve marveled that she received so many wounds and gave no indication of being hurt until the collapse. When Natasha came to check up on them, he asked her to dig up as much information on Nikita as she can. He needs to know as much as possible about his sub if he is going to take care of her properly, more detail than what they were shown from the SHIELD file. Steve was out in the hall way speaking to Natasha when he felt a wave of panic and fear through the bond. "Something's wrong," he says before darting back to Nikita's room.

Nikita woke with hands on her, she could feel that her clothes had been removed and she panicked. She tried to get the hands off of her, but then there were more hands, pinning her down. She doesn't know where she is or what is going on. In her fear she fights harder, twisting and thrashing, in danger of ripping out her stitches. Steve raced in to the room, taking in the scene.

"Stop" he said loudly in the most compelling Dom voice she had ever heard. She stilled instantly as the command ran through her body, reverberating throughout the bond. All of her attention on Steve, she barely noticed that the medical staff had also frozen at his command. Steve gestured for them to back away as he approached his sub. He could still feel her fear, but now it is focused on him, like a deer caught in headlights. He gently took hold of her hand, rubbing soothing circles on the back of it with his thumb. "Easy, shhh, relax, no one will hurt you," assured Steve, pushing a sense of safety and calm through the bond.

Nikita felt herself begin to slide into a different headspace the moment her bonded Dominant (something to freak out over later) issued that order and felt her body's instinctive reaction to obey. His immediate removal of the hands that had so scared her pushed her a little further down. The gentle touch and soothing words, pushed her a little farther still. Steve noted her immediate obedience of his order with no small satisfaction, he could feel her calming through the bond, responding to his soothing. When he realized that she was slipping a little into subspace, he was stunned and pleasantly surprised. When he uttered a heartfelt "Good Girl," pushing his praise through the bond as well, she slipped all the way down. "Sleep," he ordered softly. Floating, she closed her eyes and obeyed.

When Steve was sure that she was sleeping deeply he told the doctors that no one was to touch her without him present. Having witnessed her reactions both to them and to him, the doctors agreed it was the best policy. While Nikita slept Steve stayed in her room watching over her. She had given him the gift of her submission by slipping into subspace, her instincts trusting him even if her conscious mind didn't, and he was determined to prove himself worthy of it. He hoped that she slept for several hours at least since he very much doubted that she had had much sleep since finding herself a HYDRA captive. He sat in her room writing up his After Action Report for the op, while he pondered what little he knew about his sub. She couldn't be older than her mid to late twenties, at least half of that spent wearing the collar of a russian mob boss meeting out violence for the Bratva. He wondered what kind of Dom would turn a beautiful young sub into a vicious killer, how he managed to win the level of loyalty required to do so, and Steve didn't like any of the answers he came up with.

Hours later, Natasha appeared in the doorway silently asking permission to enter, it was always a good idea to get permission before another Dominant approached anywhere near a wounded sub. Steve motioned for her to enter. Once Natasha had settled in a chair close to him, Steve quietly asked if she had learned anything more about Nikita. Natasha had reached out to some of her old russian contacts. Apparently Nikita had only killed the man who sold her to HYDRA and his lackeys sparing the few people in the Bratva loyal to the old boss. Natasha was able to speak to a few of them, including one of his former bodyguards who had been in the club the first night Nikita walked in. She related the whole story to Steve, detailing Nikita's physical condition, the severed head of her step-father, and the Contract she had entered into with the Russian Dom. After giving her report, Natasha left with a reassuring squeeze to his shoulder. She felt an overwhelming need to see Bruce and spend some quality time with her sub, who had his own childhood abuse issues. Steve was horrified, it seemed that the truth was much worse than any of the awful possibilities he had imagined.

When Nikita finally woke up, Steve could sense her nervous apprehension and more than a little fear through the bond, but that was infinitely better than the raw terror of earlier. Slowly he approached the bed, "Let me help you". He said as he adjusted the bed up, gently placing pillows under her head and shoulders, carefully helping Nikita to sit up. He then held a cup of water with a straw up for her to drink, accompanied by a small wave of confusion throug the bond. Before Steve could speak further to her, Fury stood in the doorway clearing his throat. Steve stood with his his hand on Nikita's shoulder, subtly placing himself between her and the other Dominant. "I hear congratulations are in order, you're bonded?"

"Yes," replied Steve.

Nikita watched as Fury entered the room, wary but not afraid. She could tell through the bond that her Dom didn't consider this man an immediate threat, so she didn't either. "Maseltov," snarked Fury. "Miss Ivanova, you realize this changes the terms of our deal."

Steve felt a deep anger radiating through the bond, but when he turned to look at Nikita her expression was completely blank except for a slight narrowing of her eyes. She trained that narrow gaze on Fury, not saying a word. As the silence stretched, Steve marveled at the controlled facade Nikita projected when he could feel the violent anger simmering just under the surface.

Not wanting to provoke a confrontation with Rogers, Fury broke the silence. He explained that instead of working for SHIELD, Nikita would be working with the Avengers under Captain Rogers' command. She would not be reporting to the Avengers Initiative until the Captain cleared her for duty. Nikita didn't really have an opinion on the matter. She had found it surprisingly easy to work with the Avengers, so that was not a problem. The Captain had proved himself a capable leader, and Nikita was used to following the orders of her Dominant. Nikita didn't really care who she fought and killed for so long as she had a place and a purpose. Her only trepidation concerned what kind of a relationship the Captain would want from her.

Through all of this Nikita said not one word. Steve carefully felt through the bond, noting the depletion of her anger when she realized that she would be working for the Avengers Initiative, that Fury was not totally reneging on the deal. He could tell there was still some trepidation, but he guessed that was directed more towards him personally than Fury or the Avengers Initiative.

"Just so you know Rogers, we're holding you personally responsible for her good behavior," admonished Fury on his way out.

"I'm well aware of my responsibilities," the Captain responded with a Dominant edge to his voice.