Steve had been gone less than an hour when Gianna began to get restless. Her phone was nowhere to be found. Well, none of her belongings seemed to have made it to this pristine medical suite. There was a large screen built into the wall in front of her, but no remote in sight.

Sighing, she leaned back into the surprisingly plush bedding. There was a time when all she craved was a few moments of peace, left alone in her room. Now, everything in her was praying for that peace to be interrupted. Specifically by something dark haired and 100+ years old.

Whoosh.

Gianna's eyes blinked open as she heard the door part to allow someone in. Not just someone, but the interruption she'd been hoping for. Her chest flooded with relief at the same time her stomach filled with butterflies.

Bucky stepped into the room, sheepish eyes looking tentatively up at her.

"Hi," She said breathlessly, kicking herself for not thinking of something wittier.

"Hi," He paused, holding his hands up. "I come bearing gifts."

Gianna hadn't even noticed his hands being full. Eyes widening, she sat up straight in bed and pulled her legs in to sit cross legged so he'd have room to join her.

"You didn't!"

"I did. Hot dogs, a blueberry scone, and the biggest Coke I could find." He strode across the room and sat beside her on the bed, accepting the nonverbal invitation. "The hot dogs aren't from the stand on 17th, though. I thought they may not be good if I went all the way back to the city." He shrugged, offering her one of the two paper bags in his hand.

"My hero," She snatched them both from his grip, tearing open the smaller one and taking the large pastry out before pausing. "For more reasons than just this."

For a moment, their eyes met with quiet sincerity. Bucky opened his mouth to speak, to apologize, but Gianna interrupted him.

"But mostly just the scone." She winked, taking a bite and letting crumbs litter the bed. He laughed, thankful for their prompt return to normalcy but still wishing he could tell her how sorry he was.

"How do you feel?"

"Better now," She said through a full mouth. "A little stiff, head kinda hurts. I haven't moved a whole lot since I woke up though, I could be giving myself too much credit."

Bucky nodded, eyes wandering over the cut on her eyebrow and bruising peeking through the top of her gown.

"So what's the deal now?"

"What do you mean?" His eyebrow furrowed.

"Did Dr. Cho communicate with Tom? He'll need to know my discharge date." She paused in between bites. "The label doesn't do well with my unplanned downtime. When I had my appendix out, they had to reschedule my appearance on Fallon and you'd have thought the sky was falling. They still only moved it back one day. The whole internet was talking about how I must have had a drug problem because of how awful I looked, meanwhile I was just trying not to tear my stitches in the little dress they stuck me in."

She was so nonchalant about such a horrible experience that Bucky felt a knot of anger in his stomach. He shoved it back down before responding, choosing his words carefully.

"G…I don't think it's such a good idea for you to go back to the tour."

Gianna froze, looking straight back at him with a hot dog clutched in her hand.

"That's not an option, the label would never go for that. My contract is airtight, if I don't fulfill my agreement then I have to pay back all the money I've made in the past five years." She looked down at her lap. "I was seventeen when I signed with them. I didn't know I was supposed to talk to an attorney before I signed."

Frowning, Bucky rested his hand on her knee. "Let's not worry about that right now. Just focus on healing and eating the most well-deserved hot dog of all time." He gave her a soft smile, watching as she nodded and went back to eating.

As she wiped her face with a napkin, the door slid open again to reveal a sharply-dressed Tony Stark and Pepper Potts.

"Hey, lovebirds. We need to talk," Tony said, a serious expression on his face. He stepped into the room, Pepper close behind.

Gianna and Bucky looked up, surprised. "What's going on?" Bucky asked, ready to jump to the defensive if more bad news was about to be thrown their way.

"We need to get ahead of the news cycle. Our PR team is suggesting hosting a press conference to address the situation and reassure the public that Gianna is safe," Pepper explained. "Your management agrees."

"We've been through this a time or two, kiddo, and if you don't get to say your piece then the media will write their own." Tony added.

"Yeah…I get it." Gianna spoke slowly, unsure what she'd even say considering she had the fewest details about the attack of all three people in the room. As if reading her thoughts, Pepper spoke again.

"We'll have a private debriefing first, give you all the information you want to know. It would be monitored by our team, they'd send a list of approved questions and make sure things run smoothly. Anything you don't want to answer, you don't have to." She gave a reassuring smile. Gianna was put at ease by the calm and comforting energy she seemed to bring into the room.

"Whatever you think is best," Gianna said, her voice quiet. "You'll have to find me a brush or something, though. I don't think this is my best look."

Tony scoffed. "Haven't you heard, heroine chic is all the rage these days." Pepper gave him a sharp elbow in the side before smiling softly again.

"I can do you one better." Even her eyes reflected the warmth of her smile when she spoke. "I'll see to it that your belongings are all brought to your room and that we have wardrobe options available for you. I'll get your measurements to our personal shopper. I'm thinking something Chanel, classy but feminine. Oh, and I assume you'll want your own makeup artist?"

Gianna nodded. I want this woman to adopt me. Wow.

"Good, because Tony's makeup artist is fully booked." Pepper gave a wry smile and winked. "If you need anything, just tell FRIDAY to send for me."

"Hang in there kiddo," Tony called as he turned to follow Pepper through the door. "Oh, and Barnes, keep the extracurricular activities to a minimum. These medical beds aren't built to withstand whatever your idea of a passionate reunion is."

Bucky rolled his eyes, cheeks flushing despite himself. As the door whooshed shut behind them, Bucky reached for Gianna's hand, careful not to rustle the IV on the back of it.

Bucky squeezed her hand, offering his support. "We'll get through this, together," he said, his eyes meeting hers. She nodded, the sudden overwhelm of the whole situation making her eyes watery.

"Hey, hey…" Shifting his body to face hers fully, Bucky reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand. A single hot tear cascaded over his fingers. "What can I do?"

Gianna gave a watery smile. "You're already doing it." She reached up and rested her hand over his, leaning her cheek into his palm. "It's just…a lot."

"Yeah. It's not exactly an average work day."

"You know you were the first person I looked for? When…everything happened. I didn't even know what was going on. My ears were ringing…my head felt like it weighed a thousand pounds…all I could think of was just getting to you. If I could just lift my head and look for you, everything would be okay."

Bucky's face fell. "I'm so sorry…I should have been there. I shouldn't have left your side, even for a second, I-"

"Don't do that," Gianna tilted his head up and met his gaze. "You've been everything to me on this tour. You've been my company, my sanity…you've been so much more than you had to be."

"But the one thing I was supposed to do was protect you. I failed." His voice was gruff.

"Look at me," She tilted his head up again. "I'm here, aren't I? Whatever the plan was, it failed. Not you. I'm all in one piece, that's probably more than whoever came after me can say now that you're done with them."

Bucky gave a half-hearted smile.

"Seriously, Buck, I'm a little bruised. That's all. I've seen you eat an apple that's in worse shape than me." She gave him a light shove.

"Hey, there weren't many options in that green room and I knew better than to dig into your candy stash."

"If you want to see a real diva, just take away my sour gummy worms."

They let their soft laughter die out and sat in silence for a moment.

"I'm glad you're okay."

"I'm glad you're here."

Gianna leaned her head onto Bucky's shoulder like she had so many times before. This medical suite replaced the back of a suburban, but the comfort and familiarity was unwavering.

"Ms. Cruz, Sergeant Barnes. Wanda Maximoff is requesting access to Ms. Cruz' medical bay. Should I send her in? She would like it to be noted that she's baked strawberry cupcakes as a gift."

Sitting up straight, Gianna looked equally confused and intrigued at the electronic voice that filled the room. She met Bucky's eyes and shrugged, smiling. He spoke up to respond.

"Sure, FRIDAY, send her in."