Cold. Bright. Ouch.

Gianna woke up in a soft bed, the only comfort to her otherwise frantic senses. Before she even opened her eyes, she could feel the searing brightness of the florescent lighting assaulting her retinas. She felt a thin blanket laid over her body, but it did little to protect her from the chilly air in the room. It smelled…clinical. Like antiseptic and alcohol wipes.

Daring to crack an eye, Gianna winced at the bright lights. She was alone in a room, what appeared to be an incredibly nice hospital room. She was surrounded by white walls and unfamiliar technology, not recognizing any of her surroundings. Her bed was propped up ever so slightly, allowing her to look around the room without moving too much. The wall directly across from her was a window with frosted glass. She could see figures moving behind it, indicating that the window led to a hallway or other room, not to the outside.

She sat up, her head throbbing and her body aching. She looked around, trying to remember what had happened, what on Earth she was doing here.

Then, it all came flooding back to her.

I pulled my earpiece out as I sang the final note to what had affectionately become my song for Bucky. It hadn't even been officially recorded yet, but it was a staple on this tour, one that I refused to take out of the set list. Much to the label's chagrin.

My chest heaved as I caught my breath, taking a minute to look around. Sometimes performing felt out-of-body, like I wasn't really there. It felt like the things you do in a dream. You remember them, but it's a little hazy, and you aren't ever sure if it's actually real or not.

This time was different. I was acutely aware of everything happening in that moment. The throbbing in my heels, the cool air being pumped into the arena, the strobe lights flashing over the stage. Most of all, I felt the crowd. The energy was palpable. Hands reached toward the stage from the front few rows, screams washed over me from every direction. People were cheering, crying, chanting. I felt invincible.

For just a moment, I felt on top of the world.

I didn't feel like an imposter in my own life. I didn't feel like I was singing someone else's songs, wearing a costume and playing a part. I wasn't going to leave this arena and meet up with some other vapid celebrity to "accidentally" get spotted by the paparazzi and sell a fake relationship to the media. For once, I didn't feel like I was pretending.

I had just sung a song that I wrote for a man that I had incredibly real feelings for…and they loved it. They loved me.

Unable to help myself, I turned around to face the back of the stage. My eyes panned to the wings, but I didn't see what - who I was looking for. Before I could even process that Bucky was gone from his position, my world was rocked.

I saw it before I heard it.

I still don't remember the sound.

First, it was bright, a blinding flash of light. Then there was smoke. I felt like I got hit by a semi-truck. I was on my back. I hit my head. I heard muffled screaming, terrified screaming. Alarms. Sirens. I fought to take a breath with the thick smoke all around me.

I knew I needed to get up, to run, to hide, to find Bucky. He would know what to do. He always knew what to do.

I fought with everything in me to just lift my head, just roll to my side and get up. The edges of my vision were going black…everything around me sounded further and further away…

Nothing.

Gianna's throat began to close as the events of last night came flooding back to her. Was it last night? She realized she wasn't even sure what day it was. Glancing around her, Gianna searched for a phone, a clock, even a TV remote. Nothing but the IV drip and a machine that appeared to be monitoring her heart, judging by the way it was suddenly beeping erratically.

The door to her left slid open with a whoosh.

"Ms. Cruz?" A pretty asian woman in a white coat strode through the door holding a tablet. "I'm Dr. Cho, Chief Medical Officer here at Stark Industries."

Gianna swallowed. She was at Tony's again. That was good.

Dr. Cho continued. "How do you feel? Do you remember what happened?"

Nodding slowly, Gianna tried to speak, but her voice came out scratchy and raw.

"You inhaled a lot of smoke, your voice might be strained for a few days. Let me get you some water."

Gianna nodded again as the doctor punched a button on her tablet, sending a nurse running in with a pitcher and glass of water.

"There was an accident at your last show. An attack, rather. I'll let the team fill you in on the details. As for your injuries, you should make a full recovery. I can't say that it will be painless, you definitely took quite the tumble. You were thrown backwards at least fifteen feet, landed on your back, hit your head. You have a concussion, whiplash, bruised spine, bruised ribs. Minor lacerations on your face, chest, and arms, but nothing that required stitches. You'll likely experience headaches for the next several days, but other than that, it'll just be a lot of soreness. I'll prescribe you some muscle relaxers for the stiffness and I can get you something for the pain as well."

Dr. Cho paused, letting her words sink in.

"I'm going to do a quick exam on you now that you're awake, and then I'll let the team know you're here. Is that okay with you, Ms. Cruz?"

Again, Gianna nodded, afraid to damage her vocal cords by trying to speak again.

The doctor pulled a small flashlight and inspected Gianna's pupils, then slowly looked at each cut and bruise. She gently leaned Gianna forward to see what she imagined was significant bruising down her back. As Dr. Cho tugged her hospital gown back closed, Gianna had one question.

"Where is Bucky?" She croaked.

Dr. Cho smiled. "I'll send him in."

Less than ten minutes after the door had closed behind Dr. Cho, it slid open again. Although she was happy to see Steve walking through the door, it wasn't the super soldier she'd hoped for.

"Hey kiddo. How do you feel?" He tugged a chair close to the edge of her bed.

"Never better." Gianna mustered a smile, wincing as she shifted to sit up.

Steve's smile faltered ever so slightly as he took her in, the cuts on her cheek and arms, bruising creeping around from the back of her neck. He quickly restored his positive demeanor, careful not to upset her.

"I don't know if you're hungry yet, but I don't remember the medical wing food being that great. You say the word and I'll get you whatever you want, the best food in all of Upstate."

Gianna's brow furrowed. "Upstate? We aren't in the city?"

"No…after the incident, we thought it would be best to get you a little further away. You're at the Avengers Compound, it's totally secluded and impossible for anyone without direct authorization to get in. Thanks to Stark's tech, it isn't even visible on radar. This is the safest place in the world for you right now." Steve put his hand on her arm in an effort to reassure her.

"Can you…can you tell me what happened? Where is Bucky?"

Steve heard the crack in her voice and knew it wasn't just from her smoke inhalation. He sighed. The team had argued over how much information to give her, some arguing that she had a right to know and others saying it would be too traumatic, she was just a kid. Although Steve had been in the latter group, he couldn't bring himself to lie to her.

"There was an attack. There was a bomb planted underneath the stage."

Gianna's eyes widened, but Steve pressed on.

"Bucky figured it out, but it was too late. It was premeditated. Earlier in the day, someone had staged a run-in with me and stolen my phone. I didn't even notice, I thought I'd lost it until that night. They attackers, they knew Bucky and I were close. They exploited that to lure him away from backstage, away from you. As soon as he was far enough away, they detonated. It wasn't meant to kill anyone, it was a small scale explosive. It was meant as a diversion, to create chaos. When the bomb went off, we were in the tunnels right by it. Buck and I were both in the direct impact zone."

Steve felt Gianna's eyes drift over his face and arms, looking for cuts or bruises.

"The serum helps us heal quickly, but not immediately. I was down for longer than I'd like to admit. I was calling for Bucky, trying to find him, but he'd already gotten up. He went after them, went after you. I didn't see this part, but we covered it in debriefing. Bucky got to you before anyone. The two men from earlier in the day had been waiting for the diversion, waiting for the chaos. They were trying to get to where you were on the stage, where you'd been knocked out. Bucky got there first. It wasn't pretty."

Steve sensed Gianna's worry. "For them. They aren't…in the picture anymore." He chose his words carefully, trying not to paint too graphic of a picture for the girl his best friend was falling in love with.

"Bucky carried you out, we had a chopper waiting to get you out. As soon as we got you loaded, he left…went back after them. I couldn't stop him." Steve looked down at his lap. "Two days later, he basically collapsed outside the gates to the compound. Cameras picked him up and we went to go get him. He'd tracked down the person responsible and every person involved in the accident. By himself. Found evidence, hand-delivered them to the FBI."

Gianna let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. Hearing that Bucky had put his life on the line to track down people who clearly didn't care about who or what was destroyed in the process of them achieving their objective made her stomach turn. Thinking that he may have gone on a vengeful killing spree…she shoved the thought down. But he hadn't, he'd turned them in. She felt relief for herself, but mainly for Bucky, knowing how much he already struggled with the blood on his hands as a result of being the Winter Soldier. How much more would it hurt him to have blood on his hands as Bucky Barnes?

There was only one thing Gianna needed to know.

"Is he okay?"

Steve leaned back in his chair. "He was pretty beat up, but he'll be fine. He's survived worse. He's…struggling with the idea that he let you down."

"What?" Gianna sat up straighter, sending her into a coughing fit from her exclamation.

"I know." Steve's expression was empathetic. "We all told him it wasn't his fault, he did everything he could. They had inside information, they targeted him. Isolated him. He was the one who made sure it wasn't worse than it could have been. He just doesn't see it that way. He thinks he failed you."

Hot tears fell down Gianna's cheeks, her heart breaking.

"I want to see him."