When Time Collides ★ [2] ✔

All In The Open

I come up hard, baby.
I'm in for real, baby.
Gonna keep movin'.
Gonna go to town.

It had been six days since the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA and the destruction of the Insight Helicarriers. Steve had been in the hospital for all of those days. And he hadn't been awake for any of them, the longest process of his healing since becoming a Super Solider.

Sam was nice enough to let me shower and change at his house. He came with me to the hospital to watch over Steve. I never left after that. I couldn't leave him. It just...didn't feel right to.

I sat next to Sam at Steve's bedside. Marvin Gaye's Trouble Man played. Sam was nose deep in a book while I rested my temple on my closed fist, hugging my legs with my other hand, drifting in and out of light sleep. I was still exhausted after the Attack on the Triskelion, but I was in better shape than I was after New York.

I come up hard.
I come up, gettin' down.
There's only three things.
That's for sho'.
Taxes, death and trouble.

"On your left."

Sam and I looked up. Steve's head rolled over, a tired smile plastered on his war-hardened face. I grinned.

Sam put his book down. "Glad to see you're okay."

He chuckled weakly. "Yeah, you too."

He stood and stretched. "I'm gonna get some coffee." He lay a hand on my shoulder. "You want some?"

"Yeah, if you wouldn't mind," I replied.

As Sam left the room, I moved to his vacant chair, pulling it forward to sit closer to the bed. "How are you feeling?"

Steve propped himself up a little, pulling an expression of discomfort. "Like I've just been hit by tank."

I smiled. "Thanks for that piece of imagery."

He chuckled. "It's happened to us before." He groaned. "How long have I been out?"

"Six days."

His eyes widened. "Six days?"