wintern | (no subject)

Even when she's out of SHIELD medical, they still insist she talk to someone. A therapist. Steph isn't all that impressed with the idea, but she has to admit that the lady they set her up with is nice. Doesn't treat Steph like she's made of glass or about to crack, just asks some questions easily about what she liked to do. By the end of her hour, she had a notebook with some recommendations of things she ought to try in it. One of them was having a look around for some art classes she could take, community things. It'd give her something she likes to do and help her make some connections in the current decade.

She's just found a class to sit in on, a nice mix of adults doing some still life studies, when there's a crash and the building just... falls apart. SHIELD still hasn't properly gone over her limits yet, figured out what she can lift and how fast she can run and for how long, all that sort of thing. She still doesn't know, but she's got an idea now that she's fast enough and strong enough to pull a few people out of the way of a section of the ceiling that collapses over them.

Steph isn't a hero, not really, but SHIELD - back when it was new and just getting onto its feet with Howard and Peggy at the helm - taught her a few things. And her medical knowledge might be about 60 years out of date, but she knows enough to figure that everyone's well enough to get out of the building under their own power, especially when she swings a desk at the window and makes them a new emergency exit.

A few more rooms are cleared out pretty much the same way, with the people who can move okay helping the ones who can't, when she comes across the giant robot that shook the building apart. And, well, she says a few words Sarah Rogers wouldn't have approved of. It's not something she'd want to take on, but it's still going crazy and the direction its headed is leading it right towards a classroom she knows is filled with terrified kids.

Hell, she's gotten into fights she couldn't win for worse reasons. It takes her only a few seconds to find something big enough that, when she throws it at the thing, it makes a dent and grabs its attention.

"I don't know if there's anyone in there or not, but you're causing some real problems here, and I can't allow that to keep happening."

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From:

imfollowinghim

Hell, he's considering sneaking out so the two of them can hole up somewhere without cameras and government agents and briefings and everything else. That's never been his favorite part of this job, and while there's a part of him that kind of loves the idea of getting to actually work with Steph, there's another part that's just really friggin' exhausted and wants to make sure she's alright.

Bucky hadn't really gotten a great look at her back when he'd first rushed in, more focused on trying to stop the robot from getting at her or - God forbid - the kid again, so he scoots around to take a look and-

Oh.

"Jesus, Steph."

From:

wintern

"What?"

Steph glances at him - some of the emergency workers had tried to tell her something, keep her from going back in. She figured it was routine, trying to keep the civilians away from the disaster zone. It honestly didn't occur to her that she might look that hurt, not when she could run around and fight robots okay.

It really didn't occur to her that it might not have hurt too much because it burned out most of the nerves around the edges of where the robot's energy thing hit. The skin looks... bad, dark and burned through. The only really good thing that can be said of it is that it's very localized to a relatively small area.

"Bucky?"

From:

imfollowinghim

If he was a different person with a different history, there's a good chance he'd throw up right about now. As it is, the smell of burnt skin is just a deeply unpleasant reminder of stuff he's seen that still haunts his nightmares and waking hours, and it's made forty times worse because this is Steph, and they still don't know how well she heals. That's bad, that's nerve damage, and even he takes a long time to come back from something like that.

"You seriously can't feel that?" And he sounds... worried and angry, and he's suddenly totally damn impatient for SHIELD and everyone else to get here, because damn.

From:

wintern

"It's... it's really not that bad. Doesn't hurt much."

She suddenly feels a lot less confident about how fine she is, especially when Bucky's looking at her like there's something awful on her back. It doesn't help that the adrenaline's finally starting to bleed out, making her feel more tired and less clear than she did a minute ago. "What's wrong?"

From:

imfollowinghim

"It nicked you with that energy beam thing." 'Nicked.' "You'll be fine," although he feels like he's trying to convince himself of that more than he's trying to tell her. Steph could get an arm blown off, and she'd probably be trying to say it wasn't a big deal.

That's the thought that makes him reach for her elbow, gripping gently and trying to coax her into sitting down until back up gets here. "Come on, sit down. You breathing okay?"

From:

wintern

"I'm breathing fine, Bucky." Steph lets him sit her down, because the look on his face makes her think he's either really overreacting and needs to get it out of his system, or... "I don't have asthma anymore, just got the breath knocked out of me for a minute, earlier."

Not completely unlike how her energy's kind of draining out all at once, here.

From:

imfollowinghim

It's probably both. He doesn't have anything in his utility belt that's going to do much for third degree burns, and he knows he's probably being overprotective and stupid, but. They don't know, and Steph practically just got out of the hospital. He's tired of feeling like they're never going to get away from tests and doctors and scientists.

He knows better than to ask for things to be normal. That's just flat out not possible. But he does find himself wishing things were different more often than he should, and he puts a protective arm around Steph - mindful of the burn - with a sigh when he realizes it.

"I guess this means we're gonna need to get you a uniform."

Edited Date: 2014-05-29 02:20 am (UTC)

From:

wintern

That gets a shaky laugh while she tries to picture herself in Bucky's uniform, or something like it. "And what would my name be? Liberty Belle?" Her head tips to the side, using his shoulder as a pillow for a minute. She's pretty sure she hears movement in the building finally, so they probably only have another minute or two.

From:

imfollowinghim

Probably. They're also probably lucky they haven't been interrupted by incredibly loud rock music announcing the arrival of a certain teammate who probably can't resist the siren call of civilians in danger and awesome piece of futuristic technology.

(It's not that Bucky dislikes Tony, so much as he will totally punch him right in the arc reactor if this is one of his science projects gone haywire.)

"Lady Liberty, American Dream, Lieutenant America..." The last one is even more of a joke than the preceding two, and it's easy to joke, to try and distract them both from what's going on. "I don't care what you pick, just try not to get killed."

They should both be dead already, probably. He just doesn't want to find out what something more permanent would be like.

From:

wintern

"I won't." She gives him a grin with more confidence than she can possibly have, given what she's saying. "Promise. But I'm not going to be called Lieutenant America."

Because that one is awful.

From:

imfollowinghim

"Well, you can't be General America, that just sounds stupid." And he doesn't push her on it, or try to make that more of a promise she can't keep.

The footsteps are getting closer, and Bucky turns a little to try to get a look at who's coming without disturbing Steph.

"We're over here. She's got some burns."

From:

wintern

Luckily, the person who arrives first is SHIELD, someone who knows enough to recognize Stephanie Rogers as not just a civilian. He's already requesting a medical team as he approaches, having confirmed that the robot is down and not moving. "How bad?"

Steph is going to let Bucky answer that one, seeing as how he's the only one of the two of them who can actually see them. And also, she's kind of starting to feel woozy.

From:

imfollowinghim

"Third degree, I don't know how deep. She said she can't really feel anything, but she's breathing okay." Which hopefully means there isn't any organ damage or anything. He's not really eager to discover how much time it takes a super soldier to come back from something like that.

Steph's expression looks like it's gone a little distant, and he squeezes her arm gently, trying to get her to focus.

"You still with me, Steph?"

From:

wintern

Her reply is a beat too late and accompanied by a weak laugh. "Yeah. Just. Adrenaline crash, I think."

And then there's a bottle of water being gently placed in her hands while the agent looks at her. "I'm not really equipped for this, but I'll get an EMT to look at her until we can get her to a SHIELD facility." He glances at Bucky. "Probably better if you both get out of the building."

From:

imfollowinghim

"Yeah, good plan." He makes eye contact with the agent, and both wind up taking a side to help her up, steadying hands above her elbows to help get her back on her feet.

Bucky's pretty sure she's still going to insist she's totally cool to walk herself, but for the time being, he's grateful to have an ally in the 'stop Steph from faceplanting on the ground' front.

From:

wintern

If he had felt the need to bet on that, he would have won. Because Steph lets out a huff of a breath that says she's had more than enough of being the invalid in any given situation to last a lifetime. "I can still walk."

From:

imfollowinghim

"Yeah, well, you said you couldn't feel it, and you've got a hole in your back, so I think we're gonna take it easy," he says, and it's so much easier to joke about that than to let on how disturbed he is by that fact. He's seen Steph in rough shape before, obviously, but nothing like this, nothing like someone would actually get on the battlefield or something.

"You did some good work, Ms. Rogers," the agent chimes in, maybe a little awkwardly, but obviously meaning it. "A lot more people probably would have been hurt if you hadn't been here."

From:

wintern

Oddly enough, the compliment does make her feel better. Of course she knew what she was doing, but she was mostly focused on getting people out and minimizing damage. It didn't really sink in that she was finally helping.

Of course, that's when one of her legs tries to just fall out from under her. She catches herself quickly, though, so dignity preserved? "Still fine!"

From:

imfollowinghim

"I know you are," Bucky sighs, readjusting his hold just to make sure she's really not going to faceplant, and it's only half placating. She'll be okay. She has to be okay, because he would absolutely be lost at sea without having her to talk to or lean on or just be with, so in his mind, there's really no alternative.

From:

wintern

"Guess I'm gonna get to know SHIELD's medical facilities a lot better." And isn't that something she hadn't wanted to do for at least a good long while. Steph glances at him and feels a sudden stab of guilt, because it's really not fair that she's supposed to be healthy now and here he is, half-carrying her to the doctors. Again.

She finds his hand and squeezes it. "We can still watch movies tonight?"

From:

imfollowinghim

Bucky has never minded needing to be her human crutch, or wheelchair or ambulance. Well, he's minded, but not because of Steph. Rather, because it's just frustrating that she'd been held back for so long by stuff she had no control of, and even now that she's healthy, he still definitely doesn't mind.

He just wants her to be happy and safe and healthy, and if getting there means leaning on him, he's going to complain.

"If you think I'm letting you get out of the last Indiana Jones movie, you're dead wrong, Rogers."