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It was chaos, ashes and dust floating in miniscule motes in the air as people rushed about, bodies, unconscious and dead lying on the ground amongst the rubble of the partially still standing buildings that surrounded the public square that had been filled with tourists. When three bombs in underground sewers that ran directly under the edges of the square went off, they took down at least three buildings completely and partially collapsed most of the rest. It was claimed by a small terrorist group who wanted to make an example, a sort of showing to exhibit what they were capable of. And the Avengers had rushed in to help, having tracked down the bombs mere minutes before they went off. They had been unable to prevent it, so the least they could do was to help clean up, to find people buried under rubble and trapped in buildings.
Clint, Steve and myself had been in the sewers when they went off, and I just happened to be the one leading the way, so I got stuck under a large pile of rocks. I had screamed in pain, utterly sure that the rubble had at least broken a rib, if not more, fractured my femur and driven the breath out of me. A large concrete piece had also smashed against the ridge of my left eyebrow and I could feel warm blood trickling over my eye. Luckily Clint and Steve had been close together when the bomb went off, so Steve had thrown his arm up and used his shield to prevent them from sustaining too much damage.
I could vaguely hear shouting as I struggled to even lift a finger under the rocks that pinned me down, but I let out a low groan to indicate that I was still alive.
“Y/n? Y/n, can you hear me?” I could hear Steve asking as he grunted and pulled the block of concrete that had definitely broken a rib off my chest which made me grunt, my head nodding in answer.
“Come on, sweetheart, I know you can do better than that. Use your words, now, can you hear me?”
I knew that he was baiting me and in my pained state I fell for it. “Oh, fuck off”
Steve laughed at my growled statement, Clint chuckling as well as he shifted off smaller pieces of rocks off my legs. “Language, Y/n. Now, are you hurt?”
I look up at Steve’s worried face, and after a small hesitation, I shake my head. I knew that Steve took his team’s safety very seriously, and if I had even a small papercut he would consider benching me and sending me back to the quinjet. So, even though I was having trouble breathing, a fractured – possibly broken - femur and what might be a mild concussion, I let him help me stand up, and I bit back the pain and even managed to stand up straight, shooting a smile at Steve and Clint.
“Well, a few fucking rocks aren’t going to keep me down” I grin at Steve’s eye roll but Clint just claps me on the back, not noticing my full body flinch or the catch in my breath.
“Come on, I’m sure it’s a mess up there” Clint starts to guide me forward and Steve sticks close to my side. Even though my leg sent painful and practically debilitating jolts rocketing up and down my leg at every step, I made it to the ladder that led up to the surface. And with tears brimming in my eyes, I made the painful climb up. When I finally make it to the street, I look around in horror at the destruction that the bombs had caused. I could clearly see dead bodies littered across the square and living ones, injured and uninjured, were running around. I could see Tony in the middle of it, SHIELD agents rushing around to construct medical tents under the direction of Bruce who was wearing a lab coat and carrying boxes of medical equipment. Wanda and Pietro were helping first responders to shift rocks, Wanda using her powers to lift heavy weights and Pietro using his speed to shift the rocks away to an unpopulated area to create more room. And Natasha was hurrying towards them, dust covering her black suit.
“Guys? Are you all alright?” Natasha called out as she swept her gaze over us, eyes landing on me and concern crossing across her features as she takes in my torn uniform and trail of blood that ran down my face. But I quickly shake my head – Steve was in front of me, so he didn’t see – and Natasha frowned before looking away from me and at Steve, who smiles reassuringly.
“We’re all good. Y/n over here got trapped under a couple of rocks but says they’re fine.” Steve takes a look around him and frowns, an authoritative air taking over. “Alright, people, we need to fan out. Clint and I can help herd people out and away from here, Y/n, can you help the twins?”
I paused, but nodded in agreement, even though I knew I really shouldn’t. “Yeah, I can do that”
It was another hour of hard work before I began to truly reach my breaking point. I was already injured when I started to help the twins with shifting rocks, and the pain radiating throughout my body was only getting worse after the adrenaline coursing through my body began to wear off, and the part that was most worrying was that I could feel my lower back going numb, extending around my waist. But I didn’t say anything until I finally collapsed onto one knee, a low moan passing my lips. Wanda whirled around to look at me, and she was by my side in a second, hand cupping my face.
“Y/n, hey, look, I’m going to read your mind for a sec, alright? Just to see what’s wrong with you”
I grit my teeth but nod. With a flash of red in her eyes, Wanda reads my mind and she gasps, glaring disapprovingly at me.
“Y/n, the hell! You’re injured so badly I don’t even understand how you’re still standing! And your back – “Wanda reached around my body to presumably probe my back -even though I couldn’t feel it – and when she pulls her hand back, it’s covered in blood. Her eyes widen and I try to shush her as she calls out to Steve.
“Captain!”
“Ssh, I’m fine” I try to say but Wanda shakes her head as she frowns at me.
“You are not fine.” Wanda looks up when Steve jogs over to us, panic written across his face. “Steve, Y/n has a broken femur, two broken ribs, a mild concussion and the nerves in their back - I’m not sure what’s wrong, but Y/n’s whole lower back is numb”
“Wanda, come on” I groan but Steve kneels next to me, a firm hand splayed across my upper back between my shoulder blades, other hand resting on my shoulder, turning me to face him.
“Y/n, you told me you were fine” he says forcefully, and I shrug. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“I’m not weak” I mumble, a sudden wave of dizziness flowing over me and I groan as I fall backwards and Steve grabs me, pulling me close to his chest. “I’m fine, I wanted to help”
“You have been helpful, but now you need help” Steve murmurs as he picks me up and jogs over to the medical tent where Bruce and Tony were standing.
“Hey, Y/n okay?” Tony calls out but Bruce doesn’t say anything and directs Steve to an empty gurney. Wanda had followed both of them and started to fill Bruce in. Steve carefully sets me down and lays a firm hand on my chest when I try to sit up.
“No, stay down” He instructs, and I roll my eyes.
“Why?”
“Because you are severely injured and a stubborn idiot who wouldn’t admit that they were injured and worked themself to the bone before practically collapsing” Steve finishes his rant and I smirk up at him, ignoring Bruce who had moved beside me and was now inserting an IV needle into the crook of my elbow.
“Aww, it almost sounds like you care” I chuckle as the drugs that were now just starting to work through my system, making my head fall back onto the gurney. “Woohoo, these are some strong drugs”
“These are to keep you sedated so you don’t move while we set your broken bones and figure out what’s wrong with your back” Bruce informs me but the drugs were making my mind fuzzy, my muscles growing limp, and making my mind relatively one track so I end up focusing on the one thing that was right in front of me.
“Damn, you’re really pretty” I mutter at Steve, as my eyes focus on his blue ones and I chuckle as his cheeks flush. “Such pretty blue eyes”
“Uh, Bruce, is this normal?” Steve asks Bruce as he stripped off my armoured jacket – which really did not help keep my ribs safe - and unbuttoned my undershirt and gently pressed his fingers over my ribs, stilling when I let out a yelp.
“Well, the sedatives are keeping Y/n docile, possibly removing inhibitions. I can only imagine that Y/n is saying thoughts that would normally be kept secret.”
“Your hair is very blond” I inform Steve, who looks like he is just going to go along with whatever I say.
“Yeah?” Steve smiles reassuringly as he pats my knee on my uninjured leg. “You like my hair, huh?”
“Uh huh” I mumble, fingers twitching towards Steve. “Can I touch it? Looks so silky”
“Um – “Steve looks to Bruce who shrugs. “Yeah, sure, Y/n”
Steve carefully wraps his fingers around my wrist and holds it up, tilting his head and guiding my hand to his hair. He lets out a small laugh at the delighted look that appears on my face as I gently run my fingers through his hair, the drugs making the sensation even better.
“Wowww – “I draw out the word, but I cry out when Bruce takes advantage of my distraction and resets my broken femur. “Oh! Mother Bitch!”
I turn my head to glare at Bruce who smiled sheepishly while Tony cackles in the background because he overheard my new swear phrase.
“Y/n, language” Steve reprimands gently but I roll my eyes, curling my fingers into Steve’s hair and tugging slightly.
“I’m injured, I’m allowed to swear” I insist, and he just raises an eyebrow as he untangles my fingers from his hair.
“But I thought you said were fine. That means that you aren’t allowed to swear”
I frown and my eyebrows furrow in thought which makes Steve grin. Damn it, he outmanoeuvred me.
“Alright, you need to sit up, Y/n, so I can look at your ribs and bandage them, and then figure out what’s wrong with your back. Come on, Cap, help me sit Y/n up”
Steve wraps his hand around my bicep and Bruce grabs my other arm, both men helping me sit up which makes me grimace at the dull pain radiating through my chest.
“Ow” I whine, pouting at Steve who pats my shoulder gently, thumb brushing over my collarbone reassuringly. “That hurt, Brucie”
“See, the name Brucie suits you” Tony grins as he hands a roll of gauze and bandages to Bruce who starts to bind my ribs.
“Tony, Y/n is practically high on drugs and had no accountability for what is said” Bruce says calmly as he finished binding my ribs and pats my shoulder. “Alright, now I need you to lie on your stomach and to keep still so I can examine your back”
“My stomach – “I say slowly, and Bruce nods. “Aw man, my brain is feeling very fuzzy. Is my brain meant to feel fuzzy?”
“Y/n, that’s just the sedatives” Steve says calmly as he firmly manoeuvres my body to twist around and lay on my stomach, my head nuzzling into the crook of my elbow that didn’t have the IV in it with Steve’s hand resting on my shoulder blade, the warmth seeping into my muscles. And I can feel Bruce standing next to me but I can barely feel him touching my lower back.
“Y/n, can you feel anything when I do this?” Bruce asks but I just grunt non-committedly.
“Are you doing anything? Stevie, is he doing anything?” I try to twist my head around to look at Steve, but he just places a careful hand on the back of my head, keeping me still, most likely obeying Bruce’s order to keep me still.
“Alright, Y/n, it looks like the blood that Wanda reported came from just a small cut on the right side of your lower back, but you said that Y/n got buried under a bunch of rocks when the bombs went off?” The question was directed at Steve who made an affirmative hum, and Bruce sighs, fingers probing the middle of my back, and I grumble when I feel the touch faintly, his probing fingertips moving down and then I can’t feel them.
“Well, it would appear that when Y/n got knocked down to the ground, the spine was heavily bruised and thus the nerves shut down in order to prevent pain. Now, it extends to the base of the tailbone and up to the middle of Y/n’s back and wraps around to the sides. I believe that Y/n should regain feeling after a day or so but from then on, maybe for a month it’s going to hurt. A lot.” Bruce’s voice was serious and I felt Steve’s hand move down to the back of my neck and squeeze softly in comfort.
“Mm, can I get off the drugs now?” I mumble, shifting slightly, relishing in the small comfort that Steve’s touch brought me. “I know I always said that I never got the chance to try drugs in high school but I thought it would be more fun than this”
Bruce chuckled quietly and pats my shoulder. “Alright, Steve, help me sit Y/n up and then we can put Y/n in the quinjet and fly back to base when we’re done here”
“Aww, come on, I can still help” I whine but Steve hushes me as he bodily lifts me up and sits me up on the gurney, back facing Bruce who starts to wrap thick bandages around my waist, securing what must be an icepack to my lower back due to the sound of the small mobile freezer opening that Bruce had behind him. Steve was in front of me, smiling softly as I stare at him, the drugs making everything I saw glow slightly, which made Steve look almost angelic.
“Wow, you’re glowing” I murmur as I lean forward, staring closer at his eyes which made him chuckle.
“Got something on my face?” He jokes, and my eyes widen as I frantically shake my head.
“No – no, you don’t, I didn’t mean – “I start to panic – the sedatives not doing much to calm me down – but Steve hushes me quietly, hand reaching up to squeeze the nape of my neck.
“It’s okay, I was only kidding. But, now in order to get to the quinjet I can either scrounge up a wheelchair or I can carry you. I don’t want you walking around on your leg”
I go to talk but I flinch as Bruce moves around the gurney and carefully slides the IV needle out of my skin, dabbing away the small amount of blood that beads on my skin which is promptly covered by a bandaid. I wait a couple of minutes for the sedatives to pass through my system – very grateful that it’s absence was resulting in my mind becoming less fuzzy – before I attempt to speak again.
“Both are equally demeaning” I scowl. “I can walk perfectly fine”
And with that said, I hop off the gurney and attempt to stand but my broken leg gives out and I collapse, only to get caught by Steve who scoops me into his arms and instantly starts to walk towards the quinjet.
“Oh, fuck off” I growl as I reluctantly relax against Steve’s body but he just grins and rolls his eyes.
“Come on, you know you enjoy it” Steve teases as he squeezes my body slightly to his own, and I flush, burying my face against his shoulder in embarrassment. And Steve just kept talking. “I know you like me, Y/n. I wasn’t sure at first but your time under the sedatives just confirmed it”
I huff and squirm in his grip, which made him chuckle.
“I can’t be responsible for anything I said while under sedatives” I mutter as Steve walks up the ramp of the quinjet and carefully deposits me on one of the seats that lined the inside of the quinjet, murmuring an apology when I yelp as the action jostles my leg and ribs.
“Well, if you don’t like me, that’s fine, but I was hoping that you would join me for dinner on my floor, maybe let me cook for you” Steve paused as he took over latching the seatbelt that was attached to the seat, knelt on one knee and looked up at me, a small and knowing smile on his face. I gulp and as a distraction I reach up and run my fingers through his hair. Steve accepted this action and patiently waited for me to answer as he tilted his head and pressed into my hand. His hands were resting on my knees and he squeezed them gently as a prompt, and I lick my lips, failing to see how Steve’s gaze flicked down to my lips at the action and then back up.
“Well, I’m not admitting that I like you - ” I say hesitantly which made Steve smirk. “But I would really like to have dinner with you.”
“That’s good to hear” Steve smiled kindly as he pressed a chaste kiss to my forehead and stood up. “We’ll talk about it when we get back to base, okay? I think we’re almost done here”
“Okay” I whispered back, my cheeks flushing and the skin on my forehead buzzing from the press of his lips to my skin. He chuckles and squeezes my knee before leaving the quinjet, leaving me to watch him walk away.
I let out a breath I hadn’t realised I had was holding and smiled to myself. Because even though I was badly injured and had a hell of a time scheduled to heal from my wounds, I now had a date with Steve, a man I had been crushing on ever since I was recruited into the Avengers. And I just couldn’t wait till dinner with Captain America.