He touches his stomach bandage again, a nervous gesture Natasha would doubtless point out if she saw it. She already threatened to cut his fingers off if he kept touching the stitches in his face.
"He could be anywhere by the time I'm done healing."
He could be half-way to anywhere now, Steve reminds himself. And to take on Bucky again, if that's what has to happen, he'll need to be in peak condition. That doesn't mean he's happy about it.
Relief spreads across his face when he sees her building. It'll be the first time he's been out from under some kind of observation since....
He started to think 'since the wreck' and then realized he'd been either under surveillance or hunted since who knows how long before that. He unbuckles, opens the door, gets out - each movement carefully measured to look as uninjured as possible. The walk up to her apartment is harder. He bumps the thigh that Bucky shot agains a rail at one point and wonders what colors his face turns, while he hangs on to the wall to keep from falling.
When they get inside, when he breathes in the familiar smells of her apartment, sees the world rolling on outside her window as though nothing's changed, he exhales, finally finally starting to relax.
Steve settles on her couch with a tiny groan and tips his head back until it rests on the cushion behind him. "It smells so much better here than the hospital."
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"He could be anywhere by the time I'm done healing."
He could be half-way to anywhere now, Steve reminds himself. And to take on Bucky again, if that's what has to happen, he'll need to be in peak condition. That doesn't mean he's happy about it.
Relief spreads across his face when he sees her building. It'll be the first time he's been out from under some kind of observation since....
He started to think 'since the wreck' and then realized he'd been either under surveillance or hunted since who knows how long before that. He unbuckles, opens the door, gets out - each movement carefully measured to look as uninjured as possible. The walk up to her apartment is harder. He bumps the thigh that Bucky shot agains a rail at one point and wonders what colors his face turns, while he hangs on to the wall to keep from falling.
When they get inside, when he breathes in the familiar smells of her apartment, sees the world rolling on outside her window as though nothing's changed, he exhales, finally finally starting to relax.
Steve settles on her couch with a tiny groan and tips his head back until it rests on the cushion behind him. "It smells so much better here than the hospital."