Red Room

23: Concussion

Next thing you know, you were now outside of the glass enclosure, sitting in a ball of immense pain, feet away from where you were last conscious. 

All circled around you was the team, seemingly anticipating a fight. 

"Wh-what happened?" you croaked out, noticeably shaking. 

Everyone dropped their fighting stances and relaxed instantaneously. 

"Well, you've got powers." Tony blurted out. The team shot him a unanimous look of annoyance. 

"Just tell me what I fucked up." you said as you let out a sigh of exasperation. 

"Nothing too bad." Bruce began, "but it took lot to keep you down, so I'm going to have to take you to the lab and check out your injuries."

Dropping your head in shame, you attempted to stand, but as soon as any amount of pressure was applied to you ankle, you collapsed, yelping in pain. 

Bucky practically jumped over to you to help, which caused you to violently flinch. Between trying to understand what happened, and kind of remembering what you did, plus the pain, you were an emotional wreck, needless to say. 

"Okay, I'm going to pick you up now, cause I'm not letting you walk like this." he whispered in a calming tone. 

You nodded you head in response and threw an arm over his shoulders to make it easier. 

"So how are we sneaking her out? It's not like we can just walk through headquarters like this." Clint asked. 

"I can just send a suit to pick her up." Tony stated, nonchalantly.

"Yeah...how about no? Fury can just say she's getting sent to a hospital or something, right?" Steve added. 

All but Tony nodded in unanimity , "that's what we'll do then."

--------

After convincing everyone at SHIELD that you were a nobody who just needed to get to a hospital, you were now laying on Bucky's lap in the back of Nick's SUV. 

Fury was still inside filling out fake paperwork for your fake identity to get you to a "hospital" for your very real injuries. 

"You can't fall asleep, okay, you might have a concussion." Bucky said, swiping some hair from your face. 

You groaned in annoyance and scooted up to rest your head on his shoulder, "But I'm tiredddd"

His eyes met yours as sorrow waved over him. 

Noticing this, you sat up and looked at him straight on, despite the spinning of your vision. 

"What?" you questioned. 

"Nothin'"

"No really, what?"

"Really, its nothing."

Had you not known any better, you would say the man was being short with you. Deciding that you lacked the energy to argue, this remained ignored. 

---

The car ride home was silent, but not a normal silence. One filled with thought, as if those in the car with you (Nick, Bucky, Steve, and Sam) were all so engrossed in their own ideas, that the absence of sound was normal to them. 

Once returning to the tower, Bruce made sure you went straight to the lab. His synopsis: a mild concussion, broken ankle, fractured rib and collarbone, sprained wrist, a gash on your arm that required stitches,  and to top it all off, a busted cheekbone. 

Tony took over as Bruce got a needle and thread ready, wrapping your ankle and wrist. 

"Thanks." you muttered, not wanting to give him any reason to make a smartass comment. 

"Of course." he whispered. The seriousness and gentility in his voice caught you off guard, but you were appreciative of it, nonetheless. 

Bruce began to walk over, holding a lotion of some sort, a spool of thread...and a needle. "Okay, I'm gonna numb this arm with a cream, then stitch it up, so you won't feel it, okay?"

You nodded, hoping that the numbing cream would actually work, the last thing you needed was more pain at this point. 

Once it made contact with your skin, it already began to take affect, you sat, poking at your arm, slightly amused at the odd sensation. 

Although there was no pain, you had to look away while the stitching was happening, just the idea of a needle going in and out of your skin was enough to make your knees go weak. 

----

Post- injury clean up, you were sent to rest for the next few days, "doctor's orders", or whatever. Not that you were complaining, it's not like you could really do much without being able to walk, or use an arm/wrist. 

Bucky carried you to his room and tucked you in, the day had been so very long, yet flew by at the same time, being mostly unconscious must have that effect. 

"Hun?" you called before he made his way out the door. He stopped in his tracks and turned back around. "Hmm?"

"Nobody ever really told me what happened...why?"

He seemed to slightly panic, not wanting to respond, but also not wanting to lie to you, "I don't think anyone necessarily knows exactly..." he said, checking the hall to ensure there were no eavesdroppers. 

"What's that mean?"

"Well...you weren't you, but you weren't not-you. Like, the glow in your eyes was gone, but the brightness in your face was there- kind of, it's hard to explain. You sounded like you, but kept saying how the Academy was going to kill you for taking this long, or something like that. You kept muttering "107", but that's just my old ward number, and you you knows that, not the fake you. I probably sound crazy-"

"Buck, I promise nothing sounds crazy right now, well everything sounds crazy, but by comparison, you sound completely sane."

He smiled at your lighthearted response, "Get some rest, y/n, I'm coming to bed soon."

"Okay..." you said as he shut the door, allowing you a moment of silence to recall the thoughts that flooded your head during your time as Mercy earlier in the day... 

A/N: another cliffhanger Ikik, I think ill be able to have next chapter up within 24 hours honestly, just trying to get back into a routine with school has been a thing that I needed to do, so thanks so much for the patience on that, and so sorry for the wait! Don't forget to vote, luv y'all!