As I Was

Twenty One

Her head pounded as she slowly came round, reaching up she winced as her fingertips brushed her temple. Her vision was slightly blurred as she forced her eyes to open and a groan left her mouth when she pushed herself up into a sitting position.

"What happened?" Elena asked as Harper sat down on the mattress beside her, handing her a glass of water.

"Someone broke into the cafe and you decided to be an idiotic hero about it," Sorina's voice echoed from behind her and a sheepish smile came to Elena's lips.

"You can't use idiotic and hero when talking about the same person babe," she said as she turned, closing her eyes for a second to calm the bout of dizziness which came from her fast movement.

"Here," Harper said pressing a box of painkillers into her hand "Take these."

"Not all of them though Lena...you know, just in case you've managed to forget everything about safety."

Elena sent Harper an unimpressed look "I'm never going to live this down am I?"

"Nope," Harper answered with a chuckle.

"I hope you like tea," a third voice cut through as a mug was being handed down to her, Elena's eyes narrowing as he stepped into her line of vision and recognition hit her.

"Plum guy!" she exclaimed as she accepted the drink off him "Are they working?" she asked as Sorina let out a groan and pinched the bridge of her nose.

A frown of confusion dipped Harper's eyebrows as she glanced between her friend and Bucky "Working how?"

"With his memory!" Elena answered before taking a sip of the tea cradled in her hands. A grateful expression crossed her mind and she hugged the mug closer to her chest "Plums do. Help with memory I mean. He heard me telling Mr Tessler and said he wanted some himself, it's probably a little bit too soon to tell if there's any change though but keep eating them...do you have any more or do you need some? I'm sure Sorina-"

"Okay, I think you're overwhelming him a little bit there sweetie," Sorina said with a sigh, used to her wife's awkward rambling whenever she was around someone she found attractive "She's right about the plums though, if you can understand her through all of the words," she continued with a laugh.

Bucky laughed, a noise Harper thought she would never tire of listening to, "They're working just fine," he said, watching as a smile crossed Elena's face and she sent Sorina a pointed look "James," he introduced himself, holding out his hand for Elena to shake "To save myself from being called Plum Guy."

A blush scattered across Elena's cheekbones as she placed her hand in his, shaking it before allowing him to gently help her to her feet "Nice to finally meet you James," she said, glancing to Harper from the corner of her eye as she wobbled slightly on her feet.

"Yeah I'm going to take her home," Sorina said with a nervous chuckle as she hurried forward to wrap an arm around her wife's shoulders "Before she embarrasses you as well as herself," she continued with a pointed look to the shrugging Elena "Thanks for looking after her," she said with an exhausted smile as she guided Elena, who was sending Harper a thumbs up, toward the door.

"They seem nice," Bucky said with amusement in his tone as he turned and made his way over to the kitchen to throw out the rest of Elena's tea. The smile slid off his face as he noticed Harper slowly sitting herself down on the chair, her fingers raking through her hair "Are you alright?"

"I'm just not sure how to handle all of this," she said with a sigh as he made his way over to sit beside her "How do you handle it?" she asked, the exhaustion from the day she had had threatening to take over as an ache began in the centre of her shoulder blades and her eyes started to sting.