Retribution ★ Avengers

Long Day, Huh?

Marlena's eyes fluttered open as she was met with the irritating sound of beeping machines. Immediately she knew something wasn't right with her body. She was groggier than she felt she should've been. There was a massive weight on her chest she could only imagine as being equivalent to that of a freight car. She felt as if she'd been pulled apart from the inside-out, and the sensation only made her feel nauseous. Her vision was slightly blurred as she looked around the room, but the moment her hazel eyes fell upon a familiar face, everything seemed so much clearer.

"Hey," Marlena spoke quietly to the blond man at her side, a weak smile pulling at the corners of her lips. Her focus shifted to the newborn in his arms, and her heart skipped a beat. She tried forcing herself to sit up, but her body was too weak. She was too weak.

"Hey, it's okay," Steve responded softly. "You just went through a major surgery. It's okay to take it easy."

"I-I wanna hold her," Marlena said to him, her voice cracking through the emotion she was now feeling due to finally seeing her sweet girl for the first time ever. She was overwhelmed with a love she only ever imagined she'd experience with the twins. The two had already been through so much together since Marlena'd been pregnant, and it helped to truly bond her to the precious newborn in the arms of the man she loved so much.

Steve gently passed their sleeping daughter into her arms, and the second Marlena felt her warmth, a strong feeling of peace and comfort entered her body. All of the nerves and anxiety she'd experienced throughout the day were dissipating now that she was looking down at her little girl's face—the moment she felt she'd been waiting for so long—and she was so beautiful.

"She's even prettier than I thought she'd be, Steve," Marlena whispered, not wanting to wake her baby. "She's everything."

Marlena glanced up at Steve, his blue eyes brimming with tears as he watched his two girls. The moment Steve learned of Marlena's returned love for him had been one of the greatest of his long life, and ever since then, those kinds of moments just kept coming. She could see the love and happiness in his eyes as she smiled up at him.

"What does it feel like? Finally having her here, holding her?" Steve asked her, making her refocus all of her attention back on her daughter.

"It feels..." She could not even begin to find the words. She felt so many things; she felt her. Marlena could feel her as she slept. She could feel her fragility, her innocence, her pure soul. She also felt something else—something different. When she'd first held the twins following their birth, she could feel an energy within them that she hadn't been able to understand at the time.

Marlena honed in on this feeling, and then it hit her. She hadn't understood it with the twins, but as they'd grown older, she'd learned of their abilities—of Charlie's powers. Holding her newborn now, she could not feel that kind of energy. She felt nothing, yet she felt everything.

"Steve," Marlena breathed out, tearing her eyes away from the sleeping newborn in her arms. As her eyes met Steve's, she was left unable to finish her sentence. Bucky came through the entryway to her recovery room, hesitantly, but with a soft smile—one she hadn't realized just how much she'd missed until now.

"Bucky," Marlena said softly, causing Steve to turn around.

"Hey, Buck," Steve greeted him, standing up from the chair he'd moved closer to Marlena's bedside.

"Long day, huh?" Bucky chuckled lowly as he crossed the room and pulled Steve into an unexpected, but much longed for hug.

Steve wrapped his arms around his friend, tears forming at the corners of his eyes once more. The sight of it caused Marlena's heart to ache and she, too, felt tears threatening to surface. Everything about this moment was so emotional—so perfect. She felt as if she was outside of her body, watching everything happen in a dreamlike state.