Lark

What the hell happened?

Aria’s POV six hours later

'My head hurts', this was the first thought that came to her tired brain. Opening her eyes Aria immediately shut them against the soft lights overhead. Even with the light dimmed down as low as it could go without being off, it still hurt her eyes. She knew where she was based on that brief two second glimpse. She was in her quiet room over in the med bay. She must have had an episode. A big one if the disorientation was any clue to go off of. Groaning, she tried to sit up, but failed to do so, falling back onto the bed. Frustration at her weak body Aria just lay there while she tried to get her bearings.

"Hey, take it easy there, little Ninja. Just lay back and try to rest." Aria didn't need to open her eyes to recognize that particular voice. Tony Stark had a very distinctive voice and had the bad habit of giving out accurately stupid nicknames. Her mouth twitched as she forced back the smile that threatened to break out across her face so the man next to her wouldn’t see it.

"What the hell happened?" She asked, keeping her eyes closed. Aria felt his hand on hers as he slipped her some pain relief tablets. Popping them into her mouth she shifts to sit up allowing him to help her so she wouldn’t fall again.

"You came back a couple days early and ran straight into Barnes' head." Tony tells her as he continues to help her to sit up far enough with her back to the padded headboard when she struggles to do it on her own. Handing her a small cup Tony encouraged her to take a sip of water to wash the pills down.

"Oh." Is all she got out. That would have definitely done it. The man had decades of trauma and she’d let her guard down and all of that inner turmoil came crashing through her head like a tsunami. It’s why not only her brain hurt, but her body felt like it took a beating. Depending on what she’d done as Barnes she might be adding a few new bruises or scars to her collection.

"Yeah, oh. I'm gonna lift the bed up a little for you.” Pressing the up button on the remote he inclined the bed so it cradled her so she could relax. “Anything else I can get you?" Aria shook her head no as she cautiously cracked open her eyes. He gives her his signature cocky grin when she does and she was actually tempted to smile back when his soft tone of care penetrated her sluggish mind.

"How long?" Aria asked him, wanting to know how long she was trapped in Bucky Barnes' head. Maybe if she ignored his concern then she could also ignore the warm feeling in her chest that makes her want to tear up every time he spoke to her like this.

Tony’s grin slipped a little as if he was remembering something sad and unpleasant. "A couple of hours. Steve stayed with you for most of it, but he left to check on the real Barnes a little while ago.” She nodded her head in gratitude because Tony knew she needed to know who had cared for her while she was lost inside someone else's head. It let her know how much or how little she needed to apologize to them. “He also needed to explain to him what happened when you finally passed out. Barnes was obviously upset by what he heard." Swallowing hard Aria avoided looking Tony in the eye. She hated this part. The intrusive way her powers worked made it so that people got rightfully angry and upset with her when she channeled them.

"Well, that must have been one hell of an introduction. Did I hurt anyone?" She could only imagine what she said or did to have Spangles sitting by her bedside for so long. Aria shifts a little at the thought of the man being with her for any amount of time. Steve Rogers was a kind man, a respectful man, but he confused her. He seemed to want something from her, he never said what it was though and she for once was too timid to ask.

Shaking his head, Tony brushed Aria's hair back from her face with a smile. "Yeah, let's not do that again. And no. You didn’t hurt anyone. I swear.” He tacts on when her gaze zeros in on his face to see if he was lying to try and spare her feelings. “You wanna tell me how come you were back early and why didn't you check in?"