the soft murmur of voices stirred cartia from sleep. she blinked blearily up at the ceiling, momentarily disoriented by the unfamiliar weight in her body - pain, dull but insistent, wrapped itself around her limbs like ivy.
bucky's low rumble pulled her focus back. "she's stronger than she knows." he was saying. his voice hovered above her, almost protective.
"she always has been," bruce replied quietly. "it's just going to take time. muscle memory, retraining nerve pathways... recovery's not a straight line. we all know that."
cartia shifted slightly, and the movement must have caught her soulmate's attention because, a moment later, bucky's face appeared in her line of sight, smiling softly.
"morning, sweetheart." he said, voice gentle.
bruce gave her an encouraging nod. "good to see you awake honey. how are you feeling?"
cartia considered it; the heaviness, the ache. "like i've been run over." she rasped.
"normal." bruce assured her lightly.
before she could reply, the door creaked open and molly breezed in, a tumbler in hand, a mischievous glint in her eye.
"look who's awake!" she announced. "brought you breakfast, my love."
cartia gave a faint huff of amusement as molly perched on the bed's edge and held out the smoothie with a flourish. the scent of bananas and strawberries wafted up, making cartia's stomach growl embarrassingly.
"easy," bruce warned, chuckling. "small sips."
obediently, cartia took the cup and drank, the cool sweetness a balm against her sore throat. she managed half before setting it aside, feeling strangely exhausted from the simple effort.
"how's the pain?" molly asked, reaching out instinctively to tuck a strand of cartia's hair behind her ear.
"manageable." cartia lied, because saying anything else would only make them worry.
bruce exchanged a look with bucky — one of those silent, wordless communications adults seemed so annoyingly good at — and then nodded.
"well, you're stable. that's the important thing. and," he added, smiling slightly, "you promised shuri you'd try walking again today."
cartia groaned. "you're all evil."
"wouldn't dream of denying it," molly said cheerfully, squeezing her hand. "come on. you're stronger than you think."
it took a whole team effort: molly and bucky flanking her sides, bruce and shuri watching just a few paces away, ready to intervene if she so much as wobbled.
her legs trembled violently with the first attempt, knees threatening to buckle under her own weight, but she gritted her teeth and pushed up.
one step.
then another.
pain burned like wildfire through her muscles, but she didn't stop.
three steps. then five. pain etched into every movement — but she didn't stop until she was ready to.
when she sat again, molly offered a small, proud smirk.

YOU ARE READING
Kingdom Her • Avengers Soulmate AU
FanfictionBOOK TWO OF THE KINGDOM SERIES Avengers AU In which Cartia King gets through her days with her family and soulmates by her side. Not intended for younger audiences Book One - Kingdom Come Cover art by the amazing and wonderfully talented @fairyywrld