Some Things Never Sleep

Chapter Eleven

It was the next day when Dr. Banner and Dr. Cho finally decided to release Emma from the room. She seemed to be more than healthy without any bruises or marks on her left from the fight with Clint and Natasha. The same couldn't be said for the former Shield agents. The only suggestion that Bruce had for Emma was for Steve to make sure that she ate much more since her metabolism was so fast. It wasn't something unusual to the super soldier since Steve also had a fast metabolism due to his enhancements. It was a tough couple of days for Steve as he eagerly waited to hear whether or not Emma was doing okay but Bruce and Dr. Cho assured him that she was.

He had visited Emma a couple of times during her time spent in make-shift hospital room inside the tower but she had been quiet...alarmingly so. They mostly just kept each other company while Emma ate and Steve read some files that Stark had sent him on his Stark Industries issued tablet. It was obvious that Emma was still coming to terms with being away from Hydra. It had only been a couple of days after all.

Emma still watched Dr. Banner and Dr. Cho with suspicion whenever they entered the room but she seemed a little more trusting of Steve and Natasha but that didn't mean she completely trusted them. With her spending so much time confined to the hospital room, Emma hadn't even met the other Avengers yet. Tony and Thor had seemed to be really curious about the teenager but Steve told them it was best that they didn't come to visit. Emma was still getting use to just him and Natasha as it was. Clint pretended to still be bitter about his broken bow but Steve knew that the archer was deeply concerned for Emma deep down.

"They're finally letting you out of this place." Steve announced as he walked into the room. Emma looked up from her book at him. She was currently reading the second Harry Potter book after finishing the one from last night. It appeared that she was becoming quite the fan of the series and Steve was glad to see that something was bringing her some comfort. Steve had a bag of clothing in his hand that he proceeded to place on her bed. Pepper Potts, Tony's girlfriend, had been a little too eager to go shopping for Emma. Something about shopping for a teenager had really appealed to the strawberry blonde. Emma raised an eyebrow at the bag.

"Pepper, Tony's girlfriend, was nice enough to go shopping for you. She got your measurements from Jarvis." Steve explained.

"I'm not going to comment on how creepy it is that a computer took my measurements." Emma replied and Steve raised his eyebrows at her comment. Was that a joke? It was perhaps the first non hostile comment that Emma had made since Steve had met her a few days ago. Steve found himself smiling at the young blonde.

"I felt the same exact way when I first came here." Steve told her and Emma didn't smile but her eyes didn't look cold or calculating either. What had changed? "Jarvis is pretty handy though when it comes to locating missing items so I can't complain."

"I resent that remark, Captain Rogers." The British voice said and they both glanced up at the ceiling. A soft musical sounding laughter escaped Emma and Steve grinned at her. The laughter seemed to brighten up her face, making her look exactly like the thirteen year old girl she was. It only lasted a moment because as soon as her laughter entered the room, the sooner it faded. She seemed a bit confused by what she had just done but she didn't glare or frown at him but she didn't smile again either. Steve didn't care. It was enough to know that they were getting somewhere.

"What's on the agenda today then?" Emma asked offhandedly as she looked inside the bag, taking a peek at the articles of clothing. Emma was a bit confused by the clothing which she had seen other teenage girls wear but they were things that she had never worn herself. A pair of bell bottom jeans, a popular fashion trend that was a throw back to the seventies, a floral printed blouse that looked expensive and like it came from a designer store. There was also a pair of silver flats to complete the whole outfit and Emma had never in her life been tasked to wear something so girly. Well, maybe when she was very small and live with her parents but that was a long time ago.