Remembering Freedom

Not Your Fault

May barely had time to grab a second of silence in the cockpit before the sound of an argument came through the metal door. Rogers and Barnes by the sound of it. While loud enough to hear, the language being used wasn't allowing her much in the way of content, but going off the tones alone, it was definitely something she didn't want drug into.

Romanov entered the cockpit a moment later.

May was surprised to see a weariness on the redhead's face after the unmistakable sound of metal striking metal reached them.

She sighed. "If they wanted a brawl, they could've at least waited until we landed."

The argument was still raging on. May turned to her and asked. "Language?"

"Gallic...Irish dialect." Her brow was furrowed slightly. "Not one I'm familiar with."

May nodded, remembering from somewhere that Steve Rogers' mother had been an Irish immigrant. Knowing him as a kid, Gallic was a language he'd heard often while being reprimanded. May would know, being on the end of her mother's sharp tongue when she was younger. "Probably why they're using it."

"Barnes yes...Steve is just angry."

Another clash of metal. "Any chance you could calm them down before they break something?"

"This argument was days in the making. I would only aggravate things." Romanov shrugged. "Barnes will let me know if he ever gets close to...switching."

May let the subject drop, the argument quickly became background noise. "How's Barton?"

"Both he and Jemma are being worked on by Doctor Hartman herself." The woman pursed her lips. "Banner and Stark are making new and improved hearing aids for him."

"Will they be dropping by?"

"At the hospital yes. They'll be there within the hour."

The two woman immediately noticed when the yelling stopped. Putting the plane on autopilot, both stood up slowly with weapons in hand as the door slowly opened. The sight that greeted them broke their stoic masks.

Barnes was curled into Steve's side, his body shaking as the blond wrapped an arm around his friend's shoulders. Neither noticed their presence, Steve was speaking in comforting, hushed tones in the same foreign tongue as before and Barnes was wearing a thousand-yard stare that reminded May all too eerily of Bahrain...

"They've been through too much." Haunted green eyes lingered on Barnes before settling on Steve.

At that moment, May realized just how young the three of them were. They were supposed to be in the prime of their lives, not living through personal hells that had stripped them of their innocence and broken something in their minds. She rested a hand on Romanov's shoulder, breaking the woman's gaze. May watched eyes harden and face smooth out and for a moment, wondered if that's how she looked to others...

It was safe to say that the short flight to the hospital was silent and when May walked past the two super soldiers, she saw Natasha make her way to Barton's room. She met Phil by the entrance to Jemma's room. She leaned into him as he wrapped a comforting arm around her.

"You okay Melinda?"

She sighed. "I'm tired."

Both agents looked up as the two super soldiers came into the room and Barnes slowly approached Jemma's door, looking to them for permission. His hands were trembling and jaw was clenched tightly. No words were spoken as they stepped aside and watched the man go to Jemma's side, his body going completely still.

"He's afraid," Rogers spoke from behind them. "He doesn't want to hurt her anymore...I had to convince him not to leave as soon as we got word that they were okay."