Sam: Imprisoned (Book 3)

Movies for Medication

  When we had gotten to the Avenger's compound, Tony immediately rushed me to bed. I found some clothes that I could wear comfortably so I changed and followed his orders. Laying down in the bed, I stared at the ceiling. Fortunately, I wasn't feeling a lot of pain other than the nagging feeling in my soul.
  While I tried to sleep, Tony went to the lab when Bruce showed up. They were both night owls and were most likely going to work for most of the night. Steve was outside my room laying on the couch.
  Even with some of the Avengers surrounding me, I still felt a pang of anxiety. I rolled around in the bed and couldn't seem to get comfortable. If I couldn't lay still then this was going to be a long night of no sleep. Although, I wondered how I was supposed to sleep knowing Terrain was out there trying to terrorize me and those close to me? Even worse, he was dangerously close to completing his inventions. I only guessed from the urgency in his voice on the phone. There was a reason he needed to go after me. He must've been close.
  After what felt like hours of tossing and turning, I finally stood off of the bed. My leg started to ache which made me wince. I wondered if the pain meds were wearing off and it was about to hurt like hell. Trying to ignore it, I quietly opened the door to the bedroom and made my way into the living quarters. Even though it was dark, I still noticed the beige couch Steve was laying on.
  Trying not to wake him up, I tried to make my footsteps quieter. However, he must've already been awake because he quickly turned his head to lock eyes with me.
  "Can't sleep?" Steve wondered.
  "I don't know how I'm supposed to," I admitted, waddling to the couch and sitting beside Steve.
  His eyes softened but he promised, "You're safe here, Sam."
  Instead of addressing the recent events, I changed the subject, "Do you want to watch a movie?" I pointed over to the tv that the couch was facing. There were DVD cases in a box under the TV so we could pick out any movie we wanted to.
  In agreement, Steve stood up and paced to the box of movies. After shuffling through a few, he pulled out one before reading it, "How about The Boy in The Striped Pajamas?"
  I facepalmed and muttered, "That must've been Tony. His sick sense of humor is watching you be uncomfortable."
  "I'm aware," Steve scoffed.
  "Do something with Johnny Depp... or Tom Hanks," I encouraged.
  He shuffled through a few more of the cases before pulling another one out, "Forest Gump?"
  "Yeah, there's a bit of 'history' for you," I agreed with an almost sarcastic smile. It was a good movie but I wasn't sure how Rogers would feel about it.
  So, Steve slid the movie in and came back to sit down beside me. He seemed to enjoy the movie enough but it didn't help with our insomnia. Steve picked another movie that sounded interesting to him - some old movie that Natasha kept in there. The two of us watched movies for hours but neither of us seemed to want to close our eyes.

  It was already lunchtime so I decided to listen to Tony's advice - for once - and didn't go to the school. Which turned out to be a good idea because I passed out in the lab while Bruce and Tony conversed about tracking certain parts that Terrain would've had to buy for his project. Listening to the two talking was not only confusing but very boring since I didn't understand anything they said. Fortunately, it really helped with my insomnia.
  Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I jolted awake and sat up in the chair, "I'm awake!"
  "Hey, sorry to wake you," the voice was calming so I turned my head to connect eyes with Steve who held a plate in his hands, "I figured you might be hungry so I got you a sandwich."
  Did I feel the sudden urge to cry from appreciation - probably from lack of sleep and plenty of hormones? Yes. But I didn't want to embarrass myself so I took a deep breath, "Thank you, Steve. I appreciate it."
  I took the plate then grabbed the chips that were laying beside the sandwich and is tossed it behind me. The bag bounced off of Stark's head but he quickly caught it and examined the bag of chips.
  "Oh, sweet."
  My back was to Tony but I could still hear him open the bag and crunch on the chips happily. I stifled a snicker at Tony and began to eat the sandwich that Steve had made me. It wasn't until the food was in my mouth that I realized how hungry I had been. It had almost been 24 hours since I'd eaten last and the stress made me worse about forgetting to eat.
  After thanking the super-soldier again, I turned back to Tony and Bruce, "How much longer?"
  "We've narrowed it down to Canada, we're just not sure exactly where yet," Bruce answered while also adjusting something on his screen.
  "That's where we were taken to when they kidnapped us," I pointed out, then took another bite of the sandwich before rolling the chair over to the men's screen. I glanced over the map, watching a circle of reference flashing on different points in Canada.
  Tony went into more detail, "We think he's buying his equipment in the US but shipping it privately to a base in Canada."
  "If he starts up the machine, we'll be able to track it," Bruce pointed out.
  After typing something down in the computer, Stark added, "Then it might be too late."
  There was a long pause as the two scientists continued to work and I finished my sandwich. Even though my stomach was churning, I managed to get everything down. My mind was whirling so fast but there was one thing that I couldn't stop thinking about, "What if he captured me again?"
  "We won't let that happen, Sam," Rogers assured me.
  Although I shook my head briskly, "No, I meant what if we let him capture me again?"
  Almost immediately, Tony's head snapped towards me - giving me a look like I had just grown two heads. Then stating, "We got lucky, Sam. I'm not about to risk your life, even if it gave us a 100% chance of finding him. Which is unlikely as it is."
  "He threatened my friends, Tony. He's watching our every move and we have no idea where he is," I argued.
  Stark stared intensely at me before responding, "I think you need a break, you should go. Maybe take a nap or something."
  I knew it was his way of kicking me out, so - instead of arguing - I turned my back to him and made my way to the exit of the lab. Not before declaring, "Cap, can you follow me?"
  Even though Tony had turned back to his work, he still chimed in, "Doesn't sound like a nap to me."
  "It's for protection," I stated, watching as Steve followed behind me. One last time, I peered back at Tony and sarcastically reassured, "Since you're so worried about me."
  The two of us left the lab and made our way to the elevator. Steve followed close behind me because he didn't have any idea where I was heading. Once we stepped into the elevator, the curiosity seemed to get to him.
  "Where are we going?" he inquired as the doors closed behind us.
  While the elevator moved down, I explained, "Since Natasha isn't here, I figured you could help me train a bit. So I don't get rusty."
  "I don't know if I'm comfortable with that," Rogers admitted. "You didn't even get discharged by the doctor, you just left the hospital. You need your rest if you want your strength back."
  Now that he mentioned it, I was very sore. Every part of me hurt if I thought about it and I was pretty sure that I wasn't supposed to be putting a lot of weight on my leg in case the stitches opened up. All of the adrenaline and stress made it very easy to forget about it though. At the same time, I felt helpless. I felt like no matter what I did, I couldn't protect myself or those around me.
  As if reading my mind, Steve kneeled down to be eye level with me, "It's not your job to save everyone, Sam."
  Yep, now I was crying. I felt the warm tears trickle down my cheek but I quickly wiped them away.
  "I just want this to be over," I muttered, keeping eye contact with the floor.
  "Let us do our job. Shoot, I'll even volunteer to be your bodyguard when you go to school," Rogers smirked.
  It was like he knew how to cheer me up because the offer got a smile from me too, "I can take Captain America to school?"
  "Whatever you want."
  Since we were still just hanging out in the elevator, I pressed the button to the living quarters, "How about another movie and you can consider my mind changed."
  "It's a deal."