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"IS THAT MARVIN Gaye?" Mal groaned, shifting slightly in the hospital bed. Her body ached, and she had a strange pounding in her head.
"Trouble Man soundtrack," Sam answered with a smile. Mal looked over to see Sam seated between hers and Steve's hospital beds. Steve was already awake, sitting up in bed, concerned eyes staring over at Mal. "How you feeling, kid?" Sam asked softly, glancing at the IV in her hand and the bruises littering her arms.
"Tired," Mal said after a moment. She felt sluggish and her limbs felt heavy, but she assumed that may have been because of the medication she has in her system. "What happened?" She asked, looking over to Steve and Sam.
"You mean after you ripped apart a Helicarrier?" Steve asked, raising his eyebrows at the younger girl. Mal sighed softly, remembering the past events. She didn't know how long it had been since the fall of SHIELD, or how long she had been asleep.
"Yeah, after that part." Mal replies, sitting up in her bed, wincing slightly at the ache in her torso.
"After you made sure the Helicarrier didn't land on Steve, you kind of just passed out. You were in rough shape when they brought you in; pale, hell of a lot of blood coming out of your nose. Your body was under severe stress and it was a little touch-and-go for a moment, but thanks to your healing, you pulled through." Sam explained, watching Mal's face carefully for any signs of discomfort from her wounds, or any sign of panic.
"What about Bucky?" Mal asked, her hands curling up in the thin blanket draped over her body.
"He ran off after he dragged me out of the water." Steve said, and the two made eye-contact for a few seconds. It was clear that they both wanted to find the man, and that they wanted to help him. Finding him wasn't going to be easy, but they weren't looking for easy – they were looking for hope. "Natasha and everyone else are okay, they made it out without a problem." He said them, emphasizing Natasha's name, as if trying to clue Mal in to the fact that the assassin told him about her killing Pierce.
"That's good," Mal said softly, before sighing. A few minutes of silence passed by before Sam carefully set Mal's phone down next to her on the bed.
"Stark's been blowing up your phone like crazy. I'm assuming he saw what happened, and that all of the SHIELD documents were exposed." Sam said, before standing up from his chair. "I'm gonna go see about getting you two out of here." He said, before exiting the room. Once Mal and Steve were alone, the super soldier turned to the young avenger.
"Are you okay?" He asked sincerely, blue eyes filled with concern.
"I will be," Mal answered honestly, gripping the phone in her hand. "I have to be."
