Captain

Part ten

Steve's POV-

Finally, we landed at the tower.

As the ramp lowered, doctors sped up it grabbing the gurney and hurrying (y/n) to the O.R. That left the four of us in an eerie silence. I looked at each one of them, all looking tired and broken. Nat looked how I felt, a distant look of despair in her eyes as she looked down at her hands still wet with blood. Maria had her head hung low, slumping down to the floor in exhaustion.

I turned and practically ran out of the Quinn jet.

"Steve-" Tony shouted, but I didn't hear the rest of what he said. My head was spinning and I just needed to be alone for a second. I pushed through the doors of the tower and headed to the nearest bathroom.

"Woah there Cap," Clint exclaimed after I nearly plowed him down. I barely waved a sorry as I turned into the restroom. I busted into the nearest stall and fell to my knees, the contents of my stomach emptying into the toilet in front of me.

After finishing my eyes wandered down to my blood-stained hands, which left red fingerprints where I was grasping onto the toilet seat. That sight prompted another wave of nausea.

"Cap," Tony knocked hesitantly on the door of the bathroom. I heard the door creak. "You alright?" Tony asked as I flushed the contents of the toilet away. I turned and looked up at him defeated and slowly shook my head, mustering the only response I could. "(Y/n) is gonna be all right, okay," Tony took a seat next to me on the bathroom floor, "She is obviously a fighter if she survived this long." He sighed, "She'll fight through this too." I gave a nod so weak it was unnoticeable. "You hear me, Steve?"

"I hear you," I whispered and pulled Tony into a tight hug.

"Good," Tony awkwardly patted my back. "How about we get you cleaned up," He stood up and offered me a hand, "You wouldn't want (y/n) waking up to this mess." I took a look in the mirror and saw a different person looking back at me.

"I guess you're right," I sighed and followed him out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

After getting cleaned up I joined everyone in the waiting room. The silence was so loud my ears seemed to be ringing.

"What did they do to her? Did you see how beat up she was?" I looked up at Tony and Nat.

"Steve." Nat sighed, "it's better not to think about that right now." Too bad that's all I was thinking about.

~~~~~~~

We had been waiting for hours and no new news. It was killing me. I whispered a prayer to myself, doing the only thing I could at the moment. Then I rested my head in my hands and shook it. At that moment, I let myself cry, not able to hold it back any longer.

Natasha leaned over and hugged me, whispering soothing affirmations. Her grip and her words were so comforting I almost didn't realize that a nurse had entered the room.

"Steve, Nat," Tony caught our attention before the nurse began to speak.

"I just wanted to come and let you know that (y/n) is going to be okay," I let out a long-held breath at her words. "We almost lost her a few times but we were able to stop the bleeding and get her to a stable state," the poor nurse looked almost as exhausted as the rest of us. "We'll go over her injuries and a treatment plan later. But what's important right now is that she's alive and stable," she sighed. "You'll be able to see her in a couple of minutes, she's not awake though. It may be hours, even days before she does though."

"Thank you," Tony mumbled as the nurse nodded and walked away. I leaned my head back against the wall and sighed in relief.

"You better be careful Steve, I told you she's a fighter," Tony smirked and chuckled making the atmosphere a little more bearable. I closed my eyes and grinned.