Fire and Ice - (Bucky Barnes x OC) 18+

Chapter 8

Alex laid on a medical bed wrapped in bandages, Bruce had extracted every single glass shard that was stuck in her body from the crash, most of it on her back. He stitched up the deeper cuts and cleaned her up with Tonys help. She was still in an unconscious state.

The bed sheet was draped over with her arms placed on the outside by her sides. Bruce was running tests on her vitals in the adjoining room while Tony sat by her bedside holding her hand, drawing circles with his thumb on the back of it.

"Alex...dear god, what were you thinking." He said softly. "Please wake up...i...wake up so i can kill you myself." He paused, just gazing down at her bruised face.

"Not really.. you know i wouldn't." He felt the need to add that because guilt ate at his chest.

He felt so helpless, part of him was mad at the soldier because he did this to her. The other part of him was overcome with worry, hoping she would be okay, hoping she would wake up so he could give her a scolding the gods would cower from.

Walking in from the adjoining room, Bruce gave Tony an update.

"Her vitals are weakened, most likely due to the power she used," he explained.

"What else?" Tony inquired, dragging his gaze to look at him.

"well, we removed all the glass, she just needs lots of rest and fluids, i'll have to hook up a drip to help her body start healing itself... But..."

"What do you mean, But. Out with it green man," Tony cut in, shooting him a look.

"Why do you have to make it personal?" Bruce muttered with a shake of his head. "There's a lot of brain activity happening, my guess is her mind is being flooded with memories, or something,"

Tony dragged his gaze back to Alex. "You mean like her memories are returning?"

"Yeah, the ones that were lost to her," Bruce said, looking down at Alex. "Has she told you about her past?"

"Not as much as i'd of liked her to...but who am i to push," Tony said. "You saw how bad a state she was in when we first met her. All i wanted to do was help her.." His gaze softened as his eyes fell on the finger marks around her neck.

Bruce nodded slowly and pondered before continuing.
"Maybe her encounter with the soldier has started making her remember things...maybe they know each other, or their pasts interlock somehow," he assumed.

"Great." Tony sighed, the sarcasm was top tier.

He knew she was hiding things from him, it wasn't uncommon but he didn't want to pry or push her so he left it be, he always gave her a choice when she told him she'd never had any.

Tony recalled how she suffered nightmares after they took her in, he helped her through them, every single painstaking one of them with no complaint. No matter how bad they got, he was there for her day and night. He was there through all her physical and mental struggles too. Tony was a constant for her.  

Sitting there holding her hand as she slept, he vowed to himself that once she was good again, they were going to have a serious talk, all bullshit aside. To hell with it, he wanted to know, he deserved to know after everything they've been through.

He cared about her more than he wanted to admit, and not just because she saved his life and he felt in debt to her for it, but because for some strange reason she felt like family, like someone he was responsible for.

Bruce looked up from his tech pad, noticing the silent anguish on his friends face.

"If you need to go do something or tinker...i'll keep an eye on her, she's not going anywhere. I'll get one of the girls to come and keep an eye on her while i go check on the soldier," Bruce offered.