Injury
“Rose, I’m in position. You’re a go.” Steve’s voice, the first thing she’d heard over the comms since they’d started the mission, spoke in her ear.
“Copy.” Rose mumbled, sneaking forward into the base.
“Got eyes in the sky. I’m covering the North East exit.” Clint reported. “Barnes has the southwest.” He added as an afterthought.
“Copy.” Steve spoke, the comms otherwise silent, as was normal for that team of people. Had Tony been there, he would have chattered nonstop, but this wasn’t a mission that needed the whole team. Rose scaled the building to one of the high windows, quickly cutting through the bulletproof glass and bars with one of Stark’s laser cutters.
“I’m in, Cap.” Rose whispered as she landed silently on the ground.
“Got no eyes on you. Be careful.” Steve warned.
“Yessir.” She mumbled, creeping through the unnervingly silent base. Steve felt his hands clench at his sides as he watched from the forest, pursing his lips. Rose was an invaluable member of his team, specializing in assassination and quiet kidnappings. But he didn’t like sending his girlfriend in blind. It was the dichotomy of being her captain, and also her boyfriend, and knew that Bucky felt the same way about it. But it had been discussed between the three of them at great length, Rose demanding that they treat her professionally when they were in the field.
“Movement in the southwest corner.” Barnes’ voice crackled over the comms. There were a few seconds before he spoke again. “Threat neutralized. No witnesses.” They all breathed a sigh of relief together.
Rose was the best at what she did, and she didn’t feel fear often. But something about this place unnerved her. She crept silently through the halls, following the route she had been poring over for days, until she came to the room. She tried the steel door, watching it swing open.
“Ah, Rose. I’ve been expecting you.” She halted at the voice.
“Shit. Get out of there Rose. It’s a trap!” Clint hissed in her ear.
“Come on in. I know what you’re here for.” Against her better judgement, Rose stepped into the room, eyeing the door. As expected, it slammed shut behind her, the locks clicking into place.
“What the fuck are you doing, Rose?” Bucky growled in her ear. But Rose knew the mission came first, before even her life. If she could get what she needed, what did it matter if she made it out alive?
“This is what you’re looking for, right?” The doctor held up a small thumb drive and smiled. She eyed his sharp smile and curled her lip. “There’s no reason to be so hostile.” The doctor scoffed. “Here, take it.” He stretched it towards her. She took a hesitant step forward, tensing as he passed the thumb drive to her. “How does coffee sound?” He turned, pouring her a cup of coffee into a tin mug. She watched him carefully, face blank, though she was mapping out all reasonable escape routes. There was a high up window on the wall to her left that was most likely her best bet. “Oh, hold on.” The doctor reached over a flipped a switch. There was a buzzing in her comm before it went silent.
“Rose? Rose! Shit, they’ve got blockers in there.” Steve snapped, closing his eyes.
“I’ve got eyes.” Bucky replied, peering through his scope into the window of the room. He jolted when the doctor turned, seemed to make eye contact with him, before the room was plunged into darkness. “Disregard. The power’s off. FUCK.” He cursed loudly, taking a few deep breaths to calm himself.
“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.” The doctor assured in the darkened room, Rose’s eyes adjusting immediately. “I just want to talk.”
“I don’t need to talk to you.” Rose snapped harshly. “If you don’t let me go I’ll have no choice but to kill you.” She saw his lip curl and winced as he reached out, backhanding her harshly.
“Don’t be so rude.” The man hissed. “I swear, nobody has any manners these days.” He lamented, taking a sip of his coffee. Rose pursed her lips, tucking the thumb drive into one of the pockets on her tac suit, and lashed out. The scalding coffee landed on the doctor’s face, causing him to scream. He stumbled in the darkness, falling back against his desk. Rose jumped towards him, one arm wrapping around his neck and the other pinning his arms behind his back.
“And I’m not here for a thumb drive.” The man choked, coughing, before he slumped over in her arms, unconscious. The girl hauled the man over her shoulders and rushed towards the door, struggling with the locks. It was supposed to have been a quiet mission, but she needed to leave soon. His scream had most likely alerted the soldiers in the base. Caution damned, she tossed one of Tony’s mini explosives on the door and ducked behind the desk as it blew off of its hinges.
“What the fuck did she do?!” Clint shouted as the soldiers swarmed around the base, yelling. Bucky was easily picking them off, rage making his shots cold and calculating.
“Hey.” Steve snapped in a warning tone as he launched his shield at another soldier.
“Got eyes on Rose. She’s got the doctor. I’m on my way to rendezvous point.” Bucky snapped.
“On your six.” Steve replied, making his way through the throngs of soldiers with Clint above him. The three of them hurried through the forest, picking off the few soldiers that had followed them, until they reached the Quinjet four miles away.
Rose was slumped against the jet, hand pressed against her side. Bucky reached her first in swift loping strides.
“I’m hit, B.” She coughed, looking up at him. Bucky’s eyes zeroed in on the blood soaking her tac suit.
“Fuck. What the fuck were you thinking?!” He exploded, causing Clint to halt as he was opening the cargo door of the jet. He’d never heard Barnes so angry.
“I was doing my mission!” Rose snapped in response.
“Guys! Let’s get moving.” Steve commanded, halting both of them. Rose allowed the blond to take the doctor and Bucky wrapped an arm around her shoulders, helping her to the jet. Clint took off and they were soon rushing away from the base.
“That was so fucking stupid.” Bucky chided as he stripped her tac gear off, leaving her in a white tank top and a pair of spanx.
“Like you’ve never done anything stupid, metal man.” Rose coughed in response dryly. “I was doing my mission, Buck.”
“The mission is never more important than your life. Never.” Bucky hissed as he pressed a towel to her side to staunch the bleeding. Rose opened her mouth to respond, but saw the fear, barely perceptible in his eyes. The fire left her, and she sighed.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.” She whispered. Bucky pursed his lips, but didn’t respond, instead focusing on the worrying amount of blood coming from the wound.
“How is she?” Steve asked, leaning over Bucky’s shoulder.
“She’ll live.” Bucky replied. “It was just a graze, thankfully. Won’t even need stitches. I’m just worried about the amount of blood she’s losing.” He continued, speaking as if she wasn’t there.
“I’m right here.” Rose snapped, instantly regretting it when Steve frowned. “Sorry.” She muttered, wincing as Bucky harshly swiped the wound with a sterile alcohol pad and neatly taped a piece of gauze over the wound.
“That was seriously dumb, Rose.” Steve muttered, glaring into her eyes. “What if something had happened? What if you hadn’t made it out?” He demanded. Rose shrugged nonchalantly.
“Then I would be dead.” She replied flatly, turning to Steve. “This is my job, Steve. Whether you like it or not. You think I don’t get worried about you guys too? But I restrain it because this is what we do.” She hissed.
“Coming up on the compound.” Clint called, interrupting the argument. Steve gave her a look, knowing they would revisit the conversation in a more private setting, before striding to the still unconscious doctor.
Rose was only in medical for about an hour before she left, a spring in her step, and stepped into the elevator. Friday took her to her floor, and she stepped into a surprisingly empty living room.
“Steve? Buck?” She called through their shared quarters, padding curiously into the empty living room. The quarters remained silent. “Huh.” Rose shrugged to herself and flopped onto the couch, turning on Netflix.
She started to become worried when the clock struck midnight and her boys still hadn’t returned to her.
“Friday, where are Steve and Bucky?” She asked, interrupting the soft sounds of Supernatural.
“Sergeant Barnes and Captain Rogers are staying in another quarter tonight.” Friday replied. Rose closed her eyes and gave a heavy sigh.
“I see then.” She murmured. It was rare that they did that, but it wasn’t the first time. Sometimes, they needed some space from her, but sometimes it was to punish her. This occasion was most likely the latter. It was a sadistic form of punishment, one that was meant to hurt. They knew she hated to be alone, and they knew she hated even more when they were upset with her. It wasn’t ideal for any of them, Steve and Bucky hated doing it to her, but it was also the quickest way to communicate to her that they weren’t happy with how she’d behaved.
Rose curled into their large bed alone that night, yanking pillows around her until she was caged in, and pulled the sheets over her head. She barely slept that night, a combination of pain from her wound and pain from the alienation she was experiencing. They hadn’t done it in a while, and she’d forgotten how much it pained her. The sun rose with only a few hours of sleep under Rose’s eyes. She strode into the kitchen grumpily and loudly started the coffee machine before aggressively pouring herself a box of cereal. The elevator opened and her super-soldiers strode in looking far more rested than she.
“Good morning, doll.” Bucky spoke, the soft lilt to his voice evidence of his forgiveness and simultaneous apology. Normally, Rose would jump to her feet and hug them, beg them for forgiveness. This morning, she was just pissed. She turned away from them and took a drink of her black coffee.
“Come on, sweetheart. You know we don’t like it either. We’re sorry.” Steve apologized, frowning at Bucky. Normally, she wouldn’t react this way.
“Whatever.” Rose muttered, staring down at her phone in boredom.
“Rosie, baby.” Bucky pleaded.
“Don’t,” She hissed, turning sharply to them, “call me that.” With that, she stood from the table, breakfast and coffee forgotten, and stormed into their room. Steve and Bucky winced at the slamming door.
“Do you think this is still about yesterday’s argument?” Steve asked worriedly. She’d never remained angry at them for long.
“Maybe.” Bucky shook his head. “I don’t know.”
Rose stood under the spray of the hot shower with fists clenched. She was pissed at them. She had needed them last night, after a mission that had actually scared the shit out of her, and they hadn’t been there.
She let out a scream and turned, unleashing her fury on the tile wall of the shower. The tile cracked under the pressure and she winced as her knuckles cracked and started to bleed.
“Rose?” There was a knock at the bathroom door before it opened. She saw Steve and Bucky’s outlines outside of the curtain. “Talk to us, baby. Tell us what we did wrong?” Steve begged. Rose pursed her lips and dropped her eyes as the curtain opened a bit to reveal her boys in the steamy bathroom.
“We need to change your dressing.” Bucky interrupted, staring at the still worryingly red gauze. Rose shut the shower off and climbed out, sitting on a towel on the toilet and allowing Bucky to peel the dressing off with steady hands. “This shouldn’t still be bleeding.” Bucky muttered, eyebrows wrinkling in concern. “I think you should go back to medical, doll.” It was more of a command than a suggestion. She didn’t respond, staring down at the slippery white tile below her feet.
“Come on then. Get dressed, we’ll take you.” Steve sighed. She stood, brushing past him, and pulled on some sweatpants and a shirt that was Steve’s. The men were waiting for her by the elevator with tentative smiles on their faces. She shoved past them into the elevator and stared out of the windows, not acknowledging them.
“Baby, please talk to us.” Bucky begged. “Just…communicate.” She spun, teeth bared.
“Oh, like you did last night?” She demanded, making them wince. “What the fuck is up with that? I was fucking terrified yesterday and you just left me alone all fucking night.” She accused.
“Rose…” Steve started but she wasn’t done.
“All you did was fucking yell at me and then disappear. I was so fucking scared.” Her chest heaving, she realized she’d stepped close to them, a finger jabbed into Steve’s chest, and tears streaming down her cheeks. The two of them looked taken aback, eyes wide and shocked. “You…you…” Rose suddenly started to feel dizzy, blinking quickly as Steve swirled in front of her.
“You look really pale, baby.” Bucky stepped forward as she stumbled, catching her in sure arms. “Hey hey.” He soothed, frowning as she slumped in his arms. “Rose…Rose!” He shook her, but her head lolled listlessly. He heaved her into his arms and spun, nearly sprinting as the elevator arrived on the med bay floor.
“I don’t know why it isn’t healing.” Dr. Emma Wolfe frowned over the unconscious girl. “Rose’s medical records are top secret, but I’m sure Tony would send them to me. Friday?” She called.
“The boss sent them to your email.” Friday answered immediately. After a few tense seconds of Emma scrolling through the records, she let out a sharp gasp and stepped back.
“Shit.” She whispered. “She has von Willebrand disease and she’s not on meds for it. Fuck!” The doctor spun and rushed towards a few cabinets, digging through them until she found a syringe of something. She hurried back to the bed with sure steps and quickly injected the contents into Rose’s IV.
“What was that?” Bucky asked suspiciously.
“It’s a blood thickener. Did either of you know that Rose has a blood disorder?” She turned to the two men questioningly and maybe a bit accusingly.
“She never said anything about it, no.” Steve shook his head, eyes wide. “Will she be okay?” He asked, staring at his pale girlfriend.
“Her blood should start to clot with what I gave her, but she needs to be on daily medication for this.” Dr. Wolfe replied. “The prescription should be in your quarters when she wakes up. You have to make sure she takes it every day, or this will happen again.” Dr. Wolfe explained.
“Okay.” Bucky nodded hurriedly.
They sat beside Rose’s bedside for hours until a groan broke the air and her eyes fluttered open. Bucky let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and squeezed her hand.
“Hi doll. How are you feeling?” He asked softly, leaning forward. She glanced at him, lips still pursed.
“When were you going to tell us about your blood disorder?” Steve accused loudly. Rose flinched back into the pillows and Bucky turned a sharp glare to his boyfriend. “No, Buck. This is a big thing that she kept from us. You could have bled out and died and we wouldn’t have even known why! Do you understand?” He roared.
“I didn’t want to be another fucking pity case okay?” Rose snapped angrily. “I’m not a basket case and I won’t act like one. You guys already worry too much about me, that’s just another thing that will worry you.” She mumbled. Steve let out a nearly hysterical laugh.
“You didn’t want to worry us? How’d that fucking work out for you?” He snapped before spinning and storming from the bay. Rose took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
“You know how he is, baby.” Bucky whispered softly. “He just needs some time to calm down.” He assured. Rose nodded. “I’m really sorry we left you all alone last night, baby doll.” He shook his head guiltily. “It was the wrong way to handle things.” He admitted. Rose sighed.
“It’s not okay,” Bucky shrunk, “But you’re forgiven. I’m sorry I acted pettily.” She apologized.
“It’s not okay, but you’re forgiven.” Bucky echoed her words with a wry smile.
“Ready to blow this joint?” Rose joked. Bucky nodded and helped her to her feet. She allowed him to escort her out, saying a quick thank you to Dr. Wolfe, before they made it to the elevator. When they entered their quarters, Steve was in the gym. She could hear his grunts from the living room. Frowning, she started to make her way towards the sounds, but Bucky’s hand on her shoulder halted her. She turned and he shook his head slowly with a knowing expression. Rose sighed miserably and nodded, laying on the couch, the silent conversation done. Bucky sat next to her, smiling when she crawled towards him and pillowed her head in his lap. He ran his fingers through her hair, some strands snagging between his metal plates. She pulled the blanket from the back of the couch over her and snuggled closer to him.
A few hours of watching over Rose, Bucky finally heard his lover exit the gym. He pressed a finger to his lips as Steve appeared from the hallway, sweaty and red, but looking far calmer than he had. The blond gave him a smile and nodded, carefully sitting beside his boyfriend. Rose mumbled at the movement, eyes squinting open. She caught Steve’s eyes and gave him a sleepy, sweet smile before reaching out to him. He caught her hand, squeezing it softly.
“I love you guys.” Rose mumbled sleepily.
“I love you two.” Bucky returned, smiling as Steve leaned over to kiss him softly.
“I love you two more than anything.” He whispered in response, leaning down and pressing a kiss to Rose’s head. She smiled contentedly and allowed her eyes to slide shut again.