Summary: Diana gets injured on a Justice League mission and Steve's only a little panicked, really.

It is not often that Steve wakes up before her, but on the mornings after a particularly late night or when Diana knows she can push back her alarm another ten minutes, Steve gets to spend a few extra minutes admiring her without getting caught. He'll wake up to the feeling of her wrapped around him like a vice and know that he gets to spend precious time just watching her sleep.

He knows everything there is to know about her at this point, but the light fluttering of her eyelids and the way her brow furrows right before she opens her eyes still makes him giddy. He's smiling like an idiot by the time she finally wakes up enough to register him staring at her, but he's well past becoming embarrassed.

Pressing a feather light kiss to one of her eyelids, he murmurs, "Good morning, angel."

In reply, Diana hums and pulls herself impossibly closer.

Steve knows better than to try and extricate himself from her grip, but there's really no place he'd rather be than in bed with her, so why even try? The moments where Diana will allow herself to sleep in and neither of them have anything calling them away are few and hard to come by, so Steve is happy to take what he can get, when he can get it.

Unfortunately, Bruce doesn't get the memo and Diana's phone rings too loudly, too suddenly to mean anything but work.

With a groan and the least majestic roll Steve has ever seen her do, Diana turns to grab her phone and answers without opening her eyes. She's curled back around Steve a second later even as she grumbles into the phone.

"What?"

The silence of the room permits Steve to hear Bruce's reply and he sighs in time with Diana.

"You're needed in London." A pause. "Someone's leaking Wayne technology, and not the good kind."

"It's never the good kind," Diana mutters, but she's sitting up and Steve knows their quiet morning is nothing more than a wish now. "I can be there in an hour."

She wanders into the bathroom so Steve doesn't hear the end of the phone call, but he's fairly certain he'd rather not anyway. Sometimes Justice League missions are a little out of his depth and Steve can rest easier not knowing what Diana is about to run into.

He waits until she's out of the bathroom to climb out of bed himself and only because he refuses to let her leave for London without kissing him first.

"I'll call," she promises, already in full combat gear. Steve's still not entirely sure where she keeps it, but the bathroom has been on his list of suspicious rooms for a while now. "Bruce seemed optimistic."

Steve reads between the lines.

"You're going alone?"

"Clark is on stand-by," she assures him, though Steve has met Clark all of two times and isn't too sure having him on stand-by means the mission she's leaving for will be on the easy side of things.

"Don't be afraid to call him," Steve tells her. Diana just smiles and presses her lips to his. When she pulls away, Steve pulls her back in and murmurs, "I'll miss you."

Diana grins and pulls away from him fully to stand by the open balcony window.

"I love you too."

And suddenly she's gone, soaring off towards London to face some threat while Steve is left to make himself a lonely breakfast and try not to worry.

* * * * *

He stays by his phone all day, his own personal protocol for when Diana's away and he can't be with her. Instead of visiting the little cafe across the street like he usually does on Saturdays, he sits in front of the balcony window and reads in the sunlight. It's rare that Paris is sunny even if it is October, so he'll take what he can get.

By late afternoon, he's bored and forces himself to go for a run by the Seine. The sun has disappeared behind the clouds (an unfortunate norm for the Parisian weather), so it's not too hot. He half expects Diana to be home when he returns, but the apartment is as empty as he left it. He checks his phone despite having it turned on all day, but there's no new messages.

Steve has half a mind to call her and ask if everything's okay, but she's on League business and rarely carries her phone with her. He's about to mutter how it's a miracle she even took it with her when he finds the familiar device still sitting on the bathroom counter.

"Should have known," he mumbles to himself. She has his number memorised though and he's used to answering any unknown number in case it's her, so he doesn't worry.

* * * * *

When Diana still hasn't returned by midnight, he worries. He's pacing the floor and fiddling with his phone, wishing not for the first time that he had Bruce's number so he could at least find out what she'd been sent to fight.

It's during his twenty-seventh loop through the kitchen when his phone lights up and rings much too loudly to be considered polite at this hour.

Steve scrambles to answer even as No Caller ID flashes across the screen instead of any random collection of numbers or even the occasional Unknown. When Bruce's voice echoes through his ears instead of Diana's, he knows why.

"—not good. How soon can you get to London?"

Steve is entirely not sure what Bruce just said, but the way his heart drops and the fact that it isn't Diana means it was not good.

Not good. That's what Bruce had said and the billionaire is known for downplaying things when not talking to his own team, so what Steve ends up hearing is nearly dead because, apparently, his mind has decided he needs the extra panic.

"I don't—Hours."

He's gasping and panicking and he knows Bruce can hear it over the phone, but it's Diana and what else is he supposed to do in this situation?

"Thought so."

Steve's head feels light and he blindly reaches for the nearest thing. It ends up being the stove, but it hasn't been used since breakfast and is clean enough Steve doesn't really notice he's clinging to metal grates in an attempt to calm his pounding heart.

"Clark should be there soon." Bruce's voice cuts through his thoughts and Steve takes in a shuddering, gasping breath. "He'll fill you in and fly you over in minutes."

A thunk from the balcony alerts him to Clark's presence and even though Bruce is still talking, Steve hangs up on him.

For all his international fame and glory, Superman looks royally messed at the moment. His uniform is filthy and there's a clump of blood dried in his hair that Steve hopes desperately is his and not Diana's. Whatever happened in London, Bruce had no right to be optimistic about it.

"She's not dead," Clark says, stepping into the apartment. The unspoken yet hangs in the air and makes it difficult for Steve to keep breathing.

"She's okay?"

He sounds pathetic and childish, but he's grasping at straws here and really trying not to panic. Clark doesn't comment, though, so Steve clambers onto his back in what has to be the most undignified way he's ever moved and tries not to keep worrying.

Despite what Bruce had said, Clark doesn't say a word until they land in front of a too-expensive looking hospital to mean Diana is alright. Steve gets his bearings (even pilots get a little motion sick when flying on someone's back over the sea) and Clark watches him carefully.

"She's not doing good," Clark says and Steve's heart drops again. "She took a hit early on, but we didn't realise how bad it was until too late."

Steve chokes on his breath because even though Clark said she wasn't dead when he arrived in Paris, that certainly doesn't mean she couldn't die. Diana is strong, he knows this, but he also knows that she can be killed. He just never thought he'd truly have to experience the sweaty palms, racing heart, and lightheadedness that came with being told she could have finally met her match.

"Too late?" Steve echoes. He's struggling to form coherent thoughts, let alone full sentences and words of his own, so he settles on echoing Superman's.

"At the end of the battle," he clarifies. Steve just nods numbly and since Clark seems to realise none of this is actually calming Steve's panic, he suggests they go inside.

Steve follows silently and it's only because Clark is still wearing his ridiculously bright uniform and leading the way that Steve gets to the correct room. Clark opens the door for him and Steve is first met with the sight of the entire Justice League surrounding a bed before he sees the halo of Diana's hair.

"Diana."

It's more of a gasp than an actual word, but Steve knows what he tried to say and apparently the League does too, because they move back without question.

Steve regrets it as soon as they do.

He's seen Diana beat up and bloodied hundreds of times before. She's come home scraped and limping, but it's different because she smiles at him and he knows she'll be okay. Now, though... Now he's really starting to freak out.

Diana is covered in blood and a thick bandage stretches from her shoulder to under her hospital gown. Her hair is matted and her breathing is more erratic than Steve's is which is saying something. She's not smiling at him and the grim look on the faces of her team aren't helping ease his conscience.

"What happened?" he demands. He's angry at himself for letting her go without asking questions, but he's furious with Bruce for giving her the mission. When no one immediately answers, he gives in to his frustration and screams. "Tell me what happened!"

Diana inhales sharply and Steve clutches at her hand, looking down at her frantically in case she opens her eyes. She doesn't, and Steve goes back to shouting.

"Tell me!" he snarls, glaring at Bruce who's standing on the other side of the bed. "You sent her there, so you'll tell me what happened."

Even though Bruce is a superhero and has enough money to wipe Steve from the face of the earth without raising questions, he concedes to Steve's angry, shouted request.

"We thought it was just tech from Wayne Enterprises being dealt on the black market," he tells Steve slowly. Steve glares at him and squeezes Diana's hand perhaps a little too tightly for how injured she looks, but Bruce gets the idea and tells the story faster. "It was a group we've been chasing for a while, but they'd gotten their hands on some sort of alien technology and enhanced the weapons themselves. Whatever it was, Diana took the brunt of it."

"All of it," Barry cuts in, looking almost as annoyed as Steve feels. He joins Steve in scowling at Bruce. "She was hit with all of it and she kept fighting because no one pulled her out."

She never would have quit fighting if she'd had the choice, but Steve doesn't feel like defending whoever had made the call to let her keep fighting. Fortunately, Barry seems to have enough pent up frustration to have a go or two at Bruce, so Steve turns his attention back to a very feverish Diana.

Her eyes are open.

"Angel," he breaths. She blinks and Steve's not entirely sure she's lucid, but she squeezes his hand tightly and he knows she's aware he's with her. "I'm here," he promises, bringing her hand up to his lips and gently brushing her cheek with his free hand. "I'm here, love."

Diana's lips part and she says something, but no sound comes out and Steve's never been that great at reading lips. There's also a pretty good chance whatever she said is not in a language he speaks.

"You're okay, angel," he says, hoping maybe she'll believe him. "I'm not leaving."

This time when Diana tries to say something, he understands. "It hurts."

"What hurts?" Steve asks, looking over her body for an injury the doctors may have missed or any sign as to what could be hurting. "What hurts, angel?"

"All."

It's a testament to Steve's willpower that he doesn't break down right there. Whether it's because he knows it's no use or because Diana looks like she might do it for him, Steve will never know. Just looking at her, though, he knows she's in pain. There's sweat on her brow and her eyes are glistening. She hasn't moved except to squeeze his hand and even when she's bleeding from a wound that would be almost fatal to any mortal, she's always moving.

"I'm so sorry," he whispers, kissing her hand again and squeezing his eyes tightly. He won't cry, but only because he's not sure he'll be able to stop and if Diana's lucid, he needs to talk to her to convince himself she's not dying. "You'll never go out there again, understand?"

It's a useless thing to say, but Diana's chin dips as she nods. A second later, she's unconscious again and her hand in his relaxes. She's breathing, though, and the monitors she's hooked up to aren't beeping erratically, so Steve doesn't panic.

"What exactly was she hit with?" he asks, not entirely sure who's still in the room. He won't look away from Diana just in case her eyes open again.

"We're not sure yet," Bruce says. Steve almost throws something at him. "I sent a sample of her blood to a Wayne lab in London to find out, but we won't know until morning at the earliest."

"Get out until then," Steve orders. He tears his eyes away from Diana to look at Bruce. "Get the fuck out of her room until you know what she was hit with."

Bruce purses his lips and Steve is one hundred percent sure he's about to argue, but Barry runs him out of the room before he even opens his mouth. The rest of the team follows after and Clark pulls the door closed, leaving them well enough alone that Steve feels like he can breathe again.

* * * * *

Bruce was right, however much it pains Steve to say, and they have the results the next morning. Clark had to pull a few strings so they could be positive, but by the time the League walks back into Diana's room, they're able to tell Steve with absolute certainty what, exactly, has put Diana into such a state.

"She was hit with enough to kill a small army," Bruce tells him. Steve's not entirely sure why Bruce has to be the spokesperson seeing as he is Steve's least favourite person right now, but he knows what he's talking about when he says, "The venom belongs to a creature common on the planet Valhelm and descends from ancient viking mythology. Its use in many myths is to kill the gods, but not even the vikings could ever harvest enough to be successful."

Steve doesn't need to read Diana's chart to know she'd come close to being hit with a lethal amount. Part of him wonders if the attackers did their research beforehand and knew how much they'd need to take down his goddess, but he abandons that thought process for one a little less dark. Instead, he's grateful they'd underestimated it, even if it had been too close for comfort.

Bruce says something else, but Diana's eyelids are fluttering just like they do every morning right before she opens her eyes and all of Steve's attention is on her. This time, when her eyes open and she looks up at him, he can tell she's in less pain than before.

"Steve?"

"Yeah, angel." He scoots closer to her even though he's already pressed right up against her on the bed.

"You're alive." Her smile is still a little weak and she clearly must be out of it still since he's been alive for almost his whole life, but he doesn't need to recount the whole story at this moment.

"Yeah, alive and well, love," he promises her. He bends down and presses a kiss to her forehead, glad she's at least talking now. "Get some rest, okay? You'll feel better."

Diana nods and her eyes slip closed again. Seconds later, she's fast asleep.

* * * * *

The third time Diana wakes up, she's coherent and arguing with Bruce the second he walks in the door. Although a little worried she'll tire herself out too quickly, Steve watches as she berates Bruce for sending them in unprepared and having poor intel. He's not necessarily sure the Justice League ever gets incredibly accurate intel in the first place, but this time it ended with Diana in the hospital, so he'll let her get as mad as she wants.

When she finishes, she doesn't give Bruce half a second to respond before she announces, "I want to go home."

"Diana, you're—"

"No," she interrupts, looking at Steve in a way that he knows he won't be able to argue with. "I want to go home."

"Alright, love," he says. She'll heal quickly anyway, he supposes, so as long as she's over the worst part, he'll do it.

He presses the button beside her bed to call for a doctor and ignores the protests of the League members still in the room. Luckily for them, the doctor removes everyone from the room except for Steve and does a full examination of Diana. He doesn't look thrilled, but he must be at least a little familiar with her accelerated healing, because he brings the discharge papers.

"You won't be doing any world saving for at least a week," he tells her sternly. He shares a glance with Steve, but Steve's pretty sure he won't want Diana to go back to the League ever again. "I'd recommend a full medical consultation before, in fact, but I won't hold my breath."

While Steve signs all the forms, Diana sits up in the bed and reaches for the clothes Clark had flown to Paris in order to get for her. Steve almost drops the clipboard when he sees Diana sway on her feet, but she steadies herself before he can get to her.

"Would you like help?" he asks, setting aside the papers and going to her.

She doesn't hesitate before nodding and Steve gently helps her take off her hospital gown. Putting on the sweatpants is an easier task than pulling on her shirt. She grimaces the whole time and as soon as she's dressed, she drops back onto the bed exhausted.

"You can stay one more day, love," he tells her softly. Taking her hands in his, he kisses her knuckles lightly. "There's no harm in just resting."

"I can't rest here," she replies, "I just want to be home."

And so they go home. They have to take a cab from the hospital to the airport, but Diana knows Bruce's banking info so she purchases the next flight to Paris while Steve figures out how to get a wheelchair through the airport. Despite the glare Diana gives him at the sight of the thing, she doesn't fight him on it and they get through security in a breeze.

They make it to the gate right as boarding begins and as soon as they're seated on the plane, Diana falls asleep on Steve's shoulder. She stays that way through the whole flight. Even when there's a storm in Paris and the flight gets a little bumpy, Diana sleeps until the very moment Steve gently shakes her awake.

The wheelchair gets them all the way through Charles de Gaulles and to their front door. There's a cab waiting for them outside and even though Steve can tell it hurts her, Diana runs through the rain with him to get inside.

It's the walk up to the apartment that's the worst part. With no lift and only a narrow stairway all the way up to the sixth floor, Steve pulls Diana's arm over his shoulders and they slowly make their way up. He doesn't bother with the lights and only kicks the door shut. Helping Diana get all the way to their bed is his main focus.

As soon as she's settled, Steve goes to raid their kitchen for Diana's favourite tea and the rest of the chocolate bar he knows she'd hidden from him. Much to his surprise, she's not asleep when he returns.

"The doctor said to sleep, love."

He sets her tea on the stand beside the bed but hands her the chocolate bar. Instead of opening it, Diana places the chocolate beside the tea and tugs on Steve's hand just hard enough he knows he can't escape.

Steve slides into the bed beside her and Diana's quick to curl around him and pull him as close as physically possible. For a moment, Steve worries about her hurting herself more, but she seems more content than she was at the hospital, so he doesn't move away.

"How are you feeling?" he whispers, running his hand up and down her arm softly. He's not sure if touching her makes things better or worse, but when she sighs at the touch, he keeps it up.

"I understand why this kills gods," she murmurs. Her breath is hot against his neck and her lips are warm, so he knows she doesn't mean that it's killing her. "It's painful."

"How can I help?"

He doubts any medicine he has will help, but he wants to do something. He always feels a little useless when Diana gets hurt, but this has to be the worst because she's in real pain and not healing quickly.

"Just be here."

Steve figures he can do that well enough. He had no intention of going anywhere in the first place, but hearing Diana say she wants him there makes him feel a little less like he's hovering.

"Yes, ma'am." He presses a kiss to her head and listens as her breathing evens out.

Long after Diana's fallen asleep once again, clearly still exhausted and in pain, Steve is still awake. Whether it's worry that she'll stop breathing if he sleeps or just because he wants to live in the feeling of being wrapped in her arms longer, he doubts he'll ever know for sure. Either way, though, he won't be moving for a while and wouldn't have it any other way.