Pain was too weak of a word for what you were feeling; the procedure had finished without complications and Dr. Cho was very pleased with the outcome, but the recovery had now kicked in with a vengeance. You knew there would be pain; after all it was a major surgery, but you weren't expecting this. The upper half of your body was writhing while the lower remained still, though your legs felt like they were on fire.

"(Y/N), try to stay calm," Helen said as soothingly as she could despite Tony practically breathing down her neck as he watched you suffering. "This is normal, and it will pass."

"Can't you give her anything?"

"Her nerves are regenerating. If I give her pain medications it will alter her receptors and could jeopardize the repair. I can't."

Clint was still at your side, and Tony now took his place on your other. The two men looked at each other with both anger and fear in their expressions, feeling completely helpless to you and beginning to wonder if you had made the right decision. "Honey, listen," Clint whispered, "I need you to slow your breathing, okay? Just focus on my voice. Don't focus on the pain."

If the pain hadn't been so gripping, you could have replied. You could have forced your eyes open even just to look at him, but you were trapped in your mind and the pain that was like nothing you had ever experienced, even worse than any wound you had suffered in battle.

All you wanted was Steve.

~~~

"I thought...I thought I had moved on, you know? And I hadn't. But then this girl came along, and flipped my world over. She challenges me constantly and doesn't let me get away with anything," Steve chuckled quietly. "Not that you did either, Peg. But this is..." his voice faded and his gaze dropped to his tightly clasped hands resting nervously on his legs as he sat at her bedside.

"This is better," she agreed. "It's okay to say that, Steve. It's good." Peggy reached down and took one of his hands and held it next to her with a small smile crossing her aged but still beautiful face. "I thought you were different. As soon as you walked in the door, I could see that something had changed about you."

"I'm not surprised," he smiled back. "I could never get away with anything around you." Steve's expression dropped slightly and he shook his head, "we keep messing things up...I...mess things up. She's off making a huge decision right now, and she didn't feel like she could tell me. She could tell our teammates, but not me."

He went on to tell her about Wanda and his vision, your injury, the engagement, and where you were now. He then sat quietly and waited as she thought and considered it all, waiting for her to say anything that might make him feel better or that might give him the answers he needed. Steve would never tell you this, because he feared your reaction, but you did remind him of Peggy; only because you were both so fiercely independent, and because you could see things in him that he didn't know were there.

"Steve, this is her choice to make." His first reaction was to object, but he held back and she continued on before he had the chance. "That doesn't mean that she didn't consider you. In fact, it sounds to me like she made this decision for you just as much as for herself. But tell me, have you ever once put yourself in her place?"

He stared at her blankly for just a moment, clearing his throat and looking away to take the small box she had left for him from her bedside table. Lifting the lid slowly, he sucked in a deep breath at the sight of its contents, gently lifting them into his fingers to inspect the two dog tags that had adorned his chest so many years ago. It was time for them to belong to you.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah," he sighed, "yeah, I just-" Steve stopped, interrupted by the buzz of his phone. "Sorry," he mumbled, taking it from his pocket. A wash of emotions hit him seeing Tony's name and a single message on the screen, and the change didn't escape Peggy's attention.

Korea. Now.

~~~

"Steve's on his way," Tony announced, quickly returning to your side. "He's moving as fast as he can, sweetheart, okay? He's on his way...he's on his way." His voice was trembling, his words trying to reassure himself but failing.

"You called Steve?" Clint growled quietly through clenched teeth, looking over you with his hand gently stroking your hair. "She didn't want him here, Stark."

"I'm not giving her the choice anymore," he snapped back. "Clint, this is beyond what you and I can handle. She needs him here, and right now, she's in no condition to speak for herself." Tony looked from you to Clint, then at his teammate's hands; one on your head and the other holding yours. "What is it with you? What are you doing?"

"What?"

"Don't give me that bullshit. You...her."

Clint's jaw set and he sat up straight, though not releasing his contact with you. "She asked me to be here. I'm her friend. Nothing more."

"You sure about that?"

Clint took a deep breath and leaned forward, whispering in your ear, "I'm still right here." He then stood and walked around your bed, standing face-to-face with Tony. "You need to take care with what you say. I promised her that I wouldn't leave her side no matter what, and I'm making good on that."

"You're walking a very thin line, Barton," Tony sneered, pushing closer to Clint. "Those two have been through hell and back and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let anything get in their way. That includes you."

Clint's hands reflexively raised and pushed against Tony's chest, knocking him a step back, "maybe it's time that someone teaches you how to mind your own business."

"Stop..." you moaned between ragged breaths, "fighting..."

With one more small push against Tony, Clint glared at him for a moment before moving back to your side, with no regard to what he might be thinking. He honestly didn't care. "We're done, honey," he snapped with a glance to Stark, "we're done."

~~~

Natasha sat quietly in gym, having intended to work out to clear her mind but unable to take the first move towards the waiting equipment. Her only job was to keep Steve calm and to keep him there, and she had completely failed. More than that, she was worried about you and how the procedure was going. She stared at her phone with her finger hovering over Clint's name, but she hesitated.

"You know, just being in here isn't enough," Bruce said quietly from the doorway, "you actually have to use the stuff to see any progress."

"Hmm," she looked up, having barely heard him in her distraction. "Oh, right. Yeah, I was just about to start."

"Any word?"

"None." Natasha exhaled heavily and tossed her phone into her bag, grabbing the wrap for her hands and preparing to take out her frustrations until they bled if she had to. "I don't want to bother them. They'll call."

"He didn't go to Korea."

She stopped and looked up at him, completely surprised by the revelation. She had thought for sure that telling him had ruined everything, and that he was on his way to stop you. "Where did he go? And wait, how do you know and I don't? Did Rogers contact you?"

Bruce shook his head slightly and finally took a seat on the bench near her. "I talked to Helen. She said that Tony called Steve in from London. He's on his way to Seoul now."

"London? Why would he need to go to Lon...oh." Natasha stopped and sat next to the doctor with a defeated posture and her eyes closed, rubbing her hand across her forehead. "Of course, that makes complete sense. That's what he meant when he said he should have done it a long time ago. He needed to move on. He had to let her go."

~~~

Hours had passed, your mind and body now beyond exhausted. The pain was lessening but still persistent, though now you were finally able to think beyond it. Tony had said that Steve would be there any minute now, but each time he had said it, the minutes felt as if they were getting longer and longer. Clint had never wavered at your side and promised that he would be there until your fiancé arrived, even when his own body needed to rest.

Tony was standing at the window with his hands in his pockets and his shoulders dropped, looking both physically and mentally exhausted. He had been watching for the jet for the past hour, and when it finally came into his view, his entire demeanor changed in an instant. "He's here!" He spun around and leaned close to you, kissing your cheek, "he's here, honey. I'm gonna go get him for you."

Clint watched Tony leave, waiting until he was fully away before turning back to you. "I'm sorry we argued in front of you. I'll apologize to Tony later, okay?" You opened your mouth to reply as best as you could, but he raised his hand to stop you. "No, shhh. I just wanted to tell you..." he paused, breathing deeply, "I wanted to say that he's wrong. I'm here for you like I promised on that very first day. He's wrong." He sat back at the sound of approaching voices, standing when he saw Tony and Steve hurrying through the door.

"....and they can't give her anything?" Steve asked angrily and almost panting from running. "They're just letting her suffer through it?"

"Helen said it could affect the healing of her nerves," Tony replied from behind him. "Trust me, we've asked. A lot."

Your body relaxed slightly at the sound of Steve's voice and the feel of his hand finally taking yours. You realized that you should've allowed him to be there from the start, and if he had, your pain may not have been this bad. You realized that a part of your suffering was a guilt that you had brought on yourself. "I should've told you," you struggled, "I'm sorry."

"Stop talking, it's okay," he replied quietly, giving you a small kiss, "I understand why you didn't. I do. But I'm here now, and there's nothing that can move me from this spot."

Clint and Tony breathed a collective sigh of relief to see Steve taking over and decided to take their leave for a while to regain their own composure and to get a little rest. They walked together to the waiting room, stopping when Barton put a hand out to get Tony's attention. "Hey, I've been thinking about what you said. About how you think you're seeing more between (Y/N) and I? I've finally come up with an answer that might clear things up."

"Oh yeah, what's that?" Tony snickered, still believing that he was right.

Clint clenched his fist, drawing back to connect with Tony's jaw, knocking him onto his back with a firm thud. Tony reached up to touch a small gathering of blood forming on his lip with a look of shock that was quickly growing into anger, but Clint's own rage burning in his eyes as he stood over him kept him on the floor.

"Now you let me know if there's anything you don't understand about that."