Rosie was the one who was able to get into the Helicarriers' video feed and search for Steve, who they had lost contact with when he failed to get the third targeting chip in. She was frantically looking through the hundreds of cameras while Hill and a few other agents forced their way through to the hangar. Sam had left the hangar to deal with Rumlow, who was now dead, and the doors had sealed behind him when Maria rebooted the systems to regain control of the Helicarriers.

She nearly fainted when she found Steve. He was on the control room floor, passed out and lying in a pool of his own blood. She could see at least three gunshot wounds and what looked like a knife sticking out of his shoulder. 

Praying that they would get to him in time, she told Hill of his condition and helped Tasha arrange for a helicopter to airlift him to the nearest hospital, which happened to be a Stark-owned one. She followed his rescuers via the security cams until they got to the roof. 

Rosie went to visit Steve at the hospital the day he woke up and gave him the newest model MedBot as a get well soon gift. He had been quite confused by the robot when she showed it to him, but by her second visit, he was fast friends with the little dude who he'd named 'ET'. 

It turned out that the Winter Soldier had used unique HYDRA-manufactured bullets which were meant to take down super-humans. The bullets contained some kind of toxin that interfered with Steve's accelerated healing, meaning that he was stuck in the Hospital for over a month while he healed normally. 

Rosie visited Steve often, bringing him movies and books to catch up on. The two of them were steadily working their way through Disney and the other classic films, hence the name of his robot. Steve told her stories about how life was in the forties, and in return, she told him about her crazy days working in the labs at SI where you never knew what would blow up in your face.

A day before she was supposed to leave for graduation, Steve had finally opened up to her about Bucky, and how he used to be. He told her how the Barnes' had helped him get over his parents' death and became his second family. He managed to keep his composure through most of it, but his voice cracked when he talked about Bucky's little sister, Rebecca.

"She was the sweetest little thing I ever knew. Always smiling, she welcomed me with open arms into her home. Becca was always ready to help Buck patch me up after a fight, be it in the morning or in the middle of the night. She was seventeen the last time I saw her on the day Bucky got shipped out-"

Rosie gave his hand a gentle squeeze. "You don't have to say anything you don't want to, but I'm ready to listen."

There was a pause as Steve collected himself before continuing. "I miss them all. It's-It's just that- I was ready to die when I brought that plane down. Thought I'd get to see Ma, Pa and Bucky again..." His gaze was focused on the view outside the window. "Then I wake up and Fury's telling me that I've been asleep for seventy years. Everything's so-so different an' I don't know what I'm doin' most o' the time. I became Cap to serve my country, but-but I don't even recognise who I am anymore." The more upset he was, the stronger his accent got. 

Rosie felt a lump in her throat as she tried not to cry. She'd done the same thing as well. Until she'd spent some time with him in the hospital, she'd called him Captain America both in her head and while talking to him. How many others had fallen prey to the same thing? Had they all been so taken in by the legend of Captain America that they completely missed what was going on with Steve?  How long had it been since someone had seen him as Steve Rogers - just Steve Rogers? 

She had seen the same thing happen to Tony. People hardly ever wanted to get to know him for himself and not for his money, fame or personal gain. Tony, who had grown up in front of the cameras had taken it in his stride and meticulously crafted his public persona to suit the expectations of the public. No one had taught Steve to do that. He'd been quite literally thrown into the deep end with nothing to keep him afloat.

He needed someone to keep him anchored, she concluded. He had been thrown decades into the future and dragged from one fight to another so fast that he'd had no time to adjust to his surroundings. The recent bombshell wouldn't have done his mental state any favours, either. 

She doubted that he'd even admit to such a thing, for mental health hadn't been a big concern back in the forties. A lot of the mental issues that were treatable today were considered as signs of abnormality or madness back then and were enough to get you thrown into a mental asylum. Now she wasn't any sort of an expert, but she did know Steve's type. She'd do her best to start his recovery and then urge him to seek out professional help when he was more sure of himself. 

"Why don't I help you find out?"

"You would do that for me? "  

"Of course I would!" She fake scolded, wagging a finger at him. "Steven Rogers, don't you dare pretend that you're too macho for some nice home-cooked meals and warm hugs. My family's not the most traditional one, anyway. A supersoldier isn't going to be out of place. Besides, who doesn't want to get to know a cool guy like you?"

He sighed. "Everyone wants Captain America..." 

She laid a hand on his uninjured shoulder, "I'm referring to Steve Rogers. As far as I'm concerned, Captain America is nothing more than a stage name. You're the hero, Steve." She gave him a smile, "You, who survived the serum; you who was too stubborn to not go on the front lines; and it's you I care about."

Rosie pretended not to notice how shiny his eyes had gotten. 

"Dad... Tony... Bruce... Tasha... Clint... you... all you guys might be superheroes and assassins and despite all your attempts to pretend otherwise, you guys are human too. You have feelings, insecurities, doubts and fears, just like everyone else... I want you to remember that. You're not alone anymore. You'll never be alone as long as you have me, Steve." She stressed on the last word, "Never." 

The corners of his lips moved upwards in a smile and he gave her a slow nod. Steve opened his mouth, but no words seemed to be forthcoming. Rosie continued the conversation as if she'd never stopped. "Besides, I've seen the signs. Might as well welcome you to the family now itself. Sharon, huh?"

His cheeks turned a bright pink. "W-who?"

Rosie smirked. "Agent 13? I believe she came to visit a couple of times. Was quite extremely distraught when she saw your condition...."

"How-"

"Sharon Carter. She's my aunt and Godmother, Steve. Sharon's the one who warned me about what was happening at SHIELD."

"Oh. Oh. " The blush on his face was getting stronger by the second.

"Yeah... Do you seriously think I wouldn't notice that my Godmother was acting like a lovesick teenager? You're both so gone on each other that it's getting rather ridiculous. That said-" the smile dropped off of her face within an instant and she gave him her best murderous glare, "-break her heart and no one will ever find your body. Natasha's got enough experience making dead bodies disappear into thin air; a super-soldier isn't going to pose a challenge to us." 

He gulped. "I won't?"

"Great!" Rosie grinned once more, her happy demeanor back. (She long since realised that such abrupt mood swings unnerved people more than most death threats.) "I approve! You better ask her on a date once you're out of hospital, mister."

He turned even pinker, and Rosie had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing out loud. "Why are you so supportive now? You were just threatening to kill me two seconds ago!" Steve asked in an attempt to save his dignity.

"You're a great guy." Rosie simply stated. "And much more of a gentleman than most people out there today. Who am I to keep you two apart? I know that you'll be respectful of your boundaries and treat my amazingly badass aunt the way she deserves to be treated, so there's no objection there. Besides, I rather like the sound of Uncle Steve, don't y-"

The PA system in the hospital dinged. A voice came over the speakers, "Visiting Hours have ended for today. I repeat, Visiting Hours have ended. Visitors, please make your way back to the reception area to return your passes. Thank you."

She caught the small sigh of relief Steve gave when she stopped teasing him. The poor guy had turned such a bright shade of red that he now had a rather unfortunate resemblance to a tomato. 

Once she was outside the room, Rosie couldn't resist poking her head back in to say, "She likes carnations! You might want to remember that on your first date." He rolled his eyes, but she caught the small smile he was trying to hide. "Remember to acknowledge me in your wedding toast!" She skipped off before he could answer.

                                                ---------------------------------------------------------------

With the entire HYDRA mess, Rosie realised that the life of a SHIELD agent wasn't one for her. Sure, she'd do it in a heartbeat if it was for any of her loved ones, but it wasn't the case here. She could still go on missions with the Avengers as tech back-up without having to work for SHIELD. No one could stop her now that she was an adult and had two college degrees and sufficient combat training under her belt. 

This meant that she finally got to meet Thor, and managed to impress him on her very first day. 

She disabled half a HYDRA base - without even getting out of the Quinjet! - with a perfectly aimed EMP, managing to knock out a dozen agents with stun grenades without getting a single scratch on her. The entire team had watched, dumbstruck, as she helped Natasha back to the Quinjet and performed first-aid on her fractured leg.

Hill had laughed when they reviewed the footage of the mission, and hired her on the spot to update S.H.I.E.L.D's security systems. Natasha had been banned from missions for a month while her leg healed from the superficial fracture. Using this as a guise, Clint had taken Rosie to visit his family. They had declared that all three of them needed a long-overdue holiday and the break would double up as a chance for Natasha to recuperate. The excuse worked like a charm.

The kids, Lila and Cooper had immediately taken a liking to her and named her 'Cousin Rosie' in the hour they met her. Cooper declared, "You call Auntie Nat as Tasha. That makes us cousins."

 No one could argue with that, and it's not like Rosie wanted to, so she was christened as 'Cousin' and made to promise that she'd visit more. The kids loved having someone who could keep up with their shenanigans and so did Laura, Clint's wife. She'd thanked Rosie for keeping her kids occupied, giving her some much needed peace. The kids were livewires, and Rosie could guess how exhausted Laura would get trying to keep them entertained all day.

She got rather attached to the two kids and had a hard time leaving them after just two weeks. Rosie felt really sorry for the family when they couldn't see each other for extended periods of time. She had no idea how Clint did it for months together. Once they got back to New York, Rosie spent a few days brainstorming solutions in her lab. 

In three days, she had two perfectly functioning video communicators that were totally untraceable and fully encrypted. No one except the Bartons, herself or Natasha could even switch on the damn things, let alone misuse them or eavesdrop on their conversations. The devices worked like a charm, and Clint was so grateful to her for making them that thanked her every time he saw her for weeks together. 

After that little visit, Rosie threw herself back into SI with Tony or Bruce, helping them with their latest projects. With some encouragement from both of them, she applied to the PhD program at MIT to pursue a doctorate in Nanotechnology while at the same time studying up on Neuroscience in her free time. This time, she didn't stay in the dorms; instead choosing to travel from New York to Boston for the few days every month that she was required to come to classes. 

By now, she had spent enough time reading up stuff and helping Tony in his lab to understand what he did and be able to make improvements as well as assist Bruce with his research in the fields of radiation, chemistry and biology. Her main goal was to find ways to use nanotechnology to improve on their existing products. 

The next few months went by in a flash and Rosie found herself in danger of burning out. Thanks to this, Suzanne's idea of a road trip across the country seemed rather inviting and the two of them set off on a ten-day journey of relaxation and fun together.