This was the second time I had woken up from a normal sleep in the past 24 hours. Well, at least I thought it had been 24 hours. I had no idea how long I was out for when I got to the old Avengers Tower. At least I was here, in the familiar medical bay this time.

I opened my eyes fully and took in my surroundings. Nothing was different. It's not like much could change in this room; maybe that was a good thing, because I was back somewhere I knew.

"FRIDAY?" I questioned quietly, hoping that she was still here. It wouldn't make sense if she wasn't, but I wasn't exactly used to things going exactly my way- especially today.

"You're awake, Miss Silva. What can I assist you with?" she answered, stopping my thinking and causing me to smile lightly.

"How long was I out?" I asked. My hope was that it wasn't too long, like maybe a day or two at the most. An hour would be best case scenario. I already spent a good bit of my life asleep, I didn't want to waste any more of it.

There was a moment, and I figured she was checking to see how long I had been here. "You've been unconscious at the tower for 12.14 hours," she answered. I smiled in the familiarity of her specific ways. It was really nice. "I have notified Mr. Stark about you regaining consciousness, and he is on his way."

I went cold at that. It's no surprise, I mean I came here where I knew he'd be. Plus, of course he'd want answers as to why I showed up here for the first time in months, unconscious with some serious injuries and a broken arm. Well, hopefully just a disabled arm and not completely broken.

"Thank you, FRIDAY," I whispered. She voiced a reply, but I was zoning out to focus on the ceiling. I knew what was going to happen when I got here, and yet I wasn't ready. Tony Stark was supposed to help me after I signed, or at least that's what I thought he'd do. I had told him the reason I signed the Sokovia Accords- he knew I didn't want to do where I went. So no, I wasn't exactly excited to see him again. And yet, he was helping me. Who knows, maybe he had the FBI waiting for him.

The medical bay door opened and I turned to see Stark walking in. "Well this is an interesting situation," he said when he was all the way in the room. I chuckled lightly at that and turned my head back up toward the ceiling. He made his way closer to the hospital bed I was currently in.

With the press of a button, I was starting to sit up more so I could talk in a more comfortable position. After the many times I had come in here in the past I could still remember which buttons did what.

"It is a very interesting situation." Stark let out a weak chuckle at my comment and took a few steps closer, but was still a good few feet away from me. He wasn't saying anything, so I spoke up. "Look, I'm sorry for dropping in like this," I said quietly. My eyes moved down to look at my fidgeting fingers.

My eyes widened. "My hand...?" I asked and looked back up at him.

"Yeah," he started and rubbed the back of his neck. "When I brought you in here I noticed that your arm wasn't doing anything and it just felt limp like a normal arm would if numb so I worked on it while you were out." He paused his rant for a second. "Sorry, that probably sounded really weird... you were out for a little over 12 hours and I thought you might like having your arm back."

I smiled lightly. "Thanks." We sat their awkwardly for a while- well, he stood and I laid down. There were things we both wanted to say but neither of us had the will to say it. I wanted to ask him how he could let me go to the Rift even though I signed. I wanted to know what would happen to me now, seeing as how I was the furthest thing from being free.

My mouth opened to say something but Stark beat me to it. "I'm sorry," he said suddenly, causing me to pause. My mouth closed and he started to walk around the room. "I had no idea that they took you to the Rift until Ross called me and asked where everyone had gone, and your name was thrown in there. I was livid, for obvious reasons." As he talked, I just nodded along and processed. "After that I refused to answer any calls I got from him, because I knew he'd want me to hunt you guys down. For starters, I didn't want to hurt you guys, and I also was not helping him any more.

"Ross... he ended up leaving me alone after a while. Then he tried to suck Rhodey in but he pulled the 'recovery' card and ignored Ross as well. We both didn't agree with what happened to you and to the others. Sure, they didn't sign and knew what was coming and I'm still pissed off at Rogers, but I don't want you guys rotting away in a prison." He almost sounded out of breath after that speech.

After a few seconds of silence, I decided to speak. "So, you haven't contacted the FBI or anything?" I asked quietly.

Stark shook his head 'no'. "You signed so I see no reason for you to get taken, you know?" He sounded really casual about it as if the answer were obvious. I couldn't stop from tearing up slightly, and I sniffed quietly.

It was loud enough for him to hear. "Hey, kid, what's wrong?" he asked and came over to me. I covered my face with my hands and tried to stop the tears from flowing. I'm tired, so I'm aloud to be emotional if I want to be.

"I just..." I started, and removed my face from my hands. Wiping the tears off my face, I took in a deep breath. But rather than saying anything, I just pulled Stark into a hug. He was a bit awkward at first, because angle and all, but then he hugged me back. "Thank you."

We didn't pull away right away, because this moment was pretty nice. Finally though we had to move on and Stark was probably feeling really awkward. "Uh, so, your injures," he started. I nodded and sat up a bit more to hear just how bad it was.

He moved over to a screen that came down at the foot of the bed, and the lights dimmed as the screen lit up. I focused on it and saw a bunch of x-rays and scans on it- most likely my own. "You have multiple cuts on the side of your face and a couple were infected but dealt with, a few broken ribs, you got a horribly bandaged gash in your abdomen, and a hole in your right leg. In other words, I'm afraid to see the other guy." I laughed, knowing the 'other guy' was dead.

"As far as treatment goes," he continued, "you'll have to stay in here for a bit to allow the ribs to heal and your leg hole to close up more. Most people it'd take about a week, but you're special so it'll probably only take you three to four days. Now, that's a must. I'd recommend you stay in here two full weeks to allow the stomach and leg to completely heal, but I know you and I know that you'd rather not do that. So I'm only going to force you to stay an entire week." He looked away from the screen and at me with a thumbs up. "Deal?"

I returned the gesture. "Deal." The lights turned back on and the screen disappeared back into the ceiling. "What am I supposed to do while I'm here?" I asked him. "You don't expect me to just sit here and stare at the ceiling- I've already done that today."

He chuckled. "There's a TV, I can get you a book or something. Just let FRIDAY know what you want and I'll get it. Do you have anything right now that you want?"

I thought for a second, and remembered the handy journal I had written in during my brief stint at the tower. "Actually, yeah, there was something I had in my-uh in my old room," I spoke softly as I fidgeted with my hands. "It's a- it's a journal that I, um, that I wrote in."

Stark smiled lightly and nodded. "I'll go grab it. Pens, too. In the meantime you can probably watch something on TV?" After he said that, another screen came out of the ceiling- this time a TV screen. Friends came on, and I smiled and snuggled as best as I could while in pain and in a hospital bed. I didn't know what season or episode this was, but I recognized enough story line to understand what was happening.

A few minutes later, Stark returned with my journal and the pen that I had with it. I thanked him and he left quietly. As I opened it up to relive a few memories, I paused and thought, "Wasn't this in a hidden location?" FRIDAY must've helped him.

~~

Nothing eventful happened over the next week. Every now and then, my arm would twitch and spaz and I'd have to get Stark to come help me. He's also asked me to refer to him as 'Tony' but that feels weird to me. Anyway, he suspects I'm having issues because his tech doesn't match the Wakandan tech. We decided that for the time being, I'd have a Stark Tech arm- it will be easier for him to fix if it gets damaged, and I'll keep the Wakandan arm in a case until I can get it properly fixed.

Today, I was able to leave the med bay, and I did so with a smile on my face. Hospital rooms were a bit too scary for me to be in for extended periods of time. Stark's lucky enough I actually stayed in that bed for the entire week.

That also meant I didn't dare venture into the room Bruce had first told me about his infinity stone theory. For one, I didn't want to go in and risk Stark finding me in there and asking questions. I also didn't want to get up.

As I walked out of the room, I grabbed the journal that was sitting on the little bedside table. I had read it over my week of bedrest, and added an entry. It was basic, only going into a little bit of why I was back and writing in it again after a while.

Something about going back into old habits like writing in that journal made me hurt.

"Hey, I was just coming to check on you." I looked up and saw Stark standing in the doorway. He was leaning on the frame with his arms crossed. "I'm not surprised to see you already up and moving though."

I shrugged. "Didn't like being on bedrest," I said with a light tone.

He rolled his eyes at me. "Whatever, you needed it- possibly more, but I knew that would be impossible with you," he said. "Come on, let's get you to your old room so you can pack up."

That caused me to freeze and I felt any happiness in my system drain. I don't know what I was expecting, really. Maybe I hoped he would let me stay in the tower for a while but I never should have put all my hope on that. I still am a fugitive and he's bound to send me in, so why would he keep me here? He's already done enough to help me.

"Pack up?" I asked, my voice flat and devoid of emotion.

He nodded and walked away, so I followed. "We gotta get you out of this room so you can move into your new one at the new facility upstate completely." My feet froze to the ground. "At first that facility was just being used for training and the new recruits' housing, but then I had a thought of- hey why aren't you following me?" Stark had stopped and turned around when he finally realized I had stopped walking.

Tears were pooling in my eyes. "I-I- moving to the upstate facility? That's it?" I asked while trying hard to mask the emotion in my voice. It was a lost cause, however.

Stark nodded and walked back over to me. "Yeah, I'm selling the tower. Are you okay?" He put his hands on my shoulders and looked at my face in the way a dad would console a child. Well, from what I've seen on TV at least.

And that broke the dam. The tears flew down my face and I just hugged him. Now I bet he was extremely confused. I sobbed as I held him in the hug and felt his arms wrap around me as well.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's okay," he said in a whisper. "Everything is going to be okay, there's no need to cry."

I sniffed and started shaking my head. "I thought you were kicking me out and I wasn't ready to have to be on the run again," I said, my voice cracking multiple times over words. "And then you said- I just- thank you."

He smiled and understood now. "You're gonna be okay now, Rey. You're gonna be okay now."