𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐕𝐄. ¹ | wanda maximoff

15 | 𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐊𝐄

Free.

Carson leant his back into the pillow and closed his eyes, letting out a relieved sigh. He felt like a weight had been lifted of his shoulders, that he was released of this burden that Hydra had put on him. Finally.

"Thank you Tony, really. If you had come in a few minutes later then I don't know what I... Thank you." He looked up at Tony, who just nodded and smiled.

But despite feeling that moment of happiness. It still didn't change the things he did. Nothing could.

Tony leant forwards and placed a hand on Carson's shoulder. "I just wanted to say... I'm sorry."

"Tony-"

"No, I need to say it." Tony interrupted. "I'm sorry that we wasn't— That I wasn't there when they took you, I shouldn't of left your side. The moment that Sam came over to us on his own I should've known."

"You have nothing to be sorry for. It's not your fault" Carson shook his head. "I was the one that was too stubborn to stay back at the compound. And besides, the tech that Nikolai and his soldiers had that day... it was inevitable that something was going to happen. They'd clearly been planning it for a while."

"There wasn't a day that went by that we stopped looking, you know?" Tony sighed. "We tried everything to get you back, we really did."

"Yeah well, I should hope so." Carson joked, making Tony laugh softly. "Without me, who's gonna help you torment capsicle all day? God I bet it was boring around here."

"Oh Extremely." Tony nodded.

The pair both turned their attention to the doorway after hearing multiple sets of hurried footsteps coming towards the door.

Tony looked back at Carson and playfully rolls his eyes. "Here comes the cavalry."

Steve, Sam and Natasha rushed inside the room, their faces lighting up when they saw Carson up and awake. Natasha instantly rushed over to him and pulled him into a tight hug to which he reciprocated after a few seconds, his mind getting clouded with the worry of hurting her again for a moment.

Carson sent a nod to Steve and Sam who were walking further into the room, not saying anything just yet as they didn't want to interrupt the reunion between him and Natasha.

He glanced back over to the doorway, scrunching his brows slightly when he noticed the absence of someone in particular.

Natasha pulled back from the hug and cupped his face in her hands, her eyes scanning over his face, a gentle smile tugging at the corner of her lips. This was the first time she had seen him, the real him, in months.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." Carson teased, playfully winking at the red-head when she met his gaze.

Natasha punched him in the shoulder making him scrunch up his face then shuffled to sit down on the bed next to him. "Yeah, it's definitely him."

Steve chuckled and stepped forward. "It's really great to have you back Carson. It wasn't quite the same without you here."

Sam nodded in agreement before inhaling sharply. "Look.. I'm really sorry for just leaving you back at the building. I really thought that-"