Into the Ring

Chapter Three-Deja Vu

Disembodied voices whirl around me as I sleep, but one in particular catches my attention. The tone is familiar and I can tell it's coming from the left, the same side that has someone holding my hand tightly.

"Said you'd come to get me if she started to wake up." That's Steve to my right, the tension, and worry coming off him unmistakable.

"Uh, yeah and you're supposed to be with your aunt anyways. You're going to get me in trouble." Tony, at the end of my bed, continues the scolding with his hands fiddling with the heavy blanket over my feet made heavier by the distinctive weight of Mercy.

"Let the kid be. You all need to fall in love more often." Sam defends Peter and I nearly sweat at the...love comment.

"Aunt May understood when I told her I had to go, so you won't get in trouble, Mr. Stark. And I thought you needed the sleep, Captain." Peter.

"She's up." Bucky murmurs and I can hear the smirk in his voice. Apparently, I said that a little too mentally loud.

"This is a little too familiar." I tease before forcing my eyes open. My eyes pass over the circle and land on Peter. Soft brown curls on his head, softer brown eyes, and the worried smile on his face. He's just like I remember. "Hey, you." I forget my self-consciousness and squeeze his hand. He grins crookedly.

"Thought you might get out of trouble by running across the globe, but of course you found some anyway." He teases and my smile grows.

"Came back and got into trouble. Doesn't count." The room chuckles and I look back at them as Mercy wiggles up and kisses Peter and I's entwined hands. The feeling of his in mine is something I wasn't sure I'd feel again. "You all don't have the time to babysit me. What's the situation?" I ask and reach with my free hand to the controls, tilting myself up and into a sitting position. Steve shakes his head and runs a gentle hand over my hair.

"The situation is none of your concern for now." I huff and his lips turn up. "Might have told us about this little draining thing earlier, Jo."

"You knew about it! Remember on the mini-golf course and that old lady with all the kids? I was drained after healing her!" I defend myself and now Bucky huffs, popping up from his seat to stand next to him.

"That was years ago, kiddo. And you never mentioned the fact that you keep pushing your limits like this." Bucky's voice is low and his eyes are dark, so I know he's serious. And it's bad when Bucky's serious. My eyes drift to Natasha whose head tilts unapologetically. She had to tell them, I guess.

"This isn't over, but we do need to continue looking into the explosion. Since Peter is suddenly the responsible one, he's your babysitter." Tony says and waggles a finger at the both of us. I swallow nervously and avoid Peter's eyes.

"Behave. Cameras everywhere." Sam teases before walking out. My eyes roll, but this seems to console both Bucky and Steve. Tony heads out and Natasha follows with a quick squeeze of my foot.

"Keep her grounded, kid." Bucky winks and heads out, leaving just Steve, Peter, and me since Mercy decides to follow Bucky out. Peter stands and squeezes my hand.

"I'll uh, I'll be right outside." He rocks back and forth before hurrying out the door. I make sure he's still there as the doors shut, then look at Steve's big blues. His questioning expression tells me everything he wants to say.

"I would've told you about the energy thing eventually. There wasn't time tonight-"

"Last night." He corrects softly and sits next to me on the hospital bed. I huff.

"Last night and if you'd known you would've stopped me from helping all those people. We both know you'd choose others over yourself, but your family over others. I know you, Dad." We both stiffen as the word passes my lips. Then, his shoulders lose the weight of the world and his face loses a few years. "Steve." I correct vainly. The word has been known to slip and it's been nonverbally agreed that we don't talk about it when it does. Still, whenever this happens we both reevaluate our viewpoints in what's usually a heated argument.