Peggy and Steve were there when Bucky got back to the infirmary. He was trying to play it cool, which lasted for about 10 seconds, as he had brought flowers and treats to try and cheer Mila up.
"Hey guys! Having a party without me?" He tried to joke. He had the flowers behind his back and was now second guessing himself. "Too bad, since I brought the decorations..." he pulled the bouquet out from behind his back and handed them over to Mila.
"James! Thank you! They are lovely!" Mila was so touched by the gesture. "Anything smells better than this place!"
Peggy laughed. "Where in the world did you find those, Bucky? They certainly didn't come from the commissary..."
Bucky nervously rubbed his neck. "I may have called in a favor?"
Steve raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What kind of favor?" He knew his best friend had eyes for Mila, but had also watched him be a 'ladies man' for years. He didn't liked this, but couldn't really say anything about it without admitting what had happened between them in France. "Be careful with this guy, Mila..." Steve was only half joking.
"Why would I have to do that, Steve?" Mila was not in the mood for some sort of misplaced jealousy. "James has become a wonderful friend after our rocky introduction, just like you said he would be. You underestimate him...and me."
Sensing the tension and knowing the full subtext of that little exchange, Bucky pulled his rucksack open and handed out cookies. "Okay, somebody's getting cranky and needs sweets..." he shot Mila a look, then noticed she was trying not to cry. "You guys want some cookies? I got enough for, well, an army..."
Peggy was concerned about that interaction, too, but was trying not to read into it. "Thank you, Bucky. I'll go see if I can find us something to drink to go with these."
As soon as Peggy left the room, Steve was in Bucky's face. "What the hell is going on here? Why have you been here all day?" He looked at Mila. "Did he try something? Did he hurt you?" He went to grab her hand and she pulled it away.
"Really, Steve?!" Mila scoffed. "Do you honestly think he would hurt me?" She laughed coldly. "You seem to have cornered the market on that..." she looked over at Bucky, who was shaking his head, trying to tell her to stop, but Mila was extremely upset. "You want to know why I'm really here, Steve? Because of you." She started to cry.
"Me? What did I do?" Steve was puzzled. "I've barely seen you in weeks."
Bucky interjected "Mils, you really want to do this? You don't owe him anything. Think about this..."
"Stay out of this, Bucky!" Steve snapped at his friend. "Mils? Since when does he get to call you Mils?"
"You know what, Steve? I'm done protecting you." Bucky spat out. "But don't say I didn't try...Mila, you were saying?"
"It was a miscarriage, Steve. Apparently, my system started working again without telling me..." she looked him dead in the eye, watching the color drain out of his face. "Obviously, it was yours, I found out I was pregnant when I had my intake tests...I didn't tell anyone, hoping I could hide in the lab and leave before raising suspicion." She was still crying, but continued matter-of-factly. "Unfortunately, or I guess, extremely fortunately, my system had other ideas...I passed out in the lab from blood loss and needed a small procedure to stop the hemorrhage." She sighed. "James has barely left my side since...because that is what real friends do."
Steve was speechless. "Mila, I had no idea...why didn't you tell me?"
Mila was too tired to argue and just stuck to the facts. "Why? Because you already made your choice. You had chosen Peggy well before this happened. How could I do that to you? Honestly, what would you have done? Telling you would have only caused more pain."
"What are you talking about? I would have helped you!" Steve was on the verge of tears, the gravity of what happened hitting him hard. "Do you really think I would've just abandoned you and the baby?"
"What about Peggy? This would have destroyed her. Would you really have done that to her, over what was nothing more than a fling for you?" Mila cried harder, letting all of her heartbreak out. Bucky sat down in the chair next to the bed and grabbed her hand. "You broke my heart, Steve. I know you were just trying to do the right thing for you and Peggy, but it was at my expense. This was just the final insult, I suppose..."