Chapter Sixteen;
Delaney didn't like hospitals.
They reminded her too much of the sterile white building she'd be confined to her entire life with her parents. It made her uncomfortable; she was constantly agitated, her hands wringing in front of her. The only time she was able to focus was when she had something to fixate her attention on and block out everything else about the hospital. This would narrow down to a good book, or watching Steve as she waited for him to wake up.
Delaney remembered how she'd stumbled out of S.H.I.E.L.D., and literally ran into Natasha, Sam – and Fury! She'd almost passed out from shock after seeing him but, after Natasha pulled her into a suffocating embrace, Delaney had choked out, "Where's Steve?"
"We don't know," Natasha had replied, and Delaney's blood turned cold.
She hadn't relaxed until they'd found him, and they pulled in every scarce resource available to them. Delaney had been the one to find him: she'd stumbled across him against the banks of the river. All the warmth drained from her face.
"He's here!" she cried, her voice cracking.
He hadn't looked good. Deep cuts scarred his face, and his left eye was bruised. She'd been shaking as Natasha and Sam ran toward her and Natasha hurriedly called for medical support. Delaney sat beside him, watching Steve with wide eyes, while Sam stood by her side and rested a hand on her shoulder. She'd looked up from Steve's cut face only to look at Sam, to see the concern and reassurance in his warm brown eyes, and somehow know that everything would be okay.
Seeing Steve like that had shaken Delaney, there was no denying it. It was the first time she'd seen any of her friends so badly injured, and reminded her that, despite everyone's superhuman abilities, they were still vulnerable.
Now, in the hospital, Delaney sat by Steve's side. She visited every day, and she knew that Sam and Natasha did too, all of them waiting for Steve to regain consciousness. Whenever she sat beside him, Delaney's hand would slip into the bag she'd bring with her to feel to drive that was too valuable to leave behind, unattended, where it could be lost or stolen. When she wasn't by Steve's side she was researching, piecing together the evidence left behind, so she could face her parents.
It was a task that required all of her concentration, and left her distracted from thoughts of anything else. However, Delaney felt the gap where Steve's presence once had been – she missed his company now more than she thought she would.
Please, Steve. Delaney reached over and took his hand. I know that you're going to be okay, but still, wake up soon. We all miss you.
+++
Sam had been the person to tell Delaney that Steve had regained consciousness.
She'd been at home, putting together the final pieces of information from the files before she could analyse them as a whole when her phone rang. Her heart leapt when she saw it was Sam who was phoning, and then it soared at the most welcome news.
Only pausing to safely eject her drive, Delaney had made her way to the hospital as fast as possible. She'd burst into the room to see him propped up on the pillows, his eyes open for the first time in days. He still appeared weak, but he was okay.
"Steve! Thank goodness!" Delaney was by his side and gently hugged him. She could feel his body shake as he too held her.
"I wasn't dying, Lane." Delaney rolled her eyes and pushed herself back into her seat to see Steve smile at her. "It's good to see you."
"You too. It was kind of boring, sitting here every day and waiting for you to wake up."
It was Steve's turn to roll his eyes at her, and they both laughed.
They talked briefly, exchanging stories from their time apart – Delaney told him about Nicola and Richard, while he confided in her about Bucky Barnes, his best friend. Delaney's heart went out to him at this story and she'd reached over, placing a hand on his arm. She couldn't imagine being put in that same situation herself. If she had, she doubted she'd be able to handle it better than Steve.
"If I'm being honest, I'm surprised you're still here," Steve said, as their conversation died down.
"Why's that?"
"Since we've cleared things up, I suppose I assumed that you'd use the opportunity to run again."
Delaney shook her head. "I'm done running," she said softly. She lifted her head. "I realised that I need to make a stand. I was afraid of who I had been, and what my parents represented. Maybe I thought that if I avoided it, I could leave it behind me... I could run and run and leave it far behind and never have to face it head on again." A sad smile crossed her lips. "But that's impossible. No one can outrun their past – it stays with you, a part of you, for the rest of your life. When I thought I was leaving it behind me, I didn't realise all this time is that I've been looking at it over my shoulder. There's no way I'll be free if I don't stand and fight."
The more Delaney talked, the more confident she became. She had never voiced her plans aloud before – she'd kept them to herself, locked inside her brain, hazy and incomplete. But now she voiced them it was like she had given life and purpose to her plans and suddenly it wasn't just an incomplete plan, but her direction, her purpose. Her eyes hardened and her jaw locked.
If there was one thing she wasn't going to back down from, it was this.
"But you won't be staying for much longer," Steve observed.
"I can't. To find my parents, I need to do some more investigation, visit locations and finalise all of my plans... And I can't do that from Washington. This time I really don't have any choice but to leave."
Steve pushed himself into a more upright position. "I'll help you."
Delaney rested a hand on his shoulder, preventing him from moving any further. He paused and their eyes locked. Delaney shook her head ever so slightly.
"No," she said, steel behind the soft whisper of her words. "You dealt a blow to H.Y.D.R.A., but they're not eradicated. They're still there, in the shadows. You and the others are needed still, Steve. The world needs the Avengers. This is my problem so... I'm going to deal with it myself."
Steve sighed. "I can't convince you to change your mind?"
Delaney smiled. "No." Her word, like her decision, was final.
"I figured. You're too stubborn. Once you've made up your mind there's really no changing it."
Delaney chuckled. Natasha and Clint used to complain about her stubbornness all the time. They would get into arguments that got nowhere since she'd be so unwilling to change her position on a matter.
"But I'm not leaving just yet," she said. "There's something I need to do first, and I'll need the help of Tony and Bruce."
Steve straightened. "What is it?"
Delaney's eyes narrowed, all smiles and laughter eradicated from her face. Anyone who caught sight of her reflection for the smallest part of a second would understand at once that she meant business.
"You need a defence against me, Steve, in case I fail. And I know how we can do it."