The faded voices of her teammates and the authorities circled through Eleanor's head, though she was too numb to take in any of what she could hear. She was on the verge of passing out, but she kept trying to stay awake, knowing that if she passed out before she knew that there was imminent help then she wouldn't make it. No doubt about it.

She wasn't even aware of the silence that had now settled over the airport. Everyone had been and gone, and she was stuck, still unmoving. Her raspy breaths and sounds of pain were the only sounds in the vicinity, and they were certainly not loud enough for anyone to hear her. After laying on the ground limp for what felt like at least an hour, she heard some shuffling near the hole of the trailer that she had created when she was turned into a makeshift cannonball.

She couldn't shift around a bit to see what was going on, though she did hear a loud "Holy shit, El?!", that felt like it was slicing through her skull. She groaned out in pain as the mysterious person crouched next to her and brushed some hair out of her face, which was much appreciated as her flyaways had been tickling her nose for however long she had been there.

"Hey, you're okay yeah? You're gonna be just fine", the same voice said and Eleanor managed to frown and get out a single word, "Who?". She couldn't see it but the face of the person next to her had reached maximum concern at how she wasn't recognising the voice and how she hadn't moved at all. "It's Ria, kiddo can you tell me what's wrong?". Eleanor felt relief wash over her, Maria had found her, she couldn't even find it in herself to query what she was doing there as she had nothing to do with the accords, she was just glad that someone had found her.

"Can't move", she grunted, and Maria let out a sharp huff of air as her eyes widened, fear coursing through her, though she couldn't afford to let that affect her. "I don't know if you'll get any of this but Nat called me to come here and look for you, the authorities think that you did a runner but she thought otherwise, though she couldn't stay so I was the next best option, so we're gonna get you out of here okay?". The younger woman wanted to respond but a whimper left her lips instead, prompting Maria to reassure her with some soothing words before she spoke on coms to the pilot of the jet that was hovering nearby.

"I'm gonna try and pick you up now El okay? The perimeter is locked down so we have to get in the jet and get out right away", she spoke in a quiet tone to not further enrage the almighty headache that Eleanor was enduring. The younger woman weakly nodded and cried out in pain when Maria lifted her torso just a centimetre off of the ground, and the brunette immediately lowered her back to the floor, "Okay, okay", she sighed, not knowing how to go about this. There was clearly a major back injury, and ideally Maria should be moving her out on a stretcher with another person to help so as to not damage the spinal cord even more than it already is, but she didn't have many options.

Maria had to hold back tears as she looked at Eleanor splayed out on the floor in this much pain, she was family. But she had to get her out of here fast, otherwise she would be sent to the raft where she likely wouldn't be treated straight away, if at all. "I'm so sorry honey but I really have to pick you up, I'm so sorry". She pressed the signal button on her wrist and heard the roaring engines of the jet coming into earshot, she had to move fast.

She lifted Eleanor up by her armpits, doing her best to ignore how her body was wracking with sobs. Maria quickly moved her so that she was holding her upright against her body like an infant, carefully placing one hand in between her shoulder blades, and the other underneath her thigh, her other leg hanging limply. Maria walked over to the hole in the side of the trailer wall that she had made bigger to get in, meaning she was able to walk out onto and down the ramp, rushing forward to the jet that had landed a few metres away.

Pain coursed through Eleanor's body with every step that Maria took, and she found it harder and harder to keep her eyes open with every passing second. Though it wasn't long before the pair were on the jet and Maria began yelling at the pilot to start flying, and for the Doctor on board to start doing her job. She deliately placed Eleanor down on the makeshift medical bed, trying her best to not hurt her spine any more and began explaining how she had found her to the Doctor, watching as the younger woman's eyes were fluttering shut, but knowing it was okay as the Doctor was already hooking her up to fluids and oxygen.

—

Eleanor tried to open her eyes, but had to immediately shut them as the harsh white light flooded her pupils and burned her retinas. She let out a groan of pain as it all flooded back now that the numbness of sleep was leaving her system, and she immediately felt someone taking hold of her hand and saying her name a few times. After a few moments she recognised the voice, which provided her with enough motivation to attempt to open her eyes again.

It took a few blinks to get rid of the blurriness, but what she saw was a teary eyed Natasha staring down at her from the seat at her bedside. "You're awake", she sounded relieved and leant over to give her a kiss on the forehead, leaning back with a small smile. "How long have I been out?", the younger woman questioned with a frown, and Nat's face dropped slightly.

"Four days". Eleanor's eyes widened and she tried to sit up, and panic immediately ran through her when she realised that she couldn't, though she had more mobility of her arms than she had before which confused her. "Hey, hey", Natasha cooed, her eyes flooded with worry at watching Eleanor thrash around as much as she possibly could as she tried to sit. Though her reassurances weren't working, so she had to say her name with a snap in her voice, causing Eleanor to stop and face her wife. "It's gonna take about another week before you regain feeling in your back and legs, nothing's broken, but you've got a spinal contusion, the paralysis is temporary, we know for sure now that you can move your arms better", she gave a small smile, trying to calm her wife down.

Eleanor nodded slowly as she tried to remember everything that had happened, and her heart rate audibly went up on the heart rate monitor that she was attached to, causing a nurse and Maria to rush through the doors. "She's just panicking a bit", Nat informed the nurse whilst squeezing Eleanor's hand tighter to try and ground her back to reality. The nurse nodded in understanding and left the three women in the room. "Ross is gonna be coming for me Nat I can't stay in hospital, and you can't get involved either he'll come for you too", she rushed out.

Natasha turned to face Maria to get some help on the situation and Maria walked to the bottom of the bed and got the younger woman's attention, "We're back in the States, and this is one of Fury's hidden bunkers like back in Washington no one will find you both here", she stated with authority. But this just brought more confusion for Eleanor. "Both?".

Natasha awkwardly cleared her throat, making the other two turn their attention to her. "Uh... I helped Steve escape when he got to the jet, he wasn't going to stop and we were all going about this the wrong way. So Tony informed me that Ross was out to get me too, so we're both on his radar anyway, it's not on you". The way that Nat said Tony's name as though he were a bitter taste on his tongue prompted yet another hoard of questions, but Eleanor didn't want to be annoying so kept her mouth quiet for now.

"You're going to be staying here for another week before moving into a temporary safe house until we know that you're fully on your feet again, and then it's up to you two where you go from there", Maria spoke, though Eleanor recognised a familiar twinkle in her eye. "What's the twist, why do you seem happy about this?", she again questioned.

"The safe house is our old apartment детка", Nat grinned, "We get to go home". Eleanor couldn't stop the smile that appeared on her face too. Home.

"I have to go back to work so that no one suspects anything, but just know that there are still people rooting for you two, and if you need anything then you ring me day or night", Maria nodded and leaned over to give Eleanor a delicate hug, the younger woman loosely wrapping her arms around her, the numbness still there slightly. Then she moved to Natasha and gave her a tight hug too, not knowing when she would be able to see the two next. Visits would be too risky and she did not want to see them end up in the raft for the rest of their lives.

Both Natasha and Eleanor watched as Maria left the room, and as soon as the door closed tension rose into the air. "He has them, doesn't he?", Eleanor turned to Nat with the corner of her lips tugged down. "Other than Steve and Bucky, yes", Nat sighed and ran a hand through her hair. Their family had been torn apart, and there was nothing that they could do.

"We need to get them out". Nat's eyebrows shot to the top of her head as she looked at her wife as though she was crazy, "There's nothing that we can do El".

"But-", she tried to start though was interrupted. "No, no buts. You can't even move for crying out loud, and even when you're all better there's no way that the two of us can get into the raft alone, and there is no way of contacting Steve. We need to wait until this has all died down and there is less people looking for us, and then we can try and regroup and consider". Eleanor wanted to protest but deep down she knew that Natasha was right. But that didn't stop her heart from clenching when she thought of her family locked up in the raft, especially Clint and Wanda. It didn't have to get this bad.

It was as though Nat could read her mind, "I don't like the idea of them in there too, but my main worry right now is you getting better before I can even try and think about everything else, okay?". The younger woman nodded, "It's scary not being able to move. I thought I was gonna die out there and that no one would find me", Eleanor's voice cracked as she let out her thoughts, only just having the opportunity to process everything that had happened and the pure terror that she had been feeling.

"I'm so sorry, I can't even imagine", Nat gave a sympathetic smile, "They all thought that you had escaped, but I knew you hadn't. I knew that you wouldn't have run off after seeing them all get arrested, leaving without telling me where you were going", Nat spoke quietly as she too let out her thought process, "But no one believed me, and Clint kept trying to get my attention but the authorities wouldn't let him speak to me, no one knew where they had last seen you. It was terrifying, but Ross wouldn't let me stay, so I had to call Maria, I'm so sorry I left".

Eleanor shook her head and gripped onto Nat's hand as tight as she could with her minimal strength, "You don't have to be sorry, you did everything that you could, if you hadn't have been so stubborn about not believing them then I'd still be there, so thank you my love".

Nat smiled, but then shook her head, clearly not wanting to think about what could have happened if she just believed the assumptions of the authorities, and instead focused on the bright side. "You excited to be going home? Even just for a little bit?".

"Oh, I can't wait", Eleanor grinned as Nat cautiously moved to sit on the bed next to her, and leaned down so that their foreheads were touching, revelling in being back together again even in the unfortunate circumstances. "I love you".