"How is she doing today?"

Stephen jumped as he looked up from his text. Sitting in the chair beside where Hermione laid in his own bed, he saw Wong standing in the doorway. He closed his book on his lap as he looked around, trying to determine what time it was.

"She's woken up a few times, but she's only maintaining consciousness for a few moments and she's obviously confused." He answered with a sigh as Wong began making his way into the bedroom.

"Give her time." Wong replied with a pat on Stephen's shoulder. "Her body needs time to heal."

The rational side of Stephen's mind, the side that had spent years in medical school, understood the body's need for rest, but Stephen couldn't help but selfishly long for the day that Hermione would finally wake.

She'd been in the Sanctum for almost a week now. True to his word, Tony had fulfilled Stephen's every request for medical equipment, and Stephen had immediately begun the long road to healing her. Watching over her constantly, he had spent every passing second since her return sitting in a large cushioned chair next to her bed.

"I know." Stephen said tiredly. "I just-"

Catching a movement out of the corner of his eye, he turned to see Hermione's leg begin to jerk with spasms.

"She's seizing." Stephen said briskly as he jumped to his feet and began turning Hermione to her side.

"Is this normal?" Wong said as he hovered over her worriedly.

"It's happened a few times." Stephen said absentmindedly as he turned Hermione to her side and watched over her as she continued convulsing.

When Hermione stilled, Stephen let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding and looked up to Wong.

"You need to rest as well, Master Strange." Wong said with a hint of reproach in his tone. "You will be no good to Hermione continuing as you have."

Stephen rubbed his face tiredly, knowing his friend could easily see his drooping shoulders and the purple rings forming under his eyes.

"I need to be here to watch over her." Stephen said halfheartedly.

Wong chuckled at his friend. "I'll watch Hermione, and I'll come get you at the smallest change of her condition." Wong said as he began ushering Stephen out the door. "Get a few hours sleep. You'll feel better."

Stephen staggered from the room in a daze as Wong chuckled at his retreating back. Walking back to Hermione's side and taking a seat, he reached forward and grabbed her hand gently.

"You have quite the champion in your corner, my friend." Wong said with a small chuckle.

It was another day after Wong's intervention with Stephen that Hermione finally woke. Stephen, who had to admit to feeling much better after the few hours of sleep, was back in the bedside chair engrossed in the book in his lap. Flipping through a few pages, he paused his hand as he heard Hermione's breathing quicken. Standing up, he saw her head begin to loll side to side. Finding a spot on the edge of bed next to her, Stephen began gently rubbing her arm.

"Hermione."

Seeing the flutter of her eyelids, he continued attempting to draw her out of unconsciousness.

"Hermione. Can you hear me?"

Finally, her eyes droopily opened, revealing the exhausted brown orbs he'd longed to see.

"Stephen?" Hermione rasped with obvious difficulty.

"Yes, Hermione." Stephen continued, forcing himself to maintain a low and gentle timbre. "I'm here. You're safe. Everything is alright."

Looking around, Hermione tried to sit up, only to grimace in pain and lay back down, breathing heavily.

"Where am I?" She asked in confusion.

"You're in the Sanctum with me and Wong." Stephen said as he pulled a small flashlight out of his jacket and checked her pupils quickly. Seeing no cause for immediate concern, he continued. "I know this is a ridiculous question, but I have to ask it anyways. How are you feeling?"

"Really bad." She answered weakly as she reached up to feel the thick fabric on her throat.

Stephen grimaced as he reached out and stopped her from touching the bandaging.

"The others?...Wanda?" Hermione asked.

"They are all fine." Stephen reassured her, even if his knowledge on Wanda's condition was a little less known. "They are with Steve in a safe house somewhere."

Hermione nodded slightly before wincing and reaching back up for her neck. Gently reaching out, Stephen grabbed her hand and held onto it, hoping to distract her.

"I know that you're in pain and confused, but you're safe." Stephen said, hoping to reassure her. "Wong and I are here, and we will be watching over you." He squeezed her hand gently before continuing. I'm going to give you some more pain medication, alright? It's going to make you sleep - It's imperative that you allow your body to rest as much as possible."

Hermione looked up at him and gave a tiny, resigned nod. Standing, Stephen quickly made his way over to her IV port before preparing the medication and injecting it into her tube.

"Stephen?"

Stephen looked down at the woman in his bed, shocked to hear such a small voice come from such a strong woman.

"Don't...don't leave me alone in the dark." She whispered exhaustedly, her eyes pricking with unshed tears.

Stephen sat at the edge of the bed once more, picking up one of Hermione's hands in both of his and squeezing tightly.

"Never." He responded firmly as her eyes drooped closed once again.

Stephen felt himself jerk awake as the sound of laughter startled him. Glancing up, he realized he must have nodded off sometime during the night while sitting at Hermione's bedside. Looking around, he felt his heart clench in the most gloriously painful way as he saw Hermione gingerly propped up in his bed, Wong in a chair on her other side, obviously having been the source of the laughter.

"We're sorry to have woken you, Master Strange." Wong said with no remorse.

"Hermione!" Stephen exclaimed, ignoring his friend completely. "How are you feeling?" He asked as he leaned forward eagerly.

Hermione smiled serenely, even as Stephen noticed her slight grimace as the action aggravated her bruised face. He took a moment to take in everything about her, savoring every detail, despite her current condition. Her eyes were still glassy with exhaustion even after her long rest. The dark purple underneath her eyes, a testament to the ordeal that she had been through the past month.

"Much better." She answered in a tired voice. "I think I actually feel lucid now." She said with a small smirk.

Stephen jumped up, immediately shifting into doctor mode as he began to check her over once again.

"Stephen, please." Hermione argued. "I feel better. Can you tell me what happened?"

Stephen stood still, obviously weighing his words. "What do you last remember?" He asked carefully.

"I remember them separating me from the others" She started, her face pinching in concentration. "I remember Wanda screaming...and then flashes." She continued. "An alarm blaring….I think you were yelling, then just….you."

The silence that fell over the room encouraged Hermione to continue.

"So, how bad was I?"

Stephen looked haunted as he stood and began pacing the room at the foot of the bed. Deciding to avoid her question momentarily, he began his tale.

"It took me several weeks to figure out where they were keeping you." He began, deciding to omit his small tiff with Stark for the time being. "Of course, I decided to leave to collect you immediately. You can imagine my surprise when, during my infiltration of the prison, I happened upon none other than Captain Rogers, himself. It seemed that he and King T'Challa were of the same mind as I. We agreed to team up to get everyone out."

Hermione watched as Stephen began pacing more quickly, obviously becoming more agitated with each word that spilled from his mouth.

"It took us a while to find you all, and when we did, we realized you and Wanda had been separated from the others. When we found you both...you...you were-"

Stephen's mouth pinched into a firm line as he struggled to find the words. Jerking to a stop, he turned on Hermione quickly, his eyes boring into hers as he took a quick breath.

"It was obvious that you both had been subjected to some type of experimentation, but the extent of your ordeal wasn't immediately clear to us." He began clinically. "I've been flushing your system since you've arrived, as there was a veritable cocktail of drugs in your bloodstream, some of which, I'd never seen before now. I'm assuming they wanted to study both of your brain functions to pinpoint any anomaly and potentially find a way to replicate it if one or more did, indeed, exist."

Here, he paused, appearing to steel himself. Hermione glanced down as she felt Wong slip his larger hand into her own. She gave him a small smile as she squeezed gently, appreciative of this silent show of support.

"Your physical injuries...were severe. Your jaw had been cracked - blunt force trauma - Someone punched you?" He asked, trailing off.

"In my flat, yes." Hermione answered quietly. "When they...took me."

"Right." He said with a nod, before turning and continuing his mad pacing. "Two of your ribs were broken, but should be fine with rest and limited movement. Thankfully, there were no signs of a lung puncture. There was a laceration on the back of your head that seemed to have bled a good bit, which is common for head wounds." Here, Stephen looked back at Hermione apologetically as he clasped his hands behind his back.

"I had to shave a small strip of your hair at the base of your skull so that I could glue the laceration back together - But, I think you should be able to hide it if you wish. I thought you would prefer the glue to stitches."

Hermione smiled at the stammering man who was obviously worried he had made the wrong decision as he continued his infernal pacing.

"Stephen." Hermione spoke firmly. Seeing as the man whipped around to look at her once more, she continued, locking eyes with him. "You did the right thing. Thank you." When he didn't reply, she called out to him again.

"Is that all?" She asked with a small smirk, hoping to lighten the mood.

"No. That's not all." Stephen said with a bit of a bite in his tone. "You had enough broken glass in your feet to sink a boat, your nose was a breath away from being broken, and your neck…" Here he stopped to swallow down his rising anger. "...Your neck had been subjected to so much electric shock that you literally had second degree burns. It's going to take a while for it to heal."

"Sorry." Hermione murmured, realizing Stephen had not appreciated her joking.

No one seemed to be willing to break the silence that had fallen over the group after the heaviness of discussing Hermione's injuries.

"Well." Wong said suddenly as he slapped his palms on his knees. "I think I'll go downstairs and make us all a cup of tea, yes?" He asked as he stood to his feet before making his way out of the room and shutting the door behind him.

Stephen stood at the foot of the bed, at a loss of what to say, his hands clasped tightly behind his back. Giving up, he quickly turned, intent on retreating to the kitchen with Wong. His quick footsteps were the only sound in the room as he approached the door, but he was stopped by Hermione's quiet voice just as his hand reached for the doorknob.

"I'm sorry."

Turning, he looked back and saw Hermione staring down at her lap, her face pinched in sadness and regret.

"What?" Stephen asked in confusion as he took a few steps back into the room.

"I'm sorry." Hermione repeated. Stephen could hear the thickness in her voice as he took a seat in the chair beside the bed once again.

Hermione's eyes were watering with unshed tears as she looked up at Stephen and continued.

"I lied to you. I shouldn't have been there that day." She said as she attempted to swallow down her emotion. "I know you're upset with me, and I know I was completely reckless."

Her breaths were coming out uneven and ragged now. "I'm sorry - I just need to know that we are going to be ok. I can't stand knowing you are cross with me."

Stephen closed his eyes and sighed heavily as he felt his heart break for the hurt Hermione felt. Walking over and finding a place to sit beside her on the bed, Stephen tentatively wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into his side.

"Hermione...James Rhodes very well may be alive today because of you." He started. "I know that we agreed not to get involved, and I do wish you would have at least given me a heads up before loading up and popping over to Germany - I would have at least appreciated being included in your half-cocked plan…." He said as he glanced down at Hermione with a smirk. "...but I find it hard for me to stay mad at you for very long."

"I'm just thankful you're safe." He finished as he continued looking down at her.

"Forgive me?" Hermione asked as a few tears finally overflowed from her eyes.

Stephen turned as he put his arms around Hermione and pulled her in a tight embrace. "Always."

Stephen pulled Hermione tighter to him still as the floodgates were finally opened, and her body was racked with sobs.