For a long while, Chris felt like he was floating in a black void. But gradually, he became aware of little points of pain, cold, and incessant beeping. With a great effort, he managed to pry his eyes open.

Oh. He was in a hospital.

That was pretty surprising. Steve's body was supposed to heal so fast he didn't need to be hospitalized. So if he was bedridden and hooked up to an IV and a heart monitor, Loki had to really have beaten the crap out of him.

Suddenly he could hear a voice over the sound of the monitor.

"No, we're keeping it quiet as possible. He's a good guy. He doesn't need the whole world to watch him fall apart. God, I know what that's like."

Chris craned his neck to watch Tony pace around his hospital room, deep in conversation on the phone.

Or maybe not. Tony wouldn't be caught dead in plaid pants and a beanie.

He locked eyes with Chris, hissed, "I'll talk to you later. He's waking up," into the phone, and hurriedly shoved it into his pocket. He was at Chris' bedside in an instant with a smile. "Hey, you're awake. How're you feeling, tiger?"

Chris struggled to sit up. "Rob?" he asked hesitantly.

"No, no, don't get up yet. The doctors are going to want to take a look at you and make sure you don't have a concussion from that fall."

Chris sagged back into the bed with relief. So he had fallen and hit his head. That explained everything. "Oh thank god," he said, squeezing his eyes shut. "I thought I was dreaming all kinds of crazy shit."

"I'm afraid not," Robert said. "You really did jump off that roof."

Chris' eyes flew open. "Wait, what?"

Robert shook his head. "You don't remember, do you? I guess I'm not surprised. You were really, really drunk."

Chris groaned and pressed his palms into his eyes. "Okay, let me have it. I want to hear the whole story."

"Alright, we'll take it from the top. What's the last thing you remember?"

"Dinner," Chris said. "Crab legs and a couple beers."

"Oh no, my friend," Robert said. "It was way more than a few beers. More like a keg."

"Aw, fuck."

Robert crossed his arms over his chest. "You want to tell me about your drinking problem?"

"I don't have a drinking problem."

"That's what they all say," Robert said with a sage nod. "Hell, I've said it more times than I could count. But you can't get help until you admit that you really need it."

Chris pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, Rob, I really appreciate it, but I-"

"We helped you out this time. Since nobody actually saw you jump, thank god, as far as the press knows, you got injured in a freak accident on set. But next time you go on a bender like that, we're not covering it up. Maybe it'll be the kick in the ass you need to get help."

Chris sighed. "It won't happen again. I promise."

The door opened and Sebastian poked his head inside. "Hi, can I come in? Is he-" His eyes flicked to Robert. "Is he okay now?"

"He's fine," Robert said. "Well, he's a little banged up. But fine otherwise. I don't even think he has a concussion."

"Good." Sebastian stepped inside and let the door close behind him. He glared at Chris. "Not cool, man. You should have told us the pressure was getting to you."

Goddamn it. This was an intervention, wasn't it? One by one, all his castmates were going to file into the room and give him disapproving looks and lectures about his mental health. Just fucking great. He was never going to live this down.

"Look," Chris began.

"No, you look here," Sebastian said heatedly. "I don't want to get anymore calls that I need to come drive you home because you drank a fucking gallon of beer. And I don't ever want to see you jump off a roof again."

Chris winced. "It won't happen again. I promise." He held out his hand.

Sebastian eyed his outstretched hand warily.

"What's the matter?" Chris said. "I'm really sorry about last night, but we're still cool, right?"

"We're friends," Sebastian said, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets. "But we're not that close, okay?"

Chris' jaw dropped. "Look, whatever I said last night, I'm sorry. I…wasn't feeling like myself. I didn't mean it."

"Er, no," Robert said. "You were kind of convinced last night that you were actually Captain America and Sebastian was actually Bucky and the second he showed up, you started crying and we had to actually peel you off him because you just wouldn't let go."

Chris buried his face in his hands. Of course. In Steve's world, Bucky was on the run, not entirely sure he could trust anybody, even Steve. For Sebastian to just walk up him with a smile and open friendship, well, he couldn't exactly blame Steve's dramatic reaction. It didn't make it any less embarrassing.

"I am so, so sorry, Sebastian," Chris said. "You're right. We're not that close and that was really inappropriate. I'm sorry for putting you in that position."

"It's fine," Sebastian said stiffly. "You're a weepy drunk. Not that unusual. But no more jumping off buildings. You're not actually Captain America."

"I'm very aware of that," Chris said with a wry grin.

It was slightly comforting to know he'd handled the transformation better than Steve had. He might have freaked out a little. Or maybe a lot. But still, he hadn't jumped off a building.

"I know having to be Captain America is a lot of responsibility," Robert began.

"No," Chris said firmly. "It isn't. I'm just an actor. I'm not actually risking my life to save the world. This has really put things in perspective for me. Sure, I might have difficulty learning my lines sometimes and hate doing press junkets, but I have it pretty easy. Who the fuck am I to have a mental breakdown over a movie role?"

Robert looked surprised for a second and then he grinned. "Well, there's hope for you yet. But I'll be keeping an eye on you just in case. And Sebastian will, too."

"No, no, no," Chris said. "Sebastian doesn't have time to babysit me. I'm sure he has other projects to-"

"Nope," Sebastian said. "I'll be shooting my scene next week."

"But you're not even in Ultron," Chris protested.

"Oh, you didn't know? They added a scene at the end where Coulson's team finds Bucky at the Smithsonian and brings him in."

"That doesn't even make sense," Chris said. "Won't it ruin how Civil War plays out?"

Both men looked at him blankly.

"Never mind," Chris said. He flashed them a smile. "I can't wait to get back to filming."

And he couldn't wait to see the new script. Maybe he was just an actor, but it sure felt like he had just saved the world.