Steve closes his eyes as Bruce adjusts his air supply. The hissing of the oxygen mixed with the sedative that's making him sleepy, becomes duller and duller, like the pings from the monitors, that sound more blunt each time. Until it's like bang.
And another bang. Louder. Harder. Steve hears a muffled voice, yelling: “..eed .ee ...old ur and?“ He thinks his limbs are twitching. Is he dreaming already? "Eevee!“ Another panicked voice. His heart starts beating faster. He feels like he is suddenly falling. "Yewing?“ More shouting. Steve sees darkness, broken up by bright flashes. More banging, faster, louder. Someone pushing him. "Up!“, he hears a scream. And then he feels being thrown on his side by an explosion. He rolls over to shield himself, and opens his eyes. He sees Iron Man floating above him through smoke, yelling at him: "What the hell are you doing, Cap? Do you need me to hold your hand?“
There is a crashing noise and Steve thinks the lab is under attack, trying to scamper to his feet, screaming: "What happened? Who is shooting at us?“ "Who do you think it is?“, Tony yells sarcastically, before firing at something behind him and flying off towards it. Just then Cap hears another man call his name: "Steve!“ Puzzled, he turns to the sound, expecting to see the ruins of the lab, but instead he finds that he is out in the open, crouching behind a tree stump. He looks down at his hands, wearing his thick fighting gloves, sees his body clothed in his uniform, his shield lying next to him. Slowly his mind is trying to make sense of it. Too slow.
🌟
"Get down!“, someone yells, pummeling him to the floor, just as a grenade hits the ground near him. But the person lying on top of him shields him from the blast, so he only has to cough, and blink to get the dust out of his eyes. "Are you alright?“, a soft voice asks, and a gentle hand brushes over his cheek, getting some hair out of view. Steve tries to focus, feeling the weight of the body on him. And looks up into his best friends eyes. "Bucky!“, he cries surprised, but happy, returning the smile his buddy gives him. The White Wolf rolls off him and asks concerned: "Didn't you hear Clint's warning?“ "Huh?“, Cap just returns confused, getting nudged over by Bucks once more, right before another hit pulverizes a nearby boulder.
Now Steve's adrenaline is pumping, he's trying to focus, take in his surroundings. Suddenly though, Bucks gets up, grabs his hand and drags him with him, shouting: "We need to move!“ Trusting his friend to bring him to safety, just like he had always done, Steve tags along, holding his shield above their heads to protect both of them, and looks around to see if he can spot their attackers. It all takes him back to the war, and for a second he wonders, if that's where he is, seeing some familiar structures that suggest they are currently on an old military base. But then he remembers that Tony wasn't even born back then, and hears Bucky shout: "Stark, Steve's ear piece isn't working, do you have a spare?“, as he pulls him behind the remains of a wall for cover. There are shots fired in the distance and the ground shakes from another explosion.
As he struggles to get a grip on reality, Steve turns to his old pal and asks in a firm voice: "Okay, so what's the situation?“ Bucks nods and fills him in: "Falcon and Widow are down, War Machine is bringing them back to the Quinjet. Hawkeye managed to get to the tower on the east side, where he and our Tin Men were fighting off the drones and kept the incoming hits low... Yeah Stark, we're behind the wall in the south!“, he suddenly adds snappy. Then his eyes get big and he jumps at Steve again, crouching and jerking up the shield, to hide them both behind it, as a projectile penetrates the concrete just above their heads.
A small gold and red ball rolls to a halt on the ground, a few feet away. "Next time be a bit more precis with your aim, you nearly hit us!“, Bucky barks angry, picking up the orb and opening it to reveal an earpiece. He hands it to Steve, then pausing to look at the ball in his hand, closes and pockets it with a small smile. Cap doesn't have time to question this, as he puts in the device to hear Tony grunt: “... be precis with where you are! You with us again, Cap?“ "Uh, yeah, I can hear you, Tony. What do you want me to do?“, he answers unsure. He still has no clue, what is going on. Is he talking to the real Tony? He remembers being sent into the tank to find Bucky's dreamworld, but this world seems too real to be a dream. Has he been hit over the head and forgotten what happened since then? Why else would he be in a battle?
Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
🌟
So, waiting for some instructions, Cap is slightly irritated, when he hears Iron Man say: "Well, how about you and your boyfriend stop hiding in the bushes, and get busy finding the signal? You can bang each others butts, once we're done beating Hydra's, so get to it! Really, you need me to tell you how to do your job, Rogers?“ Steve just stares at Bucky, who is grinning at him and then goes to look around the corner of the wall. "Jeez, no need to be rude, Tony!“, Steve manages to say, when the others already chime in, Clint adding: "You're just jealous, cuz Pepper couldn't be here, Stark!“, and Rhodes answering: "Come on boys, cut the crap! I saw some suspicious antenna on a shed near an excavator, maybe you two foot soldiers can check it out!“ "On it!“, Bucky confirms, rounding the corner, leaving Steve no choice but to follow.
His old friend makes a clear line to a building next to the broken down construction vehicle, and once Cap catches up with him, standing next to the entrance, the White Wolf busts down the door with one kick, entering with weapons drawn. Steve quickly follows with his shield raised, but there is noone in the shed. He half hums: "Shouldn't I be the one to go in first, as I got protection?“ His friend gives him a surprised look and starts to smirk. At the same moment, he hears someone whistle, and Stark teasing: "Get a room, you two!“ "We did!“, Bucks chuckles back, then turns to switch on the lights. They flicker into a cold white beam, almost too bright for the small space.
Steve notes that the windows are boarded up, like an abandoned building, but the floor is remarkably clean. And in the middle, there is a sort of box, standing on a sturdy metal table, with wires and buttons, a few red dots blinking. A long antenna sticks out of the middle, going all the way up to the roof. "Guess we found the source of the signal.“, Bucky states and Clint calls over: "Well shut it down, will you? These things are starting to really annoy me! And I'm almost out of ammo!“ "Told you to switch to lasers, Robin Hood!“, Tony mocks, but after a loud bang quickly adds, "I'll cover you! Cap, get that transmitter offline!“
Steve is still baffled by all this. Something doesn't feel right. "Couldn't we just wake up and be done with this?“, he mutters quietly. "Yeah, what a dream that'd be!“, he hears Rhodes hum, while the sky outside gets dark with storm clouds. Meanwhile, Bucky has approached the contraption, examining it, and is trying to open a cover to see the insides. "What happened to us?“, Steve asks him, still unsure, "Did we get out of the tank?“ "Tank?“, Bucky raises a brow. Stark signals over the ears: "This is no time for your old war stories, Cap! Shut down the signal, or I'll launch a rocket over there and blow it up myself!“ "Get to it boys, these things are coming from all sides!“, Rhodes adds breathless, as thunder strikes outside. Cap approaches his old friend, who had turned to fumble at the metal box again, and places a hand on his shoulder to make him look up. "I meant the immersion tank. Where you go under water, and they monitor your brain waves.“, Steve explains. Bucks turns white and looks back at him with utter horror. "No.“, he sighs, nearly inaudible. And then all hell breaks loose outside.
There are multiple explosions, another thunder roars, and the heavens open their gates to flood the terrain. Steve hears Iron Man and War Machine shouting things in his ear, but all he can understand is his buddy, muttering scared: "There is a Hydra tank on this site? You saw it? Where they put me in?“ Then another loud bang, a scream over radio and Tony yelling: "Hawks is hit! Blow up the God damned signal, soldier!“ But despite all this, Steve just feels calm, looking down at Bucky's left arm. A normal flesh limb, covered to the wrist in Kevlar, where a fighting glove takes over. Just like his own. So even when his friend turns to punch at the box, starting a loud beeping that becomes faster and faster, he stands still.
"We have to go!“, the White Wolf pleads, looking desperate at Steve, but he just shuts his eyes. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up... He looks back at Bucks, as the screams in his ears and the beeping become almost unbearable, the lights flickering like crazy, and water rising at their feet, and he just says: "Trust me. We'll be fine.“ At that, Bucky flings himself into his arms, hugging him so tight, he can hardly breathe, and whimpers in his ear: "I hope you're right! But, just in case this is it, remember... I love you!“ Steve is a bit baffled, but also touched at this, so he hugs back, assuring his buddy: "I love you too, Bucky. Don't worry, I'll get you home safe.“ Then he closes his eyes again.
He did not expect the process to hurt as much as it does now. It feels like his head is splitting from pain, ringing in his ears and shining in his eyes, and he can't breathe from the sudden pressure on his chest and back. He wonders: 'Does it always feel this way, waking up? No wonder Bucks wouldn't want to endure this...', and he tries to remain calm as everything inside him is telling him to run or fight back to save his life. And just then, when he can't take it anymore, suddenly everything stops, as his body goes completely numb. Like falling asleep...
🌟