The familiar sounds of beeping reached Steve's ears. He opened his eyes to a very white room. He saw the needle in his arm and sighed. It was not the first time, nor would it probably be the last that he woke up in a hospital. That did not concern him. What concerned him was how clean this room was. There was no way he and Bucky could afford this.
Steve looked to his left, expecting to find Bucky, but his friend was not there. Steve hoped this meant that his friend hadn't decided to blow off work to sit by Steve because they really could not afford that. Steve thoughts were interrupted by an overly cheerful voice.
"Cap, so nice of you to finally join us in the land of the living. Don't worry this was not another 70 year Cap nap. You've only been out for a few days, which I know sounds like a lot – but" and the man with the strange beard paused from his nonsense rambling. "You probably noticed that some things are not the same, but we are already on it. Natasha, Clint, and Thor are already chasing down Loki as we speak, and Bruce and I are working on a cure, just in case that does not pan out."
The man took a breath, and before he could continue – Steve interrupted, "I'm sorry, Sir. But who are you?"
The smile fell off the man's face. "Please tell me you're joking. Of course, you're joking. You have a terrible sense of humor, Capsicle. Leave the jokes to me, and you stick to being the pillar of righteousness we all know and sometimes love."
Steve wanted to correct this strange man, but when he opened his mouth to speak, his chest got tight and he started coughing uncontrollably. Soon another man came and asked him to breathe and lay back and not to strain his lungs. At least that was familiar.
Eventually, the coughing fit faded, and the other man offered Steve a small smile. "I'm sorry about Tony. I'm sure he confused you. My name is Dr. Banner. Can you tell me the last thing you remember?"
Steve reached back into his memory trying to remember, but that only caused his head to pound. "I'm sorry. I'm not sure." – which was extremely worrying to Steve. Where was Bucky? And how did he get here? There was no way he could afford this.
Dr. Banner nodded. "That's okay, Steve. Can you tell me what year it is?"
"1935."
Dr. Banner and the other man, Tony, shared a look, before Dr. Banner said, "Can you give us a moment Steve? We will be right back."
Steve nodded, but his brain was spinning. This situation did not make any sense. He couldn't remember how he ended up in this hospital, and he didn't know who these people were. He needed to get out of here and find Bucky. Steve pulled the IV out of his arm and climbed out of the too soft hospital bed. He looked around the room for his clothes, but before he could find anything – the two men burst back into the room.
"Steve, where are you going? Look, I know things are confusing right now, and I know you hate hospitals, but we are trying to help, so if you could just get back in the bed before you hurt yourself."
Steve had difficulty listening to the man's rambling as the room had started spinning. He braced himself with a hand on the bed. His chest started to feel tight, and it was getting more difficult to breathe. His stupid stupid body. This really was not the time for an asthma attack.
Dr. Banner suddenly thrust some sort of tube into Steve's face and commanded him to breathe. Steve obeyed and his chest started to loosen. The breaths were coming easier, and Steve sat upon the bed. Dr. Banner gave him a sympathetic look.
"I know it's confusing right now, but we need you to trust us. We are trying to help."
Steve nodded and took several more deep breaths. When he finally had his breathing under control, he looked at them and said, "I appreciate it, sirs. But there is no way I can afford to pay you for this."
Tony laughed. "Oh, you really are a wonder. Trust me, money is the least of your concerns right now."
Steve stared at him, concerned. "What did Bucky promise you?"
Steve knew Bucky, knew that he would say just about anything to get Steve help. Steve also knew that there is absolutely no way they have the money to afford this – no matter what Bucky promised. He prepared himself to apologize but noticed that the men shared a strained look.
"What?"
Surprisingly, it is the rambling man who answered him, "Barnes isn't here."
Steve's confused expression must show because Dr. Banner spoke to him softly, "It's not 1935."
Before Dr. Banner could continue, Tony interrupted. "It's 1953. And you're going to love it. So much has changed. There is medicine for your asthma and other ailments. There is unbelievable technology now. You're going to love it."
Tony's voice had taken on a slightly desperate tone, and Dr. Banner was looking at him with disbelief. Steve was trying to understand how anything the rambling man said could possibly be true.
"Tony," Dr. Banner said as he rubbed his forehead with his right hand.
Tony ignored him and continued, "I know it's going to sound crazy, but there was another world war in the forties. You and Barnes both fought in the war. And I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but Barnes was lost in the war. After the war, we became friends. You apparently got amnesia, and now we are working very hard to rectify that."
Steve stared at Tony in disbelief. "Bucky is dead?"
Tony nodded, and Steve felt numb shock. Bucky couldn't be dead. There was no way there was a war where Steve survived and Bucky died. Unless – oh God. Bucky must have died protecting Steve. This was his fault. Bucky's death was his fault.
"I want to be alone." Steve said. The two men nodded and left.
Bruce stared at Tony in disbelief. "Tony."
"Don't Bruce. Did you really want to go in and tell teenage Steve that it is 2016? How well do you think he would take it? Do you think he would believe us? He broke out of SHIELD in ten seconds."
Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. "He broke out of SHIELD because they tried to lie to him."
Tony waved his hand at Bruce. "SHIELD is full of morons. Jarvis, I want you to put together a 'safe' internet for Steve like parental controls, but actually historical controls."
"Sir, do you want me to deny access to anything that happened after 1953 or just change the dates?"
"A little bit of both. Reconstruct a believable history between 1935 to a 1953 that looks like today."
"Very well, sir."
"See Brucie, it's going to be fine. We have Jarvis."
Bruce sighed again. "Steve isn't an idiot."
"I agree sir. Captain Rogers has exhibited incredible intelligence, especially in discovering deception." Jarvis said.
Tony threw his hands up in the air and said, "You two have no faith in me. Trust me, we will have Cap returned to normal before he realizes anything."
Tony had no idea how wrong he was.