A/N: This is my companion to "Skyfall" Chapter 24. Please, please, please do not read this unless you've read the main story up until the most current chapter because this will spoil the entire thing. This story takes place both during and after chapter 24.
Inspired by: "The Lovely Bones."
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters.
Warnings: mentions of death and gore, possible unreality, flashbacks, and amnesia
Come Back to Me
Steve opens his eyes, squinting at the brightness of the sun despite the fact that it's buried behind dark storm clouds. The blond is laying on his back, with something soft beneath him. He moves to sit up before immediately doubling over and clutching his chest. He looks at his uniform covered body, examining himself to the best of his ability. Nothing appears wrong with him, but he can't seem to figure out why his chest hurts so damn bad. He's thinking it could be heartburn, but the serum is supposed to prevent him from feeling any sort of illness.
Cap slowly rises to his feet, the pain in his chest lessening to a dull throb, and surveys the area. He's in a field that is covered in the most beautiful flowers he's ever seen; it stretches far—all the way to the horizon. He turns to look behind him and notices a large tree and a log cabin in the distance, with smoke rising into the darkened sky via the chimney. Steve furrows his brow, unable to fathom anyone wanting to live all the way in the literal middle of nowhere.
After staring at the cabin for a few moments, he ultimately decides that whoever lives there might be able to help him figure out where he is. Once he determines his location, he can radio his teammates for help. With this goal in mind, Steve begins heading towards the cabin. The sinking feeling in his gut becomes more prominent the closer he gets to the structure and he can't eliminate the possibility that he's walking into a trap. If Bucky were here, he would be making an inappropriate joke or call Steve names in an attempt to lighten the mood. He did that a lot during the war and Dum-Dum once referred to him as their walking comic relief. It's painfully ironic that the laughter and light left after Bucky fell.
He feels another pang in his chest, so sharp that he has to close his eyes and take a few calming breaths. When the pain turns into a dull throb, he opens his eyes and—
"Steve, watch out!"
The Captain dodges the Skull's first attack, but the second one catches him off guard. He raises his shield to block the ray gun's blast, only to be a fraction of a second too late, which causes him to be knocked backwards and land on the ground with a muffled exclamation. The sound of Red Skull's joyous laughter reaches his ears over the noises of the battle surrounding them.
"Oh, Captain; you'll have to do much better than that if you want to defeat me."
He hears the familiar sound of a pistol cocking before Bucky is leaning over him and deflecting the bullets with his metal arm, while Steve continues recovering from the initial attack.
"I gotta keep saving your dumb ass, Rogers," Bucky says, tone light and Steve can imagine he's grinning.
"Always gonna need you to protect me," he answers earnestly.
When the bullets stop, Bucky gives Steve a fond smile before grabbing his shield and tossing it at the Skull's head. Steve jumps to his feet and chases after the weapon, with Bucky by his side.
Steve shakes off the memory with a jolt, pausing in his stride and feeling more confused than when he first woke up. There's no way he and Bucky could have fought Red Skull together. When Skull first appeared on the Helicarrier, Bucky wasn't there and Steve still thought he was dead. The second time, Bucky was seriously injured and couldn't fight in England. The third time, they were attacked by Hydra, yes, but Skull wasn't with them.
He furrows his brow. What the hell is going on? And why does he fell like he's missing something important. The Captain blows out a breath, deciding to continue onwards. He can wait to mull about what's happening to him when he's out of this weird field.
When Steve is closer to the cabin, he notices a woman kneeling in what appears to be her front yard, tending to some flowers that are placed behind a small white picket fence. The woman has shoulder length auburn hair that curls at the ends. She's wearing a wrinkled blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and blue pants that are stained with dirt and grass from years of use. Steve tilts his head to the side. From behind, she kind of looks like Peggy—not that Steve would know what Peggy (or her behind) looks like from the back. He bites down on his lip, torn with whether or not he should call her name. After a few moments, he decides to take a chance. If this woman isn't Peggy, then at least he'll have a good icebreaker.
"Peggy?" he calls, unable to keep the hesitance out of his tone.
The woman stands and turns around. Steve feels like he's been punched in the gut because that is Peggy, looking every bit as beautiful as she did in the 1940s—maybe even more so. Peggy looks around, confused, before finally laying her eyes on him. Even from this distance, Steve can see the surprise and sadness etched across her face before it's quickly masked with a wide smile.
"Steve?" she calls.
"Yeah," he says. "It's me."
When he reaches the cabin, Steve pulls her into a hug. They stand in each other's arms for some time before parting, both of them wearing wide grins.
Peggy turns her head away from him. "Howard! It's Steve!"
The cabin's front door opens and Howard steps out, looking every bit as handsome as he did in the forties. His dark hair is slicked back and his moustache trimmed to perfection; his light gray suit is pressed and black shoes are shined. "Steve," he says enthusiastically, before wrapping his arms around the blond.
"It's so good to see you," Steve says with a laugh as he returns the hug. When they part, Steve furrows his brow. "Hey, do you by any chance know where we are?"
"Say, you wanna come inside? We can catch up over lemonade," Howard asks as if Steve hadn't even spoken.
The Captain is immediately suspicious at Howard's sudden subject change. He wants to press the issue and find out exactly what the other man is hiding but doing so will cause Howard to go on the defensive, which in turn will cause an argument because they're both too stubborn to back down. For once Steve keeps his mouth closed (Bucky would be proud) and allows his two friends to lead him inside the cabin.
Howard goes into the kitchen while Peggy leads Steve over to a small sitting area, which is settled in front of a still lit fireplace, and urges him to sit down. She settles in next to him when Howard comes out with three bottles of lemonade with no labels on them. He passes out the bottles before settling in the red chair placed adjacent to the couch.
Steve opens the bottle and takes a long drink, well aware of the two sets of eyes staring at him. He places the cap back on his drink and sets the bottle on the floor.
"So, Steve, what's been going on?" Howard asks, taking a sip of his drink.
"Nothing much; things are pretty average."
"No, but really," Howard says with a curious grin that is prying for details. He was always more perceptive than he lets on, which is something that Steve continuously forgets. "What's been going on?"
"Well, I was frozen in ice, woke up seventy years in the future, and fought off an army in New York," Steve says, casually.
"You woke up seventy years in the future and immediately started fighting in a war?" Howard questions with a raised brow. He doesn't press for details and Steve finds that strange.
He shrugs. "They needed me. What was I gonna do say no? Anyway, they put me on this team called the Avengers—we didn't get along at first, but we made it work."
"I see you've been making friends," Peggy says with a grin. "Who was on the team?"
"We're still an active team, actually," Steve informs. "There's Thor, named after the Norse God; Bruce, a doctor; Natasha and Clint, both master assassins and spies; and Tony and Rhodey, both of whom fight in armor that Tony designed himself."
Peggy frowns. "Those last four people seem familiar . . ."
"I'm pretty sure we've met them before," Howard states, turning to Peggy as if looking for confirmation.
"What? How would you have—oh my god. You two were the third trial," Steve says, mouth hanging open in surprise.
Howard furrows his brow in confusion. "Trials?"
Steve explains the basic concept of the trials as well as parts of their missions without giving away specifics. When he finishes talking about the third trial, he frowns.
"I thought you said there were four trials," Peggy says.
"There are, but I can't seem to remember the last one too well. I'm. . ."
". . . Outnumbered, fuck!"
Bucky snorts as he presses his back to Steve's so the blond can cover him while he reloads. "Looks like Skull's minions wanna join our party?"
"Without an invite?" he says, which causes Bucky to laugh.
The fight against Skull was going fine—well not, fine, due to the fact that the three of them are evenly matched—but it's about to get much worse now that the Hydra soldiers are darting over. Skull doesn't look too happy about his soldiers interfering, but he doesn't call them away. He probably wants to watch them suffer—it's like he gets off on it. Steve cringes at the mental image that follows.
Bucky propels himself away from Steve's back without warning and is nearly decapitated when a soldier swings a broadsword in the middle of his pathway.
Steve is horrified as he watches the scene unfold. Before he can move, an arrow inserts itself into the enemy soldier's neck. As the body falls to the ground, Steve and Bucky look up and see Clint wave at them from his perch on top of the Bell Tower. The archer's loads another arrow into his bow before firing it in between the eyes of an enemy approaching Steve's right while he was distracted. Man, he really needs to get a handle on his focus.
"Cap, Bucky! Get out of the way!" War Machine says via his external speakers.
Steve kicks his body into gear. He charges away from the scene, grabbing Bucky by his arm along the way, and pulling his friend into a ditch that Hulk made with his fists—so recent that the dust is still settling. He pulls Bucky close and holds his shield above their heads as War Machine fires what sounds likes rockets at their enemies.
The blond turns and looks to his left, seeing Bucky staring straight ahead and appearing lost in thought. He furrows his brow. "Buck?"
"Before we were captured, we were in the trenches and mortars were coming down on us. For the longest time, we couldn't return fire and we just had to use our guns to cover our heads and pray that we didn't get hit. This kind of reminded me of that."
Steve looks at Bucky shocked. "You've never told me that before."
Bucky licks his lips. "Never knew how. I tried my best to block out everything that happened—from when I left you in Brooklyn until you rescued me. I didn't want to end up breaking down on the battlefield and end up being a liability."
"You should have told me," Steve says.
"I know that now," Bucky says. When he looks at Steve, the blond can see the weariness and pain behind those pale blue eyes.
Before Steve can respond, the explosions cease. Bucky pulls away from him before concealing his emotions behind a mask. "Let's go."
Steve nods his head. He lowers his shield and the exit the ditch together.
". . . Just getting fragments of memories," he continues after the memory passes. "I think."
"I hope you remember soon. Whatever happened must have been important," Peggy says.
"Yeah," Steve says, distracted. He shakes his head and turns back to his two friends. "What happened with you guys?"
Howard immediately launches into the tale, revealing their initial meeting with the Avengers at Stark Expo in the middle of the night. Peggy was suspicious of them from the beginning, but Howard was intrigued and quickly decided to invite them onto his yacht. He doesn't elaborate on what exactly they were doing, which is unusual for Howard. Steve is curious to know what he's hiding, but won't call him out on it.
Howard continues by saying he wasn't sure what exactly Peggy was worried about because over the course of their trip, the Avengers just proved themselves to be really weird because they never went far from each other and always sat in a huddled group. Howard mentions in passing that he thought Natasha was hot, but he was very afraid of her, which causes both Steve and Peggy to laugh.
But, Steve isn't laughing for long.
Natasha is being overwhelmed by soldiers.
Steve searches the crowded mass surrounding her, but he can't see Nat anywhere. He tosses his shield into the fray, watching the disk knock out several of the soldiers before returning to him. The Captain scans the area again, but he still can't locate her. He chews on his bottom lip, looking between the mass and Bucky, who is engaging Red Skull.
"Go!" Bucky shouts as if he just read Steve's mind.
He doesn't want to leave Bucky alone and is about to relay that, when he sees Thor charging to his friend's position from the corner of his eye. Comforted with the fact that his friend will have backup, Steve secures his shield on his arm and charges forward, barreling into the mass that covers Natasha and physically moves the soldiers out of his way. Steve fights his way through the crowd before finding the assassin in the center, her hands held behind her back by one soldier while another has a gun leveled with her head. She's frowning intently and if there's one thing Steve knows about Natasha, it's that she hates being tied down ("Unless it's during sex," she once shared before laughing at the surprised expression on Steve's face. Out of all the things he expected her to say, that wasn't it).
Steve tosses his shield, knocking the gun from the soldier's hand and giving Natasha the opportunity to take down both men. She looks over at Steve before giving him a small smile. "Thanks Captain."
"You're welcome, young citizen," he says, which causes a full on grin to cross Natasha's face.
"Steve? Are you alright?"
Howard's voice pulls him from his memory and to the present, where his two friends are wearing matching concerned expressions.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. Please continue."
Peggy resumes the story, mentioning how the Avengers blew their own cover, which confirmed her suspicions. She called them out, thinking they were Communist spies, when the yacht was attacked and boarded by the Soviets. They had to fight their way to the main deck where they ran into a man with a metal arm, whom Natasha identified as "Winter Soldier."
Steve's mouth falls open in shock. "It was Bucky?"
Howard and Peggy both freeze, wearing matching expressions of gaping horror. Peggy recovers first.
"Winter Soldier was Barnes?" She questions, still disbelieving.
"Well, technically is. After he . . . fell, he was found by Hydra, who continued experimenting on him before he was given to the Red Room to be brainwashed and turned into a weapon." Steve feels guilty for telling them what happened to Bucky since it's not his story to tell, but Howard and Peggy won't quit asking until they know the full truth.
"We could have saved him right then and there," Howard says, regretfully. "If we would have known, we could have saved him. Fuck."
"Guys, it's not your fault," Steve says. "I was his commanding officer and I was in charge of his safety—"
"I told you to allow Barnes the dignity of his choice to join The Howling Commandos and accompany you on that mission, didn't I?" Peggy says, raising her chin slightly as if daring Steve to challenger her. "It is a tragedy and, unfortunately, we were all too late and unable to save him."
"But, that's the thing. I did, only I was seventy years too late. He was the first trial," Steve explains.
"Rescue a troubled soul, and return them to the being they once were," Howard repeats as everything connects into place. He sighs heavily and wearily. "Oh geez. I am getting too old for this."
Steve nods, sympathetically. "You and me both."
"Well, I need to get going," Howard says after an indeterminable amount of time has passes.
"Oh, so soon," Peggy says a little saddened.
"Yeah, I got to get back to my sweetheart," Howard says with a small smile.
"Where do you hit a man where it will hurt the most?" Skull says casually as he uses his ray gun to knock Steve and Bucky's weapons away from them. He rounds on the Captain and delivers a roundhouse kick to his gut, sending the man flying backwards and into Bucky.
The pair crash into the ground hard. Steve rolls off Bucky and onto his back, feeling dizziness and pain overwhelm him.
"Unbeknownst to popular belief, Captain, you are not my target today," Skull says, glancing at the disgruntled Captain before turning his head. Steve tries to follow his line of sight, but he's having a hard time clearing his vision.
"Steve . . ." Bucky says, sounding pained. Steve can feel Bucky's fingertips touching his shoulder and it takes more energy than Steve would like to expend to move his hand and hold onto Bucky's with his own.
"Are you alright?" Steve asks.
Bucky lets out a wheeze that was probably supposed to be a laugh. "I should be asking you that," he says, voice gentle and soft. "But, I'm okay. Well, as okay as I can be since your lard ass landed on me."
Steve feels guilty, but not as guilty as he should. Bucky's a big boy—he'll be fine. Plus, he's only teasing anyway.
"So, have you figured it out yet, Captain?" Red Skull sneers, drawing the attention back to himself. He has his ray gun in his hands and gazing at something in the distance. "Where do you hit a man where it will hurt the most? His heart!"
Steve immediately knows who Skull's target is. He pushes back his dizziness and pain, shooting to his feet, sprinting, and praying that he'll be able to make it in time. He can't lose him—he can't.
"Tony! Watch out!"
Steve's mouth is hanging open in frozen horror as the past twenty-four hours run through the front of his mind. He remembers the Avengers being united, taking the Quinjet to Frederick, fighting alongside his teammates, Red Skull firing at Tony, Steve shoving him out of the way and falling, mouth moving to say "I love you too" when everything goes dark and—
"Steve, what's wrong?" he hears Peggy ask over the white noise in his head.
"I'm dead. We're all . . . I'm actually—" Steve collapses into himself in agony, trying to stop the tears from flowing down his face. He barely registers Peggy and Howard's arms sliding around him as one word repeats through his mind.
Dead.
A/N: I hope this made some sort of sense. It did in my head and I'm hoping I conveyed it to paper correctly. I mainly wrote this bit so you guys can see the third trial through Howard and Peggy's perspective in addition to the fourth trial via Steve. I hope you guys enjoyed