Back to the Start
"Give it up, Red Skull! You've met your match!" Captain America shouted.
"Oh, Captain. You think this is over, jes? Well, I just might have one more trick up my sleeve!" Red Skull shouted.
Steve let out a strangled yell as he was blasted with a beam from one of the Skull's various machines. The light surrounded him, forming a bubble. Steve's screams increased in volume as his veins burned. He practically felt his molecules re-arranging, some strange formation happening to him. He felt his lungs seize, just like they did when he was…the other Steve. Soon enough, the beam was retracted and Steve fell to the ground. It caused more pain than it should have, but Steve was too busy trying to find a way to defeat his enemy. Red Skull laughed and grabbed Steve's chin.
"I have finally defeated you, Captain America. You are no match for me now. You are nothing now." Red Skull said.
"Obviously, our definitions of 'defeat' are very different. I'm still breathing." Captain America said.
"You might be breathing, but you are no longer breathing as Captain America."
"What are you talking about, you miscreant?"
"Look down at yourself and tell me. Maybe next time you come into battle, wear something more absorbent."
Steve looked down. He looked at his hands first, which were now small and pale, then his arms, now limp and thin. His legs were the same. He was skinny and pale all over, nothing but skin and bones in a way too baggy Captain America uniform, which if the latter wasn't worse enough, had a large wet spot on the crotch. Steve let out a very high pitch whimper (something that should never come out of his mouth!) and tried to stand up. He fell, due to his wobbly legs. Everything was fuzzy, and Steve started to feel very tired. Red Skull laughed and held up a large gun.
"Say good bye, Captain America." Red Skull cackled.
Steve couldn't even think straight. He whimpered as a loud blast rang out from somewhere behind him. He saw a blur of red, gold, and green before he passed out. Clint came and gingerly picked Steve up and carried him out. He talked to Natasha through his earpiece about Steve's current condition.
"Look, Natasha. Just make sure the Quin jet is ready to go. Hulk and Iron Man are fine. Something bad has happened to the Captain." Clint said.
"On it, Clint. What do you mean by 'bad'?" Natasha asked.
"Bad. As in freakin' bad."
Natasha sighed but landed the Quin jet near Clint's location. Clint walked onto the jet, being as gentle as possible with Steve being so fragile and frail. Natasha's eyes widened as Clint set Steve in a seat and made sure he was in a somewhat comfortable position. Natasha wrinkled her nose in disgust.
"Clint, there's a huge wet spot on his uniform and you are going to sit him on the seat of a S.H.I.E.L.D issued plane?" Natasha asked.
"Get the hell over it! He's hurt! Right now, we wait for the others while I check him over." Clint growled.
Clint checked for a pulse. It was so faint and thready, and it seemed to skip. That really worried Clint. His breathing was wheezy and raspy, and hitching badly, like he was sobbing. Clint rubbed Steve's chest in a gentle, soothing, circular motion. He heard the jet entrance open as Tony and Bruce walked in. Bruce immediately took over the little impromptu check- up and started to poke and prod at Steve. Steve jumped and woke up before swatting at Bruce and screaming 'no! no! no! Get away from me! No, Papa!', which really troubled the group. Tony took over then and peppered Steve's face in light, gentle kisses to get him calm. Steve started to calm down at Tony's gentle hushing and all his kisses and gentle chest rubbing. He looked up at Tony and hugged him. Tony picked Steve up and let the small man cry into his neck.
"Hey, Steve, calm down. Tell me how old you are." Tony cooed.
"Sixt-teen. I remember you Tony. I was fighting Red Skull, and-and then this." Steve sobbed, gesturing to himself.
"Sixteen? You were twenty-three before. The machine we destroyed in there, it must have stripped the serum from your DNA and-"
"Tony, I lied. I've always been sixteen. I-I had to say I was older or the army wouldn't take me."
"What? Steve! You can't lie about thing like that!"
"Do you really want a sixteen year old running around as Captain America! Do you, Tony! That's why I lied! I needed the serum, okay? I never wanted to be this again! I never wanted to be defenseless to all the evil people in the world! I didn't want anyone to suffer through what I suffered through!"
"Whoa, Steve, come on buddy, breathe. You'll go into an asthma attack, kiddo."
Steve just started to sob into Tony's neck again. He was useless and pathetic now. Just like he always had been. No one needed Steve Rogers. They only wanted Captain America. Now that he was weak and frail, everything would go back to the way they were before. And he wouldn't be able to protect himself from it.
Steve was just going to be the victim again.