Author's note: the inspiration for this story came quite a while ago from a story calle "Civil Bore" By WolverineKILLS. It's been removed, so I'll just say that the basic premise was that the civil war was a dream. As (and I freely admit it) I hate the Civil War-Secret Invasion story line, so I decided to remove them from the time line. Hope you like it. I do have a lot of stories on the go (25 or so the computer tells me), so I will try and update this regularly but make no promises.
If you don't like Steve/Tony pairing, please click back, now.
What if? Civil War.
The first thing he was aware of was the pain.
That wasn't surprising. Being hit by a technology enhanced human will do that to you.
Experience taught him to use the pain as his focal point, use it to return himself to consciousness.
Slowly other things began to piece through. The smell of disinfectant, soap, and rubbing alcohol, the electronic hums, beeps and clicks of machines. These sounds made sense to him; he was in an ICU, which was further confirmed by the IV needle in his wrist, the oxygen in his nose and the catheter.
He tried to open his eyes, but the effort nearly sent him spiralling back into darkness. What saved him was a damp cloth dabbing at his forehead.
He focused on that and his eyes opened. A flesh coloured blur hovered above him.
"Don't go out on us now, Tony"
He recognised the voice, but he couldn't believe it. She hated his guts.
"Steve'll kill me if you come around for a few seconds and he misses it."
Steve, that was impossible. Steve was dead.
He blinked and the flesh coloured blur sharpened to reveal Cat. Leaning against the wall, was James "Bucky" Barnes, dressed in a SHIELD uniform, as was Cat.
This was seriously wrong. Cat had resigned her SHIELD Commission within a few months of the war, and James had never had one.
Cat was talking to James, but in Russian. She turned back and wacked Tony's hand, which was automatically picking at the IV needle.
"Don't do that! We've had enough problems with this hospital, without you been a difficult patient."
He nodded, and then stopped as it made the pain in his head hurt.
"I know it hurts, but just lie still huh? At least till we've got Hank in here."
A humming, an opera he was sure, announced the entrance of what at first glance appeared to be a huge Blue gorilla. This was Dr Henry "Hank" McCoy and if he was the attending physician, (and the note he could just make out on his chart suggested that he was) he could understand why they'd have had problems with the hospital.
"Hello Shell head." Hank was as usually infallible cheerful. "And how are we feeling?"
From somewhere a voice that sounded like his answered.
"I've got a head ache and I think I'm disorientated."
"Not surprising." Hank gazed gently down at him, as Cat got to her feet, and left with James.
Steve Rogers got out of the shower. He knew he'd needed one when Cat and James had turned up and all but ordered him out of the room. He'd recognised the determined expressions on their faces from the war, and knew resistance was futile.
They had brought a bag of clean clothes and had promised to get him if Tony regained consciousness. James had knocked on the door a couple of minutes ago to let him know that Tony was awake, but that Hank was with him.
He dried himself off and dressed. Cat had packed a pair of jeans and a USA Army T-Shirt that he usually wore to sleep in. He suspected that she had asked Sharon for help.
Despite been the one who wanted to take a break, Sharon hadn't handled it well, especially after Tony's accident.
However the only other clothes he had with him, he'd worn for nearly 4 days and were, he admitted to himself, pretty disgusting. He pulled on the shirt, as there was a knock on the door.
He pulled the door open to see Bucky standing there, his face grim.
"Everything O.k.?" he asked. Bucky nodded slightly.
"Hank wants to speak to you, before you seen Tony."
"Why?"
Bucky had that slightly uncomfortably expression, that marked when he had bad news he didn't want to impart.
"Hank will explain." He said, avoiding Steve's eyes.
Cat was standing in the corridor, leaning against wall, next to Hank whose expression was grim.
Steve felt a stab of fear hit his stomach.
"Tony will be O.K. won't he?"
"He's going to fine." Cat said reassuringly.
"But," hank continued, "There is a problem."
He sighed. "Tony's mind while in the coma seems to have created a... a world."
Steve nodded. Hank had mentioned that the increased brain activity indicated that Tony was dreaming, and had warned them that it might seem more real than their world.
"What's wrong with that?" he asked.
"In Tony's World," Cat interrupted. "You're dead."
Steve blinked. No matter how bad the situation was, he couldn't imagine Tony ever wanting him dead.
"I highly doubt," Cat said, though he knew telepathy was not among her mutant powers. "That he wants you dead. He may have subconsciously remembered what happened, and been afraid he hurt you."
Steve nodded.
"We oblivious have to tell Tony you're alive." Cat continued.
"Yeah." Bucky agreed. "Question is, how much of the rest of it do we tell him?"
TBC