Hey, everyone!
This my first fanfiction, so please read and review! I'd like to know how it sounds to someone who isn't me. :-)
Thank y'all so much for taking time to read it.
Enjoy!
TeamCapForever
Steve hadn't slept for several days. Why S.H.I.E.L.D. thought he could go on mission after mission and then help with the aftermath cleanup without rest, he didn't' know. Sure, he might be Captain America, but he still needed a break. Being Captain American, however, he couldn't let them down. So Steve kept going.
Finally… Finally, S.H.I.E.L.D. sent him home. Weary beyond belief, Steve headed for the Avengers Tower. "Welcome home, Captain Rogers," JARVIS said, opening the doors. The Avengers gave him a very different welcome.
"What in the world happened to Captain America?!" Tony demanded, coming out of the elevator with the others. Steve raised his tired, itching eyes to them.
"You look like the walking dead, Cap! And let me tell ya, it's not a good look for you," Clint commented, coming to wrap one of Steve's arms around his shoulders.
"Hi, guys," Steve replied. "What are you doing up at 2 o'clock in the morning?"
Natasha came up behind the others. "Fury said he was sending you back home to recuperate for awhile." The super soldier huffed.
"Yeah, 'awhile', for sure." A moments pause, then, "Sorry, Captain America shouldn't whine. I'll just head upstairs, then." But the rest of the Avengers weren't letting him go that easy.
"Oh, no, no, no, no. YOU are going to sit down , let Bruce look after you, and tell us what happened to you!" Tony exclaimed. All he received was a blank stare. "Ok, look. You sit here," the genius billionaire ordered, while Clint pulled Steve over to the couch. "Brucey here is gonna check you for any major injuries, and you are gonna talk about your mission."
"Missions," Steve corrected wearily. "And I'm fine, I was hardly hit." He dropped his chin to his chest and started to fall asleep before Clint said, "Nope! You are not going to sleep yet! What do you mean missions? It's only been five days! How many could you possibly have gone on?"
The super soldier looked thoughtful for a moment. "Three? Four? I don' know. Kinda hazy. Lo'sa bombs. 'n messes, too. Lo'sa fighting. Really all I 'member." Watching Steve nod off again, the doctor stepped in.
"Guys," Bruce murmured quietly. "His Brooklyn accent comes out when he's really tired. He's dropping letters and half asleep. Let him sleep." A blanket was brought and Steve fell asleep, when Bruce noticed a purple patch on the blue uniform. Gently pressing, he tried to see if it was still bleeding. The super soldier slapped his hand away and told him to leave him be, he was trying to sleep. "Wouldn't want you bleeding out on us, Big Guy."
"'M fine. 'Ad worse injuries 'fore. Go 'way." You knew he was REALLY tired when he was rude to you. Tony laughed. "Never thought I'd see the day when Captain America was rude to somebody."
The group left and Steve slipped into a deep sleep.
They were all sleeping when Steve woke up with a start, gasping for air, soaked with sweat. He looked around and saw them all sleeping, and left for his room, so he could shower and change. He started to undress before he realized he allowed himself to fall asleep before the blood and grime was washed off. Steve bit his lip and squeezed his eyes shut as he peeled his suit away from his skin. By the time he was finished, showered, and changed into a t-shirt and sweatpants, he was ready to sleep again. Collapsing onto his bed, the super soldier quickly fell back to sleep.
Come morning, the rest of the Avengers woke up in a panic when they didn't see him. "JARVIS! Where's Steve?!" Tony demanded.
"Captain Rogers is asleep in his room, sir." The entire room sighed in relief, then went to check on him. When Bruce saw that Steve had changed, he went to check on his wounds. He lifted his shirt, only to have the super soldier smack his hand away again and roll away, mumbling, "'M fine. Go 'way."
"Come on, let me look, or I'm going to have Thor hold you down. I let you sleep earlier." Steve huffed in irritation, to the amusement of the others, but sat up. "Arms up! Bruce commanded. Arms were lifted, and he allowed his shirt to be tugged up, before dropping his chin to his chest and went back to sleep. Bruce chuckled and ruffled his hair. Steve's cuts were healing and his bruises were fading. There was one section on the side that was burned and it looked like it had been bleeding. Bruce knew that was the spot he had tried to look at earlier, but was refused.
"Do you want any medication, Cap?" Tony asked, rousing the sleeping soldier. Steve didn't even move as he replied, "Don't work."
"You mean to tell me all the times you've had bones reset you weren't hyped up on meds?! You haven't said anything and it's only coming out now that you're half asleep?!" The rest of the team looked concerned.
"Never asked. 'Sides, nothin' anyone can do 'bout it."
Tony sighed. "Hello? Genius billionaire, Cap?"
Steve just shrugged. "Almos' healed anyway. Don' matter."
"That's so not the point!"
"Tony, not now, ok?" Bruce said. The billionaire closed his mouth. Natasha came over to kneel in front of Steve. "We want to help, Steve."
"Nothin' you can do." And with that, he dropped back off to sleep.
How many missions did he say he'd gone on?" Clint asked.
"I believe the good Captain could not remember whether it was three or four," Thor graciously replied.
"When he wakes up, I am sooooo going to get answers!"
While they were waiting, the rest of the Avengers hung out on Steve's floor. "Dr. Banner, I believe you wished to be informed when Captain Rogers awoke. He has awoken and I might suggest that you go see him quickly." JARVIS announced. Bruce was already to the bedroom door by the time the AI finished, along with the rest of the team not that far behind. Opening the bedroom door, they saw Steve, sitting on the edge of his bed, head in his hands. His shirt was soaked in seat and he had a little bit of a shiver every now and then.
"Steve? Are you alright?"
The super soldier jumped and, clearing his face of his emotions, replied, "Yeah, I'm fine, thank you." His Brooklyn accent was just barely there, barely recognizable.
"Hate to break it to you, Big Guy, but you don't look fine," Clint said.
Natasha was more helpful. "Nightmares?" The silence was answer enough.
"Why don't you tell us about your missions?" Bruce suggested.
"They were the same old thing. Rescue the hostages, destroy the base. Doesn't matter."
It matters to you, Cap," Clint stated gently.
Steve gave the most heartbreaking smile. "It doesn't matter to you, so I won't burden you with my problems." You could almost hear everyone else's heart break.
"Oh, Steve!"
"It isn't a burden!"
"We WANT to help you!"
They all surrounded Steve, trying to give support. "Captain America deals with his own problems. Really, guys, I'm fine."
"Nope! Not listening to the protests!" Tony declared. "Captain America has gone out the window and Steve Rogers is going to tell us about his problems."
"Tony-"
"Lalalalalalala, I can't heeeeeeeear you!"
Steve sighed. "There's nothing to talk about!"
"Ooh! We could talk about the weather!" Clint said. The super soldier flopped back onto his bed and groaned.
"Come on, Steve! Tell us about your missions!"
"I just went to California, Michigan, Texas, and Florida to rescue hostages. That's it."
"How is that even possible?" Bruce mused.
"I'm a super soldier. Who works for S.H.I.E.L.D. Anything is possible." The doctor nodded in understanding.
"So!" Steve declared. "I'm fine, see you later, I'm starving." The Avengers, however, followed him to the kitchen. "Guys, I'm not some delicate flower that has to be protected. I'm fine." Nobody said anything, they just made themselves comfortable. Steve shrugged and started a large batch of pancakes. He made everyone their own special, preferred types. Except Thor. He had disappeared in the night again, probably to go back to Asgard.
After breakfast, they all gathered in the living room to watch a movie. It wasn't halfway through yet, when they noticed that Steve was asleep again, arms folded across his chest, leaning back against the couch. The rest of the team locked eyes with each other, slightly worried for the state of their Captain. Twenty minutes later, they all jumped when he shouted, eyes wide and searching the room desperately. "Shhh, it's alright, Steve," Natasha tried to calm him down.
"Uh, sorry. I-I'll just-"
"You will just sit down and tell us about your missions. No arguing!" Tony added, when the super soldier opened his mouth to protest. Steve settled back and sighed.
"I was sent to rescue veteran hostages at each of the destinations."
"Who was with you?" Clint asked. At the silence, he soon exclaimed, "They sent you by YOURSELF?!"
"It was supposed to be easy. In, rescue hostages, do some damage, out. But at every location, somehow, they knew I was coming. You would have thought that after first two, even three times, S.H.I.E.L.D. would have sent backup. They didn't, and I had to fight all the bases off by myself." Steve sighed again. "Sorry, guys. I shouldn't have said that. Anyway, I had to fight them off. I managed to get all the hostages out, but… There were lots of bombs. The explosions… and the screams, oh, guys, the screams…" His eyes closed and he let out a breath. "The screams were awful. The damage that was done was horrible. Cleanup afterwards was hard. Even for a super soldier."
"So let me get this straight." Tony frowned. "They sent you, by yourself, on four different missions, never sent in back up, even though the enemy had known you were coming, and made you clean up the mess afterwards?!"
Steve grinned. "That about sums up my last five days."
"Oh, Fury and I are gonna have some words!" Clint muttered.
"Look, I appreciate the concern. But I've had to do this before. I'm used to it." The sentence was ended with a half shrug. Natasha, who wasn't much of a sentimental person, pulled him into a hug, which the rest of the Avengers soon joined.
"Rest assured, Cap, we won't ever let anything like that happen to you ever again."
Steve looked around, smiling, a real smile this time, at each of them. "Thank you."
For the first time in a long time, Steve Rogers slept without nightmares plaguing him, knowing he had family that was going to help him through it all.