Steve was jolted awake by the loud beeping of the alarm clock that rested on the small table beside his bed. He didn't groan or complain as many people did when they woke up, he smoothly sat up, shut off the alarm then got to his feet. When in the army, Steve had had to wake up not only much earlier but also from a much less comfortable bed and then dive into countless exercises. Waking up at 8:00 in the morning after sleeping in a perfectly clean and warm bed was nothing compared to that, besides he felt he had slept enough during his lifetime.
Though HYDRA had had all of its secrets spilled onto the internet and the government claimed they had taken the rogue organization down, Steve had a feeling it would take more than that to truly end HYDRA. After all, cut off one head, two more will take its place. So, Steve had decided to moved out of his apartment in DC, just in case HYDRA came knocking. He was currently staying in an only slightly decent hotel at the edge of DC.
Since HYDRA's takeover of SHIELD, the regular missions he had been getting after the battle of New York had ceased. SHIELD was still staggering so Steve was out of a job. He had enough money from SHIELD to keep living comfortably for several more months, but Steve wasn't a big fan of sitting around doing nothing. During his newfound free-time, Steve had been going through the file Natasha Romanoff had given him, trying to decide on the best place to start his search for Bucky. Since becoming the Winter Soldier, Bucky had become very elusive and very good at covering his tracks, finding him would prove to be difficult.
It had been four months since Steve had been pulled half dead out of the Potomac by his old friend. Steve was putting on a good face, acting strong and tough but everything that had happened with Bucky had really hit him hard. Finding out that the guy that's trying to kill you is actually you're old best friend that you had thought was dead, wasn't all that easy to take. But Bucky had saved him, Steve was certain of it. He hadn't seen it was his eyes nor had anyone else, but someone had dragged him out of the water and pulled him to shore and Steve was going to believe it was Bucky, because if it was Bucky, then that meant there was still hope.
Steve let out a small yawn as he took a step forward, but was immeadiately struck with a wave of dizziness. Only then did he notice it. His body felt...different, his movements felt less steady and and he felt almost sick in a way. He hadn't felt like this since before being given the Super-Soldier Serum. Steve glanced down at his body and was shocked to see the sweats he had worn to bed hanging loosely off of his hips, about to fall down to his ankles.
Steve grabbed hold of the waistband of the pants and held them up as he stumbled into the cramped bathroom of his hotel room and up to the small mirror hanging over the sink. A person Steve had never thought he would see again stared back at him. A scrawny, short, weak looking Steve Rogers looked at him, wearing the same expression of shock that Steve felt on his face.
How could this be possible? The Super-Soldier Serum didn't just wear off, especially not after all these years. But the proof was right in front of him, all 95 lbs.
Steve lifted an arm and held it up in front of his eyes, examining the bony wrist and narrow fingers as if they were foreign. But they weren't, none of this was. This was not a new Steve he was looking at, this was an old one, the original in fact. And yet it seemed so strange, after all that had happened and all that he'd survived to be back in this weak body that could hardly take a punch.
"This is impossible." Steve breathed as he stared at his reflection.
Steve was suddenly pulled out of his stunned haze by the sound of a cell phone vibrating on the beside table. He had been given the phone specifically for contacting SHIELD so it had to be Nick Fury or one of the other agents calling. Were it anyone else Steve would have ignored it at a time like this, but Steve realized that this was exactly the kind of problem that needed to be taken to SHIELD. Steve didn't really know of anyone else to go to, at least not anyone else he was comfortable going to, he wasn't even entirely comfortable with going to SHIELD.
Steve tripped out of the bathroom, holding in a curse as he jammed his foot into one of the bed's legs before hurrying over to the buzzing phone and picking it up.
"Rogers, sorry to call on such short notice but we need you in here." Nick Fury's voice said the moment Steve put the phone to his ear.
"Fury, I-uh-something's happened. I-I don't know-" Steve started but was quickly interrupted.
"Whatever it is, it's going to have to wait. I'm calling a meeting right away." Fury told him impatiently.
"Meeting, what kind of meeting?" Steve asked, unsure of exactly what sort of meeting would get Fury this harried.
"Just be here in an hour, there's a flight leaving in 20 minutes that I'll reserve a seat for you on." Fury told him.
"Wait, I-" But the sound of a long beep signalled that Fury had hung up on the other line.
As if Steve didn't have enough to worry about with suddenly shrinking down to the size of his old self, now Fury was all worked up about something and when Fury was worked up about something it never meant good things. Steve figured he didn't really have any choice but to go, if this meeting was really that important then he needed to go, whether he was 5'4 or 6'2. Fury would just have to find out what Steve had been trying to tell him by seeing it with his own one eye.