Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel, any of its characters, locations, etc. I wish I did, but I don't. The same goes for the DC Universe.
Clint and Natasha had just left the schwarma place when Tony decided it was time for him and the others to leave, "Bruce, Thor, do you have anywhere to stay in New York? I thought not," he said, not actually giving them time to answer. "You can both stay in the tower. Come on, we all need sleep. Also, we're taking Rogers with us."
"Tony, I don't think he would agree with that. He's bound to have an apartment that he'll want to get back to," Bruce tried to be the voice of reason in Steve's stead since the man in question had his head resting on his hand, sound asleep.
"Bruce, you're a doctor, right? You've been hiding out, treating people for all kinds of things in South America, right? Look at Cap, and I mean really look at him. I know you know his official file. I read it, and I also read the file that my dad had on him. That file held all of my bedtime stories when I was a kid. Something is wrong here, and I don't know what it is. So, the three of us are going to cart him to Stark Tower, and we're all going to get some sleep so we can figure out what is wrong because right now I'm about to fall over, and Cap looks worse than I do."
Thor spoke up, "Tony Stark, you have my thanks. How are we to get our Captain back to your home?"
"Steve?" Bruce said quietly, nudging Steve's arm.
Steve jerked awake, looking around and rubbing his eyes once he saw where he was, "Where are Romanov and Barton?"
"They're gone, Capsicle. Now, come on. We're all going back to the tower, and you're invited, too."
"The tower? Is that safe after what happened?"
"Yes, Cap. I built the tower with my own hands, and it would still be safe to be in if a bomb goes off in the basement… I tested it," Tony answered. "So, I have guest rooms for everyone, let's go."
Everyone stood up and gingerly moved towards the door with Tony slowing down enough to pay for the meal and leave a little extra cash as thanks for being open less than three hours after an alien invasion. They walked slowly towards the tower. Thor and Steve were both injured, Bruce was tired, and Tony was exhausted. Steve definitely had the worst injuries out of everyone despite Tony's near death experience.
Finally, they made it back. Since the tower was off the grid, it still had power. JARVIS (who had been introduced to them when they captured Loki) greeted them when they walked through the door and sent their elevator to Tony's workshop so they could tend to their injuries… Tony had had many mishaps in his shop, so that's where his first aid kit stayed. Pepper made sure that it stayed well-stocked at all times. JARVIS sent Dum-E after the kit while the four men found a couple of chairs and the couch to collapse on. Thor had the sense to remove his armor before sitting down. His undershirt had blood soaked through it low on one side. Bruce glanced at it, but it wasn't a very large spot, and Thor didn't seem too concerned about it, so Bruce left it alone.
Steve was the one everyone was worried about. He had stumbled several times on the walk to the tower, and he had basically collapsed onto the couch without removing his uniform. He then leaned his head back and fell asleep. Bruce knew that they needed to see to his injuries before they became infected despite his advanced healing.
"We need to get him out of his suit to look at his injuries. Thor, we need to wake him up enough so we can do that. Tony, are there any clothes here that might fit the two of them? Shorts and t-shirts maybe?"
"JARVIS, did Happy leave any clothes here?"
"Affirmative, sir."
"Alright then. They may not fit these two, but they're work better than anything I own. I'll be back in a few," Tony stated, walking towards the elevator.
"Bring back a couple of blankets, too!" Bruce said.
"JARVIS, show Bruce where the blanket locker is."
"Dr. Banner, Mr. Stark has a pile of blankets he keeps in the workshop in case he falls asleep while working on a project. Shall I send Dum-E to gather some of them?"
"Yeah, that might be a good idea. Thanks."
While Bruce was talking to Tony and JARVIS, Thor was trying to wake up Steve, "Captain, your injuries are in need of a healer. I saw the blast you took from the Chitauri's weapon. Tony Stark is going to find clean clothing for us both, but until he gets back, Dr. Banner and I need you to remove your armor."
"I don't need doctors, I need sleep," Steve said sleepily. "I'll be fine."
"Steve, if you got blasted by one of their weapons, the wound needs to be looked at. You could get an infection, especially with the burns that those weapons cause," Bruce told him.
Steve groaned, but sat up anyway. He removed his gloves and then unzipped his top, removing it and his undershirt very slowly. His entire torso was green, blue, purple, red, and black, bruises and burn marks running together. He also had scrapes and cuts on both arms and on his neck and face. Bruce couldn't see his back, but suspected that the bruises continued around his sides to connect in a complete circle. After he finished removing the top, Steve decided that he had been awake long enough and leaned back in order to fall asleep again. If they wanted to fix him up, they could, but he felt like he hadn't slept in forever, and the couch was comfortable.
Bruce figured that the blast wound would have to be dealt with first, so he got to work cleaning it. It wasn't as bad as he had feared based on how it looked, but it was still pretty bad. Steve had gotten pretty lucky that the blast had caught the cloth more than his skin. It had completely destroyed the cloth, which had prevented it from sticking to the wound. He got it bandaged and, with Thor's help, wrapped it and Steve's ribs (which Bruce suspected were at least cracked based on the bruises… he would need x-rays to find out if they were broken and by the time they got him to an x-ray machine, they would be healed anyway). The two of them worked together to clean and bandage the cuts on Steve's arms and were done by the time Tony got back with clean clothes. The ones on his neck and face were small and would heal on their own, so Bruce just cleaned them.
"Here's what I could find. I'll send someone after more tomorrow once JARVIS gets your sizes. Did you get Rogers to wake up?" Tony walked up to them and put the clothes down near where Dum-E had dropped a few blankets next to the couch. Thor grabbed a pair of basketball shorts and a shirt and left the room, asking JARVIS for a place he could change as he went.
"He's in and out," Bruce answered. "When he's awake, he's coherent, but as soon as he gets comfortable, he's asleep again like he can't keep his eyes open."
"Huh, that's weird."
"Tony, what do you know?"
"I told you that I read both his files. SHIELD's said that he's been known to fight for four to six days at a time without sleep. You already know that. Dad's file said that he once stayed awake in the middle of a fight for a week before he collapsed from exhaustion. He should not be this tired from a day and a half of fighting. How is he otherwise?"
"The blast wound on his side isn't that bad, but I think his ribs may be cracked if they aren't broken. I doubt I could get him to submit to an x-ray though, even if he was awake enough for it."
"JARVIS, scan Rogers so Bruce can see if his ribs are broken."
"Yes, sir. Captain Rogers has hairline fractures in three of his ribs that appear to be mending as we speak. They have reduced in size by four millimeters since you walked into the building."
"Thanks, J. Now, we need to figure out what's going on with him."
"Why don't we go with the suggestion you made at the schwarma place and sleep on it? We can go over the files in the morning. Let's get him awake so he can change and find a room to sleep in," Bruce stated.
"Steve, wake up."
"Why should I?" Steve was obviously on that razor's edge between being asleep and awake.
"You need to change clothes, and then Tony is going to show you a guestroom so you can sleep."
Steve grumbled a bit, but he made it to his feet and followed Tony and Bruce down a hallway. Bruce was carrying a couple of blankets just in case Tony hadn't furnished the rooms on that floor, and Tony had the clean clothes. Normally, he would've just left the man on the couch in his workshop, but there was no way for the super soldier to get comfortable on the couch that was almost too short for Tony.
Ten minutes later, Steve was once again asleep, this time in normal clothes instead of his uniform. Tony and Bruce met Thor back in the workshop after making sure Steve was out. Tony went right to his workbench, while Thor and Bruce sat down on the couch.
Bruce picked up the top half of Steve's uniform, "Did either of you see this before the battle started? I mean, really looked at it? How did he not get hurt worse than he did?"
"JARVIS, scan Cap's uniform. Tell me about the armor build in."
"Yes, sir. As you can see sir, the torso is covered with an inch of kevlar, as are the front of his legs, minus his knees. His arms, minus his elbows and wrists, are covered in half of an inch of kevlar. As I do not have his helmet, I cannot say what protection it would give, but the kevlar that goes up the back of his neck is only one half an inch in thickness and would provide minimal protection."
"That's it?"
"Yes, sir."
"SHIELD sent Captain America into a warzone with no armor except an inch of kevlar that didn't even cover him completely?" Bruce asked, astonished.
"What is this armor of which you speak?"
Tony answered that, "It is used to stop bullets when it's about twice as thick as Cap's spangly top or about four times as thick as his pants. With it as thick as Cap's outfit, it would help block some force, but not much. Widow and Legolas both had armor that was made out of the same material, but theirs is used for being sneaky, not for drawn out battle. They're trained to avoid being hit… he's trained to take the hits."
"I'm surprised that he's not hurt worse," Bruce stated, yawning.
"Alright, bed time for giant green rage monsters, Norse gods, and billionaires," Tony stated. "JARVIS will show you rooms you can sleep in tonight. We'll get out those files tomorrow. JARVIS, are you still in the SHIELD servers?"
"Yes, sir."
"Find out everything you can about the super soldier program and everything about Cap, past and present, that we don't already have."
"I will have all the information compiled in the morning, sir."
"I will return my brother and the Tesseract to Asgard tomorrow. It should not stay on Midgard any longer than necessary."
Tony and Bruce nodded, and Bruce spoke, "Goodnight, Thor."
The three of them parted ways. Tony headed up to his room (which was miraculously unharmed) to look for a few of the files his father had on Cap while Thor and Bruce were led to rooms next to Steve's. Thor and Bruce fell asleep once they got comfortable, but Tony was awake for a bit longer. Tony didn't actually need the files to know what they said. One of the perks of being a genius is being able to remember things, especially things that were such a large part of his childhood (he couldn't remember everything, but stuff he heard hundreds of times tended to stick… eventually). Plus, Cap was Tony's hero growing up, not that he would tell anyone that. Still, Tony needed the files so Bruce could look over them in the morning. There was something going on with Captain Steven Rogers, and Tony (with Bruce's help) was going to figure out what it was.
The next morning, Bruce was the first one awake since he was the least exhausted of the four. He took a moment to remember what had happened and then asked JARVIS how to get to the kitchen. Tony's kitchen had more electronics than should be legal, but it was also fully stocked with everything Bruce needed for breakfast. Thor appeared a few minutes later, asking about the feast he could smell, so Bruce made sure there was enough for several people to eat. Tony appeared about an hour after Thor… stumbling like a zombie towards the coffee machine which JARVIS had started automatically once he sensed that his creator was awake. Once he was awake, he asked where Steve was… and was told that the soldier was still sleeping… which was odd since the man only needed five hours of sleep on average instead of the normal eight. Steve had been asleep for almost eleven hours.
"JARVIS, did you get all of the info on Cap from SHIELD?"
"Yes, sir. I also took the liberty of scanning your father's notes into my hard drive so that Dr. Banner could read through them more easily."
"I need to read it, Tony."
"Sir, I noticed something you may be interested in. Captain Rogers has been awake for sixteen days. He was found on April 23 in Northern Russia and awoke the next day in a SHIELD facility designed to look like a World War II hospital room. Captain Rogers escaped the room after discovering the deception but was taken back in by SHIELD moments later. He has not been out of their control since. SHIELD records indicate that he has slept for roughly six hours in the last sixteen days, last night excluded, and his caloric intake has been approximately 30% what records indicate it should be."
Bruce and Tony looked shocked. Thor just looked angry.
"He hasn't been eating or sleeping since SHIELD got him," Bruce stated.
"Can't say I blame him. SHIELD had to know that nothing they did would fool him for long. Based on Dad's notes, he was a tactical genius with senses that make ours seem weak. He would be able to tell the difference between a real hospital room and a mock-up."
"And I did. That's why I ran," Steve said from the doorway.
He was leaning on the doorframe just slightly, but he looked a lot better than he had the night before. He pushed against the wall and moved to get some food from what was left on the table, allowing the others to get a good look at him (or at least what they could see around the t-shirt and shorts). His bruises had healed, and the cuts on his face, arms, and neck were completely gone. His hair was still a mess though, showing that he hadn't been awake long. They let him get started on the food before Tony couldn't stand the silence anymore.
"Have you really only been awake for sixteen days? How are you even able to move?"
"SHIELD kept me pretty isolated from everything… partly because they didn't want me to be in the public eye and partly because they wanted to control what I learned. I knew it hadn't been long, but I haven't been keeping up with the days. The only reason I knew the date when I woke up is because one of the agents had his phone out, and I caught a glimpse of it before he put it up. They've been keeping me away from technology ever since. I've been boxing every day in a gym they set up for me. As for how I'm able to move… I wasn't completely asleep while I was in the ice. It slowed me down and kept me out most of the time, but I was awake for a few hours every so often. I couldn't move much, but I could move enough to keep my muscles from locking up."
"Have they tried to get you caught up on recent history, Steve?" Bruce asked, trying to get rid of the thought of being frozen and aware at the same time.
"They told me that we won the war, but other than that, no. I was given an apartment and the gym in a warehouse and wasn't allowed to leave until all this started. They didn't want me running again and kept guards outside the building."
Tony had a thought, "JARVIS, scan Cap and his suit for any extras that might've been installed."
"Captain Rogers appears to have a small device implanted under the skin at the edge of his hairline near the middle of the back of his neck. It is GPS enabled and is sending out information as we speak. His suit contains three similar devices.
"Block them. No wait, we need to remove the one in Cap first, and then we can decide. Bruce, how do you feel about doing a small amount of surgery today?"
"Steve?" Bruce asked.
"I don't know what they did to me in the hours they had me before I officially woke up. Whatever the device is, I want it gone."
"GPS allows them to track you anywhere on Earth. I have a first aid kit in here you can use. JARVIS can get whatever else you need."
"How deep is it, and how big is it?"
"It appears to be just under the dermal layer and approximately five millimeters square and one millimeter thick, sir."
"I'll need sterile forceps or tweezers, a scalpel, and something to numb the area. I probably won't need to stitch it up when I'm done. I will need your first aid kit though."
"Sir, all of the items Dr. Banner just requested are located in your workshop. Ms. Potts asked me to turn one cabinet into an infirmary just as a precaution."
"What about a local anesthetic? I don't like the idea of doing even a minor surgery without something to numb the area."
"If you would check the inventory of the workshop, you will see that Ms. Potts has thought of that. Mr. Stark has tended his own wounds at home with Ms. Potts's help enough times that she has had to deal with this issue before."
"Come on, we're going up to my workshop. JARVIS, open the cabinet for Bruce. Also, scan the rest of us… there is no telling what SHIELD did to us in the seven hours we were with them. Steve, grab your plate, it can come, too."
"There appears to be no signals coming from yourself, Dr. Banner, or Mr. Odinson. However, Mr. Odinson has a device placed in the folds of his cloak, though it appears to not be working, and the Mark VI contains two while the Mark VII contains one. Dr. Banner's clothing contains no such devices."
"That's because they were my clothes, and he hasn't been back to SHIELD since he put them on. They're trying to track everyone. Thor probably fried his when he used lighting to bottleneck the portal."
"Wait," Steve stated, still sitting at the table, "We're all going to have to go back to SHIELD so Thor can take Loki back to Asgard. We need to wait before getting rid of these things. If we go into that place with no trackers, they'll know that we're onto them, especially if you remove the one in me. Can you have everything ready to remove them after we pick up Loki and the Tesseract?"
"Yeah, it won't take long to remove as long as JARVIS can show me exactly where it is."
"Sir, I have found another file that you should see. It appears that SHIELD has paperwork stating that Captain Rogers is theirs to do what they will with. He is classified as a research project in their systems."
"What?" Steve asked.
"How did they…?!" Bruce questioned.
"JARVIS, find all of Dad's files on the original project. One of them said something about how he personally funded everything in exchange for intellectual property rights. I need you to forward that paper and the paperwork about SHIELD owning the most famous superhero in the world to Pepper and tell her we need our lawyers on it before she gets back to New York."
"Sir, you do realize that Ms. Potts is going to be very cross with you for not calling her yourself?"
"Just explain what's going on to her and tell her that I'll call her tonight if she's not back yet."
"Yes, sir."
"Bruce, what are your plans for this afternoon?"
"I was going to help Steve get that chip out of his neck and then head for the airport to go back to the jungle."
"Nonsense! You should stay here. I did tell you that this was Candy Land right? I'm going to need help rebuilding, and this way, you can fix up your floor exactly how you want it."
"My floor?"
"Didn't I tell you? I decided that you need a place to stay, and I have more room than Pepper thinks I know what to do with, so I'm giving you your own floor. Cap, this goes to you, too. I don't know what you can do since you're a senior citizen now, but it's gotta be better than being SHIELD's dancing monkey."
"I don't need…," Steve started before Tony interrupted him.
"Sure you do. You can't stay at SHIELD without them trying to bug you again, and you can't stay on Earth without them trying to drag you back unless you have a flawless security system that they can't hack into, like JARVIS. Where else are you going to go? What do you want to do now anyway… other than being Captain America? Also, I have presents for you and Bruce. I told JARVIS to get you both some clothes, and I have a bike for you in my garage. Bruce, I don't have a vehicle for you, so you'll have to ride with me this afternoon."
"I used footage from SHIELD's security cameras to gauge your style preferences. Mr. Stark wanted to outfit you both with completely new, updated, wardrobes but settled for a few outfits in the style you seem to prefer after I pointed out that you could refuse to wear what he considered appropriate," JARVIS told them.
Thor, who had been listening and eating during most of this, spoke up, "Friends, midday approaches. While I wish to stay longer, I need to get my brother and the Tesseract back to Asgard as soon as possible. I fear what may happen if they stay on Midgard much longer."
"Alright then," Tony stated, "Bruce and Steve, go get dressed. JARVIS, call Natalie… tell her to bring Legolas and come pick us up. I don't want Fury to know that we're coming. Maybe we can get this done without him trying to stop us."
"Should we really all go?" Bruce asked. "I mean, you and Thor can get out of there if things go wrong, but Steve and I can't. If Fury tries to keep the Tesseract, then this could go bad quickly."
"New plan. Thor and I will go and get Loki and the Tesseract. J, no need to call ahead. The two of you need to finish eating and change clothes… you should get that chip out of Steve while we're gone since you're not going to SHIELD. I'll come back after we finish there. If you need anything, ask JARVIS. Thor, how are you going to get back to Asgard?"
"Heimdall created a device that will harness the energy of the Tesseract to create a portal that will take myself and Loki back to Asgard. It will then be used to repair the bridge that connects Asgard to the other realms, including this one. I will need access to an open area of land to open the portal. It will need to be open to the sky. It will destroy whatever is between the device and Heimdall."
"Central Park would be best then… it's close, and it wasn't completely destroyed yesterday," Steve said.
"Tell Romanov that I need my bag. It has all my clothes in it," Bruce told Tony.
"I'll show Thor where the park is on the way to SHIELD. Thor and Loki can catch a ride back with Widow and Hawkeye. They'll want to see for themselves that Loki is gone, and Fury will want a guard on the Tesseract until it's gone. I'll fly back here and get the two of you," Tony stated before he walked out the door with Thor
"Once you're finished eating, we can get that thing out of your neck," Bruce told Steve.
Steve finished what he had on his plate and stood up, asking JARVIS to lead the way to Tony's workshop. Once there, he sat down backwards in one of the computer chair and leaned his head forward… he figured it would be easier for Bruce to get at the back of his neck that way. Bruce, following JARVIS's directions, found what he needed and moved it to a workbench near where Steve sat. It took him fifteen minutes to get the small microchip out of the super soldier and get the tiny incision closed with surgical glue. It would be gone in a couple of hours, but Bruce didn't want to risk anything. The two men agreed to meet back in the kitchen after getting changed.
They snacked while they were waiting on Tony to get back, both trying to catch up with their advanced metabolisms after days (weeks, months, years) of not having enough. Luckily (for Tony's food supply), Stark was back within two hours of leaving. He told them that Fury handed over both the cube and Loki without any problems. Barton and Romanov were escorting the prisoner and Thor to the middle of the park. Tony removed the suit and showed the other two the garage, giving Steve a set of keys and pointing at a vintage motorcycle as he walked through the door. Steve told the other two that he would meet them back at the tower that evening.
Six hours later, Thor was gone, taking Loki and the cube with it, Steve had gone on a small tour of the parts of the city not destroyed by the invaders before heading back to the tower, Tony and Bruce had designed a floor for Bruce (Bruce did the designing… Tony made suggestions that Bruce either didn't like or liked enough to put into the design… there were few in that second category), and Clint and Natasha had gone back to SHIELD after giving Bruce his things back (JARVIS scanned them and found four more tracking chips on the bag alone).
Once Steve got back, he was given a swift introduction to modern technology (which was a lot easier than the relay panel on the helicarrier). Then, Tony and Bruce helped him design his floor. For the next few weeks, he would use his free time asking JARVIS questions about history and pop culture… all of the things SHIELD had tried to keep him away from. He also met Pepper Potts. She led a team of lawyers into a SHIELD meeting and got Steve's life back from them without too much trouble. She also had all of his things released to him (they had been in a SHIELD storage facility). Tony went into their computers afterward and made sure they hadn't left anything out (including getting him ninety years of back pay and a large bonus). Bruce and Tony made it their mission to get Steve caught up once they realized that he was trying to do it on his own. Bruce wanted to make sure he knew about all of the scientific advances that had happened but not much of it sank in. Tony took a different approach and taught him about computers and engineering. Steve took to computers much faster than anyone thought he would. He started looking at code like he looked at art (which he did when he wanted to relax). In six months, he was able to hack into SHIELD on his own.
Eventually, he looked up what remained of his family. Two descendents were all that were left of the many siblings he had had: a young woman and her daughter. Becky's boyfriend had left her when he found out she was pregnant. She was the granddaughter of one of Steve's half-siblings (he found out via his father's journals that the man hadn't been very faithful before he died and that Steve had several half-siblings from six different women). Becky's grandfather Jacob was the only half-sibling that spoke to Steve before he became Captain America… the others, including Jacob's sister, refused to even believe him despite their mothers telling them the truth. Becky welcomed him into her family after he introduced himself. He moved in with her and disappeared from SHIELD's radar completely by becoming Jacob Jensen, Becky's brother and uncle to her daughter Julie. He kept in touch with Tony and Bruce and even got letters from Clint and Natasha (and one very odd visit from Thor's girlfriend's former intern Darcy who had finished her degree and now worked at SI as Pepper's assistant). He spent his time drawing and designing programs for local companies.
After awhile, he became bored with the lack of action and re-joined the Army. After boot camp, he was placed with a unit called "the Losers" who needed a tech (they had just forced out… umm… had their tech request a transfer and needed a new one). He found his place there, and Clay requested to keep him as a permanent part of the team. For four years, everything went well. Steve/Jake was content with his life. He had a real family for the first time since his mother died, he had friends that would literally die/kill for him, and he had an interesting if harrowing job…, and then it all changed with one mission that will forever be etched into his mind… but that is another story.