The Would Be King
Chapter 1: Lazarus Rising
Steve heard strange voices around him, weird noises, and there was a god-awful smell of bleach invading his nostrils. Cracking his eyes open Steve quickly shut them once again to blind out the sun. Good God that hurt! Tentatively opening his eyes once again, Steve sighed when the painful, burning sensations from his eyes didn't override his brains natural functions. A movement caught his attention, dragging his cobalt eyes to the corner of the room where a lone nurse stood in the shadows; he guessed she was a nurse as she had a brightly colored stethoscope wrapped around her neck and a clipboard in her gloved hands.
"I see you're awake." She smiled sweetly before moving away from the door to head over to his bedside and assess Steve's vitals. "It's amazing that you woke up, it truly is. I'll call your doctor in. I'm sure you have lots of questions."
Starring dumbfounded at the bubbly blonde, Steve froze when she held a device to his forehead before dragging it down around the edge of his face to pivot at the angle of his jaw and rest just behind his ear. The device beeped and she seemed to hum in disapproval. She muttered something about his temperature being slightly warm but over all didn't seem concerned as she wrote away on her clipboard. This nurse was none like he'd ever seen before; weird gadgets and all. Last he checked nurse's uniforms were white, not bright pink with plastic slippers. Opening his mouth to pose a question, Steve quickly snapped his jaw shut as she bounced out of the room, leaving him to notice all the machines beeping and processing around him.
What happened while he was out? Looking around the room, Steve suddenly noticed through his sleep induced haze that nothing looked familiar and everything seemed more crisp and sharp than he was used to. Following a chord that extended from a machine to his right all the way to his body, Steve fought the urge to rip it out. Feeling his stomach painfully clench, Steve whipped his head around to stare disbelievingly at a monitor that, from he understood, was reading his body's normal output. His pulse seemed normal, his temperature was slightly elevated, and his blood-pressure was right on 120 over 80. Nothing seemed right about anything, making the small hairs on the back of Steve's neck stand on end.
The blonde girl seemed friendly enough, but Steve knew better than to trust strangers. Fearing the worst, he quickly sat up. Ignoring the dizziness that washed over him, Steve staggered to his feet, stumbling a few times before he found his balance with the assistance of the bedside table. Looking down at his arms, the soldier frowned at the tube feeding fluids into his arm. Loosely gripping the tube close to his skin, he tugged the needle free with little resistance. Wincing at the slight sting, Steve quickly moved to remove the patches across his chest. One by one they fell limply against the bed, until the last one fell a loud steady beep sounded in the room. Looking to the door where multiple nurses, dressed in brightly colored uniforms, flooded the room Steve quickly pushed past them, knocking a few to the floor.
His bare feet pounded loudly against the tile as he sprinted down the hall dodging other doctors, nurses, patients, and a few security guards who had the audacity to even try to stop him. Following the trail of exit signs down the hall towards a set of stairs, Steve took them three at a time till he reached the bottom and broke through the thick metal door, bursting into the sunlight. Shielding his eyes with his forearm for a moment, Steve quickly tore off into another dead sprint towards a landing platform. He was positive that he had reached the first floor when he burst through the door, but in his disoriented state Steve figured that the number one and the number for whatever floor he exited on were excusable. Maybe… Maybe not…
Turning to retreat back into the stairwell, the blonde soldier skidded to a halt before an assault team suited in GI Joe outfits and outfitted with high artillery. Their weapons were pointed down to the floor, while their free hands where held out in a stopping motion. "Steve, it's alright!" One called out to him in a begging tone. "We won't hurt you."
Looking over his shoulder, looking for a means to escape his fate at the mercy of these men, Steve frowned when even more men in the same attire blocked the path of egress behind him. Tossing his head between his two options, not liking the outcome of fighting either in his bewildered state, a wave of dizziness washed over his body rendering him helpless to the natural effects gravity held over the human body. Bracing his fall with his hands, Steve rapidly blinked his eyes to erase the spots from his vision when one of the men chasing him appeared at his side with a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Easy, Captain," his voice was calming.
"Who are you?" Steve snapped as he tried to jerk his shoulder away, only to fail and completely collapse against the concrete beneath him. The other soldier's hands gently rolled Steve onto his back, while another set gently cradled his head to ease the spinning. Starring up at the blonde, Steve fought the urge to pass out.
"I'm a friend." Just as the words left his mouth, Steve believed them for a moment before allowing his brain to slip into an unconscious state. "That went better than expected."
"You forget, Agent Barton, he's been in cryostasis for seventy years. A lot has changed in that time."
"Director Furry, how are we going to tell him that we lost the war?" The two men shared a look before glancing down to the unconscious Captain in their hands. There was a lot Captain Rogers needed to catch up on, because the world needed Captain America now more than ever.
A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S
He had been wandering the desert for a little over a day after escaping his captors back in the cave. He had thought about how to escape the deranged men carrying assault rifles but when it came to what were to happen after his assistant and himself were freed, Tony wanted to kick himself as he hadn't thought about that. Maybe he could have relied on the first hand knowledge of Yinsen, but seeing as the courageous—foolish—man sacrificed himself so Tony could escape he was left to wander aimlessly about the smoldering heat. He desperately wanted to smack the man across the face, as they both should have made it out of the darkness. Even if his family was dead, Tony would offer the man a work visa to come to the United States and work for him. Hell, he would have given the man a house and money just for helping him out! But what did Tony Stark know about family?
Not a damn thing.
Tony Stark couldn't remember a time when he was so happy to see the U.S. Military, or his long time friend Colonel Rhodey. He had been wandering the Registan Desert before the sight of U.S. helicopters flew up over the horizon. He wanted to cry out to them, beg for help, but when he opened his mouth only strained words passed his lips, barely audible over the loud roar of the choppers. Instead he waved his arms frantically in a crisscross motion over his head, something he learned before from Rhodey that was a standard S.O.S. for the military who was looking for soldiers. Thankfully they saw him and landed.
Collapsing to his knees as the weight of the situation finally sunk in, Tony had to force the spots out of his eyes. He was fighting between the malnourishment, dehydration, and pain just to stay conscious. Watching four military soldiers surround Rhodey, each pointing a very loaded and very dangerous Stark Industry military rifle at his head, Tony felt his insides clench at the reminder of all the young men and women who died on the initial attack on the humvee unit's traveling back to the base. The two young men and the young woman who were his escorts each lost their lives, making the billionaire feel incredibly guilty about wanting to do a live demonstration in a hot zone. Their deaths were his fault.
As Rhodey's hands reached out to steady Tony's wavering body, the dark haired man was instantly reminded that not everyone died. Thankful that Rhodey had appeared to make it out of there unscathed, Tony felt a small bit of pride well in his chest before leaning forward to rest his forehead against his friends shoulder. His muscles were ready to give out any moment, threatening to throw him into the throws of darkness once again.
"How about next time you ride with me?" Wrapping his arms around Tony's battered form the military colonel winced at the exposed wounds. Most appeared to be infected and older, probably from when Tony was first kidnapped, where as the burn marks from some unknown source and the sun burnt blistered covering the expanse of his body was enough to make any medic cringe. But a bright light caught his attention; brighter than the sun. "Tony, what is that?"
"It's—"unable to finish his thought as his body slipped into an unconscious state, Tony slumped against his friend resting all his weight against the military soldier.
"Where are those medics?" Rhodey snapped, looking over his shoulder to see the other four soldiers with their weapons still pointed at Tony. Turning back to Tony, he starred disbelievingly down at the glowing device in his friend's chest. "What happened to you…?"
A-V-E-N-G-E-R-S
Kira: So… I've been toying with this idea for a while and I've finally gotten around to writing it down and posting it. I'd like to start off by saying that this is my first Avengers story, and it will be mostly Movie-verse as I have never read the comics. Though I do think I may have to as the movie was freaking awesome… as I'm sure you all know. I live for feedback so let me know what you all think!
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