When Steve first met Phil on the quinjet, he didnt know what to think. It had been a long time since a man had willingly looked at Steve like that. He was an adorable fella, he would give him that. He was exactly his type. If he was gay (which he wasn't thank you very much, he liked dames just fine and it was not gay to find a man's eyes beautiful, or his mouth, or to find his voice soft and soothing. He was an artist, he was supposed to notice these things!) If he found himself drawn to Phil it was only because phil reminded him of Peggy. They both had a dangerous intensity about them, they both had a power and a fiestiness that Steve found immensly attractive. The conversation they shared was a little awkward at first but Steve had dealt with star struck fans before and Phil was to earnest and shy for Steve to believe it was just that. He watched him stumble through an embarrassing but cute introduction. Soon enough the conversation picked up and they learned a lot about each other in that twelve hour flight.
It wasn't untill Phil died that Steve realized he had fallen head over heels for the man.
Each new day brought a passing worry to steve and the newly formed avengers, every day Steve had to fight someone new. But every night, every night was the same. In his nightmares he saw friends die in a hail of bullets, he watched Bucky fall off that train, he even saw Peggy turn to dust before his eyes. but the main thing that dominated his dreams was Phil. Phil's smile, Phil's sweet hazel eyes and Phil lying in a pool of his own blood with his chest ripped open.
He didn't tell anyone that he was a quick learner. He certinaly didn't tell anyone that he knew how to use the internet. He found the security footage of Phil's death in his S.H.I.E.L.D file. The one that was released in the info dump after Hydra exposed themselves. It was just to find out more about him. That was what Steve told himself. He didn't tell anyone that he cried himself to sleep that night.
The superhero registration act brought a host of new issues on the superhero community. Bucky was back and Steve would be dammed if he would look a gift horse in the mouth. Even though thoughts of Phil snuck in once in a while, Steve still could be happy. Bucky was home. Bucky was alive and Steve had to be running out of miracles by now. Sucker punching Tony felt good and, good god, it had to be a miracle in and of its self that Tony didn't end up dead. He may hate Tony some of the time, especially for this, but he is Howard's son through and through. The final straw to break the camel's back and win the war for the resistance was Steve's death. A bullet peirced his neck and he bled out on national television for all to see.
Steve didn't die. He couldn't die and he added that to the list of miracles that were piling up around him.
He was alive, despite being born almost one hundred years ago.
He was so strong now. He was twice as big as he used to be and and he would never get sick again.
He couldn't go back to being Captain America any more. Thank heaven for the small ones.
Bucky was alive after all this time.
Gay marrige was not only accepted but it was legal! When he told Buck the only thing he said was "Good for you punk, i'm glad you don't have to hide any more."
But Peggy was still old and Phil was still dead.
Steve had been living 'normally' after his death for a year before Tony showed up. It had to have been the most surreal experience any one person had every experienced to have Tony Stark apologize to them and mean it.
That was how Steve came to be living in the Avengers Tower. This was the first time Tony ever pleaded to anyone besides Pepper. "Come on capsicle, we could be the kids you never had, except for Thor. He would be the great great great great grandpa you never had"
The Frost Giant war started as wars always do. There were hints at first.
NEW ALIEN RACE COLONIZES ANTARCTICA!
Soon after those headlines ran, worse ones started to show up.
ATTACK ON LOWER AMERICAS! ALIEN RACE NOT AS PEACEFUL AS ONCE THOUGHT!
BRAZIL ATTACKED ON MARDI GRAS! IS ANYONE KEEPING THIS CONTAINED!
No one army could keep the Frost Giants from finishing off any city that they had set their sights on. It was a wonder how many people managed to survive the attacks.
Tony started to analyze their movements in an effort to figure out a strike tactic. It seemed strange to him how a previously depleated race had gone from scattered and scared to an organized army. They had to have a leader but until that leader showed themselves it was all guesswork to the team. The avengers decided to stay well away untill they had a definitive strike plan set in motion.
Six months later
AVENGERS TOWER ATTACKED!
The team woke to screams on the street and ice on their windows. The destruction and carnage of New York was worse than it had ever been with the Chitari. The fight waged on for six hours before the Avengers were close to the breaking point. Steve remembers the moment the battle had turned toward their side. He had been fighting three of them at the same time. He and Bucky were ravaging their forces like a rampaging beserker. Even then it still wasn't enough. Steve had been in a stand off with a particularly large frost giant when everything went silent.
The winter breeze whipped through Steve's bloodstained clothing as he stood in the street enraptured by what he saw. The frost giants had stopped mid fight and gotten to their knees. It was an endless sea of blue among the corpses that littered the street. Each Avenger turned their attention to the middle of the destroyed street. That moment was the most surreal part of that day. He could see the entire team scattered throughout the sea of giants. They were all as enraptured as he was.
Loki stood at the fore front of the army, his face was twisted into an expression of triumph. There was a person in his arms but no one could see who she was through the mass of brown hair hanging limply over her face. She was held up by Loki's arm around her throat and two very weak legs. He adjusted her roughly before speaking.
"Ah, the Avengers, it is a wonder you have lasted so long agianst my people. I should congratulate you on your survival but I know it wouldn't last long enough to matter." Loki sneered at them and yanked the woman foreward by her hair, effectivly showing all who watched her true identity.
Maria Hill looked like hell incarnate. Her face was barely recognizable under the coagulated blood and bruises. She was still struggling weakly but it did no good next to the strength of a god.
"I have a friend of yours and I want you to know how easily I can break your spirit. How easily you all will fall against me."
In the blink of an eye, loki pulled out a knife. Steve watched on in horror as it slid across Maria's throat. He dropped her already dead body to the pavement below his booted feet.
What happened next was like the world had moved from slow motion to real in a blink of an eye. Steve heard a scream of inarticulate rage wash over him. He couldn't tell where it came from but expected that it was a mix of the many heroes that watched on as their surrogate den mother was murdered before their eyes. He watched as Tony rushed foreward in a blaze of red and gold and stood too numb to stop him. Before Tony could reach him, the most amazing thing happened, a flaming man flew from the sky and engulfed Loki in flames. The ground beneath their feet started to quake and fire spread from loki to the frost giants before them. Quinjets flew from unknown places to bathe the frost giants in fire. The battle had turned. The fantastic four and New S.H.I.E.L.D. had joined in.
After two more grueling hours of battle, the frost giants retreated. Each one disapprated before their very eyes. Steve was exhausted. The battle had been won but at the cost of one of their own.
Agian
Steve stood in the thankfully untouched penthouse of one Tony Stark. His clothing was ruined and his shield was heavily dented. Whatever they had used had been harder than any metal easily found by man.
Startled out of his reverie Jarvis's crisp tones filled the room.
"Sir wanted me to inform you, and I quote 'quit your moping and get your Star Spangled ass down here because we have some serious yelling to do and it wouldn't be the same if we didn't have the patented Cap's IM DISSAPOINTED IN YOU glare."
Annoyed but stil smiling slightly at Tony's antics, Steve decided to follow instruction and head down to the common area.
The elevator opened up into chaos. There was so much noise that it was hard to pinpoint who was saying what or even why.
A slightly green looking Bruce pushed past him to get to the back of the elevator. He pressed the button for his floor and turned to Steve with a grimace.
"You better get out there Cap. I would join in on the yelling but I don't really have the temperament for it."
The elevator doors shut before Steve could even ask what was going on. He turned around to brave the chaos of the room and found Bucky by his side.
"What's going on Buck?"
Bucky shrugged his shoulders and looked over to the middle of the room.
"Some guy is getting reamed by the team. I'm not sure why"
Turning toward the area Bucky had just indicated, Steve froze.
Standing in the middle of an angry but tearful group of avengers was someone Steve never thought he would see again.
Phil Coulson was alive.
I made this chapter as an explination of some sorts. I do not want to go over the whole war blow by blow because I would loose interest. I wanted a breif explination of Steve's thoughts and feelings when it came to Phil but I also wanted to get civil war and the first real battle aout of the way.