Chapter 4-Bruce
By: MysticFantasy
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All his life Bruce had wanted to achieve something he would be proud of and remembered for. The chance to try to replicate the serum that created Captain America certainly seemed to be that chance.
Of course, it hadn't exactly gone his way and instead of becoming a super soldier like Steve Rogers he ended up turning into a large angry green monster capable of serious destruction.
Bruce sat back in the armchair and removed his glasses as he shut his book for a moment. A small shuffling noise made the doctor look over to the black leather couch.
One of the rarest things to see in the tower, or anywhere else, was a soldier out of routine. Being a soldier and having served in the Army, Steve had been implanted with certain drills. Rising with the sun was one of those things.
Tony had been trying to break Steve of that habit for a while with no success which was why Bruce felt privelaged to see Steve taking a nap in the middle of the day and felt a little silly for forgetting Steve had been there.
Normally Steve would be down in the gym with Clint or Natasha or would be catching up on current events. So it was quite a sight to see him passed out on the couch.
Bruce took a moment to observe Steve as he slept.
He sometimes forgot how old Steve really is compared to how young he looks. Out in the battlefield, Steve was wise beyond the years of his appearance. Even during the war, Bruce heard amazing stories of the plans Steve had formulated and how amazingly successful he'd been.
It was that very reputation that had driven Bruce to try to replicate the super soldier serum. No one else in the world has a reputation like Steve Rogers.
The selfless acts, bravery and new abilities of Captain America are what caused so many people to try to make their own super soldier serum that would change them into their own versions of the super soldier.
After his failure and hearing the failures of others, Bruce was starting to wonder if there was some higher force at work making sure that no one was able to replicate the lost serum. Bruce knows for a fact that it would be horrendous if the serum ended up in the wrong hands.
The evil version of Captain America would not be a sight anyone wanted to see.
This brought up a new thought to Bruce. How did Steve feel knowing that he was the only super soldier in the world when he had been told before the process that there was to be an army of soldiers like him?
Did he feel alone?
Bruce knows he sure would feel that way. Not only is Steve the only super soldier in existence but he's also the last man of his time. That they were aware of.
But how did Steve feel knowing that there had been people out there trying to replicate the formula that turned him into the picture of perfect health when before he'd been a skinny and ill person?
Bruce knows that Steve didn't like the fact that there were bad people out there trying to make themselves into evil version of his hero ego.
He'd been informed of several people who'd thought they had perfected the serum and tried it on themselves only to realize that they had failed and turned themselves into monsters. Many of them declaring revenge on Steve who had still been frozen in the ice when it happened.
I wonder how he feels about me having tried to make the serum. Bruce thought to himself. We never had the chance to talk about it because of everything that was going on. What would he say? He's the perfect version of the serum and I'm the horrible accident gone wrong.
Trying to make the super soldier serum was a way of Bruce seeking approval from various high powered people but it wasn't until now that he wondered what Steve would think.
I'll have to ask him about it when he wakes up. Bruce thought to himself. I hope he doesn't hate me for it.
The doctor shook his head a bit and reminded himself who he was thinking about.
This was Steve. Not just their team leader, not just Captain America. Steve was a great person before the serum and he only got better after it. He didn't judge people right off the bat like others did.
When they had first met, Steve hadn't shown the slightest bit of hesitation or fear toward him even knowing what Bruce really was. He'd been the one to make the approach and shake his hand.
Steve was very trusting.
Bruce had been told that it only took a single nod from Natasha to get Steve to trust Clint after being mind controlled by Loki. No questions asked. Clint had proved to Steve that he could trust him and Steve accepted it.
The soldier and archer were good friends now because Steve didn't hold Clint's actions against him.
Trust, loyalty, understanding...Steve's team from the war sure was lucky to have him leading them. Bruce thought. Just like us. We're lucky to have Steve. None of us have ever worked with a team before so it makes sense that Steve should lead our little band of misfits. I'm not sure that Tony would be able to handle leadership.
Really Thor was the only one of them besides Steve who had any experience with leadership in a war or battle.
Bruce wasn't sure if he could handle the choices that a leader had to make. He wondered if Steve felt guilty or proud of all the choices he made. The calls he had to make and the results he had to deal with afterwards.
Was Steve dealing with PTSD? What about the nightmares?
Bruce didn't realize it until now but he was surprised Steve was still the same even after the things he'd seen and done during the war. He'd seen a few remaining soldiers from that era seem like they weren't all there because of things they'd seen.
Some of them would have little ticks from noises or things that reminded them of being in battle. They'd be nervously darting their eyes around the room as if they were waiting for the enemy to pop out from around the corner.
Did Steve sometimes feel like he was still in 1943?
It amazed Bruce that Steve had been able to keep it together so perfectly during the battle against Loki. Having been thrown from one war to the next couldn't have been easy to deal with.
Especially when the very weapon that Hydra had once used was part of the problem. Steve had been the first of all of them to be in contact with the cube and he alone had been the closest to see what it could do.
Maybe that was why he'd been able to keep it together so well during the battle. He didn't want this new time to be affected by the cube like his time had been.
Bruce hadn't missed the look on Steve's face when Thor had returned to Asgard with the cube. He had seemed relieved yet haunted by the things the cosmic item had allowed him to witness.
How does he deal with it? Bruce wondered. He hasn't allowed anything to affect him from what I've seen. I know that he has nightmares but that seems to be the extent of it. He has an impressive will.
At that moment, Bruce felt very honored that he was part of a team that was led by Captain America himself. Only one team had managed to say that before and it was an even bigger honor to say that he was being led by a man who had managed to give the Hulk an order that was actually carried out.
I have to ask how he managed to pull that. No one has ever told the Hulk what to do without getting hurt. How in the world did Steve give him an order and it was actually carried out?
Looking at the sleeping soldier, Bruce decided then and there that Steve Rogers truly was the world's greatest soldier and captain.
He had to be in order to say that he told the Hulk what to do and lived to tell the tale.