++++++ I do not own Marvel or any affiliated characters apart from my OC. All rights belong to Stan Lee ++++++

Captain America – The End

The guards escorted both Steve and myself through the base and straight to Schmidt's private office. We'd been stripped of any weapons-I'd even had my boot knife taken off me to my chargin as it had been a gift from Bucky.

"Arrogance may not be a uniquely American trait, but I must say, you do it better than anyone. But there are limits to what even you can do, Captain. Or did Erskine tell you otherwise?" Schmidt smirked as he studied Steve.
"He told me you were insane," Steve answered, staring him down.

"Ah," Schmidt laughed. "He resented my genius and tried to deny me
what was rightfully mine, but he gave you everything. So what made you so special?"
"Well for one he doesn't have an ugly red face like yours," I answered.

Schmidt glared at me. "I will be with you in a moment, fraulein."

Can hardly wait…I smirked, eyeing the dagger on the desk.
"Nothing," Steve answered, referring back to Schmidt's question. "I'm just a kid from Brooklyn."

Schmidt growled, striking Steve twice in the face and several times in the stomach, knocking him to the ground.

"Leave him alone!" I shouted, struggling against my guards.

"I can do this all day," Steve smirked.

"Oh, of course you can. Of course," Schmidt agreed. "But unfortunately, I am on a tight schedule."

Steve started at him. "So are we."

Then suddenly on queue it happened, the windows smashed open as the others from our squad came bursting in through the windows over-looking the Alps. I swung my elbow back, connecting with the guard on my left. When I spun around, I grabbed a baton and smacked the second guard in the head and killing him instantly with a surge of electricity.

I ran over to the desk and picked up the dagger, sliding it out of the sheath. "Perfect, I whispered, trying to ignore the feeling of Thor's blood all over the knife.

"Astrid!" Steve shouted.

I looked at Steve. "I know what I gotta do, you get Schmidt!" I yelled. I raised the dagger above my chest and stabbed down hard.

"Astrid! No!" Steve yelled. He managed to reach me before I hit the ground. "What is this?" he asked. "Astrid, what do I do?"

I could see that the gems on the dagger were glowing green just as I was. "Get Schmidt," I groaned.

Steve wrapped his hand around the dagger and yanked it out. I screamed out in pain but felt a mild twang of pleasure as I watched the green mist be absorbed by the dagger. "Jim!" he yelled.

"Captain?"

"Take care of her!" Steve ordered, putting me on the ground.

"Good luck, Steve," I gasped, feeling clarity for the first time in years.

"Where do you think you're going?" Jim demanded from me. He shook me a little, putting pressure on my wound.

"Just having a rest," I answered back, closing my eyes.


When I woke up I was lying again in a hospital bed free of wires and this time not cuffed to my bed. Howard Stark was sitting beside me, reading a file with the letters SSR on the front. I shifted in my bed, sitting up. "What's SSR stand for?"

"Strategic Scientific Reserve," Howard answered. He closed the folder and for a brief second I saw the name ROGERS, Steve on the inside. "Glad to see you're awake, one more inch to the left and you would have lost a lung."

"How long was I out?" I asked him, looking out the window.

"Couple days, week at most," Howard answered, truthfully. "Listen-I need to tell you something which is probably good that you're sitting down."

I paused.

"Steve didn't make it," Howard answered. Without giving me any time, Howard told me of the fight between Schmidt and Steve up in the airplane above the Artic. He told me how Steve killed Schmidt and how he had to put the plane down somewhere in the Artic. They'd lost contact with him but yesterday they managed to find the coordinates where they think he crashed so tomorrow he would be heading out with a team from the SSR to look for him. The Tesseract had gone down with the ship and the dagger was safely tucked away in Howard's personal research lab if ever I needed it.

"I want in," I told him, struggling with the knowledge that I'd lost a lover and a friend in the space of two weeks. I wanted to know how Peggy was but I assumed, she, like me, would be a wreck.

"I though you would," Howard answered, holding another file out to me. "I managed to convince Washington that you would be a good resource to utilise. Sign that and you'll be an official member of the SSR."

"Sounds too much like the USSR," I pointed out, taking the file. It was a waver form-whatever a waver was. It basically said that if I ever told the secrets of the United States Government that I would be liable to charges of treason. I waved the right to sue-again, whatever that meant-the government for any loss of life in the line of duty. I took Howard's pen and signed my name on the line where it said sign here.

When Howard took the file off me, he handed Steve's file. "Take a look, see what you think. And just a little information for you, the SSR is to become a part of a bigger organisation called SHIELD."

"Which stands for?" I asked.

"The Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division," Howard answered.

I snorted. "You need a better name."

Howard shrugged. "We'll make do. Once the doc gives you the all clear, you're coming with me and we're gonna find Steve."

I nodded. "Whatever it takes," I answered with a soft smile.

I owed it to Steve…in fact…the whole world owed it to Steve and we were gonna bring him home.


++++++ Ok so that was the end of Captain America - The First Avenger. I'm planning on doing some X-Men stories as well as some episode's of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D as well because to be honest, an Infinity Gem being found on Earth would be a great 0-8-4 or an object of unknown origin. I'm really doing this story for fun so I'm not asking for your reviews, in no way do i plan on holding chapters hostage for reviews. This is just a bit of fun for me. However, if you spot any inconsistencies in Marvel Lore, please PM me and i will fix it. Thank you ++++++