God's Righteous Man
Chapter 1: Capsicle
Reading Guide:
normal action/internal monologues
"Talking"
Flashback/unconscious thinking
"Comms"
Nothing….. that's all I felt….. nothing. Wait…. there's something else. Darkness. That isn't any better….. what's this? Peggy? That name sounds familiar….. our dance! Ya, hopefully we don't miss our dance… why did I say I would step on her feet? I know how to dance. Mom taught me how to….. wait…. somethings wrong….. No… no no no… Bucky…. I know that name. That's the White Wolf…. or was it Winter Soldier? Wakanda named him the White Wolf…. Wakanda… that's where Howard said the metal in my shield was from… my shield? I mean Cap's shield….. oh dear god…..
The first sense that I acknowledged was my hearing. A radio was blaring in my ear….. it was a baseball game…. The distant sound of a city echoed through the room. The honk of cars and roar of engines was most prominent….. that baseball game…. it's so familiar…. because I was there in 1943!
I carefully opened my eyes, allowing them to adjust to the brightness of the room. They adjusted rather quickly, but I really did not care at the moment. Slowly, I pulled my head and torso off of the bed while throwing my bare feet off the side near the window. I looked at the radio and reached my… extremely muscular arm… over to turn down the volume. For an antique, it was in awesome condition…. now back to my arm. When the hell did I get this ripped? Oh wait the serum, nevermind… the super soldier serum…..
My chain of thought was cut off by the sound of a door knob turning. My neck instantly pulled my head to where I was facing the noise. As the door opened, I stood up, my feet hitting the cold floor. A brunette woman in a nurse's outfit walked in, carrying a tray of food.
"Ah, I see you are awake Captain Rogers." The woman greeted as she set the tray down on the bed. She had crouched slightly, so as she stood up she flattened the wrinkles out of her dress.
"Where am I?" I asked rather aggressively. The nurse shifted uncomfortably under my gaze. As I awaited her response, more and more memories began to flood my mind. I had…. two names…. two lives. Which am I? Or… am I both? My mind couldn't comprehend the information it was being given.
"You are in a S.S.R. recuperation facility." The nurse answered. Her voice brought me back to reality once again. As more memories filled my mind…. several things were starting to fall into place.
A: I had heard that baseball game before, but yet it is being played as if it is live.
B: I've seen this room in a movie before…..
"That game….. it was played in 1943…. and I know that because I was at the game. So let me ask you again, where am I?" I caught the movement of her hand out of the bottom of my eye. She was shifting a small black device into place for her thumb to press. She subtly stepped back from me before replying.
"Captain Rogers, calm down. I don't know what you are talking ab-" The door burst open, revealing two heavily armed soldiers in all black. They were both carrying modified AR-15's and HK sidearms of an unknown caliber. Almost instinctively, my bare right foot slammed into the soldier closest to me. The force of the kick threw him back out the door several feet, causing him to drop the rifle. The other soldier reacted to that by raising his own rifle towards me, but I was able to take a quick step forward and knock it out of his hand before he could do anything else. I caught the rifle and, by using the stock like a baseball bat, hit the man across his head, causing him to fall back and dent the sheetrock.
A click from behind me caused me to turn around, only to find the 'nurse' pointing a Glock towards my chest.
"Captain Rogers, stand down. We don't want to hu-" I didn't give her the chance to finish. With a twist of my wrist, the rifle in my right hand collided with her arms, giving me an opportunity to run which I gladly took. I ran through the door and leaped over the still down soldier. My bare feet slapped against the cold concrete floor, but I paid it no mind. I was focused on escaping this place as fast as possible.
I broke down several doors as I ran through a hallway before finally running into an open room with a large number of people. Several of the blacked out soldiers from before and a few men wearing suits and ties charged me, but I simply pushed them away with a strong arm or dodged them completely.
I pushed open a final pair of glass doors and ran out onto the street. Several cars had to swerve around me before I realized where I was. I took off running with the traffic, quickly catching up to the surrounding car's speed. As I ran, I looked around at all of the buildings, quickly recognizing I was in New York. I had seen this place so many times in movies and TV shows before, but a part of me felt as though I had lived here long ago.
I eventually came to a stop in the area I knew as Times Square. It looked differently than it did in the 40's. The giant screens and glass buildings that made up the scenery were showing too much to take in. I had never seen anything like this while at the same time I had always wanted to see this.
After a couple seconds, several black SUV's circled me. Their passengers quickly jumped out and began pushing the civilians back. Soon afterwards, a tall man in a black leather overcoat exited one of the vehicles. He was of African descent and had an eyepatch.
I said nothing as he approached me, instead opting for a more guarded stance as I continued to take in my new circumstances.
"At ease, soldier." He greeted.
"I'm Colonel Nick Fury, Director of SHIELD, but you would have known us by the Strategic Scientific Reserve." He explained. The man looked familiar. Very familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
"What-... what has happened?" I asked him, looking him in the… eye. He had a grim look on his face, which caused me to swallow.
"I'm sorry about that little show back there… We… thought it would be easier to break it to you slowly considering we were unsure what your mental state would be…" He answered me unwaveringly.
"...Break what to me?"
He blinked.
"You've been asleep Cap, for almost seventy years." Fury said darkly.
I took a deep breath in…. that meant… Peggy.. Howard… the Commandos…
"How am I alive?" I asked, but before it had even left my mouth, it hit me. Cryogenic freezing thanks to Greenland's climate and the super soldier serum if I remember correctly…. wait-
"My docs say it was suspended animation. Could be Doctor Erskine's formula, the extreme cold; I don't know." He tried to explain to me calmly. I looked around at my surroundings again before turning back to him. I wanted to ask about the war… but I already knew it had ended with Germany, Italy, and Japan surrendering.
"Did we win?" I hesitantly asked. Nick smiled back at me.
"Hell yes. Unconditional surrender. You taking down HYDRA was a major part of that victory…. but the world hasn't changed all that much. There is still a lot of work to be done. A soldier's work." He explained once again. I was about to say something, but he continued on.
"The world could still use a man like you Cap." Fury finished off. This was…. I honestly do not know. So much information was already being swirled around my mind, I was not really phased by what he had just said. Before I knew it, the Colonel had stuck his hand out and I accepted it. I don't know why I did, I just felt that I needed to.
"There's a place here for you."
I lowered my head before looking around again. This was too much. Literally minutes ago I had just crashed the Valkyrie and gone to bed- wait… there it happens again. Two memories… two personalities… two lives in two very different times….
And then it all clicked.
"You... sure you are going to be alright?" The Director asked me sincerely. I turned back towards him and spoke a sentence in a voice I had heard all my life… in both of my memories.
"Yeah… I just wasn't expecting to wake up in a world like this."
Authors Notes:
So, after watching Black Widow last night, I came home and decided to finally write something that had been bouncing around my head for two years. An SI where a less-than-perfect teen wakes up in Cap's body after he is thawed out. If this gets some likes and reviews, I might work on it seriously in the future. Until then, let me know what you think.
Rhett out.