He's drowing again. Always drowning. He drowns in every nightmare, in every waking moment he's drowning again and again and again. He's choking on salt water, trying to cough it up but just letting more in. His entire world is pain and cold. He just wants it to end. When will it end?
~x~
Bruce has cleared a space in the garage and set up the lab by the time the others arrive at the Avengers compound.
Soon Tony is back in normal clothes and the icy WWII Hydra plane is settled in the middle of the large garage. JARVIS increased the temperature of the room and it was then a waiting game for the ice to melt.
None of then can contain their excitement when JARVIS finally announces that the majority of the ice has cleared, and the four of them go bounding up the ramp into the hold.
Tony leads the way as they tentatively explore, pausing at the hatches holding the frozen bombs that had been headed for 1940's New York.
Nat makes a note to get rid of them later.
They continue on to the front of the Valkyrie. There is thicker ice here, where most of the ice in the hold had melted. As they approach the smashed up window at the front of the plane, Clint trips over something.
They all turn to watch as Clint picks it up, eyes widening as he turns it over to find the red, white and blue patterned shield. The edge of the paint is chipped and the leather strap worn and faded, but there is no doubt who it belongs to.
"It's Captain America's shield!" Clint is so shocked he starts jumping up and down. "It's his shield!"
They all chuckle and continue on, awed.
Tony stops before the front seats and they all look over his shoulder to see what he's looking at.
Blood.
A lot of it covering the glass window, staining the ice red. Even more disturbing were the scratch marks on the walls.
Of someone desperately trying to escape.
"Well Clint. Guess you were right earlier. He didn't die in the original crash." Bruce commented somberly.
Nat then spotted something in the corner and slowly approached it. The other Avengers followed her to a shadowed patch under the ice by the wall.
They all exchange wide-eyed looks. It was one thing to be known worldwide as a superhero. It was another to find the frozen body of a legendary hero of war.
Together they manoeuvred the block of ice containing Captain America out of the plane and into the lab. They laid him on the bed started to melt the ice using hot water bottles and one of Tony's welding torches.
As the ice thinned they reached layers of darker ice. Red ice. They exchanged grim looks.
Eventually they had melted most of it off and were left standing around the table looking at the body of Captain Steve Rodgers.
"I- His body is perfectly preserved..." muttered Bruce in amazement.
Natasha nodded in agreement. It looked like he'd only just died.
His tight, patriotically-coloured uniform showed the evidence of his last battle against Red Skull. It also allowed them to see that miraculously he hadn't lost any muscle mass from 70 years of being frozen. Glass was embedded in his skin and uniform from the window of the Valkyrie, staining everything red with blood. The man's skin was incredibly pale and covered in bruises. His hair was now melting and drooping over his forehead, while his eyelashes still had ice clinging to them.
What was worst were the signs of frostbite, iceburns, dehydration and starvation his body showed, confirming their suspicions that he hadn't died when he crashed the plane.
Bruce went closer and lifted his arm, examining the vein in his wrist. "He must have frozen from the inside. Ice in his lungs and veins until his body simply could not continue working."
Bruce dropped his arm back to the table and shook his head. "Poor guy. After everything he did, this is how his story ended?"
He turned and went back to explore the Valkyrie again. Tony and Clint followed.
Natasha sat beside the bed and picked up the man's hand. It was large and cold in her's. None of them had expected to find his body so complete.
She flinched and jumped out of her chair, shouting in surprise. His fingers had twitched. She was sure of it.
The three men ran out in time to see JARVIS display a heart monitor on a screen beside the bed. And there was a single peak on it.
"What the hell?" Tony whispers wide-eyed.
Then Steve's body arched up on the table, slamming back down with a bang. This caused another peak on the monitor.
The Avengers stepped back in alarm.
And then Steve Rodgers, the Captain America, a man that had been dead for 70 years, breathed again.
It was a huge breath that made his body arch up slightly, before the man launched himself sideways off the bed to throw up.
He heaved four times, spewing up watery yellowish chunks of ice out of his stomach, before collapsing back on the bed, breathing heavily.
The four Avengers watched him carefully. He had one leg lying flat on the bed while the other knee was folded upwards, large booted foot pressing into the bed. One arm was hanging off the table and his other palm was on his chest as he took in great lungfuls of air.
Bruce watched concerned as he continued to breathe harshly like he couldn't get quite enough oxygen in. The hand hanging off the bed had also begun to shake.
He cleared his throat and started with "Can you breathe alright or do you need an oxygen mask?"
Clearly the man hadn't noticed them yet, because as soon as Bruce made a noise his difficulty with breathing was forgotten. The Captain flew off the bed into a defensive fighting stance, ready to fight off anyone who approached. He then noticed the shield leaning against the wall, lifting it and sliding it onto his arm in a fluid movement that was clearly practised. He was still covered in ice and blood, but stood strong against the potential threat.
The four Avengers backed up and raised their hands in surrender.
"We mean you no harm!" said Tony.
"We're friends!" added Clint, but the Captain's gaze remained on Tony.
A furrow grew on the soldier's brow. "... Howard?" he asked, confused. His voice was low and shaky with disuse.
Tony's head dropped a tiny fraction, only perceptible to the two spies that knew him well as he was compared to his father by his childhood hero, but answered him carefully.
"No. I'm Tony. Howard's son."
The furrow on his forehead grew as they watched on concerned. "No. No, Howard doesn't have a son. How stupid do you think I am to not know if one of my best friends has a kid or not?" His words were firm but there was confusion and a great deal of fear in his expressive blue eyes.
Before Tony could answer back, Bruce stepped forward. He noticed that the shaking has returned to the Captain's left hand, though he tried to hide it.
"Could you tell me your name?" Bruce starts.
The soldier watches the doctor for a moment, head slightly cocked, before standing to attention and replying, "Captain Steven Grant Rogers of the Howling Commandos, sir." He finished with a salute.
Bruce pauses, as if struggling to take it in. "Ok Steve, I'm Bruce. I'm a doctor. It would make me feel a lot better if you would sit down. Could you also lower the shield please Captain?"
Steve raised his shield once more.
The shaking begun to get worse and the tremor in his hands became so prominant that he could no longer hold his shield steady. Bruce stepped closer.
"I need you to sit down for me Steve. Could you do that so I can check on you?"
Steve backs up until he hits the wall. "I don't need a doctor. I'm fine."
Bruce takes in the man in front of him, who is leaning against the wall for support and who's body is trembling, and ignores what he's just said.
"You're shaking Steve. Are you cold?"
Stupid question Bruce thinks. We just unfroze the man. Of course he's cold.
But Steve's answer concerns him.
"I'm always cold. This is the warmest I've felt in an eternity..."
He drops the shield as he can no longer hold it. His hair melts into his eyes and he shakes his head to clear it, simultaneously fighting off exhaustion.
"Steve? Steve I need you to sit down for me-"
Bruce pauses as he watches Captain America slide down the wall infront of him as his legs give out.
"I-uh. Hmm. Send word to the Commandos that I'll be back as soon as I can, and tell Peggy I won't be late." He blinked lazily, as if in a trance. "Bruce you hear that? I got a date at the Stork Club with Peggy Carter next week." He smiles slightly. "Wouldn't miss it for the world. Not my Pegs."
"Y'know Bruce. I think I wanna marry 'er."
Steve smiled once more before his body drooped sideways and he passed out.
Bruce bowed his head before turning back to his teammates. They all saw his watery eyes before he roughly rubbed at them with his sleeve.
"Oh god." This surprisingly came from the usually upbeat Clint.
"Yeah we got issues now." Tony admitted. "How we gonna tell him that he slept for 70 years?"
"He lost his whole life" Natasha added, looking down at the unconscious young man with pity in her eyes. "Poor, poor man."