Chapter 02

Author: Black Dragon on the Rocks/animealam

Rating: T

Pairing: None so far, mentions of one sided Steve/Peggy

Summary: The Universe stared at the boy for what seemed an eternity to him, only to change into a decrepit, dirty alley, and that was the last thing Steve saw before loosing consciousness. The small frail boy banished in a flash of blue flames. Be warned VERY AU Young Time Traveling genius tech savvy Steve.

Disclaimer:: I don't own the Avengers, I'm just borrowing them. I'm using a good number of the movie dialogs, even if I added bits and pieces to some of them. So if something looks familiar they are obviously not mine, and belong to their respective owners.

Warnings: NOT SLASH, AU, Completely totally AU, Time Travel, Younger Steve, Violence, Adoption, Smart Steve, Technopaths, Technopath Tony, Technopath Steve, Rape, Canon Character Deaths, Minor Character Deaths, OOC-ness, there are quite a lot of movie dialogs which I decided not to change but I did add my own twists and turns to make them a bit more interesting.

Characters: Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Thor, Nick Fury, Phil Coulson, Maria Hill, Sarah Rogers, mentions of Bucky, mentions of Peggy Carter, mentions of Howard Stark, mentions of Colonel Phillips, mentions of the Howling Commandos, Jarvis, Pepper, Happy, Rhodey

Timeline: Pre Avengers, Captain America: The First Avenger, Avengers, Post Avengers. I use the Marvel Cinematic Universe Timeline in Wikia for all date purposes.

Author's Note: This one is a rather large chapter, and there are some triggers for rape. I did not make it descriptive, but it is mentioned. There is mention of under age drinking, the typical to know what it's all about.

This story was not as well received as my other ones, those I posted under the names alandrem, animealam, and in this account. I was a bit sad since I like this story a lot, and I think the other ones spoiled me. Still, I already have 15 chapters written, so I will keep posting it, and writing it. I'll probably go as far as Iron Man 3 and wrap it up there, but not really sure yet.

Total size without notes: 6,226

Keys:

"Speaking aloud."

'Thoughts'

'Name: /Mental interfacing between technopaths and/or tech\'


2012

Surviving the crash was unexpected, and cause for concern. As a Captain America fan Steve had done intensive research on his hero. He had hacked SHIELD for any information they had on the Captain (because they had originally been the SSR), and even tried Stark Industries to find what Howard Stark had known.

He was not successful with the later because their security was astoundingly good, but he expected no less from Tony Stark. The man was a genius, and Steve had admired him even before he became Iron Man, for his intellect, not his partying ways.

The first had some mission information, medical reports, and mission reports. It was not as much as he thought there would be, since it seemed SHIELD had not yet digitalized all the files on the Captain, and maybe they had not plan to do it. Captain America was believed dead after all.

Some of the mission reports had been written by the Captain himself, and Steve had always been rather amused that his hero's handwriting was practically identical to his own. There had also been reports about the Captain's proficiency with a typewriter, many pointed out he was much faster and better than the regular secretaries.

Steve knew why that was now, what he did not find out was any information about him surviving the ice. So he was immediately suspicious. The Nazis or HYDRA (what remained of it) could have captured him.

He truly did not know the full effects of the Super Soldier Serum, not even Doctor Erskine had. He was murdered before they could perform tests. Steve had not been willing to allow anyone else to perform any kind of tests on him, beyond the blood and hair samples he had allowed them to take.

Steve had overheard some of the scientist discussing him, thanks to his enhanced sense of hearing, and he did not like what they planned to do to him. Frankly those people seemed to forget he was a human being, not an experimental object they could play with any way they wanted.

Thankfully Erskine had anticipated the fact the military might get the wrong idea, meaning they would think Steve belonged to them. Erskine had obtained documents signed by the top people in the army, and the president himself ensuring the basic rights as a human being of whoever was chosen for Project Rebirth.

Erskine's foresight was the reason he was able to refuse being shipped to Alamo Gordo to be experimented on after the doctor was murdered. Since they never tested the Super Soldier Serum, not even he knew the true extent of what the serum did to his body, so it could have well kept him alive in gelid waters until someone found the plane. The question was how long was he in the ice.

The baseball game on the radio added to his uneasiness. Perhaps it was lucky there was very little information on his life before Project Rebirth. Because whoever had him did not know he was a baseball fan, and he had perfect recall.

He went to that game with Bucky in 1941. It was the first baseball game Steve ever attended at a stadium in both his lives, so it was noteworthy. The tickets for the game had been a thank you gift for Bucky, paid with some of the first money Steve earned in his life. He did odd jobs around the neighborhood, mostly repairing electrical things, and even a couple of cars.

Bucky loved baseball, and took care of converting Steve into a fan of the sport. He had also wanted to show the older man how grateful he was Bucky took him in when he literally had no one, as well as for being his protector. For being the one lying to keep him out of the orphanage, for saving his hide from the fights he was always getting into, or rushing him to the hospital when his many illnesses had acted up.

Steve slowly sat up and took the room he was in doing his best not to be obvious. He had an analytical mind, and an eidetic memory even before the Super Soldier Serum. After they had become... more. Then there were his enhanced senses, and his affinity with technology.

He frowned slightly as his eyes scanned the area. The room looked 1940ish. An upscale private hospital room. He had seen a few of those during his time in the 1940s. Once he had been on the mend of his many illnesses, and or beatings, the nurses allowed him to wander the hospital halls. It helped with the boredom when he had no new reading material, and Bucky was working.

The room did look very similar to what he had seen before, but the smell was all wrong, as were the faint sounds he could hear. To begin with, there were none of the scents associated with a hospital, instead the scents were those of a large not often used air conditioned room, mixed with the way newly built rooms smelled. It was contradictory and set him on edge.

Never mind no hospital he had ever been to in both the past, and the future, would leave an unconscious patient fully clothed down to the boots on the bed. He was also on top of the blankets, another thing Steve knew was not done at hospitals.

Steve easily detected the five tiny cameras in the room. They were not well hidden, and he could see them. One was hidden in the ceiling fan, one on the painting by the door. Another was atop the window, the fourth was in another painting facing the window, and the last was on the wall facing the door. All were giving perfect room coverage, and they had mics as well.

The spying technology was very much like that of his time. They had chips, and they were chattering away with some monitors to which they were hooked to, as well as a couple of servers further away. Steve risked a query for the videos time stamp. 04-17-2012 17:31:29:02.

So back to the future was it?

The date was a couple of months after he disappeared though, so it explained why he had not known Captain America had been found. Steve was going to query the server again for more information, but a pretty brunette entered the room.

He heard the faintest shuffling of feet outside the room's door. Guards probably, it was hard not to react to the noise. But Steve rather not give his captors too much yet. Not until he was certain whether they were friendlies or not.

And really? Send in a Peggy look alike? That was... low. He still had his crush on her, to him it was only a day at the most since he said goodbye to Peggy, even if in reality it was around sixty-six years. Steve knew she was still alive, he found the information when he hacked SHIELD, but Peggy Carter was in her nineties now and in a retirement home suffering from Alzheimer.

Nothing would have come of that crush, and Steve had known it from the start, and resigned to it. She had been ten years older than him back in the past anyway. If Peggy had known his real age a lecture would have been the least of his problems. She would have probably boxed his ears, or shoot at him again.

Steve brought back his mind to the matters at hand. It was 2012, so there were no HYDRA, and no Nazis (there were a few trying to revive the ideals from what he remembered, but it was nothing like during WWII) to worry about. It did not necessarily mean he was safe.

After the war, many a government agency had wanted to dissect Captain America's body, if they could find it, to get the Super Soldier Serum's formula; and they would not have stopped trying if they got to him. That included the Army; although as far as Steve knew before he was sent back, no one had succeeded yet.

"Good morning," the woman said affably.

She was wearing the proper uniform for a woman in the army, except... There was no insignia for rank visible anywhere, and she should have been waring her jacket. The woman had no accent, so there was no certainty of him being in the USA... unfortunately even if he was on American soil, it was not too comforting a thought.

She took a look a her watch, then corrected, "or should I say afternoon?"

"Where am I?" Steve asked choosing to ignore the pleasantries.

Normally Steve was not rude, especially to women, as his mother did teach him manners, but the movements outside were setting him more on edge than he already was.

"You are in a recovery room in New York City," she responded softly. Steve frowned, it did not sound like a lie, but was probably not the whole truth.

"Where am I really?" He demanded in his Captain voice, the one he used to reprimand soldiers. He was not bothering to hide his suspicion.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," the woman said nervously.

'Is she expecting me to be all nice and polite in what amounts to me as a possible hostile situation? Seriously?' He thought.

"The game," Steve stressed. "It's from May 1941. I know because I was there." He pointed out and stood up taking advantage of his six feet two inches height, and heavier constitution, to look menacing. "So I am going to ask again, where am I?"

"Captain Rogers..." she began.

"Who are you?" Steve demanded harshly.

Normally all medical personnel dealing with him, or any of the Commandos had to introduce themselves, then report their location before they even attempted to approach any member of his team, himself included.

All of them tended to react violently if they did not know where they were, and who had them. It had been something medical personnel had learned the hard way, and which had become standard protocol when dealing with the Howling Commandos and Captain America.

His men had all been held prisoner by HYDRA for more than a few days, and even he had been captured more than a couple of times. The Commandos had rescued him, and Steve had never been in HYDRA's clutches for more than a few days. It did not mean he had not been tortured for information while in their power.

His demands clearly unsettled the woman, which really should not unless there were things to hide. He had not asked anything unreasonable. Steve was keeping all his senses alert, and heard the woman activate the electronic panic button she carried concealed. No sooner had she pressed the button ,,than the door opened, and two men in black TAC uniforms entered.

The uniforms had no markings to identify the agency they worked for, and had he truly been from the past Steve would have confused them with HYDRA. The uniforms were similar, especially the fact they were black. The two men were clearly sent to subdue him, and Steve chose not to cooperate.

It took no effort to send the men through one of the flimsy walls, and follow through. Steve located the door, and made his way out. The woman stepped out of what was clearly some sort of set, and called through the sound system.

"All agents code 13! Repeat, all agents code 13!"

Whoever had him, was treating him like a prisoner, or a criminal, since he did not fall for their rouse. So it made Steve's need to escape greater. He did not want to find out whatever designs those people had in stock for him

The room where they had kept him was thankfully on the ground floor, and as he came out he could see the street outside through the floor to ceiling windows. He had the advantage on the many suited agents wandering about in the lobby, so after pushing some out of his way, Steve dashed through the glass doors to the street.

He had no idea where he was, but as his eyes scanned his surroundings, Steve came to the conclusion he was certainly in a major English speaking city judging by the advertisements. The vehicles around him looked familiar as well, which confirmed the videos time stamps, as did the loud mental noise all those gadgets around him made.

Steve had gotten used to the quiet in the past, and he flinched at how loud everything was, but he did not stop. His mental shields came up automatically to protect him, and Steve was relieved to note he had not forgotten how to protect his mind. He sped following the street.

As he ran the cars' license plates told him where he was. The state of New York, and there was only one city with so many skyscrapers in the state. Steve would need to find exactly where he was, and start making a plan of escape, as his outdated military khaki trousers and white t-shirt made him stand out like a sore thumb.

Steve would need to get clothes which allowed him to blend in, perhaps a cap, clear glasses, and money. Only then he might be able to attempt to go home, or at least try to contact his mother. She probably thought him dead by then, and he could not let her believe that when he was alive.

His escape was cut short when he reached Times Square. There he was surrounded by sleek, black, SUVs. From them descended... Agents he supposed. Some wearing suits, others TAC uniforms. Steve was still analyzing possible escape routes when someone addressed him.

"At ease soldier." A dark man with a trench coat and an eye patch spoke. Steve pinned him with a glare. "Look, I'm sorry about the show back there, but we thought it better to break it up to you slowly."

'Really? You people weren't planning on making me feel like the enemy captured me? Did you not think dressing your goons in a similar fashion as those of HYDRA would set alarm bells? But specially did your people not know I have enhanced senses?' Steve mentally snarked. He was not happy with his situation, and the fact he was momentarily trapped.

"Break what?" He had decided to play along, but Steve simply could not help snarking. "The fact I'm not in Kansas anymore Toto?" Steve upped the glare a notch. Most of the men who had ever been under his command knew that particular one bode nothing good if directed at them. "That was actually rather obvious from the moment I regained consciousness."

Nick sighed, and looked rather chagrined. "That bad?" The Captain nodded, still glaring, and he had to admit it was rather impressive. It might have cowed anyone else. "So... what was it that gave it away, since it clearly was not the game." He could not admit being curious, but he was.

"The game was the confirmation, and the list is rather long." He was not going to make it easier for them. Steve's eyes kept darting around looking for an out, yet they came back to the eye patch man. He was clearly the one in charge.

"You have been asleep," Nick said not unkindly. "For nearly seventy years Cap." The truth this time since the young man before him clearly distrusted them.

Coulson had warned them not to go the route they chose to. Told him they would not fool the Captain, and the attempt at deception would only lose them the trust they wanted to gain in the first place. He had clearly been right, and Nick should have listened to him.

Yes, Coulson was a fan boy, but as a fan, he knew probably more about Captain America than anyone else at SHIELD. Nick took at good look at the soldier before him. For starters, he did look much younger than he expected. Rogers was hiding whatever shock he was feeling, and was acting very much like he was in hostile territory. The young man was clearly searching for ways to escape them.

'Like I didn't know that already,' Steve retorted mentally, feeling every inch the annoyed teenager. Still he managed to keep his thoughts to himself.

He stood there apparently frozen at the revelation. But his eyes had not stopped scanning his surroundings. Steve was scanning the closest gadgets, checking for those whose users had unlimited messaging plans as they were less likely to notice his use of their gadgets. He asked a few of them to send messages to his mother's phone, then delete any trace of them.

His Ma, Sarah Rogers, was a smart woman, and Steve was sure she had been able to put two and two together when he disappeared. Unfortunately history reported him dead, and he needed to let her know he was alive and back. Although he was not the same he had been when he left.

{The ice didn't kill me Ma} Was sent from a passerby phone.

{I was 'asleep' for nearly seventy years} Went out from another.

{A government agency found me} He informed her.

{I just awoke today. I need to be cautious} This was important so she understood why he did not go home right away.

{Will contact you again when I know more} This went from an agent's phone.

{I'm Okay. Missed you a lot Ma, take care} This went from a phone about a block away.

{Don't respond to any of these messages} The last he sent from the phone of another of the agents surrounding him.


First Contact

Sarah Rogers read the messages coming at a fast pace from different numbers she did not recognize and cried. Her baby boy was alive! She had indeed suspected what happened when she came home to find the glowing gem and the empty apartment.

A look at what Steve had been doing in the computer added to her suspicions. Still she reported him missing, concerned he did not take any of his medication. Her son had indeed become Captain America, and was no longer the child he had been. History said he was twenty-six when he went down. It did not matter to her how old he was, as long as she got to hold her baby boy again.


Times Square

"You are going to be OK?" Eye patch man inquired.

"Yeah," he would be.

As soon as he could get rid of them, go home, and eat some of his Ma's soup, because he was getting very hungry. Well, he was usually always hungry, one of the Super Soldier Serum's side effects. But his mother made the best soup ever, and he had missed it, specially when he had ended very ill.

Steve would miss the friends he left behind, and grieve for them as most were dead. But his only family was in 2012, and he was finally back where he belonged, as unexpected as it was.

"Yeah, I just... I had a date." They both had known he was not going to make it, but it had been something to dream of as he directed the plane towards the ice. Steve would miss his Peggy, but perhaps he could visit the one from the future later, just to get some closure.

"Who are you, and where am I actually? The dame back there did not say..." He kept on the act as he scanned his... captors and their gadgets.

The phones told him what he needed to know. SHIELD. Great! He was screwed! Steve doubted they would leave him alone. They were worse than a dog with a bone. As the SSR's successors SHIELD would treat him like he belonged to them, and they could make him disappear with no one the wiser if they wanted to.

"I am Nicholas Fury, Director of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, SHIELD for short. You are in New York City Captain," Nick told the very distrustful soldier before him. "That was not a lie.

"The date is April 17 2012, and you were in SHIELD's New York offices. We became the SSR's replacement once the war was over. Chester Phillips, Margaret Carter, and Howard Stark were our founders," he hoped to reassure him by mentioning people he knew. "Why don't you come with us so we can answer your questions?"

With the forces displayed Steve doubted he actually had a choice. While he was certain he could escape and lose them, Steve was concerned they might try to shoot him, and end hurting the many civilians staring at the scene curiously.

"Very well," Steve agreed, and boarded the vehicle Fury signalled.


Conversation with Fury

The trip was done in silence, which gave him time to ponder how he was going to deal with SHIELD. He definitely was not going to mention being a time traveler, or the fact he was able to communicate with anything electronic with chips installed. That would definitely get him sent to a lab for study.

SHIELD's people would also expect him to act confused about modern equipment, and to ask questions about the war and his friends. So he made a list of questions he believed someone from the past would ask, and prepared for the performance of his life.

Steve could act, and was rather good at it, since no one had noticed how old he actually was until the argument with Bucky. He had become even better during the USO tour. Steve had been coached by the girls to improve his performance on stage, as well as during all the functions he had to attend. He knew he needed to fool people who were observant for a living since SHIELD was mostly a spying agency, so he really had to do his best.

Once at SHIELD's New York offices, Steve followed Director Fury straight to his office. It was a spacious and modern affair with large glass windows allowing an impressive view of the street below and the buildings in front. He did take notice the windows were clearly bullet proof, and not easily broken.

They were on the twenty-second floor, nearly at the top, and the building was not the tallest amongst those on the street. It was rather inconspicuous. Over all, Steve found it a rather nice work place, but also well protected. There were less cameras in the room as well, and he could tell Fury had full control over them.

The Director was good to his promise of explaining things, and without Steve having to ask too many questions. Except for those which he would be expected to ask if he had not originally been from the future. The outcome of the war in particular, as well as about his friends. Fury promised to provide him with files on the Commandos as well as the people he had been close to.

Steve was given a super brief summary of what happened since he crashed in the arctic. History was never his forte, but it all checked with what he remembered, so at least the Director was not twisting facts to suit his needs. The meeting was interrupted by a man named Albert Kraft, a doctor.

"What is the meaning of this doctor Kraft? You can't just come barging into my office while I am in a meeting," Nick demanded of one of their most prominent scientists. He did not have a good feeling about this.

"I have come to see why It has not been turned over to my division for the extensive testing and experimentation I required," the man demanded.

"Doctor, we have already gone over this. You are NOT allowed to run any kind of tests or experimentation on human beings. The Captain is a human being, not an object for you to research." The young man had visibly tensed, and was scanning his office intently, probably looking for a way to escape.

"But It is the only Super Soldier ever produced! We need to find a way to extract the serum, or clone It to make more Super Soldiers. We also need to know the scope of the serum's abilities, and the changes it produced in the object Director. I cannot do that without keeping It secure in my lab!"

"I refuse to be experimented on!" Steve had stood up.

"Doctor," Nick began only to be presented with a thick file.

It was the testing schedule, and extensive information about what each test would do. Steve managed to read it over the Director's shoulder and was horrified, especially since nowhere in the document presented did the fact he was an actual human being was taken into consideration. Kraft kept referring to him as an It.

"I expect It in my labs as soon as you're through with It Director," he said practically leering at the Super Soldier, who recoiled.

Steve might be able to make a jump to the other building, if he broke a window first, and from there he could try to reach ground level, or even go to the roof and try to jump to the neighboring buildings until he had a clear way to reach street level. He should probably get into the subway and try to lose anyone in pursuit there.

As an after thought he decided to pick the Doctor's, as that was how Fury addressed him, and the Director's pockets. He did learn how to do that while in the 40s, and he was a rather decent pickpocket. Thankfully he did not have to do that for very long. He did not like stealing. But their wallets should provide him with some money for transportation and to change his clothes.

"At ease soldier," Nick said when he saw Rogers was beginning to panic. The young man was already in the process of scanning his surroundings for an escape route. Not that he blamed him, Kraft was insane if he thought he would approve such barbaric treatment.

Nick had ordered assassinations, and had even allowed Romanoff to do her worst when questioning enemies, but Rogers was not an enemy. Nick wanted the soldier to be a member of SHIELD. He was sure Rogers would be an invaluable asset once the young man was acclimated to the 21st century.

"Doctor Kraft," he said staring the man down. "Any and all research on the Super Soldier program was scraped years ago." At least by SHIELD, practically since Bruce Banner became the Hulk. The risks were not worth it. "And you were NOT hired to work on it."

"But Director..." Kraft started to protest.

"No doctor," he said firmly. "Permission to test and/or experiment on Captain Rogers is denied. Permission to work on anything relating to the Super Soldier program is also denied."

"You cannot stop science Director! We need to know more about Erskine's formula! I was to have first dibs at the body!" He had not been happy to discover It was alive, because he was denied access to the body.

"He is alive, and the Captain is a human being, not an object Kraft. The fact you fail to realize that is the main reason you will NEVER be allowed to experiment on people SHIELD does NOT do that. For this reason you are NOT allowed to approach, or address the Captain in any way doctor.

"In fact, you are not allowed to be within fifty fucking feet of Rogers, and neither are any of the staff working under you. Failure to comply will not only result in the shutting down of your whole department," the crazy doctor actually recoiled at this, "your contract and that of anyone working for you will be terminated.

"Be warned, should Captain Rogers be harmed in ANY way, or samples be taken from him without his consent, I will personally make sure you regret ever hearing about the Super Soldier Serum. Am I understood?" The doctor looked at him mutinously. "Am I clear doctor?" He asked again sounding quite dangerous.

"Crystal Director," Kraft said stiffly, and clearly very displeased.

"Good, now leave," Nick ordered and turned to look at the soldier, who was clearly very distrustful now. Great, what little he had gained he lost again.

He sighed the moment Kraft was out the door. Could things get any worse? They already had three major clusterfucks in an afternoon, it was not normal, and Nick could not understand just what was wrong with his agents and staff.

SHIELD had an excellent record of being efficient, and well organized, yet today they had been practically incompetent. He needed to start an investigation into what happened, and of course issue the necessary orders to keep Kraft and his sycophants from bothering the soldier.

"Please Cap, take a seat," he requested, and had to wait for a few minutes until the younger man warily, and practically oozing distrustfulness, did as requested. "I feel I must apologize again, as this is not the way SHIELD usually operates."

"So I'm a special case?" Steve's voice was loaded with sarcasm.

"Frankly Cap, you actually are," Nick admitted. "There is no one else who has ever been in your situation. Cryogenically preserving anything alive more evolved than a frog has not been tried to my knowledge."

"I see," Steve said slowly. "So I have to watch out for every nut case scientist around?" He was not pleased by this, not at all. His list of potential enemies had just increased exponentially.

"No Captain, it should not come to that." The least they needed was to have a paranoid Super Soldier on their hands. "Doctor Kraft is... a special case. The man is brilliant, but he's also very in favor of experimenting on humans... without restraint. We hired him as a way to keep an eye on the man, and keep him from actually working on humans."

"Not very reassuring Director," he glared at the man, "specially when that doctor's ideas reminds me quite a lot of Arnim Zola, HYDRA's main scientist." His face hardened at this, and his voice did not hide how Steve loathed the Austrian scientist for experimenting on Bucky. It got even worse after he lost his brother in all but blood in the mission to capture him. "He too liked to experiment on humans, specially allied prisoners of war."

"Kraft won't bother you Cap," he assured the young man barely containing a shudder.

The mention of Zola clearly evoked strong emotions, hate would not be too strong a word to describe it. Nick did wonder what would happen if Rogers ever found out Zola had been recruited by the SSR after his capture. The scientist had worked for them until his body died in the 1970s, but his consciousness was still preserved in several data banks.

He must make sure Rogers did not find out, or Nick was sure he would lose any chance at recruiting the young soldier, if they had not lost it already with the major clusterfuck the afternoon had proven to be so far.

To distract the Super Soldier Nick spoke a bit more about the future, and offered Rogers SHIELD's assistance to acclimate to what would be his new world. The Captain was clearly hesitant to accept any assistance from them, and actually demanded a legally binding document where SHIELD stated any help they provided had no strings attached. Because if they were going to demand he paid them back, the Cap preferred to flounder in the 21st Century on his own.

Nick sighed that was not what he expected, but he agreed and had his secretary and the Head of SHIELD's legal department take care of it. He wanted to have Captain America as a SHIELD operative, and he knew from experience that forcing someone to work for them was not the way to do it. Those agents were the first to turn on them. Hopefully they could show the soldier SHIELD was the best option for him.

The document was in his inbox in no time, Nick went over it, then printed it for Rogers to read, and hopefully accept what SHIELD offered him. The younger man went over it slowly, asked for clarification on their offers, then accepted the document. Nick signed it, and a copy for himself.

He then called two agents, Wilkins and Frampton, to lead the Captain to one of the meeting rooms and debrief him on his last mission. He unfortunately could not be present because the World Security Council had just called.


Mad Scientist

The agents led Steve to a room down in the bowels of the building, which he found strange. But he did not really know the layout of SHIELD's New York offices, or how they operated, so he said nothing. When he entered the room he had frozen. It looked like a large cell, or a bunker.

All four walls were thick and bare concrete, no windows, bright fluorescent lights, and a very thick metal door. No one would hear what happened inside. There was a gurney with thick chains in the middle of the room, a couple of tables with wicked looking medical instruments, and a few electronic medical equipments he was not quite sure of their function.

Feeling betrayed, Steve turned ready to fight his way out of the building, and actually knocked one of the agents out. He saw Kraft at the door, and pushed the other agent out of his way, only to hear a high pitched sound that had him covering his sensitive ears. He fell on the floor as his body became limp and unresponsive, but his mind was still very much conscious. Steve tried to fight off the paralysis, but his body was not responding.

The hours that followed were the worst of his life. He had been captured by nazis and HYDRA a few of times during missions, and there had been torture involved. He had been beaten, shocked, waterboarded, and cut; that he could take. All but the waterboarding were things Kraft actually did do to him, to see how the Super Soldier Serum healed him, and how long it took to do so.

Then the psycho took samples and biopsies from just about everywhere he could without actually cutting him completely open. If Kraft thought the Super Soldier Serum would heal him fast enough, Steve was sure the madman would have probably removed a kidney, and large pieces of other internal organs. For once he was grateful the Super Soldier Serum did not heal him instantly.

While he 'worked' the doctor spoke about cloning him to make more super soldiers, since the technology was available. He spoke freely because he did not think Steve would understand what he was talking about. After all, he was supposed to be a man from the 1940s. Then he talked about other ways of obtaining the super soldiers he wanted, should cloning fail. By breeding them.

Kraft needed semen samples for his breeding program, but he did not want to risk damaging that particular part of his test subject in case they needed more contributions. Which they would have to be very careful in obtaining since Fury did not authorize any of it, and would literally have their hides if he found out. The real emotional and mental torture for Steve began then as he realized just how the madman intended to obtain those samples.

Steve had broken down then, still paralyzed, he could only mentally cry and beg to be left alone, for those people not to touch him. But he could not voice them, not for a while longer, when he finally began to regain some control over his body. Still he could not fight, Kraft was pumping him full of some kind of drug faster than the Super Soldier Serum could eliminate it. There were IVs going into both his arms, his neck, and his calves.

He did manage to slur the pleas he had made mentally, too out of it due to the drugs to do much else, but they fell on deaf ears. In fact, they laughed at him, and Steve hated himself at the end of the eternity it seemed they had kept him. His body had betrayed him, responding to what they did to him, and had given Kraft what he wanted.

His body provided Kraft with much more than expected as the Super Soldier Serum helped him recover, and he was a teenager underneat the appearance of an adult. They kept stimulating his body until he was finally dry, until he could no longer think anymore. Until whatever drug they were pumping into his veins was no longer necessary because his body practically gave out on him.

They had used a 'toy' during their... 'Procedure', but once they had their samples all three men had their fill of him as well. He had been too weak and out of it to fight them off, to do anything but stare blankly at the floor because he had no more tears to shed. Steve had passed out at some point, his mind and body finally giving up.