Chapter 2! I am continuing this, do not worry. If I am lucky, another chapter tonight. If not tonight, then in the morning! Please read/review/comment :)
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or quotes.
The next few days were hectic. Hitler was defeated and most of the world celebrated. Captain America's Howling Commandos toasted in his honor and the secret research base was cleaned up. All the while, Howard Stark took it upon himself to find the wreckage. A day after the plane went missing, he himself boarded the plane and then set sail into the Arctic.
The hours passed as the ship slowly made its way through the ice field.
"Sir," one of his men said. Howard moved over to the monitor and saw the claw arm of the ship gripping the tesseract.
"Keep going," he said.
"But there's no trace of wreckage. And the energy signature stops here," the man replied.
"Just keep looking," Howard said, walking back to the windows of the ship. "He's out there somewhere," he reminded himself.
The next few days were a blur for Peggy. The base had been shut down, so at the moment she was free to do whatever she wanted. But what she wanted was Steve. Tears came to her eyes as she remembered his blue eyes and the half smile that seemed to stay on his face. Howard didn't know how long he'd be gone for, so Peggy was alone with her memories. She held out hope that somehow Steve would be able to meet her again.
Friday night finally rolled around and Peggy found herself pacing in her room, 'wearing a path on the carpet', as her mother would say. Finally she sat down on her bed and put her head in her hands. "Steve, you have no idea how much hope I have," she said. Taking her head out of her hands, she got up and left it at that.
It was horribly cold in the Arctic, Howard could admit that. A few days on the water and still no signs of anything. Even he was starting to lose hope. "I'm going to bed," he told the attendant, yawning. "Wake me if anything happens." He left the command center of the ship and walked down the hall to his room. Getting ready for bed, he imagined Peggy's pained expression if Steve didn't show up the next night. He had to find him, for her. He slid into bed, his mind racing with thoughts, and turned out the light.
"Captain!" someone shouted, waking Howard from his sleep. He rolled out of bed and turned on the light.
"What?" he called, really hoping he wouldn't have to leave his room at this hour. If the arctic was cold during the day, it would be much colder at night
"You need to see this!" That was all Howard needed to hear. He threw on a jacket and tied his shoes as fast as he could before running down the hall to the control center.
"What is it?" he asked, breathing slightly heavily.
"Right in front of us," the attendant replied. Howard looked through the window and saw a steady billow of smoke rising from out of the ice. The ship drew closer and he could make out small black dots on the ice. Even though it was early in the morning, the small amount of sun illuminated the water and the ice, making the black clearly visible. He figured out exactly what the black was not dots, pieces of wreckage.
"Full steam ahead," he said. "Set us down next to the wreckage."
"Yes sir," his attendant replied.
Howard rushed back to his room, telling a steward to get a message to everyone to prepare for landing. Howard anxiously awaited the moment when their boat would touch down on the frozen wasteland. And leave the Arctic with hopefully one more passenger.
It took half an hour, but soon the ship was docked and most of the crew was out on the ice. Everyone was dwarfed by the sheer size of the wreckage. "Look everywhere, mainly at the helm. Take precautions, but we want to be out of here as soon as possible. I have no idea how stable this ice is," Howard said as they started forward. The icy wind bit through his jacket and he clenched his teeth until they were sheltered by what used to be a wing of the plane. They found an area that wasn't under too much snow and dug until they had a small way in. Some of the members couldn't fit, so they remained outside in case something should happen.
Even for Howard it was a challenge to fit through the small hole. He maneuvered himself and dropped about a foot down into the ship, dusting the snow off his pants
Howard turned on his flashlight and looked around. They were in the front of the plane. The steel art working was amazing, intricate and sturdy. A layer of snow covered the inside of the plane and the front window was broken. Howard left his men to scour near the opening while he made his way to the pilot's chair, where he expected Steve to be sitting. Hopefully.
He made his way up, slipping on some ice first and regaining his composure before anyone saw. At the base of the chair was the captain's shield. Howard picked it up and the coldness seemed to break right through his gloves. A thin layer of ice covered it, making the light bounce off of the colors.
"Here!" he shouted. He made a motion to throw the shield and one of the officers caught it when he actually did throw it. Now that the shield was safe, Howard turned back to the chair. He made his way around to the front of it and gasped at what he saw.
Steve was sitting mostly upright in the chair, his hands still grasping the controls. A thin layer of snow and ice had covered him. His eyes were closed, which Howard thought was strange. Steve must've been very scared if he had closed his eyes. He was never one to want to miss anything that was happening.
But then again, who would really want to witness the thing that would cause your imminent death?
Dun Dun Daaaaaa :). Hope you guys have liked it thus far!
If I made typos, please let me know so I can fix them!