Chapter 22
By: MysticFantasy
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"Stark. Banner. Find anything?" Fury asked as he walked into the lab.
"We did find that there is a signal coming from the chip." Bruce answered. "A powerful one that seems to have been active the entire time that Barnes had it in him."
"So it's been active for seventy years?" Fury repeated.
"Seems so." Tony answered. "I have Jarvis tracing the signal to see where it's coming from. We should know in a few hours."
"Good. Let me know when you find it."
"We will." Bruce said. "How's Steve handling all of this?"
"He's still in the medical ward waiting for Barnes to wake up. He's already 'informed' us that he won't leave until he confirms if Barnes is back to normal or not."
"At least Barnes is going to wake up soon." Tony said.
"What if he's back to normal?" Bruce asked. "If he's back to being the same as he was before the chip was implanted, what's going to happen to him?"
"Perhaps...he would like to be part of the team." Fury answered. "It certainly would be helpful to everyone if he accepted. If not, we can find something for him. Get him any help he wants or thinks he might need, give him a stable job with SHIELD, help him ease his way into this world like we did with Rogers..."
"Think he might join up with the Avengers?" Bruce asked.
"Maybe." Tony answered. "He probably won't do it right away but knowing that Steve is around...he might."
"It sure would be ineteresting to have two world war two soldiers around. Then they would be the ones talking about things that we won't understand." Bruce said.
"I'm not going to like being confused." Tony stated.
"Now you'll know how Rogers feels when you start babbling around him." Fury said before walking out of the lab.
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Natasha walked over and handed Steve a cup of hot coffee. He took it and gave her a smile of gratitude.
"Any sign yet?" she asked sitting on the chair next to his against the wall of the room.
"Nothing." Steve answered. "But Bucky's always been a heavy sleeper. This is nothing compared to when we were in the field. There was a time where Gabe and Dugan actually dumped a bucket of water on Bucky to get him up. He was mad as hell but he took it in stride."
Natasha lightly smiled at hearing Steve recall moments from his past. They didn't get to hear much about his past but when he did share a story or two they all made sure to listen since there was a chance that they wouldn't hear another for a while.
The others knew that Steve was still having a little trouble completely adjusting to the new century but he did have a handle on it for the most part.
He wasn't technology impared anymore which was a great relief to him and everyone else. Thanks to Tony and Bruce he had a good enough knowledge of technology and chemistry. His eidetic memory certainly made things a lot easier for him. He tried to read at least two or three books a week of current times, history and other technology and science related things.
Tony had once warned the captain that if Steve got smarter than him that he would find a way to decrease his brain power.
A few things that Steve had greatly studied were the events that took place after the war and medical knowledge.
Clint had made a good point that Steve knew enough about medicine to at least be a nurse or paramedic if he ever decided to no longer be a captain or avenger.
Natasha knew better though. She knew that Steve was learning medical knowledge and proccedures in case any of them got hurt during a fight or other wise.
Certainly that knowledge was helping him stay calm as they waited for James Barnes to wake up.
"Think he'll be the same as before?" she asked.
"I really hope so." Steve answered as he stared at the full cup of untouched coffee in his hands.
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A/N: Thanks to Muldoon22 I just learned that Steve and Natasha are going to have a lip lock scene in Captain America 2. (YAY) As far as I know, that's as far as it will get between them. (Boo)