Ice, that was all Steve saw. It was engulfing him, eating at his skin leaving only cold and a numb feeling that was all too inviting. He felt himself slipping into the ice, the cold entering his body. His heart slowed, his eyes slipping shut. Stay awake Steve. They'll find you. Howard is smart, he can find you. Peggy is expecting you, you can't break the date.

He could feel his thoughts slow, coherency dropping with the temperature. Dammit Rogers, you can't die!

The irony was almost too much; Steve wanted to go to war. He wanted to be a hero. Honestly, he never anticipated what he would do after the war. What did he have to go back to? He didn't have any family besides Bucky; and now even he was gone. This was probably the best ending he could give himself. Stopping Schmidt was the least he could do; giving Erskine peace in the afterlife.

Our Father, Who art in Heaven... He started to pray, trying to keep himself awake. Hollowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done. On Earth as it is in Heaven...

Steve gasped as he awoke, tangled in the thick blanket that he used. His breathing was deep, but he almost like he was having an asthma attack. No air seemed to be getting to his lungs. He felt lost as he looked around, momentarily forgetting everything that has happened since he awoke all those months ago.

He tried to calm himself in the dark silence, not trusting himself to move. He looked at the alarm clock on the side table read 4:36. About 4 hours, that's more sleep than normal. He smiled, half wondering when he had become so cynical about life.

He just laid there for almost an hour, knowing sleep wasn't going to come back to him. He only got out of bed when he heard footsteps from the apartment above his; knowing that he needed to get up. He took a shower and got dressed, the warmth coming back to him as the hot water made his skin glow red.

Getting himself a breakfast bar and a glass of milk, he booted up the computer that Clint had given him a few weeks back.

"Mornin' Cap." The blond said as he entered the apartment, carrying a box that seemed rather heavy. "Got a present for you." The way the archer spoke suggested the good natured-ness of this visit.

Steve was in the kitchen, preparing himself lunch. "It's nearly noon, Barton." He stated matter-of-factly, "What's in the box?" The sight of S.H.I.E.L.D. Agents coming in and out of his apartment was being normal for Steve, though lately it only seemed to be Clint and Natasha coming.

Clint opened the box, pulling out a bubble wrapped box-looking thing. "This is a computer. Nothing fancy, just an old one I had laying around, thought it'd be good to teach you how to use one while we're all on stand-by."

Steve stopped cutting the carrots he had on the cutting board and walked over to Clint. "Do you need any help?"

"Nah, I've got this. Should only take a few minutes, this is rather simple." Clint said, looking at Steve. "What'cha cooking, Cap? Smells good."

Steve tried not to look annoyed at the way Clint talked about setting up the computer. Even though he knew that the man didn't mean to make it sound like he would just be in the way, Steve was beginning to think that people thought was too dumb to be of any use. "Chicken salad. Do you want some?"

"Geez, Cap. What's with you and the health food? I swear, every time I see you eat it's all fruits and veggies." There was a smile on the man's face as he pulled out a block looking thing and put it on the floor by Steve's desk. "Would it kill you to eat like a few pieces of pizza?"

"No, it wouldn't." Steve said, going to the kitchen as a timer went off. "I just like to eat, as you say, 'healthy' food." He got the chicken out and setting it on the counter.

"Well then Rogers, I'm taking you out sometime to get some pizza." Steve turned around to see Clint standing up, "Well, if you were serious about feeding me, I can't say no to free food." The grin on Clint's face was comical, and made the agent seem many years younger than what he was.

The two ate, Clint asking Steve about what he planned to do. It seemed obvious to Steve that Clint wanted to say something about him not going out much, he'd heard it many times from Natasha and Fury. He knew it would help him understand things better, but it was hard. Walking around the place that he was born, grew up and seeing how it was changed. The changes were hard, but what got to Steve the most was that things that hadn't changed. The world was supposedly so much better, but all Steve saw sometimes was more suffering and pain; sometimes even more so than what he saw in his time.

He did enjoy the company of the two agents that he fought with against Loki's army. It was interesting how to two fell into step with himself, taking it upon themselves to help him with whatever he needed help with. He sometimes wondered if Fury assigned them to help him, from what he gathered whenever he was at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters many people were, probably subconsciously, avoiding being around Barton.

Steve was half way through his salad, trying not wince as he saw that Clint's was nearly drenched in dressing, "So, how are you? Are you still on leave?"

"Yeah," Clint said after chewing." Nat is probably going back soon, but they still want me to see the counselor. Like that is helping. I'm not sure they want me back after all the shit I caused."

"It wasn't your fault, what Loki made you do you had no control over." Steve interjected. He hated how the man blamed himself.

"I know, I know. That's what Nat keeps say." Clint said, putting down his fork. "But you know what? I was there. Floating beneath all that crap mind-control that Loki did. I was screaming, trying to stop. I was able to fight, some. At first. I killed so many." His voice dropped to almost a whisper, "I almost killed Nat. That's what Loki wanted me to do."

Steve paused, he hadn't heard that part. He knew that Natasha was the one that was able to 'cognitively reset his brain', but neither talked about how that came to be. "But you didn't, Clint. If you really were fighting, don't you think that you knew that Natasha would save you?"

Clint looked at his food, taking the last few bites without speaking. "Well, if you're done how about we look at the computer. It'd probably help if you knew how to use the internet."

Steve nodded, getting the dishes and putting them in the sink to wash later. Neither of the two men talked about anything other than the computer for the rest of the evening.

Steve booted up the computer, turning on the internet to check and see if he had any e-mails. That was one thing he found the most amazing about this future he found himself in; the fact that people could communicate almost instantly with the written word.

There were a few messages in the inbox, most of them what Clint called 'Junk mail'; but there was a message that surprised Steve. It was from Toni, which in and of itself made Steve curious. In the weeks since the attack on New York, Toni seemed to have dropped off the earth. The last time he saw her before last night was a few hours after she left the Helicarrier was when they all went out for Shawarma.

He clicked on the e-mail, surprised to see that it was sent at about 4 A.M.; he hadn't gotten to his apartment until a little after midnight and he was sure Toni left later than him.

Hey Capsicle.

Come to the tower at about 1 PM today. The others will be here.

Toni

Genius, Playboy, Millionaire, Philanthropist, AND Iron Man

Steve looked at the e-mail. It was straight to the point, and if it were from anyone else he would say that it was rude. He half wanted to reply saying he wouldn't be there; but the line under her name made him smile.

"You're just someone's lab experiment, Rogers. All that's special about you came from a bottle."

"You're just a whiny child hiding behind a man in a suit of armor. Take that away, what are you?"

"Genius, Playboy, Millionaire, Philanthropist."

Hola! Thanks for reading.

This one was just Steve, but hey, it was long and I'll have Toni's part next. Bet you can tell what's going to happen next...

And I just had to put that bit from the movie in (with my little change since Toni was then not known to Cap as Iron Man). Yeah... Let me know what you think. :D

And I'll advert again for my Clintasha story... The next chapter for that will be up in the next few days :D