The world stopped breathing as the Red Skull's eyes lit up with fury. He slowly closed the book and placed it on the desk beside him. "What?" He questioned in a cold serious tone his face even more menacing than before. Steve felt fear tear its way at his heart as he took a defensive step backwards and pressed himself against the wall.
"Ah, you know… It doesn't matter anyway, we're here now and –"
"What did you say?" Johann asked again, the seriousness of his voice implied he did not want to be lied to or ignored. He stood up his terrifying gaze now meeting Steve. "I won't ask you again."
"I," Steve paused, "I was never in any sort of cell. I was trapped in more of a false reality, I guess they wanted to wake me up to the reality of the modern era slowly."
"Slowly," Johann repeated as his eyes drifted to the window behind him as his stared longing out of it. "Slowly," he repeated again. "They treated you… With Kindness and care." Johann paused long between his thoughts, but it was obvious that rage was building up inside him, one that would cause his old subordinates to flee into their respective areas. "Do you want to know where I was when I woke up? I found myself restrained, in a cold and dark solitary cell. To the jeers of foul Americans… mocking me. Though I guess it's understandable… To be treated so awfully since I am, so awful. Isn't that right?" With that he slowly turned around to face Steve again, viciousness still present in his eyes. "Well? Isn't it!" He spat taking a few commanding steps forward.
"Yes! That is right, you remember what you did Skull, don't act like you're a saint in this –"
"Oh, I am not acting like a saint! It's you who pretends to have done nothing wrong! Did your army, your stupid country, not fight in the war? Did they not kill people too? Or was it only me who killed people? You weren't even restrained? What if you attacked them thinking they were the enemy but oh no, of course not Captain America! The perfect soldier who could do no wrong except kill others and pretend to be perfect while doing so! You selfish hypocrite!" With an outburst of ancient rage, Johann burst past Steve who retaliates by grabbing his arm and forcing Johann away from the exit.
"Don't act like you weren't going to destroy the world for your own personal gain Skull!"
"I would never ignore that fact because I am not a liar. I would have destroyed the world and the evil within it if it wasn't for you and your self-righteous misdemeanours!" With a strong shove, Johann pushes Steve out of the way and marches his way towards the door, with a loud bang he slams the door open, which was now barely on its hinges and was greeted with a small soldier whose hands shook as they clutched on dearly to a letter. Johann's face was full of fury and he was ready to raise hell in anger at his treatment, but seeing the soldier stare up at him terrified, yet not looking away from his gaze, softened him and his burst of anger seemed to disappear as quickly as it came. He closed his eyes for a moment as the sounds of Steve clambering to his feet and running were heard. Steve quickly placed a hand on Johann's shoulder to stop him from running and to his surprise he was meet with a small flinch. Johann sighed before opening his eyes again and speaking in a softer voice, "what do you want boy?"
"I- uh- have a note from the Doctor. It's about your schedules tonight and tomorrow," the young soldier paused for a moment thinking that he had finished what he had to say before quickly looking back up at the two, "oh and you have been invited to dinner with them in the private dining hall on the third floor." He lifted the note up to the Red Skull who instinctively snatched from the boy's hands. He glanced at it and with a huff said.
"Thank you, you can go now. Oh and if you tell anyone about what you just heard you won't be able to hear anything again. Is that understood?"
"Completely!" The soldier scampered off as fast and as orderly as he could down the corridor. Some soldiers had made their way out of their rooms wondering what the commotion was and was greeted with Johann's glare to leave them alone and forget about it, which they gladly did.
Steve steered the other super soldier back inside and was ready to get mad at him again but was met with a surprisingly depressed mood from Johann who looked at him solemnly before making his way around him finding clothes that had been prepared for them to wear during their stay. He started picking out things to wear to the dinner and completely ignored Steve's presence. He noticed that he was provided with long sleeve and pants attire and was greatful for at least a little bit of consideration in his preferences.
Steve stood aghast as everything returned so quickly to normal, but he wasn't going to argue why all of sudden Johann's imprisonment didn't matter anymore. He made his way to his own clothes and they got changed respectively. After an hour of not speaking to each other, they both made their way to the elevators to go to dinner. Steve fiddled with his clothes fascinated by the new feel of them before remembering who was standing next to him as Johann's judging eyes watched him wringing his shirt with intrigue. Steve looked up at Johann and awkwardly smiled who returned it with a raise of his brow and a roll of his eyes as he looked elsewhere.
"Listen, now that we're going to dinner with Fury and maybe others, could you try to act at least a little bit less mad," Steve suggested to Johann hoping for not another outburst. He was meet with a scoff as the elevator dinged and they made their way to the dining hall. Fury and their doctor sat waiting as an arrangement of light foods were scattered on the table.
"There ain't nothing too crazy here for you two since it's still early days. Just take it easy and don't rush, you don't want a sore tummy," Fury said looking up at them with a small smile as he slowly ate a piece of his meal. The doctor looked up at them and nodded towards Fury to confirm his advice. The two of them sat down on a bench next to each other and Johann waited for Steve to make the first move, which he did. After picking out what they wanted they sat there eating, in complete silence. Fury sighed as he rubbed his fingers against his forward in pain, "you know, you two need to calm down, these walls aren't all that thick. I know you two had a fight, that is to be expected, but I don't want to see this continuing. Do I make myself clear?"
Steve looked up at Fury, then to Johann, then back to Fury, "you make yourself perfectly clear sir. You won't hear anything, at least not from me." Johann scoffed again, not replying to Fury's question.
"Is there something funny soldier?" Fury asked adjusting his posture both his and the doctor's gaze now on him.
"I just think it's funny that Rogers thinks he is the one who won't be causing a commotion when it's his wilful ignorance to the wider world around him that got both me and him in this situation." Steve went to retaliate but was met with a raised hand from Fury telling him to 'settle down'.
"Listen, I know you're going to try and push me and get me to bow down to you because you know I can handle a bit of your wrath as you might call it," Fury responded trying to meet Johann's gaze who was not looking at anyone but the wall. "It doesn't matter what has happened in the past, we have all been through this, what matters now is changing ourselves to accommodate our presence in the future."
"I'm surprised you don't have me chained to a leash. After all, if you're going to treat me like a dog that needs to learn his commands, then you might as well do it properly," Johann spat, his venom gaze meeting Fury.
"I know you're upset about how we treated you in the beginning –"
"How you treated me, in the beginning, is telling of how you're going to treat me for however long I survive here," Johann interrupted swinging out of the bench and standing up abruptly. "I've seen the way everyone looks at me as I'm some sort of circus freak, at least when people looked at me back then it was out of fear or respect. I do not appreciate being paraded about in prison garb and then expected to behave like a good little boy for you and your friends just because you don't understand my particularly evil battle strategy or cunning. Why don't you go and study it for yourself and kill me instead since that would be less painful and probably what you want!" Something about Johann's speech and thought pattern got the doctor on edge who quickly stood up as well and made her way a few meters in front of him.
"Now Johann, I'm going to need you to calm down, you're not reacting well to the sudden intact of nutrients and emotion. I can take you to the infirmary wing for a moment and –"
"I do not need to calm down!" Johann hissed, "What I need is for him to be dead and for me to be dead so that everything can be how it should be! If the world cannot be fixed by my vision then it is doomed to chaos and terror forever!" It was clear by Johann's body language that he was panicking, it was unsure what was causing the panic but his eyes darted wildly around the room as his breathing turned into hyperventilating. His vision began to blur and before he could retaliate further he passed out. Steve instinctively rushed to his side to make sure he was okay.
Fury shook his head and sighed, "this is going to be a long mission." The Doctor looked at Fury and shrugged in a way that said, 'what can you do?' She pointed towards Johann's body and looked at Steve.
"Can you please carry him and follow me to the infirmary? I have to make sure his vitals are okay. It must have been that violent outburst he had in your room earlier that caused this spiral, but we have to make sure." Steve nodded and slowly picked Johann up in a bridal sort of hold to make sure he did not fall out of his hands. For a moment he found himself staring at his face, it was oddly peaceful despite what just happened. It was a weird experience for him as he studied his features. From the small crevices of his cheeks to the sunken in eye sockets. While his face was grotesque Steve could picture a man there, someone before the Red Skull was created. The Doctor prodded his side and he was awoken from his trance.
After securing a bed and a room for Johann, Steve waited with a book by his bedside as the Doctor conducted tests. Guards stood at the door in case Johann was to awaken and try and make a run for it. The doctor finalised general checks and finished hooking him up to contraptions, which Steve didn't quite understand. She turned to him with a thoughtful gaze, "what did you see?"
"Excuse me?"
"You were looking at him before back in the dining hall. What about his face that intrigued you?" She questioned sitting down in the adjacent chair. Steve stared blankly at his book as his mind whirled with thought. He marked the page he was up to and shut it before looking back at the Doctor.
"I'm not sure. It was strange I've never seen him… Well… At peace really, of course, I haven't seen much of him at all a part from the times we fought. Even now when we were in our room and he was just sitting there reading. His mind and his eyes seemed to be going so fast with feeling and thoughts. It was like he was stressed and scared, but he never said anything nor did ever give any indication that that was the case."
"He most likely didn't want you to know what he was going through, it would explain why he passed out earlier. Being overwhelmed is a natural part of life, especially when greeted with an entirely new world. It is a shame, I expect when he was the leader of HYDRA, tears and emotion were not something he was permitted to show."
"I guess-" Before Steve could finish Johann stirred in his sleep disturbed by their speaking. The Doctor got up and told Steve to call her if she was needed and left the two alone. Johann slowly blinked his eyes open and was greeted with the dim white light of a cold infirmary room. With a groan, he slowly turned to look at Steve and let out a noise that Steve translated into disappointment. "Good to see you too."
"Don't be funny," Johann said tiredly, "it doesn't suit you."
"The doc said you fainting was probably from you getting angry before back in our room. I think its cause you bottled up your emotions and didn't want to admit that you were afraid the whole time you've been awake and you were overwhelmed by the shock of it all."
"Again with the being funny thing, seriously, it's not your forte."
Steve let out a small laugh, "yeah I guess you're right." He paused for a moment before looking down at Johann who stared up at him with now tired and soft blue eyes. "You know, things can be different now. I know you used to run HYDRA and make all your men fear you to the point where they would kill themselves, but you can't live your life in the shadow of fear. It's okay to have emotions, it's what makes us human." To Steve's surprise, Johann seemed receptive to the idea of a new life, a sad expression passed over his face and for a moment it looked as if he was going to break down in tears. However, the expression passed as quickly as it came and he rolled over on his side to face away from Steve.
"I don't think you remember the fact I said I was passed the petty whims of humanity," Johann said quietly as he hid his face from Steve who avoided further prying into the mind of his former enemy. He sadly stood up and walked to the door knowing that their conversation was at an end. Before exiting he turned to face Johann once more.
"Try and get some rest, I'll check up on you in the morning, the doc said she needed to use a real big needle to get through that thick skin of yours so I wouldn't miss it for the world." With that small quip, he left, closing the door behind him. The room fell silent as the sounds of machines murmured quietly. Then, ever so quietly, a voice spoke out into the darkness.
"Thank you."