Dawn beckons and as usual Steve is up the minute the light shines through the curtains. He awakes to a slight startle, at first confused by his surroundings, he then lets out a sigh of relief as he recalled yesterday's events and gently lay his head back down again. Life just does these strange things to you and expects you to be fine. His mind was busy with thoughts, the past day's events have been something he previously believed would be fantasy. Except, it happened, he was currently living in modern times almost 70 years after his time. It was terrifying, but he wouldn't let it get him down. He was going to continue acting on his ideals that he held close to his heart he wouldn't let this new world change him, no matter how hard it tries. He swiftly stood to his feet and made up his bed before heading to the shower. He stared at the bathroom like he was looking inside some sort of advanced spaceship. Eventually, after a bit of tinkering, he worked it out and got himself ready for training today. A casual short sleeve shirt and activewear pants specifically made to his size. It almost weirded him out how accurate the clothing choices and sizes were but he thought it was best not to dwell on it.

He exited the room making sure to take his key with him as he headed on down into the infirmary to check on Johann and to see if he was awake and ready. He didn't know why, but he had to make sure he was okay. Something tugged at his heart as he made his way down the elevator and into the infirmary in the building over. He slowly walked through trying to remember the path he took from last night before noticing the same room he left and quickened his step as he walked over there.

He tried to look in the window of the room but to his annoyance, it was covered by curtains. He swiftly, yet gently, knocked at the door. After waiting a few moments he entered half-covering his eyes in case he saw something he didn't want to see. However, he was greeted with Johann sitting on the bed talking to the nurse calmly. He looked better now and was dressed ready for training.

"Now, if you start to feel nauseated, lightheaded or anything out of the ordinary I don't want you staying out there. You come straight to me you understand?"

"Yes headmistress," Johann replied like a teenager being scolded before pushing himself off the bed.

"It's not a joking matter Schmidt. If you let yourself get more worked up as you have been then it could lead to some serious problems and –" The doctor spotted Steve at the door and halted the conversation she was having. After a moment of recollecting her thoughts, she turned back to the stubborn patient. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again and don't hesitate to come and talk to me if you need anything. You know how to contact me." With that, she swiftly left the room and began talking to other medical professionals who hastily walked away.

There was an awkward pause as the two soldiers stared at each other for a moment. "Nothing happened correct?" Johann said sternly folding his arms across his chest, which Steve noted that they were covered in gloves.

"Sure," he replied not wanting to start any arguments or more fainting spells. "It's breakfast now… Are you allowed to eat anything or?"

"I'm fine, it was nothing. I can eat normally it was just the shock of the moment. That's all." Johann did not want to talk further about what happened or how he felt about it. He, like the doctor, brushed past Steve before gesturing him to follow him to the dining hall. Steve rolled his eyes and reluctantly followed.

"You know, if we're going to be working together on an assignment I need to know if I can trust you to have my back."

"Well, I guess you can find out if you're worthy of my trust soon enough. Not to spoil the surprise but, you won't be," Johann replied with a small laugh not looking back at Rogers as they continued on their current path. Steve sighed before taking in the figure in front of him. He noted he wore long-sleeved everything and did not show any skin apart from his neck and face. It had played at Steve's mind from time to time to wonder whether or not Johann was indeed all red or just his face as his name suggests. For a moment Steve thought of times that he could discover that for himself, perhaps in their room he could quickly catch a glimpse or.

"Are you done staring?" Johann asked annoyed as Steve almost crashed into him. He was facing Steve now with an angry look on his face his eyes narrowing in thought as he looked him up and down. "What were you looking at?" Johann did not like being stared at and Steve couldn't believe he was doing it so obviously, he at least thought he had some sort of subtly.

"Nothing. I was just lost in thought that's all," Steve quickly replied before noticing they were standing just outside of the main dining hall shared by all their housing block.

"Right…" Johann said before turning around to enter the room. The hall was filled with a few people scattered around at tables, some in large groups chatting away boastfully gossiping and some people chose to sit on their own. Some heads turned to look at their two new arrivals but were suddenly intimidated and stared back at their food. Steve was confused for a moment before he looked up at his companion who had a sour look on his face.

Jeeze, for someone who wants to be seen as a great leader he hates being stared at. If Steve was honest with himself he hated it too. It's not like he was some relic to gawk at, neither of them was. It's not their fault they were awoken in a different time. He steered Johann towards the food and away from other people. Johann watched Steve closely and seemed to mimic what he put on his plate, but in a different order and portions. Steve, however, did not notice and found a spot for both of them to sit facing each other.

It was a silent meal. Apart from the sounds of the others talking the pair did not speak to each other.

"So… How was your sleep?" Johann quietly chimed in as he began poking around at his salad with a fork.

"Huh? Oh, sleep yeah," Steve took a moment to collect his thoughts, he was honestly surprised Johann even bothered to ask. "It was alright. The beds aren't soft which is good, though at points I felt like I was –"

"Drowning in your pillow?" Johann finished, to Steve's surprise, his sentence perfectly.

"Yeah… How did you know?"

"The hospital bed was too soft, near impossible to sleep on it. I don't understand how anyone could find it comfortable." Johann seemed quite annoyed at the fact and evident by his sour attitude this morning, he did not get a good enough sleep to be around people. Steve gave a small chuckle in response, it seems they do share some similarities in preferences.

"I can imagine that being a nuisance, though I thought someone like you would have beautiful luxurious beds or did they treat their leader the way he treated them?" Steve said looking up from his food with a small smirk.

"Oh very clever use of your limited vocabulary Rogers," Johann said looking up at him to meet his gaze, "I didn't sleep much during the war. Then again I never slept much at any point in my life. My beds were comfortable yes, but nothing like what they are now."

"At least you had a bed most of the time, try sleeping on the ground."

There was a slight pause before Johann let out a scoff and replied, "if only you knew Rogers."

"Knew what?"

"Nothing," and with a small smile, Johann finished his meal and returned his tray to the kitchens. He waited for Steve to do the same before they set off to the training grounds.

The training grounds of the facility were vast and ranged in all sorts of amusements. From indoor obstacle courses to train people in stealth and precision. To shooting ranges full of numerous still and moving targets that tested skills for a range of weapons. It was a good day for training as there were few clouds in the sky and the weather was just cool enough not to make it an exhausting process. The two slowly emerged in the sunlight before being greeted by someone who looked like they were in charge of them for the day.

"Hello gentleman, my name is Agent 21 and I am one of the operators of the training programs at this facility. Today we won't be doing anything too strenuous though I doubt anything I could put you through would be too hard on you." 21 flicked through some pages quickly on his tablet device before looking up at the two of them again, "you will be joining some of the seasoned agents here with a refresher course. I hope that's not going to be too hard for you since you haven't done anything with us yet, but do not fear you don't have to participate straight away. You can, as they say, watch and learn."

The two super soldiers looked at each other and back to their commanding officer with intrigue. They both genuinely wanted to know how things worked in the future, and whether good old fashioned boot camp was any different. They were lead to an oval of dirt and grass where about 15 other agents stood around chatting. Once 21 called their attention they all looked at the pair excited at some new competition. A few of them were cocky and talked to their friends about how, even though the two were super-soldiers, they could easily be beaten with experience and training. 21 clapped his hands together to get his agents attention again, "Alright you guys, let's show these old guys what we're made of. Laps until you drop let's go." Without hesitation, they all set off around the track the old soldiers' eyes following them closely.

After a few minutes of the sprinting their hardest around the track, Johann let out a small laugh. Steve looked at him curiously as to what was so funny, "what?"

"I feel like I'm back at Hitler Youth. This is something boys would do to impress their superiors, not grown men."

"This is only the beginning Schmidt, who knows what else they can do," Steve chimed in standing up for the agents who were giving it their all.

"Sure, if you say so," Johann said with little hope in his voice that the men and women could impress him. They were supposedly highly skilled but he would have to see it with his own eyes to believe it.

"Always so negative," Steve muttered shaking his head as he noticed Agent 21 one making his way over to them.

"So, what do you two think? Not too hard for your first day?" He asked jokingly and before Steve could make a comment Johann beat him to it.

"Sure, for the first day of secondary school physical training, it's perfectly acceptable."

"I'm sure you'll find that they are running much faster and for longer than school children skul- Schmidt."

"Modern times must have become soft then if that's the case."

One of the track runners caught words of their conversation and skidded to a halt to turn around and face up to the old dictator. "You want to prove yourself then old man or are you just talk?" Agent 21 went to dismiss the voice but a few more joined in gesturing to the super soldiers to show them what they can do. This retaliation seemed to please Schmidt greatly as a sly grin stretched across his face.

"I do not need to prove myself boy, I already have, and you can read your history books again if you'd like to know. Alas, I am sure I and my good friend Captain America can show you a thing or two about how to handle yourself on a real battlefield."

Steve looked slightly offended that he was included in the berating of the agents who all came to a halt in front of them. Agent 21 shook his head before speaking, "Fury said you would be like this, I guess simple running is not enough to test minds of seasoned soldiers. Follow me." With a simple wave of his hand, his agents formed lines as they followed him, the pair closely behind them. They were lead into a small warehouse, although it was not a warehouse. It was a highly sophisticated building with technology woven into the very foundation of it. It was a training ground for missions of all types. Agent 21 typed into a panel and shapes began to shift to from obstacles, fake buildings, and even robots to act like people. "Courtesy of Stark Industries, we have the best training equipment in the world to test the will and mind of our field agents."

Stark, Steve thought the name sounds very familiar, was Howard still alive? His mind began to dwell on his past before he was shaken awake by the sound of machines working. Agent 21 stood in front of the training ground entrance with a tablet in his hand. "Now, what would you two like to do?"

Steve's eyes widened, he didn't want any part in this muscle measuring contest. Did Schmidt forget what the Doctor told him? He looked over at his companion whose eyes were lit up with a fire of excitement. "No, nothing. Look I am sorry for what he said but I know for certain that proving yourself like this only causes division amongst units. We shouldn't be comparing our skills with one another, we should be working together to build each other up. That's what being a team means." He sharply turned to look Schmidt in the eyes who returned his look with pure anger. Yet, Schmidt's demeanour changed when Steve gave him a look to remind him of what happened last night. He was certain Schmidt did not want a repeat of what happened in front of the people he just called weakly.

Agent 21 stroked his chin impressed by Steve's little patriotic speech even though it made him internally laugh. "Alright boys, you two can calm down, it was just a bit of a joke, well more of a test but that is beside the point. Fury would be pleased to hear of your progress."

Progress? Schmidt thought rather confused at what was happening, but like that they were ignored and the established Agents went about their usual training regime of practising hostage situations and similar. The two merely watched and Steve often looked back at Schmidt to make sure he didn't say anything rude again. Once the little show and tell was done it was lunch and the two of them sat in the same spot they did for breakfast.

"What do you think he meant by when he said that we made progress?" Schmidt asked as he stared intently at his plate. Steve sighed wishing he would just eat his food and stop bringing up what happened as if his whole life was dedicated to analysing every situation.

"I'm not sure. It could mean anything, perhaps they were surprised that we didn't jump straight into fighting anyone. Well, at least I didn't."

"Did I hurt anyone?" Schmidt asked with a raised brow looking up at Steve who looked at him startled and replied.

"No."

"Then I didn't fight anyone so we both were included in your idea of progress. Besides, I doubt that was what he meant. There must be something more they're not telling us. That Fury is not to be trusted." Schmidt said in a hushed tone as he slowly continued to eat his food. Steve was going to object but decided against it as it seems his foe had already made up his mind. They ate in silence before the Doctor from before arrived and spotted them instantly making her way over to them.

"So, how are you feeling?"

"Fine," Schmidt replied sternly, he was back to his sour mood from earlier.

"Don't get snappy with me. You know why I need to check up on you, now did anything happen today? If you want I can make sure you can rest long-"

"I said I was fine!"

Schmidt snapped his gaze towards her as he raised his voice which raised eyebrows of some of the other people in the room. Steve looked at him with genuine concern in his eyes, something was off about his old enemy, and it made him uncomfortable. There was no way Schmidt would ever admit he was in pain, he paused his thought for a moment before interjecting with a solution.

"You know Doc, I'm not feeling too well myself, and perhaps jumping straight back into the reigns was not the best idea for us. Maybe we could use the rest of the day to get accustomed to the rest of this place. Get to know key people and things like that," Steve was running out of words but he wanted to push his point across as best as he could. The Doctor looked at him with a curious thought playing at her mind before sighing.

"Fine, you two may continue the day as you wish, I will re-evaluate your timetables for you." She stopped for a moment before turning back to Schmidt who didn't meet her eye, "don't forget our appointment tonight." With that, she strutted off without another word. There was a long pause before Schmidt looked up at Steve.

"You didn't have to do that."

"I know." With that comment, Steve stood up and grabbed both his and Johann's plate to take back to the return window. Johann sat their silent for a moment before following him quietly out of the hall and back to their room. Schmidt did not have the same bravado as he once had when he started the day. It was almost like he had sunk into himself, deep in thought.

Steve, on the other hand, seemed much more chipper. He was quite proud of himself today for being the better man and teaching the modern-day agents what good old fashioned teamwork was all about. Once they reached the room the two of them entered quietly with Schmidt heading straight for his bed just sitting there looking through the bedside table for any books or something to amuse himself. To his disappoint all he could find was a bible. Steve made his way over to his bed taking off his shoes and laying down resting his hand above his head. He always hated this, just sitting and waiting around, but if it meant that Schmidt wouldn't have another freakout and compromise their mission then he would do anything. Giving up on trying to distract himself Schmidt soon followed in Steve's footsteps and lay back on his bed staring up at the ceiling.

All that was heard was whistles and various noises coming from outside their window as the breeze gently blew through the curtains. A small clock was ticking on the table they shared between their beds. The world felt peaceful for a rare moment in time.

"Why do you wear gloves all the time?" Steve said not feeling comfortable with the extended silence between them.

"What? What kind of question is that? Why do you need to know?" Schmidt replied startled by the sudden break in silence.

"Oh, no reason… It's just that it's kind of odd really, I mean it's quite warm today and you seem to be geared up for a winter expedition."

"So?" He raised an eyebrow at the sudden seemingly random personal question. He rolled over on his side to face the American trying to decipher his thought pattern. Steve rolled on his side as well to face him their eyes meeting.

"I'm just curious… That's all. Like I said we need to trust each other and –"

"And to trust me you need to know why I wear certain clothes? Why do you need to take them off?" Schmidt scoffed looking away from Steve whose face turned bright red.

"No-o of course not! It was just a question!"

"Well then maybe you should stop asking them."

The rest of the day was relatively uneventful. They decided after a small rest to snoop around the facility getting to know receptionists and anyone else of interest. After dinner, Schmidt departed from Steve as he reluctantly went to visit the Doctor again. The one good thing about their day was that they both got to visit the onsite library where Steve got some blank sketchbooks and Schmidt got some of the largest books Steve had ever seen. Steve sat in their room, reading light on next to him, as he sketched various things he saw in the room for practice. He then found his mind wandering as he began to sketch a face. He later realised he was forming the face of the infamous Red Skull. The one key thing he noticed was that, instead of Schmidt's usual scowl, he drew him with a genuine smile. Steve was taken aback by it for a moment as he realised he had never seen his enemy smile so kindly before. In response, he smiled back at it his mind suddenly flooding with happy and calming emotions. He was quickly snapped back to reality as he heard someone begin to open the door. He quickly snapped the sketchbook shut and placed it on his right as he stared at the door. He was meet with none other than Schmidt who carefully closed the door behind him. He locked it and made his way straight to the bathroom as he quickly snatched whatever comfortable night time clothes they gave him.

Steve was shocked by the sudden entrance and subsequent exit. He was waiting for some snarky remark or just anything other than that. It felt like forever before he emerged his arms folded tightly as to not see his hands before quickly pulling back the covers and getting into them without uttering a single word. Steve couldn't handle it anymore. This man was either going to tell him what was going on or he was going straight to Fury to tell him to forget the whole thing. "Alright, what is it? There has to be something going on and don't you even think about avoiding the question his time Schmidt. We are meant to be a team and as much as I hated the idea of us having to work together I'd rather you be okay then be always looking over my shoulder to make sure you are alright."

Silence. Then a small shuffle as Schmidt constricted himself in his blanket further. "I don't want to talk about it alright? Is that so much to ask."

"it is better for you to get your feelings out now before some time when we are in the middle of a fight."

"Oh would that be inconvenient for you and your perfect image," Schmidt spat viciously. Steve was not going to back down, not this time.

"Listen you can say what you want about me but that's not going to change what you're feeling and its certainly not going to make you feel any better."

Schmidt was silent again before exhaling loudly. "There isn't much to talk about. I lost everything. Everything I ever worked hard for, everything I sacrificed to get somewhere with my life is just gone. Now I am no one. It's like what I did never mattered, what I experienced barely reality. I lost and that's all there is to it." Steve was surprised that Schmidt spoke again, but he knew there was more than just that, but he dare not press any more than he has.

"I know what you mean. I lost everyone I ever knew, everyone I ever loved… All we can do now is move forward and just hope for the best in the future."

"I don't see me moving on anytime soon. I'm only human after all." Silence soon followed Schmidt's statement, Steve rolled over to look away from him a hopeless sigh following. All that was left between them was silence.