AN: So I'd been reading Second Chances by Ana (Anafandom) and The Holmes Estate by TheSovereigntyofReality on archiveofourown. Good reads. Very Team Stark.
A lot of the things that happens in the movies don't really hold up well when scrutinized. Like dumping the entire database on the internet and then using the intercom to tell everyone how they are infiltrated by Hydra. Like, how are the people supposed to know who is and isn't Hydra? What, just turn to your colleague and punch him or her in the face?
So as is my habit with fanfic, I start thinking, what would I do if I got plopped into the body of [FillintheBlank]? Here is a little plot bunny of a possible opening for a Captain America SI story.
"And joining us here tonight is none other than Captain America! Let's give a round of applause for him folks!" The late night talk show host, Jim Hardy, roused his audience's enthusiasm. This show was sure to blow their ratings out of the water. His show was the first interview on Captain America's Welcome Back tour, so there was bound to be many more viewers for being the first.
Steve Rogers walked on stage, waving and smiling at the audience. He was dressed semi-casually, in black slacks and a blue button down shirt, minus the tie. Steve casually walked up and shook hands with Jim, thanking him for the chance to be on his show. Steve took his seat, looking out at the audience that just kept cheering.
'Man, this is surreal.' Steve thought to himself while smiling and waving to the audience, while giving out thank yous. 'It's one thing to have viewed the memories of Captain America performing on stage, but being here in person. Feeling the emotions, the excitement, the hype. It's something else. I bet that's why rock stars and celebrities get such big egos. So much pandering going on, if they don't have a firm sense of self, it's no wonder they change so easily.'
The audience finally settled down, allowing the show to go on. Jim turned to Steve to start the interview. "Welcome, Captain, to the show. So, I'm sure everyone here is just dying to know. Where have you been?"
Out of the corner of his eye, Steve could see the audience almost on the edge of their seat. Here was a living hero for them to view. They'd grown up with stories from their parents and grandparents about him. And here he was bigger than life. They were hoping to see what made him such a respected hero.
Steve just gave a small smile before answering. "On ice." He deadpanned. After waiting a beat, he continued. "That was the short answer. The somewhat longer answer is that I was lost somewhere in the arctic and ended up nearly freezing to death. Somehow, instead of dying, I ended up cryogenically frozen. Thanks to the brilliance of the medical professionals of the military, I was thawed and revived." Steve turned to look at the cameras. "Seriously, thanks for what you've done for me, guys. I really do appreciate the second chance you've given me." Steve then turned back to Jim. "I'd also like it if you'd go ahead and call me Steve, Jim."
"Can do, Capt-Steve. So if you don't mind me asking, just how did you end up in the arctic?" Jim paused, and looked around shiftily. "I mean, you can tell us, right? It's not top secret and agents are going to descend on us any moment to silence us, right?" Jim played it up for his audience.
Steve laughed a bit, and decided he'd play it along for laughs too. He got a serious look on his face as he leaned in close to Jim. "Actually, it is top secret. I have a lousy sense of direction. I got lost." Leaning back Steve allowed the smile to return to his face. "No, but seriously. The unit I was assigned to, the 107th infantry regiment, or as they were called The Howling Commandos, was sent in on an infiltration mission. We'd gotten intel that the Nazis were developing a weapon in a certain laboratory that could seriously impact how the war was going. It was 1945 and we had the Axis powers on the ropes, so to speak. So when we heard that there was a chance of them turning the war around due to this weapon, well, nobody wanted to see that happen."
"So we infiltrated in, took out the guards, and found what appeared to be an advanced plane loaded with bombs. Us guys in the Howling Commandos weren't really tech savvy. Well, except for Johann. He'd always be tinkering with something interesting. But the rest of us were just soldiers who were really good at our jobs. So there I am in the cockpit of the Jet, trying to figure out how to sabotage it without blowing ourselves to kingdom come, when the jet suddenly takes off on its own. Really freaked me out. I didn't know jets could do that."
Steve acknowledges the laughs at his expense good naturedly. "Well, there I am, all by myself in an experimental jet plane in the air. Everyone else was smart enough to have not been in it when it took off. When a display pops up showing the jet is set to head right to Washington and bomb our military and government headquarters. Nothing I tried while messing with the cockpit made any difference. So…I started to break things, desperate to keep it from doing what it was set to do. And down I went into the drink, to be fished out many decades later."
The host, Jim, continued to ask several questions about his time in the military and as the nation's hero, Captain America. To which Steve was quite frank and honest in his rejection of the label "hero".
"No, I'm not a hero. And to be honest, I'm not a Captain either. I enlisted and I never received a commission. The whole Captain America title was given to me when I was working the war bonds circuit. We'd put on this whole play to raise funds and morale. But, after a while I started getting disillusioned by the whole schtick. I was playing this big brave super soldier on stage while the real heroes were out slogging in the trenches and fighting. While I, who was gifted with incredible physical abilities, stayed safe and sound raising funds. I felt I wasn't doing my share. I felt ashamed to be telling other Americans to sacrifice for the war effort when I was doing a pretty cushy gig. So, when the opportunity to join a unit and do what I'd signed up for came along, I jumped on it."
Steve didn't feel bad at all about talking down "Captain Americas Legacy". After all, it wasn't him that did it. There was no way he was going to play up like he was some hero.
"So, they dumped me with the Howling Commandos. And I got to say, it was a good thing they did. They were the ones who kept me alive long enough to learn from them how to be a good soldier. Without them, I'd probably have died in my first combat. So I owe those boys a lot."
Not to say that Captain America hadn't accomplished a lot and made a name for himself. But he'd rather be known for what he'll actually do in the future, not the exaggerated tales of a comic book hero.
"Nah, before I went through the experimental procedure, I was a sickly little runt. 5'3", asthma, brittle bones, no strength. And I was dumb as a stump, and too stubborn for my own good, to be honest. I was sick most of my life, so my education was spotty. Ever since I woke up, I've been trying to learn what I should have growing up, and catch up to what has happened in all the time I've been frozen. It's been a little overwhelming, to be honest. Just the cell phones alone lets me know I'm living in the future."
Besides he hadn't always been Steve Rogers. He had died in his previous life, and somehow ended up in the body of Captain America while he'd been frozen in ice. He guessed that this version of the Cap hadn't survived the freeze, which somehow allowed him to take over the body.
"Well, to be honest, I don't think many people really knew of me and what I was doing at the time. So it's not like I was the hope and hero of the war. It's called operational security. If we had published what all we could do, where we were doing it, and how, then our enemies would have known as well, and set a trap for us. I'm guessing the "Captain America" legacy got started by my close friends and associates as a sort of tribute and memorial after I took the plunge in the icy waters. Over time it became a symbol of something bigger than anything I'd personally accomplished during the war. A tribute to the bravery of the American Spirit, and what we can accomplish to make the world a better place. That right there is a symbol that's bigger than any one man could possibly live up to, especially an uneducated guy like me."
His current life and identity as Captain America had been a series of comics and movies in his previous life. Some of them well done, some of them straight up shit. And there was no way he was going to live under the heavy burden of expectations placed on "Captain America". Or deal with the fallout when, not if, he didn't live up to the hype. The crowd loves to pile on fallen heroes. Best to make sure they knew from the get go that he was just a dude. A very strong dude, but just a dude nonetheless.
"No, I'm not suggesting that there aren't amazing people who dedicate their life to making sure the world is a better place. Or who put their life on the line to save others. What I am saying, is that it feels wrong to apply the label of "hero" to me. I was just a soldier. To label me a hero feels disrespectful to all those who gave their lives during the war to make sure that we didn't end up living under despots. Those people, who made the ultimate sacrifice, are the real heroes."
That's not to say that he was shying away from fighting against threats to Earth. It was his home, and there ain't no way he's putting up with people coming to his home and wrecking shit. But there are ways and different ways of going about doing it. Jumping in the Captain America suit and becoming a gun for S.H.I.E.L.D. to use, especially while they are still infiltrated by HYDRA? Not the best way.
"What do I think if Ironman? One word, Brilliant. I've noticed that Tony Stark has suffered from excessive media attention. He can't pick his nose or fart in public without it becoming some kind of media circus. But the man himself is admirable. And he sticks by his beliefs. Look at what he's done. He's taken the company that his father founded and built it up to be a giant. He gets kidnapped and held by terrorists for several months. He escapes on his own by building his badass suit. When he'd learned from the terrorists that they had been illegally getting their hands on his weapons, did he hem and haw, worrying about losing money? No, the moment he gets back he declares that Stark Industries will no longer manufacture weapons so those terrorists can no longer get their hands on his weapons to hurt innocent people. He took a lot of flak for that, both internally and externally. But he stuck it out, and now he's bigger than ever. His company was building things that were stolen and used by terrorists. Did he rationalize it away by saying it wasn't his fault thieves got hold of his weapons? No, he builds a suit and goes and takes them back, or destroys them. Problem solved. So, yeah, I admire what he's done. He recognizes a problem, and does his best to fix it, making the world a better place."
There's no way he's going to try to live as Captain America to somehow preserve some imaginary timeline that he only knows from a few movies. There's so much that isn't covered by movies made for entertainment it's not funny. And what's even more not funny is the armies of Thanos coming for the infinity stones. What is the best bet to fight off these armies, one slightly stronger man with a shield? Not hardly. They need Tony Stark and his badass tech. They need to have a unified group of meta-humans, instead of having Captain America pining for his BFF Bucky and breaking up the team. And they need to curb stomp Hydra right out of the picture.
"Thanks again for having me on the show. I really appreciate the warm welcome. And I look forward to discovering what amazing things humanity builds in the future."
One of the amazing things Steve (as he was now starting to think of himself as, having to adopt the identity of the body he now inhabited) noticed about his new body was that the serum ramped EVERYTHING up to the pinnacle of human possibility. Which included his brain. His ability to learn and retain knowledge is orders of magnitude higher than it had been in his past life. With this kind of advantage, he couldn't figure out how in the hell Captain America couldn't become something more than just a meathead with a shield. Was the Captain just a small man with small ambitions? Once he finally got his dream body he saw no need to do anything more to learn and improve? He was always stuck in his small world paradigm of fighting bullies?
If that was the case, it was just…sad.