Awakening in a New World
Darkness had been her only companion for so long.
Then came the light.
A searing, blinding light tore through the endless void, dragging her up from the depths of frozen silence. A sharp gasp filled her lungs, the rush of oxygen burning after decades of stillness. The world around her buzzed with activity—voices, beeping machines, the unfamiliar hum of technology she could not place.
Celeste tried to move, but her limbs felt impossibly heavy. Panic flared in her chest, but she forced herself to breathe, forcing the sluggishness from her body. Blinking, she took in her surroundings—white walls, sterile air, a medical room filled with monitors and wires connected to her body.
Where was she?
Memories crashed into her all at once—the war, the mission, Steve at the controls of the plane, his hand in hers as they plummeted toward the ice. The overwhelming cold. The silence. The nothingness.
She should be dead.
But she wasn’t.
A door hissed open, and a man in a suit stepped inside. His face was unfamiliar, but the insignia on his badge caught her attention—S.H.I.E.L.D.
“Miss Vale,” he said, his voice measured, cautious. “You’ve been asleep for a long time.”
She swallowed hard, her throat raw. “How long?”
The agent hesitated, then said, “Almost seventy years.”
Seventy.
Her heart pounded in her chest, a tight, suffocating pressure closing in. That was impossible. It had only been—what? Days? Weeks? Not years. Not decades.
The man stepped closer. “I know this must be overwhelming, but we’re here to help. You’re safe.”
Safe. She wasn’t sure she even knew what that meant anymore.
Her mind raced, trying to process everything. If she had survived, then—
“Steve,” she whispered, voice hoarse. “Where’s Steve?”
The agent’s face remained carefully neutral, but before she could spiral into panic, another voice—one she knew better than her own—cut through the haze.
“I’m right here.”
Celeste’s breath hitched as she turned her head. There, standing just outside the doorway, was Steve Rogers, alive, awake—just as lost as she was. Relief flooded her, washing away the suffocating loneliness. He had made it too.
The world had changed, leaving them behind. But at least, they weren’t alone in it.
A new war waged within her chest—grief, confusion, a spark of something unknown. But one thought rose above the chaos.
She had survived for a reason.
And she was going to find out why.