Chapter 2
Steve
Once the nurses had taken the kid away to treat him, Steve turned around and looked at what members of his team had followed him down to the med bay of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters (which had been rebuilt not 3 months ago). Natasha was looking past at where the nurses had taken the kid with a far off look in her eyes. Clint, Sam, and Bruce had followed him as well, though they were watching Steve.
“You guys should head back to New York; I’m going to stay here to make sure the kid is going to be alright.” Steve stated. The others looked at each other for a moment, and then back to him.
“I don’t know about you, Cap, but these chairs over here are looking mighty comfy right now.” Sam replied and Steve gave him a small smile.
“Tony and Thor already left, and I got some evil paperwork to handle anyway. Might as well stick around for a while anyways, yeah?” Clint grinned before turning on his heel and heading back to the elevator to Coulson’s office.
Natasha barely glanced at him before saying, “I’m staying here.”
Steve turned to look and Bruce to see what he had to say, and he got was a shrug from him. They all sat down to wait to hear about the kid’s condition. They had only been waiting for 20 minutes when the elevator doors opened to reveal a confused Clint and a frantic looking Coulson. Steve stood up to greet them and ask what was wrong when Phil’s eyes latched on to him then quickly made his way to Steve managing to still be considered walking.
“Where is the teenager you found?!” Phil demanded.
“What...?” Steve started.
“They took him back to evaluate and treat any injury’s he might have had.” Natasha interrupted. Steve turned to look at her with his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Why does it look like she was expecting him?
“He was injured?!” Phil exclaimed with worry starting to practically leak from his person, causing Clint to back away from him a like eyeing him like a bomb.
“Nothing serious as far as I could see, though he did pass out during the flight here.” She responded not even looking confused like the rest of them were.
“Wait, do you know this kid?” Sam questioned, surprised.
Phil and Natasha looked at him and then back to each other as if contemplating the answer.
Bruce raised an eyebrow and stated, “I’ll take that as a yes. On both your parts.” Phil seemed to pierce his lips together as an uncomfortable look crossed his face. Then he sighed and rubbed his face with his hand before replying.
“Yes. He’s my nephew.” Steve’s eyebrows shot up, as if trying to meet his hair line.
“You have family?” Clint questioned, astonished at the mere thought, “I didn’t think you had any siblings.”
“I don’t, at least not anymore. My sister died of frontal temporal dementia about ten years ago.” Phil answered causing everyone except Natasha to wince.
“What was your nephew doing at a Hydra facility? Were they going to try and use him as leverage against you?” Sam asked curiously, but softly knowing that it could be a sensitive topic for Phil.
“I don’t know, and that’s the problem. Last I knew, he was still safe back in Beacon Hills, California where his dad is the local sheriff.” Phil growled, not anger at anyone there but angry that he hadn’t known that his nephew was missing or in danger.
“Phil…”, Bruce started but was interrupted by a nurse rushing out of the back area.
“Security!” She called out and the security officer on duty started to head to her, but Phil cut him off.
“What’s going on?” He demanded.
“The teenager that came in with Captain America is awake, but we sedated him only 20 minutes ago! He shouldn’t be up! And when I entered the room, he seemed prepared to fight! We need to sedate him again.” She rambled to him.
“What room?” Steve asked.
“Room 7.” She replied quickly.
Steve rushed of to the back half of the med bay to get to the room and try and calm the kid down. Natasha followed him right on his heels and Phil wasn’t far behind. Once unlocking the door, both Natasha and Steve burst through the doorway to see the kid standing on the ledge of the window, shards of glass from the broken window lay on the floor and no doubt some had found their way into the teen’s bare feet. Phil’s nephew looked at them from over his shoulder, recognition flashing through his eyes when seeing Steve and a little confusion settling in his gaze as he eyed Natasha.
Steve raised his hands to seem as nonthreatening as possible, and then spoke softly so as to not startle the young man standing on the ledge. “Woah there, it’s okay. Your safe here. Just step off the ledge, okay? There is no need to do anything extreme.” The boy’s eyes looked confused for a second before they seemed to glaze over a little, he wobbled a little where he stood on the ledge and Steve nearly shot forward to pull him away from the edge, but the fog in the brunettes honey eyes disappeared as near silent foot steps sounded to Steve’s left.
Honey eyes widened as they focused to Steve’s left and Steve glanced to his left to see Phil standing in between him and Natasha now.
“Uncle Phil?” the teen croaked.
“Mieczyslaw…” Phil breathed out.
Phil
Seeing his nephew standing on the ledge filled Phil’s heart with fear as he watched. The drop out of that window was 6 stories, enough to severely injure or even kill. Phil took a step forward and opened his arms to his only living family member. Mieczyslaw looked confused for a second and it made Phil worry even more about what they had done to his nephew so that he would barely recognize him. The teen seemed to have an internal battle before he eased of the ledge and onto the glass laden floor of the room.
Phil couldn’t help the tears in his eyes as he realized that while Mieczyslaw didn’t seem to completely recognize him, a part of him still trusted his uncle. Slowly he approached him and when Phil wasn’t met with a negative reaction, he slowly guided his nephew away from the shards of glass and to the bed in the middle of the room.
As the teen sat on the edge of the bed, he looked up into Phil’s eyes and asked, “That… that’s my… name?”
Phil blinked, confused for only a moment at the question before a sad smile drifted onto his face and he answered.
“Yes, Mieczyslaw is your name. You were named after you great grandfather on your father’s side.” His nephews head tilted to the side as his eyes seemed to sharpen.
“Your brother?” The younger inquired.
“Brother-in-law.” Phil corrected as he pulled up a stool to sit on in front of the brunette teen.
“My mother was your sister then… is your sister? No, was…” Mischief looked confused and looked at his lap and then back to Phil. The older man nodded slowly, old grief covering his face.
“Was. She died about ten years ago.” He affirmed. Mischief only blinked at that, his mind not quite making the emotional connections that he had had.
Steve and Natasha still stood in the entrance way to the room watching the entire interaction between them. Natasha slowly backed out, most likely to find someone to clean up the mess of glass that remained on the floor.
“Where am I?” Mischief asked his uncle. Phil opened his mouth to respond but he was cut off by his nephew. “I know it’s not a hospital. Hospitals don’t have locks on the doors to patient rooms, nor do they have bullet proof glass windows.” Silence cast over the room.
Steve
Looking at the glass on the floor and then at the kid realization sprang into Steve’s mind.
“You broke the glass.” Steve said slowly. Both other men in the room turned to look at him.
“I didn’t hurt myself, if that is what you are worried about.” Mischief supplied, confused. At that Phil turned and looked at the glass and then the kid realization arising in his eyes as well.
“Mieczyslaw, how did you break the window?” Phil questioned worry on his face, but his eyes held fear. Not fear of his nephew, a fear for his nephew.
The teen looked back and forth between them and replied, “I wrapped my hand in the sheets and broke it… I thought that I was being tested, was I not supposed to break the glass?”
Phil’s eyes clenched close and he leaned forward elbows resting on his knees, and hands cradling his face. Steve while concerned with what it meant that the kid could break through a bullet proof window, was startled at the mention of something else.
“Test? What do you mean test?” Steve practically demanded.
“The…” the teen paused and seemed to think for a moment and then continued, “men from the base, they would send me places, to do things, to test me.” He seemed to hesitate before continuing, looking down to his lap and watching his fingers clench and unclench around each other. “They made me do… bad… things. They made me hurt people, and I… I didn’t want to! But if I didn’t, they would…” A confused look came over his face as if the words were on the tip of his tongue yet still inaccessible. The kids breathe started to hitch as if he could catch his breath and Steve realized that the teen was having a panic attack.
Steve rushed forward and gently grabbed the kid’s face to make him look at him. “Hey, hey. Look at me. It’s alright. Breathe with me okay? In…out….in…out.” Steve kept on repeated that and remained in contact with the kid as he slowly calmed down, Phil had one of the brunette’s hands in his. Slowly the panic abated, and the teen calmed down, exhausted after the attack.
Steve saw Natasha out of the corner of his eye in the doorway to the room with Clint and Sam right behind her watching the scene in front of them. Both men seemed concerned for Phil’s nephew, and while Natasha seemed as stoic as ever to other people, Steve could see a glint of worry in her eyes as they rested on the tired teen.
The exhaustion of the panic attack settled, and the kid’s eyes drooped, and Phil and Steve slowly laid him on the bed and he slowly fell into a fitful sleep, his grasp in Phil’s hand loosening. Slowly the adults slipped out of the room and into the hallway. Phil looked at the nurse that stood in the hallway with them.
“Get someone in there to get rid of the glass shards and replace the window.” He ordered, and the nurse hurried away to comply.
“Phil,” Natasha started making them all turn to her, “The doctor did a blood test when Mieczyslaw came in, and he just got the results back.” Her stoic look faded into one of sorrow blended with pain.
“What is it?” Steve asked.
“They found traces of super serum. A similar kind to what was found in Barnes.”