Finding Steve
Steve Rogers woke up.
He was in a brightly lit room until they slowly dimmed and he realized it was just him. He was on a bed that was quite rickety but he didn't really mind it. He was used to it from years in the army.
There was a window and it had curtains as well as a coffee table that had a radio. The radio was playing something but Steve for the life of him couldn't understand it.
He slowly sat up, slowly blinking. He breathed out and looked around, squinting when his eyes glazed over the window. It was bright outside but it felt...fake.
Whatever, maybe it was just his serum acting up.
There were footsteps, then a small knock, and then a woman walked in. She had red curled hair that looked wrong and a white shirt with a tie and skirt. She was holding a clipboard and her makeup was all wrong too.
Steve got very tense very quickly.
"Mr. Rogers." the woman said, smiling softly. "You're awake."
"You're wrong." he blurted, raking his eyes over her suspiciously. She looked taken aback.
"Excuse me?" she frowned.
"You're - you're hair and - and makeup it's wrong," Steve scrunched his nose. "Where am I?"
The woman stuttered a bit, obviously taken by surprise. "You're in a hospital -"
"Wrong." Steve interrupted. "Tell me the truth please."
The woman paused. "Excuse me,"
She turned around and walked out the door, shutting it tightly behind her. Steve sat back on the bed, looking around. The radio really just sounded like noise now and he leaned closer to listen to it.
He was right. It was just noise.
And the blinds...
He pulled the white blinds that were flowing gently in the breeze back and looked around. It was fake. It was all fake. The sun, the wind, the blinds, the city, the noises. It was wrong and it was fake.
Steve snapped the blinds back as a growing suspicion and terror rang through his entire body. He could feel the serum working on overdrive as he tried to find a way out of this.
He turned to the door and took a deep shuddering breath before running towards it, determined to break it open.
Steve slammed through it like paper and there were screams from the other side. He rolled, tucking head first as he busted through. He laid down on the ground panting as someone above yelled, "Jesus fucking christ - the fucking hell is wrong with you!!" and someone else gasped out "Steve!?"
Steve's eyes snapped open.
"Bucky?"
Tony's been gone for days.
Days.
Bucky is really starting to get worried.
He continues to pester Bruce about it and Bruce simply tells him that Tony will come back when he wants to or needs to. Bruce is one of the few in the team who knows that he's the actual Director of SHIELD. Natasha, Clint, Sam, and Thor just thought he was the Assistant to the Director.
(Pietro and Wanda were saved by Tony when he was Iron Man and he brought them to SHIELD where they were healed and found out that he was the Director. He told them to tell no one and then added Bruce then Bucky into that group of few who knew).
Bucky seemed to be the only one worried though because everyone else was simply going about their day. The Pyms and Van-Dynes seemed to keep to themselves - Bucky barely ever saw Scott, Hank, Hope, or Janet.
Sam and Natasha seemed to just live in the kitchen because they were always making something in there. Bruce was always in the lab and Clint was always somewhere in the vents. Never knew when he was going to pop up.
They didn't get an answer form Tony until a week later when a SHIELD worker - Maria Hill - showed up and asked for Bucky. Bucky went with her and they went to SHIELD.
She took him through the winding hallways that were like a maze. Honestly, Bucky had no idea how SHIELD officers were able to navigate this place.
Maria gestured to a hallway door and then left. Bucky watched her go before taking a deep breath and turning the knob of the door. He opened it and looked into the hallway. It was a lone bright hallway with one door at the end.
There was Tony, quietly talking with two other people. There was a tall woman on high heels and a dark skinned man.
As Bucky got closer, their conversation became more clearer.
"Tony, I don't know if -"
"It'll be fine. You'll do great Pep, promise."
"But -"
"Hey, I can't be there okay? To the world, Tony Stark is dead, okay? So you have to do this. This is your big shinning moment! And Rhodey here," Tony clasped the man's shoulder. "Will be there every step of the way,"
"You've got nothing to worry about Pepper," the man - Rhodey - assured the woman.
The woman - Pepper - still looked unsure but she noticed Bucky and nodded. "Alright. Bye Tony,"
"Yep, in bocca al lupo," Tony called as the duo made their way past Bucky. "Hey babe,"
"Hi," Bucky nodded. "Who were they?"
"Pepper Potts and James Rhodes," Tony explained quickly. "Pep's my cousin and she took over SI when I 'died'. Then she found out I was still alive and for the past five years has been trying to give the company back to me but I refuse. Oh, and Rhodey's her bodyguard." Bucky slowly nodded.
"And why am I here?" Bucky continued as he followed Tony to the door.
Tony paused, hand on the handle. "I started a search...a year after you went under..." he gestured. "And I was Director. Secretly. I ordered a search. Fury relayed the message and we've been searching for quite a long time now...but we found him.
Bucky's throat closed. "Found who?"
Tony looked at him, hand off the handle. "Steve Rogers."
Bucky opened his mouth in shock when the door blew open.