Chapter 84 - Part 4

  Arc 7 - Ch 1: Opening M

  Date: Monday, August 29, 2011.

  Location: SHIELD Facility, Times Square, Manhattan, New York

  Steve Rogers awoke slowly, sciousness returning in is as he stirred. His eyelids fluttered, then opened, revealing an unfamiliar room bathed ie m light. The first thing to greet his ears was the familiar py-by-py of a Brooklyn Dame emitting softly from a radio perched on the windowsill. He blinked, orienting himself as the announcers' nostalgic voices washed over him like a f tide. He was in a modest bedroom with worn wooden floors and white curtains that billowed gently in the breeze drifting through the open window, carrying with it the sounds of a city.

  With a quiet groan, Steve sat up in the narrow bed. His mind struggled to grasp his circumstances as the st vestiges of sleep faded away. How did he e to be in this pce? The details hovered just out of reach, obscured by the fog still ging to his thoughts. He cast his gaze about the room, searg its tents for clues to jog his memory. As the st remnants of sleep faded, he struggled to grasp his circumstances. Movement drew his eye to a tall, muscur man with dark skin standing across the room, who looked at Steve with a friendly smile.

  "Captain Rood m," the man said. "It's really great to see you awake. My name is Tyson Smith. I'm a civilian sultant."

  Steve eyed him warily, his mind still struggling to catch up. "Where am I?" he asked, his voice rough from disuse.

  "New York City, Midtown Manhattan," Tyson replied, moving toward the radio and turning it off. Don't mind that. It's a rec. Someohought it would make you feel more fortable, but they got the dates wrong."

  Steve frowrying to piece together the fragments in his mind. The st thing he remembered was the phe icy water rushing in, the cold seeping into his bones as the world faded away.

  "How long have I been out?" he asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

  Tysoated, sidering his words carefully before replying, "A while." He paused, letting the information sink in. "Do you mind if I invite in someone you might know from the war?"

  Steve's heart leapt at the thought of seeing a familiar face amidst the fusion. "Peggy?" he asked, hope rising in his chest.

  Tyson shook his head, a hint of apology in his eyes. He turowards the door and called out, "Logan."

  A burly, wild-haired maered the room. "Jimmy? Jimmy Howlett?" Steve asked hesitantly, rising to his feet.

  "Name's Logan," he replied in a gruff baritone. His tone was brusque but not unkind as he added, "Good to meet you, Cap."

  "Meet me? We fought together, liberated Auschwitz side-by-side... how do you not remember?"

  Before Logan could respond, Tyson stepped forward. "Let's have a seat," he suggested gently, motioning to a pair of empty chairs. "I'll expihing."

  Steve sank into the proffered chair. His mind reeled as he struggled to process this bizarre situation.

  Tyson sat across from him, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his knees. His voice was gentle as he said, "Captain Rogers, what I'm about to tell you may be difficult to believe. You've been asleep for a long time," Tyson tinued, his eyes locked on Steve's. "Lohan you possibly imagine."

  Steve tried to make sense of the words. "How long?"

  "It's been almost seventy years, Cap."

  Steve felt as though he had been punched i. Seventy years. It was impossible, unthinkable. He had been fighting for his try and the people he loved. And now...

  "I don't uand," he said, "How is this possible?"

  Tyson csped his hands together, choosing his words carefully. "When you crashed that po the Arctic, you should have died. By all ats, there was no way you could have survived. We don't fully uand how, but it seems you went into some kind of suspended animation," Tyson tinued gently. "Dr. Erskine's super soldier formu, the extreme cold... it worked like cryogenic freezing. I 't expin it on a cellur level, but you haven't aged a single day sihat p down almost seventy years ago. As far as we tell, you are biologically the exact same man who crashed in the Arcti 1945."

  Steve felt like all the air had been sucked from his lungs. He stared bnkly as his mind reeled, uo prehend the enormity of what Tyson was telling him. Seventy years. Frozen in time while the world spun on without him. It was impossible. Unthinkable. But somehow, deep in his soul, he k was true.

  Steve turned his gaze to the gruff man who had introduced himself as Logan. "And you... Logan. You look just like Jimmy Howlett. But how that be if it's beey years? You're his srandson?" He studied Logan's rugged features, searg for any sign of age or differences from the man he remembered, but found none.

  "Nah. No kids as far as I know. If we did fight together, I'm sure you saw me heal a time or two," Logan said. Steve nodded slowly as memories surfaced of Jimmy taking bullets and bdes during the war, only to tinue, seemingly unscathed, moments ter. Logan tinued, "I've got a healing factor that keeps me young, keeps me alive."

  Shaking his head in disbelief, Steve struggled to prehend the impossible situation.

  "I know it's a lot to take in," said Tyson. Steve lifted his gaze to search Tyson's expression for any hint of deception but found only ear sympathy. "But we're here to help guide you through this transition in any way we ."

  Steve stared at him for a long moment. He looked between Logan and Tyson, his expression still awash with fusion and uainty. "What about the war?" he asked hesitantly, as if afraid to hear the answer. "Did we win?"

  Logan's face split into a fierce grin of satisfa. "Hell yes," he firmed, "It was an unditional surrehe Allies marched right into Berlin and took the whole damn try."

  Tyson chimed in, "And taking down HYDRA was a big part of that victory," he added. "You're still celebrated as a hero even today for your role iing them. The world would be a much darker pce if it wasn't for you, Captain."

  Steve's brows furrowed as he processed their words, abs this information. The firmation that HYDRA had beeed and the war wht a small measure of fort, but it was clear his mind still swirled with unanswered questions. He studied the two men before him. They radiated fidend hoy in their words, yet the situation still felt hazy and uain. Could he trust them? Steve searched their eyes, looking for any hint of deception, but found only earness. Their reassurances gave him hope, but he knew he would ime to process the enormity of everything. For now, he simply gave a small nod, indig he had heard and uood their words, even if he did not fully accept them yet. The knot of tension in his chest eased slightly.

  Staring at Tyson, Steve asked, "What happens now?"

  "Now, we help you adjust to this new world. It's a lot different than the one you left behind in the 1940s, but I promise you, there is still good in it. Still people worth fighting for."

  Steve nodded slowly, a flicker of determination sparking in his blue eyes. He had always been a man who stood up for what he believed in, evehe odds were stacked against him. And if this straure was to be his new reality, then he would face it with the same ce and vi that had carried him through the war. "Okay," he said, turning to Logan. He asked, "Why don't you remember me, James? We were rades, friends..."

  Logan sighed heavily, a weary look in his eyes. "I had a rough time in the 70s and 80s, bub. Lost my memory pletely. I wouldn't know much of anything if it wasn't for the kid here." He jerked his thumb towards Tyson.

  Tyson gave a modest shrug. "It's a really long story, both Logan's and mine. But I've got time for the short version if you want to hear it."

  Steve crossed his muscur arms over his broad chest. "Unless you've got somewhere urgent to be, it seems like all I've got now is time. The war is over, or so you say. So let's hear it."

  "Actually, I do have to get to css soon. It's my first day of college," Tyson replied apologetically. "But we should have time for the abridged version. If you remember Logan as James Howlett from ba the day, then you probably also remember Victor Creed."

  Steve's expression darkened, his lips turned down ever so slightly into a frown. "I do remember Victor."

  "Well," Tyson tinued, "through some… circumstances, I ended up with all of Victor's memories and abilities. In brief, I have a e to yours and Logan's past even if he doesn't remember it himself."

  "Alright, then. plicated or not, why don't you start from the beginning? I want to hear it all."

  An hour ter, the three men emerged from the room into the hallway. Tyson made an attempt at casual versation, remarking, "The Yankees had a really good run ba the ies." Steve nodded, gd for the distra. Baseball was fortable, familiar ground for the man dispced in time. "Ba the te fifties," Tyson tihoughtfully, "the Giants and the Dodgers moved out west to Los Angeles. But New York still had the Yankees." He paused, "We didn't get a sed team until the Mets in the sixties."

  At this, Steve shook his head in bewilderment, mumbling under his breath, "The Giants and the Dohe scale of how much had ged was slowly dawning on him.

  "Wele to the future, Cap," Logan said with a grin, g Steve on the shoulder panionably.

  Steve couldn't help but smile slightly iurn, a flicker of excitement mingled with the uainty ing in his chest. As he emerged from the SHIELD building into the bustling streets of modern-day New York City, he was instantly assaulted by the overwhelming sights and sounds of the unfamiliar world around him. T skyscrapers stretched up towards the heavens, their smooth gss and steel facades trasting the old brid stone buildings he remembered from his own time. The air rang with the cacophony of horns bring, engines rumbling, and tires screeg on the pavement. All around him, throngs of people crowded the sidewalks, their voices rising and falling in an endless current of chatter.

  Steve felt profoundly lost and disoriented, like the man out of time he was. Everything familiar had been erased, repced by this chaotic urban ndscape that now surrounded him. He gnced around warily, his enhanced seraining to track each stimulus b him.

  Amidst the sensory overload, one imposing figure stood waiting patiently. Nick Fury, director of SHIELD. Dressed in his signature bck leather coat and eye patch, Fury cut an authoritative silhouette as he approached Steve with a purposeful, fident stride.

  "I know it's a hell of a lot to swallow all at once," Fury rumbled with uanding. "But the world's not as different as it looks on the surface. There's still work to be done..." He paused, his single eye locked onto Steve. "A soldier's work." Fury sigo one of the uniformed agents nearby, who promptly stepped forward carrying a metal case. He ope, revealing the iic sight of Steve's shield. "The world could still use a man like you, Cap."

  Steve reached out hesitantly, his firag the grooves that marked the shield's surface. To him, the shield was more than just a on. It hysical embodiment of his itment to justid proteg the i.

  Tyson, uo tain his enthusiasm at seeing the shield, blurted out, "If you're not ied, I'd apply for the position." Fury silenced him with a stern, warning gre.

  Clearing his throat, Fury tinued, his gravelly tone softening slightly in a rare moment of empathy. "Take all the time you o adjust, Captain. God knows if anybody's earned a ce to catch their breath, it's you." He extended his hand, palm open in a simple yet meaningful invitation. "But when you're ready... we could really use a man of your caliber once again."

  Steve hesitated, his mind a whirlwind of bittersweet memories and flig emotions. He had sacrificed everything for his try and the people he loved. Now, he was being offered a ce to tihat fight, to carry on the legacy of heroism he had fed so long ago.

  With a resolute nod, Steve csped Fury's hand firmly.

  "There's alce for you oeam," Fury said with the barest hint of a smile.

  Steve rubbed his forehead wearily, the tremendous weight of his past and the uainty of his future verging in a single, overwhelming moment. Fshes of memory danced before his eyes. The roar of battle, the camaraderie of his Howling andos, the friends he had lost along the way, and the ones who had survived but were certainly gone now.

  "You sure you're all right, Cap?" Logan asked.

  Steve's expression was filled with wistful remembrance. "Yeah," he replied softly. "It's just..." He trailed off for a moment.

  "I had a date."

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