Chapter Text
Steve Rogers did not like the 21st Century.
The only nice thing was that he woke up to Bucky sitting by his bedside. Bucky’s explanation for still being alive had been brisk. ‘I landed in a particularly deep river, then I was captured by HYDRA. Howard and his family found out after the war and pulled me out of there.’
It annoyed Steve a little. Don’t get him wrong, he was grateful to Howard. But Howard was an engineer. He was meant for building weapons, not going on rescue missions himself. Steve should have been the one to save Bucky. He should have dived after him back when it happened, and then maybe all those bad things wouldn’t have happened.
The worst thing about this century, though, was the lack of respect.
Nobody knew who Captain America was. It was disgraceful! Children shrugged it off as something their grandparents knew about, but they didn’t really care. Adults had considered him – and he knew because one man said it to his face – a living advertisement from a bygone era. As if that was all Steve had been! Just a piece of living propaganda? Just the dancing monkey? Had they no respect for his sacrifice?
Bucky hadn’t seemed concerned. ‘There was a radio show for some time after you crashed, but it kind of...faded off. Most shows do. Then the Korean Conflict came along. Howard didn’t see the point of reviving it.’
‘Howard?’ Steve had been confused. What did Howard have to do with it?
‘The army and US government invented the legend of Captain America around you, Stevie,’ Bucky said. ‘After the war, they sold the rights to it to Howard so they didn’t have to worry about maintaining your image. When the Korean Conflict broke out in 1950, not a lot of people considered it a war so Howard figured the point of using the Captain America image and message was moot in point. Then during the Vietnam War, 20 years later, there was a lot of anti-war sentiment so Howard put it through his PR guys. They came to the conclusion that reviving the story of Captain America wouldn’t encourage anyone to enlist – in fact it’d do the exact opposite.’
Steve was appalled. ‘What? Did we get a generation of cowards?’
‘No, Steve.’ Bucky later showed him the infamous Napalm photo. ‘You asked why people didn’t want to enlist for the Vietnam War. It’s because they saw images like this.’
Steve took the photograph and looked at it. It was startling to look at, certainly, a group of children – one little girl without a stitch of clothing on her – running from some kind of dust cloud with openly horrified looks on their faces. In the background, soldiers calmly walked behind them.
‘But, Buck, this is obviously staged!’ Steve insisted. ‘I mean, why would they show a bunch of kids running towards a camera like this?’
Bucky had rolled his eyes. ‘Turn on a TV, Steve.’ Then he’d stormed out.
Steve had decided to start showing people who Captain America was. As he was living in Brooklyn, he was limited to New York – for now. As there were no Nazis to fight, Steve went after criminals. He saved a lot of people. It confused him, however, why all people talked about was the people he couldn’t save.
‘What are you doing?’ Bucky had demanded the first time he’d done it. ‘There are people who are trained for that kind of stuff, Steve! You can’t just go charging in!’
‘I can’t sit here, Buck. I have to go out and save people. The people have to know that Captain America is here to protect them.’
‘You dropped the side of a building on 17 people!’
‘No, the criminals used a bomb and did that. I can’t save everyone, but more people would have died if I hadn’t been there.’
Bucky had given him the strangest look, and left.
After a few more missions, Bucky came to him. Apparently, he’d come around. ‘I’ve been asked to give to an invitation to Avengers Tower.’
‘What Tower?’ Steve asked.
‘Avengers Tower. It’s the building that the Avengers work out of.’
‘What are the Avengers?’
‘Have you turned on a TV at all?’ Bucky asked. ‘The Avengers are an International Response Team for threats of superhuman or higher levels. They’re headed, funded, and outfitted by Tony Stark.’
Well, about time! ‘Tony Stark?’
Bucky sighed in exasperation. ‘Anthony Stark – Howard Stark’s son. Everyone calls him Tony.’
So Steve went to the Tower, absolutely convinced he’d see the awe he’d been expecting since he woke up in the 21st century. Instead, people barely seemed to notice him as they worked. Bucky led him into the lift. There were no buttons and the lift started moving automatically. Steve nearly jumped out of his skin when a British-accented voice came from above.
‘Good morning, Sergeant Barnes.’
‘Morning, JARVIS. Is Tony running late?’
‘No. He organised his schedule with Miss Potts so that he would have no interruptions to this meeting.’
‘Thank you,’ Bucky said.
‘Who’s that?’ Steve whispered.
‘JARVIS,’ Bucky said. ‘He’s basically a computerised program that runs the place.’
‘So it’s a machine?’ Steve asked. ‘With a human voice?’ The future just got weirder.
Bucky chuckled. ‘Don’t let Tony hear you call one of his creations “it”. He’s an engineer, and they have their quirks. One of those is thinking of their creations as the same as people.’
‘But machines aren’t people!’ Steve insisted.
‘They are to the engineers who create them.’ The lift stopped, the doors opened, and Bucky stepped out.
Steve quickly followed. They walked down some fancy hallway, with people on those computer things (so what happened to actual computers?) and then into an office with clear glass walls. Steve didn’t understand the point of it. The man inside was probably somewhere in his 40s. He looked a lot like Howard, but mostly in the face. He was roughly about the same height and dressed much the same way Howard had, but his hair was a lighter shade and this man wore his facial hair in an odd style.
Bucky knocked on the door and walked in. ‘Tony.’
‘Hiya, Sarge.’ Tony Stark sat down. ‘I suppose this Ken Doll is Rogers.’
That was the moment Steve decided he didn’t like Tony. As they talked, Steve couldn’t find a single redeeming factor in Tony, and he didn’t understand why Bucky liked him. Tony was cocky, he rubbed his privilege in everyone’s faces, and he acted like he was the only authority in the room. Then he had the gall to suggest Steve needed his head read.
‘I don’t need to see any kind of head shrink,’ Steve snapped, levelling Tony was a disapproving look.
Tony simply raised an eyebrow. ‘I said you need to pass a series of tests including a psychological evaluation before you can join the Avengers. That is a standard procedure. You do understand what a psychological evaluation is, don’t you?’
Steve scowled. Of course he did! ‘Psychiatrists determine sanity or insanity.’
Tony gave him a long look. ‘Since you were unfrozen, have you interacted in the outside world at all?’ He didn’t give him a chance to answer. ‘A psychological evaluation is a series of tests designed to assess behaviour, personality, and cognitive ability.’
Bucky spoke up from behind him. ‘In this instance, it is used to determine suitability for field work and where an Avenger would be best suited on the field.’
Steve supposed that was okay.
Until after the evaluation. The quack they got in had submitted a report that listed Steve as “untrained”, “displays clear signs of narcissism”, “self-centred”, and “lacks any capacity for empathy”. They also used some phrase about dummings-kruger, and recommended that Steve remain off the field “until these issues are resolved”.
Steve was highly offended. ‘I’m Captain America! I saved the world from the Red Skull.’
‘No,’ Tony said, flicking through some form of transparent screen. ‘According to the report, the Red Skull vanished after fooling around with an artefact of unknown origin and is currently listed as “Missing: Assumed Dead”. You crashed a plane, set to destroy New York, into the Arctic. That would be a bigger deal now, than it was back then.’
Steve seethed. He went to retort but Tony cut him off. It was clear Howard had spoiled him.
‘You can either submit to the training and education program set out before you, or return to Brooklyn, drop the Captain America shtick, and get a job like everyone else. Be advised, if you do return to Brooklyn, it will be illegal for you to run around as Captain America.’
I’ll show them! Steve had seen those Avengers. They thought just because they had powers or they cheated with flashy gadgets they could just call themselves heroes. They were nothing but a bunch of fakes! They used the suffering of poor, innocent people to make themselves look good. They consistently spat on Peggy’s good name. What had she ever done to deserve such unfair scorn? Steve would show them what a real hero looked like!
The next superhuman menace that surfaced, Steve charged at. He destroyed the threat and went home in grim satisfaction. He was surprised when, hours later, Bucky marched in. There was a dark look on his face. ‘You’ve really done it now.’ Bucky suddenly, unexpectedly, hauled Steve up by his collar and marched him out of the apartment building.
‘Bucky, what’s going on?’ Steve demanded, afraid something had happened to his friend.
‘Tony warned you,’ Bucky snapped.
Was Tony blackmailing him? Before Steve could ask, they were out of the building and the blonde woman from before was there – Captain Marvel, they called her. Steve doubted she was really a Captain. But she hauled him just as easily as Bucky did. Steve’s brain struggled to keep up with what was going on.
Why was this happening? What was wrong with Bucky? What had Tony done to make him do this?
This time when they arrived at the Tower, Steve was taken to a very different room. This one was barren and had several empty cells. Bucky held one of his arms, Marvel held the other. Tony walked into the room from the other end. Unlike last time, he wasn’t dressed in a 3-piece suit. He was wearing jeans and some shirt with a slogan on it. A blue glow was present on his chest from something or other.
Probably some gizmo.
‘So what kind of explanation can you come up with,’ Tony pondered aloud, ‘for that jackass behaviour? You just got 22 counts of negligent manslaughter to your name.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘Oh, and in case you don’t understand the legal term, you just killed 22 people.’
‘I didn’t—’ Steve began to insist.
Suddenly, a screen appeared next to Tony. The footage wasn’t great, but it showed his fight with the bad guy earlier that day. A lot of people had stopped and stared, but they’d soon run. As he watched, he mused how much more quickly he could have ended that fight if he had his shield. Bucky said it had been melted down and no longer existed.
‘You threw a car, you threw a superhuman around and your missed punches hit buildings, which damaged them and the debris hit innocent civilians,’ Tony said. ‘Care to explain?’
Steve gave him a disapproving glare. ‘More people would have died if I hadn’t been there.’
Tony inclined his head, face completely expressionless. ‘So you don’t regret what you did at all. And what would you say to the families of those you have killed today.’
Anger rolled in Steve’s gut. Tony was just trying to make him look back. ‘I know what I’m doing! A real hero knows that he can’t save everyone! You may think you are a hero, but you’re not. You’re just a spoiled rich boy trying to bully me into submission. I don’t back down to bullies.’
‘Stupid punk,’ Bucky suddenly muttered.
‘Huh?’ Steve looked at him.
‘Little home truth for you, Stevie,’ Bucky said. ‘You never understood the meaning of the word. You just used the “bully” excuse to justify getting into fights. Hell! You thought the Nazis were bullies!’
‘The Nazis?’ Tony demanded, drawing Steve’s attention back to him. ‘Oh, my God!’ He glared at Steve, and the look was unsettling – like he was judging Steve and finding him wanting. ‘6 million people.’
‘What?’ Steve demanded.
‘A bully is someone who tries to feel better about themselves by tearing down either someone they envy or a person that is physically weaker than them,’ Tony said. ‘The Nazis systematically murdered 6 million people for their religion, their skin colour, or simply their sexual orientation.’
The last one confused Steve.
‘If they were found to be part of a minority of any sort, they went to the death camps.’ Tony’s eyes narrowed. ‘When you call the Nazis bullies, you disrespect every single one of those 6 million people. You disrespect every man, woman, and child who lost their life because the Nazis decided they had no right to live.’
Steve glared right back, ignoring that for the lie it was. How could you possibly kill 6 million people. ‘Your father was a better man than you, Tony.’
That made him grin. ‘Guess dad was right about you,’ he said. ‘You do think you’re above reprimand.’
‘What?’ Steve flinched back, as much as he could given the circumstances. ‘Howard never said that!’
‘Not to you,’ Tony said. ‘When you knew him, dad didn’t know too much about you. After the war, however, he found out a bit more and he lost all admiration for you. See, that’s why dad let your name fade out. He didn’t think you were a very good role model for children. Hell, when he found out how your mom died, I heard he used some very colourful language.’
‘He did.’ Bucky sounded amused. Steve glanced at him. He didn’t understand it. What was wrong with him?
‘Hm.’ Tony drew his attention back as the billionaire paced in front of him. ‘Your mother was a nurse, wasn’t she, Rogers?’
‘Yes. What’s that got to do with anything?’
‘And she died of tuberculosis.’ Tony stopped and looked at him again. ‘These days, babies are inoculated against the disease within their first year of life. Back then, the vaccines didn’t exist. You lived with your mother while she was dying of the disease, and yet you didn’t contract it. You knew you were a carrier; you knew you were contaminated. Yet you still tried to join the army. When dad found out, he cursed you to hell and back.’
‘I don’t believe you!’ Steve snapped. ‘Your father was a patriot.’
Tony chuckled. ‘Funny.’
‘What is?’
‘Do you know how Stark Industries started out?’
Steve stared at him, but said nothing.
‘Dad received a summons to the draft board in late 1941,’ Tony said. ‘He didn’t want to go to war though. So he took a box of bits and pieces and showed the men there that he was better suited to building weapons than to using them. The army paid him to create bombs and guns and missiles.’ Tony fixed Steve with a level look. ‘Dad built weapons to dodge the draft.’
Steve’s jaw fell open. ‘...That’s not true!’
‘No one’s above the law.’ Tony jerked his thumb.
Steve suddenly felt himself propelled into one of the cells. The door was slammed shut behind him. Marvel walked over to Tony while Bucky secured the door. Steve rushed over to the bars. ‘Bucky, why are you doing this?’
‘You’ve always had problems, Steve,’ Bucky said. ‘You always had to get into fights and you always ignored the consequences of your actions. It’s probably our fault. We enabled you far too much.’ He shook his head.
‘Bucky, no!’ Steve insisted. He lowered his voice so Tony and Marvel wouldn’t hear. ‘Listen, I know Tony must be blackmailing you with something...’ He trailed off as he saw the look on Bucky’s face.
‘Steven Grant Rogers, I have known Tony since the day he was born,’ he stated. ‘You may have been a lonely kid, but you brought a lot of that on yourself. Tony was even lonelier, and he didn’t go around picking fights. Sure, he had his mom and dad, the butler and his wife, and me around, but he had no friends his own age. Tony has dealt with classism his entire life. You seem to be under the impression that Howard indulged Tony, but he never did. Howard made sure Tony reaped the consequence of his bad decisions.’
Bucky turned and walked away.
‘Maybe doing the same to you will knock some sense into that thick skill of yours.’
Steve didn’t understand, and he didn’t like it.