Marvel sickfics

Mission gone wrong

Steve went to look for Sam and found him standing in front of Steve's room.

"Dr. Banner told me you might want to speak with me," Sam said after noticing him. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

Steve opened the door of the room and walked inside. He sat down on the bed with a sigh. "Banner told me the disease is curable, but I might lose my abilities."

"And what worries you the most about that scenario?" Sam questioned. "Not dying is usually good, so it must be something else."

"Look, before serum, I had to rely on others to ensure I was okay. I don't want to be in that position again."

Sam leaned against the wall. "I assume you got so used to saving others that asking for help doesn't feel normal anymore?"

"It never felt right," Steve sighed. "And now I'm not even supposed to get sick."

Sam sat down on the bed beside him. "What can I do to help?"

Steve shrugged. "It was Banner that told you to speak with me. He thought it might be useful."

"Well," Sam started, "a lot of veterans who return from army injured feel worthless because they suddenly can't do things they could before. You have to find other ways to contribute to society. Or, you know, accept that your worth isn't linked to your ability to help others."

They sat there in silence for a moment.

"You do understand that many people considered me a nuisance before? Somebody who didn't deserve to live and should be killed?"

"Cap, I'm black. Some people still think like that about me."

"Sorry."

Sam stood up. "Stop thinking about other people. No matter what you do, somebody will have a problem with it. Besides that, it's not your fault you're sick. Would you blame other people if they were in your position?"

"I would not, but it's different when it's me. People look up to me."

Sam sat back down. "What even happened?"

"Banner said it's like cancer, but not exactly. He thinks that chemotherapy might fix it, but it would probably reverse the effects of the serum." He ran his fingers through his hair. "It is possible that something happened on the mission that caused this, and if I tell the team, they might be able to find another way to cure it. However, I don't want them to treat me differently."

Sam looked at him sideways. "You do understand that almost everybody on the team has a weakness, and we don't treat them differently, right? I mean, Clint is deaf, Bucky is missing an arm, Tony needed an arc reactor to live, Banner turns into a giant green being, and so on. Give them a chance. I think that you should tell them, but the final decision is yours."