Man Out of Time - A Captain America / Avengers Fanfiction

Chapter 32

Yes … the Captain said his first ever curse-word as he broke his leg. Get over it! Having once broken my foot in such a tumble, I can attest the 1945-sanctioned words 'drat, darn, fiddlesticks, gosh, golly gee, and Jesus H Christ' just don't convey that level of ouchiness!

BTW … the broken leg is UA canon.

Thanks for reading!

X

Chapter 32

Bernice leaned as far as she could without falling to her death below, straining to see what was going on. Gunfire. Explosions. She had been in Manhattan when the alien armada had invaded mid-town. The dean had immediately locked the college down, ordering everyone into the basement to watch what was happening on the television, but not before Bernice had seen one of those enormous armored ships that looked like a slug come flying by. It had been terrifying.

This was worse.

"I can't see anything!" Bernice cried out with frustration. Liberty's arm swayed in the wind, a reminder that even in this land of plenty, the torch of liberty was only ever frailly held aloft to light the way for the rest of the world. The rickety structure felt much less secure now than when she'd enjoyed the beauty of a late-autumn sunset nestled into the safety of Steve's arms. She prayed she didn't have a birds-eye view to watch the man she loved die.

"Miss?" a weak, thin voice warbled from below. "Yoohoo! Miss! Could you come down, please?"

She was being called down by the caretaker, a wizened old man in his seventies they'd met on their way into the statue when he'd given them access as a favor to Tony Stark. She was going to be asked to leave. She debated whether to ignore him, wondering how such an old man had even made it up the narrow spiral staircase that got you as far as Liberty's crown, and discarded the notion. He was worried about her. Forcing him to climb the claustrophobic ladder to get where she was now would be cruel, not to mention it might cause the old guy to have a heart attack. She glanced over at the battle across the harbor, lights from the gliders and fires burning not doing much to illuminate what was going on.

"Please don't make me leave!" Bernice pleaded, sticking her head inside the torch to peer down the narrow step. "My … boyfriend … he's …."

"Come, come," the caretaker gestured. "I've got something that might help you see."

Bernice glanced back across the harbor at the battle which was just close enough she could tell it wasn't going well, but too far away to actually see what was going on. There was nothing she could do to help. She felt so useless. Like a bump on a log. Steve was putting his life on the line for god and country while all she could do was stand here with her heart in her throat and watch.

To see? Oh! Wait…

"I'm coming right down!" Bernice shouted.

Mr. Stark claimed he'd hired her because he felt her sharp eye might add something of value to his company, a dubious claim in light of the quasi-adversarial competition between him and Steve. But on occasion, her ability to see things others missed had come in handy. Yes. She had no idea what she was looking for, but she needed to see what it looked like when the man she loved went into battle so that, the next time the engineers were geeking out over the design of some weapon, she might have something valuable to add to the discussion instead of simply doodling aliens?

She clattered down the stairs, really little more than a ladder with a rail on both sides, pressing her arms tightly against her sides as she squeezed past the narrow point where the platform for the torch expanded outwards from Liberty's hand. It had still been light out when they'd climbed up here together, the pinks and ochre's of the fading sunlight giving the interior of the oxidized copper skin a magical feel. Steve had secured the way behind her just in case she slipped, his large frame making hers tingle every time he had brushed against her from several rungs below. Now … the tube felt claustrophobic and scary in the dark descent, the golden glow from the torch disappearing the minute she descended past the platform. Breathe. Just breathe. If Steve could go into battle without his armor, the least she could do was make her own way down a ladder in the dark without making the poor elderly caretaker climb up to rescue her.