Thrown Into Secrets

Tony almost blows up the Avengers

Steve groaned as he woke up, his entire body sore from the explosion that had just occurred, the ringing in his ears sharp and unwanted. He sat up slowly, rubbing his head while trying to suppress his blinding headache and slowly opened his eyes, sun shining straight onto his face. Looking around, he sighed and shook his head, angry at Tony for fiddling around with old asgardian technology when Thor had specifically told him not to. Slowly standing up, Steve looked around, apparently having been blasted out of Avenger’s tower and into Central Park by the giant explosion since he was surrounded by large trees. Dusting off his pants, he looked around, the sounds around him suspiciously quiet for New York City at noon, and slowly started walking forward while rubbing his bruised shoulder. After a few minutes of walking, he became suspicious, definitely no longer in the kind of New York he had come to know. Coming across a river, he looked down, shocked at what he saw. He had a beard and was dressed in a worn down German military uniform from the 1940’s despite having been clean shaven and dressed in a t-shirt and jeans earlier in the day, helping in Tony Stark’s lab with Natasha and Bruce. Tony had been fiddling around with some old Asgardian tech that Thor had brought to Earth in the attempt at finding out what the runes meant, not even Heimdal knowing what it would do when activated. Thor had warned Tony not to try and activate it since it would probably summon some sort of ancient monster, but of course, Tony did his best to do just that despite Bruce coming in and attempting to stop him, eventually drawing in Natasha who was excited to see what it would do. Looking around, he started walking again in a different direction, following the river and slowly hearing sounds of people, or more specifically laughing, clanging, and some shouting, sounds that sounded suspiciously familiar to his ears. Steve picked up his pace, the familiar sounds drawing him in as he pushed through the thick brush and foliage, searching desperately for sounds that sounded like HOME. Rushing out into a clearing haphazardly, he stopped as he stood in the middle of a military camp filled with soldiers dressed in uniforms and tents scattered around on the grass. Suddenly everyone went silent and murmurs rippled through the camp and Steve froze in his tracks, looking around at a German encampment from World War 2, and then it hit him like a brick. He had been sent to the past.

Suddenly one of the soldiers stood up and called out in German, “He is back!” causing everyone in the camp to stand up and cheer, the crowd surging forward and ushering Steve towards the largest tent in the clearing while everyone congratulated him and patted him on the back and arms. He was incredibly confused at this point, completely lost in his thoughts. Apparently he had been sent back to World War 2, but he was part of the German military and nobody here knew what Captain America looked like, or Captain America didn’t exist. He just went with it, being pushed through the tent flaps to face whatever it was he was supposed to. Stumbling just a bit as the crowd surged, he almost fell over while walking into the tent, but quickly steadied himself and stood at attention because he was obviously supposed to be seeing someone important. Looking up, he saw Johann Schmidt standing in front of him with a slightly amused face looking down at him. Steve almost panicked, but it seemed as if everything was different at the moment, so he held out his hand with fake confidence and smiled grimly, acknowledging someone who was most likely a higher rank than him. “Herr Schmidt.”

To Steve's surprise, Schmidt clasped his hand firmly, looking relieved and almost happy. "I am extremely relieved that you were able to make it back here Captain, I thought that after the last mission, you were lost to us. It is good to see you back here alive and well."

Steve nodded, sweat dripping down his neck, and grinned with a chuckle. "You should know me better than that by now. I always get the job done some way, don't I?"

Steve froze under Schmidt's stern gaze, terrified that he just blew his cover, but then the senator let go of his hand and nodded, relaxing a bit. "Like always, you are correct Captain Rogers. You are the perfect weapon after all. Too bad we couldn't find a way to replicate the serum that gave you your powers before the last vial was destroyed." Steve nodded politely, even more confused as to what was happening now. Was he really Steven Grant Rogers here or was it some type of alternate universe that the Asgardian technology had blasted him into? "-tain Rogers. Are you paying any attention?" Steve snapped back to reality and nodded, his face white as a sheet. Schmidt looked at him fiercely, studying him closely. "You should retire and get some sleep. It seems as if those days stuck in the forest after the last mission has you shaken up."

Steve swallowed thickly, relieved to be out of the sharp gaze of the thin man in front of him. "Thank you Sir. I would like that very much."

Nodding, Schmidt waved Steve out of the tent and he slowly walked out, having no idea where he was going, so he just turned left. He felt a hand on his arm and he looked over to see the man that had stood up when he had entered the clearing, smiling at him kindly. The man had on a uniform almost identical to Steve's, but unlike his, the man's uniform was loose and non restricting due to the fact that it actually fit him and Steve's was just a bit too small. He had dark brunette hair that looked just the right amount of messy and was comfortably past the acceptable length for a man in the military, but not long to the point where he would be forced to cut it any time soon or have the ability to tie it up. His hair framed his pale face that had a small splattering of freckles over his nose and cheeks and slightly drifted in front of his hazel eyes. Steve felt his face flush as he looked into the man's eyes, the honey color mixed lightly with blues and greens, and suddenly, he wished that he could take a picture of just how perfect this man looked because despite the eye color being wrong and the fact that he had more freckles, all Steve's brain was doing screaming the name Bucky. "Grant, your tent is in the other direction. Come on. I'll take you."

"I get my own tent?" Before Steve could think, he just let it slip on accident, and he mentally slapped himself.

The man just laughed and looked at the nervous soldier up and down with those ridiculously defined eyes. "Dear Lord. You look like shit. What did they do to you that you forgot that you get your own tent? You have gotten your own tent for years, after your meeting with that mustached tyrant and got upgraded to 'favorite lap dog'. From the look of you, nine days lost in the forest didn't help."

Sighing, Steve just smiled, feeling more relaxed after coming into contact with and just being around this man who reminded him so much of Bucky. "I look like shit? Ha. I feel like I'm dying from a horse kick to the face." The man laughed and Steve laughed with him, feeling less out of time and more like he was back where he belonged. "On a more serious note though, I feel as if I don't remember anything here anymore. It's more complicated than it looks, being on my own, not knowing I would live long enough to make it back here." Steve played on the fact that "he" was lost in the forest for about a week.

"Oh, stop being such a dolly, Grant. At least you remember me, after all, I've been your pal since we were kids." The man paused. "You still remember me right?"

Steve scoffed, adding as much sarcasm as he could to draw out an answer. "No, of course I don't. You're just a random fat-head I let boss me around."

The brunette scoffed and rolled his eyes dramatically. "I can't believe you forgot about me! Klaus! Your best buddy! Your comrade! Your partner in crime! Your better half! Your life! Your everything!" He pretended to sob, then stopped immediately and gestured to a tent. "Well, this one is yours pal. I hope you feel better, you really do look like you haven't slept for the whole week you were gone. Get some rest. You will probably need it for tomorrow, since you have gotten back to us, we will be packing up and going back to base. Soon after, our LadyBirds will be coming back to us." Klaus sighed and smiled. “It would not have been a pleasant experience telling them that you had disappeared.”